be Crowned so fully a King or a man and woman so fully maried till it be solemnized in the congregation in this sense they say the same that I am proving men must be first Disciples by the professed consent before they are declared such by the seals or publick sacramental solemnization And that onely the professors of saving saith are Disciples may appear by a perusal of the texts of Scripture that use this word and it will not onely by found that this which I maintain is the ordinary use of the word which should make it so also with us but that no Text can be cited where any others are called the Disciples of Christ For the major and minor both observe Piscators definition of baptism on Matth 28. 19. Baptismus est sacrimentum novi testamenti quo homines ad ecclesiam pertinentes ex mandato Christi cultui veri Dei qui est Pater Filius Spiritus sarctus per ministros verbi consecrantur in fide remissionis peccatorum spe vitae aternae confirmantur Baptism is a Sacrament of the New Testament by which those men who belong to the Church by the command of Christ are consecrated to the worship of the true God which is the Father Son and Holy Spirit by the Ministers of the word and are confirmed in the faith of remission of sins and of hope of eternal life And he proveth this description per partes by parts 1. That is a Sacrament 2. That it belongeth to those that pertain to that Church and that onely must be baptized qui ecclesiam fuerit ingressi ac fidem Evangelii prosessi who are entred into the Church and have professed the faith of the Gospel Which he proveth from Mark 16. 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Vult ergo saith he ut prius constet de alicujus fide quam baptizetur unde Act. 8. Philippus Evangelista non prius baptizare voluit eunuchum illum Ethiopem quam is professus esseâ— fidem Christi He wills therefore that his faith be manifested before he be baptized whence Acts. 8. Philip the Evangelist would not baptize the Ethiopian Ennuch before he had professed the faith of Christ Calvin in loc. upon the place saith Baptiâ—â—ri Jubet Christus qui nomen Evangelii dederint sâ—que professi fuerint discipulos partim ut illis baptismus siâ— vitae aeternae tessera coram Deo partim apud homines externum fidei signum quem ad modum gratiam suam Deus hoc sigillo nobis confirmat ita quicunque se ad baptismum offerunt vicissim quasi data syngrapha obstringunt sâ—am sidem Christ commands them to be baptized who have given up their names to the Gospel and have professed to be his Disciples partly that baptism might be to them a sign of eternal life before God partly an external sign of Faith before men and as God confirms his grace to us by this seal so whosoever offers himself to baptism doth reciprocally engage his faith as it were by his bond And after verum quia docere prius jubet Christus quam baptizare tantum credentes ad baptismum vult recipi videtur non rite administrari baptismus nisi fides pracesserit But because Christ commands first to teach then to baptize and onely will have believers to be received to baptism it seems that baptism is not rightly administred unless faith doth precede So that it is Calvins judgement that this very Text which is the most notable copy of the Apostolical commission for the baptizing of the Disciple nations doth appoint that saving faith be professed before men be baptized Paraeus in locum from Mark 16. 16. sheweth that the order is â—redere baptizari to believe and to be baptized I agree with him and the rest in the main that justifying Faith must be an act of the Will embracing or accepting an offered Christ as well as of the understanding and that the profession of it must go before baptism But I shall further prove the minor from some other texts of Scripture viz. that they are not Christs Disciples that profess not saving Faith Luke 14 26 27 33. If any man come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brothers and Sisters yea and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple and whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be my Disciple This is spoken of true Disciples in heart the first significatum by him that knew the heart From whence I argue thus If none are Christs Disciples in heart nor can be but those that value him above all and will forsake all for him if he require it then none can be his Disciples by external profession but those that profess to esteem him above all and to be willing to forsake all rather then forsake him But the former is proved by the Text the consequence is clear in that the world hath hitherto been acquainted but with two sorts of Christians or Disciples of Christ the one such sincerely in heart and the other such by profession and the later are so called because they profess to be what the other are indeed and what themselves are if they sincerely so profess And it is the same thing professed which makes a man a professed Christian which being found in the heart doth make a man a hearty Christian John 13. 35. By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Here Christ giveth a certain badge by which his true Disciples may be known If onely those that love one another are true Disciples in heart then onely those that profess to love one another are Disciples by profession Joh. 8. 31. If ye continue in my word then are ye that is you will approve your selves my Disciples indeed If onely those are Christs Disciples indeed as to the heart that have the resolution of perseverance then onely those are his professed Disciples that profess a resolution to persevere But therefore all this I have said is no more then we have ever practised when in baptism we renounced the world flesh and devil and promised to fight under Christs banner to our lives end Saith Piscator in John 13. 35. Si pro Christianis id est Christi Discipulis haberi volumus oportet ut nos mutuo quam ardentisaime diligamus c. If we will be accounted Christians that is Christs Disciples we ought most ardently to love one another Object Any one is a Disciple that is willing to learn of Christ Answ. No such matter in an improper sense you may so call them but not in Scripture sense where 1. A Disciple and a Christian are all one Acts 11. 26. but every one that is willing to learn of Christ is not a Christian therefore not a Disciple 2.
true Evangelical repentance I mean still such as hath a promise of pardon and salvation but all that are baptized must renounce the world flesh and devil of which we shall have occasion to say more anon Argum. 4. They that profess to be buried with Christ in baptism and to rise again do profess true repentance but all that are baptized must profess to be buried with him and rise again therefore c. The major is proved in that to be buried and risen with Christ signifieth A being dead to sin and alive to God and newness of life and it is not onely an engagement of this for the future but a profession also of it at the present This with the rest we thus prove Col. 2. 11 12 13. In whom ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ buried with him in baptism wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses Where note 1. that this is spoken to all the Church of the Colossians and therefore they are presumed to be what they profess and appear to be 2. That the putting of the body under the water did signifie our burial with Christ and the death and putting off of our sins and though we now use a less quantity of water yet it is to signifie the same thing or else we should destroy the being of the Sacrament So also our rising out of the water signifieth our rising and being quickned together with him 3. Note also that it is not onely an engagement to this hereafter but a thing presently done They were in baptism buried with Christ and put off the body of sin and were quickned with him and this doth all suppose their own present profession to put off the body of sin and their consent to be baptized on these terms The like we have in Rom. 6. chapter 4. 5. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in newness of life for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shal be also into the likeness of his resurrection Here also it is evident 1. that all the members of the visible Church are supposed to be baptized into Christ and into his death so to be buried with him by baptism into death planted together into the likeness of his death 2. And that this is not supposed to be onely an engagement for the future but a present entrance into the state of mortification and vivification wherein they were to proceed by newness of life and therefore verse 5 6 7 8 11. they are supposed to have the old man crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed and that henceforth they should not serve sin and that they are so dead as to be freed from sin as to the servitude thereof And that they must reckon themselves dead to sin but alive to God He that readeth the whole chapter with judgement and impartialitie will soon discern that true repentance and abrenuntiation of the service of sin was to be professed by all that would be baptized and that thereupon they sealed their own profession and covenant by the reception of baptism as Christ sealed his part by the actual baptizing them and that hereupon they are by the Apostles all called and supposed such as they professed themselves to be Argum. 5. If it be the very nature of baptism to signifie and seal both the present putting off the body of sin and present putting on Christ then the profession of true repentance must needs precede or concur with baptism but the former is certain of which more anon I conclude then that both Scripture and the very signs themselves and the common consent of the Church do shew that true repentance and present repentance must be professed by all those that we may baptize Pag. 62. Argum. 2. My first Argument was from the necessity of a profession of true repentance The 2. shall be from the equipollent terms a description to the thing described thus We must baptize no man that first professeth not to believe in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost But no Infant professeth to believe in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost therefore we must baptize no Infant The minor is manifest by sense The major is proved from Matth. 28. 19. where this is made the form of the words in baptism or at least the end and that which we must insist on Calvin on the words yields the Anabaptists that faith is put justly before baptism nam alioqui mendax essot figuraque remissionem peccatorum spiritus donum afferes incredulis qui nondum essent Christi membra For otherwise he should speak false and the figure should bring remission of sins and the gift of the spirit to unbelievers who were not members of Christ And that non abs re Patris Filii spiritus expressa hic fit mentio quia aliter baptismi vis apprehendi non potest quam si a gratuita patris miserecordia initium fiat qui nos per filium sibi reconciliat deinde in medium prodeat Christus ipse cum mortis suae sacrificio tandem accedat etiam Spiritus sanctus per quem nos abluit regenerat denique suorum omnium bonorum consorâ—es faciat Not from the matter here is express mention made of the Father Son and Spirit because otherwise the efficacie of baptism cannot be apprehended but by beginning from the Fathers free mercy who reconciles us to himself by his Son and then that Christ himself come between with the sacrifice of his death and then at last the holy spirit also approach by which he washeth and regenerates us and last of all makes us partakers of his benefits It appeareth by comparing Matth. 28. 19. with Rom. 6. 3. and 1 Cor. 1. 13 14 15. and 10. 2. that to be baptized into the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost is not onely to be baptized by their authority but also to be thus initiated into the relation which the Church standeth in to them and to be consecrated to the Father Son and Holy Ghost as Musculus Diodate the assembly of Divines Annotations and the generality of expositors do express See Doctor Hammond Pract. Catech. lib. 6. 5. 2. And especially on Matth. 28. 19. Grotius at large and that it comprehendeth or presupposeth a profession of believing Son and Holy Ghost For no man can devote himself solemnly by our ministry to
Their first task is to make Disciples which are by Mark called believers The second work is to baptize them whereto is annexed the promise of their salvation The third work is to teach them all other things which are afterward to be learned in the School of Christ To contemn this order as Master Baxter doth in Infant baptism is to contemn all rules of order For where can we expect to find it if not here I profess my conscience is fully satisfied from this Text that it is one sort of faith even saving that must go before baptism and the profession whereof by the Party himself to be baptized He that believeth and is baptized not another then the believer make Disciples and baptize them not others then the Disciples made the Minister must expect of which see what is before cited out of Calvin and Iâ—scator I shall be amazed reading this passage at the blindness of Master Baxter if he see not how unanswerably his own words overthrow Infant baptism or his hypocrisie if being satisfied as he saith in conscience of his own exposition he do not deny Infant baptism and bewail his alledging of Matth. 28. 19. in his Book termed Plain Scripture proof of Infants baptism Part. 1. chap. 3. And I pray God to deliver me from such hardness of heart be adds That it was saving faith that was required of the Jews and professed by them Acts 2. 38 41 48. is shewed already and is plain in the Text Acts 8. The Samaritans believed and had great joy and were baptized into the name of Jesus Christ vers. 8. 12. whereby it appeareth that it was both the understanding and will that were both changed and that they had the profession of a saving faith even Simon himself Acts 8. 37. The condition on which the Eunuch must be baptized was if he believed with all his heart which he professed to do and that was the evidence that Philip did expect Paul was baptized after true conversion Acts 9. 18. The Holy Ghost fell on the Gentiles Acts 10. 44. before they were baptized and they magnified God And this Holy Ghost was the like gift as was given to the Apostles who believed on the Lord Jesus and it was accompanied with repentance unto life Acts 11. 17 18. Acts 16. 14 15. Lydia's heart was opened before she was baptized and she was one that the Apostles judged faithful to the Lord and offered to them the evidence of her faith Acts 16. 30 31 33 34. The example of the Jaylour is very full to the resolution of the question in hand He first asketh what he should do to be saved the Apostle answereth him Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved and thy house so that it was a saving faith that is here mentioned He rejoyced and believed with all his house and was baptized that same hour of the night or straightway It is here evident that he professed that same faith which Paul required Acts 18. 8. Crispus the chief Ruler of the Synagogue believed on the Lord with all his houseâ— and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized Here we have two proofs that it is saving faith that is mentioned Those in Acts 19. 5. were baptized as believers in Jesus Christ In a word I know of no one word in Scripture that giveth us the least intimation that ever man was baptized without the profession of a saving faith There is constantly this order in the prescribed duty that no man should seek baptism but a true believer and no man should baptize any but those that profess this true belief Acts 8. 37. Philip is determining a question and giveth this in as the decision If thou believe with all thy heart thou mayest And to say that this is but de bene esse meaning that it includeth not the negative otherwise thou mayest not is to make Philip to have deluded and not decided or resolved Use that liberty in expounding all other Scripture and you 'l make it what you please A Dogmatical faith is not the Christian faith nor anywhere alone denominateth men believers in Scripture I remember but one Text John 12. 42. where it is called believing on Christ and but few more where it is simply called believing but none where such are called believers Disciples or Christians or any thing that intimateth them admitted into the visible Church without the profession of saving faith I conclude that all examples in Scripture do mention onely the administration of it to the professors of saving faith and the precepts give us no other direction and I provoke Master Blake as far as is seemly for me to do to name one precept or example for any other and make it good if he can I conclude that all examples of baptism in Scripture do mention onely the administration of it to the same persons who in their own persons were professors of saving faith and the precepts give us no other direction And I provoke Mr. Baxter as far as is seemly for me to do to name one precept or example for baptizing any other and make it good if he can and if not by his own reason he ought to baptize no other but must reject baptism of Infants who do not in their own persons profess saving faith and give over his vain Plea of Parents or Proparents profession of saving faith as entituling Infants to baptism which unless his violence and wilfulness of spirit blind him his own words and arguments will inforce to do Pag. 156. Argum. 17. is from 1 Pet. 3. 21. The like figure whereto even baptism doth also now save us Not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience toward God whence I thus Argue If baptism be appointed for our solemn admission into a state of salvation as Noahs Ark received men into a state of safety from the Deluge then none should be baptized but those that profess that faith which entereth them into a state of salvation but no Infant professeth that faith which entereth them into a state of salvation as is manifest by sense and reason therefore no Infant should be baptized Here it is implied plainly that this is quoad finem instituentis as to the end of him that instituted it the common appointed of baptism which the Text mentioneth though eventually it prove not the common effect through the errours of the receivers and this appeareth 1. In that it was spoken plainly in the text of the very nature and appointed use of baptism and so of baptism as baptism without any exception limitation or distinction Therefore it is not spoken of any different use that it is appointed for to the elect as distinct from its common use to others It s spoken of that signification and common use to which baptism is appointed viz. to save else we shall never be able to understand the use of it or any ordinance from Scripture if we