CHAPTER II.

THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH.

By the ordinances, we mean those outward rites which Christ has appointed to be administered in his church as visible signs of the saving truth of the gospel. They are signs, in that they vividly express this truth and confirm it to the believer.

In contrast with this characteristically Protestant view, the Romanist regards the ordinances as actually conferring grace and producing holiness. Instead of being the external manifestation of a preceding union with Christ, they are the physical means of constituting and maintaining this union. With the Romanist, in this particular, sacramentalists of every name substantially agree. The Papal Church holds to seven sacraments or ordinances :— ordination, confirmation, matrimony, extreme unction, penance, baptism and the eucharist. The ordinances prescribed in the N. T., however, are two and only two, viz. :— – Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

:

I. BAPTISM.

Christian Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in token of his previous entrance into the communion of Christ's death and resurrection,— or, in other words, in token of his regeneration through union with Christ.

1. Baptism an Ordinance of Christ.

A. Proof that Christ instituted an external rite called baptism.

(a) From the words of the great commission.

Mat. 28: 19"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost"; Mark 16: 16" He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ""—we hold, with Westcott and Hort, that Mark 16: 9-20 is of canonical authority, though probably not written by Mark himself.

(b) From the injunctions of the apostles.

Acts 2: 38" And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins."

(c) From the fact that the members of the New Testament churches were baptized believers.

Rom. 6: 3-5-" Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him by the likeness of his death, we shall be also by the likeness of his resurrection"; Col. 2: 11, 12-"in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead."

(d) From the universal practice of such a rite in Christian churches of subsequent times.

B. This external rite intended by Christ to be of universal and perpetual obligation.

(a) Christ recognized John the Baptist's commission to baptize as derived immediately from heaven.

Mat. 21 25" The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or from men?"- here Jesus clearly intimates that John's commission to baptize was derived directly from God; cf. John 1: 25 — the delegates sent to the Baptist by the Sanhedrin ask him: "Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the prophet?" thus indicating that John's baptism either in its form or its application was a new ordinance, that required special divine authorization. For the view that proselyte-baptism did not exist among the Jews before the time of John, see Schneckenburger, Ueber das Alter der jüdischen Proselytentaufe; Stuart, in Bib. Repos., 1833: 338-355; Toy, in Baptist Quarterly, 1872: 301-332. Dr. Toy, however, in a private note to the author (1884), says: "I am disposed now to regard the Christian rite as borrowed from the Jewish, contrary to my view in 1872." So holds Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, 2: 742-744 —“ We have positive testimony that the baptism of proselytes existed in the times of Hillel and Shammai. For, whereas the school of Shammai is said to have allowed a proselyte who was circumcised on the eve of the Passover, to partake, after baptism, of the Passover, the school of Hillel forbade it. This controversy must be regarded as proving that at that time (previous to Christ) the baptism of proselytes was customary."

Although the O. T. and the Apocrypha, Josephus and Philo, are silent with regard to proselyte baptism, it is certain that it existed among the Jews in the early Christian centuries; and it is almost equally certain that the Jews could not have adopted it from the Christians. It is probable, therefore, that the baptism of John was an application to Jews of an immersion which, before that time, was administered to proselytes from among the Gentiles; and that it was this adaptation of the rite to a new class of subjects, and with a new meaning, which excited the inquiry and criticism of the Sanhedrin. We must remember, however, that the Lord's Supper was likewise an adaptation of certain portions of the old Passover service to a new use and meaning. See also Kitto, Bib. Cyclop., 3: 593.

(b) In his own submission to John's baptism, Christ gave testimony to the binding obligation of the ordinance (Mat. 3: 13-17). John's baptism was essentially Christian baptism (Acts 19:4), although the full significance of it was not understood until after Jesus' death and resurrection (Mat. 20:17-23; Luke 12:50; Rom. 6:3-6).

Mat. 3: 13-17-"Suffer it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness"; Acts 19: 4-"John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus"; Mat. 20: 18, 19, 23-"the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify...... Are ye able to drink of the cup that I am about to drink?" Luke 12: 50-"But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" Rom. 6: 3, 4—"Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life."

Robert Hall, Works 1:367–399, denies that John's baptism was Christian baptism, and holds that there is not sufficient evidence that all the apostles were baptized. The fact that John's baptism was a baptism of faith in the coming Messiah, as well as a baptism of repentance for past and present sin, refutes this theory. The only difference between John's baptism, and the baptism of our time, is that John baptized upon profession of faith in a Savior yet to come; baptism is now administered upon profession of faith in a Savior who has actually and already come.

(c) In continuing the practice of baptism through his disciples (John 4: 1, 2), and in enjoining it upon them as part of a work which was to last

to the end of the world (Mat. 28: 19, 20), Christ manifestly adopted and appointed baptism as the invariable law of his church.

John 4: 1, 2" When therefore the Lord knew how that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples)"; Mat. 28: 19, 20"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of of the world."

(d) The analogy of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper also leads to the conclusion that baptism is to be observed as an authoritative memorial of Christ and his truth, until his second coming.

1 Cor. 11: 26" For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come."

(e) There is no intimation whatever that the command of baptism is limited, or to be limited, in its application,— that it has been or ever is to be repealed; and, until some evidence of such limitation or repeal is produced, the statute must be regarded as universally binding.

On the proof that baptism is an ordinance of Christ, see Pepper, in Madison Avenue Lectures, 85-114; Dagg, Church Order, 9-21.

2. The Mode of Baptism.

This is immersion, and immersion only. This appears from the following considerations:

A. The command to baptize is a command to immerse.-We show this: (a) From the meaning of the original work Barrisw. That this is to immerse, appears :

First, from the usage of Greek writers - including the church Fathers, when they do not speak of the Christian rite, and the authors of the Greek version of the Old Testament.

Liddell and Scott, Greek Lexicon — “Banrí¿w, to dip in or under water; Lat. immergere." Sophocles, Lexicon of Greek Usage in the Roman and Byzantine Periods, 140 B. C. to 1000 A. D.-" ВажTiw, to dip, to immerse, to sink . . . . . There is no evidence that Luke and Paul and the other writers of the N. T. put upon this verb meanings not recognized by the Greeks."

Conant, Appendix to Bible Union Version of Matthew, 1-64, has examples “drawn from writers in almost every department of literature and science; from poets, rhetoricians, philosophers, critics, historians, geographers; from writers on husbandry, on medicine, on natural history, on grammar, on theology; from almost every form and style of composition, romances, epistles, orations, fables, odes, epigrams, sermons, narratives; from writers of various nations and religions, Pagan, Jew, and Christian, belonging to many countries and through a long succession of ages. In all, the word has retained its ground-meaning without change. From the earliest age of Greek literature down to its close, a period of nearly two thousand years, not an example has been found in which the word has any other meaning. There is no instance in which it signifies to make a partial application of water by affusion or sprinkling, or to cleanse, to purify, apart from the literal act of immersion as the means of cleansing or purifying." See Stuart, in Bib. Repos., 1833: 313; Broadus on Immersion, 57, note.

Dale, in his Classic, Judaic, Christic, and Patristic Baptism, maintains that Bánтw alone means to dip,' and that Banτigw never means 'to dip,' but only to put within,' giving no intimation that the object is to be taken out again. But see Review of Dale, by A. C. Kendrick, in Bap. Quarterly, 1869: 129, and by Harvey, in Bap. Review, 1879 : 141– 163. "Plutarch used the word Banrigw, when he describes the soldiers of Alexander on a riotous march as by the roadside dipping (lit.: baptizing) with cups from huge wine jars and mixing bowls, and drinking to one another. Here we have BarTigw used where Dr. Dale's theory would call for Bánтw. The truth is that Barrigw, the stronger word,

came to be used in the same sense with the weaker; and the attempt to prove a broad and invariable difference of meaning between them breaks down. Of Dr. Dale's three meanings of Baяrisw—(1) intusposition without influence (stone in water), (2) intusposition with influence ( man drowned in water), (3) influence without intusposition-the last is a figment of Dr. Dale's imagination. It would allow me to say that when I burned a piece of paper, I baptized it. The grand result is this: Beginning with the position that baptize means immerse, Dr. Dale ends by maintaining that immersion is not baptism. Because Christ speaks of drinking a cup, Dr. Dale infers that this is baptism." For a complete reply to Dale, see Ford, Studies on Baptism.

Secondly,

every passage where the word occurs in the New Testament either requires or allows the meaning ‘immerse.'

Mat. 36, 11-"I indeed baptize you with [lit.: 'in'] water unto repentance. . . . he shall baptize you with [lit. 'in] the Holy Ghost and fire"; cf. 2 Kings 5: 14-"Then went he [Naaman] down and dipped himself [éẞantioαTо] seven times in Jordan"; Mark 1: 5, 9-"they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ... Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in [lit.: 'into] the Jordan"; 7:4 -"and when they come from the market-place, except they bathe [lit.: 'baptize'] themselves, they eat not: and many other things there be, which they have received to hold, washings [lit.: baptizings'] of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels"-in this verse, Westcott and Hort, with & and B, read parriowvrat, instead of Banτiowvrai; but it is easy to see how subsequent ignorance of Pharisaic scrupulousness might have changed βαπτίσωνται into ῥαντίσωνται ; but not easy to see how ῥαντίσωνται should have been changed into βαπτίσωνται.

Meyer, Com. in loco —“¿àv μn Banтiowvrai is not to be understood of washing the hands (Lightfoot, Wetstein), but of immersion, which the word in classic Greek and in the N. T. everywhere means; here, according to the context, to take a bath." The Revised Version omits the words "and couches," although Maimonides speaks of a Jewish immersion of couches; see quotation from Maimonides in Ingham, Handbook of Baptism, 373: "Whenever in the law washing of the flesh or of the clothes is mentioned, it means nothing else than the dipping of the whole body in a laver; for if any man dip himself all over except the tip of his little finger, he is still in his uncleanness . . . . . . A bed that is wholly defiled, if a man dip it part by part, it is pure." Watson, in Annotated Par. Bible, 1126.

Luke 11: 38" And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first bathed [lit.: 'baptized'] himself before dinner"; cf. Ecclesiasticus 31: 25-" He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead body" (Bantisóμevos áñò vexрov); Judith 12 : 7—“ washed herself [ėßantišeтo] in a fountain of water by the camp"; Lev. 22: 4-6-"Whoso toucheth anything that is unclean by the dead

unclean until even.... bathe his flesh with water." Acts 2: 41-"They then that received his word were baptized and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls." Although the water supply of Jerusalem is naturally poor, the artificial provision of aqueducts, cisterns, and tanks, made water abundant. During the siege of Titus, though thousands died of famine, we read of no suffering from lack of water. The following are the dimensions of pools in modern Jerusalem: King's Pool, 15 feet x 16 x 3; Siloam, 53 x 18 x 19; Hezekiah, 240 x 140 x 10; Bethesda (so-called ), 360 x 130 x 75; Upper Gihon, 316 x 218 x 19; Lower Gihon, 592 x 260 x 18; see Robinson, Biblical Researches, 1: 323-348, and Samson, Water-supply of Jerusalem, pub. by Am. Bap. Pub. Soc'y. There was no difficulty in baptizing three thousand in one day; for, in the time of Chrysostom, when all candidates of the year were baptized in a single day, three thousand were once baptized; and, in 1879, 2222 Telugu Christians were baptized by two administrators in nine hours.

Acts 16: 33" And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately "-- the prison was doubtless, as are most large edifices in the east, whether public or private, provided with tank and fountain. See Cremer, Lexicon of N. T. Greek, sub voce —“ Banτigw, immersion or submersion for a religious purpose." Grimm's ed. of Wilke-"Banтiw, 1. Immerse, submerge; 2. Wash or bathe, by immersing or submerging (Mark 7: 4, also Naaman and Judith); 3. Figuratively, to overwhelm, as with debts, misfortunes, &c." In the N. T. rite, he says it denotes "an immersion in water, intended as a sign of sins washed away, and received by those who wished to be admitted to the benefits of Messiah's reign."

Döllinger, Kirche und Kirchen, 337-"The Baptists are, however, from the Protestant point of view, unassailable, since for their demand of baptism by submersion they have the clear Bible text; and the authority of the church and of her testimony is not regarded by either party"-i. e., by either Baptists or Protestants, generally. Prof. Harnack, of Giessen, writes in the Independent, Feb. 19, 1885-“1. Baptizein undoubtedly

signifies immersion (eintauchen). 2. No proof can be found that it signifies anything else in the N. T. and in the most ancient Christian literature. The suggestion regarding a 'sacred sense' is out of the question. 3. There is no passage in the N. T. which suggests the supposition that any New Testament author attached to the word baptizein any other sense than eintauchen untertauchen (immerse, submerge)." See further statement of Prof. Harnack, below. On the Scripture passages mentioned, see Com. of Meyer, and Cunningham, Croall Lectures.

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Thirdly, the absence of any use of the word in the passive voice with 'water' as its subject confirms our conclusion that its meaning is "to immerse." Water is never said to be baptized upon a man.

(b) From the use of the verb Barrio with prepositions:

First, with eiç (Mark 1:9

- where 'Iopdávny is the element into which

the person passes in the act of being baptized).

Mark 19" And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in [lit. 'into] the Jordan."

Secondly,- ·with iv (Mark 1:5, 8; cf. Mat. 3: 11. John 1: 26, 31, 33; cf. Acts 2: 2, 4). In these texts, év is to be taken, not instrumentally, but as indicating the element in which the immersion takes place.

Mark 15, 8-"they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins..... I baptized you with [lit. in water; but he shall baptize you with [lit.: 'in'] the Holy Ghost"- here see Meyer's Com. on Mat. 3: 11-“év is, in accordance with the meaning of ßantis∞ (immerse), not to be understood instrumentally, but on the contrary, in the sense of the element in which the immersion takes place." Those who pray for a 'baptism of the Holy Spirit' pray for such a pouring out of the Spirit as shall fill the place and permit them to be flooded or immersed in his abundant presence and power; see C. E. Smith, Baptism of Fire, 1881: 305–311.

(c) From circumstances attending the administration of the ordinance (Mark 1 : 10 — ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος; John 3 : 23 — ύδατα πολλά ; Acts 8: 38, 39 — κατέβησαν εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ — ἀνέβησαν ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος).

Mark 1: 10" coming up out of the water"; John 3: 23-"And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there"--a sufficient depth of water for baptizing; see Prof. W. A. Stevens, on Ænon near to Salim, in Journ. Soc. of Bib. Lit. and Exegesis, Dec., 1883. Acts 8: 38, 39" And they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water....

(d) From figurative allusions to the ordinance.

Mark 10: 38" Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink? or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"-here the cup is the cup of suffering in Gethsemane; cf. Luke 22: 42-"Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me"; and the baptism is the baptism of death on Calvary, and of the grave that was to follow; cf. Luke 12: 50-"I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" Death presented itself to the Savior's mind as a baptism, because it was a sinking under the floods of suffering. Rom. 6:4-"We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life "- Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, say on this passage that "it cannot be understood without remembering that the primitive method of baptism was by immersion."

1 Cor. 10: 1, 2-"our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea"; Col. 2: 12-"having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him"; Heb. 10: 22") -"having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed [ Aeλovoμévoɩ ] with pure water"- here Trench, N. T. Synonyms, 216, 217, says that "Aovw implies always, not the bathing of a part of the body, but of the whole." 1 Pet. 3: 20, 21-"saved through water: which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ "—as the ark whose sides were immersed in water saved Noah, so the immersion of believers typically saves them; that is, the answer of a good conscience, the turning of the soul to God, which baptism symbolizes.