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over the Israel of God for ever. (Luke, 1. 32, 33; 22. 30. Rev. 22. 3.) For it is written, 'Behold, I make all things new (Rev. 21.5), and although heaven and earth shall pass away, 'Nevertheless, we look for a new heavens and a new earth, where dwelleth righteousness.' (2 Pet. 3. 13. Comp. Tit. 3. 7; 1 John, 2. 25.)

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CHAPTER VIII.

BAPTISM.

I. THE object of baptism, and its symbolical meaning, and the manner in which it is performed.

II. The baptism of the faithful remnant of Israel, and of Jesus by the prophet John.

III. The baptism of the disciples of Jesus under the law.

IV. The baptism of the disciples of the Lord under the covenant of grace.

V. The doctrine of baptism expounded by the apostles.
VI. Types of baptism.

I. The object of baptism, and its symbolical meaning, and the manner in which it is performed.

Before entering on this subject, it is necessary, in the first place, to explain the meaning of the word 'Baptism,' which is derived from the Greek 'baptizo,' I immerse ; and accordingly this holy rite is performed by immersing the disciple in water; and all who believe in Jesus are bound to render this testimony of their faith as his disciples in obedience to the commandment which he gave to his apostles when he rose from the dead, saying, 'Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."* (Matt. 28.

* 'In the name of the Father.' This is a Hebrew form of expression, which signifies in the Father. Thus to call on the name of the Lord is to call on the Lord, or to confess that Jesus is the Lord. (Rom. 10. 11-13.) To believe in the name of the Son of God is to believe

19.) In accordance with their confession of faith, therefore, the disciples of the Lord are baptised in the Father, that is to say, as children of God and partakers of the divine nature (John, 1. 12, 13), and in the Son, for he has given them his life (John, 10. 28; Rom. 6. 23; 8. 1, 2), and in the Holy Spirit, for they have received the Spirit of adoption, by which they walk in newness of life as sons of God, 'For in one Spirit we are all baptised to be one body.' (1 Cor. 12. 13. Comp. John, 7. 38, 39.)

All who believe in the Lord Jesus as their Saviour are under the covenant of grace, and have everlasting life (John, 3. 16); but it is by the rite of baptism that they are recognised as his disciples and are added to his assembly. (Acts, 2. 38-41; 22. 16.) For it is the will of God that all his saints should form one body under one Lord, for there is one Spirit and one body; one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. (Eph. 4. 4, 5. John, 17. 20, 21.) By this holy rite, therefore, the believer testifies that he has been cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus, and that he has been begotten as a child of God by the Holy Spirit, 'for except a man be begotten by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' (John, 3. 5; Comp. Acts, 2. 38. Ezek. 36. 21-27. Jer. 31. 31-34.) Our baptism is, therefore, a sign and seal of our redemption and of our regeneration (Tit. 3. 5-7); and it is also a symbol of sanctification: for as the baptism of our Lord was a symbol of his death and resurrection, so, in like manner, the baptism of the believer is a symbol of his death to sin, and of his awaking from the dead to live to righteousness by the Holy Spirit. (Acts, 2. 38. Eph. 1. 13, 14.)

in the Son of God. (John, 3. 18.) His name means him. (Matt. 12. 21.) In my name, in me. (Matt. 18. 5, 20. John, 14. 13.) In thy name, thee. (Matt. 6. 9. John, 17. 13.) In the name signifies also in the power. (Luke, 10. 17. Mark, 9. 39. John, 14. 26. Acts, 3. 12, 16; 4. 7, 10; 16. 18.)

That the rite of baptism was instituted by God as a symbol of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we learn from his own words, for in speaking of his death he said, 'I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!' (Luke, 12. 50. Comp. Matt. 3. 14, 15.) And as the baptism of our Saviour was a symbol of his death and resurrection, so, likewise, the baptism of the believer is a symbol of his death as a child of Adam to sin, and of his awaking from the dead to walk in sanctification; for when he is immersed in the water he figures thereby his death to the world, and in rising therefrom he symbolises his awaking from the dead to walk in newness of life as an adopted Son of God by the Holy Spirit. (Mark, 10. 39. Rom. 8. 14, 15.) There is, therefore, in that which the believer figures by his baptism, a manifest conformity to the death and resurrection of our Lord, as the apostle Paul has shown in his letter to the brethren at Rome, in which, referring to their baptism as the sign of the death of the flesh, and of their awaking to newness of life, he says, 'Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Let that not be. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptised in the Christ were baptised in his death? We were therefore buried, like him by baptism in death: that like as the Christ was awakened from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also shall be awakened [from the dead] to walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing that our old man hath been crucified like unto him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not be slaves of sin, for he that hath died is freed from sin.' (Rom. 6. 1-7.)

Shall we, says the apostle, abuse the grace of God by walking according to the flesh? How shall we, who pledged ourselves to die to sin by our baptism, live any longer

therein? Know ye not, that we who have been baptised as the brethren of the Christ were baptised as a symbol of the death of the body, which we offer as a sacrifice to God? We were therefore buried as disciples of the Christ by means of baptism, which is a symbol of the death of his body, which he offered to God for us, that as he was awakened from the dead by the power of the Father (John, 11. 40), so we also shall be awakened from the dead by the same power. (1 Cor. 6. 14. Col. 2. 12.) For as the Christ put off the body of the flesh, which he offered as a sacrifice to God, and was awakened from the dead to live for ever to the glory of God; even so we also, if we offer our body as a sacrifice to God by mortifying the deeds of the flesh, shall, like him, be awakened from the dead by the Holy Spirit to live to the glory of God; knowing that our old man has been crucified like the body of the Christ, that the body of sin might be deprived of its power over us, that we should not be any longer slaves of sin; for he that has crucified the flesh is freed from its dominion. This holy rite is, therefore, eminently conducive to sanctification, as we see by the appeal of the apostle; but to the unbaptised believer his exhortation is a dead letter, for he wrote to the faithful brethren who had one Spirit, one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism. (Eph. 1. 1. Col. 1. 2.)

When, therefore, the believer knows the object of baptism, and its signification as the sign and seal of salvation, and as a symbol of holiness, he is bound to render the testimony of his faith commanded by the Lord; for which purpose he must enter the water, and confess before his brethren that Jesus is his Saviour and his Lord; and promise at the same time by his grace to die to sin and to live to righteousness; and, in sign thereof, he is immersed in the water and raised again; after which solemn testimony of his conversion, and of his initiation in the holy life, he has a right to join the Assembly of God, and to bear the

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