Chapter 33. Of Baptism.
WILLIAM PERKINS
Chapter 33. Of Baptism.
There are two Sacraments. 1Cor 10.1-4, I would not have you ignorant that all our fathers were under the cloud; and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink (for they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, which rock was Christ.) Tertullian, bk 4,
Contra Marcion. Augustine de Symbol ad Catechum, bk 4, chap. 6.
The first Sacrament is that by which Christians are initiated and admitted into the Church of God; and this is Baptism.
The second Sacrament by which the Church is preserved and nourished, is the Lord's Supper.
Baptism is a Sacrament by which those who are within the covenant are washed with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Being thus grafted into Christ, they may have perpetual fellowship with him. Mat 28.19, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Mar 16.16, He that believes and is baptized, shall be saved. He that does not believe, shall be condemned.
1Cor 1.13-15, Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Neither were you baptized into the name of Paul. I thank God I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest any say I had baptized in my own name.
Within the Covenant are all the seed of Abraham, or the seed of the faithful. Gal 3.7 These are either of riper years, or infants.
Those of riper years are all those who, adjoining themselves to the visible Church, both testify of their repentance of their sins, and hold the foundations of religion taught in that same Church. Mat 3.6, And they were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. Act 8.36-38, As they went, they came to a water.
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Then the Eunuch said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And they went down into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch, and he baptized him. Exo 12.48, If a stranger dwells with you, and will observe the Passover of the Lord, let him circumcise all the males that belong to him, and then let him come and observe it, and then he shall be as one who is born in the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
Infants within the Covenant are those who have at least one of their parents faithful. 1Cor 7.14, The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, otherwise your children would be unclean; but now they are holy. Rom 11.16, If the first fruits are holy, so is the whole lump. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. Gen 17.7, I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your seed after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you, and your seed after you. Verse 13, He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with money, must be circumcised. So my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. Act 16.31, They said,
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, and your whole household.
WILLIAM PERKINS
The Sacramental Union of the Parts of Baptism Thin gs Se nsibl e Thin gs Sp iritua l Wate r The union of the sign and the thing signif ied Chris t's bl ood, & fig urati vely, all C hrist Sprin kling or di ppin g in the w ater 1. Re missi on of sins and i mput ation of Ch rist's justic e. 2.
Morti ficati on of sin by the force of Ch rist's deat h.
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The p rogre ss & conti nuan ce in morti ficati on God' s spir itual wash ing is rege nerat ion Conti nuan ce in the w ater Vivifi catio n & s ancti ficati on th roug h Chr ist's r esurr ectio n.
Exter nal B aptis m.
Minis ter, to wash the u nclea n body in the N ame of, etc.
Inwa rd Ba ptism Arisi ng from the w ater Actio ns sp iritua l and in-wa rd Give his body to be wash ed To co nsecr ate h imsel f to God, and f orsak e the flesh, devil, and the w orld Actio ns se nsibl e by the
WILLIAM PERKINS
Recei ver to Recei ver Recei ve that wash ing To feel the i nwar d wa shing of the Spirit Question: How are the children of faithful parents
"in the Covenant"?
Answer: Holy parents are to be considered in two ways. First, as they were the sons of the first Adam, so they are as yet partly carnal. In this estate, they likewise beget their sons, children of wrath. For the father begets a son, not as he is a good man, but simply as a man. And therefore, being impure, he must beget that which is impure. Secondly, we must consider the parents as they are the sons of God, grafted into the second Adam. In this estate, though they cannot derive faith to their posterity (for the sons of God are not made such by natural generation, but by the adoption of God the Father), yet they may believe both for themselves and others, according to the tenor of the Covenant of Grace
— as Adam sinned both for himself and others, and as parents in bargains, covenant both for themselves and their heirs after them. This is why Paul says that the parents are like the first fruits which sanctify the whole lump.
So then, the faith of the parents makes their sons to be accounted in the covenant — those who, because of their age, do not yet actually believe.
To be baptized into the name of the Father, etc., after the receipt of the outward sign of washing, is to be made one of God's family, which is His church, and to be made partaker of its privileges.
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Gen 48.16, The angel which has delivered me from all evil, bless the children, and let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, that they may grow as fish into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Isa 4.1, In that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and we will wear our own garments; only, let us be called by your name, and take away our reproach.
By this it is manifest that in this washing of Baptism, there is sealed and propounded, a marvelous solemn covenant and contract: first, of God with the baptized — in that God the Father granted to receive him into favour, the Son to redeem him, and the Holy Ghost to purify and regenerate him. Secondly, of the baptized with God, who promises to acknowledge, invocated, and worship no other God, but the true Jehovah, who is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The external and visible matter of baptism, is water.
For the minister may not baptize with any other liquid, but only with natural water.
This was the judgment of the Primitive Church. For when a certain minister, for lack of water, took sand, and baptized someone with that, the party they sanded was baptized again, the former baptism being esteemed of no effect. Niceph. History, bk. 3, chap. 33.
The external form of baptism is the minister's washing of the baptized, according to the prescript rule of God's word, Rom 6.4.
The ancient custom of baptizing was to dip, and as it were, to dive, the whole body of the baptized in the water, as may appear in Paul, Rom 6, and the Councils of Laodicea, and neo-Caesarea. But now, especially in cold countries, the Church only sprinkles the baptized, because of children's weakness; for very few of ripe years are now baptized. We do not need to marvel much at this alteration, seeing that charity and necessity may dispense with ceremonies, and in equity mitigate the exactness of them.
WILLIAM PERKINS
The Sacramental union of the parts of Baptism, is of this sort:
The element of water, by which the uncleanness of the body is purified by a most convenient proportion, is a shadow of the blood of Christ; and by the figure of a synecdoche, it takes the part for the whole – the whole being Christ. 1Joh 1.7, And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
The action of the Minister, is his washing the party being baptized with the element of water. This seals and confirms a double action of God.
I. The ingrafting or incorporating of the baptized into Christ. Gal 3.27, As many as are baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. 1Cor 12.13, By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body.
II. Our spiritual regeneration. Tit 3.5, Not by the works of righteousness which we had done, but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing of the new birth, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Of washing, there are three parts. Putting into the water; continuance in the water; and coming out of the water.
Putting into the water, or sprinkling with water, ratifies, I. The shedding of the blood of Christ for the remission of all our sins, and the imputation of his righteousness. Act 22.16, Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins in calling on the name of the Lord.
1Cor 6.11, And such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are ingrafted in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our
God.
II. The mortification of sin by the power of Christ's death. Rom 6.3, Do you not know that all we who have been baptized into Jesus Christ have been baptized into his death? Verse 6, Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin: for he that is dead, is freed from sin.
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Continuance in the water, notes the burial of sin; namely, a continual increase of mortification by the power both of Christ's death and burial. Rom 6.4, We are buried then with him by baptism into his death.
Coming out of the water confirms our spiritual vivification [enlivening] to newness of life in all holiness and justice, which we attain to by the power of Christ's resurrection. Rom 6.4-5, Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we are grafted with him into the similitude of his death, even so we shall be to the similitude of the resurrection.
The action of the party to be baptized, is twofold.
The first is to offer himself to be baptized before the minister, and to do that in the presence of the congregation. This signifies he consecrates himself to the Lord, and the he utterly renounces the flesh, the world, and the devil. 1Pet 3.21, To which also the figure which now saves us, even baptism, agrees (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but in that a good conscience makes its request to God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The second is to receive the external washing by water. This signifies that the party baptized receives the internal washing, which is by the blood of Christ, or at least that it is offered to him.
Rebaptizing is in no way to be allowed. For just as in natural generation, man is born only once, so must he be in spiritual regeneration. Therefore, those who are baptized by a minister who is a heretic, not yet degraded from that calling (if the external form of administration is observed) must not be baptized again by the Church of God — especially if, after baptism, they have been made partakers of the Lord's Supper.
Only, they should be instructed in the true faith.
Eusebius, History, bk. 7, chap. 8, on Faith:
There was in our Province an ancient professor of the faith, indeed, before I was created Bishop, even before my predecessor Heraclas. This man — when he
WILLIAM PERKINS
was present at the baptism of some, and heard what questions they were asked, and what answers they gave — immediately came weeping to me, and humbling himself before me, confessed that he was baptized by a heretic. In regard to that administration which he saw in our Church, he yet accounted it no baptism, in that the confession used there was fraught with blasphemies. He also added this, that he was so grieved for this offense, that he dared not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven. This is why he so earnestly sought me: that he might be cleansed and purified with the baptism of our Church, and so receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Notwithstanding, I dared not presume to administer this, but said it was sufficient for him that he had been for so long a professor among us, and that at receiving the Lord's Supper, he answered, Amen.
These things I told him were of enough force to purge him. And therefore I advised him to rest himself in his former faith and conscience already sufficiently purified, especially in that he was for so long a partaker with us in the Sacraments. Aug. lib. 3. Ch. 2, Contra
Petil. Literas.
The right use of baptism is this: when inwardly in your heart you sensibly feel that, through the heat of concupiscence, you are moved to commit some sin, then begin to have some holy meditation of that solemn vow which you made to God in baptism.
Again, if through infirmity, you fall once or often into some sin, you still have recourse to baptism, so that there you may receive courage for your soul. For although baptism is administered but once, yet that once testifies that all men's sins — past, present, and to come — are washed away. 1Pet 3.21; Eph 5.25, 26, 27.
Therefore, baptism may be truly termed the Sacrament of repentance, and as it were, a board to swim upon when a man fears the shipwreck of his soul. Mar 1.4.
1Tim 1.19; Rom 6.4, 6.
Last of all, see that you never rest till such time as you have a feeling of that renewing power signified in
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baptism: namely, the power of Christ's death mortifying sin, and the virtue of his resurrection, in the renovation of the spirit.