114 cnarsTIAN nnrizsai. the Son of God, thou mayest be baptized ;" Acts viii.. 37. He answered, "I believe ; andPhilip baptized, him. And here the sacrednames of Father, Son and Spirit are of great use and importance again. When we -are baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, we do humbly accept of God, the. God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Father and our God : We accept of the Son of God as- our Saviour, especiallyby the blood of his sacrifice, and ofthe Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier byhis gospel, and his powerful in- fluences. 4. Baptism implies also by necessary consequence, a " pro- fession of our obligationto God the Father, the Son andthe Holy Spirit, and our engagement to act consistently with this solem- nity ;" that is to live agreeably to thesefavours we receive from God, viz. the pardon of our sins and the sanctification of our souls ; to watchagainst sin for time to come, to abstain from all pollutions.of flesh and spirit ; for we are not washedby the blood and spirit of Christ that we may defile ourselves again. We en- gage to carry on the work of repentance and mortification ofsin all our lives, as well as to live upon Christ by faith for the remis- sion of daily rising transgressions. In short it includes a holy resolution through the grace of Christ, andby the aids of his Spirit to followevery other means which God bath appointed for the rooting out of sin with all its defilementsfrom the soul, and restoring us to purity and holiness and the likeness of God. Thus baptism becomes aseal ofthe covenantof grace between God and men, an acceptance of his blessings and engagement to their cor- respondent duties, even as circumcision was to Abraham, as a, seal of his justification by faith ;" Rom,- iv. 11: and an eminent proof and assurance of his obedience. Persons who desire baptism, and yet will not take these obligations upon then. have no claim to this ordinance: And therefore John drove . away the scribes and pharisees from this baptism, because they not " bring forth fruits meet for repentance ;" Mat. íü. 7 -9. 5. Baptism being significant of all these blessings and these duties, " it becomes the appointed ceremony and sign of profes. sing the whole christian religion, and the rite or form of entering into the visible church of Christ." Those who are baptized are professed christians ; they are avowed disciples of Christ. And herein also the sacred names of Father, Son and Spirit have their proper plain significancy. Baptism is a profession of the, religion which was contrived by the wisdom and grace of God the Father, it was published and preached to the world by *Jesus. Christ his Son, and it was confirmed and established by the Miraculous gifts and operations of the. Holy Spirit. It implies
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