in the command, Matt, xxviii., 19. 2d. From the significancy of the rite. Besides being a symbol of purification, it is essentially, as a rite of initiation into the Christian church, a covenanting ordinance whereby the recipient recognizes and pledges his allegi- ance to God in that character and in those relations in which he has revealed himself to us in the Scriptures. The formula of baptism, therefore, is a summary statement of the whole Scrip- ture doctrine of the Triune Jehovah as he has chosen to reveal himself to us, and in all those relations which the several Persons of the Trinity graciously sustain in the scheme of redemption to the believer. Hence the baptism of all those sects which reject the scriptural doctrine of the Trinity is invalid.
The frequent phrases, to be baptized in " the name of Jesus Christ/' or "in the name of the Lord Jesus," or "in the name of the Lord/' (Acts ii. 38 ; x., 48 ; xix., 5,) do not at all present the form of words which the apostles used in administering this sacrament, but are simply used to designate Christian baptism in distinction from that of John, or to indicate the uniform effect of that spiritual grace which is symbolized in baptism, viz., union with Christ, Gal. iii., 27.
4. What is the meaning of the formula " to baptize in the name (elg to ovofia) of any one" ?
To be baptized " in the name of Paul/' (slg to dvofia,) 1 Cor. i., 13, or " unto Moses," (elg tov Muvgtjv,) 1 Cor. x., 2, is, on the part of the baptized, to be made the believing and obedient dis- ciples of Paul and Moses, and the objects of their care, and the participants in whatever blessings they have to bestow. To be baptized in the name of the Trinity, (Matt, xxviii., 19,) or " in the name of the Lord Jesus," (Acts xix., 5,) or "into Jesus Christ," (Rom. vi., 3,) is by baptism, or rather by the grace of which ritual baptism is the sign to be united to Christ, or to the Trinity through Christ, as his disciples, believers in his doctrine, heirs of his promises, and participants in his spiritual life.
5. What is the design of baptism ? Its design is —
1st. Primarily, to signify seal and convey to those to whom they belong the benefits of the covenant of grace. Thus (1.) It
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symbolizes " the washing of regeneration/' " the renewing of the , Holy Ghost/' which unites the believer to Christ, and so makes him a participant in Christ's life and all other benefits, 1 Cor. xii., 13 ; Gal. iii., 27 ; Titus iii., 5. (2.) Christ herein visibly seals his promises to those who receive it with faith, and invests them with the grace promised.
2d. Its design was, secondarily, as springing from the former, (1.) to be a visible sign of our covenant to be the Lord's, i. e., to accept his salvation, and to consecrate ourselves to his service. (2.) And, hence, to be a badge of our public profession, our sepa- ration from the world, and our initiation into the visible church. As a badge it marks us as belonging to the Lord, and consequently a distinguishes us from the world, b symbolizes our union with our fellow- Christians, 1 Cor. xii., 13.
6. What is the emblematic import of baptism ?
In every sacrament there is a visible sign representing an in- visible grace. The sign represents the grace in virtue of Christ's authoritatively appointing it thereto, but the selection by Christ of the particular sign is founded on its fitness as a natural em- blem of the grace which he appoints it to represent. Thus in the Lord's supper the bread broken by the officiating minister, and the wine poured out, are natural emblems of the body of Christ broken, and his blood shed as a sacrifice for our sins. And in like man- ner in the sacrament of baptism the application of water to the person of the recipient is a natural emblem of the " washing of regeneration," Titus hi., 5. Hence we are said to be " born of water and of the Spirit," John iii., 5, i. e., regenerated by the Holy Spirit, of which new birth baptism with water is the em- blem ; and to be baptized "by one Spirit into one body," i. e., the spiritual body of Christ ; and to be " baptised into Christ," so as " to have put on Christ," Gal. iii., 27 ; and to be " baptized into his death," and to be " buried with him in baptism ... so that we should walk with him in newness of life," Eom. vi., 3, 4, because the sacrament of baptism is the emblem of that spiritual regeneration which unites us both federally and spiritually to Christ, so that we have part with him both in his life and in his death, and as he died unto sin as a sacrifice, so we die unto sin in its ceasing to be the. controling principle of our natures, and as.
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he rose again in the resumption of his natural life, we rise to the possession and exercise of a new spiritual life.