with their father Abraham. Hence it never could have been ful- filled until the advent of the Messiah, and the abolishment of the restrictive law. Hence the Abrahamic covenant, instead of hav- ing been superseded by the gospel, only now begins to have its just accomplishment. Hence, on the day of Pentecost, Peter exhorts all to repent and be baptized, because the Abrahamic covenant still held in force for all Jews and for their children, and for all those afar off, i. e., Gentiles, as many as God should call, Acts ii., 38, 39. Hence also Paul argued earnestly that since the Abrahamic covenant is still in force, therefore, from its very terms, the Gentiles who should believe in Christ had a right to a place in that ancient church, which was founded upon it, on equal terms with the Jews. " In thee shall all nations be blessed, so then," says Paul, " they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham/' and all who believe in Christ, Jew or Gentle indis- criminately, " are" to the full intent of the covenant, " Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise," Gal. iii., 6-29, which promise was, " I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee/'
The bearing of this argument upon the question of infant baptism is direct and conclusive.
1st. Baptism now occupies the same relation to the covenant and the church which circumcision did. (1.) Both rites repre- sent the same spiritual grace, namely, regeneration, Deut. xxx., 6 ; Col. ii., 11 ; Eom. vi., 3, 4. (2.) Baptism is now what cir- cumcision was, the seal, or confirming sign, of the Abrahamic covenant. Peter says, " be baptized for the promise is to you and to your children," Acts, ii., 38, 39. Paul says explicitly that baptism is the sign of that covenant, " for as many as have been baptized into Christ are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise," Gal. iii., 27, 29 ; and that baptism is the circum- cision of Christ, Col. ii., 10, 11. (3.) Both rites are the appointed forms, in successive eras, of initiation into the church, which we have proved to be the same church under both dispensations.
2d. Since the church is the same, in the absence of all explicit command to the contrary, the members are the same. Children of believers were members then. They ought to be recognized as members now, and receive the initiatory rite. This the apostles took for granted as self-evident, and universally admitted ; an
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explicit command to baptize would have implied doubt in the ancient church rights of infants.
3d. Since the covenant, with its promise to be " a God to the believer and his seed/' is expressly declared to stand firm under the gospel, the believer's seed have a right to the seal of that promise. — Dr. John M. Mason's " Essays on the Church."
22. Present the evidence that Christ recognized the church standing of children.
1st. Christ declares of little children (Matthew, iraiS'ia, Luke figfyri, infants) that " of such is the kingdom of heaven," Matt. xix., 14 ; Luke xviii., 16. The phrase " kingdom of God and of heaven" signifies the visible church under the new dispensation, Matt, iii., 2 ; xiii., 47.
2d. In his recommission of Peter, after his apostasy, our Lord commanded him as under shepherd to feed the lambs, as well as the sheep of the flock, John xxi., 15-17.
3d. In his general commission of the apostles, he commanded them to disciple nations (which are always constituted of fami- lies) by baptizing, and then teaching them, Matt, xxviii., 19, 20.
23. Show that the apostles aliuays acted on the principle that the child is a church member if the parent is.
The apostles were not settled pastors in the midst of an estab- lished Christian community, but itinerant missionaries to an un- believing world, sent not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, 1 Cor. i., 17. Hence we have in the Acts and Epistles the record of only ten separate instances of baptism. In two of these, viz., of the eunuch and of Paul, Acts viii., 38 ; ix., 18, there were no families to be baptized. In the case of the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, the people of Samaria, and the disciples of John at Ephesus, crowds were baptized on the very spot on which they professed to believe. Of the remaining five instances, in the four cases in which the family is mentioned at all, it is expressly said they were baptized, viz., the households of Lydia of Thyatira, of the jailer of Philippi, of Stephanas, and of Crispus, Acts xvi, 15, 32, 33 ; xviii., 8 ; 1 Cor. i., 16. In the remaining instance of Cor- nelius, the record implies that the family was also baptized.
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Thus the apostles in every case, without a single recorded excep- tion, baptized believers on the spot, and whenever they had fami- lies, they also baptized their households, as such.