Of the dignity of baptism, Haimo, on Hos. 2 (_page 547_), says: “Baptism is sanctified by faith in the sufferings of our Lord.”
“What doth hinder me to be baptized?” said the Ethiopian to Philip. Philip replied: “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest,” Acts 8:36,37; indicating that, in order to receive baptism worthily, sincere faith is required, by which baptism is sanctified, which is just what Haimo has expressed in the above words; and thus his words agree with those of the holy Scripture which we have quoted.[138]
[138] The following passages by Haimo, from Ps. 38, to Cant. 1, are apparently quoted by Idiota. _Bapt. Hist., pages 547, 548._
The righteous, Haimo says, on Ps. 38 (_page 548_): “Live in baptism, in which they die unto sin and the world.”
Again, on Ps. 136, he says: “By the Red Sea we understand holy baptism, which (so to speak) is red, being sanctified through the blood of Christ,” and a little further on: “By the impartation of the same, the believers begin (to proceed) in the way by which they come to God.”
On Zech. 13 he says: “When we receive the faith, we are regenerated in Christ, and in baptism we are washed from all our sins; and they that through faith are regenerated in baptism, are made children of God.[typo?: ” missing]
Again, on Cant. 1, he speaks thus: “As Israel was preserved in the Red Sea, but Pharaoh drowned, even so the church of the Gentiles, by baptism, is delivered from the bondage of the devil, and led into the true land of promise, to the liberty of the Gospel; thus she who was formerly an handmaid of iniquity, is become a friend[139] [beloved] of Christ, cleansed and washed, by baptism, from the filth of sin.”
[139] In the Dutch translation of the Bible, in the Book of Canticles, the word corresponding to “love,” whenever this is applied as a term of endearment to the church, by Christ, is _vriendinne_, i. e., friend; hence the allusion is not so apparent in the passage as translated here into English.--_Translator._
These passages are like the jets of a fountain, which, though they shoot forth in different places, proceed from one source. In the first passage, it is said of the righteous, that they “live in baptism, yea, die unto sin and the world.” The life spoken of here signifies a spiritual life, and is contrasted with death, which comes by sin; the dying unto sin and the world, signifies a forsaking and renouncing of the same, which can be done only by those who previously adhered to, and loved, sin and the world.
In the second passage, baptism is compared to the Red Sea, and it is said that “by the impartation of the same, the believers proceed.” But is not this the very thing which Paul spoke of the figurative baptism of the believing patriarchs, saying: “Brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the (Red) sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:1,2); which is not to be understood of infants that were wont to be carried, but of adult persons, who were able to proceed and walk.
In the third passage, faith, regeneration, baptism, and being made children of God, are joined together. “They that through faith are regenerated in baptism, are made children of God,” he writes. But how can this be interpreted otherwise, than with reference to intelligent persons, who, having attained to faith, by the hearing of the word of God, are regenerated, and, in token thereof, baptized, and adopted as children of God into his church? Faith certainly comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom. 10:17. Regeneration takes place after the death of the first birth, or after the mortifying of the old man. John 3:4,5; Rom. 6:4. Baptism is administered to the believing and regenerated, as a sign of faith and regeneration. Acts 8:37; Tit. 3:5. Those are made children of God, who, through faith, have put on Christ, and, in proof of this, have been baptized. John 1:12, compared with Gal. 3:26,27. Judge now, whether these are things that can be done by new-born infants. I am fully confident that you will say: _No_. Yet, these things are connected with baptism, not only by Haimo, but principally by God, in the holy Scriptures; yea, without them, baptism is of no value. Hence we say: “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” Matth. 19:6.