of the Holy Ghost. (6.) It is admitted that the communication of the sanctifying influences of the Spirit is expressed in the use of two familiar figures, that of anointing with oil, and that of the pouring of water. Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed. The people of God are called his " anointed." The Apostle John says to believers : " Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and
ye know all things The anointing which ye have received
of Him abideth in you." (1 John ii. 20 and 27.) The other figure is no less familiar. (Is. xxxii. 15 ; Joel ii. 28.) The Spirit's influences are compared to rain which waters the earth, and to the dew which falls on the mown grass. From all this it appears that the truth symbolized in baptism may be signified by immersion, affusion, or sprinkling ; but that the ordinance is most significant and most conformed to Scripture, when administered by affusion or sprinkling.
§ 8. The Formula of Baptism.
This is authoritatively prescribed in Matthew xxviii. 19. Christ gave a command perpetually binding on his Church to baptize men " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." In this passage t"he preposition tfe («s to ovofm) means unto, or, in reference to. Paul asks the Corinthians, 44 were ye baptized els to ovofia Uavkov ; " (1 Cor. i. 13. Did your baptism make you the disciples of Paul?) He tells them (1 Cor. x. 2) that the fathers, " were baptized unto Moses " dt rbv Maxnjv, they were made and professed to be the disciples of Moses. So in Romans vi. 3, it is said we " were baptized els Xpio-Tov Irjarovv unto Jesus Christ." Galatians iii. 27, " Baptized into («s) Christ." According to this formula, he who receives baptism as a Christian rite, thereby professes to stand in that re- lation to the Father, Son, and Spirit which those who receive the religion of Christ sustain. That is, he professes to receive God the Father, as his father ; God the Son, as his Saviour, and God the Holy Ghost as his teacher and sanctifier ; and this involves the engagement to receive the Word, of which the Spirit is the author, as the rule of his faith and practice.1
1 Fritzsche on Romans vi. 3, says: "Loquutio, 0airri£<o rtva «I? nva (els «) per se non minus late patet, quam vernacula Jemanden auf Jemanden (aut etwas) taufen. Non enim nisi hanc generalem notionem complectitur: aliquem aquae ita immergere, ut ejus cogita- tiones in aliquem (aliquod) dirigas, Jemanden unter Beziehung, Hindeutung auf jemanden (etwas) taufen. At multis de causis ei qui lavatur res memorabilis monstrari potest, v. c, ut in allquo fidem collocet, ut aliquem ducem sequatur, ut aliquid pie revereatur, ut aliquid
effectum reddat, ut aliquid sibi evenisse sciat et sic porro Sic dubitare non potest,
quin /Jairri£«i> t»v» eis Xpiarov (Gal. iii. 27), aquae aliquem sic immergere, ut animum ad
540 PART in. Ch. XX. — the means of grace.
There are several cases in which baptism is said to have been administered ty tu 6v6fian in, or on, the name of Christ, instead of cis to ovofxa into, or, in reference to. And in Acts ii. 38, the preposition tin is used, «rl t<3 oVo/xan. It is doubtful whether any- thing materially different was intended to be expressed by this change of the prepositions and cases. To baptize, eVi or lv ovo/urn, means to baptize u upon the name," sc, of Christ, that is, upon the authority of Christ. The rite is administered in obedience to his command, in the form in which he prescribed, and with the intent for which he ordained it.
In the Acts it is repeatedly said that the Apostles baptized their converts in " the name of Christ." It is not to be inferred from this fact that they departed from the form prescribed in Matthew xxviii. 19, and administered the ordinance in the use of the words, ' I baptize thee in the name of Christ ; ' or, ' I bap- tize thee cts Xpiarov unto Christ.' Such inference is unnecessary ; as baptism administered in the way prescribed in Matthew xxviii. 19, is a baptism both in the name, or, by the authority of Christ, and unto or in reference to Him. As this inference is unnecessary so it is improbable. It is in the highest degree im- probable that the Apostles would have departed from the form so solemnly prescribed by their Divine Master ; and it is more- over improbable that any such departure took place from the fact that the form prescribed in Matthew has been used in all ages and parts of the Church.
§ 9. The Subjects of Baptism.
" Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible Church, till they profess their faith in Christ and obedience to Him : but the infants of such as are members of the visible Church are to be baptized." 1
The question, Who are the proper subjects of baptism ? is de- termined by the design of the ordinance and the practice of the Apostles. It has been shown that, according to our standards, the sacraments (and of course baptism) were instituted, to sig- nify, seal, and apply to believers the benefits of the redemption of Christ. The reception of baptism, so far as adults are con- cerned, is an intelligent, voluntary act, which from its nature in-
Christum applicare eum jubeas, valeat ita aliquem aqua lustrare ut Christo fidem haben-
dam esse ei significes (Act. xix. 4), et PanT^ riva ei? to ovo>a toO Ilarpos, ktA notet
lustro aliquem reverentia, quae Patris — nomini debeatur, eum obstringens." Edit. Halle, 1836, vol. i. pp. 359, 360.
* Westminster Shorter Catechism, quest. 95.