The New Life

The New Life.
Spirit is given to appropriate witliin us all the love
of the Father and all the grace of the Son. The believing
candidate for baptism is baptized into the
death of Christ, has put on Christ: the Holy Spirit
is in him to give him all this as his daily experience.*
Lord God, make Thy holy baptism always operative
in my soul as the experience that I am baptized
into the death of Christ. And let Thy people everywhere
understand by Thy Spirit what rich
blessing
lies thrown open in the baptism of their children.
Amen.
And what are we now to think of Infant Baptism ? With the
assurance that those who cleave only to God's word, namely,
the Baptists, will say to us : You cannot adduce a single passage
in Scripture where the baptism of little children is spoken of.
Our answer is that this is thoroughly taught us in Scripture,
not indeed by separate texts, but by its whole tenor. The reason
why the Lord Jesus did not name children specially, was that
this was altogether unnecessary. From the time of Abraham
onwards God had engrained it in His people, that in His covenant
He always reckoned parents and children together. He
deals, not with separate individuals alone, but with households :
the faith of a father held good for the child, so long as the child
did not violate the covenant.
a. In Abraham, Isaac obtained part ; in every father amongst
the people of Israel his child obtained part in the covenant
blessing, and therefore in the covenant token. " I will establish
My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee,
to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee." (Gen. xvii. 7.)
b. Even so in connection with the Passover, it was ordained
that, when a stranger would join the people, all his males should
be circumcised. (Kx. xii. 48.) Up to the time of Christ it was
> Eph. iv. 14, 15 ; Col. ii. 6.
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