The New Covenant, Book 2 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IIII. Of the ſecond outward part of baptiſme.
THe ſecond outward part of baptiſme is the word of inſtitution,aWord of inſtitution is the forme of baptiſme. which is as the forme of the Sacrament, as Eph. 2. Chriſt loued the Church & gaue himſelfe for it, that hee might ſanctifie it & clenſe it by the waſhing of water bEph. 5, 26. Mat. 28, 19.through the word. This alſo is expreſly ſet downe Math. 28. Goe teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father & of the Son, and of the Holy-Ghoſt. This both declareth the vſe of the Sacrament, and promiſeth Chriſt with all his benefits. For to be baptized into the name of the bleſſed Trinity, is to be made one of Gods family, which is his Church, and to bee partaker of the priuiledges thereof. This promiſe is contained vnderunder the commandement,cGen. 48, 19. as we may ſee by ſundry teſtimonies of the Scripture, as Gen. 48. Iacob ſaith, The Angell that hath deliuered me from all euill, bleſſe the children, and let my name be named vponupon them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Iſaac: whereby hee meaneth, they ſhould be ioyned to his family, and accounted in the number of them.
Vſe 1 Now the vſes remaine to be conſidered. Firſt, hereby it is manifeſt, what a ſolemne couenant and contract, & what a neere coniunction is made by the waſhing in baptiſme betweene God and the perſons baptized: for God the Father vouchſafeth to receiue them as his children into fauor, the Sonne to redeeme them, the Holy-Ghoſt to purifie and preſerue them, to comfort and regenerate them, to protect and defend them from al euill. This is the ſtaffe and ſtay of our hope and comfort.
Now to be baptized in the name, or into the name of the Trinity is all one, and therefore in the Scripture they are vſed indifferently, without difference or diſtinction. They are ſaid to be baptized in the name of Chriſt, Acts 2.38. and Chapter 10.48. they are ſaide to be baptized into the name of Chriſt, Mathew 28. Acts 8.16. and 19, 3, 4, 5. The comfort which we receiue from hence, ſtandeth vponupon the right vnderſtanding of theſe words. To be baptized into the name of the Father, is to hauehave aſſurance giuen vntounto vsus that God the Father through Chriſt our Lord is become our Father, and that therefore wee ſtand bound to performe the duty of obedient children toward him. To bee baptiſed in the name of the Sonne is to hauehave aſſurance giuen, that being baptiſed we are in the number of them that are redeemed by him and reconciled to the Father through his blood, and therefore ſtand bound to obey him as our mediator and redeemer. To bee baptiſed into the name of the Holy-Ghoſt, is to hauehave aſſurance giuen, that eueryevery true beleeuer is ſealed vp and ſanctified by the Holy-Ghoſt againſt the day of his full redemption.
Now, we can hauehave no greater comfort then this, to bee aſſured that GOD the Father, is become our Father, that GOD the Sonne is become our Redeemer, and that GOD the holye Ghoſt, is become our Sanctifyer.
Secondly, conſider on the other ſide, that the parties thus Vſe 2 baptized do promiſe and vow, to acknowledge, beleeue, ſerue, worſhip, and call vponupon the name of no other Gods, but of the true God, which is the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghoſt; and conſequently to renounce the workes of the deuill, the faſhions of the world, and the luſtes of the fleſh. Baptiſme is as it were a ſolemne oath taken in the ſight of God, and in the face of the congregation, whereby the perſon baptized, bindeth himſelf wholly to God, three in perſons, but one in ſubſtance. Indeed we deſerue to be caſt out of the fauour and family of God, yet hee vouchſafeth to entertaine vsus, to receiue vsus, and to acknowledge vsus for his children; therefore wee muſt in eueryevery eſtate depend vponupon him, honour him as our God, ſerue him as our Maiſter, obey him as our Lorde, and looke for ſaluation from him as from our redeemer. Againe, as we hauehave beene baptized, not in the name of one perſon alone, not in the name of the Father alone, or of the Sonne alone, or of the holie Ghoſt alone, but in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the holy Ghoſt, ſo we muſt all beleeue and confeſſe as an article of our faith, that the Trinitie in vnity, and vnity in Trinitie is to bee worſhipped, For, albeit there are three reckoned vp as ſpeaking of many: yet heere is alſo mentioned their name, as ſpeaking onelyonly of one, not of their names, baptize them in the name of the three perſons. So many as deny the doctrine of the Trinity, are iuſtly to be condemned of falſhood and hereſie. Such is the Religion of the Iewes, Greekes, Turks, Perſians, and in ſome ſort the Papiſtes, albeit in wordes theſe laſt acknowledge one God in three perſons. The Greeke Church at this day, denieth in effect the God-head of the holy Ghoſt, inaſmuch as it holdeth him to proceede from the Father onelyonly. The Turks and Iewes do vtterly deny the deity both of the Sonne and of the Holy-Ghoſt: the preſent Church of Rome more glorious in ſhew, but not much more ſound in faith, hath defiled the whole Trinity with their Imagerie, and ſet vp a falſe Chriſt, partly denying him to bee GOD of himſelfe, and partly repealing all his offices: ſo that howſoeuer they profeſſe him in words, and leaue him the name of a Sauiour: yet they m…ke a mocke of his ſacrifice, and hauehave turned Chriſtian religion into Anti-chriſtian ſuperſtition. Wherefore as we are baptized into the moſt worthy name of the bleſſed Trinity, let vsus hold faſt the true profeſsion thereof, and renounce al errors and hereſies oppugning our holy faith, and depriuing vsus of the ſweet comfort we hauehave therein.
Vſe 3 Thirdly, are theſe words of inſtitution, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghoſt, the outward forme of baptiſme? Then we hold that manner of baptizing muſt be retained, this ought not to be changed, no other ought to be vſed then this, preſcribed by Chriſt our Sauiour. We muſt not therefore let paſſe or leaue out, any of the three perſons in Trinity (as ſome hereticks hauehave done) though we ſhal vnderſtand the other by naming and ſpeaking of one. Obiection. If any ſay, that the Apoſtles baptized in the name of Chriſt, as Act. 2.38. and chap. 10, 48. Anſwere. and 19, 5. To this obiection I anſwere, the Apoſtles do not ſet downe in thoſe places the forme of baptiſme, or the words of inſtitution: but the ſubſtance and end, which is, to aſſure remiſsion of ſinnes in the name of Chriſt. They ſhew not the forme, but the fruite: not how it ſhould bee miniſtred, but what ſpirituall grace is ſignified thereby. For why ſhould the diſciples change the ordinance of their maiſter, who deliuered nothing to the Churches, but whatd1 Cor. 11, 23 they receiued of the Lord? Againe, it cannot be denyed, but that the ApoſtleseAct. 10, 47. and 15, 2. baptized in this forme, in the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the Holy-Ghoſt, as Acts 10, ver. 47. Can any forbid water that theſe ſhould not be baptized, which hauehave receiued the holy-Ghoſt as wel as we? As if he ſhould ſay, theſe hauehave receiued the guifts of the Holy-Ghoſt, therfore they may be baptized in the name of the Holy-Ghoſt. And more plainely Act. 19. when the Diſciples had anſwered Paul that they knew not whether there were an Holy-Ghoſt, he ſaith, VntoUnto what were yee then baptized? Whereby he ſheweth, it was the manner and cuſtome to baptize in the name of the Holy-Ghoſt, and conſequently of the whole Trinity. The Euangeliſts alſo teach, that at the baptiſme of Iohn, the Father, Sonne and Holy-Ghoſt were preſent. And as he baptized with the ſame matter, why ſhould we imagine hee obſerued not the ſame forme that Chriſt commanded expreſly to his Apoſtles? Nay, ſeeing in the baptiſme of Iohn we hauehave proued there was the ſame promiſe, the ſame grace, the ſame vertue, the ſame ſigne, the ſame ſignification, which was in the baptiſme of the Apoſtles (as we hauehave proued before) why ſhold we only doubt of the words of inſtitution? Or why ſhould we imagine that the forme ſhould be altered and changed? Wherefore we conclude, that the Apoſtles would not alter any thing of the direct and expreſſe words of their Lord & Maiſter,fMat. 28.19. preſcribed Math. 28. where he chargeth them both what to preach and how to baptize. For as he enioyneth them to teach the Nations to obſerue whatſoeuer he commanded them: ſo he willeth them to baptize in the name of the Father, of the Sonne, and of the Holy-Ghoſt. And as they altered nothing in the matter of teaching: no more did they in the maner of baptizing, conſidering that as the doctrine they preached was the doctrine of God; ſo the Sacraments they deliuered were the Sacramēts of God, and they had no more leaue in the one, then liberty in the other. If then any ſhould baptize otherwiſe then in the name of the Trinity, or ſhould name the Sonne to be vnequall to the Father, or ſhould deny the proceeding of the Holy-Ghoſt, or ſhould baptize in the name of the Virgin Mary and the Saints, this cannot be the Sacrament of Baptiſme inſtituted by Chriſt, but a ceremony made void and fruſtrate by our owne inuentions.