Of Baptism, Chapter 3
CHAP. III. Wherein of a third great uſe and end of Baptiſme, whereby is ſealed our communion with Chriſt in his holines, to wit, a death unto ſinne, and a riſing to newneſſe of life.
WEe come now to another great uſe and end of Baptiſme, which is holines of life, conſiſting of two parts, dying to ſinne, and riſing to holines, and this is eſpecially held out Rom. 6. I ſhall therefore breefly open & analiſe theſe words, not intending a large diſcours, but ſo much as ſuites with the nature of this ordinance.
Firſt therefore in anſwer to that unſavoury objection verſ. 1. Shall vvee ſinne that grace may abounde? The Apoſtle reaſoneth verſ. 2. Hovv ſhall vve that are dead to ſinne, live any longer therein; as if he had ſaid, thoſe that are dead to ſinne, ſhould not live in ſinne, but you are dead to ſinne, therefore you ſhould not live in ſinne; contraries deſtroy their cōtraries, death deſtroyes life, as the privation doth the habit; a man cannot live & dye together.
But now it reſts to be prooved that wee are dead to ſinne, v. 3. Knovv yee not that ſo many of us as vvere baptized into Ieſus Chriſt, vvere baptized into his death? This hee prooves from our Baptiſme, which is the ſeale and expreſſion of our faith: If Chriſt be dead to ſinne, then thoſe that are baptized, are dead to ſinne; But Chriſt is dead to ſin, therefore thoſe that are baptized, are dead to ſinne.
That Chriſt is dead to ſinne, and how, you ſhall heare v. 10. For in that hee dyed, hee dyed unto ſinne once. But the propoſition that thoſe that are baptized, are dead to ſin, becauſe Chriſt is dead to ſinne, he ſhewes you from the end of baptiſme, which is to witnes & confirme to you your union and communion with Chriſt: And firſt of all with his death, which both diſcharges you from the guilt of ſinne, and deſtroyes and kills ſinne in you.
Now that this is the particular end, he ſhewes you from the generall, verſ. 3. Knovv ye not that ſo many of us as vvere baptized into Ieſus Chriſt, vvere baptized into his death; yee are baptized into Chriſt, therefore into his death; hence verſ. 4. VVee are buried vvith him by baptiſme into death; yee are ſo ſurely dead with Chriſt, that ye are buried alſo, to be ſure he is dead that is buried. In this verſe hee prooves further this communion in holines, by the contrarie to death, namely our riſing againe, that like as Chriſt vvas raiſed up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even ſo vve alſo ſhould vvalke in nevvnes of life. For as Baptiſme witneſſes to you that you are dead with Chriſt, ſo the ſame Baptiſme witneſſes that ye are riſen with him, ſo that as wee are dead to ſinne by vertue of the death of Chriſt, ſo wee are alive to holines by vertue of the riſing of Chriſt, that as Chriſt was raiſed from the dead to a new glorious and heavenly life, ſo wee are raiſed to a life, new and holy: Now the reaſon of this witneſſe ariſeth from the analogie and proportion that the ſigne hath, with the thing ſignified, that Baptiſme hath with the thing witneſſed: Thoſe that are baptized, they are drowned and buried, and brought againe alive out of the water; ſo by our union with Chriſt, wee have the communion of being crucified & buried with him, and of riſing againe to a new life. Verſ. 5. If vve have bene planted together in the likenes of his death, vvee ſhall be alſo in the likenes of his reſurrection. This word planting ſhewes the reality of theſe ſignes & ſeales, this ordinance witneſſes our planting and grafting into Chriſt, who is the ſtock with whom wee live and dye; as wee feele death with him, ſo life alſo, this is the great ſtay, the great comfort, wee are planted into Chriſt the true vyne, by God the Father, and now wee ſhall runne his fortune in life or death, as the plant & ſtock dye and live together. ver. 6. Knovving this that our old man is crucified vvith him, that the body of ſin might be deſtroyed, that henceforth vvee ſhould not ſerve ſinne: Here he inſiſts in the former argument, namely our communion in the death of Chriſt, which death hee declares by the kind of it, namely crucifixion, & ſhewes that as Chriſt for our ſinnes dyed, ſo the body of ſinne in us by the death of Chriſt is crucified, the power and force is abated, that wee ſhould not ſerve ſinne, and live to ſinne.
Verſ. 7. For hee that is dead, is freed from ſinne. Hee that is free from ſinne, is no longer obliged to ſinne, but beleevers baptized, are freed from ſinne, becauſe they are dead to ſinne; dead with Chriſt therefore we are free from ſinne.
Verſ. 8. Novv if vve be dead vvith Chriſt, vvee beleeve that vve ſhall alſo live vvith him. This is to ſhew the communion ſtill, and to uſher in the next verſe of our communion with the life of Chriſt.
Verſ. 9. Knovving that Chriſt being rayſed from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. Here he illuſtrates the life of Chriſt, from the perpetuity of it, that from thence hee might gather, the condition of the Saints, in their perſuance of holines, which ſhould be evermore.
Verſ. 10. For in that he dyed, he dyed unto ſinne once; that is, to blot out ſinne, but in that hee lives, hee lives to God; a glorious life and to the glory of God the Father.
Verſ. 11. Likevviſe reckon yee alſo your ſelves to be dead indeed unto ſinne, but alive unto God, through Ieſus Chriſt our Lord.
There is the concluſion of all that went before, reaſon your ſealnes, therefore to be dead to ſin once, when Chriſt died to deſtroy the power of it, therefore ſinne hath nothing to doe with you. On the contrary, you are as Chriſt, alive to God, to that glorious and new life, & all this through Chriſt, whoſe union and communion is notified to you in Baptiſme.
This is for holines, which conſiſts in mortification and newnes of life, which Baptiſme both ſignifies and ſeales to us. It ſignifies it, by the analogie & proportion, which is betweene the ſigne and the thing ſignified, and in that it ſignifies a thing paſt, it ſeales it to us, for when God will give you a ſigne and reſemblance of a thing, it is but to confirme it to you, and aſſure you of it.