| 323 believe the reader cannot be in any doubt of the way in which the ordinance of baptism was administered in the primitive church. We will therefore leave the subject of its proper administration, and pass on to the examination of other points.
'You have shown that baptism by immersion is correct,' says one, 'but I am not entirely convinced that it is really essential.' Very well, sir. We will see what the Bible says about it. Acts, II: 37, 38; 'Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' Peter tells his interrogators to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Well, then, if it is necessary for sins to be remitted, it is of paramount importance that you should be baptized. But one will say, 'Peter's instructions was confined to the people present on the day of Pentecost; therefore they are not binding upon us.' You are under a mistake. After Peter had told them what to do, he says in the following verse, 'For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.'-Then this promise extends to the latest period of time, to 'all that are afar off;' and as all mankind are called to repentance, of course it is necessary that every son and daughter of Adam should be baptized. One may wish to know what this promise is that extended to all that are afar off. We answer, it is the promise of redemption by repentance and baptism, for the remission of sins. Again, John, I: 11, 12, 13; 'He came unto his own, and his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' Being born of God, is to show forth the death and resurrection of God, by immersion, as we have before shown. 'But as many as received him, (that is by baptism) to them gave he power to become the sons of God.' If this great blessing was conferred upon those who were baptized, and withheld from those who were not, then we contend that it is a very essential ordinance, and is necessary to be attended to. But the following passage puts the question beyond the reach of controversy. We look upon it as positive. John III: 3, 4, 5; 'Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'-Why? Because the Savior has made that the only entrance into the kingdom.
The Savior s doctrine upon this point may seem rather hard to some, but we cannot help that. How often have we heard people say that if a man walks according to the best light he has, they believed he would be saved. We believe so to. But the light which they have is the Bible. Then all men have the same light. The Bible lays down but one rule for mankind to walk by-points out but one road to heaven-teaches but one set of principles-contains but one code of laws-but one kind of ordinances-and these are laid down so plain, and are made so clear to the understanding of every rational man, that 'he that runneth may read' and understand. God is no respector of persons. He has but one way of dealing with man, in all ages of the world. He requires the same things of people in the nineteenth century that he did of these of the first. When he organized his church, he made laws for the government of it, and we have no Bible testimony that they have ever been repealed. Now every person knows that any particular law is held good and continues in full force and effect until it is repealed, and it cannot be repealed by an improper tribunal. Before a repeal can be legal, that repeal must be made by such a court as the constitution recognizes as having jurisdiction in the case.-We cheerfully acknowledge that the laws and regulations that are now implanted in the different churches are not the same as governed the apostolic church. But this is the work of man, not God. The prophet Isaiah clearly foresaw this when he said, (Isaiah, XXIV: 5;) 'The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.' But one will say that this passage alludes to something that had already transpired, when the prophet spoke it, because it is written in the past tense. We conclude that this certainly cannot be the case, from the reading of the verse that immediately follows it. 'Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.' This shows that the prophet alludes to something that was to transpire long after his day, for in consequence of this changing the ordinance, &c, the inhabitants were burned, and few men left. This we
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