Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul is insisting upon the necessity of a practical conformity to the holy precepts of the Gospel, as the proper consequence of our vocation in Christ. In the Epistle to the Galatians, he is urging the inconsistency of the profession of the Gospel with the opposite profes sion of Judaism. In the one, he is speaking of the federal effect of Baptism; in the other, of its legitimate result, in the conduct of him who receives it.

And this view of St. Paul's argument and object here, derives strength from the whole tenor of this Epistle; and especially from the course of his reasoning in the beginning of the fifth chapter; where he asserts, that Christ can profit nothing to him who is circumcised"; not, you will observe, to him who is in other respects a bad Christian, that is supposed; but to him who joins himself externally to a profession contrary to his Baptism. So, in the declaration immediately following, Christ is become of none effect to you who seek justification by the

law, ye are fallen from grace P. Here, again, the fault expressed, is not in the internal failure, the badness of the man's life, but in the external falling off from the profession of the Gospel, implied in the recurrence to a mode of conciliating the divine favour, inconsistent with it.

The gift of the Holy Ghost in Baptism is yet further confirmed by the following passage in the second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians: Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our heartsa.

Baptism is not indeed here expressly named; but if the following reasoning be correct, the earnest of the Spirit here mentioned, can have no other reference. It is

P Gal. v. 4.

q 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. Compare two corresponding passages, one in the same Epistle, the other in that to the Ephesians: Now he, that hath wrought for us the same thing, is God; who also hath given us the earnest of the Spirit, 2 Cor. v. 5. In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, till the redemption of the purchased possession, Ephes. i. 13, 14.

observed by the learned Dodwell, that the idea of the Holy Spirit, as an earnest, is taken from the Roman law; in which law, he adds, the earnest had always relation to some agreement entered into, of the fulfilment of which it was the pledge. But, what is more important to our present purpose, he further asserts, that an earnest strictly and properly refers to the time, in which we first enter into covenant. Propria porro arrha temporis illius, quo primo fœdus inimus. If therefore we enter into

I Dodwell, Diss. Cypr. XIII. p. 443. I subjoin the whole passage, though Dodwell's object, as I have said, is rather different from mine. He is arguing, "omne "hoc baptismi negotium pactum esse quoddam fidelium "cum Deo;" concluding, "externa ea solemnia, quibus "in societatem Christianorum politicam ascribimur, ea "fœderis esse solemnia. Quis autem illud dubitet, bap"tismi esse proprium officium, ut per illum sacris Chri"stianorum initiemur, et in propriam ascribamur Christianorum societatem ?" He then adds, by way of confirmation of the federal character thus assigned to Baptism; "Convenit præterea quod qui confertur in Chris"tianorum baptismo Spiritus," is åppaßæv (“ quæ et ar"rha scriptoribus Romanis) in Novo Testamento appel"latur. Erat enim in jure Romano arrha pactorum propria, præcipue nuptialium.-Propria porro arrha est, temporis illius quo primo fœdus inimus. Inde sequi

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covenant with God in Baptism, it is then that the Holy Spirit, spoken of in the text, must be given. Dodwell indeed argues, from the certainty of the Holy Spirit's being given in Baptism, and from its being here denominated an earnest, that Baptism is a federal act. I have reversed his argument, assuming from the character of Baptism, as an initiatory rite, that which he wished to prove, to prove that which he assumed. But the premise in either case being admitted, the conclusion is equally certain.

Passing over some texts in the earlier part of the Epistle to the Romans, which in a more comprehensive survey of the doctrine of Baptism would demand our attention, we come in the sixth chapter to a passage, in which express mention is made of the sacrament, and results of the highest importance distinctly attributed to its administration.

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"tur ut de alia Spiritus collatione, præterquam baptismati, nequeat intelligi." Dodwell, Diss. Cypr. XIII. §. 21. ut sup. Dodwell's assumption here is all in our favour. He clearly thought, that as to the fact of the collation of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, there could be no doubt.

K

How, says the Apostle, shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.

The value of this passage, in reference to our immediate inquiry, consists in the clear testimony it bears to the fact, that in Baptism are communicated to us the benefits of Christ's death. The occasion of its introduction by St. Paul is indeed essentially practical; and the use he makes of the doctrine asserted in it, is to enforce the cultivation of Christian purity and holiness of life, as alone consistent with our Christian profession.

But then the whole of his reasoning, in the chapter before us, and the very argu

s Rom. vi. 2—5.