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because I believe them to be the truth of God, and therefore feel deeply interested in the prosperity and wide circulation of the publication. I never cease, wherever I go, from recommending it to the brethren and churches; and the church here, under my pastoral care, is taking a number of copies. Your unflinching mind, pious boldness, straight-forwardness, and impartiality, to friend and foe, when the truth of God is concerned, will not fail to commend themselves to the consciences of all." Another brother says, "If it were not for its influence, open brethren would carry all before them." It is by such kind encouragement, that the heart, pained and grieved, has by God's grace been often solaced; and it is mentioned here, as some little answer to those who fail to see anything noble or worthy in the spirit and conduct of the work.

The position we now occupy, dear brethren, is cheering, but critical. God has strengthened us a little during the past year: the Baptist Tract Society continues its labours, two brethren have been studying for the ministry, and a Strict Baptist Association has been formed in London. If we remain faithful, the spread of error is likely soon to gather around us most of those who love the sincere milk of the word: but as the Jews stirred up the people everywhere against the truth in the days of the apostles, so must it ever be expected that, as truth advances, error will stir up opposition against it. Some would have us believe that the union of all Baptists in one body is more important even than obedience to Christ. But we have not, dear brethren, so learned Him. We wish that all were one, but we would not, for that end, desire any man to violate, in any manner, his conscience towards God. To be the means of doing good, truth must be our dearest treasure, and receive our best support.

The blessing which has rested on our dear brethren in Germany and the neighbouring states, during the past year, has given frequent occasion for the liveliest gratitude and joy. The soundness of their faith, the strictness of their obedience, their steadfastness in tribulation, and their active efforts to make known the glorious gospel, have endeared them to us more and more; and the visits of our beloved brethren Lehmann and Oncken have still further revived and strengthened our joy in the Lord.

May grace, mercy, and peace be abundantly multiplied to us, and all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth.

Nov. 24, 1846.

WM. NORTON,

EDITOR.

THE

PRIMITIVE CHURCH MAGAZINE.

No. 25. JANUARY, 1846.

GOD'S COVENANT THE SAFETY OF HIS PEOPLE.

GOD's truth and fidelity unto his | people that are in covenant with him, are the true ground of all their safety. He doth not change, therefore they do not perish, who otherwise, from the days of their fathers, are gone astray: Mal. iii. 6, 7. His mercies are "from everlasting to everlasting," Ps. ciii. 17; from everlasting in predestination to everlasting in glorification. He "gave grace and promised eternal life before the world began," 2 Tim. i. 9; Tit. i. 2; before they were extant, or had any being (further than in the purpose of God,) on whom the grace was bestowed, to whom the life was promised. And what he did from eternity purpose, he will not in time revoke; for his gifts are without repentance: Rom. xi. 29. He doth, by his faith and fear, preserve his people through his power, unto that mercy which he hath from eternity given them: Jer. xxxii. 40; 1 Pet. 1, 5. Of themselves, they fall dangerously, and frequently, from their own stedfastness; and then the Lord doth chastise their wantonness with the rod of a father, but doth not utterly take away his loving-kindness: Ps. lxxxix. 28-35. His covenant and grace are free and absolute, not conditional and suspended on the unstable will of man. "It is not of him that willeth or runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy," and sheweth it on whom he will: Rom. ix. 15-18.

VOL. III.-NO. XXV.

say,

Between God the Father, indeed, and Christ as a second Adam, the transaction of the covenant was wholly conditional. He was to take from his Father a commission in our nature, to lay down his life, and to take it up again, to fulfil all righteousness; to be made sin for us; to have our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace laid upon him, before he could see of the travail of his soul. Yea, he undertook not only for his own work, but for ours. By the preciousness of his blood he purchased, and out of the plenitude of his Spirit he supplieth unto us whatever grace is requisite unto our salvation. But I as to us, the grace of the covenant is thus far free and absolute, that no duties are required of us which are not as branches of the same covenant bestowed upon us. He hath promised to give a new heart, and to put a new spirit within us, to take away the stony heart out of our flesh, and to give us a heart of flesh, to put his Spirit within us, and to cause us to walk in his statutes, to save us from all our uncleanness, to cleanse us from all our iniquities: Ezek. xxxvi. 25-33. And though he there tells us, that he will be "inquired of" by the house of Israel, to do these things for them, yet we know it is he only who poureth out the spirit of grace and supplication, whereby we make this inquiry of him: Zech. xii. 10;

B

Gal. iv. 6; Rom. viii. 25. True indeed | portance, but because he objected to it is that when we believe, it is we only their conduct in calling themselves that believe, and when we work, it is we after the names of those through that work; but our working is not the cause of his grace, but his grace the cause of our working. And therefore, the apostle saith, "I laboured more abundantly than they all"-to note that the labour was his " Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" to note that the principle was God's: 1 Cor. xv. 10. "Thou hast wrought all our works in us," saith the prophet: Is. xxvi. 12. The works are ours, the strength is thine; ours the heart and the hand that act; thine the spirit and grace whereby we act. He doth not withhold his love, till our wills prevent [are beforehand with] him, and move him to extend it; but he doth, out of his own free love, frame our hearts unto the love of him, and work the will in us which he requireth of us: Phil. ii. 12, 13. We repent because he turns us; he doth not turn to us because we first turn to him; his love prevents [precedes] ours, and does not stay for it: 1 John iv. 19; Ezek. xxxvi. 32; Is. xlviii. 9—11.—Bishop Reynolds.

whom they had believed, and by whom they had been baptized. The words which follow-"For Christ sent me not to baptize," cannot be understood absolutely, they cannot mean that Christ prohibited him from baptizing, nor that he left his commission blank in this respect, and this for two reasons; first the nature of the general apostolic commission, and secondly, the recorded conduct of Paul himself; he claimed to be a complete apostle (1 Cor. ix. 1; xv. 9, 10;) and consequently the Saviour's words, "Go, teach all nations baptizing them," were addressed to him as well as to the eleven. His conduct also shews that he so understood them, for he not only preached but baptized, as the connexion proves. If Christ had commanded him not to baptize, he could not say that he "was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." If he had no authority to baptize, in doing so, he was guilty of will worship, of thrusting himself uncalled and uncommissioned into one part of the Lord's work. But neither of these was the case. In baptizing he acted as an apostle, and did that which was well pleasing to the Lord.

THE TRUE POSITION OF BAPTISM IN The words, therefore, I think, simply

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.

mean that the administration of this ordinance was not so much his work as

"For Christ sent me not to baptize, preaching the gospel. Others less gifted but to preach the gospel:" 1 Cor. i. 17. than himself might do the former, In the Corinthian church different while he devoted all his energies to the parties had ranged themselves under latter. It is said of the Saviour that he different names. Some were of Paul," baptized not, but his disciples," John some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and iv. 2; and after he had sent them, as the some of Christ. Of all these partizans Father had sent him into the world, the apostle asks, "Is Christ divided? (John xvii. 18,) it would seem that the Was Paul crucified for you? or were same observation was in part, at least, ye baptized into the name of Paul? applicable to the apostles; that they teaching them that they belonged to themselves did not baptize, but employed Christ in a sense in which they belonged others to do so. Thus when Peter had to no other, being the purchase of his preached the gospel to the Gentiles, and blood, and that both these facts had been had inquired, "Can any man forbid acknowledged by them in their baptism. water," &c. "he commanded them to be In consequence of this inclination to baptized in the name of the Lord." exalt the instrument, and thereby to lower the Saviour, Paul says, "I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I baptized in my own name," &c. It is evident that he did not thus write because he considered baptism of no im

Without wishing to give offence to any, without impugning their motives, or questioning their sincerity, I ask, might not those who call the sprinkling of unconscious infants baptism, use this verse with greater fulness of meaning than the apostle could? Certainly their

FIRST PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN UNION.

baptism is not to be found either in the apostles' commission or in apostolic practice. Hence it is no marvel that some who will not receive the scripture doctrine of believers' baptism, fly to this text, and though it really affords them no refuge, say," Christ sent me to preach the gospel, and I will do it, but I will not baptize at all. It is of no importance, it is abrogated and superseded by the baptism of the Holy Spirit." Of the two evils, no baptism is certainly in every way far preferable to that perversion of the ordinance which has ever been such a fountain of error and delusion. But still I contend that the passage teaches no such doctrine, that it neither disannuls the divine commission, nor depreciates the importance of the ordinance.

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Thirdly, the passage teaches us to cultivate a burning zeal for the promulgation of the gospel, and a greater anxiety for this than the observance of one of its ordinances. The whole gospel, including its doctrines, privileges, duties, and ordinances should be proclaimed, care is to be taken neither to omit any part, nor magnify it unduly above the rest, and especially not to seek our own glory while contending for divine truth. Those of us are in great danger of falling into this evil who consider ourselves set for the defence of any particular truth or doctrine. We should speak the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, the truth in connection, in proportion, and in love. Every christian as God's witness, should repeat what he has uttered, and aim to bring to pass his purposes. Every christian should be a missionary, and every church a missionary church. In proportion as this has been the case, God's blessing has descended, and the promise has been fulfilled, "He that watereth others shall be watered himself." Woolwich.

UNION.

J. Cox.

It teaches us first, to let baptism occupy the place which God has assigned it, no higher, no lower. Baptism is not necessary to salvation; we never affirmed it to be so. We do not place it on a level with some other truths, much less proclaim it to be of greater importance than the rest. But we protest against the abuse made of these necessary distinctions, and against an appeal to this passage as a reason for refusing FIRST PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN to be baptized. Though baptism is not essential to salvation, it is still very important. Its station in the gospel is conspicuous and honourable. It is the only divinely authorized way into the visible church of Christ. By it Christ is confessed: the soul takes him for its Saviour and Lord, renounces all dependence upon any thing but his glorious word, and every other service for his easy yoke. Thus the badge of discipleship is voluntarily assumed, the renewed soul becomes acknowledged to be so by the church, is declared so before the world, and is separated from it, for the Lord's glory.

Secondly, these words teach the unscriptural nature and injurious tendency of the doctrines now so widely and zealously promulgated. If baptism were, as some assert, the sole appointed means of regeneration, and if all who are baptized were thereby endued with the Holy Spirit, the apostle must have been wrong in speaking as he did of it, and they must have acted wisely who forced persons to be baptized at the point of the spear or bayonet.

To love God supremely, and do his will, is the first of christian duties. To him we are all responsible, and must therefore decide each for himself what he has commanded. If our convictions differ on this point, we must of necessity as servants of Christ, act differently, for nothing can release us from obligation to obey him "in all things."

Supposing that the point on which we differ relates to something to be done in union with others, as, for instance, to the maintenance of Christ's will in the constitution and order of his church, then, as two views cannot be acted on in the same body, those who differ must either form different societies, or one of them must habitually cease to act in accordance with his views of duty towards God. If a Baptist were a member of the Church of England, he must of necessity neglect his acknowledged duty to prevent unbelievers from being admitted as members of it. Hence so long as christians differ in their convictions of the will of Christ as to the

self-sufficient, to trust in Christ's righteousness alone. Blindly full of self, we see not the necessity of being emptied of it, of being sanctified and made holy, and filled with all the fulness of God. In a word, deluded by the god of this

constitution and discipline of his church, the maintenance of distinct and different organizations, founded on these different convictions of duty, is absolutely essential to the maintenance of a good conscience towards God. To speak of them as a proof of want of love to fellow-world, and our own hearts, we, by nature, christians, shews an ignorance or inadvertence of the very nature of christianity, as commanding the supreme homage of the heart to God. Were they to be dissolved for the mere purpose of pleasing our fellow-christians, the event would display a want of principle most deeply to be mourned; for, "if I pleased men," says the apostle, "I should not be the servant of Christ:" Gal. i. 10. Love to Christ must ever be superior to love to man. The only desirable termination, therefore, of existing denominations, supposing their members to be conscientious and sincere, is from agreement in the will of Christ. For without this, conscience would be violated, and the authority of Christ disowned by every concession made to unity of form. The grand means, therefore, of promoting union, is to diffuse truth.

But notwithstanding differences of this kind, he who bears the image of God must of necessity be loved by those who love God, in precise proportion as his image is revealed; for "every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him :" 1 John v. 1. This love may be cherished by intercourse, and increased by kindness; and to promote it is one of the highest and holiest of purposes. It is the bond of perfectness, and while it endears and unites hearts, spiritually one, tends to remove prejudices and to lead them to agreement in the truth as it is in Jesus. But so far only is our love to the children of God divine and holy as it exists

scorn and reject the glorious gospel of
the blessed God, the charter of the sin-
ner's redemption. God's design in it is
to stain the pride of human glory, and
thereby to implant in the heart a spirit of
humility. It is thus he abases man and
exalts the Saviour. Brought to his
right mind, Paul exclaimed,
forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world is crucified unto me, and I
unto the world." "He that glorieth, let
him glory in the Lord." Is he then thy
glory? Dost thou rejoice in him, as thy

"God

wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," in opposition to thine own wisdom, thine own righteousness, thine own sufficiency, and thy power to redeem thy soul? If not, how vain is thy glory, how short-lived is thy joy! For "what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" This is the language of Him, who, when he uttered it, had both heaven and hell in his glance, and felt with the most profound emotion the unspeakable importance of his theme. "Awake," therefore, "thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light:" for He bringeth "life and immortality to light through the gospel."

THEOPHILUS.

in fellowship with unreserved obedience THE ASPECT OF THE ATONEMENT ON

to God himself; for "by this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments" 1 John v. 2.

HE THAT GLORIETH LET HIM GLORY
IN THE LORD:" 1 COR. I. 31.

NATURALLY proud, we are unwilling to become fools, that we may be made wise. We are too self-righteous, too

THOSE WHO ARE NOT SAVED.

AN honoured brother, who has read the various articles which have appeared in these pages on the atonement, has an earnest desire to see one in answer to the question, "What aspect has the atonement on those who are not saved?" He thinks that this question has not been answered in any preceding number.

He also suggests as another subject of inquiry, "What is the difference (if any) between atonement and redemption?"

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