of the covenant made with Abraham, therefore it is by way of analogy sometimes styled the greater circumcision; as when Epiphanius, comparing them both together, says, the carnal circumcision served for a time, till the great circumcision came, that is, baptism, which circumcises us from our sins, and seals us in the name of God." It is evident, then, that the change of condition effected by admission into the fellowship of the Gospel could not be so striking to the Jew, who was converted under the ministry of our Lord or his Apostles, as to the unregenerated Gentiles, to those who, like the Ephesians, were without hope and without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. His eyes were better prepared for the glories of the sun of righteousness, even by that dim twilight which he enjoyed, than those which were called into that marvellous light out of the blackest darkness of nature; and this will serve to account for that otherwise extraordinary fact, that in none of their writings do the Apostles dwell upon the circumstances of their regeneration. It was with them a gradual process, not effected suddenly or by a single operation. Nevertheless so vast was the accession of privilege obtained by admission into the covenant of grace, that the act by which that admission was sealed, and a title to its benefits according to the will of God confirmed, might well be deemed a second spiritual birth; and therefore our Saviour clothed the obligation laid upon his disciples with this form of expression in his conversation with

1 Hær. viii. al. 28. Bingham's Antiquities, iii. 122.

Nicodemus: upon the acknowledgment of his divine commission, which that ruler made', he instantly opens it by the important declaration, that unless a man were spiritually born again, that is, a second time, he could not taste the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom. But Nicodemus was here quite at fault: regeneration was not a technical term of his theology; the doctrine was there, but he had not found it. He could think of no other birth than that which was natural and carnal. In order to remove the cloud from his understanding, our Lord explicates his meaning more distinctly by saying, that he must be born of water and the Spirit. The opinion that men were, in a certain sense, regenerated by water, was so common that it seemed to need no further explanation: but the spiritual regeneration, which was thenceforward to be associated with its type, was so remote from ordinary apprehensions, that he dwells a little longer upon that part of the subject 2, and shows, that it is the invisible grace which belongs to every sacrament; and, in order to check all presumptuous reasonings upon the probability or propriety of this association, he compares it to the wind, of the existence of which you are quite sure, although you cannot discern its origin, nor tell how far it reaches. Nicodemus however was still perplexed: the whole theory of regeneration seemed to be new to him, and he could not understand it. He made no objection to one part of the doctrine more than to another all was alike incomprehensible to him; and

1 John, iii. 3.

2 Ibid. iii. 5-8.

even that shadow of regeneration, which was seen and admitted among men, was as unintelligible to him as the rest: "How can these things be?" This it was which induced our Lord to remark, If I have told you of earthly things, of things known and received among men, and ye believe not even that, if you cannot understand the meaning of regeneration by water, how can you understand spiritual regeneration? How can you believe my evidence on a subject with which I alone can be acquainted, because no one else ever came down from heaven? How can you believe in that gift of the Holy Spirit, which all who come to my baptism in faith shall assuredly receive? In perfect conformity with this view, St. Paul studiously associates the ideas of baptism and regeneration. To the Church at Corinth, he says, "Ye are washed; ye are sanctified." If there had been no necessary connection between them, the mention of washing might have been spared; and it would certainly not have been introduced by any one, who regarded that washing, as some do in the present day. But he more plainly affirms the same thing, where he says, that Christ gave himself for the Church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." For in that passage, “the word,” on the authority of all the Greek and of many of the Latin fathers, including St. Augustine, is to be understood to mean the mystical words of baptism, the words by which mere water was consecrated, and became a sacrament.3

1

1 1 Cor. vi. 11.

2 Ephes. v. 25.

3 Estius and August. in Pusey's Scriptural Views of Baptism, p. 216.

IT has been shown, that ever since the time when the family of Noah, the offspring of the Ark, which was indeed the mother of all living creatures, with the exception of those which inhabited the sea, issued forth into the air and light of a new life, and stepped once more upon the renovated earth, now cleansed from its former guiltiness by the waters of the Deluge, the Providence of God had so overruled the superstition thence arising, that a notion of some mystical regeneration by water and expiation of sin had been kept alive among all the nations, with whose history we are well acquainted; and thus the world was prepared to receive that doctrine of a moral regeneration by baptism and forgiveness of sins, which is the commencement of a new life to every Christian. It has been shown, that this view of the matter is in perfect conformity with the account given of it by the inspired penmen, and that all Scripture rightly interpreted and correctly understood speaks the same language. But there are some who see it in a different light, and contend, with equal confidence, for the correctness of their own interpretation. Now when there is a difference of opinion between two parties on a subject affecting their civil rights, they are in

the habit of bringing their cause before a competent tribunal, in order to obtain a decision, in which both may be content to acquiesce; for otherwise, since both would still persist that their opponents were in the wrong, it is plain that the dispute would be interminable. For the same reason common sense points out the necessity of having recourse to the same means of arriving at a determination of the present inquiry. To whom then shall we appeal? Some may say to the illuminating Spirit of God: and, if the honour of God were concerned, it is possible that he might not withhold an answer from his humble suppliants, supposing both parties to be sincere: but if one of them were not, the controversy would remain exactly on the same footing as before. For though the doctrine of one would be true, and of the other false, yet, without some external sign, without some extraordinary gift of the Holy Spirit, like the power of working miracles, there would be nothing for the guidance of human judgment to show which had received an answer, and which had not. But we have no right to expect a Divine interposition to resolve the ordinary questions of theological dispute; for these were intended to exercise our industry, our meekness, our humility, and our powers of discernment: and therefore if Candidus and Sincerus, not having sufficiently examined the state of a question about which they differ, agree to pray to God to decide their difference by teaching them the truth, they will indeed have shown their piety, but not their wisdom. For it is certain, that each will arise from his