tion, Go teach all nations,' and seem never to have suspected that their commission extended beyond the limits of Jewry, till the affair of Cornelius. See Acts 10. The meaning of Mark 16: 16, then, is this- He that believ eth the word, and is baptized with the Spirit, shall be saved.'

There can be no honest doubt that all these statements of the two elements of salvation, (viz. John 3: 5, 1 John 5: 6, Titus 3: 5, and Mark 16: 16,) manifestly identical as they are with each other, are all to be referred, as we have especially referred John 3: 5, to that notable promise of the new covenant in Ezekiel 36: 25-27, as their original; and that promise shows beyond all denial that the water which God employs in regeneration is not an earthly element, but one that is able to purify men from all their filthiness and from all their idols.'

Renouncing, then, faithfully and forever, the foolishness of those who, by misinterpreting these texts, exalt water baptism into partnership with the Holy Ghost in the work of salvation, and regarding the two agencies of the second birth, as both spiritual, both proceeding from Christ, both taking effect on spiritual and moral character, we proceed to examine more particu larly the distinction between those agencies, their separate natures, and operations.

The ministry of Jesus Christ was of a twofold character, verbal and spir itual. He first instructed his disciples personally, then he ascended to the Father, and sent upon them the Holy Ghost. This fact, compared with 1 John 5: 6-this is he who came by water and blood,' (a text which seems designed to be a comprehensive statement of the nature of the whole ministry of Christ)—suggests the theory that the first agency of regeneration, designated by the term water, is the word of God, outward spiritual instruction, such as Christ ministered while he was on earth in person: and that the second agency, designated by the term blood, is that Spirit which was dispensed for the first time on the day of Pentecost, whose operation is on the inward life. Let us see if this theory is supported by the record.

I. We will notice in the first place, some passages which testify directly in this matter. In the 13th chapter of John we have an account of Christ's washing his disciples' feet with literal water. This was evidently a symbolical transaction. Accordingly in the conclusion of it, Christ passes from the shadow to its spiritual substance. On Peter's refusing to be washed, Christ says to him, 'If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.' In this he evidently refers to a spiritual washing. Having thus made known his meaning, he afterwards says, clearly alluding to the moral state of his disciples'Ye are clean, but not all' i. e., Judas excepted. In the 15th chapter, ver. 3, he repeats this declaration, using the same words, and specifies the agency by which the disciples were cleansed;-Now ye are clean through THE WORD which I have spoken unto you.' In the first case he sets forth water as the symbol of that purifying agency, which in the last case he calls 'the word of his personal ministry. Paul's language in Eph. 5: 26, is still more directly to our purpose:-Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, with the washing of water by the word.' Here is the symbol, and the thing signified, in immediate conjunction.

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II. Our theory will receive indirect confirmation by an examination of the scriptural meaning of the term 'regeneration.' That word occurs but twice in the New Testament, and in both cases it stands connected with the primary element of the second birth. We have already noticed one of those instances, (Titus 3: 5,) where Paul speaks of the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost,' and have identified the washing of regeneration' with the water' of John 3: 5, and 1 John 5: 6, and with the sprink ling with clean water' of Ezekiel 36: 25. The other instance is Matt. 19: 28. After the young ruler had gone away sorrowful, Christ delivered his startling doctrine of the danger of those who have riches. Then said Peter, Behold we have left all and followed thee. What shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.' It is evident from what goes before, and from what follows after the clause we have marked by italics, that following Christ in the regeneration,' is equivalent to 'forsaking all for his sake.' Christ had forsaken father and mother, and had adopted for his relations, those who did the will of his Father in heaven. His disciples therefore in doing the same, 'followed' him; and they had followed him in the regeneration;' for what term can be found more fit to describe the abandonment of one parentage and the adoption of another, than regeneration? The washing of regeneration,' then, is that process of purification from earthly attachments, which the disciples went through, during Christ's personal ministry. It is the negative part of the second birth, the putting off the old man'-not the putting on the new man,' for that is the renewing of the Holy Ghost;' and in the disciples' case the Holy Ghost was not yet given.' It is the abandonment of idolatry; and thus described, it beautifully accords with the first part of Ezekiel's promise- I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.' Now we ask by what means did Christ purge his disciples from their earthly attachments? What was the 'clean water' which he sprinkled upon them? The answer will be obvious to any one who will look through his instructions, and observe their main scope. A specimen will serve our purpose. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.' 'Take no thought saying, what shall we eat and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed?' 'He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me.' It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.' 'Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth to everlasting life.' Here is the 'clean water' which purged the disciples from the idols of this world. It was Christ's WORD. He says himself, 'Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.' During his personal ministry, he was fulfilling the first part of the promise' sprinkling" his followers with his word, cleansing them from all their filthiness, and from all their idols.'

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III. To set this subject in a still stronger light, we will cite, from the New Testament, several statements of the two agencies of salvation, which are made in direct terms, without figure or symbol. If our theory is correct, viz., that the first agency of the second birth, designated by water, is the word of Christ; and that the second, designated by spirit or blood, is the Holy Ghost, it is obvious that the former, operating on the understanding, is an intellectual agency, and that the latter, operating on the heart, is a spiritual agency. In accordance with this distinction, it will be seen that in each of the following passages, there is a conjunction of the spiritual, with an intellectual element. The law was given by Moses, but grace and TRUTH came by Jesus Christ.' John 1: 17. Christ crucified . . . is the power of God, and the WISDOM of God.' 1 Cor. 1: 24. God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and BELIEF OF THE TRUTH.' 2 Thess. 2: 13. 'Ye have purified your souls, in OBEYING THE TRUTH through the Spirit.' 1 Pet. 1: 22. I will put my laws into their MINDS, and write them in their hearts.' Heb. 8: 10.*

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Our conclusion from all this is, that, as Christ's ministry was of two sorts, verbal and spiritual, so the second birth is effected by two agencies, the word and the spirit, signified by the symbols, water and blood, operating respectively on the mind and the heart, and sanctifying respectively the inward and the outward man. It should also be noted as an appurtenance of this conclusion, that in the original order of Christ's ministration, and doubtless in the order of nature, the word goes before the Spirit, the washing of regeneration before the renewing of the Holy Ghost.

REMARKS. 1. These views show the true place of the disciples before the day of Pentecost, and of the Old Testament saints, on the scale of attainment. The disciples may be said to have been born of water, when Christ declared them clean through the word: but they were not born of the Spirit, for the Spirit of adoption had not come. So the Old Testament saints, so far as they were sprinkled with the spiritual word, and cleansed from idolatry, were in the primary stage of the second birth, though none were born of God till after the resurrection of Christ.

2. These views show the falsehood of the common doctrine of instantaneous regeneration. This doctrine contracts into a moment of time, a work which, in the case of the disciples, manifestly occupied many years. The first and least important half of that work, viz., the washing of regeneration, required the whole period of the personal ministry of Christ; and it may reasonably be inferred, that the renewing of the Holy Ghost occupied at least as long a period. We do not deny, but believe, that important instantaneous advances were made in that work, from time to time, by the formation of new purposes, and by new effusions of the Spirit; but we object to representing the entire new birth by water and Spirit, as the work of a moment, first, because

* As the word of believers is the effect of the word of Christ, and is a manifestation most directly of the understanding, we may properly cite here, also, the following texts, as examples of the conjunction of the intellectual with the spiritual element:'If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' Rom. 10: 9. They overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.' Rev. 12: 11.

the representation is unscriptural, and, secondly, because we believe they who thus contract the time of the work, proportionably undervalue its importance.

3. We perceive in the light of this subject, two egregious mistakes which most religionists of the present day make in their application of the textExcept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' First, they bring down the term water from its spiritual to its literal meaning, thus making a carnal ceremony one agent of the second birth; and secondly, they bring down in like manner the term spirit from the glorious meaning which it had in the primitive church, to that inferior sense which actually belongs to the term water, thus reducing the Christian dispensation to the dead level of Judaism.

4. We see the importance of holding fast the form of sound words' on the subject of the second birth. In almost every instance, where the work of salvation is spoken of in the New Testament, we have seen it ascribed to a twofold agency. Whoever conceives of it as the effect of outward instruction alone, on the one hand, or of inward grace alone, on the other, has left the light of scripture, and is sure to stumble in darkness. Carnal believers are prone to rely on outward' agencies. To such we commend the correction of the apostle Jesus Christ came not by water only, but by water and blood.' The danger to which spiritual persons are most exposed, is that of ascribing the second birth to inward grace alone, or at least of not giving due importance to outward instruction. Much of the testimony in the Perfectionist of 1834-5, was of evil tendency in this respect. It was fashionable to run the contrast between 'law and grace.' This phraseology makes grace alone the rival and successor of the law. Now mark the language which an apostle uses in stating the contrast between the Mosaic and Christian dispensations; The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.' These are sound words. The gospel is a dispensation not of grace alone, as antinomian Perfectionists (if any such there be) maintain; nor of grace and law, as Oberlin Perfectionists maintain; but of grace and truth,' according to the word of God. It is not the power of God alone, nor the power of God and the law of God, but the power of God and the wisdom of God.' In thus conjoining truth with grace, we lay a foundation for all those measures which were employed in the primitive church, for the outward education and correction of believers: we make the inculcation of sound doctrine' a full counterpart and safe successor of the law.

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Finally, we exhort all who rejoice in the renewing of the Holy Ghost,' to see to it that they are also sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word; that they may be presented to Christ, glorious, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish.'

$32. TWO CLASSES OF BELIEVERS.

"As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disci. ples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how savest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8: 30—36.

REMARKS.

1. It is evident from this passage that persons may properly be said to 'believe on Christ,' who are not saved from sin. Christ addressed those who are here said to have believed on him,' not as already children of God, but as merely candidates for the knowledge of the truth, and for the liberty of the gospel and afterward he plainly told them that they were wicked men. See ver. 37, 40, &c. Their believing on him was simply a recognition of his divine authority, and a surrender of themselves, more or less sincere, to his tuition for the time being. They believed on him in a general way as a teacher, but they could not at that time believe on him as a spiritual Savior, or in the specific doctrines by which ultimate salvation is effected, because his revelation of himself in his spiritual character, and of his great system of saving truth, had not then taken place, but was awaiting his death and resurrection, and the effusion of the Spirit. They had entered the school of the gospel, but had hardly yet commenced their studies, and knew little or nothing of the spiritual science which was to be taught in that school, or of its moral results. We learn, from the fact that they are said to have 'believed on Christ,' that the term 'believer' is generic, and properly extends to all classes in the school; from those who have just entered, and are yet in a sinful state, to those who have attained full salvation. At the present day, therefore, we should regard all as believers, who recognize the divine authority of Christ, and surrender themselves to his instructions; all who submit themselves to the teachings of the Bible, and manifest faith in the words of Christ, however general and indefinite. Revivals, and the efforts of the churches, so far as they turn men to incipient faith, cause them to respect and study the Bible, and thus introduce them to the school of the gospel, are to be recognized as valuable and necessary agencies. There are multitudes, undoubtedly, in the sinful churches, who have been brought by these agencies to a submission to Christ as their instructor, and are therefore properly entitled to the name of believers.

2. We observe that Christ did not regard mere incipient faith as a sure pledge of true discipleship, but made continuance of faith the condition of his promise of final illumination and liberty. He did not say to those who believed on him, 'You are converted, and therefore your salvation is secure.'