was the same which was assumed by the Son, and if the office which was assumed by the Son, was the same which was assumed by the Holy spirit, in the salvation of the human family-then I should be at a great loss to account for a trine Baptism. But it is certain that each performs a particular office, and that the sinner is dependent upon one as much as upon the other, for the salvation of his soul. It is the office of the Father to convict the sinner for his sins, which is the intention of the Law; it is the office of the Son to save the sinner, which is the intention of the Gospel; it is the office of the Spirit to sanctify the believer, which is the intention of his operations. James, ii. 9; i John, iii. 20; Rom. vii. 7—13; Mat. i. 21; Acts, iv. 12; Rom. i. 16; i Cor. iv. 11; Tit. iii. 5. I say, then, that honor is due to each person in the Godhead. Hear the voice of Jesus upon this subject-" That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father; he that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father, which hath sent him." John, v. 23. This honor must be manifested in Baptism, which could not be as plainly revealed in one immersion as in a trine immersion.

Now, whether I have, or have not, succeeded in assigning the cause why it is that the believer is immersed three times, will not exempt you from a conformity to a trine Baptism, seeing that the same is plainly commanded. I am aware of certain objections which are raised against a trine immersion. The principal objection is, that there is but one, and not three Baptisms.— This objection is founded upon the 5th verse of the 4th chapter of Ephesians. It reads thus-" One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism;" so that they cannot perceive how three immersions can be one Baptism--which I shall now endeavor to investigate. In the first place, I would say, that in many instances, it takes three objects to

make one thing: For example-The reader is a compound being, consisting of three parts, soul, spirit, and body or matter, and yet is but one person. Again-We all acknowledge there is but one God, and yet it is certain there are three persons in the Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. John tells us that "there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one; and there are three that bear witness in the carth, the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood; and these three agree in one." i John, v 7 -8; and Christ says, "I and my Father, are one." John, x 30. Thus it appears very obvious from the charge given to the apostles and from the practice of the first Christians, that if Baptism be rightly administered, the believer must be dipped, or immersed three times in the

water.

And again-I believe it ought to be done face forwards, and not backwards. We can read no where in the Bible, or Testament, of any of the institutions or appointments of God being observed by presenting themselves before God upon their backs. Nay, in all those various examples for the worshipping of the true God, in the Holy Scriptures, not one is to be found in which the posture of falling upon the back was observed The attentive reader, by examining the scriptures, will find, that the posture of kneeling and falling upon the face, was observed by the old Fathers, Jesus Christ, and the apostles, in divine worship and as we have no command, nor example, for the posture of falling upon the back, therefore I consider it not a divine posture ;-and as Baptism is a great institution in which the attention. of the whole Godhead is attracted by the believer, therefore, kneeling, and falling upon the face will be observed in the administration of this sacred ordinance. Again-As Baptism is an institution by which the be

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liever is brought into the house of God, it would therefore be very insignificant for the believer to observe the posture of falling upon the back in the performance of this institution. I shall now proceed to examine the grounds upon which the posture of throwing the believer upon his back, in the administration of Baptism, is founded. The advocates for this posture tells us, that Baptism is compared to a burial, and that we do not bury our dead upon their faces; and for the support of this assertion, they refer us to what the apostle Paul has declared in his epistle to the Romans and Colossians, concerning Baptism. In his epistle to the Romans, vi. 4. "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 "—and in Colossians, ii 12, “Buried with him in Baptism, wherein ye also are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." For my part, I cannot see that these passages in the least justify such a course of procedure in the administration of Baptism, in as much as it cannot be inferred, that the apostle has any allussion whatever to that posture in which we lay our dead in their graves. It is certain that the apostle, by the word buried in those two passages only alludes to the overwhelming, immersing, or covering the believer in water by Baptism; and also what the same prefigures -namely, the death and burial of the old man, and resurrection of the new man, through faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Christ from the dead: therefore the apostle gave the believer to understand, that the old man, or body of sin is to be buried, which is denoted by immersion; and when the believer rises up out of the water, he makes a figure of the resurrection of the new man; and his coming forth out of the water,

denotes that he will henceforth walk in newness of life. That the above is a correct explanation, is very clear from the preceding and succeeding verses-though it is sometimes argued that the apostle alludes to the resurrection of the body at the last day. In answer to this, I say it is very clear to me, that the apostle in speaking of Baptism in those verses, has no allusion to the resurrection of the body; for he speaks of it as having taken place, "Ye are risen," so the reader cannot help but see the truth of my remarks upon this subject. When we bury a corpse in the earth, we do it in the full hope of its being raised again in the morning of the resurrection: but not so as it respects the burial of the old man, the design of which is, that he should remain in the sea of forgetfulness, and never more rise and rule in the heart of the believer ;- -so that there is to be no resurrection of the old man, but of the new man.

After the believer has been immersed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, then it will be the duty of the Auministrator to lay his hands upon the head of the believer, and at the same time call upon the name of the Lord, in behalf of the believer. That the laying on of hands ought to be observed, see Acts, vi-6, viii-17, Heb. vi-2. It will not do for any to say, that the laying on of hands is a dead work, because the apostle, in Hebrews, where he speaks of Repentance, Faith, and laying on of hands, (as being the first principles of the Christian Religion,) also makes mention of dead works. The dead works which he alludes to, are the works of the flesh and not Repentance, Faith, Baptism, laying on of hands, &c.

CHAPTER IX.

THE REMISSION OF SINS AND RECEPTION OF THE HOLY GHOST, AND THE KINGDOM OF GRACE.

Ir is certain that we have no promise in the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins, before Baptism, where it is in the power of the subject to obtain it. As God will not require impossibilities from any of his creatures, therefore all those who have not got it in their power to conform to Baptism, will not have to answer on that head; but those who have it in their power to manifest their obedience, by performing the commands of Jesus, they must do so in order to the salvation of their souls. The terms of the Gospel in order to salvation, are Repentance, Faith and Baptism, and the promise is, the remission of sins, and the reception of the Holy Ghost.-That Repentance, Faith, and Baptism, are the prerequisites to salvation. Read: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark xvi. 15-16. "Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be Baptized, every one of you, in the naine of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 37–38.— "Why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the the name of the Lord." Acts, xxii. 16. Now these prerequisites are connected, -and what God hath joined together, let not man put assunder. If we say that baptism is not essential to sal vation, we can upon the same ground, say that Faith and Repentance are not essential, because Faith and