appearance, in all these relations as intimately connected, the confession as an expression of faith, 1 Cor. xii. 3,-the being in Christ as a reality, the being a professed Christian as a sign of inward communion with the Redeemer, 2 Cor. v. 17; and thus also the Church as the outward exhibition of the body of Christ, the fellowship truly established by the Spirit of God. The language in which he addresses individual churches is conformable to these views.

But though in general the apostle sets out from this point of view, yet it could not escape his observation that not all who represented then selves as outwardly members of the church, were really members of the body of Christ. This distinction he does not make in the original idea of the church, since it is not naturally deducible from it, but must be considered as something incongruous and morbid, and not to be known excepting by observation, unless we refer it to the inevitable disorders in the development of the visible church, owing to the reaction of sin. Certain experiences of this kind forced the distinction upon him; in 1 Cor. vi. 9, he declares that those who professed Christianity outwardly, and represented themselves as members of the church, but whose conduct was at variance with the requirements of Christianity, could have no part in the kingdom of God. It followed, therefore, that they were already excluded by their disposition from that kingdom, from that communion of the faithful and redeemed which, strictly speaking, constitutes the church. In this passage, he treats of cases in which the foreign elements which had mingled with the outward manifestation of the church, might be easily detected and expelled by the judgment of the Christian community for the preservation of its purity; for such marks of an unchristian course of life are here mentioned, as are notorious and apparent to every one. But an unchristian disposition, a deficiency of faith working by love, might exist, without being manifested by outward signs which would be as easily understood as in the former case; and here the separation of the elements corresponding to the idea of the EKKAŋσía from those that were incongruous, could not be so accurately made. We learn this from Paul himself, in 2 Tim. ii. 19, 20, where he contrasts with the apostates from Christian truth, those who constituted the firm foundation of God's house, and who

are

wore the impress of this seal, "The Lord knoweth them that are his," and "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and vessels of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour." The great house is here the visible church; in it there are those who are members only in appearance by an external superficial union, without really belonging to it by their disposition, and though reckoned by the Lord to be his, they "the vessels to dishonour," and are thus distinguished from those who are united in heart to the church, "the vessels to honour," who, in order that they may be preserved as such, avoid all sin, and call on the name of the Lord without hypocrisy. He here intimates that the line of distinction between the genuine and spurious members of the church can be drawn only by God, who knows the state of the heart. Accordingly, in the application of the idea of the visible church, the distinction arises between the collective body of those in whom the appearance corresponds to what is internal and invisible, and those who belong to the church in appearance, without having internally any part in it.

Since the EKKAnoia as the body of Christ not merely lays claim to a part of the life of its members, but must embrace the whole as belonging to the Redeemer, and animated by the Holy Spirit, the source of life to the church, it follows that the care for the promotion of the good of the whole is committed not merely to certain officers and persons, but all the members are bound together as organs of that Spirit by whom Christ as the governing head animates each individual member, and thus connected, are to cooperate for the same object; Eph. iv. 16. Thus, accordingly, it is the duty of each one to consider the standing-point on which God has placed him by his natural character, his peculiar training, and his social relations, as that which determines the mode in which he may most effectually labour for this end. As all natural abilities are to be consecrated as forms of manifestation for the divine life, so the Holy Spirit, while animating the whole, appropriates each individual character, and gives to each one his special gifts by which he is ordained on his own standingpoint to promote the general good. Here we have the idea of charism, which has been already explained. Without the Holy Spirit and the charisms as the necessary manifestations

and signs of his continued efficacious presence in the collective body of believers, the church (which is the continued revelation of the divine life in human form proceeding from the glorified Saviour) cannot exist; 1 Cor. xii. By the spirit of love animating the whole, the charisms of all the individual members, forming reciprocal complements to each other, are conducted to the promotion of one object, the perfecting of the body of Christ; as Paul has so admirably represented in 1 Cor. xii.

Since the church is no other than the outward visible representation of the inward communion of believers with the Redeemer and one another, the institution of outward visible rites or signs corresponds to these two elements of it, (both as visible and invisible;) these rites, Baptism and the Supper, are designed to represent the facts which form the basis of this communion. Baptism denotes the confession of dependence on Christ and the entrance into communion with him; and hence, the appropriation of all which Christ promises to those who stand in such a relation to him; it is the putting on Christ, in whose name baptism is administered,' an expression which includes in it all we have said; Gal. iii. 27. As communion with Christ and the whole Christian life has a special reference to the appropriation of those two great events, his redeeming sufferings and his resurrection, Paul, alluding to the form in which baptism was then administered, and by this illustrating the idea of baptism, explains the outward act by a reference to these two events. (Ante, p. 161.) The twofold relation of man to the former standing-point of life which he had renounced, and to that new one which he had embraced, is here signified-entering into the communion of the death of Christ, into a believing appropriation of the work of redemption accomplished by his death, dying with him in spirit, to the world in which man has hitherto lived; mortifying self, as it heretofore existed, and by faith in his resurrection as a pledge of resurrection to an eternal divine life in a transformed personality, rising to a new life devoted

1 On the meaning of the formula, "to baptize in the name of any one," see the remarks of Dr. Bindseil in the Studien und Kritiken, 1832. part ii. Paul in Gal. iii. 27, might have said, All of you who have believed in Christ. But he said instead of this, "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ," since he viewed baptism as the objective sign and seal of the relation to Christ into which man entered by faith.

no longer to the world but to him alone; Rom. vi. 4. In accordance with this train of thought, Paul terms baptism, a baptism into the death of Christ. And for the same reason, he could also call it a baptism into the resurrection of Christ. But this latter reference presupposes the former, in which it is naturally joined. From communion with Christ as the Son of God, the new relation follows of sonship to God, of filial communion with God, Gal. iii. 26; and the participation of the spirit of a new divine life communicated by Christ, the Holy Spirit. It is Christ who imparts the true baptism of the Spirit, of which water-baptism is only the symbol, and this immersion in the Spirit makes the great difference between Christian baptism and that of John. Therefore, baptism in the name of Christ is equally baptism in the name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit. The single reference cannot be thought of without the threefold. In virtue of the connexion of ideas before noticed, entrance into communion with Christ is indissolubly connected with entrance into communion with the body of which He is the head, the whole assemblage of believers. "By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body;" 1 Cor. xii. 13. As entrance into communion with the Redeemer at baptism implies a cessation from communion with sin-the putting on of Christ implies the putting off of the old man—the rising with Christ implies the dying with Christ-the transformation by the new Spirit of holiness implies the forgiveness of sins-entrance into communion with the body of Christ implies a departure from communion with a sinful world; so the distinction arises of a positive and negative aspect of baptism. Hence the washing away of sin, sanctification and justification, are classed together at baptism; 1 Cor. vi. 11.1 What we have remarked respecting Paul's idea of Ekkλnoía, the relation of the inward to the outward, the ideal to the visible, will also apply to baptism. As Paul, in speaking of the church, presupposes that the outward church is the visible community of the redeemed; so he speaks of baptism on the supposition that it corresponded to its idea, that all that was inward, whatever belonged to the

1 As Paul here joins the ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου and ἐν τῷ πνεύματι Toû beoû, it may be inferred that he is here speaking of subjective sanctification, by the communication of a divine principle of life, as well as of objective justification.

holy rite and its complete observance, accompanied the outward; hence he could assert of outward baptism whatever was involved in a believing appropriation of the divine facts which it symbolized; whatever was realized when baptism fully corresponded to its original design. Thus he says, that all those who had been baptized into Christ, had entered into vital communion with him, Gal. iii. 27; language which was applicable only to those in whom the inward and the outward coalesced. Hence also he calls baptism the bath of regeneration and of renewal by the Holy Spirit; Tit. iii. 5. And hence he says, that Christ by baptism has purified the whole church as a preparation for that perfect purity which it will exhibit, in that consummation to which the Saviour intends to bring his redeemed; Eph. v. 26.

Relative to the Holy Supper, it appears from Paul's language in 1 Cor. xi. 24, that he considered it as a feast of commemoration on account of Christ's offering his life' for the salvation of men, and all the benefits accruing thereby to mankind. According to his explanation of the words of the institution, 1 Cor. xii. 26, believers, when they celebrate together the Last Supper of Christ with his disciples, are gratefully to acknowledge what they owe to the sufferings of Christ till his second coming, till they are favoured with the visible presence of the Saviour, and the perfect enjoyment of all that his redeeming sufferings have gained for mankind; they are to consider it as a pledge of their constant communion with him, till that communion is consummated in his immediate presence. Christ further designed, as Paul intimates, to remind his disciples of the new relation or covenant established by his sacrifice between God and man, which is naturally connected with what has been already mentioned; for as the work of redemption accomplished by Christ's sufferings is the foundation of this new relation, which supersedes the ancient legal economy, its connexion with this ordinance is self-evident. And as in the institution of the Supper there are several allusions to the usages practised at the passover, a natural point of comparison is

1 That this was the leading reference, I agree with what Lücke has stated in his essay, De duplicis in sacra Cana Symboli Actusque Sensu ac Ratione, 1837. Yet other references appear to me not to be excluded, but to be originally given with it, and to be naturally founded upon it.