A Bible History of Baptism

by Samuel J. Baird

And if, by a special clause in the very covenant of Sinai itself, grace to the Gentiles was reserved, in harmony with abundant grace to Israel, the baptism of Israel’s babes into the fold of that covenant, that day, was a foretokening and pledge of the same grace to the children of the Gentiles, when the times of the Gentiles shall have come. They are not the seed of Abraham, and therefore receive not the seal of his covenant in their flesh. But baptism is theirs,—the seal of the Sinai covenant, in which, now, the rights of the Gentiles are equal. “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”—Rom. x, 12.

Section XCIX.—“Else were your Children unclean but now are they Holy.”

We have the express testimony of inspiration, to the children’s right within the pale of the church. Says Paul to the Corinthians,—“The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.”—1 Cor. vii, 14. The significance of this declaration, as concerning the children, depends upon the meaning of the words, unclean (akathartoi), and holy (hagioi.)[(hagioi.)] Both of them come into the New Testament, from the Septuagint version of the Old. In the Greek of that version, the word (akathartos) does not appear in the books of Moses until we come to the laws of ritual uncleanness and purifying, which have been so largely discussed in these pages. Then, beginning with the fifth chapter of Leviticus, it occurs in that book in about eighty-seven places, in all of which it designates the ritually unclean; being applied alike to things and persons. In Numbers and Deuteronomy, it appears about thirty times, in the same sense. In the entire Old Testament, the word is used about one hundred and forty times; and with the exception of half a dozen passages in which it indicates the moral offensiveness of sin, it is invariably employed in one and the same sense,—to designate persons and things that by virtue of ritual defilements were excluded from the pale of the covenant and the sanctuary. If we add to this the related noun (akatharsia) the force of these considerations is greatly increased. It, in like manner, first occurs in Leviticus, as the designation of the uncleannesses which were described by the adjective (akathartos), unclean. It occurs about fifty times, and with a few exceptions in which it describes the vileness of sin, is constantly used in the ritual sense.

The other word (hagios) holy, has a history and meaning, equally clear and well defined. It has primary reference to the sum of the divine perfections, in view of which God is designated, the holy One. Thence, it is transferred to designate those moral attributes in men which are after the likeness of God’s holiness; as, in the admonition which is often repeated in the books of Moses, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” Again, it is used to denote the relation sustained to God by things devoted to his use or service. Thus, the tabernacle and all its parts and furniture were holy. In this sense, the word was used in the covenant with Israel. “Ye shall be unto me a holy nation (ethnos hagion.”)—Ex. xix, 6. The acceptance of this covenant, and the seal of baptism by which it was confirmed established Israel as “holy” unto the Lord. Prior to that covenant the word had never been applied to men. But from that transaction forward Israel was recognized in that character. Thus, alluding to the covenant, Moses says to them,—“Thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”—Deut. vii, 6. Upon this title and the covenant ground of it, Moses insists with great emphasis, recurring to the theme again and again. (See Deut. xiv, 2, 21; xxvi, 19; xxviii, 9.) It is in view of this covenant provision that the distinctive appellation of Israel in the prophets is, “the holy people;” and to the same source is to be referred the familiar designation of “saints,” that is, holy ones, which is constantly employed, especially in the Psalms. Thus, the Lord says in Ps. 1, 5,—“Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Here, not only is the title used, but the ground of it is stated. It is that public profession and covenant of which sacrifice was essential as a seal, and incorporated as such in the baptismal rite.

Such is the testimony of the Old Testament, respecting these words. The church of Corinth was composed largely of Jews, who as we have seen still maintained the ordinances of the synagogue after as well as before their conversion to Christ. In those assemblies, James declares that “Moses of old time hath in every city, them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.”—Acts xv, 21. The Corinthian disciples, therefore, never attended those services without hearing the words in question used; and used in this continual sense of ritual uncleanness and ritual purity.

In the New Testament, the words in question are employed in strict accordance with the Old Testament usage. But as the ritual law here sinks into comparative obscurity, akathartos, more frequently means the loathsomeness of sin. Of the twenty-eight places in which it is found, it in twenty, describes “unclean spirits,” or demons. But when the question arises of the right of the Gentiles to a part with Israel, in the covenant and the church, the ritual meaning of the word, again comes forward. Peter in his vision pleads that he had “never eaten any thing common, or unclean.”—Acts x, 14. The lesson which that vision taught him was, that he “should not call any man common or unclean.”—Ib. 28. And he afterward said of the house of Cornelius that God “put no difference between us and them, (katharisas) cleansing their hearts by faith.”—Ib. xv, 9. Except the place in question, in which the relation of the children to the church is in view, and that of Peter, concerning the like relation of believing Gentiles, the word is invariably used in the New Testament to designate that moral character of which ritual uncleanness was the figure.

So, too, as to (hagioi) “holy,” or “saints”—it is the peculiar and distinctive appellation in the New Testament, as in the Old, for those whom we would call “members of the church.” In the Acts of the Apostles, some half a dozen times, the title of “disciples,” is used; once, Peter employs the name of “Christian” (1 Pet. iv, 16); and Paul once speaks of “the believers.” (1 Tim. iv, 12.) But, with these exceptions, the appellation universally used is (hagioi) “saints.” It thus occurs about fifty-six times, of which forty are in the epistles of Paul, the author of the passage in question. In fact, this is the designation which he uniformly employs in this very epistle and his second to the same church to designate the members of the church. “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints?”—1 Cor. vi, 1. “As in all the churches of the saints.” (Ib. xiv, 33.) “Paul ... unto the church of God which is in Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia.”—2 Cor. i, 1. The source of this title, moreover, as derived from the Sinai covenant, is indicated by Peter, who quotes the terms of that covenant and applies them to the New Testament church. “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (ethnos hagion), a peculiar people.”—1 Peter ii, 9. As in the Old Testament, so in the New, the word, hagios, invariably means, either, that holiness which is essential in God, and which, in his creatures is a bond of consecration to him; or, the characteristic of persons and things separated by a peculiar dedication and appropriation to his use and service.

The alternative to which the facts reduce us, is this:—that Paul, master as he was of the Mosaic system and of the language in which it is recorded,—in his reference to the children, used the words, akathartoi, and, hagioi, in their familiar ritual signification; or that he meant to deceive his readers. For, that the heirs of the covenant were in fact a holy people to God, was an express and fundamental specification in the covenant. And that the children were comprehended in this provision was no more questionable than was the existence of the covenant itself. Whatever therefore the meaning of Paul, his readers could not possibly understand his language in any but one way:—“Else were your children excluded from the pale of the covenant; but now are they embraced in it.”

The attempt is made to evade the overwhelming force of the facts, on this point, by a most extraordinary interpretation. It is asserted that Paul means,—“Else were your children illegitimate, but now are they legitimate.” The doctrine thus attributed to the apostle, is in the first place, false and abominable in morals. It is an assertion that no child is legitimate, unless one or other of its parents be a Christian. In the second place, it is an interpretation false to the whole testimony of the Scriptures as to the meaning of the words. In all the multitude of places in which they are to be found, there is not one to give the slightest color of sanction to it. It is nothing less than a desperate and unscrupulous attempt to silence the voice of God’s testimony because it is in terms of grace to our children.

Paul’s language is, in fact, an application to the children, of the same general principle of divine grace, which governed him in the circumcision of Timothy. The Hebrew blood of Timothy’s mother was held to entitle him to part in the Abrahamic covenant, although his father was a Greek. So, Paul pronounces the children of believers, Gentiles and Jews, to be clean, as comprehended in the Sinai covenant, and the gospel church, even though one parent should be an unbeliever.