Now, respecting the believer's death and burial to sin, these are attained, the apostle tells us, through the baptism into the death,' because he contends that all who have been baptised into Christ have been baptised into his death;' i. e., as he explains it in ver. 5, into the similitude (something analogous to or comparable with, see chap. v. 14), his death.' What, then, is this baptism through which the believer dies a death analogous to that of his Lord ? Is it an external rite, or is it a spiritual change? Dr. Pusey concludes for the former, but without offering any proof in support of his conclusion. Now it must, I think, be admitted that it is upon his side that the onus probandi in such a case as this lies; for the presumption is surely against the probability of a spiritual change so great as that of death to sin being brought about by a mere external act, the more especially as it is admitted by Dr. Pusey himself that the power of sin remains so strongly even after baptism, that a man though baptised may nevertheless be lost. Could he, indeed, succeed in proving by other passages that waterbaptism is God's appointed medium of conveying regeneration, his explanation of this passage would be unimpeachable; but in the absence of such proof he cannot fairly adduce it as an independent evidence in support of his position. The same train of remark substantially is applicable to the other two passages above mentioned. In Gal. iii. 27, the apostle says, that As many as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ.' To put on Christ obviously to become in disposition, character, and conduct like Christ

is

(comp. Rom. xiii. 14; Eph. iv. 24;) and the question just returns, Is it by an outward rite, or by an inward influence, that a sinful man is brought into a state of moral resemblance to the sinless Saviour? If it be replied, that it is by the outward act securing the inward power, I ask where is the proof that any such connexion subsists between the two? If, on the other hand, it be said that it is by the inward influence symbolised by the outward act, I answer, this may be very true, but how is it got out of this passage? Paul says plainly that it is by being baptised into Christ' that men put on Christ.' The baptism here referred to may be the Spirit's baptism, or it may be mere water-baptism; our choice lies between these two; but I cannot see on what principle we can be entitled to combine both until we have proved that both always go together. regard to the passage in Col. ii. 12, the opinion that it is spiritual baptism of which Paul speaks, is greatly strengthened by his expressly describing it as 'a circumcision not made with hands in putting off the sins of the flesh,' words which can only apply to what he elsewhere calls the circumcision of the heart in spirit and not in letter' (Rom. ii. 29)-the real, genuine renewal of the heart in the sight of God, and not the mere formal profession of renovation.

In

"I trust I have now satisfied my readers that there is no satisfactory ground for regarding the water of baptism as possessed of a saving [or regenerating] efficacy; but that, wherever baptism is spoken of in connexion with salvation, it is either to the baptism of the Spirit, or to

that avowal of attachment to Christ, which is required of all his followers, and which baptism, as being the commencement of it, is employed to designate, that the reference is made. It would, indeed, have been strange had the apostles taught the doctrine which the Catholic Church holds on this head. They would thus have made Christianity a more carnal system than Judaism, for they would, while teaching that circumcision is not of the flesh but of the heart,' and that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, but he who is one inwardly,' have taught that a rite, as purely external as circumcision, is sufficient to make a man a Christian, and that he who is thus a Christian outwardly, is ipso facto a Christian inwardly and in heart. By such teaching, also, they would have given occasion for questioning their own Christianity; for who can show that any of the apostles, except Paul, ever received Christian baptism with water? probability is, that they were not baptised save by Christ's breathing on them the Holy Ghost, after which, it is to be remembered, he instituted Christian baptism as a rite to be administered by them; so that if it be water baptism which saves men, by what, I ask, were the apostles saved? They have also recorded the cases of Paul, of Lydia, of the jailor at Philippi, and of others, all of whom appear to have been truly converted persons before they were baptised; as well as the case of Simon Magus, who, though baptised, remained in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. In addition to all this, how striking is the language of Paul in regard to his own practice in the baptism of converts! I thank God,'

The

says he, in writing to the Corinthians, that I baptised none of you but Crispus and Gaius; lest any should say that I had baptised in my own name. And I baptised also the household of Stephanas; besides I know not whether I baptised any other. For Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel" (1 Cor. i. 14-17). Is this, I ask, the language of one who believed that it was by baptism that men were to be united to Christ, and to receive through Him the remission of sins? Can we suppose for a moment, that had the apostle really believed that doctrine, he would have refrained from administering baptism-that is, would have refused to convey to men salvation, lest some evil-minded persons should make a sinister use of his doing so? that he would have thanked God that he had only baptised two persons during his long residence at Corinth? that he would have affirmed that, commissioned as he was to teach men all that Christ had enjoined, he had been sent not to baptise, but to preach the gospel? and that he would have thought so little about the matter as really to be at a loss to remember how many he had baptised in the Church at Corinth? What a contrast is there in this respect between Paul and the clergy of the Catholic Church! While they make baptism everything, and the preaching of the gospel next to nothing, he elevates the preaching of the gospel to the first place, and allows to baptism only a very subordinate rank among the means of grace. While they think themselves successful as ministers of Christ in proportion to the number of persons they baptise, he thanks God that, in a

large city, and out of a large Church, he had only baptised one or two. And whilst they claim' religious veneration' from their flock on the ground of the mysterious virtue they are supposed to convey in baptism, he abstained from administering the rite altogether, except in a few instances,

lest he should seem to be seeking honour for himself. Would that all who call themselves Paul's successors had the same high views of the spiritual nature of Christianity, and the power of the preaching of the gospel, which dwelt in him!

LUTHER AND

BRIGHT for Luther as was the June which made Catherine Von Bora the mistress of his home, the June of the following year was brighter still. The happy family life established for the Reformer was then farther enriched by the birth of his first child. Full of joy and thankfulness, the father wrote to Spalatin: "Grace and peace! I present to you my thanks in the Lord, my Spalatin, for your very hearty congratulation (may God grant your prayers) to me, a happy husband; to whom my dearest, bestbeloved wife has, by God's blessing, given a son, little John Luther; and thus, by the wondrous grace of God, I have become a father."

No father, however abundant his leisure, could watch the progress of his child with more loving minuteness than did the tempest-tossed Reformer. In a little while he informs Spalatin of the fact, interesting to himself at least, that the babe is cutting teeth, and "communicates his wife's kind regards, with her best wishes that he may soon have an heir to his name and virtues, who may teach him what she has learnt from her little John; namely, the fruit and blessing of matrimony, of which the Pope and all his court are unworthy." Later still he writes, "My little John is strong

VOL. I.-NEW SERIES.

and lively; he is voracious, bibacious, loquacious."

Thus far he had tasted only of the joys of a parent, but very soon he was called to feel that this relationship has its sorrows also ; sorrows keen and deep in proportion as its joys are great. First, illness fell on himself, and he thought he was about to be separated from wife and child. In the midst of great suffering he exclaimed "Where is my little darling, my dear little John?" The child when brought to him smiled upon its father, who, with tears in his eyes, sobbed forth: " 'My poor dear little boy, I commend thee heartily to our Lord God, thou and thy good mother, my beloved Catherine. I leave you nothing, but God will provide for you ; He who is the father of widows and orphans. Preserve them, O God, and teach them, as Thou hast preserved and taught me."

The father recovered, but shortly after the child was taken ill. "My little favorite John," wrote Luther to a friend, "does not salute thee for he is too ill to speak, but through me he solicits your prayers. For the last twelve days he has not eaten a morsel." At the same time two friends residing in his house were seized with the plague, so that he had cause to say, My

H

66

Another child, a daughter, was born at this time, but ere a year had elapsed the gift was reclaimed by the Giver. "My little daughter Elizabeth is dead," wrote the sorrowing father, "'tis wonderful how sick at heart her loss has made me; I feel a mere woman, so great is the agitation that has since pervaded me. I could never have dreamt that a man's soul could be filled with such tenderness even towards his child."

Four children were born to Luther after this period-Magdalen, Paul, Martin, and Margaret. And it now became the Reformer of a corrupt Church to give an example of how a Christian family should be ordered. Nor does he fail. Nowhere does Luther appear worthier and better, nowhere is he so lovable as in his own home. The sojourner there feels at once that this is the abode of a righteous man. Behind his stove Luther had written the words, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." These were the days when men were encouraged to palter with evil by the distinction of mortal and venial sins. But such was not the morality of Luther's household. No sins were venial in his eyes. He had learned his morality from the Divine Teacher, and knew that the law of the Lord searched the heart as well as controlled the actions of men, and that departure from its requirements in small things as in great was evil, and only evil.

With a lofty and enlightened morality there was mingled in the training of Luther's children, in

a very large measure, the love, the beauty, and the gentleness which the Gospel teaches. Their lot had fallen on stormy times, and their home was the very centre of the conflict which was waging in many lands, yet no spot could be found more peaceful, more happy and cheerful, than the nursery of Martin Luther's children. Luther's own nature, with its childlike trustfulness and simplicity, its deep affectionateness and its love of simple pleasures, fitted him in a peculiar way to sympathise with children, and hence to influence them. He used to say that, beautiful as all God's works were, little children were the fairest of all. And few things delighted him so much as to mingle in their sports, and to be the companion and confidant of their joys and sorrows. On his return after an absence from home he came laden with "fairings" for the children, and no face in the delighted group was more joyous when the treasures were unfolded, than was that of the father!

His piety too was of that kind which most readily and powerfully influences all classes, but specially the young. It was cheerful and allpervasive-always present, but never as a gloomy shadow over the homeit was a bright halo, in the light of which all joyous things grew more beautiful, and even sorrowful things lost a portion of their gloom.

And in a wonderful way did this piety draw sustenance to itself from all around, and in the most easy and natural manner direct the thoughts of his children and friends upwards. A bough laden with cherries, a few fishes from his little pond laid on his table, a rose even, drew from him expressions of pious gratitude and delight.

And from the little birds which frequented his garden he both learned and taught sweet lessons of confidence in God. "That little bird," he said one evening, "has chosen its shelter, and is about to go to sleep in tranquillity it has no disquietude, neither does it consider where it shall rest to-morrow night, but it sits in peace on that slender branch, leaving it to God to provide for it." "Ah! poor little birds," he exclaimed on another occasion, when two of the feathered tribe who had been building a nest in his garden flew away on his approach,

66

And if even from the little birds this great man drew lessons of pious confidence, much more did he learn from his children. "Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice in trembling." "There is no contradiction," said Luther, in this text at least for me. My little boy, John, does exactly this in respect to myself. But I cannot thus act towards God. If I am seated at table, and am writing or doing anything, John sings me a little song; if he sings too loud and I tell him of it, he still sings on, but with some fear, and to himself as it were. God wills that we also should be constantly gay, but that our gaiety be tempered with fear and reserve."

Watching his children one day, as with longing eyes they were looking at some fruit on the table, he exclaimed, "Whoever desires to see a picture of those who are rejoicing in hope may here behold the very image. Oh that we could anticipate the

solemn wonders of the last day with as eager a desire!"

"Children," he remarked on another occasion, "after all are the happiest. We older fools constantly torment ourselves, and bring affliction on us by our eternal disputes about the Word! Is it true ?-is it possible? -how is it possible? are our incessant inquiries. Whereas children, in the simplicity and the purity of their faith, possess a certainty, and doubt of nothing in which their salvation is concerned. In order to be saved we ought to imitate their example, and hold fast to the Word of God alone." In hours of distress he used to say to his wife, "Dear Ketha, our children trust us, though they cannot understand; so must we trust God."

Luther's love to his family was intense. "How my heart yearned after my family," he once said, “at the time when I was sick almost unto death at Smalkald. I believed that I should never again behold wife or children how heavily this separation weighed upon me!" And this love did much to soothe and comfort him in hours of perplexity and peril. The year 1530 was one of the most trying periods of his eventful life. The Emperor Charles V. with his Spaniards, and accompanied by a great retinue of the most powerful adherents of the Papacy, had come to Augsburg, there to hold a Conference with the Protestant princes and theologians of Germany regarding the religious differences which prevailed. The Protestants were well aware that they had much to fear both from the power and the craft of their opponents. Weak hearts were sinking with fear, and all men felt that this was a momentous crisis. Luther's brave heart failed