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Original.
THE BENEFITS OF BAPTISM.
BY REV. WM. BANNARD.
_Son._--Father, how do you reconcile the distinction which the apostle
Paul makes in 1 Cor. 7:14, between children as "holy" and "unclean,"
with the fact that all the descendants of Adam inherit a corrupt nature?
_Father._--The distinction is not moral, but federal or ecclesiastical.
The apostle is speaking, you perceive, of the children of believers and
unbelievers. The one, he says, are "holy," the other "unclean." But he
does not mean by this that the children of pious parents are by nature
different from others, or that, unlike them, they are not tainted with
evil. He means that they stand in a different relation to God and his
church. "_Holy_," in Scripture, means primarily "set apart or
consecrated to a sacred use." Thus, the temple at Jerusalem, its altar,
vessels and priests, were holy. The Jews themselves, as a people, were
in covenant with God. They belonged to him, were set apart to his
service, and in this sense "_holy_." Now, the apostle is to be
understood as teaching that children of believing parents, under the
Gospel, are allowed to participate in this heritage of God's ancient
people, and hence are holy.
_Son._--But how can this be?
_Father._--I will tell you, briefly, though I cannot now go into detail.
In virtue, then, of their parents' faith in God's covenant, into which
he entered with Abraham, and through him with all believing parents,
their children, also, are brought into covenant with him and entitled to
its privileges and blessings.
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