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28. Let no one be misled by the fact of the apostle's frequently
omitting the name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit when making
mention of baptism, or on this account imagine that the invocation of
the names is not observed. "As many of you," he says, "as were
baptized into Christ have put on Christ;" and again, "As many of
you as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death." For
the naming of Christ is the confession of the whole, shewing forth as
it does the God who gave, the Son who received, and the Spirit who
is, the unction. So we have learned from Peter, in the Acts, of
"Jesus of Nazareth whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost; and in
Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord
hath anointed me;" and the Psalmist, "Therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."
Scripture, however, in the case of baptism, sometimes plainly
mentions the Spirit alone.
"For into one Spirit," it says, "we were. all baptized in one
body." And in harmony with this are the passages: "You shaft be
baptized with the Holy Ghost," and "He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost." But no one on this account would be justified in
calling that baptism a perfect baptism wherein only the name of the
Spirit was invoked. For the tradition that has been given us by the
quickening grace must remain for ever inviolate. He who redeemed our
life from destruction gave us power of renewal, whereof the cause is
ineffable and hidden in mystery, but bringing great salvation to our
souls, so that to add or to take away anything involves manifestly a
falling away from the life everlasting. If then in baptism the
separation of the Spirit from the Father and the Son is perilous to
the baptizer, and of no advantage to the baptized, how can the rending
asunder of the Spirit from Father and from Son be safe for us?
Faith and baptism are two kindred and inseparable ways of salvation:
faith is perfected through baptism, baptism is established through
faith, and both are completed by the same names. For as we believe in
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, so are we also baptized
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost;
first comes the confession, introducing us to salvation, and baptism
follows, setting the seal upon our assent.
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