The Baptismal Covenant and Its Renewal
The import and obligation of our baptismal cove” nant. The renewal of it by a solemn dedication of ourselves to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit, exemplified and recommended.
All this, O my soul! which I have now resolved on, is no more than what I am obliged to by my vow in baptism, to renounce the devil and his worlcs, the flesh and the lusts thereof, the world, and conformity to it, that I may love and serve the Lord, agreeably to the undoubted right which God hath in me by creation, redemption, and his innumerable other benefits: but the outward washing of baptism,” and a visible profession of obedience, will not save me, without the answer of a good conscience towards God.” May I not, by the consideration of my baptismal covenant, suppose God speaking to my conscience to this efiPect? Will you take me for your whole portion and felicity; and my law for the constant rule of your obedience; and fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil, to your life’s end? Will you believe in Jesus Christ, and receive him as a Prince and Saviour; and adhere to the faith and obedience of the gospel, how hazardous and difiicult soever the profession and practice of it may be? Will you receive the blessed Spirit as your teacher, sanctifier, and comforter; and cherish alfhis motions, to enlighten, purify, confirm comfort and assist you?’ It is my to these terms, and resolved compliance with them which baptism obligeth to; and this is the answer of a good conscience towards God.”
I have often renewed this covenant on several occasions; but did I ever duly consider the tenor and obligations of it? How have I lied unto the God of truth! Dealt deceitfully with him I And been false and fickle, treacherous and unfaithful, to what r promised! O let me now again repeat it, and give up myself once more to be the Lord’s, more unfeignedly, more firmly, than ever I have hitherto done; that the bonds of God upon me may be strengthened, and my soul more thoroughly engaged to be the Lord’s! O help me to do it with the greatest seriousness as the most important affair of my whole life! By thine aid and grace alone, shall I be sincere and cordial in this surrender and dedication of myself. O breathe upon my soul, most Holy Spirit, (” the power of the Highest,”) that there may be no hypocrisy or reservation in this so weighty and solemn transaction between God and me!
O most blessed and glorious Trinity! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thy favour is my life, and thy loving-kindness is better than life; thy will should have been ray rule, thy word my law, thy glory my end, to please thee my principal business, and, to enjoy thy love and presence, my ultimate felicity: but I am one of thy revolted creatures, who have lost thine image, and rebelled against thy law; slighted thy authority, and rejected thy grace; and deserve to be cast out of thy sight, and banished from thy presence for ever. Nevertheless, O moat merciful God and Father upon thy gracious invita* tion and call, I now return to thee, my rightful Lord; acknowledging thee as my almighty, wise, and bountiful Creator, my absolute owner, my righ* teous governor, my end, my happiness, my chief good. I now accept thine offered mercy; I now submit to the sceptre of thy grace; and give up myself to thee, as my king, and my God, to rule and sanctify me now, and be my everlasting portion. I desire no longer to be my own, but thine, to whom of right I belong, and ought to be devoted* I yield myself to thee, O my Lord! Accept and possess that which is thine own. I lay myself at thy foot, at all times, and in all conditions, to be at thy disposal, and in every thing to acquiesce in thy good pleasure. Deliberately resolving, with unfeigned and free consent of my will, to walk before thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life, hereby I consecrate and devote myself to be thy perpetual, avowed servant. “Lord, I am thy servant, I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid.” Though other lords have had dominion Qvef me, I will now make mention of thy name, and of thy righteousness, only, by Jesus Christ.
O blessed Jesus, my all-sufficient Saviour! thy dying love, infinite condescension, and matchless grace, have at last overcome me, and constrained me to resolve to be wholly thine, who hast redeemed and bought me with thy most precious blood. I now acknowledge and own thee, as my Lord and my Jesus, my prophet, priest, and king; my sacrifice, surety, and ransom, to satisfy for my sins, and reconcile me unto God; to instruct me ia lvv(‘Ui)^A teach roe the mysteries of his kingdom, and the way to the Father. How often hast thou opened thine arms, and called me, yea, beseeched me, to come unto thee, and accept of life! But I refused to come. I adore thy merciful condescension, that yet thou, wilt receive ne on such easy terms*
O thou Lord of life and glory, now accept of an unworthy helpless sinner, who flies to thee as his only refuge and hope! who is convinced that none but Christ, none but Christ, can make his peace with God, and save from wrath to come. I acknowledge thy title to me, and my obedience, and to all I have, by dying for me. I desire to take thy yoke upon me, for it is easy, and thy burden, which is light. I desire to be entirely, and for ever thine, ‘^ in an everlasting covenant,” never to be broken; to take up the cross and follow thee, whithersoever thou shalt lead me, through the strait gate, and the narrow way. I will reserve no lust, refuse no labour, grudge no sufferings, stick at no difficulty, so I may please and honour thee, and continue in thy love. O shed abroad more of thy love in my heart, to make all things easy for his sake, “who hath loved me, and washed me from my sins in his own blood.”
O God the Holy Ghost! I acknowledge thee, as my great teacher and sanctifier, and give up myself to thee, as the author of all saving knowledge and holiness: by thee I have been convinced of ray sin against the law of God, and the gospel of Christ, and of my necessity of his merit, satisfaction, and righteousness, to justify my guilty soul, by procuring the forgiveness of sin, and my acceptance with Grod; and of the freeness of his love, the riches and all* sufficiency of his grace, towards all who come unto God by him. I adore thee, O most blessed Spirit I as proceeding and sent from the Father and the Son, to renew all the powers of my soul, and restore the divine image there; to enlighten my mind, to know and receive the truth, “as it is in Jesus,” and purify my heart; and to sanctify all the members of my body, and make them instruments of righteousness unto holiness, which before were servants unto sin; and gradually to deliver me from the power, the defilement, and abode of sin; as from the guilt and punishment by the blood of Jesus; and as the witness of God to the truth of the Holy Scriptures; and as the greatest paraclete to comfort and establish the hearts of believers, sealing them up to the day of redemption, and giving them the earnest of the heavenly inheritance. O blessed Spirit, be thou my witness, that, though I have violated the law of God, and defaced his image, and formerly undervalued the love of Christ, and the grace of the gospel, yet, by. thine aid, I now accept what I have so long neglected, and thankfully devote myself henceforward to be the Lord’s, in a covenant relation.
But, fearing and distrusting myself, I we up myself entirely to the conduct of thy grace, depending upon it for my establishment and perseverance. O form my heart into an obediential frame, that, in every thing, I may endeavour to answer the ends and obligations of this devoted state.
To this one God I have once again dedicated and resigned myself; to serve, and please, and honour thee, in thought, word, and act, to the last moment of my life; in the performance of all duties, even those which I have been most averse from; in the mortification of every lust, and the forsaking every sin, even those which I was once most addicted to; resolving deliberately to allow myself in nothing, great or little, secret or open, which I shall know or believe to be contrary to thy holy will; making it my business to be fruitful in good works, to the praise of my Redeemer; waiting, in the use of all his appointed means, for higher measures of grace and holiness, to be more victorious over inward lusts, and outward temptations, still “pressing towardis the mark for the prize of my high and holy calling,” even eternal life.
I call heaven and earth, O Lord, to witness this day that I own and avow this to be my mind, and the settled, prevailing purpose of my soul. This I again ratify and confirm, without any clauses or exceptions. So help me, O my God. Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!