Christus in corde, or, The mystical union between Christ and believers considered in its…

Having treated of the bonds of this Union; I now proceed to the Seals of it, Baptism and the Lords Supper. Baptism is the Sacrament of Initiation; the Supper is the Sacrament of Nutrition. Baptism is the first entrance into Gods Family; the Supper is the spiritual Banquet, unto which the baptized, after washing, pass to feed ⟨p. 202⟩upon Christ there: both of them are Seals of union with him.

HAving treated of the bonds of this Union; I now proceed to the Seals of it, Baptism and the Lords Supper. Baptism is the Sacrament of Initiation; the Supper is the Sacrament of Nutrition. Baptism is the first entrance into Gods Family; the Supper is the spiritual Banquet, unto which the baptized, after washing, pass to feed ⟨p. 202⟩upon Christ there: both of them are Seals of union with him.

Baptism is not, as the Socinians would have it to be, a nude rite, but an obsignative one; it is not a mere picture of spiritual Grace, but a Seal of it. Circumcision was a seal of the righteousness of Faith; Baptism, which succeeds in the room of it, can be no less.¹ In man there is a body and a soul: to answer both, there is in Baptism an outward part and an inward one; the outward part is water, which cleanses the body; the inward part is Christ, who by his Blood and Spirit cleanses the Soul: in both cleansings, union is requisite. Water, unless applied, cleanses not the Body; Christ, unless applied, cleanses not the Soul. Where Baptism is in the right use, there is a seal of union with Christ, who communicates the spiritual cleansing to those who are in him as parts of his mystical body: Hence are those Phrases in Scripture touching baptized persons; they are baptized into Christ, Rom. 6.3. So united to him, as to be in him; they are baptized into one body,