28.2 Section II

    Section II.—The outward element to be used in the sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel, lawfully called thereunto.

Exposition This section embraces the following points:—1. That the outward element to be used in the sacrament of baptism is water. This outward sign represents the blood and Spirit of Christ.—Rev. i. 5; Tit. iii. 6. As water has a cleansing virtue for removing defilements from the body, so the blood of Christ removes the guilt of sin and cleanses the defiled conscience, and the Spirit of Christ purifies the soul from the pollution of sin. 2. That baptism is to be administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. To be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, signifies that we are baptised by the authority of the persons of the Holy Trinity; that we are baptised into the faith and profession of the blessed Trinity; and that we are solemnly devoted to the service of these divine persons. 3. That baptism is to be dispensed lay a lawfully ordained minister of the gospel. They only have authority to administer baptism who have received a commission from Christ to preach the gospel.—Matt. xxviii. 19. We have no account of any one dispensing the ordinance in the primitive Church, but such as were called, either ordinarily or extraordinarily, to the work of the ministry. It is the unfounded opinion that baptism is absolutely necessary to salvation, that has led the Church of Rome to permit this rite to be performed by laymen and women in cases of urgent necessity.