(_b_) Upon this view, there is a striking incongruity between the nature of the change to be wrought and the means employed to produce it. The change is a spiritual one, but the means are physical. It is far more rational to suppose that, in changing the character of intelligent beings, God uses means which have relation to their intelligence. The view we are considering is part and parcel of a general scheme of mechanical rather than moral salvation, and is more consistent with a materialistic than with a spiritual philosophy.
_Acts 8:12_--"_when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized_"; _1 Pet. 3:21_--"_which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation_ [marg.--'_inquiry_', '_appeal_'] _of a good conscience toward God_" = the inquiry of the soul after God, the conscientious turning of the soul to God.
Plumptre, however, makes { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} a forensic term equivalent to "examination," and including both question and answer. It means, then, the open answer of allegiance to Christ, given by the new convert to the constituted officers of the church. "That which is of the essence of the saving power of baptism is the confession and the profession which precede it. If this comes from a conscience that really renounces sin and believes on Christ, then baptism, as the channel through which the grace of the new birth is conveyed and the convert admitted into the church of Christ, 'saves us,' but not otherwise." We may adopt this statement from Plumptre's Commentary, with the alteration of the word "conveyed" into "symbolized" or "manifested." Plumptre's interpretation is, as he seems to admit, in its obvious meaning inconsistent with infant baptism; to us it seems equally inconsistent with any doctrine of baptismal regeneration.
Scriptural regeneration is God's (1) changing man's disposition, and (2) securing its first exercise. Regeneration, according to the Disciples, is man's (1) repentance and faith, and (2) submission to baptism. Alexander Campbell, Christianity Restored: "We plead that all the converting power of the Holy Spirit is exhibited in the divine Record." Address of Disciples to Ohio Baptist State Convention, 1871: "With us regeneration includes all that is comprehended in faith, repentance, and baptism, and so far as it is expressive of birth, it belongs more properly to the last of these than to either of the former." But if baptism be the instrument of regeneration, it is difficult to see how the patriarchs, or the penitent thief, could have been regenerated. _Luke 23:43_--"_This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise._" Bossuet: "_This day_"--what promptitude! "_With me_"--what companionship! "_In Paradise_"--what rest! Bersier: " '_This day_'--what then? no flames of Purgatory? no long period of mournful expiation? '_This day_'--pardon and heaven!"