A WORD TO FRIENDLY ALIENS

Whether to regard you as Proselytes of the Gate, who refused circumcision but wished to live in the land of Israel, to be in the suburbs of the cities of Judah, and to keep some of the institutions of the ancient kingdom of God without becoming fellow citizens of that kingdom; or whether to regard you as the Samaritans of old, who built for themselves a temple of God on Mount Gerizim, held fast to part of the ancient revelation of God, and rejected only such parts of it as did not suit their prejudices—worshiped the God of Israel alongside the idols of the nations from which they came—I say, whether to regard you in the light of one or the other of those ancient religious groups might require more skill in casuistry than we possess, more leisure than we have at our disposal, and more patience than either of us can endure. One thing, however, is obvious: if, under the Reign of Heaven, it was necessary for so good a man as Cornelius ("a man of piety, and one who feared God with all his household, giving also much alms to the people, and praying to God continually") to "hear words by which he might be saved," and to put on Christ by immersion into his death so that he might enter the kingdom of heaven, enjoy the remission of sins, and have the hope of an inheritance among all the sanctified—certainly it is both appropriate and necessary that you also go and do likewise.

Every sectarian in the land, however honest and pious, ought to bury his sectarianism and all his other sins of omission and commission in "the bath of regeneration." It is a serious offense for any man professing to have received the Messiah in his proper person, character, and office to refuse allegiance to him in anything and to substitute human inventions and traditions in place of the ordinances and statutes of Prince Immanuel. Indeed, maintaining any dogma, practice, or custom that directly or indirectly replaces the constitution, laws, and customs of the kingdom over which Jesus presides is directly opposed to his government and would ultimately dethrone him in favor of a rival, placing on his throne the author of that dogma, practice, or custom that supplants the institution of the Savior of the world.

It is to you, then, who, in the name of the King, are changing his ordinances and substituting your own expedients for the wisdom and authority of the Judge of all, that we now propose the following considerations: —

Every kingdom has one uniform law or institution for naturalizing aliens; and that institution, whatever it may be, is obligatory, by the authority of the government, upon everyone who would become a citizen. We say it is obligatory for anyone who desires to be a citizen to submit to that institution. But does not your practice and your doctrine positively say that it is not the duty of an alien to be born again, but that it is the duty of his father or guardian to have him naturalized? Now, although many things are commonly the duty of brother, father, and child, those duties which belong specifically to a father cannot belong to his child, either in religion, morality, or society. If it is the father's duty to "offer his child to the Lord," to speak in your own style, it is not the child's duty to offer himself. It was not Isaac's duty to be circumcised, but Abraham's duty to circumcise him. If, then, it was your father's duty to make you citizens of the kingdom of heaven, it is not your duty to become citizens unless you can produce a law saying that in all cases where the father fails to do his duty, it shall then be the child's duty to do what his father neglected.

Again—if all fathers, like yours, had, on their own responsibility, without any command from the Lord, baptized their children, there would not be one in a nation to whom it could be said, "Repent and be baptized;" much less could it be said to every penitent, "Be baptized, every one of you, by the authority of the Lord, for the remission of sins." These remarks are only intended to show that your institutions do, in truth, undermine the government of Christ and completely abolish the institutions of his kingdom. On this account alone, if for no other reason, you ought to be constitutionally naturalized and be legally and honorably inducted into the kingdom of heaven. It is a solemn duty you owe the King and his government; and if you have a conscience formed by the oracles of God, you can have no confidence in God nor real peace of mind as long as you give your support, your approval, example, and entire influence to breaking down the institutions of Jesus Christ, opening his kingdom to all who are born of the flesh, and preventing, as far as you can, every person from the pleasure of choosing whom they will obey—of confessing him before others—of taking his yoke—of dying, being buried, and raised with Christ in his gracious institution. If Jesus himself, for the sake of fulfilling all righteousness or honoring every divine institution, though he did not need the reformation for remission of sins that John preached, was immersed by John—what do you have to say for yourselves—who claim the honors and privileges of the kingdom of heaven but refuse to follow Jesus' example, and who effectively undermine his authority by supporting a system that, if carried out, would not allow a voluntary agent in the race of Adam to do what all the first converts of Christ did by the authority of the commission Jesus gave to his Apostles?

Again—whatever confidence you may now have that you are good citizens of the kingdom of Messiah, that confidence is not based on a "thus saith the Lord," but on your own reasoning, which everyone must acknowledge may be, as in many other things, mistaken. Jesus has said, "He who believes and is immersed shall be saved;" and Peter commanded every penitent to be immersed for the remission of his sins. Now, he who hears the word, believes it, and is, by his own confession, immersed, has an assurance, a confidence that is impossible for you to have.

Let me add only one more consideration, for we are not now arguing the merits of your theory or that of any party: it is your duty, as you desire the union of (what you call) the church and the conversion of the world, to be immersed immediately and to be born constitutionally into the kingdom; because all Protestants, of every name, if sincere believers in Jesus as the Christ, regardless of every opinion found in any human creed, could, if they would honor and obey his institutions, come into one fold and sit down together under the reign of the Messiah. If all would follow your example, this would necessarily follow; if they do not, you have done your duty. By being thus immersed, all the world, Catholic and Protestant, admit that you are truly and scripturally baptized; for all admit that an immersed penitent is constitutionally baptized into Christ; but only part of the professing world can admit that rite of infant affusion on which you rely as introducing you, without previous knowledge, faith, or repentance, into the family of God. Clear your conscience, then; follow Jesus' example; honor and support his authority; promote the union and peace of the family of God; do what you can for the conversion of the world; enter into the full enjoyment of the blessings of the kingdom of heaven by confessing the ancient faith and by being immersed in the name of Jesus into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, for the remission of sins. Then you may say as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: Although the Samaritans have a temple on Mount Gerizim, a priesthood, and the five books of Moses, "Salvation is of the Jews." Although the sects have the Oracles of God, human creeds, many altars, priests, and religious customs, the enjoyment of salvation is among those who simply believe what the Apostles wrote concerning Jesus and who from the heart obey that pattern of doctrine which the Apostles delivered to us.

In doing so you will, moreover, most wisely protect your own safety and security from the great calamities that are accumulating every day and soon to fall with overwhelming violence on a distracted, divided, alienated, and unfaithful generation. If you are "the people of God," as you profess and as we would gladly believe, then you are commanded by a voice from heaven, "Come out of her, my people, so that you do not share in her sins and so that you do not receive any of her plagues."¹ If affliction, shame, poverty, and reproach are to be the unavoidable lot of the most faithful servants of God, it is better—infinitely better—for you to suffer with them than to enjoy for a season all that a corrupt and apostate society can offer you. Remember who said, "Blessed are those who keep his commandments, for they will have the right to the tree of life, and they will enter through the gates into the city!"