God's command, and connected with God's Word.

_What is that Word of God?_

_Ans._ It is that which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke, as it is recorded
in the last chapter of Matthew, verse 19: "Go ye, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost."

II. _What gifts or benefits does Baptism confer?_

_Ans._ It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil,
and confers everlasting salvation on all who believe, as the Word and
promise of God declare.

_What are such words and promises of God?_

_Ans._ Those which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke, as they are recorded in
the last chapter of Mark, verse 16: "He that believeth and is baptized,
shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned."

III. _How can water produce such great effects?_

_Ans._ It is not the water indeed that produces these effects, but the
Word of God which accompanies and is connected with the water, and our
faith, which relies on the Word of God connected with the water. For the
water, without the Word of God, is simply water and no baptism. But when
connected with the Word of God, it is a baptism, that is, a gracious
water of life, and a "washing of regeneration" in the Holy Ghost; as St.
Paul says to Titus, in the third chapter, verses 5-8: "According to His