the recompence of the reward so the Man Christ Jesus for the Hâ—b 11. 26. Hâ—b 12. 2. Isa 49 4 53.11 Phil. 2. 8 9. joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God according to the Covenant between God and him Now the Covenant between God and the Man Christ Jesus is for substance the same with the Covenant between God and all godly Christians they are specifically but one everlasting Covenant because Christ considered as Man Heb. 1. 9. 2. 11 12. Rom. 8. 29. Joh. 20. 17. Col. 1. 18. and all godly Christians are Brethren and Fellows only he in all things hath the pre-eminence as being the First-born among many Brethren and anointed with the Oyl of Gladness above his Fellows § VII What advaniage then hath the Jew or what profit is there of circumcision Rom. 3. 1 2. Much every way Certainly the Christian now hath not less advantage then the Jew anciently had and there is not less profit now by Baptism then was of old by Circumcision Christian Parents and their Seed are not Losers but rather Gainers by the Coming of Christ and the New Testament in his Blood because he is a surety of a better testament the mediator of a better covenant But this cannot be if the Infants of Christian Parents be not admittable to Baptism Heb. 7.22 8 6. For how can that be a better Covenant and Testament which abolisheth Circumcision whereby there was much Profit and Advantage to the Infants of Believing Parents anciently and gives them nothing in lieu thereof but excludes them from Baptism coming in the room thereof § VIII That Baptism comes in the place of Circumcision is evident for the Heb. 7. 12. Priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the Law For thô the Law for Circumcision was in force some Hundreds of Years before the Institution of the Levitical Priesthood yet were they both but temporary Institutions designed to last but for a time until the time of Reformation which being come Heb. 9. 10. they cease and have an end and in their room comes Baptism and the Priesthood of Christ and the New Covenant in his Blood Plain it is that as there is a change of the Levitical Priesthood so is there also of Circumcision If ye be Gal. 5. 2. circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing Now there cannot be a change of Circumcision but there must needs be another Sign and Token of God's gracious Covenant in its room for therein consisteth the nature of a change and the change here must needs be for the better because Christ is the Mediator of a better Covenant and the time of the New Testament is the time of Reformation more glorious than the time of the Old Testament Accordingly Baptism 2 Cor. 3. 10 â—â— is better then Circumcision as better suiting with the State of the Church under the New Testament 1. It is more easie Circumcision was bloody and painful 2. It is more plain and significative of our Communion and Fellowship with Christ in his Death and Resurrection and of the washing away of all our sins in his Blood 3. It is equally applicable to Males and Females 4. It is not limited to the Eighth Day 5. It is enjoyned to all Believers both Jews and Gentiles throughout the World 6. It is to continue to the End of the World 7. It is to be done by none but a Valid Minister of Christ 8. It is to be done publickly in the Assembly of God's People if it may be Look then as we have the Lord's Supper in the room of the Passeover and the Lord's Day in the room of the Seventh Day Sabbath and the Priesthood of Christ in the room of the Levitical Priesthood and the New Testament in Christ's Blood in the room of the Old Testament in the Blood of Beasts So we have Baptism in the room of Circumcision a change every way for the better Either Circumcision is changed for Baptism or for nothing for no other thing imaginable comes in its room But a change there must needs be otherwise the Scripture will be found erroneous in saying The Priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the Law § IX The Opposers of Infant-Baptism deny Baptism to be the Seal of God's Covenant with every Believer and affirm That the Scriptures are altogether silent thereof and conceive the Seal of that Covenant is the Indwelling of the Spirit of Their Confession of Faith p. 117 Christ in the particular and individual Persons in whom he resides and nothing else But this is a manifest Error for before Abraham was Circumcised he was a true Believer in Covenant with God and sealed with the Spirit of Christ afterward he received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised So that besides the Indwelling of the Rom. 4. 11. Spirit there was then clearly another Seal of God's Covenant namely Circumcision The difference between these two Seals stood in this the Indwelling of the Spirit is an internal Seal peculiar to the Elect of absolute Eph. 1. 13 14. 4 30. 2 Cor. 1. 22. necessity to the Salvation of each Person from the Fall of Adam to the end of the World but Circumcision was an external Seal common to Isaac and Ishmael to Jacob and Esau to Elect and Non-Elect Persons not ordained before Abraham's time neither to all then but to some only and to no Infant before the Eighth Day and upon special Reasons dispensed with or omitted for Forty Years in the Wilderness and never esteemed by God of equal excellency and necessity with Regeneration Moreover it is undeniably plain that Circumcision was a token of the covenant between God and Abraham together with his seed after him in their generations And being so it was a Seal thereof Gen. 17 9 10 11. for a Token of God's Covenant and a Seal thereof for substance denote the same thing This Covenant did assure the earthly Canaan to Abraham and all his Natural Seed in common by Sarah and the heavenly Canaan to Abraham and all his Spiritual Seed Those of Abraham's Seed who rested in the Letter of Circumcision without the Spirit in the Circumcision of the Flesh without the Circumcision of the Heart and minded the earthly more than the heavenly Canaan were Abraham's degenerate Seed Children of the Devil born after the Flesh and not after the Spirit ungodly and liable to eternal Damnation But such as together with the Circumcision of the Flesh had the inward Circumcision of the Heart and by supernatural Grace and Regeneration were truly holy before God these were Abraham's Spiritual Seed Elect in Christ Children of God and Christians really though not so called and unto them Circumcision was principally a Seal and Token of God's
Eminent Instruments of all Spiritual Good to the Souls of Infants not excluding but rather including their Parents if they be truly godly them especially for thus we read But Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all Gal. 4. 26. This Jerusalem the Holy Catholick Church the blessed Company of all faithful People is the Mother of us all and consequently of all such Infants as belong to the Election of Grace And we have great reason to think that all such Infants as God's Word binds us to baptize dying in Infancy with the Seal and Token of God's gracious Covenant upon them are elect and saved especially if they be the Infants of godly Parents they are Cives Ecclesiae Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem she is spiritual Mother to them all and every one For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body 1 Cor. 12. 13. § XXV We may admit the Infant to Baptism and yet not admit his Parents to the Lord's Supper because it may be wholsome Penalty to deny them the Lord's Supper till they have reformed their profane and wicked Lives and yet it may be too much Rigoun to debar their Infant from Baptism Not seldom the Children of wicked Christian Parents when grown up prove godly and are saved and too many Children of godly Parents when grown up prove wicked and perish As God may by his common Grace move the Heart of a carnal Christian Parent to pray to joyn in Prayer to hear the Word to give an Alms to devote part of his Estate to pious and charitable Uses and by God's common Grace he may be instrumental for Temporal and Eternal Good to others though himself prove a Cast-away So by the same common Grace he may be instrumental in God's hands for bringing his Child to Baptism and procuring it solemnly entred into his Holy Covenant and may devote it to his Service and be useful to its Temporal and Eternal Good though himself be ungodly and perish Under the Law the Infants of good and bad Parents were promisouously admitted to Circumcision by Divine Warrant and good and bad Israelites did in common contribute towards the Building of the Tabernacle first and afterward of the Temple Whom we can we are to amend by the Word and holy Discipline and whom we cannot we are to mourn for and tolerate Where the Tares cannot be pluckt up without endangering the Wheat they are to be let alone and both are to grow together till the Harvest There are two kinds of sincerity common and special with the former the generality of ungodly Christian Parents in the Parishes of England desire Baptism for their Children they desire it sincerely seriously and without dissembling this is not no sincerity it is better then none and yet it is not divine heavenly and spiritual But Children born in manifest Whoredom and Adultery should not be baptized unless the Father or the Mother one or both will at the Baptism of the Child penitentlally confess the Sin And the Ecclesiastical Judge should not for filthy Lucre exempt infamous and notoriously scandalous Sinners from such wholsome Penance so to do is very sinful and scandalous and God's Blessing cannot be thought to go along with that Gain which is taken Jos 7. 19. Prov. 28. 13. 1 Tim. 5. 20. to free Sinners from giving Glory to God by wholsome Confession of Sin § XXVI By Infant-Baptism a Divine Bond and Engagement is laid upon the Parents to teach and upon the Children to learn as soon as they shall be capable God's true Religion This Divine Bond and Engagement doth very much tend to Godliness and shunning Sin by aweing the Consciences of Parents and Children when grown But the denial of Infant-Baptism by erroneous freeing Parents and Children from this Divine Bond and Engagement doth too much tend too Looseness and carnal Liberty and profane Conversation § XXVII Infant-Baptism is greatly useful to keep up the Doctrine of Original Sin in Infants and the necessity of supernatural Regeneration and Eternal Redemption by the Grace of Christ and so it is greatly useful to our Faith But the way of those who are against Infant-Baptism doth very much tend to weaken our Faith herein and make all Men think that there is no such thing as Original Sin in Infants that they have no need of Regeneration and Eternal Redemption by Christ and that they are no less holy and pure then the Infant Jesus who was after an extraordinary and miraculous manner conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Womb of a Virgin and born of her which is a great and dangerous Error § XXVIII Moreover their way tendeth to harden the Jews in their Infidelity because the Gospel obligeth them to believe that if they will become Christians not only themselves but their Infants also shall become great Gainers and be under a better Covenant then that of Circumcision which upon the Principles of those who oppose infant-Infant-Baptism cannot be and so the Jews are scandalized and a Stumbling-block is cast in their way to hinder their Conversion § XXIX The Apostles did rightly in baptizing those with the Baptism of August Enchirid cap. 49. Bedae respons ad qu. 5. in fine lib. Retract in Act. Apostol Christ who had been before baptized with the Baptism of John Act. 19. because John's Baptism gave no Remission of Sins save through Faith in the Death of Christ as future and so it pertained to the Old Testament Dispensation which stood in force till after the Death of Christ the Testator and Surety of the New Testament by whose Death and the Institution of the New Testament in his Blood the whole Old Testament Dispensation and John's preparatory Baptism as included in or joyned with the same is to cease and have an end and now Christ as Mediator of the New Covenant ordains a new way for all Nations that they be made Disciples and baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost this is clearly a new way and kind of Baptism differing from John's But this will no way warrant the Doctrine and Practice of those among us who re-baptize grown Christians who had been lawfully baptized in their Infancy with Christ's Baptism how they will avoid the Charge of Anabaptism and sinful re-baptizing I see not And it may seem strange that they can find Evidence in the New Testament for the Divine Appointment of the Lord's Day and that from the Resurrection of Christ the last Day of the Week was changed into the first Day of the Week as in their Confession of Faith themselves declare p. 77. and yet cannot find like Evidence for the change of Circumcision for Baptism and the Baptism of Infants as the consequent thereof § XXX They tell us That all instituted Worship receives its Sanction from Their Confession of Faith p. 115 p. 116. the Precept and is to be thereby governed in all the necessary Circumstances thereof And that it depends purely upon the Will of the Law-giver to determine what shall be the Sign of his Covenant unto whom at what season and upon what terms it shall be affixed Now though much more might be said in this Argument yet necessitated brevity will not permit more and I think I have said enough to prove that it is the Will of Christ that we baptize the Infants of Christian Parents that in so doing we proceed according to his Precept and Commission to his Apostles to teach and baptize all Nations So hath been the Practice of the Universal Church to our times God's Blessing hath gone along with it and Christ according to his gracious Promise will not fall to be with his Ministers in the dispensing of it unto the end of the World Mat. 28. 20. FINIS LONDON Printed for J. Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey 1693.
Children pertained the adoption and the glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the service of God and the Promises But they by Unbelief breaking themselves and their Children off from the God of Abraham and his true Religion this gave occasion for the calling of the Gentiles who were wild by Nature and Branches of the wild Olive-tree but being by supernatural Grace and Regeneration united to Christ endued with the Faith of Abraham and so graffed contrary to Nature into a good Olive-tree Now the Infants of Believing Gentiles are become the Natural Branches and together with the Infants of believing Jews partake of the root and fatness of the olive-tree and consequently of Baptism as coming in the room of Circumcision By this good Olive-tree I understand Christ the Saviour of all Men specially of those that believe who hath with his own Blood purchased Temporal Mercies for all Men in general and Eternal Mercies for the Elect in special and Baptism in common for all Christian Parents and their Infants § XVIII As they are not all Israel which are of Israel so they are not all Rom. 9. 6. the Church which are of the Church nor all internally in Covenant with God that are externally in Covenant with him And yet all that are of the Church and externally in Covenant with God may be admitted to such external Priviledges as do in common pertain to Isaac and Ishmael to Jacob and Esau to Simon Peter and Simon Magus to visible Christians and their Seed suitably to their Age and Capacity § XIX Baptism in its own nature is the Laver of Regeneration a saving Tit. 3. 21. 1 Pet. 3. 21. Rom. 4. 11. Act. 22. 16. Figure a divine Sign Seal and Token of Pardon of Sin Adoption Justification and Eternal Life according to God's gracious Covenant in Christ But as one and the same Sun doth harden Clay and soften Wax and as one and the same Gospel is to some through God's special Grace in Christ the Savour of Life unto Life and unto others through their own Sin the Savour of Death unto Death so is Baptism In receiving Baptism Persons receive 2 Cor. 2. 16 17. 2 Cor. 6 1. the Grace of God but too many receive the grace of God in vaih and so what in its own nature is the Laver of Regeneration a saving Figure a divine Sign Token and Seal of the greatest Blessings and Favours is not so to such as receive it unworthily and in vain § XX. The Papists generally and many Protestants hold That the Sacraments confer Grace Non ponentibus obicem to such as do not put in a barr Roffens Cont. Luther Art 1. Le Blane Thes Theol. de usu efficacia Sacram. Novi Testam Luther in the beginning of the Reformation did censure and oppose this Sentence and Opinion as Heretical Certain it is that there cannot be a Sacrament without Faith For all sound Divines unanimously approve that excellent Saying of St. Augustine's Accedit verbum ad Elementum fit Sacramentum The Word comes to the Element and it is made a Sacrament This Saying is grounded upon these and the like Scriptures Rom. 4. 11. 1 Pet. 3. 21. So that without the Word of Divine Institution there is no Sacrament no Baptism no Lord's Supper But the Word of Institution cannot be without Faith either common or special For the Word of Institution and Faith are related as principal and Instrumental and as related they are by Nature together and do mutually prove and infer each other There may be Words and Washing without Faith but not Christian Baptism Common Faith such as Simon Magus had is sufficient to the Validity of Baptism and for entring the Person baptized into the Lord's Oath and Covenant and into the Number and Society of visible Christians as to external Fellowship and Communion but it is not sufficient to Pardon of Sin and a State of Salvation for this there is an absolute necessity of special Faith even the Faith of God's Elect as to the Adult and the Divine Seed thereof as to Infants No Christian Faith no Church no Sacrament no Gospel-Ministry no Difference between us and Heathens nothing but Practical Atheism and the Kingdom of the Devil and Eternal Despair § XXI Many hold that God's Promises are of two sorts Absolute and Conditional and that Baptism is but a Seal of his Conditional Promises and that the eternal Salvation of Infants is not absolutely and entirely by the Grace of God in Christ but partly by it and partly by somewhat else as a condition thereof or cause Sine quâ non without which Infants cannot be saved But the Scripture hath no such Doctrine and therefore it may not be received 1. We read That all the Promises of God in Christ are Yea and in him Amen And that godliness is profitable unto 2 Cor. 1. 20. all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come But of two sorts of Divine Promises some absolute and some conditional 1 Tim 4.8 we read nothing at all 2. The Sum of all the Blessings and Good Things contained in God's Promises is Eternal Life as begun on Earth and perfected in Heaven In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began Tit. 1. 2. And this is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal life 1 John 2. 25. Now Eternal Life is God's own Life even the Life of God But the Life of God cannot Eph. 4. 18. be conditional for if it be conditional then God himself must needs be conditional uncertain of his own Life an impotent and precarious God dependent upon Men for his very Life and it is at their courtesie whether he shall be God or no. 3. If the Eternal Salvation of Infants from first to last be not absolutely and entirely by God's Grace in Christ then we must be bound to pray for Infants after this manner Lord do not save them but almost save them the matter is divided into certain parts part belongs to thee and part belongs to some other Lord do thine own part it pertains not to thee to do more and therefore we may beg no more thou art but a half Saviour an imperfect Saviour there be others co-equal and co-ordinate with thee in this matter But this kind of praying is rather blaspheming than praying 4. If Infants eternal Salvation from first to last be not absolutely and entirely by God's free Grace in Christ then it must needs be wholly of Debt and not of Grace and so Infants shall have ground of glorying against God after this manner and to this effect We thank God indeed for making us Infants and for bare universal Grace in common with Cain Judas and the rest of damned Men in Hell when they were upon Earth but for our Eternal Salvation as begun on Earth and perfected in Heaven we owe God no
Infancy cannot hinder the Children of Believing Parents from being a kind of Bellevers and Members of the Church when they suck their Mother's Breasts Christ plainly says Whosoever shall offend one Mat. 18.6 Luke 18. 15. Mark 9. 36. of these little ones which believe in me c. And by comparing the Evangelists it will appear that by these lettle ones which believe in Christ he means Infants such as Christ took in his arms at least he doth not exclude Infants § III. The Adversaries of Infant-Baptism express their Doctrine in these words Those who do actually profess Repentance towards God Faith in and Obedience to Their Confession of Faith p. 97. our Lord Jesus are the only proper Subjects of Baptism And for proof hereof they refer us to two Scriptures in the Margin namely Mar. 16. 16. Act. 8. 36 37. Now from these very Scriptures it is already proved That it is enough for Baptism that Persons be Believers and that the Infants of Believing Parents are a kind of Believers and therefore proper Subjects of Baptism But no Scripture declares that those only who actually profess Belief are the proper Subjects of Baptism this is plainly an addition to God's Word and therefore to be rejected § IV. Christ's Commission to his Apostles is Go ye and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Mat. 28. 19. That is Go ye and Christianize all Nations make all Nations Christians Saints Believers Disciples of Christ get them into Covenant with God through Christ and then Baptize them and solemnly enter them into the Church of Christ by the Rite of Baptism For like as Jesus made and baptized Disciples first made and then baptized Disciples so we may reasonably think that Joh. 4. 1 2. Christ's Commission to his Apostles was That they should first make all Nations Christians Saints Believers Disciples and get them into Covenant with God through Christ and then baptize them At the time when Christ gave forth this Commission the whole World was either Jews or Gentiles The generality of the Gentiles were for the present Worshippers of Idols under the Power Acts 26. 17 18. Eph. 2. 12. of Satan drowned in Ignorance Infidelity and false Religion The Jews had been long used to Circumcision the Passeover and the rest of the Old Testament-Ministry and Pedagogy too many of them were Unregenerate though Worshippers of the true God the rest who were truly Godly did yet need Instruction concerning the true Messias and that this same Jesus whom we Preach is the Christ of God the Saviour of the World the sole Mediator between God and Men foretold by the Prophets and prefigured in ancient Types and Sacrifices and that all the Old Testament-way of Worship was now to cease and give place to the New Therefore the scope and true meaning of Christ's Commission may well be thought to be this Go ye my Apostles and Ministers into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Person capable thereof reduce them from their Ungodliness and State of Damnation to a State of Grace and Salvation make them Christians Saints Disciples Believers Members of the Church get all both Parents and Children into Covenant with the true God through Jesus Christ throw down the Middle Wall of Partition between Jew and Gentile and make both One Holy Society in Christ and having so done Baptize them and let Baptism be the Token Sign and Seal of the Covenant between God in Christ and them If then the Infants of Christian Parents be a kind of Christians Saints Believers Disciples Members of the Church in Covenant with God through Christ all which for substance denote the same thing and are convertible then by the Tenour of Christ's Commission they are to be Baptized Now the Opposers of Infant-Baptism own and declare that Their Confession of Faith p. 115 116. the Infants of Believing Parents under the Old Testament were in Covenant with God and therefore they must needs own and agree That the Infants of Believing Parents under the New Testament are no less in Covenant with God unless they can prove that God's way is not equal which they never can For certainly his way is equal as himself declares but the ways of Sinners are Ez. k. 18. 25. unequal § V. It is plain from Deut. 29. 10 11 12 13. that Little Ones together with their Parents did enter into Covenant with the God of Israel And from the time of Abraham God ordained that all his Male-Seed successively in their Generations should be Circumcised the Eighth Day by that Rite a Divine Bond and Engagement was laid upon the Infants Circumcised to be the Lord 's faithful Acts 7. 8. Gen. 17.9 10 11. Servants all their days it was a token of the Covenant between God and them And long before Circumcision even from the Beginning there were by Divine Appointment Sacrifices which were typical and symbolical of Eternal Redemption through Faith in the Death of Christ as future In those Sacrifices Believing Parents did Covenant with God Gather my saints together unto me those Psal 50. 5. that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice They did also inter their Infants into Covenant with God they did first devote and consecrate themselves to the Service of the true God and engage Themselves to him and then their Infants the resolution of every pious Parent being the same with Joshua's As for me and Jos 24. 15. my house we will serve the Lord. The mutual Oath and Covenant between the Nation of Israel and the Gibeonites did bind their whole Off-spring and Posterity Jos 9. 2 Sam. 21. which because King Saul some Hundreds of Years after did presume to violate therefore God did severely revenge the Breach thereof by Three Years Famine in the Reign of King David and would not be pacified but by the Death of Seven of Saul's Sons the Gibeonites so desiring From all which it is plain that Parents may by Authority from God lay a Divine Bond Oath and Covenant upon the Souls of their Infants which when grown up they are bound inviolably to observe § VI. There was a Covenant between God and Christ considered as Man That he should be obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross and be therefore Rewarded and Crowned with supereminent Joy and Glory in Heaven for ever The Foundation and Corner-stone of this Covenant was laid in Christ's Incarnation according to the Eternal Purpose and Fore-knowledge of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost And hereupon the Infant Jesus was Circumcised the Eighth Day in Token of the foresaid Covenant between God and that blessed Babe And about the Thirtieth Year of his Age he was Baptized by John in Jordan which was another Token and Confirmation of the same Covenant And look as Moses bore up his Heart in all his Sufferings by having respect unto
present in the Assemblies of his Saints and with his Ministers in the right Dispensation of Baptism according to his Word alway Rev. 2. 1. Mat. 18. 20. 28. 19 20. even unto the end of the World But Christian Charity binds us to judge all the Infants of Christian Parents whilst they are Infants to be in a State of Salvation till being grown up they manifest the contrary Who can doubt but that the Infants of godly Parents are as dear to God as beloved by Christ as holy as fit for Heaven as much in a State of Salvation as Simon Magus as multitudes more such grown Persons baptized by the Apostles and as many baptized by the Opposers of Infant Baptism Can any Man forbid Water that the Infants of pious Parents should not be baptized which belong to the Kingdom of God as well as their Parents § XIV There is difference between the Doctrine of Baptism and Baptism Heb. 6. 1 2. 1 Cor. 1. 17. 1 Pet. 3.21 itself as between Morals and Rituals between Substance and Ceremony between Mercy and Sacrifice between Principal and Appendix For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel The Doctrine of Baptism is the Doctrine of the New Covenant of which Baptism is a Divine Sign Seal and Token The Sum of it is this That all Men are reducible to Two the First and the Second Adam and all such as descend from the First Adam by Natural Generation are conceived and born in Sin 1 Cor. 15 45.47 Joh. 3 3 5. Gal. 3. 21. Act. 4. 12. Rom. 8. 29. 1 Pet. 1. 2. from the Guilt whereof they cannot be saved and set free without supernatural Regeneration through the Grace of Christ the Second Adam and all such as God from everlasting did fore-know would by his special Grace in Christ be Regenerate and have Spiritual Life in their Souls them he did predestinate to eternal Salvation This Doctrine of Baptism is the Foundation of true Religion the Marrow of the Scripture the Sum of Practical Truth and the Compendium of Divinity But Baptism as distinct from the Doctrine thereof is but a Divine Figure Ceremony or Token annexed to the Gospel or New Covenant a Ritual Ordinance the Contempt whereof is perllous but Infants are not capable of contemning it § XV. There are Three sorts of Blessings and Favours vouchsafed by God to Fallen Man some common to Christians and Heathens some not common to us and Heathens and yet common to good and bad Christians some peculiar to God's Elect. Of the First sort are Rain and fruitful Seasons having our Hearts filled with Food and Gladness Magistracy Civil Order and the necessary Supports of Humane Society whereby the worst on Earth are in better case than the Devils and damned Ones in Hell and are capable of being saved by God's Grace in such sort as our first Parents and the Angels which fell were capable of Perseverance Of the Second sort are the Word and Sacraments being born of Christian Parents Education in the Christian Religion and Communion in external Ordinances and Priviledges common to Isaac and Ishmael to Jacob and Esau to Peter and Judas to Paul and Simon Magus to Elect and Non-Elect Christians suitably to their Age and Capacities Of the Third sort are Regeneration Adoption Pardon of Sin Justification Perseverance Eternal Life these are peculiar to God's Elect and not common to them and others And then doth God Elect Persons in Christ when according to his own Eternal Purpose and Fore-knowledge he doth for the sake of Christ and his meritorious Cross and Intercession without all precedent Merit of their own by his Gospel-work in them Divine Faith and thereby pardons their Sins and seals them with his Holy Spirit and so sets them apart for himself and of Dead in Sin the Slaves of Satan and Reprobate to every Good Work makes them alive unto Righteousness the Children of God his Elect Ones a peculiar People to himself Thus the Death of Christ is the meritorious cause of our Election to Salvation but not of God's Eternal Purpose to Elect us for Divine Purpose to Elect and Election itself are clearly distinct as Cause and Effect as Antecedent and Consequent and may in no wise be confounded § XVI I conceive that all the Three forementioned sorts of Blessings and Favours are proper Fruits and Effects of Christ's meritorious Cross and Passion though they are not all equally so but most eminently and principally the Third sort peculiar to the Elect and the other as subservient For Christ is the Saviour of all men especially of those that believe and whom he saves he saves by the merit of his Cross God doth not now Govern the 1 Tim. 4. 10. 2 Pet. 2. 1. Heb. 2.9 World barely as Creator before Adam's Fall but as Redeemer in and through Christ unto whom all Power is given in Heaven and Earth and his Kingdom ruleth over all both Angels and Men for the everlasting Good of all Militant Saints and in order to carrying on the Great Work of Redemption by Faith in all such as belong to the Election of Grace And therefore whatsoever Blessings and Mercies whether common or special any of fallen Mankind partake of subsequently to Creation and Permission of Original Sin they are proper Fruits and Effects of Christ's Death And wherein Col. 1. 20. Eph. 1. â—0 21.22 23. Phil. 2. 8 9 10. 〈◊〉 28. 18 19. Jâ—m 5 â—2 23 2â— Hâ—b 9. 1â— Rev. 5. 9 1â— 13. any Intellectual Creatures whether Angels or Men are capable of being serviceable to God and to Christ our Mediator in promoting the Work of Redemption they are bound to serve to the utmost of their power and Christ may be said to have purchased their Service with his Blood and to have right thereto by the Merit of his Cross For in purchasing Eternal Redemption which is the principal end he must needs be supposed inclusively to purchase all the necessary helps and means requisite and conducing thereto Et qui adimit medium dirimit finem § XVII Concerning Heathen Parents the Scripture plainly declares That for the present they are without Christ being aliens from the Commonwealth Eph. 2. 12. of Israel and strangers from the Covenants of Promise having no hope and without God in the world We cannot think that the Infants of such are in Covenant with God As of old it was rightly said Salvation is of the Jews so now it is rightly said That Salvation is of the Christians Joh. 4. 22. The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved But we cannot say that the Infants of Heathen Parents are added to the Church Act. 2. 47. While the Jews continued in the Faith of Abraham their Infants were the natural branches and partaked of the root and fatniss of the Olive-tree Gal. 2. 15. Rom. 9.4 11. from 16. to 25. Act. 2. 39. Isa 44. 3. to them and their
everlasting gracious Covenant and of pardon of Sin Justification Adoption and Eternal Life as an absolute and free Gift in Christ And though only the male-Male-Infants were Circumcised yet as to all Fundamental Blessings of the Covenant the case of Males and Females was the same And though Circumcision be long since abolished yet the Doctrine thereof is not abolished it is truly Evangelical and of perpetual use to the Church Militant unto the end of the 1 Pet. 3. 21. World Again it is plain that Baptism is a Figure The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us This is equivalent to a Sign Seal and Token of Salvation according to the New Covenant in Christ's Blood For it is certain that the Salvation of Souls is not save by the New Covenant in Christ's Blood Now seeing that Baptism is a Divine Figure such as doth save the Soul it must needs be a Sign Seal and Token of God's everlasting Covenant in Christ with every Believer whereby is Salvation And Christ's Commission to his Apostles as is before shewed being to get all Persons into Covenant with God through Christ and then to baptize them and it being manifest that the Infants of Christian Parents are in Covenant with God through Christ it followeth unavoidably that they are to be Baptized and admitted to Baptism as the Seal and Token of God's Covenant coming in the room of Circumcision § X. The Adversaries of Infant-Baptism from Dr. Lightfoot alledge That Their Confession of Faith p. 118 c. the forecited Scripture Rom. 4. 11. is not exactly translated and conceive the Sence of it to be this And he received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith which was to be in the Uncircumcision Which was to be I say not which had been not that which Abraham had whilst he was yet Uncircumcised but that which his Uncircumcised Seed should have that is the Gentiles who in time to come should imitate the Faith of Abraham This they earnestly desire may be seriously â—â—ighed Now supposing but not granting this Sence of the words it overthrows their forenamed Position that nothing but the Indwelling of the Spirit is the Seal of God's Covenant with every Believer for here they plainly grant another Seal viz. Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith in us Gentiles and consequently of God's Covenant with us But the truth is that the foresaid Sence of the words from Dr. Lightfoot contradicts itself and the Grounds of Religion For it supposes Believing Gentiles to be Imitators of the Faith of Abraham and yet saving Faith in us Gentiles to differ in kind from the Faith of Abraham which is very Absurd and Atheological For how can we imitate the Faith of Abraham if his Faith and ours be two contrary kinds There may be degrees of saving Faith but two kinds of saving Faith there cannot be from the Fall of Adam to the End of the World Abraham was saved by the Grace of Christ as purposed to be Mediator through Faith and the Saints now are saved by the Grace of Christ as already Mediator through the same kind of Faith So that if Circumcision was a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith in time to be in us Gentiles of necessity it could not but be a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which Abraham had before he was Circumcised because his Faith then and our Faith now as to Eternal Salvation are for substance one and the same kind Hence he is stiled the Father of all them that believe though Rom. 4. 11. they be not circumcised § XI The Wisdom of God speaking by the Apostle Peter thought this abundantly sufficient to silence and stop the Mouths of all Gain-sayers Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Act. 10. 47. holy Ghost as well as we Now though receiving the Holy Ghost may include both principal and subservient Gifts and Blessings yet it cannot be thought to exclude those which are principal and supream but rather they above all other are included as most excellent and necessary viz. Pardon of Sin Justification Adoption Regeneration a State of Salvation The foresaid Interrogation doth plainly declare this to be the Mind and Will of Christ and the true meaning of that Grand Commission Go and teach all Nations baptizing them c. that none be excluded from Baptism that have received the Holy Ghost so as to be in a State of Salvation And therefore if according to the Rules of wise and conscientious Charity in the due mean between too much Rigour and too much Laxness we have just grounds to judge that the Infants of Christian Parents be in a State of Salvation we may apply the foresaid Interrogation concerning them Can any Man forbid Water that these Infants of Christian Parents should not be Baptized who in the judgment of Charity are beloved of God Pardoned Adopted Regenerate Partakers of the Holy Ghost so as to be in a State of Salvation as well as their Parents and grown Bellevers § XII It cannot be thought that we should be bound infallibly to know the Hearts of others for if we must not baptize but upon those grounds we must baptize none at all not grown Persons themselves Of necessity there must be a Standard of Admission to Baptism and it must be plain universal serving for all Persons in all Places at all Times immovably fixed by God otherwise there will be endless Dispute Uncertainty and Contention about it Infallible insight into and knowledge of others Hearts and Consciences inwardly belongs only to God and is to us impossible and altogether unnecessary Therefore Christian Charity in the Breasts of God's Ministers avoiding the two extreams of Rigour and Licentiousness is appointed by Christ to judge discern decide and determine who are and who are not to be reputed Saints Christians in Covenant with God through Christ in a State of Salvation and consequently fit for Baptism and to be washed in the Laver of Regeneration For can any man forbid water that all such should not be baptized This Standard is plainly Divine if you go from it you know not where to fix § XIII That well known place in the Gospel Mark 10. 13. c. is abundantly enough for the Regulation of our charitable Judgment and judicious Charity in this point being so full clear and pregnant For Christ readily received such Infants as were brought unto him for his Blessing was much displeased with those that would have hindered them from being brought unto him he took them up in his Arms that his Hands upon them and blessed them and commanded saying Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of God Now though Christ be not corporally present on Earth as sometime he was for to have Infants brought unto him for his Blessing Grace and Favour yet he is spiritually
thanks at all but he is beholden to us by our Parents or by our Nominal God-Parents or by our selves for our good Merits and Deservings and not we at all to him for any special and differencing Grace Which Doctrine is the same with Pelagianisin plainly repugnant to Faith in God For God is not God unless he be absolutely Rom. 11. 35. 36. 1 Cor. 4. 7. and entirely the Author of all Good to his Creatures whether it be natural or supernatural corporal or spiritual common or special temporal or eternal it is all from God of Grace and not of Debt whether they be Infants or Adult Ones who partake of it 5. Though God make use of Instruments and Means and there can be no pardon of Sin without foregoing Divine Faith in the Adult and the Seed thereof in Infants yet Means ard Instruments 1 Cor. 12. 6. 15. 28. Psal 145. 17 18. Isa 40. 17 18. Eph. 1. 11. and subordinate Causes and Agents add no Perfection to God he is truly all in all and worketh all in all but so that he is no way the Author of Sin but the just Avenger of it the Author of all Good holy in all his Ways and righteous in all his Works working all things after the Counsel of his own Will and the whole Creation abstracted from compared with and set against God is as nothing yea less then nothing and vanity 6. In such sort as God in Scripture is said to repent by way of Anthropopathy and condescension to our weakness so he may be said to have conditional Promises and to promise Eternal Life upon condition of Faith and Repentance but no otherwise For like as the Scripture assures us and all agree that God is not a Man that he should repent so by the same reason God is not a Man that he should be bound and Debter and promise Eternal Life conditionally 1 Sam. 15. 11 29. Numb 23. 19. Gen. 6. 6. Hilar. de Trinit lib. 10. For it is a Maxime in Divinity taken from St. Hilary and grounded upon the deepest Reasons and Foundations of supernatural Religion that In absoluto nobis facili est aeternitas Eternal Life cannot consist in uncertainty wavering suspense and dubitation which necessarily it must and cannot be avoided if it be but conditional For what is Eternal Life but God himself as enjoyed in Eternal Blessedness Consequently to say that Eternal Life is not absolutely certain but conditional is in effect to say that God is but conditionally God uncertain of his own Life and so is not true and very God but an Idol a Figment of Man's Invention § XXII Excepting the Infant Jesus who was absolutely holy and sinless every other Infant doth suffer what it suffers for its own sin it s own inward pravity and corruption is the sole meritorious Cause of all the Nullus unquam ita somniando deliravit ut magnum istum defectum quo Natura humana primi hominis praevaricatione vitiata est ex aliquo Dei pacto cum parentibus initio vel ex positiva Dei lege aut voluntate propagari arbitretur Jansen de Statu Naturae lapsae l. 1. c. 17. punishment laid upon it by God and the Sin of Adam is but the occasion Original Sin in Infants is the Consequent but not the Effect of Adam's Sin His eating of the forbidden Fruit was his own Personal Sin and yet the Sin of all Mankind because he in that instant was all Mankind there being no other Man then in being But God gave him Repentance and Pardon of that and all his other Sins and therefore his eating of the forbidden Fruit is not impured to us no Man's Conscience doth smite him for it but all the Sin imputed by God to Infants is only that inward Corruption that is latent in their Souls which the Sin of Adam hath occasioned but not caused For though he was truly penitent and pardoned and so also was our first Mother Eve in the instant of their Natural Coition and Conjugal Act yet there did then cleave to their Souls inordinate Lust and Concupiscence and this Ex Naturâ rei from the nature of the thing did by God's most righteous Judgment and Permission unsearchably occasion but not cause Original Sin and sinful Contagion in all their Natural Off-spring This Distinction of the Cause and Occasion if well heeded both fully acquitteth God's Justice and abundantly reconcileth the seeming Contradictions of Scripture in this Argument of punishing Children for Parents Sin saith B. Sanderson in his Third Sermon Ad Populum p. 180. Edit 6. First God made Adam holy next he permitted his Sin then he gave him Repentance and Pardon through Faith in Christ the promised Seed afterward he made him a Common Head and Root to all his Natural Off-spring by Natural Generation according to his own Eternal Purpose to his own Children immediately to the rest of the World remotely as I humbly conceive § XXIII Christian Parents are the fittest to present their own Children to Baptism and to undertake for their good Education they indeed are their proper God Parents because they are so by Divine Institution Nature makes them Parents and Christian Faith makes them Godly Parents and so they are by Divine Ordination God's Agents Servants Sureties and Trustees to see to the Baptism and good bringing up of their Children and are accountable to him Whereas those who are commonly called God-Parents properly are not so they are but nominally so because they are what they are not by Divine but by Humane unnecessary Institution And therefore where by the 29th Canon of the Church of England touching Baptism it is ordained That no Parent shall be urged to be present nor be admitted to answer as Godfather for his own Child It should rather be ordained That except in case of Sickness or other the like impediment each Christian Parent shall be urged to be present at the Baptism of his own Child and undertake for its good Education and under Christ be reputed the most proper Godfather and the forenamed Canon should be abolished as contrary to Christian Meekness and Equity and savouring of Unchristian Rigour § XXIV Though Christian Parents are the next Instruments of presenting their Children to Baptism and procuring this favour for them yet it is the Offeruntur parvuli ad percipiendum Spiritualem gratiam non tam ab eis quorum gestantur manibus quamvis ab ipsis si ipsi boni fideles sunt quam ab universa Societate Sanctorum atque fidelium Ab omnibus namque offeri recte intelliguntur quibus placet quod offeruntur quorum Sancta atque individua Charitate ad Communicationem Sancti Spiritus adjuvantur Tota ergo hoc mater quae in Sanctis est facit quia tota omnes tota singulos parit August Epistol 22. whole Society of Godly Christians upon Earth who under God and the Lord Jesus are the most Noble and