Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	adam_n	infant_n	sin_n	4,766	5	6.2598	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27008	Rich. Baxter's review of the state of Christian's infants whether they should be entered in covenant with God by baptism ... or whether Christ, the Saviour of the world, hath shut all mankind out of his visible kingdom ... 'till they come of age? : occasioned by the importunity of Mr. E. Hutchinson (and of Mr. Danvers and Mr. Tombes) who called him to this review in order to his retractation [sic] ...; Review of the state of Christian's infants	Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1676 (1676)	Wing B1372; ESTC R18045	43,710	73

Christ washeth and sanctifieth his Church he is the Saviour of his Body only And if they are not of his Church or Body he washeth them not nor is their Saviour effectively The same Text that saith He that believeth shall be saved saith He that believeth not shall be damned And He that believeth not is condemned already If therefore you allow them no participation in their Parents Faith but require personal Belief of them as necessary to their Salvation according to the Promise you must also require the same of them to save them from Damnation by the Threatning Did you but leave Christians no more hope than you do Pagans and Turks of their Childrens Pardon and Salvation I would not be ambitious of the Joy of your opinion much less if you positively condemn them And what do you less if finding them condemned by the violated Covenant of Innocency you totally exclude them from the Remedying Pardoning and Saving Covenant and from Christs Body which he doth save If you say that they may be of his invisible Church which is the saved Body I answer 1. What they may be tells us not what they are If they be not so much as visible Members who can say that they are invisible ones 2. They are by Nature visible Members of the Kingdom of Satan and Children of wrath and visibly under the Laws Condemnation Therefore 'till we can prove them visibly by grace translated out of this state of nature their visible Condemnation cannot be denyed And what a jumble make you if you make a great part of Mankind to be at once condemned visible members of the Kingdom of the Devil and invisible saved members of Christ Men may be visibly Christians Hypocrites and yet invisibly wicked but to be visibly condemned members of the Kingdome of Darkness and yet invisible members of Christ is strange to me especially considering that Hypocrites are visibly what they are not really and invisibly because they falsely profess what they have not But a condemned Infant doth not deceive men by dissembling but we actually know that as a child of Adam he is a child of sin and death It is truly so Therefore we must conclude that as Gods Word is true he continueth so till he be delivered by Grace And the Covenant of Grace is the Conveyance of and title to our gracious priviledges as the threatning is of wrath Shall not all that are judged be judged by Gods Law the Law which they were under And what Law shall Infants then be judged by If they are under no Covenant of Promise that giveth them title to life how can they have title by it or be judged by it Are they Justified or not Justified If not Justified they are condemned certainly and shall not be glorified for it is the Justified that are glorified Rom. 8. 30. But if they are Justified either it is by some Justifying Promise and Covenant or without If without 1. Do you not give hope also to all Heathens and Wicked men that though they are condemned by the Law of Innocency and not justified by any Covenant of Grace yet they may be justified without 2. And by what means is it by any or none If by any by what If by none how know you it But if it be by any Covenant-Grant that they are justified it must be by that of Grace which I am pleading for or none For we will not now receive another Gospel To talk therefore of meer Election is nothing to any of this that I have said Election Justifieth not nor dissolveth the condemning Sentence of the Law God judgeth not men meerly on the grounds of his unreveled Election but by his Word which is the Rule And were it otherwise if unrevealed none can prove it and therefore must not affirm it And were it reveled that God will save some that he promiseth not to save nor giveth them any antecedent right to it yet 1. No man could know by this whether any one in England or Europe or in the World in his age shall so be saved nor whether it be many or few or more than a dozen in the world 2. And no one can know who any of these be and so can have no notice of comfort for any of his own 3. Nor that Christians Infants shall be saved any more than the Heathens These things Sir are not to be submitted to by all Christians for fear lest you else revile them or lest Mr. T. sayes Their blood be on their own heads Austin is called Durus Pater Infantum for too sharp a censure on the unbaptized though many mistake him But we should be harder did we leave all visibly condemned without a pardoning word or any visible remedy and hope And truly me thinks you too much honour the Kingdome of the Devil if you make it visibly contain all the Seed of the Woman even of the Faithful till they come to age It is too great I will not feign it to be greater Were all the Circumcised Israelites and all the holy seed till Christ at once both in the Church and in Satans Kingdom If not sure it is not so now Sure I am that the Scripture tells us of a larger Church and a better Covenant and Promises and greater Salvation under the Gospel and do you bring it down to this to give us all up to the Devils visible Kingdom without any visible Remedy till we come to age And he is scarce so like to prove a member of Christ at age who is trained up in the Kingdom of the Devil till then as he is that is educated in the Houshold of God There is more of Gods blessing to be expected in his own Family than in the Devils Either it is a Mercy or no Mercy to be in Christs Family or Church if none why do you value it if it be why should we think that the Saviour of the world procureth it to no Infants nay that he came to leave them out Would you not take it for a Mercy if you believed that God in Scripture gave it to all the Seed of the Faithful dedicated to him I think you would For my part I believe that the Seed of the Righteous is blessed Psal 37. 26. and that the Children of Satan and the condemned unjustified seed are not blessed That blessed are they whose sins and iniquities are forgiven and covered and to whom the Lord imputeth not sin and that this blessing cometh even on the uncircumcised But not on them who are unpardoned and condemned already I hear many sad Mothers lamenting their dead Children for fear lest they are damned And though I never was a Father I can perceive what the concerns and bowels of Parents are But what would they do if they were taught to believe that no Infant ever in the world had any justifying pardoning Promise nor visible Remedy but all till age are under condemnation by the undissolved Obligation of the Law

Scripture Presedent or fuller proof 1. I also require them to give me any one Scripture Presedent where ever any one that was the Child of a Christian and not at age when the Parents were made Christians was afterward Baptized when he came to age Prove that and you will prove something 2. I ask them whether many points in Divinity be not now taken as necessary or sure for which not the fourth part so much is produced out of Scripture as I have done for the Church-membership of Infants And seeing you have so importunately called me to a Review I will add these few things more I. What Benefits I perceive cometh by Infant-Baptism II. What hurt would come if you could prevail against it III. What sin you would draw men to by rejecting it IV. And I will tell you what thanks therefore I owe to God for preserving me from your mistakes and way I. And I cannot but think that all these following are Mercies not to be despised 1. To be Gods Children and God to be their God and Father 2. To be Christs Members and Christ to be their Head and Saviour 3. To have the Holy Ghost in Covenant with them to give them his Grace and help as shall be necessary to them upon the further terms on which it is by degrees to be communicated of which more anon 4. To have the pardon of all Original sin as to the damning punishment and so to have the Laws Condemnation disabled 5. To be members of so holy safe and honourable a Society as the Church 6. To have their Love and Prayers as Members 7. To have Parents obliged solemnly to endeavour to educate and use their Children as members of Christ fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God 8. To have right to Heaven so dying by Gods gift 9. For Parents and Friends to have comfortable notice of all this 10. And that they are not under the power and Kingdom of the Devil as those that are Rebels against the Covenant or that are without II. Should your perswasions prevail against Infant-Baptism these evils I think would follow And whereas you say that your Think is as good as my Think pardon my modesty and while you follow your own Think give me and others leave to judge of mine by the evidence at least of probability which I bring 1. I think that Christian Parents would want one of their Motives to live in Thankfulness to God and to magnifie the Grace of the Redeemer if they did beleve that all Infants are in the visible Kingdom of the Devil and have no Promise or Covenant-Grant of Pardon Remedy or Life 2. The want of this Demonstration of Divine Love would be a disadvantage to their Love to God For where much is forgiven there will be much Love 3. It would deprive Christian Parents of all the forementioned Comforts for their Childrens good and leave them to mourn for the dead as those that have no hopes which any Promise of God alloweth them 4. Parents would be more negligent in the pious education of their Children than they are for their solemn Vow and Promise is a great additional Obligation 5. Young Persons would be more bold in sin when they know that they are under no Covenant Vow or Promise to the contrary And they would usually delay their Repentance and Baptism as Constantine and many in those times did as thinking that all sin is done away when I Repent and am Baptized but it is more dangerous to sin after Baptism than before And so most would think it best to live out of the Church and to die in it to live as Infidels and die as Christians to live after the flesh as do the wicked and to be regenerate before death and to die the death of the Righteous 6. These delayes would do as delay of Repentance now doth to many even drive away Gods Spirit forfeit grace harden the heart so that few delayers would be converted 7. By these delayings of Repentance and liberty of sins wickedness would more abound and so Gods judgments against the land be more increased 8. Pagans and Infidels would be hardened and encouraged by the multitudes of the unbaptized and the paucity of Christians 9. For Christians would be but few in comparison of the multitude just as Mr. Tombes thinks Christ would have it here one and there one 10. And while some delayed their Baptism in scruple as many now do the Lords Supper and others to take the liberty of sinning which were like to be the common case of youth and others in senseless negligence the Baptized and Unbaptized would grow like our Non-conformists and Conformists into distinct Parties upon distinct Interest in point of Reputation and so the unbaptized become the Adversaries for the most part of the Baptized 11. And the Rich and the Multitude being usually the Unbaptized party they would be still the strongest and the Governours of the rest and the Laws and Government would be such as the Governours 12. And hereupon the Church would be as before the dayes of Constantine ordinarily under Persecution 13. This Persecution would detein the most from looking towards Christianity and so hinder multitudes from comeing in to Christ and woe to them that so offend or hinder such little ones It were better a milstone were hanged about their necks and they were cast into the depth of the Sea 14. There would then be no sanctified Families dedicated to God except those few that had no Children 15. Much less would any Nation be Discipled or any one Kingdom be the Kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ This is not the Condition that I desire and pray for If you doubt of all or any of this look to the Easterni parts of the world and be not worse than those that will learn by nothing but experience Judge whether under the Turkish Government the Greek Church be grown better and whether the Christians are more and holyer than heretofore And yet the Turks give Liberty of Religion which most Unbaptized Princes do not O dreadful Case That ever Religious persons should Study Preach Pray and fervently Dispute and Write to bring the Christian world to this as for the advancement of Religion III. To tell you of sinning I suppose will be taken for fiery fury or a Reproach of the Godly But I may tell you why I am not of your mind and what sin I think I should be guilty of if I were 1. God made it a duty for Parents solemnly to enter their Children by Dedication into the Covenant of God as is oft proved And how will men answer the non-performance hereof any more than their not Praying for them or not feeding or Cloathing them 2. What a sin is it to rob Christ of so great a part of his Church 3. What a sin so to deny the Gospel Grace and Promise and to hide so much of the Love of God 4. What a sin