Light Broke Forth in Wales Expelling Darkness, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
In Anſwer to Mr. James Owen's 9th Chapter and ſixth Argument; proving, that Infants ought not to be baptized, although the Gentiles were grafted into the true Olive, when the Jews were broken off; containing a true Expoſition of Rom. 11. 15, 16, &c.
ROM. 11. 15, 16, 17. For if the firſt Fruit be holy, the Lump is alſo holy: and if the Root be holy, ſo are the Branches. And if ſome of the Branches be broken off, and thou being a wild Olive Tree, wert graffed in amongſt them, and with them partakeſt of the Root and Fatneſs of the Olive-Tree, &c.
In this remarkable Scripture the Apoſtle, you ſay, ſheweth,
1. That the Jews, while they were God's viſible Church, were a holy Nation; not only the Parents, but the Children alſo, all the Branches were holy, becauſe the Root was holy; the Root was Abraham, and others of the Fathers, Rom. 11. 28. Iſa. 51. 1, 2. becauſe they were in Abraham's Covenant, the Parents and the Children were holy, being ſeparated a peculiar People unto God: In this ſenſe they were holy; becauſe the firſt Fruit, even Abraham, was holy, the whole Lump alſo was holy. Abraham believed and received God's Covenant to him and his Seed, being the firſt Fruit of the Jews: even as the firſt Fruits offered to the Lord, Levit. 2. 3, 9, 10, 17. ſo did the Faith of the firſt Parents ſanctify the whole Nation of the Jews, not with true Holineſs in the Heart, for many of them were wicked, but with a federal Holineſs, becauſe they and their Seed were ſeparated to the Lord in an external Covenant.
2. You ſay; They that received the Goſpel continued to be holy Branches upon the ſame holy Root; they and their Seed were in Abraham's Covenant, even as before, nor one Branch was cut off, neither ſmall or great, until they refuſed the Lord Jeſus, they that were broken off were cut off by reaſon of Unbelief, Rom. 11. 20. Becauſe of their Unbelief they were broken off; therefore they that believed in Chriſt were not cut off, and if they were not cut off, then they were in Union with the Root, as being Partakers of the Fatneſs of the Root, as before they and their Children were Partakers of their old Privileges, being holy Branches not broken off. The Anti-pedo-baptiſts do cut off the Branches whom God never cut off, viz. the Seed of the Faithful; they lop off the fruitful Tree in the Vineyard, and lay the Ax upon the Root, and upon the Branches thereof in a preſumptuous manner.
3. You ſay the Jews refuſed the Grace of God in the Goſpel; God refuſed that Nation, not only the Parents but the Children alſo. God ſpared not the Natural Branches, but hath broken them off, Rom. 11. 17. not from the inviſible Church, of which the unbelieving were not Members. None are Members of the inviſible Church ſaving the Elect. God refuſed none of the Parents, Rom. 11. 2. 2 Tim. 2. 9. God hath not caſt away his People which he foreknew; the Foundation of God ſtandeth ſure: therefore they were cut off through Unbelief from being the viſible Church, of the which they and their Children were Members.
The Gentiles, were graffed in their room, Rom. 11. 17. they and their Children were broken off, and the Gentiles and their Children ſhall be graffed in, for they were received into the ſame Privileges which the Jews had—the ſame Privileges belong unto them in the ſame Latitude, for they were graffed into that Root from which the Jews were cut off, &c.
Anſw. 1. I anſwer; you had need be a good Expoſitor of a Metaphorical Place of Scripture, that ground ſo great an Argument upon it; we uſed to ſay Metaphors ſerve for Illuſtration, but are not Argumentative, they do not prove a Truth, tho they may illuſtrate it; therefore 'tis ſtrange you build an Inſtitution, an Ordinance, nay a Sacrament, as it is called, upon a Metaphorical place of Scripture.
2. Many things in Metaphorical and Parabolical Scripture run not parallel with that they are brought to illuſtrate, therefore run not on all four, as Divines obſerve.
3. We will however examine your pretended Argument from this myſterious place of Scripture. It was well if you had minded what St. Paul ſpeaks in the 25th Verſe, For I would not, Brethren, that you ſhould be ignorant of this great Myſtery, leſt ye ſhould be wiſe in your own Conceits, &c. But that you are ignorant of this myſterious Text, and Matter contained in it, I doubt not but to make appear, and it is to be feared from thence you are wiſe in your own Apprehenſion. But to proceed, if all the Branches, viz. the Children of the whole Houſe of Iſrael, were holy, then the Children of the unbelieving Jews were holy alſo, who were of that Lump you ſpeak of; and if ſo, why do you argue from hence for the federal Holineſs of the Children of Believers? Sir, under the Law there was a Federal and Typical Holineſs, but the Children of Godly Parents now, or the whole Lump, you ſay, is holy, by reaſon of the Covenant made with Abraham; tho not ſpiritually holy, yet federally holy, becauſe all that were in that external Covenant and Church-ſtate of the Jews were holy. If by Federal Holineſs, which was in the Jewiſh Church, you mean no more than external Church-Memberſhip, not ſpiritual Holineſs and ſpiritual Privileges, then their Loſs by being cut off is not ſo great as the Apoſtle intimates, nor is the Fatneſs of Abraham's Covenant and true Olive ſo ſweet as you elſewhere affirm, nor is it ſo great a Bleſſing for the Gentiles to be graffed into ſuch a Root or Olive-Tree that affords no better Oil. What ſignifies Federal External Holineſs without true Spiritual Holineſs? it will do us nor our Children no more good than the ſame External, Federal or Covenant Holineſs did do to the wicked Jews and their Children under the Law, no nor ſo much neither; for they had by that external Covenant many Earthly or External Bleſſings, as they were poſſeſſed by that Covenant of the Land of Canaan, and Common-wealth of the Jews, as a National Church; which external Privileges believing nor unbelieving Gentiles and their Seed have not under the Goſpel, therefore that is not true which you affirm, viz. The ſame Privileges belonging to the Gentiles and their Children, in the ſame Latitude, for they were graffed into the ſame Root.
Sir, have we Gentiles a Worldly Sanctuary, a holy external Temple, a Land flowing with Milk and Honey, a Political Government and Governours from among our ſelves as we are a Goſpel-Church by God's Ordination, as the Jews had? Are we under the Promiſes of heaping up Gold and Silver, and if we are obedient to live in Peace, and to be ſaved from our external Enemies, for many ſuch like Privileges and Promiſes the Jews and their Children had under the Law? The truth is, your External, Federal Holineſs, Root and Olive-Tree will-afford but little Fatneſs either to our ſelves or Children, conſidered diſtinct and apart from Spiritual Bleſſings and Holineſs. What is a ſimple external Profeſſion good for, without true Grace and a ſaving Intereſt in Chriſt, and Aſſurance of Eternal Life? What more doth it ſerve to do than to blind and deceive the Souls of ſuch external and carnal Profeſſors? What is an Ordinance without the God of the Ordinance? What is the Sign without the Thing ſignified? What is the Lamp without Oil, or a Cabinet without the Jewel, or a Shell without a Kernel, or the Name of a Chriſtian without the true Nature of a Chriſtian?
You ſay, The firſt Parents ſanctified the whole Nation of the Jews, not with true Holineſs in the Heart, for many of them were wicked, but with a Federal Holineſs, becauſe they and their Seed were ſeparated to the Lord in an External Covenant.
I am glad to ſee you open the Eyes of your People, now they may ſee what little good that federal Holineſs, and the Covenant with Abraham can do to their Infants, 'tis but only to give them a Name that they may be called Chriſtians. Is this the Promiſe that belongs to the Faithful and their Children? Is this the Bleſſing of Abraham that is come upon the Gentiles? Are they not Spiritual Bleſſings? Is it not Spiritual and Heart-Holineſs? Is it only to be in an external manner, by an external Covenant, and viſible Profeſſion, ſeparated to be the Lord's, and called his, when indeed and in truth, ſpiritually and ſavingly they are not ſo? Is this that Covenant confirm'd by the Oath of God, that gives you ſuch ſtrong Conſolation touching your Infants, as ſuch, as before you pleaded for?
4. Moreover, do you not own by what you here affirm, that there were two Covenants made with Abraham, ſince that Covenant which was made with the whole Lump, or whole Houſe of Iſrael, was, as you poſitively aſſert, not a ſpiritual but an external Covenant? Sure I am you do believe there was a ſpiritual and an eternal Covenant of Grace made with Abraham and all his true ſpiritual Seed, and that he was a Root ſpiritually holy, by virtue of that ſpiritual and true Goſpel-Covenant God made with him; and as the whole Lump were all federally holy in a Spiritual Senſe, as himſelf was, and as he had firſt Fruits given to him, who were ſpiritually and truly holy alſo, ſo there are many Branches ſtill that daily ſpring out of that Spiritual Root and Spiritual Covenant, that are federally and ſpiritually holy as the Root was holy. Sure there was a Covenant made with Abraham, and of which he is conſidered as a common Root, or common Head, and from which Root and Olive-Tree it is impoſſible any one of his Spiritual Seed can be cut off; for if not ſo, How is the Promiſe ſure to all the Seed? Rom. 4. 16. and how is that Covenant a ground of ſtrong Conſolation to all the Heirs of the Promiſe? as Heb. 6. 17, 18, 19.
5. But the truth is, the purport of your Expoſition of this dark Text, all may ſee is to prove the Goſpel-Church to be as extenſive, wide and large, or every way of the ſame Nature and Latitude with the National Church of the Jews; and therefore you plead for the Fleſhly Seed, as ſuch, to be received as Members thereof.
Sir, I know you not, but I thought you had held for the Congregational Way; but the truth is, Infants Church-Memberſhip is only calculated for a National Church, and therefore beſt ſutes with Presbyteriſm and Epiſcopacy.
You ſay, the Jews and their Children were broke off, and the Gentiles and their Children were received into the ſame Privileges which the Jews had, &c.
Anſwer 1. If you would prove that the Goſpel-Church is National, conſiſting of whole Pariſhes, Families and Kingdoms, you muſt bring Proof for this Conſtitution from the New Teſtament: Show, where Chriſt inſtituted or ordained ſuch a Church-ſtate, or what whole Gentile Nations, conſiſting of Believers and their Children, and Unbelievers or ungodly Perſons profeſſing Chriſtianity, and their Children, were conſtituted by the Apoſtles a Goſpel-Church; for evident it is, all believing or godly Jews and their Children, and all ungodly Jews who owned the Jewiſh Religion, and their Children, were Members of the National Church of Iſrael under the Law.
2. Alſo prove, that if ſuch a Goſpel-Church Conſtitution can be proved out of the New Teſtament, that therefore all the external Privileges and Rites of the Jews, muſt belong unto ſuch a Gentile Nation, and Goſpel-Church, that did belong to the National Church of the Jews. Muſt they have the ſame Rites and Privileges, and yet not the ſame? Is Baptiſm Circumciſion?
3. If it came, as you dream, in the room of it, then it would follow that Baptiſm belongs only to Male-Infants; if not ſo, 'tis not the ſame Privilege, but differs greatly: you muſt have therefore ſome word of Inſtitution, or ſome good Authority from Chriſt to enlarge this Privilege, ſo far as to allow it to Females alſo.
4. And why this Privilege only? had not the Jews and their Children many other external Privileges beſides Circumciſion? Why muſt not the Gentiles and their Children that are grafted in, as you ſuppoſe, in their room, receive all the Privileges as well as one or two? You have done your Work by halves.
5. Beſides, what you ſay, that the firſt Parents ſanctified the whole Nation of the Jews, is falſe. It was not they that ſeparated or ſanctified them but God himſelf, i. e. by his abſolute Command and holy Inſtitution; therefore you muſt prove the like Command and Inſtitution for ſuch a National Church under the Goſpel as was under the Law. Sir, I deſire no better Task than to prove the Goſpel-Church conſiſts of none, by Chriſt's Appointment and Inſtitution, but only Adult Perſons believing and profeſſing Faith in Jeſus Chriſt, incorporated together in a holy Covenant. And when you write again, lay down your Arguments to confute what I here ſay, and I ſhall, God ſparing my Life, be ready, through his Aſſiſtance, to give you an Anſwer, which will utterly throw away your Infant Church-Memberſhip. And ſince the old Covenant, and old Covenant Church-ſtate is taken away and diſſolved, by the eſtabliſhing of the Goſpel-Covenant, and Goſpel-Church, you muſt bring your Arguments and Proof from Chriſt's laſt Will and Teſtament, or all you do will ſignify nothing.
Now, Reader, having ſhewed thee that the Expoſition Mr. Owen hath given of this Metaphorical Scripture, is falſe, and inconſiſtent with the Truth as it is in Jeſus, I ſhall give thee my Thoughts of the true Purport of it; and in regard I have once done it already in my anſwering of Mr. Burkitt, I ſhall proceed to lay down his Argument and my Anſwer, and that will bring me to the Buſineſs directly. The Argument which Mr. Burkitt, and with him other Pedo-baptiſts, raiſes to maintain their Scriptureleſs Practice of Babes-Baptiſm from this Text, is this, viz.
If (ſaith he) the Infants of Chriſtian Parents are federally holy, then they are Subjects qualified for Baptiſm: But the Scripture pronounces ſuch Children federally holy; therefore they are qualified for Baptiſm, and may be admitted, Rom. 11. 16. If the Root be holy, the Branches are alſo holy, &c. Where by the Root, ſaith he, we are to underſtand Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob, and by the Branches, their Poſterity, the People of the Jews. Now foraſmuch (ſaith he) as the Jews, the Natural Branches, are for their Unbelief broken off, and the believing Gentiles are graffed in their ſtead, and ſucceed in their Privileges, in the ſenſe that they were holy, not with an internal and inherent Holineſs, paſſing by Natural Generation from Parent to Child, but with an external Relative Covenant-Holineſs, grounded on the Promiſe made to the Faithful and their Seed.
Anſw. 1. I deny the Major, and ſay, If Children of Believers were federally holy under the Goſpel, yet they are not qualified for Baptiſm, becauſe 'tis not that which gives them right thereto, or qualifies them for it, but what Chriſt hath ordained and appointed, as the alone proper and meet Qualification, which is not that External, Relative Covenant-Holineſs he talks of, which the New Teſtament ſpeaks nothing of, as I ſhall ſhew by and by, but actual Faith, Regeneration, or inherent Holineſs, which is the Thing ſignified by Baptiſm; therefore a thouſand ſuch Arguments will do no good, ſince Baptiſm is of meer Poſitive Right. 'Tis Chriſt's own Law muſt decide the Controverſy, viz. What Qualifications are required of ſuch, who by his Authority and Law ought to be baptized. Let any Pedo-baptiſt prove, if he can, that ſuch an External Federal Holineſs qualifies any Perſon for Goſpel-Baptiſm; for if ſuch Federal and External Holineſs qualifies Perſons for Baptiſm, then the Jews, before caſt off, might have been admitted to Baptiſm, ſince they had then ſuch a kind of Federal Holineſs, which kind of Holineſs none can prove Believers Children are ſaid to have under the Goſpel; but if it qualified them not for Baptiſm, it cannot qualify our Children for Baptiſm: And that it did not qualify them, is evident, ſee Mat. 3. 9. where ſome of the Branches of this Root came to John Baptiſt to be baptized, and he refuſed to admit them, with theſe words, i. e. Think not to ſay within your ſelves, We have Abraham to our Father: For I ſay, God is able of theſe Stones to raiſe up Children to Abraham. Ver. 10. And now alſo is the Ax laid to the Root of the Tree. From whence it plainly appears, that that External Relative Holineſs, which qualified under the Old Teſtament Perſons for Circumciſion, and Jewiſh Church-Memberſhip, will not qualify Old nor Young under the New Teſtament for Baptiſm, and Goſpel-Church-Memberſhip.
2. I alſo deny his Minor, and ſay, the Scripture of the New Teſtament doth not pronounce the Children of believing Parents federally holy: The Text Rom. 11. 16. ſpeaks not one word of Infants, nor one word of ſuch a kind of federal Holineſs. Dr. Thomas Goodwin, who was a very Learned Man, urging that Text, 1 Cor. 7. 14. (tho a Pedobaptiſt) In the New Teſtament (ſaith he) there is no other Holineſs ſpoken of, but Perſonal or Real by Regeneration; about which he challenged all the World to ſhew to the contrary.
And Sir, with your favour, if you cannot from any place of the New Teſtament prove there is any ſuch Holineſs ſpoken of, you are to be blamed for bringing in a private and an unwarrantable Interpretation of that Text. I find there are various Interpretations of what is meant by the Root in that place.
1. Some underſtand it of the Covenant.
2. Some of Chriſt.
3. Some of Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob.
4. Some of Abraham only.
What if I agree with the laſt, and ſay Abraham is the Root? But what Root? why, the Root of all his true Spiritual Seed: And if ſo, the Holineſs of the Branches was real in word and ſpiritual; for ſuch Holineſs as is in the Root, is in the Branches: and indeed for want of Faith, or of that Real and Spiritual Holineſs in many of his Natural Branches (for he was a twofold Root, or Father, as I have before proved) they were rejected or broken off for their Unbelief, and the Gentiles by Faith were graffed in, they having obtained the Fatneſs of the Root, or the Faith and Righteouſneſs of their Father Abraham, who was the Root or Father of all that believe. The truth is, as Mr. Tombs obſerves, The Holineſs here meant is, firſt, in reſpect of God's Election, Holineſs perſonal and inherent in God's Intention, Epheſ. 1. 4. Secondly; It is alſo Holineſs derivative, not from any Anceſtors, but Abraham, not as a Natural Father, but as a Spiritual Father, or Father of the Faithful; and ſo derived from the Covenant of Grace made with Abraham.
And thus it appears you have darkened this illuſtrious Scripture, thinking to prove a Holineſs that the New Teſtament knows nothing of, applying the Holineſs in the Text to Federal Relative, &c. Holineſs in reſpect to outward Diſpenſation only in the viſible Church, which is meant of ſaving Graces, into the inviſible, and make every believing Parent alike Head or Root to his Poſterity with Abraham to his Seed, which we deny.
But let the Jews Covenant and Standing before they were broken off be what it would, I am ſure no Gentile is graffed into Chriſt, but by actual Faith; nor can any be graffed into the Goſpel Church without the Profeſſion of ſuch Faith, therefore you do but beat the Air.
The Jews, 'tis true, were broken off by their Unbelief, and were alſo no more a Church; nor is there any ſuch kind of Church conſtituted under the Goſpel as theirs was, viz. a National Church; for they amongſt the Jews, who were the true Spiritual Seed of Abraham, receiving Chriſt by Faith, were planted into the Goſpel Church, and between them and Gentile Believers: Now there is no difference, Jew and Gentile ſtand in the Church now by Faith, not by external Covenant, Privilege, Right or Holineſs. Thou ſtandeſt by Faith, O Believer, Mark! not by Birth-Privilege, but by Faith (ſaith one) yet not thy Seed by thy Faith, but thou thy ſelf by thine, and they by their own: Faith is that by which thou ſtanding (and not thy Seed) haſt right to ſtand in the Church, and not they: But if thy Seed have Faith, and thou haſt none, then they have right in the Church, and thou ſhalt be excluded. And tho under the Law we deny not, but that the Natural Seed or Progeny of Abraham were all holy, with an External, Ceremonial or Typical Holineſs; and conſequently they were admitted to an external Participation of Church-Privileges; yet now 'tis otherwiſe, old things are paſt away: now we know no Man after the Fleſh, 2 Cor. 5. 16. That Church-ſtate is diſſolved, and manner of Admiſſion into it, by external Birth-Privilege, and that this Text doth not help you. I ſhall further open this place of Scripture.
1. 'Tis evident the Apoſtle is in the 9th and 10th Chapters to the Romans treating of the Election of Grace, and of that Covenant of Grace God made with Abraham; theſe were his People which he had not caſt away, Chap. 10. 1. and of this ſort God had 7000 in Eliah's days, ver. 4. Even ſo, ſaith he, at this preſent time alſo there is a Remnant according to the Election of Grace, ver. 5. Hence he ſays, What then? Iſrael hath not obtained, &c. but the Election hath, &c. ver. 7. He further ſhews, that abundance of the Natural Seed of Abraham were broken off. How are they broken off? Why by their Unbelief, they not receiving Chriſt, but rejecting the Goſpel and new Church-ſtate, were broken off. But that the Gentiles might not boaſt over them, the Apoſtle ſhews there is ground left to believe all thoſe that belong to the: Election of Grace, ſhall in God's due time be brought in, and ſo partake of the Bleſſings of the Goſpel-Covenant, or Covenant of Grace made with Abraham; and to prove this, in ver. 16. he lays down an Argument, For if the firſt Fruit be holy, the Lump is alſo holy; and if the Root be holy, ſo are the Branches, ver. 16. by the Root I underſtand is meant Abraham, Root and Father ſignifying here the ſame thing, Abraham being the Root or Father, as God repreſents him, of all the Elect, or of ſuch who believe, or the Root of all his true Spiritual Seed.
2. By the firſt Fruits may be meant Iſaac, Jacob, and the Holy and Elect Patriarchs, for they were given as the firſt Fruits to Abraham of that Covenant and free Promiſe of God, and theſe were holy, with a true Spiritual and Internal New-Covenant Holineſs.
3. By the Lump he may mean the whole Body of the Elect, or the Spiritual Seed of Abraham, from the time the firſt Fruits were given him, until the Goſpel-day, or whole Body of the true Iſrael of God, who were holy, as the Root and firſt Fruits were holy.
4. By the Branches, may be meant the true Elect Seed that were living then in that preſent time, as ver. 5. and theſe were holy too, even as all the reſt, both as the Root, Firſt-fruits and whole Lump or Body were holy: That is, all the true Spiritual Seed of Abraham were like himſelf, viz. holy in a ſpiritual ſenſe. And now obſerve, he ſpeaks of ſome Branches that were broken off; theſe ſeemed to be Branches, or the Children of Abraham, and ſo they were according to the Fleſh, but were like thoſe Branches in Chriſt who bear no Fruit, and therefore taken away, John 15. 2, 3, 4. he alludes to the Natural Seed of Abraham, to whom he ſtood not as a Spiritual Father, or Root, but as a Natural and Legal Father, as they were a National Church, and ſprung from him; and theſe Branches were all broken off, viz. for rejecting Chriſt. (1.) Not broken off from the Election of Grace, for to that they did not belong. (2.) Nor were they broken off from the Goſpel-Church, for they were never graffed into that. But, (3.) broken off from being any more a Church or People in Covenant with God, the whole old State and Conſtitution being gone; and they not cloſing in with Chriſt in the Goſpel Diſpenſation, Grace and Church-ſtate, are ſaid to be broken off as a loſt People, becauſe not replanted or implanted into Chriſt, and the true Goſpel-Covenant; the old being gone, quite removed and taken away, they have now no Root to ſtand upon, having loſt their Legal Privileges as Abraham was their Father, upon that foot of Account, and they not appearing to be the true Branches or Seed of Abraham, as he was the Father of all the Elect Seed, or of all that believe in Jeſus Chriſt, they muſt of neceſſity from hence be broken off from being the People of God, or belonging to any Head or Root, in any Covenant-Relation to God at all, the Diſpenſation being changed, Old things being gone, and all things being now become new. But theſe new State-Bleſſings, Rights, Church and Church-Privileges are rejected; and thus were ſome of the Natural Branches broken off, and the Gentiles, who were wild by Nature, i. e. never were in any viſible Church ſtate with God, nor in any ſenſe related to Abraham, as a Root, were graffed into the true Olive Jeſus Chriſt, and into the true Goſpel-Church, and ſo Partakers of the Sap and Fatneſs of the Root, and of the Olive, that is, of the Spiritual Bleſſings and Privileges of Abraham, and of the Covenant of Grace made with him, and of the ſweet Bleſſings and Privileges of the Goſpel Church; and this they receive and partake of, as being firſt graffed by ſaving Faith in Chriſt, and ſo united to his Myſtical Body. But ſince there are a greater Number of the old Natural Branches that are beloved for their Father's ſake, that is, for the ſake of Abraham, as the Roo… and Father of all the Elect Seed, they ſhall in due time be graffed in again, and ſo become a People viſibly owned of God, and in Covenant with him, as all the true Seed now are, and formerly were. And if this be conſidered, what doth this Text do to prove the Natural Seed of Believers, as ſuch, are in the Goſpel-Covenant? for if the Natural Seed of Abraham can lay no Claim, not have any right to Goſpel-Privileges, but are gone or broken off, what ground is there for us to think that on Natural Off-ſpring, (as ſuch) ſhould be taken in? The Apoſtle ſpeaks not of ſuch Br…s, or of being holy with an excernal federal Holineſs, but of ſuch a Holineſs as was in the Roo…, viz Abraham, who believed in God; and thus all his true spiritual Seed (who are actually Branches and in Goven…, being grafted into Chriſt by Faith) are holy; and alſo all the Elect …eed of Abraham, not yet called, are decretively, of in God's ſight ſo, who calls things that are not, as if they were; they are all holy and beloved for their Father Abraham's ſake, with whom the Covenant of Grace was for himſelf, and all his true Spiritual Seed. And 'tis from this Argument the Apoſtle argues for the calling of the Jews, and the graffing of them in again, who belong to the Election of Grace; they therefore who would make every believing Parent to be the Root to his Natural Off-ſpring, as Abraham was to his true Spiritual Seed or Off-ſpring, or a common Head or Root of their Natural Off-ſpring, as he was to his, know not what they ſay or affirm; for then there would be ſo many common Roots and Fathers, like as Abraham was called a Root and Father; and then alſo there would be a Knowledg… ſtill of Men after the Fleſh, which the Apoſtle Paul diſclaims, 2 Cor. 5. 17. Moreover, the Jews who were broken off, are ſtill the Natural Seed of Abraham; and if therefore this Holineſs was an External Relative, Federal Holineſs, they are in that ſenſe holy as much as any Children of a believing Gentile can be ſaid to be; but this, 'tis evident, is not that Holineſs of which the Apoſtle ſpeaks, nor is there any ſuch Holineſs under the Goſpel-Diſpenſation ſpoken of.
Thus, Reader, I have examined Mr. Owen's Expoſition of this Text, and have found it to be a falſe Expoſition, and a palpable Abuſe of the ſacred Text, and have opened the Text, I hope, truly. It therefore follows from what I have ſaid in Oppoſition to what Mr. Owen ſaith in the Cloſe of the ninth Chapter, as here followeth:
1. That by the Natural Branches that receive Virtue and Fatneſs from the Root before Chriſt came, were not meant the Natural Seed of Abraham, as ſuch, becauſe no ungodly Perſon did, or doth, or can receive the Virtue and Fatneſs of the true Olive-Tree, or ſaving Bleſſings of the Covenant of Grace God made with Abraham. What Virtue or Fatneſs is in a ſimple, external, federal Profeſſion or Holineſs, either in the Jewiſh or Chriſtian Religion, as it reſpects only a Separation to viſible Church-Memberſhip?
2. It appears alſo that the Jews that believed in Chriſt, tho they were not broken off of the Covenant of Grace God made with Abraham, yet they and their Children ſtood no longer in that Legal and External Covenant of Peculiarity which God made with Abraham and the whole Houſe of Iſrael, but that that old Covenant is diſſolved.
3. That thoſe Jews that believed not, and their Children, are broken off from being any more in any Covenant-Relation to God as his People, and that for their Unbelief.
4. It alſo appears that none of the Gentiles are received or graffed into Chriſt, and into the true Olive, or into the Covenant of Grace God made with Abraham, but only ſuch that believe; not them and their Fleſhly Seed, as ſuch, but they themſelves and their Children alſo that do believe, even none but ſuch who by Faith partake of the Fatneſs; that is, the beſt of Bleſſings that appertains to the Covenant of Grace, not external Bleſſings and Privileges only: no, no, they are not the Fatneſs, i. e. the beſt and the choiceſt of Covenant-Bleſſings, but Union with Chriſt, Juſtification, Pardon of Sin, Adoption and Eternal Life; in theſe things conſiſts the Fatneſs of the true Olive, which Believers Seed, as ſuch, partake not of, nor any but the Elect and called ones of God, according to his Eternal Purpoſe only.
5. It alſo appears, that thoſe Jews that ſhall be called and graffed in again into their own Olive-Tree, ſhall be none but the Elect, and that their own Olive-Tree doth not refer to the external Privileges of the Covenant of Peculiarity God made with Abraham's Natural Seed, as ſuch, but ſhall receive of the Fatneſs of their own Olive-Tree, which is the Covenant of Grace; for that primarily was made with Abraham's Natural Seed, that believe, and belongs to all God's Elect alſo as their own and proper Olive, whether Jews or Gentiles. So that when the Jews are called, we may be ſure they will plead no external Privileges of their old diſſolved Covenant, but come in upon the Terms of the Goſpel, with their Children that believe and none elſe: And if the Controverſy of Infants right to Baptiſm and Church-Memberſhip ceaſeth not till they ſhall be called and come in, who will then renounce the old Federal Right, and all Old Teſtament external Privileges, be ſure it will ceaſe then.