Light Broke Forth in Wales Expelling Darkness, Title page – To the reader 1

Light Broke Forth in Wales Expelling Darkness · Title page – To the reader 1

Light broke forth in WALES, Expelling DARKNESS; OR THE Engliſhman's Love to the Antient Britains. BEING An ANSWER to a BOOK, Intituled, Children's Baptiſm from Heaven; publiſhed in the Welch Tongue, by Mr. James Owen. Wherein his Twelve Arguments, for the baptizing of the Children of the Faithful, are examined and confuted, and Infant-Baptiſm overthrown. Alſo proving that Baptizing is Dipping the whole Body in Water, in the Name of the Father, &c. And that Believers are only the Subjects of Baptiſm. In which the Anti-pedo-baptiſts are cleared from all thoſe unjuſt Reproaches and Calumnies, caſt upon them by the ſaid Mr. Owen.

By BENJAMIN KEACH.

Bernard Serm. 66. in Cantica.

Irrident nos quia Baptizamus infantes, quod oramus pro mortuis, quòd ſanctorum ſuffragia poſtulamus.

Mat. 3. 16.

Ende Jesus gedoopt zijnde, is terstont opgeklomen yit hit Water.

Taken out of the Dutch Teſtament; in Engliſh thus, And when Jeſus was dipped, he came out of the Water.

London, Printed, and ſold by William Marſhal at the Bible in Newgate-ſtreet, 1696.

p. iiiTo all Godly Chriſtians who are Pedobaptiſts, in South and North-VVales, Grace, Mercy, and Peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.

You Worthy Brethren, and Antient Britains,

I Kindly ſalute you in the Bowels of Chriſtian Love, and Sincere Affections; I cannot but love all who have the Image of my Heavenly Father ſtampt upon their Souls: 'Tis not your Opinion of Pedo-Baptiſm (tho an Error) that ſhall alienate my Heart from you, nor reſtrain that Catholick Love that ſhould run in all the Veins of every one that is born of God; tho I am an Enemy to your Opinion and Practice, in that caſe, yet a dear Lover of your Perſons, and precious Souls. And I have ſo much Charity to believe, that 'tis through Ignorance you err in that Matter, and that God hath for ſome wiſe ends hid the truth of his Holy Ordinance of Goſpel-Baptiſm at preſent from you; and do hope, did you ſee otherwiſe, you would practiſe otherwiſe, Charity thinketh no evil, &c. 1 Cor. 13. One Reaſon o… my writing this Epiſtle to you is to anſwer what Mr. James Owen in his Epiſtle to his late Treatiſe hath wrote unto you, in which there are ſeveral Poſitions and …ſound Notions laid down and aſſerted by him, which I am perſuaded I ought to detect and witneſs againſt, as well as anſwer his Book, which are not only contained in his Epiſtle to you, but that alſo to the Reverend Mr. Samuel Jones.

To confirm Infant-Baptiſm upon the Covenant of Grace, he aſſerts, in his Epiſtle to Mr. Jones, theſe words, viz. I being deſired and importuned by you to maintain this preſent Truth which ſe…teth forth Infants Right unto the Privileges of the New Covenant, a Truth builded upon the Foundation of the Apoſtles and Prophets, even as antient as the Covenant of Grace, which was made with Adam and his Seed, &c.

p. ivAnſw. Doth Mr. Owen think that we deny that any our Children have right to the Covenant of Grace? God forbid; the Controverſy lies not there: for all our Children that are elected, are decretively in the Covenant of Grace, alſo vertually by the Death and Merits of Jeſus Chriſt, and alſo actually they are and ſhall be in it when they believe, or when they have Union with Chriſt; but that the Children of the Faithful as ſuch, or (as ſo conſidered) are in the Covenant of Grace, we do utterly deny.

2. If the Covenant of Grace was made with Adam, and his Natural Seed as ſuch, will it not follow that he owns Univerſal Salvation?

Can any Periſh that are in the Covenant of Grace? Is not that an everlaſting Covenant, well ordered in all things and …re? 2 Sam. 23. 5. and is not the Promiſe ſure to all the ſeed? Rom. 4. 16. it being not only confirmed to them all by the Promiſe, but alſo by the Oath of God, Heb. 6. 13—18. 17. But,

3. Doth not the Covenant and Promiſe to Adam run only to Chriſt Jeſus, or referr to him, who is there meant by the Seed of the Woman? True, we will allow that it comprehendeth alſo all the Elect of God, in a large ſenſe; but primarily and directly to Chriſt perſonally conſidered. But can any think this Promiſe is limited to the Carnal Seed of Believers or runs ſo? My Brethren, There are two Seeds, the one is called, The Seed of the Woman, which we affirm, is only Chriſt and all the Elect in him; and to all theſe the Covenant of Grace doth appertain, and to no more, as to the Special Bleſſings and Privileges thereof. The other are called, The Seed of the Serpent, who are the Ungodly; which proceed ſome of them from the Loins of the Faithful, as well as from the Loins of the Wicked; for as ſome Unbelievers Seed are in the Election of Grace, ſo ſome of the Seed of Believers are none of the Elect.

But to proceed, ſaith he, if the Children of the Faithful, are out of the Covenant of Grace, they have no Hope, and are without God in the World.

Anſw. We, and all our Children, by Nature were dead in Sins and Treſpaſſes, and Children of Wrath, as others; and ſo without Hope and without God in the World, Eph. 2. 13. before we Believed, this was our Condition, and are not our Children naturally in this ſtate?

p. vBut, what tho? yet when God calls them, renews them, and tranſlates them, out of the Firſt-Adam, and grafts them into the Second-Adam, they have the ſame Hope, and the ſame God to be their God, as we have,

Again, He ſaith, Doubtleſs, the Firſt Covenant doth condemn them becauſe of Original Sin, and if without intereſt in the Covenant of Grace, the Wrath of God abideth on them; but God forbid that we ſhould think there's more Vertue in the Firſt-Adam to Condemnation, than there is in the Second Adam to Save.

Anſw. The caſe is plain, the Firſt-Adam, and all his, as ſo conſidered, were loſt, being Children of Wrath and of Condemnation: And the Second-Adam, and all his, are, or ſhall be ſaved, being Children of the Promiſe, and of Eternal Salvation. But doth Mr. Owen think, that all the Children of the Faithful, as ſuch, are the Seed or Children of the Second-Adam?

I ſay again, Are all our Children in the Election of Grace, or doth Election run only in that Line?

If the Firſt-Adam had ſtood, we and our Children would have ſtood: Doth Faith in the Second-Adam, make the Condition of our Children worſer than it ſhould be through the Obedience of the Firſt-Adam?

Anſw. Muſt God ſave all the Children of the Firſt-Adam by the Obedience of the Second, becauſe, if Adam had ſtood none of his Children had fallen? What Doctrine is this? You out do all the Arminians I have yet met with, but O! the Riches of God's Sovereign Grace, to any of the loſt Seed of Rebellious Mankind.

If this you intend not, yet is every Believer a like common or publick Head to his natural Off-ſpring, as Adam was to his? Chriſt only is the publick Head of his Seed; a Believer's Faith objectively juſtifies and ſaves himſelf only, not his Children. Could Reverend Mr. Jones find no better a Pen to defend his Cauſe of Pedo-Baptiſm? My Faith may be ſaid to unite me to Chriſt; but doth it alſo unite my Child to Chriſt? Whatſoever good Children do receive from their believing Parents, besure the Parent's Faith doth not render his Child a Believer, but however my Faith doth not make the Condition of my Child worſer than it was, and it may not make the Condition of my Child better; for all the good Counſel, Education, good Example and Prayers; ſome Children have from their Godly Parents, they make them not the p. vibetter, 'Tis not in him that willeth, nor in him that runneth, but in God that ſheweth Mercy.

You intimate what Cauſe there is of bitter Sorrow in the Churches of God, that the Major part of their Children are out off from the Covenant of Salvation.

Anſw. Our Doctrine cuts off not one Child of any Believer that is in the Covenant of Salvation; if God hath elected the major part of the Children of the Faithfull, we ſay they ſhall be ſaved: 'Tis impoſſible for any to cut off one of God's Elect. But what is this to their Children, as ſuch, or to the poſitive Right any of our Infants have to Baptiſm? Do you cut off your Infants from the Covenant of Salvation, becauſe you will not give them the Blood of the Covenant (I mean the Lord's Supper)?

Brethren, Both the Sacraments are Ordinances that are of meer poſitive Right, viz. depending (as to the Subjects and all Matters thereunto belonging) upon the Sovereign Will and Pleaſure of the Lord Jeſus, the great Law-giver; and as they that come to one Ordinance are to examine themſelves and to diſcern the Lord's Body: So all they that come to the other are to believe in Chriſt, and to repent from dead Works.

You miſtake, 'tis not the Eternal Covenant of Grace that you ſay you ſtand up in the Gap to maintain, but you ſtrive to introduce, in Goſpel-Times, an external relative Covenant according to the Fleſh, like that Covenant of Peculiarity, which God made with Abraham and his Natural Seed, as he was a publick Head and Father of the whole Houſe of Iſrael, or of the National, Political and Typical Church of the Jews: Nay, you would fain have all the Seed of Believers to be in that Covenant, that peculiarly and abſolutely did belong to the Natural Seed of Abraham, as ſuch, and none elſe. Now 'tis this thing which we deny; we ſay that there was a twofold Covenant made with Abraham, ſignified by Sarah and Agar: And tho there was Grace and Mercy in both, yet the Covenant of Grace or Free Promiſe was not made to Seeds, as of many, i. e. not to all the natural Seed of Abraham, or Seed of Believers, as ſuch, but primarily it was made to Chriſt, and in him to all the Elect, who alone are in the Eternal Covenant of Grace: That the Election takes hold both of ſome of Believers Seed and ſome of the Seed of Unbelievers is evident; and tho God may comprehend in his Eternal Love more of our Seed than of the Seed of Unbelievers, p. viiyet I have proved in this Treatiſe and Reply to Mr. Owen, that the Covenant of Grace and the Election of God runs nor to the Seed of the Faithful, as ſuch; and alſo that Believers Seed nor Unbelievers Seed, until they believe in Chriſt, ought to be baptized, nor taken into the Viſible Church; becauſe 'tis not the Covenant of Grace. conſidered as ſuch, that gives any Perſon a Right to Baptiſm, but the meer poſitive Command of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt; whoſe expreſs Command and Commiſſion injoins none to be baptized but ſuch who are Believers, or ſuch who are diſcipled by preaching the Word, Mat. 28. 19, 20. Mark 16. 16. John 4. 1. Acts 2. 37. Acts 8. 12, 14. Acts 8. 37. Acts 10. 47. Acts 16. 30, 31. Acts 18. 8. Rom. 6. 3, 4.

Mr. Owen tells Mr. Jones, who he ſays hath the Tongue of the Learned, that his deſire was that he would be a Diſputant for thoſe Weaklings who are not able to diſpute for themſelves.

Reply. He tells us one while that Mr. Jones deſired and importuned him to write his Treatiſe, and at another time he ſays his Will and Deſire was that Mr. Jones ſhould do it.

As touching the Reverend Mr. Samuel Jones, I have had ſuch an account of him, by a Worthy Miniſter, that I am fully ſatisfied, that had he wrote on this Subject, we ſhould have had no ſuch bitter Reflections or ill Treatment as we meet withal from this Man: He hath dipped his Pen into Gall and Wormwood, and hath made work for Repentance; beſides, I am informed that Mr. Jones neither put him upon this Work nor approves of it, tho perhaps when he ſaw his Forwardneſs, he might ſay Go on and do it.

Sirs, thoſe Weaklings he means need no ſuch a Diſputant, he hath done them no ſervice, nor the Church of God either; we throw none of them out of that Eternal Covenant of which he ſpeaks, nor can Men nor Angels do it; ſuch of our Infants that are in the Eternal Covenant are ſafe enough: But we deny that our Infants are in that Covenant of Peculiarity which God made with Abraham and his natural Seed, as ſuch. And this I doubt not but you will find in the inſuing Anſwer ſufficiently proved. Moreover,

(He ſays) He ſtands up in the gap to maintain the Eternal Covenant which God made with the Faithful and their Seed.—Great is the Truth, and it will overcome.

Reply. He ſhould not boaſt before he puts off his Armour; that may be a Truth in a Man's Opinion, which is a groſs p. viiiError in it ſelf. You will, when you have read our Anſwer, the better judg whether he hath prov'd the Baptiſm of Infants to be from Heaven, as in the Title of his Book he aſſerts it is. He farther ſays,

We are Fathers, and the Law of Nature teacheth us to preſerve the Inheritance of our Children.

Reply. Our Affections are not leſs to our Children than his; we are Fathers alſo, but are not willing to give an Inheritance to our Children which of right belongs not unto them.

Grace, nor gracious Privileges, in the New Covenant, come to be the Inheritance of our Children, in a Natural way, as they are our Off-ſpring; tho evident it is in the Covenant of Peculiarity God made with Abraham, the Jews and their Seed, as ſuch, had an Inheritance given them by the Lord, i. e. many Legal and External Privileges, beſides the Land of Canaan, which Circumciſion was a Token or Sign of; but we and our Children have no right to that Inheritance: They had the Shadow, we and our Children that believe have the Subſtance; they had the Shell, we the Kernel: The true Inheritance is by Faith, that it might appear to be of Grace, and not in Circumciſion, nor in Baptiſm, but by Faith only. Therefore when our Children are called of God, or do believe in Chriſt, they have right to the Inheritance which Baptiſm is a ſign of; and what ſignifies the ſign without the thing ſignified? You our Brethren the Pedo-baptiſts give your Children the Name, but not the Nature of Chriſt; what is the lofty Title of Earl, or Duke, and no Eſtate ſuteable to that fancy'd Honour?

Mr. Owen ſaith, We are Stewards over the Houſe of God, and we ought to protect the Feeble and Afflicted; we are Shepherds, and our duty is to provide for the Lambs of the Flock, lest any caſt them out of the Fold.

Reply. It is required in Stewards that they be Faithful, and to ſee that they give no portion of their Maſters Goods to any, but to ſuch he hath directed and commanded them ſo to do: Now Chriſt hath commanded his Stewards, or Miniſters, no more to give Infants the Holy Ordinance of Baptiſm than the Lord's Supper. He therefore that doth it, let him anſwer it when our Lord comes.

2. Are our Infants Lambs in Chriſt's Fold, or feeble and afflicted Chriſtians in Chriſt's Spiritual Family? Infants are committed to Miniſters care, who are Natural Fathers, but not as Miniſters; God never made his Miniſters, Stewards p. ixto take care of, and to be Nurſes of little Infants: True, …ew born Babes in Chriſt, or Babes in Grace, they are to provide for, and take the care of; thoſe Lambs they muſt ſee not caſt out of Chriſt's Fold, when they are received in by Baptiſm, &c.

VVe are Builders, ſaith he, and we ought to build the VValls of Jeruſalem, working with one Hand in the VVork, and with the other holding a VVeapon, Neh. 4. 17. And we muſt not reject thoſe ſmall or little Stones, which the Father received into the old Building, whom the Son received into the new Building, and will be received by the Holy Ghoſt, Mat. 19. Luke 1. 44. who maketh them lively Stones of Jeruſalem that is Above, and theſe Stones by ſome are caſt into an unclean place without the City, Levit. 14. 40. God doth raiſe up Children unto Abraham, See Mat. 3. 9.

Reply. Becauſe the old Jeruſalem, by God's appointment, was built with dead Stones which was a Type of the New, will he, without Chriſt's Authority, build his New and Spiritual Jeruſalem with ſuch Materials? We deny not but that God did receive Infants, as ſuch, into his old Building: But doth not St. Peter tell us, the Goſpel-Temple is built up with Spiritual Stones, lively, or living Stones, i. e. Men and VVomen ſpiritually quickned by Divine Grace, or renewed by the Holy Spirit. Let him prove, if he can, that Chriſt received into the Goſpel-Church any one Infant; and tho we deny not but elect Infants that die may be lively Stones in Jeruſalem Above, I mean Heaven; yet it follows no more from thence that Infants ought to be baptized, than that they ought to partake of the Lord's Supper. Moreover, evident it is, that John in Mat. 3. 9. (the Text Mr. Owen quotes) doth deny ſuch to have a right to Baptiſm that were the Seed or Children of Abraham according to the Fleſh; Think not to ſay within your ſelves, we have Abraham to our Father. The Covenant of Peculiarity God made with Abraham, tho it gave right to his Male-Infants to Circumciſion, yet it gives no right to Goſpel-Baptiſm to any, either Young or Old, Male nor Female. God can raiſe up of Stones Children to Abraham, i. e. ſuch that have no Descent from Abraham: So that it appears Fleſhly Deſcent in Goſpel Times, ſignifies not any thing as to Goſpel-Church-Memberſhip.

Worthy Britains, Search the Scriptures, and be not miſtaken about the Covenant God made with Abraham; you will find p. xthe Covenant of Grace was one and the ſame from the beginning, and it was always held forth by way of a Free Promiſe, firſt to Adam, and ſo to Abraham, &c. but there was a Covenant made with Noah, and tho it was full of Mercy to him and all Mankind, yet that was not ſimply in it ſelf the Covenant of Grace: So alſo there was a Covenant made with Abraham and his Natural Seed, as ſuch, which we call a Covenant of Peculiarity, or, which peculiarly did appertain to his Natural Seed or Off-ſpring; to which Covenant Circumciſion did belong, which was diſtinct to the Free Promiſe, or Covenant of Grace, which God made with him, and with all the Elect in him. You may aſſure your ſelves that that Covenant in which there was mutual Reſtipulation between God and Abraham and his Carnal Seed, or between God and the whole Houſe of Iſrael (and upon the Condition of Obedience thereunto, Life, length of Days, and the Earthly Canaan was promiſed, and upon their Diſobedience Temporal Death was threatned) was not the Covenant of Grace, tho it might be given in ſubſerviency to the Goſpel-Covenant, or the Covenant of Faith: And ſo it was as a School-maſter to bring them to Chriſt. 'Tis only the Holy Spirit, thro Faith, that actually intiles us or our Children to the Covenant of Grace: We muſt believe, and our Children muſt believe, before either we or they can be actually in this Bleſſed Covenant, ſo as to have right to Baptiſm, I mean ſuch of them that live, &c.

Alſo know, as I ſaid before, that it is not the Covenant of Grace ſimply conſidered in it ſelf that gives any Perſon a right to Goſpel-Baptiſm, but the meer poſitive and expreſs Command, Will and Pleaſure of Chriſt the only Lawgiver: For the Covenant of Grace gave no Godly Man or his Male-Children, in Abraham's Time, or before or after, any right to Circumciſion, but only God's Command to Abraham, which ran to thoſe that proceeded from Abraham's Loins, or were bought with his Money. Brethren, Can any think that Abraham could purchaſe Men with Money, and that way bring them into the Covenant of Grace? No, 'tis nothing but the Purchaſe of Chriſt's Blood can do that.

In a word it is evident, that ſhould we grant all that Mr. Owen and other Pedo-Baptiſts ſay, That all the Children of Believers were in very deed in the Covenant of Grace; yet it would not follow from thence, that our Infants ſhould be baptized, any more than that they ought to have the Lord's Supper given to them, as I ſaid before; becauſe both p. xithoſe Ordinances (as Circumciſion was) are abſolutely of meer poſitive Right: Therefore we muſt know that 'tis the Will and Command of Chriſt in the New Teſtament, that Infants ought to be baptized, if they have right thereunto; but ſince there is not the leaſt Intimation given, in all God's Word, that 'tis his Pleaſure they ſhould be baptized, it muſt be a piece of Will-worſhip to do it.

Object. But whereas 'tis objected, it may be gathered from Conſequences that 'tis our Duty to baptize them.

I anſwer, In point of inſtituted Worſhip, or for any meer poſitive Legal or Goſpel Ordinance, there ought to be an expreſs Precept; tho we grant that many Doctrinal Truths may be drawn or inferred by Conſequences from many Texts of Scripture. See Reverend Mr. Greenhil, on Ezek. chap. 11. Vol. 2. p. 412. VVhat is clearly held out unto us in the Goſpel (ſaith he) let us conſent in, and walk anſwerably; in what is dark and doubtful let us forbear each other, and ſtay till God reveals more. If we cannot unite in all, let us unite in what is clear. Things Fundamental are cleareſt laid down in the word; they are expreſly commanded or held forth in Scripture, whether they are Matters of Faith or Practice, they are not drawn out by remote Conſequences, and ſtrength of Men's Parts, but immediately from or in the VVord. Thus Mr. Greenhill. Now we all agree that Baptiſm, tho it be not a Fundamental of Salvation, yet 'tis a Fundamental of Church-Conſtitution; there can be no true, right, orderly Goſpel-Church, without Baptiſm. Therefore it is neceſſary that this ſhould be laid down plainly in the Word of God; and ſo it is. We muſt firſt be made Diſciples, and then be baptized, Mat. 28. 19, 20. John 4. 1. firſt believe, and then be baptized, Mark 16. 16. Repent and be baptized, Acts 2. 37. If thou believeſt thou mayeſt, Acts 8. 37. Can any Man forbid Water, that theſe ſhould not be baptized? Acts 10. 47. When they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of Grd, and the Name of Jeſus Chriſt, they were baptized both Men and Women, Acts 8. 12. So Acts 16. 30, 31. Acts 18. 8. Rom. 6. 3, 4.

And as touching thoſe Conſequences that Mr. Owen and others draw from ſome Scriptures, to prove Infants Baptiſm, you will find in the enſuing Anſwer, thoſe Conſequences do not ariſe naturally from thoſe Texts, but are only his own ungrounded Suppoſitions, and miſtaken Apprehenſions. p. xiiMr. Owen, in his Epiſtle to the Courteous Welſhmen, ſaith, The greateſt part of the true Church judg that the Children of the Faithful have a right to Baptiſm, becauſe they are in the Covenant of God: This Opinion is agreeable to the Scriptures, as it appears, ſaith he, in this Book.

Reply. What Covenant is it he means? Our Children, as ſuch, are in, I know not, they are not in the Covenant of Grace; for if all the Children of the Faithful were in the Covenant of Grace, they muſt be all ſaved: This I have in this Treatiſe fully proved, there is none can fall finally away that are in this Covenant. Beſides, if they were in the Covenant of Grace, why muſt they have Baptiſm adminiſtred to them from this foot of Account, and not the Lord's Supper, and all other Privileges of the Church?

2. They are not in the Covenant of Peculiarity God made with Abraham's Natural Seed, as ſuch, or with the whole Houſe of Iſrael; for that was a Typical Covenant, and is taken away.

Mr. Owen ſaith, they are in the outward Diſpenſation of the Covenant of Grace.

Rep. Let him prove, if he can, that the Children of Believers have more Privileges, by the outward Diſpenſation of the Goſpel, than the Children of Unbelievers have where the Goſpel is preach'd. Thoſe who lived under the outward Diſpenſation of the Law, who believed in Chriſt to come, or were elected, were in the Covenant of Grace, and none but they only; and ſo 'tis now, none but the Elect, and ſuch that believe, are in the Covenant of Grace.

Will Mr. Owen ſeal all New Covenant-Bleſſings to all his Natural Seed, whether elected or not elected, ſince the inward and Spiritual Bleſſings of the ſaid Covenant, by his own words, belong only to the Elect?

Mr. Owen bids you to ſeek for a meek and humble, and ſelf-denying Spirit.

Reply. This Counſel is good, therefore be not too confident you are in the Right; your Teachers are but Men, and God may, for ſome Reaſons beſt known to himſelf, hide Believers Baptiſm at preſent from them.

He bids you alſo to beware of a diſtemper'd Zeal, that is not after Knowledg; it is (ſaith he) a Wild-Fire that waſteth Churches and Countries, &c.

p. xiiiReply. Such, I fear, hath been that Zeal he and others have ſhewed for Infant-Baptiſm: For it will appear, I hope, in this Treatiſe, that his Zeal is not according to the knowledg of God's Word.

Deſpiſe not (ſaith Mr. Owen) thy Faithful Teachers, obey them, and ſubmit to them, for they watch for thy Soul.

Reply. As you ought not to deſpiſe your Teachers, but to ſubmit to them in the Lord; ſo you ought not to Idolize them, nor follow them any farther than they follow Chriſt: For you muſt know, that Men, tho Miniſters, are not your Rule of Faith and Practice, but God's Word. Moreover, know that you muſt give an account of your ſelves to God, others will not be ſuffered to ſpeak for you at the Great Day.

He bids you look upon little Children, as part of their Natural Parents, and comprehended in the Promiſe made unto good Parents.

1. Reply. This he hath alſo aſſerted elſewhere in his Book, which you will find anſwered in this.

2. Strange! Are Children part of their Parents, ſo that when the Parents believe the Children believe, and when the Parents obey God's Command the Children obey it alſo, and when the Parents have a Promiſe of Pardon and Peace, the Children have right to the ſame Promiſe? What ſtrange Doctrine in this!

Are not we and our Children diſtinct Perſons? Shall not a whole Believer be ſaved? I profeſs I cannot well ſee that it can be ſo, if any of our Children who are a part of us do periſh for ever.

And doth it follow, becauſe in the Covenant of Peculiarity God made with the whole Houſe of Iſrael, the Parents and Children were comprehended, therefore they muſt be all comprehended in the Covenant of Grace alſo, and made Members of the Goſpel-Church? He cites Deut. 4. 37, 40. And becauſe be loved thy Fathers, therefore he choſe their Seed after them. VVhat of this? Mr. Owen can never prove that God hath choſen any one Nation, both Parents and Children, ſince that time, to be a peculiar People in a Covenant-Relation with himſelf, as he choſe the Natural Seed of Abraham; it was a Typical Church, and figured forth the true Spiritual Seed or true Iſrael of God: Therefore that Church-State ceaſed at the Death of Chriſt, when the Partition-wall was broken down. And the extent of the Promiſe now, and p. xivGoſpel-… …es, only runs to Believers and to their Children …, or who do believe, whether Jews or Gentiles, … and to no more.

Unde… … Mr. Owen) the extent of God's Cove… …ople; his Covenant is with them and their … was the Covenant of Grace which God made … Gen. 3. 15. and 4. 25. And the Covenant … …ade with Noah, Gen. 9. 9. with Abraham, Gen. 17. 7. … Iſaac, Gen. 28. 4. and with Jacob, Gen. 35. 12. And in the ſame manner was his Covenant with David and his Seed, 2 Sam. 7. 12. and 22. 51. in this Eternal Covenant he rejoiced on his Death-Bed, 2 Sam. 23. 5.

Rep. Here are a heap of words in a confuſed manner wrap'd up together, without diſtinguiſhing one Covenant from another, and without diſtinguiſhing between Seed and Seed.

2. If the Covenant of Grace God made with Adam, was alſo to all his Seed, How happy is the whole VVorld? All are Adam's Natural Seed. Be ſure that was the Covenant of Grace, and the firſt diſcovery of it; and this runs only to Chriſt, the Seed of the VVoman, and to all the Elect in him; not to the Seed of the Serpent who were nevertheleſs Adam's Natural Seed, as I ſhewed you before.

3. God's Covenant with Noah had Grace in it, and he was in the Covenant of Grace himſelf; but that Covenant, Gen. 9. 9. was alſo made with all the VVorld, and with the Beaſts of the Field, and Fowls of Heaven, even with every Living Creature. Yet we will acknowledg thus much, i. e. that all Covenants God made with Man ſince the Fall, originally did ſpring from his ſpecial Love to his Elect, and New Covenant-Grace deſigned for them; and ſo they were chiefly for their Sakes: But every diſtinct Covenant we read of was not material, and formally the Covenant of Grace.

4. The Covenants with Abraham and his Seed, I have proved in this Anſwer to Mr. Owen, was Twofold, as he was a twofold Father, Head and Repreſentative, and had a twofold Seed. (1.) The Covenant or Free-Promiſe of Grace God made with him, the Apoſtle proves was not made to Seeds, as of many, but to thy Seed, that is Chriſt, Gal. 3. 16. If any Man be in Chriſt, he is one of Abraham's Seed, and an Heir according to the Promiſe, ver. 29. (2.) The Covenant of Peculiarity God made with Abraham and his Seed, we deny not, refers to all his Natur. I Seed, or Fleſhly Seed, as ſuch, to p. xvwhich Circumciſion did appertain: But this will do the Pedo-Baptiſts no ſervice. The Covenant God made with David runs primarily to Chriſt, and in him to all the Elect; this is the Eternal Covenant indeed.

Mr. Owen ſaith, The Evangelical Prophet foretelleth that the Covenant of Grace ſhould be of the ſame extent under the Goſpel, even as it was from the Beginning, Iſa. 66. 22. For as the new Heavens ſhall remain before me, ſo ſhall your Seed remain. God's Covenant with the Seed of the Faithful is ſo ſtedfaſt as the new Heavens and the new Earth.

1. Reply. This all Men know only refers to the Elect Seed, and not to the Seed of the Faithful, as ſuch.

2. We deny not but the Covenant of Grace is of the ſame extent in the Goſpel-Days as it was from the Beginning. But from the Beginning none were truly and really in the Covenant of Grace, but the Elect of God only.

But what Mr. Owen, in the cloſe of his ſecond Epiſtle, hath ſaid, may open the Eyes of his Reader, tho his own be ſhut. Take his words.

Diſtinguiſh between the outward Diſpenſation of the Covenant and the inward Diſpenſation thereof, Rom. 9. 4, 8. All the Seed of Abraham was in the outward Diſpenſation, and the Seal of the Covenant belonged unto them; but none were in the inward Diſpenſation, ſave the Elect only.

Reply. Are not all Men in the VVorld, eſpecially where the Goſpel is preached, in or under the outward Diſpenſation of the Goſpel, or Covenant of Grace? Sure none can deny this. But doth Baptiſm therefore belong to them all? All the Natural Seed of Abraham we acknowledg were in the outward Diſpenſation of the Law, or Covenant of Peculiarity God made with him; and had great external Privileges thereby, which in ſome things much differed from the Privileges of ſuch who are under the Diſpenſation of the Goſpel: But let them be what they will, the outward Diſpenſation of the Goſpel of Grace, doth belong as far forth to Unbelievers and their Children, as to the Children of Believers: For what is that more than the Privilege of reading and hearing the Goſpel preached, or attending on the Word, in Chriſtian Aſſemblies?

2. I ask Mr. Owen how he can prove that the Seal of the Covenant of Grace doth belong to them who are only in the outward Diſpenſation of the Goſpel? This may ſeem ſtrange p. xvito all thinking Men. They whom the Seal of the Covenant of Grace belongeth unto, are aſſured of all of the peculiar Immunities, Bleſſings, and Privileges thereof, as pardon of Sin, Juſtification, Adoption, and Eternal Life.

3. Tho I own no Seal, or nothing to be a Seal of the Covenant of Grace, ſave the Holy Spirit; Yet, was Baptiſm the Seal of it, as Mr. Owen ſuppoſeth, certainly it muſt (if it were ſo) ſeal to the Perſon baptized all thoſe Spiritual Bleſſings or inward Graces ſignified thereby; or otherwiſe the Seal would be an inſignificant thing, and the Party ſealed would but be cheated or deceived: He may think he hath ſome great Matter ſealed to him, when in truth he hath nothing ſealed thereby. Pray ask this Man what it is that Baptiſm ſeals to Infants?

4. But is it ſo indeed, Are none in the inward part of the Covenant of Grace, or in the inward Diſpenſation of the the Goſpel, but the Elect; then I infer that the Children of the Faithful, as ſuch, are not in the Covenant of Grace, i. e. the Spiritual Bleſſings or Fatneſs of that Covenant doth not belong to them, as ſuch, but only to ſuch of them as are elected, or who do believe, or are brought under ſpecial Vocation by the Holy Spirit. And theſe things being ſo, to what purpoſe is it for this Man, and other Pedo-Baptiſts, to make ſuch a Noiſe about the Children of Believers, as ſuch, being in the Covenant of Grace? whereas he confeſſeth none are indeed in it but the Elect. I cannot ſee it is any thing he and others contend for, in pleading for Infant-Baptiſm, but only a Chriſtian-Name, or ſome outward thing, the inward Grace not belonging to any but to the Elect only; and who they are cannot be known till each Perſon comes to Age, and is called by the Lord: For it is only by effectual Calling that the Election of Perſons is known to themſelves or others.

But to conclude, Let me add a word or two to you Pedo-Baptiſts that are ſound in the Doctrine of Free Grace, and Free Juſtification by Chriſt's Righteouſneſs alone.

Firſt, May it not be worth your moſt ſerious Thoughts, to conſider how the Doctrine of Pedo-Baptiſm is a direct Violation of that Holy Precept of our Bleſſed Saviour, Mar. 5. 33, 34. It hath been ſaid of them of old Time, Thou ſhalt not forſwear thy ſelf, but ſhall perform to the Lord thine Oaths. But I ſay unto you, ſwear not at all, &c. All voluntary and promiſary Oaths and Vows, and Religious Covenants, (as well p. xviias vain Swearing) is directly thereby forbid, and therefore ſinful. Now tho we grant that the true Baptiſmal Covenant is of Divine Inſtitution, yet ſince that only obligeth thoſe that are the true Subjects thereof, viz. Believers: It followeth that that Vow or Covenant you bring your poor Babes under, being wholly without Divine Authority, it is therefore voluntary, and ſo forbid, and ſinful.

Secondly, It is alſo directly repugnant to thoſe Precepts, Add not to his Word, leſt he reprove thee, &c.

Thirdly, Conſider that Infants Baptiſmal Covenant is alſo directly repugnant to the nature of the Covenant of Grace, rendring the Covenant of Grace to be of the ſame nature of the Covenant of Peculiarity God made with Abraham and his Natural Seed, as ſuch, and ſo ſutes only with the Baxterian Errors, and Mr. William's New Scheme, which renders the Covenant of Grace conditional, according to the Covenant of Works. Take Mr. Baxter's words, viz. The Condition of the Covenant of Grace, by which we have right to the Benefits of it, is our Faith (mark it) or Chriſtianity, as it is meant by Chriſt in the Baptiſmal Covenant, viz. to give up our ſelves in Covenant, believing in God the Father, Son and Holy Ghoſt, renouncing the Contraries; and that through this conſent to the Chriſtian Covenant (called Faith alone) is the full condition of our firſt right to the Benefits of that Covenant (of which Juſtification) is one. Baxter's Fourth Propoſit. in his Preface to Dr. Tully.

1. From hence note, as Mr. Troughton obſerves, Mr. Baxter doth not ſay that Chriſt's Righteouſneſs, apprehended by Faith, doth juſtify us; but Faith in a comprehenſive Senſe, as it includeth Obedience to God, according to this Covenant. It appears that the Belief and Practice of the Chriſtian Religion, upon performance of their Infant Baptiſmal-Covenant, is that Righteouſneſs by which they are juſtified, as the purport of Mr. Baxter's Senſe.

2. From hence alſo, it appears that the Spring or Riſe of this grand Baxterian Error is from Infants-Baptiſmal Covenant; therefore, Brethren, 'tis time to conſider the danger of this unwarrantable Practice and evil Innovation.

D. Williams confirms Mr. Baxter's Notion: Take his words, What doth the Covenant bind thee to (ſpeaking of Infants Baptiſmal-Covenant)? His Anſwer is, To be the Lord's; in ſincere Care, to know, love, believe, obey, worſhip and ſerve him all my days, and to depend on God, thro Chriſt, for all Happineſs, Rom. 6. 4.

p. xviiiQueſt. What if a Child, thro the love of Sin, or vanity of Mind, will not agree to this Covenant?

I anſwer, (ſaith he) He then rejecteth Chriſt our Saviour, and renounceth the Bleſſings of the Goſpel.

Queſt. Is it a great Sin to refuſe to agree to the Covenant to which thy Baptiſm engaged thee?

He anſwers, It is the damning Sin, and the Heart of all Sin, Mr. Williams's Book, called The Vanity of Youth, pag. 131.

1 Reply. From hence it appears, that Mr. Baxter and Mr. Williams plainly declare that the terms and condition of the Covenant of Grace, which muſt be performed by ſuch that would be juſtified, is to perform this Infant Baptiſmal-Covenant, viz. ſincerely to love, believe, obey, worſhip and ſerve the Lord; not Faith only whereby we receive Chriſt, rely on Chriſt, but the whole of that Obedience to which they were obliged by their Infant-Baptiſm.

2. Obſerve alſo, that it appears according to theſe Men, that Unbelief is not the condemning Sin, but the non-performance of this Baptiſmal-Covenant.

3. How are theſe Men left of God, to darkneſs of their own Minds, not only to affirm the Conditionality of the Covenant of Grace, rendering it no better than a new Covenant of Works, but alſo to make this deviſed and voluntary Infant Baptiſmal-Covenant to be the only Condition of it, and of our Juſtification in the ſight of God?

4. Moreover, They bring their poor Babes (without any Authority from Chriſt) under a Covenant, and charge them with Perjury if they break it, when grown up; (it they perform it they ſhall be pardoned, juſtified and ſaved) but they muſt be damn'd if they anſwer not the Rule of the Promiſe, or Baptiſmal-Covenant, which is to repent, to be regenerated, and ſo anſwer their new Law of Faith and ſincere Obedience: So that in this Covenant lies the Conditionality of their Covenant of Grace. For no other formal Covenant is propoſed by them to the People, unleſs they are for Mr. Joſeph Allen's voluntary Covenant, contrived out of his own Head, and propoſed to all devout Adult Perſons to enter into, which no doubt is forbid by our Saviour as ſinful: (he was a well-meaning Man.) And the Truth is, his deviſed Covenant ſeems more plauſible and reaſonable than Infants Baptiſmal-Covenant, becauſe he would have none but ſuch enter into his Covenant who are Adult Perſons; beſides, it muſt be with their own free Conſent, whereas Children are brought into theirs, without their knowledg or conſent, and are obliged p. xixto do thoſe things which they have no power to perform: And as it is not required by the Lord, ſo God hath made no Promiſe to them, of Grace and Aſſiſtance, to diſcharge the Obligation thereof.

Fourthly, To conclude, It is eaſy to gather from whence their Miſtake doth ariſe about this Baptiſmal-Covenant, which evidently appears to be from their applying it to falſe Subjects; (and ſo to bind ſuch to perform thoſe things which Chriſt never ordained Baptiſm to do,) viz. ſuch that are in their Natural State, or who when baptized believed not, nor were capable ſo to do; for your Brethren the Pedo-Baptiſts tell you that Baptiſm obligeth ſuch as are baptized to believe, and to become new Creatures, not that they were ſuch that then did believe, &c. And from hence it followeth, that it is one of thoſe Works or Acts of Obedience that go before Faith, and therefore a dead Work, and pleaſeth not God (as well as not required of him); for all Works before Faith, or Union with Chriſt, are dead Works, they not proceeding from a Spiritual Vital Principle.

It therefore appears from hence, that Infant's Baptiſmal-Covenant is directly alſo repugnant to Chriſt's true Baptiſmal-Covenant: For evident it is, that Chriſt's Baptiſm only belongs to Believers who are renewed, regenerated, and have Union with Chriſt, and ſo in a juſtified State before baptized: Our Baptiſm doth not oblige us to believe and to be regenerated, or to die to Sin, as ſuch that were not dead before; but it is a ſign of that Faith and Death unto Sin we had when we were baptized, or to ſhew that we were then dead to Sin, &c. How ſhall we that are dead to Sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not that ſo many of us as were baptized into Jeſus Chriſt, were baptized into his Death? Or as being dead with him, Therefore we are buried with him into Death, Rom. 6. 2, 3, 4. Not buried alive or whilſt dead in Sin: No, but as being dead to Sin. Not to oblige us to be regenerated, but, as Perſons who are regenerated before, buried in Baptiſm. And the Covenant of Baptiſm is, to walk in newneſs of Life, as being before quickned, That like as Chriſt was raiſed from the dead by the Glory of the Father, ſo we ſhould walk in newneſs of Life.

I find Mr. Richard Baxter alſo ſaith, Baptiſm is a ſign of preſent Regeneration, not future. Now, how inconſiſtent is this Infant Baptiſmal-Covenant to the Covenant of Grace, and alſo to the nature of that Baptiſmal-Covenant, Believers, or true juſtified Perſons, enter into when baptized, according p. xxto Chriſt's Inſtitution? Nothing can be more clear than this, viz. that Infant's Baptiſmal-Covenant is of the ſame nature with the Covenant of Circumciſion, viz. a conditional legal Covenant, Do this, and thou ſhalt live; perform the Obligation, and thou ſhalt be juſtified, but do it not, and you ſhall be damned, or be cut off: So that Infant-Baptiſm eſtabliſhed the old legal conditional Covenant. Let ſuch who hold the Doctrine of Free-Grace conſider it; and alſo ſee whether it doth not render the Covenant of Grace different in its nature in reſpect had to Believers themſelves, and to their Children: For Believers themſelves receive Chriſt as Sinners, by Faith only, without any previous Qualification, or promiſſory Covenant, that Chriſt hath obliged them to enter into: But their Infants are put upon previous conditional Qualifications, which muſt be performed by them before juſtified. Indeed had Chriſt ordained Baptiſm to oblige us to believe, to repent, to die to Sin, to be regenerate, as the Pedo-Baptiſt ſpeak of their Baptiſm doth do, it was ſomething to their purpoſe, but the contrary plainly appears. Were theſe things carefully conſidered, I am ſure Infant-Baptiſm would fall to the ground; for the nature of their pretended Baptiſmal Covenant is quite repugnant to the true Baptiſmal Covenant Chriſt inſtituted, therefore pernicious: Beſides, how are thoſe baptized Infants in the Covenant of Grace, (as Mr. Owen and others ſay) and yet Baptiſm (as to the main Deſ…n and End of it in their cloudy Conceits and Apprehenſions) is to oblige them to believe, &c. that they may actually be in the Covenant of Grace. The good Lord give you Underſtanding in all things, and bleſs to your Profit what I have wrote, and praiſe God for that Readineſs that was in your Brethren and Countrymen to be at the great Charge of the Publication of this Anſwer to Mr. Owen. He ſaith, in the Title of his Book, Childrens Baptiſm is from Heaven. Strange! yet no where inſtituted, nor any Authority for it, or ever owned from Heaven; certainly you will find it is of Men, and ſprang out of the Antichristian Apoſtacy. Search the Scripture, be like the Noble Bereans, Acts 16. 11. Who with all Readineſs of Mind received the Truth, and ſearched the Scriptures daily, whether thoſe things were ſo. Brethren, I ſhall add no more, but commit you to God, and intreat you to read this Book over and over without Prejudice; and if you receive any Light by it, give God the Glory, for I deſire to be nothing; yet am willing ſtill to ſerve you, and the Intereſt of Chriſt, who ſhall ſubscribe my ſelf your Servant for Jeſus Sake,

So…thwark, London this 11th of the 11th Month 1606 Benj. Keach.