THE GROUNDS OF Infant-Baptism Briefly EXPLAINED.  
GOD's Word plainly declareth, That it is sufficient Qualification for Baptism, if Persons be Believers : If thou believest withal thine heart, thou mayest be baptised, Act. 8. 36, 37. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptised, shall be saved, Mark 16.15, 16. Now the Infants of Christian Parents are either Believers, or Unbelievers; or neither Believers nor Unbelievers, but a third kind, middle between both. A third kind of Persons, who are neither Believers nor Unbelievers, but middle between both, cannot be, the Scripture knoweth none such, it is contrary to the Tenor of God's Word, and to the Grounds of Religion, and to the Common Belief of Christendom, and will 
Ubi ponis parvulos baptizatos? Profecto in numero credentium August. de Verbis Apostoli Ser. 14.  infer one of these two impious Absurdities; either that Infants are bruit Beasts, or that dying in Infancy, they are neither saved not damned, but remain in a Third State, middle, between Heaven and Hell, for ever. If you suppose the Infants of Christian Parents to be Unbelievers, then in reason you must suppose, that they be all so, and dying in Infancy Unbelievers, they must needs be damned. For Christ plainly saith, That he which believeth not, shall be damned, he is condemned already, he shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him, Mark 16. 16. John 3. 18, 36. And if all the Infants of Christian Parents, dying in Infancy, are damned Unbelievers, we have much more reason to conclude, that all the Infants of Heathen Parents dying in Infancy are so too. But, sure, that Doctrine cannot be true, which adjudgeth all Infants taken away in Infancy to inevitable Damnation for ever. It remains then, that the Infants of Christian Parents are Believers, and therefore baptizable.  
§ II. Though Infants are not capable of actual Faith, after the similitude of vigilant grown Men, yet they are capable of the inward Seed and Root thereof, after the similitude of grown Men in their Sleep, while their Sleep 
1 Joh. 3. 9 Luk. 1. 15, 35. Jer. 1. 5.  lasteth, and as Jeremy and John Baptist were sanctified from the Womb, and as the Infant Jesus was holy, and as David was made to hope when he was upon his 
Psal. 22. 9  mother's breasts. The Soul of each Infant is a Spiritual Substance, and being so, it must needs be immortal, and some way or other in act, from the time that it is put into the Body, and while it is in the Body, it doth animate and quicken the Body, and is the Life thereof, and is always upon its way to Eternity without 
1 Cor. 7. 14.  all stop or stay, and either it is by supernatural Grace inwardly holy in the sight of God, and so in the way to Heaven: or it is destitute of supernatural Grace, and then it is inwardly unholy and unclean in the sight of God, and so in the way to Hell. Our Brethren, the Opposers of Infant Baptism confess, That from 
Their Confession of Faith, p. 24.  Adam and Eve, the Common Parents of us all, corrupted Nature was conveyed to all their Posterity, descending from them by ordinary Generation, being now conceived in Sin, and by Nature Children of Wrath, the Servants of Sin, the Subjects of Death, and all other Miseries, Spiritual, Temporal, and Eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free. Now Infants being inwardly infected and defiled with Sin and Corruption, as the Great Disease of lapsed Humane Nature, they must needs be by Divine Grace capable of Cure and Remedy, which Cure and Remedy cannot be without super natural Regeneration, whereby their Souls are inwardly renewed and made Partakers of the Divine and Godly Nature, conformably to the Image of the Infant Jesus, whose Soul, while he was an Infant, did overflow 
2 Pet. 1. 4. H b. 1. 9 & 2. 11, 12. Rom. 8. 29. Joh. 20. 17. Luk. 1. 35. & 2.40. Joh. 3. 3, 5, 6.  with the Seed of Divine Faith, Hope, Love, Meekness, Piety, and all other Celestial Graces, a degree and measure whereof God worketh in all Elect Infants, in respect whereof the Infant Jesus, and they are Brethren and Fellows, there is spiritual similitude between them. The Infant Jesus is considerable two ways: First, In respect of the Natural Substance of his Soul and Body; and so there is similitude between him and all other Infants: for they also have Souls and Bodies, no less than the Infant Jesus: this similitude is natural and common. Secondly, In the Infant Jesus, besides the natural Substance of his Soul and Body, there is by supernatural Grace, and gracious Donation and Endowment, the Seed and Root of all Divine and Heavenly Virtues, which are the Life of the Soul, like as the Soul is the Life of the Body; these Divine and Heavenly Virtues did emidently shine forth in the Life of Christ, when grown up. Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. The Seed and 
Luke 2. 52.  Root of all Heavenly Virtues was by supernatural Grace in his Soul, while he was in the Virgin's Womb, and as soon as he was born of her, but did not appear till he was arrived to some maturity. When he was grown to Man's Estate, he did use to take his Rest in Sleep; and while be slept, the inward Heavenly Virtues and Graces of his Mind did not appear, but the Seed and Root thereof lay hid in his Soul. Now between such Infants as Jeremy and John Baptist, who are by supernatural Grace born of God, and holy from the Womb, and the Infant Jesus, there is spiritual and special similitude. But between Infants unregenerate and unholy, and the Infant Jesus, there is no spiritual and special similitude; 
Gen. 3. 15. Isa. 42. 1. Rom. 9 8.  but contrariety, as between the Seed of the Serpent, and the Seed of the Woman, between Non-Elect and Elect. No reason can be rendered, why the Infants of Christian Parents, should not be as truly capable of being Believers, as the Infant Jesus was of being a Saviour. Unto you is born this day, in the city of 
Luk. 2. 11. Mat. 1. 21.  David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. She shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. As if you suppose the Infant Jesus Christ not to be the Saviour of Souls, it cannot be declared, when he comes to be the Saviour of Souls. So if you suppose the Infants of Believing Parents not to be a kind of Believers, it cannot be declared when the Children born of Believing Parents, come to be in the Number of Believers, in what Year of their Lives. If the Infancy of Jesus Christ could not bar him from being Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and Men, the Head of the Church, and the Saviour thereof, when he sucked his Mother's Breasts. By the same reason the state of Infancy cannot hinder the Children of Believing Parents from being a kind of believers 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, etc. And by comparing the Evangelists it will appear, that by these little 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, baptising 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 Baptise them, and solemnly enter them into the Church of Christ, by the Rite of Baptism: For like as Jesus made and baptised Disciples; first made, and then baptised 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 baptise 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 Messiah, 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, Baptise 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 Tenor of Christ's Commission they are to be Baptised. 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 Infant's 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 Offspring 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 Cornerstone of this Covenant was laid in Christ's Incarnation, according to the Eternal Purpose and Foreknowledge 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 Baptised 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 the recompense of the reward: so the Man Christ Jesus for the 
H●b. 11. 26. H●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 Firstborn among many Brethren, and anointed with the Oil 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 than the Jew anciently had, and there is not less profit now by Baptism, than 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 though 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, ●●.  is better than Circumcision, as better suiting with the State of the Church under the New Testament: 1. It is more easy, 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 enjoined 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 publicly 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 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-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 showed, being to get all Persons into Covenant with God through Christ, and then to baptise 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 Baptised, 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, allege, That 
Their Confession of Faith, p. 118, etc.  the forecited Scripture, Rom. 4. 11. is not exactly translated, and conceive the Sense 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 ●●ighed. Now supposing, but not granting this Sense 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 Sense 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 styled 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 forbidden water that these should not be baptised, 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 supreme, 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, baptising them, etc. 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 forbidden Water that these Infants of Christian Parents should not be Baptised, who in the judgement 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 believers?  
§ XII. It cannot be thought that we should be bound infallibly to know the Hearts of others: for if we must not baptise but upon those grounds, we must baptise 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 extremes 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 forbidden water, that all such should not be baptised? 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. etc. is abundantly enough for the Regulation of our charitable Judgement, 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 forbidden 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 present in the Assemblies of his Saints, and with his Ministers in the right Dispensation of Baptism, according to his Word always, 
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 baptised by the Apostles, and as many baptised by the Opposers of Infant Baptism? Can any Man forbidden Water that the Infants of pious Parents should not be baptised, 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 baptise, 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 Gild 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 foreknow, 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 Privileges 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 Foreknowledge, 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. ●0, 21.22, 23. Phil. 2. 8 9 10. 〈◊〉. 28. 18▪ 19 J●m 5▪ ●2. 23 2●. H●b. 9 1●. Rev. 5. 9 1●, 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 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 Privileges, 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 bar. 
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 entering the Person baptised 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 courtesy 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, than 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 coequal and  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, than 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 own God no thanks at all; but he is beholden to us by our Parents, or by our Nominal God-Parents, or by ourselves, 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 and 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 than 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 Debtor, 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 Maxim 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 Judgement and Permission, unsearchably occasion, but not cause Original Sin, and sinful Contagion, in all their Natural Offspring. 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, than 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 Offspring 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 trusties, 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 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 Catholic 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 baptise, 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 baptised 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 wholesome Penalty to deny them the Lord's Supper, till they have reform 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 join 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 Castaway. So by the same common Grace he may be instrumental in God's hands, for bringing his Child to Baptism, and procuring it solemnly entered 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 promisovously 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 plucked 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 than none, and yet it is not divine, heavenly, and spiritual. But Children born in manifest Whoredom and Adultery, should not be baptised, 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 wholesome 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 wholesome 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 than 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-Baptism, cannot be, and so the Jews are scandalised, and a Stumbling-block is cast in their way to hinder their Conversion.  
§ XXIX. The Apostles did rightly in baptising 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 baptised 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 joined 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 baptised 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 baptised in their Infancy with Christ's Baptism, how they will avoid the Charge of Anabaptism, and sinful rebaptising, 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 Lawgiver 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 baptise the Infants of Christian Parents, that in so doing we proceed according to his Precept and Commission to his Apostles, to teach and baptise 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. Laurence, at the Angel in the Poultry. 1693.