Richard Baxter's Catholic theology plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriors who,…Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who,…

336. The Argument for Perseverance from Gods Immutability will hold as to all the Elect as such, but not to all the sanctified or justified as such. For the Angels and Adam's fall did not prove God mutable. And God can judge a thing or person to be changed, without being himself changed; but only denomination extrinseca a relatione ad mutatum, is variously denominated. And even his Law or Covenant which saith He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned, will not at all be changed if it justify a Believer to day, whom it condemned as an unbeliever yesterday, and should condemn him again to morrow if he should apostatize; or if it conclude ⟨p. 115⟩us guilty every day anew of every new Sin which we commit.

336. The Argument for Perseverance from Gods Immutability will hold as to all the Elect as such, but not to all the sanctified or justified as such. For the Angels and Adam's fall did not prove God mutable. And God can judge a thing or person to be changed, without being himself changed; but only denominatione extrinseca a relatione ad mutatum, is variously denominated. And even his Law or Covenant which saith He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned, will not at all be changed if it justifie a Believer to day, whom it condemned as an unbeliever yesterday, and should condemn him again to morrow if he should apostatize; or if it conclude ⟨p. 115⟩us guilty every day anew of every new Sin which we commit.

337. It is a very hard thing to confute an Anabaptist, without granting that Infant Justification may be lost. For experience proveth ¹that the Children of Godly Parents too often prove ungodly: And if they had Justifying Grace in Infancy, they lose it: And if they have not, then the Covenant in which they are entered doth not certainly Justify them. And if so, then it is either the very same Covenant which the adult are baptized into, or another. If it be another then their Baptism is another thing: For Baptism is but the celebration of our Covenant with God. And another Covenant in specie maketh another Baptism in specie. And if so, it seemeth to be no Baptism of Gods appointing: For he hath but One Covenant of Grace to be entered by us, and sealed; nor but one Baptism: Indeed on man's part, there is a Covenanting with the Heart and with the mouth, an outward as well as an inward Covenanting, or Consenting: But it is all to one and the same Covenant of God. It is the same species of Faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost which baptized Hypocrites and true Christians do profess. And Infants have no Faith of their own to profess, but are dedicated by another's will; the title-condition of the Adult is their own consenting Faith; but the title-condition of Infants, is nothing in themselves, but their Parents consenting Faith without them, which dedicateth them to God. Now we suppose the Parents to do this sincerely. If then the Covenant ascertain not present Justification to the Infant, who hath all the condition required by the Covenant, how can we say that it any more ascertaineth Justification to the adult, it being proved to be the very same Covenant and not another. But if it do ascertain it, then many lose it. I run not into their error, who tell us (and would have none of us Preach Christ's Gospel that will not say the same) that It is certain by the Word of God that Infants baptized dying before actual Sin are certainly saved] without excepting the Children of any Infidels, Pagans, or Apostates, which I cannot prove of the Infants even of Hypocrites or unsound Christians, or that the Child can he saved by that false Faith, which will not save the Parent or him that dedicateth him to God; or that the Children of Hypocrites or Infidels have the condition of Justification: