A47535:359
Gold refined, or, Baptism in its primitive purity proving baptism in water an holy…Gold refin'd, or, Baptism in its primitive purity proving baptism in water an holy…
Gold refined, or, Baptism in its primitive purity proving baptism in water an holy institution of Jesus Christ ... : wherein it is clearly evinced that baptism ... is immersion, or dipping the whole body, &c : also that believers are only the true subjects (and not infants) of that holy sacrament : likewise Mr. Smithies arguments for infant-baptism in his late book entitled, The non-communicant ... fully answered / by Benj. Keach ...Gold refin'd, or, Baptism in its primitive purity proving baptism in water an holy institution of Jesus Christ ... : wherein it is clearly evinced that baptism ... is immersion, or dipping the whole body, &c : also that believers are only the true subjects (and not infants) of that holy sacrament : likewise Mr. Smythies arguments for infant-baptism in his late book entitled, The non-communicant ... fully answered / by Benj. Keach ...
London : Printed for the author, and are to be sold by Nathaniel Crouch ..., 1689
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Chapter 10: Wherein the great Arguments, and pretended Scripture-Proofs for Infant-Baptism, concern…
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Answ. There hath been enough said, over and over, by Mr. Tombs, Mr. Danvers, and many others, to detect and utterly vanquish the weakness of this Argument.
As, first, it hath been proved, that the Covenant of Grace made with Abraham and his Seed, doth not intend his Carnal Seed according to the Flesh; but his Spiritual Seed, or such who had the Faith of Abraham. And one would think the Apostle might be believed in his expounding that ⟨p. 101⟩Text, viz. To Abraham and to his Seed were the Promises made, Gal. 3. 16. He saith not, And to Seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to they Seed, which is Christ. Compare this with v. 29. If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's Seed, and Heirs. according to the Promise And again, in Rom. 9. 7, 8. he saith, Neither because they are the Seed of Abraham, are they all Children; but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called. That is, they which are the Children of the Flesh, these are not the Children of God: but the Children of the Promise are counted for the Seed.
Could the Apostle in plainer words have detected the Error of these Men, if he had met with them in his day? 'Tis true, he did meet with some, viz. the Jews, or Abraham's natural Seed, who were so blind as thus to argue from the Covenant made with Abraham; and concluded, they were the true Seed and Children of God, because they were the Off-spring of Abraham according to the Flesh. But as John Baptist first endeavoured to undeceive them, when he saw the Scribes and Pharisees coming to his Baptism—by saying,1