A55752:1307
Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity…
Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity and duty of Gods children by the late Reverend and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, John Preston ...Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity and duty of Gods children by the late Reverend and Faithfull Minister of Jesus Christ, John Preston ...
London: printed by J.T., 1658
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.
To this I answer, that there is a Covenant of grace, and 1that is double, either a general covenant propounded without exception, Let whosoever will come and believe in Christ he shall be saved, here is none excluded, and that none are excluded out of this general covenant this reason will show. Baptism the seal of the Covenant is to be administered to all within the Church, to Infants though afterwards they do not actually and visibly believe. Now God would not appoint that the seal of the Covenant should be given to those to whom it doth not generally belong. But secondly, there is another Covenant of grace which belongeth, peculiarly to the elect, for in this God doth not only promise to give salvation, if men believe, but he promiseth to give them ability to believe, as may be seen, Jer. 31. 33. 2Ezekiel 36. In the first place God promiseth that he will put his law in their inward parts, and that they shall not teach any more every man his neighbour, but they shall all know me from the least to the greatest, and so the like in other places, where God promiseth the thing, and ability of performing of it, which belongeth only to the Elect, But the other general Covenant belongeth to all without exception.
To this I answer, that there is a Covenant of grace, and 1that is double, either a general covenant propoudned without exception, Let whosoever will come and believe in Christ he shall be saved, here is none excluded, and that none are excluded out of this general covenant this reason will shew. Baptism the seal of the Covenant is to be administered to all within the Church, to Infants though afterwards they do not actually and visibly believe. Now God would not appoint that the seal of the Covenantshould be given to those to whom it doth not generally belong. But secondly, there is another Covenant of grace which belongeth, peculiarly to the elect, for in this God doth not onely promise to give salvation, if men believe, but he promiseth to give them ability to believe, as may be seen,