Chapter III
That all God s elect do not indeed, before their regeneration, remain in that
state of sin and wrath, as is evident in the case of infants.*
The great God, for holy and glorious ends, but more especially to give
demonstration, or to make appear his love and kindness, his mercy and
grace, hath ordered it so, that the generality of elect that live to riper years,
should for some time remain in a condition of sin and wrath, and then he
renews them, and turns them to himself. I have in the former chapters
proved the matter of fact.
My present business is to consider the design of God herein, and to what
ends and purposes, and for what reasons he hath thus appointed such their
condition.
I must premise something by way of limitation, and explication, to pre
vent exceptions against this truth.
1. My meaning is not, that God regenerates none but such as are grown
up to riper years. I should be injurious to multitudes of his elect, if I so
asserted. But as infants are capable of all the essentials of regeneration,
so, de facto, it is evident that he regenerates multitudes of them whilst such.
For in the Old Testament the promise being indefinitely uttered for time
or age as well as person I will be the God of thee and thy seed/ Gen.
xvii. 7 ; And I will circumcise thy heart, and the hearts of thy seed, Deut.
xxx . 6 and circumcision (which has the sign and seal of that circum
cision of the heart mentioned in the promise, and so the seal of that pro
mise itself, and of the performance), being by God s command applied to
infants, whereof multitudes whilst such died, necessarily imports that there
are some of that age, whom God had in his eye, whom he inwardly circum
cised ; or else the promise and seal to them had been in vain. And if it
had took place in none but those that lived until they grew up to riper
years, then circumcision would have been deferred unto that age, as that
wherein God s ordination had only been to regenerate mankind, namely,
all when come to such or such an age, grown up, and not before. And
circumcision is the seal of that righteousness, the same righteousness which
believers grown up have imputed to them (as Rom. iv. 11, the apostle, in
stancing in Abraham, says), He received the sign of circumcision, _a seal
of the righteousness of faith ; which words do not assert circumcision to
have been a seal of faith or righteousness only unto them that actually do
believe, but the purpose of them was to signify and exemplify what right
eousness it was that circumcision was the seal of, which he exemplifies in
Abraham, saying that it was the same that Abraham the father had im
puted to him, and which believers lay hold on, which is called the right
eousness of faith ; because revealed from faith to faith, and so apprehended and made known to us that are of riper years by faith. And so hereby he
gives us to understand that elect infants circumcised, the seed of Abraham,
dying, had and might have the very same righteousness which we and
Abraham had by faith, and which circumcision did seal up to his faith, even
as well as they have the actual application of that outward seal as much as
Abraham had. And indeed the half of mankind dying whilst infants, it may
be well supposed that as great a portion, at least for number, are found
amongst the seed that die, as experience shewed was found among them
* I will
that lived, and so were inwardly circumcised. And those promises,
* This does not appear to be a correct summary. ED.
THE WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST [BOOK II.
be the God of thee and thy seed ; and I will circumcise the heart of thy seed ; being spoken (as they are apparently) indefinitely of any age, one as well as another, who shall dare to limit them to years of understanding only ? And if indefinitely for age, then it may as well be supposed, that there is no time, or age, in the whole series of man s life, but there will be found instances of some of Abraham s seed that were therein regene rated, some in one, some in another ; even as there is not the least moment in the thread of man s life, but some or other have expired therein. And again, shall we limit it to infants of eight days old, to exclude all infants dying before eight days ? Surely no. The real intent was otherwise. As women were not excluded from the promise, though not circumcised per sonally ; to whom yet the promise held, as well as unto males ; and the female sex were representatively circumcised in the males ; so infants (take it still indefinitely of what age. yea, of what moment s standing you will, from their conception), were represented in the circumcision of those infants of eight days old. This deferring and staying of it then, and this representative circumcision at eight days old of some, was ordained typically to hold forth that representation of all the elect which that "OS, that strong male child Christ, the first-born of them, was to bear of all the seed, he standing in their stead.
And it is to no purpose to say, that circumcision sealed up to them only the promise of Canaan ; for beside that the promise to Abraham and his seed was one and the same, also infants that died (as half of mankind die when infants) enjoyed so little, some not at all, the benefit of that promise, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God hath given thee, as it were ridiculous to assert circumcision was applied to them to seal up that promise only.
In the New Testament, we find that grace and all the privileges thereof are now more extendible, as to nations
(< Go teach all nations, not the Jews only) so in like manner unto all sorts of persons, more than these to whom the grace and dispensations of grace in the Old Testament could be supposed to extend ; and therefore if to infants then, so now. And it is observable that the first in the catalogue of the New Testament (both according to Christ s account, Mat. xi. 11, and also that of Zacharias) was John, who, as the first-fruits to sanctify in a more special manner the lump of infants, was filled with the Holy Ghost in his mother s womb, Luke i. 15. Christ himself, who sanctified our nature, to the end that we might be sanctified (John xvii. 19, Heb. ii. 11), representatively sanctified every age of man he went through, as well as those ages or years of man s life he fell short of. Now therefore he was sanctified in the womb, to sanctify some infants in the womb. He was holy when born, even because some infants when first born might be then sanctified. And the same Lord Jesus pronounceth of infants, that
< Of such is the kingdom of God. Nor can it be supposed that he sanctifies only such infants that in his decrees he had appointed to die when infants ; for when Christ spake that last fore-cited speech, it was upon occasion of such infants being brought to him, who might be supposed to have lived up to riper years, and it being intended a direction to the apostles as ministers, with respect to infants coming or being brought to them, to be sure they were not first to judge who were to live and who were to die, and to regard the latter only, there
for^ Christ speaks indefinitely. And add to this, John Baptist, who lived to riper years, was yet when an infant sanctified.
And if we take a great lump of Christians that are grown up, some few
CHAP. III.] IN OUR SALVATION. 87
will be found sanctified from their infancy, insomuch as they dare not say but they had workings of grace on them ever since they can remember, and that they had gracious dispositions (though proportioned to that age)
mingled with the dawnings and springings of reason in them. This expe
rience shews, and therefore you must not take this doctrine universally
true, that of these that live to years of discretion, none are sanctified when
infants.
Yet in the text it is more generally and ordinarily true concerning those
elect who live, that God (in whose hands are the times and seasons of
regenerating men, as well as of all things else, Acts xvii.) hath appointed and ordered their month (as the prophet speaks) or times of bringing forth
to be, when grown up to years of discretion. And besides instances out
of the apostles epistles, many passages in the Old and New Testament
evidence that thus it was even in those that lived in Zion, and were well
educated in the church of God, and yet needed regeneration, and were rege nerated when of years of discretion, or grown up.
In the Old Testament, David (Ps. li. 12) desires God restore to him
the joy of his salvation, that he might teach sinners God s ways (not hea
thens only, but sinners among whom he lived), and that they might be
converted unto him, ver. 13. And though men scoff to hear of converts
in the church, yet Isaiah tells us of converts in Sion, Isa. i. 27.
In the New Testament we have the example of Timothy, who though
brought up by good parents, and taught the faith by his grandmother and
mother (2 Tim. i. 5), and who, though he was one who knew the Scrip
tures from a child, yet for all this his conversion was afterwards by Paul s
ministry ; who therefore calls Timothy his own son (1 Tim. i. 2), not only
as nourished up by him in the words of truth (as 1 Tim. iv. 6), but as truly
begotten (in respect of regeneration), as ever any other was of whose con
version he was an instrument ; and therefore elsewhere also hestill calls
him his son, 2 Tim. i. 2, 1 Cor. iv. 17, upon the same account that he
calls Onesimus his son, Philem. 10, My son Onesimus : and he gives the
reason why he styles him so, whom I begat (says he) in my bonds. And accordingly elsewhere, he distinguisheth between spiritual fathers and
instructors in the same, 1 Cor. iv. 15, Though you have, says he that
* ten thousand instructors, yet not many
is, might be supposed to have
fathers, that is, that converted you ; none was an instrument thereof but
I : For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. And
(Acts xviii.) he shews he was the converter of those saints at Corinth ; and
as of them, so of Timothy, whom, in the very next words, he terms his son
(which always speaketh relation to a father), and he having thus, in the
words afore, distinguished between a father and an instructor, and having
styled himself a father to them, for his having begotten them, that he should
style Timothy his son, with the same breath, must necessarily be under
stood in one and the same sense. And when he says, 1 Cor.
iy. 17, for
this cause I have sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son ; |there was
something of an argument in it to move them to receive Timothy, as sent
them by him, being their natural brother, as it were, begotten by the same
hand they had been. So then Timothy, though a towardly child, and well
educated as any can be supposed to be, yet after he was come to years of
discretion, it was that he was converted. And truly the additions of that
word, begotten you through the gospel, God having appointed as then, so
now, the gospel, and that as preached, to be the ordinary standing means
(though not with exclusion of other means) for begetting men to Christ, as
88 THE WOKK OF THE HOLY GHOST [BOOK II.
well as building men up, argues God s secret ordination of those elect that
live to riper years ; and yet because a great part of his elect die when
young, he hath appointed baptism as a net for them (as he did circumci sion of old) and for the other that live, he hath reserved the word to catch them : Eom. x. 17, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word. That is the ordinance of God to that end, as it is also milk to nourish : 1 Pet. ii. 2, As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. It is seed to beget them, 1 Pet. i. 23, even the same word which is preached to them, ver. 25. And therefore one of the
first encomiums David gives the word (Ps. xix. 7) is this, The law of God
is perfect, converting the soul. And God appointed the tribe of Levi in the church of the Jews to this end, Mai. ii. 6. Though they had circum cision then, as we have baptism now, yet Levi was appointed to convert, and that many, which is the same speech that is spoken of John Baptist s
ministry, Luke i. 76, 77, &c, And now God hath ordained pastors and
teachers, as for the building up, so for the jointing in of the saints, that is, for the conversion of them, Eph. iv. 16.