covenant between the Father and the Son. Now the only perfons interested in the everlasting covenant of grace, are the chofen of God and precious; whom he has loved with an everlasting love; gave to his Son to be redeemed by his blood; for whom provifion is made in the fame covenant for the fanctification of their nature, for the juftification of their perfons, for the pardon of their fins, for their perfeverance in grace, and for their eternal glory and happiness: So that all that are in that covenant are chofen to grace here, and glory hereafter, and shall certainly enjoy both: they are all fecured in the hands of Chrift, and are redeemed from fin, law, hell,, and death, by his precious blood; and fhall be faved in him with an everlasting falvation; they have all of them the laws of God put into their minds, and written on their hearts; they have new hearts and new fpirits given them, and the ftony heart taken away from them; they have the righteoufnefs of Chrift imputed to them; they have their fins forgiven them for his fake, and which will be remembered no more; they have the fear of God putinto their hearts, and fhall never finally and totally depart from him; but, being called and juftified, fhall be glorified". Now if this covenant was made with all Abraham's natural feed, and comprehends all of them, then they must be all chofen of God; whereas there was only a remnant among them, according to the election of grace: they must be all given to Chrift, and fecured in his hands; whereas there were fome of them, that were not of his sheep, given him by his Father, and fo did not believe in him'; they must be all redeemed by his blood; whereas he laid down his life for his fheep, his friends, his church, which all of Abraham's feed could never be faid to be: In a word, they must be all regenerated and fanctified, juftified and pardoned; must all have the grace of God, and perfevere in it to the end, and be all eternally faved; and the fame must be faid of all the natural feed of believing Gentiles, if they alfo are all of them in the covenant of grace. But what man, in his fenfes, will affirm these things? And, upon fuch a principle, how will the doctrines of perfonal election, particular redemption, regeneration by efficacious grace, not by blood or the will of man, and the faints final perfeverance, be established? This Gentleman, whofe pamphlet is before me, is faid to have written with fome fuccefs against the Arminians; but fure I am, that no man can write with fuccefs against them, and without contradiction to himself, that has imbibed fuch a notion of the covenant of grace, as this I am militating against. 2dly, The other part of the question is, whether the covenant made with Abraham, fo far as it was a covenant of grace, was made with all the natural feed Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. and xxxli, 40. Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27. Rom. viii. 30. feed of believing Gentiles? which also must be answered in the negative: For, 1. It will be allowed, that this covenant refpects Abraham's fpiritual feed among the Gentiles; even all true believers, all fuch that walk in the steps of his faith; for he is the Father of all them that believe, whether circumcifed or uncircumcifed, Jews or Gentiles; but not the natural feed of believing Gentiles. They, indeed, that are of the faith of Abraham, are his children in a fpiritual fenfe, and they are bleffed with him with fpiritual bleffings, and are fuch, as Christ has redeemed by his blood; and they believe in him, and the bleffing of Abraham comes upon them: But then this fpiritual feed of Abraham is the fame with the spiritual feed of Chrift, with whom the covenant was made from everlasting, and to them only does it belong; and to none can fpiritual bleffings belong, but to a fpiritual feed, not a natural one. Let it be proved, if it can, that all the natural feed of believing Gentiles, are the fpiritual feed of Abraham, and then they will be admitted to have a claim to this covenant. But, though it appears, that believing Gentiles are in this covenant, what claufe is there in it, that refpects their natural feed, as fuch? Let it be shown, if it can; by what right and authority, can any believing Gentile pretend to put his natural feed into Abraham's covenant? The covenant made with him, as to the temporal part of it, belonged to him, and his natural feed; and with respect to its spiritual part, only to his fpiritual feed, whether Jews or Gentiles; and not to the natural feed of either of them, as fuch. 2. The covenant made with Abraham, and his fpiritual feed, takes in many of the feed of unbelieving Gentiles; who being called by grace, and openly believing Chrift, are Abraham's fpiritual feed, with whom the covenant was made: That there are many among the Gentiles born of unbelieving parents, who become true believers in Chrift, and fo appear to be in the covenant of grace, muft be allowed; fince many are received as fuch into the communion of the Pædobaptifts, as well as others; and, on the other hand, there are many born of believing Gentiles, who do not believe in Chrift, are not partakers of his grace, on whom the fpiritual bleffings of Abraham do not come; and fo not in his covenant. Wherefore, by what authority do men put in the infant feed of believing Gentiles, as fuch, into the covenant, and reftrain it to them, and leave out the feed of unbelieving Gentiles; when, on the contrary, God oftentimes takes the one, and leaves the other? 3. That all the natural feed of believing Gentiles cannot be included in the covenant of grace, is manifeft, from the reafon above given, against all the natural seed of Abraham being in it; fhewing, that all that are in it are the elect of 1 Rom. iv. 11, 12, 15. of God, the redeemed of Chrift, are effectually called by grace, persevere to the end, and are eternally faved; all which cannot be said of all the natural feed of believing Gentiles: And if all the natural feed of Abraham are not in this covenant made with him, as it was a covenant of grace, it can hardly be thought that all the natural feed of believing Gentiles fhould. 4. Seeing it is fo clear a cafe, that fome of the feed of unbelieving Gentiles are in this covenant, and fome of the feed of believing Gentiles are not in it, and that it cannot be known who are, until they believe in Chrift, and fo appear to be Abraham's fpiritual feed; it must be right to put off their claim to any privilege fuppofed to arife from covenant intereft, until it appear that they have one. 5. After all, covenant intereft gives no right to any ordinance, without a pofitive order and direction from God. So, for instance, with respect to circumcifion; on the one hand, there were fome perfons living at the time that ordinance was inftituted, who undoubtedly had an intereft in the covenant of grace, as Shem, Arphaxad, Lot, and others, on whom that was not injoined, and who had no right to use it; and, on the other hand, there have been many that were not in the covenant of grace, who were obliged to it: And fo with respect to baptifin, it is not covenant intereft that gives a right to it; if it could be proved, as it cannot, that all the infant feed of believers, as fuch, are in the covenant of grace, it would give them no right to baptifm, without a pofitive command for it; the reafon is, because a perfon may be in covenant, and as yet not have the prerequifite to an ordinance, even faith in Christ, and a profeffion of it; which are necessary to baptifm and the Lord's Supper. This leads me on, of Thirdly, To another inquiry, whether circumcifion was a feal of the covenant grace to Abraham's natural feed; the writer, whose performance I am confidering, affirms, that it was by God's exprefs command to be fealed to infants; and that circumcifion is the feal of it, p. 10, 16. But this must be denied: circumcifion was no feal of the covenant of grace; for, 1. If it was, the covenant of grace, before that took place, must be without a feal; the covenant fubfifted from everlasting, and the revelation of it was quickly made after the fall of Adam; and there were manifestations of it to particular persons, as Noah, and others, before this to Abraham, and no circumcision injoined Wherefore, from Adam to Abraham, according to this notion, the covenant must be without a feal; nay, there were fome perfons living at the time it was inftituted, who were in the covenant, yet this was not injoined them; as it would, if this had been designed as a seal of it. 2. Circumcifion 2. Circumcifion, in the inftitution of it, is called a fign, but not a feal; it is faid to be a Oth, a Token, or Sign'; but not on Chothem, a Seal; it was a fign or mark in the flesh, which Abraham's natural feed were to bear, until the promises made in this covenant were accomplished; it was a typical fign of the pollution of human nature, propagated by natural generation, and of cleansing from it by the blood of Christ, and of the inward circumcifion of the heart; but did not feal or confirm any fpiritual bleffing of the covenant, to thofe on whom this mark or fign was fet; it is never called a feal throughout the whole Old Teftament; and fo far is there from being any exprefs command, that the covenant of grace should be fealed to infants by it, that there is not the least hint of it given.. 3. It is indeed in the New Teftament called a feal of the righteousness of faith'; but it is not faid to be a feal of the covenant of grace, nor a feal to infants: it was not a feal to Abraham's natural feed; it was only fo to himself. The plain meaning of the apoftle is, that circumcifion was a feal to Abraham, and affured him of, or confirmed his faith in this, that he should be the father of many nations, in a spiritual. fenfe; and that the righteousness of faith which he had, when he was an uncircumcifed perfon, fhould alfo come upon, and be imputed unto the uncircumcifed Gentiles and accordingly, this mark and fign conti-nued until the gospel, declaring juftification by the righteousness of Chrift, was preached, or ordered to be preached to the Gentiles; and could it be thought. that circumcifion was a feal to others befides him, it could at most be only a feal to them that had both faith, and righteoufnefs, and not to them that had neither.. 4. If it was a feal of the covenant of grace to Abraham's natural feed, it must be either to fome or all; if only to fome, it fhould be pointed out who they are; and if to all, then it must be sealed, that is, confirmed, and an intereft in it affured of, to a mocking Ishmael; to a profane Efau; to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,. and their accomplices, whom the earth fwallowed up alive;, to Achitophel, that hanged himself; to Judas, that betrayed our Lord; and to all the Jews concerned in his crucifixion and death; fince there is reafon to believe they were all circumcifed. But, 5. The covenant made with Abraham, fo far as it was a covenant of grace, was' not made, as we have feen, with all Abraham's natural feed; and therefore cir cumcifion could not be a feal of it to them. I pafs on, Fourthly, To another inquiry, whether baptifm fucceeded circumcifion, and so became a feal of the covenant of grace to believers, and their natural seed ? This must be anfwered in the negative; for, 1. There 1. There is no agreement between them, in the subjects to whom they are adminiftered; circumcifion was adminiftered to Jews only, or fuch as became profelytes; baptifm both to Jews and Gentiles, without any diftinction, that believe in Chrift; circumcifion was adminiftered to infants, baptifm only to adult perfons; circumcifion belonged only to the males, baptifm to male and female: Seeing then the fubjects of the one and the other are fo different, the one cannot be thought to fucceed the other. 2. The ufe of the one and the other is not the fame; the ufe of circumcifion was to distinguish the natural feed of Abraham from others, until Christ was come in the flesh; the ufe of baptifin is to be a diftinguishing badge of the fpiritual feed of Chrift, fuch as have believed in him, and put him on; the ufe of circumcifion was to fignify the corruption of human nature, the neceffity of regeneration, of the circumcifion without hands, and of cleaning by the blood of Chrift; the ufe of baptifm is to anfwer a good confcience towards God, to reprefent the fufferings, burial, and refurrection of Chrift, and prerequires repentance and faith. 3. The manner of adminiftering the one and the other is very different; the one is by blood, the other by water; the one by an incifion made in one part of the body, the other by an immerfion of the whole body in water; the one was done in a private houfe, and by a private hand; the other, for the most part, publicly, in open places, in rivers, and before multitudes of people, and by a perfon in public office, a public minifter of the word. Now, ordinances fo much differing in their subjects, use, and manner of administration, the one can never be thought to come in the room and place of the other. But, 4. What puts it out of all doubt, that baptifin can never be faid to fucceed circumcifion is, that baptifm was in force and ufe before circumcifion was abolifhed, and its practice difcontinued, or ought to be difcontinued. Circumcifion was not abolished till the death of Chrift, when, with other ceremonies of the law, it was made null and void; but, unto that time, it was the duty of Jewish parents to circumcife their infants; whereas fome years before this, John came preaching the doctrine of baptifm, and adminiftered it to multitudes; our Lord himself was baptized, three or four years, according to the common. computation, before his death; now that which is in force before another is out of date, can never, with any propriety, be faid to fucceed or come in the room of that other. 5. It has been proved already, that circumcifion was no feal of the covenant of grace to Abraham's natural feed; and therefore, could it be proved, as it casnot, that baptifm fucceeds it, it would not follow that baptifm is a feal of the covenant of grace; there are many perfons who have been baptized, and yet |