Of Ele8ion. ~ l!Tues of Believers, lhould be accounted u·nregenerate , and fc, not •droit– BooK V. ted to Ordinances: But the Children of Beltevers Lawfully brgotten, lhould ~be counted not only Lq (itimate before God and Men, but alfo Holy, with Real Holinefs, and fa admitted to the Ordinances of Regeneration. Sure I am . that Holinefs then, imported a Priviledge which Jews Children had above •11 other Children, though the Iffue of lawful Marriage. And therefore to me it feems as certain, that the Holinefs here, mu!\ alfo as neceffarily import a Pri– viledge which Believers Cbtldreo have ( beGdes that of Legitimation ) which others the Children of Unbtlievers have not, though lawfully' begotten: And what this fhould be, other than this, to be e!\ecmed truly Holy indeed , through thelf Parents Cove!'lant, let all the World fhcw me. 1 In the third Place, l willingly grant, Both, 1, That when he calls the Children of a Believing Parent Holy, here, Ire intends to lhew, that they were lawful Children : But bow ! Not as thciole adequate meaning of that expreflion, but as included under it, as the leffer ufeth to be under the greater; or as the Foundation ot aa houfe is included in the TearmHo11je. And as if we iliould fay [an Heir] [the Prince) it imports a Child lawfully begotten, and includes and fuppofes the Son of a King. So when he here fays thry are hoh; his meaning is uot only, that they are l e– gitimate Children, as any others born in wedlock are : But further for their comfort, they are to be e!\eemed holyChildren; and therefore he would have them think much more that they were lawful : For Legitimation of Children by an E!\ateof wedlock, is underthe Gofpe! as necellary a rcquiftte to this Dignity of being accounted Holy, as the Ground-colour is to varnilb; And is fuch a Prt£rtqttijitum i11 Jitbjeelo; Even as to be lawfully begotten is a neceffa– ry fuppofttion in Law before a Child can inherit ; and in a Princes Son is the fundamental requiftte of his Dignity : So by the ordinance of God alfo, for to be lawfully begotten, is the toundation of this Priviledge of being accoun– ted Holy, and fo mu!i nece[arily be fuppofed. And fccondly l grant, that Ba!\ards are Unclean in the fenfe here meant, though not mainly intended to be fpoken of. For I conceive that Marriage is Gods Ordinance, fanltified by him to Believers alone,for to derive this blcl!lng: As was fa id out of M alachi. 2, I 5. He appointed it for a holy Snd: And therefore I grant, that Bafe Children though of Believers, come not to be partakers of this Priviledge, but are to be reckoned as Unbelievers are, name– ly, Unclean, and that that was the meaning of the Type. Not but that God may turn them, and make them holy, as he often does Unbelievers Seed, as haviog his Elect among them: Which when he doth, they are to be received , and accounted holy: As Veodatw .Augufit11WBafe begotten was convert<d, and Baptifed. But yet they inherit not this Privtledge by Birth ; neither be– caufe they are Children of fuch Parents are they fo to be accounted: But we are to.reckon them Unclean, untill actually converted, which they may be, as Jeptha was:which may turn to this Ufe to us,to be a motive again!\ Fornica– tion. Therefore,fecondly,Some late .Anabaptif/s do fay, that his meaning is , that as the Husband is fanltified to the Believing wife (that is , to her ufe) though he be in his l'erfon ftnful : So thefe Children are in like manner fanltifi– ed to their Parents, for their ufe and fervice. But how fond is this Opin:on alfo? For what a wide difference is there between thefe two Phrafes: To fay, one is fanCl:ified in , ard to another (that is, for fuch on ufe, which is the thing fpoken of the Unbelieving Husband; Even as 1 Tlm. 4, 5. every Crea– ture is faid to be ja11Clijied to a Brlievtr; that is, to his ufe; fo a<, his ufing them is holy in him, and to him) and to fay of the Children afterwards, not that they are fanaified in, orto their Parents, as being ro only in their rela– tion; but that they are hot;', who elfe would be Unclean ? Which being f•id ftmply of them , thty are holy, and being fpoken of Perfons, and that i·n a way of variation of the Phrafe from the tormer, cannot bur implie, that they are in their own Perfons to be accounted holy , not in, or to their Pa· rents fanCl:ified, bur in themfelves {imply holy, throt1gh the conveyance of Gods Covenant from the Parent to the Child. z. If
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