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Originally Posted by onemaster Quote: |
The Confessions do not teach that, for the Elect, regeneration is annexed to Baptism.
| Wouldn't it have been a lot easier to just say that then? It says no such thing. Rather, the wording implies the opposite when it says that grace and salvation are not inseparably annex unto baptism. Annexed unto--yes; Inseparably annexed unto--no. In other words, God has appointed baptism as his ordinary instrument of initial regeneration, but he himself is not tied to it but free to work how and when he pleases. |
You have this exactly backwards. The not tying of grace to baptism is to allow for the Biblical view that grace can come apart from baptism, not that baptism can bring some kind of grace that is not for the elect. That is the whole point of the phrase:
"to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto"
The grace that is
"offered, really exhibited, and conferred" is only for the elect, namely, those to whom that grace belongs.
I'm really tired of folks trying to mix magic in with the water, and then claiming to be the ones who are
really Reformed or Westminsterian. Rev. Winzer's post above hits the nail on the head solidly.
I would suggest that the "observers" in this thread look at that, and ignore OneMaster's typical sacramentalistic gymnastics.