Page:Tracts for the Times Vol 2.djvu/319

Rh author) : the like arguments, and the like solutions of the texts opposed : the same statements that the value of Baptism consisted in its being a sign of a previous covenant, or promise , or rather the transfer of its benefits to a previous election : the reference to Abraham and to Rom. iv. and to the promise, "and to thy seed ," as the groundwork and substance of the Sacrament of Christ, and our rule for understanding it: the identifying of Baptism and Circumcision , (as of the Paschal lamb with the Supper): the same assertion, that regeneration precedes Baptism; that infants of Christian parents are holy before Baptism; that the word of consecration is an instrument of teaching only; the same comparison of the Sacraments with the written word : the same language against tying or binding God's grace to the Sacraments , or inclosing it within them: the same dread of their value being exaggerated , or any mystical virtue being contained in them , or their washing away sin : the same view of them, as only representing spiritual things