Thirdly, he deals fruitlessly with the Regulative Principle. Quoting the confession does not help because the confession on the Regulative Principle does not teach that you need a positive sanction in the New Testament to form a doctrine. This is true for both the 1689 Baptist Confession as well as the Westminster Confession of Faith. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith says, “The light of nature shews that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.” Malone quotes this himself. The italicized words, though do not discount good and necessary inference. Not at all. Whether it is prescribed by picking at the mind of God, or by the clear attestation of “Thou shalt not…” then it is still the will of God. I am personally surprised that Malone overrides his own Confession in this regard. There is really no need to say any more than this, where Malone takes this to extreme. He cuts off his own foot with his own Confession. Where does Malone find a positive, clear, explicit statement of believer’s baptism that says, “when a profession of faith is made by the regenerate disciple of Christ, after proving himself, he may be baptized in water by immersion?” Malone needs to concede that Credobaptism is built by an inductive collection of texts.
Very interesting how Fred walks all over himself on this one.
