Here is an in-depth study module covering both the historical debate between Benjamin Keach and Richard Baxter and the exegetical analysis of Colossians 2:11–12.

Part I: Historical Polemic — Benjamin Keach vs. Richard Baxter

The debate between Particular Baptist pastor Benjamin Keach (1640–1704) and Puritan Presbyterian/Peditbaptist minister Richard Baxter (1615–1691) represents one of the most intense, foundational theological clashes over baptism and covenant theology in 17th-century England.

                  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
                  │          The Covenant With Abraham      │
                  └────────────────────┬────────────────────┘
                                       │
            ┌──────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┐
            ▼                                                     ▼
┌───────────────────────┐                             ┌───────────────────────┐
│     Baxter's View     │                             │     Keach's View      │
│  (One Continuous Cov) │                             │   (Dual / Typological)│
├───────────────────────┤                             ├───────────────────────┤
│ • Physical & Spiritual│                             │ • Physical = Israel   │
│   Seed Blended        │                             │ • Spiritual = Christ  │
│ • Infants included in │                             │ • Baptism = Sign for  │
│   covenant sign       │                             │   Spiritual Seed only │
└───────────────────────┘                             └───────────────────────┘

1. The Context of the Debate

During the late 17th century, English Baptists were asserting their identity through public disputations and polemical pamphlets. Richard Baxter was a towering Puritan intellectual, but he fiercely opposed Credobaptism, believing it disrupted family covenant solidarity and undermined the unity of God’s redemptive plan. Keach emerged as the primary Baptist defender of the 1689 Confession, publishing direct refutations of Baxter's arguments.

• Primary Texts:
  • Richard Baxter: More Proofs of Infants Church-Membership and Right to Baptism (1675).
  • Benjamin Keach: The Ax Laid to the Root (1693) and Gold Refined; or, Baptism in its Primitive Purity (1689).

2. Core Theological Points of Conflict

A. The Continuity of the Abrahamic Covenant

• Baxter’s Argument (Paedobaptist Lineage): Baxter argued that God established a singular, continuous "Covenant of Grace" with Abraham that included both believers and their infant offspring. Since infants received the sign of membership (circumcision) under the Old Administration, and since Christ nowhere explicitly revoked child membership, infants retain a covenant right to the New Covenant sign (baptism).

• Keach’s Counter-Argument (1689 Federalism): Keach argued that the Abrahamic Covenant was a dual/mixed covenant containing two distinct seeds:

  1. A physical seed (national Israel) inheriting national promises (the land of Canaan), sealed by physical circumcision.
  2. A spiritual seed (those in Christ, Gal 3:16, 29) inheriting spiritual promises (eternal life), sealed by the Holy Spirit and signified by baptism.

  Keach maintained that baptism is not the direct legal replacement of circumcision, but rather the sign of the fulfillment of what circumcision typified (inward, spiritual heart circumcision).

B. Infant Church Membership vs. Regenerate Church Membership

• Baxter: Denying baptism to infants deprives them of the visible privileges of Christ’s kingdom, reducing the visible scope of grace in the New Testament compared to the Old.
• Keach: The New Covenant is inherently superior and spiritual (Jer. 31:31–34; Heb. 8:6). Entry into the New Covenant visible church requires faith. Giving the sign to an unregenerate infant pollutes the purity of the local church and gives the child false assurance.

3. Historical Legacy & Takeaway

Keach’s polemic against Baxter successfully established that Reformed Baptists do not "reject" the Covenant of Grace; rather, they argue that the New Covenant is the Covenant of Grace fully revealedis, made exclusively with Christ and those united to Him by faith.

Part II: Exegetical Deep-Dive — Colossians 2:11–12

Colossians 2:11–12 is arguably the most contested passage in the debate over baptism. Paedobaptists treat it as the "proof-text" for equating circumcision and baptism, while Credobaptists regard it as a clear demonstration of spiritual regeneration preceding the sign.

1. The Passage (NA28 / ESV)

Colossians 2:11–12 (ESV):"In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead."