spirit of candour and of love, spoke in terms of com- mendation respecting all, when in strictness of speech they should have made some particular exceptions. And, if we at this day were called to use the same language under the very same circumstances, it is probable that many would feel scruples respecting it, and especially, in thanking God for things, which, if pressed to the utmost meaning of the words, might not be strictly true. But surely, if the Apostles in a spirit of love and charity used such language, we may safely and properly do the same : and knowing in what mariner, and with what views, they spake, we need not hesitate to deliver ourselves with the same spirit, and in the same latitude, as they11.
In the Baptismal Service, we thank God for having regenerated the baptized infant by his Holy Spirit. Now from hence it appears that, in the opinion of our Reformers, regeneration and remission of sins did accompany baptism. But in what sense did they hold this sentiment ? Did they maintain that theie was no need for the seed then sown in the heart of the baptized person to grow up, and to bring forth fruit ; or that he could be saved in any other way than by a progressive renovation of his soul after the divine image ? Had they asserted or countenanced any such doctrine as that, it would have been impossible for any enlightened person to concur with them. But nothing can be conceived more repugnant to their sentiments than such an idea as this : so far from harbouring such a thought, they have, and that too in this very prayer, taught us to look unto God for that total change both of heart and life, which, long since their days, has begun to
n To guard against a misapprehension of his meaning, the author wishes these words to be distinctly noticed ; because they contain the whole drift of his argument. — He does not mean to say, that the Apostles ascribed salvation to the opus operatum, the outward act of baptism ; or, that they intended to assert distinctly the salvation of every individual who had been baptized ; but only that, in reference to these subjects, they did use a language very similar to that in our Liturgy, and that therefore our Reformers were justified, as we also are, in using the same.