" [Note 19] In regard to children, however, he with
equal propriety adds, that the blessings which baptism confers on them,
are bestowed irrespectively of any action of their own.
These sacraments, however, do not necessarily prove the existence of any
particular progress in the work of conversion, or any definite state of
mind, except, a general disposition to seek the Lord, which is implied
in the willingness to attend on these ordinances. They cannot therefore
be the condition of pardon or justification.
These influences, like those of the truth, may be resisted, and depend
for their success on the disposition of the recipient; they do not act
_ex opere operato_. The _special_ influence of the sacraments, so far as
known, is the same in kind_ as that of the truth.
_That the sacraments are not_ IMMMEDIATE _conditions of pardon or
justification_, is evident, from a multitude of considerations.
1. If the sincere reception of the sacraments actually secures pardon
or justification _per se, immediately_, without the intervening
instrumentality of a living faith, then faith is not the only condition
of justification as the scriptures teach, but we are justified either
by faith, or by the sacraments, and then there will be _three conditions
of justification_, faith, baptism, and the Lord's Supper! For thousands
receive the eucharist sincerely, who are unregenerate, and have not a
living faith.
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