Again, as regeneration does not destroy but merely restrains the natural
depravity, or innate, sinful dispositions of the Christian, (for these
still remain in him after conversion,) it must consist mainly in a
change, of that _increased predisposition to sin arising from action, of
that preponderance of _sinful habits_ formed by voluntary indulgence of
our natural depravity, after we have reached years of moral agency. But
infants have no such _increased_ predisposition, no _habits_ of sin
prior to moral agency, consequently there can be no change of them, no
regeneration in this meaning of the term. Hence, if baptism even did
effect regeneration in adults, which we have proved not to be the case;
still it could have no such influence on infants, as they are _naturally
incapable_ of the mental exercises involved in it. The child, on its
first attainment of moral agency, has merely natural depravity, until by
voluntary indulgence in sin, it contracts personal guilt, and forms
habits of sinful action. If the child, by the grace of God and proper
religious instruction, continues to resist the solicitations of its
depraved nature, its continued obedience will form holy habits, and this
preponderance of holy habits, when established, constitutes its
regeneration. If the growing child, as its powers of moral agency are
developed, for any reason indulges its innate sinful propensities, it
becomes a confirmed sinner, and its subsequent regeneration, if it take
place, will be the more striking, as its change of habits must be
greater.
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