of the Gospel; in order to be saved, a man must not only believe the divine authority of the New Testament, but practise the duties it commands. He describes a dead Charity (g), and by it exemplifies a dead Faith: as that Charity is a mere pretence, which shews itself only in words of courtesy and compassion, without affording any real assistance to a suffering fellow-creature, so that Faith is dead and useless, which consists in a naked assent to the truth of Christianity, without the performance of those works which are enjoined by its Author. Not only the understanding is to be convinced, but the will and affections, the spring of human actions, are to be influenced and regulated (h). Suc.

(g) Jas. c. 2. v. 15 & 16.

(h) True Faith is itself an act of the will, and that it is so considered by our Church, will appear from the subsequent quotation from one of our Homilies. It is thus distinguished from the bare belief forced upon the mind by evidence. It is certain that the grounds and arguments for the truth of a proposition may be so strong that they cannot be resisted; but though the un-" derstanding is convinced, this conviction may have no influence upon the will and affections, and may effect no change in the principles or conduct of men. Who can doubt that many believe the truth of the Gospel, and yet live in conscious violation of its precepts?" The will, says Bishop Jeremy Taylor, must open the windows, or the light of Faith will not shine into the chamber of the soul." St. Paul himself acknowledges the possibility

Such was the doctrine inculcated by St. James on the Christians of his day.

Let us now apply this principle to the present times, in which baptism is generally administered to infants. It is plain that infants cannot have committed actual wickedness, and therefore they are justified from that sin only (i), in which "all men are conceived and born," and "are grafted into the church of Christ," with all the benefits of "adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost (k)." But though the infants themselves are incapable of belief, and of making any engagement by themselves, yet sureties are required to profess the Faith preached by the Apostles, in the name of the children, and to promise for them "obediently to keep God's holy will and com

mandments,

possibility of men's " sinning wilfully after they have received the knowledge of the truth," Heb. c. 10. v. 26; they may know their duty, and yet deliberately act in direct opposition to it. It is very important to consider true Faith as an act of the will, to take away the common Deistical argument against the sinfulness of unbelief. And in fact true Faith includes a desire of obedience, and a hope of benefit, as in the cases of the Ethiopian Eunuch and other persons who expressed a wish to be baptized. True Faith is an active, and bare belief a passive quality.

(i) "It is certain by God's word, that children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved." Public Baptism of Infants. (*) Form of Baptism.

mandments, and to walk in the same all the days of their life;" and the sureties are admonished that it is their" duty to see that the children are properly instructed and virtuously brought up to lead a godly and Christian life." We here find as strict an adherence to the practice of the Apostles, as the difference of circumstances will admit. The condition of Faith at the time of baptism, and the promise of future obedience to the laws of the Gospel, are distinctly required; and the children, when arrived at a proper age, are called upon by the highest order of Christian ministers, in the presence of God and of his church," to renew the solemn promise and vow made in their name at their baptism, ratifying and confirming the same in their own persons, and acknowledging themselves bound to believe and to do all those things which their god-fathers and god-mothers then undertook for them (1)," thus again establishing the necessity of Works, as well as of Faith, in the life of a Christian. That many persons duly baptized in their infancy, and confirmed in their youth, fall into wilful and habitual wickedness, even while they retain a belief of the general truth of the Gospel, is a fact which will not be disputed; and it will also be readily acknowledged, that such persons "although baptized and born again in Christ (m)," do not remain

(1) Office of Confirmation.

(m) Art. 15.

main in a state of Justification. How then is that state to be recovered? By repentance and Faith. They must feel "Godly sorrow which worketh repentance," and a lively Faith that their sins will be pardoned through the merits of Christ; and God will then be pleased for the sake of his Blessed Son, to accept their repentance and Faith, and they will become again justified from all their offences. But, as in the case of adult converts from Heathenism in the days of the Apostles, the state of Justification, thus recovered by penitent Christians, does not necessarily remain; its continuance depends upon their abstinence from those sins which are forbidden, and upon the practice of those virtues which are enjoined, in the Gospel. By the indulgence of any criminal passion, or by the neglect of any practicable duty, the state of Justification is forfeited, and the offender becomes again liable to the wrath of God. Repentance therefore and Faith, if sincere, will in all cases procure Justification; but obedience must be added, to preserve the state of Justification when obtained (n).

In the Form of "Baptism of such as are of riper

years,

(n) Neminem ex pacto Evangelico meritoriâ Jesu Christi sanguinis effusione impetrato ac sancito, remissionem peccatorum sive Justificationem, absque Fide et pœnitentia, comparare posse; absque Fidei vero et pœnitentiæ fructibus acceptam Justificationem custodire et conservare posse neminem. Bull. Apol. pro Harm. p. 10.

years, and able to answer for themselves," it is declared not only that "all men are conceived and born in sin,” but also that "they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but live in sin, committing many actual transgressions;" these adults are not required to perform any good works previous to baptism, but simply to profess their Faith in the Blessed Trinity, and to promise future obedience to God's holy will and commandments: they are then baptized, and by this spiritual regeneration they receive remission of all their former sins, both original and actual. Here is an exact comformity to the practice of the primitive Christians. But though an adult, when baptized, may have a firm belief in the truth of Christianity, and a real intention to obey its laws; yet, from the corruption of his nature, and the enticements to sin, he may afterwards not lead a life agreeable to the precepts of the Gospel; he may "for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away (o).” And in that case his Faith, though at first it might deserve to be called a truc Faith, afterwards loses that character; and if he dies while he continues an impenitent sinner, he will not be saved, although he once had Justification in this world (p). Having failed to fulfil the con

(o) Luke, c. 8. v. 13.

ditions

(p) "Justification may be granted, and accepted, and take place for a time, and yet may cease afterwards both

totally