the Spirit will not baptize thee. Thou art come to a great examination, and enlisting, in this single hour; which if thou losest, the evil is irreparable, but if thou art thought worthy of the grace, thy soul is enlightened; thou receivest a power which thou hadst not; thou receivest weapons at which the demons tremble; and if thou castest not away thy armour, but keepest the seal upon thy soul, the demon approacheth not; for he is afraid: for by the Spirit of God are devils cast out." It may be that St. Cyril may have meant, as is said also of all impairing of baptismal purity, that it cannot be wholly repaired, since there is no second Baptism, as he says,[1] "The bath cannot be received twice or thrice; else might a man say, 'though I fail once, I shall succeed a second time:' but if thou failest the 'once,' it cannot be repaired. For 'there is one Lord, and one faith, and one Baptism.'" The question is very awful, as, what is not, which concerns our souls? It may suffice to have said thus much upon it, if by any means persons might see that subjects of which they speak lightly, are indeed very fearful.
V. There is however one more general dread, independent of Scripture or Scriptural authority, that already adverted to in the outset[2], lest, namely, the effect of preaching the doctrine of "Baptismal regeneration" should be to produce a carnal security, deaden the souls of men, make them rely upon outward privileges, and lull the unquietness, which is still a sign and a hope of life in the drowsy conscience. Hence some members of our own Church have ventured to term this her doctrine cold and lifeless: and it has been thought by a Dissenter, (otherwise mild and gentle) sufficient to excuse in our eyes the arrogant invasion of God's office in one who, setting himself in Christ's stead, has pronounced on this portion of His Church, that "she destroys more souls than she saves," as the mere exclamation of piety, honesty, and warm heartedness[3]!
