Ambrosiaster, on Eph. i. 14. "It is to the praise of the glory of God, when many are gained to the faith. Therefore it belongeth to God's glory that He called the Gentiles, that they might obtain the healing of their salvation, having the seal of redemption and future inheritance, the Holy Spirit given upon Baptism. For the redeemed are marked out as heirs, if they continue in regeneration, so that the first faith obtaineth pardon, but a holy conversation, enduring with faith, a crown." Rufinus inv. in S. Hieron, § 3. "Having been regenerated by the grace of Baptism, I obtained the seal of faith." We are the more directly reminded of the language of the Revelations, by the title "the sealed," which St. Basil gives to the baptized, de Spiritu S. c. 16. p. 34. And again, directly explaining Eph. iv. 30. "They then who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit to the day of redemption, and have kept that first fruit of the Spirit undefiled and undiminished, these are they who shall hear the words 'Well done! good and faithful,' &c.; and likewise they who have grieved the Holy Spirit by the wickedness of their doings, and did not obtain increase for that which was given them, shall be deprived of that which they received, the grace being transferred to others; and the 'cutting in twain,' (Mat. xxiv. 51.) means the entire alienation of the Spirit from the soul. For now, although He be not mingled with the unworthy, yet He seems to be present with those who have been once sealed, awaiting their salvation through their conversion; but then He shall be severed altogether from those who defiled His grace;" (in which words, it may be observed, that St. Basil explains the benefits of Baptism to those who neglect the gift therein bestowed, in the same way as St. Augustine, sup. p. 175; that is, as ready to be of avail to them, if they at length, really from the heart, obey God's call to turn and fear Him; while the final loss of that seal of Baptism is spoken of as equivalent to the utter alienation from God, which is the misery of the damned.) Theodotus, in Epit. Orient. Doctrinæ (ap. Gerhard Loci de S. Bapt. §111.) "He who hath come to God, and hath received power to tread on scorpions and serpents, and all the evil powers, having been sealed through the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is inaccessible to any power." And in this sense are comprehended all those several modifications which Bellarmine and Vazquez attribute to the use of this metaphor among the fathers, viz. that the Sacraments are marks whereby the faithful are noted; that they contain within themselves, and preserve, a sacred thing, i.e. grace; that Baptism is, in Tertulllan's usage, a public approval and attestation of faith. All these may be reduced into the one head, that the Sacrament of Baptism, where rightly received, impresses upon the soul the image of God; secures and perpetuates all previous good emotions worked in adults by God; and carries on to life
