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According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. i. 2). The goodness and love of God the Father towards mankind is the source of man's redemption. From all eternity He saw man's fall; and from all eternity He devised the means of man's recovery. He appointed His Son to be our representative; and He accepted Him on our behalf. In this way the Father is
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by giving and accepting One Who could save us. The Father
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Thus the Father and the Son co-operate to effect man's salvation, and each in a very real and proper sense is called
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But it is not in man's own power to accept the salvation thus wrought for him and offered to him. For power to do this he needs Divine assistance; which, however, is abundantly granted to him. By means of the outward laver of baptism the inward regeneration and renewal by the Spirit is granted to him through the merits of Christ; and then the work of his salvation on the Divine side is complete. Through the infinite mercy of the Blessed Trinity, and not through his own merits, the baptized Christian is in a state of salvation, and is become an heir of eternal life. It remains to be seen whether the Christian, thus richly endowed, will continue in this blessed state, and go on, by the daily renewal of the Holy Spirit, from grace to grace; or will through his own weakness and wilfulness, fall away. But, so far as God's share in the transaction is concerned, his salvation is secured; so that, as the Church of England affirms in the note added to the service for the Public Baptism of Infants:
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It is certain by God's Word, that children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved. And the several parts which the Persons of the Blessed Trinity take in the work of salvation are clearly indicated in one of the prayers before the baptismal act, as in the present passage by St. Paul. Prayer is offered to the
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that He will