Chapter 55 [XXVIII.]—He Concludes that All Men Need the Death of Christ, that They May Be Saved. Unbaptized Infants Will Be Involved in the Condemnation of the Devil. How All Men Through Adam are Unto Condemnation; And Through Christ Unto Justification. No One is Reconciled with God, Except Through Christ.

In such circumstances, no man of those who have come to Christ by baptism has ever been regarded, according to sound faith and the true doctrine, as excepted from the grace of forgiveness of sins; nor has eternal life been ever thought possible to any man apart from His kingdom. For this [eternal life] is ready to be revealed at the last time,194    1 Pet. i. 5. that is, at the resurrection of the dead who are reserved not for that eternal death which is called “the second death,” but for the eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promises to His saints and faithful servants. Now none who shall partake of this life shall be made alive except in Christ, even as all die in Adam.195    1 Cor. xv. 22. For as none whatever, of all those who belong to the generation according to the will of the flesh, die except in Adam, in whom all sinned; so, out of these, none at all who are regenerated by the will of the Spirit are endowed with life except in Christ, in whom all are justified. Because as through one all to condemnation, so through One all to justification.196    Rom. v. 18. Nor is there any middle place for any man, and so a man can only be with the devil who is not with Christ. Accordingly, also the Lord Himself (wishing to remove from the hearts of wrong-believers197    Malè credentium. that vague and indefinite middle condition, which some would provide for unbaptized infants,—as if, by reason of their innocence, they were embraced in eternal life, but were not, because of their unbaptized state, with Christ in His kingdom) uttered that definitive sentence of His, which shuts their mouths: “He that is not with me is against me.”198    Matt. xii. 30. Take then the case of any infant you please: If he is already in Christ, why is he baptized? If, however, as the Truth has it, he is baptized just that he may be with Christ, it certainly follows that he who is not baptized is not with Christ; and because he is not “with” Christ, he is “against” Christ; for He has pronounced His own sentence, which is so explicit that we ought not, and indeed cannot, impair it or change it. And how can he be “against” Christ, if not owing to sin? for it cannot possibly be from his soul or his body, both of these being the creation of God. Now if it be owing to sin, what sin can be found at such an age, except the ancient and original sin? Of course that sinful flesh in which all are born to condemnation is one thing, and that Flesh which was made “after the likeness of sinful flesh,” whereby also all are freed from condemnation, is another thing. It is, however, by no means meant to be implied that all who are born in sinful flesh are themselves actually cleansed by that Flesh which is “like” sinful flesh; “for all men have not faith;”199    2 Thess. iii. 2. but that all who are born from the carnal union are born entirely of sinful flesh, whilst all who are born from the spiritual union are cleansed only by the Flesh which is in the likeness of sinful flesh. In other words, the former class are in Adam unto condemnation, the latter are in Christ unto justification. This is as if we should say, for example, that in such a city there is a certain midwife who delivers all; and in the same place there is an expert teacher who instructs all. By all, in the one case, only those who are born can possibly be understood; by all, in the other, only those who are taught: and it does not follow that all who are born also receive the instruction. But it is obvious to every one, that in the one case it is correctly said, “she delivers all,” since without her aid no one is born; and in the other, it is rightly said, “he teaches all,” since without his tutoring, no one learns.

CAPUT XXVIII.

55. Colligit omnes egere morte Christi, ut salventur. Parvuli non baptizati in damnatione erunt cum diabolo. Quomodo omnes per Adam ad condemnationem, et omnes per Christum ad justificationem. Nemo cum Deo reconciliatur nisi per Christum. Quae cum ita sint, neminem unquam eorum qui ad Christum accesserunt per Baptismum, sana fides et sana doctrina putavit exceptum a gratia remissionis peccatorum, nec esse posse alicui praeter regnum ejus, aeternam salutem. Haec enim parata est revelari in tempore novissimo (Id. I, 5), hoc est, in resurrectione mortuorum, pertinentium non ad mortem aeternam, quae secunda mors appellatur, sed ad vitam aeternam, quam promittit non mendax Deus sanctis et fidelibus suis; cujus vitae participes omnes non vivificabuntur nisi in Christo, sicut in Adam omnes moriuntur (I Cor. XV, 22). Quemadmodum enim omnes omnino pertinentes ad generationem voluntatis carnis non moriuntur, nisi in Adam in quo omnes peccaverunt: sic ex his omnes omnino pertinentes ad regenerationem voluntatis spiritus, non vivificantur nisi in Christo, in quo omnes justificantur. Quia sicut per unum omnes ad condemnationem, sic per unum omnes ad justificationem (Rom. V, 18). Nec est ullus ulli medius locus, ut possit esse nisi cum diabolo, qui non est cum Christo. Hinc et ipse Dominus volens auferre de cordibus male credentium istam nescio quam medietatem, quam conantur 0141 quidam parvulis non baptizatis tribuere, ut quasi merito innocentiae sint in vita aeterna, sed quia non sunt baptizati, non sint cum Christo in regno ejus, definitivam protulit ad haec ora obstruenda sententiam, ubi ait: Qui mecum non est, adversum me est (Matth. XII, 30). Constitue igitur quemlibet parvulum: si jam cum Christo est, utquid baptizatur? Si autem, quod habet veritas, ideo baptizatur, ut sit cum Christo, profecto non baptizatus non est cum Christo, et quia non est cum Christo, adversus Christum est; neque enim ejus tam manifestam debemus aut possumus infirmare vel immutare sententiam. Unde igitur adversus Christum, si non ex peccato ? neque enim ex corpore et anima, quae utraque Dei creatura est. Porro si ex peccato, quod in illa aetate, nisi originale et antiquum? Una est quippe caro peccati, in qua omnes ad damnationem nascuntur; et una est caro in similitudine carnis peccati, per quam omnes a damnatione liberantur. Nec ita dictum est omnes, velut quicumque nascuntur in carne peccati, iidem ipsi omnes mundari intelligantur per carnem similem carnis peccati; non enim omnium est fides (II Thess. III, 2): sed omnes pertinentes ad generationem connubii carnalis, non nascuntur nisi in carne peccati; et omnes pertinentes ad generationem connubii spiritualis, non mundantur nisi per carnem similem carnis peccati: hoc est, illi per Adam ad condemnationem, isti per Christum ad justificationem. Tanquam si dicamus, verbi gratia, Una est obstetrix in hac civitate, quae omnes excipit; et unus est hic litterarum magister, qui omnes docet: neque ibi intelligi possunt omnes, nisi qui nascuntur; neque hic omnes, nisi qui discunt: non tamen omnes qui nascuntur, litteras discunt. Sed cuivis claret, quod et illic recte dictum est, Omnes excipit, praeter cujus manus nemo nascitur; et hic recte dictum est, Omnes docet, praeter cujus magisterium nemo discit.