"Baptism seals to us the salvation obtained by Christ."
Benjamin Charles Milner, Jr., Calvin's Doctrine of the Church, Leiden: E.
J. Brill, 1970, p. 116. Comm. Titus 3:5.
"But the sacraments properly fulfill their office only when the Spirit,
that inward teacher, comes to them, by whose power alone hearts are penetrated
and affections moved and our souls opened for the sacraments to enter in. If
the Spirit be lacking, the sacraments can accomplish nothing more in our minds
than the splendor of the sun shining upon blind eyes, or a voice sounding in
deaf ears."
Benjamin Charles Milner, Jr., Calvin's Doctrine of the Church,
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1970, p. 119. Insti. IV.xiv.9
"The nature of baptism or the Supper must not be tied down to an instant
of time. God, whenever He sees fit, fulfills and exhibits in immediate effect
that which he figures in the sacrament. But no necessity must be imagined so as
to prevent His grace from sometimes preceding, sometimes following, the use of
the sign."
Benjamin Charles Milner, Jr., Calvin's Doctrine of the Church,
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1970, p. 121. Against Joachim Westphal
"The offspring of believers are born holy, because their children, while
yet in the womb, before they breathe the vital air, have been adopted into the
covenant of eternal life."
Benjamin Charles Milner, Jr., Calvin's Doctrine of the Church,
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1970, p. 123. True Method of Reforming the Church
"We must establish such a presence of Christ in the supper as may neither
fasten Him to the element of bread, not enclose Him in bread, not circumscribe
Him in any way (all of which clearly derogate from His heavenly
glory)...."
Benjamin Charles Milner, Jr., Calvin's Doctrine of the Church,
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1970, p. 128. Insti.IV.xvii.19.
