speratus said: The WCF says "all". There is no exclusion in WCF for elect infants in the effectual calling by His Word and Spirit. What is effectual calling other than a regeneration?
You are confusing/intermixing two separate operations of the Holy Spirit; i.e., "regeneration" and "effectual calling". It would behoove you to do some more theological study of these terms. Regeneration is the creation of the new nature which has a new disposition toward God. This renewing of the soul effects the mind, emotions and will, thus enabling a once spiritually dead sinner to comprehend God and His truth. Effectual calling is that operation of the Holy Spirit whereby He "draws" or "woes" the regenerated sinner to Christ by means of conviction of sin and displaying the loveliness of Christ and the necessity to believe upon Him for justification and reconciliation with God. Although they occur relatively concurrently; temporally regeneration occurs prior to effectually calling from the very nature of what they accomplish, the are nonetheless unique operations of the Spirit.
But isn't the effectual call irresistable? All who receive the effectual call by Word and Spirit will be regenerated. Therefore, is not the Word the universal means whereby the elect are brought to regeneration?
John Owens, in "The Nature, Causes, and Means of Regeneration", describes the ordinary outward means for adults,
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That the word of God, thus dispensed by the ministry of the church, is the only ordinary outward means which the Holy Ghost maketh use of in the regeneration of the adult unto whom it is preached.
That squares with the WCF which states,
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Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth: so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.
So Elect infants are regenerated being called by the means of the Word but not the ministry of the Word.
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Baptism (which the WCF calls a sacrament) does confer grace to elect infants in His appointed time. What is grace other than a regeneration?
Again, you are confusing/intermixing terms. Grace is a very broad term which may be simply defined as God extending undeserved favor upon men. The term may even be sub-divided into two further categories; Salvific Grace and Common Grace. The former being extended to only those whom God has predestinated to salvation in Christ. The latter is that general benevolence of God whereby men are granted temporal favors, even physical life itself; i.e., the judgment that they deserve from the moment of conception is withheld during the time that the reprobate are allowed to live on earth. Regeneration was addressed above.
I'm a little confused here. If the WCF is referring to Common Grace or an even broader form of grace not Salvific Grace, why does the WCF say that the grace may be "offered, exhibited, and conferred" at a later time? What possible benefit would there be to the non-elect at a later time removed from the Baptism itself? Is Baptism ever a benefit to the non-elect?
