وو say, will a full assurance of one's own salvation, be productive of these joyful and transforming effects. Hence the first book which recommends this appropriating faith, without evidence, and contrary to truth, is entitled "The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. And it may be asked, must not being called out of the darkness of an overwhelming apprehension of destruction from the wrath of the Almighty; into the marvellous light of a full belief that one is a dearly beloved child of God, a vessel of mercy, and an heir of glory, be enough to melt the | hardest frozen heart, to fill the distressed, desponding soul, with peace and joy unspeakable; and to transform the most ungodly, abandoned sinner, into an obedient, dutiful saint? 66 of life, with man is very possible. In this there can be no great mystery; and certainly, no great sanctification. What looks the most like godliness or virtue, of any thing in such conversions, is a sense of gratitude, or a return of love for love. But even this is natural to man, and no more than what we often see in some of the worst of men. Accordingly, our Saviour says, "If ye love them that love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same?" And says the apostle to the Corinthians, though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and tho' I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." All men have self love enough; and no actions which proceed merely from We answer; Undoubtedly, this source, however much such an imagination, while they may promote the good of warm and lively, may make a others, or do honor to God and surprising alteration in the feel-religion, can be worthy of any ings, and looks, and language of reward or praise. This is evialmost any person; and possi-dently agreeable to common bly, in some instances, may cause sense, or to the unbiassed feela lasting reformation of life.-ings of every man's conscience, But whatever wonderful effects as well as to the express declarmay thus be produced on the ations of scripture. To have carnal mind, which is enmity our hearts overflowing, full of against God, these cannot be the love to God and our Redeemer, fruits of righteousness. There merely from an apprehension of can be nothing in them of the their wonderful and distinguishnature of true holiness; nor ing love to us, or even to our any thing necessarily connected race, can be no evidence, therewith salvation. We read of fore, of a saving change from men's having strong delusions sin to holiness. Nor can even sent them, that they should be- denying ungodliness and worldlieve a lie; but to what end? ly lusts, and living soberly, It was that they might be dam-righteously and godly, in this ned: not that they might be saved. To make the unregenerate believe that their sins are forgiven, that they are beloved of God, and heirs of the grace present world, when it is only from this belief, and from an expectation of a glorious recompense of reward. But we may be told by the of man, but of God." And to the same purpose, see I Cor. ii. 14. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God; neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." Eph. iv. 18,"Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart."— And Eph. v. 14, "Wherefore advocates of the appropriating will of the flesh, nor of the will faith, or of the simple belief, that some of our own doctrines, and representations of a saving conversion, are no less liable than theirs to this objection. They may tell us that many of our approved preachers hold and teach that regeneration is no other than active conversion; and is effected by light, or by moral suasion: That in our standard of Calvinistic orthodoxy, which we all teach our children, repentance unto life, stands after saving faith; and is supposed to be owing to an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ: and that in our most popular sermons, psalms and bymus, such are the common de-scriptions given of a sinner's passing from death to life. It may be asked, Do not the forementioned doctrines, and similar representations, evidently imply, that faith in the mercy of God and love of Christ, is the cause of all the change of heart, which a sinner needs, and that this faith must be from an immediate divine discovery, without any evidence from scripture, or sense, or reason? Be it so, we answer; "To the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them." That regeneration is not the same as active conversion; that the soul, dead in sin, has no voluntary agency in it, and that it is not effected by light, by moral suasion, or by any power of man or means, see John i. 13. where, speaking of Christ, and of as many as received him, the evangelist says, "Which were born not of blood, nor of the he saith, Awake thou that sleepest. and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee "light." A man must be awake, or at least alive, before light can be given him. And since the un regenerate are not merely asleep, but dead in sin, their recovery to the light of life, must be a supernatural work of God. Since also the darkening of the understanding, and all the peculiar ignorance in them, is owing to the blindness of their heart, this supernatural operation must be here, and not in the understanding, that they may be restored to a spiritual discernment of divine things. They need no enlargement or brightening of the intellectual powers; nor any additional objective light, by new revelations. All they want, is being renewed in the spirit of their mind; or having a taste given them to receive the truth in love already revealed. Those who maintain that regeneration is the effect of an enlightening of the understanding of a natural man, must therefore evidently be out of the way. And that saving faith, instead of being necessary before, can never be till after true repent ance, appears to me very evi-, has been brought to true re dentfrom scripture, pentance, we have several arguments to offer. 1. That this is the natural 2. That sinners must repent, before they can truly believe in Christ, or cordially embrace the gospel, seems evident from what we read concerning the mission and ministry of John the Baptist, the harbinger of the Messiah. Our former divines, for a considerable time, seem to have thought it impossible that sin- and necessary order of these exners should be brought to evan-ercises of grace, may be pregelical repentance any other sumed, because they are thus way than by leading them to mentioned, and never otherlay hold upon the gospel hope. wise, in the holy scriptures.— And that it is impossible with To the people of Galilee, "Remen, to make themselves to be pent ye, and believe the gosreligious by any other means, pel," we are told, our Saviour we readily admit. But why it himself preached. And the should be thought incredible, great apostle of the Gentiles, that making them truly so, giving a narrative of his missome other way, may be one sionary labors in Asia, tells of of the all things which are pos- his publicly and from house to sible with God, we do not rea- house, " Testifying both to the dily conceive. He can create Jews and also to the Greeks, them anew after his own like- repentance toward God, and ness immediately, in righteous-faith toward our Lord Jesus ness and true holiness, as he Christ." originally made man upright. He can take the stony heart out of the most hardened sinners, and give them an heart of flesh, as he promised in the case of his ancient impenitent people. This certainly does not exceed his power; nor is it inconsistent with his moral perfections, like making a lie a truth. And when any are thus made new creatures, when they have once a feeling, broken, contrite heart in them, they will readily mourn for their past iniquities, and turn from them, with a sincere purpose of future obedience, whether they believe that God loves them, and has forgiven all their transgressions, or ever will forgive them, or not. Thus true repentance may possibly be, without the appropriating faith, calling each promise mine, and without antecedent saving faith. But on the other hand, that a sinner cannot believe to the saving of the soul, till after he This is he of whom it was written in one of the prophets, as the promise of God the Father to the Son; "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way be. fore thee." Of this same John, it was predicted by the angel Gabriel, previously to his conception; "He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, &c. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." And how did he accomplish this design of his wisdom? The shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." But thus, the impenitent evangellist Matthew tells us; "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Re-workers or lovers of iniquity, do pent ye; for the kingdom of not sincerely wish to be saved. heaven is at hand." We are al- This appellation we also find apso told "of his baptizing with plied to him, and his saving dethe baptism of repentance, say- sign thus represented by the aing unto the people, that they postle to Titus; "Our Saviour should believe on him who Jesus Christ, who gave himself would come after him, that is, for us, that he might redeem us on Christ Jesus." from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." But impenitent sinners, whose hearts are fully set in them to do evil, can never be cordially willing to have such a Saviour, to be so redeemed and purified, or to be such a peculiar people. "To you that believe," says the apostle Peter, "he is precious :" but precious he cannot be to the impenitent who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 3. That true repentance must be before saving faith, is further evident, from what we are taught concerning the import and end of these respective, neéessary exercises of grace. Until sinners have repentance given them, to the acknowledg Saving faith implies a perception of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, or in the salvation of men through his mediation, obedience and death. True repentance implies, a consent unto the original law requiring sinless perfections; that it is right and fit, infinitely important and necessary to being of the truth, they cannot kept in force upon those who are not subject to it neither can be. But until this law is thus consented to, the glory of the gospel cannot be seen. For this plain reason; because there could have been no glory, no wisdom nor grace, in the gospel way of saving sinners, if the law by which they were condemned, had not been just and good, excellent and glorious; infinitely worthy of being thus wonderfully supported, magnified and made honorable. Saving faith implies a cordial reception of Christ, in each of his mediatorial offices; but he cannot be so received by an impenitent sinner. It was the direction given by an angel, to his reputed father Joseph, "Thou receive Christ as their prophet, to teach and instruct them; because they love darkness, rather than light. They cannot thus receive him as their priest, to obtain pardon and peace for them with God, by his atonement and intercession; because they are ever going about, or wishing at least, to establish their own righteousness, for that end. And certainly they cannot so receive him in his office of a king to rule and govern them; because they are of that carnal mind which is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So long as this is the case, of God's only begotten and well beloved Son, whom he hath sent, they always say in their hearts, "We will not have this man to inherit the earth. reign over us. What need is there of any further scripture witness, that sinners cannot have saving faith in Christ till after true repent ance. Yet, 4. We have still one more argument, which, were there no other, in my opinion, would be enough to settle this point beyond all dispute. Repentance is required in order to remission of sius; yet justification, which comprehends remission of sins, is by faith alone: but that alone by which a man is justified, must certainly be the last thing pre-requisite to his jus tification. Can any part of this argument be denied? Will any deny that repentance is made necessary in order to remission of sins? Will any deny that remission of sins, or deliverance from the curse of the law, is implied in justification? Will any deny that a man is justified by faith, and by that alone? Or will any say, that after a man is justified by faith, and so his sins are forgiven, still he must repent, before he can obtain the forgiveness of his sins? If there be any place for the necessity of repentance, before pardoning mercy, certainly it must be before saving faith. Other Christian tempers and exercises, besides repentance, by which no man is justified, are spoken of as prerequisites to a title to the blessedness of the righteous. Thus our Saviour says in the beginning of his sermon on the mount: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek for they shall VOL. VI. No. 9. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst Not that any child of Adam, who was born in sin, and is still but very imperfectly sanctified, can be entitled to these precious promises on the ground of personal holiness. The only reason why persons of these descriptions are thus blessed, in distinction from others, of opposite characters, is because they, and they only, will or can, become true beleivers in Christ, or comply with the terms on which salvation is offered to sinners. And undoubtedly, this is all the reason why sincere penitents are pardoned, rather than the impenitent. Certainly it cannot be, that repentance makes atonement for transgressions. If that had been the case, there could have been no necessary reason for the death of Christ. As none but the poor in spirit, the meek, they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, and the pure in heart; so none but those who repent, and turn in heart from the ways of sin, can cordially accept of the gospel offers of pardon and peace. A man is justified by faith, rather than by any other grace merely because by this alone a sinner becomes united to Christ, as one of his disciples, ang so, with propriety can have a participation in the rewards of his obedience unto death, which is all in all, the meritorious ground of justification. It is by faith, that it might manifestly be altogether of grace; and Tt |