clares his righteousness" (or mercy, by or) "for the remission of the sins that are past," saying, "I will be merciful to thy unrighteousness, and thine iniquities I will remember no more (Rom. iii, 25; Heb. viii, 12).

I believe the condition of this is faith (Rom. iv, 5, etc.); I mean, not only that without faith we cannot be justified, but also that as soon as any one has true faith, in that moment he is justified.

Good works follow this faith, but cannot go before it (Luke vi, 43); much less can sanctification, which implies a continued course of good works, springing from holiness of heart. But it is allowed that entire sanctification goes before our justification at the last day (Heb. xii, 14).

It is allowed, also, that repentance, and "fruits meet for repentance," go before faith (Mark i, 15; Matt. iii, 8). Repentance absolutely must go before faith; fruits meet for it, if there be opportunity. By repentance I mean conviction of sin, producing real desires and sincere resolutions of amendment; and by "fruits meet for repentance," forgiving our brother (Matt. vi, 14, 15), ceasing from evil, doing good (Luke iii, 4, 9, etc.), using the ordinances of God, and in general obeying him according to the measure of grace which we have received (Matt. vii, 7; xxv, 29). But these I cannot as yet term good works, because they do not spring from faith and the love of God.

2. By salvation I mean not barely, according to the vulgar notion, deliverance from hell, or going to heaven, but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive health, its original purity; a recovery of the divine nature; the renewal of our souls after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy, and truth. This implies all holy and heavenly tempers, and, by consequence, all holiness of conversation.

Now, if by conversation we mean a present salvation from sin, we cannot say holiness is the condition of it; for it is the thing itself. Salvation, in this sense, and holiness are synonymous terms. We must therefore say, "We are saved by faith." Faith is the sole condition of this salvation. For without faith we cannot be thus saved. But whosoever believeth is saved already.

Without faith we cannot be thus saved; for we cannot rightly serve God unless we love him. And we cannot love him unless we know him; neither can we know God unless by faith. There

fore, salvation by faith is only, in other words, the love of God by the knowledge of God; or the recovery of the image of God, by a true, spiritual acquaintance with him.

3. Faith, in general, is a divine, supernatural ɛλɛyxos (evidence, or conviction) of things not seen, nor discoverable by our bodily senses, as being either past, future, or spiritual. Justifying faith implies not only a divine ɛλɛyxos, that God "was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself," but a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins, that he loved me, and gave himself for me. And the moment a penitent sinner believes this, God pardons and absolves him.

And as soon as his pardon or justification is witnessed to him by the Holy Ghost he is saved. He loves God and all mankind. He has "the mind that was in Christ," and power to "walk as he also walked." From that time (unless he make shipwreck of the faith) salvation gradually increases in his soul. For "so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and it springeth up, first the blade, then the ear after that the full corn in the ear."

4. The first sowing of this seed I cannot conceive to be other than instantaneous; whether I consider experience, or the word of God, or the very nature of the thing. However, I contend not for a circumstance, but the substance: if you can attain it another way, do. Only see that you do attain it; for if you fall short, you perish everlastingly.

This beginning of that vast, inward change is usually termed the new birth. Baptism is the outward sign of this inward grace, which is supposed by our Church to be given with and through that sign to all infants, and to those of riper years, if they repent and believe the Gospel. But how extremely idle are the common disputes on this head! I tell a sinner, "You must be born again." "No," say you, "he was born again in baptism. Therefore, he cannot be born again now." Alas, what trifling is this? What if he was then a child of God? He is now manifestly a child of the devil; for the works of his father he doeth. Therefore, do not play upon words. He must go through an entire change of heart. In one not yet baptized, you yourself would call that change the new birth. In him, call it what you will; but remember, meantime, that if either he or you die without it your baptism will be so far from profiting you that it will greatly increase your damnation.

5. The author of faith and salvation is God alone. It is he

that works in us both to will and to do. He is the sole giver of every good gift, and the sole author of every good work. There is no more of power than of merit in man; but as all merit is in the Son of God, in what he has done and suffered for us, so all power is in the Spirit of God. And therefore every man, in order to believe unto salvation, must receive the Holy Ghost. This is essentially necessary to every Christian, not in order to his working miracles, but in order to faith, peace, joy, and love— the ordinary fruits of the Spirit.

Although no man on earth can explain the particular manner wherein the Spirit of God works on the soul, yet whosoever has these fruits cannot but know and feel that God has wrought them in his heart.

Sometimes he acts more particularly on the understanding, opening or enlightening it (as the Scripture speaks), and revealing, unveiling, discovering to us "the deep things of God."

Sometimes he acts on the wills and affections of men; withdrawing them from evil, inclining them to good, inspiring (breathing, as it were) good thoughts into them: so it has frequently been expressed, by an easy, natural metaphor, strictly analogous to , пνενμа, spiritus [spirit, or breath], and the words used in most modern tongues also, to denote the third person in the ever blessed Trinity. But, however it be expressed, it is certain all true faith, and the whole work of salvation, every good thought, word, and work, is altogether by the operation of the Spirit of God.

The following remarks are from Mr. Wesley's Journal, under date of September 12, 1739:

In the evening, at Fetter-lane, I described the life of faith; and many who had fancied themselves strong therein found they were no more than new-born babes. At eight I exhorted our brethren to keep close to the Church, and to all the ordinances of God; and to aim only at living "a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty." A serious clergyman desired to know in what points we differed from the Church of England. I answered, "To the best of my knowledge, in none. The doctrines we preach are the doctrines of the Church of England; indeed, the fundamental doctrines of the Church, clearly laid down, both in her prayers, articles, and homilies." He asked, "In what points, then, do you differ from the other clergy of the Church of England?" I answered, "In none from that part of the clergy who adhere to the doctrines of the Church; but from that

part of the clergy who dissent from the Church (though they own it not) I differ in the points following:

"First, They speak of justification either as the same thing with sanctification or as something consequent upon it. I believe justification to be wholly distinct from sanctification, and necessarily antecedent to it.

"Secondly, They speak of our own holiness, or good works, as the cause of our justification; or, that for the sake of which, on account of which, we are justified before God. I believe neither our own holiness nor good works are any part of the cause of our justification; but that the death and righteousness of Christ are the whole and sole cause of it; or, that for the sake of which, on account of which, we are justified before God.

"Thirdly, They speak of good works as a condition of justification, necessarily previous to it. I believe no good work can be previous to justification, nor, consequently, a condition of it; but that we are justified (being till that hour ungodly, and, therefore, incapable of doing any good work) by faith alone, faith without works, faith (though producing all, yet) including no good work.

"Fourthly, They speak of sanctification (or holiness) as if it were an outward thing, as if it consisted chiefly, if not wholly, in those two points-1. The doing no harm; 2. The doing good (as it is called)—that is, the using the means of grace, and helping our neighbor.

"I believe it to be an inward thing, namely, the life of God in the soul of man; a participation of the divine nature; the mind that was in Christ; or, the renewal of our heart after the image of him that created us.

"Lastly, They speak of the new birth as an outward thing, as if it were no more than baptism; or, at most, a change from outward wickedness to outward goodness; from a vicious to (what is called) a virtuous life. I believe it to be an inward thing; a change from inward wickedness to nward goodness; an entire change of our inmost nature from the image of the devil (wherein we are born) to the image of God; a change from the love of the creature to the love of the Creator; from earthly and sensual to heavenly and holy affections: in a word, a change from the tempers of the spirits of darkness to those of the angels of God in heaven.

"There is, therefore, a wide, essential, fundamental, irreconcilable difference between us; so that if they speak the truth as it is in Jesus I am found a false witness before God. But if I teach the way of God in truth, they are blind leaders of the blind."

FROM HIS JOURNAL, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1739.

In the afternoon I was informed how many wise and learned men (who cannot in terms deny it, because our articles and homilies are not yet repealed) explain justification by faith. They say, 1. Justification is twofold; the first, in this life, the second, at the last day. 2. Both these are by faith alone; that is, by objective faith, or by the merits of Christ, which are the object of our faith. And this, they say, is all that St. Paul and the Church mean by "We are justified by faith only." But they add, 3. We are not justified by subjective faith alone, that

is, by the faith which is in us. But works also must be added to this faith, as a joint condition both of the first and second justification. The sense of which hard words is plainly this: God accepts us both here and hereafter only for the sake of what Christ has done and suffered for us. This alone is the cause of our justification. But the condition thereof is not faith alone, but faith and works together.

In flat opposition to this I cannot but maintain (at least, till I have a clearer light), 1. That the justification which is spoken of by St. Paul to the Romans, and in our articles, is not twofold. It is one, and no more. It is the present remission of our sins, or our first acceptance with God. 2. It is true that the merits of Christ are the sole cause of this our justification; but it is not true that this is all which St. Paul and our Church mean by our being justified by faith only; neither is it true that either St. Paul or the Church mean by faith the merits of Christ. But, 3. By our being justified by faith only, both St. Paul and the Church mean that the condition of our justification is faith alone, and not good works; inasmuch as "all works done before justification have in them the nature of sin." Lastly, that faith which is the sole condition of justification is the faith which is in us by the grace of God. It is "a sure trust which a man hath, that Christ hath loved him, and died for him."

REGENERATION.

(Written January 25, 1757.)

ACCORDING to the whole tenor of Scripture, the being born again does really signify the being inwardly changed by the almighty operation of the Spirit of God; changed from sin to holiness; renewed in the image of Him that created us. And why must we be so changed? Because, " without holiness no man shall see the Lord;" and because, without this change, all our endeavors after holiness are ineffectual. God hath, indeed, "endowed us with understanding, and given us abundant means;" but our understanding is as insufficient for that end as are the outward means, if not attended with inward power.

I think it highly expedient to subjoin an extract from Rev. Samuel Hebden's tract upon this subject, the more so because the tract is very scarce, having been for some time out of print: