out sin, and thereby condemning sin in the flesh. By one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' In consequence of Adam's sin, all men become partakers of a nature not necessarily sinful, but uniformly prone to sin. Each man, by his own sin, secures to himself the appropriate curse of a sinful nature. By reversing this statement we ascertain the nature of the work of Christ. He is the second Adam, the root of the race. By him all men are placed in com munication with a nature, not in itself righteous in them, but adapted to the fulfilment of righteousness. Each man, by his own act, i. e. by faith, secures to himself the appropriate blessings of a righteous nature. The gospel an nounces to them who, by sin, are following the first Adam to death, that God has given them through Christ a new nature, the appropriate fruits of which are righteousness and peace. Unbelievers continue to follow the first Adam. Believers put off the old man, and put on the new man'-'walk not after the flesh but after the spirit'-are saved from their sins. As there are now two Adams, so all men have two natures-the one carnal and the other spiritual; and these are opposite one to the other. While the old man lives, the new man is crucified. When the new man lives, the old man is crucified. The old man lives by unbelief-the new man by faith. By the gospel we are made to know that God has repaired the ruins of the fall, and we are no longer debtors to the flesh;' Christ has come in the flesh-not in a single man, merely, but in the whole of human nature. While men believe not, he is crucified in themselves. When they believe, he rises from the dead, and reveals himself a conqueror, in themselves.

Again; the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above ;) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The WORD is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, AND IN THY HEART; that is, the word of faith which we preach; [Paul preached Christ;] that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' Rom. 10: 6-9. This is a specimen of Paul's method of preaching the gospel. To those who ask, 'What must we do to be saved?' he answers, Cease to look out of yourselves for the salvation you seek-turn to the light of Christ within; the Word of God is in your heart; when you so believe this that you are willing to confess it, you will be saved

from sin.

We will now take for granted that the inquirer is intellectually convinced that according to the word of God, Christ is in him, and that he must believe this, in order that he may receive salvation. Now he asks- How shall I get this faith?' We answer by an illustration. Suppose a man has in his hand a good note for a hundred dollars, which he supposes to be nothing bet ter than waste paper. He is told that it is a genuine note. His thoughts run thus-While I remain in unbelief, this note is worth nothing to me; if I could believe that it is genuine, I should be richer by a hundred dollars, in feeling and fact, than I am now; how shall I get this faith?' Common sense answers, By examining the note, and the character of the maker of it. The

Bible is the record of the will of God, by which men are declared possessors of eternal life. Common sense teaches any one who wishes to believe this, to examine the record and character of him who gave it. If an intelligent and careful examination of this kind does not produce faith, the reason must be sought in the spirit of the inquirer. He stands at the gate of a kingdom, into which no idols can be carried. He knows if he believes and confesses that Christ is in him, he will be severed from every object of earthly affection. Men do not readily believe tidings which cross their interests. How can ye believe, who receive honor one of another, and seek not that honor which cometh from God only.' Is it asked, What shall a man do, whose heart is wedded to some earthly object, who yet desires to believe? We answer, Your case is hopeless; unless by some means you shall be brought to abandon your idol. You can never with the heart believe the word of God, while your heart is otherwise engaged. While the God of this world blinds your mind, the glorious gospel can never shine into it. The man who is willing to part with every thing for the knowledge of Christ, who sincerely hungers and thirsts after righteousness, will easily believe the word which announces his salvation. When an honest man gives an account of events, which even involve no special interest, his hearers believe him as a matter of course. No effort to believe is thought of. But how easily and eagerly do men believe, when they hear good tidings touching a matter concerning which they have been anxious! If I am in a state of anxious suspense about the safety of a friend, and a messenger brings the word, 'He is safe!' the eager joy of faith rushes through me like an electric shock-I have immediate peace in believing. So the gospel is no sooner heard than believed, by one who truly thirsts for the water of life. When he hears the word of God, Christ is in you, a conqueror over sin and death!-all is safe!'-he believes at once, and believing, passes from death unto life.

If the inquirer declares himself willing to part with his idols, and yet cannot believe, we must search through his spirit again for the reason of his unbelief. Perhaps he is saying in his heart, I would believe, if I could feel that Christ is in me, and I am saved:' in other words, I will believe the testimony of my own feelings, but not the word of God.' This is wrong. A right spirit says, 'Let God be true, and every man a liar-God says he has given me his Son and eternal life; my feelings contradict his record; my feelings are the liars-God is true; I know and will testify that Christ is in me a whole Savior, because God declares it, whether my feelings accord with the testimony or not.' If you wish for peace and salvation by the witness of the Spirit, before you believe, you wish for the fruit before there is any root. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, are the consequences of faith; the word of God, and that only, is its foundation. The man who holds the note for a hundred dollars, in unbelief, cannot expect to feel richer than usual, till he believes the note to be genuiue; and he would be considered a very foolish man, if he should say in answer to arguments in favor of the genuineness of the note-I feel as poor as ever, therefore the note cannot be good.' Christ says, 'Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him,

and he with me.' Let the inquirer understand, that believing the word of God opens the door for the admission of the living witness. It is wrong in this situation to say, 'I would open the door if I could see him who stands on the outside.' You cannot see through the door of unbelief. You hear the Savior's voice that is enough-believe, open the door, and you shall see him and sup with him. While you are asking for sight and supper, before you open the door, Christ is suffering for your folly, knocking without.

If the inquirer is now convinced that he is not to look for peace before believing, but in believing; nothing is wanting to complete his salvation, but such a confidence in what his intellect perceives to be the truth of God, as will produce a confession that Christ is in him, a Savior from all sin. He can try his faith by such a question as this- Am I willing without further evidence, relying solely on the testimony of God, to confess Christ a whole Savior? Confession, or a willingness to confess Christ, is the accompaniment rather than the consequence of faith. Intellectual belief becomes an active principle, a belief of the heart, in the very act of confession. It is to no purpose in this spot, to make experiments upon God, as many have attempted to do, by undertaking to believe, while confession is withheld till the success of faith is ascertained. A whole-hearted and everlasting surrender to the faithfulness of God alone, can secure the fulfilment of his promises to faith. Such a surrender can be made only by a confession, which leaves no way for retreat. Men are permitted to enter the kingdom only on condition of destroying the bridge behind them.

As God is true, the man who thus confesses Christ, shall be confessed of him, before the Father. His peace shall be like a river, and his righteousness as the waves of the sea. By the witness of the Spirit, he shall know that he is a child of God, and know that whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.'

We have endeavored to describe Christian faith, the act by which man submits himself to the righteousness of God. If it is said- Faith is the root of righteousness, and you have represented faith as man's act, so that after all, the agency of man is the source of salvation'-we reply, Faith is the gift of God; for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' God is the giver of the gospel, and the gospel is the food of faith; so that salvation is wholly of grace. The blood of Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, is the gift of God. The water of the word, which apprises men of their possession of eternal life, is the gift of God. The Spirit which bears witness in believers, and saves them from sin, is the gift of God. To him be glory for ever.

$39. SETTLEMENT WITH THE PAST.

WHEN a person who has served God devotedly under the law, and has had much happy and notable experience in the service, comes to the knowledge of the new covenant and sees before him a second conversion, without which, he is conscious, he cannot claim the name and inheritance of the sons of God, the startling question arises, 'How shall I dispose of my past experience? Was it a delusion? That cannot be. But it was not saving experi ence. What then was its character and value?' If he loves the things which are before more than those which are behind, he resolutely surmounts these questions, even if he cannot satisfactorily answer them; and cheerfully embraces salvation from sin, even at the expense of depreciating his old experience. But if the spiritual treasures which he has acquired are so great that he cannot turn his heart away from them to the new hope which he has found, he is in danger of compromising his conscience and love of truth, by contenting himself with some counterfeit form of holiness, which can be made a supplement to his former conversion, instead of supplanting it. In this way, undoubtedly, the various forms of semi-Perfectionism which are abroad, have originated.

The same danger and difficulty stands in the way, to arrest the advent of new dispensations, as well as the advance of individuals. Christianity, presenting itself, not as a continuation and improvement of Judaism, but as a radical revolution-a new dispensation, to which all that had gone before was but preliminary-had a long and hard contest with the attachment of its followers, as well as its enemies, to the religion of their ancestors. It was asked then, as it is asked now, when Christianity is set on high above Judaism, where it belongs- How do you dispose of the patriarchs and prophets? Had they no true experience? Were they not children of God?' Art thou greater (said the Jews to Christ) than our father Abraham? ... Whom makest thou thyself?' Reverence for the experience and ways of the ancient saints, undoubtedly long held back even the apostles from the discovery and announcement of the supplanting greatness of the new dispensation. It was a bold stand that Paul took, when he said of the whole series of Old Testament worthies-These all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.'

We believe that now, after the ages of a second legal dispensation, (dating from the transfer of God's discipline from the Jews to the Gentiles,) the new covenant is again coming to light. The gospel of salvation from sin is not absolutely new. It was given to the world and its power was known in the apostolic age; and a record of it was left in the books of the New Testament. But relatively to the generations that have lived since the fall from grace to legality, (which may safely be dated from the destruction of Jerusalem,) it is a new gospel. The changes which it proposes to Christendom are as revolutionizing and startling, as those which primitive Christian

ity proposed to the Jews. If any think that it is presumptuous and irreyerent toward the great and good of past ages to admit such a belief as this, our reply is- We believe this, not because we reverence the ancients less, but because we reverence God more. If our eye were on man, whose tendency is downward toward weakness and corruption, we should be disposed to think the past greater than the present and future. But with our eye on God, whose course is onward from glory to greater glory, it is but modesty to think the present and future greater than the past.

But what shall we do with the experience of the multitude of saints whose memory the sects delight to honor? All Christendom has abounded with wonderful conversions, and bright manifestations of spiritual piety. Some are ready to overwhelm us with persuasions that such men as Brainerd, Edwards, Payson, and Taylor, were incarnations of true Christianity. Others appeal still more confidently to a different class of models, such as Madame Guion, Hester Ann Rogers, and Wm. Law. Several whole sects have held some form of the doctrine of holiness, and have, more or less extensively, experienced and professed sanctification.' Is all this to be accounted as nothing? Were not these illustrious men and women born of God? Has there been no knowledge of the true gospel of holiness among the Wesleyans and Moravians and Quakers and Shakers? These are questions which it behooves us to consider, with modesty and charity on the one hand, and with independence and jealousy for the truth of the gospel on the other.

6

1. As to the ordinary class of pietists in the carnal churches, we shall say nothing. To those who sincerely believe that whosoever sinneth hath not seen Christ, neither known him,' (and to such believers we at present address ourselves,) it need not be proved that confessors and professors of sin are not Christians, however interesting may be their spiritual history.

2. Of the more distinguished spiritualists of the churches, David Brainerd may be taken as a fair specimen. The picture which his biography gives of his general experience is in essence a transcript of the seventh chapter of Romans. The Religious Encyclopedia says he had a most humbling and constant sense of his own iniquity, which was a greater burden to him than all his afflictions, great brokenness of heart before God for the coldness of his love and the imperfection of his Christian virtues.' It is evident that he was, through life, under conviction, panting after freedom from sin, but never reaching it. Interesting and praiseworthy as such experience was in the dim light of Brainerd's time, and valuable as it was as a preliminary to that higher spiritual education which, we trust, awaited him within the veil, it certainly was not Christian experience. With him may be classed Edwards, Payson, and nearly all of those who have obtained the highest distinction for piety in the churches.

3. James Brainerd Taylor's experience was of a higher grade. He came apparently to the very borders of the gospel, where he saw clearly the priv ilege and glory of salvation from sin. This was the theme of his meditation and conversation; and he even confessed, at times, in a timid way, that he was free from sin. In this respect he as really condemned the routine of sinning and repenting which was the only experience allowed or known in the