spiritual existence. So only shall we experience that great truth of "the identity of religion with goodness, and with a good life."

While this subject is under our attention, it may be well to remark, that though the doctrine of regeneration, or a change of heart, is believed to be a scriptural doctrine, yet all the additions man has made to it, are not, therefore, to be received as of binding authority.

(1.) The state of the unregenerate, or unchanged heart, is not to be regarded as totally depraved, and so steeped in moral corruption as to be imbued only with what is sinful; still less is this state to be viewed as the original one in which man is created by his Maker. Eccl. vii. 29. "God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." See also Mark x. 14, 15. Experience and observation, as well as Scripture, teach us that there is no man so wicked that he has lost all conscience, moral affection, and sense of right and truth. But man, every man, is depraved, is sinful, though not so originally or totally. Sin is his own act and choice, else it is not sin. Good and evil, light and darkness, are mixed together in his character. There is a struggle, an awful struggle, within him; the law of the mind clashes with the law of the members; heaven and hell contend for the mastery. But no one ever did, no one ever can, give himself up wholly to evil, and have no relentings, be visited with no better moments. The bosom of the worldly, the selfish, the passionate, even of the murderer and pirate, has, when uncovered to human observation, presented the state above described. Regeneration is not, accordingly, a creation of something out of nothing, but a change of the balance to what is good, a conversion

from bad to better, a confirmation and established superiority of the law of the mind over the law of the members, of the law of Christ and God over the law of sin and death.

(2.) The manner in which the new birth takes place, deserves our notice. It is not necessarily, or usually, sudden and instantaneous. A particular dispensation of Providence, or some unaccountable, though natural, impression made on the heart, may be the date of the change, and it may be ascertained to an hour or to a minute, when the beam of the balance first received its steady and increasing tendency to the right scale. But all great and good changes, both in mind and matter, are commonly gradual. Daylight slowly succeeds darkness, in the spiritual, no less than in the material, world, and the acutest eye would be baffled in detecting the precise moment, when the faint gray dawn breaks in upon the empire of night. There is a first instant when the seed sprouts in the earth, but it would be impossible to fix on it precisely. Indeed, in regard to the time and manner of regeneration, and the growth of religion, may we not finally acquiesce in the description of the Saviour himself?"first the blade, then the ear; after that, the full corn in the ear."

(3.) The next important point is the instrument or means by which regeneration is effected. It has been common to attribute this process wholly to the special, and, therefore, miraculous, agency of the Holy Spirit, and to assert, in unqualified terms, that man could do nothing himself; nay, that while in an unconverted state, every act was corrupt; that even prayer, even the effort to escape from that state, was sinful. But is it not more in accordance with the doctrine of the Bible, and with what we know of ourselves, and of

not, 12

the workings of the heart, and the nature of human responsibleness, to believe that man coöperates with God in this greatest and best of all the works done under the sun, as he does in all other affairs and processes relating to his condition and improvement? All our powers are the gift of God at first, but they can be exercised by us within certain limits, as free agents. Man is an imperium in imperio, a kingdom within the greater kingdom of God. He performs, for instance, a part, and Providence a part, in the raising of a crop of grain. The learning and refinement of the scholar have resulted from his own exertions, in conjunction with the ever-present agency of God in the human mind. If man, then, can do nothing in his regeneration, it is an anomaly in the creation; it is a rupture in the all-pervading analogies of the universe; it is a contradiction to the imperative precepts of Christ and his apostles. But Scripture, reason, life, all with one voice, pronounce that he can, and ought to do something, else he is guilty before God; that he ought to cooperate with that Holy Spirit, which ever broodeth over the cold, dark heart of man, as of old over the face of the waters; and which is ever ready to call light out of darkness, and a new creation out of chaos. This Spirit helpeth our infirmities, and strives with our wayward hearts; let us not, then, resist or quench it.

(4.) Lastly, the condition of the changed heart, the regenerate man, is not one of absolute safety, perfection, and salvation, but rather a tendency, a progress, a hopeful assurance of arriving at that end. Regeneration is the first step, or series of steps, not the final consummation, of the work of the Christian, and the influence of

the Spirit. It is the beginning, or prosecution, not the ending of the course; the taking up and bearing of the cross, not the putting on of the crown. It is, in fact, but a birth, as it is called; and life-life, with all its dangers and temptations-is still to come, and put this change to the proof, whether it be a genuine change or not. The Christian may, indeed, backslide; saints may not always persevere unto the end. For as long as there is life, there is danger, and "let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself, as he that putteth it off." But, if faithful and circumspect, he who has opened his eyes to see that he is a soul, an immortal soul, and whose heart has been touched and sanctified by the gracious Spirit of God, need not fear a fatal, final relapse into sin. The hope, the presumption is, that his "light will shine more and more unto the perfect day."

12. If I have told you earthly things. In reference, probably, to the phrase being born again, which was in common use among the Jews, as signifying conversion from heathenism to their religion. Heavenly things, i. e. more advanced and spiritual views, as to the nature of the Messiah's king'dom, and the admission of the Gentiles to its privileges. "You stumble in crossing the threshold of my religion; how, then, can you hope to penetrate its inner glories?

13. No man hath ascended, &c. Or, in the paraphrase of Archbishop Newcome, "none of this generation giveth so illustrious a proof of his divine mission." Speaking of heavenly things suggests to the mind of our Lord his own heavenly authority, and acquaintance with the divine counsels. Local ascent and descent are not here signified, but that Jesus

was intimate with the divine purposes, and came to reveal them to the world, being always in heaven, i. e. attended with the special influences of God's power, and admitted to the most intimate knowledge of his will. Deut. xxx. 12; Prov. xxx. 4; Mat. xxi. 25; John i. 18.

14. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. Num. xxi. 8, 9; 2 Kings xviii. 4.- Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, i. e. on the cross, chap. xii. 32, 33; though some, with less reason, consider it as a reference to his ascension. In this and the following verse, Jesus speaks of two points, or heavenly things, of which Nicodemus was ignorant: 1. The crucifixion of the Messiah; and, 2. the extension of the blessings of his religion to every believer, whether Jew or Gentile. The moral power of the cross has healed the sinful children of men, as looking upon the brazen image did the serpent-bitten Israelite. This it has done, not by any change it has effected in God, but by its melting, allpersuasive appeal to the human heart. Christ died, not to appease the wrath of an inexorable Deity, but to send thrilling convictions of the evil of sin, and of the beauty of holiness, through the insensible bosom of man. It is in this sense, that mors Christi vita mundi, the death of Christ is the life of the world.

15. That whosoever believeth in him, &c. Whether Jews or Gentiles. The doors of the new kingdom were to be thrown open, to welcome all true believers of every name and nation. Here was a peculiarity of this dispensation, which the Jewish teach

ers would not be likely to comprehend. - Perish. Die a moral death.

But have eternal life. The belief here spoken of as the passport to eternal blessedness, is, most clearly, no dry, technical creed, no metaphysical accuracy of faith, touching the nature and person of our Lord, but a living, heartfelt persuasion of his heavenly truths, and an unconditional surrender of our conduct and character, to be moulded and sanctified by him, till every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The effect of this conversation on the mind of Nicodemus, was to inspire him with respect for Jesus, though it did not prompt him to become his professed follower. Chap. vii. 50, 51, xix. 39.

16. Carpenter conjectures, that the six following verses are an appendage to the conversation with Nicodemus, subjoined by the evangelist. Several circumstances, particularly the repetition of ver. 15, the use of the word only-begotten, ver. 16, 18, which never occurs in our Lord's discourses, &c., render it probable. These verses also resemble passages in John's Epistles 1 John i. 6, 7, ii. 9-11, iv. 9, 10, 14. God so loved the world, &c. Here the evangelist declares the love of God to be the great cause of the Christian dispensation. Blessed truth! which the world has not yet fully learned; else why should hate, and malice, and sectarian bigotry, have any thing to do in spreading abroad this religion among mankind? - His only-begotten Son. Or, his dearly-beloved Son. John seemingly delights in this term, for he has used it more than all the

From this it has been inferred, that the mode of baptism was by immersion. But much water was required for other purposes, both for men and animals. Besides, the word Enon, signifying fountains, or streams, indicates that the water was not in large and deep collections, suitable for the purpose above mentioned. And again, why should much water be spoken of, if it was merely the water of the Jordan, used in baptism? for certainly there was no lack in any place on that river. If river-water for immersion was meant, there was more at Bethabara or Bethany, farther down. Were a great amount required for the purpose of baptizing, we are led to inquire how three thousand, Acts ii. 41, could be initiated into the Christian church, on a single day, at Jerusalem, where there was not much water, and where the pools were under the control of hostile Jews. It seems, therefore, to be a violent conclusion from this verse, that the mode of baptism was by immersion, whatever may be inferred from other passages.

25. Jews. The best critics read, a Jew; probably one who had been baptized by the disciples of Jesus. About purifying, i. e. respecting baptism, as is supposed. Probably the question had reference to the comparative merits of the baptism of John and Jesus; for so the next verse intimates.

26. To whom thou barest witness, &c. This was apparently said to John, as if the new teacher was thought to be inferior to him, and, having proved ungrateful, to be now trying to supplant him in the affections of the people. It was probably supposed that he would be jealous of this rival, and his spreading popularity. But the Baptist was of altogether a different temper, and nobly showed how infinitely superior he was to any mean envy towards Jesus.

27. Receive. Margin reads, "take unto himself:" Norton renders it, "must assume."- Except it be given him from heaven. The first thought which John presents is, that if Jesus was taking the lead in the great religious movement of the day, it was the intention of Providence that he should be the prime actor. None' could possess and exercise such gifts as his, unless vouchsafed by God; for such is the force of the term from heaven.

28. Bear me witness. He proceeds to remind them, that he had never claimed to be himself the Messiah, but simply his forerunner. Of course he could feel no jealousy of the rising glory of Jesus, to whom he had borne witness, as being the Son of God, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.

29. To illustrate the idea yet more impressively, he alludes to a common