Monday, December 28, 2009

William Law - Grounds and Reasons For Christian Regeneration

Highlights:

[Reg-19] How many Inventions are some People forced to have recourse to, to keep off a certain inward Uneasiness, which they are afraid of, and know not whence it comes? Alas, it is because there is a fallen Spirit, a dark aching Fire within them, which has never had its proper Relief, and is trying to discover itself, and calling out for Help, at every Cessation of worldly Joy.

[Reg-20] Why are some People, when under heavy Disappointments, or some great worldly Shame, at the very Brink of Distraction, unable to bear themselves, and desirous of Death of any kind? ‘Tis because worldly Light and Comforts, no longer acting sweetly upon the Blood, the Soul is left to its own dark, fiery raging Nature, and would destroy the Body at any rate, rather than continue under such a Sensibility of its own wrathful, self-tormenting Fire.

[Reg-21] Who has not at one time or other felt a Sourness, Wrath, Selfishness, Envy, and Pride, which he could not tell what to do with, or how to bear, rising up in him without his Consent, casting a Blackness over all his Thoughts, and then as suddenly going off again, either by the Cheerfulness of the Sun, or Air, or some agreeable Accident, and again, at times, as suddenly returning upon him? Sufficient Indications are these to every Man, that there is a dark Guest within him, concealed under the Cover of Flesh and Blood, often lulled asleep by worldly Light and Amusements, yet such as will, in spite of everything, show itself, which if it has not its proper Relief in this Life, must be his Torment in Eternity. And it was for the sake of this hidden Hell within us, that our Blessed Lord said when on Earth, and says now to every Soul, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you Rest."


[Reg-34] (15.) To proceed: That I have not stated Man’s first Dignity too high, is evidently plain from the Scripture Account of it. It is a fundamental Truth of our Religion, that he was created in Paradise for a Life suitable to it. But Paradise is a Divine Habitation, still existing where it was at the first, though not visible to Eyes which see only by the Light of the Sun, and is the Habitation of such as have attained their first paradisiacal Nature; it was in this Paradise, that our Saviour, through a Miracle of Love, promised to be with the Thief on the Cross.

[Reg-35] It is also a fundamental Truth of Scripture, that Man was created to be immortal, incapable of Death, and of everything that had any Likeness to it, so long as he continued in the Perfection of his State. That it was Sin alone which brought Sorrow, Pain, Evil, Distress, Sickness and Death upon him.

[Reg-36] But if this be a Truth that cannot be denied, then it must be equally true, that before he sinned, he must have stood in such a Paradise, as kept everything in the outward World entirely under him, so that neither Fire nor Water, nor any other Element, could have the least Power over him. But if Fire, the fiercest of the Elements, had not the least Power of touching his Body in any hurtful Manner, or of causing any Pain to it; then it must be granted, that Paradise covered, and governed the Power of all the Elements of this outward World; that Man lived in it as an absolute Lord over it; and therefore it undeniably follows that the Manner, in which he now is under the Power of the Elements, capable of receiving Pain and Evil from them, is a State that he was not in, till Sin took Paradise from him, and left him in the same poor Condition, that we now are in, capable of receiving Pain and Death, from almost everything that is about us.

[Reg-37] That Man in Paradise lived in this World insensible, and also incapable of any Evil from it, superior to all its Elements, is plain from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

[Reg-38] For how could it be more plainly told us, that outward Things, the Stars and Elements could not affect his State, or make any Impression upon him, than by telling us, that he had no Knowledge of Good and Evil in this World, till he had eaten of that Tree? Is not this directly telling us, that before such eating, he was above the Nature of this World, that it had not Power to operate upon him, or give him any Sense or Feeling, of what there was of Good or Evil in it.

[Reg-39] Now that he was created to be, and to continue thus a Lord over all temporal Nature, superior to all the Influences and Effects of the Stars and Elements, is also plain from the Prohibition given him, not to eat of this Tree of Knowledge.

[Reg-40] But he was not content with this happy Superiority above the Evil and Good of outward Nature. His Imagination, helped on by the Devil, longed to look into, to know and feel the secret working Powers of that outward Nature, which it was his Happiness, and Paradise to be insensible of.

[Reg-41] When God forbade his eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, it was the same thing as if he had said, Fall not into the outward World, under the Dominion of its Stars and Elements, but keep thy State in Paradise.

[Reg-42] When Man disobeyed God, and took the Fruit of the Tree into his Body, which brought the Nature and Power of the Stars and Elements into it; this is not to be considered, as that single Act of Eating, but it signifies as much as if he had said; By eating this Fruit, I desire to come within the Influences of the Stars and Elements, and to be made sensible, and feeling of the Good and Evil that is in them.

[Reg-43] Therefore, small as the Action seems to be at the first View, and of a very limited Nature, it was his refusing to be that, which God created him to be; it was his express, open, voluntary Act and Deed, by which he chose to fall into this outward World, in the Manner we now are in it.

[Reg-44] Therefore it was not the mere eating of a Fruit, that brought Adam's Misery upon him, but it was the eating a Fruit, as his chosen Means of entering into this World.

[Reg-45] God himself was not angry at all, or at a small Act of eating a Fruit, and so in Anger turned Man out of Paradise, into a World cursed for that Sin. But Man freely and voluntarily chose, against the Will, and Command of God, to be in the World in its cursed State, unblessed by Paradise; For he chose to enter into a Sensibility and Feeling of its Good and Evil, which is directly choosing to be, where Paradise is not; for nothing that is in Paradise, can be touched, or hurt by anything of the outward World. Therefore the first State of Man was a State of such Glory, and heavenly Prerogatives, as I have above related; and his Fall, was a Fall into, or under the Power of this outward World.

[Reg-46] (16.) If it be also further asked, What sufficient Proof there is, first, that the Likeness and Image of God, in which Man was created, signified thus much, that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, each brought forth their own Nature in him, and in him saw themselves in a creaturely manner? And then, secondly, that by the first Sin, this Birth of the Son of God, and Proceeding of the Holy Ghost was extinguished and lost in the Soul of Man? It may be answered, that these great Truths stand attested by undeniable Evidence of Scripture.

[Reg-47] First, from the Means and Manner of our Redemption. For there is nothing that can so fully, and justly show us the true Nature of our Fall, as the Nature and Manner of our Redemption. And it seems highly suitable to the Wisdom of God to let the first, be but in part discovered, till the latter showed and proved itself in an undeniable Manner. And this, no doubt, is the Reason why Moses is suffered to write no more of the Nature of the Fall of Man, or what it implied, than he has done. Because the Time for a plain Insight into that Matter, was not then come, and it was to lie as much a Secret, as to the true Nature of it, as the Nature and Manner of our Redemption then did; which was then only obscurely declared, by an Enmity between the Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent.

[Reg-48] But when the Seed of the Woman showed itself to be the Son of God, the Second Person of the holy Trinity, united to our human Nature; then the Nature of our Fall, and what we fell from, and what was the Seed of the Serpent in us, manifested themselves in the same Degree of Certainty. And therefore it is very unreasonable to hold, that we ought to say no more of our first State before the Fall, of its Dignity and Perfection, and what was lost by the Fall, than what is openly and expressly declared by Moses. For as it seemed Good to the Divine Wisdom to conceal the Mystery of our Redemption and Salvation for many Ages, and to let Moses only discover it under a Declaration of a Serpent-destroyer; so there was a Fitness, and even Necessity, that the Nature and Degree of our Fall should be kept in the same Degree of Secrecy, then only to be discovered with a sufficient Degree of Plainness and Certainty, when our Redemption and Salvation came plainly to be laid open. The Religion of the Jews was suited to that State of Things and Times in which they lived; neither the Mysteries of the Creation, nor Redemption, were then discovered; Things past, and Things to come, had then only their Figures, Shadows, and Types.

[Reg-49] But when the Son of God became incarnate, and showed forth in the plainest Manner, the Nature, Manner, and Necessity of our Redemption through his Blood, and a Life received from him, then the Nature and Degree of our Fall became equally plain and manifest; and everything that he has told us of the Nature and Necessity of a new or second Birth from him, was so much told us of our first Birth in Paradise.

[Reg-50] For the Nature and Greatness of our Redemption, must show the Nature and Greatness of our Fall. These Things have such a necessary Correspondence, as cannot be denied, but by a Mind utterly indisposed to receive Conviction.

[Reg-51] If our Redemption proposed to restore to us a Divine Sight, would not this be a sufficient Proof, that by the Fall we had lost some Divine Manner of seeing? So, if God himself takes our Nature upon him to redeem us, and it be declared that nothing, but this uniting the Divine Nature to the Human, can be our Redemption, can we want a Proof, that the Divine Nature existed in some manner in us, before the Fall?

[Reg-52] Now it is a plain, manifest Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, that Man by the Fall is in such a Condition, that there was no help or Remedy for him, either in the Height above, or in the Depth below, but by the Son of God's becoming incarnate, taking the fallen Nature upon him. If this alone could be the Remedy, does not this enough show us the Disease? Does not this speak plainly enough, what it was that Man had lost by his Fall, namely, the Birth of the Son of God in his Soul; and therefore it was, that only the Son of God in so mysterious a manner, could be his Redeemer?

[Reg-53] If he had lost less, a less Power could have redeemed him. If he had lost something else, the Restoration of that something, would have been his Redemption.

[Reg-54] But since it is an open, undeniable Doctrine of the Gospel, that there can be no Salvation for Mankind but in the Name, and by the Power of the Son of God, by his being united to the fallen Nature, and so raising his own Birth and Life in it, is it not sufficiently declared to us, that what was lost by the Fall, was the Birth of the Son of God in the Soul?

[Reg-55] Secondly, this same Doctrine is not left to be drawn from any Consequences of Things, but is in express Words taught us, when it is said, that we must be born again from above, born of God; for this is expressly telling us what Birth we have lost, and is only saying, that the first Birth is to be restored, or that the Divine Birth is to arise, or to be brought again into us, as at the first, when the living Image of the Holy Trinity was brought forth in us.

[Reg-56] What this new regained Birth is, we are plainly told by St. Peter, that is a being born again of an incorruptible Seed by the Word, that is, the eternal Word, or Son of God. Which Divine Word being only in the Soul as a Seed, is to restore by Degrees the first Birth of the Word, or Son of God in the Soul. Which is Proof enough that this was the State of the Soul in its Creation, that this Birth was then in it, and so was an Image of the Holy Trinity; and that the Death which Adam died in the Day that he sinned, was the losing this holy Birth from his Soul. And on this Account it was, that nothing could restore him, but that which was able to restore this Birth again to his Soul, and make it again such an Image of God, as that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, might therein see themselves again in a creaturely Manner, and dwell in it, and it in them.

[Reg-57] Thirdly, the Holy Ghost is in the Scriptures declared to be the Sanctifier, or Renewer of Holiness in the Soul, and this in such a manner, that all the Motions and Operations of the Soul, so far as they are without it, and unmoved by it, are so far unholy, and unable even for a good Thought.

[Reg-58] Now how could our Thoughts or Operations be unholy in themselves, and want the Sanctification and Renewing of the Holy Ghost, unless this Holy Spirit had first existed in us, and by our Fall had been separated from us?

[Reg-59] Had not the Birth of the Holy Ghost arisen in us at our Creation, we could no more be unholy for want of it, than the Beasts are, nor any more now have wanted to be renewed by it, than the Beasts that never had it. But since there is now no Sanctification or Redemption for us, but by having the Holy Ghost as a free Gift of God breathed again into us, it is no less than a Demonstration, that we had before we fell, this Holiness by the Nature which God gave us at first; and that the Holiness of our Creation consisted in this, that the Holy Spirit then proceeded, or arose forth in our Soul, as the Birth of the Son of God did; and that it might for the same Reason be then called the Holiness of our Nature, as it is now after the Fall, called a Holiness by Gift or Grace. For if we are now to be born again of the Spirit by Grace, does not this tell us, that we had this Birth of the Spirit in us at the first, and that then it was the Birth of our Nature by Creation?

[Reg-60] Fourthly, these same great Truths are evidently signified to us in the fullest Manner by our Baptism, and the Form of it. Our Baptism is to signify our seeking and obtaining a new Birth. And our being baptized in, or into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, tells us in the plainest manner, what Birth it is that we seek, namely, such a new Birth as may make us again what we were at first, a living real Image or Offspring of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[Reg-61] Is it not owned on all hands, that we are baptized into a Renovation of some Divine Birth that we had lost? And, that we may not be at a loss to know what that Divine Birth is, the Form in Baptism openly declares to us, that it is to regain that first Birth of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in our Souls, which at the first made us to be truly and really Images of the Nature of the Holy Trinity in Unity. The Form in Baptism is but very imperfectly apprehended, till it is understood to have this great Meaning in it. And it must be owned, that the Scriptures tend wholly to guide us to this understanding of it. For since they teach us, a Birth of God, a Birth of the Spirit, that we must obtain, and that Baptism, the appointed Sacrament of this New Birth, is to be done into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, can there be any doubt, that this Sacrament is to signify the Renovation of the Birth of the Holy Trinity in our Souls? And that therefore this was the holy Image born or created at first, when God said, "Let us make Man in our Image, after our own Likeness," that is, so make him, that we may see ourselves, our own Nature in him, in a creaturely Manner.

[Reg-62] What an harmonious Agreement does there thus appear, between our Creation and Redemption? and how finely, how surprisingly do our first and our second Birth answer to, and illustrate one another?

[Reg-63] At our first Birth it is said thus, "Let us make Man in our Image, after our own Likeness", when the Divine Birth was lost, and Man was to receive it again, it is said, "Be thou baptized into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost": which is saying, Let the Divine Birth, be brought forth again in thee, or be thou born again such an Image of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as thou wast at first.

[Reg-64] These Considerations all taken from the plain Words, and acknowledged Doctrines of Scripture, do, I think, sufficiently declare and prove to us, these great Truths of the last Importance, namely, that the Image in which Man was created, was such, as in which, the Holy Trinity saw itself, or its own Nature in a creaturely Manner, in which the Father's Nature generated the Nature of the Son, and the Holy Ghost proceeded from them both, as the amiable moving Life of both.

[Reg-65] That by Adam's Sin, this holy Image of the Holy Trinity was broken, and in such a Manner, that the Birth of the Son of God, and of the Holy Spirit, was no more in it, and that therefore in a stupendous Mystery of Love, the Son of God united himself to our fallen Nature, to recover, and restore to it, all that it had lost, and in such a Manner, that it might never be lost again to all Eternity.

[Reg-66] As soon as it is observed and known, that our Fall consisted in the losing of the Birth of the Son of God in our Soul, and consequently the proceeding forth of the Holy Spirit in it, there appears a surprising Agreeableness and Fitness, in the Means of our Redemption, namely, that we could only be saved by the eternal Son of God; that he only could save us, by taking our Nature upon him, and so uniting it with him, that his Life, or Birth might again arise in us, as at the first, and so we become again a perfect living Image of the Holy Trinity.

[Reg-67] (17.) Now the Reason why I have gone thus far in inquiring into the Dignity of Man’s original State, and searched thus deep into his lamentable Fall, is this, to point out to the Reader the true Nature of the Christian Religion, and the infinite Importance of it; which Religion is administered by God, as our only Relief from our sad Condition; and that he may at one View see the Height and Depth of Divine Love, which has had so great Care of Mankind.



[Reg-71] (18.) The Condition in which I have represented our Soul to be by the Fall, a mere dark Fire-breath, of an hellish Nature, showing itself in every Man more or less by its Fruits, by such Eruptions and Breakings forth of dark Passions, but hiding itself under an outward Appearance of Good, and a feigned Civility or Rectitude of Manners, is what every Man must be forced to own to be more or less in himself.

[Reg-72] For this is the State of every Man’s Soul, because it has lost the Birth of the Son of God in it, and so is only as a strong Root of a fiery Life, unenlightened, and unblessed by that holy Word, which is the Brightness of the Father’s Glory.

[Reg-73] This dark Root of a fiery, self-tormenting Life, which is the whole Nature of the fallen Soul, destitute of the Birth of the Son of God in it, is a Life that subsists in four Elements, as the Life of this World hath its four Elements.

[Reg-74] Now the four Elements of this dark, fiery Soul, or fallen Nature, are, (1.) A restless Selfishness; (2.) A restless Envy; (3.) A restless Pride; and, (4.) A restless Wrath or Anger. I call them the Elements of the fallen Soul, because they are that to it, which the four Elements of this World are to the Life of the Body.

[Reg-75] Now these four Elements which nourish and keep up the Life of the fallen Soul, are also the four Elements of Hell, in which the Devils dwell; they can no more depart from, or exist out of these Elements, than an earthly Life can depart from, or exist without the four Elements of this World, Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.

[Reg-76] Now, as the Soul, by the losing of the Birth of the Son of God in it, is become an aching dark Root of Fire, that has this restless Selfishness, restless Envy, restless Pride, and restless Wrath in it, which are the four Elements of Hell; so by its being in these, or having them in it, it is come to pass, that evil Spirits have such Communion with it, and so great Power over it.

[Reg-77] Every stirring of the Soul in the Element of Pride, is a moving in the Devil’s Element, where he is, and has Power to join and act with it; every Motion in the Element of Envy or Wrath, is so far empowering him to enter into the Breath of our Life, and settle his fiery Kingdom in us.

[Reg-78] And thus in every one of these four Elements, so far as we willingly are in their Sphere of Activity, and act and stir according to them, so far we become Members of the Devil’s Kingdom, and have him for our Leader, and Guide. How watchful therefore ought we to be of our Hearts, how fearful of consenting to, or not enough resisting every Motion of these Elements within us, since every voluntary yielding to them, is opening the Kingdom of Darkness in our Souls, and giving the Devil Power to infuse his wretched Nature into us. And we have still further Reason for this Fear and Watchfulness, if it be considered, that as no one of the Elements of this outward World could be, or subsist, if the other three were not, because they are the mutual Cause of one another; so it is in these other Elements, if we live in one, we live in all; Selfishness cannot be, or subsist without Envy, nor Pride without Wrath and Selfishness, nor any one of the four, without carrying the other three in its Bosom; therefore we must have the same Fear of any one, as of them all, for the Name of every one is Legion.



[Reg-91] The Reason why we know so little of Jesus Christ, as our Saviour, Atonement, and Justification, why we are so destitute of that Faith in him, which alone can change, rectify, and redeem our Souls, why we live starving in the Coldness and Deadness of a formal, historical, hearsay-Religion, is this; we are Strangers to our own inward Misery and Wants, we know not that we lie in the Jaws of Death and Hell; we keep all things quiet within us, partly by outward Forms, and Modes of Religion and Morality, and partly by the Comforts, Cares and Delights of this World. Hence it is that we consent to receive a Saviour, as we consent to admit of the Four Gospels, because only Four are received by the Church. We believe in a Saviour, not because we feel an absolute want of one, but because we have been told there is one, and that it would be a Rebellion against God to reject him. We believe in Christ as our Atonement, just as we believe, that he cast seven Devils out of Mary Magdalene, and so are no more helped, delivered, and justified by believing that he is our Atonement, than by believing that he cured Mary Magdalene.

[Reg-92] True Faith, is a coming to Jesus Christ to be saved, and delivered from a sinful Nature, as the Canaanitish Woman came to him, and would not be denied. It is a Faith of Love, a Faith of Hunger, a Faith of Thirst, a Faith of Certainty and firm Assurance, that in Love and Longing, and Hunger, and Thirst, and full Assurance, will lay hold on Christ, as its loving, assured, certain and infallible Saviour and Atonement.

[Reg-93] It is this Faith, that breaks off all the Bars and Chains of Death and Hell in the Soul; it is to this Faith, that Christ always says, what he said in the Gospel, "Thy Faith hath saved thee, thy Sins are forgiven thee; go in Peace." Nothing can be denied to this Faith; all things are possible to it; and he that thus seeks Christ, must find him to be his Salvation.

[Reg-94] On the other hand, all things will be dull and heavy, difficult and impossible to us, we shall toil all the Night and take nothing, we shall be tired with resisting Temptations, grow old and stiff in our Sins and Infirmities, if we do not with a strong, full, loving, and joyful Assurance, seek and come to Christ for every Kind, and Degree of Strength, Salvation and Redemption. We must come unto Christ, as the Blind, the Sick, and the Leprous came to him, expecting all from him, and nothing from themselves. When we have this Faith, then it is, that Christ can do all his mighty Works in us.

[Reg-95] (21.) From the foregoing Account anyone may be supposed already to see the Nature and Necessity of Regeneration, or the New Birth. It is as necessary as our Salvation. By our Fall, our Soul has lost the Birth of the Son of God in it; by this Loss it is become a dark, wrathful, self-tormenting Root of Fire, shut up in the four hellish Elements of Selfishness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath; considered as a fallen Soul, it cannot stir one Step, or exert one Motion but in, and according to these Elements; therefore it is as necessary to have this Nature itself changed, and to be born again from above, as it is necessary to be delivered from Hell, and eternal Death.

[Reg-96] For these Elements are Hell, and eternal Death itself, and not without, or standing at a distance from us, but Hell and Death springing up in the Forms, and Essences of our fallen Nature; they are the Serpent that is in us, and constitute that gnawing Worm which never dieth; for they mutually beget, and mutually torment each other, and so constitute a Worm, or worming Pain, that never dieth.

[Reg-97] Now as this Hell, Serpent, Worm, and Death, are all within us, rising up in the Forms and Essences of our fallen Soul; so our Redeemer, or Regenerator, whatever it be, must be also equally within us, and spring up from as great a Depth in our Nature. Now the Scripture sufficiently tells us, that it is only the promised Seed of the Woman, the eternal Word, or Son of God made Man, that can bruise this Head, or kill this Life of the Serpent in us; therefore this Seed of the Woman must have its Dwelling in the Ground and Essence of our Nature, because the Serpent is there, that a new Life or a new Nature may arise from this Seed within us; and therefore it is plain, that Regeneration, or the New Birth, is, and can be no other thing, but the recovering of the Birth of the Son of God in the fallen Soul.

[Reg-98] And this is what the Scripture means by the Necessity of our being born of God, born again from above, born of the Spirit. Hence also we see in the clearest Light, the Meaning of all those Passages of Scripture, where we are said to be in Christ, that Christ is in us;—that he must put on Christ;—that he must be formed in us;—that he is our Life;—that we must eat his Flesh and drink his Blood;—that he is our Atonement, that his Blood alone cleanseth us from all our Sins; that we have Life from him, as the Branches have Life from the Vine;—that he is our Justification, or Righteousness; that in him we are created again to good Works; that without him we can do nothing, and have no Life in us: All these, I say, and the like Sayings of Scripture, have a wonderful Congruity and Plainness in them, and fill the Mind with the most excellent and solid Truths, as soon as it is known, that Regeneration is absolutely necessary, and that this Regeneration signifies, the recovering of the Birth of the Son of God in the Soul.

[Reg-99] (22.) And as it does this Justice to so great and concerning a Part of Scripture, so it sets the whole Scheme of the Christian Salvation in the most agreeable and engaging Light, and such as is enough even to compel everyone, to embrace it with the utmost Earnestness. The Mystery of this Salvation is still preserved, and yet hereby so unfolded, that every Man has as much Reason to desire to be born again, and to believe that the Son of God can only bring forth this Birth in him, as to believe that God made him, and can alone make him happy.

[Reg-100] A Mediator, an Atonement, Regenerator, thus understood, must be as agreeable and desirable to every human Mind, and as much according to his own Wishes, as to be delivered from the Uneasiness and Disquiets of a Nature, which he finds himself not Master of, nor able to fix it in a State of better Enjoyment.

[Reg-101] What is it that any thoughtful, serious Man could wish for, but to have a new Heart, and a new Spirit, free from the hellish, self-tormenting Elements of Selfishness, Envy, Pride, and Wrath? His own Experience has shown him, that nothing human can do this for him; can take away the Root of Evil that is in him; and it is so natural to him to think, that God alone can do it, that he has often been tempted to accuse God, for suffering it to be so with him.

[Reg-102] Therefore to have the Son of God come from Heaven to redeem him by a Birth of his own Divine Nature in him, must be a way of Salvation, highly suited to his own Sense, Wants and Experience; because he finds, that his Evil lies deep in the very Essence and Forms of his Nature, and therefore can only be removed by the arising of a New Birth, or Life in the first Essences of it.

[Reg-103] Therefore an inward Saviour, a Saviour, that is God himself, raising his own Divine Birth in the fallen Soul, has such an Agreeableness and Fitness in it, to do for him all that he wants, as must make every sober Man, with open Arms, ready and willing to receive such a Salvation.

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