19. Chapter VI.

Chapter VI. The manner of conversion explained in the instance of Augustine. 700 The outward means and manner of conversion to God, or regeneration, along with the degrees of spiritual operations on the minds of men and their effects, is exemplified in the conversion of Augustine, as the account is given of it by himself.

Among all the doctrines of the gospel, there is none opposed with more violence and subtlety than the doctrine concerning our regeneration by the immediate, powerful, effectual operation of the Holy Spirit of grace. So too, there is scarcely anything that is not more despised or scorned by many in the world, than for someone to profess that there has been such a work of God upon themselves; or on any occasion to declare anything about the way and manner by which it was worked. The very mention of it has led to derision by some who call themselves Christians. To plead an interest or a concern in this grace, is to forfeit a man’s whole reputation with many of those who would be thought wise, and boast that they are rational. Nor is this practice something that has begun recently, in these declining times of the world. Rather, it seems to have been started and followed from days of old — possibly from the beginning.

Indeed, the enmity of Cain against Abel was only a branch of this proud and perverse inclination. The instance of Ishmael in the Scripture is representative of all those who, under an outward profession of the true religion, did or do scoff at those like Isaac, who being children of the promise, profess and evidence an interest in the internal power of regeneration, which these scoffers are unacquainted with. And the same practice may be traced in succeeding ages.

Hence, holy Austin, entering upon the confession of his greater sins, and designing thereby to magnify the glory and efficacy of the grace of God in his conversion, makes provision against this scorn of men, which he knew he would meet with. — "Let arrogant men deride or scorn me, who were never savingly thrown down nor broken in pieces by you, my God, yet I will (rather, let me) confess my own shame, to your praise." 701 Let none be offended by these expressions, of being "savingly or wholesomely cast down and broken by God;" for in the judgment of this great person, they are not fanatical. We may not therefore think it strange if the same truth, and the same practice and profession of it, still meet with the same response. Let them deride and scorn it, who were never humbled savingly, nor broken with a sense of their sin, nor relieved by grace; the holy work of God’s Spirit is to be owned, and the truth is to be avowed, as it is in Jesus.

We have treated the original depravation of our nature as far as needed for our present purpose. Yet some things must be added concerning the effects of that depravation, which will conduce to the right understanding of the way and manner by which the Spirit of God proceeds for healing and removing it, which we now have under special consideration. And we may observe —

First, That the corrupt principle of sin, the native habitual inclination to evil that is in us, works early in our natures; and for the most part, it prevents all the actings of grace in us. Though some may be sanctified in or from the womb, yet in order of nature, this native corruption has first place in them. For a clean thing cannot be brought out of an unclean thing, but "that which is born of the flesh is flesh." John 3:6 "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies," Psalms 58:3. It is to no purpose to say that he speaks only of wicked men here — that is, of those who are habitually and profligately wicked — for whatever any man may afterward run into by a course of sin, all men are morally alike from the womb. It is an aggravation of the wickedness of men that it begins so early, and holds an uninterrupted course.

Children are not able to speak from the womb, or as soon as they are born; yet here they are said to speak lies. It is therefore the perverse acting of depraved nature in infancy that is meant; for everything that is irregular, that does not correspond to the law of our creation and the rule of our obedience, is a lie. And among the many instances collected by Austin of such irregular actings of nature in its infant state, one is particularly remarkable.702

Then, little by little, I realized where I was and wished to tell my wishes to those who might satisfy them, but I could not! For my wants were inside me, and they were outside, and they could not by any power of theirs come into my soul. And so I would fling my arms and legs about and cry, making the few and feeble gestures that I could, though indeed the signs were not much like what I inwardly desired; and when I was not satisfied – either from not being understood or because what I got was not good for me – I grew indignant that my elders were not subject to me, and that those on whom I actually had no claim did not wait on me as slaves – and I avenged myself on them by crying.

He repeats this in chapter 7. Nor was it good, even in that time, to strive to get by crying what, if it had been given me, would have been hurtful; or to be bitterly indignant at those who, because they were older and wiser than I – not slaves, either, but free – would not indulge my capricious desires. Was it a good thing for me to try, by struggling as hard as I could, to harm them for not obeying me, even when it would have done me harm to have been obeyed? Thus, the infant’s innocence lies in the weakness of his body and not in the infant mind.

Those irregular and perverse agitations of mind and of the will or appetite, which appear in infants, are not yet under the conduct of reason. Indignation and little self-revenges accompany them in their disappointments, when all those about them do not subject themselves to their inclinations, for it may be to their hurt. All these are from the obliquity of our nature, and the effects of that depraved habit of sin with which it is wholly possessed. By the frequency of these lesser actings, the mind and will are prepared for those more violent and impetuous motions which they are exposed to and filled with, by improving their natural capacities, and by the incitement of new objects that are presented to their corruptions. God did not originally create our nature this way — it is a condition worse than and inferior to that of other creatures, in whose young ones there are none of these disorders; rather, a regular compliance with their natural instinct prevails in them. The dying of multitudes of infants, notwithstanding the utmost care for their preservation — because the young ones of other creatures all generally live if they have that by which their nature may be sustained — argues for the imputation of sin to them. "For death entered by sin, and passed upon all, for all have sinned" Romans 5:12 — so those irregular actings, particular to them, prove the inherent sin in them, or the corruption of their nature from the moment of their conceptions.

Secondly, With the growth of our natural faculties, and the strengthening of the members of our bodies, which by nature have become ready "instruments of unrighteousness to sin," Romans 6:13, this perverse principle acts with even more evidence, frequency, and success in the production of actual sin, or in the inordinate actings of the mind, will, and affections. So the wise man tells us that "childhood and youth are vanity," Ecclesiastes 11:10. The mind of man, in the state of childhood and youth, exerts itself in all kinds of vain actings, in foolish imaginations, perverse and froward appetites, falseness in words, with tangible effects of corrupt inclinations in every kind.

Austin’s first book of Confessions is an excellent comment on that text, in which the "vanity of childhood and youth" are graphically described, with passionate self-reflecting complaints concerning the guilt of sin which is contracted in them. Some perhaps may think lightly about those ways of folly and vanity in which childhood consumes itself, or would if left alone; they may think there is no moral evil in such childish innocence. That good man was of another mind. Is this the innocence of childhood? It is not, O Lord, it is not. I entreat your mercy, O my God, for these same sins as we grow older are transferred from tutors and masters; they pass from nuts and balls and sparrows, to magistrates and kings, to gold and lands and slaves, just as the rod is succeeded by more severe chastisements." 703 This is not innocence; it is not so. The same principle and habit of mind, carried over to riper age and greater occasions, bring forth those greater sins which the lives of men are filled with in this world. And who is there that has a serious reverence for God, with any due apprehension of His holiness and a clear conviction of the nature of sin, who is not able to recall such actions in childhood which most think fit to wink at, in which they may remember that perversity of which they are now ashamed? By this means, the heart is prepared for a further obduration704 in sin by the confirmation of its native obstinacy.

Thirdly, From those more general irregularities, actual sins follow —I mean, those which are against the remaining light of nature, or committed in rebellion to the dictates and guidance of our minds and consciences — in rebellion to the influence of those intelligences of moral good and evil which are inseparable from the faculties of our souls. For although they may be stifled and overcome in some, yet they can never be utterly obliterated or extinguished, but will accompany the nature of man to eternity, even in that condition in which they will be of no other use than to add to and increase its misery.

Among those, we may recall one or two instances. Lying is such a sin by which the depravation of nature in youth is prone to exert itself; and that is done for various reasons, not to be inquired into now: "They go astray from the womb, speaking lies." The first inducement of our nature to sin was by a lie, and we fell in Adam by giving it credit; in every sin there is a particular lie. But speaking falsely, contrary to what they know to be true, is what children are prone to — though some moreso than others, according to other vicious habits that prevail in them. They foolishly think to thatch over and cover the actings of these habits by lying. That holy person whom we instance, acknowledges and bewails this in himself:

"I did not see (O God) into what a gulf of filth I was cast out from before you. For what was more filthy than I was, while out of a love for plays, and a desire for looking after vanities, I deceived teachers and parents with countless lies?" 705 And the good man was afterward exceedingly humbled for this, and learned much of the vileness of his own nature from it. And we find by experience that a sense of this sin often accompanies the first real convictions that befall the souls of men. For when they seriously reflect upon themselves, or view themselves in the mirror of the law, they are not only made aware of the nature of this sin, but also how much they indulged in it. This is partly because they remember how the least occasion surprised them into it, and yet they neglected to watch against it; and partly in their understanding of how sometimes they made it their business, by premeditated falsehoods, to cover other sins so as to escape rebuke and correction. The mention of these things will probably be received with contempt and scorn in this age, in which the most prodigious wickednesses of men are made sport of. But God in his holiness and his truth are still the same, whatever alterations there may be in the world. And the holy psalmist seems to have reflected on this vice of youth, when he prays that God would take from him the "way of lying." Of the same nature are those lesser thefts, in stealing from their parents and governors those things which they are not allowed to take and make use of for themselves: "They rob their father or mother, and say, It is not a transgression," Proverbs 28:24. So Austin says he sometimes stole from his parents, either to gratify his own sensual appetite, or to give to his companions.706 In such instances original depravity exerts itself in youth or childhood, and thereby it both increases its own power and fortifies the mind and affections against the light and efficacy of conviction.

Fourthly, As men grow up in the state of nature, sin gains ground in them and upon them, subjectively and objectively. Concupiscence707 gains strength with age, and grows in force as persons become able to exercise it; the instruments of it in the faculties of the soul, the organs of the senses, and the members of the body, grow more serviceable for it every day, and more apt to receive impressions from it or to comply with its motions. Hence some charge the sins of youth on the heat of blood and the restlessness of the animal spirits, which prompt men to irregularities and extravagances; — but these are only vehicula concupiscentiæ,708 things which it makes use of to exert its poison. For sin turns everything in this state to its own advantage, and it abuses even "the commandment" itself, to "work in us all manner of concupiscence,"709 Romans 7:8.

Again, the objects of lust, by the occasions of life, are now multiplied. Temptations increase with years and the business of the world, but especially by that corruption of conduct which is among most men. Hence, in this part of their youth, one way or another, various persons are overtaken with some gross actual sin or sins. That everyone is not, is a mere effect of preventing grace, and not at all from themselves. The apostle refers to this in his charge to Timothy, 2 Timothy 2:22, "Flee youthful lusts" — those lusts which work effectively and prevail mightily in those who are young, if they are not subdued by the grace of God. David, from his sense and experience of this, prays that God would not remember "the sins of his youth," Psalms 25:7. And reflecting on them is sometimes the torment of age, Job 20.11.710 So it was in Austin,711 the one in whom we have chosen to exemplify the instances of such a course. He humbly confesses to God his falling into and being overtaken with great sins in his younger days, such as fornication and uncleanness; he was long detained in the mire of these. To this purpose, he discourses at large about them in book 2, chapters 1-3. And he gives this holy account of the reason for this humble and public acknowledgment:

"I declare these things, O my God, not to you, but before you" (or in your presence), "to my own race, to human kind, to whatever portion of them may fall upon these writings of mine. And to what end? Namely, that I and everyone who reads these things may consider out of what great depths we are to cry unto you." 712 So said the one who did not live to see the days in which a humble confession of sin was made a matter of contempt and scorn.

Now, there is commonly a twofold event of men’s falling under the power of temptations, and thereby into great actual sins:

1. God sometimes uses their occasion to awaken men’s consciences to a deep sense not only of that sin in particular whose guilt they have contracted, but of their other sins also. The great Physician of their souls turns this poison into a medicine, and makes that wound which they have given themselves, to lance a festered sore. For because their oscitancy,713 prejudices, and custom of sinning have taken away their sense of lesser sins, and these secure them from reflecting on them, the strike on their consciences from those greater provocations, pierces so deep that they are forced to entertain thoughts of looking for a release or remedy. So those of old did at Peter’s sermon when he charged them with the guilt of consenting to the crucifying of Jesus Christ: "They were pricked in their heart, and said, Men and brethren, what will we do?" Acts 2:36-37.

2. With others it proves a violent entrance into a further pursuit of sin. The bounds of restraints, with the influence of natural light, having been broken up and rejected, and men’s lusts being let loose, they break through all remaining obstacles, and run out into the greatest compass of excess and riot. Observing no present evil ensuing from what they have done, as they first feared it would, they are emboldened to greater wickedness, Ecc 8.11.714 And by this means, their conversion to God is rendered more difficult; men thus wander away more and more from him to the greatest distance that is recoverable by grace;715 for —

Fifthly, With many, a course and custom of sinning ensues upon this. The apostle speaks of such men in Ephesians 4:18-19, "Being past feeling, they have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." A custom of sinning takes away the sense of it; the course of the world takes away the shame of it; and love for it makes men greedy in the pursuit of it. See Confess. lib. 2. cap. 6. And this last effect of sin, as incited, provoked, and assisted by temptations, has great variety in its effects and degrees. From this come the various courses of unhumbled sinners in the world, in which the outrage and excess of some seems to justify others in their more sedate irregularities and less conspicuous provocations. Indeed, some who are not in any better state and condition than others are, as to their interest in the covenant of God, will not only startle at, but really abhor those outrages of sin and wickedness which they fall into. Now, this difference does not arise from this: that the nature of all men is not equally corrupt and depraved; but it arises from the fact that God is pleased to make his restraining grace effectual only towards some. He keeps them within those bounds of sinning which they will not go past; and he permits others to fall under a conjunction of their lusts and temptations, such that they proceed to all manner of evil.

Moreover, for some there are particular inclinations to some sins; if these are not inlaid in them, they are greatly enhanced and made liable to incitement by bodily passions. Some are more exposed to temptations in the world from their outward circumstances and occasions of life. Some are even precipitated to all manner of evil by this. But still "the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts," is the same naturally in all. All differences as to good from evil is from the will of God — I do not mean as to the nature of the things themselves, but as to men’s interest in them, so as to adhere to the one and avoid the other. Thus God secretly prepares for some a more temperate nature; they are docile and pliable to take notice of things that may entertain their minds, and satisfy them above sensual delights. And some he disposes, in their education, callings, societies, aims, and designs in the world, into ways that are inconsistent with open lewdness, ways that will greatly balance their inclinations. And this is besides his secret internal actings on their hearts and minds; more about this later. This is excellently expressed by Austin —

"I will love you, O Lord, and thank you, and confess to your name, because you have forgiven me my evil and nefarious deeds. I impute it to your grace and mercy that you have made my sins melt away like ice; and I impute it to your grace as to all the evils which I have not done; for what could I not have done, who loved wickedness for itself? All that I acknowledge are forgiven me, both the evils that I have done of my own accord, and what through your guidance I have not done. Who is there who, considering his own weakness, dares to ascribe his chastity or innocence to his own strength, that he may less love you, as though your mercy were less necessary to him, by which you forgive the sins of those who are converted to you. For let not the one who, being called by you and having heard your voice, has thereby avoided the evils which I have confessed, deride me who, being sick, was healed by that same physician from whom he received the mercy not to be sick, or not to be as sick. [And therefore let him love you all the more, as he sees himself prevented from having fallen into the great maladies of sin, through that God by whom he sees me delivered from the great maladies of the sin into which I had actually fallen.]"716 This brief account of the actings of corrupted nature, coming to the limit of a recoverable alienation from God, may somewhat illustrate and set off the work of his grace towards us. And thus far, whatever habit is contracted in a course of sin, the state of men is still absolutely recoverable by the grace of Jesus Christ administered in the gospel, 1Cor 6.9-11.717 No state of sin is absolutely unhealable until God has variously dealt with men by his Spirit. His word must be rejected and he must be sinned against in a singular manner, before remission is impossible. All sins and blasphemies antecedent to that may be forgiven men, and that is done before their conversion to God, Matthew 12:31-32; Luke 12.10.718 Therefore the manner and degrees of the operations of this Spirit of God on the minds of men, towards and in their conversion, is what we will now inquire into, reducing what we have to offer concerning it, to certain heads or instances:

First, Under the ashes of our collapsed nature there yet remain certain sparks of celestial fire, consisting in inbred notices of good and evil, of rewards and punishments, of the presence and all-seeing eye of God, of help and assistance to be had from him, with a dread of his excellencies where anything is apprehended that is unworthy of Him or provoking to Him. And where there are any means of instruction from supernatural revelation, by the preaching of the word or from the care of parents in private, these notices are intangibly improved and increased by them. Hereby men obtain an objective, distinct knowledge of what they subjectively and radically had before, though very imperfectly. Therefore God often excites and quickens these notices, even in those who are young, so they will work in them some real regard for and appeals to Him. And those great workings about the things of God, and towards him, which are sometimes found in children, are not mere effects of nature — for that nature would not act this way if it were not effectively excited, by one occasion or other, for that end administered by the providence of God. Many can recall such divine visitations in their youth, which they now understand were so. Austin speaks to this purpose:719

"Thus as a boy I began to pray to you, my Help and my Refuge, and, in calling on you, broke the bands of my tongue. Small as I was, I prayed with no slight earnestness that I might not be beaten at school."

He prayed earnestly to God as a refuge, when he was afraid to be beaten at school. And he resolves this into instruction, or what he had observed in others:

"I observed men praying to you, and I learned from them to conceive of you – after my capacity for understanding as it was then – to be some great Being who, though not visible to our senses, was able to hear and help us." And to this he adds, in chapter 11, some general instruction which he had from the word. And from the same principles, when he was surprised a little later with a fit of sickness, he cried out with all earnestness to be baptized, so that he might (as he thought) go to heaven; for his father was not yet a Christian, which is why he was not baptized in his infancy. Such affections and occasional actings of the soul towards God, are worked in many by the Spirit. With most, they wear off and perish, as they did with him. For after this, he threw himself into many flagitious sins.720 But in some, in and by the use of these means, God inlays their hearts with those seeds of faith and grace which he gradually cherishes and increases.

Secondly, God works on men by his Spirit in outward means, to cause them to take some real and steady consideration of him, of their own distance from him, and their obnoxiousness to his righteousness on account of sin. It is almost incredible to apprehend, but it is attested to by daily experience, how men will live even where the word is read and preached; how they will get a form of speaking about God, and indeed of performing some duties of religion, and yet never come to have any steady thoughts of God, or of their relation to him, or of their concern in his will. Whatever they speak about God, "he is not in all their thoughts," Psalms 10:4. Whatever they do in religion, they do not do it to him, Amos 5:25. They have "neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape," John 5:37; they know nothing for themselves, which is their duty, Job 5:27. And yet it is hard to convince them that this is their condition. But when God is pleased to carry on his work of light and grace in them, they can call to mind and understand how it was with them in their former darkness. They will then acknowledge that in truth they never had serious, steady thoughts of God, but only occasional and transient ones. Therefore God begins here with them. And thereby he brings them out from under the absolute power of the vanity of their minds. By one means or other, He fixes steady thoughts in them concerning himself, and their relation to him. And there are several ways in which he proceeds to effect this; such as —

1. By some sudden awful judgments, by which he "reveals his wrath from heaven against the ungodliness of men," Romans 1:18. This is how Waldo721 was affected when his companion was struck dead as he walked with him in the fields; this proved to be the occasion for his conversion to God. So the psalmist describes the affections and thoughts of men when they are surprised by a storm at sea, Psalms 107:25-28. We have an instance of this in the mariners of Jonah’s ship, Jonah 1:4-7; and that of Pharaoh who despised the Lord one day, saying, "Who is the Lord, that I should regard him?" The next day, terrified by thunder and lightning, he cries out, "Entreat the Lord for me that there may be no more of this," Exodus 9:28. And most men, at one time or other, have experienced such impressions from divine power.

2. By personal afflictions, Job 33:19-20; Psalms 78:34-35; Hosea 5:15. Affliction naturally indicates anger, and anger respects sin. It indicates it is God’s messenger to call sin to remembrance, 1Kng 17.18; Genesis 42:21-22. The time of affliction is a time of consideration, Ecclesiastes 7:14; and if men are not obdurate and hardened almost to practical atheism by a course of sinning, they cannot help but think to themselves who it is that sends affliction, and for what end it is sent. Hence great thoughts of the holiness of God and of his hatred of sin will arise, with some sense of a man’s own guilt and special crimes; and these effects many times prove preparatory and materially dispositive to conversion. It is not what these things are able to operate in themselves that is to be considered, but what they are designed for, and made effectual for, by the Holy Ghost.

3. By remarkable deliverances and mercies: so it was with Naaman the Syrian, 2Kng 5.15-17.722 Sudden changes from great dangers and distresses by unexpected reliefs deeply affect the minds of men, convincing them of the power, presence, and goodness of God; and this produces a sense and acknowledgment of their own unworthiness of what they have received. From this will also proceed some temporary effects of submission to the divine will, and gratitude.

4. An observation of the conduct of others has affected many to seek into the causes and ends of it; and this inclines them to imitation, 1Pet 3.1-2.723

5. The word, in the reading or preaching of it, is the principal means of this. The Holy Spirit employs and makes use of this in his entrance into this work, 1Cor 14.24-25;724 for those convictions do not befall men from the word universally or promiscuously, but only as the Holy Spirit wills and designs. It is by the law that men have the knowledge of sin, Romans 7:7. And yet we see by experience that the doctrine of the law is despised by most who hear it. This is why it does not have a force or virtue in itself to always work conviction of sin in those to whom it is outwardly proposed; only towards some whom the Spirit of God is pleased to put forth a special energy in the dispensation of this word. By these and like means God often brings the wildness of corrupted nature to a standstill, and stirs up the faculties of the soul by an effectual (though not saving) impression on them, to seriously consider the soul, and its relation to God and his will. And hereby men are often incited and engaged to many duties of religion, such as prayer for the pardon of sin, with resolutions to amend their life. And although these things are subordinated in some to a further and more effectual work of the Spirit of God upon them, yet with many they prove evanid725 and fading; the goodness in them is "like a morning cloud, and like the early dew which passes away," Hosea 6:4. And the reasons why men disregard these warnings of God, and pursue their own intentions despite them, and ignore what they lead to, are obvious; for —

(1.) The darkness of their minds being still uncured, they are not able to discern the true nature of these divine intimations and instructions; and so after awhile they do not regard them; or they reject them as occasions of needless scruples726 and fears.

(2.) Presumption about their present condition, that it is as good or as convenient as it needs to be in their present circumstances and occasions; and this makes them neglect the improvement to be had from these warnings.

(3.) Profane societies and relationships with those who may scoff at and deride all tremblings at divine warnings; or with ignorant ministers who undertake to teach what they have not learned. These are great means of hardening men in their sins, and forfeiting the benefit of these divine intimations.

(4.) They will — as to all their efficacy, and the motions they bring on the affections of men — decay and expire by themselves, if they are not diligently improved. This is why they perish in many: through mere sloth and negligence.

(5.) Satan applies all his engines727 to defeat these beginnings of any good in the souls of men.

(6.) What effectively and utterly overthrows this work, and what causes men to disregard these heavenly warnings, is mere love of lusts and pleasures, or the unconquered adherence of a corrupted heart to sensual and sinful objects which offer present satisfaction for its carnal desires. By these means, this work of the Spirit of God in the hearts and minds of many is utterly defeated. It leads to the increase of their guilt, an addition to their natural hardness, and the ruin of their souls. But in some of them, the Spirit is graciously pleased to renew his work, and to carry it on to perfection by more effectual means, as will be declared afterward.

Now, there is scarcely any of these instances of the care and watchfulness of God over the souls of those whom he designs either to convince or convert for the ends of his own glory, that Austin does not give an account of them in and towards himself. He declares in like manner how, by the ways and means mentioned, these were frustrated, and came to nothing. Such were the warnings which he acknowledged that God gave him by the persuasions and exhortations of his mother, lib. 2. cap. 3; such were those which he had in his own sicknesses, and in the death of his dear friend and companion, lib. 4. cap. 5-7. And in all these several warnings he had from God, he charges the lack and the guilt of their non-improvement on his natural blindness. His mind had not been illuminated, and the corruption of his nature had not yet been cured; and there was the efficacy of the evil society he kept, and the course of the world in the places where he lived. But it would be tedious to transcribe the particular accounts that he gives of these things, though all of them are singularly worthy of consideration. For I must say that, in my judgment, there is none among the ancient or modem divines to this day, who either in the declarations of their own experiences, or in their directions to others, have equalled him in giving an accurate search and observation of all the secret actings of the Spirit of God on the minds and souls of men, both towards and in their recovery or conversion. And to this end, scarcely anyone who was not divinely inspired, has so traced the way of the serpent, or the effectual working of original sin in and on the hearts of men, along with the efficacy communicated to them by various temptations and occasions of life in this world. Also exceedingly revealed to him were the ways by which the deceitfulness of sin — in compliance with objective temptations — seeks to elude and frustrate the work of God’s grace when it begins to tempt the strongholds of sin in the heart. Nor has any man more lively and expressly laid open the power of effectual and victorious grace, with the manner of its operation and prevalence. And he exemplified all these things — by the guidance of the good Spirit of God, and his attendance to the word — from his own experience in the whole work of God towards him. Only, it must be acknowledged that he declares these things in such a way and manner, and also with such expressions, that many in our days would decry it as excessive and fanatical.

Thirdly, In the way to calling men to the saving knowledge of God, the Holy Spirit convinces them of sin, or he brings them under the power of a work of conviction.

It is not my design here, nor on my way, to handle the nature of the work of conviction, the means, causes, and effects of it. Besides, it has been done at large by others.

It is sufficient for my purpose — 1. To show the nature of it in general; 2. The causes of it; 3. The ways by which men lose their convictions, and so become more and more hardened in sin; and 4. How the Holy Spirit carries on the work in some to complete conversion to God:

1. For the nature of conviction in general, it consists in fixing the vain mind of a sinner upon a due consideration of sin, its nature, tendency, and end, with his own concern in this, and fixing a due sense of sin on the secure mind of the sinner, with suitable affections for its apprehension. The warnings insisted on before, by which God excites men to some steady notices of him and of themselves, are like calling to a man who is in a profound sleep. Being startled at the call, he lifts himself up for a moment, but oppressed by the power of his deep slumber, he quickly lays down again, as Austin expresses it. But this work of conviction abides with men, and they are in no way able to speedily disentangle themselves from it.

Now, the mind of man, which is the subject of this work of conviction, has two things to be distinctly considered in it: first, the understanding, which is the active, noetical or contemplative power and faculty of it; second, the affections, in which its passive and sensitive power consists. With respect to this, there are two parts of the work of conviction:

(1.) fixing the mind — the rational, contemplative power of it — on a due consideration of sin;

(2.) fixing a due sense of sin on the practical, passive, sensible part of the mind — that is, on the conscience and affections, as said before:

(1.) It is a great work, to fix the vain mind of unregenerate sinners on a due consideration of sin, as to its nature and tendency. The darkness of their own mind and their inexpressible vanity — which I put as the principal effect of our apostasy from God — disenables, hinders, and diverts them from such apprehensions. This is why God so often complains of the foolishness of the people, that they would not consider their latter end, that they would not be wise so as to consider it. By experience, we find this astonishing folly and vanity in many. No reasons, arguments, entreaties by all that is naturally dear to them, no necessities, can prevail with them to fix their minds on a due consideration of sin. Moreover, Satan now employs all his engines to beat off the efficacy and power of this work. And when his temptations and delusions are mixed with men’s natural darkness and vanity, the mind seems to be impregnably fortified against the power of conviction. For although only real conversion to God overthrows the kingdom of Satan in us, this work of conviction raises such a combustion in it, that Satan must fear it will be its end. And this armed strong man would, if possible, keep his goods and house in peace.Luke 11:21

Hence all sorts of persons daily experience — in their children, servants, and relations — how difficult, indeed how impossible, it is to fix their minds on a due consideration of sin, until it is worked in them by the exceeding greatness of the power of the Spirit of God. Therefore, the first part of this work of conviction consists in this: it fixes the mind on a due consideration of sin. So it is expressed in Psalms 51:3, "My sin is ever before me." God "reproves men," and "sets their sins in order before their eyes," Psa 50.21.728 Hence they are required, as it were, to behold them always, whichever way they turn. They would gladly toss them behind their backs, or throw out any thoughts of them, but the arrows of God stick in them, and they cannot take their minds off their consideration. And this is because there are three things in sin —

1st. The origin of it, and its native inherence in us, as in Psa 51.5;729 2dly. The state of it, or the liability of men to the wrath of God on account of it, Eph 2.1-3;730

3dly. The particular sins of men’s lives; — in the first part of the work of conviction, the minds of men are variously exercised with respect to them, as the Spirit of God is pleased to engage and fix them.

(2.) As the mind is hereby fixed on the consideration of sin, so a sense of sin must also be fixed on the mind — that is, on the conscience and affections. A bare contemplation of the concerns of sin is of little use in this matter. The Scripture principally evidences this work of conviction, or places it in this effect of a sense of sin: in trouble, sorrow, a disquieted mind, fear of ruin and the like (see Acts 2:37; Acts 24:25).731 But I must not enlarge on this.

Here, therefore, is the second thing which we observe in God’s gracious actings towards the recovery of the souls of men from their apostasy and from under the power of sin:

2. The principal efficient cause of this work is the Holy Ghost; the preaching of the word, especially the law, is the instrument which he makes use of in this. The knowledge of sin comes by the law, including the nature, guilt, and curse belonging to it, Rom 7.7.732 There is therefore no conviction of sin except what consists in an emanation of light and knowledge from the doctrine of the law, with an evidence of its power, and a sense of its curse. Other means, such as afflictions, dangers, sicknesses, fears, disappointments, may be used to excite, stir up, and put an edge on the minds and affections of men; yet by one means or other, it is from the law of God that such a revealing of sin is made to them, and such a sense of it is wrought upon them, as belong to this work of conviction. But it is the Spirit of God alone that is the principal efficient cause of it, for he works these effects on the minds of men. God takes it upon himself, as his own work, to "reprove men, and set their sins in order before their eyes," Psalms 50:21. And it is expressly declared that this same work is done immediately by the Spirit, John 16.8.733 He alone makes all means effectual to this end and purpose. Without his special and immediate actings on us to this end, we may hear the law preached all the days of our lives, and yet not once be affected by it. And by the way, it may be worth our observation to consider how God, in his holy, wise providence, and designing the calling or conversion of the souls of men, overrules all their outward concerns, so that they will be disposed into those circumstances which are conducive to that end. Either by their own inclinations and choice, or by intervening accidents that oppose their inclinations and frustrate their designs, he will lead them into such societies, acquaintances, relationships, places, and means, as he has ordained to be useful to them for the great ends of their conviction and conversion. So in particular, Austin abounds in his contemplation on the holy, wise providence of God, in carrying him from Carthage to Rome, and from there to Milan, where he heard Ambrose preach every Lord’s day; at length, this proved to be the means of his thorough conversion to God. And in that whole course, by his discourse on it, he reveals excellently on the one hand, the variety of his own projects and designs, his aims and ends, which were often perverse and froward; and on the other hand, he reveals the constant guidance of divine Providence, working powerfully through all occurrences, towards the blessed end designed for him. I in no way doubt that God exercised Austin to those distinct experiences of sin and grace in his own heart and ways, because He designed him to be the great champion of the doctrine of His grace, against all its enemies. And that was not only in his own age, in which this doctrine met with fierce opposition, but also in all succeeding ages — preserved by his excellent labors for the use of the church:

"You who are my hope [and my portion] in the land of the living, that I might move from one country to another for the salvation of my soul, both applied goads to me at Carthage, by which I might be driven from there, and also proposed allurements to me at Rome, by which I might be drawn there. And you did this by men who love the dead life in sin — here doing outrageous things, there promising things desirable to vain minds — while You, to correct and reform my ways, secretly made use of their frowardness and mine." 734 Confess. cap. 8

3. It must be granted that many on whom this work has been wrought, producing great resolutions to amend and reform their life, lose all the power and efficacy of it, with all the impressions it made on their affections. And some of these grow worse and more profligate in sinning than they ever were before. For having broken down the dam of their restraints, they pour out their lusts like a flood, and are more senseless than ever of those checks and fears with which they were bridled and awed before, 2Pet 2.20-22.735 So Austin declares that after many convictions which he had digested and neglected, he had grown so obdurate and senseless, that falling into a fever, in which he thought he would die and go immediately to hell, he did not have that same endeavor for deliverance and mercy which he had many years before, upon lesser dangers. And this perverse effect is variously brought about:

(1.) With most, it is an immediate product of the power of their own lust. It is especially so with those who receive no gifts with their convictions by the Holy Ghost. For as we observed, their lusts being only checked and controlled, but not subdued, they gain new strength by their restraint, and rebel with success against conviction. Persons like these will suddenly fall away from what they attained, Mat 13.5, 21.736 One day they seem to lie in hell by the terror of their convictions, and the next they seem to be hastening towards it by their sins and pollutions: see Luke 11:24-26; Hos 6.4.737 (2.) This apostasy is promoted and hastened by others; such as —

[1.] Those who undertake to be spiritual guides and instructors of men in their way towards rest, who being unskillful in the word of righteousness, heal their wounds only slightly, or turn them out of the way. Seducers also, it may be, interpose their crafty deceits by which they lie in wait to deceive, and so they turn men off from those good ways of God into which they would otherwise enter. So it fell out with Austin who, beginning somewhat to inquire after God, fell into the society and heresy of the Manichees, which frustrated all the convictions which by any means he had received.

[2.] Those who directly, and perhaps with importunity and violence, endeavor to draw men back into the ways of the world and the pursuit of their lusts, Proverbs 1:11-14. So Austin declares with what earnestness and restless importunities some of his companions endeavored to draw him to the spectacles and plays at Rome. And it is not easily imagined with what subtlety some persons will entice others into sinful courses, nor what forcefulness they use in their temptations, under a pretense of love and friendship.

[3.] The awe put on the minds of men in their convictions, arising from a dread of the terror of the law, and the judgments of God threatened in it, is apt to wear off once the soul is accustomed to it a little, and sees that no evil actually ensues, Ecclesiastes 8:11; 2Pet 3.4.738 In some, the Holy Spirit of God is pleased to carry on this work of conviction towards a further blessed issue; and then two things ensue upon that in the minds of those who are so convicted:

(1.) There will follow great and strange conflicts between their corruptions and their convictions. And this especially manifests itself in those who have been accustomed to a course of sinning, or who have any particular sin in which they delight, and by which they have given satisfaction to their lusts. For the law, coming with power and terror on the conscience, requires a relinquishment of all sins, at the eternal peril of the soul. Sin is hereby incited and provoked,739 and the soul begins to see its disability to oppose what before it thought was absolutely in its own power. For men who indulge themselves in their sins have no doubt that they can leave them at their pleasure; but when they begin to make headway against them upon the command of the law, they find themselves in the power of what they imagined was in theirs. So sin uses the commandment to work all manner of concupiscence in men; and those who previously thought they were alive, find that it is sin which lives, and they themselves are dead, Rom 7.7-9.740 Sin rising up in rebellion against the law, reveals its own power, and the utter impotence of those in whom it is found, to contest with or destroy it.

Yet men’s convictions in this condition reveal themselves; and they operate in two ways, or in a twofold degree:

[1.] They will produce some endeavors and promises to amend and reform their life. These men are unavoidably thrown or worked into pacifying the voice of the law in their consciences, which bids them to do so, or perish. But such endeavors or promises, for the most part, hold only until the next occasion for sinning or temptation. The least outward advantage or provocation, gaining access to the internal power of sin, slights all such resolutions; and the soul surrenders itself to the power of its old ruler. Such effects are described in the word, Hosea 6:4. And so Austin expresses his own experience, after his great convictions and before his full conversion.741

"For this was what I was longing to do; but as yet I was bound by the iron chain of my own will. The enemy held fast my will, and made a chain of it, and bound me tight with it. For out of the perverse will, came lust; and the service of lust ended in habit; and habit, not resisted, became necessity. By these links being forged together, as it were — which is why I called it "a chain" — a hard bondage held me in slavery." And he shows how faint and languid his endeavors were for reformation and amendment:

"Thus with the baggage of the world I was sweetly burdened, as one in slumber, and my musings on You were like the efforts of those who desire to awake, but who are still overpowered with drowsiness and fall back into deep slumber." And he confesses that although, through the urgency of his convictions, he could not but pray that he might be freed from the power of sin; yet, through the prevalence of that power in him, he had a secret reserve and desire not to part with that sin which he prayed against,

"I had entreated chastity of you and had prayed, "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet." For I was afraid lest you should hear me too soon, and too soon cure me of my disease of lust which I desired to have satisfied rather than extinguished."

[2.] These endeavors arise to great perplexities and distresses; for after awhile, the soul of a sinner is torn and divided between the power of corruption and the terror of conviction.742 And this happens on a double account:

1st. Upon some occasional sharpening of former convictions, when the sense of them has been ready to wear off.

2dly. From the secret insinuation of a principle of spiritual life and strength into the will, whose nature and power the soul is as yet unacquainted with.

We have signal instances of both of these in Austin. For after all the means which God had used towards him for his conversion, and while he was yet detained under the power of sin, and ready upon every temptation to revert to his former courses, he occasionally heard one Pontitianus743 giving an account of the conversion of two eminent courtiers, who immediately renounced the world, and took themselves wholly to the service of God. God was pleased to make use of this discourse to further awaken Austin, and even to shock him.744 The substance of what he says is that, in and by that discourse of Pontitianus, God held him to consider himself; he caused Austin to see and behold his own filth and vileness, until he was horribly perplexed and confounded in himself. So it often happens in this work of the Spirit of God. When his first warnings are not complied with, when the light he communicates is not improved, then upon the return of these warnings, they will be mixed with some sense of severity. This effect, I say, proceeds from this: that under this work, God is pleased to secretly communicate a principle of grace or spiritual life to the will. This, therefore, being designed to rule and bear sway in the soul, begins its conflict to effectively eject sin from its throne and dominion. This is because, when we come under the power of grace, sin can no longer have dominion over us, Romans 6:14; so the Spirit begins now to "lust against the flesh," Galatians 5:17, aiming at and intending a complete victory or conquest. There was, upon the bare conviction, a contest before in the soul; but it was merely between the mind and conscience on the one hand, and the will on the other. The will was still absolutely bent on sin; only a little headway was made against its inclinations by the light of the mind before sin, and the rebukes of conscience after it; but the conflict now begins in the will itself. A new principle of grace being infused in the will, it opposes those habitual inclinations to evil which were predominant in it before. This fills the mind with astonishment, and in some it brings them to the very door of despair, because they do not see how or when they will be delivered. So was it with Austin:

"The new will which began to be in me, by which I would love you, O my God, the only certain sweetness, was not yet able to overcome my former will, confirmed by long continuance. So my two wills — the one old, the other new; the one carnal, the other spiritual — conflicted between themselves, and tore my soul by their disagreement.

Then I understood by experience in myself what I had read, how ’the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.’ I was myself on both sides, but more in what I approved of in myself, than in what I condemned in myself. I was not more in what I condemned, because for the most part I allowed it unwillingly, rather than did it willingly."745

He most excellently expresses this conflict between grace and sin in the will in chapters 9-11, delivering those things which are more or less evident in the experience of those who have gone through this work. His fluctuations, his promises, his hopes and fears, the ground he gained and lost, the pangs of conscience and the travail of soul which he underwent in the new birth, are all graphically represented by him. In this tumult and distress of the soul, God often quiets it by some suitable word of truth administered to the soul either in the preaching of the gospel, or by some other means disposed in his providence for the same end. In the midst of this storm and disorder, He comes and says, "Peace, be still;" Mark 4:39 for together with his word, he communicates some influence of his grace that will break the rebellious strength, and subdue the power of sin, and give the mind satisfaction in a full resolution for its everlasting relinquishment. So it was with Austin. When in the condition described, he was hurried up and down almost like a distracted person, while he suffered the terrors of the Lord, sometimes praying, sometimes weeping, sometimes alone, sometimes in the company of his friends, sometimes walking, and sometimes lying on the ground, he was, by an unusual occurrence, warned to take up a book and read. The book next to him was that of Paul’s Epistle. Taking and opening it up, the first place he fixed his eyes upon was Romans 13:13-14, "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts." Immediately upon reading these words, an end was put to his perplexing conflict. He found his whole soul, by the power of almighty grace, subdued wholly to the will of God, and fixed to a prevalent resolution to adhere to God with a relinquishment of sin, and with an assured composure on account of the success he would have in this through Jesus Christ. Immediately he declared what he had done, what had befallen him, first to his friend, and then to his mother; this proved to be the occasion of conversion to the one, and of inexpressible joy to the other. The end of the story deserves to be reported in his own words: 746

"Having read these verses, I would read no more, nor was there any need for me to do so; for at the end of that sentence — as if a light of peace or security had been infused into my heart — all darkness of doubts fled away. Marking the book with my finger in it, or by some other way, I shut it; and with a quiet countenance I declared to Alypius what was done. And upon this he also declared what was at work in him, of which I was ignorant. He desired to see what I had read. When I showed him, he looked further than I had read, nor did I know what followed. But it was this: ’Him that is weak in the faith, receive;’ Romans 14:1 which he applied to himself, and declared it to me. Confirmed by this admonition, with a firm purpose, and suitable to his manners (in which he formerly excelled me greatly), he was joined to me without any turbulent delay. Upon this, we go in to my mother, and declare what was done — she rejoices. We make known the manner of it, how it was done — she exults and triumphs, and blesses you, O God, who are able to do for us more than we know how to ask or understand." Ephesians 3:20 The holy man expresses these things to bear witness, as he says, to "repress the swelling pride of mankind." And in the example of Alypius we have an instance of how variously God is pleased to effect this work in men, carrying some through strong convictions, deep humiliations, great distresses, and perplexing terrors of mind, before they come to peace and rest. He leads others gently and quietly, without any visible disturbances, to the saving knowledge of Himself by Jesus Christ.

(2.) A second thing which befalls men under this work of conviction, is a dread and fear as to their eternal condition. There is an apprehension of that wrath which is due for their sins, and threatened in the curse of the law to be inflicted on them. This fills them with afflicting anxieties of the mind, with dread and terror, consternation, and a humbling of their souls because of it. And what befalls the minds of men on this account is handled by some under the distinct names or titles of "legal sorrow," "servile fear," "attrition of mind," "compunction," "humiliation," and the like. Most of these things have been handled by modern divines. They have been thrown into a certain series and dependence on one another, with a disclosure of their nature and degrees, and how far they are required for sincere conversion and sound believing. So too, all of them are addressed by the schoolmen in their way, as they also were by many of the fathers before them. Therefore, the charge of "novelty" laid by some against the doctrine of these things, arises from an excessive mixture of ignorance and confidence. Therefore, whether all things that are delivered concerning these things is right or not, I am sure enough that the whole doctrine about them, as to its substance, is no newer than the gospel; and I am sure that it has been taught in all ages of the church. I will reduce what is needed to be received concerning conviction, to the ensuing heads:

[1.] Conviction of sin ordinarily comes by the law, either immediately, or by the light and truth derived from it; and so ordinarily accompanying it is a deep sense and apprehension of the eternal danger which the soul is liable to on account of the guilt of the sin of which it is convinced; for the law comes with its whole power upon the mind and conscience. Men may be partial in the law; but the law will not be partial. It not only convinces by its light, but at the same time, it also condemns by its authority; for what the law speaks, "it speaks to those who are under the law." Romans 3:19 It takes men under its power, and then, silencing them under sin, it speaks to them in great severity. This is called the coming of the commandment, and the slaying of a sinner, Rom 7.9.747

[2.] This apprehension will ordinarily ingenerate disquieting and perplexing affections in the minds of men; nor can it be otherwise where it is fixed and prevalent; such as —

1st. Sorrow for and shame about what they have done. Shame was the first thing in which conviction of sin revealed itself, Gen 3.7.748 And sorrow always accompanies it. Hearing these things, "they were pierced with perplexing grief in their heart," Acts 2:37. Their eyes were opened to see the guilt and sense of sin, which pierced them through with dividing sorrow.

2dly. Fear of eternal wrath. This keeps the soul in bondage, Heb 2.15;749 it is accompanied with torment. The person convinced in this way, believes the threatening of the law is true, and trembles at it. We have an eminent instance of it in our first parents, Gen 3.8-10.750

3dly. Perplexing unsatisfactory inquiries after means and ways for deliverance out of this present distress, and from future misery. "What shall we do? What shall we do to be saved?" is the restless inquiry of such persons, Micah 6:6-7; Acts 2:37; Acts 16:30.

[3.] These things will assuredly put the soul to doing many duties, such as prayer for deliverance, abstinence from sin, or endeavors for a general change of life; in all of these and the like, this conviction produces and variously exercises its power.

[4.] We do not ascribe the effects that are meant, to the mere working of the passions of the minds of men upon the rational consideration of their state and condition; and yet these cannot be but grievous and afflictive. These things may be so proposed to men, and so pressed on them, that they will not be able to avoid their consideration and the conclusions which naturally follow from them. Yet they may not be in the least affected by them, as we see by experience. This is why we say, moreover, that the law or its doctrine, when the consciences of men are effectively brought under its power, is accompanied by a secret virtue from God. This is called a "spirit of bondage;" it causes a sense of the curse of the law to make a deep impression on the soul, to fill it with fear and dread, indeed, sometimes with horror and despair. The apostle calls this the "spirit of bondage to fear," Romans 8:15, and he declares at large how all those who are under the law — that is, under its convicting and condemning power — are in bondage; nor does the administration of the law lead to or engender anything but bondage, Gal 4.22-24.751

[5.] The substance of these things is ordinarily found in those who are converted to God when grown in the use of reason, and capable of impressions from external administrations. They are especially evident in the minds and consciences of those who have been engaged in any openly sinful course or practice. Yet no certain rule or measure of them can be prescribed as necessary in or to anyone prior to conversion. To evince the truth of this, two things may be observed:

1st. That anxieties, sorrows, dejections, dread, or fears, are not a duty for anyone; they are only those things which sometimes ensue or are immitted752 into the mind upon that which is an indispensable duty: namely, a conviction of sin. They do not belong to the precept of the law, but to its curse. They are not part of what is required of us, but what is inflicted on us. There is a gospel sorrow and humiliation, after believing, that is a duty; and it is both commanded and has promises annexed to it; but legal sorrow is an effect of the curse of the law, and not of its command.

2dly. God is pleased to exercise a prerogative and sovereignty in this whole matter, and he deals with the souls of men in untold variety.

Some he leads, by the gates of death and hell, to rest in his love — like the people of old were led through the waste and howling wilderness into Canaan. And he makes the paths of others plain and easy for them. Some walk or wander long in darkness; and in the souls of others, Christ is formed in the first gracious visitation.

[6.] There is, as was said, no certain measure or degree of these accidents or consequents of conviction to be prescribed to anyone as antecedently necessary to sincere conversion and sound believing; but these two things in general are certain:

1st. There is such a conviction of sin — that is, such a conviction of a state of sin, of a course of sin, of actual sins, against the light of natural conscience — that the soul is satisfied it is thereby liable to the curse of the law and the wrath of God. This much at least, God concludes and shuts up everyone under sin, on whom he will have mercy; for "every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God," Romans 3:19; Galatians 3:22. Without this conviction, no man ever did, nor ever will, sincerely believe in Jesus Christ; for he calls none to him but those who in some measure are weary or thirsty, or in one way or other seek after deliverance. "The healthy," he tells us — that is, those who so conceive of themselves — "have no need of a physician;" they will neither inquire after him, nor care to go to him when they are invited to do so. See Isa 32.1-3.753

2dly. A due apprehension and resolved judgment that there is no way within the compass of a man’s own contrivance to find out, no ability to make use of and walk in, no other way by God’s appointment or approval, which will deliver the soul in or from its state and condition and from what it fears, except what is proposed in the gospel by Jesus Christ.

[7.] Where these things exist, the duty of a convinced person is —

1st, To inquire after and receive the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the righteousness of God in him, John 1:12. And in order to do this, he ought to —

(1st.) Own up to the sentence of the law under which he suffers, thus justifying God in his righteousness, and the law in its holiness, whatever the result of this dispensation may be for himself, Rom 3.19-20, 7.12-13;754 for in this work, God intends to break the stubbornness of men’s hearts, and to hide pride from them, Rom 3.4.755

(2dly.) Not hastily believe everything that proposes itself to him as a remedy or a means of relief, Micah 6:6-7. The things which will present themselves in such a case, as means of relief, are of two sorts:

[1st.] That sort which the fears and superstitions of men have suggested, or will suggest. That which has given rise to all the false religions in the world, is nothing but a contrivance to satisfy men’s consciences under conviction. To pass by Gentilism, this is the very life and soul of Popery.

What is the meaning of the sacrifice of the mass, of purgatory, of pardons, penances, indulgences, abstinences, and countless similar things, if it is not to satisfy conscience of those who are perplexed with a sense of sin? Hence many among them, after great and outrageous wickednesses, take themselves to their highest monastic severity. The life and soul of superstition consists in endeavors to quiet and charm the consciences of men who are convicted of their own sin.

[2dly.] That sort which is pressed with great vehemence and plausibility, as suggested by the law itself, to seek legal righteousness by amending their life, as a way to escape the danger of its sentence. This is the sense of what the law says, as represented to a natural conscience. It proposes itself to the soul not only with great importunity, but with great advantages, to further its acceptance; for —

First, The matter of righteousness is unquestionably necessary; for without it, in its proper place and with respect to its proper end, there is no sincere conversion to God.

Secondly, It is looked at as the sense of the law, or as what will satisfy it. But there is a deceit in all these things as to the proposed end. If any amendment of life is leaned on to that purpose, it will prove to be a broken reed, and it will pierce the hand of the one who rests on it.Isaiah 36:6 For although the law requires an abstinence from sin at all times, and so for the future (in a sinner, this is the amendment of life), it does not propose itself as something that will deliver any soul from the guilt of sin already contracted; and this is the state under consideration. Even if it wins the mind to accept its terms to that end or purpose, it can do no more, nor will it do less, than shut up the person under its curse.

2dly. It is the duty of persons in such a condition to beware of entangling temptations; such as,

(1st.) That they have not attained such a degree of sorrow for sin and humiliation as needed for those who are called to believe in Jesus Christ. There was, indeed, more reason to caution against temptations of this kind in former days, when preachers of the gospel dealt more severely — if not more sincerely — with the consciences of convinced sinners, than it is the manner of most now. But it is still possible that a mistake may lie in this: seeing that no such degrees of these things (as some may be troubled about) are prescribed for any such end, either in the law or in the gospel.

(2dly.) That those who persuade them to believe, do not know how great a sinner they are. Yet they know that Christ called the greatest sinners; and it is an undervaluation of the grace of Christ to suppose that the greatest sins should negate the effects of grace in anyone who sincerely comes to him.

Fourthly, The last thing, by which this work of conversion to God is completed, as to its outward means, is the ingenerating and acting of faith in God by Jesus Christ. This alone remains to be considered, in which all possible brevity and plainness will be employed; and I will comprise what I have to offer on this heading, in the ensuing observations:

1. This is the proper and unique work of the gospel, and it has been so from the first giving of the promise. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," John 1:17; Romans 1:16; 1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18; Eph 3.8-10.756

2. To this purpose it is necessary that the gospel — that is, its doctrine concerning redemption, righteousness, and salvation by Jesus Christ — be declared and made known to convinced sinners. And this is also an effect of sovereign wisdom and grace, Rom 10.13-15.757

3. The declaration of the gospel is accompanied by a revelation of the will of God with respect to the faith and obedience of those to whom it is declared. "This is the work of God" — the work which he requires at our hands — "that we believe on him whom he has sent," John 6:29. And this command of God to sinners, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for life and salvation, the gospel teaches us to press from the manifold aggravations which attend the sin of not complying with it: for as declared in this gospel, it is —

(1.) A rejection of the testimony of God, which he gives to his wisdom, love, and grace, with the excellence and certainty of the way of salvation for sinners by Jesus Christ — which is to make God a liar,1 John 5:10; John 3.33.758

(2.) A contempt for love and grace, along with the way and means of their communication to lost sinners by the blood of the Son of God — which is the highest provocation that can be offered to the divine Majesty.

4. In the declaration of the gospel, the Lord Christ, in a special manner, is proposed as crucified and lifted up for the special object of our faith, John 3:14-15; Gal 3.1.759 And this proposing of Christ includes in it an invitation to all convinced sinners to come to him for life and salvation, Isa 55.1-3, 65.1.760

5. The Lord Christ being proposed to sinners in the gospel, and their accepting or receiving him being urged on them, the end for which he is proposed is also declared. In general, this is to "save them from their sins," Matthew 1:21, or from "the wrath to come," of which they are afraid, 1 Thessalonians 1:10. For the evangelical proposition of Christ includes —

(1.) That there is a way yet remaining for sinners by which they may escape the curse of the law and the wrath of God, which they have deserved, Psalms 130:4; Job 33:24; Acts 4.12.761

(2.) That the foundation of these ways lies in an atonement made by Jesus Christ to the justice of God, and in the satisfaction made to His law for sin, Romans 3:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Gal 3.13.762

(3.) That God is well pleased with this atonement, and His will is that we should accept and acquiesce in it, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Isaiah 53:11-12; Rom 5.10-11.763

6. It is proposed, and promised that through and upon their believing — that is, upon believing on Christ as proposed in the gospel, as the only way of redemption and salvation — convinced sinners will be pardoned, justified, and acquitted before God, discharged from the law against them, through the imputation to them of what the Lord Christ has done for them and suffered in their stead, Romans 8:1-4; Romans 10:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:30-31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Eph 2.8-10.764

7. To prevail with and win over the souls of men so as to consent to receive Christ on the terms in which he is proposed — that is, to believe in him and trust to him as to what he is, and has done and suffered, and continues to do, for the pardon of sin, for life, and for salvation — the gospel is filled with arguments, invitations, encouragements, exhortations, and promises, all of which are designed to explain and declare the love, grace, faithfulness, and good-will of God in this. And the principal wisdom and skill of the ministers of the New Testament consists in the due management and improvement of these parts of the gospel.

8. Among these various ways or means of declaring himself and his will, God frequently causes some special word, promise, or passage to fix itself in the mind of a sinner; as we saw in the instance given before. By this, the soul is first excited to exert and act out the faith with which it is endowed by the effectual working of the Spirit of God, as described earlier. By this means, men are directed towards rest, peace, and consolation, in that variety of degrees which God is pleased to communicate these things.

9. This acting of faith in Christ, through the promise of the gospel, for pardon, righteousness, and salvation, is inseparably accompanied with — and faith is the root and infallible cause of — a universal engagement of the heart to all holy obedience to God in Christ. Along with this is a relinquishing of all known sin, necessarily producing a thorough change and reformation of life, and fruitfulness in obedience. For upon discovering the love of God in Christ, the promises by which it is exhibited to us are mixed with faith, and the soul of a poor sinner are filled with godly sorrow and shame for its former sins, and deeply humbled for them. So too, all of its faculties now being renewed and inwardly changed, it can no more refrain from the love of holiness — or from being engaged in a watchful course of universal obedience to God by those free acts which are proper to it — than a newborn can refrain from all acts of a natural life in movement, in a desire for food, and the like. The reproaches of some are therefore vain and foolish, who, living a worldly and profane life themselves, charge others with preaching a justification by faith alone in Christ Jesus, that leads to a neglect of holiness, righteousness, and obedience to God. It is such scoffers and fierce despisers of all that is good, who so earnestly plead this.

Those of us765 whom they openly attack, unanimously teach that any faith which does not purify the heart and reform the life — faith which is not fruitful in good works, which is not an effectual cause and means of repentance and newness of life — is not genuine; nor can it be pleaded for justification. Rather, it is an empty, dead faith;James 2:17 and if trusted to, it will eternally deceive the souls of men. All of us press the indispensable need for universal holiness, godliness, righteousness, or obedience to all the commands of God, on surer principles, with more cogent arguments, more clearly complying with the will, grace, and love of God in Christ, than any pretended to by those who ignorantly and falsely malign us as those who disregard them. And because we urge an obediential holiness which is not defective in any duty, either towards God or man, it contains in it that which is more sublime, spiritual, and heavenly than what they are either acquainted with or regard. This, in its proper place, will be made more fully apparent.

10. Those who were thus converted to God in the primitive times of the church, upon their confession or profession of faith in Christ, were admitted into church-society and participation in all its mysteries. And this being the common way by which any were added to the fellowship of the faithful, it was an effectual means of intense love among them all, without dissimulation,766 on account of their joint interest in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will close this discourse with one instance of this, given to us by Austin, in the conversion and admission into church-society of Victorinus, a Platonic philosopher, as he received the story from Simplicianus, by whom he was baptized:

"Finally, when the hour arrived for him to make a public profession of his faith – which at Rome those who are about to enter into your grace make from a platform in the full sight of the faithful people, in a set form of words learned by heart – the presbyters offered Victorinus the chance to make his profession more privately, for this was the custom for some who were likely to be afraid through bashfulness. But Victorinus chose rather to profess his salvation in the presence of the holy congregation. For there was no salvation in the rhetoric which he taught: yet he had professed that openly. Why, then, should he shrink from naming your Word before the sheep of your flock, when he had not shrunk from uttering his own words before the mad multitude? So then, when he ascended the platform to make his profession, everyone, as they recognized him, whispered his name one to the other, in tones of jubilation. Who was there among them that did not know him? And a low murmur ran through the mouths of all the rejoicing multitude: "Victorinus! Victorinus!" There was a sudden burst of exaltation at the sight of him, and suddenly they were hushed so that they might hear him. He pronounced the true faith with an excellent boldness, and all desired to take him to their very heart – indeed, by their love and joy they did take him to their heart. And they received him with loving and joyful hands." (lib. 8, cap. 2, par. 5).767 Not a few things concerning the order, discipline, and fervent love of the primitive Christians in their church-societies are intimated and represented in these words. I will not reflect on them here. And this is the second great work of the Spirit of God in the new creation. This has been a summary description of His forming and creating the members of that mystical body, whose head is Christ Jesus. The latter part of our discourse concerning the external manner of regeneration or conversion to God, with the gradual preparation for it, and the accomplishment of it in the souls of men, is that subject which many practical divines of this nation have greatly insisted on and improved in their preaching and writings, to the great profit and edification of the church of God. But this whole doctrine, with all its declarations and applications, is now derided and exposed to scorn by some among us, even though it is known to have been the constant doctrine of the most learned prelates of the Church of England. And just as the doctrine is exploded768 by them, so all experience of the work itself in the souls of men is decried as fanatical and enthusiastic. To obviate the pride and wantonness of this filthy spirit, in the summary representation of Austin’s work now given, I have confirmed the several instances of it, along with the experience of this great and holy man. Some of those by whom this doctrine and work are despised, are puffed up with a conceit of their excellence in the theatrical, skeptical faculty of these days. This moves them to a contempt for those who contradict them in the most importune 769 of their dictates. Yet if they were to swell themselves until they break, like the frog in the fable,770 they would never prevail with their fondest admirers to be allowed to compete with the immortal wit, grace, and learning of that eminent champion of the truth and light of the age in which he lived.