CHANGE OF HEART.

From the doctrine of human corruption arises the necessity of an entire change in our natural affections, wrought in our hearts by the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, by which we are again made" partakers of the divine nature." And this change in the disposition, and views, and feelings of fallen man, this renewal of his heart, this restoration of the lost image of God, is what is meant by the scriptural expressions" being born of God;""renewed in the spirit of our minds;"" putting off the old man, which is corrupt, and putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." The absolute necessity of such a change is declared by our Saviour, when he says, "except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." And why? Because by nature we are "born in sin," and are "the children of wrath;" are opposed to every thing virtuous and holy, and "inclined to evil continually." Now the volume of inmutable truth tells us, that unless we "be converted, we shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven;" that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

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This spiritual change is well described by our church a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness."

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* John iii. 5.

It is true, so long as we live in these frail and mortal bodies, there will be some remains of sin; the evil inclinations of our nature will not be entirely rooted out. There will always be a struggle in the very best of men, between the flesh and the spirit, and they will feel and lament 66 many sins that so easily beset them." They will often find, to their great grief, that "though the spirit is willing, yet the flesh is weak." Still, there will always be in the renewed heart a prevailing love of religion; what the apostle terms a delight in the law of God after the inward man," a general hatred and dread of sin, an earnest desire and endeavour to "lead a righteous, sober, and godly life."

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The church in one of her articles, and every where in her offices, teaches and inculcates, as a fundamental doctrine of scripture, man's utter inability to do any thing good, without God's "special grace, which he must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer." The language of her 10th article is-" The condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God, by Christ preventing (that is, going before) us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will." On this subject we shall treat more fully, when we come to consider the character and offices of the Holy Spirit. We now briefly remark that it is the office of this Divine Person to enlighten our understanding, which is by nature darkened,

to purify our heart, which is naturally corrupt, to direct our will, which is naturally perverse, to strengthen our good resolutions, which are naturally weak, to make us love things, which we naturally hate, and to enable us to "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," when, if left to ourselves, we should continually be going astray from his commandments. All these are the gift of that Spirit, "without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy;" of that Spirit, who puts into our minds holy thoughts, holy desires, holy resolutions, and "enables us to bring the same to good effect;" in a word, who excites, carries on, and perfects in us that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

DIVINITY OF CHRIST.

The doctrine of the Trinity, as set forth in the liturgy and articles of the church, is, as we conceive, the foundation of the whole gospel scheme of salvation; "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone."

In our eleventh article, it is said, "there is but one living and true God; and in unity of this Godhead, there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." The church does not attempt to explain this union, acknowledging it to be an inexplicable mystery; but because she finds it clearly asserted in the volume of inspired truth, she adopts it as an article of her creed, although far transcending the comprehension of any finite mind. Each of these divine persons is considered as having "a peculiar province in accomplishing the work of our redemption and salvation, and to each of them we owe an unlimited veneration, love, and obedience. It is every-where represented in scripture, that our redemption was contrived by the Father, purchased by the Son, and is applied by the Spirit."* Of the divinity of the first, there never has been any question; and surely every christian must feel the deepest solicitude to know whether his Saviour and Redeemer be indeed divine, and consequently entitled to his worship and adoration, or whether he be no more

*Doddridge, Lectures, ii. 140.

than a creature, whom, to serve, would be idolatry. And however "fully persuaded in his own mind," he will wish to become so familiar with the proofs of this doctrine, "that he may be able to convince the gainsayers," and "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh him a reason of the hope that is in him."

Before entering on the consideration of these proofs, it may be necessary to observe that the scriptures sometimes represent Jesus Christ as man, and at other times as God; and the only method of harmonizing these passages, is to keep constantly in view the union of the divine and human natures, whereby God was manifest in the flesh. "If, when Christ is spoken of as man, we refer the expression to his human nature, and when as God, to his divine character, on this plan every thing becomes clear and harmonious. Here we have obtained an hypothesis which embraces all the facts, and the only one which can embrace them."* We must also bear in mind, not only his humanity, but his character of mediator between God and man, and acting under a commission from his Father. There are numerous instances in which our Saviour evidently speaks and acts in his mediatorial capacity merely; as in the declarations "The Son can do nothing of himself;" "I can of mine own self do nothing." These, certainly, cannot be interpreted literally, without doing violence to the context, for in this very chapter Christ is said to make himself "equal with God," and in this verse, he himself says, "What

* Grant's English Church, vol. iii.

† John v. 18, 19, 20.