84 A CHRISTIAN CHURCH. works, ,but by the grace of God abounding to sinners, through the redemption which our Lord Jesus Christ Lath obtained ; and that Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse, by bearing that cursefor us ; and that God is at peace with us for his sake ; that the gospel is the word of reconciliation ; that Godwas in Christ, reconciling sinners to himself; becausehe that knew no sin, was made sin, or a sin -offering, for us, that we, whoare sinners, might be made righteous, and accepted of God, through hint ; 2 Cor. v. 18-21. See Rom. iii. 20-25. Ephes. ii. 8, 9. and many other places. " That though, we cannot obtain the favour of God and eternal life by the merit of our own good works, yet faith in Christ, repentance of all sin, and holiness of heart and life, are necessary, inorder to our enjoyment of the final salvation." Tlie . scripture is most expressive and positive in such sort of articles. He that believeth not shall be damned ; Mark xvi. 16. Except ye repent ye shall perish ; Luke xiii. 3, 5. And without holiness no man shall see the Lord ; Heb. xii. 14. Now by this article we are bound to resist all temptations, to strive against and subdue all sinful appetites and inclinations, and to practise all known duties of fear, faith, love and worship, towards God ; and jus- tice, faithfulness, and kindness, towardmen. " That the Holy Spirit of God is appointed and given to bless men with wisdom and spiritual understanding, to assist them to accept of this salvation of Christ, to sanctify them here, and fit them for the full enjoyment of it hereafter : For since the canon of scripture.is completed, there is a number of such ex- press attestations therein, tothe enlighteningand sanctifying ope- rations of the Holy Spirit, that he who utterly and in all senses denies them, seems to deny that there is any thing for the blessed Spirit todo amongst men, since the day of miracles was ended. Now since the gift of the Spirit is one of the most glorious and promised blessings of the gospel, a considerable part of the gos- pel seems to me to consist in the operations of the Holy Spirit; and in this sense, he that denies the Holy Spirit; seems to refuse a glorious part of the appointed salvation. Let it be considered also, that we are baptized into the nameof the Father, Son, and holy Spirit : And is it not necessary that we should have some general knowledge and idea who this Father, Son, and Spirit are, and what is their distinct concern and business in matters of our salvation, together with their divine all- sufficiency to per- form it ? The Ephesians, who had never heard of a Holy Ghost, and were baptized only in-the baptism of John, might be true believers without this knowledge ; Acts xix. 2, 3. But since we have had such abundant discoveries of him, and are baptized into his name, the case is much altered. How can we accept
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