474 The Nature and N~ceffity ifl?..egeneration: . I. Indeed Flagicire 11/iriuu, tha! held Original .Sin t~ be of the S~bjlance of the !, u ;ffi,. Soul, was drjven by .;Fqrce 9£ Confeqq.eiice alfo to affirm, that. Regeneration ti~Ch4ngc made a Change in the, 5ubftance and Eifential ofFhe~ Soul. And the Farnalifh on the Ef of lat~ have emertam d ftrange and blafphemous Conceirs concerning Rcgefential nerauon, as if it were a Metam~bojii of the Creatu;:e i,nro the very Be in~ and ~rts of Nature of God, making that Change.thar is wrought, r4ireby tO hi nor '"fo N;;;;;. !lmch a new ~reature, as a Deity. But thefe are wild and uncoorh Iiahcics_3 fqr 1f Regeneratton wrought.any fuch ~hangc upop N~an, as that he is not DQW .the fame. Perfon regenerated, as he was unregenerarccl; how doth the ' ARojl!e fay, I r.m. I .. q. I Wtl! before a blafpbemer, a per{ecutor~ and injurioiiJ. Then' alfo Grace, infteadof converting~ deftroy'd the Sinner~ and confequemly no.Sinner yet was or fhall be fR:v'd; but enough of this: Grace therefore makes no fuch Phyfical Change upon the natural Being or Eifence of Man, but the Underftanding, \Vili and AffeCtions a,re the fame foe Nature and E~ence in the Regenetare as in the UJ,ll'egel,lerate, but only they are rettify'd and endow'd with infufed Habits. ·r 2 , ' Secoz:dly ~ Regtntration it not a C~wer(wn from an idolatrotu mul11n erroneout Way lt it not ao[WorflHp, to the Proft!Jwn and Ackmnvledgment ofthe true Faith j much lefs thCl}jS it c_onverfion not a Converfion from one Sett and Party of Chrifiians to another, as many ~g ~om an norant Perfons fuppofe~ that when they are won over from one Truth, irmay r;;n~~ be to an Error, prefemly they think tl,ley are converted by it~ becaufe they Worfoi~ to joyn in with another Party Gf Chriftians. But there may be Profo/ytet gain'd "1he PrO.fef over to the Church~ either from Heatheni{m, or fr_om Popijll Idolatry, whofe Sduls fion1.t·hb nocwithftanding may never be gain'd over umo Chrift. As Tr::tvellers that true att ·come into a Foreign Land fiill remain .SubjeCts to their Natural Lord, fo t~eJe may come in to the Church, which is the Kingdom of Chrifi upon Earth, and yet ftill remain Slaves to their Natural Lord the DevH. InP,ecd I find in Scripture~ that when Chrift and hisApoftles labour'd eo convert the }'ews or o~hers unto the Profeffion and Acknowledgment of Chrift, and to bring them.to a ~borough Work of Regeneration, the cbiefe;ftThing that they infifted on, w_ as to perfwade them to believe, that}efus Chrift is the Son of God, the ·Sav~our of the World: Why, now cho' this Dogmatical Faith is not Regenerlf.~i.on, yec iqvas then almofi an infallibleTeft of ic; and coperfwade them eo believe, cn_arJefi!s was the Chrift~ was to prevail upon thent to be truly and really c;;omrerted; .it was feldom feen among thofe Primitive Chrifiians, where there was no Car,nal Refpetts, or outward Advantage that.c0uld commend che Gofpel to the fecular •Incerefts ofMen; when the only Reward ofprofeffing ofChrifi, was Repr~a~hes, Perfecution, and Martyrdom: Seldom was ic f€:en,that any were won over from Hearhcnifm or Jtulaifm, to make Profeffion of the defpifed Name of Chr\ft, but fuch who were inwardly renewed by that Almighty Grace, that can CotJquer a]\ the Defpites and Affronts of the World: Few were fo foolilh as to profefs Chrifi in Hypocrifie, when tha t: Hypocrifie would encd:anger their QWn Lives; and yec becaufe it wa: b~t in Hypocri_fie, it could gain them no Benefit by his Death. Therefore Jt 1s chat the Scnpture fpeaks of thofe that made a Profeffioh of the Name of Chrifi, as if they were regenerated, becaufe it \vas then almoft an infallible Mark of it. Thus you have it in. I John 4- I). Whofoever Jhall confefs that Jefus is the Son ~f God, God d1ve!leth in him, and he in G;od: So . again in Ch11p 5· He that belierueth that J.ejits is tbeChrift is born of God. Bu~ p.ow when the very Name of a Chriftian is become a Title of Honour, and the"' fame l>unifhments do now attend the denying ofChdfi., thac then attended che Ac~ knowledgment of him ; Men may indeed be call'd by his Name, that never ~re effectually called b~ his Grace, and may make a Profeffion of the tr~e Faith, and yec remain Chrifiian Infidels. . . . . '· Thirdly, The Riformatiqn of a JifJolutc and debauched Life, falls pscrt ofthu fpm- !tU'not tualNew-Birth. This is that with which many do footh up themfelves, when the !?-efor- they reflect: back upon the wild Extravagancies of their ~ormer Times ; how ma~ron of oucragiouily wicked they were, Drunkards, Unclean, Rwtous, Blafphemers, adf:lute Swearers and the very worft of Sinners :wd now they find themfelves dead~ haucb:d ned to th~fe Things, and they are grow~ Men of ftay'd and fober Lives an.d Life ; for Converfadons, fl:rait they conclud e~ tha~ certainly fuch a great Cban.e;e as thts lbatm<ZJbe is could never be made on them, otherwife than by a renewing Work of the .f!o':;. two Spirit. and vet this Amendment there may be, where there is no Regeneration. w~m • • Mm
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