196 THE NATURE, CAUSES, AND MEANS OS REGENERATION. hath been before declared. There is therefore neces- , nary, such a work of the Holy Spirit upon our wills, as may cure and take away the depravation ofthem before described, freeing us from the state of spiritual death, causing us to live unto God, determining them in and unto the acts of faith and obedience. And this he Both, whilst, and as he makes us new creatures, quickens us who are dead in trespasses and sins, gives us a new heart, and puts a new spirit within as, writes his law in our hearts, that we may do the mind of God, and walk in his ways;- worketh in us to will and to do, malt- ing them who were unwilling and obstinate, to become willing and obedient, and that freely and of choice. Sect. 56.In like manner a prevailing love is im- planted upon the affections by the Spirit of grace, caus- ing the soul with delight and complacency to cleave to God and his ways. This removes and takes away the enmity before described with the effëcts of it; Deut. xxx. G. " The Lord thy God will circumcise thine " heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord " thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, " that thou mayest live." This circumcision of the heart consists in the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, as the apostle speaks, Col. ii. t i. I-Ie cruci- fies the flesh with the lusts andaffections thereof: Some men are inclined to think that all the depravation of our -nature consists in that of the sensitive part of the soul, -or our affections. The vanity and folly of which opin- ion bath been before discovered. -/et it is not denied but that the affections are signally depraved, so that by them principally the mind and will do act those lusts that are peculiarly seated in them, or by them do act according to their perverse and corrupt inclinations, Gal. v. 24. Jam. i. 14, 15. Wherefore, in the circum- cision of our hearts, wherein the flesh with the lusts, affections, and deeds thereof, are crucifiedby the Spirit, he takes from them their enmity, carnal prejudices, and depraved inclinations, really though not absolutely sind perfectly; and instead of them, he fills us with holyspi- ritual love, joy, fear, and delight, not changing the being of our affections, but sanctifying and guiding them by the principle of saving-light and knowledge before described, and uniting them unto their - proper object in a due manner. From what bath been spa- ken in this third argument, it is evident, that the Holy Spit it designing the regeneration or conversion of the souls of men, worketh therein effectually, powerfully, and irresistibly, which was proposed unto confirmation. Sect. 57. From the whole, it appears that our re- generation is a * work of the Spirit of rind, and that not any act of our own, which is only so, is intended thereby. I say, it is not so our own, as by outward helps and assistance to be educed out of the principles of our natures. And herein is the scripture express; for mentioning this work directly with respect.unto its cause, and the manner of its operation in the effecting of it, it assigns it positively unto God or his Spirit; 1 Pet. i. 5. God, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again. Janes i. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. John iii. 5, 6, 8. Bornof the Spirit. 1 John. iii. 9. Born ofGod. And, on the other hand, it excludes the will of man from any active interest herein; I mean as to the first beginning of it. I Pet. i. 23. "- Born again, not of corruptible seed, " but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth " and abideth for ever." John i. 13. Which were born, not ofblond, nor ofthe will of theflesh, nor of the will ofman, but ofGod; see Math. xvi. 17. Titus iii. 5. Eph. ii. 9, SO. It is therefore incumbent on them who plead for the active interest of the will of man in regeneration, to produce some testimonies of scripture where it is assigned unto it, as the effect unto its pro- per cause. Where is it said, that a man is born again, or begotten a-new by himself? And if it be granted, as it must be so, unless violence be offered not only to the scripture, but to reason and common sense, that vvhata ever be our duty and power herein, yet these expreso sions must denote an act of God and notours, thesuls- Quit istis corda muuvis, nisi qui Rosis singiHatim corda e Quit hjus rigoris duritiem ad obediendi mollivit affctum, n ruipa- tens est de lapidibus Abrahe filios excitare? Prosp. ad Ruffin. . dc lib. Arbil Ploremus coram Domino quifeels nos et homilies et sàivos. Nam si tile nos feat homilies, nos autem ipsi nos fecimus salvos, liquid illo melius f i Metier vim est satvus homoqua.) TAM/et homo. Si ergo te Deus feels hominem et tu te fecisti bonum hominem, quod tu fecisti melius est. Noli te extoller¢ super Dedm. confitere illi qui fecit te, quia nemoretreat nisi qui treat, nemo reócit nisi qui feat. Au. gust. de verbis Apra. Nemò quisquam hominum sive ad cogitandum, sive ad operandum quodcunque bonumpoles, esse idones; nisiqui fuerit movere gratuito divi m opitnlationis Aunts; ab ipso namque est initiumbons vohmtatis, ab ipso facultas boni operis, ab ipso perseveranti boom conversationis. Fulgent. lib.1. ad Monica.
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