258 THE FILTH OF SIN PURGED fections, with respect unto things spiritual and heaven- 2dly, The Holy.Ghost doth purify and cleanse us, ly, who is not ashamed of, who doth not abhor him- by strengthening our souls, by his grace, unto all holy self? This is that which hath given our nature its le- duties, and against all actual sins. It is by actual sins prosy, and defiled it throughout. And I shall crave that our natural and habitual pollution is increased. leave to say, that he who bath no experience of spiri- Hereby some make themselves base and vile as hell. tun] shame and self -abhorrency upon the account of this But this also is prevented by the graciousactings of the inconformity of his nature, and the faculties of his soul, Spirit. Having given us a principle of purity and -ho unto the holiness of God, is a great stranger unto this liness, be,so acts it in the duties of obedience, and in whole work of sanctification. Who is there that can opposition unto sin, as that be preserves the soul free recount the unsteadiness of his mind in holy meditation, from defilements, or pure and holy, according to the his low and unbecoming conceptions of God's excellen- tenor of the new covenant, that is in such measure, and cies, his proneness to foolish imaginations and vanities to such a degree, as universal sincerity doth require. that profit not, his aversation to spirituality in duty, But it may be yet said, that indèed hereby he makes and fixedness in communion with God, his proneness us pure, and prevents many future defilements, yet how to things sensual and evil, all arising from the spiritual is the soul freed from those it had contracted before this irregularity of our natural faculties, but if ever he had work upon it, or those which it may and doth una- any due apprehensions of divine purity and holiness, voidably afterwards fall into; for, as there is no man that is not sensibleof his own vilenessand baseness, and doeth good, and sinneth not, so there is none who is not is. not oft-times deeply affected with shame thereon? more or less defiled withsin, whilst they are in the body Now, this whole evil frame is cured by the effectual here in this world. The apostle answereth this objec- working of the I-Ioly Ghost, in the rectifying and reno- tion or inquiry, I John i. 7, 8, 9. " If we say we vation of our natures. He giveth a new. understanding, " have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is a new heart, new affections, renewing the whole soul " not in us." But if sin be in us, we are defiled, and into the image of God, Eph. iv. 23, 24. Col. iii. 10. how shall we be cleansed? " God is just to forgive us The way whereby he doth this bath been before so fully " our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." declared in our opening of the doctrine of regeneration, But how may this be done, by what means may it he that it need not be here repeated. Indeed our original accomplished? The blood ofJesus Christ his Son cleans- cleansing is therein, where mention.is made of the wash- eth usfront all sin. ing of regeneration, Titus iii. 5. Therein is the image Sect.- 3. (2.) It is therefore the blood of Christ, in of God restored unto our souls. But we consider the the second place, which is the meritorious procuring, same work now as it is the cause of our holiness. Look and so the effective cause, that immediately purgeth us then how far our minds, our hearts, our affections are- from our sins, by an especial application of it unto our renewed by the Holy Ghost, so far are we cleansed from souls by the Holy Ghost. And there is not any truth our spiritual habitual pollution. Would webe cleansed belonging unto the mystery ofthe gospel which is more from our sins, that which is so frequently promised that plainly and evidently asserted, as it bath in part been we shall be, and so frequently prescribed as our duty to made to appear before. " The blood of Jesus Christ be, and without which we- neither have nor can have any " cleanseth us from all sin," 9 John i. 7. " I3e bath thing of true holiness in us, we must labour after and " washed us from our sins in his own.blood," Rev. i. 5. endeavour to grow in this renovation of our natures by " The blood of Christ purgeth our consciences from the Holy Ghost. The more we have of saving light in " dead works, that we may serve the living God," our minds, of heavenly love in our wills and affections, Heb. ix. 14. " He gave himself for his church, that of a constant readiness unto obedience in our hearts; the " he might wash and cleanse it," Eph. v. 26. " To pu- more pure are we, the morecleansed from the pollution " rify to himself a peculiar people," Titus ii. 14. Be- of sin. The old principle of corrupted nature is unclean sides, whatever is spoken in the whole scripture con- and defiling. shameful and loathsome. The new crea- cerning purifying the unclean, -the leprous, the defiled, tore, the principle of graceimplanted in thewhole soul by by sacrifices, or other institutions of the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost, is pure and purifying, clean and holy. it is all instructive in and directive unto the purifying
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