250 A CAVEAT AGAINST INCIDELITl. and vain affections which are ever busy and ever starting up to defile our consciences, and pollute our lives. The gospel of Christ makes a sense of sin necessary to sal- vation. They who arewhole, haie no need of the physician; but only those who are sick : I came not, says our Lord Jesus, to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance ; Mat. ix. 12, I3. This is the language of the Old Testament as well as the New : Ile that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso oo esseth and forsaketla them shall have mercy; Prov. xxviii. 13. f we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins: But if we saywe have no sin, we make God a liar, and the truth is nat in us; 1 John i. 8-10. Now it can never be supposed, that those wretches are in the right way to salvation, who, either through stupid ignorance, or a great degree of pride and self- flattery, fancy themselves innocent : These proud vain creatures must be far from the path of salvation and deliverance, who ire not convinced of their sin and danger. They are not in the way to obtain relief, who feel not their distress, and misery. Such a haughty spirit of vain conceit makes Gód a liar, by contradicting the testimony that he gives in his word concerning all the child- ren of men. III. Sincere repentance is another necessary duty required in the gospel, in order to a sinner's salvation. Now this repen- tance implies a hearty sorrow for all our past offences, and a sin- cere return from sin to the love and obedience of God. The very light of nature and reason, which teaches an innocent crea- ture to obey his Maker, does as plainly tell a sinful creature, that he must repent of his disobedience, that he must be heartily grieved for 'having broken the laws of his God, and that he must love and obey him for time to come, if ever he expect the least favour from him. The scripture enforces this sacred duty of repentance con- tinuallyupon the consciences of men ; and the gospel of Christ being sent to the nations, commands all men every where to re- pent ; Acts xvii. 3O It is the very word of Christ, Except ye repent ye must all Perish ; Luke xiii. 3, 5. Not only must we forsake sin, and avoid it in our actions, but we must hate it in our hearts, and fulfil all our duties from a principle of divine love wrought in us. Our wills are by nature averse to God and goodness, and turned toward sin and folly; we must there- fore repent and be converted, that our sins may be blotted out; Acts iii. 19. Our whole natures are vitiated and spoiled by sin, and we most be regenerated or born again, and made new creatures, that is, a universal change must pass upon all the powers of our -na- tures, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, or we can never be fit for the enjoyment of God. It is only the pure in heart that shall
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