41O STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF HUMAN REASON. any heathen countries, after the division of the world into Jews and Gentiles,' in the days of 319ses, hive been truly religious persons, in comparison with the multitudes under the light of divine revelation, it is evident, that reason has not this sufficiency to enforce the practice of religion, in any tolerable proportion, to what revelation or scripture has; and therefore, in a comparative sense, it may well be called insufficient, while revelation is justly called sufficient in this sense. Loe. Well then, Sir, you seem to acknowledge a degree of insufficiency in revelation itself, since it is but comparatively suf- ficient. PITH. I am not in pain to grant this, Sir, that scripture itself, or the gospel of Christ, considered merely as a written book, or as a mere system of doctrines, rules, and motives, cloth not pretend to such a complete and powerful sufficiency of itself : That is, though in itself it has a vast superiority to all other rules and motives, yet it pretends not to such an effectual influ- ence over the hearts of men, in opposition to all present tempta- tions, and the powers of flesh and sense, by the mere outward proposal of its motives without the promised aids of the Holy Spirit. It is this heavenly influence that renders even the gospel-motives so efficacious. It is to the aids of this superior grace of God, concurring with the revelation of the gospel, that the primitive preachers and defenders of christianity direct their disciples in order to obtain victory over their sensual and vicious inclinations; Rom. viii. 13. If by the Spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. It is to the operations of the Holy Spirit of God, or the agency of God by his Spirit, that they ascribe the mighty change of their natures from vice to virtue, from sin to holiness, and purityof heart and life, which is called regeneration, or being born of God. 1 Pet. i. 22. Ye have pu- rified your souls in obeying the truth by the Spirit. 1 John ii. 29. Every one that dolls righteousness is born of God. And iii. 9. Whosoever is born of God dote not commit sin, that is, freely, and readily, and frequently as before. It is he that is born of God thatovercometh the world in all the allurementsof flesh and sense ; 1 John v. 4. And this, in the language of our Saviour, is being born of the Spirit ; John iii. 5,6. If the Corinthians were sanctified from their vices of heart and life, it is by the Spirit of our God ; 1 Cor. vi. 11. If the Thessalonians are brought to salvation, it is through sanctification of the Spirit, as well as belief of the truth; 2 Thess. ii. 13. Even all the im- portant discoveries of divine motives contained in the gospel, which St. Paul calls the weapons of his warfare ; 2 Cor. x. 4. and which are mighty to the pulling down of strong holds of sin in the heart, it is'only through God ; that is, through the pre- sent power of God: And -et. Paul tells us, in Rom. viii. 26. it
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