2. Christian piety, or the tenor of our religion, requireth it of us.
244 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. [SeR. X.
The drift of this religion is to recover men out of their apostasy, and to promote true genuine holiness in the world ; to dispossess us of the beast, and that man, being restored to man, might be also brought back again to God ; or, in short, to draw us off from the animal life to life spiritual and eternal. As appeareth —
[1.] By the precepts of it, which mainly tend to enfore self-denial, mortification, recess from the world, that we may not miscarry in our obedience to God by our bodily lusts: Mat. xvi. 24, 'If any will come after me, let hira deny himself ; ' Col. iii. 5, ' Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.' The whole drift and business of this religion is to drive out the spirit of the world, and to introduce a divine and heavenly Spirit : 1 Cor. ii. 12, ' Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things which are freely given to us of God.' That part of the world which is mad and brutish is enslaved to lower things ; but the other part, which hath submitted to the healing institution of Christ, should be wise and heavenly. The cure which Christ intended was of the great disease of mankind, which was that the immortal soul, being depressed and tainted by the objects of sense, doth wholly crook and writhe itself to carnal things, and instead of likeness to God, the image of a beast was im- pressed upon man's nature, and the divine part enslaved and embon- daged to the brutish.
[2.] By its promises : 2 Peter i. 4, ' Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises ; that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust,' 2 Cor. iv. 18. That man may seek his happiness in some higher and more transcending good than the beasts are capable of, something that suits with his immortal spirit. In short, to draw us off from things we see and inordinately love to a glory and blessedness wholly unseen and future.
[3.] By the grace provided for us, namely, the Spirit of Christ, whose gi'eat design is to free man from a state of subjection to the flesh, and by overcoming the lusts thereof to make him ready for all the graces and duties of the spiritual life : Rom. viii. 5, ' They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, and they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.' He is first renewed by this Spirit : John iii. 6, * That whicli is born of the Spirit is spirit ; ' and then acted and assisted by him : Eom. viii. 13, ' If ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live ; ' Gal. v. 25, ' If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.'
[4.] By being baptized into this religion we are bound to this strict care ; for in our baptism we did solemnly renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh, as the usurpers must be thrust out before the rightful lord can take possession : Josh. xxiv. 23, ' Put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel ; ' and we are dedicated to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier; as before, ' We are to count ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God,' ver. 11. Now, it is the greatest hypocrisy that can be to be under
VeR. 12.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VJ. 245
this solemn obligation to God, and let sin reign in us. Baptism is a sign and seal of grace on God's part, and on ours a bond of duty ; on God's part, that he will cleanse and wash away sin : Acts xxii. 16, ' Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.' On our part, it obligeth us to do what in us lieth to destroy sin, a bond never to be forgotten by us : 2 Peter i. 9, ' He hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.'
Use 1. To humble us, that we have so much forgotten our solemn covenant, so much cared for the body, and so little cared for the soul ,; that time and heart hath been so much taken up about those things which belong to the present life. The mortal body is minded at every turn, and how much may the immortal but neglected soul com- plain of hard usage ! We profess subjection to the gospel, and therefore should ' seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, and all these things shall be added to us,' Mat. vi. 33 ; but we walk too much according to the course of the carnal careless world : Eph. ii. 2, 3, ' Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that i;uleth in the children of disobedience ; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.'