3. Pardon of sins is very necessary to the end of reconciliation, which is living in a course of holy amity and state of friendship with God till we live with him for ever in heavenly glory. Here I am to prove three things : — (1.) That the end of reconciliation is walking in a course of holiness; (2.) That this holiness is carried on in a state of
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love and friendship between God and us ; (3.) That pardon is the fittest way to breed this holiness and increase it,
[1.] That the end of reconciliation is walking in a course of holiness ; for Christ died not to reconcile God to our sins, but that, reconciling our persons, we might quit our sins, and walk as those that are at good accord with him : Amos iii. 3, ' Can two walk together, except they be agreed ? ' and 1 John ii. 7, * If we walk in the light, as he is in the lio-ht, we have fellowship one with another.' Now pardon of sin hath a mighty influence upon holy walking ; justification and sanctification are distinct privileges, but they always go together, and the one doth exceedingly suit wuth the other. These two privileges, pardon and holiness, the one freeth us from the guilt, the other from the stain of sin. The one concerneth God's interest, our subjection to him; the other our own comfort. The one is the end, the other the means ; j-jardon is the means to holiness, and holiness is the end of pardon ; our general pardon is to put us into a state of acceptable obedience, our particular pardon to encourage us in it, and quicken us and excite us anew. The conditional and offered pardon is the means to work reo-eneration, and regeneration qualifieth for actual pardon : Titus iii. 7, ' That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs accord- iag to the hope of eternal life ; ' and Heb. viii, 10-12, ' For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts ; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people ; and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest ; for I will be merciful to their unrighteous- ness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more ; ' and Acts xxvi. 18, ' To open their eyes, and to turn them from dark- ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith.' And then actual pardon quickeneth us by love, to carry on that holiness of heart and life which God requireth ; for this mercy is the powerful motive to persuade us to obedience. Because he hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood, therefore we must love him and serve him all our days ; Luke i. 74, 75, ' That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life ; ' 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, ' For the love of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead, that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him that died for them ; ' Titus ii. 11 12, ' For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that, denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right- eously, and godly in this present world ;' Kom. xii. 1, 'I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.' His pardoning mercy and justification by Christ is the great euforc-' ino- argument. Those who are fetched up even from the gates of hell, and delivered from under the sentence of the law, and called into the state of God's children, should thankfully accept the benefit, acknow-
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ledge the benefactor, live in love to God and holiness, hate that sin they have lepented of, and which hath been pardoned to them, and still hold on their course in a way of obedience, till their full recovery in the everlasting estate.
[2.] That this holiness is carried on in a state of love and friendship between God and us. Love beareth rule in the spiritual life, and pardon is the great ground of love : Luke vii. 47, ' She loved much, because much was forgiven her.' The great business of religion is to love God above all ; and a man that is uncertain whether there be any such thing as pardon, how can he love God above himself and all other things ? Self-love is very hardly cured, for what is nearer to us than ourselves ? Therefore self-love is very deeply rooted in us, especially love of life, that it must be some very strong and powerful thing which can subdue it. Now nothing will do it, but the love of God. Propound the terrors of the Lord ; that will not do it, men will not be frightened out of self-love. It must be a powerful love that must divert us from it ; as one nail driveth out another, so doth one love drive out another. Now what can be more powerful than the love of God ? ' It is as strong as death ; many waters cannot quench it,' Cant. viii. 7. This prevail- eth over our natural inclination, so that we shall not only forsake the sins and vanities which we now love, but also life itself: Rev, xii. 11, * They loved not their lives unto the death.' This prevaileth over our natural inclination, so that we can lay all things at God's feet, and suffer all things, and endure all things for God's sake, yea, even life itself for his glory.