131.]
Christ : these really cleanse our souls, and restore us perfectly to the service and enjoyment of God. The two together have a combined effect, to bring us to God : but they have separate and very distinct offices, which we ought carefully to notice : —
1. The blood of Christ must be applied to purge away our guilt —
[There is no possibility of cleansing our souls from guilt by any thing that we can do. As the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away sin, so neither if we could shed rivers of tears, would they suffice to expiate one single offence ; much less could they wash out the stain which we have contracted by a whole life of sin. It was because of the insufficiency of all other means, that God sent his only dear Son to die for us. The blood of Him who was " Jehovah's fellow," was an ample satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. No other atone- ment was necessary : nothing can add to the perfection of it. By means of it, God is reconciled to sinners ; and nothing is wanting-, but that the sinner himself should dip the hyssop in that precious blood, and sprinkle it upon his own conscience0. This is the use which we are to make of the blood of Christ: and if we apply it thus to our souls in faith, it will " purge us thoroughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin."]
2. The Spirit of Christ must be applied to renovate our nature —
[As the leprosy denied the whole man, so does sin pollute our whole souls. Our nature is altogether corrupt : and we must be renewed in every part, before we can enter into the kingdom of Godd. In our present state, we should not be capable of enjoying the divine presence, even if we were admitted to it. But how can this new nature be obtained? We can no more create ourselves anew, than we could create ourselves at first. We can no more give ourselves a spiritual nature, than vegetables can endue themselves with animation, or animals with reason. The spiritual life is, if we may so speak, a higher scale of existence: for though our faculties remain the same, they acquire a totally new direction as soon as ever the spiritual life is infused into our souls. Hence the true Christian is unequivocally called " a new creature e: " and hence arises our need of a divine Agent to bring us to this state. For this purpose therefore the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the ever blessed Trinity, is given to us : he is offered to us, to sanctify us throughout f. To this end toe must seek
c Heb. ix. 12— 14. d John iii. 3, 5. • 2 Cor. v. 17. fTit. iii.5.
s s 2