225.]
creature ; or that he needs an atonement for his sins, and a better righteousness than his own for his justification before God? What doubt can he have that he needs the influences of the Holy Spirit to renew him after the divine image, and to render him meet for heaven ? "If the Gospel be hid from any, it is because the god of this world has blinded their eyes : " it is not the intricacy or obscurity of the Gospel that makes it unintelligible to them, but the simplicity and brightness of it : " they love darkness rather than light;" and complain of the Gospel, when the fault is only in themselves. As revealed to us, the Gospel is not obscure ; but, as revealed in us, it is bright as the meridian sun.]
Such then " is the commandment which God com- mands us this day." We proceed to consider,
II. What is the obedience which it requires —
It demands from us,
1. An inward approbation of the heart —
[Without this all the knowledge of men or angels would be of little use. On this our salvation altogether depends. Moses says, " The word is in thy heart:" and St. Paul's expo- sition of it is, " If thou shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Thus a mere rational assent to divine truth is particularly ex- cluded from the office of saving ; and salvation is annexed to that faith only which calls forth all the affections of the soul, "a faith which worketh by love." As " a commandment," it is to have all the force of a law within us, " casting down ima- ginations with every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God," and " bringing every thought into cap- tivity to the obedience of Christ." It is not sufficient that we acknowledge the death and resurrection of Christ as parts of our creed ; we must see and feel the necessity of them in order to the deliverance of our souls from death and hell; and we must also glory in them, as the infinitely wise, gracious, and all- sufficient means of our redemption. We must have such a view of these truths, as makes us to " account all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of them V This was insisted on as necessary to the admission of converts into the Christian Church. And it is the experience of all who truly belong to Christ1.]
2. An outward confession of them with the mouth —
[It is curious to observe what minute attention the Apostle
k Phil. iii. 8. ! Rom. vi. 17. See the Greek.