8 2 Cor. v. 17.
h The benefits arising from baptism are great, even as those were which arose from circumcision. See Rom. ix. 4, 5. But we must not confound a change of state with a change of nature. The neglecting to make this distinction is the foundation of all the errors which have arisen on this subject. See Rom. ii. 28, 29.
stone taken away, and a heart of flesh given to us :" we must be " renewed after the image of our God in righteousness and true holiness;" and therefore we should not rest one hour in a carnal and unconverted state ; but should cry mightily to our God for his effectual grace, saying with David, " Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me ! " The Lord grant that this prayer may ascend up before him from every one of us, till we have obtained an answer to it in the renovation of our souls !
In the next place, We may see from hence, Our utter need of an interest in Christ — With such hearts as ours, how can we ever dream of meriting any thing at the hands of God ? To shew the vanity of any such idea, let us not rest in a general notion of man's goodness, but descend to particulars, and try to find some one action that can stand the test of God's word, some one in which God himself shall not be able to find a flaw. Let a man search through the whole records of his life for one such action ; and if he find one, we will be content that he shall stand upon that as the foundation of his hopes, and claim heaven on the ground of his own merits. But if not one such action can be found by the best person upon earth, how much less can a whole series of such actions, from the beginning to the end of life, be found ! yet nothing less than that could warrant a claim to heaven on the ground of our own obedience : one single transgression, how- ever small, is a violation of the law ; and not only makes void all its promises of life, but renders us obnoxious to its curses, even to everlasting misery and death1. Let us then discard so vain, so fatal a delusion : let us be contented to stand on the same foundation as St. Paul : let us " desire to win Christ, and to be found in him, not having our own righteous- ness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ." We call the Lord
» Gal. iii. 10.