On tlie contrary, " he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off; and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." A speculative knowledge may be pos- sessed to a great extent, without any practical effect : but the circvmistance of its being inoperative, clearly shews, that the person possessing it has no spiritual discernment. He is blind, or at best very dim-sighted, as to the excellency of the principles which he maintains : he sees not their proper ten- dency : he is unconscious of the worthlessness of mere notions, however just they may be, if separated from their practical effects : he betrays an utter ignorance of the nature of true religion : and he shews, that he has forgotten all the profes- sions which he made, and the vows that he took upon him, Avhen first he was baptized into the name of Christ. When by baptism he entered into covenant with God, he professed, that, as he expected the remission of sins through the blood of Christ, so he expected the mortification of sin by the spirit of Christ. He engaged, that from that hour he would seek a conformity to Christ, " dying imto sin, as Christ died^br sin, and rising again unto righteousness, even as Christ rose again to a new and heavenly life "." But by his want of all these graces, or his allowed deficiency in the exercise of them, he shews, that he has forgotten all his former engagements, and is an ignorant and inconsistent professor, who disgraces that holy name by which he is called.
Now, I say, attend to these assertions of the Apostle, and judge whether the graces before-mentioned be not indispens- ably necessary to the Christian character, and whether we ought not to " give all diligence" to have the whole train of them exhibited in our lives.]
In
' Matt. ii. 15. ' Cor. i. 19. & ii. 9. " Rom. vi. 3— 6.