sanctifying principle, all sentiments, of whatever kind, will be ineffectual for the purification of his soul. A man may profess the greatest regard for good works, yet not perform them ; or he may profess the greatest regard for Christ, and not render to him the obedience of the heart : on the contrary, he may " turn the grace of God into lasciviousness6." But, so far as any principles can prevail, those of the Gospel, when embraced in their purity, will be found to produce holiness both of heart and life. So the Apostle de- clares, in answer to the objection before stated.
To enter fully into the Apostle's argument, see what a man professes at his first entrance into the Church of Christ —
[He is " baptized into Christ :" into Christ, " as dying for his offences, and as raised again for his justification f." To the Saviour, so dying and so rising, he feels himself bound to be conformed ; dying to sin, as He died for sin ; and rising, like him, to a new and heavenly lifeg. His immersion, at the time of his baptism, represented this to him : and he, in sub- mitting to it, pledged himself to seek the experience of this change in his soul, and never to rest till he shall have attained it. Christ, after his crucifixion, was buried : and in baptism the believer is " buried with Christ ;" and engages to become as separate from all his former lusts, as Christ was from all the concerns of this perishing world. And the same power that wrought in Christ, to raise him from the dead, works effectually in his soul, to accomplish in him this wondrous renovation after the Divine image. " Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father ;" and by the same glorious power the believer is enabled to " walk in newness of life."
Now, all this a man professes in his baptism : he then, in the sight of God and of the world, acknowledges these to be his most decided sentiments, and his unalterable obligations. He declares, before all, that he owes every thing to Christ, and is bound to employ every faculty of his soul for Christ ; " living altogether for that Saviour who died for him and rose again". J
Now mark what aspect this profession must have
on all his future life —
[I grant, that he may be drawn aside from the path of duty, and go back to all the evil courses from which he
e Jude, ver. 4. f Rom. iv. 25.
e ver. 8—11. b Rom. xiv. 7, 8.