in all of us, though not exactly in the same way, that the body, which was ordained to serve, exercises a tyrannic sway over, the soul ; and the soul, which was ordained to regulate all the motions of the body, is made a very pander to its corrupt appetites.
Now then, agreeably to what I mentioned as the second point to be considered, I beg you to inquire with care, and to judge with candour, whether, whilst we are in such a state, Christ can receive us, and acknowledge us as his ? I think it clear, that he cannot : for it would counteract all the purposes of God in the redemption of the world. If we trace up, as we must, the whole work of redemption to the eternal counsels of God, I ask, To what has he predestinated his people ? Is it not that they should be " conformed to the image of his Sonq?" To what has he chosen them ? Is it not that they may be "holy and without blame before him in lover?" Yes: to no one soul amongst us shall salvation ever be vouchsafed, but "through sanctification of the Spirit," as well as through "belief of the truth5." But how would these pur- poses be accomplished if men were saved with all their corruptions unmortified and unsubdued ? Be- sides, it would defeat all the ends of our Saviour's mission. " He came to destroy the works of the devil1;" to "redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works u." Even at the time of his conception in the womb, his name Jesus was given him as declarative of this very thing, that he should " save his people," not in their sins, but from them x. But he might as well have never come at all, if these ends are to be set aside, and mankind are to be saved without any respect to their moral character. Further, the office of the Holy Spirit, as a sanctifier, would be altogether frustrated and superseded : yea, and the whole tvord of of God would he invalidated and made void. God has declared, that " the unrighteous shall not inherit the
i Rom. viii. 29. * Eph. i. 4. s 2 Thess. ii. 13.
4 1 John iii. 8. n Tit. ii. 14. * Matt i. 21.