Consider distinctly wherein this conformity con- sists—
[Was he circumcised ? We have the true circumcision of the heart ; that " which is made without hands, and which consists in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh:" and this we have by virtue of our own union with Christ, in whom we have experienced this mystically, and through whom we derive it spiritually. Was he buried ? We also, in our baptism, were, as it were, buried with him ; and coming up also from the water, (for here immersion seems to be referred to, as sprinkling evidently is in other places, the mode being not determinate to either, but left optional according to circum- stances,) we are risen with him to a new and heavenly life. That this is the true import of the passage is beyond all doubt ; as any one will see by comparing what the same writer
has stated in his Epistle to the Romansf Here, I say,
the parallel between what was corporeally wrought in Christ, and spiritually to be wrought in his members, is clear and manifest : we, " by faith in that power which raised him from the dead," experience a similar resurrection to newness of life ]
In reference to this then, as well as to the former, we ask,
What can philosophy add to us ?
[Has philosophy any principles whereby we can be sti- mulated more entirely to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts, than we are led by the Gospel of Christ ; or can it impart to us any strength beyond that which we derive from Christ? Did it ever operate thus in any instance from the foundation of the world ? No ; it never did, nor ever can. We further ask, Is there any such virtue in Judaizing prin- ciples, that we should have recourse to any of them for aid ? No ; we are expressly told, that by seeking aid from philoso- phical conceits or Jewish superstitions we shall not only not add to our safety, but shall actually be " beguiled and robbed of our ultimate reward g." It is to Christ alone that we must look, and from Christ we must receive all that is necessary for the carrying on and perfecting of our everlasting salvation.]
To improve this subject, we say to all,
1. Be thankful to God that your lot is cast where the Gospel is plainly and faithfully dispensed —
[The corruptions which began in the apostolic age have since been carried to such an extent as altogether to subvert
f Rom. vi. 3—11. s ver. 18.
2177.] THE christian's COMPLETENESS IN CHRIST. 209
the Gospel of Christ. If I be asked before God, what popery is ; I am constrained to answer, that, whatever it be in theory, it is in practice little better than a compound of Pagan idolatry and Jewish superstition. For want of seeing it before our eyes, we are apt to conceive of it as differing but little from the religion we profess : but it is in all its masses, penances, indulgences, such a system of delusion and impiety as makes one's very blood run cold. It is inconceivable how such a system of tyranny and imposture should have ever gained footing in the world. Little do the Protestants of the present day reflect on the obligations which they owe to their fore- fathers, and on the responsibility attaching to them for the advantages they enjoy. But could your eyes see in what darkness and bondage those who are of the Roman Catholic persuasion are held, you would never cease to bless God, that you have been born in a Protestant land, and been brought up members of a Church that is alike free from the errors of fanaticism, and the bonds of superstition. I know indeed that even in our Protestant Church there is still, in some places, as there was even in the apostolic age, a leaven of these deadly evils: but we speak to those who have learned to seek a completeness in Christ and a conformity to Christ, as the unalienable privilege, not of themselves only, but of every true believer.]