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 VIEW 
 
 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE. 
 
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EDINBURGH : 
 
 Arch. Allaruice and Co. Printers. 
 
VIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 SACRED RECORDS; 
 
 By JOHN COLQUHOUN, D. D. 
 
 H1NI£TER CF THE GOSPEL, LEITH. 
 
 God_commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Ads xvii. 50. 
 
 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord. Psal. xxii. 
 
 Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Lute xv. "• 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THOMSONS, BROTHERS, 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 JAMES DUNCAN, LONDON; CHALMERS AND COLLINS, AND M. OGI-F, 
 GLASGOW ; AND W. CURRY, JUN. AND CO., AND 
 WESTLEY AND TYRRELL, DUBLIN- 
 
 MDCCCXXVt 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/viewofevangelicaOOcolq 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 As many who at this day profess Faith 
 and Repentance, seem to have mistaken 
 a counterfeit or legal, for a true and evan¬ 
 gelical Repentance, and to have concluded 
 that they are true penitents, and therefore 
 are in a state of reconciliation to God; 
 -and as many appear ignorant of the na¬ 
 ture of genuine Repentance, and of its due 
 place in the covenant of grace; the Au¬ 
 thor has endeavoured, in the following 
 Pages, to point out especially the Place of 
 evangelical Repentance, in its relation to 
 saving Faith, to vital Union with Christ, 
 and to the Pardon of sin in Justification, 
 as well as to the exercise of supreme Love 
 to God. 
 
VI 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 That this feeble attempt may be useful, 
 in the hand of the Adorable Spirit, for the 
 Conviction and Humiliation of secure sin¬ 
 ners, and for the Instruction and progres¬ 
 sive Sanctification of true saints, is the un¬ 
 feigned desire of the Author. 
 
 LkITH, SEriEMBEU, 1825. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 29 
 
 53 
 
 Introduction, 
 
 7 • • • 
 
 CHAP I. Of the Springs or Sources of True Re 
 pentance, 
 
 Refections, 
 
 CHAP. II. Of the Nature and Import of True Re 
 pentance, 
 hferences, 
 
 CHAP. III. Of the Necessity of True Repentance, 61 
 HcJicctzoTis^ , ^ 72 
 
 CHAP. IV. Of the Difference betxueen True, and 
 
 Counterfeit Repentance, . . .90 
 
 Inferences, . . ^ jjg 
 
 CHAP. V. Of the Fruits and Evidences of True 
 
 Repentance, . , ^ jjg 
 
 Refections, . , ^ 
 
 CHAP. VI. Of the Priority of the Acting of Sav~ 
 
 tng Faith, to the Exercise of Genuine Re- 
 pentance, . . , ^3^ 
 
 An Inference, . . ^ 
 
Vlll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 CHAP. VII. Of the Priority of Justifcation, to the 
 
 First Exercise of True Repentance, . 155 
 
 Inferences, . . . .174* 
 
 CH.4P. VIII. Objections ansoiered, . . 184' 
 
 Refections, .... 205 
 
VIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 EVANGELICAL, REPENTANCE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Lord Jesus came not to call the righteous, 
 but sinners, to Repentance. True repentance, ac¬ 
 cordingly, forms a part of the religion, not of an 
 innocent person, but of a sinner. It is produced 
 by the Spirit of Christ, in the regeneration and 
 sanctification of a sinner, and is absolutely essen¬ 
 tial to the character of a true Christian. As the 
 Christian is daily sinning, he ought to be daily re¬ 
 penting of sin. Accordingly, Tertullian says, ‘ I 
 was born for nothing but repentance.’ 
 
 Repentance is natural, or legal, or evangelical. 
 Natural repentance, is that natural feeling of sor¬ 
 row and self-condemnation, of which a man is 
 conscious, for having done that which he sees he 
 ought not to have done; and which arises from a 
 discovery of the impropriety of it, or from reflcct- 
 
 A 
 
s 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ing on the disagreeable consequences of it, toothers, 
 and especially to himself. This feeling of regi'et 
 frequently occurs. When a man, especially a 
 proud and vain man, is convinced of his having 
 been guilty of some glaring instance of improper 
 conduct, either against, or in the presence of a 
 fellow-creature, it is sometimes very keen and pain¬ 
 ful. Legal repentance is a feeling of regret pro¬ 
 duced in a legalist, by the fear, that his violations 
 of the Divine law, and especially his gross sins, do 
 expose him to eternal punishment. This regret is 
 increased, by his desire to be exempted on the 
 ground of it, from the dreadful punishment, to 
 which he knows he is condemned for them. He 
 is extremely sorry, not that he has transgressed the 
 law; but, that the law and the justice of God, are 
 so very strict, that they cannot leave him at liberty 
 to sin with impunity: for his love of sin, and his 
 hatred of holiness, continue in all their vigour. 
 And yet, under the dominion of his legal temper, 
 he presumes to expect, that such repentance as 
 this, will in some measure atone, for all his crimes 
 against the infinite Majesty of heaven. Evangeli¬ 
 cal repentance, is altogether different from either 
 of these. It is a gracious principle and habit, im¬ 
 planted in the soul by the Spirit of Christ, in the 
 exercise of which, a regenerate and believing sin¬ 
 ner, deeply sensible of the exceeding sinfulness, 
 and just demerit of his innumerable sins, is, in re- 
 j fleeting upon them, truly humbled and grieved be¬ 
 fore the Lord, on account of the sinfulness and 
 hurtfulness of them. He feels bitter remorse, un¬ 
 feigned sorrow, and deep self-abhorrence, for the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 aggravated transgressions of his life, and the deep 
 depravity of his nature; chiefly, because by all his 
 innumerable provocations, he has dishonoured an 
 infinitely holy and gracious God; transgressed a 
 law which is “ holy, and just, and goodand de¬ 
 filed, deformed, and even destroyed, his own pre¬ 
 cious soul. This godly sorrow for sin, and this 
 holy abhorrence of it, arise from a spiritual dis¬ 
 covery of pardoning mercy with God in Christ, 
 and from the exercise of trusting in his mercy. 
 And these feelings and exercises, are always ac¬ 
 companied by an unfeigned love of universal holi¬ 
 ness, and by fixed resolutions and endeavours, to 
 turn from all iniquity to God, and to walk before 
 him in newness of life. Such in general, is the 
 nature of that evangelical repentance, to the habit 
 and exercise of which, the Lord Jesus calls sin¬ 
 ners who hear the gospel. 
 
 To understand spiritually and distinctly, the 
 proper place of true repentance in the covenant of 
 grace, as well as the duty and necessity, the grace 
 and exercise of it, is of inexpressible importance to 
 the faith, holiness, and comfort of the exercised 
 Christian. It is owing, in a higher degree than 
 is commonly believed, to their want of such views 
 of it, that multitudes in the visible church, mis¬ 
 take a counterfeit for a true repentance; and so 
 flatter themselves, that they are true penitents, 
 and that their salvation is sure. It is because 
 many convinced sinners, have not a distinct dis¬ 
 cernment of its place in the new covenant, that 
 they apprehend, that Christ will receive none but 
 the true penitent, or that none else, is warranted 
 
10 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to trust in him for salvation. Hence, they dare 
 not attempt coming’ to the gracious Redeemer, till 
 tliey first be satisfied that tlieir repentance is of the 
 true kind, until they can bring it as a price in 
 their hand, to procure their welcome. Instead of 
 this, thsy ought without a moment’s delay, to come 
 to Christ for true repentance. It is no less owing 
 to their ignorance of its due place, among the other 
 blessings of salvation, that many believe it, to be 
 the federal condition of the pardon of sin in justi¬ 
 fication, and persuade themselves that, in the gos¬ 
 pel, this pardon is offered only to the penitent. 
 And is it not, because of their gross ignorance of 
 the nature and use of true repentance, that many 
 can persuade themselves, that their repentance wil 
 even atone for their crimes;—that it will make 
 satisfaction to the insulted justice of the Most 
 High, and i-einstate them in his favour ? It is, in 
 A high degree, owing to their ignorance of the na¬ 
 ture, and design of evangelical repentance, and of 
 its place in the new covenant, that many true con¬ 
 verts do, even for years, make their exercise of re- 
 ])entance, a part of their warrant, to renew the 
 acting of their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. 
 And doubtless, if others who appear to be real 
 Christians, had attained correct and distinct views 
 of the grace, duty, and necessity, of true repentance, 
 they would not have imagined, as they seem to 
 have done, that the exercise of it was over with 
 their first conversion; nor would they have pre¬ 
 sumed to look back on that exercise, as a ground 
 of right to apply to themselves, the unlimited of¬ 
 fers and absolute promises of the glorious gospel. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 As it is then of the utmost consequence, both to 
 sinners and to saints, that they attain just and dis¬ 
 tinct views of the natui'e, and the place of true re¬ 
 pentance, and that they be deeply affected with 
 the high importance, and absolute necessity of it, 
 to their eternal welfare; I shall endeavour, in 
 humble dependance on the Spirit of truth, to assist 
 such of them as will condescend to read this Trea¬ 
 tise, in attaining those views. And in order the 
 more effectually to do this, I shall. 
 
 First, Consider the springs of true Repentance; 
 Secondly, The nature and import of it; In the 
 third place. The necessity of it; Fourthly, The 
 difference between a true, and a counterfeit Re¬ 
 pentance ; In the next place. The fruits or evi¬ 
 dences of true Repentance; Then, The priority of 
 the acting of genuine Faith, to the exercise of 
 evangelical Repentance; Afterward, The priority 
 of Justification, to the first exercise of true Re¬ 
 pentance; and in the last place, I shall answer 
 some Objections. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF THE SPRIXGS OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 In the first place, I am to consider the Springs 
 or Sources of true Repentance. And 
 
 1. The exercise of true or evangelical Repent¬ 
 ance flows from the work of the Holy Spirit, in re¬ 
 generation and sanctification.—God hath exalted 
 
T2 
 
 THE SPRINGS 
 
 Christ “ with his right liand, to be a Prince and a 
 Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgive¬ 
 ness of sins The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of 
 Christ, implants the principle of it in the heart at 
 regeneration, and converts this principle into a 
 habit in sanctification. True repentance is not the 
 work of nature, but of grace; not of a man’s own 
 spirit, but of the Spirit of Christ. As it is the 
 office of the adorable Mediator, to give repent¬ 
 ance, so he gives it to his elect, by performing 
 these promises to them: “I will take away the 
 stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you 
 an heart of flesh’’.” “ I will pour upon the house 
 of Da\fid, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they 
 shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and 
 they shall mourn for him“.” True repentance, 
 which is an evangelical contrition of heart, and a 
 fixed resolution of spirit, to turn from all sin to 
 God, is wi'ought in the soul by the Spirit of 
 Christ. The Spirit being given without measure 
 to Christ, He, in the day of his power, communi¬ 
 cates the same Spirit to his elect, who, by his al¬ 
 mighty operation, breaks their hearts from, and 
 for sin, and converts them from sin to holiness. 
 This is the primary source, from which, a true 
 penitent’s views of the malignity of sin, and his 
 feelings of regret for it, do spring. They all re¬ 
 sult from the gracious influences of the Holy 
 Spirit. It is his peculiar province, as the Con- 
 vincer of sin and misery, and the gi-acious Com- 
 ^ Ezek. xxxvi. 26. ® Zech. xH. lO. 
 
 * Acts V. 31. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 13 
 
 forter, to implant in the soul that holy principle, 
 and to excite and regulate all its exercise. In 
 producing and strengthening the hahit, and in di¬ 
 recting the exercise of this grace, the Holy Spirit 
 commonly employs his blessed word. He makes 
 use of his law to break the hard heart, and of his 
 gospel as a fire, to melt it into godly sorrow for 
 sin. “ Is not my word like as a fire, saith the 
 Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock 
 in pieces ** ?” Thus, the awakened sinner is, on 
 the one hand, driven by the law, and on the other, 
 .kindly drawn by the gospel, to the exercise ot 
 sincere repentance. 
 
 2. Meditation or consideration of such subjects, 
 as tend by the Holy Spirit, to produce and in¬ 
 crease in the heart, evangelical repentance, is one 
 of the springs of it.—Multitudes remain impeni¬ 
 tent for want of consideration. Thus saith the 
 Lord, “ I hearkened and heard, but they spake not 
 ai'ight: no man repented him of his wickedness, 
 saying. What have I done ® ?” Impenitence is, in 
 a great degree, the effect of extenuating notions 
 of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Repentance, 
 therefore, must spring from a deep consideration, 
 and a true sense, of its infinite malignity and de¬ 
 merit. It flows from deep and affecting medita¬ 
 tion, on the majesty and glory, the holiness and 
 justice, the authority and law, the threatenings 
 and judgments of God; and on his just severity 
 against the angels who sinned, against Adam and 
 all his posterity, against Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 Jer. xxiii. 29. ® Jer. viii. G. 
 
14 
 
 THE SPRINGS 
 
 the nations of Canaan, and the Jews, in the final 
 destruction of their city and temple, and in the 
 continued dispersion of tlieir nation. These aw¬ 
 ful examples of his inexorable justice, and tre¬ 
 mendous fury, show us, what his judgment of the 
 exceeding sinfulness of sin, and of the dreadful 
 punishment which awaits the impenitent sinner, 
 is. And they are left on record, that they may 
 direct us, to judge of the sin of our nature, and of 
 the transgressions of our life, as God judges. And 
 we may be sure, “that the judgment of God 
 is according to truth The exercise of true 
 repentance flows, in an eminent degree, from a 
 deep and affecting meditation on the doleful an¬ 
 guish, and amazing death of the Lord Jesus, our 
 adorable Surety. When we seriously consider, 
 who He was, for whom he suffered, and what he 
 endured, we cannot but perceive God’s infinite, 
 and irreconcilable abhorrence of all iniquity. 
 Here we see that, rather than leave sin unpunish* 
 cd, or permit angels and men to be ignorant of 
 his infinite detestation of that abominable thing, 
 he would deliver up his only begotten Son, in 
 whom his soul delighted, to the most direful an¬ 
 guish, agony, and death. Here we perceive that, 
 the fiery indignation of God against sin, does not 
 proceed from the smallest defect of love to sin¬ 
 ners as his creatures; but from that infinite ab¬ 
 horrence of sin, which arises from a full view of 
 its infinite malignity, and contrariety to the holi¬ 
 ness of his nature and law. It is, then, from 
 
 f Rom. ii. 2. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 15 
 
 spiritual and heart-affecting views of the Lamb of 
 God, bearing our sins and carrying our sorrows, 
 that the exercise of evangelical repentance imme¬ 
 diately flows. Reader, behold in the glass of the 
 holy and righteous law, and especially, in that of 
 the adorable Redeemer’s unparalleled sufferings, 
 what an evil thing and bitter, sin is*^. It is not 
 only their love of sin, but their false apprehensions 
 of the evil and demerit of it, that make sinners 
 persist in cleaving to it. Were they to contem¬ 
 plate, under the eidightening influences of the. 
 Holy Spirit, the infinite malignity and desert of 
 the sin of their nature, and of the aggravated 
 transgressions of their life, they would flee from 
 them with horror. Were convinced sinners but 
 to consider seriously, the heinousness of their in¬ 
 numerable sins,—the afflictions and warnings,— 
 the counsels and reproofs,—the mercies and deli- 
 vei’ances,—the light and knowledge,—the obliga¬ 
 tions and vows, against which they have sinned, 
 their eye would affect their heart, and their re-- 
 pentings would be kindled together 
 
 3. The exercise of evangelical I’epentance, issues 
 from a true sense of sin.—A genuine sense of sin 
 consists of an affecting sight, and a painful feeling, 
 not only of the hurtfulness and danger, but also 
 of the deformity and hatefulness of sin K When 
 the Holy Spirit strikes home the doctrine of the 
 law upon the conscience, the consequence is, that 
 the sinner is instructed, and then he smites upon 
 his thigh''. A true sense of sin, includes an af- 
 £ Jer. ii. 19. ^ Hos. xi. 8. ’ Excel, xxxvi. 31. Jer. xxxi. 19. 
 
 A 2 
 
16 
 
 THE SPRINGS 
 
 fecting sight, or discernment of it, by the en¬ 
 lightened mind. “ My sin,” says the Psalmist, 
 “is ever before me’.” No sooner are the eyes of 
 a sinner’s understanding opened, than he begins 
 to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, in his heart 
 and life. He sees his innumerable provocations, 
 and discerns that malignity in sin, which he ne¬ 
 ver saw before. He sees, and is deeply affected 
 with the sight of, his great transgressions against 
 an infinitely holy, and gracious God. The holy 
 law, as a looking glass, is held before his eyes; 
 and he therein discerns his pollution and deformi¬ 
 ty. And now that he has begun to see, he search¬ 
 es every corner of his heart, and every period of 
 his life, which were before neglected as the slug¬ 
 gard’s garden; and multitudes of secret abomina¬ 
 tions are set in the light. Now his mouth is 
 stopped, and his sins at length have found him 
 out*". A true sense of sin, includes also such a 
 consciousness or conviction, as is a painful feeling 
 of it. Now that the sinner is spiritually alive, he 
 has not only spiritual sight, but spiritual feeling. 
 He begins to feel the sores of his diseased nature. 
 The sin which sat lightly on him before, becomes 
 now a burden too heavy for him”. It is such a 
 burden on his spirits, as sinks them; on his head, 
 as it is impossible for him to discharge; and on 
 his back, as bows it down. I am bowed down 
 greatly, says the holy Psalmist, I go mourning 
 all the day long”. Accordingly, when the awaken- 
 
 ' Psal. li. 3. 
 
 “ Psal. xxxviii. 4. 
 
 ^ Num. xxxii. 23 . 
 ° Psal. xxxviii. 6. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 n 
 
 ed sinner is coming to Christ, he is described as 
 one who has a heavy burden upon him*’. “ Take 
 with you words, and turn to the Lord, say unto 
 him. Take away all iniquity,” Heb. ‘ Lift off all 
 iniquity as a burden’.’ 
 
 A true sense of sin, is an affecting sight and 
 feeling, especially of the exceeding sinfulness or 
 malignity of sin. It is a sense, not only of our 
 evil doings, but of the evil of our doings; not on- 
 ly of our sin, but of the exceeding sinfulness of 
 our sin; and not merely of things which are in 
 themselves sinful, but of the iniquity even of our 
 holy things. The true penitent has a deep and 
 affecting sense of the evil, that cleaves even to his 
 best performances’. Of all evils, he concludes that 
 sin is the greatest; and of all sinners, he often 
 thinks that he himself is the chief. He sees and 
 feels, that the innumerable evils which compass 
 him about, are the weightiest of burdens, the 
 heaviest of debts, the foullest of stains, and the 
 worst of enemies. He has a true sense of the 
 evil of sin, in reference to himself^ and of the evil 
 of it, with respect to God. He sees that, it is the 
 very opposite of the infinitely holy and amiable 
 nature of God in Christ‘. The true penitent loves 
 God supremely, and therefore his sins are a heavy 
 burden to him. He loathes himself, because he 
 has walked contrary to the holy Lord God, and 
 thereby insulted, reproached, and provoked Him". 
 He sees also that, sin is contrary to that law of 
 
 P Matth. xi. 28. *1 Hos. xiv. 2. ^ Isa. Ixiv. G. 
 
 ® Rom. vi, 21. t Hib. i. 1?. u Lam. v. 16. 
 
18 
 
 THE SPRINGS 
 
 God which is holy; to that commandment which 
 “is holy, and just, and good".” Discerning the 
 perfect equity, and purity of God’s law, the peni¬ 
 tent sees the great evil of every transgression of 
 it*^. He sees the sinfulness of sin likewise, with 
 respect to Jesus Christ. He has an aifecting dis¬ 
 covery of it, as the procuring cause of the un¬ 
 paralleled sufferings of his dear Redeemer^. The 
 doleful anguish, and excruciating death of the 
 Lamb of God, are comments on the evil and de¬ 
 merit of sin, which the penitent reads with deep 
 attention. The agonies and groans of that ador¬ 
 able, that dying Saviour, who loved him and gave 
 himself for him, rend his heart, and afford him 
 the most affecting view of the evil of sin. Hence, 
 he has such a true sense of the sinfulness of his 
 sin, as is an abiding source of evangelical repent¬ 
 ance. 
 
 4. Lastly, A spiritual apprehension of the par¬ 
 doning mercy of God in Christ, is one of the 
 springs of true repentance.—Without the begun 
 exercise of saving faith, or the apprehension of 
 the mercy of God in Christ, there may be a sense 
 of sin, but not a true sense: there may be a sense 
 of sin, as hurtful to the sinner himself*; but not 
 a sense of it, as hateful to an holy God^ To ap¬ 
 prehend the mercy of God in Christ, is, to exer¬ 
 cise the faith of his pardoning mercy. It is, to 
 rely by faith on the surety-righteousness of Jesus 
 Christ, for a ri^ht to pardon, and acceptance as 
 
 Rom. vii. 12. * 1 John iii. 4. ^ Zech. xii. 10. 
 
 * Gen. iv. IS.. a Hab. i. 13. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 19 
 
 righteous in the sight of God, and to trust in his 
 redeeming mercy. Accordingly the holy Psalm¬ 
 ist says, “ I have trusted in thy mercy*’.” And, 
 again, “ I trust in the mercy of God for ever and 
 ever'.” Such a knowledge of sin as is only by 
 the law, may produce slavish fear and worldly 
 sorrow; but it is the faith of redeeming mercy 
 alone, as revealed and offered in the gospel, that 
 paints iniquity in such hateful colours, as to make 
 the penitent ashamed and confounded. A deep 
 sense of sin, indeed, may proceed from the faith 
 of the law; but a true sense of it, must arise from 
 the faith, both of the law and of the gospel. The 
 faith of redeeming mercy, is a spring of true re¬ 
 pentance, and that by which, the exercise of it is 
 influenced and regulated. Though the graces of 
 faith and repentance are, in respect of time, im¬ 
 planted together and at once ; yet, in order of na¬ 
 ture, the ociing of faith goes before the exercise of 
 true repentance. The sinner, then, must cordi¬ 
 ally believe or trust in Christ for pardon, in order 
 to exercise evangelical mourning for sin, and 
 turning from it unto God. True repentance is 
 very pleasing to God, “but without faith it is 
 impossible to please him'*.” To trust firmly in 
 the Lord Jesus, both for pardon and purifieation, 
 is that which, under the sanctifying influences of 
 
 the Holy Spirit, will be most effectual, to melt 
 down the heart into true repentance. It is, Avhen 
 sin is contemplated by the believer, as a base, a 
 criminal, outrage against the Father of mercies, 
 ** Psa]. xiii, 5. c Psal. lii. 8. 
 
 c Psal. lii. 8. 
 
 Ileb. xi. 6. 
 
20 
 
 THE SPRINGS, &c. 
 
 and his own God and Father, that a sense of the 
 malignity of it, is deeply impressed on his heart. 
 And it is this affecting persuasion, that, by his 
 innumerable sins, he in 'particular pierced the a- 
 dorable, the dear Redeemer; or, that the Re¬ 
 deemer was wounded for his transgressions, and 
 bruised for his iniquities;—it is this, I say, that 
 melts his heart into godly sorrow, and penitential 
 mourning, for his aggravated crimes”. It is evi¬ 
 dent, then, that the exercise of true repentance, 
 Hows from the acting of unfeigned faith in a cru¬ 
 cified Redeemer, and in the mercy of God through 
 Him; and that, in proportion as the acting of 
 faith is frequent and lively, the exercise of repen¬ 
 tance will be deep and spiritual. 
 
 These, though they do not merit evangelical 
 repentance, nor give sinners a federal right to it; 
 yet are the springs from which the exercise of it 
 flows. 
 
 Is a true sense of sin, one of the springs of 
 evangelical repentance ? Then it is manifest, that 
 the unconvinced sinner, is not only an impenitent, 
 but an unregenerate sinner. Reader, if ever the 
 Holy Spirit has regenerated you, he has given 
 you a spiritual sight, and a painful feeling of the 
 sin of your nature and of the transgressions of 
 your life. He has brought home to your con¬ 
 science the precept and penalty of the Divine law, 
 as a broken covenant. The consequence has un¬ 
 doubtedly been, That you have been truly con- 
 
 ® Zech. xii, 10. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 21 
 
 vinced, not only of your sin, but of the malignity 
 of your sin ; not only of your evil doings, but of 
 the evil of your doings; not merely of doings 
 which are in themselves sinful, but of the iniquity 
 even of your holy things; and not only of their 
 desert of punishment, but of everlasting punish¬ 
 ment. If you never had in any degree this sense 
 of sin, you have never exercised true repentance. 
 You may have, perhaps, been trying to wash away 
 your sins, with the tears of a legal repentance; 
 but ^vithout this sense of sin, you have not exer¬ 
 cised that repentance, which is the consequence 
 of having washed them away, in the blood of the 
 Lamb. 
 
 Hence also it is plain that, legal convictions of 
 sin, and legal terrors of conscience, are not true 
 repentance. They are, sometimes, introductory 
 to the exercise of it, but they form no part of that 
 exercise. These are but like unripe fruits. They 
 must be ripened by the warm sun of gospel-in¬ 
 fluence, before he who has them, can exercise in 
 the smallest degi’ee, evangelical repentance. Or 
 rather, they may be compared to the blossoms 
 which appear before, and differ in kind from the 
 fruit. They often fall off, or go up as dust, and 
 no fruit of true repentance follows. The first 
 fruits of the second death, are alas! often mis¬ 
 taken by many for the pangs of the second birth. 
 And therefore, if the reader has ever had them, 
 he should examine well, if he has experienced a 
 favourable issue out of them; if his soul has re¬ 
 nounced itself for justification, and for sanctifica- 
 
22 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 tion; if he has come to the Lord Jesus Christ 
 and him only» both for justifying righteousness, 
 and for sanctifying grace^ ; and if Ids heart has 
 been melted and grieved for his innumerable sins, 
 because they have been committed against God 
 in Christ, as a gracious God and Father*'. This 
 is the threefold harbour at which they arrive, 
 who come rightly out of those frightful depths. 
 But alas! many plunge to and fro in them for a 
 time, and land again on the same side, at which 
 they went in. 
 
 Does the exercise of evangelical repentance, 
 spring from the faith of pardoning mercy ? The 
 proper way, then, of dealing with the hard heart, 
 to bring it to true repentance, is, to press the sin¬ 
 ner to believe in Jesus Christ, for pardoidng mercy 
 and sanctifying grace. This, under the influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, is the way to soften and melt 
 the heart, and to dispose it, willingly to exercise 
 genuine repentance. The impenitent sinner should 
 be exhorted, to imitate those fowls, which first 
 fly up, and then dart down upon their prey ; first, 
 to soar aloft, by trusting in the redeeming mercy 
 of God in Christ, and then, to come down in the 
 exercise of evangelical humiliation. “ They shall 
 look upon me whom they have pierced, and they 
 shall mourn for him’'.” Unbelief or distrust of 
 pardoning mercy, hardens the heart, and removes 
 it fai'ther and farther from God; whereas the spi- 
 
 ^ Isa. xlv. 24 g Jer. xxxi. 18. ^ Zech. xii. 10. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 23 
 
 ritual faith of pardon, touches the rebel’s heart 
 and makes it relent. 
 
 From what has been said, the reader may learn 
 what a true sense of sin is. It is such a spii'itual 
 sight and feeling of sin, as arises Irom the faith 
 of pardoning mercy; and is such a sense of the 
 malignity and delormity of sin, as makes the pe¬ 
 nitent conclude, that of all evils it is the greatest. 
 He sees the evil of sin, not only Avith respect to 
 himself, but with regard to God, and Christ, and 
 the Holy Spirit.—It is a distinct sense of the par¬ 
 ticular evils, of the heart and life. “ Against 
 thee, thee only have I sinned,” says David, “ and 
 done this evil in thy sight .” It is a real, and 
 not an imaginary sense of sin; and so it surpasses 
 a merely rational conviction of sin, as far as that 
 sense of the bitterness of gall, which is attained 
 by tasting it, goes beyond that which is got by 
 the bare report of it*^. It is also an abiding, a 
 permanent sense of iniquity. “ Mine eye,” says 
 the afflicted church, “ trickleth down, and ceaseth 
 not, wdthout any intermission*.” The removal of 
 a plague, put an end to Pharaoh’s consciousness 
 of sin ; but in the true penitent, the wound is 
 deep, and so the sense is abiding. In a word, it 
 is lively and operative. The eye of the true pe¬ 
 nitent affects his heart; and Avhen the heart is 
 suitably affected, it excites all the poAvers of the 
 soul to action. There is a sense of sin, Avhich 
 
 A 
 
 
 i Psal. li. 4. 
 
 Jer. iL 19. 
 
 * Lam. iii. 49. 
 
24 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 discovers itself in nothing but indolent wishes, and 
 fruitless coinjdaints. But a true sense of it, sti¬ 
 mulates the penitent to immediate, and diligent 
 endeavours. 
 
 Hence also it is evident, that it is the duty of 
 every sinner, to attain without delay a true sense 
 of sin. For this purpose, meditate frequently on 
 such subjects, as tend to beget and increase in 
 your heart, a deep sense of the odiousness and de¬ 
 merit of sin. Impenitence is greatly the effect of 
 extenuating notions of the infinite malignity of 
 transgression; whereas repentance flows from a 
 true sense of its malignity and odiousness. Me¬ 
 ditate also on the direful anguish, and ignominious 
 death of the Lamb of God, when his holy soul 
 made itself an offering for sin. In these you may 
 see plainly, that God’s abhorrence of sin is so in¬ 
 expressibly great, that he would sooner deliver 
 up his only begotten Son, in whom his soul de- 
 lighteth, to the most direful agony and excruciat¬ 
 ing death, than leave it unpunished. To con¬ 
 template Gethsemane and Golgotha, is, under 
 the influences of the Holy Spirit, eminently con¬ 
 ducive to evangelical repentance. Consider, too, 
 that how light soever, your crimes may sit on 
 your spirit, they are a heavy burden to the Spirit 
 of God. “ Behold,” saith Jehovah, “ I am pressed 
 under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of 
 sheaves'".” The lighter that your sin lies upon 
 
 Amos ii. 13. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 25 
 
 your mind} the more grievous it is to the Holy 
 Spirit of God. And if you do not sincerely re¬ 
 pent of it, he will ease himself of that burden, by 
 pouring out upon you, the fury of his gi’eat indig¬ 
 nation". Consider, I intreat you, that without an 
 affecting sense of the hatefulness of sin, there is 
 no humiliation; that without humiliation, there 
 is no true repentance; and that without such re¬ 
 pentance, it will be impossible for you to escape 
 the wrath to come". Study, then, in dependance 
 on promised grace, and that without delay, to 
 obtain a true, and a deep sense of the exceeding 
 sinfulness of your sin. 
 
 From what has been said it is obvious, that you 
 ought also to use all th6 appointed, ineans^ of at¬ 
 taining evangelical repentance. The Lord has 
 appointed various means, and commanded you to 
 use them. Employ them all, therefore, and in¬ 
 stead of depending on them, or relying on your 
 use of them, trust that the Lord Jesus will ren¬ 
 der them effectual. If you sincerely desire to re¬ 
 pent, you will manifest your sincerity, by using 
 with diligence every instituted mean. Meditate 
 seriously, then, on the sin of your nature, heait, 
 and life, and especially on the exceeding sinful¬ 
 ness of it. “ Remember from whence thou art 
 fallen, and repents” Consider your ways. “ I 
 thought on my ways,” says holy David, “ and 
 turned my feet unto thy testimonies'*.” Survey 
 minutely your inclinations and thoughts, your 
 
 “ Isa. i. 24. ® Luke xiii. 3. P Rev. ii. 5. *1 Psal. cxix. 59. 
 
26 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 words and actions, even from your earliest years. 
 Put to yourself seriously such questions as these : 
 “ What have I been intending and pursuing all 
 my days ? What has been the rule of my conduct ? 
 the maxims of men, or the word of God ? the cus¬ 
 toms of the world, or the example of Christ? What 
 has the supreme love of my heart been fixed on ? 
 Whether have I given to Christ, or to the world, 
 my strongest desires and warmest attachments ? 
 Whether has it been my habitual intention, to 
 please God, or to please myself? Has it been his 
 glory, that I have aimed at in every pursuit, or 
 my own gratification, wealth or honour ? Whe¬ 
 ther is it in heaven or upon earth, that I have 
 chiefly been aiming, to lay up treasures for my¬ 
 self? Has God in Christ, been the delightful sub¬ 
 ject of my frequent meditation and conversation ? 
 or, have I regarded religious thoughts and con¬ 
 verse, as insipid and weai-isome ? Have I been 
 out of my element, when employed in the delight¬ 
 ful work of prayer and praise, of reading and 
 hearing the glorious gospel ? and have I found 
 more pleasure, in licentious mirth and trifling 
 conversation? Have I kept the Sabbaths, and 
 with holy reverence, frequented the Sanctuary, of 
 the Lord? or have 1 profaned his Sabbaths, and 
 poured contempt on his ordinances ? And have 1 
 relied, for all my right to eternal life, on the 
 surety-righteousness of Jesus Christ, and trusted 
 cordially in him for all his salvation ? or, have I 
 relied for a title to life, partly on my own works, 
 and trusted in him for a part only of his salva- 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 2T 
 
 tion ?” Propose with impartiality these questions 
 to yourself, and suffer conscience to return a 
 faithful answer ; in order that, you may so dis¬ 
 cern your self-deformity, as to abhor yourself, 
 and repent in dust and ashes.—When you use the 
 means, believe with application the promises, of 
 true repentance''. Upon the warrant of their be¬ 
 ing directed in offer to you, apply and trust and 
 plead them. To believe the promises, and yet 
 not to use the means, is presumption ; and to use 
 the other means, and yet not to employ the prin¬ 
 cipal mean of trusting Christ and the promise, 
 is self-righteousness. 
 
 When you are emplojdng the means of evan¬ 
 gelical repentance, be constantly on your guard, 
 against every hinderance to the exercise of it. In¬ 
 considerateness, the not apprehending the mercy 
 of God in Christ, slothfulness, the love and cares 
 of the world, prejudices against the exercise of 
 faith and the practice of holiness, and presump¬ 
 tuous confidence, are some of them. As these 
 are powerful obstructions, to the habit and exer¬ 
 cise of true repentance, be always on your guard 
 against yielding to any of them. In the faith of the 
 promise, and with importunate supplication for 
 the Spirit of grace, labour to mortify them. 
 
 In conclusion : It may justly be inferred from 
 what has been advanced, that it is not sound doc¬ 
 trine to teach. That Christ will receive none hut. 
 the true penitent^ or that none else, is warranted 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 " EzeL xxxvi. 31. FsaL xxii. 27. 
 
28 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 to come by faitli to him for salvation. The re¬ 
 generated sinner must first, by faith embrace 
 Christ, and apprehend the pardoning mercy of 
 God in him, before he can exercise true repen¬ 
 tance. Accordingly, the invitations of the gos- 
 ])el to every sinner who hears it, are these:— 
 “ Let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever 
 will, let him take the water of life freely^y “ Come 
 ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy \vine and milk 
 without money, and without price.’^” The evil 
 of that doctrine is, that it sets needy sinners on 
 spinning repentance, as it were, out of their own 
 bowels, and on bringing it with them to Christ; 
 instead of coming to him by faith, to receive 
 it from him. It also tends to prevent convinced 
 sinners, from attempting to come to Christ; as it 
 teaches them to keep aloof from him, till they be 
 assured, that they have true repentance to bring 
 with them. For a sinner cannot lawfully come 
 to the Saviour till he be sure, that he has a pre¬ 
 sent warrant to do so. If Jesus Christ will re¬ 
 ceive none, but him who is satisfied that he has 
 genuine repentance, then none else, is invited or 
 commanded to believe in him ; for surely, he who 
 is invited and commanded to come to Christ, will 
 be welcome to him. Besides, if none be invited 
 but the true penitent; then,—impenitent sinners 
 are not bound to come to Christ; for none is war¬ 
 ranted or bound to come to him, but he who is 
 invited. And if a sinner who is not invited nor 
 
 * Rev. xxii. 17. 
 
 * Isa. Iv. L 
 
THE NATURE, &c. 
 
 29 
 
 commanded, do not come, he cannot be justly 
 blamed for not coming; for where no law is, 
 there is no transgi'ession. The truth is, every 
 sinner who hears the gospel, is both invited and 
 commanded, to believe in the compassionate Sa¬ 
 viour; and every one who cordially belieA^es in 
 him, will, in consequence, exercise evangelical re¬ 
 pentance, as a part of that salvation, for which he 
 trusts in him. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF THE NATURE AND IMPORT OF EVANGELICAL 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 The original words in the New Testament, 
 which, in our version of the Bible, are translated 
 Hepentance^ are ihirtiih^kua and iiiTama. The for¬ 
 mer of these words signifies “ An after careful¬ 
 ness,” or an uneasy feeling of regret and dissatis¬ 
 faction, for what has been done, without regard 
 either to duration or to effects. It denotes barely a 
 change of feeling, whether it be to the better or to 
 the worse; such a sorrow, as is not productive of 
 a real change of conduct, and does not imply it. 
 It does not imply a consideration either of goodness 
 or badness, but merely of change, from whatever 
 motive or cause. It is therefore the word, which is 
 
30 
 
 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 usually employed by the sacred Writers, to ex¬ 
 press repentance of any sort. And indeed, accor¬ 
 ding to the common acceptation of the term with 
 us, a man may as properly be said to repent of 
 a good, as of a bad action. A covetous man will 
 repent of the alms, which a transient fit of com¬ 
 passion, may have incited him to bestow. The 
 original word, then, signifies remorse or dissatis¬ 
 faction with one’s self, for what one has done.— 
 On the other hand, the last of those words, sig¬ 
 nifies “ A change of mind,” of judgment, of dis¬ 
 position, of purpose, and of conduct. It denotes 
 properly, a change to the better; a change of mind 
 that is not transitory, but durable, and productive 
 of good conduct. It implies not only sorrow and 
 remorse for what is past; but a change of dispo¬ 
 sition and of conduct, for the future. When John 
 the Baptist, our Lord, and his Apostles, inculcate 
 this change of mind as a duty, or mention the 
 necessity of it as a doctrine of Christianity, p^ra- 
 voia, and iiiravovji, are the terms which they inva¬ 
 riably employ. One or other of these, is the word 
 commonly used, to express the habit and exercise 
 of that repentance, which is evangelical, and 
 abiding, and not to be repented of. 
 
 The repentance, then, which is in the New Tes¬ 
 tament required of sinners, is such an entire change 
 of mind, or of views and sentiments respecting sin 
 and salvation, as discovers itself by a genuine sor¬ 
 row for sin, a firm resolution to hate and forsake 
 it, and a sincere endeavour, so to return to God in 
 Christ, as to walk with him in newness of life; 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 31 
 
 the sincerity of which, is to be evidenced by fruits 
 meet for repentance. This as was hinted above is 
 true repentance. And as it is the gift of God, the 
 purchase of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spi¬ 
 rit, it is a saving grace. Implanted by the Spirit 
 at regeneration, it is so inseparably connected with 
 salvation, as to constitute an essential part of it. 
 In the Scriptures it is called, “ repentance to sal¬ 
 vation,” and “ repentance unto life”“; as it pro¬ 
 ceeds from, and evidences, spiritual life in the soul, 
 and as it prepares for, and issues in, the perfection 
 of life eternal; as also to distinguish it from the 
 sorrow of the world, which worketh deaths It is 
 also styled, “ repentance toward Godbecause 
 in the exercise of it, a sinner turns from all known 
 sin, to the love and the service of God’'. True re¬ 
 pentance is not a transient act, as if a sigh, or a 
 pang of sorrow for sin, amounted to it. No; these 
 may indeed be acts of true repentance, while they 
 issue from a heart sincerely penitent: but repent¬ 
 ance itself, instead of being a passing act, is an 
 abiding principle, a lasting disposition of soul, a 
 gracious principle lying deep in the heart, dispos- 
 ing a man, at all times to mourn for, and turn from 
 sin^. The waters of godly sorrow for sin, in the 
 renewed heart, will continue .to spring up there, 
 while sin is there; though the spring may, through 
 remaining hardness of heart, be much obstructed 
 for a time. After the heart has, at the sinner’s 
 first conversion, been smitten with evangelical re- 
 
 “ Actsxi. 18. '’2Cor. vii. 10. * Acts «. 21. > Zech. xiL lo. 
 
 B 
 
32 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 pontance, the wound still bleeds, and will continue 
 more or less to bleed, until the hand of glory he 
 put about it, in the holy place on high. If, there¬ 
 fore, a man regards repentance, only as the first 
 stage in the way to heaven ; and instead of renew¬ 
 ing daily his exercise of it, satisfies himself with 
 concluding, that he has passed the first stage, the 
 truth of his repentance is very questionable. The 
 man, who does not see his need of exercising re¬ 
 pentance daily, may have a. counterfeit, but cannot 
 have a true repentance. He may have a superfi¬ 
 cial sorrow for his sins, and even such remorse 
 gnawing his conscience, as may be the first mov¬ 
 ing of the worm that shall never die, as that of 
 Judas was; and yet, be a total stranger to that 
 evangelical repentance, which is both a saving 
 grace and an abiding principle. In the heart of 
 the true penitent, a wonderful and permanent 
 change, has been graciously effected. He is irre¬ 
 sistibly constrained, to abandon his former views 
 of sin, of salvation from sin, and of the pleasant¬ 
 ness and beauty of holiness, and to embrace senti¬ 
 ments altogether opposite. Such a change is pjo- 
 duced in his inclinations and affections, that he no 
 longer takes pleasure in unrighteousness, but de¬ 
 lights in the law of God and in obedience to it 
 after the inward man. And the more pleasure he 
 takes in holiness, the more deep, and even delicious, 
 will his sorrow for sin be, and the more vigorous 
 will his endeavours be, to turn from all sin to God. 
 And yet, so far is he from meriting any blessing 
 from God, by his exercise of true repentance, that 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 33 
 
 he is laid under fresh obligations to him, for hav¬ 
 ing granted to him, the inestimable blessing of re¬ 
 pentance unto life. The more of it he receives 
 from God, the more he is bound to honour Him, 
 by a lively and a frequent exercise of it. 
 
 Having thus glanced at the formal nature of evan¬ 
 gelical repentance, 1 now proceed to consider, what 
 the Exercise of it includes. And 
 
 In the first place. It imports deej) Humiliation of 
 soul before the Lord.—It is by the high way of 
 pride, that sinners depart from God; and it is by 
 the low way of humiliation that they return to him. 
 The grace of Christ, brings elect sinners down 
 Irom their high conceit of themselves, and lays 
 them low at the footstool of a gracious God. It 
 makes them humble themselves under the mighty 
 hand of God, that he may exalt them in due time''. 
 As it was with Benhadad’s servants^ so it is with 
 true penitents. By faith, they understand that 
 the King of Israel is a merciful King; by repent¬ 
 ance, they put sackcloth on their loins, and ropes 
 on their heads, and in that humble posture, they 
 come to him. Evangelical humiliation, is the im¬ 
 mediate consequence of a true sense of sin, and of 
 a spiritual apprehension of pardoning mercy. It 
 consists in lowliness, or self-abasement of mind 
 before God, and esteeming others better than our¬ 
 selves ; in having low thoughts of ourselves, and a 
 deep sense of our extreme meanness, hatefulness, 
 weakness, and unworthiness in the sight of God: 
 
 * 1 Pet. T, 6. 
 
 ® 1 Kings XX. 31, 32. 
 
34 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 or, it is the sense that a true Christian has, of his 
 own despicableness, odiousness on account of sin, 
 and utter inability for the smallest good thought, 
 word, or work, and that with a suitable frame of 
 heart. In true humiliation, the believing sinner 
 sees the hatefulness of his iniquity, and the inex¬ 
 pressible odiousness of his heart and life, because 
 of sin; and he has an answerable frame of spint, 
 a disposition to abhor and abase himself as a sin¬ 
 ner, to exalt Christ alone, and voluntarily to deny 
 and renounce himself. The hypocritical or legal 
 penitent, is lifted up with an high opinion of his 
 humiliation, and is ostentatious of it; whereas the 
 true penitent, is deeply humbled for the pride of 
 his heart. He accounts himself one of the least of 
 saints, and is disposed to think others better thaii 
 himself*’. He sees that bis humiliation is very 
 small, in comparison of what it ought to be, and 
 that his pride is very gi’eat, and exceeding sinful. 
 He is a thousand times more quicksighted, in dis¬ 
 cerning his pride and self-righteous temper, than 
 his humility. On the contrary, the hypocrite is 
 blind to nothing, so much as to his pride, and 
 quicksighted to nothing, so much as to his show of 
 humility. Evangelical humiliation, then, is a prin¬ 
 cipal part of the exercise of true repentance. The 
 sincere penitent, so discerns and feels the plague 
 of his own heart, as to think less favourably of 
 himself, than he can do of others, or they of him. 
 
 Secondly, The exercise of true Repentance, in- 
 
 PhiL ii. 3- 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 35 
 
 eludes godly sorrow for sin .—The remorse of the 
 evangelical penitent, is a sorrowful remorse, a 
 deep contrition of heart; not so much for the 
 punishment to which he has exposed himself, as 
 for the indignity he has done to a holy, a graci¬ 
 ous, and a merciful God. The apostle Paul styles 
 it, “ Sorrow according to God, or, godly sorrow*",” 
 not only, to distinguish it from the sorrow of the 
 world which worketh death; but to shew that it 
 is grief for sin because it is sin, because it is an 
 infinite offence given, and an infinite dishonour 
 done, to a holy, a good, and a gracious God; a 
 transgressing of his holy and righteous law, a 
 defacing of his moral image, a piercing of his dear 
 Son, and a grieving of his Holy Spirit. Trust¬ 
 ing, that the spotless Lamb of God was pierced 
 for his iniquities, the true penitent mourns, not so 
 much for himself, as for Him'’, And so real, so 
 deep, is his penitential sorrow, that though there 
 were no conscience to accuse, no judge to con¬ 
 demn, no devil to affright, no hell to torment; yet 
 he would mourn and be in bitterness, for having 
 offended that God who hath loved him, pierced 
 that Saviour who died for him, and grieved that 
 adorable Spirit who sanctifies and comforts him. 
 “ Against thee, thee only have I sinned,” says the 
 Psalmist, ‘‘ and done this evil in thy sight'.” His 
 penitential sorrow springs, not only from a true 
 sense of the infinite hatefulness of his innumerable 
 sins; but also from faith of redeeming mercy. 
 
 c 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
 (1 Zech. xii. 10. 
 
 ® Psal. li. 4. 
 
36 
 
 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 and from his love of God, and of his lioly law. 
 His godly sorrow springs likevs^ise from his views, 
 of the infinite majesty, excellence, holiness, and 
 amiableness, of that transcendently glorious God 
 whom he has insulted; of the injustice and base 
 ingratitude, of which he has been guilty; and of 
 the infinite obligations to obedience, which he has 
 violated. Now, that his views of sin are chan¬ 
 ged, he feels deep regret, bitter remorse, and in¬ 
 tense sorrow, for what he has done against his 
 gracious God and Father. His iniquities appear 
 to his mind, inexpressibly odious, and they be¬ 
 come a heavy burden, too heavy for him. He 
 mourns bitterly for them, and still mourns that 
 he cannot mourn more. His heart is broken, and 
 as it were melted, when he considers the odious¬ 
 ness, and the multitude of his crimes, against that 
 gracious God, who all the time was full of infinite 
 love to him. He grieved the Holy Spirit by com¬ 
 mitting sin, and he himself is now grieved in re¬ 
 penting of it. The adamantine heart, is dissolved 
 into tears of godly sorrow; the rock is struck by 
 the rod of evangelical truth, and the waters gush 
 out. This is that rending of the heart, which the 
 Lord requires*'. 
 
 The sorrow of evangelical repentance, is inward 
 and real sorrow. It is not a bouung down of the 
 head as a bulrush®, nor a disfigured countenance. 
 It arises from inward principles of faith and love ; 
 and so, it makes the man mourn in secret before 
 
 ^ Joel ii. 12. 
 
 S Isa, Iviii. 5. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 37 
 
 the Lord. It is deep sorrow, sorrow which de¬ 
 scends deeply into the heart. To dig deep, was 
 tlic security of the house that was founded upon 
 a rock'". Penitential sorrow is a pricking or 
 piercing of the heart, as with spears and swords, 
 or a compunction of hearts—But is godly sorrow 
 deeper in the lieart, than the deepest grief on any 
 worldly account ? If we calculate merely by feel¬ 
 ing, or by the moving of the affections, it is plain 
 tliat, it does not always appear deeper than other 
 sorrows. But, if we compute by the fixed dispo¬ 
 sition of the heart, it is as evident that, it is deep¬ 
 er than them all, and exceeds the greatest of them. 
 Persons are usually moved more sensibly, by a 
 less degree of sorrow, than by a greater. The 
 greatest grief is often above tears. Penitential 
 sorrow settles more deeply, and continues more 
 firm, than any other grief. It is also a lively sor¬ 
 row, a grief that quickens the soul. The sorrow 
 of the world worketh death; it indisposes a man 
 for activity in duty. But godly soitoav, quickens 
 a man to the spiritual performance of duty’'. The 
 former arises from slavish dread, which chills and 
 stiffens the soul, and so renders it unfit for action ; 
 the latter, from faith and love, wliich warm tlie 
 heart, and dispose it to be ardent and active'. It 
 is an universal sorrow. The evjingelical penitent 
 is grieved in heart, not only for his own iniqui¬ 
 ties, but for those of others'". He never mourns 
 
 2 Cor. vii. 11, 
 m Psal. cxix. 136. 
 
 Luke vi. 48. 
 
 * Luke vii. 47. 
 
 * Acts ii. 37. 
 
38 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 sincerely for any one sin, who does not mourn for 
 all; and he never grieves aright for the iniquities 
 of his life, who does not bewail bitterly the sin of 
 his nature. It is moreover an operative sorrow. 
 It “ worketh repentance to salvation, not to be 
 repented of".” Godly sorrow and turning to 
 God, are inseparable. Evangelical sorrow in the 
 heart, is a spring which, as it runs, works out the 
 love, power, and practice of sin. In a word. It 
 is sorrow which continues in the heart, as long as 
 sin remains in it. The grief of the legal penitent, 
 is like a summer-flood, which is soon over; but 
 the sorrow of the evangelical penitent, is like a 
 living spring, which, in a greater or less measure, 
 always sends forth water. 
 
 In the third place. Another ingredient in the 
 exercise of true repentance, is hatred of all sin^ 
 accompanied by self-loathing .—True hatred of sin, 
 under the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, 
 flows from faith working by love to God; and it 
 is a holy abhorrence of every sin, as infinitely 
 hateful to Him. This hatred is universal against 
 all sin, whether it be known or unknown. “ I 
 hate,” says the Psalmist, “ every false way".” It 
 is irreconcilable to any known sin. “ I hate the 
 work of them that turn aside,” says also the 
 Psalmist; “it shall not cleave to meP.” It is con¬ 
 stant without intermission. It is a hearty detes¬ 
 tation, an utter abhorrence, of all sin as sin, and 
 of every appearance of sin; an utter abhorrence 
 
 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
 o Psal. cxix. 104. 
 
 P Psal. ci. S. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 39 
 
 of it, as peculiarly odious, as inexpressibly abo¬ 
 minable ; a detestation of it in its nature, as the 
 greatest of all evils, the worst of all enemies, as 
 the most inveterate enemy, not only of the pre¬ 
 cious soul, but of that God, whose nature is infi¬ 
 nitely lovely and loving. The more the true pe¬ 
 nitent is enabled to trust, that Jesus was wounded 
 for his transgressions, and was bruised for his ini¬ 
 quities, the more he abhors them. In the suffer¬ 
 ings and death of the Lamb of God, he sees what 
 infinite wrath, what tremendous punishment, he 
 as a sinner deserves. And when he cordially 
 trusts, that the Lord Jesus so loved him, as wil¬ 
 lingly to endure all that punishment for him, his 
 iniquities appear inexpressibly hateful in his view, 
 and he longs to be able to hate them with perfect 
 hatred. He abhors sin as the worst of all evils, 
 worse even than the evil of suffering: and were 
 he left to his choice, without fear of ever being 
 called to account, he would not choose sin; for 
 he abhors it, because of its contrariety to the 
 holy nature and law of God. 
 
 True hatred of sin is accompanied by self-loath¬ 
 ing. ‘‘ Then shall ye remember your own evil 
 ways, and your doings that were not good, and 
 shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your 
 iniquities, and for your abominations'!.” The 
 true penitent loathes, not only the sin which 
 dwells in him, and the innumerable transgres¬ 
 sions which have been committed by him, but he 
 
 •1 Ezek. xxxvi. 31. 
 B 2 
 
40 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 loathes himself as a sinner. Seeing, in the glass 
 of the loving kindness, sparing mercy, and holy 
 law of God, and of the doleful agony and anguish 
 of his dear Redeemer, the unutterable deformity, 
 odiousness and demerit of his sins, he abhors him" 
 self, for his iniquities and abominations. “Where¬ 
 fore I abhor myself,” says Job, “ and repent in 
 dust and ashesb” He does not indeed loathe him¬ 
 self as a creature ; but he loathes, he is disgusted 
 with himself as a sinner. He looks on himself as 
 a most deformed, a most polluted object. Pie 
 n6w rejects with holy indignation, all the vain ex¬ 
 cuses for sin, which he used formerly to make, 
 and with which be satisfied his conscience. He 
 accuses, judges, and condemns himself. He is 
 accordingly represented as smiting on his breast'; 
 thereby declaring that, he considers his depraved 
 heart witliin, as the source of all his other abo¬ 
 minations, and that, he justly deserves to be 
 struck at the heart and to die, for his innumerable 
 and aggravated crimes. He sees now, that his 
 heart and his life, are a most loathsome spectacle; 
 all as an unclean thing, and that all bis righteous¬ 
 nesses are as filthy rags. He loathes himself, 
 therefore, and renounces all confidence in him¬ 
 self. 
 
 Fourthly, The exercise of true repentance, in¬ 
 cludes shame and confusion offace before the Lord. 
 —The remembrance of his innumerable, and hei¬ 
 nous. provocations, fills the true penitent with 
 
 *' Job. xlii., 6. 
 
 j Luke xviii. 13. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 41 
 
 holy shame and blushing before God. “ O my 
 God,” says Ezra, “ I am ashamed and blush to 
 lift up my face to tliee, my God; for our ini¬ 
 quities are increased o ver oiu' head, and our tres¬ 
 pass is grown up unto the heavens*.” Shame was 
 never felt in the world, till our first parents had 
 lost their reputation^ by sinning against God. It 
 is in consequence of a true sense of sin, and of a 
 fiducial apprehension of pardoning mercy, that 
 the true penitent is filled wuth shame, before a 
 holy and gracious God, for the deep depravity of 
 liis nature, and the aggravated transgressions of 
 his life. Spiritual nakedness also occasions shame. 
 Accordingly Adam, after he had sinned, said to 
 the Lord, “ I heard thy voice in the garden; 
 and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid 
 myself'*.” Sin has taken away the comeliness of 
 human nature. It has stripped the sinner of Ids 
 beautiful garments; so that, the shame of his 
 nakedness does appear. The believing sinner sees 
 that, and has this great promise fulfilled to him ; 
 “ That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, 
 and never open thy mouth any more because of 
 thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for 
 all that thou hast done, saith tlie Lord God’'.” 
 Reproach causes shame. “ Sin is a reproach to 
 any people’*.” That knowledge of sin which is 
 by the law, may produce woiddly sorrow; but it 
 is the province of the gospel only, to paint sin in 
 
 * Ezra ix. G. 
 w Ezek. xvL 63. 
 
 “ Gen. iii. 10. 
 
 * Prov. xiv, 34. 
 
42 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 such colours, as to make the true penitent ashamed, 
 yea, even confounded, because he does bear the 
 reproach of his youth’'. A true sense especially 
 of base ingratitude^ when it is accompanied by the 
 faith of redeeming mercy, fills him with shame : 
 “ We lie down in our shame, and our confusion 
 covereth us; for we have sinned against the Lord 
 our God%” The disappointment also of his for¬ 
 mer hopes from sin, fills the penitent with holy 
 shame. During his unregenerate state, he ex¬ 
 pected satisfaction and happiness, in a course of 
 disobedience; but now that his views of sin are 
 changed, he sees that he was all the time pro¬ 
 curing for himself, nothing but present misery 
 and endless destruction. His reflection upon this, 
 fills him often with shame. Accordingly, the 
 apostle Paul puts this question; “ What fruit 
 had ye then in those things whereof ye are now 
 ashamed ? for the end of those things is death®.” 
 A spiritual discovery also of the pollution of his 
 sin, fills the penitent with shame. Sin defiles, as 
 well as deforms the soul, in the sight of God. 
 The true penitent sees this and is ashamed. “We 
 are all as an unclean thing,” says the ancient 
 church, “ and all our righteousnesses are as filthy 
 rags”.” And Daniel, “ O Lord, righteousness 
 belongeth unto thee, but unto us, confusion of 
 faces, as at this day'’.” 
 
 In the fifth place. The exercise of true Repent- 
 
 a Rom. vi. 21. 
 c Dan. ix. 7. 
 
 y Jer. xxxi. 19. 
 
 vb Isa. Ixiv. 6. 
 
 * Jer. iii. 25. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 43 
 
 ance, implies ingenuous and unreserved confession 
 of sin, to the glory of that God who has been dis¬ 
 honoured by it.—Thus Joshua exhorted Achan, 
 “ My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, 
 and make confession unto him'^.'” This is the way, 
 in which the true penitent vents his godly sorrow, 
 self-loathing, and shame. “ I acknowledged my 
 sin unto thee,” says the Psalmist, “ and mine ini¬ 
 quity have I not hid: I said, I will confess my 
 transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest 
 the iniquity of my sin°.” If the sin has been com¬ 
 mitted in secret, confession to God in secret will 
 suffice. If it has been a private offence, given not 
 only to God, but to a fellow-creature, the confes¬ 
 sion is to be made not merely to God, but to that 
 fellow-creature in private^ If it has been a pub¬ 
 lic offence, the confession should be public like¬ 
 wise®. Accordingly, David published his confes¬ 
 sion to the church”, and so did Paul*. As the se¬ 
 cret confession, is to be made to God only; so the 
 private and public confessions, are to be made to 
 him chiefly.—Ingenuous confession of sin, is so 
 necessary in the exercise of true repentance, that 
 in Scripture it is put for the whole of repentance. 
 Thus saith the Lord, “ I will go and retm*n to my 
 place, till they acknowledge their offence'".” The 
 true penitent, by his unreserved confession of his 
 crimes, accuses himself. With sorrow and shame, 
 he confesses to the honour of his God and Father, 
 
 a Josh. viL 19. e pjal. xxxii. 5. f James v. 16. 5 1 Tim. v. 20. 
 
44 
 
 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 that times without number, he has transgressed 
 his holy and righteous law. “ I acknowledge my 
 transgressions,” says David; “ and my sin is ever 
 before me'.” He also condemns himself. When 
 he looks into the holy law, and considers the infi¬ 
 nite malignity, and demerit of his innumerable 
 crimes, he reads his doom, and passes sentence on 
 himself. “ Father,” said the returning pi’odigal, 
 “ I have sinned against Heaven and before thee, 
 and am no more worthy to be called thy son™.” 
 He sees and confesses, that he deserves, for his 
 great, his aggravated provocations, to sink through 
 eternity, under the overwhelming wrath of al¬ 
 mighty God. And he says with the afflicted 
 church, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that I am 
 not consumed".” He sees that it would have been 
 just with God, to have punislied him, considered 
 as in himself, with everlasting destruction. In¬ 
 stead of covering his transgression as Adam, the 
 true penitent knows not, where to find expressions 
 strong enough, to set forth the extreme malignity 
 of the very least of his crimes. He lays his hand 
 upon his mouth, and his mouth in the dust, as be¬ 
 ing unable to declare, either the multitude of his 
 iniquities, or the greatness of their aggravations. 
 His confession, accordingly, is free, sincere, par¬ 
 ticular, and habitual. 
 
 Lastly^ The exercise of evangelical Repentance, 
 includes the sinner’s Turning from all sm, to God 
 in Christ .—This is the formal nature of true re- 
 
 ' Psal. li. 3 . 
 
 “ £uke xv. 18, 19. 
 
 “ Lam. iii. 22 , 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 45 
 
 pentance, or that wlilcli completes it. It is under 
 this notion of it, that evangelical repentance is, in 
 the Old Testament, often styled, Returning or 
 conversion. In the exercise of this repentance, the 
 convinced sinner returns, and comes to himself”; 
 and then he turns from all sin to God. When¬ 
 ever he comes to himself, he will come to Christ 
 by faith, and to God in him by repentance. 
 
 1. The true penitent turns from all sm. “ Re¬ 
 pent, and turn from your idols, and turn away 
 vour faces from all your aborainationsP.” To con¬ 
 tinue in the practice of sin, is inconsistent with 
 the exercise of true repentance. Sincere penitents 
 cease from sin. Though sin remains in them, yet 
 it does not reign as formerly. Though they can¬ 
 not shake themselves loose of the remains of sin, 
 yet they turn from it, both in their Jceart.) and in 
 their life. 
 
 They turn from all sin in Heart and affection. 
 Although iniquity still cleaves to them, yet they 
 no longer cleave to it as formerly, but detest and 
 loathe iP. Sin still hangs on them, but it is only 
 as chains on the captive, which are his grievous 
 burden; or, as the grave-clothes on Lazarus, 
 when he was raised from the dead, which he was 
 trying to shake off. Their esteem and love of 
 sin, are changed into hatred of it. “ I hate vain 
 thoughts,” says the holy PsalmisC. And again, 
 “ I hate every false way^” In the exercise of 
 
 ® Luke XV. 17. P Ezek. xiv. 6. <1 Rora vii. 24.. 
 
 r Psal. cm. 113. » Verse 1Q4 
 
46 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 true repentance, their hearts are turned against 
 all iniquity, and they abhor it as the worst of 
 evils,—worse than even the most exquisite suffer¬ 
 ing. Instead of taking pleasure in sin as for¬ 
 merly, they now loathe it. Hence, the exercise 
 of such repentance is styled, a casting away of all 
 their transgression s‘; as one would do, some very 
 loathsome thing, which he cannot endure to be 
 near him. “ Thou shalt cast them away as a 
 raenstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it. Get 
 thee hence“.” In a word. Their cleaving to sin, 
 is turned into an ardent, and increasing, desire to 
 be freed from it. Though formerly, sin was dear 
 to them as the apple of the eye; yet now that their 
 heart is rent from it, as well as for it, they long 
 vehemently to be delivered from it. Thus, they 
 turn from the love of all sin in their heart. 
 
 True penitents turn also from all sin in their 
 life, or external conduct. They study to have clean 
 hands, as well as a pure heart. In the exercise 
 of repentance, they refuse compliance with the 
 corrupt desires of the flesh, and of the mind; and 
 so, they through the Spirit mortify the members, 
 and deeds of the body of sin'^. They turn from 
 gross sins, or outward abominations. They may 
 indeed be left, on some occasion, to fall into a 
 gross sin, as David and Peter were; but they are 
 not suffered, as the impenitent are, to lie in it. 
 They are raised again by repentance. “ A just 
 man falleth seven times, and riseth up again*.” 
 
 t Ezek. xviii. 31. ^isa, xxx. 22. Rom. viii. 13. * Prov. xxir. 1C. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 47 
 
 They watch, habitually against all temptations to 
 sin^, and all occasions of it*; and in proportion to 
 the degree of their sanctification, they abstain 
 even from all appearance of evil. They not only 
 turn from the practice of open and gross sin; but 
 they strive daily, against the sins of common in¬ 
 firmity. They exercise themselves, “ to have al¬ 
 ways a conscience void of offence, toward God 
 and toward men“.” Their conscience is tender 
 with respect to secret, as well as to open sins; 
 and therefore they are as deeply concerned, to re¬ 
 sist motions of sin, and temptations to it in se¬ 
 cret, before the Lord, as to strive against sinful 
 words and actions openly, before the world. And 
 when through infirmity, any of them is overtaken 
 in a fault, he, under the sanctifying influences of 
 the Holy Spirit, renews his exercise of faith and 
 repentance ; and so, he is always departing from 
 iniquity. True penitents will always be repent¬ 
 ing, as long as sin remains in them, and prevails 
 against them. They who consider turning from 
 sin, as the work only of a few days or weeks, at 
 a man’s first conversion, are not true penitents. 
 As evangelical repentance is included in sanctifi¬ 
 cation, and as turning from sin both in heart and 
 life, is the same as dying to sin ; the evangelical 
 penitent is, in principle and practice, constantly 
 turning from sin. 
 
 2. True penitents turn from all sin to God in 
 Christ. They departed from God by sin : they 
 
 y Psal. xviii. 23. ^ Prov. iv. 14, 15. ^ Acts xxiv. IG. 
 
48 
 
 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 return to Iiim by repentance. “ Come, and let 
 us return unto the Lord'’.” This is the term to 
 wbich, sinners turn in evangelical repentance. 
 iVIany who profess repentance, turn from one sin 
 to another, and never to God : “ They return but 
 not to the most High''.” But wlien the Holy 
 Spirit, enables sinners to trust in Christ for that 
 salvation, of which, pardon of sin and repentance 
 are essential parts, he thereby turns them from 
 all sin to God; and when they iire thus turned, 
 they turn to him. “ Surely, after that I was 
 turned, I repented.” “ Turn thou me and I shall 
 be turned'’.” By faith, sinners return to God 
 as their God and portion; and thi ough Christ, 
 take up their everlasting rest in Him, as the 
 strength of their heart, and their portion for 
 ever. But by repentance, they return to the love 
 of him as their Lord or Master, and to their duty 
 to him as such. 
 
 In the exercise of evangelical repentance, they 
 turn to the love of God as their Lord and Master. 
 
 O Lord our God, other lords besides thee 
 liave had dominion over us; but by thee only 
 will ■we make mention of thy name®.” They 
 account Him infinitely -worthy to be obeyed, 
 and served, and pleased in all things. They 
 see the transcendent glory, and araiableness of 
 God in Christ; and therefore they count Him, 
 infinitely worthy of all the love of their hearts, 
 
 g IIos. vii. 16. 
 
 * Isa. xxvi. 13. 
 
 ^ Hos. vi. I. 
 
 ^ Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 49 
 
 and of all the worship and ohedlence of their 
 lives^ They testify their supreme love ot him, 
 by a deliberate and cordial choice of him, as 
 their only Lord. “ Then shall she say, I will go 
 and return to my first husband ; for then was it 
 better with me than now^.” They discern the 
 excellence and amiableness, not only of the Lord 
 God himself, but also of his laws and ordinances, 
 his image and service ; and, therefore, they firmly 
 resolve to cleave to him and serve him. They 
 also testify their love of him, by regarding his 
 service as the greatest freedom, the highest hon¬ 
 our, and the truest happiness. When the prodi¬ 
 gal came to himself, he said, “ How many hired 
 servants of my father’s, have bread enough and 
 to spare'"!” To the same purpose the Psalmist, 
 “ Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they 
 will be still praising theeh” All true penitents 
 consider the service of sin, as the greatest bon¬ 
 dage, the deepest misery; but the service of God 
 in Christ, as the truest freedom, the sweetest hap¬ 
 piness. Their minds have been enlightened, to 
 see the deformity of sin, and the beauty of holi¬ 
 ness; and therefore their hearts abhor the one, 
 and delight in practising the other. 
 
 True penitents turn also, to their duty to God 
 as their Lord and Master. When Saul of Tarsus 
 became a penitent, he said, “ Lord, what wilt 
 thou have me to do*" ?” All who return to God, 
 
 James ii. 7. ® IIos. ii. 7. 
 
 b Luke xY. 17. ‘ Pial. Ixxxiv. 4. ^ Acts ix. 
 
50 THE NATURE AND IMPORT 
 
 come home as servants to do his work. All who 
 become his friends, do whatsoever he commands 
 them'. They “ delight in the law of God after 
 the inward man,” and have respect to all his com¬ 
 mandments. As it is with their whole heart, that 
 they return to the love and practice of theii' duty; 
 so, they have a full and fixed purpose of heart, in 
 dependance on the grace of Christ, to yield new 
 obedience to God. “ O Lord, I have said that I 
 would keep thy words.” “ I have inclined my 
 heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the 
 end”*.” They return to their duty, with a full 
 purpose to enter upon, and keep the way of duty; 
 to pursue and practise holiness, in all manner of 
 conversation. This full purpose is, a sincere re¬ 
 solution to return to the practice of every known 
 duty. True penitents study to know what is 
 duty, in every situation, and when it is known, to 
 perform it. They endeavour to serve the Lord, 
 cheerfully and diligently, in heart and in life. It 
 is also a purpose, to return to spirituality in every 
 duty. “We are the circumcision,” says the a- 
 postle, “ which worship God in the spirit",” 
 Sincere penitents resolve through grace, to have 
 their hearts, as well as their hands, engaged in 
 their duties; to perform them from union with 
 Christ, faith, and love, as the principles; from the 
 grace of God, and the love of Christ, as the mo¬ 
 tives ; in the strength of the grace of Christ, and 
 with the whole heart, as the manner; and to the 
 
 • John XV. 14. 
 
 m Psal. cxix. 57, 112. 
 
 " Phil. iii. 3. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 51 
 
 glory of God in Christ, as the ultimate end of 
 them. This resolution is usually called, a full 
 purpose, because it is a resolution, which is put 
 in execution without delay. “ I made haste,” 
 says the holy Psalmist, “ and delayed not, to keep 
 thy commandments”.” It is so called also, because 
 a sincere endeavour after new obedience, is in¬ 
 separably connected with it. Although true peni¬ 
 tents are sensible, that they cannot in their own 
 strength perform new obedience ; yet they habit¬ 
 ually aim at it, and even at perfection in iC. The 
 obedience, which they purpose and endeavour to 
 yield, is styled new obedience, because the prin¬ 
 ciples, the motives, the rule, the manner, and the 
 end of it, are all new. 
 
 The true penitent’s Turning from all sin to 
 God, is voluntary. Some turn from their sins 
 sore against their will. They part from their 
 darling sins with great reluctance, as the covetous 
 man, from his possessions at death, when he is 
 forced to let them go. The true penitent, on the 
 contrary, turns from all iniquity with willingness, 
 or by choice. In the same manner does he turn 
 to God. He voluntarily and heartily yields him¬ 
 self to Him, to serve him. “ Thy people shall be 
 willing in the day of thy power'’.” His turning 
 from all sin is also sincere. He turns from iniqui¬ 
 ty, not so much because it is hurtful, as because 
 it is hateful to him. He departs from it, because 
 it offends an infinitely holy and gracious God, dis- 
 
 ° Psal. cxix. 60. P Phil. iii. 14. *1 Psa cx, 3. 
 
52 THE NATURE AND IMPORT, &c. 
 
 honours his dear son, grieves his Holy Spirit, 
 violates his law, and defaces his image. His re¬ 
 turn to God in Christ is sincere. He turns to 
 him not feignedly, but udth his whole heart'. 
 Hypocrites have a divided heart, one part for 
 God, and another for sin. But “ no man can 
 serve two masters.” Moreover, he turns speedily 
 from sin to God’. As long as a man delays to 
 turn from all sin, his repentance is feigned. A 
 true penitent will no more delay, than a man 
 would, to snatch a burning coal from his bosom. 
 He will not delay a moment. He will make no 
 truce with sin. He knows that, if he delay a 
 single moment longer, it may prove fatal to him. 
 He therefore imitates the holy Psalmist, who says, 
 “ I made haste, and delayed not, to keep thy 
 commandments.” His turning from sin is also 
 universal. Whoever turns sincerely from any sin, 
 turns from all sin. Accordingly, Jehovah gave 
 this command to the house of Israel: “ Cast away 
 from you all your transgressions*.” One sin re¬ 
 tained, would render all his exercise of repentance 
 vain; just as Abimelcch the son of Jerubbaal’s 
 concubine, was the death of all his seventy sons 
 by his wives, except one. The true penitent, 
 therefore, abstains from all appearance of evil, 
 and carefully avoids every avenue of temptation. 
 Every sin as such, is the object of his deep abhor¬ 
 rence. And if any iniquity has prevailed against 
 him, more than another, if any sin has easily bo- 
 
 ^ Jer. iii. 10. 
 
 * PeaL cxii. CO. 
 
 t Ezek. xviii. 21. 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 53 
 
 set him; this, he resolutely and cheerfully fore¬ 
 goes, and with unreluctant mind abandons. He 
 so abandons every known sin, as to return to the 
 love, and to the spiritual performance, of every 
 known duty. He not only yields new obedience, 
 but attempts the performance of it in all its 
 parts. 
 
 So much for the nature and import of evange¬ 
 lical repentance. 
 
 From what has now been said it may justly be 
 inferred. That there is no exercise of true repent¬ 
 ance, without a heart broken from andfor sm. Sin¬ 
 ners either must be broken-hearted for their sins, 
 and be mourners in Zion, or God will break them 
 Avith the rod of his fiercest indignation. They 
 either must be of a contrite, that is, of a bruised 
 or crushed spirit, for the unnumbered sins of their 
 heart and life ; or God will crush them, under the 
 overwhelming weight of his unsupportable wrath. 
 They will either mourn and be in bitterness, for 
 their gveat transgressions, in time ; or they shall 
 weep and wail under the punishment of them, 
 through eternity. Alas ! there are multitudes of 
 sinners at this day who are stout-hearted, who 
 boldly outface reproofs, both from the word of 
 God and their consciences, Avithout hearts that 
 either break or bow. But, O that such would se¬ 
 riously reflect, that a day shall come, in which, 
 God will make the stoutest heart to tremble, and 
 the hardest heart to fly as in a thousand pieces ! 
 “ Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,” says 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 5i 
 
 the Psalmist; “ Thou shalt dash them in pieces 
 like a potter’s vessel “ Who knoweth the power 
 of thine anger''?” Some secure sinner will say, ‘ I 
 daily repent of my sins.’ Well would it be with 
 you, if you did so indeed. But none is so ready 
 to pretend that he has true repentance, as he who 
 is yet an utter stranger to it. If some regret for 
 your sins, and a transient wish for mercy, were 
 true repentance, it were easy work. But it is far, 
 very far from being so. You cannot repent evan¬ 
 gelically or acceptably, without a new heart, a 
 broken and contrite spirit, a heart broken from 
 and for all your iniquity. Neither can you do so, 
 without cordial trust in the pardoning mercy of 
 God in Christ. Be exhorted, O impenitent sin¬ 
 ner, to exercise that godly sorrow for sin, which is 
 a fruit of saving faith, and which worketh repent¬ 
 ance to salvation. Be not any longer a stranger 
 to the exercise of evangelical mourning, for the 
 innumerable evils of your heart and life. “ Bless¬ 
 ed are they that mourn, for they shall be com¬ 
 forted^.” 
 
 It is also evident from what has been stated. 
 That sin will be followed by shame, either in this 
 world, or in that which is to come. If a sinner 
 live and die without true repentance, his shame in 
 the eternal world is certain. He shall be covered 
 with shame, before all the armies of heaven, and 
 all the generations of the children of Adam, at 
 the last day, and with the most overwhelming 
 
 u PsaL ii. 9. ^ Psal. xc. 11 . * Matth. v. 4- 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 55 
 
 sliame, iii the place of torment, for ever and ever. 
 “ Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth, 
 shall awake, some to shame and everlasting con¬ 
 tempts” And if tlie sinner be enabled, before it 
 be too late, to exercise repentance unto life, he will 
 be covered with lioly shame and blushing before the 
 Lord. He will glorify God by taking shame to 
 himself, for the loathsome deformity, and pollution, 
 of his unholy nature and life. If by the eye of 
 faith he discern, that mercies and forgivenesses be¬ 
 long to the Lord, he will surely confess, that to 
 himself belongs confusion of face. If he be enabled 
 to trust cordially, that the Lord is pacified toward 
 him for all that he has done, he will remember and 
 be confounded, and never open bis mouth any more, 
 because of his shame \ He will in secret before 
 God, be asbamed even of that which, no fellow- 
 creature could ever witness: He will be as much 
 ashamed of secret, as of open abominations. 
 
 We may hence infer also, that shatnelessness in 
 sinning, is a sure mark of im penitence; and is there¬ 
 fore a forerunner of everlasting shamed Impu¬ 
 dence in committing sin, discovers a hard and im¬ 
 penitent heart, and a seared conscience. Ah ! 
 what well grounded hope of heavenly glory, can 
 that man have, who glories in his shame; and 
 who, instead of being ashamed of having sinned, 
 would be ashamed of appearing penitent ? 
 
 Sin must surely be a very loathsome object, in 
 the eyes of the true penitent; since the sight of it 
 
 7 Dan. xii. 2. * Ezek. xvi. 63. 
 
 ' Jer. vi. 1.5. Phil. iii. 19. 
 
 C 
 
56 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 makes him loathe himself No man truly abhors 
 liis sins, but he who loathes and abhors himself as 
 a sinner. An impenitent sinner, usually loves that 
 in himself, which he appears to loathe in others; 
 but the true penitent loathes sin in himself, even 
 more than he does in others. And when he loathes 
 himself in his own sight, for ha^dng sinned against 
 an infinitely holy and gracious God, it is at once a 
 part, and an evidence, of his being a true penitent; 
 an argument that his love of sin, is turned into 
 hatred of it. If my reader, then, wishes to attain 
 true self-loathing, let him, in the faith of illumi¬ 
 nating and renewing influences, look narrowly into 
 himself. Let him closely, and frequently, inspect 
 the inexpressible malignity and deformity, of tlie 
 sin that dwells in him, and of the innumerable 
 abominations that are committed by him. Many 
 a poor sinner is pining away in his iniquity, and 
 in all the loathsomeness of inbred corruption, 
 threatening his eternal perdition; whilst, in the 
 mean time, he is fond of his condition, and is 
 dreaming of happiness. But, if sovereign mercy 
 prevent it not, dreadful shall his surprise be, when 
 he awakes in the place of torment. O let no sin¬ 
 ner, remain a stranger to the exceeding sinfulness 
 of his heart and life. Let every one consider seri¬ 
 ously and frequently, the infinite odiousness and 
 demerit of his transgressions, and his extreme need 
 of union, and communion, with the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Does evangelical repentance, include confession 
 of sin ? Let the reader, then, study to be sincere, 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 5T 
 
 and freG) and full, and particular, in confessing his 
 iniquities to tliG Lord. Your debt, by nature and 
 practice, to the law and the justice of God, is 
 boundless. You can accumulate, but you cannot 
 pay, the immense sum. You are utterly insolvent. 
 If you be not found in Christ, as Jehovah our 
 Righteousness, you owe to the holy law as a cove¬ 
 nant of works, a debt of perfect obedience for life, 
 and of infinite satisfaction for sin. Confess then 
 the infinite sum. Confess it to the Lord, in order 
 to prevent a legal pursuit, and to be capable of 
 praying consistently for a remission of it, which 
 otherwise you cannot be. O if you had, a spiritual 
 sense of your aggravated sins, and godly sorrow 
 for them; these like an ovcrfloiving torrent, would 
 bear down before them, all those things which now 
 indispose you, for a free and particular confession 
 of them. 
 
 ^ Is evangelical repentance, a turning from all 
 sin to God in Christ ? Let the reader then examine 
 himself, whether he has, in heart and affection, 
 turned from all iniquity.—Is your esteem of all 
 sin, turned into contempt and dislike of it ? Is your 
 lov3 of every sin, turned into abhorrence of it, and 
 into self-loathing because of it ? and is your cleav¬ 
 ing to any darling, any predominant lust, changed 
 into a longing to be perfectly and eternally freed 
 from it ? Have you turned from all known sin, in 
 your external conduct ? Have you forsaken all gross 
 ixdlutionsand are you habitually on your guard, 
 against all sins even of common infirmity, abstain¬ 
 ing from all appearances of evil? Do you labour, in 
 
58 
 
 INFERENCES 
 
 clependance on promised grace, to resist the mo¬ 
 tions of sin in your heart, and to refuse compli¬ 
 ance with them in your life ? Is your turning from 
 all sin, voluntary and sincere ? Have you returned 
 to God in Christ ? Instead of turning from one 
 sin to another, have you returned from all iniquity 
 to the Lord ? Do you esteem Him worthy to be 
 obeyed, served, and pleased in all things ? Do you 
 choose Him as your only Lord, and regard His 
 service as your greatest happiness, your highest 
 honour ? Have you with your heart, returned to 
 your duty to him ? Is your heart reconciled to the 
 whole law of God, the whole yoke of Christ? 
 Have you in your heart, a deliberate and full pur¬ 
 pose of new obedience ? Have you returned to the 
 cheerful practice of every known duty, and to 
 spirituality in all ? Have you returned to the per¬ 
 formance of every duty, voluntarily, sincerely, and 
 without delay ? and is it in the faith of pardoning 
 mercy and of sanctifying grace, that you endeavour 
 to perform all your duties? If you have been en¬ 
 abled in any measure to do so, you may be satis¬ 
 fied that you are a true penitent. And though 
 your consciousness of being such, is no part of 
 your warrant for renewing your actings of faith in 
 the Lord Jesus ; yet it will be an encouragement 
 to you, to renew them, upon the warrant afforded 
 you in the glorious gospel. But if you still be not 
 satisfied, that you are a true penitent, come as a 
 sinner to Him, who is exalted to give repentance, 
 ^ and trust in him for that evangelical repentance, 
 which is a substantial part of spiritual life; of that 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 59 
 
 life, which is founded on justification, which is 
 carried on by sanctification, and completed in glo¬ 
 rification. 
 
 Is repentance a turning of the Heart from all 
 sin t It plainly follows that, turning from sin out¬ 
 wardly, while the heart still cleaves to it, Ls far 
 from being true repentance. It is easy indeed to 
 reform outwardly; but the great business consists 
 in getting the heart, by justifying and regenerating 
 grace, broken from, and for, all manner of sin. If 
 you, my dear reader, would be satisfied, that you* 
 repentance is not counterfeit, but true, you must 
 examine what motives they are, which excite you 
 to turn from iniquity. For the low and legal mo¬ 
 tives, which rise no higher than yourself, your own 
 safety and welfare,—will never evidence you, to 
 be an evangelical or true penitent. Many alas ! 
 cease from certain acts of sin, merely because sin 
 ceases from them. They have not left sin, but 
 some particular sin has quit them. Many an old 
 sinner, thinks himself a true penitent, because he 
 is not disposed as formerly, to wallow in the mire 
 of youthful lusts. Some again, forsake certain sins; 
 but not from the evangelical principles, of saving 
 faitli in the great Redeemer, union with him, love 
 to him, and hatred of all sin as sin. They do not 
 love supremely, the holy nature of God in Christ ; 
 and therefore they do not hate the nature of sin. 
 But they never begin to exercise evangelical re¬ 
 pentance, till they hate the very nature of all ini¬ 
 quity, and begin to turn from it with holy abhor¬ 
 rence, because it is hateful, not only to God but to 
 
60 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 themselves.— Every sin is, In its very nature, most 
 detestable to the true penitent. 
 
 It follows also, that negative reformation merely^ 
 is not true repentance. A man must not only turn 
 from all sin, but turn to God. The evangelical 
 penitent, not only ceases to do evil, but learns to 
 to do welP. He not only abhors that which is 
 evil, but cleaves to that which is good‘s. He not 
 only mortifies, his corrupt inclinations and affec¬ 
 tions ; but he possesses and exercises, the contrary 
 gi’aces. Many reform externally, from the evils 
 of their past life; but they do not go forward, to 
 the ways of faith and holiness. Like the proud 
 pharisee, who went up to the temple to pray, they 
 satisfy themselves with being not unjust, nor ex¬ 
 tortioners, nor adulterers. But they consider not, 
 that no sooner is the house, from which the un¬ 
 clean spirit is gone out, empty, than he returns 
 with seven other spirits more wicked than himself, 
 and they enter in and dwell there; and so the last 
 state of that man, is worse than the first <J. In 
 evangelical repentance, the regenerate and believ¬ 
 ing sinner, returns from the love and practice of 
 sin, to the love and enjoyment of God, and to that 
 new obedience to him, which flows from faith and 
 love. Turning to God in Christ, is the essence of 
 evangelical repentance. 
 
 In conclusion: The exercise of repentance must 
 be the work of our whole lives; for so, our turning 
 from sin and returning to God will be, if we be 
 true penitents. While the sincere penitent is flee- 
 
 t Isa. i. 16, 17. * Rom. xiL 9. ‘‘ Matth. xii. 44, 45. 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 61 
 
 iiig from sin, it follows him. It often overtakes 
 him, and therefore he must renew his flight often. 
 New provocations require a renewed exercise of 
 repentance; nay, old sins are not to be forgotten. 
 “ Remember,” said Moses to Israel, “ and forget 
 not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to 
 wrath in the wilderness.” And the lioly Psalmist 
 prayed thus: “ Remember not the sins of my youth, 
 nor my transgressions®.” The whole life of thti 
 true penitent, is a continual warfare. During this 
 warfare he must fight many battles. Sometimes 
 he gains the victory, and sometimes he loses. If 
 he loses, he must renew the fight: if he gains, he 
 must pursue the victory, and prepare for a new 
 encounter. But he should always be of good 
 courage, and maintain his conflicts resolutely; for 
 though he may lose a particular battle, yet he shall 
 be more than a conqueror at last^. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE NECESSITY OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 By the necessity of repentance, is meant the 
 need that a sinner has of it, as that which is in¬ 
 dispensably requisite for him. A sinner must 
 either repent or perish. He acts most unjustly, 
 as well as unreasonably, if he continue impenitent. 
 Besides, he is under infinite obligations to repent. 
 
 ‘ Psal. xzv. 7. liom. viii. 37. 
 
62 
 
 THE NECESSITY 
 
 Now true repentance is necessary, or indispens¬ 
 ably requisite, chiefly on the following accounts: 
 
 1. It is necessary, because the Lord in his holy 
 law, hath peremptorily required it. —It is one of the 
 duties, required in the first commandment of the 
 moral laws. It is more expressly commanded, both 
 in the Old Testamant, and in the New. “ Thus 
 >saith the Lord God, Repent and turn yourselves 
 from your idols; and turn away your faces from 
 all your abominations’’.’’ God “ now commandeth 
 all men every Avhere to repent'.” True repentance 
 then is necessary, for it is peremptorily commanded 
 by the Lord. It is a duty, from the performance 
 of which, no individual can plead an exemption; 
 an exercise, which on no account whatever, can 
 be dispensed with. All are commanded to repent, 
 and therefore all are bound, in obedience to the 
 Di\nne command, to exci'cise true repentance. This 
 high command was often repeated, not only by the 
 ancient Prophets and John the Baptist, but by our 
 Lord Jesus himself and his Apostles. 
 
 2. True repentance is indispensably requisite, 
 because all have sinned. All men are sinners, and 
 therefore all need repentance. A sinner cannot 
 otherwise be saved from the love, and power, and 
 
 e In the Larger Catechism of our Church, we are taught that, 
 
 ‘ Believing and trusting’ in God, ‘ being careful in all things to please 
 him, and sorroiiful when in any thing he is ofiended,’ are among 
 ‘ the duties required in the first commandment;’ and that ‘ unbelief, 
 distrust, — iucorrigibleness, — and hardness of heart,’ or impenitence, 
 (according to Romans ii. 5. there quoted,) are among ‘ the sins for¬ 
 bidden’in it Larg. Cat. Quest 104, 105. 
 
 ^ Ezek. xiv. 6. ' Acts xvii. SO. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 practice of sin, than by being enabled to repent o 
 sin. He cannot serve the Lord acceptably, except 
 be turn from all iniquity to him. Nor can he ba\ e 
 communion with him, but in proportion to the de 
 gi'ee of his repentance, for having sinned against 
 him. The law as a covenant of works, condemns 
 every sinner who is under it; and consequently it 
 can justify none, who has but in a single instance 
 transgi'cssed it. The unnumbered multitude of 
 a sinner’s transgressions, though it cannot add to 
 the certainty, yet will add to the greatness, of his 
 condemnation, and should therefore add to the 
 depth of his repentance. Could a man be found, 
 who had but in a single instance, failed of yielding 
 perfect obedience, even such a man would need re¬ 
 pentance. He could not be saved without it. 
 How necessary, then, is repentance for that sm- 
 ner, whose iniquities are more in number, than the 
 sand on the sea-shore ! 
 
 3. To repent of sin is needful, because all tire 
 children of Adam, have destroijed themselves by sin. 
 —“ O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself'.” “ Re¬ 
 
 turn unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen 
 by thine iniquity'.” The cbeadful curse of tlm 
 violated law, is denounced against the impenitent 
 sinner. “ The wrath of God abideth on him.” 
 Death in all its extent closely pursues him. Ever¬ 
 lasting destruction awaits him. His judgment 
 ling-ereth not, and his damnation slumbereth not"*. 
 That great and terrible God, whom he has, times 
 and ways without number, insulted, is at once tluj 
 k Hos. xiii. 9. ‘ H s. xiv. 1. “ 2; Ptt. ii. 3. 
 
64 
 
 THE NECESSITY 
 
 witness, the judge, and the avenger, of all his 
 crimes. The sinner cannot hide so much as one 
 of his transgressions, from God’s omniscient eye. 
 He cannot resist his infinite power, nor endure 
 liis fiery indignation. Can his hands be strong, oir 
 can his heart endure, when this most tremendous 
 sentence shall sound in his ears. Go, “ ye cursed, 
 into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
 angels ?” These are the words of him who hath 
 said, “ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my 
 words shall not pass away.” Now except the sin¬ 
 ner repent, he shall inevitably and eternally perish, 
 under the endless execution of that unspeakably 
 dreadful sentence. After his hard and impenitent 
 lieart, he treasures up unto himself, wrath against 
 the day of wrath". Ah ! secure sinner, you have 
 departed far from the Lord; your soul is pledged, 
 that you will return to him by repentance. But 
 if you return not, your precious pledge is lost,— 
 irrecoverably lost. To this point, the all-import¬ 
 ant matter is brought;—Repent, or perish for 
 ever. How shall you be able to grapple, through 
 all eternity, with almighty vengeance, with the 
 overwhelming wrath, not only of God, but of the 
 Lamb° ?—This gracious and compassionate call, is 
 now addressed to you, “ Repent, and turn from 
 all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be 
 your ruin'’.” 
 
 4. True repentance is necessary, because God 
 has j)ledged his faithfulness^ that he will execute 
 the tremendous sentence of his violated law, upon 
 
 « Rom. ii. 5. “ Isa. xxxiii. H. p Ezek. xviii. 30. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE, 
 
 65 
 
 all who live and die impenitent.—“ Except ye re- 
 pent,” says the Lord Jesus, “ Ye shall all perish.” g 
 Without evangelical repentance, salvation is im- 
 possible; damnation is inevitable. “God is angry 
 with the wicked every day. If he turn not, 1«? 
 will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and 
 made it ready’.” “ Hath he said and shall he not 
 do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make 
 it good"^?” If the sinner, then, do not turn from 
 his sins by sincere repentance, God has pledged 
 his faithfulness that he shall perish. Either his 
 iniquities or his soul must go. To turn to the 
 Lord, or to burn in the fire of his fierce indigna¬ 
 tion, is the awful alternative. Happy should the 
 impenitent sinner be, if his transgressions would 
 part from him at the grave; but, they shall lie 
 down with him in the dust ’: or if they should lie 
 down with him there, and would never rise again, 
 
 but God has said That, he “ shall bring every 
 work into judgment, with every secret thing‘. 
 Nothing can be hid from the omniscient Judge. 
 Nor is he capable of forgetting the least insult, that 
 ever the impenitent sinner offered to his glorious 
 majesty. All are open and go before to judgment. 
 As God is true and cannot lie, the finally impeni¬ 
 tent sinner shall spend all eternity, in “ the lake 
 which burneth with fire and brimstone. “ The 
 smoke of his torment, shall ascend up for ever and 
 ever.” If there is any meaning in words; if any 
 idea of eternal torments, can be conveyed by human 
 
 1 Psal. vii. II, 12. and ix. 17. 
 * Job XX. 11. 
 
 r Numb. xxiiL 1&. 
 ‘ Eccles. xii. 14. 
 
66 
 
 THE NECESSITY 
 
 language; then, the wicked “ shall go away into 
 everlasting punishment “ Consider this, ye 
 that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and 
 thei’e be none to deliver''.” 
 
 5. To repent of sin is indispensably requisite, 
 because God’s determination to execute upon ina- 
 peniteut sinners, the awful sentence of his violated 
 law, is highly just and reasonable.—Every sin, 
 because it is committed against the infinite Ma¬ 
 jesty of heaven, is objectively an infinite evil. But 
 an infinite moral evil, justly deserves an infinite 
 natural evil, or in other words, an infinite punish¬ 
 ment. And seeing a finite creature, is incapable 
 of suffering an infinite punishment, except in an 
 infinite, or which is the same, an eternal duration; 
 it is just, it is reasonable, that the punishment of 
 the finally impenitent, should be eternal. God’s 
 resolution, then, to execute this most dreadful 
 punishment upon such a sinner, is most equitable 
 and reasonable. Besides, every sinner who per¬ 
 sists in impenitence, excuses himself, and by ex¬ 
 cusing himself, he condemns God. “ Wilt thou,” 
 said the Lord to Job, “ disannul my judgment ? 
 Wilt thou condemn me, that thou niayest be righte¬ 
 ous* ?” Why does the sinner transgress the law of 
 God, if he does not account it too strict? Does he 
 say that he has not transgressed it deliberately, 
 but only through inadvertence ? Then why does 
 he not repent ? His vindication of his continuance 
 in sin, implies at once, an unjust censure of the 
 law of God, as incompatible with his happiness, 
 
 » Matth, ixv. 46. Psal. 1. 22. * Job xl. 8. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 67 
 
 and an injurious censure of the justice of God, in 
 condemning' sinners to eternal punishment. Now, 
 should the Lord save the sinner, who thus persists 
 in condemning him, he would seem to plead guilty 
 to tlie charge. Every hope which a sinner cherishes, 
 of salvation in impenitence, proceeds on the blas¬ 
 phemous supposition, that God, in order to favour 
 an impenitent rebel, will consent to his own dis¬ 
 honour. Except a sinner, then, in the exercise of 
 true repentance, be disposed from his heart to say 
 with Daniel, “ O Lord, righteousness belongeth 
 unto thee; but unto me confusion of face, because 
 I have sinned against thee^;” he must become a 
 sacrifice to the injured honour of the law, and tire 
 justice of God. Nothing can be more equitable, 
 nothing more reasonable. 
 
 6. True repentance is needful, as an evidenoi 
 of saving and justifying faith in the heart.—Tlte 
 exercise of evangelical repentance, is one of the 
 fruits, and therefore one of the evidences, of tliat 
 faith which purifies the heart, and works by love. 
 Although the principle of faith, and that of repent¬ 
 ance, are in the moment of regeneration, implant¬ 
 ed in the soul together and at once ; yet the exer¬ 
 cise of faith, in the order of nature, goes before 
 the exercise of true repentance. “ They shall look 
 upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall 
 maum for him^.” It is true, none begins to ex¬ 
 ercise saving faith, but a penitent sinner; that is, 
 one who has the principle of true repentance, as 
 well as that of saving faith, in his heart. Still 
 I Dan. ix. 7. I Zoch.]!x!i. 10. 
 
68 
 
 THE NECESSITY 
 
 however, the exercise of faith, which is a cordial 
 trust in redeeming mercy, precedes the exercise 
 of that repentance which is spiritual, and accepta¬ 
 ble to God through Jesus Christ. The latter, is 
 one of the native fruits and evidences of the for¬ 
 mer ; and therefore it is necessary as such. The 
 exercise of true repentance, always follows the 
 acting of holy faith. 
 
 7. Evangelical repentance is necessary also, as 
 a means of attaining a comfortable sense of judicial 
 pardon of sin, and as an evidence of ha^dng receiv¬ 
 ed it.—Saving faith, from which all true repent¬ 
 ance proceeds, completes in its first exercise, our 
 union with Christ, in whom we cannot hut be 
 justified. Although the first exercise of true re¬ 
 pentance, then, is not, in order of nature, prior to 
 thepardon of sin in justification; yet, that exercise, 
 is indispensably requisite to the comfortable sense 
 of this pardon. It is necessary also, as an evi¬ 
 dence of a man’s having received this forgiveness 
 of sin. If he be not exercising evangelical repent¬ 
 ance, his pretensions to faith, and to justification 
 by faith, are vain. He can have no true sense, no 
 real intimation, of the forgiveness of his sins; nor 
 can he have any sure evidence, of his being in a 
 state of justification. “ I will sprinkle clean wa¬ 
 ter upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your 
 filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse 
 you®.” “ That thou mayest remember, and be con¬ 
 founded, and never open thy mouth any more be¬ 
 cause of thy shame, when I am pacified toward 
 » Ezek. xxxvi. 25. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE, 
 
 69 
 
 thee for all that thou hast done, saith the LrOrd 
 God^” 
 
 8. The exercise of true repentance is Indispen¬ 
 sably requisite, in order to receive God’s Paternal 
 pardon^ and so to he delivered from his chastise¬ 
 ment for sin.—By paternal pardon is not meant, 
 that forgiveness of all sin, which forms a part of 
 justification; but that fatherly pardon, which con¬ 
 sists in a believer’s deliverance from the guilt 
 which he is daily contracting, by sinning against 
 God as his God and Father; namely, the guilt 
 which renders him liable to the painful effects of 
 paternal displeasure. Now, the frequent exercise 
 of true repentance, as well as that of faith, is ne¬ 
 cessary _^to his reception of this pardon; and there¬ 
 fore, it must precede his reception of it. As the 
 believer is, by his sins of infirmity, daily contract¬ 
 ing this guilt; so the daily exercise of faith and 
 repentance, is necessary to the daily removal of it. 
 For, although faith and repentance do not give 
 the smallest title to deliverance from this guilt; 
 yet the frequent exercise of them is a necessary 
 means of that deliverance. If the true Christian 
 do not exercise them daily, he suffers this guilt 
 to be accumulated upon him; which will expose 
 him, to some of the dreadful effects of paternal 
 displeasure. Accordingly, the Lord gave this 
 invitation to his ancient people: “ Return, thou 
 backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not 
 cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am mer- 
 
 Ezc-k. xvL 63. 
 
THE NECESSITY OF 
 
 “TO 
 
 cifiJ, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger 
 for ever : Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that 
 tliou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God*".” 
 The apostle John also says, “ If we confess our 
 sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness‘s.” 
 
 9. The exercise of true repentance is necessary, 
 in point of gratitude for the spiritual blessings, 
 and temporal good things, bestowed on believers. 
 —Every mercy, whether spiritual or temporal, 
 has been forfeited by sin; and yet, the Lord daily 
 loads his people with benefits. These, and the 
 gracious manner of conferring them, are strong 
 ties and powerful inducements, to the daily exer¬ 
 cise of evangelical repentance. “ Despisest thou,” 
 says an Apostle, “ the riches of his goodness, and 
 forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing, 
 that tlie goodness of God leadeth thee to repent¬ 
 ance®?” The multiplied favours, which God 
 vouchsafes to the unregenerate, and those espe¬ 
 cially, which he daily confers on believers, tend 
 to melt their hearts into ingenuous sorrow and 
 contrition, for their innumerable sins against him, 
 and by his grace to constrain them, to turn to tlxe 
 love of him, and to obedience to him. All true 
 believers are grateful to the Lord, for the gifts of 
 his bounty, and above all, for the blessings of his 
 grace ; and in proportion as they are so, they are 
 impelled to the exercise of that repentance, which 
 • arises from faith working by love. 
 
 ® Jer. iii. 12, 13. 
 
 ^ 1 John, i. 9. 
 
 « Rom. ii. 4. 
 
TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 71 
 
 10. Lastly, Such repentance is indispensably 
 requisite, for it is an essential Part of that great 
 salvation, which the Lord Jesus has merited for, ^ ^ 
 
 and dispenses to his people.—It is a part of begun, ^ 
 and a preparation for, complete salvation. Instead 
 of being a condition upon which, salvation is sus¬ 
 pended, it is a jmrt of salvation ; of that whole 
 salvation, which is bestowed as an absolutely free 
 gift, on sinners infinitely unworthy of it. It is 
 an essential ingredient in that everlasting salva¬ 
 tion, ^\fitll which, Israel shall be saved in the Lore! 
 
 Jesus; and at the same time, an appointed means 
 of bringing that saRation to perfection. It is a 
 necessai'y part of true holiness, in its commence¬ 
 ment and progress in the soul, and a necessary 
 mean of attaining its consummation. Hence it 
 is cjilled “ repentance to salvation, not to be re¬ 
 pented of^",” and ‘‘ repentance unto life®.” With¬ 
 out it, as a part of salvation from the power and 
 practice of sin, or as a branch of evangelical ho¬ 
 liness, no man shall see the Lord^. According 
 to our Larger Catechism, Quest. 7 5, it is included 
 in sanctification. Indeed, it is absolutely imjx>s- 
 sible ibr adult persons, ever to die to sin in sanc¬ 
 tification, without a true sense of sin, godly sor¬ 
 row for it, hatred of it, and self-loathing because 
 of it. Equally impossible is it lor them, to live 
 to righteousness, otherwise than by turning sin¬ 
 cerely from the love and practice of all iniquity, 
 to the love and practice of imiversal holiness. 
 
 f 2 Cor. Tii. 10. 
 
 8 Acts xL 18. 
 
 Heb. xii. 14. 
 
72 
 
 THE NECESSITY, &c. 
 
 Witliout the exercise of true repentance, then, a 
 man can have no sure evidence, either of regene¬ 
 ration, or sanctification. All who are sanctified, 
 exercise evangelical repentance daily, in propor¬ 
 tion to the degree of their sanctification. And 
 they exercise it, not that, it may give them the 
 smallest title to salvation; but that, being itself 
 a part of salvation, it may be an evidence to their 
 consciences, that their salvation is begun, and 
 gradually advancing.—So much for the necessity 
 of evangelical repentance. 
 
 From what has now been stated, it is plain 
 that, impenitence under the gospel; is absolutely 
 inexcusable. It cannot admit the smallest shadow 
 of excuse. If the works of creation, and the dis¬ 
 pensations of providence to mankind in general, 
 are sufficient to leave the very heathens without 
 excuse'; how much more shall the calls and warn¬ 
 ings, not only of creation and providence, but of 
 the express word of God, render sinners who hear 
 the gospel inexcusable, if they repent not! Sin¬ 
 ner, whatever expedients you may employ, for 
 preserving the life of your lusts, and for keep¬ 
 ing yourself from the unpleasant exercise of re¬ 
 pentance, they will be but figleaf-coverings be¬ 
 fore the omniscient and righteous Judge of the 
 world. If you say, ‘ I am not able to repent,’ 
 this will be no excuse; for true repentance is a 
 part of salvation, offered and promised in the gos- 
 
 i Rom. i. 20. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 73 
 
 pel, and the offer and promise are directed to you'^. 
 If you say, ‘ I cannot believe with application to 
 myself, those offers and promises;’ neither will 
 tliis be sustained as an excuse; for the offer and 
 promise of faith to believe them, are also ad¬ 
 dressed to youh Trust in Christ Jesus then, 
 upon the ground of the offer, for the grace of 
 true repentance; and in the faith of the promise, 
 attempt frequently the exercise of it. 
 
 Does my reader say, ‘ I see, at least in my own 
 case, no need of repentance ?’ Ah ! you seem to 
 be one of that blinded generation “ that are pure 
 in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from 
 thmr filthiness’".” They deny their crimes, in¬ 
 stead of bewailing and confessing them ; saying. 
 We “ have done no wickedness".” If you had 
 but once, and that in the smallest instance, 
 failed of yielding perfect obedience to the holy 
 law of God, you could not but need repent¬ 
 ance. It would be your duty, and without it 
 your salvation would be impossible. How need¬ 
 ful then, must repentance be for you, whose ini¬ 
 quities are in number, more than the hairs of 
 your head ! Oh do not imagine that it is they 
 only, whose abominations are exposed to every 
 eye, that need repentance. It may be, you have 
 been restrained from doing things which are ae- 
 counted base in the sight of men; and possibly, 
 
 k 1 John V. 11. Prov. i. 23. Acts ii. 38, 39. 
 
 * Rev. xxii. 17. Matth. xii. 21. Heb. iv. i. 
 
 Frov. XXX. 12. f Ver. 20. 
 
74 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 you so overrate the external regularity of your 
 conduct, as to suppose, that you have no cause 
 for godly sorrow or self-loathing, and that you 
 are injured much, by being called to the exer¬ 
 cise of true repentance. Or perhaps, self-pleasing 
 tlioughts of your own supposed rectitude, hold 
 such firm possession of your mind, that you can¬ 
 not believe it to be proper for one of your fair 
 diaxacter, to feel shame and sorrow for his sins, 
 or to seek for such a change of heart, as is re¬ 
 quisite to the exercise of true repentance. But 
 consider, I intreat you, that a charge of great 
 and aggravated disobedience, stands in full force 
 against you. The 8cripture has concluded all 
 under sin, and you in particular. True repent- 
 ! anee, therefore, is as needful for you, as if your 
 * iniquities were open and glaring. It is as nece&- 
 I sary for you, as it was for the self-righteous Pha- 
 
 ^ risee in the parable”. You are a sinner, and there¬ 
 
 fore, except you repent, you shall perish. The 
 sinner who lives and dies impenitent, shall surely 
 be punished with everlasting destruction. Though 
 signal judgments of a temporal nature, do not 
 pursue every impenitent sinner, yet eternal punish¬ 
 ment will. Let him be who he will, if he is a 
 sinner, he must either repent, or perish. Be he 
 a greater or a less sinner, he must be a penitent 
 sinner, else it had been good for him if he had 
 never been born. Either his sin or his soul must 
 
 ° Luke xviiL 11, 12. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 75 
 
 go. Either to turn from all iniquity, or to burn 
 through all eternity, in the fire of God’s fierce 
 indignation, is the awful alternative. He has it 
 from the mouth of the Saviour himself, and that, 
 in most plain and peremptory terms, That except 
 he repent, he shall perish p. Heaven and earth 
 shall pass away, but His words shall not pass 
 away. The finally impenitent sinner, then, shall 
 certainly continue through all eternity, in the 
 lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. 
 
 The Lord hath established as sure a cmnectim^ ^ 
 between true repentance and life eternal, as be- 
 tvveen impenitence and eternal death. This is * 
 his gracious invitation to sinners, “ Repent, and 
 turn from all your transgi-essions; so iniquity 
 shall not be your ruin'’.” All denunciations of 
 Divine wrath, are summons to repent; and they 
 have always this clause implied in them, “ Ex¬ 
 cept ye repent.” It is not Filling occasionally 
 into sins of infirmity, but continuing impenitent 
 m sin, that ruins multitudes to whom the gospel 
 is preached". God in Christ is now on a throne 
 of mercy. He stretches out his golden sceptre of 
 peace, and invites the chief of sinners, to come 
 near and touch it. And should not the revela¬ 
 tion of mercy, and the offer of an indemnity, 
 touch the heart of rebels, and constrain them to 
 relent. Should not bowels of mercy, and offers 
 of pardon draw them ? If they cordially believe. 
 
 P Luke xiii. 3 , 5 . 
 
 q Ezek. xviil SO. 
 
 ’’ John iii. 19 . 
 
76 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 and by faith receive out of the fulness of Christ, 
 the grace of evangelical repentance, they shall 
 certainly be saved. No true penitents shall go 
 to hell. Heaven will be the place of their eternal 
 abode. They who turn from all their iniquities, 
 and return to God now, shall for ever be with 
 him in his holy place on high. 
 
 Are all unregenerate sinners commanded to 
 repent ? It is then the law as a covenant of works^ 
 or as the law of creation^ under which they are, 
 that requires true repentance from them. It is 
 true, the law in its federal form, knows no place 
 for repentance, makes no provision for exercising 
 it acceptably. It contains no promise of strength, 
 with which it may be exercised. But as, sup¬ 
 posing the revelation and offer of a Saviour in the 
 gospel, the law as a covenant obliges sinners to 
 believe in him ; so, supposing the descendants of 
 Adam to have sinned, the same law obliges them 
 to repent or turn to the Lord^ The law as a 
 covenant, indeed, does not expressly and abso¬ 
 lutely, call for true repentance; yet, hypotheti¬ 
 cally and virtually, it calls for it. It commands 
 all unregenerate sinners to repent; and as a rule 
 of duty, it enjoins all true believers, to renew the 
 exercise of repentance. The repentance of a be¬ 
 liever, is called evangelical repentance; because 
 it flows from faith in Jesus Christ, as offered in 
 the gospel, and because it is exercised, under the 
 
 >■ It requires them to repent or return to God; but not to seek 
 life by their repentance. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 77 
 
 influence of the covenant of grace, and according 
 to the law as a rule of life. 
 
 What has been stated, requires me to exhort 
 the unregenerate sinner, speedily to repent. You 
 have sinned against the Lord, times and ways in¬ 
 numerable. O repent, then, and turn from all 
 your iniquities to him. Repent without delay. 
 To-day, whilst you hear his voice, harden not 
 your heart. Persist no longer, go on no further 
 in your impenitence. One step more, may set 
 you beyond a probability of ever returning to the 
 Lord*. If you delay but an hour longer, the 
 great and terrible God, whom you presume to in¬ 
 sult by your continuance in sin, may lay you un¬ 
 der judicial strokes, and swear in his wrath, that 
 you shall never enter into his rest^ If you put 
 God off to-day, he may put you off to-morrow. 
 God has promised everlasting salvation to the pe¬ 
 nitent ; but he has not promised so much as to- 
 morrow to the negligent. If you misimprove the 
 present hour of grace, he may refuse to favour 
 you with another. If you turn off his hand of 
 mercy to-day, his hand of avenging justice, may 
 seize you before to-morrow. To enjoy even the 
 shortest time to come, is absolutely uncertain. 
 Consider, O secure sinner, that your innumerable 
 provocations must be viewed, either with tears of 
 penitential sorrow, or in endless torments. If 
 you have committed but a single sin, and die 
 without evangelical repentance, your precious soul 
 
 “ Luke xiv. 24. 
 
 * Prov. xsix. 1. 
 
•78 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 is lost for ever. O attempt, before it be too late, 
 the exercise of true repentanee. Attempt it, in 
 the way of trusting in the Lord Jesus, for right¬ 
 eousness and strength. Look unto Him, and be 
 saved from your inability to repent.—To enforce 
 this exhortation ; Consider seriously what sin is, 
 and what punishment it deserves. Consider also 
 the command of God, which obliges you, and his 
 multiplied mercies bestowed on you, which bind 
 you in point of gratitude to repent. Remember 
 that you must die, you know not how soon. Your 
 death is certain, and therefore true repentance is 
 necessary, that you may die well. Consider the 
 judgment-seat of Christ, before which you must 
 appear; where your state for eternity, shall be 
 determined according to your deeds done in the 
 body. Knowing then the terror of the Lord, be 
 persuaded to repent. “ God will bring every 
 work into judgment, with every secret thing, 
 whether it be good or whether it be eviF.” Your 
 aggravated sins, may drop out of your memory; 
 but none of them can be erased from the book of 
 God’s remembrance'^.” Think on the wrong which 
 you have done to God, by your great transgres¬ 
 sions ; in which, you may discern the horrible ma¬ 
 lignity of them. You have wronged Him, by 
 acting in opposition to his nature and his will,— 
 by despising his dear Son,—by grieving his Holy 
 Spirit,—and by trampling on the Divine autho¬ 
 rity of his holy law. Consider seriously, the 
 
 u 
 
 Eccles. xii. l4u 
 
 Hos. xiii. 12. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 direful sufferings of the Lamb of God, and see 
 how loudly they call upon you to repent. How 
 tremendous must that indignation of God against 
 sin, be, which is written with the blood of his 
 dear Son, slied for the remission of the sins of 
 many ! Will you continue any longer in sin, when 
 such dreadful indignation against it, appears ? 
 How terrible did sin appear on Calvary, where 
 the inexorable justice of God, seized and pierced 
 his dearly-beloved Son, with the sword of infinite 
 vengeance ! There, our adorable Surety was set 
 -up for a mark, to the arrows of Divine indigna¬ 
 tion. Amazing spectacle ! The infinite darling 
 of the Father, enduring the direful fierceness of 
 his infinite wrath! Do you ask. What W3.S tll6 
 cause of this ? It was the iniquities of the elect 
 imputed to him. O will you not then abhor and 
 forsake sin ? Wlien the Lord Jesus, was en¬ 
 during the infinite punishment due for sin, the 
 earth quaked, the rocks rent, the graves were 
 opened, and the sun was darkened; and will you 
 remain unmoved, and impenitent ? Behold, how 
 he loved you. He so loved you, as with infinite 
 willingness, to lay down his life for you. And 
 will you not so love Him, as to hate, and bewail, 
 and forsake your sins for him ? O pray, that his 
 great love in dying for you, may constrain you to 
 die to sin. 
 
 Is true repentance so necessary, as has been 
 shewn ? It is inexpressibly dangerous, then, to de¬ 
 lay it even for a moment. To delay repentance, 
 rny dear Reader, is infinitely perilous; for the 
 
 D 
 
80 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 present moment may be your last. Your conti¬ 
 nuance in sin is, as it were, a reacting of all 
 your former crimes, with new aggravations. It 
 strengthens the corruption of your nature, har¬ 
 dens your heart, and so, renders evangelical re¬ 
 pentance the more difficult. It provokes the 
 Lord to deny you grace to repent. We have no 
 more on record during four thousand years, than 
 a single instance of true repentance, in dying mo¬ 
 ments. Consider that, the longer you continue 
 impenitent, the more is spiritual death advan¬ 
 cing upon you. Every sin, alienates you more 
 from the life of God, and removes you a step fur¬ 
 ther from him. And in what can this terminate 
 but in eternal separation from him ? A state of 
 sin is a state of wrath, in which, destruction 
 compasses a man about on every side. “ He that 
 believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the 
 wrath of God abideth in him*.” To have staid 
 in Sodom, the day in which it was to be con¬ 
 sumed, would have been dangerous; but to re¬ 
 main a moment longer in the state of wrath, is 
 much more perilous. Who would not leave with¬ 
 out delay, the house that is already on fire. And 
 will you venture to remain another hour, in the 
 state of impenitence? Whilst you continue in 
 this inexpressibly dreadful state, there is but a 
 step between you and eternal death. All the se¬ 
 curity that you have in this condition, is but the 
 brittle thread of life, which may be broken by the 
 
 * John iii. 36. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 81 
 
 slightest touch;—and then, your precious soul, 
 shall drop into the place of unutterable and end¬ 
 less torment. “ The wicked shall be turned into 
 helF.” The very shortest delay of true repent¬ 
 ance, is a risking of eternal happiness or misery, 
 on the continuance of a life which may in a mo¬ 
 ment be taken from you.—Consider that the de¬ 
 lay of repentance, is a self-destructive course. It 
 is directly contrary to the calls of the gospel, 
 which are not for to-morrow, but for to-day. 
 ‘‘ To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not 
 your hearts*.” The calls of the gospel to faith 
 and repentance, require immediate compliance. 
 They do not allow you time to deliberate, whe¬ 
 ther you will believe and repent, or not. To de¬ 
 lay compliance, is to refuse it; and to refuse it, 
 is inexpressibly dangerous. “ Behold, now is the 
 accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salva¬ 
 tion”.” 
 
 How lamentable is the condition of that sinner, 
 who delays true repentance ! Ah ! sinner, you 
 are under a spiritual distemper, the most invete¬ 
 rate, and are in imminent danger of eternal death. 
 The compassionate Physician comes to you, of¬ 
 fers you an effectual remedy, and intreats you to 
 receive it.—You do not peremptorily refuse; only 
 you delay. In the mean time, your disease is in¬ 
 creasing, and eternal death is advancing with sure 
 steps. “ Your judgment lingereth not, and your 
 damnation slumbereth not.”—Yet you still delay. 
 
 J Psal. ix. 17. 
 
 ^ Heb. iii, 7, 8. 
 
 ® 2 Cor. vi. 2. 
 
82 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 Ah, deep infatuation ! Ah, destructive madness ! 
 Tears of blood are not sufficient to bewail it. Poor 
 slothful sinner ! You do not consider the amiable 
 excellence of Christ, the value of your immortal 
 soul, the worth of precious time, the weight of 
 infinite, of endless wrath, nor how very near your 
 destruction may be. Destruction is ready at your 
 side. You are exposed to the most dreadful sur¬ 
 prise. And oh, how horrible, how overwhelming 
 must it be, to be past hope, before you begin to 
 fear !—never to awake from your sinful security, 
 till you begin to lift up your despairing eyes in 
 torment! Alas ! you do not consider how utterly 
 unable you are, to ward off the impending, the 
 fatal blow. Can you, a worm of the dust, stand 
 before the omnipotent Jehovah, whose vengeance 
 is intolerable, whose indignation will burn to the 
 lowest hell, and whose patience may wear out, 
 ere you awake from your lethargy ? “ Can thine 
 
 heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the 
 days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord 
 have spoken it, and will do iC.” Ah ! you do 
 not consider that, if patience retire from the field, 
 avenging justice will succeed in its room; and 
 then,—your security shall issue in unutterable, 
 and eternal torment. Ah ! the folly, the sinful¬ 
 ness, the danger, of delaying repentance toward 
 God ! 
 
 What has been said, respecting the necessity of 
 evangelical repentance, administers Reproof to 
 
 Ezek, xxii. H. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 83 
 
 those believers, wlio suffer themselves on any pre¬ 
 tence, to delay the renewed exercise of-it. As spi¬ 
 ritual sloth, remains in a great measure in be¬ 
 lievers, so it is productive of delays. When mat¬ 
 ters are wrong in their general exercise, and their 
 case sometimes out of order j when their graces 
 ai*e not in exercise, and communion with God in 
 their duties, is not enjoyed; sloth so prevails in 
 them, as to make them put off from time to time, 
 the direct exercise of faith and repentance^ Of¬ 
 ten do they resolve to try the state of their souls, 
 to search what evidences of union with Christ 
 they have; but still the sluggish heart draws back, 
 and the solemn trial is delayed. Sometimes, the 
 believer delays to forsake resolutely, some secret 
 idol that mars his communion with God. He 
 indeed, ajjain and again resolves to renounce and 
 jiiortify it ,* but he delays from one time to an¬ 
 other,, to execute his purpose'*. And thus he suf¬ 
 fers it to lie as a corroding worm, at the root of 
 his fruitfulness and comfort. He delays also 
 some particular duty, which he is persuaded, the 
 Lord calls him to perform presently. He often 
 resolves to attempt it; but still one thing or 
 another interposes, and the performance of it, 
 is put off till a more convenient time. In a 
 word, he is convinced that, it is far from being 
 an easy thing to die well. He resolves there¬ 
 fore through grace, to labour to attain actual 
 preparation for that solemn event. But, like 
 
 * Song V. 2, 3. 
 
 Fsal. Iivi. 18. 
 
84 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 the foolish virgins, who, while the bridegroom tar¬ 
 ried, all slumbered and slept®, he delays till some 
 future opportunity, the all-important work.—Now 
 to such a dilatory Christian I must say, “ What 
 meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy 
 God, if so be that God will think upon thee that 
 thou perish not'^.” The longer you delay, do you 
 not find yourself the farther from your purpose ? 
 Does not your backwardness to spiritual exercise 
 increase upon you the more ? Is not that the way 
 to come to poverty ? Shall not the idle soul suf¬ 
 fer hunger ? Have not you sometimes awaked like 
 Samson, and found your spiritual strength gone, 
 when you had most occasion for it ? May not op¬ 
 portunities of doing good, soon be taken from you, 
 or you from them ? And will not the work of 
 actual preparation for death, be the harder, the 
 longer it is delayed ? When death is approaching, 
 you shall have less ability, greater opposition, and 
 yet more work to do, than otherwise you should 
 have. Are not you then much to be blamed, for 
 deferring any of your duties, and especially, the 
 frequent exercise of faith and repentance ? 
 
 It administers reproof also to the unregenerate 
 sinner^ who delays repentance. How much are 
 you, O secure sinner, to be blamed, for deferring 
 work so necessary, as that of repentance to salva¬ 
 tion ! You are under the dreadful curse of the 
 violated law. The wrath of that great and ter¬ 
 rible God, whom you have times without number 
 
 ^ Matth. XXV. 5. 
 
 ^ Jon. i. 6. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 85 
 
 insulted, abideth on you. The wrath to come, is 
 ready to seize and overwhelm you ;—And yet you 
 delay repentance. You continue still in the love and 
 practice of sin. “ How long wilt thou sleep, O 
 sluggard ? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep ?” 
 Your answer apparently will be, “ Yet a little 
 sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands 
 to sleep®.” But why do you sleep securely in im¬ 
 penitence, when you know not what a day may 
 bring forth ? Why do you not begin without the 
 least delay, to prepare by true repentance, for an 
 happy eternity ? It may be, you resolve to re¬ 
 pent, when you shall have more leisure than now, 
 or when you shall be old. But how can you be 
 certain, that you shall attain old age ? Is it not 
 as likely that the Lord, whose wrath you are con¬ 
 tinuing to provoke, may say, “ Thou fool, this 
 night thy soul shall be required of thee^.” The 
 time of your life is but as a day, a short day, and 
 you have much work to do. A great part of your 
 day is past already; and will you sleep on, till the 
 night come when no man can work ? Will you 
 thus risk the salvation of your immortal soul, 
 upon an absolute uncertainty ? Is it old age, the 
 very dregs of your time, that you resolve to de¬ 
 vote to God ? But ah! what certainty can you 
 have, that an infinitely holy God, will accept these 
 at yom' hand ? “ If ye offer the blind for sacrifice, 
 is it not evil ? and if ye offer the lame and sick, 
 is it not evil ? offer it now unto thy governor, 
 will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy per- 
 
 B Prov. vi. 9, 10. 
 
 Luke xii. 20. 
 
86 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 son ? saltli the Lord of hosts*.” Supposing you 
 should be spared till you become old, there are 
 few, very few, who get grace to repent accept¬ 
 ably, when they grow old. Some, indeed, as is 
 represented in one of our Lord’s parables, were 
 called effectually at the eleventh hour'^. But these 
 w’ere not the same persons that were standing idle 
 either at the third, or sixth, or ninth hour. Be 
 not emboldened, then, to delay true repentance, 
 because some were called at the eleventh hour. 
 If men, from their earliest years, live under a 
 pure dispensation of the gospel, and yet spend 
 their best days in the love and service of sin ; 
 it is God’s usual way, to leave them, when they 
 are old, imder blindness of mind and hardness 
 of heart. “ His bones are full of the sin of 
 bis youth, which shall lie down with him in the 
 dust'.” The Lord may, indeed, in the case of a 
 few individuals, depart from the usual tenor of 
 his procedure. But ah ! it is a desperate ad¬ 
 venture for a. sinner, to presume upon this. I’ 
 intreat you, then, to trust without delay in the 
 great Redeemer, for grace to repent; and in the 
 faith of pardoning mercy, as well as of renovating 
 grace, to attempt resolutely the exercise of it. O 
 delay it not a moment longer, lest you sleep the 
 sleep of death, of eternal death. “ Evil pursueth 
 sinners.” If it overtake you in unbelief and impe¬ 
 nitence, the smoke of your torment, shall ascend up 
 fpr ever and ever"*. The Father of mercies, the 
 
 ‘ Mil. i. 8. Matth. xx. 6. 
 
 * Job XX. II, “Rev.xiv. 11. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 87 
 
 God of all grace, who hath spared you till now, 
 with infinite compassion still invites you ; and the 
 Lord Jesus stands with open arms ready to em- 
 hrace you. He complains that you will not come 
 to him, that you may have life; affirms with an 
 oath, that lie hath no pleasure in the death of a 
 sinner; and with the tenderest compassion adds, 
 “ Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” O ! do 
 not disregard such admonitions,—such compas¬ 
 sions,— such invitations, — such expostulations; 
 but, upon the warrant of the gospel-offer, trust in 
 the Lord Jesus for that repentance to salvation, 
 and that forgiveness of sins, which He is exalted 
 to give, to all who cordially trust in him“. 
 
 Once more. The following directions how to at¬ 
 tain evangelical repentance, I would now offer to 
 tlie impenitent sinner. 
 
 1st, Look upon it as the gift of Christ, and 
 trust that your iniquities were laid on Him, and 
 that he was pierced for them". Trust also in him 
 for true repentance, andvin God through him, for 
 pardoning mercy and renewing grace. You should 
 attempt believing, in order to the exercise of evan¬ 
 gelical repentance, and should rely on the grace 
 of God in Christ, for the renovating influences of 
 his Holy Spirit. Sd, Choose God in Christ, for 
 your covenant-God and portion; and then, you 
 will be both disposed and encouraged, to return 
 to him. To return to God, as the Lord your God^ 
 
 “ Acts V. 31. 
 
 D 2' 
 
 o Zech. xii. 10. 
 
88 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 is the essence of evangelical repentance. 3(1, Be 
 frequent and importunate in prayer to him, for 
 the gift of true repentance ; saying with Ephraim, 
 “ Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou 
 art the Lord my Godp.” Pray in faith, for the 
 performance of this absolute promise to you ; “ A 
 new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will 
 I put within you; and I will take away the stony 
 heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an 
 heart of flesh''.” 4th, Endeavour to see sin in its 
 own hateful colours, to see what an evil and bit¬ 
 ter thing it is'". To see the sin of your heart 
 and life, in its exceeding sinfulness and odious¬ 
 ness, would be a mean of making you flee from 
 it, Avith deep abhorrence. And if you would dis- 
 ceim spiritually, the hateful deformity of sin, con¬ 
 sider the infinite majesty and holiness of God, 
 Avhich are insulted by sin; — the good things, 
 which impenitent continuance in sin, deprive you 
 of;—the dreadful evils to which it exposes you ; 
 —the infinite Avrath of God Avhich awaits you, if 
 you live and die impenitent;—and the infinite 
 obligation under Avhich you lie, to keep all his 
 commandments. 5th, Study to see, and to be 
 suitably affected with, the deep dep>ravity or sin of 
 your nature^ as Avell as with, the innumerable 
 transgressions of your life ; and call yourself every 
 day to a strict account, for your sins of omission 
 and commission, on that day; and that, in order 
 
 p Jer. xxxi. 18. 
 
 1 Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 
 
 ^ Jer. ii. 19. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 89 
 
 to see, what great reason you have to repent of 
 them. 6th, Meditate frequently and attentively, 
 on the direful anguish^ and astonishing death of 
 the Lord Jesus ; that you may see the exceeding 
 sinfulness of sin, and the everlasting punishment 
 which the sinner deserves. 7th, Dwell much on 
 the thoughts of deaths and of judgment to come. 
 Consider seriously how uncertain, the continu¬ 
 ance of your life in this world, is. Be assured 
 that, if death surprise you, in unbelief and impe¬ 
 nitence, you are for ever undone. Think also of 
 the awful tribunal of that righteous, and inexor¬ 
 able Judge, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, be¬ 
 fore which you must appear; where every finally 
 impenitent sinner shall, according to the demerit 
 of his deeds done in the body, be sentenced to 
 everlasting punishment. Oh ! how tremendous, 
 how overwhelming will this sentence to be pro¬ 
 nounced on the impenitent, be; Go from me, 
 ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the 
 devil and his angels".” Oh consider this, and by 
 faith and repentance, flee speedily from the wrath 
 to come. 
 
 ® Matth. XXV. 41. 
 
90' THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE: 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE AND ' 
 COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 
 
 It is a truth clearly revealed, and often incul¬ 
 cated in Scripture, that without repentance, a man 
 cannot attain eternal life in heaven. The most 
 of men, therefore, who read and hear the gospel^ 
 admit that, repentance is necessary to their fu¬ 
 ture safety and felicity. But while they believe, 
 that it cannot be well with them, except they re¬ 
 pent, they resolve with a fatal precipitance, to call 
 something by this name, which bears only a faint 
 resemblance to it; and then they flatter themselves, 
 that this base counterfeit, will not only be accep¬ 
 table to God, but will' even recommend them to 
 his favour. Persuading themselves, that they have 
 already repented, they eomposo^ themselves to 
 sleep on the pillow of carnal security; and they 
 will not believe, that any of the dreadful threat- 
 enings, denounced in Scripture against impenitent 
 sinners, belongs to‘them. Thus, many “ go down 
 to the grave with a lie in their right hand.” They 
 obstinately refuse, to be convinced of their fatal 
 mistake, till they begin to lift up their despairing 
 eyes in torment.—That my Reader then may not, 
 through ignorance, deceive himself with a repent¬ 
 ance which must be repented of, I shall endeavour 
 to., shew, him, the difference between a true and ac 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 91 
 
 counterfeit repentance, as distinctly and plainly 
 as I can, under the following particulars: 
 
 1. False repentance^ flows from a counterfeit 
 faith of the law as a covenant of works ; but true 
 I’epentance follows a true faith,, both of the law 
 and of the gospel. 
 
 False repentance, arises from a Counterfeitfaith 
 of the violated law, in its covenantform. Hence it 
 is often styled legal repentance, and the convic¬ 
 tion of sin which excites it, legah conviction. It 
 flows from that temporary faith,; of the commands 
 and curses of the broken law, which a legalist, 
 when his conscience Is at any time alarmed, re¬ 
 luctantly exercises. When the holy law strikes 
 his conscience, he is forced to believe, that it rc- 
 <]uires from him, perfect obedience as the condition 
 of life, and that its tremendous curse, for innu¬ 
 merable instances of disobedience, is denounced 
 against him‘. The righteous law, claims perfect 
 obedience as due from him, and condemns him for 
 his disobedience. His awakened conscience con-- 
 curs with the precept, and curse of the law; so 
 that he begins to be greatly alarmed. The only 
 refuge from the curse of the law, to which he has 
 recourse, in order to pacify Ids guilty conscience, 
 to satisfy Divine justice, and to lay a foundation 
 of hope, is, resolutions, reformations,, duties, and 
 other self-righteous schemes. The defects of his 
 endeavours and attainments, create new fears; 
 these fears excite new endeavours; and thus, the 
 
 ‘ Gal. iiL 10. 
 
92 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 legal penitent goes on, without attaining to the 
 law of righteousness, because he “ seeks it not by 
 faith, but as it were by the works of the law'*.” 
 As he may, at the same time, have a temporary 
 faith of the gospel, he may pretend some regard to 
 Christ, in this his legal progress. He may hope 
 that God, for tbe sake of Christ, will accept his 
 repentance and forgive his sins. And what is this 
 but a secret hope, that the redemption of Jesus 
 Christ, will impart such merit to his tears, refor¬ 
 mations, and works, as will make them effectual, 
 to atone for his sins, and to purchase the favour 
 of God. He cannot trust that God Avill shew 
 mercy to him, till, by his penitence and reforma¬ 
 tion, he recommend himself to his favour. 
 
 On the other hand, the characters of true re¬ 
 pentance, are dmectly opposite to those now men¬ 
 tioned. It follows a sincere, a spiritual faith, both 
 of the law and of the gospel. Whilst a true con¬ 
 viction of sin and misery, flows from a spiritual be¬ 
 lief of the law with application to one’s self; a 
 true sense of sin, from which genuine repentance 
 springs, arises from a sincere faith, both of the law 
 and of the gospel. It is the immediate consequence, 
 of a sincere faith of pardoning mercy. “ There is 
 forgiveness with thee,” says the Psalmist, “ that 
 thou mayest be feared''.” Godly sorrow for sin, 
 and turning from the love and practice of it, to the 
 love and practice of holiness, flow, as was stated 
 above, from the exercise of relying on the right- 
 
 u Rom. ix. 31, 32. 
 
 Psal. cxxx, 4. 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 93 
 
 eousness of Jesus Christ, for all our title to par¬ 
 don and sanctification, and of trusting in him, for 
 pardoning mercy and sanctifying grace. Hence 
 it is called evangelical repentance. The acting of 
 true faith, produces, in order of nature, the exer¬ 
 cise of this repentance. He who would repent 
 acceptably, must first believe in Christ, that he 
 may so repenC. He must believe that, there is 
 safety in intrusting his guilty soul to Christ, be¬ 
 fore he can, with sincerity and good courage, 
 turn from all sin to God in him. He must be 
 united to Christ by faith, as the branch to the 
 vine, before he can bring forth such fruit, as is 
 meet for repentance. Accordingly, the true peni¬ 
 tent approaches to a gracious God, with deep con-r 
 victions of his guilt, and of his desert of eternal 
 rejection from him; but then, he comes before a 
 mercy-seat. He relies on the blood of Jesus 
 Christ, for purification from his innumerable sins; 
 and from that, he takes encouragement to momm 
 before the Lord, and to express himself in the lan¬ 
 guage of the royal penitent, “ Wash me thorough¬ 
 ly from mine iniqiTity, and cleanse me from my 
 sin.” “ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and 
 renew a right spirit within me^” That is the 
 prospect, which both encourages, and imfigorates, 
 his humble supplications for mercy and grace. 
 That is it, which embitters all his sins to him, 
 which makes him loathe them, and long earnestly 
 
 * Heb. xi. 6. Acts xi. 21. y Psal. li. 2, 10. 
 
^4 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE' 
 
 for complete deliverance, from the love and prac¬ 
 tice of them. 
 
 Here, the attentive reader cannot but discern, 
 tlie difference, nay contrariety, between a guilty 
 flight from God, like that of Adam after his fall,, 
 and a humbling, self-condemning approach to his 
 pardoning mercy, like that of the prodigal, when 
 returning to his father’s house; between slavish 
 and proud endeavours to atone for our sins, and 
 to make our peace with God by our own righte¬ 
 ousness, and repairing solely to the blood of Christ 
 for cleansing from all sin;, between mourning for 
 our own danger by sin, and mourning for our sins 
 themselves, as the basest injuries done to God and 
 Christ, and to mercy and love, manifested in the 
 most endearing manner; and between attempting 
 a new life, by the strength of our own resolutiona 
 and endeavours, and trusting only in the mercy 
 of the Lord Jesus, for. sanctifying, as well as fon 
 justifying grace. 
 
 2. Counterfeit repentance, proceeds only from 
 a-sense of danger, and a dread of wrath; but true \ 
 repentance, is a sincere mourning for sin, a loath¬ 
 ing of ourselves in our own sight for it, and an 
 earnest desire of deliverance, from the power and 
 practice of it* In false repentance, the sinner is 
 most affected with the di-eadful consequences of 
 his transgression ^; but in evangelical or true re¬ 
 pentance, the believer is chiefly affected with the 
 
 * Isa. lix. 9—.12. 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 95 
 
 malignity, and odiousness of sin itself, as contrary 
 to the holy nature and law of God". • 
 
 In false repentance, the conscience of the sin¬ 
 ner, is alarmed by a sense of his dreadful gudt and 
 danger ; and then, it cannot but remonstrate loud¬ 
 ly against those sins, which threaten him with in¬ 
 tolerable, and eternal torment. Hence tliose ter¬ 
 rors, which are frequently found among awakenetl 
 sinners, under apprehensions of approaching death. 
 At such times, their innumerable sins stare them 
 in the face; and their high aggravations, are re¬ 
 membered Avith bitter remorse. Conscience draAA's 
 up the indictment, and sets home the cliarge against 
 them. The violated law condemns them Avithout 
 mercy. And what luwe they noAV in prospect ? 
 What, but a certain fearful looking for of judg¬ 
 ment, and fiery indignation to devour them ? Noaa^, 
 with what deep distress, Avill they cry out and howl 
 upon their beds, because of the heinousness and 
 demerit of their sins ! With Avhat amazement, Avill 
 they expect tlie tremendous issue of their sinful 
 course ! Hoav ready Avill they noAV be, to make re¬ 
 solutions of beginning a humble, a circumspect, a 
 holy life ! Under this their terror, conscience like 
 a flaming sAvord, keeps, them from their former 
 coiu-se of impiety and sensuality. And Avhat is all 
 this repentance, but the fear of the Avorm that 
 never dies, and of the fire that shall never bo 
 quenched? Let conscience but be pacified, and 
 the tempest of the troubled mind allayed, and these 
 
 ® Luke XV. 21. 
 
96 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 false penitents will return with the dog to his vo¬ 
 mit, until some new alarm revive their convictions 
 of sin and danger, and with them, the same pro¬ 
 cess of repentance. Thus many sin and repent, 
 and repent and sin, all their lives. Or it may be, 
 distress of conscience makes a deeper impression, 
 and fixes such an abiding dread of some particular 
 sins, that a visible reformation appears. Yet in 
 this case, the sinner’s lusts are only dammed up by 
 his fears; and were the dam but broken down, 
 they would immediately run again in their former 
 channel, with increasing force. It is true, this le¬ 
 gal terror is, in many of the elect, a preparative 
 to evangelical repentance. Many true penitents 
 were, sometime, in the same distressing circum¬ 
 stances ; and at first, began from no better princi¬ 
 ple than self-love, to flee from the wrath to come. 
 
 It was said that, false repentance proceeds only 
 from a sense of danger, and a dread of impending 
 wrath. The character of true repentance, is the 
 very reverse. Sin itself becomes the heaviest bur¬ 
 den, and the object of the greatest abhorrence and 
 dread, to the sincere penitent. As evangelical re¬ 
 pentance, flows from the faith of pardoning mercy; 
 the fear of hell, though it may sometimes accom¬ 
 pany godly sorrow for sin, yet forms no part of 
 this repentance. Godly sorrow springs, from an 
 affecting, and humbling, sense of the dishonour 
 and injury, which the true penitent sees, he has 
 done to a gracious God, by his transgression in the 
 first Adam, by the sin of his nature, and the in¬ 
 numerable evils of his life. This is the grievance. 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 97 
 
 this the distress, of every true penitent. His lan¬ 
 guage is such as this“ I acknowledge my trans¬ 
 gressions, and my sin is ever before me.” “Mine 
 iniquities are gone over mine head; as an heavy 
 burden, they are too heavy for me.” “ Deliver me 
 from all my transgressions.” “ Let not any iniqui¬ 
 ty have dominion over me.” “ Innumerable evils 
 have compassed me about; mine iniquities have 
 taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look 
 up : they are more than the hairs ot mine head ; 
 therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O 
 Lord, to deliver me : O Lord, make baste to help 
 me.” Here we see that, the sincere penitent mourns 
 for, and abhors, all his lusts, whether of the flesh 
 or of the mind, and longs to be completely deli¬ 
 vered from them. He is willing that none should 
 be spared, no, not even a right hand, or a right 
 eye. 
 
 How great and obvious, then, is the difference 
 between being struck with dread, restrained by 
 terror, or driven from a course of sinning, by the 
 lashes of an awakened conscience; between this, 
 I say, and loathing ourselves in our own sight, for 
 our iniquities and abominations, and vehemently 
 desiring grace to mortify our corruption, that we 
 may be freed from the power of sin ! The for¬ 
 mer, is merely the fruit of self-love, which urges 
 the soul to flee from danger: the latter, is the 
 exercise of a ^fltal principle, which separates the 
 soul from sin, and engages the whole man, in a 
 persevering opposition to it. 
 
 3. In false penitence, the sinner is chiefly affec- 
 
98 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 ted with his gross and open sins; whereas in true 
 repentance, the believer is more deeply affected 
 with the secret, and darling sins, which he for¬ 
 merly delighted to commit. 
 
 In counterfeit repentance, the sinner is affected 
 chiefly with his gross and open abominations, and 
 with the connection of endless imnisliment with 
 them. It is the recollection of his gross and 
 scandalous crimes, and almost only of them, that 
 fills him with remorse and dread; and it is not so 
 much his view of these abominations themselves, 
 tliat fills him with regret and distress, as bis 
 prospect of punishment for them, both in time 
 and in eternity. It is the connection of them 
 with present reproach, and with future torment, 
 that usually fills his mind with the keenest an¬ 
 guish. Such was the repentance of Cain. After 
 his murder of his brother Abel, he said, “ My 
 punishment is greater than I can bear or, rather 
 as in the margin,—“ Mine iniquity is greater than 
 tliat it may be forgiven*’.” He did not say. My 
 iniquities, the innumerable sins of which I have 
 hitherto been guilty; but, “ my iniquity,” the 
 crime of murder only. Such also was the repent¬ 
 ance of Judas the traitor. He said to the chief 
 priests and elders, “ I have sinned in that 1 have 
 betrayed the innocent blood".” It was not for his 
 covetousness, hypocrisy, and other innumerablo 
 sins, that he appeared to feel remorse; but only 
 for his having betrayed the innocent blood. It 
 
 ** Gen. iv. 13. 
 
 • Matth. xxvii. 4.. 
 
COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 99 
 
 was for this most atrocious crime, and this only, 
 together with the sure prospect of endless punish¬ 
 ment, that he felt such anguish of mind as was 
 insupportable ; for “ he went and hanged himself.” 
 Of the same character, is the repentance of multi¬ 
 tudes at this day. 
 
 On the contrary, in true repentance, the be¬ 
 liever is for ordinary, most affected with a spirit¬ 
 ual view of his secret evils; the sin of his nature 
 in general, and the unbelief, and legal temper of 
 his heart in particular. And of all his actual 
 transgressions, the remembrance of none usually 
 affects him so deeply, as that of his own iniquity, 
 his constitution-sin, the sin which in times past 
 most easily beset him, and most frequently en¬ 
 slaved him. He is suitably affected with sorrow, 
 and self-loathing, for all his actual sins; but it is 
 a spiritual view of this sin, that commonly fills 
 him with the deepest abasement and the keenest 
 remorse. And whilst, with holy abhorrence of 
 all iniquity, he turns from it to God, he sets him¬ 
 self, with peculiar viligance and diligence, against 
 this sin'^. 
 
 4. Counterfeit Penitence, has no proper con¬ 
 nection with tl«; pardon of sin in justification; 
 but true repentance, is a necessary consequence of 
 that act of pardon. 
 
 Legal repentance, is not connected with judici¬ 
 al pardon of sin; for it is the repentance of one, 
 Avho is under the curse of the law as a covenant of 
 
 Psal. li. S—7. Rom. vii. 23, 21. Heb. xii, 1. 
 
100 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 works, and therefore under the dominion of sin. 
 
 It is the repentance of a man, who is under the 
 condemning sentence of the broken law, which is 
 the strength of sin; and, therefore, it is far from 
 being spiritually good and acceptable to God. It 
 is the repentance of an unbeliever; and “ with¬ 
 out faith, it is impossible to please God^” In 
 few words, it is the repentance of a man whose 
 sins are not pardoned, and whose person is not 
 accepted as righteous before God, in justification. 
 And as acceptance, according to the covenant of 
 grace, must begin at the person, and then go on 
 to his performances; so, that repentance, which 
 does not flow from justification, is counterfeit: it 
 has nothing in the nature of it, that is spiritually 
 good and acceptable to God^ 
 
 On the other hand, True repentance, is a neces- | 
 sa7'y Fruit of pardon and acceptance as righteous, | 
 in justification; and therefore the exercise of it, 
 is spiritually good and acceptable to the Lord. 
 The believer is freely pardoned, and made accep¬ 
 ted in the Beloved^; and, therefore. Divine ac¬ 
 ceptance proceeds from his person, to his exercise 
 of repentance. Because he himself is accepted as 
 righteous, his repentance is accepted as sincere. 
 
 It is a necessary consequence, and evidence, of 
 God’s judicial pardon of sin in the act of justifica¬ 
 tion ; and it is an instituted mean of the renewed 
 intimations of it, and also of fatherly pardon, or 
 the removal of paternal chastisement for sin. “ I 
 
 Heb xi. 6. ^ Acts ii. 37. Rom. vii. 8—13. s Eph. i. 6. 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 101 
 
 have blotted out,’* saith Jehovah, “ as a thick cloud, 
 thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins : re¬ 
 turn unto me, for I have redeemed thee’*.” And 
 again, “Return, ye backsliding children, and I 
 will heal your hackslidings*—I as a Father will 
 forgive them, and restore your souls. Although 
 the exercise of evangelical repentance, is impossi¬ 
 ble under legal guilt, which tends to the destruc¬ 
 tion of the sinner, and binds him under the domi¬ 
 nion of sin‘‘; yet it frequently exists, under that 
 guilt which exposes the believer to God’s fatherly 
 anger; which anger implies love to his person, 
 and tends to his advancement in the love, and 
 practice of holiness'. 
 
 5. False penitence, commonly issues from dis¬ 
 couragement and despondency; but true repentance, 
 from encouraging hope. 
 
 Many legal penitents, indeed, by their external 
 reformation, do pacify their alarmed consciences, 
 settle upon their lees, and cry. Peace, peace to 
 their souls; and so, their discouragement and re¬ 
 pentance come both to an end. But while their 
 anxious concern remains, their desponding fear 
 is the very life of it. Their innumerable and 
 heinous crimes, appear dreadful to their alarmed 
 consciences; as they cannot but know, that they 
 vdolate frequently, their promises of new and uni¬ 
 versal obedience. They are therefore afraid, that 
 God will never pardon, and accept, such perfi- 
 
 Isa. xliv. 22 . * Jer. iii. 22 . 1 Cor. xv. 56. Horn. vii. 6, 8. 
 
 ' Jer. xxxi. 18—20. Heb. xii. 6—11. Rev. iii. 19. 
 
10^ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 dious rebels as they liave been. And though they 
 dare not neglect religious duties, yet they come 
 with horror into the presence of the Lord, as into 
 that of an inexorable judge, an infinite enemy; 
 and they having nothing to keep them from sink¬ 
 ing into absolute despair, but their good resolu¬ 
 tions and endeavours, Mdiich yet are too defective, 
 to be a ground of comfortable hope. Now what 
 is all this, but, with base ingratitude, to underva¬ 
 lue the spotless righteousness of Jesus Christ, to 
 limit the boundless grace and mercy of God, and 
 implicitly to deny the truth of the blessed gospel ? 
 Thus, they flee from the mercy of God our Savi¬ 
 our, while they ])retend to flee to it. 
 
 On the other hand. Though the true penitent, 
 has a deeper sense of the atrociousness of his sins, 
 and'of the greatness of his guilt, than any false 
 penitent can have; yet he dares not yield to des¬ 
 pair iny thoughts of redeeming mercy. He is en¬ 
 abled to trust in the mercy of God his Saviour; 
 and his exercise of faith opens the door of hope, 
 and therefore the door of repentance. It is grant¬ 
 ed, that he may labour for a time, under many 
 discouraging fears; but these are his infirmity, 
 not his repentance. He exercises a living hope, 
 and that gives life and activity to every other 
 grace, and to repentance in particular. Here it 
 may be observed that, though a fear and jealousy 
 of one’s own sincerity, may be consistent with the 
 exercise of true repentance ; yet all doubts of the 
 freeness of gospel-offers, and of the faithfulness of 
 gospel-promises ; all fears of his not being elected, 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 103 
 
 of his having sinned away the day of grace, or of 
 his having sinned against the Holy Spirit; all ap¬ 
 prehensions that his sins are so aggravated, so 
 atrocious, as not to admit of pardoning mercy, 
 and such like ;—these are inconsistent with, and 
 destructive of the exercise of it. The evangelical 
 penitent, looks over the highest mountains that 
 are raised before him, either by the greatness of 
 his transgressions, or the plagues of his heart, or 
 the temptations of Satan, to infinite mercy. Thi¬ 
 ther he will fly. In that he will hope; though 
 his case seem ever so dark, and every thing ap¬ 
 pear to make against him. And the more lively 
 his hope is, the more humbled and grieved he is, 
 for his iniquities, and the more vigorous his en¬ 
 deavours are, after new obedience. Since true 
 repentance is a hatred of, and a departure from 
 all sin, it must surely be an abhorrence of, and a 
 flight from, unbelief and despair, the greatest of 
 all sins. It is not, therefore, suflicient for the 
 true penitent, to believe that, God is infinitely 
 gracious and merciful; that, the righteousness of 
 Christ is infinitely meritorious; that, there is for¬ 
 giveness with God, for the worst of sinners j and 
 that, Christ with his righteousness and fulness, is 
 freely offered in the gospel to sinners in common ; 
 but, he must believe all this with application to 
 himself. And, in order to his approaching to 
 God as a Father, in order to his being in love 
 with the ways of God, and to his serving him 
 with cheerfulness and delight, he must likewise 
 trust in the Lord Jesus, for his whole salvation. 
 
 £ 
 
104 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 This firm trust in the mercy of God his Saviour, 
 is not only requisite, in order to the first exercise 
 of true repentance; but the sincere penitent will 
 invariably find, that when he at any time yields 
 to a despondent frame, he is hereby rendered in¬ 
 capable of godly sorrow for sin, of delight in God, 
 and of the spiritual performance of any duty. The 
 sincere penitent should, indeed, be jealous and 
 distrustful of himself; but he must not distrust 
 the compassionate Saviour, nor despond, if he 
 would maintain the exercise of evangelical repent¬ 
 ance, or of any other spiritual grace. 
 
 The difference, then, between a false and a true 
 repentance, is as great, as between desponding fear, 
 and encouraging hope; as between being affrighted 
 by a sight of our sins, from trusting in God, and 
 from serving him with delight, and our being al¬ 
 lured by his infinite mercy, to seek his face, to 
 expect forgiveness through the blood of his dear 
 Son, and to serv^ him with the dispositions of 
 children. ■ 
 
 6. Counterfeit repentance, springs from En¬ 
 mity to God and to his holy law; but true re- 
 ])entance, from Love to both. 
 
 The grief and terror, which legal penitents of¬ 
 ten feel, arise from dreadful apprehensions of God,* 
 and of his inflexible justice. They know that they 
 have greatly provoked him. They are afraid of 
 his infinite wrath, and therefore are solicitous to 
 obtain a covert from it. They might before, it 
 may be, have some pleasing apprehensions of God, 
 while they considered him as all mercy, and so 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 105 
 
 long as they could hope for pardon, and yet live 
 in their sins. But now that, they have alarming 
 apprehensions of his infinite holiness and justice, 
 and that, he appears an infinite enemy to them, 
 they are contriving some way to make peace with 
 him ; because they are afraid that, if the contro¬ 
 versy proceed, it will issue in their eternal de¬ 
 struction. They resolve upon obedience to him, 
 from the same motives from which, slaves obey 
 their tyrannical masters; even though the rule of 
 their obedience, is directly contrary to the inclina¬ 
 tion of their hearts. Were the penalty of the law 
 taken away, their enmity to it would quickly ap¬ 
 pear. They would soon again, with the same 
 pleasure as formerly, embrace their beloved lusts. 
 The truth of this assertion, is frequently ascer¬ 
 tained in those, who wear off their convictions and 
 reformations together ; and who, notwithstanding 
 their appearance of religion, discover, by their sin - 
 ful and sensual lives, the reigning enmity of their 
 hearts to God and his holy law. They still show j 
 themselves to be enemies in their minds, by their 
 wicked works™. As for their sorrow on account 
 of their sins ;—such penitents are very sorry that 
 God hates sin so exceedingly, that he is resolved to 
 punish it, with the everlasting destruction of the 
 impenitent sinner, and that he is able to execute 
 this purpose, in spite of the strongest opposition. 
 They are also extremely sorry, as was hinted above, 
 that his law is so very strict, and that the punish- 
 
 " Col. i. 21. 
 
106 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 nient threatened for sin, is so terribly severe ; bnt 
 they are far from being grieved in heart, for the 
 base, tlie ungrateful part they have acted, by sin¬ 
 ning against a gracious God, and violating his 
 holy law. 
 
 The true penitent, on the contrary, mourns, 
 not because the law is very strict, or its penalty 
 very severe; for he esteems the law to be holv, 
 and the commandment to be holy, and just, and 
 good. But he grieves, that though the law is 
 spiritual, yet he is carnal, sold under sin. He 
 mourns that his nature has been so contrary 
 to God, that his practice has been so opposite 
 to his will, and that he makes no better pro¬ 
 gress in mortifying the deeds of the body of sin, 
 and in regulating his affections by the word of 
 God. He breathes with the same earnestness af¬ 
 ter sanctification, as after freedom from eternal 
 wrath. He loves God and his holy law; and 
 therefore he does not desire, that the law should 
 be bent to his corruptions, but that his heart 
 and life, should be fully subjected to the law, as 
 the rule of his duty. He longs for nothing so 
 much, except an interest in Christ and in the fa¬ 
 vour of God, as redemption from sin, proficiency 
 in faith and holiness, and a life of communion 
 with Christ, and with Godin him. 
 
 The difference, then, between ar false penitent 
 and a true one, is v^ery great. The former, looks 
 upon God with terror and aversion; but the lat¬ 
 ter, mourns his distance from him, and desires 
 earnestly to be transformed into his likeness. The 
 one, still loves his sins in his heart, and mourns 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 10^^ 
 
 that there is a law to condemn, and justice to pu- - 
 nish him for them; but the other, hates all his 
 iniquities without reserve, and, because they are 
 contrary to the holy nature and law of God, he 
 is weary under the burden of them. The obe¬ 
 dience of the former, is by mere constraint; but 
 the imperfections of the latter, are such ground 
 of continual humiliation to him, as makes him 
 constantly aspire after higher degrees of faith and 
 holiness. The one, finds no inward and abiding ^ 
 complacence in the service of God: the other, 
 accounts it his happiness, and takes more plea- l 
 sure in spiritual obedience, than in any thing else. 
 
 In a word, the repentance of the former, arises 
 from enmity to God and to his holy law; but the 
 repentance of the latter, flows from faith worldng 
 by love to him and his law. 
 
 7. False repentance, produces only a Partial 
 and external reformation but true repentance, is \ 
 a Total change of heart, and an universal turning 
 from sin to God. 
 
 As some particular gross iniquity, commonly 
 leads the way to that distress or terror, which is 
 the life of a legal and false repentance; so, a re¬ 
 formation with respect to such sins, too frequently 
 wears off the impression, and gives rest to the 
 troubled conscience, without any farther change; 
 or at least, some darling lust will be retained, 
 some right hand or right eye spared. If the false 
 penitent be deterred from sins of commission, he 
 will still live in the omission, or careless perform¬ 
 ance of known duty; or if he be zealous for the 
 
108 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 duties respecting the worship of God, still he will 
 live in acts of injustice, strife, and uncharitable¬ 
 ness toward men. If he discover some activity 
 in contending for the truths of the gospel, still his 
 heart will cleave to the world, and he will pur¬ 
 sue it as the object of his chief desire and supreme 
 delight. If he make conscience of refraining from 
 every open sin, he yet little regards the sins of 
 his heart; such as silent envy, secret pride, self- 
 righteousness, self-preference, earthly mindedness, 
 malice, unbelief, or some other secret abomina¬ 
 tions. Whatever progress he may seem to make 
 in religion, his heart is still estranged from the 
 power of godliness. Like Ephraim, he is as “a 
 cake not turned,” neither dough nor bread; or 
 like Laodicea, lukewarm, “ neither cold nor hot.” 
 His mind is not changed with regard to sin. He 
 does not sincerely grieve that ever he committed 
 it, nor does he really wish it undone. He does 
 not heartily abhor it, nor is he ever willing to be 
 finally divorced from it. 
 
 The character of the true penitent is directly 
 the reverse of this. He finds, indeed, as has been 
 observed above, continual occasion, to lament the 
 great Imperfections of his heart and life; and ac¬ 
 cordingly, he relies for renewed pardon, on the 
 righteousness of Christ, and on the promises of 
 God. But though he has not already attained, 
 neither is already perfect, yet he presses on to¬ 
 wards perfection. He watches and strives against 
 all the corruptions of his heart, and labours after 
 increasing conformity to God, in all holy conver- 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. 109 
 
 sation and godliness". He does not renounce one 
 lust and retain another, content himself with de¬ 
 votional duties, in the neglect of strict honesty, 
 and unfeigned benevolence; nor can he rest, till 
 this is his rejoicing, even the testimony of his 
 conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, 
 not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, 
 he has his conversation in the world. All the 
 actings of his mind, as well as his external con¬ 
 duct, fall under his cognizance and inspection; 
 and his daily exercise and desire are, to approve 
 himself to Him, who knows his thoughts afar off. 
 His reformation extends, not only to the devotion 
 of the church, but to that of his family and his 
 closet j not only to his conversation, but to his 
 tempers and affections, and to the duties of every 
 relation, which he sustains among men. His re¬ 
 pentance produces heavenly mindedness, humility, 
 meekness, charity, patience, forgiveness of inju¬ 
 ries, and self-denial ; and it is accompanied by 
 all the other graces, and fruits of the Holy Spirit. 
 And in order to be satisfied as to the truth of his 
 repentance, he examines the motives, which pre¬ 
 vail with him to turn from sin to God; for he 
 knows that, the mean motives which rise no higher 
 than himself, and his own safety, can never deno¬ 
 minate him a true penitent. 
 
 * The emperor Sigismund having, in a sore fit of sickness, made 
 fair promises of amendment of life, asked Tbeodoricus, Archbishop of 
 Collon, how he might know whether his repentance was sincere. The 
 Archbishop replied, ‘ If you are as careful to perform in your health, 
 as you are forward to promise in your sickness, you may safely draw 
 that inference.’— Buck’s Anecdotes, Vol. iii, p. 253. 
 
110 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUE 
 
 The difference, then, between a false and a true 
 repentance, is exceedingly great. The former, is 
 only an external reformation, devoid of all spi¬ 
 ritual grace ; but the latter, is an internal change 
 of the will and affections, as well as of the outward 
 conduct; a change, which is accompanied by all 
 the graces and fruits of the blessed Spirit. The 
 one, aims at so much religion only, as will keep 
 the mind easy, and calm the tumults of an awakened 
 conscience : the other, aims at a holy, humble, and 
 spiritual walk with God, and rests in no degree 
 of conformity to Christ, short of perfection. 
 
 8. Once more. Counterfeit repentance, is only 
 temporary^ and it wears off with those convictions 
 of conscience which have occasioned it; but true 
 repentance, is the continued exercise of the sincere 
 believer. 
 
 We have frequent instances of persons, who for 
 a while, appear under the bitterest remorse for 
 their sins; and yet, afterwards wear off all their 
 impressions, and return to the same course of im¬ 
 piety and sensuality, which occasioned their dis¬ 
 tress and terror. They hereby declare to the 
 world, that their goodness, like that of Ephraim, 
 was but as a morning cloud, and an early dew, 
 which soon pass away. And beside these, there 
 seem to be some who quiet their consciences, and 
 speak peace to their souls, from their having been 
 in distress and terror on account of their sins, 
 from their reformation from certain gross immo¬ 
 ralities, and from their formal course of duties. 
 They have repented, they think, and therefore con- 
 
AND COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE. Ill 
 
 elude, that they are at peace with God; and they 
 seem to have no great concern about, either their 
 former impieties, or their present iniquities. They 
 conclude, that they are converted, and that their 
 state is good; and therefore they are secure and 
 dwell at ease. They often think, and peihaps 
 speak, loftily of their experiences. They are 
 elated with joyful apprehensions of the safety of 
 their state, and of the goodness of their heart; 
 but they have no humbling impressions of their 
 sins, and no godly sorrow, either for the depra¬ 
 vity of their natures, or the imperfection of their 
 duties, or the multitude of their provocations. 
 Many, whilst under the stings of an awakened 
 conscience, are driven to maintain a solemn watch 
 over their hearts and their lives ; to be afraid of 
 every sin, and to be in appearance very conscien¬ 
 tious, serious, and even zealous, in the perform* 
 ance of known duties. Now, by this imaginary 
 progress in religion, they gradually wear out their 
 convictions, and get over their legal terrors; and 
 then, their apparent watchfulness, and tenderness 
 of conscience, are forgotten. They attend their 
 duties in a careless manner, with a trifling and 
 remiss frame of soul; while the great concerns ot 
 an eternal world, are but little in their thoughts. 
 All their religion is reduced to a lifeless, a cold 
 form. They still maintain the form, but appear 
 quite unconcerned about the power of godliness. 
 Besides, false penitents commonly suffer them¬ 
 selves, to be basely overcome by the fear of man. 
 They begin seemingly to repent; but loving the 
 
 E 2 
 
112 
 
 THE DIFFERENCE, &c. 
 
 praise of man, and not being able to endure the 
 contempt, and reviling of the profane, for their 
 professed attachment to Christ, they turn away 
 from the holy commandment. The men with 
 whom they are connected, or to whom they are 
 related, or on whom they depend, must at all ha¬ 
 zards, be respected and pleased. 
 
 Evangelical repentance, on the contraiy, is a 
 lasting principle. The true penitent, loathes and 
 condemns himself daily. Every day, he mourns 
 for, and abhors all the evils which he discovers, 
 both in his heart and in his life. He does not 
 forget his former sins, nor become unconcerned 
 about them, as soon as he attains peace of con¬ 
 science, and a joyful hope of his reconciliation to 
 God. But the clearer his evidences of the Divine 
 favour are, the more does he loathe and condemn 
 himself for his iniquities, the more vile in his own 
 sight, does he appear, and the more aggravated 
 and odious, do his past sins appear to him. The 
 faith and sense of pardoning mercy, made Paul 
 appear in his own eyes, the chief of sinners. The 
 true penitent, not only continues to mourn, and 
 to abhor himself, for his past abominations; but 
 he always finds new cause for the exercise of re¬ 
 pentance. He finds daily so much unbelief, le¬ 
 gality, and earthly mindedness in his heart; so 
 much deadness, formality, and hypocrisy in his 
 duties; and so much prevalence of sinful inclina¬ 
 tions, vain thoughts, inordinate affections, and so 
 many foils by the sin which easily besets him, that 
 he cannot, while he is in this tabernacle, but groan 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 113 
 
 being burdened®. Repentance, therefore, is the 
 constant exercise of the true Christian, as long 
 as he is in this world. He will not leave off re¬ 
 penting, till he perfectly leave off sinning. He 
 carries the exercise of repentance about with him, 
 as long as he carries about the body of sin^*. Sin 
 follows him, whilst he is fleeing from it; often it 
 overtakes him, and therefore he must often renew 
 his flight. For conscience’ sake, he will forego 
 temporal advantages, and break through the ties 
 even of sweetest friendship, and of nearest kin¬ 
 dred, sooner than be drawn back by either, into 
 his former neglect of duty. He will maintain a 
 godly jealousy, over all persons and things con¬ 
 nected with him ; lest any of them prove a hin- 
 derance to him, in his course of new obedience. 
 
 Thus it is manifest, that the difference between 
 a false and a true repentance, is as great, as be¬ 
 tween the running of water in the paths, after an 
 overflowing shower, and the streams, flowing con¬ 
 tinually from a living fountain. A false and le¬ 
 gal repentance, continues no longer, than the le¬ 
 gal terrors which occasion it; whereas an evan¬ 
 gelical repentance, is a continued war against sin, 
 until death sound this enemy’s retreat.—So much 
 for the difference between a true, and a counter¬ 
 feit repentance. 
 
 From what has now been stated, the Reader 
 may see the difference between true, and counter- 
 
 ® 2 Cor. V, 4. 
 
 P Rom. vii. 24. 
 
114 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 feit Humiliation. Ahab bumbled bimself, from a 
 sense of tbe danger, and a dread of tbe conse¬ 
 quences of sin ; but tbe sincere penitent is bum¬ 
 bled, from an affecting sense of tbe malignity, 
 odiousness, and demerit of sin'’. Tbe former, bad 
 not a true sense of sin, and therefore, under all 
 bis pretended bumiliation, tbe pride of bis heart 
 retained its complete dominion over him; whereas 
 the latter, has a true sight and feeling of tbe evil 
 and loathsomeness of sin, and therefore he lies low 
 in tbe dust before God. As an evidence that tbe 
 pride of bis heart is mortified, be sees, abhors, and 
 bitterly bewails it. A slave may stoop for fear 
 of tbe lash; but it is the disposition of a son, to 
 be affected with sorrow and self-abasement, for 
 any offence be has given to a kind father. The 
 1 egal penitent may seem very bumble, under a sense 
 of tbe evil, which his sin has done to bimself; 
 whilst bis heart is far from being suitably affected 
 with the injury, which it has done to tbe mani¬ 
 fested glory of God. He will be deeply affected, 
 under an apprehension of God’s terrible wrath; 
 whilst bis heart is far from being touched with 
 bis love. If tbe true penitent does evil, be takes 
 tlie blame to bimself; but if he does good, be 
 gives tbe praise to God. “ I laboured more abun¬ 
 dantly than they all,” says our Apostle ; “ yet not 
 I, but tbe grace of God wdiich was wfitb me'^.” 
 The false penitent, on tbe contrary, lays tbe blame 
 of the evil that he does, upon others, and takes 
 
 ■5 Job xlii, 5, 6. 
 
 * ] Cor, XV. 10. 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 115 
 
 the praise of the good which he does, to himself. 
 He who is truly humbled, conscious that he has 
 no righteousness of his own, flies to the mercy, 
 and submits to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, 
 as the sole ground of his justification. This is 
 that distinguishing character of evangelical hu¬ 
 miliation, to which the legal penitent, cannot pro¬ 
 duce the smallest claim. The former, is made 
 willing to receive the whole of Christ’s salvation, 
 as an absolutely free gift; whereas the latter, is 
 disposed to receive only a part of it, and that upon 
 the ground of his own repentance and faith. 
 
 Hence also we may discern, what we are to 
 understand by the sorrow of the ivorld. “ Godly 
 sorrow,” says the apostle Paul, “ worketh repent¬ 
 ance to salvation, not to be repented of; but the 
 sorrow of the world, worketh death’.” How 
 great is the difference, between the sorrow of the 
 evangelical, and that of the legal penitent! The 
 one, is a sorrow according to God: the other, is 
 the sorrow of the world. The former works re¬ 
 pentance unto life : the latter works death. Now 
 what is the sorrow of the world ? Why, it is that 
 legal sorrow, accompanied by horror of conscience, 
 which the men of the world sometimes have; and 
 which arises from a dread of God as a vindictive 
 Judge, ready to take vengeance on them for their 
 crimes, and that, without any apprehension of his 
 mercy in Christ. This is nothing but the begin¬ 
 ning of eternal death, of inconceivable and end- 
 
 • 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
IIG 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 less anguish, in the fire that shall never be 
 quenched. It is also that impatient vexation, 
 which worldlings often feel, for the loss of worldly 
 things, or for disappointment in the gratification 
 of worldly lusts. Now this sorrow likewise works 
 death, temporal and eternal death* It often 
 brings diseases on the body, which terminate in 
 death; and sometimes, as in the case of Ahitho- 
 phel and Judas, it makes men lay violent bands 
 upon themselves. It works in them, a dreadful 
 apprehension of eternal death, and, if sovereign 
 grace prevent not, issues in it. The sorrow of 
 the world, is indeed a killing sorrow. Wliile it 
 is prejudicial to the precious soul, it injures the 
 body, and hastens death. Reader, the more godly 
 sorrow for sin, you attain, the more shall you be 
 elevated, above worldly sorrow. The former is 
 the antidote to the latter. And if you would ad¬ 
 vance in the exercise of godly sorrow, trust 
 firmly in Jesus Christ, for pardoning mercy, and 
 sanctifying grace; and see, that your grief on 
 any worldly account, always terminate in sorrow 
 for sin. 
 
 From what has been said it is evident, that a 
 legal repentance is very far from being a true one. 
 It is far from being spiritual, and acceptable to 
 the Lord; and therefore, a man may attain the 
 highest degree of it, and after all, perish, as Cain, 
 Pharaoh, and Judas did. It fills, indeed, the 
 conscience with trouble, under the dread of God’s 
 infinite wrath; but it leaves the heart, under the 
 dominion and love of sin. In the exercise of 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 117 
 
 legal repentance, the sinner mourns for sin, only 
 as it has wounded his own soul; which shows 
 that, his remorse flows merely from a natural 
 spring, and rises only to a natural height. But 
 in the exercise of evangelical repentance, the be¬ 
 liever mourns for sin, as it has wounded his dear 
 Redeemer, as it has pierced that heart which 
 loves him, and spilled that blood which redeems 
 him. This is an evidence that, his sorrow for 
 sin has its spring above nature, and that, it rises 
 to a supernatural height. Legal repentance 
 springs only from nature, and in its exercise, 
 rises no higher than depraved nature. True re¬ 
 pentance, on the contrary, proceeds from the 
 grace of Christ, and in its exercise, aims chiefly 
 at the glory of Christ, and of God in Him. Ah, 
 how blind must that sinner be, who mistakes a 
 legal, for an evangelical repentance; and who 
 flatters himself that he is in a state of salvation, 
 merely, because he exercises a natural and legal 
 repentance ! 
 
 In conclusion: It is evident from what has 
 been stated, that great care is requisite for dis¬ 
 tinguishing well, between true repentance, and 
 that which is legal and counterfeit. This is of 
 immense importance; seeing that many who live 
 and die impenitent, sometime appeared penitent, 
 both in their own view, and in that of others. 
 True repentance, as was observed above, is a 
 change of mind, inclination, and affection, with 
 respect to sin, to God and his law, to Christ and 
 his gospel, and to the sinner himself. From this 
 
118 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 change, proceed godly sorrow for sin, detestation 
 of it, and turning from it, to the love, service, 
 and enjoyment of God in Christ. Without this 
 supernatural change, and its immediate effects, no 
 other appearances, whether of legal terror, or of 
 supposed humiliation, whilst all sin is not hated 
 and forsaken, nor universal holiness loved and 
 practised, are sincere or acceptable to God. A 
 man may mourn bitterly for sin, and yet not 
 mourn spiritually for it. True mourning for sin, 
 is more for the evil that is in it, than for the evil 
 which comes by it; more because it dishonours 
 God, and wounds Christ, and grieves the Holy 
 Spirit, and deprives the soul of the image of God, 
 than because it exposes the soul to eternal punish¬ 
 ment. A man may also hate sin, and yet be far 
 from exercising true repentance. He may abhor 
 iniquity more in others, than in himself; whereas 
 the true penitent, hates sin more in himself, than 
 in any other. One may abhor sin, more for the 
 shame which attends it, than for the malignity 
 ^and odiousness which are in it; and he may hate 
 one sin, because it is contrary to another which 
 he loves dearly. The sincere penitent, on the 
 contrary, hates all sin as sin, and abhors it chiefly 
 for the evil that is in it. A man may even for¬ 
 sake the most of his transgressions, without ex¬ 
 ercising true repentance. If he forsake open, 
 and yet retain secret sins; or if he leave sin, 
 and yet continue to love it; or if he let one sin 
 go, in order to hold another the faster; or if he 
 forsake sin, but not as sin, he is not a true peni- 
 
THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES, &c. 119 
 
 tent. He who forsakes any sin as sin, or be¬ 
 cause it is sin, relinquislies all sin. The sin¬ 
 cere penitent forsakes all iniquity, from light 
 principles, by right motives, in a right manner, 
 and to a right end. Let every man take heed, 
 then, that he do not impose upon himself, by 
 mistaking a false, for a true repentance. And 
 if he begin to suspect, that his repentance is 
 legal and counterfeit, let him without delay, trust 
 cordially in Jesus Christ, for grace to exercise 
 evangelical repentance. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OF THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES OF TRUE 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 When John the Baptist, saw many of the 
 Pharisees and Sadducees, coming to his Baptism, 
 lie said to them, “ Bring forth fruits meet for re¬ 
 pentance*.^* What he styles Jruits^ the apostle 
 Paul calls ivorks, meet for repentance". The 
 fruits of true repentance, then, are in general 
 the good works, which, every evangelical penitent 
 endeavours, through grace, diligently to perform; 
 
 ‘ Matth. iii. 8. 
 
 “ Acts xxvi. 20. 
 
120 THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES 
 
 the spiritual and acceptable works, or “ fruits of 
 righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the 
 glory and praise of God.” They are styled fruits, 
 and fruits of repentance; for they spring, from 
 the incorruptible seed of evangelical repentance 
 in the heart, implanted there at regeneration. 
 Such works, are “ fruits meet for repentance.” 
 They are suitable to it, and they evince the 
 genuineness of it. As a tree is known by its 
 fruit, so repentance is known by good works. 
 These are effects of it, and therefore are proofs 
 or evidences to men, of the sincerity of it. The 
 root of true repentance is in the heart. But in 
 vain, does a man pretend to have it there, if the 
 fruit of spiritual exercises, and of holy perform¬ 
 ances, do not appear in the life. Though Cain’s 
 terror, Pharaoh’s fair promises, Ahab’s humilia¬ 
 tion, Herod’s reverencing the Prophet, hearing 
 him gladly, and doing many things, Judas’ con¬ 
 fession, the stony ground-hearers’ joy, the tongues 
 of men and of angels, the gifts of miracles and 
 of prophecy, and the knowledge of all mysteries, 
 were concentrated in one man ;—they would not 
 prove him to be a true penitent. Nothing can 
 evince this, except the genuine fruits of evange¬ 
 lical repentance; the principal of which, I shall 
 now consider briefly, under the following particu¬ 
 lars : 
 
 1. Carefulness or vigilance^ is one of the fruits 
 of It. “ Behold,” said the Apostle to the Corin¬ 
 thians, “ this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed 
 after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 121 
 
 you !*” The exercise of their godly sorrow, pro¬ 
 duced in them a holy thoughtfulness and care, to 
 comply with the Apostle’s injunctions, with re¬ 
 spect to the incestuous person, and to approve 
 themselves to God, by rectifying what was amiss. 
 It rendered them careful, to remove him from 
 visible communion with them, of which they had 
 been negligent before, and to sin after this sort 
 no more; and solicitous also, to perform good 
 works in general, as well as not to displease the 
 Lord. Carefulness about the one thing needful, 
 that good part which shall not be taken away, is 
 both a fruit and an evidence of evangelical repen¬ 
 tance. The true penitent is careful, to keep him¬ 
 self from his iniquity, and to “ walk worthy of 
 the Lord to all pleasing.” 
 
 2. Another of the fruits of true repentance, is 
 the penitent’s Clearing of himself. Our Apostle, 
 in the passage already cited, adds, “ Yea, what 
 clearing of yourselves !” as if he had said, ‘ Your 
 godly sorrow influenced you, to take such mea¬ 
 sures with respect to the incestuous person, as 
 might furnish a plea against any accusation, as if 
 ye would partake with him in his guilt, or would 
 connive at any sin whatever, either in yourselves 
 or others.’ The believers in Corinth cleared 
 themselves, not by denying the fact, or defending 
 it; but by confessing their culpable neglect, de¬ 
 claring that, they did not approve of the sin, but 
 abhorred it, and that, they complied willingly 
 
 w 2 Cor. vii. 11. 
 
122 THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES 
 
 with the apostle's direction. Every sincere peni¬ 
 tent, by relying only on the surety-righteousness 
 of Jesus Christ, for his title to the justification of 
 life, clears himself in the sight of God, from all 
 the guilt of his own sins’"; and, by refusing to 
 countenance sinful principles, and practices around 
 him, he clears himself, from being partaker of 
 other men’s sins. He studies also to clear his 
 character, from slanderous imputations of evil, or 
 even of doubtful conduct. 
 
 3. Holy Indignation against sin, is a fruit and 
 evidence of evangelical repentance. The Apostle 
 in the forecited passage adds, “ Yea, what indig¬ 
 nation !” The godly sorrow of the saints in 
 Corinth, raised in their souls, a holy indignation, 
 a lively resentment, against their own iniquities, 
 and against the sin of that delinquent, who had 
 publicly dishonoured the name of Christ, and 
 had both defiled and troubled the church. It ex¬ 
 cited indignation in them, not against the person 
 of the offender, but against his heinous sin, and 
 not his only, but their own also, in not excluding 
 him from their communion sooner. The heart of 
 every true penitent, is filled with indignation 
 against his iniquities, as striking immediately 
 against the honour of his God and Saviour^. 
 Godly sorrow for sin, makes the heart of the 
 penitent, rise and swell with indignation at sin, 
 and at himself as a sinner. The more he is 
 enabled to trust, that God for Christ’s sake for- 
 
 Isa. xlv. 24. 
 
 J Psal.li. 4, with Psal, cxix. 104. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 123 
 
 gives him, the less able is he to forgive himself. 
 He is then angiy and sins not, when he is angry 
 at nothing but sin, and angry with himself, only 
 because he hath sinned. 
 
 4. Another consequence and evidence of it, ac¬ 
 cording to the Apostle, is “ Fear a filial and re¬ 
 verential fear of God, or a standing in awe to 
 offend and dishonour hini'‘. The penitential sor¬ 
 row of the Corinthians, wrought in them, not a 
 slavish fear of hell, but a filial fear of God ; a 
 fear of sinning against Him, and of grieving his 
 Spirit and his ministers; a fear lest, as the 
 apostle had suggested, the contagion should spread 
 in the church ; a jealous and cautious fear, lest 
 any accursed thing should still be found with 
 them ; or lest, by the force of temptation, they 
 should fall into a similar, or any other abomina¬ 
 tion, to provoke the Lord to anger. The true 
 penitent fears lest he offend; and that he may 
 not offend, he exercises a holy and filial fear of 
 God, and a humble and jealous fear of himself. 
 There arises in his heart, a fear of reverence, from 
 an awful apprehension of the infinite majesty, 
 and holiness of the Lord; and also a fear of vio-i- 
 lance, disposing him to watch and war against 
 sin, that it may not, in time to come, surprise 
 and prevail against him. 
 
 5. Vehement or ardent Desire^ is one of the 
 fruits of evangelical repentance. When the be¬ 
 lievers in Corinth sorrowed to repentance, it pro- 
 
 * Gen. xxxix. 9. 
 
121 THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES 
 
 duced in them, as the Apostle says, “ vehement 
 desire.” It excited in them, fervent desire after 
 a thorough reformation; by putting away from 
 among them, that wicked person and every e^dl 
 thingand by doing what would be well-pleasing 
 to God through Jesus Christ. It raised in them, 
 an ardent desire of giving the Apostle full satis¬ 
 faction, and of honouring God for the future, by 
 a holy and exemplary conduct. True repentance, 
 in whomsoever it is, produces not merely desire, 
 but vehement desire, to depart from all iniquity, to 
 exercise all spiritual graces, and to perform all 
 commanded duties; as well as, to advance daily 
 in conformity to Jesus Christ, and in communion 
 with him'’.—A false penitent may pray in secret, 
 but the true penitent must. His vehement desire 
 cannot be shut up within him. It must have a 
 vent; and it cannot vent itself, otherwise than by 
 the prayer of faith. Happy are they who are 
 thus necessitated, to wrestle daily with the Lord 
 in secret! 
 
 6. The Apostle informs us, in the passage al¬ 
 ready cited, that godly sorrow produces “ Zeal." 
 Under the influences of the Holy Spirit, it in¬ 
 flamed the hearts of the saints in Corinth, with 
 ardent zeal, for the manifested glory of God in 
 Christ; for restoring the discipline, peace, and 
 order of the church; for the doctrines of grace, 
 and the ordinances of the gospel; and for defend¬ 
 ing the character of the Apostle, against the slan- 
 
 * 1 Cor. V. 13. 
 
 ^ Psal. xxvii. 4. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 125 
 
 tiers of the false teacliers. Wherever evangelical 
 repentance is, it produces that sacred zeal, which j 
 is according to knowledge; an enlightened zeal ! 
 for the glory of God, and the interest of Christ in 
 the world”. This holy zeal, is an affection com¬ 
 pounded of love and anger. It is an enlightened 
 and prudent eagerness of spirit, to honour God, 
 to promote true holiness, and to oppose error and 
 Wickedness‘S. The zealous penitent, from a ten¬ 
 der regard to the honour of God his Saviour, 
 burns with holy anger against all corruptions of 
 his truth, and transgressions of his law, exerts 
 himself to advance his glory among men, and to 
 transmit to the latest posterity, entire and uncor¬ 
 rupted, the doctrines and ordinances of his glori¬ 
 ous gospel. He may be compared to the burning 
 bush. It was sharp indeed and prickly, but was 
 so in the midst of light and heat. He sees trans¬ 
 gressors and is grieved. He loves the Lord, and 
 therefore hates evil. It is not the persons of 
 transgressors that he abhors, but their sins.—His 
 zeal begins at home. He diligently strives against, j 
 and suppresses, those sins in himself, against j 
 which, he declares in others around him. He re- ' 
 members that, as the snuffers in the temple were 
 of pure gold; so they, who would be zealous for 
 pure religion in others, ought to be pure them¬ 
 selves. Having turned to the love and practice 
 of new obedience, he is zealous for good works, 
 and careful to maintain them. 
 
 >> Nura. XXV. 13. 
 
 “ Tsai, cxxxvii. 3, 6. 
 
ISO THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES 
 
 7. Another of the fruits of true repentance, is 
 “ Revenge^’ on sin. Our Apostle in the forecited 
 ])assage says, That the godly sorrow of the Corin¬ 
 thians, wrought revenge in them. It disposed 
 them, to take a sort of holy vengeance upon them¬ 
 selves, like men who know not how to forgive 
 themselves, when they reflected on the malignity 
 and heinousness of their own sins ; and it deter¬ 
 mined them, to inflict deserved punishment on 
 the scandalous delinquent, by casting him out of 
 the church. It produced in them, not revenge on 
 persons in a private way, for such vengeance be¬ 
 longs to God; but a readiness to revenge, by the 
 infliction of church-censures, all disobedience, 
 particularly that of the unhappy offender among 
 them, which was shewn, in the punishment in¬ 
 flicted on him by many. Godly sorrow and self- 
 loathing, discover themselves by holy revenge; 
 such revenge, especially on the body of sin in the 
 heart, as aims at the complete destruction of it. 
 How great was that revenge on the body of sin, 
 which the holy Apostle Paul felt, when he ex¬ 
 claimed, “ O wretched man that I am ! who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death ® ?” He 
 who formerly delighted in sin, is now divided 
 against himself. He now acts the part of an ac¬ 
 cuser, advocate, and judge, against himself; yea, 
 he, as it were, inflicts punishment on himself, for 
 the exceeding sinfulness of his heart and life. 
 Accordingly, the humble penitent is represented 
 
 • Rom. tii. 24;. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 12Y 
 
 ns smiting on his thigh as if he thereby declared, 
 that he would willingly take A'engeance on the 
 legs, that carried him forward in the ways of sin; 
 and, that he would be filled with holy resentment 
 .against himself, for the innumerable injuries, 
 VA'^hich, by his unaccountable crimes, he did to the 
 honour of his God and Saviour. Wlien he re¬ 
 pents of his wickedness, he says, “ What have I 
 done 8?” What an ungrateful, what a vile, what 
 a loathsome, what a wretched sinner, have I 
 been ! 
 
 8. The penitent’s making ample Restitution^ of 
 what he borrowed, or fraudulently took from 
 others, is a fruit and evidence of true repentance. 
 —According to the ceremonial law, the trespass¬ 
 offering, was to be accompanied by restitution, to 
 the party who had been injured”. Zaccheus, ac¬ 
 cordingly, proved himself a true penitent, by 
 making ample restitution. Every sincere penitent 
 will likeAvise, Avith self-loathing, make haste to 
 rid himself of dishonest gain. He Avill shake his 
 liands from holding of bribes ^ He will obey 
 scrupulously the charge of Solomon, “ Withhold 
 not good from them to whom it is due, when it is 
 in the power of thine hand to do if'.” With dili¬ 
 gence, he Avill make search, for every remainder 
 of that accursed thing. With interest, he Avill re¬ 
 store it to the injured party, if he can; if not, to 
 their relations, and failing them, to the poor. And 
 
 ^ Jer, xxxi, 19. s Jer. viii. 6. ** Lev. vi. 1— 5- 
 
 * Isa. xxxiii. 15. ^ Prov. iii. 27. 
 
 F 
 
128 THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES 
 
 if he be not able, it will occasion much uneasiness 
 and distress of mind to him. He who has injured 
 his neighbour, and refuses, though he has ability, 
 to make restitution, is an unrighteous man; and 
 “ the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom 
 of God V’ All appearances of repentance without 
 this, are hyjjocritical. Whatever profession of re¬ 
 pentance, such a man makes, his religion is vain. 
 He refuses to do to others, as he would that thev 
 should do to him. To pretend to haA^e turned 
 from iniquity, with bitter remorse, and yet to feed 
 sweetly on the fruits of it, is vain. This is so ob¬ 
 vious, that even Judas, in his repentance, coun¬ 
 terfeit as it was, was impelled to restore the re¬ 
 ward of iniquity. An ancient philosopher at 
 Athens, liaAung, at a shop there, run upon the 
 score for his shoes, and having afterwards heard, 
 that the tradesman was dead, at first was glad to 
 think, that the debt was noAV paid. But recol¬ 
 lecting himself, he brought the money and threw 
 it into the shop, saying, ‘ Take it; thou art alive 
 to me, while dead to all the world besides.’—What, 
 then, are we to think of many professed Christi¬ 
 ans, who see their creditors struggling with those 
 difficulties, into which, their extravagance has 
 plunged them; Avhile they themselves are in easy, 
 perhaps in affluent circumstances; and so are 
 well able, if they choose to retrench superfluous 
 expenses, to make them restitution in whole, or 
 in part, but will not, because not compelled by 
 
 ‘ 1 Cor. vi. 9. 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 129 
 
 law? Such persons shew themselves plainly, to 
 be destitute of true repentance; for they prefer 
 wealth, indulgence, and the pride of life, to ren¬ 
 dering “ to all their dues,” to owing no man any 
 'thing, but to love him'". They who mw restore 
 that which they owe their neighbour, but will not, 
 do not surelv turn from that sin; for they deli¬ 
 berately continue to enjoy the fruit of it. 
 
 9. Another of the fruits and evidences of evan¬ 
 gelical repentance, is the Reparation of injuries, in 
 cases in which, proper restitution cannot be made, 
 such as, injuries done to persons in their reputa¬ 
 tion, in their influence and usefulness, in their fa¬ 
 milies or connections, in their peace of mind, in 
 their contentment, and in many other instances. 
 Hence is this exhortation; “ Confess your faults 
 one to another".” The evangelical penitent, 
 though he cannot undo what he has done; yet, 
 will study to counteract the evil arising from the 
 injury, by stooping even to the humblest submis¬ 
 sions, and the most ingenuous confessions, how 
 contrary soever to the pride and self-love, re¬ 
 maining in his heart. If he was formerly guilty 
 of such scandalous offences, as impaired the ho¬ 
 nour of God before the world, exposed religion to 
 the scorn of profane men, and grieved or stumbled 
 the hearts of the godly; he will endeavour dili¬ 
 gently, to counteract the tendency of his former 
 evil conduct. Or if he formerly propagated er¬ 
 rors, respecting either doctrine or duty, he will 
 
 •" Rom. xiii. 7. 8. 
 
 « James v. 16. 
 
130 THE FRUITS AND EVIDENCES 
 
 now retract them, and exert himself to undo 
 that part of his conduct. And as far as liis ar¬ 
 guments, his pei'suasions, his influence and ex¬ 
 ample, can reach, he will diligently endeavour, to 
 stop the further progi’ess of the mischief. In 
 these and various other instances, true repent¬ 
 ance, under the almighty agency of the Holy Spi¬ 
 rit, disposes a man to employ every proper means, 
 of counteracting the tendency of his former bad 
 conduct. Indeed, to repent sincerely of such in¬ 
 juries, and yet wilfully to refuse the conduct by 
 which, the honour of God, and the credit of reli¬ 
 gion, may in some measure be restored, is impos¬ 
 sible. A man may as well pretend, to repent of 
 his having wounded a person, whilst he sees him 
 bleeding to death, and yet refuses, though he has 
 it in his power, to hind up his wounds. Multi¬ 
 tudes, alas ! flatter themselves, that they have sin¬ 
 cerely repented of their sins, who yet will on no 
 account condescend, to make the smallest repara¬ 
 tion, for the injuries they have done. Tins in¬ 
 deed shows evidently, that their penitence is no 
 better than that of Ahab ; who humbled himself, 
 but neither restored Naboth’s vineyard, nor tuimed 
 from any of his other abominations. 
 
 10. Once more. Diligence in the spiritual per¬ 
 formance of all our duties, is one of the fruits of 
 true repentance.—To be diligent, is to be bent on 
 activity, constant in application, and persevering 
 in endeavour. The evangelical penitent, under 
 the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, and 
 in proportion to the degree of his repentance, per- 
 
OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 131 
 
 forms all his duties with heed, activity, and per¬ 
 severance. When he remembers, with sorrow 
 and self-abasement, how diligent he was in the 
 service of sin and Satan, how he did evil with both 
 hands earnestly"; he is powerfully urged, to serve 
 now with holy diligence, his God and Saviour. 
 And especially when he considers, how diligent 
 his adorable Redeemer was, in obeying the law as 
 a covenant, for his justification; he is irresistibly 
 constrained, to give all diligence in yielding obe¬ 
 dience to it as a rule, for His glory. He is com¬ 
 manded, not only to keep the commandments of 
 this holy law as the rule of his duty, but to keep 
 them diligently. “ Ye shall diligently keep the 
 commandments of the Lord your God^.” And 
 again, “ Thou hast commanded us to keep thy 
 precepts diligently’.” The true penitent, accor¬ 
 dingly, is diligent in all his duties; not only in 
 all the various duties of his civil calling, but in 
 the exercises of devotion in all their variety. In 
 the latter, he is even more diligent, than in the 
 former. As the shekel of the sanctuary was the 
 double of the common shekel; so, in the affairs 
 of eternity, he doiibles the diligence that he uses 
 in the business of time. Like Solomon, he first 
 builds the house of God, and then his own house. 
 He looks upon the salvation of his soul, in sub¬ 
 servience to the manifested glory of God, as the 
 most interesting employment of life. And there¬ 
 fore he not only gives diligence, but all diligence, 
 
 « Mic. vii. 3. 
 
 p Deut. vi. 17. 
 
 <1 Psal. cxix. 4 
 
132 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 in adding “ to his faith, virtue; and to virtue, 
 knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance ; and 
 to temperance, patience; and to patience, godli¬ 
 ness ; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and 
 to brotherly kindness, charity'.” 
 
 So much for the principal fruits and evidences 
 of true repentance. 
 
 Reader, Have you in any degree, brought 
 forth these fruits of evangelical repentance ? If 
 you have, they are so many evidences of your hav¬ 
 ing the grace of true repentance. They are signs 
 of your having that repentance to salvation, which 
 is not to be repented of. They are so many proofs, 
 that you have in regeneration, received the prin¬ 
 ciple of this repentance, and that in progressive 
 sanctification, you have attained the habit and 
 exercise of it. They are, therefore, great encou¬ 
 ragements to you, to continue and advance in the 
 daily exercise of it, and by faith, to receive more 
 and more of it, out of the fulness of Christ. But, 
 although they serve to encourage you to these; 
 yet they form no part of your warranty to trust 
 in Christ for that great salvation, of which, evan¬ 
 gelical repentance is an essential part. Your war¬ 
 rant, to renew the exercise of trusting in Jesus 
 Christ, for his whole salvation, lies in his word of 
 grace, and not either in your heart or your life*. 
 And therefore, if you make your evidences of grace, 
 your warrant or ground of right, either in whole 
 
 ' 2 Pet. i. 5—7. 
 
 • John Hi. 27. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 133 
 
 or in part, to renew the acting of faith in Christ; 
 you will provoke him to hide his face, and to co¬ 
 ver them with a cloud in his anger. They are 
 fruits^ not only of repentance, but of faith; but 
 if you presume to make them grounds of faith, 
 your faith and repentance will quickly decline. 
 See that your exercise of faith, then, be always 
 grounded on faithfulness in the word, and never 
 on feelings in the heart. True repentance is of¬ 
 fered and promised to you, in the blessed gospel. 
 Trust in the Lord Jesus for it, on the warrant of 
 the unlimited offer and promise. Trust also, and 
 plead this precious and absolute promise; “ All 
 the ends of the world, shall remember and turn 
 unto the Lord'.” Place at all times, the confi¬ 
 dence of your heart in Jesus Christ, and rely 
 with firm affiance on his faithfulness in that pro¬ 
 mise, for the performance of it to you; and ac¬ 
 cording to your faith, it will be unto you. He 
 will make you advance daily, in the habit and 
 exercise of repentance unto life. 
 
 Let every Reader endeavour diligently to repent, 
 and to bring forth fruits worthy of true repent¬ 
 ance. Advance daily in those holy tempers, and 
 in the performance of those good works, which 
 are the fruits of evangelical repentance. Since 
 the genuine fruits of evangelical repentance, are 
 at the same time works of faith, and labours of 
 love, it will be necessary that you exercise 
 and love, in order to produce them. The exer¬ 
 
 t Psal. xxii. 27. 
 
134 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 else of unfeigned faith and love, is previously re¬ 
 quisite to that of true repentance, and to all the 
 genuine fruits of it. As these fruits, are fruits 
 also “ of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, 
 to the glory and praise of God it will be no less 
 necessary in order to them, that you be united to 
 Christ, that you have his righteousness imputed 
 to you, and his Spirit as a Spirit of holiness, put 
 within you. And as they are fruit unto God, 
 you must be dead to the law in its federal form, 
 as well as united to Christ, in order to produce 
 even the smallest measure of them. Paul ad¬ 
 dressed the believers in Rome thus: “ Ye also 
 are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; 
 that ye should he married to another, even to him 
 who is raised from the dead, that we should bring 
 forth fruit unto God“.” To be united in a con¬ 
 jugal relation to Christ, the Head and Husband 
 nf his church, and to be delivered in justification, 
 from the law as a covenant .of works, are neces¬ 
 sary to your bringing forth fruit unto God, or 
 your serving him in newness of spirit. O consi¬ 
 der, then, that it will be impossible for you, either 
 to exereise true repentance, or to bring forth any 
 of its fruits; unless in order to do so, you be a 
 believer in Jesus Christ, united to him by faith, 
 justified for his righteousness imputed to you, 
 and dead to the law as a covenant. All these are 
 necessary, to the least exercise of evangelical re¬ 
 pentance, and to the production of any of its 
 
 “ Rom. vii. 4. 
 
PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, &c. 135 
 
 fruits. Come to Christ, then, for grace and 
 strength to exercise true repentance. Kelieve on 
 him in order to repent sincerely. The more, you 
 cordially trust in Him for the grace of repent¬ 
 ance, the more, you will repent of all your sins, 
 and the more you sincerely repent of them, the 
 more of the fruits of repentance, will you pro¬ 
 duce. Your exercise of repentance, wUl be ac¬ 
 cording to your acting of faith. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OF THE PRIORITY OF THE ACTING OF SAVING 
 FAITH, TO THE EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENT¬ 
 ANCE. 
 
 In the moment of regeneration, the Holy Spirit 
 implants all spiritual and saving graces, in the 
 heart of the elect sinner, and among others, faith 
 and repentance. He implants at the same in¬ 
 stant, the root or principle of saving faith, and of 
 true repentance. He gives these two graces to¬ 
 gether and at once, in respect of time; and there¬ 
 fore, though in our conception of them, they are 
 to be distinguished, yet they are never to be se¬ 
 parated from one another. The principle of faith, 
 in the regenerate soul, that is, the capacity of act¬ 
 ing faith, is not in point of time, before that of re- 
 
 F 2 
 
136 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 pentance; nor is the principle of repentance, be¬ 
 fore that of faith. Every true believer in princi¬ 
 ple, is at the same time a true penitent, and every 
 true penitent in respect of principle, is a genuine 
 believer. An impenitent believer, and a penitent 
 unbeliever, are characters which have no exist¬ 
 ence, but in the vain imaginations of some men. 
 But, though the principle of saving faith, does 
 not in respect of time, precede that of true re¬ 
 pentance ; yet, in order of nature, the acting of 
 that faith, precedes the exercise of this repentance." 
 The regenerate sinner is enabled, cordially to ap¬ 
 prehend, or trust in, the pardoning mercy of God 
 in Christ, in order to exercise true repentance.* 
 For he cannot begin, to exercise that repentance 
 which is spiritual and acceptable to God, until he 
 first begin, to trust cordially in Jesus Christ, for 
 mercy and grace. The exercise of true repent¬ 
 ance, as was observed above, flows from that of 
 justifying and saving faith. A legal and counter¬ 
 feit repentance, indeed, often goes before the first 
 acting of true faith; but the exercise of evange¬ 
 lical or true repentance, never goes before, but 
 always springs from it, and follows it. The ex¬ 
 ercise of true faith, is the instrument or means of 
 attaining, through grace, the habit and exercise 
 of evangelical repentance. The first acting of 
 saving faith in conversion, is the means of attain¬ 
 ing the first exercise of that repentance ; and the 
 renewed actings of that precious faith, are the 
 
 
 Zech. xii. 10. 
 
 * Psal. xiii. 5. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. ISt 
 
 means of being enabled to renew the exercise ot 
 it.—Seeing the priority of the acting of unfeigned 
 faith, to the exercise of true repentance, is of im¬ 
 mense importance to the holiness and comfort ot 
 believers, in subordination to the gloi y of ^ ot, 
 
 I shall endeavour to evince the reality of it, y 
 the following arguments: 
 
 1 . Faith is the principal gr(Ke, and the acting 
 of it, is the first breathing, the first vital mo¬ 
 tion of the regenerate soul.—No sooner is t le 
 dead sinner quickened, than he begins to act spi¬ 
 ritually ; and his first activity, is that of believing. 
 His true belief of the law with application to him¬ 
 self, issues in true conviction of his sinfulness ot 
 heart and life, and also in something resembling 
 legal repentance ; and his saving faith of^ the gos 
 pel with application to himself, issues in union 
 and communion with Christ, and so in evangelica 
 repentance. Without faith it is impossible to please 
 Gody; and therefore it is impossible, without the 
 previous exercise of it, so to repent as to please 
 him'*. “ Without me,” says the Lord Jesus, “ ye 
 can do nothing%” If, separate from Christ, or 
 without vital union with him by faith, a man can 
 do nothing that is spiritually good; we may be 
 sure that without it, he cannot exercise spiritual 
 repentance. Such repentance is usually styled, 
 evangelical, because the exercise of it, is attained 
 by faith in Jesus Christ, as exhibited to sinners in 
 the gospel. Though the law, in the hand of the 
 
 y Keb, xi. 6. 
 
 * Jer. sxxi. 19, 20. 
 
 » John XV. 5. 
 
138 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 Spirit, serves in a good degree, to discoA^er the in¬ 
 expressible malignity, odiousness, and demerit of 
 sin; yet the glorious gospel affords brighter, and 
 more affecting discoveries of these. It is in this 
 glass, that the true penitent attains the most hum¬ 
 bling, and heart-melting views of the exceeding 
 . sinfulness of sin; such views of it, as, under the in¬ 
 fluences of the Holy Spirit, will bring godly sor¬ 
 row to the heart, and the tears of evangelical re¬ 
 pentance to the eyes. It is the eye of faith, con¬ 
 templating sin, in the cross of the adorable Re¬ 
 deemer, that affects the heart with bitter remorse, 
 and Avith true abhorrence of all iniquity. 
 
 2. SaAnng faith is the leading graces especially 
 to the exercise of true repentance.—The acting 
 of the former, is in order to the exercise of the 
 latter. Accordingly we read in the Scripture, 
 That “ a great number believed, and turmd unto 
 the Lord^and that the house of David, and the 
 Inhabitants of Jerusalem, shallupon him whom 
 they liaA'^e pierced, and shall mourn for him®. Tlie 
 tears of godly sorrow, drop as it were from the 
 eye of faith. It is the exercise of faith in the 
 crucified Redeemer, that melts the hard heart 
 into penitential mourning, and that produces the 
 tears, which run down in repentance. The eye 
 of faith fixes on God in Christ, as a God of love, 
 mercy, and grace; and then by repentance, the 
 heart turns to him, and to the love and practice 
 of true holiness^. A godly minister, accordingly, 
 
 Acts xi. 21. 
 
 « /cell. xii. 10. 
 
 Jer. Hi. 22. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 139 
 
 gives us this admonition; ‘ When you go to mourn 
 for sin, begin aloft with Christ; and do not think 
 to begin below with sin, and so to come up to 
 Christ; but begin aloft with Christ, and fall 
 down upon your sin.’ True repentance is our 
 turning to God. But, if the exercise of this re¬ 
 pentance, were before that of faith, sinners might 
 return to God, without coming by Christ as the 
 only way to him;—contrary to this declaration of 
 Christ respecting himself; “ I am the way : 
 - - - no man cometh unto the Father but by me®.” 
 Evangelical repentance cannot otherwise be at¬ 
 tained, than by faith, receiving it from the Lord 
 Jesus, who is exalted to give iP. 
 
 3. The exercise of true repentance flows im¬ 
 mediately from unfeigned Love to Christ, and to 
 God in him ; but such love to him, springs from 
 the exercise of true faith on him.—The exercise 
 of evangelical repentance, I say, flows immediately 
 from genuine love to Jesus Christ, and to God in 
 him. The believing sinner, exercises godly sor¬ 
 row for his sins, because he pierced Christ his 
 dear Redeemer, by them. But this he could 
 not do, unless he loved Christ, with a supreme 
 and tender love. It is his ardent love of the 
 adorable Redeemer, that, under the infinite agency 
 of the Holy Spirit, disposes and impels him, to 
 mourn and be in bitterness, for having pierced 
 and put Him to grief. He forsakes with deep 
 abhorrence, also all Iris iniquities; because they 
 
 *■ John xiv. 6. 
 
 f Acts V. SI. 
 
140 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 are infinitely hateful to God, and because he has 
 thereby, insulted and reproached his glorious Ma¬ 
 jesty. But he could not on these accounts hate 
 sin, if he did not love Christ and God in Christ 
 supremely, and if he did not love sincerely, the 
 holiness of his nature and his law. Moreover, he 
 turns to God, and to a diligent endeavour after 
 new obedience to him. This, however, arises 
 from superlative esteem of Ifirn, and from ardent 
 affection to him. The exercise of true repent¬ 
 ance, then, springs immediately from sincere love 
 to Christ, and to God in him, as an infinitely holy 
 and gracious God. 
 
 Now this love, flows from the exercise of un¬ 
 feigned faith. It is “ faith that worketh by love.” 
 By faith, the believer spiritually apprehends the 
 love, or good will of God to him. ‘‘ We have 
 known and believedf says the Apostle John, “ the 
 love that God hath to us : God is loves.” Cal¬ 
 vin’s remark on this passage appears to be just. 
 
 We have known and believed ;” that is, says he, 
 ‘ We have known by believing. In a preceding 
 verse, the Apostle represented faith, as our be¬ 
 lieving that Jesus is the son of God; but here he 
 says. By faith we know the love of God toward 
 us.’ Now, when a man cordially believes the love 
 of God to him, he in the same degree loves God, 
 because God first loved him’’. He believes or 
 trusts^ that God loves him with a love of good 
 will; and so, he is powerfully and sweetly con- 
 
 s 1 John iv. 16. 
 
 1 John iv. 19. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 141 
 
 strained, to love Him in return. It is not the 
 secret love of God in election, nor the secret ope¬ 
 ration of it in regeneration, that is more directly 
 intended by the phrase, “ He first loved usbut 
 the public manifestation of his love, in the gift of 
 Christ, as exhibited in tlie gospel; even that dis¬ 
 covery of his love, which is the object of the direct 
 exercise of faith. This view of the Apostle’s asser¬ 
 tion is confirmed by remarking, that he uses this 
 most sublime expression, “ God is love'.” Here 
 he intimates, that God as the object of faith, is love ; 
 and, that a convinced sinner cannot sincerely love 
 him, till he first believe that, in Jesus Christ his 
 dear son, he is love even to him. The special 
 love of God to the believer, may, indeed, be con¬ 
 cluded from his unfeigned love to God. But it 
 does not follow that there is no apprehension at 
 all, of the loveliness and love of God to him, at 
 his first exercise of love to God. The love of 
 God in Christ, apprehended by the direct acting 
 of faith, may well begin and promote that exer¬ 
 cise.—The believer’s love to God, which is ex¬ 
 cited by the faith of God’s love to him, is no 
 more a mercenary, or a sinful self-love, than that 
 of the holy Psalmist, when he loved Jehovah as 
 his strength, his rock, his fortress and deliverer, 
 his God, the horn of his salvation, and his high 
 tower*^. Nor is it any more a self-love, than that 
 of Paul and the believers at Corinth, when the 
 love of Christ, manifested in his dying for them. 
 
 ^ 1 John iv. 16. 
 
 k Psal. xviii. 1, 2 . 
 
142 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 constrained them to live not to themselves but to 
 Him. The holy Psalmist, by saying to the Lord, 
 “ Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is 
 none upon earth that I desii'e besides thee,” ex¬ 
 presses his exercise of supreme love to him. But 
 he attained this exercise of love, by the acting of 
 his faith, expressed thus, in the immediately pre¬ 
 ceding verse: “ Thou shall guide me with thy 
 counsel, and afterward receive me to glory'.”— 
 It is evident, then, that the exercise of true re- 
 jjentance, proceeds from supreme love to God, 
 and that this love springs from the exercise of 
 unfeigned faith. The acting of this faith, there¬ 
 fore, precedes the exercise of that repentance. 
 
 4. The exercise of genuine repentance, sup¬ 
 poses true Conviction of sin and misery, and this 
 proceeds from a true faith of the law .—Legal re¬ 
 pentance, which is exercised by many um'ege- 
 nerate persons, springs from legal conviction, and 
 legal terror. But the exercise of evangelical re- 
 l>entance, arises from that true and thorough con¬ 
 viction, which is a consequence of that true faith 
 of the law, implanted by the Holy Spirit at rege¬ 
 neration. Arising from such conviction of sin, as 
 follows upon the faith of the law, it may well be 
 said to spring from this faith, as well as from the 
 saving faith of the gospel. The subject of true 
 repentance, is a convinced sinner. “ He shewetl\ 
 them their work, and their transgressions that 
 they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear 
 
 ' Psal. Ixxiii. 24, 25. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 143 
 
 to discipline, and commandetli that they return, 
 from iniquity”*.” As soon as a sinner is regene- 
 nerated, and has true faith implanted in his heart, 
 he believes the doctrine of the law, with particu^- 
 lar application to himself. Hence arises true con¬ 
 viction of sin, and this is followed by the saving 
 faith of the gospel. The exercise of true repen¬ 
 tance, then, in the order of nature, springs, both 
 from the true faith of the law, and from the sav¬ 
 ing faith of the gospel. If it follow the faith of 
 the gospel, it must of course follow that faith of 
 the law, from which, true conviction proceeds. 
 This faith and this conviction, therefore, are pre¬ 
 viously necessary to that exercise. 
 
 5. Evmngelical repentance is included in sct?icti~ 
 Jicatwn, and the means or instrument of sanctifi¬ 
 cation, is justifying and saving faith .—As the ex¬ 
 ercise of saving faith is, according to the coven¬ 
 ant of grace, previously necessary to sanctifica¬ 
 tion ; so is it, to the exercise of that repentance, 
 which is comprised in sanctification. That evan¬ 
 gelical repentance is included in sanctifieation, is 
 evident. No man can repent, unless he hate sin, and 
 love holiness ; none can hate sin, and turn from it, 
 except he be sanctified: and none can be sanctified, 
 unless he have that saving faith, by the acting of 
 which, a man is vitally united to Christ, the head 
 of sanctifying influences. In actual sanctification, 
 tlie believer dies more and more to sin, and lives 
 to righteousness. Now, what is it to die to sin, 
 but to exercise godly sorrow for it, and holy ab- 
 
 Job xxxvi. 9, 10. with Acts il. 37, 38. 
 
144 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 horrence of it; and wliat is it to live to righteous¬ 
 ness, but to turn from the love and practice of 
 all iniquity, to God, and to the love and practice 
 of universal holiness ? The habit of evangelical 
 repentance, is evidently contained in habitual 
 sanctification, and the exercise of it, is included in 
 actual sanctification. The habit and the exercise 
 of true repentance, then, have their place in ha¬ 
 bitual and actual sanctification. The principle of 
 true repentance, indeed, as was observed above, 
 is infused at regeneration ; but the habit and ex¬ 
 ercise of it, are not introduced but in sanctifica¬ 
 tion. Now saving faith, is the means or instru¬ 
 ment of sanctification. Accordingly we read in 
 Scripture, that they who are sanctified, “ are 
 sanctified by faith".” The first acting of saving 
 faith, therefore, as it is previous to sanctification, 
 so is it, in order of nature, to the first exer¬ 
 cise of evangelical repentance, which is included 
 in sanctification. The first acting of that faith, 
 must be before the first exercise of this repentance ; 
 as the means are before, and in order to the end. 
 
 6. If the exercise of true repentance, be previ¬ 
 ously requisite, or preparatory, to the first acting 
 of saving faith, the convinced sinner must be satis~ 
 fied, that his repentance is true, before he begin 
 to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation.—Were it 
 true, that Jesus and his great salvation are, in the 
 gospel, olfered to none but the true penitent, and 
 that none else is warranted to receive the offer; 
 
 n 
 
 Acts xxvi. 18. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 145 
 
 it would folloW) that no sinner could warrantahly 
 embrace the offer, till he were previously satis¬ 
 fied, that his repentance was not counterfeit, but 
 true; or, that he could not without sin, attempt 
 coming to Christ, or trusting in him for salvation, 
 until it was certified to his conscience, that his 
 repentance, had all the discriminating characters 
 of a true repentance. And seeing the exercise of 
 genuine repentance, springs from unfeigned love 
 to God, he must he satisfied too, that he loves 
 God sincerely, not only, while he apprehends God 
 to be his infinite enemy, but while he is indeed 
 his enemy. The Apostle Paul says that, “ What¬ 
 soever is not of faith is sin°that is, ‘ whatsoever 
 is done in doubt of conscience, whether it pleases 
 God or not, or whether God has commanded it or 
 not, is sin.’ And it is plain from the context, 
 that by faith here, the Apostle means, the faith of 
 God’s command. If, then, the exercise of true re¬ 
 pentance, be a qualification previously necessary 
 to the first acting of saving faith, and if the con¬ 
 vinced sinner cannot be satisfied, that his repent¬ 
 ance is of the true kind, or that God commands 
 him in particular, to believe in Christ; how can 
 he, so long as he doubts, if the command afford¬ 
 ing him a warrant for believing, be addressed to 
 him, attempt believing in the Saviour ? He may 
 be sure that, his attempting an act of faith, whilst 
 he doubts his warrant for it, is his sin. No won¬ 
 der, that the convinced and affrighted sinner, 
 
 o ;Kom. xiT. 23. 
 
146 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 doubts if he be a true penitent, and, that he is 
 ready to conclude he is not. But, until he be 
 satisfied that his repentance is of the true kind, 
 he must not, according to that doctrine, presume 
 to trust in the Saviour for salvation. If the Lord 
 invites none to share in the provisions of his 
 house, but the true penitent, then he that doubt- 
 eth, is condemned if he cat. As the sinner can¬ 
 not see any thing that is spiritually good in him¬ 
 self, before.^ but only in^ or after^ his first exercise 
 of faith, it will be impossible for him, ever to act 
 faith on Christ warrantably; because true repen¬ 
 tance, supposing him to have the principle of it, 
 cannot be seen by him, before his first acting of 
 faith. Consequently no sinner in the world, could 
 ever begin lawfully, to trust in the Saviour for 
 salvation. For none must presume to trust in 
 Christ, until he see that he is a true penitent; 
 and this cannot be discerned, till he have already 
 begun to believe or trust in him,—But is it true, 
 that the offers of the gospel, and the commandment 
 to believe in Jesus Christ, are addressed to none but 
 true penitents ? Far from it. Christ with his 
 righteousness and salvation, is in the gospel, of¬ 
 fered to sinners of mankind in common,—to sin¬ 
 ners as such; and sinners as such, are invited 
 and commanded to believe on his name^ “ IMvo- 
 soever will, let him take the water of life freely 
 ‘‘ Whosoever hcMewQXh. in him shall not perish, but 
 have everlasting lifeb” 
 
 P 1 John iiu 23. 
 
 9 Rov. xxii. 17, 
 
 * John iii. 16. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 147 
 
 The error which has now been adverted to, is 
 most wjurious to such as are seeking Jesus, and 
 conflicting with unbelief; for it tends greatly to 
 discourage, and even to obstruct, all their at¬ 
 tempts to trust in him, for salvation fi*om sin and 
 wrath. Although they apprehend the wrath of 
 God, denounced against them, for their innumer¬ 
 able transgressions, and hear of a free salvation of¬ 
 fered in the gospel; yet it still appears to be forbid¬ 
 den fruit to them, because they are far from being 
 certain^ that they have exercised true repentance. 
 For they consider the exercise of true repentance, 
 as a qualification previously requisite, to the acting 
 of unfeigned faith. Hence the offers of a compas¬ 
 sionate Saviour, and the promises of a great sal¬ 
 vation, ‘do but torment them the more; while 
 they falsely persuade themselves, that none but 
 the true penitent, has a right to apply and trust 
 them. As they cannot be satisfied, before the 
 first acting of faith, that their exercise of repent¬ 
 ance is genuine, and as they cannot attain de¬ 
 liverance from their perplexing fears, nor victory 
 over the least of their spiritual enemies, but by 
 the begun exercise of faith in the almighty Re¬ 
 deemer ;—their souls are ensnared, and obstructed 
 in faith, in holiness, and in comfort.—So long as 
 they adhere to this false persuasion, it will eftec- 
 tually deter them, from coming as sinners to 
 Christ, and from trusting in him, so as to be filled 
 “ with all joy and peace in believing.” 
 
 Are you. Reader, entangled in this perplexing 
 snare ? Do you persuade yourself, that the exer- 
 
148 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 else of true repentance, and a consciousness of 
 this exercise, are previously necessary to the act¬ 
 ing of unfeigned faith ? Do you suspend the act 
 of trusting in the Lord Jesus, for all his salvation, 
 till you first sit down and mourn a while for your 
 sins, or till your heart be so humbled, that you 
 may be welcome to him, and so have from your 
 own resources, a warrant for trusting in him ? 
 Do you object against coming to Christ, because 
 you are not certain, that your conviction of sin, 
 and your repentance, are of the right sort? Do 
 you apply yourself to the exercise of repentance, 
 in order to be qualified for believing in Christ, or 
 do you apply your conscience to the commands, 
 and curses, of the broken law, in order so to re¬ 
 pent, as to be entitled to trust in him ? Know, I 
 intreat you, that this preposterous and self-righte¬ 
 ous course, will but sink you the deeper in unbe¬ 
 lief, impenitence, and enmity to God. The longer 
 you try in this manner, to seek for evangelical re¬ 
 pentance in your heart or life, the farther you 
 shall be from finding it. But perhaps you will 
 reply, Can any man who is not a true penitent, 
 exercise a saving faith in Christ ? I answer. No; 
 he cannot. But, though no man can act a saving 
 faith, without having the principle of true repent¬ 
 ance, or a disposition to exercise it, implanted by 
 the Holy Spirit in his heart; yet multitudes have 
 believed, and do believe to the saving of the soul, 
 without having previously seen^ that they had that 
 principle, and w ithout any previous exercise of it. 
 To have it, is necessary to the acting of true faith; 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 149 
 
 but to know that you havG it, is not necessary. 
 To have the capacity or disposition, to exercise 
 true repentance, is indispensably requisite; but 
 the actual exercise of it, and your consciousness 
 of that exercise, are not previously necessarv. 
 Study then, in dependance on the grace of the 
 promise, and study resolutely, to believe in order 
 to repent; to come, as an unworthy and undone 
 sinner, and, believing cordially, that the offers of 
 the gospel are directed to you in particular, to 
 trust firmly in Jesus Christ for all his salvation, 
 and for true repentance, as an essential part of it. 
 So shall you be enabled, to exercise that evange¬ 
 lical repentance, which will not need to be re¬ 
 pented of. Do not try to wash yourself clean, in 
 order to come to the open fountain of redeeming 
 blood; but come to it as you are, and, by the im¬ 
 mediate exercise of direct confidence in the Lord 
 Jesus, wash away all your sins*. 
 
 7. The exercise of true repentance itself, sheivs 
 plainly^ that the acting of saving faith, is prior to 
 it.—Such repentance, is a sinner’s turning cordi¬ 
 ally from all sin to God. But it is impossible to 
 turn to God, except through Christ. “ I am the 
 way, said Jesus : - - - no man cometh unto the Fa¬ 
 ther but by me*.” Now it is impossible to come 
 to Christ and walk in him, but by the acting of 
 faith The sinner, then, who would turn and 
 come to God by true repentance, must needs take 
 Christ by faith, as his Way to him. He must be- 
 
 * Ezek. xxxvi, 25 . 
 
 * John xiv. 6. 
 
 John vi. 35. 
 
150 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, TO 
 
 lieve or trust In Christ, in order to return And 
 come to God by Christ. The exercise of faith, 
 therefore, is, in order of nature, before that of re¬ 
 pentance. Repentance is, indeed, in Scripture, 
 placed sometimes before faith. But the reason 
 seems to be; that repentance is the end, and faitl), 
 the means of attaining to that end. The end is 
 first in intention, and therefore is mentioned first; 
 but the means are first in practice. Thus in Mark 
 i. 15. our Lord commands sinners to repent; and 
 in order to their exercise of repentance, lie enjoins 
 them to believe the gospel, as the means of at¬ 
 taining that important end. The Apostle Paul, 
 said to the elders of the church at Ephesus, That 
 he had testified to them, “ repentance toward God, 
 and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ';” re¬ 
 pentance toward God as the end, and faith toward 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, as the means of attaining 
 that end. Hence it is obvious that, if faith to- 
 wai’d our Lord Jesus Christ, be not the means of 
 attaining repentance toward God, this fundamen¬ 
 tal truth is overturned;—That no man cometh to 
 the Father but by Christ*. Were the exercise of 
 true repentance, before the acting of genuine 
 faith, sinners might return to God, without com¬ 
 ing by Christ the only Way to him. But accord¬ 
 ing to the Scriptures, the exercise of evangelical 
 repentance, is not otherwise to be attained, than 
 by faith ; by which, we look upon him whom we 
 have pierced^, and by which, we receive out of 
 
 w Acts XX. 21, 
 
 * John' xiv. 6. 
 
 y Zech. sii. lO. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 151 
 
 his fulness, grace to repent. It is the cordial ex¬ 
 ercise of particular trust in the adorable Redeemer, 
 that, through grace, powerfully withdraws the af¬ 
 fections from all iniquity, and sweetly attaches 
 them to the holy and blessed God. After Ezra 
 had prayed and confessed, the people indeed wept; 
 but they did not attempt to put away their strange 
 wives, till after Shechaniah had cried, “ We have 
 
 trespassed against our God;-yet now there is 
 
 hope in Israel concerning this thing*.” They who 
 will turn, must not only be prisoners of fear, but 
 “ prisoners of hope^.” 
 
 8. Once more: The Scriptures set forth the 
 blessed Object of faith, and the precious 
 grace, as powerful motives to the exercise of true re¬ 
 pentance.—By this it is evident, that it must be by a 
 fiducial application of that glorious Object, brought 
 near in the offers and promises, that a convinced 
 sinner is excited, and enabled, to exercise evange¬ 
 lical repentance. Various passages of Scripture, 
 such as the following, propose the exceeding riches 
 of the grace of God, in order to excite and en¬ 
 courage sinners, to the exercise of true repentance. 
 “ Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, 
 for I am married unto you^J' ‘‘ Return, ye back¬ 
 sliding children, and / will heal your backslidings. 
 Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the 
 Lord our God^.’* “ Come and let us return unto 
 
 the Lord; for he hath torn, and he will heal us ; 
 
 * Ezra X, 2. * Zech. ix. 12. ■’ Jer. iii. 14. ® Ver. 22. 
 
 G 
 
152 PRIORITY OF SAVING FAITH, &c. 
 
 lie hath smitten, and he ivill hind us up^T “ O 
 Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou 
 hast fallen by thine iniquity®.” Therefore also 
 now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all 
 your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, 
 and with mourning, and rend your heart, and not 
 your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God ; 
 for he is gracious^ and merciful, slow to anger, and of 
 great kindness The moral law, which requires 
 true repentance, as promulgated on mount Sinai, 
 is prefaced by this most gracious offer, for faith 
 to be acted on first of all;—“ / am the Lord thy 
 God, &c.®” And in the New Testament, sinners 
 are exhorted to repentance thus: “ Repent ye, 
 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand^.” Now if 
 the exercise of true repentance, go before that of 
 saving faith, such passages tend to deceive us. 
 For, by the most natural construction of them, 
 we are induced to believe, that it is by means 
 of a previous fiducial apprehension of the mercy, 
 and grace of God in Christ, that sinners are 
 brought to the exercise of evangelical repentance. 
 Such passages, especially when compared, shew 
 plainly, that it is by a believing application of the 
 offers and promises of the blessed gospel, and by a 
 cordial trust in the Lord Jesus, for mercy and 
 gra^, that convinced sinners are disposed to ex¬ 
 ercise true repentance. 
 
 By the arguments here advanced, it is, I trust, 
 
 ' Hos. xiv. I. f Joel ii. 12, 13. 
 
 Mattfi. iii. 2. andiv. 17. 
 
 Hos. vi. 1. 
 
 3 Exod, XX. 2. 
 
AN INFERENCE. 
 
 153 
 
 evident to the impartial reader, That the acting 
 of true or saving faith, is, in order of nature, pre¬ 
 vious to the exercise of evangelical repentance. 
 
 Is the first act of justifying and saving faith, 
 previous, in order of nature, to the first exercise 
 of evangelical repentance, and is the renewed, 
 acting of tlie former, before the renewed exercise 
 of the latter ? Then the believing sinner should, 
 in repenting of his sins, begin with the sin of un¬ 
 belief. He ought, in the faith of pardoning mercy, 
 to repent of his unbelief and distrust of the faith¬ 
 ful Redeemer, In order to repent of all his other 
 sins. As faith, with respect to its office in the 
 new covenant, is the principal, the leading grace ; 
 so unbelief, is the radical, the leading sin. Ac¬ 
 cordingly, when the Holy Spirit convinces an 
 elect sinner of sin, he convinces him particularly 
 of his unbelieF. He shews him the exceeding 
 sinfulness, hatefulness, and demerit of all his ini¬ 
 quities, and especially of his disbelief, and distrust 
 of the Divine Redeemer. The exercise of evan¬ 
 gelical repentance, therefore, is a repenting chiefly 
 of this radical sin, of this, as the root of every 
 other abomination. All other iniquities, are but 
 so many malignant streams, issuing from unbe¬ 
 lief as their fountain. The legal penitent, as he 
 is never truly convinced of the strength, and sin¬ 
 fulness of his unbelief, so he never sincerely re¬ 
 pents of it; and because he never truly repents of 
 that sin, he cannot repent evangelically of any 
 
 * John. xvi. 8, 9. 
 
154 
 
 AN INFERENCE. 
 
 other. His pretending to repent of his other 
 transgressions, is vain; so long as he does not re¬ 
 pent of his unbelief, the corrupt fountain from 
 which they all flow. The evangelical penitent, on 
 the contrary, shews that his repentance is true, by 
 repenting of all the polluted streams of his iniqui¬ 
 ties, not only in themselves, but in their fountain. 
 And if at any time, he, in his exercise of repent¬ 
 ance, overlook his remaining unbelief, or distrust 
 of the Saviour, he shall find that, his exercise of 
 it will languish, and that, hardness and impeni¬ 
 tence of heart, will prevail against him. The 
 stronger his faith is, and the more frequently he 
 exercises it, the more deeply, he will repent of 
 his remaining unbelief, and of all the innumerable 
 crimes which proceed from it. Reader, see that 
 you believe in Jesus Christ, in order to exercise 
 true repentance, and that you repent of your un¬ 
 belief, in order to repent spiritually of all your 
 other sins. For it is in proportion as you turn 
 from your unbelief, that root of bitterness, that you 
 turn, in an acceptable manner, from any other of 
 your iniquities. 
 
PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, &c. 155 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 OF THE PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO THE 
 FIRST EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 
 
 Before I advance arguments to prove, that 
 justification in the sight of God, precedes the first 
 exercise of true repentance, it will be necessary, 
 in order to prevent any misconstruction of what 
 is to be stated, that the following remarks be pre¬ 
 mised : 
 
 1st, Justification, considered as an Immanent 
 ext of God, or as the eternal and unchangeable 
 will of God, to justify his elect, upon the ground 
 of a righteousness fulfilled by Christ, and im¬ 
 puted to them, has been by judicious divines 
 called. Active justification But justification, 
 viewed as terminating on the persons, and in the 
 consciences of believers, has been styled Passive 
 justification. The former is before, both the prin¬ 
 ciple, and the first exercise, of true repentance ; 
 but the latter is, in order of nature, after the root 
 or principle, implanted at regeneration, and only 
 before the first exercise of that repentance. This 
 last, is the justification, which is often mentioned 
 in Scripture, as the privilege of believers, and 
 which is brought to pass by the instrumentality 
 
 W iTSii Oecoaomia Feed. Lib. ii. Cap. 7. 
 
156 PmORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 of faith’. It is justification in this sense only, 
 that I am to consider, in its connection with the 
 exercise of true repentance. 
 
 2d, The pardon of sin, is a partoi justification. 
 When God is said to pardon the sins of believers, 
 it is to be understood, first, of the act of his free 
 grace, in bringing them into an unalterable state 
 of justification, by means of faith ; secondly, Of 
 the intimations, or the encouraging sense, which 
 the Lord graciously affords them, of their state of 
 justification"; and thirdly, it is to be understood 
 of the removal of that guilt, which binds them 
 over to those chastisements for sin, which are the 
 effects of fatherly anger. The first is included in 
 justification, and it goes before the first exercise 
 of evangelical repentance. The second and third 
 do not go before; but they follow after that ex¬ 
 ercise. The first exercise of true repentance, fol¬ 
 lows the forgiveness of sin, in the first sense ; but 
 it goes before it, in the second and third. 
 
 Sd, Repentance, as has been stated above, must 
 always be the sinner’s duty. To deny, that it is 
 his duty to sorrow for sin, and to turn from it, 
 would be, to vindicate rebellion against the Most 
 . High. The Lord Jesus has not only said, “ Re- 
 j>ent°but has said again and again, “ Except 
 ye repent, ye shall perislF.” 
 
 4th, The exercise of true repentance, is indis¬ 
 pensably requisite, in all who are capable of it, as 
 
 j Rond. iii. 28. GaL ii. 16. “ Col. iiL 13. 
 
 “ Psal. xxxii. 5. ® Rev. iii. 19. p Luke xiii. 3, 3. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 15T 
 
 a means, without which, none may expect the 
 comfortable enjoyment of communion with God, 
 either in time or in eternity. It is a necessary 
 means of spiritual consolation, and also of prepar¬ 
 ation for the perfection of eternal life. 
 
 5th, The word Repentance, in the Scripture, 
 sometimes expresses the whole of that change, 
 which takes place in the conversion of a sinner to 
 God. In this sense, it includes faith in Jesus 
 Christ, as well as godly sorrow for sin, and sin¬ 
 cere endeavours to yield new obedience. It would 
 therefore be wrong, to say of repentance in this 
 its large acceptation, that the first exercise of it, 
 is either after faith or justification. It is only of 
 the first exercise of true repentance, taken in its 
 strict sense, as distinct from faith, and consequent 
 upon it, that I am to speak. 
 
 6th, When I say that, the first exercise of true 
 Repentance, is after justification, I speak not of 
 the order of time, but only of the order of na¬ 
 ture; for no justified person is, or can be impeni¬ 
 tent. 
 
 7th, It is not of the seed or principle of evan¬ 
 gelical Repentance, that I am to treat, but only 
 of the exercise of it. The seed, root, or principle, 
 of true repentance, implanted at regeneration, is 
 before justification, or the judicial pardon of sin ; 
 but the formal exercise of that repentance is, as 
 will be shewn, after it. 
 
 8th, The Exercise of Repentance, is either le¬ 
 gal or evangelical. It is either, under the in¬ 
 fluence of the law, as a covenant of works, and 
 
158 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 tlie dominion of a legal spirit; or, under the in¬ 
 fluence of the covenant of grace, and of an evan¬ 
 gelical spirit. It is readily gi'anted that, legal re¬ 
 pentance is exercised before justification; but not 
 that which is evangelical. The first exercise of 
 evangelical repentance, does not in order of na¬ 
 ture go before, but comes after, justification or 
 judicial pardon of sin. 
 
 This doctrine, being understood according to 
 these positions, I now proceed to evince the truth 
 and importance of it, by the following arguments: 
 
 1. The first Exercise of true repentance, is not 
 prior to Justification in the sight of God; because 
 there can he no acceptable performance of any good 
 work, before this justification.—The exercise of 
 evangelical repentance, is evidently a good work; 
 a work which is formally, as well as materially 
 good. The description of a good work in Scrip¬ 
 ture, plainly agrees to it. A good work is a work 
 that pleases God. But the exercise of true re¬ 
 pentance, is a work which highly pleases him. 
 When Ephraim thus repented, Jehovah said of 
 him, “ Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a plea¬ 
 sant chikU?” And says the holy Psalmist, “ The 
 sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken 
 and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not des¬ 
 pised” It may be called an evangelical 'work, 
 not indeed, as if it were not required in the moral 
 law; but as it, and every other good work, is per¬ 
 formed, in reliance on the righteousness and grace 
 
 “J Jer. xxxi. 20. 
 
 » Psal. li. 17. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 139 
 
 of Jesus Christ.—Now, good works do not go be¬ 
 fore, but follow, justification in the sight of God.' 
 The members of the Synod of Dort, in the xxivth 
 Article of their Confession, say, ‘ W^e are justi¬ 
 fied by faith in Christ, and that b^ore we do good 
 works: otherwise they could not be good works, 
 any more than the fruit of a tree can be good, 
 before the tree itself be good.’ Our Westminster 
 Confession says, ‘ Good works, are fruits and 
 evidences of a true and lively faith.’ ‘ The per¬ 
 sons of believers, being accepted through Christ, 
 their good works are also accepted in Him.’ The 
 truth of this position is evident, by observing that, 
 according to the covenant of grace, Divine accep¬ 
 tance begins at the person of the believer, and then 
 goes on to his performances. God’s acceptance 
 of his person as righteous, in the act of justifica¬ 
 tion, is, in order of nature, before his acceptance 
 of any of his works. The first exercise of true 
 repentance, is a work spiritually good, and accept¬ 
 able to God; and therefore, it must follow the 
 acceptance of the person as righteous, in justifica¬ 
 tion. W^e read that, The Lord had respect un¬ 
 to Abel and to his offering';”—first, unto Abel 
 himself, and then to his offering. The same order, 
 is abundantly evident from these words of our 
 Apostle ; “ Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are 
 become dead to the law by the body of Christ; 
 that ye should be married to another, - - - - 
 that we should bring forth fruit unto God*.*" 
 Now the first, as well as the progressive, exer- 
 
 ' Gen. iv. 4. t Rom, vii. 4. 
 
 G 2 
 
160 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 cise of true Repentance, Is doubtless included in 
 bringing forth fruit unto God. But our spiritual 
 marriage to Christ, is necessary to our bringing 
 forth fruit unto God. In this spiritual marriage, 
 we are dead to the law by the body of Christ; 
 that is, we are justified, and so are delivered 
 from the law as a covenant, for the righteous¬ 
 ness, which Christ fulfilled in our nature, receiv¬ 
 ed by faith. Previous to this blessed change of 
 state, the only fruit that we bring forth, is “ fruit 
 unto deaththe only repentance that we exer¬ 
 cise, is that selfish, slavish, legal repentance, to 
 which, we are impelled by the terrors of the law, 
 and the dominion of a legal temper. The same 
 order, is also evident from the following words: 
 “ Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye 
 are not under the law, but under grace From 
 these words we see that, whilst a man is under 
 the law as a covenant of works, that is, whilst he 
 is not brought into a state of justification, he is un- 
 / der the dominion of sin ; and therefore, he is ut¬ 
 terly incapable of doing any work, which is ac¬ 
 ceptable to God. According to this delightful 
 passage, a man must not be under the law as a 
 covenant, but under grace; that is, he must be 
 justified freely by the grace of God, in order to 
 the first exercise of that repentance, which is spiri¬ 
 tually good and acceptable to God. 
 
 2. This notion, that the exercise of true Re¬ 
 pentance, is previously necessary to the reception 
 of pardon in justification, detracts from the grace 
 
 “ Rom. tL ]4. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 161 
 
 of God, as manifested in the oifers and promises 
 of the glorious gospel.—In the gospel, pardon of 
 sin in and with Christ himself, is freely offered to 
 sinners indiscriminately, and is promised imme¬ 
 diately to those who believe. “ Through his name, 
 whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission 
 of sins''.” Some have insisted, that sinners should 
 not come empty handed to Christ; but, that they 
 sliould bring something with them, especially the 
 exercise of true repentance, if they would obtain 
 the pardon of sin. But how are they to attain 
 the exercise of true repentance, previously to the 
 forgiveness of sin ? They have no power of them¬ 
 selves to repent sincerely. Surely, while they are 
 viewing themselves, as still excluded from the par¬ 
 doning mercy of God, they have not the smallest 
 ground to expect, that he will give them grace, 
 to exercise sucli repentance as will be acceptable 
 to him. From what quarter, can they hope for 
 grace to repent, whilst as yet their iniquities are 
 unpardoned, and God is viewed as their enemy ? 
 
 The gospel teaches needy sinners, to come as 
 sinners, to come empty handed, to the market of 
 free grace, for the remission of sins, and all the 
 other blessings of a free salvation’'. But he is 
 far from coming empty handed, who brings the 
 exercise of true repentance with him. If any say. 
 That faith, which he is understood to bring with 
 him, is still something; it must be observed that, 
 in the affair of justification, faith is not consi- 
 
 ^ Acts K. 43. 
 
 Isa. Iv. 1. Rev. xsii. 17. Acts xvi. 31. 
 
162 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 dered, either as an inherent quality, or as a work, 
 but only as the sinner’s receiving the gift of that 
 surety-rightequsness, for which he is justified. 
 “ Therefore it is of faith,” says our Apostle, 
 that it might be by grace; to the end the pro¬ 
 mise might be sure to all the seed^” Repentance 
 is in this respect very different. There is no spi¬ 
 ritual grace which has more of the nature of giv¬ 
 ing, than true repentance; for it is a turning of 
 the whole man, from the love and practice of sin, 
 to the love and practice of holiness. There is 
 nothing, therefore, to which, a convinced sinner 
 should be farther from allowing any place, among 
 the means of his justification in the sight of God. 
 The abettors of the opinion in question, would 
 do well to consider, whether, instead of the cove¬ 
 nant of grace, they are not taking up with a sort 
 of covenant of works, the tenor of which is, ‘ Do 
 this; turn sincerely from all sin to God, though 
 thou canst not turn perfectly,—and thou shalt 
 live in his favour.’ This scheme is evidently of 
 the same nature, as that of the covenant of works ; 
 for in both, doing is the previous condition of ac¬ 
 ceptance with God. The difference between the 
 doing in the one, and the doing in the other, as 
 to the degree of obedience, makes no difference in 
 the nature of the two schemes. The one, is mani¬ 
 festly a covenant of works, as well as the other. 
 The holy and learned Rutherford, accordingly, 
 says, ‘ We would beware of Mi* B.’s order of set- 
 
 y Rom. iv. 16. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 163 
 
 ting repentance, and works of new obedience, be¬ 
 fore justification; which is indeed a new covenant 
 of works.’ 
 
 The blessed gospel affords an ample warrant to 
 any sinner of mankind who hears it, to receive the 
 free offer which it makes of pardon in and with 
 Christ, immediately upon hearing and understand¬ 
 ing the import of it. But, according to the false 
 doctrine in question, no man can have a warrant 
 for doing so, till he be satisfied, that he has at¬ 
 tained the exercise of true repentance. It is laid 
 down by the Apostle Paul, as an established maxim, 
 as was observed above. That ‘‘ whatsoever is not 
 of faith is sin^that is, if we do any thing, whilst 
 we doubt in our conscience, whether it be agree¬ 
 able to the will of God or not, it is sin. It is evi¬ 
 dent from the context, that the Apostle speaks 
 there, of the faith of God’s command. Suppose, 
 then, that a convinced sinner believes the pardon 
 of sin, to be offered in the gospel to none but the 
 true penitent; and, suppose, that he is doubting 
 of himself, whether he be such an one or not; 
 he cannot, in that case, without sin, embrace the 
 offered pardon. To him it is forbidden fruit. Nay, 
 before he so much as attempt to receive it, his 
 conscience must be satisfied, that his repentance 
 has all the marks, which distinguish a true and 
 evangelical, from a false and legal repentance. 
 And as it is impossible for a man, to discern any 
 thing spiritually good in himself, previously to his 
 
 * Rom. xiv. 23. 
 
164 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 first acts of saving faith; he shall never be able, 
 according to the self-righteous opinion in ques¬ 
 tion, to find his way to the offered pardon. But 
 how can this consist with the gospel of Christ, 
 which represents justification and eternal life, as 
 gifts of immensely free grace, and declares that, 
 whosoever will, is welcome to take the water of 
 freely^ ? The stated order of the gospel is,— 
 first to attempt the immediate acting of true faith, 
 in order to attain the exercise of evangelical re- 
 j)entance; but not to attempt the exercise of this 
 repentance, in order to warrant the acting of that 
 faith. Justifying and saving faith is the mean of 
 true repentance, and this repentance is not the 
 mean, hut the end of that faith. 
 
 If any sliould try to retort this argument, and 
 say. That, whilst I hold faith to be the only mean 
 of receiving pardon, a man’s assurance of the rea¬ 
 lity of his faith, must be as necessary, in order to 
 his embracing of the gospel-offer, as his assurance 
 of the truth of his repentance, on the scheme in 
 question: I would answer, by remarking that. 
 There is a vast difference between the priority of 
 the exercise of true repentance, to pardon, on that 
 scheme, and the priority of the acting of faith, 
 as the mean of receiving pardon. In the former 
 case, the exercise of true repentance, is required 
 as a previous qualification, distinct from the re¬ 
 ception of the gospel-offer of pardon; and there¬ 
 fore it must be sinful for a man, to attempt em- 
 
 Rev. xxii. 17. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 165 
 
 bracing this offer, until he be satisfied, that he 
 has attained that qualification. But in the latter 
 case, true faith is not a qualification previously 
 required, in order to embracing the offer of par¬ 
 don ; but is itself, the very act of embracing this 
 offer. It is a receiving of pardon, as it is a re¬ 
 ceiving of Jesus Christ and his righteousness, ex¬ 
 hibited in the gospel-offer. Here, the previous 
 consciousness that we have believed, cannot be 
 held necessary, in order to the reception of par¬ 
 don ; unless we would think and speak so ab¬ 
 surdly, as to say. That the consciousness of our 
 having already received a benefit, is necessary in 
 order to our act of receiving it. 
 
 3. The first Exercise of true Repentance, is 
 Justification in the sight of God; be¬ 
 cause it is not previous to the first acting of justify¬ 
 ing faith, It will not be necessary to say much, 
 in illustrating this argument, as it was explained 
 and confirmed in a preceding Chapter. 
 
 If the exercise of true repentance, be not be¬ 
 fore that of justifying faith, it is not before the 
 pardon of sin in justification. For faith, and jus¬ 
 tification in the sight of God, are so immediately 
 and closely connected, that no other spiritual 
 gi-ace or holy exercise, can be considered as com¬ 
 ing between them. But if the exercise of true 
 repentance were, in order of nature, after that 
 of justifying faith, and yet before justification; 
 then the exercise of true repentance, would come 
 in between faith and justification. It might then 
 be said, in opposition to the Apostle Paul, That a 
 
166 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 man is justified by repentance, rather than by 
 faith; as in that case, repentance would be con¬ 
 nected more immediately with justification, than 
 with faith. Then it might be affirmed that, as 
 repentance is the nearest mean of justification, it 
 should be regarded as the most important, and 
 noble one. For it is highly reasonable, to prefer 
 the immediate and nearest mean, before the one 
 which is mediate and remote. Hence it would 
 come to pass that, in the pardon of sin, the exer¬ 
 cise of repentance, should be considered as the 
 more noble and important mean. Should a con¬ 
 vinced and alarmed sinner say, I attempt to be¬ 
 lieve, and rely immediately on Jesus Christ for 
 pardon ? This question, according to that self- 
 righteous scheme, must be put to him :—Do you 
 repent sincerely of all your sins ? Your acting 
 of faith cannot obtain pardon, without the exer¬ 
 cise of genuine repentance. Thus, then, the ex¬ 
 ercise of true repentance, as a mean of attaining 
 the pardon of sin, is preferable to the acting of 
 faith; since without it, faith can do nothing.— 
 How absurd is all this, and how far from being 
 the doctrine of the gospel! 
 
 Again, The first exercise of evangelical repent¬ 
 ance, as it is distinguished from that of justifying 
 faith, comes necessarily in order of nature after 
 it. It is true, as has been remarked already, that 
 the word repentance in Scripture, sometimes ex¬ 
 presses the whole of that change, which takes 
 place in the conversion of a sinner to God. In 
 this sense, it includes faith in Jesus Christ. Now 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 167 
 
 it would be improper, to say of repentance in this 
 view, That it is after the acting of faith in Christ. 
 Still, however, it remains true, that the exercise 
 of true repentance taken in a strict sense, as de¬ 
 noting godly sorrow for sin, and sincere endea¬ 
 vours after new obedience, is distinct from the 
 acting of justifying faith, and in order of nature 
 follows it. And although, in this sense, repent¬ 
 ance is implied in faith, as an effect is implied in 
 its cause; yet it cannot from this be inferred, 
 that the exercise of the former, is not, in order 
 of nature, after that of the latter. The fiuit of 
 a tree, may be said to have always been seminally, 
 or as to its principles, in the tree; yet none, on 
 that account, will hesitate to say, that the fruit, 
 as to its natural order, is after the tree. 
 
 To pretend, that we may exercise true repent¬ 
 ance, before the first acting of faith in Jesus 
 Christ, is contrary to all those passages of Scrip¬ 
 ture, which assert the necessity of faith, in order 
 to our living, standing, or walking, in a spiritual 
 manner; or in order to our performing any other 
 duty, in a manner acceptable to God*'. It is true, 
 as was hinted above, that repentance is, in some 
 passages, mentioned before faith'. But things 
 are not mentioned in Scripture, always according 
 to the order of nature. For instance, it is not 
 according to that order, that, in 2 Pet. i. 10, the 
 calling of believers is put before their election, 
 and that, in the Apostolic benediction, 2 Cor. 
 
 >» Gal. ii. 20- 2 Cor. i. 24 and v. 7. Heb. xi. 6. John xv. 4, 5. 
 
 e Mark i. 15. Acts xx. 21. 
 
^ 168 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 xiii. 14, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is 
 put before the love of the Father. So in the 
 places in which, repentance is mentioned before 
 faith, what is intended, is not to shew the natural 
 order; but rather, first to propose repentance, as 
 the end, and then faith, as the instituted means of 
 compassing that end. 
 
 I conclude, then, that as the first exercise of 
 true repentance, is after the first acting of faith 
 in Christ; so it is after the pardon of sin in jus¬ 
 tification, which is received by faith only. 
 
 4. The first exercise of evangelical Repentance, 
 is not before the pardon of sin in the act of justi¬ 
 fication ; because it is not before the exercise of 
 supreme love to God in Christ.—That the exer¬ 
 cise of true repentance, is not prior to the exer¬ 
 cise of love to God, but on the contrary, springs 
 from this exercise, appears from the example of 
 the penitent woman, recorded in Luke vii. 37— 
 48. Whilst Jesus was sitting at meat in a Pha¬ 
 risee’s house, a woman who was a sinner “ stood 
 at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash 
 his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the 
 hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed 
 them with the ointment.” Her tears, were tears 
 of godly sorrow for her many sins; and the con¬ 
 struction which our Lord, whose judgment is al¬ 
 ways according to truth, put upon them was, That 
 they flowed from love. She loved much; and 
 her tears, as well as the several instances of her 
 singular attention to our Lord, at that time, sprang 
 from love to him. The exercise of true repent- 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 16& 
 
 ance, then, proceeds from unfeigned love to God; 
 * and so, in order of nature, is posterior to it. 
 Hence is this injunction of the Psalmist, “ Ye 
 that love the Lord hate eviP.” That hatred of 
 evil, which is a part of evangelical repentance, is 
 a consequence, and a sure proof, of genuine love 
 to the Lord. No sorrow for sin, nor hatred of it, 
 nor turning from it, belongs to true repentance, 
 but that which proceeds from, and follows^ un¬ 
 feigned love to Christ and to God in him. 
 
 Now, while the exercise of true repentance, 
 flows from supreme love to God, the exercise of 
 this love proceeds, under the sanctifying influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, from the forgiveness of sins in 
 justification. That it does so, is evident from our 
 Lord’s parable of the two debtors, in the place al¬ 
 ready referred to. For, by this parable he shews 
 plainly, that, as an effect is still according to its 
 cause; so our love to God, will be according to 
 the forgiveness of our sins, received by faith. In 
 this sense, we are to understand what our Lord 
 said to the Pharisee, respecting the woman : “I 
 say unto thee. Her sins, which are many, are for¬ 
 given ’,—for she loved much.” The conjunction 
 for^ does not always denote the cause of a thing, 
 but sometimes the effect and evidence of it*; as 
 when we say. The spring is come, for the plants 
 begin to bud. So the Lord Jesus said to his dis- 
 
 Psalm xcvii. 10. 
 
 e ‘ That the woman’s love,’ says Amesius, ‘ is here pointed out 
 as the effect of the pardon of her sins, is evident from the whole dis» 
 course .’—Bellarminus Enervatus. 
 
170 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, TO 
 
 ciples, “ Tlie Father himself loveth you; foT ye 
 have loved me^,” that is, your love to me, is an 
 effect ttnd evidence, of the Father’s love to you. 
 Our Lord’s meaning in the parable is plainly this: 
 The person who is forgiven most, will love most. 
 But that poor woman, and not Simon the Pha¬ 
 risee, loves most. Therefore she is the person 
 who is forgiven most. Her love is a full proof, 
 that her sins, how many soever they have been, 
 are all graciously forgiven. As to the mean or 
 instrument by which, this woman received the 
 forgiveness of her sins, our Lord informs us what 
 it was, when he said to her, « Thy faith hath 
 saved thee,”—thy faith, not thy repentance, nor 
 
 thy tears. Chemnitius on the place says well,_ 
 
 From the fruits of love, our Lord shews, that 
 the sins of this woman were forgiven. When he 
 had said. Her sins are forgiven; for she loved 
 much; he immediately adds, (to prevent the mis¬ 
 take of his meaning, with regard to the order of 
 cause and effect,) But to whom little is forgiven, 
 the same loveth little. He declares again and 
 again, that remission of sin goes before, and that 
 love follows. Having said. The creditor frankly 
 forgave them both, he adds. Which of them will 
 love him most ? Here it is observable, that the 
 expi ession, will love him, is in the future tense ; 
 whereas, the expression, he forgave them, is in the 
 preterite or past;—intimating that, a person’s 
 love to God follows the remission of sins, as the 
 
 ^ John xvi. 27. 
 
EXERCISE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. ITl 
 
 future follows the past. Here Christ shews us, 
 
 whence true love to him springs.-Hence it 
 
 is, that unless the gospel, which proclaims a free 
 grant of the forgiveness of sins, be received by- 
 faith, the true love of God can neither enter into, 
 nor abide in any sotd.’ 
 
 Although a man does not begin to exercise true 
 repentance, before the pardon of his sins in justi¬ 
 fication ; yet he may begin the exercise of it, be¬ 
 fore he attain a distinct sense of his being already 
 in a justified state. The influence of pardoning 
 mercy apprehended by faith, will produce true 
 love to God, and the exercise of evangelical re¬ 
 pentance, not indeed before the sinner has been 
 justified, but before he has attained a comfortable 
 sense of his justification. Thus the woman’s re¬ 
 pentance, above mentioned, which followed the 
 forgiveness of her sins, was before the comfort¬ 
 able sense of this forgiveness, arising from our 
 Lord’s intimation of it®, by saying to her, “ Thy 
 sins are forgivenand by adding, “ Thy faith 
 hath saved thee ; go in peace.” 
 
 Thus it is plain, that unfeigned love to God, is 
 a fruit of the forgiveness of sin in justification, 
 and therefore follows it; but the first exercise of 
 true repentance, flows from that love, and so, in 
 order of nature, is after it. Therefore the first 
 exercise of true repentance, follows the pardon of 
 sin in the act of justification. The former, is an 
 inseparable consequence of the latter. Justifying 
 
 B Luke vii. 48. 
 
172 PRIORITY OF JUSTIFICATION, &c. 
 
 faith works by love, and love produces the exer¬ 
 cise of evang-elical repentance. 
 
 5. Lastly, That the pardon of sin in Justifica¬ 
 tion, goes before the first exercise of evangelical 
 Repentance, is most agreeable to the Order in 
 which, God has promised to bestow these inesti¬ 
 mable blessings, upon his people.—His promises 
 of them run thus : “ I have blotted out, as a thick 
 cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins : 
 return unto me; for I have redeemed thee”.” “ I 
 will establish my covenant with thee ; - - - that 
 thou mayest remember and be confounded, and 
 never open thy mouth any more, because of thy 
 shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all 
 that thou hast done, saith the Lord God’.” “ I 
 will sprinkle clean water upon you,” that io, the 
 blood of Messiah, for the remission of sins, and 
 “ ye shall be clean,” judicially absolved from 
 every charge of guilU : “ A new heart will I give 
 you. - - - I will put my Spirit within you, and 
 cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall 
 keep my judgments and do them'.” “ TAew shall 
 ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings 
 that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in 
 your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your 
 abominations™.” “ I will heal their backsliding; 
 
 Isa. xliv. 22. > Ezek. xvi. 62, 63. 
 
 k Ezek. xxxvi. 25. It is proper to understand this, as a promise 
 of the Remission of sin ; as being a blessing distinct from regenera¬ 
 tion and sanctification, promised in the two verses immediately fol¬ 
 lowing.—So this passage is understood by Junius and POLANUS. 
 — See Pool’s Synopsis on the place. 
 
 ^ Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. “■ Ver. 31. 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 1T3 
 
 Ephraim shall sarj, What have I to do any more 
 with idols'^ ?” No exercise of repentance is de¬ 
 scribed in these passages, but what follows the 
 forgiveness of sin. This is the native order of 
 these blessings ; arid none should attempt to dis¬ 
 turb or invert it. The argument from those pas¬ 
 sages, is, not only that the state of justification, 
 is mentioned before the exercise of true repent¬ 
 ance ; but that the latter, is represented as the 
 native effect of the former. The grace of Jehovah 
 toward Israel, manifested in his being pacified 
 toward them for all that they have done, fills 
 them with penitential shame and self-loathing. 
 Ephraim’s resolution to have no more to do with 
 idols, is the native consequence or effect of the 
 healing of his backsliding. The consequence of 
 Jehovah’s sprinkling of clean water upon them, 
 and making them clean, is, that they remember 
 their own evil ways, and their doings that were 
 not good, and loathe themselves in their own 
 sight. That a legal repentance, proceeding from 
 legal convictions, and a dread of Divine judg¬ 
 ments, goes before justification, is readily granted. 
 But, that any exercise of evangelical repentance, 
 of that spiritual repentance, which the Lord se¬ 
 cures to his people in those promises, goes before 
 it, has never been proved. 
 
 From these arguments it is evident that, in or¬ 
 der of nature, justification in the sight of God, or 
 forgiveness of sin in justification, precedes the first 
 
 “ Hos. xiv. 4-, 8. 
 
174 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 exercise of true repentance. But, seeing the 
 principle of evangelical repentance, is implanted 
 in the soul before justification, none is justified in 
 the sight of God, but he who, in this sense, is al¬ 
 ready a true penitent. It is only the habit and 
 the exercise of true repentance, that follow the act 
 of justification. 
 
 Is it true, then, that no sinner is pardoned but 
 the penitent sinner, the sinner who has the princi¬ 
 ple of true repentance, already in his heart ? It 
 plainly follows that, no pardoned sinner can con¬ 
 tinue impenitent. He has already the root or prin¬ 
 ciple of true repentance ; and when he so believes 
 as to be justified by faith, this principle will, un¬ 
 der the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, 
 become a habit, and be excited to immediate ex¬ 
 ercise. Every man who is justified, is entitled to 
 sanctification, of which, the habit and exercise of 
 true repentance, are essential parts. A pardoned 
 sinner, then, cannot but exercise, and advance in 
 the exercise of evangelical repentance. 
 
 From what has been said, the candid reader 
 may see the meaning of this assertion of the apostle 
 Paul; God justifieth the ungodly°.'’ The mean¬ 
 ing cannot be, that he justifies an unregenerate 
 sinner. By the ungodly here, is not meant the 
 unregenerate, but the regenerate sinner, who has 
 no legal godliness, no righteousness of his own 
 pleadable in law, as a ground of justification in 
 
 o Rom. iv. 5. 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 175 
 
 the sight of God. If this were not the meaning, 
 it would follow, That justification is before rege¬ 
 neration ; contrary to the order mentioned by our 
 Apostle'’, and to that in our Shorter Catechism. 
 A legal ungodliness is in the regenerate sinner, 
 before justification by faith. He sees that, he lias 
 no godliness, no righteousness of his own to rely 
 on, as a ground of justification. That man is to 
 be deemed ungodly, who has no godliness that 
 the omniscient Judge can admit, as a ground of 
 title to justification. In the eye of the law he is 
 ungodly, have what he will; because he has not, 
 before the righteousness of Jesus Christ be im¬ 
 puted to him, a perfect righteousness for justifica¬ 
 tion. If the sentence should pass upon him, on 
 the ground of his principles of holiness, the Judge 
 could not but find him, in the eye of the law, un¬ 
 godly, and as such condemn him. Besides, God 
 justifieth him who hitherto was ungodly. The 
 sense of the words may be the same, as when our 
 Lord said, “ The blind see,” and “ the deaf 
 hear''.” His meaning cannot be, that those per¬ 
 sons were actually blind, when they saw, or deaf, 
 when they heard; but, that having been once so, 
 they now saw and heard. In legal reckoning, 
 that man is ungodly, who has broken any of the 
 commands of God’s law. That the ungodly 
 should be justified by his own righteousness, is 
 therefore, a contradiction in the eye of the law; 
 as much as if we should say. That the same indi- 
 
 p Rom. viii. 30. 
 
 1 Luke vii. 22. 
 
 H 
 
176 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 vidual, has at once broken the law, and perfectly 
 kept it. For if he is in himself ungodly, where 
 ai’e his works of perfect righteonsness ? This 
 view of the text under consideration, is most 
 agreeable to the Apostle’s design ; which is, to 
 guard the doctrine of justification by the free grace 
 of God, against the errors of legal teachers. 
 
 Hence also it is manifest, that the convinced sin¬ 
 ner should attempt to believe, that Christ died for 
 the remission of his sins, in order to repent of them. 
 No sinner can, in the exercise of true repent¬ 
 ance, return to God, hut by Christ the way; and 
 none can return by Christ, otherwise than by be¬ 
 lieving in him. The convinced sinner, then, 
 should believe or trust, that Jesus Christ died to 
 take away his sins, in order to turn from them to 
 God. He should rely on the consummate righte¬ 
 ousness of Christ, for the pardon of them, in or¬ 
 der to hate and forsake them. It is only when 
 he is enabled cordially to trust, ^ that God puts 
 away his iniquities from him, by remission ; that 
 he is inclined and resolved, through grace, to put 
 them away from himself, by evangelical repent¬ 
 ance. ‘ Let them that will,’ says a godly and ju¬ 
 dicious writer, ‘ repent, that Christ may do for 
 them; I shall desire always to believe, what Christ 
 hath done for me, that I may repent; not doubt¬ 
 ing, but that the being instructed therein, is the 
 plain way to smiting on the thigh, and saying. 
 What have I done ?’ No sin is truly repented of, 
 till it be pardoned; nor is the sinner ever melted 
 so much into godly sorrow, as when he knows 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 17t 
 
 that his iniquities are forgiven. The faith of par¬ 
 don, melts the adamantine heart, makes the head 
 waters, and the eyes a fountain of tears. It is by 
 \'iewing our sins, by an appropriating faith, as 
 laid upon the Lamb of God, and Him as pierced 
 for them, that we attain the lively exercise of evan¬ 
 gelical repentance. The more, our hearts are en¬ 
 abled to trust, that the Lord Jesus “ was Avound- 
 ed for oiir transgressions, and was bruised for our 
 iniquitiesthe more, will we abhor them, and 
 turn from the love and practice of them. 
 
 From what has been adA^anced it clearly ap¬ 
 pears, That it is the immediate duty of cA^ery sin¬ 
 ner Avho hears the gospel, to trust in Christ and 
 on his righteousness, for justification. When he 
 sincerely attempts this first duty, the exercise of 
 true repentance Avill necessarily follow. When 
 he believes in the Lord Jesus for justification, he 
 at the same time, trusts in him for sanctification, 
 for grace to enable him to repent of all his sins; 
 —and according to his faith it is unto him. The 
 design of his justification, is not, to lay a founda¬ 
 tion for his continuance in sin ; but, that he may 
 “ go and sin no more.” It Avill be absolutely im¬ 
 possible for him, to exercise CA^angelical repent¬ 
 ance, till his sins be pardoned ; for till they be 
 forgiA^en, God is a consuming fire to him, and the 
 curse of the Iuaa^ abiding on him, intercepts the 
 communication of that grace, Avhich is necessary 
 to produce the exercise of true repentance. Was 
 he AA'ont to trust in himself, and in his oaaui Avorks? 
 In order to exercise repentance unto life, his heart 
 
178 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 must turn to Jesus Christ, for a better righteous¬ 
 ness, and thereby for eternal life. It must turn 
 from every false ground of hope, and rely only on 
 Christ, looking not to his own penitential tears, 
 nor to his own gi'aces or duties; but “ looking 
 for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto eter¬ 
 nal life'.” 
 
 Let no sinner conclude. That his exercise of 
 repentance, atones for his crimes, or entitles him, 
 in the smallest degree, to the favour of God and 
 the felicity of heaven. He must receive by faith, 
 the atonement made by the Lord Jesus, and have 
 his sins all forgiven on the ground of it, before he 
 can begin to exercise the least true repentance. 
 He must receive also the gift of righteousness, 
 and in justification be accepted as righteous, and 
 so, be entitled to the happiness of heaven, before 
 he can begin the exercise of that repentance, 
 which is acceptable to God. How then can his 
 repentance, atone for his iniquities, or entitle him 
 to the favour of God, and to the happiness of hea¬ 
 ven ? How can that evangelical repentance, which 
 he is incapable of exercising, till after his sins be 
 all forgiven, on the ground of an infinite atone¬ 
 ment imputed to him, make atonement for them ? 
 How can that true repentance, which he can¬ 
 not exercise, until in justification he be al¬ 
 ready entitled to eternal life, entitle him to eter¬ 
 nal life ? Does not the consummate righteous¬ 
 ness of Jesus Christ, imputed for justification, 
 entitle the believer fully to it ? What need is 
 
 ' Jude 21. 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 179 
 
 there, then, that his repentance should entitle 
 him ? How can that exercise of repentance, which 
 is the consequence of pardon, afford a previous 
 title to pardon ? or that which is a part of eternal 
 life, be a ground of right to eternal life ? As to 
 that legal repentance, which an alarmed sinner is 
 supposed to exercise, previously to faith and jus¬ 
 tification, and which is an abomination to the 
 Lord;—how can that which is itself sin, satisfy 
 Divine justice for sin ? How is it possible that, 
 that which merits eternal death, should at the 
 same time deserve for the sinner, eternal life? 
 How can that proud, that pharisaical penitence, 
 on which, the sinner depends for pardon of sin, 
 and a right to life, procure for him either the one 
 or the other ? O sinner, believe and repent, and 
 that without delay; but do not in the least depend 
 on your exercise of them, either for pardon of 
 sin, or for a title to the smallest blessing from the 
 Lord. Your immediate duty is, by the acting of 
 faith, to receive Christ as Jehovah your Righte¬ 
 ousness for justification, and to receive from his 
 fulness, that evangelical repentance, which is in¬ 
 cluded in sanctification. So shall you repent, in 
 such a manner as will please God. 
 
 From what has been said it is plain. That the 
 exercise of true repentance is Necessary, in order 
 to a believer’s attaining the comfortable Sense of 
 pardon in justification. It is an evidence of his 
 having received judicial pardon; and so, is a mean 
 of his attaining the assurance, that he is already 
 in a state of pardon. Although the exercise of 
 
180 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 true repentance, is not requisite to obtain judicial 
 remission, seeing faith alone, is the instrument of 
 receiving this;—yet it is necessary, in order to 
 attain assurance by reflection, that a man is in a 
 state of justification, or that his iniquities are al¬ 
 ready forgiven. It usually precedes noted inti¬ 
 mations, or a satisfying sense of judicial pardon. 
 It was not till after the woman, who washed our 
 Lord’s feet with tears, and wiped them with the 
 hairs of her head, had thereby expressed that love 
 and penitence, which were the consequences of 
 the pardon of her sins, that he intimated her par¬ 
 don to her. He said to her, after her sins had 
 been forgiven, and after she had exercised that re¬ 
 pentance, which was the evidence of her state of 
 
 pardon, “ Thy sins are forgiven-“ Thy 
 
 faitli hath saved thee; go in peace®.” Would 
 you then, believer, who are oppressed with doubts 
 and fears, respecting the remission of your sins, 
 attain joyful intimations that they are all for¬ 
 given? O renew, and frequently renew, not only 
 the acting of humble confidence in your adorable 
 Redeemer, for all his salvation, but also the exer¬ 
 cise of evangelical repentance. Godly sorrow is 
 sweet, is delicious sorrow. It is often attended, 
 by a delightful sense of redeeming love, and of 
 justifying grace. Whilst, with tears of sorrow 
 and of gratitude, you praise a forgiving God, and 
 a bleeding Saviour, you realize this paradox; 
 “ Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Your melt¬ 
 
 s Luke vii. 48, 50. 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 181 
 
 ing seasons of penitential sorrow, will usually 
 pave tlie way for your strongest, and sweetest con¬ 
 solations. 
 
 It is manifest also from what has been argued. 
 That, when the Lord inflicts upon believers, fa¬ 
 therly chastisement for their sins against him, it 
 is not commonly removed^ till they renew, with deep 
 concern, the exercise of faith and repentance. The 
 exercise of true repentance, as well as of faith, is 
 necessary to the believer’s attainment of fatherly 
 pardon, or of deliverance from the painful effects, 
 of his having provoked the anger of his heavenly 
 Father. The reason of this, as was hinted above, 
 is plain. The Lord’s design in inflicting paternal 
 strokes, is, that he may correct his disobedient 
 child, or lead him to spiritual, evangelical, and 
 deep repentance. When, therefore, the Lord hath 
 inflicted fatherly strokes upon the believer, for 
 his offences, he will not remove them, till, by the 
 exercise of faith and repentance, the Chiistian 
 amend his ways and his doings*, and so answer 
 His gracious design in inflicting themWhen 
 one sort prevails not, the Lord inflicts another, 
 and perhaps a third, until, in the hand of his Holy 
 Spirit, they become effectual. Not that the sin, 
 upon the exercise of repentance, is immediately 
 pardoned, and the chastisement removed. For 
 the Lord, by inflicting paternal chastisements, 
 hath other designs to accomplish, besides the re¬ 
 pentance of the believer; such as. That his injured 
 
 'Jer. vii. 3. 
 
 U 
 
 Isa sxvii. 9. 
 
182 
 
 INFERENCES. 
 
 lionour may be vindicated, and that others may 
 see and fear, and do no more wickedly. Believer, 
 Is it your desire to be in any degree exempted, 
 from the painful infliction of paternal chastise¬ 
 ments ? Be always on your guard then, against 
 the commission of any known sin, and the omis¬ 
 sion even for once, of any known duty. Exercise 
 frequently faith and repentance. Study to per¬ 
 form every dut)'^, as well as to exercise every grace, 
 with increasing spirituality. Thus, you wDl 
 walk worthy of the Lord to all pleasing.” 
 
 In conclusion: It may justly be inferred from 
 what has been stated. That faith and repentance 
 are parts, as well as means of salvation. Faith in 
 one view of it, is the Tnean or instrument of vital 
 union with Christ, and of communion with him, 
 in his righteousness and salvation. True repent¬ 
 ance also, in one view, is an instituted mean of at¬ 
 taining the perfection of salvation; or rather, it 
 is our walking in the way to the perfection of it. 
 Faith and repentance, then, are doubtless to be 
 urged on the hearers of the gospel, as internal 
 means of salvation. They are to be inculcated on 
 believers, as the means of advancing in holiness, 
 and of attaining in due time, to the perfection of 
 holiness and happiness. In this view, the fre¬ 
 quent exercise of them is required in the law. The 
 more, the true Christian uses these internal means 
 of salvation, and the less, he depends on his use 
 of them, the more speedily, will he advance to¬ 
 ward perfection.—True faith and repentance, in 
 another point of view, are essential parts of salva- 
 
INFERENCES. 
 
 183 
 
 tion. In the gospel, they are both promised, as 
 parts of eternal life or salvation. They are spirit¬ 
 ual graces, implanted in the soul of an elect sin¬ 
 ner, at regeneration; and so they are parts of sal¬ 
 vation, in its commencement and progress in the 
 soul. The more, a believer makes progress in the 
 habit, and exercise of faith and repentance, the 
 more, does he advance in salvation from the power 
 and practice of all sin. These spiritual graces aie 
 parts of salvation ; for they are parts of true holi¬ 
 ness, which is eternal life begun, and advancing 
 in the soul. Holiness is the happiness of the ra¬ 
 tional creature. To conceive of happiness with¬ 
 out it, would be a contradiction ; seeing it is the 
 main ingredient in all true happiness. To bring 
 sinners to holiness, therefore, was, in subordina¬ 
 tion to the glory of God, the great design of 
 Christ’s undertaking.—To press holiness upon 
 sinners, only as the mean or way of attaining hap¬ 
 piness, will lead them blindly to imagine, that 
 happiness is something distinct from holiness, and 
 is to be procured by it. If holiness which in 
 eludes faith and repentance, be urged upon sin¬ 
 ners, merely as the way or mean of attaining sal¬ 
 vation, and never as the leading part of salvation, 
 nor as the end to be aimed at; it will have a na¬ 
 tive tendency to put them upon doing for life, 
 and not doing from life. It will encourage them 
 to seek and to expect salvation, according to a co¬ 
 venant of works, or to depend on their supposed 
 faith, repentance, and holiness, as grounds of title 
 to future happiness. Surely, there can be no im- 
 
 H 2 
 
184. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 propriety or absurdity, in considering the same 
 thing, as a mean in one respect, and as an end in 
 another. Holiness in this world, is a mean of at¬ 
 taining to the perfection of it in heaven, as the 
 end; and in this view, it is distinct from the end. 
 But then it is no less clear, that it is not of a dif¬ 
 ferent nature^ from the perfect holiness or happi¬ 
 ness of the saints in heaven, but is different from 
 it only in degree. It is, therefore, in itself to be 
 regarded as an end^ which every sinner ought to 
 compass, by appointed means, especially, by the 
 diligent exercise of faith and repentance. 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 Various Objections, have been keenly urged 
 against the Precedency of faith, and of the pardon 
 of sin in justification, to the first Exercise of true 
 repentance. I shall here endeavour to return 
 answers to such of them, as are the most plau¬ 
 sible. 
 
 1. It has been objected, ‘ That there are seve¬ 
 ral passages of Scripture, such as Luke iii. 3. 
 xxiv. 47. and Acts v. 31, in which, repentance is 
 mentioned before the forgiveness of sins.’ 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 185 
 
 With regaixl to these and similar passages, it 
 may be proper to recollect what has been said 
 above, concerning the mention of repentance be¬ 
 fore faith; namely, that the order in which things 
 are mentioned in Scripture, is not, in eveiy in¬ 
 stance, the order of nature. Repentance or a 
 turning from sin to God, being a duty requiied 
 by the dictates even of a natural conscience, may 
 well be first preached to sinners, in order to con¬ 
 vince them at once, of the necessity of it, and of 
 their natural inability to exercise it; and then 
 will properly follow, tbe doctrine and offer of the 
 forgiveness of sins, the faith of which, is the prin¬ 
 cipal mean of attaining the exercise of that re¬ 
 pentance. In this view, repentance might be 
 preached by John the Baptist, and the Apostles 
 of Christ, before the doctrine of forgiveness. Be¬ 
 sides, the word repentance, appears to be some¬ 
 times used, to express the relinquishing of wiong 
 opinions. Accordingly, when John exhorted the 
 Jews to repent, he may be understood, as invit¬ 
 ing them to relinquish the error of the Pharisees, 
 about a temporal Messiah, and about justification 
 in the sight of God, by the works of the law; and 
 that of the Sadducees, concerning the resurrec¬ 
 tion. Wlien Peter told them. That they had cru¬ 
 cified Him whom God now glorified, he shewed 
 them, how they came to commit that most atroci¬ 
 ous crime. “ Through ignorance ye did it, as 
 did also your rulers'^.” He then corrects their 
 
 Acts iii. 17. 
 
186 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 mistake, informing them that, according to the 
 prophecies respecting Messiah, he was to suffer 
 the very things, which they had inflicted upon 
 Jesus of Nazareth*. Hence he ui'ges them, to 
 change their mind, to relinquish the destructive 
 error with respect to Messiah, into which they 
 liad fallen, and to turn to the Lord by embracing 
 his gospeP. One reason for not understanding 
 the word repent here, of evangelical repentance, 
 is, That this repentance, is included evidently in 
 the next phrase, “ he converted ”—But wcr-e it 
 granted that the term repent here, might signify 
 evangelical repentance; yet this passage would 
 not prove such repentance, to be prior to the for¬ 
 giveness of sins in justification. For, the blotting 
 out of sins here may signify, not the formal par¬ 
 don of them in the act of justification, but the 
 manifestation of that pardon. For a thing is often 
 in Scripture said to be done, when it is manifested. 
 By “ the times of refreshing from the presence 
 of the Lord,” Calvin, Beza, Piscator, Ai’etius, 
 and other judicious Commentators, understand 
 the day of judgment, when the saints shall be re¬ 
 freshed by the most public, and honoumble decla¬ 
 ration of their state of pardon \ For the time 
 here referred to, is “ the time of restitution of all 
 things,” when Christ shall be sent from heaven, 
 to judge the world. Now the Apostle’s teaching. 
 That repentance is before the glorious declaration 
 of pardon at the last day, is surely no proof, that 
 
 * Acts Hi. 18. 
 
 y Ver. 19. 
 
 " Ver. 20, 21. 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 187 
 
 the exercise of true repentance, goes before the 
 act of pardon itself. In a word, repentance is 
 sometimes put for the whole of conversion to 
 God ; including both faith, and turning from sin 
 to him. This seems to be the meaning of it, in 
 these words; “ Then hath. God also to the Gen¬ 
 tiles, granted repentance unto life^” Repentance 
 in this its large acceptation, may be said to be, 
 both before and after the pardon of sin in justifi¬ 
 cation ; before it, in respect of faith receiving 
 Christ as ‘‘ Jehovah our Righteousness,” and af¬ 
 ter it, in respect of godly sorrow for sin, and turn¬ 
 ing from it to God. 
 
 As to the expression in Luke iii. 3, ‘ John first 
 declares,’ says Calvin on the place, ‘ That the 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand; and having thus 
 proposed the grace of God to his hearers, he 
 thence exhorts them to repent. Hence it appears, 
 that the mercy of God, by which he restores the 
 lost, is the ground upon which, repentance pro¬ 
 ceeds. In this sense, Mark and Luke say, That 
 John preached the baptism of repentance for the 
 remission of sins; not to intimate, as some igno¬ 
 rantly suppose. That repentance is the cause of 
 the remission of sins; but to teach us, that as the 
 free love of God, is first in embracing poor sin¬ 
 ners, not imputing their sins unto them ; so this 
 pardon of sins is granted us in Christ,—^not that 
 God may indulge us in our sins, but that he may 
 heal us and deliver us from them.’ Piscator on 
 
 ® Acts xi. 18. 
 
188 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 the same place says, ‘ The baptism of repentance 
 means, That this ordinance was used, to testify 
 and profess repentance. The words, for the re¬ 
 mission of sins^ depend immediately, not on the 
 word preached, nor on the word repentance, but 
 on the word baptism; and the import of the ex¬ 
 hortation is. That baptism serves to signify and 
 seal the remission of sins.’ 
 
 2. Some have objected to the doctrine above 
 stated, ‘ That, in Acts ii. 38. and viii. 22, the 
 exhortations to the exercise of repentance, are 
 prefixed to the attaining of pardon ; intimating 
 that, if sinners do not repent, they have no ground 
 to expect the remission of their sins. The exer¬ 
 cise of true repentance, therefore, must precede 
 the pardon of sin in justification.’ 
 
 In answer to this let it be observed. That, in 
 those passages, the whole way of a sinner’s return¬ 
 ing to God, is in general proposed. On this posi¬ 
 tion, Calvin expresses himself thus ; ‘ Truly I am 
 not ignorant, that under the name of repentance, 
 is comprehended the whole turning to God, 
 whereof faith is not the least part'’.’ If prefix¬ 
 ing the whole way of turning to God, to the at¬ 
 taining of pardon, do sufficiently evince, tliat the 
 whole is previously required to pardon; then 
 faith, repentance, and good works, are in the 
 same balance, or repentance and works are made 
 equal with faith, as means of receiving justifica¬ 
 tion : for it is plain, that new obedience, is com- 
 
 Instit. Book 3. Chap, 3. sec. 5. 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 189 
 
 preheiided in the whole import of returning to 
 God. Now, unless our whole turning to God 
 more generally, be an instituted mean of our at¬ 
 taining the remission of sins, the passages al¬ 
 leged, proA^e nothing to the purpose. As to the 
 
 first of them, “ Repent and be baptized-for 
 
 the remission of sills'^who sees not, that the 
 command to be baptized^ is prefixed to the remis¬ 
 sion of sins, as well as the command to repent ? 
 Must it then follow, that baptism is a necessary 
 mean, in order to attain the remission of sins ? 
 The argument is of as much force for baptism, as 
 it is for repentance. Mention is indeed made of 
 remission, but not by way of promise. Nay, 
 nothing is said here, of a formal reception of re¬ 
 mission. For, as Piscator on the place well ob¬ 
 serves, ‘ These words, for the remission of sins^ 
 do not depend on the word repent^ but on the 
 words be baptized.' The meaning, then, of the 
 Apostle’s exhortation to those convinced sinners, 
 is. That they should repent, that is, should turn 
 to God in Christ, by faith and repentance; and 
 that they should receive baptism, not as a mean 
 of obtaining the remission of sins, but as a tes¬ 
 timony of their receiving that, and every other 
 spiritual blessing in Christ, by means of faith in 
 him. It is manifest, from the connection de¬ 
 noted by the causal particle for^ in verse 39, 
 That the Apostle there exhibits the promise of 
 pardon and salvation, as the ground upon Avhich 
 
 c Acts ii, 38. 
 
190 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 he calls them to repent; as if he had said, ‘ I ex¬ 
 hort you to repent; and in order that you may 
 do so, in a spiritual and acceptable manner, be¬ 
 lieve that the promise is to you. Ye are pricked 
 in your heart, but do not despond; for the pro¬ 
 mise of the Spirit, and of a free salvation, is gra¬ 
 ciously directed in offer to you. Therefore turn 
 wholly to God, by faith, repentance, and new 
 obedience; and for assurance of the remission of 
 your sins, receive baptism as the sign and seal of 
 the covenant.’ 
 
 As to the last passage alleged'*, it is plain, that 
 the Apostle prefixes the command to pray, to what 
 he says of forgiveness, as well as the command to 
 repent yet surely it cannot hence be concluded, 
 that acceptable prayer, goes before the forgiveness 
 of sin in justification. But here, as before, re¬ 
 pentance is put for the whole way of turning to 
 the Lord. 
 
 3. Some have argued for the priority of the 
 exercise of true repentance, to the pardon of sin 
 in justification, from these words of our Lord to 
 Saul of Tarsus; “I send thee to open their eyes, 
 and to turn them from darkness to light, and 
 from the power of Satan unto God, that they 
 may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance 
 among them which are sanctified by faith that is 
 
 • e >5 
 
 in me . 
 
 In answer. Let it be observed, That here our 
 blessed Lord first shews, how he works faith in 
 
 ^ Acts viii. 22. 
 
 * Acts XXvi. 18. 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 191 
 
 the hearts of sinners by means of the gospel; 
 namely, by opening their eyes, and turning them 
 from darkness to light, and from the power of 
 Satan unto God. He next declares that, by 
 means of faith, thus wrought, they receive for¬ 
 giveness of sins, and inheritance among them who 
 are sanctified by faith that is in Him. It is urged 
 that this clause, “ to turn them from the power 
 of Satan unto God,” may signify the exercise of 
 true repentance ; I answer. That as these words, 
 ‘‘to turn them from darkness to light, and from 
 the power of Satan unto God, plainly describes 
 the work of the Spirit of Christ by means of the 
 gospel; so they are to be understood of TegeTievd^ 
 tion^ which is attributed to the gospel as a mean 
 of it^. The turning here mentiorred, is the work 
 of the Spirit of Christ, in which, sinners are pas¬ 
 sive. The first expression, “ to open their eyes,” 
 is used to describe the work of Christ®; but it is 
 no where sard, to be the sinner s act. The next 
 phrase, “ to turn them from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of Satan unto God,” is of 
 the same meaning with bringing out the prison- 
 oners from the prrson, and them that srt rn dark¬ 
 ness out of the prison-house; a work which, in 
 the same passage, is also ascribed to Christ, but 
 no where in Scripture, to the sinner himself. 
 Hence the expressions in question, cannot be urr- 
 derstood of the exercise of true repentance; for 
 this is the exercise, or work of a regenerate sin- 
 
 f James i. 18. 1 Pet. i. 23. 
 
 s Isa. xlii. 7. 
 
192 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 uer. But the following expression, “ that they 
 may receive,” may be connected with these words 
 at the end of the vei’se, “ by faith that is in me 
 and may well be understood of the sinner’s act of 
 receiving forgiveness, and the inheritance of eter¬ 
 nal life, by faith, which is necessarily followed by 
 the exercise of evangelical repentance. Thus the 
 words of the Lord Jesus, in this passage, repre¬ 
 sent a sinner’s receiving by faith, the forgiveness 
 of sins, and not the exercise of true repentance, 
 as the firsts or most immediate effect of regenera¬ 
 tion ; and so, they serve much to confirm the pri¬ 
 ority of pardon, to the first exercise of that re¬ 
 pentance. If the expression, “ by faith that is in 
 me,” be understood to be immediately connected 
 with the word sanctified, it will be a further con- 
 finnation of the same doctrine. For thus the 
 faith, which receives forgiveness of sins, is de¬ 
 clared to be the means of sanctification. But 
 if that faith be the means of sanctification, it is of 
 course, the means of attaining the exercise of true 
 repentance; for this repentance, as has been 
 stated above, is included in sanctification. The 
 first act of justifying and saving faith, therefore, 
 is before the first exercise of true repentance, as 
 the means are, in order of nature, prior to the end. 
 
 4. Some have maintained, ‘ That the following 
 texts, prove the first exercise of evangelical re¬ 
 pentance, to be prior to the forgiveness of sins in 
 Justification: Luke xiii. 3, 5. Prov. xxviii. 13. 
 Jer. iv. 1, 3, 4. Ezek. xxxiii. 11. and Isa. Iv. 7.’ 
 
 To this it may be answered. That the passage 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 193 
 
 in Luke xiii. 3, 5, does not hold forth a connec¬ 
 tion between repentance and forgiveness, but 
 merely between impenitence and perishing. The 
 difference between these two connections, is great. 
 Let the argument be this;—Except ye repent, ye 
 shall perish. Therefore if ye do repent, ye shall 
 live. Here, as Mr Boston well observes, ‘ The 
 consequent is true, but the consequence is naught.’ 
 It is no better reasoning than it would be, to say, 
 Our evil works will damn us, therefore our good 
 works will save us; or, as if we should say. If 
 we do not pray, we shall perish, therefore if we 
 do pray, we shall live. When the Papists argued, 
 That men must be justified by their good works, 
 because they are condemned for the want of them, 
 Calvin’s answer to them was to this purpose: 
 The contraries here are not equal; for one devia¬ 
 tion, however small, from the perfect rule of God’s 
 law, renders a person unrighteous, and liable to 
 eternal death”. But it is not one or a few good 
 works, but an unremitted course of obedience, 
 without the smallest defect, that will constitute a 
 person righteous in the sight of God. And it is 
 a maxim, with respect to a particular action. That 
 it is not morally good, unless it have all the re¬ 
 quisites of a good work. The want but of one 
 of them, renders it evil. In like manner, not re¬ 
 penting simply or of itself, is sufficient to make us 
 perish; but who will say, That repentance of it¬ 
 self, is, even in the way of means, sufficient to 
 
 ^ Jam. ii. 10. 
 
194 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 save us ? There is indeed no salvation without re¬ 
 pentance. But if every thing without which, 
 men shall perish, must go before a state of justi¬ 
 fication, as a mean of attaining to it, then a holy 
 life, and perseverance in it until death, must go 
 before justification; and then it will follow, that 
 justification in the sight of God, is not to be at¬ 
 tained before death. For the Scriptures plainly 
 declare. That without holiness and enduring to 
 the end, as well as without repentance, men shall 
 undoubtedly perish*. They also declare, “ That 
 all who believe, are justified from all things,” and 
 that to them there is no condemnation*'. Here 
 we learn that, as soon as a sinner, begins cordi¬ 
 ally to believe in Him, who is Jehovah our 
 Righteousness, his justification before God is, at 
 that instant, complete and irrevocable. 
 
 As to the passage marked from Proverbs, it 
 serves clearly to teach us. That none evidences 
 himself, to be a sharer in the pardoning mercy 
 of God in Christ, but he who sincerely confesses, 
 and forsakes his sins. To affirm. That he whom 
 the Holy Spirit brings to this exercise, shall have 
 mercy during the after course of his life*, and at 
 the day of judgmenf", is perfectly consistent with 
 asserting. That the mercy of a state of pardon is, 
 in order of nature, prior to that exercise. Mr 
 Rutherford on the passage, observes That the 
 Holy Ghost then, is not upon order, as if peni- 
 
 > Heb. X. 39. and xii. 14. 
 * Psal. xxiii. 6. 
 
 k Acts xiii. 39. Rom. viii. 1. 
 ™ 2 Tim. i, 18, 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 195 
 
 tent confession, and. forsaking of all sin, must go 
 before forgiveness; but the Lord designs the per¬ 
 sons pardoned, that they must be such as forsake 
 their sins”.’ There is much reason for this ; be¬ 
 cause many who cover their sins, and do not for¬ 
 sake them, will yet pretend to share in pardoning 
 mercy. Such have much need to be undeceived. 
 Besides, it should be observed. That the expres¬ 
 sion in this place, may include the confession of 
 open and scandalous sins before men^ and their 
 exercise of mercy toward such sinners ; and it may 
 also include the practice of good works in gene¬ 
 ral, as is evident from the import of forsaking 
 sin°. Now, will any Protestant deliberately say, 
 That the practice of good works in general, is 
 the previous condition of justification in the sight 
 of God ? 
 
 With respect to Jer. iv. 1, 3, 4, and Ezek. 
 xxxiii. 11, it may be remarked. That, in these 
 texts, repentance is either taken in its large sense, 
 for the whole of conversion, in which faith in 
 •Jesus Christ, receiving the remission of sins, as 
 well as repentance strictly taken, is compre¬ 
 hended; or the duty is simply required; while 
 the right manner of performing it, and the con¬ 
 nection of it with privileges and with other duties, 
 are to be learned by comparing other passages of 
 Scripture, on the same subject. Such commands 
 are given to persons, both before justification, for 
 conviction, and after it, for direction, with decla- 
 
 " Irfluences of the Life &c. p. 348. “ Matth. v. 7. Prov. xiv. 21. 
 
196 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 rations of a certain connection between true re¬ 
 pentance and life, and tliat in perfect consistency 
 with the priority of pardon in justification, to tlie 
 exercise of such repentance. No texts of Scrip¬ 
 ture, liave ever been or can be produced, which 
 teach, that God has either brought sinners to the 
 exercise of evangelical repentance, or has pro¬ 
 mised to do so, before the faith of his pardoning 
 mercy. 
 
 As to Isa. Iv. 11, it is evidently the design of 
 this remarkable passage, to set before the sinner, 
 the pardoning mercy of God in Christ, that he 
 may first believe or trust in it for pardon, and 
 for grace to return to God \ and then, that by 
 this faith or trust, he may begin the exercise of 
 true repentance, in turning from his wicked way 
 and thoughts. ‘ Here,’ says Calvin u])on the 
 place, ‘ the context is to be carefully attended to : 
 for the Prophet shews, that men must have the 
 previous faith or confidence of pardon, otherwise 
 they cannot be brought unto the exercise of re¬ 
 pentance.—The doctrine of the Popish doctors, 
 on the nature of repentance, is indeed egregious 
 trifling. But even though they were to teach the 
 true nature of it, it would still be unprofitable; 
 while they omit Avhat is the foundation of all 
 right exercise of repentance, the doctrine of free 
 forgiveness of sin, by which alone true peace of 
 conscience can ever be attained. And, indeed, 
 while the sinner is a stranger to this peace of 
 conscience, and views God only as a Judge drag¬ 
 ging him to his tribunal, to give an account of 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 197 
 
 his ill-spent life, he will flee from God, instead of 
 returning to him, with godly fear and filial obe¬ 
 dience.’—As the exercise of true repentance is tlm 
 end, and faith, the means of attainino; this end: 
 so, the sinner is first called to forsake his evil 
 way, and his thoughts, and return unto the Lord ; 
 and then, the absolute promise of pardoning mercy 
 is set before him, that, by applying and trusting 
 it, he may return to the Lord, in a spiritual and 
 acceptable manner. 
 
 5. The following objection has been urged 
 against our doctrine : ‘ God declares to the Is¬ 
 raelites, That after they should become truly pe¬ 
 nitent, then he would forgive them.’ “ If they 
 shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of 
 
 their fathers:-if their uncircumcised hearts 
 
 be humbled, and they then accept of the punish¬ 
 ment of their iniquity;—then, will I remember 
 my covenent with Jacob^.” In Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 
 33, God declares concerning the Jews in Babylon, 
 that he will first bring them to repentance, and 
 then restore them to their land. Solomon, in his 
 prayer at the dedication of the temple, expressly 
 and repeatedly holds forth this doctrine, that re¬ 
 pentance is before forgiveness.-The temple 
 
 was a type of the Son of God incarnate. And in 
 all their prayers, the penitent Jews looked toward 
 the holy temple, and then God heard in heaven 
 his dwelling place.’ “ When heaven is shut up, 
 and there is no rain, because they sinned against 
 
 P Lev. Jixvi. 41 42. 
 
198 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess 
 thy name, and turn from their sin, &c. then hear 
 thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy ser¬ 
 vants.” 
 
 Answer: It cannot be proved. That the for¬ 
 giveness mentioned in these passages, is neces¬ 
 sarily to be understood of that pardon, which is 
 included in the act of justification; and conse¬ 
 quently, that all the exercise which is prior to 
 this forgiveness, must be before the first acting 
 of faith. For, the exercises which preceded this 
 forgiveness, such as prayer and confession of sin, 
 evidently implied the true faitb of those, who 
 were sincerely engaged in them. To look toward 
 God’s holy temple, may well be regarded as an 
 Old Testament-phrase, expressive of believing in 
 his Holy One. Therefore, as they, whose exer¬ 
 cise is described in those passages, had faith in 
 Messiah, before the forgiveness there mentioned, 
 it follows, that they Avere in a state of justification 
 before that exercise. Forgiveness of sin, as has 
 been observed above, sometimes, signifies the rna- 
 nifestation of God’s favour toward his people, in 
 the removal of temporal calamities from them. 
 In this sense, I am led to understand forgiveness, 
 in the passages under consideration, and particu¬ 
 larly, in the delwerance of the Jewish church 
 from her captivity. Granting that true believers 
 in that church, were, by the sentence of justifica¬ 
 tion before God, already exempted from eternal 
 wrath; it Avill not follow, that the forgiA^eness 
 there mentioned, is to be understood of this justi- 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 199 
 
 fying sentence, and not of the removal of tem¬ 
 poral calamities. For the deliverance of believers 
 from temporal strokes, the effects of paternal 
 anger, doubtless may be, and often is, a token to 
 them, of the sentence of their justification, which 
 may have taken place long before. ‘ It is clear,’ 
 says Mr Boston, ^ that in such passages, the peo¬ 
 ple are considered in their national capacity, un¬ 
 der national strokes for national sins, for the re¬ 
 moval of which, repentance of the same kind is 
 required. And though, in such a general repent¬ 
 ance of a people, they who believe are spiritually 
 and theologically serious, and with a removal of 
 the common calamity from the society of which 
 they are members, get God’s countenance to shine 
 on their souls; yet the generality are never evan¬ 
 gelically penitent. But moral seriousness in such 
 a case, according to the Lord’s dealing with na¬ 
 tions, is a mean of getting these temporal strokes 
 removed, as may be seen in the case of the Ni- 
 nevites, and many times in the case of the Jews. 
 It is generally allowed, that there is a twofold 
 being under the covenant of grace; the one ex¬ 
 ternal the other internal. The same person, may 
 be under the covenant of works and the covenant 
 of grace ; under the former in respect of his soul’s 
 state, with God’s curse upon him; under the lat¬ 
 ter, as externally partaking of the external privi¬ 
 leges, protections, deliverances, &c. given to the 
 visible church.’ Thus, God might be said to re¬ 
 member his covenant for the afflicted Israelites, 
 when they as a nation humbled themselves, and 
 
 I 
 
200 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 confessed their sins, and at the same time, he 
 might deliver them from the temporal judgments, 
 under which they had lain. It is usually upon 
 national repentance, that national calamities are re¬ 
 moved. But this does not at all concern the point 
 in hand; the question being of the means pre¬ 
 viously necessary to the pardon of sin, in the act 
 of justification before God; between which, and 
 the subsequent repeated forgivenesses, as has been 
 stated above, there is a vast difference. 
 
 6. It has been urged ‘ That, in token of re¬ 
 pentance as what must precede forgiveness, the 
 high Priest under the law was, on the great day 
 of atonement, to lay both his hands on the head 
 of a live goat, and confess over him all the ini¬ 
 quities of the children of Israel, and all tlreir 
 transgressions, in all their sins, and thus put them 
 upon the head of the goat, to be sent away into 
 the wilderness. As this was to be done on that 
 solemn occasion, in relation to the iniquities of 
 the children of Israel in general; so, if any par¬ 
 ticular man at any time committed a sin, he was 
 to bring his bullock, and, in token of confession 
 and repentance, to lay his hand upon its head, 
 and substitute it to die in his room. And if he 
 had not only sinned against God, but in his sin 
 injured his neighbour, he must first as became a 
 true penitent, make restitution, before the sacri¬ 
 fice was offered.’ 
 
 A short answer to this may suffice.—The act 
 of the Israelites in the cases now mentioned, in 
 laying their hands on the head of the devoted sa- 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 201 
 
 ci-lfice, was a profession of theirin Messiah, 
 as the true antitypical sacrifice, and supposed that 
 tliey trusted in Him for the remission of all their 
 sins. In consequence of that act, supposing it to 
 have been unfeigned, they were actually in a state 
 of pardon, as all true believers are; and therefore, 
 as that act was before the public confession of their 
 sins, so it evidenced their state of pardon, to have 
 been before that confession, before that restitution, 
 andthe other tokens of their repentance. This, then, 
 is an additional proof of the priority of pardon in jus¬ 
 tification, to the first exercise of true repentance. 
 And that which followed the confession of iniqui¬ 
 ties, in the offering of the sacrifice ; namely, the 
 sprinkling of the blood, and the sending away of 
 the live goat, corresponded to those comfortable inti¬ 
 mations of pardon, which the blessed Spirit affords 
 to believers in, and after, their exercise of evange¬ 
 lical repentance, by means of gospel-ordinances. 
 
 7. That which is chiefly urged against the pri¬ 
 ority of justification by faith, to the first exercise 
 of true repentance, is ‘ the supposed tendency of 
 it, to derogate from the necessity and importance 
 of such repentance.’ 
 
 This is the old hackneyed objection, which has 
 always been urged by legal teachers, against the 
 doctrine of a sinner’s justification by faith alone ; 
 and the solid answers which were given by the 
 Apostle Paul, to the Judaizing teachers, and by 
 our Reformers, to the Papists, in that case, are 
 abundantly sufficient in this: such as,—That, 
 when we receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ, 
 
202 
 
 OBJECTIONS 
 
 as the ground of our justification, we receive it 
 also, as the meritorious and procuring cause of 
 true repentance ; that, the Holy Spirit works re¬ 
 pentance in us, at the same time in which he works 
 that faith, by which, we receive the righteousness 
 of Christ for our justification ; so that, though 
 justification be before repentance, in order of na¬ 
 ture, yet the one cannot^ be said, at least in the 
 case of adults, to be before the other, in order of 
 time; that, a believer cannot have the comfortable 
 sense or evidence of his state of pardon, without 
 the exercise of true repentance; that, the negli¬ 
 gence of believers, in not exercising repentance 
 for particular sins particularly, will bring upon 
 them, most heavy corrections in the present life; 
 that, all who live and die without repentance, 
 shall inevitably perish ; and that, it is not a true 
 repentance, or a godly sorrow for sin, to which, 
 the pardoning mercy of God, and the redeeming 
 love of Christ, apprehended by faith, are not con¬ 
 straining motives. 
 
 8. Once more : It has been said. That ‘ if the 
 necessity of repentance in order to forgiveness, 
 be given up, we shall not be in the practice of 
 urging it on the unconverted. We shall imagine, 
 that it will be leading souls astray, to press it be¬ 
 fore, and in order to believing; and afterward it 
 will be thought unnecessary, as all that is wanted 
 will come of itself.’ 
 
 To this ignorant, perverse, and malicious cavil, 
 a short answer may suffice. The objector seems 
 to insinuate. That he knows not hoiv sinners can 
 
ANSWERED. 
 
 203 
 
 be urged to repentance, and works worthy of re¬ 
 pentance, without representing them, as necessary 
 in order to justification. But, might not sinners 
 be urged to consider seriously, that while they 
 continue impenitent and unholy, they evidence 
 themselves to be in a state of condemnation, and 
 in the broad way that leads to destruction ? Might 
 not they be warned, and pressed to consider, that 
 impenitence obstinately persisted in, will termi¬ 
 nate in everlasting destruction ? Might not the 
 necessity of true repentance be pressed upon sin¬ 
 ners, as a motive to their believing in Christ; be¬ 
 cause such repentance cannot be attained, other¬ 
 wise than by believing in him ? Nay, is not this 
 the only suitable, and profitable, way of urging 
 sinners to evangelical repentance ? Is it not pre¬ 
 posterous and unreasonable, to press upon poor 
 sinners the necessity of repentance, without point¬ 
 ing out to them, the only means by which the ex¬ 
 ercise of it may be attained ? as it would be, to 
 say much to a sick man, in order to persuade him 
 to cure himself; whilst he neither himself knows, 
 nor is informed by any other, by what means he 
 may be cured. Has not this unskilful way of 
 urging sinners to the exercise of repentance, the 
 most destructive tendency; as it leads them to 
 take up with a sort of legal repentance, which 
 fills them with a pharisaical pride, and with such 
 conceit of self-righteousness, as, more than all the 
 gross irregularities, of which they pretend to have 
 repented, hardens them in their enmity and op¬ 
 position to the doctrine of grace ? 
 
201 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 With respect to true believers, our denying the 
 priority of the first exercise of evangelical repent¬ 
 ance, to justification, is far from rendering it un¬ 
 necessary to urge even them, to the daily exercise 
 of this repentance. Although believers have in 
 them, the principle and habit of true repentance, 
 and of all other spiritual graces; yet they need, 
 by the admonitions and exhortations of the word, 
 to be frequently stirred up to the exercise of them. 
 These are necessary, especially in the case of true 
 repentance; because of the deceitful and powerful 
 workings of indwelling sin, and on account of that 
 spiritual sluggishness, which is a part of remain¬ 
 ing depravity, and which calls for frequent re¬ 
 proof and correction. Hence the exercise of spi¬ 
 ritual graces, and the fruits meet for repentance, 
 are commonly as little to be expected even from 
 believers, without the use of means, both internal 
 and external, as the production of a good crop, 
 even in the most fruitful soil, without due culti¬ 
 vation. Accordingly, it appears to be the main 
 design of a great part of Scripture, to excite be¬ 
 lievers to the lively and daily exercise of evangeli¬ 
 cal repentance. They are represented, sometimes, 
 as wise virgins, who slumber and sleep with the 
 foolish, and as having left their first love; and, 
 therefore, they are exhorted to remember from 
 whence they are fallen, and to repent, and do the 
 first works.'* 
 
 *1 For most of the arguments in the immediately preceding Chap¬ 
 ter, and of the answers to objections in this, I with much pleasure. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 205 
 
 \1hat has now been advanced, constrains me 
 to exhort my Reader to mortify, through the 
 Spirit, his unbeliefs legal temper^ and enmity to 
 God, and to tlie method of salvation by Jesus 
 Chiist. These are the principal sources of all the 
 objections, that have ever been raised, against the 
 posteriority of the exercise of true repentance, to 
 laith and justification. O my dear Reader, look 
 unto the Lord Jesus Clirist, and be you saved 
 fioni those, and all the other, inveterate corrup¬ 
 tions of your nature. Look to Him, for that su¬ 
 pernatural faith of the law, as a violated covenant 
 of works, which issues in deep and thorough con¬ 
 viction, of the sin of your nature and life, and es¬ 
 pecially, of the exceeding sinfulness of your un¬ 
 belief. Look to Him also, for that saving faith 
 of the glorious gospel, which is a cordial belief of 
 the offers, invitations, and absolute promises of 
 it, with particular application of them; which is 
 the confidence of the heart in Him, for all his 
 salvation to yourself in particular; which is a re¬ 
 nunciation of your own righteousness, in the af¬ 
 fair of justification, and a reliance only on His ; 
 and which works by love to God, to Christ, to the 
 Holy Spirit, to the honour of the law, and the 
 gloiy of the gospel, and to the absolute freeness 
 
 acknowledge myself indebted, to ]Mr Boston’s Miscellaneous 
 Questions, and also to an accurate, and able, vindication of some 
 points of gospel doctrine, entitled “ Precious Truth,” by tlie Reverend 
 John Anderson, in N. America. I have freely availed myself 
 of these two excellent publications—They are far from being so well 
 known as they deserve to be. 
 
206 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 of Clirist’s great salvation. By means of the 
 frequent exercise of this holy faith, you will re¬ 
 ceive the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, to mortify 
 your legal temper, and your natural enmity to the 
 absolute freeness of Christ’s salvation. And in 
 proportion as these are mortified, you will cease 
 from objecting against true repentance as a part 
 of that salvation, which Jesus Christ merited for 
 his elect, by fulfilling all righteousness for them. 
 You will no longer be disposed to argue against 
 faith, and justification by faith, as previous in 
 order of nature, to the first exercise of evange¬ 
 lical repentance. On the contrary, you will spi¬ 
 ritually discern, approve, admire, and love, the 
 comely order of these, as unalterably fixed, by 
 infinite wisdom and love, in the counsel of peace, 
 and covenant of grace. It may be, you have 
 begun already to “ believe to the saving of the 
 souland yet, you are disposed to object against 
 the priority of faith, and of justification, to the 
 first exercise of true repentance. If this be the 
 present frame of your mind, study through grace, 
 I entreat you, to attain more spiritual, clear, and 
 correct, views of the truth as it is in Jesus, and 
 to advance quickly, in the exercise of spiritual 
 understanding, faith, and love. The more you 
 know, believe, and love the truth; the sooner, 
 will you detect your errors, and with holy abhor¬ 
 rence relinquish them; and the more, will you 
 receive the love of the truth, and of the due order 
 of all its parts. The more will you love, not only 
 every particular doctrine or blessing of the glori- 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 207 
 
 ous gospel; but, the peculiar -plan of each in the 
 covenant of grace. 
 
 In conclusion : If any of my Readers, has not 
 yet repented of his innumerable and aggravated 
 sins, I must, before I take my leave of him, again 
 exhort and beseech him to repent without delay. 
 The great and terrible God commands you, in the 
 most peremptory manner, to repent of all your 
 transgressions of his holy law. He “ now com- 
 mandeth all men every where to repent; because 
 he hath appointed a day in the which, he will 
 judge the world in righteousness, by that man 
 whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given 
 assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised 
 him from the dead^” Here the apostle Paul de¬ 
 clares, That God cammandeth all men to repent. 
 And the powerful motive by which he enforces 
 obedience to the Divine command, is this :—God 
 “ hath appointed a day in which, he will judge 
 the world in righteousness, by that man whom he 
 hath ordained.” Believe then, and consider, the 
 certainty of that great and terrible day. By rais¬ 
 ing Christ from the dead, God hath given assur¬ 
 ance of that day to all men ; and therefore, if any 
 man still doubt of the judgment to come, it will 
 be at his peril. The God of truth has not only 
 said, but sworn^ That there shall be a day of 
 judgment. “ We shall all stand before the judg¬ 
 ment-seat of Christ. For it is written, as I live, 
 saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and 
 
 ’’ Acts xvii. 30, 31. 
 
. 208 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 every tongue shall confess to God®.” At that 
 awful day, “ the Lord Jesus will come in the 
 clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, in 
 the glory of his Father, and with his holy angels.” 
 At his coming, as the Judge of quick and dead, 
 all the sons and daughters of Adam shall, by the 
 sound of the last trumpet, be summoned to ap¬ 
 pear before his tribunal. The sound of this 
 trumpet mil be so loud, as not only to be heard 
 at once, in all places of the earth, and all depths 
 of the sea; but, to awake all who sleep in the 
 dust, and raise them from death. Then the 
 righteous and omniscient Judge, “ shall sit on 
 the throne of his glory;” his “ great white 
 throneS” that throne which, as Daniel says, will 
 be “ like the fiery flame“.” His throne of judg¬ 
 ment shall not only be a great, but a white and a 
 fiery throne, white as the snow, and fiery as the 
 flame; white, because no judgment shall proceed 
 from it, but what will be most pure and impar¬ 
 tial ; and fiery, for it will be inexpressibly terri¬ 
 ble to every one who lives and dies impenitent. 
 Reflect seriously, O impenitent sinner, that after 
 your hardness and impenitent heart, you are 
 treasuring up to yourself, wrath against the day 
 of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judg¬ 
 ment of God. Oh ! if death surprise you in your 
 impenitence, the righteous Judge in that day, 
 will, with terrible majesty, and the most appalling 
 frown, pronounce on you and all the impenitent. 
 
 ‘ Rom. xiv. 10, 11. 
 
 ‘ Rev. sx. 11. 
 
 “ Dan. vii. 9. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 
 
 209 
 
 this tremendous sentence ;—“ Depart from me, ye 
 cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
 and his angels’".” Dreadful doom ! To be sen¬ 
 tenced to dwell in fire,—in fire prepared for the 
 devil and his angels,—in everlasting fire, how 
 horrible, how amazing ! To be damned by Him, 
 who came to save sinners from sin and hell, must 
 be double damnation. But thus it shall be. The 
 Lamb of God shall, in that awful day, roar as a 
 lion against you; and, by an irreversible sentence 
 from the throne, adjudge you to the most exqui¬ 
 site, the most direful torment, and to the society 
 of devils for ever and ever. No sooner shall the 
 sentence be past, than it shall be executed. 
 “ These shall go away into everlasting punish¬ 
 ment*.” “ Knowing therefore the terror of the 
 Lord,” I earnestly intreat you, to return by true 
 repentance to the God of all grace. O be per¬ 
 suaded, while it is called to-day, to repent and 
 turn from all your transgressions; so iniquity 
 shall not be your ruin. “ As I live, saith the 
 Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
 wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way 
 and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil 
 ways ; for why will ye die^ !” “ Therefore also 
 
 now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all 
 your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, 
 and with mourning; and rend your heart, and 
 not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your 
 God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to 
 
 ™ Matth. XXV. 41. 
 
 * Matth. XXV, 46. 
 
 y Ezckrxxxiii. 11. 
 
210 
 
 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 anger, and of great kindness, and repentetli him 
 of the e^dP.” O comply with these compassion¬ 
 ate, and tender invitations. And if you would 
 return to the Lord by true repentance, believe in 
 order to repent. Believe with application to your¬ 
 self, the commands and curses of the law as a 
 violated covenant of works ; in order to true con¬ 
 viction of your sin and misery. And then be¬ 
 lieve with particular application, the declarations, 
 offers, and promises of the blessed gospel; in 
 order to such a fiducial apprehension of the mercy 
 of God in Christ, as will dispose and encourage 
 you, to exercise that evangelical repentance which 
 will be acceptable to him. Trust in the adorable 
 Redeemer, that exalted Prince and Saviour, for 
 repentance unto life; and pray in his name to the 
 God of all grace, for “ the Spirit of grace and of 
 supplications,” to enable you to look upon Him 
 whom you have pierced, and to mourn for Him. 
 
 * Joelii. 12, 13. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 Page SO, line 19, For in, read on. 
 
 EDINBURGH; 
 
 Arch. Allaroice and Co. Printers. 
 
Published by 
 
 THOMSONS, BROTHERS, 
 
 EDINBURGH, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING WORKS, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. Dr COLQUHOUN, 
 
 LEITH. 
 
 I. 
 
 A TREATISE on the COVENANT OF WORKS. 
 Price 4s. 6d. 
 
 -“ Dr Colquhoun is the author of two treatises which 
 
 we reviewed some time ago,—the one on ‘‘ Spiritual Com¬ 
 fort,” the other on “ the Covenant of Grace.” We are hap¬ 
 py to observe, from that now before us, that he continues, 
 with unbroken spirit and vigour, to pursue his theological 
 exertions—edifying the church of Christ from the press as 
 well as from the pulpit. It breathes the same sentiments of 
 Scriptural piety as those now referred to, and indicates a like 
 sacred regard to the authority of the Scriptures in doctrinal 
 discussion.- 
 
 - “ We do not recollect a single page which he has writ¬ 
 ten, to which he might not justly, and with a good con¬ 
 science, subjoin the Apostle’s declaration, “ I reckon not ray 
 life dear to myself, that I may finish my course with joy, and 
 the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to 
 testify the Gospel of the grace of God.” Indeed, he never 
 seems to lose sight of the grand concernment of those whom 
 he purposes to edify. Even in his prefatory remarks there 
 is so much unaffected simplicity, and godly sincerity, and 
 entire devotedness to his subject, as must bespeak the atten¬ 
 tion of all who read Christian books with a Christian spirit_ 
 
 -“ What our author has written is what a divine, in the 
 
 old substantial import of the word, only could write. It is 
 the result of Biblical investigation, of close study, and a ju¬ 
 dicious attention to the operations of nature and grace in his 
 
 own experience and in that of others.-Every one who has 
 
 imbibed the pure spirit of the Bible, must see at once, not 
 only that our author s continual uniform aim is universal 
 holiness of heart and character, but that his aim is prosecut¬ 
 ed, in that only way which revelation authorises, and which, 
 therefore, can be rationally expected to have the divine coun¬ 
 tenance and Edinburgh Christian Instructor, 
 
 January 1823. 
 
ii Books Published by 
 
 II. 
 
 A TREATISE on the COVENANT of GRACE, 
 with a fine Portrait. Price 6s. 
 
 - We acknowledge that we have read this volume with 
 
 feelings highly gratified, as it contains so much Christian unc¬ 
 tion, and experience, and sentiment; and bears such distinct, 
 yet unostentatious proofs of the author’s being under the in¬ 
 fluence of the gospel he explains, and sincerely solicitous that 
 it may be the power of God unto salvation, to all men in 
 general, and to his own flock in particular. We would with 
 much pleasure give copious extracts from this excellent book, 
 but we rather incline to recommend the whole to the perusal 
 of the serious reader ; persuaded that if his mind be imbued 
 with the same spirit of piety and of deep concern about sal¬ 
 vation, which must have supported and animated the vener¬ 
 able author in the execution of it, he will find himself amply 
 recompensed. We cannot lay down our pen, however, with¬ 
 out adverting particularly to the conclusion of the treatise, as 
 it contains an admirable practical improvement of all the 
 preceding discussions; and w'e are confident will be most 
 acceptable, as the spirit is closely congenial to the feelings 
 and principles of the genuine Christian awakened to a sense 
 of sin and his need of holiness ;—it brings under the parti¬ 
 cular consideration of believers, or (to use the appropriate 
 language of our worthy author) those who are within the 
 covenant of grace, what is incumbent on them. Nor does 
 he confine himself, like the mere moralist, to those duties 
 which result from the relative situation in which we stand 
 to God as his creatures, on whom he has conferred so many 
 benefits; but, with the enlarged views and affectionate re¬ 
 gard of a well-instructed and faithful steward of the mani¬ 
 fold grace of his Master, he takes a wider range, and states 
 and carries home to conscience, what the sinner should do 
 that he may be saved, and what he should do also, that hs 
 may be fitted for enjoying the glory that shall be revealed.” 
 - Edinburgh Christian Instructor, October, 1818. 
 
 -‘‘ Dr Colquhoun is one of those w'hose practice has 
 
 long adorned his profession, and whose doctrine has long re¬ 
 freshed the spirits of the godly. Had such practice and such 
 doctrine been uniform in the church in which he is a min¬ 
 ister, seceders had never been; and so soon as their judica¬ 
 tories and their pulpits shall return to their own principles, 
 though we hope not before, seceders shall no more be. In 
 general we can most sincerely recommend this book as a safe, 
 judicious, evangelical, and elaborate exhibition of a subject 
 
Thomsoiis, Brothers. iii 
 
 at once the most august and interesting; its criticisms are 
 sound, its doctrines incorrupt, and its illustrations and proofs 
 ^mtual and clear. It is peculiar indeed for its richness in 
 -Bible sentiment arid language ,• neither do we think that the 
 age has any reason to find fault with its style. The object 
 of our venerable author is not his own fame: he is anxious 
 for the preservation of divine truth, and for the salvation of 
 souls; he seeks not the praise of being a dazzling and original 
 writer, but aspires after the more solid honour of a useful 
 minister of Jesus. Most cordially do we therefore welcome 
 the appearance of this excellent volume, and most earnestly 
 do we hope, that, under the sanction of a name which the 
 religious public justly respects, its doctrines may obtain a 
 
 new and more general circulation.”- Christian Magazine, 
 
 December, 1818. t, > 
 
 III. 
 
 A TREATISE on the LAW and GOSPEL, second 
 
 edition. Price 4s. 6d. 
 
 “ have read this treatise with great attention, and 
 
 with unmingled satisfaction. The subjects here discussed 
 are of the greatest importance, and are treated in a clear and 
 rnasterly manner. It reminds us more of the substantial di¬ 
 vinity of older times, than of the superficial and flimsy per¬ 
 formances which are so often the product of our own days.— 
 Dr L. has evidently studied his subject thoroughly, and 
 understood it in all its bearings: his conceptions are dis¬ 
 tinctly formed, and expressed with simplicity and clearness • 
 and though many of the discussions are chiefly of a specula¬ 
 tive nature, they are so managed, that they will scarcely be 
 read without producing a practical effect.”— 
 
 Monitor, March, 1816. * 
 
 IV. 
 
 A COLLECTION of the PROMISES of the GOS¬ 
 PEL, arranged under their proper Heads, with Re¬ 
 flections and Exhortations deduced from them. 
 Price 4s. 
 
 V. 
 
 A VIEW of SAVING FAITH, from the Sacred Re¬ 
 cords. Price 5s. * 
 
s 
 
 iv Books Published, ^'c. 
 
 VI. 
 
 A TREATISE on SPIRITUAL COMFORT, third 
 edition. Price 5s. 
 
 ■ “ The soundness of the Doctor’s theological views is 
 
 apparent in every page, and his numerous allusions to sacred 
 history, and illustrations of divine truth, evince him to be 
 ‘ mighty in the scriptures.’ He faithfully declares the cha¬ 
 racteristic doctrines of the gospel, but at the same time takes 
 every proper opportunity to guard against that unwarranted 
 or licentious use which presumptuous professors are apt to 
 make of them. He has, indeed, and most judiciously, avoided 
 all doctrinal discussions; but his illustrations, both of the 
 import and grounds of spiritual comfort, and of the varied 
 circumstances of those who stand in need of it, are a cl^r 
 proof that his mind is richly stored with that sound Christian 
 knowledge, which renders the man of God throughly furnish¬ 
 ed for every good work—a workman who needeth not be 
 ashamed. And we have no hesitation in saying that, by 
 that class of our readers, who know from experience the 
 exercises of a tender conscience, his work will be highly 
 prized; for, through the whole of it, he evidently studies to 
 follow the example, and act in the spirit of his Divine 
 Master, who came into the world ‘ to heal the broken¬ 
 hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recover¬ 
 ing of sight to the blind; and to set at liberty them that 
 are bruised.’”— Christian Instructor, March 1814,‘ see also 
 Evangelical Magazine, and Eclectic Review. 
 
 VII. 
 
 A CATECHISM for the Instruction and Direc¬ 
 tion of Young Communicants ; to which is added, 
 A Compendious View of the Baptismal Profession 
 and Engagement, which young intending Commun¬ 
 icants ought to renew before their admission to the 
 Lord’s Table. Price 9d. 
 
 “ All Dr Colquhoun’s former publications were distinguish¬ 
 ed by sound theology, affectionate sentiment, and practical 
 
 and experimental truth.-His Communicant’s Catechism 
 
 does not form an exception to this statement.-On the 
 
 whole, it is a judicious performance, and calculated, we think, 
 to promote the great objects its pious and venerable author 
 
 has in view.-We freely recommend it, and cordially join 
 
 in his earnest desire, that it ‘ may, under the influence of the 
 Spirit of Truth, prove instructive and useful to the rising 
 generation.’” — Edinburgh Christian Instructor, Nov. 1821. 
 

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