14. Chapter I.

Chapter I.

Work of the Holy Spirit in the new creation by regeneration. The new creation completed — Regeneration is the especial work of the Holy Spirit — It is worked under the Old Testament, but clearly revealed in the New; it is of the same kind in all those who are regenerate, its causes and way being the same in all — It does not consist in baptism alone, nor in a moral reformation of life; but a new creature is formed in it; its nature is declared and further explained — Denial of the original depravation of nature is the cause of many noxious opinions — Regeneration does not consist in enthusiastic raptures; their nature and danger — The whole doctrine is necessary, despised, corrupted, and vindicated.

We previously declared the work of the Holy Spirit in preparing and forming the natural body of Christ. This was the beginning of the new creation, the foundation of the gospel state and church. But this was not the whole of the work he had to do. As he had provided and prepared the natural body of Christ, so he was to prepare his mystical body also. And hereby the work of the new creation was to be completed and perfected. As it was with respect to the Spirit and his work in the old creation, so it was also in the new. All things in their first production had darkness and death upon them; for "the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep," Genesis 1:2. Nor was there anything that had life in it, or a principle of life, or any disposition to this life. In this condition the Spirit moved on the prepared matter, preserving and cherishing it, and communicating a principle of life to all things, by which they were animated, as we declared. It was no different in the new creation. There was a spiritual darkness and death that came upon all mankind by sin; nor was there in any man living, the least principle of spiritual life, nor any disposition to this life. In this state of things, the Holy Spirit undertakes to create a new world — new heavens and a new earth — in which righteousness would dwell. And in the first place, this was by his effectual communication of a new principle of spiritual life to the souls of God’s elect, who were the matter designed by God for this work to be wrought upon. He does this in their regeneration, as we will now manifest.

First, Regeneration in Scripture is everywhere assigned to be the proper and particular work of the Holy Spirit:

John 3:3-6, "Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus says to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

It was an ancient knowing teacher of the church of the Jews, a "master in Israel," with whom our blessed Savior discusses this, and instructs. For on consideration of his miracles, Nicodemus concluded that "God was with him," and came to inquire of him about the kingdom of God. Our Savior, knowing how all our faith and obedience to God, and all our acceptance with God, depend on our regeneration, or being born again, he acquaints Nicodemus with the necessity of it; and at first he is surprised by this. This is why Jesus proceeds to instruct him in the nature of the work whose necessity he had declared; and he describes this both by the cause and the effect of it. For the cause of it, he tells Nicodemus that it is worked by "water and the Spirit" — by the Spirit, as the principal efficient cause; and by water, as the pledge, sign, and token440 of it, in the initial seal of the covenant. The doctrine of this was then being preached among them by John the Baptist. Or the same thing is meant in a redoubled expression, the Spirit being signified by the water also — he is often promised under this idea.441 The Holy Spirit, then, is the principal and efficient cause of this work of regeneration; this is why the one in whom it is worked, is said to be "born of the Spirit:" Verse 8, "So is every one that is born of the Spirit." And this is the same as what is delivered in John 1:13, "Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." The natural and carnal means of blood, flesh, and the will of man, are wholly rejected in this matter; and the whole efficiency of the new birth is ascribed to God alone. The Spirit’s work corresponds to whatever contribution the will and nature of man makes to natural generation, for these things are compared here; and from its analogy to natural generation, this work of the Spirit is called "regeneration." So our Savior expresses the allusion and opposition between these things in this place: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," John 3:6. And in this we also have a further description of this work of the Holy Spirit by its effect, or product; it is "spirit" — a new spiritual being, creature, nature, or life — as will be declared. And because there is a communication of a new spiritual life in it, it is called a "vivification" or "quickening,"442 with respect to the state in which all men are before this work is wrought in and on them, Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5. This is the work of the Spirit alone, for "it is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing," John 6:63. See Romans 8:9-39 where the same truth is declared and asserted. Also:

Titus 3:4-6, "But after the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior."

What we have frequently mentioned, expressly occurs here— namely, the whole blessed Trinity, and each person in it, acting distinctly in the work of our salvation. The spring or fountain of the whole lies in the kindness and love of God, specifically the Father. It is ascribed to this everywhere in the Scripture. See John 3:16; Eph 1.3-6.444 Whatever is done in accomplishing this work, it is done in the pursuit of his will, purpose, and counsel; and it is an effect of his love and grace. The procuring cause of the application to us of the love and kindness of God, is Jesus Christ our Savior in the whole work of his mediation (verse 6). And the immediate, efficient cause in the communication to us of the love and kindness of the Father, through the mediation of the Son, is the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit does this in the renovation of our natures, by the washing of regeneration, in which we are purged from our sins, and sanctified to God.

More testimonies to this purpose do not need to be insisted on. This truth about the Holy Spirit being the author of our regeneration is granted by all who pretend to sobriety in Christianity — in words at least, and so far as I know. The ancients considered this a cogent argument to prove his deity; that is, from the greatness and dignity of the work.445 The occasion for this vindication of it is that it has been derided and ridiculed by some others. It must not be expected that I would handle practically the whole doctrine of regeneration here, because it may be educed by inferences from the Scripture, according to the analogy of faith, and from the experiences of those who believe — which has already been done by others. My present aim is only to confirm the fundamental principles of truth concerning those operations of the Holy Spirit which are, at this day, opposed with violence and virulence. And what I offer on the present subject may be reduced to the ensuing heads:

First, Although the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit was worked under the Old Testament, even from the foundation of the world, and the doctrine of it was recorded in the Scriptures, its revelation was but obscure by comparison to that light and evidence which it is brought into by the gospel. This is evident from the discourse which our blessed Savior had with Nicodemus on this subject. For when Jesus acquainted him clearly with the doctrine of regeneration, he was surprised, and fell into that inquiry which indicates some amazement, "How can these things be?" Yet the reply of our Savior makes it clear that Nicodemus might have attained a better acquaintance with it out of the Scripture than what he had: "Are you," Jesus asks, "a master in Israel, and do not know these things?" — "Do you take it upon yourself to teach others what their state and condition is, and what their duty towards God is, and yet you are ignorant yourself of so great and fundamental a doctrine as this, which you might have learned from the Scripture?" For if he could not have learned it, then there would have been no just cause for the reproof given to him by our Savior; for it was neither a crime nor negligence on his part to be ignorant of what God had not revealed. This doctrine, therefore — namely, that everyone who will enter into the kingdom of God must be born again of the Holy Spirit — was contained in the writings of the Old Testament. It was contained in the promises that God would circumcise the hearts of his people; that he would take away their heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh with his law written in it; and in other ways, as it will be proved afterward.

Yet we see that it was so obscurely declared, that the principal masters and teachers of the Jewish people knew little or nothing of it. Some, indeed, would have this regeneration be nothing but a reformation of life, according to the rules of the Scripture — if they knew what they would have, and from what may be gathered from their minds, out of their "great swelling words of vanity." But Nicodemus knew the necessity of reformation of life well enough, if he ever read Moses or the Prophets. It is a blasphemous imagination to suppose that our Lord Jesus Christ proposed to Nicodemus the very thing he knew perfectly well, only under a new name or notion which Nicodemus had never heard of before, so as to charge him with being ignorant of what indeed he knew and understood full well.

I do not know how those who look at "regeneration" as no more than a metaphorical term for an amendment of life, can free themselves from the guilt of this. And if it were so, if there is no more in regeneration than, as they love to say, becoming a new moral man — which is a thing that all the world understood, both Jews and Gentiles — then our Lord Jesus was far from bringing it into more light and giving it more perspicuity by what he taught concerning its nature, manner, causes, and effects. Rather, he thereby cast it into more darkness and obscurity than it was ever delivered in, either by Jewish masters or Gentile philosophy. The gospel really teaches all duties of morality with more exactness and clearness, and presses us to observe them on motives incomparably more cogent, than anything that ever befell the mind of man to otherwise think or apprehend. Yet, if it is supposed to intend nothing in its doctrine of the new birth or regeneration, other than those moral duties and their observance, then it is dark and unintelligible. If a secret, mysterious work of the Spirit of God in and upon the souls of men is not intended in the writings of the New Testament, but only a reformation of life — only the improvement of men’s natural abilities in the exercise of moral virtue through the application of outward means to their minds and understandings, which will then conduct and persuade them to this reformation — then I say these writings must be obscure beyond those of any other writers. And some have not feared already to publish this to the world concerning the epistles of Paul. But so long as we can obtain an acknowledgment from men that these writings are true, and in any sense the word of God, then we do not doubt, but evince, that the things intended in them are clearly and properly expressed — as they ought to be, and as they are capable of being expressed. The seeming difficulties in them arise from the mysterious nature of the things contained in them, and the weakness of our minds in apprehending them, and not from any obscurity or intricacy in their declaration. And indeed, the main contest into which things are reduced for most, consists in this. Some judge that all things are so expressed in the Scripture with a condescension to our capacity, that there is still to be conceived an inexpressible grandeur in many of them that is beyond our comprehension. Others judge that under a grandeur of words and hyperbole, things of a simpler and a lower sense are intended and are to be understood that way. Some judge that the things of the gospel are deep and mysterious, and that its words and expressions are plain and proper; others think its words and expressions are mystical and figurative, but the things intended are ordinary and obvious to the natural reason of every man. But now to return to our topic.

Both regeneration and its doctrine were under the Old Testament. All the elect of God, in their several generations, were regenerate by the Spirit of God. But there was an amplification and enlargement of truth and grace under the gospel which came by Jesus Christ, who brought life and immortality to light. Thus, just as more persons were to be made partakers of its mercy than of old, so the nature of the work itself is far more clearly, evidently, and distinctly revealed and declared than of old. And because this is the principal and internal remedy of that disease which the Lord Christ came to cure and take away, one of the first things he preached was the doctrine of regeneration. Previously, all things of this nature, even "from the beginning of the world, lay hidden in God" Ephesians 3:9. Some intimations were given of them in "parables" and "dark sayings," Psalms 78:2 — in types, shadows, and ceremonies — so that the nature of the grace that was in them was not clearly discerned. But now the great Physician of our souls had come, who was to heal the wound of our natures, from which we "were dead in trespasses and sins." He laid bare the disease itself, and declared how great its extent was — the ruin that we were under from it — so that we might know and be thankful for its reparation. Hence, no doctrine is more fully and plainly declared in the gospel than this doctrine of our regeneration by the effectual and ineffable operation of the Holy Spirit. And it is a consequence and fruit of the depravity of our nature, that against the full light and evidence of truth now clearly manifested, this great and holy work is opposed and despised.

Yet few have the confidence to absolutely deny it in plain and intelligible words; rather, many tread in the steps of the one in the church of God who first undertook to undermine it.446 This was Pelagius, whose principal artifice in introducing his heresy, was to cloud his intentions with general and ambiguous expressions, as some would also do by making use of his very words and phrases. Hence, for a long time, when he was justly charged with his sacrilegious errors, he made no defense of them, but reviled his adversaries as corrupting what he had in mind, and not understanding his expressions. By this means, he got himself acquitted in the judgment of some who were less experienced in the sleights and cunning craftiness of those who lie in wait to deceive447 — he was juridically freed in an assembly of bishops. So in all probability he would have quickly infected the whole church with the poison of those opinions which the proud and corrupted nature of man is so apt to receive and embrace, if God had not stirred up a few holy and learned persons — Austin especially — to reveal Pelagius’ frauds, repel his calumnies, and confute his sophisms. These persons did so with indefatigable industry and good success. Yet these tares, once sown by the envious one, found such a suitable and fruitful soil in the darkened minds and proud hearts of men, that from that day to this, they could never be fully extirpated.448 The same bitter root still springs up to defile many, though various new colors have been put on its leaves and fruit. Although those among us at present who have undertaken the same cause as Pelagius, do not equal him either in learning or diligence, or in an appearance of piety and devotion, yet they exactly imitate him in declaring their minds in cloudy, ambiguous expressions which are capable of various constructions — until they are fully examined. And upon that, these men reproach those who oppose them (as Arminius did) as not representing their sentiments correctly, when they judge that it is to their advantage to do so — as the scurrilous and clamorous writings of S. P.449 sufficiently manifest.

Secondly, Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is the same work, as to its kind, as it has been from the beginning of the world, and as it will be to its end. And it is worked by the same power of the Spirit in all those who are, or ever were, or ever will be regenerate. There is great variety in the application of the outward means which the Holy Spirit is pleased to use and make effectual towards accomplishing this great work. Nor can the ways and manner of this be reduced to any certain order, for the Spirit works how and when he pleases, following the sole rule of his own will and wisdom.

Mostly, God makes use of the preaching of the word; this is why it is called "the ingrafted word, which is able to save our souls," James 1:21; and the "incorruptible seed," by which we are "born again," 1 Peter 1:23. Sometimes it is worked without it — as it is in all those who are regenerate before they come to the use of reason, or who are in their infancy. Sometimes men are called and made regenerate in an extraordinary manner, as Paul was. But mostly they are regenerate in and by the use of ordinary means, instituted, blessed, and sanctified by God for that end and purpose. And there is also great variety in the perception and understanding of the work itself in those in whom it is worked. For in itself, regeneration is secret and hidden, and it is not discoverable in any other way than in its causes and effects; for as "the wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from, and where it goes, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit," John 3:8. In the minds and consciences of some, regeneration is made known by infallible signs and tokens. Paul knew that Christ was formed and revealed in himself, Gal 1.15-16.450 So he declared that whoever is in Christ Jesus "is a new creature," 2 Corinthians 5:17 — that is, is born again — whether that person knows they are born again or not. Many are in the dark all their days as to their own condition in this matter; for they "fear the Lord, and obey the voice of his servant" (Christ Jesus), and yet "walk in darkness, and have no light," Isaiah 50:10. They are "children of light," Luke 16:8, John 12:36, Ephesians 5:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:5; yet they "walk in darkness, and have no light:" recently such expressions have been well used and improved by some, and derided and blasphemed by others. And there is great variety in carrying on this work towards perfection — in the growth of the new creature, or in the increase of grace implanted in our natures by it. For some make a great and speedy progress towards perfection through the supplies of the Spirit; and others thrive slowly and bring forth little fruit. The causes and occasions for this are not to be enumerated here. But notwithstanding all differences in previous dispositions, in the application of outward means, in the manner of it (whether it is ordinary or extraordinary), in the consequents of much or less fruit — the work itself, in its own nature, is of the same kind; it is one and the same. The elect of God were not regenerate one way, by one kind of operation of the Holy Spirit under the Old Testament, and regenerate another way under the New Testament. Those who were miraculously converted, as Paul was, or who had miraculous gifts bestowed on them at their conversion, as multitudes of primitive Christians had, were not regenerate in any other way, nor were they regenerate by any other internal efficiency of the Holy Spirit, than everyone who is really made a partaker of this grace and privilege today. Nor were those visibly miraculous operations of the Holy Spirit, any part of the work of regeneration; nor did they necessarily belong to it. For many who were never regenerate, were subjects of those operations, and received miraculous gifts by them; and many who were regenerate, were never partakers of them. It is a fruit of the highest ignorance and unacquaintedness imaginable with these things, to affirm that in the work of regeneration, the Holy Spirit worked miraculously of old, in and by outwardly visible operations — but that now he works only in a human and rational way, leading our understanding by the rules of reason (unless it is the mere external mode and sign of his operation that is intended). For all men ever were, and ever will be, regenerate by the same kind of operation, and by the same effect of the Holy Spirit on the faculties of their souls. This will be further manifest if we consider,

1. That the condition of all men — as unregenerate — is absolutely the same. One is not by nature more unregenerate than another. All men since the fall and the corruption of our nature by sin, are in the same state and condition towards God. They are all alike alienated from him, and are all alike under his curse.451 There are degrees of wickedness in those who are unregenerate, but there is no difference as to state and condition between them — all are unregenerate alike; just as among those who are regenerate, there are different degrees of holiness and righteousness. One, it may be, far exceeds another; and yet between them there is no difference of state and condition — they are all equally regenerate. Indeed, some may be further forward and prepared for the work itself, and thereby further near the state of it than others; but the state itself is incapable of such degrees. Now, it must be the same work as to its kind and nature, which relieves and translates men out of the same state and condition. What gives the formal reason for the change of their state, for their translation from death to life, is and must be the same in all. If you can fix on any man from the foundation of the world, who was not equally born in sin, who was not by nature dead in trespasses and sins with all other men — the man Christ Jesus being the only exception — then I would grant that he might have another kind of regeneration than others have; but that man I know would stand in need of none at all.

2. The state into which men are brought by regeneration is the same. Nor is it, in its essence or nature, capable of degrees, so that one would be more regenerate than another. Everyone that is born of God is equally so, though one may be more beautiful than another. He may have the image of his heavenly Father more evidently impressed on him, but not more truly. Men may be more or less holy, more or less sanctified, but they cannot be more or less regenerate. All children born into the world are equally born, though some quickly outstrip others in the perfections and accomplishments of their nature. And all who are born of God are equally so, though some speedily outdo others in the accomplishments and perfections of grace. There was, then, only ever one kind of regeneration in this world; and its essential form is specifically the same in all.

3. The efficient causes of this work are the same. The grace and power by which it is worked, along with the internal manner of the communication of that grace, is the same, as it will be declared afterward. All must come to this standard, then. Men may bear themselves high, and despise this whole work of the Spirit of God, or set up an imagination of their own in its place — but whether they will or not, they must be tried by it. No less depends on their interest in it, than their admission into the kingdom of God. Let them pretend whatever they please, the true reason why any despise the new birth is because they hate a new life. The one who cannot endure to live to God will as little endure to hear of being born of God. But we will inquire what we are taught by the Scripture concerning regeneration; we will declare both what it is not — things which falsely pretend to it — and then what it is indeed.

First, Regeneration does not consist in participating in the ordinance of baptism and professing the doctrine of repentance. This is all that some will allow to it, to the utter rejection and overthrow of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the dispute in this matter is not whether the ordinances of the gospel, such as baptism, really communicate internal grace to those who are duly made partakers of them (as to the outward manner of their administration) — whether it is ex opere operato,452 as the Papists put it, or a federal means of conveying and communicating that grace of which the ordinances are tokens and pledges. Rather, it is whether the outward reception of the ordinance, joined with a profession of repentance in those who are adult, is the whole of what is called regeneration. The vanity of this presumptuous folly will be laid open in our declaration of the nature of the work itself. It is destructive of all the grace of the gospel — an invention to countenance men in their sins. It hides from them the necessity of being born again, and in this rebirth, of turning to God. For the present, the ensuing reasons will serve to remove it from our way:

1. Regeneration does not consist in these things, which are only outward signs and tokens of it, or at most, the instituted means of effecting it. For the nature of things is different and distinct from the means and evidences (or pledges) of them. And baptism is only this, with the profession of its doctrine, as acknowledged by all who have addressed the nature of that sacrament.453

2. The apostle really states this case in 1 Peter 3:21 : "In answer to this,454 baptism also, now saves us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." The outward administration of this ordinance, considered materially, reaches no further than washing away "the filth of the flesh;" but more is signified by it than that.

There is denoted in it, the pledge455 of a "good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" from the dead, or a "conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God," Hebrews 9:14, i.e., a conscience quickened to holy obedience by virtue of his resurrection. See Rom 6.3-7.456

3. The apostle Paul plainly distinguishes between the outward ordinances, with what belongs to a due participation in them, and the work of regeneration itself: Galatians 6:15, "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature;" — for just as "circumcision" intends the whole system of Mosaic ordinances, so the state of "uncircumcision" (as professing Gentiles were then uncircumcised) intends a participation in all the ordinances of the gospel. But Paul distinguishes the new creation from all those ordinances — that they may be done without a new creation; and being without the new creation, those ordinances are not able to avail anything in Christ Jesus.

4. If regeneration consisted in a participation in the ordinances, then all those who are duly baptized and upon that make a profession of its doctrine — that is, of repentance for the forgiveness of sins — they must of necessity be regenerate. But we know it to be otherwise. For instance, Simon the magician was rightly and duly baptized, for he was baptized by Philip the evangelist; and he could not be baptized without a profession of faith and repentance. Accordingly, it is said that he "believed," Acts 8:13 — that is, he made a profession of his faith in the gospel. Yet he was not regenerate; for at the same time, he had "neither part nor lot in that matter;" his "heart was not right in the sight of God;" rather, he was "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity," verses 21, 23. This is not the description of a person who is newly regenerate and born again. Hence the cabalistic Jews, who grope in the darkness according to the old notions of truth that existed among their forefathers, say that at the same instant in which a man is made a "proselyte of righteousness," a new soul comes into him from heaven; his old pagan soul vanishes or is taken away. They understand this to mean the introduction of a new spiritual principle — this is to the soul, what the soul is to the natural body. Or they choose to express by this, the promise of taking away the "heart of stone," and giving a "heart of flesh" in its place.Ezekiel 36:26

Secondly, Regeneration does not consist in a moral reformation of life and conduct. Let us suppose that such a reformation extends to all known instances. Suppose a man is changed from sensuality to temperance, from rapine to righteousness, from pride and the dominion of irregular passions to humility and moderation, with all the instances of a similar nature we can imagine, or that are prescribed in the rules of the strictest moralists — suppose that this change is labored, exact, and accurate, and of great use in the world — suppose also that a man has been brought and persuaded to it through the preaching of the gospel, thus "escaping the pollutions that are in the world through lust, by the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;" 2 Peter 2:20 or by the directions of his doctrine delivered in the gospel — yet I say that all this, and all this added to baptism, accompanied by a profession of faith and repentance, is not regeneration; nor do these comprise regeneration in themselves. I have extended this assertion beyond what some among us (so far as I can see) so greatly pretend to in their confused notions and sophistical expressions about morality when they equate it to grace. But whatever there may be of actual righteousness in these things, they do not express an inherent, habitual righteousness. Whoever denies this, overthrows the gospel, and the whole work of the Spirit of God, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we must stay on this a while. This assertion of ours is not only denied by some, but it is derided. Neither is that all; but whoever maintains it, is portrayed as an enemy to morality, righteousness, and the reformation of life. All virtue, they say, is hereby excluded, to introduce I know not what imaginary godliness. Whether we are opposing or excluding moral virtue or not by the doctrine of regeneration, or by any other doctrine, God and Christ will judge and declare in due time. Indeed, if the confession of the truth were consistent with their interests, the conclusion of this doubt might be referred to their own consciences. But not being free to commit anything to that tribunal — unless we had better assurance of its freedom from corrupt principles and prejudices than we now have — we will at present leave the world to judge our doctrine by its fruits, with respect to virtue and morality, as compared with the fruits of those by whom it is denied. In the meantime, we affirm that we aim at nothing in virtue and morality except to improve them by fixing them on a proper foundation; or by ingrafting them into that stock on which alone they will thrive and grow to the glory of God and the good of the souls of men. Nor will we be moved in this aim by the clamorous or calumnious outcries of ignorant or profligate persons. And for the assertion laid down, I desire that those who despise and reproach it, would attempt to answer the ensuing arguments by which it is confirmed, along with those others which will be insisted on in our description of the nature of the work of regeneration itself. And before they become too confident of their success, I desire that they do so on those grounds and principles which are not destructive of Christian religion, nor introductive of atheism.

If regeneration457 requires the infusion of a new, real, spiritual principle into the soul and its faculties, of spiritual life, light, holiness, and righteousness — one that is disposed to and suitable for the destruction or expulsion of a contrary, inbred, habitual principle of sin and enmity against God; one that enables all acts of holy obedience, and so in order of nature, it is antecedent to them — then regeneration does not consist in a mere reformation of life and moral virtue, however exact or accurate it is. Three things are to be observed to clarify this assertion before we come to its proof and confirmation; such as —

1. This reformation of life — which we say is not regeneration, or regeneration does not consist in this — is a necessary duty, indispensably required of all men. For we will take it here for the whole course of actual obedience to God, and that is according to the gospel. Those by whom obedience is urged and pressed in place of regeneration, or as what regeneration consists in, give such an account and description of it that it is (or at least it may be) foreign to true gospel-obedience; and so it does not contain in it one acceptable duty to God, as will be declared after. But I will take it in our present inquiry, as that whole course of duties which is prescribed to us in obedience to God.

2. The principle described before, in which regeneration consists as passively considered, or as worked in us, always certainly and infallibly produces the reformation of life intended. In some, it does this more completely, in others more imperfectly, and in all sincerely. For the same grace in nature and kind, is communicated to several persons in various degrees, and it is used and improved by them with more or less care and diligence. In those, therefore, who are adult, these things are inseparable. Therefore,

3. The difference in this matter comes to this head: We say and believe that regeneration consists "in a spiritual renovation of our nature." Our modern Socinians say that it consists "in a moral reformation of life." Now, just as we grant that this spiritual renovation of nature will infallibly produce a moral reformation of life; so too, if they would grant that this moral reformation of life proceeds from a spiritual renovation of our nature, then this difference would be at an end. This is what the ancients mean by first receiving the Holy Ghost, and then receiving all graces with him.458

However, if they only intend to speak ambiguously, improperly, and unscripturally — confounding effects and their causes, habits and their actions, faculties or powers and occasional acts, infused principles and acquired habits, spiritual and moral, grace and nature — so that, for lack of a better advantage, they may have an opportunity to rail at others, I will not contend with them. For if we allow a new spiritual principle, an infused habit of grace, or gracious abilities, to be required in and for regeneration, or to be the product or work of the Spirit in this (that which is "born of the Spirit being spirit"), then this part of the nature of this work is sufficiently cleared.

Now, the Scripture abundantly testifies to this. 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If any man is in Christ he is a new creature." This new creature is what is intended, and what was described before; and being born of the Spirit, it is spirit. This is produced in the souls of men by a creative act of the power of God,459 or else it is not a creature. And it is superinduced into the essential faculties of our souls, or else it is not a new creature; for whatever is in the soul by nature — of power, disposition, ability, or inclination to God, or for any moral actions — it belongs to the old creation; it is not a new creature. And it must also be something that has a being and subsistence of its own in the soul, or else it cannot be either new or a creature. And our apostle opposes it to all outward privileges, Gal 5.6, 6.15.460 The Scripture testifies that it is also produced by a creative act of almighty power, Psalms 51:10; Eph 2.10;461 and this can denote nothing but a new spiritual principle or nature, worked in us by the Spirit of God. "No," say some; "a new creature is no more than a changed man." It is true, we reply; but then this change is also internal. "Yes, in the purposes, designs, and inclinations of the mind." But, we ask, is it by a real infusion of a new principle of spiritual life and holiness? "No;" they say, "it denotes no more than a new course of conduct; the expression ’new creature’ is only metaphorical. A new creature is a moral man who has changed his course and way; for if he was always a moral man who was never in any vicious462 way or course, as with the rich young ruler, Mat 19.16-22,463 then he was always a new creature."

Oh, this is good gospel — at once overthrowing original sin and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! This doctrine, I am sure, was not learned from the fathers, of which some used to boast. Indeed, it is much more excessive than anything ever taught by Pelagius himself. Indeed, he ascribed more to grace than these men do, even though he denied this creation of a new principle of grace in us, antecedent to our acts of obedience.464 Such a turning of all Scripture expressions of spiritual things into metaphors, is only a way to turn the whole of Scripture into a fable; or at least to render the gospel the most obscure and improper way of teaching the truth of things that was ever made use of in the world. This new creature, therefore, does not consist in a new course of actions, but in renewed faculties, with new dispositions toward them, and power or ability for them. Hence it is called the "divine nature:"

2 Peter 1:4, "He has given us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature." This "divine nature" is not the nature of God, which we are not subjectively partakers of in our own persons; yet it is a nature which is a principle of operation; and that principle is divine or spiritual — namely, a habitual holy principle worked in us by God, and bearing his image. By the "promises," therefore, we are made partakers of a divine, supernatural principle of spiritual actions and operations, which is what we contend for. The whole of what we intend is declared in this:

Ephesians 4:22-24, "Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man, which is created after God, in righteousness and true holiness."

What is described here is the work of regeneration, with respect both to its foundation and its progress.

1. The foundation of the whole is laid in being "renewed in the spirit of our mind;" which the same apostle calls being "transformed in the renovation of our minds," Romans 12:2. It will be declared afterward how this consists in the participation of a new, saving, supernatural light, to enable the mind to spiritual actings, and to guide it in this. In this consists our "renovation in knowledge, after the image of him who created us," Colossians 3:10. And,

2. The principle itself, infused into us and created in us, is called the "new man," Ephesians 4:24 — that is, the new creature mentioned before; and it is called the "new man" because it consists in the universal change of the whole soul, being the principle of all spiritual and moral action. And,

(1.) It is opposed to the "old man," "Put off the old man," verse 22, and "put on the new man," verse 24. Now, this "old man" is the corruption of our nature, as that nature is the principle of all religious, spiritual, and moral actions. This is evident in Rom 6.6.465 It is not the corrupt conduct, but the principle and root of it; for it is distinguished from both the conduct of men, and those corrupt lusts which are exercised in this conduct, as to that exercise. And,

(2.) It is called the "new man," because it is the effect and product of God’s creative power, and that is by way of "a new creation," see Ephesians 1:19; Colossians 2:12-13; 2Thes 1.11.466 And here it is said to be "created after God," Ephesians 4:24. Now, the object of a creating act is an instantaneous production. Whatever preparations there may be for it, and dispositions to it, the act of bringing forth a new form and being, by creation, is done in an instant. Therefore, this cannot consist in a mere reformation of life. So we are said in this to be the "workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works," Ephesians 2:10. There is a work of God in us that precedes all our good works towards him; for before we can work any of them (in order of nature), we must first be the workmanship of God, created for them, or enabled spiritually to perform them.

Again: This new man, by which we are born again, is said to be created in righteousness and true holiness. I assume it will not be denied that in respect to man, it is created in innocence, in which he was made in the image of God. This is also expressed Colossians 3:10, "You have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." We must, then, look at what the image of God was in the first man, or what it consisted in; for this new man which is created by God, corresponds to this image. Now, this did not consist in reformation of life, nor in a course of virtuous actions; for Adam was created in the image of God before he had done any good thing at all, or was capable of doing so. Rather, this image of God consisted principally, as we have evinced elsewhere, in the uprightness, rectitude, and ability of his whole soul — his mind, will, and affections — in, to, and for the obedience that God required of him. He was endowed with this, antecedent to all voluntary actions by which he was to live to God. Therefore, our regeneration, or the creation of this new man in us, must be the same. It is the begetting, infusing, and creating of a new saving principle of spiritual life, light, and power in the soul, antecedent to any true evangelical reformation of life, in order of nature, enabling men to this reformation, according to the mind of God. This is in accord with that saying of our Savior in Luke 6:43, "A good tree does not bear corrupt fruit, nor does a corrupt tree bear good fruit;" also Mat 7.18.467 The fruit follows the nature of the tree; and there is no way to change the nature of the fruit, except by changing the nature of the tree which bears it. Now, all amendment of life in reformation is but fruit, Mat 3.10;468 but the changing of our nature is antecedent to this. This is the constant course and tenor of the Scripture, to distinguish between the grace of regeneration — which it declares to be an immediate supernatural work of God, in us and upon us — and all that obedience, holiness, righteousness, virtue, or whatever is good in us — which is the consequent, product, and effect of that work. Indeed, God has declared this expressly in his covenant, Ezekiel 36:25-27; Jer 31.33; 32.39-40.469 The method of God’s proceeding with us in his covenant is that he first washes and cleanses our natures, takes away the heart of stone, gives a heart of flesh, writes his law in our hearts, and puts his Spirit in us; this is what the grace of regeneration consists in, as it will be evidenced. The effect and consequent of this, is that we will walk in his statutes, keep his judgments and do them — that is, we will reform our lives, and yield all holy obedience to God. Therefore these things are distinguished as causes and effects. To the same purpose, see Romans 6:3-6; Colossians 3:1-5; Eph 2.10, 4.23-25.470 I will still insist on this, on the supposition that "reformation of life" means all actual obedience. For that kind of life which is properly called a "moral course of life," in opposition to open debaucheries and unrighteousness (which do not proceed from an internal principle of saving grace), is so far from being regeneration or grace, that it is something which has no acceptance with God absolutely, whatever use or reputation it may have in the world. And still further: This work of regeneration is described as consisting in the sanctification of the whole spirit, soul, and body, 1Thes 5.23.471 And if this is what some men mean by "reformation of life" and "moral virtue," they must win great esteem for their clearness and perspicuity in teaching spiritual things; for who would not admire them for such a definition of morality — namely, that it is the principal sanctification of the whole spirit, soul, and body of a believer, by the Holy Ghost? But not to dwell longer on this subject, there is no description of the work of regeneration in the Scripture — in its nature, causes, or effects, no name given to it, no promise made of it, nothing spoken of the ways, means, or power by which it is worked — that is consistent with this bold Pelagian figment, which is itself destructive of the grace of Jesus Christ. The ground of this imagination, that regeneration consists in a moral reformation of life, arises from a denial of original sin, or an inherent, habitual corruption of nature. For the teachers of the men of this persuasion tell us that whatever is of vice or defilement in us, is contracted by a habit of sinning only. And their conceptions of this regulate their opinions about regeneration. For if man is not originally corrupted and polluted, if his nature is not depraved, if it is not possessed by, and under the power of, evil dispositions and inclinations, then it is certain that he stands in no need of an inward spiritual renovation of that nature. It is enough for such a person that, by a change of life, he renounces his habit of sinning, and reforms his conduct according to the gospel — which he has the power to do in himself. But as it has already been manifested in part, and will be fully evinced afterward (God assisting), that in our regeneration, the native ignorance, darkness, and blindness of our minds are dispelled, as saving and spiritual light is introduced by the power of God’s grace into them; that the depravity and stubbornness of our wills are removed and taken away, as a new principle of spiritual life and righteousness is bestowed on them; and that the disorder and rebellion of our affections are cured by the infusion of the love of God into our souls. So the corrupt imagination of the contrary opinion, directly opposite to the doctrine of the Scriptures, to the faith of the ancient church, and to the experience of all sincere believers, has lately produced among us nothing but ignorance, and a ready confidence to countenance it.

Thirdly, The work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration does not consist in enthusiastic raptures, ecstasies, voices, or anything of the kind. It may be that such things have been apprehended or pretended by some deluded persons. But countenancing any such imaginations is falsely and injuriously charged against those who maintain the powerful and effectual work of the Holy Spirit in our regeneration. And some are prone to make such charges, whether they reveal more of their ignorance or their malice in doing it, I do not know; but nothing is more common with them. Anyone they dissent from in this matter (so far as they know what they say or affirm), is said to teach men to look for enthusiastic inspirations or unaccountable raptures, and to consider them as a conversion to God, even if these converts continue to live in neglect of holiness and righteous conduct. I answer, If there are those who teach these things, we have no doubt that without their repentance, the wrath of God will come on them, as it will upon other children of disobedience. Yet, in the meantime, we cannot but sound the alarm, so that others will reveal their diligence in attending to these things — those who, as far as I can discern, shout the names of virtue and righteousness in opposition to the grace of Jesus Christ, and to that holiness which is its fruit. But as for the reproach now under consideration, as applied, it is nothing else than a calumny and false accusation. And the writings and preachings of those who have most diligently labored in the declaration of the work of the Holy Spirit in our regeneration, will testify that it is so at the great day of the Lord. We may therefore observe three things as to this negative principle:

1. That the Holy Spirit in this work ordinarily exerts his power in and by the use of means. He also works on men suitable to their natures, as the faculties of their souls, minds, wills, and affections are fit to be affected and worked upon. He does not come upon them with involuntary raptures, using their faculties and powers like the evil spirit contorts the bodies of those whom he possesses. The Spirit’s whole work, therefore, is to be accounted for rationally by and to those who believe the Scripture, and have received the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive. The formal efficiency of the Spirit in putting forth the exceeding greatness of his power in our quickening — which the ancient church, both in private writing and canons of councils, constantly calls his "inspiration of grace" — is not to be comprehended differently by us than any other creative act of divine power. For just as we hear the wind, but do not know where it comes from or where it goes, "so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Yet these two things are certain in this:

(1.) That he works nothing, nor in any other way, nor by any other means, than what are determined and declared in the word. Therefore, everything really belonging to, or pretended to belong to this work of regeneration, may and must be tried and examined by that.

(2.) That he does not act contrary to, and puts no force upon, any of the faculties of our souls; rather, he works in them and by them, suitable to their natures; and being more intimate unto them than they are to themselves, as Austin puts it, by an almighty facility he produces the effect which he intends. This great work, therefore, does not consist in raptures, ecstasies, visions, or enthusiastic inspirations, whether in part or in whole; rather, it consists in the effect of the power of the Spirit of God on the souls of men, by and according to his word, both the law and the gospel. And those who charge contrary things against those who have asserted, declared, and preached it according to the Scriptures, probably do it to countenance themselves in their hatred of them, and of the work itself. Thus —

2. Where there is a diseased472 mind, a disordered imagination, or long-term distressing fears and sorrows — and the person is under those preparatory works of the Spirit which sometimes cut men to their hearts in sensing their sin and their sinful, lost condition — if any of these should then fall into apprehensions or imaginations of anything extraordinary in the ways mentioned before, and if it is not quickly and strictly brought under control, and discarded by that, then it may be of great danger to their souls; it is never of any solid use or advantage. Such apprehensions, for the most part, are either conceptions of diseased minds and discomposed imaginations, or delusions of Satan transforming himself into an angel of light, which the doctrine of regeneration should not be accountable for. Yet I must say —

3. That it has so come to pass, that many of those who have really been made partakers of this gracious work of the Holy Spirit, have been looked at by the world (which does not know them) as mad, enthusiastic, and fanatical. So the captains of the army considered the prophet who came to anoint Jehu, 2Kng 9.11.473 And the kindred of our Savior, when he began to preach the gospel, said he was "beside himself," or ecstatic, Mark 3.21,474 and "they went out to lay hold on him." So Festus judged about Paul, Acts 26.24-25.475 And the author of the Book of Wisdom gives us an account of what acknowledgments some will make to their own advantage, when it is too late:

Wis 5:3-5, "They will say, crying out because of the trouble of their minds,476 This is the one whom we held in derision, and a proverb of reproach. We fools esteemed his life madness, and his end to have been shameful: but how is he reckoned among the sons of God, and his lot is among the holy ones!" From what has been said, it appears —

Fourthly, That the work of the Spirit of God in regenerating the souls of men is to be diligently inquired into by the preachers of the gospel, and all to whom the word is dispensed. For preachers, there is a particular reason for their attendance to this duty: they are used and employed in the work itself by the Spirit of God, and they are made instrumental by him to effect this new birth and life. So the apostle Paul styles himself as the father of those who were converted to God or regenerated through the word of his ministry:

1 Corinthians 4:15, "Though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."

He was used in the ministry of the word for their regeneration; and therefore he and he alone was their spiritual father, even though the work was afterward carried on by others. If men are fathers in the gospel to no more than those who are converted to God by their personal ministry, then one day it will be no advantage to anyone to assume that title, if it had no foundation in that work, as to its effectual success.477 Thus, speaking of Onesimus who was converted by Paul in prison, he calls him "his son, whom he had begotten in his bonds," Philemon 1:10. And he declared that this had been prescribed to him as the principal end of his ministry, in the commission he had for preaching the gospel, Acts 26:17-18. Christ said to him, "I send you to the Gentiles... to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God." This is a description of the work under consideration; and this is the principal end of our ministry also. Now, certainly it is the duty of ministers to understand, as far as they are able, the work about which they are employed, so that they may not work in the dark and fight uncertainly, as men beating the air.1 Corinthians 9:26 They ought to diligently inquire into what the Scripture has revealed concerning it, as to its nature and the manner of its operation, as to its causes, effects, fruits, and evidences. To be spiritually skilled in this, is one of the principal furnishings anyone can have for the work of the ministry, and without it they will never be able to rightly divide the word, nor show themselves to be workmen who need not be ashamed.2 Timothy 2:15 Yet it is scarcely imaginable with what rage and perversity of spirit, with what scornful expressions, this whole work is maligned and exposed to contempt. Those who have labored in this are said,

"to prescribe long and tedious trains of conversion, to set down nice and subtle processes of regeneration, to fill people’s heads with countless swarms of superstitious fears and scruples478 about the due degrees of godly sorrow, and the certain symptoms of a thorough humiliation." 479

If any mistake could be charged to particular persons in these things, or if prescribing rules about conversion to God and regeneration are not warranted by the word of truth, then it would not be amiss to reflect upon them and refute them. But the intention of these expressions is evident, and the reproach contained in them is cast upon the work of God itself. I must profess that I believe the degeneracy from the truth and power of Christian religion, the ignorance of the principal doctrines of the gospel, and that scorn which is cast on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in these and like expressions, by those who not only profess to be ministers, but ministers of a higher degree than ordinary, will be sadly ominous to the whole state of the reformed church among us, if it is not quickly repressed and corrected. But at present, what I affirm in this matter is —

1. That it is a duty indispensably incumbent on all ministers of the gospel, to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the nature of this work, so that they may be able to comply with the will of God and the grace of the Spirit in effecting and accomplishing it upon the souls of those to whom they dispense the word. Nor, without some competent knowledge of this, can they discharge any one part of their duty and office in a right manner. If all who hear them are born dead in trespasses and sins, and if these ministers are appointed by God to be the instruments of their regeneration, then it is a madness which must one day be accounted for, to neglect a sedulous480 inquiry into the nature of this work, and the means by which it is worked. Ignorance of this, or negligence in this, with the lack of any experience of the power of this work in their own souls, is one great cause of that lifeless and unprofitable ministry which is among us.

2. It is likewise the duty of all to whom the word is preached, to inquire into it also. It is these to whom the apostle speaks in 2 Corinthians 13:5 : "Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless you are reprobates." It is the concern of all individual Christians, or professors of Christian religion, to test and examine themselves as to what work of the Spirit of God there has been upon their hearts; and none will deter them from it, except those who have a design to hoodwink them to perdition. And —

(1.) The doctrine of it is revealed and taught to us; for "secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may do all the words of the law," Deuteronomy 29:29. And we do not speak of curious inquiries into or after hidden things, or the secret, veiled actions of the Holy Spirit; but only of an upright endeavor to search into and comprehend the doctrine concerning this work; and that is to this very end: that we might understand it.

(2.) It is of such importance to all our duties and all our comforts to have a due apprehension of the nature of this work, and of our own concern in this, that an inquiry into one and the other cannot be neglected without the greatest folly and madness. To which we may add,

(3.) There is a danger that men may be deceived in this matter, which is the hinge on which their eternal state and condition absolutely turns and depends. And it is certain that very many in the world deceive themselves in this: for they evidently live under one of these pernicious mistakes — namely, either,

[1.] That men may go to heaven, or "enter into the kingdom of God," and not be "born again," contrary to that statement of our Savior in John 3:5; or, [2.] That men may be "born again," and yet live in sin, contrary to 1John 3.9.481