A Goodly Heritage

A man 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 forsake most of his transgressions without exercising 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 penitent. He who forsakes any sin as sin, or because it is sin, relinquishes all sin. The sincere penitent forsakes all iniquity from right 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 hi...

 It may  be inferred that it is the first duty of every unregenerate sinner to come to Jesus Christ, and to trust cordially in Him for deliverance from the law as a covenant, and for ability to perform acceptable obedience to the law as a rule. Be assured, o secure sinner, that you cannot otherwise be delivered from the law as a covenant of works than by union with the second Adam, and communion with Him in His righteousness; and that without deliverance from the dominion of the law as a covenant you cannot be saved from the guilt and dominion of sin. “The strength of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56). Now it is absolutely impossible for you ever to attain union with Christ, and communion with Him in His righteousness, otherwise than by a true and living faith. “The righteousness of God,” of Him who is God in our nature, “is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:22). Believe then in the Lord Jesus, that by means of faith you may be f...

Repentance must be the work of our whole lives, for so our turning from sin and returning to God will be , if we are true penitents. While the sincere penitent is fleeing 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 provokest the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness." And the Psalmist prayed thus ; "Remember not the sins of my youth , nor my transgressions." The whole life of a 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 particul...