Page:A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion.djvu/79

Rh the expression is used in the Sacred Scriptures, means the gradual removal of evils by the Lord, after repentance of heart and life. The Lord indeed is ever disposed to remit the sins of all men, being in himself the purest and essential mercy: but they are not on that account removed from man, neither can they be, except by a life directed and influenced by the precepts of a right faith. So far as man lives according to such precepts, so far his sins are removed, and in the same degree they are remitted.

While man is undergoing the process of regeneration, and especially when he is regenerated, he is with-held from evils solely by the divine mercy and power of the Lord; and while he is thus preserved, and kept under the influence of heavenly goodness and a true faith, it appears as if he were without sins, and therefore as if they were wiped away. But he is still liable to a relapse into his former evils of life, and if left to himself even for a moment, would certainly relapse: from which it plainly appears, that his evils were not exterminated or abolished, but only kept in a state of subjection, and removed as it were out of his sight, so that he might be held in good, and thereby elevated to heaven by the Lord. This is what is properly meant by the remission or forgiveness of sins.

Let no one therefore imagine, that sins can be remitted or forgiven in a moment; or that the life of hell, which is evil, can in an instant be transcribed or changed into the life of heaven, which is good. The divine mercy and the divine power do not produce such instantaneous effects; but they operate on the human mind according to the eternal principles of divine order, which require, that the change of regeneration be carried on gently and gradually, in a way consistent with the state and capacity of man,