True Christianity. Arndt Johann
world. It is not to retire into monasteries and cloisters, nor to adopt a set of rules and orders for the regulation of life; for while the heart remains disordered, and the love corrupt; while the man is puffed up with spiritual pride, and a pharisaical contempt of others; while he is devoted to lust, envy, hypocrisy, secret hatred and malice; he does not die to the world, but altogether lives to it. This is not the Christian yoke nor is it the cross of Christ; for these consist in mortifying the flesh, with its sinful propensities; in turning away from the world to God; in an inward and constant secret sorrow for our sins; in a daily dying to the world, and living to Christ by faith; in following his steps with sincere lowliness and humility; and in confiding only in the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
7. To this unfeigned repentance, this true and inward conversion from the world unto God, hath our blessed Lord called us. The imputation of his righteousness and obedience, together with the remission of all our sins, apprehended by faith, is promised to it alone. If we are destitute of repentance, Christ profiteth us nothing; that is, we cannot then become partakers of his grace and favor, nor of the efficacy of his merits; because these can be applied only by a contrite, penitent, lowly, and believing heart. And truly this is the fruit of the passion of Christ in us, that we die to sin by a sincere repentance; as the fruit of his resurrection is, that Christ may live in us, and we in him.
8. All this is necessary to render man that new creature in Christ Jesus, without which nothing availeth in the sight of God. 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.
9. Hence, therefore, let us be instructed in the nature of true repentance; lest we be led away into that common error, that the mere relinquishment of some gross enormity, as theft, fornication, profaneness, blasphemy, is the genuine and only repentance. It is certain, that this is a kind of external repentance; but it is no less so, that all the Scriptures alike inculcate the necessity of an inward repentance, which takes possession of the whole soul. A man under the influence of this repentance, not only supports a fair conversation in the world, but he also denies and hates himself. Renouncing the world and all he calls his own, and crucifying the flesh, he commits himself by faith to God alone; and offers up to him a broken and contrite heart, as the sacrifice most acceptable in his sight. This character of inward repentance is eminently set forth in the Psalms of David, and particularly in those termed Penitential.4
10. This is, therefore, the only true repentance, when the heart of the sinner is inwardly torn with grief, and weighed down by heaviness; and when, on the other hand, it is healed by faith and the remission of sin, quickened by the infusion of divine joy, provoked to good works, and thoroughly transformed and changed. Such a frame of mind cannot fail to be attended also with an external reformation of life and manners.
11. But, on the other hand, though a man be very serious in the performance of bodily penances, and, from a dread of punishment, abstain from the commission of notorious sins; yet if he continue unreformed and unregenerate in his heart, and enter not upon that new and inward life which it has been our object to describe, he will prove but a castaway (1 Cor. 9:27) at last, notwithstanding the whole train of his external acts. It will avail him nothing to cry, “Lord, Lord!” He will hear the tremendous declaration, “I never knew you!” For most certain it is, that not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but those only who do the will of their Heavenly Father. Matt. 7:21-23. And under this awful sentence of divine majesty, all men are comprised, of what rank or order so-ever, who do not truly and inwardly repent, and who are not new creatures in Christ, for “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Rom. 8:9.
Chapter V.
Wherein Does True Faith Consist?
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.– 1 John 5:1.
Faith is a sincere confidence, and a firm persuasion of the grace of God promised to us in Christ Jesus, for the remission of sin and eternal life; and it is enkindled in the heart, by the word of God and the Holy Spirit. Through this faith we obtain the forgiveness of our sins, without any merits of our own, of mere grace (Eph. 2:8), and for the sake of the merits of Christ alone; that so, our faith might rest on a firm and solid foundation, and remain unmoved by perplexity and doubts. This forgiveness of sin constitutes our justification before God, which is true, solid, and eternal; for this righteousness is purchased neither by men nor angels, but by the obedience, merit, and the blood of the Son of God himself. We appropriate and apply it to ourselves by faith; and hence the imperfections which still adhere to us cannot condemn us, since, for the sake of Christ, who now lives and works within us, they are covered with a veil of grace. Ps. 32:1.
2. By this cordial and unshaken faith, man wholly dedicates his heart to the Almighty, in whom alone he seeks his rest. To him only is he now united, and with him alone he enters into delightful fellowship. He partakes of all things that are of God and of Christ, and is made one spirit with the Lord. From him he receives divine power and strength; together with a new life, attended with new joys, new pleasures, new consolations, in which are found peace, inward ease, and durable satisfaction, together with righteousness and holiness. And thus man is born anew of God by faith. For wherever there is true faith, there Christ is verily present with all his righteousness, holiness, and remission of sin; with all his merits, justification, grace, adoption, and inheritance of eternal life. This is the new birth and the new creature, springing from faith in Christ. Hence, the apostle calls faith a substance (Heb. 11:1); understanding by it, a sure, solid, and unshaken confidence in “things hoped for,” and a lively conviction of “things not seen.” For the consolation conveyed by a vital faith is so powerful, as to convince the heart of the divine truth by inward experience, and by the tasting of the heavenly goodness in the soul, and of the peace of God, that passes all understanding; yea, it is so mighty as to enable its possessors to die with a joyful heart. In this consist that strength of the spirit, that might of the inner man, that vigor of faith, that holy boldness; this is that confidence toward God, that exceeding and abounding assurance, which are so copiously set forth by the holy apostles. 2 Tim. 2:1; Eph. 3:12, 16; Phil. 1:14; 1 John 3:21; 1 Thess. 1:5; 2:2.
3. That for which a man will dare to die, must be rooted in the soul, and, by the operation of the Spirit of God, afford an inward assurance. It must be a cordial, powerful, and eternal comfort, infusing heavenly and supernatural strength into the soul, by which the fear of death and the love of the world may both be subdued. Now all this begets so solid a trust in Christ, and so close a union with him, as neither death nor life is able to dissolve. Rom. 8:38; 2 Tim. 1:12. Hence St. John says: “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” 1 John 5:4.
4. To be born of God is in truth no vain figure, no empty name; it must necessarily be a lively and powerful change, worthy of the majesty of an omnipotent God. To believe that the living God could beget a dead offspring, that lifeless members and useless organs could proceed from him, were very wickedness. It is sure and undoubted that God, being a living God, cannot but beget a living man, even the new man in Christ Jesus. And our faith is the victory which overcomes the world. 1 John 5:4. Who can question whether it be endued with strength sufficient for the conquest? It is, it must be a lively, vigorous, potent, divine, and victorious principle; but all its power is derived from him who is embraced by it, even Christ. By means of faith, we return into God again, and become one with him; and from Adam, as from an accursed vine, we are transplanted into Christ, the living and blessed vine. John 15:4. In Christ, we possess everything that is good, and in him, are justified.
5. As a scion, when grafted on a good tree, grows, flourishes, and bears fruit, but, without it, withers away; so man, when out of Christ, is as an accursed vine, whose grapes are bitterness and gall; and all his works are sin. Deut. 32:32, 33; Rom. 14:23. But when he is in Christ, he is righteous and blessed; because “he was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Cor. 5:21.
6. It is most evident, from what has been advanced, that works cannot possibly justify a sinner; because, before we can perform any good work, we must be engrafted into Christ by faith: and it is equally clear, that justification is entirely the gift of God, freely conferred on man and preceding all human merit. How shall a dead man see, hear, stand, walk,
[These are Psalms, 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143.]