The Duty of a Christian People under Divine VisitationsSmart, Newton
Religion
The Duty of a Christian People under Divine Visitations
Smart, Newton
Providence and government of God
To true believers, “CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL:” {42c} on His atonement they
rest for pardon before God; on His grace they rely for strength; and to
His merits they trust for salvation. Their truly Christian hope is built
upon a lively faith; they believe “that man is very far gone from
original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so
that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit, and therefore in
every person born into this world, it deserveth God’s wrath and
damnation.” {42d} That “the condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is
such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural
strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God; wherefore we have
no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the
grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and
working with us when we have that good will.” {43a} “That we are
accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works and deservings:
wherefore that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome
doctrine, and very full of comfort.” {43b} And “albeit that good works,
which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put
away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s judgments; yet are they
pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily
of a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be
as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.” {43c}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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