Wesley Corpus

A child of God, as such, is ‘not born of blood;’ does not become so by descent from pious parents. He is not ‘born of the will of the flesh; is not renewed by the power of 'his own carnal will; ‘nor of man,’ of any man whatsoever, “but of God, by the sole power of his Spirit. “In regeneration, the Holy Spirit mortifies “the old man,’ corrupt nature, and breathes a principle of life into the soul; a principle of faith, of sincere love, and willing obedience to God. He who was ‘dead in sin,” is now ‘dead to sin,” and “alive to God through Jesus Christ.” God has ‘created in him a clean heart, and renewed a right spirit within him.’ He has ‘created” him ‘unto good works, and ‘written” his ‘law in his heart.” But if the Spirit of God is the sole agent in the work of regeneration; if the soul of man has no active interest or concern in his ‘being born again;’ if man was created holy, and regeneration re-instamps that holy image of God on the soul; if ‘the new man is created after God in righteousness and true holiness; if the corruption of nature (termed ‘the old man’ or ‘flesh”) is not contracted by imita tion or custom, but is an inbred hereditary distemper, coeval with our nature; if all truly good works are the fruits of a good heart, a good principle wrought in the soul; it plainly follows, that the faith, hope, love, fear, which distinguish the children of God from others, are not of the nature of acquired, but of infused, habits or principles. To say then, “that all holiness must be the effect of a man’s own choice and en deavour, and that, by a right use of his natural powers, every man may and must attain a habit of holiness,’ that is, ‘be born again, however pleasing it may be to human vanity, is contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture. “And all the scriptural expressions on this head are grounded on the real nature of things. “Sin’ is of the nature of ‘filth’ and ‘corruption.”. It pollutes the whole man, and renders him as an ‘unclean thing’ in the sight of God.