holy,
consider himself under such notions of grace, when he comes to be
justified? No indeed; but as an ungodly man rather, he must deny all that,
though he had it. And besides, it is most unreasonable and incongruous, to
seek the fruits before the tree be planted, and to refuse to plant the
tree, till you can behold the fruits of it. But also, it is contrary to
the free and comfortable doctrine of the gospel, for a soul to seek the
discovery of any thing in itself but sin, before it apply to Jesus Christ.
I say, there must be some sense of sin, otherwise it hath not rightly
discovered sin, but a soul should not be at the pains to discover that
sense of sin, and find it out, so as to make it a motive of believing in
Christ. He ought to go straight forward, and not return as he goes. He
must indeed examine himself,--not to find himself a sensible humble sinner,
that so he may have ground of believing, but that he may find himself a
lost perishing sinner, void of all grace and goodness, that he may find
the more necessity of Jesus Christ. And thus I think the many contentions
about preparations of conditions preparatory to believing, may be
reconciled.

Now if the question be, as it is indeed, about the grounds of our
assurance, and knowledge of our own faith, certainly it is clear as the
noonday, that as the good tree is known by the fruits thereof, and the
fire by the heat thereof, so the indwelling of faith in the heart is known
by its purifying of the heart and working by love. It makes a man a new
creature, so that he and others may see the difference. Neither is this
any derogation to the free grace of Christ, or any establishing of our own
righteousness, except men be so afraid to establish their own
righteousness, that they will have no holiness at all, but abandon it
quite, for fear of trusting in it, which is a remedy worse than the
disease, because I make it not a ground of my acceptation before God, but
only a naked evidence of my believing in Christ, and being accepted of
God. It being known that these have a necessary connection together in the
Scriptures, and it being also known that the one is more obvious and easy
to be discerned than the other. Sure I am, the Lamb's book of life is a
great mystery, and unless this be granted, I see not but every man's
regeneration and change shall be as dark and hidden, as the hidden and
secret decrees of God's election; for the Spirit may immediately reveal
both the one