rfections of God, and of the person and character of
Christ; but only that true repentance is previous to a saving
faith in Christ, in which the believer is united to Christ, and
entitled to the benefits of his mediation and atonement. That
repentance is before faith in this sense, appears from several
considerations. 1. As repentance and faith respect different
objects, so they are distinct exercises of the heart; and
therefore one not only may, but must, be prior to the other. 2.
There may be genuine repentance of sin without faith in Christ,
but there cannot be true faith in Christ without repentance of
sin; and since repentance is necessary in order to faith in
Christ, it must necessarily be prior to faith in Christ. 3. John
the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, taught that repentance is
before faith. John cried, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand;' intimating that true repentance was necessary in order to
embrace the gospel of the kingdom. Christ commanded, 'Repent ye,
and believe the gospel.' And Paul preached 'repentance toward God,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.'

"9. That, though men became sinners by Adam, according to a divine
constitution, yet they have, and are accountable for, no sins but
personal; for, 1. Adam's act, in eating the forbidden fruit, was
not the act of his posterity; therefore they did not sin at the
same time he did. 2. The sinfulness of that act could not be
_transferred_ to them afterwards, because the sinfulness of an act
can no more be transferred from one person to another than an act
itself. 3. Therefore Adam's act, in eating the forbidden fruit,
was not the _cause_ but only the _occasion_, of his posterity's
being sinners. God was pleased to make a constitution, that, if
Adam remained holy through his state of trial, his posterity
should, in consequence, be holy also; but if he sinned, his
posterity should, in consequence, be sinners likewise. Adam
sinned, and now God brings his posterity into the world sinners.
_By_ Adam's sin we are become sinners, not _for_ it; his sin being
only the _occasion_, not the _cause_, of our committing sins.

"10. That, though believers are justified _through_ Christ's
righteousness, yet his righteousness is not _transferred_ to them.
For, 1. Personal righteousness can no more be transferre