God." This, in the nature of things, must be antecedent to the testimony of our own spirit. Pardon is an act of the divine mind, and is a secret, until God is pleased to reveal it. Moreover, "we love him because he first loved us,' and we never love his word or people till we are conscious that we love him; and, of course, never bring forth ho fruits of conversion till we know that we are converted.

This knowledge is communicated by the Spirit, not audibly, nor by apparitions, but by the removal of guilt and fear, which it has impressed upon the mind, and by producing therein a joyous persuasion that God loves me, and has forgiven all my sins; a persuasion, generally, that leaves no more doubt of acceptance with God, than there was of guilt and condemnation before. As there was no doubt then, so neither is there any doubt of pardon and acceptance now.

Thus we see the progress of grace in the human heart, from the fall to the full accomplishment of the new birth. Reader, have you been born again? O, remeinber that in this respect your righteousness must exceed the "righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, or you can never see the kingdom of God!”

CHAPTER VI.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.

THERE is no doctrinal peculiarity by which Methodists have been more distinguished than that of Christian perfection. Nor is there one for which they have been more generally condemned. This may be attributed to various causes. One is, no doubt, that the doctrine has been misunderstood. It has generally been taken to mean more than was intended, owing, perhaps, to the term itself, which we are accustomed to apply to the Deity, and which, least of all, designates the character displayed by the mass of professing Christians. To this we may add the novelty of the doctrine. Not that it originated with us. God commanded Abraham and Moses to be perfect; and he commands us, by his Son, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." But as an article of faith and experience, Methodists have given it a prominence others do not. For, though many pray for it, few believe in its attainability, and most contend earnestly for imperfection until death. They bound Christian duties and privileges by the seventh chapter of Romans, while we insist on those portrayed in the eighth.

The abuse which the doctrine has experienced from its reputed friends, has probably contributed its full share to its unpopularity. Some, in their zeal, have overdrawn it, so as to make it utterly impracticable; others have taken the op

it.

posite extreme, and made it less than we claim for justifica tion indeed, rather a license to sin than deliverance from This is particularly the case with a class of Antinomian Perfectionists, which appeared in another denomination a few years since. Some have given it such a peculiarly sour and unsociable cast as to make it offensive to most Christians; while others have associated it with so many extravagances of expression and deportment, so many religious antics and visionary notions, that prudent men have been afraid to approach it.

But all these excrescences do not alter the nature of the thing itself, though they may conceal its loveliness. The doctrine is still true, and has claims to consideration. Our limits will only admit of some explanation of our views, and a bare reference to the grounds upon which they rest. say, then,

We

1. That by Christian perfection we do not mean the perfection of angels. Those glorious beings, which left not their "first estate," occupy a higher rank in the scale of being, are exempt from ignorance and enticement to evil, and endowed with such attachments to duty and holiness as hardly to admit of the least defection.

2. Nor do we mean the perfection which was enjoyed by our first parents previous to their fall. They were probably as pure as the angels, though less in capacity. They were liable to sin, but still possessed no inward tendency to it. Nor were they surrounded, as most men now are, with excitants to sin, or with worldly cares, which engross most of our time.

3. Much less do we mean perfection in knowledge. We are ignorant, at best. How little do we know of God, of his word or works, of ourselves, even, or of the plainest matters of daily occurre.ice! Every advance step we take in this

direction but reveals our deficiencies; and the more We learn, the less confident we become that we really know any thing. How little we know of our brethren and neighbors,

of the claims of justice or mercy, of our rights, duties, and privileges, — of our duties to others, or of their obliga tions to us. Hence, therefore,

4. It does not exclude error in practice. Every honest man will act in the light of his intelligence. If that light be darkness, he will err, of course. The fond mother, acting with all tenderness and care, by mistake administers a poison to her child, and destroys it. Attempting a kindness to a brother, through ignorance of some circumstances, we do him great injustice. And in thousands of other cases, we may commit wrong acts when the intention is pure, merely for want of knowledge. And for this there is no remedy. This arises from intellectual imperfection, and should teach us modesty; but we may be perfect in a moral point of view, nevertheless; that is, our purposes may be entirely religious and benevolent, and we may maintain a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man.

This distinction between errors of judgment and of inten tion is not always considered in judging of Christians, especially in judging of those who claim to be perfect in love Hence, the doctrine and its friends are sometimes reproached, when they are entitled to full credit. Mr. Wesley saw this, and remarked, "Those who are now really perfect in love, may be still an occasion of temptation to you; for they are still encompassed with infirmities. They may be dull of ap prehension; they may have a natural heedlessness, or a treacherous memory; they may have too lively an imagination; and any of these may cause little improprieties, either in speech or behaviour, which, though not sinful in them selves, may try all the grace you have; especially if you

impute to perverseness of will (as it is very natural to do) what is really owing to defect of memory or weakness of understanding; if those appear to you to be voluntary mistakes which are really involuntary. So proper was the answer which a saint of God (now in Abraham's bosem) gave me, some years ago, when I said, 'Jenny, surely now your Listress and you can neither of you be a trial to the other, as God hath saved you both from sin.' O, sir,' said she, if we are saved from sin, we still have infirmities enough. to try all the grace God has given us.'"

5. Nor does it imply a uniform brilliancy of mind and engagedness of heart in the worship of God. The most brilliant and devotional have bodies like other men, and may find them weary and dull just at the time they would be zealous and animated in their religious duties. The perfect man will lament this; but he cannot avoid it. It is rather a physical than a moral evil; and if it is known to operate similarly in other cases, where the business is of a different nature, it is no argument against a perfect state of heart before God, though it must be a source of temptation both to the subject of it and his observing brethren. Our animal spirits sometimes flag, and become bad conductors of grace, making the good man appear sluggish and wanting in interest. At other times they flow in excess, and display full as much grace and religious zeal as he enjoys. A well informed judgment and a settled purpose, are equally necessary in both cases; in the first, to keep him from becoming despond ent and inactive; and in the second, to restrain him from extravagance.

6. Nor yet does Christian Perfection imply such a degree of faith and knowledge as to exclude an increase of either, or any other Christian virtue. It rather relates to purity, than to the extent of our powers, and indicates exemption