Puritans on conversion pdf

It is indeed true that oftentimes some one sin is very prominent in the thoughts of the genuine penitent. Peter wept bitterly for having denied his Lord. But though one sin may be first or most deeply impressed on the mind, yet in true repentance the mind does not rest there. The Samaritan woman was first convicted of living with a man who was not her husband. But soon she says that Christ had told her all things that ever she did. He was successful to a great extent.

The result was their repentance for all sin, and their conversion unto God. A wicked thought, no less than a vile word or evil deed is for a loathing to the true penitent.

And if instead of countless offences he was conscious of comparatively few, the nature of his mental exercises would be the same as now. It is therefore true that he, who ingenuously repents of sin, repents of all sin.

To change one sin for another, even though it be less gross or more secret, is but disowning one enemy of God to form an alliance with another.

Nor is a true penitent afraid of humbling himself too much. He does not measure the degrees of his self-abasement before God. He would take the lowest place. It is not of the nature of genuine lowliness of heart before God to be nice and careful not to get too prostrate in the dust. Its great fear is that it will after all be proud and self-sufficient. True repentance has in it also much shame. He who does not blush for his sins has never been truly ashamed of them, has never really and heartily forsaken them.

Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed…. Paul never forgave himself for his cruel persecutions. Peter never ceased to be ashamed of his cowardly denial of his Lord. David never ceased to be ashamed of his base conduct. A true penitent also reforms. A holy life is the invariable fruit of genuine repentance.

He does not really confess sin who does not forsake it. He who hates sin turns from it. A true penitent is not willing to be always sinning and repenting. Genuine repentance also draws its chief motives from the milder aspects of the divine character and the sweet influences of the cross. It is not the severity so much as the mercy of God that melts the heart. None but a soul not touched by the finger of God can agree to be bad because God is good, or consent to a career of folly because the Lord is merciful.

This is specially stated to have been the ground of the repentance of the three thousand on the day of Pentecost. It is so still.

Nothing breaks the heart like a sight of Christ crucified. This is obtained by faith only. There can be no evangelical repentance without saving faith. He who sincerely does one never omits the other. He who lacks one of these graces never attains the other. Help Need help? Chat with us limited to Stanford community Email a reference question Find a subject specialist Using SearchWorks Connection Connect to e-resources Report a connection problem If we don't have it Interlibrary borrowing Suggest a purchase limited to Stanford community System status Access Advanced search Course reserves Selections 0 Clear all lists.

Name of resource. Problem URL. Describe the connection issue. Toggle navigation Back to results. The Puritan conversion narrative : the beginnings of American expression. Responsibility Patricia Caldwell.

Physical description x, p. Series Cambridge studies in American literature and culture. Available online. Full view. Green Library. Bates, William Baxter, Richard Goodwin, Thomas Love, Christopher Manton, Thomas Owen, John Perkins, William Turretin, Francis Adams, Thomas Bernard, Richard Bunyan Ministries Bunyan Online Library Charnock, Stephen Edwards, Jonathan Foxe, John Gray, Andrew Guthrie, William Howe, John Mather, Cotton Mather, Cotton.

Works of William Perkins. Watson, Thomas c. History of the Westminster Assembly. A Puritan Devotional Podcast. Church History Timeline: the Puritans. Centre for Dissenting Studies.

Religious History of Britain Scots Worthies. The Major English Puritans. Westminster Confession of Faith. William Barker. Joel Beeke. Scott Clark. David Como. David Crankshaw. John Demos. Sinclair Ferguson. Crawford Gribben. Charles Hambrick-Stowe. Michael Haykin. Ann Hughes. Frank A. Lucy Kostyanovsky. Richard Muller. Mark Noll. Carl R. Nicholas Tyacke. John Coffey. Ligon Duncan. Robert Godfrey. Paul Helm. Stephen R. Michael Horton. Kelly Kapic. Peter Lake. Tony Lane. Paul Lim. Philip G.

Harry Stout. Derek W.