The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 523

—

;

THE OLD MAN AND THE NEW with a person

whom we

Then not only

is

483

afterward discovered to be a bad character.

the friendship broken, but our affection ceases.

him all the more and malicious. And Formerly we were this applies to our relation with the old man. most intimate with him. We shared his will, his sympathies, and We lived one life with him. We felt ourselves his affections. bound to him by the tenderest ties. We could not be happy but But there came a change. We acquired a differin his company. ent taste. We became acquainted with another and better man and we became very intimate viz., the new man in Christ Jesus

We

regret our former intimacy, and

cordially as he proves to be

more

we

despise

deceitful

—

with him.

And

baseness and corruption of the old man. we began cordially to hate him. It is

ning, but not ;

Then our love ceased and

true that our former connection brings us in frequent con-

On such

tact with him.

protest

thorough

this noble intercourse discovered to us the

to

occasions he often entices us by his cun-

our delight ; and being only half willing, our souls

and as soon as the

committed we are

sin is

filled

with

self-

loathing and contrition.

And

this reversal of

our affections

is

not our work, but that of

Not that we deny that He often uses us as instruments, or prompts us to exert ourselves, but the changing of our the Holy Spirit.

inclinations

Holy

How it is

is

not our work, but the direct operation of

God

the

Spirit.

performed we can understand but partly. Essentially Being God, the Holy a mystery, just as much as regeneration. it is

Spirit has access to our heart.

He

discovers our personality, the na-

and in what way their action may be reversed. fathom this mystery does not in the least affect

ture of our affections,

But our

inability to

our faith in the matter. Since the dying of the old

man

is effected,

not by our good

works, but by the implanting of a disposition and inclination repugnant to the old man, our own work is entirely out of the question for our

own

heart

our inwa?-d person

is ;

inaccessible to us.

we

lack the

means to

We

have no power over

create another inclination

and when we deny this we are self-deceived. God the Creator alone can do this, and in doing it He is irresistible. Hatred against the old man. once having entered the soul, is a power that simply overwhelms us. Even when enticed by him, we can not but hate him.

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen