13. Hence St. Peter, speaking to the Jews, exhorts them to repent (or to be renewed in their minds): “and ye shall,” says he, “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38. Whence it plainly appears, that those who are in a state of faith and repentance, are the only men duly prepared for receiving [pg 126] the divine Spirit, the true enlightener of hearts.
14. Whoever, therefore, desires to be delivered from the blindness of his heart, and from eternal darkness, yea, from the devil himself, let him faithfully follow Christ in true faith, in unfeigned conversion, and in a thorough newness of life. The nearer we are to Christ, the nearer we are to the eternal light; the more closely we adhere to unbelief, the more we adhere to darkness and to the devil himself. For even as Christ, faith, and all the virtues, are nearly allied and belong together, so in like manner, are the devil, unbelief, and all the vices, and works of darkness, so nearly combined, as to render it impossible to conceive of one without the other.
15. Consider the apostles of the Lord. They followed their Master in faith, in contempt of the world, denying themselves, in renouncing their possessions, and in living together in unity of the Spirit. By this means they were enlightened from above, and filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:1, etc. With these terms the rich young man in the Gospel being unwilling to comply, he continued shut up in the darkness of the world, and was not enlightened unto eternal life. Luke 18:23. For “if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15. And “he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth: because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” 1 John 2:11.
16. All the sermons of Tauler refer to this subject. He makes it appear, that without the sincere exercise of faith, without a serious course of mortification, without self-denial, without a narrow search into one's own heart, and without the inward, calm sabbath of the soul, no man can obtain or enjoy the divine light.
17. In short, in proportion as the works of darkness are destroyed in a man by the Spirit of God, in that proportion is he illuminated; and again, in the same degree as the corrupt nature, the flesh, and the world, pride, and the lust of the eyes, domineer in a man, in that degree darkness is left in him, and the less of grace, of light, of the Spirit of God and of Christ, is he possessed of. Therefore it remains, that without unfeigned repentance, and a daily repentance, no man can be truly enlightened from above.
18. Whoever yields too much to one sin, undoubtedly opens a door to many others. Sin never comes alone, but, like a noxious weed, spreads itself on every side, and gains more ground every day. And as the darkness becomes greater accordingly as the sun retires, so as the holy life of Christ departs from us, the darkness and sin increase, till at length the man is swallowed up in eternal darkness. On the contrary, if a man devote himself to the practice of one virtue, he gains thereby an opportunity of practising all the rest in time, and cannot but daily proceed from one to another. This admirable connection is represented by St. Peter as a chain, in which all the rings are linked together, and none is suffered to separate from another. “Add,” he says, “to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity;” superadding one virtue continually to another, and crowning all at last with this promise: “If these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither [pg 127] be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8. To sum up all in a few words: Whoever is not earnestly bent on the exercise of such heavenly virtues as these, certainly knows not Christ, and is void of all saving knowledge: whereas, if a man by faith grow in virtue, he also grows in Christ himself. On the contrary, the wrathful, the covetous, the proud, the impatient, do not grow in Christ, but in the devil.
19. It is the apostle's command, that we should grow up “unto a perfect man.” Eph. 4:13. As a child gradually grows up to the stature of a perfect man, so a Christian ought daily to grow in the practice of faith and virtue, till he become a perfect man in Christ. But “he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” 2 Pet. 1:9. As if the apostle had said: Christ by his death has indeed taken away our sins, and blotted them out; not that we should continue in the service of sin, but that, dying to sin, and living to Christ, we should show forth the fructifying power of the death of Christ. Without this order practically applied to the mind, it is manifest, that the purging away of our old sins, and the atonement made for them, can profit us nothing. Our sin is never forgiven until we entirely quit it, repent of it, and embrace Christ with an unfeigned belief. If we preserve but one sin alive, the mortifying of all the rest, if that were possible, would avail nothing; but we should be condemned to eternal death, without any hope of expiation or forgiveness. Thus, a man may be damned for the sin of wrath alone; whereas, if he had seriously corrected and quitted it, he would have obtained pardon not only for that, but even for other sins of which he stood guilty. But neglecting to do this, he is one of those that are “blind,” and “he forgets that he was purged from his old sins!” 2 Pet. 1:9.
20. By this we are given to understand the necessity of repentance, and a thorough change of life: for although Christ died for our sins, and abolished them with the price of his blood, yet can we never partake of that merit, unless we repent. Without repentance this precious blood profits nothing. And though every man has a promise of pardon for his sin through the merit of Christ, yet that promise belongs not to the unbeliever, nor to the impenitent, but to those only who truly repent and reform their lives. Those sins shall not be remitted, which a man will not leave; but those only which he is willing to quit, and for which he heartily grieves. And here the word of the Lord is verified, “The poor have the Gospel preached to them;” that is, remission of sin, and life everlasting consequent upon it. Matt. 11:5. Let us suppose a man, who, for many years, has been the servant of covetousness, after the example of Zaccheus; or of lust, as Mary Magdalene; or of wrath and revenge, as Esau. Let us also suppose that this man, as soon as he heard that either these sins were to be entirely left, or that the death and blood of Christ would else profit him nothing, becomes a true suppliant to God, and cries out to him: “Oh God! how am I grieved for this! O Lord, be merciful, be merciful!” and then forms a new resolution, desists from his sin, craves pardon and grace, and believes in Christ. Then all his former offences are, of grace, freely remitted [pg 128] to him. No merit of his own is regarded, but solely the death and the blood of Christ shed for him. This is the only way in which a returning sinner is to obtain mercy. Whereas, he that does not fully resolve to abandon his former sins, his covetousness, wrath, usury, pride, lust, etc., will hope forever in vain for a remission of sin, being condemned to everlasting confusion and anguish. He shall be obliged to satisfy for himself the justice of God, and yet will never be able to perform it. On earth he was destitute of that faith which purifies the heart (Acts 15:9); and so his sin and lust, which have not been mortified here, shall forever torment him there. It is for this reason, that St. Paul so earnestly inculcates, “that they which do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Gal. 5:21. And therefore either the loss of this heavenly kingdom must certainly follow, or the narrow way of self-denial must be heartily chosen.
21. Wherever this unfeigned conversion to, and faith in, God, are wrought in the soul, there pardon and divine grace are freely bestowed. And where these are, there is Christ also; without whom no grace can be obtained. Where Christ is, there are likewise his precious merit, and the full ransom which he has paid for our sins, and which is appropriated to the penitent soul. Again, where these are, there is righteousness; and with righteousness, is peace; and with peace, sweet serenity of conscience. It is then, that righteousness and peace kiss each other in the soul. Ps. 85:10. This clearness of conscience is attended with the Spirit of God himself; who being a Spirit of joy, will surely pour forth the “oil of gladness” (Heb. 1:9), and quicken the soul with a foretaste of life eternal itself, which shall be joy and glory without end.
22. This is that light of eternal life, that eternally triumphant joy, with which those only are crowned that live in Christ, and exercise daily repentance. This is the beginning of a spiritual life, as the death of Christ is the basis and foundation on which it is raised. On the contrary, where there is no repentance, there is no pardon of sin; where there is no inward remorse or spiritual sorrow, there grace cannot have a place. Where these are wanting, there Christ himself is wanting, together with the whole extent of his merits and satisfaction, be the pretences of the false Christian ever so fair and specious. Where this satisfaction is not thoroughly applied to the soul, there is no righteousness, and consequently no peace, no good conscience, no comfort. Where there is no comfort of heart, there is no Holy Ghost, no joy, no calmness of mind, and no life eternal; but death, hell, condemnation, and everlasting darkness.