The Course of Christian Obedience; Or, the Commencement and Continuation of the Personal Practice of Christianity Defined, with the Attended Assurance

CONTENTS.

Page

Preface

Introduction

Outline of the whole subject, 1. Four preliminaries-I. Obe-

dience rather than feeling, the test of acceptance, 2. II. The

nature of obedience to Christ, to be presumed ascertainable

from Scripture, 6. III. The believer presumed capable of

knowing his own acceptability, 9. IV. Duty to God, not

safety, our supreme object, 16.

them, 21. An argument from reason in support of the doc-
trine, 23. Doctrine of the church on this point, 23. A
heresy of Macknight, 25. His arguments answered, 27.

CHAPTER II.

Justification by a faith including works, synonymous with con-

The doctrine of justification by faith without works stated and

explained, 35. Justification by faith succeeded by works, 36.

(The death of Christ no encouragement to sin, note, p. 39.)

Testimonies of Justin Martyr and Lactantius, 40. Justifying

faith produces obedience instantly, 42. This proved, 43.

Conversion and justifying faith identical, 45. Justification

continually by faith after conversion, 46.

CHAPTER III.

Inquiry into an amount of obedience sufficient, as far as

obedience goes, for a state of justification or conversion. 47

A renunciation of all known sin required, 47. Not one sin

may be practised, 48. Distinction between known and un-

known sins, 49. Texts in St. John apparently require sin-

less obedience, 50. Perfection of human nature not impos-

sible, 51.

Certain texts thought to qualify St. John's doctrines, not quali-

fications-particularly Rom. vii. 7—25, p. 52. Peter's

denial of Christ, 60. View of the most remarkable cases

of irregularity of life in the apostolic churches, 62. The in-

cestuous person at Corinth, 63. 2 Cor. xii. 20, p. 65; 1 Cor.

iii. 1—3, p. 67. Other passages considered, 69. Review of

the whole, 71.

St. John's meaning partly ascertained from himself, 72. His
language not unusual, 74. Other proofs, 74. Particularly
from four passages-1 Cor. xi. 31, and the context inter-
preted, 76. 1 John i. 9; ii. 1: Gal. vi. 1, compared with
2 Thess. iii 14, p. 78. 1 John i. 9 further examined, 81. These
four passages dispense with perfect obedience, 81, 82. Ha-
bitual sin no satisfactory exposition of St. John, 82. A

division of sins into sins of imperfect obedience and sins of

commission, 83. What sins Scripture literally contemplates

in the converted and persevering, 84. Perfection in any one

point of the law not necessary, 84. Whether passions are

sins of commission or of imperfect obedience, and when, 85.

On secret faults, 89.

CHAPTER IV.

The subject continued

. 91

No number of sins, however small, can alone be a proof of the

obedience of justification, 91. Sincerity of desire and design

to obey Christ, what, 94 Calculation of obedience, 100.