Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1836-09-20
From the London Christian ObSerre,
on THE TESTS OF SPIRITUAL SAFETY.

From the London Christian Obserrer.
on THE TESTS OF SPIRITUAL SAFETY.
To know that ''wc have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ" and that
our '.names are written i'll heaven" is a priv
ilese not to be valued by any ordinary stand.
ard. Thousands are miserable for want OF
it /; and daily confirm their misery by per-
scvering in that "broad way" which, whcth-
er swept by morality or defled by vice,
surely ':leadeth to destruction" Even the
followers ofhe Lamb are not in all instances,
possessed Of that precious knowledge to
which have now referred. They have oc-
casionally, like the poet Cowper, wanted the
consultations, while they have manifested the
spirit, of the Gospel; and they have written
bitter things against themselves, notwith-
standing it has been evident to their breth-
rem that they were ''made accepted in the
Beloved"
As the assurance of spiritual safety is of
such inestimable value so ii is subject on
which the most devoted Christians are not
entirely agreed. Witness the conflicting
sentiments of John Wesley and some Of his
contemporaries he insisting on assurance
as the indispensable evidence of conversion,
and they confidently denying it while each
party respectively appealed to Scripture. In
the present day similar discrepancies are
found among the saints Of God. Caesar
Malan, for instance, in his well.known re.
lgious publications, makes it the very test Of
conversion that we "know we have eternal
life" and that in personal sense, so as to
have no doubt whatever of our interest in
Christ. Nor will the divine in question, and
the advocates of his system of theology, adj
nit that any other test of our Christian Sc
curitv should be instituted than our our SIM
ply believing the record God has given US
of bis Son, Il Johnv. 10.)
The present subject being one ofunques-
tionablc Importance, may be enabled by
the Spirit Of truth to treat it agreeably to his
own revealed will! To begin with our SIM
ply believing the divine record. Where
such faith is implanted by the Holy Spirit,
it may safely be admitted as a proofthat the
Lord has had mercy on our souls, and ''call-
ed us with a holy calling yet it supplies
test OF his acceptance to the individual alone.
Who is so intimately acquainted with the
heart of man as to pronounce that "lndIvld-
ual" sincere on the mere ground ofhIs pro-
fession? Though the Spirit itscfmay bear
witness to his spirit that he is child of
God, still may he not, on the contrary, de.
ceivc his own heart on this infinitely mo-
mentous point? Jesus Christ accordingly
tells us in his word, (Matt. viii. %. that it
is one thing to be confident of our accep-
tance, and another to be really accepted on
the great day. Jt,then. it be insisted on, by
those to whomI have alluded, i'll order to
prove our titleto "glory and immortality" in
Christ; we have simply to ask, "Do be-
lieve Gods promise 2" and also to examine
ourselves whether we be in the faith !; and to
prore our own selves" | would submtt to
the impartial reader, if this former test, when
wholly severed from the latter, be not uncer-
tain, unsatisfactory, and above all, unscrIp-
turai?
What | would ask, will be lis probable op-
Grafton in the case of young rcligionlSs, and
indeed of ali WHO may adopt it rather sud-
denly than seriously! Rejecting as legal
and pharisaical, and in principle akin 10 bon
dage, all inquiry whatever, either as to our
conduct or disposition, as evidence of our
spiritual safety, they maintain that he who
hath the Spirit hath the witness in himself.
What follows? Wanting, as | have ven
turcd to suppose, Christian seriousness of
mind, and being led away by strong feeling,
they will scarcely "communc with their
heart" and prove the character of their ac-
tons by the only infalble rule Of faith and
life. Never can they stop and ask, consis-
tcntly with their views of assurance, itthey
possess those marks Of acceptance which
las shall presently demonstrate) are spe-
cially pointed out in Scripture. On the con-
trary, they look abore them, when consider
ing the all important question. Am | a
child ofGod? | do not affirm that this the
ory necessarily leads to such Antinomian-
ism in practice; but verify think that such
is its probable result. For if we are at lib.
erty to conclude ''wc are in Christ Jesus"
without any direct reference to the spiritu-
ality of our life and conversation, (Rom.
viii. l, 5, g. then, though such spirituality
be wanting. NAV we no: still imagine We