The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-02-13
ECCLESIASTICAL COLUMN.
Rev. S. NJ. Engle. pastor Presbyterian church.
Editor.
Reformation versus Regeneration.

Reformation versus Regeneration.
We live in an age of precipitate
haste and eagerness for results; an
age of great reforms, but in which
not a few of the reforms are super.
fetal, and therefore ephemeral and
shadowy. Reform! The command
goes forth, and with the eager de-
sire for immediate results, it is
often discovered, when too late,
that the foundation has been laid
in sand-that the rock foundation
of true and solid principle has not
been reached. Reformation may
be superficial, or it may be deep and
abiding, all depending upon the
foundation. The greatest reformer
that ever lived upon the earth said,
in reference to the matter in hand:
"Whep the unclean spirit is gone
out of a man he walketh through
dry places, seeking rest, and fndeth
none. Then he saith, | will return
into my house, from whence l came
out; and when he is come he fndeth
it empty, swept and garnished ii. e.
adorned). Then goeth he and tax
eth with him seven other spirits
more wicked than himself, and they
enter in and dwell there; and the
last state Of that man is worse than
the first Matt. -. 43-45.) Our
Savior's illustration of mere refor-
nation, teaching that such formal
dealing with outward habits alone,
in the end, makes men eight times
worse than at first, Contrast this
species of outward reformation with
the true scriptural species that has
its root in and springs from regen-
GRAFTON only.
A regenerated, that is to say, a
newborn or concerted person is one,
who, having a knowledge Of Christ
Jesus as the Heaven-appointcd Say
If, teacher and ruler of his soul and
body, is led by the Holy Spirit to
accept for himself Christ, firmly
desiring and STRIVING to follow Him,
list, as his Savior from wrath and
from SIN; End, as his teacher of
how he should live and die; 3rd, as
his ruler forever according to rules
set forth in scripture; IN all of
which the person is started, led,
witnessed with and sealed by the
Holy Spirit, working in and through
the PERSONS will and mind both to
will and to do of Gods good pleas
ure. With the life and behavior of
such person, contrast the life and
doings of the merely reformed out
v0fd5y, as follows:
o. Jesus says in the illustration
that the latter is "empty," /. e., as
to head-knowledge and heart-prin-
ciple founded thereon, and so has
nothing upon which to build stead
fastness. The spiritual world alb
hors vacuum quite as much as the
natural, and so the mind and heart
that are not filled with good princi-
Piles, are likely soon to be filled with
bad ones. They find no rest while
empty, so that he that is void of
Scripture instruction and of heart
principle founded thereon, is as
Unstable as water.
Contrast the regenerated person
as defined-filled head and heart
with precious and assuring truths,
which, accepted when Christ was
received as his teacher, fill his heart
with rest and peace. and feed his
soul as with heavenly mama. He
is not led by impulses, but by prin-
ciple based on Scripture and taught
by the Spirit.
(2.) The reformed, having only
laid aside the evil habit, has not
conquered it; it is ''my house" still.
No logical process is needed to show
that habits are stronger than men.
Laid aside they return at will, and
unless repulsed by stronger power
they say, 81 ayjU retwrn.'' That
stronger power the regenerated re-
ceive from Him who gives the new
heart and fills it, and who taught
Paul to say 81 can do all things
through Christ" Only the regen-