I had a talk with Mr. Woodhouse last night, about man's natural state.
He preached on the subject on Tuesday night, and said things which, to
me, seemed unwarranted. He said men can do nothing good, till they are
regenerated.
Is that your idea? said I.
Of course. Are they not _dead_? And what can dead men do?
I suppose they can do as God bids them, "Arise from the dead." You spoke
of the result of Adam's sin, but you said nothing of the effect of the
second Adam's doings. Now I believe that we are put in as good a
position by Christ, for serving God and obtaining heaven, as we should
have been if Adam had not sinned. I believe men have good thoughts, good
feelings, and do good things, before they are regenerated; and that they
are regenerated in consequence of their good thoughts, good purposes,
and good deeds. "They consider their ways," and turn to God. They cease
to do evil, and learn to do well, and so get washed. They purify their
hearts in obeying the truth. They cleanse their hands and purify their
hearts. They come out from the ungodly, and leave their ungodly ways,
and then God receives them. They hear God's word or read it; and faith
comes by hearing and reading; and faith works by love, and makes them
new creatures.
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