92SermonsofJonathanEdwards (continued)
One grace does, in effect, contain them all, just as the one principle of life comprehends all its manifestations. And hence it is no wonder that they are always together, and are dependent on and implied in one another.
In the application of this subject,
1. It may aid us to understand in what sense old things are said to be done away, and all things become new, in conversion. — This is what the apostle teaches us is the fact. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Now the doctrine of the text, and what has been said under it, may in some measure show us how this is; for by this we learn, that all the graces of Christianity are at once imparted in conversion, inasmuch as they are all linked together, so that, when one is bestowed, all are bestowed, and not a single one merely. A true convert, the moment he is converted, is possessed not of one or two, but of all holy principles, and all gracious dispositions. They may be feeble, indeed., like the faculties and powers of an infant child, but they are all truly there, and will be seen flowing out progressively in every kind of holy feeling and behavior toward both God and man. In every real convert there are as many graces as there were in Jesus Christ himself, which is what the evangelist John means, when he says, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth;… and of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:14-16). And, indeed, it cannot be otherwise, for all true converts are renewed in Christ's image, as says the apostle — "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him" (Col. 3:10). But that is no true image or picture of another, which has some parts or features wanting. An exact image has a part answerable to each part in that of which it is an image. The copy answers to the original throughout, in all its parts and features, though it may be obscure in some respects, and not represent any part perfectly, as grace answers to grace. Grace in the soul is a reflection of Christ's glory, as appears by 2 Cor. 3:18.
It is a reflection of his glory, as the image of a man is reflected from a glass that exhibits part for part.
It is in the new birth as it is in the birth of the infant child. He has all the parts of a man, though they are as yet in a very imperfect state. Not a part is wanting, but there are as many members as to a man of full stature and strength. And therefore what is wrought in regeneration is called. "the new man;" not only new eyes or new ears, or new hands, but a new man, possessing all the human faculties and members. But all the graces of the Christian are new. All of them are members of the individual after conversion, and none of them were members before conversion. And because there is, as it were, a new man, with all these members, begotten in conversion, therefore Christians are said to be sanctified wholly, in soul, body, and spirit, as in 1 Thes. 5:23. And so old things pass away, and all things become new, because, as the new man is put on, the old man is put off, so that the man in a sense becomes new all over.
And if there be all graces alive in this new man, it will follow that all corruptions are mortified; for there is no one corruption but what has a grace opposite to, or to answer it; and the bestowment of the grace mortifies the opposing corruption. Thus faith tends to mortify unbelief; love, to mortify enmity; humility, to mortify pride; meekness, to mortify revenge; thankfulness, to mortify a thankless spirit, etc. And as one of these takes its place in the heart, the opposite gives way, just as darkness in a room vanishes when a light is brought in. Thus old things pass away. All old things, in a measure, pass away, though none perfectly, on earth; and so all things become new, though also imperfectly. This shows that conversion, whenever and wherever it is wrought, is a great work and a great change. Though grace may be very imperfect, he must needs have a great change wrought in him who before had no corruption mortified, and now has all mortified; and who before had not one grace, and now has all graces. He may well be called a new creature, or, as in the original, a new creation in Christ Jesus.