The lot of free grace!
(Thomas Watson, "A New Creature")
"Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature;
old things are passed away, behold all things are become
new." 2 Corinthians 5:17
The new creature is a work of free grace. There is nothing
in us, to cause God to make us anew. By nature we are full
of pollution and enmity—yet now God forms the new creature.
Behold the banner of love displayed! The new creature may
say, "By the grace of God I am what I am!" In the creation,
we may see the strength of God's arm; in the new creature,
we may see the working of God's heart! That God should
consecrate any heart, and anoint it with grace—is an act of
pure love! That He should pluck one out of the state of
nature, and not another—must be resolved into sovereign
grace! This will increase the saint's triumphs in heaven,
that the lot of free grace should fall upon them—and
not on others.
The new creature is a work of rare excellency. A natural
man is a lump of dirt and sin mixed together. God loathes
him! But upon the new creature is a spiritual glory—as if a
piece of clay, was turned into a sparkling diamond!
Those are not new creatures, who continue in their sins and
are resolved so to do. These are in the gall of bitterness, and
are the most miserable creatures that ever God made—except
for the devils. These stand in the place where all God's arrows
fly! These are the center where all God's curses meet!
An unregenerate person is like one in debt—who is in fear
of being arrested by death, and carried prisoner to hell!
Can that traitor be happy—who is fed by his prince in
prison—only to be kept alive for his execution? God feeds
the wicked like prisoners. They are reserved for the day
of wrath!
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