Some years ago this material was the substance of a letter to a godly merchant in the New Netherlands. It has subsequently been enlarged, has been printed several times, and is now appended to this work.
All felicity, full satisfaction, and enduring joy of man consists in having communion with God—such was Adam’s life prior to the fall. After the fall, man’s understanding has been darkened; he has become a stranger to the life of God, is deprived of the glory of God, and thus travels upon the broad way to destruction.
In His goodness God has revealed a way by which a condemnable sinner can be reconciled with, and enjoy God, this being his felicity, satisfaction, and joy. In this life, this is but in principle, but after death and the general resurrection of the dead, this will be enjoyed in perfection in the third heaven—in the paradise of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is this way, being the one, eternal, living, and only wise God and the eternal Son of the eternal Father. He has assumed our own human nature out of the holy Virgin Mary and has united it to Himself in singleness of person. He is thus true and eternal God, and a perfectly holy man. He was ordained by the Father in the eternal Counsel of Peace—or in the eternal covenant of redemption—to be Surety and Savior. In having given Himself to that end, He as Surety has removed all the sins of all the elect and taken them upon Himself. By His suffering and death He satisfied the justice of God, thereby reconciling the elect with God. Furthermore, by His obedience in fulfilling the law, He has merited a perfect righteousness for them. He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and no man comes unto the Father, but by Him (John 14:6). Salvation is in none other, and He can save to the uttermost all those who come to God by Him.
God causes this Savior and Surety, being the only way unto salvation, to be proclaimed in various places in the world by means of the gospel, that is, good news. He makes it known to men and calls them; He urges everyone to desire this salvation—and for the obtaining of it, to receive this Savior as their Surety, and surrender to Him in order to be led by Him unto salvation. Is not a person wicked who insists on remaining in his wretched condition; who despises the salvation, eternal bliss, and joy in the perfect enjoyment of communion with God; who despises God, rejects the Surety, disdainfully rejects all friendly invitations, and thus goes lost forever—is he not frightfully wicked? On the contrary, is not he blessed who is acquainted with the necessity of, the full salvation in, and the friendly invitation to come to this Surety, Jesus Christ? Is not he blessed who delights in this salvation, desires this way, and becomes a partaker of it in this way?
A Serious Exhortation to the Unconverted to Consider Their State and Repent
Apply this now to yourself. If you are unconverted, you are as yet without Christ, without God, without the promises, and without hope unto salvation—that is, if you remain and die as such. Would that for once you would conduct yourself wisely, and that it would please the Lord to convert you, give you faith, and lead you unto salvation.
First, reflect with composure upon your blindness. However, how will one convince him who is born blind that he is blind, since he does not know what it is to see? You know in a natural sense that there is a God. However, do you know Him? Do you continually think upon Him as the lofty, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, holy, and righteous God? Do you know what it means to behold God’s face in righteousness? Are you acquainted with what a preciousness there is in being reconciled with God by this Surety, and how delightful it is when God reveals Himself to the soul, fills the soul with His love, and when the Lord Jesus kisses the soul with the kisses of His mouth? Are you acquainted with the satisfaction and joy the soul experiences in the union with and the enjoyment of God, and how the soul is warmed and set aflame with love toward God when she is irradiated by His love? Do you know of that pure, holy, liberated, contented, delightful, and satisfied state of soul which flows forth out of this blessed communion with God as a reconciled Father in Christ? You may respond: “I understand the words and am acquainted with this matter in the natural realm; but I cannot imagine what the spiritual motions of the soul and God’s manifestations to the soul are. I am blind in this respect, and therefore I also can not desire it. However, I do know this: I wish to be satisfied and joyful, but I have no knowledge of anything other than in the things of the world. It does not grieve me that I miss God and have no desire to have God as my portion; I do not know Him.”
Secondly, are you not sinful within and without? Do you not live in all manner of sin of which nature teaches you that they are sin? Are not the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life attractive and delightful to you? Do you not find your life in them? Do not all of these set the faculties of your soul and the members of your body in motion in order to attain, enjoy, practice, find delight in, and satisfy yourself with them? Is not God outside your heart? Are not harm and shame the only things which bridle your lusts? What is your response to all this?
What is your opinion? Can the holy God be pleased with such a vile and abominable sinner as you are? Can God, the righteous Judge of all the earth, do anything else but do right? Is not His judgment according to truth and has He not said, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal 3:10)? Oh, if you would but perceive what the word cursed expresses as applied to yourself! It is to be despised, scorned, and rejected by God. It means to be deprived of all grace, help, comfort, and hope; it means to be without refuge and shelter. It is an unbearable and dreadful terror; it is a trembling and anxiety resulting from being filled with the wrath of God—all of this without any relief and rest. It means to be eternally cast away from God in the pool of damnation; that is, into the eternal fire where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth and where the smoke of torment arises to all eternity. All of this will be accompanied by the most horrifying despair, since all hope for the future will be totally cut off. Behold, this is your condition, this you are worthy of, and this will come upon you if you do not make haste to flee to that Surety we have held before you.
First, do not deceive yourself by thinking, “God is gracious and merciful; therein is my hope.” Man, awake from the stupor imposed upon you by the devil and your darkened understanding! Are there not any people damned, and do not the majority of mankind go lost (Matt 7)?@ Where then is your imaginary mercy of God? It would not be an act of God’s mercy if the righteous Judge would forgive sins without punishing them to the full. Such mercy would be despised in worldly judges. Rather, God’s mercy consists in the gift of a Surety in whom He fully punishes the sins of believers, in granting a person faith in this Surety, and in regenerating, sanctifying, and leading such a person in that way to eternal felicity. Do you now perceive that your hope upon mercy is false, and that you would deceive yourself, since your hope is without foundation?
Secondly, also do not deceive yourself by thinking as follows: “If I believe that Christ has died for us, and if I do my best, repent, and endeavor to live a godly life; and if I pray that God would be gracious to me, I have a good hope that I shall be saved.” This is the widest pathway to destruction, for all this is erroneous. Christ did not die for all men; He died for His elect only, to whom He gives true faith, the nature of which we shall soon discuss. What is the best that you can do, you who are blind and dead in sin? And you who are void of the principle of spiritual life, what repentance can proceed from you? Your feigned conversion and godliness is but a work of nature, consisting in abstinence from blatant evil and the performance of civil good; however, this is not conversion and godliness. The latter is a principle of spiritual life which proceeds from the soul’s union with God in Christ, which manifests itself in spiritual deeds wrought in the soul by the almighty power of God.
Thirdly, also do not deceive yourself by thinking that you are converted simply because you have experienced sorrow, have been moved emotionally, have been terrified, believe that Christ is your Savior, and pray for the forgiveness of sins. Many have done this who are now already in hell. True sorrow, faith, and prayer are hidden matters for the unconverted; their focus is only on the natural. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You are thus entirely destitute; you are blind, dead in sins, condemnable, and all the foundations of your hope are nothing but deceit.
What now? There is yet hope for you, that is, if you but desire to be saved in the way which I shall propose to you. There is no counsel for those who are insensitive about their wretched condition, who will not hear of either of hell or heaven, and have neither desire nor fear. But poor man, awake! for you are at the very edge of hell—and behold, you are falling into it. Awake, awake, before it is too late! If not, then with horror we must see you sink away into eternal damnation.