The Works of President Edwards; with a Memoir of His Life ... Volume 5

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1830 edition. Excerpt: ... to the true denomination of a thing; so much is essential to a true declaration of that thing. If we take only a part of Christianity, and leave out apart which is essential to it, what we take is not Christianity; because something of the essence of it is wanting. So if we profess only a part, and leave out a part that is essential, that which we profess is not Christianity. Thus in order to a profession of Christianity, we must profess that we believe that Jesus is the Messiah; for this reason, because such a belief is essential to Christianity. And so we must profess, either expressly or implicitly, that Jesus satisfied for our sins, and other essential doctrines of the gospel, because a belief of these things also are essential to Christianity. But there are other things as essential to religion, as an orthodox belief; which it is therefore as necessary that we should profess, in order to our being truly said to profess Christianity. Thus it is essential to Christianity that we repent of our sins, that we be convinced of our own sinfulness, that we are sensible we have justly exposed ourselves to God's wrath; that our hearts renounce all sin, that we do with our whole hearts embrace Christ as our only Saviour, that we love him above all, are willing for his sake to forsake all, and that we give up ourselves to be entirely and for ever his, &: c. Such things as these as much belong to the essence of Christianity, as the belief of any of the doctrines of the gospel: and therefore the profession of them as much belongs to a Christian profession. Not that in order to persons' being professing Christians, it is necessary that there should be an explicit profession of every individual thing that belongs to Christian grace or virtue; but..