good of their neighbor. Hence all the cheating, fraud, deception in business; hence all the cunning and intrigue in high places and in low, to overreach others and get above them; hence slander, malice, and all manner of uncharitableness, springing from the spirit of detraction, and the desire to pull the neighbor down; hence, also, pride and haughtiness, in all their forms, springing from men's wish to put themselves up; hence, also, envy, jealousy, bitterness and ill-will, hate, anger, revenge. All these evil passions, which together constitute infernal fire in the soul, spring from the one hidden flame of Self-love, which lies at the bottom of the heart,—and which, when stirred up, sets the whole spirit in a blaze. We need to pray to be delivered from it, if we would see heaven after death.
But now, it may be asked, "How can man be delivered from it? We acknowledge that we are all selfish, filled with self-love: it seems to be our nature, and born with us. If this be sufficient to exclude us from heaven, then who shall be saved?" We answer: "What you have said is truth: we are all selfish by nature; it is born with us: we all inherit from our parents and ancestors a thousand propensities and tendencies to evil, and with them, of course, their general root, which is self-love. Hence the need of regeneration: hence, the solemn words of our Saviour Himself, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."[1]
- ↑ John iii. 3. How mistaken, then, the idea, entertained by some, that regeneration is nothing but development. Regeneration is as different from mere development, as ingrafting is different from the growth of the original stock. The old tree developed would produce a fruit wild and sour: you insert a graft,
