Precious faith considered in its nature, working, and growth

Further, yet Faith doth not only strike at the love of Sin, by destroying its eligibilities, but by surrendering the Heart to a better Object; whilst the love and joy, and delight is in Sin, it lives as a body with a spirit in it; but when these are surrendered up to God and Christ, and Heavenly things, it becomes inanimate as a dead Carcass. This was notably ⟨p. 274⟩deciphered in Christ crucified, the grand pattern of our Mortification; he was not only stripped and nailed, but commending his Spirit to God be gave up the Ghost. Answerably in Mortification Sin is not only stripped of its eligibilities, and nailed by restraints, but it dies away in the surrenders of Faith; by which the Soul Enoch-like is translated into Heaven, and its affections are not here below to animate Sin. Were this surrender in perfection, Sin could not so much as be, as is evident in Christs Humane Nature, upon which no spot could fall, because it ever was in perfect surrender to his Father. And proportionably, where it is but in truth only Sin is a-dying; because the love and joy, whilst in the raptures and triumphs of Faith, afford no quickening thereunto: hence the Apostle exhorts, Walk in the spirit, in the elevations of Faith and other Graces, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh, Gal. 5.16. Sin shall grow heartless, and be able to do little or nothing. Here we see how the dear intimate lusts come to die; they cease to be dear as Faith turns the stream of the Heart; and give up the Ghost, as the love and the joy go out to God. It was Luther's method in Reformation, that first the Images were to be removed out of the minds of Men, and then all would succeed; and it is Faiths method in Mortification, by holy surrenders to sever the Heart from its lusts, and so do the work. Moreover Faith casts out the love of Sin by conversing in the holy Word; after which the ⟨p. 275⟩Soul becomes pure and shining like Moses face after he had been with God; conversing with the Law, it sees a rectitude and pure splendour; and then to love Sin is to embrace crookedness and hellish darkness; and withal it sees wrath and vengeance threatened against transgressors: and then to love Sin is to take death and hell into our bosom. Conversing with the Gospel, it hath such a fair prospect of Grace and Christ, as renders Sin the most ungrateful and unnatural thing in the World: