A94157:66
The door of salvation opened by the key of regeneration
The door of salvation opened by the key of regeneration: or A treatise containing the nature, necessity, marks and means of regeneration; as also the duty of the regenerate. / By George Swinnocke, M.A. and pastor of Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire.
London: printed by John Best for Tho. Parkhurst, 1661
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Except a man] Let him pretend never so much, 1let his performances be never so many, let his privileges be never so great, and his profession never so glorious, yet if he be not born again all these will do him little good, for he can never see the Kingdom of God. The assertion as I hinted before, is general; as every man is born of the flesh, so every man must be born of the spirit, or it had been happy for them if they had never been born.
Except a man] Let him pretend never so much, 1let his performances be never so many, let his priviledges be never so great, and his profession never so glorious, yet if he be not born again all these will do him little good, for he can never see the Kingdom of God. The assertion as I hinted before, is general; as every man is born of the flesh, so every man must be born of the spirit, or it had been happy for them if they had never been born.
- 1[Greek or Hebrew]〈non-Latin alphabet〉
Be born again] that is be renewed, 1and turned by the Holy Ghost from Nature to Grace, from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, Acts 26.18. Except a man be inwardly and really altered from what he was; except he become a new creature; Put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Ephes. 4.22, 24. Except he be turned up-side-down, and walk Antipodes to his former way; except the stream of his heart and life run in another channel, carry him towards another haven, he can never arrive at Heaven: Except the image of the Devil be razed out and defaced, and the image of God be imprinted on him, he can never be saved: Except he be throughly and universally changed; his Understanding by illumination, his Will by renovation, his Affections by sanctification, and his Life by reformation, he can never obtain Salvation.