6. On Illan's Redemption through Christ.—They lieve that God, who made man, had pity on him in the fall, and in his infinite goodness and wisdom, provided means for his restoration by a nobler and more lent Adam, promised to be born of a woman ; and which, in a signal manner, by the dispensation of the Son of God in the flesh, was personally and fully complished in our Saviour; and that, as truly as Christ overcame the spiritual enemy of mankind in our ture in his own person, so, by his divine grace being received and obeyed by us, he overcomes him in us. They believe that there is no way of being saved from sin and wrath eternal, but by that Christ alone who died at Jerusalem ; there is no way of being saved by him, but by receiving him into the heart through a ing faith. Respecting the doctrines of satisfaction and justification, William Penn says, " I shall first speak negatively, what we do not own. We cannot believe that Christ is the cause but the effect of God's love, ac cording to the testimony of the beloved disciple, (John, chap. iii.) "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We can not say that Christ's death and sufferings were a strict and rigid satisfaction for that eternal death and misery due to man for sin and transgression ; for such a no tion were to make God's mercy little concerned in man's salvation." Now, positively what we own as to justification; "we do believe, that Jesus Christ was our holy sacrifice, atonement, and propitiation, that he bore our iniquities, and that by his stripes we are healed of the wounds Adam gave us in the fall, and that God is just in forgiving true penitents upon ac count of that holy offering which Christ made of him self to God for us ; and that what he did and suffered, satisfied and pleased God, and was for the sake of fallen man that had displeased God ; and that by the offering up of himself, once for all, through the eternal Spirit, he hath for ever perfected those (in all times,) that are sanctified." It is their belief that every man coming into the world, is endued with a measure of the light, grace, or good spirit of Christ, by which as it is at tended to, he is enabled to correct the disorderly pas sions and corrupt propensities of his fallen nature, which mere reason is insufficient to overcome, for all that belongs to men is fallible, but by this divine grace which comes from him who hath overcome the world, the snares of the enemy are detected, his allurements avoided, and deliverance experienced through faith in its effectual operation, whereby the soul is translated out of the kingdom of darkness, and from the power of Satan, into the marvellous light and kingdom of God.
7. On 1Voraift.—Being thus persuaded, that man, without the spirit of Christ inwardly revealed, can do nothing to the glory of God, or to effect his own salva tion; they think this influence especially necessary to the performance of the highest act of which the human mind is capable, even the worship of our Heavenly Father, in spirit and in truth; therefore, they consider as obstructions to pure worship all forms which divert the attention of the mind from the secret influence of this unction from the Holy One. Yet they think it incumbent on Christians to meet often together in tes timony of their dependence on God, and for a renewal of their spiritual strength. In the performance of this worship, they believe it to be their duty to maintain the watch by preserving the attention from being car ried away by thoughts originating in the will of man, and patiently to wait for the arising of that love, which, by subduing these thoughts, produces an inward silence, and therein affords a true sense of their condi tion; believing even a single sigh, arising from such a sense of their infirmities and of the need they have of divine help, to be more acceptable to God than any petrormances, however specious, which originate in the will of man. Thus each not only partakes of the par
ticular refreshment and strength which comes from the divine life in himself, but is a sharer with the whole body, as being a living member of the body, has a joint fellowship and communion with all, and hereby, a mi nister by being baptized into the states or those assem bled, is enabled to exercise his gift to the real edifica tion of the church. (R. Barclay's Summary.) 8. On The Ninistry.—Hence it follows, that the mi nistry which they approve must have its origin from the same divine influence that they conceive essential to the right performance of every religious act. Ac cordingly, they believe, that the renewed assistance of the light and power of Christ is indispensably neces sary for all true ministry ; and that this holy influence is not to be procured by study, but is the free gift of God to chosen and devoted servants, and as this gift is freely received, they believe, according to the com mand of Christ, (Mat. x. 8,) that it ought to be freely exercised by the Christian minister. Hence arises their testimony against preaching for hire, and hence their conscientious refusal to support such ministry by tithes or other means. And being fully assured that male and female arc all one in Christ, they conceive that wo men may equally with men be qualified for the minis try.
9. On Baptism and the Lord's Supper.—They hold, that there is one Lord, and one faith, so his baptism is one in nature and operation, that nothing short of it can make us living members of his mystical body, and that the baptism with water administered by his fore runner John, belonged, as the latter confessed, to an in ferior dispensation. With respect to the other rite, they believe that communion between Christ and his church is not maintained by that, or by any other ex ternal ceremony, but only by a real participation of his divine nature through faith ; that this is the supper al luded to in the revelation : " Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me," (Rev. iii. 20.) 10. On Oaths and Wan—With respect to the former of these, they abide literally by Christ's positive in junction, "Swear not at all." From the most excel lent precepts and example of our Lord himself, and the primitive Christians, and from the correspondent con victions of the Holy Spirit in their own hearts, they are confirmed in the belief that wars and fightings arc, in their origin and effects, repugnant to the gospel, which still breathes peace and good will to men.
11. They disuse those names of the months and days of the week which, having been given in honour of the heros and false gods of the heathen, originated in their flattery or superstition ; and the custom of speak ing to a single person in the plural number, as having also arisen from motives of adulation. Compliments, superfluity of apparel and furniture, outward shows of rejoicing and mourning, &c. they esteem likewise in compatible with the simplicity and sincerity of the Christian life.