That forgiveness of past sins is procured by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, is obvious from various passages in the holy scriptures.  Thus the apostle Paul says, that Jesus Christ [44] “was set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God.”  And in his epistle to the Colossians he says, [45] “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”  This redemption may be called outward, because it has been effected by outward means, or by the outward sufferings of Jesus Christ; and it is considered as putting men, in consequence of this forgiveness, into the capacity of salvation.  The Quakers, however, attribute this redemption wholly to the love of God, and not to the impossibility of his forgiveness without a plenary satisfaction, or to the motive of heaping all his vengeance on the head of Jesus Christ, that he might appease his own wrath.

[Footnote 44:  Rom. 3.25.]

[Footnote 45:  Coloss. 1.14.]

The other redemption, on the other hand, is called inward, because it is considered by the Quakers to be an inward redemption from the power of sin, or a cleansing the heart from the pollutions of the world.  This inward redemption is produced by the spirit of God, as before stated, operating on the hearts of men, and so cleansing and purifying them, as to produce a new birth in the inward man; so that the same spirit of God, which has been given to men in various degrees since the foundation of the world, as a teacher in their spiritual concerns, which hath visited every man in his day, and which hath exhorted and reproved him for his spiritual welfare[46], has the power of preserving him from future sin, and of leading him to salvation.

[Footnote 46:  The Quakers believe, however, that this spirit was more plentifully diffused, and that greater gifts were given to man, after Jews was glorified, than before.  Ephes. 4.8.]

That this inward redemption is performed by the spirit of God, the Quakers show from various passages in the sacred writings.  Thus St. Paul says, [47] “According to his mercy he hath saved us by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.”  The same apostle says, again, [48] “It is the law of the Spirit that maketh free from the law of sin and death.”  And again—­[49] “As many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

[Footnote 47:  Titus 3.5.]

[Footnote 48:  Rom. 8.2.]

[Footnote 49:  Rom. 8.14.]

The Quakers say, that this inward redemption or salvation as effected by the spirit, is obvious also from the experience of all good men, or from the manner in which many have experienced a total conversion or change of heart.  For though there are undoubtedly some who have gone on so gradually in their reformation from vice to virtue, that it may have been considered to be the effect of reason, which has previously determined on the necessity of a holy life, yet the change from vice to holiness has often been so rapid and decisive, as to leave no doubt whatever, that it could not have been produced by any effort of reason, but only by some divine operation, which could only have been that of the spirit of God.