A man may as well hew marble without tools, or paint without colors or instruments, or build without materials, as perform any acceptable service without the graces of the Spirit, which are both the materials and instruments in the work.
Joseph AlleineWhatever... you pretend... if any of you be a prayerless person, or a scoffer, or a lover of evil company, in a word, if you are not a holy, strict, and self-denying Christian, you cannot be saved.
Joseph AlleineThe right procedure: You begin at the wrong end if you first dispute about your election. Prove your conversion, and then never doubt your election. If you cannot yet prove it, set upon a present and thorough turning. Whatever purposes be, which are secret, I am sure His promises are plain. How desperately do rebels argue! "If I am elected I shall be saved, do what I will. If not, I shall be damned, do what I can." Perverse sinner, will you begin where you should end?
Joseph Alleine