"Conversion is a work above man's power. We are "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God" (John 1:13). Never think you can convert yourself. If you would be savingly converted, you must despair of it in your own strength. It is a resurrection from the dead (Eph. 2:1), a new creation (Gal. 6:15, Eph. 2:10), a work of absolute omnipotence (Eph. 1:19). Are not these out of reach by human power? - This is a supernatural work."
- Joseph Alleine, An alarm to the unconverted, p9
Joseph Alleine (baptized 8 April 1634 – 17 November 1668) was an English Nonconformist pastor and author of many religious works.
Worn out by the continued persecution, he died in November 1668; and the mourners, remembering their beloved minister's words while yet with them, "If I should die fifty miles away, let me be buried at Taunton," found a grave for him in St Mary's chancel. No Puritan nonconformist name is so affectionately cherished as is that of Joseph Alleine. His chief literary work was An Alarm to the Unconverted (1672), otherwise known as The Sure Guide to Heaven, which had an enormous circulation. His Remains appeared in 1674.
Should the last line read "OUT of reach?"
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