What the children of the world say
And the experience even of the children of the world here confirms that of the children of God. Many of these have a desire to please God. Some of them take much pains to please him. But do they not, one and all, count it the highest absurdity for anyone to talk of knowing his sins are forgiven? Which of them even pretends to any such thing?
And yet many of them are conscious of their own sincerity. Many of them undoubtedly have, in a degree, the testimony of their own spirit, a consciousness of their own uprightness. But this brings them no consciousness that they are forgiven, no knowledge that they are the children of God. Yes, the more sincere they are, the more uneasy they generally are, for want of knowing it. This plainly shows that this cannot be known, in a satisfactory manner, by the bare testimony of our own spirit, without God's directly testifying that we are his children.
1771 text
9. And the experience even of the children of the world, here confirms that of the children of God. Many of these have a desire to please God: some of them take much pains to please him. But do they not, one and all, count it the highest absurdity, for any to talk of “knowing his sins are forgiven?” Which of them even pretends to any such thing? And yet many of them are conscious of their own sincerity. Many of them undoubtedly have, in a degree, the testimony of their own spirit, a consciousness of their own uprightness. But this brings them no consciousness, that they are forgiven, no knowledge that they are the children of God. Yea, the more sincere they are, the more uneasy they generally are, for want of knowing it: plainly shewing that this cannot be known, in a satisfactory manner, by the bare testimony of our own spirit, without God’s directly testifying, that we are his children.