1. repentance– this was the most important outcome of a person’s conviction. as said before, it was with the soul that people of this time were most concerned. the key entities of the minister and the sermon were centered around this one important act. after being condemned to death, a person’s attention was to be focused on the destination of their soul. after listening to the minister deliver his sermon, much in the case of Rodgers, she eventually repented and her primary worry was being forgiven: “But if i could repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, i might find mercy although i was a sinner. and although i am such a vile sinner, i hope God has made me sensible of my sins, he has made me loathe my self, and truly to repent for sin.” this quote also goes to show how repentance can also be thought of as a humbling of the heart. Take full blame of wrong-doing much like a confession.
2. conversion– after repenting, a person’s changing their life of sin to a Godly life was much desired. A person’s conversion was, in a way, the minsters’ and christian townspeople’s payment and reward for the godly works that they had conducted in a sinner’s life: “she was frequently visited by Ministers and other christians of the town and neighbourhood, to whom she gave little encouragement for a considerable time…” then, “she felt the power of the word preached, inlightening, convincing, humbling and softening of her heart…the words spoken to her in private made deep and lasting impressions on her Soul.”…”i see the folly and filthiness of the ways of sin, and in some measure am made to discern the Excellency of Gods ways, and do find more delight and pleasure therein, then ever i did in my former courses.”
3. death– the ending of one’s life up until Rodger’s account has been thought and spoken of as the negative consequence to a bad act. so strong is the connotation that it is often preceded by “condemned.” Ministers, when speaking to those convicted, warn that their repentance must come before their death, as it is the ultimate end. it is the ultimate punishment. people fear it. However, Rodgers looks at it from the opposite perspective. she views it as her reward for her conversion. a positive outcome for what has become her godly life: “i find a willingness in me to accept the punishment of my sins, and a readiness to glorify the justice of God by suffering that Death i have deserved, in hope of receiving his mercy to eternal life.” “…I endeavor it by thinking of my condition and manner of death…but in the midst of those thoughts, Gods comforts delight my soul, and i think, that at such times i feel the greatest incomes of joy and sweetness.”