but, that it was appointed and decreed, that if men disobeyed the Gospel, it should be to them a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, that is, a cause of punishment. And this is a doctrine. which we meet with in various parts of Scripture; Simeon, in the spirit of prophecy, declared to the mother of Jesus, "Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel (ƒ):" 66 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life (g);""Behold the goodness, and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but towards thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off (h)." Were these men appointed by God to disobedience, then disobedience would be the compliance with the divine appointment or will, and the same act would be both obedience and disobedience. And it seems impossible that disobedience, if it takes place in consequence of an absolute decree of God, should be imputed to men as a fault, and be inade the ground of punishment. But can we suppose that God made disobedience inevitable, when we are told, that "man is not to put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall, in his brother's way (i)?" Or is such a decree reconcileable with the attributes of justice and mercy? The same observations will apply to the following (f) Luke, c. 2. v. 34. (h) Rom. c. II. v. 22. (g) 2 Cor. c. 2. v. 16. (i) Rom. c. 14. v. 13. 4 ing passage in the Epistle of St. Jude; "There are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (k):" We are not to infer from hence that God, by an ordinance, caused these men to be thus ungodly; but that he ordained that those, who he foresaw would be guilty of such practices, should suffer a severe condemnation; and accordingly the Apostle proceeds to enumerate many instances of wicked men, who drew down upon themselves the vengeance of their offended Maker. "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose, and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began(1):" The "works" of fallen and depraved men could not merit so great a blessing as everlasting happiness. God's "own purpose, before the world began," means his eternal purpose, springing from his own essential goodness and mercy, to offer Salvation to mankind through Christ. "Who hath saved us," that is, us Christians; by which and other similar expressions, as has been before observed, we are not to understand, that all who embrace the Gospel are actually saved, or absolutely certain of Salvation; but that all (k) Ver. 4. (/) 2 Tim. c. 1. v. 9. all Christians are supplied with the means of Salvation through that grace which is given them. From this examination of the passages of Scripture, in which the words Elect and Reprobate occur, and also of those texts which are generally quoted in support of the doctrines of Election and Reprobation, it appears, that elect and reprobate persons, in the Calvinistic sense, are not even known in the Old or New Testament. To send Christ into the world that mankind might be saved, was indeed the eternal purpose of God; this he decreed from the beginning; but, in making this decree, he did not appoint, that the benefits of Christ's mission should be enjoyed by certain individuals only, but that they should extend to all who believed and obeyed; and that every one, to whom the Gospel should be made known, should have the power of believing and obeying, There was no absolute Election of particular persons who must necessarily be saved, but a conditional offer of Salvation to all. If the Redemption purchased by the death of Christ be confined to the Elect, the design of Christ's coming into the world was to save the Elect, and the Elect only, and not "to save sinners (m)" in general. But we find not in Scripture a single text which thus restrains the object of Christ's Incarnation; and on the other hand, we have seen (m) 1 Tim. c. I. v. 15. that that there are numerous passages upon this subject, of the most comprehensive signification. The impenitently wicked are alone excluded from “the blessed hope of everlasting life, which God has given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ." Calvin considers the Fall of Adam, and all the corruption and depravity of the human race, as the necessary effects of an eternal decree of God. Those, however, who admit the authenticity of the Scriptures, must acknowledge that God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and that at no period were mankind left without a positive law from God. And can we believe that God forbade the Fall, which by an antecedent decree he had rendered inevitable? That he gave a commandment to Adam, which by his original formation he was absolutely unable to obey? That he made the possession of Paradise, and the continuance of his innocence and happiness, to depend upon a condition, which it was physically impossible for him to fulfil? It was indeed a decree of God, to create Man and to endow him with free-agency; but the bad actions of men, which arose from the abuse of this Free-will, are not to be considered as the decrees of God. All which can be said of them with reference to God is, that they are the consequence of his decree. It is indispensably necessary to distinguish between those works. which which are done by the immediate will and operation of God, and those works which are done by free agents who derive their free-agency from him. The former may very properly be said to be the decrees of God, because "known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world (n):" of this kind are the Creation of Man, the Call of Abraham, and the Redemption through Christ. But the actions of free agents can only be said to be permitted by God; and of this kind are the Fall of Adam, and every other human transgression of the Divine Will. Many of God's decrees arose from the foreseen conduct of men; such as, the Deluge, the giving of the Law by Moses, and the Revelation of his Will, from time to time, by the Prophets. And God frequently makes the sinfulness of men the means of accomplishing his own wise and gracious purposes, of which we have a signal instance in the death of our Saviour himself, who "by wicked hands was crucified and slain (o)," and thus made "the propitiation for the sins of the whole world (p):" in this manner was Christ" delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God (q)," and the Jews and Roman Gentiles "did whatsoever the hand and the counsel of God determined before to be done (r)." Not only God's (n) Acts, c. 15. v. 18. (0) Acts, c. 2. v. 23. (1) Acts, c 2. v. 23. own (p) I John, c. 2. v. 2. |