The Gospel is preached in order to bring sinners to the Saviour. The sinner, by a divine blessing on the word, is ça, persuaded to embrace Jesus' Christ as he is offered. He has, I, faith, and thereby receives and rests upon the Redeemer for salvation.

5. This view of the subject explains why religion is more frequently characterized by faith and believ ing, in the New Testament Scriptures, than in the Old Testament.

I is the admission of testimony for the precise purpose for which it was given. The testimony of Jesus is now the bond of our pious intercourse with the Divinity. It is, of course, the characteristic of our religion to receive this testimony.

Under the original economy, innocent man must believe God, but obedience was the characteristic of his piety. Under the economy of grace, we must obey God, but faith is the characteristic of our piety. This system was not completed under the Old Testament, nor did it receive its form of a testamentary dispensation, until the death of the testator. Now, however, the faithful and true witness hath left us his testimony in a complete form; and because the whole of our piety has respect to that revelation,: faith is justly considered as the characteristic of the Christian religion. The very phraseology of Scripture has undergone a corresponding change; and hence the frequent use of the words faith, believer, believing, in the New Testament.

6. This explains in what manner" the just lives by faith." We are justified by faith, in its first act, and the CONTINUITY of our justification depends upon the continuity of our UNION with Jesus Christ, which faith effects. The subsequent acts of believing are of the same kind with the first; for faith is the outgoing of the soul to God, in Christ Jesus, upon the footing of the revelation of the constitution of

mercy. Hereby, have we, in our Lord, righteousness, and strength, and communion with him in grace and glory. Heb. x. 19-22. "Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high-priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. And when he who is our life shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory."

REVIEW.

A full length Portrait of Calvinism. By an old fashioned Churchman. The second edition, with additions and corrections. New-York, T. & J. Swords, 1809. pp. 55. 12mo.

(Continued from page 271.).

WE prosecute our examination of this 'Por

trait' with great reluctance. There is nothing in it to praise, but every thing to condemn. We are not so much disgusted with the sophistry of the old fashioned Churchman when he attempts to reason, as we are at his effrontery, when he pretends to quote writers. We have convicted him of mistaking, either ignorantly or wilfully, the words of Calvin's opponents, for Calvin's words. One instance of disjointed quotation has been adduced, and more were promised. But as we shall be under the necessity of introducing Calvin's own reasoning at considerable length, to prove that they are disjointed, we wave the fulfilment of our promise, in order that we may previously notice one or two mutilated extracts, each being

"a false creation, Proceeding from the heat oppressed brain."

Concerning them the author, if he has not wilfully mistaken them, on a cool, accurate re-examination, will feel himself constrained to say,

"Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses."

The first instance of such quotation which we shall notice, is in p. 17*. The author quotes Isaiah Ixv. 2. and then says, Upon this passage, Calvin thus comments, in direct opposition to his own system :

By spreading forth the hands is meant a daily summoning them to draw and unite them to himself;" and a little after, "The Lord never speaks unto us, but he therewith stretcheth forth his hand to unite us unto himself, and causeth us to feel that he is near unto us. Yea, he so manifests his fatherly love, and so willingly accepts of us, that if we yield not obedience unto his voice, we ought justly to impute the same to our own frowardness."

The whole commentary of Calvin, which is here compressed, is as follows:

"He accuses the Jews, and complains of their ingratitude and contumacy and from hence shows that there was no cause for them to say, that God wronged them if he transferred his grace to others. The Jews boasted and magnified themselves towards God, as if they were elected on account of their merit. God, on account of this ingratitude and insolence, rejects them as unworthy, and upbraids them, because, to no purpose, he had stretched forth his hands that he might persuade and reconcile them to himself: for by the stretching forth of his hand, he means his daily invitation. But God stretches forth his hand to us in various ways. For he draws us to himself, either by his power or his word. In this

* We forgot, in the last number, to refer the Calvin's tract on predestination. It is contained vol. of Calvin's Works, printed at Geneva, 1617. tilated extract is p. 704, 2d col.

reader to in the 7th The mu

place reference is had chiefly to his word. God never speaks to us, but at the same time he stretches out his hand that he may unite us to himself, and that we may perceive he, in return, is near unto us. Nay, he embraces us, and shows a paternal solicitude, se that if we do not yield to his invitation it must be our own fault."

The reader will perceive the distinction which Calvin makes between God's power and his word in the above quotation, (which distinction is omitted by our author*,) and the remark he makes, that

in this place, reference is had, not to the power, but the word of God." In this, then, there is no opposition, to his own system, in Calvin. On the con

*This omission is not unlike to that of which Archdeacon Daubeny was guilty. This man is at the head of the hightoned Episcopalians in England. In his work called Vindiciæ, noticing Mr. Overton's assertion, that the Church of England affirms the faith which is barren, is not properly called faith, he censures him. "It does not occur to me," says he," where our Church speaks thus, but I certainly know where our reformers speak the very opposite language." He proceeds to state," that in the homily on faith that which is called dead faith,' is properly called faith."He refers to the first part of the above homily, but unfortu nately for his understanding or veracity, he has left out the little word "not," inasmuch as the homily says, "this is not properly called faith." Of this "mistake," the Archdeacon was convicted by the Christian Observer. He plead in answer, that in the edition he quoted, "not" was left out. This vindicated his veracity, but left his understanding to suffer most sadly, as all can see who will take the trouble of reading the homily. See Christian Observer, vol. 3. p. 203. and vol. 5. p. 83. And yet this is the man whom the "Old fashioned Churchman" praises; and whom his Bishop, in his ser mon, preached 1809, to the Convention of this State, p. 12. pronounces one of the most candid and able disputants of the Church of England." Such candid and able disputants, have appeared in this country too, who, in quoting Calvin, omitted also a little, but important word, which alters the whole sense. Sec Miller's Continuation of Letters, p. 112

-114.

trary, a leading feature of that system is here distinctly exhibited, viz. a difference between God's general and his effectual call; or, in other words, between his purpose and command. To notice this distinc tion, by quoting Calvin's words as above, would have proved the opposition, of which our author speaks, to exist, not in Calvin, but in himself. The same distinction he has remembered to forget, if he ever took the pains of reading, before he quoted Calvin on Matt. xxiii. 37.

Upon this passage, he says, (p. 19.) Calvin com ments." God attempted, in a way of gentleness and fair speaking, to allure the Jews unto him; that his benignity was great towards them; that his invitations were more than mother-like"-with much more, adds the Churchman, to the same purpose. "What

a compound of falsehood and inconsistency is Calvinism!"

We shall not show the mutilated manner in which Calvin's Comment is here translated, but merely introduce the following extract from that Comment.

"But since this place has been used to prove free will, and to overturn the doctrine of God's secret predestination, the solution is easy. God, say they, wills that all should be gathered, therefore it must be free to all to come, nor does, their will depend upon the election of God. I answer, that the will of God, of which mention is here made, is to be considered apart from the effect. For since by his word he pro. miscuously calls all to salvation, and this is made the end of preaching, that all might fly to his protection and faith, it is justly said that he is willing to gather... all to himself. Therefore, in this place, the secret counsel of God is not meant, but his will as it is seen in his word. For certainly those whom he wills effectually to gather, he draws internally by his Spirit, and not merely invites by the external voice of man. If any except that we constantly suppose there are VOL. IV.-No. VII.

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