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just, and the juftifier of him that believes in Jefus, Rom. iii. 26. Therefore, if a finner, whofe mouth is Stopped, and who has nothing to pay, pleads from the heart the atoning blood of Chrift [and fuppofing he never heard that precious name, if according to his light he implores divine mercy, for the free exercife of which Chrift's blood has made way] not only Godwill not deliver him to the tormentors, but will frankly forgive him all. Luke vii. 41, &c.

Herein then confifts the great difference, between the firft and the fecond covenant. Under the first, an abfolute, unfinning, univerfal obedience in our own perfons is required; and fuch obedience we, (in our fallen ftate,] can never perform. - Under the fecond covenant, this obedience [to the law of innocence, payed by, and] in our furety Chrift Jefus, when we are united to him by a faith of the operation of God, is accepted inftead of our own. For as our lins were transferred upon the Redeemer's guiltless head, fo his merits are brought home to our guilty

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has arfered all the demands of the FIRST covenant for believers, I indirectly affert, that he has not answered the demands of the Second and that according to the gcfpel, we must perfonally repent, believe and obey to be finally accepted: The covenant of grace infifting as much upon the works if faith, as the covenant of works did upon the wor's of the law of innocence, in order to our continuance and progress in the divine favour. A doctrine this which is the ground of the minutes, the quinteffence of the Checks, and the downfall of antinomianifm. It was only with refpect to the covenant of works, and to the law of innocence, that I said in the next paragraph, transposed by Mr. Hill, "THIS obedience when we are united to Chrift by a "faith of the operation of God, IS ACCEPTED INSTEAD OF OUR OWN,' How greatly then does he mistake me, when he fuppofes I afferted that the perfonal, Adamic, and (in one fenfe) anti-evangelical obedience of Chrift, which sprang neither from gospel-faith nor from gofpel-repentance, is accepted inftead of the perfonal, penitential, evangelical obedience of believers! It is juft here that the Calvinists turn afide from the truth, to make void the law of Chrift and follow antinomian dotages. Becaufe Chrift has fulfilled the Adamic law of innocence for us, they fancy that he has also fulfilled his own evangelical law of gofpel-obedience, according to which we must stand or fall, when by our word's we fhall be justified, and by our words we shall be condemned,

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fouls by the powerful operation of divine grace thro faith, and being thus compleat in Chrift + [with regard to the fulfilling of the FIRST Covenant,] we can rejoice in God, who has made him unto us wisdom, righte oufness, fanctification, and redemption. [1 fay, with regard to the fulfilling of the FIRST covenant, to guard againft the error of thoufands, who vainly imagine that Chrift has fulfilled the terms of the Second covenant for us, and talk of finished salvation, just as if our Lord had actually repented of our fins, believed in his own blood, and fulfilled his own evangelical law in our ftead; a fatal error this, which makes chriftians lawlefs,

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(10) If I fay that penitent believers are compleat in Chrift with refpect to the firft covenant; I do not intimate that fallen believers, who crucify the Son of God afrefo, may even commit deliberate murder, and remain compleat in him, or rather (as the original means alfo) filled with him. Far be the horrid infinuation from the pen and heart of a Chriftian. I readily grant, that true believers are not less dead to the Adamic law of innocence, than to the ceremonial law of Mofes ; and that, with respect to it, they heartily fay as David, Enter not into judgment with thy fervants, O Lord, for in thy fight shall no man living be juftified. But mistake me not; I would not infinuate, that they are lawless, or only under a rule of life, which they may break without endangering their falvation. No; they are under the law of Chrift, the law of liberty, the law of the spirit of life, the royal law of gofpel-holiness; and according to this law, they fhall all be rewarded or punished in the day of judgment. Altho' this law admits of repentance after a fall, at leaft during the day of falvation; and altho' it does not condemn us, for not obeying above our prefent measure of power; yet it does not make the leaft allowance for wilful fin, any more than the Adamic law; for St. James informs a believer, that if be offend in one point, be is guilty of all. And indeed our Lord's parable confirms this awful declaration. The favoured fervant, who had the immenfe debt of ten thousand talents forgiven him, finned againft Chrift's law only in one point, namely, in refufing to have mercy on his fellow fervant, as his Lord had had compaffion upon him and for that one offence he was delivered to the tormentors, as notoriously guilty of breaking the whole law of liberty and love. If be who defpifed the law of Mofes perifhed under two or three witnesses, of bow MUCH SORER PUNISHMENT fhall be be thought worthy, tubo defpifes the law of Chrift. This is the ground of the epiftle to the Hebrews: but who confiders it? Who believes, that the Son of God will command even the unprofitable fervant to be cut alunder? When the Son of Man cometh shall be find faith upon the earth? Lord! help my unbelief.

lefs, reprefents Christ as the minifter of fin, and arms the antinomian fiend with a dreadful ax, to fell the trees of righteoufnefs, and cut down the very pillars of the houfe of God. 1

From what has been obferved it follows, that before any one can believe [to falvation] in the gospelfenfe of the word, he must be convinced of fin by the fpirit of God, John xvi. 8. He must feel himself a guilty, loft, and helpless finner, unable to recover the favour and inage of God by his own ftrength and righteoufnefs: Acts ii. 37, 38.

This conviction and fenfe of guilt make the finner come travelling and heavy laden to Chrift, earnestly claiming the reft which he offers to weary fouls, Mat. xi. 28. This reft the mourner feeks with the contrite publican, in the conftant ufe of all the means of grace; endeavouring to bring forth fruit meet for repentance, till the fame fpirit, that had convinced him of fin, and alarmed his drowfy confcience, convinces him alfo of righteoufnefs, John xvi. 8, that is, fhews him the all-fufficiency of the Saviour's [merits or ] righteoufnefs, to fwallow up his [+ former fins, and] unrighteoufnefs; and the infinite value of Chrift's meritorious death, to atone for his [+ paft] unholy life; enabling him to believe with the HEART, and confequently to feel [under the chriftian difpenfation] that he has an intereft in the Redeemer's blood and righteoufuefs; [or, that he is favingly interested in the merit of all that the Son of God fuffered, did, and continues to do for us. ]

This lively faith, this faith working by love, is that which is imputed for righteousness, Rom. iv. 3, and

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(11) Without the words former and paft, the fentence leaned towards Antinomianifm. It gave fallen believers room to conclude, that their future or prefent unholy lives were unconditionally atoned for; contrary to St. Paul's guarded gofpel, God has fit forth Chrift to be a propitiation, to declare bis rightecufnefs for the remiffion of fins THAT ARE PAST. Here is no pleafing innuendo, that the prefent, or future fins of laodicean backfliders," are for ever and for ever cancelled."

(12) This is the very doctrine of the minutes and of the checks. Is it not aftonifhing, that Mr. Hill fhould defire me to publifh my fermon, as "the beft confutation" of both!

that whereby a foul is born of God [according to the + chriftian difpenfation of the gospel.] 1 John v. f. By this faith the [chriftian] believer being [ftrongly] united to Chrift, as a member to the body, becomes entitled to [a much larger share in] the benefit of all that our Lord did and fuffered; and in confequence of this [ftrong] vital union with him, who is the fource of all goodness, he derives a [degree of power till then unknown, to do good works truly fo called: as a graft, which is [ftrongly] united to the stock that bears it, draws from it new fap, and power to bring forth fruit in [greater] abundance.

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(13) The judicious reader will eafily perceive, that the additions made to this, and fome other paragraphs of my old fermon, are intended to guard the inferior difpenfations of the gofpel. Are there not degrees of faving faith, inferior to the faith of the chriftian gofpel? And are not thofe degrees of faith confiftent with the most profound ignorance of the hiftory of our Lord's fufferings, and confequently with any explicit knowledge of the atonement. Altho' mankind in general had fome confcioufnefs of guilt, and a confufed idea of propitiatory facrifices; and altho' all the Jewish sacrifices and prophecies pointed to the great atonement; yet how few, even among the pions Jews, feem to have had a clear belief that the Meffiah would put arvay fin by the facrifice of himself! How unreasonable is it then to confine the gofpel to the explicit knowledge of Chrift's atoning fufferings, to which both the prophets and apoftles were once fuch ftrangers! Does not St. Peter intimate that the prophets fearched, to little purpose, what the Spirit fignified, when it teftified before hand the fufferings of Chrift; fince it was revealed to them, that not unto themflves, but unto us, they did minifter the things, which are now reported And how abfurd is it to in the chriftian gofpel? 1 Peter i. II, 12.

suppose, that nothing is gospel, but a doctrine, which the first preachers of the chriftian gofpel knew little or nothing of, even while they preached the gospel under our Lord's immediate direction? Did not John the Baptift exceed in evangelical knowledge, all that were born of women? Were the Apoftles much inferior to him, when they had been three years in Chrift's school? Did not our Lord say to them, Bleffed are your eyes for they fee, and your ears for they bear; for verily many prophets and righteous men have defired to fee the things that ye fee, and have not feen them; and to hear the things that ye hear, and have no. beard them? Again, did he not teftify, that in general they had juftifying faith, i. e. faith working by love? Did he not fay, New are ye The Father bimfelf clean thro' the word which I bave spoken unto you loveth you, because you have loved me, and believed that I came forth from

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TO thou, that profeffeft the chriftian faith, efpe cially.] fhew me thy faith by thy works, fays an Apoftle: that is, fhew me that thou art grafted in Chrift [according to the chriftian difpenfation] by ferving God with all thy ftrength; by doing all the good thou canft to the fouls and bodies of men with chearfulness; by fuffering wrong and contempt with meeknefs; by flighting earthly joys, mortifying fleshly lufts, having thy converfation in heaven, and panting every hour after a clofer union with Chrift, the life of all believers. If thou doft not bring forth these fruits, thou art not a Chriftian; thou art not in Chrift a new creature, 2 Cor. v. 17. Thou mayeft talk of faith, and fuppofe that thou believeft; but give me leave to tell thee, that [unlefs thou art in the cafe of the Eunuch,

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God? Nay, did he not fend them two and two, to preach the gospel of the day: The kingdom of heaven is at band: Repent and believe THE GOSPEL? And would he have feet them to preach a gospel to which they were utter ftrangers? But were they not perfectly strangers to what paffes now for the only gofpel? Had they the leaft idea that their Mafter's blood was to be fhed for them, even after he had faid, This is my blood of the new teftament, which is fbed for you and for many for the remiffion of fins? When he fpoke to them of his fufferings, were not they fo far from believing in the atonement which he was about to make, that they were offended at the very idea? Is not this evident from the words of Peter, their chief fpeaker, who began to rebuke bim, faying, Be it far from thee, Lord: This fhall not happen unte thee: i. e. We do not yet fee the need of thy blood? Nay, when Chrift had actually shed it, and the atoning work was finished; far from having the leaft notion about what is called "finished falvation,'

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gofpel" in our day; did they not fuppofe that all their hopes were blafted, faying, We trufted that it had been be, who should have redeemed Ifrael, Luke xxiv. 21? Thus the very payment of their ransom, made them defpair of redemption: So great was their unacquaintedness with the doctrine of the atonement, notwithstanding their gofpelknowledge, which far exceeded that of moft patriarchs and prophets! From thefe obfervations may I not conclude: (1) That an explicit knowledge of Chrift's paffion and atonement, is the prerogative of the chriftian gofpel advancing towards perfection? And (2) that thofe who make it effential to the everlafting gospel, most dreadfully curtail it, and indirectly.doon to hell, not only all the righteous Jews, Turks, and Heathens, who may now be alive; but also almost all the believers, who died before our Lord's crucifixion, and fome of the difciples themselves after his refurrection?

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