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IX. Another scripture brought as a proof of falling from grace, is Heb. x. 26, 29, For if we sin wilfully, &c. From whence it is inferred that one that has the knowledge of the truth, may in such sort sin, as that there remains no sacrifice for it; and one that is sanctified by the blood of the covenant, may so fall away as to perish everlastingly: but, these words are not said of true believers; for though the persons described are such who,-1. Had knowledge of the truth; yet whether we understand this of Christ, who is the truth; or of the gospel, the word of truth, and of the several truths in it; as salvation by Christ, justification by his righteousness, &c., persons may have a notional, and not a saving knowledge of these things; the devils know much of Christ, and so do many natural men; yea the apostle says, men may have all knowledge, or knowledge of all truths, that which is notional and speculative; and all faith, which is historical, and yet be without grace, 1 Cor. xiii. 2.-2. Though said to be sanctified by the blood of the covenant, this is not to be understood of the expiation of their sins; and of their justification from them by the blood of Christ ; for such are most certainly saved from wrath to come, and shall never enter into condemnation, or perish eternally; but of their profession of their being thus sanctified; they were thought to be so by themselves and others, when they really were not; and by their profession of religion, were externally sanctified and separated from others, submitting to baptism, and partaking of the Lord's-supper; when they outwardly eat the bread, and drunk of the cup, the external symbol of the blood of the New Testament, or Covenant, though they did not spiritually discern the body and blood of Christ, but counted these symbols as common things. Though after all, it is the Son of God himself that is intended, and not the apostate; for the immediate antecedent to the relative he, is the Son of God; who was sanctified, or set apart, by the blood and sacrifice of himself, for the discharge of the other part of his priestly office, his intercession for his people in heaven; which is mentioned as an aggravation of the sin of such a person, who counted his blood an unholy thing.

The sins ascribed to the persons spoken of are such as are never committed by true believers; such as,-1. To sin wilfully, after the knowledge of the truth is received; for this is not to be understood of common infirmities, or of grosser sins, which may be voluntarily committed by the saints after regeneration, as were by Lot, David, and others; but of a denial of that great and fundamental truth of the gospel, the atonement of sin by the blood, sacrifice, and death of Christ, after a man has known it, and professed it; this is never done by one that has tasted that the Lord is gracious, and to whom his blood is precious; nor can it be. Peter denied his Master, and that he knew him; but he did not deny him to be his Saviour, nor deny the virtue of his blood and sacrifice for the atonement of sin; when, and by whom, this is done knowingly and wilfully, there remains no more, there is no other sacrifice for sin; and therefore such a man must be eternally lost. 2. To tread under foot the Son of God, doing as much as in them lies to strip him of his equality with God, and to reduce him to the class of a mere creature, and deny him to be the eternal Son of

God; this can never be done by such who have once believed, and are sure that he is the Son of the living God; for whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; he denies both the one and the other, and in effect says, that there are neither, 1 John ii. 22, 23; he is antichrist. -3. To count the blood of the covenant an unholy or common thing, as if it was the blood of a mere man, when it is the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, the Son of God, which cleanses from all sin; that blood with which the church of God is purchased; that blood by which it is redeemed from sin, Satan, and the law; that blood by which the covenant of grace is ratified and confirmed, and by virtue of which the covenant ones are delivered from their captive state.-4. To do despite unto the Spirit of grace, who has been a Spirit of grace and supplication to them; such who have had such an experience of him can never do despite unto him, treat him with malice, scorn, and contempt; deny his divine Person, and his special operations of grace; nor deny him to be the Spirit of grace, and reproach him as such; true believers in Christ, who have been sanctified and sealed by him, can never do such things as these. Truly sanctified persons are distinguished from the apostates, whose custom had been to forsake the assemblies of the saints, verse 25; and the apostle declares for himself and other true believers, who were just men, and lived by faith, that they were not of the number of such men, and to be ranked with them. So that these apostates are no instances of true believers falling from grace.

x. The following passage, though it makes clearly for the doctrine of the saints' final perseverance, is brought as an objection to it, Heb. x. 38: Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. From whence it is inferred, that those who live by faith, and are justified persons, may not endure to the end, may draw back to perdition, and everlastingly perish. But— 1. He that is truly a just man can never die spiritually and eternally: Whosoever liveth and believeth in me, says Christ, John xi. 26, shall never die! If such shall never die, they cannot perish everlastingly; a believer in Christ, and justified by him, can never be condemned; He hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; and therefore shall be eternally saved and glorified, John v. 24.-2. The just man and he that draws back are not the same, as is clear from the next verse: But we are not of them that draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. There are two sorts of persons mentioned; one that were TOTES, of faith, that had true faith in Christ, and lived by faith on him, and did not draw back to perdition, but went on believing till saved; of this number were the apostle and every truly just and righteous man included in the word we; the other were UTоσтоans, of the withdrawing, or separation, who forsook the assembly of the saints, verse 25, withdrew from their society and communion, and apostatized from the ways and worship of God; by which distinction it appears, that those that truly believe do not draw back to perdition; but continue in the faith of Christ, and in the true worship of God, and are everlastingly saved: and that those that drew back to perdition were not of the faith, or true believers in Christ, nor ever just ones that lived by faith; and so their apostacy is no proof of

the falling away of true believers, as to perish everlastingly. - 3. The passage in Hab. ii. 4, which is referred to, plainly shows who the man is that draws back, as opposed to the just man that lives by faith; he is one whose soul is lifted up, and is not upright in him; one that is proud and haughty, and is lifted up with a vain conceit of his own righteousness, in which he trusts; to which he betakes himself as to a tower and fortified place, as the word used signifies, and imagines. himself safe; and whose heart is not right with God, nor humble before God; and that such a man should withdraw himself from the communion of the saints, and apostatize, is not to be wondered at.4. God's taking no pleasure in him that draws back, does not intimate that he took pleasure in him before his drawing back, since it is not said, my soul shall have no more or no further pleasure in him; but shall have no pleasure in him, which does not necessarily suppose that he had any pleasure in him before, but that he should have in him hereafter. Besides, such who are the objects of God's delight and pleasure are always so; he rests in his love towards them, &c., Zeph. iii. 17.

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XI. To the doctrine of the saints' final perseverance is objected the passage in 2 Pet. ii. 20-22. But there is nothing said in those words which show that the persons spoken of were true believers, but the 1. The knowledge they had of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was not a spiritual, experimental, saving knowledge of him; for then they would have followed on to have known him, and to have known more of him, and it would have issued in eternal life; but it was only a speculative, notional knowledge of him, such as devils and Christless persons may have. 2. Escaping the pollutions of the world through it, designs no other than an external reformation of life and manners, joined with an outward conformity to the commands and ordinances of Christ, and an outward walk for a time in the ways of religion, they professed a knowledge and liking of. 3. Nor does it appear that they ever were any other than dogs and swine; and therefore when they apostatized, it was only a returning to their former state, and they only appeared to be what they always were; their case seems to be the same that is observed by Christ, Matt. xii. 43.

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XII. The falling away of real believers is argued, and their perseverance objected to, from various exhortations, cautions, &c., given unto them. As,-1. When he that thinks he stands is exhorted to take heed lest he fall, 1 Cor. x. 12; but supposing a true believer is here meant, which yet is not clear and certain, since it is one, o dokov, who seemeth to himself and others to stand; but admitting it, the exhortation is not superfluous; since, though he cannot finally and totally fall away, yet inasmuch as he may so fall as that God may be dishonoured by it, the doctrines and ways of Christ spoken evil of, the Spirit of God grieved, weak believers stumbled, and the hands of the wicked. strengthened, and a man's own peace and comfort broken, there is good reason why he should take care of falling; for, though there is no danger of his perishing eternally, yet if he falls to the breaking of his bones, and wounding his own soul, it behoves him to take heed lest he fall. - 2. When believers are cautioned to take heed, lest there be in them an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God, Heb. iii.

12, it shows that believers ought to be upon their guard against the sin of unbelief, to expose which is the design of the words, since it is a sin which easily besets good men, bereaves their souls of much comfort, and God of much glory; and therefore believers should be careful of giving way to it, and encouraging it, since it leads to a partial departure from Christ, the living God, though God has put his fear into the hearts of such persons that they shall not depart from him finally and totally.-3. When the apostle Peter exhorts those he wrote to, who had obtained like precious faith with him, to beware, lest being led away with the error of the wicked, they should fall from their own stedfastness, 1 Pet. iii. 17; his meaning is not as though there was a possibility of their falling from the precious grace of faith they had obtained, but from some degree of the steady exercise of it, or rather from their stedfast adherence to the doctrine of faith, through the sleight and cunning of men, who lay in wait to deceive; who might be able to stagger them, though they could not finally and totally deceive them; and therefore it became them to be upon their guard against them.-4. When the apostle John exhorts, saying, Look to yourselves, that ye lose not those things which we have wrought, 2 John 8, he speaks not of what the Spirit of God had wrought in them, as if that could be lost; nor even of what they themselves had wrought, under the influence of divine grace; but what we, the ministers of the gospel, had wrought, by teaching and instructing them, lest their labour in the ministry among them should be in vain, they giving heed to the doctrines of deceivers, mentioned both before and after. - 5. And when the apostle Jude says, keep yourselves in the love of God, 21, it is not to be understood of the love which God has in his heart towards his people, an interest in which can never be lost, and from which there is no separation; but rather of the love which they bear to him, the fervour of which sometimes abates; and therefore they should make use of all means to maintain, increase, and inflame it, in themselves and others; keep eaurous, one another in it, by the means directed to in the preceding verse: or it may chiefly respect love, peace, and concord among themselves; called the love of God, as it is the peace of God, Col. iii. 15; which is of him, taught by him, and he calls unto; and so is of the same import with Eph. iv. 3. Or, admitting that the love of God in the first sense is meant, it may design exercise of faith on it, meditation upon it, a constant keeping of it in view, in order to preserve themselves by the love of God from Satan's temptations, the snares of the world, and the lusts of the flesh; against complying with which, the love of God, shown in what he has done for his people, is a strong argument, Gen. xxxix. 9; and that the apostle could have no thought of the possibility of the saints falling totally and finally, appears from what he says of Christ with respect to them, Jude 24: Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, &c. And in like manner other cautions and exhortations, similar to these, may be understood; and it should be observed, that such cautions and exhortations as these are used and blessed as means of the perseverance of the saints, and are not to be improved against the doctrine of it. Secondly, objections are raised against the doctrine of the saints

final perseverance, from the sins and falls of persons eminent for faith and holiness, as Noah, Lot, David, Solomon, Peter, and others. But these are no proofs of their final and total falling away. As to Noah and Lot, though guilty of great sins, they have after this the character of truly good and righteous men. As for David, though by his fall his bones were broken, and the joy of his salvation was taken from him, and grace lay some time unexercised by him, yet the Spirit of God was not taken from him, as appears from his own words, when most sensible of his case, Psalm li. 11, 12. As for Solomon, though his backsliding was great, attended with aggravated circumstances, yet not total, see 1 Kings xi. 4, 6; nor final, as to perish everlastingly," which would have been contrary to the promise of God, that his mercy should not depart from him, 2 Sam. vii. 14, 15. Besides, he was restored by repentance, and the book of Ecclesiastes was penned by him in his old age, as an acknowledgment and retraction of his former follies; and some persons, after his death, are spoken of with commendation, for walking in the way of Solomon, as well as in the way of David, 2 Chron. xi. 17. As for Peter, his fall was not total; Christ prayed for him, that his faith failed not; nor final, for he was quickly restored by repentance. And these several instances are recorded in Scripture, not as instances of final and total apostacy, but of the weakness of the best of men in themselves; and for our caution and instruction, to take heed lest we fall. Demas is sometimes mentioned as an instance of apostacy; who very probably was a good man, since he is mentioned with such who were so, Col. iv. 14; and what the apostle says of him, that he had forsaken him, having loved this present world, is not sufficient to prove him an apostate, any more than Mark's departure from the apostle Paul, and others at Pamphylia; nor is too much love of the world, which is to be observed in many, otherwise good and valuable men, would prove them to be so. As for Hymeneus, Alexander, and Philetus, they do not appear to have been good men, as before observed; and so no instances of the apostacy of real saints. Thirdly, some ill consequences, supposed to follow the doctrine of the saints' final perseverance, are urged against it. As-1. That it tends to make persons secure and indifferent, as to the use of means to preserve them from sin and apostacy. But this is not true in fact, any more than in other cases similar to it; but is rather an encouragement to the use of them. Joshua, though he was assured that not a man should be able to stand before him, but all his enemies should be conquered by him; this did not make him secure, nor hinder him from taking all the proper precautions against his enemies, and of making use of all means to obtain victory over them. Hezekiah, though he was assured of his restoration from his disorder, yet this did not hinder him, nor the prophet who assured him of it, from making use of proper means for the cure of it; and though the apostle Paul had a certainty of the saving of the lives of all that were in the ship, yet he directed them to the proper means of their preservation; and told them, that except they abode in the ship, they could not be saved; and taking this his advice, though shipwrecked, they all came

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