II. They shall not find me, &c, for that they did not choose the fear of the Lord, Prov. i, 29. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, Deut. x, 16. Let every man be swift to hear, &c. Receive with meekness the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls, James i, 19, 21. Thy word have I hid in my heart, Psa. cxix, 11. The Father loveth you, because ye have believed, John xvi, 27. Believe, &c, and thou shalt be SAVED, Acts xvi, 31. Receive not the grace of God in vain, 2 Cor. vi, 1. Looking diligently lest any man fail of [or be wanting to] the grace of God, Heb. xii, 15. Inherit the kingdom, &c, for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat, &c, Matt. xxv, 34. Charge them, &e, to do good, &c, that they may lay hold on eternal life, 1 Tim. vi, 17, &c. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? Hos. xiv, 9. None of the wicked shall under. stand, but the wise shall understand, Dan. xii, 10. If I am not mistaken, the balance of the preceding scriptures shows that Pharisaism and Antinomianism are equally unscriptural; the harmonious opposition of those passages evincing, (1.) That our free will is subordinately a worker with God's free grace in every thing but a proper atonement for sin, and the first implanting of the light which enlightens every man that comes into the world: such an atonement having been fully completed by Christ's blood, and such an implanting being entirely performed by his Spirit. (2.) That Honestus is most dreadfully mistaken, when he makes next to nothing of free grace and her works. (3.) That Zelotes obtrudes a most dangerous paradox upon the simple, when he preaches finished salvation in the Chrispian sense of the word. And (4.) That St. Paul speaks as the oracles of God, when he says, "God worketh in you, &c, therefore work ye out your own salvation.' SECTION IX. Displaying the most wonderful work of free grace, the general redemption of the lost world of the ungodly by Jesus Christ: and the most astonishing work of free will, the obstinate neglect of that redemption, by those who do despite to the Spirit of grace. HONESTUS has such high thoughts of his uprightness and good works, that he sometimes doubts if he is a lost sinner by nature, and if the vir tue of Christ's blood is absolutely necessary to his justification. And the mind of Zelotes is so full of absolute election and reprobating par. tiality, that he thinks the sacrifice of Christ was confined to the little part of mankind which he calls "the Church, the pleasant children, Israel, Jacob, Ephraim, God's people, the elect, the little flock," &c. Those happy souls, if you believe him, are loved with an everlasting love, and all the rest of mankind are hated with an everlasting hate. Christ never bled, never died for these. God purposely let them fall in the first Adam, and absolutely denied them all interest in Christ the second Adam, that they might necessarily be wicked and infallibly be damned, "to illustrate his glory by their destruction." To rectify those mistakes; to show Honestus that all men, without exception, are so wicked by nature as to stand in need of Christ's atoning blood; and to convince Zelotes that Christ was so good as to shed it for all men, without exception; I throw into my Scales some of the weights stamped with general redemption: I say some, because others have already been produced in the third section. How ALL men are temporally redeemed by Christ's blood. THE WEIGHTS OF FREE GRACE, NOTE. General redemption by price and free grace cannot fail, because it is entirely the work of CHRIST, who does all things well. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels [i. e. was made man] for the suffering of death, &c, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man, Heb. ii, 9. When we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly, Rom. v, 6. The Son of man is come to save that which is lost, Luke xix, 10. Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, John i, 29. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, &c, that the Why some men are not eternally redeemed by Christ's Spirit. THE WEIGHTS OF FREE WILL. NOTE. General redemption by power and free will can and does fail, because many refuse to the last, subordinately "to work out their own salvation." As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live ;-turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Ezek. xviii, 23; xxxiii, 11. And row, &c, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now I will, &c, lay it waste, &c, I will also command the clouds I. world through him might be saved [upon Gospel terms,] John iii, 16, 17. This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world, John iv, 42. We have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, 1 John iv, 14. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born, &c, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, Luke ii, 10, 11. Christ is our peace, who hath made both [Jews and Gentiles] one, &c, that he might [on his part] reconcile both unto God by the cross, Eph. ii, 14, 16. [Now Jews and Gentiles are equivalent to the world.] God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, [when they believe,] 2 Cor. v, 10. It pleased the Father, &c, having made peace by the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, &c, hath he reconciled, &c, through death, to present you holy, &c, if ye continue in the faith, &c, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, &c, which is preached to every creature that is under heaven, Col. i, 19, 23. We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe: [because such obediently submit to the terms of eternal salvation; for initial salvation depends on no terms on our part,] 1 Tim. iv, 10. The philanthropy [or] kindness of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Tit. iii, 4. The bread of God giveth life unto the world: the bread that I will give for the life of the world, John vi, 33, 51. II. that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant; and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry, Isa. v, 3, 7. They have turned unto me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising early, Jer. xxxii, 33. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early, and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore, &c, I will cast you out of my sight, &c; therefore pray not for this people, &c, for I will not hear thee, Jer. vii, 13, 15, 16. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, my Father, &c? Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? &c. And I said, after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me; [return unto me, for I have redeemed thee, Isa. xliv, 72,] but she returned not. And, &c, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also, Jer. iii, 4-8. If thou wilt receive my words, &c, so that thou incline thine ear to wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding, &c, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord; and find the knowledge of God, Prov. ii, 1, &c. As the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a inan, so have I caused to cleave to me the whole house of Israel, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, &c. but they would not hear. Therefore, I. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. I came, &c, to save the world, John viii, 12; xii, 47. That the world may believe thou hast sent me, John xvii, 21. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, [or, of all men to be received] that Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, 1 Tim. i, 15. I exhort, that first of all supplica. tions, &c, and giving of thanks be made for all men, &c, for this is good and acceptable, [not in the sight of Zelotes,] but in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is, &c, one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all, &c. I will, therefore, that men pray every where, &c, without doubting, 1 Tim. ii, 1, &c. Mine eyes have seen [Christ] thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel, [i. e. the Jews,] Luke ii, &c. It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, [i. e. the Jews,] &c. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth, Isa. xlix, 6. God, &c, preached before the Gospel to Abraham, saying, In thee, [i. e. thy II. &c, I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them, Jer. xiii, 11, 12, 14. This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that [actually] does evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth, cometh to the light, John iii, 19, &c. Jeshurun, [i. e. the righteous,]* waxed fat and kicked, &c. He forsook God, &c, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation, &c. &c. They sacrificed to devils, And, when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and daugh. ters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, &c, for a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell, &c. I will spend mine arrows upon them, Deut. xxxii, 15, 23. Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will mock when your destruction cometh as a whirl. wind. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer, &c; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, &c, Prov. i, 24, &c. If ye walk contrary to me, &c, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, &c. And if ye will not be *If Christ came to save sinners, yea, the chief of sinners, did his goodness, impartiality, equity, truth, and holiness, permit him unconditionally to reprobate any sinner less than the chief? And if he came to save sinners, the chief not excepted, why does Zelotes except all that die in unbelief? If they do not believe, and do their part as redeemed souls, is it right to infer that Christ did not die for them and do his part as the Redeemer or Saviour of all men? Especially since the Scriptures testify that eternal salvation is suspended on our works of faith; and that the reprobates perish, because they "deny in works the Lord that bought them?” VOL. II. 5 I. seed, which is Christ] shall all nations [yea] all families of the earth be blessed, Gal. iii, 8, 16; Gen. xii, 3. In him [the Word made flesh] was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth [even] in the darkness, &c, [that] comprehended it not. John came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through it [d' aurs owlos] might believe, &c. That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, John i, 4, &c. II. reformed by these things, I will punish you yet seven times, &c. And if ye will not for all this hearken to me, &c, I will cast down your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, &c, and my soul shall abhor you, Lev. xxvi, 21–30. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit [during the day of salvation] he taketh away, &c, and it is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned, John xv, 2-6. shall bow down to the slaughter, because when I called ye did not answer, Isa. lxv, 12. Ye From the preceding scriptures it appears, that as in a vine some branches are nearer the root than others; so among mankind some men have a stronger and more immediate union with Christ than others; but, so long as their day of salvation lasts, all men have some interest in him; there being as many ways of being in Christ, as there are dispensations of Gospel grace. That infants are interested in him, seems evident from Rom. v, 18, and Mark x, 14: and that Cornelius, for ex ample, was in Christ as a just heathen, before he was in him as a Jew. ish proselyte, much more before he was in him as a Christian believer, is not less evident from Matt. xxv, 29; Psa. 1, 23; Luke xvi, 10, 11. But when the expression, being in Christ, is taken in its most confined sense, as it is in some of the epistles, it means a being so fully acquainted with, and so intimately united to Christ, as to enjoy the privileges peculiar to the Christian dispensation, like Cornelius, when he had believed the Gospel of Christ, and was baptized with the Holy Ghost. To say that he was in every respect without Christ before, is to strike a blow at the root: it is to suppose that a man can be accepted out of the Beloved, work righteousness without Christ's assistance, and "bring forth fruits meet for repentance," in a total separation from the vine. Thus it is, however, that the Solifidianism of Zelotes meets with the Pharisaism of Honestus. |