I. the call] Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you [Corinthians] save Jesus Christ, and him crucified, 1 Cor. i, 23, 24; ii, 2. Preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all-the Prince of Peace, Acts x, 36; Isa. ix, 6. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life, 1 John v, 12. He that acknowledgeth the Son, hath the Father also, 1 John ii, 23. Christ is our life, Col. iii, 4. JESUS CHRIST, who is our hope, 1 Tim. i, 1. I have laid help upon one that is mighty. Without me ye can do nothing, Psa. lxxxix, 19; John xv, 5. Neither is he that planteth any thing, [comparatively,] &c, but God that giveth the increase, 1 Cor. iii, 7. Yet not I [alone, not I first,] but the grace of God which was with me, 1 Cor. xv, 10. Call no man your father upon earth; for one is your Father, who is in heaven, Matt. xxiii, 9. Christ is made unto us of God wisdom, 1 Cor. i, 30. God only wise, Jude 25. Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is GOD, Matt. ix, 17. THOU ART WORTHY, O Lord, to receive glory and honour, Rev. iv, 11. I am the light of the world, John viii, 12. If God be for us, who can be against us? Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, II. churches had abundantly given. He had boasted of their forwardness. Their charity would make others praise God, and pray for them. He that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully, &c, 2 Cor. viii, 2; ix, 3, 6, 12, 14. There is no peace to the wicked; he that will love life, &c, let him do good, seek peace, and pursue it, Isa. lvii, 21; Psa. xxxiv, 14. Beloved, &c, he that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God, 3 John 11. Whosoever transgresseth hath not God, 2 John 9. To be spiritually minded is life, Rom. viii, 6. What is our hope? &c. Are not even YE [Thessalonians?] 1 Thess. ii, 19. I [Paul] can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me, Phil. iv, 13. We are labourers together with God. As a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, 1 Cor. iii, 9, 10. I [Paul] laboured more abundantly than they all [the apostles,] 1 Cor. xv, 10. Ye have not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel, 1 Cor. iv, 15. Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son, Prov. xxviii, 7. Five virgins were wise, Matt. II. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment, Job xxxiv, 10, 11, 12. If ANY MAN see his brother sin, &c, he shall ask, and he [God] will give him life for them that sin not unto death, 1 John v, 16. I will that intercessions be made for all men. The effectual fervent prayer of A RIGHTEOUS MAN availeth much, 1 Timothy ii, 1; James v, 16. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them, John xx, 23. PHINEHAS Was zealous for God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel, Num. xxv, 13. MOSES his chosen stood before him in the breach to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them, Psalm cvi, 23. I will not do it [i. e. I will not rain fire and brimstone from the Lord upon Sodom] for ten rightcous' sake, Gen. xviii, 32. He became the author of eternal SALVATION to all them that obey him, Heb. v, 9. Is Christ the minister of sin? God forbid! By their FRUITS ye shall know them. We labour that we may be accepted of him, for we must all appear before the judg ment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad, Gal. ii, 17; Matt. vii, 20; 2 Cor. v, 9, 10. Is it not evident from the balance of these, and the like scriptures that Honestus and Zelotes are both under a capital, though contrary mistake? and that to do the Gospel justice, we must Scripturally join toge ther what they rashly put asunder? SECTION V. Setting forth the glory of faith and the honour of works. FIRST SCALE. Whosoever believeth on him [Christ] shall not be ashamed, Rom. x, 11. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent, John vi, 29. Abraham believed God, &c, and he was called the friend of God, James ii, 23. To him that worketh not, but believeth, &c, his faith is counted for righteousness, Rom. iv, 5. If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins, John viii, 24. Only believe: [I particularly require a strong exertion of thy faith at this time,] Luke viii, 50. He that believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life, John v, 24. Thy faith hath SAVED thee, Luke vii, 50. Through faith they wrought righteousness, obtained promises, &c, Heb. xi, 33. With the heart man believeth to righteousness, Rom. x, 10. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Gal. iii, 2. Through his name, whosoever believeth on him shall receive remission of sins, Acts x, 43. If Abraham were justified by WORKS, he hath whereof to glory, Rom. iv, 2. Without FAITH it is impossible to please God, Heb. xi, 6. And with the mouth confession is made to salvation. (Ibid.) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot, &c, so then, &c, I will spue thee out of my mouth, Rev. iii, 15, 16. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, Luke vi, 37; 1 John i, 9. Was not Abraham our father justified by WORKS? James ii, 21. O vain man, faith without WORKS is dead, James ii, 20. I. They that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, Gal. iii, 9. To them that are unbelieving is NOTHING PURE, Tit. i, 15. Believe in the Lord, &c, so shall you be established, 2 Chron. xx, 20. To the praise of the glory of his grace, &c, he hath made us accepted in the beloved, Eph. i, 6. I live by FAITH in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me, Gal. ii, 20. For me to live is CHRIST, Phil. i, 21. THIS [Christ] is the true God, and eternal life, 1 John v, 20. This is eternal life, to know thee, &c, and Jesus Christ, John xvii, 3. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, John iii, 36. Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law [opposed to Christ;] for they stumbled at that stumbling stone, Rom. ix, 31, 32. Abraham believed God, and it was imputed [or counted] to him for righteousness, Rom. iv, 3. Trust [i. e. believe] ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, Isa. xxvi, 4. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, John iii, 18. Be it known unto you that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are JUSTIFIED, Acts xiii, 38, 39. II. If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham, John viii, 39. Give alms, &c, and behold all THINGS are CLEAN unto you, Luke xi, 41. If thou doest well, shalt not thou be accepted? Gen. iv, 7. In every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him, Acts x, 35. If ye, through the Spirit, MORTIFY the deeds of the body, ye shall live, Rom. viii, 13. KEEP my commandments and live, Prov. iv, 4. His [my Father's] COMMANDMENT is life everlasting, John xii, 50. Though I have all knowledge, &c, and have not charity, I am nothing, 1 Cor. xiii, 2. And he that [are] disobeyeth the Son, shall not see life. (Ibid.) If any man among you, &c, bridleth not his tongue, &c, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world, James i, 26, 27. Phinehas executed judgment, and that was counted [or imputed] unto him for righteousness for evermore, Psa. cvi, 30, 31. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God, Psa. lxvi, 18; 1 John iii, 21. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, Luke xiv, 11. The doers of the law [of faith] shall be JUSTIFIED,-in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, &c, according to my Gospel, Rom. ii, 13, 16. In the day of judgment-by thy words thou shalt be JUSTIFIED, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned, Matt. xii, 36, 37. We have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be JUSTIFIED [as sinners] by the faith of Christ, Gal. ii, 16. The balance of the preceding scriptures shows that FAITH, and the works of faith, are equally necessary to the salvation of adults. Faith, for their justification as sinners, in the day of CONVERSION; and the works of faith, for their justification as believers, both in the day of TRIAL and of JUDGMENT. Hence it follows, that when Zelotes preaches mere Solifidianism, and when Honestus enforces mere morality, they both grossly mangle Bible Christianity, which every real Protestant is bound to defend against all Antinomian and Pharisaic innovators. SECTION VI. THE MORAL LAW OF CHRIST WEIGHED AGAINST THE MORAL LAW OF MOSES. Our translation makes St. Paul speak unguardedly, where it says that "the law is not made for a righteous man"-The absurdity of making behievers afraid of the decalogue-The moral law of Christ, and the moral law of Moses are one and the same— -The moral law is rescued from under the feet of the Antinomians-Christians are not less under the moral law to Christ as a rule of judgment, than the Jews were under it to Moses The Sinai covenant is proved to be an edition of the covenant of grace--The most judicious Calvinists maintain this doctrine-- Wherein consists the difference between the Jewish and the Christian dispensation. As the latter is most glorious in its promises, so it is most terrible in its threatenings-Two capital objections are answered. WHEN justice has used her scales, she is sometimes obliged to wield her sword. In imitation of her, I lay by my Scales to rescue a capital scripture, which, I fear, our translators have inadvertently delivered into the hands of the Antinomians. 1 Tim. i, 8, 9, the apostle is represented as saying, "We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a RIGHTEOUS MAN." "Now," say some Antinomians, "all believers, being complete in Christ's imputed righteousness, are and shall for ever be perfectly righteous in him; therefore the law is not made for them: they can no more be condemned for breaking the moral, than for transgressing the ceremonial law." A horrible inference this, which, I fear, is countenanced by these words of our translation: "The law is not made for the righteous." Is this strictly true? Were not angels and our first parents righteous, when God "made for them" the (then) easy yoke of the law of innocence? And is not the law "made for" the absolution of "the righteous," as well as for the condemnation of the wicked? Happily St. Paul does not speak the unguarded words, which we impute to him; for he says, dixaiw voμos ou xeitai, literally, "The law lieth not at, or is not levelled against a righteous man, but against the lawless and disobedient," that is, against those who break it. This literal sense perfectly agrees with the apostle's doctrine, where he says, "Rulers |