times at leaft) be wanting in the beft of the children of God. I must ftill further obferve,

1.2. That God is fometimes pleafed in a more fpecial manner, to fbed abroad his love in the hearts of believers, by his holy Spirit, with fuch fuperior light and evidence,, that their gracious fincerity, fo confequently their intereft in Chrift, and their title to the eternal inheritance, can at such times be no ways doubtful and questionable to them. The Spirit of God witneffeth with their spirits, that they are his children. And they are fealed with the holy Spirit of promife. In this cafe, as in the other before mentioned, their comfortable perfuafion of their intereft in Chrift arifes from an evident difcovery of the exercise of the graces of his bleffed Spirit. Herein this joyful perfuafion in both cafes agrees, that it is reafonable, and well grounded. The Spirit of God never perfuades the foul to believe a.truth without its proper evidence nor causes the believer to rejoice without rational grounds and motives. But then this latter perfuafion differs from that before mentioned, in thefe following refpects. It is produced in the foul with an incomparably stronger and clearer light. In the other cafe, fatisfaction is obtained by a series of reafoning, reflection, and felf exa mination; diftinctly confidering the fcripture-rule, and comparing it with the ftate, circumftances, and fettled habit of the foul. Whereas, in this cafe, the foul has fo clear a view and confcioufnefs of its prefent exercife of faith in Chrift, and love to God, that all clouds are dispersed, all mifts and darkness vanish; and there is no room left for doubts and mifgiving thoughts; but the foul fees itself fafe in the hands of Chrift; and can reft there with the greatest alacrity and pleafure. Moreover, as this perfuafion which I am now fpeaking of, makes its way into the foul with much greater light, fo it has a much quicker and more fudden production. The foul is not exercised in this cafe, for months and years together, with difficult enquiries into its own ftate: but at once, before it is aware, overcomes all its fears, by feeling the poffeffion and influence of the graces and confolations of the Spirit of God. I may yet add, that this perfuafion is accompanied with fuch unspeakable joy, as thofe (even believers themfelves) cannot have any

idea of, who have not thus tafted that the Lord is gra cious. The divine light shines into the soul with a tranfporting and ravifhing energy, till it is as it were loft in a joyful aftonishment. By this the world vanifhes out of fight, and death felf lofes its terrors; by this the martyrs have been enabled to fing in the flames, and moft joyfully to triumph over all that is moft frightful and diftreffing to nature. To which I may also add, that this joyful perfuafion, of which I now fpeak, has a transforming efficacy on the foul who is the happy fubject of it. It purifies the heart, and promotes conformity to God: It humbles the foul to nothing in its own eyes; brings it down to an abfolute fubjection to the will of God; and excites in the moft vigorous exercife of the graces of the Spirit, and the duties of Chriftianity, effects, which at leaft are not fo fenfibly produced, and in fuch a degree, by the fatisfaction which the foul obtains of its own good ftate, in the method first mentioned. I have infifted the longer upon thefe heads, to obviate all mifapprehenfions of what I have yet to offer and to the fame purpose I muff add once more,

3. That we have no other claim to acceptance with God, but by the righteousness of Chrift imputed to us and received by faith and therefore that we can have no juft perfuafion of our being in favour with God, but from our intereft in and dependance upon his righteouf nefs, as the matter of our juftification. It is only on account of what Chrift has done and fuffered for us, that we are juftified before God and entitled to eternal fal vation. It is only by faith, that we are interested in this righteoufnefs. And it is only by the evidence of our having a true unfeigned faith, that we can fafely enjoy the fatisfaction and comfort of a juftified ftate. That we cannot be juftified before God by our own finceré obedience, either to the law of nature or to any imagi nary law of grace, or even by faith itfelf, as it is an act of obedience, or any other way whatfoever, but by the imputation of the righteoufnefs of Chrift to us, and on the account of what he did and fuffered for us, will ap pear from the following confideration.

This appears evidently true, in that nothing can be the matter of our juftification before God, but what is a

proper and adequate atonement and propitiation for our fins. That we have all finned, and come fort of the glory of God, is a truth evident, both from the light of nature and revelation. That God will by no means clear the guilty, has the fame evidence and certainty. Infinite juftice and holinefs cannot look upon those to be just, who are under the guilt of fin, and the damning fentence of the law. There is therefore a neceflity, that the dif honour done to God by our fins be repaired, and the penal demands of his broken law be fulfilled, that our guilt may be removed from us, and God be just injuftifying the ungodly. How elfe would the Judge of all the earth do right, in declaring the finner righteous, while he remains under the pollution and guilt, both of origi nal and actual fin? As far then as our obedience, conⱭidered in itself, can answer thofe ends, fo far it may conduce to our juftification before God; and no farther. If we can answer the demands of the juflice and law of God for our paft fins; if we can pay ten thoufand talents with lefs than nothing; and if by committing new fin (as we always do in the belt of our imperfect obedience) we can fatisfy for our former fin and guilt, and fo difcharge the old score; then may our obedience be confidered as the condition of our juftification before God. Whereas, if neither our legal nor our evangelical obedience can do any thing at all towards this, but (as coming from a finful nature, and mixed with finful imperfection) will add to the debt, and increafe the weight of our guilt, then it is certain, that that cannot be the matter of a finner's juftification, nor the condition of our acceptance with God. Whence we may conclude with the apostle, that Chrift Jefus is fet forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, that his righteousness might be declared, for the remiffion of our fins, in order that God might be juft, and the juftifier of tim which believeth in Jesus, Rom. ii. 25, 26.

Here can therefore be no room, at all for that pretence, that the obedience of Chrift has purchafed for us a difpenfing act of grace, that our filtere obedience fhall on his account be accepted inftead of the perfect obedience demanded by the law of nature; and that we

clude all our own righteousness, and all our own works from any hand in our juftification, we alfo fhould renounce them all; and depend upon the righteousness of Christ only. For this fee Tit. iii. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he favedus, Rom. iv. 5. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted or righteousness. These things are fo plainly and evidently the fcope and defign of the whole New Teftament, that all the artful evafions of those who would go about to establish their own righteousness, and 10b Chrift of the honour of their juftification and falvation, should be rejected with abhorrence. In fine, let me intreat you, Sir, always to remember, that both the laws and the prophets witness the righteoufnefs of God, which is by faith of Jefus Chrift, unto all and upon all them that believe, Rom. iii. 21, 22. That Chrift is the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth, Rom. And that being justified by his blood, we shall be faved from wrath through him, Rom. v. 9.

X. 4.

You'll pardon me, that I have fo long delayed your expectations. I thought it neceffary, not only to clear the way before me, that you may fee in what fenfe I op. pofe the Antinomian dreams and Moravian dotages: but alfo to offer fome precautions, that you may not fall upon Scylla, while you avoid Charybdis; but fleer your way fafe between the two extreams.

By all that I have now faid you may perceive, that the queftion between us and the Moravians or Antinomains is not, Whether believers may have, and fhould feek to have, a comfortable perfuafion of their intereft in Chrift? To doubt of this, would be at once to contra. dict the strongest atteftations thereto in the word of God, and the happy experience of his children. Nor is it the queftion, whether we are justified by any attainments of our own? To fuppofe this, were to counteract the whole defign of the gofpel; and to bring the greateft contempt upon the Redeemer's merits and righteoufnefs. But the question is, whether a true faving faith, confifts in a perfuafion of our perfonal actual intereft in Chrift, and that he will beftow his eternal falvation upon us in particular? Whether there may not be a ftrong perfuafion

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of a juftified state, without any true faving faith; and a true faving faith, without this particular perfuafion of a justified ftate? If this be fo, if men may have this perfuafion while in a state of guilt and condemnation, and, if God's own dear children may be in doubts and darknefs, with refpect to their state, it neceffarily follows, that this Moravian and Antinomian doctrine is a most dangerous mistake and delufion. This matter therefore deserves to be particularly confidered.

That men may be ftrongly perfuaded of the fafety of their ftate, while remaining under guilt and condemnation, appears from fuch confiderations as these.

If this perfuafion may be entertained by those who have never been emptied of their felf-fufficiency, nor ever had any fenfible difcovery of their loft, impotent, and helpless ftate, it certainly cannot be a true faving faith in the Lord Jefus Chrift. That this may be, is e vident from the nature of things. There can be no rea fon affigned, why fach may not be capable to entertain a ftrong opinion of their own good ftate, who have never discovered how bad, how dangerous and miferable their ftate by nature is. That this has been, is evident from fcripture. Laodicea. thought herself rich and in. creafed in goods; and to have need of nothing; when the was poor and miferable, and wretched and blind, and naked; and fuch there have always been, who think themfelves fomething, when they are nothing, and deceive themselves. And that fuch have not a true faith in Chrift, whatever perfuafion they entertain, is evident, in that men cannot come to Christ for that which they do not feel the want of; nor can they feel the want of delive, rance from that loft and miferable ftate, which they have never had a fenfible difcovery of. The whole need not the phyfician. It is alfo evident, in that faving faith is a dependance upon Chrift alone for falvation. For it is impoffible to depend upon Chrift alone, and yet to depend partly upon ourselves for falvation; as all fuch neceffarily do, that have never felt their own impotent and loft condition. The Antinomians, I know, difclaim all pretences to felf-dependence. But whence, I befeech them, are the towering imaginations of the divine fa→ vour, which fome of them entertain, while they have