pentance, as well as faith, and in no other way. If any are not in that way, they are not in Chrift's way: and have therefore reason to suspect their union to Chrift, and to conclude, that they are not in the path of life. Their eternal intereft does therefore loudly call upon them, to mourn for their fins, to hate and forfake them, Jeft they perish eternally. True believers will not finally perifh; for whom God juftifies, he will alfo glorify. But then the believer's perfeverance is fubferved by a fear of caution; nor are there any true believers, but penitent believers: and therefore, whoever are habitual. ly carelefs in their walk, and impenitent for their fins, will fall fhort of falvation, whatever pretences to faith in Chrift they may make. There is but one way to heaven; and whoever gets there, must attain the glorious falvation, by obtaining affiftance, from the powerful influences of divine grace, to keep that way. They must be enabled to go weeping and mourning, with their faces toward Zion. They must offer to God the facrifice of an humble and contrite fpirit. They muft loath themfelves in their own fight, for their iniquities and abominations. Every other road but this leads down to the chambers of death. Believers therefore as well as others, have cause to pafs the time of their fojourning here in fear. They have not caufe indeed (as is before obferved) of a legal and flavish fear: but they have cause of a jealoufy of themselves, left they mifs their way and fall fhort of their hope. They have cause to watch and pray, that they enter not into temptation, Matth. xxvi. 41. They have cause to keep under their body and bring it into fubjection, left by any means they themselves foukl be caft-aways, 1 Cor. ix. 27. And to judge themselves, that fo they may not be condemned with the world, chap. xi. 31, 32. They have caufe to follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man fhall fee the Lord, Heb. xii. 14. They have caufe to repent and turn themselves from all their tranfgreffions, that their iniqui ty do not prove their ruin, Ezek. xviii. 30. Believers themselves would fall into condemnation, and their ini. quities be their ruin, fhould they live carelefs, finful, im penitent lives. There is no falvation promifed, there is no falvation poffible, to any who live fuch lives. They

who are kept by the power of God, are kept through faith (an operative faith, which is accompanied with all the graces of the bleffed Spirit). unto the falvation which Shall be revealed in the last time, 1 Pet. i. 5. The doctrine of our union to Chrift does therefore allow no plea for licentiousness, since Christ is a prince, as well as a Saviour, to all who are in him, to give them repentance, as well as forgiveness of fins, Acts v. 31. And they who do not live in the exercife of repentance, whatever pretences they may make unto an union to Chrift by faith, have not the faith of God's elect, are none of his; nor are they likely ever to partake of his falvation. It therefore concerns fuch filthy dreamers to awake, and confider their danger, who are at eafe in Zion, who flatter themselves in their own eyes: for their iniquities mult firft or laft be found batejul.

You go on to argue; it appears à contradiction, to teach, that the believer is perfectly righteous in the fight of God, by virtue of his union to Chrift, and by the imputation of his righteousness; and yet that he is finful and polluted in God's fight, at the fame time. If he be united to Chrift and interested in his righte⚫oufness, he is perfectly righteous: and if he be perfectly righteous, he cannot be finful: and therefore cannot have caufe to repent for his fins, to grieve for them, 6 or feek pardon for them.' In answer to this, I would intreat you to confider,

1. That this is to blend together juftification and fanctification, as if they were the fame thing. There is not the leaft fhadow of a confequence, that because believers are interested in a perfect righteoufnefs, and are thereby perfectly justified in the fight of God, therefore their fanctification is compleat, and they perfectly holy. God may blot out our tranfgreffions as a cloud, and caft our iniquities into the depths of the fea, by a gracious pardon, when yet we have caufe to acknowledge ourfelves altogether as un unclean thing, and that if he fhould mark iniquity, we could not stand; that if he fhould contend with us, we could not answer him one of a thoufand. And is that an argument why we fhould be bold and carelefs in finning, becaufe God has been infinitely gracious in pardoning our fin? Is it an argument why

we should fecurely and ungratefully abufe our heavenly Father, because he has laid us under the strongest obligations to love and ferve him? But it feems to be the drift of thofe whom you would perfonate in this argument, that the believer's violation of the law of God is no fin, that their not being under the law, but under grace, makes it no ways criminal in them to tranfgrefs the law; and their being united to Chrift legitimates even the groffeft tranfgreffions both of the law and gofpel. If this be intended, I muft obferve to you, that in order to a juft deducing of this conclufion, it must be fuppofed, that the law of God is wholly vacated, and ceafes to be a rule of life; though the apofile affures us, that the law is not made void by faith, but established, Rom. iii. 31. It must also be supposed, that holiness of life is not required by the gospel of Chrift; though the whole defign of the gofpel is to promote holiness; and we are exprefly told, that the grace of God which brings fal· vation, teaches us, that denying ungodliness, and worldly lufts, we should live foberly, righteously, and godly in this 1refent world, Tit. ii. 11, 12. And it muft even be fuppofed, that the nature of the glorious God himfelf muft be changed; that he can look upon fin with approbation; and be pleased with what is moft oppofite to his own purity and rectitude. It must be fuppofed that David's murder and adultery, that Peter's denying his Lord, with curfing and fwearing, &c. were acceptable to God. What blafphemy, what fubverfions of the very light and law of nature are contained in fuch principles as these ! But you will fay perhaps, that it does not obviate the difficulty, to fhew the inconfiftency and incongruity of thefe principles, while the queftion yet remains, whe ther they do not (how wicked foever) neceffarily follow from my doctrine of our union to Chrift. To which it is fufficient anfwer, that by virtue of a believer's union to Chrift, his righteoufnefs is imputed, to answer the demands of the juftice and law of God; and thereby to reconcile the believer to God: but not to legitimate his finful actions. It is to procure him a pardon for paft fins; and not a licenfe for future tranfgreffions. It is to free him from the guilt and condemning power of fin: but not to change the nature, and deflroy the infepa

rable effential defert of fin. It is true, that the believer is hereby interested in God's covenant mercy and love; therefore fecure of a gradual fanctification, whereof his repentance, hatred of and forrow for fin, is a peculiar and principal part. Whence it follows, that we muft mourn for our fins, repent of and hate them, in order to evidence our union to Chrift and interest in him; and not live contentedly in fin from a vain dream of our union to him. There can be no fuch thing in nature, as an impenitent true believer; and therefore all conclufions of this kind are groundless and impious.

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2. It is a fact most notorious, and admits of no difpute, that believers, have not a perfect perfonal and inherent righteousness in the fight of God; and therefore the doctrine under confideration affords no handle for fuch licentious pleas, as you have fuggefted.. Chrift's righteoufnefs imputed to us, it is true, is perfect; and therefore our juftification is perfect too, by virtue of our intereft in it, fo that on that account we have no cause of any difquietment and uneafinefs. But what is our own perfonal righteousness? It is filthy rags, Ifa. Ixiv. 6. It is lofs and dung, Phil. iii. 8. And if we fay we have no fin, we deceive ourselves; and the truth is not in John i. 8. Have we no cause therefore to lament the imperfection of our own righteousness, because Chrift's righteoufnefs is perfect? Have we no caufe to lament the great defects of our fanctification, because our juftification is perfect? Have we no matter of uneafinefs on account of our non-conformity to the holiness of God, because his vindictive juftice is fatisfied? Have we no occafion to lament, that we are no more prepar ed and ripened for heaven, because we hope to escape hell? Have we no reafon to lament the difhonour we do to God, because he has in infinite mercy been pleased to pardon our fins, and make us heirs of glory? And in fine, have we no fins to repent of, when in many things we all offend, and when our offences are peculi arly aggravated, by our diftinguishing privileges and obligations? I fpeak these things upon the fuppofition that we have an affurance of a juftified ftate; which (as I have before proved) no man ever had, or can have, while he makes light of finning. It is little likely, that they

are true believers, who believe in Chrift for a pardon only or that they are true penitents, whofe only motive is the penalty, and not the turpitude of fin, which should make us loath it, and ourfelves for it, though conscious of a pardon.

You further obferve, that the Antinomians argue from the doctrine of our union to Chrift, as I have propofed it, that the fins of believers do really belong to Chrift, as the fins of the hand really belong to the head, unto which thofe hands are united. Accordingly he actually bare our fins, fuffered for us, and God laid upon him the iniquities of us all. The fins that the believer commits, do therefore truly belong to • Chrift, and not to the believer himself. They are his fins, not ours. They are already accounted for by him, and confequently are not now to be repented of by us. You fufpect (you fay) that there are too ma ny among us, which quiet themselves with fuch dangerous pretences, while going on in finful practices; that thefe feem to found their erroneous principles ⚫ upon the doctrine taught in my laft: and you defire me to confider, whether they do not naturally flow • from it.'

There needs no other answer to this, than to fhew you, that our fins are to be confidered in a threefold refpect. They are to be confidered with refpect to their pollution, or contrariety to the holiness of God; with refpect to their innate guilt, or contrariety to the preceptive will of God; and with respect to their defert, or relation to the penalty denounced against them by the justice and law of God. It is in the latter fenfe only, that our bleffed Saviour bare our fins, and was made fin for us; and that our fins are by virtue of our union to Chrift imputed to him, and efteemed as his. If this be diftinctly confidered, the cafe will appear most plain and evident.

If we confider fin with respect to its blot or pollution, it is the abominable thing, which God's foul hates. It is what he is of purer eyes than to behold; and what he cannot look on but with abhorrence and deteftation. Now it were the greateft blafphemy, to fuppofe, that our Lord Jefus Chrift did in this fenfe take our fins upon