and this upon an impartial search and inquiry, I think, would appear to you to be the whole scope and design of the gofpel of Chrift.—I have now removed your great difficulty out of the way, and fhewn you how this doctrine, so plainly taught every where elfe, may be true in a full confiftence with thofe texts, which in your apprehenfion feemed to make against it.-I would now propofe one method more, to confirm you in the important truth under confideration; and that, if duly attend. ed to, cannot fail.

Allow me, Sir, the freedom to advise you, that you place yourself in the prefence of the infinitely great and glorious God, and give yourself to meditation on fuch fubjects particularly as may tend to enlighten and establish you in the prefent truth. With this view folemnly contemplate God's infinite juftice, his infinite purity and holiness, his infinite abhorrence of fin and finners, especially as to be feen in the glafs of Chrift's fufferings: Alfo contemplate your own ftate and moral character, both by nature and practice; contemplate the finful defects of the beft works of righteoufnefs that ever you have done, the pollutions mingled with the best duties that ever you performed. Contemplate the unbelief which accompanied the higheft actings of faith you were ever capable of; the formality and hypocrify which has mixed with your devoutest prayers; the defultory thoughts and dead frames which have accompanied you to the moft facred ordinances of God's houfe; the frequent violations of the most folemn refolutions and.covenant-obligations by which you have bound your foul to the Lord : And, in a word, contemplate the greatnefs of your fins, their vaft number and dreadful aggravations; with the nothingness of your best performances and highest attainments in religion; how much you have

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done against God, and how little for him.—And then confider, what plea you have to make before this infinitely great, this abfolutely juft, this perfectly pure and holy God, for juftification in his fight, and acceptance with him.-Will you plead your acting of faith in him and his promifes? Alas, how will your prevailing unbelief fly in your face, and put you to filence !-Will you plead your perfonal obedience and works of righteoufnefs that you have done? Alas, how will a vaft degree of fin and unrighteoufnefs cover and confound you!-Will you plead your fincerity before God? But what will you do with that prevalent formality and hypocrify which your own confcience will accufe and convince you of?-Will you not be forced at laft to cry out with David,-If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? and with Job,-Behold, I am vile ! What shall I anfwer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not anfwer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further.-Will not you then fee your neceffity of a more perfect righteoufnefs, to plead before God, than any perfonal inherent righteoufnefs of your own, to cover your dreadful finfulness and infinite defects; and to render you acceptable to God, notwithstanding all the challenges which the juftice, the holiness, and the law of God, together with your own confcience, have against you? Surely on due reflection, you muft fee yourself in perifhing neceffity of Chrift and his righteoufnefs, to recommend you to the divine favour.

Dear Sir, I intreat you to confider in feason, what you must confider firft or laft: And let you and I be now folemnly careful to lay our foundation fure, that we may meet with comfort at the great trial, and receive the Euge of our Judge, in that awful and great day: Which is the prayer of, SIR, Your, &c.

LETTER XIII. Wherein it is confidered, whether we are juftified by Faith and Obedience to the Gospel, as a new Law of Grace.

I

SIR,

CAN with greater encouragement ufe my endeavours to remove your difficulties, and to fatisfy your defires; fince" you do not throw diffi"culties either in your own way or in mine, out "of any conceived prejudice, or from oftentation "or wrangling difpofition; but from a fincere de"fire of building your hope upon the fure founda"tion laid in Zion." Would all men act from views fo worthy of this great concern, it would be a likely means, not only to put an end to the prevailing confufions among us, but to give a triumphant progrefs to the truth; and to establish men in the faith delivered to the faints.

"You have (you fay) been fenfibly affected by * my laft; and are so fully convinced of the danger "of miftaking your way, that you are the more "folicitous to be fet right, and to have your re"maining difficulties removed; and therefore you intreat me to bear with you, while you propose

your strongest objection against the doctrine I fup"pofe to be of fo great importance.-Your Author "(you fay) tells you, that our bleffed Saviour has "purchased for us new and eafier conditions of life; "and inftead of the finlefs obedience required by "the moral law, he has now given us a new law "of grace, which only requires faith, with fincere "obedience to the gofpel, as the condition of our "juftification and acceptance with God. Whence

"it is a neceffary confequence, that our juftifica. "tion, or title to eternal life, depends not upon "Chrift's righteoufnefs imputed to us; but upon

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our faith, including fincere obedience to the go., "fpel, as the condition to which it is promised; and "that as our obedience is imperfect, so our state of "juftification is imperfect allo; and we fhall not be "perfectly justified, till our obedience be perfected.”

That I may diftinctly confider this cafe, I shall endeavour in the first place, to make fome proper inquiries and reflections upon this scheme; and offer fome objections against it, and then take notice of the arguments which you have brought to fupport it.

I would first inquire, where you find any thing in Scripture of our Saviour's purchafing this new law of grace, whereby faith and fincere obedience are made the conditions of our justification.-Perhaps your Author is filent upon that head; and for iny part, I do not know that I have ever read any thing at all about it in the word of God.

We

read often of our bleffed Saviour's giving himself a ransom for us; of his being a propitiation for our fins; of his being the Lord our Righteousness; of his having brought in everlasting righteousness; of his being the end of the law for righteousness, unto every one that believeth; and of his being of God made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and fanctification and redemption; with many other like reprefentations of his procuring a juftifying righteousness for us. But of his purchafing this new law of grace, not one word is to be found in the Scriptures. May we not juftly fuppofe, that if this scheme were right, we should have it plainly reprefented to us in the o racles of God, and not be left to grope in the dark, and to find out by far-fetched confequences, what is the foundation of our practice and hope?-How valt is the difference between the one and the other

fide of this question! On the one fide we have (or at least we think we have) very numerous, plain, exprefs Scripture-authorities, for our justification by the righteousness of Chrift.-On the other fide, there is a deep filence throughout the whole word of God, about any purchase of a new law, such a law of favourable terms, and about those new conditions of our juftification, thofe easier terms, our faith and fincere obedience.-This fcheme therefore may be prefumed to be at best but of human invention.

I would further inquire, whether in the nature of things there can be any juftification at all, upon fuch conditions as you fpeak of?I have fhewn you, that justification is always to be understood of our being efteemed, declared, manifefted, or pronounced righteous. Now then, if our evangelical obedience be imperfect, we are still unrighteous, by our remaining fin and disobedience against this imaginary new law of grace; and confequently God cannot judge and declare us righteous by virtue of our obedience. For his judgment is according to truth, as I obferved to you in my laft letter. Certain it is, that no man upon earth is, or can be perfectly fincere, perfectly believing, or perfectly obedient to the gospel. His defects will be greater than his attainments; and his difobedience will be greater than his obedience, under his higheft improvements, as long as he lives. He knows nothing of himself that does not know this to be fact. He must therefore ever be more unrighteous than righteous as long as he lives; and accordingly He that can make no wrong judgment of things will judge and esteem him to be as he is; fo that the man muft live and die unjustified, and appear at the bar of Christ in the fame ftate.

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