pecting all fupplies of grace from his fulness.-And believe me, Sir, a lively exercife of faith in Chrift will afford you more prefent comfort, will much more quicken you in devotion and true holiness; and more strengthen and establish you in every good work, in your progrefs to the heavenly kingdom, than all your ftudies in thefe fruitless doctrines about a firft and fecondary juftification.

I will take leave to add once more, that the way to heaven is certainly a way of holiness; and without holiness you can never fee God. It therefore concerns you to look to the fountain of holiness for all fupplies of grace, to watch over your heart and life, to endeavour and pray for a holy conformity to the whole will of God; and amidft, and after all, to bring your great defects to the blood of Chrift for pardon; and continually implore the divine influences, that the work of grace may be carried on in your foul with power, till you arrive without spot and blameless, before the throne of your Sovereign and righteous Judge.

That you may thus be directed safe, amidst all the fnares and delufions in your way, is the prayer Sir, Your, &c.

of,

LETTER XV. Wherein the Apostle JAMES'S Doctrine of Juftification by Works, in his fecond Chapter, is diftin&tly reviewed, and fet in its genuine Light, by a Comparison with the Apostle PAUL'S Doctrine of Juftification by Faith.

SIR,

YOU

YOU" acknowledge, that, if it were not for "one difficulty in your way, you should think "the evidence offered against the doctrine you have "proposed,

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"propofed, must be conclufive: But you do not "know how to give into a scheme that is not only exprefsly contradicted, but particularly refuted, "in the word of God.-The Apostle Paul, you "fay, does indeed feem to speak in favour of my principles; but he ought to be interpreted by the "Apoftle James, who exprefsly rejects my inter"pretation of St Paul's difcourfes on the fubject "before us. What appearance therefore foever "there may be, in favour of my principles, in "St Paul's Epiftles, these must not be understood "in direct contradiction to the exprefs declarations "of another infpired writer.-You therefore defire "me to fhew, how it is poffible to reconcile my "scheme with the doctrine of St James, in the fe"cond chapter of his Epiftle, from the 14th verse "to the end.”

If this be all your remaining difficulty, I hope it will not prove an hard matter to give you full fatiffaction, that the doctrine of the Apostle James, in the place referred to, is nowife inconfiftent with the doctrine of our juftification by faith, fo plainly and fully taught by the Apoftle Paul in all his Epiftles; and therefore, that our juftification by works (in the fenfe that I oppose it) has no foundation at all in the whole word of God.

That this may be set in a proper light, there are two or three things neceffary to be premised, and diftinctly confidered, previous to a direct and immediate view of the confiftency and concurrence of these two Apostles, in the doctrine of a sinner's juftification by faith, notwithstanding their feeming dif agreement and repugnancy.

It fhould firft be premised, that these two Apofiles must be understood in such a sense as will make them confiftent. We must take this for a principle, that whatever becomes of our fchemes, on one fide or

the

the other, the Spirit of God cannot be inconfiftent with himself, nor teach contrary doctrines.-That interpretation therefore must be right, which will make them confiftent; and that must be rejected, which fets them at variance, and makes their doc. trines utterly irreconcilable.

It should be likewife premifed, that the Apoftle James must be understood in fuch a fense as will make him confiftent with himself. We may not fuppofe, that he teaches such a doctrine, in this part of the second chapter, as is repugnant to the doctrine which he himself teaches elsewhere, in the fame Epiftle.-Let us then fee if we cannot find the doctrine I am pleading for taught in this very Epiftle of James, particularly in chap. i. ver. 5, 6, 7. If any of you lack wifdom, let him afk of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it fhall be given him. But let him afk in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth, is like a wave of the fea, driven of the wind, and toffed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. From whence I argue, if faith be the way to divine acceptance and audience of our prayers, the means by which our duties will find a gracious reception with God, and without which they will be rejected, then we are justified by faith, and not by works. For it is undoubtedly true, that what justifies our obedience, and renders that acceptable to God, does likewife juftify our perfons, and render them acceptable to him. And our works canhave no hand in juftifying our perfons, if our works themfelves are juftified by faith; but condemned and rejected without it, as the Apostle teaches us in the cited text. So we learn from chap. v. 15, 16. that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man, is the prayer of faith. Moreover,

3 Moreover, if fpiritual wisdom, or practical holi. nefs, be the fruit and effect of faith, (as we are told that it is in the quoted text), then our juftification and acceptance with God (by which we do, and without which we cannot obtain the divine influences to our progreffive fanctification) is by faith, and not by works, I think no man will pretend, that we are fo acceptable to God, as to obtain his fanctifying influences, in a progress of wisdom and grace, before we are juftified; or that we are fanc tified by faith, and juftified by works. Whence it follows, that faith is the mean or term of our jufti. fication, because it is the mean or term of our fanc tification; and that a holy life cannot be the condition of our acceptance with God, becaufe it is the confequence and fruit of that faith by which we find acceptance with him.

Another text to the fame purpose we find in chap. ii. 5. Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chofen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and beirs of the kingdom, which God hath promised to them that love him?—It might be read, Hath not God chofen the poor-to be rich, (as a fimilar phrafe is tranflated, Rom. viii. 29.), to be rich with or by faith, and heirs.-Does it not plainly teach us, that as the end of God's chufing the poor was, that they might be spiritually rich fo that it is faith which enriches them, and constitutes them heirs of the kingdom. And you will readily own, that if we are heirs of the kingdom by faith, we are justified by faith,-The kingdom is prepared for them that love God; and faith is the fource of that love to God, by which we are qualified for the kingdom. Faith worketh by love, Gal. v. 6. and therefore faith is the term or medium of our acceptance with God and title to the kingdom.-These texts must therefore be remembered in our explication of the context you re

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fer to, that we may not represent the Apostle as teaching contradictions or inconfiftencies.

It must also be premifed, that we should understand the reasonings and conclufions of the two Apoftles Paul and James, according to the profeffed fcope and defign of their difcourfes, and according to the fubject they are profeffedly treating upon: And we thould confider the expreffions they each of them ufe upon the point in view, not as words occafionally and tranfiently spoken; but as what relate to, and are connected with, the fubject-matter profeffedly undertaken to be explained.-This must be always allowed to be a natural and rational rule, which ought to be strictly adhered to in the interpretation of Scripture.--Now then, let us look a little into this cafe, and fee if we do not find the fcope and defign of these two Apoftles very different, where they fpeak fo very differently of juftification by faith and by works.

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Paul defignedly handles this question, How a guilty, condemned and convinced finner fhall get reconciled to God, find acceptance with him, and have a title to the heavenly inheritance?-He treats of fuch who are under fin, whofe mouths must be flopped, who are all become guilty before God, and who have all finned, and come fhort of the glory of God, Rom. iii. 9. 19. 23. He confiders the impoffibility in the nature of the thing, that fuch as these can be justified by works; because when they have done all they can do, they yet in their highest attainments continue finners, and remain under guilt. This is the plain and manifeft fcope of the two firft, and part of the third chapters to the Romans. He thence proceeds to fhew, which way, and which only, they may hope for acceptance with God, in the remaining part of the third, and in the follow. ing chapters of that Epiftle. This cannot be by the

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