grofs idolatry, as Solomon; into denials of our Lord, with oaths and imprecations, as St. Peter did; and into fuch horrid fins as render them at prefent unfit to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and which require a renewal of their faith, and their repentance; and that by the guilt of thofe fins they ftand condemned, till they are renewed by faith and repentance. And this demonftratively fhews the falfehood of their arguments from fuch texts as thefe; (p) he that is born of God finneth not, neither can fin; he keepeth himself fo that the wicked one toucheth him not. (q) The Lord is faithful, who shall establifh you, and keep you from evil. CHAPTER II. Containing Arguments from Scripture against the Doctrine of the Perfeverance of Saints to the End. THE fcriptures which do exprefsly affert the poffibility that true believers, true penitents, men truly juft and righteous may fall away from their righteousness, and die in their iniquity, are, among many others, these following. ift. (a) When the righteous turneth away from his righteoufnefs and committeth iniquity, and doth according to all the abominations which the wicked man doth, fhall he live? All his righteoufnefs that he hath done fhall not be mentioned, in the trefpafs that he hath trefpaffed, and in the fin that he hath finned, in them fhall he die. When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity and dieth in them, for his iniquity that he hath done fhall he die. (b) When I fhall fay to the righteous he fhall furely live, if he trust to his righteoufnefs, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness Shall not be remembered, but for his iniquity that he hath com 9. V. 18. (p) John iii. 24, 26. 3. (a) Ezek. xviii, mitted he shall die. (c) When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall die thereby. Where, obferve, 1ft. That God is here afferting the righteoufness of his ways against the murmurings and the repinings of the Jews, that they died for their fathers fins; for that this was the import of their proverb, the fathers have eaten four grapes, and the childrens teeth are fet on edge; is evident from God's anfwer to this proverb, that every one fhould die for his own iniquity Jer. xxxi. 29. and to these murmurers, that the foul that finneth, it fhall die; Ezek. xviii. 3. This fenfe of these murmurers the prophet reprefents more plainly in thefe words; Chap. xxxiii. 10. If our iniquities and our fins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how fhall we then live? And this fhews the vanity of that anfwer, which fome return to this argument: That the prophet here fpeaks of afflictions and not death; to which may be added, that this answer contradicts the exprefs words of the prophet about twenty times. 2dly. Obferve, that the righteous man here fpoken of is one truly righteous; for he is one who (d) finneth not, committeth not iniquity, and turneth not away from his righteoufnefs; one who walketh in God's ftatutes and keeps his judgments; yea, (e) who walketh in the ftatutes of life, without committing iniquity; and therefore affuredly is one who is truly and inwardly righteous, and not in outward profeffion only. For, faith Dr. Prideaux, fhould he only turn away from his counterfeit and hypocritical righteoufnefs; fhould he not rather live than die, inafmuch as he would put off the wolf to put on the lamb. "To affirm, faith (f) Mr. Thorndyke, that the prophet of God fpeaking in God's name, and of the eflcem and reward which God hath for the righteous and unrighteous, fpeaks only of that which feemeth righteousness and unrighteoufnefs to the world, or which an hypocrite himfelf thinks fuch, is such an open fcorn to God's word, as cannot be maintained but by taking righteoufnefs to fignify unrighteousness, and turning for not turning, but continuing in (c) Sicut juftum antea peccatorem non prægravant antiqua delicta, fic peccatorem qui prius juftus fuerit non juvant veteres juftitiæ. Hiezon, in Ezek. 18. F. 196. L. Quibus omnibus demonftratur nec peccatorem falutem defperare debere fi agat pœnitentiam, nec junum in fua juftitia confidere fi perdiderit negligenter quod magno labore quæfierat. In C. 33. F. 221. Κ. ἔτε τὸν δίκαιον ὀνήσει ἡ παρ' ἐμὲ γινομένη τῶν ἀγαθῶν υπόσχεσις ει μὴ ἐπιμείνη ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐργασίᾳ ἀλλὰ δώσει δίκας τῶν B:Cwmèvar ážías. Theodoret. in Locum. (d) Ezek. xxxiii. 12, 13.-(e) Chap. xviii. 9. xvii. 19.—(ƒ) Epilog. Part 2. c. 31. p. 272. the wickednefs which was at the heart when he professed otherwise. 3dly. The man who is here faid to die, is faid to die not only for, but (g) in his iniquity, and to be taken away in his iniquity; and fo muft die not only temporally but eternally. The way which God directs him to, that he may efcape this death, is to (h) walk in the ftatutes of life without committing. iniquity; (i) to repent and turn himself from all his iniquity, and make him a new heart, and a new fpirit, and then the promife is, that all his tranfgreffions shall not be mentioned, that is, imputed to him; and therefore the life promised to him that doth fo, must be life eternal; and confequently the death following on the neglect to do fo, must be death eternal. And lastly, the righteous man who turneth away from his righteousness, is one who (k) committed iniquity, and doth according to all the abominations which the wicked man doth; and therefore must be one to whom belongs the portion of the wicked, which is death eternal; that therefore must be the punishment here threatened to him for turning away from his righteoufnefs. And 4thly. Whereas fome take refuge in the fuppofed conditional propofal of the words which, fay they, affert nothing, (1.) They fly for refuge to a mere mistake, the words in the original being not if, but befhub, ev av μéρx spéin, in the day that he turns away from his righteousness. And again, when I fay to the righteous he fhall live, vehu, and he truft in his righteoufnefs. 2dly. The fame form of words is ufed concerning the wicked turning away from his wickednefs; and yet none doubts but the prophet then speaks of what is very poffible. And 3dly. Even (1) Dr. Prideaux confutes this answer thus, "though fuch hypotheticals, as are only made use of for the amplification, or the aggravation of matters, as if I climb up into heaven thou art there, infer not the poffibility of the thing; yet fuch conditional fayings, upon which admonitions, promises and threatenings are built, do at leaft fuppofe fomething in poffibility, though by their tenor and form they fuppofe nothing in being; befides in the cafe in hand, he that had a mind to deride the prophet, might readily come upon him thus, but a righteous man according to the truth, cannot turn away from his righteoufnefs, therefore your threatening is in vain." Nor can it reasonably be fuppofed that an allwife God fhould go about to juftify the equity of his ways only by fuppofing things impoffible by virtue of his own decree and promife. 18/1 Ezek. xxxiii. 8, 9.(b) Ver. 15.(i) Chap. viii. 30, 31. (k) Chap. xviii, 24-- -(1) Lect. 6. de Persev. p. 201. P.P SECTION II.-Argument 2.-2dly. This doctrine of the poffibility of the final departure of true believers and penitents from the faith, is as fully contained in these words, Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6. It is impoffible for them who were once enlighted, N. B. and have tafted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tafted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, nai wapaweσóvτas, and yet fall away, to renew them again to repentance, &c. For, 1. That this is fpoken of them who were once true believers, is evident, (ft) From the word OwTIGEVTES, enlightened; for the fame apoftle, in the fame epiftle, and in a place of the fame import, fpeaking to the fame perfons, faith, that (m) after they were enlightened they endured a great fight of afflictions, and took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing they had in heaven a better and more enduring fubftance. They therefore who were fo enlightened as to know they had an inheritance in heaven, and a great recompence of reward, and that they should inherit the promifes, if they did not cast away their confidence, but with patience continue to do the will of God, were doubtlefs fincere chriftians and true believers. 2dly. From the words following, it is impoffible to renew them to repentance from dead works, Ver. 1. they therefore had once truly repented; (for I suppose the apoftle did not speak of laying again the foundation of an hypocritical repentance, nor did he judge it a thing impoffible to produce that in them; the phrafe, it is impoffible to renew them again to repentance, feems plainly to imply that they were once truly in that flate to which they were to be renewed, and alfo their lofs of it. And to fhew how oppofite their interpretations are to the fentiments of the ancients, who fay all these things may be faid of hypocritical profeffors, the Greek fathers, by the heavenly gift, understand peoir tav aμaptiv, the remiffion of fins conferred in baptifm; by the participation of the Holy Ghol, τὴν χάριν καὶ μέτοχὴν τοῦ θεἶς πνεύματος, the grace, and the participation of the holy fpirit, conferred by impofition of hands; and by the powers of the world to come, either αγγελικήν διαγωγήν, an angelical life, or τὸν ἀῤῥαβῶνα τοῦ aveúpatos, the earnest of the fpirit, by which they may obtain, the bleffings promiled, or that faith is the earneft of the world to come. So Chryfoftom, Theodoret, Photius, Oecumenius, Haymo and Theophylact in locum. 2dly. That the perfons here mentioned must fall totally and finally, is alfo evident, becaufe the apoftle doth pronounce it a thing impoffible to renew them to repentante. And 2dly. He declares their repentance impoffible on this account, that they (m) Heb. x. crucified to themfelves afresh the Son of God, and put him to an open fhame; i. e. they again declared him worthy of that punishment they had inflicted on him; and, fo to them there remained no more facrifice for fin, but a fearful looking for of judgment. Chap. x. 26, 27. SECTION III.-Argument 3.-3dly. This alfo feemeth evident from the place parallel to this, (n) if we fin willfully (by falling off from christianity) after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains (to us) no more facrifice for fin, but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. He that defpifed Mofes's law died without mercy, &c. Of how much forer punishment fuppofe ye then shall he be thought worthy, who had trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath accounted the blood of the (new) covenant, wherewith he was fanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done defpite to the spirit of Grace? For, 1ft. That the apofile fpeaks of them who had received the remiffion of their paft fins by faith in the blood of the New Teftament fhed for the remiffion of fins, and fo of them who 12-113 had true juftifying faith, is evident from thefe words, that they were fanctified by his blood; for to be fanctified throughout this whole epiftle, and more affuredly to be fanctified with the blood of Chrift, hath ftill relation to our juftification, or the remiffion of our fins procured by the blood of Christ, and not to the inward fanctification of our nature by the spirit of Chrift; fo, v. g. that Chrift was confecrated to his office of a prieft, to make atonement for our fins by his fufferings, the apoftle proves, Chap. ii. 11. because § aviálwv, he that purgeth away the guilt contracted by our nature, and of aviatoμεvo, they who are cleanfed from it, are one in nature; fee the note there. So Chap. ix. 13 the blood of bulls and goats, ayaleı, fanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, i. e. to the cleanfing from legal defilements. So Chap. x. 10. É QUÈ, we are ἡγιασμένοι ἐσμεν, fanctified or purged from the guilt of fin by the body, or, as fome copies read, by the blood of Chrift offered once for all; and Ver. 15. by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are fanctified; i. e. hath entirely purged them from the guilt of fin; and Chap. xiii. 12. wherefore Jefus, that he might Janctify the people with his own blood, fuffered without the camp; where both the blood fanctifying, and rowepì àμxprias, the facrifice for fin to which it anfwers; Ver, 11. fhew that Chrift fanctified the people by the oblation of himself as a fin offering to cleanse them from the guilt of fin. 2dly. That they who fo finned that there remained no more facrifice for their fin, but only a fearful looking for of juds (n) Heb. x. 26- 29. |