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tion. If the guilt of man was so great as to need to be expiated by the sacrifice of God's incarnate Son, surely the gift of Christ must be the most wonderful instance of divine sovereignty that ever was, or can be conceived. They that needed such a ransom could never deserve that God should provide it. But if he has done this freely, surely it would be impossible to see any wisdom in its being left to chance, or to the good inclinations of depraved creatures, whether any happy consequences should ever follow from the sufferings of the blessed Redeemer; or whether he should see such fruits of the travel of his soul, as could give him full satisfaction. Would God have sent his Son to atone for the guilt of sinners, if he had not known that his Spirit could conquer their depravity? Is it then impious to suppose God has absolutely decreed that he shall have a sufficient reward? or would it be more pious to admit, that man's self-will may expose, to a real disappointment, all the efforts of divine mercy, wisdom, and power, to turn a sinner to God?

Is it indeed an idea which would promote piety, and especially humility, so essential a part of the piety of a saved sinner, to fancy that God elected me, because he foresaw that I should not be so obstinate in impenitence and unbelief as others; but should be found, without any special influence of his Spirit on my heart, pliable, obedient, and well disposed? And must I be charged with impiety, if I ascribe my cordial acceptance of the Saviour to the invincible efficacy of his grace, and thence infer, that he had chosen me in Christ Jesus, before the foundation of the world, that I might be holy and blameless before him in love? I grant, that I knew nothing of this gracious design, nor was it possible I should,

till it began to be effected, by the power of the Holy Spirit. But now I infer, from his having drawn me by his loving kindness, that he had loved me with an everlasting love. Is it impious to suppose that my loving him is the consequence and évidence of his first loving me? Are not the most powerful motives to humility, gratitude, and obedience, the natural consequences of this doctrine? We most readily allow it would be inconsistent and impious to say, because God has graciously predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son, therefore we need not be anxious to bear his blessed likeness;' but this inference we utterly abhor. where is the impiety of attributing repentance, faith, holiness, and obedience, wherever they are really found, to the effectual operation of the Spirit of God, and from hence alone inferring that he designed from eternity to produce that change which he has effected in time?

But

As to the death of Christ, which we have already observed, must be considered as an astonishing instance of sovereign goodness, since nothing but the greatness of our guilt rendered such a sacrifice necessary; is it impious to suppose, that the Saviour, in laying down his life, had a special regard to the salvation of those who shall actually enjoy the benefits of his redemption? We think, indeed, that some of our brethren have carried the metaphorical idea of Debtor and Creditor too far, who seem to suppose there must have been just so much suffering endured by the Saviour, as would exactly suffice for the sins of the number saved. We think this idea savours of creature littleness; shall I say of petty retail arithmetic. If fewer had been saved, I appre hend the Saviour would have suf fered no less; nor if a greater number, would he have needed to suffer

more. The dignity of the Sufferer put such a value on his sacrifice, that if all the sinners on earth had been saved and glorified on the footing of his obedience to death, God would not have been exposed to any reflection on his moral character. The law was honoured more by his obedience, than it could have been honoured by the eternal obedience of Adam and all his posterity; and the evil of sin is more affectingly displayed in the sufferings of Immanuel, than it could have been displayed in the sufferings of all mankind, had they endured the curse of the law for ever. But I must own I can scarcely call by a milder name than impiety, that feeling which could induce an eminent Arminian to say,

"Take back my int'rest in the Lamb,

Unless the Saviour died for all.".

Surely the person who penned those lines, could not have, at the time, any just idea of the necessity of the Atonement!

mighty to save, "God hath committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we perform an embassy for Christ, as though God did beseech men by us, we pray them in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled to God." We assure them that all things are ready, and invite them to the feast which the great King has made for the nuptials of his Son: but, alas! with one accord they begin to make excuse; though there is nothing to hinder them from accepting the invitation, but wilful ignorance of their own perishing condition, alienation from God, aversion to Christ, and love to sin and to the world.

This leads me to another branch of Calvinism, the entire corruption of human nature, or the enmity of the carnal mind to God, and its refusal of subjection to his law, with the utter unwillingness of sinners to stoop to salvation by grace, and cordially accept of the mediation of Christ. Is it impious to believe that these sinful dispositions are so predominant in the human heart, that none but God can conquer them? Is there any impiety in crediting the testimony of the prophet,

Hitherto, it is but a small part of the human race who have heard of the Redeemer; however Calvinists will yield to none in their zealous endeavours to spread the glad tidings all over the globe. And we that the heart of man is deceitful strenuously maintain, that wherever above all things, and desperately the gospel is fully published, every wicked? and in supposing that even one who hears it has an equal warmen of learning deceive themselves, rant to apply to the Saviour; and when they talk of a self-determinis assured of his being as willing as ing power in their wills, by which lie is able, to save all that come they can choose, at any time, what unto God by him. I own, indeed, they now hate, and can turn themthat I should think it impiety to selves from sin to holiness, without deny, that God had a right to have any influence from above? adopted a different method from ascribe to sinners, as that in which that which he has wisely chosen, their inability, either to obey the He might have sent an angel to make law, or to embrace the gospel, known the gospel to those only chiefly consists, a depraved dispo

We

whom he intended actually to save; sition of mind, which is averse to and no injustice could have been the retaining God in their knowcharged upon him. But he has ledge, to the owning of his authochosen to send pardoned sinners to rity, or to their placing their haptell their fellow-criminals, that he piness in God. They are under the has laid help upon one who is influence of sinful selfishness, which

leads each to pursue a private interest of his own, which has no subordination to the divine glory, nor connection with the general good. Hence, no man can be found, who loves God with all his heart, or his neighbour as himself, except those who have been renewed in the spirit of their minds. Some seek their highest gratification in the lusts of the flesh, and others in the lusts of the mind; but all have strayed like lost sheep, they have turned aside every one to his own way. And now, though a glorious method of salvation is revealed in the gospel, worthy of God, and worthy of all acceptation, yet sinners hold fast deceit and refuse to return. Though it suits their circumstances most exactly, yet it does not suit their mental taste; it is too humiliating in its import, and too holy in its tendency, for them to relish it because it excludes all boasting and self-righteousness, and it forbids all sinful self-indulgence; and therefore sinners reject the counsel of God against themselves. It is a very hard thing to convince them of their danger, but much harder to convince them of their guilt, that they really deserve the wrath of a holy God, and need to be saved from it, by the great propitiation. They are unwilling to own, that there was a necessity of Christ's dying for them, because they were all under a just sentence of death; and they are unwilling to yield to his claim, that all who admit this humiliating truth, should consider themselves as the property of their Saviour; being not their own, but bought with a price be yond all computation, and there fore bound to live not to themselves, but to him who died and rose again. It is possible some may be found, who would give up many sinful indulgences, especially of the grosser sort, and attend strictly to many

outward duties, if they might but establish their own righteousness, and have at least a share in meriting eternal life: while others would give up the idea of merit, and allow salvation to be of grace, if they might be excused from the trouble of obedience, and the necessity of crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof. But a thorough return to God, a cordial reception of Christ in all his offices, and that for all the purposes for which he is revealed in the gospel, is more than can be effected by mere human agency, and what will never be the result of the sinner's own free-will. We will join the most zealous Arminians, in asserting the justice of God's commands, and the reasonableness of obeying them; and in proclaiming the sufficiency of Christ's Atonement, and the free and indefinite invitations of the gospel; we will labour, knowing the terrors of the Lord, to persuade men to flee from the wrath to come; and knowing the ability and willingness of Christ to save, we will beseech sinners to return to God in the name of the blessed Mediator; but we must confess we should utterly despair of success, if we had nothing to depend upon, but moral suasion on our part, and the pliability of the will, on the part of our hearers.

This leads to the fourth point of Calvinism. We are impious enough to believe that God can operate effectually on the human heart. He can give a new bias to the will, he can renew a sinner in the spirit of his mind. He can take away the heart of stone, and give an heart of flesh. We cannot believe that he has shut himself out, by any sup posed law of nature, that in case of the most unnatural disaffection, rebellion, and disorder, breaking forth among rational creatures, he will never interpose immediately for its removal. It might, indeed, be sus

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pected that the guilt of sinners would be an impediment to his gracious operations on their hearts, to restore them to his holy image; but This infinite wisdom having provided for the removal of guilt, by the atonement of his incarnate Son, is it wonderful that he should also interfere for the removal of depravity, by the efficacious influence of his Holy Spirit? Would it not be a strange, if not an impious supposition, that after all which the Saviour had done and suffered, he should leave it to contingency or to the will of sinners, whether his gospel should have any success, or whether it should be universally reEjected?

But if God can thus effectually work on the mind of a sinner, is he bound to exert this influence in every case alike, or may he operate on just whom he pleases? Is it impious for us to suppose that he who converted Manasseh, could have converted Ahaz; that he who humbled Nebuchadnezzar, could have humbled Pharaoh; that he who changed the heart of Saul of Tarsus, could have changed that of his candid tutor Gamaliel ? Yet while those whom God turned to himself are under infinite obligations to distinguishing grace, those whom he left to go on frowardly in the way of their hearts have no excuse for their sin, nor ground of complaint against God. Did any faithful minister ever preach the gospel to a large congregation, where there were any hearers whose hearts he that hath the keys of David could not have opened as he did the heart of Lydia? In such a congregation, is the Most High bound to look out the richest, the handsomest, the most sensible, the most pliable, or those that already possess the greatest semblance of virtue; and make the word effectual to their conversion? or, may he

not, if he please, take the most mean, the most illiterate, the most profligate, the most obdurate; and shew the power of his grace in their thorough conversion? May he not, on such an occasion, take whom he pleases, and leave whom he pleases, to follow their own choice? If he may choose, whom he will convert to-day, might he not determine upon doing so yesterday, or even from eternity? What impiety would there be in asserting that he might, and did thus determine? What pious man will rather choose to say with Grevinchovius, "I made myself to differ, who might have chosen to resist God's predetermination, but did not;" than with Paul to acknowledge, "By the grace of God, I am what I am?".

We have only to examine the fifth point of Calvinism, and see if there be any impiety in that; viz. in the doctrine of perseverance. We do believe, that whom the Lord loveth, he loveth to the end. That he who hath begun a good work in the human heart, will carry it on, till the day of Christ; that believers are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. Is there any impiety in this belief? Please to observe, it is a perseverance in holiness for which we plead. Can this tend to licentiousness? Nor does the doctrine of perseverance clash with the duty of perse vering. It is through faith, an ha bitual realizing of things invisible, a constant dependance on divine aid and all-sufficiency, and especially a reliance on the grace of the Redeemer, on whom we depend for strength as well as righteousness, that we persevere. We maintain not the perseverance of every plausible professor, nor every one who thinks himself converted, or presumes that he is elected, but of true believers, of real saints. God forbid that we should tack together

a beginning and an end, and leave the devil to fill up the middle. (I use strong language to show how strenuously we oppose those who would abuse our principles.) Our doctrine is as old as the days of Job. "The righteous shall hold on his way," not that he shall get to the end let him go which way he will;" and he that hath clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger." Can this be an encouragement to turn aside from God's way, and to defile our hands with iniquity? It is acknowledged, that true believers have turned aside, for a time, and some eminent saints have even fallen into gross sin; but in this case they lost "the joys of God's salvation," and fell under his fatherly correction, who hath promised to "visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes;" but has added, "Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take away from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." Though a real Christian may possibly, after his conversion, fall into sin of a more heinous nature than any he committed in his unregenerate state, yet he cannot continue in a course of sin; nor can be have any wellfounded comfort till he is renewed unto repentance. There is always ground for the assurance of faith, that there is forgiveness with God, though exercised in such a way as to increase our reverence and godly fear, seeing it is granted only through the mediation and vicarious sufferings of the Son of God; but even a backsliding Christian has not always ground for the assurance of hope, or for a confidence of his personal interest in Christ's salvation. We must show diligence in the work and labour of love, or this assurance will be lost. Our best divines stre. nuously insist on this. "It is as impossible, in the nature of things, that a holy and Christian hope

should be kept alive, (when believers are in a dead and carnal frame, and have no sensible experience of the exercises of grace, but on the contrary, are very much under the prevalence of their lusts, and an unchristian spirit,) as it is to keep the light in the room, when the candle is put out; or to maintain the bright sunshine in the air, when the sun is gone down. Distant experiences, when darkened by present prevailing lust and corruption, will never keep alive a gracious confidence and assurance; but that sickens and decays upon it, as necessarily as a little child by repeated blows on the head with a hammer. Nor is it at all to be lamented, that persons doubt of their state in such circumstances; but on the contrary, it is desirable and every way best that they should." See much more to the same purpose, in Edwards's Treatise on religious Affections.

P. 82, 83.

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