leave to recapitulate the contents of the last section: presenting them to the reader, in my Scales, as the just weights of the sanctuary exactly balancing each other.

WEIGHTS OF FAITH AND FREE

GRACE
L

OF WORKS AND FREE

I

When the young ruler, and the pious lawyer, asked our Lord What shal I do to inherit eternal life! He answered them, [according to the second axiom.] If thou

When the Philigynan jailer cried out. Sirs, what must I do to be saved" Paul and Silas sad [accord. ing to the first Gospel am] BELIEVE In the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Acts rг wit enter into life, KEEP THE COM31. This do, and thou shach e. Max. 17; Luke I 19: 1, 28.

MANDMENTS.

Here Zelones, as he were determed to set aside the left Gospel scale. cries out, - There is no entering não lới tự dương and keeping the com mandments. The young ruler and the lawyer were both as great legal ists as yourself and Christ answered them sobording to their error; the wise man having observed, that we must sometimes answer a foo according to has fidy."" I understand you, Zelotes: you suppose tha one Pharistic fiend had driven the poisoned mail of legality into thei breasts, and that Christ was so officious as to chuch it for him. “No sa” replies Zeines, - but I think Christ's answer was rosical, like the of the Prophet Micaiah, who snać one thing to King Ahab, and mean another." "What' Zektes, two men, a diferent times and in the mos scienen mucmer, propose to our Loed the most important question in th world. He shows a particular regard for them; and returns ther similar answers. When one of them had described the way of obed ence, an evangelist observes, that Jesus saw he had answered discreetly Mark in. 34. St. Lake informs us that Christ commended him an said - Thou hast answered right," Lake 1.25; and yet you intimat that not only our Lord's answers, but his commendations were ironica In what an unfavourable Ight do you put our Saviour's kindness to po sinters, who prostrate themselves at has feet, and there ask the way heaven If-cursed is be that maketh the bind to wander out of the earthly way :” how can you upon your priciples, exculpate our Lo for doing thas with respect to the bind seekers, who inquire the way th leads to eternal ife and heaven *

But this is not all. It is evident, that ahhough from the taunting to of Micah's voice, Abab directly understood that the answer give hum was ironical; yet, lest there should be deception in the case, the pr phet drooped the mask of irony, and told the king the naked truth befo they parted. Not so Jesus Christ, if Sotidianism is the Gospel: f although neither the ruler nor the lawyer suspected that his directi and approbation were tronical, be let them both depart without givi them, or his disciples who were present, the least hint that he was sen ing them upon a fool's errand. Therefore, it setting suners upon kee

the commandments in faith to go to heaven be only showing the cleaner way to hell, as Zelotes sometimes mates, nobody ev

pointed sinners more clearly to hell than our blessed Lord. This mistake of Zelotes is so much the more glaring, as the passages which he supposes to be ironical agree perfectly with the sermon on the mount, and with Matt. xxv; two awful portions of the Gospel, which I am glad the Solifidians have not yet set aside as evangelical ironies.

Once more: if our Lord's direction was not true with regard to the covenant of grace, it was absolutely false with respect to the covenant of works; for as the ruler and the lawyer had undoubtedly broken the Adamic law of perfect innocence, they never could obtain life by keeping that law, should they have done it to the highest perfection for the time to come. Therefore, which way soever Zelotes turns himself, upon his scheme our Lord spoke either a deceitful irony, or a flat untruth:— I resume the Scales. I.

I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the house of bondage.

The righteousness of faith speaketh on this wise:-Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? &c, or, Who shall descend into the deep? &c. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, Rom. x, 5, &c.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, Gal. iii, 13.

If they that are of the [anti-evangelical law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise of none effect, Rom. iv, 14.

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness came by the [anti-evangelical] law; for if it came originally by any] law; then CHRIST is dead in vain, Gal. ii, 21.

I, through the law, am dead to the law. Ye are not under the law. Now we are delivered from the law, [both as a cumbrous burden of carnal commandments; as a heavy load of typical ceremonies; and as

II.

Thou shalt have no other god before me, &c, [to the end of the decalogue.]

This commandment, which I command thee this day, is not, &c, far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to heaven? &c. Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us? &c. But the word is very nigh unto thee, Deut. xxx, 11, &c.

So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty, James ii, 12.

If ye fulfil the royal law, &c, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," ye do well: for he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy, James ii, 8, 13.

God sending his own Son, &c, for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in [or by] us who walk not after the flesh, &c, Rom. viii, 3, 4.

Do we make void the law through faith? God forbid : yea, we establish the law. Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, James ii, 10. Think not that I am come to

Here observe, that God prefaces the decalogue by evangelically giving himself to the Jews as their God-a gracious God, who had already "saved them out of the land of Egypt," Jude 5, and who had a peculiar right to their faith and grateful evangelical obedience.

Thus apostates (by breaking one of the ten commandments, and not repe ing according to the privilege, which "the law of liberty" allows in the day salvation) are last, though they were once first. I say apostates; because our Lo St. Paul, and St. James, evidently speak of believers, i. e. of persons already the kingdom of heaven, or in the Christian dispensation.

+ The reader will be glad to see what judicious Calvinists make of this p sage. Diodati, one of Calvin's most famous successors, comments thus upon

I.

By the works of the law [when it is opposed to Christ, or abstracted from the promise] shall no flesh living be justified [at any time,] Gal. ii, 16.

When you have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, Luke xvii, 10.

II.

In the day of judgment-by thy words thou shalt be justified. The doers of the law [of liberty-the law connected with the Gospel promises] shall be justified, Matt. xii, 37; Rom. ii, 10.

Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matt. xxv, 30.

If I am not mistaken, the balance of these scriptures shows, that, although we are not under the moral law without Christ, yet we are under it to Christ, both as a rule of life and a rule of judgment: or, to speak more plainly, although we shall not be judged by the law of innocence, i. e. the moral law abstracted from Gospel promises, yet we shall be judged by the "law of liberty," i. e. the moral law connected with the promise of the Gospel: an evangelical law this, under which the merciful God for Christ's sake put mankind in our first parents, when he graciously promised them "the seed of the woman," the atoning Mediator, the royal "Priest, after the order of Melchisedec."

SECTION VIII.

Showing what is God's work, and what is our own; how Christ saves us, and how we work out our own salvation.

FIRST SCALE.

SECOND SCALE.

Containing the weights of FREE Containing the weights of FREE

GRACE.

The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live, John v, 25.

I am come, that they might have LIFE, and that they might have it more abundantly, John x, 10.

You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, Eph. ii, 1.

WILL.

Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light, Eph. v, 14.

Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, &c, ye have no LIFE in you, John vi, 53.

Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life, John v, 40.

*God, out of his fatherly benignity and clemency, shall accept from us, his children, this endeavour and study to keep his law, instead of a perfect righteous. Bess, &c. All this discourse ought to be referred to the new obedience, &c, which is the plainer, because most of these statutes were concessions, remedies, and expiations for sin." (DIOD. in loc.) Mr. Henry is exactly of the same sentiment. "Could we perfectly fulfil but that one command of loving God with all our heart, &c, and could we say we had never done otherwise, that would be so ear righteousness as to entitle us to the benefits of the covenant of innocency, &c. But that we cannot pretend to; therefore our sincere obedience shall be accepted through a Mediator, to denominate us (as Noah was) 'righteous before God." (HENRY in loc.)

I.

You being dead in your sins, &c, hath he quickened together with him, Col. ii, 13.

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, John iii, 3.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, &c, so is every one that is born of the Spirit, John iii, 8.

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but, &c, by* the word of God; and this is the word, which by the Gospel is preached unto you, 1 Pet. i, 23, 25. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, James i, 18.

Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, 1 Cor. vi, 7.

II.

Thou hast a name that thou liv est, and art dead, &c. Strengthen the things that remain, and are ready to die, Rev. iii, 1, 2.

Every one that loveth-every one that does righteousness, is born of God, 1 John iv, 7; ii, 29.

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you. For God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the hum ble, 1 Pet. v, 6, 5.

Wherefore, &c, lay apart al filthiness, &c, and receive,* &c, the ingrafted word, James i, 19, 21 Whosoever believeth, &c, is born of God [according to his dispensa tion,] 1 John v, 1. As many a received him, to them [of his ow gracious will] gave he power to be come the sons of God, even to ther that believe on his name, John i, 12 For ye are all the children of Go by faith in Christ Jesus. Fait cometh by hearing [which is ou work,] Gal. iii, 26; Rom. x, 17 They [the Bereans] received th word with all readiness of min and searched the Scriptures dail whether those things were s therefore many of them believed [i. e. received "the ingrafted word and by that means were "bo again" according to the Christia dispensation;] Acts xvii, 11, 12.

Purge out the old leaven [ wickedness] that ye may be a ne lump. (Ibid.)

How mistaken were the divines that composed the synod of Dort, wh speaking of regeneration, they said, without any distinction, (Illam Deus in bis sine nobis operatur,) "God works it in us, without us!" Just as if God lieved in us without us! Just as if we received the word without our receivi of it! Just as if the sower and the sun produced corn without the field that be it! What led them into this mistake was, no doubt, a commendable desire maintain the honour of free grace. However, if by regeneration they meant first communication of that fructifying, "saving grace, which has appeared all men"--the first visit, or the first implanting of "that light of life, which lightens every man that cometh into the world," they spoke a precious tru for God bestows this free gift upon us, absolutely " without us!" Nor could ever do what he requires of us in the scale of free will, if he had not first g us a talent of grace, and if he did not continually help us to use it aright wi we have a good will.