uG;CAL  ' 
 
 BT  20  .  K543 
 
 Knight ,  W.  B.  17867-1845. 
 Considerations  on  the 
 subject  of  Calvinism 
 
Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
 in  2019  with  funding  from 
 Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/considerationsonOOknig 
 
CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 
 
 CALVINISM; 
 
 AND  A 
 
 SHORT  TREATISE 
 
 l  ON 
 
 REGENERATION : 
 
 DESIGNED  FOR  THE  USE  OF  SUCH  AS  FEEL  INTERESTED  IN 
 
 THE  ENQUIRY, 
 
 WHETHER  CALVINISM  BE  OK  BE  NOT  THE  DOCTRINE  OF 
 THE  BIBLE  AND  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 
 
 BV  ^ 
 
 WILLIAM  BRUCE  KNIGHT,  A.  M. 
 
 CHANCELLOR  OF  LLANDAFF  CATHEDRAL,  AND  EXAMINING  CHAPLAIN  TO  THE 
 LORD  BISHOP  OF  LLANDAFF. 
 
 ' F.£  yy.g  (Qotcri  kock  s^jusvixi'  o i  $6  xou'  aCro) 
 
 2 3>*)criv  ccT0icr9cc\iYi<riv  Cfflg  /xcgov  aKyk  'txx&iv. 
 
 Odyss.  lib.  i. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED  FOR  LONGMAN,  HURST,  REES,  ORME,  AND  BROWN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER- ROW. 
 
 18  22 
 
London : 
 
 Printed  by  A.  &  R.  Spottiswoode, 
 N  ew-  Street-Square. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I  take  this  opportunity  of  acknowledg¬ 
 ing  my  obligations  to  the  celebrated  work 
 of  Dr.  Whitby  on  the  five  points,  and 
 especially  to  that  part  of  it  which  proves 
 the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews,  bad  as  well 
 as  good,  to  have  been  called  “  the  elect 
 of  God.”  ' 
 
 For  some  of  the  observations  I  am  also 
 indebted  to  Episcopius,  Grotius,  Lim- 
 borch,  Hammond,  Barrow,  Tomline, 
 Mant,  Daubeny,  and  Sumner.  Whoever, 
 indeed,  has  had  an  opportunity  of  be¬ 
 coming  acquainted  with  these  authors, 
 must  know,  that  the  question  with  re¬ 
 spect  to  Calvinism  has  been  completely 
 set  at  rest,  and  on  this  account  may  per¬ 
 haps  imagine  that  nothing  more  can  be 
 wanted  on  the  subject. 
 
 a  2 
 
IV 
 
 But  some  of  these  are  not  likely  to  be 
 
 s 
 
 generally  read,  from  their  large  size* 
 some  of  them  abound  with  metaphysical 
 discussion,  and  none  of  them  are  attain¬ 
 able  at  a  small  price. 
 
 For  these  reasons,  I  thought  I  might 
 render  some  service  to  my  parish,  if  not 
 to  my  country,  by  collecting  into  one 
 body  the  principal  texts  of  Scripture 
 that  are  decidedly  opposed  to  Calvinism, 
 and  with  which  Calvinism  can  never  be 
 reconciled. 
 
 With  the  exception  of  two  or  three 
 remarks  which  I  have  taken  from  Pyle’s 
 Paraphrase  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
 I  am  not  aware  of  having  borrowed  from 
 any  other  source,  without  having  re¬ 
 corded  the  name  of  the  author  ;  but  as 
 it  is  very  possible  that  I  may  have  so 
 done,  in  collecting  from  a  common-place 
 book,  where  I  have  occasionally  entered 
 sentences,  without  always  noting  the 
 book  from  which  they  were  taken,  I  here 
 assure  the  reader  that  I  have  no  desire 
 
V 
 
 to  claim  any  credit  to  myself  for  that 
 'which  I  owe  to  another ;  and  that  my 
 motive  for  publishing  this  small  work 
 did  not  arise  from  an  anxiety  to  acquire 
 reputation  as  an  author,  but  from  a  sin¬ 
 cere  wish  to  make  myself  useful,  and  to 
 do  good;  —  and  it  appeared  to  me  that 
 much  good  might  be  done,  and  that  no 
 possible  evil  could  result  from  publishing 
 a  body  of  texts,  sufficient  to  convince 
 every  man,  that,  if  he  be  ultimately  con¬ 
 signed  to  eternal  misery,  it  is  purely  the 
 effect  of  his  own  fault  and  choice,  and 
 not  the  consequence  of  insufficient  grace, 
 utter  inability,  or  irrespective  pre-deter¬ 
 mination  ;  and  that  every  sinner,  without 
 any  exception,  if  he  will  sincerely  repent 
 and  amend  his  ways,  and  do  his  utmost 
 to  live  according  to  the  Gospel,  may  yet 
 find  mercy  ;  may  assuredly  know  that  the 
 blood  of  a  Redeemer  was  shed  even  for 
 him ,  and  that,  so  far  from  being  irre¬ 
 versibly  lost,  he  may  yet  escape  those 
 
VI 
 
 punishments  which  will  only  be  allotted 
 to  the  wilfully  impenitent,  and  save  his 
 soul  alive. 
 
 I  have  added,  at  the  end,  a  few  pages 
 upon  Regeneration,  in  the  humble  hope 
 of  throwing  some  light  on  a  subject  so 
 frequently  misrepresented,  and  so  little 
 understood. 
 
 In  order  that  the  reader  may  clearly 
 know  what  peculiar  doctrines  this  treatise 
 is  designed  to  oppose,  I  here  subjoin  the 
 live  points  as  contained  in  the  five  Arti¬ 
 cles  of  the  Synod  of  Dort. 
 
 ARTICLE  THE  FIRST. 
 
 Of  Divine  Predestination. 
 
 That  God  by  an  absolute  decree  hath  elected 
 to  salvation  a  very  small  number  of  men,  with¬ 
 out  anv  regard  to  their  faith  or  obedience  what- 
 soever,  and  secluded  from  saving  grace  all  the 
 rest  of  mankind,  and  appointed  them  by  the 
 same  decree  to  eternal  damnation,  without  any 
 regard  to  their  infidelity  or  impenitency. 
 
VII 
 
 ARTICLE  THE  SECOND. 
 
 Of  the  Merit  and  Effect  of  Christ's  Death. 
 
 That  Jesus  Christ  hath  not  suffered  death  for 
 any  other,  but  for  those  elect  only ;  having  had 
 neither  any  intent  nor  commandment  of  his 
 Father  to  make  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the 
 whole  world. 
 
 ARTICLE  THE  THIRD. 
 
 Of  Man's  Will  in  the  State  of  Nature. 
 
 That  by  Adam’s  fall  his  posterity  lost  their 
 free-will,  being  put  to  an  unavoidable  necessity 
 to  do,  or  not  to  do,  whatsoever  they  do  or  do 
 not,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil;  being  there¬ 
 unto  predestinated  by  the  eternal  and  effectual 
 secret  decree  of  God. 
 
 ARTICLE  THE  FOURTH. 
 
 Of  the  Manner  of  Conversion. 
 
 That  God,  to  save  his  elect  from  the  corrupt 
 mass,  doth  beget  faith  in  them  by  a  power  equal 
 to  that  whereby  he  created  the  world,  and 
 raised  up  the  dead,  insomuch,  that  such,  unto 
 whom  he  gives  that  grace,  cannot  reject  it,  and 
 the  rest  being  reprobate  cannot  accept  it. 
 
\ 
 
 Vlll 
 
 ARTICLE  THE  FIFTH. 
 
 Of  the  Certainty  of  Perseverance. 
 
 That  such  as  have  once  received  that  grace 
 by  faith  can  never  fall  from  it  finally  or  totally, 
 notwithstanding  the  most  enormous  sins  they 
 can  commit. 
 
 Such  are  the  five  points  of  Calvinism. 
 In  producing  the  texts  which  I  believe 
 to  be  hostile  to  these  doctrines,  I  have 
 followed  the  order  of  Scripture,  instead 
 of  classifying  the  points,  and  arranging 
 under  each  head  the  answers  that  might 
 appear  more  especially  to  belong  to  it. 
 
 Had  I  done  this,  it  would  have  added 
 materially  to  the  size  of  the  work,  and  I 
 am  not  aware  that  any  particular  ad¬ 
 vantages  would  have  been  derived  from 
 it.  The  points  of  Calvinism  have  such 
 an  intimate  connection,  and  such  a 
 mutual  dependence  upon  each  other, 
 that  if  one  point  be  confuted,  it  will  fol- 
 
 V 
 
 low,  by  obvious  consequence,  tiiat  neither 
 of  the  others  can  be  true. 
 
IX 
 
 In  the  plan  which  I  have  adopted,  an 
 easy  reference  is  made  to  any  text  of 
 Scripture;  and,  by  reverting  to  the  points, 
 a  fair  comparison  may  be  instituted,  and 
 a  judgment  formed  with  respect  to  their 
 agreement  or  disagreement  with  the  texts. 
 
 a 
 
CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 CALVINISM. 
 
 TEXTS  FROM  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 
 
 Gen.  ^ 
 
 ii.  IT.  JtJuT  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
 and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it :  for  in 
 the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou 
 shalt  surely  die. 
 
 Can  we  believe,  says  Bishop  Tomline,  that 
 God  forbade  the  fall,  which  by  an  antecedent 
 decree  he  had  rendered  inevitable?  that  he 
 gave  a  commandment  to  Adam,  which  by  his 
 original  formation  he  was  absolutely  unable  to 
 obey  ?  that  he  made  the  possession  of  Paradise, 
 and  the  continuance  of  his  innocence  and  hap» 
 piness  to  depend  upon  a  condition  which  it 
 was  physically  impossible  for  him  to  fulfil  ? 
 
 B 
 
Gen. 
 
 vi.  7 .  If  thou  doest  well,  shalt  thou  not  be 
 accepted  ?  and  if  thou  doest  not  well,  sin 
 lieth  at  the  door. 
 
 Acceptance  or  rejection  is  in  these  words  of 
 the  Almighty  declared  to  be  conditional.  The 
 hypothetic  “  If,”  clearly  supposes  the  possibility 
 of  Cain’s  obedience. 
 
 Exod. 
 
 xxxii.33.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Who¬ 
 soever  hath  sinned  against  me,  him  will 
 I  blot  out  of  my  book. 
 
 A  name  may  be  written  in  the  Book  of  Life 
 and  blotted  out  afterwards.  The  Latin  trans¬ 
 lation  of  Junius  and  Tremellius  has  “  delerem,” 
 “  I  would  blot  out,”  instead  of  the  fut.  indica¬ 
 tive,  as  it  stands  in  the  sacred  text.  That  this 
 was  done  to  avoid  the  consequences  so  mani¬ 
 festly  fatal  to  Calvinism,  no  one  can  doubt  who 
 has  read  the  note  of  Junius  on  this  place.  The 
 version  published  in  1637,  by  men  commis¬ 
 sioned  to  the  work  by  the  synod  of  Dort,  is  in 
 this  verse  equally  unfaithful  to  the  original,  as 
 is  observed  by  Episcopius. 
 
 Deut* 
 
 v.  29.  O  !  that  there  were  such  an  heart  in 
 them,  that  they  would  fear  me,  and  keep 
 all  my  commandments  always,  that  it 
 might  be  well  with  them  and  with  their 
 children  for  ever. 
 
I 
 
 3 
 
 Deut.  God,  if  he  pleased,  might  have  miraculously 
 wrought  such  a  heart  in  them  :  but  then  there 
 would  have  been  no  need  of  giving  laws  full  of 
 precepts,  promises,  rewards  and  punishments. 
 
 6C  Haec  quidem  dicuntur  av0ga>7ro7ra0a>f,  atque 
 human  um  sermonem  imitatur  Deus;  attamen 
 ejusmodi  locutioni  oportet  subesse  aliquem  sen- 
 sum,  nempe  Deum  optare,  ut  Hebrsei  legum 
 suarum  sint  observantes,  quod  non  potest  fieri, 
 si  verum  sit,  quod  nonnulli  volunt,  neminem, 
 sine  ineluctabili  quadam  efficacia  divini  auxilii, 
 quod  perpaucis  largitur,  posse  Deo  obsequi. 
 Si  enim  soleret  Deus  ita  agere  cum  hominibus, 
 aut  auxilium  omnibus  largiretur,  aut  non  sig- 
 nificaret  se  optare  id  ab  iis  fieri,  quod  sine  eo 
 auxilio  fieri  non  posse  novit.” 
 
 Le  Clerc  in  loco . 
 
 viii.  2.  He  led  thee  these  forty  years  that  he 
 might  prove  thee. 
 
 In  this,  and  a  vast  variety  of  texts  of  the  same 
 import,  it  may  be  asked,  Is  it  suitable  to  the 
 Divine  wisdom  to  try  men  whether  they  will  do 
 what  he  well  knows  they  are  utterly  disabled 
 from  doing,  and  then  punish  them  for  not  doing 
 what  they  could  not  do  ? 
 
 x.  12.  And  now,  Israel,  what  doth  the  Lord 
 thy  God  require  of  thee,  but  to  fear 
 the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk  in  all  his 
 
 b  2 
 
4 
 
 Dent. 
 
 ways,  and  to  love  him,  and  to  serve  the 
 Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with 
 all  thy  soul  ? 
 
 x.  16.  Circumcise  therefore  the  foreskin  of 
 your  heart,  and  be  no  more  stiff-necked. 
 
 What  God  requires  from  all ,  he  has  given 
 to  all ,  even  the  stiff-necked,  ability  to  perform. 
 
 xxx.  15.  See,  I  have  set  before  thee  this  day  life 
 and  good,  and  death  and  evil. 
 
 19.  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  record  this 
 day  against  you,  that  I  have  set  before 
 you  life  and  death,  blessing  and  cursing  : 
 therefore  choose  life,  that  both  thou  and 
 thy  seed  may  live. 
 
 The  sufficiency  of  man  to  please  God  is, 
 doubtless,  of  God  ;  but  it  is  of  man  to  choose , 
 whether  he  will  make  use  of  the  gracious  assist¬ 
 ances  afforded  him  or  not. 
 
 Can  that  be  the  object  of  a  man’s  choice 
 “  this  day,”  to  which  he  was  irreversibly  decreed 
 before  he  was  born  ? 
 
 29.  O  !  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  un¬ 
 derstood  these  things,  that  they  would 
 consider  their  latter  end  ! 
 
 A  passionate  and  tender  wisn  of  the  Almighty ! 
 which  his  power  might  have  instantly  accom¬ 
 plished,  if  this  had  been  consistent  with  the 
 people’s  free-will. 
 
5 
 
 Josh, 
 xxiv.  15. 
 
 22. 
 
 27. 
 
 2  Sara, 
 xi.  27. 
 
 1  Chron. 
 xxviii.  9. 
 
 2  Chron. 
 xv.  2. 
 
 And  if  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve 
 the  Lord,  choose  you  this  day  whom  ye 
 will  serve. 
 
 True  religion  is  here  declared  to  depend 
 upon  the  choice  of  those  to  whom  this  was 
 spoken. 
 
 Ye  are  witnesses  against  yourselves, 
 that  ye  have  chosen  you  the  Lord,  to  serve 
 him. 
 
 This  stone  shall  be  a  witness  unto 
 you,  lest  ye  deny  your  God. 
 
 Those  who  have  made  a  choice  of  true  reli¬ 
 gion  may  afterwards  deny  God. 
 
 The  thing  that  David  had  done  dis¬ 
 pleased  the  Lord. 
 
 Beza  Davidem  ait  cum  homicidio  et  adul- 
 terio  pollutus  esset  retinuisse  spiritum  sanctum, 
 et  perire  se  velle,  si  doceret  aliud. 
 
 Grotius .  Rivet.  Apol.  Disc . 
 
 And  thou,  Solomon,  serve  God  with  a 
 perfect  heart  and  with  a  'willing  mind.  — 
 If  thou  seek  him  he  will  be  found  of 
 thee,  but  if  thou  forsake  him  he  will  cast 
 thee  off  for  ever. 
 
 The  Lord  is  with  you,  while  ye  be  with 
 
 him  ;  and  if  ye  seek  him,  he  will  be  found 
 
 b  3 
 
6 
 
 2  Chron. 
 
 of  you  ;  but  if  ye  forsake  him,  he  will  for¬ 
 sake  you. 
 
 Observe  the  “  ifs.”  In  this  prophecy  there 
 are  conditions  throughout ;  and  it  is,  as  Bishop 
 Wilson  says,  well  worthy  of  serious  notice  at 
 all  times  and  by  all  nations  and  people. 
 
 xxxvi.15.  And  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers 
 sent  to  them  by  his  messengers,  rising 
 up  betimes,  and  sending,  because  he  had 
 compassion  on  his  people,  and  on  his 
 dwelling-place. 
 
 16.  But  they  mocked  the  messengers  of 
 God,  and  despised  his  words,  and  mis¬ 
 used  his  prophets,  until  the  wrath  of  the 
 Lord  arose  against  his  people,  till  there 
 was  no  remedy. 
 
 Could  that  God  who  sent  these  messengers 
 unto  his  people,  “  because  he  had  compassion 
 on  them,”  have  decreed  from  eternity  never  to 
 have  compassion  on  them  ?  or  did  he  send  his 
 messengers  and  prophets,  and  at  the  same  time 
 withhold  the  aid,  without  which  he  well  knew 
 they  must  have  been  sent  in  vain  ? 
 
 ,  Psalms, 
 
 v.  5.  Thou  art  not  a  God  that  hast  pleasure 
 in  wickedness. 
 
 Did  God  oblige  men,  by  an  eternal  decree, 
 to  practise  that  in  which  he  has  no  pleasure  ? 
 
Psalms. 
 
 7 
 
 I  ask  this,  because  Calvin  (Inst.  lib.  i.  c.  18.) 
 declares,  44  That  the  will  of  God  not  only  ex¬ 
 erts  its  power  in  the  elect,  but  also  compels  the 
 compliance  of  the  reprobate.’’  And  again, 
 (lib.  iii.  c.  23.)  44  God  not  only  foresaw  the  fall 
 of  the  first  man,  and  in  it  the  ruin  of  his  pos¬ 
 terity,  but  it  was  the  dispensation  of  his  will.” 
 
 xxx.  io.  Lord,  be  thou  my  helper. 
 
 44  He  also  is  a  worker  who  calls  for  a  helper.” 
 
 Aug . 
 
 Ixxxi.  12.  But  my  people  would  not  (did  not, 
 Heb.)  hear  my  voice,  and  Israel  would 
 not  (did  not,  Heb.)  obey  me. 
 
 13.  “  O  !  that  my  people  would  have  heark¬ 
 
 ened  unto  me  ;  for  if  Israel  had  walked 
 in  my  ways,  &c. 
 
 Observe  the  44  if,”  for  it  demonstrates  that 
 obedience  had  been  possible. 
 
 Origen  observes  on  this  place :  44  This  proves 
 that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  people  to  hearken 
 and  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  God.” 
 
 44  Ubi  gratiae  insufficientia  est,  ibi  desiderii 
 praetensio  mera  histrionia  est.  Desideratin' 
 enim  sufficiens  effectus  ab  insufficiente  causa.” 
 
 Episcopius.  Inst.  lib.  iv.  sect.  2. 
 
 ixix.  28.  Let  them  be  blotted  out  of  the  book 
 
 R  4 
 
Psalms. 
 
 8 
 
 of  the  living,  and  not  be  written  with  the  • 
 righteous. 
 
 Names  may  be  written  in  the  Book  of  Life 
 and  blotted  out  afterwards. 
 
 exlv.  9.  The  Lord  is  loving  unto  every  man , 
 and  his  mercy  is  over  all  his  works. 
 
 “  Hanc  mansuetudinem  Deo  in  totum  adi- 
 munt  ii,  qui  asserunt,  Deum  absoluta  voluntate, 
 ante  omnem  praevisionem  peccati  aut  culpae,  mul- 
 tomaximam  liominum  partem  destinasse  eternis 
 ignibus.  Ab  ista  certe  sententia  multomaxima 
 hominum  pars  justissimam  causam  habet  cre- 
 dendi,  Deum  non  modo  non  mansuetum,  sed 
 saevissimum  atqueimmitissimum  tyrannum  esse.” 
 
 j Episcopias,  Inst.  lib.  iv.  sect.  2. 
 
 Prov. 
 
 i.  24.  I  have  called  and  ye  refused ;  I  have 
 stretched  out  my  hand  and  no  man  re¬ 
 garded. 
 
 25.  But  ye  have  set  at  nought  my  counsel 
 and  would  none  of  my  reproof. 
 
 29.  They  hated  knowledge  and  did  not 
 choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord  :  and, 
 
 30.  They  would  none  of  my  counsel,  and 
 despised  all  my  reproof. 
 
 In  these  verses  we  see  God  calling  but  man 
 refusing  —  the  will  and  choice  of  man  opposed 
 to  the  gracious  invitations  of  God. 
 
9 
 
 Isaiah. 
 
 i.  16.  Wash  you,  make  you  clean  ;  put  away 
 the  evil  of  your  doings  ;  cease  to  do  evil ; 
 17.  Learn  to  do  well. 
 
 19.  If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall 
 eat  the  good  of  the  land  ; 
 
 20.  But  if  ye  refuse  and  rebel,  ye  shall  be 
 devoured  with  the  sword. 
 
 Here  are  exhortations,  promises,  and  threats 
 —  every  one  of  which  necessarily  implies,  that 
 those  are  free  agents  to  whom  they  are  ad¬ 
 dressed. 
 
 Clemens  Alexandrinus,  alluding  to  this  pas¬ 
 sage,  says,  44  The  prophecy  of  Isaiah  saith,  4  If 
 ye  be  willing,’  demonstrating  that  both  the 
 choice  and  the  refusal  are  in  our  power.” 
 
 Epiphanius,  on  this  place,  says,  44  Whence 
 it  is  plainly  manifest  and  indubitable  that  God 
 hath  given  to  man  free-will ,  so  that  it  is  in  his 
 power  to  do  good  or  choose  the  evil.” 
 
 Chrysostom  says,  alluding  to  the  same  text, 
 44  Do  you  see  how  God  speaks,  and  what  laws 
 he  lays  down?  Hear  also  how  Fate  speaks, 
 and  how  it  lays  down  contrary  laws ;  and  learn 
 how  the  former  are  declared  by  a  Divine  Spirit, 
 but  the  latter  by  a  wicked  demon,  and  a  savage 
 beast.  God  has  said :  4  If  ye  be  willing  and 
 obedient,’  making  us  masters  of  virtue  and 
 wickedness,  and  placing  them  within  our  own 
 power.  But  what  doth  the  other  say  ?  That 
 
Isaiah. 
 
 10 
 
 it  is  impossible  to  avoid  what  is  decreed  by 
 Fate,  whether  we  will  or  not.  God  says,  6  If 
 ye  be  willing,  ye  shall  eat  the  good  of  the  land 
 but  Fate  says,  ‘  Although  we  be  willing,  unless 
 it  shall  be  permitted  us,  this  will  is  of  no  use/ 
 God  says,  4  If  ye  will  not  obey  my  words  a 
 sword  shall  devour  you/  Fate  says,  6  Although 
 we  be  not  willing,  if  it  shall  be  granted  to  us, 
 we  are  certainly  saved/  Does  not  Fate  say 
 this  ?  what  then  can  be  clearer  than  this  oppo¬ 
 sition  ?  what  can  be  more  evident  than  this  war, 
 which  the  diabolical  teachers  of  wickedness  have 
 thus  shamelessly  declared  against  the  Divine 
 oracles.” 
 
 After  reading  this,  and  a  thousand  such  pas¬ 
 sages  in  the  Fathers,  well  might  Beza  exclaim, 
 “  In  hac  re  non  audiendos  patres.” 
 
 v.  3.  And  now,  O  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
 and  men  of  Judah,  judge  I  pray  you  be¬ 
 tween  me  and  my  vineyard. 
 
 Surely  language  like  this  directly  contradicts 
 the  notion,  that  the  Divine  justice  is  beyond  our 
 comprehension,  and  must  not  be  inquired  into 
 according  to  our  reason.  Sumner. 
 
 4.  What  could  have  been  done  more  to 
 my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in  it? 
 Wherefore,  when  I  looked  that  it  should 
 
 *2 
 
Isaiah. 
 
 11 
 
 bring  forth  grapes,  brought  it  forth  wild 
 grapes  ? 
 
 Observe.  It  was  possible  for  God  to  have 
 done  somewhat,  which  yet  he  did  not  do ;  to 
 have  forced  the  ground  to  bring  forth  good 
 grapes.  But  to  a  vineyard,  interpreted  there  to 
 be  the  house  of  Israel,  to  a  rational  vineyard, 
 this  was  incompatible. 
 
 liii.6.  All  we,  like  sheep  (a  sheep  Heb.)  have 
 gone  astray,  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on 
 him  the  iniquity  of  us  all . 
 
 Iv.  l.  Ho  !  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye 
 to  the  waters. 
 
 6.  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be 
 found. 
 
 The  Lord  may  be  found  by  seeking. 
 
 7.  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and 
 the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and 
 let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  &c. 
 
 Therefore  God  has  placed  it  in  the  power  of 
 the  wicked  to  forsake  his  way,  &c.  The  ex¬ 
 hortation  of  the  prophet  can  else  have  no  mean¬ 
 ing. 
 
 ixv.  2.  I  have  spread  out  my  hands  all  the 
 day  unto  a  rebellious  people. 
 
 Here  we  see  the  gracious  intention  of  a 
 merciful  God  to  reclaim  a  perverse  people,  not 
 
Isaiah. 
 
 12 
 
 only  shown  occasionally  but  “  all  the  day,”  and 
 yet  of  these  it  is  said  : 
 
 12.  When  I  called  ye  did  not  answer ; 
 when  I  spake  ye  did  not  hear  ;  but  did 
 evil  before  mine  eyes,  and  did  choose 
 that  wherein  I  delighted  not. 
 
 Here  is  God  calling  and  man  not  answering 
 —  God  speaking  and  man  not  hearing  —  and 
 that  chosen  by  man  which  is  in  opposition  to 
 the  pleasure  of  God.  So, 
 
 lxvi.  3.  They  have  chosen  their  own  ways, 
 
 4.  They  chose  that  in  'which  I  delighted 
 
 Jer.  n0t‘ 
 
 ii.  21.  I  had  planted  thee  a  noble  vine,  wholly 
 
 a  right  seed  :  how  then  art  thou  turned 
 into  the  degenerate  plant  of  a  strange 
 vine  unto  me  ? 
 
 iii.  22.  Return,  ye  backsliding  children,  and  I 
 
 will  heal  your  backslidings. 
 
 iv.  4.  Circumcise  yourselves  to  the  Lord,  and 
 take  away  the  foreskins  of  your  hearts. 
 
 14.  O  Jerusalem  !  wash  thine  heart  from 
 wickedness,  that  thou  mayest  bo  saved. 
 How  long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  lodge 
 within  thee  ? 
 
 In  these  three  last  verses,  and  in  many  hun¬ 
 dred  more  which  I  have  not  quoted,  the  power 
 
Jcr. 
 
 K 
 
 13 
 
 of  abandoning  sin  is  unequivocally  acknow¬ 
 ledged. 
 
 xiii.  27.  Woe  unto  thee,  O  Jerusalem  !  wilt  thou 
 not  be  made  clean  ?  when  shall  it  once 
 be  ? 
 
 The  means  are  within  thy  reach  :  it  depends 
 on  thyself  whether  thou  wilt  use  them. 
 
 xviii.  li.  Return  ye  now  every  one  from  his  evil 
 way,  and  make  your  ways  and  your 
 doings  good. 
 
 xxv.  4.  And  the  Lord  hath  sent  unto  you  all 
 
 his  servants  the  prophets,  rising  early 
 and  sending  them  ;  but  ye  have  not  heark¬ 
 ened  nor  inclined  your  ear  to  hear. 
 
 5.  They  said,  Turn  ye  again  now  every 
 one  from  his  evil  way  ; 
 
 6.  And  go  not  after  other  gods,  and  I 
 will  do  you  no  hurt. 
 
 Can  any  man  believe  that  the  Almighty 
 would  have  done  all  this,  unless  it  had  been 
 sufficient  to  convince  those  to  whom  he  sent  ? 
 If  it  could  not  possibly  produce  the  desired 
 effect,  to  what  purpose  did  he  send  at  all  ? 
 
 xxvi.  3.  If  so  be  they  will  hearken  and  turn 
 
 every  one  from  his  evil  way. 
 
 The  possibility  of  general  obedience  is  ad¬ 
 mitted  here. 
 
14 
 
 Jer. 
 
 xxxv.  15.  I  have  sent  unto  you  the  prophets, 
 saying,  Return  ye  now  every  man  from 
 his  evil  way,  and  amend  your  doings  — 
 but  ye  have  not  inclined  your  ear,  nor 
 hearkened  unto  me. 
 
 xxxvi.  3.  It  may  be  that  the  house  of  Judah  will 
 hear  —  that  they  may  return  every  man 
 from  his  evil  way ;  that  I  may  forgive 
 their  iniquity  and  their  sin. 
 
 7.  It  may  be  they  will  present  their  sup¬ 
 plication  before  the  Lord,  and  will  return 
 every  one  from  his  evil  way. 
 
 Here  is  forgiveness  promised  to  obedience, 
 and  the  possibility  of  that  obedience  asserted  to 
 every  man. 
 
 li.  9.  We  would  have  healed  Babylon,  but 
 she  is  not  healed. 
 
 Nothing  was  wanting  on  the  part  of  God. 
 
 Ezek. 
 
 iii.  19.  If  thou  warn  the  wicked  and  he  turn 
 not  from  his  wickedness  —  he  shall  die 
 in  his  iniquity. 
 
 Can  there  be  any  use  in  warning  a  man  who 
 is  decreed  to  destruction,  and  who  cannot  turn  ? 
 or  can  warning  further  his  salvation  who  is  al¬ 
 ready  elect  in  the  Calvinistic  sense  of  the  word  ? 
 
 Son  of  man,  thou  dwellest  in  the  midst 
 
 xii,  2. 
 
15 
 
 Ezek. 
 
 xii.  2.  of  a  rebellious  house,  who  have  eyes  to 
 see,  and  see  not ;  they  have  ears  to  hear, 
 and  hear  not. 
 
 xviii.  30.  Repent  and  turn  yourselves  from  all 
 your  transgressions,  so  iniquity  shall  not 
 be  your  ruin. 
 
 31.  Cast  axvay  from  you  all  your  transgres¬ 
 sions  whereby  ye  have  transgressed ;  and 
 make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit. 
 For  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ? 
 
 Observe.  In  ch.  xxxvi.  26.  God  promises 
 to  give  them  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit,  and 
 here  they  are  to  make  themselves  a  new  heart  and 
 a  new  spirit.  That  is  to  say,  God  works  in  us, 
 but  we  also  must  work  with  him  and  not  resist 
 his  grace ;  or,  in  the  words  of  the  Apostle,  we 
 must  ii  work  out  our  own  salvation,”  for  this 
 very  reason,  because  “  it  is  God  that  worketh 
 in  us.” 
 
 32.  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him 
 that  dieth  —  wherefore  turn  yourselves , 
 and  live,  &c. 
 
 See  Ez.  xxxiii.  11. 
 
 Did  God  ordain  that  in  which  he  had  no 
 pleasure  ? 
 
 &&  The  greater  part  of  this  18th  chapter  is 
 totally  irreconcileable  with  the  hypothesis  of 
 Calvin, 
 
Ezek. 
 xx.  19. 
 
 xxiv.  13. 
 
 Dan. 
 
 xii.  3. 
 
 Hosea, 
 iv.  6. 
 
 x.  12. 
 
 13. 
 
 16 
 
 I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  walk  in  my 
 statutes,  and  keep  my  judgments  and  do 
 them. 
 
 Can  any  one  attribute  such  mockery  to  the 
 Almighty,  as  to  suppose  that  they  whom  he 
 thus  addressed  were  utterly  unable  to  obey  ?  and 
 had  been  rendered  thus  unable  by  his  own  will 
 and  decree  ? 
 
 I  have  purged  thee,  and  thou  wast  not 
 purged. 
 
 Nothing  was  wanting  on  the  part  of  God. 
 
 They  that  turn  many  to  righteousness 
 shall  shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 Shall  man  be  rewarded  for  turning  those  who 
 can  only  be  turned  by  the  irresistible  grace  of 
 God  ?  or  can  the  preacher  hope  to  increase  a 
 number  which  has  been  limited  from  all  eternity  ? 
 
 Because  thou  hast  rejected  knowledge, 
 I  will  also  reject  thee. 
 
 It  is  obvious  from  what  side  the  rejection 
 commences. 
 
 Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap 
 in  mercy. 
 
 Ye  have  ploughed  wickedness,  ye  have 
 reaped  iniquity. 
 
 According  to  a  man’s  own  work  will  be  the 
 
Hosea. 
 
 17 
 
 xiv.  1. 
 
 2. 
 
 Joel, 
 ii.  13. 
 
 Amos, 
 v.  4. 
 
 5. 
 
 14. 
 
 15. 
 
 consequences ;  though  we  are  to  remember  it  is 
 only  “  in  mercy”  that  we  can  reap. 
 
 O  Israel,  return  unto  the  Lord  thy 
 God. 
 
 Turn  to  the  Lord. 
 
 Turn  unto  the  Lord  your  God,  for  he 
 is  gracious  and  merciful,  slow  to  anger, 
 and  of  great  kindness,  and  repenteth  him 
 of  the  evil. 
 
 Is  this  description  of  our  heavenly  Father 
 consistent  with  the  decree  of  which  Calvin 
 himself  says,  c<  Horribile  quidem  fateor  ?” 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  the  house  of 
 Israel,  Seek  ye  me,  and  ye  shall  live. 
 
 But  seek  not  Bethel. 
 
 Seek  good  and  not  evil,  that  ye  may 
 live. 
 
 Hate  the  evil,  and  love  the  good. 
 
 Can  these  and  ten  thousand  such  expressions 
 have  any  meaning,  if  the  persons  addressed 
 were  totally  incapacitated  from  obedience,  and 
 known  to  be  so  because  ordained  to  be  so  by 
 the  power  issuing  the  command  ? 
 
 To  these  texts,  I  will  add  a  few  verses  from 
 Ecclesiasticus, 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 Eccles. 
 
 xv.  li.  Say  not  thou,  It  is  through  the  Lord 
 that  I  fell  away  :  for  thou  oughtest  not 
 to  do  the  things  that  he  hateth. 
 
 12.  Say  not  thou,  He  hath  caused  me  to 
 err  :  for  he  hath  no  need  of  the  sinful 
 man. 
 
 14*.  He  himself  made  man  from  the  begin¬ 
 ning,  and  left  him  in  the  hand  of  his 
 counsel. 
 
 That  is,  left  him  in  full  liberty  freely  to 
 choose  good  or  evil. 
 
 15.  If  thou  rnlty  to  keep  the  command¬ 
 
 ments,  and  to  perform  acceptable  faith¬ 
 fulness.  . 
 
 16.  He  hath  set  fire  and 'water  before  thee  : 
 Stretch  forth  thy  hand  unto  whether  thou 
 wilt . 
 
 17.  Before  man  is  life  and  death ;  and 
 whether  him  liketh  shall  he  given  him . 
 
 This  book  of  the  son  of  Sirach  is  cited  with 
 great  reverence  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Greek  and 
 Latin  churches,  many  of  whom  endeavoured  to 
 strengthen  their  religious  opinions,  by  the  senti¬ 
 ments  contained  in  a  book  so  deservedly  and  so 
 generally  approved.  It  is  not  used  by  our 
 church  to  establish  any  doctrine.  I  have  there¬ 
 fore  merely  quoted  these  verses  to  show  the 
 
Eccles. 
 
 19 
 
 sentiments  of  a  writer,  66  whom  the  church  doth 
 
 read  for  example  of  life  and  instruction  of  man¬ 
 ners.” 
 
 Limborch  observes,  that  the  authors  of  that 
 version  which  was  published  by  the  autho¬ 
 rity  of  the  synod  of  Dort,  in  their  preface  to 
 the  apocryphal  books,  amongst  other  reasons 
 for  rejecting  them  from  the  sacred  canon,  have 
 specifically  objected  to  this  of  Ecclesiasticus, 
 because  it  so  clearly  establishes  the  freedom  of 
 the  will* 
 
TEXTS  FROM  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 
 
 Acts,  xvii.  24.  26.  30. 
 
 God  that  made  the  world,  and  hath 
 made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  for 
 to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  now 
 commandeth  all  men,  every  where ,  to 
 repent. 
 
 This  command,  this  call,  is  universal.  There¬ 
 fore  all  men ,  every  where ,  may  repent ;  repent¬ 
 ing,  may  be  saved. 
 
 St.  Matthew. 
 
 Matt. 
 
 vi.  13.  Lead  us  not  into  temptation. 
 
 Observe.  We  are  all  to  pray  that  we  may 
 not  be  led  into  temptation,  lest  (Luke,  viii.  13.) 
 we  should  “  in  time  of  temptation  fall  away.’* 
 Here,  then,  in  the  very  prayer  of  our  Lord,  is 
 
Matt. 
 
 m 
 
 an  indisputable  proof  that  no  man  is  exempted 
 from  the  possibility  of  falling  away. 
 
 vi.  13.  Deliver  us  from  evil. 
 
 Can  there  be  a  greater  evil  than  damnation, 
 or  can  his  prayers  avail  to  avoid  that  which  has 
 been  irrevocably  decreed  ? 
 
 14.  If  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your 
 heavenly  Father  will  also  forgive  you. 
 
 15.  But  if  ye  forgive  not  men  their  tres¬ 
 passes,  neither  will  your  Father  forgive 
 your  trespasses. 
 
 Mark  the  tc  ifs.”  —  How  much  may  depend 
 upon  a  man’s  exercising  or  not  exercising  a 
 good  disposition  is  manifest  from  these  verses. 
 
 33.  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God. 
 
 To  what  end  if  it  may  not  by  seeking  be 
 found  ?  Can  it  be  found  by  him  who  is  ex¬ 
 cluded  by  a  decree  ?  or  may  the  elect,  in  the 
 Calvinistic  sense,  fail  of  finding  it  ?  . 
 
 vii.  8.  For  every  one  that  asketh  receiveth ; 
 
 and  he  that  seeketh  findeth ;  and  to  him 
 that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened. 
 
 Here  asking,  seeking,  and  knocking,  are  the 
 work  of  man.  They  are  the  voluntary  exertions 
 which  man  must  use,  before  he  can  expect  the 
 favour  and  assistance  of  God, 
 
 c  3 
 
22 
 
 Matt. 
 
 vii.  ]  3.  Enter  in  at  the  strait  gate ;  for  wide  is 
 the  gate  that  leadeth  to  destruction. 
 
 As  if  our  Saviour  had  said :  Here  are  two 
 gates  open  before  you  —  you  may  enter  either  — 
 one  indeed  is  strait,  but  it  leadeth  to  life.  Now 
 what  meaning  can  be  given  to  this  com¬ 
 mand,  unless  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed 
 had  the  power  of  entering  or  not  entering  into 
 either  gate  ? 
 
 vhi.  10.  Jesus  marvelled ,  and  said,  1  have  not 
 found  so  great  faith,  no  not  in  Israel. 
 
 If  faith,  wherever  it  be  found,  be  the  effect  of 
 the  irresistible  operation  of  God,  was  there  a 
 sufficient  reason  for  exciting  our  Saviour’s  won¬ 
 der  ? 
 
 x.  14, 15.  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  you,  nor 
 hear  your  words,  it  shall  be  more  toler¬ 
 able  in  the  day  of  judgment  for  Sodom 
 and  Gomorrah  than  for  them. 
 
 If  the  reception  of  the  Gospel  can  only  be 
 produced  by  irresistible  grace ,  can  a  man  be 
 punishable  who  does  not  receive  it,  or  reward- 
 able  who  does  ? 
 
 22.  He  that  endureth  to  the  end  shall  be 
 saved. 
 
 To  endure  to  the  end,  is  a  condition  to  be 
 observed  even  by  the  apostles. 
 
23 
 
 Matt. 
 
 xi.  21.  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin !  woe  unto 
 thee,  Bethsaida  !  for  if  the  mighty  works 
 which  were  done  in  you,  had  been  done 
 in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  they  would  have  re« 
 pented  long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes. 
 
 It  is  here  declared  that  works  were  done  to 
 the  inhabitants  of  one  place  without  success, 
 which,  if  done  to  the  inhabitants  of  another, 
 would  have  led  to  their  conversion.  Can  it  be 
 believed  that  our  Lord  would  have  rebuked 
 them  for  not  being  converted  by  means  which 
 were  insufficient  to  their  conversion  ?  which  yet 
 he  adds  would  have  been  sufficient  for  the  con¬ 
 version  of  others  who  were  not  converted,  and 
 who  never  could  possibly  have  been  converted, 
 if,  when  they  perished,  there  had  not  once  ex¬ 
 isted  a  possibility  of  their  salvation. 
 
 28.  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labour  and 
 are  heavy  laden. 
 
 There  is  no  exclusion. 
 
 29.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you. 
 
 St.  Bernard  observes  on  this  passage,  “  Take 
 my  yoke  upon  you,  as  if  our  Lord  had  said,  I 
 impose  it  not  on  the  unwilling, ,  but  take  it  ye,  if 
 ye  will." 
 
 xiii.  3.  A  sower  went  forth  to  sow. 
 
 It  is  worth  observing  in  this  parable,  that  the 
 
 c  4 
 
Matt. 
 
 seed  (the  word  of  God)  is  not  cast  upon  good 
 ground  only,  but  upon  ground  of  every  kind , 
 and  that  it  actually  takes  root  for  a  time  in  some 
 grounds,  where  yet  ultimately  it  brings  ho  fruit 
 to  perfection. 
 
 xiii.  9.  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him 
 hear. 
 
 That  is,  let  every  man  attend. 
 
 33.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto 
 leaven  —  the  whole  was  leavened. 
 
 47.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a 
 net. 
 
 This  net  gathered  of  every  kind ,  bad  as  well 
 as  good. 
 
 xvi.  24.  If  any  man  “  will  come”  after  me. 
 
 “  Is  willing  to  come,”  Greek. 
 
 27.  He  shall  reward  every  man  according 
 to  his  works. 
 
 In  this  and  many  other  texts  in  Holy  Writ, 
 it  is  clearly  declared  that  a  man  shall  be  judged 
 according  to  his  works :  now  is  there  not  an 
 absurdity  in  supposing  that  those  works  will  be 
 submitted  to  God’s  judgment,  which  have  been 
 solely  and  exclusively  God’s  works,  and  in 
 which  the  person  to  be  judged  neither  had  nor 
 could  have  any  share  ? 
 
 15 
 
25 
 
 Matt. 
 
 xviii.  li.  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  save  that 
 which  is  lost . 
 
 But  all  the  sons  of  Adam  are  by  disobedience 
 in  a  lost  condition. 
 
 12.  How  think  ye?  If  a  man  have  an  hun¬ 
 dred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  be  gone 
 astray  —  doth  he  not  seek  that  which  is 
 gone  astray  ? 
 
 The  good  Shepherd,  so  far  from  willing  the 
 loss  of  any,  is  anxious  to  recover  even  one  that 
 may  stray. 
 
 13.  And  if  so  be  that  he  find  it  he  rejoiceth. 
 
 The  expression  “  if  so  be”  is  only  hypothet¬ 
 ical  :  it  does  not  imply  a  certainty  of  recovering 
 the  lost  sheep,  although  the  good  Shepherd 
 himself  goes  in  quest  of  it.  <£  We  are  all’  the 
 people  of  his  pasture,  and  the  sheep  of  his 
 hand.” 
 
 14.  It  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  which 
 is  in  heaven,  that  one  of  these  little  ones 
 should  perish. 
 
 This  declaration  of  the  will  of  Heaven  is 
 wonderfully  unlike  the  merciless  assertions  of 
 Calvin. 
 
 xix.  21.  If  thou  wilt  be  perfect. 
 
 “  If  you  wish  to  be  perfect,”  Greek.  Cle- 
 
26 
 
 Matt. 
 
 ment  of  Alexandria,  alluding  to  this  text,  says, 
 “  The  expression  c  if  thou  wilt/  showed  upon 
 Divine  authority  the  free  will  of  the  mind 
 which  was  conversing  with  him.  For  the  choice 
 was  in  the  man  as  being  free.” 
 
 xxii.  3.  A  certain  king  sent  forth  his  servants, 
 to  call  them  that  were  bidden  to  the  wed¬ 
 ding,  and  they  would  not  come. 
 
 <e  They  were  unwilling  to  come,”  Greek. 
 
 Observe.  If  the  great  and  good  King  had 
 not  wished  to  receive  them,  he  would  not  have 
 bidden  them  first,  and  sent  to  call  them  after¬ 
 wards.  He  did  wish  to  receive  them,  but  they 
 *woidd  not  come.  The  offer  of  grace  is  not  com¬ 
 pulsory,  and  maybe  refused. 
 
 14.  Many  are  called,  but  few  chosen. 
 
 “  You  and  I  also  are  as  capable  of  being  in 
 the  number  of  those  few,  as  any  other  whatso¬ 
 ever,  and  it  is  our  6wn  faults  if  we  be  not.” 
 
 Bishop  Beveridge ,  Serm.  Tit.  ii.  1 1 . 
 
 The  Jews  refusing  to  go  to  the  feast  the  Gen¬ 
 tiles  are  invited.  Of  them  says  the  great  King, 
 
 9.  As  many  as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to  the 
 marriage. 
 
 So  those  servants  gathered  together  all , 
 both  bad  and  good. 
 
 10. 
 
Matt, 
 xxiii.  13. 
 
 37. 
 
 xxiv.  4*. 
 
 11. 
 
 27 
 
 Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  pharisees ! 
 for  ye  shut  up  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
 against  men ;  for  ye  neither  go  in  your¬ 
 selves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are 
 entering  to  go  in. 
 
 Could  the  scribes  and  pharisees  shut  up  the 
 kingdom  of  heaven,  and  prevent  the  entering 
 of  those  who  are  drawn  by  the  irresistible  grace 
 of  God  ? 
 
 O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem !  how  often 
 would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  to¬ 
 gether  —  but  ye  would  not . 
 
 This  gracious  intention  was  not  once  or  twice 
 or  occasionally  discovered,  but  often,  (( How 
 often.” 
 
 Observe.  I  would,  ye  would  not. 
 
 Would  not ,  says  Christ. 
 
 Could  not ,  says  Calvin. 
 
 Jesus  said  unto  them,  (to  his  disciples, 
 privately,)  Take  heed  that  no  man  de¬ 
 ceive  you. 
 
 Many  false  prophets  shall  arise,  and 
 shall  deceive  many. 
 
 But  he  that  shall  endure  to  the  end, 
 the  same  shall  be  saved. 
 
 13. 
 
Matt. 
 
 28 
 
 The  elect  apostles  may  be  deceived,  and  must 
 endure  to  the  end  before  they  can  be  saved. 
 
 xxv.  15.  Talents  are  given  unto  every  man . 
 
 Observe.  The  man  who  had  only  one  talent, 
 and  who  was  punished  for  not  increasing  it,  had 
 it  in  his  power  to  have  done  good  with  it ;  for 
 his  master  says, 
 
 27.  Thou  oughtest  to  have  put,  &c. 
 
 Can  there  be  a  clearer  proof  that  the  gifts  of 
 God  are  to  be  improved  by  the  co-operation 
 of  man?  With  respect  to  the  words,  “  Thou 
 oughtest,”  it  is  an  acknowledged  axiom,  <e  Nemo 
 obligatur  ad  impossible.” 
 
 xxvi.  22.  And  they  were  exceeding  sorrowful, 
 
 and  began  every  one  of  them  to  say  unto 
 him,  Lord,  is  it  I  ? 
 
 Here  every  one  of  the  apostles,  of  those  who 
 had  heard  from  our  blessed  Saviour’s  own 
 mouth  that  he  had  elected  them,  is  represented 
 to  be  exceedingly  sorrowful,  and  to  be  in  a 
 state  of  anxious  uncertainty  whether  he  may  not 
 himself  be  the  man  to  whom  (v.  24.)  our  Lord 
 denounces  woe,  and  declares  that  it  had  been 
 good  for  him  if  he  had  not  been  born. 
 
 Mark, 
 
 vii.  14.  And  when  he  had  called  all  the  people 
 he  said  unto  them,  Hearken  unto  me 
 every  one  of  you,  and  understand. 
 
29 
 
 Mark, 
 
 xiii.  34.  The  Son  of  man  is  as  a  man  that  gave 
 
 to  every  man  his  work. 
 
 Watch  ;  lest  coming  suddenly  he  find 
 you  sleeping. 
 
 Without  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  disciples, 
 the  sudden  coming  of  our  Lord  might  find  even 
 them  unprepared  to  receive  him. 
 
 37.  What  I  say  unto  you,  I  say  unto  all . 
 
 xiv.  23.  He  took  the  cup  and  gave  it  to  them, 
 
 and  they  all  drank  of  it. 
 
 Observe.  Among  these  all  was  Judas. 
 Judas  partook  of  that  cup,  of  which  our 
 Saviour  says,  (Luke,  xxii.  20.)  addressing  him¬ 
 self  to  the  twelve ,  “  This  cup  is  the  new  testa¬ 
 ment  in  my  blood,  which  was  shed  for  you” 
 
 xvi.  15.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
 the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 
 
 Would  our  Lord  have  commanded  the  Gos¬ 
 pel  to  be  preached  to  all ,  if  all  might  not  be 
 saved  ? 
 
 16.  He  that  belie veth  and  is  baptized  shall 
 be  saved ,  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall 
 be  damned. 
 
 Such  are  the  words  of  Christ.  Mark  how 
 this  order  is  inverted  by  the  Calvinist.  He 
 maintains,  that  he  who  is  to  be  saved  will  of 
 
Luke. 
 
 30 
 
 course  believe,  and  that  he  who  is  not  to  be 
 saved  will  not  believe. 
 
 i.  48.  All  generations  shall  call  me  blessed. 
 
 Because  all ,  having  been  redeemed,  would  be 
 capable  of  participating  in  the  blessed  benefits 
 to  be  procured  by  the  death  of  her  (Mary’s)  son. 
 
 78.  The  Day-spring  from  on  high  hath 
 visited  us, 
 
 79.  To  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  dark¬ 
 ness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death. 
 
 Does  the  glorious  Day-spring  from  on  high 
 visit  and  bless  only  a  few?  or  how  many  are 
 they  who  are  here  said  to  sit  in  darkness  and  in 
 the  shadow  of  death? 
 
 ii.  10.  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy, 
 
 which  shall  be  to  all  people. 
 
 Not  to  66  some”  of  all  people. 
 
 31.  Prepared  before  the  face  of  all  people. 
 
 32.  A  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and 
 the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel. 
 
 The  Gentiles  and  Israel  are  the  \ whole  world. 
 
 14.  Good-will  towards  man. 
 
 The  whole  human  race. 
 
 Hi.  6.  All  flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God. 
 
31 
 
 Luke, 
 
 vi.  38.  With  the  same  measure  that  ye  mete 
 withal  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again. 
 
 What  a  man  is  to  receive  is  conditional,  and 
 depends  upon  what  he  himself  measures  out. 
 
 vii.  30.  The  pharisees  and  lawyers  rejected  the 
 
 counsel  of  God  against  themselves. 
 
 The  counsel  of  God  is  to  save;  the  rejection 
 is  from  man.  Had  God  eternally  decreed  the 
 condemnation  of  these  without  respect  to  their 
 offences,  instead  of  rejecting  they  had  complied 
 linth  his  counsel ,  by  setting  forward  their  own 
 condemnation.  Melancthon ,  in  Rom.  ix. 
 
 viii.  13.  These  for  a  while  believe,  and  in  time 
 
 of  temptation  fall  away. 
 
 Faith  may  be  temporary  only,  and  is  no  ab¬ 
 solute  security  against  falling. 
 
 ix.  23.  He  said  to  them  all ,  If  any  man  will 
 
 (be  willing  to,  Greek,)  come  after  me,  let 
 him  deny  himself,  kc. 
 
 To  come  or  not  to  come  is  a  matter  of  free 
 mil. 
 
 x.  12.  Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part. 
 
 This  was  a  matter  of  choice. 
 
 xi.  35.  Take  heed  that  the  light  which  is  in 
 
 thee  be  not  darkness. 
 
32 
 
 Luke. 
 
 Without  heed,  without  caution  on  the  part 
 of  man,  it  will. 
 
 xii.  39.  If  the  good  man  of  the  house  had 
 known  what  hour  the  thief  would  come, 
 he  would  have  watched,  and  not  have  suf¬ 
 fered  his  house  to  be  broken  through. 
 
 That  might  have  been  saved  by  care,  which 
 was  lost  by  negligence. 
 
 47.  That  servant  who  knew  his  Lord’s  will 
 and  prepared  not  himself,  neither  did  ac¬ 
 cording  to  his  will,  shall  be  beaten  with 
 many  stripes. 
 
 The  knowledge  of  the  servant  who  is  said  to 
 have  known  his  Lord’s  will,  is  either,  1st,  a 
 knowledge  which  so  affects  the  will  of  the  ser¬ 
 vant  as  to  render  it  utterly  impossible  for  him 
 not  to  prepare  himself  and  do  his  Lord’s  will; 
 or,  2dly,  it  is  a  knowledge  which  so  affects  the 
 servant’s  will,  as  that  he  is  utterly  incapable  of 
 preparing  himself  and  doing  his  Lord’s  will ;  or, 
 3dly,  it  is  a  knowledge  by  which  he  is  left  free 
 to  do  or  not  to  do  his  Lord’s  will.  If  the  know¬ 
 ledge  be  of  the  first  kind,  it  is  ridiculous  to 
 suppose  that  the  servant  knew  his  Lord’s  will 
 and  did  it  not.  If  of  the  second,  it  is  equally 
 absurd  to  say,  that. the  servant  who  knew  his 
 Lord’s  will  and  did  it  not,  shall  be  beaten  with 
 
33 
 
 Luke. 
 
 many  stripes.  For  how  can  that  servant  be 
 worthy,  I  will  not  say  of  many,  but  of  any 
 stripes,  on  account  of  that  knowledge  which  was 
 absolutely  insufficient  to  move  the  will  of  the 
 servant  to  act  according  to  the  will  of  the  Lord  ? 
 As  the  two  first  descriptions  of  knowledge  are 
 therefore  inadmissible,  it  follows  that  the  third 
 only  is  the  knowledge  alluded  to  in  the  text. 
 
 48.  Unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of 
 him  shall  be  much  required. 
 
 If  mankind  are  appointed  to  sin  and  punish¬ 
 ment,  to  holiness  and  salvation  irrespectively, 
 then  they  will  be  judged  in  exact  opposition  to 
 our  Saviour’s  declaration,  and  much  will  be  re¬ 
 quired  of  him  to  whom  little  is  given.  Sumner . 
 
 Ex  eo  quod  non  accepit,  nullus  reus  est. 
 
 Aug .  De  Lib .  Arb.  lib.  hi. 
 
 57.  Why  even  of  yourselves  judge  ye  not 
 what  is  right  ? 
 
 A  right  judgment  is  here  declared  to  be  in 
 the  power  of  those  to  whom  this  was  spoken, 
 and  they  are  rebuked  for  not  exercising  it. 
 
 xiii.  24-.  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  for 
 many  will  seek  to  enter  in  and  shall  not 
 be  able. 
 
 D 
 
Luke. 
 
 34 
 
 Seeking  is  not  enough,  the  Christian  must 
 strive :  but  how  striving  on  the  part  of  man  can 
 possibly  have  any  effect,  if  all  is  to  be  done  by 
 the  irresistible  grace  of  God,  it  would  be  well  if 
 the  Calvinist  would  tell  us. 
 
 xv.  12.  He  divided  unto  them  (the  two  sons) 
 his  living. 
 
 Observe.  The  prodigal  himself  had  his  por¬ 
 tion  ;  and  recollect,  it  is  said  that  “  he  came  to 
 himself  ”  that  he  himself  is  said  to  return  to  his 
 Father,  and  did  actually  set  off,  before  we  hear 
 that  his  Father  had  compassion  on  him,  and 
 ran  out  to  met  him. 
 
 xviii.  l.  He  spake  a  parable  unto  them  to  this 
 end,  that  men  ought  always  to  pray,  and 
 not  to  faint. 
 
 .  To  what  end  are  men  to  pray,  unless  it  be  to 
 obtain  the  object  of  their  prayer,  to  avert  evil  or 
 obtain  good  ?  Now,  if  a  man’s  fate  be  inevitably 
 predetermined,  how  can  prayer  avail  ? 
 
 xix.  10.  He  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
 which  was  lost. 
 
 Were  the  elect  lost?  or  was  Jesus  sent  to  re¬ 
 probates  ? 
 
 13.  He  called  his  ten  servants,  and  de¬ 
 livered  them  ten  pounds. 
 
35 
 
 Luke. 
 
 Here  is  an  equal  portion  given  to  every  ser¬ 
 vant.  The  same  chance  given  to  every  indi¬ 
 vidual  ;  the  success  afterwards  to  depend  on  the 
 proportionate  care  and  industry  of  each. 
 
 41.  And  when  he  was  come  near,  he  beheld 
 the  city  and  wept  over  it,  saying, 
 
 42.  If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least 
 in  this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong 
 unto  thy  peace !  but  now  they  are  hid 
 from  thine  eyes ! 
 
 Observe.  Now :  therefore  they  were  not  al¬ 
 ways.  Our  Saviour  takes  it  for  granted  that 
 the  Jews  might  have  known  in  this  day  of  their 
 visitation  the  things  belonging  to  their  peace. 
 Is  the  assertion  of  our  Lord,  that  they  might 
 have  been  happy,  contrary  to  truth  ?  or,  is  his 
 trouble  that  they  were  not  so  a  trouble  contrary 
 to  the  decree  of  his  Father? 
 
 xx.  io.  He  sent  a  servant  to  the  husbandmen, 
 that  they  should  give  him  of  the  fruit  of 
 the  vineyard. 
 
 Did  the  great  owner  of  the  vineyard  send  to 
 ask  for  that  which  it  was  utterly  impossible  for 
 the  husbandmen  to  give  ? 
 
 is.  It  may  be  they  will  reverence  my  son. 
 
 Observe.  The  owner  of  the  vineyard  alleges 
 
 D  2 
 
Luke. 
 
 36 
 
 the  possibility  of  that  reverence  being  shown  to 
 his  son,  which  yet  he  by  no  means  received. 
 
 xxi.  34.  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  lest  that  day 
 come  upon  you  unawares. 
 
 35#  For  as  a  snare  shall  it  come  upon  all. 
 
 36.  Watch  ye,  therefore,  and  pray  always, 
 that  ye  may  be  accounted  worthy,  &c. 
 
 These  are  our  Lord’s  cautions  to  his  dis¬ 
 ciples  —  his  chosen  disciples.  Though  chosen  or 
 elect  (in  the  true  sense),  they  are  to  “  take  heed,’’ 
 to  “  watch  and  pray  always ,”  (not  occasionally, 
 as  if  sure,  but  always,)  that  they  “may  be  ac¬ 
 counted  worthy.”  If  their  present  election  had 
 rendered  them  secure,  why  urge  them  con¬ 
 tinually  to  pray,  66  that  they  may  be  accounted 
 worthy  ?” 
 
 xxii.  14.  He  sat  down,  and  the  twelve  apostles 
 with  him. 
 
 15.  And  he  said  unto  them , 
 
 (Judas  with  the  rest,) 
 
 19.  This  is  my  body  which  is  given  for  you. 
 
 (Judas  among  them.) 
 
 20.  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my 
 blood,  which  is  shed  for  you. 
 
 Here  is  no  exception.  Judas  as  well  as  the 
 rest. 
 
Luke, 
 xxiii.  34. 
 
 John, 
 i.  4. 
 
 7. 
 
 9. 
 
 29. 
 
 Then  said  Jesus,  Father,  forgive  them, 
 for  they  know  not  what  they  do. 
 
 Our  Lord  prayed  for  his  murderers.  His 
 praying  for  them  implies  the  possibility  of  their 
 receiving  forgiveness,  and  such  possibility  pre¬ 
 supposes  a  disposition  in  God  to  grant  it,  and 
 consequently  a  satisfaction  provided  such  as 
 God  requires. 
 
 In  him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the 
 light  of  men . 
 
 Designed  by  God  to  enlighten  all  mankind . 
 
 John  came  to  bear  witness  of  the  light, 
 that  all  men ,  through  him,  might  believe. 
 
 Observe.  Whosoever  believeth  shall  be 
 saved.  The  professed  object  of  John  was  that 
 all  men  might  believe,  and  therefore  that  all  men 
 might  be  saved. 
 
 That  was  the  true  Light,  which  lighteth 
 every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world. 
 
 Or,  that  coming  into  the  world  lighteth 
 
 every  man . 
 
 Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh 
 away  the  sins  of  the  world. 
 
 The  paschal  lamb  was  slain  for  one  nation 
 only,  though,  let  it  be  remembered,  for  the  whole 
 
 n  S 
 
ss 
 
 John. 
 
 of  that  nation.  But  this  Lamb,  for  the  world, 
 the  whole  world. 
 
 iii.  14.  And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in 
 the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of 
 Man  be  lifted  up. 
 
 15.  That  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
 not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 
 
 Observe.  The  brazen  serpent  was  lifted  up 
 for  the  benefit  £t  of  all  that  were  bitten the 
 comparison  fails,  if  Christ  was  not  lifted  up  for 
 all  those ,  who  by  envy  of  the  old  serpent  became 
 liable  to  death  and  its  sting. 
 
 16.  For  God  so  loved  the  world ,  that  he 
 gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whoso¬ 
 ever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
 but  have  everlasting  life. 
 
 &  This  was  the  verse  that  in  the  hands 
 of  Episcopius  induced  the  “  ever-memorable 
 Hales,”  who  was  bred  a  Calvinist,  and  went  a 
 Calvinist  to  the  synod  of  Dort,  to  renounce  the 
 doctrines  of  Calvin.  Hales  was  at  that  time 
 (1618)  chaplain  to  Sir  Dudley  Charleton,  the 
 English  ambassador  at  the  Hague. 
 
 Note.  We  are  told  by  Calvinists  that  the 
 word  “  world”  in  this  verse  only  signifies  “  the 
 world  of  the  elect.”  But  mark  how  incon¬ 
 sistent  this  interpretation  will  be  with  the  Cal- 
 
John. 
 
 39 
 
 vinistic  doctrines.  Let  us  try  the  experiment ; 
 “  God  so  loved  the  elect ,  that  he  gave  hi's  only- 
 begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  of  the  elect  believe 
 in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
 life.”  Here  salvation  is  limited  to  such  of  the 
 elect  as  believe ;  but,  can  it  be  asserted  of  those 
 who  are  elect ,  in  the  Calvinistic  sense,  that  any 
 of  them  may  not  believe  ? 
 
 v.  28.  The  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all 
 that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  his 
 voice, 
 
 29.  And  shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have 
 done  good,  to  the  resurrection  of  life, 
 and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the 
 resurrection  of  damnation. 
 
 In  these  important  verses,  there  is  no  refer¬ 
 ence  to  any  decree,  but  there  is  a  manifest  re¬ 
 ference  to  the  plain  intelligible  fact,  whether 
 men  have  done  good  or  evil. 
 
 These  things  I  say,  that  ye  might  be 
 saved. 
 
 This  was  said  to  the  Jews,  who  (v.  18.) 
 sought  to  kill  our  Saviour.  It  was  the  intention 
 of  the  blessed  Redeemer  to  save  even  these. 
 
 Ye  will  not  (ye  are  not  willing  to, 
 Greek,)  come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have 
 'life. 
 
 D  4 
 
 40. 
 
40 
 
 John. 
 
 Will  not ,  says  Christ. 
 
 Can^iot,  says  Calvin. 
 
 Hinc  discimus  quod  ex  proposito  fuerunt 
 mali :  non  enim  dixit,  “  non  potestis  venire”  sed 
 “  non  mltis  venire audiant  Manichaei. 
 
 Theophylact .  in  verba . 
 
 vi.  27.  Labour  not  for  the  meat  which  perish- 
 eth,  but  for  that  meat  which  endureth 
 unto  everlasting  life. 
 
 This  meat  is  to  be  given  to  those  who  u  strive,” 
 who  “  labour”  for  it,  and  thanks  be  to  the  free 
 and  boundless  grace  of  God,  every  man  living 
 may  work  with  a  just  hope  of  getting  this  food. 
 
 33.  The  bread  of  God  is  he  which  cometh 
 down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto 
 the  world. 
 
 37.  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall 
 come  unto  me ;  and  him  that  cometh  to 
 me  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out. 
 
 u  These  are  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  by 
 whom  any  man  on  earthy  and  we  as  well  as  others, 
 may  all  be  saved.  But  how  doth  the  Father 
 give  them  ?  He  gives  them  by  drawing  them  to 
 his  Son:  he  draws  them  not  with  force  and 
 violence,  but  he  draws  them  as  men,  as  they  are 
 reasonable  and  free  agents ,  and  therefore  not 
 against  their  wills.” 
 
 Bp.  Beveridge.  Serm.  on  this  verse. 
 
41 
 
 John.  -p-,  .  .  i  ,a 
 
 Rx  Jus  sententns  extruuntur  longae  et  mtri- 
 
 catm  disputationes  de  praedestinatione,  quas  ad- 
 
 miscere  nihil  opus  est,  et  Christus  hie  prascidit 
 
 ipse  cum  ait  u  Venientem  ad  me  non  ejiciam 
 
 foras;”  nos  teneamus  promissionem  Evangelii 
 
 hand  dubie  universalem  esse  et  gratuitam,  et  nos 
 
 in  illam  universalem  includamus  et  ad  Christum 
 
 accedamus.  Melancthon ,  hi  verba. 
 
 And  again,  Alter  scrupulus  est  de  particu¬ 
 lar  itate  ;  quia  enim  audimus  misericordiam  esse 
 causam  electionis,  et  tamen  paucos  eligi,  magis 
 etiam  angimur,  &c.  Huic  tentationi  etiam 
 debent  opponi  promissiones  Evangelii  universales, 
 quas  docent  Deum  propter  Christum  et  gratis 
 omnibus  salutem  promittere,  juxta  illud,  “Jus- 
 titia  Dei  per  fidem  Jesu  Christi  in  omnes  et 
 super  omnes Item,  6i  Omnis  qui  invocaverit 
 nomen  Domini,”  &c.  Hae  universales  sententiae 
 opponendm  sunt  tentationi  de  particularitate. 
 
 Melancthon  in  Rom.  ix  quoted  by  Grotius. 
 
 45.  It  is  written  in  the  prophets,  And  they 
 shall  be  all  taught  of  God. 
 
 51.  If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall 
 live  for  ever  ;  and  the  bread  that  I  will 
 give  is  my  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the 
 life  of  the  world, 
 
 67*  Then  said  Jesus  unto  the  twelve. 
 
John. 
 
 42 
 
 Will  ye  also  (are  ye  also  willing  to,  Greek,) 
 go  away  ? 
 
 It  was  matter  of  will,  if  they  went  or  remained. 
 Ejus  est  velle,  qui  potest  nolle. 
 
 Ulpian.  de  Reg.  Juris. 
 Si  vis  scire  an  velim,  effice  ut  possim  nolle* 
 Seneca.  Lib.  ii.  De  Ben. 
 
 70.  Have  not  I  chosen  you  twelve  ? 
 
 Judas  had  been  chosen.  “  Our  Lord,”  says 
 St.  Ambrose,  64  in  the  choice  of  his  traitor,  held 
 forth  a  pledge  or  mark  of  all  men's  being  to  be 
 saved.” 
 
 vii.  17.  If  any  man  will  (be  willing  to,  Greek,) 
 
 do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doc¬ 
 trine,  &c. 
 
 Here  being  willing  and  doing  comes  before 
 knowing.  They  best  understand  the  will  of 
 God,  who  are  most  careful  to  practise  it.  — 
 Mark  the  if. 
 
 37.  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto 
 me  and  drink. 
 
 There  is  no  exclusion. 
 
 viii.  12.  I  am  the  light  of  the  world. 
 
 The  same  world  that  loved  darkness  rather 
 than  light. 
 
 18 
 
43 
 
 John. 
 
 24.  If  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall 
 die  in  your  sins. 
 
 Can  it  be  believed  that  God  would  inflict  a 
 punishment  on  men  for  the  violation  of  a  com¬ 
 mand  which  they  were  absolutely  unable  to 
 obey? 
 
 31.  Then  said  Jesus  to  those  Jews  which 
 believed  on  him,  If  ye  continue  in  my 
 word,  then  are  ye  my  disciples  indeed. 
 
 Mark  the  if;  and  can  this  if  have  any  mean¬ 
 ing,  if  perseverance  and  indefectibility  were  the 
 necessary  consequences  of  belief  ? 
 
 46.  If  I  say  the  truth,  why  do  ye  not  be¬ 
 lieve  me? 
 
 Would  our  Lord  thus  passionately  ask  men, 
 why  they  would  not  believe,  if  he  knew  that  it 
 were  quite  out  of  their  power  to  believe,  and 
 that  this  inability  was  the  result  of  his  Father’s 
 pleasure  and  decree  ? 
 
 ix.  5.  As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world,  I  am 
 the  light  of  the  world, 
 
 41.  If  ye  were  blind,  ye  should  have  no 
 sin  ;  but  now  ye  say,  We  see  ;  therefore 
 your  sin  remaineth. 
 
 Inability  admits  of  excuse,  but  not  wilful  ob¬ 
 stinacy. 
 
44 
 
 John, 
 
 x.  9.  I  am  the  door  :  by  me  if  any  man 
 enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved. 
 
 The  door  is  not  shut  against  any  — any  man 
 may  enter  in. 
 
 xii.  32.  I  will  draw  all  meti  unto  me. 
 
 35.  Walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  lest 
 darkness  come  upon  you. 
 
 There  is  a  possibility  of  their  deriving  ad¬ 
 vantages  from  the  light,  upon  whom,  notwith¬ 
 standing,  darkness  may  possibly  come.  This  is 
 a  proof  that  there  was  no  divine  decree  which 
 prevented  the  Jews  from  walking  according  to 
 the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  embracing  his  re¬ 
 ligion,  since  we  cannot  suppose  that  our  Saviour 
 would  call  upon  the  Jews  to  do  that  which  God 
 had  made  impossible. 
 
 47.  And  if  any  man  hear  my  words  and 
 believe  not ,  I  judge  him  not :  for  I  came 
 not  to  judge  the  world ,  but  to  save  the 
 world . 
 
 The  world  which  Christ  came  not  to  judge  or 
 condemn,  he  came  to  save ;  but  the  world  which 
 he  came  not  to  judge  or  condemn  is  the  unbe¬ 
 lieving  world ;  therefore  the  world  which 1  he 
 came  to  save  is  the  same  world. 
 
 xiv.  23.  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my 
 
John. 
 
 45 
 
 words  ;  and  my  Father  will  love  him  :  and 
 (v.  21.)  I  will  love  him  and  manifest  my¬ 
 self  unto  him. 
 
 Observe.  The  reasons  of  God’s  making  a 
 difference  in  the  discoveries  of  himself  arise 
 from  the  previous  disposition  and  behaviour  of 
 men  towards  God. 
 
 xiv.  31.  That  the  \ world  may  know  that  I  love 
 the  Father. 
 
 xv.  l.  I  am  the  true  vine  and  my  Father  is  the 
 husbandman. 
 
 2.  Every  branch  in  me  that  beareth  not 
 fruit,  he  taketh  away . 
 
 5.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches. 
 
 Can  any  thing  be  clearer,  than  that  a  person 
 may  be  in  Christ ,  “  in  me,”  a  branch  of  the  true 
 Vine ,  a  part  of  Christy  and  yet  for  not  bearing 
 fruit  may  be  taken  away, 
 
 6.  And  cast  into  the  fire. 
 
 7.  If  ye  abide  in  me. 
 
 Mark  the  if:  and  this  to  the  branches. 
 
 io.  7/'ye  keep  my  commandments  ye  shall 
 abide  in  my  love. 
 
 Mark  the  conditional  “  if”  again. 
 
 14.  Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever 
 I  command  you. 
 
John. 
 
 46 
 
 Another  “  if  although  we  are  told  that  the 
 religion  of  Christ  is  not  a  religion  of  “  ifi  and 
 huts.” 
 
 xv.  22.  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto 
 them,  they  had  not  had  sin. 
 
 Here  is  abundant  proof  that  no  antecedent 
 decree  existed  against  them  ;  —  as  well  as 
 
 24.  If  I  had  not  done  among  them  the 
 works  which  none  other  man  did,  they 
 had  not  had  sin. 
 
 xvii.  6.  Thou  gavest  them  me,  and  they  have 
 kept  thy  word. 
 
 In  addition  to  c<  thou  gavest  them”  it  is  said, 
 “  they  have  kept  thy  word.” 
 
 12.  Those  that  thou  gavest  me  I  have  kept, 
 and  none  of  them  is  lost  but  the  son  of 
 perdition. 
 
 He  had  been  given  as  well  as  the  rest;  and  it 
 being  said  that  he  was  lost ,  implies  that  there 
 was  a  period  when  he  was  not  lost. 
 
 <2\.  That  the  world  may  believe  that  thou 
 hast  sent  me. 
 
 And  “  believing  have  (20,  21.)  life  through 
 his  name.” 
 
47 
 
 John, 
 
 xviii.  37.  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth 
 my  voice. 
 
 The  choice,  says  Clemens  Alexandrines, 
 Strom.  1.,  and  the  election  of  truth,  is  voluntary. 
 
 i.  25!  Judas  by  transgression  fell. 
 
 Where  no  law  is,  says  the  apostle,  (Rom.iv. 
 14.)  there  is  no  transgression.  Transgression , 
 then,  necessarily  implies  the  existence  of  a  law. 
 The  existence  of  a  law  as  necessarily  implies  the 
 possibility  of  obedience :  —  the  possibility  of  obe¬ 
 dience  implies  the  possibility  of  salvation ;  and 
 since  there  is  no  salvation  in  any  other  but  Jesus 
 Christ,  for  there  is  none  other  name  under 
 heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be 
 saved,  the  possibility  of  salvation  proves  that 
 the  benefits  derivable  from  the  redemption  of 
 Jesus  Christ  had  been  within  the  reach  of  him 
 who  by  transgression  fell. 
 
 It  is  an  observation  of  Chrysostom’s,  that  “if 
 some  of  those  who  have  fallen  rise  not  again, 
 this  is  not  to  be  imputed  to  him  who  is  willing 
 to  raise  them  up,  but  to  them  who  are  unwilling 
 to  rise  again ;  since  he  was  willing  to  raise  up 
 even  Judas ,  after  he  had  fallen  and  did  every 
 thing  for  it;  but  Judas  was  unwilling. 
 
 Vol.  V.  p.  573. 
 
 ii.  17.  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit  upon  all 1 JlesJi , 
 
48 
 
 Acts. 
 
 36.  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know. 
 
 37.  Now  when  they  heard  this,  they  were 
 pricked  in  their  heart. 
 
 Observe.  “  They  ”  refers  to  the  large  multi¬ 
 tude  listening  to  St.  Peter,  probably  above  three 
 thousand  souls,  to  whom  he  says, 
 
 38.  Repent  and  be  baptised  every  one  of 
 you,  for  the  remission  of  sins  ; 
 
 39.  For  the  promise  is  unto  you  and  to 
 your  children ,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off. 
 
 41.  The  same  day  was  added  unto  them 
 about  three  thousand  souls. 
 
 Here  is  a  large  multitude,  that  were  baptized 
 for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  that  received  the 
 Holy  Ghost.  Does  the  Calvinist  believe  that 
 every  individual  of  this  large  assembly  was 
 “  elected”  in  his  sense  of  the  word,  and  that  not 
 a  single  soul  of  them  afterwards  fell  away  ? 
 
 hi.  26.  God  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning 
 away  every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities. 
 
 It  was  possible,  therefore,  for  every  one  of  the 
 Jews  to  abandon  his  wickedness  and  be  con¬ 
 verted  and  saved. 
 
 iv.  33.  And  great  grace  was  upon  them  all . 
 
 All  the  believers.  Among  these  were  Ana¬ 
 nias  and  Sapphira,  who  were  afterwards  struck 
 
49 
 
 dead  for  lying  unto  God  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 This  is  abundant  proof  of  falling  after  great 
 grace  given. 
 
 vii.  51.  Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 
 If  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  irre¬ 
 sistible,  I  desire  to  know  the  meaning  of  this 
 verse;  which,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation,  not 
 only  declares  resistance  possible,  but  continued 
 resistance. 
 
 viii.  13.  Then  Simon  himself  believed  also  ;  and 
 
 when  he  was  baptized  he  continued  with 
 Philip. 
 
 He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  says  Christ, 
 (Mark,  xvi.  16.)  shall  be  saved.  Here,  then, 
 is  belief  and  baptism,  and,  consequently,  every 
 thing  required  by  our  Saviour  to  place  a  man  in 
 a  state  of  salvation.  But  yet,  to  this  same  per¬ 
 son,  for  seeking  afterwards  to  purchase  with 
 money  the  power  of  giving  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 St.  Peter  exclaims, 
 
 20.  Thy  money  perish  with  thee  : 
 
 21.  Thou  hast  neither  part  nor  lot  in  this 
 matter,  for  thy  heart  is  not  right  in  the 
 sight  of  God. 
 
 03*  By  looking  at  v.  17.  and  what  goes  be¬ 
 fore,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  Simon  had 
 received  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 
Acts, 
 
 ix.  35. 
 
 x.  34. 
 
 44. 
 xiii.  43. 
 
 50 
 
 All  that  dwelt  in  Lydda  and  Saron  saw 
 him,  and  turned  to  the  Lord. 
 
 Lydda,  says  Josephus,  yields  not  to  a  city  in 
 greatness.  Was  every  individual  in  this  popu¬ 
 lous  place,  every  soul  in  the  extensive  tract  of 
 Saron,  elected  in  the  Calvinistic  sense  of  the  word? 
 
 Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no 
 respecter  of  persons. 
 
 To  this  affirmation  of  St.  Peter  the  system  of 
 Calvin  is  a  direct  contradiction.  For,  if  man¬ 
 kind  are  called  to  salvation  at  all,  they  must  be 
 called  either  with  or  without  respect  to  their 
 future  character.  That  character'  has  no  concern 
 whatever  with  their  call,  is  the  universal  doc¬ 
 trine  of  Calvin ;  therefore  they  must  be  called 
 with  respect  to  persons ;  which  St.  Peter  here, 
 and  St.  Paul,  Rom.  ii.  11.,  expressly  deny. 
 
 Sumner . 
 
 The  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them 
 which  heard  the  word. 
 
 Paul  and  Barnabas,  speaking  to  many 
 of  the  Jews  and  religious  proselytes,  per¬ 
 suaded  them  to  continue  in  the  grace  of 
 God. 
 
 They  were  in  a  state  of  grace,  but  that  they 
 so  continued  is  attributed  to  the  persuasion  of 
 Barnabas  and  Paul.  If  it  were  not  possible  to 
 
51 
 
 Acts. 
 
 fall  from  grace,  the  holy  apostles,  in  their  efforts 
 to  persuade,  did  that  which  was  wholly  unne¬ 
 cessary. 
 
 46.  Ye  put  away  the  word  of  God  from 
 you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of 
 everlasting  life. 
 
 The  rejection  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Jews  was 
 their  arson  voluntary  act,  and  not  the  consequence 
 of  any  decree  of  God. 
 
 48.  As  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal 
 life  believed. 
 
 For  the  purpose  of  convincing  the  unlearned 
 reader  how  weak  those  attempts  are  which  are 
 made  to  support  Calvinism  from  Scripture,  I  will 
 explain  to  him  this  verse,  which  is  considered 
 by  the  Calvinists  as  one  of  their  grand  props.  — 
 The  word  which  is  translated  44  ordained,”  would 
 have  been  better  rendered  by  the  English  word 
 44  disposed.”  But,  taking  the  word  as  it  stands, 
 the  writer  does  not  declare  that  they  were  or¬ 
 dained  by  God  to  eternal  life,  much  less  does 
 he  say  that  they  were  fore-ordained  ;  but  simply 
 ordained ;  and  the  Greek  word  for  44  ordained” 
 is  used  by  Greek  writers  to  denote  men  that  are 
 disposed  or  fit  for  any  thing  or  office,  without 
 any  sort  of  reference  to  any  other  person  as  the 
 disposer.  In  1  Cor.  xvi.  15.  it  is  used  of  the 
 house  of  Stephanas,  where  it  is  said,  44  that  they 
 
 E  2 
 
52 
 
 Acts. 
 
 have  addicted  themselves  to  the  ministry  of  the 
 saints.’’  The  word  in  this  verse  translated 
 64  addicted,”  is  the  same  with  that  which  in 
 xiii.  48.  is  translated  44  ordained.” 
 
 Besides  all  this,  to  suppose  that  by  the  ordained 
 in  this  verse,  the  Apostle  meant  that  they  were 
 absolutely  and  individually  elected  to  eternal 
 salvation,  has  no  colour  of  truth  in  it,  and  in¬ 
 volves  so  many  absurdities  as  to  make  the  thing 
 quite  incredible.  For  the  whole  emphasis  and 
 point  of  St.  Paul’s  declaration,  (the  very  essence 
 of  which  consists  in  drawing  a  contrast  between 
 the  disposition  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  indispo- 
 sition  of  the  Jews  to  believe  the  Gospel,)  would 
 thus  not  only  be  weakened,  but  altogether  de¬ 
 stroyed.  Mark  the  Apostle’s  words,  44  Because 
 ye  Jews  put  the  word  of  God  from  you  and 
 judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  lo, 
 we  turn  to  the  Gentiles  :  and  as  many  of  the 
 Gentiles  as  were  elected  to  eternal  life  believed.” 
 How  then  ?  Might  it  not  be  urged  to  the 
 Apostle,  Did  not  all  they  among  the  Jews  who 
 were  elected  to  eternal  life  believe,  as  well  as 
 they  among  the  Gentiles  who  were  elected  to 
 eternal  life?  What  reason  is  there  then  that 
 you  should  turn  to  the  Gentiles  ?  Will  not 
 they  among  the  Gentiles  who  are  not  elected  to 
 eternal  life,  in  the  same  manner  put  away  from 
 them  the  word  of  God,  as  they  now  put  it  away 
 who  are  not  elected  among  the  Jews?  Why 
 
 * 
 
53 
 
 Acts. 
 
 then  do  you  cease  to  remain  among  the  Jews  and 
 go  to  the  Gentiles,  or  why  from  the  Gentiles ,  who 
 put  awTay  from  them  the  word  of  God,  do  you 
 not  again  return  to  the  Jews ,  or  to  those  among 
 the  Jews  who  are  elected  ? 
 
 xiv.  22.  Paul  and  Barnabas  exhorted  them  (the 
 disciples)  to  continue  in  the  faith. 
 
 This  exhortation  was  altogether  useless,  if 
 their  being  in  the  faith  once  made  them  for  ever 
 sure. 
 
 xvii.  30.  God  commandeth  all  men  every  where 
 to  repent. 
 
 Therefore  it  is  possible,  and  God  has  made  it 
 so,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  all  men  every 
 where ,  without  any  sort  of  exception,  to  repent, 
 repenting  to  be  saved.  It  is  not  possible  for 
 universality  to  be  more  clearly  or  more  strongly 
 declared. 
 
 31.  He  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which 
 he  will  judge  the  world ;  whereof  he 
 hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  &c. 
 
 This  assurance  is  given  unto  all  men ,  because 
 all  men  have  an  equal  interest  in  this  most 
 important  declaration. 
 
 The  future  tense  <c  will  judge”  would  be  un¬ 
 intelligible  if  all  had  been  from  eternity  fixed  by 
 an  immutable  decree. 
 
 E  3 
 
Acts, 
 xx.  29. 
 
 31. 
 
 32. 
 
 54 
 
 I  know  this,  that  after  my  departing 
 shall  grievous  wolves  enter  in  among 
 you,  not  sparing  the  jtoclv . 
 
 This  JiocJc ,  these  sheep ,  which  Christ  had  pur¬ 
 chased  with  his  blood,  (v.  28.)  were  not  on  this 
 account  in  a  state  of  absolute  security :  they 
 were  to  be  fed,  to  be  taken  care  of ;  they  might 
 be  destroyed  by  grievous  wolves,  and  (v.  30.) 
 w  drawn  away  by  perverse  things.” 
 
 Watch,  and  remember  that  I  ceased 
 not  for  three  years  to  warn  every  one 
 night  and  day. 
 
 Whoever  knows  the  meaning  of  the  word 
 66  voarn ,”  must  also  perceive,  that  the  holy 
 Apostle  did  not  consider  the  state  of  any  Chris¬ 
 tian  as  absolutely  and  unconditionally  secure; 
 for  he  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one . 
 
 And  now,  brethren,  I  commend  you 
 to  God  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace, 
 which  is  able  to  build  you  up  and  to  give 
 you  an  inheritance  among  all  them  which 
 are  sanctified. 
 
 The  word  of  God’s  grace  is  able  to  give  this 
 inheritance :  but  it  has  not  already  given  it,  nor 
 will  it  without  the  performance  of  intermediate 
 conditions. 
 
Acts, 
 
 xxii.  15.  Thou  shalt  be  his  witness  unto  all  men . 
 
 Of  what  use  could  this  testimony  be  to  all  men, , 
 ,  unless  all  men  were  capable  of  deriving  benefit 
 
 from  it. 
 
 xxvi.  19.  I  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly 
 vision. 
 
 Why  does  the  Apostle  mention  this,  if  it  were 
 not  possible  that  he  could  have  been  otherwise  ? 
 
 xxvii.  21.  Paul  said,  Sirs,  ye  should  have  heark¬ 
 ened  to  me,  and  not  have  loosed  from 
 Crete,  and  to  have  gained  this  harm 
 and  loss. 
 
 Here  is  a  clear  proof  that  the  actions  of  men 
 are  not  the  result  of  necessity  and  inevitable 
 decree.  For  it  had  been  in  the  power  of  the 
 sailors  66  not  to  have  loosed  from  Crete.” 
 
 31.  Except  these  abide  in  the  ship,  ye  can¬ 
 not  be  saved. 
 
 St.  Paul  had  before  said,  (v.  24.)  that  God  had 
 given  him  all  that  sailed  with  him ;  but  he  now 
 declares  that  conditions  must  be  observed,  be¬ 
 fore  they  could  be  saved,  for  whom  this  benefit 
 had  been  granted  as  a  mark  of  favour  to  the 
 Apostle. 
 
 E  4 
 
Rom. 
 
 56 
 
 EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS. 
 
 De  praedestinatione  ilia,  de  qua  multa  in 
 scholis  dicuntur,  nullus  hie  sermo ,  neque  enirn 
 ad  rem  pertinebat.  Grotius ,  Pref.  in  Ep. 
 
 i.  7.  To  all  that  be  in  Rome,  beloved  of  God, 
 called  to  be  saints. 
 
 8.  I  thank  my  God  for  you  alL 
 
 Was  every  individual  that  St.  Paul  addressed 
 at  Rome  44  elected  ”  in  the  Calvinistic  sense  of  the 
 word  ?  That  they  were  44  elected,”  in  the  true 
 scriptural  sense  of  the  word,  from  being  Jews 
 and  Gentiles,  to  partake  of  the  grace  of  God  in 
 the  Gospel,  I  am  persuaded ;  but  it  is  impossible, 
 from  the  nature  of  the  Epistle,  to  imagine  that 
 they  were  all  already  44  elected”  to  final  sal¬ 
 vation  ;  and  it  is  surprising  that  they  who  are 
 such  strenuous  advocates  for  44  the  few,”  should, 
 in  this  instance,  admit  so  large  a  number.  For 
 if  those  whom  St.  Paul  calls  44  elect,”  44  faithful,” 
 4 4  sanctified,”  <e  saints,”  44  beloved  of  God,”  44  re¬ 
 deemed,”  “partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,” 
 44  partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling,”  44  members 
 of  Christ,”  44  children  of  God,”  in  his  various 
 Epistles,  are  believed  to  have  been  absolutely 
 elected  to  everlasting  salvation ;  out  of  the 
 thou  sands  and  tens  of  thousands  that  St.  Paul 
 addressed  at  Rome,  Corinth,  Galatia,  Ephesus,. 
 Philippi,  Thessaionica ;  out  of  the  Hebrews; 
 
Horn, 
 
 57 
 
 * 
 
 out  of  all  those  addressed  by  St.  James,  and 
 out  of  the  strangers  scattered  throughout  Pon- 
 tus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  Bithynia,  ad¬ 
 dressed  by  St.  Peter ;  and  out  of  all  those 
 addressed  by  St.  John  and  Jude,  not  one  single 
 individual  was  lost  —  a  blessed  conclusion,  if  it 
 were  true  !  but  one  that  is  not  founded  either 
 on  Scripture  or  common  sense;  and  it  appears 
 the  more  strange  that  it  should  be  maintained  on 
 the  principles  of  the  contracted  creed  of  Calvin. 
 
 i.  28.  As  they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in 
 
 their  knowledge. 
 
 Here  the  rejection  of  the  true  religion  is 
 stated  to  have  arisen  from  choice . 
 
 ii.  4.  Despisest  thou  the  riches  of  his  good¬ 
 
 ness  and  forbearance,  not  knowing  that 
 the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  re¬ 
 pentance  ? 
 
 Here  is  the  leading  of  Divine  goodness  which 
 may  indeed  be  despised;  but  nothing  of  the 
 irresistible  operation  of  power,  which  cannot  be 
 frustrated. 
 
 5*  After  thy  hardness  and  impenitent 
 heart,  thou  treasurest  up  unto  thyself 
 wrath. 
 
 It  is  not  decided  for  thee  by  any  irrespective 
 decree.  Thou  treasurest  it  up  unto  thyself 
 
58 
 
 ii.  6.  Who  will  render  to  every  man  accord¬ 
 ing  to  his  deeds. 
 
 7.  To  patient  continuance  in  well-doing, 
 eternal  life. 
 
 8.  To  them  that  do  not  obey  the  truth, 
 indignation  and  wrath  : 
 
 9*  Tribulation  and  anguish  upon  eveiy 
 soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil  \ 
 
 30.  But  glory,  honour,  and  peace,  to  every 
 man  that  worketh  good. 
 
 Here  is  no  particular  favour ;  no  praeterition ; 
 (v.  11.)  “no  respect  of  persons  with  God.” 
 Doing  or  not  doing  are  the  rules  to  go  by.  — 
 Now,  if  a  man  has  it  not  placed  within  his 
 ability  to  do  or  to  refrain  from  doing,  he  is  not 
 a  responsible  agent.  Origen,  after  quoting 
 these  verses,  says,  there  are  therefore  innumer¬ 
 able  passages  in  the  Scriptures,  most  clearly 
 asserting  free-will. 
 
 iii.  19.  All  the  world  are  become  guilty  before 
 God. 
 
 23.  All  have  sinned. 
 
 But  1  Tim.  i.  15.  we  see  that  “  Christ  Jesus 
 came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners  therefore 
 to  save  ally  because  all  have  sinned. 
 
 v.  6.  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly. 
 
 What  part  of  mankind  were  they  to  whom 
 this  appellation  did  not  agree  ? 
 
59 
 
 Rom. 
 
 v.  8.  While  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died 
 for  us. 
 
 21.  That  as  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death, 
 even  so  might  grace  reign  through  right¬ 
 eousness  unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ 
 our  Lord. 
 
 Here  the  dominion  of  grace  is  manifestly  de¬ 
 clared  to  be  as  extensive  as  the  dominion  of  sin. 
 The  one  is  universal,  and  so  is  the  other. 
 
 12.  As  by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
 world . 
 
 18.  As  by  the  offence  of  one ,  judgment 
 came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation ; 
 even  so,  by  the  righteousness  of  one, 
 the  free-gift  came  upon  all  men  unto  jus¬ 
 tification  of  life. 
 
 Observe.  The  “all  men”  upon  whom  con¬ 
 demnation  came,  are  confessedly  all  the  sons 
 of  Adam  :  so  are  all  those  to  whom  the  free  gift 
 came.  There  is  no  difference  ;  for,  if  there  be, 
 the  propriety  of  the  comparison  ceases;  the 
 mercy  of  the  second  Adam  does  not  reach  the 
 extent  of  the  evil  brought  upon  the  world  by 
 the  transgression  of  the  first;  which  is  quite 
 contrary  to  the  reasoning  of  the  Apostle,  who 
 means  to  magnify  it.  For 
 
 -v. 
 
60 
 
 Rom. 
 
 v.  15.  Not  as  the  offence  so  is  the  gift.  For 
 if  through  the  offence  of  one ,  many  (the 
 many)  be  dead,  much  more  the  grace 
 which  is  by  one  hath  abounded  unto 
 many  (the  many). 
 
 vi.  12.  Let  not  sin  therefore  reign  in  your 
 mortal  body. 
 
 It  was  possible  for  sin  to  reign  even  in  those 
 who  were  described  as  <c  beloved  of  God,”  and 
 “  called  to  be  saints.” 
 
 13.  Neither  yield  ye  your  members  as  in¬ 
 struments  of  unrighteousness  unto  sin ; 
 but  yield  yourselves  unto  God,  as  those 
 that  are  alive  from  the  dead,  and  your 
 members  as  instruments  of  righteousness 
 unto  God. 
 
 Is  not  one  thing  evidently  declared  to  be  in 
 their  power  as  much  as  the  other  ? 
 
 viii.  l.  There  is  therefore  now  no  condem¬ 
 nation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus, 
 who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after 
 the  Spirit. 
 
 The  Apostle  having  pronounced  generally  that 
 there  was  now  no  condemnation  to  Christians, 
 immediately  qualifies  his  expression  by  saying, 
 there  is  none  to  them  who  live  suitably  to  their 
 
Horn. 
 
 viii.  13. 
 
 26. 
 
 32. 
 
 ix.12.11. 
 
 61 
 
 profession,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after 
 the  Spirit.  The  promise  is  not  to  them  who 
 have  the  Spirit,  but  to  them  who  £<  walk  after  the 
 Spirit.” 
 
 If  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die  ; 
 but  if  ye,  through  the  Spirit,  do  mortify 
 the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live. 
 
 Mark  the  ifs :  here  is  an  if  with  respect  to 
 the  Spirit  as  well  as  the  flesh :  either  may  be 
 followed,  but  one  leads  to  death,  the  other  to 
 life. 
 
 The  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmities. 
 
 The  word  “  helpeth”  implies  that  there  is 
 more  than  one  concerned  in  the  work.  The 
 Greek  word  is  peculiarly  significant.  “It  literally 
 expresses,”  says  Doddridge,  “  the  action  of  one 
 who  helps  another  to  bear  a  burden,  by  taking 
 hold  of  it  on  one  side,  and  lifting  or  bearing  it 
 with  him.”  It  is  only  once  used  besides  in  the 
 New  Testament,  in  Luke  x.  40.,  where  Martha 
 desires  our  Saviour  to  bid  Mary  “  to  help  her 
 to  bear  the  burden  of  attendance  with  her. 
 
 He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but 
 delivered  him  up  for  us  all . 
 
 It  was  said  unto  her  (Rebecca),  when 
 she  had  conceived,  the  children  being 
 not  yet  born,  neither  having  done  any 
 
62 
 
 Rom. 
 
 good  or  evil,  that  the  purpose  of  God  ac¬ 
 cording  to  election  might  stand. 
 
 What  was  said  ?  why,  that 
 
 ix.  12.  The  elder  should  serve  the  younger. 
 
 Now,  what  has  this  to  do  with  the  personal 
 election  of  individuals  to  eternal  life?  and  espe¬ 
 cially,  as,  with  respect  to  their  persons ,  it  is  not 
 the  fact  that  the  elder  did  serve  the  younger. 
 
 x.  l.  Brethren,  my  prayer  to  God  for  Israel 
 is,  that  they  might  be  saved. 
 
 Would  St.  Paul  have  prayed  for  the  salvation 
 of  the  Jews,  if  at  the  same  time  he  believed  that 
 they  were  precluded  from  the  possibility  of 
 salvation  by  an  irreversible  decree  ? 
 
 13.  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of 
 the  Lord  shall  be  saved. 
 
 12.  For  there  is  no  difference  between  the 
 Jew  and  the  Greek.  The  same  Lord 
 over  all  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon 
 him. 
 
 With  respect  to  God’s  regard  of  man’s  sal¬ 
 vation,  there  is  no  difference  between  Jews  and 
 Greeks.  By  parity  of  reason,  there  can  be  none 
 between  any  other  sorts  of  persons. 
 
G3 
 
 Rom. 
 
 xi.  14.  If  by  any  means  I  might  provoke  to 
 emulation  them  which  are  my  flesh,  and 
 might  save  some  of  them. 
 
 St.  Paul  asserts  that  he  magnifies  his  office, 
 in  speaking  of  the  number  of  the  Gentiles 
 brought  to  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
 *  hope  of  exciting  an  emulation  in  his  brethren, 
 such  as  would  lead  to  their  salvation.  From 
 this  it  appears,  that  the  hardness  of  the  Jews, 
 which  the  Apostle  had  before  spoken  of,  was  not 
 such  as  totally  to  exclude  moral  suasion. 
 
 20.  Because  of  unbelief  they  were  broken 
 off,  and  thou  standest  by  faith.  Be  not 
 high  -minded,  but  fear. 
 
 Why  fear,  if  the  once  standing  by  faith  make 
 a  man  secure  ?  Observe,  also,  they  who  were 
 now  broken  off  had  been  once  a  part  of  that  tree, 
 
 into  which  the  Gentiles  were  now  grafted. 
 
 \ 
 
 22.  Toward  thee,  goodness,  if  thou  con¬ 
 tinue  in  his  goodness  ;  otherwise  thou  also 
 shalt  be  cut  off. 
 
 Observe  the  conditional  44  iff  and  the  possi¬ 
 bility  of  fallmg  away  clearly  asserted.  It  is 
 curious  to  see  the  wretched  shifts  to  which  even 
 the  most  distinguished  Calvinists  have  recourse, 
 to  get  rid  of  the  obvious  inference  to  be  drawn 
 from  these  verses.  See  Beta’s  notes. 
 
64 
 
 xi.  32.  God  hath  concluded  all  in  unbelief, 
 that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all . 
 
 The  objects  of  God’s  mercy  are  those  that 
 
 were  concluded  in  unbelief  —  all. 
 
 + 
 
 xiv.  12.  Every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of 
 himself  to  God. 
 
 God  will  not  demand  an  account  for  talents 
 that  have  not  been  received. 
 
 15.  If  thy  brother  be  grieved  with  thy 
 meat,  now  walkest  thou  not  charitably : 
 destroy  not  him  with  thy  meat,ybr  whom 
 Christ  died. 
 
 Observe.  He  may  be  destroyed,  for  whom, 
 notwithstanding,  Christ  died ;  therefore  he  died 
 for  all ,  and  not  only  for  those  who  shall  obtain 
 everlasting  salvation. 
 
 FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS. 
 
 1  Cor. 
 
 i.  2.  Unto  the  church  of  God ,  which  is  at 
 Corinth,  to  them  that  are  sanctified  in 
 Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be  saints . 
 
 CCj*  I  request  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  the 
 glorious  and  excellent  titles  of  those  to  whom 
 this  epistle  is  addressed. 
 
 10.  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  that  there  be 
 no  divisions  among  you. 
 
65 
 
 l  Cor. 
 
 5.  ii.  It  hath  been  declared  to  me  that  there 
 are  contentions  among  you. 
 iii-  l.  I,  brethren,  could  not  speak  unto  you, 
 as  unto  spiritual ,  but  as  unto  carnal . 
 
 2.  I  have  fed  you  with  milk  and  not  with 
 meat ;  for  hitherto  ye  were  not  able  to 
 bear  it,  neither  yet  now  are  ye  able. 
 
 3.  For  ye  are  yet  carnal ;  for  whereas 
 there  is  among  you  envying,  and  strife, 
 and  divisions,  are  ye  not  carnal ? 
 
 44  To  be  carnally  minded  is  death.”  The 
 very  persons  against  whom  these  grievous 
 charges  are  made,  are  the  same  who,  ch.  i.  2. 
 are  called  44  The  church  of  God,”  44  sanctified  in 
 Christ  Jesus,”  44  called  to  he  saints  ”  they  for 
 whom  the  Apostle  had  been  thankful,  ch.  i.  4. 
 for  the  grace  that  had  been  given  them. 
 
 Having  simply  stated  these  circumstances,  I 
 shall  offer  no  further  remarks  on  this  place,  but 
 suffer  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  inferences. 
 
 vi.  15.  Know  ye  not  that  your  bodies  are  the 
 members  of  Christ? 
 
 The  fact  is  clearly  so. 
 
 15.  Shall  I  then  take  the  members  of 
 Christ  and  make  them  the  members  of 
 an  harlot? 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 1  Cor. 
 
 Observe.  Those  members  that  had  belonged 
 to  Christ  may  be  separated  from  him  and  be¬ 
 come  the  members  of  an  harlot. 
 
 Membra,  says  Ambrosius,  adhaerentia  mere- 
 trici  desinunt  esse  membra  ChristL 
 
 vii.  37.  He  that  hath  power  over  his  own  will. 
 
 Here  is  a  plain  argument  for  the  freedom  of 
 the  will. 
 
 viii.  11.  Through  thy  knowledge  shall  the  weak 
 
 brother  perish,  for  whom  Christ  died. 
 
 He  may  perish,  as  was  before  observed,  for 
 •whom  notwithstanding  Christ  died. 
 
 ix.  24.  So  run  that  ye  may  obtain. 
 
 Here  it  is  manifest,  that  to  the  grace  of  God, 
 without  which  we  can  do  nothing,  the  exertions 
 of  man  ( so  run)  must  be  added,  without  which 
 no  prize  can  be  obtained.  Would  there  be 
 any  consistency  in  this  exhortation  of  the  Apostle 
 to  the  Corinthians,  if  from  the  circumstance  of 
 their  being  t£  the  church  of  God,”  “ sanctified  in 
 Christ  Jesus,”  and  £i  members  of  Christ,”  they 
 were  already  absolutely  secure  of  eternal  sal¬ 
 vation  ? 
 
 27.  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it 
 into  subjection,  lest  that  by  any  means, 
 when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself 
 should  be  a  castaway,  —  or,  as  the  word 
 
1  Cor. 
 
 6? 
 
 is  translated  in  other  places,  £<  a  repro¬ 
 bate.” 
 
 Here  is  a  strong  argument  against  security 
 and  assurance,  and  in  favour  of  humility  and  in¬ 
 dustry.  If  this  great  and  distinguished  Apostle 
 could  by  any  means  fall,  it  is  obvious,  that  the 
 most  abundant  means  of  grace  do  not  place  a 
 man  in  a  state  of  unconditional  security. 
 
 ix.  17.  If  I  do  this  thing  'willingly ,  I  have  a 
 reward. 
 
 “  Men  were  endued/’  says  Athenagoras,  as 
 quoted  by  the  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  vi.  p.  506., 
 “  with  free  will  and  the  power  of  chusing  good 
 and  ill.  For  you  would  neither  reward  the  good, 
 nor  punish  the  bad,  if  virtue  and  vice  were  not 
 equally  in  their  power.” 
 
 x.  l.  All  our  fathers  were  under  the  cloud, 
 and  all  passed  through  the  sea; 
 
 2.  And  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  $ 
 
 3.  And  did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat ; 
 
 4.  And  did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual 
 drink. 
 
 Every  Jew  had  precisely  the  same  advantages 
 and  opportunity,  the  same  spiritual  sustenance. 
 Every  individual  stood  in  an  equal  relation  to 
 
68 
 
 1  Cor. 
 
 x.  5.  But  with  many  of  them  God  was  not 
 well  pleased. 
 
 6.  Now  these  things  were  our  examples. 
 
 What  good  can  an  example  do  if  it  be  not 
 possible  to  take  warning  by  it? 
 
 11.  And  they  are  written  for  our  admo¬ 
 nition. 
 
 Admonition  implies  that  those  are  free  agents 
 to  whom  it  is  offered.  It  can  have  no  effect 
 on  one  who  is  necessitated  to  act  in  opposition  to 
 it  by  an  immutable  decree. 
 
 12.  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take 
 heed  lest  he  fall. 
 
 The  Jews,  from  a  consciousness  that  they 
 were  God’s  peculiar  people,  believed  that  on 
 this  account  they  were  safe ;  but  it  was  not  so. 
 Do  not  imagine,  O  Christians,  because  you  are 
 now  in  covenant  with  God,  that  this  alone  will 
 save  you.  Do  not,  from  thinking  that  you  thus 
 stand ,  neglect  to  take  heed  lest  you  fall.  Observe; 
 this  caution  is  given  to  cc  the  church  of  God,” 
 to  the  “sanctified in  Christ  Jesus,”  to  “ members 
 of  Christ,”  to  those  who  are  called  (ch.  vi.  19.) 
 “  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,”  which  was  in 
 them ,  to  those  who  (ch.  vi.  20.)  are  said  to  have 
 been  “  bought  with  a  price?* 
 
60 
 
 i  Cor. 
 
 x.  13.  There  hath  no  temptation  taken  you 
 
 but  such  as  is  common  to  man. 
 
 Temptation  is  another  word  for  trial,  and 
 necessarily  implies  free  agency  in  the  person 
 tempted.  The  word  could  not  be  applied  with 
 propriety  to  him  who  is  tied  down  to  pursue 
 any  particular  line  of  conduct. 
 
 13.  God  will  with  the  temptation  make  a 
 way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to 
 bear  it. 
 
 It  is  not  the  same  thing  to  have  the  power  of 
 conquering,  and  to  conquer:  this  the  Apostle 
 shews  in  that  guarded  expression,  “  that  ye  may 
 be  able  to  bear  it,”  not  that  ye  may  bear  it. 
 God  grants  not  that  we  may  bear  it,  for  then 
 there  would  be  no  struggle,  but  that  we  may  be 
 able  to  bear  it.  Origen. 
 
 xi.  17.  In  this  I  praise  you  not,  that  ye  come 
 
 together  not  for  the  better,  but  for  the 
 worse. 
 
 This  is  all  to  those  who  were  u  the  church 
 of  God,”  “  the  members  of  Christ,”  &c.  &c. 
 The  greater  part  of  this  chapter  treats  of  the 
 scandalous  manner  in  which  the  Lord’s  supper 
 was  administered  among  these  same  Corinthians : 
 in  verses  20,  21,  22.,  he  directly  charges  them 
 
 F  3 
 
1  Cor. 
 
 70 
 
 with  partaking  of  this  supper  unworthily,  and 
 (v.  29.)  adds,  “  He  that  eateth  and  drinketh 
 unworthily,  eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to 
 himself.” 
 
 Observe.  They  who  had  received  grace ,  who 
 had  been  the  “  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,”  &c., 
 may  yet  by  unworthiness  incur  66  damnation 
 
 xv.  2.  By  the  Gospel  ye  are  saved,  if  ye  keep 
 in  memory  what  1  preached  unto  you, 
 unless  ye  have  believed  in  vain . 
 
 Here  is  a  conditional  66  if”  and  observe,  per¬ 
 sons  who  have  been  “  members  of  Christ,”  &c.? 
 may  believe  in  vain. 
 
 22.  As  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ 
 shall  all  be  made  alive. 
 
 The  all-merciful  intention  of  the  second 
 Adam  is  commensurate  with  the  evil  entailed 
 on  man  by  the  first.  The  second  undid  to  our 
 advantage,  what  the  first  had  done  to  our  pre¬ 
 judice. 
 
 34.  Awake  to  righteousness  and  sin  not ; 
 for  some  have  not  the  knowledge  of  God  ; 
 I  speak  this  to  your  shame. 
 
 This  language  is  used  to  “  the  church  of 
 God,  which  is  at  Corinth,”  &c.  &c.  Now  I 
 
1  Cor. 
 
 ask,  could  language  of  this  description  have 
 been  consistently  used,  if  the  expressions,  which 
 I  have  frequently  alluded  to,  were  applicable  to 
 the  Corinthians,  in  the  Calvinistic  sense  at¬ 
 tached  to  the  words  ? 
 
 xvi.  13.  Watch  ye,  stand  fast  in  the  faith,  quit 
 you  like  men,  be  strong. 
 
 Is  this  exhortation  suitable  to  persons  who 
 could  not  fall  ? 
 
 SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS. 
 
 2  Cor. 
 
 i.  l.  Unto  the  church  of  God,  which  is  at 
 Corinth,  with  all  the  saints  which  are  in 
 all  Achaia. 
 
 v.  9.  We  labour  that  we  may  be  accepted  of 
 him. 
 
 The  Apostle  does  not  imagine  that  accept¬ 
 ance  is  unconditional,  or  that  it  will  be  obtained 
 without  exertion. 
 
 14.  We  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all, 
 then  were  cdl  dead . 
 
 And  can  any  one  doubt  that  Christ  died  for 
 all  ? 
 
 15.  And  that  he  died  for  all,  that  they 
 
 f  4 
 
2  Cor. 
 
 v.  18. 
 
 19. 
 
 vi.  1. 
 
 should  live  unto  him  which  died  Jot* 
 them. 
 
 Or,  forfeit  the  benefits  which  might  have 
 been  derived  from  his  death. 
 
 The  ministry  of  reconciliation  teaches, 
 
 That  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling 
 the  world  unto  himself. 
 
 The  whole  world* 
 
 We  then,  as  workers  together  with  him, 
 beseech  you  also,  that  ye  receive  not  the 
 grace  of  God  in  vain. 
 
 If  the  Almighty  did  all  in  the  work  of  man’s 
 salvation,  the  Apostle  would  not  have  called 
 himself  a  <s  worker  together  with  God.” 
 
 By  the  ministry  of  man,  the  grace  of  God, 
 which  bringeth  salvation,  is  received ;  God  also 
 works,  and  the  grace  is  received ,  but  it  may  be 
 received  in  vain. 
 
 Beza  has  a  note  to  this  verse,  in  which  he 
 says,  “  Ministerio  Evangelii  non  tantum  indi¬ 
 gent  homines  ante  gratiam  acceptam  ut  fiant 
 ejus  participes,  sed  etiam  accepta  gratia,  ut  in 
 ea  perseverent. 
 
 Is  it  possible,  according  to  Beza’s  principles, 
 not  to  persevere  accepta  gratia  ? 
 
2  Con 
 
 viii.  12.  If*  there  be  jir'st  a  willing  mind ,  it  is 
 accepted  according  to  that  a  man  hath* 
 and  not  according  to  that  he  hath  not. 
 
 This  assertion  is  applicable  to  every  duty  of 
 religion,  as  well  as  to  that  to  which  the  Apostle 
 in  this  place  more  immediately  refers. 
 
 Movov  (SeArjcov,  xai  0s og  'urgoot7roivra. 
 
 Basil . 
 
 xi.  3.  I  fear,  lest  by  any  means,  as  the  ser¬ 
 pent  beguiled  Eve  through  his  subtlety, 
 so  your  minds  should  be  corrupted. 
 
 This  fear  was  felt  for  the  “  church  6f  God  ” 
 and  for  “  all  the  saints ”  which  were  in  all  Achaia; 
 and 
 
 xii.  20.  I  fear  when  I  come  I  shall  not  find  you 
 such  as  I  would; 
 
 21.  And  that  I  shall  bewail  many  which 
 have  sinned  already,  and  have  not  re¬ 
 pented  of  the  uncleanness,  and  fornica¬ 
 tion,  and  lasciviousness  which  they  have 
 committed. 
 
 With  respect  to  these  sins,  we  know  that  they 
 who  do  such  things  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom 
 of  God.  Recollect  to  whom  this  Epistle  was 
 addressed,  and  see  how  many  inferences  may  be 
 drawn  utterly  irreconcileable  with  the  system  of 
 Calvin. 
 
2  Cor. 
 
 xiii.  5.  Examine  yourselves  whether  ye  be  in 
 the  faith. 
 
 It  is  certain  that  those  who  are  (ch.  i.  1.) 
 called  ec  the  saints ,”  and  “  the  church  of  God” 
 were  once  in  the  faith ;  but  it  is  not  so  now. 
 
 5.  Know  ye  not  how  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
 in  you,  except  ye  be  reprobates  ? 
 
 Those  who  were  called  “  the  saints”  &c.,  and 
 i6  members  of  Christ ,”  are  not  on  that  account 
 placed  out  of  the  possibility  of  becoming  repro - 
 bates. 
 
 7.  Now  1  pray  to  God  that  ye  do  no  evil. 
 
 Why  does  St.  Paul  do  this,  if  “  the  saints 
 cannot  sin  ? 
 
 Videmus  itidem  ex  sententia  Melancthonis 
 non  minus  quam  Augustini  omniumque  veterum , 
 eos,  qui  justificati  fuere,  in  gravia  peccata  laben- 
 tes,  excidere  ex  gratia  et  possessione  Spiritus 
 Sancti ;  horum,  quosdam  per  poenitentiam  res- 
 titui ;  alios  in  aeternum  perire  :  contrariam 
 sententiam  esse  fanaticorum  hominum,  meri- 
 toque  damnandam.  Grotius ,  Riv.  Ap.  Disc. 
 
 4 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  GALATIANS. 
 
 Gah 
 
 l  f  Unto  the  churches  of  Galatia  ; 
 
 3.  Grace  be  to  you,  from  him 
 
 Who  gave  himself  for  our  sins. 
 
Gab 
 
 i.  6.  I  marvel  that  ye  are  so  soon  removed 
 from  him  that  called  you  into  the  grace 
 of  Christ,  unto  another  gospel. 
 
 Observe.  They,  for  whose  44  sins”  Christ  had 
 been  given,  were  removed  from  his  grace. 
 
 iii.  s.  Are  ye  so  foolish  ?  Have  ye  begun 
 in  the  Spirit  ?  Are  ye  now  made  perfect 
 in  the  flesh  ? 
 
 4,  Have  ye  suffered  so  many  things  in 
 vain  ? 
 
 The  best  beginnings  in  religion  may  have  bad 
 endings.  What  was  begun  in  the  spirit ,  may 
 end  in  the  Jlesh ;  may  have  been  in  vain . 
 
 26.  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith 
 in  Christ  Jesus. 
 
 iv.  11.  I  am  afraid  of  you  lest  I  have  bestowed 
 upon  you  labour  in  vain . 
 
 It  is  obvious,  that  the  labour  of  an  apostle 
 may  have  been  in  vain ,  although  that  labour  had 
 been  once  successful,  and  had  made  these  same 
 persons  (iii.  26.)  44  the  children  of  God  by  faith 
 in  Christ  Jesus.” 
 
 20.  I  stand  in  doubt  of  you. 
 
 The  Apostle  is  not  sure  of  those  for  whose 
 sins  Christ  had  given  himself,  (i.  4.)  and  whom 
 he  calls  (iii.  26.)  44  the  children  of  God” 
 
76 
 
 GaL 
 
 v.2.  If  ye  be  circumcised  Christ  shall  profit 
 
 you  nothing. 
 
 There  are  circumstances  under  which  “  the 
 children  of  God ”  may  cease  to  be  so,  and  Christ 
 66  profit  them  nothing.” 
 
 4.  Ye  are  fallen  from  grace. 
 
 The  grace  of  God  is  not  so  given,  that  men 
 may  not  fall  from  it. 
 
 8.  This  persuasion  cometh  not  of  him 
 that  calleth  you. 
 
 The  calling  is  of  God,  but  to  be  persuaded 
 has  reference  to  the  voluntary  exertions  of  man. 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  EPHESIANS. 
 
 Eph.  o  . 
 
 I  l.  Paul  to  the  saints  which  are  at  Tphesus, 
 and  to  the  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus. 
 
 3.  Blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings. 
 
 5.  Predestinated  unto  the  adoption  of 
 children  by  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 7.  In  whom  we  have  redemption. 
 
 To  these  66  saints,”  & c.  St.  Paul  says, 
 
 iv.  l.  I  beseech  you  that  ye  walk  worthy  of 
 the  vocation  wherewith  ye  are  called. 
 
 22.  That  ye  put  off  the  old  man, 
 
 24.  And  that  ye  put  on  the  new. 
 
77 
 
 Eph. 
 
 iv.  27.  Neither  give  place  to  the  devil. 
 
 30.  And  grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
 
 These  charges  and  exhortations  to  walk  wor¬ 
 thy  ,  to  put  off,  to  put  on,  not  to  give  place  to 
 the  devil,  not  to  grieve  the  Spirit ,  and  the  nu¬ 
 merous  other  directions,  are  satisfactory  proofs 
 that  a  good  life  is  not  a  necessary  consequence 
 of  being  “  blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings,” 
 and  of  being  predestinated  to  partake  of  the 
 grace  of  the  Gospel.”  They  prove  also  that 
 much  is  required  after  <c  adoption,”  that  “  saints” 
 may  te  give  place  to  the  devil,”  and  that  those 
 who  <s  have  redemption ”  may  c<  grieve  the  Holy 
 Spirit  of  God.” 
 
 v.  6.  Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  vain 
 words. 
 
 Why  this  caution,  unless  they  might  be  de¬ 
 ceived  and  led  into  those  sins,  which  bring 
 
 The  wrath  of  God  upon  the  children 
 of  disobedience. 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 To  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus,  which 
 are  at  Philippi. 
 
 He  which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in 
 you,  & c. 
 
 6. 
 
Phil 
 
 78 
 
 Observe.  The  good  work  is  only  said  to  be 
 ,  begun ,  even  in  those  who  are  called  “  saints,” 
 of  whom  the  Apostle  says, 
 
 i.  7.  Ye  all  are  partakers  of  my  grace. 
 
 9.  I  pray  that  ye  may  be  sincere,  and 
 
 10.  Without  offence  till  the  day  of  Christ. 
 
 Why  should  the  Apostle  pray  for  this,  if 
 their  being  “  saints”  and  having  grace  made 
 them  already  sure? 
 
 ii.  12.  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear 
 and  trembling. 
 
 13.  For  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  both 
 to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure. 
 
 Here  God’s  working  in  the  Philippians  is  so 
 far  from  being  a  reason  why  they  should  not 
 work  and  exert  themselves,  that  the  Apostle 
 states  it  as  the  very  reason  why  they  should 
 work  out  their  own  salvation. 
 
 16.  Holding  forth  the  word  of  life,  that  I 
 may  rejoice,  that  I  have  not  run  in  vainf 
 nor  laboured  in  vain. 
 
 The  Apostle’s  race  and  labour  with  respect  to 
 the  Philippians  might  possibly  be  in  vain  ;  and 
 he  gives  rules  of  conduct  to  them,  by  following 
 which  this  would  not  be  the  case ;  but  which,  if 
 as  “  saints  in  Christ  Jesus”  they  could  not  but 
 
follow,  it  was  altogether  unnecessary  for  the 
 Apostle  to  give. 
 
 iii.  1.  To  write  the  same  things  to  you,  to 
 me  indeed  is  not  grievous,  but  for  you  it 
 is  safe . 
 
 What  does  the  Apostle  mean  by  the  word 
 safe  ?  Could  he  consistently  have  used  this 
 expression,  if  the  undisputed  possession  of 
 grace ,  and  the  circumstance  of  their  being  ad¬ 
 dressed  by  him  as  “  saints,”  made  them  already 
 sure? 
 
 12.  Not  as  though  I  had  already  attained. 
 
 13.  Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have 
 apprehended. 
 
 Here  is  nothing  like  a  conviction  of  security 
 independent  of  exertion. 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS, 
 
 Col. 
 
 i.  2.  To  the  saints  and  faithful  brethren 
 which  are  at  Colosse  :  Grace  be  unto 
 you  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
 
 14.  In  whom  we  have  redemption. 
 
 17.  It  pleased  the  Father  by  him  to 
 
 20.  Reconcile  all  things  unto  himself. 
 
 21.  You  that  were  alienated,  now  hath  he 
 reconciled, 
 
80 
 
 Col. 
 
 .23.  If  ye  continue  in  the  faith  grounded 
 
 and  settled,  and  be  not  moved  away  from 
 the  hope  of  the  Gospel. 
 
 Mark  the  conditional  “  if.”  The  advantages 
 will  be  lost  if  they  do  not  continue ;  and  ob¬ 
 serve,  they  who  (v.  14.)  “  have  redemption ,”  and 
 (v.  21.)  are  “reconciled”  to  the  Father,  may 
 yet  be  moved  away  from  the  hope  of  the  Gospel. 
 
 (kF  Does  there  not  seem  an  impropriety  in 
 saying,  that  they  were  alienated,  and  that  God 
 is  reconciled  to  those  whom  from  all  eternity  he 
 had  immutably  decreed  to  love,  and  does  ac¬ 
 tually  always  love  ? 
 
 28.  Whom  we  preach,  yearning  every  man , 
 and  teaching  every  man ,  that  we  may  pre¬ 
 sent  every  man. 
 
 What  is  the  meaning  of  warning  ?  Can 
 warning  promote  his  salvation  who  is  already 
 one  of  the  elect  in  the  Calvinistic  sense  of  the 
 word  ?  Can  it  assist  in  the  escape  of  him  who 
 is  already  enrolled  among  the  reprobate  ? 
 
 29.  Whereunto  I  also  labour,  striving  ac¬ 
 cording  to  his  working,  which  wmrketh  in 
 me  mightily. 
 
 The  Apostle  thinks  it  necessary  to  labour  and 
 strive ,  notwithstanding  the  working  of  him  who 
 worked  in  him  mightily,  and  notwithstanding 
 
 10 
 
81 
 
 CoL 
 
 those  for  whom  he  laboured  had  been  redeemed 
 as  well  as  himself,  (v.  14.) 
 
 li.  4.  This  I  say,  lest  any  man  should  be¬ 
 guile  you. 
 
 8.  Beware  lest  any  man  spoil  you. 
 
 That  is,  make  a  prey  of  you,  lead  you  away 
 captive.  Their  being  66  Saints/’  and  tc  having- 
 been  redeemed,”  did  not  secure  them  from  the 
 possibility  of  being  beguiled  or  spoiled. 
 
 ill.  12.  Put  on  as  the  elect  of  God ,  bowels  of 
 mercies,  kindness,  humbleness,  &c. 
 
 It  is  not  enough  to  be  4<  the  elect,”  unless  you 
 also  practise  these  virtues. 
 
 44  It  is  evident  from  this  and  other  passages, 
 that  St.  Paul  draws  an  inference  from  the  fact  of 
 election  to  the  duty  of  holiness ;  but  the  regular 
 consequence  of  Calvinistic  election  is,  to  hold  it 
 up  as  the  cause  and  fountain  from  which  all 
 holiness  springs ;  as  the  reason  why  the  Christian 
 is  zealous  of  good  works,  not  why  he  ought  to 
 be.”  Sumner . 
 
 See  also  Dr.  Taylor’s  Key  to  the  Apostolical 
 writings. 
 
 iv.  12.  Epaphras  labours  fervently  for  you  in 
 prayers  that  ye  may  stand. 
 
 If  it  were  not  possible  for  those  called  “  the 
 dectv  to  fall,  the  prayers  of  Epaphras  would  be 
 
 G 
 
1  Thess. 
 
 82 
 
 useless,  and  the  mention  of  them  by  the  Apostle 
 altogether  unnecessary. 
 
 FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  THE  TIIESSALONIANS. 
 
 i.  l.  Paul  unto  the  Church  of  the  Thessa- 
 lonians. 
 
 4.  Knowing  your  election  of  God. 
 
 Hi.  5.  For  this  cause,  when  I  could  no  longer 
 forbear,  I  sent  to  know  your  faith,  lest 
 by  some  means  the  tempter  have  tempted 
 you,  and  our  labour  be  in  vain. 
 
 St.  Paul,  who  (eh.  l.iv.)  declared  he  knew 
 their  66  election  of  God,”  in  this  verse  expresses 
 an  uncertainty  about  their  faith,  and  is  fearful 
 lest  his  labour  among  them  should  have  been 
 in  vain. 
 
 \  , 
 
 8.  For  now  tee  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the 
 Lord. 
 
 A  strong  expression  of  the  Apostle,  hypothe¬ 
 tically  uttered,  —  but  without  meaning,  if  the 
 “  standing  fast”  was  sure. 
 
 10.  Praying  that  we  might  see  your  facer 
 and  perfect  that  which  is  lacking  in  your 
 faith. 
 
 Observe.  There  was  something  lacking  in 
 those  who  had  been  "  elected  of  God 
 
83 
 
 I  Tineas. 
 
 iii.  12.  The  Lord  make  you  to  increase  and 
 abound  in  love, 
 
 13.  That  ye  may  stablish  your  hearts  un- 
 blameable  in  holiness,  &c.  &c. 
 
 Before  the  elect  of  God  can  be  stablished.  un~ 
 blameable ,  they  must  increase  and  abound  in  love. 
 
 iv.  1.  We  beseech  you  and  exhort  you,  that 
 
 as  ye  have  received  of  us  how  ye  ought 
 to  please  God,  so  ye  would  abound  more 
 and  more. 
 
 Is  this  the  language  to  be  used  to  those  in 
 whom  goodness  is  a  necessary  consequence  of 
 election,  and  attributable  not  to  the  exhortation 
 of  man,  but  the  unfrustrable  operation  of  God  ? 
 
 3-  This  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your 
 sanctification* 
 
 You  have  been  elected ,  you  have  been  justified; 
 it  is  the  will  of  God  that  you  should  be  sanctified l 
 Do  not  frustrate  his  will. 
 
 v.  5.  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  light 
 
 Mark  the  inference, 
 
 6.  Therefore  let  us  not  sleep, 
 
 15.  But  ever  follow  that  which  is  good. 
 
 17-  Pray  without  ceasing. 
 
 19.  Quench  not  the  Spirit. 
 
 g  Q 
 
iThess. 
 
 84* 
 
 What  are  the  elect  of  God  to  pray  for  without 
 ceasing?  The  spirit  may  he  quenched  in  the 
 “ children  of  light” 
 
 v.  23.  I  pray  God  your  whole  spirit,  and  soul, 
 and  body,  may  be  preserved  blameless. 
 
 St.  Paul,  who  knew  their  “  election  of  God,” 
 could  not  possibly  have  uttered  this  prayer,  if 
 lie  had  used  “  election”  in  the  sense  in  which  it 
 is  used  by  the  Calvinists. 
 
 SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  THESSALONIANS. 
 
 2  Thess. 
 
 ii.  l.  We  beseech  you,  that  ye  be  not  soon 
 shaken  in  mind. 
 
 This  caution  is  to  6i the  elect” 
 
 14.  God  called  you  by  our  gospel, 
 
 15.  Therefore ,  brethren,  stand  fast. 
 
 Mark  the  inference,  —  If  you  do  not  stand 
 fast ,  the  calling  is  of  no  use. 
 
 iii.  6.  Withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother 
 
 that  walketh  disorderly. 
 
 A  hr  other ,  an  elect  Christian,  may  walk  dis¬ 
 orderly. 
 
 FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 
 
 1  Tim. 
 
 i.  15.  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of 
 all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came 
 into  the  world  to  save  sinners. 
 
1  Tim. 
 
 85 
 
 Worthy  of  all  acceptation ,  because  44 all  have 
 sinned .” 
 
 i.  19.  Some,  having  put  away  faith  and  a 
 
 good  conscience,  have  made  shipwreck. 
 
 Here  faith  (and  a  good  conscience)  had  once 
 existed,  but  it  was  put  avoay,  and  ruin  followed. 
 
 ii.  i.  I  exhort  that  supplications  be  made  for 
 
 all  men . 
 
 To  what  purpose,  if  all  may  not  be  saved  ? 
 
 3.  This  is  good  in  the  sight  of  God  our 
 Saviour. 
 
 4.  Who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and 
 to  come  unto  the  knowlege  of  the  truth. 
 
 (Who  wishes  all  men ,  Greek.) 
 
 Beza  has  translated  the  word  all  in  this  verse 
 by  44  quosvis.” 
 
 Who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all 
 
 The  words  44  all  men,”  44  all  men,”  44  all,” 
 occur  within  the  compass  of  six  verses ;  and  if 
 they  do  not  mean  44  all”  there  is  an  end  of  all 
 certainty  to  be  derived  from  the  Bible. 
 
 Beza  again,  in  this  last  verse,  has  translated 
 the  word  44  all ”  by  44  quibusvis .” 
 
 8,  I  will  that  men  pray  without  doubting , 
 
 g  8 
 
1  Tim. 
 
 86 
 
 Observe.  Unless  a  man  has  reason  to  be¬ 
 lieve,  that  the  mercies  of  God,  through  Christ, 
 may  be  extended  to  him,  to  him  individually, 
 how  can  he  follow  the  Apostle's  injunction,  and 
 pray  'without  doubting  ? 
 
 iv.  10.  We  labour  because  we  trust  in  the 
 living  God,  who  is  the  Saviour  of  all  men . 
 
 16.  Take  heed  unto  thyself  and  to  thy 
 doctrine;  continue  in  them ;  for  in  doing 
 this,  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself  and  them 
 that  hear  thee. 
 
 Is  not  this  as  much  as  to  say,  If  thou  dost  not 
 take  heed  to  thyself,  and  to  thy  doctrine,  thou  wilt 
 neither  save  thyself  nor  them  that  hear  thee  ? 
 
 v.  15.  For  some  have  already  turned  aside 
 after  Satan. 
 
 They  had  once  been  in  the  right  way,  but 
 they  had  turned  aside. 
 
 vi.  17.  Charge  the  rich, 
 
 18.  That  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich 
 in  good  works, 
 
 19.  Laying  up  in  store  for  themselves  a 
 good  foundation,  that  they  may  lay  hold 
 on  eternal  life. 
 
 Eternal  life  is  the  free  gift  of  God,  but  it  is 
 here  manifest  on  what  foundation  we  must  build, 
 
2  Tim. 
 
 87 
 
 before  we  can  expect  to  obtain  it.  Here  the 
 rich  in  good  works  are  said  to  be  laying  up  & 
 store  for  themselves . 
 
 SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 
 
 i.  15.  All  they  which  are  in  Asia  be  turned 
 
 away  from  me. 
 
 They  who  had  once  been  in  the  high  road  to 
 salvation  were  now  turned  from  it . 
 
 ii.  12.  If  we  deny  him,  he  also  will  deny  us. 
 
 Mark  the  44  if;”  the  conditional 44  if  ”  though 
 we  are  told  by  the  Calvinists,  44  Here  are  nei- 
 ther  4  if  s'  nor  6  huts  /  no  conditions  nor  terms,” 
 
 Hawker.  Vol.  vi.  p.  145. 
 
 is.  (Hymeneus  and  Philetus)  overthrow 
 the  faith  of  some. 
 
 What !  is  it  possible  to  overthrow  a  right 
 faith  ?  or  was  the  faith  not  a  true  faith  which 
 is  said  to  have  been  overthrown  ? 
 
 <2\  m  If  a  man  purge  himself  he  shall  be  a 
 
 vessel  unto  honour. 
 
 Here  is  an  46  if” 
 
 iv.  io.  Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  having  loved 
 this  present  world. 
 
 Here  is  the  fall  of  a  true  believer  recorded. 
 That  Demas  was  so,  is  clear,  because  (Phile- 
 
 G  4 
 
88 
 
 Titus. 
 
 mon,  24.)  he  is  mentioned  among  the  fellow** 
 labourers  of  St.  Paul.  He  is  also  mentioned, 
 Col.  iv.  14.  And  their  names,  St.  Paul  declares, 
 (Phil.  iv.  3.)  are  in  the  Book  of  Life.  To 
 prove  this  fall,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  say,  that 
 we  are  commanded  “  not  to  love  the  world,” 
 and  that  the  love  of  this  world  is  enmity  with 
 God. 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  TO  TITUS. 
 
 ii.  1 1.  The  grace  of  God  that  giveth  salvation 
 
 hath  appeared  to  all  men . 
 
 The  grace  of  God  hath  appeared  that  giveth 
 salvation  to  all  men ,  would  be  more  agreeable 
 to  the  Greek,  and  the  passage  is  so  rendered  in 
 our  Welsh  version. 
 
 12.  Teaching  us,  that  denying  ungodliness 
 and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly, 
 righteously,  and  godly,  &c. 
 
 Here  are  conditions  taught  by  the  grace  of 
 God . 
 
 14.  Jesus  Christ  gave  himself  for  us,  that 
 he  might  redeem  us. 
 
 iii,  4.  The  kindness  and  love  of  God  our 
 
 Saviour  towards  man  appeared. 
 
 This  “  love  towards  man,”  is  in  one  word  in 
 
Titus. 
 
 89 
 
 the  original — philanthropy, — a  love  of  mankind , 
 of  the  whole  human  race. 
 
 <4  The  Saviour,”  says  Clemens  Alexandr : 
 £<  cannot  be  a  hater  of  men  (/ ueuvQgoDiros ),  who, 
 from  his  exceeding  love  of  man  (<pt\avQgc»7riocv) 
 did  not  despise  the  human  flesh,  though  ob¬ 
 noxious  to  sufferings,  but  clad  with  it,  appeared 
 for  the  common  salvation  of  man.”  In  a  few 
 lines  before,  he  speaks  of  the  Lord  being  a 
 Saviour,  “  not,”  says  he,  <£  Saviour  of  these  and 
 not  of  those  —  he  hath  called  all  on  an  equal 
 footing.”  Beginning  of  the  7th  Strom. 
 
 They  which  have  believed  in  God 
 must  be  careful  to  maintain  good  works. 
 
 Or  the  belief  will  not  be  sufficient. 
 
 Here  are  conditions  to  be  observed  after  faith, 
 conditions  so  far  from  being  necessarily  conse¬ 
 quent,  that  they  must  be  attended  to,  must  be 
 maintained  with  care. 
 
 rT  .  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS. 
 
 Heb. 
 
 ii.  l.  We  ought  to  give  the  more  heed  to 
 the  things  which  we  have  heard,  lest  at 
 any  time  we  should  let  them  slip. 
 
 We  may  therefore  without  heed  lose  them. 
 
 3.  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so 
 great  salvation  ? 
 
Heb. 
 
 90 
 
 Salvation  is  lost,  not  from  want  of  sufficient 
 grace  from  God,  but  in  consequence  of  the 
 neglect  of  man.  I  ask,  could  they  neglect  this 
 .  great  salvation ,  for  whom  it  was  never  intended, 
 
 or,  could  they  lose  it,  for  whom  it  was  ever  de¬ 
 creed  ? 
 
 ii.  9.  That  he  (Jesus)  by  the  grace  of  God 
 should  taste  death  for  every  man . 
 
 “  This  is  a  form  of  speaking”  says  Dr.  Ham¬ 
 mond,  “  which  excludes  all  exceptions.” 
 
 15,  And  deliver  them,  who,  through  fear 
 of  death,  were  all  their  lifetime  subject 
 to  bondage. 
 
 How  many,  and  who  are  they,  who,  through 
 fear  of  death,  were  subject  to  bondage? 
 
 iii.  7,  8.  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden 
 
 not  your  hearts,  as  in  the  provocation. 
 
 An  useless  caution,  if  they  could  not  do 
 otherwise  than  harden  their  hearts,  or  if  they 
 could  not  harden  them  at  all. 
 
 12.  Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  there  be  in 
 any  of  you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in 
 departing  from  the  living  God. 
 
 Why  this  caution,  if  (v. i.)  “holy  brethren,” 
 “  partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling,”  could  not 
 possibly  depart  from  the  living  God  ? 
 
91 
 
 Heb. 
 
 m.  13.  Exhort  one  another,  lest  any  of  you  be 
 hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin. 
 
 “  Partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling”  may  be 
 hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin. 
 
 14.  For  we  are  made  partakers  of  Christ, 
 if  we  hold  the  beginning  of  our  con¬ 
 fidence  steadfast  unto  the  end. 
 
 Mark  the  conditional  “if” 
 
 iv.  11.  Let  us  labour  to  enter  into  that  rest, 
 lest  any  man  fall,  &c. 
 
 Here  is  the  necessity  of  labour,  and  the  pos¬ 
 sibility  of  “holy  brethren”  falling,  plainly  as¬ 
 serted. 
 
 vi.  4.  For  it  is  impossible  for  those  who  were 
 once  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  of  the 
 heavenly  gift,  and  were  made  partakers 
 of  the  Holy  Ghost . 
 
 6.  If  they  shall  fall  away  to  renew  them 
 again  unto  repentance ;  seeing  they 
 crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God 
 afresh . 
 
 Here  “partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,”  they, 
 for  whom  the  Son  of  God  had  been  crucified, 
 may  fall  away,  and  finally. 
 
 ix.  19.  When  Moses  had  spoken  every  precept 
 
to  all  the  people ,  he  took  the  blood  of 
 calves,  and  of  goats,  &c.,  and  sprinkled 
 both  the  book  and  all  the  people, 
 lx.  20.  Saying,  This  is  the  blood  of  the  testa¬ 
 ment  which  God  hath  enjoined  unto  you. 
 
 The  first  testament  was  not  dedicated  with¬ 
 out  blood,  (y.  18.)  Did  the  blood  of  bulls  and 
 goats  sanctify  to  the  purifying  of  all  the  people, 
 and  did  the  blood  of  the  High  Priest  of  good 
 things  to  come,  obtain  eternal  redemption  only 
 for  a  few  ? 
 
 x.  26.  if  we  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have 
 received  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
 there  remain eth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sin. 
 
 In  what  sense  can  it  be  said  that  no  more 
 sacrifice  for  sin  remains  to  them,  for  whom  no 
 sacrifice  was  ever  offered  or  intended,  and  who 
 were,  by  God’s  own  decree,  excluded  from  any 
 interest  in  Christ’s  death  before  they  came  into 
 the  world  ? 
 
 Mark  the  “  if  we:”  By  this  expression  the 
 Apostle  supposes  it  possible  that  “  the  holy 
 brethren,”  whom  he  addressed  as  well  as  him¬ 
 self,  might  sin  wilfully,  and  lose  those  benefits 
 which,  through  the  death  of  Christ,  they  might 
 have  obtained. 
 
 ^9.  Of  how  much  sorer  punishment  shall 
 
Heb. 
 
 93 
 
 he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden 
 under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath 
 counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant, 
 wherewith  he  was  sanctified ,  an  unholy 
 thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the 
 Spirit  of  grace  ? 
 
 Observe.  A  sorer  punishment  awaits  those 
 who  had  been  sanctified :  even  such  may  do  despite 
 unto  the  Spirit  of  grace. 
 
 x.  38.  Now  the  just  shall  live  by  faith  :  but  if 
 “  any  man”  draw  back,  my  soul  shall  have 
 no  pleasure  in  him. 
 
 In  this  passage,  it  is  perhaps  not  unworthy  of 
 remark,  that  our  translation  has  “  any  man” 
 in  italics,  because  there  is  nothing  in  the  original 
 answering  to  these  words.  It  is  not  easy  to 
 conceive  why  the  words  should  have  been  in¬ 
 troduced  at  all;  the  verb  “draw  back”  is  con¬ 
 nected  with  the  preceding  sentence  by  a  con¬ 
 junction,  and  is,  according  to  the  plainest  rules 
 of  grammar,  governed  by  the  nominative  case, 
 “  the  just.”  This  is,  amidst  a  multitude  of 
 others,  a  plain  proof,  that  even  he,  of  whom  it 
 is  predicated  that  he  “  shall  live  by  faith,”  may 
 “  draw  back  unto  perdition.” 
 
 Beza  also,  in  his  translation,  has,  without 
 authority,  introduced  the  word  “quis”  in  this 
 verse,  “  Si  (puis,  se  subduxerit.” 
 
94 
 
 Heb. 
 
 xii,  14.  Follow  peace  with  all  men,  and  holiness, 
 without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 
 
 Here  is  a  verse  that  never  should  be  for¬ 
 gotten.  It  may  also  be  remarked,  that  this 
 direction  is  given  to  “  holy  brethren,”  <£  par¬ 
 takers  of  the  heavenly  calling.”  If  the  eternal 
 salvation  of  such  was  already  sure,  why  does 
 the  Apostle  exhort  them  to  the  practice  of  vir¬ 
 tues,  and  urge  this  very  reason  for  his  exhort¬ 
 ation,  that  without  these  no  man  can  be  saved  ? 
 
 15.  Looking  diligently  lest  any  man  fail  of 
 the  grace  of  God. 
 
 Observe,  Looking  diligently  is  necessary  to 
 secure  the  grace  of  God;  and,  it  is  obvious, 
 that  aiiy  man  may  fail  of  it. 
 
 25.  See  that  ye  refuse  not  him  that  speak- 
 eth.  For  if  they  escaped  not  who  refused 
 him  that  spake  on  earth,  much  more  shall 
 not  we  escape,  if  we  turn  away  from  him 
 that  speaketh  from  heaven. 
 
 Does  not  the  Apostle  plainly  suppose  it  pos¬ 
 sible,  that  both  he  himself,  and  they  whom  he 
 addressed,  might  be  in  the  condition  of  those 
 who  did  not  escape  ?  He  shows  that  others 
 “  for  refusing”  did  not  escape,  and  then  argues 
 from  them  to  himself  and  the  Hebrews  hypo¬ 
 thetically,  C£  much  more  shall  not  we  escape, 
 
 if  we.” 
 
95 
 
 James. 
 
 I  remark  at  the  end  of  this  Epistle,  that  the 
 very  learned  Dr.  Barrow  was  of  opinion  that  it 
 was  written  expressly  against  the  doctrine  of 
 perseverance. 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JAMES. 
 
 h  5.  Let  him  ask  of  God,  that  giveth  to  all 
 men  liberally. 
 
 They  whom  the  Apostle  addressed,  were  to 
 ask  for  wisdom  of  God,  and  to  ground  their 
 particular  hopes  of  success  on  the  declaration 
 of  the  Apostle,  that  he  giveth  to  all  men  liberally. 
 
 iv.  8.  Draw  nigh  unto  God,  and  he  will  draw 
 
 nigh  unto  you. 
 
 Is  there  any  meaning  that  can  be  attached  to 
 this  direction,  if  nothing  can  be  done  on  the 
 part  of  man  ? 
 
 v.  10.  The  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man 
 
 avail  eth  much. 
 
 flow  does  it  avail  ?  Can  it  help  the  salv¬ 
 ation  of  him  who  is  reprobate,  or  render  it  more 
 secure  to  him  who  is  elect,  in  the  Calvinistic 
 sense  of  the  word  ? 
 
 20,  He  which  converteth  a  sinner  from  the 
 error  of  his  way,  shall  save  a  soul  from 
 death. 
 
1  Peter. 
 
 96 
 
 How  can  he  be  saved  from  death,  who  from 
 eternity  had  been  decreed  to  life  ? 
 
 THE  EPISTLES  OF  ST.  PETER. 
 
 i.  l.  To  the  strangers  scattered  throughout 
 Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and 
 Bithynia, 
 
 2.  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowlege 
 of  God  the  Father. 
 
 iv.  17.  What  shall  the  end  be  of  them  that 
 obey  not  the  Gospel  ? 
 
 Is  it  right  to  suppose  that  God  requires  obe¬ 
 dience  from  those,  in  whom  he  himself  wills  to 
 produce  obedience  by  irresistible  power  ?  or 
 from  those,  from  whom  he  has  decreed  to  with¬ 
 hold  the  grace,  without  which  no  obedience  can 
 be  performed  ? 
 
 v.  8.  Be  sober,  be  vigilant,  because  your 
 adversary  the  devil  walketh  about,  seeking 
 whom  he  may  devour. 
 
 9.  Whom  resist,  steadfast  in  the  faith. 
 
 You  who  are  66  elect”  must  watch  :  and  why  ? 
 Because  your  adversary  the  devil  is  seeking  to 
 devour.  Now,  I  ask,  to  what  purpose  is  this 
 caution  ?  Can  the  devil  devour  those  who  are 
 44  elect”  in  the  Calvinistic  sense  of  the  word  ? 
 or  will  the  reprobate  be  more  certainly  lost  in 
 consequence  of  his  vigilance? 
 
97 
 
 <2  Peter, 
 
 THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  OF  ST,  PETER, 
 
 i.  i.  To  them  that  have  obtained  like  pre¬ 
 
 cious  faith  with  us. 
 
 Surely  this  was  a  saving  faith ;  but  yet  he 
 charges  them  to 
 
 5.  Give  all  diligence,  and  to  add  virtue, 
 knowledge,  &c. 
 
 8.  For  if  these  things  be  in  you. 
 
 Observe  the  hypothetic  44  if” 
 
 10.  Give  diligence  to  make  your  calling 
 and  election  sure :  for  if  ye  do  these 
 things  ye  shall  never  fall. 
 
 Here  is  another  4  4  if”  Again  —  The  election 
 is  to  be  made  sure  by  their  own  diligence ;  by 
 doing  things,  without  doing  which,  they  would 
 fall ,  though  elected. 
 
 ii.  1 .  There  shall  be  false  teachers  among  you, 
 
 who  shall  bring  in  damnable  heresies, 
 even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them , 
 and  bring  upon  themselves  swift  destruc¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Observe.  They  who  have  been  bought  or 
 redeemed  by  the  Lord,  may  deny  that  Lord 
 that  bought  them,  and  bring  on  themselves 
 swift  destruction. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 2  Pct^r 
 
 ii.  18.  They  allure  through  the  lusts  of  the 
 
 flesh,  those  who  were  clean  escaped  from 
 them  who  live  in  error  ; 
 
 20.  For  if  after  they  have  escaped  the  pol¬ 
 lutions  of  the  world  through  the  know¬ 
 ledge  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
 Christ,  they  are  again  entangled  therein, 
 and  overcome ,  the  latter  end  is  worse  with 
 them  than  the  beginning. 
 
 Here,  they  who  were  clean  escaped ,  and  that 
 through  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  may  again  be 
 entangled  and  overcome. 
 
 21.  It  had  been  better  for  them  not  to 
 have  known  the  way  of  righteousness, 
 than,  after  they  have  known  it,  to  turn 
 from  the  holy  commandment  delivered 
 unto  them. 
 
 The  way  of  righteousness  is  the  way  of  sal¬ 
 vation,  and  yet  people  who  have  walked  in  it 
 may  turn  from  it ,  and  be  in  a  state,  that  it  would 
 have  been  better  for  them  not  to  have  known  it. 
 
 iii.  9.  The  Lord  is  long-suffering  to  us-ward, 
 
 not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but 
 that  all  should  come  to  repentance. 
 
 Here  it  is  expressly  said,  that  God  is  not 
 willing  that  any  should  perish.  Is  this  to  be 
 
99 
 
 2  Peter. 
 
 reconciled  with  a  creed  that  tells  us  that  he  has 
 fore-ordained  a  large  majority  to  perish  ? 
 
 What  says  Calvin  ?  He  asserts  in  Rom.ix.  19. 
 ci  Impios  ipsos  fuisse  destinato  creates,  ut 
 perirent.”  And  again,  Inst.  lib.  3.,  u  Consilio 
 nutuque  suo  ita  ordinal,  ut  inter  homines  ita 
 nascantur  ab  utero  certae  morti  devoti.” 
 
 iii.  17.  Beware  lest  ye  fall  from  your  own 
 steadfastness. 
 
 This  caution  is  given  by  St.  Peter  to  “  the 
 elect to  them  “  who  had  obtained  like  precious 
 faith  with  himself.” 
 
 THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOHN. 
 
 1  John, 
 
 ii.  1.  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate 
 with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righte¬ 
 ous  ; 
 
 2.  And  he  is  the  propitiation  for  oar  sins , 
 and  not  for  ours  only ,  but  also  for  the 
 sins  of  the  whole  world . 
 
 This  Epistle  of  St.  John  is  called  Catholic ,  or 
 General ,  from  its  having  been  written,  not  like 
 the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  to  particular  cities, 
 countries,  or  persons,  but  to  the  whole  bod}'  of 
 Christians.  When  the  Apostle  speaks  of  our 
 sins ,  he  alludes  to  the  sins  of  Christians,  and 
 declares  further,  that  the  propitiation  of  Christ 
 
 r  i  O 
 
 -El  A* 
 
{  John. 
 
 100 
 
 was  not  only  for  our  sins ,  the  sins  of  Christians* 
 but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 
 
 ii.  24.  If  that  which  ye  have  heard  from  the 
 
 beginning  shall  remain  in  you,  ye  also 
 shall  continue  in  the  Son. 
 
 Here  is  an  66  if”  How  different  this  lan¬ 
 guage,  from  asserting  that  it  certainly  would 
 remain  in  them  ! 
 
 iii.  23.  And  this  is  his  commandment,  That  we 
 
 should  believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son 
 Jesus  Christ. 
 
 To  whom  does  this  command  extend?  Hoes 
 it  extend  to  those  who  are  incapable  of  obeying 
 it?  or  are  they  commanded  to  believe,  in  whom 
 God  has  determined  irresistibly  to  produce  be¬ 
 lief,  and  towards  which  themselves  neither  do 
 nor  can  contribute  any  thing  ? 
 
 iv.  14.  We  do  testify  that  the  Father  sent 
 
 the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
 
 That  world  which  the  Apostle  himself  de- 
 .  dares  to  lie  in  wickedness. 
 
 v.  16.  If  any  man  see  his  brother  sin  a  sin 
 
 which  is  not  unto  death,  he  shall  ask, 
 and  he  (God)  shall  give  him  life  for  them 
 that  sin  not  unto  death.  .  There  is  a  sin 
 
1  John. 
 
 17. 
 
 2  John, 
 
 i.  1. 
 
 8. 
 
 Jude, 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 Kev. 
 
 ii.  5. 
 
 101 
 
 unto  death  ;  I  do  not  say  that  ye  shall 
 pray  for  it. 
 
 All  unrighteousness  is  sin  ;  and  there 
 is  a  sin  not  unto  death. 
 
 cc  The  distinction  St.  John  makes  between 
 sins  of  infirmity  and  final  impenitence  is  an 
 unanswerable  proof  that  both  may  be  expected 
 to  exist  among  brethren  who  had  been  received 
 into  the  church.”  Sumner. 
 
 THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOHN. 
 
 The  elder  unto  the  elect  lady  and  her 
 children. 
 
 Look  to  yourselves,  that  we  lose  not 
 those  things  which  we  have  wrought. 
 
 Observe.  The  ii  elect”  may  lose  the  things 
 wrought^  if  they  look  not  to  themselves. 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  OF  JUDE. 
 
 Ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on 
 your  most  holy  faith. 
 
 Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God. 
 
 Here  Christians  are  exhorted  to  build  up  them¬ 
 selves,  and  to  keep  themselves  in  the  love  of  God. 
 
 THE  REVELATION. 
 
 Remember  from  whence  thou  art 
 fallen,  and  repent ;  or  else  I  will  come 
 
102 
 
 Rev. 
 
 unto  thee  quickly,  and  remove  thy  candle¬ 
 stick  out  of  his  place,  except  thou  repent. 
 
 This  is  to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  whom  St. 
 Paul  had  called  44  blessed  with  all  spiritual 
 blessings,”  and  whom  he  had  declared  to  be 
 “  predestinated  unto  the  adoption  of  children.” 
 They  who  once  stood  are  now  fallen. 
 
 ii.  10.  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will 
 give  thee  a  crown  of  life. 
 
 The  reward  is  not  offered  to  the  church  of 
 Smyrna,  without  a  condition  annexed  to  it ; 
 that  condition  not  implying  absolute  security  at 
 any  time,  but  requiring  endurance  unto  the  end. 
 
 21.  I  gave  her  space  to  repent  of  her  for¬ 
 nication,  and  she  repented  not. 
 
 Nothing  wTas  wanting  on  the  part  of  God. 
 
 iii.  11.  Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that 
 no  man  take  thy  crown. 
 
 This  is  not  the  language  applicable  to  uncon¬ 
 ditional  security. 
 
 20.  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock. 
 If  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the 
 door,  I  will  come  in  to  him. 
 
 God  stands  at  the  door  and  knocks :  the 
 hearing  and  the  opening  are  performed  by  man  ; 
 may  be  by  any  man.  “  If  any  man,”  &c. 
 
108 
 
 Rev. 
 
 xii.  17.  And  the  Spirit  and  the  bride  say. 
 Come  ;  and  let  him  that  is  athirst  come ; 
 and  whosoever  will , '  let  him  take  of  the 
 water  of  life  freely. 
 
 There  is  no  sort  of  exclusion. 
 
 19*  And  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from 
 the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy, 
 God  shall  take  away  his  part  out  of  the 
 book  of  life. 
 
 •  * 
 
 He  who  once  had  a  part  in  the  book  of  life, 
 may  yet  lose  it,  and  be  blotted  out. 
 
 The  texts  that  have  been  adduced  are  all 
 hostile  to,  and  utterly  irreconcileable  with  Cal¬ 
 vinism. 
 
 Many  more  might  have  been  cited ;  but  to 
 quote  all  would  be  endless,  and  almost  to  trans¬ 
 cribe  the  Bible.  For  it  may  be  said  with  truth 
 that  there  is  scarcely  a  single  chapter  in  the 
 whole  sacred  volume  which  does  not,  either  in 
 direct  terms,  or  by  fair  and  legitimate  infer¬ 
 ence,  contain  a  refutation  of  this  horrible  system 
 of  decrees. 
 
 What  are  the  promises,  the  threats,  the  ex¬ 
 hortations,  the  intreaties,  the  commands  of  the 
 Bible  ? 
 
 They  are  all  useless,  all  without  meaning,  if 
 Calvinism  be  true  1  The  promise  is  treach- 
 
 H  4 
 
Obs. 
 
 104 
 
 erous,  if  it  hold  out  a  prospect  of  reward  which 
 can  never  be  obtained :  the  threat  tyrannical,  if 
 the  evil  menaced  cannot  be  avoided  :  the  ex¬ 
 hortation  futile,  if  there  be  no  ability  to  follow 
 it :  the  intreaty,  a  cruel  mockery,  if  it  cannot  be 
 complied  with  :  the  command  absurd,  if  it  can¬ 
 not  be  obeyed. 
 
 Ubi  potentia  adh'ibetur  quae  semper  et  vi  sua 
 producit  effectum,  ibi  locus  non  est  praecepto, 
 nec  promissioni,  nee  comminationi,  ac  proinde 
 liec  obedientiae  nec  inobedientiae,  nec  praemio 
 nec  poenae.  Qui  praecipit  aliquid,  is  id  quod 
 praecipit,  vult  fieri  ab  illo,  cui  praecipit:  at  qui 
 id  ipse  facit,  is  non  vult  id  fieri  ab  alio  :  alio- 
 quin  vellet  id  ab  alio  fieri,  et  simul  nollet.  Ubi 
 autem  praeceptioni  locus  non  est,  ibi  nec  est 
 locus  obedientiae  nec  inobedientiae ;  per  con- 
 sequens,  nec  promissioni,  nec  comminationi, 
 atque  ita  nec  praemio,  nec  poenae. 
 
 Episcopius.  Eocam.  T/ies.  I.  Capelli. 
 
 There  are  a  few,  and  but  a  few  passages  in 
 Scripture,  that  can  with  any  plausibility  be  pro¬ 
 duced  in  favour  of  a  doctrine,  to  which  the 
 epithet  C£  horrible”  is  applied  by  its  most  dis¬ 
 tinguished  promoter. 
 
 There  are  a  few  verses  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
 Romans  in  particular  which  are  grasped  at  by 
 the  ignorant  and  the  prejudiced,  as  affording  it 
 the  most  substantial  support. 
 
 I  hesitate  not  to  say  the  ignorant ;  for  he,  who 
 has  a  fair  acquaintance  with  this  Epistle,  who 
 
Obs. 
 
 105 
 
 knows  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  and  the  sub¬ 
 jects  which  are  there  discussed  by  the  Apostle, 
 must  also  know,  that  predestination  of  indi¬ 
 viduals  to  eternal  life  has  nothing  whatever  to 
 do  with  the  argument. 
 
 De  prsedestinatione  ilia,  de  qua  multa  in 
 scholis  dicuntur,  nulliis  hie  sermo,  neque  verb 
 ad  rem  id  pertinebat.  Grotius ,  Pref.  to  the  Ep. 
 
 In  those  parts  which  have  been  so  much  mis¬ 
 apprehended,  St.  Paul  is  not  speaking  of  God’s 
 choosing  some  particular  persons ,  and  rejecting 
 others  from  eternal  salvation ,  but  concerning  his 
 rejecting  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  and  receiving 
 in  the  Gentiles ,  to  be  partakers  of  the  benefits  of 
 the  Gospel.  And  the  elect  there  spoken  of  are 
 the  whole  Christian  churchy  whereof  all  never¬ 
 theless  do  not  attain  unto  salvation;  and  the 
 reprobate  there  mentioned,  are  the  whole  nation 
 of  the  unbelieving  Jews ,  whereof  all  nevertheless 
 were  not  finally  cast  off.  See  Dr.  S.  Clarke. 
 
 “  "With  an  utter  disregard,  however,  to  his¬ 
 torical  analogy,  they  (the  Calvinists)  interpret 
 what  St.  Paul  says  of  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles , 
 and  the  rejection  of  the  Jews ,  as  if  it  related  to 
 the  personal  electio7i  and  reprobation  of  indi¬ 
 viduals  under  the  Christian  dispensation;  or 
 apply  what  is  said  of  the  special  privileges  of 
 the  Jews  as  a  peculiar  people,  to  the  spiritual 
 circumstances  of  a  favoured  few  among  Christian 
 believers,  supposed  to  be  exclusively  ordained 
 
Obs. 
 
 106 
 
 to  eternal  life.  These  expositors  impute  to  the 
 Almighty  a  system  of  arbitrary  and  absolute 
 decrees  respecting  man’s  salvation  repugnant 
 to  the  general  tenor  of  the  Gospel,  and  even 
 directly  at  variance  with  the  purpose  of  those 
 writings  from  which  their  conclusions  are  so 
 precipitately  drawn.” 
 
 Bp,  Van  Milder? s  Bampton  Lectures . 
 
 But  even  supposing  that  these,  and  a  few 
 other  parts  of  Scripture,  were  of  dubious  con¬ 
 struction,  and  44  hard  to  be  understood,”  is  it 
 fair  to  put  such  in  the  balance  against  so  many 
 clear  and  undoubted  authorities  which  can  be 
 adduced  from  the  Bible  ? 
 
 We  are  indeed  informed  by  some  commen¬ 
 tators,  that  44  the  world ”  means  less  than  half  the 
 world;  that  44  the  whole  world”  must  mean  a 
 small  part  of  the  world ;  that  44  all ”  are  only  a 
 few ;  44  every  man,”  only  some  men  ;  and  44  all 
 men”  a  small  portion  of  mankind. 
 
 Now,  such  perversions  as  these,  as  it  is  lost 
 time  to  attempt  to  confute,  so  the  plain  lan¬ 
 guage  which  they  distort  it  is  unnecessary  to 
 elucidate  and  explain.  To  try  to  make  such 
 expressions  clearer  would  be  to  hold  a  candle 
 to  the  sun.  The  most  illiterate  Christian  can 
 understand  them  as  well  as  the  most  acute,  and 
 they  will  ever  remain,  without  any  assistance 
 from  the  labours  of  the  learned,  an  intelligible 
 and  substantial  comfort  to  the  humble  and  sin¬ 
 cere  follower  of  Jesus. 
 
We  are  also  told,  that  there  is  manifest  im¬ 
 piety  in  believing  that  any  of  those  for  whom 
 Christ  died  should  fail  of  his  merciful  intentions 
 towards  them,  and  ultimately  perish. 
 
 But,  let  me  ask,  are  His  attributes  liable  to 
 change,  in  whom  is  no  variableness,  neither 
 shadow  of  turning  ?  Is  the  mercy  of  God  that 
 created  man  to  be  so  separated  from  the  mercy 
 of  God  that  redeemed  man  ?  Is  not  God  the 
 father  of  all  ?  Did  he  not  make  us  and  all  the 
 world?  and  why  is  it  more  difficult  to  believe 
 that  some  of  those  will  be  lost  whom  he  re¬ 
 deemed,  than  that  some  of  those  will  be  lost 
 whom  he  created  ? 
 
 I  might  here  advert  to  the  dreadful  conse¬ 
 quences  that  may  fairly  and  legitimately  be  ex¬ 
 pected  to  follow  an  adoption  of  the  Calvinistic 
 tenets. 
 
 I  might  show  that  they  are  calculated  to  de¬ 
 stroy  every  motive  to  exertion,  and  annihilate 
 every  effort  to  repentance  and  amendment  of 
 life.  For  who  can  prove  it  necessary  for  him 
 to  repent  and  amend,  who,  either  without  respect 
 to  any  degree  of  amendment,  is  supposed  to  he 
 elected  to  eternal  bliss;  or,  without  any  respect  to 
 sin,  to  be  irreversibly  reprobate  and  lost  ? 
 
 I  might  point  out  the  unchristian  security 
 and  presumption  to  which  they  lead  on  the  one 
 hand,  or  the  equally  unchristian  despair  which 
 they  have  a  tendency  to  produce  on  the  other. 
 
108 
 
 Obs. 
 
 The  Landgrave  of  Turing,  when  admonished 
 by  his  friends  to  change  his  life  and  repent, 
 replied, 
 
 “  Si  praedestinatus  sum,  nulla  peccata  mihi 
 poterunt  regnum  ccelorum  auferre;  si  reprobatus, 
 nulla  opera  valebunt  conferre.”  “  Solis  radio 
 (says  Episcopius,  who  mentions  this  anecdote,) 
 scripta  est  hsec  consequentia.,, 
 
 I?ist.  lib.  4.  sect.  5.  De  Redem. 
 
 It  is  observed  of  Tiberius,  £<  Circa  Deos  et 
 religiones  negligentior  erat,  quippe  persuasionis 
 plenus  cuncta  fato  agi.” 
 
 Quoted  from  Suetonius  by  Dr.  Copleston. 
 
 I  might  argue,  that  the  honour  of  God  and  of 
 his  Son  is  not  increased  in  proportion  to  the 
 diminution  of  the  means  and  objects  of  salva¬ 
 tion,  and  by  at  once  consigning  a  vast  majority 
 to  that  great  adversary  whose  kingdom  it  was 
 the  avowed  object  of  Christ  to  overthrow. 
 
 I  might  urge,  that  a  doctrine  never  can  be 
 true,  from  which  consequences  so  injurious  may 
 be  so  obviously  and  so  justly  drawn. 
 
 These,  and  many  other  objections,  might  be 
 pressed,  and  with  advantage,  but  I  forbear.  — 
 My  object  has  been,  in  this  important  topic,  to 
 rest  the  proofs  on  the  plain  language  of  Scrip¬ 
 ture.  I  hope  that  I  have  given  offence  to  none. 
 I  know  that  I  have  but  one  motive,  the  desire 
 of  increasing  true  religion.  I  have  done  that 
 which  1  believe  to  be  my  duty,  and  have  given 
 
Obs. 
 
 109 
 
 to  Scripture  such  interpretations  as  I  firmly 
 and  conscientiously  believe  to  be  true. 
 
 I  have  purposely  avoided  entering  into  the 
 metaphysical  depths  of  fate  and  predestination. 
 If  any  one,  however,  be  desirous  of  seeing  these 
 subjects  ably  treated  in  a  metaphysical  point  of 
 view,  I  refer  him  to  the  treatise  of  Dr.  Copleston 
 on  the  doctrines  of  necessity  and  predestination, 
 and  especially  to  the  first  sermon,  where  he 
 speaks  of  the  use  of  the  word  <£  true”  as  con¬ 
 nected  with  a  proposition.  Much  light  is  also 
 thrown  on  this  subject  by  Episcopius,  lib.  4. 
 sec.  2.  cap.  17.  —  ((  Ex  contraria  sententia,” 
 says  he,  “sequitur,  omnem  propositionem  affirm- 
 ativam  de  futuro  contingenti  esse  determinate 
 falsam :  quod  est  contra  Aristotelem,  qui  dicit, 
 nec  determinate  veram,  nec  determinate  falsam 
 esse,  sed  indifferentem  ad  utrumque.  Conse¬ 
 quents  patet ;  quia,  ex  eo  quod  res  est  vel  non  est , 
 enunciatio  vera  vel  falsa  judicari  debet.  Ergo 
 si  quis  dicat,  aliquid  determinate  futurum  esse, 
 quod  re  ipsa  indifferens  est,  ut  sit  vel  non  sit, 
 falso  id  affirmabit.  Ergo  ipsius  propositio  de 
 futuro  contingenti  erit  determinate  falsa,  quod 
 est  contra  Aristotelem.  —  Aristo teles  tradidit, 
 propositions  de  futuro  contingenti  nec  veras 
 nec  falsas  esse. 
 
 Lib.  1.  De  Inter pr.  cap.  8.  vel  parte  2.  cap.  10. 
 
 The  reader  will  do  well  also  in  consulting 
 Dr.  Hammond’s  letter  to  Dr.  Sanderson  on 
 
110 
 
 Obs. 
 
 God’s  Grace  and  Decrees,  and  Archbishop 
 King’s  sermon  on  Predestination. 
 
 Exod. 
 
 xxxiii.13. 
 
 Deut. 
 iv.  37. 
 
 Having  now  presented  the  reader  with  those 
 passages  of  Holy  Writ  which  appear  to  me 
 abundantly  decisive  on  this  interesting  subject, 
 I  will  mention  two  things  which  it  is  important 
 to  observe. 
 
 1.  The  first  is,  that  the  whole  Jewish  nation, 
 both  they  that  were  good  and  they,  that  were 
 bad,  are  equally  called  in  Scripture  “the  elect 
 of  God.” 
 
 2.  The  second  is,  that  the  word  “  elect”  in 
 the  New  Testament,  when  applied  to  Christians, 
 evidently  includes  as  many  as  were  converted  to 
 the  Christian  faith. 
 
 1.  The  whole  Jewish  nation,  bad  as  well  as 
 good,  are  called  the  “  elect  of  God.” 
 
 Moses  said  unto  the  Lord,  This  nation 
 is  thy  people. 
 
 The  whole  nation . 
 
 Because  he  loved  thy  fathers,  there¬ 
 fore  he  chose  (or  elected)  their  seed  after 
 them,  and  brought  them  out  of  Egypt 
 by  his  mighty  power. 
 
 From  this  verse  it  is  clear,  that  the  whole  nation 
 of  the  Jews,  even  all  that  came  out  of  Egypt, 
 were  “the  elect,” 
 
Ill 
 
 Deut. 
 
 vii.  6.  The  Lord  thy  God  hath  .  chosen  (or 
 elected)  thee  to  be  a  special  people  unto 
 himself,  above  all  people  that  are  on  the 
 face  of  the  earth. 
 
 7.  The  Lord  did  not  choose  (or  elect)  you, 
 because  ye  were  more  in  number  than 
 any  people,  for  ye  were  the  fewest  of  all 
 people. 
 
 S.  The  Lord  brought  you  out  with*  a 
 mighty  hand,  and  redeemed  you  from  the 
 hand  of  Pharaoh,  King  of  Egypt. 
 
 Observe.  Their  beinor  chosen  before  other 
 nations  is  their  election ;  and  all  who  were 
 brought  out  of  Egypt  were  thus  elected . 
 
 x.  15.  The  Lord  had  a  delight  in  thy  fathers 
 to  love  them,  and  he  chose  (or  elected) 
 you  their  seed  after  them. 
 
 16.  Circumcise  therefore  the  foreskin  of 
 your  hearts,  and  be  no  more  stiff-necked. 
 
 The  whole  seed,  of  Abraham  by  Isaac,  even 
 the  stiff-necked ,  were  the  chosen  or  66  elect  ” 
 
 dv.  l.  Ye  are  the  children  of  the  Lord  your 
 God. 
 
 All  the  Jews. 
 
 2,  Thou  art  an  holy  people  unto  the  Lord 
 
Deut. 
 
 1  Kings, 
 iii.  8. 
 
 Psalm 
 cv.  6. 
 
 43. 
 
 cvi.  5. 
 
 cxxxv.  4. 
 
 11 ft 
 
 thy  God,  and  the  Lord  hath  chosen  (or 
 elected)  thee  out  to  be  a  peculiar  people 
 to  himself,  above  all  nations. 
 
 The  word  ee  holy”  means  here  66  set  apart.” 
 Here  aim  in  all  the  Jews  are  said  to  be  the  chosen 
 
 O 
 
 or  “  elect,”  though  we  know  (1  Cor.  x.  5.)  that 
 66  with  many  of  them  God  was  not  well  pleased.” 
 
 Thy  servant  is  in  the  midst  of  thy  peo¬ 
 ple  which  thou  hast  chosen  (or  elected), 
 a  great  people  that  cannot  be  numbered. 
 
 Here,  again,  all  the  Jews  are  called  by  Solo¬ 
 mon  the  chosen  or  i£  elect ”  people. 
 
 The  seed  of  Israel  his  servant,  the 
 children  of  Jacob  his  chosen  (or  elect). 
 
 The  Hebrew  word  for  chosen  or  elect  is  in 
 the  plural  number,  and  belongs  to  children. 
 
 He  brought  forth  his  people  with  joy, 
 and  his  chosen  (or  elect)  with  gladness. 
 
 All  that  came  out  of  Egypt. 
 
 That  I  might  see  the  good  of  thy  chosen 
 (or  elect),  that  I  may  rejoice  in  the  glad¬ 
 ness  of  thy  nation. 
 
 The  Lord  hath  chosen  (or  elected) 
 Jacob  for  himself,  and  Israel  for  his  own 
 inheritance. 
 
 14 
 
Isaiah, 
 xli.  8. 
 
 9. 
 
 xliii.  20. 
 
 Ezek. 
 xx.  5. 
 
 Zech. 
 iii.  2. 
 
 ii.  12. 
 
 Dan. 
 xi,  15. 
 
 113 
 
 But  thou  Isaac  art  mv  servant,  Jacob 
 whom  I  have  chosen  (or  elected)  ; 
 
 The  seed  of  Abraham,  my  friend,  I 
 have  chosen  (or  elected)  thee. 
 
 All  the  Jews, 
 
 God  declares  he  will  make  waters  in  the 
 wilderness,  and  rivers  in  the  desert. 
 
 To  give  drink  to  my  people,  my  chosen 
 (or  elect). 
 
 The  Prophet  Ezekiel  speaks  of  the  day  when 
 
 The  Lord  chose  (or  elected)  Israel, 
 and  lifted  up  his  hand  to  the  seed  of  the 
 house  of  Jacob. 
 
 Or  engaged  himself  by  solemn  covenant  to 
 be  their  God. 
 
 Zechariah  speaks  of  the  Lord 
 
 That  hath  chosen  (or  elected)  Jeru¬ 
 salem. 
 
 And,  that  shall  choose  (or  elect)  Jeru¬ 
 salem  again. 
 
 Daniel  speaks  of  a  time  when 
 
 His  chosen  (or  elect)  people  shall  not 
 withstand. 
 
 Besides  these  and  many  more  which  might 
 
 i 
 
Eccl, 
 
 114 
 
 xlvi,  1 
 
 be  cited,  we  are  informed  in  the  book  of  Eccle- 
 siasticus,  that 
 
 Joshua  was  made  great  for  the  saving 
 of  the  elect  of  God. 
 
 The  reader  will  observe  that  where  our  English 
 Bible  uses  the  word  “  choose,”  &c.  I  have 
 added  the  words  “  or  elect,”  &c. 
 
 I  have  done  so  in  order  to  place  the  proof  of 
 what  was  advanced  in  a  clearer  and  stronger 
 light,  well  knowing  the  charm  that  is  attached 
 to  this  word. 
 
 That  I  have  not  acted  unjustifiably  in  so  do¬ 
 ing,  will  appear  from  this,  that  in  every  instance 
 which  I  have  quoted  from  the  Old  Testament, 
 the  Hebrew  word  for  “ choose ”  or  “elect”  is 
 invariably  the  same. 
 
 The  Septuagint  translators,  also,  in  render¬ 
 ing  these  words,  have  used  the  same  Greek 
 word  in  every  instance  but  three,  Deut.  vii.  6. 
 Ez.  xx.  5.,  and  Zech.  ii.  12.  And  in  these  three 
 they  have  used  words  that  have  precisely  the 
 same  signification ;  meaning  “  to  prefer”  or 
 “  take  before.”  In  the  Welsh  Bible,  the  words 
 “  dewis”  and  “  ethol,”  both  having  the  same  im¬ 
 port,  are  used;  the  former  twelve  times,  the 
 latter  six ;  and  “  dethol,”  tht^  same  as  “  ethol,” 
 once.  Psalm  cxxxv.  4>. 
 
Matt 
 
 115 
 
 2.  I  now  proceed  to  prove,  in  the  second 
 place,  that  the  word  ££  elect”  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
 ment,  when  applied  to  Christians,  plainly  in¬ 
 cludes  as  many  as  were  converted  to  the 
 Christian  faith. 
 
 And  to  elucidate  more  satisfactorily  the 
 meaning  of  the  words  “elect,”  ££  elected,” 
 <£  election,”  I  will  produce  every  passage  in  which 
 they  occur. 
 
 xxiv.  22.  For  the  elect's  sake  those  days  shall 
 be  shortened. 
 
 The  troubles  and  calamities  which  were  to  be 
 brought  upon  Jerusalem  and  the  unbelieving 
 Jews  by  the  Romans,  would  be  shortened  for 
 the  sake  of  the  Christians. 
 
 24.  There  shall  arise  false  prophets  that, 
 if  it  were  possible,  shall  deceive  the  very 
 elect. 
 
 These  impostors  would  do  every  thing  in 
 their  power  to  deceive  even  the  Christians  them¬ 
 selves  ;  but  they  had  been  so  prepared  by  our 
 Lord’s  caution,  that  it  was  scarcely  possible. 
 This  caution,  however,  they  were  to  bear  in 
 mind.  ££  Behold,”  said  he,  ££  I  have  told  you 
 before ;”  and,  ££  Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive 
 you.”  An  useless  caution  if  they  could  not  be 
 deceived. 
 
 I  2 
 
Matt. 
 
 116 
 
 That  the  words  “if  it  were  possible”  do  not 
 imply  an  impossibility  is  manifest  from  the  use 
 of  the  very  same  words,  Matt.  xxvi.  39. 
 Mark,  xiv.  35.  Acts,  xx.  16.  and  Rom.  xii.  18. 
 In  the  two  first  instances  our  Saviour  would 
 not  have  prayed  for  what  was  impossible;  nor, 
 in  the  third,  would  St.  Paul  have  hasted,  if  the 
 attainment  of  his  object  were  impossible;  nor, 
 in  the  fourth,  would  he  have  exhorted  to  a  duty 
 which  he  knew  to  be  impossible. 
 
 xxiv. 31.  They  shall  gather  together  his*  elect 
 from  the  four  winds. 
 
 Immediately  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
 he  will  send  his  angels  (messengers)  with  the 
 gospel-trumpet,  and  they,  by  preaching  his  re¬ 
 ligion,  shall  gather  together  from  the  four 
 quarters  of  the  world  a  church  of  Christian 
 converts,  who  are  here  called  “his  elect,”  the 
 elect  of  Christ,  in  the  same  sense  that  the  Jews 
 were  heretofore  called  “the  elect”  or  chosen 
 people  of  God  the  Father. 
 
 There  is  another  interpretation  that  refers 
 the  gathering  together  of  the  elect ,  to  the  case 
 of  the  Christians,  who,  by  the  warning  of  angels, 
 were  to  be  gathered  from  among  the  unbelieving 
 Jews,  that  they  might  Be  preserved  from  their 
 ruin.  It  appears  from  Josephus  that  the  siege 
 of  Jerusalem  byGallus  was  unexpectedly  raised, 
 
 15  . 
 
Mark. 
 
 117 
 
 xiii.20.*) 
 22.  V 
 
 27.J 
 
 Luke, 
 xviii.  7. 
 
 Rom. 
 
 viii.33. 
 
 ix.ll. 
 
 by  which  means  all  the  Christians  in  the  city 
 got  out  of  it  to  some  other  place ;  so  that  when 
 Titus  came  some  months  after  to  the  fatal  siege, 
 there  wras  not  one  Christian  remaining  in  it. 
 
 The  word  “  elect”  is  used  in  the  same  sense 
 ancfupon  the  same  subject  as  in  the  three  in¬ 
 stances  adduced  from  St.  Matthew. 
 
 Shall  not  God  avenge  his  own  elect? 
 
 Here  the  elect  are  also  the  whole  body  of  be¬ 
 lievers  ;  for  otherwise,  God’s  readiness  to  hear 
 the  prayers  of  his  elect  could  be  no  argument  to 
 Christians  in  general  to  i(  pray  always  and  not  to 
 faint,”  v.  1.;  —  besides  the  enquiry,  v.  8.,  “  When 
 the  Son  of  Man  cometh,  shall  he  find  faith  on 
 the  earth  ?”  shows  that  even  the  faith  of  many 
 of  these  elect  would  fail. 
 
 Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge 
 of  God’s  elect? 
 
 Since  God  has  chosen  or  elected  the  Gentiles ' 
 into  the  Christian  church  and  covenant,  and  has 
 pardoned  them  upon  their  repentance  and  faith 
 in  Christ,  what  Jew  shall  condemn  them  as  un¬ 
 worthy  of  such  a  mercy?  who  shall  produce 
 any  accusation  against  those  whom  God  has  de¬ 
 termined  to  take  into  covenant  with  him  ? 
 
 That  the  purpose  of  God  according  to 
 election  might  stand. 
 
 I  o 
 
118 
 
 It  was  said  unto  Rebecca, — What?  Why  — 
 
 44  That  the  elder  should  serve  the  younger 
 or,  according  to  the  literal  meaning  of  the  Greek 
 words,  44  The  greater  shall  serve  the  less.” 
 
 This,  it  is  clear,  has  nothing  to  do  with  a 
 personal  election  to  eternal  salvation,  but  sim¬ 
 ply  signifies  God’s  free  determination  to  prefer 
 the  Jews  that  should  come  from  Jacob  before 
 all  other  people,  especially  before  Esau’s  pro¬ 
 geny,  the  Edomites. 
 
 Examine  the  passage  in  Genesis,  from  which 
 the  Apostle  argues,  and  you  will  find  that  it 
 has  no  respect  to  the  persons  of  Jacob  and 
 Esau,  but  to  their  whole  natio?i  and  posterity. 
 
 Gen. 
 
 xxv.  23.  The  Lord  said  unto  her  (Rebecca), 
 Two  nations  are  in  thy  womb,  and  two 
 manner  of  people  shall  be  separated  from 
 thy  bowels  ;  and  the  one  people  shall  be 
 stronger  than  the  other  people  ;  and  the 
 44  elder  shall  serve  the  younger.” 
 
 Now,  as  to  their  own  persons ,  it  was  not  the 
 
 % 
 
 fact  that  the  elder  did  serve  the  younger,  but 
 rather  the  contrary.  But  it  was  the  fact  with 
 respect  to  their  posterity,  when  the  Edomites 
 became  tributaries  to  David,  2  Sam.  viii.  14. 
 
 Rom. 
 
 xL  5.  Even  so  then  at  this  present  time  also, 
 
119 
 
 Rom. 
 
 there  is  a  remnant  according  to  the  elec¬ 
 tion  of  grace. 
 
 As  among  the  Jews  formerly  there  was  a 
 44  remnant”  who  did  not  bow  the  knee  to  Baal, 
 so  novo  there  are  some  who  do  not  join  the  rest, 
 in  rejecting  Christ,  who  do  not  put  away  from 
 themselves  the  words  of  eternal  life,  but  who 
 accept  and  embrace  the  Gospel. 
 
 xi.  7.  The  election  hath  obtained  it. 
 
 The  generality  of  the  Jews  rejected  the  Gos¬ 
 pel,  but  the  election ,  the  remnant  above  spoken 
 of,  those  who  did  not  refuse  to  come  unto 
 Christ,  obtained  grace,  became  Christians.  To 
 them  who  received  him  gave  he  power  to  be¬ 
 come  the  sons  of  God. 
 
 28.  As  concerning  the  Gospel,  they  are 
 enemies  ;  but  as  touching  election ,  they 
 are  beloved  for  their  fathers’  sakes. 
 
 Beloved  in  respect  to  the  promises  of  pecu¬ 
 liar  favour  made  to  that  ‘people  for  Abraham’s 
 sake ;  though  enemies  for  their  wilful  obstinacy 
 in  rejecting  the  Gospel, 
 
 Observe.  The  same  persons  are  called  be¬ 
 loved  on  account  of  election ,  and  at  the  same 
 time  enemies  on  another  account ;  which  would 
 be  a  palpable  contradiction,  if  the  word  44  elec¬ 
 tion  ”  admitted  of  the  Calvinistic  interpretation. 
 
 i  4 
 
Col. 
 iii.  12. 
 
 120 
 
 Put  on,  therefore,  as  the  elect  of  God, 
 holy  and  beloved,  bowels  of  mercies, 
 kindness,  humbleness  of  mind,  &c. 
 
 This  is  to  every  member  of  the  Christian 
 church  at  Colosse;  whom  St.  Paul  says  that 
 Christ  had  reconciled  through  his  death,  to 
 present  them  holy  and  unblameable,  if  they 
 continued  in  the  faith,  grounded  and  settled. 
 Chap.  i.  21,  22,  23. 
 
 The  word  if  shews  that  their  election  was  not 
 an  unconditional  election  to  final  salvation.  And, 
 besides,  the  Apostle  (chap.  ii.  4.  8.  18.)  ex¬ 
 presses  his  care  and  fear,  lest  they  should  be 
 deceived  and  robbed  of  their  reward,  which 
 could  not  be  the  case  if  the  word  elect  meant 
 absolutely  elected  to  eternal  life. 
 
 1  Thes. 
 
 i-  4.  Knowing,  brethren  beloved,  your  elec¬ 
 tion  of  God. 
 
 St.  Paul  well  knew  that  God  designed  the 
 Thessalonians  whom  he  addressed  to  be  his 
 church  arid  people,  which  was  a  favour  unex¬ 
 pected  by  the  Gentiles,  and  one  that  it  was 
 important  they  should  be  assured  of  by  the 
 Apostle;  but  that  St.  Paul  did  not  mean  by 
 this  term  election  to  convey  a  notion  of  their 
 unconditional  security  with  respect  to  final  sal¬ 
 vation,  he  sufficiently  declares,  by  expressing 
 his  fears  (chap.  iii.  5.)  lest  Satan  should  have 
 
121 
 
 1  Tim, 
 
 tempted  them,  and  his  labour  should  have  been 
 in  vain. 
 
 v.  21.  I  charge  thee  before  the  elect  angels. 
 
 Not  applied  to  Christians. 
 
 2  Tim. 
 
 ii.  10.  I  endure  all  things  for  the  elect’s  sake, 
 that  they  also  may  obtain  the  salvation 
 which  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 
 
 If  the  elect  here  meant  those  who  must  ulti¬ 
 mately  be  saved,  the  enduring  of  St.  Paul  could 
 not  further  it.  Here,  however,  as  in  other 
 places,  it  simply  means  those  who  had  been 
 converted  to  the  Christian  faith. 
 
 Titus, 
 
 i.  l.  Paul,  an  apostle  according  to  the  faith 
 of  God’s  elect . 
 
 Or,  for  planting  that  faith  which  makes  men 
 Christians.  He  being  an  apostle  in  reference 
 to  them  all ,  even  to  those  to  whom  his  Gospel 
 was  u  a  savour  of  death,”  as  well  as  to  those  to 
 whom  it  was  “  a  savour  of  life.” 
 
 1  Peter, 
 
 i.  2.  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge 
 of  God. 
 
 This  was  to  the  strangers  scattered  throughout 
 Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithy- 
 nia,  and  has  simply  a  reference  to  the  gracious 
 intention  of  God  to  make  known  his  saving 
 
1  Pet. 
 
 health  unto  all  nations.  Blit  the  constant  cau- 
 lion  given  by  St.  Peter  to  those  whom  he  ad¬ 
 dressed,  to  beware  of  various  sins  that  lead  to 
 destruction,  and  more  particularly  his  beseech¬ 
 ing  them  to  abstain  from  lusts  that  war  against 
 the  soul ,  are  proofs  that  the  souls  of  the  elect 
 were  yet  in  a  condition  to  be  warred  against, 
 and  that  the  word  can  have  no  reference  to  an 
 absolute  election  to  final  salvation. 
 
 ii.  6.  In  Sion  a  chief  corner-stone,  elect . 
 
 Spoken  of  Christ. 
 
 v.  13.  The  church  that  is  at  Babylon  elected 
 together  with  you. 
 
 Here  again  the  word  is  applied  to  collective 
 bodies  of  Christians.  That  all  the  members 
 either  of  the  eastern  or  the  western  Babylon, 
 were  chosen  out  of  the  world  to  the  profession 
 of  Christianity,  and  in  this  sense  elected ,  he  who 
 was  with  them  could  not  be  ignorant ;  but  that 
 they  all  were  absolutely  elected  to  salvation,  and 
 that  the  writer  knew  this,  is  not  easy  to  con¬ 
 ceive,  and  impossible  to  suppose  when  we  recol¬ 
 lect,  that,  in  the  second  epistle  to  the  same 
 persons,  he  says, 
 
 ‘2  Pet. 
 
 i.  io.  Give  diligence  to  make  your  calling 
 and  election  sure ;  for  if  ye  do  these  things, 
 ye  shall  never  fall. 
 
Observe.  The  election  so  far  from  being 
 already  sure,  is  to  be  made  sure  by  diligence, 
 by  •  doing  things,  without  doing  which,  they 
 would  fall ,  though  elected. 
 
 Mark  the  if 
 
 The  elder  to  the  elect  lady. 
 
 Grotius  is  of  opinion  that  elect  is  here  a  pro¬ 
 per  name ;  but  whether  it  be  so  or  not,  the 
 caution  given  to  this  lady  to  look  that  she  “  loses 
 not  the  things  which  have  been  wrought,  ”  is  a 
 proof  that  her  election  was  not  an  absolute  elec¬ 
 tion  to  salvation. 
 
 The  children  of  thy  elect  sister  greet 
 thee. 
 
 Or  thy  Christian  sister,  as  before,  Grotius 
 observes  here,  that  some  copies  have  the  proper 
 name  “  EuftexTijs”  here,  Eudecta,  instead  of 
 the  received  reading. 
 
 The  words  6i  elect,”  64  elected,”  election,” 
 being  thus  used  in  Scripture,  it  may  be  an  ad¬ 
 ditional  satisfaction  to  the  reader  to  find,  that 
 in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity  all  Christians 
 were  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  elect, 
 saints,  &c.  See  Bingham ,  b.  i,  c.  1 . 
 
 For  the  full  meaning  of  the  word  Elect,  see 
 also  Episcopius,  Inst.  Tiled.  lib.  iv.  c.  6, 
 
Obs. 
 
 124 
 
 Liiiiborch,  Theol.  Christ,  lib.  v.  3.  Grotitis, 
 Annot.  in  Matt.  xx.  16.  xxiv.  22.;  and  his 
 Explication  in  Principium  Ep.  ad  Ephesios,v.  4-. 
 See  also  Whitby,  Tomline,  and  Sumner,  and 
 Dr.  Taylor’s  Key  to  the  Apostolical  Writings 
 in  Bp.  Watson’s  Tracts. 
 
 In  a  word,  (that  I  may  quote  a  popular  and 
 most  useful  discourse  on  predestination  by  Dr. 
 Bloomfield,) 
 
 6i  All  who  are  baptized  into  the  name  ol 
 Christ,  and  profess  his  saving  faith,  are  elects 
 and  yet  may  forfeit  their  election  by  unchristian 
 conduct.  All  who  disown  Christ’s  holy  name, 
 or  dishonour  it  by  their  practice,  are  reprobates ; 
 and  yet,  by  God’s  grace,  may  be  brought  back 
 to  the  truth,  and  by  diligence  make  their  calling 
 and  election  sure.” 
 
 Having  thus  amply  demonstrated  that  Cal¬ 
 vinism  is  not  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  I  will 
 proceed  to  show  that  it  is  not  the  doctrine  of  the 
 church  of  England. 
 
 Of  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  England  a 
 
 O 
 
 judgment  must  be  formed  from  her  Liturgy,  her 
 Articles,  and  Homilies,  all  sanctioned  by  public 
 authority. 
 
 That  these  were  chiefly  projected,  framed,  and 
 completed  by  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer, 
 is  very  generally  admitted,  and  capable  of  most 
 satisfactory  proof. 
 
125 
 
 Obs. 
 
 It  becomes  then  a  point  of  peculiar  importance 
 to  ascertain  what  the  sentiments  of  these  great 
 men  were  ;  and,  if  we  have  abundant  evidence 
 that  they  wei*e  hostile  to  the  Calvinistic  system 
 of  absolute  decrees,  the  inference  will  be  good, 
 that  such  a  system  cannot  fairly  be  deduced  from 
 the  public  formularies  which  they  framed  and 
 sanctioned. 
 
 Now,  with  respect  to  Cranrner,  a  perusal  of 
 the  Necessary  Doctrine  and  Erudition  for  any 
 Christian  Man,”  published  in  the  year  1540, 
 must  convince  any  one  that  he  was  not  a  Cal¬ 
 vinist.  In  this  book,  as  Archdeacon  Daubeny 
 has  observed,  66  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  free¬ 
 will  are  explained  in  a  sense  totally  incompatible 
 with  the  Calvinistic  tenets,  and  the  doctrine  of 
 universal  redemption ,  in  direct  contradiction  to 
 partial  redemption ,  is  unequivocally  maintained.” 
 Preachers  in  particular  are  herein  cautioned, 
 “  that  they  neither  so  preach  the  grace  of  God, 
 that  they  take  away  thereby  free-will,  nor,  on 
 the  other  side,  so  extol  free-will,  that  injury  be 
 done  to  the  grace  of  God.” 
 
 With  respect  to  Ridley,  his  sentiments  are 
 well  known,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  hav¬ 
 ing  refused  to  approve  of  the  doctrines  of  pre¬ 
 destination  maintained  in  a  tract  of  Bradford's, 
 and  sent  to  him  by  the  author,  most  earnestly 
 requesting  his  sanction.  See  Dr.  Lawrence  on 
 this  subject. 
 
With  respect  to  Latimer,  I  will  only  produce 
 one  passage  from  his  writings,  but  that  one  will 
 be,  I  trust,  sufficient ;  it  is  from  his  sermon  on 
 the  third  Sunday  after  Epiphany :  fiC  Christ,” 
 says  he,  cc  shed  as  much  blood  for  Judas  as  he 
 did  for  Peter.” 
 
 The  friendly  correspondence  that  existed  be¬ 
 tween  Cranmer  and  Melancthon  is  well  known, 
 and  the  marked  hostility  to  Calvinism  mani¬ 
 fested  by  the  latter  is  equally  notorious.  The 
 frequent  manner  in  which  he  speaks  of  the 
 universality  of  the  promises  must  be  obvious  to 
 every  one  wrho  is  at  all  acquainted  with  his  works. 
 
 Let  it  be  recollected,  that  Melancthon  cor¬ 
 responded  with  Cranmer  on  the  subject  of  the 
 Articles,  and  just  before  the  Articles  were  pub¬ 
 lished;  and  that  some  of  the  Articles  have  such 
 a  resemblance  in  their  language  to  passages  ex¬ 
 tracted  from  his  works  as  to  leave  no  doubt  in 
 any  unprejudiced  mind  that  his  sentiments  and 
 manner  of  expression  were  studiously  adopted 
 by  Cranmer.  See  Dr.  Lawrence’s  Bampton 
 Lectures,  and  especially  the  notes.  See  also 
 Dr.  Copleston’s  Appendix  to  his  Enquiry  into 
 the  Doctrines  of  Necessity  and  Predestination. 
 
 Having  briefly  mentioned  these  things,  the 
 reader  may  draw  his  own  conclusions,  and  de¬ 
 cide  for  himself  whether  Calvinism,  in  any  shape, 
 can  be  the  offspring  of  such  men.  Whether 
 they  who  framed  the  Articles  66  for  the  avoiding 
 
Obs, 
 
 127 
 
 of  diversities  of  opinions,  and  for  the  stablishing 
 consent  touching*  true  religion,”  could  have  de¬ 
 signedly  framed  them,  as  some  contend,  with  an 
 ambiguity  of  diction  directly  calculated  to  pro¬ 
 duce  those  “  diversities”  of  opinion,  and  to 
 subvert  every  effort  ee  for  the  stablishing  of  con¬ 
 sent  touching  true  religion,”  by  thus  affording 
 abundant  fuel  for  perpetual  litigation  ? 
 
 “  The  meaning  of  every  subscription,”  says 
 Burnet  himself,  6i  is  to  be  taken  from  the  design 
 of  the  imposer.”  Now,  should  this  design  on 
 any  particular  occasion  be  less  clearly,  or  (I  will 
 say,  for  argument’s  sake,)  even  ambiguously  ex¬ 
 pressed,  how  is  it  to  be  ascertained  ?  Surely 
 the  plainest  rules  of  criticism  would  direct  us  to 
 construe  it  by  other  passages  of  the  same  writer, 
 when  treating  on  matters  connected  with  the 
 same  subject  clearly  and  unequivocally  delivered ; 
 and  where  these  passages  are  numerous,  the 
 satisfaction  is  more  complete. 
 
 “  Difficultas  intelligendi,”  says  Le  Clerc, 
 “  aliter  superari  nequit,  quam  cognitione  opi- 
 nionum  eorum  qui  loquuntur.”  And  again : 
 “  Quam  necessarium  sit  opiniones  Scriptorum 
 quos  legimus  scire,  ut  mentem  eorum  usque- 
 quaque  intelligamus.”  Art.  Crit . 
 
 But  let  us  nowproceed  to  examine  the  Liturgy 
 of  our  church.  And  here  I  would  observe,  that 
 the  whole  tenor  of  it  corroborates  the  doctrine 
 of  universal  redemption . 
 
128 
 
 Ohs, 
 
 Tlie  words  “we”  and  “us”  which  are  used 
 in  almost  every  line,  have  manifestly  a  reference 
 to  all  members  of  the  church. 
 
 For  instance,  when  we  say,  44  Dearly  beloved 
 brethren,  the  Scripture  moveth  us  in  sundry 
 places  to  confess  our  sins,  to  the  end  that  we 
 may  obtain  forgiveness  of  the  same,”  the 
 words  44 us”  and  44 .we”  clearlv  include  the 
 
 V 
 
 whole  congregation,  which  may  consist  of  two 
 or  three  thousand  souls,  who,  confessing  their 
 sins,  may  44  obtain  forgiveness,”  and  conse¬ 
 quently  be  saved.  The  same  argument  may  be 
 applied  to  every  other  part  of  the  Liturgy  where 
 the  words  44 us”  and  44 we”  are  used;  and  these 
 words  include  every  member  of  every  congre¬ 
 gation  where  our  Liturgy  is  read. 
 
 In  the  Absolution,  the  priest  says, 44  God,  who 
 desireth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner.”  Now,  God 
 cannot  with  consistency  be  represented  as  not 
 desiring  that  which  he  had  himself  decreed. 
 This  expression  is  also  used  in  the  Commination 
 service. 
 
 In  the  Te  Deum  we  say,  44  When  thou  tookest 
 upon  thee  to  deliver  man”  we  pray  that  those 
 servants  may  be  helped  whom  we  acknowledge 
 to  have  been  redeemed  with  Christ’s  precious 
 blood ;  and  we  also  pray  that  such  may  be 
 numbered  with  his  saints.  For  this  there  would 
 be  no  necessity  of  praying,  if  redemption  were 
 
Obs. 
 
 129 
 
 understood  in  the  Calvinistic  'sense,  for  these 
 
 benefits  would  then  follow  of  course. 
 
 In  the  General  Thanksgiving,  “Webless  thee 
 for  thine  inestimable  love  in  the  redemption 
 of  the  world r,  for  the  means  of  grace,  and  for 
 the  hope  of  glory.”  The  means  of  grace  we 
 have  absolutely  —  the  glory  is  not  a  matter  of 
 certainty  to  those  who  give  thanks  for  their  re¬ 
 demption,  it  is  only  a  subject  of  hope. 
 
 In  the  Litany  we  pray,  “  Lord,  spare  thy 
 people  whom  thou  hast  redeemed  with  thy  pre¬ 
 cious  blood.”  We  pray  that  those  may  yet  be 
 spared  who  have  already  been  redeemed. 
 
 In  the  same  Litany  we  pray,  “  That  it  may 
 please  God  to  have  mercy  upon  all  men”  This 
 is  in  perfect  harmony  with  Scripture,  which  de¬ 
 clares  that  66  God  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved 
 but  it  is  not  consistent  with  the  system  of  Calvin, 
 who  declares  that  God  has  decreed  the  far 
 greater  part  to  perish  everlastingly. 
 
 We  pray  al§o,  “  That  it  may  please  God  to 
 bring  into  the  way  of  truth  all  such  as  have 
 erred  and  are  deceived.”  Now,  all  we  have 
 erred  and  strayed  from  his  ways  like  lost  sheep ; 
 but  by  being  again  brought  into  the  way  of 
 truth,  and  persevering  therein,  by  God’s  grace 
 we  (all)  may  be  saved. 
 
 “  O  Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away  the  sins 
 of  the  world”  is  repeated  several  times  in  the 
 
 K  ' 
 
130 
 
 Obs. 
 
 Prayer-Book,  as  if  purposely  to  keep  before  our 
 eyes  the  greatness  and  extent  of  our  salvation. 
 
 In  the  Collect  for  Ash- Wednesday  we  pray, 
 44  Almighty  God,  who  hatest  nothing  that  thou 
 hast  made,  and  dost  forgive  the  sins  of  all  them 
 that  are  penitent.”  Now,  all  may  be  penitent, 
 for  God  44  commandeth  all  men  every  where  to 
 repent,”  and  we  know  that  44  Nemo  obligatur  ad 
 impossible.” 
 
 In  the  Collect  for  Good- Friday,  we  pray  that 
 44 All  Jews ,  Turks,  Infidels,  and  Heretics,  may 
 be  saved  among  the  number  of  the  true  Israel¬ 
 ites.”  This  prayer  would  be  absurd  without  a 
 persuasion  of  universal  redemption. 
 
 In  the  Nicene  Creed  we  acknowledge  that 
 Jesus  Christ  44  for  7is  men  and  for  our  salvation 
 came  down  from  Heaven.” 
 
 Here  44  men”  evidently  means  all  who  repeat 
 the  creed. 
 
 In  the  prayer  for  Christ’s  church  militant 
 here  on  earth,  we  say  that  we  are  44  taught  to 
 make  prayers  and  supplications  for  all  men” 
 To  what  end  if  we  believed  not  that  all  men 
 might  be  saved  ? 
 
 In  the  exhortation  at  the  time  of  the  cele¬ 
 bration  of  the  communion  we  hear  this  expres¬ 
 sion,  44  Ye  must  give  thanks  to  God  the  Father 
 for  the  redemption  of  the  world”  In  what  Sense 
 are  the  congregation  supposed  to  understand 
 the  word  44  world  ?” 
 
Obs. 
 
 131 
 
 In  the  prayer  of  consecration  we  read,  44  A1 
 mighty  God,  who  didst  give  thine  only  Son  to 
 suffer  death  upon  the  cross  for  our  redemption, 
 who  made  there,  by  his  oblation  of  himself,  a 
 full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation, 
 and  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world'7 
 
 The  elements  are  given  to  every  individual 
 communicant  with  these  words,  s<  The  body  of 
 our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  given  for  thee." 
 The  blood  which  was  shed  for  thee . 
 
 For  thee ,  whosoever  thou  art. 
 
 In  the  Catechism,  to  the  question,  44  What 
 dost  thou  chiefly  learn  in  these  articles  of  thy 
 belief?”  the  catechumen  answers,  after  assert¬ 
 ing,  first,  his  belief  in  God,  secondly,  44  I  learn 
 to  believe  in  God  the  Son,  who  hath  redeemed 
 me  and  all  mankind The  word  ccme”  of 
 course  is  applicable  to  every  soul  repeating  the 
 answer  ;  and  the  words  44  cdl  mankind ,”  compre¬ 
 hend  every  other  individual  of  the  whole  human 
 race. 
 
 Again,  the  catechumen  being  asked  what  he 
 desires  of  God  in  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  answers, 
 44  That  he  desires  his  heavenly  Father  to  send 
 his  grace  unto  him  and  to  all  people."  To 
 what  intent,  but  that  all  may  receive  salvation, 
 for,  44  by  grace  we  are  saved  ?” 
 
 These  extracts,  to  which  many  more  might 
 be  added,  sufficiently  prove  the  doctrine  of  our 
 church  with  respect  to  universal  redemption, 
 
 K  2 
 
Gbs, 
 
 13% 
 
 as  far  as  the  Liturgy  is  concerned;  let  us  look  it 
 this  be  also  the  doctrine  of  the  Articles. 
 
 The  second  Article  declares,  that  44  Christ 
 suffered  to  reconcile  his  Father  to  us,  and  to  be 
 a  sacrifice,  not  only  for  original  guilt,  but  also 
 for  actual  sins  of  men.” 
 
 Original  guilt  (as  Bishop  Tomline  has  ob¬ 
 served),  belongs  to  all  men ,  and  therefore  the 
 actual  sins  of  all  men  must  likewise  be  under¬ 
 stood,  and,  consequently,  according  to  this  arti¬ 
 cle,  Christ  died  to  be  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of 
 the  whole  human  race. 
 
 The  seventh  Article  tells  us,  that 44  Everlasting 
 life  is  offered  to  mankind  by  Christ,  who  is  the 
 only  Mediator  between  God  and  man.”  The 
 word  44  mankind ,”  of  course,  includes  every  indi¬ 
 vidual  of  the  human  race. 
 
 The  fifteenth  Article  declares,  that  44  Christ 
 came  to  be  the  Lamb  who  should  take  away  the 
 sins  of  the  world.” 
 
 Would  the  framers  of  our  Articles  have  used 
 the  comprehensive  word  44  world,”  if  they  de¬ 
 signed  to  assert  a  partial  redemption  ? 
 
 The  thirty-first  Article  says,  that  44  The  offer¬ 
 ing  of  Christ  once  made,  is  that  perfect  redemp¬ 
 tion,  propitiation,  and  satisfaction  for  all  the  sins 
 of  the  whole  worlds  both  original  and  actual.” 
 Words,  says  Bishop  Tomline,  cannot  be  more 
 comprehensive  than  those  which  are  here  used, 
 44  all  the  sins  of  the  whole  would ,  both  original 
 
133 
 
 Obs. 
 
 and  actual every  sin,  of  every  sort,  of  every 
 human  being. 
 
 Such  is  the  language  of  the  Articles :  let  us 
 now  examine  the  Homilies. 
 
 In  the  first  Homily,  concerning  the  reading 
 of  Holy  Scripture,  we  find,  66  That  whatso¬ 
 ever  is  required  to  the  salvation  .of  man ,  is  fully 
 contained  in  the  Scripture  of  God.”  “  There 
 is  whatsoever  is  meet  for  all  ages  and  for  all  de¬ 
 grees  and  soils  of  men;  the  knowledge  of  the 
 same  is  necessary  and  profitable  unto  all  men” 
 66  God  receiveth  the  learned  and  unlearned,  and 
 casteth  away  none ,  but  is  indifferent  unto  all. 
 By  that  means  we  shall  have  God’s  defence, 
 favour,  and  grace,  &e. ;  which  He  grant  us  all , 
 that  died  for  us  all” 
 
 In  the  Homily  concerning  the  misery  of  man, 
 we  read,  “  Pie  is  the  Lord,  with  whom  is  plen¬ 
 teous  redemption.  He  is  that  dearly  beloved 
 Son,  for  whose  sake  God  is  fully  pacified,  satis¬ 
 fied,  and  set  at  one  with  man”  6£  He  is  the 
 Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
 the  world  ” 
 
 The  third  Homily  professedly  treats  of  the 
 salvation  of  all  mankind  ” 
 
 In  the  Homily  of  good  works  we  read,  “  For 
 his  (God’s)  sake,  love  all  men ,  friends  and  foes, 
 because  they  be.  his  creation  and  image,  and 
 redeemed  by  Christy  as  ye  are  ” 
 
 K.  3 
 
In  the  Homily  of  the  nativity  we  have,  “  Oh  ! 
 what  a  miserable  and  woeful  state  was  this  (the 
 state  brought  on  man  by  Adam’s  disobedience) 
 that  the  son  of  one  man  should  destroy  and  con¬ 
 demn  all  men  :  but,  behold  the  tender  mercy  of 
 God  in  this  behalf:  albeit  man’s  (every  man’s) 
 wickedness  and  sinful  behaviour  was  such  that 
 it  deserved  not  in  any  part  to  be  forgiven ;  yet 
 to  the  intent  that  he  ( man ,  every  man)  might  not 
 be  clean  destitute  of  all  hope  and  comfort,  He 
 ordained  a  new  covenant,  and  made  a  sure  pro¬ 
 mise  thereof ;  namely,  that  he  would  send  a 
 Mediator  into  the  world,  which  should  put  him¬ 
 self  as  a  stay  between  both  parties  (God  and 
 man,  all  men),  to  deliver  man  ( all  men)  out  of 
 the  curse  whereinto  he  was  fallen ;  and  to  the 
 intent  that  mankind  might  not  despair,  God 
 never  ceased  to  publish  the  sarne.  As  truly  as 
 God  liveth,  so  truly  was  Jesus  Christ  the  true 
 Messiah  and  Saviour  of  the  world.  He  was 
 such  a  Messiah  as  should  deliver  mankind  from 
 the  bitter  curse  of  the  law,  and  make  perfect 
 satisfaction  by  his  death  for  the  sins  of  all  peo- 
 fie.  The  end  of  his  coming  was,  last  of  all,  to 
 become  a  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not  for 
 our’s  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
 world .  Was  not  this  a  great  and  singular  love 
 of  Christ  towards  mankind  ? 
 
 In  the  Homily  for  Good- Friday,  we  read, 
 54  So  pleasant  (to  God)  was  this  sacrifice  and 
 
>0 
 
 Ohs« 
 
 oblation  of  his  Son’s  death,  that  he  would  take 
 it  for  the  only  and  full  amends  for  all  the  sins  of 
 the  world.  That  we  may  the  better  conceive  the 
 great  mercy  of  Christ  in  suffering  death  univers¬ 
 ally  for  all  men .  To  whom  did  he  (God)  give 
 him  ?  (Christ.)  He  gave  him  to  the  whole  world ; 
 to  Adam ,  and  all  that  should  come  after  him. 
 
 In  the  Resurrection  Homily  it  is  said,  "  He 
 (Jesus  Christ)  paid  the  ransom  of  sin ;  he  de¬ 
 stroyed  the  Devil,  and  took  away  from  him  all 
 his  captives” 
 
 In  the  Homily  of  the  worthy  receiving,  &c., 
 we  read,  “  The  death  of  Christ  is  available  for 
 the  redemption  of  all  the  world. 
 
 Surely  our  Homilies,  as  well  as  our  Articles 
 and  Liturgy,  are  sufficiently  clear  on  the  subject 
 of  Universal  Redemption. 
 
 But,  besides  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Re¬ 
 demption,  our  church  as  clearly  teaches  con¬ 
 ditional  salvation ;  and  is  in  this  respect  also 
 decidedly  opposed  to  Calvinism,  which  glories  in 
 excluding  conditionality.  Our  Liturgy  teaches 
 us  to  pray,  €t  That  the  rest  of  our  life  may  be 
 pure  and  holy,  so  that  we  may  come  to  eternal 
 joy.  That  the  ministers  of  Christ  may  so  pre¬ 
 pare  the  way,  that  we  may  be  found  acceptable  in 
 his  sight.  That  we  may  so  pass  through  things 
 temporal,  as  finally  to  lose  not  the  things  eternal. 
 That  we  may  sd  faithfully  serve  him  in  this  life, 
 that  we  fail  not  finally  to  attain  his  heavenly 
 
 K  4 
 
136 
 
 Obs. 
 
 promises.”  “  Such,  and  similar  expressions,’7 
 
 says  Bishop  Marsh,  “  it  is  impossible  to  recon¬ 
 cile  with  Calvin’s  doctrine  of  salvation.” 
 
 In  addition  to  the  doctrines  of  Universal 
 Redemption  and  Conditional  Salvation  being 
 taught  by  the  church  of  England,  I  would  di¬ 
 rect  the  reader’s  attention  to  some  other  inter¬ 
 esting  facts. 
 
 With  respect  to  the  meaning  of  the  word 
 u  Elect,”  our  baptismal  service  considers  every 
 person  that  is  baptized  fully  entitled  to  this  ap¬ 
 pellation. 
 
 We  call  upon  God  in  behalf  of  the  person  to 
 be  baptized,  “  That  he  may  receive  the  fullness 
 of  God’s  grace,  and  ever  remain  in  the  number 
 of  his  faithful  and  elect  children.” 
 
 The  word  <c  remain ”  clearly  supposes  the 
 person  by  baptism  to  be  made  one  of  the  elect ; 
 and  the  prayer  supposes  it  possible  that  he  may 
 not  so  remain . 
 
 The  whole  of  the  offices  for  baptism  is  well 
 worthy  of  attention,  as  connected  with  this  sub¬ 
 ject.  The  minister,  in  the  exhortation,  saysy 
 “  Doubt  ye  not  therefore,  (mark  the  confidence 
 of  the  expression,)  but  earnestly  believe ,  that  he 
 will  likewise  favourably  receive  this  infant ;  that 
 he  will  embrace  him  with  the  arms  of  his  mercy ; 
 that  he  will  give  unto  him  the  blessing  of  eter¬ 
 nal  life,  and  make  him  partaker  of  his  everlasting 
 kingdom.” 
 
 1* 
 
137 
 
 This  is  asserted  of  every  child  brought  to  be 
 baptized,  and  is  not  to  be  made  a  matter  of 
 doubt ,  but  to  be  earnestly  believed. 
 
 After  the  child  is  baptized ,  the  priest  shall  say, 
 44  We  yield  thee  hearty  thanks,  most  merciful 
 Father,  that  it  hath  pleased  thee  to  regenerate 
 this  infant  with  thy  Holy  Spirit,  to  receive  him 
 lor  thine  own  child  by  adoption,”  &c. 
 
 The  thanksgiving  is  offered  for  a  blessing, 
 that  beyond  all  doubt  in  the  opinion  of  the 
 Church  has  been  received,  and  this  by  every 
 child  baptized. 
 
 Observe,  also,  what  is  said  at  the  end  of  this 
 service :  44  It  is  certain ,  by  God’s  word,  that 
 children  which  are  baptized,  dying  before  they 
 commit  actual  sin,  are  undoubtedly  saved.” 
 
 Compare  this  charitable  declaration  with  the 
 ferocious,  I  may  add,  the  unchristian  doctrines 
 of  the  Calvinists. 
 
 44  Idem  in  baptismo,”  says  Beza,  *  44  quern 
 multa  millia  infantium  accipiunt,  qui  tamen 
 nunquam  regenerantur ,  sed  in  eeternum  per  cunt” 
 
 Look  at  the  Nova  Dogmata,  as  stated  by 
 Grotius,  in  his  Disq.  de  Dog.  Pelag.  44  Infantes 
 quosdam  etiam  in  infantid  morientes  et  fidelium 
 liberos,  et  baptizcitos  gehennae  suppliciis  addici 
 ob  originis  peccatum.” 
 
 And  again,  in  his  Rivet.  Apol.  Discussio. 
 4{  Cum  Calvinus  ab  ejusdem  matris  Christianas 
 uberihus  alios  dicit  ad  ccelum  evehi,  alios  ad 
 
138 
 
 Ohs. 
 
 gehcnnam  detrudi,  nullo  baptism!  perccpti  aut 
 non  percepti  discrimine;  nimirum  ex  vi  illius 
 decreti,  quo  Deus  decreverat,  non  permittendo 
 tantum,  sed  et  volendo,  turn  ut  necessario  defi- 
 ceret  Adam,  turn  nt  tot  gentes  cum  liberis  eorum 
 infantibus,  seternse  morti  per  lapsum  ilium  tra- 
 ducerentur  absque  remedio.  Quod  decretum 
 cum  6  horribile ’  dixit  ipse  Calvinus,  minus 
 quam  res  est  dixit.” 
 
 What  a  striking  contrast  do  these  opinions 
 afford  to  the  merciful  and  benevolent  declar¬ 
 ations  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world  ! 
 
 It  grieves  me  to  observe  that  Calvin,  though 
 justly  eminent  in  some  respects,  was  yet  charac¬ 
 terized  by  a  bigotted  and  intolerant  spirit.  Im¬ 
 patient  of  opposition,  he  persecuted  to  the  death, 
 or  loaded  with  the  most  opprobrious  epithets 
 those  who  dared  to  differ  from  his  peculiar  way 
 of  thinking,  and  has  left  behind  him  a  reputation 
 more  calculated  to  excite  the  horror  than  to  win 
 the  love  of  mankind.  See  Grolhis ,  Vot .  pro 
 Pace  Bed.  ad  Art.  1. 
 
 But  to  proceed,  there  are  yet  some  more  re¬ 
 marks  which  I  would  offer,  to  prove  that  the 
 doctrines  of  our  church  are  not  Calvinistic. 
 Let  us  look  again  at  the  Articles. 
 
 The  ninth  Article  says,  that  ££  Man  is  very 
 far  gone  from  original  righteousness.” 
 
 The  Calvinist  says,  that  he  is  wholly  fallen, 
 
 “  When  the  assembly  of  divines,  in  the  reign 
 
139 
 
 of  Charles  the  First,  undertook  to  reform,'  as 
 they  called  it,  our  Articles  according  to  the 
 Calvinistic  creed,  they  proposed  to  omit  the 
 words  4 4  man  is  very  far  gone  from  original 
 righteousness/’  and  to  substitute  for  them, 
 44  man  is  wholly  deprived  of  original  righteous¬ 
 ness.”  It  was  admitted  by  both  parties,  that 
 the  two  sentences  conveyed  ideas  extremely 
 different;  and  the  proposed  alteration  was  re¬ 
 jected  by  those  who  wished  to  maintain  the 
 ancient  and  established  doctrine  of  the  church 
 of  England,  in  opposition  to  the  peculiar  tenets 
 of  Calvin.”  Tomline . 
 
 The  tenth  Article  speaks  of  the  grace  of  God 
 working  with  us  when  we  have  a  good  will. 
 
 The  expression  44  working  with  us ”  implies, 
 that  we  also  are  concerned  in  the  work,  and  has 
 a  manifest  allusion  to  that  co-operation  of  the 
 grace  of  God  and  the  free-will  of  man,  which  is 
 ever  taught  by  the  sound  minister  of  our  church. 
 
 The  sixteenth  Article  declares,  that  44  After 
 we  have  received  .the  Holy  Ghost,  we  may  depart 
 from  grace  given,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  we 
 may  arise  again  and  amend  our  lives.” 
 
 Observe.  There  is  no  allusion  in  the  Arti¬ 
 cle  to  the  certainty  of  their  rising  again,  who 
 have  fallen  after  having  received  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 which  is  true  Calvinism.  —  The  Article  only 
 says  may  arise  —  not  Calvinistically,  must,  shall 9 
 or  will  arise  —  only  may  arise ,  and  therefore 
 may  not , 
 
MO 
 
 Obs, 
 
 “  The  Puritans  were  so  convinced  that  the 
 doctrine  of  the  defectibility  of  grace,  contrary 
 to  their  own  tenets,  was  taught  in  this  Article, 
 that  in  the  Hampton  Court  conference  they  de¬ 
 sired  that  the  words  64  yet  neither  totally  nor 
 finally  ”  might  be  added  to  the  words  44  we  may 
 depart  from  grace  given but  this  addition  was 
 not  allowed,  and  the  Article  and  the  doctrine  of 
 the  church  of  England  remained  unaltered.” 
 
 Tomline . 
 
 I  will  now  offer  some  observations  on  the 
 seventeenth  Article.  The  Article  begins  with 
 a  definition  of  predestination,  (this  word  is  not 
 .  to  be  found  in  Scripture;)  and  states  that  44  pre¬ 
 destination  to  life”  is  the  everlasting  purpose  of 
 God,  whereby  he  hath  decreed  to  deliver  from 
 curse  and  damnation  those  whom  he  hath 
 chosen  in  Christ  out  of  mankind. 
 
 Those  then  whom  God  has  purposed  to  save, 
 are  those  44  whom  he  hath  chosen  in  Christ  out 
 of  mankind.” 
 
 The  important  question  then  is,  Whom  has 
 he  thus  chosen  ?  1  apprehend  the  answer  to  be 
 obvious  —  all  Christians;  all  who  are  baptized 
 into  the  name  of  Christ.  Not  a  few  from  among 
 Christians,  but  all  Christians  out  of  mankind. 
 
 These  are  the  objects  of  God’s  purpose  and 
 favour.  And  that  this  is  the  view  taken  by  our 
 church  is  clear,  from  those  parts  ol  the  baptis¬ 
 mal  service  tc  which  I  have  already  referred. 
 
Obs, 
 
 141 
 
 There,  every  person  that  is  baptised  is  con¬ 
 sidered  as  one  of  the  elect .  That  God  will 
 favourably  receive  the  infant,  that  he  will  em¬ 
 brace  him  with  the  arms  of  his  mercy,  that  he 
 will  give  unto  him  the  blessing  of  eternal  life, 
 and  make  him  partaker  of  his  everlasting  king¬ 
 dom,  is  not  to  be  a  matter  of  doubt  and  uncer¬ 
 tainty,  but  to  be  <e earnestly  believed,”  —  nay,  — 
 in  the  Catechism,  every  child,  without  any  excep¬ 
 tion,  states  the  period  of  his  baptism  to  have 
 been  the  time  when  he  was  actually  “  made  a 
 member  of  Christ,  a  child  of  God,  and  an  in¬ 
 heritor  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.”  Every 
 child  is  taught  to  thank  his  heavenly  Father 
 that  he  hath  called  him  to  a  state  of  salvation ; 
 every  one  to  profess  a  belief  in  God  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  who  sanctifieth  him  in  particular,  as 
 well  as  all  the  elect  people  of  God ;  thus  calling 
 himself  one  of  the  elect. 
 
 Again:  —  Without  predestination  to  life  no 
 one  can  be  saved;  but  our  church  positively 
 affirms,  that  <c  It  is  certain  by  God’s  word,  that 
 children  which  are  baptized  dying  before  they 
 commit  actual  sin,  are  undoubtedly  saved. 
 Such  children,  therefore,  are  considered  by  our 
 church  as  c  predestined  to  life and  what 
 judgment  could  the  church  have  so  decidedly 
 formed  on  this  subject,  but  from  that  certainty 
 with  which  she  beholds  the  benefits  conferred 
 by  baptism  ?” 
 
After  defining  predestination,  the  Article 
 proceeds  to  point  out  the  various  steps  by 
 which  those  who  are  ultimately  saved ,  attain  to 
 everlasting  felicity.  It  will  be  recollected  that 
 these  steps  are  only  predicated  of  such  as  “  at¬ 
 tain  everlasting  felicity;”  and  that  they  cannot 
 with  propriety  be  applied  to  any  Christian  who 
 has  not  finished  his  course.  But  at  the  same 
 time  they  are  marks  by  which  all  Christians  are 
 capable  of  judging,  whether  their  present  con¬ 
 dition  be  safe  or  not.  If,  having  been  “ called 
 to  a  state  of  salvation,”  “they  through  grace 
 obey  the  calling,”  if  £c  they  walk  religiously  in 
 good  works,”  they  have  the  most  consoling 
 reasons  for  believing,  that  “  at  length  by  God’s 
 mercy  they  may  attain  to  everlasting  felicity.” 
 
 Now,  for  a  church  of  England-man  to  argue 
 that,  because  a  Christian  is  thus  predestinated 
 to  eternal  life,  he  is  therefore  unconditionally 
 and  irrespectively  elected  to  everlasting  salva¬ 
 tion,  is  the  most  absurd  thing  in  the  world  ;  for, 
 if  we  look  at  that  very  service  which  has  placed 
 him  among  the  predestinated  and  the  elect,  we 
 shall  find  that  conditions  are  expressly  demanded 
 and  insisted  on,  and  that  the  sacrament  of  bap¬ 
 tism  is  only  administered  upon  a  solemn  pledge 
 being  given  that  these  conditions  shall  be  per¬ 
 formed. 
 
 Such,  then,  is  the  consideration  of  predesti¬ 
 nation  and  election  recommended  by  the  Arti- 
 
Obs. 
 
 143 
 
 ele,  and  declared  to  be  full  of  sweet,  pleasant, 
 and  unspeakable  comfort  to  godly  persons. 
 
 But  there  is  another  view  of  predestination 
 referred  to  in  this  Article,  and  condemned  in 
 the  strongest  language.  This  is  what  the 
 Article  terms  “  the  sentence  of  God’s  predesti¬ 
 nation,”  and  it  is  declared  to  be  a  most  danger¬ 
 ous  downfall,  “  whereby  the  Devil  doth  thrust 
 them  (who  have  it  before  their  eyes)  either  into 
 desperation  or  into  wretchlessness  of  unclean 
 living,  no  less  perilous  than  desperation.” 
 
 Now,  this  sentence  can  be  nothing  else  than 
 the  notion  of  irrespective,  inevitable  reprobation. 
 But  irrespective  election  cannot  exist  without 
 irrespective  reprobation ;  therefore,  if  this  part 
 of  the  Article  condemn  the  doctrine  of  irre¬ 
 spective  reprobation,  it  cannot  be  supposed  to 
 teach  in  the  former  part  the  doctrine  of  irre¬ 
 spective  election,  —  for  these  two  must  stand  or 
 fall  together;  and  such  is  the  decided  judgment 
 of  Calvin.  <c  Multi,”  says  he,  “  electionem  ita 
 fatentur,  ut  negent  quenquam  reprobari :  sed 
 inscite  nimis  et  pueriliter :  quando  ipsa  electio 
 nisi  reprobation!  opposita  non  slaret .  Quos 
 Deus  preterit,  reprobat ;  neque  alia  de  causa, 
 nisi  quod  ab  haereditate,  quam  filiis  suis  pre- 
 destinat,  ilios  vult  excludere.”  Inst .  lib.  iii. 
 cap .  23.  sect.  1 . 
 
 The  article  concludes  by  stating,  u  that  we 
 must  receive  God’s  promises  in  such  wise  as 
 
Obs, 
 
 144 
 
 they  he  generally  set  forth  to  us  in  Holy 
 Scripture;  and  in  our  doings,  that  will  of  God 
 is  to  be  followed,  which  we  have  expressly  de¬ 
 clared  to  us  in  the  word  of  God.” 
 
 Now  admitting,  for  argument’s  sake,  that  the 
 Article  has  been  hitherto  clad  in  doubtful  lan¬ 
 guage,  we  have  here  expressions  that  make 
 every  thing  clear.  And  when  we  are  told,  that 
 we  must  receive  the  promises  of  God  as  they  be 
 generally  set  forth  in  Scripture,  we  must  appeal 
 to  the  framers  of  the  Article  for  their  opinion 
 with  respect  to  the  promises. 
 
 And  here,  fortunately,  we  have  abundance 
 of  evidence.  The  opinions  of  Cranmer  and 
 Melancthon  are  no  secret :  they  are  now,  and 
 have  long  been,  notorious  to  the  world.  I  have 
 before  alluded  to  the  friendship  and  union  of 
 sentiment  that  subsisted  between  these  two 
 eminent  divines,  and  have  shown  not  only  that 
 Cranmer  was  no  Calvinist,  but  that  the  works 
 of  Melancthon  are  full  of  passages  in  which  the 
 universality  of  the  promises  is  most  unequivo¬ 
 cally  declared. 
 
 “  It  appears,”  says  Bishop  Tomline,  “  that 
 the  Calvinistic  doctrines  of  election  and  repro¬ 
 bation,  are  not  only  not  maintained  in  this  Arti¬ 
 cle,  but  that  they  are  disclaimed  and  condemned 
 in  the  strongest  terms” 
 
 “  This  Article,”  says  Bishop  Marsh,  66  is 
 directly  opposite  to  Calvin’s  doctrine  of  predes¬ 
 tination.” 
 
Obs. 
 
 145 
 
 If  further  satisfaction  be  required  by  the 
 reader,  he  is  referred  to  Dr.  Winchester’s  Dis¬ 
 sertation  on  this  Article ;  to  Playfere’s  Analysis; 
 to  Archdeacon  Daubeny’s  fourth  letter  in  the 
 Appendix  to  his  Church  Guide;  to  the  last 
 Sermon  preached  by  Dr.  Laurence  at  the 
 Bampton  Lecture  for  1804,  and  especially  the 
 Notes ;  and  to  the  Observations  of  Dr.  Cople- 
 ston,  at  the  end  of  his  admirable  work  on  the 
 Doctrines  of  Necessity  and  Predestination.  In 
 the  eighteenth  Article  of  the  Consiiltatio  Cas - 
 sandri  there  is  also  an  excellent  description  of 
 the  true  notion  of  predestination. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 ON  REGENERATION. 
 
 — BBfiBBP*  1 
 
 T pie  term  regeneration  was  well  known  to 
 
 O 
 
 the  Jews,  and  was  used  to  designate  those 
 Gentiles  who,  as  proselytes  of  righteousness, 
 were  circumcised  and  baptized,  and  took  upon 
 them  to  observe  the  whole  Mosaic  law. 
 
 A  proselyte  of  this  description,  say  the  Tal¬ 
 mudists,  is  esteemed  as  an  infant  newly  born . 
 There  remains  no  sort  of  relationship  between 
 him  and  his  former  kindred ;  his  brother,  father, 
 sister,  mother,  nay,  even  his  own  children,  if 
 born  before  the  change,  cease  to  be  considered 
 as  at  all  related  to  him. 
 
 It  is  perhaps  not  improbable  that  our  Saviour 
 may  have  alluded  to  this,  Matt.  xix.  29.,  u  And 
 every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren, 
 or  sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  child'- 
 ren,  for  my  name’s  sake and  Mark,  x.  29,  30. 
 the  same. 
 
 To  this  also  St.  Paul  may  be  reasonably  sup¬ 
 posed  to  allude,  when  he  says,  £C  If  any  man  be 
 in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature ;  old  things  are 
 
 O 
 
147 
 
 Ohs. 
 
 passed  away and  St.  Peter,  when  he  speaks 
 of  C£  being  begotten  again  ”  1  Peter,  i.  3.,  and 
 1  Peter,  ii.  2.,  of  “  new-born  babes .”  But  whether 
 this  be  so  or  no,  the  term  Regeneration  was  known 
 to  the  Jews;  and  we  see  that  our  Saviour  accord¬ 
 ingly  was  surprised  that  Nicodemus  should  have 
 so  misapprehended  him  when  he  discoursed  con¬ 
 cerning  the  necessity  of  a  new  birth,  John,  iii. 
 For  a  proof  of  what  has  been  said  hitherto,  see 
 Selden  de  Jure  Nat.  ct  Gent,  juxta  Discip. 
 Ebrce .  lib.  ii.  c.  2.  and  c.  4.  See  also  Dr.  Ham¬ 
 mond,  Of  the  baptizing  of  Infants ;  Waterland’s 
 Discourse  on  Regeneration,  and  Wall’s  Infant 
 Baptism.  Much  excellent  information  may  be 
 obtained  on  this  subject  in  Bishop  Van  Mildert’s 
 sixth  Bampton  Lecture,  and  the  valuable  notes 
 in  the  Appendix. 
 
 Perhaps  the  following  would  be  a  proper 
 paraphrase  of  our  Lord’s  discourse  to  Nico¬ 
 demus,  John,  iii.  10.  :  —~ 
 
 “  Is  it  possible  that  you,  a  master  of  Israel, 
 who  know  that  proselytes,  upon  their  initiation 
 into  the  Jewish  covenant,  are  called  Regenerate , 
 can  be  altogether  a  stranger  to  what  I  am  say¬ 
 ing  ?  You  call  that  Gentile  regenerate,  or  new¬ 
 born,  who,  by  circumcision  and  baptism,  is 
 admitted  among  you  ;  and  can  you  be  at  a  loss 
 to  know  my  meaning  wrhen  I  am  speaking  of  a 
 new  birth  by  baptism  and  the  Spirit,  as  neces- 
 
 L  2 
 
Obs. 
 
 148 
 
 sary  for  a  person  who  would  become  my  pro¬ 
 selyte,  or  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  ?” 
 
 The  meaning  of  the  term  Regeneration,  then, 
 as  applied  to  Christians,  is  an  initiation  into 
 the  Christian  covenant :  this  initiation  is  made 
 by  baptism ;  by  that  sacrament,  whose  outward 
 part  is  water,  whose  inward  is  a  death  unto  sin 
 and  new  birth  unto  righteousness. 
 
 I  will  now  place  before  the  reader  some  of 
 those  texts  of  Scripture  which  appear  to  be  im¬ 
 portant,  as  connected  with  this  subject. 
 
 John, 
 
 iii.  3.  Except  a  person  be  born  again ,  he  can¬ 
 not  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 
 
 Here  the  necessity  of  the  new  birth  is  stated^ 
 Nicodemus  does  not  at  first  comprehend  this; 
 and  our  Lord  explains  it  further  by  saying, 
 
 5.  Except  a  person  be  born  of  water  and 
 the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  king¬ 
 dom  of  God. 
 
 Here  the  regeneration  which  was  before  de¬ 
 clared  necessary  is  said  to  be  such  an  one  as 
 must  be  of  water  as  well  as  the  Spirit. 
 
 See  Hooker's  Ecc .  Pol.  lib.  v.  59,  60. 
 
 iii.  11.  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water;  but 
 he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
 and  with  lire. 
 
 19 
 
John. 
 
 149 
 
 The  baptism  of  John  was  accompanied  with 
 no  gifts;  but  the  Christian  baptism  with  the 
 Holy  Ghost.  For  the  fire,  see  Acts,  ii.  3. 
 
 Acts, 
 
 ii.  38.  Repent,  said  St.  Peter,  preaching  to 
 the  Jews,  and  let  every  one  of  you  be 
 baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and 
 ye  shall  receive  the  Holy  Ghost. 
 
 Remission  of  sins,  and  the  reception  of  the 
 Holy  Spirit,  are  here  joined  to  baptism. 
 
 xxii.  16.  And  now,  said  Ananias  to  St.  Paul, 
 why  tarriest  thou  ?  Arise,  and  be  bap¬ 
 tized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins. 
 
 Sins  are  washed  away  by  baptism. 
 
 Rom. 
 
 vi.4.  We  are  buried  with  Christ  through 
 baptism  unto  death  ;  that  as  Christ  was 
 raised  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the 
 Father,  so  also  we  should  walk  in  newness 
 of  life. 
 
 1  Cor.  Being  dead,  we  are  buried  with  Christ  by 
 the  means  of  baptism ;  but  as  Christ  was  raised 
 from  the  dead,  so  also  we,  by  baptism,  are  raised 
 
 to  newness  of  life. 
 
 Need  I  add,  that  a  new  life  after  death  must 
 be  regeneration,  and  that  this  is  manifestly  at¬ 
 tributed  to  baptism  ? 
 
♦ 
 
 150 
 
 1  Cor. 
 
 vi.  ll.  Such  were  some  of  you;  but  ye  have 
 been  washed,  ye  have  been  sanctified,  ye 
 have  been  justified  in  the  name  of  our 
 Lord,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God. 
 
 Having  been  washed  in  Christ’s  name  de¬ 
 notes  baptism  in  his  name;  being  sanctified  and 
 justified  express  the  first  benefits  accompanying 
 that  baptism. 
 
 xii.  13.  We  being  baptized  into  one  body,  are 
 made  to  drink  of  one  spirit. 
 
 Here  is  baptism  joined  to  the  spiritual  be¬ 
 nefits  again. 
 
 Gal. 
 
 iii.  27.  As  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized 
 into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ. 
 
 And  therefore  put  off  the  old  man,  and  be¬ 
 come  regenerate  by  putting  on  the  new;  and 
 this  is  predicated  of  all  that  have  been  baptized. 
 
 Eph. 
 
 v.  26.  Christ  loved  his  church,  and  delivered 
 himself  for  it,  that  lie  might  sanctify  it, 
 CoL  purging  it  by  the  washing  of  water. 
 
 ii.  12.  Buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein 
 also  ye  are  risen  with  him. 
 
 To  live  after  death  and  burial  is  a  new  birth, 
 and  this  is  attributed  to  baptism. 
 
Tit. 
 iii,  5. 
 
 151 
 
 He  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  rege¬ 
 neration. 
 
 Heb. 
 
 x.  22. 
 
 Here  again  baptism  and  regeneration  go  to¬ 
 gether. 
 
 O 
 
 Having  our  bodies  washed  with  pure 
 water,  let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of 
 our  faith  without  wavering. 
 
 Having  been  by  baptism  made  Christians, 
 let  us  steadfastly  continue  such.  Baptism  is 
 here  referred  to  as  the  foundation  of  the  Chris¬ 
 tian  life. 
 
 The  verses  which  I  have  quoted  contain  some 
 most  important  truths  connected  with  baptism. 
 In  some  of  them,  regeneration  is  evidently  con¬ 
 sidered  as  produced  by  this  sacrament;  and,  in 
 others,  forgiveness  of  sins  and  the  gifts  of  the 
 Holy  Spirit,  neither  of  which  can  well  be  con¬ 
 ceived  without  spiritual  regeneration,  are  de¬ 
 clared  to  accompany  it. 
 
 Obs.  Let  us  now  examine  whether  some  of  the 
 fathers  do  not  speak  plainly  upon  this  subject. 
 
 “  That  we  may  obtain  by  water  the  remission 
 of  our  past  sins,  the  name  of  the  Father  and  the 
 Lord  God  of  the  universe  is  invoked  for  him 
 that  chooses  to  be  regenerated.’7 
 
 Justin  Martyr,  Ajpol.  ii. 
 
 L  f 
 
Obs. 
 
 1 52 
 
 And  from  his  dialogue  with  Trypho,  as 
 translated  by  Bishop  Tomline,  “  Afterwards 
 they  are  conducted  by  us  to  a  place  where  there 
 is  water,  and  they  are  regenerated ,  according 
 to  the  same  mode  of  regeneration  by  which  we 
 ourselves  were  regenerated :  they  are  then 
 washed  with  water  in  the  name  of  our  Father, 
 and  of  our  Saviour,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.” 
 “  This  passage,”  says  the  Bishop,  “  decidedly 
 proves  what  was  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  in 
 the  primitive  church.” 
 
 Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Peed.  lib.  i.  c.  12. 
 says,  “And  he  himself  seems  to  me  to  have 
 formed  man  from  the  dust,  and  to  have  re¬ 
 generated  him  by  water and  in  Strom .,  lib.  iii., 
 he  speaks  of  regeneration  by  water. 
 
 Tertullian,  De  Bapt .,  says,  “  How  happy  the 
 sacrament  of  our  water,  with  which,  having  been 
 washed,  we  are  liberated  from  the  delinquencies 
 of  our  former  blindness  unto  eternal  life.” 
 
 Cyprian  says,  “  That  in  baptism  the  old  man 
 dies,  and  the  ?iew  man  is  born  ”  the  blessed 
 Apostle  shows  and  proves  when  he  says,  ‘  Fie 
 has  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration.’  ” 
 
 Athanasius  on  Matt.  xii.  32.  ad  Sercip.: — “Fie 
 who  is  baptized  as  well  puts  off  the  old  man  as 
 is  renewed  from  above,  being,  as  it  were,  born 
 afresh  of  the  grace  of  the  Spirit.” 
 
 Basil  says,  Exhort,  ad  Bapt .,  “  Baptism  is  the 
 death  of  sin,  the  regeneration  of  the  soul.” 
 
Obs. 
 
 153 
 
 Gregory  of  Nazianzum  says,  vol.  i.  p.  641., 
 u  We  are  to  consider  the  power  of  baptism  as 
 a  contract  with  God  for  a  second  life,  —  there 
 being  no  second  regeneration” 
 
 Jerome,  Dial.  iii.  contr .  Pelag.:  — “Rising 
 from  the  fountain  of  baptism,  and  regenerated 
 into  their  Lord  and  Saviour,  that  being  fulfilled 
 which  is  written  of  them,  fi  Blessed  are  they 
 whose  unrighteousness  is  forgiven,  and  whose 
 sins  are  covered.” 
 
 Augustin.  Cont.  Ep.  ii.  Pel .  ad.  Bon  if.  lib.  3. 
 says,  “  Baptism  washes  away  all  sins,  whether 
 of  thought,  word,  or  deed,  whether  original 
 or  actual;”  and  vol.  ii.  p.  264.,  as  quoted  by 
 Bishop  Tomline,  “  A  child  does  not  lose  the 
 grace  which  he  has  once  received,  except  by  his 
 own  impiety,  if,  as  age  increases,  he  becomes  so 
 wicked ;  for  then  he  will  begin  to  have  his  own 
 sins,  which  may  not  be  taken  away  by  regener¬ 
 ation ,  but  healed  by  another  cure and  again, 
 vol.  ix.  p.  140.,  “In  infants  who  are  baptized, 
 the  sacrament  of  regeneration  precedes,  and  if 
 they  shall  hold  the  Christian  piety,  conversion 
 will  follow  in  the  heart. 
 
 Chrysostom  also,  vol.  i.  p.  136.,  as  quoted  by 
 the  same  prelate,  says,  “You  also  enjoyed  di¬ 
 vine  grace  at  your  baptism,  and  were  made 
 partaker  of  the  Spirit;”  and  again,  vol.  viii., 
 “To  be  born  according  to  this  mystical  birth, 
 
154 
 
 Obs. 
 
 and  to  be  purified  from  all  our  former  sins* 
 this  is  effected  by  baptism  and  again, 
 “  When  we  immerge  our  heads  in  water,  as  in 
 a  tomb,  the  old  man  is  buried,  and  is  at  once 
 entirely  hidden  beneath  :  then,  when  we  emerge, 
 the  new  man  rises  again and  again,  vol.  x., 
 “  The  words  of  God,  spoken  by  the  priest, 
 form  and  regenerate  him  who  is  baptized.’’ 
 
 Theodoret  says,  vol.  iv.,  “That  baptism  makes 
 us  share  in  the  death  and  resurrection  of  our 
 Lord,  and  partake  of  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit.” 
 
 Gregory  the  Great,  Ep.  39.,  says,  “  If  there 
 be  any  who  affirm,  that  in  baptism  sins  are  not 
 altogether  done  away,  what  can  be  more  void  of 
 faith  than  this  sort  of  preaching  ?” 
 
 Such  is  the  plain  language  of  the  fathers. 
 Many  more  quotations  might  have  been  added 
 from  Hooker,  Wall,  Waterland,  and  Nicholfs 
 Note  in  the  Office  of  Public  Baptism  ;  but  these 
 were  deemed  sufficient. 
 
 The  doctrine  of  the  church  of  England,  with 
 respect  to  baptismal  regeneration,  is  clearly  and 
 unequivocally  expressed. 
 
 In  the  ninth  Article,  the  word  “  renatis”  in 
 the  Latin  is  “  baptized”  in  the  English.  I 
 need  not  inform  my  readers,  that  the  Latin,  as 
 well  as  the  English  copy,  is  authentic ;  but  I 
 may  be  allowed  to  remark,  that  a  fair  inference 
 may  be  drawn  from  this  coincidence,  that  the 
 
155 
 
 Obs. 
 
 framers  of  the  Article  considered  44  baptized” 
 as  synonymous  with  u  regenerate .” 
 
 The  twenty-seventh  Article  says,  44  Baptism 
 is  not  only  a  sign  of  profession,  and  mark  of 
 difference,  whereby  Christian  men  are  discerned 
 from  others  that  be  not  christened  ;  but  it  is 
 also  a  sign  of  regeneration ,  or  new  birth ;  whereby, 
 as  by  an  instrument,  the  promises  of  our  adop¬ 
 tion  to  be  the  sons  of  God  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
 are  visibly  signed,  and,  sealed .” 
 
 There  is  an  agreement  between  the  first  part 
 of  this  Article  and  an  expression  of  Luther’s, 
 on  Gal.  iii.  27.,  that  may,  perhaps,  not  be  con¬ 
 sidered  as  unworthy  of  a  place  among  Dr.  Lau¬ 
 rence’s  valuable  notes  to  his  Bampton  Lectures. 
 
 44  Non  accepistis  per  baptismum  tesseram  tan - 
 turn,  per  quam  adscript!  estis  numero  Christian- 
 orum,  ut  nostro  tempore  multi  fanatici  baptisma 
 tesseram  tantum  seu  nudum  et  inane  signum 
 faciunt ;  sed  quotquot  baptizati  estis,  Christum 
 induistis  :  hoc  est,  estis  extra  legem  rapti  in 
 novam  nativitatem  qum  facta  est  in  baptismo.” 
 
 The  fifteenth  Article  also  represents  all  Chris¬ 
 tians  as  44  being  baptized  and  born  again  in 
 Christ.” 
 
 In  the  Catechism,  the  catechumen  says  of 
 baptism,  44  Wherein  I  was  made  a  member  of 
 Christ,  a  child  of  God .”  And  he  declares  after¬ 
 wards  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace  of  baptism 
 to  be  44  a  death  unto  sin,  and  a  new  birth  unto 
 
Obs. 
 
 1.56 
 
 righteousness.  For  being  (he  adds)  by  nature 
 born  in  sin,  and  the  children  of  wrath,  we  are 
 hereby  made  the  children  of  grace  ”  new  born. 
 
 In  the  Baptismal  Service,  at  the  commence¬ 
 ment,  we  pray  for  the  infant  to  be  baptized, 
 “  That  he,  coming  to  thy  holy  baptism,  may 
 receive  remission  of  his  sins  by  spiritual  regenei - 
 ation  ”  and  we  so  pray,  for  the  reason  stated  in 
 the  first  address  of  the  minister,  because  44  none 
 can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  except  he 
 be  regenej'ate,  and  born  anew  of  water  and  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost.” 
 
 We  again  pray,  44  Give  thy  Holy  Spirit  to 
 this  infant,  that  he  may  be  born  again  ;  that  the 
 old  Adam  in  this  child  may  be  so  buried  that 
 the  new  man  may  be  raised  up  in  him.” 
 
 After  baptizing  the  child,  the  minister  says, 
 4 4  Seeing  now  that  this  child  is  regenerate.” 
 And  again,  44  We  yield  thee  hearty  thanks, 
 most  merciful  Father,  that  it  hath  pleased  thee 
 to  regenerate  this  infant,  to  receive  him  for  thine 
 own  child  by  adoption,”  &c. 
 
 In  the  office  for  Private  Baptism :  — 44  If  the 
 minister  shall  find  that  all  things  were  done  as 
 they  ought  to  be,  &c.,  he  shall  only  receive  him, 
 saying  thus  :  I  certify  you  that  this  child,  being 
 born  in  original  sin,  is  now ,  by  the  laver  of  re¬ 
 generation  in  baptism,  received  into  the  number 
 of  the  children  oj  God” 
 
157 
 
 Obs. 
 
 In  the  office  of  Baptism  for  such  as  are  of 
 riper  years,  the  persons  then  baptized  are  also 
 declared  to  be  regenerate ,  in  the  same  words 
 that  are  made  use  of  after  the  baptism  of  infants. 
 
 What  shall  we  say  then  to  a  minister  of  the 
 church  of  England,  (who  has  declared  his  “un¬ 
 feigned  assent  and  consent  to  all  and  every  thing 
 contained  and  prescribed  in  and  by  the  book 
 entitled  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  ad¬ 
 ministration  of  the  Sacraments  and  other  rites 
 and  ceremonies  of  the  church,  according  to  the 
 use  of  the  church  of  England,”)  uttering  such 
 sentiments  as  the  following  ? 
 
 “  Indeed  the  fathers ,  as  they  are  called,  (that 
 is,  the  teachers  of  the  Christian  church  during 
 some  ages  after  the  death  of  the  Apostles,)  soon 
 began  to  speak  on  this  subject  (regeneration)  in 
 unscrijptural  language ;  and  our  pious  reformers, 
 from  an  undue  regard  to  them,  and  to  the  cir¬ 
 cumstances  of  the  times,  have  retained  a  few 
 expressions  in  the  Liturgy,  which  are  not  only 
 inconsistent  with  their  other  doctrines,  but  also 
 tend  to  perplex  men’s  minds,  and  mislead  the 
 judgment  on  this  important  subject.” 
 
 Scott7 s  Works. 
 
 Our  pious  reformers,  it  seems,  had  an  undue 
 regard  to  opinions  which  were  uttered  by  the 
 fathers  soon  after  the  death  of  the  Apostles  ! 
 
158 
 
 Obs. 
 
 And  from  whence  proceeds  all  this  hostility 
 to  baptismal  regeneration  ?  And  why  do  the 
 Calvinists,  more  especially,  raise  their  voices 
 against  it  ? 
 
 The  reason  is  this.  If  baptismal  regeneration 
 be  admitted  ;  if  it  be  allowed  that  every  person 
 baptized  is  received  into  favour  and  into  cove¬ 
 nant  with  God,  and  that  all  their  sins,  whether 
 original  or  actual,  be  thus  washed  away,  what 
 will  become  of  their  peculiar  notions  of  election 
 and  predestination  ?  What  will  become  of  their 
 irresistible  and  indefectible  grace  ?  What  will 
 become  of  their  instantaneous  conversions,  and 
 sensible  perceptions  of  the  Spirit  ? 
 
 I  will  conclude  with  quoting  a  few  authorities 
 which  will  not,  perhaps,  be  considered  uninter¬ 
 esting  by  the  reader. 
 
 “Nos  Christiani per  baptismum  sumus  regen - 
 erati,  et  filii  Dei  effecti.” 
 
 Op.  Luther i,  vol.  vii.  p.  102. 
 
 And  again,  vol.  vi. 
 
 “  Sum  factus  salvus,  sum  Jilius  Dei ,  et  hceres 
 Dei ,  quia  sum  baptizatus. 
 
 “  Sentimus  eos  (infantes)  in  baptismo  fieri 
 filios  Dei ,  accipere  Spiritum  Sanctum,”  &c. 
 
 Melancthon ,  Op.  vol.  iv.  p.  664. 
 
 “As  we  are  not  naturally  men  without  birth, 
 so  neither  are  we  Christians  in  the  eye  of  the 
 
Obs, 
 
 159 
 
 church  of  God,  but  by  new  birth ,  nor  new  born 
 but  by  that  baptism  which  both  declared)  us  and 
 maketh  us  Christians.” 
 
 Hooker’s  Ec.  Pol.  lib.  v.  sec.  60. 
 
 44  What  he  means  by  being  4  born  of  water 
 and  the  Spirit’  is  now  made  a  question  of.  I 
 say  now,  for  it  was  never  made  so  till  of  late 
 years  :  for  many  ages  together  none  ever  doubted 
 of  it,  but  the  whole  Christian  world  took  it  for 
 granted,  that  our  Saviour  by  these  words  meant 
 only,  that  except  a  man  be  baptized  according 
 to  his  institution,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  king¬ 
 dom  of  God :  this  being  the  most  plain  and 
 obvious  sense  of  the  words,  forasmuch  as  there 
 is  no  other  way  of  being  bom  again  of  water, 
 as  well  as  of  the  Spirit,  but  only  in  the  sacra¬ 
 ment  of  baptism.” 
 
 Bishop  Beveridge’ s  Sermon  on  John ,  iii.  5. 
 44  Convenit,”  says  Calvin  to  Melancthon,  as 
 quoted  by  Dr.  Laurence,  44  non  inanes  esse 
 figuras  (viz.  sacramenta)  sed  re  ipsa  praestari, 
 quidquid  figurant.  In  baptismo  adesse  Spiritus 
 efficaciam,  ut  nos  abluat  et  regeneret.” 
 
 And  again,  in  Calvin’s  Catechism,  composed 
 for  the  use  of  the  church  of  Geneva,  there  is 
 this  question  and  answer  :  — 
 
 44  M.  Quae  est  baptismi  significatio  ? 
 
 44  P.  Ea  duas  habet  partes.  Nam  ibi  remissio 
 peccatorum,  deinde  spiritualis  regeneratio  figu- 
 ratur.” 
 
Qbs. 
 
 160 
 
 And  again  ; 
 
 <£  Et  peccatorum  veniam  et  vitcc  novitatem 
 ofFerri  nobis  in  baptismo  et  recipi  certum  est.” 
 
 The  consistency  of  these  opinions,  with  the 
 peculiar  doctrines  of  the  French  reformer,  it  is 
 for  his  admirers  and  followers  to  reconcile. 
 
 “  It  is  of  peculiar  importance,”  says  Bishop 
 Marsh,  “  in  the  present  age,  to  preserve  the 
 connection  of  baptism  with  regeneration :  for 
 when  regeneration  is  once  detached  from  bap¬ 
 tism,  with  which  our  church  closely  connects  it, 
 a  door  is  immediately  opened  for  all  the  dream- 
 ings  of  fanatics  about  the  pangs ,  both  ordinary 
 and  extraordinary,  of  the  new  birth.” 
 
 THE  END, 
 
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