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obedience to the gospel, as the condition of our justification and acceptance with God. Whence it is a necessary consequence, that our justification, or title to eternal life, depends not upon Christ's righteousness imputed to us; but upon our faith, including sincere obedience to the gospel, as the condition to which it is promised; and that as our obedience is imperfect, so our state of justification is imperfect also; and we shall not be perfectly justified, till our obedience be perfected."

That I may distinctly consider this case, I shall endeavour, in the first place, to make some proper inquiries and reflections upon this scheme, and offer some objections against it, and then take notice of the arguments which you have brought to support it.

I would first inquire, where you find any thing in scripture of our Saviour's purchasing this new law of grace, whereby faith and sincere obedience are made the conditions of our justification: perhaps your author is silent upon that head; and, for my part, I do not know that I have ever read any thing at all about it in the word of God. We read often, of our blessed Saviour's giving himself a ransom for us; of his being a propitiation for our sins; of his being the Lord our righteousness; of his having brought in everlasting righteousness; of his being the end of the law for righteousness, unto every one that believeth; and of his being of God made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; with many other like representations of his procuring a justifying righteousness for us. But of his purchasing this new law of grace, not one word is to be found in the scriptures. May we not justly suppose, that if this scheme were right, we should have it plainly represented to us in the oracles of God; and not be left to grope in

the dark, and to find out, by far-fetched consequences, what is the foundation of our practice and hope? How vast is the difference between the one and the other side of this question! On the one side, we have (or at least we think we have) very numerous, plain, express scripture authorities, for our justification by the righteousness of Christ. On the other side, there is a deep silence throughout the whole word of God, about any purchase of a new law, such a law of favourable terms; and about those new conditions of our justification, those easier terms of " our faith and sincere obedience." This scheme, therefore, may be presumed to be at least but of human invention.

I would further inquire, whether in the nature of things, there can be any justification at all, upon such conditions as you speak of. I have shown you, that justification is always to be understood of our being esteemed, declared, manifested, or pronounced righteous. Now, then, if our evangelical obedience be imperfect, we are still unrighteous, by our remaining sin and disobedience against this (imaginary) new law of grace; and consequently God cannot judge and declare us righteous by virtue of our obedience, for his judgment is according to truth, as I observed to you in my last letter. Certain it is, that no man upon earth is or can be perfectly sincere, perfectly believing, or perfectly obedient to the gospel: so that upon the conditions supposed, the man must live and die unjustified, and appear at the bar of Christ in the same

state.

To speak of an imperfect or defective state of justification, seems to be a most egregious trifling in this awful concern. We either are justified, or we are not; either God does pronounce us righteous, or he does not. Now, if he does, we are free from guilt, and

fully accepted of him; but if he does not, we are under guilt, and a sentence of condemnation. There can be no medium, no middle state between that of justification and that of condemnation. However, were it

even granted, that we might be imperfectly justified, in proportion to our conformity to this supposed new law, we must at the best live and die but imperfectly justified; and, as I before observed, must appear at the bar of Christ in the same state in which we die; and consequently be but imperfectly justified for ever, unless some further remedy be provided beyond the grave. Thus, this doctrine of justification upon the footing of personal obedience to a new law, is better adapted to a popish purgatory, than to the protestant profession and hope.

I would again inquire, whether it be possible, in the nature of things, that we may have any sincere obedience to this new law of grace, before we are justified; and, consequently, whether it is possible that we can be justified by sincere obedience, before we have any acting of gracious sincerity, or any true obedience at all? Faith, indeed, does precede our justification, in order of nature, but not in time. There is no moment of time, wherein a man is a true believer, and yet not justified before God: and, therefore, there cannot be a moment of time for faith to be operative, and bring forth the fruits of new obedience, prior to our justification. "The righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe," Rom. iii. 22. This is the constant language of the scripture-" We are justified by faith; and he that believeth, is not condemned," Therefore, as there can be no condemned, no unjustified believer, at any time whatsoever, nor any time at all for either legal or evangelical obedience between the first act of

faith and our passing out of a state of condemnation into a state of justification; hence our sincere obedience must be the consequence, and therefore cannot be the condition of our justification.

Besides, as there can be no sincere obedience antecedent to our interest in Christ and union to him, it hence appears, that our sincere obedience must necessarily be the consequence of our justification, and therefore cannot be the condition of it. I think, every body will allow that man to be in a justified state, who is interested in Christ, and united to him. Now, our Lord himself assures us, that we cannot bring forth the fruits of new obedience, till we are united to him, John xv. 4, 5. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing:' or, as it may be rendered, "severed from me ye can bear none, can bring forth no fruit at all. There cannot be a greater solecism, than to speak of a sincerely obedient Christless sinner; and therefore there cannot be a greater inconsistency, than for that to be the condition of our justification, which is the fruit and effect of our interest in Christ, and so the consequence of our justified state.

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These, sir, are some of the many inconveniences that attend this your scheme; which one would think should awaken your attention, and make you look well about you, before you venture your eternal interest upon such an unscriptural and inconsistent foundation. I proceed now to offer some objections against the doctrine you propose. And here one obvious exception against this doctrine is, that it perverts the gospel of the grace of God, and makes it properly and strictly

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a covenant of works. The condition of the covenant of works was this—" The man that doth these things shall live by them,” Rom. x. 5. And the condition of our justification, according to this new scheme, is this-The man who doth these things (that is, who performs sincere obedience to this new law of grace) shall live by them. Where then is the difference between the old covenant of works and this new ima

ginary law of grace? What gave denomination to the covenant of works was, that it required works or obedience as the condition of it. And does not this pretended new law of grace require works, or obedience, as a covenant condition? and does it not therefore deserve the denomination of a covenant of works as much as the other? If we run a parallel between the first covenant and this new law of grace, they will be found in all things to agree as a covenant of works. Thus, the old covenant of works was a law with sanctions, requiring obedience, as the matter of that righteousness by which man was to be justified. And this imaginary new covenant is likewise styled a law of grace, which requires sincere obedience as the condition of our justification. Justification, according to the tenor of the old covenant of works, was of debt; and thus it is likewise according to the tenor of this pretended new law of grace. An obligation to give a reward for service performed, makes it a debt upon the service being performed; and it can be claimed as such, whatever proportion there is between the reward and the service by which it becomes due. The old covenant of works, although it exacted obedience, yet gave no new strength for the performance of it, and thus it is likewise in the present case. For unless we are united to Christ, and interested in his righteousness, we can have no security of new supplies of grace

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