to the gospel, both feel and confess themselves wholly indebted for forgiveness and acceptance, for their present holiness and their future happiness, to the free, unmerited grace of God. How hard fuch a facrifice is, none can conceive who have not fome acquaintance with vital, experimental religion. Now, what is the most natural inference from this? Is it not, that we have not the smallest reason to suspect this doctrine to be a " cunningly devised fable," but may rest affured, that it is " the wisdom and the power " of God for falvation, to every one that be

"lieveth *.

This leads me to observe, That if the reasoning which the reader hath perused upon this fubject be just and conclusive, there is one circumstance in which this " doctrine according to " godliness" essentially differs from all other schemes or systems of morality. It is, that any of these systems a man may understand, embrace and defend, without having his heart made better, or his morals secured or improved by it at all; whereas it is impossible, that any man can really, and from the heart, embrace the doctrine of Chrift's imputed righteousness, without being fanctified by it, "dead to fin, and alive to God." That the first of these affertions is true, the lives and characters of some noted writers on the foundation of morality, have been, and are an unde* Rom. i. 16.

:

niable proof: fome of them do indeed expressly, yield it; and it is evidently yielded, by implication, in all the late writings, where there is fo frequent mention of the small influence that speculation has upon practice. On this is founded what a late acute and eminent writer * juftly calls the mafter prejudice of this age, viz. "The " innocence of error." This may as well be expreffed by its counterpart, the unprofitableness or inefficacy of truth, which surely ought to be but a weak recommendation of what is called truth by those who hold such an opinion.

That the other affertion is just, hath been the point undertaken to be made out in this essay: and whoever will but consider how unacceptable this doctrine is to mankind in general, may be fatisfied that there can be no effectual inducement to embrace it, till there be such a discovery and sense of the evil and danger of fin, as is utterly inconfiftent with a voluntary continuance in it. The apparent state of the visible church, in which vice and wickedness so shamefully abound, will be no objection to this, if what I hinted above be recollected †, that there is a great difference between a nominal or customary profeffion, and real belief. As to the few more zealous and eminent affertors of this doctrine, who sometimes greatly dishonour their profeffion, the answer is easy. They are hypocrites by whom indeed great " offences do come;" and the weak and unstable fall over the stumbling-block, and are tempted to doubt the reality of religion, by this discovery of the falfhood of its profeffors. But such can never be fairly ranked among believers, whose garb and habit they only treacherously wore, for some time, while they were in the interest of another master *. We may say of them as the apostle John says, " They went out from us,

* Perhaps some may think the late accounts published of the Moravians an objection to the justness of this representation. They are said to be great affertors of the doctrine of imputed righteousness; and yet there have not only appeared fome bad men among them, but they are universally charged as a sect with most impious and scandalous practices. Perhaps candour and charity might have led us to suppose, that most, or all these accufations, were calumnious, if they had been affirmed by none but avowed enemies to the doctrines which they espouse; as the first Christians were charged by their enemies with eating human facrifices, when they met in private to celebrate the Lord's supper. But the case it seems is otherwise here; for some unsuspected accusers have appeared, whom none can imagine prejudiced against them for embracing the doctrine of imputed righteousness. I confess myself to have so little acquaintance with those Hernhutters, as they are called, either as to their principles or practices, that I cannot very fully handle the subject; but, if there is no other objection to what is affirmed above, no doubt an acquaintance with the true ftate of the cafe would enable us easily to remove this. Perhaps, after all, the bad practices charged against them, may be only the confequence of fome designing persons getting in among them, and a great plurality may be innocent, or, at least, comparatively fo. But however this be, it is not certain (at least to me) that they really embrace the same doctrine with us: they do indeed talk much of the Lamb, speak of hiding themselves in his wounds, &c. but I think their language is peculiar to themselves, and by no means the phraseology either of Scripture, or of any other fect of Christians. Besides, as Count Zinzendorf, their leader, takes upon him to be prophet, it is pro probable, they are just a fet of deluded people, drawn away by his art, who maymuch more properly be said to believe in him, than in Chrift.

a

" but

" but they were not of us; for if they had been " of us, they would no doubt have continued with " us, but they went out that they might be " made manifest that they were not all of us *."

But this it not all; for the reception of the doctrine of imputed righteousness is not merely to be confidered as the best means, comparatively, of producing, preferving and increasing our fanctification and purity, as fure and effectual, while others are precarious, but it is the only way, and all others are absolutely insufficient for the purpose. If this be indeed the doctrine of Christ, the scripture-method of falvation, then it is not only true, but a fundamental truth. Of this we are frequently and folemnly affured in the word of God. "I am the way (fays our Saviour) and "the truth, and the life; no man cometh un" to the Father but by me t." So say the apostles Peter and John, "Neither is there " falvation in any other: for there is none other

name under heaven, given among men, where" by we must be saved t." It is therefore in vain for any to expect an effectual change of life, but by an acquaintance with Christ, and him crucicified. We have indeed the cleareft evidence from experience, that no human reason, no argument whatever, drawn from worldly conveniency, is at all sufficient to contend with violent and

*x John ii. 19. † John xiv, 6. ‡ Acts iv. 12.
VOL. I.

E

finful

finful habits. We see many examples of persons of excellent understanding and knowledge in other matters, nay, who can reason strongly and justly upon the bad consequences of vice in others, sometimes even in themselves, who will yet go on to ruin their name, family, fortune and health, while they are flaves to evil habits: nothing will change them but the grace of God.

And as we have feen above, that our own righteousness in its best state is wholly ineffectual for our acceptance with God, so all who have any expectations of this kind from it plainly show, that they have such defective views of the extent and obligation of the divine law, as are inconsistent with an unfeigned universal submission to it. This is a matter of the last importance, and ought to be particularly recommended to the serious confideration of such as may have, at some times, some imperfect convictions; such as from a weariness and fatiety of finning may give a temporary preference to a life of religion, and raise a feeble ineffectual wish with Balaam, that they might " die the death of the righteous." They ought to be told that no endeavours to be a little better than before, no abstinence from some fins as a kind of atonement for others re. tained, no resolutions taken in their own strength, no righteousness of their own offered or trusted in as the matter of their justification, will be accepted,