demption, viz. the immortal holiness and happiness of those, who in that covenant were promised to him as his seed, must of necessity fail. This sentence, therefore, will not be universally executed, because such an execution would render the promise of God of none effect.

Further; all who are involved in the execution of this sentence will not only suffer, but also sin for ever. But no words are necessary to prove, that a collection of sinners, continuing to sin for ever, could in no sense constitute a reward to Christ, for his labours and sufferings, in the work of redemption. From them he could receive neither love, gratitude, nor praise. In their character he could see nothing amiable, nothing to excite his complacency. In his government of them, his goodness and mercy would find no employment, and achieve no glory. Nor could they ever be his in the sense of the covenant of redemption.

Thus it is beyond a doubt evident, that, with regard to all those who are thus promised to Christ, the sentence of the Divine Law will not, and cannot, be executed; and that, when they appear at their final trial, they will be acquitted from the punishment due to their sins, and delivered from the moral turpitude of their character. All this is plainly indispensable to the fulfilment of the covenant of redemption. Accordingly, we find it all promised in the most definite manner, wherever the subject is mentioned in the Gospel.

The first step, in the final fulfilment of the promises, contained in this covenant, towards those who are the seed of Christ, is the pardon of their sins. Sin, until it is pardoned, is still charged to the sinner's account. Hence, he is, in this situation, exposed to the punishment which it has deserved. The pardon of sin is, of course, attended by the exemption of the sinner from punishment; so much of course, that these things are usually considered as but one. They are, however, separable, not only in thought, but in fact. We do not always, nor necessarily punish offenders, whom we still do not forgive. The offender may have merited, and may continue to merit, punishment; and yet sufficient reasons may exist, why he should not be punished, although they are not derived from his moral character. Forgiveness, in the full sense, supposes the offender penitent; and includes an approbation of his character as such, and a reconciliation to him of the person who forgives. But these things are not involved in a mere determination to exempt an offender from punishment. On the part of God, however, in his conduct towards returning sinners, these things are not, I confess, separable in fact.

But the sinner might be forgiven, and acquitted from the punishment due to his sins; and yet not be rendered the subject of future blessings: much less of the blessings, promised in the cove nant of redemption. He might be annihilated. He might be placed in a state of happiness imperfect, and mixed, like that of

the present world; or he might be placed in a state of happiness unmixed and perfect, and yet greatly inferior to that, which will be actually enjoyed by the penitent children of Adam. Another step, therefore, indispensable to the complete fulfilment of the covenant of redemption, is entitling them to the very blessings, which are here promised: viz. the blessings of heaven: the first blessings, as I may hereafter have occasion to show, in the kingdom of God.

These three things, which I have specified, as being involved in the justification of mankind, are all clearly included, and promised in the covenant of redemption: and the connexion of them, or of our justification, with that work, as the only foundation on which our justification can rest, is, I think, too manifest from what has been said, to be doubted.

Having thus stated what I intend by justification under the Gospel, I shall inquire,

II. In what sense we are said to be justified freely by the grace of God.

From what has been said in a former discourse, concerning the impossibility of justification by our own obedience, it is, I trust, evident, that our justification can in no sense nor degree, be said with truth, to be merited by ourselves. In this respect, therefore, if it exist at all, it must of necessity be communicated freely. It will, however, be necessary to a satisfactory explanation of this subject, to examine it particularly; so as to prevent any misconception concerning its nature; and so as to obviate any objections, which may arise in the minds of those who hear me. To this examination it will be indispensable, that I settle, in the beginning, the meaning, which I annex to the term, Grace, on which the import of the proposition depends.

The word Grace, is used by the inspired writers in various

senses.

1st. It denotes a free gift; which was, perhaps, its original meaning:

2dly. The free, sovereign love of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the source of every such gift from God:

3dly. The efficacious power of the Holy Ghost on the hearts of mankind: 2 Corinthians xii. 9.

4thly. That state of reconciliation with God, which is enjoyed by Christians: Romans v. 2.

5thly. Any virtue of the Christian character: and,

6thly. Any particular favour, communicated by God: Eph. iii. 8. Beside this, in common use it denotes gracefulness of person, deportment, or character.

In the text, it is manifestly used in the second sense; and denotes the free, sovereign love of God; the source of all our benefits.

That we are justified freely by the grace of God, thus understood, I will now attempt to show by the following considerations:

1st. Under the influence, or in the indulgence, of this Love, God formed the original design of saving mankind.

The law of God is a perfectly just law. But by this law man was condemned, and finally cast off. Justice, therefore, in no sense demanded the deliverance of mankind from condemnation. Of course, this deliverance was proposed, and planned, by the mere sovereign mercy of God.

2dly. The covenant of redemption was the result of the same mercy.

In this covenant, God promised to Christ the eternal happiness of all his seed; that is, his followers. Now it is certain, that no one of these obeyed the law of God. This was certainly foreknown by God; and with this foreknowledge he was pleased to promise this glorious blessing concerning creatures, who were only rebels and apostates, and who merited nothing but wrath and indignation. Sovereign love, only, could operate in favour of such beings as these.

3dly. The same Divine disposition executed the work of redemp

tion.

When Christ came to his own; his own received him not. On the contrary, they hated, opposed, and persecuted him through his life; and, with a spirit still more malignant and furious, put him to death.

The very same spirit is inherent in the nature of all men. We ourselves, who condemn the Jews as Murderers, still with the same pertinacity reject the Saviour. We neither believe, nor obey; we neither repent of our sins, nor forsake them; we neither receive his instructions, nor walk in his ordinances. Opposed to him in our hearts, we are opposed to him, also, in our lives.

The same opposition prevails in the whole race of Adam. Nor is there recorded on the page of history, a single known instance, in which it may be believed, even with remote probability, that man, from mere native propensity, or an original goodness of heart, has cordially accepted Christ. Certainly, nothing but the sovereign love of God could accomplish such a work, as that of redemption, for beings of this character.

4thly. The Mission and Agency of the Divine Spirit were the result of this love only.

In the human character there is nothing to merit the interference of this glorious person on the behalf of mankind. Christ came

to seek, and to redeem, man, because he was lost. The Divine spirit came to sanctify him, because without sanctification he was undone. This, the very fact of his regeneration unanswerably proves. Regeneration is the commencement of virtue in the soul. Without evangelical love, says St. Paul, I am nothing: that is, I am nothing in the kingdom of God: I have no spiritual or virtuous existence. From the necessity of regeneration, then, to man; and the fact, that he is regenerated; it is certain, that there is nothing VOL. II.

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in his nature, except his miserable condition, which could be an inducement to the Spirit of Grace to interfere in human concerns. What is true of this act of the Divine Spirit, is equally true of his agency in enlightening, quickening, purifying, and strengthening, man in the Christian course, and conducting him finally to heaven.

5thly. As all these steps, so plainly necessary to the justification of man, are the result of the unmerited love of God; so his justification itself flows entirely from the same love.

Christ in his sufferings and death made a complete atonement for the sins of mankind. In other words, he rendered to the law, character, and government, of God, such peculiar honour, as to make it consistent with their unchangeable nature and glory, that sinners should, on the proper conditions, be forgiven. But the atonement inferred no obligation of justice, on the part of God, to forgive them. They were still sinners, after the atonement, in the same sense, and in the same degree, as before. In no degree were they less guilty, or less deserving of punishment.

The supposition, incautiously admitted by some divines, that Christ satisfied the demands of the law by his active and passive obedience, in the same manner as the payment of a debt satisfies the demands of a creditor, has, if I mistake not, been heretofore proved to be unfounded in the Scriptures. We owed God our obedience, and not our property; and obedience in its own nature is due from the subject himself, and can never be rendered by another. In refusing to render it, we are criminal; and for this criminality merit punishment. The guilt, thus incurred, is inherent in the criminal himself, and cannot in the nature of things be transferred to another. All that, in this case, can be done by a substitute, of whatever character, is to render it not improper for the Lawgiver to pardon the transgressor. No substitute can, by any possible effort, make him cease to be guilty, or to deserve punishment. This (and I intend to say it with becoming reverence) is beyond the ability of Omnipotence itself. The fact, that he is guilty, is past; and can never be recalled.

Thus it is evident, that the sinner, when he comes before God, comes in the character of a sinner only; and must, if strict justice be done, be therefore condemned. If he escape condemnation, then, he can derive these blessings from mercy only, and in no degree from Justice. In other words, every blessing, which he receives, is a free gift. The pardon of his sins, his acquittal from condemnation, and his admission to the enjoyments of heaven, are all given to him freely, and graciously, because God regards him with infinite compassion, and is therefore pleased to communicate. to him these unspeakable favours.

Should it be said, that God has promised these blessings to the penitent, in the covenant of redemption, made with Christ, and in the covenant of grace, made with the penitent; and has thus brought

himself under obligation to bestow them: I answer, that this is indeed true, but that it affects not the doctrine. The promise, made in these covenants, is a gracious promise, originated by the Divine compassion. Certainly, this procedure on the part of God, is not the less free, or gracious, because he was pleased to publish his own merciful design of accepting penitent sinners, and to confirm it to them by a voluntary promise. As I have already remarked, every part of the Divine conduct towards the sinner, every spiritual blessing which the sinner receives, antecedently to his justification, is the result of grace only, or a sovereign love. These preceding acts, therefore, being themselves absolutely gracious, can never render the act of justifying the sinner the less gracious, or render him the meritorious object of that justification, to which he could never have been entitled, but by means of these preceding acts of grace. The promise of justification was made, not to a meritorious being, but to a sinner; a guilty, miserable rebel, exposed by his rebellion to final perdition. The fulfilment of this promise is an act equally gracious with that of making the promise itself.

Should it be said, that the sinner is renewed, antecedently to his justification; and, having thus become a holy or virtuous being, has also become either wholly, or partially, a meritorious object of justification: I answer, that the Law of God condemns the sinner to death for the first transgression. Now it will not be said, that the sanctified sinner is not chargeable with many transgressions; the guilt of which still lies at his door, and for which he may now be justly condemned, notwithstanding his repentance. This, it is believed, was made abundantly evident in a former discourse concerning the impossibility of justification by our own obedience. The sinner therefore, although sanctified, still deserves the wrath of God for all his transgressions; and, according to the sentence of the Law, must, if considered only as he is in himself, be finally punished.

That the penitent is not partially justified on account of his own merit after he is sanctified, must, I think, be acknowledged, if we attend to the following considerations.

1st. It will be admitted, that all those, who are sanctified, are also justified.

Whom he called, them he also justified: that is, he justified all those, whom he called effectually, or sanctified. But it will not be denied, that some persons are sanctified on a dying bed; when they have no opportunity to perform any works of righteousness, which might be the ground of their justification. The case of the penitent thief will, I suppose, be generally acknowledged to be substantially of this nature. It will not be denied, that some persons are sanctified from the womb; as were Jeremiah and John the Baptist; nor that, of these, some die, antecedently to that period of life, when they become capable of direct acts of moral good and evil. The children of believing parents, dedicated to God, and dying in their