hever is a righteous man in Christ, and his righteousness is the righteousness of faith; yea, he is an obedient man, and his obedience is the obedience of faith: yea, he is not without law to God, but under the law to Christ; his holiness is in and from Christ, put forth in him by the Spirit of Christ; his conscience is purged and purified by the blood of Christ, and the grace of Christ (not duties) "teaches him to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." The law is not therefore made for a believer, but for those who are left under the law of works, and who will continue under the law of works for ever-whose sins will never be forgiven, whose guilt will never be removed, and " whose damnation slumbereth not."

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Fourthly. "The law was schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith; but after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster," Gal. xxx. 24, 25. I know the words in this text," to bring us," as supplied by our translators, is liable to an objection; but I shall take it as it stands, because I believe the passage is correct either with or without the words. The spirituality, extent, and killing power of the law, experienced in the soul by the power of the Holy Ghost, causes the believer to thirst, hunger, and seek for shelter, righteousness, and peace in Jesus. "But after that faith is come," after the soul by faith apprehends Christ as the end of the law for righteousness, we are no longer under a schoolmaster;" our souls are no longer harassed by the killing stripes, inflexible tasks, and uncompromising demands of our old and rigorous schoolmaster Moses: but in his room we have Jesus, our new Husband, who nourishes, comforts, and strengthens our hearts. And we rejoice that while Moses our old husband and schoolmaster allows of divorce, Jesus our new Husband

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and Prophet" hateth putting away." Fifthly. What the law speaks it speaks to men as mere creatures; but the believer is not a mere creature, but a new creature in Christ Jesus. Thus the law says, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," but the gospel says, Resist not evil." The law says, Hate thine enemy;" the gospel says, "Love your enemies, bless them which curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." The law says, " Love your neighbour as yourself;" the gospel says, "Love as brethren," "Put on as the elect of God bowels of mercy."

Sixthly. The law regards man, with all its penalties and conditions, as destitute of a surety; but the believer knows that Jesus "is the Surety of a better testament" than the moral law, "established upon better promises;" for the moral law only promised natural and temporal things, but the gospel promises spiritual and eternal things. Christ as his people's Surety and Representative went where Adam never could have gone, namely to "the end of the law;" and where Christ is there his people are, namely

at

the end of the law," along with him serving God, not in the flesh and by the flesh, but in the spirit and by the spirit.

Seventhly. The law contains no promise of power or of eternal life; but the gospel promises both, and speaks the following heart-cheering language:-"By grace ye are saved;'

I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish;' As many as were ordained to eternal life believed;" "Kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;" "He is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel and the remission of sins;" Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."

The law is an impenetrable cloud; the gospel a transparent sky. By

the former there is no access to God nor communion with God; by the latter we approach him as our covenant God and Father, and feel reconciled unto him by the death of his Son. With us therefore the law has nothing to do: blood divine has hushed its rolling thunders, silenced its voice of words, and buried all its awful curses. Nor have we anything to do with the law, for "The Lord Jesus Christ is our Judge-the Lord Jesus Christ is our Lawgiver-the Lord Jesus Christ is our King, he will save us." Stonham.

W. TANT.

LETTER FROM A GOSPEL MINISTER TO A YOUNG DISCIPLE.

My very dear Sister and Daughter in the Lord,

In reply to your request, I attempt to offer you a few of my thoughts on the welfare of your soul, and the great things of a precious

Al

Christ, in the riches of his grace in what he hath done for you. though we often have a civil quarrel, yet we can both agree to exalt a precious Christ; this is mercy's gift. But I must begin to tell you what you are, by saying, you are dead, yet twice alive-poor yet rich-bad yet good-foolish yet wise-earthly yet heavenly-carnal yet spiritual-filthy yet clean-guilty yet innocent-lost yet found-living on earth, yet in heaven-loving sin yet hating it— never seeing Christ, yet always seeing him-always sinking yet always rising always running yet never moving-always getting better yet never mending-always murmuring yet always satisfied-always at war yet always at peace-always forgetting Christ, yet always thinking of him-always wrong yet always right

always naked yet always clothed. My dear Sister, your heart will say this is a true though short description of your pers n. Farewell.

a body of donation, a body of redemption, and a body of possession. The second general head, is, the union of that body: which is noticed under three particulars; an eternal union, an heart-felt union, and an everlasting union. The sanctification of that body forms the third general head: here four things are glanced at, 1. that there is no intrinsic holiness in this body; 2. that this body is holy by the sanctification of the Father in electing love; 3. That this body is sanctified by the union and precious blood of Christ; and 4. that this body is sanctified by God the Holy Ghost, for it is his temple. The fourth and last general head, is, the sin that is committed against this

body which sin is considered by Mr. A., to be spiritual fornication with idols, that is to say, the sin of backsliding or departing from God. It is this last part of the Sermon alone which renders it worthy notice, and on this account we judge the Sermon

was sent to us.

It was delivered on the first anniversary of the new Chapel, known as the Surrey Tabernacle, of which place Mr. Wells is the minister, and whose peculiar views on the subject of backsliding have been noticed by us before. If Mr. Abrahams knew the meaning Mr. Wells attaches to the word backslide (in which, however, as we have before said, we do not agree with Mr. Wells), we think it was unfriendly, unchristian-like, and very untimely to attack Mr. Wells in his own pulpit, and on an occasion when he was invited to join in rendering thanks to the Great Head of the church, for the very peculiar displays of his blessing so conspicuously attending the ministry of his acknowledged brother in the Lord.

Mr. Abrahams, under this head, occupies seven pages out of the seventeen which comprise the whole Sermon, in shewing that those passages in the Old Testament which refer to the Jewish nation, in their leaving the worship of the true God, and going over to the idol-worship of the heathen around them; does also spiritually apply to the regenerated children of God in their backslidings from the Lord, and in this view we quite' coincide; but while we admit that the Lord's people after being called by grace do backslide from God, and are, through mercy, reclaimed and restored to their former happiness, which was by sin beclouded, and to their view quite gone; yet they never finally apostatize, because as one with Christ this is impossible, Mr. Abrahams may quote Dr. John son's explanation of the word back slide, as meaning apostacy, but we inhesitatingly assert, that however

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acute Dr. J. might be as a lexicographer, he was no divine, for in the word of God there is undoubtedly a great distinction between backsliding and apostacy: the possessor of grace may backslide, but the professor of the gospel may and often does finally apostatize.

Mr. A. therefore in this reference to Johnson is quite paradoxical, and particularly in the conclusions he draws from it, We think the Sermon, as a whole, a very uaked, puerile discourse; a number of scriptures are collected together, while very little elucidation of them is given, indeed on some of the heads we might say none; and had it not been for its reference to the doctrine of backsliding, it would contain indeed nothing to interest any one.

The spiritualizing the text in the way the preacher has done, may be allowable, but we do not think it conveys the meaning intendod by the inspired penman. The Corinthians to whom Paul wrote, were addicted to gross immorality beyond most, and the Apostle was here referring to the sin of fornication naturally, and exhorting them, that as their bodies had been instruments of unrighteousness, they might manifest the reality of their grace, by rendering them instruments of righteousness unto God; their bodies being the temples of the Holy Ghost: we think the whole connection of the chapter will fully confirm, our view.

A Word of Explanation upon the Doctrine of Back-liding; in Reply to Mr. G. Abrahams, by James Wells, 12mo, pp. 36. ↑ London, Palmer and Son.

This pamphlet is in reply to the Sermon we have just noticed, and is written in a very christian spirit. Mr. W first gives the substance of some conversation between himself and Mr. A. on the subject; and which, though it appears that it left

the first unconvinced, was by the latter considered to terminate in his arguments being quite convincing. Mr. W. then states the idea which he attaches to the term backslide; and afterwards adverts to the scriptures brought forward by Mr. A. in vindication of his views. He then glances at Mr. Abrahams' inference in his Sermon, that he considered the exhortations of the Bible as absurd: we subjoin however Mr. Wells' own remarks on this subject.

'In answer to this I defy all the men in the world to find one scripture which exhorts a regenerated man not to backslide. Now mind, 1 here keep to my own idea of the meaning of the term backslide; for if I believed backsliding to consist in the errors committed by true believers, both in judgment and practice; if I believed backsliding to consist in these things, I would then say that there are plenty of scripiures exhorting regenerated people not to backslide. But viewing the doctrine of backsliding in the light that I do, I again repeat, that there is not in all the book of God one exhortation to regenerated men not to backslide, and that simply because it is impossible for them so to do. Elijah could not get Elisha to go back; Naomi could not persuade Ruth to go back. He that begins the good work, will water it every moment, and keep it night and day. The people in whom the Lord thus works and dwells, are taken possession of by the Lord, they are united to him, to be separated, no more for ever."

Mr. W. then winds up his explanation with some facetious remarks on Mr. Abrahams' various mistakes, which it appears indeed were rather

tentious subject on such an occasion.

With respect to the idea Mr. Wells attaches to the term backslide, we decidedly say that it is in our opinion quite contrary to the Biblical meaning of the word. Did we believe it to mean what Mr. Wells does, we should agree with his explanation; but as we do not, we necessarily differ from him in his view. As it regards the scriptures quoted, we agree that they were addressed to the ancient Israel as a nation, and that they did promise temporal blessings to them as a nation, on condition of their obedience, and were as such connected with the old covenant; but as they were a typical people, we contend that all that appertained to them as a nation, does so far as the type will bear apply to the chosen people of God under the gospel or new covenant dispensation, and that while their national observance of Jehovah's laws conditionally ensured to them national blessings as a reward, we who are his people by electing grace, have blessings of an infinitely superior nature, secured to us unconditionally in our all-glorious Christ, who is the Head of all things to his body the church, the fulness of him who filleth all in all. To the applications therefore of these scriptures to the Lord's people while in a state of nature, we decidedly object. All by nature, elect and non-elect, are sinners; therefore to say that a man while in nature's darkness backslides, is absurd: he is going on in a course of continual sin, he has no fear of God before his eyes; shall we then say such backslide? Oh no. It is the professor, whether real or false, and him alone that can backslide, If he be a regenerated child of God, his backslidings will be healed; but if only a professor, a foolish virgin having no oil in his lamp, he will finally apostatize and be condemned with the ungodly notwithstanding all his towering assumptions.