another; yet no man can say to his Maker, without satanic arrogance, "I have made myself to differ from such an one, therefore I make a lawful demand upon thy justice: Thus much I have done for thee; do as much for me again." For while God dispenses punishments according to the rules of strict justice, he bestows his acwards only according to the rules of moral aptitude and distributive equity, in consequence of Christ's proper merits and of his own gracious promise: all mcn on earth, and all angels in heaven, being far less capable of properly deserving at God's hands, than all the mites and ants in England are, of properly meriting any thing at the hands of the king.]

[Lastly, what slaves earn is not their own, but the master's to whom they belong; and what your horses get is your property, not theirs: Now, as God has a thousand times more right to us, than masters to their slaves, and you to your horses; it follows, that, supposing we were sinless, and could properly earn any thing, our profit would be God's, not ours. So true it is, that, from the creature to the Creator, the idea of proper merit is as contrary to justice, as it is to decency.] As the preceding arguments [against the proper merit of works] will, I hope, abundantly satisfy all those [modern Pharisees,] who have not entirely cast away the Christian revelation, I pass to the old objection of [some ignorant] Papists [and injudicious Protestants.] "If good works cannot [merit us heaven, (See 5th note,) or properly] save us, why should we trouble ourselves about them?" [And in answering it, I shall guard the doctrine of obedience against the Antinomians.]

As this quibbling argument may puzzle the simple, and make the boasting Pharisees, that use it, triumph as if they had overturned the Protestant doctrine of salvation by faith without [the] works [decried by St. Paul]; I beg leave to shew its weakness by a comparison.

Suppose you said to me, "Your doing the work of

a parish-priest will never [merit] you an archbishopric" and I answered with discontent, " If doing my office will never [merit] me the see of Canterbury, why should I do it at all? I need not trouble myself about preaching any more;" would you not ask me whether a clergyman has no reason to attend his flock, but the wild and proud conceit that his labour must [deserve*] him a bishopric. And I ask, in my turn, Do you sup pose, that a Christian has no motive to do good works, but the wilder and prouder notion, that his good works must [properly speaking] merit him heaven? 5th note.)

(See

If therefore I can shew, that he has the strongest motives and inducements to abound in good works, without the doctrine of [proper] merits; I hope you will drop your objection. You say, "If good works will never [properly merit us salvation,] why should we do them?" I answer, For six good reasons, each of which [in some degree+] overturns your objection. 1. We are to do good works, to shew our obedience to our heavenly Father. As a child obeys his parents, not to purchase their estate, but because he is their child, [and does not choose to be disinherited] so believers obey God, not to get heaven for their wages; but because he is their Father, [and they would not provoke him to disinherit them.‡]

(38.) * This illustration is not strictly just. If the King had millions of bishopricks to give, if he had promised to bestow one upon every diligent clergyman; solemnly declaring that all who neglect their charge, should not only miss the ecclesiastical dignity annexed to diligence, but be put to a shameful death, as so many murderers of souls, the cases would then be exactly parallel. Besides every clergyman is not a candidate for a bishoprick, but every man is a candidate for heaven. Again, a clergyman may be as happy in his parsonage as a bishop in his palace; but if a man miss heaven, he sinks into hell. These glaring truths I overlooked when I was a "late evangelical preacher."

+ Formerly I said [entirely] but experience has taught me otherwise,

(39.) + This argument is weak without the additions. Our Lord informs us, that when the Father in the gospel says to

2. We are to abound in all good works, to be justified before men [now, and before the Judge of all the earth in the great day ;] and to shew that our faith is saving. St. Janes strongly insists upon this. (Chap. ii, 18.) Shew me thy faith without thy works,' says he, and I will shew thee my faith by my works :' That is, Thou sayest thou hast faith, [because thou wast once justified by faith ;] but thou doest not the works of a believer; thou canst follow vanity, and conform to this evil world: Thou canst swear or break the sabbath; lie, cheat, or get drunk; rail at thy neighbour, or live in uncleanness; in a word, thou canst do one or another of the devil's works: Thy works therefore give thee the lie, and show that thy faith is [now like] the devil's faith; for if faith without works be dead,' how doubly dead must faith with bad works be!* [And how absurd is it to suppose, that thou canst be instrumentally justified by a dead faith, or declaratively justified by bad works, either before men or in the sight of God!] But I will shew thee my faith by my works,' adds the apostle : i. e. By constantly abstaining from all evil works, and steadily walking in all sorts of good works, I will make thee confess, that I am really in Christ a new creature,' and that my faith is living and genuine.

3. Our Saviour told his disciples, that they were to

do good works, not to purchase heaven, but that others might be stirred up to serve God. You, then, that have found the way of salvation by Christ, let your light so shine before men, that even they,' who speak evil of the doctrine of faith, seeing your good

his fair-spoken child, Son, 'Go work to-day in my vine-yard,' he answers, 'I go Sir,' and goes not: And God himself says, I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against me.' Woe to the parents, who have such children, and have no power to cut off an entail!

(40) * If this single clause in my old sermon stand, so will the Minutes and the Checks. But the whole argument is a mere jest, if a man that wallows in adultery, murder, or incest, may have as true, justifying faith, as David had when he killed Goliah.

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works may glorify your Father who is in heaven.”, (Matt. v. 16.)

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4. We are to do good works out of gratitude and love to our dear Redeemer, who having [conditionally] purchased heaven for us with his precious blood, asks the small return of our love and obedience. 'If you love me,' says he, keep my commandments.' (John xiv, 15.) [This motive is noble, and continues powerful so long as we keep our first love. But, alas! it has little force with regard to the myriads that rather fear than love God: And it has lost its force in all those, who have denied the faith,' or made shipwreck of it,' or cast off their first faith,' and consequently their first love, and their first gratitude. The multitude of these, in all ages, has been innumerable. I fear, we might say of justified believers what our Lord did of the cleansed lepers : Were there not ten cleansed ? But where are the nine?' Alas! like the apostates mentioned by St. Paul, they are turned aside' after the flesh, after the world, after fables,' after Antinomian dotages, after vain jangling, after Satan' himself. (1 Tim. v, 15.)]

5. We are to be careful to maintain good works, [not only that we may not lose our confidence in God, (1 John iii, 19,) &c. but also] that we may nourish and increase our faith or spiritual life: [or to use the language of St. James, that faith may work with our works, and that by works our faith may be made

(41) This argument is quite frivolous, if my late opponent is right. "How has many a poor soul," says he, "who has been faithless through the fear of man, even blessed God for Peter's denial !" (Five Letters, 2d edition revised, p. 40.) Hence it appears, that denying Christ with oaths and curses, will cause "many a poor soul to bless God," i. e. to glorify our heavenly Father. Now if horrid crimes do this as well as good works, is it not absurd to enforce the practice of good works, by saying, that they alone have that blessed effect ? But my opponent may easily get over this difficulty before those, whose battles he fights. He needs only charge me with disingenuity for not quoting the 3d revised edition of his book, if he has published such a one.

perfect.] As a man [in health who is threatened by no danger] does not walk that his walking may procure him life [or save his life from destruction :] · But that he may preserve his health, and [add to] his activity: So a believer does not walk in good works to get [an initial life of grace, or a primary title to an] eternal life [of glory:] But to keep up and increase the vigour of his faith, by which he has [already a title to, and the earnest of] eternal life. For as the best health without any exercise is soon destroyed, so the strongest faith without works will soon droop and die. Hence it is that St. Paul exhorts us to hold faith and a good conscience, which some having put away' by refusing to walk in good works, concerning faith bave made shipwreck.']

6. We are not to do good works to obtain heaven by them [as if they were the properly meritorious cause of our salvation.] This § proud, anti-christian motive would poison the best doings of the greatest saints, if saints could thus trample on the blood of their Saviour: Such a wild conceit being only the Pharisee's cleaner way to hell. But we are to do them, because they shall be rewarded in heaven.† To understand this we must remember, that, according to the gospel and our liturgy, God opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers :" [hecause true believers are always true workers; true faith always working

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(42) Formerly I did not consider that as Noah walked into the ark, and Lot out of Sodom, to save their lives; so sinners are called to turn from their iniquity, and do that which is lawful and right to save their souls alive. Nor did I observe, that saints are commanded to walk in good works lest the destroyer overtake them, and they become sons of `perdition. However, in Babel, such capital oversights did me "much credit."

ous.

(43.) § Here I leave out the word "selfish," as being ambigu It is not selfishness, but true wisdom and well-ordered self-love, evangelically to labour for the meat that endureth to everlasting life. Not to do it is the height of Laodicean stupidity, or Antinomian conceit.

(44.) + Here I leave out [although not with heaven,] for the reasons assigned in the Scriptural Essay.