Checks to antinomianism

•^^

asr

•

CHECKS

TO

^ar^iHr®mi^sfa®ffi<

BY

THE REV, JOHN FLETCHER.

T^* FOUR VOLUMES.

-^^&«-

VOLUME iV.

CONTAINING,

I. REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY'S SCHEME

OF CHRISTIAN AND PHILOSOPHI-
CAL NECESSITY.

II. AN ANSWER TO THE REV. MR. TOP-

LADY'S VINDICATION OF THE DE-
CREES, j^

THE LAST CHECK TO ANTINOMf
ANISM ; OR, A POLEMICAL ESSAY
ON THE TWIN DOCTRINES OF
CHRISTIAN IMPERFECTION, AND
A DEATH PURGATORY.

THIRD AMERICAN EDITION.

— •ooo—

BUBLI^HED BY J. SOULE AND T. MASON, FOR THE METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES.

Abraham Paul, Priiittr.

1820.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV.

-^Vi^VSj-

t. REMARKS ON MR. T0PL.ADY'S SCHEME OP
CHRISTIAN AND PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY.

Page

Sect. I. A View of Mr. Toplady's Scheme :— It represents God as the first

Cause of all Sin and Damnation • ^

II. His Error is overthrown by fourteen Arguments 18

III. Twelve Keys to open the passages of Scripture on which he founds

his Scheme 31

IV. The capital Objections of the Necessitarians to the Doctrine of

Liberty answered , 51

V. The Doctrine of Necessity is the capital Error of the Calvinists,

and the foundation of the most wretched Schemes of Philosophy
and Divinity 58

II. ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY'S VINDICATION
OF THE DECREES.

iNTRODtrCTION 65

Sbct. I. The Calvinian Scheme evidently implies that some Men shall be

saved, do what they will ; and others damned, do what they can 67
II. Calvinism upon its Legs : or, a full View of the Arguments by
which Mr. Toplady attempts to reconcile Calvinism with
God's Holiness. 71

III. Mr, Toplady appeals in vain to Scripture and Reason to support

the Absoluteness and Holiness of the Calvinian Decrees 82

IV. Calvinian Reprobation cannot be reconciled with Divine Justice 86
V. Much less can it be reconciled with Divine Mercy lOO

VI. A View of the Manner in which Mr. Toplady attempts to prove

Calvinian Reprobation from the Scriptures 105

VII. The Arguments answered by which Mr. Toplady tries to recon-
cile Calvinism with a future Judgment, and Absolute Necessity

with Moral Agency • 110

VIII. Mr. Toplady's Arguments from God's Prescience answered.... 123
IX. An Answer to the Charges of Robbing the Trinity, and encourag-
ing Deism 129

X. Mr. Toplady attempts in vain to retort the Charge of Antinomi-

anism, and to show that Calvinism is more conducive to Holi-
ness than the opposite Doctrine 132

XI. A Caution against the Tenet—" Whatever is, is righf^ 137

XII. Some Encouragements for those who, from a principle of Con-

science, bear their Testimony against Absolute Election and
Reprobation ...,....., I4fl

IV CONTENTS.

III. POLEMICAL. ESSAY.

Fruface. — Reasons of the title given to this Tract. — The Doctrines of the
Heathen, the Papists, and Calvinists, concerning the Purgation
of Souls from the Remains of Sin. — The Purgatory recom-
mended in this Book 153

Sect. I. The Doctrine of Christian Perfection placed in a Scriptural

Light 159

II. Pious Calvinists dissent from us chiefly because they confound
the Law of Innocence, and Law of Liberty, or Adamic and
Christian Perfection 166

III. Objections against this Doctrine solved merely by considering

the Nature of Christian Perfection 171

IV. The Ninth and Fifteenth Articles of our Church, properly

understood, are not agsdnst the Doctrine of Christian Perfec-
tion. That our Church holds it, is proved by thirteen

Arguments 178

V. St. Peter and St. James declare for Christian Perfection 191

VI. St. Paul preached Christian Perfection, and professed to have

attained it 197

VI!. St. Paul was not carnal, and sold under Sin. — The true Meaning-

of Gal. V. 17. and of Rom. vii. 14 207

yill. An Answer to the Arguments by which St. PauPs supposed

Carnality is generally defended. 220

IX. St. Paul presents us with a striking Picture of a Perfect Chris-
tian, by occasionally describing his own Spirituality. 229

X. St. John is tor Christian Perfection, and not for a Death

Purgatory 236

XI. Why the Privileges of Believers under the Gospel cannot be
justly measured by the Experience of Believers under the

Law of Moses i 244

XII. A Variety of Arguments to prove the Absurdity of the Twin

Doctrines of Christian Imperfection and a Death Purgatory . . 250
Xin. A Variety of Arguments to prove the Mischievoiisness of the

Doctrine of Christian Imperfection 260

XIV. The Arguments answered by whirh the Imperfectionists support

the Doctrine of the necessary indwelling of Sin till Death. . . . 268
XV. The Doctrine of Christian Perfection is truly Evangelical. —
A Recapitulation of the Scripture Proofs whereby it is main-
tained 287

XVI. The Distinction between Sins and Infirmities is truly Scrip-
tural.— An Answer to Mr. Henry's grand Argument for the

Continuance of indwelling Sin 296

XVII. An Address to perfect Christian Pharisees 309

XVIII. To prejudiced Imperfectionists. 316

XIX. To imperfect Believers, who embrace the Doctrine of Christian

Perfection 329

XX. Address to Perfect Christians »,,oct.., 366^

TO THB

PRINCIPAL ARGUMENTS

BT WHICH
SUPPORT THE DOCTRINE OF

ABSOLUTE NECESSITY:

BEING

REMARKS

ON

THE REV. MR. TOPLADY'S

« SCHEME OF CHRISTIAN AND PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY.''

JteTxart test any man spoil you throvgh Philosophy and vain Deceit.

Col. ii. ?

asr?Ka®2)iKg5m©sr.

jyiR. Voltaire, at the head of the Deists abroad ; President Edwards
and Mr. Toplady, at the head of the Calvinists in America and Great
Britain; and Dr. Hartley, seconded by Dr. Priestley and Mr. Hume,
at the head of many ingenious philosophers ; have of late years
joined their literary forces to bind man with what Mr. Toplady calls
*^ Ineluctabilis ordo rerum^' — or ^^ the extensive series of adamantine
linksy' which form the chain of " absolute necessity :" — An invisible
chain this, by which, if their scheme be true, God and Nature irre-
sistibly bind upon us all our thoughts and actions ; so that no good
man can absolutely think or do worse — no wicked man can at any time
think or do better — than he does, each exactly filling up the measure
of unavoidable virtue or vice, which God, as the first cause or the
predestinating and necessitating author of all things, has allotted to
him from all eternity.

Mr. Toplady triumphs in seeing the rapid progress which this doc-
trine makes by the help of the above-mentioned authors, who shine
with distinguished lustre in the learned world. " Mr. Wesley," says
he, '* laments that Necessity is * The scheme, which is now adopted
by not a few of the most sensible men in the nation.' I agree with
him as to the fact. But I cannot deplore it as a calamity. The pro-
gress which that doctrine has of late years made, and is still making
in the kingdom, I consider as a most happy and promising symp-
tom, &:c."

1 flatter myself that I shall by and by show, upon theological prin-
ciples, the mischievous absurdity of that spreading doctrine, in an
Answer to Mr. Toplady's Vindication of the Decrees. But, as he has
lately published a book entitled, " The Scheme of Christian and Philo-
sophical Necessity asserted, in opposition to Mr. J. Wesley's Tract on that
Subject;''' and as he has advanced in that book some argument* taken

via INTRODUCTION.

from Philosophy and Scripture, I shall now take notice of them To

defend truth effectually, error mast be entirely demolished. There-
fore, without any farther apology, I present the lovers of truth with
the following refutation of the grand error which supports the Cal-
vinian and Voltairian Gospels.

REPLY, &c

SECTION I.

w3 view of the doctrine of Absolute JVecessity, as it is maintained by
Mr. Toplady and his adherents. — This doctrine {as well as Manichc-
ism) makes God the author of every sin.

OoNTI^OVERTISTS frequently accuse their opponents of holding
detestable or absurd doctrines which they never advanced, and which
have no necessary connexion with their principles. That I may not
be guilty of so ungenerous a proceeding, I shall, first, present the
reader with an account of JVecessity and her pedigree, in Mr. Top-
lady's own words.

Scheme of Christian and Philosophical JVecessity, page 13, 14, " li'
we distinguish accurately, this seems to have been the order in which
the most judicious of the ancients considered the whole matter:
First, God : — ^^then, his Will : — then Fate ; or the solemn ratification of
his Will, by passing and establishing it into an unchangeable decree ;
— then Creation: — then Necessity; i. e. such an indissoluble conca-
tenation of secondary causes and effects, as has a native tendency to
secure the certainty of all events, as one -wave is impelled by another .-^
— then Providence ; i. e. the omnipresent, omnivigilant, all-directina; ;"
[he might have added all-impelling] " superintendency of divine wis-
dom and power, carrying the whole preconcerted scheme into actual
execution by the subservient mediation of second causes, which were
created for that end."

This is the full view of the doctrine which the Calvinists, and the
better sort of Fatalists, defend. I would only ask a few questidnrf

* Mr. T. puts this clause in Latin ; Velut unda impdlitur wirfff.

Vol. IV. t>

10 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY'S SCHEME

upon it. — 1. If all our actions, and consequently all our sins, compose
the seventh link of the chain of Calvinism ;— If the first link is Gody
the second, his Will; the third, his Decree ; the fourth, Creation ; the
fifth, Necessity ; the sixth, Providence ; and the seventh, Sin ; is it not
as easy to "trace the pedigree of Sin through Providence, Necessity^
Creation, God's Decree, and God's Will, up to God himself ; as it is to
trace back the genealogy of the Prince of Wales, from George III.
by George II. up to George I. ? x4nd upon this plan, is it not clear
that Sin is as much the real offspring of God as the Prince of Wales
is the real offspring of George the First? — 2. If this is the case, does
not Calvinism, or if you please, Fatalism or Necessitarianism, absolutely
make God the Author of Sin, by means of his Will, his Decree, his
Creation, his Necessitation, his impelling Providence ? And, horrible
to think ! does it not unavoidably follow, that the monster Sin is the
offspring of God's Providence — -of God's Necessitation — of God's
Creation — of God's Decree — of God's Will — of God himself? — 3. If
this Manichean doctrine be true, when Christ came to destroy sin,
did he not come to destroy the work of God rather than the work of
the devil ? And when preachers attack sin, do they not attack God's
•jprovidence — God's necessitation — God's creation — God's (iecree-r-God's
isjill — and God himself? — 4. To do God and his Oracles justice, ought

we not to give the following scriptural genealogy of sin ? A sinful

act is the offspring of a sinful choice ; — a sinful choice is the offspring of
self -perversion ; — and self- perversion may or 7nay not follow fromyVee
will put in a state of probation, or under a practicable law. When you
begin at Sin, you can never ascend higher than/ree rvill : and when
you begin at God, you can never descend lower than/ree Tsoill: thus,
1. God; — 2. His will to make free willing, accountable creatures ; —
3. His putting his will in execution by the actual Creation of sucli
creatures ; — 4. Legislation on God's part ; — 5. Voluntary, unnecessi-
tated obedience, on the part of those who make a good use of their
free will ; — And 6. Voluntary unnecessitated disobedience, on the part
of those who make a bad use of it. Hence it is evident, that, by
substituting necessity for free will, and absolute decrees for righteous
legislation, Mr. Toplady breaks the golden chain which our gracious
Creator made, and helps Manes, Augustin, Calvin, Hobbes, Voltaire,
Hume, Dr. Hartley, and Dr. Priestley, to hammer out the iron-clay
chain, by which they hang sin upon God himself. — 5. If all our sins^
with all their circumstances and aggravations, are only a part of " the
whole preconcerted scheme,'^'' which " divine wisdom and power,''"' abso
lutely and irresistibly ^'- carry into actual execution, by the subservient
mediaiioti of second causes, which were created for that end ;-'' who can

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY, 11

rahonally blame sinners for answering the end for which they were
absolutely created? Who can refuse to exculpate and pity the repro-
bates, whom all-impelling omnipotence carries into sin, and into hell,
as irresistibly as a floating cork is carried towards the shore by toss-
ing billows which necessarily impel one another? And who will not
be astonished at the erroneous notions which the consistent Fatalists
have of their God ? — A God this, who necessitates, yea, impels, men to
sin by his will — his decree — his neceseitation — and his providence,
then gravely weeps and bleeds over them for sinning : — and after
having necessitated and impelled the non-elect to disbelieve and de-
spise his blood, will set up a judgment-seat to damn them for necessa-
rily carrying his preconcerted scheme into actual execution, as " second
causes which zvere created for that end ?"

"Oh! but they do it voluntarily as well as necessarily^ and there-
fore they are accountable and judicable." — This Calvinian salvo
makes a bad matter worse. For, if all their sins are necessarily
brought about by God's all-impelling decree, their zvilling and bad
choice are brought about by the same preconcerted, irresistible means ;
one of the ends of God's necessitation, with respect to the reprobate,
being to make them sin with abundantly greater freedom and choice
than if they were not necessitated and impelled by God's predestinating,
efficacious, irresistible decree. This Mr. Toplady indirectly asserts
in the following argument.

Page la. *' They" [man's actions — man''s sins'] may be, at one and
the same time, free and necessary too. When Mr. Wesley is very
hungry and tired, he is necessarily, and yet freely, disposed to food
or rest. His will is — concerned in sitting down to dinner, or in court-
ing repose, when necessity impels to either. — Necessarily biassed as he
is to those mediums of recruit, he has recourse to them as freely,
(i. e. as voluntarily, and with as much appetite, choice, desire, and
relish,) as if necessity were quite out of the ca^e ; nay, and with abun-
dantly greater freedom and choice, than if he was not so necessitated
and impelled."

Is not this as much as to say, " As necessitation, the daughter of
God's decree, impels Mr. Wesley to eat, by giving him an appetite to
food ; so it formerly impelled Adam, and now it impels all the repro-
bates, to sin, by giving them an appetite to wickedness : an3, necessa-
rily biassed as they are to adultery, robbery, and other crimes, they
commit them " as freely, i. e. with as much appetite and choice, as if
necessity were quite out of the case : nay, and with abundantly greater
freedom and choice, than if they were not so necessitated and im-
pelled ?'" — Is not this reviving one of the most impious tenets of tho

14 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

Manichees ? — Is it not confounding the LRm,b of God with the old
dragon, and coupling the celestial dove with the infernal serpent ?

If you ask, *' Where is the flaw of Mr. Toplady's argumentative
illustration?" I answer, it has two capital defects : 1. That God's
wil!, his decree, and his providence, impel Mr. Wesley to eat when he
is hungry, is very true ; because eating, in such a case is, in general,
Mr. Wesley's duty, and reminding; him cf his want of nourishment,
by the sensation which we call hunger, is a peculiar favour, worthy
of the Parent of good to bestow. But the question is, whether
God's will, decree, and providence impelled Adam to choose the for-
bidden fruit rather than any other, and excited David to go to Uriah's
wife, rather than to his own wives ? How illogical, hoAv detestable is
this conclusion ! God iiecessitates and impels us to do our duty ; and
therefore, he necessitates and impels us to do wickedness! — But 2. The
greatest absurdity belonging to Mr. Toplady's illustration is, his pre-
tending to overthrow the doctrine oi free will, by urging the hunger
which God gives to Mr. Wesley, in order to necessitate and impel him
to eat, according to the decree of Calvinian necessitation, which is
absolutely irresistible. B'Ir. T. says, page 13, " We call that necessary ,
■which cannot be other^mse than it is."" Now Mr. Wesley's eating when
he is hungry, is by no means Calvinistically necessary : for he has a
hundred times reversed the decree of his hunger by foisting ; and if
he were put to the sad alternative of the woman, who was to starve, or
to kill and eat her own child, he both could and would go full against
the necessitation of his hunger, and never eat more. Mr. Toplady's
illustration, therefore, far from proving that God's necessitation zVrp-
^istibly impels us to commit sin, indirectly demonstrates, that God's
necessitation does not so much as absolutely impel us to do those
things, which the very laws of our constitution and nature themselves
bind upon us, by the strong necessity of self-preservation. For some
people have so far resisted the urgent calls of nature and appetite, as
not only to make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's
sake, but even literally to starve themselves to death.

I once saw a man who played the most amazing tricks with a pack
of cards. His skill consisted in so artfully shuffling them, and imper-
ceptibly substituting one for another, that when you thought you had
fairly secTired the king of hearts, you found yourself possessed only
of the knave of clubs. The defenders of the doctrine of necessity
are not less skilful. I shall show in another tract, with what subtlety
Mr. T. uses ^^ permission''^ for efficacy, — " no salvation due,^^ for
eternal torments ensured; — *' not enriching,^^ for absolute reprobation ;
.--and " passing 6j/," for (ibsoluiely appointing to remediless sin, and

ON PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY, 13

^ixerlasti'ng burnings. Let us now consider the grand, logical substi-
tution, which deceives that gentleman, and by which he misleads the
admirers of his scheme.

Page 14. "I acquiesce in the old distinction ol' necessity [a distinc-
tion adopted by Luther and others] into a necessity of compulsion^ and
a necessity of infallible certainty. — We say of the earth, for instance,
that it circuits the sun by compulsory necessity. The necessity of
infallible certainty is of a very different kind, and only renders the
event inevitably future, without any compulsory force on the will of
the agent." — If Mr. T. had said, *' The necessity of true prophecy^
considers an event as certainly future ; but puts no Calvinian, irresist-
ible bias on the will of the agent ;" I would have subscribed to his
distinction. But instead of the words truly certain, or certainly future ,
which would have perfectly explained what may improperly be
called necessity of true prophecy, and what should be called certain
futurity; instead of those words, I say, he artfully substitutes, first
'^infallibly certain,'^'' and then '"^inevitably future.''^ The phrase,
infallibly certain, may be admitted to pass, if you understand by it that
which does not fail to happen : but if you take it in a rigid sense, and
moan by it, that which cannot absolutely fail to happen, you get a step
out of the way, and you may easily go on shuffling your logical cards
till you have imposed Fatalism upon the simple, by making them
believe, that certainly future, infallibly future, and inevitably future,
are three phrases of the same import ; whereas the difference between
the first and the last phrase is as great, as the difference between Mr.
Wesley's scriptural doctrine of free will, and Mr. T.'s Manichean
doctrine of absolute necessity.

It is the property of error to be inconsistent. Accordingly we
find that Mr. T. at\er having told us (p. 14.) that the necessity of
infallible certainty, which renders the event inevitably future, lays no
compulsory force on the will of the agent, tells us in the very same pac^e
that his Calvinian necessity is " such an indissoluble concatenation of
secondary causes — [created for that end] — and of effects, as has a
native tendency to secure the certainty of events'' [i. e. of all voli-
tions, murders, adulteries, and incests] " sicut unda impellitur unda •"
as one wave impels another — or, as the first link of a chain which you
pull, draws the second— the second, the third— and so on. Now, if
all our volitions are pushed forward by God through the means of

his absolute will — his irresistible decree— h\9, efficacious creation and

his all-conquering necessitation, which is nothing but an adamantine
chain of second causes created by Providence, in order to produce
absolutely all the effects which are produced, and to make Ihem impd

14 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY'S SCHEME

each other " as one wave impels another ;" we desire to know, how
our volitions can be thus irresistibly impelled upon us " without any
compulsory force on our will." I do not see how Mr. T. can get
over this contradiction, otherwise than by saying, that, although God's
necessitation is irresistibly impulsory, yet it is not at all compulsory ,
although it absolutely impels us to will, yet it does not in the least
compel us to he willing. But would so frivolous, so absurd a distinc-
tion as this, wipe off the foul blot which the scheme of necessity
fixes on the Father of lights, when it represents him as the first
cause, and the grand contriver of all our sinful volitions ?

Mr. T. pp. 133, 134, among other pieces of Manicheism, gives us
the following account of that strange religion. " There are two inde-
pendent gods, or infinite principles : viz. — light, and — darkness.
The first is the author of all good : and the second, of all evil. — The
evil God made sin. — The good God and the bad God wage implacable
war against each other ; and perpetually clog and disconcert one
another's schemes and operations. Hence men are impelled, &c. to
good, or to evil, according as they come under the power of the
good deity, or the bad one."— Or, to speak Calvinisticall}', They are
necessarily made willing to believe and obey, if they are the elected
objects of everlasting love, which is the good principle ; and they
are irresistibly made willing to disbelieve and disobey, if they are
the reprobated objects of everlasting wrath, which is the evil princi-
ple. For free will has no more place in Manicheism than it has in
Calvinism. Hence it appears, that setting aside the other peculiari-
ties of each scheme, the grand difference between Calvin and Manes,
consists in Calvin's making everlasting, electing, necessitating love,
and everlasting, reprobating, necessitating wrath, t<5*flow from the
same divine principle ; whereas Manes more reasonably supposed,
that they flow from two contrary principles. Whoever therefore
denies free isaill, and contends for necessity, embraces, before he is
aware, the capital error of the Manichees : and it is well, if he do not
hold it in a less reasonable manner than Manes himself did. " I
believe," add? Mr. Toplady, '' it is absolutely impossible to trace
quite up to its source, the antiquity of that hypothesis, which absurdly
aflirras the existence of two eternal, contrary, independent princi-
ples.— What led so many wise people, and for so great a series of
ages, into such a wretched mistake ; were chiefly, I suppose, these
two considerations : 1. That evil, both moral and physical, are posi-
tive things, and so must have a positive cause. — 2. That a Being, per-
fectly good, could not, from the very nature of his existence, be the
cause of such bad things."

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 15

Here Mr. Toplady reasons like a judicious divine. The misfortune
for his scheme is, that his *' two considerations," like two millstones,
grind Calvinism to dust : or, like two cogent arguments, force us to
emhrace the doctrine of free will, or the error of Manes. Mr. T.
seems aware of this ; and therefore, to show that God can, upon the
Calvinian plan, absolutely predestinate, and effectually bring about sin,
by making men willing to sin in the day of his irresistible power ;
and that nevertheless he is not the author and first cause of sin; —
To show this, I say, Mr. T. asserts, *' That evil, whether physical
or moral, does not, upon narrow inspection, appear to have so much
ofposiiivily init, as it is probable those ancients supposed." Nay, he
insinuates that, as " sickness is a privation of health ;" so the sinful-
ness of any human action is said to be a privation ;''^ being called
«»o]tt;<», illegality ; — and he adds, that, wonderful as the thing may
appear. Dr. Watts, in his Logic, " ventures to treat of sin under
the title of not- 6eiwg."* When Mr. Toplady has thus cleared the
way, and modestly intimated that sin, being a kind of non-entity, can
have no positive cause, he proposes the grand questi'on, " Whether
the great ]^lfst Cause, who is infinitely and merely good, can be, either
efficiently or deficiently, the author of thein,''^ i. e. [according to the
context] the author of iniquity, injustice, impiety, and vice ; as well
as the author of the natural evil by which God punishes sin ?

Page 139. Mr. T. answers this question thus : " In my opinion, the
single word permission solves the whole difficulty, as far as it can be
solved, &:c." and page 141. he says, " We know scarce any of the
views which induced uncreated goodness to ordain ffor, k,c. I see no
great difference between permitting and ordaining) ^he introgression,
or more properly, the intromission of evil." Here Mr. Toplady goes
as far as he decently can : rather than grant that we are endued with
free -will, and that when God had made angels and men free-zcilling
creatures, in order to judge them according to their ovvn works, he
could not, without inconsistency, rob them of free will by necessitating
them to be either good or wicked ; — rather, I say, than admit this
Scriptural doctrine, which perfectly clears the gracious Judge of all
the earth, Mr. Toplady first indirectly and decently extenuates sin,
and brings it down to almost nothing ; and then he tells us that God
ordained it. Is not the openness of Manes preferable to this Calvin •

* If the Calvinisls, in their unguarded moments, represent sin as a kind of not-being', or
?ion-cntUy, that they may exculpate God for al)!!olutely ordainin;^ it, do they not by this
mean exculpate the sinner also ? If the Jirst cause of sin is excusable, because sin is a pri-
■sation, and has ^* not so much of positivity in iV as the ancients supposed; is not the
srconcZ cause of sin much more excusable on the sama account ?

18 REMARKS ON ME. TOPLADY's SCHEME

istic winding? — When Mr. T. grants, that God " ordained-^ sin, and
when he charges " the intromission of evil" upon God, does he not
grant all that Manes in this respect contended for ? And have not the
Manichean Necessitarians the advantage over Mr, T, when they
assert, that a principle, which absolutely ordains, yea, necessitates
sin and all the works of darkness, is a dai^k and evil principle 'i Can
we doubt of it, if we believe these sayings of Christ, Out of the
[evil] heart proceed evil thoughts^ &c. By their works you shall know
them. — The tree is known by its fruit ?

Again : If " sin," or rather the sinfulness of an action, may be
properly called a *' not-being'^ or a non-entity^ as Mr. Toplady incon-
sistently insinuates, page 137. it absurdly follows, that crookedness, or
the want of straightness in a line, is a mere privation also, or a 7ioi-
being ; whereas reason and feeling tell us, that the crookedness of a
crooked line is something every way as positive as the straightness of
a straight line. To deny it, is as ridiculous as to assert, that a circle
is a not-being, because it is not made of straight lines like a square ;
or that a murder is a species of non-entity, because it is not the legal
execution of a condemned malefactor. Nor can Mr. Ijtmend his
error by hiding it behind " Dr. Walts's logic ;" for the world knows
that Dr. Watts was a Calvinist when he wrote that book ; and there-
fore, judicious as he was, the vail of error prevented him from seeing
then that part of the truth which I contend for.

Once more : Whether sin has a positive cause or not, (for Mr. T.
insiiiuates both these doctrines, with the inconsistency peculiar to his
system,) I beg leave to involve him in a dilemma, which will meet
him at the front or back door of his inconsistency. Either sin is a
real thing, and has a positive cause : or it is not a real thing, and has
no positive cause. If it is not a real thing, and has no positive cause ;
why (loes God positively send the wicked to hell for a privation^
which they have not positively caused ? And if sin is a real thing, or
a positive moral crookedness of the will of a sinner, and as such has
a positive cause ; can that positive cause be any other than the self-
perversion of free will, or the impelling decree of a sin-ordaining God ?
If the positive cause of sin is the self- perversion of free will, is it not
evident that so sure as there is sin in the world, the doctrine of free
•will is true ? but if the positive cause of sin is the impelling decree
of a sin-ordaining^ sin-necessitating God ; is it not incontestable, that
the capital doctrine of the Manichees, the doctrine of absolute necessity,
is true ; and that there is in the Godhead an evil principle, (it sig-
nifies little whether you call it matter^ darkness, everlasting free wraths
or devil,) which positively ordains and irresistibly causes sin ? In a

OF rHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 17

word, is it not clear, that the second Gospel axiom is overthrown by
the doctrine of necessity ; and that the damnation of sinners is of God,
and not of themselves ?

While Mr. T. tries to extricate himself from this dilemma, I shall
produce one or two more passages of this book, to prove that his
scheme makes God the author of sin, according to the most danger-
ous error of Manes. The Heathens imagined that Minerva, the god-
dess of wisdom, was Jupiter's offspring in the most peculiar manner.
Diana was indeed Jupiter's daughter, -l^ut Latona, an earthly princess,
was her mother. Whereas Jupiter was at once the father and mother
of Minerva. He begat her himself in the womb of his own brain,
and when she was ripe for the birth, his forehead opened after a vio-
lent headach, which answered to the pangs of child-bearing, and out
came the lovely female deity. Mr. Toplady, alluding to this heathen
fiction, represents his Diana, Necessity, as proceeding from God with
her immense chain ol' events, which has among its adamantine links,
all the follies, heresies, murders, robberies, adulteries, incests, and
rebellions, of which men and devils have been, are, or ever shall
be, guilty. His own words, page 50. are, " Necessity, in general,
with all its extensive series of adamantine links in particular, is, in
reality, what the poets feigned of Minerva, the issue of Divine Wis-
dom :" [he should have said, the issue of the supreme God, by his
own wise brain] " deriving its whole existence from the free will of
God; and iU whole eff'ectuosity from his never-ceasing providence."
Is not this insinuating, as plainly as decency will allow, that every
sin, as a link of the adamantine chain of events, has been hammered
in heaven, and that every crime " derives its whole existence from the
free will of God?^^ Take one more instance of the same Manicheaa
doctrine.

Page 64. Mr. Toplady having said, that He [God] casteih forth his
ice like morsels — and causeth his wind to blow, &c. adds, " Neither is
material nature alone bound fast in fate. All other things, the human
will itself not excepted, are not less tightly bound, i. e. effectually influ-
enced and determined." — Hence it is evident, that if this Calvinism
be true, when sinners send forth volleys of unclean and profane words,
Calvin's God has as " tightly bound" them to cast forth Manichean
ribaldry, as the God of nature binds the clouds to cast forth his ice like
morsels.

I would not be understood to demonstrate by the preceding quo-
tations, that Mr. T. designs to make God the author of sin. No : on
the contrary, I do him the justice to say, that he does all he can to
clear his doctrines of grace from this dreadful imputation. I onlv

Vol. IV. 3

IS REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY'S SCHEME

produce his own words to show, that, notwithstanding all his endea-
vours, this horrid Manichean consequence unavoidably flows from his
scheme of necessity.

SECTION il.

Mr. T. attempts to support his scheme of absolute Necessity by Philo
SOPHY. — His philosophical error is overthrown by fourteen arguments,
-^What truth comes nearest to his error.

We have taken a view of the Scheme of Necessity, and seen how
it represents God, directly or indirectly, as the First Cause of all sin
and damnation. Consider we now, how Mr. T. defends this scheme
by rational arguments as a philosopher.

Page 22. " The soul is, in a very extensive degree, passive as matter
is :"— Here Mr. Toplady, in some degree, gives up the point. He is
about to prove that the soul is not self-determined ; and that, as our
bodily organs are necessarily and irresistibly affected by the objects
which strike them ; so our souls are necessarily and irresistibly deter-
mined by our bodily organs, and by the ideas which these organs
necessarily raise in our minds when they are so affected. Now, to
prove this, he should have proved that our souls are altogether as pas-
sive as our bodies. But, far from proving it, he dares not assert it :
for he allows, that the soul is passive as matter, only in a very exten-
sive degree: and therefore, by his own concession, the argument on
which he is going to rest the notion of the absolute passiveness of the
soul with respect to self-determination, will be at least in some degree
groundless. But let us consider this mighty argument, and see if Mr.
T.'s limitation frees him from the charge of countenancing material-
ism " in a very extensive degree.^'

Page 22. "The senses are necessarily impressed by every object
from without ; and as necessarily commove the fibres of the brain :
from which nervous commotion ideas are necessarily communicated
to, or excited in, the soul ; and by the judgment which the soul neces-
sarily frames of those ideas, the will is necessarily inclined to approve
or disapprove, to act or not to act. If so, where is the boasted power
of self-determination?"

This Mr. Toplady calls " a Survey of the soul's dependence on the
body." Page 27, he enforces the same doctrine in these words :
•'The human body is necessarily encompassed by a multitude of other
bodies. Which other surrounding bodies, animal, vegetable, &c. so
far as we come within their perceivable sphere, necessarily impress

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 19

our nerves with sensations correspondent to the objects themselves.
These sensations are necessarily, &c. propagated to the soul, which
can no more help receiving them, and being affected by them, than a
tree can resist a stroke of lightning,

''Now, 1. If all the ideas in the soul derive their existence from
sensrition ; and 2. If the soul depend absolutely on the body for all
those sensations ; and 3. If the body be both primarily and con-
tinually dependent on other extrinsic beings' for the very sensations
which it [the body] communicates to the soul ; — the consequence
seems to me undeniable, that neither man's mental nor his outward
operations are se//'-determined ; but, on the contrary, determined by
the views with which an infinity of surrounding objects necessarily^
and almost incessantly impress his intellect."

These arguments bring to my mind St. Paul's caution. Beware lest
any vian spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. That Mr. T.'s
scheme is founded on a vain philosophy will, I hope, appear evident
to those who weigh the following remarks.

I. This scheme is contrary to genuine philosophy, which has
always represented the soul as able to resist the strongest impressions
of the objects that surround the body ; and as capable of going
against the wind and tide of all the senses. Even Horace, an effemi-
nate disciple of Epicurus, could say, in his sober moments,

Justurn et tenacem propositi virum, &c-

" Neither the clamours of a raging mob, nor the frowns of a threat-
ening tyrant; — neither furious storms, nor roaring thunders, can
move a righteous man, who stands firm to his resolution. The wreck
of the world might crush his body to atoms, but could not shake his
soul with fear." But Mr. T.'s philosophy sinks as much below the
poor heathen's, as a man who is perpetually borne down, and carried
away by every object of sense around him, is inferior to the steady
man, whose virtue triumphs over all the objects which strike his
senses.

II. This doctrine unmans man. For reason, or a power morally
to regulate the appetites which we gratify by means of our senses,
is what chiefly distinguishes us from other animals. Now, if outward
objects necessarily bias our senses, if our senses necessarily bias our
judgment, and if our judgment necessarily bias our will and practice:
what advantage have we over beasts ? May we not say of reason,
what heated Luther once said of free will ; that it is an empty name,
a mere non-entity ? Thus Mr. Toplady's scheme of philosophical ne-
cessity, by rendering reason useless, saps the very foundation of all

20 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

moral philosophy, and hardly allows man the low principle of conduct
which we call instinct in brutes. Na}^ the very brutes are not so
aflected by the objects which strike their senses : but they often run
away, hungry as they are, from the food which tempts their eye, their
nose, and their belly, when they apprehend some danger, though
their senses discover none. Beasts frequently act in full opposition to
the sight of their eyes ; but the wretched scheme, which Mr. T.
imposes upon us as Chrisftan philosophyf supposes that all men necessa-
rily think, judge, and act, not only according to the sight of their eyes^
but according to the impressions made by matter upon all their senses.
How would heathenish fatalists themselves have exploded so carnal a
philosophy !

in. As it sets aside reason, so it overthrows conscience, and the
light which enlightens every man that comes i7ito the world. For, of
what use is conscience ? Of what use is the internal light of grace,
which enlightens conscience within, if man is necessarily determined
from without ; and if the objects which strike his senses irresistibly
turn his judgment and his will, insomuch that he can no more resist'
their impression " than a tree can resist the stroke of lightning ?"

IV. As this scheme leaves no room for morality, so it robs us of the
very essence of God's natural image, which consists chiefly in self-
activity, and self-motion. For, according to Mr. T.'s philosophy,
we cannot take one step, no not in the affairs of common life, without
an irresistible, necessitating impulse. Yea, with respect to self-
activity, he represents us as inferior to our watches : They have
their spring of motion within themselves, and they can go alone, if
they are wound up once in twenty-four hours. But, if we believe
Mr. T. our spring of motion is without us : nay, we have as many
springs of motion as there are objects around us ; and these objects
necessarily wind up our will from moment to moment. For, by ne-
cessarily moving our senses, they necessarily move our understanding j
our understanding necessarily moves our will ; and our will necessa-
rily moves our tongues, hands, and feet. Thus our will and body,
like the wheels and body of a coach, never move but as they are
ftioved, and cannot help moving when they are acted upon. How
different is this mechanical religion from the spiritual religion which
the learned and pious Dr. H. More inculcates in these words ! " The
first degree of the divine image was self-motion, or self- activity. For
mere passivity ; or to be moved or acted by anbther, without a man's
will, &c. is the condition of such as are either dead or asleep ; as to
go of a man's self is a symptom of one alive, or awake. — Men that
are dead drunk, may be haled, or disposed of, where others please;"

OP PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 21

— To be irresistibly acted upon, is then to be *' deprived of that
degree of life, which is self -activity, or the doing of things from aa
inward principle of free agency ; and therefore it is to be, so far, in
a state of death."

Nor will Mr. T. mend the matter by urging, that our understand-
ing and our will are first necessarily moved and determined by the
objects that surround us. For the motion of a coach drawn by
horses, and driven by a coachman, is not the less mechanical, because
the smooth axle-tree, and the oiled wheels, he,\ng first set in motion.
move the whole coach by readily yielding to the impulse of the
external mover. Were such wheels as full of consciousness, and
willingness, as the mystic wheels of Ezekiel's vision ; yet so long as
they moved by absolute necessity, or by an oil of -willingness irresisti-
bly applied to them from without, their motion would not be more
commendable than that of a well-suspended and oiled wheel, which
the touch of your finger moves round its axis. It turns indeed freely,
and (according to supposition) willingly : but yet ; as it wills and
moves irresistibly and passively, its moving and willing are merely
mechanical. So easy and short is the transition from the scheme of
absolute necessity to that of universal mechanism !

V. If Mr. T.'s scheme of necessity be true, all sin may be justly
charged upon Providence, who, by the "surrounding objects which
necessarily impress our intellect," causes sin as truly, and as irre-
sistibly, as a gunner causes the explosion of a loaded cannon, by the
lighted match which he applies to the touchhole. And Eve was
unwise when she said, The serpent beguiled me and I did eat : for she
might have said : " Lord, I have only followed the appointed law of
my nature : for providentially coming within sight of the tree of
knowledge, I perceived that the fruit was good for food, and pleasant
to the eye. It necessarily impressed my nerves with correspondent
sensations ; these sensations were necessarily and instantaneously
propagated to my soul ; and my soul could no more help receiving
these forcible impressions, and eating^n consequence of them, than
a tree can resist a stroke of lightning." I should be glad to know,
with what justice Eve could have been condemned after such a plea,
if Mr. T.'s scheme be true ; especially if she had urged, as Mr.
T. does, p. 14. that God's necessitation gives birth to ^'providence ;''
i. €. to the all-directing superintendency of divine wisdom and power.
carrying the whole preconcerted scheme into actual execution, by the sub-
servient mediation of second causes,'' [such as the fair colour of the
fruit, and the eye of Eve] " which were created for that end,'' Cain

22 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

any man say that if Mr. T. be right, Eve would have charged God
foolishly ?

However, if Eve did not know how to exculpate herself properly,
according to the doctrine of divine necessitation, Mr. Toplady
knows how to reduce his Gospel to practice ; and therefore, in an
humorous manner, he justifies his illiberal treatment of his opponent,
thus ; [p. 10.] " Mr. Wesley imagines, that, upon my own principles,
I can be no more than a clock. And if so, how can 1 help striking?
He himself has several times smarted for coming too near the pen-
dulum."— What a sweet and profitable Gospel is this ! Who would
wonder, if all who love to strike their fellow- servants should embrace
Mr. Toplady's system, as a comfortable " doctrine of grace," by
v/hich sin may be humorously palliated, and striking sinners com-
pletely justified ?

VI. It is contrary to Scripture : for if man be necessarily affected,
and irresistibly wrought upon, or led by the forcible impression of
external objects, Paul spake like a heretical free wilier when he said,
All things [indifferent] are lawful for me : hut I will not he hrought
under the power of any. — How foolish was this saying, if he could
no more help being brought under the irresistible power of the
objects which surrounded him, than a tree can help being struck by
the lightning ?

VII. It is contrary to common sense : how can God reasonably set
life and death, water and fire, before us, and bid us choose eternal
life and living water, if surrounding objects work upon us as the
lightning works upon a tree on which it falls ? And when the Lord
commands the reprobates to choose virtue, after having bound them
over to vice by the adamantine chain of necessitation, does he not
insult over their misery, as much as a sheriff would do, who, after
having ordered the executioner to bind a man's hands, to fasten hi?
neck to the gallows, and absolutely to drive away the cart from under
him, should gravely bid the wretch to choose life and liberty, and
bitterly exclaim against him for neglecting so great a deliverance ?

VIII. It is contrary to the sentiment of all the churches of Christ,
except those of necessitarian Rome and Geneva : for they all reason-
ably require us to renounce the pomps of the world, and the alluring
sinful baits of the flesh. But, if these pomps and baits work upon us
by means of our senses, as necessarily, and determine our will as
irresistibly, as lightning shivers a tree, can any thing be more absurd
than our baptismal engagements ? Might we not as well seriously
vow never to be struck by the lightning in a storm, as solemnly row

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 23

uever'to be led by, or follow, the vanities of the world and the sinful
lusts of the flesh?

IX. it represents the proceedings of the day of judgment as the
most unrighteous, cruel, and hypocritical acts, that ever disgraced the
tribunal of a tyrant. For if God, by eternal, absolute, and necessi-
tating decrees, places the reprobates in the midst of a current of cir-
cumstances, which carries them along as irresistibly as a rapid river
wafts a feather ; — if he encompasses them with tempting objects,
which strike their souls with ideas that cause sin in their hearts and
lives, as inevitably as a stroke of lightning raises splinters in the tree
which it shatters ; — and if we can no more help being determined by
these objects, which God's providence has placed around us on pur-
pose to determine us, than a tree can resist a stroke of lightning, it
unavoidably follows, that when God will judicially condemn the
wicked, and send them to hell for their sins, he will act with as much
justice as the king would do, if he sent to the gallows all his subject!
who have had the misfortune of being struck with lightning. Nay, to
make the case parallel, we must suppose, that the king has the abso-
lute command of the lightning, and had previously struck them with
the fiery ball, that he might subsequently condemn them to be hanged
for having been struck according to his absolute decree.

Should the reader, who is not yet initiated into the mystery of the
Calvinian decrees, ask, if it be possible that rigid bound willers should
fix so horrible a blot upou the character of the Judge of all the earth?
I answer in the affirmitive ; and I prove by the following words of
Mr. Toplady, that, if Calvinism be true, the pretended sentence,
which the Judge shall pass in the great day, will be only a publication
or ratification of the everlasting decrees by which a Manichean deity
absolutely necessitates some men to repent and be saved, and others
to sin and be damned. " Christ," says Mr. Toplady, in his Zanch.
p. 87. " will then properly sit as a Judge ; and open]y publish^ and
solemnly ratify his everlasting decrees^ by receiving the elect, &c. into
glory ; and by passing sentence on the non-elect, [&c.] for their
wilful ignorance of divine things, and their obstinate unbelief, &c." —
It is true, that after the word non-elect, Mr. T. adds in a parenthesis
these words, [" not for having done what they could not help."] But
it is equally true, that he had no more right to add this parenthesis,
than I have to say, that the lightning is at my command : for through-
out his Scheme of Necessity, he attempts to prove, that man is not
self-determined, but irresistibly determined by some other being, viz. by
God, who absolutely determines him by ^^ second causes created for
that end f^ — forcible causes these, whose impressions are so strong

24 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

that we " can no more help receiving ihem'^ [and being determined by
thera] " than a tree can resist a stroke of lightning.''^ Besides, if the
non-elect are damned ^^ for their obstinate unbelief, ^^ as Mr. T. tells us
in this quotation ; and if it is as impossible for them to believe as to
make a world, [an absurd maxim this — which is inculcated by rigid
bound willers] it is evident that the non-elect can no more help their
unbelief than they can help their incapacity to create a world.

X. Mr. Toplady's Scheme of Necessity places matter and its impres-
sions far above spirit and its influence. If his philosophy be true,
every material object around us, by making necessary, irresistible im-
pressions upon our minds, necessarily determines our will, and irre-
sistibly impels our actions. According to his system therefore, we
cannot resist the powerful influence of matter. But, if we believe
the Scriptures, we can resist the Holy Ghost, and do despite to the Spirit
of grace. Now, what is this but to represent matter [which is the
God of the Materialists, and the evil God of the Manichees] as
more active, quick, and powerful, than Spirit ? Yea, than the Holy
Spirit ?

Mr. Toplady may indeed say, that the material objects, by which
we are absolutely determined, are only God*s tools, by which God
himself determines us : but, though this salvo may so far reconcile
the scheme of necessity to itself; it will never reconcile it to such
scriptures as these. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your
fathers did. — / would have gathered you, and ye would not. And,
what is still worse, it represents God as working Manichean iniquity
by common adulterers and robbers, as forcibly as a miller grinds his
corn by the use he makes of a current of air or a stream of water.

XL The scheme of philosophical necessity which I attack sup-
poses, that God, to maintain order in the universe, is obliged to
necessitate all events, from the wagging of a dog's tail, or the rise of
a particle of dust, to the murder of a king, or the rise of an empire.
Thus Mr. T. tells us in his preface to Zanchius, (p. 4.) *' Bishop
Hopkins did not go a jot too far in asserting," that " not a dust flies on
a beaten road, but God raiseth it, conducts its uncertain motion, and,
by his particular care, conveys it to the certain place he had before
appointed for it : nor shall the most fierce and tempestuous wind
hurry it any farther." I object to this puerile system ; 1. Because it
absurdly multiplies God's decrees ; rendering them not only as numer-
ous as the sands on the sea-shore, and the particles of dust on beaten
roads ; but also as countless as all the motions of each grain of sand and
particle of dust in all ages. At this rate, a large folio volume could not
contain all the decrees of God concerning the least particle of dust ;

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 25

— its rises and falls ; — its stops and hinderances ; — its situations and
moditirations ; — its whirlings to the right or to the left, &lc. he. —
And 2. Because it represents God as being endued with less wisdom
than a prudent king, who can maintain good order in his kingdom,
without making particular laws or decrees to necessitate every eruc-
tation of his drunken ^soldiers, or every puff of his smoking subjects ;
and without ordaining every tilthy jest, which is uttered from the
ale-hench, appointing every loud invective which disturbs Billings-
gate, and predestinating every wry face which the lunatics make in
Bedlam.

XH. But what I chiefly dislike in this scheme is, its degrading all
human souls in such a manner as to make them receive their moral
excellence and depravity from the contexture of the brains by which
they work, and from the place of the bodies in which they dwell.
Insomuch that all the difference there is between one who thinks
loyally, and one who thinks otherwise ; — between one who believes
that Christ is God over all, and one who believes that he is a mere
creature, consists only in the make and position of their brains.
Supposing, for example, that a gentleman has honourable thoughts of
his king and of his Saviour ; and is ready, from a principle of loyalty
and faith, to defend the dignity of George the Third, and the divinity
of Jesus Christ : — Supposing also, that another gentleman breaks
without ceremony these two evangelical precepts. Honour the kuig, —
Let all the angels of God worship him [Christ ;] — I ask, Why is their
moral and religious conduct so opposite ? Is it because the first gen-
tleman's free-willing soul has intrinsically more reverence for the
king and for our Lord, because he keeps his heart more tender by
faith and prayer, and his conscience more devoid of prejudice,
through a diligent improvement of his talent, or through a more
faithful use of his free agency, and a readier submission to the light
that enlightens every man? — No such thing; if Mr. T.'s scheme
be true, the whole difference consists in " mud walls,^^ and external
circumstances.

Page 33. '< The soul of a Monthly Reviewer, if imprisoned within
the same mud walls which are tenanted by the soul of Mr. John
Wesley, would, similarly circumstanced, reason and act, (I verily
think) exactly like the bishop of Moorfields."— And, pp. 34, 35, he
adds, " I just now hinted the conjecture of some, that a human
spirit incarcerated in the brain of a cat would probably both think
and behave as that animal does. But how would the soul of a cat
acquit itself, if enclosed in the brain of a man ? We cannot resolve
this question with certainty any more than the other."— Admirable

Vor.. IV. 4

2B REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADy's SCHEME

divinity! So! Mr. Toplady leaves the orthodox in doubt: — 1.
Whether, when their souls, and the souls of cats, sh ill be let out of
their respective brains or prisons, the souls of cats will not be equal
to the souls of men : — 2. Whether, supposing the soul of a cat had
been put in the brain of St Paul, or of a Monthly Reviewer, the
Boul of *' puss" would not have made as great an apostle as the soul
of Saul of Tarsus ; — as good a critic as the soul of the most sensible
Reviewer : — And 3. Whether, in case the '• human spirit" [of
Isaiah] " were shut up in the skull of a cat; puss would not, notwith-
standing, move prone on all four, purr when stroked, spit when
pinched, and birds and mice be her dnrling objects of pursuit." P.
34. — Is not this a pretty large stride for the first towards the doctrine
of the sameness of the souls of men with the souls of cats and frogs ?
Wretched Calvinism, new-fangled doctrines of grace, where are you
leading your deluded admirers ! — your principal vindicators ! Is it
not enough that you have spoiled the fountain of living waters, by
turning into it the muddy streams of Zeno^s errbrs ? Are ye also
going to poison it by the absurdities of Pythagoras'* s philosophy? —
What a side stroke is here inadvertently given to these capital doc-
trines, God breathed into Adam the breath of life^ and he became a
living soul, — a soul made in the image of God, and not in the image of
a cat : — The spirit of the beast goeth downward to the earth: — But the
spirit of man goeth upward : it returns to God who gave it, with an
intention to judge and reward it according to its moral works ?

But I must do Mr. Toplady justice : he does not yet recommend
this doctrine as absolutely certain. However, from his capital doc-
trine, that human souls have no free will — no inward principle of
self determination ; and from his avowed opinion, that the soul of
one man placed in the body of another man, " would, similarly cir-
cumstanced, reason and act exactly like" the man in whose mud walls
it is lodged ; it evidently follows, 1. That, had the human soul of
Christ been placed in the body and circumstances of A''ero, it would
have been exactly as wicked and attrocious as the soul of that bloody
monster was : And 2. That if Nero's soul had been placed in Christ's
body, and in his trying circumstances, it would have been exactly as
virtuous and immaculate as that of the Redeemer : the consequence
is undeniable. Thus, the merit of the man Christ did not in the least
spring Irom his righteous soul, but from his " mud walls,^' and from
the happiness which his soul had of being lodged in a " brain pecu-
liarly modified.''^ Nor did the demerit of Nero flow from his free^
agency and self perversion ; but only from his " mud walls," and
from the infelicity which his necessitated soul had of being lodged

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 27

in an ill " constructed vehicle,''^ and placed on that throne on which
Titus soon after deserved to be called the darling of mankind. See,
O ye engrossers of orthodoxy, to what absurd lengths your aversion
to the hberty of the will, and to evangelical worthiness, leads your
unwary souls ! And yet, if we believe Mr. Toplady, your scheme,
which is big with these inevitable consequences, is Christian Philo-
sophy, and our doctrine of free will is " philosophy run mad 1"

XIII. If our thoughts and actions necessarily flowed from the
moditications of our brains, and from the impressions of the objects
around us, it would necessarily follow, that as most men throughout the
whole world, see the sun bright, snow white, and scarlet red ; — or as
most men taste aloes bitter, vinegar sour, and honey sweet : so most
men would think, speak, and act nearly with the same moral uni-
formity, which is perceivable ih their bodily organs, and ii> the objects
which affoct those organs : and it would be as impossible to improve
in virtue, by a proper exertion of our powers, and by a diligent use
of our talents, as it is impossible to improve the whiteness of the
snow, or our power to see it white, by a diligent use of our sight.
At this rate too, conversion would not be so much a reformation of
our spiritual habits as a reformation of our brains.

XIV. But the worst consequences are yet behind : For if God
work upon our souls in the same manner in which he works upon
matter ; if he raises our ideas, volitions and jiassions, as necessarily
as a strong wind raises the waves of the sea, with their roar, their
foam, and their other accidents ; in a word, if he works as absolutely
and irresistibly upon spirit as he does upon matter ; it follows, that
spirit and matter, being governed upon the same principles, are of
the same nature ; and that if there be any difference between the
soul and the body, it is only such a difference as there is between the
tallow which composes a lighted candle, and the flame which arises
out of it. The light flame is as really matter, as the heavy tallow, and
the ponderous candlestick ; and all are equally passive and subject to
the laws of absolute necessity. Ai^ain,

If virtue and vice necessarily depend on the modification of our
brains, and the objects which surround us, it follows, that the effect
will cease with the cause, and that bodily dissolution will consign our
Tirtue or vice to the dust, into which our brains and bodily organs will
soon be turned; and that when the souls of the righteous, and the
souls of the wicked, shall be removed from their " mud walls," and
from the objects which surround thone mud- walls, they will be (nearly
at least) on a level with each other, if they are not on a level with
the souls of cats and dogs.

28 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADy's SCHEME

Lest Mr. Toplady's admirers should think, that prejudice makes
me place his mistakes in too strong a light, I shall close these argu-
ments by the judgment of the Monthly Reviewers. — In their Review
for 1775, they give us the following abridged account of Mr. Top-
lady's Scheme of Necessity.

" The old controversy concerning Liberty and Necessity has lately
been renewed : Mr. Toplady avows himself a strenuous, and very
positive champion on the side of necessity, and revives those argu-
ments which were long since urged by Spinoza, Hobbes, &c." [two
noted intidels, or rather atheistical materialists] " It is somewhat sin-
gular in the history of this dispute, that those who profess them-
selves the friends of Revelation should so earnestly contend for a
system which unbelievers have very generally adopted and main-
tained.—This appears the more strange, when we consider, that the
present assertors of Necessity manifest a very visible tendency to
Materialism. Fate and universal mechanism seem to be so nearly-
allied, that they have been usually defended on the same ground, and

by the same advocates. Mr. T y indeed admits, that the two

component principles of man, body and soul, * are not only distinct, but
essentially different from each other.'' But it appears in the sequel of
his reasoning, that he has no high opinion of the nature and powers
of the latter [the soul.] ' An idea, he observes, is that image, form,
or conception of any thing, which the soul is impressed with from
without : and he expressly denies that the soul has any power of
framing new ideas, different from, or superior to those, which are
forced upon it by the bodily senses. * The soul, he affirms, is in a
very extensive degree passive as matter itself.' On his scheme, the
limitation vvith which he guards this assertion is needless and futile.'

While this Monthly Review is before me, I cannot help transcribing
from it two other remarkable passages. The one occurs four pages
after the preceding quotation. The correspondents of the Reviewers
give them an account of an absurd and mischievous book, written by
some wild atheistical philosopher abroad, who thinks that all matter is
alive, that the earth is a huge animal, and that we feed upon it, as
gome diminutive insects do upon the back of an ass. " His moral
doctrine," say the Reviewers, "is of a piece with the rest : The
result of his reasoning on the subject is, in his own words, that ' man,
in every instant of his duration, is a passive instrument in the hands of
Necessity;^ — Then I^et us drink and drive care away, drink and be
merry, as the old song says ; which is the practical application." — I
tvould not be understood to charge 'this application upon Mr. Top-
lady ; I only mention it, after the Reviewers, as a natural conse-
quence of his system of Necessity.

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 29

The other passage is taken from the Review of Dr. Hartley'' s*
TJieory of the Human Mind, published by Dr. Priestley, who pleadis as
strongly for necessity as Mr. Toplady himself.

** Materialism [say the Reviewers] has been, from early ages, con-
sidered as one of the chief bulwarks of Atheism. Accordingly,
while Epicurus and Hobbes, and their disciples, have endeavoured to
defend it, Theists and Christian?? have pointed their batteries against
it. — But we learn from Dr. Priestley, that perception, and all the
mental powers of man, are the result of such an organical structure
as that of the brain. — How would Epicurus, how would Collins have
triumphed, had they lived to see this point [that the mental powers of
man result from such an organical structure as that of the brain]
given up to them, even by a Christian Divine !— Another discovery,
very consonant to the first, is, that the whole man becomes extinct at
death. For this concession Atheists will likewise thank him, as it
has been one of the chief articles of their creed from the beginning
of the world. — Let us suppose, with Dr. Priestley, that all the mental
powers of Julius Cesar resulted from the organical structure of his
brain. This organical structure is dissolved, and the whole man,
Julius Cesar, becomes extinct : the matter of this brain, however,
remains, but it is not Julius Cesar ; for he (ex hypothesi) is wholly
extinct."

Having produced a variety of arguments, which, I trust, will
altogether have weight enough to sink Mr. Toplady's scheme of ne-
cessity to the bottom of the sea of error, where a vain Philosophy
begat it on a monstrous body of corrupted Divinity, I shall conclude
this section by setting my seal to the truths which border most upon
Mr. Toplady's error, and by which he is deceived, according to the
old saying, Decipimur specie recti^ " We embrace falsehood under the
deceitful appearance of some truth."

Mr. Toplady is certainly in the right when he asserts, that there is
a close connexion between our soul and body ;^-and that each has a
reciprocal influence on the other. We readily grant that a cheerful
mind is conducive to bodily health, and that

Corpus onustum
Hesternis vitiis animum quoque praegravat uni,
Atque aflBgit humo divinae particulam aurse. Hor.

* Mr. Toplady, p. 148, intimates to his readers, that Dr. Hartley has written an " emi-
nent defence of Necessity," aiid promises himself " a feast of pleasure and instruction" in
reading his book.

30 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

" The soul, which dwells in a body o{»pre!»sed with lastnis^ht's excess,
is clogged by the load which disorders the body." Nor do we deny,
that, in a thousand cases, our bodies and our circumstances may pre-
vent the full exertion of our spiritual powers, as the lameness of a
horse, or its natural slu2:gishness, adtled to the badness of the road,
may prevent the speed which a good rider could make, if he had a
better horse and a better road. But to carry this consideration as
far as Mr. Toplady does, is as absqrd as to suppose, that the skill and
expedition of a rider depend entirely on his beast, and on the goodness
of the road. We likewise allow, that sometimes the soul may be as
much overpowered by a disordered, dying body, as a rider, who is
irresistibly carried away by a mad horse, or lies helpless under the
weight of a dying horse. But in such cases, we do not consider the
soul as accountable ; as neither delirious persons, nor those who are
dying of a paralytic stroke, are answerable for their actions and omis-
sions in such peculiar circumstances.

In all other cases, history furnishes us with a variety of examples
of men, who, through a faithful use of their talents, have overcome
the infelicity of their constitution and circumstances ; whilst others,
by a contrary conduct, have perverted the most happy constitution,
and the most fortunate circumstances in life. Thus Socrates, by im-
proving his light, mastered an unhappy constitution, which in his
youth carried him to violent anger, and an undue gratification of
bodily appetites. And thus Solomon, by not improving his light, in
his old age made shipwreck of the wisdom, temperance, and piety,
that distinguished him in his youth. So Nero outlived the happy
dispositions whic h made him shine in the former part of his life.
And Manasses, by hutubling himself before the God of his fathers, over-
came in his old age the horrid and abominable propensities which
constituted him a monster of iniquity in his youthful days.

Likewise with respect to the circumstances in which we are
placed by Providence 1 grant they have a considerable weight in
the turn of our afifections : nevprtheless, this weight is by no means
such as Mr. T. supposes. Diogenes might be as proud in his tub,
as Alexander in his magnificent palace. A gown and band may cover
a revengeful clergyman, whilst a stur and garter shine on a benevo-
lent courtier. Cornelius turned to God in the army ; and the sons
of Eli vvpnt after Satan in the temple. Domitian and Marcus Antoni-
nus filled the same throne : where the one astonished the universe by
his wickedness, as the other did by his virtue. Abraham and Agatho-
cles were humble in the midst of riches ; and too many beggars are
proud in the depth of poverty. Some men are content in a sordid

OP PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 31

cottage ; while others murmnr in the mo?t splendid palaces. The
treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia was [it seems] converted in the
vanity of a heathen court, whilst Judas was perverted in the com-
pany of Christ and his fellow-apostles. In short, whilst thousands,
like Absalom, have turned out had, notwithstanding the best instruc-
tions : numbers, like the Philippian jailer, have turned out well,
mausrre the worst education Such is the power of free grace and
free will. To lay therefore so much stress upon external circum-
stances, is to undo by overdomg, and to wiredraw the truth till it is
refined into error.

Upon the whole, we have Scripture and experience on our side,
when we assert that reason, conscience, the lijiht which [in various
deg:rees] enlightens every man, the general assistance of diviae grace,
and the peculiar or p-ovidc-ntial helps of God our Saviour, are more
than sufficient savingly to overrule the infelicity of our bodily con-
stitution, and our circumstances in life, if we are not wilfully and per-
versely wanting to ourselves : for, of them to whom less is given, less
will be required : and the advantages or disadvantages under which
we labour, shall all be taken into the account of our evangelical
worthiness or unworthiness, in the day when tilod shall judge us ac-
cording to the several editions of his everlasting Gospfl, and accord-
ing to the good or bad use which we make of his talents of nature
and grace.

SECTION III.

Remarks upon the manner in which Mr. T. attempts to s^upport
his Scheme of jyecessliy from Scripture. — Twelve Keys to open the
Scriptures on which he founds that Scheme.

We have seen how Mr. T. has propped up his system by philo-
sophical arguments : let us now see how he does it by scriptural
proofs. Page 54. he says, " No man can consij-tently acknowledge
the divine authority of the Scriptures without — being an absolute
Necessitarian.'''^ To demonstrate this strange proposition, he pro-
duces among many more, the passages which mention the case of
Joseph and his brethren, the Lord and Pharaoh, Eli and his sons,
Absalom and his father's wives, Shimei and David, Christ arid his
crucifiers. &c. As I have shown, in other publications, that these
scriptures, when Uken in connexion with the context and the tenor
of the Bible, perfectly agree with the doclriaes of justice, which are

32 REMARKS ON MR.

inseparably connected with the doctrines o^ free ■will in man and just
wrath in God ; I shall not swell this tract by vain repetitions, espe-
cially as Mr. T. does not support by argument the sense which he
fixes on these passages. However, that the public may see what
method he follows in trying to vindicate his error from Scripture, I
shall present my readers with some keys by which they will easily
open the scriptures which he misapplies, and discover the rotten
foundation of Calvinism.

First Key. Detaching a passage of Scripture from the context,
that what God does for particular reasons may appear to be done
absolutely, and from mere sovereignty, is a polemical stratagem com-
monly used by the Calvini^ts. The first passage which Mr. T,
produces, draws all its apparent conclusiveness from this artful
method.

Page 66, "/ withheld thee from sinning against me. Gen. xx. 6."
By quoting this detached clause, Mr. T. would insinuate, that whilst
God absolutely ordains some men to sin, he absolutely withholds other
men from sin. To see that his conclusion is unscriptural, we need
only read the whole verse : God said to him [Abimelech] in a dream.
Yea, 1 know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart : for
I also withheld thee from sinning against me, therefore I suffered thee
not to touch her. Now, who that adverts to the words in capitals,
does not see, that God's keeping Abimelech from sinning, that is,
from marrying Abraham's wife, was a reward of Abimelech's in-
tegrity, as well as of Abraham's piety ? Therefore, this very text
proves, that God rewards upright free will with restraining grace, as
well as with glory ; and not that man has no free will, and that he is
made willing to work righteousness, or to commit sin, as necessarily
as puppets are made to move to the right or to the let\ by the show-
man, who absolutely causes and manages their steps. Take another
instance of the same stratagem :

Page 66. " The Lord of hosts hath stsDorn, i. e. hath solemnly and
immutably decreed, saying. Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to
pass: and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. ''^ — Here Mr. Toplad^^
breaks off the quotation, and leaves out what follows. That I will break
the Assyrian, i. e. the wicked in general, but particularly Sennacherib
the proud, blaspheming king of Assyria, whose immense army was
cut off in one night by an angel. " And upon my mountains tread him
under foot, &c." — By this mean Mr. T. makes his hasty readers
believe, that God speaks of a Calvinian, absolute decree, founded
upon Antinomian grace and free wrath ; and not of a judicial retri^
bntive decree, founded upon the humility of the righteous, and the

OP PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 33

desert of the wicked ; though, verse 13, kc. the decree and its cause
are thus expressly mentioned, Thou hast said in thy heart, I zvill
ascend into heaven, &c. I will be like the Most High, &c. Yet ihou shall
he brought down to hell. When Mr. T. has hidden these keys to the
doctriDes of justice, which we defend, it is easy for him to apply to his
doctrine of free wrath the peremptoriness of God's decree, and
accordingly he triumphs much in these words, " This is the purpose
which is purposed upon all the earth, &c. For the Lord of hosts hath
purposed, and who shall disannul it ? And his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? Isa. xiv. 24, &c. Who shall disannul
God's purpose ? [adds Mr. T.] Why, human free will, to be sure ! —
Who shall turn back God's hand ? Human self-determination can do
it with as much ease as our breath can repel the down of a feather !"

This argument is full fraught with absurdity. Did we ever assert,

that when free will has obstinately sinned, it can reverse an absolute
decree of punishment ? Do we not, on the contrary, maintain the
proper exertion of justice in opposition to the Calvinian dreams of
absolute election and reprobation, according to which the salvation
of some notorious impenitent sinners is now actually finished, and the
damnation of some unborn infants is now absolutely secured ?

Page 67. By a similar method, Mr. T. tries to prove the doctrine
of necessitating free wrath, thus : *' / have smitten you with blasting and
mildew. — / have sent you the pestilence. — Your young men have I slain
with the sword, Amos iv. 7 — 10." — But he forgets to tell us that
this severity is not Calvinistical and diabolical, but righteous and
judicially retributive ; for the persons thus punished are said just
before to be wicked men, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to their masters. Bring [strong drink] and let us drink. Amos
iv. 1. Therefore all that can be inferred from these, and a thou-
sand such scriptures, is, that when free agents have obstinately
sinned, punishment overtakes them whether they will or not. And
when the Calvinists ground their Maoichean notions of a wrathful,
absolute sovereignty in God upon such conclusions, they expose their
good sense as much as I should expose my reason if I said, " I can
demonstrate that all robbers are absolutely necessitated to go on the
highway, because when they are caught and condemned, they are
absolutely necessitated to go to the gallows."

Second Key. Because God can do a thing, and does it on particular
occasions, Mr. T. and his adherents infer, that he does it always.
Thus to prove that God necessarily turns the hearts of all men at all
times, and in all places, to sin or to righteousness ; 3Tr. T. produces
the following text.

Vol. IV. .^

34 REaiARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEMA

Page G5. *' Even the k{ng\s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the
rivers of water : and he turneth it whithersoever he will. Pro v. xxi. 1.
Odd sort of self-determination this !"— We never denied the supreme
power which God has even over the hearts of proud kings, who
generally are the most imperious of men. When he will absolutely
turn their will for the accomplishment of some providential design,
bis wisdom and omnipotence can undoubtedly do it. Thus by letting
the Philistines loose upon Saul's dominions, God turned his heart, and
made him change his design of immediately surrounding and destroy-
ing David, Thus he turned the heart of Ahasuerus from his pur-
pose of destroying the Jews, by the providential reading of the
records which reminded the king of the obligation he was under to
Mordecai. — Thus he turned the heart of Pharaoh towards Joseph,
by giving Joseph wisdom to explain his prophetic dream. — Thus
ag^in he turned the heart of Nebuchadnezzar from his purpose of
destroying Daniel and all the wise men in Babylon, by enabling
Daniel to tell and open the king's mysterious vision. — And when the
king of Assyria was bent upon making war against the Israelites and
the Ammonites, and cast lots to know which he should destroy first,
Rabbah or Jerusalem, God providentially ordered the lot to fall upon
guilty Jerusalem. Isa. x. 6, 7. Ezek. xxi 21. &c. For, in such
cases, '* The lot is cast into the lap^^ without an eye to the Lord, " but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.^'' Prov. xvi. 33. But these
peculiar interpositions of Providence no more prove that God abso-
lutely turns the hearts of all kings, and of all men in all things and
on all occasions, as Mr. T.'s system supposes, than a farrier's
drenching now and then a horse, in peculiar circumstances, proves
that all horses throughout the world never drink but when they are
drenched.

Third Key. The Necessitarians confound our inability to do some
or all things with an inability to do any thing. Thus Mr. T. attempts
to prove, that we can do nothing but what we are necessitated to do,
and that *' Christ himself was an absolute JVecessitarian''^ by the follow*
ing argument :

Page 71. *' Thou canst not make one hair white or black. — Your
Father, ^c. makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeih
rain on the just and the unjust. Surely, man can can neither pro-
mote nor hinder the rising of the sun, and the falling of the rain."
— But to conclude that all things are absolutely necessary, because
we cannot alter the colour of our hair, command the clouds, and
hasten sun-rising, is as absurd as to conclude, that a dier cannot
absolutely alter the colour of the silks which he dies, because he

OP THILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 35

cannot change the colour of his own hair or eyes. It is as ridicu-
lous as to infer that we cannot move a pebble because we cannot stir
a mountain : — that we cannot turn our eyes like men because we
cannot turn our ears like horses : — and that we have no immediate
command of our thoughts and hands, because we have no immediate
command of the clouds and the sun. When Air. T. imposes such a
philosophy upon us, is he not as grossly mistaken as Mons. Voltaire,
his companion in Necessitarianism, who gives us to understand, that
because pear-trees can bear no fruit but pears, men can bear no
moral fruit but such as they actually produce ; and that fiite fixes our
thoughts in our brains as necessarily as nature fixes our teeth in our
jaw-bones ? How absurd is a system of philosophy, which a Voltaire
and a Toplady are obliged to prop up by such weak arguments as
these !

Fourth Key. The Calvinists suck scriptural metaphors till they
imbibe the blood of error instead of the sincere milk of the word. And
if I might compare scripture comparisons to rational animals, I would
say, that Mr. T. makes them go upon all four. Hence it is that he
says,

Page 58. *' Man is born unto trouble as the sparks Jly upwards, Job

V. 7. And I am apt to think sparks ascend by necessity." By this

method of arguing, I can demonstrate that Christ was clothed with
feathers ; for he says, / would have gathered you as a hen gathers her
brood. "^ And I am apt to think" that a hen is covered with feathers.
However, I grant to Mr. T. that there is a necessity of fallen nature :
according to this necessity man is born to die, and in the mean time
he is exposed to the troubles which naturally accompany mortality.
But there are a thousand troubles which tlow from immorality, and
which God puts it in man's power to avoid. To deny this, is to deny
the following scriptures : He that will love his life, and see good days,
let him refrain his tongue from evil : — let him eschew evil, and do good ;
let him seek peace and ensue it. 1 Pet. iii. 10, 11. — Whoso keepeth his
mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles. Prov. xxi. 23. It
is therefore absurd and unscriptural to suppose, that because we can-
not avoid every trouble in life, all canting gossips are absolutely
hound to bring upon themselves all the troubles which their slander-
ous, lying tongues pull down upon their own heads.

Fifth Key, If there occur in the Bible a poetical expression,
founded upon some common, though erroneous opinion, to which the
j^acred penmen accommodate their language in condescension to the
vulgar. Calvinism fixes upon that expression, and produces it as a

36 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY'S SCHEME

demonstration of what she calls Orthodoxy. Thus Mr. T. [p. 57.]
builds his scheme on the following text.

** The stars in their course fought against Sisera. Judg. v. 20." It is
as absurd to prove fatalism from these words, as it would be to prove
that the earth is the fixed centre of our planetary system, by quoting
the above-mentioned words of our blessed Lord, Your father makes
his sun to rise on the just. The best philosophers, as well as Christ,
to be understood by the common people, say, agreeably to a false
philosophy. The sun rises, though they know that it is the earth which
turns round on her axis towards the fixed sun. As, we say The Crown,
when we mean the reigning king ; and put heaven for the king of
heaven; so Deborah poetically said in htr song. The stars in their
courses, for the providential power which keepa the planets in their
courses. Herein she probably adapted her language to some false
notions of astrology, which the Israelites had received from the
Eg}'ptians. And all that she meant was, that God had peculiarly
assisted the Israelites in their battle with Sisera.

Sixth Key : As the Necessitarians build their doctrine upon poeti-
cal expressions, so they do upon proverbial sayings. Thus,

Page 88. Mr. Toplady endeavours to support the doctrine of abso-
lute necessity, or of the Calvinian decrees, by these words of our
Lord, " lliere shall not a hair of your head perish. Luke xxi. 18.
1. e. before the appointed time." But this scripture does not prove,
that God from all eternity made particular decrees, to appoint that
men should shave so many times every week, and that such and such
a hair of our head or beard should be spared so long, or should be
cut off after having grown just so many days. This text is only apro^
verbial phrase, like that which is sometimes used among us, " I will
not give way to error a hair's breadth.''^ As this expression means
only, " I will fully resist error:" so the other only means, "You
shall be fully protected :" therefore to build Calvinian necessity
upon such a scripture, is to render the pillars of Calvinism as con-
temptible as the hairs which the barber wipes off his razor, when he
shaves my mistaken opponent.

Seventh Key. The word shall frequently implies a kind of necessity,
and a forcible authority : Thus, a master says to his arguing servant,
" Y^i shall do such a thing : I will make you do it, whether you will
or not." Mr. T'oplady avails himself of this idea to impose his
scheme of necessity upon the ignoi^ant. I say upon the ignorant,
because he quotes again and again passages where the word shall
has absolutely no place in the original. For example,

OP PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 37

Pp. 84, 87, 92. he tries to prove, that Christ was *• an absolute
Necessitarian," by the following texts. ^^ I send unto you prophets,
&c. and some of them ye shall kill^ and some of them shall ye scourge .
One of you, &c. shall betray me. — Ye all shall be offended because of
me. — Other sheep I have which are not of this fold : them also''^ [from a
principle of superior kindness, or of remunerative favour] *' / must
bring : and they shall hear my voice. — 1 must, and they shall. What
is this but double necessity ?" In these, and in many such scriptures,
the word ye shall kill, &c. in the original is a bare future tense :
And for want of such a tense in English, we are obliged to render the
words which are in that tense by means of the words shall or will.
These auxiliary words are often used indiscriminately by our trans ■
lators, who might as well in the preceding texts have rendered the
Greek verbs will kill — will scourge — wi*.l betray — will be offended
—will hear my voice. Therefore, to rest Calvinism upon such vague
proofs, is to rest it upon a defect in the English language, and upon the
presumption that the reader is perfectly unacquainted with the original.

Eighth Key. As Mr. T.'s scheme partly rests upon a supposition
that his readers are unacquainted with the Greek grammar, so it sup-
poses that they are perfect strangers to ancient geography. Hence
it is that he says, p. 89. " Our Lord knew her [the woman of Sama-
ria] to be one of his elect : — And that she might be converted pre-
cisely at the very time appointed, He must needs go through the terri-
tory of Samaria, John ir. 4." Mr. Whitefield builds his peculiar
orthodoxy on the same slender foundations, where he says, *' Whv
must Christ needs go thrpugh Samaria ? — Because there was a woman
to be converted there." See his works, Vol. iv. p. 356. Now the:
plain reason why our Lord went through Samaria was, that be went
from Jerusalem to Galilee ; and as Samaria lies exactly between
Judea and Galilee, he must needs go through Samaria, or go a great
many miles out of his way. Absurdity itself therefore could hardly
have framed a more absurd argument.

JVinth Key. One of the most common mistakes, on which the Cal-
vinists found their doctrine, is confounding a necessity of consequence
with an absolute necessity. A necessity of consequence is the neces-
sary connexion which immediate causes have with their effects —
immediate effeets with their causes — and unavoidable consequences
with their premises. Thus, if you run a man through the heart
with a sword, by necessity of natural consequence he must die : and if
you are caught, and convicted of having done it like an assassin, by
necessity of legal consequence you must die — Thus again, if I hold
that God from all eternity absolutely fixed his everlasting love upon

38

some men, and his everla&ting wrath upon others, without any re-
spect to their works : by necessity of logical consequence, 1 must
hold, that the former were never children of wrath, and must con-
tinue God's pleasant children, while they commit the most atrocious
crimes ; and that the latter were children of wrath, while they semi-
nally existed together with the man Christ in the loins of sinless
Adam before the fall.

Is'ow thfrse three strong necessities of consequence do not amount to
one grain of Calvinian absolute necessity : hernuse though the above-
mentioned effects and consequenct s necessririly follow from their
causes and premises, yet those caust^s and premises are not abso-
lutely necessary. To be more plain : Though a man, whom you
run through the heart to rob him without opposition, must die ; and
though you must suffer as a murderer for your crime, yet this dou-
ble necessity does not prove that yon were absolutely necessitated
'to go on the highway, and to murder the man. Again : Though you
must [indirectly at least] propagate the most detestable error of Manes,
[i. e. the worship of a double-principled Deitv] if you preach a God
made up of absolute, everlasting love to some, and of absolute, ever-
lasting wrath to others, yet you are not necessitated to do this black
work ; because you are by no means necessitated to embrace and
propagate this black principle of Calvin. — Once more ; By necessity
of consequence, a weak man who drinks to excess is drunk ; yet his
drunkenness is not Calvinistically necessary ; because though the man
cannot help being drunk if he drinks to excess, yet he can help drink-
ing to excess : or, to speak in general terms, though he cannot pre-
vent the ej^ect when he has admitted the cause ; yet he can prevent
the effect by not admitting the cause. However, Mr, Toplady, with-
out adverting to this obvious and important distinction, takes it for
granted that his readers will subscribe to his doctrine of absolute
necessity, because a variety of scriptures assert such a necessity of
consequence as I have just explained. Take the following instances.

P. 83. " How can ye escape the damnation of hell?'''' These words
of Christ do not prove Calvinian reprobation and absolute necessity ;
but only that those, who will obstinately go on in sin, shall [by necessity
of consequence'] infallibly meet with the damnation of hell. — P. 91.
'' If the Son shall make you free^^ [and he shall make us free, if we
will continue in his word] '* ye shair [by necessity of consequence]
" be free indeed."" — Again, p. 92. " Why do ye not understand my
speech ? Even because"" [whilst you hug your prejudices] " ye cannot
hear my word," {w\{\i the least degree of candour] This passage
does not prove Calvinian necessity ; it declares only, that while th^

or PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 39

Jews were biased by thp love of honour, rather than by the love oi'
truth, by necessity of consequence, they could nut cnndiilly hear, and
cordially receive Christ's humbhng doctrine. Thus he said to them,
How can ye believe, m-ho receive honour one of another ?

Ibid. " He that is of God heare.th God's words ; ye therefore hear
them not, because ye are not ofGod^ — Here is no Calvinism, hut only
a plain declaration, that, by nece<inty of consequence, no man can serve
two masters : no man can ijlidly receive the truths of God who
gladly receives the lies of Sat.m. — Ibid. " Ye believe not, because ye
are not of my sheep.''^ That is. You eagerly follow the prince of
darkness : The zcorks nf your father, the devil, ye vcill^ do: and there-
fore by necessity of consequence, ye cannot do the works of God : —
ye cannot follow me : — ye cannot rank amona; my sheep. Again :

P'. 93. " / give my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish,
John X. 28. i. e. Their salvation is necessary, and cannot be hin-
dered."— True : It is necessary, but it is only so by necessity of conse-
quence ; for damnation follows unbelief and disobedience as punish-
ment does sin; and eternal salvation follows faith and obedience as
rexvards follow good works. But this no more proves that God ne-
cessitates men to sin or to obey, than hanging a deserter, and reward-
ing a courageous soldier, prove that the former was absolutely neces-
sitated to desert, and the latter to play the hero. — Once more.

P. 94. '• / will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Com-
forter, whom the world caknot receive,^'' — [as a Comforter, \vithout a
proper preparation.] Now this no more proves that the world cannot
absolutely receive the Comforter, than my asserting, that Mr. Toplady
eould not take a degree at the University, before he had learned
grammar, proves that he was for ever absolutely debarred from that
literary honour. If the reader be pleased to advert to this distinction
between a necessity of consequence and absolute necessity, he will be
able to steer safe through a thousand Calvinian rocks.

Tenth Key. The preceding remark leads us to the detection of
another capital mistake of the orthodox, so called. They perpetually
confound natural necessity with what may (improperly speaking) be
called MORAL necessity. By natural necessity infants are born naked,
and colts are foaled with a coat on ; men have two legs, horses four,
and some insects sixteen. And by moral necessity servants are bound
to obey their masters, children their parents, and subjects their king.

* Our Lord, when he spake these words,'dicl not use a bare future TrotHaririj which Mr
T. would perhaps have triumphantly translated ye shall do; putting the word shall in
large capitals; but SiKin voiuv, a phrase this which is peculiarly expressive of the obsti
nate choice of \\iG free-vnlling; .^c\\<

40 REMARKS ON MRi TOPLADY'S SCHEME

Now can any thing be more unreasonable than to infer that servants
can no more help obeying their masters, than children can help being
born with two hands ?- — Is it not absurd thus to confound natural and
moral necessity ? This however Mr. T. frequently does; witness the
following scriptures, which he produces in defence of absolute
necessity.

Page 62, &;c. *'//e [the Lord] made a decree for the rain, and a way
for the lightning of the thunder. — By the breath of God frost is given.
Joe. — He maketh grass to grow. — He giveth snow like wool : He scatter-
eth the hoarfrost like ashes : — Who can stand before his cold ? — He causeth
his wind to blow. — Fire and hail, snow and vapour ^ ^c. fulfil his word.
Ps." From these and the like scriptures, Mr. T. infers, that all
things happen " by a necessity resulting from the will and providence
of the supreme First Cause ?"

That nothing happens independently on that Cause, and on the
providential laws which God has established, we grant. But this
does not prove at all the Calvinian necessity of «// our actions. Nor
does it prove that man, who is made in God's image, cannot, within
his narrow sphere, frequently exert his delegated power at his own
option, b}' making and executing his own decrees.

If Mr. T. denies it, I appeal to his own experience and candour.
Can he not, by a good fire, reverse, in his apartment, God's decree of
frost in winter ; and by a candle, can he not in his room reverse God's
decree of darkness at midnight? Can he not by icy, cooling draughts^
elude the decree of heat in summer ? — Nay, cannot a gardener, by
skilfully distributing heat to vegetables in a hot-house, force a pine-
apple to ripen to perfection in the midst of winter ? And, by means
of a watering-pot, can he not command an artificial rain to water his
drooping plants in the greatest drought of summer ?— Again : Cannot
a philosopher, acquainted with the secret laws of nature, imitate, as
often as he pleases, most decrees of the God of nature ? Can be not
form and collect dews, by raising artificial vapours in an alembic ?
Can he not, when he has a mind, cause diminutive thunder and light-
ning by means of an electrical machine? Can he not create ice, snow,
and hoarfroast. by nitrous salts ? Can he not produce little earth-
quakes, by burying in the ground iron-fihngs and sulphur mixed with
water ? And whilst he raises a wind by managing a communication of
rarified air with condensed air, cannot a smith do it without half the
trouble by working his bellows ? — Once more : Cannot a physician
do in the little world within you, what a philosopher does without you
in the world of nature ? By availing himself of some natural law, is
it not in general as much in his power, if you submit to his decrees^ to

OF PHILOSOPHICAL KECESSITY. 41

raise an artificial blister on your back, as it is in your gardener's to
raise a sallad in your garden ? By skilfully setting the powers of
nature at work, can he not cleanse your intestines, as yonder firmer
scours his ditches ? Can he not, in general, assuage your pains by
lenitives, or lull them asleep by opiates ? — ^Can he not, through his
acquaintance with the means by which God preserves the animal
world, often promote the secretion of your fluids, and supply the
want of those which are exhausted ? Nay, can you not do it yourself,
by using that cheap medicine, exercise ; and by taking those agreeable
boluses and pleasant draughts which you call meat and drink? To say
that nature cannot be, in many respects, assisted, and even improved
by art, is to say, that there are neither houses nor cities in the world ;
neither shoes on our feet, nor clothes on our back. And to affirm,
that the works of art are as absolutely necessary as the works of
nature, is to confound JVature and Art, and to advance one of the most
monstrous paradoxes that ever disgraced human reason.

Eleventh Key. Confusion reigns in every corner of Babel.
Another capital mistake of the Necessitarians consists in their con-
founding Prophetic certainty with Absolute necessity. An illustration
will explain my meaning.

Mr. Toplady discovers a boy who is obstinately bent upon <heft.
From his kilowledge of the force of indulged habits, he foresees and
foretells that the boy will one day come to the gallows : and his pre-
diction is fultilled. The question is, did Mr. T.'s foresight, or his
prophecy necessitate the thievish boy to indulge his wicked habit ; and
might not that boy have done like many more ? Might he not have
reformed, and died in his bed ? Calvinism answers in the negative, but
Reason and Scripture agree to declare, that a clear foresight and a
bare prophecy, are not of an absolutely necessitating nature ; and
that, of consequence, it is as absurd to confound absolute necessity with
certainty of prophecy (if I may use this expression) as it is to confound
the free abode of the keepers in Newgate with the necessary abode of
the felons who are confined there under bars and locks ; — in a word,
it is as absurd as to confound the necessity of an event, with the cer-
tainty of it. Your awkward servant has, at various times, broken you
a number of China plates : That the plates are broken is certain, but
that they were Calvinistically broken, i. e. that your servant could no
zmys avoid breaking them all, precisely in the manner, place, and
instant, in which they were broken, is a proposition as absurd as the
proof which Mr. T. [page 85] draws from the following sentences of
Scriptures tp demonstrate that our Lord was Calvinistically necessi-
tated to lay down his life for us: " How then shall the Scriptures be

Vol. IV. 6

42 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY'S SCHEME

fulfilled, that thus it must he? Matt. xxvi. 64. — All this was done, that
the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, verse 56." To do
these passages justice, we should consider three things :

1. The necessity of fulfilling the Scriptures, with respect to our
Lord, could never amount to the least degree of absolute, Calviniau
necessity ; for our Lord was no more obliged to give us the Scrip-
tures in order to fulfil them, than Mr. T. is bound to give me a
thousand pounds in order to get my thanks.

2. When we meet with such sayings as these, This that is written
must yet be accomplished in me : — The Scripture must be fulfilled, &c.
if they relate to Christ, they only indicate a necessity of resolution, if
I may use this expression. Now a necessity of resolution is the very
reverse of absolute necessity ; because a resolution is the offspring of
free will, and may be altered by free will ; whereas Calvinian neces-
sity never admits of a liberty or power to do a thing otherwise than
it is done, I resolve to go out this evening, and I write my resolution,
but this does not imply any absolute necessity : first, because I am at
perfect liberty not to make such a resolution, and secondly, because I
am at perfect liberty to break it, and I shall certainly do it, if some
sufficient reason detains me at home.

Take a nobler example : God resolved to give Abraham and his
seed the land of Canaan for a7i everlasting possession, and the divine
resolution is written, Gen. xvii. 8, and xlviii. 4. But this does not
imply the least degree of Calvinian necessity : for, 1. Reason dictates
that God was no ways obliged to form such a resolution ; and 2.
Experience teaches us, that the obstinacy of the Jews has obliged him
to make them know the breach of his written resolution. Numb. xiv.
34. Accordingly they are scattered over all the world, instead of
enjoying the promised land /or an everlasting possession.

3. When prophetical sayings refer to the wicked, as in the follow-
ing texts, ' This cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled, which
is written in the law ; They hated me without a cause. — The son of per-
dition is lost, that the Scripture might he fulfilled. — They believed not on
him, that the saying of Esaias might be fulfilled : Lord, who has believed
our report? — These and the like passages denote only 'a prophetic
necessity, founded upon God's bare foresight of what will be ; but
might as well [nay better] have been otherwise. Thus I prophesy,
that through logical necessity I shall [in full opposition to ortho-
graphical necessity] put a colon, instead of a full point, at the end of
the paragrnph I am now writing. But this double necessity of
prophecy and logic is so far from absolutely necessitating me, that I
have almost a mind to follow the rules of punctuation, and to show

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 43

by this mean that I am as much at liberty to reverse my prophetic^
logical decree, as God was to reverse his prophetic, vi7idictive decree ^
Yetforhj days and Nineveh shall be destroyed [:]

However, my decree is accomplished. What was an hour ago a
future contingency, is now matter of fact. The preceding period is
concluded without a full point as certainly as God exists. Should Mr.
T. object that I could foresee this contingent event, because I had a
mind to bring it about ; I reply that this does not invalidate my
proof: For, 1. 1 foresaw this little event as contingent, and depend-
ing on my liberty, and of consequence I could not foresee it as abso-
lutely necessary. — 2. I have a clear foresight of many things in
which I have no hand at all. Thus I foresee that a man condemned
to be hanged for murder, shall certainly be hanged, whether I do the
executioner's office or not. Though the murderer might be reprieved ;
though he might make his escape, or poison himself before the day of
execution ; yet, from my knowledge of the law, of the king's aversion
to murder, of the strength of the prison, and of the particular care
taken of condemned criminals, my foreknowledge that the condemned
murderer shall be hanged amounts to a very high degree of cer-
tainty. Now, if I, whose foreknowledge, compared to the foreknow-
ledge of God, is no more than a point to the infinity of space ; — If I,
who am so short-sighted, can with such a degree of'certainty foresee
an event which is not absolutely necessary ; is it not absurd, 1 had
almost said impious, to suppose that God's foreknowledge of events,
which are not absolutely necessary, may not amount to absolute neces-
sity? Cannot God foresee future events without necessitating them,
a thousand times more clearly than I can foresee what 1 am sure I
shall not ordain, much less necessitate; namely, that Mr. T.'s preju-
dice will hinder him from treating Mr. W. with the respect due to an
aged laborious minister of Christ ?

To deny that God's certain knowledge of future events is consistent
with our liberty, because we cannot understand how God can cer-
tainly foresee the variations of our free will ; — to deny this, I say, is
to deny the existence of all the things which we cannot fully compre-
hend. And at this rate, what is it that we shall not deny ? What is
it that we perfectly understand? Is there one man in ten thousand,
that understands how astronomers can certainly foretell the very
instant in which an eclipse will begin ? But does this ignorance of
the vulgar render astronomical calculations less real or certain ? And
may not God [by the good leave of the Necessitarians] surpass all
men in his foreknowledge of the actions of free agents, as mucli as

44 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

Sir Isaac Newton surpassed all the Hottentots in his foreknowledge of
eclipses ?

From these remarks it appears, that all the difficulties which the
Calvinists have raised, with respect to the consistency of divine fore-
knozdedge and human free mil, arise from two mistakes : the first of
which consists in supposing, that the simple, certain knowledge of an
event, whether past, present or future, is necessarily connected with
a peculiar influence on that event : and the second consists in measur-
ing God's foreknowledge by our own, and supposing, that because we
cannot prophesy with absolute certainty, what free-willing creatures
will do to-morrow, therefore God cannot do it. A conclusion this,
which is as absurd as the following argument : " We cannot create a
a;rain of sand, nor comprehend feow God could create it, and therefore
God could neither create a grain of sand, nor comprehend how it was
to be created."

I have dwelt so long upon this head, because it is the strong hold of
the Calvinists, from which Mr. T. seems to bid defiance to every
argument, witness his assertion, p. 80. " Foreknowledge ^ undarkened
by the least shadow of ignorance^ and superior to all possibility of
mistake, is a link which draws invincible necessity after it." — To the
preceding arguments, which, I trust, fully prove the contrary, I shall
add one more, which is founded on the plain words of Scripture.

So sure as the Bible is true, Mr. T. is mistaken ; and God's fore-
knowledge, far from being connected with " invincible necessity,'''* may
exist, not only with respect to an event which is not necessary, but
also with respect to an event which is so contingent, that it never
comes to pass : take a proof of it.

We read, 1 Sam. xxiii. 10 — 12, that David, while he was in the
city of Keilah, heard that Saul designed to come and surprise him
there. Then said David, 0 Lord God of Israel, &:c. Will Saul come
down, as thy servant has heard ? And the Lord said, He will come
DOWN. Tlien David said, Will the men of Keilah deliver me — into the
hand of Saul ? And the Lord said. They will deliver thee up.
When David had received this double information, he went out of
Keilah, and when Saul heard it, he did not come to Keilah, neither
did the men of Keilah deliver him to Saul. From this remarkable
occurrence we learn : 1. That future contingent events are clearly
seen of God : 2. That this foresight of God has not the least influence
on such events : 3. That God can foretell such events as contingent :
and 4. That neither Scripture Prophecy, nor divine foreknowledge,
have the least connexion with Mr. T.'s scheme of absolute, invincible

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 43

necessity; since God foreknew, that if David staid in Keilah, Saul-
would come down, and the men of Keilah, would deliver David into
his hands. But so far was this clear foreknowledge, and peremptory
prophecy of God, from " drawing invmcihlc necessity after" them, that
Saul did not come to Keilah : neither did the men of Keilah deliver
David into his hands. I flatter myself, that, if the reader attend to
these arguments, he will see that Mr. T.'s doctrine of an ahsolute
connexion between the certain foreknowledge of events and their
invincible necessity^ is contradicted by experience, reason, and Scrip-
ture.

Twelfth Key. Because no child can help being born, when the
last pang of his mother forces him into the light ; and because no man
can possibly live, when the last pang of death forces his soul into
eternity, the Necessitarians conclude, that our every intermediate
action, from our birth to our death, is irresistibly brought about by
the iron hands of necessity. But is not their conclusion as absurd as
the following argument : *' John the Baptist could not speak when he
was newly born, nor could he do it, when the executioner had cut off
his head : absolute necessity hindered him from forming articulate
sounds in the moment of his birth, and at the instant of his death ;
and therefore, all the days of his life absolute necessity made him
move his tongue when he spake ?" Let us see how Mr. T. handles
this wonderful argument.

Pp. 102, 110. "Birth and death are the asra and the period,
whose interval constitutes the thread of man's visible existence on
earth. Let us examine whether those important extremes be, or be
not, unalterably fixed by the necessitating providence of God" — And
by and by we are asked : *' If the initial point from whence we start,
and the ultimate goal which terminates our race, be divinely and
unchangeably fixed ; is it reasonable to suppose, that any free will,
but the free will of Deity alone, may fabricate the intermediate links
of the chain?" — That is, in plain English, "Does not God alone
fabricate our every action, good or bad, from our cradle to our
grave ?"

Page 107, &c. Mr. T. produces such scriptures as these, to prove
that the free will of Deity alone fabricates the link of our birth.
'^ He [Jacob] said, Am I in God''s stead to give [a barren woman] chil
dren ? — They are my sons, whom God has given me. — Thy hands have
made me and fashioned me. — TIiou art He that took me out of the womb.
— Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord. — Thou hast covered me, &c.
oi my mother^s womb. — In thy book all my members were written'''' —

•i6

** God has fixed an exact point of time, for the accomplishment of all
his decrees : among which fixed and exact points of time, are a time
to be born, and a time to die.^^

All these passages prove only, 1. That when a woman is naturally
barren, like Rachel or Sarah, an extraordinary interposition of God's
providence is necessary to render her fruitful : — 2. That the fruitful-
ness of women, as that of our fields, is a gift of God : — 3. That chil-
dren grow in the womb, and come to the birth, according to the pecu-
liar energy of those laws, which God, as the God of nature, has
made for the propagation of animals in general, and of man in parti-
cular : — And, 4. That as there is a time to be born, namely, in general
nine months after conception ; so there is a time to die, which in the
present state of the world, is seventy or eighty years after our na-
tivity ; if no peculiar event or circumstance hastens nor retards our
birth and our death.

That this is the genuine meaning of the scriptures produced by Mr.
T., I prove by the following arguments.

1. God could never Calvinistically appoint the birth of aZ/ children,
without Calvinistically appointing their conception, and every mean
conducive thereto : Whence it undeniably follows, that [if Calvinism
is true] he absolutely appointed, yea necessitated, all the adulteries
and whoredoms, with all the criminal intrigues and sinful lusts of the
flesh, which are inseparably connected with the birth of base-born
children. Now this doctrine makes God the grand author of all
those crimes, and represents him as the most inconsistent of all law-
givers : since, by his moral decrees, he forbids, and by his Cal-
vinian decrees, he enjoins whoredom and adultery, in order to fabri-
cate the link of the birth of every bastard child.

2. The experience of thousands of virgins shows, that by keeping
themselves single, they may prevent the birth of a multitude of chil-
dren ; and their parents may do it too, for St. Paul says, He that stand-
eth steadfast in his heart, having no [moral] necessity [from his daugh-
ter's constitution, or his own low circumstances] but hath power over
his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart, that he will keep
his virgin, doth well.

3. If women have conceived, by their carelessness or cruelty they
frequently may so oppose one law of nature to another, as to reverse
the decree of nature concerning the maturity of the fruit of the womb :
Nor can Mr. T. avoid the force of this conclusion otherwise than by
saying, that God necessitates such cruel mothers to destroy their un-
born children, to fulfil the absolute decree which condemns their un-
happy embryos to come to birth.

OP PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 47

When Mr. T. has tried to prove that God has Calvinistically ap-
pointed the birth of all children, he tries to demonstrate, that the
manner, moment, and circumstances of every body's death are so
absolutely fixed, that no man can possibly live longer or shorter than
he does. These are some of his arguments.

Page 110, " T7ie time drew near that Israel must die, Gen. xlvii.
20." — Yes, he must die by necessity of consequence : for he was quite
worn out ; his age, which is mentioned in the preceding verse, being
147 years. We never dream that old, decrepit men are immortal.
Again :

Pp. 111,113. " /s there not an appointed time to man upon earth ?
— In whose hand is the soul of every living thing. — Man^s days <fre
determined ; the number of his months is zvith thee : Thou hast appointed
his bounds, which he cannot pass, — All the days of my appointed time
will I wait, till my change come. Job vii. 1. xiv. 5 — 14. — Which of you
by taking thought can add one cubit to his term of life ? Matt. vi. 27.'*
— None of these scriptures prove, that the free will of Deity alone has
absolutely fabricated the link of every man's death. They only
indicate, 1. That God has fixed general bounds to the life of vege-
tables and animals : For, as the aloe vegetates an hundred years : so
wheat vegetates scarce twelve months ; And as men in general lived
seven or eight hundred years before the flood : so now the days of
our life are threescore years, and ten ; and if, by reason of strength,
they are fourscore years, yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow,
so soon passeth it away, and we are gone, Ps. xc. 10. 2. That as no
man lived a thousand years before the flood : so no man lives two
hundred years now : And, 3. That, when we are about to die by
necessity of consequence, &c. we cannot, without an extraordinary
interposition of Providence, suspend the effect of this general decree,
Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return. But to infer from such
passages, that we cannot in general shorten our days by not taking a
proper care of ourselves, or by running headlong into danger, is act-
ing over again the part of the old deceiver, who said, " Cast thyself
down''' (from the pinnacle of the temple) '^for it is written,^'' &c.
From such Turkish philosophy, and murderous conclusions, God de-
liver weak, unwary readers !

Two arguments will, I hope, abundantly prove the falsity of this
doctrine. The first is, God does not so fabricate the link of our
death, but we may, in general, prolong our days by choosing wisdom,
and shorten them by choosing folly. Is not the truth of this proposi-
tion immoveably founded upon such scriptures as these ? If thou seekest
^ler [wisdom] as silver — then shaft thou understand every good path: —

4S

Length of days is in her hand, while untimely death is in the hand of
fool-hardiness. Prov. ii. 4, 9. iii. 16. — Keep my commandments, for
length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add unto thee. Prov.
iii. 1 , 2. — Honour thy father and mother that thou mayest live long on
the earth, Eph. vi. 3. — If thou wilt walk in my ways, •"-■then will I
lengthen thy days, 1 Kings iii. 14. — Their feet run to evil: — Tliey lay
zvait for their own blood, and lurk privily for their own lives. So are
the ways of every one that is greedy of gain : which taketh away the life
of the owners thereof Prov. i. 16, &c. — A sound heart is [in many
cases] the life of the flesh : but envy the rottenness of the bones, Prov.
xiv. 30. Hence so many persons shorten their days by obstinate
grief, for the; sorrow of the world worketh death. What numbers of
men put an untimely end to their lives by intemperance, murder, and
robbery, and make good that awful saying of David? Bloody and
deceitful men shall not live out half their days, Psalm Iv. 23 ! — What
multitudes verify this doctrine of the wise man ! The fear of the Lord
prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened, Prov. x.
27. — Does not the Psalmist pray, 0 my God, take me not away in the
midst of my days. Psalm cii. 24. ?— Does he not say,..^s a snail which
melteth, so let the wicked pass away like the untimely fruit of a
woman? And was not this the case of the disobedient Israelites in the
wilderness, who committed the sin unto bodily death ? Is not this
evident from 1 Cor. x. ; Neither let us commit fornication, as some of
them also committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand, &c. ?
— Nay, was not this the case of many of the Corinthians themselves ?
For this cause [because he that receiveth the Lord's supper unwor-
thily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himselfj many are weak and
sickly among you, and many sleep [i. e. die.] 1 Cor. xi 30. ?

My second argument is taken from reason. If God has absolutely
appointed the untimely death of all who shorten their own days, or
the days of others, by intemperance, filthy diseases, adultery, murder,
robbery, treason, &c. &c. he has also absolutely appointed all the
crimes by which their days are shortened ; and has contrived all the
wars and massacres by which this earth is become a field of blood.
I have heard of some Indians who worshi'p a horned, grinning idol,
with an huge mouth split from ear to ear. But the preaching of a
God, who has planned and necessitated all the crimes that ever turned
the world into an aceldama, and a common sewer of debauchery, is
an honour that the Manichees, and the orthodox, so called, may
claim to themselves.

Should Mr. T. answer, that although " the free will of the Deity
alone may fabricate, ^^ adultery, murder, and every intermediate link of

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 49

^he chain of necessity ; and that, although the generation and de«ith of
a child conceived in adultery, and cut oflf by murder, is " divinely and
^unchangeably fixed ;^^ yet God is not at all the author of the adultery
and murder ; I desire to know, how we can cut the Gordian knot,
and divide between adultery^ and the generation or conception of a
child born in adultery ; — and between the murder of such a child, and
its untimely death caused by the cruelty of its unnatural mother.

From the whole, if I am not mistaken, we may safely conclude : —
1. That the birth and death of all mankind take place according to
some providential laws : — 2. That God, in a peculiar manner, inter-
poses in the execution or suspension of these laws, with respect to the
hirtk of some men : witness the birth of Isaac, Samuel, John the
Baptist, &c. — 3. That he does the same with respect to the untimely
death of some, and the wonderful preservation of others ; as appears
by the awful destruction of Ananias, Sapphira, Herod : and by the
miraculous preservation of Moses in the Nile — of Daniel in the den
of lions — of Jonah in the whale's belly — and of Peter in the prison :
- — 4. That if neither the lirst nor the last link of the chain of human
life is, in genetal, fabricated by the absolute will of God, it is
unreasonable to suppose that " the free "will of Deity alone fabricates
the intermediate links :" — 5. That to carry the doctrine of Providence
so far as to make God absolutely appoint the birth and death of all
mankind witb all their circumstances, is to exculpate adulterers and
murderers, and to charge God with being the principal contriver, and
grand abi ttor of all the atrocious crimes, and of all the fiUhy, bloody
circumstances, which have accompanied the birth and death of
countless myriads of meo : — And therefore, 6. That the doctrine of
the absolute necessity of all events, which is commonly called absolute
predestination, is to be exploded as unscriptural, irrational, immoral,
and big with the most impious consequences. However, Mr. T.
seems ready to conclude, that the death of every man is absolutely
predestinated because the fall of a sparrozv is not beneath the notice
of our heavenly Father. And that he thinks so, appears from his
producing the following texts in defence of absolute necessity.

Pp. 81 — 87. " Are not tzvo sparrows sold for a farthing F and one of
them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. — Matt. x. 29. —
JVot one of them, iic. is forgotten before God. Luke xii. 6." — These,
and the like scriptures do not prove, that God made particular
decrees from all eternity, concerning the number of times that a
sparrow should chirp, the number of seeds that it should eat, and the
peculiar time and manner of its death. They prove only, that
G od's providence extends to their preservation ; and that they rise
Vol. IV

5.0 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADV's SCHEME

into existence, or fall according to some law of God's making, the
effect of which he can suspend whenever he pleases. If you shoot
a sparrow, it falls indeed according to this natural law of our Father,
that an animal mortally wounded shall fall ; hut it by no means fol-
lows, that you are necessitated thus to wound it, — When the empe-
ror Domitian spent his time in catching and killing flies, those insects
fell a sacrifice to his childish and cruel sport, according to this gene-
ral decree of Providence, " In such circumstances, a man shall have
power to kill a feebler animal." But, to suppose that, from all eter-
nity, God made absolute decrees that Domitian should lock himself
up in his apartment, and kill twenty-three flies on such a day, and
forty-six the next day — that he should wring off the head of one
which was six weeks old, and with a pin impale another, which was
three months, six hours, and fifteen minutes old ; — Or to imagine that,
before the foundation of the world, the Almighty decreed, that three
idle boys should play the truant such an afternoon > in order to seek
birds' nests ; — that they should find a sparrow's nest with five young
ones ; — that they should torment one to death, that they should let ano-
therfly away, tiiat they should starve the third, feed the fourth, and give
the fifth to a cat, after having put its eyes out, and plucked so many
feathers out of its tender wings : — To suppose this, I say, is to undo
all by overdoing. It is absurdly to ascribe to God the cruelty of
Nero, and the childishness of Domitian, for fear he should not have
all the glory of St. John's love, and Solomon's wisdom. In a word, it
is to make the Father of lights exactly like the prince of darkness — the
evil principle of the Manichees, who is the first cause of all iniquity
and wo. Who can sufficiently wonder, that any good man should be
so dreadfully mistaken as to call such a scheme a Christian scheme !
— a doctrine according to godliness! — a Gospel! — and the genuine
Gospel too! And when Mr. T. charges us with Atheism^ because
we cannot bow to the first cause of all evil, does he not betray as
rau'h prejudice as the heathens did, when they called the primitive
Christians Atheists, merely because the disciples of Christ bore their
testimony ag^iinst idol gods ?

Mr. T. produces many passages of Scripture, besides those which
I have anitrtadverted upon in this section. But as they are equally
misapplied, one or another of the twelve keys which I have presented
the public with, will easily rescue all of them from Calvinian bon-
dage.

OP PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 51

SECTION IV.

.in cuisrver to the capital objections of the Necessitarians against the
doctrine of Liberty.

If I have broken the unphilosophical and unscriptural pillars on
which Mr. T. buUds his temple of philosophical and Christian neces-
sity, I have nothing to do now but to answer some plausible objec-
tions, by which the Necessitarians puzzle those who embrace the
doctrine of liberty.

Obj.I. And lirst, they say, thit *' if God had not secured every
link of the chain of events, it would fall to pieces; and the events
which God wants absolutely to bring about, could not be brought
about at all ; whilst those which he designs absolvtely to hinder,
would take place in full opposition to his decrees."

But we deny these consequences : for, 1. Nothing that God deter-
mines absolutely to hinder shall ever come to pass. Thus he has
absolutely decreed, that the gates of hell shall never totally prevail
iigainst or destroy his church, i. e. all true Christians ; and there-
fore, there will always be some true Christians upon earth. — It is his
absolute will, that all who by patient continuance in well doing seek for
glory shall have eternal life^ and that all who finally neglect so great
salvation shall feel his wrathful indignation ; and therefore none shall
pluck the former out of the hands of his remunerative mercy, and
none shall pluck the latter out of the hands of liis vindictive justice.

2. God has ten thousand strings at his providential bow — and ten
thousand bridles in his providential hand, to curb and manage free
agents, which way soever they please to go : and therefore to sup-
pose, that he has tightly bound all his creatures with cords of absolute
necessity, for fear he should not be able to manage them if they had
their liberty — to suppose this, I say, is to pour upon divine Provi-
dence the same contempt, which a timorous gentleman brings upon
himself, when he dares not ride a spirited horse any longer than a
groom leads him by the bridle, that he may not run away with his
unskilful rider.

3. If things had not happened one way, they might have happened
another way. Supposing, for example, God had absolutely ordered,
that Solomon should be David's son by Bathsheba ; this event might
have taken place without his necessitating David to commit adultery
and murder. For Providence might have found out means for
marrying Bathsheba to David before siie was married to Urial) : or

52 JREMARKS on MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

God might have taken Uriah to heaven by a fever, and David could
legally have married his widow. Again : if neither Caiaphas not
Pilate had condemned our Lord, he could have made his life an offer-
ing for sin, by commanding the clouds to shoot a thousand lightnings
upon his devoted head, and to consume him as Elijah's sacrifice was
consumed on mount Carmel.

4. The pious author of Ecclesiasticus says with great truth, that
God h(jfi no need of the sinful man. To suppose that the chain of
God's providence would have been absolutely broken, if Ma-
nasseh or Nero had committed one murder less than they did, is to
ascribe to the old murderer and his servants an importance of which
Manes himself might have been ashamed. Although God used
Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, and Attila, to scourge guilty nations,
and to exercise the patience of his righteous servants, he was by no
means obliged to use them. For he might have obtained the same
ends by the plague, the famine, or the dreadful ministry of the angel
who cut off the firstborn of the Egyptians, and the numerous army of
Sennacherib. I flatter m3'seif that these four answers fully set aside
the first objection of the Necessitarians. Pass we on to another.

Obj. II. " If God had not necessitated the fall of Adam, and secured
his sin, Adam might have continued innocent; and then, there would
have been no need of Christ and of Christianity. Had Adam stood,
we should have been without Christ to all eternity : but believers
had rather be bora in sin than be Christless : they had rather be
sick than have nothing to do with their heavenly Physician, and with
the cordials of his sanctifying Spirit."*

Answer. It is absurd to insinuate that the Father necessitated Adam
to sin, in order to make way for the indwelling of his Word and Spirit
in the hearts of believers. For if Adam was made in the image of
God ; — if God is that mysterious, adorable, supreme Being, whom
the Scriptures call Father^ Wordy and Holy Ghost; — if the Father
gave his Word and Light to Adam in Paradise, and shed abroad divine
love in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him, Adam was full
of the Word and Spirit of God by creation. And, although the
eternal Word was not Adam's Hedeemer, yet he was Adam's life and
light ; for Christ, considered as the Word of God, was the wisdom
and power of sinless man, just as he is the wisdom and power of holy
believers. The reason why man needed not the atoning blood of the

"*= Mr. Toplady dares not produce this objection in all its force ; he only hints at it.
His own words are, p. 130, " Let me give our free willers a very momentous hint : viz.
That the entrance of original sin was one of those essential links^ on which the Messiah's
incarnation and crucifixion were suspended."

i)F PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY. 53

Kamb in the state of innocence, was because the holy Lamb of God
lived in his heart, and jointly with the Spirit of love, maintained there
the mystical kingdom of righteous peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
To suppose, therefore, that if Adam had not sinned he would have
had nothing to do with the Word and Spirit of the Father, is as absurd
as to fancy, that, if people did not poison themselves, they would have
nothing to do with health and cheerfulness. And to intimate that God
necessarily brought about the sin of Adam, in order to make way for
the murder of his incarnate Son, is as impious as lo insinuate, that
our Lord impelled the Jews to despise the day of their visitation, in
order to secure the opportunity of weeping over the hardness of
their hearts. If God necessitated the mischief in order to remedy
it, the gratitude of the redeemed is partly at an end ; and the thanks
they owe him are only of the same kind witK such as Mr. Toplady
would owe me, if I wantonly caused him to break his legs, and then
procured him a good surgeon to set them. But what shall we say of
the non redeemed ? Those unfortunate creatures whom Mr. Top-
lady calls the Reprobate? Are there not countless myriads of these
according to his unscriptural Gospel ? And what thanks do these owe
the evil Manichean God, who absolutely necessitates them to sin, and
absolutely debars them from any saving interest in a Redeemer, that
he may send them without fail to everlasting burnings ? How strangely
perverted is the rational taste of Mr. T. who calls the doctrine of
absolute necessity, which is big with absolute reprobation, absolute
wickedness, and absolute damnation, a comfortable Aoc\.T'me\ a doc-
trine of grace ! May we not expect next to hear him cry up midnight
gloom as meridian brightness ?

Bui to return: If it was necessary that Adam should sin in order
to glorify the Father by making way for the crucifixion of the Lamb
of God, is it not also necessary that believers should sin in order to
glorify God more abundantly, by crucifying Christ afresh, and putting
him again to open shame/' Will they not, by this mean, have greater
need of their Physician, make a fuller trial of the virtue of his blood,
and sing louder in heaven ? O how perilous is a doctrine which at
every turn transforms itself into a doctrine of light, to support the
most subtle and pernicious tenet of the Antinomians, Let us sin that
grace may abound !

Mr. T., who has only hinted at the two preceding objections,

triumphs much in that which follows : it shall therefore appear

clothed in his own words. In the contents of his book he says,

'Methodists — [he gives this name to all who oppose his scheme of

.[>4 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCHEME

Necesaitjf.] Methodists, more gross Manicheans than Maues himself:*-
The proof occurs page 144. in the following words.

Obj. III. " The old Manicheism was a gentle impiety, and a
slender absurdity, when contrasted with the modern Arminian
improvements on that system. For which is worse ? To assert the
existence of two independent Beings, and no more ; or, To assert the
existence of about one hundred and fifty millions of independent
Beings, all living at one time, and most of them waging successful
war on the designs of him thut made them ? — Even confining our-
selves to our own world it will follow that Arminian Manicheism
exceeds the paltry Oriental Duality, at the immense rate of
150,000,000 to 2 — without reckoning the adult self-determiners of
past generations."

Answer. This argument, cast into a logical mould, will yield the
following syllogism :

Every being, able to determine himself, is an independent being, and
of consequence, a God:

According to the doctrine of free will, every accountable man is a
being able to determine himself ;

Therefore, accordina; to the doctrine of free will, everj' accountable
man is an independent being, and consequently a God. — Hence it
follows, that, if Manes erred by believing there were two Gods,
thoso wlio espouse the doctrine of free will are more gross Mani-
cheans than Manes himself; since they believe that every man is
a God.

Observe Mr. T.'s consistency ! indeed when he attacks Mr. W.
and Arminianism, no ch;jrges [be they ever so contradictory] come
amiss to him. In his Historic Proof, Arminianism is Atheism; and in
his Scheme of Necessity, Arminianism is a system which supposes
countless myri;«ds of gods I But, letting this pass, I observe, that
the preceding syllogism is a mere sophism ; the first proposition, on
which all the others depend, being absolutely false ; witness the fol-
lowing appeals to common sense.

Is a horse independent on his master because he can determine
himself to range or lie down in his pasture ? — Is Mr. T. independent
on his bishop, because he can determine himself to preach twice next
Sunday, or only once, or not at all ? — Is a captain independent on his
general, because he can determine himself to stand his ground, or to
run away in an engagement? — Are soldiers independent on their
colonel, because they determined themselves to list in such a com-
pany ? — Is a Negro slave independent on his master, or is he a little

OP PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY, 5o

God, because when he lies down, he can determine himself to do it on
the left side, or on the right? — Is a highwayman a God, because he
can determine himself to rob a traveller, or to let him pass without
molestation I In a word, are subjects independent of their sovereign,
because they can determine themselves to break or to keep the laws of
the land ?

Every one of the preceding questions pours light upon the absurd-
ity of Mr. T.'s argument. But that absurdity will appear doubly
glaring, if you consider three things ; — 1. All free agents have re-
ceived their life and free agency from God as precious talents, for the
good or bad use of which they are accountable to his di^stributive
justice. — 2. All free agents are every moment dependent upon God
for the preservation of their life and free agency ; there being no
instant in which God may not resume ail hi^ temporary twlents, by
requiring their souls of them.— 3. He has appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ ; then
shall he publicly convince all moral agents of their dependence on
his goodness and justice, by graciously rewarding the righteous, and
justly punishing the wicked according to their works. — 4. In the
meantime, he makes them sensible of their dependence by keeping
in his providential hand the staff of their bread, and the thread of
their life: saying to the greatest of them. Ye are Gads [in autliority
over others,] but ye shall die like men ; and — after death comes judg-
ment.—\i is as ridiculous therefore to suppose that upon the scheme
of free will, men are independent beings ; as to assert that prisoners,:
who are going to the bar to meet their Lawgiver and Judge, are inde-
pendent upon his supreme authority ; because those who are going
to be condemned for robbery or murder, determined themselves to
rob or murder, without any Antinomiau, impulsive decree made by
their Judge ; and because those who are going to be rewarded for
their obedience were not necessitated to obey, as a wave is neces-
sitated to roll along when it is irresistibly impelled by another wave.
However, Mr. T. sings the song of victory, as if he had proved
that upon the Arminian scheme of free will every man is an inde-
pendent beinjr, and a God. " Poor Manes !" says he, " willi how
excellent a grace do Arminians call thee a heretic! And above all
such Arminians (whereof Mr. J. Wesley is one) as agree with thee,
in believing the attainability of sinless perfection here below : or,
to use the good old Manichean phrase, who assert, that The Evil
Principle may be totally separated from man in this present life .'"

The reader will permit me to make a concluding remark upon
this triumphant exclamation of Mr. Toplady. I have observed tha^

56 REMARKS ON MR. TOl'LADY'S SCHEME

Manes believed, there are in the Godhead two co-eternal principles ;
1. The absolute sovereignty oi free grace, which necessitates men
to good ; and 2. The absolute sovereignty of free wtmthy which
necessitates them to evil. Nevertheless, Manes was not so mistaken
as to suppose that the good principle in his deity was weaker than
the bad principle ; and that the latter could never be dislodged by
the former from the breast of one single elect person. Manes had
faith enough to believe, that now is the day of salvation, and that
Christ (and not death, or a temporary hell] saves good Christians/rom
their sins. Accordingly he asserted, that nothing unholy or wicked
can dwell with the good principled God ; and that none shall inherit
eternal life, but such as so concur with the heavenly light, as to have
the \Vorks of darkness destroyed in their souls. And therefore he
maintained with St. Paul, that we must be sanctified throughout, and
that our souls must be found at death blameless, and without spot or
wrinkle of sin ; and he held with St. John, that he who is fully born of
God (the good principle) sinneth not, but keepeth himsef, and the wicked
principle toucheth him not, so as to lead him into iniquity. Now if
Mr. T. so firmly believes in the evil principle, as to assert, that,
though believers are ever so willing to have no other Lord but the
good principled God, yet this God can never destroy before death
the works of the sin-predestinating God in their hearts ; and if, on
the other hand, the wicked principle completely destroys all good in
all the reprobates, even in this life ; is it not evident that Mr. Top-
lady's charge may be justly retorted ;* and that, as he ascribes so
much more power to the evil principle than to the good, he carries
the sovereignty of the evil principle farther than Manes himself did,
and is, [to use his own expression,] a " more gross Manichean than
Manes himself."

* Page 154. Mr. T. produces the following objection. " 'Tis curious to behold Arrai-
nians themselves forced to take refuge in the harbour of Necessity. It is necessary, say
they, that man's will should hej^ree ; for without freedom, the will were no will at all" [i. e.
no free icUl — no such will as constitutes man a moral and accountable agent] — " Free-
agency, themselves being judges, is only a ramification of necessity.''''

This is playing upon words, and shuffling logical cards in order to delude the simple. I
have granted again and again, that there is a necessity of nature, a necessity of conse-
quence, a necessity of duty, a necessity of decency, a necessity of convenience, &c. &c.
but all these sorts of necessity do no more amount to the Calviniah, absolute necessity of
all events, than my granting that the king has a variety of officers about his person by
7iecesst72/ of decency, of office, of custom, &c. implies my granting, that he has a certain
officer, who absolutely necessitates him to move just as he does, insomuch that he cannot
turn his eyes, or stir one finger otherwise than this imaginary officer directs or impels him.
This objection of Mr. T. is so excessi^f-ly triflinjr that I almost blame myself for taking-
notice of it even in a nofc

OF PHtLOSOrHICAL NECESSITY, 57

Obj. IV. " Your scheme of free will labours under a greater
difficulty than that with which you clog the scheme of necessity :
because, if it do not represent the sin-necessitating principle as more
powerful than the good principle, yet it represents created spirits as
stronger than the God who made them ; an impotent, disappointed
God this, who says, — I would — and ye would not.'*^

Answer 1. These words were actually spoken by incarnate omni-
potence : nor do they prove that man is stronger than God ; but
only that when* God deals with free agents about those things con-
cerning which he will call them to an account, he does not necessi-
tate their will by an irresistible exertion of his power, {propter jus-
turn Dei judicium) that he may leave room for the display of his jus-
tice, as the fathers said ; for his perfections, and our probationary
circumstances require, that he should maintain the character of
Lawgiver and Judge, as well as that of Creator and Sovereign. And
therefore when we say, that free agents are not necessarily deter-
mined by God to those actions for which God is going to punish or
reward them, we do not represent free agents as stronger or greater
than God. We only place them {sub justo Dei judicio) under God's
righteous government^ as said the fathers, equally subjected to the
legislative wisdom, and executive power of their omnipotent Law-
giver.

2. Whether free agents are rewarded or punished, saved or
damned, God our Saviour will never be disappointed ; for, 1. He
will pronounce the sentence ; and what he will do himself will not
disappoint his expectation. 2. It is as much God's righteous, eternal
design to punish wicked, obstinate free agents, as to reward yielding,
and obedient free agents. 3. Every Gospel dispensation yields a
savour of life or death. The sword of the Lord is a two-edged
sword : if it do not cut down a man's sin it will cut down his person.
And though God as Creator and Redeemer, does not in the day of
salvation Calvinistically desire the death of a sinner ; yet, as a holy
Lawgiver, a covenant keeping God, and a righteous Judge, he is
determin<>.d to render to every man according to his deeds : eternal life
to them who, by patient continuance in well-doings seek for glory; hut
indignation and wrath to them who do not obey the truth, but obey un-
righteousness : And God will do this, In the day when he shall judge
the secrets of men according to the Gospel. Rom. ii. 6 — 16. Hence
it is evident that the bow of divine justice has two strings, that
each string will shoot its peculiar arrow, and although God leaves it
to free agents to choose which they will have, the arrow which is
winged with remunerative hfe, or that which rarrieg vindictive death ;

Vol. IV. 8

yet he can never be disappointed ; he will most infalliby hit the
judicial mark which he has set up ; witness the awful declaration
which is engraven upon that mark : These [obstinate free agents]
shall go away into everlasting punishment : but the righteous into life
eternal. Matt. xxv. 46.

Upon the whole, I humbly hope, that whether candid readers
consider the inconclusiveness of Mr. T.'s philosophical arguments —
the injudicious manner in which he has pressed the Scriptures into
the service of absolute necessity — or the weakness of his objections,
which he directly or indirectly makes against the doctrine oi liberty ;
they will see that his scheme is as contrary to true philosophy, and to
well-apphed Scripture, as the absolute necessity of adultery and murder
is contrary to good morals, and the absolute reprobation of some of our
unborn children, and perhaps of cur own souls, is contrary to evan"
gelical comfortn

pECTION V,

£ke doctrine of Necessity is the capital error of the Calvinists^ and the
foundation of the most wretched schemes of Philosophy and Divinity.
— How nearly Mr. Toplady agrees with Mr. Hobbes, the apostle
of the Materialists in England^ with respect to the doctrine of

Necessity. — Conclusion.

We have seen on what philosophical and scriptural proofs Mr.
Toplady founds the doctrine of necessity ; and if I am not mistaken,
the inconchisiveness of his arguments has been fairly pointed out. I
shall now subjoin some remarks, which I hope are not unworthy of
the reader's attention.

1. It is not without reason that Mr. T. borrows from false philoso-
phy, and misapplied passages of Scripture, whatever seems to coun-
tenance his doctrine of necessity : for that doctrine is the very soul of
Calvinism, and Calvinism is, in his account, the marrow of the Gos-
pel. If the doctrine of absolute necessity be true, Calvinian election
and reprobation are true also : if it be flilse, Calvinism, so far as we
oppose it, is left without either prop or foundation. Take away
necessity from the modern doctrines of grace, and you reduce them to
i.he Scripture standard, which we follow, and of which Arminius was
too much afraid.

2. Those who would see at once the bar which separates us from
the CalvinistS; need only consider the following questions : — Are all

4f philosophical necessity. 5^

those who shall be damned absolutely necessitated to continue In ^in
and perish ? And are all those who shall be saved, absolutely necessi-
tated to work righteousness and be eternally saved ? Or, to unite
both questions in one, Shall men be judged, that is, shall they be
justified or condemned, in the last day, as bound agents, according to the
unavoidable consequences of Chrisfs work, or oi Jidarn's work ? Or,
shall they he justified or condemned, according to their own works, as
the Scripture declares ? I la}' a peculiar stress upon the words their
own, because works, which absolute decrees necessitate us to do, are
no longer, properly speaking, our own works ; but the works of him
who necessitates us to do them.

3. There i? but one case in which we can scripturally admit the
Calvinian doctrine of necessity, and that is, the salvation of infants
ivho die before they have committed actual sin. These we grant
are necessarily or Calvinistically saved. But they will not be judged
according to their works, seeing they died before they wrought either
iniquity or righteousness. Their salvation will depend only on the
irresistible work of Christ, and bis Spirit. As they were never called
personally to work out their own salvation ; and as they never per-
sonally wrought out their own damnation, they will all be saved by
the supefabounding grace of God, through the meritorious infancy
and death of the holy child Jesus. But it is an abomination to sup-
pose, that because God can justly force holiness and salvation upon
iome infants, he can justly force continued sin and eternal damnation
upon myriads of people, by putting them in such circumstances as
absolutely necessitate them to continue in sin and be damned. I
repeat it : God may bestow eternal favours upon persons whom his
decrees necessitate to be righteous. But he can never inflict eternal
punishments upon persons, whom his decrees, according to Mr. Top-
lady's doctrine, necessitate to be wicked from first to last.

4. The moderate GaTvinists say indeed, that Adam was endued
with free will, and that God did not necessitate him to sin : but if
necessity had nothing to do with the first man's obedience and first
transgression ; why should it be supposed, that it has so much to do
with us, as absolutely to beget all our good and bad works? And if
it be not unreasonable to say that God endued one man with a power
to determine himself; why should we be considered as enemies to
the Gospel, becanse we assert that he has made all men in some
degree capable of determining themselves ; the Scriptures declaring
that he treats all adult persons as free agents, or persona endued with
the power of self-determination '^

60 REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY'S SCHEME

5. Mr. Toplady and all the rigid Calvinists suppose indeed, that God's
neessitation extended to the commission of Adam's sin, and yet they
tell us that God is not the author, but only the permitter of sin. But
they do not consider that their doctrine of absolute necessity leaves no
more room for permission, than the absolute decree that a pound shall
aha>ays exactly weigh sixteen ounces, leaves room for a permission of
its weighing sotnetimes Jifteen ounces and sometimes seventeen. Should
Mr. Toplady reply, that " such a decree, however, leaves room for
the permission, that a pound shall always exactly weigh sixteen
ounces :" I reply, that this is playing upon words ; it being evident
that the word permissio7i, in such a case, is artfully put for the plainer
word necessity or absolute decree. It is evident, therefore, that
although Mr. Toplady aims at being more consistent than the mode-
rate Calvinists, he is in fact as inconsistent as they, if he denies that,
upon the scheme of the absolute decrees preached by Calvin, and of
the absolute necessity which he himself maintains, God is properly the
contriver and author of all sin and wickedness.

6. It is dreadful to lay, directly or indirectly, all sin at the door of
an omnipotent Being, who is fearful in holiness, and glorious in praises.
Nor is it less dangerous to make poor deluded Christians swallow
down, as Gospel, some of the most dangerous errors that were ever
propagated by ancient or modern Infidels. We have already seen
that the capital error of Manes was the doctrine of necessity. This
doctrine was also the grand engine with which Spinosa in Holland,
and Hobbes in England, attempted to overthrow Christianity in the
last century. Those two men, who may be called the apostles of
modern Materialists and Atheists, tried to destroy the Lord's vineyard,
by letting loose upon it the ver}^ error which Mr. T. recommends
to us as the capital doctrine of grace. " Spinosa, [says a modern
author] will allow no Governor of the universe but necessity.''^ As
for Mr. Hobbes, he built his Materialism upon the ruins oi free zmll,
and the foundation of necessity : hear the above-quoted author giving
us an account of the monstrous system of religion, known by the
n^me of Hobbism : "Freedom of will it was impossible that Mr.
Hobbes should assert to^ be a property of matter ; but he finds a very
unexpected way to extricate himself out of the difficulty. The pro-
position against him stands thus ; ' Freedom of will cannot be a pro-
perty of matter ; but there are beings which have freedom of will ;
therefore there are substances which are not material.' He answers
this at once, by saying the most strange thing, and the most contra-
dictory to our knowledge of what passes within ourselves, that per-

OF PHILOSOPHICAL NECESSITY, 61

haps was ever advanced; namely, that there is no freedom of will.
Every eifect, he says, [and this is exactly the doctrine of Mr.
Toplady, as the quotations I have produced from his book abun-
dantly prove ;] Every effect must be owing to some cause, and that
cause must produce the e&ecV necessarily. Thus, whatever body ig
moved, is moved by some other body, and that by a third, and so on
without end. In the same manner he. [Mr. Hobbes] concludes, the
will of a voluntary agent mast be determined by some other external
to it, and so on without end : therefore that the will is not determined
by any power of determining itself, inherent in itself; that is, it is
not free, nor is there any such thing as freedom of will ; but that all
is the act of necessity.''^ — This is part of the account which the author
of the Answer to Lord Bollingbroke''s Philosophy gives us of Mr.
Hobbes's detestable scheme of necessity ; and it behooves Mr. Toplady
and the Calvinists to see, if, while they contend for their absolute
decrees, and for the doctrine of the absolute necessity and passiveness
of all our willings and motions, they do not inadvertently confound
matter and spirit, and make way for Hobbes's Materialism, as well as
forJiis scheme of necessity,

7. The moment the doctrine of Necessity is overthrown, Mani-
cheism, Spinosism, Hobbism, and the spreading religion of Mr. Vol-
taire, are left without foundation ; as well as that part of Calvin's sys-
tem which we object against. And we beseech Mr. Toplady, and the
contenders for Calvinian decrees, to consider, that if we oppose their
doctrine, it is not from any prejudice against their persons, much less
against God's free grace ; but from the same motive which would
make us bear our testimony against Manes, Spijiosa, Hobbes, and Fol-
taire, if they would impose their errors upon us as *' doctrines of
grace." Mr. Wesley and I are ready to testify upon oath, that we
humbly submit to God's sovereignty, and joyfully glory in fne free-
ness of Gospel grace, which has mercifully distinguished us from
countless myriads of our fellow-creatures, by gratuitously bestowing
upon us numberless favours, of a spiritual and temporal nature, which
he has thought proper absolutely to withhold from our fellow-crea-
tures. To meet the Calvinists on their own ground, we go so far as
to allow, there is a partial, gratuitous election and reprobation. By
this election Christians are admitted to the enjoyment of privileges
far superior to those of the Jews : and according to this reprobation
myriads of Heathens are absolutely cut off from all the prerogatives,
which accompany God's covenants of peculiar grace. In a word,
we grant to the Calvinists every thing they contend for, except the
\\ocAT\ne of Absohifc. Xeressity: Nay, we even grant the necessary.

ij% REMARKS ON MR. TOPLADY's SCtlEME, tkc.

unavoidable salvation of all that die in their infancy. And our love
to pea^ce would make us go farther to meet Mr. Toplady, if we could
do it without giving up the justice, mercy, truth, and wisdom of God,
together with the truth of the Scriptures, the equity of God's para-
disiacal and mediatorial laws, the propriety of the day of judgment,
and the reasonableness of the sentences of absolution and condemna-
tion, which the righteous Judge will then pronounce. We hope,
therefore, that the prejudices of our Calvinian brethren will subside,
and that, instead of accounting us inveterate enemies to truth, they
will do us the justice to say, that we have done our best to hinder
them from inadvertently betra}'ing some of the greatest truths of
Christianity into the hands of the Manichees, Materialists, Infidels,
and Antinomians of the age. May the Lord hasten the happy day in
which we shall no more waste our precious time in attacking or de-
fending the truths of our holy religion ; but bestow every moment in
the sweetest exercises of divine and brotherly love ! In the mean
time, if we must contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, let
us do it with a plainness that may etfectually detect error ; and with
a mildness that may soften our most violent opponents. Lest 1
should transgress against this rule, I beg leave once more to observe,
that though I have made it appear that Mr. Toplady's Scheme of
JVecessity is inseparably connected with the most horrid errors of
Manicheism, Materialism, and Hobbism, yet I am far from accusing
him of wilfully countenancing any of those bad errors. I am persuaded
he does it undesignedly. The badness of his cause obliges him to
collect, from all quarters, every shadow of argument to support his
favourite opinion. And I make no doubt, but, when he shall candidly
review our controversy, it will be his grief to find, that in his hurry,
he hasxontended for a scheme which gives up Christianity into the
hands w her greatest enemies, and has poured floods of undeserve ^
contempt upon Mr. Wesley, who is one of her best defenders-

AN

iis^rswisiB

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES,'^

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE CHECKS.

The [absolute'^ " predestination of some to life, &c. cannot be maintained without admitting
the" [atsoZw/e] "reprobation of some others to dea<A, &c. and all who hare subscribed the
said article" [the XVII. in a Calvinian sense'\ " are bound in honour, conscience, and lam, tO
defend" [Cafoiuian, absolute] "reprobation, were it only to keep the XVIIth article" [taken
in a Calvinian sense] " upon its legs.''* The Rev. Mr. Toplady's Hi'^tOrir Proof of Calvin.,
ism, p. 574.

I

INTRODUCTION

W HEN the author of Pietas Oxoniensis took his temporary leave
of me in his Finishing Stroke, he recommended to the pubHc the book
which I am going to answer. His recommendation runs thus : *' who-
soever will consult the Rev. Mr. Toplady's last publication, entitled,
More Work for Mr. John Wesley , [or, A Vindication of the Decrees, &c.]
will there find a full answer to all those cavils which Papists, Soci-
nians, Pelasiians, Arminians, and Perfectionists, bring against those
doctrines commonly called Calvinist, as if they tended to promote
licentiousness, or to make God cruel, unjust, and unmerciful, and
will see every one of their objections retorted upon themselves in a
most masterly manner." Fin. Stroke, page 33. Soon after Mr. Hill
had thus extolled Mr. Toplady's performance, I was informed that
many of the Calvinists said, that it was an unanswerable defence of
their doctrines. This raised in me a desire to judge for myself; and
when I had sent for, and read this admired book, I was so far from
being of Mr. Hill's sentiment, that I promised my readers to demon-
strate from that very book, the inconclusiveness of the strongest argu-
ments by which Calvinism is supported. Mr. Hill, by unexpectedly
entering the lists again, caused me to delay the fulfilling of my pro-
mise. But having now completed my answer to his fictitious creeds,
I hasten to complete also my Logica Genevensis,

Did I write a book entitled Charitas Genevensis, I might easily show
from Mr. Toplady's performance, that " The doctrines of grace'"' [so
called] are closely connected with " The doctrines of free wrath.*'
But if that gentleman, in his controversial heat, has forgotten what he
owed to Mr. Wesley and to himself, this is no reason why 1 should
forget the title of my book, which calls me to point out the bad argu-
ments of our opponents, and not their ill humour. If I absurdly spent
my time in passing a censure upon Mr. Toplady's spirit, he would
with reason say, as he does in the Introduction to his Historic Proof,
page 35, " After all, what has my pride or my humility to do with
the argument in hand ? whether I am haughty or meek, is of no more

Vol. IV. 9

66 INTRODUCTION.

consequence either to that, or to the public, than whether 1 am tall
or short." Besides, having again and again myself requested our
opponents not to wiredraw the controversy, by personal reflections,
but to weigh with candour the arguments which are offered, I should
be inexcusable if I did not set them the example. Should it be said
that Mr. Wesley's character, which Mr. Toplady has so severely
attacked, is at stake, and that I ought purposely to stand up in his
defence, I reply, that the personal charges which Mr. Toplady inter-
weaves with his arguments, have been already fully answered* by
Mr. Olivers ; and that these charges being chiefly founded upon Mr.
Toplady 's logical mistakes, they will, of their own accord, fall to the
ground, as soon as the mistakes on which they rest shall be exposed.
U Logica Genevensis is disarmed, Charitas Genevensis will not be able
to keep the field. If good sense take the former prisoner, the latter
will be obliged to surrender to good nature. Should this be the case,
how great a blessing will our controversy prove to both parties !
The conquerors shall have the glory of vindicating truth : and the
conquered shall have the profit of retiring from the field with their
judgments better informed, and their tempers better regulated ! May
the God of truth and love grant, that if Mr. Toplady have the honour
of producing the best arguments, I [for one] may have the advantage
of yielding to them ! To be conquered by truth and love^ is to prove
t>onqueror over our two greatest enemies, error and sin,

Madeley, Oct, 1776.

* See " A Letter to the Rev. Mr. Toplady," by Mr. Olivers.

AN

ANSWER

TO THE

REV. MR. TOPLADY'S

** YI^BlCJiTIOJ^ OF THE DECREES,^^ ^c,

- >^ i*^ ^< -
SECTION h

Showing thai upon the Calvinian scheme^ it is an indubitable truth,
that some men shall be saved do what they will, till the effica*
cious decree of Calvinian election necessitate them to repent and
be saved; and that others shall be damned, do what they can,
till the efficacious decree of Calvinian Reprobation necessitate
them to draw back and be damned-

JL HE doctrinal part of the controversy between Mr. Wesley and
Mr. Toplady may, in a great degree, be reduced to this question : if
God, from all eternity, absolutely predestinated a fixed number of
men, called the elect, to eternal life, and absolutely predestinated a
fixed number of men. called the reprobate^ to eternal death, does it not
unavoidably follow, that " The elect shall be saved, do what they will ;^
and that " The reprobate shall be damned, do what they can?" Mr.
Wesley thinks that the consequence is undeniably true : Mr. Toplady
says, that it is absolutely false, and charges Mr. Wesley with " coining
blasphemous propositions," yea, with ^'hatching blasphemy, and then
fathering it on others," [page 7, 8] and in a note upon the word
blasphemous, he says, " This epithet is not too strong. To say, that
any shall be saved, do what they will, and others damned, do what
THEY can, is, in the first instance, blasphemy against the holiness
of God ; and, in the second, blasphemy against his goodness :" and
again, p. 34. after repeating the latter clause of the consequence
viz, '• The reprebate shall be damned, do what they can," he expresses

08 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

himself thus : " one would imagine that none but a reprobate could
be capable of advancing a position so execrably shocking. Surely it
must have cost even Mr. Wesley much, both of time and pains, to
invent the idea, &c. Few men's invention ever sunk deeper into the
despicable, launched wider into the horrid, and went farther in the
profane. The Satanic guilt of the person, who could excogitate, and
publish to the world, a position like that, baffles all power of descrip-
tion, and is only to be exceeded (if exceedable) by the Satanic shame-
lessness which dares to lay the black position at the door of other
men.— Let us examine, whether any thing, occurring in Zanchius,
could justly furnish this wretched defamer with materials for a deduc-
tion so truly infernal." Agreeably to these spirited complaints, Mr.
Toplady calls his book, not only " More Work for Mr. J. Wesley,^''
but also, " A Vindication of the* Decrees and Providence of God, from
the DEFAMATIONS of a late printed paper entitled, " The consequence
proved." I side with Mr. Wesley for the consequence : guarding it
against cavils by a clause, which his love for brevity made him think
needless. And the guarded consequence which I undertake to defend
runs thus : From the doctrine of the absolute and unconditional pre-
destination of some men to eternal life, and of all" others to eternal
death, it necessarily follows, that some men shall be saved, do what
they will, till the absolute and efficacious decree of election actually
necessitate them to obey and be saved, and that all the rest of mankind
shall be damned, do what they can, till the absolute and efficacious
decree of reprobation necessitate them to sin, and be damned.

An illustration will at once show the justness of this consequence
to the unprejudiced reader. Fifty fishes sport in a muddy pond,
where they have received life. The skilful and almighty Owner of
the pond has absolutely decreed, that ten of these fishes, properly
marked with a shining mark, called Election, shall absolutely be
caught in a certain net, called a Gospel net, on a certain day, called the
day of his porver ; and that they shall, every one, be cast into a delight-
ful river, where he has engajred himself, by an eternal covenant of
particular redemption, to bring them without fail. The same omni-
potent Proprietor of the pond has likewise absolutely decreed, that
all the rest of the fishes, namely forty, which are properly distin-
guished by a black mark, called Reprobation, shall never be caught in
the Gospel net ; or that, if they are entangled in it at any time, they
shall always be drawn out of it, and so shall necessarily continue in
the rnuddy pond, till on a certain day, called the day of his xvrath, he
shall sweep the pond with a certain net, called a law net, catch (hem
all, and cast them into a lake of fire and brimstone, where he haf»

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 60

engaged himself, by an everlasting covenant of non-redemption, to
bring them all without fail, that they may answer the end of their
predestination to death, which is to show the goodness of his law net,
and to destroy them for having been bred in the muddy pond, and for
not having been caught in the Gospel net. The owner of the pond
is wise, as well as powerful. He knows, that absolutely to secure the
end to which his tishes are absolutely predestinated, he must also
absolutely secure the means which conduce to that end : and therefore
that none may escape their happy, or unfortunate predestination, he
keeps night and day his hold of them all, by a strong hook, called
necessity, and by an invisible line, called divine decrees. By me^ns of
this line and hook, it happens, that if the tithes which bear the mark
of election, are ever so loth to come into the Gospel net, or to stay
therein, they are always drawn into it in a day of powerful love ; and
if the fishes which bear the mark of reprobation, are for a time, ever
so desirous to wrap themselves in the Gospel net, they are always
drawn out of it in a day of powerful wrath. For, though the fishes
seem to swim ever so freely, yet their motions are all absolutely fixed
by the owner of the pond, and determined by means of the above-
mentioned line and hook. If this is the case, says Mr. Wesley, ten
fishes shall go into the delightful river, let them do what they will, let
them plunge in the mud of their pond ever so briskly, or leap
towards the lake of fire ever so often, while they have any liberty to
plunge or to leap. And all the rest of the fishes, forty in number,
shall go into the lake of fire, let them do what they can, let them in-
volve themselves ever so long in the Gospel net, and leap ever so
often towards the fine river, before they are absolutely necessitated
to go, through the mud of their own pond, into the sulphureous pool.
The consequence is undeniable, and I make no doubt that all unpre-
judiced persons see it as well as myself: as sure as two and two
make four, or if you please, as sure as ten and forty make fifty, so
sure ten fishes shall be finally caught in the Gospel net, and forty in
the law net.

Should Mr. Toplady say, that this is only an illustration, I drop it,
and roundly assert, that if two men, suppose Solomon and Absalom, are
absolutely predestinated to eternal life ; while two other men, suppose
Mr. Baxter and Mr. Wesley, are absolutely predestinated to eternal
death: the two elect shall be saved, do what they will, and the two
reprobates shall be damned, do what they can. That is, let Solomon
and Absalom worship the abomination of the Zidonians, and of the
Moabites, in ever so public a manner ; let them, for years, indulge
themselves with heathenish women, collected from all countries ; if

70 ANSWER TO MIU TOPLADY'S

they have a mind, let them murder their brothers, defile their sisters,
and imitate the incestuous Corinthian, who took his own father'g^
wife : yet, they can never really endanger their finished salvation^
The indelible mark o{ unconditional election to life is upon them : and
forcible, victorious grace shall, in their last moments, if not before^
draw them irresistibly and infallibly from iniquity to repentance.
Death shall unavoidably make an end of their indwelling sin ; and to
heaven they shall unavoidably go. On the other hand, let a Baxter
and a Wesley astonish the world by their ministerial labours : let
them write, speak, and live in such a manner, as to stem the torrent
of iniquity, and turn thousands to righteousness : with St. Paul let
them take up their cross daily, and preach and pray, not only with
tears, but with the demonstration of the Spirit and with power : let un-
wearied patience and matchless diligence carry them with increasing
fortitude through all the persecutions, dangers, and trials, which they
meet with from the men of the world, and from false brethren : let
them hold on this wonderful way to their dying day ; yet, if the in-
delible mark of unconditional reprobation to death is upon them,
necessitating, victorious wrath, shall, in their last moments, if not
before, make them necessarily turn from righteousness, and unavoida-
bly draw back to perdition : so shall they be fitted for the lake of fire,
the end to which, if God Calvinistically passed them by, they were
absolutely ordained through the predestinated medium of remediless
sin and final apostacy.

This is the true state of the case : to spend time in proving it,
would be ofi'ering the judicious reader as great an insult, as if I
detained him to prove, that the north is opposed to the south. But
what does Mr. Toplady say against this consequence, " if Calvinism
is true^ the reprobates shall be damned do what they can .^" He advances
the following warm argument.

Argument I. Page 55. " Can Mr. Wesley produce a single in-
stance of any one man, who did all he could to be saved, and yet was
lost ? if he can, let him tell us who that man was, where he lived,
when he died, what he did, and how it came to pass he laboured in
vain. — If he cannot^ let him either retract his consequences, or con-
tinue to be posted for a shameless traducer."

I answer: 1. To require Mr. Wesley to show a man, who did all
he could, and yet was lost, is requiring him to prove that Calvinian
reprobation is true ! — a thing this, which he can no more do, than he
can prove that God is false. Mr. Wesley never said any man was
damned after doing his best to be saved : he only says, that if Calvin-
ism is true, the reprobates shall all be damned, though they should a^-

VINDICATION OF THE DECREB5, 71

do their best to be saved, till the efficacious decree of their absolute
reprobation necessitates thena to draw back and be damned.

2. As Mr. Toplady's bold request may impose upon his inattentive
readers, I beg leave to point out its absurdity by a short illustration.
Mr. Wesley says, if there is a mountain of gold^ it is heavier than a
handful of feathers, and his consequence passes for true in England :
but a gentleman, who teaches logic in mystic Geneva, thinks that it is
absolutely false, and that Mr. Wesley's ^'forehead must be petrified^
and quite impervious to a Uush^^ for advancing it. Can Mr. Wesley,
says he, show us a mountain of gold, which is really heavier than a
handful of feathers? If he can, let him tell us what mountain it is,
where it lies, in what latitude, how high it is, and who did ever ascend
to the top of it. — If he cannot, let him either retract his consequences,
or continue to be posted for a shameless traducer.

Equally conclusive is Mr. Toplady's challenge ! By such cogent
arguments as these, thousands of professors are bound to the chariot-
wheels of modern orthodoxy, and blindly follow the warm men, who
drive rs furiously over a part of the body of Scripture divinity, as the
Son of Nimshi did over the body of cursed Jezebel.

SECTION II.

Calvinism upon its legs, or a full view of the arguments by which
Mr. Toplady attempts to reconcile Calvinism with God^s holiness : —
a note upon a letter to an Arminian teacher.

Sensible that Calvinism can never rank among the doctrines of
holiness, if " the elect shall be saved do what they will," and if the
** reprobate shall be damned do what they can :" Mr. Toplady tries
to throw off from his doctrines of grace the deadly weight of Mr.
Wesley's consequence. In order to this, he proves that Calvinism
ensures the holiness of the elect, as the necessary means of their pre-
destinated salvation: but he is too judicious to tell us that it ensures
also the wickedness of the reprobate, as the necessary means of their
predestinated damnation. To make us in love with his Orthodoxy,
he presents her to our view with one leg, on which she contrives to
stand, by artfully leaning upon her faithful maid Logica Genevensis.
Her other leg is prudently kept out of sight, so long as the trial about
her holiness lasts. This deserves explanation.

The most distinguishing and fundamental doctrines of Calvinism
9re two : and therefore they may witli propriety be called the legs of

72 ANSWER TO MR. TOP^ADy's

that doctrinal system. The ^rs^ of these fundamental doctrines is,
the personal, unconditional, ahsolute predestination^ or election of some
men to eternal life ; and the second is the personal, unconditional,
absolute predestination or reprobation of some men to eternal death.
Nor can Mr. Toplady tind fault with my making his doctrine of grace
stand upon her legs, Cahinian election and Cahinian reprobation : for,
supposing that our church speaks in her xviith Article of Calvinian,
absolute predestination to eternal life, he says himself, in his Historic
Proof, page 574, " The predestination of some to life, asserted in the
*' xviith Article, cannot be maintained without admitting the reproba-
'* tion* of some others to death, &c. and all who have subscribed to

*■ Our opponents are greatly embarrassed about the doctrine of absolute, unconditional
reprobation ; though in a happj moment, where candour prevailed over shame, Mr. Top-
lady stood up so boldly for Calvinian reprobation : the reader, as he goes on will smile,
when he sees the variegated wisdom, with which that gentleman disguises, exculpates, or
conceals, what he so rationally and so candidly grants here.

The truth is, that as scriptural election is necessarily attended with an answerable repro-
bation ; so absob/te, Calvinian election unavoidably drags after it absolute Calvinian repro-
bation;— a black reprobation this, which necessitates all who are personally written in the
book of death, to sin on and be damned. But some Calvinists are afraid to see this doc-
trine, and well they may, for it is horrible ; others are ashamed to acknowledge it ; and
not a (ew^ for want of rational sight, obstinately deny that it is the main pillar of their
Gospel ; and with the right leg of their system they unmercifully kick the left. Among
the persons who are g^uilty of this absurd conduct, we may rank the author of A letter to
an Arminian Teacher : an imperfect copy of which appeared in The Gospel Magazine of
August,- 1775, under the following title, A Predestinarian's reaZ Thoughts of Election and
Reprobation., &c. This writer is so inconsistent, as to attempt cutting off the left leg of
Calvinism. He at first f-pves us reprobation. " The word reprobation'''' [says he] " is
never mentioned in all the Scripture" [no more is the word predestination] " nor is the
scriptural word reprobate ever mentioned as the consequence of election, or as [its] oppo-
site."— This is a great nriistake, as appears from the two first passages quoted by this author,
Jer. vi. 30. and Rom. i. 28. where reprobate silver is evidently opposed to choice silver, and
where a reprobate mind is indubitably opposed to the mind which is after God''s own heart
— 5. e. to the mind which God approves and chooses to crown with evangelical praises and
rewards. Our authoi* goes on :

*' There is no immtjdiate connexion between election to salvation and reprobation to dam-
nation." What an argument is this ! did we ever say that there is any immediate connexion
between two things which are as contrary as Christ and Belial ! — Oh! but we mean that
" they have no necessary dependence on each other." — The question is not whether they
have a " necessary dependence on each other ,•" but, whether they have not a necessary
orposiTiON to each other; and that they have, is as clear as that light is opposed to dark-
ness.— "They proceed from very different causes," — True: for election proceeds from
free grace, diiid Calvinian reprobation hom fr-ec wrath. — *' The sole cause oi election is
God's free love, &;c. The sole cause of damnatio.\ is only sin." — Our author wants can-
dour or attention. Had he argued like a candid logician, he would have said, " The sole
cause of the reprohdtion which ends in unavoidable damnation is only sin :" but if he had
fairly argued thus, he would have given up Calvinism, which stands or falls with absolute
•reprobation ; and therefore, he thought proper to substitute the word damnation for the
word REPROBATION which the argument absolutely requires. These tricks may pass in
Geneva; but in England they appear inconsistent with fair reasoning. It is a common

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 73

" the said Article, are bound in honour, conscience^ and law to defend
•' reprobation, were it only to keep the xviith Article," for rather, the
Calvinian sensfe which Mr. Toplady fixes to that Article] " upon
" its legs.'''

Agreeably to Mr. Toplady's charge, Calvinism shall stand upon its
legs. He takes care to ghow the right leg, in order to vindicate God's
holiness upon the Calvinian plan ; and I shall set forth the left leg, in
order to show that the honour of God's holiness is as incompatible
with Calvinism, as light with darkness. Mr. Toplady's arguments
are produced under No. 1. with the number of the page in his book
where he advances them. In the opposite column, under No. 2. the

stratag^em of the Calvinists to say, " Election depends upon God's love only, but damnation
depends upon our sin only;" break the thin shell of this sophism, and you will find this
bitter kernel ; " God's distinguishing love elects some to unavoidable holiness and finished
salvation; and his distinguishing wrath reprobates all the rest of mankind to remediless
sin and eternal damnation." For, the moment the sin of reprobates is necessary, remedi-
less, and ensured by the decree of the means, it follows that absolute reprobation to neces-
sary, remediless sin, is the same thing as absolute reprobation to eternal damnation ; because
such a damnation is the unavoidable consequence of remediless sin.

When the letter-writer has absurdly denied Calvinian reprobation, he insinuates, p. 5.
that " everlasting torments^'' and " being unavoidably damned,'''' are not the necessary con-
sequences of the decree of Calvinian election ; " nor [says he] can they be Jairly deduced
from THE DECREE OF REPROBATION." — So, now, thc secrct is out! Our author, after
denying reprobation, informs us that there is a Calvinian decree of reprobation. But if
there be such a decree, why did he oppose it, p. 2. .'' And if there be no such decree, why
does he mention it, p. 5. where he hints that ensured damnation cannot be fairly deduced
from it? Now, if he, or any Calvinist in the world, can prove that, upon the Calvinian
plan, among the thousands of Calvin's reprobates, who are yet in their mothers' wombs, one
of them can, any how, avoid finished damnation, I solemnly engage mysrlf before the
public, to get my Checks burnt at Charing-cross by the common hangman, on any day
which iVlr. Hill, Mr. Toplady, and Mr. M'Gowan will please to appoint. But if the Cal-
vinists cannot do this, and if the Calvinian decree of reprobation ensures the necessary,
remediless sin, and the unavoidable finished damnation of one and all the reprobates of
Calvin, born or unborn ; Mr. M'Gowan, and Dr. Gill, whom he quotes, insult common
sense, when they intimate, that ensured damnation " cannot be fairly deduced from thc
decree of reprobation.''^ How much less candid are the letter-writer and Dr. Gill, than
Mr. Toplady and Zanchius, who fairly tell us, p. 75. " The condemnation [i. e. the dam-
nation] of the reprobate is necessary and irresistible !"

The letter writer tells us, p. 6. " what ensures holiness must ensure glory ; election
[i. e. Calvinian election] doth so, and glory must follow." This is the right leg of Cal-
vinism : let her stand upon the left leg, and you have this " doctrine of grace ;" xvhat
ensures remediless sin, must ensure damnation ; Calvinian reprobation doth so, and darn-
nation MUST FOLLOW. I would as soon bow to Dagon, as to this doctrine of remediless sin
and ensured wickedness. O ye controversial writers of the Gospel Magazine! if you
will confirm " Arminian teachers''' in their attachment to the holy election and righte-
ous reprobation preached by St. Paul, and in their detestation of tJ^ Antinomian ekctiou
and barbarous reprobation which support your doctrinal peculiarities, only vindicate your
Heclion as inconsistently as Mr. M'Gowan, and your reprobation as openly as Mr. Top-
lady.— [See two other notes on the same performance ; the one under the Arg. xx"xvi!l.
and the other under thp Arg. Ixvii.]

Vol. IV. 10

74

ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY^S

reader ivill find my answer, which is nothing but Mr. Toplady's owo
arguments, retorted in such a manner as to defend the second Gospel
axiom, which Calvinism entirely overthrows. No. 1. displays the
unguarded manner in which Mr. Toplady defends the first Gospel
axiom. To form No. 2. I only make his arguments stand upon the
other leg, and by this simple method 1 show the lameness of Calvin-
ism, and the infamy which she pours upon God's holiness and good-
ness, under fair shows of regard for these adorable attributes.

The Right Leg of Calvinism, or The Left Leg of Calvinism, or the
the Calvinian doctrine of election Calviman doctrine of reproba-
and NECESSARY holiness. Hon and necessary wickedness^

Arg. H. No. 1. [page 17.] "I
aflirm with Scripture, that they
[the elect] cannot be saved with-
out sanctijication and obedience.
Yet is not their salvation preca-
rious : for, that very decree of
flection, by which they were
nominated and ordained to eternal
life, ordained their intermediate
renewal after the image of God,
in righteousness and true holiness.
Nay, that renewal is itself the
dawn and beginning of actual
salvatio7i.'''

Answer. No. 2. 1 affirm with
Calvinism, that the reprobates can-
not be damned without wickedness
and disobedience. Yet is not their
damnation precarious : for,* that
very decree of reprobation, by
which they were nominated and
ordained to eternal death, ordained
their intermediate conformity to
the image of the devil, in sin and
true wickedness. Nay, that con-
formity is itself the dawn and
beginning of actual damnation.

RIGHT LEG.

LEFT LEG,

Arg. III. No. 1. [page 17.]
«■ The elect could no more be saved
without personal holi7iess, than
they could be saved without per-
sonal existence. And why ? be-
cause God's own decree secures
the means as well as the end, and
accomplishes the end by the means.
The same gratuitous predestina-
lion, which ordained the existence
of the elect, as men ; ordained
their purification, as saints; and

Answer. No. 2. The reprobates
could no more be damned without
personal wickedness, than they
could be damned without personal
existence. And why ? because
God's own decree secures the
means as well as the end, and
accomplishes the end by the means.
The same gratuitous predestina-
tion which ordained the existence
of the reprobate, as men ; or-
dained their pollution, as sinners ;

Vindication of the decrees* 75

they were ordained to both, in and they were ordjained to hotli,

order to their being finally and in order to their being finally and

completely saved in Christ with completely damned in Adam with

eternal glory.^^ eternal shame.

Before I produce the next argument, I think it ts proper to observe,
that the Election of Grace, which St. Paul defends, is not, as Calvin
supposes, an absolute election to eternal life, through necessitated
holiness : an election this, which in the very nature of things, drags
after it an absolute reprobation to eternal death, through remediless sin.
But the apostle means a gratuitous election to the privileges of the
best covenant of peculiarity, — a most gracious covenant this, which
is known under the name of Christianity — The Gospel of Christ, or
simply The Gospel, by way of eminence. For, as by a partial elec-
tion of distinguishing favour, the Jews were once chosen to be God's
peculiar ,people, [at which time the Gentiles were reprobated, with
respect to Jewish privileges ; being left under the inferior Gospel
dispensation of reprieved Adam, and spared Noah,] so, when the
Jews provoked God to reject them from being his peculiar people,
he elected the Gentiles, to whom he sent the Gospel of Christ : he
elected them, I say, and called them to believe this precious Gospel,
and to be holy in all manner of conversation, as becomes Christians.
But, far from absolutely electing these Gentiles to eternal salvation,
through unavoidable holiness Calvinistically imposed upon them, he
charged them by his messengers to make their Christian calling and
election sure, lest they also should be cut oj^, as the Jews had been, for
not making their Jewish calling and election sure. In short, the elec-
tion of grace, mentioned in the Scriptures, is a gratuitous election to
run the Christian race with Paul, Peter, and James ; rather than the
Jeza)ish race with Moses, David, and Daniel ; or the race of Gentilism
with Adam, Enoch, and Noah. It is a gracious election, which im-
plies no merciless, absolute reprobation of the rest of mankind. And
the Calviuists are greatly mistaken, when they confound this election,
with our judicial election to receive the crown of lite, a rewarding
crown this, the receiving of which depends, 1. On i\\Q grace of God
in Christ, and 2. On the iwluntary obedience of faith ; and will be
judicially bestowed according to the impartiality of justice : and not
according to the partiality of grace^

76

ANSWER TO MR. T@i'LADY's

RIGHT LEG.

Arg. IV. No. 1. [page 18.]
*' God the Father hath chosen us
in Christy before the foundation of
the world, that we should [not

" be saved do "what we will ;" but]
he holy and without blame before
him in love, Eph. i. 7. Election
is always followed by regeneration^
and regeneration is the source of
all good works."

LEFT LEG.

Answer. No. 2. God the Father
hath reprobated us in Mam, be-
fore the foundation of the world,
that we should [not be damned do
what we will ; but^ be unholy and
full of blame before him in malice.
Reprobation is always followed by
apostacy ; and apostacy is the
source of all bad works.

RIGHT LEG.

Arg. V. No. 1. [page 18.] " We
[the elect] are his subsequent
workmanship, created anew in
Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath fore-ordained
that we should walk in them.
Consequently it does not follow
from the doctrine of absolute pre-
destination, that * the elect shall
be saved, do what they will.'
On the contrary, they are chosen
as much to holiness as to heaven ;
and are fore-ordained to walk in
good works, by virtue of their
election from eternity, and of
their conversion in time."

LEFT LEG.

Answer. No. 2. We .[the re-
probates] are his subsequent
workmanship, created anew in
Adam unto bad works, which God
hath fore-ordained that we should
walk in them. Consequently it
does not follow from the doctrine
of absolute predestination, that
" the reprobates shall be damned,
do what they will." On the con-
trary, they are reprobated as much
to wickedness as to hell; and are
fore-ordained to walk in bad
works, by virtue of their reproba-
tion from eternity, and of their
reprobation from eternity, and of
their perversion in time.

RIGHT LEG.

Arg. VI. No. 1. [page 18, 19.]
'• Yet again, God hath from the
beginning [i. e. from everlasting,
&,c.] chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and be-
lief of the truth: 2 Thess. ii. 13.
All, therefore, who are chosen to
salvation, are no less unalterably

LEFT LEG,

Answer. No. 2, Yet again >
God hath from the beginning
[i. e. from everlasting] reprobated
you to damnation through pollu-
tion of the spirit and disbelief of i
the truth. All, therefore, who 1
are reprobated to damnation, are
no less unalterably destined to

VINDICATION Ot THE

destined to holiness and faith i*^
the mean while. And if so,
giving God himself the lie to
that ' the elect shall be sava
what they will.'' For the t
like the blessed person wh
deemed them, come into the w
not to do their own will, but the
will of him that sent them : and
this is the will of God concernir
them, even their sanctificati
Hence they are expressly sa-
be elect unto obedience.
indeed chosen because of

cncc, but chosen unto it : for

are not the foundation of

but streams flowing from it.

tion does not depend up(

ness, but holiness depend

election. So far, then

predestination from bei»~

sive of good works; t'

tination is the prima

the good works, w^

and shall be wro

beginning to the e

Dreadfully C
perfectly agre
and his bandy
soners at the
goes for notb
are capital, a
The first is "
says in his ti
divine decre
pass by virti
things come
man does, 1
according to

TO MR. tOPLADY^S

Wi

think inwardly.*'— P. 7. " The

cause of all things." — P. 11.

nd others perish, proceeds

ier, and the perdition of the

God from eternity willed and

ill of the creature can resist

,e or decree of God signifies

e men to life, and of others to

entirely from his own free and

n the elect and the reprobate,

t neither can be otherwise than

the alone cause why some are

red of no effect."— P. 56.

^ 1 to thfe non-elect, if it was

The condemnation of the

P. 25. " God worketh all

eked."

ed words of which I have

-alvinism ; and taking my

n to the vindication of the

doctrine of grace stand

3 death, as well as on

T LEG.

2. Reason also

ure, in asserting

e necessity of

the footing of

id irrespective

other words,

the end does

nsure the in

was neces-

ey [the re^

only be ap

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES.

79

not onl^' be redeemed from pun-
ishment, and entitled to heaven ;
but endued moreover with an
internal meetness for that inherit-
ance. This internal meetness
for heaven can only be wrought
by the restoring agency of God
the Holy Ghost, who grac^sly
engaged and took upon Klmself,'-
in the covenant of peace, to renew
and sanctify all the elect people of
God ; saying, / will put my law
in their minds. — Elect, kc. through
sanciification of the Spirit unto
obedience. — Election, though pro-
ductive of good works, is not
founded upon them : on the con-
trary, they are one of the glorious
ends, to which they are chosen.
Saints do not bear the root, but
the root them. Elect unto obedi-
ence. They who have been
elected, &,c. shall experience the
Holy Spirit's sanctificatlon, in be-
ginning, advancing, and perfect-
ing the work of grace in their
souls. — The elect, &c. are made
to obey the commandments of God,
and to imitate Christ, &c. 1 said,
gnade to obey. Here perhaps the
unblushing Mr. Wesley may ask,
are the elect then mere machines ?
I answer, no. They are made
■willing in the day of God's
power."*

pointed to punishment, and en-
titled to /te// ; but endued more-
over with an internal meetness
for that inheritance. — This in- ^1^
ternal meetness for hell, can only
be wrought by the perverting
agency of [the Manichean] god
the unholy ghost, who officiously
engaged and took upon himself, in
the covenant of wrath, to pervert
and defile all the reprobate people
of God ; saying, / will put my law

in their minds. Reprobate, &c.

through pollution of the spirit
unto disobedience. — Reprobation^
though productive of bad works,
is not founded upon them : on the
contrary, they are one of the in-
glorious ends, to which they are
reprobated. Sinners do not bear
the root, but the root them. Re- ^
'probate unto disobedience. — They
who have been reprobated, he-
shall experience the wicked
spirit's pollution, in beginning,
advancing, and perfecting the
work of sin in their souls. — The
reprobates, Sic. are inade to dis-
obey the commandments of God,
and to imitate Satan, &c. 1 said,
made to disobey. Here perhaps
the blushing Mr. Wesley may ask,
are the reprobates then mere ma-
chines ? I answer, no. They
are made willing in the day of
God's power.

* Here Mr. Topladj adds, " and I believe nobod_y ever yet heard oi a willing machined
But he is mistaken : for all moral philosophers call machine whatever is fitted for free
motions, and yet has no power to begin and determine its own motions. Now willing being
the motion of a spirit, if a spirit cannot tvill but as it is necessarily made to will, it is as void
of a self-determining principle, as a fii-e-engine, aod of consequence it is [morally speaking]
as mere a machine.

50 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

RIGHT LEG. LEFT LEG.

Arg. XI. No. 1. [page 23,
24.] " God decreed to bring his
elect to glory, in a way of sancti-
Jication, and in no other way but
that. If SO5 cries Mr. Wesley.
' They shall be saved, whether
they are sanctified or no.' What,
notwithstanding their sanctijication
i«, itself, an essential branch of
the decree concerning them?
The man may as well aflfirm that
Abraham might have been the
progenitor of nations though he
had died in infancy, &c. Equally
illogical is Mr. Wesley's impu-
dent slander, that ' the elect shall
be saved do what they will,' i. e.
whether they be holy or not."

Answer. No. 2. God decreed
to bring his reprobate to hell in a
way of sinning, and in no other
way but that. If so, cries Mr.
Wesley, " they shall be damned,
whether they sin or no." — What,
notwithstanding their sinning is,
itself, an essential branch of the
decree concerning them ? " The
man may as well affirm, that Paul
might have preached the Gospel,
viva voce^ in fifty different re-
gions, without travelling a step !"
P. 23. Equally illogical is Mr
Wesley's impudent slander, that
"the reprobate shall be damned,
do what they will," i e. whether
they be wicked or not.

right leg.

Arg. X. No. 1. [page 20.]
** Paul's travelling and Paul's
utterance, were as certainly and
as necessarily included in the de-
cree of the means, as his preach-
ing was determined by the decree
of the end.''''

LEFT leg.

Answer. No. 2. The rich glut-
ton's gluttony, and his unmerciful-
ness, were as certainly and as
necessarily included in the decree
of the means, as his being tor-
mented in hell was determined by
the decree of the end.

right leg.

LEFT LEG.

Arg. XI. Nol. [page 28, 29.]
'' Love when [Calvinistically] pre-
dicated of God, signifies his eter-
nal benevolence : i. e. his ever-
lasting will, purpose, and deter-
mination, to deliver, bless, and
save his [elect] people. In order
to the eventual accomplishment
of that miration in the next world,

Answer. No 2. Hate, when
Calvinistically predicated of God,
signifies his eternal ill will : i. e.
his everlasting will, purpose, and
determination, to enthral, curse,
and damn his [reprobated] people.
— In order to the eventual accom-
plishment of that damnation in
the next world wickedness is given

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES.

81

grace is given them in this, to pre-
serve them, (and preserve them
it does) from doing the evil they
otherwise would. This is all the
election which Calvinism, &:c. con-
tends for; even a predestination
to holiness and heaven.''^

them in this, to preserve them,
(and preserve them it does) from
doing the good they otherwise
would. This is all the reproba-
tion which Calvinism contends
for ; even a predestination to
"mickedness and hell.

RIGHT LEG.

LEFT LEG.

Arg. XII. No. 1. [page 33.]
*• Now, if it be the Father's will,
that Christ should lose none of his
elect : if Christ himself, in conse-
quence of their covenant-dona-
tion to him, does actually give
unt6 them eternal life, and so-
lemnly avers, that they shall
never perish : if God be ^o for
them, that none can hinder their
salvation, kc. if they cannot be
condemned, and nought shall se-
parate them from the love of
Christ ; it clearly and inevitably
follows, that, Not one of the
elect can perish; but they must all
necessarily be saved. Which
salvation consists as much in the
recovery of moral rectitude below,
as in the enjoyment of eternal
blessedness above.'^

Answer. No. 2. Now, if it be
the Father's will, that Satan
should lose 7ione of his repro-
bate ; if Satan himself, in conse-
quence of their covenant-dona-
tion to him, does actually give
unto them eternal death, and so-
lemnly avers, that they shall
never escape ; if God be so against
them, that none can hinder their
damnation, Szc. if they cannot be
justified, and nought shall sepa-
rate them from the hate of Christ ;
it clearly and inevitably follows,
that. Not one of the reprobate
can escape : but they must all
necessarily be damned.— 'Which
damnation consists as much in
the being stripped of moral recti-
tude on earth, as in the enduring
of eternal torments in hell.

By such wrested texts, and delusive arguments as these, it is, that
Mr. Toplady has vindicated God's holiness upon Calvinian principles.
Now, as he requests that Calvinism may stand upon its legs, that is,
upon absolute election and absolute reprobation ; I appeal to all the
unprejudiced wor Id have I not made the Diana of the Calvinists
stand straight ? Have I not suffered her to rest upon her left leg, as
well as upon the right? If that leg terminates in a horribly cloven
foot ; is it Mr. Wesley's fault or mine ? Have we formed the doc-
trinal image which is set up in mystical Geneva ? Is the quotation
produced in my motto forged ? Is not absolute reprobation one of " the

Vol. IV, 11

S2 ANSWER TO MR.

doctrines of grace" [so called] as well as absolute eleetion ? May I ncsi;
show the full face of Calvinism as well as her ndt face ? If a mao
pay roe a guinea, have I not a right to suspect that it is false, and to
turn it, if he that wants to pass it will never let me see the reverse
of it in a clear light ? Can Mr. Toplady blame me for holding forth
Calvinian reprobation? Can he find fault with me for shorming what he
says, *' I am not only bound to show^ but to defend .^" If Calvinism be
*^ Ihe doctrine of grace, ''^ which 1 must engage sinners to espouse y
why should I serve her as the soldiers did the thieves on the cross ?
Why, at least, should I break one of her legs. If ever I bring her
into the pulpit, she shall come up on both *' her /egs." The chariot
of my Diana, shall be drawn by the biting serpent, as well as by the
silly dove ; I will preach Calvinian reprobation, as well as Calvinian
election. I will be a man of " conscience and honour."

And now, reader, may I not address thy covHscience and reason, and
ask ; if all the fallen angels had laid their heads together a thousand
years, to contrive an artful way of reproaching the living God— the.
Holy One of Israel, could they have done it more effectuwlly than by
getting myriads of Protestants [even all the Calvinists] and myriads
of Papists [even all the Dominicans, Jansenists, kc] to pass the false
coin of Absolute Election and Absolute Reprobation, with this deceitful
alluring inscription — Necessary holiness unto the Lord, and this detest-
able Manichean motto on the reverse, Necessary wickedness unto the
Lord? And has not Mr. Toplady presumed too much upon thy cre-
dulity, in supposing that thou wouldst never have wisdom enough to
?ook at the black reverse of the shining medal by which he wants
to bribe thee into Calvinism ?

SECTION III.

An Answer to bome appeals to Scripture and Reason^, by which Mr,
Toplady attempts to support the Absoluteness and Holiness of the
Calvinian Decrees.

Let us see if Mr. Toplady is happier in the choice of his Scrip-
tural and rational illustrations, than in that of his arguments. T©
show that God's decrees respecting man's life and salvation are abso-
lute, or, [which is all one] to show that the decree of the end neces-
sarily includes the decree of the means, he appeals to the case of
Hezekiah thus :

Arg. XIII. [page 20.] "God resolved that Hezekiah should live
fifteen years longer than Hezekiah expected, &c. It was as much

VINDICATION or THE DECREES. 33

comprised in God's decree, that He zekiM should eat, drink, and sleep,
during those fifteen years j and that he should not jump into the sea,
&c. as that fifteen years should be added to his life." — From this
quotation it ise vident, that Mr. Toplady would have us believe, that
no/ie of God's decrees are conditional: that when God decrees the
end, he doe.s it always in such a manner as to ensure the means neces-
sary in order to bring about the end ; and that Hezekiah is appealed
to as a proof of this doctrine. Unfortunate appeal ! If 1 had wanted to
prove just the contrary, I do not know where I should have found an
example more demonstrative <yf Mr. Toplady's mistake : witness the
following account. Hezekiah was sick unto death : and Isaiah came to
him and said, Thiis sailh [thus decreeth] the Lord, Set thine house ip.
order, for thou shalt die, and not live, Isa. xxxviii. 1. Here is an
explicit, peremptory decree : — a decree where no condition is ex-
pressed : — a decree which wears a negative aspect, Thou shalt not
live, and a positive form, Thou shalt die. The means of executing the
decree was already upon Hezekiah : he was sick unto death. And
yet, so far was he from thinking that the decree of the end absolutely
included that of the means, that he set himself upon praying for
life and health ; yea, upon doing it as a Jewish perfectionist. Then
Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall, and prayed. Remember now,
0 Lord, I beseech thee, how 1 have walked before thee with a perfect
heart, ^c. and Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of the Lord
to Isaiah, saying. Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith [thus decreeth]
the Lord, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will
add unto thy days fifteen years, ver. 2, 5. From this account it is
evident, that Hezekiah might as easily have reversed the decree about
his life, by stabbing or drowning himself, as he reversed the decree
about his death, by weeping and praying; and that Mr. Toplady
has forgotten himself as much in producing the case of Hezekiah in
support of Calvinism, as if he had appealed to our Lord's sermon on
the mount in defence of the lawless Gospel of the day.

A kind of infatuation attends the wisest men who openly fight the
battles of error. In the end, their swords, like that of the champion
of the Philistines, do their cause more mischief than^ service. Mr.
Toplady will perhaps afi^ord us another instance of it. After pro-
ducing Hezekiah to establish the absoluteness of God's decrees, he
calls in the first Jewish hero. Joshua is brought to demonstrate that
the decree o^ihe end always binds upon us an unavoidable submission
to the decree of the means; or to speak more intelligibly, that God's
decrees to bless or to curse, are always absolute, and necessitate us
to use the means leading to his blessing or his curse.

84 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY^S

Arg. XIV. [page 23.] "^rior to the taking of Jericho, it was
revealed to Joshua, that he should certainly be master of the place.
Nay, so peremptory was the decree, and so express the revelation of
it, that it was predicted as if it had already taken effect : / have given
into thy hand Jericho, &c. This assurance, than which nothing could
be more absolute, did not tie up Joshua's hands from action, and
make him sit down without using the means, which were no less
appointed than the end. On the contrary, &c. — Here we are given
to understand, that Joshua and the Israelites could never cross any of
God's gracious decrees by neglecting 4he means of their accomplish-
ment ; because they were necessitated to use those means." Thus is
Joshua pressed into the service of Calvinian necessity, and the abso-
luteness of God's decrees : Joshua, who of all the men in the world, is
most unlikely to support the tottering ark of Calvinian necessity.
For when he saw in the wilderness the carcases of several hundred
thousand persons, to whom God had promised the good land of
Canaan with an oath, and who nevertheless entered not in because of
unbelief, he saw several hundred thousand proofs that God's pro-
mises are not absolute ; and that when he deals with rewardable and
punishable agents,, the decree of the end is not unconditional, and does
by no means include an irresistible decree, which binds upon them
the unavoidable use of the means.

But consider we the peculiar case of Joshua himself. The Lord
spake unto Joshua, saying, There shall not any man be able to stand
before thee all the days of thy life : — / zt^ill not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Josh. i. 6. Now this peremptory decree of the end, far from neces-
sarily including the means, actually failed by a single flaw in the use
of the means. The disobedience oi Achan reversed the decree : for
he disregarded the means or condition which God had appointed :
Turn not to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper
withersoever thou goest, Josh i. 7. Hence it is, that when Achan had
turned to the left, the decree failed, and we find Joshua prostrate before
the ark a "whole day, with his clothes rent, and dust upon his head :
lamenting the flight of Israel before Ai, and wishing that he had been
content, and had dzvelt on the other side Jordan, Nor do I sec in
God's answer to him, the least hint of Blr. Toplady's doctrine. Why
liest thou upon thy face ? Israel hath sinned, and they have also trans-
gressed my covenant : for they have even taken of the accursed thing. — -
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies,
because they were accursed : neither zvill I be with you any more, except
ye destroy the accursed thing, Josh. vii. 1, 13.

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 85

Hence it appears, that when Mr. Toplady appeals to Joshua in
defence o( the absoluteness of God's decrees, he displays his skill in
the art of logic, as much as if he appealed to the prcrempioriness of
the famous decree, Yet forty days, and [ungodly] Nineveh shall be
destroyed : and yet penitent Nineveh was spared : so unscriptural is
the assertion, that the decree of the end ensures the use of the means^
when God tries moral agents in the day of salvation, in order to punish
or reward them according to their works in the day of judgment!

Mr. Toplady supports these unfortunate appeals to Scripture, by
the following appeal to Reason.

Arg. XV. [page 24.] " Suppose it were infallibly revealed to ab
army, or to any single individual, that the former should certainly
gain such a battle, and the latter certainly win such a race, would not
the army be mad to say. Then we will not fight a stroke ? would not
the racer be insane to add, Nor will I move so much as one of mj-
feet, &c. Equally illogical is Mr. Wesley's impudent slander, that
The elect shall be saved do what they will, k.c. — Either he is absolutely-
unacquainted with the first principles of reasoning ; or he ofiers up
the knowledge he has, as a whole burnt-sacrifice on the altar of
malice, calumny, and falsehood."

This severe censure will appear Calvinistically gratuitous if we
consider, that it is entirely founded upon the impropriety of the illus-
trations produced by Mr. Toplady. l{ he had exactly represented
the case, he would have said, *' Suppose it were infallibly revealed
to an army, that they should certainly gain such a battle ; that they
could do nothing towards the victory by their own fighting ; that the
HH battle was fought and absolutely won for them 1700 years ago: that
*'if they refused to fight to-day, or if they ran away, or were taken
prisoners, their triumph would not be less certain ; and that putting
their bottle to their neighbours' mouths, and defiling their wives,
instead of fighting, would only make them sing victory louder, on a
certain da}', called a day of power, when Omnipotence would sove-
reignly exert itself in their behalf, and put all their enemies to flight ;
— suppose again, it were revealed to a racer, that he should certainly
win such a race, and receive the prize, whether he ran to-day back-
ward or forward : because his winning the race did not at all depend
upon his own swift running, but upon the swiftness of a great racer^
who yesterday ran the race for him, and who absolutely imputes to
bim his swift running, even while he gets out of the course to chase
an ewe-lamb, or visit a Delilah ; — that the covenant which secures
him the prize, is unconditionally ordered in all things and sure ; that
though he may be unwilling to run now, yet in a day of irresistible

i3G ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

power he shall be made willing to fly and receive the prize ; aud that
his former loitering will only set off the greatness of the power,
which is absolutely engaged to carry him and all elect racers, quite
from Egypt to Canaan in one hour, if they have loitered till the
eleventh hour ;" — suppose, I say, Mr. Toplady had given us such a
just view of the case, who could charge the soldiers with '* madness ^''^
and the racer with " being insane,'^'' if they agreed to say, " We will
neither fight nor run, but lake our ease and indulge ourselves, iill
the day of power come, in which we shall irresistibly be made to
gain the battle, and to win the race ?"

From these rectified illustrations it appears, if I am not mistaken,
1. That, when Mr. Wesley advanced his consequence, he neither
*' showed himself absolutely unacquainted zmth the first principles oj
reasoning ;" nor " offered up the knowledge he has^ as a whole burnt-
sacrifice on the altar of malice, calumny , and falsehood ;" — and 2. That
when Mr. Toplady 's appeals to Scripture and Reason are made fairly
to stand upon their legs^ they do his doctrine as little service as his
limping arguments.

SECTION IV.

An answer to the arguments, by which Mr. Toplady endeavours to recon-
cile Calvinian Reprobation with Divine Justice.

We have seen how unhappily the translator of Zanchius has recon-
ciled his doctrines of grace and absolute election with God's holiness:
let us now see if he has been more successful in reconciling his doc- '
trines of wrath and absolute reprobation with Divine justice,

Arg. XVI. [page 35.] *' Justice consists in rendering to every man
his due.^^ — Mr. Toplady gives us this narrow definition oi justice to
make way for this argument : God owes us no blessing, and therefore
he may gratuitously give us an everlasting curse. He does not owe
us heaven, and therefore he may justly appoint that eternal sin and
damnation shall be our unavoidable portion.— But, is not a king unjust
when he punishes an unavoidable fault with uninterrupted torture, as
well as when he refuses to pay his just debts ?

Arg. XVII. [Ibid.] " God is not a debtor to any man." — True,
[strictly speaking:] but, 1. Does not God ota;e io /itms«//' to behave
like himself, that is, like a gracious and just Creator, towards every
man?~2. When God, by his promise, has engaged himself judicially
to render to every man according to his works, is it just in him to ne-
ressiiate some men to work righteousness, and others to work iniquity,

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. ii7

that he may reward the former, and punish the latter, according te
arbitrary decrees of absolute election to life, and of absolute repro-
bation to death ? — And, 3. Do not the Sacred Writers observe that
God has condescended to make himself a debtor to his creatures by his
gracious promises ? Did Mr. Toplady never read, He that hath pity
upon the poor lendelh to the Lord^ and look, nvhat he layeth out it shall
be paid again ? Prov. xix. 17. When evangelical Paul hath fought a
good fight, does he not look for a crown from the ^wsi Jwc/ge, and
declare that God is not unrighteous to forget our labour of love ? and,
If we confess our sms, is not God bound by his justice, as well as by
his faithfulness , to forgive and cleanse us? — 1 John i. 9.

Arg. XVHl. [Ibid.'\ " If it can be proved that He [God] oaes salva-
tion to every rational being he has made ; theUy and then only will it
follow, that God is unjust in not paying this debt of salvation to each,
&c. — What shadow of injustice can be fastened on his conduct, for
in some cases withholding what he does not owe ?" — This argument
is introduced by Mr. Toplady in a variety of dresses. The flaw of it
consists in supposing that there can be no medium between eternal
salvation, and appointing to eternal damnation ; and that, because God
may absolutely elect as many of his creatures as he pleases to a crown
of glory, he may absolutely reprobate as many as Calvinism pleases to
eternal sin and everlasting burnings. The absurdity of this conclu-
sion will be discovered by the reader, if he look at it through the
glass of the following illustrations. Mr. Toplady is not obliged, bv
any rule of justice, to give Mr. Wesley a hundred pounds, because
he owes him no money ; and therefore Mr. T. may give Mr. Wesley
a hundred gratuitous stripes, without breaking any rule of justice.
The king may without injustice gratuitously give a thousand
pounds to one man, ten thousand to another, a hundred to a third,
and nothing to a fourth ; and therefore the king may also, with-
out injustice, gratuitously give a hundred stabs to one man, a
thousand to another, and ten thousand to a third ; or, he may neces-
sitate them to oflfend, that he may hang and burn them with a show of
justice.

Arg. xix. [page 36.] " I defy any a man to show in what single
respect the actual limitation of happiness itself is a jot more just and
equitable (in a Being possessed of infinite power) than the decretive
limitation of the persons who shall enjoy that happiness."— The
question is not whether God can justly limitate the happiness of man,
or the nwm6erof the men, whom he will raise to such and such heights
<>f happiness. This we never disputed : on the contrary, we assert

with our Lord, that when God gives degrees of happiness, as a Bene
factory he may do what he pleases with his own ; he may givej^'yc talents
to one man, or to Jive thousand men ; and two talents to two men, or to
two millions of men. — Wherein then does the fallacy of Mr. Toplady'&
argument consist ? In this most irrational and unjust conclusion : God
may, without injustice, limit the happiness of his human creatures, and
the number of those, who shall enjoy such and such a degree of hap-
piness ; and therefore, he may also, without injustice, absolutely repro-
bate as many of his unborn creatures as he pleases, and decree to
protract their infernal torments to all eternity, after having first
decreed their necessary fall into sin, and their necessary continuance
in sin, as necessary means, in order to their necessary end, which is
eternal damnation. Is not this an admirable Vindication of Calvin's
Decrees ? Who does not see that the conclusion has no more to do
with the premiss, than in the following argument : The Lord Chan-
cellor may without injustice present Mr. T. to a living of fifty pounds^
or to one of two hundred pounds, or he may reprobate Mr. T. from
all the crown livings ; and therefore the Lord Chancellor may, with-
out injustice, sue Mr. T. for fifty pounds, or two hundred pounds,
whenever he pleases. What name shall we give to the Logic which
deals in such arguments as these?

Arg. XX. [page 37.] " He [man] derives his existence from God,
and therefore [says Arminianism] " God is bound to make his exist-
ence happy.^^ I would rather say, God is bound, both by the rectitude
of his nature and by the promises of his Gospel, not to reprobate
any man to remediless sin and eternal misery, till he has actually
deserved such a dreadful reprobation, at least, by one thought, which
he was not absolutely predestinated to think. But Calvinism says,
that God absolutely reprobated a majority of men before they thought
their first thought, or drew their first breath. If Mr. Toplady had
stated the case in this plain manner, all his readers would have seen
his doctrine of wrath without a veil, and would have shuddered at
the sight.

Arg. XXI. [Ibid.] " If God owe salvation to all his creatures as such,
even the workers of iniquity will be saved, or God must cease to be
just" — I never heard any Arminian say that God owes salvation, i, e.
heavenly glory, to all his creatures as such : for then all horses, being
God's creatures as well as men, would be taken to heaven : but
we maintain, that God will never mediately entail necessary, reme-
diless sin upon any of his creatures, that he may infallibly punish
them with eternal damnation. And we assert, if God had not gra-

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES, 89

ciously designed to replace all mankind in «i state of initial salvation
from sin and hell, according to the various dispensations of his re-
deeming grace, be would have punished Adam's personal sin by a
personal damnation. Nor would he have suftered him to propagate
his fallen race, ubless the second Adam had extended the blessing of
redemption so far as to save from eternal misery all who die in their
infancy, and to put all who live long enough to act as moral agents, in
a capacity of avoiding hell by working out their oa?n eternal salvation
in the day of their temporary salvation : — a day this, which inconsis-
tent Calvinists call " the Jay of graced

Mr. Toplady, after decrying our doctrine of gr«ce, as leading to
gross iniquity, indirectly owns, that the conditionality of the promise
of eternal salvation guards our Gospel against the charge of Antino-
raianism, — a dreadful charge this, which tails so heavily on Calvinism.
Conscious that he cannot defend his lawless, unconditional election to
eternal life, and his -wrathful^ vnconditional reprobation to eternal
deiith, without taking the co7ic/monaf% of eternal salvation out of the
way, be attempts to do it by the following dilemma.

Arg. XXI I. [page 38.] " Is salvation due to a man that does not per-
form those conditions? If you say, yes; you jump, hand over head,
into what you yourself call Antinomianisjn. — If you say, that salvation
is not due to a man unless he do fulfil the conditions ; it will follow,
that man's own performances are meritorious of salvation, and bring
God himself into debt."

We answer, 1. To show the tares of Calvinism, Mr. Toplady
raises an artificial night by confounding the sparing salvation of the
Father — the atoning salvation of the Son — the convincing, converting,
and perfecting salvation of the Spirit. Yea, he confounds actual sal-
vation from a thousand temporal evils — temporary salvation from death
and hell — initial salvation from the guilt and power of sin — present
salvation into the blessings of Christianity, Judaism, or Gentilism— con-
tinued salvation into these blessings — eternal salvation from death and
hell — and eternal salvation into glory and heaven : — he confounds, I
say, all these degrees of salvation ; which is as absurd as if he con-
founded all degrees of life— the life of an embryo — of a sucking
child — of a school-boy — of a youth — of a man — o fa departed saint
—and of an angel. When he has thus shuflBed his cards, and played
the dangerous game of confusion, what wonder is it if he wins it, and
njakes his inattentive readers believe, that what can be affirmed with
truth of salvation into heavenly glory, must be true also, when it is
affirmed of salvation, from everlasting burnings ; and that because God
does not owe heaven and angelical honours to unborn children, he raajf

Vol. IV. 12

90 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

justly reprobate them to hell and to Saianicaly remediless wickedness y as
the way to rt.

2. Distinguishing what Mr. Toplady confounds, we do not scruple
to maintain, that, though God is not bound to give existence, much less
heavenly glory, to any creature ; yet, all his creatures, who never
personally offended him, have a right to expect at his hands salvation
from everlasting fire, till they have deserved his eternal and absolute

reprobation by committing some personal, and avoidable offence.
Hence it is, that all mankind are born in a state of inferior salvation :
for they are all born out of eternal fire ; and to be out of hell is a
considerable degree of salvation, unless we are suffered to live
unavoidably to deserve everlasting burnings, which is the case of all
Calvin's imaginary reprobates.

3. Mr. Toplady " throws out a barrel for the amusement of the
whale, to keep him in play, and make him lose sight of the ship" —
the fire ship. For, in order to make us lose sight of absolute repro-
bation, remediless wickedness, and everlasting fire, which [if Calvinism
be true] is the unavoidable lot of the greatest part of mankind even
in their mother's womb ; he throws out this ambiguous expression,
salvation due ; just as if there were no medium between salvation due^
and Calvinian reprobation, due ! whereas it is evident, that there is the
medium of non-creation, or that of destruction in a state of seminal
exislence !

4. The flaw of Mr. Toplady's argument will appear in its proper
magnitude, if we look at it through the following illustration. A whole
regiment is led to the left by the colonel, whom the general wanted
to turn to the right. The colonel, who is personally in the fault, is
pardoned ; and five hundred of the soldiers, who, by the overbearing
influence of their colonel's disobedience, were necessitated to move
to the left, are appointed to be hanged for not going to the right. The
general sends to Geneva for a Tertullus, who vindicates the justice of
the execution by the following speech. " Preferment is not due to
obedient soldiers, much less to soldier* who have necessarily disobeyed
orders ; and therefore your gracious general acts consistently with
justice, in appointing these five hundred soldiers to be hanged, for, as
there is no medium between not promoting soldiers and hanging
them, he might justly have hanged the whole regiment. He is not
bound by any law, to give any soldier a captain's commission ; and
therefore he is perfectly just, when he sends these military repro-
bates to the gallows." Some of the auditors clap Tertullus' s argu-
ment : P. O. cries out that it is " most masterly ;" but a few of ihe
soldiers are not quite convinced, and begin to question whether the

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 91

holy service of the mild Saviour of the world, is not preferable to the
Antinoraian service of the absolute Reprobater of countless myriads
of unborn infants. •

5. The other flaw of Mr. Toplady's dilemma consists in supposing
that Gospel worthiness is incompatible with the Gospel : whereas all
the doctrines of justice, which make one half of the Gospel, stand or
fall with the doctrines of evangelical worthiness. We will shout it on
the walls of mystic Geneva : they that follow Christ, shall walk with
him in white, rather than they that follow antichrist ; for they are
[rnore] worthy. — Watch and pray always, that you may be counted
worthy to escape, and to stand rewardable before the Son of man. —
Whatever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, 4'C. knowing that of the
Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For he will say,
in the great day of retribution, Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom, ^c,
for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat, 4'C. — Go^ ye cursed, into ever-
lasting fire, 4'c. for I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat, 4'C. — The
doctrine of Pharisaic merit we abhor ; but the doctrine of rewardable
obedience we honour, defend, and extol. Believers, let not Mr. Top-
lady beguile you of your reward through voluntary humility. — If ye live
after the flesh ye shall die : but if ye, through the Spirit, mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live. — Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he
also reap. — For we shall all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ,
that every one may receive the things done in the body according to that
he has done, whether it be good or bad. Look to yourselves, that ye lose
not the things which ye have wrought. — So fight, that you may not be
reprobated by remunerative justice.— So run, that youmay [judicially]
obtain an incorruptible crown. — Remember Lofs wife. — By patient con-
tinuance in well-doing seek for glory; and God, according to his gra-
cious promises, will render you eternal life r for he is not untrue, to
break his evangelical promise, nor unrighteous, to forget your work
that proceedeth from love. Your persevering obedience shall be gra-
ciously rewarded by a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give you at that day ; and then great shall be
your reward in heaven. For Christ himself hath said, Be faithful unto
death, and I will give thee the crown of life. — My sheep follow me, and I
give unto them eternal life in glory. For I am the aiithor of eternal
salvation to them that obey me. What can be plainer than this Gospel ?
Shall the absurd cries of Popery! Merit\ &c. make us ashamed of
Christ's disciples; of Christ's words; and of Christ himself? God
forbid ! Let the Scriptures — let God be true, though Mr. Toplady
should be mistaken.

92 ANSWER TO mi. TOPLADV'S

Arg. XXHI. [page 38.] " If he [God] be not obliged, in justice,
to save mankind, then neither is he unjust in passing by some men :
nay, he might, had he so pleased, Ue^ve passed by the whole of man-
kind, without electing any one individual of the fallen race ; and yet
have continued holy, just, and good."

True : he might have passed them by without fixing any blot upon
his justice and goodness, if by passing them by Mr. T. means leaving
them in the wretched state of seminal existence, in which state his
vindictive justice found them after Adam's fall. For then, an unknown
punishment, seminally endured, would have borne just proportion to an
unknorvn sin, seminally committed. But if, by passing some men by, this
gentleman means, as Calvinism does, " absolutely predestinating some
men to necessary, remediless sin, and to unavoidable, eternal damna-
tion ;" we deny that God might jttstly have passed by the whole of man"
kind : we deny that he might justly have passed by one single man,
woman, or child.— Nay, we affirm, that if we conceive Satan, or the
evil principle of Manes, as exerting creative power, we could not
conceive him worse employed than in forming an absolute reprobate
in embryo ; that is, " a creature unconditionally, and absolutely
doomed to remediless wickedness and everlasting fire."

As the simple are frequently imposed upon by an artful substituting
of the harmless word passing by, for the terrible word absolutely
reprobating to death, I beg leave to show, by a simile, the vast differ-
ence there is between these two phnses. A king may without
injustice pass by all the beggars in the streets, without giving them any
bounty ; because, if he does them no good in thus passing them by,
he does them no barm. But suppose he called two captdins of his
guards, and said to the first. If you see me pass by little dirty beg-
gars, without giving them an alms, throw them into the mire, or if
their parents have cast them into the dirt, keep them there : then
let the second captain follow with his men, and take all the dirty beg-
gars who have thus been passed by, and throw them, for being dirty,
into a furnace hotter than that of Nebuchadnezzar ; — suppose, I say,
the king passed his little indigent subjects by in this manner, would
not his decree of preterition be a more than diabolical piece of
cruelty ? I need not inform my judicious readers, that the passing by
of the king represents Calvinian passing by, that is, absolute reproba-
tion to death: — ih'dt the^^rst captain, who throws little beggars into
the dirt, or keeps them tl^re, represents the decree of the means,
which necessitates the reprflj|>ate to sin, or to continue in sin ; — and that
the second captain represents the decree of the end, which necessitatis
them to go to everlasting burnings.

VINDICATION' OF THE DECREES. V3

Arg. XXIV. [page 39.] Mr. Toplady endeavouri to reconcile
Ciilvinian reprobation with divine justice by an appeal " /o God's
providential dealings with men in the present Z'/c" His verbose argu-
ment, stript of its Geneva dress, and brought naked to open light,
may run thus : *' If God may, without injustice, absolutely place the
sons of Adam in circumstances of temporary misery, he may also,
without injustice, reprobate them to eternal torments : but be may
justly place the sons of Adam in circumstances of temporary misery ;
witness his actually doing it : and therefore he may without injustice
reprobate them to eternal torments and to remediless sin, as the way
to those torments." — The flaw of this argument is in the first pro^
position, and consists in supposing, that because God can justly
appoint us to suflfer a light affliction, which [comparatively speaking]
IS but for a moment, and "a^hich [if we are not perversely wanting to
ourselves] reill work for 'us afar more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory, 2. Cor. iv. 17. he can also justly appoint us to remediless
wickedness and eternal damnation. This conclusion is all of a piece
with the following argument. A father may ju«tly punish his dis-
obedient child with a rod, and give his sick child a bitter medicine ;
and therefore he may justly break all his bones with a forge-hammer,
and daily drench him with melted lead. To produce such absurd
consequences without a mask, is sufficiently to answer them. See
farther what is said upon Arg. xxviii.

Arg. XXV. [page 40.] Mr. Toplady is, if possible, still more
-abundantly mistaken, while, to prove the justice of Calvinian repro-
bation, he appeals to " the real inequality of providential distributions
ie/oz4»." — We cannot " pronounce the great Father of all unjust^
because he does not make all his offspring equally rich, good, and
happy :" and therefore, God may justly reprobate some of them to
eternal misery ; just as if inferior degrees of goodness and happi-
ness were the same thing as remediless wickedness, and eternal misery I

Arg. XXVI. [Ibid,'] " The devils may be cast down to hell to be
everlastingly damned, and be appointed thereto ; and it gives no great
concern. No hard thoughts against God arise : no charge of crueltj',
injustice," &c. Indeed, if Dr. Gill, whom Mr. Toplady quotes,
insinuated, that God had absolutely predestinated myriads of angels to
everlasting damnation, through the appointed mentis of necessary sin ;
and that God had made this appointment thousands of years before
most of those angels had any personal existence, it would give us
great concern, both for the honour of God's justice, and for the angels
so cruelly treated by free wrath. But as matters are, the case of

94 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

devils gives us no great concern, because they fell knowingly, wilfullyt
and without necessity. To the end of the day of their visitation they
personally rejected God's gracious counsel towards them : and, as
they obstinately refused to subserve the judicial display of his remu-
nerative bounty, it is highly agreeable to reason and equity, that they
should subserve the judicial display of his vindictive justice.

Arg. XXVII. [page 41.] " The king of Great Britain has unlimited
right of peerage, &c. Will any body be so weak and perverse as to
charge him with tyranny and injustice, only because it is not his will,
though it is in his power, to make all his subjects noblemen ?" — This
is another barrel thrown out to the whale. This illustration does not
touch, but conceal the question. For the similar question is not
whether the king is unjust in leaving gentlemen and tradesmen among
the gentry and commonalty, but whether be could, without injustice
and tyranny, pretend, that because he has an unlimited right of peer-
age, he has also an unlimited right of [what I beg leave to call]
felonage, — a Calvinian right this, of appointing whom he pleases to
rob and murder, that he may appoint whom he pleases to a cell in
Newgate, and a swing at Tyburn. This is the true slate of the case.
If Mr. T. has cast a vail over it, it is a sign that he is not destitute of
the feelings of justice, and that, if he durst look at his Manichean
picture of God's sovereignty without a vail, he would turn from it
with the same precipitancy, with which he would start back from
the abomination of the Moabites, or from the grim idol to which
mistaken Israelites sacrificed their children in the valley of Hin-
nom.

Arg. XXVIII. [page 42.] " Misery, though endured but for a
year, kc. is in its own nature, and for the time being, as truly misery,
as it would be if protracted ever so long, &c. And God can no more
cease to he just for a year, or for a man's lifetime, than he can cease
to be just for a century, or for ever. By the same rule that he can,
and does, without impeachment of his moral attributes, permit any
one being to be miserable for a moment ; he may permit that being to
be miserable for a much longer time : and so on, ad infinitum ,•" — that
is, in plain English, /or ever. The absurdity of this argument may be
sufficiently pointed out by a similar plea. A surgeon may, without
injustice, open an impostume in my breast, and give me pain for an
hour, and therefore he may justly scarify me, and flay me alive ten
years — A judge may, without impeachment of his justice, order a man
to be burnt in the hand for a moment, and therefore his justice will
continue unstained, if he order red-hot irons to be applied to that

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 95

man's hands and feet, back and breast, *' ad infinitum^ I hope that
when Mr. Toplady threw this scrap of Latin over the nakedness of
his Diana, his good nature suggested that she is too horrible to be
looked at without a vail. But could he not have borrowed the
language of mother church, without borrowing a maxim which
might shock any inquisitor, and might have put Bonner himself to a
stand ?

Arg. XXIX. [page 44.] " He [God] permits, and has for near 6000
years permitted, the reign of naiura/ evil. Upon the same principle,
might he not extend its reign to — a never-ending duration ?" — He
tnio^ftf, if a never-ending line o{ moral evil, personally and avoidably
brought on by free agents upon themselves, called for a never-ending
line of penal misery : and our Lord himself says, that he uill : these
[the wicked, who have finally hardened themselves] shall go a-way
into everlasting punishment — where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched. Matt. xxv. 46. Mark ix. 48.

Arg. XXX. [Ibid.] " But still the old difficulty [a difficulty which
Armmianism will never solve,] fcc. the old difficulty survives ; how
came moral evil to be permitted, vi'hen it might as easily have been
hindered, by a Being of infinite goodness, power, and wisdom ?^^ —
Page 39. Mr. T. speaks partly the same language ; giving us to
understand as openly as he dares, that God worketh all things in all
men, even wickednes-s in the wicked. His pernicious, though guarded
insinuation, runs thus : " you will find it extremely difficult, [may I
not say impossible?] to point out the difference between permission
and design, in a Being possessed [as God most certainly is] of unli-
mited wisdom and unlimited jaotwer." — Hence we are given to under-
stand, that, because God does not absolutely hinder the commission of
sin, *' it would non-plus all the sagacity of man, should we attempt
clearly to show wherein the difference lies," between God's permit-
ting sin, and his designing or decreeing sin, or [to speak with more
candour] between God's placing free agents in a state of probation,
with a strict charge not to sin, and between his being the author of
sin. Is not this a ^^ most masterly''^ " Vindication of the decrees and
providence of God ;" supposing you mean by god, the sin-begetting
deity worshipped by the Manichees ? This Antinomian blow at the
root of divine holiness is dangerous : I shall therefore ward it off by
various answers.

1. When God placed man in paradise, hr {rom permitting him to
sin, he strictly forbad him to do it. Is it right then in Mr. T. to call
God " the Permitter of sm," when the Scriptures represent him as
the Forhidder of it? Nay, is it not very wrong to pour i^hamc npoi'.

96

the holiness of God, and absurdity upon the reason of man, by making
a CalWnistic world believe, thai forbidding and threatening is one and
the same thing with permilting and giving leave ; or at least, that the
difference is so trifling, that " all the sagacity of man vdHI find il
extremely difficulty not to say impossible^ clearly to point it out ?

2. I pretend to a very little share of all the sagacity of man; and
yet, without being non-plussed at all, I hope to show by the folio iving
illustration, that there is a prodigious difference between not hinder-
ing, and design, in the case of the entering in of sin.

A general wants to try the faithfulness of his soldiers, that he may
reward those who "will light, and punish those who will go over to the
enemy ; in order to display, before all the army, his love of bravery,
his hatred of cowardice, his remunerative goodness, and his impartial
justice. To this end, he issues out a proclamation, importing that all
the volunteers, who shall gallantly keep the field in such an important
engagement, shall be made captains ; and that all those who shall go
over to the enemy, shall be shot. I suppose him endued with infinite
wisdom, knowledge, and power. By his omniscience he sees that some
•iisill desert : by his omnipotence he could indeed hinder them from
doing it : for he could chain them all to so many posts stuck in the
ground around their colours : but his infinite wisdom does not permit
him to do it ; as it would be a piece of madness in him, to defeat by
forcible means his design of trying the courage of his soldiers, in
order to reward and punish them according to their gallant or cowardly
behaviour in the field. And therefore, though he is persuaded that
many will be shot, he puts his proclamation in force ; because, upon
the whole, it will best answer his wise designs. However, as he
does not desire, much less design, that any of his soldiers should be
shot for desertion, he does what his wisdom permits him to do to
prevent their going over to the enemy; and yet, for the above-men-
tioned reason, he does not absolutely hinder them from doing it. Now,
in such a case, who does not see that the difference between not abso-
lutely hindering and designing, is as discernible as the difference
between reason and folly ; — or between wisdom nud wickedness ? By
such dangerous insinuations as that, which this illustration exposes,
the simple are imperceptibly led to confound Christ and Belial ; and
to think, that there is little difference between the celestial Parent of
good, and the Manichean Parent of good and evil ; — the Ja7ius of the
fatalists, who wears two faces, an angel's face, and a devil's face;
a mongrel, imaginary god this, whose fancied ways are, like his fan-
-cied nature, full of duplicity.

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES, 97

J. To the preceding illustration I beg leave to add the following
argument. No unprejudiced person will, I hope, refuse his assent to
the truth of this proposition. A world, wherein there are rational
free agents, like angels and men ; — irrational free agents, like dogs
and horses ; — necessary agents, like plants and trees ; and dead matter,
like stones and clods of earth : — Such a world, I say, is as much su-
perior in perfection to a world, where there are only necessary agents
and dead matter, as a place inhabited by learned men and curious
beasts, contains more wonders than one which is only stocked with
Ji7ie flowers and curious stones. If this be granted, it necessarily
follows, that this world was very perfect, calculated to display his
infinite power and manifold wisdom. — Now, in the very nature of
things, rational free agents, being capable of knowing their Creator,
owe to him gratitude and obedience ; and to one another, assistance
and love ; and therefore they are under a law, which [as free agents^
they may keep or break, as they please.

*' But, could not God necessitate free agents to keep the law they
are under ?"

Yes, says Calvinism, for he is endued with infinite power : but
Scripture, good sense, and matter of fact, say No : because, although
God is endued with infinite power ^ he is also endued with infinite wis-
dom. And it would be as absurd to create free agents in order to
necessitate them, as to do a thing in order to undo it. Besides [I re-
peat it] God's distributive justice could never be displayed, nor could
free obedience be paid by rationals, and crowned by the Rewarder and
Judge of all the earth, unless rationals were free-willing creatures, and
therefore, the moment you absolutely necessitate them, you destroy
them as free agents, and you rob God of two of his most glorious
titles— that of Rewarder, and that of Judge. Thus we account for
the origin of evil in a scriptural and rational manner, without the
help of Fatalism, Manicheism, or Calvinism. Mr. Toplady replies :

Arg. XXXI. [pp. 44, 45.] '* Oh, but — God himself is a free agent,
though his will is necessarily, unchangeably, and singly determined to
good, and to good only. So are the elect angels. So are the glo-
rified souls of saints departed, &c. and so might Adam have been,
had God pleased to have so created him."

This is the grand objection of President Edwards, which I have an-
swered in the Scripture Scales, Vol. HI. p. 231, kc. I shall, however,
make here a few remarks upon it. — 1. If ^^ God worketh all things,
&c. even wickedness in the wicked,^'' as the consistent Predestinarians
directly or indirectly tell us ; it is absurd in them to plead, that he is
singly determined to good, and to good only : for every body knows

Vol. IV. l.-^

98 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

that the god of Manes is full of duplicity; having an evil principle,,
which absolutely predestinates and causes all the wickedness ; and a
good principle, which absolutely predestinates and causes all the virtue
in the world. As for the God of Christians, he is not so necessitated
to do that which is good, but he might, if he would, do the most
astonishing act of injustice and barbarity : for he might, if he would,
absolutely doom myriads of unborn infants to remediless wickedness
and everlasting fire, before they have deserved this dreadful doom,
so much as by the awkward motion of their little finger. Nor need
I tell Mr. Toplady this, who believes that God has actually done so.

2. God is not in a state of probation under a superior Being, who
calls himself the Rewarder, and who says, Vengeance is mine, and I
will repay: nor shall he ever be tried by one who will judicially
render to him according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

3. If faithful angels are unchangeably fixed in virtue, and unfaithful
angels in vice, the fixedness of their nature is the consequence of the
good or bad use which they have made of their liberty ; and there-
fore their confirmation in good, or in evil, flows from a judicial elec-
tion or reprobation, which displays the distributive justice of their
Judge, Rewarder, and Avenger.

4. Nothing can be more absurd than to couple Absolute Necessity
with Moral Free Agency. Angels and glorified souls are necessitated
to serve God and love one another, as a good man is necessitated not to
murder the king, and not to blow his own brains out. Such a neces-
sity is far from being absolute : for, if a good man would, he might
gradually overcome his reluctance to the greatest crimes. Thus
David, who was, no doubt, as chaste and loving once as Joseph, over-
came his strong aversion to adultery and murder.

Should it be said. What ! Can glorified saints and angels fall away ?
I reply : they will never fall away, because they are called off the
stage of probation, stand far above the reach of temptation, and have
henceforth crowns of righteousness laid up for them, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give them at that day. In the mean time, they
rest from their [probatory] labours, and their works follow thern. But
still, in the nature of things, they are as able to disobey, as Joseph
was to commit adultery, had he set his heart upon it : for, if they had
710 capacity of disobeying, they would have no capacity of obeying, in
the moral sense of the word : their obedience would be as necessary,
and as far from morality, as the passive obedience of a leaden ball,
which you drop, with an absurd command to tend towards the centre.
If I am not mistaken, these answers fully set aside Mr. T.'s argument
taken from the necessary goodness of God, angels, and glorified saints.

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 9^

Arc. XXXII. [page 45.] " God isy and cannot but be, inviolably
:ust, amidst all the sufferingf? of fallen angels and fallen men, involun-
tary beings as they are. And he will continue to be just in all they
are yet to sutfer." — That God is, and will be just, in all that fallen
angels and men have suffered, and may yet suffer, is most true,
because they are voluntary beings [Mr. Toplady says, *' involuntary
heings'^\ and free agents [Mr. Toplady would say necessary agents~\
who personally deserve what they suffer : or who, if they suffer
without persona/ offence, as infants do, have in Christ a rich cordial,
and an efficacious remedy, which will cause their temporary sufferings
to answer to all eternity the most admirable ends for themselves, if
they do not reject God's gracious, castigatory, probatory, or purifica-
tory counsels towards them, when they come to act as free agents.
But that God is and will be just, in absolutely ordaining " involuntary
beings^'' to sin and be damned, is what has not yet been proved by
one argument which can bear the light. However, Mr. Toplady,
with the confidence which suits his peculiar logic, concludes this
part of his subject by the following triumphal exclamation ;

Arg. XXXIil. \lbid.'\ " And if so, what becomes of the objection to
God's decree of Preterition''' [a soft word for absolute reprobation to
remediless sin and eternal death,] " drawn from the article of injus-
tice ?"

Why, it stands in full force, notwithstanding all the arguments which
have yet been produced. Nay, the way to show that an objection is
unanswerable, is to answer it as Mr. Toplady has done ; that is, by
producing arguments which equally shock reason and conscience, and
which are- crowned with this new paradox : " Fallen angels, and fallen
men, are involuntary beings.^^ So that the last subterfuge of mode-
rate Calvinists is now given up. For when they try to vindicate
God's justice, with respect to the damnation of their imaginary repro-
bates, they sa3s that the poor creatures are damned as voluntary
agents. But Mr. Toplady informs us that they are damned as " invo-
luntary beings,^^ that is, as excusable beings : and might I not add, as
sinless beings ? For (evangelically speaking) is it possible that an
involuntary being should be sinful? Why is the murderer's sword
sinless ? Why is the candle, by which an incendiary fires your house,
an innocent flame ? Is it not because they are involuntary beings, or
mere tools used by other beings ? A cart accidentally falls upon you,
and you involuntarily fall upon a child who is killed upon the spot.
The father of the child wants you hanged as a murderer : but the
judge pronounces you perfectly guiltless. Why ? Truly, because you
was in that case an involuntary being^^ as well as the cart. When

100 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY^S

therefore Mr. Toplady asserts that we are invpluntary heings, and
insinuates that God is just in absolutely predestinating us to 5m neces-
sarily, and to be damned eternally, he proves absurdum per absurdius
-—injustum per injustius — crudele per crudelius. In a word, he gives
a finishing stroke to God's justice ; and his pretended " vindication^^
of that tremendous attribute proves, if 1 may use his own expression,
a public, though I am persuaded, an undesigned " defamaiion^^ of it.

SECTION V.

Jin Answer to the arguments, by which Mr. Toplady endeavours t*J
reconcile Calvinian Reprobation with divine Mercy.

If it is impossible to reconcile Calvinian reprobation with divine
justice, how much more with divine mercy ! This is however the
difficult task which Mr. T. sets about next. Consider we his argu-
ments.

Arg. XXXIV. [page 45.] " As God's forbearing to create more
worlds than he has, is no impeachment of his omnipotence ; so his
forbearing to save as many as he might, is no impeachment of his
infinite mercy." — The capital flaw of this argument consists in
substituting still the phrase " not saving,'''' for the phrase absolutely
reprobating to remediless sin and everlasting burnings. The. differ-
ence between these phrases which Mr. Toplady uses as equiva-
lent is prodigious. Nobody ever supposed that God is unmerciful
because he does not take stones into heaven, or because he does not
save every pebble from its opacity, by making it transparent and
glorious as a diamond : for pebbles suffer nothing by being passed
by, and not saved into adamantine glory. But, if God made every
pebble an organized, living body, capable of the keenest sensations ;
and if he appointed that most of these " involuntary [sensible]
beings," should be absolutely opaque, and should be cast into a
lime-kiln, there to endure everlasting burnings, for not having the
transparency which he v'ecreed they never should have ; would
it not be impossible to reconcile his conduct to the lowest idea we
can form even of Bonner's mere?/ ?

Having thus pointed out the sandy foundation of Mr. Toplady's
argument, 1 shall expose its absurdity by a similar way of arguing. I
am to prove that the king may, without impeachment of his mercy,
put the greatest part of his soldiers in such trying circumstances as
^hall necessitate them to desert, and be shot for desertion. To do thi?

ViNDICATIOxV OF THE DECREES. 101

i learn logic of Mr. T. and say, " As the king's forbearing to creaU
more lords than he has is no impeachment of his unlimited right of
peerage ; so his forbearing to raise as many soldiers as he might is
DO impeachment of his great mercy. '^ So far the argument is conclu-
sive. But if by not raising soldiers, I artfully mean absolutely appoint-
ing and necessitating them to desert and be shot, 1 vindicate the king's
mercy as logically as Mr. T. vindicates the mercy of Manes^s god.

Arg. XXXV. [page 46 ] " If therefore the decree of [Cahinian]
'* reprobation be exploded, on account of its imaginary incompatibi-
lity with divine mercy, vvc must, upon the same principle, charge God
with want of goodness in almost every part of his relative conduct.'*
If this, dark argument be brought to the light, it will read thus :
" God is infinitely good in himself, though helirnits the exercise of his
goodness in not forming so many beings as he might, and in not making
them all so glorious as he could : and therefore he is infinitely merci-
fid, though he absolutely appoints millions of unborn creatures to
remediless sin and everlasting fire." But what has the conclusion to
do with the premiss ? What would Mr. T. think of me, if I pre-
sented the public with the following sophism ? " Nobody can reason-
ably charge the king with want of goodness, for not enriching and en-
nobling every body : and therefore nobody can reasonably charge
him with want of mercy for decreeing, that so many of his new-born
subjects shall necessarily be trained up in absolute rebellion, that he
may legally throw them into a fiery furnace for necessarily fulfilling
his absolute decree concerning their rebellion." Nevertheless, this
absurd argument contains just as much truth and mercy as that of
Mr. Toplady.

Arg. XXXVI. [Ibid.] " There is no way of solidly, &c. justifying
the ways of God with men, but upon this grand Datum, That the
exercise of his own infinite mercy is regulated by the voluntary
determination of his own most wise and sovereign pleasure. Allow
but this rational, scriptural, &c. proposition, and every cavil, grounded
on the chimerical unmercifulness of non-election, ceases even to be
plausible." — The defect of this argument consists also in covering
the left leg of Calvinism, and in supposing, that Calvinian non-election
is a bare non-exertion of a peculiar mercy displayed towards some ;
whereas it is a positive act of barbarity. We readily grant that God
is infinitely merciful , though his infinite wisdom, truth, and justice, do
not suffer him to show the same mercy to all which he does to some.
But it is absurd to suppose, that, because he is not bound to sho-or
^f.rcy to all those who have personally and unnecessarily offended him.

102 AxVSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

[or indeed to any one of them,] he may show injustice and cruelty te
unborn creatures, who never personally offended him so much as by
one wandering thought, and he may absolutely doom myriads of them
to 5m without remedy^ and to be damned without fail,

Arg. XXXVH. [page 48,] After all his pleas, to show that God
can, without impeachment of his Holiness, Justness, and Mercy, abso-
lutely appoint his unborn creatures to remediless wickedness and
everlasting torments ; Mr. Toplady relents, and seems a little ashamed
of Calvinian reprobation. He tells us, that " Reprobation is, for the
most part, something purely negative," and " has, so far as God is con-
cerned, more in it of negation than positivity," But Mr. Toplady
knows that the unavoidable end of absolute reprobation is damnation,
and that the means conducive to this fearful end, is unavoidable wick-
edness; and he has already told US, p. 17. that ^^ God^s own decree
secures the means as well as the ends, and accomplishes the end by the
means." Now securing and accomplishing a thing, is something
altogether positive. Hence it is, that, p. 83. Mr. T. calls the decrees
by which the reprobates sin, not only permissive, but " effective;"
and tells us, p. 77. that " God efficaciously permitted" horrible wicked-
ness. And herein he exactly follows Calvin, who, in his Comment
on Rom. ix. 18. says, " Indurandi verbum, quum Deo in Scripturis
tribuitur non solum permissionem, (ut volunt diluti quidam modera-
tores) sed divinae quoque iras actionem significat." — " The word
harden, when it is attributed to God in Scripture, means not only per-
mission, [as some washy, compromising divines would have it] but it
signifies also the action of divine wrath."

Besides, somethino; negative amounts, in a thousand cases, to some-
thing positive. A general, for example, denies gunpowder to some
of his soldiers, to whom he owes a grudge ; he hangs them for not
firing, and then exculpates himself by saying, " My not giving them
powder was ' a thing purely negative.'' 1 did nothing to them to hinder
them from firing : on the contrary, I bade them fire away." This is
exactly the case with the Manichean god and his imaginary reprobates.
He bids them repent or perish — believe or be damned — do good
works or depart into everlasting fire. And yet, all the while, he
keeps from them every dram of true grace, whereby they might
savingly repent, believe, and obey. Is it not surprising that so many
of our Gospel ministers should call preaching such a doctrine preach-
ing the Gospel, and exalting Christ! — But Mr. Toplady replies':

Arg. XXXVIIl. [page 48.] " If I am acquainted with an indigent
neighbour, and have it in my power to enrich him, but do it not ; am

rmmr A TioN of the decrees. 103

i the author of that man's poverty, only for resolving to permit him,
and for actually permitting* him, to continue poor? Am I blameable
for his poverty, because I do not give him the utmost I am able ? Simi-
lar is the case now in debate. Ever since the fall of Adam mankind
are by nature spiritually poor."

Mr. T. is greatly mistaken when he says, " Similar is the case noUr'
in debate.'*^ To show that it is entirely dissimilar, we need only make
his partial illustration stand fairly " upon its legs."" If you know that
your neighbour, who is an industrious tenant of yours, must work or
break ; and if, in order to make him break, according to your decree
of the end, you make a decree of the means — an efficacious decree,
that his cattle shall die, that his plough shall be stolen, that he shall

* Not unlike this aj-gument is that of the Letter-writer, on Avhom I have aheady
bestowed a note, Sect. II.

" Divine Justice [says he, pp. 4, 5.] could not condemn till the law was broken." —
True; but Calvinian free wrath reprobated from all eternity, and consequently before the
law was either broken or given. — " Therefore condemnation did not take place before a
law was given and broken." — This author trifles; for, if Calvinian reprobation took place
before the creation of Adam, and if it necessarily draws after it the uninterrupted breach
of the law, and the condemnation consequent upon that breach, Calvinian reprobation
dii!ers no more from everlasting damnation, than condemning and necessitating a man tc
commit murder, that he may infallibly be hanged, differs from condemning him to be
hanged. — But, " suppose that out of twenty found guilty, his Majesty King George should
pardon ten, he is not the cause of the other ten being executed. It was his clemency that
pardoned any : it was their breaking the laws of the kingdom that condemned them, and
not his majesty." — Indeed it was his majesty who condemned them, if in order to do it
without fail, he made, 1. Efficacious and irresistible decrees of the means, tliat they should
necessarily and unavoidably be guilty of robbery ; and 2. Efficacious and irresistible decrees
of the end, that they should unavoidably be condemned for their crimes, and inevitable guilt.
The chain by which the god of Manes and Calvin drags poor reprobates to hell, has three
capital liiiks : the first is absolute, unconditional reprobation ; the second is necessary, reme-
diless sin; and the third is ensured, eternal damnation. Now although the middle link
intervenes between the first and the last link, it is only a necessary connexion between them :
for, says Mr. Toplady, (p. 17.) " God's own decree secures the means as well as the end,
and accomplishes the end by the means. That is, (when this doctrine is applied to the
present case) the first link, which is Calvinian Reprobation, draws the middle, diabolical
link, which is Remediless Wickedness, as well as the last link, which is Infernal ami
finished Damnation. Thus Calvin's god " accomplishes'''' damnation by means of sin ; or,
if you please, he draws the third link by means of the second. Who can consider this
and not wonder at the prejudice of the Letter-writer, who boldly affirms, that, upon the
Calvinian scheme, God is no more the author and cause of the damnation of the repro-
bates, than the king is the cause of the condemnation of the criminals whom he does not
pardon! For my part, the more I consider Calvljiism, the more I see that the decree oi"
Absolute Reprobation, which is inseparable from the decree of Absolute Election, rcpre-
i?ents God as the sure author of sin, in order to represent him as the sure author of damna
Hon. The horrible mystery of Absolute Reprobation, JVecessary Sin, and Ensured Dam
nation, is not less essential to Calvinism, than the glorious mystery of Father, Son, and Holy-
Ghost is essential to Christianity: and vet Calvinism is ^' the Gospel! — the DocfHnrs pr
Grncpr ■ '

J 04 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

fall sick, and that nobody shall help him ; I boldly say, You are '« the.
author of that man's poverty.^' — And if, when you have reduced him
to sordid want, and have by this means clothed his numerous family
Vfiih Jilthy rags, you make another efficacious, absolute decree, that a
majority of his children shall never have a good garment, and that at
whatsoever time the constable shall tind them with the only ragged
coat which their bankrupt father could afford to give them, they shall
all be sent to the house of correction, and severely whipt there,
merely for not having on a certain coat, which you took care they
should never have ; and for wearing the Jilthy rags, which you
decreed they should necessarily wear, you show yourself as merciless
to the poor man's children, as you showed yourself i7Z naiwrec? to the
poor man himself To prove that this is a just state of the case, if
the doctrine of absolute predestination be true, I refer the reader to
Section II. where he will find Calvinism on its legs.

Upon the whole, if I mistake not, it is evident that the arguments
by which Mr. Toplady endeavours to reconcile Calvinian reprobation
with divine mercy, are as inconclusive as those by which he tries to
reconcile it with divine justice ; both sorts of arguments drawing all
their plausibility from the skill with which Logica Genevensis tucks up
the left leg of Calvinism, or covers it with deceitful buskins, which
are called by a variety of delusive names, such as passing by, not
electing, not owing salvation, limiting the display of goodness, not
extending mercy infinitely, not enriching, &c. just as if all these phrases
together conveyed one just idea of Calvinian reprobation, which is
an absolute, unconditional dooming of myriads of unborn creatures to
live and die in necessary remediless wickedness, and then to depart into
everlasting fire, merely because Adam, according to divine predesti-
nation, necessarily sinned ; obediently fulfiUing God's absolute, irre
versible, and eflScacious decree of the means [sin,] An Antinomian
decree this, by which, if Calvinism be true, God secured and accom-
plished the decree of the end, that is, the remediless sin and eternal dam-
nation of the reprobate: for, says Mr. T. [p. 17.] '' God's own decree
secures the means as well as the end, and accomplishes the end by the
meansy

And now, candid Reader, say if Mr. T. did not act with a degree
of partiality, when he called his book A Vindication of God's De-
crees, ^c. from the defamations of Mr. Wesley ; — and if he could
not, with greater propriety, have called it, »^n unscriptural and
illogical Vindication of the horrible Decree, from the scriptural anrf
rational exceptions made against it by Mr. Wesley,

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. lOi

SECTION VI.

A View of the Scripture Proofs by which Mr. T. attempts to demon-
strate the Truth of Calvinian Reprobation.

That the Old and New Testaments hold forth a partial reprobation
of disti7iguishing grace, and an impartial reprobation of retributive
justice^ is a capital truth of the Gospel. One of the leading errors of
the Calvinists consists in confounding these two reprobations, and the
elections which they draw after them. By the impetuous blast of
prejudice, and the fire of a heated imagination, modern Aarons melt
the partial election of gracCy and the impartial election of justice ; and,
casting them in the mould of confusion^ they make their one partial
election of unscriptural, necessitating, Antinomian /ree^race, to which
they are obliged to oppose their one partial reprobation of necessi-
tating Manichean free wrath. Now, as the Scriptures frequently
speak of the harmless reprobation of grace, and of the azsful reproba-
tion of justice, it would be surprising indeed, if, out of so large a book
as the Bible, Logica Genevensis could not extract a few passages,
which, by being wrested from the context, and misapplied according
to art, seem to favour Calvinian reprobation. Such passages are pro-
duced in the following pages.

Arg. XXXIX. [page 49.] After transcribing Rom. ix. 20— 23. Mr.
Toplady says, " Now are these the words of Scripture, or are they
not ? If not, prove the forgery. If they be, you cannot fight against
reprobation without fighting against God." — Far from fighting against
Scripture reprobation, we maintain, as St. Paul does in Rom. ix. —
1. That God has an absolute right gratuitously to call whom he
pleases to either of his two grand covenants of peculiarity [Judaism
and Christianity ;] and gratuitously to reprobate whom he will from
the blessings peculiar to these covenants ; leaving as many nations
and individuals as he thinks fit, under the general blessings of the
gracious covenants, which he made with reprieved Adam, and with
spared Noah. — 2. We assert that God has an indubitable right judi-
cially to reprobate obstinate unbelievers under all the dispensations of
bis grace, and to appoint, that [as stubborn unbelievers] they shall be
vessels of wrath fitted for destruction by their own unbelief, and not by
God's free wrath. This is all the reprobation which St. Paul con-
tends for in Rom. ix. [See Scales, Vol. iii. Sect, xi.] where Mr. T.'s
objection is answered at large. Therefore, with one hand we defend

Vol. IV. 14

iOiS ANSWER TO MH. TOPLADY'h

Scripture reprobation ; and with the other, we attack Calvinian repw
hation ; maintaining that the Scripture reprobation of grace^ and of
justice, are as difierent from Calvinian, damning reprobation, as
appointing a soldier to continue a soldier, and to be a captain,
or a wilful deserter to be shot, is different from appointing a
soldier necessarily to desert, that he may be unavoidably shot for
desertion.

Having thus vindicated the godly reprobation maintained by St. Paul,
from the misapprehensions of Mr. Toplady, we point at all the pas-
sages which we have produced in the Scripture ScaleSy in defence of
the doctrines of justice, the conditionality of the reward of the inherit-
ance, and the freedom of the will. And, retorting Mr. T.'s argument,
we say, ''Now, are these the words of Scripture, or are they not?
If not, prove the forgery. If they be, you cannot fight against [the
conditional] reprobation [which we defend] without fighting against
God." — You cannot fight for Calvinian reprobation, without fighting
for free wrath and the eTjil principled deity worshipped by the
Bfanichees.

Arg. XL. [page 61.] Rfr. T. supports absolute reprobation by
quoting 1 Sam. ii. 25. " They [the sons of Eli] heai-kened not to the
voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them, 1 Sam. ii. 25.''
—Here we are given to understand, that, by the decree of the
means, thj3 Lord secured the disobedience of these wicked men, in
order to accomplish his decree of the eiid, that is, their absolute
destruction.

To this truly Calvinian insinuation we answer, I. Tlie sons of Eli,
who had turned the tabernacle into a house of ill fame, and a den of
thieves, had personally deserved a judicial reprobation ; God there-
fore could justly give them up to a reprobate mind, in consequence
of their personal, avoidable, repeated, and aggravated crimes. 2,
The word killing does not here necessarily imply eternal damnation,
The Lord killed, by a lion, the man of God from Judab, for having
stopped in Bethel : — he killed JVadah and Mihu for offering strange
fire :— he killed the child of David and Bathsheba :— he killed many
of the Corinthians for their irreverent partaking of the Lord's
supper : — but the sin unto [bodily] death is not the sin unto eternal
death : for St. Paul informs us, that the body is sometimes given up
to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in
the day of the Lord. 1 Cor. v. 5. — 3. The Hebrew particle "D, which
ia rendered in our translation because, means also therefore : and so
our translators themselves have rendered it after St. Paul, and the
^'cpiuagint, ^s. cxvi. 10. I believed O and therefore will I speah ' se^«

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 101

^ Cor. 17. 13. If they had done their part as well in translating the
verse quoted by Mr. Toplady, the doctrines offree wrath would have
gone propless ; and we should have had these edifving words : they
[the sons of Eli] hearkened not to the voice of their father ; arid there-
fore the Lord would slay them. Thus the voluntary nn of free agents
would be represented as the cause of their deserved reprobation ; and
not their undeserved reprobation as the cause of their necessary sin.
See Sect. 11.

Arg. XLl. [page 51.] Mr. T. tries to prove absolute reprob.ition
by quoting these words of our Lord, " Thou Capernaum, which art
exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works
which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would \_or
might] have remained unto this day.""

This passage, if I am not mistaken, is nothing but a strong expostu-
lation and reproof admirably calculated to shame the unbelief, and
alarra the fears of the Capernaites. Suppose I had an enemy, whose
obstinate hatred had resisted for years the constant tokens of my love ;
and suppose I said to him, " Your obduracy is astonishing : li I had
shown to the fiercest tiger the kindness which I have shown you, I
could have melted the savage beast into love ;" would it be right, from
such a figurative supposition, to conclude that I absolutely believed I
could have tamed the fiercest tiger ?

But this passage, taken in a literal sense, far from proving the
absolute reprobation of Sodom, demonstrates that Sodom was never
reprobated in the Calvinian sense of the word : for if it had been
absolutely reprobated from all eternity, no works done in her by
Christ and his apostles, could have overcome her unbelief : but our
Lord observes, that her strong unbelief could have been overcome
by the extraordinary means of faith, which could not conquer the
unbelief of Capernaum. Mr. T. goes on.

Arg. XLII. [Ibid.] *' But though God knew the citizens of Sodom
would [or might] have reformed their conduct, had his providence
made use of effectual [Mv. T. should say, of every effectual] means to
that end ; still these effectual [Mr. T. should say, all these extraordi-
nai^ and peculiar] means were not vouchsafed." — True : because,
according to the election of grace, God uses more means and more
powerful meaus to convert some cities, than he does to convert
others : witness the case of Nineveh, compared with that of Jericho.
This is strongly maintained in my Essay on the partial reprobation of
distinguishing grace, where this very passage is produced. But still
we affirm two things : — 1. God always uses means sufficient to
demonstrate, that bis goodness, patience, and mercy are over a'l hi^

208 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADV's

works [though in different degrees ;] and to testify that he is un-
willing that sinners should die ; unless they have first obstinately,
and without necessity, refused to work out their own eternal salvation
with the talent of temporary salvation, which is given to all, for the
sake of him whose saving grace has appeared to all rnen, and who
enlightens [in various degrees] every man that comes into the world.
2. As the men of Sodom were not absolutely lost, though they had but
07ie talent of means, no more were the men of Capernaum absolutely
saved, though God favoured them with so many more talents of means
than he did the men of Sodom. Hence it appears that Mr. T. has
run upon the point of his own sword ; the passage which he appeals
to, proving, that God does not work so irresistibly upon either Jews
or Gentiles, as to secure his absolute approbation of some, and his
absolute reprobation of others.

Arc. XLIII. [page 52.] Mr. T., to prop up Calvinian reprobation,
quotes these words of Christ, ^^ Fill ye up the measure of your fa-
thers,^' Matt, xxiii. 32 ; and he takes care to produce the words, Fill
ye up, in capitals ; as if he would give us to understand, that Christ is
extremely busy in getting reprobates to sin and be damned. For my
part, as I believe that Christ never preached up sin and wickedness, I
am persuaded that this expression is nothing but a strong, ironical
reproof of sin, like that in the Revelation, Let him that is unjust be
unjust still; — or that in the Gospel, Sleep on now, and take your rest :
— or that in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Rejoice, O young man, in thy
youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, kc. but know, &lc. I shudder
when I consider " Doctrines of grace,'''' so called, which support
themselves by representing Christ as a preacher of wickedness.
Calvinism may be compared to that insect which feeds on putrifying
carcasses, lights only upon real or apparent sores, and delights chiefly
in the smell of corruption. If there be a fault in our translation,
Calvinism will pass over a hundred plain passages well translated, and
will eagerly light upon the error. Thus p. 63 and 57. Mr. Toplady
quotes, Being disobedient, whereunto they are appointed, 1 Pet. ii. 8»
He had rather take it for granted, that the god of Manes absolutely
predestinates some people to be disobedient, than to do the holy Cod
the justice to admit this godly sense, which the original bears. Being
disobedient, whereunto they have set, or disposed themselves. See the
proofs, Scales, Vol. iii. p. 440. and Vol. iv. p. 32.

Arg. XLIV. [page 52.] Mr. T. still pleading for the horrible decree
of Calvinian reprobation, says, " St. Matthew, if possiblfe, expresses
it still more strongly : It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven ; but to them it is not given, Matt. siii. 11." — !

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 109

answer, 1. If by the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven^ you under-
stand the mysteries of Christianity, it is absurd to say, that all who
are not blessed with the knowledge of these mysteries, are Calvinisti-
cally reprobated. This I demonstrate by verses 16, 17. and by the
parallel place in St. Luke : all things are delivered to me of my Father :
and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father : and who the Father
is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. [That is, the
mystery of a relative personality of Father and Son in the Godhead,
has not been expressly revealed to others, as I choose to reveal it to
you, my Christian friends :] and [to show that this was his meaning]
he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes
which see the things that ye see : for I tell you that many prophets [such
as Samuel, Isaiah, Daniel, &c.] and kings [such as David, Solomon,
Josiah, Hezekiah, &c. St. Matthew adds, and righteous men, such as
Noah, Abraham, &c.] have desired to see those things which ye see, and
have not seen them ; and to hear the things which ye hear, and have not
heard them. Luke x. 22, 23, 25. Matt. xiii. 17.— Is not Mr. T.
excessively fond of reprobating people to death, if he supposes, that
because it was not given to those prophets, kings, and righteous men^ io
know the mysteries of the Christian dispensation, they were all abso-
lutety doomed to continue in sin, and be damned ?

But 2. Should it be asserted, that by the mysteries of the kingdom
we are to understand here every degree of saving light, then the
reprobation mentioned in Matt. xiii. 1 1. is not the partial reprobation
of grace, but the impartial reprobation of justice ; and in this case, to
appeal to this verse in support of a chimerical reprobation of free
wrath, argues great inattention to the context ; for the very next verse
fixes the reason of the reprobation of the Jews, who heard the Gos-
pel of Christ without being benefited by it ; — a reason this which saps
the foundation of absolute reprobation. But unto them it is not given :
— for they are Calvinistically reprobated ! — No. — Unto them it is not
given : for whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abu7idance : but whosoever hath not [to purpose] yro?/i him shall be taken
away, even that he hath, Matt. xiii. 12. This anti-Calvinian sense is
strongly confirmed by our Lord's words two verses below : to them it
is not given, &c. for this peopled heart is waxed gross : [note : it is
waxed gross, therefore it was not so gross at first as it is now :] and
their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed ; lest at any
time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. Matt. xiii. 15. — To produce therefore Matt. xiii. 11. as a
capital proof of Calvinian reprobation, is as daring an imposition upon

liO ANSWER TO MR. TQPLADY's

the credulity of the simple, as to produce Exodus xx. in defence of
adultery and murder. However, such arguments will not only be
swallowed down in Geneva as tolerable, but the author of P. 6. will
cry them up as " most masterly.^' ^

Arg. XLV. [page 53.] Mr. T. concludes his Scripture proofs of Cal-
vinian reprobation by these words : "Now I leave it to the decision
of any unprejudiced, capable man upon earth, whether it be not evi-
dent from these passages, &ic. that God hath determined to leave some
men to perish in their sins^ and to be justly punished for them ? In aflBrm-
ing which ! only gave the Scripture as I found it." — That the scrip-
tures produced by Mr. T. prove this, is true ; we maintain it as well
as he ; and if he will impose no other reprobation upon us, we are
ready to shake hands with him. Nor need he call his book, " More
Work for Mr. Wesley, ^^ but, A Reconciliation with Mr. Wesley: for,
when we speak of the reprobation of justice, we assert that " God
hath determined to leave some men^* [namely, the wise and prudent in
their own eyes, the proud and disobedient, who do despite to the
Spirit of grace to the end of their day of salvation] " to perish in
their sins, and to he justly punished for them.^^ But, according to Mr.
T.'s system, the men left to perish in their sins, are not the men whom
the scriptures which he has quoted describe ; but poor creatures
absolutely sentenced to necessary, remediless sin, and to unavoidable,
eternal damnation, long before they had an existence in their mothers'
womlr. And, in this case, we affirm that their endless torments can
never he just ; and of consequence, that the Calvinian repfohaiion of
unborn men, which Mr. T. has tried to dress up in Scripture phrases.
is as contrary to the Scripture reprobation of stubborn offenders, as
Herod*s ordering the barbarous destruction of the Holy Innocents
is different from his ordering the righteous execution of bloody ?nnr-
derers.

SECTION VIL

^n Answer to the Arguments by which Mr. T. tries to reconcile Calvi/i-
ism with the doctrine of a future judgment, and absolute JVecessit'i/
with MORAL Agency.

They who indirectly set aside the day of judgment, do the cause
of religion as much mischief, as they who indirectly set aside the
immortality of the soul. Mr. Wesley asserts, that the Calvinists are
the men. His words are, " On the principle of absolute predestina-
tion, there can be no future judgment.— It requires more pains thaix

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. Ill

«jil the men upon earth, and all the devils in hell will ever be able to
take, to reconcile the doctrine of [CaWinian] reprobation, with the
doctrine of a judgment-day.^^ — Mr. T. answers :

Arg. XLVl. [page 82.] '* The consequence is false ; for absolute
predestination is the very thing that renders the future judgment
certain : God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in
righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained.^^ — If Mr. T. had put
the words in righteousness in capitals, instead of the words appointed
and ordained [which, he fondly hopes, will convey the idea of the
Calvinian decrees] be would have touched the knot of the difficulty :
for the question is not, Whether there will be a day of judgment ;
but. Whether, on the principle of absolute predestination, there can
be a day of judgment, consistently with divine equity^ justice^ wisdom^
and sincerity: and that there can, Mr. T. attempts by prove to the
following reasoning.

Arg. XLVII. [page 83.] *' The most flagrant sinners sin volun-
tarily, notwithstanding the inevitable accomplishment of God's effect-
ive and permissive decrees. Now they, who sin voluntarily, are
accountable; and accountable sinners are judicable; and if judicable,
chey are punishable. ^^

Mr. T. has told us [p. 43.] that ^^ fallen men are involuntary beings ,-
and in this page he tells us, that they sin voluntarily. Now we, who
never learned Mr. T.'s logic, cannot understand how involuntary
beings can sin voluntarily. But, letting this contradiction pass, and
granting that sinners offend voluntarily^ I ask. Is their will at liberty
to choose otherwise than it does, or is it not? If you say, it is at
liberty to choose otherwise than it does, you renounce Necessitating
predestination, and you will allow the doctrine of free will, which is
the bulwark of the second Gospel axiom, and the Scripture engine
which batters down Calvinian reprobation ; and, upon this scriptural
plan, it is most certain that God can judge the world in righteousness,
ihat is, in a manner which reflects praise upon his essential justice
and wisdom. But if you insinuate that the will of sinners is abso-
lutely bound by " the efficacious purposes of heaven,'^ and by the
'• eff^ective decrees'^ of him who *' worketh all things in all men, and
even wickedness in the wicked ;^^ — if you say, that God's decree con-
cerning every man is irreversible, whether it be a decree of absolute
election to life, or of absolute reprobation to death, " Because God^s
own decree secures the means as well as the end, and accomplishes the end
nj the means,^' p. 17. ; — or, which comes to the same thing, if you
assert, that the reprobate always sin necessarily, having no power> no
liberty to will righteousness ; you answer like a consistent Calvinist,

il2 ANSWER TO MR.

and pour your shame, folly, and unrighteousness upon the tribunal,
where Christ will judge the world in righteousness.

A just illustration will convince the unprejudiced reader, that this
is really the case. — By the king's " efficacious permission ^^^ a certain
strong man, called Adam, binds the hands of a thousand children
behind their backs with a chain of brass, and a strong lock, of which
the king himself keeps the key. When the children are thus chained,
the king commands them all, upon pain of death, to put their hands
upon their breasts, and promises ample rewards to those who will do
it. Now, as the king is absolute, he passes by 700 of the bound
children, and as he passes them by, he hangs about their necks a black
stone, with this inscription, " Unconditional reprobation to death :" but
being merciful too, he graciously fixes his love upon the rest of the
children, jusl 300 in number, and he ordains them to finished salva-
tion by hanging about their necks a -white stone, with this inscription,
*' Unconditional election to life.^^ And, that they may not miss their
reward by non-performance of the above-mentioned condition, he
gives the key of the locks to another strong man, named Christy who,
in a day of irresistible power, looses the hands of the 300 elect
children, and chains them upon their breasts, as strongly as they
were before chained behind their backs. When all the elect are
properly bound, agreeably to orders, the king proceeds to judge the
children according to their works, that is, according to their having
put their hands behind their backs, or upon their breasts. In the mean
time; a question arises in the court : Can the king judge the children
concerning the position of their hands, without rendering himself
ridiculous? Can he wisely reward the elect favourites with life
according to their works, when he has absolutely done the rewardable
work for them by the stronger man ? And can he justly punish the
^reprobate with eternal death, for not putting their hands upon their
breasts ; when the strong man has, according to a royal decree,
absolutely bound them behind their backs ? — " Yes, he can ; [says a
counsellor, who has learned logic in mystic Geneva] for the children
have hands, notwithstanding the inevitable accomplishment of the
king's effective and permissive decrees : now, children who have hands,
and do not place them as they are bid, are accountable, and accountable
children Sire judicable : and if judicable, they ixTe punishable. ^^ This
argument would be excellent, if the counsellor did not speak of hands
which are absolutely tied. But it is not barely the having hands, but
-the having hands free, which makes us accountable for not placing
them properly.

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 11.5

Apply this plain observation to the case in hand, and you will see,
4. That it is not barely the having a will, ])ut the having free xnill,
which constitutes us accountable, judicable, i\n(] punishable : — 2. That,
of consequence, Mr. Toplady's grand argument is as inconclusive as
that of the counsellor :— 3. That both arguments are as contrary to
good sense, as the stale of hands af liberty is contrary to the state of
hands absolutely tied : — as contrary to reason, as free will is contrary
to a will absolutely bound : — And 4. That, of consequence, the doc-
trine of the day of judgment is as incompatible with Calvinian pre-
destination, as sense with nonsense, and Christ with Belial.

However, if Mr. T. cannot carry bis point by Reason, he will do
it by Scripture ; and therefore he raises such an argument as this :
we often read in the Bible, that there will be a day of judgment : we
often meet also in the Bible with the words must and necessity; and
therefore, according to the Bible, the doctrine of a day of judgment
is consistent with the doctrine of the absolute necessity of human
actions : just as if, in a thousand cases, a degree of necessity, or a
m^ist, were not as different from absolute necessity, as the want of an
apartment in the king's palace is different from the absolute want of a
room in any house in the kingdom. The absurdity of this argument
will be better understood, by considering the passages which Mr. T.
produces to prove that when men do good or evil, God's absolute
decree of predestination necessitates them to do it.

Arc. XLVllI. [page 60.] ^' It must needs be that off^cnces come. —
There must be heresies among you — Such things [wars, 4'C.] must needs
be."" — WhcTi Mr. T. builds Calvinian necessity upon these scriptures,
he is as much mistaken as if he fancied that Mr. Wesley and I were
fatalists, because we say, " Considering the course and wickedness
of the world, it cannot be but Christendom will be distracted by
heresies, law-suits, wars, and murders : for so long as men will follow
worldly maxims, rather than evangislical precepts, such things must
come to pass. ^^ — Again, would not the reader think that I trifled, if I
attempted to prove absolute necessity from such scriptural expressions
as these ? Seven days rje must eat unleavened bread. — New wine must
be put into new bottles. — He must needs go through Samaria. — / have
bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it. — How can 1
sin against God ? I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come^
The multitude must needs come together [to mob Paul.] Acts xxi. 22. —
A bishop must be blameless. — Ye must needs be subject, [to rulers] not
only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

Once more : who does not see, that there is what the poverty of
language obliges me to call, 1. A necessity of duty ''1 muftt pay mv

Vor. IV. 15 ' '

214 ANSWER TO MR.

debts : — I must preach next Sunday." — 2. A necessity of civility : ** 1
must pay such a visit." — 3. A necessity of circumstance : " In going
from Jerusalem to Galilee, I must needs pass through Samaria^ because
the highway lies directly through Samaria"— 4. A necessity of can-
venience : " I am tired with writing ; I must leave off." — 6. A necessity
o{ decency : " I must not go naked." — 6. A necessity of prudence : " I
must look before I leap," &c. Now, all these sorts of necessity, and
a hundred more of the like stamp, do not amount to one single grain
of Calvinian, absolute, insuperable necessity. However, a rigid pre-
destinarian [such is the force of prejudice !] sees his imaginary
necessity in almost every must ; just as a jealous man sees adultery in
almost every look which his virtuous wife casts upon the man whom
he fancies to be his rival.

Arg. XLIX. [page 61.] "Absolute necessity, then, is perfectly
consistent with willingness and freedom in good agency, no less than
in bad. For it is a true maxim, Ubi voluntas, ibi libertas.''^ That is,
where there is a willy there is liberty. This maxim, which has led many
good men into Calvinism, I have already exposed ; see Scales, Vol. iii,
p. 219. To what is there advanced, I add the following remark : As
there may be liberty where there is not a will, so there may be a
will where there is not liberty. The tirst idle schoolboy whom you
meet will convince you of it. I ask him, " When you are at school,
and have a will, or, as you call it, a mind to go and play^ have you
liberty, or freedom to do ii V^ He answers *' No." Here is then
a will without liberty, I ask him again, " When you are at school,
where you have freedom or liberty to ply your book, have you a will
to do it." He honestly answers *' JVo" again. Here is then liberty
without a will. How false therefore is this proposition, that where
there is a will there is liberty ! Did judicious Calvinists consider this,
they would no more say, " If all men were redeemed, they would all
come out of the dungeon of sin." For there may be a freedom to
come out consequent upon redemption, where there is no will exer-
cised.— " Qh, but God makes us wiUing in the day of his power."
True : in the day of salvation he restores to us the faculty of choos-
ing moral good with some degree of ease ; and, from time to time, he
peculiarly helps us to make acts of willingness. But to suppose that
he absolutely wills for us, is as absurd as to say, that when, after a
quinsy, his gracious providence restores us a degree of liberty to
swallow, he necessitates us to eat and drink, or actually swallows
for us.

Arg. L. [page 61.] In his refusal (o dismiss the Israelites, &c
'' he [Pharaoh] could will no otherwise than he did, Exod. vii. 3, 4.""

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 115

— Is not this a mistake ? When Pharaoh considered, did he not alter
his mind / Did he not say to Moses, Be gone, and bless me also? If
Omnipotence had absolutely hardened him, could he have complied at
last ? Do the unchangeable decrees change as the will of Pharaoh
changed ?

Arc. LI. [p. 61, 62.] "So when Saul went home to Gibeah, it
is said, There talent with him a band of meiiy whose hearts God had
touched. In like manner God is said to have stirred up the spirit of
Cyrus. — Then rose up, kc. the Levites, with all them whose spirit God
had raised up. Will any man say, that these did not will freely^ only
because they willed necessarily ?"

1. I [for one] say, that while they willed necessarily, [in the Cal-
vinian sense of the word necessary] they did not — they could not will
freely [in the moral sense of the word free.] For Mr. T. is not
morally /ree to will so long as he is absolutely bound to will one thing ;
any more than a man is free to look to the left, who is absolutely bound
to look to the right ; let the object he looks at engage his heart and
eye ever so pleasingly. God's Spirit prevents, accompanies, and
follows us in ever}' good thing : all our good works are begun, con-
tinued, and ended in him : but they are not necessary, in the Calvinian
sense of the word. In moral cases God does not absolutely neces-
sitate us, though he may do it m prophetic 'dndi political cdi?,es. Thus,
he necessitated Balaam, when he blessed Israel by the mouth of that
covetous prophet ; and thus he necessitated Balaam's ass, when the
dumb animal reproved his rider's madness. But then, whatever we
do, under such necessitating impulses, will not be rewarded as our owq
work, any more than Balaam's good prophecy, and his ass's good
reproof, were rewarded as their own works.

2. From the above-mentioned passages, Mr. T. would make us
believe, that, upon the whole, the touches of God's grace act neces-
sarily like charms : but what says the stream of the Scriptures ? —
God touched the hearts of all the Israelites, and stirred them up to
faith : but the effect of that touch was so far from being absolutely
forcible, that their hearts soon started aside like a broken bow ; and,
after having been saved in Egypt through* /mi^, they perished in the
wilderness through unbelief. God gave king Saul a new heart ; and
yet Saul cast away the heavenly gift. — God gave Solomon a wise and
understanding heart ; and yet Solomon, in his old age, made himself
a foolish heart, darkened by the love of heathenish women. God
stirred up the heart of Peter to confess Christ, and to walk upon the
sea ; and yet, by and by, Peter sunk, cursed, swore, and denied his
liord.— Awful demonstrations these, that where divine grace works

ii'ij ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY c

most powerfully, when its first grand impulse is over, there is an en4
of the overbearing power ; and the soul, returning to its free agency^
chooses without necessity the good which constitutes her rewardable ;
or the evil which constitutes her punishable. Of this Mr. Toplady
himself produces a remarkable instance, 2 Cor. viii. 16, 17. " Thanks
be to God [says the apostle] who put the same earnest care into the heart
of Titus for you ; — of his own accord he went unto you.^^

If a gentleman, who delights to be in houses of ill-fame, more than
in the house of God, sees in a circle of ladies one whom he suspects
of being immodest, he singles her out as one that may suit his pur-
pose : and to her he makes his bold addresses. I am sorry to
observe that this is exactly the case with Calvinism unmasked. We
iind in the Scriptures a few places where God's suffering some men
to do a lesser evil, in order to prevent, or to punish a greater evil, is
expressed in a strong, figurative manner, which seems to ascribe sin
to Him, just as in other places, jealousy, repentance, wrath, and fury^
together with hands, feet, ears, and a nose, are figuratively attributed
to him. Now, as Popish Idolatry screens herself behind these meta-
phors, so Calvinian Antinomianism perpetually singles out those
metaphorical expressions, which seem to make God the author of sin.
Accordingly,

Arc. LII. [page 61, kc] Mr. T. produces these words of Joseph,
'' It was not you that sent me hither, but God ;^' — these words of David,
'• The Lord said to him, [Shimei] curse David;'*'' — these words of the
sacred historian, " God had appointed to defeat the good counsel of
Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom ;"
and these words of the prophet, " Howbeit, he [the Assyrian king,
turned loose upon Israel to avenge God's righteous quarrel with that
hypocritical people] meaneth not so, neither does his heart think so :
but it is in his heart to destroy ;'''* — these words in the Revelation, " God
hath put into their hearts [the hearts of the kings who shall hate the
mystic harlot^ and destroy her, and burn her with fire^ to fulfil his willy
and to agree, and to give their kingdom to the beast, till the words of
God shall be fulfilled ;'^ — and the words of Peter, *' They [the accom-
plishers of the crucifixion of Christ] zvere gathered together to do
whatsoever God^s hand and God''s counsel had predestinated to be
done.,'''' &c.

With respe(^t to the last text, if it be rightly* translated, it is
explained by these words of Peter, Acts ii. 23. Christ was delivered

> With Episcopius, and some other learned critics, I doubt it is not. Why should it not
be read thus ? Acts iv. 26 — 23. The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
igaiml his Christ. .For of a truth against thy holy child Jesvs, whom thou hast oMointHfiy

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 117

by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God : — by his gracious
r.ounsel, that Christ should lay down his life as a ransom for all : —
And by his dear foreknowledge of the disposition of the Jews to take
that precious life away. This passage, then, and all those which Mr.
T. has produced, or may yet produce, only prove,

'1. That God foresees the evil which is in the hearts of the wicked,
and their future steps in peculiar circumstances, with ten thousand
times more clearness and certainty than a good huntsman foresees
all the windings, doublings, and shifts of a hunted fox : and that he
overrules their wicked counsels to the execution of his own wise and
holy designs, as a good rider overrules the mad prancings of a vicious
horse, to the display of his perfect skill in horsemanship, and to the
treading down of the enemy in a day of battle. 2. That God catches
the wise in their own craftiness^ and that to punish the wicked, he
permits their wicked counsels to be defeated, and their best-con-
certed schemes to prove abortive. 3. That he frequently tries the
faith, and exercises the patience of good men, by letting loose the
wicked npon them, as in the case of Job and of Christ. 4. That he
often punishes the wickedness of one man by letting loose upon him
the wickedness of another man ; and that he frequently avenges him-
self of one wicked nation by letting loose upon it the wickedness of
another nation. Thus he let Absalom and Shimei loose upon David.
Thus a parable spoken by the prophet Micaiah informs us, that
God, after having let a lying spirit loose upon Zedekiah the false
prophet, let Zedekiah loose upon wicked Ahab. Thus the Lord let
loose the Philistines upon disobedient Israel, and the Romans upon
the obdurate Jews and their accursed city ; using those wicked hea-
then as his vindictive scourge, just as he used swarms of frogs and
locusts, when he punished rebellious Egypt with his plagues. — 5-

{both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Qentiles and the people of Israd were gathered
together) for to do v;hatsocver thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. — By
putting the clause both Herod, &c. in a parenthesis, you have this evangeh'cal sense, which
give? no handle to the pleaders for sin, Both Herod and Pilate 4"c. were gathered together
against thy holy child Jesvs, lohom thou hast anointed for to do whatsoever thy hand and
counsel before determined to be done. I prefer this reading to the common one for tho fol-
lowing reasons : 1. It is perfectly agreeable to the Greek ; and the peculiar construction of
the sentence is expressive of the peculiar earnestness with which the apostles prayed. 2.
It is attended with no Manichean inconveniency. 3. It is more agreeable to the context.
For, if the Sanhedrim was gathered by God's direction and decree, in order to threaten the
apostles, with what f)ropriety could they say [ver. 29.] A^w, Lord, behold their tfireat-
enings? — And 4. It is strongly supported by verse 30, where Peter [after having observed
verse 27, 28, according to our reading, that God had anointed his holy child Jesus fo do all
the miracles which he did on earth] prays, that now Christ is gone to heaven, the effects of
this powerful anointing may continue, and signs and wonders may still he done by (he name
efhis holy child Jesvs.

IIS ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

That he sometimes lets a wicked man loose upon himself, as in the
case of Mithcphel, JVabal, and Judas, who became tbt- ir own exe-
cutioners. 6. That when wicked men are going to commit atrocious
wickedness, he sometimes inclines their hearts so to relent, that ihey
commit a less crime than they intended. For instance, when Joseph's
brethren were going to starve him to death, by providential circum-
stances God inclined their hearts to spare his life : thus instead of
destroying him, they only sold him into Egypt. 7. With respect to
Rev. xvii. 17. the context, and the full stream of the Scripture,
require that it should be understood thus : " as God, by providential
circumstances, which seemed to favour their worldly views, suffered
wicked kings to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, to help
the beast to execute God's judgments upon corrupted churches and
wicked states ; so he will peculiarly let those kings loose upon the
whore, and they shall agree to hate her, and shall make her desolate
and naked."

Upon the whole, it is contrary to all the rules of criticism, decency,
and piety, to take advantage of the dark construction of a sentence, or
to avail oneself of a parable, a hyperbole, a bold metaphor, or an
unguarded saying of a good man interwoven with the thread of Scrip-
ture history ; in order to make appear [so far as Calvinism can] that
'" God worketh all things in all men, even wickedness in the wicked."
Such a method of wresting the oracles of God, to make them speak
the language of Belial and Moloch, is as ungenerous, as our inferring
from these words, / do not condemn thee, that Christ does not condemn
adulterers ; that Christianity encourages adultery ; and that thi^ single
sentence, taken in a filthy, Antinomian sense, outweighs all the ser-
mon upon the mount, as well as the holy meaning of the context : for
these words being spoken to an adulteress, whom the magistrates had
not condemned to die, and whom the Pharisees wanted Christ to
condemn to he stoned according to thh law of Moses ; it is evident that
our Lord's words, when taken in connexion with the context, carry
this edifying meaning : " I am come to act the part of a Saviour, and
tQOt that of a Magistrate : if the magistrates have not condemned thee
to be stoned, neither do I condemn thee to that dreadful kind of death :
avail thyself of thy undeserved reprieve : go, and repent, and evi-
dence the sincerity of thy repentance b}' sinning no inore.^'' — Hence
I conclude, that all the texts quoted by the fatalists, prove that God
necessitates men to sin by his decrees, just as John viii. 11. proves that
Christ countenances the filthy sin of adultery.

Arg. LIII. [p. 64.] Mr. T. thinks to demonstrate that the doctrine
of the absolute necessity of all our actions, and consequently of all our

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 119

sins, is true, hy producing St. Paurs case as a preacher. •' Though
I preach the Gospel I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon
me, yeOj wo is me if I preach not the Gospel, 1 Cor. ix. 16. Yet he
preached the Gospel freely, &.c. JVecessity therefore and freedom,
are very good friends, notwithstanding all tlie efforts of Arminianism
to set them at variance." — The apostle evidently speaks here of a
necessity of precept on God's part, and of duty on his own part : and
such a necessity being perfectly consistent with the alternative of
obedience or of disobedience , is also perfectly consistent with freedom
and with a day of judgment: and Mr. T. trifles when he speaks of
all the eff'orts of Arminianism to set such a necessity at variance zvith
freedom; for it is the distinguishing glory of our doctrine, to maintain
both the freedom of the will, and the indispensable necessity of cordial
obedience. But in the name of candour and common sense I ask,
What has a necessity of precept and duty to do with Cahinian necasity,
which in the day of God's power absolutely necessitates the elect to obey,
and the reprobate to disobey ; entirely debarring the former from the
alternative of disobedience, and the latter from the alternative of obedi-
ence ? That the apostle, in the text before us, does not mean a Calvinian,
absolute necessity, is evident from the last clause of the verse, where
he mentions the possibility of his disobeying, and the punishment that
awaited him in case of disobedience : wo is me, says he ^ if I preach
not the Gospel. — A necessity of precept was laid on Jonah to preach the
Gospel to the Ninevites ; but this necessity was so far from Calvinis-
tically binding him to preach, that (like Demas, and the clergy who
fleece a flock which they do not feed) he ran away from his appointed
work, .and incurred the wo mentioned by the apostle. Therefore,
St. Paul's words, candidly taken together, far from establishing abso-
lute necessity, which admits of no alternative, are evidently subversive
of this dangerous error, which exculpates the sinner, and makes God
the author of sin.

Hence Mr. Wesley says with great truth, that if the doctrines of
absolute predestination and Calvinian necesisity are (rue, there can be
no sin ; seeing " It cannot be a sin in a spark to rise, or in a stone to
fall." And therefore " the reprobate^'' [tending to evil by the irresisti-
ble power of Divine predestination, as unavoidably as stones tend to
the centre, by the irresistible force of natural gravitation] " can have
no sin at alL^^ — This is a just observation, taken from the absurdity oi'
the doctrine of an absolute necessity, originally brought on by God's
absolute and irresistible decrees. Let us see how Mr. T. shows his^
wit on this occasion.

120 ANSWER TO MR, TOI'LADY's

Arg. LI v. [pp. 71, 72.] ''The reprobate can have no sin at alt^
Indeed ! They are quite sinless, are they? As perfect as Mr. Wesley
himself? O excellent reprobation ! &c. What then must the elect
be? &c. Besides : if reprobates be sinless — nay, immutably perfect,
so that they can have no sin at all, will it not follow that Mr. Wesley's
own perfectionists are reprobates ? For surely if reprobates may be
sinlesSy the sinless may be reprobates. Did not Mr. John's malice
outran his crafty when he advanced an objection, &c. so easily
retortible ?"

This illogical, not to say illiberal answer, is of a piece with the
challenge, which the reader may see illustrated at the end of Sect. I.
by my remarks upon a consequence as just as that of Mr. Wesley ;
for it is as evident, that if the reprobate are " involuntary beings,^'' —
beings absolutely necessitated by effi,cacious, irresistible predestination
to act as they do, they are as really sinless as a mountain of gold is
really heavier than a handful of feathers. And Mr. W^esley may
believe that both consequences are just, without believing either that
the wicked are sinless, or that there is a mountain of gold. On what a
slender foundation does Logica Genevensis rest her charges of croft
and malice ! And yet, this foundation is as solid as that, on which she
raises her doctrines of unscriptural grace and free wrath. But Mr.
T, advances other arguments.

Arg. LV. [p. 69, 70.] " The holy Baptist, without any ceremony
ot scruple, compared some of his unregenerate hearers to stones -
saying, God is able even of these stories to raise up children to Abraham^
&c. Ye, therefore, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, &c.
They (the elect) shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts — in the day when
I make up my jewels: now, unless I am vehemently mistaken, jewels
are but another name for precious stones."— Hence the reader is
given to understand, that when Mr. Wesley opposes the doctrine of
absolute Necessity, by saying, that It cannot be a sin in a, stone to fall, he
turns " the Bible's own artillery against itself, and gives us too much
room to fear that 'tis as natural to him to pervert — as it is for^ — a stone.
to sink." . '

By such arguments as these, I could prove transubsfcantiation : for
Christ said of a bit of bread. This is my body.— Nay, I could prove
any other absurdity : I could prove that Christ could not think, and
that his disciples could not walk : for he says, / am the vine, and ye
are the branches ; and a vine can no more think than branches can walk.
—I could prove that he was nhen, and the 3 ew?, chickens: for he says,
that he would have gathered them, as a hen gathers her chickens under-
her wings. Nay, I could prove that Christ had no more hand in our

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 121

redemption, than we are supposed by Calvinists to have in our conver-
sion; that his '' poor free will [to use Mr. Toplady's expression, page
70, with respect to us] " had no employ,^'' that he was " absolutely
passive, and ihaV' redemption " is as totally the operation o/" the
Father " as the severing of stones from their native quarry, and the
erecting them into an elegant building, are the effects of human agency.''
— If the astonished reader ask, how I cjin prove a proposition so sub-
versive of the gratitude which we owe to Christ for our redemption ?
I reply, By the very same argument by which Mr. T. proves that
we are ^^ absolutely passive^^ in the work of conversion, and that
^^ conversion is totally the operation of God :^^ that is, by producing
passages where Christ is metaphorically called a stone ; and of these
there are not a few. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zioa a
stone, a tr.ied stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. Isa.
xxviii. 16. — Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on
"whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Matt. xxi. 34. —
The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner.
Acts iv. 1 1. — To whom coming as to a living stone, &c. 1 Pet. ii. 4. —
If to these texts we add those, in which he is compared to i\ founda-
tion, to a rock, and to jewels, or precious stones, I could demonstrate
[in the Calvinian way] that Christ was once as " absolutely passive'"
in the work of our redemption as a stone. When I consider such
arguments as these, I cannot help wondering at the gross impositions
of Pagan, Popish, and Calvinian Doctors. I find myself again
in the midst of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Jupiter, if we believe the
poet, turned jYiobe into a rock. The tempter wanted Christ to
turn a stone into bread. Logica Romana turns bread into Christ. But
Logica Genevensis carries the bell, for she can, even without the
Hocus Pocus of a massing Priest, turn Christ into a stone. — Mr. Top*
lady, far from recanting his argument a lapide confirms it by the
following ;

Arg. LVI. [p. 71.] *' A stone has the advantage of you : man's
rebellious heart is by nature, and so far as spiritual things are con-
cerned, MORE intractable and unyielding than a stone itself. I may
take up a stone, and throw it this way or that — and it obeys the im-
pulse of my arm. Whereas in the sinner's heart, there is every
species of hatred and opposition to God : nor can any thing, but
omnipotent power, slay its enmity.'*

I am glad Mr. T. vouchsafes, in this place, to grant that omnipotent
power can slay the enmity. I hope he will remember this concession,
and no more turn from the Prince of life, to preach up the n)or>ster
Death, as the slayer of the enmity. But, to come to the argument

Vol. IV. ^ 16

122 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

would Mr. T. think me in earnest, if I attempted to prove that a
stone had [once] the advantage of him, with respect to getting learn-
ing, and that there was more omnipotence required to make him a
scholar, than to make the stone he stands upon fit to take a degree
in the university? However, I shall attempt to do it : displaying my
skill in orthodox logic, I personate the schoolmaster who taught Mr
Toplady grammar, and probably found him once at play, when he
should have been at his book, and I say, " Indeed, master, a stone has
the advantage of you. A boy's playful heart is by nature, so far as
grammar is concerned, more intractable and unyielding than a stone
its<=lf." — [Nox<o for the proof t^ " 1 may take up a stone, and throw
it this way or that, and it instantly, and without the least degree
of resistance, obeys the impulse of my arm : whereas you resist my
orders, you run away from your book, or you look off from it. In
your playful heart there is every species of hatred and opposition to
your Accidence ; and therefore more power is required to make you
a scholar, than to make that stone a grammarian." Mr. Toplady's
voluntary humility claps this argument as excellent'; but his good
sense hisses it as absurd, and says with St. Paul, When I was a child,
I spake as a child : but when I became a man, I put away childish
things.

Arg. LVII. [p« 71.] Ah, but " God's gracious promise to renew his
people, runs in this remarkable style : 1 will take away the stony heart
out of yourjlcsh.''^ — And does this prove Calvinian bound zaill, any
more than these gracious commands to renew our own hearts prove
Pelagian free will? Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no
more stff-necked. — Make you a new heart and a new spirit ,-^Turn
yourselves, and live ye ? Who does not see, that the evangelical union
of such passages gives birth to the Scripture doctrine of assisted free
"mill, which stands at an equal distance from Calvinian Necessity y and
.from Pelagian, self-si>fficient exertion ?

Arg. LVllI. [p. 73.] But, God " workcth ALL things according to the
counsel of his own will. Eph. i. 1 1." — By putting the word ALL in very
large capitals, Mr. T. seems willing to insinuate, that God's decree
causes all things ; and of consequence, that God absolutely works the
good actions of the righteous, and the bad deeds of the wicked.
Whereas the apostle means only, that all the things which God works,
he works them according to the counsel of his own most wise, gracious,
and righteous will. But the things which God works are, in many
cases, as different from the things which we work, as light is different
from darkness. This passage, therefore, does not prove Calvinian
Xerefsitv : for when God made man, according to the counsel of his orvr,

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 123

-joiU^he made him a free agent, and set before him life and deaths
bidding him choose life. Now, to include Adam's eating of the for-
bidden fruit, and choosing death, among the things zi'hich God worketh,
is to turn Manichee with a witness : it is to confound Christ and
Belial ; the acts of God, and the deeds of sinners. It is to suppose
[horrible to think!] that God will stnd the reprobates to hell for his
own deeds, or if you please, for what he has absolutely wrought in
them and by them, according to the counsel of his own necessitating will.
This dreadful doctrine is that capital part of Calvinism which is called
Absolute Predestination to death. If Mr. T. denies that it is the second
pillar of his doctrine of grace, he may turn to Sect. II. where he will
find his peculiar Gospel '* upon its legs.''^ •

I hope I need say no more upon this head, to convince the unpre-
judiced reader, that Mr. T.'s arguments in favour of Calvinian neces-
sity are frivolous ; and that Mr. Wesley advances a glaring truth,
when he asserts, that on the principle of absolute predestination, there
can be no future judgment [upon any known principle of wisdom,
equity, and justice :] and that it requires more pains than all rational
creatures will be ever able to take, to reconcile the doctrine of
[Calvinian] reprobation with the doctrine of a judgment-day.

SECTION VIII.

Jin Answer to the Argument taken from God^s Prescience, whereby
Mr. Toplady tries to prove, that the very cruelty which Mr.
Wesley charges on Calvinism, is really chargeable on the Doctrine
of General Grace.

Mr. Toplady is a spirited writer. He not only tries to reconcile
Calvinian reprobation with divine mercy, but he attempts to retort
upon us the charge of holding a cruel doctrine.

Arg. LIX. [page 47.] " But what, if after all, that very cruelty
which Mr. Wesley pretends to charge on Calvinism, be found really
chargeable on Arminianism ? I pledge myself to prove this — before
I conclude this tract." — And accordingly [pp. 86, 87.] Mr. Toplady,
after observing, in his way, that according to Mr. Wesley's doctrine,
God oflfers his grace to many who put it from them, and gives it to
many who receiveit invain, and who, on this account, are condemned ;
Mr. Toplady, I say, sums up his argument in these words : " If God
knows that the offered grace will be rejected ; 'twould be mercy to
forbear the offer. Prove the contrary if you are able.*'

124 ANS\\^ER TO MR. TOPLADY^S

I have answered this objection at largCy Scripture Scales, Vol. iii.
Sect. vi. However, I shall say something upon it here. 1. God's
perfections shine in such a manner as not to eclipse one another.
Wisdom, justice, mercy, and truth, are the adorable and well-pro-
portioned features of God's moraZ /ace, if I may venture upon that
expression. Now, if in order to magnify his mercy, I thrust out his
wisdom and justice^ as I should do if I held a lawless Calvinian
election ; — or, if in order to magnify his justice, I thrust out his mercy
and wisdom, as I should do if I consistently held Calvinian reproba-
tion ; should I not disfigure God's moral face, as much as I should
spoil Mr. Toplady's natural face, if I swelled his eyes or cheeks to
such a*degree, as to leave absolutely no room for his other features ?
The Calvinists forget that as human beauty does net consist in the
monstrous bigness of one or two features, but in the harmonious and
symmetrical proportion of all ; so divine glory does not consist in
displaying a mercy and a justice, which would absolutely swallow up
each other, together with wisdom, holiness, and truth. This would,
however, be the case, if God, after having wisely decreed to make
free agents, in order to display his holiness, justice, and truth, by
judging them according to their works, necessitated them to be good or
wicked, by decrees of absolute predestination to life and heaven, or
of absolute reprobation to hell and damnation.

2. Do but allow, that God made rational creatures in order to rule
them as rational, namely, by laws adapted to their nature ; — do but
admit this truth, I say, which stands or falls with the Bible ; and it
necessarily follows, that such creatures were made with an eye to a
day of judgment ; and the moment this is granted, Mr. Toplady's
argument vanishes into smoke. For, supposing that God had dis-
played more mercy towards those who die in their sins, by forbearing
to give them grace, and to offer them more grace ; — or, in other
words, supposing that God had shown the wicked more mercy, by
showing them no mercy at all [which, by the by, is a contradiction in
terms ;] yet, such a merciless mercy [if I may use the expression]
would have blackened his wisdom, overthrown his truth, and destroyed
his justice. What a poor figure, for instance, would his justice have
made among his other attributes, if he had said, that he would judi-
cially cast his unprofitable servants into outer darkness, for burying a
talent which they neve" had, or for not receiving a Saviour who was
alway* kept from thsm ? And what rationals would not have won-
dered at a governor, who, after having made moral agents in order to
rule them according to their free nature, and to judge them in righte-

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. i25

ousness according to their works, should nevertheless show himself. —
1. So inconsistent, as to rule them by efficacious decrees, which should
absolutely necessitate some of theoi to work iniquity ; and others to
work righteousness ; 2. So unjust, as to judge them according to the
works which his own binding decrees had necessitated them to do :
and 3. So cruel and unwise, as to punish them with eternal death,
according to a sentence of absolute reprobation to death, or of absolute
election to life, which he passed beforehand, without any respect to
their works, thousands of years before most of them were born ? By
what art could so strange a conduct have been reconciled with the
titles o( Lawgiver, and Judge of all the earth, which God assumes ; or
with his repeated declarations, that justice and equity are the l!)asis of
his throne ; and that, in point of judgment, his ways are perfectly
equal ?

If Mr. T. should try to vindicate so strange a proceeding, by
tsaying, that God could justly reprobate to eternal death myriads of
unborn infants for the sin of Adam; would he not make a bad matter
worse ; since, upon the plan of the absolute predestination of all
events, Adam's sin was necessarily brought about by the decree of the
means, which decree, if Calvinism be true, God made in order to
secure and accomplish the two grand decrees of the end, namely, the
eternal decree of finished damnation by Adam, and the eternal decree
of finished salvation by Christ ?

The absurdity of Mr. Toplady's argument may be placed in a
clearer light by an illustration. The king, to display his royal
benevolence, equity, and justice ; to maintain good order in his army,
and excite his troopers to military diligence, promises to give a reward
to all the men of a regiment of light-horse who shall ride so many
miles without dismounting to plunder : and he engages himself to
punish severely those who shall be guilty of that offence. He fore-
sees, indeed, that many will slight his offered rewards, and incur his
threatened punishment : nevertheless, for the above-mentioned
reasons, he proceeds. Some men are promoted, and others are
punished. A Calvinist highly blames the king's conduct. He says,
that his Majesty would have shown himself more ^rac?07<s, and would
have asserted his sovereignty much better, if he had refused horsei
to the plunderers, and had punished them for lighting off horses whiclt
they never had : and that, on the other hand, it became his free grace
to tie the rewardable dragoons fast to their saddles, and by this means
to necessitate them to keep on horseback, and deserve the promised
reward. Would not such a conduct have marked his Majesty's
reputation with the stamp of disingenuity, cruelty, and folly ? And

126 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

yet, astonishing ! because we do not approve of such a judicial dis-
tribution of the rewards of eternal Hfe, and the punishments of
eternal death, Mr. Toplady lixes the charge of cruelty upon the
Gospel which we preach ! He goes on :

Arg. LX. [page 85.] " According to Mr. Wesley's own funda-
mental principle of universal grace ; grace itself, or the saving in-
fluence of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of men, does and mw^f become
the ministration of eternal death to thousands and millions.'* — [p. 89.]
*' Level, therefore, your tragical exclamations about 2in mercifulness at
your own scheme, which truly and properly deserves them."

The flaw of this argument consists in the words " does and must,^^
which Mr. T. puts in Italics. 1. In the word does: it is a great mis-
take to say, that upon Mr. W.'s principles, grace itself does become
the ministration of eternal death to any soul. It is not for grace, but
for the abuse or neglect of grace, and its saving hght, that men are
condemned. This is the condemnation, says Christ himself, that light
[the light of grace] is come into the world, and men love darkness
rather than light. — And St. Paul adds, that (he grace of God, which
bringeth salvation, hath [in difierent degrees] appeared to all men,
John iii. 19. Tit. ii. 11. There is no medium between condemning
men for not using a talent of grace which they had, or for not using
a talent of grace which they never had. The former sentiment, which
is perfectly agreeable to Reason, Scripture, and Conscience, is that
of Mr. Wesley; the latter sentiment, which contradicts one half of
the Bible, shocks reason, and demolishes the doctrines of justice, is
that of Mr. Toplady.

2. When this gentleman says, that God's grace, upon Mr. Wesley's
principles, 7nust become the ministration of death to millions, he
advances as groundless a proposition as I would do, if I said, that
the grace of creation, the grace of preservation, and the grace of a
preached Gospel, absolutely destroy millions ; because millions, by
wilfully abusing their created and -preserved powers, or by neglecting
so great salvation as the Gospel brings, pull down upon themselves an
unnecessary, and therefore a just destruction. — 3. We oppose the
doctrine of Absolute Necessity, or the Calvinian must, as being insepa-
rable from Manicheism : and we assert, that there is no needs must in
the eternal death of any man, because Christ imparts a degree of
temporary salvation to all, with power to obey, and a promise to bestow
eternal salvation upon all that will obey. How ungenerous is it then,
to charge upon us the very doctrine which we detest, when it has no
necessary connexion with any of our principles ! How irrational to
say, that if our doctrine of grace be true, God's grace must become

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 127

the ministration of death to milhons ! — Ten men have a mortal disor-
iler : a physician prepares a sovereign remedy for them all : tive
take it properly and recover, and tive, who will not follow his pre-
scriptions, die of their disorder : now, who but a prejudiced person
would infer from thence, that the physician's sovereign remedy is
become the ministration of death to the patients who die, because they
would not take it ? Is it right thus to confound a remedy with the
obstinate neglect of it ? A man ■wilfully starves himself to death with
good food before him. I say that his ■wilfulness is the cause of his
death : no, replies a decretist, it is the good food which you desire
him to take. This absurd conclusion is all of a piece with that of
Mr. Toplady.

Arg. LXl. [p. 89.] " The Arminian system reprpspntf? thp Father
of mercies as offering grace to them, who he knows will only add sin
to sin, and make themselves twofold more the children of hell by
refusing it." — Indeed it is not the Arminian system only, that says this :
1. All the Calvi7iists, who allow that God gave angelic grace to angels,
though he knew that many of them would fall from that grace,
and would fall deeper, than if they had fallen from a less exalted sta-
tion : — 2. Jesus Christ, who gave Judas the grace of apostleship, and
represents God as giving a pound to his servants who squander it, as
well as to those who use it properly : — And, 3. Mr. Toplady himself,
who [notwithstanding his pretended horror for so scriptural a doctrine]
dares not deny, that God gave the grace of creation to those who
shall perish. Now the grace of creation implies spotless holiness ;
and if God could once graciously give spotless holiness to Judas in the
loins of Adam, why could he not graciously restore to that apostle a
degree of free agency to good, that he might be judged according to
his own works, and not according to Calvinian decrees of finished
wickedness, and finished damnation in Adam ? But, — 4. What is still
more surprising, Mr. T. himself [p. 51.] quotes these %\'ords, which
so abundantly decide the question : Thou Capernaum, which art exalted
unto heaven [by the peculiar flavours and Gospel privileges bestowed
upon thee] shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works which
have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
unto this day. Matt. xi. 23. Now I ask, Why were these mighty works
done in Capernaum ? Was it out of love — to bring Capernaum to
repentance ? Or was it out of wrath — -that it might be more tolerable
in the day of judgment for Sodom than Capernaum? There is no
medium : Mr. Toplady must recant this part of the Bible, and of his
book ; or he must answer one of these two questions in the affirma-
tive. If he say [as we do] that these mighty works, which might have

128 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY^S

converted Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, were primarily wrought to bring
Capernaum to repentance, he gives up Calvinism, which stands or falls
with the doctrine of necessitating means used in order to bring about a
necessary end. If he say [as Calvinism does] that these mighty works
were primarily wrought to sink Capernaum into hell — into a deeper
hell than Sodom, because the end always shows what the means were
nsed for ; he runs upon the point of his own objection ; he pulls
upon his doctrines of grace the very unmercifulness which he charges
upon ours^ and he shows to every unprejudiced reader, that the diffi-
culty arising from the Prescience of God, with which the Calvinists
think to demolish the doctrine of general grace, f^Us upon Calvinism
with a double weight. — Mr. Toplady is sensible that God could never
have appeared good and just, uulees the wicked had been absolutely
inexcusable, and that they could never have been inexcusable, if God
had condemned them for burying a talent of grace which they never
had ; and therefore Mr. T. tries to overthrow this easy solution of
the difficulty by saying,

Arg. LXII. [p. 88.] " Be it so," that the wicked are made inexcu-
sable by a day of grace and temporary salvation, " yet, surely God
can never be thought, knowingly to render a man more inexcusable,
by taking such measures as will certainly load him with accumulated
condemnation, out of mere love to that man !" — We grant it ; and there-
fore we assert, that it is not out of mere love that God puts us in a
gracious state of probation, or temporary salvation; but out of "wisdom,
truth, and distributive justice, as well as out of mercy and love. If
God therefore were endued with no other perfection than that of
merciful love, we would give up the doctrine of judicial reprobation ;
for a God devoid of distributive justice could, and would save all sin-
ners in the Calvinian way, that is, with a salvation perfectly finished
without any of their works. But then, he would neiiher judge them,
nor bestow eternal salvation upon them by way of reward for their
works, as the Scriptures say he will.

Oh ! how much more reasonable and scriptural is it, to allow the
doctrine of free grace, and free will, established in the Scripture
scales ; and to maintain the reprobation of justice — an avoidable repro-
bation this, which is perpetually asserted in the Gospel, and will
leave the wicked entirely inexcusable, and God perfectly righteous :
— How much better is it, I say, to hold such a reprobation, than to
admit Calvinian reprobation, which renders the wicked excusable and
pitiable, as being condemned for doing what Omnipotence necessitated
them to do ; — a reprobation this, which stigmatizes Christ as a
shuffler, for offering to all a salvation from which most are absolutely

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 129

debarred ;-~a cruel reprobation, uhich represents the Father of
mercies as an unjust Sovereign, who takes such measures as will
unavoidably load myriads of unborn men with accumulated condemna-
tion, out o( free wrath to their unformed souls.

Should Mr. Toplady say, " That, according to the Gospel which
we preach, the wicked shall certainly be damned ; and therefore the
difference between us is but trifling after all j seeing the Calvinists
assert that some men, namely, those who are eternally reprobated by
divine sovereignty, shall certainly and unavoidably be damned ; and
the anti-calvinists say, that some men. namely, those who are finally
reprobated by divine justice, shall be certainly though avoidably
damned :" — 1 reply, that frivolous as the difference between these
two doctrines may appear to those who judge according to the ap-
pearance of words, it is as capital as the difference between avoidable
ruin and unavoidable destruction ; between justice and injustice; —
between initial election diud finished reprobation ; between saying that
God is the first cause of the damnation of the wicked, and asserting
that they are the first cause of their own damnation. In a word, it is
as great as the difference between the north and the south — between
a Gospel made up of Antinotnian free grace and barbarianyVec wrath^
and a Gospel made up of scriptural free grace, and impartial, Tetn-
hui'ive justice.

Upon the whole, from the preceding answers it is evident, if I am
not mistaken, that though the grand Calvinian objection taken from
God's foreknowledge may, at first sight, puzzle the simple ; yet it can
bear neither the light of Scripture nor that of reason ; and it recoils
upon Calvinism with all the force with which it is supposed to attack
7he saving grace which has appeared to all men.

SECTION IX.

An Answer to the charges of robbing the Trinity, and encouraging
Deism, which charges Air. T, brings against the doctrine of the Anti-
Calvinists.

Mr. T. thinks his cause so good, that he supposes himself able not
only to stand on the defensive ; but alsolo attack the Gospel which
we preach. From his Babel, therefore, [his strong tower of confusioni
he makes a bold sally, and charges us thus :

Arc. LXIII. [p. 01.] " Arminianism robs the Father of his Sove-
reignty.^'' — This is a mistake ; Arminianism dares not attribute to him

Vol. IV. 17

130 ANSWER TO MB. TOPLADY'S

the grifn sovereignty of a Nero ; but if it does not humbly allow hiii»
aJI the sovereignty which Scripture and reason ascribe to him, so far
it is wrong, and so far we oppose Pelagian Arminianism as well as
Manichean Calvinism. — It " robs the Father of his decrees:''^ — This is
a mistake : it reverences all his righteous, scriptural decrees ; though
it shudders at the thought of imputing to him unscriptural, Calvinian
decrees, more wicked and absurd than the decrees of Nebuchadnez-
zar and Darius.— It " robs the Father of his providence :''^ — Another
mistake ! Our doctrine only refuses to make God the author of sin,
and to lead men to the Pagan error of fatalism, or to the Manichean
error of a two- principled god, who absolutely works all things in all
men, as a showman works all things in his puppets : fixing necessary
virtue on the good, and necessary wickedness on the wicked, to the
subversion of all the divine perfections, and to the entire overthrow
of the second Gospel axiom, of Christ's tribunal, and of the wisdom
and justice, which the Scriptures ascribe to God, as Judge of the whole
earth.

Arc. LXIV. [Ibid.] " It [Arminianism] robs the Son of his efficacy
as a Saviour.''^ — Another mistake ! It only dares not pour upon him
the shame of being the Absolute Reprobater of myriads of unborn
creatures, whose nature he assumed with a gracious design to be
absolutely their temporary Saviour ; promising to prove their eternal
Saviour upon Gospel terms : and accordingly, he saves all mankind
with a temporary salvation ; and those who obey him with an eternal
salvation. The efficacy of his blood is then complete, so far as he
absolutely designed it should be.

Arg. LXV. [Ibid.] '^ It [Arminianism] robs the Spirit of his efficacy
as a Sanctifer.''^ By no means : for it maintains, that the Spirit,
which is the grace and light of Christ, enlightens every man that comes
into the world, and leads the worst of men to some temporary good,
or at least restrains them from the commission of a thousand crimes.
So far the Spirit's grace is efficacious in all; and, if it is not completely
and eternally efficacious in those who harden their hearts, and by their
wilful hardness treasure up unto' themselves wrath against the day of
wrath, — it is because the day of wrath, for which the wicked were
secondarily'^ made, is to be the day of the righteous judgment of God,

^ All arkgeh aud men were primttribj made to enjoy an accepted time, and a temporarr
^ay of salvation. Those angels and men, who know and improve their day of salvation?
were secondarily made for the day of remunerative love, and for a kingdom prepared for
Ihem from the beginning of the ivorld. But those angels and men who do not know and
improve their day of salvation, were secondaHly made for the day of refrihiilive wrath.
^m\ for the fire preparcdfor the devil and his angels.

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 131

who will render to every man according to his deeds. Rotn. ii. 5, 6.
and not the day of the MnWo-/ifco«s judgment of Calvin, who (doctrin-
ally) renders to every man according to njiuished salvation in Christ,
productive of necessary goodness ; and according to a finished dam-
nation in Adam, productive of remediless wickedness, and all its
dreadful consequences.

Arg. LXVl. [p. 92.] Mr. Toplady produces a long quotation from
Mr. SlosSy which, being divested of the verbose dress in which errof
generally appears, amounts to this plain abridged argument. " If
the doctrine of Calvinian election be false, because all mankind are
not the objects of that election, and because all men have an equal
right to the divine favour ; it follows that Infidels are right when
they say, that the Jewish and the Christian revelations are false ; for
all mankind are not elected to the favour of having the Old and New
Testaments : and therefore Arminianism encourages Infidelity."

This argument is good to convince Pelagian levellers, that God is
partial in the distribution of his talents, and that he indulges Jews
and Christians with a holy, peculiar election and calling, of which
those who never heard of the Bible are utterly deprived. I have
myself made this remark in the Essay on the gratuitous election and
partial reprobation which St. Paul frequently preaches : but the
argument does not affect o?^r anti-calvinian Gospel. For, I. ^'e do
not say, that Calvinian election is false, because it supposes that God
is peculiarly gracious to some men ; for this we strongly assert as well
as the Calvinists ; but because it supposes that God is so peculiarly
gracious to some men as to be absolutely merciless and unjust to all the
rest of mankind.

2. That very revelation which Mr. Sloss thinks we betray to the
Deists, informs us, that though all men are not indulged with the pccu-
/«ar blessings of Judaism and Christianity, yet they are all chosen and
called to be righteous, at least according to the covenants made with
fallen Adam, and spared Noah. Hence St. Peter says, that, In every
nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness [according to his
light, though it should be only the lowest degree of that light which
enlightens every man that cometh into the world] is accepted of him :
and St. Paul speaks of some Gentiles who, though they have not the law
of Moses or the law of Christ, do by nature [in its slate of initial res-
toration through the seed of life given to fallen Adam in the promise]
the things contained in the law, and are a law unto themselves; showing
the work of the law written in their hearts. Therefore, though there
is a gratuitous election, which draws after it a gratuitous reprobation
from the blessings peculiar to Judaism and Christianity ; there is no

132 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY'^

Calvinian election, which draws after it a gratuitous reprobation iVoin
all saving grace, and necessarily involves the greatest part of mankind
m unavoidable d^?Lmi\^{\on. Hence, if I mistake not, it appears that
when Mr. Sloss charges us with " having contributed to the prevail-
ing Deism of the present time, by furnishing the adversaries of
Divine Revelation with arguments against Christianity," he [as well
as Mr. Toplady] gratuitously imputes to our doctrine what really
belongs to Calvinism. For there is a perfect agreement between the
absolute necessity of events, which is asserted by Calvinian bound
xmllers; and that which is maintained by Deistical fatalists : and it is
well known, that the horrors of the absolute reprobation which the
Calvinists fancy they see in Rom. ix. have tempted many Moralists,
who read that chapter with the reprobating glosses of Calvin and his
followers, to bid adieu to Revelation ; it being impossible that a
scheme of doctrine, which represents God as the absolute Reprobater
of myriads of unborn infants, should have the Parent of good, and
the God of love, for its author.

SECTION X.

An Answer to the Arguments by which Mr. Toplady attempts to retort
• . the charge of Antinomian[sm, and to show that Calvinism is more
conducive to Holiness than the opposite Doctrine.

Mr. Hill asserts, that Mr. T. retorts all our objections upon us in a
most masterly manner. Let us see how he retorts the objection
which we make to absolute predestination — a doctrine this, by which
necessary hofiness is imposed upon the electa and necessary wickedness
upon the reprobates: how the fixing unavoidable holiness upon a
minority, and unavoidable wickedness upon a majority of mankind, is
reconcileable uith the glory of Divine Holiness, Mr. Toplady informs
us in the following argument.

Arg LXVII. [page 93, 94.] Calvinian* "Election ensures holiness
to a very great part of mankind : whereas precarious grace, deriving

* The author of A I^efter to an Arminian Teacher [a letter this, which I have quoted
ta a preceding note,] advances the same argument in these words, p. 5. " The doctrine of
eternal [he means Calvinian] election," for we believe the right, godly, eternal election,
tnaintained in the Scriptures, " concludes God more merciful than the Arminian doctrine
of supposed universal redemption, because that doctrine which absolutely ascertains the
regeneration, eficctual calling, the sanctification, &c. as well as the eternal salvation of
an innumerable company, &c. Rev. vii. 9. must represent God more merciful than the
Arminian scheme, which cannot ascertain the eternal salvation of one man now living," &c.
As it is possible to kill two birds with one stone, 1 hope that my answer (o Mr. Topladv
••ViU satisfv Mr. M'GowaiT.

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 133

all its eflficacy from the caprice of free will, could not ensure holiness
to any one individual of the whole species.-' — Had Mr. T. stated the
case properly, he would have said, " Calvinian election, which
ensures necessary holiness to a minority of mankind ; and Calvinian
reprobation, which ensures necessary wickedness to a majority of man-
kind, promote human sanctity more than the partial election of grace^
which formerly afforded the Jews, and now affords the Christians,
abundant helps to be peculiarly holy under their dispensations of
peculiar grace : — yea, more than the impartial election of justice,
which under all the dispensations of divine grace, chooses the man that
is godly, to rewards of grace and glory ; — and more than the reproba-
tion of justice, which is extended to none but such as bury their talent
of grace, by wilful unbelief and voluntary disobedience.

If Mr. T. had thus stated the case, according to his real sentiments
and ours, every candid reader would have seen that our doctrines of
grace are far more conducive to human sanctity than those of Calvin :
1. Because Calvinism ensures human sanctity to none of the elect:
for a sanctity which is as necessary to a creature as motion is to a
moved puppet, is not the sanctity of ?{ free agent ; and, of conse-
quence, it is not human sanctity : 2. Because Calvinism ensures reme-
diless wickedness to all the reprobate, and remediless wickedness can
never be " human sanctity.''^

With respect to what Mr. T. says, that our doctrines of grace do
^^ not ensure holiness to any one individual of the whole species ;^^ if by
*' ensured holiness,'''' he means a certain salvation without <iny work of
faith, and labour of love, he is greatly mistaken : for our Gospel
absolutely ensures such a salvation, and of consequence it}0nt holiness,
to that numerous part of mankind who die in their infancy. Nay, it
absolutely ensures a seed of redeeming, sanctifying grace to all man-
kind, so long as the day of grace or initial salvation lasts ; for we
maintain, as well as St. Paul, that the free gift is come upon all men to
justification of life^ Rom. v. 18. : and we assert, as well as our Lord,
that of such [of infants] is the kingdom of heaven, and therefore some
capacity to enjoy it, which capacity we believe to be inseparably con-
nected with a seed of holiness. Add to this, that our Gospel as well
as Calvinism, ensures eternal salvation to all the adult who are faithful
unto death. According to our doctrine these sheep shall never perish:
to these elect of justice, who make their election of grace sure by
obedience, Christ gives eternal life in the fullest sense of the word :
and none shall pluck them out of his hand. If Mr. T. had placed our
Gospel in this true light, his objection would have appeared as just as
the rodomontade of Goliath when he was going to despatch David.

134 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADy's

Aro. LXVIIl. [p. 94.] Mr. T. tries to make up the Antinomian
gap, by doing that which borders upon giving up Calvinism. *' No
man [says he] according to our system, has a right to look upon him-
self as elected, till sanctifying grace has converted him to faith and
good works."

This flimsy salvo has quieted the fears of many godly Calvinists,
when the Antinomianism of their system stared them in the face.
To show the absurdity of this evasion, I need only ask, has not every
man a right to believe the truth ? If I am absolutely elected to eter-
nal life, while I commit adultery and murder, while I defile my
father's wife, and deny my Saviour with oaths and curses ; why may
not I believe it ? Is there one sentence of Scripture which com-
mands me to believe a lie, or forbids me to believe the truth ? — " O,
but you have no right to believe yourself elected, till sanctifying
grace has converted you to faith and good works." Then it follows,
that as an adult sinner, I am not elected to the reward of the inherit-
ance, or to eternal life in glory, till I believe and do good works ; or
it follows that I have no right to believe the truth. If Mr. T. aflirm,
that I have no right to beheve the truth, he makes himself ridiculous
before all the world : and if he say, that I am not absolutely elected,
till I am converted to faith and good works; it follows, that every time
I am perverted from faith and good works, I forfeit my election of
justice. Thus, under the guidance of Mr. T. himself, I escape the
fatal rock of Calvinian election, and find myself in the safe harbour
of old, practical Christianity : Ye know that no whoremonger, nor
unclean person, nor covetous man, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ dSnd of God : Let no man deceive you with vain words. For
if I have no right to believe myself an heir of God, and a joint-heir
with Christ, while I turn whoremonger ; it is evident that whoredom
deprives me of my right : — much more adultery and murder. Hence
it appears that Mr. T. cannot prop up the Calvinian ark, but by flatly
contradicting Paul, which is a piece of impiety; and by asserting that
elect whoremongers have no right to believe the truth while they
commit whoredom, which is a glaring absurdity.

Arg. LXIX. [p. 95.] After having made up the Antinomian gap,
by giving up either Calvinian election, or the incontestable right
which every man has to believe the truth, Mr. Toplady tries to retort
the charge of Antinomianism upon our doctrines of grace : and he
does it by producing one *' Thomson, who, when he zms in a Jit of
intemperance, if any one reminded him of the wrath of God threatened
against such courses, would answer, I am a child of the devil to-day; but
1 have free will: and to-morrow I will make myself a child of God.'' ^

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 135

To this I answer, 1. The man spoke like a person *' in a Jit of
intemperance y^ and there is no reasoning with such, any nnore than
with mad men. But Dr. Crisp, when he was sober, and in the pul-
pit too, could say, " A behever may be assured of pardon as soon as
he commits any sin, even adultery and murder. — Sins are but scare-
crows and bugbears to frighten ignorant children, but men of under-
standing, see they are counterfeit things :" and indeed it must be
so, if, as Mr. T. tells us, Whatever is, is rights and necessarily flows
from the predestinating will of him who does all things zvell.

2. This Thomson [as appears by his speech] was a rigid free
wilier; one who discarded ihejirst Gospel axiom, and the doctrine of
free grace ; and therefore, his error does not affect otir Gospel. Nay,
we oppose such free willers, as much as we do the rigid bound willers^
who discard the second Gospel axiom, and the necessity of sincere
obedience in order to our judicial justification, and eternal salvation.

3. If Thomson had been sober and reasonable, Mr. Wesley might
easily have made up the pretended Antinomian gap of Arminianism
five different ways : — 1. By showing him, that although free will may
reject a good motion, yet it cannot raise one without free grace ; and
therefore to say, *' To-morrow Iwill make myself a child of God,'''' is
as absurd in a man, as it would be in a woman to say, To-morrow I
will conceive alone : — it is as impious as to say. To-morrow I will
absolutely command God, and he shall obey me. — 2. By showing him
his imminent danger, and the horror of his present state, which he
himself acknowledged when he said, '■' I am a child of the devil to-
day.'''— 3. By urging the uncertain length of the day of salvation.
Grace gives us no room to depend upon to-morrow ; its constant lan-
guage being, Now is the accepted time. — 4. By pressing the hardening
nature of presun^tuous sin.— And 5. By displaying the terrors of
just wrath, which frequently says. Take the talent from him. — Because
ye refused, I will be avenged. I give thee up to thy own hearfs lust, to
a reprobate mind — Thou fool! this night shall thy soul be required of
thee.

These Qvefive rational and scriptural ways of making up the sup-
posed Antinomian gap of our Gospel. But if Mr. Thomson had been
a Calvinist, and had said like Mr. Fulsome, '♦ 1 have had a call, and my
election is safe : as my good works can add no^ihing to my finished sal-
vation, so my bad words can take nothing from it. Satan may pound
me, if he please ; but Jesus must replevy me. Let me wander
where I will from God, Christ must fetch me back again. The cove-
nant is vnconditionally ordered in all things and sure. All thino-s

136 ANSWER TO MR. TOFLADY's

must work for good to the elect." " And if all things,'' [says Mr
Hill] " then their very sins and corruptions are included in the royal
promise.^''

" Whoredom and drunkenness may hurt another, but they cannot
hurt me. God will overrule sin for my good, and his glory : What-
ever is, is right : for God worketh all things in all men, even wicked-
ness in the wicked, and how much more in his elect, who are his
chosen instruments!" — If Mr. Thomson, I say, had been a Calvinist,
and had thus stood his ground in the Antinomian gap which Calvin, Dr. ,
Crisp, Mr. Fulsome, Blr. Hill, and Mr. Toplady have made ; who
could reasonably have beaten him off? Do not all his conclusions flow
from the doctrine of absolute election and finished salvation, as una-
voidably as four is the result of two and two?

Arg. LXX. [p. 97.] Mr. T. attempts a§ain to stop up the Antino-
mian gap, which fatalism and Calvinian predestination make in prac-
tical religion. Calling to his assistance Zeno, the founder of the
Stoics, or rigid predestinarians among the heathens, he says, Zeno one
day thrashed his servant for pilfering. The fellow, knowing his
master was a fatalist, thought to bring himself off by alleging that he
was destined to steal, and therefore ought not to be beat for it." —
*' You are destined to steal, are you ?" answered the philosopher :
" then you are no less destined to be thrashed for it : and laid on some
hearty blows extraordinary." — I do not wonder that Mr. Hill, in his
Finishing Stroke, calls Mr. Toplady's arguments ^^ most masterly;^'
for this argument of Zeno is yet more masterly than his own : "I
shall not take the least notice of him, any more than if I were tra-
velling on the road, I would stop to lash, or even order my footman to
lash, every little impertinent quadruped in a village, that should come
out and bark at me." Mr. Toplady, in the advertisement placed at the
head of his pamphlet, represents some of us as unworthy of even
being pilloried in a preface, orfiogg'd at a pamphlefs tail :" We are
now arrived at the tail of his pamphlet, in the body of which he has
thought Mr. Wesley so highly worthy of his rod, as to " flog" him with
the gratuity, absoluteness, mercy, and justice, which are peculiar to
the reprobation defended through the whole performance. If serious-
ness did not become us, when we vindicate the injured attributes oF
the Judge of all the earth, I might be tempted to ask with a smile, has
Mr. T. so worn out his rod, in making " More work for Mr. Wesley,''-
that he is now obliged to borrow Zeno's stick to finish the execution
at the pamphleVs tail ? For my part, as I have no idea of riveting
orthodoxy upon my readers with a stick, and of solving the rational

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. j o)

objections of my opponents by " laying on some hearty blows,-' and s<5
"thrashing'^ them into conviction, or into silence, I own that Logica
Zenonis and Logica Genevensis being of a piece, either of them can
easily beat me out of the field. Arguments a lapide are laughable ;
but i flee before arguments a baculo. However, in my retreat; I will
venture to prevent Mr. T. with the following queries.

If ZenOy in vindicating Fatalism^ could say to a thief, that he wa:^
absolutely predestinated to stsalj and to be thrashed for stealing ; is it
not more than Mr. Toplady can say in vindication o^ Calvinism ? For,
upon his scheme, may not a man be absolutely predestinated, not only
to stealy but also to escape thrashings and to ohtain salvation by stealing ?
Mr. Toplady is Mr. Hill's second ; and Mr. Hill in his fourth letter,
[where he shows the happy effects of sin] tells the public and me,
*' Onesimus robbed Philemon his master ; and fleeing from justice, was
brought under Paul's preaching and converted.^'' Thus Zeno^s predes-
tination failed, and with it Zeno's argument ; for robbery led not
Onesimus to thrashing, but to conversion and glory, if we believe Mr.
Hill. And if Mr. Fulsome is an elect person, why might he not be
guilty of as fortunate a robbery ? Why might not a similar decree
'* secure and accomplish the [the same Evangelical] end by the [same
Antinomian] means .^" Mr. Toplady nffay prevail over us by borrowing
Zeno's cane, and the whip of Mr. Hill's lashing footman ; but his pen
will never demonstrate, 1. That Calvinism does not rationally lead all
her admirers to the deepest mire of speculative Antinomianism : and
2. That when they are there, nothing can keep them from weltering
in the dirt of practical Antinomianism, but an unhappy inconsistence
between their actions and their principles.

SECTION XI.

A Caution against the Tenety Whatever is, is right; an Antinomian
Tenet this, which Mr. T. calls " a first Principle of the Bible."—
A71 ans-wer to his Challenge about finding a middle Way between the
Calvinian Doctrine of Pkovidence, and the Atheistical Doctrine of
Chance.

Whatever the true God works is undoubtedly right. But if
the Deity absolutely works all things in all men, good and bad, it evi-
dently follows, 1. That the two-principled deity preached by Mayie.'i
is the true God : 2. That the bad principle of this double deity works
■wickedness in the wicked, as necessarily as the good principle works

Vol. IV. 18 *

i38 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

righteousness in the righteous. And 3. That the original of wicked-
ness being divine, wickedness is as right as the deity from whom it
flows. Upon this horrid, Manichean scheme, who can wonder at Mr.
Toplady saying,

Arck LXXI. [p. 96.] " This is a first principle of the Bible, and
of sound reason, that Whatever is, is right ; or will answer some
great end, &c. in its relation to the whole."— Error is never more
dangerous than when it looks a little like truth. But when it is im-
posed upon the simple as a first principle of the Bible and of sound
reason, it makes dreadful work. How conclusively will a rigid Pre-
destinarian reason if he says, *' Whatever is, is right : and therefore
sin is right. Again, it is wrong to hinder what is right : sin is right :
and therefore it is wrong to hinder sin. — Once more, we ought to do
what is right : sin is right, and therefore we ought to commit sin." —
Now, in opposition to Mr. Toplady's first principle, I assert as a first
principle of reason, that, though it was right in God not absolutely to
hinder sin, yet sin is aheays wrong. — *' Oh, but God permitted it,
and will get himself glory by displaying his vindictive justice in
punishing it : for the ministration of condemnation is glorious.''^ This
argument has deluded many a pious Calvinist. To overthrow
it, I need only observe, that righteousness exceeds condemnation in
glory.

In what respect is sin right? Can it be right in respect of God, if
it brings him less glory than righteousness ? Can it be right in respect
of man, if it brings temporal misery upon all, and eternal miserj'
upon some? Can it be right in respect of the Adamic laxv, the law of
Moses, or the law of Christ ? Certainly no : for sin is equally the
transgression of all these laws. '* Oh, but it is right with respect to
the evangelical promise." — By no means : for the evangelical
promise, vulgarly called The Gospel, testifies of Christ, the destroyer
of sin, and offers us a remedy against sin. Now, if sin were right,
the Gospel which remedies it, and Christ who destroys it, would be
wrong. I conclude, then, that if sin be right, neither with respect of
God nor with respect of man ; neither with regard to the law nor
with regard to the Gospel ; it is right in no shape : it is wrong in
every point of view.

** But why did God permit it .^" Indeed he never properly
permitted it, unless Mr. Toplady, who does not scruple to call
God " the permitter of evil,'^ can prove, that to forbid in the most
solemn manner, and under the severest penalty, is the same thing as
to permit.

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 139

Should you ask, Why did not God absolutely hinder sin ? I still
answer, 1. Because his wist/om saw that a world where free agents
and necessary agents are mixed, is better [all things considered] than
a world stocked with nothing but necessary agents, i. e. creatures
absolutely hindered from sinning. — 2. Because his distributive justice
could be displayed no other way, than by the creation of accountable
free agents, made with an eye to a day of judgment. — 3. Because it
would be as absurd to necessitate free agents, as to bid free agents be,
that they might not be free agents ; — as foolish as to form accountable
creatures, that they might not be accountable. — And 4. Because when
God saw that the free agency of his creatures would introduce sin,
he determined to overrule it, or remedy it in such a manner as
would, upon the whole, render this world, with all the voluntary evil,
and voluntary good in it, better than a world of necessary agents,
where nothing but necessary good would have been displayed : an
inferior sort of good this, which would no more have admitted of the
exercise of God's political rxnsdom and distributive justice, than the
excellence of precious stones and tine flowers admits of laws,
rewards, and punishments.

Should the reader ask, how far we may safely go to meet the truth
which borders most on Mr. Toplady's false principle, zvhateveris, is
right? I answer, 1. We may grant, nay, we ought to assert, that
God will get himself glory every wa}'. Evangelical grace and just
wrath minister to his praise, though not equally : and therefore God
willeth not primarily the death of his creatures. Punishment is his
strange work ; and he delights more in the exercise of his remunera-
tive goodness, than in the exercise of his vindictive jusUce. — 2. Hence
it appears, that the wrath of man, and the rage of the devil, will turn
to God''s praise : but it is only to his inferior praise. For, though the
blessed will sing loud hallelujahs to divine justice, when vengeance
shall overtake the ungodly ; and though the consciences of the
ungodly will give God glory, and testify that he is holy in all bis
works, and righteous in all his vindictive ways ; yet, this glory will
be only the glory of the ministration of condemnation : — a dispensa-
tion this, which is inferior to the dispensation of righteous mercy.
Hence it appears, that those who die in their sins, would have brought
more glory to God by choosing righteousness and life, than they do
by choosing death in the error of their ways. But still, this iiftrior
praise, arising from the condemnation and punishment of ungodly free
agents — this inferior praise, I say, mixed with the superior praise
arising from the justification and rewards of godly free agents, will fjir
exceed the praise which might have accrued to God from the

140 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY'*

unavoidable obedience, and absurd rewards of necessitated agents,—
of angels and men absolutely bound to obey by a necessitating grace.)
like that which rigid bound willers preach ; were we even to sup-
pose, that this forcible grace had Calvinistically caught all rational
creatures in a net of finished salvation, aiid had drawn them all to
heaven as irresistibly as Simon Peter drew the net to land full of great
fishes, an hundred and fifty and three. For, before the Laugiver and
Judge of all the earth, the unnecessitated voluntary goodness of one
angel, or one man, is more excellent than the necessary goodness of a
world of creature?, as unavoidably and passively virtuous, as a
diamond is unavoidably and passively bright.

Arg. LXXII. [p. 96,] With respect to the second part of Mr.
Toplady's doctrine, that whatever is, is right, because " it will answer
some great end, ^c. in its relation to the whole ;'''' it is nothing but
logical paint put on a false 'principle, to cover its deformity ; for error
can imitate Jezebel, who laid natural paint on her withered face, to
fill up her hideous wrinkles, and impose upon the spectators. I may
perhaps prove it by an illustration. I want to demonstrate that
cheating, extortion, litigiousness, breaking the peace, robberies, and
murders, are all right, and I do it by asserting, " That they answer
some great ends in their relation to the whole; for they employ the
Parliament in making laws to prevent, end, or punish them ; they
afford business to all the judges, magistrates, lawyers, sheriffs, con-
stables, jailers, turnkeys, thief-catchers, and executioners in the
kingdom : and when robbers and murderers are hanged, they reflect
praise upon the government which extirpates them ; they strike
terror into the wicked ; and their untimely dreadful end sets off the
happiness of a virtuous course of life, and the bliss which crowns the
death of the righteous. Besides, many murderers and robbers have
been brought to Christ for pardon and salvation, like the dying thief,
who by his robbery had the good luck to meet Christ on the cross :
so that his own gallows, as well as our Lord's cross, proved the tree
of life to that happy felon." — The mischievous absurdity of these
pleas for the excellence of wickedness, puts me in mind of the argu-
ments, by which a greedy publican of my parish once exculpated him-
self, when 1 reproved him for encouraging tippling and drunkenness.
" The more ale we sell," said he, '' the greater is the king's revenue.
If it were not for us, the king could not live ; — nor could he pay the
lleet and army ; — and if we bad neither fleet nor army, we should
soon fall into the hands of the French." So great are the ends which
tippling answers in its relation to the whole British empire, if we maj''

VINDICATION OF THE DECREES. 141

believe a tapster, who pleads for drunkenness as plausibly as some
good mistaken men do for all manner of wickedness.

From the whole, if I am not mistaken, we may safely conclude,
that, though all God's works are right, yet sm, the work of fallen
angels and fallen men, is never right ; and that, though the universe,
with all its sinfulness, is better than a sinless world necessitated to be
sinless by the destruction of free agents ; yet, as there is so much sin
in the world, through the wrong use which free agents make of their
powers, Mr. T. advances an unscriptural and irrational maxim, whea
he says, that Whatever is, is right : and he imposes upon us an
\$ntinomian paradox, when he asserts that this dangerous maxim *' Is
a 6rst principle of the Bible, and of sound reason." I repeat it: it
was right in God to create free agents, to put them under a practi-
cable law, and to determine to punish them according to their works,
if they wantonly broke that law ; but it could never be right in free
agents to break it, unless God had bound them to do it by making
Calvinian decrees necessarily productive of sin and wickedness. And
supposing God had forbid free agents to sin by his law, and had neces-
sitated [which is more than to enjoin] them to sin by Calvinian decrees ;
we desire Mr. T. to show how it could haye been right in God to
forbid sin by law, to necessitate men to sin by a decree, and to send
them into eternal fire for not keeping a law which he had necessitated
them to break.

The reasonableness of this doctrine brings to my remembrance
the boldness of Mr. T.'s challenge about the Calvinian doctrine of
Providence — a doctrine this, which asserts that God absolutely neces-
sitates some men to sin and be damned. See Sect. ii.

Arg. LXXIII. [p. 73.] " Upon the plan of Mr. Wesley's conse-
quence, the wretch was not a fool, but wise, who said in hi? heart
There is no God. I defy the Pelagian to strike out a middle way
between Providence and Chance," i. e. between Chance and the Cal-
vinian notions of a Providence, which absolutely predestinates sin, and
necessitates men and devils to commit it, &c. " Why did the Heathens
themselves justly deem Epicurus an Atheist? Not because he denied
the being of a God (for he asserted that ;) but because he denied the
agency of God's universal providence."

From this quotation it is evident, 1. That Mr. T. indirectly charges
us with holding an Epicurean, Atheistical doctrine about Providence,
because we abhor the doctrine of a predestination which represents
God as the author of sin. — And 2. That he defies or challenges us to
point out a middle way between the Atheistical doctrine of Chance,
and the Calvinian doctrine of Providence. This challenge is too

142 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY'S

impoi tdiit to be disregarded : an answer to it will conclude the argu-
mentative part of this tract.

There are two opposite errors with respect to Providence. The
first is that of the Epicurean philosophers, who thought that God
does not -it all concern himself about our sins, but leaves us to go on
as we please, and as chance directs. The second is that of the rigid
Predestmarians, who imagine that God absolutely predestinates sin,
and necessarily brings it about to accomplish his absolute decreet- of
eternally saving some men through Christ, and of eternally damning
all the rest of mankind through Adam. Of these two erroneous
sentiments, the latter appears to us the worse ; seeing it is better to
represent God as doing nothing, than to represent him as doing TSDick-
cdness. The truth lies between these two opinions ; God's providence
is peculiarly concerned about sin, but it does by no means necessarily
hrins: it about. By this reasonable doctrine ue answer Mr. T.'s
challenge, and strike out the middle way between his error and that
of Epicurus.

If you ask, how far God's providence is concerned about sin ? we
reply, that it is concerned about it four ways. First, in morally
hinderino- the internal commission of it before it is committed.
Secondly, in providentially hindering [at times] the external commis-
sion of it, when it has been intentionally committed. Thirdly, in
marking, bounding, and overruUng it, while it is committed. And,
fourthly, in bringing about means of properly pardoning, or exem-
plarily punishing it, after it has been committed. Dwell we a
moment upon each of these particulars.

1. Before sin is committed, divine Providence is engaged in morally
hindering the internal commission of it. In order to this God does
two things : First, he forbids sin by natural, verbal, or written laws.
And secondly, he keeps up our powers of body and soul ; enduing
us with liberty, whereby we may abstain, like moral agents, from the
commission of sin ; furnishing us besides with a variety of motives
and helps to resist every temptation to sin : a great variety this,
which includes all God's threatenings and promises ; — all his exhor-
tations and warnings ;— all the checks of our consciences, and the
strivino^s of the Holy Spirit ; — all the counsels of good men, and the
exemplary punishments of the wicked ; together with the tears and
blood of Christ, and the other peculiar means of grace, which God
has appointed to keep Christians from sin, and to strengthen them in
the performance of their duty.

2. When sin is committed in the intention, God frequently prevents
the ovtxvard commission, or the full completion of it, by peculiar

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 143

interpositions of his providence. Thus he hindered the men of
Sodom from injuring Lot, by stiiliing tliem %vith blindness : — he
hindered Pharaoh from enslavinj^' the Israelites, by drowning him in
the Red Sea ; — he hindered Balaam from cursing Israel, by putting a
bridle in his mouth : — he hindered Jeroboam from hurting the pro-
phet »vho came out of Judah, by drying up his royal hand, when he
stretched it forth, saying, Lay hold on him : — he hindered H^rod from
destroying the holy child Jesus, by warning Joseph to flee into Ep-ypt,
kc. kc. The Scriptures, and the history of the world, are full of
accounts of the ordinary and extraordinary interposition^ of Divine
Providence respecting the detection of intended mischief, and the
preservation of persons and states, whom the wicked determined to
destroy : and to go no farther than England, the providential discovery
of the gunpQwder plot, is as remarkable an instance as any, that God
keeps a watchful eye upon the counsels of men, and confounds their
devices whenever he pleases.

3. During the commission of sin, God's providence is engaged in
marking it, in setting bounds to it. or in overruling it in a manner quite
contrary to the expectation of sinners. When Joseph's brethren con-
trived the getting money by selling him into Egypt, God contrived
the preservation of Jacob's household. Thus, when Hainan con-
trived a gallows to hang Mordecai thereon, the Lord so overruled
this cruel design, that Haman was hung on that very gallows. Thus,
when Satan wanted to destroy Job, God set bounds to his rage, and
bid the fierce accuser spare the good man's lite. That envious fiend
did his worst to make the patient saint cuBse God to his face ; but the
Lord so overruled his malice, that it worked for good to Job. For
when Job's patience had had its perfect work, all his misfartunes
ended in double prosperity, and all his tempestuous tossings raised
him to a higher degree of perfection : for, The Lord knows how to
deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust to the day
of judgment, 2 Pet. ii. 9. — Thus, again, to preserve the seed of the
righteous, God formerly kept 100 prophets, and 7000 true Israelites^
from the cruelty of Jezebel ; and, for the sake of the sincere Chris-
tians in Judea, he shortened the great tribulation spoken of, Matt,
xxiv. 22. When the ungodly are most busy in sinning, God's provi-
dence is most employed in counterworking their sin, in putting bounds
to their desperate designs, and in making a way foi- the godly to escape
out of temptation, that they may be able to bear it: for the rod of the
ungodly cometh not [with its full force] into the lot of the righteous, lest
the righteous put forth their hand into iniquity, through such powerful

144 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY's

and lasting temptations, as would make it impossible for them to stand
firm in the way of duty. Ps. cxxv. 3.

4. When sin is actually committed, the providence of God, in con-
junction with his mercy and justice, is employed, either in using
means to bring sinners to repentance, confession, and pardon, or in
inflicting upon (hem such punishments as seem most proper to divine
wisdom. To be convinced of it, read the history of man's redemp-
tion by Jesus Christ. Mark the various steps by which Provi(ience
brings the guilty to conviction, the penitent to pardon, the finally
impenitent to destruction, and all to some degree of punishment. By
tvhat an amazing train of providential dispensations were Joseph's
brethren, for instance, brought to remember, lament, and smart for
their cruel behaviour to him ! And how did God, by various afflic-
tions, bring his rebellious people to consider their ways, and to hum-
ble themselves before him in the land of their captivity ! What an
amazing work had Divine Providence in checking and punishing the
sin of Pharaoh in Egypt ; — that of the Israelites in the wilderness ; —
that of David and his house in Jerusalem — and that of Nebuchad-
nezzar and Belshazzar in Babylon !

Evangelically and providentially opening the way for the return of
sinners, and repaying obdurate offenders to their face, make one half
of God's work as he is the gracious and righteous Governor of men.
We cannot doubt it if we take notice of the innumerable means by
which conversions 'Aud punishments are brought about. — To touch only
upon punishments : some extend to the sea, others to (he land : some
spread over particular districts, others over whole kingdoms : — some
affect a whole family, and others a whole community : some affect the
soul, and others the body : — some fall only upon one limb, or one of
the senses : — others upon the whole animal frame and all the senses :
-—some affect our well-being, others our being itself: — soime are con-
fined to this world, and others extend to a future state : some are of
a temporal and others of an eternal nature. Now, since Providence,
in subserviency to Divine justice, manages all these punishments and
innumerable consequences, how mistaken is Mr. T. when he insinu-
ates that our doctrine supposes God to be an idle spectator while sin
is committed !

6. With respect to the gracious tempers of the righteous, we
believe that they all flow [though without Calvinian necessity] from
the free gift which is come upon all men, and from the light which en-
lightens every man that Cometh into the world. And as to their good
works, we are so far from excluding Divine grace and Providence, ii*
order to exalt absolute free will, that we assert, Not one good work

VINDICATION or THE DECREES. 145

would ever be begun, continued, or ended, if divine grace within us,
and divine providence without us, did not animate our souls, sup-
port our bodies, help our infirnoities, and [to use the language of
our Church] '^prevent, accompany, and follow ms" through the
whole. And yet in all moral, and in 7na7iy natural actions, we are
as free from the laws of Calvinian necessity as from those of the
Great Mogul.

G. With regard to the families and Jtingdoms of this world, we
assert that God's providence either baffles, controls, or sets bounds
to, the bad designs of the wicked ; whilst it has the principal hand in
succeeding the good designs of the righteous, as often as they have
any success : for except the Lord keep the city, as well as the watch-
man, the watchman waketh but in vain. And with respect to the
course of nature, we believe that it is ordered by his unerring coun-
sel. With a view to maintain order in the universe, his providential
wisdom made admirable laws of attraction, repulsion, generation, fer-
mentation, vegetation, and dissolution. And his providential power and
watchfulness are, though without either labour or anxiety, continually
engaged in conducting all things according to those laws : except when,
on proper occasions, he suspends the influence of his own natural
decrees ; and then fire may cease to burn : — iron to sink in water ; —
and hungry lions to devour their helpless prey. Nay, at the beck of
Omnipotence, a widow's cruse of oil and barrel of meal shall be
filled without the help of the olive-tree, and the formality of a grow-
ing harvest ; — a dry rod shall suddenly blossom, and a green fig-tree
shall instantly be dried up ; — garments in daily use shall not wear out
in forty years ; — a prophet shall live forty days without food ;— the
liquid waves shall afibrd a solid walk to a believing apostle ; — a fish
shall bring back the piece of money which it had swallowed — and
water shall be turned into wine without the gradual process of vege-
tation.

If Mr. T. do us the justice to weigh these six observations upon
the prodigious work which God's Providence carries on in the
moral, spiritual, and natural world, according to our doctrine: we
hope he will no more intimate, that we atheistically deny, or here-
tically defame, that divine attribute.

To conclude : we exactly steer our course between rigid free
willers, who suppose they are independent on God's providence ; and
rigid bound willers, who fancy they do nothing but what fate or God's
providence absolutely binds them to do. We equally detest the
error of Epicurus, and that of Mr. Toplady. The former taught that
God took no notice of sin : the latter oav?, that God, by efficacioy^

Vor. IV i'^

146 ANSWER TO MR. TOPLADY^S

permissions f and irresistible decrees^ absolutely necessitates men to com-
mit it. But we maintain, that although God never absolutely necessi-
tated his creatures to sin ; yet his Providence is remarkably employed
about sin in all the above-described ways. And if Mr. Toplady will
call us defamers of Divine Providence, and Atheists, because we dare
not represent God, directly or indirectly, as the author of sin ; we
rejoice in so honourable a reproach, and humbly trust that this, as
well as all manner of similar evil, is rashly said of us for righteousness
sake.

SECTION XII.

Some Encouragements for those who, from a principle of Conscience,
bear their testimony against the Antinomian doctrine of Calvinian
Election, and the barbarous doctrine of Calvinian Reprobation.

I Humbly hope that I have in the preceding pages, contended
for the truth of the Gospel, and the honour of God's perfections.
My conscience bears me witness, that I have endeavoured to do it with
the sincerity of a candid inquirer after truth ; and I have not, know-
ingly, leaped over one material difficulty which Mr. T. has thrown i*n
the way of the laborious divine, whose evangelical principles I vindi-
cate. And now, judicious reader, as 1 have done my part, as a de-
tecter of the fallacies by which the modern doctrines of grace are
*' kept upon their legs,^^ let me prevail upon thee to do thy part as a
judge, and to say if the right leg of Calvinism [i. e. the lawless elec-
tion of an unscriptural grace] so draws thy admiration as to make thee
overlook :the deformity of the left leg, i. e. the absurd, unholy, sin-
ensuring, hell-procuring, merciless, and unjust reprobation, which
Mr. T. has attempted to vindicate. Shall thy reason, thy conscience,
thy Bible — and [what is more than this] shall all the perfections of thy
God, and the veracity of thy Saviour, be sacrificed on the altar of a
reprobation, which none of the prophets, apostles, and early fathers
ever heard of? — -a barbarous reprobation, which heated Augustine
drew from the horrible error of Manichean necessity, and clothed
with some Scripture expressions detached from the context, and
wrested from their original meaning ? — a Pharisaic reprobation, which
the Church of Rome took from him, and which some of our Reform-
ers unhappily brought from that corrupted society into the Protestant
churches ? — In a word, a reprobation which disgraces Christianity,
when that holy religion is considered as a system of evangelical doc-

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 147

trine, as much as our most enormous crimes disgrace it, when it is
considered as a system of pure morahty ? — shall such a system of
reprobation, I say, find a place in thy creed ? — yea, among thy doc-
trines of grace ? God forbid.

Dii meliora piis ! erroremque hostibus ilium! I hope better things of
thy candour, good sense, and piety. If prejudice, human authority,
and voluntary humility seduce many good men into a profound rever-
ence for that stupendous dogma, be not carried away by their number,
or biassed by their shouts. Remember that all Israel, and good
Aaron at their head, danced once round the golden calf : — that deluded
Solomon was seen bowing at the shrine of Ashiaroth, the abomination of
the Sidonians : — that all our godly forefathers worshipped a conse-
crated wafer 400 years ago : that all the world wondered after the
beast : and that God's chosen people went a whoring nfter their own
inventions^ and once sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils
upon the altar of Moloch. Consider this, I say, and take courage :
be not afraid to be " pilloried in a preface, flogged at a pamphlet's
tail," and treated as a knave, a felon, or a blasphemer through the
whole of the next Vindication of the deified^ decrees, which are
commonly called Calvinism. This may be thy lot, if thou shouldst
dare to bear thy plain testimony against the Antinomian idol of the
day.

Nor say, that thou art not in Italy, or Portugal ; but in a Pro-
testant land, a land of liberty — in England : for thou mightest meet
with more mercy from reprobating priests in Popish Naples than in
orthodox Geneva. Being some years ago in the former of those
cities, among the fine buildings which I \#wed, one peculiarly drew
my attention. It was a towering monument several stories high,
erected by the Jesuits in honour of the Virgin Mary, whose image
stood on the top of the elegant structure. But what surprised me
most, was an Italian inscription engraven upon a stone of the monu-
ment, to this purpose : " Pope Benedict the XlVth grants a plenary
indulgence to all those who shall honour this holy image, with privi-
lege to deliver one soul out of purgatory every time they shall pay
their respects to this immaculate mother." While 1 copied this
inscription in my pocket-book, and dropped to my fellow-traveller
an innocent irony about the absurdity of this Popish decree ; two or
three Priests passed by : they smelt out our heresy, looked dis-
pleased, but did not insult us. Mr. Wesley took, some years ago, a
similar liberty with a literary monument erected in mystic Geneva, to

*" 'Mr. T.cnlU (hem The decrefs nf God, and ii i^ nn axioni among ibe Calviiiist'j. <ln;
" God's dtcrecs are God himself^"

I4y ANSW£R TO MR. TOPLADY^S

the honour of absolute reprobation. He smiled at the severity of Cal-
vinian bigotry ; and not without reason : since Popish bigotry kindly
sends a soul out of purgatory, if you reverence the black iroagCj
which is pompously called the immacuJate Mother of God : whereas
Calvinian bigotry indirectly sends to hell all those who shall not bow
to the doctrinal image, which she calls Divine Sovereignty, upon as
good ground, aS some ancient devotees called the appetite of Bel
[Baal] and the Dragon divine voracity. He [Mr. Wesley] added to
his smile the publication of an ironical reproof A gentleman, who
serves at the altar of absolute reprobation, caught him in the fact, and
said something about " transmitting the criminal to Virginia or Mary-
land,^ if not to Tyburn.''^ But free wrath yielded to free grace.
Calvinian mercy rejoiced over Orthodox judgment. Mr. Wesley is
spared. The Vindicator " of the doctrines of grace," after " rapping
his k?iiickles,^^ — '■'• pillorying'''' him in a preface — and ^^flogging^^
him again and again in two pamphlets, and in a huge book, with
a tendierness peculiar to the house of mercy where Popish repro-
bation checks Protestant heresy ; — the Vindicator of Protestant
reprobation, I say, has let the grey-headed heretic go with this
gentle and civil reprimand : [page 10 :] — " Had I publicly distorted
and defamed the decrees of God :" [should it not be, had I fairly
held out to public view the absurdity of the imaginary decrees
preached by Calvin ?']■—' ^ had I, moreover, advanced so many miles
beyond boldness, as to lay those distortions and defamations at the
door of another :" [should it not be, had I, moreover, ironically
asserted, that monstrous consequences necessarily flow from mon-
strous premises:] '* bolJ^as I am affirmed to be, I could never
have looked up afterward. I should have thought every mis-
creant I met an honester man than myself But Mr. John seems
a perfect stranger to these feelings. His murus aheneus''^ [his brassy
hardness] *' has been too long transferred from his conscience to
his forehead. On the whole, &c. 1 had rather let the ancient
offender pass unchastized, than soil my hands in the operation."
As Mr. Weslej' is so kindly dismissed by Mr. Toplady, I must
«]so dismiss thee, gentle reader, and leave thee to decide, which
iS most likely to convert thee to Calvinian reprobation, Urbanitas
or Logica Genevensis ;— the courtesy of our opponents, or their
'%rguments.

In the mean time, if thou desire to know how near Cahinian
tUction comes to the truth, and what is the reprobation which the

*See ^r. Tcplady's Letter to Mr. Wesley, p. 6.

VINDICATION OP THE DECREES. 149

Scriptares maintain, I refer thee to an Essay on the partial election of

grace, and on the impartial election of justice, Vol. iii. p. 313 A

dauble essay this, that unfolds the difficulties in which prejudiced
divines, and system-makers have, for these fourteen hundred years,
involved the fundamental doctrine of election ; and, which, I flatter
myself, will check party spirit, reconcile judicious Protestants to one
another, and give some useful hints to more respectable divines, who,
in happier days, will exert themselves in the total extirpation of the
errors which disgrace modern Christianity.

THE

LAST CHECK

— -^^v>^^ —

A

POLEMICAL ESSAY

TWIN DOCTRINES

•s^iaiBii^^aA^ asiipisiBii'iKs^iKDs^

AND A

DEATH PURGATORY.

•«5ft^'i'^- —

Be ye perfect.— Every one that is perfect, shall be as his Master. If thou Mrilt be perfect, go,
and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor. Jesus Christ.

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud. St. Paul.

Let no man deceive you, &c. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil.— Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have bold-
ness in the day of judgment : because as he (the Vine) is, so are we (the branches) in this
world. •^'^- John.

S>iai2!?^®3.

»^«

Why the following Tract is called, The Last Check to Antimomian-
iSM, and A Polemical Essay. — Mr. HilVs Creed for Perfectionists.
— A short Account of the Manner in which Souls are purged from the
Remains of Sm, according to the Doctrine of the Heathens, the Ro-
manists, and the Calvinists.'-^The Purgatory recommended by the
Church of England, and vindicated in this Book, is Christ^s Blood,
and a soul-purifying Faith.

I CALL the following Essay The last Check to Antinomianism, because
it properly continues and closes the preceding Checks. When a late
Fellow of Clare-Hall, Cambridge, attacked the doctrine of Sincere
Obedience which 1 defend in the Checks, he said with great truth,
•' Sincere obedience, as a condition, will lead you unavoidably up to per-
fect obedience. What he urged as an argument against our views of the
Gospel is one of the reasons by which we defend them, and perhaps
the strongest of all : for our doctrine leads as naturally to holiness
and perfect obedience, as that of our opponents does to sin and imper-
fection. If the streams of Mr. HilVs doctrine never stop, till they
have carried men into a sea of indwelling sin, where he leaves them
to struggle with waves of immorality, or with billows of corruption,
all the days of their life ; it is evident that our doctrine, which is the
very reverse of his, must take us to a sea of indwelling holiness, where
we calmly outride all the storms which Satan raised to destroy Job's
perfection ; and where all our pursuing corruptions are as much
destroyed as the Egyptians were in the Red Sea.

Truth, like Moses's rod, is all of a piece ; and so is the serpent
which truth devours. Look at the tail of the error which we
attack ; and you will see the venomous, mortal sting of indwelling sin.
Consider the but end of the rod, with whicli we defend ourselves

Vol. IV. 20

154 I'REFACEc

against that smooth, yet biting error ; and you will find the pearl ot
great price, the invaluable diamond of Christian Perfection. In the
very nature of things, therefore, our long controversial warfare, must
end in a close engagement for the preservation of the stingy or for
the recovery of the jeweL If our adversaries can save vidwelling
sin, the deadly sting, Antinomianism, has won the day : but if we can
rescue Christian perfection, the precious jewel, then will perfect
Christianity again dare to show herself, without being attacked as a
dangerous monster, or scoffed at as the base offspring of self-igno-
rance and Pharisaic pride. This remark on the Jlntinomianism of our
opponents is founded upon the following arguments.

1. All those who represent Christian believers as lawless, first, by
denying that Christ's law is a rule of judgment, which absolutely
requires our own personal obedience ; secondly, by representing this
law as a mere rule of life ; and thirdly, by insinuating that this rule
of life is, after all, absolutely impracticable ; that a personal fulfilment
of it is not expected from any believer; that there never was a Chris-
tian who lived one day without breaking it ; and that behevers shall
be eternally saved, merely because Christ kept it for them : — all
those, I say, who hold this Solifidian doctrine concerning Chrisfs law,
are Christian Antinomians with a witness ; that is, they are lawless
Christians in principle, if not in practice. Now all those who attack
the doctrine of constant obedience, and Christian perfection, which
we maintain, are under this threefold error concerning Christ's law ;
and therefore they are all Antinomians, that is. Christians lawless in
principle, though many of them, we are persuaded, are not so in prac-
tice ; the fear of God causing in them a happy inconsistency between
their legal conduct and their lawless tenets.

2. If those who plead for the breaking of Christ's law by the ne-
cessary indwelling of a revengeful thought 07ily for one week, or for
one day, are barefaced Antinomians ; what shall we say of the men,
who on various pretences, plead for the necessary iridwelling of all
manner of corruption, during the term of life ? Can it be said, with
any propriety, that these men are free from the plague of Antino-
mianism ?

3. And lastly, when the reader comes to Section XVI. wherein I "
produce and answer the arguments by which the ministers of the
imperfect Gospel defend the continuance of indwelling sin in all be-
lievers till death, he will find that their strongest reasons for this con-
tinuance, are the very same which the most lawless apostates, and
the most daring renegadoes, daily produce, when they plead for their
continuing in drunkenness, lying, fornication, and adultery : and if

PREFACE. 155

these immoral Gospellers deserve the name of gross Antinomtans : why
should not the moral men, who hold their loose principles, and pub-
licly recommend them as " doctrines of grace," deserve the name of
refined Antinomians ? May not a silk-weaver, who softly works a
piece of taffeta, be as justly called a xmaver as a man who weaves the
coarsest sackcloth ?

Through the force of these observations, after weighing my subject
in the balances of meditation and prayer for some month?, I am
come to these alarming conclusions : 1. There is no medium between
pleading for the continuance of indwelling sin, and pleading for the
continuance of heart Antinomianism. And 2. All who attack the doc-
trine of evangelically sinless ^eiieciion^ deserve, Wie?i they do it (which
I would hope is not often) the name of advocates for sin, better than
the name of Gospel ministers and preachers of righteousness. I am
conscious that this twofold conclusion wounds, in the tenderest part,
several of my dear, mistaken brethren in the ministry, whom, on
various accounts, I highly honour in the Lord. Nevertheless I am
obliged in conscience to publish it, lest any of my readers, or any of
those whom they warn, should be misled into Antinomianism through
the mistakes of those popular preachers : for the interests of truth,
the honour of Christ's holy religion, and the welfare of precious
souls are, and ought to be, to me and to every Christian, far dearer
than the credit of some good, injudicious men, who inadvertently
undermine the cause of godliness ; thinking to do God service by
stretching forth a solifidian hand to uphold the ark of Gospel truth.
Thus much for the reasons which have engaged me to call this Essay
The last Check to Antinomianism.

If the reader desires to know, why I call it also A Polemical Essay,
he is informed that Richard Hill, Esq. (at the end of a pamphlet,
entitled Three Letters written to the Rev. J. Fletcher, Vicar of Made-
ley,) has published '•^ A Creed for Arminians and Perfectionists.^^ The
ten first articles of this Creed, which respect the Arminians, I have
already answered in The fictitious and genuine Creed ; and the follow-
ing sheets contain my reply to the last article, which entirely refers
to the Perfectionists.

That gentleman introduces the whole of his fictitious Creed by
these lines : " The following confession of faith, however shocking, not
to say blasphemous, it may appear to the humble Christian, must inevita-
bly be adopted, if not in express words, yet in substance, by every Armi-
nian and Perfectionist whatsoever ; though the last article of it chiefty
concerns such as are ordained Ministers of the Church of England,"—
The last article, which is the Creed I aoswer here, runs thn? :

15^ PREFACE.

" Though I have solemnly subscribed to the Thirty-nine Articles
of the Church of England, and have affirmed that 1 believe them
from my heart, yet I think our Reformers were profoundly ignorant
of true Christianity, when they declared in the ninth Article, that
" the infection of nature does remain in them which are regenerate ,**'
and in the fifteenth, that " All we the rest [Christ only excepted)
although baptized and born again in Christy yet qff^end in many things,
and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us." This 1 totally deny, because it cuts up root and branch my
favourite doctrine of Perfection : and therefore let Peter, Paul, James,
and John, say what they will, and let the Reformers and Martyrs join
their siren song, their eyes were at best but half opened (for want
of a little Foundry eye-salve ;) therefore I cannot look upon them as
adult believers in Jesus Christ.

J. F.
J. W.

W. S."

These initial letters probably stand for John Fletcher, John Wesley,
and Walter Sellon. As Mr. Hdl seems to level his witty creed at me
fast, 1 shall Jirst make my observations upon it. The van without
the main body and the rear, may perhaps make a proper stand against
that gentleman's mistake : — A dangerous mistake this, which is inse-
parably connected with the doctrine of a purgatory little better than
that of the Papists ; it being evident, that, if we cannot be purged
from the remains of sin in this life, we must be purged from Jhem in
death, or after death ; or we must be banished from God's presence ;
for reason and Scripture jointly depose, that nothing unholy or unclean
shall enter into the heavenly Jerusalem.

If we understand by Purgatory, the manner in which souls still
polluted with the remains of sin, are, or may be, purged from these
remains, that they may see a holy God, and dwell with him for ever;
the question. Which is the true Purgatory? is by no means frivolous :
for it is the grand inquiry, How shall I be eternally saved P proposed
in different expressions.

There are four opinions concerning Purgatory, or the purgation
of souls from the remains of sin. The wildest is that of the heathens,
who S!ippo?ed, *' That the souls, who depart this life with some moral
filth cleaving to them, are purified by being hanged out to sharp,
cutting winds ; by being plunged into a deep, impetuous whirlpool :
or by being thrown into a refining fire in some Tartarean region;''
witness these lines of Virgil :

I'REPACE. 157

■Alise panduntur inanes

Suspensas ad veutos : aliis sub j^rgite vasto
Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igai.

The second opinioa is that of the Romanists, who teach, that such
souls are completely sanctified by the virtue of Christ's blood, and
the sharp operation of a penal temporary fire in the suburbs of hell.
The third opinion is that of the Calvinists, who think, that the stroke
of death must absolutely be joined with Christ's blood and Spirit,
and with our faith, to cleanse the thoughts of our hearts, and to kill
the inbred man of sin.

The last sentiment is that of the Church of England, which teaches
that there is no other Purgatory but «* Christ's blood" — *' Steadfast,
perfect faith" — and *' The inspiration of God's holy Spirit cleansing
the thoughts of our hearts, that we may perfectly love him, and
worthily magnify his holy name." — " The only Purgatory, wherein
we must trust to be saved [says she] is the death and blood of Christ,
which, if we apprehend with a true and steadfast faith, called soon
after ' a perfect faith,'' it purgeth and cleanseth us from all our sins.
The blood of Christ, says St. John, hath cleansed us from all sin. The
Hood of Christ, says St. Paul, hath purged our consciences from dead
works to serve the living God, <5»c. This then is the Purgatory

wherein all Christian men put their trust and confidence." Homily

on Prayer, Part iii.

Nor is this doctrine of Purgatory peculiar to the Church of
England ; for the unprejudiced Puritans themselves maintained it in
the last century. Mr. R. Alleine, in his excellent treatise on Godly
Fear, printed in London, 1674, says, page 161, '* The Lord C^'hrist is
sometimes resembled to a refining fire, &c. He is a refiner'^s fire, —
and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He shall purify,
he shall save his people from their sins, yet so as by fire. God has his
purgatory .as well as his hell; though not according to that Popish
dream, a purgatory after this life." — And I beg leave to add ; — though
not according to that Calvinian dream, a purgatory when we leave
this life — a purgatory in the article of death.

The scriptural doctrine of Purgatory is vindicated, and the new-
fangled doctrine of a Death Purgatory is exploded, in the following
pages : wherein I endeavour both to defend the glorious liberty of the
children of God, and to attack the false liberty of those, n^ho, while
they promise liberty to others in Christ, are themselves [doctrinally at
least] the servants of corruption ; pleading hard for the indwelling of
sin in our hearts so long as we live ; and thinking it almost " blasphc'
woks" to assert, that ChrisCs blood, fully applied by the Spirit, through

158 PREFACE*

a steadfast faith, can radically cleanse us from all sm, without the leasfc
assistance from the arrows or sweats of death.

Reader, I plead for the most precious liberty in the world, heart
liberty :— for liberty from the most galling of all yokes, the yoke of
heart corruption: — let not thy prejudices turn a deaf ear to the
important plea. If thou candidly, believingly, and practically receive
the truth as it is in Jesus ^ it shall make thee free, and thou shalt be free
indeed. Then, instead of shouting, " Indwelling sin and death pur-
gatory," thou wilt fulfil the law of liberty: shouting, "Christ and
Christian liberty for ever." In the mean time, when thou makest
intercession for thy well-wishers, remember the author of this Essay ^
and pray that he may plead on his knees against the remains of sin^
far more earnestly than he does in these sheets again&t Mr. Hill'&
mistakes.

THE

lAST CHECK

TO

ANTINOMIANISM.

SECTION I.

Fke best way of opposing the Doctrines o/* Christian imperfection and
■a DEATH PURGATORY, is to place the doctrine of Christian per-
fection in a proper light. — Christian perfection 1*5 the matu-
rity of a believer^s grace under the Gospel of Christ. — It is absurd to
suppose that this perfection is sinless, if it be measured by our Crea-
tor's law of paradisiacal Innocence and Obedience. — Established
believers fulfil our Redeemer's evangelical law of liberty. Whilst
they fulfil it they do not transgress it,- that is, [evangelically speak-
ing] they DO not sin.

iTAOST of the controversies which arise between men who fear
God, spring from the hurry with which some of them find fault with
what they have not yet examined, and speak evil of what they do
not understand. Why does Mr. Hill, at the head of the Calvinists,
attack the doctrine of Christian Perfection \}fhich we contend for?
Is it because he and they are sworn enemies to righteousness, and
zealous protectors of iniquity ? Not at all. The grand reason, next
to their Calvinian prejudices, is their inattention to the question, and
to the arguments by which our sentiments are supported. Notwith-
standing the manner in which that gentleman has treated me and my
friends in his controversial heats, I still entertain so good an opinion
of him as to think, that if he understood our doctrine, he would no
more pour contempt upon it than upon the Oracles of God. I shall
therefore endeavour to rectify his ideas of the glorious Christian
liberty which we press after. If producing light is the best method
i)f opposing darkness, setting the doctrine of Oiristian Perfection in a
proper point of view will be the best means of opposing the doc

160 THE LAST CHECK

trines of Christian imperfection, and of a death purgatory. Begin we
then by taking a view of our Jerusalem and her perfection : and
when we shall have marked her bulwarks, and cleared the ground
between her towers and Vlr. HilPs battery, we shall march up to it,
and see whether his arj^juments have the solidity of brass, or only
the showy appearance of wooden artillery, painted and mounted like
brazen ordnance.

Christian Perfection ! Why should the harmless phrase offend us ?
— Perfection! Why should that lovely word iVighten us? Is it not
common and plain ? Did not Cicero speak intelligibly, when he called
accomplished philosophers " perfectos philosophos ;" and an excellent
orator '' perfectum oratorem ?" Did Ovid expose his reputation
when he sai.J, that " Chiron perfected Achilles in music,'"* '* or taught
him to play upon the lute to perfection ?^'' And does Mr. Ht7/ think it
wrong to observe that fruit grown to maturity is in its perfection ?
We, whom that gentleman caWs perfectionists, use the word perfection]
exactly in the same sense ; giving that name to the maturity of grace
peculiar to established believers under their respective dispensa-
tions ; and if this be an error, we are led into it by the Sacred
Writers, who use the word perfection as well as we.

The word predestinate occurs but four times in all the Scriptures,
and the word predestination not once; and yet, Mr. Hill would
justly exclaim against us, if we showed our wit by calling for " a
little Foundry'^ or Tabernacle " eye-salve,'' to help us to see the word
predestination once in all the Bible. Not so the word perfection ; it
occurs with its derivatives as frequently as most words in the
Scriptures ; and not seldom in the very same sense in which we
take it. Nevertheless we do not lay an undue stress upon the ex-
pression ; and if we thought that our condescension would answer any

* Phillyrides puerum cithara perfecit Achillem.

f The word perfection comes from the L?itm perficio, to perfect, to finish, toaccomplish ,
it exactly answers to the words CDOn, and reXeiota, generally used in the Old and New
Testaments. Nor can their derivatives be more literally and exactly rendered than hy perfect
and perfection. If our translators render sometimes the word OH, by upright and sincere^
or by sincerity and integrity, it is because they know that these expressions, like the original
word, admit of a great latitude. Thus Co^/meZ calls wood that has no rotten part, and is per-
fecdy sound, lignum sincerum : and Horace says, that a sweet cask, which has no bad smell
of any sort, is vas sincerum Thus also Cicero calls purity of diction, which is perfectly free
from faults against grammar, istegritas sermonis .- Plautus says, that a pure, undefiled vir-
gin, is flia INTEGRA. And our translators call the perfectly pure milk of God's word. The
SINCERE milk of the word : 1 Peter ii. 2. If therefore the words sincerity and integrity are
, taken in their full latitade, they convey the fullest meaning of HDH and TsMiaria^ i. e.
■perfdstion-

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 161

good end, we would entirely give up that harmless and significant
word. But if it is expedient to retain the unscriptural word Trinity,
because it is a kind of watch-word, by which we frequently discover
the secret opposera of the mysterious distinction of Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost in the Divine Unity ; how much more proper is it not to
renounce the Scriptural word Perfection^ by which the dispirited
spies, who bring an evil report upon the good land of holiness, are
often detected ] — Add to this, that the following declaration of our
Lord does not permit us to renounce either the word or the thing.
Whosoever shall he ashamed of me and of my words in this sinful gene-
ration^ of him also shall the Sun of inaji be ashamed when he cometh
in the glory of his Father. Now the words of my motto, Be ye per-
fect, kc. being Christ's own words, we dare no more be ashamed of
them, than we dare desire him to be ashamed of us in the great
day. Thus much for the word perfection.

Again : we give the name of Christian Perfection to that maturity
of grace and holiness, which established, adult believers, attain to
under the Christian dispensation : and thus we distinguish that matu-
rity of grace, both from the ripeness of grace which belongs to the
dispensation of the Jews below us, and from the ripeness of glory
which belongs to departed saints above us. Hence it appears, that by
Christian Perfection we mean nothing but the cluster and maturity of
the graces which compose the Christian church militant.

In other words, Christian Perfection is a spiritual constellation
made up of these gracious stars. Perfect repentance. Perfect faith,
Perfect humility, Perfect meekness, Perfect self-denial. Perfect resig-
nation, Perfect hope. Perfect charity for our visible enemies, as
well as for our earthly relations ; — and above all. Perfect love
for our invisible God, through the explicit knowledge of our Medi-
ator Jesus Christ. And as this last star is always accompanied by all
the others, as Jupiter is by his satellites, we frequently use, as St. John,
the phrase Perfect love, instead of the word perfection; understanding
by it the pure love of God, shed abroad in the hearts of established
believers by the Holy Ghost, which is abundantly given them under
the fulness of the Christian dispensation.

Should Mr. Hill ask if the Christian Perfection, which we contend
for is a sinless perfection, we reply, Sin is the transgression of a di-
vine law, and man may be considered either as being under the anti-
evangelical, Christless, remediless law of our Creator; or as being
under the evangelical, mediatorial, remedying law of our Redeemer ,
and the question must be answered according to the nature of those
two laws.

Vol. IV. «l

-•^0111

162 THE LAST CHECK

With respect to the first, that is, the Adamicy Christless law of
innocence and paradisiacal perfection, we utterly renoiipce the doc-
trine of sinless perfection, for three reasons: 1. We are conceived
and horn in a state of sinful degeneracy, whereby that law is already
Tirtually broken. 2. Our mental and bodily powers are so enfeebled,
that we cannot help actually breaking that law in numberless instan-
ces, even after our full conversion. And 3. when once we have
broken that law, it considers us as transgressors for ever : nor can it
any /nore pronounce us siriless, than the rigorous law which condemns
a man to be hanged for murder can absolve a murderer, let his
repentance and faith be ever so perfect. Therefore, I repeat it,
with respect to the Christless law of paradisiacal obedience, we
entirely disclaim sinless perfection ; and, improperly speaking, we
say with Luther, '' In every good work the just man sinneth ;" that is,
he more or less transgresses the law of paradisiacal innocence, by
not thinking so deeply, not speaking so gracefully, not acting so pro-
perly, not obeying so vigorously as he would do, if he were still
endued with original perfection, and paradisiacal powers. Nor do
we, in the same sense, scruple to say with bishop Latimer, *' He
[Christ] saved us, not that we should be without sin ; that no sin
should be left in our hearts : no, he saved us not so. For all manner
of imperfections remain in us, yea, in the best of us : so that if God
should enterinto judgment with us [according to the Christless law given
to Adam before the fall] we should be damned.- For there neither is
nor was any man born into this world, who could say, I am clean from
sin, [I fulfil the Adamic law of innocence] except Jesus Christ.'"
And in that sense, we have all reason to pray with David, Cleanse thou
me from my secret faults ; for if thou wilt mark what is done amiss,
Lord, voho may abide it? — If thou wilt judge us according to the law
of paradisiacal perfection, what man living shall be justified in thy
sight? But Christ has so completely fulfilled our Creator's paradisi-
acal law of innocence, which allows neither of repentance nor of
renewed obedience, that we shall not be judged by that law ; but by
a law adapted to our present state and circumstances, a milder law.
called the law of Christ, i. e. the Mediator's law, which is, like him-
self,/m// of evangelical grace o^nd truth.

To the many arguments which I have advanced in the Checks in
defence o{ this law, I shall add one more, taken from Heb. vii. 12 ; th^
priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the
law. From these words I conclude, that if the law under which the
Jews were, was of 7iecessit^ changed, when God substituted the priest-
hmd of Christ for that of Anron ; much more was the Adamic law ot^

TO ANTINOMIANISK. 163

paradisiacal innocence of necessity changed, when God gave to Acjara
by promise the Bruiser of the serpents heady the High-priest after the
order of Melchisedec. For if a change in the external priesthood of
necessity implied a change of the Mosaic law ; how much more did the
institution of the priesthood itself necessarily imply a change of the
Jidamic law, which was given without any mediating priest !

If Mr. Hill, therefore, will do our doctrine justice, we entreat
him to consider, that we are not -without law to God, nor yet under a
Christless law with Adam ; but under a law to Christ, that is, under
the law of our royal Priest, the evangelical law of liberty : — a more
gracious law this, which allows a sincere repentance, and is fulfilled
by loving ^lith. Now as we shall be judged by this law of liberty, we
maintain not only that it may, but also that it must, be kept ; and that
it is actually kept by established Christians, according to the last
and fullest edition of it, which is that of the New Testament. Nor
do we think it " shocking'^ to hear an adult believer say, The law of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
and death. For what the Zaa> [of innocence, or the letter of the
Mosaic law] could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of
the law might be [evangelically] fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh but after the Spirit. Rom. viii. 2, &c.

Reason and Scripture seem to us to confirm this doctrine : for we
think it far less absurd to say, that the king and parliament make
laws which no Englishman can possibly keep ; than to suppose, that
Christ and his apostles have given us precepts which no Christian is
able to observe : and St. James assures us, the evangelical law of
Christ and liberty is that by which we shall stand or fall in judgment:
.So speak ye, and so do, says he, as they that shall be judged by the law of
liberty, James ii. 12. We find the Christian edition of that law in all
parts of the New Testament, but especially in our Lord's sermon on
the mount, and in St. Paul's description of charity. — We are per-
suaded with St. John and St. Paul, that as sin is in transgression, so
penitential, pure love is the fulfilling of thnt evangelical law: and
therefore do not scruple to say with the apostle, that he who lovelh
another hath fulfilled it ; — and that there is no occasion of stumbling, i. e.
no sin, in him; fulfilling, the law of Christ and sinning (in the evan-
gelical sense of the word) being as diametrically opposite to each
other, as obeying and disobeying — working righteousness and working
iniquity.

We do not doubt but, as a reasonable, loving father never requires
of his child, who is only ten years old, the work of one who is tliirty

164 THE LAST CHECK

years of age ; so our heavenly Father never expects of us, in our
debilitated state, the obedience of immortal Adam in paradise, or the
uninterrupted worship of sleepless angels in heaven. We are per-
suaded therefore, that for Christ's sake, he is pleased with an humble
obedience to our present light, and a loving exertion of our present
powers ; accepting our Gospel services according to nvhat we have,
and not according to what we have not. Nor dare we call that loving
exertion of our present power sin, lest by so doing we should contra-
dict the Scriptures, confound sin and obedience, and remove all the
landmarks which divide the devil's common from the Lord's vine-
yard. And, if at any time we have exaggerated the difficulty of keep-
ing Christ's law, we acknowledge our error, and confess, that by this
mean we have Calvinistically traduced the equity of our gracious
God, and inadvertently encouraged Antinomian delusions.

To conclude : We believe, that although adult, established believers,
or perfect Christians, may admit of many involuntary mistakes, errors,
and faults ; and of many involuntary improprieties of speech and
behaviour; yet, so long as their will is bent upon doing God's will;
—so Ions: as they walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit ; — so
long as they fuljil the law of liberty by pure love, they do not sin
according to the Gospel : because (evangelically speaking) sin is the
transgression, and love is the fulfilling of that law. Far then from
thinking that there is the least absurdity in saying daily. Vouchsafe
to keep me this day without sin, we doubt not but in the believers, who
who walk in the light as Christ is in the light, that deep petition is
answered ; the righteousness of the law, which they are under, is
fulfilled ; and of consequence, an ev^ingelically sinless perfection is
daily experienced. 1 say evangelically sinless, because, without
the word evangelically, the phrase sinless perfection gives an
occasion of cavilling to those who seek it, as Mr. Wesley intimates in
the following quotation, which is taken from his Plain Account of
Christian Perfection, page 60. " To explain myself a little farther on
this head : 1. Not only sin, properly so called, that is, a voluntary
transgression of a known law, but sin, improperly so called, that is. an
involuntary transgression of a divine law, known ox unknown, needs
the atoning blood. — 2. 1 believe there is no such perfection in this life,
as excludes these involuntary transgressions, which I apprehend to be
naturally consequent on the ignorance and mistakes inseparable from
mortality — 4. Therefore sinless perfection is a phrase 1 never use,
lest I should seem to contradict myself. — 3. 1 believe a person filled
with the love of God is still liable to these involuntary transgressions.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 165

—5. Such transgressions you may call sins, if you please ; I do not
for the reasons above mentioned."

SECTION II.

Pious Calvinists have had, at times, nearly the same Views of Christian
Perfection which we have. They dissent from us chiefly because they
confound the anti- evangelical Law of Innocence, and the evangelical
Law of Liberty, Adamic and Christian Perfection ; and because they
%do not consider that Christian Perfection, falling infinitely short of
God^s ABSOLUTE Perfection, admits of a daily growth.

If it were necessary, we could support the doctrine of Christian
Perfection stated in the preceding pages, by almost numberlesi
quotations from the most judicious and pious Calvinists. The senti-
ments of two or three of them may edify the reader, and give him a
specimen of the candour with which they have written upon the
subject, when a spring-tide of evangelical truth raised them above
the shallows of their system.

• *' If love be sincere,^'* says pious Mr. Henry, " it is accepted as the
fulfilhng of the law. Surely we serve a good Master, that has sum-
med up all our duty in one word, and that a short word, and a sweet
word, Love, the beauty and harmony of the universe. Loving and
being loved is all the pleasure, joy, and happiness of an intelligent
being. God is love, and love is his image upon the soul. Where it
is, the soul is well moulded, and the heart fitted for every good work.'
Henry^s Exposition on Rom. xiii. 10. — Again : " It is well for us thatj
by virtue of the covenant of grace, upon the score of Christ's
righteousness, sincerity is accepted as our Gospel perfection." Henry
on Gen. vi. 2. — [See the note on the word perfection, Sect. I.]

Pious Bishop Hopkins is exactly of the same mind. " Consider,'"
says he, " for your encouragement, that this is not so much the absolute
and legal perfection of the work, as the [evangelical] perfection of
the worker, that is, the perfection of the heart, which is looked at
and rewarded by ^od. There is a two-fold perfection, the perfec-
tion of the work, and that of the workman. The perfection of the
work is, when the work does so exactly and strictly answer the holy
law of God, that there is no irregularity in it. The perfection of the
workman is nothing but inward sincerity and uprightness of the heart
towards God, which may be where there are many imperfections and
defects intermingled. If God accepted and rewarded no work, but
what is absolutely perfect in respect of the law ; this would take ofl'

166 THE LAST CHECK.

tlie wheels ofali endeavours, for our obedience falls far short of legal
perfection in this life ;'■ [the Adamic law making no allowance for the
•weakness of fallen man.] *' But we do not stand upon such terms as
these with our God. It is not so much what our works are as what
our heart is, that God looks at and will reward. Yet know, also, that
if our hearts are perfect and sincere, we shall endeavour, to the
utmost of our power, that our works may be perfect according to the
strictness of the law."

Archbishop Leighion pleads also for the perfection we maintain,
and by Calvinistically supposing that perseverance is necessary to
Christian perfection, he extols it above Adam's paradisiacal per-
fection. Take his own words abridged : " By obedience sanctificatioa
is here intimated : it signifies both habitual and actual obedience,
renovation of the heart, and conformity to the divine will : the mind
is illuminated by the Holy Ghost to know and believe the Divine will ;
yea, this faiih is the great and chief part of this obedience, Rom. i.
8. The truth of the doctrine is impressed upon the mind, hence
flows out pleasant obedience and full [he does not say of sin, but]
of love : hence all the aflfections, and the whole body, with its mem-
bers, learn to give a willing obedience, and submit to God; whereas'
before they resisted him, being under the standard of Satan. This
obedience, though imperfect [when it is measured by the Christless law
of paradisiacal innocence] yet has a certain, if I may so say, imperfect
perfection. [It is not legally but evangelically perfect.] It is uni-
versal [or perfect] three manner of ways ; 1. In the subject : — It is
not in the tongue alone, or in the hand, &c. but has its root in the
heart. — 2. In the object : — It embraces the whole law, &c. It
accounts no command little, which is from God, because he is great
and highly esteemed : no command hard, though contrary to the flesh,
because all things are easy to love ; there is the same authority in
all, as St. James divinely argues. And this authority is the golden
chain to all the commandments [of the law of liberty preached by St.
James] which, if broke in any link, falls to pieces. — 3. In the duration,
the svhole man is subjected to the whole law, and that constantly.
That this threefold perfection of obedience is not^§ picture drawn by
fancy, is evident in David, Psalm cxix." Archbishop Leighton^s Com,
on St. Peter, page 16.

That learned prelate, as a pious man, could not but be a perfection-
ist;. {hough, as a Calvinist, he frequently spoke the language of the
imperfectionists. Take one more quotation, where he grants all that
we contend for. " To be subject to him [God] is truer happiness
than to conimaad the whole world. Pure love reckons thus, though

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 167

no farther reward were to follow ; obedience to God [the perfection
of his creature, and its very happiness] carries its full recompense in
its own bosom. Yea, love delights most in the hardest services, kc.
It is love to him, indeed, to love the labour of love, and the service
of it : and that not so much because it leads to rest, and ends in it,
but because it is service to him whom we love : yea, that labour is
in itself a rest ; it is so natural and sweet to a soul that loves. As
the revolution of the heavens, which is a motion ir> rest, and rest in
motion, changes not place, though running still, so the motion of love
is truly heavenly » and circular still in God ; beginning in him, and
ending in him ; and so not ending, but moving still without weariness,
&c. According as the love is, so is the soul : it is made like to, yea,
it is made one with that which it loves, kc. By the love of God it is
made divine, is one with him, &c. Now, though fiillen from this, we
are invited to it ; though degenerated and accursed in our sinful
nature, yet we are renewed in Christ, and this commandment is
renewed in him, and a new way of fulfilling it [even the way of faith in
our Redeemer] is pointed out." Select Works of Archh.Leighton^ page
461. — Where has Mr. Wesley ever exceeded this high description of
Christian perfection ?

I grant that this pious prelate frequently confounds our celestial
perfection of glory with our progressive perfection of grace, and on
that account supposes that the latter is not attainable in this life : but
even then he exhorts us to quit ourselves like sincere perfectionists.
" Though men," says he, " fall short of their aim, yet it is good to
aim high : they shall shoot so much the higher, though not full so
high as they aim. Thus we ought to be setting the state of per-
fection in our eye, resolving* not to rest content below that, and to
come as near it as we can, even before we come at it. Phil. iii. 11,
12. This is to act as one that has such a hope, such a state in view,
and is still advancing towards it." Ibid, page 184. The mistake of
the Archbishop will be particularly pointed out, where I shall show
the true meaning of Phil. iii. 11 — the passage, behind which he
skreens the remains of his Calvkiian prejudices.

* I think I have said in one of the Cheeks, that Archbishop Leighton doubted wliether
those, who do not sincerely aspire after perfection, have saving grace : that doubt, (if I
now remember right) is Mr. Alleine's, though this quotation from the Archbishop shows,
that he was not far from Alleine^s sentiment, if he was not in it. Pious Dr. Doddridge is
explicit on this head, "To allow yourself," said he, "deliberately to sit down satisfied
with any imperfect attainments in religion, and to look upon a more confirmed and im-
proved state of it as what you do not desire, nay, as what you secretly resolve that you will
not pursue, is one of the most fatal signs we can well imagine, that you are an entire
stranger to the first principles of it." — Doddridge's Rise and Frog. Chap. xi.

168 THE LAST CHECK

By the preceding; quotations, and by two more from the Rev.
Messrs. Wkitefield and Romaine, which the reader will find at the end
of Sect. IX. it appears, that pious Calvinists come at times very near
the doctrine of Christian perfection ; and if they do not constantly
enforce it, it is, we apprehend, chiefly for the following reasons.

1. They generally confound the Christless law of innocence with
the evangelical law of Christ ; and because the former cannot be ful-
filled by believers, they conclude that pure obedience to the latter. is
impracticable.

2, They confound peccability withsm; — the power of sinning, with
the actual cause of that power. And so long as they suppose, that a
bare natural capacity to sin is either original sin, or an evil propen-
sity, we do not wonder at their believing that original sin, or evil pro-
pensities, must remain in our hearts till death removes us from this
tempting world. But on what argument do they found this notion ?
Did not God create angels and man peccable ? Or in other terms. Did
he not endue them with a power to sin, or not to sin, to disobey or
obey as they pleased ? Did not the event show that they had this tre-
mendous power ? But would it not be "blasphemous" to assert, that
God created them full of original sin, and of evil propensities ? — If
an adult believer yields to temptation, and falls into sin as our first
parents did, is it a proof that he never was cleansed from inbred sin ?
■ — If sinning necessarily demonstrates that the heart was always teem-
ing with depravity, will it not follow that Adam and Eve were tainted
with sin before their will began to decline from original righteousness ?
Is it not, however, indubitable from the nature of God, from Scrip-
ture, and from sad experience, that after having been created in God's
sinless image, and holy likeness, our first parents, as well as some
angels, were drawn awny of their own self-conceited /ws^, and became
evil by the power of their own free agency ? — Is it reasonable to
think that the most holy Christians, so long as the day of their visita-
tion anil probation lasts in this tempting wilderness, are in that respect
above Adam in paradise, and above angels in heaven ? And may we
not conclude, th^t as Satan and Adam insensibly fell into sin, the one
from the height of hi^ celestial perfection, and the other from the sum-
mit of his paradisiacal excellence, without any previous bias inclining
him to corruption : so may those believers, whose hearts have been
completely pur-find by faith, gradually depart from the faith, and fall
so low as to account the blood of the covenant^ wherewith they were
sanctified^ an unholy thing ?

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 169

3. The prejudices of our opponents are increased by their con-
founding Adamic* and Christian perfection ; two perfections these,
which are as distinct as the Garden of Eden and the Christian
Church. Adamic perfection came from God our Creator in Paradise,
before any trial of Adam's faithful obedience : and Christian perfec-
tion comes from God our Redeemer and Sanctifier, in the Christian
Church, after a severe trial of the obedience of faith. Adamic per-
fection might be lost by doing despite to the preserving love of God
our Creator ; and Christian perfection may be lost by doing despite to
the redeeming love of God our Saviour. Adamic perfection extended
to the whole man : his bodj^ was perfectly sound in all its parts, and
his soul in all its powers. But Christian perfection extends chiefly
to the will^ which is the capital, moral power of the soul ; leaving the
understanding ignorant of ten thousand things, and the body dead
because of sin.

4. Another capital mistake lies at the root of the opposition which
our Calvinian brethren make against Christian perfection. They
imagine that, upon our principles, the grace of an adult Christian,
is like the body of an adult man, which can grow no more. But this
consequence flows from their fancy, and not from our doctrine. We
exhort the strongest believers to g7'ow up to Christ in nil things: as-
serting that there is no holiness, and no happiness in heaven [much
less upon earth] which does not admit of a growth, except the hohness
and happiness of God himself; because, in the very nature of things,
a being absolutely perfect, and in every sense infinite, can never have
any thing added to him. But infinite additions may be made to beings
every way finite, such as glorified saints and holy angels are.

Hence it appears, that the comparison which we make between the
ripeness of a fruit, and the maturity of a believer's grace, cannot be

* Between Adamic and Christian perfection, we place the gracious innocence of little
children. They are not only full of peccability like Adam, but debilitated in all Iheir ani-
mal and rational faculties, and of coasequence, fit to become an easy prey to every tempta-
tion, through the weakness of their reason, and the corruption of their concupiscible and
irascible powers. Nevertheless, till they begin personally to prefer moral evil to moral
good, we may consider them as evangelically or graciously innocent. I say graciously
innocent, because if we consider them in the seed of fallen Adam, we find them naturally
children of wrath, and under the curse ; but if we consider them in the seed of the tvoman,
which was promised to Adam and to his posterity, we find them graciously placed in a
state of redemption, and evangelical salvation. For the free gift, which is come upon all
men to justifcation, belongs first to them, Christ having sanctified infancy first. And
therefore we do not scruple to say, after our Lord, Of such is the kingdom of heaven.
Now the kingdom of heaven is not of sinners as sinners ; but of little Lhildren, as beintj
innocent through the free gift ; or of adults, as being penitent, that is, tiarned frotn their
sins to Christ.

Vol. IV. ?o

170 THE LAST CHECK

carried into an exact parallel. — For a perfect Christian grows far
more than a feeble believer, whose growth is still obstructed by the
shady thorns of sin, and by the draining suckers of iniquity. — Besides^,
a fruit which is come to its perfection, instead of growing, falls and
decays : whereas b. babe in Christ is called to grow till he becomes a
perfect Christian; — a perfect Christian, till he becomes a disembodied
spirit ; — a disembodied spirit, till he reaches the perfection of a sai7U
glorified in body and soul ; — and such a saint, till he has fathomed the
infinite depths of divine perfection, that is, to all eternity. For if we
go on from faith to faith^ and are spiritually changed from glory to
glory, by beholding God darkly through a glass on earth ; much more
shall we experience improving changes, when we shall see Him as he
is, and behold h'lmface to face in various, numberless, and still brighter
discoveries of himself in heaven. If Mr. Hill did but consider this,
he would no more suppose that Christian perfection is the Pharisaic
rickets, which put a stop to the growth of believers, and turn them
into " temporary monsters." Again ;

Does a well-meant mistake defile the conscience ? — You inadvert-
ently encourage idleness and drunkenness, by kindly relieving an
idle drunken beggar, who imposes upon your charity by plausible
lies : is this loving error a sin ? — A blundering apothecary sends you
arsenic for allura ; you use it as allum, and poison your child ; but
are you a murderer if you give the fatal dose in love? — Suppose the
tempter had secretly mixed some of the forbidden fruit, with other
fruits that Eve had lawfully gathered for use ; would she have
sinned if she had inadvertently eaten of it, and given a share to her
husband? — After humbly confessing and deploring her undesigned
error, her secret fault, her accidental offence, her involuntary tres-
pass ; would she not have been as innocent as ever ? — I go farther
still, and ask : may not a man who holds many right opinions, be a
perfect lover of the world ? And by a parity of reason, may not a man
who holds many wrong opinions be a perfect lover of God? Have
not some Calvinists died with their hearts overflowing with perfect
love, and their heads full of the notion, that God set his everlasting,
absolute hatred upon myriads of men before the foundation of the
world ? — Nay, is it not even possible, that a man whose heart is
renewed in love, should, through mistaken humility, or through weak-
ness of understandings oppose the name of Christian perfection, when
he desires, and perhaps enjoys the thing?

Once more : does not St. Paul's rule hold in spirituals as well as
in temporals : It is accepted according to what a man hath, and not
according to what he hath not ? Does our Lord actually require more

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 171

ot believers than they can actually do through his grace. And when
they do it to the best of their power, does he not see some perfection
m their works, insiffnificant as those works may be? — Remove this
immense heap of stones, says an indulgent father to his children ; and
be diligent according to your strength. While the eldest, a strong
man, removes rocks, the youngest, a little child, i*= as cheerfully busy
as any of the rest, in carrying sands and pebbles. Now, may not his
childlike obedience be as excellent in its degree, and of consequence,
as acceptable to his parent, as the manly obedience of his eldest
brother ? — Nay, though he does next to nothing, may not his endea-
vours, if they are more cordial, excite a smile of superior approbation
of his loving Father, who looks at the disposition of the heart more
than at the appearance of the work ? Had the believers of Sardis
cordially laid out all their talents, would our Lord have complained
that he did noi find their works perfect before God ? Rev. iii. 2. And
was it not according to this rule of perfection, that Christ testified,
the poor widow, who had given but two mites, had nevertheless cast
more into the treasury than all the rich, though they had cast in
much: because our Lord himself being judge, she hnd given all that
she had? Now could she give, or did God require, more than her all ?
And when she thus heartily gave her all, did she not do (evangeli-
cally speaking) a perfect work, according to her dispensation and cir-
cumstances ?

We flatter ourselves, that if these scriptural observations, and
rational queries, do not remove Mr. HilVs prejtidice, they will at
least make way for a more candid perusal of the following pages.

SECTION Hi.

Several Objections raised against ow^ Doctrine are solved merely by
considering the nature of Christian Perfection. — It is absurd to say,
that all our Christian Perfection is in the person of Christ.

I REPEAT it, if our pious opponents decry the doctrine of Christian
Perfection, it is chietly through misapprehension ; it being as natural
for pious men to recommend exalted piety, as for covetous persons to
extol great riches. And this misapprehension frequently springs
from their inattention to the nature of Christian perfection. To
prove it, I need only oppose our definition of Christian perfection
to the objections whirh are most commonly raised against our
doctrine.

172 THE LAST CHECK

I. *' Your doctrine of perfection leads to pride,'' — Impossible ! if
Christian perfection is *^ perfect humility. '^^

II. " \i exalts believers ; but it is only to the state of the vain-
glorious Pharisee." — Impossible! If our perfection is ^^ perfect
humility, ''^ it makes us sink deeper into the state of the humble, justi-
fied publican.

III. '' It fills men with the conceit of their own excellence, and
makes them say to a weak brother, Stand by, lam holier than thou.''^ —
Impossible again ! We do not preach Pharisaic, but Christian per-
fection, which consists in ^^ perfect poverty of spirit,^^ and in that

^^ perfect charity, ^^ which vaunteth not itself, honours all men, and bears
with the infirmities of the weak !

IV. *' It sets repentance aside." — Impossible! for it is ^^ perfect
repentance, ^^

V. " It will make us slight Christ." — More and more improbable!
How can ^^ perfect faith'''' in Christ make us slight Christ? Could it
be more absurd to say, that the perfect love of God will make us
despise God ?

VI. " It will supersede the use of mortification and watchfulness ;
for, if sin be dead, what need have we to mortify it, and to watch
against it."

This objection has some plausibility ; I shall therefore answer it
various ways. 1. If Adam, in his state of paradisiacal perfection,
peeded perfect watchfulness and perfect mortification, how much
more do we need them, who find the tree of knowledge of good and
evil planted, not only in the midst of our gardens, but in the midst
of our houses, markets, and churches ? — 2. When we are delivered
from sin, are we delivered from peccability and temptation ? When the
inward man of sin is dead, is the devil dead ? Is the corruption that
is in the world destroyed ? And have we not still our five senses,
and our appetites, to keep with all diligence, as well as our hearts, that
the tempter may net enter into us, or that we may not enter into his
temptations ? — Lastly, Jesus Christ, as son of Mary, was a perfect
man. But how was he kept so to the end ? — Was it not by keeping his
mouth with a bridle, while the ungodly were in his sight, and by guard-
ing all his senses with perfect assiduity, that the wicked one might
not touch them to his hurt ? And if Christ our head kept his human
perfection only through watchfulness and constant self-denial ; is it
not absurd to suppose, that his perfect members can keep their per-
fection without treading in his steps.

VII. Another objection probably stands in Mr. HiWs way : it runs
thus : " Your doctrine of perfection qiakes it needless for perfect

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 175

Christians to say the Lord's Prayer ; for if God vouchsafes to keep
us this day without «in, we shall have no need to pray at night that
God would forgive us our trespasses, as rue forgive them that trespass
against «s."

We answer, 1. Though a perfect Christian does not trespass
voluntarily, and break the law of love, yet he daily breaks the law
of Adamic perfection, through the imperfection of his bodily and
mental powers : and he has frequently a deeper sense of these invo-
luntary trespasses, than many weak believers have of their voluntary
breaches of the moral law. — t. Although a perfect Christian has a
witness that his sins are now forgiven in the court of his conscience,
yet he kno^vs the terrors of the Lord: he hastens to meet the awful
day of God : he waits for the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the character of a righteous Judge : he keeps an eye to the awful
tribunal, before which he must soon be justified or condemned by his
words : he is conscious that his final justification is not yet come ; and
therefore he would think himself a monster of stupidity and pride,
if, with an eye to his absolution in the great day, he scrupled saying
to the end of his life, Forgive us our trespasses. -^3. He is surrounded
with sinners, who daily trespass against him, and whom he is daily
bound to forgive ; and his praying that he may be forgiven now, and
in the great day, as he forgives others, reminds him that he may forfeit
his pardon, and binds him more and more to the performance of the
important duty of forgiving his enemies. — And 4. His charity is so
ardent that it melts him, as it were, into the common mass of man-
kind. Bowing himself, therefore, under the enormous load of all the
wilful trespasses which his fellow-mortals, and particularly his rela-
tives and his brethren, daily commit against God, he says with a fer-
vour that imperfect Christians seldom feel, Forgive us our trespasses,
&c. — We are heartily sorry for our misdoings (my own, and those of
my fellow-sinners :) the remembrance of them is grievous unto us: the
burthen of them is intolerable. Nor do we doubt, but, when the spirit
of mourning leads a numerous assembly of supplicants into the vale
of humiliation, the person who puts the shoulder of faith most readily
to the common burden of sin, and heaves the most powerfully in
order to roll the enormous load into the Redeemer's grave, is the
most perfect penitent — the most exact observer of the apostolic pre-
cept. Bear ye one anotherh burdens, and so fulfil the lazu of Christ ;
and, of consequence, we do not scruple to say, that such a person is
the most perfect Christian in the whole assembly.

If Mr. Hill consider these answers, we doubt not but he will con-
fess that.his opposition to Christian perfection chiefly springs from his

1^4 THE LAST CHECK

inattention to our definition of it, which I once more sum up in these
comprehensiye lines of Mr. Wesley :

O let me gain Perfection's height! >

O let me into nothing fall!
(As less than nothing in thy sight)

And feel that Christ is all in all !

VIII. Our opponents produce another plausible objection, which
runs thus: — " It is plain from your account of Christian perfection,
that adult believers are free from sin: their hearts being purified by
perfect faith, and filled with perfect love. Now sin is that which
humbles us, and drives us to Christ, and therefore, if we were free
from indwelling sin, we should lose a most powerful incentive to
humility, which is the greatest ornament of a true Christian."

We answer : Sin never humbled any soul. Who has more sin than
Satan? And who is prouder? — Did sin make our first parents hum-
ble ? If it did not, how do our brethren suppose that its nature is
altered for the better ? — who was humbler than Christ ? but was he
indebted to sin for his humility ? — Do we not see daily, that the more
sinful men are, the prouder they are also ! — Did Mr. Hill never ob-
serve, that the holier a believer is, the humbler he shows himself? —
And what is holiness, but the reverse of sin? — If sin be necessary to
make us humble, and to keep us near Christ ; does it not follow that
glorified saints, whom all acknowledge to be sinless, are all proud
despisers of Christ ? — If humility is obedience, and if sin is disobe-
dience, is it not as absurd to say that sin will make us humble, i. e. obe-
dient ; as it is to affirm that rebellisn will make us loyal, and adultery
chaste? — See we not sin enough, when we look ten or twenty years
back, to humble us to the dust for ever, if sin can do it ?— Need we
plead for any more of it in our hearts and lives ?•*— If the sins of our
youth do not humble us, are the sins of our old age likely to do it ?—
If we contend for the life of the man of sin, that he may subdue our
pride ; do we not take a large stride after those who s^y, " Let us
sin that grace may abound. Let us continue full of indwelling sin, that
humility may increase ?" — W^hat is, after all, the evangelical method
of getting humility ? Is it not to look at Christ in the manger, in
Gethsemane, or on the cross ; to consider him when he washes his
disciples' feet ; and obediently listen to him when he says. Learn of
me to be meek and lowly in heart ? — Where does the Gospel plead the
cause of the Barabbas, and the thieves within ? Where does it say,
that they may indeed be nailed to the cross, and have their legs
broken; but that their life must be left whole within them, lest we

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 175

should be proud of their death ? — Lastly, what is indwelling sio but
indwelling pride ? At least is not inbred pride one of the chief
ingredients of indwelling sin ? And how can pride be productive of
humility ? Can a serpent beget a dove ? And will not men gather grapes
from thorns, sooner than humility of heart from haughtiness of spirit ?

IX. The strange mij?take which I detect would not be so prevalent
among our prejudiced brethren, if they were not deceived by the
plausibility of the following argument. " When believers are hum-
bled/or a thing, they are humbled by it: but believers are humbled

for sin ; and therefore they are humbled by sin."

The flaw of this argument is in the first proposition. We readily
grant that penitents are humbled for sin ; or in other terms, that they
humbly repent of sin : but we deny that they are humbled by sin.
To show the absurdity of the whole argument, I need only produce
a sophism exactly parallel. " When people are blooded for a thing,
they are blooded by it : but people are sometimes blooded /or a cold :
and therefore people are sometimes blooded by a cold."

X. " We do not assert that all perfection is imaginary. Our mean-
ing is, that all Christian perfection is in Christ ; and that we are per-
fect in his person, and not in our own."

Answer. If you mean by our h^iwg perfect only in Christ, that we
can attain to Christian perfection no other way than by being per-
fectly grafted m /tzm, i^e irwe Fme; and by deriving, like vigorous
branches, the perfect sap of his perfect righteousness, to enable us to
bring forth fruit unto perfection; we are entirely agreed : for we
perpetually assert, that nothing but Christ in us the hope of glory,
nothing but Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, or which is all one,
nothing but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, can make us
free from the law of sin, and perfect us in love.

But, as we never advanced that Christian perfection is attainable
any other way, than by a faith that roots and grounds us in Christ ; we
doubt some mystery of iniquity lies hid under the equivocal phrases,
" All our perfection is in Christ's person : — We are perfect in him, and
not in ourselves."

Should those who use them insinuate by such language, that we
need not, cannot be perfect, by an inherent personal conformity to
God's holiness, because Christ is thus perfect for us : or should they
mean, that we are perfect in /<7m, just as country freeholders, entirely
strangers to state affairs, are perfect politicians in the knights of the
shire who represent them in parliament ; — as the sick in a hospital,
are perfectly healthy in the physician that gives them his attendance :
as the blind man enjoyed perfect sight in Christ when he saw walking

176 THE LAST CHECK

men like moving irees:— as the filthy leper was perfectly clean in our
Lord, before he had felt the power of Christ's gracious words, I will ^
be thou clean : — or as hungry Lazarus was perfectly fed in the person
of the rich man, at whose gate he lay starving — should this, I say, be
their meaning, we are in conscience bound to oppose it, for the rea-
sons contained in the following queries.

1. If believers are perfect, because Christ is perfect for them, why
does the apostle exhort them to go on to perfection ?

2. If all our perfection be inherent in Christ, is it not strange, that
St. Paul should exhort us to perfect holiness in the fear of God^ by
cleansing ourselves from all Jilthiness of the flesh and spirit ? Did not
Christ perfect his own holiness ? And will his personal sanctity be
imperfect till we have cleansed ourselves from all defilement ?

3. If Christ be perfect for us, why does St, James say, Let patience
have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect ? Is Christ's perfection
suspended upon the per/cd work of our patience ?

4. Upon the scheme which I oppose, what does St. Peter mean^
when he says, After ye have suffered awhile^ the Lord make you per-
fect ? What has our suffering awhile to do with Christ's perfection ;
Was not Christ made perfect through his own sifferings ?

6. If believers were perfect in Christ's person, they would all be
equally perfect. But is this the case ? Does not St. John talk of some
who are perfected, and of others who are not yet made perfect in love ?
Besides, the apostle exhorts us to be perfect, not in Antinomian
notions, but in all the reill of God, and in every good work ; and com-
mon sense dictates, that there is some diflference between our good
works and the person of Christ.

6. Does not our Lord himself show, that his personal righteousness
will by no means be accepted instead of our personal perfection,
where he says, " Every branch in me that beareth not fruit (or whose
fruit never grows to any perfection. See Luke viii. 14.) My Father
takeih it away,^^ far from imputing it to his perfect fruitfulness ?

7. In the nature of things, can Christ's perfection supply the want
of that perfection which he calls us to ? Is there not a more essential
difference between Christ's perfection and that of a believer, than
there is between the perfection of a rose and that of the grass of the
field ? — between the perfection of a soaring eagle and that of a creep
ing insect ? — If our Lord is the head of the church, and we the mem-
bers, is it not absurd to suppose that his perfection becomes us in
every respect ? Were I allowed to carry on a scriptural metaphor, I
would ask : Is not the perfection of the head very difierent from that
of the hand? And do we not take advantage of the credulity of the

TO ANTINOxMIANISSl. 177-

sknpla, when we make them believe that an impenitent adulterer and
murderer is perfect in Christ ; or if you please, that a crooked leg
and cloven foot are jyerfectly handsome, if they do but some how
belong ♦o a beautiful face ?

8. Let us illustrate this a little more. Does not the Redeemer's
personal perfection consist in his being God and man in one person;
— in his being eternally begotten by the Father as the Son of God : ind
unbegotten in time by a father, iis the so7i of man ; — in his having
given his life a ransom for all: — in his having taken it up again; and
his standing in the midst of the throne, able to 'save to the uttermost all
that come unto God through him ? Consider this, candid believer, and
say if any man or angel can decently hope that such an incommuni-
cable perfection can ever fall to his share.

9. As the Redeemer's personal perfection cannot suit the redcenned,
no more can the persona! perfection of the redeemed be found in the
Redeemer. A believer's perfection consists in such a degree of faith
as works by perfect love. And does not this high degree of faith
chiefly imply, Uninterrupted self-diffidence, self-denial, self-despair?
A heartfelt, ceaseless recourse to the blood, merits, and righteousness
of Christ? — And a grateful love to him, because he first loved us, and
fervent charity towards all mankind/or his sake? Three things these,
which in the very nature of things, either cannot be in the Saviour
at all ; or cannot possibly be in him in the same manner in which
they must be in believers.

10. Is not the doctrine of our being perfect in Christ's person big
with mischief? Does it not open a refuge of lies to the loosest Ranters
in the land ? Are there none who say^ we are perfect in Christ's per-
son ? In him we have perfect chastity and honesty, perfect temper-
ance and meekness ; and we should be guilty of Pharisaic insolence
if we patched his perfection with the filthy rags of our personal holi-
ness ? And has not this doctrine a direct tendency to set godliness
aside, and to countenance gross Antinomianism ?

Lastly. When our Lord preached the doctrine of perfection, did
he not do it in such a manner as to demonstrate that our perfection
must be personal. Did he ever say. If thou "wilt be perfect, only
believe that I am perfect for thee? On the contrary, did he not de-
clare, If thou wilt be perfect, sell what thou hast; [part wilh all that
stands in thy way ;] and follow me in the way of perfection? — And
again : Do good to them that hate you, that ye may be the children of your
FcUher who is in heaven ; for he sendeih rain upon the just and the un-
just, &c. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is
perfect ? Who can read these words, and not see that the perfection

Vol. IV, SS

178 THE LAST CHECK

which Christ preached, is a perfection of holy dispositions, proJuct-
ive of holy actions in all his followers ? And that of consequence, it
is a personal perfection, as much inherent in us, and yet as much
derived from him, and dependent upon him, as the perfection of our
bodily health ? The chief difference consisting in this, that the per-
fection of our health comes to us from God in Christ, as the God of
nature ; whereas our Christian perfection comes to us from God in
Christ, as the God of grace.

SECTION IV.

Mr. HilVs first Argument against Christian Perfection is taken from the
IXth and XVth Articles of the Church of England. These Articles,
properly understood^ are not contrary to that Doctrine. That our
Church holds it, is proved by thirteen Arguments. She opposes Phari-
saic but not Christian Perfection. Eight Reasons are produced to
show, that it is absurd to embrace the Doctrine of a Death Purgatory,
because our Reformers and Martyrs, in following after the Perfection
of humility, have used some unguarded Expressions, which seem to
.bear hard upon the Doctrine of Christian Perfection.

In the preceding sections I have laid the axe at the root of some
prejudices, and cut up a variety of objections. The controversial
£eld is cleared. The engagement may begin : nay, it is already
begun : for Mr. Hill, in his Creed for Perfectionists, and Mr. Toplady^
in his Caveat against Unsound Doctrines, have brought up, and fired at
our doctrine two pieces of ecclesiastical artillery ; — the IXth and
XVth Articles of our Church : and they conclude that the contents
of these doctrinal cannons absolutely demohsh the perfection we con-
tend for. The report of their wrong-pointed ordnance, and the noise
they make about our subscriptions, are loud ; but that we need
not be afraid of the shot, will, I hope, appear from the following
observations.

The design of the XVth Article of our Church, is pointed out by
the title, " Of Christ alone without sin." From this title we conclude,
that the scope and design of the Article is not to secure to Christ the
honour of being alone cleansed from sin ; because such an honour would
be a reproach to his original and uninterrupted purity, which placed
him far above the need of cleansing. Nor does the Article drop the
least hint about the impossibility of our being cleansed from sw before
we go into the purgatory of the Calviniats ; I mean, the chambers of

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 179

death. What our church intends, is to distinguish Christ from all
mankind, and especially from the Virgin Mary, whom the Papists
assert to have been always totally free from original and actual sin.
Our church does this by maintaining; 1. That Christ was born with-
out the least taint of original sin, and never committed any actual trans-
gression : — 2. That all other men, the V^irgin Mary and the most holy
believers Dot excepted, are the very reverse of Christ in both these
respects; all being conceived in original sin, and offending in many
things, even after baptism,* and with all the helps which we have
under the Christian dispensation to keep us without sin from day to
day. — And therefore, 3. That ifzve say we have no sin — if we pretend,
like some Pelagians, that we have no original sin ; or if we intimate,
like some Pharisees, that " we never did any harm in all our lives,'*
i. e. that we have no actual sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in its ; there being absolutely no adult person without sin in those
respects, except our Lord Jesus Christ.

That this is the genuine sense of the Article appears, 1. By the
absurdity which follows from the contrary sentiment. For if these
words, " Christ alone without sm," are to be taken in an absolute
and unlimited sense : if the word alone entirely excludes all mankind,
at all times ; if it is levelled at our being cleansed from sin, as well as
at our having been always free from original and actual pollution ; — if
this is the case, 1 say, it is evident, that not only fathers in Christ, but
also Enoch and Elijah, St. John and St. Paul, are to this day tainted
with sin, and must to all eternity continue so, lest Mr. HilVs opinion
of Christ alone without sin should not be true.

2. Our sentiment is confirmed by the Article itself, part of which
runs thus ; " Christ, in the truth of our nature, was made like unto
us in all things, sin only excepted, from which he was clearly void,
both in his flesh and in his spirit. He came to be a lamb without
spot : — and sin, as St. John says, was not in him. But all we the rest,
although baptized and born again in Christ," i. e. although we have
from our infancy all the helps that the Christian dispensation affords men
to keep them without sin, " yet we offend in many things," after our
baptism " and if we say," as the above-mentioned Pelagians and Pha-
risees, " that we have no" [original or actual] " sin," i. e. that we are

* The Rev. Mr. Toplady, 'n\ his Historic Proof, page 235, informs us, that a Popish Arch-
bishop of St. Andrews condemned Patrick Hamilton to death, for holding among other doc-
trines, " That children incontinent after baptism are sinners ;" or which is all one, that
baptism does not absolutely take away original sin. This anecdote is important, and shows
that our Church levels at a Popish error the words of her Articles, which Mr. Hill and Mr.
Tnplady suppose to be levelled at Christian Perfection.

130 THE LAST CHECK

like Christ in either of these respects ; our conception^ infancy ^ childhood,
youths and age being all taken into the account, '* we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us."

Having thus opened the plain, rational, and scriptural sense in
which we subscribe to our XVth Article, it remains to make a remarl^
upon the Ninth.

Sotxie bigoted Pelagians deny original sin, or the Adamic infection
of our nature ; and some bigoted Papists suppose that this infection
is entirely done away in baptism : in opposition to both these, our
Church prudently requires our subscription to her IXth Article^
which asserts: 1. ThdX the fault and corruption of our nature is a
melancholy reality ; and 2. That this fault, corruptiony or infection^
doth remain in them zvho are regenerated; that is, in them who are
baptized, or made children of God according to the Christian dispen-
9ation. For every person who has attentively read our Liturgy,
knows that these expressions, baptized, regenerated, and made a mem-
oer of Christy and a child of God, are synonymous in the language of
our church. Now, because we have acknowledged by our sub-
scription to our ninth Article, that the infection of our nature is not
done away in baptism, but does remain in them which are regenerate,
or baptized, Mr. Hill thinks himself authorized to impose upon us
the yoke of indwelling sin for life ; supposing that we cannot be fair
subscribers to that Article, unless we renounce the glorious liberty
of God's children, and embrace the Antinomian Gospel, which is
summed up in these unguarded words of Luther, quoted by Bogatzky
in his Golden Treasury.* " T%e sins of a Christian are for his goody
and if he had no sin, he would not be so well off; — neither would prayer
flow so weliy Can any thing be either more unscriptural or absurd ?
What unprejudiced person does not see, we may, with the greatest
consistency, ojainlain that baptism does not remove the Adamic infec-
tion of sin, and that nevertheless this infection may be removed
before death ?

Nevertheless we are willing to make Mr. Hill all the concessions
we can, consistently with a good conscience. If, by " the infection
of nature,'^ he understand the natural ignorance which has infected
our understanding ; the natural forgetfulness which has affected our
memory ; the inbred debility of all our mental powers, and the poi-
sonous seeds of mortality, which infect all men from head to foot,
and hinder the strongest believers from serving God with all the
fervour they would be capable of, were they not fallen from paradi-

* See the, edition printed in London in 1773, p. 328.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 161

siacal perfection, under the curse of a body sentenced to die, and
dead because of sin: — If Mr. Hill, I say, understand this by '^ the
infection of nature,''^ we believe that such an infection, with all the
natnral, innocent appetites of the flesh, remains not only in those whom
the Scriptures call babes in Christ, but also in fathers ; there beinjr no
adult believer that may not say, as well as Christ, Jidam, or St. Pauly
I thirst. — I am hungry. — I want a help meet for me. — / know but in
part. — / see darkly through a glass. — I groan, being burdened. — He that
marrieih iinneth not. — It is better to marry than to burn, 4-c.

But, if Mr. Hill, by " the infection of nature,^^ mean the siiiful lusts
of the flesh, such as mental drunkennes«, gluttony, whoredom, &lc. —
or, if he understand unloving, diabolical tempers, such as envy, pride,
stubbornness, malice, sinful anger, ungodly jealousy, unbelief, fret-
fulness, impatience, hypocrisy, revenge, or any moral opposition to
the will of God ; if Mr. Hill, I say, understand this by " the infection
of nature ;" and if he suppose that these evils must radically and
necessarily remain in the hearts of all believers [fathers in Christ not
excepted] till death comes to cleanse the thoughts of their hearts by
the inspiration of his ill-smelling breath ; we must take the liberty of
dissenting from him ; and we produce the following arguments to
prove, that whatever Mr. Hill may insinuate to the contrary, the
Church of England is rot against the doctrine of evangelical perfec-
tion, which we vindicate.

I. Our Church can never be so inconsistent as to level her Articles
against what she ardently prays for in her Liturgy : but she ardently
prays for Christian perfection, or for perfect love in this life : there-
fore she is not against Christian perfection. The second proposition
of this argument can alone be disputed, and I support it by the well-
known Collect in the communion service, " Cleanse the thoughts of
our hearts by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit, that we may perfectly
love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name through Jesus Christ
our Lord." Here we see, 1. The nature of Christian Perfection,
it is perfect love: 2. The seat of this perfect love ; a heart cleansed
from its own thoughts : 3. The blessed effect of it, a worthy magnify-
ing of God^s holy name: 4. Its author, God, of whom the blessing is
asked. 5. The immediate mean of it, the inspiration of his Holy
Spirit: and lastly, the gracious procurer of it, our Lord Jesus Christ.

H. This vein of godly desire after Christian perfection runs through
her daily service. In her Confession she prays, " Restore thou them
that are penitent, according to thy promises, he. that hereafter we
may live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy
aame." — Now, godliness, righteousness, and sobriety being the sum of

•182 THE LASK CHECK

our duly towards God, our neighbour, and ourselves, are also the
sum of Christian perfection. Nor does our church absolve any, but
such as desire that the rest of their life may be pure and holy, so that at
the last they may come to God's eternal joy ; plainly intimating that we
may get a pure heart, and lead a pure and holy life, without going into
a death purgatory : and those who do not attain to purity of heart
and life, that is, to perfection, are in danger of missing God's eter-
nal joy.

III. Hence it is, that she is not ashamed to pray daily for sinless
purity, in the Te Deum: " Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day
without sin,^'' that is, sinless; for I suppose, that the title of our XVth
Article, *' Of Christ alone without 5m," means Of Christ alone sinless
from his conception to his last gasp. This deep petition is perfectly
agreeable to the Collects for the ix. xvii. xviii. and xixth Sundays
after Trinity. " Grant to us the spirit to thi7ik, and do always such
things as be rightful, — that we may be enabled to live according to
thy will,'' — i. e. to live without sin. — " We pray thee, that thy grace
may always prevent and follow us, and make us to be continually
given to all good works,'^ &c. — " Grant thy people grace to withstand
the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure
hearts and minds to follow thee." — *' Mercifully grant that thy holy
Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts." — Again : *' May
it please thee, that by the wholesome medicines of the doctrine
delivered by him [Luke, the evangehst and physician of the soul,]
all the diseases of our souls may be healed," &c. St, Luke's day,
** Mortify and kill in us all vices" [and among them envy, seltishness,
and pride ;] and so strengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency
of our lives, and constancy of our faith unto death, we may glorify
thy holy name," &c. The Innocents day. — " Grant us the help of thy
grace, that in keeping thy commandments, we may please thee both in
will and deed." First Sunday after Trinity. — ^' Direct, sanctify, and
govern both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the
works of thy commandments, that we may be preserved" [in these
ways and works] " in body and soul." — '* Prevent us in all our doings,
&c. and further us with thy continual help ; that in all our works,
begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name."
Communion Service. — Once more : " Grant that in all our sufferings
here on earth, &c. we may steadfastly look up to heaven, and by faith
behold the glory that shall be revealed ; and being filled with the
Holy Ghost, may learn to bless our persecutors by the example of thy
first martyr," &,c. St. Stephen's day. It is worth our notice, that
blessing aur persecutors and murderers^ is the last beatitude, the

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 183

highest instance of Christian perfection, and the most difficult of all
the duties, which, if we may believe our Lord, constitute us perfect,
in our sphere, as our heavenly Father is perfect. See Matl, v. 11.
44, 45, 48.

IV. Perfect love, i. e. Christian perfection instantaneously springs
from perfect faith : and as our r:hurch would have all her members
perfect in love, she requires them to pray thus for perfect /aif/i,
which must be obtained in this life or never. " Grant us so perfectly,
and without all doubt to believe in thy Son Jesus Christ, that our faith
in thy sight may never be reproved." St. Thomas's day.

V. Otir Lord teaches us to ask for the highest degree of Christian
perfection, where he commands us, When we pray, to say, 4*^ Thy
kingdom come ; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And our
Church, by introducing this deep prnyer in all her services, sbows
how greatly Mr. Hill is mistaken when he supposes that she looks
upon our doctrine of Christian perfection as " shocking.''^

Should this gentleman object that, although our Church bids us pray
for Christian perfection in the above-cited Collects, and in our Lord's
prayer, yet she does not intimate that these deep prayers may be
answered in this life : I oppose to that argument not only the word on
earth, which she so frequently mentions in the Lord's prayer, but
also her own words : " Everlasting God, who art more ready to
hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than we desire, &c.
pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy," &:c. Twelfth Sun-
day after Trinity. Mr. Hill must therefore excuse us, if we side with
our praying church, and are not ashamed to say with St. Paul, Glory
be to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Eph. iii. 20.

VL That oar Church cannot reasonably be against Christian per-
fection, I farther prove thus : What the Church of England recom-
mends as the end of baptism, can never be contrary to her doctrine.
But she recommends a d^eath unto sin, or Christian perfection, as the
end of baptism : therefore she cannot be against Christian perfection.
The second proposition, which alone is disputable, 1 prove by these
words of her Catechism : " What is the inward or spiritual grace in
baptism? A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness." —
Hence she prays at the grave, " We beseech thee to raise us from the
death of sin to the life of righteousness, that when we shall depart
this life, we may rest in him." [Christ.] Now, that a death to sin is
the end of baptism, and that this end is never fdly answered till this
death has fully taken place, is evident by the following extract from
0ur baptismal office • '' Grant that the old Adam in this person may

1B4 THE LAST CHECri

be so buried^ that the new may be raised up in him. Grant that aU
carnal affecliom [and consequently all the carnal mind, and all inbred
sinl may die in him, and that all things belonging to the Spirit may
live and grow in him." — " Grant that the person now to be baptized
may receive the fulness of thy grace. — Grant, that he being dead to
8171, and living to righteousness, and being buried with Christ in hig
death, may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole body of
sin.''^ How can we maintain with our Church, that we are to crucify,
mortify, [i. e. killl^ and utterly abolish the whole body of sin ; so as to
be dead to sin, and to have the old Adam buried in this life : and yet
hold with Mr. Hill, that this whole body of sin, which we are utterly
to abolish, is to remain wholly and utterly unabolished till death coniG
to abolish it ?

VII. Our Church is not against that end of the Lord's supper, which
she constantly inculcates : but that end of the Lord's supper, which
she constantly inculcates, is Christian perfection : therefore our church
is not against Christian perfection. The second proposition, which
alone needs proof, is founded upon these deep words of our com-
munion service. " Grant us so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus
Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made
clean by his body, and our souls washed through his precious blood,
and that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.''^ These words
express the height of Christian perfection, nor has the Lord's supper
had its full end upon us, till that prayer is answered.

VIII. Our Church is not against what she considers as the end of
Christ's nativity, and of his being presented in the temple : but what
she considers as that end is Christian perfection : therefore she is not
against Christian perfection. The second proposition of this argument
is founded, L Upon the proper preface to Christmas-day in the com-
munion service. " Christ, &ic. was made very man, &c. without spot
of sin, to make us clean from all sin •" — And 2. Upon these words of
the Collect for the presentation of Christ in the temple : " We humbly
beseech thee, that as thy only begotten Son was presented in the
temple in substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto thee
with pure and clean hearts. ^^

IX. The same argument holds good with respect to our Lord's
circumcision, his keeping of the passover with unleavened bread, his
ascending into heaven, — and his sending the Comforter from thence.
That, according to our Church, the end of these events is our Christian
perfection, appears by the following extracts from her Collects.
*' Grant us the true circumcision of the spirit, that our hearts and alt
our members being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 1 8 J

may in all things obey," kc. The circumcision of C7jm^—<' Grant us
30 io put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may alway
serve thee in pureness of living and truth." First Sunday after
Easter. " Grant, &c. that we may also in heart and mind thither [to
heaven] ascend, and with him [Christ] continually dwell^^'' &.c. Ascen-
sion day. — " Grant us, by the same spirit, to have a right judg-
ment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort.''^ IVhit
suntide.

X. Our Church cannot reasonably oppose what she ardently wishes
to all her communicants, and what she earnestly asks for and strongly
recommends to all her members : but she thus wishes, asks, and
recommends deliverance from all sin, an{\ perfect charity, that is, Chris-
tian perfection ; and therefore she cannot be against Christian per-
fection. The second proposition is founded, 1. Upon these words of
the absolution, which she gives to all communicants. *• Almighty
God, &c. pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and
strengthen you in all goodness.^'' — 2. Upon her Collect for Quinqua-
gesima Sunday : " Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts
that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all
virtues :" (St. Paul calls it the bond of perfection.) — And 3. Upon the
definition which she gives us of charity in her homilies. " Charity
[says she] is to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our
power and strength. — With all our heart : that is to say, that our
heart, mind, and study be set to believe his word, and to love him
above all things that we love best in heaven or in earth. With all
our soul : that is to say, that our chief joy and delight be set upon
him, and our whole life given to his service. — With all our power :
that is to say, that, with our hands and feet, with our eyes and ears,
our mouths and tongues, and with all our parts and powers, both of
body and soul, we should be given to the keeping of his command-
ments. This is the principal part of charity, but it is not the whole ;
for charity is also to love every man, good and evil, friend and foe,
whatsoever cause be given to the contrary." Horn, on Charity — " Of
charity [St. John] says, He that doth keep God's word and command-
ment, in him is truly the perfect love of God, &c. And St. John wrote
not this as a subtle saying, kc. but as a most certain and necessary
truth.^"* Homily of Faith, Part. II.—** Thus it is declared unto you,
what true charity or Christian love is, &;c. which love, whosoever
keepeth, not only towards God, whom he is bound to love above all
thing's, but also towards his neighbour, as well friend as foe, it shall
surely keep him from all offence of God, and just (ffencc of man.^''
Homily on Charity^ Part II. Again : *' Every man persuadeth him-

VOT. IV, O/t

180 THE LAST CHECK

self to be in charity, but let him examine his own heart, his Irfe an<l
eonversation, and he shall truly discern whether he be in perfect
charity or not. For he that follovveth not his own will, but givetb
himself earnestly to God, to do all his will and commandments, he
may be sure that he loveth God above all things, or else surely he
loveth him not, whatsoever he pretend." Homily on Charity, - Ouce
more : " Perfect patience careth not what, nor how much it suffereth,
nor of whom it suflfereth, whether of friend or foe, but studieth to
suffer innocently. Yea, he in whom perfect charity is, careth so little
to revenge, that he rather studieth to do good for evil, according to
the most perfect example of Christ upon the cross. — Such charity
and love as Christ showed in his passion, should we bear one to
another, if we will be his true servants. If we love but them that
love us, what great thing do we do? We must be perfect in our
charity, eyen as our Father in heaven is perfect." Homily for Good
Friday.

XI. That state which our Church wants all her priests to bring
their flocks to, is not a " shocking" or chimerical state ; but she
wants all her priests to bring all their flocks to "■ perfectness in Christ,''^
that is, to Christian perfection : and therefore the state of Christian
perfection is neither shocking nor chimerical. The minor, which
alone is contestable, rests upon this awful part of the charge, which
all her bishops give to her Priests ; " See that you never cease your
labour, care, and diligence, until you have done all that liethin you to
bring all such as shall be committed to your charge unto that agree-
ment of faith, and that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that
there be no place left among you for error in religion, or viciousness
in life." Ordin. Office.

Nor is our Church less strict with the laity than with the clergy;
for she receives none into her congregation, but such as profess a
determination of coming up to Christian Perfection. Accordingly all
her members have solemnly promised and vowed, by their sponsors at
their baptism, and in their own persons when they were confirmed by
the bishop ; 1 . To renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and
vanities of this wicked world, without reserve, and all the sinful lusts
of the flesh ; 2, To believe all the Articles of the Christian faith ; and
3. To keep God''s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all
the days of their life. And is not this vowing to perfect holiness in the
fear of God ? Does the first part of this sacred engagement, leave
any room for a moment's agreement with the devil, the world, or
the flesh? Does the second make the least allowance for one doubt
with respect to ahy one Article of the Christian faith ? or the third,

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 187

for one wilful breach of God^s commandments ? Agnin, are not these
commandments thus summed up in our Church catechism : / learn in
ihem my duty toxnards God, which is to love him -anth all my heart, — and
my duty towards my neighbour, which is to love him as myself? Is not
this perfect love, or Christian perfection ? And have we not vowed to
'Walk in the same all the days of our life ? As many churchmen there-
fore as make conscience of keeping their baptismal vow, must not
only g-o on, but attain unto perfection ; and if there have been no per-
fect Christians in our Church, all her members have died in the actual
breach of the awful promise which they made in their baptism : a
supposition too shocking either to make or allow.

If you ask, Where ar« those perfect churchmen, or Christians ? I
answer : that if the perfect love that keeps the commandments is not
attainable, our baptismal vow is absurd and detestable ; for it is both
irrational and very wicked to vow things absolutely impossible. But
this is not all ; upon that supposition the Bible, which makes such
frequent mention of the perfect, and of perfection, is no better than
a Popish legend ; for that book ought to rank among religious roman-
ces, which recommends imaginary things as if they were indubitable
realities. So sure then as the Bible is true, there are or may be per-
fect Christians ; but

Virtutem incolumem odimus,
Sublatara ex oculis quaerimus invidi.

" While we honour dead saints, we call those who are alive enthu-
siasts, hypocrites, or heretics :" It is not proper therefore to expose
them to the darts of envy and malice. And suppose living witnesses
of perfect love were produced, what would be the consequence?
Their testimony would be excepted against by those who disbelieve
the doctrine of Christian perfection, just as the testimony of the
believers who enjoy the sense of their justification, is rejected by
those who do not believe that a clear experience of the peace and
pardoning love of God is attainable in this life. If the original, di-
rect perfection of Christ himself was horribly blackened by his bigot-
ed opposers, how could the derived, reflected perfection of his mem-
bers escape the same treatment from men, whose hearts are tinctured
with a degree of the same bigotry ?

Add to this, that in order to harden unbelievers, the accuser of the
brethren perpetually obtrudes upon the church, not only false wit-
nesses of pardoning grace, but also vain pretenders to perfect love :
for he knows, that by putting oflf as many counterfeits as he possibly
can, he will give the enemies of the truth room to say, that there is

18S THE LAST CHECK

in the church no gold purified seven times,— no coin truly stamped
with the King's image, perfect love; and bearing the royal inscription,
Holiness unto the Lord.^''^

Therefore, instead of saying, that thisor the other eminent believer
has attained Christian perfection, we rest the cause upon the expe-
rience of St. John, and of those with whom that apostle could say : —
There is no occasion of stumbling in him that loveth. — Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because
[with respect to hoHness] as he is [in his human nature] so are we in this
zvorld — pure, undefiled, and filled with perfect love ; with this differ-
ence nevertheless, that he is in the kingdom of glory, and we in the
kingdom of grace ; he has a glorified, and we a corruptible body : he
has the original perfection of a tree, and we the derived perfection of
hranches gi'owing upon it. Or, to use another comparison. He shines
with the communicative perfection of a pure, bright, unextinguishable
fire ; and we with a borrowed, and yet inherent perfection of a coal
entirely lighted. The burning mineral was black, cold, and filthy,
before it was impregnated with the perfection of the fire ; it continues
bright, hot, and pure, only so long as it remains in the fire that kin-
dled it ; for if it fall from it by any accident, the shining perfection
which it had acquired gradually vanishes, and it becomes a filthy
cinder, the black emblem of an apostate. So true is that saying of
our Lord, Without me, or rather separate from me, ye can da nothing :
ye can neither get nor keep light or heat, knowledge or love. But
when we live not, and Christ liveth in us : when our life is hid with
Christ in God, when we dwell in God, and God dwells in us ; then it is
that our love is made perfect, and that, loving one another even as
Christ hath loved us, as he is loving, so are we in this world. 1 John
iv. 17.

Such was the avowed experience of fathers in Christ in the apos-
tolic times, and such it undoubtedly is also in our days. Nor can I
persuade myself that our Church trifles with her children when she
describes the perfect Christian thus in her homily for Good Friday.

* Among the professors, who have lately set up as witnesses of perfect love, I am not a
little surprised to find Mr. Hill himself. This gentleman, who has treated Mr. Wesley with
such severity for standing up in defence of perfect love, or Christian Perfection, most so-
lemnly ranks himself among the perfect lovers of their neighbours, yea, of their adversa-
ries! Hear him make his astonishing profession before the world, at the end of his pam-
phlet called The Admonisher admonished. — " I most solemnly declare," says he, " that I
am in perfect charity with Dr. Adams as well as with you, Sir, my unknown antagonist."
1 never yet heard a Perfectionist make so solemn and so public a profession of perfect

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 180

" He in whom perfect charity is, careth so little to revenge, that he rather
studieth to do good for ei'i7, according to the most perfect example of
Christ upon the cross. ''^

XIII. If Mr. Hill reply, that our Church speaks there of a mere
nonentity : and that we can never have a grain o[ perfect charity in
this life, because the old leaven of indwelling sin will always corrupt
the sweetness of our tempers before God ; I answer his objection by
producing my last proof, that our Church holds the very doctrine for
which we are called perfectionists. Hear her pressing perfect Iovq
and purity upon all her communicants : '• Have a lively and steadfast
faith in Christ, 4'C. and be in perfect charity with all men.''^ Com. Office.
— And 2. Upon all her feeble children. Though your power he weak,
[says she to them,] yet Christ is risen again to strengthen you in your
battle : His holy Spirit shall help your infirmities. In trust of his
mercy take you in hand to purge this leaven of sin, that corrupteth and
soureth the sweettiess of our life before God ; that ye may be as new and
fresh dough, void of all sour leaven of wickedness ; so shall ye show
yourselves to be sweet bread to God, that he may have his delight in you.
Horn. 00 the Resur.

All the preceding arguments support our sense of the IXth and
XVth articles ; and if Mr. Hill urge, that our Church contradicts her-
self, and sometimes pleads for Christian imperfection and a death
purgatory ; we reply, that, supposing the charge were well grounded,
yet we ought rather to follow her, when she soberly follows Scrip-
ture, than when she hastily follows inconsistent Augustine. But we
would rather hope, that when she speaks of human depravity in a
manner which seems to bear hard upon the preceding quotations, it is
either when she speaks of human depravity in general, or when she
inculcates the perfection of humility, or when she opposes the
feigned perfection of those whom she ironically calls ^' proud, just,
perfect, and holy Pharisees.^'' Horn, on the Misery of Man. From
these and the like words, therefore, we have as much reason to con-
clude, that she renounces true. Christian holiness, as to infer, that
she decries true, Christian perfection. Besides the delusion of those
Pharisees, who have missed a perfection of evangelical righteousness
and humility, and have attained a perfection of self-righteousness and
pride, is so horrible, and so diametrically opposite to the spirit of
Christianity, that our Reformers deserve to be excused, if they have
sometimes opposed that error in an unguarded manner; especially
as they have so clearly and so frequently asserted the glorious libertA
of God's children.

190 THE LAST CHECK

I shall close this vindication of the Church of England with some
remarks upon her *' Martyrs," whom Mr. Hill produces also in his
creed, to keep the doctrine of Christian imperfection in counte-
nance.

1. If any of our Martyrs, speaking of his converted, renewed, and
sanctitied state, said, " I am all sin," or words to that purpose, he
spoke the words of unguarded humihty, rather than the words of
evangelical soberness ; for a man may have grace and zeal enough to
burn for one truth, without having time and prudence enough, pro-
perly to investigate and state every truth.

2. In our state of weakness, the very perfection of humility may
betray an injudicious martyr into the use of expressions which seem
to clash with the glorious liberty of God's children : just as an exces-
sive love for our friends may betray us into an injudicious and teasing
officiousness.

3. When a martyr considers himself in his fallen state in Adam, or
in h'\s former state of disobedience, he may say, " / am all sm,'- in
the very sanje sense in which St. Paul said, I am the chief of sinners.
But allow him time to explain himself, and he will soon give you to
understand that he rejoices in the testimony of a good conscience, purged

from dead works to serve the living God; and that far from harbour-
ing any sin in himself, he is determined to strive against sin in others ;
resisting unto blood. And is not such a disposition as this one of the
highest steps in the ladder of Christian perfection ?

4. Hence it appears that the unguarded expressions of our mar-
tyrs were levelled at Pharisaic pride, or at absolute perfection^ and
not at Christian perfection. Like some pious Calvinists in our days,
they embraced Christian perfection in deed^ whilst, through misap-
prehension, they disclaimed it in word. And therefore their
speeches against the glorious liberty of God's children, show only,
that Christian perfection is a perfection of humility and love^ and not
a perfection of wisdom and knowledge.

5. If it can be proved that any of those, who rank among our
martyrs, died full of indwelling sin, I will not scruple to say that he
died a bigot, and not a martyr ; for, to die full of indwelling sin is to
die full of secret obstinacy and uncharitableness, and St. Paul
declares, that were an apostle himself to give his body to be burned in
such a disposition, it would profit him nothing.

6. As many brave Englishmen have laid down their lives in the
field of battle, to defend their country against the French, without
being properly acquainted with the liberties and boundaries of the

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 101

British empire ; so many Protestants have laid down their lives in
Smithfield, io defend their religion against the Papists, without heing
acquainted with all the landmarks, which divide the land of spiritual
Israel from that of the Philistines, and perfect Christianity from Anti-
nomian dotages.

7. The Jews can produce their martyrs as well as the Protestants.
The Maccabees^ for example, died entirely satisfied with the Mosaic
covenant, and strmgers to the transcendent glory of the Christian dis-
pensation. But is this a sufficient reason for preferring Judaism to
Christianity ? — Yes, if Mr. Hilt he in the right, when he decries the
doctrine of perfect faith and perfect love, and imposes upon us the
doctrine of a death purgatory, hecause some good men formerly
died without having clear views of the doctrine of Christian perfec-
tion ; though like men who eat honey in the dark, they tasted its
sweetness, and delightfully experienced its power.

8. To conclude : I am persuaded, that were all our Reformers and
martyrs alive, none of them would ohject to this argument, which
sums up the doctrine of the Church of Er)gland with respect to pur-
gatory. If death cleanseth us from indwelling sin, it is not Christ's
blood applied by the Spirit through faith. But the only purgatory
wherein we [Christian men] trust to be saved, is the death and blood of
Christ, which if we apprehend it with a true and steadfast faith,
purgeth and cleanseth us from all our sins. The blood of Christ, says
St. John, hath cleansed us from all sin. Horn, on Prayer, Part 111. —
Therefore, the doctrine that death, &c. cleanseth us from all indwelling-
sin; or the doctrine of a death purgatory, is as contrary to the doc-
trine of our Church as to that of St. John.

SECTION V.

Mr. Hill intimates that the apostles were Imperfectionists. — St. Peter and
St. James, far from pleading for a death purgatory, stand up for
Christian perfection.

When Mr. Hill has so unadvisedly brought the Church of England
against us, it is not surprising to see him press four apostles, *' Peter,
Paul, James, and John,''' into the field, to '' cut up, (as he calls it)
root and branch, my favourite doctrine of perfection.^' Never were
these holy men set upon a more unholy piece of work. Methinks I
hear them say, Let Mr. Hill rank us with the Gibeoniles : let him
make us hewers of wood to the congregation for ever : but let him not
«et us upon cutting up root and branch the lovely and fruitful tree of

1^2 THE LAST CHECK

Christian perfection. Happily for that rare tree, Mr. Hill only pro-
duces the names of the apostolic woodmen, while we produce their
axe^ and show that they lay it at the root of Antinomianism ; — a deadly
tree this, which is to our favourite tree, what the fatal tree in para-
dise was to the tree of life. Mr. Hill appeals first to Peter ; let then
Peter first answer for himself

1. Where does that apostle plead for Christian imperfection, and
a death purgatory ? Is it where he says, As he who has called you is
HOLY ; so be ye holy in all manner of conversation : — Seeing you have
purified your souls^ ^c. love one another with a pure heart fervently :
• — Christ — left us an example that ye should follow his steps : who dhi n©
SIN : — who bare our sins^ that we, being dead to sin, should live to
righteousness ; forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the fleshy
arm yourselves with the same mind ; for he that hath suffered in iheflesk
hath ceased from sin. — The God of all grace, ^c. after that ye have
suffered awhile, make you perfect ? Had Peter been against our
doctrine, is it probable that he would thus have excited believers to
attain perfection ; wishing it them as we wish our flocks the peace of
God which passes all understanding.

If that apostle pleads not for the necessary indwelling of sin in his
first epistle, doth he do it in the second ? Is it where he says, that
Exceeding great and precious promises are given us, that by these we
might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the pollution
that is in the world through lust ? Is there indwelling sin in the Divine
nature ? And can those people whose hearts are still full of sin and
indwelling corruption, be said to have escaped the pollution that is in
the world through lust F Might not a man whose lungs are still full of
dangerous ulcers, be said with as much propriety to have escaped the
misery that is in the world through consumptions ? — Is it where St.
Peter describes Christian perfection, and exhorts believers to attain it,
or to rise higher in it, by adding with all diligence to faith, virtue —
to virtue, knowledge— temperance — patience — godliness — brotherly kind-
ness — and charity, the key of the arch, and the bond of perfection ? —
Is it where he states the difference between fallen believers, weak
believers, and perfect Christians ; hinting, that the first lack these
things, i. e. Christian graces ; that these things are in the second: and
that they abound in the third ? Or is it where he bids us be diligent
that we may be found of God in peace, without spot and blameless ?
For my part, I do not see here the shadow of a plea for the root of
every evil in the hearts of believers till they die, any more than for
{he fruit of adultery, murder,.and incest, in their lives till they go
hence.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 1 D3

Bnt what principally strikes us in Mr. HilVs appeal to St. Peter is,
that although Petei- was naturally led by his subject to speak of the
necessary indwelling of sin in our hearts during the term of life, if
that doctrine had been true ; yet he does not so much as drop one
hint about it. The design of his first epistle was undoubtedly to con-
llrtn believers under the fiery trials which their faith meets with.
You are kept, sayS he, by the power of God, through [obedient] faith
iinto salvation, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season (Jf
need he) ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. What a
fiiir opportunity had Peter to say here, without an if need be, " You
MUST be in heaviness, not only through manifold temptations, but also
through the remaining corruptions of your hearts : the Canaanites
and vvild beasts must still dwell in the land, to be goads in your sides,
and thorns in your eyes, or you would grow proud and careless ;
your heart-leprosy must cleave to you, as GehazPs leprosy cleaved to
hira. Death radically cured him, and nothing but death can radically
cure you. Till then your /leac/s must remain full of imputed right-
eousness, and your hearts full of indwellirig si/t." But happily for the
honour of Christianity, this Antinomian, this impure Gospel has not
the least countenance from St. Peter : and he cats up thfe very roots
of it where he says — Who shall harm you, if you be followers of
that which is good? — Commit the keeping of your souls unto God in
well-doing. [The very reverse of sinning.] — You are his daughters,
[the daughters of him to whom God said, Walk before me, and be thou,
perfect^ so long a^ ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement,
i. e. so long as your conduct and tempers become the Gospel. And
every body knows, that a man's tempers are always as his heart ; and
that, if his heart be full of evil, his tempers cannot be full of good-
ness. Rom. iv. 14.

II. If St. Peter, the first of Mr. HiWs witnesses, does not say one
word to countenance Antinomianism, and to recommend Christian
imperfection ; let us see if St. James pleads for Baal in the hearts,
any more than /or Baal in the lives, of perfect believers. Turn to his
epistle, O ye that thirst after holiness ; to your comfort you will find,
that in the first chapter he shows himself a bold asserter of Chris-
tian perfection. Let patience, says he, have her perfect work, that ye
may be perfect, and entire, wanting nothing. He speaks the same
I'anguage in other places. Whoso looketh into the perfect law of
liberty, and continueth therein, he being a doer of the w<iRK,
shall he blessed in his deed. — And again : — If any man ojjhxd not in
word, the same is a perfect man. Nor i« if difficult to demonstraff-

Vor, IV -^r,

194 THE LAST CHECK.

from his second chapter, that established believers, or perfect Chris-
tians, keep the royal^ perfect law of liberty; and that those who break
it in one point are in a deplorable case.

If Mr. Wesley had written an epistle to Antinomian believers, to
make them go on to Christian perfection, could he have expressed
himself in a stronger manner than St. James does in the following
passages? Grudge riot one against another y brethren^ lest ye be con-
demned, [or damned] James v. 9. Speak not evil one of another, bre-
thren. He that judgeth his brother judgeth the law. But if thou judge
the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one
lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy [those believers, who keep
or break his royal law,] James iv. 11, 12. — Again : If ye fulfil the
ROYAL LAW, according to the Scripture, Thou shall love thy neighbour as
thyself, ye do well : but [if ye do not fulfil it ;] if ye have respect to
persons, ye commit sin. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend [i. e. commit sin] in one point, he is guilty of all, 4*c. So speak
ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty, James
ii. 8, &c.

What follows, demonstrates that fallen believers, if they do not
repent and rise to the state of Christian perfection, will be condemned
for one sin. St. James properly instances in the sin of uncharitable-
ness, because it is directly contrary to our Lord's new commandment,
of loving one another as he has loved us, and because charity is the ful-
filling of the royal law, and the bond of perfection. Can faith save him,
(the uncharitable believer) says St James ? — If a brother or sister be
naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you [believers] say. Be ye
warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which
are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not
works, [and of consequence, the fallen believer, if he has sin unre-
pented of] is dead. — Such a one 25 of the devil, for he committeth sin,
and sin is the transgression of the law of liberty, by which he shall be
judged, yea, by which he shall have judgment without mercy, that has
[thus] showed no mercy ; whether he sinned negatively by not reliev-
ing his poor brother in deed, though he gave him good words : or
whether he did it positively, by having respect to persons, or by grudg-
ing against his brother. Compare James ii. 13, &c. with 1 John iii.
4, &c. to the end of both chapters, which are two strong batteries
raised on purpose to defend the doctrine of Christian perfection, and
to demolish the doctrine of Christian imperfection, which is all one
with Antinomianism.

Should it be objected, that, '' at this rate, no Christian believer is
Safe, till he has obtained Christian perfection ;" we reply, that all

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 195

Christian believers are safe, who either stand in it, or press after it.
And if they do neither, we are ready to prove, that they rank among
fallen believers, and are in as imminent danger of being spewed out of
Christ's mouth as the Laodiceans were. Let Mr. Hiil candidly read
the Epistle to the Hebrews, the second Epistle of St. Peter, and the
first of St. John, and let him doubt of it if he can.

Should i\lr. Hill object, that ** St. James himself says, In many
things we offend all; and that this one saying abundantly proves that
he was a strong imperfect ionist :" I beg leave to involve my ho-
noured opponent in the following dilemma. Are iheoff'ences of which
St. James speaks involuntary ? Or are they voluntary ? \( Mr. Hill
says, They are involuntary, I answer. Then they are not proper
breaches of the law of liberty which St. James preaches ; because
that law curses us for no involuntary offences ; and therefore, such
offences, [like St. Paul s reproving of the High Priest more sharply
than he would have done, had he known what high dignity his unjust
judge was invested with,] such offences, I say, are not sins according to
the royal and evangelical law of our Melchisedec ; and therefore they do
not prove that all believers remain full of indwelling sin till death. —
If Mr. Hill reply, that '* The many offences of which St. James
speaks, are voluntary offences, and therefore real breaches of the
law of liberty ;^^ I answer, that this genuine sense of the words, taken
in connexion with the context, confirms our doctrine of Christian
perfection, and our opposition to Antinomianism ; and 1 prove it
thus :

The text and context runs thus : My brethren, be not many masters :
[i. e. lord it not over one another ;] knowing that we [who do so] shall
receive the greater condemnation if we do not learn humility. I say,
we, because I would not have you think that God our Judge is a
respecter of persons, and will spare an apostle who breaks the law
of liberty, and does not repent, any more than he would spare you.
For if 1 represented God as a partial judge, Judas's greater condem-
nation would prove me mistaken. And I insist the more upon this
awful doctrine, because in many things we offend all, especially in
word, till we are made perfect in love, that love which is the fulfilling
of the law, and enables us to keep our tongue as it were with a bridle
all the day long. — If Mr. Hill ask, by what means I can show, that
this is really St. James's meaning : I reply ; by that plain rule of
divinity and criticism, which bids us take the beginning of a verse
in connexion with the end. And if ive do this here, we find the doc-
trine of Christian perfection in this very text, thus : We shall receive
the greater damnation if we do not rrpent and r.ease to he many mas-

196 THE LAST CHECK

o

ters : for in many things we from Hme to time offend all, especially by
our words, till we are perfected in love. If any man offend not in
ta)ord, the same is, what each of us should be, a perfect man, and able
also to bridle his whole body; James iii. I, 2.— So certain therefore,
as there are men able to bridle their tongue, and their whole bodies,
there are men perfect in the body — perfect before death, according
to the doctrine contained in this controverted passage of St. James.

" But St. James says also, The spirit that dweUeth in us lusteih to
envy. James iv. 5."

I reply : 1. It is usual for modest teachers to rank themselves with
the persons, of whom they say something disagreeable : and this they
do to take away the harshness of their doctrine, and to make way for
the severity of their charges. Thus Peter writes. The time past of
our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles^ when we
walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings,
and abominable idolatries : though it is evident that Peter, a poor,
industrious, godly Jew, never walked in abominable idolatries ; working
the will of the Gentiles. Now the same delicacy of charity, which
made St. Peter rank himself with heathens, who walked in drunken-
ness, whoredom, and gross idolatry, makes St. James rank him-
self with the carnal Christians, who are possessed by an envious
spirit.

2. Nay, St. James himself, using the same figure of speech, says.
The tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison, <^c, therewith curse
we men, who are made after the similitude of God. But would it be
reasonable to infer from these words, that his tongue was still full of
deadly poison, and that he therewith continued to curse his neighbour ?
Therefore all that is implied in his words about envy, is that, till we
are made perfect in the charity which envieth not, and is not puffed
up, the spirit that is in us lusteth to envy and pride. And that we, who
have not yet attained Christian perfection, need not be always envious
and proud, is evident from the very next words. But he giveth more
grace, wherefore he says, God resisteth the proud, envious man, but
giveth grace to the humble ; — Resist the devil, and he will flee from you :
— purify your hearts, ye double-minded : Be afHicied, and mourn, and
weep : let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into
heaviness : so severe was St. James to those adulterers and adul-
teresses, those genteel believers, who stopped short of Christian per-
fection, loved the world, and envied one another! Therefore, to
press him into the service of Solifidianism, is as rash an attempt as to
•all his Epistle an Epistle of strazv, worthy of being coreimitted to the

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 1 97

dames ; and [if the preceding remarks are just] Mr. Hill is as much
mistaken, when he appeals to St. James, as when he quotes St. Peter,
in defence of Christian imperfection

SECTION VI

^S'^ Paul preached Christian Perfection, and professed to have attained
it. — A view of the different Sorts of Perfection which belong to the
diff'erent Dispensations of Grace and GJory. — The holy Child Jesus's
Imperfection in Knowledge andSvffering^ and his growing in Wisdom
and Stature, and i7i Favour with God and Man, were entirely con-
sistent with his Perfection of Humble Love.

St. Paul's name appears upon Mr. HilVs list of witnesses against
Christian perfection ; but it ts without the apostle's consent ; for
Peter and James did not plead more strenuously for the glorious
liberty of God's children than St. Paul. Nay, he professed to have
attained it, and addressed Fathers in Christ as persons that were par-
takers of it together with himself. " We speak wisdom (says he)
among them that are perfect," 1 Cor. ii. 6. — " Let us, as many as
be perfect, be thus minded," Phil. iii. \5.

Nor did Paul fancy that Christian perfection was to be confined to
the apostolic order : for he wanted all. believers to be like him in this
respect. Hence it is, that he exhorted the Corinthians to perfect
holiness in the fear of Gody 2 Cor. vii. 1. to be perfect, 2 Cor. xiii. II.
to be perfectly joined together in the same mind, 1 Cor. i. 10. and showed
them the perfect, or more excellent way, 1 Cor. xiii. — He told the
Ephesians, that God gave pastors for the perfecting of the saints, — till
all come in the unity of the faith, — unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Christ; — Eph. iv. 12, 13. — He taught
every man, &.C. that he might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
Col. i. 28. — He wanted the Colossians fully to put on charity, which
is the bond of perfection, — that they might stand perfect and complete in
all the will of God, Col. iii. 14. iv. 12. He would have the man of
God to be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work, 2 Tim. iii.
17. — He exhorted his converts, whether they did cat, drink, or do any
thing else, to do all to the glory of God, and in the name of the Lord Jesus ;
rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, and in every thing giving
thanks : that is, he exhorted them to walk according to the strictest
rules of Christian perfection. — He blamed the Hebrews for being still

198 THE LAST CHECK

such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat; observing that
strong meat, erri reXetm, belongeth to them that are perfect, even to them
tJDho by reason of use, or experience, have their [spiritual] senses exer-
cised to discern both good and evil, Heb. v. 12, &c. He begins the
next chapter by exhorting them to go on to perfection ; intimating
that, if they do not, they may insensibly fall away, put the Son of God
to open shame, and not be renewed again to repetitance. And he con-
cludes the whole epistle by a pathetic wish, that the God of peace
would moke them perfect in every good work to do his will. Hence it
appears, that it would not be less unreasonable to set St. Paul upon
ci-ucifying Christ afresh, than to make him attack Christ's well-known
doctrine, Be ye [morally] perfect, [according to your narrow capacity
and bounded power] even as your heavenly Father is [morally] perfect
[in his infinite nature, and boundless Godhead] Matt. v. 48.

Mr. Hill will probably attempt to set all these Scriptures aside, by
saying, that nothing can be more absurd, than to represent Paul as a
perfectionist, because he says himself, Not as though I had already
attained, or were already perfect, Phil. iii. 12. But some remarks
upon the different sorts of perfection, and upon the peculiar per-
fection, which the apostle said he had not yet attained, will easily
solve this difficulty.

3Ir. Hill is too well acquainted with divinity not to know that
absolute perfection belongs to God alone, and that Christ himself, with
respect to his humanity, fell and still falls short of infinite perfection,
omniscience, and a wisdom admitting of no growth, are essential to
absolute perfection : but the man Christ was not omniscient ; for he
did not know the day of judgment : nor was his wisdom infinite, for he
grew in wisdom. Nay, his happiness is not yet absolute, for it dailj'
increases as he sees his seed, and is more and more satisfied. God
alone is supremely perfect : all beings are imperfect when they are
compared to him : and though all his works were perfect in their
places, yet, as he gave them different degrees of perfection, they
which have inferior degrees of goodness may be said to be imperfect
in comparison of them which are endued with superior degrees of
excellence. Thus archangels are perfect as archangels, but imper-
fect in comparison of Jesus Christ. Angels are perfect as angels,
but imperfect in comparison of archangels. Enoch, Elijah, and the
saints who arose with our Lord, are perfect as glorified saints ; and,
in comparison of them, the departed spirits of just men rnade perfect
continue in a state of imperfection : for the risen saints are glorified
in body and soul, but the mouldered bodies of departed saints, not
having yet felt the power of Chrisfs resurrection^ are still under the

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 199

power of corruption. Imperfect as St. Paul and St. John are now,
in comparison of Enoch, Ehjah, and the tW(^nty-four elders so often
mentioned by St. John ; yet they are far more perfect than when they
were pressed down by a corruptible body, under which they groaned
being burdened: fo\ the diseml)odied spirits of just men made perfect
are more perfect than the most perfect Christians, who are yet in a
body dead because of sin. And, as among rich men some are richer
than others : or among tall men, some are taller than others ; so
among perfect Christians, some are more perfect than others.

According to the gradation which belongs to all the works of God ;
and according to the doctrine of the dispensations of divine grace ;
the least perfect of all perfect Christians is more perfect than the
most perfect Jew ; yea, than John the Baptist, whose dispensation
linked together Judaism and Christianity. Or, to speak the language
of our Lord, He that is the least in the [Christian] kingdom of God^ is
greater than John; though John himself was the greatest born of a
woman under any preceding dispensation. By the same rule, he that
is perfect under the Jewish dispensation, is more perfect than he that
is only perfect according to the dispensation of the Gentiles.

The standard of these different perfections is tixed in the Scrip-
tures. To fear God and work righteousness, i. e. to do to others as
we would be done to, from the principle of the fear of God, is the
standard of a Gentile's perfection. The standard of a Jew's perfec-
tion with respect to morality may be seen in Deut. xxvii 14 — 26.
and in Ps. xv. And, with respect to devotion, it is fixed in Ps. cxix.
The whole of this perfection is thus summed lip by Micah : — Olsraely
what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to do justice, to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

The perfection of infant Christianity, which is called in the Scrip-
tures the baptism of John, is thus described by John and by Christ : —
He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none, 4*c. If thou
wilt be perfect, sell what thou hast, give to the poor, and follow me. —
If any man come to me, and hate not [i. e. is not willing for my sake to
leave] his father and mother, his wife and children, yea, and his own
life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be jny disciple.

With respect to adult, perfect Christianity, which is consequent
upon the baptism of the Holy Ghost administered by Christ himself,
its perfection is described in the sermon upon the Motint, in 1 Cor.
xiii. and in all those parts of the Epistles, where the apostles exhort
believers to walk agreeably to the glorious liberty of God's rhildrcv.

^00 THE LAST CHECK

The perfection of disembodied spirits is thus described by a voitS
from heaven : — Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord : even so, saith
the Spirit, far they rest from their labours^ [not from their sins ; this
they did before death :] and their works follow them. — And the com-
plete perfection of glorified saints is thus described by St. John and
St. Paul. — They shall live and reign with Christ in a city ^herein there
is no temple, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple
of it, and the city hath no need of the sun to shine in it, for the glory
of God enlightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. — And there shall
be no curse : but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face ; and his name
shall be on their foreheads, and they shall reign for ever and ever, in
glorified bodies. — For this corruptible body shall put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall put on immortality. — It is sown in dishonour, it is
raised in glory : it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power : it is sown
a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body : as is the heavenly Adam^
such are they also that are heavenly : and as we have borne the image of
the earthly, we shall also .bear the image of the heavenly : for flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: but the spiritual, i. e. the
glorified body, shall inherit the heavenly Canaan.

Persons whose orthodoxy consists in obstinately refusing to peep
over the wall of prejudice ; will probably say, that these observa-
tions upon the different sorts and degrees of perfection, are " novel
chimeras ;" and that I multiply perfections as I do justifications :
" inventing them by the dozen." To this I answer, that we advance
nothing but what, we hope, recommends itself to the candour of those
who have a regard for reason and revelation.

1. Reason tells us, that all God's works are perfect in their places :
and that some having a higher place than others upon the scale of
beings, they are of consequence more perfect. If Mr. Hill will not
believe it, we appeal to his banker, and ask, if there is not an essen-
tial difference between the metallic perfection of brass, that of silver^
and that of gold ? — We appeal to his jeweller, and ask, if the perfec-
tion of an agate is not inferior to that of an emerald — the perfection
of a ruby, to that of a diamond ; and if some diamonds cannot be said
to be more perfect than others ? — We appeal to his gardener, and
ask if a blackberry is not inferior to a strawberry, a strawberry to a
nectarine, a nectarine to a pine-apple : and if nevertheless those
various fruits have not each their perfection ? — Nay, we will venture
to ask his under-gardener, if the perfection of the fruit does not
imply the perfection of the blossom : if the perfection of the bio?

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 201

som does not presuppose that of the hm\ ; and if a bud, whose per-
fection is destroyed by (he frost in March, is likely to produce perfect
blossoms in May, and perfect fruit in October?

Should the fear of becoming a perfectionist make Mr. Hiil refuse
his assent to these obvious truths, we will address him as a Master
of Arts, a gentleman who is versed in Natural Philosophy, as well as
in Calvinism. Is it absurd to say, that some just men rise progres-
sively from the perfection of a lo^er to the perfection of a higher
dispensation in the spiritual world ? — Do we not see a similar promo-
tion, even among the basest classes of animals in the natural world?
Consider that beautiful insect, which exults to display its crown, and
to expand its wings in the sun. Will you not say that it is a perfect
hutterfiy? Nevertheless three weeks a^ro it was a perfect aurelia,
quietly sleeping in its silken tomb. Some months before it was a
perfect silkworm, busily preparing itself for another state of existence,
by spinning and weaving its shroud. And had you seen it a year ago,
you would have seen nothing but a perfect egg. Thus in one year,
it has experienced three grand changes, which may be called meta-
morphoses, births, or conversions. Each change was perfect in its
kind : and nevertheless, the last is as far superior to the first, as a
beautiful, flying butterfly exceeds a black, crawling worm ; and such
a worm, the invisible seed of life, that lies dormant in the diminutive
egg of an insect.

2. Scripture and experience do not support our doctrine of the
difiference of perfections, less than reason and philosophy. We
read, Gen. vi. 9. that JVoah was a just man, and perfect in his gene-
ration. We read also. Job i. 1. There was a man in the land of Uz,
whose name was Job, and that man was perfect. Now whatever the
perfection of JVoah and Job consisted in, it is evident that it was not
Jewish perfection : for the perfection of Judaism requires the sacra-
ment of circumcision, and Mr. Hill will hardly say, that men were cir-
cumcised in the land of Uz, and before the flood. Hence 1 conclude
that Noah and Job had attained the perfection of Gentilism, and not
that of Judaism.

Again : Mark the perfect man, says David, /or his end is peace. No
doubt he spake this of the perfect Jew ; and such were, I think,
Moses, Samuel, and Daniel ; if Mr. Hill will not allow it, I produce
Simeon, or Anna, or Zacharias and Elisabeth, who were righteous before
God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances, of God blameless.
Luke i. 16. Now these excellent Jews were not perfect according to
the dispensation of John the Baptist ; for water baptism was not less
essential to a perfect disciple of John, than circumcision was to a perfect

Vol. IV. 20

202 THE LAST CHECK

disciple of Moses, and they, or some of (hem, probably died long before
John opened his dispensation by preaching the baptism of repentance.
Once more : John the Baptist was undoubtedly perfect according
to his own dispensation ; his penitential severity, his great reputation
for holiness, and the high encomium which our Lord passed upon
him, naturally lead us to conclude it. But that he was not a perfect
Christian is evident from the following considerations : 1. Our Lord
said, that the least in the [Christian kingdom] of God should be greater
than John.— 2, John himself confessed the imperfection of his bap-
tism, or dispensation, in comparison of the perfection of Christ's bap-
tism and spiritual dispensation : I have need to be baptized of thee, said
he to Christ, and comest thou to me? And to his disciples he said, /
indeed baptize you with water, but he [the Lamb of God] shall baptize

you with the Holy Ghost and with fire 3. John was beheaded before

Christ was crucified ; and the outpouring of the Spirit, the baptism
of the Holy Ghost, did not begin till after Christ^s ascension; the
apostle St. Joh?i having particularly mentioned, that the Holy Ghost
was not yet given, or that the full dispensation of the Spirit was not
opened, because Jesus was not yet glorified, John vii. 39 ; an important
observation this, which is confirmed by Christ's own words to his
disciples, John xvi. 7. 1 tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that
I go away , for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you :
[the full dispensation of the Holy Ghost shall not be opened :] but if I
depart, 1 will send him to you. Agreeably to this, he commanded them
that they should not depart from Jerusale?n, but zvaitfor the promise of the
Father [i. e. the promised Spirit] which, says he, ye have heard of me :
for John truly baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized with the
Holy Ghost not many days hence. And when they had thus been bap-
tized, they began to preach the full baptism of Christ, which has two
branches, the baptism of water, and the baptism of the Spirit, or of
celestial fire. Therefore, when the penitent Jews asked, Ji'Jen and
brethren, what shall we do ? Peter answered, Be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost: for the promise of it is unto you, and unto your children, and to
all that are afar off; even as many as the Lord our God shall call to
the perfection of the Christian dispensation : — And ztDc are witnesses
of these things ; and so also is the Holy Ghost, whom God [since the day
of Pentecost] hath given to them that obey him, i. e. to obedient
believers. Compare Acts ii. 38. and v. 32. with John vii. 39.

From the preceding reasons vve conclude, that the case of John
the Baptist was as singular as that of Moses. Moses knew Joshua,
rmd pointed him out, as the man who was to lead the Israelites into the

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 203

land of promise : but Moses died before Joshua opened the way.
Thus Moses saw the good land : he was not far from the typical
kingdom of God ; but he did not enter into it. In like manner,
the Baptist knew Christ, and pointed him out as the wonderful
person who was to introduce believers into the spiritual kingdom
of God. But John was beheaded before Christ glorified opened
his peculiar kingdom. Thus John saw the kingdom of heaven :
he was not far from it. But yet he did not enter into it. He
died a just man^ made perfect according to his own incomplete dis-
pensation, but not according to the dispensation of Christ and hig
Spirit. This was the Baptist's grief, not his guilt : for he earnestly
desired to be baptized of Christ with the Holy Ghost ; but the Holy
Ghost was not yet given in the Christian measure. The gift of the
Spirit was rather distilled as a dew, than poured out as a shower :
because Jesus was not yet glorified: but now, that he is ascended up
on high to receive that unspeakable gift for men in its fulness: —
now that the promise of the Father is fulfilled to all who plead it
aright ; we are culpable, if we rest satisfied with the inferior mani-'
festalions of the Spirit, which belong to the baptism of John, or to
infant Christianity ; and we act in an unchristianlike manner, if we
ridicule the kingdom of the Holy Ghost, and speak evil of perfect
Christianity.

To return : a perfect Gentile sees God in his works and provi*
dences : but, wanting a more particular manifestation of his existence
and goodness, he sighs, O where shall I find him? — A perfect /ea?
ardently expects his coming as Messiah and Emmanuel, or God zvith
us ; and he groans, O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come
dovDn! — A perfect Disciple of John believes that the Messiah is come
in the flesh, and prays, O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the
world, restore the kingdom to a waiting Israelite : baptize me with the
Holy Ghost : fill me with the Spirit. — And perfect Christians can wit-
ness, from blessed experience, that he who was manifest in the fleshy
is come in the Spirit's power to establish within them his gracious
kingdom of righteousness, peace^ and joy, in the Holy Ghost.

In this blessed kingdom, St. Paul lived, when he said, Let usy as
many as are perfect, be thus minded. Nevertheless, though he was not
only a perfect Christian, but also able to preach wisdom among them
that were perfect, he justly acknowledges himself imperfect in know-
ledge, in comparison of perfectly glorified saints. IVe know but in
party says he, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away : for now we see through a glass darkly, but
when we shall drop these dark veils of flesh and blood, and hp

204 THE LAbT CHECK

clothed with celestial^ incorruptible bodies, we shall be capable of
beholding God, we shall see him face to face. 1 Cor. xiii. 9, &,c.
For though we are now the sons of God^ it does not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that when he shall appear^ we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. 1 John iii. 2.

It is of this^^nai perfecting of the saints in the day of the resurrec-
tion, that the apostle writes to the Hebrews, where he says, These
having all obtained a good report through faith^ received not the pro-
mise which relates to the full perfection of the just : God having pro-
vided some better things for us [Christians] that they [the Jewish saints]
without us should not be made perfect^ [i. e. that we should all be per-
fected in glory together.] — For we shall be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump {for the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible) and we, who shall have died, or
shall then be found living in a state of initial perfection, shall be
changed. Heb. xi. 39. 1 Cor. xv. 61.

Nor does it follow from hence, that all glorified saints shall be
equally perfect. I cannot but embrace here the reasonable sentiment
of Dr. Watts. ** The worship of heaven," says that judicious divine,
" and the joy that attends it, may be exceedingly different in degrees,
according to the different capacities in spirits ; and yet all may be
perfect, and free from sinful defects. Does not the sparrow praise
its Maker upon the ridge of a cottage, chirping in its native perfec-
tion ? And yet the lark advances, in her flight and song, as far above
the sparrow as the clouds are above the housetop. Surely superior
joys and glories must belong to superior powers and services. The
word perfection does not always imply equality. If all the souls in
heaven be of one mould, make, and inclination ; yet there may be
different sizes of capacity even in the same genus, and a different
degree of preparation for the same delights ; therefore should all the
spirits of the just be uniform in their natures and pleasures, and all
perfect ; yet one spirit may possess more happiness and glory than
another, because it is more capacious of intellectual blessings, and
better prepared for them. So when vessels of various size are thrown
into the same ocean, there will be a great difference in the quantity
of the liquid which they receive ; though all may be full to the brim,
and all made of the richest metal." Watts on the Happiness of Sepa-
rate Spirits.

Having thus proved, both by reason and Scripture, that there are
various sorts and degrees of perfection ; and that a man may be
perfect according to the dispensation of divine grace he is under upon
earth, though he be not yet perfect according to the dispensation of

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 205

divine glory, which will take place, when our mortal bodies shall know
the power of Christ's resurrection : having proved this, I say, nothing
is easier than to reconcile St. Paul with himself, when he speaks in
the same chapter of his being perfect, and of his not being yet perfect.
For when he says, Lei us, as many as are perfect, be thus minded, he
speaks of Christian perfection, that is, of the maturity of grace and
holiness, which men, still burdened with corruptible flesh and blood,
arrive at under the full dispensation of the Gospel of Christ. But
when he says, JVot as though I had already attained, or were already
perfect, ^c. he speaks of his perfection as a candidate for a crown of
martyrdom on earth, and for a erown of glory in heaven. Just as if
he said. Though I am dead to sin and perfected in love : — though /
live not, but Christ liveth in me ; yet I am not satisfied with my present
perfection ; 1 want to be perfected like Christ. Ought not Christ to
have suffered these things, and [then] to enter into his glory? Luke
xxiv. 26. I want, in short, to be perfected in siiffering, as well as
in love. I cannot, 1 will not rest till 1 end my race of pain and shame,
and know the fellowship of ChrisVs sufferings on the ignominious tree.
I am filled with a noble ambition of dying a martyr for him ; being
persuaded that this perfection of sufferings will ripen me for my hea-
venly perfection, — the perfection to which I shall be raised at the
resurrection of the just.

That this was the apostle's meaning when he denied his being
already made perfect, will, I hope, appear indubitable to those who
consider the context. The words which immediately precede St. Paul's
observation, that he had not yet attained, express a pathetic wish of
sharing both in Christ's exaltation, by a glorious resurrection, and in
his humiliation by perfect sufferings, lliat 1 may know him, as he
says, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffer-
ings, being made conformable unto his painful, ignominious death, if by
any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead, which is the
full perfection of the human nature ; and secure a part in ihe first
resurrection of the just, in which martyrs will be peculiarly interested ;
witness this plain Scripture, / saw the souls of them that were beheaded
for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, &.c. and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years : but the rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrec-
tion. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. Rev.
XX. 4, kc.

But 1 repeat it, although St. Paul disclaimed his having yet attained
a perfection o( shame and glory, he nevertheless professed his having
attained a perfection of Christian faith working by love. This is

20G THE LAST CHECK

evident from the words that follow the controverted text : This one
thing I do, he. I press towards the inarkfor the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus, [which is my complete glorification in heaven.]
Let us, therefore, as many as are perfect [in faith and love] be thus
minded. Let us press after our perfection of suffering here, and of
glory hereafter ; — a bodily perfection this, which the apostle describes
thus at the end of the chapter ; — We look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body according to the working
whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Phil. iii. 21.
Hence it appears, if we are not strangely mistaken, that it is not less
absurd to oppose our doctrine of Christian perfection from Phil. iii.
than to oppose the divinity of Christ from the first chapter of St.
John's Gospel.

I shall conclude these remarks upon the various sorts of perfection,
by an observation which may help Mr. Hill to understand how St.
Paul could be perfect in love, when he professed that he was not per-
fect either in glory, knowledge, or sufferings.

Had not our Lord he^n perfect in love from a child, he would have
broken the two great coramandmen4s on which hang all the law and
the prophets. But in him was no sm: therefore he was perfect in
love, though his love admitted of an increase, as well as his wisdom
and knowledge ; just as a perfect bud admits of a growth into a
perfect blossom, and such a blossom into a perfect fruit. Hence it
is, that as our Lord's perfect love grew, he increo.sed in favour with
God and man ; an additional degree of approbation being due to him
from all rationals, upon every display of his growing perfection.
Luke i. 52. But, though our Lord was always perfect in love, yet, it
is certain that he was not always perfect in sufferings, much less in
glory, for he was not perfected in sufferings till^fter he had expired
between the two thieves ; nor was he perfected in glory before he
took his place at the right hand of God. This is evidently the apos-
tle's doctrine, where he says, It became him by whom are all thi77gs, to
make the Captain of our salvation perfect through sufferings. Heb.
ii. 10. And again, chap. v. 8. Though he was a Son, yet learned he
obedience by the things which he siffered : and being made perfect [in
sufi'erings and in glory] he became the Author of eternal salvation to all
them that obey him. Mr. Hill must then allow that St. Paul's imper-
fection with respect to sufferings and glory, was no obstacle to the
perfection of his love ; or he must assert, that Christ was sinfully im-
perfect in love, so long as he continued imperfect in sufferings and
glory, — a supposition this which is too horrible to be admitted by a
merely nominal Christian, much more by Mr. HilL

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 207

SECTION VII.

St. Paul was not carnal^ and sold under sin. — The tru£ meaning o/" Gal.
V. 17. and of Rom. vii. 14. kc. is opened consistently with the coji-
text, the Design of the Epistles to the Galatians and to the Romans,
and the privileges of Christians and the Doctrine of Perfection.

It is easier to raise dust than to answer an argument. I expect,
therefore, that our opponents, instead of solidly answering the con-
tents of the preceding section, will assert that St. Paul was an avowed
enemy to deliverance from evil tempers before death, and of conse-
quence a strong opposer of the doctrine of Christian Perfection. And
to support their assertion, they will probably quote the following text :
The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, so
that ye cannot do the things that ye would » Gal. v. 17. For they con-
clude from these words, that, so long as we dwell in bodies of cor-
ruptible flesh, we cannot help breaking the law of liberty, (at least
from time to time) by sinful, internal lusts. As this objection passes
among them for unanswerable, it may not be amiss to give it a four-
fold answer.

1. St. Paul wrote these words to the carnal, fallen Galatians. To
them he said, So that ye cannot do the things that ye would : and there
was a good reason why they could not do what they had a weak desire
to do. They were bewitched by the flesh, and by carnal teachers,
who led them from the power of the Spirit to the weakness of the
letter; yea, to the letter of Judaism too. But did he not speak of
himself to the Philippians in a very dififerent strain ? Did be not
declare, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me? And
cannot every believer, who steadily walks in the Spirit, say the same
thing ? Who does not see the flaw of this argument ? The disobedi-
ent, fallen, bewitched believers of Galatia, of whom St. Paul stood in
doubt, could not but fulfil the lusts of the flesh, when they were led
by the flesh : Neither hot nor cold, like the Laodiceans, they could
neither be perfect Christians nor perfect worldlings, because they
fully sided neither with the Spirit nor with the flesh : or to use
the apostle's words, they could not do the things that they would, through
the opposition which the flesh made against 'he Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh ; neither of these principles being yet fully victo
rious in their halting, distracted hearts : — Tnerefere this must be also

20U THE LAST CHECK

the miserable case of all ©bedient, faithful, established believers
through all ages all the world over ! What has this Autinomian con-
clusion to do with the scriptural premises ? When 1 assert that those
who have put out their knees cannot run a race swiftly, do I so much
as intimate that no man can be a swift racer ?

2. It is as unscriptural to judge of the power and liberty of
established believers, by the power and liberty of theGalatians ; as it
is unreasonable to judge of the liberty of a free nation, by the servi-
tude of a half-enslaved people ; or of the strength of a vigorous
child, by the weakness of a half-formed embryo. I found this
remark, (1.) Upon Gal. v. I. where the apostle indirectly reproves
his Judaizing, wrangling converts, for being fallen from the liberty
where-with Christ hath made us free, and for being entangled again with
the yoke of bondage: and (2.) Upon Gal. iv. 19. My little children^ of
whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you. The
dawn of day is not more different from the meridian light, than the
imperfect state described in this verse is different from the perfect
state described in the following lines, which are descriptive of the
adult Christian ; / am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live, yet
not i, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh,
I live by the faith of the Son of God, Gal. ii. 20.

3. The sense which is commonly fixed upon the text produced by
our opponents, is entirely overturned by the context: read the pre-
ceding verse, and you will find a glorious, though conditional promise
of the liberty which we plead for : This I say, walk in the Spirit, and
ye shall not fulfil the [sinful] lust of the flesh; that is, far from harbour-
ing either outward or inward sin, ye shall, with myself, and as many
as are perfect, steadily keep your body under, and be in every thing
spiritually minded, which is life and peace.

4. We should properly distinguish between the lawful and the
sinful lusts or desires of the flesh. To desire to eat, to drink, to
sleep, to marry, to rest, to shun pain at proper times and in a proper
manner, is no sin : such lusts or desires are not contrary to the law
of liberty. Our Lord himself properly indulged most of these harm-
less propensities of the flesh, without ceasing to be the immaculate
Lamb of God. Hence it is, that our Church requires us in our bap-
tism to renounce only " the sinful lusts of the fl«sh ;" giving us a
tacit leave lawfully to indulge its lawful appetites. 1 should be glad,
for example, to recruit my strength by one hour's sleep, or by an
ounce of food ; as well as by a good night's rest, or a good meal :
but the fiesh harmlessly lusteth against the Spirit : so that in these,
and in a thousand such instances, / cannot do the things thai I would.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 209

But do I commit sin when I use my body according to its nature ?
Nay, if I were as strongly solicited unlawfully to indulge the lawful
appetites of my flesh, as Christ was to turn stones into bread when
he felt keen hunger in the wilderness ; would not such a temptation
increase the glory of my victory, rather than the number of my sins ?
Is it right in our opponents to avail themselves of the vague, unfixed
meaning of the words^es/t and lust, to make the simple believe that,
so long as we have human Jlesh about us, and bodily appetites within
us, our hearts must necessarily remain pregnant with sinful lusts, and
we shall *' have innumerable lusts [as says an imperfectioniat whom I
shall soon mention] sxn'arining about our hearts ?^^ Does not this
doctrine put a worm at the root of Christian liberty , while it nourishes
Antinomian freedom ; — a freedom to sin, even to adultery and murder,
without ceasing to be sinless and perfect in Christ ?

5. Two lines after St. Paul's supposed plea for the necessary con-
tinuance of indwelling sin in believers, the apostle begins a long
enumeration of the -works of the flesh, of the -which, says he, I tell you
before, as I have also told you in time past, that they who do such things,
or admit in their hearts such lusts, as hatred, variance, strife, or
envyings, shall not inherit the kingdom of God : whereas, they that are
Christ's [they that are led by the Spirit of God, for in St. Paul's
account only such are Christ's, i. e. properly belong to Christ's
spiritual dispensation, Rom. viii. 9, 14.] have crucified the flesh with
its affections and lusts. Gal. v. 24. Now these spiritual believers,
can do all things through Christ : and accordingly the apostle observes,
that far from bearing the fruit of the flesh, they bear the fruit of the
Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faithfulness, meekness, temperance. — The whole cluster of ifjherent;
graces which mjrties up Christian jierfection ; and then he observes,
that The law is not against such [because they fulfil it :] For all the
law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself Gal. v. 14—23.

6. The sense which the Imperfectionists give to Gal. v. 17. is not
only flatly contrary to the rest of the chapter, but to the end and
design of all the epistle. What the apostle has chiefly in view through
the whole, is to reprove the Galatians for their carnality in following
Judaiziog teachers, and in bearing the fruits of the flesh, envy,
variance, kc. insomuch that they were ready to bite and devour one
another. Now, if when he had sharply reproved them, as persona
zaho ended in the flesh, after. h-'-vin'r besun in the Spirit, he had written
Gal. V. 17. in 'the sense of our opponents, he would f'irlv hr<ve
excused these bewitched men, absolutely defeated his reproof, and

Vol. IV 27

210 THE LAST CHECK

absurdly furnished thera with an excellent plea to continue in their
bad course of life. For if they could not fMl the law of Christ, but
must remain carnal and sold under indwelling sin, had the}/ not a
right to answer the apostle thus : *' If neither we, whom thou callest
be'JLHtched Galatians, nor any spiritual believer, can possibly do the
things we should and would do, because the flesh sinfully and
unavoidably lusteth against the Spirit ; why dost thou blame us for
our carnality ? Why dost thou take us to task rather than other
believers ? Are we not all bound by adamantine chains of carnal
necessity, to break the law of Christ so long as we are in the body ?
Art thou not the very man who givest us to understand that we cannot
do what we should and would do, because the fleshy which we cannot
possibly part with before death, lusteth against the Spirit ? And is
not absolute necessity the best excuse in the world ?

7. Should Mr Hill ask: What is then the genuine meaning of
Galatians v. 17.? We reply, that when we consider that verse in the
light of the context, we do not doubt but the sense of it is fairly
expressed in the following lines. " The flesh and the Spirit are two
contrary principles. They thai are in^ or walk after ^ the Jlesh, cannot
please God. And ye are undoubtedly in the flesh, and walk after the
flesh, while ye bite and devour one another. This I say then^ walk in
the Spirit : be led by the Spirit : and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the

flesh, as ye now do. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit^ and pre-
vails in all carnal people ; and the spirit lusteth against the fleshy and
prevails in all spiritual people ; and these two, far from nestling
together, as Antinomian teachers make you believe, are contrary to
each other. The^ are irreconcileable enemies : so that, as obedient,
spiritual believers, while they are led by the Spirit, cannot do what
they would do. if they were led by the flesh : ye bewitched, carnal,
disobedient Galatians, who are led by the flesh, cannot do what ye
would do, if ye were led by the Spirit, and what ye have still some
desire to do, so far as ye have not yet absolutely quenched the Spirit.
Would ye then return to your liberty ? Return to your duty : change
your guide : forsake the carnal mind : let Christ be formed in you : be
led by the Spirit ; so shall ye fulfil the law of Christ ; and it shall no
more condemn you, than the law of Moses binds you. For if ye be
led by the Spirit, ye are not under the curse of the law : ye are equally
free from the bondage of the Mosaic law, and from the condemnation
of the law of Christ." Gal. v. IG, 17, 18.

8. Should Mr. Hill say, ** That by the flesh he understands not
only the body, but also the natural desires, appetites, and aversions,
which are necessarily excited in the soul, in consequence of its

TO ANTINOMIANISM, 211

intimate union with the bodjr ; and that the body of sin must needs
live and die with the body which our spirit inhabits ; because, so
long as we continue in the body, we are unavoidably tried by a
variety of situations, passions, inchnations, aversions, and infirmities,
which burden us, hinder us from doing and sutTering all we could
wish to do and to suflfer, and occasion our doing or feeling what we
should be glad in some respects not to do or feel."

I answer : it is excessively wrong to conclude, that all these bur-
dens, infirmities, appetites, passions, and aversions, are those sinful
workings of our corrupt nature, which are sometimes called the flesh,
— You cannot continue a whole day in deep prostration of body and
soul, nor perhaps one hour upon your knees : your stomach involun-
tarily rises at the sight of some food which some persons esteem
delicious : your strength fails in outward works : your spirits are
exhausted ; you faint or sleep, when others are active and toil : you
need the spiritual and bodily cordials which others can administer :
perhaps also you are afflicted with disagreeable sensations in the
outvvard man, through the natural, necessary play of the various
springs which belong to flesh and blood : your just grief vents itself
in tears : your ieal for God » attended with a proper anger at sin,
nay, misapplying what the apostle says of the carnal man under the
law, you may declare with great truth, the extensive good I would,
I do not ; and the accidental evil 1 would not, that I do : I would con-
vert every sinner, relieve every distressed object, and daily visit
every sick bed in the kingdom, but I cannot do it. I would never
try the patience of my friends, never stir up the envy of my rivals,
never excite the malice of my enemies ; but I cannot help doing this
undesigned evil, as often as I strongly exert myself in the discharge
of my duty.

If you say, " All these things, or most of them, are quite inconsist-
ent with the perfection you contend for;" 1 ask; upon this footing
was not our Lord himself imperfect ? Did his bodily strength never
fail in agonizing prayer, or intense labour? Did his animal spirits
always move with the same sprightliness ? Do we not read ot bis
sleeping in the ship, when his disciples wrestled with a tempestuous
sea ? Did he not fulfil the precept. Be ye angry and sin not? Had he
not the troublesome sensation of grief at Lazarus's grave, — of hun-
ger in the wilderness — of weariness at Jacob's well — and of thirst
upon the cross ? If he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
tempted in all things as we are; is it not highly probable, that he was
not an utter stranger to the other natural appetites, and uneasy sen-
sations which are incident to flesh and blood ? Is it a sin to feci them ?

2i'i THE LAST CHECK

Is it not rather a virtue wholly to deny them, or not to gratify them
out of the line of duty, or not to indulge them in an excessive manner
in that line ? Again ; did not his holy flesh testify a natural, innocent
abhorrence to suffering ? Did not his sacred body faint in the garden ?
Were not his spirits so depressed, that he stood in need of the
strengthening assistance of an angel ? Did he do all the good he
would ? To suppose that he wished not the conversion of his friends
and brethren, is to suppose him totally devoid of natural affection ;
but were they all converted ? Did you never read, Neither did his
brethren believe in him : and his friends went out to lay hold on him :
for they said^ he is beside himself? To conclude : did he not accident-
ally stir up the evil he would not, when he gave occasion to the envy
of the Pharisees — the scorn of Herod— the /ears of Pilate — the rage
of the Jewish mob? And when he prayed, that the bitter cup might
pass from him, if it uere possible, did he not manifest a resigned
desire to escape sin and shame ? If every such desire be indwelling
sin, or the flesh sinfully lusting against ihe spirit, did he not go through
the sinful conflict, as well as those whom we call perfect men in
Christ? And consequently did he not fall at once from the mediatorial,
Adamic, and Christian perfection ; indwelling sin being equally incon-
sistent with all these kinds of perfection ? — What true believer does
not shudder at the bare siipposition ? And if our sinless Lord felt the
weakness of the flesh harmlessly lusting against the "willingness of the
spirit, according to his own doctrine. The spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is ■weak, is it not evident, that the conflict we speak of (if the
spirit maintains its superior, victorious lusting against the flesh, and
by that mean steadily keeps the flesh in its proper place) is it not
evident, 1 say, that this conflict is no more inconsistent ivith Christian
perfection, than suff"ering, agonizing, fainting, crying, and dying,
which were the lot of our sinless, perfect Saviour to the last ?

If 1 am not greatly mistaken, the preceding remarks prove, 1.
That when our opponents pretend to demonstrate the necessary
indwelling of ?in in all believers from Gal. v. \Q. they wretchedly tear
that text from the context, to make it speak a language which St. Paul
abhors. — 2. That this text, fairly taken together with the context,
and the design of the whole epistle, is a proof that obedient, spiritual
believers, can do what the bewitched Galatians could not do : that is,
they can crucify the Jlesh with all its affections and lusts, and walk as
perfect Christians who utterly destroy the whole body of sin, £ind
fulfil the law of Christ — And 3. That to produce Gal. v. against the
doctrine of Christian perfection, is full as absurd as to quote the ser-
mon upon the mount in defence of Antinomian delusions. — I have

TO ANTINOMIANISU. 213

dwelt so long upon this head, because I have before me * An Essay
on Galatians v. 17. lately published by an ingenious divine, who takes
it for granted that the apostle contends, in this verse, for the neces-
sary indwelling of sin. '

Mr. Hill will probably say, " That he does not rest the doctrine
of Christian imperfection so n^uch upon the experience of the /a//en
Galatians^ as upon that of St. Paul himself, who, in Romans vii.
frankly acknowledges, that he was still a wretched, carnal man, sold
under sin, and serving with thejlesh the law of sin. Whence it follows,
that it is high presumption in modern believers to aspire at more per-
fection, and a greater freedom from sin upon earth, than had been
attained by St. Paul, who was not a whit behind the very chiefest
apostles, but laboured more abundantly than theyall.^'' — To this common
objection I answer :

1. The perfection we preach is nothing but perfect repentance,
perfect faith, and perfect love, productive of the gracious tempers
which St. Pa'il himself describes, 1 Cor. xiii. We see those blessed
tempers shining through his epistles, discourses, and conduct; and I
have proved in the preceding section that he himself professed Chris-
tian perfection. This objection therefore appears to us an ungene-
rous attempt to make St. Paul grossly contradict himself. — For what
can be more ungenerous, than to take advantage of a figurative mode
of expression, to blast a good man's character, and to traduce him as
a slave of his fleshly lii«ts, a drudge to carnality, a wretch sold under
sin ? What would Mr Hill think of me, if, under the plausible pre-
tence of magnifying God's grace to the chief of sinners, and of
prwing that there is no deliverance from sin in this life, 1 made the
following speech ?

*' The more we grow in grace, the more clearly we see our sins ;
and the more willingly we acknowledge them to God and men. This
is abundantly verified by the confessions that the most holy men have
made of their wickedness. Paul himself, holy Paul, is not ashamed
to humble himself for the sins whirh he comnutted even after his
conversion. / robbed other churches, says he, taking wages of them to
do you service, 2 Cor. xi. 8. Hence it appears, that the apostle had
agreed to serve some churches for a proper salary : but, being carnal,
and sold under sin, he broke his word ; he fleeced, but refused to
feed, the flocks ; and robbing the churches, he went to the Corinth-
ians, perhaps to see what he could get of them also in the end ; for

* The argumeots by which the doctrine of the necessary indvpelling of sin iu all believ
crs till death, as supported in that Essay, will be considered in Sect. XIV.

214 THE LAST CHECK

the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, Jeremiah
xvii. 9. Nay, partial as he was to those Corinthians, tor whom he
turned church- robber, he showed that his love to them was not sin-
less and free from rage ? for once he threatened to come to them
with a rod; and he gave one of them to Satan for the destruction of
the flesh. With ureat propriety, therefore, did holy Paul say to the
last, I am the chief of sinners. And now when the chief of the apos-
tles abases himsolf thus before God, and publicly testifies, both by
his words and works, that there is no deliverance from sin, no perfec-
tion in this life : who can help being frightened at the Pharisaic pride
of the men, who dare inculcate the doctrine of sinless perfection ?'*

I question if Mr. Hill himself, upon reading this ungenerous and
absurd, though in one sense scriptural plea, for St. Paul's imperfec-
tion, would not be as much out of conceit with my fictitious explana-
tion of 2 Cor xi as I am with his Calvinistic exposition of Rom. vii.
Nor do I think it more criminal to represent the apostle as a church-
robber, than to traduce him as a wretched, carnal man, sold under
sin: — another Ahab, that is, a man who did evil in the sight of the
Lord, above all that were before him.

2. St. Paul no more professes himself actually a carnal man in
Rom. vii. 7. than he professes himself actually a liar in Rom. iii. 7.
where he says, But if the truth of God has more abounded through
my lie, why am 1 judged as a sinner ? — He no more professes himself
a man actually sold under sin, than St. James and his fellow-believers
profess themselves a generation of vipers, and actual cursers of men,
when the one wrote and the others read, Tlie tongue can no man
tame : — it is full of deadly poison : — therewith curse we men. When
St. Paul reproves the partiality of some of the Corinthians to this or
that preacher, he introduces ApoUos and himself : though it seems
that his reproof was chiefly intended for other preachers, who
fomented a party spirit in the corrupted church of Corinth. And
then he says, These things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to
myself and Apollos, for your sakes : that ye might learn in us not to
think of men above that which is written. 1 Cor. iv. 6. — By the same
figure he says of hinnself, vvJ U he might have said of any other man,
or of all mankind : Though I speak with the tongues of men^ and of
angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass. Thrice
in three verses he speaks of his not having charity : and suppose he
had done it three hundred times, this would no more have proved
that he was really uncharitable, than his saying, Rom. vii. / am sold
under sin, proves that he served the law of sin with his body, L'§ a slave
is forced to serve the master who bought him.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 2l5

3. It frequently happens ;ilso, that by a fig;nre of rhetoric which is
called Hypotyposis, writers relate things past or things to come in the
present tense ; that their narration may be more lively, and may
make a stmnirer impression. Thus Gen. vi 17. we read, Behold, /,
even I do bring \i. e. I ivjll bring 120 years hence] a flood upon the
earth to destroy all flesh. — Thus also 2 Sam. xxii. 1. 35, 48. Hlien the
Lord had delivered David out of the hands of all his enemies., and given
him peace in all his borders, he spake the "oi-ords of this song. — He
teacheth [i. e he taught] my hands to ra-ar, so that a bbw of steel is
[i. e. was] broken by mine arms: — It is God that avengeth \\. e. that
hath avenged] me — and that bringeth \\. e has brought] me forth from
mine enemies. A thousand snch expressions, or this figure continued
through a thousand verses, would never prove, before unprejudiced
persons, that King Saul was alive, and that David was not yet deli-
vered for good out of his bloody hands. Now if St. Paul, by a similar
figure, which he carries throughout part of a chapter, relates his
past experience in the present tense: — If the Christian apostle, to
humble himself, and to make his description more lively, and the
opposition between the bondage of sin and Christian liberty more
striking: — If the apostle, I say, with such a design as this, appears
upon the stage of instruction in his old Jewish dress, a dress this, in
which he could serve God day and night, and yet, like another Ahab,
breathe threatenings and slaughter against God's children : and if in
this dress he says, I am carnal, sold under sin, ^'c. is it not ridiculous
to measure his growth as an apostle of Christ by the standard of his
stature when he was a Jewish bigot, a fiery zealot, full of good mean-
ings and bad performances ?

4. To take a scripture out of the context, is often like taking the
stone that bmds an arch out of its place : you know not what to make
of it. Nay, you may put it to an use quite contrary to that for which
it was intended. This our opponents do, when they so take Rom. vii.
out of its connexion with Rom. vi. and Rom. viii. as to make it mean
the very reverse of what the apostle designed. St. Paul, in Romans
fifth and sixth, and in the beginning of the seventh chapter, describes
the glorious liberty of the children of God under the Christian dispen-
sation. And as a skilful painter puts shades in his picture to heighten
the effect of the lights, so the judicious apostle introduces in the
latter part of Rom. vii. a lively description of the domineering power
of sin, and of the intolerable burden of guilt : — a burden this, which
he had so severely felt, when the convincing Spirit charged sin home
upon his conscience after he had broken his good resolutions ; but
especially during the three days of his blindness and fasting at Damas-

216 THE LAST CHECK

cus. Then he groaned, O zvretched man that I am, ^c. hanging night
and d:ty bpi*\pen despJiir and hope, between unbelief and faith,
betw ?on bondage and freedoni, till God brought him into Christian
liberty by thf; ministry of Ananias; — of this liberty the apostle gives
us a farther and fuller account in Rom. viii. ^ l^^herefore the descrip-
tion of the man who groans under the galling yoke of sin, is brought
in merely by contrast, to set oif the amazing difference there is
betvveen (he bondage of sin, and the liberty of Gospel holiness ; just
as tiie genends who entered Rome in triumph, used to make a show
of the prince whom they had conquered. On such occasions the
conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, crowned with laurel ; while
the captive king followed him on foot, loaded with chains, and
making, next to the conqueror, the most striking part of the show.
Now, ii in a Roman triumph, some of the spectators had taken ihr
chained king on foot for the victorious general in the chariot, because
the one immediately followed the other, they would have been guilty
of a mistake not unlike that of our opponents, who take the carnal
Jetv, sold under sin, and groaning as he goes along, for the Christian
believer, who walks in the Spirit, exults in the liberty of God's chil-
dren, and always triumphs in Christ.

6. To see the propriety of the preceding observation, we need
only take notice of the contrariety there is between the bondage of
the carnal penitent, described Rom. vii. 14, &c. and the liberty of the
spiritual man, described in the beginning of that very chapter. — The
one says. Who shall deliver me ? — Sin revives : — It works in him all
manner of concupiscence — yea, it works death in him : — he is carnal —
sold under sin — forced by his bad habits to v/hat he is ashamed of —
and kept from doing what he sees his duty. — In him, that is, in his
flesh, dxtoells no good thing — Sin dwelleth in him. — How to perform that
which is good he finds not. Though he has a desire to be better,
yet still he does not do good—he does evil — evil is present with him.
Hjs inward man, his reason and conscience approve, yea, delight in
Godh law, i. e, in that which is right ; but still he does it not ; his
good resolutions are no sooner made than they are broken ; for
another law in his members wars against the law of his mind, that is,
his carnal appetites oppose the dictates of his conscience, and bring
him into captivity to the law of sin ; so that, like a poor chained slave,
he ha? ju?t liberty enough to rattle his chains, and to say, O wretched
man that J am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, from
this complete assertiblage of corruption, misery, and death ! Is it not
ridiculous to conclude, that, because this groaning sltve has now and
then a hope of deliverance, and at times thanks God through Jesus

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 217

Christ for that hope ; he is actually a partaker of the liberty which
is thus described in the beginning of the chapter ? Ye are become
dead to the law [the Mosaic dispensation] that ye should be married to
him, who is raised from the dead, that [instead of omitting to do good,
and doing evil,] we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we
were in the flesh, [in the state of the carnal man sold under sin, —
a sure proof this that the apostle was no more in that state] the
motions of sin which were by the lazv [abstracted from the Gospel pro-
mise] did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But
now we are delivered from the [curse ef the moral, as well as from
the bondage of the Mosaic] law, that being dead wherein we were held:
that we should serve God in newness of spi7'it, and not in the oldness of the
letter, Rom. vii 4, 5, 6. Immediately after this glorious profession
of liberty, the apostle, in his own person, by way of contrast, describes
to the end of the chapter, the poor, lame, sinful obedience of those,
who serve God in the oldiuss of the letter : so that nothing can be more
unreasonable than to take this description for a description of the
obedience of those who serve God in the newness of the spirit. VVe
have therefore in Rom. vii. 4, 5, G. a strong rampart against the mis-
take which our opponents build on the re«t of the chapter.

6. This mistake will appear still more astonishing, if we read Rom.
vi. where the apostle particularly describes the liberty of those who
serve God in newness of the spirit, according to the glorious privileges of
the new covenant. Is darkness more contrary to light than the pre-
ceding description of the carnal Jew is to the following description of
the -spiritual Christian. How shall we that are dead to sin live any
longer therein ! Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth r«je might not serve sin. [Note : the
carnal Jew, though against his conscience, still " serves the law of
sin,^'' Rom. vii. 25.] JSfow he that is dead is freed from sin. — Reckon
ye yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin. — Yield yourselves unto God,
as those that are alive from the dead. [Note: the carnal Jew says,
Sin revived, and I died, Rom. vii. 9. but the spiritual Christian is
alive from the dead.] — Sin shall not have dominion over you [now you
are spiritual : you need not say, '* I do the evil that I hate, and the
evil I would not, that I do :^^]for you are not under the law [under the
weak dispensation of Moses ;] but under grace [under the powerful,
gracious dispensation of Christ.] — God be thanked that [whereas] ye
were the servants of sin, when you carnally served God in the oldness
of the letter, ye have obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine which
was delivered you : that is, ye have heartily embraced the doctrine of
r^hrist, who gives ref«t to all that come to him travailing and heavy

Vor,. IV, 28

ii8 THE LAST CHECK

laden. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of rightt^
ousness — For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righte-*
ousness — But now being — carnal, sold under sin, ye serve the law of
sin ? — No : just the reverse ; But now being made free from sin, and
hecoine the servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the
end everlasting life, Rom vi. 2 — 22. Is it possible to reconcile this
description of Christian liberty with the preceding description of
Jewish bondage ? Can a man at the same time exult in the one and
groan under the other? When our opponents assert it, do they not
confound the Mosaic and the Christian dispensations : — the workings
of the spirit of bondage, and the workings of the spirit of adoption ?
And yet, astonishing! they charge us with confounding law and
Gospel !

7. We shall see their mistake in a still more glaring light, if we
pass to Rom. viii. and consider the description which St. Paul con-
tinues to give us of the glorious liberty of those who have done
with the oldness of the [Jewish] letter, and serve God in nezvness of the
spirit. The poor Jew, carnally sticking in the letter, is condemned
for all he does, if his conscience be awake. But there is now no con-
demnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who are come up to the
privileges of the Christian dispensation, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
[the power of the quickening spirit given me, and my fellow-believ-
ers, under the spiritual and perfect dispensation of Christ Jesus]
hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law
[the letter of the Mosaic dispensation] could not do, in that it was
weak ihrough ihe flesh, God, sending his own Son, condetnned sin in the
flesh: thai the righteousness of the law, the spiritual obedience, which
the moral law of Moses, adopted by Christ, reqinres, might be fd-
filled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For [so
far from professing that 1 am " carnal and sold under sin, I declare
that] to be carnally minded is death: [Well may then the carnal Jew
groan, '* Who shall deliver me from the body of this death !"] But to
he spiritually minded is life and peace : so then, they that are in the fleshy
i. e. carnal, sold under sin, cannot please God. But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
J\l'ow if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his: he is,
at best, a disciple of Moses, a poor, carnal Jew, and remains still a
stranger to the glorious privileges of the Christian dispensation. But
if Christ be in you, the body is dead, weak and full of the seeds of
death, because of [original] sin; but the spirit is life, strong and full of
immortality, because of [implanted and living] righteousness. — For ye

no ANTINOMIANISM. 219

have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, [like the poor,
carnal roan, who through fear and anguish groans out, " O wretched
man that I am :"] But ye have received the spirit of adoption, Tnhereby
wc, who walk in newness of the spirit, and please God — we, who
have the Spirit of Christ, cry Abba, Father: the Spirit itself hearing
witness 7s.'ith our spirits that we are the children of God ; and if children,
then heirs; heirs of God, whom we please, and joint-heirs with Christ,
through whom we please God, Rom. viii. 1 — 17.

This glorious liberty, which God's children enjoy in their souls,
xmder the perfection of the Christian dispensation, will one day
extend to their bodies, which are dead [i. e. infirm and condemned to
die] because of [original] sin. And with rej^pect to the body only it
is, that the apostle says, Rom. viii. 23. We ourselves also, zvho have
the first fruits of the spirit, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adop-
tion of our outward man, that is, the redemption of our body : for, with
respect to the body, whose imperfection is so great a clog to the soul,
we are saved by hope. In the mean time, we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. — W'Tio shall separate us, that
love God, and walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, /rom the
love of Christ!* Shall tribidation or distress, Lc. do it? Nay, in all
things, much more in respect of sin and carnal mindedness, we are
inore than conquerors through him that loved us, Rom. viii. 23 — 37.

And, that this abundant victory extends to the destruction of the
carnal mind, we prove by these words of the context. To be carnally
minded is death ; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace ; because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can he. So then they that are in the flesh, they that
are carnally minded, cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
ye are not carnally minded, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
For where the Spirit of the Lord is, and dwells as a spirit of adoption,
there is constant liberty : now if any man have not that Spirit, or if he
hath it only as a spirit of bondage, to make him groan, O wretched
man ! he may indeed be a servant of God in the land of his spiritual
captivity, but he is none of ClirisVs freemen : he may serve God in the
oldness of the letter, as a .lew; but he does not serve him in nenness of
the spirit, as a Christian. For I repeat it, where the Spirit of Christ
is, and dwells according to the fulness of the Christian dispensation,
there is a liberty, a glorious liberty, which is the very reverse of the
bondage that Mr. Hill pleads for during the term of life. See Rom
viii. 14—21.

Whether therefore we consider Rom. vii. Rom. vi. or Rom. viii.
it appears indubitable, that the sense which onr opponents fix upon

.220 THE LAST CHECK

Rom. vii. i4, kc. is entirely contrary to the apostle's meaning, to the
context, and to the design of the whole epistle, which is to extol the
privileges of those who are Chrisfs, above the privileges of those who
are JVoa/i's or Moseses; or, if you please, to extol the privileges of
spiritual Christians, who serve God in newness of the spirit, above the
privileges of carnal Heathens and Jews, who serve him only in the
oldness of the letter.

SECTION VIII.

,i9» Answer to the Arguments, by which St. PauVs supposed Carnality is
generally defended.

If the sense which our opponents give to Rom. vii. 14. be true,
the doctrine of Christian perfection is a dream, and our utmost
attainment on earth is, St. Paul's apostolic carnality, and involuntary
servitude to the law of sin ; with a hopeful prospect of deliverance in
a death purgatory. It is therefore of the utmost importance to
establish our exposition of that verse, by answering the arguments
which are supposed to favour the Antinomian meaning rashly fixed
upon that portion of Scripture.

Argument 1. '* If St. Paul was not carnal and sold under sin when
he wrote to the Romans, why does he say, / am carnal? Could he
not have said, I was carnal once, hut now the law of Ihe Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death ? Can you
give a good reason why, in Rom. vii. 14. the phrase, / am carnal,
must mean, I was carnal ? is it right thus to substitute the past time
for the present ?^''

Answer. We have already shown, that this figurative way of
speaking is not uncommon in the Scriptures. We grant, however,
that we ought not to depart from the literal sense of any phrase
without good reasons. Several such, 1 trust, have already been pro-
duced, to show the necessity of taking St. Paul's words, 1 am carnal^
in the sense stated in the preceding section. I shall offer one more
remark upon this head, which, if 1 mistake not, might alone convince
the unprejudiced.

The states of all souls may in general be reduced to three : — 1.
That of unawakened sinners, who quietly sleep in the chains of their
sins, and dream of self-righteousness and heaven. 2. That of
awakened, uneasy, reluctant sinners, who try in vain to break the
galling chains of their sins : — And 3. That of delivered sinners, oi

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 221

victorious believers, who enjoy the liberty of God's children. This
last state is described in Horn. vii. 4, 6. The rest of tliat chapter is
judiciously brought in, to show how the unnwakened sinner is roused
out of his carnal state, and how the awakened sinner is driven to
Christ for liberty by the lashing and bindins; commandment. The
apostle shows this by observins: [ver. 7, &lc.] how the law makes a
sinner [nr, if you please, made him] pass from the unan^akened to the
awakened state. / had not known sin, says he, but by the law, 4'C.
When he had described his unawakened state without the law, and
be^an to describe his awakened state und»T the law, nothing was
more natural than to change the time or tense. But, having already
used the past tense in the description of the tirst, or the unawakened
state ; and having said, Without the law sin was dead — / was alive with-
out the law once — Sin revived and I died, J^c. he could no more use
that tense, when he began to describe the second, or the awakened
state ; I mean the state in which he found himself when the com-
mandment had roused his sleepy conscience, and slain his Pharisaic
hopes. He was therefore obliged to use another tense, and none,
in tfiat case, was fitter than the present : just as if he had said, " VVhen
the commandment slew the conceited Pharisee iu me ; when / died
to my self-righteous hopes ; 1 did not die without a groan : nor did I
pass into the life of God without severe pangs : no ; I struggled with
earnestness, I complained with bitterness, and the language of my
oppressed heart was — I a7n carnal, sold under sin, &:c. to the end of
the chapter.* It is therefore with the utmost rhetorical propriety,
that the apostle says, I am, and not I was, carnal, 4'C. But rhetorical
propriety is not theological exactness. David may say as a poet, God
was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his
mouth devoured : coals were kindled by it : but it would be ridiculous
to take these expressions in a literal sense. Nor is it much less
absurd to assert, that St. Paul's words, / am carnal, sold under sin,
are to be understood of Christian and apostolic liberty.

* Some time after I had written this, looking into Dr. Doddridge^s Lectures on Divinity,
page 451, 1 was agreeably surprised to find, that what that judicious and moderate Ca!-
vinist presents as the most plausible sense of Rom. vii.- 14. is exactly the senbe which 1
defend in these pages. Take his own words. " St. Paul at first rcpre!<ents a man a?
ignorant of the law, and then insensible of sin; but afterward being acquainted with it,
and then thrown into a kind of despair, by the sentence of death which it denounces, oi;
account of sins he is now conscious of having conimitied ; he then farther shows, that ever.
where there is so good a disposition as to delight in the law, yet the motives are too weak
to maintain that unifonn tenor of obedience, which a good man greatly desires, and whiclv
■'he ^osprl bv i's sunerii^r n^ofi\ p« anrl jfrHco dnfis in fact produce ."

222 THE LAST Check

Arg. II. " St. Paul says to the Corinthians, I write not to you as to
spiritual men^ but as to carnal^ even to babes in Christ. Now if the
Corinthians couhl be at once holy, and yet carnal^ why could not Sto
Paul be at the same time an eminent apostolic saint, and a carnal^
wretched man, sold vnder sin?"'

A\s. 1. The Corinthians were by no means established believers
in general, for the apostle concludes his last epistle to them, by bidding
them examine themselves whether they were in the faith — 2. If St. Paul
proved carnal still, and was to continue so till death, with all the
body of Christian believers ; why did he upbraid the Corinthians with
therr unavoidable carnality ? Why did he wonder at it, and say, Ye
are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envyings and strife, <^c,
are ye not carnal ? Might not these carnal Corinthians have justly
replied, Carnal physician, heal thyself? — 3. lx\ the language of the
apostle, to be carnal — to be carnally minded — to walk after the flesh-
not to 7eatk after the Spirit— and to be in the flesh, are phrases of the
same import. This is evident from Rom. vii. 14. viii. I — 9 : and
he says directly or indirectly, that to those who are in that state,
there is condemnation ; that they cannot please God ; and that they are
in a state of death ; because, to be carnal, or carnally minded , is
death, Rom. viii. 1, 6, 8. Now, if he was carnal himself, does it
not follow that he could not please God, and that he was in a state of
condemnation and death ? But how does this agree with the profes-
sion which he immediately makes of being led by the Spirit , of walking
in the Spirit, and of being made free from the law of sin and death, by
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus ? — 4. We do not deny that the remains
of the carnal mtnd still cleave to imperfect Christians ; and that,
when the expression carnal is softened and qualified, it may, in a
low sense, be applied to such professors as those Corinthians were,
to whom St. Paul said, / could not speak to you as to spiritual. But,
could not the apostle be yet spoken to as a spiritual man ? And does
he not allow, that even m the corrupted churches of Corinth and
Galatia, there were some truly spiritual men — some adult, perfect
Christians? See 1 Cor. xiv. 37. and Gal. vi. 1 — 5. When the
apostle calls the divided Corinthians carnal, he immedi ;tely softens the
expression, by adding, babes in Christ : if therefore the word carnal
is applied to St. Paul in this sense, it must follow that the apostle was
but a babe in Christ : and if he was but a babe, is it not as absurd to
judge of the growth of adult Christians by his growth, as to measure
the stature of a man by that of an infant ? — 6. And lastly : the man
described in Rom. vii. 14. is not only called carnal without any

to ANTINOMIANISM. 2^3

softening, qualif}'ing phrase : but the word carnal is immediately
heightened by an uncommon expression — sold wider sin; which is
descriptive of the strongest bondage of corruption. Thus Reason,
Scripture, and Criticism agree to set this argument aside.

Arg. in. '*The carnal man, whose cause ive plead, says, Rom.
yii. 20. If I do that Izvould not, it is no more I that do it, but sin which
dwelleth in me, that is, in my unrenewed part : and therefore he might
be an eminent apostolic saint in his renewed part ; and a carnal,
wretched man, sold under sin, in his unrenewed part."

Ai^. 1. The apostle speaking there as a carnal, and yet awakened
man, who has light enough to see his sinful habits, but not faith and
resolution enough to overcome them ; his meaning is evidently this :
if [, as a carnal man, do what I, as an awakened man, would not ; it is
no more J that do it, that is, I do not do it according to my awakened
conscience, for my conscience rises against my conduct ; but it is sin
that dwelleth in me ; it is the tyrant sin, that has full possession of me,
and minds the dictates of my conscience no more than an inexorable,
taskmaster minds the cries of an oppressed slave.

2. If the pure love of God was shed abroad in St. Paul's heart ;
and constrained him, he dwelt in love, and of consequence in God ;
for St. John says. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in
him. — He that is in you, is greater than he that is in the world. Now
if God dwelt in Paul by his loving Spirit, it becomes our objectors
to show that an indwelling God, and indwelling sin, are one and the
same thing ; or that the apostle had strangely altered his doctrine
when he asked with indignation, What concord hath Christ with Belial ?
For if indwelling sin, the Belial within, was necessary to nestle with
Christ in St. Paul's heart, and in the hearts of all believers, should
not the apostle have rather cried out with admiration, " See how
great is the concord between Christ and Belial ? They are insepa-
rable ! They always live in the same heart together : and nothing
ever parted them but what parts man and wife, that is, death.''"'

3. If a reluctance to serve the law of sin be a proof that we are
holy as Paul was holy, is there not joy in heaven over the apostolic
holiness of most robbers and murderers in the kingdom ? Can they
not sooner or later say, " With my mind, or conscience, / serve the
law of God : but with my flesh the law of sin. How to perform what
is good I find not. I would be honest and loving, if 1 could be so
without denying myself; but I find a law that when I would do good,
evil is present with me ? For can any thing be stronger upon this head
than the words of the inhuman princess, who being at the point of
committing murder, cried out ; *' My mind, that is, my reason or con-

224 THE LAST CHECK

science, leads me to one thing, but my new, impetuous passion ^ carries
me to another against my will. I sec, 1 approve what is right, but I do
what is criminal.''*

Ahg IV. " The man whose experience is described in Rom. vii. is
said to delight in the law of God after the inward man, and to serve the
law of God with the mind; therefore he was partaker of apostolic
holiness."

Ans. Does he not also say. With the flesh I serve the law of sin ? And
did not Medea say as much in her way, before she imbrued her hands
in innocent blood ? What else could she mean when she cried out,
" I see and approve zvith my mind what is right, though I do what is cri^
minal ?'^ Did not the Pharis^ees for a time rejoice in the burning and
shining light of John the Baptist? And does not an evangelis^t inform
us, that Herod himself heard that man of God [nhax;] with delight, and
did many things too ? Mark vi. 20. But is thi» a proof that either
Medea, the Pharisees, or Herod, had attained apostolic holiness ?

Arg. V. ^' The person who describes his unavailing struj^gles under
the power of sin, cries out at last, Who shall deliver me ? kc. and im-
mediately expresses a hope of future deliverance ; thanking God for
it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. vii. 24, 25. Does not this
show that the carnal man, sold under sin, was a Christian believer, and
of consequence, Paul himself?"

Ans. This shows only that the man sold under sin, and groaning
for evangelical liberty, is supported under his unhappy circumstances
by a hope of deliverance ; and that, when the law, like a severe
schoolmaster, has almost brought him to Jesus Christ : when he is
come to the borders of Canaan, and is not far from the kingdom of
God, and the city of refuge, he begins to look and long earnestly for
Christ, and has at times comfortable hopes of deliverance through
him. He has a faith that desires liberty, but not a fltith that obtains it.
He has a degree of the faith to be healed, which is mentioned Acts
xix. 9. but he has not yet the actually healing, prevailing faith which
St. John calls the victory, and which is accompanied with an internal
witness that Christ is formed in our hearts. It is absurd to confound
the carnal man who struggles into Christ and liberty, saying, Who shall
deliver me, kc. with the spiritual man, who is come to Christ, stands
in his redeeming power, and witnesses that the law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus, has made him free from the law of sin and death. The

Scd trahit invitaoi nova vis, aliudque cupido,

Mens ali ud suadet. Video meliora, proboqup,

Detcriora sequor. Ovid.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 225

one may say in his hopeful moments, / thn7ik God, [shall have the vic-
tory through Jesus Christ: but the other can say, I have it now.
Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lordy
1 Cor. XV. 57. The one wishes for, and the other enjoys liberty :
the one has ineffectual desires, and the other has victorious habits.
Such is the contrast between the carnal penitent described in Kom.
vii. 14. and the obedient believer described in Rom. viii. " There
is a great difference," says the Rev. Mr. Whilefidd, " between good
desires and good habits. Many have the one, who never attain the
other." Many come up to the experience of a carnal penitent, who
never attain the experience of an obedient believer. *' Many have
good desires to subdue sin : and yet, resting in these good desires sin
has always had the dominion over tliem ;" uith the flesh they have
always served the law of sin. •' A person sick of a fever may desire
to be in health, but that desire is not health itself." Whitefield's Works,
vol. iv. page 7. If the Calvinists would do justice to this important
distinction, they would soon drop the argument which 1 answer, and
the yoke of carnality which they try to tix upon St. Paul's neck.

Arg. VI. " You plead hard for the apostle's spirituality : but his
own plain confession shows that he was really carnal and sold under
sin. Does he not say to the Corinthians, that there was given him a
thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, lest he should be
exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations which had
been vouchsafed him ? 2 Cor. xii. 7. Now what could this thorn in
the flesh be, but a sinful lust? And what this messenger of Satan, but
pride or immoderate anger? Thrice he besought the Lord that these
plagues might depart from him, but God would not hear him. Indwell-
ing sin was to keep him humble ; and if St. Paul stood in need of that
remedy, how much more we ?"

Ans. 1. Indwelling anger keeps us angry ^ and not meek : indwelling
pride keeps us proud, and not humble. The streams answer to the
fountain. It is absurd to suppose that a salt spring will send forth
fresh water.

2. You entirely mistake the apostle's meaning. While you try
to make him a modest imperfectionist, you inadvertently represent
him as an impudent Antinomian ; for, speaking of his thorn in the
flesh, and of the buffeting of Satan^s messenger, he calls them his infir-
mities: and says. Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities.
Now if his infirmities were pride, a wrathful disposition, and a filthy
lust; did he not act the part of a filthy Antinomian, when he said that
he gloried in them ? Would not even Paul's carnal man have blushed

Vor.. IV. 29

2^6 THE LAST CHECK

to speak thus ? Far from glorying in his pride, wrath, or indwelhn^-
lust, difl he not groan, O wretched man that I am?

3. The apostle, still speaking of his thorn in the flesh, and of Satan
buffeting him by proxy, and still calling these trials his infirmities^
explains himself farther in these words : Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in persecutions, 4*c. for Christ's sake : for
when I am weak then am I strong. Chrises strength is made perfect in

my weakness. Those infirmities that thorn in the flesh that

buffeting of Satan, cannot then be indwelling sin, or any outbreaking
of it ; for the devil himself could do no more than to take pleasure ia
his wickedness : and in Rom. vii. the carnal penitent himselt delights
in the law of God after the inward man, instead of taking pleasure in
his indwelling sin.

4. The infirmities in which St. Paul glories and takes pleasure^
were such as had been given him to keep him humble after his reve-
lations. There was given to me a thorn in the fiesh, &c. 2 Cor. xii.
7. Those infirmities, and that thorn, wore not then indwelling sin^
for indwelling sin was not given him at\er his visions ; seeing it stuck
fast in him long before he went to Damascus. It is absurd therefore
to suppose that God gave him the thorn of indwelling sin afterward,
or indeed that he gave it him at all.

6. If Vlr. Hill wants to know what we understand by St. Paul's
thorn in the fiesh, and by the messenger of Satan that buffeted him : we
reply, that we understand his bodily infirmities the great weak-
ness, and the violent headach, with which Tertullian and St. Chrysos-
tom inform us the apostle was afflicted. The same God who said to
Satan concerning Job, Behold, he is in thine hand to touch his bone and
his fiesh, but save his life : the same God, who permitted that adversary
to bind a daughter of Abraham with a spirit of bodily infirmity for
eighteen years, the same gracious God, I say, permitted Satan to afflict
St. PauTs body with uncommon pains ; and at times, it seems, with
preternatural weakriess, which made his appearance and delivery
contemptible in the eyes of his adversaries. That this is not a con-
jecture, grounded upon uncertain tradition, is evident from the apos-
tle's own words two pages before. His letters, say they, [that buffeted
me jn the name of Satan] are weighty and powerful ; but his bodily
presence is weak, and his speech contemptible, 2 Cor. x. 10. And soon
after, describing these emissaries of the devil, he says, Such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ, [to opj>ose me, and to prejudice you against my ministry :] and
no marvel : for Satan himself [who sets them on] is transformed into an

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 227

angel of light, 2 Cor. xi. 13. But if the (horn in the Jlesh be all one
with the hiffeting messenger of Satan. St. Paul's meanino; is evidently
this : *' God who suffered the Canaanites to be scourges in the sides
of the Israelites, and thorns in their eyes, Josh, xxiii. 13. has suffered
Satan to bruise niy heel, while I bruise his head : and that adversary
afflicts me thus, by his thorns and prickiny; briers, th,«t is, by false
apostles, who buffet me through malicious misrepresentations, which
render me vile in your sight." — This sense is strongly countenanced
by these words of Ezekiel, They shall know that I am the Lord, and
there shall be no more a pricking brier to the home of Israel, nor any
grieving thorn of all that ore round about them, that despised them,
Ezek. xxviii. 24.

Both these senses agree with reason and godliness, with the text
and the context. Satan immediately pierced the apostle's body with
preternatural pain : and, by the malice oifalse brethren, the opposition
of false apostles within the church, and the tierceness of cruel perse-
cutors without, he immediately endeavoured to cast down or destroy
the zealous apostle. But Paul walked in the perfect way, and we
may well say of him, what was said of Job on a similar occasion, In
all this Paul sinned not, as appears from his own words in this very
epistle : / am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. — Our Jlesh had
no rest, but zee were troubled on every side : without the church were
fightings, within were fears: we had furious opposition from the hea-
thens without : and within, we feared lest our brethren should be
discouraged by the number and violence of our adversaries ; Never-
theless God, who comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us. — We
are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not
in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed ;
always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. — For
which cause we faint not ; but though our outward man perish through
the thorns in our flesh, and the buffetings of Satan, yet the inward
man is renewed day by day : — it grows stronger and stronger in the

Lord. When 1 see St. Paul hear up with such undaunted fortitude,

under the bruising hand of Satan's messengers, and the pungent
operation of the thorns in his flesh, methinks 1 see the general of the
Christians waving the standard of Christian perfection, and crying,
Be ye follo7vers of me : — Be wholly spiritual. — T(jke wito you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstaiid in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand, and to witness with me, that m all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that hath loved us.

Arg. VII. " You extol the apo-^tle loo much. He certainly was a
carnal man still : for St. Luke informs us. that the contention [-rupo^-

228 THE LAST CHECK

v(rfAo<i] was so sharp between Barnabas and liim, that they departed
asunder one from the other, Acts xv. 39. Now charity [a Trocpo^weretil
is not provoked, or does not contend. Strife or contention is one of the
fruits of the flesh, and if St. Paul bore that fruit, 1 do not see why
you should scruple to call him a carnal, wretched n)an, sold under
sin."

Ans. 1. Every contention is not sinful. The apostle says himself,
" Contend for the faith. — Be angry and sin not. — It is good to be
ze;df)t)sly affected always in a good thing." — Jesus- Christ did not
break the law of love, when he looked round with anger upon the
Pharisees; being grieved for the hardness of their hearts. Nor does
Moses charge sin upon God, where he says, The Lord rooted them out
of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation. If St.
Paul had contended in an uncharitable manner, I would directly grant
that in that hour he fell from Christian perfection ; for we assert,
that as a carnal professor may occasionally cross Jordan, take a turn
into the good land, and come back into the wilderness, as the spies did
in the days of Joshua ; so a spiritual man, who lives in Canaan, may
occasionally draw back, and take a turn in the wilderness, especially
before he is strengthened, established, and settled under his heavenly
vine, in the good land that flows with spiritual milk and honey. But
this was not the apostle's case. There is not the least intimation given
of his sinning in the affair. Barnabas, says the historian, determined
to take with them his own nephew, John Mark ; but Paul thought not
good to do it, because when they had tried him before, he went not
with them to the work, but departed from them from Pamphylia, Acts
XV. 38. Now, by every rule of reason and Scripture, Paul was in
the right : for we are to try the spirits, and lovingly to beware of
men, especially of such men as have already made us smart by their
cowardly tickleness, as John Mark had done, when he had left the
itinerant apostles in the midst of their dangers.

With respect to the word y7rot^o^v(ri^(^) contention or provoking, it
is used in a good, as well as in a bad sense. Thus Heb. x. 24. we
read of [Trctpo^vo-fMv uyotTna) a contention, or a provoking unto love and
good works. And therefore, granting that a grain of partiality to his
nephew made Barnabas stretch too much that tine saying. Charity
hopeth all things ; yet from the circurastani.es o{ Barnabas^ s parting
with St. Paul, we have not the least proof that St. Paul stained at all
his Christian perfection in the affair.

If the reader will properly weigh these answers to the arguments,
by which our opponents try to stain the character of St. Paul as a
spiritual man, he will see, I hope, that the apostle is as much mis-

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 229

represented by Mr. Hiirs doctrine, as Christian Perfection is by his
fictitious creed.

SECTION IX.

St. Paul, instead of owning himself a carnal man, still sold under sin,
presents us with a striking picture of the perfect Christian, by occa-
sionally describing his own spirituality and heavenly rnindedness.
And therefore his genuine experiences are so many proofs, that Chris-
tian Perfection is attainable, and has actually been attained in this
life. — What St. Augustine and the Rev. Mr. Whitefield once thought
of Rom. vii. — Jlnd how near this last Divine, and the Rev. Mr.
Romaine, sometimes come to the doctrine of Christian Perfection.

Mr. Hill's mistake, with respect to St. Paul's supposed carnality,
is so much the more astonishing, as the apostle's professed spiritua-
lity not only clears him, but demonstrates the truth of our doctrine.
Having therefore rescued his character from under the feet of those
who tread his honour in the dust, and sell his person under sin at an
Antinomian market, I shall retort the argument of our opponents ;
and appealing to St. Paul's genuine and undoubted experiences, when
he taught wisdom among the perfect, I shall present the reader with
a picture of the perfect Christian drawn at full length. Nor need I
inform Mr. Hill, that the misrepresented apostle sits for his own pic-
ture before the glass of evangelical sincerity : and that turning spi-
ritual self-painter, with the pencil of a good conscience, and with
colours mixed by the Spirit of Truth, he draws this admirable por-
trait from the life

Be followers of me. — This one thing I do; leaving the things that
are behind, I press towards the mark, for the prize of my heavenly call-
ing [a crown of glory]. — Charity is the bond of perfection. — Love is
the fulfilling of the law. — //' / have not charity, I am nothing. And
what charity, or love, St. Paul had, appears from Christ's words and
from his own. — Greater, [i. e. more perfect] love hath no man than
this, says our Lord, that he lay down his life for his friends : now, this
very love Paul had for Christ, for souls, yea, for the souls of his
fiercest adversaries, the Jews. Hear him. The love of Christ con-
straineth us. — For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. — / long to
depart and to be with Christ. — I count not my Ufe dear uvto myself, that I
may finish my course with joy. — / am ready not to be bo^md only^ but to

230 THE LAST CHECK

die also for the name of the Lord Jesus. — // / be offered upon the sacrifice
and service of your faith^ I joy and rejoice with youxLll. And in the next
chapter bul one to that, in which the apostle is supposed to profess
hinnself actually sold under sin., he professes perfect love to his sworn
enemies ; even that love by which the righteousness of the low is ful-
filled in them who walk after the Spirit. Hear him. I say the truth in
Christ, I lie not: my conscience also beating me witness in the Holy
Ghost, that /, 4^c. could wish that myself zmre accursed, i. e. made a
curse [ecTTo X^ia-Ta^ after the example of Chnst, for my kinsmen accord-
ing to the flesh; meaning his inexorable, bloody persecutors, the
Jews.

Nor was this love of St. Paul like a land-flood : it constantly flowed
like a river. This living water sprang up constantly in his soul : wit-
ness these words : Remember, that, by the space of three years, I ceased
not to warn every one night and day with tears. — Of many I hove told you
often, and now tell yon even weeping, that they — mind earthly things :
for our conversation is in heaven. — Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of
our conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wis-
dom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world.
— I know nothing [i. e. no evil] by, [or of] myself. — We can do nothing
against the truth, but for the truth. Whtther we are beside, i. e.
carried out beyond, ourselves, it is to God : or whether we be sober, i. e.
calm, it is for your cause : i. e. the love of God and man is the only
source of all my tempers. — " Giving no offence in atiy thing, but in all
things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, by
pureness, by kindness, by love unfeigned ; — being filled with comfort, and
exceedingly joy fxd in all our tribulation. — I will gladly spend and be spent
for you : though the moi'e abundantly I love you, the less I be loved : [a rare
instance this of the most perfect love !] — We speak before God in
Christ, we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. — I am cruci-
fied zmth Christ : nevertheless I live, yet not I [See here the destruc-
tion of sinful self!] but Christ liveth in me; and the life I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. — ^5 always, so now also^
Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.
We worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh. — Mark them who walk so, as ye have us for an
example. I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be con-
tent : every where, and in all things I am instructed both to abound and
to suff'er need; I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.
— Teaching every man in all wisdom, that I may present every man per-
fect in Christ Jesus ; whereunto also I labour, striving according to hit
rvorking, which workeih in me mightily.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 231

This descrijiifion of the perfect Christian, and of St. Paul, is so
exceedingly i^lorioiis ; and it appears to me such a refutation of the
Calvinian mistake which I oppose, that 1 cannot deny myself the
pleasure,, and my readers the edification of seeing the misrepresented
apostle give his own lovely picture a feiv more tinishing strokes. —
We speak not as pleasing men, says he, but as pleasing God, who trieth
our hearts. For neither at any time used tvejlaltering words, 4"C., God
is witness : nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others.
— But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her chil-
dren. — Being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have
imparted to you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls ;
— labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable to any
of you. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and justly, and
unblameably we behaved ourselves among you. — The Lord make you
abound in love one towards another, and towards all men, even as we do
towards you. — Thvu hast fully known my manner of life, purpose, faith,
long-suffering, charity, patience. — / have kept the faith: henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give in that day.

When I read this wonderful experience of St. Paul, written by
himself; and see his doctrine of Christian perfection so gloriously
exemplifi'd in his own tempers and conduct; I am surprised, that
good men should still confound Saul the Jew with Paul the Christian;
and should take the son of the earthly Jerusalem, which is in bondage
with her children, for the son of the Jerusalem from above, which is
free, and is the mother of us all, who stand in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free. — But, upon second thoughts, I wonder no
more : for if those who engross to themselves the title of Catholics,
can beheve that Christ took his own body into his own fingers, broke
it through the middle, when he took bread, broke it, and said, Tliis is
my body which is broken for you; why cannot those, who monopolize
the name of orthodox among us, believe also that St. Paul spoke
without a figure when he said, I am carnal, and sold under sin, and
brought into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. —
Brethren, 1 beseech you be as I am: — Those thijigs which ye have heard
and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you. Now you
have heai'd and seen, that the evil which I would not, that I do ; and that
with my flesh I serve the law of sin. In short, you have heard aod«
seen that I am carnal and sold under sin.

I am not at all surprised that carnal and injudicious professors
should contend for this contradictory doctrine, this flesh-pleasing
**tandard of Calvinian inconsistency, and Christian imperfection. Rut

232 THE LAST CHECK

that good, and in other respects judicious men, should so zealously
contend for it, appears to me astonishing! They can never design to
con^onndi carnal bo7idage with evangelical liberty^ and St. Paul's Chris-
tian experience with that of Medea, and " Mr. Fulsome,'" in order to
countenance gross Antinomianism : nor can they take any pleasure in
misrepresenting the holy apostle. Why do they then patronize so
great a mistake ? I answer still : By the same reason which makes
pious Papists believe that consecrated bread is the real flesh of Christ.
Their priests and the Pope say so : Some figurative expressions of
our Lord seem to countenance their saying. We Protestants, whom
the Papists call carnal reasoners and heretics, are of a different senti-
ment : and should they believe as we do, their humility and ortho-
doxy would be in danger. Apply this to the present case. Calvinian
Divines and St. Augustine affirm, that St. Paul humbly spake his pre-
sent experience when he said, / am carnal, ^c. We who are called
♦* Arminians and Perfectionists," think the contrary ; and our pious
opponents suppose, that if they thought as we do, they should lose
their humility and orthodoxy. Their error therefore springs chiefly
from mistaken fears, and not from a wilful opposition to truth.

Nor is St. Augustine fully for our opponents : we have our part in
the Bishop of Hippo as well as they. If he was for them, when his
controversy with Pelagius had heated him ; he was for us when he
yet stood upon the scriptural line of moderation. Tlien he fairly
owned that the man, who the apostle personates in Rom vii. is " ho7no
sub lege positus ante gratiam; a man under the [condemning, irritating]
power of the law, who is yet a stranger to the liberty and power of
Christ's Gospel. Therefore, if Mr. Hill claim St. Augustine the
prejudiced controvertist, we claim St. Augustine the unprejudiced
Father of the Church ; or rather, setting aside his dubious authority,
we continue our appeal to unprejudiced reason and plain Scripture.

What I say of St. Augustine may be said of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield.
Before he had embraced St. Augustine's mistakes, which are known
among us by the name of Calvinism, he believed, as well as that
Father, that the disconsolate man who groans, Who shall deliver me ?
is not a possessor, but a seeker of Christian liberty. To prove it I
need only transcribe the latter part of his sermon, entitled The Marks
of the New Birth.

" Thirdly, [says he] I address myself to those who are under the
drawings of the Father, and are going through the spirit of bondage :
but not finding the marks [of the nezv birth] before-mentioned, are
ever crying out [as the carnal penitent, Rom. vii.] M^ho shall deliver
us from the body of this death ? Despair not : for notwithstanding your

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 233

present trouble, it may be the divine pleasure to give you the king-
dom." Hence it appears that Mr. Whitefield did not look upon such
mourners as Christian believers ; but only as persons who might become
such if they earnestly sought. He therefore most judiciouslj ex-
horts thera to seek till they tind. *' The grace of God through Jesus
Christ," adds he, ''is able to deliver you, and give you what you
want : even you may receive the spirit of adoption, the promise of
the Father. All things are po!«sible with him • persevere, therefore,
in seeking, and determine to find no rest in your spirit, till you know
and feel, that you are thus born again from abo\ e, and God's Spirit
ivitnpsses with you spirits, that you are tlie children of God."

What immediately follows is a demonstration that, at that time, Mr.
JVhiteJleld was no enemy to Christian perfection, and thought that
some had actually attained it; or else nothing would have been more
trifling than his concluding address to perfect Christians. Take hi^
own words, and remember that when he preached them, by the
ardour of his zeal, and the devotedness of his heart, he showed him-
eelf a young man in Christ, able to trample under foot the most allu-
ring baits of the flesh and of the world.

" Fourthly and lastly, [says he] I address myself to those, who
have received the Holy Ghost in all its sanctifying graces, and are
almost ripe for glory. Hail, happy saints I For your heaven is begun
upon earth. You have already received the first fruits of the Spirit,
and are patiently waiting till that blessed change come, when your har-
vest shall be complete. I see and admire you, though, al;«s ! at so
great a distance from you.* Your life I know, is hid with Christ in
God. You have comforts, you have meat to eat, which a sinful, car-
nal world knows nothing of. Christ's yoke is become easy to you, and
his burden light: you have passed through the pangs of the new
birth, and now rejoice that Christ Jesus is formed in your hearts.
You know what it is to dwell in Christ, and Christ in you. Like
Jacob's ladder, although your bodies are on earth, yet your souls and
hearts are in heaven ; and b}' your faith and constant recollection, like
the blessed angels, you do always behold the face of your Father y which

* At that time Mr. JVhilcJield was in Orders, and had received the spirit of adoption.
As a proof of it I appeal, 1. To the account of his conversion at Oxford before he was
ordained : and 2. To these his own words, '* I can say to the honour of rich, fiee, distin-
guishing grace, that I received the spirit of adoption before I had conversed with one man,
or read a single book on the doctrine of free justification by the imputed righteousness of
Jesus Christ." — That is, before he had had any opportunity of being drawn from the sim-
plicity of the Scripture Gospel into the Calvinian refinoments. See his Works, Vol. IV.
page 45. — Now, those Christians, who leave babes and young men in Christ " at so great a
distance from them," are the very persons whom we call Fitthers in Christ, or per ffc^
Christians.

Vol. IV, 30

'ia4 THE LAST CHECK

is in heaven. I need not then exhort you to press forxmrd, ^'C, Ratbex
I will exhort you in patien9e to possess your souls : yet a little while,
and Jesus Christ will deliver you from the burden of the flesh, and
an abundant entrance shall be administered unto you into the eternal
joy, kc. of his heavenly kingdom." I have met with few descrip-
tions of the perfect Christian that please me better I make but one
objection to it. Mr. Whitejield thought that the believers who " by
constant recollection, like the blessed angels, always behold the face of
their Father,'' are so advanced in grace, that they " need not be ex-
horted to press forward.'' This is carrying the doctrine of perfection
higher than Mr. Wesley ever did. For my part, were I to preach to
a congregation of such " happy saints," I would not scruple taking
this test. So run that ye may [eternally] obtain: nor would I forget to
set before them the example of the perfect apostle, who said, 7'his
one thing I do, leaving the things that are behind, and reaching forth, I
press towards the mark, <^c. Had I been in Mr. Whitefield's case, I
own, I would either have refused to join the imperfectionists, or I
would have recanted my address to perfect Christians.

So strong is the scriptural tide in favour of our doctrine, that it
sometimes carried away the Rev. Mr. Romaine himself Nor can I
confirm the wavering reader in his belief of the possibility of obtain-
ing the glorious liberty which we contend for, better than by transcri-
bing a fine exhortation of that great Minister to what we call Chris-
tian perfection an<J what he calls The Walk of Faith.

" The new covenant runs thus: — I will put, says God, my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, &,'C. The Lord here
engages to take away the stony heart, and to give a heart of flesh,
upon which he will write the ten commandments, &:c. The love of
God will open the contracted heart, enlarge the selfish, warm the
cold, and bring liberality out of the covetous. When the Holy Spirit
teaches brotherly love, he overcomes all opposition to it, &c. He
write-; upon their hearts the two great commandments, on which hang
all the law and the prophets. The love of God, says the apostle to the
Romans, is shed, abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost; and to (he
Thessalonians, Ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
Thus he engages the soul to the holy law, and inclines the inner man
to love obedience. It ceases to be a yoke and a burden. How easy
it is to do what one loves ! If you dearly love any person, what a
pleasure it is to serve him ! What will not love put you upon doing
or suffering to oblige him I Let love rule in the heart to God and to
man, his law will then become delightful, and obedience to it will be
pleasantness. The soul will run : yea, inspired by love it will monn^

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 236

wp with wings as eagles, in the way of God's commandments. Happy
are the people that are in such a case." Now, such a case is what
we call, The state of Christian perfection ; to the ohtaining of which
Mr. Romaine excites his own soul by the following excellent exhorta-
tion.

<' This is the very tenor of the covenant of grace which the
Almighty Spirit h^is undertaken to fulfil, [if we mix faith with the
promises as Mr. Romaine himself will soon intimate] and he cannot
fail in his office. It is his crown and glory to make e;ood his cove-
nant engagements. O trust him then, and put honour upon his faith-
fulness, [that is, if I mistake not, make good your own covenant
engagements.] He has promised to guide thee with his counsel, and
to strengthen thee with his might, <S:c. What is within thee, or with-
out thee, to oppose thy walking in love with him, he will incline thee
to resist, and he will enable thee to overcome. O what mayest thou
not expect from such a divine Friend, who is to abide with thee on
purpose to keep thy heart right with God. [Query ; when the
heart is kept full of indwelling sin, is it kept right with God ?] What
cannot he do ? — What will he not do for thee ? Such as is the love of
the Father and of the Son, such is the love of the Holy Ghost ; the
same free, perfect, everlasting love. Read his promises of it. Medi-
tate on them. Pray to him for increasing faith to mix with them ;
that he [not sin] dwelling in the temple of thy heart, thou mayest
have fellowship there with the Father and with the Son. Whatever
in thee is pardoned through the Son's atonement, pray the Holy Spirit
to subdue, that it may not interrupt communion with thy God. And
whatever grace is to be received out of the fulness of Jesus, in order
to keep up and to promote that communion, entreat the Holy Spirit to
give it thee with growing strength. But pray in faith nothing waver-
ing. So shall the love of God rule in thy heart. And then thou
shalt be like the sun, when it goeth forth in its might, shining clearer
and clearer to the perfect day. O may thy course be like his, as
free, as regular, and as communicative of good, that thy daily peti-
tion may be answered, and that the will of thy Father may be done
on earth as it is in heaven." Walk of Faith. Vol. I. page 237, Lc.

I do not produce this excellent quotation to insinuate that the Rev.
Mr. Romaine is a perfectionist, but only to edify the reader, and to
show that the good, mistaken men, who are most prejudiced against
our doctrine, see it sometimes so true, and so excellent, that, forget-
ting their pleas for indwelling sin, they intimate that our daily petition
may be answered j and that the will of our Father may be done on earth

23G THE LAST CHECK

as it is in heaven ; an expression this, which includes the height and
depth of all Christian Perfection,

SECTION X.

St. John is for Christian Perfection, and not for a Death Purgatory.
1 John i. 8, &c. is explained agreeably to St. Johns Design, the
Context, and the Fein of Holy Doctrine, which runs through the rest
of the Epistle.

The Scriptures declare that we are built upon the foundation of
the apostles ; Jesus Christ himself being (he chief corner-stone : and
St. Paul being deservedly considered as the chief of the apostles,
and of consequence, as the chief stone of the foundation, on which,
next to the corner-stone, our holy religion is built ; who can
wonder at the pains which our opponents take, to represent this
important part of our foundation as carnal, wretched, and sold
under sin? Does not every body see, that such a foundation becomes
the Antinoni i an sir aciure which is raised upon it ; and is it not incum-
bent upon the opposers of Antinomianisra to uncover that wretched
foundation by removing the heaps of dirt in which St. Paul's spiritu-
ality is daily buried ; and by this mean to rescue the holy apostle,
whom our adversaries endeavour to sell under sin as a carnal wretch?
—This rescue hns been attempted in the four last sections. If I
have succeeded in this charitable attempt, I may proceed to vindi-
cate the holiness of St. John who is the last apostle that Mr. Hill calls
to the help of indwelling sin. Christian imperfection, and a death
purgatory.

Before I show how the loving apostle is pressed into a service,
which is so contrary to his experience and to his doctrine of perfect love,
I shall make a preliminary remark. To take a passage of Scripture
out from the context, and to make it speak a language contrary to the
obvious design of the sacred writer, is the way to butcher the body
of scriptural divinity. This conduct injures truth, as much as the
Galatians would have injured themselves, if they had literally pulled
their eyes out, and given them to St. Paul : an edifying passage thus
displaced may become as loathsome to a moral mind, as a good eye
torn out of its bleeding orb in a good face, is odious to a tender heart.

Among the passages which have been thus treated, none has sufler-
ed more violence than this : If we say that we have no sin, we deceivt

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 237

ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John i. 8. — " Thai's enough
for me," says a hasty imperfectionist ; " St. John clearly pleads for
the indwelling of sin in us during the term of life, and he is so set
against those who profess deliverance from sin, and Christian perfec-
tion in this life, that he does not scruple to represent them as liars
and self-deceivers.^'

Our opponents suppose that this argument is unanswerable. But
to convince them that they are mistaken, we need only prove, that the
sense which they so confidently give to the words of St. John is con-
trary, 1. To his design ; 2. To the context ; and 3. To the pure and
strict doctrine which he enforces in the rest of the epistle.

I. With respect to St. John's desig7iy it evidently was to confirm
believers, who were in danger of being deceived by .^ntinomian and
ami- Christian seducers. When he wrote this epistle the church
began to be corrupted by men, who, under pretence of knowing
the mysteries of the Gospel better than the apostles, imposed upon
the simple, Jewish fables, heathenish dreams, or vain, philosophic
speculations ; insinuating that their doctrinal peculiarities were the
very marrow of the Gospel. Many such arose at the time of the
Reformation, who introduced stoical dreams into Protestantism, and
whom Bishop Latimer and others steadily opposed under the name
of Gospellers.

The doctrines of all these Gospellers centred in making Christ,
indirectly at least, the minister of sin : and in representing the preach-
ers of practical self-denying Christianity, as persons unacquainted
with Christian liberty. It does not indeed appear that the Gnostics or
Knowing Ones [for so the ancient Gospellers were called] carried mat-
ters so far as openly to say, that believers might be God's dear chil-
dren in the very commission of adultery and murder, or while they
worshipped Milcom and Ashtaroth ; but it is certain that they could
already reconcile the verbal denial of Christ, fornication and ido-
latrous feu sti7ig^ with true faith ; directly or indirectly teaching and
seducing Christ's servants to commit fornication^ and to eat things sacri-
ficed to idols. Rev. ii. 20. At these Antinomians St. Peter, St.
James, and St. Jude levelled their epistles. St. Paul strongly cau-
tioned Timothy, Titus, and the Ephesians against them. (See Eph.
iv. 14 — v. 6.) And St. John wrote his first epistle to warn the
believers who had not yet been seduced into their error : a dreadful,
though pleasing error this, which by degrees, led some to deny Christ's
/aro, and then his very name: hence the triumph of the spirit of
antichrist. Now as these men inj^inuated that believers might be
righteous without doing righteousness; and as they supposed thai

238 THE LAST CHECK

Chrisfs righteousness^ or our own kno'wledge and faith, would supply
the want of internal sanctification and external obedience ; St. John
maintains against them the necessity of that practical godliness, which
consists in not committing sin, and in walking as Christ walked : nay,
he asserts that Christ's blood, through the faith which is our victory,
purifies /rom all sin, and cleanses from all nti righteousness. To make
him therefore plead for the necessary continuance of indwelling sin,
till we go into a death purgatory, is evidently to ihake him defeat his
own design.

II. To be more convinced of it, we need only read the controverted
text in connexion with the context ; illustrating both bj some notes in
brackets. — St. John opens his commission thus. 1st Epistle, chap. i.
5, 6, 7. This is the message which we have received of him [Christ]
and declare unto you, that God is light [bright, transcendent purity] and
in him is no darkness [no impurity] at all. If we [believers] say. that
we have fellowship with him [that we are united to him by an actually
living faith] and walk in darkness [in impurity, or sin] we lie, and do
not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the linht, [if we
live up to our Christian light and do righteousness,'] we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son clejnselh us from
all sill. [ — For, let no man deceive yo^i ; he that does righteousness is
righteous, even as he, Christ, is righteous ; and in him. is no sin, 1 John
iii. 5, 7.] So far we see no plea, either for sin, or for the Calvinian
purgatory.

Should Mr. Hill reply, that '' When St. John says, The blood of
Christ cleanseth us from all sin, the apostle does not mean all indwell-
ing sin; because this is a sin from which death alone can cleanse us :"
we demand a proof, and in the mean time we answer, that St, John,
in the above-quoted passages, says, that he who does righteousness, in
the full sense of the word, is righteous, as Christ is righteous ; obser-
ving, that in him [Christ] is no sin. So certain then, as there is no
indwelling sin in Christ, there is no indwelling sin in a believer, who
does righteousness in the full sense of the word ; for he is made per-
fect in love, and is cleansed from all sin. — Nor was St. John himeelf
ashamed to profess this glorious liberty : for he said, Our love is made
perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment ; because as he
[Christ] is [perfect in love, and of consequence without sin :] so arc
7ve in this world, 1 John iv. 17. And the whole context shows, that
the beloved apostle spake these great words of a likeness to Christ
with respect to the perfect love which fulfils the law, abolishes torment-
ing fear, and enables the believer to stand with boldness in the day of
judgment, as being forgiven, and conformed to the image of God''s Son.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 23J>

ii' Mr. Hill urge, that ** The blood of Christ, powerfully applied
by the Spirit, cleanses us indeed from the guilt, but not from the
filthiness of sin : blood having a reference to justification and pardon^
but not to sanctification and holiness ." we reply, that this argument
is not only coritrary to the preceding answer, but to the text, the con-
text, and other plain scriptures. — 1. To the text, where our being
cleansed from all sin is evidently suspended on our humble and faithful
walk : If we zealk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Christ
cleanses us, &c. Now every novice in Gospel grace knows, that true
Protestants do not suspend a sinner's justification on his walking in the
light as God is in the light.— '2, It is contrary to the context: for in the
next verse but one, where St. John evidently distinguishes forgive-
ness and holiness, he peculiarly applies the word cleansing to the latter
of these blessings. He is faithfid to forgive us our sin [by taking
away our guilt:] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, [by taking
away all the filth of indwelling sin.] — And 3. It is contrary to other
places of Scripture, where Chrisf s blood is represented as havin«- a
reference to purification, as well as to forgiveness. God himself says,
*' Wash ye; make ijnu clean; put away the evil of your doings; cease
to do evil ; learn to do well. The washing and cleansing here spoken
of, have undoubtedly a reference to the removal of the filth, as well
as of the guilt of sin. Accordiu^ly we read, that all those who stand
before the throne have both washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb. That is, they are justified by, and sanctified
with, his blood. Hence our Church prays, " that we may so eat the
flesh of Christ and drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made
clean by his body, and our souls washed [i. e. made clean also] throutrh
his most precious blood.''^ To rob Christ's blood of its sanctifying
power, and to confine its efficacy to the atonement, is therefore an
Antinomian mistake, by which our opponents greatly injure the Sa-
viour, whom they pretend to exalt.

Should Mr. Hill assert, that " When St. John says, If we walk in
the light, 4*c. the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, the loving
apostle's meaning is not, that the blood of Christ radically cleanses
us, but only that it begets and carries on a cleansing from all sin, which
cleansing will be completed in a death purgatory :" we answer : 1.
This assertion leaves Mr. HiWs doctrine open to all the above-men-
tioned dithculties. — 2. It overthrows the doctrine of the Protestants,
who have always maintained that nothing is absolutely necessary to
eternal salvation, and of consequence to our perfect cleansing, but an
©bedient, steadfast faith, appreiiending the full virtue of Christ's
purifying blood, according to Acts xv. 9. God giving tketn the Holy

240 TH]£ LAST CHECK

Ghost^ put no difference between them and us, purifying their hearts hy
faith :-^noi by death.— 3. It is contrary to matter of fact : Enoch and
Elijah, having been translated to heaven, and therefore having been
perfectly purified, even in body, without going into the Calvinian
purgatory. — But 4. What displeases us most in the evasive argument
which I answer is, that it puts the greatest contempt on Christ's
blood, and puts the greatest cheat on weak believers, who sincerely
wait to be now vnade perfect in love, that they may worthily magnify
God's holy name.

An illustration will prove it. I suppose that Christ is now in Eng-
land, doing as many wonderful cures as he formerly did in Judea.
My benevolent opponent runs to the Salop Infirmary, and tells all the
patients there that the great Physician, the Son of God, has once more
visited the earth ; and he again heals all manner of sickness and diseases
among the people, and cleanses from the most inveterate leprosy by a
touch or a word. All the patients believe Mr. Hill ; some hop to
this wonderful Saviour, and others five carried to his footstool. They
touch and retouch him : he strokes them round again and again : but
not one of them is cured. The wounds of some, indeed, are skinned
over for a time ; but it soon appears that they still fester at the
bottom, and that a painful core remains unextracted in every sore.
The poor creatures complain to Mr. Hill, " Did you not. Sir, assure
us upon your honour, as a Christian gentleman, that Christ heals
all manner of diseases, and cleanses from all kinds of leprosies ?" —
True, says Mr. Hill ; but you must know, that these words do not
mean that he radically cures any disease, or cleanses from any leprosy ;
they only signify that he begins to cure every disease, and continues
to cleanse from all leprosies ; but notwithstanding all his cures, begun
and continued, nobody is cured before death. So, my friends, you
must bear your festering sores as well as you can, till death comes
radically to cleanse and cure you from them all. Instead of crying
"■ Sweet grace '. — rich grace I" and of clapping Mr. Hill for his evan-
gelical message, the disappointed patients desire him to lake them
back to the Infirmary, saying, we have there a chance for a cure
before death : but your great Physician pronounces us incurable,
unless death comes to the help of his art ; and we think that any
surgeon could do as much, if he did not do more. [See Sect. XII
Arg. 20.]

If Mr. Hill say that I beat the air, and that the text which he
quotes in his " Creed for Perfectionists," to show that it is impossi-
ble to be cleansed from all sin before death, is not 1 John i. 7. but
the next v^rse ; I reply, that if St. John assert in the 7th verse, that

TO ANTINOMIANISRI. 241

Chrisfs blood, powerfully applied by the spirit of faith, cleanses us
from all sin, that inspired writer cannot be so exceedingly inconsistent
as to contradict himself in the very next verse.

Should the reader ask, *' What then can be St. John's meaning in
that verse, where he declares, that If rve say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us? How can these words
possibly agree with the doctrine of a perfect cleansing from all sin ?"

We answer, that St. John having given his first stroke to the Anti-
nomian believers of this day, strikes by the bye a blow at Pharisaic
professors. There were in St, John's time, as there are in our own,
numbers of men who had never been properly convinced of sin, and
who boasted, as Paul once did, that touching the righteousness of the
law, they were blameless : they served God — they did their duty — they
gave alms — they never did any body any harm — they thanked God
that they were not as other men ; but especially that they were not
like those mourners in Sion, who were no doubt very wicked, since
they made so much ado about God's mercy, and a powerful applica-
tion of the Redeemer's all-cleansing blood. How proper then was it
for St. John to inform his readers, that these tsvhole-hearted Christians,
these perfect Pharisees, were no better than liars and self deceivers ;
and that true Christian righteousness is always attended by a genuine
conviction of our native depravity, and by an humble acknowledg-
ment of our actual transgressions.

This being premised ; it appears that the text so dear to us, and so
mistaken by our opponents, has this fair, scriptural meaning : " If we
[followers of him who came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance] say we have no sin [no native depravity from our first
parents, and no actual sin, at least no such sin as deserves God's
wrath ; fancying we need not secure a particular application of
Christ's atoning and purifying blood] we deceive ourselves^ and the truth
[of repentance and faith] is not in ws."

That these words are levelled at the monstrous error of self-con-
ceited and self- perfected Pharisees, and not at the glorious liberty of
the children of God, appears to us indubitable from the following rea-
sons : 1. The immediately preceding verse strongly asserts this

liberty. — 2. The verse immediately following secures it also, and
cuts down the doctrine of our opponents ; the apostle's meaning being
e\^dently this; — *' Though I write to you, that?/ we say, we are
originally free from sin, and never did any harm, we deceive ourselves :
yet, mistake me not ; I do not mean that we need continue under the
guilt, or in the moral infection of any sin, original or actual : for it
we penitently and believingly confess both, he is faithful and ;V?^ ^..

Vol. IV. -St

2'42 THE LAST CHECK

forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, whether it
be native or self-contracted, internal or external. Therefore if we
have attained the glorious liberty -of God's children, we need not,
through voluntary humility, say that we do nothing but sin. It will
be sufficient, when we are cleansed from all unrighteousness^ still to be
deeply humbled for our present infirmities, and for our past sins ;
confessing both with godly sorrow and filial shame. For if we should
say, we have not sinned,^' [note, St. John does not write, If we should
say, we do not sin,] " we make him a liar, and the truth is not in us;
common sense dictating, that if zve have not sinned^ we speak an
untruth, when we profess that Christ has forgiven our sins." This
appears to us the true meaning of 1 John i. 8. when it is fairly consi-
dered in the light of the context.

III. We humbly hope, that Mr. Hill himself will be of our senti-
ment, if he compare the verse in debate, with the pure and strict doc-
trine which St. John enforces throughout his epistle. In the second
chapter he says, We know that we know him, if we keep his command-
ments, ^c. Whoso KEEPETH HIS WORD, in him verily is the love of God
PERFECTED. He that abideth in him ought himself also so to walk,
EVEN AS HE WALKED, &c. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light,
[where the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin] and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him.

The same doctrine runs also through the next chapter. Every one
that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself as he [Christ] is pure.
Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law, ^c. and ye
know, that he was manifested to take away our sins, [i. e. to destroy them
root and branch :] and in him is no sin. WJiosoever abideth in him
sinneth not : whosoever sinneth, does not [properly] see him, neither
know him : he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he [Christ]
is righteous. He that committeth sin, [i. e. as appears by the context,
he that transgr&sseth the law,] is of the devil : for the devil sinneth from
the beginning : for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he
might destroy the zvorks of the devil. Whosoever is born of God [Who-
soever is made a partaker of God's holiness, according to the per-
fection of the Christian dispensation] doth not commit sin, i. e. does
not transgress the law ; for his seed, the ingrafted word, made quick
and powerful by the indwelling Spirit, remaineih in him, and [morally
speaking] he cannot sin, because he is [thus] born of God. — For if ye
know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doth righteousness
is born of him, and he that doth not righteousness, — he that committeth
sin, or transgresseth the law, is so far of the devil, for the devil trans-
gr,esseth the laws, i. e. sinneth from the beginning. — In this the children

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 243

of God are manifest^ and the children of the devil.^ Whosoever does
not righteousness, i. e. whosoever sinneth, taking the word in its evan-
gelical meaning, is not of God, 1 John iii. 3 — 11. ii. 29.

If Mr. Hill cry out ^^ Shocking ! Who are those men that do not
sin ?" I reply, All those whom St. John speaks of a few verses below,
Beloved, if our heart condemn us ; [and it will condemn us if we sin,
but God much more, for God is greater than our hearts, 4"c.] Beloved,
if our hearts condemn us not, we have confidence towards God, ^c.
becduse we keep his commandments, and do those things that are
PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT, 1 John ill. 20, &c. — Now we apprehend all
the sophistryln the world will never prove that, evangelically speak-
ing, keeping God*s commandments, and doing what pleases him, is sin-
ning. 'J'herefore, when St. John professed to keep God^s command-
ments, and to do what is pleasing in' his sight, he professed what
our opponents call si7iless perfection, and what we call Christian per-
fection.

Mr. Hill is so very unhappy in his choice of St. John, to close the
Dumber of his apostolic witnesses for Christian imperfection, that
were it not for a few clauses of his first tpistle, the anti solifidian
severity of that apostle might drive all imperfect Christians to despair.
And what is most remarkable, those few encouraging clauses are all
conditional ; If any man sin, for there is no necessity that he should ;
or rather, [according to the most literal sense of the word ufAuprvi,
which being in the aorist, has generally the force of a past tense] If
any man have sinned : — If he have not sinned unto death : if we confess
our sins : — if that which ye have heard shall remain in you : if ye walk in
the light: — then do we evangelically enjoy the benefit of our Advo-
cate's intercession. Add to this, that the first of those clauses is
prefaced by these words. My little children, these things I write unto
you, THAT YE SIN NOT ; and all together are guarded by these dreatJful
declarations : He that says, I know him, and keepeth not his command-
ments, is a liar. — If any man love the world, the love of the Father is
not in him. — If any man say I love God — and loveth not his brother,
[note, he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law] he is a liar. There
is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. Let no man
deceive you, he that does righteousness is righteous. — He that committeth
sin [or transgresseth the law] is of the devil. To represent St. John,
therefore, as an enemy to the doctrine of Christian perfection, does

* This doctrine of St. John ig perfectly agreeable (o that of our Lord, who said (hat
Judas had a devil, because he gave place to the love of money ; and who called Peter bifii
icU Safan, when he savoured the things of men, in op[jositi(>ii to tkt^ things »f God.

^44 THE LAST CHECR

not appear to us less absurd, than to represent Satan as a friend to
complete holiness.

SECTION XI.

Why the Privileges of Believers under the Gospel of Christ, cannot he
justly measured by the experience of Believers under the law of Mosc5
Jl Review of the Passages, upon which the enemies of Christian Per-
fection found their hopes, that Solomon, Isaiah, and Joh^ were strong
hnperfeciionisis.

If Mr. Hill had quoted Solomon, instead of St. John; and Jewish:
instead of Christian saints ; he might have attacked the glorious
Christian hberty of God's children with more success : for the heir, as
he is- a child [in Jewish non-age] differeth nothing from a servant : but
is under tutors [and schoolmasters] until the time appointed by the
Father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage : — but
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons,
—and stand in the [peculiar] liberty wherewith Christ has made us
[Christians] /ree, Gal. iii. 1. — iv. 1. But this very passage, which
shows that Jews are, comparatively speaking, in bondage, shows
also that the Christian dispensation, and its high privileges cannot be
measured by the inferior privileges of the Jewish dispensation,
under which Solomon lived : for the law made nothing perfect in the
Christian sense of the word ; and what the law could not do, God
sending his only Son condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us [Christian believers] who walk after
the Spirit : being endned with that large measure of it, which began
to be poured out on believers on the day of pentecost ; for that mea-
sure of the Spirit was not given before, because Jesus was not yet
glorified. John vii. 39. But after he had ascended on high, and had
obtained the gift of the indwelling Comforter for believers, they
received, says St. Peter, the end of their faith, even the Chris-
tian salvation of their souls ; a salvation this, which St. Paul just-
ly calls so great salvation, when he compares it with Jewish pri-
vileges, Heb. ii. 3. Of which [Christian] salvation, proceeds St.
Peter, the prophets have inquired, who prophesied of the grace that
sitould come unto i/OM [Christians] searching what or what manner of
lime the Spirit of Christ wh ich was in them [according to their dispensa-

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 24^'

lion] did signify lahen it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christy and
the glory [ihe glorious dispensation] that should follo-jc [his return to
heaven, and accompany the outpouring of the Spirit.] Unto whom
} the Jewish propliets] it zvas revealed that not unto themselves, but unto
us [Christians] they did minister the things which are now preached unto
you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. 1 Pet. i. 9, &c. And,
among those things, the Scriptures reckon the coming of the spiritual
kingdom of Christ wilh power into the hearts of behevers, and the
baptism of fire, or the perfect love, which bvr7is vp the chaff' of sin,
thoroughly purges God's floor, and makes the hearts of perfect believ-
ers a habitation of God through the Spirit, and not a nest for indwelling
sin.

As this doctrine may appear new to Mr. Hill, I beg leave to confirm
it by the testimony of two as eminent Divines as England has lately
produced. The one is Mr. Baxter, who, in his comment upon these
words, A testament is of force after men are dead, &.c. Heb. ix. 17. very
justly observes, that " His [Christ's] covenant has the nature of a
testament, which supposeth the death of the testator, and is not of
efficacy till then, to give full right of what he bequeathed. Note, that
the eminent, evangelical kingdom of the Mediator, in its last, full
edition, called the kingdom of Christ, and of heaven, distinct from
the obscure state of promise before Christ's incarnation began at
Christ's resurrection, ascension, and sending of the eminent gift
of the Holy Ghost, and was but as an embryo before." — My
other witness is the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, who proposes and answers
the following question : " Why was not the Holy Ghost given till
Jesus Christ was glorilied ? — Because till then he was himself on
the earth, and had not taken on him the kingly office, nor pleaded
the merits of his death before his heavenly Father, by which he
purchased that invaluable blessing for us." — See his Works, Vol.
IV. p. 362. Hence I conclude, that, as the full measure of the
Spirit which perfects Christian believers, was not given before our
Lord's ascension, it is as absurd to judge of Christian perfection by
the experiences of those who died before that remarkable event, a?
to measure the powers of a sucking child by those of an embryo.

This might suffice to unnerve all the arguments which our oppo-
nents produce from the Old Testament against Christian perfection.
However, we are willing to consider a moment those passages by
which they plead for the necessary indwelling of sin in all Christian
believers, and defend the walls of the Jericho within, that accursed
city of refuge for spiritual CMnaanitcs and Diaholonian?.

246 THE LAST OilECK

I. 1 Kings viii. 40, &c. Solomon prays and says, If ihey [the Jews]
sin against thee, (for there is no man* that sinneth not) and thou be
angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them
away captive, — yet, if they bethink themselves, and repent, and make sup-
plication unto thee, and return unto thee with all their heart, and with all
their soul — thenhear thou their prayer. No unprejudiced person, who
in reading this passage takes the parenthesis (*' for there is no man
that sinneth not") in the connexion with the context, can, I think,
help seeing that the Rev. Mr. Toplady, who, if I remember right,
quotes this text against us, mistakes Solomon, as much as Mr. Hill does
St. John. The meaning is evidently, there is no man who is not liable
to sin; and that a man actually sins, when he actually departs from
God. Now peccability, or a liableness to sin, is not indwelling sin ; for
angels, Adam, and Eve, were all liable to sin ia their sinless state.
And that there are some men who do not actually sin, is indubitable :
1. From the hypothetical phrase in the context, if any man sin,
which shows that their sinning is not unavoidable : — 2. From God's
anger against those that sin, which is immediately mentioned. Hence
it appears, that so certain as God is not angry with all his people,
some of them do not sin in the sense of the wise man : — ^nd 3. from
Solomon's intimating, that these very men who have sinned, or have
actually departed from God, may bethink themselves, repent, and turn to
God with all their heart, and with all their soul, that is, may attain the
perfection of their dispensation ; the two poles not being more opposed
to each other than sinning is to repenting ; and departing from God to
returning to him with all our heart and with all our soul. Take there-
fore the whole passage together, and you have a demonstration that
where sin hath abounded, there grace may much more abound. And
what is this, but a demonstration that our doctrine is not chimerical ?
For if Jeii's, [Solomon himself being judge] instead of sinning and
departing from God, can repent, and turn to him with all their heart ;
how much more Christians, whose privileges are so much greater I

II. " But So/omon says also, There is not a just man upon earth,
that does good and sinneth not. Eccles. vii. 20."

1. We are not sure that »So/omon says it ; for he may introduce
here the very same man who, four verses before, says, Be notrighte-

* If Mr. Hill consult tlie Orio-inal, lie will iind that the word translated sinneth, is in the
future tetise, which is often used for an indefinite tense ia the potential mood, because the
Hebrews have no such mood or tense. — Therefore our translators would only have done
justice to the original, as well as to the context, if they had rendered the whole clause,
There is no man that may not sin ; instead of Tucrc is no man that sinneth not.

TO ANTINOMIANISM, 247

ous overmuch^ &c. and Mr. Toplady may mistake the interlocutor's
meaning in one text, as Dr. Trap has done in the other. — But 2.
Supposing Solomon speaks, may not he in general assert, what St.
Paul does, Rom. iii. 23. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God, the just not excepted ? Is not this the very sense which Canne,
Calvinist as he was, gives to the wise man's words, when he refers
the reader to this assertion of the apostle ? And did we ever speak
against this true doctrine ? — 3. If you take the original word lo sin,
in the lowest sense which it bears : — If it mean in Eccles. vii. 20.
what it does in Judg. xx. 16. namely, to miss a mark, we sh;dl not differ ;
for we maintain that, according to the standard of paradisiacal perfec-
tion, There is not a just man upon earth, that does good, and misses not
the mark of that perfection, i. e. that does not lessen the good he
does, by some involuntary, and therefore (evangelically speaking)
sinless defect. — 4. It is bold to pretend to overthrow the glorious
liberty of God's children, which is asserted in a hundred plain passa-
ges of the New Testament, by producing so vague a text as Eccl. vii.
20. And to measure the spiritual attainments of all believers, in all
ages, by this obscure standard, appears to us as ridiculous as to affirm
that of a thousand believing men, 999 are indubitably villains ; and
that out of a thousand Christian women, there is not one but is a strum-
pet ; because Solomon says a few lines below, One man among a thou-
sand have I found ; but a woman among all those have I not found,
Eccles. vii. 28.

III. If it be objected, that *' Solomon asks. Who can say, I have
mcSk my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? Prov. xx. 9 :" We
answer :

1. Does not Soloinon^s father ask, IVho shall dwell in thy holy hill?
Does a question of that nature always imply an absurdity or an
impossibility ? Might not Solomon's query be evangelically answered
thus ? " The man in whom thy father David's prayer is answered,
Create in me a clean heart, 0 God: — The man who has regarded St.
James's direction to the primitive Solifidians, Cleanse your hearts, ye
double-minded: — The man who has obeyed God's awful command, O
Jerusalem, wash thy heart from iniquity, that thou mayest be saved. — Or
the man who is interested in the sixth beatitude. Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God : — That man, I say, can testify to the
honour of the blood which cleanseth from all sin, thai he has made his
heart clean.' ^

2. However, if Solomon, as is most probable, reproves in this pas-
sage the conceit of a perfect, boasting Pharisee, the answer is obvi-
ous : no man of that stamp can say with any truth, / have made my

248 THE LAST CHECK

heart clean; for the law of faith excludes all proud boasting, and if
we say, with the temper of the Pharisee, that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; for we have pride, an(^
Pharisaic pride too, which, in the sight of God, is perhaps the greatest
of all sins. — If our opponents take the wise man's question in either
of the preceding scriptural senses, they will find that it perfectly
agrees with the doctrine of Jewish and Christian perfection.

IV. Solomon's pretended testimony against Christian perfection is
frequently backed by two of Isaiah^ s sayings, considered apart from the
context, one of which respects the Jllthiness of our righteousness ; and
the other, the uncleanness of our lips. I have already proved [VoK
I. Check IV. Let, viii.] that the righteousness which Isaiah com-
pares to Jilthy rags^ and St. Paul to du7ig^ is only the anti-evangelical,
Pharisaic righteousness of unhumbled professors ; a righteousness
this, which may be called the righteousness of impenitent pride,
rather than the righteousness of humble faith ; therefore the excel-
lenceof the righteousness of faith, cannot, with any propriety, be struck
at by that passage.

V. <' But Isaiahf undoubtedly speaking of himself, says. Wo is me,
for I am undone^ because I am a man of unclean Zips." Isaiah vi. 5.

True : but give yourself the trouble to read the two following
verses, and you will hear him declare that the power of God's Spirit
applying the blood of sprinkling, (which power was represented by a
live coal taken from off' the altar) touched his lips; so that his iniquity
•was taken away, and his sin purged. This passage, therefore, when it
is considered with the context, instead of disproving the doctrin% of
Christian perfection, strongly proves the doctrine of Jewish per-
fection.

If Isaiah is discharged from the service into which he is so
unwarrantably pressed, our opponents will bring Job, whom the Lord
himself pronounces joer/eci— according to his dispensation ; notwith-
standing the hard thoughts which his friends entertained of him.

VI. Perfect Job is absurdly set upon demolishing Christian per-
fection, because he says. If I justify myself mine own moutK shall con-
demn me ; If I say (in a self-justifying spirit) / am perfect, it shall also
prove me perverse, Job ix. 20. — But 1. What does Job assert here,
more than Solomon does in the word to which Canne on this text
judiciously refers his readers. Let another man praise thee, and not
thine own mouth ; a stranger and not thine own lips. Though even
this rule is not without exception ; witness the circumstance which
drove St. Paul to what he calls a confidence of boasting. — 2. That
professing the perfection of our dispensation in a self-abasing an<i

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 24i<

Christ-exalting spirit, is not a proof of perversencss, is evitlent from
the profession which humble Paul malle of his being one of the per-
fect Christians of his time, Phil. iii. 15. and from St. John's declara-
tion, that his love zvas made perfect, John iv. 17. For when ne have
the witnessing Spirit, znhereLy n e know the things which are freely given
to us of God, -we may, nay, at proper times, we should, acknowledge
his gifts, to his glory, though not to our own. — 3. If God himself
had pronounced Job perfect, according to his dispensation, Job's modest
fear of pronouncing himself so, does not at all overthrow the divine
testimony ; such a timorousness only shows, that the more we arc
advanced in grace, the more we are averse to whatever has the
appearance of ostentation : and the more deeply we feel what Job
felt, when he said. Behold, I am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I will
put my hand upon my mouth. Job xl. 4.

VII. " But Job himself, far from mentioning his perfection, says,
JVow mine eye seeth thee, I abhor myself, and repent in dust aiid ashes, Job
xlii. 6." — And does this disprove our doctrine ? Do we not assert
that our perfection admits of a continual growth : and that perfect
repentance and perfect humility, are essential parts of it ? These
words of Job, therefore, far from overthrowing our doctrine, prove
that the patient man's perfection grew ; and that from the top of the
perfection of Gentilism, he saw the day of Christian perfection, and
had a taste of what Mr. Wesley prays for, when he sings,

O let me gain perfection'' s height,

0 let me into nothing fall, &.c.

Confound, o'erpower me with thy grace :

1 would be bv myself abhorr'd ;
All might, all majesty, all praise,

All glor}' be to Christ my Lord !

VIII. With respect to the words. The stars are not pure — tht
heavens are not clean in his sight : — his angels he charged with folly,
Job XV. 15. — iv. 18. we must consider them as a proof that absolute
perfection belongs to>God alone ; a truth this, which we inculcate as
well as our opponents. Besides, if sucli passages overthrow the
doctrine of perfection, they would principall}' overthrow the doc-
trine of angelical perfection, which Mr. Hill holds as well as we.
To conclude :

IX. When Job asks. What is man, that he should be clean ? How can
he be clean that is born of a woman? — Hlio can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean ? And when he answers, Not one ; he means not one
who falls short of infinite power. If he excluded Emmnnncl GO0

Vol. IV. 32

250 THE LAST CHECK

mth us, I would directly point at him who said, / wilh he thou clean;
and at the believers who declare, We can do all things through Christ
ihat strengthened us, and accordingly cleanse themselves from allJUthi"
ness of the flesh and spirit, that they may be found of him 'without spot
and blameless. Yea, 1 would point at the poor leper, who has faith
enough to say, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. They
tell me that my leprosy must cleave to me till death hatter down this
lenement of clay ; but faith speaks a different language*, only say the
word. Be thou clean, and 1 shall be cleansed -.—Purge me with hysiop^
Sprinkle clean water upon me, and I shall be clean from all my filthi-
ness.'''

U these remarks be just, does it not appear, that it is as absurd to
stab Christian perfection through the sides of Job, Isaiah, and Solo-
mon, as to set Peter, Paul, James, and John, upon " cutting it up root
and branch?^*

SECTION XII.

Containing a variety of Arguments, to prove the Absurdity of the iwirs
Doctrines of Christian Imperfection and a Death Purgatory.

I HAVE hitherto stood chiefly upon the defensive, by showing that
Mr. Hill has no ground for insinuating that our church, and Peter,
Paul, James, and John, are defenders of the twin doctrines of Chris-
tian imperfection and a death purgatory. 1 shall now attack these
doctrines by a variety of arguments, which, I hope, will recommend
themselves to the candid reader's conscience and reason.

If I wanted to encounter Mr. Hill with a broken reed, and not with
the weapons of a Protestant, Reason and Scripture, I would retort
here the grand argument by which he attempts to cut down our doc-
trines of free agency, and cordial obedience : " The generality of the
<;arna/ Clergy are for you, therefore your doctrines are false:" If
this argument be good, is not that which follows better still ? " The
generality of bad men are for your doctrine of Christian imperfection:
therefore that doctrine is false ; for if it were true, wicked people
would not so readily embrace it." But as I see no solidity in that
argument by which I could disprove the very Being of a God (for
the generality of wicked men believe there is a supreme Being) I
discard it, and begin with one which 1 hope is not unworttiy the
reader's attention.

I. Does not St. Paul insinuate that no soul goes to heaven without
perfection, where he calls the blessed souls that wait for a happy

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 251

lesfurrection, wevf*.XTx hjcxiav rert^^naiLcevuv, the spirits of just men
made perfect^ and not rereXtia/^evx wivfcxrx ^ixotiuv, the perfected
opirits of just men ? Heb. xii. 23. Does not this mode of expressioo
denote a perfection which they attained while they were men, and
before they commenced separate spirits; that is, before death? Can
any one go to a holy and^usf God, without first being made jmt and
holy ? Does not the apostle say, that llu: unrighteous, or unjust, shall
not inherit the kingdom of God ? and that without holiness no man shall
see the Lord? Must not this holiness, of whatsoever degree it is, be
free from every mixture of unrighteousness ? If a man have at death
the least degree of any unrighteousness and defiling mixture in his
soul, must he not go (o some purgatory, or to hell ? Can he go to
heaven, if nothing that defleth shall enter the A''ew Jerusalem ? And if
at death his righteous disposition is free from every unrighteous,
immoral mixture, is he not a just man perfected on earth, according to
the dispensation he is under?

II. If Christ takes away the outward pollution of believers, while
he absolutely leaves their hearts full of indwelling sic in this life :
why did he find fault with the Pharisees for cleansing the outside of
the cup and platter, whilst they left the inside full of all corruption?
If God says, My son, give me thy heart; if he requires truth in the
inward parts^ and complains that the Jews drew near to him with their
lips, when their hearts were far from him; is it not strange he should
be willing that the hearts of his most peculiar peo[)le, the hearts of
Christians, should necessarily remain unclean during the term of life ?
—-Besides, Is there any other Gospel way of fully cleansing the lips
and hands, but by thoroughly cleansing the heart ? And is not a cleansing
so far Pharisaical as it is heartless? Once more : if Christ has assured
us, that Blessed are the pure in heart, and that If the Son shall make us

free, we shall be free indeed, does it not behoove our opponents to prove,
that a believer has 3. pure heart, who is full of indwelling corruption ;
and that a man is free indeed, who is still sold under inbred sin?

III. When our Lord has bound the indwelling man of sin, the strong
man armed, can he not cast him out? — When he cast out devils, and
unclean spirits with a word, did he call Death to his assistance / Did
he not radically perform the wonderful cure, to show his readiness
and ability radically to cure those whose hearts are possessed by

indwelling iniquity, that cursed sin whose name is Legion? When

the legion of expelled fiends entered into the swirte, the poor brutes
were delivered from their infernal guests, by being choked in the sea.
Death therefore cured them, not Christ. And can we have no cure
but thai of the swine ? No deliverance from indwelling sin, but in thf^

:i52 THE LAST CHECK

arms of death ? — If this is the case, go drown your plaguing corrup-
tions in the first pond which you meet with, O ye poor mourners,
who are more weary of life, because of indwelHng sin, than Rebecca
zvas because of the daughters of Heth.

IV. How does the notion, of sin necessarily dwelling in the hearts
of the most advanced Christians, agree with the full tenor of the new
covenant, which runs thus, I will put my lazvs in their minds, and write
them in their hearts. — Tfte law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus shall
make them free from the law of sin and death ? If the law of perfect
love to God and man be fully put in the heart of a believer, according
to the full tenor of Christ's Gospel, what room remains for the hellish
statutes of Satan ? Does not the Lord cleanse the believer's heart, as
he writes the law of love there ? And when that law is wholly written
by the Spirit, the finger of God, whicn applies the all-cleansing blood,
is not the heart wholly cleansed ? when God completely gives the heart
of flesh, does he not completely take away the heart of stone ? Is not
the heart of stone the very rock, in which the serpent, indwelling sin,
lurks ? And will God take away that cursed rock, and spare the
venomous viper that breeds in its clefts ?

V. Cannot the Utile leaven of sincerity and truth leaven the whole
heart ? But can this be done without purging out entirely the old lea-
ven of malice and wickedness ? May not a father in Christ be as free
from sin, as one who is totally given up to a reprobate mind, is free
from righteousness ? — Is not the glorious liberty of God''s children, the

very reverse of the total and constant slavery to sin, in which the
strongest sons of Belial live and die ? — If a/w/Z admittance of Satan's
temptation could radically destroy original righteousness in the hearts
of our first parents ; why cannot a full admittance of Christ's Gospel
radically destroy original unrighteousness in the hearts of believers ?
— Does not the Gospel promise us, that where sin has abounded,
grace shall much more abound? And did not sin so abound once, as
entirely to sweep away inward holiness before death? But how does
grace abound much more than sin, if it never can entirely sweep
away inward si7i without the help of death?

VI. Is there not a present, cleansing power, as well as a present,
atoning efficacy, in the Redeemer's blood? Have we not already taken
notice, that the same passage of Scripture which informs us, that if
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive 7is our sins, declares
also that upon the same gracious terms, he is faithful and just to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness ? Now, if the faithful and just God
is ready to Ibrgive to-day a poor mourner who sincerely confesses his
guilt: and if it would be doing divine faithfulness and justice great

TO ANTINOMIANJSM. ^^^

dishonour, to say that God will not forgive a weepinj; penitent before
death ; is it doing those divine perfections honour to a£«erl, that God
wili not cleanse before death a believer who humbly confesses and
deeply laments the remains of sin ? Why should not God display his
faithfulness and justice in cleansing us now from inbred sin, as vTell as
forgiving us now our actual iniquities ? if we now comply with the
gracious terms, to the performance of which this double blessing
IS annexed in the Gospel charter ?

VII. If our opponents allow that faith and love may be made per-
fect two or three minutes before death, they give up the point. Death
is no longer absolutely necessary to the destruction of unbelief and
sin : for if the evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God
may be taken away, and the completely honest and good heart given
two or three minutes before death, we desire to know why this
change may not take place two or three hours — two or three weeks —
two or three years — before that awful moment ?

VIII. It is, I think, allowed on all sides, that we are saved, that is,
sanctified as well as justified, by faith ? — Now that particular height of
sanctification, that iwW circumcision of the heart, which centrally purifies
the soul, springs from a peculiar degree of saving faith, and from a
particular operation of the Spirit of burning : — a quick operation this,
which is compared to a baptism offire^ and proves sometimes so sharp
and searching, that it is as much as a healthy, strong man can do to
bear up under it. It seems therefore absurd to suppose, that God?:
infinite wisdom has tied this powerful operation to the article of death,
that is, to a time when people, through delirium or excessive weak-
ness, are frequently unable to think, or to bear the feeble operation
of a little wine and water.

IX. When our Lord says, J^Iake the tree good and its fruit good ; — a
good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things
— does he suppose that the hearts of his faithful people must always
remain fraught with indwelling sin ? Is indwelling sin a good treasure ?
Or does Christ any where plead for the necessary indwelling of a bad
treasure in a good man ? When the spouse is all glorious tz-ilhin ; when
her eye is single, and her whole body is full of light — how can she be
still full of darkness, an inbred iniquity ? And when St. Paul observes,
that established Christians are full of goodness, Rom. xv. 14. who can
think he means that they are full of heart corruption, and (what is
worse still) that they must continue so to their dying day ?

X. If Christian Perfection be nothing but the depth of evangelical
repentance, ihe full assurance of faith, and the ;)ttrc love of God and
man shed abroad in a faithful believer's heart by the Holy Ghoft

2iJ4 TirE LAST CHECK

given unto him, to cleanse him, and to keep him clean from all the
Jilthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to enable him to fulfil the law of
Christ, according to the talents he is entrusted with, and the circum-
stances in which he is placed in this world : — If this, I say, is Chris-
tian perfection, nothing can be more absurd than to put ojQT the attain-
ing of it till we die and go to heaven. This is evident from the
descriptions of it which we find in the New Testament. The first is
in our Lord's account of the beatitudes. For how can holy mourning
be perfected in heaven, where there will be nothing but perfect joy ?
—Will not the loving disposition of peace-makers ripen too late for the
church, if it ripen only in heaven, where there will be no peace-
breakers ; or in the article of death, when people lose their senses, and
are utterly disabled from acting a reconciler's part '/ — Ye that are
persecuted for righteousness sake, will ye stay till ye are among the
blessed, to rejoice in tribulation? Will the blessed revile you, and say
all manner of evil of you falsely, to give you an opportunity of being
exceeding glad, when you are counted worthy to suffer for Christ's
name ? — And ye, double-minded Christians, will ye tarry for the
blessedness of the pui-e in heart till ye come to heaven ? — Have you
forgot that heaven is no purgatory? but a glorious reward for those
who are pure in heart ? for those who have purified themselves, even
as God is pure ?

XI. From the beatitudes our Lord passes to precepts descriptive of
Christian perfection reduced to practice. — If thy brother hath aught
against thee, go thy way, and be reconciled to him, — Jlgree quickly with
thine adversary. — Resist not evil.— Turn thy left cheek to him that smites
thee on the right. — Give alms so as not to let thy lejt hand know what thy
right hand does. — Fast evangelically. — Lay not up treasures upon earth.
— Take no [anxious] thought what ye shall eat. — Bless them that curse
you. — Do good to them that hate you, that ye may be the children of your
Father^ who is in heaven ; for he rnaketh the sun to shine on the just and
on the unjust. Be ye perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
What attentive reader does not see, that none of these branches of a
Christian's practical profession can grow in the article of death ;
and that to suppose they can flourish in heaven, is to suppose that
Christ says, " Be thus and thus perfect, when it will be absolutely
impossible for you to be thus and thus perfect ? Love your enemies^
when all will be your friends : Do good to them that hate you. when all
will flame with love towards you? Turn your cheek to the smiters,
when the cold hand of death will disable you to move a finger ; or
when God shall have fixed a great gulf between the smiters and
yon ?"

TO AN1IN0MIANISM. 255

XIT. The same observation holds with respect to that important
branch of Christian perfection which we call perfect self-denial. If
thine eye qff'end thee, says our Lord, pluck it out. — If thy ri^ht hand
qff'end fhee^ cut it qff', <^c. Now can any thing be more absurd, than
to put off the perfect performance of these severe duties till we
die, and totally lose our power over our eyes and hands? Or, till we
arrive at heaven, where nothing that offendeth can possibly be
admitted ?

XIII. St. Lvke gives us, in the Acts of the apostles, a sketch of the
perfection of Christians living in community. The multitude of them
that believed, says he, were of one heart and of one soul. They con-
tinued steadfastly in the apostles^ doctrine, and in prayer. — TTiey had all
things common : parting their possessio7is to all, as every man had need ;
— Neither said uny of them that aught of the things zahich he possessed
was his own : and continuing daily in the temple, and breaking bread
from house to house, they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of
heart, praising God. When I read this description of the practical
perfection of a Christian church, I am tempted to smile at the mistake
of our opponents, and to ask them, if we can eat our meat with glad-
ness in the article of death : or sell our possessions for the relief of
our brethren upon earth, when we are gone to heaven/'

XiV. Consider we of some of 8t. Paul's exhortations for the dis-
play of the perfection which we contend for, and we shall see in a
still stronger lisht the absurdity that I point out. He says to the
Romans — Present your bodies a living sacrifice : and be not conformed
to this present world, — that ye may prove what is that perfect will of
God. — Having different gifts, use them all for God ; exhorting with
diligence, giving with simplicity, showing mercy with cheerfulness, not
slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lordy Cdmmunicatino
to the necessities of the saints, given to hospitality, weeping with them
that weep, being of the same mind, condescending io men of low estate,

providing things honest in the sight of all men, heaping coals of fire

coals of burning love and melting kindness, on the head of your enemy ^
by giving him meat, if he be hungry : or drink, if he be thirsty : over-
coming thus evil with good. — Ai!;ain : Exhorting the Corinthians to
Christian perfection, he says, Brethren, the time is short. — / would
have you without cnrefuhiess. It remaineth that those who have wives, be
as though they had none ; they that weep, as if they wept not; they that
rejoice as if they rejoiced not ; they that buy, as if they possessed not ;
and they that use this world, as not abusing it. <S*c. — Once more, stir-
ring up the Philippians to the perfection of humble love, he writes,
Fulfil ye my joy y that ye think the same thing, have the same love ; being

256 THE LAST CHECK

of one soul, of one mind. Do nothing through vain glory, hut in lowli-^
ness of mind esteem each the others better than themselves. Look not
every one on his own things, but every one also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who humbled
himself and became obedient unto death. — Now all these descriptions
of the practical part of Christian perfection, in the very nature of
things, cannot be confined to the article of death, much less to our
arrival at heaven. For when we are dying, or dead, we cannot
present our bodies a living sacrifice ; — we cannot use this world as not
abusing it :— nor can we look at the things of others, as well as at our
own.

XV. The same thing may be said of St. Paul's fine description of
Christian perfection under the name of charity. Charity suffereth
long ; but at death all our sufferings are cut short. Charity is not pro-
voked : it thinketh no evil : it covereth all things : it rejoiceth not in
iniquity. It hopeth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things, ^c.
The bare reading of this description shows, that it does not respect the
article of death, when we cease to endure any thing : much less does
it respect heaven, where we shall have absolutely nothing to endure.

XVI. If a perfect fulfilling of our relative duties be a most import-
ant part of Christian perfection, how ungenerous, how foolish is it to
promise the simple, that they shall be perfect Christians at death, or
in heaven ! Does not this assertion include all the following
absurdities : ye shall perfectly love your husbands and wives in the
article of death, when you shall not be able to distinguish your hus-
bands and wives from other men and women : or in heaven, where ye
shall be like the angels of God, and have neither husbands nor wives :
— Ye shall assist your parents and instruct your children with perfect
tenderness, when ye shall be past instructing or assisting them at all :
— when they shall be in heaven or in hell — past needing, or past ad-
mitting your assistance or instructions. Ye shall inspect your servants
in perfect love, or serve your masters with perfect faithfulness, when
the relations of master and servant will exist no more. Ye shall
perfectly bear with the infirmities of your weak brethren, when ye
shall leave all your weak brethren behind, and go where all your
brethren will be free from every degree of trying weakness. Ye
shall entertain strangers, attend the sick, and visit the prisoners with
perfect love, when ye shall give up the ghost, or when ye shall be in
paradise, where these duties have no more place than lazar-houses.
sick-beds, prisons, &c.

XVIl. Death, far from introdu»cing imperfect Christians into the
state of Christian Perfection, will take them out of the very possi-

TO antinomianism: 257

bility of ever attaining it. This will appear indubitable, if we remem-
ber that Christian perfection consists in perfect repentance, perfec
faith, perfect hope, perfect love of an invisible God, perfect charity
for visible enemies, perfect patience in pain, and perfect resignation
under losses : — in a constant bridling of our bodily appetites, in aa
assiduous keeping of our senses, in a cheerful taking up of our cross,
in a resolute /o/Zowin^ of Christ without the camp, and in a deliberate
choice to suff'er affliction with the children of God, rather than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season. Now, so certain as there can be no
perfect repentance in the grave, no Christian faith where all is sight,
no perfect hope where all is enjoyment, no perfect love of an invisible
God or of visible enemies, where God is visible and enemies are invi-
sible ; no bearing pain with perfect patience, when pain is no more ;
and suffering affliction with the people of God, where no shadow of
affliction lights upon the people of God, <fec. — So certain, I say. as
death incapacitates us for all these Christian duties, it incapacitates
us also for every branch of Christian perfection. Mr. Hill might then
as well persuade the simple, that they shall become perfect surgeons
and perfect midwives — perfect masons and perfect gardeners, in the
grave or beyond it, as to persuade them that they shall become per-
fect penitents and perfect believers in the article of death, or in the
New Jerusalem.

XVUI. From the preceding argument it follows, thnt the graces of
repentance, faith, hope, and Christian charity, or love for an invisible
God, for trying friends, and for invisible enemies, must be perfected
here or never. If Mr. Hill grant that these graces are, or may be
perfected here, he allows all that we contend for. And if he assert,
that they shall never be perfected, because there is " no perfection
here,^^ and because the perfection of repentance, Lc. can have no
more place in heaven thau sinning and mourning, I ask. What be-
comes then of the scriptures which Mr. Hill is so ready to produce,
when he defends Calvinian perseverance ? Jls for God, his work is
perfect — Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a
good work in you (who have always obeyed, Phil. ii. 12.) will perform,
or e-TFtreMo-it, will perfect it (if you continue to obey.) — The Lord will
perfect what concerneth me. — Praying exceedingly that we (as workers
together with God) might perfect that which is lacking in your faith. —
Looking unto Jesus the author, and (jeXeiuTy.v the perfector of our faith :
for he is faithful that promised. — How can the Lord be faitiiful, and yet
never perfect the repentance and faith of his obedient people ? Will
he sow such a blessed seed as that of failh, hope and love to our ene-
mies, and never let a grain of it either miscarry or bring forth fruit

Vol. IV. 33

2dB IHE LAST CMECJt

to perfection ? fs not this a flat contradiction ? How can a pregnant
woman never miscarry^ and yet never bring forth the fruit of her womb
to any perfection. Such however is the inconsistency which Mr. Hill
obtrudes upon us as Gospel. If his doctrine of CaZwman Perseverance
be true, no believer can miscarry ; — no grain of true faith can fail
of producing fruit to perfection : and if his doctrine of Christian Per-
fection be true, no believer can be perfect ; no grain of faith, repent-
ance, hope, and love for our husbands and wives, can possibly grow to
perfection. How different is this doctrine from that of our Lord*
who in the parable of the sower, represents all those who do not
bear fruit unto perfection^ as miscarrying professors!

XIX. If impatience were that bodily disorder, which is commonly
called the heartburn ; if obstinacy were a crick in the neck ; — pride
an irnpo^thnme in the breast ; — raging anger, a lit of the tooth-ach ;—
vanity, the dropsy ; — disobedience, a bodily lameness ; — uncharitable-
ness, the rheumatism ; — and despair, a broken bone ; there would be
some sense in the doctrine of Christian imperfection, and reason could,
subscribe to Mr. HilTs creed, for it is certain, that death effectually
cures the heartburn, a crick in the neck, the tooth-ach, &c. But
what real affinity have moral disorders with bodily death ? And why
do our opponents thihk we maintain a " shocking" doctrine, when we
assert, that death has no more power to cure our pride, than old age
to remove onr covetousness I Nay, do we not see that the most
decrepit old age does not cure men even of the grossest lusts of the
carnal mind? When old drunkards and fornicators are as unable to
indulge their sensual appetites as if they actually ranked among
corpses, do they not betray the same inclination? which they showed
when the strong tide, of their youthful blood joined with the rapid
stream of their vicious habits? Is not this a demonstration, that no
decay of the body, no, not that complete decay which we call deathy
has any necessary tendency to alter our moral habits ? Aud do not the
ancients set thf^irseal to this observation ? Does not Solomon say, liiat
In the place where the tree falleth there it shall be ? And has Mr. Uill
forgotten those remarkable lines of Virgil ?

Quse cura nitentes
Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos?

*' Disembodied souls have in the world of spirits the very same
dispositions and propensities which they had when they dwelt in the
body."

XX. If God hath appointed death to make an end of heart pollu-
tion, and to be our complete saviour from sin, our opponents might

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 250

screen their doctrine of a death purgatory behind God's appointment ;
it being certain that God who ran command iron to swim, and fire to
cool, could also command the filthy hands of death to cleanse the
thoughts of our hearts. But we do not read in our Bible either that
God ever gave to indwelling sin a lease of anv believer's heart tor
life ; or that he ever appointed the king of terrors to deliver us from
the deadly seeds of iniquity. And although the old Testament con-
tains an account of many carnal ordinances adapted to the carn;d dis-
position of the Jews, we do not remember to have read there. Death
shall circumcise thy heart, that thou maye^t love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart — Death shall sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be
clean: from all your Jilthiness Death will cleanse you. Death will put
my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and (when
you are dead) ye shall keep 7ny judgments and do them. And if death
was never so far honoured under the Mosaic dispensation, we ask,
where he has been invested with higher privileges under the Gospel
of Christ? Is it where St. Paul says, that Christ hath abolished death,
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel? It
appears to us, that it is a high degree of rashness in the Calvinists,
and in the Romanists, to appoint the pangs of death, and the sorrows
of hell to do the most difficult, and of consequence, the most glorious
work of Christ's Spirit, which is powerfully to redeem vs from all
iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people (not full of all
inbred unrighteousness, but dead to sin, free from sin, pure in heart,
and) zealous of good works. And we should think ourselves far more
guilty of impertinence, if we nominated either Death or Hell to do
the office of the final purifier of our hearts, than if we ordered a
sexton to do the office of the pnme minister, or an executioner to act
as the king's physician, — With respect to salvation from the root, as
well as from the branches of sin, we will therefore know nothirig, as
absolutely necessary, but Jesus Christ and him crucified, risen again,
and ascended on high, that he might send the Holy Ghost to perfect
us in love, through n faith that purifies the heart, and through a hope,
which if any man hath, he will purify himself even as God is pure.

XXI. To conclude : if Christian perfection implies the perfect use
of the whole armour of God, what can be more «bsurd than ihe
thought, that we shall be made perfect Christians in heaven or at
death ? How will Mr. Hill prove that we shall perfectly use the helmet
of hope, perfectly wield the shield of faith, and perfectly quench the
fiery darts of the devil in heaven, where faith, hope, and the devil's
darts, shall never enter ? — Or how will he demonstrate, that a soldier
shall perfectly go through his exercise in the artirle of death, tbn»

2(50 THE LAST CHECK

is, in the very moment he leaves the army, and for ever puts off the
harness ?

Mr. Baxter wrote in the last century a vindication of holiness,
which he calls, A Saint, or a Brute : the title is bold ; but all that can
be said to defend iniquity cannot make me think it too strong ; so
many are the arguments by which the Scriptures recommend a holy
life. And I own to thee, Reader, that when I consider all that can be
said in defence of Christian perfection, and all the absurdities which
clog the doctrine of Christian imperfection, I am inclined to iipitate
Mr. Baxter's positiveness, and to call this Essay A perfect Christian
in this World J or a perfect Dupe in the next.

SECTION XIII.

Containing a variety of Arguments, to prove the mischievousness of the
Doctrines of Christian Imperfection.

I. The Arguments of the preceding section are produced to show
the absurdity of Mr. HilPs doctrine of Christian impertection ; those
which follow are intended to prove the mischievousness of that modish
tenet.

I. It strikes at the doctrine of salvation by faith. By grace ye are
saved through faith, not only from the guilt and outward acts of sin,
but also from its root and secret buds : Not of^ Tcorks, says the apos-
tle, lest any man should [Pharisaically] boast ; and may we not add.
Not of death, lest he that had the power of death, that is, the devil, should
[absurdly] boast 1"^ Does not what strikes at the doctrine of faith, and
abridges the salvation which we obtain by it, equally strike at Christ's
power and glory? Is it not the'business of faith to receive Christ's saving
word, to apprehend the poxver of his sanctifying Spirit, end to inherit
all the great promises, by which he saves his penitent, believing jocojo/e
from their sins? Is it not evident, that if no believers can be saved

* Here, and in some other places St. Paul by works means only the deeds of a Christless,
anti-mediatorial lavp, and the obedience paid to the Jewish covenant, which is frequently
called the law, in opposition to the Christian covenant, which is commonly called the Gos-
pel, i. e. the Gospel of Christ, because ChrisVs Gospel is the most excellent of all the
Gospel dispensations. The apostle, therefore, by the expression not of works, does by no
means exclude from jxrval salvation the law oj" faith, and the works done in obedience to
that law : for, in the preceding verse, he secures the obedience of faith when he says, Ye
are saved, i. e. made partakers of the blessing of the Christian dispensation by grace
througJt faith. Here then *he word by grace, secures the frst Gospel axiom, and the
word through faith, secures the second.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 26i

from indwelling sin through faiths we must correct the apostle's doc-
tri«e, and say, By grace ye are saved from the remains of sin through
death? And can unprejudiced Protestants admit so Christ-debasing,
Death-exalting a tenet, without giving a dangerous blow to the genuine
doctrines of the Reformation?

II. It dishonours Christ as a Prophet^ for as such he came to teach
us to be now meek and lowly in heart \ but the imperfect Gospel of
the day teaches, that we must necessarily continue passionate and
proud in heart till death ; for pride and immoderate anger are, I
apprehend, two main branches of indwelling sin. Again : my motto
demoHstrates, that he publicly taught the multitudes the doctrine of
perfection, and Mr. Hill insinuates that this doctrine is "shocking,'"
ncrt to say " blasphemous."

III. It disgraces Christ as the Captain of our salvation. For St.
Paul says, that our Captain furnishes us with weapons mighty through
God to the pulling down of Satan*s strong holds, and to the bringing of
every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. But our oppo-
nents represent the devil's strong hold as absolutely impregnable. No
weapons of our warfare can pull down Apollyon's throne. Inbred sin
shall maintain its place in man's heart till death strike the victorious
blow. Christ may indeed fight against the Jericho within, as Joab
fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon : but then he must

send for Death, as Joab sent for David, saying, / have fought against
Rabbah, ajid have taken the City of waters: now therefore, gather the
rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it, lest
I take the city, and it be called after my name, 2 Sam. xii. 27, 28.

IV. It pours contempt upon him as the Surety of the new covenant,
in which God has engaged himself to deliver obedient believers from
their enemies, that they may serve him without (tormenting) /ear all the
days of their lives; for how does he execute his ofl5ce in this respect,
if he never sees that such believers be delivered from their most
oppressive and inveterate enemy, indwelling sin? Or if that deliver-
ance take place only at death, how can they, in consequence of their
death freedom, serve God without fear all the days of their lives.

V. It affronts Christ as a King, when it represents the believer's
heart, which is Christ's spiritual throne, as being necessarily full of
indwelling sin, — a spiritual rebel, who notwithstanding the joint efforts
of Christ and the believer, maintains his ground against them both
during the term of life.— Again : Does not a good king deliver his
loyal subjects from oppression, and avenge them of a tyrannical
adversary, when they cry to him in their distress? Bat dots our
Lord show himself such a king, if he never avenge them, nor turo

262 THE LAST CHECK

the usurper, the murderer sin, out of < heir breasts? — Once more.
If our deliverance from sin depend upon the stroke of death, and not
upon a stroke of Christ's grace, might we not call upon the king of
terrors, as well as upon the King of saints, for deliverance from the
remains of sin ? But where is the difference between saying, O Death,
help us, and crying, O Baal, save us ?

VJ. It injures Christ as a Restorer of pure, spiritual worship in
God's spiritual temple — the heart of man. For it indirectly repre*
sents him as a Pharisaic Saviour, who made much ado about driving,
with a whip, harmless sheep and oxen out of his Father's material
temple ; but who gives full leave to Satan not only to bring sheep and
doves into the believer's heart ; but also to harbour and breed there,
during the term of life, the swelling toad, pride ; and the hissing vipir^
envy ; to say nothing of the greedy dog avarice, and the filthy swine
impurity ; under pretence of " exercising the patience, and engaging
the industry'''' of the worshippers, if we may believe the Calvin of
the day. See the Argument against Christian Perfection at the end
of this section.

VII. It insults Christ as a Priest, for our Melchisedec shed his
all-cleansing blood upon the cross, and now pours his all-availing
prayer before the throne ; asking, that, upon evangelical terms, we
may now be cleansed from all unrighteousness, and perfected in one.
But if we assert that believers, let them be ever so faithful, can never
be thus cleansed and perfected in one till death comes to the Saviour's
assistance, do we not place our Lord's cleansing blood, and powerful
intercession, and of consequence his priesthood, in an unscriptural
and contemptible light?

Should Mr. Hill attempt to retort this argument by saying, '* That
it is our doctrine, not his, which derogates from the honour of Christ's
priesthood, because we should no longer need our High Priest's
blood, if we were cleansed from all sin :" I reply :

1. Perfect Christians need as much the virtue of Christ's blood, to
prevent the guilt and pollution of sin from returning, as imperfect
Christians want it to drive that guilt and pollution away. It is not
enough that the blood of the true paschal Lamb has been sprinkled
upon our souls to keep off the destroyer: it must still remain there
to hincler his coming back with seven other spirits more wicked than

himself. 2. Mr. Hill i& in the dark ; he calls for a light ; and

when it is brought he observes, the darkness of the room is now
totally removed. Is it so. Sir ? replies his footman ; theu you need
these candlt>s no more ; if they have totally removed the darkness of
your apartment, you have no more need of them. Mr. Hill smiles at

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 263

the absurdity of his servant's argument : and yet, it is well if he
does not admire the wisdom of mv opponent's objection. — 3. The
hearts of perfect Christians are cleansed, and kept clean by /aif/i;
and Christian perfection means the perfection of Christian failh,
whose property it is to endear Christ and his blood more and more ;
nothing then can be less reasonable than to say, that, upon our prin-
ciples, perfect believers have done with the atoning blood. — 4. Such
believers continually overcome the accuser of the brethren, through the
blood of the Lamb : there is no moment, therefore, in which they can
spare it : they are feeble believers who can yet dispense with its
constant application : and hence it is, that they continue feeble.
None make so much use of Christ's blood as perfect Christians.
Once it was only their medicine, which they took now and (hen,
when a fit of fear, or a pang of guilt, obliged them to it; but now it
is the Divine preservative, which keeps off tht- infection of sin. Now
it is the reviving cordial, which they take to prevent their gron^in^
"weary, or faint in their minds : now it is their daily drink: now it is
what they sprinkle their every thought, word, and work with : in a
word, it is that blood which constantly speaks before God and in their
consciences better things than the blood of Abel, and actually procures
for them all the blessings which they enjoy or expect. To say,
therefore, that the doctrine of Christian perfection supersedes the
need of Christ's blood, is not less absurd than to assert that the per-
fection of navigation renders the great deep a useless reservoir of
water. Lastly, are not the saints before the throne perfectly sinless ?
And who are more ready than they to extol the blood and sing the
song of the Lamb ; to him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in
his own blood, be glory, 4"C. F If an angel preached to them the modern
Gospel, and desired them to plead for the remains of sin, lest they
should lose their peculiar value for the atoning blood ; would not they
all suspect him to be an angel of darkness transforming himself into
an angel of light? And shall we be the dupes of the tempter, who
deceives good men, that they may deceive us by a similar argu-
ment?

VIIL It discredits Christ as the Fulfiller of the Father's promise,
and as the Sender of the indwelling, abiding Comforter, in order that
our joy may be fuH : for the Spirit never takes his constant abode as
a Comforter in a heart full of indwelling sin. If he vi?it such a heart
with his consolations, it is only as a guest that tarrieth but a day.
When he enters a soul fraught with inbred corruption, he rather
acts as a Reprover than as a Comforter ; throwing down the tables of
the spiritual money-changers ; hindering the vessels which are not

264 THE LAST CHECK

hoiiaess unto the Lord, from being carried through God's spiritual
temple. n>nd expelling, according to the degree of our faith, whatso-
ever woald make God's house a den of thieves.

But instead of this, Mr. HilPs doctrine considers the heart of a
believer as a den of lions; and represents Christ's Spirit, not as the
destroyer^ but as the keeper of the wild beasts, and evil tempers which
dwell therein. This I conclude from these words of the Rev. Mr.
Toplady. — " They (indwelling sin and unholy tempers) do not quite
expire, till the renewed soul is taken up from eijrth to heaven. In
(he mean time these heated remains of depravity will, too often, like
prisoners in a dungeon, crawl towards the window, though in chains,
and show themselves through the grate. Nay, I do not know whe-
ther the strivings of inherent corruption for mastery, be not fre-
quently more violent in a regenerate person, than even in one who is
dead in trespasses ; as wild beasts are sometimes the more rampant
and furious for being wounded." — See Caveat against Unsifund Doc-
trines, page 65. — When 1 read this Gospel, I cannot oul throw in a
Caveat against Mr. Topladifs Caveat. For if his he not unsound,
every body must allow it to be uncomfortable and unsafe. Who would
not think it dreadfully dangerous to dwell vvith one wild beast that
cannot be killed, unless we are first killed ourselves I but how much
more dangerous is it to be condemned to dwell for hfe with a number
of them, which are not only immortal so long as we are alive, but arc
sometimes more rampant and furious for their being znoundcd. The
Saviour preached by Mr. Toplady only wounds the Egyj'tian dragon,
the inward Pharaoh, and makes him rage, but our Jesus drowns him
in the sea of his own blood, barely by stretching out the rod of his
power, when we stretch out to him our arms of faith. Mr. HilVs
Redeemer only takes Agag prisoner, as double-minded Saul did ; but
our Redeemer hews him in pieces as upri^^ht Samuel. The Christ oi
the Calvinists says, " Confine the enemy : thoujih he may possibly
be fiercer than before." But ours thrusts out the enemy before us,
and says, Destroy, Deut. xxxiii. 27. O ye preachers of ^finished sal-
vation, we leave it to your candour to decide which of these doctrines
brings most glory to the saving name of Jesus.

IX. The doctrine of our necessary continuance in indwelling sin to
our last moments, makes us naturally overlook or despise the exceed-
ing great and precious promises given unto us, that by these we might be
partakers of the divine nature, that is, of God's perfect holiness;
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, 2 Pet.
J. 4. and thus it naturally defeats the full effect of evangelical truths
iind ministerial labours: nn eSect this, which is thus described by

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 265

:^i. Paul ; teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every
man perfect in Christ Jesus, i. e. perfect according lo the richest dis-
pensation of divine grace, which is the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Col. i. 28.
— Again, The Scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness, that
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works,
2. Tim. iii. 16. Now we apprehend that the perfection which tho-
roughly furnishes believers unto all good works, is a perfection pro-
ductive of all the good works [evangelically as well as providentially]
prepared that we should walk in them before death : because [whatever
Mr. *Hill may insinuate to the contrary in England, and Father
JValsh at Paris,] the Scriptures say. Whatsoever thy handfindeth to do,
do it with thy might; for there is no work nor device, [in death, i. e.] in
the grave whither thou guest. For as the tree falls so it lies : if it fulls
full of rottenness with a brood of vipers, and a never-dying worn) in
its hollow centre, it will continue in that very condition ; and wo to
the man who trusts that the pangs of death will kill the worm, or that
a purgative fire will spare the rotten wood and consume the vipers.

X. It defeats in part the end of the Gospel precepts, to the fulfilling
of which Gospel promises are but means. All the law, the prophets,
and the apostolic writings, hang on these two commandments : " lliou
shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself,
through penitential faith in t\i^, light of thy dispensation ; that is, in
two words, thou shalt be evangelically perfect. Now if we believe that
it is absolutely impossible to be thus perfect by keeping these two
blessed commandments in faith, we cannot but believe also that God,
who requires us to keep them, is defective in wisdom, equity, and
goodness, by requiring us to do what is absolutely impossible ; and
we represent our church as a wicked stepmother, who betrays all
her children into the wanton commission of perjury, by requiring of
every one of them, in the sacrament of baptism, a most solemn vow,
by which they bind themselves in the presence of God, and of the
congregation, that they will keep God's holy will and commandments,"
[i. e. that they will keep God's evangelical law] " and walk in the
same all the days of their life." *

XI. It has a necessary tendency to unnerve our deepest prayers.
How can we pray in faith that God would help us to do his will on
earth as it is done in heaven, or that he would cleanse the thoughts of
our hearts, that we may perfectly lore him and worthily magnify his
holy name : — How can we, I say, ask this in faith, if we disbelieve the
very possibility of having these petitions answered ? And what poor
encouragement had Epaphras, upon the scheme which we oppose,
ilways to labour fervently for the Ccloasians in prayer^ that they might

Vol. IV. 31

:^66 THE LAST CHECK

stand perfect and compIeU in dke rtill of God: or St. Paul to wish that
the very God of peace zcotdd sanctify the Thessalonians s/ioZ/i/, and that
their rrhole spirit, and toid, and body viight be presened blGinele^f. it
these request? could not be granted 6f/brc death, and were uoaToidably
to be granted to them and to all believers in the article thereot'?

XII. It soothes lukewarm, unholj professors, and encourages them
to si^ qoietly nnder the vine of Sodom, and under their own barren
fig-tree : I mean under the baneful influence of their unheJi^' and
indzcelling «n ; nothing being more pleasing to the carnal mind than
this siren song : " it is absolutely impossible that the thoughts of
Toar hearts should be cleansed in this life, God himself does not ex-
pect that yon should be purified from all iniquity on this side the
grave. It is proper that sin should dwell m your hearts by nnbelief,
to endear Christ to you. and so to zcork to^eiher for your good.'" The
preachers of mere morality insinuate, that God does not forgive sins
before death. This dangerous, uncomfortable doctrine, damps the
faith of penitents, who think it absurd to expect before death what they
are taught they can only receive at death. And as it is with the pardon
of sins, so it is also with cleansing from all unrtErhteovsness. The
preachers of Christian imperfection tell their bearers that nobody
can be cleansed from heart sin before death. This new doctrine makes
them secretly trnst in a death purgatory, and hinders them from plead-
ing in faith the promises of full sanctification before death stares them
in the face ; while others, like spared Agag. madly venture upon the
spear of the king of terrors with their hearts full of iodwelhng sin.
The dead tell no tales dow, bat it will be well if, ra the day of the
resurrection, those who plead for the necessary indwelling of sin
during the term of life, do not meet in the great day with some delu-
ded souls, who will give thera no thanks for betraying them, to their
last moments, into the hands of indwelling sin, by insinu-^ting that
there can be no deliverance from oar evil tempers before we are
ready to exchange a death- bed for a coffin.

XIII. It greatly discourages wiUing Israelites, and weakens the
bands of the faithful spies, who want to lead feeble believers on. and
to take by force the kingdom which consists ia rigfiteotisness, peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost: nothing being more proper to damp their ar-
door than such a speech as this : " Yoa may strive against your cor-
ruptions and evil tempers as long as yoa please : but you shall never
get rid of them ; tbe Jericho witbio is impregnable : it is fenced up
to heaven, and garrisoned by the tall, invincible, immortal sons of
Anak : so strong are these adversaries, that the t\velve apostles, with
the help of Christ and the Holy Ghost could never tarn one of them

10 AXTIXOMIAMlSJf. 267

oat of his post. Nay, they so buffeted and overpowered St Paul,
the most zealon? of the apostles, that trtey fairly took him priiouer,
!fold him under sin, and made bim groan to the last, O zi.retcAed, carnal,
man that I am, Teho shall deliver me from the lav ijf my inbred cor-
raptioos, xchich brings me into captivity to the laze of sin : I thank God
through death. So then with the JUsh yoo must, as well aa St. Paul,
serve the laze of sin till yoa die. Nor need you fret at these tidings ;
for they are the pare Go-pel of Christ — the genuine doctnoes otfree
grace, and Cbristian liberty. In Christ yoa are free, bat io your-
selves you mast continue to serve the law of sin : and indeed why
should you not do it, since the sins of a Christian are/or hit good, and
even the dung of a sheep of Christ is of some use — Day, of tbe most
excellent use, if we believe Mr. Hill ; for the most griezous falls —
fails into repeated acts of adultery and deliberate murder, serve to
make us know our place, to drive us nearer to Christ, and to make as
sintf louder the praises of restoring grace." Besides, that gentleman
represents those who preach deliverance from indweUing sin before
we go into a death purgatory, as " men of a Pharisaic cast — blind
men, who never saw their own hearts — proud men, who oppose the
rig:hteoasness of God, — vain men, who aspire at robbing Christ of the
glory of beine alone Ttithout sin^ in short, men who bold doctriDes
which are shocking, not to say bloiphemous.'

How would this speech damp our d«=^3ire> after salvation from in-
dwelling; sin ! How wor.\d it make as ho^ the cursed chains of oar
inbred corruptions if the cloven foot of the imperfect, uochaste
Diana, which it holds out to public view without Gospel sandals,
were not sulfici*^nt to shock us back from this impure Gospel Vj the
pare Gospel of Jesos Christ ! And yet (if I am not mistaken) this
dangerou"! speech only unfolds the scope of Mr. Hill' t ^^ Creed for
Perfeciiouiits,'^

XIV. To conclude : tbe modish doctrine of Christian imperfec-
tion and death purgatory, is so contrived, that carnal men will always
prefer the pursratory of tbe Calvinists to that of the Papists. For the
Papists prescribe I know not how many cups of divine wrath and
dire vengeance, which oagfat to be drank by the souls of the believ-
ers who die half purged, or three parts cleansed. These half dammed
or a ^unritfr (iamned creatures mast go through a severe discipline. -
fiery salvation in the very aoburbs of hell, before they can be periV .
ponded. Bat oar opponents have found oat a way to deliver Afl/;-
hearted believers out of all fear in this respect. Such believers
need not utterly abolish ihe body of sin in this world The inbred
man of sin not only may. bat be shall, live as long a« we do. Voa

2G8 THE LAST CHECK

will possibly ask : «' What is to become of this sinful guest ? Shall he
take us to hell, or shall we take him to heaven ? If he cannot die in
this world, will Christ destroy him in the next ?" No : here Christ is
almost left out of the question by those who pretend to be determined
to know nothing but Christ and him crucified. Our indwelling adver-
sary is not destroyed by the brightness of the Redeemer's spiritual
appearing, but by the gloom of the appearance of death. Thus they
have found another Jesus — another Saviour from sin. The king of
terrors comes to the assistance of Jesus's sanctifying grace, and in-
stantaneously delivers the carnal believer from indwelling pride, unbe-
lief, covetousness, peevishness, uncharitableness, love of the world,
and inordinate affection. Thus the clammy sweats, brought on by the
greedy monster, kill, it seems, the tree of sin, of which the blood of
Christ could only kill the buds ! The dying sinner's breath does the
capital work of the Spirit of holiness ! And by the most astonishing
of all miracles, the faint, infectious, last gasp of a sinful believer,
blows away, in the twinkling of an eye, the great mountain of inward
corruption, which all the means of grace, all the faith, prayers, and
sacraments of twenty, perhaps of forty years ; with all the love in the
heart of our Zerubbabel, all the blood in his veins, all the power in
his hands, and all the faithfulness in his breast, were never able to
remove ! If this doctrine be true, how greatly was St. Paul mista-
ken when he said. The sting of death is sm, &c. Thanks be to God,
who giveth ns the victory through Christ our Lord ! Should he not have
said. Death is the cure of sin, instead of saying, sin is the sting of death '^
And should not his praises flow thus, Thanks be to God, who giveth us
the victory through death, our great and only deliverer from our great-
est and fiercest enemy, indwelling sin?

SECTION XIV,

c5« Answer to the Arguments by which the Imperfeciionists support the
Doctrine of the necessary Indwelling of Sin in all Believers till they
go into the Death Purgatory.

The pleasing effect of the lights in a picture, is considerably
heightened by the bold opposition of strong shades. If the preceding
arguments are the lights, by which we hope agreeably to strike the
mental eyes of the teader, who candidly considers the doctrine of
Christian perfection, it will not be improper to heighten those lights
by the amazing contrast of the arguments, which our opponents

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 260

advance in defence of indwelling am, and Christian imperfection.
These arguments appear to us shades, — bold, logical shades : but
the bolder they are, the more they will set off the lustre of the truth
which we recommend : for, if all things work for good to them that
love God, why sh'ould not all the errors of others, work for good to
them that love the truth ? I am ahundantly furnished with the
erroneous shades I want, by three of the most approved authors,
who support the ark of the imperfect Gospel, the Rev. Mr. Toplady,
author of the Historic Proof of Calvinism :— the Rev. Mr. Martin,
author of several Tracts, which are esteemed by the Calvinists : —
and the Rev. Mr. Henry, famous for his voluminous exposition of the
Bible.

The first of these authors, in his Caveat against Unsound Doctrine,
intimates that there never were, on earth, but three persons possessed
of the sinless perfection which we contend for ; Adam, Eve, and
Jesus Christ : — A bold intimation this, which, like the Babel 1 attack,
has its foundation in Confusion: — in the confusion of three perfection?
which are entirely different; — the Paradisiacal, sinless perfection of
our first parents : the Mediatorial, sinless perfection of Jesus Christ ;
and the Christian evangelically sinless perfection of St. John. This
intimation is supported by some passages from Solomon, which have
been already considered in Sect. XI. and by the following Argument.

Arg. I. " A person of the amplest foxtune cannot help the har-
bouring of snakes, toads, &c. on his lands ; but they will breed, and
nestle, and crawl about his estate whether he will or no. All he
can do is to pursue and kill them whenever they make their appear-
ance : yet let him be ever so vigilant and diligent, there will always
be a succession of those creatures, to exercise his patience, and engage
his industry. So it is with the true believer, in respect to indwelling
sin." Caveat against Unsound Doctrines, page 54. To this we
answer :

1. From the clause which I produce in Italics in this argument
one would think that patience and industry cannot be properly exer-
cised without indwelling sin. If so, does it not follow, that our Lord's
patience and industry always wanted proper exercise, because he wa?
always perfectly free from indwelling sin ? We are of a different
sentiment with respect to our Lord's Christian virtues : and we
apprehend that the patience and industry of the most perfect believer
will always, without the opposition of indwelling sin, find/«// exercise
in doing and suffering the whole will of God : in keeping the body
under ; in striving against the sin of others ; in testifying by word Mnd
deed that the works of the world are evil ; in resisting the number

270 THE LAST CHECK

less temptations of him, who goes about as a roaring lion^ seeking
whom he may devour ; and in preparing to conflict with the king of
terrors.

2. Why could not assiduous vigilance clear an estate of snakes, as
one of our kings cleared Great Britain of wolves ? Di(| be not
attempt and accomplish what appeared impossible to less resolute
minds ? Mr. Toplady is too well acquainted with the Classics not to
know what the heathens themselves have said of industry and love :

Omnia vincit amor. — Labor improbus omnia vincit.

If " Love and incessant labour overcome the greatest difficulties, ''^ what
cannot a diligent believer do, who is animated by the love of God,
and feels that he can do all things through Christ n^ho strengthens him ?

3. But the capital flaw of Mr. Toplady''$ argument consists in so
considering the weakness of free will, as entirely to leave God and the
sanctifying power of his Spirit out of the question. That gentleman
forgets, that for this purpose the Son of God wa$ manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil. Nor does be considier, that
a worm, assisted by Omnipotence itself, is capable of the greatest
achievements. Of this we have an illustrious instance in Moses, with
respect to the removal of the lice, the frogs, and the locusts. Moses
entreated the Lord, and the Lord turned a mighty, strong west wind,
which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red Sea ; there
remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt, Exodus x. 19. If
Mr. Toplady had not forgot the mighty God, with whom Moses and
believers have to do, he would never have supposed that the com-
parison holds good between Christ cleansing the thoughts and heart ot
a praying believer by the inspiration of his holy Spirit, and a inan who
can by no means destroy the snakes and toads that breed, nestle^ and
crawl about his estate.

4. The Reverend Author of the Caveat sinks in this argument,
even below the doctrine of heathen moralists. For, suppose the
extirpation of a vicious habit were considered, would not a heathen
be inexcusable, if he overlooked the succour and inspiration of the
Almighty ? And what shall we say of a Gospel minister, who, writing
upon the destruction of sin, entirely overlooks what at other times he
calls the sovereign, matchless, all- conquering, irresistible power of
divine grace, which (if we believe him) is absolutely to do all in m
and/or us ? — Who insinuates, that the toad, pride, and the viper, envy^
must continue to nestle and crawl in our breasts for want of ability to
«iestroy them : and who concludes that the extirpation of sin is impos-

TO ANTINOMIANISM. ^71

sible, because we cannot bring it about by our own 8tren2;th ? Just
as if the power of God, which helps our injirmilies^ did not deserve a
thought ! Who does not see, that when a Divine argues in this manner,
he puts his bushel upon the light of Christ's victorious grace, hides
this sin-kiUing and heart-cleansing light, and then absurdly concludes
that the darkness of sin must necessarily remain in all believers ?
Thus, if I mistake not, it appears, that Mr. Toplady's argument in
favour,of the death purgatory, is contrary to history, experience, and
Gentilism ; and how much more to Christianity^ and to the honour of
him who to the uttermost saves his believing people from their heart-
toads and bosom-vipers, when they go to him lor this great salvation '•

The next author who shall furnish me with logical shades, is the
ingenious and Rev. Mr. Martin^ who has just published a plea for the
necessary indwelling of sin in all believers. He calls it, " The Chris-
tian's peculiar Conjlict, An Essay on Galatians v. 17." And from it 1
extract the arguments which tbllovv.

Arg. II. (page 15.) &c. " O ye vain boasters of inherent per-
fection, say, Where is the man among you to be found, who always
doth the things that he would? If there be one who has this pre-
eminence among his brethren, why should his name be concealed ,'
Is he a preacher ? and dare he assert he has, at all times, that dis-
covery of the truth to his own soul he could wish, kc. Is he a
private Christian? and will he venture to declare, that in every
character he sustains, &c. he continually acts not only the conscien-
tious part, but in every respect fulfils the desire of his mind ? What I
does he hesitate ? Is he afraid to attest this in the presence of a
heart-searching God ? How deceitful then is his confidence ! &c.
Strange infatuation ! If he cannot at all times do the things, the good
things that he would, can he suppose his best desires are more
extensive than that law which is exceeding broad ? &c. If he can be
so vain as to suppose this, there is more hope of a fool than of him,
who is so wise in his own conceit. If he disown the inference, and
yet maintain his premises, that he is perfect, i. e. without sin, has
ceased to commit iniquity, what is the conclusion ? I am obliged to
conclude, that perfection and imperfection, things as contrary to
each other as light and darkness, are, with such a deluded person,
considered as one and the same thing."

This argument, stript of its rhetorical ornaments, and put into a
plain, logical dress, runs thus :

♦' When Christians do not do all the good things which they desire
to do, they sin, or break God's law, which is purer and bronder than
their desires: — But the best ministers, and the best private Christians

272 THE LAST CHECK

ilo not do all the good things which they desire to do :— And there-
fore the best ministers, and the best private Christians sin, and their
sinless perfection is an empty boast." We may bring the argument
into a still narrower compass, thus : *' All deficiencies are sinful, and
therefore inconsistent with every kind of perfection." Now this
proposition, which is the basis of the whole argument, has error for
its foundation. Granting that deficiencies are inconsistent with the
absolute will of God, and with the perfection of his boundless power,
I affirm four things, each of which, if I mistake not, overturns our
objector's argument.

1. The separate spirits of just men made perfect are perfectly sinless ;
nevertheless they do not do all the good that they would; for they
have not yet prevailed to get the blood of God's martyrs avenged : — a
display of justice this, which they ardently xvish for. And I prove it
by these words of St. John ; / saw under the altar the souls of them
that were slain for the word of God, and they cried with a loud voice,
saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge, and
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ! Rev. vi. 9. Had
they done what they wished, i. e. actually prevailed with God, their
prayer would have been immediately turned into praises, and persecu-
tors would long ago have been rooted out from the earth.

2. For want of infinite wisdom, does not perfect love 'infinite crea-
tures frequently desire to do more for its object than it can ? When
Michael fought with the dragon, is it not highly probable that he lovingly
desired to hinder his cruel adversary from doing a-ny farther mischief?
But did not his performance fall short of his pious resigned desire ?—
May not this be said also of the guardian care of the angels who minister
to the heirs of salvation ? Do these loving spirits afford us all the
help, or procure us all the bliss, which their tender compassion
prompts them to wish us ? — If not; is it not absurd to suppose, that,
barely on this account, they are sinfully imperfect ? Nay, would it
not be a high degree of rashness and injustice to insinuate, that they
are transgressors of God's spiritual law ; and that his commandment,
which is broader than their desires, is broken by their not doing us
all the good which they desire to do us, and which they would actually
do us, if a wise Providence ha4 not set bounds to their commission?
Does not this unscriptural Calvinian legality put the stamp of sinful-
ness upon all angels and archangels., merely to keep in countenance
the Antinomian doctrine of the necessary siifulness of all believers ?

3. If we consider our Lord himself as a man, did he do all the
good he would while he was upon earth ? Did he preach as suc-
cessfully as his perfect love made him desire to do? If he had all

T© ANTINOMIANISM, 273

th6 dnccess he desired in his ministry, why did he look round upon
his hearers with anger : being grieved for the hardness of their hearts?
Whv did he weep and complain, How often would I have gathered you,
^c. and ye would not? — Were even his private instructions so much
blessed to his own disciples as he could have wished? If they were,
what meant these strange expostulations, How is it that ye have no
faith ? — Faithless generation, how long shall I be with you ? — Hast thou
been so long with me^ Philip ^ and has thou not known me ? — Will ye also
go away ?

Nay, had not Christ his innocent infirmities too ? Did he not shud-
der at the prospect of the cup of trembling! Needed he not the
strengthening support of an angel in the garden of Gethsemane ? Did
he not ()ff'er up prayers, with strong cryings and tears, unto him that
was able to save him from death? Was he not heard in that he feared?
Heb. V. 7. — Did he not innocently cry out upon the cross. My God!
My God! why hast thou forsaken me? And does not the apostle
observe, that. We have not an High Priest, who cannot be touched with
the feelings of our infirmities : but [one who] was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without si?i ? Heb. iv. 15. When our opponents there-
fore, confound sin with natural, innocent infirmities, or with our not
doing all the good we would, do they not inadvertently fix a blot upon
the immaculate character of Him who could say ; Which of you con-
vinceth me of sin ?

4. My pious opponent wishes, no doubt, to praise God as perfectly
as an angel; whilst an angel probably desires to do it as completely ae
an archangel ; but in the nature of things this cannot be. Thousand?
of God's moral vessels, which are perfect in their place and degree,
and as such adorn God's universal temple, fall short of each other's
perfection, without being sinfully imperfect on that account. When
deficiencies are natural, and not moral if we call them sin, in many
cases we charge God with the creation of sin. Nor is it any more sin
in a man, not to magnify God so vifi;orously as an angel, or an angel
not to serve his Creator so perfectly as an archangel ; than it is a sin
in a good soldier, not to do the king such excellent service as an
experienced captain, or a consummate general. In the moral world,
as well as in the natural, one star may differ from, another star in glory,
without the least disparagement to its peculiar perfection. The inju
dicious refinements of Calvinism make a confused jumble of God's
works, as they do of God's truths, and of the various perfections which
belong to the various classes of his children : but a wise dispenser of
the word will do by these various truths and perfections as Joseph
did by his brothers : he placed them the first-horn anrordinq fo his

Vol. IV. 3r,

274 THE LAST CHECK

birthright^ (or superiority) and the youngest according to his youth (or
inferiority.)

6. We are not ashamed to assert, that perfection in one respect,
and imperfection in another respect, may consistently meet in the
same subject ; or, that men and things may be perfect in one sense
and imperfect in another. If our opponents ridicule us for it, we will
present them with an ocular, and by no means " metaphysical"
demonstration of their mistake. Two perfect grains, the one of bar-
ley, and the other of wheat, lie before us. I say with the perfection-
ists, that the grain of barley i^ perfect in its kind ; but imperfect, or
inferior in excelknce when it is compared to the grain of wheat.
But Mr. Martin, at the head of the imperfectionists. thinks mc
deluded, and placing himself in his judgment seat, gravely says, '* I
am obliged to conclude that perfection and imperfection, things as con-
trary to each other as light and darkness, are with su«:h a deluded
person considered as one and the same." — *' Some are so unaccount-
ably absurd and ridiculous."— Reader, thou art judge and jury.
Pronounce which of the two deserves best this imputation of " unac-
. countable absurdity," the author of this Essay, or that of the Essay on
Gal. V. 17.

6. With respect to this gentleman's triumphant question, Where is
the (perfect) man? — Why should his name be concealed? I hope it has
already been satisfactorily answered in Sect. IV. Arg. XII. To what
is advanced there, I add here the following remark. Inveterate pre-
judice is blind. If it believe not reason, Moses, the prophets, and the
apostles, neither would it be persuaded though one rose from the dead.
And were we to point at a person as perfect as Jesus of Nazareth, and
to say. Behold the man, I should not wonder if the prepossessed pro-
fessors cried out, as some ancient engrossers of orthodoxy did. He is
a deceiver of the people, teaching perfection throughout all Jewry.
And if they did not say. He is the friend of publicans and sinners, away
with him; it is not improbable they would say, He is a friend of the
Pharisees and Arminians, why do you hear him? Would ye also be his
disciples? It is in vain to hope, that prejudice expired with those who
scoffed at perfection incarnate, and spit in the face of Jesus Christ :
thinking to do God and the Messiah service. Man is man, in London,
as well as in Jej^usalem. Our Author goes on :

Arg III. (page 18.) *' It is not more essential to those who are
partakers of the grace of God in truth, to desire this, [the destruc-
tion of sm,] than it is for every creature, as such, to desire an exemp-
tion from pain and shamed — Then follows a dangerous insinuation^
that we must say by the cup of indwelling sin as our Saviour did by

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 275

the cup of pain and shame ; " Tlie cup that my Father giveth ?ne, shall
I nut drink of it ?

Ans. Never was a cup of subtle poison more artfully mixed ! And
that the reader may not suspect any mischief, the author borrows
the very cup which our heavenly Father presented to Christ in the
garden of Gethsemane ; a cup of /7am and shame. Reader, examine
this cup before thou drink it. Death is in it. Pour out the new
wine which makes the poison it contains palatable, and at the bottom
thou wilt 6nd this mortal sediment. ''It is as absurd absolutely to
desire deliverance from sin in this hfe, as absolutely to desire
deliverance from pain and shame.'"' To discover the falsehood of
this proposition we need only weigh the following remarks. 1.
Man mixed for himself the moral cup of sin, and God, to punish him,
mixed the natural cup of pain and shame. — 2. It is excessively wrong
so to confound moral and natural evil, as to say. that because we
cannot with any propriety, absolutely pray for deliverance from all
natural evil in this life, we ought not absolutely to ask and expect
deliverance from all moral evil before death. — 3. When the Imper-
fectronists confound the moral cup of sin with the natural cup of
shame and pain, they are as grossly mistaken, as if they confounded
poison and counter-poison ; — sin, and its punishment ; — the murder-
er's revengeful heart, and the gallows on which he is hanged. — 4.
Shame and pain, when they are appointed for a trial of faith, and
endured for righteousness sake, compose the last and greatest of all the
beatitudes ; a beatitude this, of which our Lord drank so deeply, when
for the joy that was set before him, he endured the pain, and despised the
shame of the cross, Heb. xii. 2. But where was indivelling sin ever
ranked among the ingredients which compose the beatitudes, that our
opponents should thus confound it with pain and shame? — 5. When
they insinuate, that we must bear with sin as patiently as with pain
and shame, the moral cup of indwelling iniquity, as readily as the
natural cup of outward affliction, do they not grossly confound the
cup of devils with the cup of the Lord, and make the simple believe,
that because we must patiently drink the latter with Christ, we must
also patiently drink the former with Belial? — The Captain of our
salvation bids us rejoice and be exceeding glad, when we patiently
suffer pain and shame for righteousness sake ; therefore, absolutely
to deprecate all pain and sfiame would be to pray against our exceeding
great joy ; yea, against out reigning with Christ: for only if we siiffer,
shall we also reign with him. But where does Christ bid us rejoice
and be exceeding glad when we are Oill of indwelling sin ? Or where
does he promise that if we harbour indwelling sin, we shall also reign

i27b THE LAST CHECK

with him? — Christians, awake I we pour out this rank poison before
you, that you may advert to its offensive smell : while rash Solitidians
gather it up, as if it were the honey of Canaan ; boldly trample it
under foot, and be ye more and more persuaded, that righteousness
Calvinistically imputed^ and indwelling sin, are the two arms in which
the Delilah of the Imperfextionists clasps her deluded admirers.

Page 31. Our ingenious author proposes an important question.
" If the grace of God, (says he) be so abundant as the Scriptures
represent it, and the Scripture cannot be broken ; ,why are believers
perniiUt d to struggle so long for that victory they cannot yet obtain ?"
that victory " hich death is to bring them ? — " Whence is it that they,
who pant for purity, should not immediately obtain a request so desi-
rable ?" — For our author lays it down as an undoubted truth, that
" Flesh and spirit mutually lust, desire and strive to obtain a complete
conquest, but at present,'^ i. e. in this life, " neither can prevail.^^
Page 26.

This important question we answer thus. Imperfect Christians
do not attain perfect purity of heart : — 1 Because they do not see
the need of it : — because they still hug some accursed thing, or
because the burden of indwelling sin is not yet become intolerable to
them. They make shift to bear it yet, as they do the toothach, when
they are still loath to have a rotten tooth pulled out. — 2. If they are
truly willing to be made clean, they do not yet believe that the Lord
both can and zvill make them clean ; or that now is the day of this sal-
vation. And, as faith inherits the promises of God, it is no wonder if
their unbelief miss this portion of their inheritance. — 3. If they have
some faiih in the promises that the Lord can, and will circumcise their
hearts, that they may love him with all their hearts ; yet it is not that
kind or degree of faith, which makes them completely willing to sell
all, to deny themselves, faithfully to use their inferior talent, and to
continue instant in prayer for this very blessing. In short, they have
not, because they ask not, which is the case of the Laodicean imperfec-
lionists ; or because they ask amiss, which is the case of the imperfect
perfectionists. — 4. Frequently also they will receive God's blessing
in their own preconceived method, and not in God's appointed way.
Hence God suspends the operation of his sanctifying Spirit, till they
humbly confess their obstinacy and false wisdom, as well as their
unbelief and want of perfect love. Thus we clear our Sanctifiery
and take the shame of our impurity to ourselves. Not so our oppo-
nents. They exculpate themselves, and insinuate, that God has
appointed the necessary continuance of indwelling sin in us for life,,
that the conflict which we maintain with that enemy may answer

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 277

excellent ends. Their arguments collected in the above-quoted
Essay, are produced and answered in the following pages.

Arg. IV. (page 37, kc.) " By this warfare the Lord manifests
and magnifies himself to his people ; and if I am not mistaken, &.c.
the continuance of it is a mean by which believers have such views
of the perfections and glory of God, as it does not seem to us proba-
ble, they could here obtain without it." — Then our author instances
in God's " unchanging love towards the elect,^^ and in his " sovereign
grace — that reigns through righteousness to the salvation of the guilty,''^
— He next observes, that " Those believers who are most conscious of
this internal conflict — most sensible of the power and prevalency of
indwelling sin — are most thankful that the endearing declarations of
God^s distinguishing love are true.''^ — And [page 39, 40.] we are
distinctly told that the doctrine of the necessary continuance of
indwelling sin magnifies " the power and patience of God: the power
of God to support us under this conflict, and his patience in bearing
with our manifold weakness and ingratitude." — For, great as the bur-
den of our ingratitude is, " yet hefainteth not, neither is ht weary.'^

This is an extract of our author's argument, which, like a snake,
works its way through verbose windings, where 1 have not leisure to
follow it. Crush this snake, and out will come this less viper : the
longer sin continues in us, the more God's sovereign love, grace,
power, and patience, by which he saves guilty, weak, *md ungrateful
sinners is manifested unto us. Or, if you please, the longer we con-
tinue in sin, or the longer sin continues in us, the more is grace mani-
fested and magnified. — Or, if you will speak as the apostolic contro-
vertist, Let us continue in sin that grace may abound. — A notion this,
which is the very soul of Antinomianism unmasked.

To fill the pious reader with a just detestation of this doctrine, I
need only unfold it thus : If the continuance of indzvelling sin magni-
fies God's sovereign grace, and patience, in saving ungrateful sinners ;
the continuance of outward sin will do this much more ; for, the
greater our outward sins are, the greater will God's patience appear ia
bearing with us ; and his grace in forgiving us ; seeing " hefainteth
not, neither is he wcary.'^^ Thus we are come almost up to the top of
Antinomianism ; and, to reach the highest step of the fatal ladder, we
need only declare, as the author of the Five Letters, has done, that a
grievous fall [into sin, such as adultery, robbery, murder, and incest,]
will make us sing louder to the praise of restoring grace throughout all the
ages of eternity. [See the fourth of those letters.] Now if a griev-
ous fall will infallibly have that happy effect, it follows that ten such
jfalls will multiply ten times the display of God's power and patience.

278 THE LAST CHECK

What a boundless field opens here to run an Antinomian race, and to
enlarge our wickedness as hell ! What a ladder is here lent us to de-
scend to the depth of the abomination ot desolation, in order to
reach the loudest notes of praise in heaven ! If this Solifidian Gos-
pel be not one of the depths of Satan^ and the greatest too, I am not
capable of discerning midnight gloom from noonday brightness.

Arg. V. (page 4.) " To save the guilty in such a manner as, &c.
effectually to humble them who are saved, displays the manifold wis-
dom of God. — Does it not seem necessary to attain that great end, to
make believers experimentally know what an evil and bitter thing sin
is, &c. If so, when can the objects of salvation see this with becom-
ing shame and sorrow ! Not while they are in the gall of bitterness^
&c. for in that state, so abominable is man that he drinkethin iniquity
like watfir. — On the other hand, this cannot be after they are brought
to glory. For then all the painful and shameful memorials of sin
will be finally removed. — It must be while flesh and spirit dwell in
the same man.^'

Granted ; but what has this argument to do with the question ? Did
we ever deny, that, as long as we live, we must repent, or be deeply
conscious -what an evil and bitter thing sin is ? The question is, whe-
ther indwelling sin is the cause or source of true repentance, or an
incentive to it ; and whether God has appointed that this should remain
in our hearts till death, lest we should forsjet " what an evil and bitter
thing sin is." or lest we shonld not remember it ** with becoming shame
and sorrow ?" The absurdity of this plea has already been exposed in
Sect. III. Obj. viii. ix. And, to the arguments there advanced. I now
add those which follow. — 1. Does not experience convince imperfect
believers, that the more fretfulness, self-will and obstinacy they have
in their hearts, the less they do repent ? How absurd is it then to sup-
pose that the remains of these evil dispositions will help them to
feel " becoming shame and sorrow'*'' for sin I — 2. Do not our opponents
tell their hearers, that we get more becoming shame and sorrow by
looking one moment at him whom we have pierced^ than by poring upon
our corruptions for an hour ? If so, why will they plead for indwell-
ing sin, that " becoming sin and sorrow" may abound ? And why do they
pretend that they exalt Christ more than we, who maintain that our
most becoming shame and deepest sorrow flow from his ignominy and
sufferings, and not from our indwelhng sin and conflicting corruptions ?
—Did not Job abhor himself^ and repent in dust and ashes^ when he saw
his redeeming God by fiiith, much more than when he just kept his
head above the bitter waters of impatience and murmuring ? — 3. The
pleaders for the continuanee of indwelling sin tell us, *' That, as the

T© ANTINOMIANISM. 279

sight and attacks of a living and roaring lion, will make us dread lions
more thnn all the descriptions and pictures which represent Iheir de-
structive lierceness ; so the feeling the onsets of indwelling sin, will
make us abhor sin more than all the descriptions of its odious nature,
and the accounts of its fearful consequences : because a burnt child
naturally dreads the fire."— To this we answer: a burnt child who
pleads for the kt^eping of a burning coal upon his breast to make him
dread the fire, has hitherto been burned to little purpose. — Who had
ever less to do with indwelling sin, and its cursed attacks, than the
holy Jesus, and faithful angels '! And yet who is more filled with a per-
fect abhorrence of all iniquity ? On the other hand, who has been
more distracted, and longer torn by indwelling sin, than the devil?
and who, nevertheless, is better reconciled to it ? Or who is more
plagued by the continual rendings and bitings of the lions and vipers
within, than those passionate, revengeful people, who say with all the
positiveness of Jonah and Absalom, I do well to be angry, and Revenge
is sweet ? Experience therefore demonstrates the inconclusiveness of
this argument. — 4. If the penitent thief properly learned in a few
hours, what an evil and bitter thing external and internal sin is ; is it
not absurd to suppose, that he must have continued flirty years full of
indwelling sin to learn that lesson, if God had added forty years to
his life ? Would this delay have been to the honour of his Divine
Teacher ? — Lastly, when Christ cast seven devils out of Mary Mag-
dalen, did he leave one or two devils behind, to teach her " becoming
shame and sorrottj" for sin ? And was it these two remaining *' Diabo-
lonians,^^ that made her dissolve in tears at Christ's feet ; or the
grateful penitential love which she felt for her gracious Deliverer ? —
Is it not astonishing, that Gospel ministers should so far forget them-
selves and their Saviour, as to teach, as openly as for decency they
dare, that we must fetch our tears of godly sorrow from the infernal
lake, and rekindle the candle of repentance at the fire of hell ! And that
the fanning breath of the Spirit, and the golden, hallowed snuffers of
the sanctuviry cannot make that candle burn continually clear, unless
we u^e to the end of our life, the black finger of Sa^an, indwelling sin.
and Adam's accursed extinguisher, original corruption.^

Arg. VI. Our author's next argument in favour of the necessary
indivelling of sin during lite is more decent, and consequently more
dangerous. The cloven feet of errnr delicately wear the sandals of
truth : but with a little attenticHi we sh;dl soon see that they jire only
borrowed or stolen. The argument abridged froir» page 44. and ren-
dered more per9piruon*i, may r»in thus: — '* If we h.ive frj^qufnlly
been slothful, and have not at all times exerted our abihties to the

280 tttE LAST CHECK

uttermost ; why may not God it) wisdom rebuke us for it, arid Efiake
us sensible of that evil, by not permitting us to effect what at other
times, we seem determined, if possible, to accomplish ?" [that is, by
not permitting us utterly to aboHsh the whole body of sin.] — " If
Samson abuse his strength, it is fit he should have cause severely
to repent of his folly by being deprived of it for a season, and becom-
ing as weak as other men." Here we are left to infer, that as Sam-
son through his unfaithfulness became as weak as other men for a sea-
son ; so all believers, on account of their unfaithfulness, must be
weakened by indwelling sin, during the term of life.

To this we answer, 1. That although believers frequently give
place to sloth and unfaithfulness, yet they are no more necessitated t©
do it, than Samson was to dally with Delilah. — 2. If the constant
indwelling of sin be a just punishment for not making a proper use of
the talent of grace which God gives us, it evidently follows, that our
unfaithfulness, and not a necessity appointed by God, is the very worm
which destroj's our evangelically sinless perfection : and the moment
our opponents grant this, they allow all that we contend for ; unlegs
they should be able to prove, that God necessitates us to be unfaithful,
in order to punish us infallibly with indwelling sin for life.

As for Samson, he is most unfortunately brought in to support the
doctrine ot the necessary indwelling of that weakening sin, which we
call inbred corruption: and he might be most happily produced to
encourage those unfaithful believers, who, like him, have not made a
proper use of their strength in time past: for he outlived his penal
weakness, and recovered the strength of a perfect Nazarite before
death ; witness his last achievement, which exceeded all his former
exploits. For it would be highly absurd to suppose that he got in a
death purgatory the amazing strength by which he pulled down the
pillars that supported the large building where the Philistines feasted.
Nor need I the strength of a logical Samson, to break the argumen-
tative reeds which support the temple of error, in which the imper-
fectionists make sport, to their hurt, with the doctrine of that Chris-
tian Samson, who, said, I can do all things through Christ that strength-
eneth me.

Arg. VII. (page 47.) &;c. We are indirectly told [for pionis
men can utter gross Antinomianism without the mask of circumlocu-
tion] that indwelling sin must continue in us, that ^^ grace (may) not
only be exercised, but distinguished from all that has only the appear-
ance of it. But — how is the true grace of God to be here distin-
guished from that which is but the semblance of it ? — By its effects —
a clear and spiritual discovery of the depravity, deceit, and desperate

TO ANTlNOMIANiail. 281

wickedness of our own hearts." — And then we are given to under-
stand, that lest we should not be deeply convinced of that desperate
-wickedness, the continuance of indwelling sin is absolutely necessary.
This argument runs into the fifth, which I have already answered. It
is another indirect plea for the continuance of outward adultery and
murder, as well as for the continuance of indwelling sin; it being
certain that outward adultery, &c. will convince us of the desperate
wickedness of our hearts, still more powerfully than heart adultery,
iic. To what hard shifts are good men put, when they fight for the
continuance of the bud or root of any sin ? Their every stroke for
sin is a stab at the very vitals of godliness.

Arg. VHI. (page 48.) The continuance of indwelling sin,
which is (with great modesty in the ingenious author, and therefore
with great danger to the unwary reader) called " this warfare,^* is
supported by the following reason. " It is often an occasion to dis-
cover the strength of grace received, as well as the truth of it."
This argument is all of a piece with the preceding, and puts me in
mind of a speech which a shameless young debauchee made once to
me. I kept (said he) drinking and dosing in such a tavern, without
ever going to bed, or ever being sober one hour for twenty-three
d.iys. I never had so remarkable an occasion to discover the strength
of ray body, and the excellence of my constitution." However, in
a few months, while he continued in the conclusion to discover his
strength, a mortal disorder seized upon him, and by removing him
into eternity, taught me, that if Fulsome the professor, speaks the
truth, when he says. Once in grace always in grace ; Nabal, the sot,
was mistaken, when he hinted, Onc€ in health always in health. To
make the Imperfectionists ashamed of this argument, 1 hope I need
only observe : — 1. That nothing ever showed more the strength of
grace than the conflicts which the man Christ Jesus went through,
though he never conflicted a moment with indwelling sin. — 2. That
the strength and excellence of a remedy is much better discovered
by the removal of the disorder which it is designed to cure, than by
the conflicts which the poor patient has with pain, till death comes to
terminate his misery. — And 3. that the argument I refute indirectly
represents Christ as a physician, who keeps his patients upon the
rack to render himself more necessary to them, and to shoiv the
strength of the anodyne mixture, by which he gives them, now and
then, a little ease under their continued, racking pain !

Our author adds, page 49. ** If those who bear the heaviest burdens,
are sometimes esteemed the strongest men, they who are thus engaged in
this warfare^' (I wish he would speak quite ent. and say. They who

Vor. TV f^f^

282 THE LAST CHECK

bear the heaviest burden of indwelling sin) " have that evidence of
the strength of grace ^ ^c. which is peculiar to themselves.^'' A great
mistake this : for if we may believe Ovid, when Medea murdered
her own child, under a severe conflict with indwelling sin, she had
that fatal evidence of what is here preposterously called the strength
of grace ; but what I beg leave to call the obstinacy of free will. Sed
trahit invitam nova vis, &lc. " Passion, (said she,) hurries away my
unwilling, reluctant mind.^^ Judas, it seems, was not an utter stranger
to this conflict (any more than to the burden of guilt,) when he hur-
ried out of it into a death purgatory. Nor do I blame him for having
chosen strangling rather than life, if death can terminate the misery
which accompanies indwelling sin, and do more in that respect for
fallen believers than Christ himself ever did. But, supposing that the
saving gface of God, which has appeared to all men, never appeared
to Medea and Judas; — supposing these two sinful souls never co»-
flicted with indwelling sin, it will however follow from our author's
insinuation, that in case David had defiled half a dozen married
women, and killed their husbands, to enjoy them without a rival, we
should esteem him six times stronger in grace, if he had not fainted
under his six-fold burden, like Judas ; because " in this [Antinomian]
warfare, tliose who hear the heaviest burdens are esteemed the strongest"*^
believers : and because *' they have that testimony of their love t9
Christ, which is peculiar to themselves.''^ If Satan were to transform
himself into an angel of light, could he preach a more dangerous and
immoral Gospel to an Antinomian and perverse generation ?

Arg. IX. — Our author's last argument in favour of the neces-
sary continuance of sin in us, occurs page 61. and runs thus : — " I
will only add, that by this warfare, the Lord weans his people from
the present evil world, and makes them long for the land of promise,
as the land of rest, &c. I know some will say, This is impossible :
and be ready to ask. Are we then debtors to </ie ^es^ .^"— ( A very
proper question ! whic]i the author answers thus :) *' By no means..
&c. In our flesh dwells no good thing, &c. &c. Nevertheless — he
[God] can and does make the presence of evil so irksome to the
believer, that it makes him ardently long for complete deliverance
from it." — That is, in plain English, he keeps his patients so long
upon the rack of their indwelling sin, that at last they are forced to
long for death, the great cleanser from heart iniquity. This argu-
ment would have been complete, if it had been supported by these
two passages, / do well to be angry even unto death : — in those days,
men, [plagued by the locusts which ascend out of the bottomless pit]

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 283

ihall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. To show its
absurdity I need only make two or three remarks upon it.

1. Mark the inconsistency of our opponents. When they hear us
press obedient faith upon a fiUlen or wavering behever, by mentioning
to him the terrors of the Lord, the fear of losing the divine favour,
and the danger of being even spewed out of Christ's mouth, and con-
demned without mercy if he show no mercy ; they say that enforcing
the love of Christ on a disobdient believer will abundantly answer all
the good ends which we propose by thus preaching Christ's law
but, when they plead for the cojitinuance of sin, they forget their own
doctrine, and tell us that ind'jtelling sin is necessary to keep us in the
way of duty, namely, in an ardent longing for heaven. They blame
us for making use of Christ's law to spur believers, and yet they,
(see to what astonishing height their partiality is grown !) they do not
blush to preach openly the law of sin to believers : insisting that its
working in their members is necessary to " make them long for the
land of promise, as for the land of rest, and for the speedy possession
of that great good which God has laid up for them :" Page 52. —
We are heretics for preaching the law of Christ, the law of liberty '.
they who preach the law of sin, the law of bondage, are orthodox,
and engross to themselves the glorious title of Gospel ministers !

2. How absurd is it to prop up the throne of indwelling sin in
the hearts of believers, that its tyrannical law may make them long
for heaven! Did not Christ long for heaven without indwelling sin ?
Do not the holiest believers, who are most free from indwelling sin,
long most for the beatitic vision ? And do we not see that fallen
believers, who are most filled with indzvelling sin, are most apt to be
lovers of sin and the world, more than lovers of God and heaven ? Are
they not the very people, who, unmindful of Lot's wife, stay in the
plain, instead of escaping for their life, and fleeing to the celestial
mount of God, without ever looking behind them ?

3. Is not indwelling sin a clog, rather than a spur, to the heavenly
racers ? If sin be of such service to us, to make us run the career of
holy longing after heavenly rest, why does the apostle exhort us to
^et aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us ? If we
want a spur to make us mend our pace, need we keep the spur,
indwelling sin? — Is it not more likely to spur us to hell than to hea-
ven? If we have thousands of sinless spurs, what need have we of
keeping that to drive us to heaven, which drove Adam behind the
trees of the garden ; not to say, out of his native paradise ?

If you ask. What are the sinless spurs of believers ? We reply, all
♦he toils, infirmities, and pains of our weary, decaying, mortal bodies :

284 THE LAST CHECK

— All the troubles, disappointments, and sorrows, which arise aa
naturally out of our present circumstances, as sparks do out of the
6re ; — A share of the dreadful temptations which harassed Christ in
the wilderness : and frequent tastes of the bitter cup which made
him sweat blood in the garden, and cry out on Calvary. — Hear one,
to whom our opponents absurdly give the spur o{ indwelling sm, as if
he had not spurring enough without it : I Jill up that which is behind
of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh; Col. i. 24. And surely indwell-
ing sin was never one of Christ's afflictions. — Again, Who shall sepa-
rate us from the love of Christ ? Shall it be tribulation^ or distress^ or
persecution^ or famine^ or nakedness^ or perils or sword ? As it is
written^ For thy sake we are killed all the day long : we are accounted
as sheep for the slav^hfer. — Once more : some were tortured, not
accepting deliverance, and others had trials of cruel mockings and scourge
ings^ yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they
were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword : they
wandered about in sheepskins, and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted^
tormented ; they wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens
and caves of the earth.

I grant that all true believers have not these thorns in the flesh,
and feel not the spurs which made Elijah flee for his life before
incensed Jezebel, and request that he might die under the juniper-tree ;
but, at the best of times, they have, or should have, David's affliction.
My eyes run down with water because men keep not thy law : — They
have, or should have, Jeremiah's grief, 0 that my head were waters,
and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for
the desolation of Jerusalem, or for the slain of the daughter of God's
people! — They have, or should have, the sorrow o^just Lot, who was
vexed from day to day with the filthy conversation of the wicked among
whom he dwelt. To suppose, therefore, that in this vale of tears, tri-
bulation, and sin, we need keep the sting of indwelling sin, because
we must strive against the sin which is in the world to the end, even
unto blood, if we are called to secure the crown of martyrdom ; — or
because it '*2S the will of God, that through much tribulation we should
enter the kingdom;^'' [page 46,] and because we should long for heaven :
to suppose, I say, that we must keep the sting, indwelling sin, on
these accounts, is as absurd as to suppose, that all the keepers and
nurses in Bedlam must be mad, and must continue to be plagued with
personal lunacy, lest they should not strive against madness to the
end :— lest they should not come out of great disturbances when they
remove from their dreary habitation ; — and lest, while they continue

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 285

there, they should not see mad people enough to make them long for
the conversation of reasonable persons.

Arg. X. (page 52.) Our author closes his shrewd plea for the
death purgatory, by proposing a very material objection : *' If any
exclaim and say, These sentiments have a tendency to reconcile
believers to sin : I must say, — The flesh might as soon be reconciled
to the spirit, as the spirit to the flesh ; or sin to grace, as grace to sin.
It is often said. That nature will be nature. And why may not
this be applied to the divine nature — of which believers are said to
be partakers ?" Hence our author insinuates, that the divine nature
of believers is " immutable ;^^ and that, because to will is present with
them, when they sin they still retain God's holiness, as " lions and
eagels, however confined or caressed^ retain their ferocity and brutal
appetites.

I am glad to see that this pious author has still the cause of holi-
ness at heart, and desires to stop up the Antinomian gap. I am per-
suaded that he intends to do God service by pleading for the continu-
ance of indwelling sin. If he ask for the reprieve of that robber
and murderer, it is merely because Antinomianism has deceived him,
as formerly Pharisaism deceived the Jews who cried, Release unto vs
Barabbas. If he saw, that Christ in us must be crucified afresh, in
case the robber in us is not put to death ; I doubt not he would be
as sorry for his publication, as the devout Jews were for their anti-
christian request, when they were pricked to the heart on the day of
pentecost.

But alas ! if a good intention excuse bad performances, it does not
stop their mischief. The very desire which our author evidences
to secure godliness is so unfortunately expressed, that it gives her as
fatal a blow as the tempter did, when he said to our first parents, Yr
shall not surely die. For, when that gentleman intimates to fallen
believers. Ye are possessed of the divine nature ; and, be your works
what they will, if to will be " in some degree present^'''' (page 54.) ye
are as much possessed of God's holy image, as a lion is possessed of a
lion's fierce nature : what is this, but to preach the very Gospel
which the serpent preached in paradise ; with this diflerence, that
the serpent said, Ye shall not die : Ye shall be as gods : but the imper-
fectionists say. Your salvation is finished ; ye have already the " im-
mutable nature" of God : Ye are already as gods? — Adam believed
the tempter, and lost his holy nature. The Imperfectionists believe
our author. Oh! may none of them remain "immutable" in the
sinful imperfection which he so earnestly contends for.

2^6 THE LAST CHECK

XI. A Caveat. Having said so much upon our author's mistakes,
I should be inexcusable if I did not drop a caution about the veil with
which they are covered. His book goes into the world under the
harmless title of '* The Christianas peculiar Conflict ;^^ whereas it
should be called, A Plea for the propriety and usefulness of the continu-
ance of indwelling sin in all Christians. This plain, artless title,
would have made true Christians stand upon their guard ; but now
they take up without suspicion the cup mixed by the author : and it is
well if some have not already drank it to the dregs, without fear.

An illustration will give the reader an idea of the wisdom with
which the title of the Essay is contrived. — I write a treatise full upon
the advantage of a standing rebellion in the kingdom, and urge a
variety of plausible arguments to show the great good that will
arise from an inveterate opposition to the government. " If a spirit
of rebellion ceases in any subject, the king's patience, mercy, love,
and power will not be so fully displayed, nor will the loyalty of his
good subjects be so well distinguished and proved : — Rebellion, and
the burdens that attend it, will make us long for peace : — Guilty,
ungrateful rebels will love the king and admire his mercy the more
when they are forgiven after their manifold rebellions. And there-
fore [to use the unguarded words of our author, page 53,] it becomes
its seriously to consider how far this great end [of a spirit of rebel-
lion continually dwelling in every Briton's breast] is understood,
approved, and answered^'' — I show my manuscript to a friend, who
says ; Your Essay will alarm every well-wisher to the constitution of
the realm. But I remove his objection by saying, I will not call it
' An Essay on the propriety and usefulness of a spirit of rebellion
constantly harboured in the breast of every one of his Majesty's
subjects :" but I will call it, " The Loyal Subject's peculiar Conflict,
An Essay on 1 Sam. xii. 19." and this plausible title will modestly
make way for my boldest arguments. Pleas for the continuance of
rebellion and indwelling sin, may properly enough be introduced by
such a stratagem.

TO AI/TINOMIANISM. 287

SECTION XV.

3Ir. Hill objects that the Doctrine of Christian Perfection is Popish ;
and the Author shows^ that it is truly Evangelical, and stands insepa-
rably connected with the cordial Obedience required by the mediatorial
Laws of Moses and Christ ; insomuch that there is absolutely no medium
between the Doctrine of an evangelically sinless Perfection, and lawless
Antinomianism. — This Section contains a Recapitulation of the Scrip-
ture proof s of the Doctrine maintained in these Sheets; and therefore
the careful perusal of it is humbly recommended to the Reader.

Having taken my leave of the ingenious Author of The Christian^
peculiar Conflict, I return to Mr. Hill, who hy this time meets me
with his Review in his hand, and with that theological sling, casts at
our doctrine a stone which has indeed frightened thousands of weak
souls, but has never done any execution amongst the judicious. Your
doctrine, says he, " is a Popish Doctrine ;" and he might have added,
with as much reason, that it is a Pelagian doctrine too : for, bold aS
Pelagius and some Popes have been in coining new doctrines, they
never came to such a pitch of boldness, as to say that they were the
authors of the doctrine of evangelical obedience, and of those com
mandments, which bind us to love God — our covenant God, with all
our hearts, and our neighbours as ourselves : precious Gospel com-
mandments these, upon which the doctrine of perfection securely
rests !

What Pope was ever silly enough to pretend that he wrote the book
of Deuteronomy, where we find this sweet evangelical law, Hear, O
Israel: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all 'thy might. And these words which I command
thee this day shall be in thy heart — [to do them I suppose, and not to
ridicule them under the names of perfection and Popery?] Dent, vi-
5, 6. Now by what argument will Mr. Hill prove that the Pope is the
inventor of this blessed doctrine ?

Should that gentleman reply, that when God gave his ancient
people this gracious law of perfection, he did not give it with an inten-
tion that they should personally keep it as an evangelical law ; but
only with an intention to drive them to the promised Messiah, who
was to keep it for them, and to give eternal indulgences to all the
believers who break it ; we demand a proof; and till Mr. Hill pro-
duce it, we show his mistake by the following arguments, i . Although

^iSiJ THE LAST CHECK

the Jewish dispensation revealed a gracious God^ abundant in good-
ness, mercy, and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, to
returning sinners, who penitentiaily laid hold on his Jewish covenant ;
yet, if I remember right, it never promised to accept of an obedience
performed by another. Hence it is, that God never commanded that
^QVihh females should be circumcised ; but confined his ordinance to
the males, who alone could personally obey it. We frequently read
of vicarious sufferings in the Jewish Gospel, but not of vicarious
obedience, and vicarious love. For although the obedience of godly
parents engaged God to bestow many blessings upon their children ;
yet the children were to obey for themselves, or to be cut off in the
end. The Jews were undone by a conceit of the contrary doctrine,
and by wild notions about the obedience of Abraham, and the holiness
of the temple which they fancied was imputed to them in the Calvinian
way : and a similar mistake, it is to be feared, still undoes multi-
tudes of Christians, who fatally mistake the nature of Christian
obedience, absurdly put on robes of self-imputed righteousness, and
rashly bespatter the robes of personal, and evangelically perfect
obedience, which God requires of every one of us.

2. The mistake I expose would never have been made by our
opponents, if they had not used themselves to tear the evangelically
legal part of the Scriptures from the context, in order to give it a
sense contrary to that of the Sacred Writers ; it being certain that
when you have torn a man's tongue out of his mouth, you may after-
ward force it down his throat, and leave it there with the root against
his teeth and the tip towards his stomach. To show that the precept
of perfect love, which I have quoted from Deut. vi. is treated in this
manner, as often as our opponents insinuate, God did not intend, that
Jewish believers should personally observe it as a term of final accept-
ance, but only that they should be driven thereby to the Mediator,
who should perfectly love God for them :— To show, I say, the
absurdity of this notion, we need only do Moses the justice to hear
him out. Let any unprejudiced person read the whole chapter, and
he will, I am persuaded, side against the Calvinian imputation of a
Jewish perfection to Jewish believers. Moses begins by saying, Nor(»
these are the commandments — which the Lord your God [yours through
an evangelical covenant] commanded to teach you, that ye might do
them, [and not that your Mediator might do them for you] Deut. vi. 1.
Two verses after he adds. Hear, 0 Israel, and observe and do, [Not
hear, O Israel, and another shall observe and do for thee,] that it may
be well with thee. Then comes our capital doctrine and precept of
perfect love, which a few verses below. Moses continues (o enforce

TO ANTINOMIANISM. ' 289

thus: Ye shall not tempt the Lord your [covenant] God. — You shall
diligently keep the [evansjelical] commands of the Lord your [covenant]
God ; and his [Gospel] testimonies^ which he has commanded thee. .Ind
thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord thy
God. that it may he well with thee. — And when thy son asketh thee, sayings
What do mean these statutes [of perfect love, &c.] Then thou shalt say
unto thy son., We were Pha/rnoli's bondmen in Egypt, and the Lord
brought us out. — And, lest Antinomian hands should, draw the golden
nail of this perfect obedience for want of proper clenching ; this
precious chapter, which our Church has properly selected for a
Sunday lesson, ends with these words, which must raise a blush on
the face, or strike conviction into the breast, of all who trample
under foot the robes of our own evangelical perfection ; And the Lord
commanded us to do all these statutes, — thai he might preserve us alive :
and it shall be our ri^hreousness [our Gospel perfection] if we observe
to do all these commandments^ before the Lord our [covenant] God, as
he has commanded us, Deut. vi. 1 — 25.

If our opponents say, that this is a transcript of Adam's anti-media-
torial law of paradisiacal perfection ; and not a copy of Moses's medi-
atorial law of Jewish perfection : or if they assert that Moses Calvin*
istically hints that the Jews were to keep this law by proxy, they may
say that li£;ht is darkness. And if they grant that Moses was no Anti-
nomian shuffler, but really meant what he spoke and wrote, it unavoid-
ably follows : — 1. That God really required of every Jew an
evangelical and personal perfection of love according to the degree
of light and power imparted under the Jewish dispensation. 2. That
this evangelical Jewish perfection of love was attainable by every
sincere Jew ; because whatever God requires of us in a covenant of
grace, he graciously engages himself to help us to perform, if we be-
lieviogly and obediently embrace his promised assistance. — And 3.
That if an evangelical perfection of love was attainable under the
Jewish Gospel [for the Gospel was preached to the Jews, as well as to us,
although not so clearly. Heb. iv. 2.] it is absurd to deny that the
Gospel of Christ requires less perfection, or makes less provision,
that Christians may attain what their dispensation calls them to.

If Mr. Hill think that this inference is not just, I refer him to our
Lord's declaration : Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the
prophets ; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil : first, by perfectly obey-
ing myself the two great moral precepts of Moses and the prophets j
and next by teaching and helping all my faithful disciples to do the
same, Matt. v. 17. Should that nentleman object to the latter part of
this little commentj because it leaves no room for the Calvinian impii-

Vol. IV. 37

290 THE LAST CHECK

tation of Christ's mediatorial perfection to fallen believers, who sleep
in irnpeniteacy, under the guilt of adultery, covered by murder : we
reply, that this part of our exposition, far from being forced, is highly
agreeable to the text, when it is taken in connexion with the scope of
our Lord's sermon and with the context. For,

I. All Christ's sermons, and especially that upon the Mount, incul-
cate the doctrine of personal perfection, and not the doctrine of
imputed perfection, 2. The very chapter out of which this text is
taken, ends with these words. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father, which is in heaven, is perfect. And Mr. Hill, prejudiced as he
is against our doctriilie, is too candid to assert, that our Lord meant,
" Be ye perfect'as your heavenly Father is perfect : — Now he is perfect
only by the Calvinian imputation of my righteousness : it is merely
by imputation that he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good.
And he sendeth only a Calvinistically imputed rain upon the just and
upon the unjust. Be ye therefore perfect only by the imputation of my
perfect righteousness."

Mr. HilPs mistake has not only no countenance from the distant
part of the context, but it is flatly contrary to the words which imme-
diately follow the controverted text. For verily I say unto you, [that,
far from being come to destroy the law and the prophets, that is, the
spirituality and strictness of the moral part of the Jewish Gospel] till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, [which Pharisaic glosses have unnerved] till all be fulfilled. And
lest you should think that I speak of your fulfilling this law by proxy
and imputation, I add, Whosoever shall break one of these cominand-
jnents, [which I am going to enforce upon you, as viy own mediato-
rial law ; though hitherto you have considered them only as Moseses
mediatorial law] whosoever, I say, shall break one of these least com-
mandments, and [by precept and example] teach men so : he shall be call-
ed the least in the kingdom of heaven: [If he have any place among
my people in my spiritual kingdom, it shall be only among my car-
nal babes, who are the least of my subjects.] But whosoever shall do and
teach them [the commandments whose spirituality I am going to assert]
the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven, [he shall be
an adult, perfect Christian in the kingdom of my grace here ; and
he shall receive a proportionable crown of righteousness in the
kingdom of my glory hereafter.] Matt. v. 18, 19.

If 1 am not mistaken it evidently follows from these plain words of
Christ, I. That he taught a personal />er/edio;i, and mi evangelically
sinless perfection too : — 2. That this perfection consists in not break-
ing, by wilful omission, the least of the comraandmeots which our

TO ANTINOMIANISM. ^91

Lord rescued both from the false glosses of Antinomian Pharisees,
who rested on the imputed righteousness of Abraham, saying "■ We
have Abraham for our father : we are the children of Abraham : we
are perfect in Abraham ; all our perfection is in Abraham ;" and from
the no less false glosses of those absurdly-legal Pharisees, who paid
the tithe of anise, mint, and cummin, with the greatest scrupulosity,
whilst they secretly neglected mercy, truth, and the love of God. —
And 3. That the perfection which Christ enforced upon his disciples
was not merely of the negative kind, but of the positive also : since
it consisted both in doing and in leaching the least, as well as the great-
est of God's commandments.

If you ask what are the greatest of these commandments, which
Christ says his disciples must " do and teach,'''' if they will be great,
or perfect in his kingdom and dispensation, St. Matthew answers. One
of the Pharisees, who was a lawyer, asked him a question, saying. Master^
which is the great commandment in the law, [the name then given to the
Jewish Gospel which Moses preached ;] Jesus said unto him. Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind : that is the first and great commandment. And the
second is like unto it [in nature and importance,] Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets. Matt. xxii. 35. That is. Whatever Moses and the
other prophets taught and promised, hangs on the nail of perfect
love. All came from, all tended to, perfect love, under the Jewish
dispensation : nor is my dispensation less holy and gracious. On the
contrary, What'the law could not do, in a manner sufficiently perfect
for my dispensation (for Jewish perfection is not the highest perfec-
tion at which man may arrive on earth) God sending me into the world
for the atonement and destruction of sin, has hereby abundantly con-
demned sin in the fiesh, that the righteousness of the mediatorial law..
which enjoins perfect love, might be abundantly /w/^Z/ec? in the hearts
of them that walk after the spirit of my Gospel ; — a brighter Gospel
this, which transmits more direct and warmer beams from the Sun of
Righteousness, and can raise the exquisitly delicious fruit of per-
fect loTe to a greater perfection than the Gospel which Moses
preached. [Compare Rom. viii. 3. with Heb. iv. 2. See also an
account of the superiority of Christ's Gospel in the Scripture Scales,
Vol. III. Sect. VI.]

Agreeably to this doctrine of perfection our Lord said to the rich
young man. If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments : — If thou
wilt be perfect^ follow me in the way of my commandments : Love
God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself: for blessed arc they

292 THE LAST CHECK

that do his commandments, that they may enter through the gates into the
city, and have right to the tree of life which is in the street of that city, on
either side of the pure river of the water of life. This do and thou
shall live eternally in heaven. Bring forth fruit unto perfection,
according to the talents of grace and power which thou art entrusted
with, and thou shalt inherit eternal life: — thou shalt receive the reward
of the inheritance : — thou shalt receive the crown of life which the Lord
has promised to ihtm that love him, with the love which keepeth the
commandments, and fulfiUeth the royal law. Compare Matt. xix. 17.
Luke X. 28. Rev. xxii. 2, 14. James i. 12. and Luke viii. 14.

On these, and the above-mentioned Scriptures, we rest the truth
and importance of the doctrine of perfection. Jewish perfection
principally stands or falls with Deut. vi. and Matt. xxii. and Christian
perfection, with Matt. v. and xix. to which you may add the joint
testimony of St. Paul and St. James. The former, whom our oppo-
nents absurdly make the captain of their imperfection, says to the
judaiz^Dg Galatians, Bear ye one another's burdens [a rare instance of
perfect love !] and so fulfil the [mediatorial] law of Christ, Gal. vi. 2.
- — Nor let Mr. Hill say, that the apostle means we should fuljil it by
proxy ; for St. Paul adds in the next verse but one. Let every man
prove his own work, and then [with respect to that work] he shall have
rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another, for [with regard to per-
sonal, evangelical obedience] every man shall bear his own burthen: — =
a proverbial expression, which answers to this Gospel axiom, Every
man shall be judged according to his own works.

St. Paul urges the same evangelical and lawful doctrine upon the
Romans. Love one another ; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the
law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery : — Thou shalt not covet :
and if there be any other commandment^ it is briefly comprehended in this
saying, namely. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love is the
fulfilling of the law, Rom. xiii. 8, &.c. And that St. Paul spake this
of the mediatorial law of liberty and Christian perfection, and not of
the Christless lawof innocence and paradisiacal perfection, is evident
from his calling it the law of Christ, that is, Our Redeemer's law, in
opposition to our Creator'^s law, which was given without an atoning
sacrifice and a mediating priest, and therefore made no allowance for
infirmities, and admitted neither of repentance nor of renovated
obedience. Besides, St. Paul was not such a novice as not to know
that the Galatians and the Romans, who had all sinned, as he observes^
Rom. iii. 2v3. could never be exhorted, by any man in his senses, to
fulfil the paradisiacal law of innocence, by now loving one another.
He therefore indubitably spake of the gracious law of our gentle

•i:0 ANTINOMIANISM. 293

Melchisedec ; the law of him who said, A new commandment I give
unto you, that ye love one another — as I have loved you, that ye also love
one another, John xiii. 34. — A precious commandment this, which our
Lord calls new, not because the Jewish mediator had not given it to
the Israelites, but because the Christian mediator enforced it by nctv
motives, gave new, unparalleled instances of obedience to it, annexed
new rewards to the keeping of it, and required it to be fulfilled with
a 7ieta> perfection : and that Christians shall be eternally saved or
damned, according to their keeping or breaking this mediatorial law
of Christian perfection, this law of Christ, this royal law of Jesus the
Kin^ of the Jews, we prove by Matthew xviii. 35. vii. 26. xxv. 45.
and Luke vi. 46, &:c.

If Mr. Hiirs prejudices are not removed by what St. Paul says in
Rom. xiii. concerning onr fulfilling the Gospel law of perfection ; we
entreat him to ponder the glorious testimony which the apostle, in
Rom. ii. bears to this law, which he does not scruple to call his
Gospel. With regard to this gracious rule of judgment, says he»
There is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned
without a [mediator's written] law, shall also perish without a [media-
tor's written] law: and as majiy as have sinned in [or under a
mediator's written] law, shall be judged by the [mediator's written]
law. For not the hearers of the [mediator's] law, are just before God,
but the doers of the [mediator's] law shall be justified. [Nor are the
heathens totally destitute of this law :] for when the Gentiles, which
have not the [mediator's written] law, do by nature [by natural con-
science, which is the echo of the mediator's voice, and the reflection
of the light which enlightens every man that cometh into the world]
when the Gentiles, I say, do [by these means] the things contained in the
law ; they having not the law are a law unto themselves ; their conscience
also bearing witness; and their thoughts [in consequence of tl>e witness
borne] accusing, or else excusing one another ; in the day when God
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel,
[that is, according to the Gospel law which I preach.] Rom. ii. 11.
&LC. — For, while some lay up treasures in heaven, others treasure up
to themselves wrath against the day of wrath and of the righteous judg-
ment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to
them., who by patient continuance in well-doing, [or in keeping the
mediator's law according to their dispensation,] seek for glory [he will
render] eternal life, [like a righteous judge, and gracious rewarder of
them that diligently seek him.] But unto them that do not obey the
truth, but obey unrighteousness, [he will render] indignation and wrath
fin just proportion to the more or les? bright discoveries of the trutb

294 THE LAST CHECK

which shall have been made to them] Rom. ii. 5, &c. — For that
servant who knew his Lord's will, [by a written law, delivered through
the hands of a mediator] and prepared not himself [that he might
have boldness in the day of judgment] neither did according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes [in the hell of unbelieving Jews and
disobedient Christians.] But he that knew not [his master's will, by
an outwardly written law,] and did [break the law of nature, disobey
the voice of his conscience, and [commit things worthy of stripes, shall
be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him
shall be much required, Luke xii. 47, 48. An indubitable proof this,
that as something is required of all : something, even a talent of
grace, a measure of the spiritual light which enlightens every man,
is given to all to improve with, and bring forth fruit to perfection :
some thirty fold, some sixty fold, and others an hundred fold, accord-
ing to their respective dispensations.

From these quotations it appears to us indubitable, that the Gospel
of St. Paul, and of consequence, the Gospel of Christ, is not a
wanton, lawless Gospel ; but a holy, lawful Gospel, in which evan-
gelical promises are properly guarded by evangelical rules of judg-
ment, and the doctrines of grace wisely connected with the doctrines
of justice. If this be a glaring truth, what a dangerous game do
many good men play, when they emasculate St. Paul's Gospel, and
with antinomian rashness, cut off and cast away that morally legal
part of it, which distinguishes it both from the ceremonial Gospel^
which the Galatians foolishly embraced ; and from the lawless Gospel^
which Solifidian gospellers contend for, under the perverted name of
free grace ! And how seriously should we all consider these awful
words of St. Paul ! There are some that trouble you, and would pervert
the Gospel of Christ ; but though we, or an angel from heaven preach
any other Gospel unto you [whether it be a more severe, judaizing
Gospel, — or a less strict Solilidianizing Gospel] than that which we
have preached unto you [which stands at an equal distance from bur-
ihensome Jewish ceremonies ; and from lawless, Solifidian tenets ;]
let him be accursed, Gal. i. 7, 8.

This recapitulation of the principal Scripture proofs of our doc-
trine would be exceedingly deficient, if 1 did not once more remind
the reader of the glorious testimony which St. James bears to the
law of liberty. If ye [believers, says he] fulfil the royal law, accord-
ing to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do
well : [Ye quit yourselves like perfect Christians.] But if ye have
[uncharitably] respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of
the lazv as transgressors : [that is, ye are condemned by the mediator's

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 295

law, under which ye are. For whosoever shall keep the whole law [of
the mediator ;] and yet [uncharitably] offend in one point, he is guilty
of alL ^c. So speak ye, therefore, and so do, as people that shall be
judged by the law of liberty [the mediator's law.] For he [the imper-
fect, uncharitable, fallen believer] shall have judgment without mercy,
that hath showed no [charity or] mercy, James ii. 8.

We rest our doctrine of Jewish and Christian perfection on these
consentaneous testimonies of St. James and St. Paul ; of Moses, the
great lawgiver of the Jews ; and of Christ, the great lawgiver of
the Christians : the doctrine of perfection, or of perfectly cordial
obedience, being inseparably connected with the mediatorial laws of
Jiloses and of C/lr^s^ The moment you destroy these laws, by turning
them into " rules of life," through the personal observance of which
no believer shall ever be justified or condemned, you destroy the
ground of Jewish and Christian perfection, and you impose upon us
the lawless, unscriptural tenet of an obedience performed by proxy,
and of an imputed perfection, which will do us as little good in life,
death, and judgment, as imputed health, opposed to inherent health,
will do to a poor, sickles dying criminal. Thus, after leading my
reader round a large circle of proofs, I return to the very point
whence I started : [See the beginning of the preface ;] And I conclude,
that a Gospel without a mediatorial law, without an evangelical law,
without the conditional promise of a crown of heavenly glory to the
obedient, and without the conditional threatening of infernal stripes
to the disobedient ; — I conclude, I say, that such a Gospel will always
lead us to the centre of Antinomianism ; — to the Diana and Hecate of
the Calvinists ; to lawless free grace and everlasting free wrath ; or.
if you please, finished salvation and finished damnation. On the
other hand, the moment you admit what the Jewish and Christian
Gospel covenants are so express about, I mean an evangelical law, or
a practicable rule of judgment, as well as of conduct, eternal salvation
and eternal damnation become conditional : they are suspended upon
the evangelical perfection or imperfection of our obedience : and the
Rev. Mr. Berridge hits on the head the golden nail, on which hangs
all the law and the prophets, all the four Gospels and the Epistles,
when he says, " Sincere obedience as a condition will lead you unavoid-
ably up to a perfect obedience. ^^

And now, reader, choose which thou wilt follow, Mr. Hiirs lawless
Antinomian Gospel, or St. Paul and St. James's Gospel, including the
evangelical law of Christian liberty and perfection, by which law thou
shalt be conditionally jusU^ed or condemned, when God shall judge the
secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel, Rom. ii. 16. If

296 THE LAST CHECK

thou choose imputed righteousness and imputed perfection without
any condition, it will '' unavoidabhf lead thee down into a death pur-
gatory, through the chambers of indwelling sin, if thou art an elect
person in the Calvinian sense of the word ; or to eternal damnation
through the chambers of necessary sin, if thou art one of those whom
our opponents call reprobates. But if thou cordially choose the sin-
cere, voluntary, evangelical obedience of fiiith, which we preach both
as a condition and as a privilege; it will [Mr. HiWs second being judge]
" unavoidably lead thee up to perfect obedience.'* There is abso-
lutely no medium between these two Gospels. Thou must either be
a Crispian^ lawless imperfectionist, or an evangelical lawful perfection-
ist ; unless thou choose to be a Gallio — one who cares for none of
these things. Thou must wrap thyself up in unscriptural notions of
imputed righteousness, imputed holiness, and imputed obedience,
which make up the ideal garment of Calvinistically imputed perfec-
tion : or thou must perfectly wash in the blood of the Lamb thy robes
of inherent, though derived righteousness, holiness and obedience,
which [when they are thus washed] are the rich wedding garment of
evangelical perfection.

SECTION XVI.

The Author shows that the distinction between sins, and [evangelically
speaking'\ innocent infirmities, is truly scriptural^ and that judicious
Calvinists, and the Church of England hold it. — He draws the line
between sins and innocent infirmities. — A view of the extremes into
which rigid Pelagian Perfectionists, and rigid Calvinian Imperfec-
tionisis, have run east and west from the Gospel line, of an evangelical
perfection. — An answer to Mr. Henry's grand argument for the con-
tinuance of indwelling sin^ — Conclusion of the argumentative part of
this Essay.

We have proved, in the preceding section, that the doctrine of an
evangelically sinless perfection is truly scriptural ; being inseparably
connected with the greatest and most excellent precepts of the Old
and New Testament, and with the most evangelical and awful sanc-
tions of Moses and Jesus Christ. This might suffice to show, that our
doctrine of perfection cannot be called popish^ or Pelagian, with any
more candour, than the doctrine of the Trinity can be branded with
those epithets, because Pelagius and the Pope embrace it. If, in
order to be good Protestants, we were obliged to renounce all that
the Jews, Turks, and Infidels hold : we should renounce the Old
Testament, because the Jews revere it : we should renounce the

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 297

unity of God, because the Mahometans contend for it : nay, we should
renounce coramon humanity, because all Infidels approve of it. i beg
leaFe, however, to dwell a moment Ion:^er upon Mr. Hiirs objection,
that the Pope holds our doctrine.

When this gentleman was at Romc^ he may remember that his
Cicerorac showed him, in the ancient church of St. Paul without the
gate, (if I remember the name riacht) the pictures of all the Popes,
from St. Peter, Linus, Cletus, and Clement, down to the Pope, vvho then
filled, what is called " St. Peters chair." According to this view ol
papacy, Mr. Hill is certainly in the right ; for if he turn back to
Sect. V. he will see that Peter the first Pope, so called, was a com-
plete perfectionist, and if Clemens, or St. Clement, PauVs fellow
labourer, was really the fourth Pope, it is certain that he also held
our doctrine, as well as Peter and Christ; for he wrote to the Corin-
thians, '* Bd love were all the elect of God made perfect. — Those who
were made perfect in love are in the region of the just, and shall
appear in glory. — Happy then are we, if we fulfil the commxtnd merits
of God in the unity of love. — Following the commandments of God,
they sin noty Si. Clem. Ep. to the Cor. This glorious testimony,
which St. Clement bears to the doctrine of perfection, might be sup-
ported by many correspondent quotations from the other Fathers.
But as this would too much swell this Essay, I shall only produce one.
which is so much the more remarkable, as it is taken from St Jeromes
third Dialogue against Pelagius, the rigid, overdoing perfectionist.
*' Hoc et nos dicimus, posse hominem non peccare, si velit, pro tem-
pore, pro loco, pro imbecilitate corporea, quavidiu intentus est animus,
quamdiu chorda nulla vitio laxatur in cithara.'^ — That is, fVe [who
oppose Pelagius's notions about Adamic perfection] maintain also, that
GonsiJering our. time, place, and bodily weakness, rve can avoid sin if rt^c
will ; as long as our mind is bent upon it, and the string of our harr
[i. e. of our Christian resolution] is not slackened by any rs; i If ul fault.

When I read these blessed testimonies in favour of the truth which
we vindicate, my pleased mind flies to Rome, and i am ready to say.
Hail ! ye holy Popes and Fathers, ye perfect servants of my perfect
Lord ! I am ambitious to share with you the names of " Arminian.
Pelagian, Papist, temporary monster, and Atheist in masquerade.'"
I publish to the world my steady resolution to follow you, and any oi
your successors, who have done and taught Christ's commandments
And I enter my protest against the mistakes of the ministers, who
teach that Christ's law is impracticable, that sin must dwell in our
hearts as long as we live, and that we must continue to break thf.
T«ord's precepts in our inward parts unto death.

Vf)t. l¥. 38

298 THE LAST cHficri

I shall close my answer to this argnment of Mr. Hill, by a quots^
tion from Mr. Weshifs Remarks upon the Review. '• It [our doctrine
of Christian perfection] has been condemned by the Pope and his
whole conclave, even in this present century. In the famous bull
Unigeniius, they utterly condemn the uninterrupted act [of faith and
love which some men talked of, of continually rejoicing, praying,
and giving thanks] as dreadful heresy." — If we have Peter and C/e-
wien^on our side, we are willing to let Mr. Hill screen his doctrine
behind the Pope who issued out the bull Unigenitus, and if he pleases,
behind the present Pope too.

However, says Mr. Hill^ " The distinction between sins and inno-
cent infirmities, is derived from the Romish church."

Ans. 1. We rejoice, if the church of Rome was never so unreason-
able, and so deluded by iVntinomian Popes, as to confound an invo-
luntary wandering thought, an undesigned mistake, and a lamented
fit of drowsiness at prayer, with adultery, murder, and incest ; in
order to represent Christ's mediatorial law as absolutely impracti-
cable ; and to insinuate that fallen believers, who actually commit the
above-mentioned crimeSy are God's dear children, as well as the
obedient believers, who labour under the above described infirmities.

2. We apprehend that Mr. Hill, and the divines who have
espoused Dr. Crisp^s errors, are some of the last persons in the
world by whom we may, with decency, be charged to hold " licen-
iious''^ doctrines. And we are truly sorry that any Protestants should
make it their business to corrupt that part of the Gospel, which, if
we believe Mr. Hill, the Pope himself has modestly spared.

3. Mr. Hill might, with much more propriety have objected, that
our distinction is derived from the Jewish church ; for, the " old
rogue,^^ as some Solifidians have rashly called Moses, evidently made
a distinction between sin and infirmities ; he punished a daring Sabbath-
breaker, and an audacious rebel, with death, — with present death, —
with the most terrible kind of death. The language of his burning
zeal seemed to be that of David, Be not merciful to them that offend
of malicious wickedness. Psalm lix. 5. — But upon such as accidentally
contracted some involuntary pollution, he inflicted no other punish-
ment than that "of a separation from the congregation till evening. —
If Mr. Hill consider the difference of these two punishments, he
must either give place to perverseness, or confess, that wilful sins,
and involuntary intirmities, were not Calvinistically confounded by the
mediator of the Old Covenant ; and that .Moses himself made a rational
and evangelical distinction between the spot of God^s children, and thai
of the perverse and crooked generation y Deut. xxxii. 4.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. ^9

4. That Christ, the equitable and gracious mediator of the New
Covenant, was not less merciful than stern Moses, with respect to the
distinction we contend for, appears to us evident from his making a
wide difference between the almost involuntary drowsiness of th«
eleven disciples in Gethsemane, and the malicious watchfulness of the
traitor Judas. Concerning the offence of the former, he said. The
spirit indeed is willing, but thejiesh is weak ; and with respect to the
crime of the latter he declared, It -si'ould be good for that man if he
had never been born.

5. David and Paul exactly followed herein the doctrine of Aloses
and Christ. The Psalmist says. Keep back thy servant also from pre-
sumptuous sins : let them not have the dominion over me : then shall I be
upright; [or rather, as the word literally means in the original] /
shall be perfect and innocent from the great transgression. Psalm xix. 13.
Hence it is evident that some transgressions are incompatible with
the perfection which David prayed for ; and that some errors, or some
secret (unnoticed, involuntary) faults are not.

6. This, we apprehend, is evident from his own words, Blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not sin ; and in whose spirit there
is no guile, though there may be some improprieties in his words and
actions. Psalm, sxxii. 2. David's meaning may be illustrated by the
well-known case of Nathanael. Philip said to him, We have found
him of whom Moses wrote in the law : [a clear proof this, by the by,
that the law frequently means the Jewish Gospel, which testifies of
Christ to come :] it is Jesus of Nazareth. And Nathanael said unto
him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Here was an involun-
tary fault, an i7nproper quoting of a proverbial expression : and never-
theless, as he quoted it with a good intention, and to make way for a
commendable inquiry into the report which he heard, his error was
consistent with that degree of perfection which implies innocence from
the great [wilful] transgression. This I prove : 1. By his conduct ;
Philip saith unto him, Come and see : and he instantly went, without
betraying the least degree of the self-conceited stiffness, surly pride,
and morose resistance which always accompany the unloving preju-
dice by which the law of Christ is broken. — And 2. By our Lord's
testimony : Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him.
Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! Our Lord's word for
guile, in the original, is 00A05, the very word, which being also con-
nected with a negative, forms the epithet x^eXoi, whereby St. Peter
denotes the unadulterated purity of God's word, which he compares
to sincere or perfectly pure milk. \ Peter ii. 2. Hence I conclude,
that, Christ himself being witness, [evangelically speaking] there was

300 THE LAST CHECK

uo more indwelling insincerity in Nathanael^ than there is in the pure
word of .>od, and that this is the happy case of all those who fully
deserve the glorious title of Israelite indeed^ which our Lord publicly
bestowed upon Nathanael. To return :

7. If to make a distinction between sins and infirmities, constitutes
a man half a Papist, it is evident that St. Paul was not less tinctured
with popery (so called) than David, Moses, and Jesus Christ : for he
writes to Timothy — them that sin, rebuke before all, that others also may

fear, i Tim. v. 20. And yet, he writes to the Romans, We that are
strong should bear with the infirmities of the weak. Rom. xv. 1.
Here are two plain conaniands ; the first, not to bear with sins; and
the second, to bear with infirmities: a demonstration this, that there is
an essential difference between sms and infirmities, and that this differ-
ence is discoverable to others, and much more to ourselves. Nay, in
most cases, it is so discernible to those who have their spiritual senses
properly disposed, that they can as easily distinguish between sins
(properly so called) and infirmities, as a wise judge can distinguish
between accidental death, and wilful murder ; or between unknow-
ingly passing a false guinea with a kind intention to relieve the poor,
and treasonably coining it with a roguish design to defraud the
public. The difference between the sun and the moon is not more
striking in the natural world, than the difference between sins and
infirmities is in the moral world Nevertheless, blind prejudice will
probably confound them still, to darken counsel, and to raise a cloud
of logical dust, that Anlinomianism, (the Diana of the Imperfectionists)
may make her escispe, and save indwelling sin, which is the claw of
the hellish lion, the tooth of (he old dragon, the fishing-hook of Satan,
and the deadly stirtg of the king of terrors.

8. Judicious Calvinists have seen the propriety of the distinction,
for which we are represented as unsound Protestants. Of many
whom 1 could mention, I shall only quote one, who, for his piety,
wisdom, and moderation, is an honour to Calvinism. — 1 mean the
Rev. Mr. Newton, Mmister of Olney. In his Letters on Religious Sub-
jects, p. \i)9, he makes this ingenuous confession — " The experi-
ence of past years has taught me" [and 1 hope that some day or other
it will also teach our other opponents] " to distinguish between igjio-
.fance and disobedience. The Lord is gracious to the weakness of his
people ; many involuntary mistakes will not interrupt their communion
with him. — He pities their infirmity, and teaches them to do better.
But if they dispute his known will, and act against the dictates of con-
science, they will surely suffer for it. — Wilful sin sadly perplexes and
retards our progress.'* Here is, if 1 mistake not, a clear distinction

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 301

made by a true Protestant, between disobedience ^ or rviljtd sin, ami
Tjealmess, involuntary mistakes, or infirmity.

9. If Mr. Hill will not regard Mr. Aewton''s authority, I beg he
would show some respect for the authority of our Church, and the
import of his own prayers. If there be absolutely no difference
between wilful sins, involuntary negligences, and unavoidable ignor-
ances: why does our Church distinguish them, when she directs us to
pray in the litany, that it may please God to forgive us all our sins^
negligences, and ignorances? If these three words have but one
meaning, should not Mr. Hill leave out the two last, as ridiculoua
tautology ? Or, at least, to remove from our Church the suspicion of
Popery, should he not pray every Sunday that God would forgive uz
all our sins, sins, and sins !

From the nine preceding remarks, and the quotations made therein,
it appears, if I mistake not, that our important distinction between
'wilful sin and infirmities, or involuntary offences, recommends itself to
reason and conscience ; that it is supported by the law of Moses, and
the Gospel of Christ ; by the psalms of David, and the epistles of St.
Paul; by the writings of judicious Calvinists, and the liturgy of our
Church ; and therefore, it is as absurd to call it a popish distinction,
because the Papists are not injudicious enough Ic^reject it. as it is
absurd to call the doctrine of Christ's divinity, a doctrine of devils,
because devils acknowledge him to be the Son of God, and their
Omnipotent Controller.

Should Mr. Hill reply, that if this distinction cannot properly be
called popish, it deserves to be called " Antinomian'^ and " licentious ;^*
because it countenances all the men who give to their grossest sins
the soft name of innocent infirmities; we can answer: it has been
proved, that Moses and Jesus Christ held this distinction ; and there-
fore to call it Aniinomian and licentious, is to call not only Christ, the
holy one of God, but even " legaV Moses, an Aniinomian, and an
advocate for licentiousness. See what these Calvinian retinements
come to ! — 2. The men who abuse the doctrine of the distinction
between sins and infirmities, abuse as much the doctrine of God's
mercy, and the important distinction between working days and the
Lordh day: but, is this a proof that the doctrines of God's mercy,
and the distinction between the Lord's day and other da} s, are " licen-
tious tenets, against which all that wish well to the interests of Protes-
lantism should protest in a body ?'''

If Mr. Hill try to embarrass us by saying, *' Where will you drav,
the hne between wilful sinsy and [evangelically speaking] innocen'
infirmities ^^^ — We reply, without the least degree of embarrassment

302 THE LAST CHECK

Where Moses and the prophets ha?e drawn it in the Old Testament ;
where Christ and the apostles have drawn it in the New ; and where
we draw it after them in these pages. And retorting the question to
show its frivolousness, we ask, where will Mr. Hill draw the line
between the free, evangelical observing of the Lord's day, and the
superstitious, Pharisaic keeping of the Sabbath ; or between weak
saving faith, and wilful unbelief? Nay, upon his principles, where
will he draw it even between a good and a bad work ; if all our good
works are really dung, dross, and filthy rags ?

However, as the question is important, I shall give it a more par-
ticular answer. An infirmity is a breach of Adam's law of paradisia-
cal perfection, which our covenant God does not require of us now :
and [evangelically speaking] a sin for Christians, is a breach of Christ's
evangelical law of Christian perfection— a pirfection this, which God
requires of all Christian behevers. — An infirmity [considering it with
the error which it occasions] is consistent with pure love to God and
man : but a sin is inconsistent with that love. — An infirmity is free
from guile, and has its root in our animal frame ; but a sin is attended
with guile, and has its root in our moral frame, springing either from
the habitual corruption of our hearts, or from the momentary perver-
sion of our temoers. — An infirmity unavoidably results from our
unhappy circumstances, and from the necessary infelicities of our
present state. But a sin flows from the avoidable and perverse
choice of our own will. — An infirmity has its foundation in an invo-
luntary want of power : and a sin^ in a wilful abuse of the present
light and power we have. The one arises from involuntary igno-
rance and weakness, and is always attended with a good meaning — a
meaning unmixed with any had design, or wicked prejudice : but the
other has its source in voluntary perverseness and presumption, and
is always attended with a meaning altogether bad ; or, at best, with a
good meaning founded on wicked prejudices. If to this line the can-
did reader add the line which we have drawn [Section VI.] between
the perfection of a Gentile, that of a Jew, and that of a Christian, he
will not easily mistake in passing a judgment between the wilful sins,
which are inconsistent with an evangelically sinless perfection, and the
innocent infirmities which are consistent with such a perfection.

Confounding what God has divided, and dividing what the God of
truth has joined, are the two capital stratagems of the god of error.
The first he has chiefly used to eclipse or darken the doctrine of
Christian perfection. B}'^ means of his instruments, he has perpetually
confounded the Christless law of perfect innocence, given to Adam
before the fall ; and the mediatorial, evangelical law of penitential

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 303

faith, under which our first parents were put, when God promised
them the Seed of the woman, the mild Lawgiver, the Prince of Peace,
the gentle King of the Jews, who breaks not the bruised reed^ nor
quenches the smoking flax^ but compassionately tempers the doctrine?
of justice by the doctrines of grace, and instead of the law of inno-
cence, which he has kept and made honourable for us, has substituted
his own evangelical law of repentance, f^iith, and Gospel obedience,
which law is actually kept, according to one or another of its various
editions, by nWjust 7nen made perfect; that is, by all the rvise virgins.
who are ready for the mindnight cry and the marriage of the Lamb.

Hence it appears that Pelagius and Augustine were both right in
some things, and wrong in a capital point. Pelagius^ the father of the
rigid Perfectionists and rigid Free-willers, asserted that Christ's law
could be kept, and that the keeping of that law was all the perfection
which that law requires. So far Pelagius was right : having reason,
conscience, and Scripture on his side. But he was grossly mistaken,
if he confounded Christ's mediatorial law, with the law of paradisia-
cal perfection. This was his capital error, which led him to deny
original sin, and to extol human powers so excessively as to intimate,
that by a fliithful and diligent use of them, man may be as innocent^
and as perfect, as Adam w^s before the fall.

On the other hand, Augustine, the father of the rigid Imperfection-
ists and rigid Bound-vvillers, maintained that our natural powers being
greatly weakened and depraved by the fall, we cannot, by all the
helps which the Gospel affords, keep the law of innocence ; that is,
always think, speak, and act, with that exactness, and propriety,
which became immortal man, when God pronounced him very good
in Paradise : he asserted, that every impropriety of thought, language,
or behaviour, is a breach of the law of perfection, under which God
placed innocent man in the garden of Eden : and he proved that every
breach of this law is sin : and that of consequence, there can be no
Adamaic paradisiacal perfection in this life. So far Augustine was
very right : — so far reason and Scripture support his doctrine : — and
so far the Church is obliged to him for having made a stand against
Pelagius. But he was very much mistaken when he abolished the
essential diflference which there is between our Creator's law of
strict justice, and our Redeemer's mediatorial law of justice tempered
with grace and mercy. Hence he concluded that there is absolutely
no keeping the law, and consequently no performing any perfect
obedience in this life ; and that we must sin as long as we continue
in the body. Thus, while Pelagius made adult Christians as perfectly

304 THE LAST CHECK

sinless as Adam was in paradise ; Augustine made them so completely
sinful^ as to make it necessary for every one of them to go into a
death purgatory, crying, *' There is a law in my members, which
brings me into captivity to the law of sin. Sin dwelleth in me. With
my flesh I serve the law of sin. I am carnal, sold under sin — O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me ?"

The Scripture doctrine which we vindicate, stands at an equal dis-
tance from these extremes o( Pelagius and Augustine. It rejects, with
Augustine, the Adamic perfection which Pelagius absurdly pleaded
for : and it explodes, with Pelagius, the necessary continuance of
indwelling sin, and carnal bondage, which Augustine no less absurdly
maintained. Thus, adult believers are still sinners, — still imperfect,
according to the righteous law of paradisiacal innocence and perfec-
tion : and yet, they are really saints, and perfect, according to the gra-
cious law of cvttw^e/ica/ justification and perfection ; a law this, which
considers as upright and perfect, all the godly Heathens, Jews, and
Christians, who are without guile in their respective folds, or under
their various dispensations. Thus, by still vindicating the various
editions of Christ's mediatorial law, which has been at times almost
buried under heaps of Pharisaic and Antinomian mistakes, we still
defend practical religion. And as in the Scripture scales, by proving
the evangelical marriage of Free Grace, and Free Will, we have
reconciled Zelotes and Honestus with respect to faith and works ; so
in this essay, by proving the evangelical union of the doctrines of
grace and justice, in the mild and righteous law of our Redeemer, we
reconcile Augustine and Pelagius, and force them to give up reason and
Scriptiire, or to renounce the monstrous errors which keep them
asunder : I mean the deep, Antinomian errors of Augustine, with re-
spect to indwelling sin and a death purgatory; and the high-flowo;
Pharisaic errors of Pelagius, with regard to Adamic perfection, and a
complete freedom from original degeneracy.

The method we have used to bring about this reconciliation is quite
plain and uniform. W^e have kept our Scripture Scales even, and
used every weight of the sanctuary without prejudice ; especially
those weights which the Moralists throw aside as Cahinistic and Anii-
nomian ; and those which the Solifidians east away as Mosaic and
legal. Thus, by evenly balancing the two Gos^pel axioms, we have
reunited the doctrines of grace and of justice, which heated Augustine
and heated Pelagius have separated ; apd we have distinguished our
Redeemer's evangelical law, from our Creator's paradisiacal law ;
two distinct laws these, which those illustrious antagonists have con

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 305

founded ; and we flatter ourselves that, by this artle«5s mean, another
step is taken towards bringing the trvo partial Gospels of the day, to
the old standard of the one, complete Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I havj^done unfoldinaj our reconciling plan : but the disciples of
Augustine, rallied by Calvin, have not done attacking it! I hope that
I have answered the objections of Mr. Hill, Mr. Toplady, and Mr.
Martin, against the evangelical perfection which we defend ; but
another noted divine of their persuasion comes up to their assistance.
It is the Rev. Mr. Matthew Henry, who has deservedly got a great
name among the Calvinists, by his valuable Exposition of the Bible in
five folio volumes. This huge piece of ordnance carries a h»^avy
ball which threatens the very heart of our sinless Gospel. It is too
late to attempt an abrupt and silent flight. Let then Mr. Henry fire
away. If our doctrine of an evangelically sinless perfection is found-
ed upon a rock, it will stand ; the ponderous ball which seems likely
to demolish it will rebound against the doctrine of indwelling sin : and
the standard of Christian liberty which we wave, will be more re-
spected than ever.

" Corruption [saith that illustrious commentator,] is left remaining in
the hearts of good Christians, that they may learn war, may keep oq
the whole armour of God, and stand continually upon their guard."—
** Thus corruption is driven out of the hearts o{ beViexers by little and
little. The work of sanctification is carried on gradually : but tliat
judgment will at length be brought forth into a complete victory." —
Namely, when death shall come to the assistance of the atoning
blood, and of the SjJirit's power. That this is Mr. Henry''s doctrine
is evident from his comment on Gal. v. 17. " In a renewed man,
where thfere is something of a good principle, there is a struggle
between, &c. the remainders of sin, and the beginnings of grace ; and
this. Christians must expect, will be their exercise as long as they con'
iinue in this world ;^^ — or, to speak more intelligibly, till they go into
the death purgatory.

Not to mention here again, Gal. v. 17, &c. Mr. Henry builds this
uncomfortable doctrine upon the following text, The Lord thy God
will put out those nations before thee by little and little ; thou mayest not
consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
Deut. vii. 22. And he gives us to understand that ^^ pride, and secu-
rity, and other sins''^ are " the enemies more dangerous than the beasts
of the field thai would be apt to increase''^ upon us, if God delivered us
from indwelling sm, i. e. from the remains of pride, and carnal secu-
rity, and other sins. This exposition is backed by an appeal to tne
following text, JVow these are the nations which the Lord left to prove

Vol. IV. 59

30S THE LAST CHECK

Israel hy ihem-^io know whether they [the Israelites] would hearken to
the commandments of the Lord^ Judges iii. 1, 4. See Mr. Henry's
Exposition on these passages.

To this we answer, 1. That it is absurd to build the mi|[^ty doc-
trine of a death purgatory upon an historical allusion. If such allu-
sions were proofs, we could easily multiply our arguments. We
could say, that sin is to be utterly destroyed^ because Moses says. The
Lord delivered into our hands Og and all his people, and we smote him
until none was left unto him remaining. Deut. iii. 3. — Because Joshua
smote Horam king of Gezer, and his people, until he had left him none
remaining. Deut. iii. 33. — Because Said was commanded utterly to
destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and lost bis crown for sparing their
king. Because when God overthrew Pharaoh and all his host there
remained not so much as one of them. Exod. xiv. 28. Because when
God rained fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah, he overthrew all their
[wicked] inhabitants : — and because Moses says, / took your sin, the
calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and
ground it very small, even until it was as stnall as dust, and cast the
dust thereof into the brook. Deut. ix. 21. But we should blush to
build the doctrine of Christian perfection upon so absurd and slender
a foundation. And yet such a foundation would be far more solid than
that on which Mr. Henry builds the doctrine of Christian imperfec-
tion, and of the wecessar^/ indwelling of sin in the most holy believers:
for

2. Before God permitted the Canaanites to remain in the land,
he had said, " when ye are passed over Jordan, then ye shall drive
out all the inhabitants of the land before you, and destroy all their
pictures : — for I have given you the land to possess it. — ^But, if ye
will not drive out the inhabitants io{ the land before you, then it shall
come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be
pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the
land wherein you dwell. And moreover I shall do unto you, as I
thought to do unto them.''^ Numb, xxxiii. 51, &c. Hence it appears,
that the sparing of the Canaanites was a punishment inflicted upon
the Israelites, as well as a favour shown to the Canaanites, some of
whom, like Rahab and the Gibeonites, probably turned to the Lord,
and as God^s creatures, enjoyed his saving mercy in the land of pro-
mise. But is indwelling sin one of God^s creatures, that God should
show it any favour, and should refuse his assistance to the faithful
believers who are determined to give it no quarter ? Can indwelling
sin be converted to God, as the indwelling Canaanites might, and as
some of them undoubtedly were ?

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 307

3. But the capital flaws of Mr. Hennfs argument are, 1 apprehend,
two suppositions, the absurdity of which is glaring : " Corruption
[says he] is left remaining in the hearts of good Christians, that they
may learn war, may keep on the whole armour of God, and stand
continually upon their guard." Just as if Christ had not learned war,
kept on the breast-plate of righteousness, and stood continually upon his
guards without the help of indwelhng sin ! — ^just as if the world, the
devil, the weakness of the flesh, and death, our last enemy, with which
our Lord so severely conflicted, were not adversaries powerful enough
to prove us, to engage us to learn war, and to make us keep on and
use the whole armour of God to the end of our life ! — The other
absurd supposition is, that " pride, and security, and other sins,^^ which
are supposed to be typified by the wild beasts mentioned in Deut vii.
22. will increase upon us by the destruction of indwelling sin. But is
it not as ridiculous to suppose this, as to say, pride will increase upoQ
us by the destruction of pride ; and carnal security will gather strength
by the extirpation of carnal security, and by the implanting o( constant
watchfulness, which is a branch of the Christian perfection which we
contend for?"

4. With respect to the inference which Mr. Henry draws from
these words. Thou mayest not consume them at once : the Lord will put
them out before thee by little and little ; is it not highly absurd also ?
Does he give us the shadow of an argument to prove, that this verse
was spoken of our indwelling corruptions? And suppose it was,
would this prove that the doctrine of death purgatory is true ? You
say to a greedy person you must eat your dinner by little and little, you
cannot swallow it down at one gulp : a farmer teaches his son to plough,
and says, We cannot plough this field at once, but we may plough it by
little and little, i. e. by making one furrow after another, till we end the
last furrow. Hence 1 draw the following inferences : we eat our meals,
and plough our fields, by little and little ; and therefore no dinner can
be eaten, and no field ploughed before death. A surgeon says that the
healing of a wound " is carried on gradually :^^ hence his prejudiced
mate runs away with the notion, that no wound can be healed so long as
a patient is alive. Who does not see the flaw of these conclusions ?

5. But the greatest absurdity, I apprehend, is yet behind. Not to
observe, that we do not remember to have read any command in our
Bibles not to consume sin at once: or any declaration, that God will
put it out 0}dy " by little and little :" we ask. What length of time do
you suppose God means ? You make him say that he will make an
end of our indwelling sin by little and little ; do you think he means four
days, four years, or fourscore years ? — if }ou say that God cannot or

^08 TlfE LAST CHECK

will not wholly cleanse the thoughts of our hearts isnder fourscore
years, you send .11 who die under that age into hell, or into some pur°
gatory where they aiust wait till the eighty years of their conflict
with indwelling sin are ended. — If you say, that God can or will do it
in four days, hut not under; you absurdly suppose that the penitent
thief remained at least three days in Paradise full of indnelling sin;
seeing his sanclification was to be " carried on grudnally''^ in the space
of four days at least. — If you are obliged to grant, that, when the
words, by little and little, are applied to the destruction of indwelling
sin. they may mean four hours [the time which the penitent thief
probably lived after his conversion] as well as four days; do not you
begin to be ashamed of your system ? And if you reply, that death
alone fully extirpates indwf^lling sin ; does not this favourite tenet
of yours overturn Mr. Henry^s doctrine about the necessity of the
slow, *' graduaf^ destruction of indwelling sin ? May not a sinner
believe in a moment, when God helps him to believe ? And may not a
believer [whom you suppose necessarily full of indwelling sin as long
as he is in this world] die in a moment? — If you answer in the nega-
iive, you deny the sudden death oi John the Baptist, St. James, and St.
Paul, who had their heads cut otf in a moment:— In a word, you
deny that any believer can die suddenly. — If you reply in the affirma-
tive, you give up the point, and grant that indwelling sin may be
instantaneously destroyed. And now what becomes of Mr. Henry^s
argument, which suppo.^es that sanctitication can never be complete
without a long, gradual process ; and that the extirpation of sin can-
not take place but " by little and little P'^

I have set before thee, reader, the lights and shades of our doc-
trine : I have produced our arguments, and those of our opponents ;
and now, say which of them bear the stamp of imperfection? !f thou
pronounce that Urim and Thummim, light and perfection, belong to
the arguments of Mr. Hill, Mr Toplady, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Henrys
I must lay down ray pen, and deplore the infelicity of our having a
reason, which unsays in ray breast what it says in thine. But if thou
find, after mature deliberation, that our arguments are light in the
Lord, as being more agreeable to the dictates of unprejudiced reason,
than those of our antagonists, more conformable to the plain declara-
tions of the Sacred Writers, titter to encourage believers in the way
of holiness, more suitable to the nature of undefiled religion, and
better adapted to the display of the Redeemer's glory ; I shall enjoy
the double pleasure of embracing the Truth, and of embracing her
together mith thee: in the mean time, closing here the argumentative
part of this Essay, I just beg the continuance of thy favourable atten-

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 309

tion, while F practically address perfect Pharisees, prejudiced Imper-
fectioQists, imperfect believers, and perfect Christians.

SECTION XVII.

An Address to perfect Christian Pharisees.

I ADDRESS you Jirst, ye perfect Christian Pharisees ; beca«se ye
are most ready to profess Christian perfection, though alas I ye stand
at the greatest distance from perfect humility, the grace which is most
essential to the perfect Christian's character ; and because the ene-
mies of our doctrine make use of you Jirst^ when they endeavour to
root it up from the earth.

That ye may know whom I mean by perfect Chriatian Pharisees,
give me leave to show you your own picture in the glass of a plain
description. Ye have professedly entered into the fold where Christ's
sheep, which are perfected in love, rest all at each other's feet, and
at the feet of the Lamb of God. But how have ye entered '—By
Christ the door? or at the door of presumption ? — Not by Christ the
door : for Christ is meekness and lowliness manifested in the (lesh :
but ye are still ungentle and fond of praise. When he pours out his
soul as a divine Prophet, he says, Learn of me. for I am meek and
lowly in heart ; take my yoke upon you, and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. But ye overlook this humble door. Your proud gigantic
minds are above stooping low enough to follow Him who made himself
of no reputation that he might raise us to heavenly honours ; and who,
to pour just contempt upon human pride, had his first night's lodging
in a stable, and spent his last night partly on the cold ground in a
storm of divine wrath, and partly in an ignominious confinement,
exposed to the greatest indignities which Jews and Gentiles could
p(»ur upon him. He rested his infant head upon hay, his dying head
upon thorns. A manger was his cradle, and a cross his death-bed.
Thirty years he travelled from the sordid stable to the accursed tree,
unnoticed by his own peculiar people. In the brightest of his days
poor fishermen, some Galilean woman, and a company of shouting
children, formed all his retinue. Shepherds were his first attendants,
and malefactors his last companions.

His first beatitude was. Blessed are the poor in spirit ; and tlie last,
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. His first doctrine was
Repent : nor was the last unlike to it ; If I have washed ijour feet, ye
ought also to wash one another^s feet, for I have given you an example

310 THE LAST CHECK

that ye should do as I have done to you.-^He that will he first among you
let him he the least of all. Now far from practising with godly sin-
cerity this last lesson of our humble Lord, you do not so much as
truly relish the j^rs^. Ye do not delight in, nay, ye abhor penitential
poverty of spirit. Your humility is not cordial, and wrought into
your nature by grace : but complimental, and woven into your
carriage by art. Ye are humble in looks, in gestures, in voice, in
dress, in behaviour ; so far as external humility helps you to secure
(he reputation of perfect Christians, at which ye aspire from a motive
of Pharisaic ambition ; but ye continue strangers to the childlike
simplicity, and unaffected lowliness of Christ's perfect disciples. Ye
are the very reverse of those Israelites in whom there is no guile. Ye
resemble tlie artful Giheonites^ who for a time imposed upon Joshua's
artless simplicity. Your feigned profession of special grace deceives
those of God's children, who have more of the simplicity of the
dove than of the serpent's wisdom. Ye choose the lowest place, but
ye do not love it. If ye cheerfully take it, it is not among your equals^
but among your inferiors : because you think that such a condescending
step may raise the credit of your humility, without endangering your
superiority : if ye stoop, and go down, it is not because ye see your-
selves unworthy of the seat of honour; but because ye hope that
people will by and by say to you. Come up higher. Your pharisaic
cunning aims at once art wearing the coronet of genuine humility, and
the crown of self-exalting pride. Ye love to be esteemed of men for
your goodness and devotion : ye want to be admired for your exact-
ness, zeal, and gracious attainments. The pride of the Jewish Phari-
sees was coarse in comparison of yours. They wore the rough gar-
ment, and you wear the silks of spiritual vanity : and even when ye
die them in the blood of the Lamb, which you extol in word, it is to
draw the confidence of humble Christians by your Christian appear-
ance and language, more than to follow the propensity of a new
nature, which loves to be clothed with humility, and feels itself in its
own centre, when it rests in deep poverty of spirit, and sees that God
IS all in all.

One of the greatest ends of Christ's coming into the world, was to
empty us of ourselves, and to fill us with bumble love ; but ye are
still full of yourselves, and void of Christ, that is, void of humility
incarnate. Ye still aim at some wrong mark : whether it be self-
glory, self-interest, self-pleasure, self-party, or self-applause. In a
word, one selfish scheme or another, contrary to the pure love of
God and of your neighbour, secretly destroys the root of your pro-
fession, and may be compared to the jjnseen worm that ate the

TO ANTINOMIANISM. "Sll

wot of Jonah's gourd. Ye have a narrow, contracted spirit : ye do
not gladly sacrifice your private satisfaction, your interest, your repu-
tation, your prejudices, to the general interest of truth and love^ and
to the public good of the whole body of Christ. Ye are in secret
bondage to men, places, and things. Ye do not heartily entertain the
wisdom from above, which is pure, gentle, easy to be entreated, and
full of mercy. — Nay, ye are above conviction : gross sinners yield to
truth before you. Like Je/m, ye are zealous, and ye pretend that it
is for the Lord of hosts : but alas ! it is for your opinions, your party,
your honour. In a word, ye do not walk in constant, solemn expect-
ation of death and judgment : your will is not broken : your carnal
confidence is yet alive : the heavenly dove does not sit in your
breast : self, wrapt up in the cloak of humility, is still set up in your
hearts, and in secret you serve thafcursed idol more than God. Satan,
transformed into an angel of light, has artfully led you to the profession
of Christian perfection through a circle of external performances,
through glorious forms of doctrine in the letter, and through a fair
show of zeal for complete holiness : the Lord, to punish your
formality, has in part given you up to your delusion : and now, ye as
much believe yourselves perfect Christians, as the Pharisees, in our
Lord's day, believed themselves ferfect Jews.

Mr. Wesley^ in his Plain Account of Christian Perfection, has borne
his faithful testimony against such witnesses of perfect love as ye are.
If ye despise this address, regard his remarks. *' Others [says he]
who think they have the direct witness of their being renewed in
love, are nevertheless manifestly wanting in the fruit. — Some are
undoubtedly wanting in long -sufferings Christian resignation. They
do not see the hand of God in whatever occurs, and cheerfully
embrace it. They do not in every thing give thanks, and rejoice ever-
more. They are not happy ; at least not alzi^ays happy. For some-
times they complain. They say, ' This is hard!' — Some are wanting
in gentleness. They resist evil, instead of turning the other cheek.
They do not receive reproach with gentleness ; no, nor even reproof.
Nay, they are notable to bear contradiction without the appearance,
at least, of resentment. If they are reproved, or contradicted,
though mildly, they do not take it well. Thoy behave with more
distance and reserve than they did before, &:c. — Some are wanting in
goodness. They are not kind, mild, sweet, amiable, soft, and loving
at all times, in their spirit, in their words, in their look, in their
air, in the whole tenor of their behaviour ; not kind to all, high and
low, rich and poor, without respect of persons ; particularly to them
that are out of the way, to opposers, and to those of their own house-

312 THE LAST check:

hold. They do not long, study, endeavour by every mean, to
make all about them happy. — Some are wanting in fidelity, a nice
regard to truth, simplicity, and godly sincerity. Their love is hardly
without dissimulation : something like guile is found in their mouth.
To avoid roughness they lean to the other extreme. They are
smooth to an excess, so as scarce to avoid a degree of fawning. —
Some are wanting in meekness, quietness of spirit, composure, evenness
of temper. They are up and down, sometimes high, sometimes low ;
their mind is not well balanced. There affections are either not in
due proportion ; they have too much of the one, too little of the
other : or they are not duly mixt and tempered together so as to
counterpoise each other. Hence there is often a jar. Their soul
is out of tune, and cannot make the true harmony. — Some are wanting
in temperance. They do not steadily use that kind and degree of
food, which they know, or might know, would most conduce to the
health, strength, and vigour of the body. Or they are not temperate
in sleep : they do not rigorously adhere to what is best for body and
mind They use neither fasting nor abstinence," &c.

I have dt^scribed your delusion : but who can describe its fatal con-
sequences ? Who can tell the mischief it has done, and continues to
do? The few sincere perfectionists, and the multitude of captious
imperfectionists, have equally found you out. The former are
grieved for you ; and the latter triumph through you.

When the sincere perfectionists consider the inconsistency of your
profession, they are ready to give up their faith in Christ's all-clean-
sing blood, and their hope of getting a clean heart in this life. They
are tempted to follow the multitude of professors, who sit down in
self imputed righteousness, or in Solifidian notions of an ideal perfec-
tion in Christ. And it is well if some of them have not already
yielded to the temptation, and begun to fight against the hopes which
they once entertained of loving God with all their hearts. It is
well if some, through you, have not been led to say; "I once
sweetly enjoyed the thought of doing the will of God on earth,
as it IS done in heaven. Once I hopefully prayed, God would so
cleanse my heart, that I might perfectly love him, and worthily
magnify his holy name in this world. But now I have renounced
my hopes, and 1 equally abhor the doctrine of evangelical perfection^
and that of evangelical worthiness. When I was a young convert, I
believed that Christ could really make an end of all moral pollution,
cast out the man of sin, and cleanse us from the sins of the heart,
as well as from outward iniquity in this life ; but I soon met with
unhumbled, self-willed people, who, boldly standing up for this

TO ANTIN0MIANI3M. 313

glorious liberty, made me question the truth of the doctrine. Nay,
in process of time, I found that some of those who most confidently
professed to have attained this salvation were farther from the gentle-
ness, simplicity, catholic spirit, and unfeigned humility of Christ, than
many believers who had never considered the doctrine of Christian
perfection. These offences striking in with the disappointment which
I myself met with, in feebly seeking the pearl of perfect love, made
me conclude that it can no more be found than the philosopher's stone,
and that they are all either fools or knaves who set believers 'upon
seeking it. And now I every where decry the doctrine of perfection
as a dangerous delusion. I set people against it wherever I go ; and
my zeal in this respect has been attended with the greatest suc-
cess. I have damped the hopes of many perfectionists ; and I have
proselyted several to the doctrine of Christian imperfection. With
them I now quietly wait to be purified from indwelling sin in the
article of death, and to be made perfect in another world."

This is, I fear, the langauge of many hearts, although it is not
openly spoken by many lips. Thus are you, O ye perfect Pharisees,
the great instruments, by which the tempter tears away the shield
of those unsettled Israelites who look more at your inconsistencies,
than they do at the beauty of holiness, the promise of God, the blood'
of Christ, and the power of the Spirit.

But this is not all : as ye destroy the budding faith of sincere per-
fectionists, so ye strengthen the unbelief of the Solifidians. Through
you their prejudices are grown up into a fixed detestation of Christian
perfection. Ye have hardened the m in their error, and furnished
them with plausible arguments to destroy the truth which ye contend
for. Did ye never hear their triumphs? " Ha! Ha! So would we
have it ! These are some of the people who stand up for sinless
perfection ! They are all alike. Did not I tell you, that you would
find them out to be no better than temporary monsters ? What mon-
strous pride ? What touchiness, obstinacy, bigotry, and stoicism
characterizes them ! How do they strain at gnats and swallow
camels ? I had rather be an open drunkard than a perfectionist.
Publicans and harlots shall enter into the kingdom of heaven before
them.*' — These are the cutting speeches to which your glaring
inconsistency, and the severe prejudices of our opponents give
birth. Is it not deplorable that your tempers should thus drive men
i.0 abhor the doctrine which your lips recommend!

And what do you get by thus dispiriting the real friends of Chris-
tian perfection, and by furnishing its sworn enemies with such sharp
weapons against it ? Think ye that the mischief ye do shall not rncoil
vof.. IV. 40

314 THE LAST CHECK

upon yourselves? Is not Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and for
ever ? If he detested the perfect Pharisaisai of unhumbled Jews,
will he admire the perfect self-righteousness of aspiring Christians?
If he formerly resisted the proud, and gave grace to the humble^ what
reason have ye to hope that he will submit to your spiritual pride,
and reward j'our religious ostentation with a crown of glory ? Ye
perhaps cry out against Anlinomianism, and I commend you for it : .
but are ye not deeply tainted with the worst sort of Antinomianism,
— that which starches, stiflfens, and swells the soul ? Ye justly bear
your testimony against those who render the law of Christ of none
effect to believers, by degrading it into a rule which they stript of
the punitive and remunerative sanctions, with which it stands armed
in the sacred records. But are ye not doubly guilty, who maintain
lliat this law is still in force as a law, and nevertheless refuse to pay it
sincere, internal obedience ? For when ye break the T??"*^ command-
ment of Christ's evangelical law, by practically discarding peniten-
tial poverty of spirit ; and when ye transgress the last, by abhorring
the lo-west place, by disdaining to wash each other"* s- feet, and by refus-
ing to prefer others in honour before yourselves ; are ye not guilty of
breaking all the law by breaking it in one point — in the capital point
•of humble love, which runs through all the parts of the law, as vital
blood does through all the parts of the body ? O how much more
dangerous is the case of an unhumbled man, who stiffly walks in robes
oi^ self-made perfection, than that of an humble man, who through pre-
judice, and the force of example, meeA;/?/ walks in robes o( self
imputed righteousness ! . ■

Behold; thou callest thyself a perfect Christian, rsnd restest in the
evangelical law of Christ, which is commonly called the Gospel ; thou
makest thy boast of God ; and knowest his will, and approvest the
things that are more excellent, even the way of Christian perfection,
being instructed out of the Gospel : and art confident that thou thy-
Keif art a guide of the blind, a light of them who are in darkness, an
r.istructer of the foolish, and a teacher of babes, or imperfect be-
lievers ; having the form of knowledge, and of the truth in the GospeL
Thou therefore who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?
Thou that preachest another should not break the law of Christ,
through breaking it dishonourest thou God ? For the name of God is
blasphemed through you, among ^;hose who seek an occasion to blas-
pheme it. Romans ii. 17, &;c. And think ye that ye shall escape
ths righteous judgment of God ? Has Christ no woes but for the
Jewish Pharisees ? O be no longer mistaken. Before ye are punish-
ed by being here given up to a reprobate n)ind, and by being here-

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 315

after cast into the hell of hypocrites, the outer darkness, where there
will be more weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, than in any
other hell ! — before ye are overtaken by the awful hour of death,
and the dreadful day of judgment ; practically learn, that Christian
perfection is the mind which Tx^as in Christ; — especially hh humble ^
meek, quiet mind ; — his gentle, free, loving spirit. Aim at it by sink-
ing into deep self-abhorrence ; and not by using, as ye have hitherto
done, the empty talk and profession of Christian perfection, as a step
to reach the top of spiritual pride.

Mistake me not : 1 do not blame you for holding the doctrine of
Christian perfection, but for wilfully missing the only way that leada
to it ; I mean the humble, meek, and loving Jesus, who says, / am
the way, and the door : by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved
into so great salvation. He that entereth not by this door into this sheep-
fold, but climbeth up some other way ; [and especially he that climbelh
by the way of Pharisaic formality], the same is a thief and a robber :
he robs Christ of his glory, and pretends to what he has no more
right to, than a thief has to your property. Would ye then be right ?
Do not cast away the doctrine of an evangelically sinless holiness ;
but contend more for it with your heart than with your lips. With all
your soul press after such a perfection as Christ, St. Paul, and St.
John taught and exemplified ; — a perfection of meekness and humble
love. Earnestly believe all the woes which the Gospel denounces
against self-righteous Pharisees, and all the blessings which it pro-
mises to perfect penitents. Drink less into the letter, and more into
the spirit of Christ, till like'a fountain'of living water, it spring up
to everlasting life in your heart. Ye have climbed to the Pharisaic
perfection of Saul of Tarsus, when touching .the righteousness of the
law, he was blameless. Would ye now attain the evangelical perfec-
tion which he was possessed of when he said. Let us, as many as art
perfect, be thus minded ? Only follow him through the regeneration :
fall to the dust before God : rise conscious of the blindness of your
heart, meekly deplore it with penitential shame : and if you follow
the directions laid down in the third address, I doubt not but, danger-
ous as your case is at present, you will be, like St. Paul, as eminent
for Christian perfection, as you have hitherto been for Pharisaic
formality.

316 THE LAST CHECM

SECTION XVIII.

An Address to Prejudiced Imperfectionists.

I FEAR, that next to the persons whom I have just addressed, ye
injure the cause of holiness, O ye behevers, who have been deluded
into doctrinal Antinomianism, by the bad arguments which are
answered in the preceding pages. Permit me therefore to address
you next : nor suffer prejudice to make you throw away this expostu-
lation, before you have granted it a fair perusal.

Ye directly or indirectly plead for the necessary continuance of
indwelling sin in your own hearts, and in the hearts of all true Chris-
tians. But may I be so bold as to ask. Who gave you leave so to do ?
And when were ye commissioned to propagate this unholy Gospel ?
Was it at your baptism, when ye were ranked among Christ's soldiers,
and received a Christian name, in token that ye would keep God's holy
will and commandments all the days of your life? and that you would
not be ashamed to fight manfully against the world, the flesh, and the devil,
unto your life's end ? Are not these three enemies strong enough
sufficiently to exercise your patience, and to try your warlike skill to
the last ? Did your sponsors promise for you that you would quarter a
fourth enemy, called indwelling sin, in your very breast, lest ye should
not have enemies enough to fight against ? On the contrary, were ye
not exhorted *' utterly to abolish the whole body of sin?'^ If so ; is it
not strange that ye should spend part of your precious time in plead-
ing, under various pretexts, for the preservation of heart-sin, a sin
this, which gives life, warmth and vigour, to the whole body of sin?
And is it not deplorable, that instead of conscientiously fulfilling your
baptismal engagements, ye should attack those who desire to fulfil
them by seeking to have the whole body of sin utterly abolished ?

But ye are, perhaps, ministers of the established church : and in
this case, I ask, When did the bishop send you upon this strange war-
fare ? Was it at your confirmation, in which he bound you upon your
solemn obligations to keep God^s holy will and commandments, so as
utterly to abolish the whole body of sin ? Is it probable that he com-
missioned you to pull down what he confirmed; and to demolish the
perfection which he made you vow to attain, and to walk in all the
days of your life ? If the bishop gave you no such commission at your
confirmation, did he do it at your ordination, when he said. Receive
authority to preach the Word of God ? Is there no difference betweef*

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 317

tke Word of God, which cuts up all sin, root and branch ; and the
word of Satan, which asserts the propriety of the continuance of
heart-sin during the term of life ? — If not : did the bishop do it when
he exhorted and charged you " never to cease your labour, care, and
diligence, till you have done all that lieth in you, to bring all such as
are committed to your charge, to that agreement of faith, and that per-
fectness of age in Christ, that there shall be no place left among you,
for error in religion, or viciousness in life ;" — that is, I apprehend,
till the truth of the Gospel, and the love of the Spirit, have perfectly
purified the minds, and renewed the hearts of all your hearers ?

How can ye, in all your confessions and sacramental offices,
renounce sin, the accursed thing which God abhors, and which obe-
dient believers detest ; and yet plead for its life, its strength, its con-
stant energy, so long as we are in this world ? We could better bear
with you if ye appropriated a hand or a foot, an eye or an ear to sin,
during the term of life : but who can bear your pleas for the neces-
sary continuance of sin in the heart? Is it not enough that this mur-
derer •of Christ and all mankind, rambles about the walls of the city ?
Will ye still insinuate that he must have the citadel to the last, and
keep it garrisoned with filthy lusts, base aflfections, bad tempers, or
" diabolonians," who, like prisoners, show themselves at the grate;
and 'Mike snakes, toads, and wild beasts, are the fiercer for being
confined ?" Who has taught you thus to represent Christ as the
keeper, and not the destroyer of our corruptions? If believers be
truly willing to get rid of sin, but cannot, because Christ has bolted
their hearts with an adamantine decree, which prevents sin from being
turned out :— if he have irrevocably given leave to indwelling sin, to
quarter for life in every Christian's heart, as the king of France, in
the last century, gave leave to his dragoons to quarter for some months
in the houses of the poor oppressed Protestants ; who does not see
that Christ may be called the protector of indwelling sin, rather than
its enemy?

Ye absurdly complain that the doctrine of Christian perfection does
not exalt our Saviour, because it represents him as radically saving
his obedient people from their indwelling sin in this life. But are ye
not guilty of the very error which ye charge upon us, when ye
insinuate that he cannot or will not say to our inbred sins, Tnose mine
enemies which will not that I should reign over thern^ bring hither, and
slay them before me ? If a common judge has power to pass sentence
of death upon all the robbers, and murderers who are properly
prosecuted ; and if they are hanged and destroyed in a few «iays,
weeks, or months, in consequence of his sentence ; how strangely do

ol8 THE LAST CHECK

ye reflect upon Christ, and revive the Agag within us, Vi^hen ye insinu-
ate, that he, the Judge of all, who was manifested for this very pur-
pose, that he might destroy the works,.of the devil, so far forgets his
errand, that he never destroys indwelling sin in one of his willing
people, so long as they are in this world; although that sin is the
capital, and most mischievous work of the devil?

Your doctrine of tb.e necessary continuance of indwelling sin in all
faithful believers, traduces not only the Son of man, but also the
adorable Trinity. The Father gives his only begotten Son, his Isaac,
to be crucified, that the ram, sin, may be offered up and slain : but
you insinuate that the life of that cursed ram is secured by. a decree
which allots it the heart of all believers for a safe retreat, and a warm
stable, so long as we are in this world. You represent the Son as an
almighty Saviour, who offers to make us free from sin; and yet
appoints, that the galling yoke of indwelling sin shall remain tied to,
and bound upon our very hearts for life. Ye describe the Holy Ghost
as a sanctifier, who applies Christ's all-cleansing blood to the belie-
ver's heart ; filling it with the oil of holiness and gladness : and yet
ye suppose that our hearts must necessarily remain desperately
wicked, and full of indwelling sin! Is it right to pour contempt upon
Christianity, by charging such inconsistencies upon Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost?

It can hardly be expected, that those, who thus misrepresent their
God, should do their neighbour justice. Hence the liberty which ye
take, to fix a blot upon the most holy characters. What have the
prophets and apostles done to you, that ye should represent them,
not only as men who had hearts partly evil to the last, but also as advo-
cates for the necessary indwelling of sin in all believers till death?
And why do ye so eagerly take your advantage of holy Paul in parti-
cular, and catch at a figurative mode of speech, to insinuate, that he
was a carnal wretch, sold under sin, even when he expected a crown
of righteousness at the hand of his righteous Judge, for hdi\'ijngfimshed
his course with the just men made perfect? — Nay, what have we done
to you, that ye should endeavour to take from us the greatest com-
fort we have in fighting against the remains of sin ? Why will ye
deprive us of the pleasing and purifying hope of taking the Jericho
which we encompass, and killing the Goliath whom we attack 1- — And
what has indwelling sin done for you, that ye should still plead for the
propriety of its continuance in our hearts ? Is it not the root of all
outward sin, and the spring of all the streams of iniquity, which carry
desolation through every part of the globe ? If ye hate the fruit vihy
do yc so eagerly contend for the necessary continuance of the root ?

TO ANTINOMIANMSM. 319

And if ye favour godliness [for many of you undoubtedly do] why do
you put such a conclusive argument as this into the mouths of the
wicked ? These good men contend for the propriety of indweiliiig
sin, that grace may abound : and why should we not plead for the
propriety of outm^ard sin for the same important reason ? Does not
God approve of an honest heart, which scorns to cloak the inward
iniquity with outward demureness.

Mr. Hill has lately published an ingenious dialogue, called, .^ Lash
to Enthusiasm, in which, page 26, he uses an argument against plead-
ing for lukewarmness, which, with very little variation, may be
retorted against his pleading for tjulwelling sin. " Suffer me, says he,
to put the sentiments of such persons [as plead for the middle way of
lukewarmness] into the form of a prayer, which we may suppose
would run in some such expressions as the following. O Lord, thy
word requires that I should love thee with all my heart, with all my
mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength; th'at I should
renounce the world," [and indxn: tiling sm] " and should present myself
as an holy, reasonable, and lively sacrifice unto thee : but Lord, these
jRre such over-righteous extremes," [and such heights oj sinless per-
fection'] " as I cannot away with ; and therefore grant that thy love,
and a moderate share ©f the love of the world" [or of indwelling sin]
" may both rei^n" [or at least co7itinue] " in my heart at once." I
ask it for Jesus Christ's sake, Amen." Mr. Hill jus\\y adds, " Now,
dear Madam, if you are shocked at such a petition, consider that it is
the exact language of your own heart, whilst you can plead for what
you call the middle way of religion." And I beg leave to take up his
own argument, and to add with equal propriety, '* Now, dear Sirs,
if you are shocked at such a petition, consider that it is the exact
language of your own hearts, whilst ye can plead for what ye call
indwelling sm, or the remains of sin."

Nor can I see what ye get by such a conduct. The excruciating
thorn of indwelling sin sticks in your hearts ; we assert that Christ
can and will extract it, if ye plead his promise of sanctifying you
wholly in soul, body, and spirit. But ye say, *' This cannot be : the
thorn must stay in, till death extract it : and the lepro?y shall cleave
to the walls till the house is demolished." Just as if Christ, by radi-
cally cleansing the lepers in the d.iys of his flesh, had not given
repeated proofs of the absurdity of your argument! Just as if pan
of the Gospel were not, 7'Ae lepers are cleansed, and, If iht Son makf
ye free, ye shall be free indeed !

If ye get nothing in pleading for Christian'imperfection, permit mc
to tell you what you lose by it» and what ye might get by sleadih
going on to perfection.

32S THE LAST CHECK

1. If ye earnestly aimed at Christian perfection, ye would have
a bright testimony in your own souls, that you are sincere, and that
ye walk agreeably to your baptismal engagements. I have already
observed, that some of the most pious Calvinists doubt, if those who
do not pursue Christian perfection are Christians at all. Hence it
follows, that the more earnestly you pursue it, the stronger will be
your confidence, that you are upright Christians : and when ye shall
be perfected in love, ye shall have that evidence of your sincerity
which will perfectly cast out servile fear -which hath torment^ and
nourish the filial fear which has safety and delight. It is hard to con-
ceive how we can constantly enjoy the full assurance of faith out of
the state of Christian perfection. For so long as a Christian inwardly
breaks Christ's evangelical law, he is justly condemned in his own
conscience. If his heart do not condemn him for it, it is merely
because he is asleep in the lap of Antinomianism. On the other
hand, says St. John, If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our
heart, and knoweth all things that make for our condemnation. But if
we love indeed and in truth, which none but the perfect do at all times,
hereby we know that we are of the truths and shall assure our hearts
before him, 1 John iii. 19, 20.

2. The perfect Christian, who has left all to follow Christ, is
peculiarly near and dear to God. He is, if I may use the expression,
one of God's favourites ; and his prayers are remarkably answered.
This will appear to you indubitable, if you can receive the testimony
of these who are perfected in obedient love. Behold, say they,
whatsoever we ask, we receive of him ; because we keep his command-
ments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight ; that is,
because we are perfected in obedient love, 1 John iii. 22. This pecu-
liar blessing ye lose by despising Christian perfection. Nay, so great
is the union which subsists between God and the perfect members of
his Son, that it is compared to dwelling in God, and having God dwell-
ing in us, in such a manner that the Father, the Son, and the Com-
forter, are said to make their abode with us. M that day [when ye
shall be perfected in one] ye shall know that I am in my Father, and
you in me, and I in you. If a man love me he will keep my words ; and
my Father will love him ; and we will come to him, and make our abode
with him, John xiv. 20, 23. — Again : He that keepeth God^s command-
ments dwelleth in God and God in him, 1 John iii. 24. — Ye are my
[dearest] friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you — [i. e. if ye
attain the perfection of your dispensation] John xv. 14. — Once more :
Keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever, John xiv.
15, 16. From these scriptures it appears, that, under every dispen-

TO ANTIN0MIANISM* 321

sation, the perfect^ or they who keep the commandments, have
unspeakable advantages, from which the lovers of imperfection debar
themselves.

3. Ye bring far less glory to God in the state of indwelling sin,
than ye would do if ye were perfected in love ; for perfect Christians
[other thini^s being equal] glorify God more than those who remain
full of inbred iniquity. Hence it is, that in the very chapter where
our Lord so strongly pres^^es Christian perfection upon his disciples,
he says, Let your Hi^ht so shine bffore meri, that they may see your good
works, and glorify yoitr Father rs:ho is in heaveUy Matt. v. 16. — For^
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, John xv. 8. It
is true that the fruit of the pierfect is not always relished by men who
judge only according to appearances : but God, who judges righte-
ous judgment, finds it rich and precious : and therefore the two mites,
which the poor widow gave with a cheerful and perfect heart, were
more precious in his account, and brought him more glory, than all
the money which the imperfect worshippers cast into the treasury,
though some of them cast in much. Hence, also, our Lord com-
manded that the work of perfect love, which Mary wrought when she
anointed his feet for his burial, shoidd be told for a memorial of her,
reherever this [the Christian] Gospel should be preached in the whole
world. — Such is the honour which the Lord puts upon the branches
io him that bear fruit to perfection !

4. The perfect Christian [other things being equal] is a more useful
member of society than the imperfect. Never will ye he such hum-
ble men, such good parents, such dutiful children, such loving bro-
thers, such loyal subjects, such kind neighbours, such indulgent hus-
bands, and such faithful friends, as when ye shall have obtained the
perfect sincerity of obedience. Ye will then, in your degree, have
the simplicity of the gentle dove, the patience of the laborious ox, the
courage of the magnanimous lion, and the wisdom of the wary ser-
pent, without any of its poison. In your little sphere of action, ye
will abound in the u-ork of faith, the patience of hope, and the labour
of love, far more than ye did before: for a field properly weeded,
and cleared from briars, is naturally more fruitful than one which is
shaded by spreading brambles, or filled with the indwelling roots of
noxious weeds ; it being a capital mistake of the spiritual husband-
men who till the Lord's field in mystical Geneva, to suppose that
the plant of humility thrives best when the roots of indwelling sin are
twisted round its root.

6. None but just men made perfect are meet to be made partakers of
the inheritance among the saints in light ; an inheritance this which no
Voj. IV. 41

322 THE LAST CHECK

man is fit for till he has purified himself from the filthiness of the fiesk
and spirit. If modern divines, therefore, assure you, that a believer,
full of indwelling sin, has a full title to heaven, believe them not ; for
the Holy Ghost has said, that the believer who breaks the law of
liberty in one point, is guilty of all, and that no defilement shall enter
into heaven : and our Lord himself has assured us, that the pure in
heart shall see God, and that they who were ready for that sight, zssent
in with the bridegroom to the marriage feast of the Lamb. And who is
ready ? Undoubtedly the believer whose lamp is trimmed, and burn-
ing. But is a spiritual lamp trimmed when its flame is darkened by
the black fungus of indwelling sin ? Agajn : who shall be saved into
glory, but the man whose heart is washed from iniquity? But is that
heart washed which continues full of indwelling corruption ? Wo,
therefore, be to the Heathens, Jews, and Christians, who trifle away
the accepted time, and die without being in a state of Heathen, Jewish,
or Christian perfection ! They have no chance of going to heaven,
but through the purgatory preached by the Heathens, the Papists, and
the Calvinists. And should the notions of these purgatories be
groundless, it unavoidably follows, that unpurged or imperfect souls
must, at death, rank with the unready souls whom our Lord calls
foolish virgins, and against whom the door of heaven will b6 shut. How
awful is this consideration, my dear brethren ! How should it make us
stretch every nerve till we have attained the perfection of our dis-
pensation 1 I would not encourage tormenting fears in an unscriptural
manner ; but I should rejoice if all who call Jesiis, Lord, would
mind his solemn declarations — / say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid
of them that kill the body, 4'C. but I will forewarn you whom you shall
fear; fear him, who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell :
yea, I say unto you, fear him, who will burn in the fire of wrath those
who harbour the indwelling man of sin, lest he should be utterly con-
sumed by the fire of love.

Should ye cry out against this doctrine, and ask if all imperfect
Christians are in a damnable state ? We reply, that so long as a Chris-
tian believer sincerely presses after Christian perfection he is safe j
because he is in the way of duty, and were he to die at midnight,,
betore midnight God would certainly bring him to Christian perfection^
or bring Christian perfection to him ; for we are confident of this very
thing, that he who hath begun a good work in them, will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ, because they work out their own salvation with
fear and trembling. But if a believer fall, loiter, and rest upon
former experiences : depending upon a self-made, Pharisaical per-
fection ; our chief message to him is that of St. Paul, Jiwakethou ihf^,^

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 3^3

deepest, — Awake to righteousness y and sin not, for thou hast not the heart-
purifying knowledge of God, which is eternal life. Arise from the dead ;
call for oil, and Christ will give thee light. Otherwise thou shalt share
the dreadful fate of the lukewarm Laodiceans, and of the foolish
virgins, whose lamps went out^ instead of shining more and more to the
perfect day.

6, This is not all : as ye will be fit for judgment, and a glorious
heaven, when ye shall be perfected in love ; so you will actually
enjoy a gracious heaven in your own souls. You will possess within
you the kingdom (f God, which consists in settled righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost. But so lonp; as ye neglect Christian per-
fection, and continue sold under indwelling sin, ye not only risk the
loss of the heaven of heavens, but ye lose a little heaven upon earth :
for perfect Christians are so full of peace and love, that they triumph
in Christ with joy unspeakable, and full of glory, and rejoice in tribula-
tion with a patience which has its perfect work. Yea, they count it all
joy when they fall into divers trials; and such is their deadness to the
world, that they are exceeding glad when men say all manner of evil
of them falsely for Christ's sake. How desirable is such a state ! — And
who, but the blessed above, can enjoy a happiness superior to him
who can say, / am ready to be q^ered up. The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law; but, O death, where is thy sting? Not in
my heart, since the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit: — Not in my mind, /or fo be
spiritually minded is life and peace. Now this peculiar happiness ye
lose, so long as ye continue imperfect Christians.

7. But supposing a Christian, who dies in a state of Christian imper-
fection, can escape damnation, and make shift to get to heaven ; it is
certain that he cannot go into the glorious mansion of perfect Chris-
tians, nor shine among the stars of the first magnitude. The wish of
my soul is, that if God's wisdom has so ordered it, imperfect Chris-
tians may one day rank among perfect Jews, or perfect Heathens. But
upon even this supposition, what will they do with their indwelling sin ?
For a perfect Gentile, and a perfect Jew, are without guile, according
to their light, as well as a perfect Christian. Lean not then to the
doctrine of the continuance of indwelling sin till death ; — a doctrine
this on which a Socrates, or a Melchisedec, would be afraid to venture
his Heathen perfection, and eternal salvation. On the contrary, by
Christian perfection, ye may rise to the brightest crowns of righteous-
ness, and shine like the sun in the kingdom of your Father. O for a
noble ambition to obtain one of the fr'* seats in glory ! O tor n rnn-

324 tUE LAST CHECK

slant, evangelical striving to have the most abundant entrance rainu'
tered unio you irdo the kingdom of God ! O tor a throne among these
peculiarly' redeemed saints, who sing the new song, which none can
learn but themselves. It is not Christ's to give those exalted thrones
out of mere distinguishing grace : no ; they may be forfeited ; for
they shall be given to those for whom they are prepared ; and they
are prepared for them, who, evangelically speaking, are zvorthy.
They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy, says Christ : and
they shall sit at my right hand, and at my left in my kingdom, who shall
We worthy of that honour : for them that honour me, says the Lord, /
will honour. — Behold I come quickly ; my reward is with me, and I will
render to every man according to his works. And what reward, think
ye, will Christ give you, O my dear mistaken brethren, if he find jou
still pissing jests upon the doctrine of Christian perfection which he
so strongly recommends ? — Still pleading for the continuance of
indwelling sin, which he so greatly abhors ?

8. Your whole system of indwelling sin and imputed perfection,
stands upon two of the most dangerous and false maxims which were
ever advanced. The first, which begets Antinomian presumption,
runs thus, '* Sin cannot destroy us cither in this world or in the world
to come :" and the second, which is productive of Antinomian despair,
is, *'Sin cannot be destroyed in this world." O how hard is it for
those who worship where these Siren-songs pass for sweet songs of
Zion, not to be drawn into one of these fatal conclusions! " What
need is there of attacking sin with so much eagerness, since, even in
the name of the Lord, I cannot destroy it? And why should I resist it
with so much watchfulness, since my eternal life and salvation are
absolutely secured, and the most poisonous cup of iniquity cannot
destroy me, though 1 should drink of it every day for months or
years ?" — If ye fondly think that ye can neither go backward into a
sinful, cursed Egypt, nor yet go forward into a sinless, holy Caanan,
how natural will it be for you to say. Soul, take thy ease, and rest
awhile in this wilderness on the pillow of self-imputed p«;rfection ?
Oh ! how many are surprised by the midnight cry in this Laodicean
rest! What numbers meet death with a Solitidian Lord! Lord! in
their mouths, and with indwelling sin in their hearts ! And how inex-
pressible will be our horror, if we perceive our want of holiness and
Christian perfection only when it will be too late to attain them ! To
conclude :

9. Indwelling sin is not only the stitig of death, but the very hell of
helh. if I may use the expression : for a sinless saint in a local hell,

fcV"

XO ANTINOMIANISM. 32a

would dwell in a holy, loving God ; and, of consequence, in a
spiritual heaven ; like Shadrach in Nebuchadnezzar's tiery furnace,
he might have devouring flames curUng about him ; but, within him,
he would still ha've the flame of divine love, and the joy of a good
conscience. But 20 much of indwelling si7i as we carry about us,
so much of indwelling hell ; — so much of the sting which pierces
the damned : so 'much of the spiritual tire, which will burn up the
wicked ; — so much of the never dying worm, which will prey upon
them : — so much of the dreadful instrument which will rack them ; —
so much of Satan's image, which will frighten them; — so much of the
characteristic by which the devil's children shall be distinguished
from the children of God ; — so much of the black mark whereby the
goats shall be separated from the sheep. To plead therefore for the
continuance of indwelling sin, is no better than to plead for keeping
in your hearts one of the sharpest stings of death, and one of the
hottest coals in hell-tire. On the other hand, to attain Christian per-
fection is to have the last feature of Belial's image erased from your
loving souls, the last bit of the sting of death extracted from your
composed breasts, and the last spark of hell fire extinguished in your
peacaful bosoms. It is to enter into the spiritual rest which remains
on earth for the people of God ; a delightful rest this, where your
soul will enjoy a calm in the midst of outward storms ; and where
your spirit will no longer be tossed by the billows of swelling pride,
dissatisfied avarice, pining envy, disappointed hopes, fruitless cares,
dubious 'anxiety, turbulent anger, fretting impatience, and racking
unbelief. It is to enjoy that even state of mind, in which all things
will work together for your good. There your love will bear its
excellent fruits during the sharpest winter of affliction, as well as in
the finest summer of prosperity. There you will be more and more
settled in peaceful humility. There you will continually grow in a
holy familiarity ivith the Friend of penitent sinners ; and your pros-
pect of eternal felicity will brighten every day.*

Innumerable are the advantages which established, perfect Chris-
tians, have over carnal, unsettled believers, who continue sold under
indwelling sin. And will ye despise those blessings to your dying

* If the arguments and expostulations contained in these sheets be rational and scrip-
tural ; is not Mr. Wesley in the right, when he says, that " All pieathers should make a
pointof preaching perfection to believers, constantly, strongly, and explicitly : "and that
" All believers should mind this one thing, and continually agonize for it ?" And do not all
the ministers, who preach against Cliribtian perfection, preach against 'the perfection of
Christianity, oppose hohness, resist the sanctifying truth as it is in Jesus, recommend an
unscriptural purgatory, plead for sin, instead of striving against it, and delude imperfect
Christians into Laodicean ease '

326 THE LAST CHECK

tiay, O ye prejudiced imperfectionists ? Will ye secure to yourselves
the contrary curses ? Nay, will ye entail them upon the generations
which are yet unborn, by continuing to print, preach, or argue for the
continuance of indwelling sin, the capital wo belonging to the devil
and his angels ? God forbid ! We hope better things from you ; not
doubting but the error of several of you lies chiefly in your judg-
ment, and springs from a misunderstanding of the question, rather
than from a malicious opposition to that holiness, zvithout which no man
shall see the Lord. With pleasure we remember, and follow St.
Jude's loving direction : of some [the simple-hearted, who are seduced
into Antinomianism,] have compassion, making a difference ; and others
[the bigots and obstinate seducers, who wilfully shut their eyes against
the truth] save with fear : hating even the garment spotted by the flesh:
although they will not be ashamed to plead for the continuance of a
defiling fountain of carnality in the very hearts of all God's people.
We are fully persuaded, my dear brethren, that we should wrong you,
if we did not acknowledge that many of you have a smcere desire to
be saved by Christ into all purity of heart and life ; and with regard
to such imperfectionists, our chief complaint irs, that their desire is
not according to knowledge.

If others of you, of a different stamp, should laugh at these pages ;
and [still producing banter instead of argument] should continue to
say, " Where are your perfect Christians ? Show us but one, and we
will believe your doctrine of perfection :" I shall just put them in
mind of St. Peter's awful prophecy : Know this first, that there shall
come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own [indwelling] lusts,
and saying, Where is the promise of his spiritual coming [to make an
end of sin, thoroughly to purge his floor, and to burn the chaff with
unquenchable fire ?] For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue
as they were from the beginning : all believers are still carnal and sold

under sin, as well as father Paul. And if such mockers continue to

display their prejudice by such taunts, I shall take the liberty to show
them their own picture, by pointing at those prejudiced professors of
old, who said, concerning the most perfect of all the perfect, " What
sign showest thou, that we may receive thy doctrine? Come down
from the cross, and we will believe." O the folly and danger of such
scoffs ! " Blessed is he that sitteth not in the seat of the scornful, and
maketh much of thetia that /ear the Lord." Yea, he is blessed next
to them " that are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the
Lord, keep his testimonies, and seek him with their whole heart,'-
Psal. cxix. 1,2.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 357

Should ye ask : " To what purpose do you make all tliis ado about
Christi.m perfection ? Do those who maintain this doctrine live more
holy and useful Hves than other believers ?" I answer :

1. Every thing being equal, they undoubtedly do, if they hold not
the truth in unrighteousness; for the best pnnciples, when they are

cordially embraced, will always produce the best practices. But

alas ! too many merely contend for Christian perfection in a specula-
tive, systematical manner. I'hey recommend it to others with their
lips, as a point of doctrine which makes a part of their religious system,
instead of following after it with their hearts, as a blessing which they
must attain, if they will not be found as unprepared for judgment as
the foolish virgins. These perfectionists are, so far, hypocrites ;
nor should their fatal inconsistency make us despise the truth which
they contend for, any more than the conduct of thousands, who con-
tend for the truth of thp Scriptures, while they live in full opposition '
to the Scriptures, ought to make us despise the Bible.

2. On the other hand, some gracious persons [like the pious and
inconsistent Antinomians whom I have described in the preceding
Checks] speak against Christian perfection with their lips, but cannot
help following hard after it with their hearts ; and while they do so,
they sometimes attain the thing, although they continue to quarrel
with the name. These perfect iraperfectionists undoubtedly adorn
the Gospel of Christ far more than the imperfect, hypocritical per-
fectionists, whom I have just described! and God, who looks at the
simplicity of the heart more than at the consistency of the judgment,
pities their mistakes, and accepts their works.

But 3. Some there are, who both maintain, doctrinally and practi-
cally, the necessity of a perfect devotedness of ourselves to God.
They hold the truth, and they hold it in wisdom and righteousness ;
their tempers and conduct enforce it, as ivell as their words and pro-
fession. And, on this account, they have a great advantage over the
two preceding classes of professors. Reason and Revelation jointly
crown the orthodoxy and faithfulness of these perfect perfectionists,
who neither strengthen the hands of the wicked, nor excite the won-
der of the judicious, by absurdly pleading for indwelling sin with their
lips, while they strive to work righteousness with their hands and
hearts. If ye candidly weigh this three-fold distinction, 1 doubt not
but ye will blame the irrational inconsistency of holy imperfectionisti,
condemning the immoral inconsistency of unholy perfectionists, and
agree with me, that the' most excellent Christian is a consistent y holy
perfectionist.

328 THE LAST CHECK

And now, my dear, mistaken brethren, take in good part these plaio
solutions, expostulations, and reproofs : and give glory to God by
believing that he can and will yet save you to the uttermost from your
evil tempers, if ye humbly come to him by Christ. Day and night
ask of him the new heart, which keeps the commandments ; and when
ye shall have received it, if you keep it with all diligence, sin 'shall
no more pollute it than it polluted our Lord's soul, when he said. If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have
kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. Burn, in the
mean time, the unhallowed pens, and bridle the rash tongues with
which ye have pleaded for the continuance of sin till death. Honour
us with the right hand of fellowship : and like reconciled brethren,
let us at every opportunity lovingly fall upon our knees together, to
implore the help of Him, who can do far exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think. Nor let us give him any rest, till he has
perfected all our souls in the charity which rejoiceth in the truth with-
out prejudice, in the obedience which keeps the commandments with-
out reserve, and in the perseverance which finds that in keeping of
them there is great reward.

Nothing but such a conduct as this can remove the stumbling-
blocks which the contentions ye breed have laid in the way of a de>
istical world. When the men, whom your mistakes have hardened,
shall see that you listen to Scripture and reason, who knows but their
prejudi es may subside, and some of them nrtay yet say, *' See the good
which arises from friendly controversy ! See how these Christians
desire to be perfected in one ? They now understand one another.
Babylonish confusion is at an end ; evangelical truth prevails ; and
love, the most delicious fruit of truth, visibly grows to Christian
perfection."— God grant that, through the concurrence of your
candour, this may soon be the language of all those whom the bigotry
of professors has confirmed in their prejudices against Christianity.

Should this plain address so far influence you, my dear brethren, as
to abate the force of your aversion to the doctrine of pntre love, or to
stagger your unaccountable faith in a death purgatory ; and should
you seriously ask which is the way to Christian perfection, I entreat
you to pass on to the next section, where I hope you will find a scrip-
tural answer to some important questions, which, I trust, a few of you
dre by this time ready to propose.

TO AXTINOMIANISK. 329

SECTION XIX.

An Address to Imperfect Believers, who cordially embrace the doctrine of
Christian Perfection.

Your regard for Scripture and Reason, and your desire to answer
the ends of God's predestination, hy being conformed to the image of
his Son, have happily kept or reclaimed you from the Antinomianism
exposed in these sheets.

Ye see the absolute necessity of personally fulfilling the law of
Christ ; your bosom glows with desire to perfect holiness in the fear of
God; and far from blushing to be called Perfectionists, ye openly
assert that a perfect faith, productive of perfect love to God and man,
is the pearl of great price for which you are determined to sell all,
and which (next to Christ) you will seek early and late, as the one
thing needful for your spiritual and eternal welfare. Some directions,
therefore, about the manner of seeking this pearl, cannot but be ac-
ceptable to you, if they are scriptural and rational ; and such, I hum-
bly trust, are those which follow.

I. First, if ye would attain an evangelically sinless perfection, let
your full assent to the truth of that deep doctrine firmly stand upon
the evangelical foundation of a precept and a promise. A precept
without a promise would not sufficiently animate you : nor would a
promise without a precept properly bind you; but a divine precept
and Si divine promise {orm an unshaken foundation. Let then your
faith deliberately rest her right foot upon these precepts.

Hear, 0 Israel — thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, Deut. vi. 6. — Thou shalt
not hate thy neighbour m thy heart : thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy
neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear
any grudge against the children of thy people : but thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord; ye shall keep my statutes. Lev.
xix. 17, 18. And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of
thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to love him,
and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
to keep the commandments of the Lord God, and his statutes, which I
command thee this day for thy good, k.c. ? Circumcise therefore, the fore-
skin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked, Deut. 10, 1?. &c.-

VoL. IV. 42 '

330 THE LAST CHECK

Serve God with a perfect heart, and a willing mind : for the Lord search--
eth all hearts, and understandeth the imaginations of the thonghtSo
1 Chron. xxviii. 9.

Should unbelief suggest that these are only Old Testament injunc-
tions, trample upon the false suggestion, and rest the same foot of
your faith upon the following New Testament precepts, Think not
that 1 am come to destroy the lazv, or ihe prophets. — / say unto you.
Love your eiiemies : bless them that curse you : do good to them that hate
you, &c. that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven,
&c. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye ? Do not
even the publicans the same ? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect. Malt. v. 17, 44, &c. — If thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments. Matt. "xix. 17. — Bear ye one another^ s
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Gal. vi. 2. — This is my com-
mandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you, John xv. 12 — •
He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law : for this, Thou shalt not
commit adultery, &lc. Thov shalt not covet, and if there be any other
commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying. Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill, &c. therefore, love is the
fulfilling of the law. Rom. xiii. 8, 10. This commandment we have from
him, that he who loves God love his brother also. I John iv. 21. If ye
fulfil the royal law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself ye do well.
But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the
law as transgressors. Jarxi. ii. 8, 9. — Circumcision is nothing, uncircum-
cision is nothing [comparatively speaking] but [under Christ] the keep-
ing of the commandments of God [is the one thing needful.] 1 Cor. vii.
19. For, The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart,
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 1 Tim. i. 5. Though
1 have all faith, &c. and have not charity, I am nothing. 1 Cor. xiii. 2.
Whosoever shall keep the whole law [of liberty] and yet offend in one
point, [in uncharitable respect of persons,] he is guilty of all, &c.
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty,
[which requires perfect love, and therefore makes no allowance fov
the least degree of uncharitableness.] James ii. 10, 12,

When the right foot of your faith stands on these evangelical pre-
cepts and proclamations, lest she should stagger for want of a promise
every way adequate to such weighty commandments, let her place
her left foot upon the following promises, which are extracted from
the Old Testament. The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and
ihe heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart.
Deut. XXX. 6. / will give them a heart to know me, that I am the
Lord, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God [in a new

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 331

■stnd peculiar manner] for they shall return unto me "with their whole
heart. — This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God. and they shall
be my people. Jer. xxiv. 7. — xxxi. 33. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon youy and ye shall be clean, from all your flthiness, and from all
your idols will 1 cleanse you ; a new heart also will I give you, and a
new spirit will I put within you : and I will take away the heart of stone
out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put
my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.^ and ye shall
keep my judgments and do them. Ezek. xxv. 27.

And let nobody suppose that the promises of the circumcision of the
heart, the cleansing, the clean water, and the Spirit, which are men-
tioned in these scriptures, and by which the hearts of belivers are to
be made new, and God's law is to be so written therein, that they
shall keep his judgments and do them : — Let none, I say, suppose that
these glorious promises belong only to the Jews ; for their full accom-
plishment peculiarly refers to the Christian dispensation. Besides, if
sprinklings of the Spirit were sufficient, under the Jewish dispensation,
to raise the plant o( Jewish perfection in Jewish believers ; how much
more will the revelation of the horn of our salvation, and the out-
pourings of the Spirit, raise the plant of Christian perfection in faith-
ful. Christian believers ! And, that this revelation of Christ, in the
Spirit, as well as in the flesh, these effusions of the water of life,
these baptisms of fire which burn up the chaff of sin, thoroughly
purge God's spiritual floor, save us from all our uncleannesses, and
deliver us from all our enemies ; — that these blessings, I say, are
peculiarly promised to Christians, is demonstrable by the following
cloud of New Testament declaratiohs and promises.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath — raised up an horn of
salvation for us, — as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, — that
we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him
without [unbelieving] /ear, [that is, with perfect love,] in holiness and
righteousness before him, all the days of our life, Luke i. 68, 75. —
Blessed are the poor in spirit, who thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled. Matt. v. 3, 6. — If thou knewest the gij't of God, 4'C. thou
zvouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water :
— Aiid the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water
springing up to everlasting life, John iv. 10, 14. Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that
believeth on me, [when 1 shall have ascended up on high to receive
gifts for men] out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water [to cleanfie

332 THE LAST CHECK

his soul, and to keep it clean.] But this he spake of the Spirit^ xxhich
they that believe on him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost was not yet
given [in such a manner as to raise the plant of Christian perfection]
because Jesus was not yet glorified, and his spiritual dispensation was
not yet fully opened. John vii. 37, &c." Mr. Wesley, in his Plain
Account of Christian Perfection^ has published some excellent queries,
and proposed them to those who deny perfection to be attainable in
this life. They are close to the point, and therefore the two first
attack the Imperfectionists from the very ground on which I want
you to stand. They run thus: "1. Has there not been a larger
measure of the Holy Spirit given under the Gospel, than under the
Jewish dispensation ? If not, in what sense was the Spirit not given
before Christ was glorified? John vii. 39. — 2. Was that glory which
followed the sufferings of Christy 1 Pet. i. 11. an external glory, or an
internal, viz. the glory of holiness ?" Always rest the doctrine of
Christian perfection on this scriptural foundation, and it will stand as
firm as revelation itself.

It is allowed on all sides, that the dispensation of John the Baptist
exceeded that of the other prophets, because it immediately introduced
the Gospel of Christ, and because John was not only appointed to
preach the baptism of repentance, but also clearly to point out the very
person of Christ, and to give knowledge of salvation to God'' s people by
the remission of sins, Luke i. 77. and nevertheless, John only pro-
mised the blessing of the Spirit, which Christ bestowed when he had
received gifts for men. / indeed, said John, baptize you with water
unto repentance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, — He
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, Matt. iii. 11. Such
is the importance of this promise, that it is particularly recorded not
only by the three other evangelists [see Mark i. 8. Luke iii. 16. and
John i. 26.] but also by our Lord himself, who said just before his
ascension, John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with
ike Holy Ghost not many days hence. Acts i. 5.

So capital is this promise of the Spirit's stronger influences to raise
the rare plant of Christian perfection, that when our Lord speaks of
this promise, he emphatically calls it The promise of the Father;
because it shines among the other promises of the Gospel of Christ,
as the moon does among the stars. Thus, Acts i. 4. Wait, says he,
for tue promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me. And again,
Luke xxiv. 49. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.
Agreeably to this, St. Peter says, Jesus being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
he hath shed forth this : — He has begun abundantly to fulfil that which

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 333

was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it shall come to pass in the last days,
saith God, that I will pour out [bestow a more abundant measure] of
my Spirit upon all flesh. — Therefore repent and he baptized [i. e. make
an open profession of your faith] in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the
remission of sins : and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost : for
the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to as many as the
Lord our God shall call [to enjoy the full blessings of the Christian
dispensation,] Acts ii. 17, 33, 38. This promise, when it is received
in its fulness, is undoubtedly the greatest of all the exceeding great
and precious promises, which are given to m5, that by them you might be
partakers of the divine nature [that is, of pure love and unmixed holi-
ness] 2 Pet. i. 4. Have therefore a peculiar eye to it, and to these
deep words of our Lord, lunll ask the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of
truth [and power] zvhom the world knows not, 4*c. but ye know him, for
he remaineth with you, and shall be in you. — At thai day ye shall know,
that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you : — For, *' If any
77ian, i. e. any believer, love me, he will keep my words, and my Father
will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him,
John xiv. 15, 23: "Which," says Mr. Wesley, in his note on the
place, " implies such a large manitestation of the divine presence and
love, that the former, in justitication, is as nothing in comparison of it."
Agreeable to this, the same judicious divine expresses himself thus in
another of his publications : " These virtues [meekness, humility,
and true resignation to God] are the only wedding garment; they are
the lamps and vessels well furnished with oil. There is nothing that
will do instead of them ; they must have their full and perfect work
in you, or the soul can never be delivered from its fallen, wrathful
state. There is no possibility of salvation but in this. And when
the Lamb of God has brought forth his own meekness, kc. in our
souls, then are our lamps trimmed, and our virgin hearts made read\-
for the marriage feast. This marriage feast signifies the entrance
into the highest state of union that can be between God and the soul
ia this life. This birthday of the spirit of love in our souls, when-
ever we attain it, will feast our souls with such peace and joy in God,
as will blot out the remembrance of every thing that we called peace
or joy before."

To make you believe this important promise with more ardour,
consider that our Lord spent some of his last moments in sealing it
with his powerful intercession. After having prayed the Father to
sanctify his discijjles through the truth, firmly embraced by their
faith, and powerfully applied by his Spirit, he adds, Neither pray I for

334 THE LAST CHECK

these alone^ but for them who will believe on me through their word.
And what is it that our Lord asks for these believers? Truly, what
St. Paul asked for the imperfect believers at Corinth, even their per-
fecUon, 2 Cor. xiii. 9. A state of soul this, which Christ describes
thus : That they all may be one^ as thou. Father , art in me, and lin thee,
that they may be made one in us, &c. that they may be one, as we are
one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected in one, and
that the world may know that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me,
John xvii. 17, 23. Our Lord could not pray in vain : it is not to be
supposed that the Scriptures are silent with respect to the effect of
this solemn prayer, an answer to which was to give the world an idea
of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven — a specimen of the
power which introduces believers into the state of Christian perfec-
tion ; and therefore we read, that on the day of Pentecost the king-
dom of Satan was powerfully shaken, and the kingdom of God, right-
eousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, began to come with a new
power : then were thousands wonderfully converted, and clearly
justified : then was the kingdom of heaven taken by force ; ;md the
love of Christ, and of the brethren, began to burn the chaff of sel-
fishness and sin with a ferce which the world had never seen before.
See Act? ii. 42, &lc. — Some time after, another glorious baptism, or
capital outpouring of the Spirit, carried the disciples of Christ farther
into the kingdom of grace, which perfects believers in one. And
therefore we find that the account which St. Luke gives us of them
after this second capital manifestation of the Holy Spirit, in a great
degree answers to our Lord's prayer for their perfection. He had
asked that they all might be one — that they might be one as the Father
and he are one, and that they might be perfected in one, John xvii. 17,
&c. And now a fuller answer is given to his deep request. Take it
in the words of an inspired historian : And when they had prayed, the
place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were
[once more] filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word with
[still greater] boldness ; and the multitude of them that believed were of
on€, heart, and of one soul; neither said any of them, that aught of the
things which he possessed were his own; but they had all things common,
^c. and great grace was upon them all, Acts iv. 31, 33. Who does
not see in this account a specimen of that grace which our Lord had
asked for believers, when he had prayed that his disciples, and those
who would believe on him through their word, might be perfected in

one

It may be asked here, whether the multitude of them that believed,
in those happy days, were all perfect in love ? I ahswer, that if pure

TO ANtlNOaiANISM. 335

love had cast out all selfishness and sinful fear from their hearts, they
were undouhtedly made perfect in love; but as God does not usually
remove the plague of indwelling sin till it has been discovered and
lamented ; and as we find in the two next chapters an account of the
guile of Ananias and his wife, and of Wxe partiality or selfish murmur-
ing of some believers, it seems that those chiefly, who before were
strong in the grace of their dispensation, arose then into sinless
fathers ; and that the ftrst love of other believers, through the pecu-
liar blessing of Christ upon his infant church, was so bright and
powerful for a time, that little children had, or seemed to have, the
strength of young men, and young men the grace of fathers. And, in
this case, the account which St. Luke gives of the primitive believers,
ought to be taken with some restriction. Thus, while many of them
were perfect in love, inany might have the imperfection of their love
only covered over by a land flood of peace and joy in believing. And
in this case, what is said of their being all of one heart and mind, and
of their having all things common, ^^c. may only mean, that the
harmony of love had not yet been broken, and that none had yet
betrayed any of the uncharitableness for which Christians in after
ages became so conspicuous. With respect to the great grace which
was upon them all, this does not necessarily mean that they were all
equally strong in grace, for great unity and happiness may rest upon a
whole family, where the difference between a father, a young man,
and a child, continues to subsist. However, it is not improbable, that
God, to open the dispensation of the Spirit in a manner which might
fix the attention of all ages upon its importance and glory, permitted
the whole body of believers to take an extraordinary turn together
into the Canaan of perfect love, and to show the world the admirable
fruit which grows there, as the spies sent by Joshua took a turn into
the good land of promise before they were settled in it, and brought
from thence the bunch of grapes, vvhch astonished, and spirited up
the Israelites, who had not yet crossed Jordan.

Upon the whole, it is, I think, undeniable, from the four first chap-
ters of the Acts, that a peculiar power of the Spirit is bestowed upon
believers under the Gospel of Christ ; that this power, through faith
on our part, can operate the most sudden and surprij:ing change in our
souls ; and that, when our faith sh-ill fully embrace the promise of
full sanctification, or of a complete circumcision of the heart in the
Spirit, the Holy Ghost, who kindled so much love on the day of Pen-
tecost, that all the primitive believers loved, or seemed to love, e^ch
other perfectly, will not fail to help us to love one another without sinful

336 THE LAST CHECK

self-seeking ; and as soon as we do so, God dwelleth in its, and his love
is perfected in us, 1 John iv. 12. — John xiv. 23.

Should you ask, how many baptisms, or eflfusions of the sanctifying
Spirit are necessary to cleanse a believer from all sin, and to kindle
bis soul into perfect love : I reply, that the effect of a sanctifying truth
depending upon the ardour of the faith with which that truth is
embraced, and upon the power of the Spirit with which it is applied,
I should betray a want of modesty, if I brought the operations of the
Holy Ghost, and the energy of faith, under a rule which is not
expressly laid down in the Scriptures. If you ask your physician,
how many doses of physic you must take before all the crudities of
your stomach can be carried off, and your appetite perfectly restored,
he would probably answer you, that this depends upon the nature of
those crudities, the strength of the medicine, and the manner in which
your constitution will allow it to operate ; and that, in general, you
must repeat the dose, as you can bear, till the remedy has fully
answered the desired end. I return a similar answer : If one power-
ful baptism of the Spirit seal you unto the day of redemption, and
cleanse you from all [moral] Jilthiness^ so much the better. If two or
more be necessary, the Lord can repeat them : his arm is not short-
ened that it cannot save : nor is his promise of the Spirit stinted : he ,
says in general, Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of
life freely. — If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children : how much more will your heavenly Father [who is goodness
itself] give his holy [sanctifying] Spirit to them that ask him! I may
however venture to say in general, that before we can rank among
perfect Christians, we must receive so much of the truth and Spirit
of Christ by faith, as to have the pure love of God and man shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us, and to be filled
with the meek and lowly mind which was in Christ. And if one out-
pouring of the Spirit, one bright manifestation of the sanctifying truth,
so empties us of self, as to fill us with t^e mind of Christ, and with
pure love, we are undoubtedly Christians in the full sense of the word.
From the ground of my soul, I therefore subscribe to the answer
which a great Divine makes to the following objection :

*' But some who are newly justified do come up to this [Christian
perfection :] What then will you say to these ?" — Mr. Wesley replies
with great propriety : " If they really do, I will say, they are sanc-
tified, saved from sin in that moment; and that they never need lose
what God has given, or feel sin any more. But certainly this is an
exempt case. It is otherwise with the generality of those that are
justified. They feel in themselves, more or less, pride, anger, self-

TO ANTINOMIANISI^. ^37

will, and a heart bent to backsliding. An till they have gradually
mortified these, they ;<re fully renewed in love ! God iisually gives a
considerable time for men to receive light, to grow in grace, to do and
suff'er his will before they are either justified or sanctified. But he
does not invariably adhere to this. Sometimes he cuts short his -work.
He does the work of many years in a few weeks : perhaps in a week^
a day, an hour. He justifies or sanctifies both those who ha\^ done
or suffered nothing, and who have not had time for a gradual growth
either in light or grace. And may he not do what he will with hi$
own ? Is thine eye evil, because he is good ? It need not therefore be
proved by forty texts of Scripture, either that most men are perfected
in love at last, or that there is a gradual work of God in the soul ;
and that, generally speaking, it is a long time, even many years, before
sin is destroyed. All this we know. But we know likewise, that
God may, with man's good leave, cut short his work, in whatever*
degree he pleases, and do the usual work of many years in a moment.
He does so in many instances. And yet there is a gradual work both
before and after that moment. So that one may affirm, the ivork is
gradual; another, it is instantaneous, without any manner of contra»
diction." Plain Account, page 115, &c. Page 155, the same eminent
divine explains himself more fully, thus : " It [Christian perfection]
is constantly preceded and followed by a gradual work. But is it irt
itself instantaneous or not? In examining this, let us go on step by
step. An instantaneous change has been wrought in some believers :
none can deny this. Since that change they enjoy perfect love. They
feel this, and this alone. They rejoice evermore, pray withoxii
ceasing, in every thing give thanks. Now this is all that I mean by
perfection. Therefore these are witnesses of the perfection which 1
preach. — ' But in some this change was not instantaneous.' — They
did not perceive the instant when it was wrought : it is often difficult
to perceive the instant when a man dies. Yet there is an instant in
which life ceases And if ever sin ceases, there must be a last
moment of its existence, and a first moment of our deliverance from
it. — ' But if they have this love now, they will lose it.' — They may ',
but they need not. And whether they Ho or no, they have it now :
they now experience what we teach. They now are all love. They
now rejoice, pray, and praise without ceasing. — ' However, sin is only
suspended in them ; it is not destroyed.' — Call it which you please.
They are all love to-day : and they take no thought for the morrow/'
— To return :

2. When you firmly assent to the truth of the precepts and pro
raises, on which the doctrine of Chrijstian perfection is founded : —

Vol, fV 4.S

338 THE LAST CHECK

when you understand the meaning of these scriptures, Sanctify them
through thy truth, thy word is truth — / will send the Comforter, [the
Spirit of truth and hohuess] u7ito you ; God hath chosen you to [eternal]
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth :— ^
When you see that the way lo Christian perfection is by the word of
the Gospel of Christ, — hy faith — and by the Spirit of God : in the
next pl^ce get tolerably clear ideas of this perfection. This is abso-
lutely necessary. If you will hit a mark, you must know where it
is. Some people aim at Christian perfection : but mistaking it for
ansrelical perfection, they shool above the mark, miss it, and then
peevishly give up their hopes. Others place the mark as much too
low : hence it is that you hear them profess to have attained Chris-
tian perfection, when they have not so much as attained the mental
serenity of a philosopher, or the candour of a good-natured, con-
scientious heathen. In the preceding pages, if I am not mistaken, the
mark is tixed according to the rules of scriptural moderation. It is
not placed so high, as to make you despair of hitting it, if you do your
best in an evangelical manner: nor yet so low, as to allow you to
pre<M]me, that you can reach it, without exerting all your abilities to
the uttermost, in due subordination to the efficacy of Jesus's blood, and
the Spirit's sanctifying influences. .^

3. Should you ask, " Which is the way to Christian perfection ?
Shall we go on to it by internal stillness, agreeably to this direction of
Moses and David, Tlie Lord will fight for you, and ye shall hold your
peace ; stand still and see the salvation of God. — Be still, and knoxv that
I am God. — Stand in awe, and sin not : commune with your own heart
upon your bed, and be still? Or shall we press after it by an internal
wrestling, according to these commands of Christ — Strive to enter in
at the strait gate : the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the
violent take it by force, &c.

According to the evangelical balance of the doctrines of free grace
Tkndfree will, I answer that the way to perfection is by the due combi-
nation of prevenient, assisting /^ce^race; and of submissive, assisted
free will. Antinomian stillness, therefore, which says that free grace
must do all, is not the way. Pharisaic activity, which will do most, if
not all, is not the way. Join these two partial systems ; allowing
free grace the lead and high pre-eminence which it so justly claims ;
and you have the balance of the two Gospel axioms. You do jflstice
to the doctrines of mercy and justice — of free grace and free will — of
divine faithfulness in keeping the covenant of grace, and of human
faithfulness in laying hold on that covenant, and keeping within its

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 339

bounds : — In short, you have the Scripture method of waiting upon
God, which Mr. Wesley describes thus :

Restless, resigrCd for God, I wait :

For God my vehement soul stands still.

To understand these lines, consider that faith, like the Virgia
Mary, is alternately a receiver and a bestozver : first, it passively receives
the impregnation of divine grace, saying, Behold the handmaid of the
Lord : let it be done to me according to thy word ; and then, it actively
brings forth its heavenly fruit with earnest labour. — God worketh in
you to will and to do, says St. Paul : here he describes the passive
office of faith, which submits to, and acquiesces in, every dispen-
sation and operation. — Therefore work out your salvation with fear
and trembling, and of consequence, with haste, diligence, ardour, and
faithfulness : here the apostle describes the active office of that
mother grace, ivhich carefully lays out the talent she has already
received. Would ye then wait aright for Christian perfection ? Im-
partially admit the Gospel axioms, and faithfully reduce them to prac-
tice. In order to this, let them meet in your hearts, as the two legs
of a pair of compasses meet in the rivet, which makes them one com-
pounded instrument. Let your faith in the doctrine of free grace,
and Christ's righteousness, fix your mind upon God, as you fix one of
the legs of your compasses immoveably in the centre of the circle,
which you are about to draw : so shall you stand still according to the
first texts produced in the question. And then, let your faith in the
doctrine of free will, and evangelical obedience, make you steadily run
the circle of duty around that firm centre ; so shall you imitate the
other leg of the compasses which evenly moves around the centre,
and traces the circumference of a perfect circle. By this activity,
subordinate to grace, you will take the kingdom of heaven by force.
When your heart quietly rests in God by faith, as it steadily acts the
part of a passive receiver, it resembles the leg of the compasses which
rests in the centre of the circle ; and then the poet's expressions,
restless — resigned, describe its fixedness in God. But when your heart
swiftly moves towards God by faith as it acts the part of a diligent
zvorker — when your ardent soul follows after God as a thirsty deer
does after the water brooks, it may be compared to the leg of the
compasses which traces the circumference of the circle; and then,
these words of the poet, restless and vehement, properly belong to it.
To go on steadily to perfection, you must therefore endeavour steadily
to believe, according to the doctrine of the first Gospel axiom ; and
[as there is opportunity] diligently to work, according to the doctrine

i340 i'HE LAST CHECK

of the second : and the moment your faith is steadily fixed in God as
in your centre, and your obedience swiftly moves in the circle of
duty from the rest and power which you find in that centre you have
attained ; you are made perfect in the fiiith which works by love.
Your humble faith saves you from Pharisaism, your obedient love
from Antinomianism, and both, in due subordination to Christ, con-
stitute you a just man made perfect^ according to your dispensation.*

4. Another question has also puzzled many sincere Perfectionists,
and the solution of it may remove a considerable hinderance out of
your wa}'. " Is Christian perfection, say they, to be instantaneously
brought down to us ? — Or are we gradually to grow up to it ? — Shall
we be made perfect in love by a habit of holiness suddenly infused
into us, or by acts of feeble faith and feeble love so frequently
repeated as to become stronjo;, habitual, and evangelically natural
to us, according to the well known maxim, A strong habit is a second
nature?'*^

Both ways are good : and instances of some believers gradually
perfected, and of others [comparatively speaking] instantaneously
fixed in perfect love, might probably be produced, if we were ac-
quainted with the experiences o^ all those who have died in a state of
evangelical perfection. It may be with the root of sin, as it is with
its fruit : some souls parley many years, before they can be per-
suaded to give up all their outward sins, and others part with them,
as it were, instantaneously. You may compare the former to those
besieged towns who make a long resistance, or to those mothers who
go through a tedious and lingering labour ; and the latter resemble
those fortresses which are surprised and carried by storm ; or those
women who are delivered almost as soon as labour comes upon them.
Travellers inform us that vegetation is so quick and powerful in
some warm climates, that the seeds of some vegetables yield a sallad
in less than twenty four hours. Should a northern philosopher say,
Impossible! and should an English gardener exclaim against such
mushroom sallad, they would only expose their prejudices, as do those
who decry instantaneous justification, or mock at the possibility of
the instantaneous destruction of indwelling sin.

For where is the absurdity of this doctrine ? If the light of a can-
dle brought into a dark room can instantly expel the darkness ; and
if, upon opening your shutters at noon, your gloomy apartment can
instantaneously be filled with meridian light ; why might not the
instantaneous rending of the vail of unbelief, or the sudden and full
opening of your faith, instantly fill your soul with the light of truth,
^nd the fire of love : supposing the Sun of Righteousness arise upon

TO ANTINOMIANISM. , 341

^fon with powerful healins; in his wings ? May not the Sanctifier de-
scend upon your waiting soul, as quickly as the Spirit descended upon
your Lord at his baptism ? Did it not descend as a dove^ that is, with
the soft motion of a dove, which swiftly shoots down, and instantly
lights? A good man said once with truth, " A mote is little when it
is compared to the sun, but I am far less before God." Alluding
to this comparison, I ask, \f the «un could instantly kindle a mote ;
nav, if a burning-glass can in a moment calcine a bone, and turn a
stone to lime ; and if the dim flame of a candle can in the twinkling
of an eye destroy the flying insect which comes within its sphere,
how unscriptural and irrational is it to suppose, that, when God
fully baptizes a soul with his sanctifying Spirit and with the ce-
lestial fire of his love, he cannot in an instant destroy the man of sin,
burn up the chaff" of corruption, melt the heart of stone into a
heart of flesh, and kindle the believing soul into pure seraphic
love.

An appeal to parallel cases may throw some light upon the ques-
tion which I answer. If you were sick, and asked of God the per-
fect recovery of your health, how would you look for it ? Would you
expect to have your strength restored to you at once, without any ex-
ternal means, as the lepers who were instantly cleansed : and as the
paralytic, who, at our Lord's word, took up the bed upon which he
lay, and carried it away upon his shoulders ? Or by using some exter-
nal means of a slower operation, as the ten lepers did, who were more
^i-adually cleansed, as they went to ihow themselves to the priests ? Or as
king Hezekiah, whose gradual, but equally sure recovery, was owing
to God's blessing upon the poultice of figs prescribed by Isaiah ?
Again — If you were blind, and besought the Lord to give you per-
fect human sight ; how should you wait for it? As Bartimeus, whose
eyes were opened in an instant ? Or as the man who received his
sight by degrees ? At first he saw nothing ; by and by he confusedly
discovered the objects before him, but at last he saw all things clear-
ly. Would ye not earnestly wait for an answer to your prayers noa-
— leaving to divine wisdom the particular manner of your recovery ^
And why should ye not go and do likewise, with respect to the dread-
ful disorder which we call indwelling sin ?

If our hearts be purified by faith, as the Scriptures expressly tes-
tify ; — if lhe/ai</j, which peculiarly purifies the hearts of Christians,
be a faith in the promise of the Father, which promise was made by
the Son, and directly points at a peculiar eff'usion of the Holy Ghost,
the purifier of spirits ; — if we may believe in a moment ; — and if
God may in a moment seal our sanctifying faith by sending us a fulness

342 THE LAST CHECK

of his sanctifying Spirit ; — if this, I say, may be the case, does it not
follow, that to deny the possibility of the instantaneous destruction of
sin ; is to deny, [contrary to Scripture and matter of fact] that we
can make an instantaneous act of faith in the sanctifying promise of
the Father, and in the all-cleansing blood of the Son, and that God
can seal that act by the instantaneous operation of his Spirit ? which
St. Paul calls the circumcision of the heart in [or by] the Spirit^ ac-
cording to the Lord's ancient promise, / will circumcise thy heart, to
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Where is the absurdity of
believing that the God of all grace can give an answer to the poet's
rational and evangelical request,

Open ray faith's interior eye :
Display thy glory from above :

And sinful self shall sink and die,
Lost in astonishment and love ?

If a momentary display of Christ's bodily glory could in an in-
stant turn Saul, the 'blaspheming, bloody pf-rsecuior, into Paul,
the praying, gentle apostle; — if a sudden sight of Christ's hands,
could in a moment root up from Thomas's heart that detestable reso-
lution, I will not believe, and produce that deep Confession of fiith,
My Lord, and my God I what cannot the display of Christ's spiritual
glory operate in a believing soul, .to which he manifests himself ac-
cording to that power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself?
Again : if Christ's body could in an instant become so glorious on the
mount, that his very garments partook of the sudden irradiation,
became not only free from every spot, but also white as the light, —
shining exceeding white as snow ; so as no fuller on the earth could
whiten them ; and if our bodies shall he changed — if this corruptible
shall put on incorruption, and if this mortal shall put on immortality y
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ; why may
not our believing souls, when they fully submit to God's terms, be
fully changed — fully turned from the power of Satan unto God ?
When the Holy Ghost says, Now is the day of salvation, does he ex-
clude salvation from heart iniquity ? — If Christ now deserves fully
the name of Jesus, because he [fully] saves his believing people from their
sins : and if now the Gospel trumpet sounds, and sinners arise from
the dead, why should we not, upon the perforffj-ance of the condition,
be changed in a moment from indwelling sin to indwelling holiness ?
Why should we not pass, in the twinkling of an eye, or in a short
time, from indwelling death to indwelling life ?

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 343

This is not all. If you deny the possibility of a quick destruction
of indwelling sin, you send to bell, or to some unscriptural purgatory,
not only the dying thief, but also all those martyrs who suddenly
embraced the Christian faith, and were instantly put to death by
bloody persecutors, for confessing the faith which they had just
embraced. And if you allow that God may cut his work short in
righteousness in such case, why not in other cases ? Why not, espe-
cially when a believer confesses his indwelling sin, ardently prays
that Christ would, and sincerely believes that Christ can, tiow cleanse
him from all unrighteousness ? *

Nobody is so apt to laugh at the instantaneous destruction of sin as
the Calvinisis, and yet [such is the inconsistency which characterizes
some men !] their doctrine of purgatory is built upon it. For, if you
credit them, all dying believers have a nature which is still morally
corrupted, and a heart which is yet desperately wicked. These be-
lievers, still full of indwelling sin, instantaneously breathe out their
last, and without any peculiar act of faith, without any peculiar out-
pouring of the sanctifying Spirit, corruption is instantaneously gone.
The indwelling man of sin has passed through the Geneva purgatory ;
he is entirely consumed ! And behold ! the souls which would not
hear of the instantaneous act of sanctifying faith which receives the
indwelling Spirit of holiness — the souls which pleaded hard for the
continuance of indwelling sin, are now completely sinless ; and in
the twinkling of an eye, they appear in the third heaven among the
spirits of just Christians made perfect in love ! Such is the doct ine
of our opponents : and yet they think it incredible that God should
do for us, while we pray in faith, tvhat they suppose death will do
for them, when they lie in his cold arras, perhaps delirious or
senseless !

On the other hand, to deny that imperfect believers may, and do
gradually grow in grace, and of course that the remains of their sins
may, and do gradually decay, is as absurd as to deny that God waters
the earth by daily detvs, as well as by thunder showers ; — it is as
ridiculous as to assert that nobody is carried off by lingering disorders,
but that all men die suddenly, or a few hours after they are taken ill.
I use these comparisons about death to throw some light upon the
question which I solve, and not to insinuate that the decay and
destruction of sin run parallel with the decay and dissolution of the
body, and that, of course, sin must end with our bodily life. Were I
to admit this unscriptural tenet, I should build again what I have all
along endeavoured to destroy, and, as I love consistency, I should
promise eternal salvation to all unbelievers ; for unbelievers, I pre-

344 THE LAST CHECK

sume, will die, i. e. go into the Geneva purgatory, as well as believers.
Nor do I see why death should not be able to destroy the van and
the inain body of sin's forces, if it can so readily cut the rear [the
remains of sin] in pieces.

Froaa the preceding observations it appears, that believers generally
go on to Christian perfection, as the disciples went to the other side
of the sea of Galilee. They toiled some time very hard and with
little success. But after they had rowed about twenty-Jive^ or thirty
furlongs, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He said to them. It is I,
be not afraid; then they willingly received him, into the ship, and imme-
diately the ship was at the land whither they went. Just so, we toil till
our faith discovers Christ in the promise, and welcomes him into our
hearts ; and such is the effect of his presence, that immediately we
arrive at the land of perfection. — Or, to use another illustration God
gays to believers, Go to the Canaan of perfect love : arise, why do
ye tarry? Wash away the remains of sin, calling, i. e. believing on
the name of the Lord. And if they submit to the obedience of faith,
he deals with them as he did with the evangelist Philip, to whom he
had said. Arise and go towards the south. For when they arise and
run^ as Philip did, the Spirit of the Lord takes them as he did the
evangelist ; and they are found in the new Jerusalem, as Philip was
found at Azotus. They dwell in God [or in perfect love] and God
[or perfect love] dwells in them.

Hence it follows, that the most evangelical method of following
after the perfection to which we are immediately called, is that of
seeking it noa», by endeavouringytt% to lay hold on the promise of that
perfection through faith, just as if our repeated acts of obedience
could never help us forward. But in the mean time we should do
the works of faith, and repeat our internal and external acts of obe-
dience with as much earnestness, and faithfulness, according to our
present power, as if we were sure to enter into rest merely by a
diligent use of our talents, and a faithful exertion of the powers which
divine grace has bestowed upon us. If we do not attend to the first
of these directions, we shall seek to be sanctified by works like the
Pharisees ; and if we disregard the second, we shall fall into Solifidian
sloth with the Antinomians.

This double direction is founded upon the connexion of the two
Gospel axioms. If the second axiom, which implies the doctrine of
free will, were false, I would only say : "Be still, or rather do
nothing : free grace alone will do all in you and for you." But as
this axiom is as true as the first, I must add, " Strive in humble subor-
dination to free grace • for Christ saith. To him that hath initiating

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 34o

grace to purpose, more grace shall be qlven, and he shall have abun-
dance : his faithful and equitable Benefaclor will give him the reward
of perfecting grace.

6. Beware therefore of unscriptural refinements. Set out for the
Canaan of perfect love with a firm rerioluiion to labour for the rest
which remains on earth for the people of God. Some good, mistaken
men, wise above what is written, and fond of striking out paths,
which were unknown to the apostles, — new paths marked out by
voluntary humility, and leading to Antinomianism ; — some people of
that stamp, I say, have made it their business, from the da} s of heated
Augustin, to decry making resolutions. They represent this prac-
tice as a branch of what they are pleased to call legality. They insi-
nuate that it is utterly inconsistent with the knowledge of our incon-
stancy and weakness : in a word, they frighten us from the first step
to Christian perfection : — from an humble, evangelical determination
to run, till we reach the prize, or, if you please, to go down till we
come to the lowest place. It may not be amiss to point out the
ground of their mistake. Once they broke the balance of the Gos-
pel axioms by leaning too much towards free willy and by not laying
their ^rsr and principal stress upon free grace. God, to bring them
to the evangelical mean, refused his blessing to their unevangelical
willing and running ; hence it is, that their self-righteous resolutions
started aside like a broken bow. When they found out their mistake,
instead of coming back to the line of moderation, they fled to the
other extreme. Casting all their weights into the scale of/ree grace,
they absurdly formed a resolution never to form a resolution ; and,
determining not to throw one determination into the scale o^ free
will, they began to draw all the believers they met with into the
ditch of a slothful quietism, and Laodicean stillness.

You will never steadily go on to perfection, unless you get over
this mistake. Let the Imperfectionists laugh at you for making hum-
ble resolutions ; but go on, steadfastly purposing to lead a new life, as
says our Church ; and in order to this, steadfastly purpose to get a
tiew heart, in the full sense of the word ; for so long as your heart
continues partly unrenewed, your life will be partly unholy. And
therefore St. James justly observes, that if any man off'cnd not in
word he is a perfect man, he loves God with all his heart, his heart is
fully renewed ; it being impossible that a heart still tainted in part
with vanity and guile, should always dictate the words of sincerity
and love. Your good resolutions need not fail : nor will they fail, if
under a due sense of the fickleness and helplessness of your unas-
sisted free will, you properly depend upon God's faithfulness and

Vol. IV. 44

346 THE LAST CHECK

assistance. However, should they fail, as they probably will do
more than once, be not discouraged, but repent, search out the cause,
and in the strength o^ free grace, let your assisted free will renew
your evangelical purpose, till the Lord seals it with his mighty 7*«^
and says, Let it he done to thee according to thy resolving faith. It is
much better to be laughed at as " poor creatures, who know nothing
of themselves," than to be deluded, as foolish virgins, who fondly
imagine that their vessels are full of imputed oil. Take therefore
the sword of the Spirit, and boldly cut this dangerous snare in pieces.
Conscious of your impotence, and yet laying out your talent of free
will, say with the prodigal son, / will arise and go to my Father: —
Say with David, / will love thee, 0 Lord my God: — I will behold thy
face in righteousness : — / am purposed that my mouth shall not trans-
gress ; — / will keep it, as it were, with a bridle ; I have said, that I
would keep thy word: — The proud, and they who are humble in an
unscriptural vva}^ have had me exceedingly in derision, but I will keep
thy precepts with my whole heart. — / have swor7i, and I will perform ity
that 1 will keep thy righteous judgments. — Say with St. Paul, / am deter-
mined, not to know any thing save Jesus, and him crucified ; and with
.Jacob, I will not let thee go, unless thou bless me! And, to sum up all
good resolutions in one, if you are a member of the Church of Eng-
land, say, " I have engaged to renounce all the vanities of this wicked
world, all the sinful lusts of the flesh, and all the works of the devil :
to believe all the articles of the Christian faith ; and to keep God's
commandments all the days df my life ;" that is, I have most solemnly
resolved to be a perfect Christian. And this resolution I have pub-
licly sealed by receiving the two sacraments upon it : — Baptism, after
my parents and sponsors had laid me under this blessed vow ; and the
Lord^s Supper, after I had personally ratified, in the Bishop's presence,
what they had done. Nor do I only think that I am bound to keep
this vow, but " by God'^s grace, so I xvill ; and I heartily thank our
heavenly Father that he has called me to this state of salvation [and
Christian perfection ;] and I pray unto him to give me his grace, that I
may not only attain it, but also continue in the same unto my lifers end.''"'
Church Catechism.

<« Much diligence [says Kempis] is necessary to him that will profit
much. If he who firmly purposeth often faileth, what shall he do,
who seldom or feebly purposeth ^any thing ?" But, I say it again and
aga»n. do not lean upon your jTree will, and good purposes, so as to
encroach upon the glorious pre-eminence of free grace. Let the
first Gospel axiom stand invarirbly in its honourable place. Lay your
pjnncipal stress wpon divine mercy, and say with the good man whom

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 3J7

1 have just quoted, '' Help me, O Lord God, in thy holy service, and
grant that I may now this day begin perfectly."

In following this method, ye will do the two Gospel axioms justice :
ye will so depend upon God's free grace as not to fall into Pliarisais
running: and ye will so exert your own free xvill, as not to slide into
Antinomian sloth. Your course lies exactly between' these rocks.
To pass these perilous straits your resolving heart must acquire a
heavenly polarity. Through the spiritually magnetic touch of Christ
the corner stone y your soul must learn to point towards /a/r/i and works ^
or if you please, towards a due submission to free grace, and a due
exertion of free will, as the opposite ends of the needle of a com-
pass point towards the north and the south.

6. From this direction flows the following advice. Resolve to be
perfect in yourselves, but not of yourselves. The Antinomians boast
that they are perfect only in their heavenly Representative. Christ
was filled with perfect humility and love : they are perfect in his per-
son : they need not a perfection of humble love in themselves. To
avoid their error, be perfect in yourselves, and not in another : let your
perfection of humility and love be inherent ; let it dwell in you. Let
it fill your ozy/i heart, and influence your own life : sq shall you avoid
the delusions of the virgins, who give you to understand, that the oil
of their perfection is all contained in the sacred vessel which for-
merly hung on the cross, and therefore their salvation is finished, they
have oil enough in that rich vessel ; manna enough and to spare in
that golden pot. Christ's heart was perfect, and therefore theirs may
safely remain imperfect, yea, full of indwelling sin, till death, the
messenger of the bridegroom, come to cleanse them, and fill them with
perfect love at the midnight cry! Delusive hope! Can any thing be
more absurd than for a sapless, dry branch, to fancy that it has sap and
moisture enough in the vine which it cumbers ? Or for an impeni-
tent adulterer to boast, that in the Lord he has chastity and righteous-
ness ? Where did Christ ever say, have salt in another? Does he not
say, Take heed that ye be not deceived? — Have salt in yourselves, Mark
ix. 50 ? Does he not impute the destruction of stony ground hearers
to their not having root in themselves, Matt. xiii. 21 ? If it was the
patient man's comfort, that the root of the matter was found iji him^ is
it not deplorabk to hear modern believers say, without any explana-
tory clause, that they have nothing but sin in themselves.^ But is it
enough to have the root in ourselves? Must we not also have ihofrnit
— yea, be filled with the fruit of righteousness ? Phil. i. 11. Is it not
St. Peter's doctrine where he says. If these things be in you, and
abound, ye shall neither be barren, nor unfruitful, in the knowledge of

348 THE LAST CHECK

Christ? 2 Pet. i. 8. And is it not that of David, where he praySy
create in me a deanheart, ^c. ? Away then, with all Antinomian refine-
ments : and if, with St. Paul, yo\i will have salvation and rejoicing iu
yourselves, and not in another ; naake sure of holiness and perfection
in yourselves^ and not in another.

But while you endeavour to avoid the snare of the Antinomians,
do not run into that of the Pharisees, who will have their perfection
of themselves ; and therefore, by their own unevangelical efforts, self-
concerted willings, and seif-prescribed runnings, endeavour to raise
sparks of their own kindling, and to warm themselves by their own
painted fires and fruitless agitations. Feel your omnipotence. Own
that no man has quickened [and perfected] his own soul. Be contented
to invite, receive, and welcome the light of life : but never attempt
lo form, or to engross it. It is your duty to wait for the morning
light, and to rejoice when it visits you : but if you grow so self-con-
ceited as,to say, " I will create a sun : Let there be lighf^ — or if, when
the light visits your eyes, you say, " I will bear a stock of light, 1 will
so fill my eyes with light to-day, that to-morrow 1 shall almost be able
to do my work without the sun, or at least without a constant depen-
dence upon its beams ;" would ye not betray a species of self deifying
idolatry, and Satanical pride ? If our Lord himself, as Son of man,
would not have one grain of human goodness himself; if he said,
Why callest thou me good ? There is none good [self good, or good of
himself] but God. Who can wonder enough at those proud Christians,
who claim some self-originated goodness ; boasting of what they have
received, as if they had not received it ; or using what they have
received without an humble sense of their constant dependence upon
their heavenly Benefactor ? To avoid this horrid delusion of the Pha-
risees, learn to see, to feel, and to acknowledge, that of the Father,
through the Son, and by the Holy Ghost, are all your Urimand Thum-
mim. your lights and perfections : and while the Lord says, From me
thy fruit is found, Hos. xiv. 8. bow at his footstool, and gratefully
reply, Of thy fulness have all we received, and grace for gracCy John
i. 16. For thou art the Father of lights, from whom cometh every
^ood and perfect gift, James j. 17. — Of thee, and through thee, and to
thee, are all things : to thee, therefore, be the glory for ever, Amen.
Rom. xi. 36.

7. You will have this humble and thankful disposition, if you let your
repentance cast deeper roots. For if Christian perfection imphes a
forsaking of all inward, as well as outward sin : and if true repentance
is a grace zvhereby we forsake sin, it follows, that to attain Christian per-
fection, we must so follow our Lord's evangelical precept, Repent, for

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 349

the kingdom of heaven is at handy as to leave no tin — no bosom sin-
no indwelling sin unrepented of, and of consequence uiforsaken. He
whose heart is still full of indwelling sin, has no more truly repented
of indwelling sin, than the man whose mouth is still defiled with filthy
talking and jesting, has truly repented of his ribaldry. The deeper
our sorrow for, and detestation of, indwelling sin is, the more peni-
tently do we confess the plague of our hearts, and when we properly
confess it, we inherit the blessing promised in these words, If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness:

To projnote this deep repentance, consider how many spiritual
evils still haunt your breast. Look into the inward chamber of
imagery, where assuming self-love^ surrounded by a multitude of vaia
thoughts, foolish desires* and wild imaginations, keeps her court.
Grieve that your heart, which should be all flesh, is yet partly stone ;
and that your soul, which should be only a temple for the Holy
Ghost, is yet so frequently turned into a den of thieves, a hole for the
cockatrice, a nest for a brood of spiritual vipers, — for the remains of
envy, jealousy, fretfulness, anger, pride, impatience, peevishness,
formality, sloth, prejudice, bigotry, carnal confidence, evil shame,
self-righteousness, tormenting fears, uncharitable suspicions, idola-
trous love, and 1 know not how many of the evils which form the
retinue of hypocrisy and unbelief. Through grace detect these
evils by a close attention to what passes in your own heart at all
times, but especially in an hour of temptation. By frequent and deep
confession, drag out all these abominations — these sins, which would
not have Christ to reign alone over you, bring before him : place them
in the light of his countenance ; and (if you do it in faith) that light,
and the warmth of his love, will kill them, as the light and heat of the
sun kill the worms which the plough turns up to the open air in a
dry summer's day.

Nor plead that you can do nothing ; for, by the help of Christ, who
is always ready to assist the helpless, ye can solemnly say upon your
knees, what ye have probably said in an airy manner to your pro-
fessing friends. If ye ever acknowledged to them that your heart is
deceitful, prone to leave undone what ye ought to do, and ready to do
what ye ought to leave undone ; ye can undoubtedly make the same
confession to God. Complain to him who can help you, as ye have
done to those who cannot. Lament, as you are able, the darkness of
your mind, the stubbornness of your will, the dulness or exorbitancy
of your afl'ections, and importunately entreat the God of all grace to
renew a right spirit within you. If ye sorrow after this godly sort, what

350 THE LAST CHECK

carefulness will be wrought in you ! What indignation ! What fear /
What vehement desire ! What zeal ! Yea, what revenge ! Ye will then
sing in faith, what the Imperfectionists sing in unbelief:

O how I hate those Iqsts of mine,

That crucified my God :
Those sins that pierc'd and nail'd his flesh

Fast to the fatal wood !

Yes, my Redeemer, they shall die,

My heart hath so decreed ;
Nor will I spare those guilty things

That made my Saviour bleed.

Whilst with a melting — broken heart.

My murder'd Lord I view,
I'll raise revenge against my sins,

And slay the murderers too.

8. Closely connected with this deep repentance is the practice of a
judicious, universal self-denial. If thou wilt be perfect, says our
Lord, deny thyself; take up thy cross daily ; and follow me. He that
loveth father or mother, [much more he that loveth praise, pleasure,
or money,] more than me, is not worthy of me : nay. Whosoever will
save his life shall lose it : and whosoever will lose it for my sake shall
find it. Many desire to live and reign with Christ, but few choose
to suffer and die with him. However, as the way of the cross leads
to heaven, it undoubtedly leads to Christian perfection. To avoid the
cross, therefore ; or to decline drinking the cup of vinegar and gall,
which God permits your friends or foes to mix for you, is to throw
away the aloes which Divine Wisdom puts to the breasts of the mo-
ther, of harlots, to wean you from her and her witchcrafts : it is to
refuse a medicine which is kindly prepared to restore your health
and appetite — in a word, it is to renounce the Physician, who heals
all our infirmities, when we take his bitter draughts, submit to have
our imposthumes opened by his sharp lancet, and yield to have our
proud flesh wasted away by his painful caustics. Our Lord was
made a perfect Saviour through sufferings, and we may be made per-
fect Christians in the same manner. We may be called to suffer, till
all that which we have brought out of spiritual Egypt is consumed in
a howling wilderness, in a dismal Gethsemane, or on a shameful Cal-
vary. Should this lot be reserved for us, let us not imitate our
Lord's imperfect disciples, who forsook him and fled ; but let us stand
the fiery trial, till all our fetters are melted, and our dross is purged
away. Fire is of a purgative nature ; it separates the dross from

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 351

the gold : and the fiercer it is, the more quick and powerful is its
operation. He that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem^
shall be called holy^ 4*c. when the Lord shall have ■washed atca?/ the filth
of the daughters of Zion^ and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem
hij the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. Isa. iv. 4. — /
Ziill bring the third part through the fire, saith the Lord, and will refine
them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried : they shall
rail on my name, and I will hear them : I will say, it is my people ; and
they shall say. The Lord is my God. Zech. iii. 0. Therefore, if the
Lord should suffer the best men in his camp, or tlie strongest men in
Satan's army, to cast you into a furnace of fiery temptations, come not
out of it till you are called. Let patience have its perfect work :
meekly keep your trying station, till your heart is disengaged from
all that is earthly, and till the sense of God's preserving power kin-
dles in you such a faith in his omnipotent love, as few experimentally
know, but they who have seen themselves, like the mysterious bush
in Horeb, burning, and yet unconsumed ; or they who can say with
St. Paul, We are killed all the day long — dying, and behold we live !

" Temptations (says Kempis) are often very profitable to men,
though they be troublesome and grievous : for in them a man is
humbled, purified, and instructed. All the saints have passed through,
and profited by, many tribulations ; and they that could not bear tempt-
ations became reprobates, and fell away." — "My son," adds the
author of Ecclesiasticus, chap. ii. 1. " if thou come to serve the
Lord" 7?i the perfect beauty of holiness, '' prepare thy soul for tempta-
tion. Set thy heart aright; constantly endure, and make not baste in
the time of trouble. Whatever is brought upon thee, take cheerfully ;
and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate ; for gold is
tried and purified in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of
adversity." — And therefore, says St. James, Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation; for when he is tried [if he stands the fiery trial,]
he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them
that love him, [with the love which endureth all things, i. e. wilh per-
fect love] James i. 12. Patienlly endure, then, when God/or a season,
[if need be] suffers you to be in heaviness through manifold temptations..
By this mean, the trial of your faith being inuch more precious than
that of gold which perisheth^ though it be tried in the fire, will be found
unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1
Pet. i. 7.

9. Deep repentance is good, Gospel self-denial is excellent, and a
degree of patient resignation in trials is of unspeakable use to attain
the perfection of love ; but as faifh immediately works by love, it i^

352 THE LAST CHECK

of far more immediate use to purify the soul. Hence it is, that
Christ, the prophets, and the apostles, so strongly insist upon faith;
assuring us that if we will not believe, we shall not be established: —
that if we will believe we shall see the glory of God : — we shall be saved :
■ — and rivers of living water shall How from our inmost souls ; — and
that our hearts are purified by faith ; — and that we are saved by grace
through faith. They tell us, that Christ gave himself for the church,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it — by the word ; that he might pre-
sent it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Now, if
believers are to be cleansed and made without blemish by the word
[which testifies of the all-atoning blood, and the love of the Spirit]
it is evident that they are to be sanctified by faith; for faith, or believ-
ing, has as necessary a reference to the word as eating has to food. —
For the same reason the apostle observes, that they who believe enter
into rest ; — that a promise being given us to enter in, we should take
care not to fall short of it through unbelief; — that we ought to take
warning by the Israelites, who could not enter into the land of promise
through unbelief: — that we nre filled with all joy and peace in believing ;
and that Christ is able to save to the uttermost them who come unto God
through him : now coming, in the Scripture language, is another ex-
pression for believing : he that com^th to God [says the apostle] must
believe. Hence it appears, thdt faith is peculiarly necessary to those
who will be saved to the uttermost, — especially a firm faith in the capi-
tal promi^^e of the Gospel of Christ, the promise of the Spirit of holi-
ness from the Father, through the Son. For, How shall they call on
him in whom they have not believed? Or, How can they earnestly
plead the truth, and steadily wait for the performance of a promise,
in which they have no faith? — This doctrine of faith is supported by
Peter's words : God, who knoweth the hearts [of penitent believers]
bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost — and purifying their
hearts by faith, Acts xv. 8, 9. For the same Spirit of faith, whieh
initially purifies our hearts when we cordially believe the pardoning
love of God, completely cleanses them when we fully believe his
sanctifying love.

10. This direction about faith being of the utmost importance, I
shall confirm and explain it by an extract from Mr. Wesley's sermon,
which points out The Scripture Way of Salvation. " Though it be
allowed [says this judicious divine] that both this repentance and its
fruits are necessary to full salvation, yet they are not necessary either
in the same sense with faith, or in the same degree ; for these fruits
are only necessary conditionally, if there be time and opportunity for

TO ANTINOMlANISSf. 353

thern, otherwise a man may be sanctified without them. But he can-
not be sanctified without faith. Likewise let a roan have ever so
much of this repentance, or ever so many good works, yet all this
does not at all avail ; he is not sanctified till he believe. But the
moment he believes, with or without those fruits, yea, with more or
less of this repentance, he is sanctified. — Not in the same sense ; for
this repentaace and these fruits are only remotely necessary, neces-
sary in order to the continuance of his faith, as well as the increase
of it ; whereas faith is immediately and directly necessary to sanctifi-
cation. It remains that faith is the only condition which is imme-
diately and proximately necessary to sanctitication.

*' But what is that faith whereby we are sanctified, saved from
sin, and perfected in love? It is a divine evidence and conviction, 1.
That God hath promised it in the Holy Scriptures. Till we arc
thoroughly satisfied of this, there is no moving one step further. And
one would imagine there needed not one word more to satisfy a
reasonable man of this, than the ancient promise, Then will I circum-
cise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul. How clearly doth this express the
being perfected in love ? How strongly imply the being saved from
all sin ? For as long as love takes up the whole heart, what room is
there for sin therein ? — 2. It is o divine evidence and conviction, that
what God has promised he is able to perform. Admitting therefore'
that with men it is impossible to bring a clean thing out of an unclean,
to purify the heart from all sin, and to fill it with all holiness : yet
this creates no difficulty in the case, seeing with God all things arc
possible. — 3. It is an evidence and conviction, that he is able and wil-
ling to do it 710W. And why not? Is not a moment to him the ?ame as
a thousand years? He cannot want more time to accomplish whatever
is his will. We may therefore boldly say, at any point of time, JVow
is the day of salvation ! Behold! all things are now ready! Come to the
marriage! — 4. To this confidence, that God is both able and willing
to sanctify us now, there needs to be added one thing more, a divine
evidence and conviction that he doth it. In that hour it is done. God
says to the inmost soul, According to thy faith, be it unto thee! Then
the soul is pure from every spot of sin ; it is clean from all unrighte-
ousness.^^

Those who have low ideas of faith, will probably be surprised to
see how much Mr. Wesley ascribes to that Christian grace, and to
inquire why he so nearly connects our believing that God cleanses us
from all sin, with God^s actual cleansing us. But their wonder will
cease, if they consider the definition which this divine givos of faith.

Vor. IV. 4n

354 THE LAST CHECK

in the same sermon. " Faith, in general [says he] is defined by the
apostle, an evidence, a divine evidence and conviction [the word used
by the apostle means both] of things not seen : not visible, nor per-
ceivable either by sight, or by any other of the external senses. It
implies both a supernatural evidence of God and of the things of God,
a kind of spiritual light exhibited to the soul, and a supernatural sight,
or perception thereof: accordingly the Scriptures speak of God's
giving sometimes light, sometimes a power of discerning it So St.
Paul, God, who cojnmanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in
the face of Jesus Christ. And elsewhere the same apostle speaks of
the eyes of our understanding being opened. By this twofold operation
of the Holy Spirit, having the eyes of our souls both opened and
enlightened, we see the things which the natural eye hath not seen^
neither the ear heard. We have a prospect of the invisihle things of
God : we see the spiritual world, which is all round about us, and yet
is no more discerned by our natural faculties, than if it had no being ;
and we see the eternal world, piercing through the veil which hangs
between time and eternity. Clouds and darkness then rest upon it
no more, but we already see the glory which shall be revealed."

From this striking definition of faith it is evident, that the doctrine
of this address exactly coincides with Mr. Wesley^s sermon ; with this
verbal difference only, that what he calls faith, implying a twofold
operation of the Spirit proddctive of spiritual lights and supernatural
sight! I have caWed faith apprehending a sanctifying baptism [or out-
pouring] of the Spirit. His mode of expression savours more of the
rational divine, who logically divides the truth, in order to render its
several parts conspicuous : and I keep closer to the words of the
Scriptures, which, I hope, will frighten no candid Protestant. 1
make this remark for the sake of those who fancy, that, when a doc-
trine is clothed with expressions which are not quite familiar to them,
it is a new doctrine : although these expressions should be as scriptural
as those of a baptism, or outpouring of the Spirit, which are used by
some of the prophets, by John the Baptist, by the four evangelists,
and by Christ himself.

I have already pointed out the close connexion there is between an
act of faith, which ftdly apprehends the sanctifying promise of the
Father, and the power cf the Spirit of Christ, which makes an end
of moral corruption, by forcing the lingering man of sin instanta-
neously to breathe out his last. Mr. Wesley, in the above-quoted ser-
mon, touches upon this delicate subject in so clear and concise a man-
ner, that while his discourse is before me, for the sake of those who

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 355

.•• •

have it not at hand, I shall trawribe the whole passage, and thus put
the seal of that eminent di^e to what I have advanced in the
preceding pages, about sanctifying faith and the quick destruction of
sin.

*' Does God work this great work in the soul gradually or inslanta-
neously? Perhaps it may.be gradually wrought in some: 1 mean in
this sense ; they do not advert to the particular moment wherein
sin ceases to be. But it is infinitely desirable, were it the will of
God, that it should be done instantaneously ; that the Lord should
destroy sin by the breath of his mouth, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye. And so he generally does, a plain fact, of which there is
evidence enough to satisfy any unprejudiced person. Thou therefore
look for it every moment. Look for it in the way above described ;
in all those good works, whereunto thou art created anew in Christ
Jesus. There is then no danger: you can be no worse, if you are
no better for that expectation. For were you to be disappointed of
your hope, still you lose nothing. But you shall not be disappointed
of your hope : it will come, and will not tarry. Look for it then
every day, every hour, every moment. Why not this hour, this
moment? Certainly you may look for it now, if you believe it is by
faith. And by this token you may surely know whether you seek it by
fcith or by works. If by works, you want something to be done first,
before you are sanctified. You think, ' I must first be or do thus or
thus.' Then you are seeking it by works unto this day. If you seek
it by faith, you expect it as you are : and if as you are, then expect
it now. It is of importance to observe that there is an inseparable
connexion between these three points, expect it by faith, expect it
as you are, and expect it now ! To deny one of them is to deny them
all : to allow one is to allow them all. Do you believe we are sanc-
tified by faith ? Be true then to your principle ; and look for this
blessing just as you are, neither better, nor worse ; as a poor sinner
that has still nothing to pay, nothing to plead, but Clirist died. And if
you look for it as you are, then expect it now. Stay for nothing:
^hy should you ? Christ is ready ; and he is all you want. He is
waiting for you : he is at the door ! Let your inmost soul cry out,

*• Come in, come in, thou heavenly guest !

Nor hence again remove ;
But sup with me, and let the feast

Be everlasting love."

\\. Social prayer is closely connected with faith, in the capital
promise of the sanctifiying Spirit : and therefore I earnestly recom-

v^b ^ T£JE LAST CHECK

mend that mean ol grace, where it ean be had, as being eminently
conducive to the attaining of Christian perfection. When many
beheving hearts are lifted up, and wrestle with God in prayer toge-
ther, you may compare them to many diligent hands, which work a
large machine. At such times, particularly, the fountains of the
great deep are broken up, the windows of heaven are opened, and
rivers of living water flow into the hearts of obedient believers.

" In Cliiistwhen brethren join,

And follow after peace,
The fellowship divine

He promises to bless,
His chlefest graces to bestow
Where two or three are met below

" Where unity takes place,

The joys of heaven we prove ;
This is the Gospel grace,

The unction from above,
The Spirit on all believers shed,
Descending swift from Christ their head."

Accordingly we read, that, when God powerfully opened the king-
dom of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all
with one accord in one place. And when he confirmed that kingdom,
they were lifting up their voices to God with one accord. See Acts ii.
1. and iv. 24. Thus also the believers at Samaria were filled with
the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier, while Peter and John prayed with
them, and laid their hands upon them.

12. But perhaps thou art alone. As a solitary bird which sitteth
on the house top, thou lookest for a companion who may go with
thee through the deepest travail of the regeneration. But alas !
thou lookest in vain : all the professors about thee seem satisfied with
their former experiences, and with self-imputed or self-conceited
perfection. When thou givest them a hint of thy want of power from
on high, and of thy hunger and thirst after a fulness of righteousness,
they do not sympathize with thee. And indeed how can they ?
They are full already ; they reign without thee ; they have need of
nothing. They do not sensibly want that God would grant them,
according to the riches of his glory^ to be strengthened with might in the
inner many that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith, that they,
being rooted and grounded in love, may comprehend with all saints
[perfected in love] what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that they
might be filled with all the fulness of God, Eph. iii. 16, kc. Thej

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 357

took upon thee as a whimsical person, full of singular notions, and they
rather damp, than enliven thy hopes. Thy circunastances are sad ;
but do not give place to despair, no not for a moment. In the name
of Christ, who could not get even Peter, James, and John, to watch
with him one hour ; and who was obliged to go through his agony
alone ; — in his name, I say, Cast not away thy confidence which has
great recompense of reward. Under all thy discouragements, remem-
ber that, after all, divine grace is not confined to numbers, any more
than to a few. When all outward helps fail thee, make the more of
Christ, on whom sufficient help is laid for thee, — Christ, who says, I
will go with thee, through fire and water : the former shall not burn
thee, nor the latter drown thee. Jacob was alone when he wrestled
with the angel, yet he prevailed : and if the servant is not above
his master, wonder mot that it should be said of thee, as of thy Lord,
when he went through his greatest temptations, Of the people there
was none with hi?7i.

Should thy conflicts be with confused noise, with burning and fuel of
fire ; should thy Jerusalem be rebuilt in troublous times ; should the
Lord shake, not the earth only, but also heaven ; shoidd deep call unto
deep at the tioise of his water spouts ; should all his waves and billows
go over thee ; should thy patience be tried to the uttermost ; remem-
ber how in years past thou hast tried the patience of God, nor be
discouraged : an extremity, and a storm, are often God's opportunity.
A blast of temptation, and a shaking of all thy foundations, may intro-
duce the fulness of God to thy soul, and answer the end of the rush-
ing wind, and of the shaking, which formerly accompanied the first
great manifestations of the Spirit. The Jews still expect the coming
of the Messiah in the flesh, and they particularly expect it in a storm.
When lightnings flash, when thunders roar, when a strong wind shakes
their houses, and the tempestuous sky seems to rush down in thun
der showers : then some of them particularly open their doors and
windows to entertain their wished for deliverer. Do spiritually, what
they do carnally. Constantly wait for full power from on high; but
especially when a storm of affliction, temptation, or distress, over-
takes thee ; or when thy convictions and desires raise thee above
thyself, as the waters of the flood raised Noah's ark above the earth ;
then be particularly careful to throw the door oi faith, and the win-
dow of hope as wide open as thou canst ; and spreading the arms of
thy imperfect love, say with all the ardour and resignation which
thou art master of,

My heart strings groan with deep complaint,
My flesh hes panting, Lord, for thee ;

358 THE LAST CHECK

And every limb, and every joint,
Stretches for perfect purity.

But if the Lord be pleased to come softly to thy help ; if he make an
end of thy corruptions by helping thee gently to sink to unknown
depths of meekness : if he drown the indwelling man of sin by bap-
tizing, by plunging him into an abyss of humility ; do not find fault
with the simplicity of his method, the plainness of his appearing, and
the commonness of his prescription. Nature, like Naaman^ is full of
prejudices. She expects that Christ will come to make her clean with
as much ado, pomp, and bustle, as the Syrian general looked for,
when he was wrath and said, Behold I thought he will surely come out

to me and stand and call on his God and strike his hand

over the place and recover the leper. Christ frequently goes a much

plainer way to work : and by this mean he disconcerts all our pre-
conceived notions and schemes of deliverance. ' Learn of me to be
meek and lowly in heart, and thou shah find rest to thy soul, — the sweet
rest of Christian perfection, of perfect humility, resignation and
meekness. Lie at my feet, as she did who loved much, and was
meekly taken up with the good part, and the one thing needful:'' But
thou frettest : thou despisest this robe of perfection : it is too plain
for thee : thou slightest the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which
in the sight of God, is. of great price : nothing will serve thy turn but
a tawdry coat of many colours, which may please thy proud self-will,
and draw the attention of others, by its glorious and flaming appear-
ance ; and it must be brought to thee with lightnings, thunderings, and
voices. If this be thy disposition, wonder not at the divine wisdom,
which thinks fit to disappoint thy lofty prejudices ; and let me address
thee as JVaaman^s servants addressed him : My brother, if the prophet
had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it ? how
much rather then, when he says to thee, ' / am the meek and lowly Lamb of
God : wash in the stream of my blood — plunge in the Jordan of my
humility, and be clean?' Instead therefore of going away from a plain
Jesus in a rage, welcome him in his lowest appearance, and be per-
suaded that he can as easily make an end of thy sin by gently coming
in a still, small voice, as by rushing in upon thee in a storm, afire, or
an earthquake. The Jews rejected their Saviour, not so much because
they did not earnestly desire his coming, as because he did not come
in the manner in which they expected him. It is probable that some
of this Judaism cleaves to thee. If thou wilt absolutely come to
mount Sion in a triumphal chariot, or make thine entrance into the
new Jerusalem upon a prancing horse, thou art likely never to come

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 359

there. Leave then all thy worldly misconceptions behind ; and
humbly follow thy king, who makes his entry into the topical Jerusa-
lem meek and lowly, riding upon an ass, yea, upon a colt, the foal of an
ass. I say it again therefore, whilst thy faith and hope strongly insist
on the blessing;, let thy resignation and patience leave to God's infinite
goodness and wisdom the peculiar manner of bestowing it. When he
says, Surely I come quickly to make my abode m'ilh thee, let thy faith
close in with his word : ardently and yet meekly embrace his promise.
This will instantly beget power; and with that power thou mayest
instantly bring forth prayer, and possibly the prayer which opens
heaven, which humbly wrestles with God, inherits th^* blessing, and
turns the well known petition. Amen, Even so. Come Ltrd Jesus! into
the well known praises. He is come, He is come, O praise the Lords 0
my soul, (I'C.— Thus repent, believe, and obey ; and he that cometh will
come with a fulness of pure, meek, humble love ; he rvill not tarry ; or
if he tarry, it will be to give thy faith and desires more time to open»
that thou raayest, at his appearing, be able to take in more of his per-
fecting grace and sanctifying power: besides, thy expectation of his
coming, is of a purifying nature, and gradually sanctifies thee. He
that has this hope in him, by this very hope purifies himself even as
God is pure : for we are saved [into perfect love] by hope, as well as
by faith. The stalk, as well as the root, bears the full corn in the ear.
Up then, thou sincere expectant of God's kingdom! Let thy hum-
ble, ardent free will meet prevenient, sanctifying free grace in its
weakest and darkest appearance, as the father of the faithful met the
Lord, when he appeared to him on the plain of Mamre as a mere mortal.
Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him:
so does free grace [if I may venture upon the allusion] invite itself
to thy tent: nay, it is now with thee in its creating, redeeming, and
sanctifying influences. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from
the tent door, and bowed himself towards the ground. Go and do like-
wise : if thou seest any beauty in the humbling grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the sanctifying love of God, and in the comtbrtable
fellowship of the Holy Ghost, let thy free will run to meet them, and
bow itself towards the ground. O for a speedy going out of thy tent
— thy sinful self? 0 for a race of desire in the way of faith ! O for
incessant prostrations ! O for a meek and deep bowing of thyself
before thy divine Deliverer ! — And Abraham said, my Lord, if now 1
have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy ser-
vant.— O for the humble pressing of a loving faith! O for the faith
which stopt the sun, when God avenged his people in the days of

360 THE LAST CHECK

Joshua ; O for the importunate faith of the two disciples, who
detained Christ, when he made as though he would have gone farther !
They constrained him sajing, abide with us, for it is towards evenings
and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. — He soon
indeed vanished out of their hodily sight, because they were not
called always to enjoy his bodily presence. Far from promising them
that blessing, he had said, It is expedient for you that I go away ; for if
I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I
will send him unto you — that he may abide with you for ever. — He dwell-
eth with you, and shall be in you. This promise is yea and amen in
Christ ; only plead it according to the preceding directions, and as
sure as our Lord is the true and faithful witness, so sure will the God
of hojpe and love soon fill you with all joy and peace^ that ye may
abound in pure love as well as in confirmed hope through the power
of the Holy Ghost. Then shall you have an indisputable right to join
the believers who sing at the Tabernacle, and at the Lock Chapel, in
the words of Messrs. J. and C. Wesley.

" Many are we now, and one,

We who Jesus have put on.
There is neither bond nor free,

Male nor female, Lord, in thee.
Love, like death, hath all destroyed,

Rendered all distinctions void :
Names, and sects, and parties, fall ;

Thou, 0 Christ, art all in all."

in the mean time you may sing with the pious Countess oi Hunting-
don— the Rev. Mr. Madan — the Rev. Dr. Conyers — the Rev. Mr.
Berridge — Richard Hill, Esq. ; and the Imperfectionists, who use their
collections of hymns ; — ye may sing, I say, with them all, the two
following hymns which they have agreed to borrow from the hymns^
of Messrs. J. and C. Wesley, after making some insignificant alter-
ations. I transcribe them from the collection used in Lady Hunting
don's chapels, Bristol edition, 1765, page 239, &;c

O for a heart to praise my God !

A heart from sin set free ;
A heart that's sprinkled with the blood

So freely spilt for me.

A heart resigned, submissive, meek.

My dear Redeemer's throne,
Where only Christ is heard to spealr.

^/VhPTf^ .Te?ns reig:ns alop"

TO ANTINOMlANlSMo 361

A humble, lowly, contrite heart,

Believing, true, and clean.
Which neither life nor death can part
From Him that dwells within.

A heart in every thought renewed,

And filled with love divine ;
Perfect, and right, and pure, and good,

A copy. Lord, of thine.

My heart, thou know'st, can never f*»f^

Tilk thou create my peace :
Till of mine Eden re-possest,

From self and sin I cease.

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart,

Come quickly from above ;
Write thy new name upon my heart,

Thy new, best name of love.

Here is undoubtedly an evangelical prayer for the love which
restores the soul to a state of sinless rest, and evangelical perfection.
Mean ye, my brethren, what the good people who dissent from us
print and sing, and I ask no more. Nor can ye wait for an answer to
the prayer contained in the preceding hymn in a more scriptural
manner, than by pleading the promise of the Father in such words a?
these : ^ .

Love divine, all loves excelling,

Joy of heaven to earth come down !
Fix in us thine humble dwelling,

All thy faithful mercies crown ;
Jesus, thou art all compassion,

Pure, unbounded love thou art \
Visit us with thy salvation,

Enter every trembling heart !

Breathe, O breathe thy loving spiri'

Into every troubled breast I
Let us all in t+iee inherit,

Let us find thy* promised rest.
Take away the f power of sinning.

Alpha and Omega be :
End of faith as its beginning,

Set our hearts at liberty.

* Mr. Wesley says, second rest, because an imperfect believer enjoys a tirst inferior
rest : if he did not he would be no believer.

t Is not this expi*ession too strong .-' Would it not be better to soften it as Mr. ]lill ha«
done, by saying, " Take away the love of" [or the bent to] " sinning?" Can God take
away from us our power of sinning, without taking away our power of free obedif^nrf -

Vol. IV. 46

S6'2 TflE LAST CllECiS

Come ! almighty to deliver,

Let us all thy life receive !
Suddenly return, and never,

Never more thy temples leave :
Thee we would be always blessing^,

Serve thee as thine hosts above ;
Pray and praise thee without ceasing..

Glory in thy precious* love.

Finish then thy new creation,

Pure, f unspotted may we be ;
Let us see thy great salvation,

Perfectly restor'd by thee ;
Chang'd from glory into glory.

Till in heaven we take our place ;
Till we cast our crowns before thee.

Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Lift up your hands which hang down ; our Aaron, our heavenly
High Priest, is near to hold them up. The spiritual Ainalekites will
not always prevail ; our Samuel, our heavenly Prophet, is ready to
cut them and their king in pieces before the Lord. The promise is unto
you. You are surely called to attain the perfection of your dispen-
sation, although you seem still afar off. Christ, in whom that perfec-
tion centres — Christ, from whom it flows, is very near, even at the
door ; Beholdy says he, [and this he spake to Laodicean loiterers] I
stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open, I
xvill come in and sup with him, upon the fruits of my grace, in their
Christian perfection : and he shall sup with me upon the fruits of «)y
glory, in their angelical and heavenly maturity.

■* Mr. Wesley s?Lys perfect love, vC'ith St. John.

f Mr. Wesley says indeed pure and sinless ; but when Mr. Hill sings pure unspotted, he
does not spoil the sense. For every body knows that the pure, unspotted Jesus, does not
differ from the sinless, immaculate Lamb of God This fine hymn (I think) is not in Mr.
Madan's collection, but he has probably sung it more than once. However, it is adopted
m the Shrewsbury Collection, of which Mr. Hill is the publisher in conjunction with' Mr-
De Courcy. Is it not suprising, that in his devotional warmth that gentleman should print,
give out, and sing, Mr. Wesley^s strongest hymns for Christian perfection ; when, in his
controversial heat, he writes so severely against this blessed state of heart? And may not
I take my leave of him by an allusion to our Lord's words, Out of tny own mouth — thy own
pen — thy own publications — thy own hymns — thy own prayers — thy own Bible— thy own
reason — thy own conscience — and (what is most astonishing) thy own profession and bap-
tismal vow, I will judge thy mistakes ! Nevertheless, I desire the reader to impute them, a«
I do, not to any love for indwelling sin, but to the fatal error which makes my pious oppo-
nent turn his back upon the genuine doctrines of grace and justice, and espouse the spu
rtous doctrines of Calvinian grace, and free wrath.

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 363

Hear this encouraging Gospel, — Ask, and you shall have ; seek, and
you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one
that askeih, receiveth : and he that seeketh, findeth : and to him that
knocketh, it shall be opened. If any of you [believers] lack u^isdom —
indzvelling wisdom, [Christ, the wisdom and the power of God dwell-
ing in his heart by faith] let him ask of God, who givelhto all men, and
vpbraideth not — and it shall be given him. But let him ask [as a be-
liever,] in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave
of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed : for let not that man think
that he shall receive the thing which he thus asketh. But whatsoever
things ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall
have them. For, all things [commanded and promised] are possible to
him that believeth. He who has commanded us to be perfect in love,
as our heavenly Father is perfect, and he who has promised speedily to
avenge his elect, who cry to him night and day: — He will speedily
avenge you of your grand adversary, indwelling sin. He will say to
you — According to thy faith, be it done unto thee ; for he is able to do far
exceedingly abundantly, far above all that we can ask or think ; and of
his fulness we may all receive grace for grace — we may all witness the
gracious fulfilment of all the promises which he has graciously made,
that by them we might be partakers of the Divine nature, so far as it
can be communicated to mortals in this world. You see that, with
men, what you look for is impossible : but you show yourselves be-
lievers : take God into the account, and you will soon experience,
that with God all things are possible. Nor forget the Omnipotent Ad-
vocate whom you have with him. Behold ! he lifts his once-pierced
hands, and says, Father, sanctify them through [thy loving] truth — that
they jnay be perfected in love : and showing to you the fountain of aton-
ing blood, and purifying water, whence flow the streams which cleanse
and gladden the hearts of believers, he says, " Hitherto ye have asked
nothing in my name — Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name,
he will give it you. Ask then that your joy may be full. If I try your
faith by a little delay ; if I hide my face for a moment, it is only to
gather you with everlasting kindness.- — A woman when she is in tra-
vail hath sorrow, because her hour is come : but as soon as she is delivered
of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish for joy. Now ye.
have sorrow — but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and
your joy no man takethfrom you. In that day ye shall ask me no ques-
tion, for you shall not have my bodily presence.— But my Urim and
Thummim will be with you ; and the Spirit of truth will himself lead
you into all [Christian] truth.''^

364 THE LAST CHECK . .

O for a firm and lasting faith.
To credit all the Almighty saith,
To embrace the promise of his Son,
And feel the Comforter our own !

In the mean time be not afraid to gi?e glory to God by believing in
hope againstihope. Stagger not at the promise [of the Father and the
Son] through unbelief: but trust the power and faithfulness of your
Creator and Redeemer, till your Sanctijier has fixed his abode in your
heart. Wait at Mercy's door, as the lame beggar did at the beautiful
gate of the temple. Peter, fastening his eyes upon him, with John, saidy
Look on us : and he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something of
them. Do so too : give heed to the Father in the Son, who says,
Look unto me, and he ye saved. Expect to receive the one thing now
needful for you, a fulness of the sanctifying Spirit. And though your
patience may be tried, it shall not be disappointed. The faith and
power, which at Peter's word, gave the poor cripple a perfect sound-
ness in the presence of all the wondering Jews, will give you, at
Christ's word, a perfect soundness of heart in the presence of all
your adversaries.

" Faith — mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone,
Laughs at impossibilities,

And cries — " It shall be doije !"

" Faith asks impossibilities ;
Impossibilites are given ;
And I — e'en I, from sin shall cease,
Shall live on earth the life of heaven."

Faith always works by love — by love of desire at least ; making us
ardently pray for what we believe to be eminently desirable. And
if Christian perfection appears so to you, you might perhaps express
your earnest desire of it in some such words as these — " How long,
Lord, shall my soul — thy spiritual temple, be a den of thieves, or a
house of merchandise ? — How long shall vain thoughts profane it, as
the buyers and sellers profaned thy temple made with human hands ?
How long shall evil tempers lodge within me ? How long shall unbe-
lief, formality, hypocrisy, envy, hankering after sensual pleasure,
indifference to spiritual delights, and backwardness to painful or
ignominious duty, harbour there ? How long shall these sheep and
doves, yea, these goats and serpents, defile my breast, which should be
pure as the Holy of Holies? — How long shall they hinder me from

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 365

being one of the worshippers whom thou seekest — one of those who
Worship thee in spirit and in truth ? O help me to take away these
cages of unclean birds. Suddenly come to thy temple. Turn out all
that offends the eyes of thy purity ; and destroy all that keep? rae
out o{ the rest which remains for thy Christian people : so shall I keep
a spiritual Sabbath — a Christian Jubilee to the God of my life : so
shall I witness my share in the oil of joy with which thou anointest
perfect Christians above their fellow-believers.— I stand in need of
that oil, Lord : my lamp burns dim : sometimes it seems to be even
gone out, as that of the foolish virgins ; it is more like a smoking flax,
than a burning and shining light. O ! quench it not : raise it to a
flame. Thou knowest that I do believe in thee. The trembling
hand of my faith holds thee ; and though 1 have ten thousand times
grieved thy pardoning love, thine everlasting arm is still under me,
to redeem my life from destruction ; while thy right hand is over me,
to crown me with mercies and loving kindness. But, alas ! I am
neither sufficiently thankful for thy present mercies, nor sufficiently
athirst for thy future favours. Hence I feel an aching void in my
soul, being conscious that I have not attained the heights of grace
described in thy word, and enjoyed by thy holiest servants. Their
deep experiences, the diligence and ardour with which they did thy
will ; the patience and fortitude with which they endured the cross,
reproach me, and convince me of my manifold wants. I want power
from on high ; — I want the penetrating lasting unction of the Holy One :
I want to have my vessel [my capacious heart] full of oil, which makes
the countenance of wise virgins cheerful. I want a lamp of heavenly
illumination, and a fire of divine love burning day and night in my
breast, as the typical lamps did in the temple, and the sacred fire on
the altar ; — I want a full application of the blood which cleanses
from all sin, and a strong faith in thy sanctifying word — a faith by
which thou mayest dwell in my heart, as the unwavering hope of
glory, and the fixed object of my love. I want the internal Oracle^ —
thy still, small voice, together with Urim and Thuuimim* — the new
name which none knoweth but he that receiveth it. In a word,- Lord, I want
a plenitude of thy Spirit, the full promise of the Father, and the river««
which flow from the inmost souls of the belivers, who have gone on
to the perfection of their dispensation. I do believe that thou canst and
wilt thus baptize me with the Holy Ghost and with fire : help my unbe
lief; confirm and increase my faith, with regard to this iraportanl
baptism. Lord, I have need to be thus baptized of thee, and I am
ptraitened till this baptism is accomplished. By thy baptisms of tears

* T\vt« Hebrew words which mean lights and perfections.

366 THE LAST CHECK

in the manger — of water in Jordan— of sweat in Gethsemanc — ot
blood and fire, and vapour of smoke, and flaming wrath on Calvary,
baptize — O, baptize my soul, and make as full an end of the original
sin which I have from Adam, as thy last baptism made of the likeness
of sinful flesh which thou hadst from a daughter of Eve. Some of
thy people look at death for full salvation from sin ; but, at thy com-
mand, Lord, I look unto thee. Say to my soul, I am thy salvation:
and let me feel with my heart, as well as see wilh my understand-
ing, that thou canst save from sin to the uttermost all that come to God
through thee. I am tired of forms, professions, and orthodox notions :
so far as they are not pipes or channels to convey life, light, and love
to my dead, dark, and stony heart. Neither the plain letter of thy
Gospel, nor the sweet foretastes and transient illuminations of thy
Spirit, can satisfy the large desires of my faith. Give me thine
abiding Spirit, that he may continually shed abroad thy love in my
soul. Come, O Lord, with that blessed Spirit : — Come Thou, and
thy Father, in that holy Comforter — Come to make your abode with
me ; or I shall go meekly mourning to my grave. — Blessed mourning I
Lord increase it. I had rather ivait in tears for thy fulness, than wan-
tonly waste the fragments of thy spiritual bounties, or feed with Lao-
dicean contentment upon the tainted manna of my former experiences.
Righteous Father, / hunger and thirst after thy righteousness : send
thy holy Spirit of promise to fill me therewith, to sanctify me through-
out, and to seal me centrally to the day of eternal redemption, and
finished salvation. Not for works of righteousness which I have done,
hut of thy mercy, for Christ's sake, save thou me by the complete wash-
ing of regeneration, and the full renewing of the Holy Ghost. And in
order to this, pour out of thy Spirit ; shed it abundantly on me, till
the fountain of living water abundantly spring up in my soul, and I
can say, in the full sense of the words, that thou livest in me, that my
life is hid with thee in God, and that my spirit is returned to him that
gave it — To thee. The First and the Last — my Author and my End-~
mj God and my All !"

SECTION XX.

An Address io perfect Christians.

Ye have not sung the preceding hymns in vain, O ye men of God,
who have mixed faith with your evangelical requests. The God who
says, open thy mouth wide, and I zm II fill it. — The gracious God who

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 367

declares, Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness, for they shall
he filled : — that faithful, covenant-keeping God, has now filled you with
all righteousness, peace, and joy in believing. The brightness of Christ's
appearing has destroyed the indwelling man of sin. He who had
slain the Hon and the bear [he who had already done so great things
for you] has now croweed all his blessings by slaying the Goliath
within. Aspiring, unbeiieving self, is fallen before the victorious Son
of David. The quick and powerful word of God, which is sharper than
any two-edged sword, has pierced even to the dividing asunder ef soul
and spirit. The carnal mind is cut oflf : the circumcision of the heart,
through the Spirit, has fully taken place in your breasts ; and now that
mind is in you which was also f 71 Christ Jesus — ye are spiritually minded :
loving God with all your heart, and your neighbour as yourselves, ye
^re full of goodness, ye keep the commandments, ye observe the law of
liberty, ye fulfil the law of Christ. Of him ye have learned to be
m,eek and lowly in heart. Ye have fully taken his yoke upon you ; in
so doing ye have found a sweet, abiding rest unto your souls ; and
from blessed experience ye can say, " Christ's yoke is easy, and his
burden is light. His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths
are peace. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as
keep his covenant, and his testimonies. The beatitudes are sensibly
yours : and the charity described by St. Paul has the same place in
your breasts, which the tables of the law had in the ark of the cove-
nant. Ye are the living temples of the Trinity : the Father is your
life ; the Son your light ; the Spirit your love ; ye are truly baptized
into the mystery of God ; ye continue to drink into one spirit, and thus
ye enjoy the grace of both sacraments. There is an end of your Lo
here ! and Lo there ; the kingdom of God is now established within
you. Christ's righteousness, peace, and joy, are rooted in your breasts
by the Holy Ghost given unto you, as an abiding guide and indwelling
Comforter. Your introverted eye of faith looks at God, who gently
guides you with his eye into all the troth necessary to make you do
justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. Simplicity of
intention keeps darkness out of your mind, and purity of affection
keeps wrong fires out of your breast. By the former ye are without
guile, by the latter ye are without envy. Your passive will instantly
melts into the will of God ; and on all occasions you meekly say, Not
my will, 0 Father, but thine be done : thus ye are always ready to suf-
fer what you are called to suffer. Your active will evermore says,
Speak, Lord; thy servant heareth : what wouldst thou have me to do ?
It is my meat and drink to do the will of my heavenly Father; thus are

368 tllE LAST CHECK

ye always ready to do whatsover ye are convinced that God calls yot4
to do ; and whatsoever ye do, whether ye eat, or drink, or do any thing
else, ye do all to the glory of God, and in th-e name of our Lord Jesus
Christ: rejoicing evermore; praying without ceasing — in every thing
giving thanks : solemnly looking for, and hasting unto the hour of your
dissolution, and the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire, shall
he dissolved, and your soul, being clothed with a celestial body, shall
be able to do celestial services to the God of your life.

In this blessed state of Christian perfection, the holy anointing
which ye have received of him, abideth in you, and ye need not that any
man teach you, unless it be as the same anointing teacheth. Agreeably
therefore, to that anointing, which teaches by a variety of means,
which formerly taught a prophet by an ass, and daily instructs God's
children by the ant, I shall venture to set before you some important
directions, which the Holy Ghost has already suggested to your pure
minds ; for I would not be negligent to put you in remembrance of these
things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
Yea, I think it meet to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance, and
giving you some hints, which it is safe for you frequently to meditate
upon.

I. Adam, ye know, lost his human perfection in Paradise ; Satan
lost his aw^eZic perfection in heaven; the devil thrust sore at Christ in
the wilderness, to throw him down from his mediatorial perfection :
and St. Paul, in the same Epistles where he professes not only Chris-
tian, but a/?os^oZtc perfection also [Phil. iii. 15. 1 Cor. ii. 6. 2 Cor.
xii. 11.] informs us, that he continued to run for the crown of heavenly
perfection, like a man, who might not only lose his crown of Christian
perfection, but become a reprobate, and be cast away, 1 Cor. ix. 25,
27. And therefore, so run ye also, that no man take your crown of
Christian perfection in this world, and that ye may obtain your crown
of angelic perfection in the world to come. Still keep your body
under. Still guard your senses. Still watch your own heart, and
steadfast in the faith, still resist. the devil that he may flee from you ;
remembering that if Christ himself, as son of man, had conferred with
flesh and blood, refused to deny himself, and avoided taking up his
cross, he had lost his perfection, and sealed up our original apostacy.

*' We do not And," [says Mr. Wesley, in his Plain Account of Chris-
tian Perfeciion] " any general state described in Scripture, from which
a man cannoi draw back to sin. If there were any state wherein
thii^ i^ i-npjsslble, it would be that of those who are sanctified, who
are Fathers in Christ, who rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 369

in every thing give thanks. But it is not impossible for these to draw
back. They who .jre sanctified may yet fall and perish, Heb. x. 29.
E^ren fathers in Christ need that warning, Love not the nnrld, 1 John
ii. 15. They who rc;o?ce, pray, and give thanks Ziithout ceasing^ may
nevertheless quench the Spirit, 1 Thess. v. 16. &.c. Nay, even they
who are sealed unto the day of redemption, may yet grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, Eph. V. 30."*

The doctrine of the Absolute Perseverance of the Saints, is the first
card which the devil played against man : " Ye shall not surely die, if
ye break the law of your perfection." This fatal card won the
game. Mankind and Paradise vvere lost. The artful serpent had too
well succeeded at his first game, to forget that lucky card at his
second. See him transfonning himself into an angel of light on the
pinnacle of the temple. There he plays over again his old game
against the Son of God. Out of the Bible he pulls the very card
which won our first parents, and swept the stake — Paradise — yea,
swept it with the besom of destruction — Cast thyself doncn, says he,
for it is written, that all things shall work together for thy good, thy
very falls not excepted ; He shall give his angels charge concerning
thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou
dash thy foot against a stone: the tempter, thanks be to Christ, lost
the game at that time, but he did not lose his card : and it is probable
that he will play it round against you all ; only with some variation.
Let me mention one among a thousand. He promised our Lord that
God's angels should bear him up in their hands, if he threzi) himself
down: and it is not unlikely that he will promise you greater things
still. Nor should I wonder if he was bold enough to hint, that, when
you cast yourselves down, God himself shall bear ijou up in his hands,
yea in his arms of everlasting love. O ye men of God, learn wisdom
by the fall of Adam. O ye anointed sons of the Most High, learn
watchfulness by the conduct of Christ. If he was afraid to tempt the
Lord his God, will ye dare to do it ? If he rejected, as poison, the
hook of the Absolute Perseverance of the Saints, though it was

* We do not hereby deny, that some believers have a testimony in their own breasts, that
they shall not finally fall from God. " They may have it," says Mr. Wesley in the same
Tract, " and this persuasion, that neither life nor death shall separate them from God, far
from being hurtful, may in some circumstances be extremely useful." But wherever this
testimony is divine, it is attended with that grace which inseparably connects holiness and
good works, the means, with perseverance and etcniul salvation, the end : and, in (hi»
respect, our doctrine widely differs from that of the Calvinists, who break the necessary
connexion between holiness and infallible salvation, by making room for the foulest falls —
for adulti^-y, murder, and incest.

Vol. IV. 47

a70 THE LAST CHECK

l)aited with Scripture, will ye swallow it down, as if it were honey
out of the Rock of ages ? — No : through faith in Christ, the Scriptures
have made you wise unto salvation : you will not only flee with all
speed from evil, but from the very appearance of evil : and when
you stand on the brink of a temptation, far from entering into it, under
any pretence whatever, ye will leap back into the bosom of him who
says, Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation; for though the
spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. I grant that, evangelically speakings
the weakness of the flesh is not sin ; but yet the deceitfulness of sin
creeps in at this door ; and in this way not a few of God's children,
(fter they had escaped the pollutions of the world, through the sanctify'
ing knowledge of Christ, under plausible pretences;, have been entangled
again therein and overcome. Let their falls make you cautious. Ye
have put on the whole armour of God: O keep it on, and use it with
all prayer, that ye may to the last, stand complete in Christ, and be
more than conquerors through him that has loved you.

II. Remember that every one who is perfect, shall be as his Master.
Now if your Master was tempted and assaulted to the last; — if, to the
last he watched and prayed ; using all the means of grace himself,
and enforcing the use of them upon others ; — if to the last he fought
against the world, the flesh, an-J the devil, and did not put off the har-
ness till he had put ofi" the body : think not yourselves above him ;
but go and do likewise. If he did not regain Paradise without going
through the most complete renunciation of all the good things of this
world, and without meekly submitting to the severe stroke of hi«
last enemy, death; be content to be perfect as he was: nor fancy that
your flesh and blood can inherit the celestial kingdom of God, when
the flesh and blood which Emmanuel himself assumed from a pure
virgin, could not inherit it without passing under the cherub's flaming
sword : 1 mean, without going through the gates of deaths

III. Ye are not complete in wisdom. Perfect love does not imply
perfect knowledge; but perfect humility, and perfect readiness to
receive instruction. Remember therefore, that if ever ye show, that
ye are above being instructed, even by a fisherman who teaches
according to the divine anointing, ye will show that ye are fallen from
a perfection of humility, into a perfection of pride.

IV. Do not confound angelical, with Christian perfection. Uninter-
rupted transports of praise, and ceaseless raptures of joy, do not
belong to Christian, but to angelical perfection. Our feeble frame
can bear but a few drops of that glorious cup. In general, that new
mne is too strong for our old bottles : that power is too excellent for

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 371

our caHhen^ cracked vessels ; but weak as they are, they can bear a
fulness of meekness^ of resignation, of humility, and of that love which
is willing to obey unto death. If God indulge you with ecstacies, and
extraordinary revelations ; be thankful for them ; but be 710/ exalted
above measure by them : take care lest enthusiastic delusions mix them-
selves with them : and remember, that your Christian perfection does
not so much consist in building a tabernacle upon mount Tabor, to
rest and enjoy rare sights there ; as in resolutely taking up the cross,
and following Christ to the palace of a proud Caiaphas. to the judg-
ment-hall of an unjust Pilate, and to the top of an ignominious Calvary.
Ye never read in your Bibles, *' Let that glory be upon you, which
was also upon St. Stephen, when he looked up steadfastly into heaven,
and said. Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing
en the right hand of God.'^ But ye have frequently read there, Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who made himself of
no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and being found irt
fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross

See him on that ignominious gibbet : he hangs — abandoned by his
friends — surrounded by his foes — condemned by the rich — insulted
by the poor ! — He hangs ; — a worm and no man — a very scorn of
men, and the out-cast of the people !— All that see him laugh him to
scorn ! They shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, sayings
*' He trusted in God that he would deliver him ; let him deliver him,
if he will have him." — There is none to help him :— one of his apos-
tles denies, another sells him ; and the rest run away. Many oxen
are eome about him : — fat bulls of Bashan close him on every side —
they gape upon him with their mouths, as it were a ramping lion : —
he is poured out like water — his heart in the midst of his body is like
melting wax : — his strength is dried up like a potsherd : — his tongue
cleaveth to his gums : — he is going into the dust of death : — many
dogs are come about him : — and the counsel of the wicked layeth
siege against him : — his hands and feet are pierced : — you may tell all
his bones : — they stand staring and looking upon him : — they part his
garments among them, and cast lots for the only remain of his property,
his plain, seamless vesture. Both suns, the visible and the invisible,
seem eclipsed. No cheering beam of created light gilds his gloomy
prospect. No smile of his heavenly Father supports bis agonizing
soul ! No cordial, unless it be vinegar and gall, revives his sinking
spirits ! He has nothing left, except his God. But his God is enough
for him. In his God he has all things. And though his soul is Pei^^ed

375 THE LAST CHECK

with sorrow, even unto death ; yet it hangs more firmly upon his God
by a naked faith, than his lacerated body does on the cross by the
clenched nails. — The perfection of his love shines in all its Christian
glory. He not only forgives his insulting foes and bloody persecu-
tors ; but, in the highest point of his passion, he forgets his own
wants, and thirsts after their eternal happiness. Together with his
blood, he pours out his soul for them, and excusing them all he says,
Father^ forgive them, for they know not what they do. O ye adult sons
of God, in this glass behold all with open face the glory of your Re-
deemer's forgiving, praying love ; and, as ye behold it, be changed
into the same image from glory to glory, by the loving Spirit of the
Lord.

V. This lesson is deep ; but he may teach you one deeper still.
By a strong sympathy with him in all his sufferings, he may call you
to know him every way crucified. Stern Juj^tice thunders from heaven,.
Awake, O sword, agaiiist the man zvho is my fellow ! The sword awakes
— the sword goes through his soul — the flaming sword is quenched
in his blood. But is one sinew of his perfect faith cut, one fibre of
his perfect resignation injured, by the astonishing blow ? No : his
God slays him, and yet he trusts in his God. By the noblest of all
ventures, in the most dreadful of all storms, he meekly bows his
head, and shelters his departing soul in the bosom of his God. — " My
God! My God! says he, though all my comforts have forsaken me,
and all thy storms and waves go over me, yet into thy hands I commend
my spirit — For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; neither wilt thou
siiff'er thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of
life: in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand [where I
shall soon sit] there are pleasures for evermore.^' — What a pattern of
perfect confidence ! O ye perfect Christians, be ambitious to ascend
to those amazing heights of Christ's perfection : For even hereunto are
ye called ; because Christ also suffered for us : leaving us an example,
that WE should follow his steps : who knew no sin, zvho, when he was
reviled, reviled not again ; when lie siffered he threatened not, hut com-
mitted himself to him that judgeth righteously. If this is your high
calling on earth, rest not, O ye fathers in Christ, till your patient
hope, and perfect confidence in God, have got their last victory over
your last enemy — the lung of terrors.

*' The ground of a thousand mistakes [says Mr. Wesleij'] is, the not
considering deeply, that love is the highest gii'i oi' God, humble, gentle,
patient love : that all visions, revelations, manifestations-whatever, are
little things compared to love, — tt were well you should be thoroughly

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 373

sensible of this : the heaven of heavens is love. There is nothing
higher in religion : there is, in effect, nothing else. If you look for
any thing but more love, you are looking wide of the mark, you are
getting out of the royal way. And when you are asking others. Have
you received this or that blessing ? If you mean any thing but more
love, you mean wrong ; you are leading them out of the way, and
putting them upon a false scent. Settle it then in your heart, that
from the moment God has saved you from all sin, you arc to aim at
nothing but more of that love described in the thirteenth of the
Corinthians. You can go no higher than this, till you are carried into
Abraham's bosom."

VI. Love is humble. " 5e therefore clothed with humility,'' says
Mr. Wesley : " Let it not only fill, but cover you all over. Let
modesty and self-diffidence appear in all your words and actions. Let
all you speak and do show that you are little, and base, and mean,
and vile in your own eyes. As one instance of this, be always ready
to own any fault you have been in. If you have at any time thought,
spoke, or acted wrong, be not backward to acknowledge it. Never
dream that this will hurt the cause of God : no, it will further it. Be
therefore open and frank, when you are taxed with any thing : let it
appear just as it is : and you will thereby not hinder but adorn the
Gospel." — Why should ye be more backward in acknowledging y<Mf
failings than in confessing that ye do not pretend to infallibility. St.
Paul was perfect in the love which casts out fear, and therefore he
boldly reproved the high-priest : but, when he had reproved him
more sharply than the fifth commandment allows, he directly con-
fessed his mistake, and set his seal to the importance of the duty in
which he had been inadvertently wanting. Then Paul said, '' 1 knew
not, brethren, that he was the high-priest: for it is written, Thou
sbalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." St. John was perfect
in the courteous, humble love, which brings us down at the feet of
all. His courtesy, his humility, and the dazzling glory, which beamed
forth from a divine messenger [whom he apprehended to be more
than a creature] betrayed him into a fault contrary to that of St.
Paul ; but far from concealing it, he openly confessed it, and pub-
lished his confession for the edification of all the churches. When 1
had heard and seen, says he, I fell dow7i to rvorship before the feet of the
angel -who showed me these things. Then saith he unto me. See thou do it
not, for I am thy fellow- servant. Christian perfection shines as much
in the childlike simplicity with which the perfect readily acknow-

374 THE LAST CHECK

ledge their faults, as it does in the manly steadiness with which they
resist unto blood, striving against sin.

VII. If humble love makes us frankly confess our faults, much
more does it incline us to own ourselves sinners— miserable
sinners before that God whom we have so frequently offended,
I need not remind you, that your bodies are dead because of sin. You
see, you feel it, and therefore, so long as you dwell in a prison of
flesh and blood, which death, the avenger of sin, is to pull down ; — so
long as your final justification, as pardoned and sanctified sinners, has
not taken place : — Yea, so long as you break the law of paradisiacal
perfection, under which you were originally placed, it is meet, right,
and your bounden duty, to consider yourselves as sinners, who, as
transgressors of the law of innocence and the law of liberty, are
guilty of death — of eternal death. St. Paul did so after he was
come to viount Sion, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. He
still looked upon himself as the chief of sinners, because he had
been a daring blasphemer of Christ, and a fierce persecutor of his
people. Christ, says he, came to save sinners, of whom I am chief
The reason is plain. Matter of fact is, and will be matter of fact to
all eternity. According to the doctrines of Grace and Justice, and
before the throne of God's mercy and holiness, a sinner pardoned
*Ai sanctified, must, in the very nature of things, be considered as a
sinner; for if you consider him as a saint absolutely abstracted from
the character of a sinner, how can he be a pardoned and sanctified
sinner ? To all eternity therefore, but much more while death [the
wages of sin] is at your heels, and while ye are going to appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, to receive your final sentence of absolution
or condemnation ; it will become you to say with St. Paul, IVe have
all sinned and come short of the glory of God ; being justified freely
[as sinners] by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ—
although we are justified judicially as believers, through faith : — as
obedient believers, through the obedience of faith ; and as perfect
Christians, through Christian perfection.

VIII. Humble love becomes all things [but sin] to all men, although
it delights most in those who are most holy. Ye may, and ought to
set your love of peculiar complacence upon God's dearest children—
upon those who excel in virtue ; because they more strongly reflect
the image of the God of love, the Holy 'One of Israel. But, if ye
despise the weak, and are above lending them a helping hand ; ye
are fallen from Christian perfection, which teaches us to bear one
'Tnolhf.r'*^ burdens, especially the burdens of the weak. Imitate thei*

TO ANTlNOMIANISil. 375

the tenderness and wisdom of the good Shepherd, who carries the
lambs in his bosom, gently leads the sheep which are big with youngs
feeds with milk those who cannot bear strong meat, and says to his
imperfect disciples, I have many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear
them now. ^

IX. IVhere the loving Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Keep
therefore at the utmost distance from the shackles of a narrow, pre-
judiced, bigoted spirit. The moment ye confine your love to the
people who think just as you do, and your regard to the preachers
who exactly suit your taste, you fall from perfection, and turn bigots.
*' I entreat you, [says Mr. Wesley in his Plain Account] beware of
bigotry. Let not your love or beneficence be confined to Methodists
(so called) only : much less to that very small part of them who seem
to be renewed in love : or to those who believe your's and their
report. O make not this your Shibboleth.''' — On the contrary, as yc
have time and ability, do good to all men. Let your benevolence
shine upon all : let your charily send its cherishing beams toward^
all, in proper degrees. So shall ye be perfect as your heavenly Father,
who makes his sun to shine upon all ; although he sends the brightest
and warmest beams of his favour upon the household of faithy and
reserves his richest bounties for those who lay out their five talents
to the best advantage.

X. Love, pure love, is satisfied with the supreme Good — with God.
♦* Beware then of desiring any thing but him. Now you desire
nothing else. Every other desire is driven out : see that none enter
in again. Keep thyself pure : let your eye remain single, and your whole
body shall remain full of light. Admit no desire of pleasing food, or
any other pleasure of sense ; no desire of pleasing the eye or the
imagination : no desire of money, of praise, or esteem : of happiness
in any creature. You may bring these desires back ; but you need
not ; you may feel them no more. 0 stand fast in the liberty wherc-
mth Christ hath made you free. Be patterns to all of denying your-
selves, and taking up your cross daily. Let them see that you make
no account of any pleasure which does not bring you nearer to God ;
nor regard any pain which does : that you simply aim at pleasing him,
whether by doing or suffering : that the constant language of your
heart, with regard to pleasure or pain, honour or dishonour, or
poverty, is,

" All's alike to me, so I
In my Lord may live aad die I"

376 THE LAST CHECK

Xf . I'he best soldiers are sent upon the most difl5cult and danger-
ous expeditions : and as you are the best soldiers of Jesus Christ, ye
will probably be called to drink deepest of his cup, and to carry the
heaviest burdens. " Expect contradiction and opposition," says the
judicious divine, whom I have just quoted, "together with crosses of
various kinds. Consider the words of St. Paul, To you it is given in
behalf of Christy for his sake, as a fruit of his death and intercession
for you, not only to believe^ but also to suffer for his sake, Phil. i. 23.
It is given. God gives you this opposition or reproach : it is a fresh
token of his love. And will you disown the giver t Or spurn his
gift, and count it a misfortune ? Will you not rather say, * Father,
the hour is come that thou shouldst be glorified. Now thou givest
thy child to suffer something for thee. Do with me according to thy
will.' Know that these things, far from being hinderances to the work
of God, or to your soul, unless by your own fault, are not only
unavoidable in the course of providence, but profitable, yea, neces-
sary for you. Therefore receive them from God (not from chance)
with willingness, and thankfulness. Receive them from men with
humility, meekness, yieldingneSs, gentleness, sweetness."

Love can never do, nor suffer too much for its divine object. Be
then ambitious, like St. Paul, to be made perfect in sufferings. 1 have
already observed that the apostle, not satisfied to be a perfect Chris-
tian, would also be a perfect martyr ; earnestly desiring to know the
fellowship of Oirisfs sufferings. Follow him, as he followed his suf-
fering, crucified Lord. Your feet are shod with the preparation of the
Gospel of peace, run after them both in the race of obedience, for the
crown of martyrdom, if that crown is reserved for you. And if ye
miss the crown of those who are martyrs in deed, ye shall however
receive the reward of those who are martyrs in intention — the crown
of righteousness and angelical perfection.

XII. But do not so desire to follow Christ to the garden of Gethse-
mane, as to refuse to follow him now to the carpenter's shop, if Pro-
vidence now call you to it. Do not lose the present day by idly
looking back, at yesterday, or foolishly antedating the cares of to-mor-
row : but wisely use every hour ; spending it as one who stands on
the verge of time — on the border of eternity, and who has his work
cut out by a wise Providence from moment to moment. Never there-
fore neglect using the two talents you have now, and doing the duty
which is now incumbent upon you. Should ye be tempted to it,
under the plausible pretence of waiting for a greater number of
talents ; remember that God doubles our talents in the way of duty, and

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 377

that it is a maxim advanced by Elisha Coles himself, use grace and
have [more] grace. Therefore, " to continual fvatrhful ess and
prayer, add continual employmcDt, 8ays Mr Wesley, for grace flies a
racuum as well as nature : the devil fills whatever God does not fill."
— " As by works faith is made perfect, so the completing or destroying
of the work of faith, and enjoying the favour, or suffering the dis-
pleasure of God, greatly depend on every single act of obedience." —
If you forget this, you will hardly do now whatsoever your hand
findeth to do. Much less will you do it with all your might — for God
— for eternity.

XIII. Love is modest : it rather inclines to bashfulness and silence,
than to talkative forwardness. In a multitude of words there wanteth
fwt sin ; be therefore »lorio to speak ; nor cast your pearls before those
who cannot distinguish them from pebbles. Nevertheless, when you
are solemnly called upon to bear testimony to the truth, and to say
what great things God has done for you ; it would be rowardire or
false prudence not to do it with humility. Be then always ready to
give an answer to every man who [properly] asketh you a reason of
the hope that is in you, with meekness, [without fluttering anxiety] and
with fear [with a reverential awe of God upon your minds] 1 Pet. iii.
16. Perfect Christians are burning and shining lights, and our Lord
intimates, that, as o candle is not lighted to be put under a bushel, but
upon a candlesticky that it may give light to all the house : so God does
not light the candle of perfect love to hide it in a corner, but to give
light to all those who are within the reach of its brightness. If dia-
monds glitter, if stars shine, if flowers display their colours, and per-
fumes diffuse their fragrance, to the honour of the Father of lights,
and Author of every good gift : if, without self-seeking, they disclose
his glory to the utmost of their power, why should ye not go, and do
likewise ? Gold answers its most valuable end when it is brought to
light, and made to circulate for charitable and pious uses ; and not
when it lies concealed in a miser's strong box, or in the dark bosom
of a mine. But when you lay out your spiritual gold for proper
uses, beware of imitating the vanity of those coxcombs, who, as often
as they are about to pay for a trifle, pull out a handful of gold, merely
to make a show of their wealth.

XIV. Love or charity rejoiceth in the [display of an edifying] truth.
Fact is fact all the world over. If you can say to the glory of God,
that you are alive ^ and feel very well, when it is so ; why should you
not also testify to his honour, that you live not, but that Christ liveth
in you ; if you really find that this is your experience ? Did not St.

Vol. IV. 48

;3.78 THE iAST CHECK

John say, Our love is made perfect — because as he is, so are we in this
world! Did not St. Paul write, The righteousness of the law is fuU
filled in us who walk after the Spirit? Did he not with the same
simplicity aver, that although he had nothings and was sorrowful^ yet
he possessed all things, and was always rejoicing ?

Hence it appears, that with respect to the declaring or concealing
what God has done for your soul, the line of your duty runs exactly
between the proud forwardness of some stiflf Pharisees, and the volun-
tary humility of some stiff mystics. The former vainly boast of more
than they experience, and thus set up the cursed idol, self: the lat-
ter ungratefully hide the wonderful works of God, which the primi-
tire Christians spoke of publicly in a variety of languages ; and so
refuse to exalt their gracious Benefactor, Chr^'^f- The first error is
undoubtedly more odious than the second ; but, what need is there
of leaning to either ? Would ye avoid them both ? Let your tempers
and lives always declare, that perfect love is attainable in this life.
And when you have a proper call to declare it wKh your lips and
pens, do it without forwardness, to the glory of God ; do it with sim-
plicity, for the edification of your neighbour ; do it with godly
jealousy, lest ye should show the trpasures of divine grace in your
hearts, with the same self-complacence with which king Hezekiah
showed his treasures, and the golden vessels of the temple, to the
ambassadors of the king of Babylon, remembering what a dreadful
curse this piece of vanity pulled down upon him : and Isaiah said
unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord, Behold, the days come, that
all that is in thine house shall be carried into Babylon : nothing shall be
left, saith the Lord. If God so severely punished Hezekiah's pride,
how properly does St. Peter charge believers to give with fear an
account of the grace which is in them! and how careful should ye be to
observe this important charge I

XV. If you will keep at the utmost distance from the vanity which
proved so fatal to good king Hezekiah, follow an excellent direction of
Mr. Wesley. When you have done any thing for God, or received any
favour from him, retire, if not into your closet, into your heart, and
say, *' I come. Lord to restore to thee what thou hast given, and I
freely relinquish it, to enter again into my own nothingness. For
what is the most perfect creature in heaven or earth in thy pre-
sence, but a void, capable of being filled with thee and by thee, as
the air which is void and dark, is capable of being filled with the
light of the sun ? Grant therefore, O Lord, that I may never appro^
priate thy grace to myself, any more than the air appropriates ts

TO AWTINOMIANISM. 379

itself the light of the sun, which withdraws it every day to restore it
the next ; there being nothing in the air that either appropriates his
light or resists it. O give me the same facility of receiving and
restoring thy grace and good works ! I say ihiney for 1 acknowledge
that the root from which they spring, is in thee and not in me." —
" The true means to be filled anew with the riches of grace, is
thus to strip ourselves of it : without this it is extremely difficult not
to faint in the practice of good works." — *' And-therefore, that your
good works may receive their last perfection, let them lose them-
selves in God. This is a kind of death to them, resembling that of
our bodies, which will not attain their highest life, their immortality,
till they lose themselves in the glory of our souls, or rather of God
wherewith they shall be filled. And it is only what they had
of earthly and mortal, which good works lose by this spiritual
death."

XVI. Would ye see this deep precept put in practice ? Consider
St. Paul. Already possessed of Christian perfection, he does good
works from morning till night : he warns every one night and day
with tears. He carries the Gospel from east to west. Wherever
he stops, he plants axhurch at the hazard of his life. But instead of
resting in his present perfection, and in the good works which spring
from it, he grows in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ; unweariedly following after, if that he may apprehend that
[perfection] /or which also he is apprehended of Christ Jesus, — that
celestial perfection, of which he got lively ideas when he was caught
up to the third heaven, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not
possible for a man to utter. With what amazing ardour does he run
his race of Christian perfection for the prize of that higher perfec-
tion ! How does be forget the works of yesterday, when he lays
himself out for God to-day! Though dead, he yet speaketh, nor can
an address lo perfect Christians be closed by a more proper speech
than his. Brethren, says he, Be folloroip.rs of me. — I count not myself to
have apprehended [my evangelical perfection :] hut this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, [settling in none of my former
experiences, resting in none of my good works,] and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the
[celestial] prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us
therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded : and if in any thing
ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. In the
mean time you may sing the following hymn of the Rev. Mr. Charles
Wesley, which is descriptive of the destruction of corrupt self-will.

380 THE LAST CHECK

and expressive of the absolute resignatioD which characterizes a
perfect behever.

To do, or not to do ; to have,

Or not to have, I leave to Thee 7
To be, or nort to be, I leave ;

Thy only will be done in me ;
All ray requests are lost in one.
Father, thy only will be done !

Suffice, that for the season past,

Myself in things divine I sought;
For comforts cried with eager baste,

And murmurM that I found them not ;
I leave it liow to thee alone.
Father, thy only will be done !

Thy gifts I clamour for no more,

Or selfishly thy grace require.
An evil heart to varnish o'er ;

Jesaa the Giver I desire ;
After the flesh no longer known ^
Father, thy only will be done !

Welcome alike the crown or cross,

Trouble I cannot ask, nor peace,
Nor toil, nor rest, nor gain, nor loss,

Nor joy, nor grief, nor pain nor ease,
Nor life, nor death ; but ever groan,
Father, thy only will be done !

This hymn suits all the believers who are at the bottom of mount
Sion, and begin to join the spirits of just men made perfect. But
when the triumphal chariot of perfect love gloriously carries you to
the top of perfection's hill ; when you are raised far above the com-
mon heights of the perfect — when you are almost translated into
glory like Elijah, then you may sing another hymn of the same Chris-
tian poet with the Rev. Mr. Madan, and the numerous body of Im-
perfectionists who use his collection of Pealme, &C.

Who in Jesus confide.

They are bold to outride
All the storms of aflaictnon beneath °

With the prophet they soar

To that heavenly shore.
And out-fly all the arrows of death.

By faith we are come
To our permanent home ;
\nd by hope we the rapture improve ;

TO ANTINOMIANISM. 311

By love we $tiU rise.
And look down on the skies —
For the heaveo of heavens is love !

Who on earth can conceive

How happy we live
In the city of God the great King ?

What a concert of praise,

When our Jesus's grace
The whole heavenly company sing !

What a rapturous song.

When the glorified throng
In the spirit of harmony join !

Join all the glad choirs,

Hearts, voices, and lyres,
And the burden is mercy divine !

But when you cannot follow Mr. Madan, and the Imperfectionista
of the Lock Chapel, to those rapturous heights of perfection, you
need not give up your shield. You may still rank among the per-
fect, if you can heartily join in this Tersion of Psalm cxxxi.

•

Lord, thou dost the gprace impart !
Poor in spirit, meek in heart,
I shall as my Master be
Rooted in humility.

Now, dear Lord, that thee I know,
Nothing will I seek below.
Aim at nothing great or high,
Lowly both in heart and eye.

Simple, teachable, and mild,
Aw'd into a little child,
Quiet now without my food,
Wean'd from every creature good.

Hangs my new-born soul on thee,
Kept from all idolatry ;
Nothing wants beneath, above,
Resting in thy perfect love.

That your earthen vessels may be filled with this love till they
break, and you enjoy the divine object of your faith without an inter-
posing veil of gross flesh and blood, is the wish of one who sincerely
praises God on your account, and ardently prays,

" Make up thy jewels, Lord, and show
The glorious, spotless Church bplow

382 THE LAST CHECK, kc.

The fellowship of saints make known;
And O, my God, might I be one !

O might my lot be cast with these.
The least of Jesu's witnesses !
O that my Lord would count me meet
To wash his dear disciples' feet I

To wait upon his saints below !
On pospel errands for them go !
Enjoy the grace to angels given ;
And serve the royal heirs of heaven !

END OF VOL. It

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