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Eternal Jujlification Unmajkcd; 
 
 BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 Preached, April 18th, 1790, 
 
 A T 
 
 BLANKET - ROW CHAPEL, 
 
 B T 
 
 V* 
 
 Ar DIXON, MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 a " And they lhall turn away their Ears from the Truth, 
 
 " and fhall be turned unto Fables." 
 
 Paui' 
 
 KINGSTON-uDon-HULL : 
 
 PRINTED BY T. BRIGGS, LEADENHALL-SQUARE, 
 
 M j Ci C C , X C , 
 
PREFACE. \W$*l m 
 
 I 
 
 F thou haft imbibed errors, it is no wonder if thou arc 
 intoxicated with them, and art wifer in thine own conciet 
 than feven men who ean render a reafon ; for Ignorance, 
 Pride, and Boafiing, ufually centre in the fame Perfons. 
 To hold the light of Truth before thine eyes, would be as 
 offenfive to thee, as the fun's meridian blaze to that bird 
 of night, which with an air of triumph loves to flutter in 
 the blacked fhades. 
 
 The light mines, but thou canft not comprehend it, 
 and the reafon us, the god of this world hath blinded 
 thine eyes, and thou loved Darknefs rather than Light 
 becaufe thy deeds are evil. It may be that thou art a- 
 fraid to come to the light, left thy deeds fhould be made 
 man-left. But know vain man, thou muft fpread all thy 
 vilenefs before the LORD ,* thou muft confefs it, thou 
 muft forfake thy finful practices, or they will all be ex- 
 pofed to the gating nations, at the great day of the LORD. 
 
 Nothing is more common with thofe, who embrace 
 tenets that they are afhamed of, than to extol their own 
 leaders, and to heap odiums upon the fervanis of Chrift, 
 that their darling notions may fpread rappidl) ; and like 
 our Lord's open enemies of old, who would encompafs 
 fea ^nd land to make one profelyte, and when they had 
 made him, he was twice more a child of the Devil than 
 he was before : They diffuade their credulous and igno- 
 rant hearers to keep from every faithful minifter ; left 
 they fhould fee the truth with their eyes, hear it with their 
 ears, underftand it with their hearts, and fhould be con- 
 verted a>nd healed. Could Hell itlelf acl; in fo barefaced 
 a manner ? 
 
 When 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 With regard to the following difcourfe, whether I have 
 done it juftice or not, I leave my Readers to judge. I 
 wiih, I heartily defire, that what I have been aiming at, 
 may be done in a more mafterly manner by fome of our 
 excellent Minifters, for they are wife to difcern the dread- 
 ful effe&s of Antinomianifm, and are able to confute 
 do&rines, fo repugnant to Scripture and reafon. 
 
 The reafon of the publication of this, was a defire of 
 fome of my bell Friends to fee it in print. It always was 
 averfe to me, to fpeak to the world in this very public 
 manner, never having a thought that any performance of 
 mine could be perfect enough. 
 
 For fuch as I write to at this day, is like lighting up a 
 taper in the fun's meridian blaze to augment its fplendour. 
 However, fuch as it is I give it thee, and that it may help 
 thee Heaven ward, by the Lord's bleffing upon it, is the 
 hearty defire, and fincere prayer of, 
 
 Thy ready Servant in the Gofpel of Chrift, 
 
 ANTHONY DIXON. 
 
 Eternal 
 
Eternal Jujlification Unmajked. 
 
 JAMES ii. 21. 
 
 Was not Abraham our Father Jufiified by Works, when he 
 had offered Jfaac his Son upon the Altar ? 
 
 THE Apoftle is here ipeaking to vain empty perfons, 
 who immagined themfelves to be Believers, but were 
 not. And knownmg that their notion was founded in 
 ignorance, he feems to queftion their willingnefs to be fet 
 right; Wilt thou know O vain man, that faith without 
 works is dead ? Art thou fo enchanted with the fond de- 
 lufion, that no one can convince thee that thou art in an 
 error ? Errors are pleafant dainties, on which ignorance 
 delights to feed; And you might as well perfuade an 
 avaricious man to part with his golden god, as make a 
 fool leave his foiiv. There are many vain boafters, that 
 make a great.noife about Grace, free Grace ; boaft of their 
 iupenor knowledge j talk aloud, and glorv in their Faith - 
 when at the fame time, they are of a windy, vain, frothy 
 J pint, that are ALL tongue, and an empty profeffion, 
 A vain man, and a vain faith, are never far afunder. 
 
 James, in his manner of fpeakmg, feems to hint, that in 
 our addreffes to hypocrites, we fhould fpeak with fharpnefs 
 and afpenty, and not to flatter a vain man in his vanitv 
 This was the method of John the Bapti ft, when he ad- 
 tirefled the rormahfts of his time, who came to be bap- 
 t)zed of him : And when he faw many of the Pharifees 
 and Sadducees come to his baptifm, he faid unto them* 
 " O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee 
 -from the wrath to come?" We muft not whifper to 
 men as thefe are, but cry aloud, and fpare not; becaufe 
 they are inconfiderate, and their commences are faft afleep. 
 
 A perfon 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 A perfon openly prophane, is convinced that he is not 
 what he ought to be, in fome degree ; but a man who has 
 only a name to live, and is dead while he lives, is hard to 
 be convinced that h e is a finner : He thinks, and flatters 
 himfelf that he is rich, and increafed with goods, and has 
 need of nothing ; and knows not that he is wretched, and 
 miferable, and poor, and blind, and naked. 
 
 The people referred to in our text, fondly immagined 
 themfelves to be in a juftified Hate, when in reality they 
 were in a ftate of condemnation, as appears from their 
 faith being dead, being found alone : They believed there 
 is one God, as the Devils do : and they were difobedient 
 to the commands of God, as the Devils are ; little dream- 
 ing that they were under the power and dominion of him, 
 who ruleth in the hearts of the children of difobedience. 
 
 There is no doubt, thefe people held that Jefus was the 
 Saviour of men ; but it feems they did not think that he 
 was to fave them from their fins, but to fave them in 
 their fins; and fo made the holy one of God the minifter 
 of fin. They heldrthe truth ; but then they held it in un- 
 righte'oufnefs. 
 
 To fancy that our fins are pardoned, and our perfons 
 accepted as righteous, when we know that our lives do not 
 accord with our Lord's commandments, is a ftrong proof 
 that we are ignorant of the fcriptures, that we never have 
 feen the evil of fin, that our own hearts are deceiving us, 
 and that we are in the high way to everlafting ruin. In 
 order then to do whajt in me lies, towards the conviclion 
 of fuch vain men, as the Apoftle is fpeaking to in our text, 
 I fhall fhew you 
 
 I. What juftification is, or what it is for a finner to be 
 juftified before God. And 
 
 II. Whether juftification be an eternity, or a time 
 a&. And 
 
 III. In what fenfe works may be faid to juftify a Be- 
 liever. 
 
 I. I am to fhew you what juftification is, or what it is 
 for a finner to be juftified before God. 
 
 May 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 May the fpirit of God aflift me with clearnefs of argu- 
 ment, and fend conviction of the truth to every man's con- 
 fcience, giving you understanding to know the fcriptures, 
 and yourfelves. 
 
 l. Juftificatlon is not an holy and heavenly difpofition 
 of mind wrought in the foul, inclining it to delight in fpi- 
 ritual and divine things. It is not a work of the holy fpi- 
 rit in our hearts, erafing the image of Satan, and fealing 
 the likenefs of Chrift. But it is an a6t of Grace towards 
 a believing finner, by which his fms are not imputed to 
 him, and he becomes as though he had never finned, and 
 nothing can be laid to his charge, as appears from Romans 
 viii. 33. Who (hall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
 ele6t ? It is God that juftifieth. 
 
 In this a& of divine goodnefs fin is put out of -fight : 
 Blefled are they whole iniquities are forgiven, and whole 
 fins are covered. The fins of a juitified peirfon fhall never 
 be infpe£ted by that God, in whom, the believer trufts. 
 In thofe days, and at that time faith the Lord, the ini- 
 quity of Ifrael fhall be fought for, and there fhall be 
 none ; and the fins of Judah, and they fhall not be found: 
 For I will pardon them whom I referve. Balaam tells us, 
 " God hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he 
 feen perverfenefs in Ifrael: The Lord his God is with 
 him, and the fhout of a King is among them" Numbers 
 xxiii. ai. I think from the fore-cited texts, and many 
 others that might be brought, that pardon, is not fcperate 
 from, but is a branch of our juftification ; for I cannot 
 conceive but God mud be reconciled to, be well pleafed 
 with, highly approve of, and moft cordially accept, the 
 man whole fins are done away, and call as lead into the 
 deepeft waters. It was our fins that ieperated us from 
 him. Ifaiah lix. 2. (s Your fins have fperated between you 
 and your God" Now when the caufe of feparation is 
 done away, mud not a reconciliation take place of courfe ? 
 I cannot help believing but a pardoned finner is not only 
 delivered from wrath to come, but is alfo in God's 
 
 lav cur 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 favour : Blefted is the rran to whom the Lord wi 1 * not im- 
 pute fin : Romans iv. 8. But writers pn this !ut»j c\ ior 
 the mod part make a diftintlion between pardon <\nd jufii- 
 fication, they tell us the former faves us fiom he»l, the 
 latter gives us a title to, and puts us into the porTcffiori of 
 the kingdom of Heaven. Hence lav they, a man may be 
 brought in not guilty at the king's ba v , without b< ing 
 advanced at the king's court. A prince may pardon a 
 traitor, without conferring on him any further tavouis. 
 God's, juftified people then, are hot only paid ned, and 
 delivered from eternal torment; but they are belted wnh 
 all fpiritual bleflings in heavenly places in ChrinV He is 
 the Lord our righteoufnefs, who has obtained for us a 
 mod glorious inheritance, which we can never wall , 
 which we can never lofe. O happy Mate ! In which the 
 juftified are not barely to live, but to reign in hit b\ Chnft 
 Jefus. 
 
 2. It may not be amifs to obferve, that in the word of 
 God we read of a two-fold juftificacion, neither ot Whjch 
 I am . now fpeaking; We read of a comparative jufi- 
 fication in jer. lii. li* The Lori laid unto me back- 
 Hiding Ifrael hath juftified herfeif, more than treacherous 
 Judah. In Luke xviii. 14. we a'fo read of another 
 inftance :— -I tell you that this man went down to houlc 
 juftified, rather than the other. 
 
 We may obferve tecondly that there is a declarative jufti- 
 fication fpoktn of. Matt. xii. 39. By thv words thou. 
 thalt be juftified, and by thy uoids thou fhalt be con- 
 demned. This is the juflificanon Ipcken of in my uxr, 
 which I fhall fpeak of in its proper place. But juflj- 
 fication ftri&ly and properly, is an ad of divine favour, 
 whereby our fins are pardoned, and our per Ions ace pud 
 as righteous, only on account of the righrenu'nels of 
 Chrift imputed to us: Who was made fin f >r us, who 
 knew no fin, that we might be made the righuouiiufs of 
 God in him. 1 fhall now haften 
 
 II. To confider, whether juftification be un tteinity, 
 br a time adl. 
 
 B Aj 
 
( io ) 
 
 As there are fome that maintain juflification to be all 
 immanant and eternal aft of God, and affirm that the 
 elect were juftified before themfelves, or the world were 
 brought into being; it may not be amifs to try this notion 
 by the word of God ; and if it be revealed let us imbrace 
 it, but if not, it ought to be tieared as a fpurious, unfound 
 doctrine : To the Law and to the Teftimony : If they 
 fpeak not according to this word, it is becaufe there is no 
 light in them. Ifaiah viii. 20. 
 
 As the notion of eternal juflification appears to me a 
 moji dangerous one, it would be unpardonable in me, were 
 I not to point out to you its dreadful tendancy to ruin the 
 fouls of my fellow finners. Permit me then in the 
 
 I. Place to obfe*-ve, that it is a doctrine not founded 
 on the word of God, which is the ground and pillar of 
 truth. In fcripture we read of juflification as fomething 
 to be done in fixture, which is a fault, if juflification 
 was from eternity ; for it mould have been fpoken of, as 
 being done before time began. To fuppofe that miftakes 
 are made by the holy penman of the facred fcriptures, is 
 to take away the authority of them at once ; and fo we 
 are left without any rule, either for faith or practice. 
 When Paul was fpeaking to the Romans on the fubject 
 in hand, he told them ** That it Was not written for Abra- 
 ham's fake alone, that it was imputed to him ; but for us 
 alio, to whom it Jhall be imputed, if we believe on him that 
 raifed up Jcfus our Lord from the dead." We find the 
 fame Apoflle treating the fame fubject in the fame man- 
 ner before the Galations : " And xhz fcriptures forefeeing 
 that God would juftify the heathen through faith, preach- 
 ed before the gofpel to Abraham, faying in thee fliall all 
 the. nations be blefTed." The gofpel was preached many 
 \ ears before the Gentiles were jufrined; therefore it was 
 irripoffible for the believing Gentiles to be juftified from 
 e£t rnity. Should any be fo weak as to affirm that the 
 gofpel was preached from eternity, fuch would gratify the 
 curious, by informing them, who the perfons were, who 
 
 were 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 were favoured with it. Was it preached to Adam's an- 
 ceftors ? Was it preached to Adam's children tnai are to 
 be born next year ? 
 
 2. The fcriptures never fpeak of men, in a ftate of na- 
 ture, as being in a juftified ftate ; but always in a ftate of 
 condemnation. The Ephefians were bit fled with all 
 fpiritual bleflings in Chrift ; — were chofen in Chrift be- 
 fore the foundation of the world; — were predefhnated to 
 the adoption of children by Chrifl ; — were redeemed thro' 
 his blood ; — received the forgiven^fs of their fins; — ob- 
 tained the inheritance. — Yet notwithstanding, the Apofile 
 tells them they were without Chrift. Now if they had 
 been juftified from eternity, they never could have b^en 
 without Chrift : For if a juftified perfon is not in him, 
 none are in him ; fo we are yet in our (ins, and Chrift is 
 no longer a Saviour, as the fcriptures report he is. 
 
 3. It is evident from God's word, that unbelievers 
 are condemned, and it is equally evident, that the eledfc 
 of God were unbelievers, before they were brought to 
 know the truth as it is in Jefus. " For God has conclu- 
 ded all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all, 
 Romans xi. 32. 
 
 That an unbeliever is condemned before God, is appa- 
 rent from, (1.) The complaints and denunciations of the 
 moil high God on the account of unbelief. " Hear, O 
 Heavens, and give hear, O Earth ; for the Lord hath fpo- 
 ken. — The ox knoweth his owner, and and the afs his 
 matter's crib ; but Ifrael doth not know, my people do 
 not conilder. — They are like the deaf adder that ftoppeth. 
 her ear, which will not harken to the voice of the charmer, 
 charming never fo wifely. — They refufed to hearken, and 
 pulled away the fhouider, and flopped their ears, that they 
 fhould not hear. — Yea they made their hearts as hard as an 
 adamant ftone, lead they mould hear the law, and the word 
 which the Lord of Hofts hath lent in his fpirit by the for- 
 mer prophets. — Therefore it is come to pafs, that as he 
 cjied, and they refufed to hear ; fo they cued and I would 
 
 not 
 
I »2 ) 
 
 not hea**, faith the Lord of Hofts.— Becaufe I have called, 
 ixnd yv ir-.u.wd to hear; — I have fi retched out my hand 
 and no man regarded; — but ye have fet at nought all* 
 Hi) cpunie , and would none of my reproof; — I alio will 
 ]augn a- your calamity, I w ill mock when your fear comes 
 upon you; — wh-n your fear comes as defolation, and 
 jour d^lt ucuon Cometh as a whirlwind ; — when did re is 
 and annilh co.nes upon )ou.— Then they (hall call upon 
 me, but I will not aniwer ;- T ihey fha!l fetkme early, but 
 thrv lhaii not find me ;~ For they hated knowledge, anc\ 
 did not chule tWKarot the Lord.*' 
 
 How clear is it Horn t e foreg< ing teftimony of fcrip- 
 turt, thar the unbe.ieving and ditobedient are not approv- 
 ed in his hgh ; therefore while the elecl: remain in unbe- 
 lief m^y are condemned. " For he that believeth not is 
 condem nrd a: ready, becaufe he hath not believed in the 
 Dame of the on ! y begotten Ion of God." John lii. 18. 
 
 (2.) An unbeiiever cannot be in a Hate of ipecial favour 
 with ood, or jiliifkd; for unbelieves are in the moft 
 d.tadful llareir. r he world. <c He that believeth not fhall 
 be damned " Maik xvi. 16. Without faith we cann t 
 attain rig iteoufnefs : Iirael which followed after the Jaw of 
 rijfiteoum is hath not attained to the law of righreoufne fs. 
 "Where fort ? B.cauf they fought it not by faith ;-for they 
 fhirnbltd at that Humbling Rone $ as it is written " Behold 
 I \st.\ in Zion a {fumbling Rone and a rock of offence ; 
 and w oloevir belitverh on ITirpt (hall not be aihamtd." 
 With ut faith the wonder- work ng God will not be re- 
 garded, as may be gathered fr^m Acts xiii. 40. 41. — 
 V B' ho ! d yedifpi'ers and wonder and perifh ! For I"woik 
 a vcrfc in y< ur days, which ye fhali in no wife believe, 
 tn )U£h a .nan declare it to )ou. The hearts of unbelievers 
 are waxed grots, their ears are duil of htarirg, and their 
 e\es have they cioltd ; lcaff they fho\i!d fee with their 
 eyes, and hear wirh their ears, and underftand with their 
 hears, and ihou,'d be converted, and I fhould heal them." 
 *fjit unyt*iel v>f Iirael of old, foreiy grieved the Lord, and 
 
 made 
 
C 13 ) 
 
 made him angry with them, fo angry <f that he (Wore in* 
 his wrath that they (hould not enter into his reft." So 
 we fee they could not enter in becaufe of unbelief. Thus 
 it appears from God's own word, that no unbeliever can. 
 be in a juftified ftat<>. Therefore we mult be juftifiecl 
 whin we believe, and not before : See Romans x. 4« 
 10. v. 1. 
 
 OBJECTION. 
 
 Nothing can be laid to the charge of God's ele& ; there- 
 fore they mull have been juftified from eternity, as they 
 were elected from eternity. 
 
 .ANSWER. 
 
 The A pottle does not fay that nothing can be laid to their 
 charge peoiufe they are eL£t ; both nothing can be laid 
 to their charge becaufe they are juflijied : " Who fhall 
 lay any thing to the charge of God's eie£t ? It is God that 
 jiLjiifitik." Romans viii. 33. Now when God juftifies 
 the eiett nothing can be laid to their charge : " For he 
 who believeth is juftified from ail things, from which he 
 could not be by the law of Mof.-s " A6b xiii. 39. It is 
 no where faid that he who is elected is juftified; but he 
 who believe ih. 
 
 4. In fcripture, vocation is placed before juftification : 
 Romans viii. 30. <c Moreover whom he did predeftinate 
 them he called ; and whom he called them he juftified, and 
 whom he juuified them he g'oiifjed." Surely the fpirit of 
 wifdom would never have lead the Apoftle to place voca- 
 tion before jiftificat ion if it were not before it. Would it 
 not appear Itrange if he had faid whom God foreknew, thern 
 he called, whom he called them he predeflinated; and whom 
 he glorified, them he juilified ? It would have been abfunj 
 alfo to have put jultification before vocation. It has been 
 too common lor the enemies pf the gofpel of Chrift for thefe 
 
 feventeen 
 
( H ) 
 
 feventeen hundred years paft, to make the facred fcripturea 
 a nofe of wax, that they might twift and wreft it to anfwer 
 their feveral purpofes. Little do fuch perfons think that 
 %h^y wreft it to their own deftructton : 2 Peter iii, 16. 
 
 2. Eternal juftification is not only contrary to fcrip- 
 ture ; but to reafon alio. In the balances of reafon let it 
 be weighed, and if it prove wanting, let Tekel be writen 
 upon it : See Daniel v. 27. 
 
 (1) Before we are brought into being, we could neither 
 be juftified nor condemned ; for nothing can be predic-. 
 ted of that which is not. To fay that we were juitified 
 from eternity, is juft as good fenfe as to fay we were black, 
 brown, or fair from eternity : And how any can be io 
 weak, as to make their boaft of fuch right down non fenfe 
 mud be very fuprifmg to every man of common under-. 
 ftanding, 
 
 (2) As juftification is a law-term, it fuppofes (1.) A 
 law-giver. (2.) A law. (3.) A court of judicature; but 
 there could be no law-giver before the law was given ; 
 nor could there be a law given before there was any per-, 
 fon to give it to, neither can a perfon be brought before 
 the judge prior to his exiftance; therefore juflificaticn is 
 not from eternity. Where there is no law there can be 
 no tranfgreflio'n, and where there is, 4 no tranfgreflion there 
 needs no juflification ; but there was, nay, there could no 
 law be given to us before time, nor could we tranfgrefs it 
 before it was given to us; hence I infer that juflification 
 is not an eternity but a time acl. God juftifies none but 
 
 Jtnnirl ; but none could fin before time began ; then juflifi- 
 cation muil be in time, not from eternity. In eleHiprj 
 men are not confidered either as good or evil : Romans 
 ix. 11. The children being not yet born, nor having done 
 good or evil, that the purpofe of God according to eleclion 
 might ftand; but in juflification they are confiderd as eviL 
 as appears from Romans iv. 5. tc But to him that work- 
 eth not, but believeth on him that juflifieth the ungodly , his 
 faith is counted for righteoufneis ; now if it be the un- 
 godly 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 godly, that God juftifieth, the date of their juftification muft 
 be in time. We may obferve 
 
 3. That in Juftification there is a change of ftate in the 
 perfons juftified. Romans v. 8. 9. cC But God com- 
 mended his love towards us, in that while we were yet fin- 
 ners, Chrift died for us." Much more then being juftified 
 by his blood, we fhall be fayed from w rath through him. 
 When it pleafes the Lord to juftify a finner > a believing (in- 
 ner ; then he is brought from a ftate of death into a ftate of 
 life. John v. 24. " Verily, verily, I lay unto you, he who 
 heareth my word, and believetb on him that lent me; hath 
 everlafting life, and fhall not come into condemnation ; 
 hur is palled from death into life. You fee then before we 
 believe we are condemned ; but when we do believe, we 
 enter into everlafting life* This change of ikte could not 
 take place, before the world began, for before we were crea- 
 ted we could not (in* and fo could hot b» condemned 5 and 
 before we were made there was no man to be juftified, there- 
 fore juftification cannot be from eternity* It is granted 
 that the ever blefled God, did intend from all eternity to 
 juftify the elect, and from all eternity he intended to glori- 
 fy them alfo; but who in the name of common fenfe would 
 infer from thence, that they weie juftified and glorified 
 from eternity ? Befides every perfon who is juftified, enters 
 into union with Chrift, for Chrift dwells in their hearts 
 by faith j but there could be no union before creation j 
 the branch muft be made before it can be grafted on that 
 fruitful vine Chrift Jefus. 
 
 While we were unbelievers we were condemned, and if 
 to, we could not be united to Chrift, nor bring forth the 
 fruits of the fpirit, which are love, joy, peace, long fufFer- 
 ings, gentlencfs, goodnefs, faith, rreeknefs, and temperance, 
 
 4. The notion of eternal juftification has fomething in 
 it like blafphemy, as it makes our blefled Lord and Saviour 
 a deceiver. For if the eleel: were juftified from eterniry 
 they never could fall, nor be in a loft condition, as our 
 Lord fuppofes them to be, where he fays I am feiit to the loft 
 
 lhccp 
 
( »6 ) 
 
 fteej* of th* hbufe of Ifrael. And, Luke x<x. io. he further- 
 addsi The fon of riian is come to fcek and to fave chat wl.ich 
 fras loft. N )w, if nothing can be laid to the charge of 
 thofe whom God juft'fifs, and they juftified from eternity; 
 Jiow can they be faid to be loft ? If a man may be laid co 
 fee loft Before he believes in, and is united to Chrift; then 
 what our Lord fays is true; but if a man be juftified before 
 be believes as the Antinomans fay he is, was not that a nue 
 charge kC Nay, but he deCelveth the people ?" Whoever 
 Fell from the favour of God being juftified ? Speak ye that 
 meditate in the law of God day and night, and fre wifer 
 than the aged! Speak ye mtn ofreafon and tell wiio they 
 Were ! Is there an idiot, who more than the reft is a grief, 
 and heavinefs to her that bore him, that has not one grah; of 
 lenfe to difcerri that it is impoilible for any one to be jolli- 
 fied from eternity, and yet to be loft in time ? O blafphe- 
 my ! Would to God that I could raife a blulh in thy hydra 
 face, but I defpair. Thou art enthroned on ignorance, and 
 to thee the ignorant bend their knee, to thee their tongues 
 confefs that art thou worthy to be praiied, by all Thrones^ 
 Principalities, and Powers, that love darknefs rather than 
 
 3i B ht - 
 
 O thou Saviour of finnerS forgive their blafphemies ! 
 
 O thou divine prophet teach them that v.ifdom which 
 Cometh down from above, which is firft pure, then peace- 
 able, gentle, and eafy to be intreated, full of mercy, and 
 good fruits, without wrangling and without hypocrify: 
 James iii. fj. O thou good Shepherd take care of thy fim- 
 ple fheep, watch over them day and night, that nothing 
 may hurt nor diftroy in all thy holy mountain. " 
 
 If men were juftified from eternity, nothing could be laid 
 to their charge, if fo where is the juftice of God the Father, 
 in cauiing the fword to awake againft the man that was his 
 fellow ? How comes the fword to be fheathed in the bo- 
 fom of his innocent, his well beloved fon ? Did the blcfled 
 Jefus groan, bleed, and die upon the crofs, for a people 
 againft whom no charge could be brought? Gould infinite 
 
 wifdom 
 
( i? ) 
 
 wifdom err ? Would inflexible juftice punifti without a 
 caufe ? Will a righteous God do wrong ? Where is the 
 holinefs of God, if Chrift dies for a people who cannot be 
 charged with fin; beirig juftified ? Thus the Antinomiart 
 undefies God, or rather demonftrates that he thinks in his 
 heart that there is no God, though he is afhamed to own 
 it with his tongue; 
 
 3. The third perfori in the Godhead is injured by this 
 notion. What ufe can it be for the fpirit to convince the 
 ele£t.-worid of fin, if they were pardoned from eternity ? 
 What need is there for hirri to apply that blood which 
 cleanfeth us from all fin, when fin was done away from 
 eternity ? Can the ipirit of wifdom and might, be fup- 
 poied to come on a ufelefs errand ? No verily ; men are 
 linners, and on that account, feperate from God, faft bound 
 as in a prifon, {hut up in the darkhefs of ignorance ; till 
 the Holy Spirit lets the guilty wretch fee fin as the mofl 
 loathfome thing, makes him willing to wafh in the fountain 
 Opened, and heal him with the balfamic blood of Chrift, 
 brings him out of the prifon-hoUfe, and leads him to the* 
 church and palace of God ; — where God manifefts himftlf 
 unto him, as he doth not unto the world, and enables him 
 to fay — <c Truly our feUowfhip is with the Father, and wjth 
 his fon Jefus Chrift. Thus you fee, that eternal juftifica- 
 cation, is repugnant to reafon, and calls odious refleclicns 
 on God the Father, God the Sun, and God the Holy Ghofl. 
 It is found' d on, and fupported by ignorance.. But left I 
 fliDuld be thought to be tedious, I will haften to the 
 
 III. Thing propofed, viz. to fhew in what fenie a be- 
 liever is juftified by works. 
 
 But before I enter on this part of the fubjecl:, it may not 
 be amifs to obferve, that there is a feeming contradiction 
 between St. James and St. Paul : Paul fays " a man is 
 not juftified by the works of the law, but by the faith of 
 of Jefus Chrift ; — that we might be juftified by the faith of 
 Chrift, and not by the works of the Jaw ; for by the deeds 
 of the law fhail no flefh be juftified." Whereas St. James 
 
 C lays 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 fays " thstf: by works a man is juftified, and not by faith 
 only/' In order to reconcile them, it will be needful to 
 obferve, that Paul is fpeaking of a believer's juftification be- 
 fore God, but James is fpeaking of our juftification before 
 men, and in our own confciences ; in the former God 
 fuftains them perfectly righteous in his fight, as their judge, 
 freed from the guilt of fin, accepted into his favour, and 
 entitled to everlafting felicity, Romans, iii. 24. 28. 30. 
 and viii. 33. notwithstanding they are confidered as un- 
 godly. This juftification is not founded on any works 
 done, or to be done by us ; none ojf thefe can fatisfy that 
 law, which is holy, juft, and good, and all of them are, in 
 every fhape, excluded from the matter of our juftifying 
 righteoufnefs before God, Gal. iii. 10. 12. Romans iii. 
 20. 24.. Gal, ii. 16. The latter fpeaks of good works, 
 as being the infallible fruits of juftification, juftifying the 
 faints ; they manifeft to their own confciences and to the 
 world, that they are juftified before God. Thus it is that 
 the hearers of the law are not juftified before God, but 
 the doers of it are juftified before him. The juftification 
 Paul fpeaks of, fprings from the free grace of God, like a 
 healing ftream. 
 
 " And mercy like an healing ftream, 
 " O'er all their fins divinely roll," 
 
 No : It is not by works of righteoufnefs that we have 
 done, but according to his mercy, he faves us by the wafhing 
 of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghoft; that being 
 juftified by his grace, we fhould be made heirs according 
 to the hope of eternal life. Titus iii. 5. 7. We fhould 
 not forget that St. Paul fpeaks of a people who were ig- 
 norant of the righteoufnefs of God, who went about to 
 eftablifti their own righteoufnefs, and would not fubmifc 
 themfelves unto the righteoufnefs of God, and therefore he 
 labours to convince them, that by the works of the law 
 they could not be juftified; for fays he — " Chrift is the 
 
 end 
 
( *9 ) 
 
 end of the la\w^ for righteoufnefs to every one that beheveth* 
 Romans x. 4. But James is fpeaking to a people, called 
 in our day Antinomians, who fet afide the law of God, at 
 lead in their practice, and thought they were juftified, be- 
 caufe they fancied they were believers; but did not confi- 
 der that faith without works is dead, being alone.- There- 
 fore I infer that a man is juftiried before God by faith ; 
 but in his confcience, and before men he is juftified by 
 works, as Abraham was, when he offered up Ifaachis Son 
 upon the altar. A man is juftified by works, when his 
 works declare him to be a juft man. 
 
 1. When God called Abraham from his native land, he 
 obeyed, not knowing whither he went. When he was 
 commanded to take his fon, his only fon Ifaac, and get to 
 the land of Moriah ; and to offer him there for a burnt- 
 offering, reafoned not with flefh and blood, but did as the 
 Lord commanded him : He rofe early in the morning, he 
 clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and went With his 
 fon to the place of which God told him. On the third 
 day he lifts up his venerable head, and fees afar off the 
 place where his faith is to be tried, and his obedience 
 proved. Then faid Abraham unto his fervants — " Stay 
 here, while the lad and I, go and worfhip yonder, and then 
 we will come again." They come to the fpot of ground 
 of which God told him ; the Altar is raifed, the wood is 
 laid in order, the pious child is laid upon it, the knife is 
 drawn, the arm is ftretched out, the mind is refolute, it h 
 God's commandment ; but O the wifdom and goodnefs 
 of God ! An angel's arm wards off the fatal blow, and 
 I faac, that child of flaughter, lives. Now faith and obe- 
 dience are tried in the balances ; but are they found want- 
 ting? " Now I know that thou feared God (faid the angel 
 of the everlafting covenant, feeing that thou haft not with- 
 held thy fon, thy only fon from me. Turn thy joyful 
 eyes and fee that ram entangled in the thicket, and offer him 
 up in Ifaac's room." And Abraham did fo, and told us 
 for our comfort, God will provide. Now, let me all 
 
 the- 
 
C 20 ) 
 
 thee finner, was not Abraham juftified by ^porks, when he 
 offered up Ifaac his fon upon the Altar ? 
 
 2. A man may be faid to be juftified by works, when in 
 his family he appears to be a juft and righteous man. A 
 believing mafter will not tyrannize over, nor opprefs his 
 fervants ; but he will govern with meeknefs, ,?nd be rea- 
 sonable in his demands ; and not only give him an equi- 
 valent for, but comfort him in his labour. If a fervant, 
 honed and juft. If a hufband, he governs with wifdom 
 and love. If a wife fhe has a reverence for, and yields 
 obedience to her hufband. If a father, he confide rs him- 
 felf as in the double capacity of king and pried in his own 
 houfe, and will a6f, according to the directory of God's 
 word. Thus Jcfhua and his houfe ferved the Lord: 
 Thus Zacharias and Elizabeth both walked in all the com- 
 irandments and ordinances of the Lord, blamlefs : And 
 hence it is faid of them, that they were both rjghteoufnefs, 
 Luke 1. 6. * f And the Lord faid concerning Abraham, 
 I know that he will command his children and his houfe - 
 hold after him, and they {hall keep the way of the Lord, 
 to do juftice and judgment; that the Lord may bring 
 upon Abraham, that which he fpoken of him." Genefis 
 xix. jg. 
 
 3. A man may be faid to be juft fled by works, when he 
 does unto others as he widies they diouid do unto him. 
 When Abraham wanted to make a pu: chafe, he had not 
 the lead de fire to out-reach the man he had to deal with : 
 Grace taught him not to covet : When he wanted a bu- 
 rial place for Sarah, and one offered by Ephron, gratis, he 
 could not be happy without giving an equivalent for it : 
 €€ And fo Abraham weighed four hundred fhekels of filver, 
 which was the exa£i value.' • Genefis xxiii. 15. 
 
 4. A man maybe faid to be juftified by works, and not 
 by faith only, when he fhews mercy, and lends aid to an 
 injured neighbour. This was exemplified by Abraham^ 
 conducl towards Lot. When he heard that Lot was ta- 
 ken prifoner and plundred, as alfo were Jus towns folks ; 
 
 he 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 •he muttered his trained fervants, purfued the enemy, over- 
 came them, brought back all the goods, and alio brought 
 again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women aiTo, 
 and all the people. As a reward for his bravery and good 
 will, the king of Sodom offers him the fpoils he had ta- 
 ken in the war ; but Abraham was fonder of doing good, 
 than enriching himfelf, and fo did not accept then) : c< I 
 have lift up my hand to the Lord, the mod high God, the 
 poiTerXor of heaven and earth, that I will not take trom a 
 thread even unto a fhoe-latchet, and that I will not take 
 any thjng that is thine, &c.'' Gencfis xiv. Tnus it ap- 
 pears, that a man cannot be ju lifted for his works, yet he 
 cannot be jullified without them : " For as the body with- 
 out the fpirit is dead, fo faith without works is dead alfo." 
 From what has been faid I wouid infer, 
 
 1. Than if eternal juftification is not founded on fcrip- 
 ture nor reafon, it cannot be a truth : <c To the word and 
 to the teflimony, if any man doth not fpeak arcording 
 thereto, it is becaufe there is no light in him." In Gala- 
 tions i. 7. 8. 9. we are told,-" There be fome that trou- 
 ble you, and would pervert the gofpei of Chnft. But tho' 
 we, or an Angel from heaven, preach any other dodlrine 
 unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let 
 him be accurfed." And lead any one ftiould think that 
 he is fpeaking of legal minifter only, he adds verfe the 
 9. <c If any man preach any other gofpei unto you, 
 than that ye have received, let him be accurfed." 
 
 2. To drink in unfound doctrines is an awful fign of 
 reprobation. When people have been intruded with the 
 precious talent of the gofpei, and have buried it in the 
 earthj it is juft and right in God to give fuch up to repro- 
 bate minds, and fend them flrong delufions, that they may 
 believe a lie, that they all may be damned, ct who believe 
 not the truth, but had pleafure in unrighteoufneis. ,, — 
 S ThefT. ii. 11. 12. 
 
 3. If the notion of eternal juftification be an error, 
 i?oa(l no more about thy fublime knowledge. Be humble, 
 
 and 
 
(. 22 ) 
 
 and mind not things too high for thee ; but acknowledge 
 with a wife author on this fubjeft " That God's immanent 
 acts are iurrounded with light inacceffible, and full of 
 glory ; and are as far, nay infinitely farther out of the 
 reach of our minds, than the highelt flar in the heavens 
 is beyond the reach of our arms. Nothing below a man, 
 can comprehend the immanent acts of a man ; nothing in- 
 ferior to an angel, can tell what is in the mind of an an- 
 gel ; and nothing lefs than a God, can comprehend or 
 know the immanent acts in the mind of God — " My 
 thoughts {fays God) are not as your thoughts, neither are 
 my ways your ways faith the Lord • for as the heavens 
 are higher than the earth, fo are my ways higher than your 
 ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." If. lv. 8. 
 €S Secret things belong to God, but thofe that are revealed, 
 to us, and our children." 
 
 lit And is faith needful in order to judication ? It is ; for 
 he who believeth not (hall be damned. Then let us humbly 
 befeech God to grant us this grace; let us come boldly to 
 the Throne of Grace, while he is feated thereon; that we 
 may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in every time 
 of need; for this is the accepted time, this is the day of 
 falvation. 
 
 Without faith, we are told, it is impoflible to pleafe God. 
 What ever is not of faith is fin. Faith is the moft im- 
 manent grace of the fpirit; it purifies the heart — removes fear 
 — makes the weak ftrong and valiant, fo that they fight 
 againfl the world, fin, and death, and gives them a 
 compleat victory over them all : " This is the victory 
 that overcometh the world even our faith : O <c Death 
 where is thy fting ? O Grave where is thy victory ?" Do 
 you afk what is faith ? The anfwer is, faith is fomething 
 more than a bare owning or a profeflion of the religion 
 of our blefTed Lord and Saviour; for there are many 
 who believe in this fenfe for a feafon, but when perfe- 
 ction arifeth they fall away. Many people make a 
 fair mow in the flelh for a time, who afterward appear 
 
 to 
 
Cm ) 
 
 to be in the gaul of bitternefs, and in the bond of in- 
 iquity. Such are like fome trees that are mod beau- 
 tifully adorned with blofTom in the fprina ' But in 
 autumn, nppear both unpleafant, and unprofitable to 
 their owners. What a fplended profeflion did Judas 
 make for a time! Till the love of money proved him 
 to be a Devil. What a promifing begining did he 
 make ! And how dreadful was his end ! So true is it 
 that thole who begin religious in hypocricy, moftly end 
 in apoltacy ; bare!y afTeming to the truth will never 
 fave us, We may obferve, it is one thing to know the 
 revelation of God, and another thing to do the will of 
 God: "If ye know thefe things happy are ye, if ye 
 do them." Faith without works, is dead. Tell a drunk- 
 ard, that fobriety, and temperance, are excellent virtues; 
 he will believe you, and fay they are fp of a truth; but 
 then, notwithstanding, he will not embrace thofe vir- 
 tues. So alfo a man who has a mortified limb, knows 
 that the furgeon f peaks a real truth ^hen he tells him, 
 that his life is in danger, and certain death will enfue 
 unlefs the limb be cut off; yet he may not yield to the 
 operation. There is many a man believes, that if he 
 would forfake his evil ways, and feek the favour of God, 
 that God would have mercy on him, and would abun- 
 dantly pardon him ; but then, he will not leave fin, nor 
 will he feek the favour of God. The truth muft not 
 only be known, but received in the love thereof. 
 
 Faith is an apprehenfion of the love of God, and of the 
 rich bleffings that are fo freely offered in the gofpel. When 
 thefe are apprehended by us we are delighted with them : 
 Chnft appears to us — " the faired 2mong ten thoufand, and 
 altogether lovely :" And nothing appears fo worthy of ou^ 
 purfuir, as whar: is offered to us in the gofpel. For them, 
 the truly religious, would forfake the honours, riches, and 
 pleafures of this world ; and if called thereto, even life it- 
 feh% « For Chrift's fake Mofes rather chofe to fuffer with 
 the people of God, than enjoy the pleafures cf fin for a 
 feafon; efteeming the reproach of Chriil greater riches than 
 
 the 
 
( M ) 
 
 the treafu'res of Egypt : For he looked to the recompence 
 of reward." Chriit and gofpel blefling always have, and 
 ever will, wonderfully influence thofe who apprehend them, 
 to lov* the Lord above all things, and to perfer his fervice 
 to th<ir own temporal intereft. When we apprehend the 
 love of G >d in Chrift, our firft inquiry is, ro know what we 
 lhall do for him, or render to him * and whatever the Lord 
 connaids, is not grievous, but pleafantj — {C Wifdom's 
 wavs are ways of pleaiantnefs, and all her paths are paths 
 of peace." 
 
1994 
 
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