[Ask of St. Paul, To whom he owed his eminent attain- ments? and he will answer, "By the grace of God I am what I amp." Ask him, To whom all Christians are indebted for every grace they possess ? he will answer, " He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is Godq." Ascend to the highest heavens, and inquire of the saints in glory : you will find them all casting their crowns at their Redeemer's feet, and singing, " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and our Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." To imitate them is both our duty and happiness. Our daily song therefore should be, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name be the- praise : " " Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever."]
To guard this deep subject against the abuses to which it is liable, and to render it conducive to its proper and legitimate ends, we shall add a word,
1. Of caution —
[If, as the Apostle says, " there is a remnant according to the election of grace1"," we are ready to suppose that those who are not of that number are not accountable for their sins, and that their final ruin is to be imputed rather to God's decrees than to their own fault. But this is a perversion of the doc- trine. It is a consequence which our proud reason is prone to draw from the decrees of God : but it is a consequence which the inspired volume totally disavows. There is not in the whole sacred writings one single word that fairly admits of such a construction. The glory of man's salvation is invariably ascribed to the free, the sovereign, the efficacious grace of God: but the condemnation of men is invariably charged upon their own wilful sins and obstinate impenitence. If, because we know not how to reconcile these things, men will controvert and deny them, we shall content ourselves with the answer which St. Paul himself made to all such cavillers and objectors ; " Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against Gods?" And if neither the truth nor the authority of God will awe them into submission, we can only say with the fore-mentioned apostle, " If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant1." As for those, if such are to be found, who acknowledge the sove- reignty of God, and take occasion from it to live in sin, we would warn them with all possible earnestness to cease from their fatal delusions. In comparison of such characters, the people who deny the sovereignty of God are innocent. We
p 1 Cor. xv. 10. q 2 Cor. v. 5. » Rom. xi. 5.
• Rom. ix. If), 20. ' 1 Cor. xiv. 38.
41.] THE CHRISTIAN'S BIRTHRIGHT. Jill
believe there are many persons in other respects excellent, who, from not being able to separate the idea of absolute reprobation from the doctrine of unconditional election, are led to reject both together: but what excellence can he have, who " turns the very grace of God into licentiousness," and " continues in sin that grace may abound?' A man that can justify such a procedure, is beyond the reach of argument : we must leave him, as St. Paul does, with that awful warning, " His damnation is just11."]
2. Of encouragement —
[To one who feels his utter unworthiness of mercy, we know not any richer source of encouragement than the sove- reignty of God. For, if he may dispense his blessings to whomsoever he will, then the very chief of sinners has no need to despair : the person who is most remote from having in himself any ground to expect the birthright, may be made a monument of God's grace ; while the person who by nature seems to have had fairer prospects, may be left, like the rich youth, to perish in his iniquities. The obstacles which appear to stand in the way of his acceptance may even be turned into grounds of hope ; because the more unworthy he feels himself to be, the more he may hope that God will glorify the riches of his grace in shewing mercy towards him. We do not mean that any person should rush into wickedness in order to in- crease his prospects of salvation ; for, abstractedly considered, the more sinful any man is, the greater prospect there is of his perishing for ever : we only mean to say, that, in the view of God's sovereignty , that which would otherwise have been a ground of despondency, may be turned into a ground of hope. Let the subject then be thus improved: and while some dispute against it, and others abuse it, let us take occasion from it to make our supplication to God, saying with David, " Be merciful unto my sin, for it is great!"]