than to that which, of his own free and sovereign grace, he bore to them. Hence the Apostle says, " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us." It is indeed surprising that any Child of man should ever entertain such an idea of this which the Apostle explodes : but experience proves, that there is no merit so great, but man will arrogate it to himself; and no tribute so just, but he will refuse it to his God. We proceed then to notice this senti- ment in a two-fold view :
1. The erroneousness of it —
[Let us for a moment incjuire, What is the state of fallen man? Has he of himself axxy love to God ? So far from it, we are told, that " tlie carnal mind is enmity against God ; and that it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be"*." There is not any one tiling relating to God, which the natural man loves : not his perfections ; not his word ; not his ordinances ; not his people ; not his ways : he is in his heart adverse to them all. But it may be said, that many are brought to love God at last. True : but how is this effected ? by any power in man ? or by any previous good inclination in man ? No : " It is God that gives us both to will and to do, of his own good ]ileasure " : " it is " he, and he alone, that makes us to differ," either from others, or from our former selves : we neither have any thing, nor can have any thinf^, but what we receive from him'. How then can that which we receive from God be the cause or ground of his conferring it upon us ?
The text, it is true, speaks of God's sending his Son into the world to die for us : and it may be thought, that no one would ascril)c that gift to any merit of his own. We grant it : but, if men do not ascribe to their own merits the gift of a Saviour, they ascribe to their own merits the gift of salvation itself: yea, exceeding vehemently do they arrogate to themselves this honour : and when they are constrained to acknowledge, that in their unregenerate state they have done no good woi'ks to deserve salvation, they will maintain, that God has respect to some good which he foresees \n them, and makes some natural or accjuired excellence in them the reason and the measure of his fjivour towards them. But we scarcely conceive any expression's more strong than those by which God cautions liis people against this vain conceit. Hear what
he said respecting it to his chosen people the Jews^ r-
Hear
" Rom. viii. 7. ' Phil. ii. 13. ' 1 Cor. iv. 7,
« Deut. vii. 7, 8. &: ix.4— 0'. &: Ezck. xxxvi. 22, 32.