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fome ideas of this divine proceedure, and the figure is intelligible.

In like manner, God, by a feries of miracles, is faid to purchafe his congregation of old, and redeem his inheritance. Pf. lxxiv. 2. compare lxxviii. 54. And the purchased poffeffion, spoken of, Eph. i. 14. is no other than that designed of the Father; the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counfel of his own will; made known by the Gofpel. compare ver. 11. Alfo the fame word in Peter, denotes, the distinguishing character of christians, 1 Epistle ii. 9. a purchased, or a peculiar people. Hence it is evident, that Theologifts, who affect to speak of Christ, as procuring and purchafing pardon of God for penitents, have given an interpretation of the Gospel-doctrine, which is not fo well fupported, as they would have us imagine.

Should we examine, upon what principle the human heart has had its confidence in God, in all past ages; we shall discover it to have been, its own uprightness or integrity; the confcious fenfe of which, has enabled it to hope in his mercy, and to wait for his falvation. So Noah was a just man, perfect or upright in his generation, which

enabled

enabled him to walk with God:

or, was it9. vii. I.

felf his walking with him. Gen. vi. Abraham's obedience of the precept, was accounted to him for righteousness, Rom. iv.

Mofes's prefering affliction and reproach to the pleasures of fin; determined his confidence, Heb. xi. Job will not let go his righteoufness, nor fuffer his heart to reproach him with hypocrify. Job xxvii. 6. And David obferves, that the righteous Lord loveth righteoufnefs, his countenance does behold the upright. Pf. xi. 7. So he who will abide in the tabernacle of the Lord, must have moral rectitude as the bafis of his confidence. Pf. xv. and xxiv. The fame doctrine is taught by all the prophets. By our Lord, in the fermon on the mount, and in all his inftructions. And it was the bafis of his own confidence, that he always did the things that pleafed his God and Father. John viii. 29. And none, will he finally own, but fuch as do the will of his Father who is in heaven, Matth. vii. 21. The apoftles do accordingly declare it, to be the ground of their own confidence and rejoicing; even the teftimony of their own confcience to a fimplicity, and godly fincerity. 2 Cor. i. 12. 1 Pet. iii. 15, 16. 1 John

iii. 19, 20, 21. — If our heart does not condemn us, then have we confidence towards God.

There is no other poffible ground of confidence, but the consciousness of our own fincerity, uprightnefs, and integrity. And the quitting this, for a fanciful refuge in the righteousness of another, as the reafon of our juftification; has no better fupport, than the chimerical church-treafury of merits, dealt out by the Romish-priest, as fhall beft fuit the purposes of his power and profit among the deluded. But fais St. John, let no man deceive you, for he who does righteoufness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 1 John iii. 7. St. Paul renounced no other righteousness of his own, but the ritual; on which he had made a fuperftitious and unfafe dependence. See Phil. iii. 4—12.

The fhocking freedom which men have taken, in degrading the moral fyftem, is mat ter of shame and confufion. But they will not attend to the reafon or nature of things, unless it be to reproach and revile them.

A fanatical spirit has feized the minds of many; so that in the province of theology, they have lost all their rationality, however sober and confiftent they may be in their civil and

focial departments. Elfe we should never have heard of moral righteousness being reprefented as a man's own righteousness, that he muft renounce, in order to stand approved in the eye of a moral governour. Perfonal rectitude, after which the chriftian is to hunger and thirst, would never have been deemed a man's own righteoufnefs, in oppofition to the righteousness of God. But these absurdities were unavoidable, in the doctrine of imputation. And because the opinion will not bear reafoning upon, therefore reason has been reproached as carnal and diabolical, by a tribe of poor, bewildered vifionaries; who, With their debauched reason, presume on the debafement.

Even the world has been deluged with fuperftition, from this perversion of the Gofpel-fyftem. Nor is it poffible christianity fhould ever appear in its divine purity and perfection, until mankind are better disposed to venerate the moral conftitution. The fwarms of Enthusiasts, who have banished reafon and morality from the borders of the christian profeffion; threaten the return of worse than Egyptian darkness on the Britifb hemifphere. For popery, that hellish syst

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The fyftematic must not imagine, he has equal evidence of the truth, or juftness of his opinion. That is absolutely impoffible; fince he excludes reafon and nature, personal righteousness and morality from his scheme of religion. All of which we adopt in our interpretation, and find do harmonize in the plan of falvation. Befides which, we have the exprefs, undisguised, and confenting testimony of divine revelation.

The light of nature and of revelation do reflect fome rays of the majefty of God, which render him fupremely adorable. We are affifted thereby in our reasonings on his nature, perfections and providence. But men feem to fiudy 10 depart from this light, for no better a reason than because the farther they depart from nature and reafon, the better they are heard ana read by the bulk of mankind. The lefs men know, the more they think they know. Credulity does currently pass for knowledge: and thofe very circumstances which should raife doubts and Sufpicions, produce an increase of faith.a

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a See Lord Bolingbroke's Letter to Wyndham, p. 478. N. B.

I should not have made so many citations from this writer, had I not found them so just and pertinent.

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