can be justified in the sight of God;" it comes to him, not to buy, earn, or demand a recompense, but to crave mercy, the gift of righteousness, and the gift of eternal life, through Jesus Christ; and in that way by which the desert of sin and the justice of God were most clearly displayed to the universe. So that in this way "of justifying the ungodly" by faith alone, the whole glory is secured to the Lord; and his justice, holiness, truth, and wisdom, as well as his abounding grace, are explicitly acknowledged and honoured: and as faith itself is the gift of God, whilst the weakest faith justifies as certainly as the strongest (though it does not bring such evidence of it to the conscience); so boasting is excluded; every ground of self-preference is thus removed; and a foundation is, as it were, laid in the believer's heart, for the constant exercise of humility, dependence, patience, and meekness, and that love which con strains the redeemed sinner " to live no longer to himself, but to him that died for him and rose again.'

But it may be objected, that the scriptures speak of repentance, conversion, love, obedience, doing the will of God, and forgiveness of enemies, &c. as requisite in order to our acceptance and admission to the enjoyment of our heavenly inheritance: and how can this consist with the doctrine of justification by faith alone? No doubt these things are necessary; nay, there is no salvation without them, according to the time afforded; nor does any man come short of salvation, in whom they are found. They are things which accompany salvation; they either prepare the heart for receiving Christ by faith, or they are effects of, and evidences that he is thus received: yet Christ himself is our whole salvation, and faith alone receives him, and appropriates the blessing-not by believing without evidence that Christ is ours,

but by applying to him, according to the word of God, that he may be ours. Should it be farther objected, that the decision of the day of judgment is always stated to be made " according to men's works;" it may suffice to answer in this place, that no faith justifies except that which works by love; that love uniformly produces obedience; and that the works, thus wrought, will certainly be adduced as evidences in court, to distinguish between the true believer and all other persons. Finally, the objection, that this doctrine tends to licentiousness, seems to have been already sufficiently answered by the explanation given of the nature and effects of saving faith; and I shall merely add a most earnest exhortation to all who hold this doctrine, to walk so circumspectly, "that whereas many speak evil of them, as evil doers, they may be confuted and ashamed who falsely accuse their good conversation in Christ." (1 Pet. ii. 12; iii. 16).

Thus, having explained the doctrine of justification by faith alone, " through the righteousness of God, even of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. i. 1), and proved it to be that of the holy scriptures, I would conclude by reminding the reader of its vast importance. "How shall man be just with God?"-All our eternal interests depend on the answer which, in our creed and experience, we return to this question: for if God hath, for the glory of his own name, law, and government, appointed such a method of justifying sinners as that revealed in the gospel; and they, in the pride of their hearts, refuse to seek the blessing in this way, but will come for it according to their own devices; he may justly, and will certainly, leave them under merited condemnation (Rom. x. 1-4). May God incline every reader to give this subject a serious consideration, with the day of judg ment and eternity before his eyes! Nor let it be

forgotten, that all the reformers from popery (who were eminent men, however some may affect to despise them) deemed this doctrine the grand distinction between a standing and a falling church.

Yet we should also observe, that "the truth itself may be held in unrighteousness:" and they who receive this doctrine into a proud and carnal heart, by a dead faith, not only awfully deceive themselves, and quiet their conscience in an impenitent, unjustified state, but they bring a reproach upon the truth, and fatally prejudice the minds of men against it; of which they will have a dreadful account to give at the last day. For did all who hold this doctrine of God our Saviour adorn it by such a conduct as it is suited to produce, pharisees, sceptics, and infidels, would be deprived of their best weapons, and must fight against the gospel at a vast disadvantage. May the Lord give us all that "faith which worketh by love," that "by works our faith may be made perfect," as the grafted tree is when loaded with fruit on every branch (Gal. v. 6; James ii, 17 -26).

ESSAY XII.

ON REGENERATION.

WHEN the apostle showed the Ephesians, th "they were saved by grace, through faith," he added, that this "faith was not of themselves, but was the gift of God" (Eph. ii. 8-10); whence we learn, that the faith which is the sole recipient of all the blessings of salvation, is itself the effect of a divine influence upon the soul; that all boasting may be most effectually excluded. This

gracious operation is represented in scripture under several metaphors, of which regeneration (that is, being born again, born of God, or born of the Spirit) is the most frequent and remarkable and the present Essay will be appropriated to the discussion of this interesting subject.

Nicodemus, a pharisee, a scribe, and a member of the Jewish sanhedrim, came to Jesus by night; for (notwithstanding his conviction that he was a teacher sent from God) he was afraid or ashamed of being known to consult him, concerning the doctrine that he came to inculcate. The state of his mind accorded to the darkness which prevailed at the season of this interview: and he seems to have expected some instructions coincident with the traditions of the pharisees, and their ideas of religion, and of the Messiah's kingdom, which they considered as consisting in external forms and advantages. But our Lord, with a two-fold most solemn asseveration, peculiar to himself on the most important occasions, abruptly assured him, that " except a man were born again, he could not see the kingdom of God," or discern its real nature and excellency: and when Nicodemus expressed his astonishment at this assertion, in such language as aptly illustrates the apostle's meaning when he says, "that the things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to the natural man" (1 Cor. ii. 14), our Lord answered with the same solemnity, that "except a man were born of water and of the Spirit, he could not enter into the kingdom of God." Water had been used in diverse ways, as an external emblem of internal purification; and the use of it was intended to be continued, in the ordinance of baptism, under the new dispensation: it was therefore proper to mention it as the outward sign of that change, which could only be effected by the power of the Holy Spirit. He next shewed the indispensable neces

sity of this new birth: "that which is born of the flesh," or derived by natural generation from fallen Adam," is flesh," or carnal in its propensities and inclinations; "and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," or spiritual, holy, and heavenly, like its divine Author (Rom. viii. 1— 16). He then told Nicodemus not to wonder at his declaration, that even Jews, pharisees, and scribes, "must be born again ;" and illustrated the subject by the wind, the precise cause of which, in all its variations, cannot easily be ascertained, nor its motions and energy altered or abated, but which is very manifest in its powerful effects. And when Nicodemus still inquired, "how these things could be?" he in return expressed his surprise, that a teacher of Israel should be at a loss about such a subject; and concluded by repre senting this part of his instructions as "earthly things," when compared with the deep mysteries of his person and redemption, which he next declared to him as "heavenly things." For this change takes place on earth continually, even as often as sinners are turned from their evil ways, and become truly pious and holy persons: it is a change that may aptly be illustrated by the most common concerns of life; it lies as level to our capacities (if our minds were unprejudiced), as almost any of the works of God with which we are surrounded; and the necessity of it may be proved by as cogent and conclusive arguments as any thing of a worldly nature can be. The question then is, What did our Lord mean by "being born again," or "born of the Spirit?" To which I shall first endeavour to give a plain and particular answer, subjoining a compendious review of the arguments by which the necessity of regeneration hath been often proved, and concluding with some observations and inferences of a practical nature and tendency.