do this, and it must be their own voluntary act in order to be saved, it is proper and necessary that they should be made to know it, by requiring it of them. And the gospel cannot be preached in any other way.

4. Because in this way sinners are brought to repentance, and have a heart given them to embrace the gospel. As they could not be under advantages to do this, unless the gospel were preached to them, and they were called upon to repent and believe, so men are brought to this in no other way, and by no other means, but the preaching of the gospel. And under this, and when men enjoy the gospel, God opens the hearts of whom he pleases, to receive the truths which are published, and to obey them, as he opened the heart of Lydia to receive the gospel preached by Paul. When men are required to repent and embrace the gospel, it is not known to any man that they will not have a heart, and be willing to comply, till the experiment is made, and it appears that they continue impenitent; and if they appear to remain impenitent for a time, it is not known that they will not soon come to repentance. God is under obligation to none, and he gives a heart to repent to those who live under the gospel, to whom he pleases, and when and where he sees fit. But it appears that all have not such a heart given them. The gospel is preached to many who persevere in rejecting it, and perish more dreadfully than if they had never heard of it. It is made a savor of death unto death to them. (2 Cor. ii. 15, 16.) Therefore,

5. Many important ends are answered by preaching the gospel to them who never have a heart to repent and embrace it, by which they have salvation freely offered to them, and they are required to hear and obey.

This is necessary, in order to preach the gospel to any, for none knows, but God, who will repent and accept of the salvation which is offered, till the trial is made, and the offer is made to all who hear it; and no distinction can be made, till men distinguish themselves by believing or rejecting the gospel. This is also necessary, in order fully to express and show the free grace exhibited in the gospel. By this are discovered the exceeding obstinacy and wickedness of man, in his rejecting such a kind offer of pardon and salvation, and his great ill desert; and it will greatly illustrate the justice and propriety of his eternal punishment. And the distinguishing, sovereign grace of God to those who embrace the gospel and are saved, will hereby be set in a more clear and affecting light, than otherwise it could be; and many other important ends will be doubtless answered, which are not now thought of by man.

SIXTH. Teaching men that they may do that which is their duty and what God requires them to do, while they continue impenitent and in an unconverted state, appears to have a bad influence many ways, and tends to delude them, and prevent their embracing the gospel.

This tends to deceive them with respect to their own true character, and make them to think much better of themselves than they ought to think; and to overlook the exceeding obstinacy and wickedness of their own hearts, and that there is no good thing in them, and they are wholly undone and lost. in themselves: and, therefore, tends to prevent their understanding the gospel and coming to Christ, who came to seek and to save those only who are lost.

Men, through the natural pride of their hearts, are disposed to shut their eyes against that light which discovers their evil deeds, and lays open the total depravity and wickedness of their hearts; and are, therefore, ready to lay hold on any thing which opposes and tends to shut out this light. And so long as they are told and believe they are doing some duty, they will think they have some good thing in their hearts, and do that which is pleasing to God; and will naturally, and even necessarily, rely upon it, as in some degree, at least, recommending them to the favor of God, which will effectually prevent their coming to Christ, as poor and wretched, blind and naked.

And this way of teaching sinners has a natural and strong tendency to lead them to think and feel that they have some excuse for not repenting and believing on Christ, and that they are not blamable for this, nor can it reasonably be required of them. For while they are directed to do some things as duty, which are consistent with impenitence, and are expressly told they are to be done by unrenewed sinners antecedent to their repentance and embracing the gospel, they are naturally led to think there is such difficulty in the latter, to which they find no heart or inclination, that they are not obliged to repent immediately; and that their duty consists chiefly, if not wholly, in waiting on God for a heart to repent and embrace the gospel and in this way they continue blind to their greatest sin, and which is the chief aggravation of all their sins, viz.. unbelief; and imagine they are doing their duty, and waiting on God for his blessing, with an impenitent, rebellious heart, and while they are "abominable, disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."

It has been observed, that it is probable, duties to be done by impenitent, unconverted sinners, while they continue such, would never have been thought of and urged, had not an

opinion been entertained that they are under an inability to repent and believe on Christ, which does excuse them, in some measure at least, for continuing impenitent and unconverted. From this apprehension and sentiment, sinners have not been called upon to repent and embrace the gospel immediately, but to do some lower duties, which do not imply repentance or renovation of heart, which are required as the instrumental duties, in order to obtain saving mercies; and which they may and can do while unconverted, and, therefore, can have no excuse for neglecting them. And this appears to be confirmed by fact. Most, if not all, of those who have pleaded for such duties, and have prescribed them to sinners, to be done by them, as unconverted and impenitent, have, at the same time, either expressly or implicitly represented them as under such an inability to perform duties in a holy manner, which does, at least in some measure, excuse, and does not wholly consist in their having no desire or inclination to repent, and opposition of heart to it; but that there is, in their case, a cannot, independent of a will not; and that the latter is, therefore, distinct from the former, and that the former kind of inability does excuse, as it certainly must, so far as it does not consist wholly in the evil inclination of the will, and is independent of it.

And from this opinion, many public teachers and authors have not called on sinners and required of them to repent immediately, but have directed them to do many duties while they continue unconverted; or at least have insisted chiefly on the latter, as they consider them able to do the latter, though they cannot do the former.

This appears to be one great and chief mean of promoting, confirming, and spreading far and wide the doctrine, that sinners are under an inability to repent and believe on Christ, which is a good excuse for neglecting it, and living in an unconverted state. Hence, when they are, in Scripture language, called upon to repent, and accept of offered mercy, it is common for them to say, they cannot do this, and offer it as an excuse for their not turning to God, and embracing the gospel. And as this is a sentiment so agreeable to the hearts of sinners, as it excuses their impenitence, and helps to shield them against a true conviction of their criminality in continuing in an unconverted state, and leads them to think they have sincere and strong desires to be Christians, but cannot, through some insuperable difficulty, independent of their will, which cannot be removed by their inclination and endeavors to do it, they greedily imbibe it, and are disposed to hold it fast. So long as this sentiment is cordially embraced, it will prevent a true and thorough conviction of their own character

and state; and, therefore, has a bad and dangerous tendency. It is an implicit denial of the total depravity of man, and misrepresents the nature of the sinner's moral depravity and inability to do that which is holy and good, as if it rendered him innocent and blameless while he continues unholy and disobedient.

Jesus Christ indeed says, "No man can come to me except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him." (John vi. 44.) And it is abundantly declared in the Scripture, that no man will repent, and do what is required of him, unless his heart be renewed by divine influence. But at the same time, their neglect and refusal to hear and obey is represented as wholly their own fault, and that their inability is their crime, consisting wholly in the inexcusable wickedness of their own hearts; and the requirement is not laid aside or lowered because they are unwilling to obey, and something short of a compliance substituted in the room of it. When Christ spake the words that have been mentioned, the context shows that he did not mention their inability as any excuse for their not coming to him, but considered it as very criminal in them, and as rather an evidence and aggravation of their wickedness; and he constantly invited and required all to come to him, and told them their inability consisted in the strong and fixed opposition of their hearts to it. He said, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." We do not find him saying, Since ye are not able to come to me, I will prescribe to you some other duty, which you may and must do, while you refuse to come to me, and have such a strong opposition of heart to me that you cannot come. Nor has any one yet been able to discover any duty enjoined by him, which men may do with a heart which is wholly in opposition to him.

It is now left to the reader to judge, whether the particulars which have been here mentioned, considered in their connec tion and consequences, do not prove the truth of the proposition to which they relate, and make it evident that, in preaching the gospel, nothing is proposed and enjoined as duty, to be done by men, which is consistent with their rejecting the offers of it, and continuing impenitent.

SECTION V.

All true Believers do persevere in Faith and Holiness, to the end of life, and will be saved.

THE doctrine of the perseverance and final salvation of all who believe in Christ, and are once interested in the covenant of grace, has been repeatedly brought into view, especially in the three preceding sections. It has been asserted, or often supposed, in what has been said on faith, justification, and the covenant of grace; and some Scriptures have been mentioned, which do suppose and assert it. But it is proper that this point should be more particularly considered and explained, and the evidence of the truth of it be set in as clear and convincing light as may be.

Indeed, this doctrine is so connected with the other doctrines which have been advanced in the foregoing parts of this system, and so implied in them, or follows from them, as a natural and undeniable consequence, that they who understand and believe them will not hesitate about the truth of this.. They only are disposed to deny, or doubt of the truth of this doctrine, and do not see the evidence of it in divine revelation, who do not believe man to be naturally so totally corrupt, and so absolutely dependent on God for a new heart, and every degree of holiness, and for salvation, and that all this so wholly depends on the decree and will of God, as has been represented above; but imagine that the salvation of men depends on their free will and conduct, independent of God, in such a manner and measure, that they turn the scale in favor of their salvation, and not God, by any powerful influence of his, which shall determine whether they shall be saved or not. And therefore, if they do now believe, and are in favor with God, it wholly depends on themselves, and not on any particular determining influence of Heaven, whether they shall persevere or not in faith and holiness to the end of life; consequently, there is no security against their falling away and perishing. Therefore, if the doctrines which have been advanced in this system have been proved to be contained in the Holy Scriptures, and, consequently, that the scheme just mentioned is erroneous and unscriptural, the doctrine now under consideration will be admitted, of course, without any dispute. In order to explain this doctrine, and remove or obviate mistakes and misrepresentations respecting it, and state the evidence of the truth of it, the following observations must be made: