Quest. LXXIX. (continued 2)

(1.) Some conclude, that they who are said to be given to Christ, are such as were appointed, by the providence of God, to be his servants in the work of the ministry. Now it is said concerning them, that they were given to Christ, to be employed by him in this service; and that all of them were kept faithful, except the son of perdition. If this be the sense of their being given to him, it does not necessarily infer their being made partakers of special grace: it is one thing to be given to Christ, to be employed in some peculiar acts of service, in which his glory is concerned; and another thing to be given to him, as being chosen and called by him, to partake of special communion with him: if Judas had been given to him in this latter sense, he would not have been a son of perdition, but would have been kept by him, as the other disciples were; but inasmuch as he was only given to Christ, that he might serve the design of his providence, in the work of the ministry, he might be lost, or appear to be a son of perdition, and yet not fall from the truth of grace.

(2.) If, by being given to Christ, we understand a being given to him, as objects of his special love, we must suppose, that all who were thus given to him, were kept by him; in which sense Judas, who is called the son of perdition, and was not kept by him, was not given to him: accordingly the particle but is not exceptive, but adversative; and it is as though he should say, All that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost; but the son of perdition is lost, I have not preserved him; for he was not the object of my special care and love; he was not given me to save, therefore he is lost. Now it is certain, that the particle but is used in this sense in many other scriptures, particularly that wherein it is said, There shall in no wise enter into it, that is, the heavenly Jerusalem, any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life, Rev. xxi. 27. q. d. ungodly men shall not enter in; but they that are written in the lamb’s book of life shall^[93]. Thus much concerning this objection, taken from particular persons, who are supposed to have fallen from grace.

Obj. 2. The next objection is taken from what the apostle Paul says concerning the church of the Jews, whom he describes as apostatized from God; and it is evident, that they are, to this day, given up to judicial blindness, and not in the least disposed to repent of that crime for which they were cast 227off by him; concerning these he says, that they once were holy; If the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches, Rom. xi. 16. and afterwards he speaks of their casting away, and some of the branches being broken off, because of unbelief, ver. 15, 17, 19, 20. Now if the whole church apostatized, we must conclude at least, that some of them were true believers, and therefore true believers may fall from the grace of God.

Answ. That the church of the Jews apostatized, and were cut off for their unbelief, is sufficiently evident: but we must distinguish between the apostacy of a professing people, such as the church of the Jews were, who first rejected God, and then were cast off by him, and the apostacy of those who were truly religious among them; the apostle himself gives us ground for this distinction, when he says, they are not all Israel which are of Israel; neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, chap. ix. 6, 7. And elsewhere he distinguishes between one who is a Jew, as being partaker of the external privileges of the covenant, which that church was under, and a person’s being a Jew, as partaking of the saving blessings thereof; as he says, He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God, Rom. ii. 28, 29. A church may lose its external privileges, and cease to have the honourable character given it; the greatest part of them may be blinded, when, at the same time the election, that is, all among them who were chosen to eternal life, obtained it, as the apostle observes, chap. xi. 7. and thereby intimates, that some who were members of that church were faithful; those were preserved from the common apostacy, being converted to the Christian faith. Their privileges, as members of a church, were lost, but they still retained their spiritual and inseparable union with Christ, which they had as believers, and not as the result of their being the natural seed of Abraham, they were made partakers of the blessings that accompany salvation; and therefore were not separated from the love of God in Christ, whilst formal professors and hypocrites, who were Abraham’s natural seed, but not his spiritual, were cast off by Christ.

Obj. 3. It is farther objected, that there are some who have the character of righteous persons, concerning whom it is supposed, that they may fall away or perish; particularly those mentioned in Ezek. xviii. 24. When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth, shall 228he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned, in the trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die: And in Heb. x. 38. it is said, The just shall live by faith; but if any man, or, as the word should be rendered, if he draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Therefore, since the righteous man may turn from his righteousness, and draw back to perdition, the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance cannot be defended.

Answ. 1. As to the former of these scriptures, we must consider the sense thereof agreeably to the context, and the scope and design of the prophet therein; he had often reproved them for those vile abominations which they were guilty of, and had denounced the threatnings of God, which should have their accomplishment in their utter ruin; particularly, he fortels the judgments that should sweep away many of them before, and others that should befal them in the captivity: this is the subject principally insisted on by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel; whereupon sometimes they were represented as disliking the doctrine, desiring that smooth things might be prophesied unto them, and the holy one of Israel might cease from before them. At other times they are represented as complaining of the hardship of this dispensation, intimating that it was unjust and severe, and, at the same time, justifying themselves, as though they had done nothing that deserved it; but all this was to befal them for the sins of their fathers, and accordingly there was a proverbial expression often made use of by them, mentioned verse 2d of this chapter, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge; by which they did not understand that we expect to perish eternally for our fathers’ sins, in which sense it must be taken, if this objection has any force in it: now God, by the prophet, tells them that they had no reason to use this proverb, and so puts them upon looking into their past conduct, and enquiring, whether they had not been guilty of the same sins that their fathers were charged with? which, if they could exculpate themselves from, they should be delivered, and not die, that is, not fall by those judgments which either should go before, or follow the captivity; for that seems to be the sense of dying, according to the prophetic way of speaking, as we have observed elsewhere.^[94] For the understanding of this scripture we must consider, that the prophet addresses himself to the house of Israel, who are represented, ver. 25. as complaining, that the way of the Lord was not equal; or, that God’s threatnings or judgments, which were the forerunners of the captivity, were such as they had not deserved; and therefore he tells them that he would deal with them according to their deserts, ver. 24. When the righteous, 229that is, one whose conversation before this seemed to be unblemished, and he not guilty of those enormous crimes which were committed by others (which may be supposed, and yet the person not be in a state of grace) I say, when such an one turneth away from his righteousness, and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth, that is, becomes openly vile and profligate; shall he live? can he expect any thing else but that God should follow him with exemplary judgments, or that he should be involved in the common destruction? In his sin that he hath sinned shall he die. And on the other hand, ver. 27. When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness; that is, they who have been guilty of these abominations shall reform their lives, or turn from their idolatry, murders, adulteries, oppressions, and other vile crimes, that the people in general were charged with, by the prophet, which are assigned as the reason of God’s sending this dreadful judgment of the captivity; I say, if there be such an instance of reformation, he shall save his soul alive; that is, either he shall be delivered from the captivity, or shall be preserved from those temporal judgments that either went before or followed after it. This reformation, and deliverance from these judgments, includes in it something less than saving grace, and a right to eternal life, which is inseparably connected with it, so that if nothing else be intended by the righteous and wicked man; and if the judgments threatened, or their deliverance from them, in case of reformation, includes no more than this, it is evident, that it does not in the least suppose, that any true believer shall apostatize or fall from a state of grace. As we may distinguish between eternal death and temporal judgments; so we must distinguish between a person’s abstaining from the vilest abominations, as a means to escape these judgments; and his exercising those graces that accompany salvation. There may be an external reformation in those who have no special grace, if nothing farther be regarded than a person’s moral character, or inoffensive behaviour in the eye of the world. If we only consider him as abstaining from those sins which are universally reckoned disreputable among those who make any pretensions to religion, and in this respect he be denominated a righteous man, such an one may turn away from his righteousness and become immoral and profligate, and so be reckoned among the number of apostates: nevertheless he cannot be said to apostatize or fall from the grace of God, since moral virtue or the exercise of righteousness in our dealings with men is as much inferior to saving grace, as a form of godliness is to the power thereof.

2. As to the other scripture, mentioned in the objection, it is generally urged against us as an unanswerable argument, taken 230from the express words thereof, to prove the possibility of the saints’ apostacy; and our translation is charged with a wilful mistake, to serve a turn, and make the text speak what it never intended, since all who understand the original must allow that it ought to be rendered, If he draw back, which supposes that the just man may apostatize, or draw back unto perdition. To which it may be replied,

(1.) That though the words, according to the form in which they are laid down, contain a supposition, it does not infer the being or reality of the thing supposed^[95]; but only this, that if such a thing should happen, it would be attended with what is laid down as a consequence thereof. This is very agreeable to our common mode of speaking, as when we say; if a virtuous person should commit a capital crime, he will fall under the lash of the law as much as though he had made no pretensions to virtue; nevertheless, it does not follow from hence, that such an one shall do it, or expose himself to this punishment; or, on the other hand, if a king should say to a criminal, as Solomon did to Adonijah, ‘If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth,’ it cannot be concluded from hence, that he will behave himself so as that his life shall be secured to him. The proposition is true, as there is a just connexion between the supposition and the consequence; yet this does not argue that the thing supposed shall come to pass. Now to apply this to the scripture, under our present consideration; the proposition is doubtless true, that if the just man should draw back, so as to become a wicked man, if he should lose the principle of grace which was implanted in regeneration, and abandon himself to the greatest impieties, he would as certainly perish as though he had never experienced the grace of God; but it must not be inferred from hence, that God will suffer such an one, who is the object both of his love and care, thus to fall and perish, so that his soul should have no pleasure in him.

(2.) If we suppose the person here spoken of, whom we consider as a true believer, to draw back, we may distinguish between backsliding or turning aside from God, by the commission of very great sins; and apostacy. Or between drawing back, by being guilty of great crimes, so as to expose himself to sore judgments; and his drawing back to perdition. The just man in this text, is said, indeed, to draw back, but he is distinguished from one that draws back to perdition; as it is said in the following verse, ‘We are not of them who draw back to perdition, but of them that believe, to the saving of the soul.’ Such a drawing back as this, though it shall not end in perdition, inasmuch as the person shall be recovered and 231brought to repentance; yet it shall be attended with very great marks of God’s displeasure against believers, for those sins which they have committed, as well as others; accordingly, his soul having no pleasure in them, denotes that he would, in various instances, reveal his wrath against relapsing believers, as a display of his holiness, who shall nevertheless be recovered and saved at last. If these things be duly considered, the objection seems to have no weight in it, though it should be allowed, that the words upon which it is principally founded, are not rightly translated.

However, I cannot see sufficient reason to set aside our translation, it being equally just to render the words, if any man draw back^[96]; since the supplying the words any man, or any one, is allowed of in many other instances, both in the Old and New Testament. Therefore there is not the least incongruity in its being supplied in the text under our present consideration^[97]; and, if it be, the sense that we give of it, will appear very agreeable to the context; accordingly the meaning is, ‘The just shall live by faith,’ or they who ‘know in themselves that they have in heaven a better and an enduring substance,’ as in one of the foregoing verses: These shall live by faith, but as for others who do not live by faith, having only a form or shew of religion, ‘whose manner is to forsake the assembling of themselves together,’ as in verse 25. these are inclined to draw back; therefore, let them know that if any one, or whosoever draws back, it will be at their peril; for it will be to their own perdition; yet saith the apostle, that true believers may not be discouraged by the apostacy of others, let them take notice of what is said in the following words, ‘We are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them 232that believe, to the saving of the soul.’ These things being duly considered, it will be sufficiently evident that this text does not militate against the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance.

Obj. 4. There is another objection brought against the doctrine we have been endeavouring to maintain, taken from what the apostle says in Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6. ‘It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.’ The force of this objection lies in two things, viz. that they are described as total and final apostates; and also, that according to the account we have of their former conversation, they appear then to have been true believers.

Answ. This is thought, by some, who defend the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance, to be one of the most difficult objections that we generally meet with against it; especially they who cannot see how it is possible for a person to make such advances towards true godliness, and yet be no other than an hypocrite or formal professor, are obliged to take a method to set aside the force of the objection, which I cannot give into, namely, that when the apostle says, It is impossible that such should be renewed again to repentance; the word impossible denotes nothing else, but that the thing is exceeding difficult, not that they shall eventually perish; because they are supposed to be true believers; but their recovery after such a notorious instance of backsliding, shall be attended with difficulties so great that nothing can surmount, but the extraordinary power of God; and though he will recover them, yet they shall feel the smart thereof as long as they live; they shall be saved, yet so as by fire^[98].

233But notwithstanding the word impossible may be sometimes taken for that which is very difficult, I cannot but conclude that the apostle is here speaking of that which is impossible, with respect to the event, and therefore, that he is giving the character of apostates who shall never be recovered. This appears, not only from the heinousness of the crime, as they are said to crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame; but from what is mentioned in the following verses, in which they are compared to the earth that bringeth forth thorns and briars, which is rejected, and nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned; and from their being distinguished from those who shall be saved, concerning whom the apostle was persuaded better things, and things that accompany salvation; therefore he is speaking here concerning a total and final apostasy.

But that this may not appear to militate against the doctrine we are maintaining, I shall endeavour to shew, that notwithstanding the character the apostle gives of the persons he here speaks of they were destitute of the truth of grace, and therefore nothing is said concerning them, but what a formal professor may attain to: That this may appear let it be considered,

1. That they are described as once enlightened; but this a person may be, and yet be destitute of saving faith. If by being enlightened we understand their having been baptized, as some critics take the word, which was afterwards, in some following ages, used in that sense, it might easily be alleged, that a person might be baptized and yet not be a true believer: But since I question whether baptism was expressed by illumination in the apostles age^[100], I would rather understand by it, their having been convinced of the truth of the gospel, or 234yielded an assent to the doctrines contained therein. Now this a person may do, and yet be destitute of saving faith, which is seated not barely in the understanding, but in the will, and therefore supposes him not only to be rightly informed, with respect to those things which are the object of faith, but to be internally and effectually called, from whence saving faith proceeds, as has been before observed.

2. They are said to have tasted the good word of God; which agrees with the character before given of those who had a temporary faith^[101], who seemed, for a while, pleased with the word, and their affections were raised in hearing it; as Herod is said to have heard John the Baptist gladly, and to have done many things; like those whom our Saviour compares to the seed sown in stony ground, which soon sprang up, but afterwards withered away. This a person may do, and yet not have saving faith; for it is one thing to approve of, and be affected with the word, and another thing to mix it with that faith which accompanies salvation. A person may entertain those doctrines contained in the word which relate to a future state of blessedness with pleasure; as all men desire to be happy, and at the same time be far from practising the duties of self-denial, taking up the cross, and following Christ, mortifying indwelling sin, and exercising an intire dependance upon, and resignation to him in all things: This contains much more than what is expressed by tasting the good word of God.

3. They are farther described as having tasted the heavenly gift, and being made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and of the powers of the world to come; all which expressions, I humbly conceive, carry in them no more than this, that they had been enabled to work miracles, or that they had a faith of miracles, which has been before described^[102], and proved to fall very short of saving faith^[103]. Therefore these characters given of them do not argue that they were true believers, and consequently the objection, which depends on the supposition that they were, is of no force to prove that saints may totally or finally fall from grace.

Obj. 5. The next objection against the doctrine we have been maintaining, is taken from Heb. x. 29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and 235hath done despite unto the spirit of grace. The crime here spoken of is of the heinous nature, and the greatest punishment is said to be inflicted for it: Now, inasmuch as these are described as having been sanctified by the blood of the covenant, it follows, that they were true believers, and consequently true believers may apostatize, and fall short of salvation.

Answ. The force of the objection lies principally in those words, the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified; which expression is taken, by divines, in two different senses.

1. Some take the word he in the same sense as it is taken in the objection, as referring to the apostate; and then the difficulty which occurs, is how such an one could be said to be sanctified by the blood of the covenant, and yet not regenerate, effectually called, or a true believer: To solve this, they suppose, that by sanctification we are only to understand a relative holiness, which such have who are made partakers of the common grace of the gospel: Thus it is said, Israel was holiness unto the Lord, Jer. ii. 3. or, as the apostle Peter expresses it, an holy nation, 1 Pet. ii. 9. as they were God’s people by an external covenant relation, and by an explicit consent to be governed by those laws which he gave them when they first became a church, Exod. xxiv. 3. and publicly avouched him to be their God, and he avouched them to be his peculiar people, which was done upon some solemn occasions, Deut. xxvi. 17, 18. Nevertheless, many of them were destitute of the special grace of sanctification, as it contains in it a thorough and universal change of heart and life. Moreover, they suppose that this privilege of being God’s people, by an external covenant-relation, together with all these common gifts and graces that attend it, was purchased by, and founded on the blood of Christ, which is called the blood of the covenant, inasmuch as he was given for a covenant of the people, Isa. xlii. 6. and pursuant hereunto, he shed his blood to procure for them the external as well as the saving blessings of the covenant of grace; the former of these, the persons here described as apostates, are supposed to have been made partakers of, as the apostle says, To them pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, Rom. ix. 4. they worshipped him in all his ordinances, as those whom the prophet speaks of, who seek him daily, and delight to know his ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God; they ask of him the ordinances of justice, and take delight in approaching to God; and yet these things were not done by faith, Isa. lviii. 2. In this respect persons may be sanctified, and yet afterwards forfeit, neglect, despise and forsake these ordinances, and lose the external privileges of the covenant of grace, which they once had, 236and so become apostates. This is the most common method used to solve the difficulty contained in the objection. But I would rather acquiesce in another way, which may be taken to account for the sense of those words, the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified. Therefore, let it be considered,

2. That the word he may be understood, not as referring to the apostate, but our Saviour, who is spoken of immediately before: thus the apostate is said to ‘trample under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant wherewith He, that is, Christ, ‘was sanctified, an unholy thing.’ That this sense may appear just, it may be observed, that Christ was sanctified or set apart by the Father, to perform all the branches of his Mediatorial office, in two respects.

(1.) As he was fore-ordained or appointed, by him, to come into the world to shed his blood for the redemption of his people: thus his undertaking to redeem them is called his sanctifying, or devoting himself to perform this work, as he says, ‘For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth,’ John xvii. 19. this he did in pursuance of the eternal transaction between the Father and him, relating hereunto. But it will be said, that this was antecedent to his dying for them; and therefore, properly speaking, he could not be said, in this respect, to be sanctified by the blood of the covenant; therefore, to this we may add,

(2.) That he was also sanctified, or set apart by the Father, to apply the work of redemption after he had purchased it; which sanctification was, in the most proper sense, the result of his shedding his blood, which was the blood of the covenant; so that as he was ‘brought again from the dead,’ as the apostle speaks, ‘through the blood of the everlasting covenant,’ Heb. xiii. 20. all the blessings which he applies to his people as the consequence hereof, are the result of his being sanctified, or set apart to carry on and perfect the work of our salvation, the foundation whereof was laid in his blood.

Moreover, that they who are here described as apostates, had not before this, the grace of faith, is evident from the context, inasmuch as they are distinguished from true believers. The apostle seems to speak of two sorts of persons, to wit, some who had cast off the ordinances of God’s worship, ‘forsaking the assembling of themselves together,’ who are distinguished from those whom he dehorts from this sin, who had the grace of faith, whereby they were enabled to ‘draw near to God in full assurance thereof, having their hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with pure water;’ concerning these he says, ‘We are not of them who draw back to perdition, but of them who believe to the saving of the soul,’ chap. x. 39. Therefore we must conclude that 237others are intended in the text under our present consideration, who were not true believers, and consequently it does not from hence appear that such may totally, or finally, fall from a state of grace.

The apostates spoken of in this and the foregoing objection, were probably some among the Jews, to whom the gospel was preached, who embraced the Christian faith, being convinced by those miracles which were wrought for that purpose, but afterwards revolted from it, and were more inveterately set against Christ and the gospel than they had been before they made this profession; and accordingly as they had formerly approved of the crimes of those who crucified Christ, in which respect they are said to have crucified him; now they do, in the same sense, crucify him afresh. And as they had been made partakers of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost; afterwards they openly blasphemed him, and this was done with spite and malice. These texts therefore not only contain a sad instance of the apostasy of some, but prove that they were irrecoverably lost; and this comes as near the account we have in the gospels of the unpardonable sin, as any thing mentioned in scripture: nevertheless, what has been said to prove that they never were true believers, is a sufficient answer to this and the foregoing objection.

Objec. 6. Another objection against the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance, is taken from 2 Pet. ii. 20-22. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome; the latter end is worse with them than the beginning; and they are said in the following verse, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them; which is compared to the dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

Answ. To this it may be replied, That though every one must conclude, that the persons, whom the apostle here speaks of, plainly appear to be apostates; yet there is nothing in their character which argues that they apostatized, or fell from the truth of grace; and it is only such whom we are at present speaking of. It may be observed, that the apostle is so far from including these apostates in the number of those to whom he writes this, with the foregoing epistle, whom he describes as elect, according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, and as having been begotten again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance reserved for them in heaven, and as such, who should be kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, 1 Pet. i. 2-5. that he plainly distinguishes them from them. For in 238verse 1, of this chapter, from whence it is taken, it is said, ‘There shall be false teachers among you, and many shall follow their pernicious ways;’ he does not say many, who are now of your number, but many who shall be joined to the church, when these false teachers arise. These persons, indeed, are represented as making a great shew of religion, by which they gained reputation among some professors, whom they seduced which otherwise they could not have done; and therefore it is said, ‘They had escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,’ and that they had ‘known the way of righteousness.’ Such might indeed be joined to the church afterwards; but they did not now belong to it; and what is said concerning them, amounts to no more than an external visible reformation, together with their having attained the knowledge of Christ and divine things; so that they were enlightened in the doctrines of the gospel; though they made it appear, by the methods they used to deceive others, that they had not experienced the grace of the gospel themselves, and therefore they fell away from their profession, and turned aside from the faith, which once they preached. It is one thing for a formal professor, who makes a great show of religion, to turn aside from his profession, to all excess of riot; and another thing to suppose a true believer can do so, and that to such a degree as to continue therein; this the grace of God will keep him from.

Objec. 7. Another objection against the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance, is taken from the parable of the debtor and creditor, in Matt, xviii. 26, &c. in which it is said, ‘The servant fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt;’ but afterwards, upon his treating one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a very inconsiderable sum, with great severity, his lord exacted the debt of him, which he had before forgiven him, and so delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him: ‘So likewise,’ it is said, ‘shall my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye, from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses;’ from whence it is inferred, that a person may fall from a justified state, or that God may forgive sin at one time, and yet be provoked to alter his resolution, and inflict the punishment that is due to it, at another; which is altogether inconsistent with the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance in grace.

Answ. In answer to this we must observe, that our Saviour’s design in his parables, is not that every word or circumstance contained in them, should be applied to signify what it seems 239to import, but there is some truth in general intended to be illustrated thereby, which is principally to be regarded therein. Thus in the parable of the judge, in Luke xviii. 2, &c. ‘which feared not God, neither regarded man,’ who was moved, by a widow’s importunity, to ‘avenge her of her adversary;’ which after a while, he resolved to do, because the widow troubled him. This is applied to ‘God’s avenging his elect, who cry day and night unto him;’ where we must observe, that it is only in this circumstance that the parable is to be applied to them without any regard had to the injustice of the judge, or his being uneasy, by reason of the importunity which the widow exprest in pleading her cause with him.

Again, in the parable of the steward, in Luke xvi. 1, &c. who being accused for having wasted his lord’s goods; and apprehending that he should be soon turned out of the stewardship, he takes an unjust method to gain the favour of his lord’s debtors, by remitting a part of what they owed him, that by this means they might be induced to shew kindness to him when he was turned out of his service. It is said indeed, verse 8. that ‘the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had acted wisely;’ whereas, our Saviour does not design, in the account he gives of his injustice, to give the least countenance to it, as though it were to be imitated by us; nor by his lord’s commending him as acting wisely for himself, does he intend that it is lawful or commendable for wicked men to pursue the like measures to promote their future interest. But the only thing in which this parable is applied, is, that we might learn from hence, that ‘the children of this world are, in their generation wiser than the children of light;’ and that men ought to endeavour, without the least appearance of injustice, to gain the friendship of others, by using what they have in the world, in such a way, as that they may be induced, out of gratitude for those favours, which they conferred upon them, to shew respect to them; but principally, that in performing what was really their duty, they might have ground to hope that they shall be approved of God, and received into everlasting habitations.

Now to apply this rule to the parable from whence the objection is taken, we must consider, that the design hereof is not to signify that God changes his mind, as men do, by forgiving persons at one time, and afterwards condemning them, as though he did not know, when he extended this kindness to them, how they would behave towards others, or whether they would improve or forfeit this privilege; since to suppose this would be contrary to the divine perfections. Therefore the only design of the parable is to shew, that they who now conclude that God has forgiven them, ought to forgive others, or 240else they will find themselves mistaken at last: and though according to the tenor of the divine dispensations, or the revealed will of God, which is our only rule of judging concerning this matter, they think that they are in a justified state, it will appear, that the debt which they owed was not cancelled, but shall be exacted of them to the utmost, in their own persons; so that all that can be proved from hence is, that a man may fall from, or lose those seeming grounds, which we had to conclude that his sins were forgiven: but we are not to suppose that our Saviour intends hereby that God’s secret purpose, relating to the forgiveness of sin, can be changed; or that he, who is really freed from condemnation, at one time, may fall under it at another: therefore, what is said in this parable, does not in the least give countenance to this objection, or overthrow the doctrine we are maintaining.

Objec. 8. There is another objection, taken from what the apostle Paul says concerning himself, in 1 Cor. ix. 27. I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away. Now it is certain that the apostle was a true believer; yet he concludes, that if he did not behave himself so as to subdue or keep under his corrupt passions, but should commit those open scandalous crimes, which they would prompt him to, he should, in the end, become a cast-away, that is, apostatize from God, and be rejected by him.

Answ. To this it may be replied, That though the apostle had as good ground to conclude that he had experienced the grace of God in truth, as any man, and was oftentimes favoured with a full assurance hereof; yet he did not attain this assurance by immediate revelation, so as he received those doctrines which he was to impart to the church as a rule of faith; for then it would have been impossible for him to have been mistaken as to this matter: and if this be supposed, then I would understand what he says concerning his being a cast-away, as denoting what would be the consequence of his not keeping under his body; but not implying hereby that corrupt nature should so far prevail, as that he should fall from a sanctified state. Now if he did not attain this assurance by immediate revelation, then he had it in the same way as others have, by making use of those marks and characters which are given of the truth of grace; and accordingly he argues, that though, at present, he thought himself to be in a sanctified state, from the same evidences that others conclude themselves to be so; yet if corrupt nature should prevail over him, which it would do, if he did not keep his body in subjection, or if he were guilty of those vile abominations which unregenerate persons are chargeable with, then it would appear, that this assurance 241was ill grounded, his hope of salvation delusive, and he no other than an hypocrite; and so, notwithstanding his having preached to others, he would be found, in the end, among them who were false professors, and accordingly rejected of God: therefore we may observe, that it is one thing for a person to exercise that caution, and use those means to prevent sin, which, if he should commit, would prove him an hypocrite; and another thing for one that is a true believer, to be suffered to commit those sins whereby he would apostatize from God, and so miss of salvation.

And this will serve to answer another objection that is usually brought against the doctrine we are maintaining, as though it were inconsistent with that holy fear which believers ought to have of falling, as an inducement to care and watchfulness in the discharge of their duty; as it is said in Prov. xxviii. 14. Happy is the man that feareth always; inasmuch as we must distinguish between that fear of caution, which is a preservative against sin, and includes a watchfulness over our actions, that we may not dishonour God thereby; and an unbelieving fear, that though we are in a state of grace, and are enabled to exercise that diligence and circumspection that becomes christians, yet we have no foundation whereon to set our foot, or ground to hope for salvation. Or, it is one thing to fear, lest we should, by giving way to sin, dishonour God, grieve his Spirit, and wound our own consciences, and do that which is a disgrace to the gospel, through the prevalency of corrupt nature, whereby we shall have ground to conclude that we thought ourselves something when we were nothing, deceiving our own souls; and another thing to fear that we shall perish and fall, though our hearts are right with God, and we have reason to expect that we shall be kept by his power, through faith, unto salvation.

We shall conclude this answer with some few inferences from what has been said, to prove the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance as contained therein. And,

1. Since we do not pretend to assert that all who make a profession of religion are assured that they shall never apostatize, but only true believers, let unbelievers take no encouragement from hence to conclude, that it shall be well with them in the end. Many are externally called who are not really sanctified; and presume that they shall be saved, though, without ground, inasmuch as they continue in impenitency and unbelief; such have no warrant to take comfort from the doctrine we have been maintaining.

2. We may, from what has been said, observe the difference between the security of a believer’s state, as his hope is fixed on the stability of the covenant, and the promises thereof, relating 242to his salvation, together with the Spirit’s witness, with ours, concerning our own sincerity; and that which we generally call carnal security, whereby a person thinks himself safe, or that all things shall go well with him, though he make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof: This is an unwarrantable security in a state of unregeneracy, or licentiousness, which this doctrine does not in the least give countenance to.

3. From what has been said concerning the apostasy of some from that faith which they once made a profession of, we may infer; that it is only the grace of God experienced in truth, that will preserve us from turning aside from the faith of the gospel. The apostle speaks of some who, by embracing those doctrines that were subversive of the gospel, are fallen from grace, Gal. v. 4. that is, from the doctrines of grace; concerning whom he says, that Christ profited them nothing, or was become of no effect to them, chap. v. 2, 4. that is, the gospel, which contains a display of the glory of Christ, was of no saving advantage to them. All the sad instances we have of many, who are tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, and are made a prey to those that lie in wait to deceive, proceed from their being destitute of the grace of God, which would have a tendency to preserve them from turning aside from the faith of the gospel.

4. Let us be exhorted to be as diligent and watchful against the breakings forth of corruption, and endeavour to avoid all occasions of sin, as much as though perseverance in grace were to be ascribed to our own endeavours, or as though God had given us no ground to conclude that he would enable us to persevere; and yet, at the same time, depend on his assistance, without which this blessing cannot be attained, and hope in his mercy and faithfulness, and lay hold on the promises which he has given us, that it shall go well with us in the end, or that we shall have all joy and peace in believing.

5. Let us not only endeavour to persevere, but grow in grace; which two blessings are joined together; as it is said, The righteous also shall hold on his way; and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger, Job xvii. 9.

6. This doctrine has a great tendency to support and fortify believers, under the most adverse dispensations of providence, which, at any time, they are liable to; and to comfort them under all the assaults of their spiritual enemies; since though they may be suffered to discourage or give them interruption in the exercise of those graces which they have experienced, yet grace shall not be wholly extinguished. And sometimes, by the over-ruling providence of God, those things which in themselves have a tendency to weaken their faith, shall be ordered 243as a means to increase it; so that when they can do nothing in their own strength, they may be enabled, by depending on Christ, and receiving strength from him, to prevail against all the opposition they meet with, and come off more than conquerors, at last, through him that loved them, Rom. viii. 37.