God; what is called by divines a perfection of parts, although not of degrees. When we speak of the perseverance of the saints, we mean, not an uniform unsinning obedience, but the continual operation of the principles communicated to their souls, and always abiding there, by which they are certainly recovered from the sins into which they are betrayed, and are enabled, amidst all their weaknesses and imperfections, to "grow in grace." And we allow that the assurance of grace and salvation is very much interrupted by the sins, of which the best men are occasionally guilty.

As all the parts of the Calvinistic system are intimately connected with one another, so the doctrine which we are now illustrating is essentially necessary in order to our holding the two doctrines last mentioned, the perseverance of the saints, and the assurance of grace and salvation. For as it is an unquestionable fact that all men sin, unless it be admitted that sanctification is in this life incomplete, it will follow either that there are none upon earth who ever partook of the grace of God, which is to deny the existence of the church of Christ, or that those who have been sanctified repeatedly fall from a state of grace, and never can have any assurance of their final salvation. But if the doctrine of the imperfection of sanctification be admitted, there is no impossibility in holding the two others. At the same time it must be acknowledged, that the part of the Calvinistic system, which is the most liable to abuse, is the connection between these three doctrines and there is no subject upon which the ministers of the gospel are called to exercise so much caution, both in their public discourses and in their private intercourse with the people. Many are disposed to solace themselves under the consciousness of their own sins, by the recollection of those into which good men have formerly fallen, and by a confidence that, as sanctification is always imperfect, they may be amongst the number of the elect, although their lives continue to be stained with gross transgression. It is not by holding forth ideal pictures of human perfection, that this dangerous error is to be counteracted; for this is encouraging the indolence of those who entertain it, by confirming them in the belief that it is impossible for them to do what is required. It must be met by imprinting upon the minds of our hearers such important truths as the following: that the remainder of corruption which God sees meet to leave in the best, while it serves to correct the deep despair which in some constitutions accompanies religious melancholy, is to all a lesson of humility and watchfulness; that they, who, from experience of this corruption, or from the sins which it produces in others, take encouragement to persist in deliberate and wilful transgression, discover a depravity of heart which indicates that no saving change has been wrought upon their character; that the repentance, which we are called to exercise for our daily offences, implies a desire and an endeavour to abstain from sin; that those aspirations after a state where the spirits of the just shall be made perfect, which are quickened by the consciousness of our present infirmities, cannot be sincere without the most vigorous efforts to acquire the sentiments and habits which are the natural preparation for that state; that although none are in this life faultless, yet some approach much nearer to the standard

of excellence held forth in the gospel than others; and that it is the duty of all, by continued improvements in goodness, to go on to perfection.

These views, all of which are clearly warranted by Scripture, guard against the abuse which I mentioned; and that imperfect but progressive sanctification, which is the work of the Spirit, opens the true nature of Christian morality-of that evangelical perfection which all the discoveries of the gospel tend to form, and which through the grace of the gospel is accepted of God and crowned with an everlasting reward. Christian morality has its foundation laid in humility. It excludes presumption, and self-confidence, and claims of merit. It implies continual vigilance and solicitude. Yet it is a morality free from gloom and despair; because it is connected with a dependence upon that Almighty power, and a confidence in that exuberant goodness, which furnish the true remedy for the present weakness of human nature. It is a morality not exempt from blemishes; "for there is no man that sinneth not.' ." But it is a morality which extends with equal and uniform care to all the precepts of the divine law, which admits not of the deliberate continued indulgence of any sin, and which follows after perfection. Every failure administers a lesson of future circumspection; compunction for the sins that are daily repented of, and thankfulness for the grace by which they are forgiven, bind the soul more closely to the service of God; the affections are gradually purified; virtuous exertion becomes more vigorous and successful; there is a sensible approach, in passing through the state of trial, to the unsullied holiness which belongs to the state of recompense. The soul, established by a consciousness of this progress in the joy and peace of believing, cherishes the desire and the hope of being made like to God; and the whole life of a Christian upon earth corresponds to the words in which the apostle Paul has described his opinion of himself, his conduct, and his expectations. "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded." 99

• Philippians iii. 12—15.

MANY of the terms, which were introduced in the discussion of particular theological questions, have now become part of the technical language of theology; such as reconciliation, satisfaction, atonement, redemption, and others which belong to the nature of the remedy; predestination, election, reprobation, grace, and others which belong to the extent and the application of the remedy. There are other terms including a complex view of the whole subject, which could not properly be explained till we had finished the three great divisions of it. I am now to speak of several terms which are in common use amongst all Christians, although not understood by all in the same sense, because more or less meaning is annexed to them, according to the opinions entertained upon the different parts of the whole subject.

1. The dispensation of the gospel is often represented in Scripture under the notion of a kingdom; the kingdom of Christ; a kingdom given to him by the Father, in which all power is committed to him. and all nations are appointed to do him homage. Those who refuse to submit to him are his enemies, who shall illustrate his glory by the punishment which he will inflict. Those who believe in him, being relieved by his interposition from misery, are his subjects, his people, attached to their deliverer by gratitude, admiration, and a sense of duty; showing forth his praise now by their obedience to those laws which he has enacted, and by the peace and joy which, through that obedience, they attain; and destined to exhibit through all ages the triumphs of the Captain of Salvation, by the supreme felicity which they shall receive hereafter as his gift. His power is exerted in applying the remedy to this peculiar people, or in disposing their minds to embrace it, and in forming and preserving that character by which they are prepared for entering into the joy of their Lord. For this purpose he imparts to them those gifts which "he received for men when he ascended on high; he sends his Spirit into their hearts; he enables them to overcome those spiritual enemies which are often mentioned in Scripture; he makes the angels, who are also subject to him, ministering spirits to these heirs of salvation: and he renders the whole course of his providence subservient to their improvement. By all these means he keeps their souls from evil while they live upon earth; and having "destroyed him that had the power of death," he will raise their bodies from the grave, and give them a crown of life.

E

This is a picture which is presented not only in the bold figures of the ancient prophets, but also in the more temperate language of the writers of the New Testament. Many of the parts are very pleasing; and all unite with perfect consistency in forming a splendid interesting object, possessing that entire unity which arises from a continued reference to one illustrious person. Those who differ very widely in opinion as to the dignity of the person, or the purpose and the execution of his undertaking, cannot agree as to the method of filling up and colouring the several parts of this picture. But they all profess to use the same phrases, as being clearly founded in the language of Scripture; and the interpretation, by which they accommodate these phrases to their own particular systems, is easily deduced from the general principles of those systems. Hence it is sufficient for me thus briefly to notice this very extensive subject of popular and practical preaching.

2. There is a second kind of phraseology founded upon the connexion between Jesus Christ and his subjects, by which they are 1 represented sometimes as parts of a building, of which he is the corner-stone; sometimes as his branches, he being the true viue; and 15 more commonly as the members of a body, of which he is the head, deriving from him strength for the discharge of every duty, and the principles of that life which shall never end. This last figure expresses, in the most significant manner, what is called in theological language the union of believers with Christ. The bond of union is their faith in him; the effects of the union are a communication of all the fruits of his sufferings; a sense of his love; a continued influence of his Spirit; and a security derived from his resurrection and exaltation that they shall be raised and glorified with him. And thus, while this figure serves in a very high degree to magnify the completeness of the provision made by Christ for the salvation of his people, it inculcates at the same time, with striking force, a lesson of dependence upon him, and a lesson of mutual love. But as all figures are apt to be abused by the extravagance of human fancy, there are none, the abuse of which is more frequent or more dangerous than those in which the sublimity of the image serves to nourish presumption, or to encourage indolence. Accordingly the expressions in which Scripture has conveyed this figure are the passages most commonly quoted by all fanatical sects, as giving countenance to their bold imagination of an immediate intercourse with heaven. They have sometimes also been alleged in vindication of Antinomian tenets. Much caution, therefore, is necessary when this figure is used in discourses addressed to the people, that they may never lose sight of that substantial connexion which it is meant to exhibit, and that the impression of their being distinct and accountable agents may never be swallowed up in the confused apprehension of a mystical union.

3. A third kind of phraseology, not uncommon in Scripture, and from thence transferred into theological systems, is that according to which adoption, a word of the Roman law, which expressed a practice recognised in former times as legal, is applied to the superlative goodness manifested in the gospel. Some Christians consider this phrase as marking nothing more than that those religious privileges, upon account of which Israel is called in the Old Testament the son, 4 P

56*

the first born of God, are now extended to the nations or large societies of men descended from heathen ancestors, to whom the gospel is published. Others consider it as marking that imitation of the Supreme Being, of which faith in the revelation of the gospel is the principle, and by which, becoming "followers of God as dear children," we attain that moral excellence to which the gospel was designed to exalt human nature. But the greater part of Christians consider the adoption spoken of in the New Testament as including, besides both these meanings, a particular view of the change made upon the condition of all that are justified; who, although they "were enemies by wicked works," became through faith in Jesus the children of God, are received into his family, are placed under his immediate protection, are led by his counsel and his Spirit, have access to him at all times, and possess that security of obtaining eternal life, which arises from its being their inheritance as the sons of God. It is obvious that while this phrase, thus understood, presents a comprehensive and delightful view of the blessings which belong to true Christians, it may also be improved to the purpose of enforcing the discharge of their duty by the most animating and endearing considerations; and when these two uses of the phrase are properly conjoined, there is none to be found in Scripture that is more signifi

cant.

4. There is a fourth kind of phraseology, which will require a fuller illustration than I have thought it necessary to bestow upon the others. It extends through a great part of what we are accustomed to call the system; many doctrines of which, although they appear at first sight far removed from it, are found, upon examination, to derive their peculiar complexion from the ideas upon which this phraseology proceeds. It is that, according to which the terms, the new covenant, and the covenant of grace, are applied as a name for the dispensation of the gospel.

SECTION I.

THE Greek word diaŋŋ occurs often in the Septuagint, as the translation of a Hebrew word, which signifies covenant; it occurs also in the gospels and the epistles; and it is rendered in our English Bibles sometimes covenant, sometimes testament. The Greek word, according to its etymology, and according to classical use, may denote a testament, a disposition, as well as a covenant; and the gospel may be called a testament, because it is a signification of the will of our Saviour ratified by his death, and because it conveys blessings to be enjoyed after his death. These reasons for giving the dispensation of the gospel the name of a testament appeared to our translators so striking, that they have rendered diaŋn more frequently by the word testament, than by the word covenant. Yet the train of argument, where do occurs, generally appears to proceed upon its meaning a covenant; and therefore, although, when we delineate the nature of the gospel, the beautiful idea of its being a testament is not to be lost sight of, yet we are to remember that the word testament, which