Paul's epiftles, it follows therefore, either that there was no gofpel in the world, before the gofpel which was hid from ages, and made manifeft in St. Paul's days to God's faints, when this mystery, Chrift in them the hope of glory, was revealed to them by the Holy Ghost: Or, [which to me appears an indubitable truth] That the evangelical difpenfation of Adam and Noah was bright; that of Abraham and Mofes brighter; that of initial christianity, or of John the Baptift explicitly fetting forth the Lamb of God that taketh away the fins of the world, brighter ftill; and that of perfect Chriftianity, [or of Christ revealed in us by the power of the Holy Ghost] the brightest of all.

A rational and feriptural view of St. Paul's meaning in the ninth chapter of the Epifle to the Romans-Some of the deepeft paffages of that chapter are thrown into the Scripture-fcales, and by being weighed with parallel texts, appear to have nothing to do with free-wrath, and calviniftic reprobation.-A folution of the difficulty arifing from confounding the Veffels, or persons, whom God's diftinguishing grace makes comparatively TO DISHONOUR, with thofe veffels or perfons, who pofitively make themselves VESSELS OF WRATH, and upon whom, as fuch, God judicially pours his deferved

WRATH.

F Zelotes finds himself preffed by the weights of my fecond Scale, he will probably try to fcreen his doctrines of grace" by retreating with them behind the ixth Chap. of the Epistle to the Romans. But I am before hand with him and appealing to that chapter, I beg leave to fhow, that the paffages in it, which at first fight feem to favour the doctrine of FREE-WRATH, are fubvertive of it, when they are

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candidly

candidly explained according to the context, and the reft of the Scriptures. Five couple of leading propofitions open the section.

2. TO INSINUATE that God, out of mere distin guishing WRATH, fixes the curfe of abfolute re

I. 1. TO DENY that God out of mere distinguishing grace, may and does grant church-bleffings, or the bleffings of the cove-jection upon a number of nant of peculiarity, to fome men, making them comparatively VESSELS To HONOUR ; and making of confequence other men comparatively VESSELS TO DISHONOUR, or veffels LESS honourable : To deny this, I fay, is to oppofe the doctrine of the difpenfations, and to rob God of aGRACIOUS fovereignty, which he justly claims.

II. 1. GOD is too GRACIOUS unconditionally to reprobate, i. e, ordain to eternal death, any of his

creatures.

unborn men, for whom he never had any mercy, and whom he defigns to call into being only to fhow, that he can make and break VESSELS OF WRATH -to infinuate this, I say, is to attribute to God a TYRANNICAL fovereignty, which he justly abhors.

2. GOD is too HOLY and too JUST, not to reprobate his obstinately-rebellious creatures.

2. In the day of initial falvation, they, who unneceffarily do defpite to the fpirit of grace, and difbelieve, are conditional

III. 1. In the day of initial falvation they, who through grace, believe in their light, are conditionaly VESSELS OF MERCY, or GOD'S ELECT, according VESSELS OF WRATH, to one or another difpen- that FIT THEMSELVES for fation of his grace. deftruction.

IV. 1. God JUSTLY gives up to FINAL blindnefs of mind, and coмPLETE hardness of heart, them that RESOLUTELY hut their eyes, and har

den

2. PERVERSE FREEWILL in us, and not FREEWRATH in God, or NECESSITY from Adam, is the CAUSE of our avoida ble unbelief: and our per

fonal

den their hearts, TO THE END of their day of initial falvation.

V.

1. There can be fovereign, diftinguishing free-grace in a GOOD God; because goodness can beftowfree,undeferved gifts.

fonal, avoidable unbelief is the cause of our complete, perfonal reprobation both at the end of the day of grace, and in the day of judgment.

2. There can never be fovereign, diftinguishing free-wrath in a JUST God; because juftice cannot inflict free, undeserved punishments.

REASON and confcience should alone, one would think, convince us, that St. Paul, in Rom. ix. does not plead for a right in God fo to hate any of his unformed creatures, as to intend, make, and fit them for deflruction, merely to fhow his abfolute fovereignty and irresistible power. The apostle knew too well the God of love, to reprefent hiin as a mighty potter, who takes an unaccountable pleafure to form rational veffels, and to endue them with keen fenfibility, only to have the glory of abfolutely filling them, by the help of Adam, with fin and wickedness on earth, and then with fire and brimstone in hell. This is the conceit of the confiftent admirers of unconditional election and rejection, who build it chiefly upon Rom. ix. Should you afk, why they fix fo dreadful a meaning to that portion of fcripture; I anfwer, that, thro' inattention and prejudice, they overlook the two keys, which the apostle gives us to open his meaning, one of which we find in the three first, and the other, in the three last verses of that perverted chapter.

In the three firft verfes St. Paul expreffes the continual forrow, which he had in his heart, for the obstinacy of his countrymen, the Jews, who fo depended upon their national prerogatives, as Jews; their church-privileges, as children of Abraham; and their pharifaic righteoufnefs of the law, as obfervers of the Mofaic ceremonies, that they detefted the doctrine of falvation by faith in Jefus Chrift. Now, if the apostle

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bad

had believed, that God, by a wife decree of preteri tion, had irreversibly ordained them to eternal death

to illuftrate his glory by their damnation," as Calvin fays; how ridiculous would it have been in him, to forrow night and day about the execution of God's wife defign! If God from the beginning of the world had abfolutely determined to make the unbelieving Jews perfonally and abfolutely veffels of wrath, to the praife of the glory of his fovereign free-wrath; how wicked would it have been in St. Paul to begin the next chapter by faying, My heart's defire and prayer to God for unbelieving Ifrael-for the obftinate Jews is, that they might be faved? Would he not rather have meekly fubmitted to the will of God, and faid like Ely, It is the Lord: Let him do what feemeth him good? Did it become him-nay, was it not next to rebellion in him, fo paffionately to fet his heart against a decree made [as we are told] on purpose to display the abfolutenefs of divine fovereignty? And would not the Jews have retorted his own words? Who art thou, O vain man, that replieft against God, by wishing night and day the falvation of veffels of wrath of men, whom he hath abfolutely fet apart for deftruction!

"But if the apostle did not intend to establish the abfolute, perfonal preterition of the rejected Jews and their fellow-reprobates, what could he mean by that myfterious chapter?" I reply: He meant in general to vindicate God's conduct in cafting off the Jews, and adopting the Gentiles. This deserves some explanation. When St. Paul infinuated to the Jews, that they were rejected as a church and people, and that the uncircumcifed Gentiles [even as many as believed on Jefus of Nazareth] were now the chofen nationthe peculiar people and church of God, his countrymen were greatly offended: And yet, as the apofile of the GENTILES, to provoke the Jews to jealousy he was obliged peculiarly to inforce this doctrine among them. They generally gave him audience till he touched upon it. But when he waxed bold, and told them plainly that Chrift had bid him Depart from Jerufa

lem, as from an accurfed city; and had fent him far thence unto the GENTILES, they could contain themfelves no longer and lifting up their voices they faid, Away with fuch a fellow from the earth, Acts xiii, 46. xxii, 21. *

When St. Paul wrote to Rome, the metropolis of -the gentile world, where there were a great many fervs, the Holy Ghost directed him to clear up the question concerning the general election of the Gentiles, and the general rejection of the Jews: and this he did, both for the comfort of the humble, gentile believers, and for the humiliation of his proud, felf-elected countrymen; that being provoked to jealoufy, they, or at least fome of them, might with the Gentiles make their perfonal calling and election fure by believing in Christ. As the Jews were generally incenfed against - him, and he had a most difagreeable truth to write, he dips his pen in the oil of brotherly love, and begins the chapter by a most awful proteftation of his tender attachment to them, and forrowful concern for their falvation; hoping that this would foften them, and reconcile their prejudiced minds. But if he had reprefented them as ABSOLUTE reprobates, and veffels of wrath IRREVERSIBLY ordained of God to destruction, he would abfurdly have defeated his own defign, and exafperated them more than ever against his doctrine and his person. That he told them with one breath, he wifhed to be accurfed from Chrift for them, whilst with the

*It is remarkable that jewish rage first broke out against our Lord, .when he touched their great Diana --- the doctrine of their absolute election. You think, faid he, to be faved, merely because you are Abraham's children, and God's chofen, peculiar people. But I tell you of a truth, God is not fo partial to Ifrael as you fuppofe: Many widows were in Ifrael in the days of Elias but to none of them was Elias fent, but to a ZIDONIAN (heathen) widow. And many lepers were in Ifrael in the time of Elisha, yet none of them was cleanfed, fave Naaman the SYRIAN. Luke iv, 25, &c. The Jews never forgave our Lord that levelling faying: If he narrowly efcaped their fury at Nazareth, it was only to meet it encreafed feven-fold in the holy city. So fieree and implacable are the tempers, to which fome profeffors work up themselves, by drinking into unfcriptural notions of election !