as bringing forth the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby, chap. xii. 11. and we are encouraged to bear them with such a composed frame of spirit that they seem light, and not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. This, faith has constantly in view, setting one against the other; whereby that which would otherwise be an hindrance to us in our way, is improved, by us, to our spiritual advantage; and we enabled, not only to go on safely, but comfortably, till we arrive at the full fruition of what we now behold at a distance, and rejoice in the fiducial expectation thereof: which leads us to the last thing proposed to be considered, concerning faith, namely,

VII. How it is to be attained or increased, and what are the means conducive thereunto. Though faith, in common with all other graces, be wrought in us by the power of God, yet we are far from asserting, that there is no duty incumbent en us, in the performing whereof, we are to hope and wait for the divine blessing, upon which all the success thereof depends. To deny this would give just occasion to charge the doctrine of efficacious grace, as though it led to security, or licentiousness; which many do without ground. Though grace and duty are very distinct, yet they are not inconsistent with each other; the former is God's work, the latter our act.

As for those duties which are required of us, considered as expecting the divine grace and blessing to attend them; these are, a diligent waiting on God in all his ordinances; looking into the state of our souls, by impartial self-examination; calling to mind our past miscarriages, and what matter of humiliation we have for them in the sight of God, as also, our natural aversion and inability to do what is good; our need of Christ's righteousness, to take away the guilt we have contracted, and of his strength, to subdue our corruptions, and enable us to plead earnestly with him for these privileges.

As for the unregenerate, they must pray and wait on him, for the first grace, and say, with Ephraim, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, Jer. xxxi. 18. They must be earnest with him, that he would bestow upon them the grace of faith; which is styled, his gift; that he would remove every thing that is, at present, an obstacle, or hindrance to this grace, all the prejudices which corrupt nature has entertained against Christ, and the way of salvation by him; and that he would shine into their souls, to give them the knowledge of his glory in the face of Christ; reveal his arm, and incline them, by the internal working of his power, to receive the grace which is held forth in the gospel. These are duties incumbent on persons who are not called effectually, being destitute of regenerating grace.

But, on the other hand, they who have ground to conclude that they have experienced this grace, though, at present, they apprehend that their faith is weak, and on the decline; they must be found waiting on God, in his own way; and be importunate with him in prayer for the revival of his work, that so they may recover their former experiences; they must bless him for the privileges they once enjoyed, and be humbled for their past backslidings, whereby they have provoked him to withdraw from them, and say with the church, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than naw, Hos. ii. 7. and, as it says elsewhere, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips, chap. xiv. 2. They must lament the dishonour that they have brought to God; and consider how, by this means, they have grieved the Holy Spirit, wounded their own consciences, and made work for a bitter repentance and humiliation before God. They must be sensible, that it is the same hand which wrought grace in them at first, that must now recover them from their fallen state, and, by exciting the principle of grace implanted, bring them into a lively frame; and when he has done this, they must still depend upon him to maintain this frame of spirit, as considering that as the beginning so the progress of grace, is owing to him who is the author and finisher of faith; who worketh in us that which is pleasing in his sight, and carries on his own work unto perfection.

QUEST. LXXIV. What is adoption?

ANSW. Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ; whereby all those that are justified, are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, the Spirit of his Son given to them, are under his fatherly care and dispensations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow-heirs with Christ in glory.

answer we shall consider,

IN speaking to this answe in which persons are the sons of

God; and particularly, how they are so called by adoption.

II. The difference between adoption as used by men, and as it is applied in this answer to God's taking persons into this relation, as his children; from whence it will appear to be an act of his free grace.

III. We shall consider the reference the sonship of believers has to the superior and more glorious Sonship of Jesus Christ; and how it is said to be for his sake.

IV. The privileges conferred on, or reserved for them, who are the sons of God by adoption.

I. We shall consider the various senses in which persons are called the sons of God.

1. Some are called the sons of God, as they are invested with many honours or prerogatives from God, as a branch of his image: thus magistrates are called the children of the Most High, Psal. lxxxii. 6.

2. Others are called God's children, by an external federal relation, as members of the visible church; in which sense we are to understand that scripture; wherein it is said, The sons of God saw the daughters of men, &c. Gen. vi. 2. And when Moses went into Pharaoh, to demand liberty for the Israelites, he was ordered to say, Israel is my son, even my first-born, Exod. iv. 22. This privilege, though it be high and honourable, by which the church is distinguished from the world; yet it is not inseparably connected with salvation; for God says, concerning Israel, when revolting, and backsliding from him, I have nourished and brought up children; and they have rebelled against me, Isa. i. 2. and many of those who are called the children of the kingdom shall be cast into utter darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matt. viii. 12.

3. The word is sometimes taken in a more large sense, as applicable to all mankind: thus the prophet says, Have we not all one father, hath not God created us? Mal. ii. 10. And the apostle Paul, when disputing with the Athenians, speaks in their own language, and quotes a saying taken from one of their poets, which he applies to the great God, as giving to all life and breath, and all things; upon which account men are called his off-spring, Acts xvii. 25. compared with 28.

4. They are called the sons of God, who are endowed with his supernatural image, and admitted to the highest honours and privileges conferred upon creatures: thus the angels are called the sons of God, Job xxxviii. 7.

5. Our Lord Jesus Christ is called the Son of God, in a sense not applicable to any other; as his Sonship includes in it his deity, and his having, in his human nature, received a commission from the Father, to engage in the great work of our redemption, as becoming surety for us; which is the foundation of all those saving blessings which we enjoy or hope for.

6. Believers are called the sons of God, by a special adoption; which is farther to be considered, as being the subjectmatter of this answer. Adoption is a word taken from the civil law; and it was much in use among the Romans, in the apostles time, in which it was a custom for persons, who had no children of their own, and were possessed of an estate, to prevent its being divided or descending to strangers, to make

thoice of such who were agreeable to them, and beloved by them, whom they took into this political relation of children; obliging them to take their name upon them, and to pay respect to them, as though they were their natural parents; and engaging to deal with them as though they had been so; and accordingly to give them a right to their estates, as an inheritance. This new relation, founded in a mutual consent, is a bond of affection; and the privilege arising from thence is, that he who is, in this sense, a father, takes care of, and provides for the person whom he adopts, as though he 'were his son by nature; and therefore Civilians calls it an act of legitimation, imitating nature, or supplying the place of it: and this leads us to consider,

II. The difference between adoption, as used by men, and as it is applied in this answer, to God's taking persons into this relation, as his children.

1. When men adopt, or take persons into the relation of children, they do it because they are destitute of children of their own to possess their estates; and therefore they fix their love on strangers: but God was under no obligation to do this; for if he designed to manifest his glory to any creatures, the holy angels were subjects capable of receiving the displays thereof; and his own Son, who had all the perfections of the divine nature, was infinitely the object of his delight, and, in all respects, fitted to be as he is styled, Heir of all things, Heb. i. 2.

2. When men adopt, they are generally inclined to do it by seeing some excellency or amiableness in the persons whom they fix their love upon. Thus Pharaoh's daughter took up Moses, and nourished him for her own son, because he was exceeding fair, Acts vii. 20, 21. or, it may be, she was moved hereunto, by a natural compassion she had for him, besides the motive of his beauty; as it is said, The babe wept, and she had compassion on him, Exod. ii. 6. And Mordecai adopted Esther, or took her for his own daughter; for she was his uncle's daughter, and was fair and beautiful, and an orphan, having neither father nor mother, Esther ii. 7. But when God takes any into this relation of children, they have no beauty or comeliness, and might justly have been for ever the objects of his abhorrance. Thus he says concerning the church of Israel, when he first took them into this relation to him, None eye pitied thee, but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person: and when I passed by thee and saw thee polbuted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live, &c. Ezek. xvi. 5. It might indeed be said concerning man, when admitted to this favour and privilege, that he was miserable; but misery, how much soever it may renVOL. IIL

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der the soul an object of pity, it could not, properly speaking, be said to be a motive or inducement from whence the divine compassion took its first rise, as appears from the account we have of the mercy of God, as founded only on his sovereign will or pleasure; as he says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion, Rom. ix. 15. and also, from the consideration of man's being exposed to misery by sin, which rendered him rather an object of vindictive justice than mercy. This therefore cannot be the ground of God's giving him a right to an inheritance; and consequently adoption is truly said, in this answer, to be an act of the free grace of God.

3. When men adopt, their taking persons into the relation of children, is not necessarily attended with any change of disposition or temper in the persons adopted. A person may be admitted to this privilege, and yet remain the same, in that respect, as he was before: but when God takes his people into the relation of children, he gives them, not only those other privileges which arise from thence, but also that temper and disposition that becomes those who are thus related to him. This leads us to consider,

III. The reference which the sonship of believers has to the superior and more glorious Sonship of Jesus Christ; and how it is said to be for his sake. Here we must suppose that there is a sense in which Christ is said to be the Son of God, as the result of the divine decree, which contains in it an idea very distinct from his being a divine person; for that was not the result of the will of the Father; whereas it is said concerning him, I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, Psal. ii. 7. And elsewhere, he hath, by inheritance, obtained a more excellent name than the angels; and this is the consequence of God's saying to him, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee: and, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son, Heb. i. 4, 5. which plainly refers to Christ as Mediator. Now when we consider this mediatorial Sonship of Christ, if I may so express it, we are far from asserting, that Christ's Sonship, and that of believers, is of the same kind; for, as much as he exceeds them as Mediator, as to the glory of his person and office, so much is his Sonship superior to theirs. This being premised, we may better understand the reference which the sonship of believers has to Christ's being the Son of God as Mediator; and there. fore let it be farther considered,*

1. That it is a prerogative and glory of Christ, as the Son of God, that he has all things which relate to the salvation of his elect, put into his hand; and therefore, whatever the saints enjoy or hope for, which is sometimes called in scripture their

Vide Vol. I. page 279, in note.