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into the world to do, was to take away sin-" to save his people
"from their sins."* Was then the object of his mission unattain-
able? Was he sent into the world to undertake, a work which he
was unable to accomplish? By no means. His own testimony
proves that his power was sufficient for the work.
"All power
" is given unto me in Heaven and in earth." If then, all power
is given him, and if the very object of his mission was to save
"his people from their sins," why are not these christian sinners
saved from sin? for if they are christians indeed, they must be
Christ's people. Besides; he has promised explicitly; "All things
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
Again; "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."||

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Thus it appears that Christ's power is sufficient; and surely no one will pretend that he is unfaithful in his promises: What then? Is he deficient in goodness and love? By no means. All professing christians will readily acknowledge his goodness and love. Is he unable to discern the devices and stratagems of Satan, so as to counteract them and protect his people? Certainly not: for this would exclude the attributes of wisdom and light; and the apostle Paul declared Christ to be "the power of God, and the wisdom of "God:" and Christ himself, as before observed, testified, saying, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk "in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Here we find nothing deficient on the part of Christ; yet these sinning christians still continue to walk in darkness and live in sin, and plead the impossibility of doing otherwise; and yet they name the name of Christ, and claim the character of christians! But what title have they to this character? If the testimony of Christ be true, they cannot possibly be his followers, while they live in sin and walk in darkness.

The attribute of Divine Love is readily acknowledged by all the professors of christianity; and many, even among these sinning christians, profess to share bountifully in the love of God. But if they really possess the true love of God, which is indeed the most certain evidence that they are beloved of God, why does not this love keep them from sinning? "If ye love me, keep my com"mandments," said Jesus; and surely there can be no sin in keeping his commandments. "No good thing will God withhold from "them that walk uprightly."** Do these christians walk uprightly? or does God withhold his goodness? Surely they cannot impeach the goodness of God. If they really possess his love, they must also possess his goodness: for these are so intimately connected together, that they cannot be separated. Why then are they not

* Matt. i. 21.

T1 Cor. i, 24,

Matt. xxviii 18,

Matt. xxi. 22. ** Psa, lxxxiv, 11,

|| John xv. 7.

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delivered from sin? Can sin abide with God's love and goodness? Can righteousness have fellowship with unrighteousness? Can light have communion with darkness ?* As well might Satan dwell in a tabernacle of holiness.

The Spirit of God is holy; but sin is unholy. Hence the holiness of God is opposed to sin; therefore, wherever the Spirit of holiness operates, it must effectually exclude sin; unless where sin is more powerful than holiness; and there it must equally exclude holiness for they can never abide together in any soul. Hence we must conclude that sin has dominion over these sinning christians, being more powerful in them than the Spirit of holiness: for that which is most powerful must have the dominion. But holiness must then be excluded: for they cannot dwell together. And if the sins of these christians exclude God's holiness, they must exclude his goodness and love, yea, and his righteousness also, together with every attribute pertaining to the nature of God. If this be done, what then becomes of their christianity?

The apostle Paul, in writing to the church of Corinth, expresses himself in these words; "Know ye not that ye are the temple of 66 God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" and then adds, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for "the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Thus it appears that some of these Corinthian christians to whom Paul addressed himself, had, at least, a measure of the Spirit of God dwelling in them; and it was evidently the apostle's desire to keep them in the Spirit of God. Hence his warning; "If any man de"file the temple of God, him will God destroy." Did these chris

tians then live in sin? Certainly not while the Spirit of God dwelt in them. Why then cannot christians of the present day live without sin? Was God more partial to the primitive christians than he now is to modern christians? This would exclude his attribute of righteousness.

"What shall we say ther.? Is there unrighteousness with God?” Does he deal unjustly with his people? Does he hold out promises of reward to the faithful and upright, who are willing to bear the cross of Christ, and deny themselves of all ungodliness and every worldly lust; and, at the same time, withhold from them his power and goodness, with all the means of gaining power and victory over sin; and yet threaten destruction to the soul that defileth himself with sin? To suppose that God can deal thus with his people is, in effect, to deny, not only his attribute of righteousness, but also his power and wisdom, his goodness and love, his mercy and truth, and in short, it is to deny every thing that pertains to the holy Spirit of God.

Thus it appears that the impious and soul-destroying doctrine

* See 2 Cor. vi. 14.

† 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.

of christian-sinners, or the impossibility of living without sin, excludes every attribute of Deity, and renders Christ's mission into the world a mere nullity, and throws the responsibility of the creature's sin directly back upon the Creator. But let no man deceive himself: God is not mocked. The sinner can never escape responsibility in this way. The righteousness of God will yet be displayed before all people; and the living power of eternal truth will manifest every attribute of God to be what it really is, to the shame and confusion of sinners, and to the destruction of all their works.

Therefore, let all those christians who plead the impossibility of living without sin, faithfully examine the subject, and they will find that the deficiency is not in God, who is All-sufficient; that it is not in Christ in whom dwells the fulness of the Divine attributes; but in their own faithless hearts. They do not believe it possible to live without sin; because they have never received that power. And why have they never received it? Because they do not "ask "in prayer, believing that they shall receive;" because they do not faithfully and honestly take up a full and final cross against sin; because they do not believe in the promises of Christ; because they do not abide in Christ; and because his word does not abide in them. These are the true causes why they cannot live without sin.

"Without faith it is impossible to please God." Then what sort of christians must these be who are so destitute of faith? Sure- * ly they cannot be the faithful followers of Christ: for they do not believe it possible for any one to live without sin; therefore they content themselves with living in it; and this they find to be most agreeable to their carnal inclinations. Thus they cherish their own delusions. Tho such christians will often ascribe holiness to the Lord with their tongues, and declare his goodness in the highest strains of eloquence; yet in their practice they will deny both. Even in their prayers, they will extol to the heavens the glory of his righteousness and justice, his mercy and truth; while in their doctrines, they implicitly deny in him, the very existence of these attributes.

"Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this "seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one "that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity." Such, and such only, are known of God in the great work of salvation; and such only are sealed with the Lamb, and stand on Mount Zion. *Heb. xi. 6.

† 2 Tim. ij. 19.

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the Decrees of God, Election and Reprobation.

THE Decrees of God have, for many ages, employed the pens and tongues of many professed divines, and great controversies have been excited and maintained on this subject; but the differences of opinion still remain without producing much light to mankind, except that of discovering the darkness and ignorance of the disputants.

Many arguments have been drawn from certain passages of scripture to prove that God, by an unalterable decree, and without any respect to faith or good works, has elected a certain portion of the human race to eternal salvation, and reprobated the remainder to eternal damnation. Hence we hear much about the doctrine of election and reprobation, from those preachers and writers who build their tenets on these favorite passages. But it is to be lamented that there are so many, in this enlightened age, "who minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in "faith; desiring to be teachers; yet understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm;"* who presume to maintain doctrines so contrary to the liberal and righteous principles of the gospel, and so inconsistent with the true character of God.

As it is by Divine revelation, that the true character of God is made known to man; so a true knowledge of his decrees, as far as they relate to what he requires of man, are known only by revelation. But those decrees by which, in the beginning, God established the laws of creation, and by which the works of creation and providence are governed, tho they are beyond the reach of man, yet their existence is readily ascertained and confirmed by their visible effects. And by these effects, the rational mind may easily be led to believe, what none can deny, that God works by an unalterable plan of wisdom, which necessarily produces an unchangeable order and regularity in all his visible works. And hence we must rationally conclude that all his invisible works are under the same established laws; and that they all must and do operate with the greatest order and harmony, and in the end, will most certainly accomplish all his divine purposes in perfect wisdom and righteousness.

The decrees of God, so far as they are made manifest, either by Divine revelation, or by their visible effects in the natural world, are of two kinds. The first are those which respect "God's own established and determinate laws and purposes, whether they re late to man, or to any other part of the creation. The second are those which God has given to man, for his protection, and which are calculated and designed to prove his faithfulness and obedience.

* 1 Tim. i. 4 & 7.

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First. Those decrees which respect God's own established laws and purposes, comprehend not only the works of creation and providence, but the final event of whatever he has designed. In the works of creation, it is obvious that God has established laws which are unalterable, except by the same Almighty Power which. first established them. Among these we may reckon the established order, courses and relative situation of the sun, moon and stars, together with the whole planetary system; the order and courses of the seasons, and the laws of nature by which they are governed; heat and cold, light and darkness, the powers of procreation and vegetation, the laws of gravitation, attraction and repulsion, with every thing which depends on the established laws of nature: these are known by their visible effects.

Also God's determinate purposes, relative to the operation of his divine attributes with respect to man. Among these may be mentioned the decree of his power, in creating man a moral agent, perfectly capable of exercising his moral faculties in choosing and acting according to the dictates of his own mind, in doing good or evil. Also the decree of his wisdom, in placing man in a state of probation, and giving him a fair trial, that he might prove himself in the choice of good or evil, without any influence, on either side, more than what he was fully able to resist or follow, according to his own free choice. And also the decree of his goodness, by which he determined, after the fall, to extend mercy to man, and send a Redeemer to redeem him from his fallen state, and raise him to a heavenly Paradise, of which the earthly paradise, from which he fell, was but a figure.

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Man being still endowed with the faculty of free agency, notwithstanding his fall, by which he was brought into darkness and bondage, God, who is the source of light, decreed to afford him a sufficient degree of light to see and appreciate, in some measure, the benefits to be obtained by accepting the offers of salvation, through the mediation of the Redeemer; that he might be at no loss respecting his duty and privilege, in choosing for himself, nor respecting the course of life to be pursued, in order to obtain salvation through this medium. In his holiness he decreed that man, by a life of holiness, which he might obtain by obedience, should find an entrance into the mansions of holiness; and he decreed at the same time, that "without holiness no man should see the Lord.” - In his love he also decreed, that the blessings of his love should attend the faithful and obedient. And in his righteousness and justice, he decreed a crown of righteousness, as the just reward of all who should walk in the way of righteousness and peace; and this decree necessarily excludes the disobedient from any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ.

These are the unalterable decrees of God, and all who are wil

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