has the internal call; fo he that truly complies with the external propofal of God's covenant, as vifible Chriftians profefs to do, does indeed perform the inward condition of it. But the New Teftament affords no more foundation for fuppofing two real and properly diftinct cove nants of grace, than it does to fuppofe two forts of real Christians; the unfcripturalnefs of which latter hypothefis I obferved before.

When those persons who were baptized in infancy do properly own their baptifmal covenant, the meaning of it is, that they now, being become capable to act for themfelves, do profeffedly and explicitly make their parents act, in giving them up to God, their own, by exprefsly giving themselves up to God. But this no perfon can do, without either being deceived, or diffembling and profeffing what he himfelf fuppofes to be a falfehood, unless he supposes that he in his heart confents to be God's. A child of Chriftian parents never does that for himself which his parents did for him in infancy, till he gives himself wholly to God. But furely he does not do it, who not only keeps back a part, but the chief part, his heart and foul. He that keeps back his heart, does in effect keep back all; and therefore, if he be fenfible of it, is guilty of folemn wilful mockery, if he at the fame time folemnly and publicly profeffes that he gives himself up to God. If there are any words used by fuch, which in their proper fignification imply that they give themselves up to God; and if these words, as they intend them to be understood, and as they are understood by those that hear them, according to their established use and cuftom among that people, do not imply, that they do it really, but do truly referve or keep back the chief part; it ceafes to be a profeffion of giving themselves up to God, and so ceases to be a profeffed covenanting with God, or owning God's covenant; for the thing which they profefs, belongs to no covenant of God, in being; for God has revealed no fuch covenant, nor has any fuch covenant of God any existence, in which our transacting of the covenant is a

giving up ourfelves to him with referve, or holding back a part, especially holding back our fouls, our chief part, and in effect our all. There is no covenant of God at all, that has thefe for its terms; to be fure, this is not the covenant of grace. And therefore although fuch public and folemn profeffing may be a very unwarrantable and great abufe of words, and taking God's name in vain, it is no profeffed covenanting with God.

One thing, as has been obferved, that belonged to Ifrael's fwearing into the name of the Lord, was faying, The Lord liveth; whereby they profeffed their faith in God's all-fufficiency, immutability, and faithfulnefs. But if they really had fuch a faith, it was a faving grace. They who indeed truft in the all-fufficiency of God, he will furely be their all-fufficient portion; and they who truft in God's immutability and faithfulness, he furely will never leave nor. forfake them. There were two ways of fwearing Jehovah liveth, that we read of in Scripture; one we read of, Jer. ii. 2. "Thou fhalt fwear, "The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righ"teousness:" And the other way is fwearing falfly, which we read of in the next chapter, ver. 2, 3.

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though they fay, The Lord liveth, yet furely they fwear falfly." (And certainly none ought to do this.) It follows, "O Lord, are not thine eyes upon "the truth?" i. e. God defires fincerity of heart in thofe that profess religion. Here a gracious fincerity is oppofed to a falfe profeffion; for when it is faid, "Ó "Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?" the expreffion is parallel with thofe, Pfal. li. 6. " Behold thou defireft the truth in the inward parts." I Sam. xvi. 7. "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but "the Lord looketh on the heart." Pfal. xi. 7. His "countenance doth behold the upright." But these texts fpeak of a gracious fincerity. Thofe fpoken of, Jer. iv. 2. that "fware, The Lord liveth, in truth, in "judgment, and righteoufnefs," were gracious perfons, who had a thorough converfion to God, as appears by the preceding verfe," If thou wilt return, O Ifrael,

"faith the Lord, return unto me;" i. e. Do not do as you or Judah was charged with doing in the foregoing chapter, ver. 10. "Judah hath not turned unto me "with her whole heart, but feignedly." Do not do thus, "but if thou wilt return, return unto me." And then it is added in the fecond verfe," And thou fhalt "fwear, The Lord liveth, in truth," &c.; that is, then your profeffion of religion will be worth regarding, you will be indeed what you pretend to be, you will be Ifraelites indeed, in whofe profeffion is no guile. They who faid, "The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, "and in righteoufnefs;" they faid, The Lord liveth, as David did, Pfal. xviii. 46. "The Lord liveth, and bless"ed be my Rock." And did as the Apoftle fays he did, 1 Tim. iv. 10. "We trust in the LIVING GOD, "who is the Saviour of all men, fpecially of those that "believe." And as he would have Timothy exhort rich men to do, chap. vi. 17. “ That they trust not in " uncertain riches, but in the LIVING GOD." When the Apoftle speaks of a profeffion of our faith in Chrift, as one duty which all Chriftians ought to perform as they feek falvation, it is the profeffion of a faving faith that he speaks of: His words plainly imply it: "If "thou fhalt confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, "and fhalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised "him from the dead, thou shalt be faved." The faith which was to be profeffed with the mouth, was the fame which the Apoftle speaks of as in the heart, but that is faving faith. The latter is yet plainer in the following words; "for with the heart man believeth "unto righteoufnefs, and with the mouth confeffion is "made unto falvation." Believing unto righteoufnefs, is faving faith; but it is evidently the fame faith which is fpoken of, as profeffed with the mouth, in the next words in the fame sentence. And that the Gentiles, in profeffing the Chriftian religion, or fwearing to Chrift, fhould profefs faving faith, is implied, Ifa. xlv. 23, 24. Every tongue fhall fwear; furely fhall one "fay, In the Lord have I righteoufnefs and ftrength;"

i. e. fhould profefs entirely to depend on Christ's righteoufnefs and ftrength.

For perfons merely to promife, that they will believe in Chrift, or that they will hereafter comply with the conditions and duties of the covenant of grace, is not to own that covenant. Such perfons do not profess now to enter into the covenant of grace with Chrift, or into the relation of that covenant to Chrift. All that they do at prefent, is only a fpeaking fair; they fay, they will do it hereafter; they profefs, that they will hereafter obey that command of God, to believe on the name of his Son Jefus Chrift. But what is such a profeffion good for, and what credit is to be given to fuch promifes of future obedience; when at the fame time they pretend no other at prefent, than to live and continue in rebellion against those great commands which give no allowance or licence for delay? They who do thus, inftead of properly owning the covenant, do rather for the prefent vifibly reject it. It is not unufual, in fome churches, where the doctrine I oppofe has been established, for persons at the fame time that they come into the church, and pretend to own the covenant, freely to declare to their neighbours, they have no imagination that they have any true faith in Chrift, or love to him. Such perfons, inftead of being profeffedly united to Christ, in the union of the covenant of grace, are ra ther visibly destitute of the love of Christ; and fo, inftead of being qualified for admiffion to the Lord's fupper, are rather expofed to that denunciation of the Apoftle, 1 Cor. xvi. 22. "If any man love not the "Lord Jefus Chrift, let him be Anathema, Maran"atha.'

That outward covenanting, which is agreeable to Scripture-inflitution, is not only a promifing what is future (though that is not excluded), but a profeffing what is prefent, as it is in the marriage-covenant. (Though indeed it is true, that it was chiefly on account of the promise or vow which there is in the covenant, that it is called fwearing). For a woman to pro

mise, that she will hereafter renounce all other men for the fake of him who makes fuit to her, and will in fome future time accept of him for her husband, is not for her now to enter into the marriage-covenant with him : She that does this with a man, profeffes now to accept of him, renouncing all others; though promifes of hereafter behaving towards him as a wife, are alfo included in the tranfaction. It feems as though the primitive converts to Christianity, in the profeffion they made of religion, in order to their admiffion into the Christian church, and in their vifibly entering into covenant, in order to the initiating feal of the covenant in baptifm, did not explicitly make any promifes of any thing future, they only profeffed the prefent fentiments and habit of their minds, they profeffed that they believed in Chrift, and so were admitted into the church by baptism; and yet undoubtedly they were, according to forementioned prophecies, admitted in the way of public covenanting, and as the covenant-people of God they owned the covenant, before the feal of the covenant was applied. Their profeffing faith in Chrift was vifibly owning the covenant of grace, because faith in Christ was the grand condition of that covenant. Indeed, if the faith which they profeffed in order to baptifm, was only an historical or doctrinal faith (as fome fuppofe), or any common faith, it would not have been any vifible entering into the covenant of grace; for a common faith is not the condition of that covenant; nor would there properly have been any covenanting in the cafe. If we fuppofe, the faith they profeffed was the grace by which the foul is united to Chrift, their profeflion was a covenanting in this refpect alfo, that it implied an engagement of fu ture obedience; for true faith in Chrift includes in its nature an acceptance of him as our Lord and King, and devoting ourselves to his fervice: But a profeffion of hiftorical faith implies no profeffion of accepting Chrift as our King, nor engagement to fubmit to him as fuch.

When the Ifraelites publicly covenanted with God, according to the inftitution in Deuteronomy, they did