fin, and made fervants of righteousness? He tells it was by that doctrine. Yet the bare outward revelation, and their hearing and having a notion of that doctrine, as they had of other doctrines they heard, was not fufficient unto this: "Ye "have obeyed," fays he, "from the heart, that mould of "doctrine into which ye were caft; and fo being freed from "the service of fin, they became fervants of righteoufnefs." That bleffed doctrine was as a mould unto their hearts, into which they being caft, and new framed, became answerable unto it; and fo were freed from the yoke of fin, and fitted unto the service of righteousness. Thus the Apoftle expreffes the work of regeneration, and our union with Chrift, by means of the doctrine of juftification by the free grace of God, "through the redemption that is in Chrift's blood." And fo he shows the influence that this doctrine has upon our fanctification; as he does further, Rom. vii. 4. 5. 6. And by this we may fee what it is to be "of the truth."

1. To be of this truth, is to be, as it were, caft into it as in a mould, and framed according to it: "That form of "doctrine whereinto ye were delivered."

This truth is not at all of us. For as it is none of thofe principles which are commonly called natural to us, fo we do not receive it as we do conclufions that we draw from or by those principles; nor do we admit it on the account of its a greeableness unto thofe principles of ours. It is altogether foreign to us naturally; and yet it is a truth that must be a moft powerfully practical principle in us to make us live a new life, unto which all the principles we had before, how foever improved by us, could never influence us. And therefore it must be as deeply rooted in our minds as any of our principles, and have fuch poffeffion in our fouls, as to master all those corrupt principles that have taken fuch feat in the minds of all mankind, as to overpower all the right dictates of the natural confcience, and, in spite of them, to influence mankind into a life of fin. Now, it is evident, we cannot bring home this truth to dwell after this manner in our souls.

On the contrary, when a finner begins to be convinced of his fin, and of the judgment of God against him, and is roused to hearken to the dictates of his confcience, he labours to answer those dictates; and fo goes about to make amends for his fin himself, and to establish a righteousness of his own. But the farther he goes on in this way, as he firengthens fin the more, Rom. vii. 5. 9. fo he fortifies himfelf the more against the entrance of this truth into his foul;

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efpecially if he imagines himself any wife fuccefsful in his attempts after righteousness upon natural principles. And if the natural confcience be thoroughly awakened, it will influence the finner, after all his attempts to fatisfy it, unto defpair. For it knows nothing of the imputed righteousness, and can take no fatisfaction in it, till this truth take poffeffion of the foul and it requires as much to fatisfy the duly a wakened confcience as to fatisfy the justice of God.

It is also manifeft in them who know these things in their experience, that as there is a great enmity in the heart of man against God, fo this enmity fhows itself especially against this truth; because therein is made the most glorious discovery of God, and because it is that which effectually brings us near him, and conforms us to him.

And fuch is the pride of man's heart, and so much does this truth ftain the pride of his glorying, that the mind and heart of man will by no means fubmit to it, but rather be engaged in the hardest labour for self-righteousness or despair, and give up with all hopes of eternal life, than submit to, and take reft in the righteousness which this truth brings unto us. So it cannot be of us to receive this truth to bear fway in our fouls; and it is no wonder that there have been fo many lub. tile reafonings against it, so many perplexing disputes about it, and fo many forts of oppofition made unto it, fince it has been published and profeffed in the world.

This truth comes into our minds and hearts from above, by divine teaching, and it is "ingrafted in our minds," Jam.i.

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Not growing naturally in them, but brought from elfewhere, and ingrafted, that we may bring forth a new kind of fruit, according to the nature of the graft, and not according to the nature of the ftock into which it is grafted. It is as the feed whereby we are 66 begotten of God unto a new life." Jam. i. 18. "Of his own will," not of ours, begat he us

with the word of truth." It is that feed of which we are

born again: Pet. i, 22.-25. 1 Pet. i, 22.-25. "Seeing ye have purified "your fouls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto "unfeigned love of the brethren; love one another with a "pure heart fervently being born again, not of corruptible "feed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which "liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grafs, and "all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grafs "withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away but the "word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word which by the gofpel is preached unto you."

They

They in whofe minds and hearts this truth is ingrafted, and who are begotten and born again of this incorruptible feed, are "of the truth;" and these are they whofe fouls are caft into the mould of the gofpel-revelation of righteousness in Chrift, "delivered for our offences, and raised again for our "justification.”

This is that regeneration, that new birth, wherein we are united to Chrift as members of his body, and wherein our whole conformity to him takes its beginning. So far are we conformed to God's image in Chrift, and subjected unto him, as this truth takes place in us, and not a whit farther.

We may likewife notice, that to be of this truth, is the fame as to be of faith, Gal. iii. which is opposed to being of the works of the law.

2. To be of this truth is to believe it. They that are delivered into that form of doctrine, do obey it. And the way that we obey a truth teftified unto, is by believing it upon the authority of the teftifier. In believing this doctrine, there is a subjection of the mind unto the authority of God in his tefti. mony, which is in this doctrine. Thus we are faid to obey that form of doctrine into which we are delivered. And this perfuafion of this truth, upon the evidence of the divine teftimony in it, is indeed that faith whereby we are juftified, and eternally faved. And this is that which the fcripture seems mainly to intend, when it fpeaks of faith, and calls us to believe. See Theff. ii. 13. 1 John v. 9. 10. John iv. 42. John iii. 33. John vi. 68. 69. This is that faith" which is "the evidence of things not feen, the fubftance of things ho"ped for," Heb. xi. 1. This perfuafion of the truth is, 1. That faith whereby we are justified, and which has the promife of blessednefs: Matth. xvi. 16. 17. "Simon Peter an"fwered and faid, Thou art Chrift, the Son of the living "God. And Jefus answered and faid unto him, Blessed art "thou Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed "it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Rom. x. 6. 8. 9. 10. "But the righteoufnefs which is of faith, speaketh "on this wife: The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and "in thy heart; that is the word of faith which we preach, "That if thou fhalt confefs with thy mouth the Lord Jefus, " and shalt believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him "from the dead, thou fhalt be faved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth con"feffion is made unto falvation." We may take notice, that the heart is not here oppofed unto the mind, as is commonly thought,

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thought, but unto the mouth. 2. This is that faith whereby a troubled confcience comes firft to true peace and quiet : Pfal. cxxx. 4. "But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou "mayft be feared." 3. This is that faith which is the prime fruit and evidence of the new birth, and whereby God dwelleth in us, and we in him: 1 John v. 1. "Whofoever belie "veth that Jefus is the Chrift, is born of God." I John iv. "Whosoever shall confefs that Jefus is the Son of God, "God dwelleth in him, and he in God." 4. And this is that faith that overcomes the world, and is our victory over the world, and all the lufts and temptations of it: John v. 4.5. "For whatfoever is born of God, overcometh the world: "and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our "faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that "believeth that Jefus is the Son of God? This is he "that came by water and blood;- and it is the Spirit that "beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth."

Thus the fcripture-notion of faith agrees with the common notion of faith and belief among men, a perfuafion of a thing upon teftimony. But that faith whereby we believe the gofpel, has been very much darkened, by the many things that have been faid in the defcription of it; while that which is moft properly faith, has been either shut up in a narrow and dark corner of the defcription, or almoft excluded from it, as a thing prefuppofed unto faith, and not that very faith itself whereby we are juftified and faved. And fome have fo defined faith, as to take in into its own nature the whole of gofpel-obedience. Agreeably to this, we have heard in fermons, that it has two hands, one to receive Christ, and an other to give our felves away to him. And when we are preffed and exhorted to believe in Chrift, it is as if we were urged to put forth fome we do not know what act of the will, or to give forth fomething towards Chrift by God's help, by which we are to be faved, on account of the connection made in the promise betwixt falvation, and that deed, whatever it be, which is called faith. By this means the hearers of the golpel are fet on to feek to do that deed, that work, called faith, to fave them, and intitle them to eternal life. And fe rious fouls are perplexed with many fruitlefs inquiries in themselves, whether they have this thing called faith; while that which lies at the bottom of moft part of their doubts, is either the weakness or the want of the perfuafion of this truth, and their taking no notice of it, because it is not much noticed in the accounts of faith that are made to them. And

it is foolishly reckoned by many, that the belief of the truth is a common thing, and that it is no great matter to attain unto it; though the Apostle hath faid, "God hath from the "beginning chofen you to falvation, through fanctification "of the Spirit, and belief of the truth," 2 Theff. ii. 1 3. This glorious truth, containing in it "Chrift the end of the "law for righteoufnefs unto every one that believe it," is able to give reft to the weary foul, to make a blessed calm in the most troubled confcience, and to raise up the most defperate finner unto a lively hope. All this influence it hath upon them that believe, and in their believing of it. Therefore, while this is not attended to, it is a vain thing to labour after the affurance of hope: for where faith in this truth is not in exercise, neither the thing hoped for, nor the true ground of hope, can be difcerned; "faith being the substance "of things hoped for, the evidence of things not feen." It is impoffible to have a "lively hope through the refurrection "of Chrift," without a lively faith in him, " delivered for " our offences, and raised again for our juftification." There fore they begin at the wrong end, that prefs after the affurance of hope, without laying the foundation of the assurance of faith.

But what is this affurance, this anpopopia, of faith? There are mistakes about this. For fome, perhaps, finding all their endeavours after the affurance of hope, without the lively faith of this great truth of the gofpel, altogether fruitless; and being at length brought to clear and fure belief of this truth, and finding their confciences quieted, the disposition of their hearts changed, by the influence of this truth, and hope arifing in their fouls; they have imagined, that all this flowed at firft from an affurance of Chrift's being made fully theirs, and a certainty of their own falvation by him and fo they have made that the nature of faith. Whereas these fruits take their first rise from the truth believed; and not from a perfuafion of our intereft in it, and of the abfolute certainty of our falvation; which is the affurance of hope, and muft arise from faith with the fruits of it, Heb. vi. 11. Therefore we find the faints in the New Teftament, when profeffing their affurance of hope, always fpeaking therewith of their faith, and the fruits of it. See 1 John iii. 23. 24.

The affurance of faith can be the affurance of no other thing but what is propofed in the gospel unto all the hearers of it, to be believed by them, upon hearing it, unto their falvation. But it is evident it is not revealed unto every go

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