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(2.) The servants had all the same master. Luke xix, 13, they are all represented as receiving "one pound" each, to "occupy," or trade till their master came. He that did not improve his pound, or talent, is called "wicked" on that account. Now the non-improvement of a natural talent, suppose for poetry or husbandry, can never constitute a man" wicked;" nothing can do this but the non-improvement of a talent of grace. (3.) We have as much reason to affirm that the oil of the virgins, mentioned in the beginning of the chapter, and the good works of the godly, mentioned at the end of it, were "not of a gracious nature," as to assert it of the improvement of the pound, which constituted some of the servants "good and faithful." (4.) It is absurd to suppose that Christ will ever take some men into his joy, and will command others to be cast into outer darkness, for improving or not improving the natural talent of speaking, writing, or singing in a masterly manner. (5.) The description of the day of judgment, that closes the chapter, is a key to the two preceding parables. On the one hand the door is shut against the foolish virgins merely for their apostasy-for having burned out all their oil of faith working by love, so that their "lamps went out." The slothful servant is cast into outer darkness merely for not improving his talent of opportunity and power to believe, and to work righteousness according to the light of his dispensation. And the goats are sent into hell merely for not having done the works of faith. On the other hand, (considering salvation according to its second causes,) the wise virgins go in with the bridegroom, because their lamps are not gone out, and they have oil in their vessels; the faithful servants enter into the joy of the Lord, because they have improved their talents; and the sheep go into life eternal, because they have done the works of faith. The three parts of that plain chapter make a threefold cord, which, I apprehend, Zelotes cannot break, without breaking all the rules of morality, criticism, and common sense.

I shall close my parabolic illustration of the Scripture doctrine of unconditional and conditional election, by presenting Zelotes and Honestus with a short view of our election in Christ; that is, of our election to receive freely, and to use faithfully, the five talents of the Christian dispensation, that we may reap all the benefits annexed to "making that high calling and election sure."

I.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in [the person and dispensation of] Christ; according as he hath* chosen us [to believe] in him, before the founda. tion of the world: that [in making our high calling and election sure]

Π.

Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world? [Yes, but not absolutely, for Zelotes knows that all the poor are not elected in his way: and St. James insinuates that their election to "the kingdom of hea ven" is suspended on faith and love; for he adds that] God hath chosen

* This passage will be explained in the next section. In the meantime I desire the reader to take notice that the election of which St. Paul writes is not of the Antinomian kind; I mean, it is not Calvinian election, which insures eternal salvation to all fallen believers. That the apostle was an utter stranger to such a doctrine, appears from his own words to those elect Ephesians: “Putting away

I.

we should be holy and without blame before him in love, Eph. i, 3, 4.

[If Zelotes be offended at my insinuating that St. Paul's phrase "in Christ" is sometimes an ellipsis a short way of speaking which conveys the idea of our Lord's Gospel and dispensation; I appeal to the reader's candour, and to the meaning of the following texts:-" Babes in Christ. Urbane, our helper in Christ. The Churches of Judea, which were in Christ. Baptized into Christ. The Mosaic veil is done away in Christ. In Christ Jesus circumcision availeth nothing," &c. Again: when St. Paul tells us that "his bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace," does he not mean the chain with which he was personally bound, as a preacher of the Christian faith? And would not Zelotes make himself ridiculous, if he asserted that St. Paul's "bonds in Christ" were those with which he was bound in the person of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane ?]

There is a remnant [of Jews, who believe] according to the election of grace [who, through sanctification of the Spirit to obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, make their calling and election sure according to the Christian dispensation, 1 Pet. i, 2.] The elec. tion [those Jews who make their election to the blessings of the Christian dispensation sure by faith in Christ] hath obtained it [righteousness] and the rest were blinded:

II.

the poor, rich in faith, and [of consequence] heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him, [i. e. to them that are rich in the "faith which works by love,"] James ii, 5. Know this also, that the Lord hath chosen to himself [i. e. to his rewards of grace and glory, not this or that man out of mere caprice, but] the man that is godly: [that is] the man after his own heart. (Com. Prayers, Psa. iv, 3; 1 Sam. xiii, 14.) God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation [yea, out of mere distinguishing grace, he has chosen you to partake of the great salvation of Christians; not indeed absolutely, but] through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, [as it is in Jesus the truth as it is revealed under the Christian dispensation,] 2 Thess. ii, 13.

Many are called [to repentance; yea, many are "chosen, that they should be holy," Eph. i, 4,] but few are chosen [to receive the reward of perfected holiness-the reward of the inheritance,] Matt. xx, 16. Wherefore, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election SURE: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall, 2 Pet. i, 10. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that

lying, speak truth: let him that stole steal no more: be not drunk: let not fornication or uncleanness be once named among you, &c, for this ye know, that no unclean person, &c, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience," that is, upon the disobedient children, who, by their bad works, lose their inheritance in the kingdom of God. Is it not surprising, that when St. Paul has thus warned the Ephesians against Antinomian deceptions, he should be represented as deceiving those very Ephesians first, by teaching them a doctrine which implies that no crimes, be they ever so atrocious, can deprive fallen believers of their "inheritance in the kingdom of Christ ?"

I.

[that is, the unbelieving Jews have not obtained righteousness, because they sought it not by faith, but by blindly opposing their Pharisaic works of the law to Christ and the humble obedience of faith,] Rom. xi, 5,7; ix, 32.

II.

hath showed no mercy, Col. iii, 12; James ii, 13.

If I am not mistaken, the balance of the preceding scriptures shows that Honestus and Zelotes are equally in the wrong: Honestus, for not rejoicing in free grace, in the election of grace, and in God's power, love, and faithfulness, which are engaged to keep believers while they keep in the way of duty: and Zelotes, for corrupting the genuine doctrines of grace by his doctrines of Calvinian election, necessity, and unconditional reprobation from eternal life.

SECTION XIII.

A view of St. Paul's doctrine of election, laid down in Eph. i-That election consists in God's choosing, from the beginning of the world, that the Gentiles should Now share, through faith, the blessings of the Gospel of Christ, together with the believing Jews, who BEFORE were alone the chosen nation and peculiar people of God-It is an election from the obscure dispensation of the heathens to the luminous dispensation of the Christians; and not an election from a state of absolute ruin, to a state of finished salvation-It is as absurd to maintain Calvinian election from Eph. i, as to support Calvinian reprobation by Rom. ix-What we are to understand by the "book of life," and by the "names" written therein from the foundation of the world -A conclusion to the first part of this work.

WHEN Zelotes is made ashamed of what Calvin calls "the horrible decree," he seems to give it up ;-I have nothing to do with reprobation, says he, my business is with election. Thus he is no sooner beaten out of Rom. ix, than he retires behind Eph. i, where he thinks he can make a more honourable defence. It may not be amiss, therefore, to follow him there also, and to show him that he entirely mistakes the "predestination," "purpose," and "election," mentioned in that chapter.

The design of the apostle in his Epistle to the Ephesians is twofold. In the three first chapters he extols their gracious election, their free vocation, and the unspeakable privileges of both; and in the three last, he exhorts them to walk worthy of their election and calling; warning them against Antinomian deceivers; and threatening them with the loss of their heavenly inheritance if they followed their filthy tenets and immoral example. This epistle therefore is a compendium of the New Testament: the former part contains a strong check to Pharisaism, or the doctrine of self-righteous boasters; and the latter part a severe check to Antinomianism, or to the doctrine and deeds of the Nicolaitans; see Eph. v, 5, 6; Rev. ii, 6, 15, 20.

To be a little more explicit; in the three first chapters St. Paul endeavours to impress the hearts of the Ephesians with a deep sense of

God's free grace in Christ Jesus, whereby he had compassionately called, and of consequence mercifully elected them, ignorant and miserable sinners of the Gentiles as they were, to partake of all the blessings of the Christian dispensation. The apostle tries to inflame them with grateful love to Christ, for setting them on a level with his "peculiar people, the Jews, to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the [explicit] promises; whose were the fathers, and of whom Christ came, as concerning the flesh."

To prove that this is St. Paul's design, I produce his own words, with short illustrations in brackets: "Remember, [says he,] that ye were in time past GENTILES in the flesh, called uncircumcision by the circumcision [&c, abhorred by the circumcised Jews, because you were uncircumcised heathens. Remember] that at that time ye were without [the knowledge of] Christ [not having so much as heard of the Messiah,] being aliens from the commonwealth of. Israel, [hating the Jews, and hated of them,] strangers to the covenants of promise [which God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,] having no [covenant] hope, and without [a covenant] God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus [who has sent us into all the world to preach the Gospel to every creature.] Ye [Gentiles,] who were sometimes afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ: for he is our peace, who hath made BOTH [Jews and Gentiles] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, &c, that he might reconcile both [Jews and Gentiles] to God, &c, by the cross; having slain the enmity thereby and came and preached peace to you [Gentiles] who were afar off, and to them that were nigh, [that is, to the Jews.] For through him we BOTH [Jews and Gentiles] have an access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye [Gentiles] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the [Jewish] saints, and of the household [or peculiar people] of God: and are built upon the foundation of the [Christian] apostles, and [Jewish] prophets; Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone [which unites the Jews and Gentiles who believe, as a corner stone joins the two walls which meet upon it, &c.] In whom you also [Gentiles of Ephesus] are builded together [with us believing Jews] for a habitation of God through the Spirit," Eph. ii, 11, &c.

ter.

The apostle explains his meaning still more clearly in the next chap. "For this cause," [namely, that you might be quickened together with us (see Eph. ii, 5, 6, in the original,) unto Christ, that you might be raised up together, and placed together with us in heavenly privileges in or by Jesus Christ.] "For this cause, I Paul am the prisoner of Christ for you Gentiles; if ye have heard of the DISPENSATION of the grace of God, which is given me to you WARD: how he made known to me [once a Jewish bigot] the mystery, &c, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of the promise of Christ by the Gospel, whereof I am made a minister, &c, that I should preach among the Gentiles [as Peter does among the Jews] the unsearchable riches of Christ, &c. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you [Gentiles] which is your glory," Eph. iii, 1-13.

The two preceding paragraphs are two keys, which St. Paul gives to open his meaning with, and to make us understand "God's eternal pur

pose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, of gathering all things in Christ," by calling the Gentiles to be partakers of the Gospel of Christ, as well as the Jews: a "mystery" this, which had been hid in God from the beginning of the world, Eph. iii, 9; God having then purposed to take the Gentiles into the covenant of peculiarity: although, for particular reasons, he did it only in St. Paul's days, and chiefly by his instrumentality. What pity is it then that Zelotes should cast the veil of his prejudices over so glaring a truth; and should avail himself of the apostle's laconic style, and of our inattention to impose Calvin's predestination upon us! Does not the context demonstrate that St. Paul speaks only of God's predestinating and electing THE GENTILES IN GENERAL (and among them the Ephesians) to share the prerogatives of the Christian dispensation? Is it not evident, that as the unbelieving Jews boasted much of their being saved by the work of circumcision, through Abraham, St. Paul keeps the believing Gentiles humble, by reminding them that "by grace they were saved-[that is, made partakers of the great salvation of Christians] through faith: and that not of themselves, [nor of their forefathers,] it was the gift of God, not of works," not of circumcisión or Mosaic ceremonies, "lest any of them should boast" like the Jews, who, by their fatal glorying in Abraham and in themselves, had hardened their hearts. against Christ's Gospel, and brought God's curse upon their Church and nation? In a word, is it not clear that St. Paul no more speaks of God's having predestinated this Englishman, or that man of Ephesus to be absolutely saved; and this Scotch woman, or that Ephesian widow to be absolutely damned, than he has absolutely predestinated Honestus to be mufti, and Zelotes to be pope? This being premised, I present the reader with what appears to me to be the genuine sense of the chapter, upon which Zelotes founds his doctrine of an absolute, particular, and personal election of some men to eternal life and glory. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us," Jews and Gentiles, who do not put the word of his grace from us, and reject his gracious counsel against ourselves "with all spiritual blessings and heavenly" things "in Christ: according as he hath chosen us," Jews and Gentiles, " in him before the foundation of the world, that we," Jews and Gentiles, "should be holy, and without blame before him in love," as all Christians ought to be: "having predestinated us," Jews and Gentiles, "unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, by which he hath made both" Jews and Gentiles "ONE, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; making in himself of twain," i. e. Jews and Gentiles, "one new man," i. e. one new ecclesiastical body, which is at unity in itself, though it be composed of Jews and Gentiles, who were before supposed to be absolutely irreconcilable, Eph. iii, 14. And this he hath done "to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us," Jews and Gentiles, equally ac cepted in the Beloved; in whom we," Jews and Gentiles, " have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace: wherein he hath abounded to us," Jews and Gentiles, "in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us," Jews and Gentiles, "the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times,"

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