God, is expressly afferted by the Apostle, 1 John iv. 16. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwel leth in God, and God in him. And it is alfo neceffary from the very nature of our union to Chrift. Being united to Chrift, we fhall partake of all the graces of the bleffed Spirit, which are in Chrift, as in a fountain or repofitory, to be communicated unto us; as I have fhewn you before, fo that this need not be infifted on..

Let us therefore proceed to confider, whether the love of God be, from the nature of it, conipatible or confiftent with a careleffness and indifference about finning against him.-Can we love God, and be carelefs and indifferent about affronting him, and loading him with indignity at the fame time? Can we love God, and yet be content to difhonour his name, violate his laws, and trample his facred authority and attributes under the feet of our lufts ? This cannot be, till love and hatred, friendship and eninity, become the fame thing, nowife to be diftinguished. Our profeffion of love would hardly be voted fincere by one of our fellow-creatures who fhould find us easy and indifferent about injuring his intereft and reputation, and loading him with contempt and indignity.-Does not the love of God e fpecially confift in a defire of, and delight in a conformity to the divine nature and will? That they who love God, dwell in God, and God in them; that as he is, fo are they in this world? 1 John iv. 16, 17. And can they delight in a conformity to God, and yet be eafy and content when they act moft contrary to his will, and in the highest repugnancy to all his glorious and infinite perfections?-Does not the love of God confift in a hatred of fin, and of whatever is difpleafing in his fight? Ye that love the Lord, hate evil, Pfal. xcvii. 10. And can there be any thing more inconfiftent, than being careless

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and indifferent about falling into fuch circumstances as are peculiarly hateful and abhorrent to us?-Does not the love of God imply a love to his law; and a delight in complying with his holy will, in all things? O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day, Pfal. cxix. 97. For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man, Rom. vii. 22. And is it confiftent, is it not the highest contradiction, to love the law of God, to delight in an obfervation of it and confor. mity to it, and yet be indifferent and unconcerned about a violation of it, or a nonconformity to it ?— Does not the love of God, in the nature of it, im. ply a life of actual obedience? If ye love me, keep my commandments, John xiv. 15. If ye keep my com mandments, ye shall abide in my love, John xv. 10. And can any thing be more contradictory, than keeping God's commandments, and a careless indif. ference about breaking them?-Is there no grati, tude in our love to God, no sense of our obligations to his infinite goodness and compaffion; and no fenfe of our ungrateful abufe of his amazing difpen, fations of benignity and mercy, in our random from hell by the blood of his Son, in our gospel privi. leges and advantages, in our participation of his fpecial diftinguishing grace, and in our hopes of glory? -Is the love of the Father a light thing with us, in chufing us before others from the foundation of the world, in giving his own Son to redeem and fave us; and in fending his holy Spirit to fulfil his good pleasure in our fouls, and fitting us for heaven? Is the blood of a Saviour a light thing with us, whereby we are ranfomed from death and hell, and made heirs of the future glory?—Is the fancti. fying, comforting and quickening influence of the bleffed Spirit a light thing with us, whereby we are brought near to God, enabled to maintain commu. nion with him, and are qualified for the eternal inheritance?

heritance? Can we difhonour the Father, trample upon the blood of the Son, and grieve the holy Spirit, without care, concern or fear; and yet make pretences to an union to Chrift, and to the love of God? A vain dream! A most inconfiftent and contradictory pretence !

I hope, I have by this time given you fufficient evidence of the weakness and impiety of thofe ob. jections you have alleged in favour of the Antinomians: And would therefore only just add this further remark, That though we should never difho-· nour our blessed Saviour by doubting of his fufficiency for us, be our cafe what it will; though we fhould never indulge diftracting doubts and fears, which will drive us from God, unfit us for duty, and bring dishonour upon that infinite mercy in which we hope; and though we fhould not pre. fently dig up our foundations, and call all our hopes and experiences into queftion, becaûfe of our difallowed infirmities; yet if we are united to Christ, we cannot fail of mourning for our fins, and bringing them to the blood of Chrift for pardon; we cannot fail to groan being burdened, and to esteem our fins the heaviest burden we have in the world: Though we may and ought to rejoice always in the riches of redeeming mercy and love; yet we cannot but lament and groan always after deliverance from the remaining body of death.

You proceed to object, that "if my doctrine of "the believers union to Chrift be true, you cannot "fee how we can prove our justification by our "fanctification. For according to that fcheme, our "juftification depends wholly upon our union to "Chrift; but nothing at all upon our fanctification. "Is it not then the most rational proceeding, to prove our juftification by that on which it does de"pend, rather than by that on which it does not "depend?

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"depend? By that which does juftify us, rather "than by that which does not justify us? How can "we prove our justification by that which procures (( no freedom from guilt, no title to the favour of "God, no claim to eternal falvation?"

In answer to which, I must intreat you to confider, whether there be any way fo certain to prove the existence of the cause, as by the production of the effect; and whether there be any way whatsoever to evidence that there is a cause, if there be no effect; or if the effect be utterly unknown.— How do we know the existence of God, but by his word and works, which are vifible effects of his Being, and thereby visible evidences and discoveries of his glorious Perfections?-To apply this to the prefent cafe. How can we evidence our union to Chrift, and our acceptance with God thereby, but by the actings of grace, and the fruits of righteoufnefs, which are the effects of it?—The fubject-matter to be made evident to our confciences is this, that we have received the Lord Jefus Chrift by faith, are fo united to him; and thereby justified in the fight of God. Well, if this be fo, the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God, Gal. ii. 20. We are purifying our felves, even as he is pure, 1 John iii. 3. If we have received Chrift Fefus the Lord, ae also walk in him, Col. ii. 6. And do we upon an impartial trial, find this fo? Do we live in an humble conftant depend. ence upon the Lord Jefus Chrift, as the fountain of all grace, and the author of our eternal falvation? Do we hate every falfe way; and crucify our flesh with its affections and lufts? Do we live in the love of God, and carefully and seriously attend every way of known duty towards him? Do we live in the love of our neighbour, and are we confcientious in the performing the duties of every re

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lation and character we sustain ? And do we lament before God the imperfections we find in thefe attainments; and earnestly pray and strive for a fur. 1 ther progrefs in holiness? This, all this, is the neceffary fruit of our union to Chrift, and of our juftification before God thereby : Is not this there. fore the proper and only evidence thereof? And is there any thing without this, which can give us any Scripture-evidence of our juftification? The Antinomians may pretend to evidence their justification by their joy and comfort. But how come they by their joy and comfort, if they have not previous evidence of their juftified ftate? How can they rejoice in the favour of God, before they have good evidence of their interest in it? Without this, their joy is groundless, and is an evidence of nothing in the prefent cafe but their willingness to deceive themfelves. With this, there is no need of joy for an evidence of what is already confirmed by a much better witnefs. I therefore conclude, that as the Scripture no where makes, and as the reason and order of things no way allows, joy and comfort to be evidences of our juftified ftate, we thould fee to it, that we clear up our title to the divine favour by better evidence. And what other can we pof. fibly find, but what I am now pleading for? This, the Apoftle affures us, is the proper evidence, by which the children of God are manifeft, and the children of the devil. Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit fin; and whosoever doth not righteousness, is not of God, John iii. 9, 10. They therefore who reject this evidence, would do well to confider whose children they be, according to this determination of the Apostle.

Upon the whole then, our union to Chrift is fo far from affording the leaft plea for licentioufnefs, that it fhould be confidered as the strongest argu

ment,