exhibited in his holy law; so he never confesseth his sin in not doing it, or asks pardon of God, or dreams that he needs any pardon in this case; or any Redeemer to atone for this sin, or any Sanctifier to enable him to do this duty. For, if it is not his duty to love that character of God which is exhibited in his law, then he needs no assistance to do it. For we need divine assistance only to enable us to do our duty. And if it is not his duty to love that character of God which is exhibited in his holy law, then he is guilty of no sin in not loving it; and so needs no Christ, no atonement, no repentance, no pardon in the affair: and thus, that Christ, that pardon, that grace, which are offered in the Gospel, he doth not need; and so doth not receive, but reject. Yea, he rejects all as an abuse. For, to tell a sinner he needs a pardon in that in which he justifies himself, will affront him; he will think himself abused; he will think himself implicitly charged with guilt, in that in which he is not guilty. And so instead of desiring the pardon, he will reject the offer as an abuse. And thus do all impenitent, self-righteous sinners, with respect to that pardon, and to that sanctifying grace, which the Gospel offers. As they need neither the one nor the other, so they reject both, with all their hearts. For the whole need not a physician, but the sick.

And in every instance in which men justify themselves, they depend, so far as they have any dependance, for acceptance in the sight of God, not on the atonement of Christ, but on their own innocence. For their plea is, NOT GUILTY. Here they join issue; and appeal to the judgment-seat of God. Luke xviii. 9-13. And therefore,

If the divine law doth require mankind to be perfect, as our Father which is in heaven is perfect, notwithstanding our fallen state: if the law of God requires perfection of us as much as it did of Adam; if we are to blame, and deserve eternal death, for not continuing in all things, as really as Adam did for eating the forbidden fruit; and if, on this hypothesis, and in this view, Christ was made a curse to redeem sinners from this curse; yet, if we plead NOT GUILTY; if we affirm that we are not bound by this law; if we affirm that in our fallen state it is not possible that we should be bound by it; if we join is

sue on this point, and appeal to the judgment of God; if God brings us in GUILTY, at the great day, it will be too late then to shift our plea. It will be too late to say, that our dependance was on the atonement of Christ. For it may be retorted, 'If you were not guilty, you needed no atonement. But this was your plea, NOT GUILTY. And you appealed to the judgment-seat of God. It is too late, therefore, now to pretend you depended on the atonement. Your first plea precludes this.' They must therefore have their trial, and stand or fall, for eternity, on their first plea of NOT GUILTY.' And therefore it will come to pass, that every impenitent, self-righteous sinner will be condemned, unless they can make their first plea good, at the bar of God. If the Judge will give up his law, they may be acquitted. But if he abides by what is written, viz. As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; as it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them; there will be no hope in their case, at that day. And therefore, all who, either on the Arminian, or on the Antinomian, or on any other plan, do in heart reject the perfect law of God, for their rule of life in this world, will perish for ever in the next.

And thus we see what is meant by an impenitent, selfrighteous, Christless sinner. Now In the proposition it is said, that 'impenitent, self-righteous, Christless sinners, are under the curse of the law of God.' But,

6. By the curse of the law is meant, the curse threatened in the law of God; even all the curses written in God's book, comprising all the miseries of this life, and death itself, and the pains of hell for ever.'

7. When it is said, that they are under this curse, it is intended, that they are already condemned to all this by the law of God, and are liable to have the curse executed in its utmost rigour, i. e. to be struck dead, and sent to hell, at any moment. They are reprieved, moment by moment, by the sovereign pleasure of their Judge.

That Christless sinners are thus under the curse of the law, is evident, not only from the tenour of the law itself, but also from the whole course of the divine conduct. For accord

ng to this rule God hath dealt with Christless sinners in all ages of the world. As to the miseries of this life, he inflicts them upon them according to his sovereign pleasure. As to death itself, he inflicts it just when he pleases. And as soon as the Christless sinner is dead, in an instant he is in hell, and must endure the pains of hell for ever. Therefore, from the tenour of the divine law, and of the divine conduct, it is evident, that God is at liberty, with respect to them, to kill and damn any Christless sinner, at what moment he pleases. And therefore he is not bound not to do so. And therefore

there is no covenant between God and the sinner existing, obliging God to bestow any favour on any one Christless sinner now in the world: but he may strike dead and send to hell, justly and without breach of covenant, any Christless sinner who draws the breath of life. Thus in this sense, impenitent, self-righteous, Christless sinners, are under the curse of the law.

8. And this is true of self-righteous, Christless sinners, without exception, as the apostle affirms, As many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse. Be they circumcised Jews, or baptised Gentiles; or be they both circumcised and baptised too, as doubtless many were in the churches of Galatia, to whom he was writing; yet neither their circumcisión, nor their baptism, at all altered the case. For the circumeised and the uncircumcised, the baptised, and the unbaptised, are all equally under the curse of the law, if of a selfrighteous character. For they reject Christ, and so can have no interest in him; as by divine constitution none are interested in him, but those who receive him. John i. 12. and iii. 18. And therefore, they must stand or fall by mere law. But the law says, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things.

The law doth not say, 'cursed is every uncircumcised Gentile ;' nor doth the law say, 'cursed is every unbaptised Pagan' but thus it is written, 'cursed is every one :' be he Jew, or Gentile; be he Christian, or Pagan; be he circumcised, or baptised, or neither; if he be self-righteous, and Christless, he is cursed. For these things alter not the case at all. Rom. ii. 25. 28, 29. For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep

the law; but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Therefore, baptised sinners, if they are Christless, are as much under the curse of the law, as those who are unbaptised: and so, are as liable to 'all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.' And God is as much at liberty to strike dead and send to hell, at any moment, self-righteous, Christless sinners who are baptised, as those who are unbaptised. He is not bound by covenant to the one, any more than to the other. But, as to life, and to the outward means of salvation and to the strivings of the spirit, he is at perfect liberty to have mercy on whom he will have mercy. This is certain from the whole tenour of the divine conduct. For we all know, that baptised sinners are as liable to sudden death as the unbaptised. And when they die, there is an end to all the outward means of salvation, and inward strivings of the Spirit, and nothing before them but the pains of hell for ever. So that there is no covenant between God and them in the way; there is nothing of this kind to hinder; but God is at perfect liberty to execute the curse of the law, on any Christless sinner, at any moment he pleases. For they are all in his hands, held up over hell by the thread of their lives, justly condemned, at his sovereign disposal.. And accordingly, he lets one drop into hell now, and another then, just as he pleases, from day to day, from hour to hour, continually. And this hath been his constant course of conduct in all ages past. And thus every Christless sinner is under the curse of the law. But here it may be inquired, for what crime, or crimes, are they thus, by the law of God, sentenced to eternal wo? To which the answer is plain. For,

9. This curse, self-righteous Christless sinners are sentenced unto by the divine law, for not yielding a perfect obedience to it. continually, every day. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things. So that the law of perfection is binding on the unregenerate, Christless sinner. And in the

So

judgment of him, whose judgment is always according to truth, they deserve eternal wo, for every instance of defect, in thought, word, or deed; in matter ́or manner. And that whether they were from eternity elected to salvation, or not; and whether Christ died with an absolute design to save them, or not; and whether they enjoy the strivings of God's spirit, or are given up to their own hearts' lusts: yea, and whether they enjoy the benefit of a written revelation, or not. Rom. i. 18-21. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. that even the heathen are without excuse; because when they knew God, only by the light of nature and tradition, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful. Rom. iii. 9. For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. ver. 19. That every mouth may be stopped, and ALL THE WORLD may become guilty before God. For the curse extends to every one, to every Christless sinner of Adam's race. So that the divine law is binding on fallen man, previous to the consideration of the grace of the Gos pel. And mankind are under so great obligations to perfect obedience, that in the judgment of him, who is over all God blessed for ever, they deserve eternal wo, for any one defect for not continuing in all things. For such is the infinite dignity of the Deity, such his infinite worthiness of supreme love and universal obedience, in being what he is in himself, and our Creator, that on these original grounds, it is infinitely criminal not to love him with all our hearts, and obey him in every thing. Nor doth our original apostacy in Adam, or our present depravity, or our guilt and exposedness to eternal destruction, exempt us from the divine law, as our rule of duty, or from its curse for every transgression. Nor is God obliged in justice to grant us any relief: for this law itself is the rule of justice; holy, just, and good. Rom. vii. 12.

Thus stands the matter in the sacred writings. This divinity how new soever it may appear to those who never before attended to it, was taught of old by Moses, Deut. xxvii. and afterwards by the apostle Paul, Gal. iii. 10. or rather the God of Israel is the true author of this system. It was of old revealed, in the law of Moses: it was afterwards honour