⚫ not confider affurance of our falvation to be of the effence of faving faith; but merely confequential, even as hath been usual with proteftants. The faith we contend for has nothing imme diately and directly to do with ourselves, but with the object of our faith. When this faith is wrought in us, by the power and grace of God, and proper fruits enfue; thence we argue our fafe eftate by way of confequence, and fo make our calling and election fure. We unite with the orthodox in all ages, in faying, that hatred to all fin is the fruit of faith; or that faving knowledge and fupreme love of God are through faith.'* It feems impoffible but what Dr. H. fhould know how he contradicts himfelf. The faith of fuch as hold to endlefs punishment, he has faid again and again, is wholly oppofed to free grace, and all the offers of grace; and that no man can be juftified by grace, on their plan. So to make out his own fcheme of faith, he has made our own certain knowledge, that we fhall be faved, neceffary, in order to have a proper warrant to believe in Chrift for falvation. This we have feen in Letters I. II. V. But here he fays, • We do not confider affurance of our falvation to be of the effence of faving faith; but merely confequential, even as hath been ufual with proteftants. The faith we contend for has nothing immediately and directly to do with ourselves, but with the objec of our faith. We unite with the orthodox in all ages,' &c. &c. But his uniting with the orthodox, in making true faith confift in a bitter hatred and averfion to all ungodlinefs,' and 'fupreme love of God; fo making the wideft difference between bèlievers and unbelievers, then again denying this difference by reducing of it to nothing, is the fame as denying of it throughout. He therefore falls into this aggravated crime of putting no difference between the holy and profane. And this argues the weakness as well as bafenefs of his caufe. I am, &c. LETTER IX. Mr. Relly's Scheme of Union, examined. DR R. Huntington's idea on this fubject will fhow us Mr. Relly's. The Doctor has taken his from Mr. Relly's. It will of courfe facilitate matters to fee the Doctor's first, as things are in readiness to bring his into view at once. * Ibid. Speaking nature.'* Speaking of election Dr. H. fays, As it refpects mankind, after death, it centers in one head, Chrift the Son of God, the • Son of man, the only mediator between God and man; and all human kind, as his kindred body. This head is in a like na tural and faderal connection with the whole body of human God has one elect head and no more; and one elect body and no more. The elect head is the Son of man, in 'equal connection with all human nature. The elect body is all human nature.'t He fays many other things to show how Chrift is in one and the fame union with all men : whether be lievers or unbelievers, he makes no difference. Believers come into the enjoyment of the bleffing, he fuppofes, by their believ ing. But their relation to Chrift was the fame before their believ ing as afterwards. All mankind being one with Chrift as the body is one with the head, from which the Doctor concludes the falvation of all men. The thing is for him to establish his prem ifes, before he makes his favorite conclufion. But we have only to compare his fcheme of union with itself, or with his leading fentiments and arguments. And, as we have feen, his fcheme fhuts up the kingdom of heaven against men so long as they remain in this world. He can exhort no one finner to repent and believe in Chrift, until fuch finner is indeed dead; unless he exhorts him to make God a liar in believing: He makes the outward privileges of the gofpel to be of no bene fit to men, while in this life: He makes the light of the gospel to be of no benefit in preparing men for happiness, in the life to come: His fcheme confiders all the judgments fent on men, in this world, to be of no fervice whatever, whether here or hereafter His scheme faves not one of the human race from the curfe of the law, or from the pains of hell; but every one fuffers the full defert of his fins, as faft as his defert arifes. What then is the amount of the Doctor's union ?-On his plan, not one of our race can be faved by grace; if any are faved it is by their own works, or by their own merit: His fcheme confiders the ftate of the redeemed, after death, to be nothing more than a myftical heaven; and may as well be called a place of mifery as a place of happiness: He makes no effential difference, neither in this nor the next ftate, between the righteous and the wicked; His way of arguing proves Chrift to be the Destroyer of all men, as fully as it proves him to be the Saviour of all men. His boasted fcheme of union is of courfe a fcheme of confufion and deftruction; it completely deftroys itfelf. This fhows the iffue of Mr. Relly's. His has all the leading things as the Doctor's has; the latter being taken from the former, P. 82. + P. 81. 23 as we fhall now fee.-Mr. Relly fays, The union between Chrift and the people (meaning all men) is fuch, that they as members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones, were in him in his birth, that they might inherit the bleffings of his holy nativity. He (Chrift), as having the people in himself, had the right of redemption, and as them, ftood engaged to fulfil every requifite to the glory of God, and their eternal falvation: which requifites were firft a holy principle, a privation of original guilt, fulfilled in his birth; a juft obfervance of the law, and conformity to the divine nature, fulfilled in his life; and a full propitiation for the fin that was paft, accomplished in his fufferings and death. The whole of which, he did; as containing the people (all men) in himfelf, who are upon that account, not only reprefented as being in him, in his birth, as above; but alfo in the whole of his life, death and refurrection. In him were they circumcifed, and the body of the fins of their ⚫ flesh, put off by the circumcifion of Chrift. In him fulfilling the law, and walking in all the ordinances of God blameless.'t Mr. Relly here makes all men perfect, walking in all the ordin 'ances of God blameless,' because they are all in Christ, and Christ does these duties for them. Dr. Huntington confiders all men perfect in the fame fenfe: Their garments,' he fays, are all alike washed, and made white in the blood of the Lamb.' So there are several other leading fentimets, in the above quotations, which exactly agree with the Doctor's. ... Mr. Relly continues: Crucified with him (Christ,) and that the refurrection of Chrift, was the refurrection of the people 'from death,' (the refurrection of all men from death.) He then applies these words of the apoftle to all men; Even when we "were dead in fins, hath quickened us together with Chrift: And hath raifed us up together, and made us fit together in heavenly places in Chrift Jefus. From which it is evident,' fays Mr. Relly, that the union between Chrift and the people (all men,) was fuch, as head and members in one body, that they were with him and in him, in his birth, his life, his death, refurrection and glory. Therefore his fufferings, wars, and tri. umphs, all are theirs.' So Dr. Huntington fays that the whole race of Adam, Go away into everlasting punishment,' or rather into everlasting happiness; because Chrift fuffers for them, in their room and flead: making all the threatenings to finners come on Chrift, and every bleffing, by Chrift, to believers, come on the whole of mankind. Speaking of the day of judgment, Mr. Relly fays that we, or all men, * P. 52, 53, Boston Edition: printed by EDrs and Sox, and having no date. men, fhall be judged according to the deeds done in the body, and giving an account at that day for every idle word, &c. alt this, I fay, hath its harmony and perfection in Jefus,-In him fanctified, in him accepted, and therefore appeal from the first • Adam unto the fecond. In like mannner we account for the * deeds done in the body, Jefus having atoned for the evil, and ⚫ done the good.'* 'In this way Mr. Relly fuppofes every one, at the laft day, will give an account for himself, for every idle word, and for every deed done in the body: Chrift having atoned for all their evil deeds, and done all the good deeds required of them. So Dr. Huntington holds, as we have feen, that all the threatenings to guilty men, are filenced and fatisfied in Christ. To the fame import Mr. Relly fays again: Standing in the grace of union with Chrift, we are at peace with all the fcriptures. He in us and we in him, have fulfilled all righteoufnels, fully kept the commandments of God, and fuffered the punishment due unto our fins, and now inherit the promise, whilst the ' voice of words, yea every terrifying found is filenced; and noth'ing now heard but the found of grace, love, and good will.'t Mr. R. here, as he generally does,addreffes himself to all mankind; making every terrifying found to be filenced," both as to faints and finners. Which exactly agrees with Dr. H. in one main article. And whoever will examine Mr. Relly's book, he may find (in pages 65 to 71, 84 to 86, 125 to 128, and 159.) that, with Dr. Huntington, he has made out his fcheme with fuch arguments, and fentiments as thefe: That the gospel speaks nothing but good both to faints and finners: That the law and gofpel are in direct oppofition: That the law fpeaks to all men alike: That there is no proper foundation laid for men to believe in Chrift, unless they first know they are elected to eternal life: That men would make God a liar, in believing in Chrift for eternal life, unless it is first made certain they are elected to eternal life: That all men have two characters, one good and the other bad: That all the threaten-ings in the bible respect none other but Chrift: That all the awful woes and curfes in the bible, to God's enemies, are only an empty found: That we can have no truft or confidence in God, unless we first know his providence and attributes are operating particularly in our favour: That believers have no pofitive, but only negative goodness: That there is no real difference between faints and finners, or between the holy and profane! As thefe fentiments are clearly expreffed by Mr. Relly, at the fame time being the outlines and effential parts in Dr. Huntington's book; it proves both their schemes to be made up of the fame jarring contrarieties. contrarieties. Certainly Mr. Relly's muft have the fame contradictions as the Doctor's, for it is compofed of the fame principal arguments and fentiments. There is no need, therefore of following Mr. Relly any farther, except to fee a few of his contradictions laid together. Accordingly, to name one contradiction which runs through his book. He defcribes his antagonists as being fome of the most ftupid and vile fet of creatures that ever lived He calls them barking curs; governed by perfonal pique, perfonal enmi. ty, felf intereft, &c.' full of egregious vanity, and infolence; ⚫ dextrous at making faults, where there is none;' and like' fome bufy critic, whofe genius leads him ever in search of offal, and garbage. Mr. Relly alfo very often calls his antagonists' Antichrift.'t And a viler character cannot be found in fcripture, than what he gives them. There is no need of inquiring whether all this be true, of whether his opponents deferve this character. The contradiction lies here: After all he has faid about them, after he has dreffed them up as odioufly as poffible; he then af ferts them to ftand as fair for, and to be as great favorites of heaven, as any men in the world; and, with all other men, to be going directly to heaven. Again, Mr. Relly not only includes a part, but almost the whole of the chriftian world, under the name Antichrift. Thus he afferts, But Antichrift fays, You cannot be faved, except you are holy and good in yourfelf. But Antichrift fays, there are terms and conditions to be complied with and fulfilled, before you can be faved.' Mr. Relly is here trying to make us believe that repentance, faith, or holiness is not neceffary to falvation, or to fit men for heaven. But almoft all chrif tendom, from the beginning, have profeffedly held this as being effential to falvation; and this gives us his meaning of Antichrift. After enumerating, and with an air of contempt, the gifts and graces of the holy Spirit; as righteoufness, meeknefs, faith, humility, &c. he fays, This is that Antichrift of whom we were told that He fhould come, yea, was so early in the world as the days of the apoftles; and prevails fo mightily in the chriftian world at prefent that the generality of chrif. ⚫tians under his influence, are upon a level in faith and doctrine with the Jews or but very faintly diftinguished from them.'§ Nearly the whole of the chriftian world, and in every paft age, have profeffedly held thefe gifts and graces of the holy Spirit, as being neceffary to falvation; for which Mr. Relly here calls them Antichrift.' He therefore includes almost all chriftendom, under * P. 6, 7, 8. in his Introduction. †P. 129, 133, 134, 157, 158. ‡ P. 157, 159. §129 |