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prosperity he shall deliver me; and when the hour of death is at hand, this still shall be the subject of my joy, "He hath blessed me; yea, and I shall be blessed.'"

VIEW OF JUSTIFICATION.

(Continued from p. 504.)

tized in his name, and to be enrolled among his people: it is a blessing to hear the word of God, and to attend the services of his house: yet without the influence of religion in the heart, what will be the gain? Rather blessed are they that hear the word of God EXAMINATION OF DR. MARSH'S and keep it; who reject every idea of dependence on themselves, and who know that, in order to keep the commandments, they must obtain that faith without which it is impossible to please God; they must be directed by that wisdom which cometh from above, and be supported by that grace which can alone enable them to think a good thought, and to speak a good

word.

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2. To those that are Christians not in name only, but in deed and in truth, the words before us offer a strong argument for courage and perseverance. The voice which has pronounced a blessing upon obedience, is the voice of Christ. The flock has been blessed by the Great Shepherd himself, by him who is able to save to the uttermost. If it be true, then, that though heaven and earth pass away, his words shall not pass away, what has he to fear who is striving through Divine grace to keep the commandments of his God? Difficulties will certainly arise, and courage will be wanting to overcome them; but the man who looks to Jesus, will press forward with the declaration "He hath blessed me; yea, and I shall be blessed." If his heart be disquieted, and distress and anguish come upon him, he will remember and confide in his Saviour's promise. Affliction and pain may indeed shake this tabernacle of clay, and the hour will come when all earthly consolations must utterly fail; but "I know," he will say, "whom I have believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. In the seasons of my CHRIST, OBSERV, No. 165.

I PROCEED now to consider what is the radical source and origin of the many errors, "inconsistencies, and contradictions," which have of late years so much clouded and perverted the doctrine of justification by faith only; that doctrine which, as Dr. Marsh allows, 'is asserted by the Church of England in such plain and positive terms; that doctrine which is, according to Luther, the characteristic decisive mark of a standing or falling church.

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The source appears to me to be this :-Both Dr. Marsh and his Roman Catholic opponents entertain an incomplete idea of the nature and importance of justifi cation, and seem to consider it as a transaction to be seen and judged of by men. For even Dr. Marsh thinks it utterly unavailable unto salvation, until the faith by which we have been permitted to obtain it, produce works positively good. Whereas it is really a transaction only between each individual soul and its God. Indeed, as the Homily says-"To justify is the office of God only, applied to us by faith, which is also his gift." It is the work of God, through the appointed, yet willing, sacritice of his only begotten and beloved Sona work, the benefits of which are truly offered to all, and accepted by every soul that is saved. The act of acceptance is denominated faith; and respecting the nature of that act, though we must evidence its reality before men by our practice, yet our appeal for its examination, judgment, and approval, must be to God, and to God alone, AF

adoption and free intercourse with its "reconciled Father in Christ Jesus:" it gains a covenanted title to those assistances, to those perpetual supplies, to that daily renewal of the Holy Spirit, which will enable it to produce all the fruits of the Spirit in their due season.

From Dr. Marsh's idea of justification must naturally result a lower view of the instrument by which it is accomplished; and he is hence led to content himself with the supposition, that justifying may not, and even cannot, be lively faith. Whereas in the view I have now described, we can conceive it. The evidences of this state to the to be nothing less; and vitality individual who is justified, and its must be its essential, indispensable certain or uncertain permanence property. are questions which do not neces sarily belong to the subject under consideration.

It is surely derogatory to the omniscience and holiness of God, to suppose that he can approve any act, and permit it to be the instrument of obtaining such an, invaluable blessing, unless it be indeed an act of the heart, as well as of the understanding-unless it be lively, i, e. founded in, and accompanied by, all the holy dispositions, however as yet immature, which would prompt, whenever opportunity offered, to every good work, every branch of duty; to every gracious thought, that might sanctify the inner, and every vir tuous deed that might adorn the outward, man.

In their judgment of outward works, men may often be mistaken, In His judgment of faith, God cannot err, and, we may venture to say, cannot approve, unless it be the dictate of a soul possessing at the time sufficient marks of spiritual life-humility, contrition, hatred of sin, love of God, and desire to walk in all his ways.

These qualities proceed from, and complete a true and lively faith; and upon a soul endowed from above with such a principle, and made capable of appreciating, receiving, and applying the gift to profitable purposes, God vouchsafes for his Son's sake to bestow by that very faith, as its instrument, his choicest boon, justification. The soul is by this mean delivered from the guilt of all its past sins, justified from those things from which it could not be justified by the law" of works. It is admitted to the privileges. of

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The nature of the instrument of justification was the original object of discussion, and this we have argued (we hope successfully) to be of necessity lively; because justitication is the work and office of God, and therefore the faith by which it is allowed to be accepted, or obtained, must be approved by God, the Author and the Giver, who is a Spirit, and cannot be satisfied with any thing short of spirit and of life. And this truth again we have argued (we trust with equal success) to have seen misunder stood and denied on this very account, because the decision upon the validity of the work and the nature of the instrument are referred, not to God, but to men, who can certainly be convinced by nothing previous to the outward actions. Indeed it might fairly be inferred from Dr. Marsh's account, that justification was not an inva luable blessing, but only a bare admittance to the external privileges of Christianity, of which the worst of men are capable.

But with the question which has thus been answered, a second is closely connected-What are the dangers likely to arise from such errors?

1. Our estimate of faith will be lowered. - Divided unnecessarily into two distinct branches, it loses its value, its efficacy, its substance. The first braneb, justifying faith, being deprived of vitality, appears a mere barren assent. And the second, lively faith, as separated

from the former, and being regarded therefore inerely as a motive to outward conduct before men, seems to be in great measure degraded from its noblest employment, the governance of "the hidden man of the heart," and to be no longer the essence and the mark of a spiritual and heavenly frame of soul.

2. Our estimate of our good works will be proportionably raised. -We shall be by this error naturally led, as we are naturally inclined, to look upon them as all in all, and to be thoroughly satisfied that, if they be right according to our own standard, all that preceded them must have lacked nothing, and requires no further consideration. Hence justification is made synonimous with infant baptism-justifying faith with historical belief-lively faith with a moral life-and a character respecta ble in the sight and opinion of the world, is deemed sufficient evidence that a man is entitled to and possesses all those high and glorious privileges comprehended in the terms justified, adopted, sanctified, renewed in the spirit of the mind, rooted in faith, and abundant in love. In short, under the influence of these errors, our boasted Protestantism becomes Popery, under a different name, and in another dress; and those who contend the most warmly against the Romanist in words, are found, perhaps, to accord the most closely with him in substance and effect.

In conclusion, I would ask, What is the surest way to avoid these errors, and to attain the only right and safe view of this most important subject?

.. The only antidote to all these errors will, we believe, be found, in a deeper insight into our own hearts, and a juster estimate of our own state before God; in a more serious and awful contemplation of His attributes, and a more correct notion of the extent and

the spirituality of His law; in a more thoughtful and heartfelt acquaintance with the holy Scriptures themselves, and a more im partial and edifying study of the documents which represent the doctrines of our Church; above all, in a more realizing prospect of eternity, and an increasing endeavour to spiritualize theological discussions, and make them more suitable and salutary to those who must be temples of the Holy Ghost, if they wish to be heirs of immor. tality, in whom Christ must live now, if they are to live with Christ for ever and ever.

In such a state we should ac knowledge no faith but that which is true and lively, known and approved by the Searcher of hearts; we should be convinced that this alone can be the holy hand which is to lay hold of the righteousness of Christ unto our justification; and we should find in this view sufficient answer to the charges of similarity, either to the Romanist or to the Antinomian.

To the first we should say, Our faith is alone,-i. e. it performs its instrumental office of justifying alone, before it can actually produce those works which you assert to be availing and essential concomitants in that office.

To the second, we should say, Our faith, though in this sense alone, yet in another sense has an ample accompaniment: it is lively, being inseparably united with all graces calculated in due season and opportunity to produce those works which must be its evidence to the world and its fruits unto everlasting life.

Our faith is thus without justifying works, in opposition to the Roman Catholic opinion; but with works, that is, with the germ and root of them in the heart, in op→ position to the Antinomian heresy.

The doctrine of "justification by faith only," is thus the chief characteristic of the Via Media Ecclesiæ Anglicana by which she

stands of all Protestant churches confessedly the first.

Would to God that we, her children, and especially her ministers, all taught conformably, and lived answerably to our superior privileges!

In such a state, while we think and humbly trust that we stand, we should take heed lest we fall. Cleaving to our principle of true, lively, justifying faith, we should be ever seeking and striving to assure ourselves of its existence, and to manifest its productive nature to the world, by an holy life and conversation. Amidst difficulties, trials, and temptations we should be consoled and strengthened by the lowly hope that He who had begun a good work in us, would confirm it unto the end." In all things we should look only for pardon, grace, and acceptance, to the object of our faith, and the source of our good works, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who must be "made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,"

S. W.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. BEING a warm admirer of the practical writings of Baxter, I am pleased with the respectful notice which he occasionally receives in your Numbers, Will you again introduce him to your readers by giving insertion to one or two passages from the sermon he preached before Charles II.? The whole of this discourse appears to be composed in his best style, which an excellent judge describes as grand, impressive, and persuasive." Those who are acquainted with the character of the monarch and court before whom it was delivered will discover also in these extracts (qualities which pervade the whole) an intrepid fidelity, and a pointed application to his auditory. The text is Heb. ii. 1.

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man is wise, that can climb a little higher than his neighbours, that he may have the greater fall? That is attended in his way to hell with greater pomp and state than others? That can sin more syllogistically and rhetorically than the volgar, and more prudently and gravely run into damnation; and can learnedly defend his madness, and prove that he is safe at the brink of hell? Would you persuade us that he is wise that contradicts the God and rule of wisdom, and that parts with heaven for a few merry hours, and hath not wit to save his soul?

"Can you forget that death is ready to undress you, and tell you that your sport and mirth is done, and that now you have had all that the world can do for those that serve it and take it for their portion? How quickly can a fever or the choice of an hundred messengers of death, bereave you of all that earth afforded you, and turn your sweetest pleasure into gall, and turn a lord into a lump of clay? It is but as a wink, an inch of time, till you must quit the stage; and speak, and breathe, and see the face of man no more!

Princes and nobles live not always. You are not the rulers of the unmovable kingdom; but of a boat that is in an hasty stream, or a ship under sail, that will speed both pilot and passengers to the shore. Dixi, estis Dii, et moriemini ut homines.' It was not the least or worst of kings, that said, I am a stranger upon earth.' Psalm cxix. 19. Vermis sum, non homo, I am a worm, and no man.' Psalm xxii. 6. You are the greater worms, and we the little ones: but we must all say with Job, chap. xvii 13, 14. The grave is our house, and we must make our beds in darkness: corruption is our father, and the worm our mother and sister.' The inexorable leveller is ready at your backs to convince you by irresistible argument, that

dust you are, and to dust you shall ؟

"Will you persyade us that the

return, Heaven should be as des

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"O use your seeing and foreseeing faculties! Be often looking through the prospective of the promise: and live not by sense on present things; but live as if you saw the glorious things which you say you do believe. That when worldly titles are insignificant, words, and fleshly pleasures have an end-and faith and holiness will be the marks of honour-and unbelief and ungodliness the badges of perpetual shame and when you must give an account of your stewardship, and shall be no longer stewards-you may then be brought by faith unto fruition, and see with joy the glorious things that you now believe. Write upon your palaces and goods that sentence,

2 Peter iii. 11. “ Seeing all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godli, ness, looking for and hasting to the coming of the day of God!"

Though I have here produced the closing paragraph, permit me to give expression to the feelings of your devout readers, by adding from another part of the discourse a fine aspiration.

"Let the Eternal God be the portion of my soul; let heaven be my inheritance and hope; let Christ be my Head, and the promise my security; let faith be my wisdom, and love be my very heart and will, and patient persevering obedience be my life; then I can spare the wisdom of the world,' because I can spare the trifles that it seeks, and all that they are like to get by it." A CONSTANT READER.

MISCELLANEOUS.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

IT appears to me, that " A Friend to Safeguards," &c. (No. for June, p. 367.) has a little forgotten the real question at issue. The inquiry is not, whether the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge has the best possible safeguards; for the sake of argument, this point may be conceded; but whether we can rely upon these safeguards as perfectly adequate. And without intending any disrespect to your correspondent, I think that he leaves the question pretty much where he found it.

He assumes that the members of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge are all friendly to the Church. Now in this very assumption is concealed a fallacy. I will grant that all are friendly to the Establishment of the Church; but are all of them friendly to its Doc

trines? This fact must be proved before he can fairly contend that the safeguards are adequate. If one body of men, who support the Society in Bartlett's Buildings hold one set of doctrines, and another body of men in the same Society hold a different creed, then I maintain that his position is untenable. You have not a sufficient security that the Tracts shall be uniform in doctrine.

Permit me then to ask, whether there do not exist among the Clergy of the Church of England, very different views of essential and im portant doctrines? I appeal to any man, who is at all acquainted with the history of his own times: and will not the Tracts speak the senti ments of that party, which happens to be predominant?

It is asserted, I know, by your correspondent that he can only perceive shades of difference; and

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