of grace upon all his slothful servants who bury it to the last, because he will display his equity and goodness, although they will display their wickedness and sloth. Secondly because he is determined, that if those servants will destroy themselves, their blood shall be upon their own heads, according to the well-known scriptures, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself. I would, and ye would not." Thirdly: because God will "judge the world in righteousness," and display his distributive justice in rendering to all according to their works; deservedly clothing his finally-unfaithful servants with shame; and making the faithful walk with him in white, because they are evangelically worthy. And, to sum up all in one,because the two gospel axioms are firm as the pillars of heaven and hell; and God will display their truth before men and angels, and especially before pharisees and antinomians. Now, according to the first axiom, there is a Saviour, a measure of saving grace, and a day of initial salvation, for all. And according to the second axiom, there is free will in all, and a day of judgment, with a final salvation or damnation for all, according to their good or bad works, that is, according to their free agency; the good works of the righteous being the product of their free, avoidable co-operation with God's grace; and the bad works of the wicked springing from their free, avoidable rebellion against that grace.

Hence it appears, that the second article of the fictitious creed contains indeed a "shocking, not to say blasphemous" consequence; but that this consequence is nothing but a sprig of Mr. Hill's supposed "orthodoxy," absurdly grafted upon the supposed "heresy" which St. John and St. Paul maintain in these words: "He," Christ, 66 was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh in the world.-The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, has appeared unto all men, teaching,” not forcing, "us to deny ungodliness," &c., "and to live soberly," &c., if we are obedient to its teachings.

THE FICTITIOUS CREED.

ARTICLE III.

"I BELIEVE it depends wholly on the will of the creature, whether he shall or shall not receive any benefit from divine grace."

THE GENUINE CREED.

ARTICLE III.

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We believe that the benefits of a temporary redemption, of a day of salvation, and of the free gift which came upon all men to the justification" mentioned Rom. v. 18; -we believe, I say, that these benefits, far from "depending wholly on the will of the creature as to the receiving of them, depend no more upon us than our sight, and the light of the sun. All those blessings are at first as gratuitously and irresistibly bestowed upon us, for Christ's sake, in our present manner of existence, as the divine image and favour were at first bestowed upon our first parents in paradise,-with this only difference: before the fall, their paradisiacal grace came immediately from God our Creator; whereas, since the fall, our penitential grace comes immediately and irresistibly from God our Redeemer :-I say irresistibly, because God does not leave to our option whether we shall receive a talent of redeeming grace or no, any more than he left it to Adam's choice whether Adam should receive five talents of creative grace or no although afterwards he gives us leave to bury or improve our talent of redeeming grace, as he gave leave to Adam to bury or improve his five talents of creative grace. Our doctrine of the general redemption and free agency of mankind stands therefore upon the same scriptural and rational ground, which bears up Mr. Hill's system of man's creation and moral agency in paradise; it being impossible to make any objection against the personal loss of redeeming grace in Judas, that may not be retorted against the personal loss of creative grace in Adam or Satan.

But, with respect to all the temporal and eternal benefits,

which God has promised by way of reward to his every "good and faithful servant," we believe that they depend upon the concurrence of two causes, the first of which is the free grace of God in Jesus Christ; and the second, the faithfulness of our assisted and rectified free will; which faithfulness is graciously crowned by God's remune rative justice and evangelical veracity. And, instead of blushing at this doctrine, as if it were "shocking," we glory in it as being perfectly rational, strictly scriptural, and equally distant from the two rocks against which Calvinian orthodoxy is dashed in pieces: I mean the twin doctrines of wanton free grace, and eternal free wrath, according to which, God, without any respect to the faith or unbelief, to the good or bad works, of free agents, absolutely ordained for some of them the robe of Christ's imputed righteousness, and the unavoidable reward of eternal life by means of unavoidable faith; while he absolutely appointed for all the rest the robe of Adam's imputed unrighteousness, and the unavoidable punishment of eternal death, by means of necessary, unavoidable unbelief.

THE FICTITIOUS CREED.

ARTICLE IV.

"THOUGH the scripture tells me, that the carnal mind is enmity against God, yet I believe that there is something in the heart of every natural man, that can nourish and cherish the grace of God; and that the sole reason why this grace is effectual in some and not in others, is entirely owing to themselves, and to their own faithfulness, and not to the distinguishing love and favour of God."

THE GENUINE CREED.

ARTICLE IV.

THOUGH the scripture tells us that the carnal mind is enmity against God, and that the flesh lusteth against the spirit, yet we believe, that from the time God initially

raised mankind from their fall, and promised them the celestial bruiser of the serpent's head, there is a gracious free agency in the heart of every man who has not yet sinned away his day of salvation; and that, by means of this gracious free agency, all men, during the accepted time, can concur with, and work under, the grace of God, according to the dispensation they belong to. Again: we believe that no child of Adam is a natural man in the Calvinian sense of the word, (that is, absolutely destitute of all saving grace,) except he who has actually sinned away his day of grace. And when we consider man as absolutely graceless, or as a child of wrath in the highest sense of the word, we consider him in fallen Adam, before God began to raise mankind by the promise of the woman's seed. Or we must consider that man in his own person, after he has done final despite to the Spirit of that grace, which has more or less clearly appeared to all men under various dispensations.

Mr. Hill greatly mistakes if he thinks that, according to our doctrine, God's " grace is effectual in some and not in others;" for we believe that it is effectual in all, though in a different manner. It has its first and most desirable effect on them that "cherish it" through the above-mentioned gracious free agency. And it has its second and less desirable effect on those who finally reject the gracious counsel of God towards them: for it reproves their sins; it galls their consciences; it renders them inexcusable ; it vindicates God's mercy; it clears his justice; it shows that the Judge of all the earth does no wrong; and it begins in this world the just punishment which righteous. vengeance will complete in the next.

The grace of God therefore, like the gospel that testifies of it, is a two-edged sword: it is a savour of life to those: who cherish, and a savour of death to those who resist it. That some cherish it, by its assistance work righteousness to the last, and then receive the reward of the inheritance, is not entirely owing to themselves and to their own faithfulness," as the fictitious creed asserts; nor is it entirely owing to the love and favour of God." This happy event has two causes: the first is free grace, by

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the assistance of which the faith and good works of the righteous are begun, continued, and ended. The second is free will humbly working with free grace; as appears by the numerous scriptures balanced in the "Scripture Scales." And that some, on the other hand, resist the grace of God, and are personally given up to a reprobate mind that they might be damned, is not at all owing to God's free wrath, as the scheme of Mr. Hill supposes; nor is it entirely owing to the unfaithfulness and obstinacy of impenitent sinners. This unhappy event has also two causes: the first is man's free will finally refusing to concur with free grace, in working out his own salvation: and the second is just wrath revenging the despite done to God's free grace by such a final refusal.

With respect to "the distinguishing love and favour" of God our Judge, and his distinguished hatred and ill will, (on which our eternal rewards and punishments unavoidably turn, according to Mr. Hill's twin doctrines of "finished salvation" and "finished damnation,") we dare not admit them in our holy religion. We give to "distinguishing favour" an important place in our creed, as appears from the first article of this; but that favour has nothing to do with God's judicial distribution of rewards or punishments, that is, with God's appointing of us to eternal life or to eternal death. We believe that it is a most daring attempt of the antinomians, to place distinguishing favour and distinguishing grudge upon the judicial throne of God, and in the judgment-seat of Christ; no decrees proceeding from thence, but such as are dictated by impartial justice putting Christ's evangelical law in execution, and strictly judging (that is, justifying or condemning, rewarding or punishing) moral agents, according to their works. We should think ourselves guilty of propagating "a shocking, not to say blasphemous," doctrine, if we insinuated, that "distinguishing favour," and not unbribed justice, dictates God's sentence; God himself having enacted, "Cursed be he that perverteth judgment," &c., "and all the people shall say, Amen." Deut. xxvii. 19. Nor need I tell Mr. Hill who has hinted