: render offences against him the more inexcusable, of his omnipresence and omniscience which baffle all attempts to hide trans not suffice for the purpose of displaying the growing depravity of manners, the decay of morals, churches and states.Still we do not despair; Hegression, and of his almighty who has called us is faithful, power which renders it imposand our cause is his own. The sible for offenders to escape or gates of hell shall not prevail resist him, must necessarily against his church on the con- make sin appear "exceeding trary, sinful," and convince men of the guilt and malignity of those offences, which before they could justify, palliate or conceal. The latent wickedness of their hearts will then be discovered to them; as a sun-beam shining into a room displays every grain and speck of dust, which before was imperceptible. They will then be ready to cry out with Job, As long as Jesus Lord remains, It was, it is, and will be so, From the Christian Observer. Job xlii. 5, 6. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee;"I have heard of thee by the wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; where SELF-ignorance is the neces-fore I abhor, &c."--with Isaiah, sary consequence of ignorance of God. While men hear of him only by the hearing of the ear, and have no spiritual discovery made of him to the eye of their understanding, they will be apt to plead strongly for the merit of human actions, look upon some sins as slight and excusable, and persuade themselves that God will not be extreme to mark what is done amiss. But as light is most evident when contrasted with darkness, and beauty with deformity, so a clear discovery of the holiness of God which will not suffer him to endure iniquity, of his justice which obliges him to punish it, his goodness and mercy which on a like discovery, "Woe is me! for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts." Happy are they, who are thus humbled in righteous plea; and thankful the dust and stript of every selfought they to be for the methods, however painful, which have been employed to produce this disposition in them; for all the promises in the gospel belong to the poor in spirit and contrite in heart, and its grand maxim is, that "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Y. Donation to the Missionary Society of Connecticut. Nov. 1st, 1804. A Friend of Missions, $ 3 God justifies none who are destitute of personal holiness. PERSO ment of Christ needs no addi tion, from any righteousness in the sinner, that it may be a sufficient foundation for the consistent exercise of pardoning grace, even to the chief of sinners. He is the only name, given under heaven, among men, whereby we must be saved. And he is able to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by him. Justification by Christ alone is a leading feature of the gospel, so that all who are united to Christ are saved, and all who believe not shall be damned. But if Christ be the only ground of pardon and acceptance, and no holiness be required of us, as the matter on account of which we are to be justified, an inquiry will very naturally arise in a reflecting mind, of what advantage then is the personal holi ERSONAL holiness implies holiness of heart; this is a necessary preparation for every duty. Repentance, faith, obedience, submission and dependence, are so many expressions of holiness. Impenitence, unbelief, disobedience and rebellion, are acts of iniquity, and evidences of a perverse spirit. Tho' indwelling holiness is necessary to salvation, yet this is not the meritorious ground of the sinner's pardon and acceptance with God. The redemption of Christ is the only satisfaction for sin. Men are not justified at all for their holiness, as that which conciliates the favor of God; for by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Christ is the end of the law for righ-ness of sinners, in the affair of teousness, to all them that be- justification; and why may they lieve. This is a truth support- not be accepted without holied by the whole tenor of the ness. If men, who have no hogospel. Christ came to be a liness, were justified, an objecpropitiation for our sins; and tor would say, then it would depardon is offered us on account cidedly appear that they were of his redemption. The atone-justified for the sake of Christ VOL. V. No. 6. A a alone, and so he would have the serves the wrath of God can whole glory of their salvation have any claim in justice to his without any scruple. And there favor. To say that a sinner deare some among us, who pro- serves to be pardoned is absurd; fess to believe, that no qualifica- it is the same as to say, that he tions in the sinner, during his deserves better than to be treatcontinuance in this life, are ne-ed as he deserves. cessary, in any sense, to his salvation, and that the sufficiency of Christ's atonement secures the salvation of all mankind, and even obliges the Father to pardon and receive all into favor. But it is the design of this paper to shew, that according to the gospel, no man can be saved, unless he has real holiness of heart. It will be acknowledged, by all who believe any thing of the gospel, that all mankind are sinners, for otherwise there could be no propriety in providing any atonement, as the 'ground of their acceptance with God. If Christ died for all, then were all dead. If men are not sinners, why is there any mention of a pardon? Where there is no offence, the offer of a pardon is abuse. If men are sinners, as the redemption of Christ supposes, and the scriptures every where assert, then if any of them are justified, it must be matter of free grace; for God can be under no obligation to the sinner to grant him a pardon. The very idea that one deserves wrath, proves that it would be just to inflict it; and therefore, that justification must be an act of pure sovereign grace. It must therefore, depend on the mere good pleasure of God, whether any sinner shall be forgiven, whether he will save all or a part only, and what part, and what description of sinners. For certainly no one who de Since, as has been stated, it is a matter of pure grace in God, to extend pardoning mercy to sinners, then it is his unquestionable prerogative to appoint all the circumstances of this salvation as he pleases, and to determine, among other things, whether he will limit the application of the atonement of Christ, to those who have personal holiness. We must then inquire, whether God has ever signified his pleasure on this subject, and this must decide whether holiness is necessary to justification with God; for it must be a matter of revelation. And if God has declared it his pleasure to receive only those, who have personal holiness, this should be esteemcd sufficient evidence to us, that it is perfectly reasonable, because it is with him to do as he pleases with his grace. Proud man indeed, is unwilling to place implicit confidence in the decision of God on this subject; not so our blessed Redeemer, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." The holy scriptures have fully explained the will of God, on this subject. They teach us that he does not justify the impenitent, unbelieving and unholy: "Except ye repent, ye shall all perish. He that be lieveth not shall be damned.— Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." We are also assured that we shall be judged, and have our destiny decided, according to the deeds done here in the bolly, whether they be good, or whether they be evil. God has assured us also, that those who are holy shall be saved. "He that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." To these a multitude of similar assurances might be added from the scriptures. Indeed this is the language of all the motives, arising from rewards and punishments, which are exhibited in the scriptures. Thus the scriptures acquaint us, that it hath pleased God to justify such, and only such, as have personal holiness; not because their holiness is in the least degree the meritorious ground of their justification; but because it hath seemed good in the sight of God, to dispense his mercies to such characters. us the reasonableness of his conduct, and he hath, in particular, done this, in the matter under consideration. Some of these reasons, why God saves only such as have real holiness of heart, will now be noticed. There is a great propriety in requiring repentance, faith and other holy acts of the soul, as necessary pre-requisites to a gracious pardon, because those who have these exercises, are prepared to spend their days, and employ their eternity, in his service and to his glory. They will respect his government, and exercise obedience, submission and attachment to Christ and his cause. And their holiness also, as it is the effect of the transforming power of the Holy Ghost upon their hearts, displays the glory and power of divine grace. But if men were pardoned, who were not holy, but under the full dominion of sin, they would have no inclination to serve and honor God, but would remain in enmity against him. And certainly, there is a manifest impropriety in the pardon of such inveterate enemics to God. It was an object with Christ, not only to save his people from wrath, but to save them from their sins. This end is not attained by pardoning those who are unholy; they would be saved from nothing, but from the necessary execution of the holy law of God. We are not, however, to suppose, that the Lord hath made holiness necessary to justification in a mere arbitrary manner; this would be an unworthy tho't of him. He never does any thing for no other reason than merely because he will do so, but he both wills and performs all his works because he discovers sufficient reasons why he should do them. Tho' it becomes us to place confidence in the propriety of all God's administrations, when the reasons of them are above our researches, because we have sufficient evidence of his wisdom, power Can the unholy enjoy an and goodness; yet it hath pleas- holy God? Rebels enjoy goved God, in many things, to shewernment? The vicious and im There is also a propriety in confining justification to those who have personal holiness, be cause no others are capable of enjoying the blessings of heav en. Should the most High justify a sinner, persisting in his sins, he would, by so doing, join with the sinner, in reproaching his own law, he would sink the respectability of his government, and would bring a stain on his own moral character; for who will regard his law if he disregards it himself? And who could conceive of infinite purity in one, who should give sinners such encouragements in wick pious enjoy the society of the | licensed depravity. This surely holy inhabitants of heaven? A is a sufficient reason to justify discovery of the true God, and God, in refusing the unholy a the character of his saints, would pardon. make the unsanctified and ungodly shrink away from such a God, and from such society, as criminals shrink away with conscious guilt and baseness, from the presence of men of probity and of exemplary excellence. They would fly from the abodes of the blessed. It is impossible, in the nature of things, that men, without holiness, should enjoy heaven, or the things of heaven. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous-edness? ness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial ? And there would be a manifest impropriety in receiving the unholy into favor, because their impiety and wickedness afford the same reason, why God should continue to abhor them, and make them the monuments of his wrath, as if they were not supposed to be justified, for they are not reformed. Such unsanctified creatures are not only incapable of the society of the holy, but are utterly unfit for it; they would be an offence to the holy, if they were admitted among them. They would corrupt and embroil heaven with their impieties and malignity. These reasons, without going into any further investigation of the subject, it is presumed, will be acknowledged sufficient to settle the matter, in every serious mind, that tho' God does not justify the sinner, on the credit of his own repentance, faith and obedience, yet, that God justifies such, and only such, as by their own personal holiness, are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in lightmeet for the enjoyments, society, service and happiness of heaven. If the unholy were pardoned, remaining in their total depravity of heart, it would be attended with a consequence, which would indeed be matter of triumph to the wicked, but of inconsolable affliction to the righteous. Christ would be a minister of sin, and the gospel, instead of being a doctrine according to godliness, would be the only thing, which rebels would Therefore, tho' men are not desire, to free them from all justified by virtue of their goodthe restraints of conscience, theness, yet personal holiness is as terrors of the law, and the ap-indispensably necessary to jusprehensions of the effects of di- tification by grace, as ever it vine justice. They might then was to justification by the works riot without fear, in every impi- of the law. Let the unholy ety and lust, which could please tremble. The gospel is a doc |