and so become apostates. This is the most common method used to solve the difficulty contained in the objection. But I would rather acquiesce in another way, which may be taken to account for the sense of those words, the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified. Therefore, let it be considered,

2. That the word he may be understood, not as referring to the apostate, but our Saviour, who is spoken of immediately before: thus the apostate is said to trample under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant wherewith He, that is, Christ, was sanctified, an unholy thing.' That this sense may appear just, it may be observed, that Christ was sanctified or set apart by the Father, to perform all the branches of his Mediatorial office, in two respects.

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(1.) As he was fore-ordained or appointed, by him, to come into the world to shed his blood for the redemption of his people thus his undertaking to redeem them is called his sanctifying, or devoting himself to perform this work, as he says, For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth,' John xvii. 19. this he did in pursuance of the eternal transaction between the Father and him, relating hereunto. But it will be said, that this was antecedent to his dying for them; and therefore, properly speaking, he could not be said, in this respect, to be sanctified by the blood of the covenant; therefore, to this we may add,

(2.) That he was also sanctified, or set apart by the Father, to apply the work of redemption after he had purchased it; which sanctification was, in the most proper sense, the result of his shedding his blood, which was the blood of the covenant; so that as he was brought again from the dead,' as the apostle speaks, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,' Heb. xiii. 20. all the blessings which he applies to his people as the consequence hereof, are the result of his being sanctified, or set apart to carry on and perfect the work of our salvation, the foundation whereof was laid in his blood.

Moreover, that they who are here described as apostates, had not before this, the grace of faith, is evident from the context, inasmuch as they are distinguished from true believers. The apostle seems to speak of two sorts of persons, to wit, some who had cast off the ordinances of God's worship, forsaking the assembling of themselves together,' who are distinguished from those whom he dehorts from this sin, who had the grace of faith, whereby they were enabled to draw near to God in full assurance thereof, having their hearts sprinkled 'from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with pure 'water;' concerning these he says, We are not of them who draw back to perdition, but of them who believe to the saving ' of the soul,' chap. x. 39. Therefore we must conclude that

others are intended in the text under our present consideration, who were not true believers, and consequently it does not from hence appear that such may totally, or finally, fall from a staté of grace.

The apostates spoken of in this and the foregoing objection, were probably some among the Jews, to whom the gospel was preached, who embraced the Christian faith, being convinced by those miracles which were wrought for that purpose, but afterwards revolted from it, and were more inveterately set against Christ and the gospel than they had been before they made this profession; and accordingly as they had formerly approved of the crimes of those who crucified Christ, in which respect they are said to have crucified him; now they do, in the same sense, crucify him afresh. And as they had been made partakers of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost; afterwards they openly blasphemed him, and this was done. with spite and malice. These texts therefore not only contain a sad instance of the apostasy of some, but prove that they were irrecoverably lost; and this comes as near the account we have in the gospels of the unpardonable sin, as any thing men. tioned in scripture: nevertheless, what has been said to prove that they never were true believers, is a sufficient answer to this and the foregoing objection.

Objec. 6. Another objection against the doctrine of the saints' perseverance, is taken from 2 Pet. ii. 20-22. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome; the latter end is worse with them than the beginning; and they are said in the following verse, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them; which is compared to the dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

Answ. To this it may be replied, That though every one must conclude, that the persons, whom the apostle here speaks of, plainly appear to be apostates; yet there is nothing in their character which argues that they apostatized, or fell from the truth of grace; and it is only such whom we are at present speaking of. It may be observed, that the apostle is so far from including these apostates in the number of those to whom he writes this, with the foregoing epistle, whom he describes as elect, according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, and as having been begotten again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheri tance reserved for them in heaven, and as such, who should be kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, 1 Pet. i. 2-5, that he plainly distinguishes them from them. For m

verse 1, of this chapter, from whence it is taken, it is said, • There shall be false teachers among you, and many shall follow their pernicious ways;' he does not say many, who are now of your number, but many who shall be joined to the church, when these false teachers arise. These persons, indeed, are represented as making a great shew of religion, by which they gained reputation among some professors, whom they seduced which otherwise they could not have done; and therefore it is said,They had escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,' and that they had known the way of righteousness.' Such might indeed be joined to the church afterwards; but they did not now belong to it; and what is said concerning them, amounts to no more than an external visible reformation, together with their having attained the knowledge of Christ and divine things; so that they were enlightened in the doctrines of the gospel; though they made it appear, by the methods they used to deceive others, that they had not experienced the grace of the gospel themselves, and therefore they fell away from their profession, and turned aside from the faith, which once they preached. It is one thing for a formal professor, who makes a great show of religion, to turn aside from his profession, to all excess of riot; and another thing to suppose a true believer can do so, and that to such a degree as to continue therein; this the grace of God will keep him from.

Objec. 7. Another objection against the doctrine of the saints' perseverance, is taken from the parable of the debtor and creditor, in Matt. xviii. 26, &c. in which it is said, The ser 'vant fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have

patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that 'servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and 'forgave him the debt;' but afterwards, upon his treating one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a very inconsiderable sum, with great severity, his lord exacted the debt of him, which he had before forgiven him, and so delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him: So likewise, it is said, shall my heavenly Father do unto you, if 'ye, from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their 'trespasses;' from whence it is inferred, that a person may fall from a justified state, or that God may forgive sin at one time, and yet be provoked to alter his resolution, and inflict the yunishment that is due to it, at another; which is altogether inconsistent with the doctrine of the saints' perseverance in grace.

Answ. In answer to this we must observe, that our Saviour's design in his parables, is not that every word or circumstance contained in them, should be applied to signify what it seems

to import, but there is some truth in general intended to be illustrated thereby, which is principally to be regarded therein: Thus in the parable of the judge, in Luke xviii. 2, &c. ' which feared not God, neither regarded man,' who was moved, by a widow's importunity, to avenge her of her adversary;' which after a while, he resolved to do, because the widow troubled him. This is applied to God's avenging his elect, who cry day and night unto him;' where we must observe, that it is only in this circumstance that the parable is to be applied to thein without any regard had to the injustice of the judge, or his be ing uneasy, by reason of the importunity which the widow exprest in pleading her cause with him.

Again, in the parable of the steward, in Luke xvi. 1, &c. who being accused for having wasted his lord's goods; and apprehending that he should be soon turned out of the stewardship, he takes an unjust method to gain the favour of his lord's debtors, by remitting a part of what they owed him, that by this means they might be induced to shew kindness to him when he was turned out of his service. It is said indeed, verse 8. that the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had acted wisely; whereas, our Saviour does not design, in the account he gives of his injustice, to give the least countenance to it, as though it were to be imitated by us; nor by his lord's commending him as acting wisely for himself, does he intend that it is lawful or commendable for wicked men to pursue the like measures to promote their future interest. But the only thing in which this parable is applied, is, that we might learn from hence, that the children of this world are, in their generation wiser than the children of light;' and that men ought to endeavour, without the least appearance of injustice, to gain the friendship of others, by using what they have in the world, in such a way, as that they may be induced, out of gratitude for those favours, which they conferred upon them, to shew respect to them; but principally, that in performing what was really their duty, they might have ground to hope that they shall be approved of God, and received into everlasting habi

tations.

Now to apply this rule to the parable from whence the objection is taken, we must consider, that the design hereof is not to signify that God changes his mind, as men do, by forgiving persons at one time, and afterwards condemning them, as though he did not know, when he extended this kindness to them, how they would behave towards others, or whether they would improve or forfeit this privilege; since to suppose this would be contrary to the divine perfections. Therefore the only design of the parable is to shew, that they who now conclude that God has forgiven them, ought to forgive others, or

else they will find themselves mistaken at last: and though according to the tenor of the divine dispensations, or the revealed will of God, which is our only rule of judging concerning this matter, they think that they are in a justified state, it will appear, that the debt which they owed was not cancelled, but shall be exacted of them to the utmost, in their own persons; so that all that can be proved from hence is, that a man may fall from, or lose those seeming grounds, which we had to conclude that his sins were forgiven: but we are not to suppose that our Saviour intends hereby that God's secret purpose, relating to the forgiveness of sin, can be changed; or that he, who is really freed from condemnation, at one time, may fall under it at another: therefore, what is said in this parable, does not in the least give countenance to this objection, or overthrow the doctrine we are maintaining,

Objec. 8. There is another objection, taken from what the apostle Paul says concerning himself, in 1 Cor. ix. 27. I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away. Now it is certain that the apostle was a true believer; yet he concludes, that if he did not behave himself so as to subdue or keep under his corrupt passions, but should commit those open scandalous crimes, which they would prompt him to, he should, in the end, become a cast-away, that is, apostatize from God, and be rejected by him.

Answ. To this it may be replied, That though the apostle had as good ground to conclude that he had experienced the grace of God in truth, as any man, and was oftentimes favoured with a full assurance hereof; yet he did not attain this assurance by immediate revelation, so as he received those doctrines which he was to impart to the church as a rule of faith; for then it would have been impossible for him to have been mistaken as to this matter: and if this be supposed, then I would understand what he says concerning his being a castaway, as denoting what would be the consequence of his not keeping under his body; but not implying hereby that corrupt nature should so far prevail, as that he should fall from a sanctified state. Now if he did not attain this assurance by immediate revelation, then he had it in the same way as others have, by making use of those marks and characters which are given of the truth of grace; and accordingly he argues, that though, at present, he thought himself to be in a sanctified state, from the same evidences that others conclude themselves to be so; yet if corrupt nature should prevail over him, which it would do, if he did not keep his body in subjection, or if he were guilty of those vile abominations which unregenerate persons are chargeable with, then it would appear, that this assurance