derived from Adam. But how came they to inherit this depraved nature? Is not this the principal part of the curse? And it goes a very little way to relieve the mind which labours, to say that infants are punished for latent depravity, instead of suffering for the sin of Adam.

Instead of cavilling and complaining of the dispensations of the Almighty, by which we have become miserable sinners, let us not cease to bewail the deep corruption of our nature; and let us, instead of perplexing ourselves with fruitless inquiries about the principles of the divine government, by which we have been involved in this ruin, earnestly seek to know what that gracious remedy is, which God has provided for our recovery. The fact is certain, that we are in a depraved and miserable state, and unless we are redeemed from it, we must be forever in a state of degradation and misery. When it is asserted, that man is totally depraved, the meaning is not that he is as wicked as he is capable of being; or, that all men are sinners in an equal degree; but, that all men are by nature destitute of any principle of true holiness; all love the creature supremely, and their carnal hearts are at enmity with God, and not subject unto his law, neither, indeed, can be. It is evident from what has been said, that man is in a sinful, miserable, and helpless condition.

CHAPTER XVII.

COVENANT OF GRACE; OR, PLAN OF REDEMPTION.

In this treatise, the word "covenant" is used in a wide sense, to correspond with the latitude which belongs to the original terms, of which this is a translation. Without attempting to give a very exact, or logical definition of the phrase "covenant of grace," I would say, that by it is meant the whole plan of redemption, from its commencement to its consummation; or, that gracious method of bestowing salvation on elect sinners, which is revealed in the holy Scriptures.

The fall of man, by which God's chief work on earth was ruined, was not an unexpected event which took the omniscient God by surprise; nor could it disconcert that scheme which had been originally conceived in the eternal mind. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world," (Acts xv. 18.) Although God is not the author of sin, and can never look upon evil but with the strongest dis approbation; yet, having created man a free, accountable creature, and having endowed him with full ability to obey the law under which he was placed, he chose to leave him to the freedom of his own will, without exerting any direct influence on him, either to preserve him in obedience, or to cause him to fall. And, although he knew that man would fall into sin and ruin, yet he purposed to permit this, that is, not to hinder it; because he knew that he could make it the occasion of a more illustrious display of his at

tributes, especially of his justice and mercy, than could be made under other circumstances.

It is essential to just views of the covenant of grace, to assume it as an undoubted truth, that the condemnation of mankind, under the covenant of works, was just, and that the Ruler of the universe was not under any obligations to devise any plan of recovery for fallen man, any more than for fallen angels; for if it would not have been just to leave men under the curse which they had incurred, then that covenant or law, under which man was placed, was not a righteous constitution; and if it would not have been just to leave the human race in the ruin in which they were involved, then their deliverance would not be a matter of grace, but of justice. A difference of opinion may exist among the orthodox, as to the kind and degree of punishment to which the human race would have been subjected, if the law had been executed fully upon them, but there can be but one opinion respecting the justice of their punishment, by all who entertain correct opinions respecting the character and dispensations of the Governor of the universe. God was not bound to provide a Redeemer; this was a matter of mere grace and favour.

The origin of the covenant of grace was the unparalled, incomprehensible love of God to sinners of the human race. The obstacles in the way of accomplishing the salvation of those whose death was demanded by law and justice, were apparently insuperable. It may be presumed, that if the problem, how God could be just and yet justify the ungodly, had been proposed to a conclave of the brightest angels in heaven, they could not have worked out a satisfactory answer: it would have baffled their utmost intellectual efforts. That God cannot cease to treat his creatures according

to the principles of eternal justice is most evident; and that justice required that the sinner should suffer, according to his demerit, is equally evident. Where, then, is there any foundation for hope in regard to those who have once transgressed? And not only the justice, but the truth of God stood in the way of the sinner's salvation. God had threatened the penalty of death, interminable death; and the Ruler of the universe must maintain the truth of his word, as it respects his threatenings as well as his promises: "God is not a man that he should lie; nor the son of man, that he should repent." (Num. xxix. 13.) But that which could not be discovered by the wisdom of creatures, was devised by the infinite wisdom of God. In the counsels of the adorable Trinity the plan was agreed upon. Between the Father and the Son, a transaction took place, which may strictly be termed a covenant, for, speaking after the manner of men, there were mutual stipulations entered into between the high contracting parties. The Father, as Legislator and Governor of the universe, appoints the Son to the office of Mediator, and, on certain conditions, gives to him a chosen people, elected from the common mass of fallen man," according to his own good purpose." The Son willingly accepts the arduous office, and engages to comply with the proposed conditions; and the Holy Spirit consents to perform his part in the execution and consummation of the glorious plan. But, contriving and planning was not all that was requisite; the Mediator, in order to redeem man, must obey and suffer in his place; and this rendered it necessary, that he should descend to earth and be born of a woman, and made under the law. And this stoop of humiliation was not enough; the Son of God must suffer and die, in the room of the

creature man. And, in order that he might exhaust the penalty due to man for sin, the Redeemer must not only die, but his death must be of the most bitter and accursed kind. To all this he consented, and covenanted on behalf of his chosen, to meet all the demands of law and justice against them.

If any should ask, what evidence we have of this covenant of redemption, we answer, in the words of the Mediator, "I appoint," or, as the original word imports, "I give by covenant, unto you, a kingdom, as the Father hath given by covenant unto me.” Luke xxii. 29. Again, "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." John xvii. 2. "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were and thou gavest them me." (ver. 6.) "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou gavest me." (ver. 9.) Keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me." And the solemn declaration in the eighty-ninth Psalm, 66 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant," has always, by the church, been referred to the Messiah, to the spiritual David, David's Lord, and David's Son.

66

But why was this salvation confined to a certain favoured number, called the elect of God? This doctrine of the sovereignty of divine grace, has, from the beginning, been offensive to human reason. The selection of men, and not of angels, as the object of redemption, can be borne with; but that, out of the same mass, some should be taken, confessedly no better than others by nature; and that many should be reprobated or left, no worse than those elected, has ever been a stumbling-block to multitudes; and