St. Paul seems to have taken his metaphor, Rom. ix.) "if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them." So too, where God enters into an explicit vindication of the justice of his ways, Ezek. xviii. 25-27. "when the wicked man turneth away from the wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." xxxiii. 14, 15. "when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right, &c. &c. he shall surely live, he shall not die." The same is inculcated in other parts of the chapters just quoted: xviii. 31, 32. "why will ye die, O house of Israel? for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah, wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." xxxiii. 11. "say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Luke xiii. 5. "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish :" therefore, if ye repent, ye shall not perish. If then there be no repentance, of what advantage is election; or if there be repentance, of what injury is reprobation? Accordingly St. Paul, after speaking of those whom he describes as blinded, who are opposed to the elect, Rom. xi. 7. " the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded," subjoins immediately, v. 11. "have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid ;" and v. 23, &c. "and they also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be graffed in; for God is able to graff them in again," &c. Lastly, he adds, v. 32. "God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all."

If then God reject none but the disobedient and unbelieving, he undoubtedly gives grace to all, if not in equal measure, at least sufficient for attaining knowledge of the truth 9 Some I have chosen of peculiar grace,

9

Elect above the rest; so is my will:

The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd
Their sinful state, and to appease betimes,
The incensed Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites; for I will clear their senses dark
What may suffice, and soften stony hearts
To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.

1

Paradise Lost, III. 183.

and final salvation. I have said, not in equal measure, because not even to the reprobate, as they are called, has he imparted uniformly the same degree of grace. Matt. xi. 21, 23. woe unto thee, Chorazin, &c. for if the mighty works which have been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon," &c. See also Luke x. 13. For God, as any other proprietor might do with regard to his private possessions, claims to himself the right of determining concerning his own creatures according to his pleasure, nor can he be called to account for his decision, though, if he chose, he could give the best reasons for it. Rom. ix. 20, 21. nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? hath not the potter power over the clay?" That an equal portion of grace should not be extended to all, is attributable to the supreme will of God alone; that there are none to whom he does not vouchsafe grace sufficient for their salvation, is attributable to his justice. Isai. v. 4. "what could have been done more in my vineyard, that I have not done in it?" which is said of the whole nation of the Jews, not of the elect only. xxvi. 10. "let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness." Ezek. xii. 2. "which have eyes to see, and see not, they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house." 2 Kings, xvii. 13.." Jehovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, &c..... notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks." See also 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16. John i. 9. "that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." ix. 41. "if ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth," namely, because your sin is the fruit of pride, not of ignorance. xv. 22. "if I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin." xii. 34-41. " yet a little while is the light with you walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you, &c. while ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.' Acts xiii. 46. "it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy

of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." xiv. 16, 17. "who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways nevertheless he left not himself without witness." Rom. x. 20, 21. "I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me: but to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." 2 Cor. vi. 1, 2. “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' Heb. iii. 7, 8. compared with Psal. xcv. 7, 9. "to-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Undoubtedly if he desire that the wicked should turn from their way and live, Ezek. xxxiii. 11.—if he would have all men to be saved, 1 Tim. ii. 4.-if he be unwilling that any should perish, 2 Pet. iii. 9. he must also will that an adequate proportion of saving grace shall be withholden from no man; for if otherwise, it does not appear how his truth towards mankind can be justified. Nor is it enough

that only so much grace shall be bestowed, as will suffice to take away all excuse; for our condemnation would have been reasonable, even had no grace at all been bestowed.' But the offer of grace having been once proclaimed, those who perish will always have some excuse, and will perish unjustly, unless it be evident that the grace imparted is actually sufficient for salvation. So that what Moses said in his address to the Israelites, Deut. xxix. 4. "Jehovah hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day,' must be understood as having been dictated by the kindness and tenderness of his feelings, which led him to avoid the appearance of harshness and asperity in selecting that particular time for openly reproving the hardness of the hearts of so large an assembly of the people, who were then on the point of entering into covenant with God. Since, therefore, there were two causes to which their impenitence might be ascribed,—either that a heart had not yet been given by God, who was at liberty to give it when he pleased, or, that they had not yielded obedience to God,-he made mention only of God's free will, leaving their hardness of heart to be

1 God made thee of choice his own, and of his own
To serve him; thy reward was of his grace:

Thy punishment then justly is at his will.

Paradise Lost, X. 766.

suggested silently by their own consciences; for no one could be at a loss to perceive either that their own stubbornness must have been the principal cause, if to that day God had not given them an understanding heart, or, on the contrary, that God, who had wrought so many miracles for their sakes, had abundantly given them a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, but that they had refused to make use of these gifts.

Thus much, therefore, may be considered as a certain and irrefragable truth-that God excludes no one from the pale of repentance and eternal salvation, till he has despised and rejected the propositions of sufficient grace, offered even to a late hour, for the sake of manifesting the glory of his longsuffering and justice. So far from God having anywhere declared in direct and precise terms that reprobation is the effect of his arbitrary will, the reasons which influence him in cases of this kind, are frequently stated,-namely, the grievous sins of the reprobate previously committed, or foreseen before actual commission,-want of repentance,-contempt of grace, -deafness to the repeated calls of God. For reprobation must not be attributed, like the election of grace, to the divine will alone. Deut. ix. 5. "not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out before thee." For the exercise of mercy requires no vindication; it is unnecessary to assign any cause for it, except God's own merciful will; whereas before reprobation, which is followed by punishment, can be looked upon as just, the sin of the individual, not the arbitrary will of God, must be its primary cause-sin, that is to say, either committed or foreseen, grace having been repeatedly rejected, or sought at length too late, and only through fear of punishment, when the prescribed time was already past. For God does not reprobate for one cause, and condemn or assign to death for another, according to the distinction commonly made; but those whom he has condemned on account of sin, he has also reprobated on account of sin, as in time, so from all eternity. And this reprobation lies

2 See note, p. 47.

not so much in the divine will, as in the obstinacy of their own minds; nor is it the decree of God, but rather of the reprobate themselves, by their refusal to repent while it is in their power. Acts xiii. 46. "ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life." Matt. xxi. 43. "the stone which the builders rejected, &c. therefore the kingdom of God shall be taken from you.' See also 1 Pet. ii. 7, 8. Matt. xxiii. 37. "how often would I have gathered thy children together, &c. and ye would not." Nor would it be less unjust to decree reprobation, than to condemn for any other cause than sin. Inasmuch, therefore, as there is no condemnation except on account of unbelief or of sin, (John iii. 18, 19. "he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed, &c. this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light:" xii. 48. "he that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken," &c. 2 Thess. ii. 12. "that they all might be damned who believed not the truth,”) the texts themselves which are produced in confirmation of the decree of reprobation will prove that no one is excluded by any decree of God from the pale of repentance and eternal salvation, unless it be after the contempt and rejection of grace, and that at a very late hour.

I will begin with the case of Jacob and Esau, Rom. ix., because many are of opinion that it is decisive respecting the question at issue. It will be seen that predestination is not so much the subject of discussion in this passage as the unmerited calling of the Gentiles after the Jews had been deservedly rejected.

St. Paul shews in the sixth verse that the word which God spake to Abraham had not been frustrated, though so far from the whole of his posterity having received Christ, more had believed among the Gentiles than among the Jews. For the promise was not made in all the children of Abraham, but in Isaac, v. 7; that is to say, "they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." v. 8. The promise therefore was not made to the children of Abraham according to the flesh, but to the children of God, who are therefore