Effectual Calling

by Thomas Ridgley

QUESTION LXVII. What is effectual calling?

ANSWER. Effectual calling is the work of God's almighty power and grace; whereby, out of his free and especial love to his elect, and from nothing in them moving him thereunto, he doth, in his accepted time, invite and draw them to Jesus Christ by his word and Spirit, savingly enlightening their minds, renewing and powerfully determining their wills; so as they, although in themselves dead in sin are hereby made willing and able, freely to answer his call, and to accept and embrace the grace offered and conveyed therein.

QUESTION LXVIII. Are the elect effectually called?

ANSWER. All the elect, and they only, are effectually called; although others may be, and often are, outwardly called by the ministry of the word, and have some common operations of the Spirit; who, for their wilful neglect and contempt of the grace offered to them, being justly left in their unbelief, do never truly come to Jesus Christ.

The General Nature of the Gospel Call

We have, in these Answers, an account of the first step that God takes, in applying the redemption purchased by Christ. This is expressed, in general, by the word 'calling;' whereby sinners are invited, commanded, encouraged, and enabled to come to Christ, in order to their being made partakers of his benefits. The apostle styles it 'an high, holy, and heavenly calling;' and a being 'called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.'u Herein we are 'called out of darkness into his marvellous light,' and 'unto his eternal glory by Jesus Christ.'y Indeed, the word is very emphatic. For, a call supposes a person to be separate, or at a distance, from him who calls him; and it contains an intimation of leave to come into his presence. Thus, in effectual calling, he who had departed from God, is brought nigh to him. God, as it were, says to him, as he did to Adam, when fleeing from him, dreading nothing so much as his presence, and apprehending himself exposed to the stroke of his vindictive justice, 'Where art thou?' which is styled, 'God's calling unto him.' Or it is as when a traveller is taking a wrong way, and in danger of falling into some pit or snare, and a kind friend calls after him to return, and sets him in the right way. Thus God calls to sinners; as the prophet expresses it, 'Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.' In this call, God deals with men as reasonable creatures; and his doing so is by no means to be excluded from our ideas of the work of grace. Though this work implies some superior or supernatural methods of acting, in order to its being brought about; yet we may be under a divine influence, in turning to God, or in being effectually called by him, and accordingly may be acted upon by a supernatural principle, while, at the same time, our understandings or reasoning powers, are not rendered useless, but enlightened or improved thereby; by which means, every thing we do, in obedience to the call of God, appears to be most just and reasonable. This method of explaining the doctrine, wards off the absurd consequence charged upon us, that we represent God as if he dealt with us as stocks and stones. But more shall be said on this point under a following Head.

We shall now proceed more particularly, to consider the subject of these two Answers; wherein we have an account of the difference between the external call of the gospel, which is explained in the latter of them, and the internal, saving, and powerful call, which is justly termed effectual, and is considered in the former of them.

The External Call of the Gospel

We shall first speak concerning the outward and common call of the gospel, together with the persons to whom it is given, the design of God in giving it, and the issue of it with respect to a great number of those who are said to be called. The reason why we choose to insist on this common call in the first place, is, that it is antecedent to the other, and made subservient to it in the method of the divine dispensation; for we are first favoured with the word and ordinances, and then these are made effectual to salvation.

1 We shall consider, then, what we are to understand by this common call. It is observed, that it is by the ministry of the word; in which Christ is set forth in his person and offices, and sinners are called to come to him, and, in so doing, to be made partakers of the blessings which he has purchased. Thus, to set forth Christ and invite sinners is the sum and substance of the gospel-ministry; and it is illustrated by the parable of 'the marriage-feast.' When 'the king' had made this feast 'for his son,' he 'sent his servants,' by whom are meant gospel ministers, to 'call' or invite persons, and therein to use all persuasive arguments to prevail with them to come to it. This is styled their being 'called.' And the observation made on persons refusing to comply with this call, 'Many are called, but few are chosen,'b plainly intimates that our Saviour here means no other than a common or ineffectual call. In another parable the same thing is illustrated by 'an householder's hiring labourers into his vineyard,' at several hours of the day. Some were hired early in the morning, at the third hour; others, at the sixth and the ninth. This denotes the gospel call which the Jewish church had to come to Christ, before his incarnation, under the ceremonial law. And others were hired at the eleventh hour; denoting those who were called by the ministry of Christ and his disciples. That this was only a common and external call, is evident, not only from the intimation that they who had 'borne the burden and heat of the day,' that is, for many ages had been a professing people, 'murmured' because others who were called at the eleventh hour had an equal share in his regard; but also from what is expressly said—the words being the same as those with which the other parable is closed—'Many be called, but few chosen.'d Moreover, the apostle intends this common call, when he speaks of some who had been 'called into the grace of Christ;' not called by the power and efficacious grace of Christ, as denoting that the call was effectual; but called or invited to come and receive the grace of Christ, or called externally, and thereby entreated to embrace the doctrine of the grace of Christ. These are said to have been 'soon removed unto another gospel.' Elsewhere,f too, he speaks of some who, when 'the truth,' or the doctrines of the gospel, were first presented to them, expressed, for a time, a readiness to receive it,—on which account he says, 'Ye did run well,' or, ye began well; but who afterwards did not yield the obedience of faith to that truth which they seemed at first to have a very great regard to. Hence, the apostle says concerning them, 'This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.'

They who express some regard to this call, are generally said to have common grace, as distinguished from others who are under the powerful and efficacious influence of the Spirit, which is styled special. The former are often under some impressive influences by the common work of the Spirit, under the preaching of the gospel, and, notwithstanding, are in an unconverted state. Their consciences are sometimes awakened, and they bring many charges and accusations against themselves; and from a dread of consequences, they abstain from many enormous crimes, as well as practise several duties of religion. They are also said to be made partakers of some great degrees of restraining grace. These results all arise from no other than the Spirit's common work of conviction; as he is said to 'reprove the world of sin.' They are styled, in this Answer, 'the common operations of the Spirit.' They may be called operations, inasmuch as they include something more than God's sending ministers to address themselves to sinners, in a way of persuasion or arguing; for, the Spirit of God deals with their consciences under the ministry of the word. It is true, this is no more than common grace; yet it may be styled the Spirit's work. For though the call is no other than common; and though the Spirit is considered as an external agent, inasmuch as he never dwells in the hearts of any but believers; yet the effect produced is internal in the mind and consciences of men, and, in some degree, in the will, which is almost persuaded to comply. These operations are sometimes called 'the Spirit's striving with man.' But as many of these internal motions are said to be resisted and quenched,—when persons first act contrary to the dictates of their consciences, and afterwards wholly extinguish them,—the Spirit's work in those whom he thus calls, is not effectual or saving. These are not united to Christ by his Spirit or by faith; and the grace which they possess is generally styled common grace. [See Note G, page 75.]

Here let us consider that there are some things presented to us in an objective way, which contain the subject of the gospel, or that call which is given to sinners to pursue those methods which, by divine appointment, lead to salvation. As 'faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God;' so do common convictions, and whatever carries the appearance of grace in the unregenerate. In this respect God deals with men as intelligent creatures, capable of making some such improvement of those instructions and intimations as may tend, in many respects, to their advantage. This must be supposed, else the preaching of the gospel could not, abstractedly from those saving advantages which some receive by it, be reckoned an universal blessing to those who are favoured with it. This is here called the grace which is offered to those who are outwardly called by the ministry of the word. Offers of grace, and invitations to come to Christ, are words used by almost all who have treated on this subject. Of late, indeed, some have been ready to conclude that these modes of speaking tend to overthrow the doctrine we are maintaining; for they argue that an overture, or invitation, supposes a power in him to whom it is given to comply with it. Did I think this idea necessarily contained in the expressions, I would choose to substitute others in the room of them. However, to remove prejudices or unjust representations which the use of them may occasion, either here or elsewhere, I shall briefly give an account of the reason why I use them, and what I understand by them. If it be said that such expressions are not to be found in scripture, the circumstance of their not being there should make us less tenacious of them. Yet they may be used without just offence given, if explained agreeably to scripture. Let it be considered, then, that the presenting of an object, whatever it be, to the understanding and will, is generally called an 'offering' of it. Thus Gad says to David, from the Lord, 'I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them,'l &c. So, if God sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing, and bids us choose which we will have,' his doing so is equivalent to what is generally called an offer of grace. As for invitations to come to Christ, it is plain that there are many scriptures which speak to that purpose. Thus it is said, 'In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.' And, 'He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.'n And elsewhere Christ says, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' And, 'Let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely.'p Moreover, when an offer or invitation to accept of a thing, thus objectively presented to us, is made, the offer of it always supposes that it is valuable, that it would be greatly our interest to accept it, and that it is our indispensable duty to do so. Now, these are the principal ideas which I include in my sense of the word, when I speak of offers of grace in the gospel, or of invitations to come to Christ. Yet understanding the offers in this sense, does not necessarily infer a power in us to accept them, without the assistance of divine grace. Thus it may be said that Christ came into the world to save sinners; that he will certainly apply the redemption which he has purchased, to all for whom the price was given; that a right to salvation is inseparably connected with faith and repentance; that these and all other graces are God's gifts; that we are to pray, wait, and hope for them, under the ministry of the word; that, if we be, in God's own time and way, enabled to exercise these graces, our being so will be to our unspeakable advantage; and that, therefore, it cannot but be our duty to attend upon God in all his holy institutions, in hope of saving blessings;—these things may be said, and the gospel may be thus preached, without supposing that grace is in our own power. Now this is what we principally intend by gospel overtures or invitations. At the same time, we cannot approve of some expressions subversive of the doctrine of special redemption, how moving and pathetic soever they may appear to be; as when any one, to induce sinners to come to Christ, says, "God is willing; and Christ is willing, and has done his part; and the Spirit is ready to do his; and shall we be unwilling, and thereby destroy ourselves? Christ has purchased salvation for us; the Spirit offers his assistance to us; and shall we refuse these overtures? Christ invites us to come to him, and leaves it to our free will, whether we will comply with or reject these invitations. He is, as it were, undetermined whether he shall save us or not, and leaves the matter to our own conduct. We ought, therefore, to be persuaded to comply with the invitation." This method of explaining offers of grace, and invitations to come to Christ, is not what we intend when we make use of these expressions.

2. We are now to consider the persons to whom this common call is given. It is indefinite, not directed to the elect only, or those with respect to whom God designs to make it effectual to their salvation; for, according to the commission which our Saviour gave to his apostles, the gospel was to be preached to all nations, or to every creature in those places to which it was sent. The reason is obvious; the counsel of God concerning election is secret, and not to be considered as the rule of human conduct; nor are they whom God is pleased to employ in preaching the gospel, supposed to know whether he will give success to their endeavours, by enabling those who are called to comply with it.

3. We shall now show how far the gospel call may, without the superadded assistance of special grace, be improved by men, in order to their attaining some advantage by it, though short of salvation. This may be done in two respects: gross crimes may be avoided; and some things may be done which, though not good in all those circumstances which accompany or flow from regenerating grace, are materially good. That gross enormous crimes may be avoided, appears in many unconverted persons, who not only avoid but abhor them; being induced by something in nature which gives an aversion to them. The point may be argued too, from the liableness of those who commit gross crimes to punishment in proportion to their respective aggravations; for either this must suppose in man a power to avoid them, or else the greatest degree of punishment would be the result of a necessity of nature, and not self-procured by any act of man's will,—though all suppose the will to be free with respect to actions which are sinful. It would be a very poor excuse for the murderer to allege, that he could not govern his passion, but was under an unavoidable necessity to take away the life of another. Shall the man who commits those sins which are contrary to nature, say that his natural temper and disposition is so much inclined to them that he could by no means avoid them? If our natural constitution be so depraved and vitiated, that it leads us, with an uncommon and impetuous violence, to those sins which we were not formerly inclined to, whence does this arise, but from the habits of vice being increased by a wilful and obstinate perseverance, and by the many repeated acts which they have produced? And might not this, at least, in some degree, have been avoided? We must distinguish between habits of sin which flow immediately from the universal corruption of nature, and those which have taken deeper root in us by being indulged, and by exerting themselves, without any endeavours used, to restrain and check them. And if it be supposed that our natures are more habitually inclined to sin than once they were, might we not so far use the liberty of our wills as to avoid some things which, we are sensible, will prove a temptation to particular acts of sin; by which means the corruption of nature, which is so prone to comply with temptation, might be in some measure restrained, though not overcome? This may be done without converting grace; and, consequently, some great sins be avoided. To deny this, would be not only to palliate all manner of licentiousness, but to open a door for it.—Again, man has a power to do some things which are materially good, though not good in all those circumstances which accompany or flow from regenerating grace. Ahab's humility, and Nineveh's repentance,r arose from the dread they had of the divine threatenings; which is such an inducement to repentance and reformation, as takes its rise from nothing more than the influence of common grace. Herod himself, though a vile person, 'feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy; and when ho heard him, did many things, and heard him gladly.' The Gentiles also are said to 'do by nature the things,' that is, some, things, 'contained in the law;' insomuch that 'they are a law unto themselves.'t Hence they did them by the influence of common grace. Now these things, namely, abstaining from grosser sins, and doing some actions materially good, have certainly some advantage attending them; as thereby the world is not so much like hell as it would otherwise be, and as to themselves, a greater degree of punishment is avoided.

4. We are now to consider the design of God in giving the common call in the gospel. That this cannot be the salvation of all who are thus called, is evident; because all shall not be saved. If God had designed their salvation, he would certainly have brought it about; since his purpose cannot be frustrated. To say that God has no determinations relating to the success of the gospel, reflects on his wisdom; and to conclude that things may happen contrary to his purpose argues a defect of power, as if he could not attain the ends he designed. But this having been insisted on under the heads of election and special redemption, I shall pass it by at present, and only consider that the ends which God designed in giving the gospel, were such as are attained by it, namely, the salvation of those who shall eventually be saved, the restraining of those who have only common grace, and the setting forth of the glorious work of redemption by Jesus Christ; which, as it is the wonder of angels, who desire to look into it, so it is designed in the preaching of the gospel to be recommended as worthy of the highest esteem, even in those who cast contempt on it. By the preaching of the gospel, also, those are convicted who shut their eyes against the glorious light which shines so brightly in it, or neglect to behold that light.

It is objected that Christ invites and calls men to come to him, as he often does in the New Testament, and when they refuse to comply, mentions their refusal with a kind of regret; as when he says, 'Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.' The objectors hence infer that the preaching of the gospel, according to our view of it, is no other than an insult on mankind, a bidding them come without the least design that they should; as if a magistrate should go to the prison door, and tell the unhappy man who is not only under lock and key but loaded with irons, that he would have him leave that place of misery and confinement, and how much he should rejoice if he would come out, and upon condition of his doing so, propose to him several honours which he has in reserve for him. This, say they, is not to deal seriously with him. And if the offer of grace in the gospel answers the similitude, as they suppose it exactly does, there is no need for any thing farther to be replied to it: the doctrine confutes itself; as it argues the divine dealings with men to be illusory. But the similitude, how plausible soever it may appear to some, is far from giving a just representation of the doctrine we are maintaining. For when the magistrate is supposed to signify his desire that the prisoner would set himself free, which he knows he cannot do; hereby it is intimated, that though God knows that the sinner cannot convert himself, yet he commands him to do it, or to put forth supernatural acts of grace, though he has no principle of grace in him. But let it he considered that God nowhere commands any to do this. Our Saviour implies that he nowhere does so, when he speaks of 'the tree being made good' before the fruit it produces can be so;x or that it is impossible for men 'to gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles;' implying that there must be an internal disposition wrought, before any acts of grace can be put forth. This is supposed in the preaching of the gospel, or the call to sinners to repent and believe; which they have no reason to conclude that they can do without the aids of divine grace, and these they are to wait, pray, and hope for, in all God's instituted methods. As to the statement in the objection respecting promises made to us on the condition that we would release ourselves from the chains of sin, and concerning the joy God would have in our being set free, when the thing is in itself impossible; it is no otherwise true than as it contains a declaration of the connection there is between conversion and salvation, or between freedom from the slavery of sin and God's conferring many spiritual honours and privileges on those who are converted,—not that it does, in the least, denote that it is in our power to convert ourselves. But that this may be more clearly understood, we shall consider it with reference to the two branches of the objection, and so speak of God, either as commanding, calling, and inviting men to do what is out of their power, namely, to repent and believe, or as holding forth promises of that salvation which they shall not attain, because the graces of faith and repentance are out of their power. This is the substance of what is usually objected against the doctrine we are maintaining, by those who are on the other side of the question; who suppose that the call of the gospel, according to our view of it, is illusory, and therefore unbecoming the divine perfections.

As to God's commanding, calling, and inviting men to do what is out of their own power, as for instance, bidding a dead man to arise, or one who is blind to see, or those who are shut up in prison to come out thence; this is to be explained, and then, perhaps, the doctrine we are maintaining will appear to be less exceptionable. We have elsewhere, in defending the doctrine of particular redemption against an objection not much unlike this, considered how Christ is said to be offered in the gospel, or in what sense the overture may be said to be made to all who are favoured with it, while the efficacy of it extends to those only whom Christ has redeemed, and who shall be effectually called. But that we may a little farther explain this matter, let us consider that the gospel contains a declaration, that God designs to save a part of this miserable world, and that, in subserviency to this end, he has given them a discovery of Christ, as the object of faith, and the purchaser and author of salvation. But he does not in this declaration give the least intimation to any, while in a state of unregeneracy, that they shall be enabled to believe, and, in consequence, be saved. The names, characters, or places of abode, or the natural embellishments of those who shall attain this privilege, are nowhere pointed at in scripture. Nor is the book of God's secret purpose concerning election to eternal life opened, so that any one can discern his name written in it, before he be effectually called. We have no warrant to look any farther than God's revealed will, which assigns no evidence of our interests in the saving blessings of the gospel till they are experienced by us, in this effectual call. Again, God plainly discovers to men, in the gospel, that all those graces which are inseparably connected with salvation, are his work and gift, and consequently out of their own power; or that 'it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.'a He nowhere tells the man who 'is tied and bound with the chain of his sin,' that he is able to set himself free; but puts him upon expecting and praying for it, from 'the pitifulness of his great mercy.' He nowhere tells him, that he can implant a principle of spiritual life and grace in himself, or that he ought so much as to attempt to do any thing to atone for his sins, by his obedience and sufferings; but suggests the contrary, and says, 'Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.' Further, he gives none the least ground to expect or lay claim to salvation, till they believe; and as both faith and salvation are his gifts, he puts them upon seeking and desiring them in their respective order, first grace, and then glory. Moreover, the gospel call is designed to put men upon a diligent attendance on the ordinances, as means of grace, and to leave the issue and success to God who 'waits that he may be gracious,'—that so his sovereignty may appear more eminently in the dispensing of this privilege; and, in the mean time, he assigns it as their duty to 'wait for him.'c And while we are engaged in this waiting, we are to acknowledge that we have nothing which can give us any right to the privilege we are seeking. We infer, therefore, that God might justly deny success to his ordinances. Yet if he is pleased to give us, while we are attending on them, earnest desires that they may be made effectual to our conversion and salvation, we may conclude his doing so to be a token for good, that he designs us some special advantage. Nor do we know but that even those desires for grace may be the beginning of the Spirit's saving work, and therefore an earnest of his carrying it on. Finally, when God commands persons, in the gospel, to do those things which cannot be performed without his special grace, he sometimes, when he gives the command, supposes them to have a principle of spiritual life and grace, which is, in effect, to bid one who is made alive put forth living actions, which respect, more especially, the progress of grace after the work is begun. In this sense I understand those words of the apostle, 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh,' that is, hath wrought, 'in you both to will and to do, of his good pleasure.'

Let us now consider the gospel as holding forth promises of salvation, when, at the same time, it is not in our power to exercise those graces which accompany it. This gives occasion to those who except against the doctrine we are maintaining, to say that it represents God as offering those blessings which he does not design to bestow. Here we have opportunity to explain what we mean, when we consider salvation as offered in the gospel. By this we understand nothing else but a declaration that all who repent and believe shall be saved; which contains a character or description of the persons who have ground to expect this privilege. Not that salvation is founded on dubious and uncertain conditions, which depend upon the power and liberty of our will; or that it depends upon impossible conditions, as if God should say, 'If man will change his own heart, and work faith and all other graces in himself, then I will save him.' All that we mean is, that those graces which are inseparably connected with salvation, are to be waited for in our attendance on all God's ordinances; and that, when he is pleased to work them, we may conclude that we have a right to the promise of salvation.

5. Having thus spoken of the gospel call, what it is, how far it may be improved by those who are destitute of special grace, and what is God's design in giving it, we proceed to consider the issue and consequence of it. It is observed in this Answer, that many wilfully neglect, contemn, or refuse to comply with it; with respect to whom it is not made effectual to their salvation. This appears from the report which Christ's disciples brought to him, concerning the excuses many made when called to come to the marriage-feast in the parable. One pretended that he had 'bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it;' another that he had 'bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them;' and another 'had married a wife, and therefore could not come.' It is elsewhere said, 'They made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise; and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.' The prophet introduces our Saviour himself as complaining, 'I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought.'f And the reason is, 'because Israel is not gathered;' which words are to be understood in a comparative sense, as denoting the fewness of those who complied with his gracious invitations to come to him, or were convinced by the miracles which he wrought to confirm his doctrine.—Our position is farther evident from the smallness of the number of those who are effectually prevailed upon under the gospel dispensation; which the apostle calls 'the grace of God that brings salvation, that hath appeared to all men, teaching them to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.' It appears, also, from the great opposition and hatred which many express to the person of Christ, who is the subject of the gospel. The prophet not only relates this as what was observed in his day; but foretells that, in after ages, a great part of mankind would not believe the report made concerning Christ, and that he should be 'despised and rejected of men,' who would 'hide, as it were, their faces from him, and not esteem him.' This conduct is certainly the highest contempt of the gospel; for it is an undervaluing of the greatest privileges, as if they were not worthy to be embraced, desired, or sought after. And inasmuch as the conduct is wilful, arising from the enmity of the will of man against God, and against the method of salvation which he has prescribed, it has a tendency to provoke his wrath; so that those guilty of it being justly left in their unbelief, they will not come to Christ that they may have life. And as they are judicially left to themselves, they contract a greater degree of alienation from God and averse ness to him, and so never truly come to Jesus Christ; which is an awful and tremendous consideration.

This is the result with respect to those who have only the common call of the gospel. We must hence conclude that that call is not sufficient to salvation, unless there be an internal effectual call; and what that is, will be considered under our next head. But it is here necessary to inquire, whether all men, at least those who sit under the sound of the gospel, have sufficient grace given them to be able, by their own conduct, without the internal powerful influences of the Spirit, to attain salvation. This argument is much insisted on by those who adhere to the Pelagian scheme; so that we cannot wholly pass it over. Now, every one must allow that all who sit under the sound of the gospel have sufficient objective grace, or sufficient external means, to lead them in the way of salvation; for to deny this, would be to deny that the gospel is a perfect rule of faith. Accordingly, this is allowed on both sides; and we think nothing more is intended, when God says, concerning the church of the Jews, 'What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?' But the question is, Whether there be a sufficiency of power or ability in man to enable him, without the internal efficacious grace of God determining and inclining his will, to make a right improvement of the gospel for his salvation? This is what we cannot but deny. For, that the external means of grace are not rendered effectual to the salvation of all who are favoured with them, is evident; because, as was just observed, many neglect and contemn the gospel. And as to others who improve it, so that the means of grace become effectual, it must be inquired, What is it that makes them so? how comes it that the preaching of the gospel is styled to some a savour of life, to others a savour of death? The answer which the Pelagians give is, that they in whom it is effectual render it so by their improving the liberty of their will; so that they choose what is represented in the gospel as eligible, and refuse the contrary. And if the question be asked, 'Who maketh thee to differ from another?' they have, when disposed to speak agreeably to their own scheme, this answer ready at hand, 'I make myself to differ;' which is as much as to say, 'I have a natural power of improving the means of grace, without having recourse to God for any farther assistance in a supernatural way.' It may easily be observed that this supposition is greatly derogatory to the glory of God, and renders all dependence on him, both to will and to do, unnecessary. It supposes that we have sufficient ability to work those graces in ourselves which accompany salvation; otherwise the grace is not sufficient to salvation. The supposition, therefore, is contrary to all those scriptures which speak of the graces which accompany salvation as the work or the effect of the exceeding greatness of the power of God.

The Previous Character of Persons who are Effectually Called

We are now led to consider the doctrine of effectual calling, as stated in the former of the Answers which we are explaining. At present we shall inquire into the antecedent character of those who are effectually called. They have nothing which can recommend them to the divine favour; for, being considered as fallen, guilty creatures, they are unable not only to make atonement for sin, but to do what is spiritually good. Thus the apostle represents them as 'without strength;' which is the immediate consequence of man's first apostacy from God. Universal experience, also, proves that we have a propensity to everything which is evil, and that this propensity daily increases. We may add, that the mind is blinded, the affections stupified, the will full of obstinacy, the conscience disposed to deal treacherously, whereby we deceive ourselves; so that the whole soul is out of order. The apostle speaks of man 'by nature,' as 'dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; having their conversation in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.' The prophet speaks of 'the heart' of man as being 'deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.'l The apostle again describes some as 'walking in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness:' and others as being 'filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.'n This, indeed, is spoken of the Gentiles, who were destitute of the means of grace, and had contracted greater degrees of impiety than many others; but they who are effectually called would have run into the same abominations, their natures being equally inclined to them, without preventing grace. Accordingly, some of the church of Corinth are said to have done so before their conversion; whom the apostle speaks of as once having been 'unrighteous, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners.' And elsewhere he says, 'We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.'p The obstinacy and perverseness of men going on in a course of sin is so great, that God reproves a professing people by telling them that 'their neck was an iron sinew, and their brow brass.' Thus they were, before he 'refined' and 'chose' some of them, 'in the furnace of affliction.'r It hence evidently appears, that men are not naturally inclined to comply with the gospel call; and that the privilege of willingness to comply is conferred on them, when, by the Spirit, the call is made effectual to their salvation.

It is objected to what has been said concerning persons being dead in sin, before they are effectually called, that the expression 'dead in sin' is metaphorical, and is not to be strained so far as to be made to imply that they are altogether without a power to do that which is spiritually good. But while the state of men before they are effectually called, is styled 'a death in sin,' which is a metaphorical expression, we must suppose that there is a sense affixed to it which, in some respects, is adapted to those ideas which we have of the words. If scripture metaphors prove nothing because the words are transferred from their literal sense to some other, we shall be at the greatest loss to understand many important doctrines contained in the sacred writings; which abound very much in such modes of speaking. We do not suppose the metaphor to be extended so far as to imply that a person dead in sin, is incapable of acting as if he were a stock or a stone; the contrary to which is evident from what has been already said concerning the power which they who are in an unregenerate state have of doing things materially good. But we are now considering men as unable to do what is good in all its circumstances, which may render their actions the object of the divine approbation, as agreeable to God's revealed will. This, we suppose, an unregenerate person is as unable to do, as a dead man is to put forth living actions; and the reason is, that he is destitute of a supernatural principle of spiritual life. Scripture and experience not only evince the weakness, blindness, and disinclination of such to what is good, but their aversion to it. Whatever we do, therefore, either in the beginning or in the progress of the life of faith, must proceed from a renewed nature, or a supernatural principle implanted in the soul. This is sometimes called, 'a new heart,' 'a divine nature,'t as well as a quickening or a being raised from the dead.

The Change Wrought in Effectual Calling

We are now led to consider the change which is wrought in effectual calling, together with the grounds we have to conclude that it is a supernatural work, or, as it is styled in this Answer, 'the work of God's almighty power and grace.' Those whom we more especially oppose in this head of argument, are the Pelagians, and others, who, though in some things they seem to recede from them, yet cannot support their cause without adopting their scheme, when treating on the subjects of free-will, nature, and grace. These all allow that there is a change made in conversion or effectual calling; but they suppose that it is a change in man's natural temper and disposition, rather than one arising from a supernatural principle. According to them, it consists in overcoming those habits of sin which we have contracted, and in acquiring habits of virtue,—a ceasing to do evil, and a learning to do well. They suppose also that the change is in man's own power, with the concurrence of God as the God of nature, or at least, with some superadded assistances from the external dispensations of providence, which have an influence on the minds of men to produce it. By this means they think grace is first attained, and men disposed to comply with the external call of the gospel, whereby it is rendered effectual. They sometimes, indeed, use the word 'conversion,' and speak of the power and grace of God in it; and that they may not seem to detract from its glory, they profess to adore and magnify God as its author. But all they say amounts to no more than that nature acts under the influence of common providence. Something, indeed, they ascribe to God; but much less than what we think the scripture does. They say that he has made man an intelligent creature, having a power capable of choosing whatever seems advantageous, or refusing what appears to be destructive to him. Man is hence able, they say, to discern what is his duty and interest; and when his will duly attends to these dictates of his understanding, it has a power inclining it to be influenced thereby, and to embrace whatever overtures are made conducive to his future happiness. They say, farther, that as the understanding and reasoning powers and faculties are often impaired and hindered in their acting, by some accidental inconveniences of nature, such as the temperament of the body, or the diseases to which it is sometimes liable, which affect the mind; these, God, by his powerful providence, removes or protects against, that the work may go on successfully. And as our outward circumstances in the world, give a different turn to our passions, and hinder us from entertaining any inclinations to religion, they suppose that there is a farther hand of providence in ordering the various changes or conditions of life, as to its prosperous or adverse circumstances; whereby a sanguine temper is changed to one which is more melancholy or thoughtful, and more inclined to be afraid of those sins which are likely to be prejudicial; an angry and choleric temper, changed to one which has a greater mixture of meekness and humility. They say, too, that while hinderance may arise from a man's conversing with persons who tempt him to lay aside all thoughts about religion, or who load religion with reproach, in order to make him ashamed to pretend to it, the providence of God so orders circumstances and things as to make these persons unacceptable to him, or to make him disinclined to converse with them. There hence arises a congruity, as they call it, between men's natural dispositions and that grace which they are called by the gospel to exert, when they are persuaded to comply with it,—a congruity without which the overture would be in vain. Again, providence farther performs its part, by overruling some concurring circumstances external to and unthought of by an individual, in casting his lot among those who are able and desirous to persuade him to alter his sentiments in matters of religion; whose industry and zeal for his good, accompanied with their skilfulness in managing persuasive arguments used to convince him, have a great tendency to prevail upon him. He is hence persuaded, they say, to give a hearing to that which before he despised and made the subject of ridicule; and sometimes the motives and inducements which are used, accompanied with a pathetic manner of address in those whose ministry he attends, are very conducive to answer the end attained, namely, his conviction and the altering of his conduct in life,—all which are under the unforeseen direction of providence. They add, that there is a kind of internal work in exciting the passions by a general influence upon them, leaving it, notwithstanding, in man's power to determine them with respect to their proper objects; that as for the will, it still remains free and unbiassed; but that by this moral suasion, or these rational arguments, it is prevailed upon to comply with that which is for its advantage.

According to this method of accounting for the work of conversion, what the Pelagians attribute to the grace of God, is nothing more than the result of common providence; and is supposed to act no otherwise than in an objective way. What gives the turn to all is, the influence of moral suasion, whereby men are prevailed on; but for which, according to the view we have stated, they are beholden to God only as the God of nature. When this is called, by the Pelagians, a display of divine grace, nature and grace are, without scripture warrant, made to signify the same thing. Moreover, as it is plain that all which we have mentioned may be done, and yet persons remain in an unconverted state, and the gospel call be ineffectual, they suppose that there is something to be performed on man's part, which gives a sanction to and completes the work. Accordingly, say they, he must rightly use and improve the power of reasoning which God has given him, by diligently observing and attending to his law; he must persuade himself that it is highly reasonable to obey it; he must duly weigh the consequence of his compliance or refusal, and endeavour to affect himself with the consideration of promised rewards and punishments, to excite his diligence or awaken his fears; he must make use of those motives which are proper to induce him to lead a virtuous life, and, when he is brought to conclude this most eligible, he must add the force of the strongest resolutions, to avoid occasions of sin, perform several necessary duties, and associate himself with those whose conversation and example may induce him to virtue; he must attend on the word preached, with intenseness of thought, and a disposition to adhere, with the greatest impartiality, to what is recommended to him, as conducive to his future happiness. By these means, say they, he is persuaded; and thence proceed those acts of grace which afterwards, by being frequently repeated, arrive to a habit; so that, being brought into a state of conversion, if his acquired habits of goodness be not lost by negligence, stupidity, and impenitence, or by adhering to the temptations of Satan, he is in a fair way to heaven; which, notwithstanding, he may miss by apostacy, since the work is to be carried on by him, as it was at first begun, by his own conduct.

This account of effectual calling or conversion, supposes it to be little more than a work of common providence. All the grace which the Pelagians seem to own, is nothing more than nature exerting itself under the conduct of those reasoning powers which God has given it. None pretend to deny that our reasoning powers are to be exerted and improved; or that those arguments which tend to give conviction, and motives to enforce obedience, must be duly attended to. Nor do we deny that there is a kind hand of providence seen in overruling our natural tempers and dispositions, in giving a check to that corruption which is prevalent in us, and in rendering our condition in life, some way or other, conducive to a farther work which God designs to bring about. We assert also, that providence greatly favours us in bringing us under the means of grace, or in casting our lot in places where we have the advantages of the conversation and example of others who are burning and shining lights in their generation. Nor is providence less seen in adapting a suitable word to our condition, or in raising our affections while attending to it. All this, however, falls very far short of effectual calling, as a display of God's power and grace. This work is no more than natural; while conversion is a supernatural work. In this we may be led by common grace; but effectual calling is a work of special grace. The effect of this is only a change of life; but we assert, and have scripture ground for doing so, that there is in conversion a change of heart. This scheme supposes the very principle and spring of grace to be acquired by man's improving his natural powers, under the conduct of God's providence; whereas we suppose, and shall endeavour to prove under a following head, that it is not acquired, but infused, and is the effect of divine power. This supposes that the work is brought about by moral suasion, and that, while the understanding receives the arguments which are made use of in an objective way, the will is induced to a compliance, by choosing that which is good, and refusing that which is evil; whereas we assert that the will of man is bowed and subjected to Christ, its enmity overcome, and we are said to be 'made willing in the day of his power.'

But that which bears the greatest share in this work, is, according to the Pelagians, the will and power of man determining itself, by proper motives and arguments, to what is good. This supposes that the will acts freely in the matter. We have here an opportunity to consider the nature of human liberty. Now we do not deny, in general, that man is endowed with a free will, which exerts itself in things of a lower nature than that which we are speaking of; for this is as evident as that he is endowed with an understanding. We shall, therefore, in speaking concerning the liberty of the will of man, consider, first, what are the essential properties of liberty, without which an action would cease to be free; and, secondly, how far the power of man's free will may be extended, with a particular view to the matter under our present consideration.

1. As to the nature and essential properties of human liberty, they whose sentiments of free will and grace we are opposing, suppose that it is essential to a free action, that it be performed with indifference, that is, that the will of man should be so equally poised that, while it determines itself to one extreme, it might as well have determined itself to the other. They hence say, that he who loves God freely, might, by a determination of his will, as well have inclined himself to hate him; and that, on the other hand, he who hates God, might, by an act of his will, have determined himself to love him. The balance is supposed to be equal; and it is the method which the person uses to determine his will, which gives a turn to it. They hence infer that those who persevere in grace, which they do freely, may, for the same reason, apostatize. Yea, they proceed farther, at least some of them do, and maintain that our Saviour might have sinned, and consequently that the work of our redemption might have miscarried in his hands; because, according to their notion of liberty, he acted freely in all those exercises of grace which, we suppose, were no less free that they were necessary. From the account they give of liberty, our opponents infer also, that the angels and glorified saints may sin, and so lose the state of blessedness which they are possessed of; otherwise their obedience is not free. These absurdities are so apparently gross, that they who duly weigh them will not easily adopt this notion of liberty. There is another absurdity, which the Pelagians dare not assert; for it would be the greatest blasphemy that could be expressed in words, though it equally flows from their method of explaining the nature of liberty; that either God must not act freely, or else he might act the contrary, with respect to those things in which he acts, like himself, as a God of infinite perfection; and accordingly, if he loves or delights in himself freely, or designs his own glory as the highest end of all that he does, and uses means to bring about those ends which are most conducive to it, wherein his holiness, wisdom, justice, and faithfulness appear, I say, it will follow from their scheme, and I cannot but tremble to mention it, that he might do the contrary; and what is this but to say, that he might cease to be God?

The arguments which they who attempt to support this notion of liberty, insist on, are taken from the ideas which we generally have of a person's acting freely. For instance, if a man performs any of the common actions of life, such as walking, sitting, standing, reading, writing, &c. freely, he may do the contrary. But there is a vast difference between asserting that many of the actions of life are arbitrary or indifferent, so that we might do the contrary, and saying that indifference is essential to liberty; for that which is essential to an action must belong to every individual action of the same kind. Thus concerning their notion of liberty, whom we oppose.

The notion of liberty in which we acquiesce is, that its essential property or nature consists in a person's doing a thing without being laid under a natural necessity to do it; or doing it of his own accord, without any force laid on him.z Others express it by a person's doing a thing out of choice, as having the highest reason to determine him to do it. This is that notion of liberty which we cannot but approve of.

2. We are now to show how far the power of man's free will may be extended, with a particular view to the matter under our present consideration. Here let it be observed, that the power of man's will extends itself to things within its own sphere, and not above it. All actions and powers of acting, are contained within certain limits, agreeably to the nature and capacity of the agent. Creatures below man cannot put forth rational actions; and man cannot put forth supernatural actions, if he be not made partaker of a divine or spiritual nature, as being endowed with a supernatural principle, such as that which is implanted in regeneration. Consider him as an intelligent creature, and it is agreeable to his nature to put forth free actions, under the conduct and direction of the understanding; but if we consider him as renewed, converted, or effectually called, and acting agreeably to his being so, he is under the influence of a higher principle, which I call 'a divine nature,' according to the phrase which the apostle uses. The former supposes no more than the concourse of common providence, which first gave and then maintains our reasoning faculties; while the latter supposes that we are under the influence of the Spirit, whereby we are enabled to act in a supernatural way, our natures being renewed and disposed so to act. In this, however, we are not divested of the liberty of our wills; but they are improved and enabled to do what before they were averse and disinclined to. That man acts freely in those things which are agreeable to his nature, as an intelligent creature, all will allow. Moreover, we consider that the understanding and the will concur in actions which are free, and that one of these is subservient to the other. For instance, we cannot be said to desire, delight in, choose, or refuse a thing, unless we have some idea of it, as an object which we think meet to be desired or rejected.—It may be farther inquired, whether the will has in itself a power to follow the dictates of the understanding, in things which are agreeable to our nature; and whether it is generally disposed to do this, unless biassed by the passions, inclining and determining it another way. Now this, I think, is not to be denied. But in our present argument, we are to consider the will of man as conversant about things supernatural, and accordingly, must give a different account of Christian liberty from that which is merely human, as before described. The Pelagians will allow what has been said concerning the nature of liberty in general; but the difference between us and them is, that we confine it within its own sphere, while they extend it farther, and apply it to regeneration, effectual calling, and conversion. Now as regards these, the will discovers itself no otherwise than as enslaved to or a servant of sin;c and the powers and faculties of the soul, with relation to it, are weakened by the prevalence of corruption, so that we are not able to put forth those actions which proceed from a renewed nature, and determine a person to be 'renewed in the spirit of his mind,' or to have put 'on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.'—Again, it may be inquired, whether the will necessarily follows the dictates of the understanding, so that the grace of God takes its rise thence. Now, the understanding, indeed, represents things spiritual and heavenly to us, as good and desirable, and worthy of all acceptation, and gives us an undeniable conviction that all the motives used in scripture, to choose and embrace them, are highly reasonable; but yet it does not follow, that the will of man is always overcome by these representations of the understanding. The reason of this is, the strong propensity and inclination which there is in corrupt nature to sin, which bids defiance to all the arguments and persuasions which are used to the contrary, till we are brought under the influence of a supernatural principle, implanted in the soul in effectual calling.

This leads us farther to inquire, whether, supposing a man has this principle implanted in effectual calling, he then acts freely? or, what is the liberty of man's will, when internally moved and influenced by divine grace? Here we must consider that special grace does not destroy, but improve, the liberty of man's will. When there is a new nature implanted in him, it discovers its energy, and makes a change in all the powers and faculties of the soul. There is a new light shining in the understanding, vastly different from, and superior to, that which it had before. This may truly be called, 'the light of life,' not only as it leads to eternal life, but as it proceeds from a principle of spiritual life. It is what we generally call 'saving knowledge;' as it is said, 'This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'f Now this light in the understanding, being attended with power in the will, the latter is induced to comply with the dictates of the former; not merely as being prevailed on by rational arguments, but as there is a divine power accompanying them. It is not indeed prevailed on without arguments; for the Spirit makes use of the word to persuade, as well as to direct. Though we do not, with the Pelagians, say that the will is overcome only by arguments, as if the victory were owing to our power of reasoning; yet we freely own that we act with judgment, and see the highest reason for what we do. We are enabled to use our reasoning powers, indeed; but these are sanctified by the Spirit, as well as the will renewed; and both concur in order to our receiving and improving the doctrines contained in the gospel. The Spirit of God also removes those rooted prejudices which we had entertained against the way of salvation by Christ. Upon the whole, therefore, the gospel has its use, as it directs and excites our faith. Our reasoning powers and faculties have their use also, as we take in, and are convinced by, what is therein contained. All this, however, would be to no purpose, if there were not a superior power determining the will to a thorough compliance. We do not deny that moral suasion often has a tendency to incline a man to the performance of moral duties; but it is what I choose rather to call evangelical persuasion, or the Spirit of God setting home upon the heart and conscience what is contained in the gospel, which makes it effectual to salvation.

Effectual Calling a Divine Work

We have thus spoken concerning the nature and extent of human liberty. But as this liberty is not to be assigned as that which renders the gospel call effectual, let it be farther considered that effectual calling is brought about by the almighty power of God. As is observed in this Answer, it is 'a work of God's almighty power and grace.' This is what enhances the excellency and glory of it above all the works of common providence. Yet our saying that it is a divine work, is hardly sufficient to distinguish it from what the Pelagians often call it; by which, however, they mean nothing more than the powerful work of God, as the God of nature and providence. We must consider it as a work of divine power exerting itself in a supernatural way; not only as excluding the agency of creatures from bearing a part in it, but as opposed to those works which are brought about by the moral influence of persuasive arguments, without any change wrought in the will of man.In this sense we understand effectual calling to be a work of God's almighty power. That it may appear to be so, let it be premised, that it is not inconsistent with God's dealing with men as intelligent creatures, endowed with liberty of will, to exert this power; for special providence or efficacious grace does no more destroy man's natural powers, by its internal influence enabling and exciting him to do what is supernaturally good, than common providence being conversant about the free actions of men, makes them cease to be free,—only the former exerts itself in a different and superior way, producing effects much more glorious and excellent. This being supposed, we shall, without pretending fully to explain the manner of the divine agency, which is principally known by its effects, endeavour to show that effectual calling is, in a way of eminence, the work of divine power, as distinguished from other works which are, in their kind, the effects of power in a natural way. We shall next observe what effects are produced by it, and in what order. We shall then consider it as it is, in a peculiar manner, attributed to the Spirit of God, and also show that it is a wonderful display of his grace. We shall farther consider this divine power as irresistible, and consequently such as cannot but be effectual to produce what it is designed to bring about. And finally, we shall say something concerning the season in which this is done; which is called 'God's accepted time.'

I. Effectual calling is eminently a work of divine power. For the proof of this, we have not only many express texts of scripture which sufficiently establish it, but we may appeal to the experience of those who are made partakers of this grace. If they compare their former and present state, they may easily perceive in themselves that there is such a change wrought in them as is contrary to the inclinations of corrupt nature,—a change in which the stubbornness and obstinacy of their wills has been subdued, and such effects produced in them as they never experienced before. And the manner in which these effects have been produced, as well as the consequences of them, gives them a proof of the agency of God in the change, and of the glory of his power exerted; so that they who deny that effectual calling is eminently a work of divine power, must be unacquainted with themselves, or not duly observe that which carries its own evidence with it.

But we shall take our proofs principally from scripture. There we have an account of the beginning of this work, which is styled 'the new birth.' In this we are said to be made 'partakers of the divine nature;' that is, a nature which is produced by divine power. We are also said to be 'born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.'h The gospel, which is the instrument he makes use of in calling effectually, is styled 'the rod of his strength.' The effect of it is ascribed to the 'revelation of his arm.'k The season in which this is done, is called 'the day of his power.' And the gospel itself is, by a metonymy, called 'his power.'m The cross of Christ is also, when preached and made effectual for conversion, styled 'the power of God.' Moreover, the progress of the work of grace is ascribed to 'the power of God.'o It is this power which 'keeps' those who are effectually called 'through faith unto salvation.' That the power may appear to be extraordinary, the apostle uses an uncommon emphasis of expression, when he calls it 'the exceeding greatness of his power,' and 'the working of his mighty power;'q which words can hardly be translated without losing something of their force and beauty. Indeed, there is not an expression used in scripture to signify the efficacy of divine power, which exceeds, or, I may say, equals them. That the apostle may appear to speak of the power more strongly, he, in the following words, represents it as being no less than 'that power which wrought in Christ, when God raised him from the dead.'—Let me add, that something to the same purpose may be inferred from those metaphorical expressions by which conversion is set forth. Thus it is called 'a creation.' When we are made partakers of this privilege, we are said to 'be created in righteousness and true holiness.'s The apostle seems to compare it with the creation of man at first after the image of God, which consisted principally in righteousness and true holiness. He, accordingly, considers this image as restored when a principle of grace is implanted, whereby we are again disposed to the exercise of righteousness and holiness. Elsewhere, also, he says, 'We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that we should walk in them.' Here he supposes that this creating power must be exerted before we can put forth good works; so that it can be nothing less than the power of God. Nor would it have been styled 'a creation,' if it had not been a supernatural work; so that it is, in that respect, more glorious than many other effects of the divine power.—Conversion is styled, also, 'a resurrection from the dead.' Thus the apostle says, 'You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.'u In this respect, it certainly exceeds the power of men. A physician by his skill may mend a crazy constitution, or recover it from the confines of death; but to raise the dead exceeds the limits of finite power. This mode of speaking our Saviour makes use of to signify the conversion or effectual call of sinners, when he says, 'The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.' He had, in the preceding verse, been speaking of those 'having eternal life,' and 'not coming into condemnation, and being passed from death to life,' who hear his words and believe; and then it follows, that 'the hour is coming,' that is, the time is near at hand when the Spirit shall be poured forth, and the gospel-dispensation be begun, and it 'now is,' in some degree, namely, in those who were converted by his ministry, 'when the dead shall hear his voice and live,' or pass from a state of spiritual death to life, as a means for their attaining eternal life. This view is much more agreeable to the context, than to conclude, as some do to evade the force of this argument, that, in the words 'now is,' our Saviour speaks concerning some who were then, or should thereafter be, raised from the dead in a miraculous manner; and that 'the hour is coming,' refers to the general resurrection. But this seems not to be the sense of the text; because our Saviour, in a following verse, supposes his hearers to be astonished at the doctrine, as though it was too great an instance of power for him to implant a principle of spiritual life in dead sinners; and therefore he proves his assertion from his raising the dead at the last day: 'Marvel not, for the hour is coming,' that is, at the end of the world, 'when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice.'y This cannot well agree with understanding Christ's raising the dead to refer to the general resurrection; for that would represent him as answering their objection, or putting a stop to their wonder at what he had said, by asserting the same thing in other words. If, however, you suppose the dead 'hearing his voice,' to imply a spiritual resurrection, and 'the dead being raised out of their graves,' to be an argument to convince his hearers that his power was sufficient to bring about this great effect, there is much more beauty in the expression, and strength in the reasoning, than to understand the passage otherwise.—This is so plain a proof of the argument we are endeavouring to defend, that nothing needs be added. However, I cannot but mention another scripture, in which our Saviour says, 'No man can come to me except the Father draw him.' Here Christ, by 'coming to him,' does not mean attending on his ministry, which did not require any power to induce them to it; but 'believing on him,' so as to 'have everlasting life.' In this sense, 'coming to him' is often understood in the gospels;a and it is the immediate consequence of effectual calling. Now, when our Saviour says that 'no man can' thus 'come to him' without being 'drawn by the Father,' we may understand what he means by what is said in a following verse, namely, their being 'taught of God,' and having 'heard and learned of the Father.' Such, says he, 'come unto me.' Now, this 'teaching' certainly implies more than giving a rule of faith contained in divine revelation; for Christ is not here, as elsewhere, proving the necessity of divine revelation, but is speaking concerning its saving efficacy; and none can deny that many have been objectively taught and instructed by the word, who have not come to Christ, or believed in him to everlasting life. The words are a quotation from the prophets, to whom he refers, and who intimate that they should be 'all taught of God.' But this teaching certainly implies more than an objective teaching and instructing; for in this sense they, having divine revelation, were always taught of God. What the prophet Isaiah mentions, when he foretells this matter, is a special privilege; as appears by his connecting it with the great peace which its subjects should have, or the confluence of saving blessings which should attend it. The prophet Jeremiah, who speaks to the same purpose, says, 'They shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them;'d that is, not only shall they have an objective revelation, or that which some call moral suasion, but this shall be made effectual to their salvation. And in order to its being so, God promises that he would 'put his law in the inward part, and write it in the heart,' and that he would 'give them a new heart,' and 'put a new spirit within them,' and hereby 'cause them to walk in his statutes.' The teaching, therefore, is not merely a rectifying of some mistakes to which they are liable, but a producing in them of something which they had not before; not building upon the old foundation, but laying a new one, and so working a change in the powers and faculties of the soul. And as they formerly were obdurate and hardened in sin, he promises to 'take away the heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh,' and by his 'word,' which is compared to 'a hammer,' to 'break the rock in pieces.'f This is certainly a work of power. But that it is so, will farther appear from what follows in considering the work itself.

II. We are thus led to show what effects are produced by the power of God, when we are effectually called.

1. The first step which he is pleased to take in this work, is his implanting a principle of spiritual life and grace, which is absolutely necessary for our attaining to, or receiving advantage by, the external call of the gospel. This is generally styled regeneration, or the new birth, or, as in the scripture just referred to, 'a new heart.' If it be inquired, what we are to understand by this principle, we answer that, as principles are known only by the effects they produce, springs of acting, by the actions themselves, we must be content with the description, that it is something wrought in the heart of man, whereby he is habitually and prevailingly biassed and inclined to what is good. In virtue of it, he freely, readily, and willingly chooses those things which tend to the glory of God; and refuses, abhors, and flees from what is contrary to it. As this effect more immediately concerns the understanding, whereby it is enabled to discern in a spiritual way the things which God reveals in the gospel, it is styled his 'shining in the heart, to give us the light of the knowledge of his glory,' or his giving 'an eye to see, and an ear to hear.'h As it respects the will, it contains a power whereby it is disposed and enabled to yield the obedience of faith, to whatever God is pleased to reveal to us as a rule of duty; so that we are made willing in the day of his power. And as it respects the affections, they are all inclined to run in a right channel, to desire, delight, and rejoice in every thing which is pleasing to God, and to flee from every thing which is provoking to him. This is that whereby a dead sinner is made alive, and so enabled to put forth living actions.

Concerning this principle of grace, let it be observed that it is infused, and not acquired. The first principle or spring of good actions, may as truly be supposed to be infused into us as Christians, as the principle of reasoning is said to be infused into us as men. None ever supposed that the natural power of reasoning may be acquired, though a greater facility or degree of it is gradually attained. In the same way, that power whereby we are enabled to put forth supernatural acts of grace, which we call a principle of grace, must be supposed to be implanted in us; for, were it acquired, we could not, properly speaking, be said to be born of God. I am hence obliged to infer, that the regenerating act, or the implanting of this principle of grace, which, in the order of nature at least, is antecedent to any act of grace put forth by us, is the immediate effect of the power of God. This none who speak of regeneration as a divine work, pretend to deny. I cannot but conclude, therefore, that it is wrought in us without the instrumentality of the word, or of any of the ordinary means of grace. My reason for thinking so is, that it is necessary, from the nature of the thing, to our receiving or improving the word of God. or reaping any saving advantage by it, that the Spirit should produce the principle of faith. Now, to say that this is done by the word, is, in effect, to assert that the word produces the principle, and the principle gives efficacy to the word; which seems, to me, little less than arguing in a circle. The word cannot profit, unless it be mixed with faith; faith cannot be put forth, unless it proceed from a principle of grace implanted; therefore this principle of grace is not produced by the word. We may as well suppose that the presenting of a beautiful picture before a man who is blind can enable him to see, or that the violent motion of a withered hand can produce strength for action, as we can suppose that the presenting of the word, in an objective way, is the instrument whereby God produces that internal principle by which we are enabled to embrace it. Nor would this so well agree with the idea of its being a new creature, or of our being 'created unto good works;' for then it ought rather to be said, we are created by faith, which is a good work. This is, in effect, to say that the principle of grace is produced by the instrumentality of that which supposes its being implanted, and that it is the result and consequence of it.—I am sorry that I am obliged, in this assertion, to appear at least to oppose what has been maintained by many divines of great worth; who have, in all other respects, explained the doctrine of regeneration agreeably to the mind and will of God, and the analogy of faith. It may be the principal difference between this explanation and theirs is, that they speak of regeneration in a large sense, as including, not merely the implanting of the principle, but the exciting of it, and do not sufficiently distinguish between the principle as implanted and as deduced into action; for, I readily own that the latter is by the instrumentality of the word, though I cannot think the former so. Or it may be, they consider the principle as exerted; while I consider it as created or wrought in us, and therefore can no more conclude that the new creation is wrought by an instrument, than I can that the first creation of all things was.

I am ready to conjecture that what leads many divines into this way of thinking, is the sense in which they understand the words of the apostle: 'Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever;' and elsewhere, 'Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.'l But this language respects not so much the implanting of the principle of grace, as our being enabled to act from that principle. It is as if the inspired writers had said, 'He hath made us believers, or induced us to love and obey him by the word of truth.' This supposes a principle of grace to have been implanted; otherwise the word of truth would never have produced these effects. Regeneration may be taken, not only for our being made alive to God. or created unto good works, but for our putting forth living actions, proceeding from that principle which is implanted in the soul. I am far from denying that faith and all other graces are wrought in us by the instrumentality of the word; and it is in this sense that some who treat on this subject explain their sentiments, when they speak of being born again by the word. I persuade myself, therefore, that I differ from them only in the acceptation of words, and not in the substance of the doctrine they maintain. [See Note H, page 77.]

2. The principle of grace being implanted, the acts of grace in those who are adult, immediately follow. There is, in other words, a change of our behaviour, a renovation of our lives and actions, which may properly be called conversion. Having explained what we mean by regeneration, it is now necessary to consider how it differs from conversion. Here I shall take leave to transcribe a few passages from the excellent divine just mentioned. "Regeneration is a spiritual change; conversion is a spiritual motion. In regeneration there is a power conferred: conversion is the exercise of this power. In regeneration there is given us a principle to turn; conversion is our actual turning. In the covenant, the new heart, and God's putting the Spirit into them, is distinguished from their walking in his statutes, from the first step we take in the way of God, and is set down as the cause of our motion. In renewing us, God gives us a power; in converting us, he excites that power. Men are naturally dead, and have a stone upon them; regeneration is a rolling away the stone from the heart, and a raising to newness of life; and then conversion is as natural to a regenerate man, as motion is to a living body. A principle of activity will produce action. The first reviving us is wholly the act of God, without any concurrence of the creature; but, after we are revived, we do actively and voluntarily live in his sight. Regeneration is the motion of God in the creature; conversion is the motion of the creature to God, by virtue of that first principle. From this principle all the acts of believing, repenting, mortifying, quickening, do spring. In all these a man is active; in the other, he is merely passive." This is what we may call the second step, which God takes in effectual calling; and it is brought about by the instrumentality of the word. The word before this was preached to little or no purpose, or, it may be, was despised, rejected, and disregarded; but now a man is enabled to see a beauty and a glory in it, all the powers and faculties of his soul being under the influence of the spiritual life implanted in regeneration, and inclined to yield a ready and cheerful obedience. This work is gradual and progressive, and as such, is called the work of sanctification,—of which more shall be said under a following Answer;o and it is attended with repentance unto life, and all other graces which accompany salvation. In this respect we are drawn to Christ by his word and Spirit; or, by his Spirit making use of his word, our minds are savingly enlightened, our wills renewed and determined to what is good; so that, as it is expressed in the Answer we are explaining, we are made willing and able freely to answer the call of God, and to accept of and embrace the grace offered and conveyed in the gospel.

The first thing in which that change which is wrought in effectual calling manifests itself, is our understanding being enlightened to receive the truths revealed to us in the word of God. Accordingly, we see things with a new and different light,—behold a greater beauty, excellency, and glory in divine things, than ever we did before. We are also led into ourselves, and convinced of sin and misery, concluding ourselves to be, by nature, in a lost and undone condition. The soul then sees the glory of Christ, the greatness of his love who came to seek and save those that were lost, and who now appears precious, as he is said to be to those who believe. Then the will—being determined or enabled so to do, by the Spirit of God exciting the principle of grace which he had implanted—accepts of Christ on his own terms; and the affections all centre in him, and desire to derive all spiritual blessings from him. Thus the work of grace is begun in effectual calling, which is afterwards carried on in sanctification.

As we are here considering the beginning of the work of grace in effectual calling, I cannot but take notice of a question which frequently occurs on this subject, namely, Whether man, in the first moment of effectual calling, that is, in regeneration, be merely passive, though active in every thing which follows? That he is so, we cannot but affirm, not only against the Pelagians, but against others whose method of treating the doctrine of divine grace seems to agree with theirs. Here, that we may obviate a popular objection, usually brought against our assertion, as if we argued that God dealt with men as if they were machines, and not endowed with understanding or will, let it be observed that we consider the subjects of this grace no otherwise than as intelligent creatures, capable of being internally excited and disposed to what is good, or else God would never work this principle in them. Nor do we suppose, however men are said to be passive in the first moment in which this principle is implanted, that they are so afterwards; but we say that they are enabled to act under the divine influence. The case is similar to the literal creation of Adam. When his soul was created, it could not be said to be active in its own creation, and in the implanting of those powers which were concreated with it; yet it was active, or those powers exerted themselves, immediately after it was created. This is the state of the question we are now debating. We cannot but maintain, therefore, that men do not concur in the implanting of the principle of grace; for then they would be active in being created unto good works. But these are the result, and not the cause of that power which is infused into them, in order to their being produced. The doctrine we have stated is sufficiently evident, not only from the impotency of corrupt nature as to what is good, but from its utter aversion to it, and from the work being truly and properly divine, or, as was formerly observed, the effect of almighty power. This is not a controversy of late date; but has been either defended or opposed, since the time of Augustine and Pelagius. Many volumes have been written concerning the aids and assistances of divine grace in the work of conversion. The schoolmen were divided in their sentiments about it, as they adhered to or receded from Augustine's doctrine. Both sides seem to allow that the grace of God affords some assistance; but the main thing in debate, is, Whether the grace of God bears only one part in this work, and the will of man the other; like two persons lifting at the same burden, and carrying it between them? Some have allowed that the divine concourse is necessary, and yet have not been willing to own that man bears no part in this work, or that 'it is God that worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.' This the apostle asserts in so plain terms, that the most known sense of his words cannot well be evaded. Indeed, were it otherwise, it could hardly be said, that 'we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; a saying which, though immediately applied to ministers, is certainly, by a parity of reason, applicable to all Christians.q Nor would it be, in all respects, true, that we are 'born of God,' or that we, who formerly were dead in sin, are raised to a spiritual life, or made, with respect to the principle of spiritual actions, new creatures; all which is done in regeneration.

We might also take occasion, under this head, to notice what we often meet with in practical discourses and sermons, concerning preparatory works, or previous dispositions, which facilitate and lead to the work of conversion. Some assert that we must do what we can, and, by using our reasoning powers and faculties, endeavour to convert or turn ourselves; and that then God will do the rest, or finish the work which we have begun. Many things are often considered as the steps which men may take in the reformation of their lives,—such as abstaining from gross enormities which they may have been guilty of, thinking on their ways, observing the tendency of their present course of life, and setting before themselves proper arguments which may induce them to repent and believe; and then, it is alleged, they may be said to have prepared themselves for the grace of God, the bestowal of which upon them will follow. It is added that, if there be any thing remaining, which is out of their power, God has engaged to give success to their endeavours; so that he will bring them into a state of regeneration and conversion.—Now, this method of accounting for the work of grace is liable to many exceptions; particularly as it supposes man to be the first mover in his own conversion, and the divine energy to be dependent upon our conduct. For the contrary is agreeable, not only to scripture, but to the divine perfections, as well as to the doctrine we have been maintaining as to effectual calling being, in the most proper sense, a divine work.—But that we may impartially consider this matter, and set what some call a preparatory work in a just light, let it be observed that preparatory works must either be considered as good in all those circumstances which are necessary to denominate them good, particularly they must proceed from a good principle, that is to say, a principle of regeneration; or else they are only such works as are materially good, which many perform who are never brought into a state of conversion. Or if, on the other hand, they are supposed to proceed from a principle of regeneration, they are works, from the nature of the thing, not preparatory to the first grace, but rather consequent upon it.—Again, it is one thing to assert that it is our duty to perform all those works which some call preparatory for conversion,—such as meditation, attendance on ordinances, duly weighing those arguments or motives which should lead us to repentance and the exercise of all other graces; and another thing to say that every one who performs these duties shall certainly have regenerating grace. Or, it is one thing to apply ourselves to the performance of those duties, as far as it is in our own power, and, at the same time, to wait, pray, and hope for success to attend them; and another thing to assert that success shall always attend them, as if God had laid himself under an obligation to give special grace to those who, in this way, improve that which is common. For the contrary to this may be observed in many instances; and when we have done all, we must conclude that the grace of God, if he is pleased to give success to our endeavours, is free and sovereign.—Further, they who say that if we do all we can, God will do the rest, advance very little to support their argument; since there is no one who can pretend that he has done what he could. May we not suppose, too, that God, in a judicial way, as punishing us for the many sins we commit, may deny us success? How can it be said, then, that success will necessarily follow? When we perform any of those duties which some call preparatory to conversion, they are to be considered as the Spirit's preparing his own way, rather than as corrupt nature's preparing itself for grace. We are far from denying that there is a beautiful order in the divine dispensations. The Spirit of God first convinces of sin; and then shows the convinced sinner where his help is to be had, and enables him to close with Christ by faith. He first shows the soul its own corruption and nothingness; and then leads him to see Christ's fulness, or that all his salvation is reposed in his hands, and enables him to believe in him to the saving of the soul. One of these works, indeed, prepares the way for the other. None of them, however, can be said to prepare the way for regeneration; which is the work of the Spirit of God, and without which no other can be said to be a saving work.

It is objected that there are several scriptures which seem to speak of common grace, as being preparatory for special. Thus the scribe, mentioned in the gospel, who expressed himself 'discreetly,' in asserting that, 'to love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices,' is said to have been 'not far from the kingdom of God.' Elsewhere, too, we are exhorted 'to ask' and 'to seek;' and a promise is annexed, that 'it shall be given us, and we shall find.'s In another place, we are commanded 'to turn at God's reproof;' and it is said, 'he will pour out his Spirit' unto us, 'and make known his words unto us.' There are also several other scriptures, in which superadded grace is connected with duty enjoined; which duty is supposed to be in our own power, and to be preparatory for it.—Now, as to the first of these scriptures, in which our Saviour tells the scribe that he was 'not far from the kingdom of God,' he intends nothing else but that the profession he made, which he calls his 'answering discreetly,' was not very remote from that which was made by those who were the subjects of his kingdom. It is the doctrine the scribe mentions which Christ commends. It must hence not be inferred that he had regard to his state, as if his inward temper of mind, or moral conduct of life, were such as more immediately disposed him for a state of grace, so that he was hovering between a state of unregeneracy and conversion.—As for the instance in which persons are supposed to prepare themselves by prayer for that grace which God gives in answer to it, the meaning is not that he has obliged himself to give whatever they ask for relating to their salvation. Neither the scripture referred to, nor any other to the same purpose, can have this meaning, unless it be understood of the prayer of faith, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. This, however, supposes regenerating grace, and therefore, is foreign to the argument in which man is considered as preparing himself for the grace of God, and not as expecting farther degrees of grace, upon his being inclined by the Spirit of God to seek them.—As for God's engaging 'to give the Spirit,' and to 'make known his words,' to those who 'turn at his reproof;' this, I conceive, contains nothing else but a promise of the Spirit, to carry on the work of grace in all those in whom it is begun. Though 'turning,' in scripture, is some times taken for external reformation, which is in our own power, as it is our indispensable duty; yet, whenever a promise of saving blessings is, as in this scripture, annexed to it, it is to be understood as denoting the grace of repentance. If it be said that this is God's gift, and therefore cannot be the subject of an exhortation, it may be replied that saving grace is often represented, in scripture, as our act or duty; in order to the performance of which we ought to say, as the church is represented as doing, 'Turn thou me, and I shall be turned;' that is, 'I shall return unto thee with my whole heart, and not feignedly.'x—The same reply might be given to the objector's sense of several other scriptures brought to maintain the doctrine of preparatory works performed by us, as necessarily inferring our obtaining the special grace of God. But I shall close this head with a few hints taken from the excellent divine formerly mentioned. "Man cannot prepare himself for the new birth. He hath, indeed, a subjective capacity for grace, above any other creature in the inferior world; and this is a kind of natural preparation, which other creatures have not,—a capacity, in regard of the powers of the soul, though not in respect of the present disposition of them. He hath an understanding to know, and, when it is enlightened, to know God's law,—a will to move and run, and, when enlarged by grace, to run the ways of God's commandments; so that he stands in an immediate capacity to receive the life of grace upon the breath and touch of God, which a stone doth not; for in this it is necessary that rational faculties should be put as a foundation of spiritual motions. Though the soul is thus capable, as a subject, to receive the grace of God, yet it is not therefore capable, as an agent, to prepare itself for it, or produce it. It is capable to receive the truths of God; but, as the heart is stony, it is incapable to receive the impressions of those truths. Though some things which man may do by common grace, may be said to be preparations; yet they are not formally so,—as that there is an absolute, causal connection between such preparations and regeneration. They are not disposing causes of grace. Grace is all in a way of reception by the soul, not of action from the soul. The highest morality in the world is not necessary to the first infusion of the divine nature. If there were any thing in the subject that was the cause of it, the tenderest and softest dispositions would be wrought upon; and the most intelligent men would soonest receive the gospel. Though we see them sometimes renewed, yet many times the roughest tempers are seized upon by grace. Though morality seems to set men at a greater nearness to the kingdom of God; yet, with all its own strength, it cannot bring it into the heart, unless the Spirit open the lock. Yea, sometimes it sets a man farther from the kingdom of God, as being a great enemy to the righteousness of the gospel, both imputed and inherent. And other operations upon the soul, which seem to be nearer preparations, such as convictions, &c., do not infer grace; for the heart, as a field, may be ploughed by terrors, and yet not planted with any good seed. Planting and watering are preparations, but not the cause of fruit. The increase depends upon God." Thus this learned author, who also proves that there is no obligation on God by any thing which may look like a preparation on man; and adds that, if any preparations were our own, and were pure, which they are not, yet they cannot oblige God to give supernatural grace.

III. We are now led to consider that this work is, in a peculiar manner, attributed to the Spirit of God; the only moving cause of it being his grace. That the Spirit is the author of this work, is not to be proved by experience, as the impressions of divine power in it are; but it is to be proved by scripture; and the scripture is very express on the subject. Thus, when God promises to 'give a new heart, to take away the heart of stone, and to give an heart of flesh, and to cause his people to walk in his statutes,' he tells them that, in order to his doing so, he would 'put his Spirit within them.' Elsewhere they are said to have 'purified their souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit.'a Our Saviour also asserts the necessity of our being 'born of the Spirit,' in order to our entering into the kingdom of God. So that, from these and several other scriptures which might be referred to, it appears that effectual calling is the internal powerful work of the Holy Ghost.

It is objected by some, that this doctrine savours of enthusiasm; since it supposes that there is no difference between the Spirit's internal influences and his inspiration; and to pretend to this, now that the miraculous dispensation which was in the apostle's days has ceased, is vain and enthusiastic.—But the charge of enthusiasm is very unjustly deduced from this doctrine; for we must distinguish between the extraordinary and the ordinary influence of the Holy Ghost. The former is allowed by all to have now ceased; so that they who pretend to it are liable to this charge. But it is a very great dishonour cast upon the Holy Ghost to deny his powerful influence or agency in the work of grace; and it renders the present condition of the church, in a very material circumstance, so much inferior to what it was of old, that it is incapable of attaining salvation,—unless it could be proved that salvation might be attained without the divine energy.—But, that we may farther reply to the objection, let it be considered that the Spirit's influence, as subservient to the work of grace, is evidently distinguished from inspiration. The latter was a peculiar honour conferred upon some persons, who either were to transmit to the church a rule of faith by the immediate dictates of the Holy Ghost, or were favoured with inspiration to answer some extraordinary ends which could not be attained without it, namely, their being furnished with wisdom, as well as courage and boldness, to maintain the cause which they were not otherwise furnished to defend, against the opposition that it met with from their persecuting and malicious enemies, that so it might not suffer through their weakness. Hence our Saviour bids his disciples 'not take thought what they should say,' when brought before rulers, &c.; and promises that 'the Spirit should speak in them.' In some other particular instances, especially in the church at Corinth, we read that when ministers had not those advantages to qualify themselves to preach the gospel which they afterwards were favoured with, some had this extraordinary gift, so that they spake by the Spirit, but this was only conferred occasionally, and for some special reasons. Hence those scriptures which speak of the influences of the Spirit which were more common, and immediately subservient to the work of grace in the souls of those who were the subjects of them, were, at that time, the same with those that we are pleading for, and were designed to continue so in the church in all ages. Thus, when persons are said 'through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body,'e the language does not respect any extraordinary dispensation which they were then under; since it is the duty of all men, in all ages, without the extraordinary influences of the Spirit, to mortify the deeds of the body; so that we may expect this powerful energy as well as they, or else our condition would be very deplorable.—Besides, we never find that extraordinary gifts were immediately subservient to tho subduing of corruption, or, at least, that every one who had them did mortify sin, and so appear to be internally sanctified. Yet, to mortify sin, is a character of those who are under sanctifying influences; and not to have these influences, determines a person to be in an unregenerate state, or 'to live after the flesh,' and so to be liable to death. No one can suppose that when the apostle, in the foregoing verse, says, 'If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die,' he means, 'If ye are not under inspiration, ye shall die, as living after the flesh.' His reasoning, however, is strong and conclusive, if we understand the divine influence of which he speaks, as what is distinct from inspiration, and consequently a privilege necessary for the beginning and carrying on of the work of grace, and so belonging to believers in all ages.—Again, when the Spirit is said 'to help our infirmities'g in prayer, is not prayer as much a duty now as it was when they had extraordinary gifts? and ought we not to hope for the assistance of the Spirit in all ages? The Spirit's help, therefore, is not confined to the age when there was a miraculous dispensation, or extraordinary inspiration.—Further, when it is said, 'As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,' can we suppose that none were the sons of God but such as had extraordinary gifts? Does not this privilege belong to us as well as to them? Now, if we are the sons of God, as well as they, we have this evidence of our being so, that we are 'led by the Spirit of God;' though we pretend not to be led by him as a Spirit of inspiration.—We may add, that the apostle elsewhere speaks of some who were 'sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance.' These are described as 'trusting in Christ, after they had heard the word of salvation,' and 'believing in him.'i But this character belongs to the church in all ages; so that the 'sealing' spoken of is not a privilege confined to those who had the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, but one which belongs to believers as such.—Moreover, it is said, 'The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.' Therefore some persons may, in a way of self-examination, know themselves to be the children of God, by the witness of the Spirit which is common to all believers; they may do so without pretending to be inspired, which would be to know this matter without the concurring testimony of our own spirits.—Many things of a similar nature might be observed concerning other scriptures which are generally brought to prove that believers, in our day, though they pretend not to the Spirit of inspiration, are made partakers of the powerful influences of the Holy Ghost. But what we have stated is a sufficient Answer to the objection we have been considering.

It is farther objected, that, if the Spirit does work internally in the souls of men, we are not to suppose that he works a change in their wills, but only that he presents objects to them which they, by their own power, improve and make use of for their good; even as a finite spirit may suggest good or bad thoughts, without disposing us to comply with them; or, as the devil is said to work in men, and is called, 'The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.' But an objective influence, properly speaking, is no influence at all; much less is it becoming the dignity of the Holy Ghost, to say that he has no more an hand in the work of conversion than that which a mere creature might have. I will not deny that the Greek word,m which signifies energy, or internal working, is sometimes taken for such a kind of influence as is not properly the effect of power, as in the instance stated in the objection. Yet, let it be considered that in other instances the same word is often used, in senses very different, when applied to God and the creature; the word, in itself, being indeterminate, while the application of it so determines the meaning as to leave no doubt as to the sense of it. Thus, when 'to make,' 'form,' or 'produce,' is applied to God, and the thing made, formed, or produced, is represented as a display of his almighty power which exceeds the limits of finite power, the sense is determined to be very different from making, forming, or producing, when applied to men, acting in their own sphere. So the apostle speaks of 'building,' in a very different sense, as applied to God and the creature, whieh no one is at a loss to understand: 'Every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.' Now, to apply this to our present purpose, we do not deny that a finite spirit has an energy in an objective way; but when the same word is applied to God's manner of acting, and, as was formerly observed, is used to denote a display of his almighty power, producing a change in the soul, and not only persuading but enabling a man to perform good works, from a principle of spiritual life implanted, it may easily be understood as having a very different sense from the same word, when applied to the internal agency of a finite spirit. Tho objection in question, therefore, does not overthrow the argument we are maintaining.

It is farther objected against the illustration of the powerful work of the Spirit from a person's being raised from the dead, that this implies nothing supernatural, or out of the power of man; since the apostle says, 'Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.' If arising from the dead, it is said, be the effect of almighty power, when applied to the work of grace, it seems preposterous for this 'arising from the dead' to be recommended as our duty; and if it be not a work of almighty power, those scriptures which illustrate effectual calling by the resurrection of the dead, are nothing to the argument for which they have been brought. Now, some suppose that its being assigned as a matter of duty for sinners to rise from the dead, does not infer that their doing so is in their own power; but that it signifies only that none can expect eternal life except those who rise from the death of sin. Accordingly, as the promise here mentioned, relating to our 'having light,' is said to be 'Christ's gift;' so the power to perform that duty which is inseparably connected with it, namely, 'rising from the dead,' is to be sought for at his hand. But if this Answer be not reckoned sufficient, I see no absurdity in supposing that the two expressions, 'awake, thou that sleepest,' and 'arise from the dead,' import the same thing. Sleep is, as it were, the image of death, and, by a metaphorical way of speaking, may be here 'called death; and if so, the apostle commands believers to awake out of their carnal security, or shake off their stupid frames, as they expect the light of eternal life. Though, however, it be taken in this sense here; yet when we meet with the words 'quickened,' or 'raised from the dead,' elsewhere, they may be understood in a different sense, as denoting the implanting of a principle of grace in regeneration, as will appear by the context. Thus when God is said to 'quicken those who were dead in trespasses and sins, who walked according to the course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath;' and to do this with a design to show 'the exceeding riches of his grace, and kindness towards them;' and, in consequence, to work that faith which, accompanies salvation, and which is not of themselves, but is his gift; when God is said to do these things in our being 'quickened or raised from the dead,' the expressions certainly argue more than a stupid believer's awaking from the carnal security which he is under, who is supposed to have a principle of spiritual life, whereby he may be enabled so to do.

It is also objected to what has been said as to effectual calling being a work of divine power, that those scriptures which speak of it as such, denote nothing else but the power of working miracles; whereby they to whom the gospel was preached were induced to believe. Thus, when the apostle says, 'My preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,' his meaning is alleged to be that the doctrines he preached were confirmed, and the truth of them demonstrated, by the power of the Holy Ghost enabling him to work miracles. Again, the words, 'The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power,'q are alleged to mean that the gospel was not only preached, but confirmed by miracles; and the words, 'Our gospel came to you in power and in the Holy Ghost,' are paraphrased,—'The gospel which we preach, was confirmed by the power and miraculous works of the Holy Ghost;' which, say the objectors, has no reference to the internal efficacious influences of the Spirit put forth in effectual calling.—Now, though we often read that the gospel was confirmed by miracles; yet I cannot see that this is the principal, much less the only sense of these scriptures, and some others which might have been produced to the same purpose.—As to the first of them, in which the apostle speaks of his preaching being 'in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power,' it may be observed that, in the preceding chapter, he had been speaking concerning Christ preached, and his glory set forth among them, as 'the power of God;' that is to say, the power of God rendered the preaching of the doctrine of Christ effectual to the conversion of those who believed. Now, this the apostle concludes to contain no less a conviction of the truth of the Christian religion, than if he had wrought signs or miracles; which the Jews demanded, and which he had no design to work among them. Why, then, should we suppose that, when he speaks of his preaching being 'in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power,' he means the confirming of his doctrine by miracles, and not the confirming of it in the same sense he had just signified of Christ being the power of God.—As for the scripture in which it is said, 'The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power,' it is to be understood by comparing it with what immediately goes before, in which he says, 'I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and know not the speech of them who are puffed up, but the power.' If we suppose that, by 'them who are puffed up,' he means some of their teachers, who, swelled either with pride or envy, probably were sowing some seeds of error among them, it does seem to be just to explain the following words, 'I will know not the speech of them who are puffed up, but the power,' to mean, 'I will not so much regard the doctrines they deliver, as I will inquire and be convinced that they have confirmed them by miracles.' For he would rather regard their doctrine than their pretence to miracles, or have said, 'I will not inquire whether they have wrought any miracles, but what efficacy their doctrine has had.' By 'knowing the power,' therefore, the apostle does not mean that of working miracles; but he intimates that he would know, not only what doctrines these persons taught, but what success attended their preaching. And then he adds, that 'the kingdom of God,' that is, the gospel-state, is advanced and promoted, not merely by the church's enjoying the means of grace, such as the preaching of the word, but 'by the power of God,' which makes the word preached effectual to salvation, whereby sinners are converted, and many added to the church, such as shall be saved.—As to the last scripture mentioned, in which the apostle says, 'Our gospel came to you, not in word only, but in power,' I cannot think that he has any reference in it to the confirming of the gospel by miracles; because what it says is assigned as a mark of their election, 'Knowing, brethren, your election of God; for our gospel came unto you, not only in word, but in power,' &c. Now, whether we take election for God's eternal design to save them, for the execution of that design in his applying the graces of the Spirit to them, or, in the lowest sense which they on the other side of the question generally adopt, for their being a choice, religious, unblameable society of Christians, excelling many others in piety, it could not be evinced by the gospel being confirmed by miracles. This sense, then, seems not agreeable to the apostle's design. Hence, the objection founded on those scriptures which speak of the power of God in conversion, as implying nothing else but his power exerted in working miracles, will not, in the least, be sufficient to weaken the force of the argument we are maintaining. Thus, concerning effectual calling being a work of power attributed, in particular, to the Holy Spirit.

There is one thing more observed in the Answer we are explaining, which must be briefly considered, namely, that effectual calling is a work of grace, which was the internal moving cause of it, or the reason of God's exerting his divine power in it. Effectual calling must be a work of grace, without any motive taken from those who are its subjects; for they had nothing in them which could render them the objects of divine love, being described as 'dead in trespasses and sins, alienated from the life of God,' and 'enmity' itself 'against him.' Their condition, antecedent to effectual calling, cannot be supposed to be the moving cause of it; for that which is in itself altogether unlovely, cannot afford a motive for love to any one who weighs the circumstances of persons and things, and acts accordingly.

But it is objected, that though the present condition of unregenerate persons cannot afford any motive inducing God to make them the subjects of effectual calling, yet the foresight of their future conduct might. We answer, that all the good which shall be found in believers is God's gift. He is the finisher as well as the author of faith; and therefore it cannot be said, that any thing out of himself was the moving cause of it. We may add that God foresaw the vile and unworthy behaviour of believers, proceeding from the remains of corrupt nature in them, as well as those graces which he would enable them to act; so that there is as much in them which might induce him to hate them, as there is to move him to love them. We must conclude, therefore, that his love proceeds from another cause, or that it is by the grace of God alone that we are what we are.

IV. We are now led to consider that the power and grace of God displayed in effectual calling, is irresistible, and consequently such as cannot but be effectual to produce that which is designed to be brought about by it. To deny this, would be to infer that the creature has an equal, if not a superior force to God. For, as in nature, every thing which impedes or stops a thing which is in motion must have an equal force to resist with that which is affected by it; so, in the work of grace, if the will of man can render the power of God of none effect, or stop the progress of divine grace, contrary to his design or purpose, the creature's power of resisting must be equal to that which is put forth by God, in order to the bringing of this work to perfection. This consequence is so derogatory to the divine glory, that no one who sees it to be just, will maintain the premises whence it is deduced. If it be said that God may suffer himself to be resisted, and his grace which would otherwise have been effectual to be defeated, this will not much mend the matter, but will only, in order to the avoiding of one absurd consequence, bring in another; for if every one would have brought to pass what he purposes to be done, and would not be disappointed if he could help it, the same must be said of the great God. Now to say, that God could have prevented his purpose from being defeated, but would not, argues a defect of wisdom. If his own glory was designed by purposing to do that which the creature renders ineffectual, then he misses that end which cannot but be the most valuable, and consequently most desirable. Hence, for God to suffer a purpose of this nature to be defeated, supposing he could prevent it, is to suffer himself to be a loser of that glory which is due to his name. Moreover, the supposition is directly contrary to what the apostle says, 'Who hath resisted his will?' or, "Who hath rendered the grace which he designed should take effect, ineffectual?" or, which is the same thing, "Who can do it?"

The ground on which many have asserted that the grace of God may be resisted, is taken from some scriptures which speak of man's being in open hostility against him. Thus we read of a bold daring sinner as 'stretching out his hand against God, and strengthening himself against the Almighty, running upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers.' Stephen reproves the Jews as having 'always resisted the Holy Ghost, both they and their fathers.'u The Pharisees are said to 'have rejected,' or, as the wordy might have been rendered, 'disannulled the counsel of God against themselves.' And the prophet speaks of God's 'stretching out his hand all the day, unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.' These, and similar scriptures, give occasion to some to suppose that the power and grace, as well as the purpose of God, may be resisted. But that we may understand the sense of these scriptures, and, at the same time, not relinquish the doctrine we are maintaining, and thereby infer the consequence above-mentioned, we must distinguish between our opposition to God's revealed will contained in his word, which is the rule of duty to us, and resisting his secret will, which determines the event. Or, as it may be otherwise expressed, it is one thing to set ourselves against the objective grace of God, that is, the gospel; and another thing to defeat his subjective grace, that when he is about to work effectually in us, we should put a stop to his proceedings. The former no one denies; the latter we can by no means allow. Persons may express a great deal of reluctance and perverseness at the time when God is about to subdue their stubborn and obstinate wills; but the power of God will break through all this opposition, and the will of man shall not be able to make his work void, or without effect. The Jews, as above-mentioned, might 'resist the Holy Ghost,' that is, oppose the doctrines contained in scripture, which were given by the Spirit's inspiration; and they might make this revelation of no effect with respect to themselves; but had God designed that it should take effect, he would have prevented their resisting it. Israel might be 'a gainsaying people,' that is, they might oppose what God communicated to them by the prophets, which it was their duty and interest to have complied with; and so the offer of grace in God's revealed will might be in vain with respect to them; but it never was so with respect to those whom he designed to save. And if the hardened sinner, 'stretching out his hand against God,' may be said hereby to express his averseness to holiness, and his desire to be exempted from the divine government, he may be found in open rebellion against him, as hating and opposing his law, but he cannot offer any real injury to his divine perfections, so as to detract from his glory, or render his purpose of no effect. Moses, speaking concerning God's works of providence, says, 'They are perfect; for all his ways are judgment.' a Elsewhere, God, by the prophet Isaiah, says, 'I will work, and who shall let it;' whence he argues his eternal Deity and uncontrollable power, 'Before the day was, I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand;' so that if a stop might be put to his works of providence, he would cease to be a God of infinite perfection. May we not infer, then, that his works of grace are not subject to any control; so that when he designs to call any effectually, nothing shall prevent this end from being answered? This is what we intend, when we speak of the power and grace of God as irresistible.

V. We are now to consider the season or time in which persons are effectually called. This, in the Answer under consideration, is said to be 'God's accepted time.' If the work be free and sovereign, without any motive in us, the time in which he does it must be that which he thinks most proper. Here we may observe that some are regenerated in their infancy, when the word can have no instrumentality in producing the least acts of grace. These have therefore the seeds of grace, which spring up and discover themselves when they are able to make use of the word. That persons are capable of regeneration from the womb, is no less evident, than that they are capable of having the seeds or principle of reason, which they certainly have; and if it be allowed that regeneration is connected with salvation, and that infants are capable of the latter, as our Saviour says that 'of such is the kingdom of God,' they must be certainly capable of the former. Not to suppose some infants regenerated from the womb, would, without scripture-warrant, be to exclude a very great part of mankind from salvation. Others are effectually called in their childhood, others in riper years, and some few in old age; that so no age of life may be an inducement to despair, or persons be discouraged from attending on the means of grace. Thus 'Josiah, in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, began to seek after the God of David his father.' David was converted when he was a youth, a stripling of a ruddy and beautiful countenance.'d Moses seems to have been effectually called, when he left Pharaoh's court, and 'it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel;' at which time he was 'forty years old.' Abraham seems to have been made partaker of this grace, when he was called to leave his country, when he was seventy-five years old; before which it is probable that he, together with the rest of his family, served other gods.f We read also, in one instance, of a person converted in the very agonies of death, namely, the thief upon the cross. Sometimes when persons seem most disposed to conversion, and are under the greatest convictions, and more inclined to reform their lives than at other times, the work appears, by the issue of it, to be no more than that of common grace, which miscarries and leaves them worse than they were before; and it may be that afterwards, when they seem less inclined, God's accepted time will come, when he begins the work with power, which he afterwards carries on and completes. Some are suffered to run great lengths in sin, before they are effectually called; as the apostle 'Paul, in whom God was pleased to show forth all long-suffering, as a pattern to them which should hereafter believe.'h Hence the time and means being entirely in God's hand, as we ought not to presume, but to wait for the day of salvation in all his ordinances; so, whatever our age and circumstances, we are encouraged to hope for the mercy of God unto eternal life, or that he will save and call us with an holy calling.

NOTES BY THE REV. JOHN M. WILSON.

[NOTE G. Common Grace——Dr. Ridgeley, in what he says respecting 'common grace,' 'restraining grace,' and 'common operations of the Spirit,' appears to have got so engaged in expounding the Catechism that he forgot duly to inquire, 'What saith the scripture?' Grace which does not 'bring salvation,' and a work of the Holy Spirit on the soul which does not renovate and savingly enlighten, must seem, to any person who has studied the scriptures apart from the theology of the schoolmen, very extraordinary ideas. Dr. Ridgeley himself appears not to understand them. He says, "Though the Spirit is considered as an external agent, inasmuch as he never dwells in the heart of any but believers; yet the effect produced is internal in the mind and consciences of men, and, in smile degree, in the will, which is almost pervaded to comply." Now, if the Spirit is not an internal agent,—if he never dwells, or carries on a work, in the heart of any but believers; how can he be said to perform 'operations,' whether 'common' or otherwise, on the souls of persons who continue to reject the truth? 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' 'When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he leads into all truth.' 'But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them; because they are spiritually discerned.' While the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, is 'known' to believers, and 'dwelleth with them, and shall be in them,' the world 'cannot receive him, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him.' Nor is the case altered by saying that "effects are produced internal in the mind and consciences of men, and, in some degree, in the will." By the common occurrences of providence, bereavements, losses, public calamities, pestilences, and rumours of war, as truly as by direct appeals concerning 'temperance, and righteousness, and judgment to come,' many an unconverted sinner is occasionally made to 'tremble,' to stand self-convicted of guilt, to resolve upon amendment of conduct, and, in general, to experience strong internal effects upon his moral affections. Yet who would speak of the consternations, the moral panics, the temporary reformations of ordinary life as a work of grace, or the result of common operations of the Spirit? Impressions on the human mind, by means of the occurrences of providence, through the medium of natural conscience and reason, are, in all respects, perfectly distinct from impressions by means of the word of God and the ordinances of Christianity, through the divine Spirit's illuminating power or gracious operations; and these two classes of impressions seem to include all the varieties of moral feeling—of internal effect on the mind and consciences of men, or even upon the will—which come within the limits of human experience on earth. To distinguish a middle class of impressions, and represent these as of higher quality than such as properly comport with man's fallen and unregenerated character, and yet of lower quality than such as are connected with the renewing of the heart and the spiritual illuminating of the understanding, appears to be just a breaking down of the lofty and broad line of demarcation between a work of natural conscience and a work of divine grace,—a work which belongs to the economy of God's general government, and a work which belongs to the sovereign and gracious economy of redemption.

Some sinners, it is true, experience, in coming under the saving work of the Holy Spirit, a concurrence of impressions by means of the divine word and by means of providential events; and other sinners, on the contrary, experience, while they continue in unregeneracy, a series of excitements as truly from the appeals of the Bible as from the general lessons of the divine government. It is not, however, the nature of the instrumentality employed, but the nature of the agency at work in the mind, which constitutes the difference between the effects produced. In the one class, the reason works with the aid merely of natural conscience, while, in the other class, it is enlightened, convinced, and directed by the Holy Spirit. Natural conscience, even in circumstances where the light of revelation is nearly extinct, achieves many a self-accusation; and, in circumstances where the full light of the gospel is enjoyed, may easily be supposed to work out, in thousands of instances, quite as strong moral excitements as those which were felt by Felix under the preaching of Paul. 'For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another,' Rom. 2:14, 15. Yet the strong workings of conscience even in the heathen, and its still stronger workings in unconverted men under the ordinances of the gospel, take place in connexion simply with God's general moral government, and are quite distinct from any results whatever of the dispensation of the economy of grace, or the redemptional operations of the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Ridgeley vindicates what he calls "the Spirits common work of conviction," by an appeal to the text, 'When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin.' But this text clearly speaks of the demonstrative evidence which the Holy Spirit should furnish—not by transient impressions on the minds of the ungodly—but by the miraculous establishment of the gospel dispensation, and by the actual conversion to God of multitudes of unbelievers. When he descended on the day of Pentecost, and when he afterwards gave power to the ministry of his faithful servants, he demonstratively convinced thousands of 'the world' that they sinned in rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, the only Saviour of sinners,—that they could become righteous, as to either their acceptance before God, or the purification of their hearts from defilement, only through the merits of Christ's sacrifice and intercession,—and that they could act safely for themselves and piously toward God, only by seeing that 'all judgment is committed to the Son,' that he is the King and the Lawgiver of the redeemed, and that he reigns 'the Lord of the living and the dead,' 'alive for evermore,' having 'the keys of hell and of death.' 'When the Paraclete is come,' says the Saviour, 'he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me: of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more: of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged,' John 16:8–11. The Divine Spirit began this work on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand 'gladly received the word and were baptized;' he carried it on in the ministry of the apostles, who 'preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,'—whose 'preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power;' and he continues still to conduct it both by the enduring attestation of those miracles by which he established the new dispensation, and by his gracious power upon men to enlighten them savingly in the knowledge of the gospel, and to turn them from the error of their ways to the wisdom and obedience of the just. But his thus 'reproving the world of sin,' is a work altogether different from his alleged 'common operations' as an agent acting 'externally' upon unbelievers.

Dr. Ridgeley refers also to the passage, 'My Spirit shall not always strive with man.' But if the words be read in their connexion, they will be seen to have no reference whatever to the moral or economical work of the divine Spirit, but to refer entirely to the shortening of the period of human life upon earth. The chapter in which they lie, narrates simply the general wickedness into which the antediluvians had plunged, the longevity and physical strength for which they were distinguished, the tendency of their conduct to undermine all their well-being, and the denunciation against them of a suitable punishment for their luxurious profligacy. Just after their peculiar wickedness is mentioned, and immediately previous to a statement of their robustness and longevity, the words' occur: 'And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.' Even apart from the context, this passage may be distinctly seen to speak of the shortening of man's mortal life. He had hitherto lived, on the average, to upwards of nine hundred years; but he was mortal—he possessed that 'fleshly' and fallen nature which was doomed to return to its original dust; he had been upheld in his longevity by the special kindness of the Giver of life; and as he was now pursuing a course which directly tended to debilitate his frame, and entail diseases on his posterity, and poison the stream of human generation at its fountain, he should no longer be maintained in his robustness and his extreme length of earthly existence;—'yet his days,' though no longer extending to eight or nine centuries, 'should be an hundred and twenty years.' What means this finishing clause, this exceptional or mitigating statement, if the passage does not entirely refer to the abridging of his longevity? Nor is it strange that the intimation of that event was made in the phrase, 'My Spirit shall not always strive with man.' In transmuting chaos into the organized world, 'the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters;' and in the whole process of calling away mortals from the earth and repeopling their places with successors, God 'takes away their spirit רוחם—they die and return to their dust; he sends forth his Spirit רוחך—they are created, and he renews the face of the earth,' Psalm 104:29, 30. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the Arabic versions, accordingly, appear to understand the clause in question as speaking of the animating principle, and all render it, 'My Spirit will not always dwell with man.'

A third passage is alluded to by Dr. Ridgeley—'Quench not the Spirit.' But as this text occurs in connexion with the commands, 'Despise not prophesyings,' 'Prove all things,' it seems beyond doubt to refer to the Holy Spirit's miraculous gifts. Both in the word σβεννυμι, here rendered 'quench,' and in the word αναζωπυρεω, signifying to 'revive a fire,' in the somewhat parallel passage, 2 Tim. 1:6, there appears, in the judgment of Macknight and other critics, to be an obvious allusion to the 'cloven tongues as of fire,' which rested on the disciples at the impartation of miraculous gifts on the day of Pentecost. These gifts, it is quite clear, were conferred on a principle altogether distinct from the grace of the Holy Spirit's economical operations; for, as appears by some examples, as well as by our Lord's statement of what he shall say at the day of final accounts to many who have 'cast out devils and done wonderful works,' they were possessed, in some instances, by persons who were strangers to divine grace. Nothing, therefore, can be inferred from either the possession or the 'quenching' of the Spirit in the sense of miraculous gifts, to sanction the notion of 'common' as distinguished from 'special' operations of the Spirit in the economy of salvation.

In addition to the three texts at which I have glanced, I am not aware of any argument in favour of the doctrine in question, except appeal to the ordinary history of unregenerated hearers of the gospel. We are invited to observe how many of these persons are brought into temporary religious concern, and how all of them are more or less subjected to an influence for good, by means of the ordinances of Christianity; and we are then requested to say on what principle, different from that of 'common grace,' or 'common operations' of the Spirit, we can account for the phenomena we witness. Now, the beneficent tendency of the gospel, its humanizing influence, its power to awe and restrain and agitate even its enemies, are quite manifest. But, while it operates on all who come within its sphere, and is eventually to every one either a savour of life unto life or a savour of death unto death, it is the instrument of the Holy Spirit's economical work only in achieving salvation,—it is 'the law of the Spirit of life' only in making men 'free from the law of sin and death.' In every other respect, the results of its influence stand connected not with the covenant, not with the system of grace, but with the moral government of God,—with the beneficence and the equity of the divine general administration. All men have consciences, and are accountable beings, and experience movements of the moral affections; and when any two sections of them—one section sitting under the light of Christian ordinances, and the other section sitting in the darkness of dominant heathenism—experience kindred emotions of self-accusation or religious concern, the former section are not, on account of these emotions being stronger or from a more influential instrumentality, to be viewed, any more than the latter, as the subjects of 'common grace,' or as possessing, in any degree or in any sense, the peculiar boons of sovereign favour which are bestowed on the renewed and justified. There hence comes to be no alternative but either unqualifiedly to reject the doctrine of 'common grace,' or to mould it into the latitudinarian form of the kindred but broader doctrine held by the Pelagians.—ED.]

[NOTE H. Regeneration—Dr. Ridgeley makes a distinction, to which he appears to attach considerable importance, between the implantation of the principle of grace, and the exciting of that principle into activity. This, however, is cither a distinction without a difference, or it distinguishes regeneration from sanctification. Regeneration, define it as we may, consists in the commencement of the work of holiness in the heart,—in the first breathing, the first experience, or the actual reception of spiritual life; and sanctification consists in the progressive advancement of the work of holiness,—the continued existence, the strengthening, the maturing, or, in one word, the activity of the spiritual life. Now, if the life conveyed to the renovated soul is at all to be viewed in itself, abstractedly from the same life viewed in its activity, there can be a distinction, not between two things constituting the commencement of the life, but only between the life as received and the life as performing its functions. We shall hence have a distinction, not between the implantation and the activity of the principle of renovation, but between renovation or regeneration itself, and the sequent work of sanctification.

What Dr. Ridgeley means by 'the principle of grace' can be easily conjectured and understood, but is n expressed by the phrase which he employs. 'A new heart,' or desires different from any the soul experienced before,—'the seed of God,' or love to holiness, love to the divine service, love to whatever is divine,—'conformity to the divine image,' or moral affections kindred in character to those displayed in the divine word and government,—'eternal life,' or the begun experience of a spiritual vitality perfectly suited to the soul's capacities, and enduring as its own immortality,—'a new creation,' or the instantaneous but silent appearance of order, and light, and beauty, where all before was chaos, darkness, and deformity;—these are the graphic images, the illustrative descriptions, by which the inspired oracles exhibit the idea of regeneration. But they are clumsily, and not a little injuriously, epitomized in the phrase 'the principle of grace.' The word principle is too general, too abstract, too misty to bring vividly or fully before the view the glowing notion of transformation, creation, life. We usually think of a principle as something distinct from practice,—either as the precept or doctrine by which conduct is directed, or as the moral impression, the belief, the habitual conviction which the precept or doctrine produces. No such conception, however, is to be formed of the differentia—whatever it be—between a regenerated and an unregenerated man. Call it what we may, we must conceive of it as 'a heart,' 'a nature,' an animus, 'a life,'—something which has activity in its very essence, and which exists at all only as it thinks, and feels, and propels to conduct. When we reflect on the act of material creation—on God's speaking and it was done, on his commanding and it stood fast—we cannot conceive of the implanting of a principle of organization and order and beauty in our world, apart from the exciting of that principle into action; nor when we reflect on the communication of life to Adam—when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul—can we conceive of any commencement of his animated being, call it what we may, apart from the first actual movement of his vital organs, or any commencement of his moral and intellectual existence, apart from his first act of consciousness, or his real capacity of rational and moral thinking. So with regard to 'the new creation,' or the spiritual life of regeneration, there is no abstraction,—no abstraction especially which is 'implanted,'—nothing but what is positive or what exists in an active state. Perception of divine truth, love to God, desire for holiness, or whatever else constitutes the spiritual life, is, in its essence, as truly active in regeneration as in sanctification. Indeed, sanctification is just the perpetuation and bringing to maturity of what is begun in regeneration,—a series, in progressive strength and growing fulness, of the same acts as that in which regeneration consists,—the development of that vitality, the confirming and enlarging exercise of those vital functions, which begin in regeneration, as the developing and growing life of an infant began in the first pulsation of the heart. As truly, therefore, might we speak of a principle of grace in sanctification apart from actual and active holiness, as we may speak of a principle of grace in regeneration apart from the active nature of the commencement of spiritual life.

Dr. Ridgeley's distinction seems to have been framed in order to support his notion that "the regenerating act is wrought in us without the instrumentality of the word, or of any of the ordinary means of grace." How he could have adopted this notion in the face of the texts which he himself quotes, is not very easy to conceive. These texts seem to be sufficiently explicit: 'Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever.' 'Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.' Dr. Ridgeley discovers, however, that "this language respects not so much the implanting of the principle of grace, as our being enabled to act from that principle;" that is, he previously sets up a distinction between the abstract being and the active nature of spiritual life, and then, on the faith of that distinction, perceives the texts of scripture in question to refer, not to 'the regenerating act,' but to the moral ability or activity which it imparts. Yet no words, in any part of scripture, would seem to speak more directly and even distinctively of 'the regenerating act,' than the phrases, 'We are born again,' 'Of his own will begat he us.' Where, if not in these phrases, as they occur here and in other texts, is inspired language to be found which describes even what Dr. Ridgeley calls 'the implanting of the principle of grace;' or where, if these phrases be otherwise explained, does authority exist for speaking, in any respect whatever, of regeneration? Yet the two passages in which they lie explicitly ascribe our being 'born again,' and our being 'begotten of God' to the instrumentality of 'the word of truth,' 'the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever.'

Dr. Ridgeley states, as the ground of his opinion, that the regenerating act is effected without the instrumentality of the word, that "it is necessary, from the nature of the thing, to our receiving or improving the word of God, or reaping any saving advantage by it, that the Spirit should produce the principle of faith;" and he thus reasons: "Now to say that this is done by the word, is, in effect, to assert that the word produces the principle, and the principle gives efficacy to the word; which seems to me little less than arguing in a circle." But does not the vice of reasoning in a circle appear somewhat strongly to characterize his own argument? 'Saving advantage,' if the phrase have any due signification, must mean the advantage of obtaining or receiving salvation. Now, this advantage he very justly represents as received by faith in the divine record; while, at the same time, he represents it as 'from the nature of the thing,' previously received in a regenerating act which is wrought without the instrumentality of the word. In other words, saving advantage, according to him, must be received in order to saving advantage being received; or while enjoyed by faith in the word, it must, nevertheless, be previously enjoyed without the instrumentality of the word. That I do not misstate his argument, seems certain from a remark which he makes respecting faith,—a remark of somewhat startling discord with his preceding context. "I am far from denying" says he, "that faith and all other graces, are wrought in us by the instrumentality of the word." Yet he had said, "It is necessary to our receiving or improving the word of God that the Spirit should produce the principle of faith." The word, that is to say, is the instrument in producing faith; and yet is of no saving use to us whatever, and, of course, of no use in producing faith, till faith be actually produced. Dr. Ridgeley may be alleged, indeed, to distinguish between 'the grace of faith' and 'the principle of faith,' for he uses the former phrase when admitting, and the latter, when denying that faith is wrought by the instrumentality of the word. But, if words have meaning, faith is a grace simply as it is of divine origin, and it is a principle simply as it prompts and regulates conduct; and, under the two names, it is strictly and entirely one thing, merely viewed in different aspects. Besides, he uses the word 'faith' without the adjunct of either 'grace' or 'principle,' in a sentence which exhibits even a larger circumference than that already noticed, of reasoning in a circle. He says, "The word cannot profit unless it be mixed with faith; faith cannot be put forth unless it proceed from a principle of grace implanted; therefore this principle of grace is not produced by the word!" Yet, while a principle of grace goes before faith, and faith goes before the instrumentality of the word, both "faith and all other graces are wrought in us by the instrumentality of the word." Such is the confusion of thought resulting from the distinction between the implantation and the activity of "the principle of regeneration."

'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' "We believe, not by possessing an abstract capacity, but by counting true the record which God has given concerning his Son. Our minds, by their own unaided efforts, will look in vain upon divine truth in order either to understand its spiritual import, or receive it in its evidence; yet they are necessarily turned toward it, and made to look on some of its declarations, when the divine Spirit gives them 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.' Just while he speaks in his word—while he discloses the truth in its real colours, its genuine glory, its perfect adaptation to man—he makes all things new. In the moral creation, as in the physical, 'he speaks and it is done, he commands and it stands fast.' Exhibiting the truth in its evidence, enlightening the understanding, affecting the heart, giving origin to faith, and renewing the spirit of the mind, are all but different phases of strictly one act. When the change which passes upon a sinner on his being made spiritually alive, is viewed in reference to the instrumentality employed, it is called his believing or receiving the truth; when it is viewed in reference to its result upon his understanding, it is called the enlightening of his mind; when it is viewed in reference to its result upon his heart or character, it is called regeneration; and when it is viewed in reference to its result on his condition, or in reference rather to the redemptional grounds on which it is effected, it is called justification. These constituent parts or different aspects of the impartation to a dead soul of eternal life, are exhibited in scripture, not as consecutive acts in a causational process,—not as separate events or separate things following one another in a given order,—but strictly as one great change, constituting the man who was dead in trespasses and sins alive unto God. Perfectly distinct, therefore, as the conceptions afforded us by the Bible are of our change of state, our change of character, and our change of views—our justification, our regeneration, and the saving enlightenment of our understanding—we are not to conceive of even these as arising out of one another in the order of causation or the order of priority; and still less are we to conceive in this manner of any number of parts or aspects into which we may divide our notions either of believing, of being enlightened, or of becoming 'new creatures in Christ Jesus.' However much, in particular, we may, for the sake of clearness of conception, distribute our thoughts on regeneration into classes referring to the agency, the instrumentality, the concomitant circumstances, the results upon the will, the desires and the affections, we must carefully sum them all up in the one idea stated in the expressive phrase, 'Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth.

A dispute, then, in which some writers have indulged, as to whether, in regeneration, there is the implantation of a positive principle, or merely the communication of light to the understanding which acts reflexly on the heart, is—if the subject be viewed as we have stated it—a mere logomachy. What one party really mean by the reflex influence of communicated light, is probably just what the other party mean by the implantation of a positive principle. Both expressions—as all words must be which refer to matters of mere consciousness or abstract intelligence, and especially to matters of divine influence on the soul—are essentially figurative; and they differ from each other, if they differ at all, only in the strength and appropriateness of their respective tropes. Light, literally understood, is just as really positive as any palpable substance capable of being implanted; and light, understood metaphorically of what is conveyed to the understanding and impressed on the heart by the divine Spirit, can differ nothing from what is termed the implantation of a principle of grace. The metaphor of implanting, however,—especially when collocated with the very general and indefinite word 'principle'—falls far short, as to either fitness or force, of the expressive metaphors of the shining of light into darkness, a resurrection from the dead, a new creation, and a being begotten of God, or begotten again, employed in the scriptures. Even the phrase, 'the new birth' or being 'born again,' so currently applied to regeneration and repeatedly occurring in our English version of the New Testament, is considerably less expressive than the phrase whose place it usurps, 'begotten anew,' or 'begotten from above.' Reading the passage as it ought to be translated, how doubly significant, for example, are the words: 'Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love ye one another with a pure heart fervently, ye having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever.'

The great features of regeneration, additional to the grace and the divine agency of its origination, the instrumentality of the divine word in effecting it, and its connexion in identity of occurrence with justification through the merits of Christ, are its instantaneity, its moral nature, its totality, its incompleteness, and its imperceptibility to consciousness. Its instantaneity is its being, not a work or a process, but a single act; and appears from the character of the metaphors, especially those of creation, resurrection, and the impartation of life, which are employed to describe it. Its moral nature is its affecting only man's will, his affections, and his views or motives of action, and not his intellectual powers or the peculiar configuration of his mind; and appears both from the fact that regenerated men retain just the intellectual faculties and culture which they possessed when unregenerated, and from the statement that 'the old man' is crucified in the crucifixion of depraved 'affections and desires,' and that the new man is created after the image of God 'in righteousness and true holiness.' Its totality is its affecting all the moral faculties, leaving not one moral power, not one member of the heart, untouched; and appears from the idea of entireness conveyed in the images of a new creation, a new heart, a new man, as well as from the declaration, 'Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.' Its incompleteness is its affecting the soul only in the way of begun holiness, of the commencement of a work of sanctification, of the impartation of what requires to be reared up to maturity; and appears both from the imperfect state in which regenerated persons continue while on earth, and from the image of 'a babe in Christ' employed to describe the comparative condition of a recent convert. Its imperceptibility to consciousness is its not being, by the mind of its subject, distinguishable, as to the very act in which it takes place, from those emotions of concern which precede or accompany it, or from the commencing growth of those fruits of inward holiness by which its reality is evinced; and it appears, both from the experimental testimony of men who afford eminent evidence of having been its subjects, and from the express declaration of our Lord: 'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.' Such seem to be the characteristic features of regeneration. They are exhibited, however, not as separate things in the act, and still less as things which in any sense originate one another, but simply as different aspects of the same thing, conceived of separately, and viewed each by each, for the sake of distinctly conceiving the undivided whole.—ED.]