362 HARMONY OF ALL RELIGIONS. in constant and wilful disobedience. This would be a merepro- stitution of his grace to the service ofsin, and the encourage- ment of farther disobedience. This would be to make God the patron of iniquity, and Christ the minister of sin ; Gal. ii. 17. This would be turning the grace of God intowantonness ; Jude, verse 4. And this exceeding great mercy of God,, the holy apostle supposes, should be a sufficient guard against wilful sin, while we hope to bejustified by faith. Ifwe arejustified byfaith in Christ, What shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? Gódforbid ; Rom. vi. I, 2. III.' Besides this same apostle assures us, a that we are chosen, adopted, and forgiven, for this very end, that we might be holy and without blame before God in love t . Eph. i. 4, 6. Therefore is our consciencepurged by the blood of Christ, from dead works, that we might serve the living God; Heb. ix. 14, Therefore are we redeemed from sin and hell by the precious blòod of the Son ofGod, that we might be freed from the power of our iniquities, and become a peculiar people zealous of good works; Tit. ii. 14. Our holiness is one chief d ign of God, in s, all the exercises of hi grace : And as w.e see.to frustrate his design, ifwe hope for his acceptance without pursuing holiness, so he will frustrate all our hopes. IV. And, it is upon this accóunt, that holiness of heart and good works in life, where there is opportunity for them, are insisted upon as necessary to our final salvation through all the bible ; and perhaps in one or two places of the New Testament, it ismentioned as necessary, even to our justification, as well as, to final salvation : Not that our best works of holiness are such a complete righteousness as to answer the present demands of God, under the gospel, but because they are necessary to shew the truth of our faith, and to render it a living justifying faith, which could not justify us if it were a dead faith, or without works. It is a working faith that must justify us., as good works evidenceand prove the truth and life of our faith. V. The apostle James argues this matter particularly in the last half of his second chapter*. viz. That works must be joined to our faith to make it a justifying faith. From all which it is plain, that in whatsoever scriptures faith is said to justify us without works, it can mean no more than this, viz. that we are pardoned and accepted ofGod through our faith, trnst'or depend- once on divine mercy, and on the mediation of Christ, under a sense of the imperfection of our best works, and their insufficiency Yet it is not amiss to observe here, that the apostle James, where he treats on this matter, in the second chapter of his epistle, speaks of that faith, which is a mere assent to the truth revealed, for it is such a faith as devils have, and it does not arise toa serious and humble hope or trash in the mercyof God for com- 'plete salvation, according to the gospel, which alone is supposed to be productive of good works.
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