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faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, for the remiffion of fins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I fay, at this time, his righteoufnefs, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jefus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? nay, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is juftified by faith, without the deeds of the law.

If we confider the whole of this paffage, and the connection in which it flands, we shall be fatisfied, that the apoftle is here afferting that, in the gospel of Chrift, which was confirmed by his death and refurrection, the divine being, as from a mercy-feat (which the word ought to be rendered, and not propitiation) declares his goodness and mercy to mankind; and fince the patriarchs, who believed and obeyed before the law, were juftified without the works of the law, fo God, acting ftill upon the fame maxims, is juft, and the jews have no reason to complain of it, when he juftifies finners who believe and obey, freely, and without the works of the law of Mofes, under the gofpel.

N. B. I do not pretend that this pamphlet contains an illuftration of all the texts that have been urged in favour of the doctrines which are controverted in the Appeal; for then I must have written a commentary upon the whole bible, as there is hardly a text in which some persons do not imagine that they fee their own peculiar fentiments; but I

think I have taken notice of all that can well be faid to be of much confequence. If any confiderable omiffion be pointed out to me, it fhall be supplied in future editions.

A PRAYER,

RESPECTING THE PRESENT STATE OF

CHRISTIANITY.

ALMIGHTY GOD, the giver of all good, and efpecially the Father of lights, and the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge; we thank thee that thou haft put a spirit in man, and that thine infpiration giveth us understanding; that, being formed after thine own image, we find ourselves poffeffed of a nature fuperior to that of brute creatures; and being endowed with the faculty of reafon are capable of investigating important truth, and of governing our conduct, fo as to attain to very diftinguished degrees of excellence and happiness.

We thank thee that, in aid of this light of nature, thou haft fuperadded the gift of revelation; having, from time to time, communicated to mankind, by thy fervants the prophets, the most useful information, concerning thy nature, perfections and government, concerning our duty here, and our expectations hereafter. And we more especially

rejcice

rejoice that, upon every occafion of thy gracious intercourse with mankind, thou haft represented thyfelf to us as the proper object of our reverence, love, and confidence; as a being cf boundless goodnefs, and the greatest compaffion to thofe frailties and infirmities, to which it has feemed good to thy wisdom to subject us; as one who expecteft no more of us than thou haft enabled us to perform; and who, upon our fincere return to our duty, art ever ready to extend the freeft mercy and forgiveness towards us, even after our moft aggravated and repeated offences.

We thank thee, more especially, for the last and most perfect revelation of thy will to mankind, in the gospel of Jefus Chrift, in whom it hath pleased thee, that all fulness fhould dwell; who has established upon the fureft foundations, the great and important doctrines of the proper unity and mercifulness of thy nature, and thy unrivalled fupremacy with respect to himself, as well as to all other beings, and all other things; and who has likewise given to us the most fatisfactory affurance of a refurrection from the dead, confirmed to us by his own death and refurrection; whereby we are encouraged to expect, that, because he lives, we shall live alfo.

It has feemed good to thy unfearchable wifdom, (which permits the rife and continuance of evil, in order, we doubt not, to bring about the greateft

good)

good) that this most excellent religion, fo honourable to thee and fo beneficial to mankind, fhould, by means of the base artifices of fome, and the general ignorance which lately overspread the world, become grofsly corrupted; whereby fuch opinions have prevailed among the profeffors of christianity, as greatly dishonour thy nature, imply the most unjuft reflections on thy righteous moral govern. ment, and are highly injurious to the virtue and happiness of men. How has the gold become dim, how is the most fine gold changed!

The great and important doctrine of thy divine unity has been generally abandoned, and objects of fupreme worship multiplied. Thy messenger and fervant, the meek and humble Jefus, who, upon all occafions, referred his wisdom and mighty works to thee, his God and Father, fpeaking and acting by him, has been advanced to proper equality with thyfelf; and even his mother, Mary, and innumerable faints and angels, have likewife, been addrefied, as if they were omniprefent beings. By thus dividing thy being, robbing thee of thy effential attributes and perfections, and diftributing them among a multiplicity of inferior beings, de praved and unworthy notions of thy moral character have confequently prevailed, and many of the evils of idolatry have been introduced among the profeffors of that religion, which acknowledges but

one

one living and true God, even thee our Father in heaven, and one mediator, the man Chrift Jesus.

Having divested thee, in their imaginations, of the most amiable of all thy attributes, even the effential placability of thy nature, they have reprefented thy free mercy to penitent finners as purchased by the blood of thy innocent fon. Forgetting that thou art good to all, and that thy tender-mercies are over all thy works, and also that thou, the righteous Lord, loveft righteousness, they have ascribed to thee an arbitary and unreasonable partiality in favour of fome of the human race, and a moft cruel and unjust severity towards others, as condemning them to everlasting torments for crimes of which they could not be guilty, and expecting of them that which thou hadft not enabled them to do. And, having lost the idea of the purity of thy nature and thy regard to moral righte oufness, as the only just ground of acceptance and favour with thee, they have had recourfe to unmeaning and even bafe and mischievous fuperftitions as compenfations for their non-obfervance of thy holy commandments.

To confirm all these, and innumerable other corruptions of thy holy religion, fupreme authority has been openly ufurped by men over that church, in which thou haft given all power to our Lord and mafter Jefus Chrift; and those of thy faithful fervants, who have juftly refufed to fubmit to their ufurpations

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