275 LETTER XXVIII. BARROW. NATURE OF THE OBJECTION TO THE DIVINITY OF THE RESTORATION. - REMARKS ON THIS OBJECTION. BARROW'S DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION.-NATURE OF JUSTI FYING FAITH. LIMITATION OF THE TERM JUSTIFICATION, TO INITIAL FORGIVENESS AND ADOPTION. -FULLER APPLICATION OF IT. REFERENCE TO THE ATONEMENT, AS THE SOLE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN DEPENDENCE. CONCLUDING CAUTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS. MY DEAR FRIEND, a too It is not so much, a departure from evangelical principles, as a defect of full evangelical statement, that seems to be imputed to the divines of this period, who advocated the Arminian scheme of doctrine; favourable representation of the natural state of man, and his capacity for spiritual improvement, and a consequent depreciation, by inference at least, of the value and necessity of that divine grace, by which alone his regeneration can be effected. Yet, if I mistake not, an impartial examination of the most eminent of these writers, would lead to a full refutation of this charge; and I think we have seen, in our quotations from Tillotson, an explicit acknowledgment of these fundamental doctrines, and an assumption of them, as the basis of his practical exhortations. It is not, in fact, against the principles themselves, but against the perversion of them to the support of infidel or Antinomian systems, that we find the arguments of Tillotson directed; and when he appears (as he sometimes does) to maintain the sufficiency of the moral sense, and the abstract dignity of human nature, it is either in reference to societies living under the light of Christianity, or in an application similar to that of the Apostle, who describes the Gentiles, not having the law, as being (in a manner) "a law unto them"selves," showing the work of the law "written in their hearts," and feeling the impulses, or the checks, of natural conscience. The extracts from Barrow in my last letter, sufficiently show his estimate of human corruption; with which, a sense of the necessity of spiritual influence is so inseparably connected in a Christian mind, that either is established, by the evidenceadduced in proof of the other. It would lead us too far, to remark, in his writings, and those of Tillotson, the distinction of this moral sense, or perception of good and evil, which they seem to consider as natural and universal, from that influential determination of the will, on the simple ground of obedience to God, which they describe under the epithet of faith, and to which they uniformly refer, as the principle of Christian virtue. Allow me to recommend to your attentive perusal, the second of Barrow's Sermons on Faith; in which you will find as noble a description of this evangelical grace, and as earnest a persuasion to the cultivation of it, as the whole range of modern divinity can furnish. In the sermons which follow next in the series, we have the doctrine of justification by faith, so fully and explicitly stated, as to leave to many of its later advocates, little' more than the task of repetition. I do not say, that Barrow considers the question here in every possible light, or says every thing that might be said upon it. On the contrary, he seems purposely to avoid this wide and generalizing view, and to restrict the phrase, to its simple and primary acceptation, that of "remission of sins." The acknowledged excellence of these two discourses, and the mutual appeal to them, by our religious parties, might preclude the necessity of a more particular consideration: yet, as the precise view of justification, has been made. and justly made - an essential distinction in religion, it may not be useless to trace the agreement of this able divine, with each of the parties who have been supposed to differ so widely, and the consequent consistency and harmony, of principles which have been (perhaps hastily) deemed irreconcileable. The points proposed for discussion in the first of these sermons, (Romans 5,—verse 1.) or, as it is called, the explicatory part, are, first, what is that faith whereby we are said to be justified? - secondly, what being justified doth import? - thirdly, how by such faith we are so justified? fourthly, what the peace of God is, which is here adjoined to justification? — fifthly, what relation the whole matter bears to our Lord Jesus Christ? Under the first head, the various senses of the word Faith, are considered: - the simple belief of the truth of any proposition; the connection of this belief with any specific object; the rational deductions drawn from this belief; and the consequent desires, affections, and resolutions excited by it. All these are comprehended by the preacher, in the definition of religious or Christian faith; a faith, which is expressly stated to be "an especial instrument of ❝ our salvation, and a necessary condition prerequisite to our partaking the benefits 66 66 |