THE

Spiritual Magazine ;

OR,

SAINTS?

TREASURY.

"There are Three that bear record in heaven, the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One."

Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

NOVEMBER, 1826.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

1 John v. 7.

Jude 3.

FREE GRACE SALVATION FULLY ASSERTED, AND REAL ANTINOMIANISM DENIED.

[A Letter written to a friend by Mr. Job Hupton, of Claxton, in Norfolk, in the year 1805; intended to match the one inserted in the April Number of this Magazine, entitled, " Free Grace Salvation," from the same pen; that the judicious reader, loving the truth, may have a pair of portraits.]

Brentford.

Dear Sir,

:

Supplied by

ANDREW.

I FEEL myself deeply interested in what you have written in defence of the truth of God; being myself one of those who are invidiously pelted with scandal, and wickedly stigmatized with the title of Antinomian though that God, who searches every vein of my heart, and is privy to all my motives and all my thoughts, he knows that I most deeply detest that which I have always conceived to be real antinomianism, and that which (charitably judging) I would hope my adversaries mean when they use the term, viz." Let us commit iniquity, because we are not under the law but under grace; let us wantonly sin, because grace abounds; let us do evil, that good may

come."

I solemnly declare to you, Sir, to all my friends, to all my enemies, and to all the world, and God is my witness that I lie not, that I view such principles, and, since I have known any thing of real vital godliness, I have ever conceived of such sentiments, as the most diabolically wicked that ever the mind of man imbibed; that ever VOL. III.-No. 31.

Y

ascended from the bottomless pit; or that ever the old serpent, the devil, framed and devised. What! shall we, O thou God of love, return thee hatred for thy love?-shall we indulge in sin because thy grace abounds?-shall we multiply iniquity and transgressions, entirely and on purpose because thou wilt abundantly pardon?shall we lift up the heel against thee, and smite at thee with the fist of wickedness, because thou loadest us with benefits?-shall we for thy kindness towards us, spit in thy face, and requite thee evil for good, O thou ever indulgent parent, God of grace, and Father of all our mercies? No; cursed be the vile disingenuous thought! Rather let us at once drop into the grave, (yea, I would say, even into hell itself) and let our names be for ever forgotten among men !

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I have, Sir, always been studious to make known my real sentiments without disguise, and without reserve; openly declaring to small and great, according to the measure of grace communicated unto me, and ability given me, that God has freely loved his people with an everlasting love; that he draws them effectually with loving kindness, to love and obey him in return; that he freely, according to the riches of his grace, chose them to certain salvation in Christ before the foundation of the world; and the design of the choice, that they should be a holy people to himself," holy and without blame before him in love:" that he, by an eternal act of his own sovereign will, predestinated them to be conformed to the beauteous image of his beloved Son; and accordingly they, when called out of darkness into his marvellous light, are changed into the same image, by the Spirit of the Lord :" that he chose them, and ordained them that they should go and bring forth fruit, and that their fruit should remain: that Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might redeem it from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works :" that by his death he has redeemed his people from their vain conversation, and delivered them from this present evil world, that they should not henceforth live to themselves, nor to the world, but "unto him that died for them and rose again :" that there is full and free forgiveness with God, that he may be feared; that he speaketh peace to his people, and to his saints, that they may not turn again to folly that he purges their consciences from dead works, by the blood of Jesus, that they may serve him: that he has justified them freely by his grace, and made them heirs according to the hope of eternal life, that they, when they have believed, "should be careful to maintain good works" that he new-creates them in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which he had before ordained that they should walk in them: that he calls them by his power, not with an unhallowed but with a holy calling; not unto uncleanness, but unto holiness; not to abuse the precious doctrines of grace, but to adorn them in all things: that he has granted unto them, that they, being delivered from the hands of their enemies, might serve him without fear, " in righteousness and holiness all the days of their lives:" that he constantly works in

them, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure; fulfilling in them all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power, in order that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in them, and they in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ: that sin has no dominion over them, they not being under the law but under grace: that they are dead to the law by the body of Christ, that they should be married unto another,* even unto him that is raised from the dead, that they should bring forth fruit unto God; and being delivered from the law, that being dead wherein they were held, they now serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter: that they live and walk in the spirit, and, consequently, do not live after the flesh: and, finally, that all the persons, and all the perfections in the all-sufficient immutable Godhead, are combined, and positively engaged by promise, by covenant, and by oath inviolable, to glorify themselves for ever, in the SANCTIFICATION as well as the JUSTIFICATION of all the elect.

This, dear Sir, is a faithful summary of the doctrines with which I began my ministry, and which I have constantly preached for these twenty years; and it is for my adherence to these that I am blackened with the odious and hated name of antinomian. But if this is antinomianism, then, what is the gospel? If to preach this doctrine is to preach antinomianism, then, I ask, what is it to speak as the oracles of God? And, farther, if while a man maintains these principles, he supports a character upon which he may boldly defy his most inveterate enemies to fix the blot of licentiousness, he is

* The writer of this letter, and also the present transcriber, both detest the sentiment," that the believer is in no sense whatever under the authority of the law;" they both view the same in the hand of Christ (who is Zion's lawgiver) as the written rule of temper and conduct to the saints of the Most High. They highly approve of the late Mr. Booth's treatise, entitled, "The Death of Legal Hope the Life of Evangelical Obedience."

We must now say (1805-1826) forty-one years: for this veteran for the truth is yet in the church militant; is yet a faithful watchman upon the walls of Zion; is yet, I say, faithful among the few faithful ones, in this day of awful declension, of momentous departure from the truth. Yes, reader, it can be said with honest truth of this grey-headed soldier of the cross, that he is closing his ministerial career even as he began, speaking the same things unto the end. Phil. iii. 1. His name is not enrolled with those, who, "at the commencement of their career, entertained (forsooth) mistaken views; but when the true light broke in upon their minds, it transformed their whole character, and kindled within them an apostolic energy." [See Baptist Magazine for this Month, Oct. pa. 465.]

Ah! dear reader, what were those "mistaken views" which these men in the morning of their ministerial days entertained? They have nicknamed the same "hyper-calvinism” and "pseudo-calvinism," and I know not what other names; but what is its real name? I reply -the gospel; and the great and glorious doctrines thereof, of which this letter treats, the preaching whereof has been losing ground amongst us for many years. Yea, that great man of God, Dr. Owen, in addressing a charge to a minister within twelve months of his death, (one hundred and forty-four years ago) said to him, let us contend for the truth, and that from an experience of love to the same in our own souls. I fear there is much loss of truth among us; not for want of light, (I fear we have light enough) nor yet for want of ability, (there seems no loss here) but for want of love to the truth. Though we tacitly own the doctrines of the gospel, the love towards those doctrines seems greatly decayed, and the sense and power thereof almost lost; but we have gotten no ground by it, we are not more holy, more fruitful, than we were when we preached them, and attended diligently unto them." Yes, the truth has lost ground, and is superseded by statements of duty faith, which are inconsistent with the particular and glorious doctrines of grace, tend too much to exalt human nature, lead to arminianism, are distressing to saints, and dishonouring to God.--ANDREW.

nevertheless deemed an antinomian; then what must he Do to wipe off the odium, and justify himself from the vile, unjust imputation? I anticipate your answer. Let him trim, temporize, palliate, run with the wind, and swim with the stream. Study the sentiments of your hearers; and, although they should not be altogether so evangelical as might be wished, yet, mark it, be careful never to utter any thing, either in the pulpit, in public, or in the parlour in private, contrary to their views. Always endeavour to please, in every congregation, all who hear you; let them be arminians, or whatever they may, except such as are reputed antinomians; from such turn away as you would from a leper, or a person infected with a pestilential disease; and be sure to pronounce them " dangerous characters," although you may be firmly persuaded in your own conscience that both their principles, and especially their practice, are far superior to those of the party by whom they are traduced. If at any time, for the sake of preserving an old custom, and of appearing evangelical, you should make use of the terms grace, and free grace, you must be extremely careful to secrete their precise meaning; indeed the most advisable method might be, so to use those terms and words, as to leave it quite uncertain whether they have any meaning at all: and remember, (whether you make use of these terms or not) you will always find it expedient to cast over the beauteous face of divine grace, a thick veil of impenetrable obscurity, to conceal effectually from every eye, all her transcendent excellencies; lest any of your hearers should be enamoured with her lovely, endearing, irresistible charms, so as to forget their moral obligations, neglect their duty, and give themselves up to licentious conduct !!

Mention the sublime doctrines of grace but seldom; keep them as much as possible in the back ground; be careful of exhibiting them except in the shade; and guard them well, lest they break out, commit ravages, and do sad mischief. Speak very sparingly of election, and when you do mention it, be wise, and do it in a manner which will leave it altogether uncertain to your hearers whether you believe it or not; and in addition, make it quite certain that you consider it as a thing of little or no consequence or importance, either to be preached or let alone, as suits, at discretion. Never, on any occasion, let a single syllable escape your lips respecting the eternal union of the elect to Christ, and their eternal justification in him, unless it be to call these things "eternal nonsense;"* for were you once to

<< There is a secret justification in the sight of God which is by the object of faith; this was before calling, yea, from eternity. This appears to me a scriptural doctrine, and therefore neither the opinion of great men, much less the nickname of " eternal nonsense," (which is too often counted an effectual confutation of it by those who have nothing else to bring) shall make me ashamed to avow it, or the concomitant doctrines of secret union and adoption. If any man will use argument instead of profane ridicule to oppose these, let him attack some pamphlets of that glory of the divines of England and of the protestant world, the late excellent, though too little known, Mr. Johu Brine. These, I say, are principles which my soul loveth, and would pray eternally to adhere to."-Extracted from preface to a volume of precious poems, written by the late Dr. Ryland when a young man," at the commencement of his career," and when he also "entertained mistaken views." When I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Cor. xiii. 11.

mention these with any signs of approbation, it would be sufficient to fix for ever on your character the brand of antinomianism, even though you were to live like an angel of God. Remember seldom to assert the necessity of the revelation of the arm of Jehovah to raise the dead in sin to newness of life; to pluck perishing sinners as brands from the burning; to deliver the lawful captive, and to release the prey of the terrible: but, on the contrary, always call to the dead to arise and come forth; invite the brand to come out of the fire; entreat the captive to break his fetters, to forsake his captivity; and earnestly persuade the prey to quit the hand of the terrible, and escape for his life. And be sure to do and say all this, as if you really believed them to possess natural ability sufficient for these things. Never maintain the absolute grant of all spiritual blessings to the elect in Christ before the foundation of the world; by which grant all those blessings were truly made their's, and their title to them was established for ever; nor yet preach that covenant, ordered in all things and sure, in which the application, reception, possession and enjoyment of every spiritual good, were all infallibly made sure to all the seed:" do not so; but, on the contrary, be contented to make offers and overtures of the mercy and grace in Christ, and of all spiritual blessings in him, to sinners in general, to become their's upon believing. Make no distinction between the covenant of grace and the covenant of works, but jumble together the promises of the former and the duties of the latter, as if they were precisely the same things. Never proclaim gospel liberty, nor exhort believers to stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made them free; nor even so much as hint that they are not under the LAW but under GRACE. Never dare affirm that God's people are justified freely from all unrighteousness; that they are fully forgiven all their sins, internal and external, past, present and future; that they stand completely and immutably innocent, holy, and without blame in Christ, their exalted head and representative; and that they cannot by any means come into everlasting condemnation.

To come to it in few words, let this be it; use language general, vague, and ambiguous, and never come to a point or be positive in any thing except in this: that the strenuous asserters of the pure doctrines of grace, commonly called high Calvinists, are all antinomians, enemies of holiness, friends of ungodliness, who not only break and despise the commandments of God themselves, but also teach others to do the same! And in addition to all this, frequently give the alarm and cry, antinomianism! antinomianism! beware of the antinomian! And make a loud noise about the law, as if it were in imminent danger; and be sure to make a great stir and bustle of duty and holiness, and insinuate as if they who are distinguished by their steady adherence to, and are earnest for, the unadulterated truths of the gospel, were going to extirpate duty and holiness from among men, and to deluge the church with licentiousness.