It is indeed said, "that the righteous man here spoken of, is one truly righteous; for he is one who sinneth not, committeth not iniquity, and turneth not away from his righteousness; one who walketh in God's statutes, and keeps his judgments, yea, who walketh in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; and therefore assuredly is one, who is truly and inwardly righteous, and not in outward profession only." To which I answer; the texts referred to in chap. xxxiii. 12, 13, and xviii. 9, 17, 19, say not any one of these things concerning this righteous man; but on the contrary suppose, he may sin, commit iniquity, and turn from his righteousness; and indeed, there is not a just man, one that is truly so, that lives and sins not; nor is any man righteous in the sight of God by virtue of his inward holiness, or outward walk: besides, the same author contradicts himself in the next page t, when he says, "The righteous man who turneth away from his righteousness, is one who committeth iniquity and doth according to all the abominations which the wicked man doth; and therefore must be one to whom belongs the portion of the wicked, which is death eternal." It is further objected from Dr. Prideaux, that "should he (the righteous man) only turn from his counterfeit and hypocritical righteousness, should he not rather live than die; inasmuch as he would put off the wolf, to put on the lamb?" which will be fully answered by observing the horrid blunder, and wretched mistake, that one doctor has made, and another by him is led into; for the turn is not from a counterfeit and hypocritical righteousness to a real one; but from a mere external moral righteousness, which had some appearance and degree of obedience in it, to an open, shameful, and abominable course of sinning; which is so far from putting off the wolf to put on the lamb, that it is just the very reverse; it is to put off the lamb or sheep's clothing, in which he appeared, to put on the wolf he really was; and consequently such an one should rather die than live.

2. The death threatened to the righteous man that turns from his righteousness, is not an eternal death, or the death of the soul and body in hell; since this death was then upon them, what they were complaining of, imagining it came upon them for the sins of their parents; and besides, they might have been recovered from it by repentance and reformation. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die §? saith the Lord God; and not that he should return from his ways and live? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye; all which cannot be said of an eternal death: dying in his iniquity, is the same with dying for his iniquity, as it is rendered in ver. 26, and designs some severe temporal calamity or affliction; which is often, in Scripture, called a death, Exod. x. 17; 2 Cor. i. 10, and xi. 23; such as captivity, in which the Jews then were, of which they were complaining, what was owing to their sins, and from which they were capable of being recovered. This answer, it is said, contradicts the express words of the prophet about twenty times;" though not one single instance of it is given. Wherefore, 3. Admitting that the truly just and righteous man is here intended; * Whitby, p, 402; cd. 2. 391. § Ezek. xviii. 23, 32.

† Ibid. p. 403; ed. 2. 392.

Ibid. p. 402; ed. 2. 391. Whitby, p. 402; ed. 2. 391.

it is no proof of a possibility of his turning away from his righteousness and sinning, so as to be finally lost and perish; only so as to be afflicted, or suffer in a general calamity: besides, the words are delivered in a conditional form, being to be read thus: If the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness. Now suppositio nil ponet in esse, a supposition puts nothing in being, is no proof or instance of matter of fact. But this is said to be "flying for refuge to a mere mistake; the words in the original being not if, but beshub, év hav pépa émoτpén, in the day that he turns away from his righteousness." To which I reply, that the word w beshub may be rendered, if he turns; as it is by the Vulgate Latin and Pagnine † here, and by our translators in chap. xxxiii. 19, agreeable to the like forms of expression in other places; as Psal. xlvi. 2, Therefore will we fear, ona, though, or if the earth be removed on, and though, or if the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Nor does the Greek version of the Septuagint read the words, év ǹ àv ýμépa étioтpén, in the day that he turns away; but év de тâ áñоσтρévai, in his turning, or when he turns. Add to this, that a conditional form is not only signified by if, but by when. And whereas it may be said, as it is, that such a form of words suppose something in possibility, though not in being, as it does in a wicked man's turning from his wickedness, opposed unto; it will be allowed, that there is a possibility of a truly righteous man's falling away, was he left to himself, and not kept by the power and grace of God; and therefore such a supposition, as this may be designed for, and made use of, as a means to show him his weakness, make him cautious of his walk, and lead him wholly to rely and depend on superior help and assistance, and so consequently be the means of his final perseverance.

SECTION XX.

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God: repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.-EZEK. xviii. 30. THESE exhortations are represented as contrary to the doctrines of absolute election and reprobation, and of unfrustrable grace in conversion. The argument from them stands thus; "He who would have all men, to whom the gospel is vouchsafed, to come to repentance, hath not prepared this saving grace only for some few Christians, leaving the rest under a necessity of perishing for the want of it; for to all such persons he hath promised, that they shall not perish." And elsewhere it is said§, that "such delude men with vain words, who teach, that a God of truth, and of sincerity, and of great goodness, should say to persons with such symptoms of passionate concern, Repent, and be converted from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not * Whitby, p. 403; ed. 2. 392.

† So even Vorstius reads the words, and argues from them for a conditional decree in God. Amic. Collat. cum Piscator, sect. 4, p. 10. ‡ Whitby, p. 70 ; ed. 2. 69. § Ib. p. 34 ; ed. 2. 33.

199

be your ruin; when he himself had from eternity appointed them to ruin, and purposed to withhold from them that grace, without which it was impossible they should repent, or be converted ;"" and that*, "if conversion be wrought only by the unfrustrable operation of God, and man is purely passive in it, vain are all such exhortations." To all which I reply,

1. That these exhortations are not made to all men, but only to the house of Israel; and therefore do not contradict the preparation of saving grace for some few only, as the Israelites were; nor do we say, that God has prepared saving grace only for some few Christians, but for all Christians; that is, all that are Christ's; nor are any of them left under a necessity of perishing for the want of it, since it is given to them, and they have it, as their character supposes and whereas it is said, that to all such persons God has promised, that they shall not perish; it is readily granted, and by the way, is an acknowledgment of the doctrine of the saints' final perseverance; which is elsewhere greatly objected to. Moreover, inasmuch as they were the house of Israel, and every one of them, that are here spoken to, they are the wrong persons pitched upon to contradict the decrees of election and reprobation; for who will say of every one of them, that they were doomed to eternal death, or appointed to everlasting ruin, who were chosen to be a peculiar people? It ought to be shown, if any thing is done to purpose, that God has somewhere or other expressed himself in such language to all men, and particularly to such as shall not eventually be saved, as is here used to his professing people.

2. The repentance here exhorted to, is not to be understood of an evangelical one, which is a repentance unto life, and unto salvation; but of a national one, for national iniquities, and to prevent national judgments, with which they are here threatened; seeing it is the whole house of Israel, the whole nation, and every one of them, who are exhorted unto it. Now, though there can be no true evangelical repentance without the unfrustrable grace of God, yet there may be a national external repentance without it; as in the case of the Ninevites. Besides, was an evangelical repentance designed here, an exhortation to it being made to the people of God, as the house of Israel were, could only be to the exercise of it, the grace itself having been wrought in them by the power of God: or admitting that the words are spoken to such who had not the grace itself; such an exhortation might not be in vain, supposing the necessity of an unfrustrable operation; seeing it might be made use of to convince such of the necessity of repentance, and of their want of it; and so God may in this way bring his elect to it, according to his eternal purposes and designs. Moreover, turning from transgression, does not intend the first work of internal, saving conversion, which is wrought by the powerful and efficacious grace of God, and in which men are purely passive; but an external reformation, or a bringing forth fruits meet for repentance, in which persons may be, and are active; since it is not reasonable to suppose that the house of Israel, and every one of them, should be in an uncon

*Whitby, pp. 237, 242; cd. 2. 231 236.

verted state. Besides, some give the sense of these words thus: not turn yourselves, but turn others, every man his neighbour, or his brother; so R. Sol. Jarchi, R. David Kimchi, R. Sol. Ben Melec, and some Christian interpreters.

3. The ruin the house of Israel was in danger of through iniquity, and which they might escape by repentance and reformation, was not eternal but temporal; so iniquity shall not be your ruin, bw a stumbling-block to you; an hindrance, an obstruction, lying in the way of your enjoyment of temporal blessings; therefore, cast away from you all your transgressions. This sense of the words may be confirmed from the advantages proposed to such who turned from their sins and transgressions, ver. 27, 28, as that such an one should save his soul alive; not with an everlasting salvation, for no man can save his soul alive in that sense; but with a temporal one, as did the Ninevites, by their repentance and reformation: it is also said, that he shall surely live, not a spiritual and eternal life; for he is said* to live by his doing that which is lawful and right; whereas, no man can live spiritually and eternally by so doing; but it intends a civil life, in the comfortable enjoyment of outward mercies. It is moreover added, he shall not die, which is to be understood not of an eternal death, but of a temporal one, or of a death of afflictions, as has been observed under the preceding section.

SECTION XXI.

Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart, and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: Wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.-EZEK. xviii. 31, 32.

THIS passage of Scripture is frequently used by the† patrons of freewill, and opposers of God's grace; in which they imagine the power of man in conversion is strongly asserted, and the doctrine of reprobation sufficiently disproved; but whether they are or are not, we shall be better able to judge when the following things are considered. 1. That the exhortation to cast away their transgressions from them, regards either their sins themselves, which they had committed, and shows, that they were not only unprofitable, but pernicious, and so to be disliked and abhorred, as such things are that are proper to be cast away; or else the punishment due to their sins, which they might have removed and cast off from them by their repentance and reformation, and is the sense Kimchi gives of the words; or rather those things, particularly their idols, by which they transgressed. Now let it be observed, that this phrase of casting away transgressions, is no where else used, is peculiar to Ezekiel, and so may be best interpreted by chap. xx.7,8. Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abomina

* Ezek. xxxiii. 19.

+ Remonstr. in Coll. Hag. art. iii. iv. p. 216; Act. Synod. p. 78, &c.; Curcell. 1. 5, c. 6, sect. 1, p. 363; et 1. 6, c. 14, sect. 8, p. 408; Limborch. 1. 4, c. 5, sect. 2, p. 331, &c. 13, p. 374.

tions of his eyes, &c. Now these idols were the abominations of their eyes, were the cause of their transgressions, or that by which they transgressed, which their own hands had made unto them, for a sin*: and what they had power or were able to cast away from them; and no ways militates against the necessity of an unfrustrable operation in con

version.

2. The other exhortation, to make them a new heart and a new spirit, admitting that it designs a renewed, regenerated heart and spirit, in which are new principles of light, life and love, grace and holiness, it will not prove that it is in the power of an unregenerate man, to make himself such a heart and spirit; since from God's commands, to man's power, non valet consequentia, is no argument: God commands men to keep the whole law perfectly; it does not follow from hence that they can do it; his precepts show what man ought to do, not what he can do. Such an exhortation as this, to make a new heart, may be designed to convince men of their want of one, and of the importance of it, that without it is no salvation; and so be the means, through the efficacious grace of God, of his elect enjoying this blessing; for what he here exhorts to, he has absolutely promised in the now covenant; A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. Though it ought to be observed, that these words are not spoken to unconverted persons, but to the house of Israel, every one of them; who cannot be thought, especially all of them, to have been at that time in an unregenerate state; and therefore must not be understood of the first work of renovation, but of some after renewings, which were to appear in their external conversation; and so the words have the same sense as those of the apostle Paul to the believing Ephesians,+ Be ye renewed in the spirit of your minds; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Moreover, by a new heart, and a new spirit, may be meant, as the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel renders them, b, a fearing heart, and a spirit of fear, that is, a heart and spirit, to fear, serve, and worship the Lord, and not idols. And it is observable, that wherever a new heart and spirit are spoken of, they stand opposed to idols, and the service of them; so that the exhortation amounts to no more than this, that they yield a hearty reverential obedience to the living God, and not to dumb idols. Besides, what is here called a new heart, is, in chap. xi. 9, called one heart, that is, a single heart, in opposition to a double or hypocritical one; and so may design sincerity and uprightness in their national repentance and external reformation, which they are here pressed unto.

3. The expostulation, Why will ye die? is not made with all men ; nor can it be proved that it was made with any who were not eventually saved, but with the house of Israel, who were called the children and people of God; and therefore cannot disprove any act of preterition passing on others, nor be an impeachment of the truth and sincerity of God. Besides, the death expostulated about, is not an eternal, but a temporal one, or what concerned their temporal affairs, and civil condition, and circumstances of life; see chap. xxxiii. 24 to 29. Hence,

* Isa. xxxi. 7.

† Ezek. xxxiv. 26.

Eph. iv. 23, 24.