connected, and the great intention of both appears to be the restoration of man, as far as can be, to that purity of life, which he had loft.

This view of Christianity is, I fhould think, an argument of great weight against all those opinions, which lay the stress of religion on any thing but a holy life, through faith in Christ.

I SHALL confider this fubject under the heads of a bad confcience, a good confcience and an eafy confcience.

By a bad confcience, we mean a confcience harrowed with guilt-reftlefs-diftreffed rejecting all enjoyment.

By a good confcience, we mean a conscience not perfectly at reft; for the most religious man lives in a state of continual ftrife with himfelf; but a confcience, however, not disturbed with those boisterous storms, which affect the bad confcience, though its furface is feldom perfectly unruffled.

The eafy confcience, on the other hand, is always undisturbed. Nothing affects it. It is in constant repose.

Of these three modes of confcience, which is the beft, is easily determined. But perhaps a wife man would prefer a bad confcience to an eafy one. The bad confcience may be drawn by its restless and infupportable feelings to a state of repentance; but the eafy confcience, arifing either from hardened guilt, or a careless life, having nothing to rouse it, puts its poffeffor into a very dangerous fituation.

Let no man therefore, without careful examination, judge of the fecurity of his cafe, by the ease of his conscience. No good man can have a conscience at perfect ease. The best must say with the apostle, we trust we have a good confcience ;—that is, we hope, through the mercy of God, and merits of our bleffed Saviour, we have nothing upon it, which will endanger our falvation.

XIV.

MARK, xvi. 16.

HE THAT BELIEVETH, AND IS BAPTIZED,

SHALL BE SAVED; BUT HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT, SHALL BE DAMNED.

UR bleffed Lord, a little before his afcenfion,

gave his laft charge to his difciples in the words of the text, which seem to bear this meaning: "I fend you out to preach the Gospel to the world. They who accept the gracious offer it makes, shall be faved. But they who refufe it, whether through negligence or wickedness, must take the confequence of their refufal."

This text, however, though it is capable of fo natural and easy a sense, has often, I think, been mifapplied by well-meaning Chriftians. Our Saviour fays fimply, he that believeth. But these religionists tell you precisely what you are to believe.

Nor is there much amifs in that, if they did not bind it upon you with an anathema.

Mr. Locke, after examining all the paffages of Scripture which relate to faith in Christ, afferts, that no proportion is held out as a necessary article of belief, but barely that Jefus Chrift is the Meffiab*. And indeed the apostles' creed seems to be little more than this idea dilated; to which every one may add his own private creed, on fuch articles as he thinks have fufficient foundation in Scripture. But he has perhaps no right to go farther. By putting his own opinions into Scripture language, (which may easily be done without attend. ing to contexts,) he may unhappily mislead others, even on Gospel authority.

The prejudices of mankind (cleaving to them from numberless circumstances, which they often cannot help) are fo various their modes of thinking fo different — and the fense of Scripture often fo undetermined-that there can be no orthodoxy in opinion, according to any one man's standard.

In practice we may all be orthodox: the rules of life are laid down fo precisely, that no true believer in Jefus can err or vary from another.

See his Reasonablenefs of Christianity.