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Section 4—Deuteronomy 8:2.
And thou shalt remember
all the way which
the Lord thy God led thee
these forty years in the wilderness,
to humble thee, and to prove thee,
to know what was in thine heart,
whether thou wouldest
keep his commandments or no.
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Adapted from The COMPLETE TEXT
of ORIGINAL MATERIAL in PDF,
here: in Part 1, Section 4—
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It is said, that it is evident
from this and other passages of Scripture,
that the state of man in this world,
is a state of trial or probation.
It will be proper therefore
to make the following inquiries:
I. What this state of probation is,
or what is meant by it.
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1. This state of trial, or ‘probation’,
is not a trial of men’s graces,
as faith, patience, etc.,
by afflictive dispensations of Providence;
for men in general are not in such a state,
since all men have not grace to be tried;
nor is the state of every man
an afflicted one in this life:
this is a state peculiar to the people of God,
and to them only when converted:
for before conversion
they have no graces to be tried;
and with some of them,
this state is very short,
and so far from being the state of man
whilst in this world;
and yet, as will be seen
hereafter, the proof of the state of probation
pretty much depends on passages of Scripture
which relate to the exercise
of the graces of the saints
by afflictions, temptations, etc.
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2. This state of trial, if I understand it right,
is of man’s obedience
and conduct towards God during his life;
according to which
conduct and behavior God acts towards him,
both in this and the other world;
his state, as to happiness or misery,
being yet unfixed:
so that whilst this state lasts,
it is uncertain whether he
will be saved or lost.
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II. What proof is given
of the state of man in this world,
being such a one.
1. All those scriptures are urged,
which speak of God’s proving
the children of Israel when in the wilderness,
and in their own land,
whether they would walk in his statutes,
and keep his commandments, or no;
such as Exodus 16:4, Exodus 20:20;
Deuteronomy 8:2, and 13:3;
Judges 2:2l, 22, and 3:1, 4.
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It ought to be observed,
that these people were under a theocracy,
or the immediate government of God as their King,
who gave them laws,
according to which they should act;
to which they readily promised a cheerful
and universal obedience;
on condition of which obedience,
they were to enjoy, and continue in their
enjoyment of the land of Canaan.
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Therefore, before they entered
into the land, and when in it,
God was pleased to try them,
sometimes in one way, and sometimes in another,
whether they would yield that obedience to his commands
which he required,
and abide by the promises
which they themselves had made,
or no;
all which he did not for his own sake,
who knows all things,
but that their obedience
or disobedience might be made manifest,
and he be justified in all his dealings with them.
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This trial of their obedience
was not in order to their salvation
in another world, but
to their temporal good in this;
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Because such of them as were saved
with an everlasting salvation,
were saved not by their obedience
to the commands of God,
but by the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Besides, the scriptures produced,
speak only of the people of Israel,
and of what was their state
and case as a politic body,
under the immediate government of God,
in a certain period of time;
and not of all mankind;
and so fall abundantly short
of proving that the state of man in this world,
is such a state of
probation as before described.
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2. This is attempted to be proved from all those places in which
God is said to try men, their works and graces, by afflictions,
persecutions, temptations, and the like; as 1 Corinthians 3:13; 2
Corinthians 3:2; 1 Peter 1:7, and 4:12; James 1:3; Revelation
2:10, and 3:10; Psalm 66:10; Daniel 11:35, and 12:10; Zechariah
13:9. What I have said in answer to the first query, is a sufficient
reply to what is alleged from these passages; since these only
speak of the saints, and of the trial of their grace, who only have
grace to be tried, and that not in order to fix and settle the affair of
their salvation; nor are these trials mere experiments of the truth
and constancy of their graces: but are also designed for the
further exercise and increase of them; the issue of which is their
own spiritual good, and God’s glory. Hence it must follow that
these scriptures are insufficient proofs of every man’s being in a
state of probation, and in order to everlasting happiness or
misery.
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3. This is said to be evident from all the promises and threats
recorded in the Scripture, to engage all men to repent, and turn to
God; for it is added, no such thing is or can reasonably be offered
to them who are already in a fixed state either of happiness or
misery. To which I reply, that the promises and threats recorded
in the Scripture, which relate to men’s spiritual and eternal good,
may be reduced to and comprehended in these words, He that
believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; he that believeth not,
shall be damned; which was the substance of the gospel ministry
the apostles had in commission from Christ to fulfill, and which
might be exercised fully and thoroughly, supposing a fixed state of
happiness or misery; since such a ministry might be, and is used,
through the grace of God, to bring those who are designed for
happiness, into a state of grace meet for the same; and to leave
others inexcusable, to discover the more the corruption and
vitiosity of their nature, and so to justify the righteous proceedings
of God against them.
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4. This is argued for from all the exhortations of the holy Scripture
to men to watch and pray, that they enter not and are not led into
temptation, and from such scriptures which suppose men to be in
danger by temptation; the passages referred to are, Matthew
6:13, and Matthew 26:41; Luke 8:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; which
only regard the saints, or such who profess to be so, and not all
mankind. Besides, if God has put all men into a state of probation,
and this designed by temptation, how should any watch and pray
not to enter or be led into it? Moreover, this state of probation, is
either a good one, or a bad one; if a good one, why should men
watch and pray against it? if a bad one, can it be reasonably
supposed, that God has put men into it, in order to their
everlasting good? and why then should it be contended for?
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5. This is said to be evident from the temptations of Satan, who
goes about continually seeking whom he may devour; and it is
added, to what end should he tempt, or endeavor to destroy the
elect, or strive to hinder the progress of the gospel, or the
conversion of any man; when supposing a fixed state by the
decrees of God, and a divine unfrustrable operation on the hearts
of men, he must know that his labor will certainly be in vain? To
which I answer, that Satan has not the book of life in his keeping;
nor does he know who are and who are not the elect of God, until
this appears by the unfrustrable operation of God’s grace on their
hearts, and it may be, not even then: so that it is no wonder that
he tempts, strives, and endeavors to hinder the success of the
gospel in their conversion, and to destroy them; and when he
does know who they are, endeavors to distress them by his
temptations, though he cannot destroy; and in ten thousand
instances will show his malice, when he cannot show his power.
Besides, the text referred to in 1 Peter 5:8, carries in the sense of
it the doctrine of a fixed state; when it supposes that there are
some whom Satan may devour, and leaves a plain intimation that
there are others whom he may not and cannot devour; who are
the sheep of Christ, and being in his hands, neither man nor devil
will ever be able to pluck from thence. This is the sum of the proof
offered in favor of this notion, by a celebrated writer, which how
pertinent it is, must be left to the consideration of others.
III. What reason there is to conclude that the state of man in this
world is not such a state.
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1. Angels and man both, have been in a state of probation
already, in which their free-will, and power to obey the commands
of God, have been sufficiently tried; which trial has issued in the
fall and ruin of a large number of angels, and of the whole race of
mankind: and therefore it is not reasonable to suppose that God
would put man into such a state again; but rather provide in
another way for the good of those he designed to bring to
everlasting happiness.
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2. If men were in a state of probation, they ought to be on equal
ground, enjoying equal privileges and advantages; whereas this is
not the case; some have only the dim light and weak law of
nature, whilst others enjoy the gospel revelation; and of these
some have larger, and others lesser, means of grace, light, and
knowledge; some have the grace of God itself bestowed upon
them, others have it not. Now were all men in such a state of
probation as is pleaded for, is it reasonable to suppose that there
would be such an inequality among them?
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3. This state of probation, which renders salvation precarious and
uncertain, is contrary to God’s foreknowledge and decree of
election; for God, according to his foreknowledge, has chosen
and predestinated a certain number of men to eternal life and
salvation, by which their state is fixed, and their salvation sure, for
the purpose of God according to election shall stand. Whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate; whom he did predestinate,
them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified;
and whom he justified, them he also glorified
(Rom. 9:11; 8:29, 30).
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4. This notion puts man’s salvation on the foot of his obedience
and works, contrary to the Scriptures, to the merits of Christ, and
to the grace of God; it ascribes more to the free-will of man than
to the free grace of God, and lays a foundation for boasting in the
creature.
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5. Such a state of probation is contrary to all those scriptures
which represent the saints to be now in a saved state, and as
having everlasting life; such as Ephesians 2:8, John 5:24, and
John 6:47. In a word, it destroys the doctrine of assurance, and
leaves the saints themselves in a most uncomfortable condition,
because it leaves them in a most precarious, unsettled, yea,
dangerous one.