“Your argument is this; that, ‘believing is previous to justification.’ But, dear Sir, this is begging the question; and, permit me to say, that I deny the assertion. Waving all disputes concerning eternal justification, or justification in the mind and purpose of God, I maintain, that, believing cannot possibly be previous to justification; and you must yourself maintain the same, unless you will adopt the phrase of an unjustified believer; whereas the Holy Ghost teaches that all who believe are justified. We may as well suppose that a man eats before he takes any food, and that he sees before he receives the light of the sun, as that he believes before he is justified: for believing, and feeding upon Christ, are not more inseparably connected than eating and taking bodily food, or than seeing and receiving light are inseparably connected. Yea, true faith can no more subsist without its object Christ, than there can be a marriage without a husband. From hence, I conclude, that the doctrine of believing before justification, and thereby making the grace of faith a conditional work, is not less contrary to reason than it is to Scripture itself.”
“I most sincerely abhor the Minute, ‘that we are every hour and every moment pleasing or displeasing to God, according to our works; according to the whole of our inward tempers, and our outward behaviour;’ and, yet, I equally abhor the assertion, ‘that David did not displease God more when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and imbrued his hands in her husband’s blood, than when he danced before the ark.’ I know, from Scripture authority, that when David committed the sin you allude to, the thing which he had done displeased the Lord. But, though I believe that David’s sin displeased the Lord, must I therefore believe that David’s person came under the curse of the law? and that, because he was ungrateful, God, whose gifts and callings are without repentance, was unfaithful? Surely no. David was still a son, though a perverse one. Like backsliding Ephraim, he was still a pleasant child, though he went on frowardly.”
“Either Christ has fulfilled the whole law, and borne the curse, or He has not. If He has not, no soul can ever be saved; if He has, then all debts and claims against His people, be they more or be they less, be they small or be they great, be they before or be they after conversion, are for ever and for ever cancelled. All trespasses are forgiven them. They are justified from all things. They already have everlasting life. They are now (virtually) sat down in heavenly places with Christ their Forerunner; and as soon shall Satan pluck His crown from His head, as His purchase from His hand.”
Such were some of the absurd and pernicious doctrines propounded by Mr. Hill, and which Fletcher felt it his duty to refute. Towards Wesley, there is, in Mr. Hill’s pamphlet, an occasional stroke of bitterness, as, for instance, where he asserts that “there is a much nearer resemblance between the doctrines of Mr. John Wesley and mother Church”[Church”], (Popery) “than the popish Superior chose to acknowledge;”[[263]] but towards Fletcher, Mr. Hill, throughout, displays the most respectful kindness, and concludes his fifth and last letter thus:—
“And now, dear Sir, I cannot conclude these letters without expressing my earnest desire that the contents of them may never cause any decrease of love and Christian fellowship between us. Pardon then, my dear Sir, I ardently beseech you, O pardon all that you have found amiss in the unworthy author of these epistles; and much, I am sure, your charity will have to overlook. If we cannot see things alike now, I hope the time is not far off when we shall be thoroughly united in sentiment, as well as in heart, and each of us, casting our crowns before the throne, shall join our voices in that one harmonious song of praise, with which the regions of bliss shall echo without intermission, and without end, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.’ ‘Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.’
“In the meanwhile, let me acknowledge before the world that there is not a man living to whom I am more indebted for repeated instances of affection, and labours of love, than I am to dear Mr. Fletcher; and, therefore, notwithstanding all differences of judgment between us, I trust he will always give me leave to subscribe myself his most affectionate friend and brother, in the bonds of the Gospel of peace,
“The Author of Pietas Oxoniensis.”
This was worthy of Mr. Hill, who, eleven years afterwards, succeeded to the title and estates of his father, and became Sir Richard Hill, Bart.
Though Mr. Hill’s first letter to Fletcher was dated as recently as December 2, 1771, the whole five were published, and Fletcher’s answer to them committed to the press as early as the month of March,[[264]] 1772. Fletcher begins his “Third Check to Antinomianism” as follows:—
“Honoured and Dear Sir,—Accept my sincere thanks for the Christian courtesy with which you treat me in your five letters.