2. As to the other scripture, mentioned in the objection, in which the Gentiles are said to do by nature the things contained in the law; he does not infer from thence that they are the servants of God, or willing subjects to his government, or, indeed, that they fulfil the law of nature; and therefore we cannot suppose that he concludes them justified thereby, which is contrary to the whole tenor of the apostle’s doctrine, in other parts of his writings. It is true, he says, that their consciences sometimes excuse, as well as, at other times, accuse them; yet it must be considered, that conscience may excuse, or plead not guilty, with respect to the charge of some crimes, which are committed by others, when, at the same time, this does not exempt them from the guilt of sin in general, or give them a right and title to eternal life. The apostle therefore designs only to shew how far the corruption of men may be restrained, by their attending to the dictates of the light of nature, whereby a great deal of sin and guilt might be prevented; but he does not determine that God has any farther design of grace toward them; for, if he had, he would have given them the means of salvation; and if he has not said that he will save them, without giving them these means, we have no ground to assert that he will; for this is to conclude, without sufficient evidence from scripture.
Object. 3. It is said, in Rom. ii. 4. that the goodness of God leadeth to repentance; but repentance is certainly connected with salvation; therefore the goodness, or bounty of God, which persons, who have no other right but that of nature, have some knowledge of, may lead them to salvation.
Answ. It is evident that the apostle, in this scripture, does not speak to the Gentiles, but to the Jews; for, having considered the vile abominations which were practised by the Gentiles, in the foregoing chapter, in this he reproves the Jews, when he says, in ver. 1. Thou art inexcusable, O man, that judgest, and yet dost the same things; and, in ver. 17. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God; therefore, if the apostle is speaking to them, when he says, The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, we are not only to understand hereby the bounty of common providence, or those effects of the divine goodness, which are known and experienced by the whole world; but the goodness of God, which they had experienced, who were the peculiar objects thereof, and favoured by him, above all the rest of the world, to whom pertained the adoption, the glory, the covenants, and the giving the law, and the service of God, and the promises as we read, in chap. ix. 4. therefore certainly they were highly to blame, that they were not hereby led to repentance.
Object. 4. It is farther objected, that the apostle, in disputing with the Athenians, in Acts xvii. 27. put them upon seeking after God, if haply they might feel after him, and find him; whereas, if it were impossible to find God, that is, the way of acceptance in his sight, by the light of nature, it would have been a preposterous thing for the apostle to have put them upon seeking him; therefore it follows, that they are not destitute of all means of grace, or without a possibility of salvation.
Answ. To this it maybe replied, that, if by seeking the Lord, the apostle means enquiring into the way of salvation by a Redeemer, and pressing after faith in him; as it is said, Seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you, Matt. vii. 7. and, If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. this does not argue, that the Heathen, before the gospel was preached to them, in seeking, might find the way of salvation: For,
1. Though he be speaking to the Heathen, yet they are considered, at this time, as having the gospel preached to them by him, and therefore not destitute of the external means of grace, which he advises them to attend to, in hope that their endeavours might be succeeded.
2. If, on the other hand, he speaks to them without regard to the privilege they then enjoyed, and so inform them what they might attain to, without divine revelation, which is the only sense that seems, in the least, to favour the objection; then, by seeking the Lord, we must understand their enquiring into the divine perfections, so far as the knowledge thereof is attainable by the light of nature; and the consequence of it would be their attaining such a degree thereof, as would discover the absurdity of that idolatry that they were guilty of, which the apostle is arguing against. And we may observe, that he makes use of such a mode of speaking, as is very agreeable to this sense of the text, when he says, If haply ye might feel after him; which is a metaphor, taken from those who are endeavouring to find their way in the dark, in which they feel after things which they cannot see, and sometimes they find them. And, when he concludes, that haply, or, peradventure, you may find him, this implies, that though the Heathen, by the light of nature, had some means of attaining such a measure of knowledge, as would have given them a full conviction that there was but one God, and that this God ought to be worshipped in a way agreeable to his divine perfections, and consequently that they ought not to think that the God-head was like to gold or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device, which would have effectually confuted that gross idolatry, which they were charged with; yet some did not attend to the light of nature, so far as this amounts to, which was the case of those whom he was disputing with; and therefore his design is to reprove their idolatry, and persuade them to seek after that knowledge of God, which would have induced them to forsake it; so, that, in that part of his argument, he does not seem to proceed any farther than this; and therefore, when, in another part of it, he treats of that knowledge of God, which is more immediately connected with salvation, he speaks of Jesus and the resurrection, though they treated it with ridicule and contempt; therefore it does not follow, that the Heathen, by the light of nature, had a sufficient discovery of the way of salvation.
Object. 5. There is another objection against the doctrine we are maintaining, taken from some instances of those who are supposed to have been destitute of divine revelation, as living without the pale of the church, and yet recommended in scripture, as men excelling many others in grace, concerning whom there is no reason to doubt, but that they were in a state of salvation; such as Melchisedeck, Job, and his friends, with whom the dispute was held, mentioned in the book of Job; and, in the New Testament, the Centurion concerning whom our Saviour says, Verily, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel, Matt. viii. 10. and Cornelius, whom we read of in the Acts of the Apostles; these were all supposed to be in a state of salvation, and yet reckoned among the Heathen.
Answ. 1. As to Melchisedeck, we have, under a foregoing answer[[254]], given our sentiments who he was, which, if what was there observed be true, will render this objection of no force: but, inasmuch as it is founded on the commonly-received opinion, namely: that he was a priest and a king in the land of Canaan, we may add, that this will make very little to their purpose; for, it is certain, he was not an idolater, or a stranger to revealed religion; and therefore it cannot be argued, from hence, that they, who are so, may be in a state of salvation.
2. As for Job, and his friends, mentioned in that book which goes under his name, it is certain, that they were well acquainted with the revealed will of God, as appears from the subject-matter of that book; and to say, that they were out of the pale of the church, as they did not descend from that branch of Abraham’s family, from which the Israelites came, this will not do much service to their argument, unless it could be proved that they were strangers to the faith, and way of salvation, that was professed by the church. We have, under a foregoing answer[[255]], considered them, as living before the scriptures were committed to writing, and also before the distinction between the Jew and Gentile was much known in the world, or, at least, before the true worshippers of God had universally apostatized to idolatry; and therefore, though many other nations were idolaters, and, probably, some were so in the country where they lived, yet it does not appear that they were so; therefore this cannot be brought, as an argument, to prove, that such who are destitute of the knowledge of the true God, as founded on divine revelation, may be in the way of salvation.