right.

25. It is also an obvious consequence of this doctrine that no
man can contribute anything to hip personal salvation; that his
salvation or damnation is fixed wholly by the Divine decrees. He.
cannot influence his destiny by any effort he can make. There is
no use in his trying. Indeed, the _Westminster Confession of
Faith_ informs us directly that man is "altogether passive" in
"regeneration," and that his "perseverance" "depends not upon his
own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of
election." So that all the exhortations of the gospel and of the
pulpit, are utterly irrelevant. There is a very significant
passage bearing upon this point in Chalmer's discourse on
Predestination: "And now," says he, "you can have no difficulty
in understanding how it is that we make our calling and election
sure. _It is not in the power of the elect to make their election
surer in itself than it really is, for this is a sureness which
is not capable of receiving any addition_. It is not in the power
of the elect to make it surer to God--for all futurity is
submitted to his all-seeing eye, and his absolute knowledge
stands in need of no confirmation. But there is such a thing as
the elect being ignorant for a time of their own election, and
their being made sure of it in the way of evidence and discovery."
The amount is that a man may ascertain by exertion the fact of his
election, but he can do nothing towards securing it. Thus Mr.
Wesley's famous consequence is established. "The elect shall be
saved, do what they will; the reprobate shall be damned, do what
they can." It is plain from these reasonings that this doctrine
tends to spiritual inactivity, and countenances licentiousness.

But we are told, by Dr. Boardman, that the Divine "decrees are
not the rule of our duty;" that "we are not held responsible for
not conforming to them;" that "we are not bound to act with the
least reference to them." (p. 45.) What! The subjects of a
government not bound to act with the least reference to the
decrees of its sovereign!--not responsible for not conforming to
them!! This is surely a strange doctrine. It is an indirect
concession that the practical bearing of the Calvinistic doctrine
of decrees cannot be defended. But it is said that we have no
right to make God's secret decrees our rule. Very true. We are
not arguing from his secret decrees, but from what our brethren
profess to know. If the doctrine in question b