of Faith ch 14. a. 2. Declarat ch 14. a. 2. of Saving Faith By this Grace a Christian believeth to be true whatever is revealed in the Word for the Authority of God speaking therein and acteth differently upon that which each particular Passage thereof containeth yielding Obedience to the Commands Trembling at the Threatnings and Embracing the Promises of God for this Life and that which is to come But the principal Acts of Saving Faith are Accepting Receiving and Resting upon Christ alone for Justification Sanctification and Eternal Life by virtue of the Covenant of Grace Reader weigh this sound Account of Faith Which if it were regarded and no Essential part of it excluded when Faith is considered as a Condition of any Gospel-Benefit How much vain Disputes would be prevented as well as Danger to poor Souls And one would think no Man need prove That it is not Saving Faith when any Essential part of it is wanting And that it must be Saving Faith when we mention Faith as the Condition or Moral Instrument of any Saving Benefit ERROUR Saving Faith is nothing but our Persuasion or absolute Concluding within our selves That our Sins are pardoned and that Christ is ours Proved that this is Doctor Crisp 's Opinion The Doctor tells us pag. 493. The whole Essence of Faith is nothing else but the Echo of the Heart answering the foregoing Voice of the Spirit and Word of Grace Thy Sins are forgiven thee saith the Spirit and Word of Grace My Sins are forgiven me saith Faith And the Soul that can assume thus from the Spirit and Word of Grace hath the whole Essence of Believing When the Doctor pag. 107. puts a Man on examining his Faith he hath these words How do I know I believe in Christ He Answers Do I rest my Heart upon this Truth Do I receive it as a Truth that I do believe Or do I reject it and will not receive it Then I do not believe But if you sit down and rest upon this Truth and receive it and do in reality believe it then you may absolutely conclude Christ is yours And pag. 296. If the Lord I say again give to any to believe this Truth That it is his Iniquity the Lord hath laid on Christ God himself cannot charge one Sin on that Man And pag. 158. he makes the difference betwixt a strong and weak Believer to consist in the Degree of this Persuasion See more in chap. 10 11. Wherein the Difference is not 1. It is not whether Assurance be attainable in this Life as the Effect of Faith 2. Nor whether a Sinner ought to apply yea doth personally apply the general Offers of Christ and Life by his own Compliance with the Terms of the Gospel For upon a true Acceptance of a whole Christ he is mine in virtue of the Gospel Promise which God will perform in giving Christ and Life to all that accept of him as he is proposed for our Acceptance 3. Nor whether a convinced Sinner hath at first a more especial regard to Christ's Priestly Offices and Sufferings as what are more sensibly fitted to his guilty State 4. Nor whether every thing recorded in the Scriptures must not be dwelt on with the same regard concern and assurance as the Essentials of the Covenant of Life 5. Nor whether Faith contain in it a reliance on Christ as the only Saviour and on his Satisfaction and Merits as what alone purchased our Pardon and Acceptance as well as it includes the realizing Assent to the Truth and unfeigned fiducial Consent to and Acceptance of a whole Christ in all his Offices All these I affirm The real Difference 1. Whether the whole Essence of Saving Faith consists in an Inward Persuasion or Assurance that our Sins are pardoned and Christ is ours This the Doctor affirms and I deny yea I deny that it is at all of the Essence of Saving Faith 2. Whether Saving Faith include not in its nature that powerful efficacious Assent to the Word and fiducial consenting Acceptance of Christ as Prophet Priest and King with a Reliance on his Merits and obediential Regards to God as the TRUTH above-mentioned doth express This the Doctor denies and I affirm The Truth confirmed 1. Faith is not an Assurance or Inward Persuasion That Christ is ours and our Sins are pardoned For 1. Men may have this Persuasion who do not savingly believe They in Mat. 7. 22. had this when they cried Lord Lord open to us Neither did the foolish Virgins seem without it Mal. 25. 1 2. Yea it's what the most profligate Sinners grow secure by to their own Destruction and this upon the general Word of Grace 2. Many true Believers have not this Persuasion let common Experience be consulted 3. Such as have had Assurance do by the Doctor 's Opinion fall into the Sin of damning Unbelief whenever they doubt their Interest in Christ and especially if they conclude that they have not this Interest A sad Doom on many pious Souls 4. This Persuasion should suppose an Interest in Christ and doth not give it It 's a false Conclusion That Christ is mine before he is so And must the great term of Life be a Lye We are to examine our selves whether we be in the Faith and so whether Christ be in us before we assure our selves that he is in us 2 Cor. 13. 5. And where hath God made this Proposition My Sins are laid upon Christ to be the Object of Saving Faith This Proposition is not God nor Christ nor any part of the Scripture unless you suppose a General Redemption and that to the actual Pardon of every Sinner And as the Word of Grace promiseth Pardon to none but a Believer so the Spirit speaks it to none but to the Believer as a Believer 2. Saving Faith includes the Essentials expressed in the above-mentioned Truth as Assent Trust Consenting Acceptance of Christ Reliance c. This appears 1. Faith can be no less than the Soul's Answer to the Call of God in our effectual Vocation And to this all those things are necessary 2 Pet. 1. 3. 2. The Scriptures describe Saving Faith by all these Acts It 's the Evidence of things not seen and Substance of things hoped for Heb. 11. 1. It 's a Receiving of Christ Joh. 1. 12. which must be as God gives him and that is a Witness a Leader and Commander of the People Isa. 55. 4. Acts 3. 26. to bless us in turning every one of you from his iniquity Rom. 15. 12. In him shall the Gentiles trust Isa. 44. 5. One shall say I am the Lord's and another shall subscribe with his Hand unto the Lord which express consent 3. Christ cannot be received as a Saviour nor as the Way of a Sinner to God if Faith include not these Great things He is not a Saviour if you exclude any of his Offices and as an intire Saviour we must receive him Mat. 1. 21. Can any Man receive
him as a Prophet and not believe and accept of his Teachings Can any receive him as a King that refuseth Subjection to his Government No for We will not have this man to reign over us was the Language of Unbelief as well as Damning to those Unbelievers Luk. 19. 14 27. and the same word signifies Disobedient and Unbelieving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 10. 21. Can any Man come to Christ as a Priest and not rely on his Sacrifice for Pardon to be obtained by him And the word tells us we come to God by him if he be our Saviour Heb. 7. 25. But who can suppose that there 's this without any dedication of our selves to God c. Oh that Men were but wise enough to know what it is to receive a Ruler or a Teacher What Peace would it cause 4. A Faith without these Essentials could never produce those great Effects which are ascribed to Faith How could it purifie the Heart Act. 15. 9. Be a Shield against Temptations Eph. 6. 16. Works by Love Gal. 5. 6. Sanctifies us Act. 26. 18. By Faith we are risen with Christ Col. 2. 12. Is a lower Faith operative as I am Jam. 2. 17. Or can any call that which wants these A Principle of Obedience virtually including all Grace to say nothing of the unmeetness of a lower Faith to be the appointed Condition of Saving Benefits when it is the appointment of a Wise and Holy Governour 5. An Enlightened Regenerate Soul cannot act towards Christ when he is first presented to its view below these Instances It 's not a regenerate Heart that admits Actings contrary to any of these if it is a regenerate Heart it will discover it self in each of these upon the offer of Christ as a Saviour Act. 9. 6. Lord what wilt thou have me to do c. Sure a regenerate Principle includes a Disposition to all these Acts and the first view of Christ will excite and attract them Testimonies You have seen the Judgment of the Assembly and Elders at the Savoy in the Truth above stated Both also affirm ch 18. a. 3 4. Infallible Assurance doth not so belong to the Essence of Faith but that a true Believer may wait long and conflict with many Difficulties before he be partaker of it And the Assemblies Large Catech. Quest. Are all Assured c. They Answer Assurance not being of the Essence of Faith c. One of the Errours for which the Church of Boston in New-England dealt with Mr. H. was That there is no Faith of God's Elect but Assurance Dr. Owen in his Treat of Justification p. 111 112. denies that a full Persuasion of the Forgiveness of our Sins or That what Christ did and suffered as our Mediator he did it for us in particular or a particular Application of especial Mercy unto our Souls c. are of the Essence of Faith though all that have true Faith will endeavour it The Ground of Dr. Crisp 's Mistake Because Faith is the Evidence of thingsunseen that is it Assents to unseen Realities therefore he thinks that our Faith is nothing but an Assent to our particular Interest in Forgiveness Because the Word of Grace promiseth Justification to all true Believers therefore an Assurance of my being Justified is Believing Whereas I must first be a Believer in order to Pardon before I justly can or ought to believe that I am pardoned CHAP. X. Of the Free Offer of Christ to Sinners and of Preparatory Qualifications TRUTH CHrist is freely offered to be a Head and Saviour to the vilest Sinners who will knowingly assent to the Truth of the Gospel and from a Conviction of their Sin and Misery out of Christ are humbled and truly willing to renounce all their Idols and Sins denying their own carnal Self and Merits and accept of Christ as offered in the Gospel relying on him alone for Justification Sanctification and Eternal Life Reader Observe 1. Christ is freely offered to the vilest Sinners for their acceptance of him according to the Gospel 2. He is not offered so as if any Sinner might have a Saving Interest in him till they are willing to deny themselves renounce all Sins and Idols and do accept of and rely on him as a full Saviour according to the Terms of the Gospel There cannot be an Acceptance of Christ without a Renouncing of Sin and Idols and Denying carnal Self and our own Merits as Opposites to him And on the other hand to renounce Sin and Idols and deny our selves will not avail us without an acceptance of Christ and relianceon him 3. I mention some things that are antecedently necessary to our renouncing of Sin and Idols and to our acceptance of and reliance on Christ as Knowledge Assent Conviction of Sin and Misery and some Humblings of Soul which must attend all true Convictions These are Preparatory Qualifications not that an Interest in Christ always follows these but they dispose the Soul to a hearty acceptance of Christ in opposition to all rival Opposites and are necessary thereto in some degree 4. The declared Design of the Offers of Christ to Sinners is That they may be thus willing to accept of Christ and so partake of an Interest in him ERROUR Christ is offered to Blasphemers Murtherers and the worst of Sinners that they remaining ignorant unconvinced unhumbled and resolved in their purpose to continue such they may be assured they have a full Interest in Christ and this by only concluding in their own Minds upon this Offer That Christ is theirs Proved that this is Dr. Crisp 's Opinion I need give no Proof of it but this That it 's a declared Point which he oft strives to prove That all the Elect are actually united to Christ before they Believe yea before they are Born as you 'll see in the next Chapter So that all the design of these Offers is only to manifest to Men That Christ was theirs before as he tells us p. 100. Is not Unbelief a Bar to have a part in Christ He Answers It is a Bar to hinder the manifestation of Christ in the Spirit but it is not a Bar to hinder one from having a part in Christ. Obj. But the Doctor seems to insist on Mens coming to Christ and closing with him as p. 206. No Consideration in the world can so aggravate a Man's Condition would he make his condition as bad as the Devils themselves yet if there be but a Coming there can be no Consideration in the highest pitch of sinfulness for Christ to reject him And p. 202. Whatever thou art suppose a Drunkard a Whoremaster a Swearer a Blasphemer a Mad-man in Iniquity couldst thou but Come to Christ I say Come only Come it is no matter if there be no Alteration in the world in thee when thou dost come to Christ. A. 1. But Coming or Believing is no other in the Doctor 's Judgment than an Inward Persuasion or Concluding that Christ is ours
Heathen through Faith Must not Faith be at least present It 's impossible to exert an Act by a Thing when that Thing is not 2. Faith is enjoyned as an indispensible Means of Justification by Christ and complied with by All Converts to that End Act. 16. 30. Believe and thou shalt be saved Rom. 10. 9 10. If thou believe with thine heart thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth to righteousness not to Assurance only To be Justified was a Benefit which Paul and the other Converts had an Eye to in Believing Gal. 2. 16. We have believed That we may be justified by the faith of Christ. The Blessing of Justification is limited to a Believer and extended to such by such conditional and indefinite Clauses as these Rom. 4. 23 24. To us it shall be imputed for Righteousness if we Believe on him that raised up Christ from the dead Act. 10. 43. Whosoever Believeth in him shall receive Remission of Sins What a gross Notion would it create That Faith should be required by God in order to a Benefit and this Faith acted by the guidance of the Spirit as a Means to partake of that Benefit and this Benefit proposed and limited to all under an express respect to that Faith and yet that Benefit is ours before Faith hath a Being 3. The Gospel denounceth and declareth All Condemned till they do Believe It declares they are so and denounceth they shall be so Joh. 3. 36. He that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him And ver 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already Here 's the Case of all Men by the Fall They are Condemned and under Wrath. Here 's the way of Relief A Christ believed on And they that believe their Condemnation is revers'd Here 's the Case of every Man that believeth not Wrath abideth on him The Condemning Sentence remains and Men are distributed into Condemned or Justified and this as Believers or Unbelievers Oh! that any can think all this Wrath that abides is no more than want of an Assurance that we are Justified Sure it 's more danger Joh. 8. 24. If you believe not you shall die in your sins Mark 16. 18. He that believeth not shall be damned Then they must be liable to Damnation whilst in Unbelief or they could not be Damned for Unbelief To be Condemned and Justified are Opposites at once none can be both Nor can God Justifie a Man whom he then and still Condemns 4. Unbelief is the cause why Men are barred from Justiâ—â—cation and remain obnoxious to Misery Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come to me that ye may have life What undid the Jews Heb. 3. 18 19. They could not enter because of Unbelief And ch 4 6 7. And if Unbelief did not obstruct Life and a Right to it the Apostle would oddly inferr ch 4. ver 1 2 3. Let us therefore fear lest a Promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it c. for we which have believed do enter into rest How easily might I argue this Point from the Nature of Justification as it 's a judicial Act of God by a Gospel-Rule supposing Christ's Satisfaction As also from the immediate Effects of Justification which are all suspended as to Unbelievers God in all his Carriage not executing the Justifying Sentence on them but the contrary he leaves them many years Slaves to Sin and Satan void of his Spirit admitting them to no Communion with him rejecting their Prayers barring them from his Table suffering them to blaspheme and dishonour him he suffers them to remain Curses and Plagues to other Souls c. Doth God deal thus with the Justified What short of Hell is the Execution of the Curse if these be not Reader I leave it to thy self to judge whether all these things make Faith of no more use than to shew us the goodness of our state which we were as much possessed of before only we did not know it Is that all the change on believing which such great Expressions import Is our being now washed and justified 1 Cor. 6. 11. no more than we now know it Is Assurance all the motive we can honestly use with Sinners to believe Or the want of it all the Danger we have to threaten them with to any beneficial purpose against their abiding in Unbelief TESTIMONIES You have already heard the Assembly and the Congr of Elders at the Savoy Confes. chap. 11. a. 4. saying The Elect are not Justified until the Holy Spirit doth in due time actually apply Christ to them See ch 1. Of the State of the Elect Where I cited this Lesser Catech. Q. What Benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this Life A. They that are effectually called partake of Justification Adoption c. You see that the Assembly do suppose our Calling to our being Justified and Justification is a Benefit flowing from it In the next Answer they tell us We are Justified by receiving Christ's Righteousness by Faith alone So not before Faith The New-England Synod p. 18. thus confute that Speech of the Antinomians viz. To say we are Justified by Faith is an unsafe Speech we must say We are Justified by Christ. The Synod fully prove this is false and add To say a Man is Justified before Faith or without Faith is unsafe as contrary to the language of the Scripture Dr. Owen in his Treat of Justif. p. 299. saith It must be remembred that we require Evangelical Faith in order of Nature antecedently unto our Justification by the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ unto us which also is the Condition of the Continuation of it This is as plain as can be and this he oft proves p. 306 c. The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because God Justifies the Ungodly that is the Man who the moment before he believed to Justification was ungodly yea and who still remains ungodly in the Eye of the Law of Works needing daily Forgiveness by Grace therefore God Justifies him who continueth wholly ungodly fifty years after Because Christ alone Justifies as he whose Satisfaction and Merits are the only Righteousness for which we are Justified therefore he thinks there is nothing else present in our Justification not considering that God Justifies the Spirit Justifies the Gospel-Promise Justifieth in sences distinct from Christ And so doth Faith though not as what meriteth yet as what the Promise requireth in all whom God will Justifie for the sake of Christ's Merits Because it 's Christ the Object of Faith Justifies therefore Faith in that Object is not requisite to Justification though it 's as plain as the Word of God can speak it 's a Christ believed on which Justifies It 's not Faith without a Christ can do it and Christ without Faith will not do it but on
and certainly possess Salvation Yea as that Covenant was not made with the Elect though for the Elect so they have nothing to do as a Condition of this Covenant And to this all absolute Promises and Prophecies of Grace are reducible they being a Transcript hereof This Dr. Owen makes to be a distinct Covenant from the Covenant of Grace See his Treatise of Justif. pag. 268 269. 2. By Covenant of Grace I mean the way that God hath ordained to apply to Sinners that Salvation which is prepared by Christ and which he will enable the Elect to comply with Q. 2. What is intended by Condition A. I shall answer in the words of worthy Mr. Flavel Discourse of Errors pag. 248. An Antecedent Condition signifies no more than an Act of ours which though it be neither perfect in every degree nor in the least meritorious of the Benefit conferred nor performed in our own natural strength yet according to the Constitution of the Covenant it is required of us in order to the Blessings consequent thereupon by virtue of the Promise And consequently the Benefits and Mercies granted in this order are and must be suspended by the Donor or Desposer of them till it be performed such a Condition we affirm Faith to be Some call this a Consequent Condition but they mean not Consequent to the Benefit promised but Consequent to Christ's undertaking to enable us to do it Reader I would have thee note 1. The Conditions do not merit the Blessings promised 2. The Conditions are not uncertain for Christ hath undertaken that the Elect shall perform them 3. They are performed by Grace and not by Natural Power 4. They are performed by Men and not by Christ though it is by Christ that any are enabled to perform them It 's not Christ repents or believes in a Saviour but Men themselves 5. It 's from God's Will in the Promise that they are made to be Conditions he connected the Benefit and the Duty though he chose Conditions that were fit yet their fitness would not have availed to our interest in the Benefits unless he had promised that they should so avail A penitent Believer had not been saved but for the Promise though it 's unlike a God to have saved any that were not such 6. These Conditions are our Duty by God's Command and not less so by being made Terms of the Benefit in the Divine Grant 7. The Covenant though Conditional is a Disposition of Grace There 's Grace in giving ability to perform the Condition as well as in bestowing the Benefits God's enjoyning one in order to the other makes not the Benefit to be less of Grace but it is a display of God's Wisdom in conferring the Benefit suitably to the nature and state of Men in this Life whose Eternal Condition is not eternally decided but are in a state of Tryal yea the Conditions are but a meetness to receive the Blessings 8. The reason why we use the word Condition is because it best suits with Man's Relation to God in his present dealings with us as his Subjects in tryal for Eternity Christ as a Priest hath merited all but as a King or a Priest upon his Throne he dispenceth all He enjoyns the Conditions in order to the Benefits and makes the Benefits Motives to our Compliance with the Conditions He treats with Men as his Subjects whom he will now Rule and hereafter Judge Now what word is so proper to express the Duties as enjoyned Means of Benefits like this word Conditions The word Conditions is of the same nature as Terms of the Gospel There be few Authors of Note even of any Persuasion but they make use of this word in my sence as Ames Twiss Rutherford Hooker of New-England Norton Preston Owen Synod of New-England the Assembly of Divines c. And I know none have reason to scruple it except such as think we are United to Christ and Justified before we are Born To such indeed all such Terms are improper because they deny God's dispensing of Saving Benefits in a way of Government Q. 3. What is intended by the Benefits of the Covenant A. The good Things or Privileges promised to such as by Grace are enabled to comply with the Terms of the Covenant especially whatever is essential to our felicity Q. 4. Wherein do the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace differ from Conditions in the Covenant of Innocency or Works as vulgarly called For both lie in doingsomething though not the same thing nor to the same ends A. 1. The Conditions of the Covenant of Grace are performed by the Grace of Christ freely given to Sinners The Conditions of the Covenant of Innocency were performed by a strength due to and inherent in our innocent Nature 2. The principal Conditions of the Covenant of Grace express the guilt and misery of them that perform them Repentance owns our Filth and Guilt and Faith in a Redeemer expresseth our sinful and lost State neither of these could have place in our legal Righteousness as being utterly inconsistent with an Innocent Condition Nor can they have much room in Heaven where we shall be perfect whereas the Terms of the Covenant of Works implied nothing but Innocency and Happiness 3. The Conditions of the Covenant of Grace make us capable of no Happiness except what Christ hath bought and prepared for us his Blood is the Price of all But the happiness granted to sinless Obedience was immediately from the Creator and knew no Atonement or Mediator 4. The Blessings promised on the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace are meerly of Grace They be for another's sake and not our own they are given to such as are condemned by the Covenant of Works and that are still condemnable by the Law for the Imperfection of the performed Gospel-Conditions yea it 's Forgiveness which renders these Persons blessed Rom. 4. 7. whereas the sinless Obedience of innocent Adam made the Reward to be of Debt Rom. 4. 4. which we as being happy by Pardon must renounce 5. The Use and Interest of Gospel-Conditions is not from the conformity of them to the Preceptive part of the Law though in a degree there be that but from their Conformity to the Rule of the Grace of the Promise The Promise of Pardon through Christ being to the penitent Believer and no other Repentance and Faith become necessary and useful Conditions of this Pardon by the Order of God in that gracious Promise But by the Covenant of Works the meer Work gave an Interest in the Reward as it was Obedience to the Precept by a Sanction that had Goodness but no such Grace in it On these accounts I shall never fear that the Conditionality of the Covenant of Grace should turn it into a Covenant of Works till I see it proved That God can promise and apply no Benefit purchased by Christ to a poor Sinner upon the Condition of any Action he commands and freely enableth the