your trespasses 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither fornicators nor adulterers c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God Heb. 12.14 Without holinesse no man shall see the Lord. 1 John 3.14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren The Refinement of Zion Quest 1. Whether Christ and his righteousnesse be made ours by faith And whether we do put on Christ by faith Or rather whether He be not to be set forth freely in the preaching of the Gospel without any condition SECT I. A certain Authors Opinion concerning this Question SOme Protestants holy men The Doctrine of John Baptist saith this Author do say that Christ is made ours in the sight of God by faith alone Christ being the garment our Faith the hand that putteth this Garment on yet methinks saith he that here is Christ set forth upon some conditions not so freely given I must here saith he profess my Ignorance that I cannot conceive how faith should put on Christ apply Christ or make Christ ours in the sight of God I therefore professe my self openly to leane unto them that say that Christs righteousnesse is made ours before God by Gods imputation before the act of our faith and therefore necessarily without it Even as our sins were made Christs so is his righteousnesse made ours Now how were our sins made Christs Let the Prophet Esay speak The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all so that the Lord who calleth things which are not as though they were makes us righteous by His imputation of Christs righteousnesse Thus far this Author SECT II. Christs Righteousnesse is made ours by Faith NOw that I may examine these things It is true Christs righteousnesse is made ours by imputation ours who believe in him and hereupon we are said to be justified by faith But where in all the Scripture do you read that we are justified without faith or that God imputeth Christs righteousness consequently remission of sins to any Infidels or unbelievers Object But saith he Christs righteousness is made ours by imputation therefore not by Faith Answer I answer Subordinata non pugnant the latter of these is in some sort subordinare unto the former there is no repugnancy therefore between them for Christs righteousness is made ours ex parte Dei on Gods part by Imputation but ex parte nostra on our part by Faith whereby we receive both Christ and remission of sins John 1.12 Act. 10.43 26.18 and salvation by him offered unto us in the Gospel I do therefore retort this argument upon the Author of it thus As our sins were made Christs so is his righteousnesse made ours but our sins were made Christs not only by Gods imputation but by his voluntary taking them upon him therefore we also are made righteous not only by Gods Imputation but by our taking and receiving Christs righteousness by Faith Again saith he as Christ became sin for us so are we made the righteousness of God in him Confer p. 17. Isa 53.6 But say I Christ became sin for us not only by his Fathers imputation or as I say faith by his laying on him the iniquity of us all but by his own taking of our sins upon him to satisfie Divine Justice Joh. 10.15 18. Rom. 8.32 and to expiate them by his passion as these words of His bear witnesse I slay down my life for my sheep no man taketh it from me I lay it down of my self Again as St. Paul saith that God spared not his own Son but delivered him up Eph. 5.2 that is to death for us all So saith he also That Christ gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Wherefore seeing we are so made the righteousnesse of God in Christ as he became sin for us it followeth necessarily that together with Gods act in imputing Christs righteousness unto us there concurreth also our act in receiving his righteousness when in the Gospel it is offered unto us But of this more at large hereafter in the sixth question SECT III. Christ is made ours by Faith LEt us now in the next place examine and see whether Christ be made ours in the sight of God by faith Mr. D. thus expresses himself concerning this I must here professe my ignorance that I cannot conceive how Faith should make Christ ours in the sight of God It should seem he doth not altogether deny that Christ is made ours by Faith but will not yield that he is thus made ours in the sight of God Now what his meaning in this may be I do not certainly know unless perhaps it be that he is made ours by Faith declaratively only to our own consciences of which see Quest 6. But when those holy men of whom he speaketh do say that Christ is made ours in the sight of God by Faith they do not exclude neither God the Author and principal efficient of this work nor the word the external instrumental cause thereof but all our own works in opposition to faith Their meaning therefore is that Faith is the only internal instrument ex parte nostra on our part or the only hand as it were of the Soul whereby we do receive Christ and he according to his gracious promise unto all that do believe in him is made ours Again when they say that Christ is made ours in the sight of God by Faith alone they do oppose Gods judgement unto mans Men indeed judging according to the judgment of charity do hold him to be a good Christian and one that is interested in Christ who outwardly maketh profession of Christ and in the sight of man is unreproveable in his life and conversation But as Almighty God himself said unto Samuel The Lord seeth not as man seeth 1 Sam. 16.7 for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord seeth the heart In his sight therefore who seeth things and pronounceth of them as they are Christ is made ours not by an outward profession but by Faith alone I am induced to be of this judgment with these holy men good Protestants which Mr. D. here speaketh of by these Reasons following First Christ is not ours until we are made one with him and he with us no more then a woman can say that her husband is hers until they are made one by marriage 2 Cor. 11.2 It is their union or their being joyned together in marriage which maketh the husband to be his wives and the wife to be her husbands And even in like manner is Christ made ours when we are espoused unto him by faith and not before whereupon it is that Christs Spouse speaketh with great rejoycing and saith My well-beloved is mine and I am his Cant. 2.16 Again when it is said that Christ is ours what is the meaning
tamen factam nostram Hence I infer these three Conclusions 1. That a man may have right to a thing and yet no right in it 2. That as long as he hath no right in it it is none of his 3. That it becometh his by being delivered unto him Now I demand Is not Christ delivered unto us by God the Father and by himself when in the Gospel he is preached and offered unto us and we by Faith do accept of him and not before These things being thus premised I will now by Gods gracious assistance examine Master S. his 7. Arguments whereby he endeavoureth to prove that Christ is not made ours by Faith Object It is an act of Omnipotency saith he to make Christ ours God only therefore doth this and no act of ours Answer Whereunto I answer that God only doth make Christ ours as the Author of this Divine Act and that Faith doth make him ours after a far inferiour manner that is as an instrument created by God in our hearts whereby we do lay hold of Christ and receive him being offered and given unto us of God Christ then is said to be made ours by Faith in the same sense as we are said to be justified by Faith that is Organice instrumentally For as Keckerman hath observed in his Logick the Act of the Author or Principal efficient cause is many times attributed to the Instrument Thus not only our justification but also our sanctification which is Gods proper Act an Act of his Almighty power is in holy Scripture attributed to Faith sometimes to the word of God and sometimes to the Ministers who do preach the word To Faith Acts 15.9 where St. Peter saith that God did purifie the hearts of the believing Gentiles by Faith to wit both from the guilt of sin in their justification and from the tyranny and dominion of sin in their sanctification To the word 1 Pet. 1.23 We are born again not of mortal seed but of immortal by the word of God Lastly to the Ministers of the word 1 Cor. 4.15 For St. Paul saith to the Corinthians I have begotten you by the Gospel And he calleth Onesimus his for and saith Philem. 11. that he begat him in his bonds He telleth us also that God sent him to the Gentiles to turn them from darkness to light Act. 26.18 and from the power of Satan to God Now in the same sense that we are said to be purified converted and born again by Faith the word and the Ministers that preach the word Is Christ said to be made ours and we to be justified by Faith to wit instrumentally as by means which it pleased God to use in our ingrafting into Christ and in our justification which are wrought only and altogether hy his Divine power and not by any power of the means which receive all their efficacy from him and can do nothing towards a sinners conversion of themselves The result of all thit I have said is this It is an Act of Gods Almightiness to make Christ ours by his own power and authority as the Author of this work But it is no Act of Omnipotency to make Christ ours instrumentally that is to receive him by Faith when he is offered to us of God A second Objection of M. S. is this Objection If Faith should give us our interest in Christ then as our Faith increaseth our interest should increase and we should be more and more justified and forgiven which none allow It is true indeed Answer if Faith did justifie us by any inherent virtue or dignity of its own then as M.S. saith the more we grow in Faith the more we should be interested in Christ be more more justified but he wel knoweth that the Protestant Doctrine is that Faith justifieth not as it is a vertue or any act of ours sed objectivè et correlativè but in regard of Christ the object thereof whereunto it relateth Even as a Chirurgion may be said to heal a man that is wounded with his own hands not that his hands had any vertue in them to heal but because by them he searched the wound and applyed a healing plaister unto it which drew out the purulent corruption and cured him For even so are we in like manner said to be justified and saved by Faith because we do by Faith lay hold of Christ and apply his merits to our souls So that it is not so much Faith as Christ in whom we believe by whom we are justified and saved that is who hath both merited our justification and doth actually acquit and absolve us from our sins And in like manner doth Faith interest us in Christ not for the dignity and worthiness thereof but because it is Gods Ordinance and appointment that we should receive Christ and have him dwelling in our hearts by Faith Wheresoever therefore there is true Faith to be found though never so weak and faint or feeble that man is a true member of Christ perfectly justified and absolved from all his sins Those of old amongst the Israelites that were stung with the fiery Serpents were perfectly cured if they did look up to the brasen Serpent and beheld it although their sight was never so dark and dim as well as the younger sort whose sight was most perfect so a weak Faith as well as a strong doth lay hold of Christ and of justification and salvation by him For as the Israelites were healed by beholding the brazen Serpent because it was Gods Ordinance that health which was otherwise wrought miraculously only by his own Divine power should hereupon follow and ensue so the same is to be said of Faith And therefore from hence an answer may be given to that question which Mr. S. asketh in his next words where speaking of some who call these other acts of Faith that is when it is grown and encreased Faith of assurance and Acts of manifestation he faith If Faith be thus in its other degrees of working Objection Why not in its first His meaning is as I take it if Faith when it is encreased doth only assure a man of his salvation and maketh the pardon of his sins manifest unto him why doth not the first and least degree of Faith also give us only an assurance and manifestation of our salvation by Christ but otherwise not any interest in him at all Answer Whereunto I answer First that a strong Faith doth give us that assurance and evidence or manifestation of our salvation by Christ which a weak Faith cannot because it doth lay firm hold on the promises of the Gospel that are the only ground of assurance which of a weak Faith are apprehended but weakly even as an Israelite with a quick sight could by that natural vertue that was in his eye more clearly behold the brazen Serpent then he that had a dark and dim eye sight But as he that did lift up his eyes and beheld
the brazen Serpent though never so weakly was through Gods Ordnance as perfectly cured as he that saw and beheld it most clearly and most evidently so Faith in the least degree through Gods Ordinance is as effectual to interest us in Christ and to make us partakers of salvation by him as the strongest Faith that is Thus I have shewed the cause or the reason why a weak Faith can give us an interest in Christ and the salvation which he hath purchased for us although it cannot so firmly assure us hereof But whereas he holdeth That Faith when it is increased and grown stronger by an addition of more degrees than it had at the first doth only give us a greater manifestation and assurance of salvation by Christ but no interest in him I cannot assent unto him in this for the interest which we have in Christ and his merits at the first by believing in him is continued by perseverance in the same Faith and therefore John 1.12 Eph. 3.17 as we are said to receive Christ by Faith so he is said to dwell that is to remain and make his abode in our hearts by Faith Consonantly whereunto the Apostle telleth us Heb. 3.14 that We are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end And on the contrary he saith Heb. 10.38 If any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him Thus Faith not only in the first act or beginning of it but in the continuance also and greatest height or strength thereof doth interest us in Christ and as the Apostle saith maketh us partakers of him as well as it doth evidence unto us and assure us hereof Here therefore I would know whether it be not a manifest contradiction to say as Mr. S. doth Christ is ours without Faith but we cannot partake of him as ours but by believing Thirdly he objecteth also and saith If Christ should be ours by Faith in this sense that is actually then when Faith ceaseth shall we cease to be justified Whereunto I answer That no such thing followeth hereupon but the contrary For upon our Faith and Repentance our sins are pardoned and forgiven us not for a time but for ever Ezek. 18.22 They shall never therefore be mentioned unto us that is imputed and laid to our charge any more no not when Faith ceaseth Neither needeth this to seem strange to Mr. S. or any other that Faith which is but temporal should obtain an eternal pardon for a salve which by its own inherent vertue doth in a few days heal a wound needeth afterwards to be used no more much less will there be any need of Faith in Christ or of repentance for the continuance of the remission of our sins and of our justification in the world to come seeing by Christs Promise and by his Ordinance which hath more force in it then the most Soveraign or precious balm or salve upon our repentance and Faith in Christ we are for ever acquitted and absolved from all our sins Whereas then Mr. S. in his next words demandeth and asketh Shall Faith begin our interest here and not be able to continue it hereafter John 3.46 I answer him No it shall not For he that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life His Faith indeed shall cease with this corruptible life of his 2 Cor. 13. but he himself shall be raised up by the power of Christ and not dye any more forever John 11.26 Fourthly Mr S. proceedeth and asketh Can a sinner be too soul for a Saviour and too wounded for a Physitian to heal and too filthy for a fountain opened to wash To all which several demands of his I will answer severally First Whereas he asketh whether a sinner can be too foul for a Saviour I answer No if he will carefully and conscionably practise and observe the means of salvation which he doth prescribe him which are Repentance Faith and new Obedience For as the Apostle telleth us Christ being in his passion made perfect he became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 5.9 On the contrary therefore whosoever he is that doth not obey Christ but doth wilfully contemn or carelesly neglect the means of his salvation as many do it is in vain for him to look for salvation by Christ for as St. Augustine saith elegantly De verbis Apostoli Ser. 15. Qui fecit te sine te non te justificat sine te He that made thee without thee doth not justifie thee without thee His next demand is Can a sinner be too much wounded for a Physician to heal Surely no. Not for Christ our heavenly Physician but then he must take his Physick and observe such a Dyet as he prescribeth him that is he must receive Christ and his merits by Faith and live orderly according to his Gospel that is as St. Paul setteth it down He must deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly Tit. 2.12 and righteously and godlily in this present world On the contrary therefore as long as infidelity or incredulity possesseth his heart and lyeth putrifying and rotting in his carnal lusts it is in vain for him to think or to perswade himself that he is healed by Christ Lastly Whereas he asketh Can a sinner be too filthy for a fountain opened to wash Surely no not for that fountain of which Zachary speaketh That is opened to the house of David Zac. 31 12. and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleaness But did he ever hear that a fountain though never so limpid and clear did cleanse any unlesse they did wash themselves with the water of it And even in like manner shall none be purifyed and cleansed from their spiritual filthyness and uncleanness until they do by Faith-sprinkle their souls with the bloud of Christ For as we have heard St. Peter tell us Christ purifieth the hearts of sinnâ—rs by Faith As long therefore as Faith with the inseperable effects thereof are wanting it is in vain for any to imagine that he is purified from his sins Fifthly He that offereth Christ saith M. S. offers all the conditions in him both of Faith and Repentance for Christ is exalted to give repentance unto Israel Acts 5.31 Gal. 2.21 And Faith is called The Faith of the Son of God Here first of all it is to be observed that he acknowledgeth Faith Repentance to be conditions required of us in the Gospel that we may be saved by Christ which elsewhere he denyeth Secondly he saith That God in offering Christ doth offer these conditions in him Which words of his may receive a double construction or understanding First that Repentance and Faith are not in our power but that Christ hath merited these graces for us and that he doth work them in us by his spirit when the Gospel is preached This the places of
Scripture alleadged by him do prove and we do constantly professe and preach the same but by that which he hath written in other places of this Treatise I know that he hath another meaning and that is that Christ performed the conditions of the Covenant of grace or of the Gospel for us that is as he speaketh that he repented for us and believed for us and that his Faith and Repentance are in the Gospel offered unto us and are accepted of God for us as if we our selves did repent and believe This strange opinion of his I have examined Quest 13. Whither I do referr you for more ample satisfaction in this matter Sixthly It 's no more saith Mr. S. to offer Jesus Christ then any grace of Christs or gift of Christ unto a sinner For a sinner is as unprepared and unfit for the one as the other equally in sin and pollution to both All this is true I grant if he do speak of a sinner as he is by nature and of himself But what can be inferred or concluded hence against the Protestant Doctrine that hath been hitherto constantly taught I cannot see nor perceive but may rather wrest his weapons out of his hands and use them against himself For if it be all one or as he saith if it be no more to offer Christ then any grace of Christ or gift of Christ unto a sinner then seeing the grace and gift of remission of sins or of justification is received by Faith as both St. Peter teacheth Acts 10.43 and St. Paul Acts 26.18 Christ himself also is to be received of us by Faith and as our sins are not forgiven but we are bound over unto punishment for them in Gods word until we believe in Christ so neither can any have any interest in Christ as long as we remain in infidelity and incredulity do not believe in him contrary to Mr. S. Mr. D. new doctrine Thus I have answered this Objection also according to the generality of the words wherein it was propounded But thinking more intentively with my self what M. S. his meaning might be I guessed that his words must be taken Restricte in a more restrained sense as if he should reason thus The graces of Faith and Repentance are freely and absolutely offered in the Gospel without requiring any antecedent act of Faith or Repentance whereby they are to be received and made ours therefore Christ is also as absolutely offered without any condition either of Faith or Repentance Now hereunto I do answer that all are in the Gospel commanded to believe in Christ and to repent that they may be saved by him but Faith and Repentance were never offered to all neither by Christ himself nor by his Apostles when they preached the Gospel nor are the Ministers of the Gospel now so to offer them It 's true Christ giveth Faith and Repentance to his spiritual Israel This we are to teach Acts 5.31 that men may be stirred up to seek both Faith and Repentance of Christ in the use of such means as he hath prescribed But it is one thing to teach this and another to offer Faith and Repentance to all absolutely It is Christ and his merits that are offered unto us in the Gospel but Faith is required of us as the means whereby both himself and his merits are received and Repentance and new Obedience is in joyned as a necessary condition without which we can have no communion with Christ as I shall have occasion to shew hereafter But if I shall grant that Faith and Repentance are offered unto us in the Gospel yet I may retort the Argument of Mr. S. upon himself for Faith and consequently Repentance are not offered unto us nor wrought in us nisi mediante verbo but by the means and ministery of the word For Faith cometh by hearing Rom. 10.17 and hearing by the word of God therefore Christ is neither absolutely offered nor absolutely made ours sed mediante eodem verbo et fide but by means of the same word and Faith whereby we receive him Lastly I do argue thus eternal life is not to be had without Faith in Christ This St. John giveth us to understand when he saith John 20.31 These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name Seeing therefore as Mr. S. saith we are alike indisposed to any gift of Christ as we are to Christ himself it followeth therefore necessarily that seeing the gift of life is not ours without Faith neither is Christ himself ours without Faith which if it be granted it cannot be avoided but must needs be acknowledged that he is made ours by Faith And this the Apostle expresly avoucheth Eph. 2.12 Ye were at that time without Christ that is whilest they were Infidels and unbelievers Lastly This spiritual work saith Mr. S. is a new Creation and so works of preparation are not so proper in that Eph. 2.10 We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus Answer That our regeneration is a new Creation we do all acknowledge but that every work of Creation doth exclude all precedent preparations will not so easily be granted For Beasts Birds and Fishes were not made immediatly of nothing but of a precedent matter And God created man also not immediatly of nothing but his Body was first prepared and created of the dust of the earth and when that was perfectly formed he breathed the breath of life into his nostrils that is he infused his Soul into his Body Gen. 2. and so he was made a living Soul The same course also doth the Lord ordinarily take in our regeneration which is a new Creation For that there are certain preparations such as are the hearing of the word some knowledge of sin and of a mans own misery by sin and of the grace of God in Christ ordinarily thereunto precedent in adultis in those that are of capacity and understanding shall be shewed afterwards God willing in the seventh Question It doth not appear therefore neither by this nor by any former Reasons of Mr. S. that Christ is ours before we do believe in him or that he is not made ours by Faith Objection Whereas therefore he saith immediatly before the first of those aforesaid seven Reasons of his that we are not to consider neither Faith nor Repentance as bringing-in Christ in the Soul but Christ bringing-in them and working them more and more in the soul Unto this I answer Answer that Christ by bringing-in as he speaketh that is by working Faith and Repentance in the Soul doth bring-in himself into it and taketh and keepeth possession of it and so we are interested in Christ For until Christ worketh these graces in us by his Spirit we are altogether aliens from him and have no communion with him at all It is no good reasoning to say Christ worketh Faith in
with his own right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins Acts 5.31 To whom also hath God promised remission of sins Verily not to those that do live in sin but that do leave their sins and return unto GOd Ezek. 18.21 22 23 24. Pardon of sin therefore or which is all one justification and absolution from sin is not to be had until a man do repent and become a new man But what need I to heap up any more testimonies or to use any more reasons seeing St. Paul shutteth up his disputation of justification in these words Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law Rom. 3.28 It will not serve M. D.'s turn to say That Pauls meaning is that we are justified declaratively to our own consciences by Faith only and not by works For St. Peter who spake by the same Spirit that St. Paul did teacheth us That by the constant practice not only of Faith but of other vertues and good works also we are to make our Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 2.10 that is to our own souls and consciences Consequently therefore by the same works may also be assured in our consciences of our justification before God and of our reconciliation to his Divine Majesty For he that is assured of his Election and of his effectual Vocation is assured of his justification and salvation Mr. D. therefore setteth a false glosse upon St Pauls words when he saith that his meaning is not that we are actually justified before God by Faith only but declaratively to our own consciences for thus are we justified by other Vertues as well as by Faith SECT II. Mr. D. his Objections answered ALL these plain Testimonies and many more Mr. D. thinketh to avoid and put off by saying that we were justified actually by Christs righteousness before we did believe even at that very time when he suffered his bitter Passion and bare our sins on his Body on the Tree and that therefore as I intimated before the Scriptures which say we are justified by Faith must be thus understood That Faith justifieth declaratively that is that our Faith declareth and maketh it evident unto our consciences that our sins are forgiven and that we are justified before God But the Scriptures as I have shewed do speak so plainly that they will not suffer themselves thus to be wrested Notwithstanding he goeth about to prove this his exposition by these Arguments following Object Confer p. 14. Rom. 4.5 Rom. 5.10 1. That the Act of our Faith is a Consequent of our justification and not an Antecedent is plain For God justifieth the ungodly And we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies Now saith he Believers cannot be called enemies but friends But we were reconciled when we were enemies The answer hereunto is easie to wit Answer That we were ungodly and so enemies antecedenter ad reconciliationem nostram that is before we were reconciled but not when we did actually believe The Apostle therefore in these words of his denotat tatum terminum à quo istius reconciliationis non terminum ad quem that is And so speaketh in the same sense as Isay doth c. 3. when he saith The lame man shall leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb sing which as Chamier saith must be understood in sensu diviso non in composito he sheweth what manner of persons we were before we were reconciled to God not what we are being reconciled He speaketh therefore in the same sense as our Saviour doth when he saith Math. 11.5 the lame walk and the deaf hear The meaning whereof no man will conceive to be that the lame still continuing lame did walk and that the deaf still continuing deaf did hear but that those who formerly were lame and deaf being cured by Christ did go and hear And even so in like manner when the Apostle saith that God justifieth the ungodly and that we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies the meaning is not That the ungodly remaining ungodly are justified or that any are enemies to God after they are actually reconciled unto him but that we who by nature and of our selves were ungodly and therefore enemies were justified from that ungodliness of ours and reconciled unto God when we believed in Christ Objection But saith he We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Christ bare our sins in his body on the Tree Remission of sin therefore is even as ancient as satisfaction for sin and at what time Christ Jesus taketh our sins upon himself at the same time are the persons of Gods Elect just before the tribunal of Almighty God Answer Hereunto I answer That we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son meritoriè that is in regard of merit but are not actually reconciled until we do by Faith receive Christ apply the merits of his Passion to our souls In the same sense is Christ said to bear our sins on his Body on the tree that is the punishment of our sins whereby he purchased the pardon of them It doth not follow therefore neither from these nor from any other the like sayings that actual remission of sins is as ancient as satisfaction for sin nor that the persons of Gods Elect were just before the Tribunal of God at the same time when Christ Jesus took our sins upon himself Mr. D. therefore doth indeed wrest those places of Scripture which speak of the actual performance of the price of our Redemption when he alledgeth them to impugn actual remission of sins by Faith Another of his Objections is this Object Confer p. 15. They that are ingrafted into Christ Jesus are justified but we must be ingrafted into Christ Jesus before we can believe therefore we must be justified before we can believe What force and what strength there is in this reasoning of his I will request him to consider by the like Answer They that are ingrafted into Christ Jesus are holy for so are all his members but we must be ingrafted into Christ Jesus before we can believe therefore we must be holy before we can believe Will he say that this is rightly concluded from the premises No he must not for he telleth us that holiness cannot go before Faith but must follow it But to answer his Argument Confer p. 21. When he saith They that are ingrafted into Christ Jesus are justified But we must be ingrafted into Christ Jesus before we can believe If here he do understand priority of time I deny this Assumption of his For at the same time that we are ingrafted into Christ we receive power from him to believe Again seeing Christ is offered unto us in the Promises of the Gospel How can we be made partakers of Christ if we
Deo definito not from eternity but at that time which God had determined Gal. 4.4 His Passion therefore either must not be the cause of our justification or if we shall say that it is as this most learned Divine and all other for any thing that I know to the contrary do we must needs grant that we were not actually justified ab aeterno from all eternity but in time Lastly Whereas St. Paul teacheth Rom. 3.24 25. that We are justified by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood from hence also it followeth that our sins are actually pardoned and we justified from them in time and not from all eternity For it cannot be said of our Election and there is the same reason of every other immanent and eternal Act of God that we were elected through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus as a cause thereof For our Election is immediatly of Gods grace and not effected by any external means or for any external cause extra Deum without God himself no more then are opera ulla ejus ad intrà any of his internal acts or works For as much therefore as the Apostle teacheth That we are justified by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood unto me it seemeth very evident that our justification can be none of the immanent and eternal works of God that are acted altogether within himself Object I know there are those that do object against this that I have said those words of St Paul 2 Thess 2.13 where he telleth them That God had from the beginning chosen them unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth But his meaning is not That sanctification of the Spirit and Faith of the truth were any causes no nor means of their Election but of their salvation as if he should have said God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation to be enjoyed and possessed of you by being sanctified by Gods Spirit and by believing in Christ as by means leading thereunto Thus the Apostle in saying he hath chosen you unto salvation that is to obtain salvation by sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth maketh these means of their salvation not of their Election Yea not only the Orthodox Protestant Divines but Popish Doctors also do thus expound these words of St. Paul amongst whom Estius commenteth thus upon them The effects of Gods Election ordained unto salvation are hereby signified as if he should say God hath chosen you or hath taken you unto salvation by means thereunto allotted to wit through sanctification of the Spirit and Faith of the truth Theophylact also alledged by him thus expoundeth these words God hath from the beginning that is from eternity chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit that is saith he he hath saved us in sanctifying us by the Spirit Thus our salvation is by means but our Election is the immediate work or act of God whereof there can no cause or reason be given nisi bene placitum Divinum but Gods own gracious good pleasure This that I have thus taught is the Doctrine of the most Orthodox Divines I cannot therefore but wonder what should move the most illustrious Chamier to say quòd amari mereamur à Deo per imputationem justitiae Christi et quôd inde diligamur et destinemur vitae aeternae that we deserve to be loved of God through the imputation of Christs righteousnesse and that thereupon we are beloved and allotted or elected unto eternal life This I say seemeth unto me a most strange assertion for hence it would follow that Gods Love and his Election were not free or altogether gratuitous But God speaking unto his Church and people saith dilexi te gratis I have loved thee freely And St. Paul teacheth that God hath predestinated us to the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will The same Apostle also saith that the Election of Gods people is of grace Now merit and free love and grace cannot stand together Christ indeed hath merited all the saving effects of Gods Love at dilectio ipsamet Dei est gratuitae but Gods love it self is not merited but free He loveth us meerly ex beneplacito suo of his good pleasure This love of his is the cause why he gave us his only begotten Son to work our salvation John 3.16 This love of his therefore must needs be the cause also of all Christs merits both of our redemption justification adoption sanctification and glorification Neither our justification therefore nor any other of these can be the cause of Gods love if we shall speak properly of his love and not of some one or other effects thereof But proceed we to the next thing wherein Chamierus dissenteth from that which is most commonly taught by other Protestants concerning our justification This learned man also teacheth contrary to the common Doctrine of the Protestants that there are no preparations unto our justification Now if it were as he saith that our justification is an eternal Act of God this would necessarily follow But seeing we are not actually justified until we do believe in Christ and are not ordinarily brought to renounce our selves and to put the whole confidence of our salvation in Christ until we be wrought upon and prepared thereunto both by the Law and the Gospel as is to be shewed in the next Question therefore seeing he produceth nothing that I have met with for confirmation of this his assertion I will leave the further examination and sifting of it unto its due place And so I come to the last thing that by the learned Chamierus is asserted in opposition to the common Doctrine of Protestants and that is That we are not justified by Faith in Christ for he speaketh expresly and saith falsum est fidem impetrare justificationem It 's false that Faith obtaineth justification For confirmation whereof he reasoneth thus If it were so then Faith should go before our justification both in reason and in time which may by no means be granted For Faith it self is by it self a part of our sanctification but there is no sanctification but it is after justification which in deed and in nature is before it Which is the cause why we do say that Faith doth no otherwise justifie but relatively that is because it hath for its peculiar object the mercy of God on which it relieth Now this is that properly that justifieth as the Church is built relatively upon the Faith of Peter that is upon Christ whom the Faith of Peter confessed That I may examine these things in order as they lie First whereas he saith If Faith should obtain our justification then Faith should go before our justification both in reason and in
time I deny this consequence for from hence it followeth only that Faith goeth before our justification in order of nature or in reason but not in time because a man is justified at the same instant that he layeth hold on Christ believeth in him But he denieth that Faith goeth before our justification in any respect at all his reason is because Faith is a part of our sanctification but there is no sanctification but it is after justification which indeed and in nature is before it The first of these Propositions I do willingly grant that Faith is a part of sanctification but whereas he assumeth that there is nosanctification but it is after justification I cannot assent unto him in this For many worthy Divines do hold that sanctification is before justification their judgment therefore I might oppose unto the learned Chamiers others that hold the contrary For the clearing of this matter I do distinguish of sanctification and say that it is either habitual and so God doth sanctifie us by infusing holinesse into us or actual and so we do sanctifie our selves by renouncing the works of sin and living holily Of both these Moses speaketh when he saith Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy for I am the Lord your God and ye shall keep my Statutes and do them Lev. 20.7.8 for I am the Lord which sanctifie you When the Lord saith here Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy this must be understood of actual sanctification that is of holiness that is to be actually performed by us But whereas the Lord useth this as a reason to stir us up hereunto for I am the Lord which sanctifie you this is spoken of habitual sanctification For how doth the Lord sanctifie us but by infusing the habit or the internal grace of holinesse into us whereby we are inabled to perform the several acts of holinesse or to live holily the effectual excitation of Gods blessed Spirit herewith concurring But because these words of the Lord which I have alledged though they speak of a twofold sanctification are taken in another sense by very learned Divines than this that I have given for confirmation therefore of habitual sanctification I do alledge those words of St. Paul 1 Thess 5.23 where he prayeth that God would sanctify them wholly or throughly And those 1 Cor. 1.30 where he saith That Christ is made unto us sanctification See also 1 Pet. 1.2 Now of actual sanctification St. Paul speaketh when he saith This is the will of God even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God Hereof also speaketh St. Peter in that precept of his Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts In these and in other places the Scripture speaketh of Sanctification both habitual wrought in us by God himself and of sanctification acted and wrought by us through the assistance of Gods Spirit exciting us unto holinesse Whereas then this most learned Divine saith That there is no sanctification but it is after justification this is true if it be understood of actual sanctication For we are first justified by Faith and then this Faith inflameth our hearts with the love of God and stirreth us up to glorifie him and to serve him in holiness and righteousness according to all his commandements Thus the several works of holiness and righteousness do proceed from Faith Etiamsi non elicitivè imperativè tamen though not elicitly yet imperatively Faith stirreth us up unto them For as St. Paul saith The end of the commandement is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience 1 Tim. 1.5 and Faith unfeigned It is true therefore that Faith and therefore justification which is thereby laid hold of and obtained is before actual sanctification For as this learned man saith well fides vera est fons et scaturigo omnium bonorum operum in fidelibus De sola fide justificante Lib. 22. cap. 12. True Faith is the fountain and source of all good works in the faithful But I cannot say that there is no sanctification but it is after justification for habitual Faith is a part of habitual anctification Now the infused habits of grace such as Faith is are before their acts If therefore it can be proved that adulti or such as are of capacity and understanding are not justified without or before actual Faith then it will inevitably follow that there is some sanctification that is not after justification Yea beside what hath been said already to prove that we are actually justified by Faith and not without it methinketh Chamierus himself doth as good as grant it when he saith Verum est proptereà nos factos in Christo justitiam Dei quòd Christo nos simus incorporati per fidem It is true that we are therefore made the righteousnesse of God in Christ because we are incorporated into him by Faith We are not then justified before Faith or before we do believe in Christ Again this most excellent Divine saith In adultis fatemur remissionem peccatorum ab inhaerente justitiâ nunquam sepaerari We confess that remission of sins is never separated from inherent righteousness in those that are grown in years But say I many of the Elect after they have the use of reason and understanding being well grown in years do yet live in sin for some time and do not serve God in righteousness until he by his grace doth afterward convert them According therefore to his own Doctrine it followeth that justification from sin at least in adultis in those that are grown in years doth not go before Faith But saith he Faith justifieth relativè as it hath for its proper peculiar object the mercy of God on which it relieth Whence as I conceive he would have it inferred That seeing the mercy of God is eternal therefore our justification is so also and therefore before Faith Now hereunto I answer that though Christs righteousnesse be materialiter the proper object of our justification or that which is imputed to us for our justification Yet I will not deny bur that Gods mercy considered as the internal cause moving God to justify us may thus be said to be the proper and peculiar object on which our Faith relyeth for justification But it doth not follow hereupon that we were justified ab aeterno from everlasting because Gods mercy is the cause of our justification no more than that we are sanctified and glorified eternally because our sanctification and glorification are wholly of Gods mercy Quest 7. Whether any previous dispositions preparations or qualifications be required of men in the Gospel that they may be partakers of salvation by Christ SECT I. The Preparations that go before our Regeneration and Conversion THose that take upon them to be the only Preachers of
although Repentance goeth before that act of faith whereby a man believeth that his sins are pardoned yet it doth not follow hereupon that it goeth before all faith in general no nor yet before justifying and saving faith For if I shall speak Logically and properly there are as I conceive no lesse then foure several acts of faith but I do make choyce rather to speak popularly and therefore I will contract two of them into one The first act of faith is for a man to believe that the whole word of God is true or that I may speak more particularly to the matter in hand it is for him to believe that Jesus Christ being sent of his Father hath perfectly wrought and accomplished our salvation and that he doth offer this salvation unto all those who do repent and believe in him This act of faith doth not only go before repentance but before all other acts of faith also For if a man do not believe both that Christ hath absolutely and perfectly accomplished our redemption and salvation and that he doth also offer the salvation which he hath purchased unto all that do repent and believe in him he will have no incouragement neither will it be possible for him either to repent or believe to rest and rely on Christ for salvation This is that faith which is commonly called fides dogmatica vel historica doctrinal or historical faith because it goeth not beyond the faith of the Doctrine or of the History of the Bible Now this though it be absolutely necessary unto salvation yet it is not saving faith because it justifieth no man nor giveth to any man any interest or right unto salvation 2. The second act of faith is That a man do not despair though his sins be never so many or never so great but believe or perswade himself that God of his mercy through Christ will pardon them and so cast himself upon Christ or that he do trust upon Christ for salvation according to the promises of the Gospel This is saving faith or it is that act of faith whereby we are justified and saved as St. Paul giveth us to understand in those words of his which I have already alledged Rom. 3.23 24 25. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Behold it is faith in Christs blood that is in his death and passion whereby God becommeth propitious that is gracious and merciful unto us and consequently whereby we are justified and saved Now this act of faith is in nature before repentance though in time it go with it I will make this plain by a familiar comparison Sol est natura prior lumine ex illo orto The Sun is in nature before the light that springeth and proceedeth from it because in nature the cause is alwayes before the effect but the Sun and its light are simul tempore together in time For as soon as the Sun was created and placed by God in the Firmament at the very same instant did it illighten the World And even so in like manner faith in Christ is in nature before repentance but they go together in time For seeing there is no promise of pardon made to any one in the Gospel while he continueth in sin it followeth necessarily therefore that true justifying faith cannot be separated from repentance no more then saving repentance can be without such a true faith And this as I take it is the cause why remission of sins and salvation are in some places of holy Scripture attributed to repentance and in some other to saith to wit because faith and repentance are as it were twisted and infolded the one in the other For neither can a man repent without faith nor can he believe in Christ for the pardon of his sins unless his faith did stir up repentance in him and a setled purpose to forsake all sin For as long as a man liveth in sin he hath no promise from God to ground his faith upon The true Christian therefore in believing repenteth and in repenting believeth these are two inseparable Companions and as it were twins that are bread and born together Although then that act of faith whereby we do believe in Christ is in nature before repentance as the cause is before the effect yet there is no priority nor posteriority of time between them Faith is the first wheel in the Clock that moveth all the rest Mr. Panb Vind. Grat. for a man cannot believe in Christ for salvation according to the promises of the Gospel unless this faith of his do excite and stir him up to the practise of repentance The third and last act of faith is that whereby a man believeth that his sins are blotted out and forgiven and that he is in the state of salvation The former is called a direct act because it maketh a man to look directly upon Christ and to cast himself upon him for salvation This latter is called a reflexed act because a Christian reflecting and looking back upon himself and his own soul seeth faith and repentance wrought in him and hereupon concludeth that his sins are pardoned and that he now is the Child of God and an Heire of Heaven This he believeth because he seeth the conditions accomplished in him to which God hath promised remission of sins and salvation that is to say faith and repentance Thus whereas the former act of faith whereby a man doth truly believe in Christ maketh him partaker of the remission of sins and giveth him right and a true title to the Kingdom of Heaven this latter assureth him of this and breedeth and begetteth great peace quietness and comfort in his heart and conscience Now this last act of faith whereby a man thus believeth that his sins are pardoned and is assured of his salvation doth not go before but followeth after repentance For until a man seeth and perceiveth that he hath forsaken sin and that he doth repent he cannot confidently believe that his sins are pardoned nor can he have any firm assurance of salvation because he hath no word of promise from God whereon to ground that faith and assurance of his Object Another stumbling-block which our Novellists have cast in the way of many good Christians is this whereas St. Paul telleth us 1 Tim. 1.15 that Christ came into the World to save sinners behold say these men he came to save sinners not repentant sinners and hereupon they infer and conclude that a man before he repenteth even at that very time when he liveth in sin ought to believe that his sins are pardoned and that he is in the state of salvation But I answer Answ That they do deceive both themselves and others fallacia consequentis with a fallacious consequence For when or how doth Christ save
Secondly Grace is taken by a Metonymie for a supernatural gift of grace Eph. 4.7 2 Cor. 6.1 as in these places following Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ c. We beseech you that ye receive not the Grace of God in vain Under this latter signification of Grace are comprehended both Christ himself John 4.10 for he calleth himself the gift of God and all the several Acts also or parts of our salvation which he hath merited for us and worketh in us or bestoweth upon us as our justification adoption sanctification preservation in the state of Grace redemption from hell and eternal glorification and salvation in Heaven Now judge whether those can be enemies to Grace or whether they are justly charged not to preach free Grace who do thus ascribe our whole salvation to the Grace of God It is true indeed we do teach men to repent and believe in Christ that they may be saved by him but withal we do teach them that Faith and Repentance are Graces of God or dona ex gratiâ gifts of his Grace and that they cannot practise nor perform them viribus liberi arbitrii sui by their own free will or by any power of their own but must seek and sue unto God for them in the use of such means as he hath prescribed For God doth not force his graces upon us nor doth not work upon us as on stocks or stones but seeing he hath made us reasonable creatures he therefore speaketh unto us by his word and perswadeth and inableth us by his Spirit to do those things which he requirerh of us Thus he dealeth with us as with men but yet so that still our salvation is wholly of his grace both the beginning middle and the end thereof For though it bee we that do repent and believe and obey and not God yet we do all this not of our selves but by his grace Thus do we alwaies and in all things magnifie and extol the grace of God acknowledging it to be the only cause of our whole salvation by Christ Yet all this that I have said Objection Mr. S. thinketh to overthrow by saying That all sorts even Papists and Arminians do thus acknowledge grace in general as we do But who seeth not that we do more then so Answer For whereas they do divide the salvation of a sinner between mans Free-will and Gods free grace yea do terminate his conversion ultimately and leave it in the power of his own Free-will we ascribe it only to grace Quest 2. Whether a man when he is converted from Infidelity to Fayth do change his estate before God Reconcil of God to man pag. 32 MAster D. saith that a mans believing doth not change his estate before God Whereupon that I may passe my censure this I say that if before God he meaneth only according to that he is in Gods eternal predestination this may be admitted for so he is a believer that is decreed to be a believer from all eternity But if his meaning be that his estate before he believed and after his conversion is the same before God that is in Gods account or in reality and truth as well as in outward appearance in which sense Zachary and Elizabeth are said both to be righteous before God this may not be granted For upon Zacheus his conversion our Saviour spake unto him and said Luke 1. This day is salvation come unto this house He was not in the state of salvation therefore before Now the same is to be said of all other converts and true believers whereof is to be seen in the Ephesians Eph. 2.1 2. of whom St. Paul saith You hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in times past ye walked and afterwards he speaketh unto them and saith Ye were sometimes darkness Eph. 4.8 but are now light in the Lord. Now I would know whether he doth not change his estate that passeth from death to life which our Saviour our in express words affirmeth of the believer John 5.24 and from darkness to light As manifest a change of their estate do those words of the Apostle import and imply when he saith unto them Remember that ye being in times passed Gentiles in the flesh that at that time ye were without Christ Eph. 2.11 12 13. being aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and strangers from the Covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world But now in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ Can any thing be spoken more plainly to shew what a great difference there was between their former estate and condition whilest they remained in infidelity and their present since they were converted to the Faith of Christ To be without Christ and without God and to be nigh unto God and unto Christ that is to be the children of God and members of Christ must needs argue a great change in a mans spiritual estate Those words also of St Paul Col. 1.13 do evince as manifest a change of our spiritual estate when he saith That God the Father hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son For how is it possible there should be any such translation if our state remained unalterable and still the same It is false therefore that Mr. D. teacheth to wit Reconcil of God to man pag. 27.28 That our Faith only giveth us evidence and assurance of our salvation which we had before but that we are not to believe and to serve God that we may obtain salvation non per modum meriti not by way of merit I mean not so but that we may obtain by Faith both right unto and possession or fruition of that salvation in Heaven which Christ hath purchased for us In this he contradicteth the Scripture for St Peter calleth the salvation of our souls the end of our Faith Now I would know 1 Pet. 1.9 whether a man doth undertake or do any thing nisi ex intuitu et cum intentione finis but for some end or other which he propounds unto himself When we do therefore believe in Christ and Repent us of our sins past we do it with this intention and for this end That we may be partakers of eternal salvation in Heaven through Christ Whereupon when the Jaylor demanded of Paul Silas Sirs What must I do to be saved Acts 16.31 They said Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved thou and thine house He findeth fault with this question Reconcil of God to man pag. 34. If the Jaylor had asked this question of Mr. D. he in choâ—er scorn would have answered him What thou ignorant and impious man dost thou ask me what thou must do to be saved as if Christ had not throughly wrought and
do not by Faith believe and receive those promises To say nothing that to be ingrafted into Christ is nothing but to believe in Christ For God by working Faith in us doth ingraft us into Christ I deny therefore his minor Proposition for we are not ingrafted into Christ at all untill the Spirit hath wrought Faith in us He alledgeth That the effects of righteousness is Assurance but to what purpose I know not Obiect Esay 32.17 unless it be against himself For if righteousness do alwaies bring assurance with it of Gods Love favour or of the forgiveness of sins and of our justification then it cannot be said that we are assured of our justification only by Faith as he teacheth Afterwards I finde him reasoning thus St. Peter saith Object That Christ bare our sins in his own Body on the tree that we being delivered from sin might live in righteousness 1 Pet. 2.24 St. John tells us John 1.29 Christ takes them away Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world If the justice of God hath laid allour iniquities upon his back hath not his mercy taken them from us If the Lord Christ did take them away then they are no more Answ For answer hereunto I say first That they are taken away and are no more in regard of any satisfaction to be performed by us for so Christ bare them and took them away as I have shewed before Again I do here further add That the persons of whom both St. Peter and St. John do speak in these words are Believers Christ bare our sins that is ours who believe in him for of them St. Peter speaks and to them he wrote this and not to infidels So also when St. John saith Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world By the world here he meaneth all those throughout the world both Jews and Gentiles that do believe in him and receive him for their Saviour in the same sense as St. John the Apostle speaketh when he saith If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the just 1 John 2.1 and he is the propitiation for our sins ours of the Jewish Nation or of the Israelites who do believe in him and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world that is of all both Jews and Gentiles that do believe in him throughout the world SECT III. An Objection answered I Have done with Mr. D. And must now essay if I can give satisfaction to a stronger reason than any of his which I finde alledged by an acute and learned Divine for whom I am no fit match Vindic Gra. Lib. 1. Sect. 4. For thus doth he reason Justificatio est actus Dei immanens non transiens that is to say an internal not an external Act of God est ergo aeternus non temporaneus it is therefore eternal and not done in time as the outward works of God are Whereupon he inferreth and concludeth that when the Scripture saith We are justified by Faith the meaning hereof is that we are justified by Faith in tribunali conscientiae that is that God when we believe in Christ justifieth us in the tribunal which be setteth up in our own souls and consciences but that otherwise we were justified ab aeterno apud Deum eternally with God But methinks this exposition of his quite overthroweth the Doctrine of justification by Faith as it is taught by the Protestants For the Protestants Doctrine is First that our justification is actus individuus an individual act that is accomplished all at once in one and the same instant Secondly quòd non admittit majus et minus that it is not increased nor diminished by degrees as our sanctification is But this justification is not any such indivisible act For frequent and ordinary experience sheweth that those who are Believers and in the state of grace yea excellent Christians otherwise are somtimes confident that their sins are pardoned and that they are in Gods favour and at other times though they rely still upon God for the pardon of their sins and for salvation by Christ yet they cannot say that they are pardoned In a word the Children of God have sometimes a greater sometimes a lesser assurance of the pardon of their sins and of their salvation and sometimes hardly any at all The reason whereof in many of them is melancholy abounding which depraveth the fancy depresseth the heart and alwaies raiseth fears in opposition contrary to that which a mans heart is set upon and which it most desireth Somtimes again the Faith of the Believer is assailed with strong strange and hideous temptations which deprive him of that assurance which formerly he had or were it not for these temptations would have And sometimes also weakness of judgment in those whose hearts are upright with God is a great cause why they cannot lay hold of that comfort which belongeth unto them Now if we shall say that a man is justified by Faith when his Faith doth declare and evidence unto his conscience that his sins are pardoned then we shall exclude some of these good Christians from the state of justification and of others of them we shall say contrary to the common tenent of Protestants that they are sometimes more and sometimes lesse justified Object But how then shall we answer the aforesaid Reason which is alledged to prove the eternity of the justification of Gods Elect Answ I answer it thus That the Decree indeed of justifying or absolving Believers is an immanent and eternal Act of God Thus they are justified ab aeterno in mente Dei eternally in Gods counsel or in Gods mind and purpose even as those that are arraigned in Courts of justice here in this world are acquitted or condemned in animo et mente judicis in the Judges mind and decree or determination before he passeth sentence of judgment upon them But they are not actually judged until this sentence is pronounced and published Now the same is to be said concerning the actuall justification of those that do believe in Christ For justification as the Protestants do prove by the Scriptures est vocabulum forense is a judicial term and therefore is to be taken in sensu forensi in a judicial sense It importeth therefore an external judicial act of God that is to say his pronouncing or publishing of sentence of judgment For then is a Judge said to judge him that is arraigned before him when he giveth either sentence of absolution or condemnation upon him and even in like manner God the judge of all the world doth justifie those that believe in Christ by passing sentence of absolution upon them and condemneth all unbelievers and ungod y sinners by giving sentence of condemnation against them Object But it may be you will say unto me It is true Christ at his coming will judge the quick and the dead
house Both these Apostles do inform us that there is something to be done of us that we may be saved that is that we must repent and believe in Christ and be fruitful in all good works which are inseparable effects of Faith and Repentance Whereupon St. Paul exhorteth us not to be weary of well doing Gal. 6.9 and to incourage us hereunto he telleth us that in due time we shall reap if we faint not There is something then to be done or us contrary to Mr. S. his assertion that we may receive more then we have already For as we are here by the Apostle given to understand this present life of ours is but the seed time wherein we are to sow the seeds of virtue and good works and hereafter at Christs appearing the harvest cometh when we shall reap a crop of glory This is the expectation of all true believers for as St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15.19 had we hope in Christ only in this life we were of all men the most miserable Lastly Whereas he saith We are to do as much as if we were to be saved by what we do because we should do as much for what is done already for us and to our hands as if we were to receive it for what we did our selves Hereunto I answer That seeing Gods glory is to be preferred before our own salvation therefore we ought both to desire and to endeavour were it possible to do not as much but more for what is done for us already as if we were to be saved by what we do our selves But otherwise I must tell him that if we would obtain our salvation for our own works then we must look to it that they be pure and perfect and that we do all that the Law requireth without fayling in any thing But he that shall challenge such perfection to himself is to be ranked amongst proud Pharisees and deserveth not the name of an humble and lowly hearted Christian For a farewel therefore to this first reason of his I would know how Faith can be the only work of the Gospel if the Gospel do teach us to do as much in way of thankfulnesse to God for our redemption and salvation as if we were to redeem and save our selves Obiect 2 I come now to his next Reason whereby he endeavourete to prove That Faith is the only work of the Gospel Salvation saith he is a short work Believe and thou shalt be saved Rom. 10.10 Answ But I must tell him As short as he maketh it there will be work enough for the believer all his life long for the Faith which St. Paul speaketh of will not suffer a believer to be idle or unfruitful but as he himself telleth us Gal. 5.6 1 Cor. 15.58 it worketh by love yea it stirreth up believers alwaies to abound in the work of the Lord. Mt. S. his Faith therefore if it be without works and do set all upon Christs score as if he had repented for us and done all for us that we our selves should do is no better as St. James telleth us Jam. 2.17 then a dead Faith Obiect 3 Now whereas he saith It is the Gospel way of dispensation to assure and passe over salvation in Christ to any that will believe Answ I grant it is so but must tell him that true Faith as our Saviour himself teacheth us is to believe the Gospel Mark 1.15 The Faith therefore that is not founded on the Promises of the Gospel but a mans own fancie as is the Faith which Mr. S. requireth is not a true but a false Faith Obiect 4 But saith he There needs no more on our sides to work or warrant salvation to us but to be perswaded that Jesus Christ died for us because Christ hath suffered and God is satisfied Now suffering and satisfaction that great work of salvation How Christ by his Passion hath wrought the great work of our salvation I have already shewed But it followeth not hereupon that there is nothing to be done by us in a lower way for we must walk in that narrow way of which our Saviour speaketh Matth. 7.14 Matt. 7.14 that leadeth unto life or else we shall never come to Heaven nor have any part in that salvation which is there purchased and prepared by Christ for his Saints It 's therefore not only a false but a most impious and most dangerous assertion to say as here Mr. S. doth That there needs no more on our sides to work or warrant salvation to us but to be perswaded that Jesus Christ died for us If this were so then indeed salvation would be a short work For not only all those must needs be saved who are perswaded that Christ died for all men absolutely and therefore for themselves in particular but also the most loose and licentious Libertines and carnal Gospellers that are for even those if not all yet many of them do perswade themselves that Christ died for them as well as for any other but this Faith of theirs is nothing else but most deadly and damnable presumption as is shewed in the 15. Question Lastly Whereas he objecteth and saith They only Obiect 5 are justified who believe Rom. 1.17 Acts 13.39 And that we are justified by grace not of works Rom. 3 2â— Answ This we willingly grant but tell him that there is more required to our salvation than to our justification For as Bernard saith excellently well Bona operae De gratiae et libero arbitrio sunt occultae praedestinationis indicia futurae glorificationis praesagia via regni non causa regnandi Good works are tokens of our predestination that otherwise lieth hidden from us fore-tokens of our future glorification the way to the Kingdom but not the cause of the crown Whosoever therefore liveth here idly and worketh not nor imployeth the talent which he hath received of his heavenly Lord and Master shall never come to Heaven Matth. 25.30 but be cast into utter darknesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Again whereas he saith They only are justified who believe We acknowledge this true but tell him that no man believeth until he seeth his own misery by sin and in what great need he standeth of Christ as hath been already shewed Albeit then we are justified by Faith only yet this Faith is not ordinarily to be had without some precedent qualifications such as are the hearing of the word denial of a mans own self and of his righteousnesse and a belief of perswasion that salvation is to be had by Christ only Object 2. Gods love is not offered to all equally and indifferently or to all absolutely Object 2 Secondly He alledgeth also these sayings of holy Scripture against us as if they excluded all preparation to Faith God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Rom. 5.8 God so loved the world that he gave his
evident unto us as our severall sins do require For so it is there are hardly any of Gods Children whose consciences are not more troubled with the remembrance and remorse of some of their sins then of others It will be necessary for them therefore to pray dayly as for the pardon of their other sins so especially of these that so they may grow more and more assured of the pardon of them considering what gratious promises Christ hath made to these their paayers Verily verily I say unto you Joh. 16.23 whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he will give it you And what things soever ye desire when ye pray Mar. 11.24 believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them Sure I am there is no man living upon the face of the earth that attaineth unto such a perfect assurance of the remission of his sins that he cannot have that assurance of his increased For all graces are here imperfect in us 2 Pet. 3.18 Whereupon we are all of us commanded to grow in grace In this regard therefore he that is most assured of the remission of his sins hath still need to pray for the pardon of them Thirdly We do all of us daily commit new sins Thirdly we have need therefore daily to solicite the Lord for the pardon of them Jam. 5.16 St. James exhorteth and stirreth us up unto this when he saith Confesse your sins one to another and pray one for another For I would know of these men what he would have us to pray for Not unlikely they will say for increase of grace to conquer and overcome our sins and for health in time of sicknesse It 's true no doubt but not for these onely but for pardon of those sins of ours which do pull down Gods judgments upon us for so he giveth us to understand when he saith Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray for him And the prayer of faith shall save the sick and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him Here first the Apostle excepteth none no no not the best Christian that is but speaketh universally and saith Is Any man sick let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray for him Secondly he setteth down a double consequent of these their prayers when he saith the prayer of faith shall save the sick and Secondly if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him It is most evident and manifest therefore from hence that prayer is to be made for the forgivnesse not onely of the sins of those that are unregenerate and unbelievers as St. Stephen prayed for his persecutors saying Lord lay not this sin to their Charge Acts 7.60 but as well also for the sins of believers Fourthly Lastly we are daily to pray for the pardon of our sins because the day of judgment is not yet come when Christ with his own mouth will pronounce sentence of absolution on believers and of condemnation on all unbelievers and ungodly men There is none of us I presume that will say that he is holier then Epaphroditus or that hath more assurance of his sins then he had Notwithstanding Paul as much as he commendeth him prayeth heartily for him that the Lord would shew mercy unto him at that day the day of judgment in which he should be presented and appeare before Christ Now what meaneth he hereby but that the Lord would be mercifull unto him in blotting out his sins 2 Tim. 1.18 then as St. Peter speaketh that is in passing sentence of absolution upon him See Acts 3.19 and in freeing him from the dreadful sentence of condemnation which he will then passe and pronounce on the ungodly For that there shall then be not only an execution of the sentence already given in the word but a reall judgment the Scripture maketh plain Acts 17.31 God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousnesse by that man whom he hath Ordained 2. Tim. 4.1 that is by Jesus Christ And I Charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom St. Peter also speaking of himself and of the other Apostles saith that God commanded them to preach unto the people and to testifie that it is he Acts 10.42 that is Jesus Christ which was Ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead Here in the courts of this world the judgment goeth before the execution followeth after the former is the act of the judge himself the other of his Ministers that do it by his Authority and never till the judgment is past So Christ himself will sit in judgment on all the world at the latter day Math. 25.31 Math. 13.41 42. but the execution of his judgment he will commit to the Angels As long therefore as we live here who seeth not that we have all need to pray that our sins may be pardoned and that we may stand in judgment at that dreadfull day when we shall appear before the judgment Seat of Christ Psal 1.5 and every one receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 SECT VI. Another Objection answered AFter I had thus finished this Question a friend of mine acquainted me with an argument drawn a Simili from a similitude which he heard a Souldier use to prove that he was not to pray for rhe pardon of his sins it was this If one give me a garment shall I still after I have it petition and pray him to give it me It were absurd so to do Seeing therefore God upon my repentance and faith in Christ hath forgiven me my sins it will be no lesse absurd in me still to pray for the pardon of them Whereunto I answer that an apt similitude doth excellently illustrate a matter after it is proved but otherwise there is little or no force in it at all of it self to prove any thing that is doubtfull or called into Question especially Si illo pede claudicat if it do halt on that foot wherein the force and strength of the Argument lieth Now so fareth it with this Similitude of his For that garment he speaketh of was absolutely given and he put into possession of it without being further bound to the performance of any thing for the time to come unlesse it were to a duty of thankfulnesse But our sins are not forgiven us absolutely by God but upon condition that we do repent and believe in Christ and pray for the pardon of them yea and this pardon is also granted not to one individuall act of repentance or of faith and prayer but to perseverance and continuance in all these as long as we live here as I have shewed already We can
Repentance as is to be seen Math. 3.2 And thus when the Apostles were sent by Christ to preach the Gospel to the Jewes it is also said of them that they went out and preached that men should repent yea Mar. 6.12 contrary to the Opinion and practise of our new teachers we are told Heb. 6.1 that the Apostles when they planted Churches began and laid the foundation in the Doctrine of Faith and Repentance And indeed that which is else-where written and recorded of the Apostles preaching of Christ and his Gospel doth sufficiently evince and testifie that they offered not remission of sins and salvation by Christ to all absolutely without any conditions but exhorted men to repent and believe in Christ that they might obtain pardon of their sins and be saved by him Thus when certain who were pricked in their hearts by hearing Peter preach Act 2.37 said unto him and to the rest of the Apostles Men and Brethren what shall we do Peter said unto them Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins The same St. Peter also having reproved the Jewes for consenting to Christs death and shewed them who he was in the next place he letteth them understand what they were to do that they might be saved by him Repent ye therefore and be converted Act. 3.19 that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. When the Jaylor also being terrified and troubled in his mind with the fear of Gods judgements Act. 16.30 31. came to Paul and Silas and said to them Sirs What must I do to be saved they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved And St. Paul saith that he being called and sent of God Act. 26.20 shewed both to Jewes and Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance These things which I have thus alledged do manifest and make it evident that the Apostles did never offer salvation unto any but upon condition of their repentance and faith in Christ Now that all other Ministers of the Gospel ought to do the like those words of our Saviour do sufficiently inform us when he saith That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all Nations Luc. 24.47 Not remission of sins singly and a part by it self as our neotericks will have it but repentance and remission of sins together Thus did Christ and thus did his Apostles preach and thus hath Christ ordained that all other should preach We may be assured therefore that this is the best or rather the only way of preaching the Gospel For were there any better we cannot otherwise think but that Christ would both have followed it himself and have injoyned all his Ministers to do the same SECT II. Where is shewed which is the most profitable way of preaching the Gospel THis that I have said might be a sufficient Answer to the former Question and to all the several parts and branches of it Notwithstanding because the novellists do cry out against us and say that with our many years preaching we have converted few or none but by urging such a necessity of repentance to the obtaining of salvation as we do do terrifie and trouble many and drive them into desperation therefore I will now by Gods gracious assistance prove unto them that our Doctrine is more likely to convert sinners and to comfort them being converted then theirs To speak first of the former We do indeed denounce Gods judgements against men while they live in sin and are led by their carnal lusts telling them that they must repent and amend their lives if they will have any hope of salvation by Christ Thus do we deal with obstinate sinners endevouring to save them with fear that is with the terror of Gods judgements as St. Jude commandeth us Jud. Vers 22 23. If such preaching do no way at all conduce to a sinners conversion why doth he say On some have compassion making a difference and others save with fear pulling them out of the fire But they tell us that we lay too hard a task upon men and that they have no power Object nor ability to repent and practise these things which we do require of them It s true they have not of themselves but it doth not follow hereupon Answ that our preaching of repentance unto sinners and our denouncing of Gods judgements against them is in vain and to no purpose 1. For the Spirit of God worketh with and by his word when it is preached and maketh it effectual at one time or other to as many as are ordained to eternal life The Law indeed only terrifies sinners but converteth none Act. 13.48 2 Cor. 3.7 8 9. for which cause the Apostle calleth it the Ministry of death and of cōdemnation but the Gospel he calleth the Ministry of the spirit because God sends down his spirit into the hearts of the Elect while the Gospel is ministred and preached unto them for so we read of Cornelius his Companions Act. 10.44 that while Peter preached the Holy Ghost fell on all that heard the word And while Lydia heard Paul preach the Lord by his spirit opened her heart and converted her to the faith of Christ Thus is the spirit given in the Ministry of the word Act. 16.14 and maketh it effectual to work Faith and Repentance in the Elect when these duties are preached and pressed upon them 2. Again We have this comfort that Christ hath merited for those that do believe in him 1 Cor. 1.36 not only the pardon of their sins but the spirit to sanctifie them and to work repentance in them Act. 5.31 We are not therefore to set upon the work of repentance in our own strength for then we are sure to be soyled and shall prevail nothing but we are to rely on Christ for his spirit and for his grace Gal. 3.14 that we may thereby be inabled to do those things which he requireth of us For we receive the promise of the spirit that is the spirit of God which Christ hath merited for us and God hath promised us by Faith Thus though we be never so weak of our selves yet as St. Paul saith Phil. 4.13 we are able to do all things that God requireth of us through Christ which strengtheneth us 3. And lastly We have this comfort also that by our prayers we may obtain not only other inferior gifts but the Holy Ghost himself Luck 11.13 the Authour of all sanctifying grace as our Saviour assureth us hereof Albeit then we be never so unable of our selves to repent and to bring forth the lively effects and fruits thereof yet by our prayers offered up unto God in the name of Christ we may obtain power to do all these things Such strong