may as well walk as a Man Spiritually Dead come to Christ Now then I ask have all Men such a vital Principle If you affirm it you oppose the Scripture Ephes 2.1 if you deny it then you either give me the Cause or affirm a Dead Man can walk And further in all Corporal Motion there is the Term from which and to which so in the Spiritual Motion of the Soul to Christ we come from Sin to Christ And now I have proved this from Scripture I shall cite some Authors of my Judgment that so my Reader may see it is not only my Opinion And I shall only cite such as the Patrons of this Opinion seem to admire as well as I that so you may see how they not only oppose the Scripture and me but also those Authors which they seem to confide in more than either that so you may see how these like Mad-Men even tear themselves The Learned Pemble is of my Mind in his Treatise of Grace and Faith and there spends many Pages to prove that the habits of all Grace are infused into the Soul in Regeneration before an Act of Faith can be put forth by that Soul and why these Men should not as well believe him in this as well as in his Notion of Eternal Justification especially since he hath clear Scripture on his side for the former but not a word for the latter seems strange to me But indeed I need not wonder since they that thus pick and cull this Author taking what suits with their Opinion and rejecting the rest do serve the unerring Word of God no better And if they dare serve Paul so 't is no wonder if they deal so with Pemble Dr. Goodwin is on my side in his Treatise on the Ephesians he hath these words 'T is affirmed saith he by Sound and Able Divines and that on good Ground that the Principles of all Grace are infused into the Soul before the Soul can put forth an Act of Faith with several passages to the same purpose which for brevity sake I omit Dr. Owen gives abundant Testimony to the same Truth in his Treatise on Justification he saith thus Justifying Faith is not to be found in any but those whose Natures are renewed and in whom there is a Principle of all Grace Thus you may see in a little how far these Divines were from this Error But because I have not to do with professed Arminians but with such as privily bring in this Erroneous Doctrine I shall therefore come to consider what their Pleas are and in Answering of them I shall further clear the Point I am upon and then I shall answer some Questions 1. Some I have heard say by coming in Sin we mean such must be sensible of Sin and so come Ans If such mean as they say why do they not always explain their meanings And sure I am if this is all such mean such Preachers are miserably mistaken by their Hearers who hereupon conclude they must come without any Change 'T is well known how with some Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion and I am well satisfied this is but a Jesuitical Shift that when they cannot justifie that rotten Notion of coming to Christ in their Sin then they tell us if we will believe them they mean only sensible of Sin but this Notion shall never be heard of till no other Answer will serve But what Soul-cousening is it to say one thing and mean another suppose they do mean so Pulpits should be places to to Explain things in But that this Cobweb may not cover such Deceit consider when they say we must be sensible of Sin they mean either that they have some Sin adhering to them or else that they are sensible they are in that Moment in a Sinful Unchanged State If they mean the former only they give away the Cause for we are enquiring into the State and certainly if not in a Sinful State 't is because in a Changed State unless some do not come into the World in such a State and so need no Change but if by being sensible of their Sin they mean a Sinful State then they are sensible of that which is or is not if sensible of that which is then they openly declare such are in an Unchanged State only add a Sence to the thing it self if they say they are sensible of a sinful State when their State is not so then this is no less than to affirm that a Delusion is the only Qualification prerequisite in order to our coming to Christ 2. But some may say we own 't is Christ that brings us and so we do not rob Christ of his Honour or Arrogate any thing to our selves as you suppose but we affirm he brings us unto himself in our Sins To which I answer 't is not enough to honour Christ to say he doth a thing unless the thing done be well done 't is far from being an Honour to Christ to make him the Author of Sin But to come to a more direct Answer I lay down this Proposition That some things are impossible to be done by God himself the Scripture affirms 't is impossible to God to Lie and that he cannot deny himself whatever is sinful cannot be done by that God that is Goodness it self nor doth this inability arise from weakness but strength Some things are contrary in Nature and so cannot be done as to make it Dark and Light at the same time and in the same place to make a Man Dead and Alive at the same time and in the same respect Now I shall enquire whether 't is not impossible under one or both of these Considerations for a Soul to be brought to Christ though by the power of Christ in his Sins as aforesaid I shall not now insist on the former how far such a Work would savour of Sin but sure I am in the latter Sence it is impossible and for the clearing this Consider our coming to Christ is an Act of the Will we are willing to renounce all confidence in the Flesh and to rely alone on Christ Now I would ask whether this Will is in all Men by Nature if such deny it then where this Will is there is a change wrought in that Soul and a great change too Psal 110.3 A willing People in the Day c. If such say this Will is in Men by Nature then they not only prove themselves Arminians but virtually deny what before they affirmed that they come by the power of Christ But if they say tho' unwilling by Nature yet they are made willing by the Power of Christ to come yet without a Change in the Will this is a grand contradiction in Nature to say that a Person who is unwilling should be made willing and yet no change made in his Will and yet this gross absurdity my Opposers will unavoidably hereby pluck down upon their own Heads I think it is safest to
gathering of the People should be unto Christ But now though it was their Priviledge that they might Worship yet it must needs be burdensome to come from all Parts of the Nation to Worship at the Temple and at such expence But now God hath eased us of this burden while he hath appointed Particular Churches where we enjoy all the Worship of God with as great a Promise of the Presence of God as they had in the Temple Matt. 18.20 So that we only want if I may so say the Inconveniency of the Worship God hath not now confined us to Places John 4.20,21 The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Jerusalem Worship the Father that is with respect to Places And yet though we are not confined to their Place of Worship yet we are said to be graffed into their Olive and as for such as lay such stress on this as if it was impossible we should come in the Jews room unless we were a National Church I would ask them this Question Do you believe that the Jews shall in time be brought home again and Ingraffed into their own Olive from which they have been so long broken off And further Whether you think at that Day they shall Worship God in the Temple and offer Gifts and Sacrifices as once they did Now that they shall be restored and brought home again is clear from Rom. 11.12,15,26 Now if the Fall of them be the Riches of the World and the Diminishing of them the Riches of the Gentiles how much more their Fulness For if the casting away of them be the Reconciling of the World What shall the receiving of them be but Life from the Dead From these and the following Verses it is most clear that the Jews shall be one Day restored and it is that which we now are expecting but that they shall then Worship at the Temple when it hath been demolished so many hundred Years and that they shall offer Sacrifices after they come to Believe that Christ the great Sacrifice is offered or that the Tribe of Levi should only Minister before the Lord when all the Tribes have been so shattered and confused in this Dark and Gloomy Day all seem to me to be things incredible Now if they shall be graffed again into their own Olive as the Scripture affirms notwithstanding so many and so great alterations in their VVorship as we have good ground from Scripture to believe there will be VVhy may not we Gentiles be said to come in their room though we are not confined to all the Circumstances of their Worship and since we want nothing that was a Priviledge And more especially if we consider that we have good ground to believe that their graffing in again will be no more than to bestow those very Priviledges on them which we Gentiles do now enjoy as seems clear to me from Rom. 11.31 Even so have these also now not believed that through your Mercy they also may obtain Mercy Mind that through your Mercy or the Mercy of God to you they also may obtain Mercy As if he had said the consideration of your Mercies or the Priviledges which you enjoy under the Gospel shall be a means not only to convince them that the Messiah is come but shall also stir them up to imbrace the same Faith that so they may partake of the same Mercies with you So that it seems evident not only from Scripture but Reason it self that when the Jews come to be Restored it will only be to share with us Gentiles in our Priviledges And yet this is called in Scripture a graffing in again So that there is no more necessity for us to be confined to all the Circumstances of their VVorship in order to our coming in their room than for them to be confined to all the Circumstances of their wonted Service when graffed in again Nor doth it seem credible that when they are graffed in again they shall injoy neither Circumcision nor any other Seal in its room and that their Priviledges should be less under the New Testament Dispensation than under the Old that God should own their Seed then and reject them now Sure I am this would in all probability be a great Block in their way to prevent their embracing the Gospel Circumcision was an Ordinance of high esteem with them as we may judge by their chearful undergoing so much pain and smart as it occasioned as we may gather from Ex. 4.26 A Bloody Husband thou art because of the Circumcision But now if we can convince them that we have a milder Ordinance and Seal in its room this may have a great Influence upon them by tsie Bleffing of God in order to the bringing them in Thus I have finished my first Argument and should I add no more in Defence of the Doctrine of Infant Baptism it might suffice unless Persons are resolved to shut their Eyes that they might not behold the Light since I have clearly proved from Scripture that we Gentiles do come in the Jews room and Baptism in the room of Circumcision But to the end there may not be left one Stone upon another of that Strong Hold which the Anabaptists have raised against this Truth which may not be thrown down I shall raise one Argument more as a Battery against it and shall add no more And indeed I think I need add no more being satisfied these Arguments will be as a twofold Cord that will not easily be broken Now the great Objection of the Anabaptists against Infant Baptism is founded on such Scriptures as hold forth Faith as necessary in order to Baptism as Mark 16.16 He that Believeth and is Baptized shall be saved Acts 8.37 And Philip said if thou Believest with all thy Heart thou mayest Acts 18.8 And many of the Corinthians hearing Believed and were Baptized And from these and such like Texts confidently conclude that because none but Adult Persons have or can have Faith therefore none but such ought to be Baptized And if I mistake not here lays the stress of all their Arguments Now for the preventing any mistake that none may suppose the Difference to be wider than it is if it be enquired ther some Adult may not be Baptized I grant they may provided they never have been Baptized in their Infancy and yet this may rationally be Inferred from such Texts for those that Believed and were Baptized had never before been Baptized nor had they made any Profession of Christ before then that we know of the Text seem to prove they were Baptized immediately upon their Confession of Faith and should I meet with such I should think my self bound from such Examples to Baptize them So that we agree with the Anabaptists in this that some Adult ought to be Baptized But the Grand Question in Debate is whether some Infants ought not to be Baptized as well as Adult this the Anabaptists deny and I affirm and
prove thus from this following Argument and it seems cogent Argument 2. Those that the Scripture give us good ground to hope are Believers may and ought to be Baptized but the Infant Seed of Believers are such as we have good ground from Scripture to hope are Believers therefore such may and ought to be Baptized All that I can conceive can be said against my Major Proposition is to deny that we are to Baptize any upon hopes that they are Believers and to affirm that we ought to Baptize none but such as we are sure have true Justifying Faith But sure I am such an Objection savours of high Presumption since this is to pretend to be Wiser than the Apostles and as Wise as God himself First Wiser than the Blessed Apostles as you may see by comparing Acts 8.13 with 22.23 where you read of one Baptized that was in the Gall of Bitterness and Bonds of Iniquity and yet we cannot be so uncharitable as to think they had no hopes of him when they Baptized him But if any should so judge it makes the more for me for if the Apostles themselves Baptized such as they had no hopes had true Faith then sure we may Baptize such 〈◊〉 we have good ground to hope 〈◊〉 Faith But if they had Hope 't is evident it was but Hope unless he could lose his Faith or have Faith and at the same time be in the Gall of Bitterness and Bonds of Iniquity neither of which could be Secondly This is to pretend to be as wise as God at least in this point since he only that works Faith can infallibly judge where it is 'T is peculiar to God to search the Heart where Faith is seated the Lord only knows who are his we see the best of Churches have been mistaken in taking in of Members The Apostles did not know Judas to be a Hypocrite till he betrayed his Lord unless we can suppose they would take in known Hypocrites And I would ask my Friends the Anabaptists if they themselves have not Baptized some as Believers who have afterward discovered themselves to be in the Gall of Bitterness So that in a word if we must Baptize none but such as we are sure have true Justifying Faith we must Baptize none in this World For though many have such a Faith yet no Man can infallibly tell the Anabaptist themselves not excepted who they are This is that new Name which none knows but God and them that have it So that I think it needless to add any more to confirm the former part of my Argument viz. That we can only hope that this or the other Person hath true Faith Minor Proposition But the Infant Seed of Believers are such as we have good ground from Scripture to hope are Believers Now if any thing of force be Objected it must be against this and therefore I shall labour the more to confirm it But before I come to the Proof I must add a Caution that when I speak of Faith in Infants I mean Habitual Faith for though it cannot on good ground be denyed but that some Infants may actually Believe since God is able to cause them so to do and hath no where in his Word declared he will not yet it may easily be proved that some Infants have Habitual Faith and that will render one as truly a Believer as the Act. He that hath the Habit of Faith is a Believer though asleep and so as uncapable of Acting Faith as an Infant having during that time no more use of Reason than a Child at the Breast nor perhaps so much for an Infant hath so much Sense as to know when it is Hungry or to Cry for Food and if it be in Pain But let a Man be never so Hungry or in Pain yet when asleep he is unsensible of either And yet such may be Believers in the mean time they having the Habit of Faith Now by the Habit of Faith in Infants I mean a Principle of Grace or Internal Renovation which is wrought in Regeneration for Regeneration is an infusing the Seeds of all Grace into the Soul and consequently of Faith This being premised I come to lay down a Proposition for the clearing the Way to that which I intend more largely to insist upon Proposition That Infants are capable of having the Habit of Faith wrought in them And though we cannot from hence conclude that all such have it yet it is a good Foundation for my following Argument And because in all Cases the Foundation had need stand fast I shall therefore confirm it that Infants are capable of Grace is not my Judgment alone however strange a Doctrine it may seem to some for I have the Judgment of all the Church of England on my side their Words after Baptism are Seeing now Dearly beloved Brethren that this Child is by Baptism Regenerate c. And again We yield thee most hearty thanks most merciful Father that it hath pleased thee to Regenerate this Infant by thy Holy Spirit c. Now though I am far from being of the Judgment which they seem to be in this that all that are Baptized are in that Ordinance Regenerated and so consequently many fall from Grace My Soul abhorrs that Popish Doctrine that Baptism confers Grace ex opere operato from the Work-wrought but while they thank God for the Work done 't is evident they suppose them capable of having that Work wrought in them and so far I agree with them But because the very citing any thing from the Church of England may make some giddy-headed People who have more Zeal than sound Knowledge nauseate what I have said I shall therefore proceed to prove that both they and I have Divine Testimony on our side in this that Infants are capable of Grace and I shall make use of plain Scripture since the Anabaptists pretend so much delight in it and I shall produce several Instances that in the Mouth of two or three Witnesses this truth may be established Jer. 1.5 Before thou camest out of the Womb I Sanctified thee and Luke 1.15 of John it is said He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his Mothers Womb and then no doubt Sanctified And of Christ it is said verse 35. That Holy Thing that shall be born of thee c. mind born of thee was Holy when Born From whence it is past all dispute unless we dare dispute with God that Infants even in the Womb and as soon as Born are capable of Grace nor doth it seem harder to me to conceive that Infants should have Grace wrought in them than Adult since the latter are purely passive in the Work and so may the former be If it was a Work of Reason or performed by Humane Power or Policy something might be said but it is not Eph. 1.19 Nay according to our apprehension it seems harder to work Grace in Adult than in Infants for as a Tender Plant
a Priviledge to their own Children and so rob them of their Birth-right Such may fitly be compared to the Ostridge a filly Creature Job 39.16 who is said to be hardned against her young Ones as if they were none of hers Suppose a wicked Parent have godly Children grown up and should confine them from the Ordinances of God's House tho' he could not destroy their Souls thereby yet because he did what he could in order thereunto any godly Person would judge such a one an unmerciful Parent how much more may believing Parents be so counted while they deny the Infant Seed the Ordinance of Baptism which God hath given them a Right unto tho' they cannot destroy their Souls So that as you would not be charged for not having natural Affection as you would not contract Guilt upon your Souls and pluck down Judgments upon your selves by not walking in all the Ordinances of the Lord blameless bring your Infant Seed to be Baptized be found in God's Way doing for them what you can and then you may with the more Comfort expect God should do for them that which you cannot and that while you lay them at the Pool side the Waters may be made healing to their diseased Souls for we can never without Presumption expect the Blessing of God in Neglect or Contempt of those Means he hath appointed in order to enjoy it Were your Children sick Corporally Nature would stir you up to use the Means which God hath appointed in order to their Recovery and if you believe your Infant Seed stand in need of Mercy one would think Grace should excite you to use the Means which God hath appointed for the Good of their Souls that so they may not curse you in Hell for not doing what you might do and ought to have done in order to the bringing them to Heaven Obj. But against the Practice of this Duty I have heard some argue thus Tho' they cannot answer the Arguments brought to prove it a Duty yet they cannot see into it and because whatever is not of Faith is Sin hence conclude it would be Sin in them so to do Ans Suppose it is so I would ask such whether it may not be a far greater Sin that it is not of Faith Or do you think that your Sins of Ignorance when Light shines so clear must not be accounted for Paul hath declared that once he was so ignorant that he verily thought he ought to do many things contrary unto the Name of Jesus as in Acts 26.9 And he did so and made Havock of the Church and Blasphemed And here we will suppose it would have been his Sin not so to have done because he verily thought he ought and so had it been absolutely a Duty he would have neglected it But I would ask such Objectors if they think it was not his Sin that he was so perswaded Nay was it not a far greater Sin than we can once suppose it to have been had he in that Case acted contrary to his Faith or Perswasion If you deny it you are guilty of as great Blasphemy as ever he was Well then it seems there is Danger of Sin on either Hand thou may'st we will suppose sin in doing it and thou may'st sin also in not doing it Now in this Case there is a Rule for ever carefully to be observed That when two Evils lye before us and one of them cannot possibly be avoided the least is to be chosen and if this Rule is to be observed then to me it seems far safest for such to Baptize their Infant Seed since their doing that which they are not fully satisfied in may be but accidentally a Sin but their not doing that which God hath made known to be a Duty whether they thro' Ignorance see it to be so or no is directly a Sin and more especially is it safest for such as are Members in such Churches where the Pastor and Majority of the Church are of that Judgment because then by not doing it they not only are in Danger to say no more of contracting Guilt to their Souls by not being found in their Duty but hereby take the ready way to cause Strife and Contention in that Church whose Peace they are obliged to seek if our Perswasion touching the Lawfulness of a thing will make it Lawful then this is to measure our selves by our selves and to esteem our own Fancies above the Word of God Since let the Word of God hold forth what it will it no ways obliges in those Person 's Judgment unless I am perswaded 't is a Truth Cursed Doctrine What is this but grand Quakerism to preferr the Light within before the Word of God in the Scripture But if as Christ saith the Light within be Darkness as sure it is when it opposes the written Word then how great is that Darkness Thus Christian Reader I have in all Plainness of Speech taken Liberty freely to express my Sentiments about the Doctrine of Infant Baptism and whatever the Effects may be if I know my Heart I designed nothing in it but God's Glory and thy Good and to put an end to our unprofitable Differences and should I miss my Aim in this latter Respect yet I hope this will not indirectly cause our Differences to be wider for what if we cannot fully agree in this yet since we agree many of us in Fundamentals and hold one Lord and one Faith this Consideration should surely more unite us than our Differences in smaller Matters should divide us we cannot suppose while so much Darkness remains upon our Understandings that we should all be fully of one Mind in all things any more than we can suppose we should all be of the same Complexion or Stature of Body but as it is enough in order to bring us into a rational Converse that we are all Men and Women tho' we may vastly differ in Features and Proportion of Body so it should be enough to reconcile us in Love and Affection that we are Christians tho' not in all things of the same Mind and same Judgment and that we are all Fellow-Travellers to the New Jerusalem Tho' we may not walk in the same Path or tread exactly in each others Steps sure I am when we get to Heaven we shall sweetly agree O desirable Day when Ephraim shall no more envy Judah nor Judah vex Ephraim when we who now know but in part and see but darkly shall then see Face to Face and know even as we now are known when all our dark and confused Conceptions about the Mysteries of the Gospel shall all vanish and disappear as the Mists and Fogs before the rising Sun And when that time much of which was spent in Striving and Contending shall wholly be spent in Praising and Admiring him that loved us and washed away our Sins in his own Blood how shall we then all be imployed who are Saints in the same Work sing all the same
Song all joined in the same Assembly all behold and love the same Object Yea how shall we then hugg and embrace each other as Fellow-Heirs of the same Kingdom and Children of the same Father and Members of the same Body I am fully satisfied our Differences are not so great here as our Love to one another will be there we shall no more strive about the Way when we enjoy the End And since we are so unlike fully to agree here and so certain to agree there how should it make all the sincere Lovers of Peace who have been mourning for these Divisions which are among the People of God cry out with the most Earnest and Longing Desires come Lord Jesus come quickly Amen FINIS A QUESTION Briefly Handled CONCERNING What State or Condition the Soul is in in the very Act of Coming unto Christ A QUESTION Briefly Handled CONCERNING What State or Condition the Soul is in in the very Act of Coming unto Christ READER we live in a Luxurious Wanton Age when many even of Professors who instead of Offering Violence to the Kingdom of Heaven instead of giving all Diligence to make their Calling and Election sure who instead of earnestly contending for the Faith once delivered to the Saints are spending most of their Precious Time no better than those Athenians Acts 17.21 either to tell or to hear some new Thing To mention all those new Opinions which have been vented of late by Men of Corrupt Minds Reprobate concerning the Truth would be tedious to me to Write and unprofitable to you to Read I shall only Discourse Briefly upon one which is this That Sinners wreeking in their Lusts must come to Christ as they are 'T is too well known how this Notion hath been spread abroad of late and received too even with such full satisfaction and content that it is a Gospel Truth that by such all others are despised as no Gospel Preachers that dare open their Mouths to oppose it And sure I am when Error thus abounds it highly concerns such as are set for the Defence of the Truth to open their Mouths in Vindication of it I confess I have a long time only bewailed these things to see the Truths of the Gospel Despised and Precious Souls lye Entangled in the Snare of the Devil and unwilling to be delivered But while I refrained my Speech the Fire kindled and now of necessity I must speak in Defence of the Truth as it is in Jesus come on what will and I do it for these Reasons First Because I have been judged Erroneous by some who have been too empty of Knowledge or full of Prejudice who have heard me oppose this Doctrine who I have reason to think are no less concerned than those Ephesians Acts 19.34 who without consulting the Truths the Apostle had Preached or proving the Lawfulness of their Idolatrous Practice cry out like Mad-Men for the space of two Hours Great is Diana of the Ephesians and no wonder because they Lived upon the Silver Shrines and had their Goddess been contemned their Craft had been ended And since I have delivered my Sentiments on this Point it stands me in hand to Vindicate it since I have Truth on my side for otherwise I should rather take shame to my self And since it must needs be difficult for any or at least for most to judge of such deep Mysteries and Niceties upon a Transcient hearing I am willing to expose my Sentiments that so I may either silence my Opposers or they may shame me For my part as I never durst utter any thing rashly in so weighty a Point before I had exactly weighed it in the Ballance of the Sanctuary so I am so far from recanting any thing I have delivered on this Point notwithstanding all the Calumnies of my Adversaries whose Eyes the God of this World hath in part blinded that I hope I shall be able to defend it to my last Breath and I am the more encouraged to defend this Truth That no Man can or ought to come to Christ in his Sins by the good Success I have had in many private Conferences about it for I never yet Conversed with any that opposed it but either I have convinced them of their Error and brought them to embrace the truth they once despised or at least so stopped their Mouths that they have been able no longer to be Gainsayers and indeed what can be said against the Truth That will stand when Errors will like the Chaff be driven away Errors are but Windy Doctrines Second Reason moving me to clear this Point is because 't is so weighty a Doctrine and even the turning Point of Christianity the Foundation Stone of all the Building and Errors in the Foundation are dangerous what greater concern than to know how a Soul must close with Christ Since that Soul that closes not with him shall never be Saved by him For he that Believes not shall be Damned Mark 16.16 And how unmerciful must that Minister be to Souls and unfaithful to Christ that canst see a Multitude at once running on with such a Lie in their Right Hand and not inform them If we see one going to Drink down some Deadly Poison though the Person through a Distempered Brain or by violence of some strong Temptation desire to Drink it yet if we know it and do not our utmost to prevent it we cannot be clear of his Blood so when we see Persons imbibing Damnable Doctrines we ought speedily to provide an Antidote and that though we cannot inform all in all the deep Mysteries of the Gospel by reason of that gross Darkness that hath covered many yet that we might not shun to declare the whole Counsel of God whether they will hear or whether they will forbear Third Reason Because the Error I oppose not only passes for a Truth with many but for such a Truth as doth most magnifie the Grace of God and so is like to do the more harm When Error appears with a bare face it will seem so Deformed that but few will fall in Love with it but when the Devil wraps himself in Samuel's Mantle it 's hard toknow him This Doctrine sets up Free-Will by Craft and that under a Notion of Free-Grace and though nothing differs more than those Two yet the Patrons are minded to let the World see what they can do by Art and whether they cannot make some take bitter for sweet Is 5.20 But because that Monster of Free-Will is but of low esteem with some therefore for love they have to this Creature they have bestowed a new Garb upon it and have changed its Name too calling that which always went by the Name of Free-Will now Free-Grace whereby they have so altered the Property of the thing that the owners thereof scarce know it and so Gild over their Poisonous Pill that it may go down the better Fourth Because this Doctrine I oppose suiting so with our Corrupt Nature
is like to infect the more But I shall not stay you any longer at the Threshold but lead you into the Point before us But that our Differences may not seem greater than they really are I shall lay down some things as Cautious to prevent mistakes for I am perswaded that most of our unhappy Differences do arise from a want of a right Understanding of each others Terms and therefore observe carefully 1. The Enquiry is not concerning the State and Condition which Christ finds the Soul in when he first comes to take hold on us by his Spirit in order to Regenerating of us if it was I would readily grant he then finds the Soul wreeking in Sin indeed without the least propensity or inclination to do Good yea to every Good Word and Work Reprobate with a strong inclination to Evil in a Dead Blind Ignorant Senseless and Stupid Condition in the Snere of the Devil In this State we all are by Nature and consequently in this State he must find all when he comes to Change their Nature our Natures being all the same as derived from one Common Root though our Actions may differ according to the various Temptations we may meet with But 't is about the Souls coming to Christ between which a clear distinction must be made for though Christ enable us to come to him or believe in him yet he doth not Believe for us to excuse us The Act of coming is ours and till the Soul thus come the union is incompleat I grant when Christ comes thus to the Soul that Soul shall come to Christ yet his coming to us is not our coming to him though the Cause of our coming Things that are inseparable must not be confounded the Humane and Divine Nature are inseparable in Christ yet the Divine is not the Humane nor the Humane the Divine So in Marriage the Man consents to the Woman and the Woman to the Man but yet the consent of the Woman is not the consent of the Man So in this Case Christ is first willing and he makes us willing yet his Will and our Will are distinct 2. Nor are we Enquiring by what Power the Soul is enabled to come to Christ for tho' I have just cause to question whether those that differ from me in the other will agree with me in this yet for my own part tho' I plead for a mighty Change wrought in order to our coming to Christ yet I freely acknowledge this Change to be of God and that the very Seeds of our Life of Sanctification are from Christ working as a most free Agent in us and that it is a mighty and irresistible Power by which he works 3. Nor are we Enquiring what Virtue there is in this Act of coming in order to our Justification or Glorification For though I believe and the Scripture affirms that unless we Believe we shall never be Justified nor Glorified yet I believe both are according to the Riches of God's Free-Grace It is Free-Grace that works this Change enabling of us to come and it is Free-Grace that we are accepted when we do come But positively the Enquiry is whether there is such a thing as a Change wrought in the Soul in order to our coming to Christ Or whether we must come as we are in a Natural and Unregenerate State wreeking in the Filth of Sin and Power and Dominion of our Lusts Or whether the Drunkard Swearer c. can or ought without any Change to come in those Lusts to Christ So that the Question is whether a Sinner can or ought to come to Christ in his Sins But before I affirm or deny I must further explain if possible what we mean by coming and what by coming in our Sins lest my Opposers when not able to stand their Ground should slip out at some Back-door Now by coming to Christ I understand believing in Christ according to Scripture Dialect Isa 55.1 Mat. 11.28 and to put all out of doubt I have been assured again and again from the Mouths of those that differ from me in this Point that they mean nothing else and by coming in Sin I understand it for one utterly devoid of any Principle of Grace one in the Gall of Bitterness and Bonds of Iniquity and not one that only falls into Sin And so I have also been assured by my Opposers they mean and indeed we cannot understand it otherwise for tho' the best of Saints have Sin yet the least of Saints is not a Sinner I distinguish between Actions and a State a Sinner in this Sense is not opposed to Perfection but to Sincerity So that in the most plain Terms the Question lyes thus Whether a Person utterly devoid of all Grace and under the Power and Dominion of Sin can or ought to believe in Christ in that State before any Change be wrought in him This some affirm and I deny And in speaking to this Point I shall prove none can come thus in their Sins to Christ and then that none ought to come thus in his Sins to Christ I prove the former from most express Scripture Eph. 1.19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who Believe and if we cannot believe without this Power then not as we are for all are not acted by this Power John 6.44 No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him Now I would ask if all Men are thus drawn If not you give away the Cause if you say they are then it follows that all must actually be Saved or else some are able to resist those drawings the latter of which is Grand Arminianism the former many degrees worse So John 15.5 For without me ye can do nothing Now I would ask if coming to Christ is not something Nay is it not the most noble act the Soul can put forth and that which is most pleasing and acceptable to God And if so the Text says without Christ we cannot do it Now I would ask if every Man hath Christ in him as the Quakers affirm If you say he hath you shew what you are if not then when assisted by Christ we do not come as we were Thus you see how expresly the Scripture is on my side and whether we may most safely trust that Word of God or the Deluded Fancies of Men judge ye And as I have proved it from most express Scripture so I shall further prove it from those Metaphors the Scripture uses to express it As first It is frequently stiled a Coming a Metaphor or borrowed Expression from a Man walking from one place to another And from this two Considerations offer themselves for the confirming and illustrating the Truth I have affirmed for as no Man can act corporally till he is first alive so no Man can put forth such a vital Act as believing in Christ till Christ hath first infused into him a vital Principle and till then a Dead Man
be said to lay our Sins upon him But because there are some few Texts which seem to some to favour the Point I have been confuting I shall cite them and see how far they will prove the Point One is in Isa 42.18 Look ye blind here say some such as have no Sight must look To which I answer I own many things are commanded which we cannot do but this is not the Point but the Question is whether these blind ought to look without Eyes Which to affirm would be a grand Contradiction for if he looks it must be with his Eyes When God commands Sinners to look they must look with their Eyes for as a Visive Faculty is necessary in order to our looking so in this Case there must be a Power wrought in us by God whereby we are able to look before we can by Faith look unto Christ Next Text is Rom. 4.5 there God is said to justifie the Ungodly from whence some argue thus If in the Act of justifying us God finds us ungodly and yet we are said to be justified by Faith then it seems evident the Soul is ungodly when he believes I am satisfied this Text hath been no little abused in our Day while it hath been molded into what Form some please to promote their own Interest The Apostle tells us some Scriptures are hard to be understood and I am perswaded this is one of them nor do I much wonder if the Ignorant wrest it I shall labour therefore to clear this sweet Portion of Scripture that so you may know the Truth as it is in Jesus Now the great Enquiry for the clearing this Text is to know what we are to understand by the Word Ungodly and I shall shew you First Negatively How we are not to understand it and Secondly Positively How we must understand it First Negatively By ungodly we are not to understand one utterly devoid of all Grace and this will abundantly appear both from the Context and Text it self you will find in the foregoing Verses this Instance is taken from Abraham from whence it is evident and I think past all Dispute that if by Ungodly we are to understand such as have no Grace then it will follow that Abraham had then no Grace but that cannot be supposed for Abraham had then been a Believer many Years and yet is said to believe in him that justifieth the Ungodly And this appears further even from the Text it self for here is believing set before Ungodly so that this Ungodly Person must be one that hath Faith and consequently not one without Grace for Faith is it self a Grace so that this Text is so far from proving Justification before or without Faith that it strongly proves the contrary because this ungodly Person is before stiled a Believer and such as lay so much Stress on the Order of the Words as to conclude that because the Word Justifie is set before Ungodly that therefore the Person Justified must be an unrenewed Man would do well to consider here is Believing set before the Word Justifieth But to shew you in the next Place Positively By Ungodly I understand one that is Legally so one that hath not any Righteousness inherent in him to answer the Demands of the Law and thus a Person is renewed Ungodly For since the Law requireth perfect and perpetual Obedience hence we who are now renewed having been heretofore unrenewed and now in part defiled hence 't is impossible but that we must in a Legal Sence be Ungodly This Text strongly proves that the Grace of God in us is not that for which we are justified Therefore to me it seems a gross Mistake to affirm as some do that God accepteth of our sincere Obedience in the room of Adam's perfect Obedience for this is to set up our selves instead of Christ God will not justifie any but upon perfect Obedience either inherent in us or imputed to us not in us for you see the Law pronounces Believers ungodly Men so that of Necessity we must look beyond our Grace for that is imperfect even to that compleat and spotless Righteousness of Christ nor am I fingular in my Sence of this Text for I have the Reverend and Learned Doctor Goodwin on my side in his Exposition on part of the Ephesians Part I. Page 389. saith he The meaning is not one that hath no Grace for then Abraham should not have been saved He instanceth in him and adds To believe on him that justifieth the ungodly these are the Terms on which he must believe First These are the Terms on which he must believe all his Days so that you see the Doctor was far from understanding Ungodly here for one without Grace unless you can suppose a Believer may live all his Days and have no Grace and he gives the Reason elsewhere why such as believe and have Grace are termed Ungodly because saith he they are in themselves legally so Thus you see this Text makes nothing to prove that a Person can believe while in an unrenewed State but much to the contrary Thus I have at large cleared this Scripture and have answered all such Questions as I know proper to the present Point and doubt not after all but this Doctrine of Sinners coming in their wreeking Lusts to Christ will appear to be erroneous to all but such as are under the Power of their Lusts and no more pass current for a Doctrine of Free-Grace as it hath done nay this is so far from being a Doctrine of Free-Grace that it is grand Arminianism and a setting up of Free-Will which will appear to any understanding Reader if we consider that the Soul in coming to Christ moves from a Gracious Principle or a Natural Principle if from a Gracious Principle then the Soul doth not come wreeking in his Sin to Christ for it 's a grand Contradiction to say a Sinner is a Gracious Person but if they say the Soul moves from a Natural Principle this is a grand Free-Will as ever Arminius himself deliver'd The Substance of this Question is whether the Union between Christ and the Soul begins on Christ's Part or ours Or whether without any Priority in Nature the Soul from a Natural Inclination and Christ do mutually consent they who say the Soul comes in its Sin make the Union to begin on Man's Part they that say the Soul acts in that Case from a renewed Principle do own the Union to begin on Christ's Part they that say they both consent together as aforesaid attribute as much to Man as to Christ and by so doing discover themselves to be no sincere Friends to the Bridegroom but rather Judas-like betray Christ with a Kiss and whether of these doth most magnifie the Grace of God to affirm the Union begins on Man's side or that Man Naturally consents to Christ at the same time with Christ without any Priority in Nature on Christ's side or they who affirm as I do that