2. p. 181. to p. 192 where ye will find the Old plain Protestant Truth about Law and Gospel delivered without any School-Terms To this add in your reading in the same Vol. 2. p. 497. to p. 509. Heresies and Errors falsty charged on Tindal 's Writings Where ye will see the Old Faith of the Saints in its Simplicity and the Old Craft and Cunning of the Antichristian Party in sland ering the Truth I must for my part confess That these plain Declarations of Gospel-Truth have a quite other Savour with me than the Dry Insipid Accounts thereof given by Pretendders to humane Wisdom But passing these things let us look to Principles and that with respect to their Native and Regular Influence on Sanctification And I am willing that that should determine the Matter next to the Consonancy of the Principles themselves to the Word of God It can be no Doctrine of God that is not according to Godliness Some think that if Good Works and Holiness and Repentance be allowed no room in Justification that there is no room left for them in the World and in the practice of Believers So hard seems it to be to some to keep in their Eye the certain fixed bounds betwixt Justification and Sanctification There is no difference betwixt a Justified and a Sanctified Man for he is always the same person that partakes of these Priviledges But Justification and Sanctification differ greatly in many Respects as is commonly known But to come a little closer The Party here suspected of Antinomianism do confidently protest before God Angels and Men That they espouse no New Doctrine about the Grace of God and Justification and the other coincident Points but what the Reformers at home and abroad did teach and all the Protestant Churches do own And that in sum is That a Law-condemned Sinner is freely Justified by God's Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ that he is Justified only for the Righteousness of Christ imputed to him by God of his free Grace and received by faith alone as an Instrument which faith is the gift of the same Grace For guarding against Licentiousness they constantly teach out of God's Word That without Holiness no man can see God That all that believe truly on Jesus Christ as they are Justified by the sprinkling of his Blood so are they Sanctified by the effusion of his Spirit That all that boast of their Faith in Christ and yet live after their own Lusts and the course of this World have no true Faith at all but do in their profession and contradicting Practice Blaspheme the Name of God and the Doctrine of his Grace and continuing so shall perish with a double Destruction beyond that of the openly Profane that make no Profession And when they find any such in their Communion which is exceeding rarely they cast them out as Dead Branches They teach that as the daily Study of Sanctification is a necessary exercise to all that are in Christ so that the Rule of their Direction therein is the Holy spotless Law of God in Christ's Hand That the Holy Ghost is the Beginner and Advancer of this Work and Faith in Jesus Christ the great Mean thereof That no Man can be Holy till he be in Christ and united to him by Faith and that no Man is truly in Christ but he is thereby Sanctified They Preach the Law to Condemn all Flesh out of Christ and to shew thereby to people the necessity of betaking themselves to him for Salvation See the savory words of blessed Tindal called the Apostle of England in his Letter to John Frith written Jan. 1533. Book of Martyrs Vol. 2. Page 308. Expound the Law truly and open the Vail of Moses to condemn all Flesh and prove all Men sinners and all deeds under the Law before Mercy have taken away the condemnation thereof to be Sin and Damnable and then as a faithful Minister set abroach the Mercy of our Lord Jesus and let the wounded Consciences Drink of the Water of him And then shall your Preaching be with Power and not as the Hypocrites And the Spirit of God shall work with you and all Consciences shall bear record unto you and feel that it is so And all Doctrine that casteth a mist on these two to shadow and hide them I mean the Law of God and Mercy of Christ that resist you with all your power And so do we What is there in all this to be offended with is not this enough to Vindicate our Doctrine from any tendency to Licentiousness I am afraid that there are some things wherein we differ more than they think fit yet to express And I shall guess at them 1. Is about the Imputed Righteousness of Christ This Righteousness of Christ in his Active and Passive Obedience hath been asserted by Protestant Divines to be not only the Procuring and Meritorious Cause of our Justification for this the Papists own But the Matter as the Imputation of it is the Form of our Justification Though I think that our Logical Terms are not so adapted for such Divine Mysteries But whatever Propriety or Impropriety be in such School-Terms the common Protestant Doctrine hath been That a convinced Sinner seeking Justification must have nothing in his Eye but this Righteousness of Christ as God proposeth nothing else to Him And that God in justifying a Sinner accepts him in this Righteousness only when he imputes it to him Now about the Imputed Righteousness of Christ some say That it belongs only to the Person of Christ He was under the Law and bound to keep it for himself that he might be a fit Mediator without Spot or Blemish That it is a Qualification in the Mediator rather than a Benefit acquired by him to be communicated to his People For they will not allow this Personal Righteonsness of Christ to be imputed to us any otherwise than in the Merit of it as purchasing for us a more easie Law of Grace in the Observation whereof they place all our Justifying Righteousness Understanding hereby our own Personal inherent Holiness and nothing else They hold That Christ died to merit this of the Father viz. That we might be Justified upon easier Terms under the Gospel than those of the Law of Innocency Instead of Justification by perfect Obedience we are now to be justified by our own Evangelical Righteousness made up of Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience And if we hold not with them in this they tell the World we are Enemies to Evangelical Holiness slighting the practice of all Good Works and allowing our Hearers to live as they list Thus they slander the Preachers of Free Grace because we do not place Justification in our own inherent Holiness but in Christ's perfect Righteousness imputed to us upon our believing in him Which Faith we teach purifies the heart and always inclines to Holiness of Life Neither do we hold any Faith to be true and saving that
serve to point forth the main things of difference and Mistakes Is it not a little provoking that some are so captious that no Minister can preach in the hearing of some of the Freedom of God's Grace of the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness of sole and single believing on him for Righteousness and Eternal Life of the Impossibility of a Natural Man's doing any good Work before he be in Christ of the impossibility of the mixing of Man's Righteousness and Works with Christ's Righteousness in the business of Justification and several other Points but he is immediately called or suspected to be an Antinomian If we say that Faith in Jesus Christ is neither Work nor Condition nor Qualification in Justification but is a meer Instrument receiving as an empty Hand receiveth the freely given Alms the Righteousness of Christ and that in its very Act it is a renouncing of all things but the Gift of Grace the fire is kindled So that it is come to that as Mr. Christopher Fowler said That he that will not be Antichristian must be called an Antinomian Is there a Minister in London who did not preach some twenty some thirty years ago according to their standing that same Doctrine now by some called Antinomian Let not Dr. Crisp's Book be looked upon as the Standard of our Doctrine there are many good things in it and also many expressions in it that we generally dislike It 's true that Mr. Burgess and Mr. Rutherford wrote against Antinomianism and against some that were both Antinomians and Arminians And it is no less true that they wrote against the Arminians and did hate the New Scheme of Divinity so much now contended for and to which we owe all our present contentions I am persuaded that if these godly and sound Divines were on the present Stage they would be as ready to draw their Pens against two Books lately printed against Dr. Crisp as ever they were to write against the Doctor 's Book Truth is to be defended by Truth but Error is often and unhappily opposed by Error under Truth 's Name But what shall we do in this case What shall we do for peace with our Brethren Shall we lie still under their undeserved Reproaches and for keeping the peace silently suffer others to beat us unjustly If it were our own personal concern we should bear it If it were only their charging us with ignorance weakness and being unstudied Divines as they have used liberally to call all that have not learned and dare not believe their New Divinity we might easily pass it by or put it up But when we see the pure Gospel of Christ corrupted and an Arminian Gospel new vanmpt and obtruded on people to the certain peril of the souls of such as believe it and our Ministry reflected upon which should be dearer to us than our lives can we be silent As we have a charge from the Lord to deliver to our people what we have received from Him so as he calls and enables we are not to give place by subjection not for an hour to such as creep in not only to spy out but to destroy not so much the Gospel Liberty as the Gospel Salvation we have in Christ Jesus and to bring us back under the Yoke of Legal Bondage And indeed the case in that Epistle to the Galatians and ours have a great affinity Is it desired that we should forbear to make a free offer of God's Grace in Christ to the worst of Sinners This cannot be granted by us for this is the Gospel faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation and therefore worthy of all our preaching of it that Jesus Christ came into the world to save inners and the chief of them 1 Tim. 1.15 This was the Apostolick practice according to their Lord's command Mark 16.15 16. Luke 24.47 They began at Jerusalem where the Lord of Life was wickedly slain by them and yet Life in and through his Blood was offered to and accepted and obtained by many of them Every believers experience witnesseth to this That every one that believes on Jesus Christ acts that faith as the Chief of Sinners Every man that seeth himself rightly thinks so of himself and therein thinks not amiss God only knoweth who is truly the greatest Sinner and every humbled Sinner will think that he is the Man Shall we tell men that unless they be holy they must not believe on Jesus Christ That they must not venture on Christ for Salvation till they be qualified and fit to be received and welcomed by him This were to forbear preaching the Gospel at all or to forbid all men to believe on Christ For never was any sinner qualified for Christ He is well qualified for us 1 Cor. 1.30 but a sinner out of Christ hath no qualification for Christ but sin and misery Whence should he have any better but in and from Christ Nay suppose an impossibility that a man were qualified for Christ I boldly assert that such a man would not nor could ever believe on Christ For Faith is a lost helpless condemned sinner's casting himself on Christ for Salvation and the qualified man is no such person Shall we warn people that they should not believe on Christ too soon It is impossible that they should do it too soon Can a man obey the great Gospel Command too soon 1 John 3.23 or do the Great Work of God too soon John 6.28 29. A man may too soon think that he is in Christ and that is when it is not so indeed and this we frequently teach But this is but an idle Dream and not Faith A man may too soon fancy that he hath Faith but I hope he cannot act Faith too soon If any should say a man may be holy too soon how would that saying be reflected upon And yet it is certain that though no man can be too soon holy because he cannot too soon believe on Christ which is the only Spring of true Holiness yet he may and many do set about the study of that he counts holiness too soon that is before the Tree be changed Matth. 12.33 34 35. before he have the new heart Ezek. 36 26 27. and the Spirit of God dwelling in him which is only got by Faith in Christ Gal. 3.14 And therefore all this mans studying of Holiness is not only vain labour but acting of Sin And if this study and these endeavours be managed as commonly they are to obtain Justification before God they are the more wicked Works still And because this point is needful to be known I would give you some Testimonies for it Doctrine of the Church of England in her 39 Articles Art 13. Works done before the Grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God forasmuch as they spring not of Faith in Jesus Christ neither do they make men meet to receive Grace or as the School Authors say deserve Grace of Congruity Yea
accounted the Tidings of Salvation by the slain Son of God an Old An iquated Story and unfit to be daily preached And what comes in the room thereof is not unknown nor is it worth the mentioning For all things that come in Christ's room and justle him out either of Hearts or Pulpits are alike abominable to a Christian How many Sermons may a man hear and read when printed yea and Books written about the way to Heaven wherein is hardly the Name of Jesus Christ And if he be named it is the Name of Christ as a Judg and Lawgiver rather than that of a Saviour And as little room hath Christ in many mens Prayers except it be in the conclusion When we cannot avoid the observing of those sad things let it be a sharp Spur to us to Preach Christ more to Pray more in his Name and to Live more to his Praise Let us not be deceived with that pretence That Christ may be Preached when he is not Named The Preaching of the Gospel is the Naming of Christ and so call'd Rom. 15.20 And Paul was to bear Christ's Name before the Gentiles and Kings and the Chrildren of Israel Acts 9.15 3. Let us Study hard and Pray much to know the truth and to cleave unto it It is an Old Observation Ante Pelagium securiùs loquebantur Patres Before Pelagius even the Fathers spoke more carelesly meaning well and fearing no Mistakes in their Hearers Now it is not so the more careful should we be in our Doctrine Let us search our own Consciences and see how we our selves are justified before God So Paul argued Gal. 2.15 16. And let us bring forth that Doctrine to our People that we find in our Bibles and have felt the power of upon our own hearts Let us not run into Extreams upon the Right or Left Hand through the heat of Contention but carefully keep the good Old way of the Protestant Doctrine wherein so many thousands of Saints and Martyrs of Jesus have lived holily and died happily who never heard of our New Schemes and Notions And for this end let us take and cleave to the Test of the Assemblies Confession of Faith and Catechisms More we own not our selves more we crave not of our Brethren and because we deal fairly and openly I shall set it down Verbatim Conf. Chap. 11. Of Justification Art 1. Those whom God effectually calleth he also freely Justifieth not by infusing Righteousness into them but by Pardoning their Sins and by accounting and accepting their Persons as Righteous not for any thing wrought in them or done by them but for Christ's sake alone not by imputing Faith it self the Act of Believing or any other Evangelical Obedience as their Righteousness but by imputing the Obedience and Satisfaction of Christ unto them they receiving and resting on him and his Righteousness by Faith which Faith they have not of themselves it is the Gift of God Art 2. Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his Righteousness is the alone Instrument of Justification yet is it not alone in the Person Justified but is ever Accompanied with all other saving Graces and is no dead Faith but worketh by Love Art 3. Christ by his Obedience and Death did fully discharge the Debt of all those that are thus Justified and did make a proper real and full satisfaction to his Fathers Justice in their behalf yet in as much as he was given by the Father for them and his Obedience and Satisfaction accepted in their Stead and both freely not for any thing in them Their Justification is only of Free Grace that both the exact Justice and rich Grace of God might be glorified in the Justification of Sinners Art 4. God did from all Eternity Decree to Justifie all the Elect and Christ did in the fulness of time Die for their Sins and Rise again for their Justification Nevertheless they are not Justified until the Holy Spirit doth in due time actually apply Christ unto them Art 5. God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are Justified And although they can never fall from the state of Justification yet they may by their sins fall under God's Fatherly displeasure and not have the light of his Countenance restor'd unto them until they humble themselves confess their sins beg pardon and renew their Faith and Repentance Art 6. The Justification of Believers under the Old Testament was in all these Respects one and the same with the Justification of Believers under the New Testament This is the whole Chapter exactly Larger Catechism Q. How doth Faith Justifie a sinner in the sight of God Ans Faith Justifieth a sinner in the sight of God not because of those other graces which do always accompany it or of good Works that are the Fruits of it nor as if the grace of Faith or any Act thereof were imputed to him for his Justification but only as it is an Instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his Righteousness Let these weighty words be but heartily assented to in their plain and Native Sense and we are one in this great point of Justification But can any considering Man think that the new Scheme of a real Change Repentance and Sincere Obedience as necessary to be found in a person that may Lawfully come to Christ for Justification of Faith's Justifying as it is the spring of sincere Obedience of a Man's being Justified by and upon his coming up to the Terms of the new Law of Grace a new word but of an old and ill meaning can any man think that this Scheme and the sound words of the Reverend Assembly do agree Surely if such a Scheme had been offered to that Grave Learned and Orthodox Synod it would have had a more severe Censure past upon it than I am willing to name Do not we find in our particular Dealings with Souls the same Principles I am now Opposing When we deal with the Carnal Secure Careless Sinners and they are a vast Multitude and ask them a Reason of that hope of Heaven they pretend to Is not this their common Answer I live inoffensively I keep God's Law as well as I can and wherein I fail I repent and beg God's Mercy for Christ's sake My Heart is sincere though my Knowledg and Attainments be short of others If we go on to inquire further what acquaintance they have with Jesus Christ what Applications their Souls have made to him what workings of Faith on him what use they have made of his Righteousness for Justification and his Spirit for Sanctification What they know of living by Faith in Jesus Christ We are Barbarians to them and in this sad state many Thousands in England live and die and Perish Eternally Yet so thick is the darkness of the Age that many of them live here and go hence with the Reputation of good Christans and some of them may have their Funeral Sermon and Praises Preached
by an Ignorant Flattering Minister though it may be the poor creatures never did in the whole course of their Life nor at their Death imploy Jesus Christ so much for an Entry to Heaven purchased by his Blood and only accessible by Faith in him as a poor Turk doth Mahomet for a Room in his Beastly Paradise How common and fearful a thing is this in this Land and City When we come to deal with a poor awakened sinner who seeth his lost state and that he is condemned by the Law of God we find the same Principles working in him for they are Natural and therefore Universal in all Men and hardly rooted out of any We find him sick and wounded we tell him where his Help lies in Jesus Christ what his proper work is to apply to him by Faith What is his Answer Alas saith the Man I have been and am so vile a sinner my heart is so bad and so full of Plagues and Corruptions that I cannot think of believing on Christ But if I had but Repentance and some Holiness in Heart and Life and such and such gracious Qualifications I would then believe When indeed this his Answer is as full of Nonsense Ignorance and Pride as words can contain or express They imply 1. If I were pretty well recovered I would imploy the Physician Christ 2. That there is some hope to work out these good things by my self without Christ 3. And when I come to Christ with a Price in my hand I shall be wellcome 4. That I can come to Christ when I will So ignorant are people Naturally of Faith in Jesus Christ and no Words or Warnings repeated nor plainest Instructions can beat into mens heads and hearts that the first coming to Christ by Faith or believing on him is not a believing we shall be saved by him but a believing on him that we may be saved by him And it is less to be wondered at that ignorant people do not when so many learned men will not understand it When we deal with a Proud Self-Righteous Hypocrite we find the same Principles of Enmity against the Grace of the Gospel A Profane Person is not so enraged at the rebukes of Sin from the Law as these Pharisees are at the discovery of their ruin by Unbelief They cannot endure to have their Idol of Self Righteousness touched neither by the Spirituality of God's Law that condemns all Men and all their Works while out of Christ nor by the Gospel which Reveals another Righteousness than their own by which they must be Saved but they will have God's Ark of the Covenant to stand as a Captive in the Temple of their Dagon of Self-Righteousness until the Vengeance of God's despised Covenant over throw both the Temple and Idol and Worshippers There is not a Minister that dealeth seriously with the Souls of Men but he finds an Arminian Scheme of Justification in every unrenewed Heart And is it not sadly to be bewailed that Divines should plead that same Cause that we daily find the Devil pleading in the Hearts of all Natural Men And that instead of casting down 2 Cor. 10.4 5. they should be making defences for such strong holds as must either be levelled with the dust or the Rebel that holds them out must eternally Perish It is no bad way of Studying the Gospel and of attaining more Light into it that may be us'd in dealing particularly with the Consciences of all sorts of Men as we have occasion More may be learned this way than out of many large Books And if Ministers would deal more with their own Consciences and the Consciences of others in and about these Points that are most properly Cases of Conscience we should find an increase of Gospel-Light and a growing fitness to Preach aright as Paul did 2 Cor. 4.2 By manifestation of the Truth commending our selves to every mans Conscience in the sight of God Let us keep up in our Hearts and Doctrine a reverend regard of the Holy Law of God and suffer not a reflecting disparaging word or thought of it The Great Salvation is contrived with a Regard to it and the satisfaction given to the Law by the Obedience and Death of Christ our Surety hath made it glorious and honourable more than all the Holiness of Saints on Earth or of the Glorified in Heaven and than all the Torments of the Damned in Hell though they do also magnifie the Law and make it honourable But if men will teach that the Law and Obedience unto it whether perfect or sincere is the Righteousness we must be found and stand in in our pleading for justification they neither understand what they say nor whereof they affirm 1 Tim. 1.7 They become Debters to it and Christ profits them nothing Gal. 2 21. and 5.2.5 And we know what will become of that man that hath his Debts to the Law to pay and hath no Interest in the Suretys Payment Yet many such offer their own Silver which whatever coin of Man be upon it is reprobate and rejected both by Law and Gospel Let us carefully keep the bounds clear betwixt the Law and Gospel which whosoever doth is a right perfect Divine saith blessed Luther in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians A Book that hath more plain sound Gospel than many Volumes of some other Divines Let us keep the Law as far from the business of Justification as we would keep Condemnation its contrary For the Law and Condemnation are inseparable but by the Intervention of Jesus Christ our Surety Gal. 3.10 14. But in the practice of Holiness the fulfilled Law given by Jesus Christ to Believers as a Rule is of great and good Use to them as hath been declared Lastly Be exact in your Communion and Church Administrations If any walk otherwise than it becometh the Gospel if any abuse the Doctrine of Grace to Licentiousness draw the Rod of Discipline against them the more severely that ye know so many wait for your halting and are ready to speak evil of the Ways and Truths of God The Wisdom of God sometimes orders the Different Opinions of Men about his Truth for the clearing and confirming of it while each side watch the extreams that others may be in hazard of running into And if controversie be fairly and meekly managed this way we may differ and plead our Opinions and both love and edifie them we oppose and may be loved and edified by them in their Opposition I know no fear possesseth our side but that of Arminianism Let us be fairly secured from that and as we ever hated true Antinomianism so we are ready to oppose it with all our might But having such grounds of jealousie as I have named and it s well known that I have not named all men will allow us to fear that this Noise of Antinomianism is raised and any advantage they have by the Rashness and Imprudence of some Ignorant Men is