called justified sanctified and glorified Here thou seest Redemption and Justification are distinct things and the Elect are in Time called before they be justified In the Larger Catechis Q. What doth God require of us that we may escape his Wrath and Curse due to us The Assembly answer That we may escape Wrath c. He requireth of us Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus and the diligent Use of the outward Means whereby Christ communicates to us the Benefits of his Mediation Here thou seest that 1. We may be for a time without the Benefits of Christ's Mediation 2. That notwithstanding his Mediation we are under the Curse and Wrath as still due to us for sin till we repent and believe For it 's to escape these God requires Repentance and Faith 3. It 's by Means attended to and operating on us that the Benefits of Christ's Mediation are communicated for the Removal of the Curse and Wrath. VVhat can be more fully spoken against our being discharged when Christ suffered yea or before we repent and believe The Synod of New-England condemn this Speech viz. To say We are justified by Faith is an unsafe Speech VVe must say we are justified by Christ the Synod tells us it is no unsafe Speech But on the contrary to say a Man is justified before Faith or without Faith is unsafe as contrary to the Language of the Scripture p. 17 18. and they confute That as the 68. Errour viz. Faith justifies an Unbeliever that is the Faith that is in Christ justifies me that have no Faith in my self p. 13. Doctor Owen of Justif. p. 306. saith But yet the Act of God in laying our sins on Christ conveyed no actual Right and Title to us unto what he did and suffered They are not immediately thereon nor by virtue thereof ours or esteemed ours because God hath appointed somewhat else not only antecedent thereunto but as the Means of it unto his own Glory The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistakes Because it was God's Act to appoint Christ to suffer for our sins that we might in his VVay and Time be discharged therefore he thinks we are immediately discharged by that Act. Because Christ's Atonement is the sole meritorious Cause of Forgiveness therefore he thinks God suspends not Forgiveness till he works any thing else in the Soul which he hath made requisite to our being forgiven tho' not as any meritorious cause Because the Scape-Goat carried their sins into the Wilderness who expressed their Faith and Repentance by laying on hands on it and confessing sin therefore the sins of men are taken away by Christ while they continue impenitent and unbelieving CHAP. IV. Of the Elect's ceasing to be Sinners from the time their Sins were laid on Christ. REader I shall premise 1. Men are sinners or cease to be sinners in several distinct Respects 1. As to the Filth and Obliquity of Sin with respect to this they are more or less sinners according to the degree of their Innocence and Holiness 2. With some as to the Guilt of sin which refers to the Sanction of the Law against Offenders With respect to this the Offenders be more or less sinners as they are forgiven or not forgiven 3. As to the Charge of the Fact which was sinful with respect to this neither After-sanctification nor Pardon will deliver a Transgressor from having been a sinner the Fact was his The first and last denominate one a sinner most properly The second denominates a Man punishable but not a sinner formally 2. In the whole Scheme of the Doctor 's Principles it 's the Elect as elect who cease to be sinners Therefore when he speaks of a Believer he doth not mean he was a sinner before he believed for he states the time to be when Christ had our sins laid upon him viz. on the Cross. Having explained the Title of this Chapter I proceed Truth An elect Person ceaseth not to be a sinner upon the laying of our sins upon Christ that is he remains a sinner as to the Guilt till he believes if Adult He is a sinner as to the Filth of sin till he be sanctified He is a sinner as to the charge of the sinful Fact he commits and that even after Pardon and Sanctification Nevertheless he is free from the Curse when he is pardoned and shall be purged from all the Filth of sin when he is perfect in Holiness And tho' Christ did bear the Punishment of our Iniquity yet it never was Christ's Iniquity but ours Errour The Elect upon the Death of Christ ceased to be sinners and ever since their sins are none of their sins but they are the sins of Christ. Proved that this is Doctor Crisp 's Opinion The Doctor puts this Objection p. 8. Must not he be reckoned to be a sinner while he doth sin A. I answer No Tho' he doth sin yet he is not to be reckoned a sinner but his sins are reckoned to be taken away from him c. A Man doth sin against God God reckons not his sin to be his he reckons it Christ's therefore he cannot reckon it his This he endeavours to prove p. 270. If thou hast part in the Lord Christ which he thinks all the unbelieving Elect have all these Transgressions of thine are become actually the Transgressions of Christ and so cease to be thine and thou ceasest to be a Transgressor from that time they were laid upon Christ to the last hour of thy Life So that now thou art not an Idolater thou art not a Thief c. Thou art not a sinful Person what sin soever thou committest p. 271. So that if you would speak of a sinner supposing that Person of whom you speak to be a Member of Christ i. e. Elect you must not speak of what he manifests but of what Christ was Wherein the Difference is not The Difference is not 1. Whether the pardoned Sinner shall be delivered from Condemnation 2. Nor whether God for Christ's sake will deal with a pardoned Sinner as if he had not been a Sinner 3. Nor whether Forgiveness doth take away Sin as to its Obligation to Punishment 4. Nor whether the Atonement of Christ when it 's applied in its full Effects will perfectly remove all Punishment and purge away all Filth and Defilement from the Elect. Each of these I affirm The real Difference 1. Whether because Christ obliged himself to bear the satisfactory Punishment of our sins did they therefore become the sins of Christ This the Doctor affirms and I deny Of which I have spoken Chap. 2. 2. Whether our sins were pardoned when Christ suffered on the Cross This the Doctor affirms and I deny Of this see ch 1. and 3. and 12. c. 3. Whether even they that are Members of Christ yet if they do sin are they Transgressors and Sinners and are the sins they commit their sins This the Doctor denies and I affirm The Truth proved One
6. 16. Are all these things consistent with Pardon before Repentance Can I be subject to perish and pardoned at once Can God command Repentanee under a Promise of Pardon and yet suppose I must be pardoned before Is the turning of the Heart from the power of Satan to God urged and directed to this end that I may receive forgiveness and none follow my turning but all be before it 3. There 's no Saving Faith that includes not this purpose in it Can I fiducially consent to Christ and not intend to leave my wickedness Dr. Owen well proves That Justifying Faith cannot be without a purpose of heart to obey God in all things Treat of Justif. p. 40. And adds Neither is it possible that there should be any exercise of this Faith but where the Mind is prepared disposed and determined unto universal Obedience See the Assemblies and Elders Account of Saving Faith ch 9. 4. Without this Purpose we do not accept of Christ as the Way to God It would be strange that the great Term of Life should terminate in Christ who is the Means without any respect to God who is the End Whereas Christ is able to save such as come to God by him Heb. 7. 25. and others he will not save Act. 20. 21. God was not thus over-looked when Paul testified Repentance towards God and Faith towards Christ. And indeed without this purpose the Soul never answers God's Call and so must be Pardoned before effectually Called 5. We cannot receive Christ as King without this Repentance of Heart To receive him as King is to renounce all Usurpers and resolve Obedience to his Will And we must receive him as King or Lord or it is not the Christ we so receive Col. 2. 6. As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord. God gives him a Leader and Commander Isa. 55. 4. And so must we take him or never hope for Forgiveness by him 6. Without this purpose of Heart no Man accepts of Christ for Sanctification The Assembly and Elders at the Savoy tell us Conf. chap. 14. a. 2. That Saving Faith accepts of Christ for Sanctification I am sure God gives Christ to bless you in turning every one of you from his iniquities Act. 3. 26. And can that Soul believe to Forgiveness that thus receives him not Or can any one thus receive him who intends not to turn from Sin to Holiness 7. A resolved purpose to continue in Sin and Rebellion against God is Damning let Men pretend what they please I hope I need not prove but one of these Purposes must have place in every Heart when it is dealing with Christ about Salvation And I think I have proved That a Resolution to continue Rebels will bar any Man from a possessing of Christ. See chap. 10. 8. It 's not to be allowed that it should not be necessary to renounce our Sins with our Hearts in order to Pardon when it is necessary to renounce our own Merits or Righteousness Is the one opposite to Christ and is not the other so Will one make us backward to accept of Christ and will not the other do the same Is the one inconsistent with a true Approbation of a Saviour The other is no less For Christ is to save from the Power of Sin as well as the Guilt and he that submits not to him with a desire of both duely accepts him for neither I might further evidence this from the necessary fitness of Repentance for Pardon It is very unsuitable to the Nature and Government of God to pardon a Sinner that resolves to rebel and not to return This seems too low a Provision for his Honour c. Nay it would render our Faith a meer selfish thing and all our Compliance to be a meer concern for our own Impunity whiles Sin is still resolved and God's Dominion rejected and Christ's Design of restoring the Image of God slighted and opposed It were easie to shew that Repentance and Faith are so near to and inclusive of each other that one is put for the other and the Call to one is a Call to each The Judgment of others The Assemb Confes. ch 16. a. 3. say Although Repentance be not to be rested in as any Satisfaction for Sin or any Cause of the Pardon thereof which is the act of God's Free Grace in Christ yet it is of such necessity to all Sinners that none may expect Pardon without it You see though they justly exclude the Merit and Causality of Repentance yet they affirm and by many Texts prove the Necessity of it to Pardon and forbid any Expectation of Pardon without it And in their Directory of the Visitation of the Sick they advise a seasonable propounding of Christ and his Merits for a Door of Hope but it is to none but to every penitent Believer The Elders at the Savoy tell us ch 15. a. 5. There is no Sin so great that shall bring Damnation on them who truly repent which makes the constant Preaching of Repentance necessary Dr. Owen tells us That before the first Act of Justifying Faith there be Convictions Shame Fear Sorrow and other afflictive Passions and hereon a Resolution doth ensue utterly to abstain from Sin with sincere Endeavours to that purpose c. Treat of Justif. p. 299. he tells us That without this in the order of the Gospel an Interest in it i. e. Christ's Righteousness is not to be attained c. And again Justifying Faith includeth in its Nature the entire Principle of Evangelical Repentance so that it is utterly impossible that a Man should be a true Believer and not at the same instant of time be truly Penitent And therefore are they so frequently joyned in Scripture as one simultaneous Duty Yea the Call of the Gospel unto Repentance is a Call to Faith acting it self by Repentance c. And then tells us The First Act of Faith respecting the Grace of God in Christ is not conceived in order of time to precede its actings in Self-displicency Godly Sorrow and Universal Conversion from Sin to God See p. 300 301. These things Dr. Owen asserts though he ascribes no Causality of Pardon to Repentance Which will offend none who deny any Grace in Man to be a Cause of Forgiveness among whom I own my self See Mr. Anthony Burgess's Reasons for the Necessity of Repentance to Forgiveness True Doct. of Justif. lib. 1. p 157. Thus I have done with this Debate which lies I hope more in words than some unthinking Men imagine And the generality of Divines affirm as I do CHAP. XIII Of the Necessity and Benefit of Holiness Obedience and good Works with Perseverance therein REader Note that whatever is spoken in this Chapter of any Act of Grace except penitent believing refers not to the Forgiveness of Sin or the Sinner's Admission into a justified State The Benefits I here treat of are the not Forfeiture of Pardon the Possession of Heaven and some other particular Blessings
With his Stripes we are healed and sundry other places Nay to suppose any Degree of Suffering on Christ and not our Sins laid on Christ even though in the Doctor 's Sence would overturn the whole Christian Religion and justifie the Socinians Testimonies The Assemblies Lesser Catechism Q. Wherein did Christ's Humiliation consist A. In his being Born and that in a low Condition made under the Law undergoing the Miseries of this Life the Wrath of God and the cursed Death of the Cross in being buried and continuing under the Power of Death for a time Thou seest Christ's Incarnation or being Born and several other things before Christ's Crucifixion are parts of his Humiliation The Ground of the Doctor 's Mistake Because the hidings of God's Face and especially the dying Sacrifice of Christ did so compleat and finish the Work of Satisfaction as the principal parts thereof therefore he thinks our Sins were not laid on Christ till then CHAP. VI. Of God's Separation from and Abhorrence of Christ while our Sins lay upon him Truth THough God testified his threatned Indignation against Sin in the awful Sufferings of Christ's Soul and Body in his Agony and suspended those delightful Communications of the Divine Nature to the Humane Nature of Christ as to their wonted Degrees yet God was never separated from Christ much less during his Body's lying in the Grave neither was the Father ever displeased with Christ and far less did he abhor him because of the Filthiness of Sin upon him Errour Christ was on the account of the Filthiness of Sins while they lay upon him separated from God odious to him and even the Object of God's Abhorrence and this to the time of his Resurrection Proved that this is Dr. Crisp 's Opinion He saith P. 294. Nay from this I affirm as Christ did bear our Iniquity so Christ for that Iniquity was separated from God and God was here separated from Christ or else Christ spake untruth P. 295. The Doctor puts an Objection It may be this for saking was but for a little time He saith To this I answer it was as long as Sin was upon him had not Christ breathed out the Sins of Men that were upon him he had never seen God again he having taken Sin upon him he must unload himself of Sin before he can be brought near to God c. There was a Separation and Forsaking when Christ died but at his Rising there was a Meeting again a kind of renewing his Sonship P. 408. It is a higher Expression of Love that Christ should bear the Sins of Men than that he should be given to die for Men c. Affliction is not contrary to the Nature of God God can smile upon Persons when they are under the greatest Scorn c. But where the Lord doth charge any Sin the Lord hath an Abhorrence there P. 379 380. He shews That Christ to be a Scorn yea for God to make him suffer the most accursed Death of the Cross is far less than to make him sin because all this may agree to the Nature of God but Iniquity is the hatefullest thing in the World to God where Iniquity is found a Toad is not so odious nor ugly to Man as that Person is in the Sight of God P. 180. All that Filthiness and Loathsomeness of our Nature is put upon Christ he stands as it were the Abhorred of the Lord. Wherein the Difference is not 1. It is not whether the Soul of Christ endured the Effects of Gods Wrath against sin and was amazed thereat as well as at the Importance of the Work he was engaged in and the Enemies he was to encounter with and the Sacrifice he was to make c. 2. Nor whether the Divine Nature suspended for a while on the Cross the delightful Communications of it self as to the Degrees it was accustomed to emit to the humane Nature of Christ. These with awe I freely affirm The Real Difference 1. Whether Christ was separated from God This the Doctor affirms and I deny 2. Whether Christ was at any time under God's Abhorrency or odious to him because under the Loathsomeness of Sin This the Doctor affirms and I deny yea not without Detestation 3. Whether Christ was thus on the account of the Filthiness of Sin upon him separated from and under the Abhorrency of the Father during his lying in the Grave This the Doctor affirms and I deny it of that time and any other or else it would be true for the whole time of his Humiliation The Truth Confirmed 1. This Separation was impossible because of the Union between the Divine and Humane Nature of Christ in one Person This Union could not be dissolved nor could all Communications of Comfort or Strength from the Divine Nature be interrupted while the Union remained Yea the Humane Nature of Christ had never a personal Subsistence of its own but was assumed by the eternal Word the second Person of one Essence with the Father 2. The Father had promised constant Supports to Christ in the whole of his Undertakings and Sufferings and his comfortable Presence with him Isa. 42. 1 4 6. Isa. 50. 7 8 9. 3. The Doctor of all Men had least reason to assert this Separation when he had so exceeded in telling us P. 379. That the Divine Nature is a kind of Soul to the Humanity consisting of Soul and Body and is the Form and Strength of both c. The God-head gives Life to Christ and so all the Sufficiency to bear Iniquity proceeds from the Divine Nature of Christ. And P. 378. Should Iniquity be laid on the Humane Nature and the Divine Nature not support the Humane Nature it would have sunk under sin Reader is it not strange that after this the Doctor should affirm a Separation and that for all the time when Iniquity was upon Christ 4. The Lord Jesus could not be abhorred or odious to God for in him God was always well pleased Isa. 42. 1. Mat. 17. 5. He was now yielding the highest Act of Obedience and so there was at least no cause of Offence yea God loved him for this John 10. 17 18. the Person of the Son was always Gods Delight from Eternity to Eternity Prov. 8. 30. and could not but be so Christ must have been as odious to himself as to the Father for he is of the same Holy Essence Reader How horrid a sound must it have to a Christian Ear to say A Christ odious to God abhorred by the Father and that because he was a loathsome a detestable an abominable and filthy sinner for a time This Point carries that Aspect that from Regards for the Doctor I will not insist on it nor its necessary Consequences and yet upon this depend many of his Positions 5. Christ could not be thus separated from and be as it were the Abhorred of the Lord while his Body lay in the Grave for then his Soul could not be in Paradise as
of the Heart agree herewith 3. That cannot be a true Faith or Acceptance of Christ which consists with such vile Dispositions and is void of a Purpose to be otherwise Can he be said to accept of Christ who as the Doctor saith Hath a Knife in his Hand and Thoughts in his Heart to murther Christ and that without so much as laying down his Arms P. 210. What is rejecting Christ if this be not What is saying We will not have him to reign over us Do not we prefer our Lusts before him And can we thus marry him Nay What a carnal selfish thing is Believing a meer using Christ for our own Safety in our Abominations which we resolve shall rule over us without one Desire to be rid of them 2. Some Degrees of Convictions and Humiliations of Soul are necessary Prerequisites to the Soul 's true Acceptation of Christ for Pardon We find it 's the Weary and heavy laden that Christ invites to come to him for Rest Mat. 11. 28. I came not to call the Righteous that is the Conceited and Secure but Sinners to Repentance Luk. 5. 31. 32. The Converts recorded in the Word found such a Work on them those were pricked in their Hearts and cried What shall we do Act. 2. 37. The Gaoler felt the same humble Concern Act. 16. 30. Paul knew what this Trembling was Act. 9. 6. So Zacheus and the Prodigal Luk. 15. 14 15. Where the Word Even begins to take Effect the Man is convinced of all and judged of all The Secrets of his Heart are made manifest falleth down on his Face c. 1 Cor. 14. 24 25. It 's a meet Order that Man should in some degree pay this Homage to God and thus resent his Apostacy to God's Glory whom he hath provoked Yea These are absolutely Necessary to bring a Man to be willing to close with Christ. Were there no Weight no Remorse no Sense of Sin or Misery Christ would not be regarded much less complied with Yea to come to Christ cannot be an Act of the Will it thus having a contrary Biass and the practical Judgment determining against it TESTIMONIES You have already heard the Sence of the Assembly and Elders at the Savoy You may see in Larg Catech. Q. What is justifying Faith They tell us That the Sinner is convinced of his Sin and Misery who receiveth Christ. And in the Directory for Visitation of the Sick they are for propounding Christ and his Merits to penitent Believers and Endeavours are to be first used to humble the Sick under the Sense of his Guilt and the Wrath of God c. Doctor Owen tells us There is nothing in this whole Doctrine that I will more firmly adhere to than the Necessity of Convictions previous to true Believing Of Justif. P. 133. The Necessity of them yea Antecedency of them to true Faith and Pardon he proves P. 98 99. as also Displicency Sorrow Fear a Desire of Deliverance with other necessary Effects of true Convictions P. 102 103. And he tells us The Belief of the Pardon of our own Sins is not proposed to Men in the first Preaching of the Gospel as that which they are first to believe And P. 140. Neither is it possible there should be any Exercise of this Faith unto Justification but where the Mind is prepared disposed and determined unto universal Obedience Mr. Norton of New England proveth at large That there are certain preparatory Works between the Carnal Rest of the Soul in the State of Sin and effectual Vocation or Christ in his ordinary Dispensation of the Gospel calleth not Sinners as Sinners but Sinners i. e. qualified Sinners immediately to believe These are his own Words which he proves Orthod Evang. from P. 129. to 140. The Ground of the Doctor 's Mistake Because they that truly come to Christ shall have an Interest in Christ therefore he thinks whoever can perswade himself that he hath an Interest in Christ doth come to him because sometimes the worst Sinners are made the Subjects of Preparatory Works and of effectual Calling as God's act on them therefore he thinks that these Sinners are invited to conclude they have an Interest in Christ before they do at all answer that Call But his greatest Cause of Mistake is that he thinks the worst Sinners if elect have as much Interest in Christ as the greatest Saint Therefore indeed they need no more Faith than to know it and that must be by a firm Perswasion that he is theirs because Christ calls Sinners to Repentance therefore Christ is theirs while impenitent CHAP. XI Of Union with Christ before Faith Truth EVery Man is without Christ or not united to Christ untill he be effectually called but when by this Call the Spirit of God enclineth and enableth him willingly to accept of Christ as a Head and Saviour a Man becomes united to him and Partaker of those Influences and Privileges which are peculiar to the Members of the Lord Jesus Errour All the Elect are actually united to Christ before they have the Spirit of Christ or at all believe in him even before they are born yea and against their Will Proved that this is Dr. Crisp 's Opinion The Title of Serm. 14. is Christ is ours before we have gracious Qualifications P. 430. But sure the Doctor intends only to exclude Works and not Faith A. No he tells us of dangerous Consequences that must follow on it if Persons are not united to Christ and partake not of Justification before they believe And addeth There is not I say such a thing as an uniting and cementing or knitting Power in Faith as that Faith doth or should become the Instrument to unite a Soul to Christ P. 6â—â— Obj. But he may intend only to exclude the Merit or Efficiency of Faith but not the Presence of it or the Divine Ordination of it to that end A. No he denies the Presence of Faith to this end he spends much time P. 614. c. to prove That Christ is ours before we come to him and that our not coming to Christ doth not import a State of Disunion with Christ. And P. 104. He tells us You may as soon conceive that a Man is able to see whiles he hath no head as think a Man can have spiritual Eyes whether the Eye of Faith to behold Christ or the Eye of Mourning to lament ones Wretchedness before there be actually the Presence and Conjunction of Christ the Head to such a Body Obj. But must not the Spirit be given before we are united to Christ. A. The Doctor saith We partake of the Spirit only by Virtue of this Union which he attempts to prove from the too gross use of the Metaphor of a Vine P. 599. and sundry other Places Obj. Sure he meaneth only this Union is decreed before Faith A. To prevent this his Words are P. â—â—â— I do not mean as some do that God did actually decree that Christ should be Christ
Our Spirits witness in the light of the Spirit as 1 Cor. 9. 1. My Conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost 5. A Testimony of the Spirit giving an Evidence of Pardon without any Evidence of Grace is not according to the Word of Grace for the Word of Grace never declareth any Sinners are pardoned but believing penitent Sinners It is not as mere Sinners the Word pardoneth for it flatly condemneth and leaves Guilt on all impenitent Unbelievers as I have proved chap. 8. 12. Therefore if there should be a Voice a true Voice of God carrying it 's own Evidence saying Thy Sins are forgiven it doth at the same time and by the same Voice witness to the truth of our Grace because he forgives no other according to the Word of the Gospel And if the Spirit should say to an impenitent Soul Thou art pardoned while such it is no Promise in the Gospel nor according to it but a new Promise and not to be tried by the VVord and the Writers thereof having had more of the Spirit than any now can pretend to it 's dangerous to rest on that Voice which will not bear the Tryal by the VVord c. 6. To have the ordinary way of Assurance to be as it 's stated by the opposite Errour hath very dangerous Consequences Most Saints must quit their Hopes and Assurance for they never had this Voice though they have greater stamps of the Spirit than any I ever knew pretend to this It makes all Examination useless and vain It overturneth one of the great Uses God hath assigned to the work of his Grace on the Heart It makes Assurance impossible without this miraculous Voice which can hardly carry its Evidence to a Soul that hath no Grace at all It 's a way too far Enthusiastick to be allowed in so stated a Case It gives the Devil a great advantage against Sinners to live in Sin and against honest People if once they find cause to question this Voice Yea it sets up the Spirit against it self if any can boast of Assurance by this Voice when their State is justly challengeable by the Gospel as wanting all sight of Gospel-Marks TESTIMONIES The Assembly in Confes. ch 18. a. 2. say It 's an Infallible Assurance of Faith founded upon the Divine Truth of the Promises of Salvation the inward Evidences of those Graces unto which these Promises are made the Testimony of the Spirit of Adoption witnessing with our Spirits that we are the Children of God And a. 3. they tell us A Believer being enabled by the Spirit may without extraordinary Revelation in the right use of ordinary Means attain thereunto And therefore it is the Duty of every one to give all diligence to make his Calling and Election sure that thereby his heart may be enlarged in Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost c. as say the Cong Elders chap. 18. a. 3. See a. 4. Both shew how Assurance may be revived from the Graces in the Heart The Synod of New-England oft confute the contrary Errour which it seems was one that sadly troubled them Errour 44. No createâ— Work can be a manifest Sign of God's Love Errour 47. The Seal of the Spirit is limited only to the immediate witness of the Spirit nor doth ever witness to any Work of Grace or Conclusion by a Syllogism Errour 67. A Man cannot evidence his Justification by his Sanctification but he must needs build upon his Sanctification and trust to it Errour 72. It 's a Soul-damning Errour to make Sanctification an Evidence of Justification Errour 77. Sanctification is so far from evidencing a good State thâ—â— it darkens it rather and a Man may more clearly see Christ when he seeth no Sanctification than when he doth The darker my Sanctification is the brighter is my Justification The Synod shew at large how each of these are contrary to the Scriptures And one 〈◊〉 the evil Speeches they confute p. 19. I may know I am Christ's Not because I do crucifâ—â— the Lusts of the Flesh but believe in Christ that crucified my Lusts for me See Errour 63 69. The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because the Spirit of God is a Comforter therefore he cannot comfort us by helping us to see the VVork of his Grace in order to Joy in his Blessings Because the Spirit was to convince the World of Christ's Righteousness as what alone could procure Life therefore he tells Men that they have an Interest in it without shewing them any change on their Hearts Because he was to take of Christ's Fulness and shew it to his Disciples therefore he immediately speaks peace to the hearts of such as are or at least appear his resolved Enemies Because by the Spirit of Adoption we cry Abba Father therefore we need not find any love to God to know that we are his Children Because the Spirit witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God therefore he witnesseth alone without so much as revealing to our Spirits that we have the temper of Children Whereas there are many great Effects of the Spirit manifest on the Souls of them to whom the Apostle speaks Rom. 8. 11 12 14 15 16. And the design of the place is more to express our Dignity and free Access to God under a Gospel-state than mere Assurance of Forgiveness Because a Natural Man cannot perceive the Riches of the Promise and the Spirit enableth a Spiritual Man by his Teachings to perceive the nature of them therefore by an immediate Voice he discovers to the Natural Man his Propriety in them even while he is and appears Natural Because there is Imperfection in the Graces of a Saint therefore he cannot see the Sincerity of them by the help of the Spirit without an immediate Voice CHAP. XVI Of God's seeing Sin in Believers and their Guilt by it c. TRUTH THe Sins of Believers have the Loathsomness of Sin adhering to them which God seeth and accounteth the Committers guilty thereby And they ought to charge themselves therewith so as to stir up themselves to Repentance and renew their Actings of Faith on Christ for Forgiveness Nevertheless they ought not thereby to fear their being out of a Justified State further than their Falls give them just cause of suspecting that Sin hath dominion over them and that their first believing on Christ was not sincere ERROUR God seeth no Sin in Believers though he see the Fact neither doth he charge them with any Sin nor ought they to charge themselves with any Sin nor be at all sad for them nor confess repent or do any thing as a Means of their Pardon no nor in order to assuring themselves of Pardon even when they commit Murther Adultery or the grossest VVickedness Proved that this is Dr. Crisp 's Opinion Reader Note That the Doctor speaks most of this concerning a Person as Elect though he uses the word Believer sometimes because he alone knows that he is Elect by
Jewish Privileges as Gal. 6. 12. as many as desire to make a fair shew in the Flesh they constrain you to be Circumcised of this Number were these whom the Apostle warneth the Christians against but now by the Gospel we are brought to place our Hopes in greater and surer things 3. He enumerates these Jewish Pretensions which he had as much right to glory in as these boasting Enemies Ver. 4 5 6. He was a Jew by Birth and not a mere Proselyte circumcised as soon as any of the strictest Sect as fiery zealous against Christ as they and as ceremonious as the best touching the Righteousness which is in the Law blameless He intends not Sinless-Obedience nor Gospel-Sincerity but a Life not to be blamed by the Rule of the Jewish Pedagogie i. e. in the Judgment of strict Observers 4. Of these he professeth a Renunciation when converted to Christ. Ver. 7. But what things were gain to me That is these that I reckoned as much upon as they now do I counted loss for Christ when he met me by the way and led me to a truer Judgment of him and my self I soon preferred him his Grace his Benefits and Instruction before all these And Ver. 8. Yea doubtless c. That is I have no Suspicion of my Choice and am still of the same Mind they are still with me vain things of no value compared with that I have since known and experienced in and by Christ yea for him without repining I have not only quitted those Jewish things but I have suffered the loss of all things viz. my Name my Friends my Estate my Ease and Life it self in a fixed Purpose and do count them but Dung that I may win Christ. What these Jews do so boast of and the World so esteem even all are to me but Dogs-meat c. that I may but fully possess Christ and the full Effects of his Undertakings in perfect Peace Holiness and Glory somewhat of which are already begun in me 2. It was not Gospel-holiness which he counted Dung or Loss For 1. This was not his own Righteousness which is of the Law as opposed to that which is by the Faith of Christ. Nay This is by the Faith of Christ our Hearts are purified by Faith Act. 15. 9. In Christ we are created thereto and by him it is wrought through Faith in all his Members who are all in him and in this Union to him I desire to continue and share in the fuller Effects of 2. This Holiness instead of renouncing or suffering the Loss of it he earnestly presseth after and expects to obtain this is the Scope of Ver. 10 11 12 13 14. that I may know him viz. perfectly in his Person and Influences and the Power of his Resurrection i. e. in a perfect Newness of Heart and Life and be conformable to his Death i. e. wholly mortified and dead to Sin If by any means I might attain to the Resurrection of the Dead that is be as holy and happy as then I shall be which is without Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing If I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ i. e. be as holy and happy as he designed to make me when he seized me in my first Conversion reaching forth unto those things that are before that cannot be imputed Righteousness for this he had in his first Justification but it 's that perfect Holiness and Glory which he expected in Christ hereafter And this is the Mark for the Price of the high Calling of God in Christ viz. What God intended in his Act when he called me in Christ and what I had in my Eye when I consented to that Call as the encouraging Reward Now is not Holiness a great part of all these and instead of renouncing it he tells us he is for it by any means I follow after reaching forth I press towards which was all needless as to what he had already 3. He bewails and owns the Weakness and Imperfection of this Righteousness at present though he was pressing after it Ver. 12. Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect Ver. 13. I count not my self to have apprehended forgetting the things which are behind Can this be true of imputed Righteousness Was not that attained at first Is not that perfect when first justified Or would Paul forget this though his small Degrees of Holiness past he might so forget as that lesser Degrees should not hinder his Pursuit after more Obj. But Ver. 8. Paul speaks in the present Tense I do count all things loss and therefore it was not his former Jewish Privileges A. It was his present Act towards an Object past q. d. I even now still account them all vain yea and it may extend to all present secular Advantages also as Life Honour and Estate c. q. d. I value nothing as a crucified Christ that I may fully know and enjoy him as a living Member in Eternity it self But I hope none can think that his winning Christ is either a first Interest in Christ or the Imputation of his Righteousness for Justification for this he with Comfort knew he already had and was not now to win by Perseverance and growing Vigour Far less can any think that he accounts Holiness Dung for what more he desired of Christ was in order to perfect the Holiness begun already by Christ in him and had he lost that which was already begun he had vainly expected a further Participation of Christ for Holiness or Joy This Righteousness which is of God by Faith is that eminent Holiness he waited for and if he could be found in Christ by an abiding Union he knew he should arrive at CHAP. XX. Of Gospel-Preaching TRUTH GOspel-Preaching is when the Messengers of Christ do publish to fallen Sinners the good News of Salvation by Christ to be obtained in the way which he hath appointed in his Word freely offering Salvation on his Terms earnestly persuading and commanding Men in the Name of Christ to comply with those Terms as ever they would escape the Misery they are under and possess the Benefits he hath purchased directing all to look to him for Strength and acknowledge him as the only Mediator and his Obedience and Sufferings as the sole Atonement for Sin and meriting Cause of all Blessings instructing them in all revealed Truth and by Gospel Motives urging them to obey the whole Will of God as a Rule of Duty but especially to be sincere and upright pressing after Perfection ERROUR Gospel-Preaching is to teach Men they were as much pardoned and as acceptable to God always as when they are regenerate and while they were ungodly they had the same Interest in God and Christ as when they believe neither can Sin any way hinder their Salvation or their Peace nor have they any thing to do to further either of them Christ having done all for them and given himself to them before