1634. in Answer to Mr. Hoards Book called Gods Love to Mankind which Answer was Printed after his Death by Mr. Jeanes a very Learned and Zealous Calvinist in the Year 1653. at Oxford The Ministers of the New Testament Twiss against Hoard pag. 194 195. are called Ministers not of the Letter but of the Spirit that is not of the Law the Ministry whereof is not the Ministry of the Spirit but yet this is rightly to be understood to wit of the Spirit of Adoption for undoubtedly even the Ministry of the Law is the Ministry of the Spirit also but of the Spirit of Bondage to hold Men under fear It is called the Ministry of Condemnation and the Reason hereof I conceive to be because God doth not concur with the Ministry of the Law by the Holy Spirit to work any Man to the performance of the Condition of the Law which is exact and perfect Obedience But thus he doth concur with the Ministry of the Gospel namely by his Spirit to work Men to the performance of the Condition thereof which is Faith in Christ and true Repentance therefore the Letter to wit of the Law is called a killing Letter but the Gospel is joined with a quickening Spirit and therefore Piscator conceives that the Gospel in this place is called by the Name of the Spirit So then the Gospel giveth Life by the Spirit which accompanieth the Ministry thereof c. And in the same Book he saith Some Benefits are bestowed upon Man only conditionally though for Christs sake and they are the pardon of sin and salvation of the Soul Page 154. and these God doth confer only upon the Condition of Faith and Repentance Now I am ready to profess and that I suppose as out of the Mouth of all our Divines that every one who hears the Gospel without distinction between Elect and Reprobate is bound to believe that Christ died for him so far as to procure both the pardon of his sins and the Salvation of his Soul in case he believe and repent But there are other Benefits which Christ by his Obedience hath merited for us namely the Benefit of Faith and Repentance for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Col. 1.19 And he hath blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ that is for Christs sake Eph. 1.3 And God works in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ Heb. 13.21 And therefore seeing nothing is more pleasing in Gods sight on our part then Faith and Repentance even these also I should think God works in us through Jesus Christ And the Apostle prays in the behalf of the Ephesians Eph. 6.23 for Peace and Faith and Love from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that is us â—â—interpret it from God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as an efficient Cause and from the Lord Jesus Christ God and Man as a meritorious Cause thereof Now I demand whether this Authour can say truely that it is the constant Opinion of our Divines that all who hear the Gospel whether Elect or Reprobate are bound to believe that Christ died to procure them Faith and Repentance Nay doth any Arminian at this Day believe this or can he name 〈◊〉 Aâ—minian that doth avouch this Again Glory and Salvation God doth not will that it shall be the Portion of any one of ripe Years absolutely but conditionally to wit if he repent and believe And in case all 〈◊〉 page 174. and every one of the World should believe and repent all and every one how notorious Sinners soever they be found shall be saved such is the sufficiency of Christ's Merits I say this is true not of them onely who are invited to the Wedding Mat 22. Nor of them onely to whom St. Peter speaketh Acts 3.26 Or of them onely of whom our Saviour speaketh Mat. 23.37 But of all and every â—ne throughout the World And it is as true that none of them shall be saved if they dye in Inâ—idelity and Impenitency This God himself signifieth to be his will by his Promise Acts 2.38 39. on the one part and on both parts Mark 16.16 And as God signifieth this to be his will so indeed it is his will according to our Doctrine and there is no colour of Imposture or Simulation in all this In like sort as touching the Grace of pardon of sin this also God offers unto all that hear the Gospel but how not absolutely but conditionally in case they believe and Repent and it is God's will that every one who believeth shall have his sin pardoned none that I know either thinketh or teacheth otherwise whether he falleth out either to be Elect or Reprobate though how to distinguish Men according unto this difference 〈◊〉 know not I leave that unto God Now like as we say God doth signifie his meaning to 〈◊〉 that as many as believe and repent shall have their sins pardoned and their Souls saved So if it can be proved that there is no such meaning in God then in my poor Judgment it cannot be avoided but that God must be found halting in his Offers But for my part I acknowledge such a meaning in God neither have I to this Hour found any one of our Divines either by Word or Writing to have denyed this to be the meaning of God Again Whereas he Hoard fashioneth our Doctrine so as if we said that God hath decreed at no hand to save them to whom he promiseth Salvation upon Condition of Faith this is a notorious untruth Ibid. pag. 177. and such as implieth manifest contradiction For to say he hath resolved at no hand to save them is as much as to say that he hath resolved to save them on no Condition But if he hath promised to save them in case they believe undoubtedly he hath resolved to save them upon Condition of Faith Onely God's Resolution to save them is not held in suspence considering that from Everlasting he well knew who would believe and who would not c. Again It is true Baptism is ordained that those which do receive it may have the Remission of their sins but not absolutely but conditionally to wit in case they Believe and Repent as appears both in that place Acts 2.38 Ibid. pag. 201. and Rom. 4.11 and Baptism as a Seal doth assure hereof onely in case they Believe and Repent and therefore none of Ripe Years were admitted unto Baptism until they made Profession of their Faith and as for Infants they were also antiently said to be Baptized in Fide Parentum By all these Passages quoted Word for Word out of Dr. Twiss it is as clear as the Light at Noon-day that he held the Covenant of Grace to be Conditional and particularly that the Promise of Justification and Pardon of Sin is Conditional and that Faith and Repentance not Faith alone nor Repentance alone but Faith and Repentance together are
between him and those who do not love to say that Faith is an Instrumental Cause is more verbal than real for he doth not say that Faith is the Instrumental cause of our Justification that indeed had been to ascribe too much unto Faith but the Instrumental cause receiving Christ and his Righteousness upon which follows Justification now we all acknowledge Faith to be of an apprehensive receptive nature and that it is the Instrumental means whereby we apprehend and receive Christ and his Righteousness that we may be Justified and our using that Instrumental means as the Lord hath appointed is the receptive condition to which the Promise of Justification is made Here then seems to be a meer difference in words when we mean the same thing Lastly for sincere Obedience he holds it to be in some sense a cause of obtaining Eternal Life which is more than we have ascribed to it in calling it a Condition for a Condition as such hath no causal Influence Ibid. lib. 2. cap. 1. pag. 199. His own Words in the said Book are these Our Obedience indeed is not the principal or meritorious cause of Eternal Life For we receive the right of this life and the life also it self from the Grace and Gift of God for the sake of Christ apprehended by faith Rom 6.23 The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But yet it is a cause some way administring helping and moving forward towards the possession of this life whereof we had the right before for which reason it is called the way in which we walk to Heaven Eph. 2.10 And it promotes our life both of its own nature because it is some degree of life it self still tending to perfection and also by vertue of God's Promise who hath promised Eternal Life to those who walk in his Commandments Gal. 6.8 He that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting For though all our Obedience while we live here is imperfect and contaminated with some mixture of sin Gal. 5.17 The flesh lusts against the spirit yet through Christ it is so acceptable unto God that it is crowned with a most great reward The Promises therefore made to the Obedience of the Faithful are not Legal but Evangelical although by some they are said to be of a mixt nature In all this Ames ascribes as much to sincere Obedience and makes it as necessary to Salvation as we do If we say it is a Condition he sayes it is in some sort a Cause of obtaining the poffession of Eternal Salvation And sure to be so a Cause is as much at least as to be a Condition Next let us see what Dr. Twiss faith to these things Indeed he is so clearly on our side that if the Authour of the Letter had been acquainted with his Writings he would have been wiser than to have mentioned his Name in this Cause For thus he writes We say that pardon of sin and salvation of Souls are Benefits purchased by the death of Christ to be enjoyed by Men but how Answer to a Booke called The Synod of Dort and Arles reduced to practice pag. 16. not absolutely but conditionally to wit in case and onely in case they believe For like as God doth not confer these on any of ripe years unless they believe so Christ hath not merited that they should be conferred on any but such as believe and accordingly profess that Christ dyed for all that is to obtain pardon of sin and salvation of Soul for all but how not absolutely whether they believe or no but onely conditionally to wit provided they do believe in Christ Again Men are called upon to believe and promised Ibid. pag. 28. that upon their Faith they shall obtain the Grace of Remission of sins and Salvation and these Graces may be said to be offered unto all upon Condition of faith Again As touching the Benefits of pardon of sin Ibid. page 152. and Salvation procured by Christs death we say that Christ died to procure these for all and every one but how not absolutely for then all and every one should be saved but conditionally to wit upon Condition of faith so that if all and every one should believe in Christ all and every one should be saved Again It is untrue that we must have a sufficient assurance Ibid. pag. 154. that Christ died to procure pardon of sin and salvation of soul absolutely for him whom we go about to comfort it is enough that Christ died to procure these Benefits for him conditionally to wit in case he believe and repent and of this we have a most sufficient assurance Again We say not here that any thing becomes true Ibid. pag. 163. by the Faith of him that believes it but onely this that the benefit which is procured for all and every one upon a Condition becomes his and peculiarly his alone who performeth the Condition Again Now Eternal Life we know Ibid. pag. 171. is ordained by God to be the portion of Men not whether they believe or not whether they persevere in Faith Holiness and Repentance or no but onely of such as believe repent and are studious of good Works for it is ordained to be bestowed on Men by way of reward of their Faith Repentance and good Works Again The Promises assured by Baptism Ibid. pag. 189. according to the Rule of God's Word I find to be of two sorts Some are of Benefits procured unto us by Christ which are to be conferred on us conditionally they of this first sort are Justification and Salvation for Abraham received Circumcision as a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith Circumcision therefore was an assurance of Justification to be had by Faith if such were Circumcision to the Jews we have good reason to conceive that such is Baptism unto us Christians for as that was unto them so this is the Sacrament of Regeneration unto us And good reason the Sacraments which are Seals of the Covenant should assure that unto us which the word of the Covenant doth make Promise of Now the word of the Covenant of Grace doth promise unto us both Remission of sin and Salvation upon Faith in Christ This by our Doctrine we promise unto all and assure unto all as well as they do by theirs If all and every one should believe we nothing doubt but they should be justified and saved On the other side if not one of ripe years should believe I presume our Adversaries will confess that not one of them should be saved Again Justification and Salvation is promised in the Word Ibid. pag. 190. and assured in the Sacraments upon performance of a Condition on Mans part Now the Condition of Justification and Salvation we all acknowledge to be Faith Thus Dr. Twiss frequently in the foresaid Book And that this was his setled Judgment will appear by what he wrote afterwards in the Year
obtained Hence Paul saith Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the flesh ye shall die And Heb. 3.12 Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God We do not therefore think that the Act it self of believing repenting and mortifying the flesh doth effect or merit the conservation of Justifying Grace because all these things are done by us faintly and imperfectly sometimes also through the Prevalency of some great Tentation they are as it were choaked and oppressed but we say that God himself of his free Mercy preserves the Regenerate in a state of Grace and Salvation whilst they walk in these wayes As therefore for the preservation of Natural Life it is necessarily required that a Man carefully avoid Fire Water Precipices Poysons and other things which destroy the Health of the Body so for the preservation of Spiritual Life it is necessarily required that a Man avoid Vnbelief Impenitency and other things that are destructive and contrary to the Salvation of Souls which cannot be avoided unless the opposite and contrary Actions be exercised But these Actions do not preserve the Life of Grace properly and of themselves by touching or producing the very effect it self of preservation but improperly and by accident by excluding and removing the cause of destruction Thus we have at large refuted the Authour of the Letter his Second Errour against the Purity of Christian Faith and have fully and clearly proved the Covenant of Grace to be Conditional This we have done first by clear Scripture Secondly by certain and evident Reason grounded upon Scripture Thirdly by Testimonies of Orthodox Divines and First by Testimonies of the Antient Doctors of the Primitive Church Secondly by Testimonies of Divines of the Reformed Churches both at Home and Abroad and particularly by the Testimony of the Divines of the Famous Synod of Dort Whence it is as clear as the Sun that we preach no new Arminian Gospel in this great Point of the Covenant of Grace and consequently that the Authour of the Letter is a false Witness in Matter of Fact who hath proclaimed us to the World to be Preachers of a new Arminian Gospel on the account of our Doctrine in the point of Justification If after all this he should say that though we have proved the Covenant to be conditional and Faith to be the receptive applicative condition of it yet we have not proved that Faith justifies as a Condition We Answer That look by what place of Scripture he shall ever be able to prove that Faith justifies as an Instrument and a hand by the same shall we prove that Faith justifies as a receptive applicative condition For as we said before we take a receptive applicative Condition and a moral foederal instrument to be one and the same thing So did the Westminster Assembly of Divines before us And in this sense which alone is justifiable we hold Faith to be both an Instrument and a Condition with respect to Justification And if that will please our Authour we shall grant him that Faith is a hand and not only a hand but an eye and a mouth too an eye to look unto Christ crucified John 3.14 15. John 6.40 Isa 45.22 And a mouth to eat and drink and feed on his Crucified Flesh and Blood John 6.35 50 51 53 54 55 56 57 58. We shall conclude this Answer with the Testimony of Two Learneder and Wiser Men than our Authour seems to be The first is the Reverend Mr. Lukin a Worthy Judicious Congregational Minister in his Life of Faith printed above Thirty years ago Lukin 's Life of Faith p. 24 25. For the question about the Interest of Faith in our Justification whether it justifie as an Instrument or as a Condition I think saith he it deserves not half the words that have been used about it they are both of them School-terms and not found in the Scripture and should not therefore disturb the peace of the Church especially seeing both Parties at variance are agreed in the thing but not in the formal notion under which they do conceive it and I think both lides are so far agreed that Faith may be called an Instrument allowing much impropriety of speech and that it may be called a Condition while we thereby do not suppose any such thing as merit Thus Mr. Lukin Now we heartily accept of this expedient for the calming of the Tempest which the Letter hath raised We will never desire the Authour to call Faith a meritorious condition for we never called it so our selves if he will grant us that it is but improperly an Instrument of Justification The other is the Learned Turretin that famous Calvinist Professor of Divinity lately at Geneva who writes thus Caeterum non anxiè quaerendum putamus an fides instrumenti notionem induat in hoc negotio c. Turretin Instit part 2. loc 16. quaest 7. p. 737. But we do not think that it is curiously to be enquired after whether Faith put on the nation of an Instrument in this matter of Justification or likewise of a condition as it seems to some men For nothing hinders but both notions may be ascribed to it provided Condition be not taken for that in consideration whereof God justifies Man in the Covenant of Grace after the manner that works were the Condition of Justification in the Legal Covenant For in this sense it cannot be called a condition unless we come over to the Socinians and Arminians who will have Faith or the Act of believing to be accepted by God for perfect Righteousness which we have but now resuted But taking the word Condition in a large sense for all that which is required on our part to obtain that benefit whether it have the notion of a cause properly so called or only of an instrumental Cause for as that Condition hath the relation of an Instrument so that Instrument hath the nature of a Condition on our part without which Justification cannot be obtained Thus Turretin to which we fully agree except that we think he gives too much to Faith in conceiving it to be an instrumental cause of Justification yet since he says that it is no cause properly so called it follows necessarily that it is not properly an instrumental cause and so hath no proper causal influence upon the act of Justification and if so then it is but improperly an instrument as Mr. Lukin saith and so the whole Controversie comes to nothing but a strife about the propriety or impropriety of a word which Turretin plainly saw and therefore confessed that Faith is so an Instrument as to be a Condition and so a Condition as to be an Instrument of Justification And taking the word Instrument in a moral Sense for a means of receiving the benefit of Justification for Christ's sake only we do unfeignedly affirm as Turretin doth that a sincere Faith is both the Instrument and Receptive
Justifying Faith cannot come from a Heart that is neither renewed nor unrenewed neither regenerate nor unregenerate for there is no such Heart in any Man nor indeed can there be any such Heart For renewed and not at all renewed regenerate and not at all regenerate are contradictions which admit of no medium Every Heart of Man then in the whole World must be one of these but cannot be both at once nor any third thing distinct from both for there is no middle between the two betweenrenewed and not at all renewed c. Since then every Heart of Man in the World cannot be both renewed and not at all renewed at the same time nor yet be any third thing but must be either one or other 2. We say in the second place That the first vital act of Justifying Faith cannot come from an Heart not at all renewed nor regenerate For a vital act of Justifying Faith is too good and precious Fruit to grow upon the corrupt Tree of a Heart wholly unrenewed and unregenerate Our Saviour in Matth. 7.16 17 18. give us to understand that we may with as much reason expect to gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles as that a vital act of precious justifying Faith should come from a Heart that is altogether unregenerate and unrenewed It remains then in the third place that since the first vital act of justifying Faith cannot come from a Heart that is altogether unrenewed and unregenerate that is all stony hard and obstinately bent unto evil It must of necessity come from a Heart that is at least partly renewed and regenerate partly Flesh or tender and pliable to the Will of God And from this it follows unavoidably that there must be a real holy change wrought in the Heart of Man before his Justification by faith for the Heart of Man cannot possibly be renewed and regenerated either in part or in whole without some real holy change wrought in it but it is renewed and regenerated in part at least in order of Nature before the first vital act of justifying faith as hath been proved and that first vital act of faith is in order of Nature before justification by faith therefore there is and must be some real holy change wrought in the Heart before justification by faith From all which it is evident that the Opinion of our Authour is erroneous and against the purity of our Christian faith to wit that there is no real change no holy disposition or qualification before Justification by faith And that on the contrary there is and must be a real change of the Heart there are and must be several holy dispositions and qualifications wrought in the Soul by the Word and Spirit of the Lord before we can be justified by faith and our sins can be actually and absolutely forgiven us This we have clearly proved both by Scripture and by Reason agreeable to Scripture Now in the Third and Last place we shall prove it by the Testimony of famous and orthodox Protestant Divines We begin with Calvin who as was shewn before in his Commentary on Ezek. 18. v. 23. saith Praecedit veniam poenitentia quemadmodum hîc dicitur That Repentance goes before pardon of sin as it is said to doe in this place of Scripture Whence we observe 1. That it is not a meer legal Repentance such as may be in an unconverted Man that he speaks of but it is an Evangelical saving Repentance for first it is a Repentance that consists in turning from sin v. 23. yea from all sin in Heart and Affection v. 21. Secondly in doing the whole known will of God that is doing it in desire and resolution v. 21. But a meer legal Repentance doth not consist in these things nor hath it so good an effect upon the Soul Thirdly It is a Repentance to which Pardon and Life is promised through Christ But no such thing is promised to a meer legal Repentance Therefore it is not a Legal but an Evangelical Repentance that Calvin there speaks of 2. We observe that if in Calvin's Judgment a true Evangelical Repentance goes before pardon of sin and Justification then a true justifying faith goes before it also For Calvin was clearly of the opinion that faith goes before a true Evangelical Repentance in so much that he saies Instit lib. 3. cap. 3. Sect. 1. Quibus videtur fidem potius praecedere poenitentia quà m ab ipsâ manare vel proferri tanquum fructus ab arbore nunquam vis ejus fuit cognita That they never knew the power of Repentance who think that it is rather before Faith than that it slows or proceeds from Faith as Fruit from a Tree These Words of Calvin manifestly shew that he held faith to be in order of nature before true Evangelical Repentance which we must thus understand as we said before that the seminal Principle of Faith with some of its Acts to wit the assenting Act is before any Act of true Evangelical Repentance and not that all the Acts of justifying faith are before any one Act of true Evangelical Repentance otherwise we shall make Calvin foully to contradict himself For as was proved before Calvin in the same Book fol. 210. and Chapter Sect. 19. lays down the right order of things exactly saying that the Lord Christ first declares that the Treasures of Gods Mercy are in him set open to us which Declaration of his calls for the faith of assent in us After that in the second place the Lord requires us to repent induced thereunto by the faith of the said Declaration And Thirdly and Lastly Exigit fiduciam erga Dei promissiones He requires our trust in the promises of God to us now truly repenting of our sins The Act of Faith then which Calvin held to be in order before Repentance and to be the root and spring of it is the Faith of the conditional Promise of God that he hath Mercy and Pardon for us if we truly repent And this seems to be his meaning by what he writes in the second Paragraph following For saith he whilst Christ and John preach thus Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Do not they derive the cause of Repentance from the very Grace and Promise of Salvation Therefore the import of their Words is as much as if they had said because the Kingdome of Heaven is at hand therefore repent And a little after he adds Quod etiam demonstrat illa Oseae exhortatio c. Which thing also that exhortation of Hosea demonstrates Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn Hos 6.1 and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up Quia spes veniae tanquam stimulus additur ne in suis peccatis torpeant Because the hope of pardon is given as a spur to Repentance least they should lie secure in their sins By this Passage we see that the Faith which goes
cause of the eternal ruin of the Souls of the Generality of them to whom or amongst whom the Gospel is preached John 3.19 4. That there are certain Internal Spiritual Effects wrought in and upon the Souls of Men whereof the Word preached is the immediate Instrumental cause which ordinarily do precede the work of Regeneration or real Conversion unto God And they are reduceable unto Three Heads 1. Illumination 2. Conviction 3. Reformation The first of these respects the Mind only The second the Mind Conscience and Affections And the third the Life and Conversation These are attained by the inward influence of the Holy Spirit upon mens Souls concurring with the Word to make it effectual unto those ends All these things may be wrought in the minds of men by the dispensation of the Word and yet the work of Regeneration be never perfected in them Yea although they are good in themselves and fruits of the kindness of God towards us they may not only be lost as unto any Spiritual advantage but also be abused to our great disadvantage Then Pag. 196. The Dectrine says he concerning these things hath been variously handled distinguished and applyed by many Learned Divines and Faithful Ministers of the Gospel Unto that Light which they received into them from the infallible Word of God they soined those experiences which they had observed in their own hearts and the Consciences of others with whom they had to do which were suitable thereunto And in the dispensation of this truth according to the measure of the gift of the Grace of Christ which they severally received they had an useful and fruitful Ministery in the World to the Converting of many unto God ☞ But we have lived to see all these things decried and rejected Thus Dr. Owen concerning Dispositions previous to Regeneration whose sense upon the whole we have here briefly and faithfully represented unto all into whose hands this may come And in the first and latter part of this long quotation we have transcribed his own words By all which we see that Dr. Owen received and approved as true good and useful the foresaid Doctrine of the English Divines at the Synod of Dort concerning Dispositions and Preparations before Regeneration and seems to have said it with some grief that he had lived to see all these things decryed and rejected to wit by some Arminian Divines of the Church of England And would it not have grieved him a little more to have seen all these things decryed and rejected also by Nonconformists that pretend to be the only party of Protestants who adhere to the old pure Doctrine of the best Reformed Churches when at the same time and in the same thing they join with the new Divines as Dr. Owen expresly calls them that is with the Arminians against the Synod of Dort and the old Doctrine of the Church of England But you may say doth our Author do so doth he decry and reject those Preparations and Dispositions before Regeneration and Conversion which our Divines maintained in the Synod of Dort and which Dr. Owen maintained after them against modern Arminians We answer if he doth not decry and reject them what means all that which he writes in the 12 page of his Letter against all Preparations and Dispositions before a saving and justifying Faith Surely he took wrong measures if the thought that those dispositions might be admitted before Regeneration and Conversion but not before a saving and justifying Faith For it is simply impossible and implyes a contradiction that they can be before Regeneration and first saving Conversion but they must be also before saving and justifying Faith So that either he must contradict himself after his usual manner if he hold the foresaid dispositions to be before Regeneration and Conversion but not before saving justifying Faith or if he affirm that they are neither before Regeneration and Conversion nor yet before saving Faith which is necessarily implyed in Regeneration and Conversion then indeed he doth not contradict himself but he doth that which is worse he contradicts the Truth and the Synod of Dort with Dr. Ames Dr. Twiss and Dr. Owen who all maintain this Truth that the said preparatory dispositions are before Regeneration and Conversion and so before a saving justifying Faith If he says that he doth not deny them to be before Regeneration and Saving Justifying Faith nor to be dispositive thereunto but that he only denies them to be dispositive unto Justification We Answer 1. That then he yields the Cause and comes over to us for we do not say that any thing before Regeneration and saving justifying Faith is or can be immediately Dispositive unto Justification but that the foresaid Preparations are Dispositive unto Regeneration and Conversion which are in Order before Justification 2. Then he is as much bound to Answer his own Argument against their being Dispositive unto Justification as we are for his Argument is this that nothing a Man doth before saving justifying Faith can dispose him for Justification because it is all Sin and Sin can never dispose a Man for Justification Now if this be true if all that a Man doth before saving justifying Faith be Sin if it be vain labour and an Acting of Sin and therefore cannot dispose him for Justification then for the same Reason it cannot dispose him for Regeneration and saving justifying Faith for it is self-evident that that which is vain labour and nothing but Sin can no more dispose a Man for Regeneration than for Justification Indeed Sin can dispose a Man for nothing but for Sin and Punishment and if that which is vain labour could dispose a Man for Regeneration and Conversion it would at once be both vain labour and not vain labour it would be vain labour for so it is said and supposed to be and it would not be vain labour because it disposes a Man for Regeneration and Conversion and that is not vain labour which is useful to so good an end as the Regenerating and Converting of a Man is But 1. our Author Objects the 13th Article of the Church of England To which we Answer 1. That the English Divines at the Synod of Dort understood the Articles of their own Church much better than our Author doth and yet they found nothing in the 13th Article against Dispositions before Conversion wrought in Sinners by the Word and Spirit of Christ 2. The Article speaks only of Works done by Infidels without any Grace of Christ at all and without any Inspiration of the Spirit Now it is Confessed that such Works are not pleasant to God See the 10th Art nor are they Dispositive unto Regeneration and Conversion But the Works which the Synod of Dort Ames Twiss and Owen affirm to be Preparatory and Dispofitive unto Regeneration and Conversion are not such Works they are not works done by the meer Power of Nature without any supernatural Grace at all but they are Works done
plainly shewed the falshood and folly of it in several particulars the World will not be so unjust as to reproach the Non-Conformist Ministers in England with that Ridiculous way of Preaching the Gospel to Unbelievers which we our selves have Confuted and exposed on purpose to prevent the Scandal which might otherwise arise if such things should be suffered to pass current amongst us without any publick disapproving of them CHAP. IV. Of the Calumnies wherewith he Asperses Christs Ministers and particularly of the Middleway First Calumny HIS First great Calumny which comprehends all the rest that lye scattered here and there throughout his Letter is that we are Corrupters of Christs pure Gospel and differ from him and his party in the main points of the Gospel which they believe and live by the Faith of and look to be saved in And by the Preaching whereof they have Converted Sinners unto God and have built up Saints in Holiness and Comfort Yea he carries the Accusation so far as to say that we Preach a New Gospel an Arminian Gospel to the certain peril of their Souls that Believe it And that our cause is Coincident with the cause both of Arminius and also of Pelagius That this is asserted by him and that we do not Calumniate him in reporting his Calumny against us is evident from the express words of his Letter For pag. 10. He says We see the pure Gospel of Christ corrupted and an Arminian Gospel New-Vampt and obtruded on People to the certain peril of the Souls of such as believe it And a little after in the same page he says That we are such Ministers 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 saith he the case in that Epistle to the Galatians and ours have a great affinity By which words he gives the World to understand that we are such Ministers as are like the false-teachers in the Churches of Galatia who taught people that they could not be justified and saved unless they became Jews so far as to be Circumcised and to keep the Law of Moses and therefore that Pauls curse recorded Gal. 1.8 falls upon us Though we or an Angel from Heaven Preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have Preached unto you let him be accursed Again in Pag. 13. he intimates that he and his party cannot be at peace with us unless they be either silent as to the main points of the Gospel or else swallow down Arminian Schemes of the Gospel contrary to the New Testament and unknown to the Reformed Churches in their greatest Purity And in the same page he says That we might know that the most Learned and Godly in the Christian World have for some ages maintained and defended the same Doctrine which he and his party stand for And he names three Authors who have done so to wit Bradwardin Twiss and Ames And then to drive the nail home that it may stick to us he saith That Judicious Observers cannot but already perceive a Coincidency between our cause and the cause of those two Pests of Christs Church Pelagius and Arminius and that they fear more when we shall either be driven out of our Lurking holes by force of Argument or shall think fit to discover our secret sentiments And when that day comes he threatens us that we shall find Enemies and Opposers enough both at home and abroad This is his first great Charge which we have faithfully Collected from his own express words and a dreadful charge it is if it were true but of the truth of it we find no proof but his bare word and what credit his word deserves we have seen already Indeed what he saith of his Judicious Observers their searing that our cause is not only Coincident with Pelagius his cause but that we are further gone off from the Truth than he we cannot tell whether it be true or false It may be true for we read in Psal 53.5 That some men have been in great fear where there was no just cause of fear And it may be false for some men can write lyes and say that they and their Confederates do fear that which they do not fear but only for their own ends would make simple People believe that they fear So that for ought we know it may be either true or false that he and his party have such fears of us But the Lord himself knows and we know that they have no just cause to entertain such fears and jealousies of us and it is a sure sign that they have but little if any Christian Love when without cause they entertain such jealous fears of their Brethren that they are departed or will depart from the Truth of the Gospel more than Pelagius And as to what he says that our Cause is Coincident with that of Arminius and Pelagius we are as sure that it is false as we can be that there is any such thing as truth or falsehood in the World And our Author also must needs know it to be false and must lye against his knowledge and conscience if he knows what the Errors of Pelagius were and that we are as he affirms us to be middle-way-men who steer a middle course between the Orthodox and the Arminians For the great fault that these middle-way-men are charged with is that they hold Universal Redemption in such a sense as neither to agree with the Orthodox that is the most rigid Calvinists who contrary to the express mind of Calvin deny that in any sound sense Christ can be said to have Redeemed all mankind nor yet with the Arminians who affirm that Christ hath Redeemed all the Reprobate World in the same sense that he hath Redeemed his Select People whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the World unto special effectual Grace in this life and unto eternal Glory hereafter in the life to come This is to be a middle-way-man to hold universal Redemption in such a sense as neither pleaseth the Arminian nor the Rigid Antiarminian This our Author knows well enough and if he knows as well what were the Errors of Pelagius then he cannot choose but know that it is a lye to say that Our Cause is Coincident with the cause of Pelagius For to be Coincident is to be the same But it is not possible that our cause should be the same with Pelagius his cause if we be middle-way-men and hold universal Redemption as we are said to be and to do for Pelagius did not hold but denyed universal Redemption from sin or punishment of sin and it was accounted one of the Pelagian Errors above twelve hundred years ago that he so denyed universal Redemption This may be unknown to our Author and he may be apt to think that sure this is a Fiction of the middle-way-men but
wherewith this man either maliciously or ignorantly asperses us especially when they may clearly see that his Calumnies do not hang together but are inconsistent and contradict one another which is a sure mark whereby to know a Calumniator and false witness Mark 14.56 We do not positively say that he doth thus calumniate us out of meer malice but we are sure it is and must be either out of malice or ignorance and we willingly incline to the more charitable which is the safer side that he doth it rather out of pure ignorance and blind zeal than out of meer malice and Cain-like hatred of his Brethren But whatever moved him to it the thing it self is unwarrantable and injurious for which he must give an account to that God who is an infinitely more judicious Observer than he or any of his party and who as he observes all our opinions and practices so he judges always aright according to the true merits of every cause and in this cause we can with a good conscience lift up our face to the Lord our God and say Lord thou whose understanding is infinite and from whom nothing can be hid and who hast infinite power and right to punish us with everlasting destruction if we now lye to thee and dissemble with thee thou knowest that our cause is not Coincident with the cause of Pelagius and that this man doth Calumniate us in saying that judicious Observers cannot but perceive that they are coincident To thee O God we appeal from this false Accuser of the Brethren and unto thee we referr our cause to judge between us and this man whether it be coincident or the same with that of Pelagius But it may be our Author will object and say That if our cause be not coincident with that of Pelagius yet it is at least coincident with that of Arminius We answer that neither is that true For 1. Our Author and those of his way commonly say that the cause of Arminius and Pelagius is all one and therefore if they say true in that and do not calumniate Arminius our cause cannot possibly be coincident with the cause of Arminius unless it be also coincident with that of Pelagius they being both one and the same 2. Our Author saith That we are for the middle-way between the Arminians and the Orthodox as he calls them If that be true our cause must lye in the mid-way between the two extremes and then it is impossible to be Coincident with the cause of Arminius for that is one of the extremes and it is evident by ocular demonstration that the middle cannot be the same with either of the sides and so cannot be coincident with either of the extremes If our Author say that we are come off from the middle-way and are come over to Arminius and so are now on the other extreme and wrong side in opposition to the Orthodox who are on the extreme right side We Answer 1. If that be true and he know it then he is guilty of a gross lye in saying that our cause is coincident with that of Arminius and so that we are Arminians and yet that we are for a middle-way between the Arminians and the Orthodox If he will have us to be Arminians he must not if he be a true honest man say that we are for a middle-way between the Arminians and the Orthodox 2. If we be come over from the middle-way unto the Arminian extreme we desire our Author to tell us when it was and how long it is since and how he knows that we are come over to the Arminian extreme for we profess sincerely that we know none of these things We neither know when it was nor how long it is since nor do we know that we are yet come over or ever shall come over to the Arminian extreme Indeed we dare not pretend to any certain Knowledge of Future Contingents that are not revealed to us yet we trust in our God through Jesus Christ that by the Grace of his Spirit he will keep us so firm and fixed in the Truth of his Word that we shall never go over to the Arminian extream And since we know certainly what we are for the present as to this matter we can safely and with a good Conscience call Heaven and Earth to Record this day against this standerer that we are not Arminians and that he doth very sinfully reproach and calumniate us in saying that we corrupt Christs pure Gospel and obtrude on People a new Arminian Gospel to the certain Peril of their Souls and that our Cause is Coincident with that of Arminius But 3. Though according to the Light which God hath given us by his Word and Spirit we believe that the Arminians erre from the Truth in many things and we do from our Hearts dissent from their Errours yet we hold our selves bound in Conscience as we must answer to God at Death and Judgment not to calumniate them nor any other Erroneous Brethren and therefore we cannot in Conscience say that whilest the Arminians keep within the compass of the five Articles wherein they differed from our Divines at the Synod of Dort their cause is coincident with the cause of Pelagius We do indeed think that something and too much of Pelagianism or Semipelagianism is implied in and by consequence follows from their Principles but that doth not make their cause to be Coincident with the cause of Pelagius Therefore our most Judicious and Consciencious Divines do not scruple to declare Pelagianism to be a Heresie against the very Foundation of Christian Religion But as for Arminianism keeping within the Compass of the five Articles their Consciences will not suffer them to say that it is one or more Fundamental Errors or Heresies this might be sufficiently proved by many Testimonies of our Divines but instead of all that might be alledged we shall Content our selves at present with the Testimony of that famous General Assembly of the Church of Scotland which in the Year 1638. at Glasgow deposed all their Bishops though that Assembly had accused many of their Bishops of Arminianism yet did they not say that Arminianism was as bad as and Coincident with Pelagianism and that it was a Fundamental Heresie They were so far from saying so that in the seventh Session November 28. the Moderator Mr. Henderson in the Face and with the Approbation of the Assembly gave this Moderate Answer unto a Politick Objection of Dr. Balcanquel who appeared there for the Bishops Controversias omnes c. That all the Controversies especially if they exceed not the limits of the five controverted Articles between the Arminians and Anti-Arminians or Calvinists neither were nor are about Fundamental Doctrines that indeed the Arminians erred grievously but that he and the Synod were not yet perswaded that all Heterodoxies that is that all Erroneous Doctrines Hist motuum in regno Scotiae Dantisci An. 1641. p. 100 101. are
Spirit So that we are compleat in him who is our head our living and life-giving head in whom it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell that out of his fulness we might receive and grace for grace Now will any man of Conscience who hath a competent Understanding of the controversies between us and the Papists say that they give as much to Christ in the point of the Justification of a Sinner as here we do and ever did We ascribe all satisfaction for sin both with respect to eternal and temporal punishment unto Christ and his righteousness We likewise ascribe unto Christ and his righteousness all merit of every good thing whatsoever all merit of pardon of sin of right to eternal life and of eternal life it self and all the degrees of it all merit of whatsoever Grace here and of eternal Glory hereafter Dare any man say that the Papists do all this that they ascribe all satisfaction and all merit unto Christ and his Righteousness And that as we so they deny that men do satisfie Gods justice for sin with respect to any punishment and that they properly merit any the least grace or favour at the hands of God We think no Protestant especially that is a Minister of Christs Gospel will be so impudent or so far imitate the Father of Lyes as to affirm these things to be true which all the World know or may know to be notoriously false There are indeed some Papists for instance Bellarmin lib. 2. da justif cap. 7 Who in dispute grant so much to us that they may seem unto some who do not throughly understand their principles to have yielded the whole cause to us And therefore some of our famous Divines as Dr. Downhame Prideaux Rivet Le Blanc Turretin have not stuck to say that Bellarmin there grants the very thing which Protestants plead for and he had disputed against and that if he would stand to those few words and not contradict them again there might be an end of that Dispute about the imputation of Christs Righteousness Turret Inst part 2. loc 16. p. 709. After Turretin had quoted Bellarmin saying That if the Protestants would have this only that Christs merits are imputed to us because they are given to us by God and we may offer them to the Father for our sins because Christ took upon him the burden of satisfying for us and reconciling us to God the Father their opinion or judgment would be right He adds immediately after this Concession and Confession of Bellarmin Atqui nihil aliud volumus nam quod addit nos velle ita imputari nobis Christi justitiam ut per eam formaliter justi nominemur simus hoc gratis falsò supponit ex praeposterâ suâ bypothesi de justificatione morali Yea but or surely we would have no other thing but what Bellarmin hath here granted us for as to that which he adds that we would have Christs Rigteousness so imputed to us that by it we may be denominated and may be formally Righteous he supposeth it without proof and falsely upon their perverse and preposterous Hypothesis concerning a moral Justification Thus Turretin writes of the Concession and Confession of Bellarmin and other Papists Then he proceeds to shew that notwithstanding those good words of theirs whereby they seem to come over to us yet they and we are never the nearer but remain at as great distance as before because by Gods imputing to us Christs merits in order to Justification they mean that for the sake of Christs merits imputed to us God infuses Grace into us by which infused Grace it is that we are justified according to their principles Whereas we hold that Christs merits are so imputed and communicated to us ut sint causa meritoria sola nosirae justificationis nec ulla alia detur justitia propter quam absolvimur in conspectu dei that they are the alone meritorious cause of our Justification neither is there any other Righteousness for which we are absolved in the sight of God Thus Turretin shews that notwithstanding the seeming agreement between Protestants and Papists in the point of Justification yet the reall difference remains still But how doth he shew it Doth he shew the difference by denying that Christs Righteosness is the meritorious cause of our Justification because the Papists affirm it to be so in some sense No no Turretin hath left that unto our Author to do if he please but he shews that there is a great difference in the point of justification between us and them 1. In that we hold Christs Righteousness to be the meritorious cause of Justification in another sense than they hold it so to be 2. In that we hold Christs Righteousness exclusively of all other to be the only meritorious cause of Justification whereas the Papists deny this and affirm that men are first formally jnstified before God by infused Grace and Justice and that by the exercise of that infused Grace and Inherent Justice they themselves do merit their further Justification in this World and eternal Life and Glory in the World to come And we think this is a very considerable difference Yet this is far from being all the difference for Monsieur Claude who was one of those Divines whom our Author calls middle-way-men in his defence of the Reformation shews Claudes Historical defence of the Reformation par 2. ch 6. p. 217 218. c. that notwithstanding the agreement that there may be in some things between Protestants and Papists in the point of Justification there still remain no less than twelve differences relating to that point whereof many are very considerable we pray all who desire satisfaction in this matter to consult the place in Monsieur Claudes Book which we referr to especially let those who can consult the original in which all is clear whereas some things are obscure and hardly intelligible in the Translation there a man may see the true reason why our first Reformers laid so great stress upon the Controversies they had with the Chuch of Rome about the Article of Justification and that they then had and we at this day still have great cause so to do and yet amongst all those Controversies which Claude observes to be between us and Rome upon that Article there is not a word of that Dispute about the matter and form of Justification about which our Author in his great Wisdom thought fit to inform the ordinary plain people who either want time or judgment to peruse large and learned Tractates Letter p. 35. with p. 6. The man it seems would have the people to think that surely he is mighty well acquainted with all the opinions that have been in the Church and that he can inform them of them all and tell them to a hair which is right and which is wrong therefore he reckons up so many Controversies as have been and are among Reformed
and preach a new Gospel that can make it to be true or prove that it is so The Nature of things are not so soon changed no things will still remain to be what they are though weak passionate Men should never so often think and boldly say that they are not what they are that which is once true will still remain true though men think and say ten thousand times over that it is false As on the contrary that which is once false as it is most false that we preach a new Gospel will still remain false though our Author and his whole party should ten thousand times over both think and say and swear too that it is true We therefore beseech all Christian People neither to believe our Author nor Us upon our bare Words he confidently affirms that we preach a new Gospel We deny it he brings no proof but his own reproachful Word for what he says against us We bring Scripture Reason and the Testimonies of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines for what we say against him in Vindication of our own Innocency and for Proof that the Gospel which we preach is no other than the Everlasting Gospel of Christ which always hath been now is and ever will be preserved in the Christian Church to the end of the World Now we advise People not to trust either him or us without Tryal but to examine what is said on both sides and then to trust those whom they find upon Tryal to be most trusty and to have given the best Reasons why they should be trusted in these Matters Consider Christians what our most blessed Lord and Saviour saith Matth. 15.14 That if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the Ditch It will not excuse People before God that they followed their Leaders for they are rational Creatures and they ought to see with their own Eyes and not to follow their Ministers blindly without considering and knowing whether they lead them right or wrong whether they lead them in the way of Error or in the way of Truth Therefore our Saviour saith again Matth. 24.4 Take heed that no Man deceive you The like Advice our Lords great Apostle gave unto the Churches to whom he wrote his Epistles Let no Man said he deceive you with vain Words 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Ephes 5.6 This Advice he gave with respect to some of the things that are controverted amongst us at this Day And again Let no Man deceive you by any means 2 Thes 2.3 And as a Preservative and Antidote against being deceived he exhorted them to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good 1 Thes 5.21 Moreover though he was extraordinarily assisted by an infallible Spirit yet he commended the Bereans as People of a noble generous Mind for trying his own Doctrine by the Touchstone of Holy Scripture before they believed it Acts 17.11 It was not any slowness in them to believe which made them examine his Doctrine but it was Wisdom and Prudence for the Scripture saith they received the Word with all Readiness of Mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so they received readily and yet searched diligently making no more haste than good speed and by searching they found all that Paul preached to them to be according to the Scripture therefore they believed his Doctrine and believed in Christ according to his Doctrine ver 12. And this was it which Paul commended them for that though he was an Apostle inspired with a Spirit of Infallibility and could and did Work Miracles to confirm the Truth of his Doctrine yet they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether his Doctrine was according to the Scriptures before they believed it and when by searching they found it to be all according to the Scriptures they immediately believed and readily received it for that very Reason because it was according to the Scriptures of Truth And Paul was of such an excellent Spirit that if the Bereans or any other People had by diligent search found any part of his Doctrine to be really contrary unto the Scriptures of Truth which was impossible for them to do he would have commended them also for not believing it Acts 26.22 23. 1 Cor. 15.1 2 3 4. 1 Cor. 7.25 40. Gal. 1.8 Yea our blessed Lord himself when he was on Earth in his State of Humiliation as a Man and Minister of the Circumcision for the Truth of God to confirm the Promises made unto the Fathers Rom. 15.8 He did not desire that his Hearers should believe him upon his bare Word John 5.31 If I bear Witness of my self my Witness is not true That is though it be never so true in it self yet it is not true with respect to you or it doth not appear true and convincing to you therefore as we read in that Chapter and elsewhere our Lord over and besides his own Verbal Testimony used to prove the Truth of his Doctrine by Scripture and to confirm it by such miraculous Works as could not be done but by the infinite Power of God who neither would nor could give his Seal to ratifie and confirm a lie And thereupon he said unto the unbelieving Jews John 10.37 38. If I do not the Works of my Father believe me not but if I do though ye believe not me believe the Works that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him And when convinced by the Notorlety of the Matters of Fact that he did wonderful Works above the Power of Man they were forced by the Evidence of common Sense and Reason to confess it yet being unwilling to believe in him on that account they found out a way to elude the force of his Argument deduced from his Miracles by raising a dispute about the invisible Secret cause of them and by blasphemously ascribing them to the Devil and not to God Matth. 12.24 Mark 3.22 He did not in Answer to that blasphemous Cavil tell them that they must believe on his bare Word that his Miracles were wrought by the Power of God and not of the Devil But by plain Reason and strong Argument taken from the circumstances of his Miracles he proved against them that they could not possibly be from the Devil and therefore they must be from God Mark 3.23 24 25 26 27. with Matth. 12.25 26 28 29. He said unto them How can Satan cast out Satan And if a Kingdom be divided against it self that Kingdom cannot stand c. The Summ of our Saviours Argument was this That his Miracles were wrought to confirm a Doctrine that is directly contrary to and destructive of every thing that is Devilish and wherever it is received in Faith and Love there always the Devils Interest decays and himself is despised and abhorred yea many of Christs Miracles were done immediately upon the Devil himself and he was thereby cast out of that Power and Possession which he had got by