to be possible for a Man after the knowledge of the Truth never to Sin for saith he * Resp ad frantz disp 6. de bon oper thes 43. 1 Kings 8.46 Jam. 3.2 neither Scripture nor sound Reason nor any thing else hinders but that he who Sinn'd before may come to that degree of perfection as never to Sin hereafter This is to set up a Perfection in this life and freedom from Sin whilest Scripture doth abundantly affirm that there is no Man that Sinneth not that after the knowledge of the Truth and after Conversion in many things we offend all even the best all are under Sin Rom. 3.23 and all have Sinn'd and come short of the Glory of God One said well †Remigius in Cens Act. Synod Caris c. Go. tescal vivere absque peccato c. To live without Sin in the World belongs not to the state of the present Life but to the happiness of that which is eternal during our Life some Canaanites are still left to be Thorns in our Sides and the best Men have a Thorn in the Flesh So that freedom from Sin is certainly part of the Glory of God which in this World no Man whatsoever can attain unto and to pretend to 't is the Sin of the Devil and of our first Parents namely Pride and an Ambitious desire to be like God and equal with God their steps do Socinians follow who though they would seem to be great Enemies to Popery they in matters of Grace in every thing are a bad and in some worse than Papists By this principle of theirs they also make Salvation an easy thing though the Apostle saith 1 Pet. 4.18 Jerem. 13.23 the Righteous is scarcely saved and the Prophet 't is no more possible for them to do good that are used to do evil then 't is for the Ethiopian to change his Skin or for the Leopard his Spots There is a natural impossiblity by reason of Sin reigning in every Reprobate and dwelling in every Believer 1 John 1.8 wherefore we are commanded daily to pray to God to forgive us our Trespasses for indeed if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us The Orthodox Doctrines about the Sacraments Faith Justification and in sew words every Article of our Holy Religion they more or less do depravate thus they set up a new one of their own making as it hath plainly been demonstrated by several Protestant Divines They set up two ways of Salvation one under the Old Testament the other under the New We own there are several ways to Hell yet there is but one and that strait too Heb. 10.20 leading to Heaven which is the new and living way which he Christ hath consecrated for us thorough the Vail that is to say his Flesh This in Substance though under different Circumstances was for his People under the Old as 't is under the New Testament The whole Church of God though consisting of Jews and Gentiles is but one Church so there is but one Head Lord and Saviour and so but one way to Salvation Now that Church God Christ hath purchased with his own Blood that is by the Merits of his Death Rom. 3.25 God hath set forth the Messiah Jesus Christ to be a propitiation thorough Faith in his Blood for his People under the Old as under the New Testament and we are justified by his Blood Chap. 5.9 Ephes 1.7 Col. 1.20 Heb. 10.19 Also we have Redemption thorough his Blood the Forgiveness of Sins Withal he hath made peace thorough the Blood of his Cross And the boldness we have to enter into the Holiest it is by the Blood of Jesus So then under both Testaments Men are justified and saved by Vertue of the Death of Christ Mediator and thorough Faith in him as 't is at large expressed Heb. 11. whether to come with the Jews Acts 4.12 or already come with Christians for the Apostle's words are full plain and general neither is there Salvation in any other for there is no other name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Yet this clear truth they will not yield to for saith * Smalc cont frantz disp 4. thes 8. one of them what Frantzius Writes that the Ancients believed in Jesus to come and thorough that Faith were justified ought to be reckon'd among the grossest errours Justification by Faith was never profered to Men before the coming of Christ neither was it promised that Man should be justified by Faith yet Abraham was justify'd by Faith Gal. 3.6 for Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness wherein did he believe God Not only in the promise that his Posterity should be very numerous but also chiefly at the promise that the Messiah should come out of his Seed Gen. 12.3 and in thee shall all the Families of the Earth be Blessed which was a renewing of the Promise made to our first Parents of the Woman's Seed which then God fixed in Abraham's Family now this Seed of his in whom all the Families of the Earth should be blessed is what Abraham believed and that Faith of his concerning it was to him accounted for Righteousness and there is no doubt to be made but that God who so familiarly conversed with him as with a Friend for so Scripture calls him Isai 41.8 in a special manner revealed to him the Mystery of his coming in the Flesh for it was the Son of God the second Person of the most holy Trinity who at several times under the name of an Angel and in the shape of a Man appeared to Abraham who as our Lord saith rejoyced to see his day with the Eye of Faith that day or time when he appeared in the Flesh which Abraham who lived so long before did see not as actually present but as to come and that Faith whereby Abraham believed in a Saviour to come he was justify'd by and as he is called the Father of all them that believe so all believers must have the same Faith which he had Ephes 4.5 for there is but one Faith and one Lord which imports one and the same object of that Faith only with this difference upon the account of time that Abraham believed in him that was to come and we in him who is already come Now to the later part of what Smalcius saith that there is no promise that Man should be justified by Faith I say if it be not by Faith it must be by Works for there is no middle but seeing St. Paul in several places of his Epistle to the Romans doth so positively exclude Works not only those of the Law but also those call'd Evangelical with the same Apostle we must conclude Man to be justified by Faith without Works but they are thorough paced Rom. 3.28 for regeneration and other good works Love Invocation Obedience Hope Charity
c. far from being the effects of Justification that without them there can be no Justification that is they are the cause of it as * Smalc ibid. one of them is not ashamed to write Tho Scripture in so many places saith that Christ's passive obedience was for us is imputed to us and we thereby are justified Isa 53.5 6. 1 John 1.7 Rom. 3.24 25. and 5.19 Galat. 3.13 for he was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed Also the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin so in other Texts quoted in the Margin Yet for all this these Wretches with a brazen-face do thunder against this Holy Doctrine as †Socin de servat l. 4. absurd impious forged and contrary to Divine and Human Reason yea so filthy and execrable that he believes since the beginning of the World there was not a more pernicious errour And that Man's †Socin de justif p. 77. Ephes 2.8 Ibid. Heb. 2.10 Chap. 12.2 Disciple impiously calls it an Imposture of Satan But they go further and say God justifieth Man for his Obedience and own Righteousness for saith the * Smalc Heresiark to be justified of God is nothing else but to be declared just which must necessarily be when the Precepts whatsoever they be of the Law he hath given are kept Thus Men need not seek in God for what they have in themselves for which they would make him accountable to them but they sink deeper and deeper into the mire for Faith which the Apostle calls the Gift of God with an exclusion and that not of your selves they affirm God not to be the only cause of seeing Man of himself by strength of his own Will may receive it for thus he goes on out of what hath been said it appears what is in Man the cause and foundation of his Faith namely the love and desire to do Good and to avoid Evil And as they overturn all Divine Means of our Salvation so that pernicious Man would strike hard as the Captain of it and the Author and Finisher of our Faith Isa 63.3 And in that great Work which he alone hath effected for he hath troden the Wine-Press alone and of the People there was none with him yet blasphemously he would therein make a Tool and Instrument of him for he saith †Socin cont Wiekum c. 4. 1 Cor. 1.3 Heb. 5.9 1 Cor. 6.20 and 7.23 1 Tim. 2.6 Matth. 20.28 Ephes 5.2 but we must not so trust in Christ Man as if he were the Author of our Happiness that is the first and only cause but only as in the second and instrumental so not the principal efficient meritorious cause yet Paul in his Epistles wishes equally Grace and Peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ whom all other inferiour causes do depend upon For he became the Author of eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him all this confirm'd by the many Glorious Titles given him in Scripture and in plain words we by Paul twice in the same words are said to be Bought with a Price which Christ himself paid for he gave himself a ransom for all whom he laid down his Life for and that was the end of his coming into the World he came to give his Life a Ransom for many and he hath given himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God Several other things in the word there are to this purpose but this is full and plain enough When according to several places in Scripture we say we are justified by Faith laying hold upon Christ and thereby applying his Merits unto us that wise modest and humble Man calls it merum humanum commentum c. * Socin de Serv. part 4. c. 11. Esphes 2.8.9 Socin de Serv. part 4. c. 12. a meer invention of Men and a most vain dream this and many more things he saith but proves none no Scripture to confirm what he saith What the word doth attribute only to God's Mercy to his free gift Faith and not to Works least any Man should boast he doth to Man's honesty ex probitate 't is Man's probity that makes him believe the Gospel but to shew how they stumble at nothing they say that an unbeliever and unregenerate Man can do good Works which positively they affirm certum est c. †Smalc cont frantz disp 1. de bon Oper. 't is certain that an unregenerate man by nature and his reason can do good works but how can they be good except there be a good Principle a good Matter a Right manner and a good End which are the four necessary Circumstances to denominate a good Act if but one of these be wanting it may not be called a good Work besides that every one of these parts must be within a due degree whereof the want makes the Action defective and so hinders the goodness and perfection of it besides that what good of any kind is in us it comes from God for saith the Apostle God worketh in us both to will and to do of his good Pleasure how can an unregenerate and unbeliever do good works and acceptable to God seeing Scripture assures how without faith it is impossible to please him Heb. 11.6 they also would have our Conversion and Regeneration which is God's proper Work to be in Man's Power when alas the second Creation is no more than the first that is not at all within the Sphere of any Man's Activity for 't is altogether incommunicable to the Creature As they meddle with every material thing in Religion so they spared not the Sacraments whereof first and in general they deny the necessity of Precept and as of means which God hath appointed to convey divine Graces to us which to affirm saith †cont frantz disp 9. p. 422. Smalcius is fabulous and worse in another place per sacramenta c. to say * Exam. 100. Err. err 93. that by the Sacraments grace is convey'd to men is next degree to Blasphemy How soon would they turn Blasphemy upon us if ever they had the upper hand In particular of Baptism they say that the Doctrine of Baptism is not a fundamental or necessary article of Faith but such as Christian piety may consist without and concerning which every one may abound in his own sense †Socin disp de bapt c. 17. nay ipsissimam falsitatem c. * Smalc exam err 100. Err. 9. 'T is falshood it self to say that Christ hath under pain of losing Eternal Life tyed men to the use of them we do not say they are absolutely necessary for God is not tyed to means but they are Ordinances of God's own Appointment which he hath tyed us to as means conducing to bring us to the end of our Salvation and is it not a
his Sister Constantia upon her Death-bed had commended to his favour how Arrius had to his Imperial Majesty been mis-represented for his Opinion about those Matters was the same with the Judgment of the Council of Nice and that if he were pleased to admit him into his presence he with his own Mouth would assure him of it the Emperour who would not in the least recede from the Resolutions of the Council was upon those terms content to see him so he comes and in sound words gave him a short Confession of what he said he believed concerning those Matters afterwards Constine ask'd him whether he would subscribe to the Council's Determinations which he readily did yet the Emperour to make sure of him required him to swear to the truth of what he had subscribed which he also did thus he imposed upon the Emperour but could not upon God who as I said before found out and Punished him I am perswaded that many Socinians after the Example of this their great Ring-leader to get leave to set up Anti-Christian Conventicles will if they can impose upon the Law subscribe and swear unto any thing for they have the face to declare if we will believe them that the Vnitarians the Catholick Church the Translatour as they call one and I are at perfect Agreement but the contrary I sufficiently shewed in my Answer to their two Letters Still I am of Opinion that for their ends they will do say sign and transform themselves into any thing therefore let those who are concerned look to them when they offer to swear and subscribe Thus having taken notice of the Law I must not omit to do so of the Gospel and Address my self to the Ministers of Christ and Shepherds of his Flock whose Duty it is not only to feed but also defend it from the Wolves else in Scripture Phrase they are Idol Shepherds Zec. 11.17 and dumb Dogs Not Shepherds but Hirelings for saith the great Shepherd of all He that is an hireling Isai 56.10 11. Joh. 10.11.12 13 14. Ezeck 33. and not the Shepherd seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep Therein is Rule and Example for good Shepherds a terrible doom will attend those who herein neglect their Duty as we read in the Case of the Watchman 't is not enough for one to know but he also must do his Duty or else he shall fall into a greater Condemnation but 't will be a great Aggravation when he knows the Wolf to be within the Sheepfold and drives it not out when he can and if he wants strength let him sue for help where it may be had Certainly these are Evil Days when more than ever as 't is now out of the Heart proceed all the wicked things by our Saviour mentioned among which Blasphemy Mark 7.22 none of the least is named We hope our worthy Prelates with their Pious Care and Christian Prudence will drive out of the Precinct of their respective Jurisdictions and as far as they are able every thing else contrary to Piety and sound Doctrine this with humble Respect and Submission I bring to their Door and there leave it not doubting but that some who are sincere and zealous for the cause of God will approve themselves to be among those whom God speaks of Jer. 3.15 I will give you Pastours according to mine Heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding May God in this great Concern of his make every one in his station careful diligent and faithful to Discourse Preach Write and every other way according to their Abilities promote the Interest of Christ that we may see whatsoever is contrary to 't thereby exploded out of the Land if not out of the World or at least compelled to lurk and hide in dark places proper Holes for Works of Darkness that we may no longer hear see or be troubled therewith we may hope God will bless Joint-endeavours if every one in his way and as far as he is enabled fets his Hand to the Work among us let there be none like the Trumpets who encourage Men to Battle yet fight not themselves or as the Bells which call People to Church but they go not In my Judgment I am not against but for using first such charitable means 2 Tim. 2.25 as thereby to try if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging the Truth specially to those who have been seduced and are misled who indeed are pity worthy but in relation to hardned Hereticks our Charity must be kept within bounds and attended with Considerations becoming Christian Zeal and Prudence 1 Cor. 13. 't is true Charity thinketh no evil without cause but she is not blind and can see when there is She beareth all things but doth not approve of or tolerate Heresie it ought not to be void of Prudence or of sincere love to Truth or of zeal for God's House so as under the Notion of Charity to bring or suffer in God's House Men infected with damnable Heresie Snakes into the Mother's Bosom or ravenous Wolves into the Sheep-fold In such things we must not mind so much what Men will say as what God will To loyal Subjects their Princes Enemies are theirs so true Christians ought to account Christ's Enemies to be theirs God forbid we should under the wrong Notion of Charity betray our Allegiance to him our Conscience or the Truth As to Socinians I wish the gentleness of the Parliament towards them may lead them to the knowledge of their detestable Errors and prove an Inducement to repent and leave them off lest their Charity being exhausted and Patience tired out in their Christian Prudence and Zeal for God seeing mild Courses cannot prevail they make use of harder ones May be some Wretches whom for being in no wise qualified for any publick Places the Penalties cannot reach shall take the liberty as Emissaries to disperse their venom and to blaspheme which Time will shew In the mean while 't is a just cause of much Grief and Sorrow for all that are for God's Glory and who love their Religion to see so many Lots and Hindrances to the sound Doctrines of the Gospel and to the Work of Piety and Reformation None here can be so blind but may perceive it if some do not I am sure others afar off to the Shame and Scandal of Religion and of the Nation do with a Witness What a stain is it to England's Honour and to the purity of our Holy Profession to find that our Enemies to both Religion and Nation throw Dirt upon 't not in private but as publickly as can be It hath been told in Gath and published in the Streets of Askelon 2 Sam. 1.20 The French Gazette and by * Flying Post of Saturday 9th of April 1698. our printed Papers here 't is mentioned in the Article from Paris saith The Bill