and that is Grace 2. The Way or Means of our being made actual Partakers of this Salvation of Grace and that is through Faith To explicate the Terms First What is meant by Grace There are several Acceptations of this word Grace but two most notable 1. It is sometime taken for Gods free Favour and good Will 2. And sometimes for the Effects of it in us But here it is meant in the first Sence the free Favour good Will or good Pleasure of God Here are several Words in this Text and Context that do all express the impulsive moving Cause of our Salvation and every one hath something peculiar in it the more fully to set forth the free Favour gracious Pleasure and good Will of God in the Business of the Salvation of Sinners 1. Here is Love and great or much Love which Notes a great or ardent Desire and Affection to any Thing or Person and such as the Person loving doth rest or take pleasure in and so some derive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is expressed Zeph. 3. 17. He will rest in his Love 2. Here is Mercy and rich Mercy that Notes Gods great Pity and Compassion towards those that are miserable God loves the Angels and is gracious to the Angels but he is not said to be merciful to them because they never were miserable 3. Again here is Grace and exceeding Riches of Grace and that Notes the freeness of Gods Love and Kindness whereby he doth Things freely without merit or desert Grace doth all gratis without any precedent Debt or Obligation 2. Are saved some say that is inchoate and so would limit it to Justification But other learned Expositors as Zanch. Simpli and Beza say here is intended not only Justification but whole and compleat Salvation as is manifest from the whole Context in ver 7. of the former Chapter he saith we have forgiveness of Sin in which is included Justification and that of Grace And then Chap. 2. ver 1 5. There he speaks of Sanctification and adds that this was by Grace and now again in the Text he saith For by Grace ye are saved quasi dicat all the steps and degrees of Salvation from the beginning to the end from first to last is of Grace Through Faith or by Means of Faith Faith being the means dispositive Condition Qualification or Instrument of our receiving or being actually Partakers of it And that not of your Selves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is some Difference amongst Expositors what this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth refer to some think to the whole Sentence quasi dicat and this that you are saved is not of your Selves but rather I should think with other Expositors that it doth refer to Faith that is the immediate antecedent Ye are saved by Grace through Faith and this Faith hoc ipsum this very Thing is not of your selves Doct. I. That the principal Efficient and first moving Cause of a Sinners Salvation from first to last is the free Grace of God Doct. II. That we receive and partake of Salvation of Grace through Faith or by means of Faith Doct. III. That Salvation being through Faith doth not hinder or oppugn its being of Grace for Faith it self is of Grace or the Gift of God which is the same nay Faith is so far from being opposite to Grace or making it to be less of Grace that the Apostle saith Rom. 4. 16. It is of Faith that it might be by Grace This great Work of the Salvation of Sinners the Scripture sometimes ascribes to God the Father thus he is called God our Saviour and it is God that Justifies And sometimes to Christ the Mediator therefore was his Name called Jesus a Saviour because he shall save his People from their Sins and again sometime we are said to be saved by Grace as in the Text and elsewhere and sometime by Faith as Christ said to that Woman Thy Faith hath saved Thee and the Apostle to the Jaylor Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy House You see the Scripture useth these several forms of speaking in the Matter of Salvation God saves us and Christ saves us and we are saved by Grace and saved by Faith and every one of these have a distinct Notion in the business of Salvation and yet not one opposite to another but one subordinate to another and all do admirably Consent and Agree and do not in the least interfere or clash When God is said to be our Saviour that Notes that he is the first Fountain and Original the principal Author and efficient Cause of it And when we are said to be saved by Mercy or Grace that shews us what was the first internal moving Cause that it is his own free Favour or good Will without any Merit or Desert in the Sinner And when Christ is called our Saviour and said to save us that shews the principal medium the meritorious Cause through or for whose sake God vouchsafes his Mercy and Grace and the blessed Effects of it to us thus the very Words before the Text and Tit. 3. 6. Again when Faith is said to save us that Notes the qualifying Condition or receptive Disposition whereby we are made qualified disposed and meet subjects of the Salvation that Gods free Grace doth give and Christs Merit hath purchased for us It is the principal Efficient first moving Cause of a Sinners Salvation that I shall speak to from this Text which from first to last is the free Grace of God Which Grace that we may the better see understand what a State we are all in by the fall and that is in this Context dead in Sin legally and spiritually Dead Legally Dead or as it is in other Terms under the Curse Children of Wrath. And spiritually Dead or Dead in Sin dead to God and Holiness and all spiritual and saving good having no more Inclination or Disposition to any spiritual and gracious Acts than there is in a Dead-man to the Actions or Comforts of Life again Dead in sin as fast bound chained and inslaved under the Power of fleshly vicious and sinful Dispositions and habits as a Dead-man is by Death from ever rising by his own Power such are we in a spiritual Sence If we have what is our due that is Death Eternal Death but if we be saved that is of Grace and Favour It is God that is the principal Author and Efficient of Salvation But if you ask what moved him to it why he would so concern himself for the Recovery and Salvation of lost and miserable Sinners Why it was only his own Grace and free Favour that moved him to it Consider Salvation in all the Parts of it in all the Degrees and Steps that lead to it from first to last and you shall see that Grace doth all 1. It was of his Grace that he gave his Son to be our Saviour the Scripture
Salvation BY GRACE And Never the Less of GRACE Tho it be through FAITH And not without it In several Sermons on EPH. II. vsii By John Sheffield Rom. 4. 16. Therefore it is of Faith that it might be by Grace LONDON Printed by S. Bridge for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chapel M DC XCVIII To my Beloved Friends the Members and Auditors of my Congregation Dearly Beloved THese Discourses when first meditated were designed chiefly for your Instruction and Edification in Faith and Holiness and was never intended to be made more Publick than the Auditory to whom they were Preached but many of those that heard them having oft expressed their Desires that they might be Published hoping that themselves should reap further if not more Benefit by a deliberate Reading than the bare transient Hearing of them And withal hoping that what they had found beneficial to themselves might be so to others and when after some considerable Delay some did continue to enquire when they might expect it these Things did at length prevail with me to consent to the Publishing of them though not without some Reluctancy Both because I judged the work it self not fit for Publick view especially in a Time when we are so full of good Books and many more excellent ones than this can be supposed to be lye by neglected And also because I have been much pleased with that common saying Bene vixit qui bene latuit and the Advice that a Grave and Pious Person when Dying gave to his near Relation that he would endeavour to pass through the World without making any great noise as he went For indeed a noise is troublesome but especially if it be a contentions one But this small Tract I hope will be far enough from administring any occasion of that Nature if I could foresee that it was like to do so it should never come abroad For alas we have too much of that already You have it here offered to your Eye the same as it was to your Ears without any Alteration bating only some few Excerptions where they might be spared without prejudicing the Sence that I might gratifie your Desire with as little Charge to you as might be If I am not mistaken you have here though very briefly the true Doctrine of Salvation by Grace betwixt the extreams on both Hands however weakly it be handled For I am Confident that many weak People who think they do exalt Grace do greatly dishonour it and strip it of its principal Glory while they set it in Opposition to Evangelical Holiness and Obedience and therefore my earnest Prayer to God for you and all the People of God is the same with the Reverend Mr. Flavell saith he God preserve all his People from the gross and vile Opinions of Antinomian Libertines who cry up Grace and decry Obedience who under specious Pretences of exalting a naked Christ upon the Throne do indeed strip him naked of a great Part of his Glory and vilely dethrone him thus far Mr. Flavell You have here as I Iudge the true Doctrine of Grace in a Plain and Easie Method and Stile suited to the Capacities of the Meanest and if this do contribute any thing to the setling of your Minds in the Truth and against Errors on either Hand and to the furtherance and increase of your Faith and Holiness I have my End and Design If you and others of Christs Servants do but reap this Fruit by it I matter not what others shall say of the Author or the Work it self And that you may do so is and shall be the earnest Prayer of him who is ambitious of no greater Thing in the World than to be the Servant of Christ and of your Souls for his Sake John Sheffield Books Sold by Mr. Tho. Parkhurst All Mr. Nath. Vincent's Works particularly mentioned at the End of this Book THE Divine Conduct Or Mystery of Providence its Being and Efficacy asserted and vindicated All the Methods of Providence in our Course of Life open'd with Directions how to apply and improve them The Fountain of Life open'd or a Display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory containing Forty two Sermons on various Texts Wherein the Impetration of our Redemption by Jesus Christ is orderly unfolded as it was begun carried on and finished by his Covenant Transaction mysterious Incarnation solemn Call and Dedication blessed Offices deep Abasement and Supereminent Advancement A Treatise of the Soul of Man wherein the Divine Original excellent and immortal Nature of the Soul are opened its Love and Inclination to the Body with the necessity of its Separation from it consider'd and Improved The Existence Operations and States of separated Souls both in Heaven and Hell immediately after Death asserted discussed and variously applied c. All by Mr. John Flavell SALVATION OF GRACE EPHES. II. viii For by Grace are ye saved thro' Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God THE Apostle tells these Ephesians Chap. 1. 16. That he did not cease to give Thanks to God and Pray for them To give Thanks for what God had already wrought in them and done for them and to pray for a greater increase of the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that they might know what is the Hope of their Calling and what the Riches of the Glory of the Inheritance and the surpassing greatness of his Power towards them that Believe ver 18 19. which he compare to that mighty Power which raised Christ from the Dead to the End of the first Chapter And Chap. 2. ver 1. He shews what was the Effects of this exceeding greatness of Power towards them which was the quickening of them when they were dead in Trespasses and Sins and the preserving and increasing that Life and perfecting of it in Glory and that they might be sensible how mighty a Power was exerted towards them he shews how sad their Case was Dead in Sin and Children of Wrath ver 1 2 3. Both legally and spiritually Dead Dead in Sin and Dead through Sin or by Reason of Sin dead to God and to all spiritual and saving good and liable by guilt to Eternal Death But if this be our Case how or by whom are we saved and delivered out of it Why this is wrought by the exceeding greatness of God's Power which he had spoken of But what was the impulsive or moving Cause Why his own Grace and here the Apostle doth in this Text and Context heap up many words much of a like Import and Signification as if he could never enough express the greatness and freeness of the Grace and Mercy of God towards Sinners Rich in Mercy great Love or much Love 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ver 4. And exceeding Riches of Grace ver 7. By Grace ye are saved thro' Faith We have here two Things 1. The principal impulsive or moving Cause of the Salvation of Sinners
his Grace in the work but his most usual ordinary way wherein he calls most is in a serious close attendance upon Ordinances that his Wisdom may be glorified together with his Grace in blessing Means that he hath appointed and useth for that End 5. Justification is of Grace which is another link in the Golden Chain of Salvation Justification is God's accounting us righteous and dealing with us as righteous Persons in discharging us from the Curse of the Law and Eternal Condemnation for the sake of Christ's Meritorious Sacrifice and Righteousness made ours by Faith And this is an act of Gods Free Grace towards us Rom. 3. 24. being Justified freely by his Grace and Tit. 3. 7. That is of Grace or Favour when a Benefit or Priviledge is bestowed that was not due that could not in Justice be claimed thus the Apostle opposeth Grace and Debt Rom. 4. 4. Now our due is Death and Wrath it was just and due that we should suffer the Penalty of that Law which we had violated but God instead of executing the Penalty and Curse of the Law which we had deserved for the sake of Christ and his Righteousness he doth freely acquit and discharge us of it he accounts us righteous and deals with us as righteous Persons for the sake of Christ whom in Justice he might have condemned and executed as guilty and rebellious Sinners 6. Sanctification is of Grace now Sanctification as it is distinguished from Regeneration and Conversion is but the further increase and improvement the further strengthening and confirming that Principle or Seed or Habit of Grace that was first given and infused in our Effectual Calling and therefore all the Parts of it such as Faith Love Resignation to God Trust and Dependance upon him Subjection to his Governing and Disposing Will these and such like that are the parts of Sanctification are called the Graces of the Spirit because Grace doth freely give and bestow both the first Principle and the after increase and improvement of them It is good saith the Apostle that the heart be established with Grace and why called Grace but because it is the fruit and effect of Gods free Grace and Favour to us 7. Perseverance and holding on to the end in Faith and Holiness is of Grace too the same hand that works the Principle of Faith and Holiness at first doth constantly cherish and preserve it that it do not fail or be extinct as Conservation is said to be a continued Creation that is God puts forth the same Almighty Power in preserving his Creatures in their being as he did at first in bestowing it upon them so the same Grace and Favour is renewed and continued in the exercise increase and persevering in Grace to the end as was at first put forth in the working of it And hence our Saviour prays for his Disciples John 17. 11. Holy Father Keep them through thy Name 1 Pet 1. 5. Kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation Phil. 1. 6. He that hath begun a good Work in you will perfect it Alas should Grace turn us off to shift for our selves and look to our selves alone after it hath brought us into a State of Grace and to an Interest in Christ and his Covenant we should quickly prove Bankrupts and lose all again Such is the strength of remaining Corruption within and of Temptations and Alurements without and such is the Subtilty Malice and Power of the Devil to manage all to the best advantage against our Souls that if Grace did not keep it's hold of us we should quickly make Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and our Souls too Grace in the Souls of the best but especially in young Converts is like a Spark of Fire in the midst of a Heap of Ashes that if the kind Breath of Grace did not constantly cherish and keep it in it would quickly be extinguished 8. The Eternal Reward of Glory and Happiness in Heaven is of Grace too this we have in the Text By Grace ye are saved That is compleatly Tit. 3. 5. Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us Rom. 6. 23. The Gift of God is Eternal Life After all that we have done in a patient continuance in well doing and working out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling and persevering in Faith and Holiness to the end yet Eternal Life is a free Gift after all this though it be in some Sence a Reward yet that makes it nevertheless a Gift in it self Jude 21. Looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus unto Eternal Life thus you see that the Salvation of guilty Sinners is from first to last of Grace Grace begins and carries it on through the various steps and degrees of it in this Life and Grace perfects and compleats all at last too the Scripture doth delight to compare the new Creation to a beautiful and stately Building wherein Grace doth all laies every Stone in it from first to last Grace laies the Foundation and the chief Corner Stone which is Redemption by Christ and our Election in him 1 Pet. 2. 6. Behold I lay in Sion a chief Corner-Stone and Grace carries on the Building and Rears up the Walls in Effectual Calling Sanctification and Perseverance therein and the Roof and Top-stone of Eternal Life and Glory is laid on with shouting crying Grace Grace unto it as it is said of the second Temple Zach. 4. 6 7. Thus as one well saith the New Man is from the Sole of the Foot to the Crown of the Head all made up of Grace and all the Links in the golden Chain of Salvation are all of pure beaten and massy Grace 2. I shall now shew you the Properties of this Grace or the Epethites that are given to it for the Scripture doth not only call it Grace but it gives many Epethites to it the better to shew its Nature and the more fully to discover and manifest its Glory 1. It is free Grace self-moving Grace that fetches not its Motives and Inducements of any thing it bestows from Man as a deserving and procuring Cause but it Acts towards us and bestows its Gifts and Blessings upon us of its own free gracious and bountiful Inclination Grace it self signifies the freeness of the Gift for Grace is as much as Gratis and doth all Gratis that is freely As a Gift signifies the freeness of what is bestowed so God is said to give Christ and give Faith and give Repentance and give Eternal Life and give the Heavenly Kingdom one would think that these Words themselves should sufficiently express the freeness of Grace So true is that common saying What is freer then Gift Yet the Scripture doth frequently adjoin the Word Free and freely to Grace and Gift as if it could never enough set forth how Free the Grace of God is in the Salvation of guilty and Dead Sinners Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely