with gospel Rule gives right to gospel Blessing The Papists go on and say the only formal Cause of Justification is the Righteousness of God not wherewith be himself is righteouâ— but whereby he makes us righteous I know Mr. Williams in words denies our Sanctification to be a part of our Justification but in the whole scope of his Argument he makes our gospel Holiness to be lookt upon by God as having a concurrence in our Justification and this is his gospel Ordination and in full conformity to the Popish Justification by God's Righteousness whereby we are renewed His last clause of the Popish Article about Justification suits extremely with Mr. Williams's fling at Doctor Crisp as dethroning Christ for making Christ the alone cause of our Salvation without any thing of our works concurring And thus saith the Council of Trent If any one shall say that a Man is justified by the sâ—le imputation of the Righteousness of Christ or in the sole remission of sin excluding grace and charity which is shed abroad in their hearts by the holy Spirit and is inherent in him or that the grace whereby we are justified is only the savour of God let him be accursed This I take to be asserted by the Papists in opposition to the Protestant Doctrine so that the Protestant Doctrine was what they accurst and what Mr. Williams in effect accurseth saying the holding it is dethroning Christ VVell then the Papists curse those that say a man is justified by the sole imputation of Christ's Righteousness without any grace or charity VVhat 's become then of Mr. Williams's gospel Holiness sincere Obedience that God looks at in the gospel Rule to obtain the gospel Promise again they curse those that say our Justification is by the alone savour of God or freely by his grace Rom. 3.25 VVhat doth Mr. Williams less in falling foul on Doctor Crisp and all that wholly exclude every thing of man in the business of Justification and say they enervâ—te Christ's government and open a door to all Licentiousness Whereas the contrary is most true that the grace of God appearing teaches to deny all ungodliness My next Opposer of Mr. W's Gospel Ordination is a great maul to Arminianism that is the Learned Pious Mr. Perkins who saith in fol. 576 of Vol. 1. Thus the Papists say Christ merited that our good Works merit And answers This is a dotage of their devising for Christ merited pardon for sin impuation of his Righteousness and Life eternal And fol. 104. To say Christ merited that our works merit this takes away Christ's Intercession I may add to say our Holiness comes in toward our Justification doth the same Mr. Perkins comes closer in Vol. 2 fol. 205. It may be objected saith he there is a co-operation of works and faith I answer That this co-operation is not in the Act of Justification nor in the Work of our Salvation but in the manifestation of the truth and sincerity of our Faith and for the declaration of this Faith and Works jointly concur Here then is a pestilent and damnable Doctrine of the Papists when they teach Justification by the Woâ—ks of the Law And what is it to teach Justification by the Works of the Gospel which never had a Promise of Justification to it whereas the Works of the Law once had before Adam's Fall In Fol. 236. He turns perfect Antimonian with our Homilists if some men may censure him and saith thus The Gospel promises Life to him that doth nothing in the cause of his Salvation but only Believes in Christ This is dangerous Doctrine in Doctor Crisp because it spoils Mr. W's Gospel Ordination of Works and Faith going together in Justification but hath for this 100 years been good sound Doctrine in Perkins and the Homilies too He proceeds in fol. 237. and saith thus Believing and doing are opposed in the Article of our Justification In our good Conversation they agree Faith goes before and doing follows but in the Work of Justification they are as Fire and Water This is a fatal stroke to the new Gospel Ordination and a full concurrence with Dr. Crisp though Mr. Williams call this a dethroning Christ Mr. Perkins could not expect to be taken for an Oracle so that by his ipse Dixit that every one should receive his Positions tho' he grounded them on plain Scripture therefore he strengthens his Assertion by the sayings of the Fathers with which I farther oppose Mr. W's Gospel Ordination and confirm Dr. C. in fol. 537. Mr. Perkins saith The Fathers do hold Faith only to be requisite to Justification even without the Works of Grace Chrysostom saith in Hom. 7. in Cap. 3. Rom. What is the Law of Faith saith he To be saved by Grace here he sheweth the Power of God in that he not only saved us and that without use of any works exacting only Faith of us And Theodoret on Eph. 2. We have not believed of our own accord but came being called and when we are come he doth not exact Purity and Innocency of Life but hath Pardoned our sins accepting of Faith only And Basil Ser. de hum This it is to glory in the Lord when a man is not puffed up with his own righteousness but acknowledgeth himself destitute of all true righteousness and Justified by Faith alone in Jesus Christ They are justifyed before God saith Ambrose on Rom. 4. Without any labour or Toyl by only Faith no Works of Penitence being hereto required but only that they believe This Cloud of Witnesses is enough to cover and wholly extinguish the Gospel Ordination of Mr. Williams without any Comment on them Mr. Williams next Assertion is a Chip of the same block thus His Christs Righteousness imputed is the cause for which we are Justified when we do answer the Gospel Rule Here 's no mincing the matter of bringing in our Sanctification into our Justification for Mr. Williams tells us plainly what our answering the Gospel Rule is viz. Some degrees of Obedience Repentance Love imperfect Faith Persevering c. Thus while in words he pretends to separate Sanctification from Justification yet here he really joyns them and confounds them making our justification to be by Christs Righteousness imputed when we are holy when we be sanctifyed inferring that it is not till then and not only so but that that is the Condition of our justification Is this the Apostles justifying the Ungodly to be justified when we answer Mr. Williams Gospel Rule Whereas the Gospel makes no such Rule as he lays down of our sincere Obedience concurring to justification or God's having regard to our Gospel Holiness which is Mr. Williams own word I will not stand to refell this but do aver nothing can be clearer to me than this that by this expression we are justified when we answer that Gospel Rule which Mr. Williams laid down there is a downright mingling our Sanctification with our justification which the Apostle strenuously
of Grace as I do ye I doubt not but I should be highly recompensed for this labour of love and should find refreshment under many rufflings from the Lord on my Person and Family Thus beseeching the Lord to pour out abundance of his Spirit on you all and the unhappily engaged Mr. Williams whom I truly love and respest That the people may be prepared for the Lords glorious appearance now hastning To him I recommend you and subscribe Your Servant and an unworthy Son of Dr. Crisp S. C. Clapham January 21st 1692 3. Christ alone Exalted IN Dr Crisp's Sermons Partly Confirmed in Answer to Mr. Williams Preface to his Gospel Truth stated and Vindicated by Comparing some of his unfair Accusations of the said Doctor with the Scripture and the Doctrine of the Gospel Established by Law in the Homilies c. WHEN Peter who seemed to be a Pillar was come to Antioch I withstood him to the Face because he was to be blamed saith the Apostle Gal. 2.9 10. And if an Apostle who seemed a Pillar might Err in Ceremonies and be blamed so may our seeming Pillars some of them Err in Substance conjoyning our Gospel Holiness with Christs Righteousness and be blamed Now I perceiving what I suppose will appear a great Error in the Preface of Mr. Williams to his Arraignment of Gospel Truths in Dr. Crisp's Sermons and supposing none will mind the Preface that design to Answer the Book but pass it over as a Cursory Discourse I think it not ungrateful to studious Christians to animadvert on the brief Systems of Religion which Mr. Williams hath there given the World in opposition not so much to Dr. Crisp as to the plain express Scripture and the sound sense thereof held out by the great Orthodox Divines that were Staunch against Aâ—minianism upon our first coming out of Popery when Zeal for Christ alone in Salvation was warm Wherein I beseech the Lord so to guide my Thoughts and Pen that I may mind only his Glory in and through our Lord Jesus The Meek he will guide in Judgment which meekness I beg of the Lord though a Golden Calf of Mans Gospel Holiness to be set up in the place of Christs Righteousness would provoke a Moses Yet I hope to retain as well Meekness as Integrity till I die It is beyond all doubt Man since the Devil deceived him that upon eating he should be as God doth think with himself he can tho' dead do something which is proper only to God that is he can quicken his own dead Soul he can Convert himself he can be a God to himself hereupon there is a great Outcry against any that assert That our Lord Jesus Christ is all in all in the Salvation of poor Sinners and Dr. Crisps Sermons because fuller than ordinary of the free Grace of God in Jesus Christ are singled out to be battered and with them the Gospel of our Salvation is run down into terms utterly Forreign to the Scripture and because the Doctor adheres and sticks close to the Scripture terms of our being dead dead dead in sins and our sins our very sins Christ bare in his Body on the Tree as the Apostles Peter and Paul expresly say he is exclaimed against And that this great Champion might appear compleatly armed in opposing Dr. Crisp he puts on the great shield of being solicited to this Work by several worthy Ministers and that this may appear true he hath emblazoned his honour in this great Atchievement by the Hands of several indeed worthy Ministers who are most of them in my Experience eminent Servants of our Lord Jesus however their Zeal for Gospel Holiness may have been imposed upon to countenance Mr. Williams making Christ's Righteousness to be our Gospel Holiness Though I have a great honour for all those of them whom I know yet I suppose they will not think themselves dishonoured to say I think most of them were imposed upon in getting their subscribing to what they never throughly examined I am sure one of them tho' next the first yet nulli secundus for a sweet Christian Spirit among them said a few Weeks before Dr Crisps Sermons were reprinted to an Eminent Mininister in a great Company If Dr. Crisp be an Antinomian so am I and I am sure he said in a Sermon December 12. 1669. We are first made active by Christ in order to his bringing us to God and September 24. 7. 1672. Christ hath brought the Law to its end it hath no more to require be is the abolishing end the Law is quite out of doors as to justify plant a Crab-Tree in the best Soil it brings forth crabs till planted in Christ so that there must be Vnion to Christ by Gods planting us in Christ before any good Fruit. So this Gentleman and so Doctor Crisp in his Faith the Fruit of Union contrary to Mr. Williams and yet this excellent person is by Mr. Williams Art taught to say with the rest We judge our Reverend Brother hath in all that is material fully and rightly stated the Truths and Errors mentioned as such and do account he hath in this work done considerable Service to the Church of Christ and so will I say when by it he hath ingaged Able Pens to vindicate the truth from Sophistical Glosses that he hath done considerable service against his will I reckon this Preface is the marrow of his Book and I shall begin with as great a point as any I know of in the Bible next to the Deity of the Lord Jesus and yet 't is that which is the chief Fruit of his Deity which is his Righteousness as God-Man made ours by Faith by Mr. Williams his treating this he discovers his whole Soul concerning Justification that great Article stantis vel cadentis Ecclesiâ—â— of the standing and falling of that Church that holds it as Luther said in that a little Leven here leveneth the whole lump Here Mr. Williams hath made very bold with the expression of the Apostle Paul in Phil. 3.9 That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by Faith here Mr. Williams instead of extolling this righteousness of Christ and the rich Grace of God to impute this to us he runs Counter to the stream of the Gospel and dashes to pieces all the comfort that thousands have found in this Scripture as signifying Christs Righteousness our cloathing before God and gives his Romish gloss upon it in these words I exclude not this Righteousness Christs imputed when I affirm that the Righteousness of God Phil. 3.9 Principally intends the Gospel Holiness of a Person Justifyed by Christs Righteousness which in plain Words is this When I Daniel Williams say in the preceding words his Righteousness imputed is the cause for which we are justifyed and saved when we do answer the Gospel Rule now I explain
the answering the Gospel Rule and how we make this Righteousness of Christ the cause for which we are saved that is I do affirm or positively declare without any suspicion of being accounted a self Justiciary that the righteousness of God which the Apostle accounted all his Righteousness but dung for and which he saith is the righteousness through the Faith of Christ and the righteousness of God by Faith This I assume for the honour of Mans Righteousness to concur with Christs imputed Righteousness that this Expression of the Apostle intends yea it principally intends the Gospel Holiness of a person Justified by Christs righteousness that is to say though the Apostle expresly saith 't is not my own Righteousness yet I will make the Apostle mean 't is my own Holiness tho' the Apostle calls it the righteousness through the Faith of Christ I affirm 't is the Holiness of the person justified and though I do not exclude Christs Righteousness in Words yet I affirm 't is Gospel Holiness that the Apostle intends If this be not a plain contradicting the Apostle and making the Apostle contradict himself then nothing can do so The Apostle saith T' is not mine own Righteousness 't is saith Mr. Williams my Gospel Holiness this is to say and unsay it is not and yet it is I pray what great difference between my Righteousness and my Gospel Holiness the Apostle would not for a World be sound in his Righteousness of any sort but in Christ and yet Mr. Williams saith the Apostle would be found in his Gospel Holiness I believe Mr. W. consulted few Protestant Divines in that affirmation for here he goes diametrically opposite to the current stream of them of which hereafter and against the very direct words of the Apostle in which he laboured to bring forth his meaning the Holy Spirit by the Apostle uses much pains and skill to free the truth from Mr. W. his interpretation of a sinners or Saints being found in his own righteousness or holiness by varying the expressions thereby explaining the truth of our righteousness not having any thing to do in our Justification or standing at Gods bar either in our Consciences or at the great day but Mr. Williams with a bold stroke of his Pen flatly opposes it the Apostle saith that the righteousness he would be found in is that which is through the Faith of Christ How can this be Mr. Williams his Gospel Holiness By Faith Noah being warned c. became Heir of the righteousness which is by Faith which shews us that Noah had in those dealings of God with him the very same righteousness for the Object of his Faith which our Gospel now proposeth to us and which our Faith lays hold upon Which the same Apostle stiles the Righteousness of God and the Righteousness of Christ which is by Faith Phil. 3.9 Which Righteousness for Justification he more setly treateth of in Rom. 3.21 But now the Righteousness of God without the Law is manifested even the Righteousness of God which is by Faith of Jesus Christ He witnessed of that Righteousness which is by Faith as it hath Christ for its Object this all sound Protestants do profess Goodwin of Elect. fol. 40. The Faith of Jesus is Faith in the righteousness of Christ who is the Lord our Righteousness and the Apostle lest he should not be fully understood he explains what this through the Faith of Christ is he saith plainly 't is the righteousness of God and lest we should mistake here and turn this righteousness of God this righteousness through the Faith of Christ which is the righteousness of God to our Gospel Holiness with the Arminians or with Grotius and Mr Williams he explains it farther and saith 't is the righteousness of God by Faith as much as to say 't is that Righteousness which Christ as God wrought out for us who is made of God to us righteousness and which is made ours by Faith But though these 4 Bars be laid in the way 1. Not my own righteousness 2. But that through the Faith of Christ 3. Plainly not Gospel Holiness but the righteousness of God 4. And this Righteousness of God ours by Faith yet this Gentleman takes a Run and leaps over them all with a confidence most bold dashes out all the Apostles sense and saith I affirm it principally intends Gospel Holiness than which nothing can be a more shameless imposing on the plain Word of God I conceive and a corrupting of it which he doth by his confident affirmation that the righteousness of God ours by Faith is a persons own Gospel Holiness he may as well affirm that being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus is being justified by our Gospel Holiness The Gospel of Salvation by Jesus would stand on ticklish terms and soon be lost if a few more such bold Attempts as this against the righteousness of God ours by Faith be allowed but the Gates of Hell shall never be able to overthrow this Truth that the righteousness of God there is Christs righteousness believed on to Justification and not our Gospel Holiness We must not lose such a glorious Star out of the Firmament of the Scriptures nay I may say 't is the Sun for take this Mr. Williams and take all the Bible away for I would as soon hope to be Justifyed by the Turkish Alkoran as by my Gospel Holiness nay it must not come in for a share or have any concurrence as to causality for a little Leven in this case will leven the whole Lump O the Cloud of Witnesses that have from this Text of Phil. 3.9 made many comfortable Conclusions that this righteousness of God by Faith is the imputed righteousness of Christ received by Faith O the famous Dr. Tuckny how would he have shamed that Man that should have enervated this Text on which he preacht many Sermons lately Printed contrary to Mr. Williams Exposition O the rich streams of Gospel Grace that flowed from solid Dr. Jacomb at Tunbridge in June 1686. In six Sermons on this Text which I took from his Lips all contrary to this puddle of Gospel Holiness Hundreds of these I pass and shall cite a few Passages out of older times as the Faith of our Protestant Forefathers not to be ravisht from us by Mr. Williams tho' he had a hundred Vouchers for his serving the Church First our Composers of the Homilies in King Edward the Sixth's time which is the Doctrine of the Church of England Confirmed by many Acts of Parliament they quote Bazil a Greek Father in fol. 16. of the Homily of Salvation on this very Text Phil. 3.9 This is saith Bazil a perfect rejoycing in God when a Man advanceth not himself for his own righteousness but acknowledgeth himself to lack true Justice and Righteousness and to be Justified by the only Faith in Christ and Paul doth glory in the contempt of his own righteousness and he
Mr. Frith have insisted on No manner of Works make us right wise and no works make us unright-wise and all good Works must be utterly excluded and stand apart that grace may appear free Now are not Repentance Holiness new Obedience perseverance and Mr. Williams his c. Good works yet they must stand apart and be far from such a Conformity to the Rule of the Promise in our salvation as Perfect Obedience was to the Rule of the Precept O that God would teach Men to lower their high towering Opinions of our Holiness concurring to our Salvation and cry Grace grace to all from the Foundation to th◠Top-stone still not of works though this galls proud Flesh lest any boast For a farther satisfaction in this great point let us see what our great Men presently after the down-fall of Popery in this Nation have said as to our works in the matter of Salvation The Homilists say in fol. 27. All good Works spring from Faith and cannot be done without Faith then I argue if they spring from Faith and that we are justifyed by Faith then good works have no hand in our Justification because that is over in order of nature before a good work sprung up then what have we to do with Mr. Williams Gospel Obedience conforming to the Promise in order to pardon The Homilists say farther from those words without me you can do nothing That what work is done without Faith is sin and without Faith all done of us is dead and Austin saith fol. 31. Whether thou will or no that work that comes not of Faith is naught There is one work in which is all good Works that 's Faith This is the Work of God to believe in him so that Christ called Faith the work of God and as soon as a man hath Faith anon he shall flourish in good Works Thus Holy Austin was for Faith alone without the Trumpery of our Obedience with c. in order to pardon Mr. W. fixeth Repentance and Faith with Holiness c. to be the Terms of Pardon How far this c goes it may be Mr. Williams may tell us in the next Edition or by the Athenian Mercury but for the consolation of humble Enquirers into the truth I 'll tell them what our Homilists say of this great grace of Repentance which Mr. W. puts before Faith and which he makes one of the terms of Pardon with his c. in fol. 258. these Homilists say We must return to the Lord yea to him alone and never rest till we have taken bold upon him but this must be done by Faith and he himself in his Gospel doth cry out I am the way the Truth and the Life therefore they are greatly deceived who preach Repentance without Christ so that with the Homilists 't is first Christs ours by Faith then Repentance they that think they have done much of themselves towards Repentance are so much more the farther from God This is not like our new Gospel Truth stated that a man without saving Faith in Jesus may repent of his sins yet say the Homilists but 't is such a Repentance as Judas's such as puts him farther from God and in fol. 263. they confirm their Doctrine of no sound Repentance without Faith in Jesus the way to it and say We must beware we in no wise imagin we can repent aright hy our own strength for this must be verifyed in all Men without me you can do nothing Mr. W. will say he owns that Christ enables us to repent 't is true but doth he own a Man is in Christ believes in Christ before he repent if he do not own that then he comes not up to the Text where Christ speaking of all his to the Branches in him he saith upon that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without me or out of me you can do nothing you cannot repent or do new Obedience if not a branch in me by Faith Again in fol. 268 they say They that preach Repentance without a lively Faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ do teach Judas his Repentance It is evident tho' we be never so earnestly Sorry for our sins acknowledge and confess them all these are but means to bring us to utter despair except we do stedfastly believe that God our heavenly Father will for his Son Jesus Christ's sake pardon and forgive us our Offences To them I add the Testimony of as great a Scholar and as sound a Protestant as Mr. Williams who above 100 years ago gave a better account of Faith and Holiness than Mr. W. doth and that is Mr. Perkins no Antinomian who saith in fol. 236. The law promises life to him that performs Obedience perfect The Gospel promises Salvation to him that doth nothing in the cause of his Salvation but only Believes in Christ yet not for this Faith or for any work else but for the merit of Christ this is a big word what do nothing in the cause of Salvation but believe no nothing saith Mr. Perkins and before Mr. Williams can confute him he must prove Christs Righteousness ours by Faith is meant of our Gospel Holiness that is God saith 't is Christ's Righteousness but he means quite otherwise viz. 't is our Gospel Holiness Mr. Perkins is in good earnest that we are to do nothing for Salvation but believe and answer several Objections as follow Objection 4th saith Mr. Perkins To believe is a work therefore one work is commanded in the Gospel and is necessary to Salvation Answer The Gospel considers not Faith as a Vertue or Work but as a Hand to apprehend Christ for Faith doth not Cause or effect or procure our Justification and Salvation but as the Beggars Hand receives them being wholly wrought and given of God and in fol. 247 he saith we must first be Justified before we can do a good work and in fol. 287. Paul teaches that works set up as Causes of Salvation with Christ make void the grace of God And is not this making them causes of Salvation with Christ to say Christ purchased this Grace that our Sincere Obedience Faith Holiness Perseverance should be accepted to answer the rule of the Gospel Promise for pardon Well doth Mr. Perkins proceed to reject our Righteousness in the matter of Salvation and Saith in fol. 955 of vol. 1st A mans Conscience must in some sort be settled touching his reconciliation with God before he can begin to Repent wherefore Justification and Sanctification in order of Nature go before Repentance but if we respect time then Grace and Repentance are together This is intelligible Doctrine and strenuous for the advancement of Christ alone and the same in effect as Mr. Perkins had asserted contrary to Mr. Williams in fol. 84. Saying From Sanctification Repentance is derived because no man can earnestly repent except he denying himself do hate sin and embrace Righteousness this no man can perform but such an one as is in the sight of God
their Comforts by telling them I will be at peace if you be reconciled to me but revives their hearts by telling them that the peace is already wrought in God and for sinners by Christ at his death for that he made peace by the Blood of his Cross and by him reconciled all to himself Col. 1.20 Christ did not stay till we were reconciled to him as Mr. W. seems to intimate when he calls men to be reconciled to God upon which he knows God will be at peace with them This I take to be setting the Cart before the Horse to invite Men to be reconciled thereby to get God to be at peace whereas the sweet heavenly strain of the gospel is Come for all things are ready come to Jesus who is already made of God to you that come Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption who is the Author and finisher of your Faith O Jesus thus draw and we will run after thee and thus he hath drawn thousands by the Prophets and Apostles preaching and his faithful Servants after him to come to God and to holy Obedience in Love whereas the legal drawing of walking holily and then God will be at peace keeps poor Souls in perpetual doubts and works the Soul but to a Spirit of Bondage Next comes the Top-stone of this New system of gospel Truth which looks as if it were hewed and squared at Rome with only a little Varnish at Amsterdam viz. These things Gods promising life by forgiveness and yee insisting on some Degree of Obedience will help thy Conceptions still remembring that the merit of Christ are the cause of this gospel Ordination Can any spiritual inlightned mind read this and not blush for Mr. W. and think he is hard put to it to support his cause of laying our salvation on our gospel holiness joyned with Christs righteousness when he flies to such an Assertion as the Papists have been forced to forsake being beaten out of that Trench by our great Divines That Christ merited that we should merit this they asserted but found it would not hold water therefore Bellarmin flies to his Tutissimum and saith in his Book de Justif l. 5. ch 7. pro. 3. Propter incertitudinem propriae Justitiae periculum inanis gloriae Tutissimum est totam fiduciam in sola Dei misericordia benignitate reponere Because of the uncertainty of our own righteousness and the danger of vain glory it is safest to put all our trust in the alone mercy and bounty of God Here the Jesuit flies from the gospel Ordination that Christ merited that God should have regard to our gospel holiness and our conformity to gospel Rule for obtaining gospel promise this chimed well with him in his long arguments for Justification by works but upon his review of his strong reasons he flies from it and betakes himself to Gods meer mercy and bounty which must be in Christ and so I hope the great opposer of Dr. Crisp will do But in regard this is so broad and wide a gap to let in the whole body of self Justiciaries with their good works to come in for sharing with Christ in salvation I must make some opposition to it both from Scripture and sound Protestants The merits of Christ saith Mr. W. are the cause of this Ordination that is that our answering the gospel rule obtains us interest in the gospel Promise or which is all one Do and live Christ merited that if we do we shall live the only difference is the first doing and live was perfect Obedience to the Law and this doing and live of Mr. VV. is sincere obedience to the gospel in all its commands counsels c. which every true Christian trembles to think on Is this the upshot of Christs Death to merit that our Gospel Obedience should be the ground of our obtaining Benefit by Christ then I say again it must come to this that Christ merited that we should merit for there can be no benefit to a Sinner but by merit Christ did not absolutely merit the Benefit for us say they but merited that we doing so and so should obtain the Benefit then our doing so and so must merit it for it is injustice of God to himself and his Righteous broken Law to give a Sinner that deserves Hell any good unless that good be merited and this is left to the Sinner to obtain by Gospel Obedience which therefore must of necessity be from merit So that here it must rest or we make God unjust to himself and so say Christ purchas'd this that we should do so is Nonsense Mr. Williams can hardly assoyle himself from this Charge till he retract this Assertion That the merits of Christ are the cause of that Gospel Ordination he had laid down As for the Scriptures that oppose this Divinity those already mentioned are abundantly more than sufficient to throw down the House built on this Sandy Foundation as that God so loved the World that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life Here is nothing required but believing to everlasting life So the Apostle Acts 16. Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved Here 's complying with no other Gospel Rule for Salvation but believing in the Lord Jesus To which I may add the whole Stream of the New Testament to come and take the Water of Life freely Rev. 22. They that hunger and thirst after this Righteousness of Christ they shall be filled If God by his grace have begot a true hunger a true desire after it they shall have it Come to me if weary if laden cast your self on me and you shall find rest for your Souls But the great Scripture is Not to him that worketh not to him that thinks to obtain gospel Benefits by complying with gospel Rule of walking in holy Obedience to obtain pardon by it but to him that believes on him that justifies the Vngodly This Scripture is enough to confound the whole Scheme of the new fashion'd stating of gospel Truth The Apostle states gospel Truth thus Not to him that worketh no Works at all must come in in the business of our Salvation as concurring to it Thus the Apostle held saith Mr. Williams This lets in Licentiousness I have found a better way of staring gospel Truth that is To him that worketh to him that complies with gospel Rule to him that is godly not his Faith alone but his Faith with sincere Obedience That is his gospel Holiness which the Apostle intends when he speaks of being found in the Righteousness of God by Faith this gives right to gospel Benefits O what heart touched with love to the Lord Jesus and poor Souls but must ake to see the gospel thus mangled and the Crown upon our gospel Obedience jointly with Christ If this be not Evacuating and Invalidating the compleat Mediation and Atonement of the Lord Jesus then what can do it For he will not have any