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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A45141 The middle-way of perfection with indifferency between the orthodox and the Quaker by J.H. Humfrey, John, 1621-1719. 1674 (1674) Wing H3692; ESTC R7480 27,096 35

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whole Law to man for a Covenant and if one part onely be transgressed the condition of that covenant is broken as well as if all were transgressed For otherwise he that hath layen with a woman is not therefore to be accused for mnrder nor he that hath sworn an oath is therefore guilty of theft We must understand the like in reference to the Law of faith or covenant of grace and its observation Let a mans sins be what they will so long as the condition be performed he may according to this Law be judged no transgressour In the one a man hath committed no theft no adultery nor idolatry and yet in the sense of the Apostle he is guilty of all In the other he hath bin an idolater an adulterer a thief such were some of you but you are justified and he is guilty of none The reason in both I say is the condition still in the one is broken but performed in the other As we distinguish of the Law Quâ faedus Quâ regula so may we of the performance Sub genere officii Sub genere conditionis Though we fail in our Duty we fulfill the Condition as have said already To this purpose it is not to be forgotten what is said of David that his heart was perfect that he kept Gods Commandements and that he sinned not but in the matter of Uriah And how I pray was that Do not we read of Davids Passion his Lying his Numbring the people his dealing with Mephibosheth was there no sin indeed that David did commit besides this what makes him then complain so much that he was born in Iniquity and that his sins were more than the hairs upon his head I answer there are sins consistent with sincerity and inconsistent with it Sins inconsistent with sincerity are breaches both of the Law of Works and Covenant of Grace and that sub ratione conditionis Sins consistent with it are transgressions indeed of the Law but sub hac ratione no breach of this Covenant Davids sins of the first sort were very many and his acknowledgments pious and true Davids sins of the latter sort was but only in that matter and otherwise it is said that he sinned not To be clear as I goe even for that matter As I have distinguished between the breach of our duty and the condition or of the preceptiue part of the law of grace and the conditional So must I distinguish this breach of the condition into that which may be pro tempore making the punishment so far due as that God may cut off the Sinner and damne him or else final also making it peremptorily and remedilesly due which will be ever executed by him There is a sin unto death and a sin not unto death says the Apostle A sin against the Holy Ghost Whatsoever instance there may be in which such a sin hath been committed as in the obstinacy of the Jews against Christ that rather than they would believe they would impute his Miracles to the Devil the general nature of this sin does lye in this that it is such as is inconsistent with and exclusive of the performance of the terms which are required unto pardon and life The Spirit and New Testament are one and this is to sin N. B. against the New Testament De peccato ad mortem quoniam non expressum est possunt diversa sentiri Ego autem dico id esse peccatum fidem quae per dilectionem operatur deserere usque ad mertem Concerning the sin unto death because it is not expressed divers things may be thought of it but I say that sin is this to desert or never come up to that faith which worketh by love unto death Augustine De Cor. gra c. 12. It must be demanded then what shall we think of David in the matter wherein he is accounted to have sinned I say that David according to our Brittish Divines in the Synod of Dort in that present state could not have been saved if he had died but God having Elected David provided Repentance for him that he could not dye in that estate There is a sin therefore which is inconsistent with sincerity of heart or the terms of grace at present or such a sin or sins which are exclusive of it This I said in other words but now The latter only are sins unto death The breach of the Covenant of grace sub ratione conditionis is that sin and when final that alone which is unpardonable I reassume that whatsoever sins consequently they be which any man commits if they be not such as are incompatible with Sincerity Repentance and Faith they are fins against the Law and our pardon is purchased but they are no breach sub hac ratione I must intend still of the Law of Grace no sin unto death or no sin as can hinder the person from being judged as righteous by that Law or Covenant and to be accepted accordingly unto everlasting Salvation And now Sirs Behold here a kind of Heaven opened to you I mean to you who are the Children of God and fear his Name where all your sins and iniquities are removed and where every one of you are righteous and perfect and sin not For this is the benefit and fruit of Christs Death and Redemption that he hath delivered you from that Law which you break and would condemn you for every breach and he hath brought you under a new Law the Law of Grace which requires nothing of you but what sub rat one Conditionis you do keep for he gives his holy Spirit herein to enable you to the performance So that it is not only your sins are done away that is not imputed or forgiven The Iniquities of Judah it is faid shall be sought for and not found but this Covenant hath nothing to lay to your charge And you that were sometimes alienated hath he now reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight if ye continue in the Faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Cospel And thus we are come to our period We grant a perfection which Divines call Evangelical to the Quaker that is an integrity of heart and life which the Gospel requires of every man that shall be saved If these Friends will have more who have not understood perhaps before how much indeed this is and what truly they impugne then they must come to that our Divines call Legal righteousness or perfection which is to live so as never to break any of Gods precepts both ratione officii conditiouis and if they will maintain this either that they have it or have attain'd it in themselves or that it is necessary to others unto salvation I shall tenderly offer them these ensuing Arguments Reasons or Consideratious for reclaiming them from so desperate an opinion In the first place Be it
Righteous and by that Righteousness I must say with them where they have our Divines on the blind side are justified to wit according to the Law of Faith or as they are judged at the Throne of Grace but they do sin they are Unrighteous and no flesh living can be justified according to the Law of Works or at the bar of the Ten Commandements When the Apostle argues against justification by the Law he proves none can be justified by it because all do break it Those that will follow truth shall argue as strongly if we be ju●●ified by grace then we must be righteous and perfect according to the Law of it The Orthodox are quite out that will have any justified without a Righteousness that is perfect according to the Law that justifies him to wit in regard to the conditional though not the preceptive part of it The Quaker is quite out that will have this Righteousness perfect according to the ten Commandements which does not justifie him The lover of Truth and Mediocrity will have every man have the Righteousness of a perfect heart for his justification and yet no man be justified but by the grace of God through the Redemption which we have in Christ Jesus There is pardon of sin and justification these may be distinguished not divided Pardon refers to the law of works justification to the law of Faith or the Gospel For this cause saith the Apostle he is the Mediatour of the New Testament that by means of death for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called may receive the promise of eternal Inheritance The first Covenant originally is that of Nature and the first Testament belonging to the Jew represented that first Covenant and the Transgressions for which Christ shed his blood are our sins only against that Covenant If there be any body sins against the new Covenant there is no Redemption for such We have a pardon then in reference to the law of works but we are justified in reference to the law of Faith To wit If we are accused as Transgressors of the Law we may confess it that we are guilty and plead our pardon through Christs Redemption but if we are charged as Transgressors of the law of grace we must not plead our selves guilty but righteous and such as perfectly come up to the terms required in the Gospel or else we are gone It is true Christ hath purchased forgiveness but it is upon condition Pardon is of the Transgressions of the Law but this condition is of Righteousness according to the Gospel and our justification lyes in the performance of the condition In the seaventh place This Opinion instead of leading these friends to the Spirit and the Life as they speak does lead them from both and bring them back to the letter and the flesh and ministration of death To understand this The Apostle we know does distinguish between the Letter and the Spirit The Letter killeth the Spirit giveth Life This distinction is expressed otherwhere by the Law of the Spirit of life and the Law of sin and death The Law of Faith and Law of Works The Covenant of Nature and Covenant of Grace The Law of Works is call'd the Letter as having been writ in stone and is the ministration of death the Law of sin and death or that which killeth because there is none but break it and so are guilty of fin and death by it The Covenant of grace is the Law of Faith that being the condition of it it is the Law of the spirit of life or the ministration of life for the contrary reason because we are enabled through grace or this spirit to the performance of this Law so as to be Righteous according to it and live by it The just man shall live by his Faith And unto the Law of the spirit of life is added in Christ Jesus because it is he hath procured this Law for us which is indeed the great benefit of our Redemption Now while the Spirit is given us for the performance of the condition of this Covenant it being the New Testament not the Law which is the ministration of the Spirit it is a great mistake in these Friends to expect such help from it as to perform the condition of the Covenant of Nature or Law of Works The Spirit indeed does help us but it is to keep his own Law the Law of the Spirit and that Law whereby we may have life If we do look to fulfill the Covenant of Nature we must return to our original Righteousness and our free will which we lost in Adam and that is to go from the Spirit to our selves who are but flesh But what Is not the Law of God the rule of our lives and does not the Spirit of God lead us according to rule and bring us to a conformity to his law I answer no doubt of it but that is a conformity so far as reaches the fulfilling the terms of the Gospel but not those of Works The law of grace does require a sincere walking before Go in all his Commandements and the Spirit of God does certainly help us so far as we sin not against that sincerity or sin no sins inconsistent with these terms but the spirit is not given to bring us up to the terms of the Law and that we should not sin at all What shall we say that Abraham as pertaining to the flesh hath found By the flesh we are to understand works as appears in the next verse and so is the spirit opposed to the flesh as it is opposed to the law of works If we seek therefore for a Righteousness by our works that is according to that law we shall find what Abraham did as pertaining to the flesh We shall find no such matter O ye foolish Galathians says the Apostle having begun in the spirit are ye now made pe●fect by the flesh The Galathians belike who had received the doctrine of grace by Paul were come to be seduced to the opinion that they must keep Moses Law or else they could not be saved and this is their seeking to be made perfect by the flesh The flesh and nature are Synonymous terms and as in respect of those who were Jews by Nature the works of the Law as given by Moses are called flesh so must the works of the Law as a Covenant by Nature be flesh in respect to the rest of man-kind If the Quaker then is come to seek life by such a following his light as must answer the Covenant of Nature it self that is by a perfection as is without sin against the Law he is plainly under the notion of the spirit brought at last to the flesh for what he seeks In the last place It is an ancient saying that he who looks but one thing is easily mislead It seems that these Friends do apprehend that our doctrine which opposes perfection does serve