Kingly Office spoiling Principalities and Powers Triumphing over them on the Cross Col. 2.14 And through Death he destroyed him that hath the Power of Death even the Devil Heb. 2.14 In that place Christ is meant in all his Offices first as a Priest entred into the Holiest of all Heb. 4.14 Application is by vertue of his Intercession to obtain the Ends of his Death likewise as a Prophet he teacheth by his Spirit and Gospel the Promise of Eternal Life and the whole Mystery of his Incarnation and Sufferings and Exaltation he as a King Conquers and Subdues the Hearts of Sinners to himself and gives forth the Promise of the Father and hence there comes the Application of Pardon and that Life laid up and hid in himself Colos 3.1 2 3. And all the places mentioned by you speak but of our receiving Forgiveness so all the Offices of Christ have the Honour due unto them when we were Enemies we were Reconciled by the Death of his Son Rom. 5.10 Reconciliation was by his Atonement and therefore the Apostle saith ver 11. not only so but through Jesus Christ we have now received the Atonement viz. through all Christ in all his Offices it 's one thing to make Atonement and for God to be reconciled to us that is the accomplishment of the Reconciliation of God to the Elect considered as Sinners and another thing to Reconcile us which is done by the Gospel Ministry whereby also we receive the Atonement Dr. Davenant having shew'd many ways of Redemption saith Vltima unica ratio nos redimendi est ea quae fit per modum Justitiae c. The last and only way of Redemption is that which was by way of Justice all our Debts being paid by our Surety Jesus Christ which price being paid the great Debt is discharged 1 Pet. 1.18 Christ averts the Wrath of God from us by undergoing the Punishment undue to him to free us from our Debt Gal. 3.13 And here it is to be observed that although the Devil do detain us Captives yet the price of our Redemption viz. The Blood of Christ was Offered in satisfaction to God not to the Devil c. Deo satisfactum expiata sunt peccata nostra Dr. Davenant on Colos 1.14 Neonom Arg. 3. By the opposite Errour the Elect would have been discharged if Christ had never risen again Antinom We excepted against this Quirk before as if any Man understood not by laying Sin on Christ all things that concern the satisfaction to be made speaking of things by Synechdoches and Metonimy's as the Scripture doth mentioning sometimes the Blood of Christ sometimes his Body for all the satisfaction of Christ by Sufferings and by Metonymies the Cross of Christ for his Sufferings on the Cross Secondly Christ's Satisfaction had never been compleated if he had never rose from the Dead and then we had been still in our Sins 1 Cor. 15. and 1 Pet. 1.3 But let your Supposition go though no such thing is to be supposed make what you can of it and observe I pray was not the Sins of Believers under the Law Actually taken away before Christ either Dyed or Rose again I say if a Creditor do accept of an Insolvent Person for Paymaster and Cancel the Debtor's Bond the said Creditor cannot recover his Debt of the Principal though it may affright him fearing it is not Cancelled there 's nothing truer than that the Hand-writing of the Law that was against us which was contrary to us was taken away and Nailed to the Cross Col. 2.14 Dr. Davenant after a long Explanation of the Text saith In all these words this one thing is shewed that by vertue of the Passion of Christ dying upon the Cross the Damning Power of the Moral Law was taken away and all the Rites of the Ceremonial Law were at once abrogated The Hand-writing of the Law bound us to Obedience and bound us over to Punishment for Non-performance thereof Christ therefore our Surety by performing that exact Obedience which the Law required and undergoing the Punishment which the Law exacted of the Violators thereof did that which we were bound unto by this Hand-writing and so blotted out the Hand-writing for the Blood of him being shed who was without spot the Hand-writing of all faults are blotted out as Augustine saith Christ was made in subjection to the Law that he might redeem them that are subject to the Law Gal. 4.4 5. Dr. Davenant on the place He adds But that is to be observed this Hand-writing may be said to be blotted out two ways 1. Quoad Deum as to God Vniversaliter Sufficienter Universally and Sufficiently because there is such satisfaction given to God by the Blood of Christ because that Hand-writing of the Law cannot be exacted of any as Debtors when they fly by Faith to this Redeemer but he must absolve them 2. Particulariter efficaciter Particularly and efficaciously when it is actually blotted out from the Consciences of Individual Faithful ones who do apprehend Christ by Faith and he follows the true Spiritual sence of this Scripture most Evangelically I chuse to give the Summ of it because it decides the whole Point in Controversie most excellently according to that of the Apostle Rom. 5.1 A Man in Debt cannot have Peace so long as he sees he owes more Money than he can pay and sees he is bound in a Bond under his Hand to the payment thereof but as soon as any Person apprehends Christ by Faith immediately the Hand-writing is Cancelled in his view and he enjoys blessed peace of Conscience Here Paul excellently resolveth the Case of doubting Consciences by an admirable kind of Gradation not content with what he had said in the former Verse all your Sins are forgiven but he adds the very Hand-writing is Cancelled but it may be said Happily not so blotted out but a new Suit may arise he subjoyns therefore è medio sublatum it is taken out of the way but it may be said again it may be it 's kept and hid and hereafter may be produced yea saith the Apostle it 's Nailed to the Cross Cruci affixum it is Cancelled torn in Pieces and Nailed to the Cross this he saith we ought to believe not only that Christ hath deserved the blotting out of this Hand-writing but that it is even Actually blotted out as to our selves in particular I think Sir now I need say no more of this Debate seeing I have given you the Opinion of the Learned Dr. and of whose Opinion I know you are in the Point of Universal Redemption and I believe your other Arguments are here Answered Neonom I will alledge them for all that Arg. 4. If taking Sins of the Elect and laying them on Christ was their discharge they would be discharged before the Sufferings and Death of Christ c. D. W. p. 18. Antinom This Argument is as it were the same with the former and admits the same
Forgiveness It was not expressed no more was the Admittance of a Surety But if God had intended the Salvation of Man by a Law of Works this might have been admitted When once a Transgressor is sentenced by the Law he falls into the Hands of Prerogative and the Prince may do with him what he pleaseth God also might have put Repentance into the Conditions of the Law of Works at first and said If thou dost not eat or repent of thy eating thou shalt have thy Reward But God never intended to accept Repentance as a Foederal Condition of any Covenant whatever nor no other Imperfect Obedience There was never but one Law of Works and to fulfilling it he always stood upon perfect sinless Obedience Neonom Vpon the Fall Life is impossible by the Law with this Sanction Antinom Yea or by any Law whatsoever with this Sanction Neonom And hence to preach it to Sinners as a way to Blessedness is sinful and vain and no saving Benefit is dispensed to any of us by this Rule Antinom To preach any Law to Sinners as a way to Blessedness in this forementioned Sence of a Law is sinful and vain and no saving Benefit is dispensed to any of us by such a Rule Therefore the preaching a new Law is as sinful and vain Neonom The Gospel includes the Moral Preceptive part of the first Law with some additional Precepts which suppose our Apostate State As Faith in an attoning Saviour and Repentance for Sin these could not be injoyned as Duties upon innocent Man by a Rule of Happiness and Misery Nor could they be necessary to his Right to Life because they would suppose him a Sinner Antinom 1. I deny that the Gospel takes in or includes any Moral Preceptive part of the Law as a Rule of Happiness and Misery with Sanction as a Foederal Condition nor any Additional Precepts which suppose our Apostate state as Faith and Repentance For it were vain to set up such a Law seeing a Law of Works proved fruitless to Man in his perfect State it 's much more likely to be of none effect we being now a Thousand times more unable to perform the old Law or a new one with Additional Precepts And it becomes not the Wisdom of God to make a Law to enjoyn new Obedience to dead Men unless he makes them alive first Moreover all the Preceptive Will of God then or afterward to be revealed was enjoyned to Man as his Duty to observe in the Law of Nature imprinted on his Heart As for Faith it was an eminent part of his Perfection and that which the Serpent first wounded him in by Temptation Repentance also is an included Duty required in every Command of God upon a Supposal of a Transgression but that Repentance or any Duties are enjoyned as a Rule of Happiness and Misery if I understand your Rule aright viz. A Foederal Condition giving Right as such since the Fall I utterly deny and the rather because any such Duties suppose him a Sinner as will be very easily made appear when need requires Neonom The Gospel is taken in a large Sence when I say it includes all the Moral Precepts But yet the Gospel doth so and they are the Commands of Christ as Redeemer to whom all Judgment is committed as well as the Law of the Creator Antinom In your Sence it 's taken in so large a Sence as to make it Gospel is Nonsence If it takes in all Moral Precepts as Foederal Conditions that 's your Sence then it sets up the Old Law again only new vamps it with some Additional Precepts You have the Old Law you say and a great deal more the Precepts of Faith and Repentance which are a Thousand Times more hard to perform by Man in his Apostate State than ever a hundred Laws would have been to Adam in his Innocency Now here is in your new Law brought in not only all the Precepts of the Old Law for Condition but the difficult Task of a Blackamore's changing his Skin and a Leopard his Spots before the Sinner hath the Benefit of the Promise so much as in any taste of pardoning Mercy which you make when he hath it the Foederal Reward for so it must be of his Conformity to the Rule 2. Christ our Redeemer gives Commands and exerts a Kingly Power in Government of his Church and hath Judgment committed to him but these are not of the Gospel Conditions of Life unto Sinners propounded in the Gospel God doth not require Obedience to the Laws of Christ in his Church as Foediral Conditions of Eternal Life Such Obedience is part of the Life promised There is the Essence of the Gospel and the Effects of the Gospel The Essence of the Gospel is altogether Promise and Free Gift the Effects of the Gospel is every Priviledge and Blessing and the Production of all Good Fruits in Service and Obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ 3. It 's true all Judgment is committed to Christ as his Reward but all that Judgment is not the Gospel viz. Whenever Christ is found in a way of Judgment to destroy not to save So the Word Preached where it proves a Savour unto Death it 's not Gospel to such in the Event 4. You say they are the Laws of a Redeemer as well as the Laws of a Creator It 's true Christ is Creator But is the Gospel a Revival of his Law as Creator in a way of Redemption If you mean so then the Ministry of the New Testament is the same to us with the Ministry of Death and Condemnation contrary to 2 Cor. 3.7 9. Neonom 3. The Gospel hath another Sanction to the preceptive part of the Law than the Covenant of Works had Antinom This is a strange Assertion For there was never any Law of God with Sanction but it was always the same Suppose that your new Law were a Reality and not a Fiction of Mens Brains as it is can there be any other Sanction than what was annex'd to the old is it not a Promise of Life upon the Condition of performing Obedience and a Denunciation of Death to the Non-performers What other Sanction have you or can you pretend to besides this Neonom Though nothing be abated in the Rule of Sin and Duty yet Blessings are promised to lower Degrees of Duty Antinom The Change you pretend to therefore is not in the Sanction but in the Condition the preceptive part or the Obedience to it required your Sanction still remains of Life or Death as in the first Covenant of Works But see how well your Scheme hangs together You say there 's nothing abated in the Rule of Sin and Duty 1. I never thought God gave a Rule of Sin therefore that 's mighty improper but let it be a Rule to judge of Sin by 2. You say There 's nothing abated of the Rule of Sin and Duty therefore nothing abated in the conditionary preceptive part of the Law And there
by the offering of Christ without Spot to God This spotless Sacrifice whereon he bore Sin and was not defiled And hereby the Conscience of Sin i. e. the Guilt of Sin which is no other than Sin charged upon the Conscience is taken away and thence the Levitical Services could not make any perfect as pertaining to Conscience but it 's the Blood of Christ that sprinkles from an evil Conscience Heb. 10.22 2. A condemning Conscience without which we stand but loathsomly before God yea while for want of Faith we apprehend God deals with us out of Christ we are very loathsom and all our Works and Services dead God loaths and abhors them Is not the Vertue of Christ's Blood compared to a Fountain to wash us in and intended especially of Justification and Pardon and the Saints to betake themselves to it under the Notion of it's cleansing Vertue in that Sence 1 John 1.7 Rev. 1.5 Guilt of Sin then is as great a Pollution as belongs to Sin It 's no other than Sin lying upon the Conscience with an Accusation 1 John 3.20 21. Greg. Nysson saith He bore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Filth of our Sin Dr. O. p. 42. Again Wherever Sin is to be purged out by Sanctification it is to be rid away by Justification but all Filth is to be rid by Sanctification that indwells Now it is manifest that the cleansing Vertue of the Blood of Christ applyed by Faith is the first Gospel-effectual Means of Sanctification and it must be the great Cause of Mortification wherein we are planted together in the likeness of his Death Rom. 6. And what did Christ in his Death but destroy the Body of Sin by carrying it away 2 Tim. 1.10 He hath by carrying away sin abolished Sin and Death slain the Enmity that lay in Hatred of God Pravity and Dominion of sin Whence was it that David was cleansed from Blood-guiltiness Was it not from it's being laid on Christ Was it not that very Filthiness of his Sin Psal 51.14 Doth he not pray to God to be washed throughly from his sin and to be cleansed from it Was not that by the Application of the Blood of Christ Doth he not mention all his Pravity Original as well as Actual from which he would be purged as with Hyssop and made whiter than Snow And wherein lies this Washing Is it not in respect of sin not in respect of Punishment he mentioneth not he explains what he means it is that radical Washing ver 9. Hide thy Face from my Sins and blot out mine Iniquity i. e. From the Face of God's Justice Then follows the Creation of a clean Heart He gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity Tit. 2.14 There is no Pravity Defilement Pollution of Sin what-ever that is so but because of it's contrariety to the preceptive part of the Law must first have it's Foundation of cleansing from Christ's bearing of it away and this Faith applying purifies the Heart from the indwelling Macula in us Whence that Promise Ezek. 36.25 The clean Water there is the Spirit working in Application of the Blood of Christ and therefore Gospel-cleansing lies chiefly in Application of Promises 2 Cor. 7.1 Neonom He took care his Body should not see Corruption Acts 2.3 he would much more abhor to take in our Pollution He was holy harmless undefiled c. Antinom All this we say over and over that he bare Sin but was not defiled with Sin nor corrupted in his Nature but the Spirit of God is not to be believed See Christ's taking away of Sin by Atonement is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 1.3 Neonom It was Condescension enough that he agreed to be treated as a Sinner But how odious is it to load him with Sin it felf To spit that in his Face that the worst of Men abused him with and it would justifie his Persecutors who punished him if he was really the Person your Principles renders him to be Antinom The Spirit of God renders him to be the Person that my Principles renders him to be It saith he bore our Sins in his Body on the Tree the Lord laid Iniquities on him he was made Sin for us and yet how dare you reproach the Spirit of God in such a manner To say that it 's an odious thing To say be bore the Load and Weight of all the Sins of the Elect that it is spitting in the Face of Christ doing that which the worst of Men did to him and justifying his Murderers I am surprized with great horrour to hear such things out of the Mouth of a Man that is called a Gospel Minister I pray God give you Repentance and lay not these things to your Charge But Sir you have here declared your defiance of the Date of the Imputation of our Sins to Christ and yet would pretend you hold that Doctrine by saying God laid the Punishment of Sin only upon Christ The meer Punishment of Christ I must tell you was not the bearing our Sin for the bearing the Punishment was the payment of the Debt and was his Righteousness which is Imputed unto us if Imputation of our Sins to Christ lay in nothing else they were not Imputed at all to him Punishment was laid upon him and he bore it by way of Suffering in his Humane Nature and was that Righteousness that is Imputed to us in Justification the Argument against you is this That which is Imputed to us was not Imputed to Christ but Punishment of Christ to Satisfaction for our Sins is his Righteousness Imputed to us Ergo not the Imputation of our Sins unto him If your rooted prejudices will suffer you to consider I pray weigh well that Argument you will have more by and by But you still say if Christ bore Sin he must be polluted with Sin Ans It argues not that Sin was his by perpetration or Infusion but only by Imputation they were our Sins by Perpetration and Inhesion which he bore by Imputation The Spirit of God tells us he was a Sinner in one respect and no Sinner in another as the Church of Smyrna was Poor in one respect and Rich in another Omnia diversa natura sua abstractâ sunt opposita as Poverty and Riches Sin and no Sin tamen eidem attributa ratione tantum dissentiunt as a Man may be Rich and Poor Wise and Foolish in divers respects And as to the filthiness of Sin it could not stain him he remained untouched in his Holy Nature but yet I must tell you as bearing Sin by the Sacrifices caused a Typical Uncleanness insomuch as the Bodies were Burnt without the Camp and they that Burnt them and gathered up the Ashes became Unclean such a Judicial uncleanness was Jesus Christ our Sacrifice under wherein he answered those great Types and we are not without ample proof of it especially from Heb. 13.11 Neonom Arg. 2. Had he been Esteemed the very Transgressor his
it shews that all Malediction was included in him This may seem hard that it may look like a Reproach to the Cross of Christ in Confession of which we glory But God was not ignorant of what kind of Death his Son should die when he said Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree But one may here object How comes it to pass that the Son in whom the Father delights should be accursed I answer Two things are here to be considered not only in the Person of Christ but also in his Humanity One is that he was the Lamb of God without spot full of Blessing and Grace The other that he took our Person therefore he was a Sinner and under the Curse not so much in himself as in us but yet it was necessary he should die in our stead which he could not do out of the Grace of God and yet he underwent his Wrath else how could he reconcile the Father to us whom he looked upon as incensed against us therefore the Will of the Father did always rest satisfied in him Again how could he free us from the Wrath of God unless he had translated it from us to him therefore he was wounded for our Sins and experienced God as an angry Judge This is the foolishness of the Cross but admired by Angels and swallows up all the Wisdom of the World We must not imagine Christ to be innocent and as a private Person as do the Schoolmen Luther on Gal. 3.14 and almost all the Fathers have done which is holy and righteous for himself only True it is that Christ is a Person most pure and unspotted but thou must not stay there for thou hast not yet Christ although thou know him to be God and Man But then thou hast him indeed when thou believest that this more pure and innocent Person is freely given unto thee of the Father to be thy Priest and Saviour yea rather thy Servant that he putting off his Innocency and Holiness and taking thy sinful Person upon him might bear thy Sin thy Death and thy Curse and might be made a Sacrifice and Curse for thee that by this means he might deliver thee from the Curse of the Law As Paul applied unto Christ that place of Moses Accursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree so may we apply unto Christ not only that whole 27th of Deut. but also may gather all the Curses of Moses's Law together and expound the same of Christ For as Christ is innocent in this general Law touching his own Person so is he also in all the rest And as he is guilty in this general Law in that he is made a Curse for us and is hanged upon the Cross as a wicked Man a Blasphemer a Murderer a Traytor even so is also guilty in all others For all the Curses of the Law are heaped together and laid upon him and therefore he did bear and suffer them in his own Body for us he was therefore not only accursed but made a Curse for us I will tell you what an Eminent New England Divine Mr. Stone MSS. no Antinomian said to this Point It may appear that Christ was made a Curse for us because he suffered the Perfection of the Second Death which he began in the Garden He began to be sorrowful Matth. 26.27 He drank the first Draught of the Cup of Wrath and afterwards it 's said He was in an Agony There was the Second upon the Cross He drank up the Bottom and Dregs of the Cup of Vengeance and said It is finished John 19.30 He was cursed of God in an eminent manner Deut. 21 22 23. compared with Gal. 3 13. If a Man be guilty of Sin worthy of Death and to be hanged for it then he is accursed otherwise not Christ was accursed hanging on the Tree and therefore it 's certain he was guilty of our Sins charged upon him being the greatest Sinner by Imputation and hence he was really cursed of God and that in an eminent manner and not only cursed but a Curse in the Abstract whereby it is most evident that he suffered the immediate Impressions of the Wrath of God and the Second Death which takes possession of the whole Man and therefore must have suffered while his Soul and Body were united or standing together he was those three Hours in the Darkness of Hell encountring the Powers of Darkness and wrestling with the Wrath of an infinite God Man by Sin having displeased such an infinite God must suffer that infinite Displeasure which Christ suffered in our room The Perfection of which second Death consisted in this that he was uttâ—rly deprived of all the Sweetness of his Fathers Love and Presence and filled with the Sence of all the Bitterness of his Wrath Psal 22.1 2. Isa 53.4 to 11. Matth 27.45 46. Gal. 3.13 in which we may attend 1. The Punishment of Loss a total Privation and Desertion in respect of Sence and Feeling of the Sweetness of his Fathers Love and Presence This Desertion appeared in that the God of Glory forsook him left him destitute and desolate God the Father hid his Face from him God would not send in any Comfort by Sun Angels Saints Psal 16.12 God did not only stand at a distance but lock'd up himself in Anger from him would not be entreated by him Psal 22.1 2. c. 2. There was not only Dereliction but Malediction Gal. 3.13 He was assailed by all the infernal Powers of Hell Luke 22.53 This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Authority of Darkness they might do their worst now they had their full Scope the greatâ—st Battel was fought upon the Cross Col. 2.15 2. He wrestled with the Fierceness of the wrath of an Angry God consuming Fire he was smitten of God Psal 69.27 Isa 50. Zech. 13.3 He was his Executioner 3. A Confluence of Plagues and Evils fell upon him and settled themselves on his Sacred Person and he was filled with them he was in the depth of them Psal 69.1 Quest What did our Saviour suffer in Soul Dr. Vsher's Div. p. 172. Answ He drank the full Cup of God's Wrath filled unto him for our sakes the whole Wrath of God due to the Sin of Man being poured forth upon him therefore in Soul he did abide unspeakable Vexations horrible Griefs painful Troubles Fear of Mind feeling as it were the very Pangs of Hell into which both before and most of all when he hanged upon the Cross he was cast which caused him before his bodily Passion so grievously to complain The Death of Christ is the last Act of his Humiliation whereby he underwent the most extreme Ames c. 22. horrible and greatest Punishments for Man's Sins § 2. It contained the greatest Punishments because it did equalize all that misery which the sins of men did deserve Hence is that Plenty of Words and Phrases whereby that Death is expressed in Scripture For it 's not called
simply Death but cutting off rejection treading under foot a Curse an heaping up of wounds and stripes Isa 53. Psal 22. and Sect. 7. The Inchoation of the Death of Christ in genere damni in respect of Loss was the loss of Joy and Delight the Enjoyment of God and the Fulness of his Grace was wont to supply him with which he lost not as to the Principle and Habit but as to the Act and Sence The Inchoaâ—ion of the Spiritual Death in the Punishment of Sence was his tasting of Divine Wrath and a kind of Subjection to the Power of Darkness which Divine Wrath was most especially the Cup which was given to him to drink Matth. 26.39 Christ as Sponsor was that Object of this Wrath absolutely Sect. 9. FINIS Neonomianism Unmask'd OR THE Ancient Gospel PLEADED Against the OTHER CALLED The New LAW BEING The Continuation of the SECOND PART of the Theological Debate occasioned by Mr. Dan. William's BOOK Entituled Gospel Truth Stated and Vindicated c. By ISAAC CHAVNCY M. A. LONDON Printed for H. Barnard at the Bible in the Poultry 1693. DEBATE VII Of the Change of Person between Christ and the Elect and their being as Righteous as he Neonom HAving stated and finished the Doctrine of Imputation of Sin let us if you please in the next place examine the Doctrine of Imputation of Righteousness I have in this Point as I shall state it great Errours to Charge upon Mr. Antinomian Antinom I pray Sir proceed I shall be very attentive to your Charge Neonom You hold that every Believer or Elect Person is as Righteous as Christ and there is a perfect Change of Person and Condition betwixt Christ and the Elect he was what we are and we are what he was viz. Perfectly Holy without Spot or Blemish Calvin If I mistake not this is the 22th Errour Mr. B. chargeth upon the Antinomian but that he stateth it truer than you Errour 22. They feign Christ to have made such an Exchange with the Elect as that having taken all their Sins he hath given them all his Righteousness not only the Fruit of it but the thing it self So that they are as perfectly Righteous as Christ himself and so esteemed of God and this Doctrine subverts all the Gospel viz. That God makes an effectual Grant and Donation of a true real and perfect Righteousness even that of Christ himself to all that believe accounting it as theirs Scripture Gospel Defended B. Err. descr p. 11. Err. 22. and p. 108. Antinom Let the Question go in his own Terms I chuse to hold him to them because he reckons no Man states a Question better than himself pray Sir make proof in Matter and Form as charged by you Neonom That I can easily you say D. C. p. 270 271. Mark it well Christ himself is not so compleatly Righteous but we are as Righteous as he nor we so compleatly sinful but Christ became so being made Sin as compleatly sinful as we Nay more we are the same Righteousness for we are made the Righteousness of God the very sinfulness that we were Christ is made that very sinfulness before God So that here is a direct Change Christ takes our Person and Condition and stands in our stead we take Christ's Person and Condition and stand in his stead So that if you reckon well you must always reckon your selves in another's Person and that other in your Person God gives Christ i. e. God gives the Person of Christ to Men as much as to say God gives Christ to stand in the Room of Men and Men to stand in the Room of Christ so that in giving Christ it is as it were to make a change c. Dr. C. p. 180. Antinom When I speak of compleatly sinful and righteous you must know that I still understand by way of Imputation that which was not originally in the Subject and so the Perfection is a Perfection of Imputation which is as real and compleat in its kind as any Relative Perfections A Man may be a weak sickly Man but a perfect Father a Poor Man but as perfect a Son as the Son of the Richest a Man may be free from Debts and yet make himself as perfect a Debtor for the Debts of others as any Man for his own and a Man may be a poor wretched miserable Creature but made as Righteous in respect of the Law as the Richest Man on Earth by the Money of another Man that which denominates a Man perfectly Righteous is this that he oweth nothing to the Law and if a Man be worth but Forty Shillings and owe nothing he is as Righteous in a Legal Righteousness as he that hath a Thousand Pound therefore it 's no Hyperbolical Expression for one that owes nothing to the Law to say I am as Righteous as the King meaning such a Righteousness which the Law requireth of him respecting the Precept or Sanction Active and Passive Obedience I mean not the Righteousness of Legislation or Execution of Justice in a way of distribution but such a Righteousness that I am capable of So when I say we are as Righteous as Christ I mean not Christ's Mediatorial Righteousness as you suggest I do not mean Justitia Mediatoria sed Justitia Mediatoris not Mediatorial Righteousness but the Righteousness of the Mediator When I say I am as Righteous now after my Debt of Five Pound is paid and owe no more in all the World in the Eye of the Law as my Friend that paid my Debt and fetched me out of Prison I do not thereby say that I have as good an Estate as he or that I have so many Thousand Pounds as he or as able to pay the Debts of others as he is and as for the other part of your Charge about our commutation of Person I justifie my self in it that as Christ bore my Sins by Imputation so I have his Righteousness and am Righteous in his Righteousness by Imputation 2 Cor. 5.21 Calvin What do you Mr. Neonomian reckon to be Truth in this Point Neonom The Truth is this D. W. p. 37. The Mediatorial Righteousness of Jesus Christ is so Imputed to true Believers as that for the sake thereof they are pardoned and accepted unto Life Eternal it being reckoned to them and pleadable by them for these uses as if they had personally done and suffered what Christ did as Mediator for them whereby they are delivered from the Curse and no other Atonement or Meriting Price of Saving Benefits can be demanded from them Antinom Your Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness necessarily inferrs the Consequents that you would draw upon us for if the Mediatorial Righteousness of Christ be Imputed as you explain it your self Diff. 1. To be Habitual as well as Active and Passive then we must be reckoned Mediators for we must be reckoned such as Christ is in Person and in Office but we deny that the Mediatorial Righteousness was Imputed but
have an Inheritance among them that are Sanctified Pardon believed is the Root of Sanctification and this cannot be without it for by Faith we are risen with Christ we are planted in the likeness of his Death and Resurrection and Faith in this Point of Christ's Resurrection is that which sets us above the Charge of Sin and Condemnation By the Resurrection of Christ Preached we are begotten to this lively believing hope and we are risen with him through this Faith of the Operation of God hence the Body of Sin is destroyed Death abolished Life and Immortality brought to light Christ by his Resurrection being discharged and justified from the Iniquities of us all which were laid upon him and which he bore in his Body upon the Tree Neonom An Inlightned Regenerate Soul cannot Act towards Christ when he is first presented to its view below these Instances Antinom No it 's the sight of Christ and taste of Christ that carries him forth to all Duties of Sanctification he having Christ in all his fulness he hath done with all his Conditions all his Righteousness is filthy Rags A Soul truely instated by a lively Faith is far above padling with his own little poor sinful Duties as conditions between him and Christ he can serve Christ obey him and his Commandments are not grievous to him neither will he think they have any such Vertue in them as to give him Right to Christ in any way of Foederal Conditionality Neonom His mistakes are because Faith is the Evidence of things unseen i. e. it assents unto unseen realities therefore he thinks that our Faith is nothing but our assent Antinom I think I understand the Import of those words as I have told you but I shewed you it 's such a work of the Spirit and Word whereby the Heart Ecchoes to the Word by such perswasion of the Truth whereby Christ and the Truth is as it were formed in us and your selves can give no account of Faith that reacheth the Essentials thereof but what we have done from the Word of God Neonom Because the Word of Grace promiseth Justification unto all true Believers therefore an assurance of my being Justified is believing whereas I must first be a Believer in order to Pardon before I justly can or ought to believe that I am pardoned Antinom The word Assurance is a word you Impose it was not in the words you alledge against me what is it the Gospel would have us believe if it be not Forgiveness of Sins Acts 13.38 Be it known unto you that through this Man is preached unto you forgiveness of Sins and by him all that believe are justified c. What do they believe It 's Forgiveness of Sins and in this Act of Faith is the Justification by Faith in that they believe forgiveness of Sins and as they are weakly or strongly perswaded through the Spirit of Grace working the Promise upon their Souls In Justification by Faith Faith is not nor cannot be before it but they are Relata quae mutua alterius constant affectione Popish School Divines do dream that Faith is a Quality cleaving in the Heart Luth. on Gal. c. 3. v. 8. without Christ This is a Devilish Errour But Christ should be so set forth that thou shouldest see nothing besides him and shouldest think that nothing can be more near unto thee or more present within thy Heart than he is for he sitteth not Idly in Heaven but is present in us C. 2. I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me And here likewise you have put on Christ Faith therefore is a certain stedfast beholding which looketh upon nothing else but Christ the Conqueror of Sin and Death and the Giver of Righteousness Salvation and Eternal Life this is the cause that Paul nameth Jesus Christ so often in his Epistles almost in every Verse but he setteth him forth by the Word For otherwise he cannot be comprehended but by the Word This was lively and notably set sorth by the Brazen Serpent for Moses commanded them that were stung to do nothing else but stedfastly behold the Brazen Serpent they that did so were healed Read with great vehemency this word me and for me and so inwardly practise with thy self Id. on Gal. 2.20 that thou with a sure Faith maist conceive and print this me in thy Heart and apply it unto thy self not doubting but thou art of the number of those to whom this 〈◊〉 belongeth Also that Christ hath not only loved Peter and Paul and given himselfe for them but that the same Grace also which is comprehended in this me as well appertaineth and cometh unto us as unto them When I feel and confess my self a Sinner through Adam's Transgression why should I not say that I am made Righteous through the Righteousness of Christ especially when I hear that he loved me and gave himself for me This did Paul most stedfastly believe and therefore he speaketh these words with so great vehemency and full assurance which God grant unto us in some part at the least who hath loved us and given himself for us What is Faith The first part of Religion whereby from Knowledge I believe in God Yates Divin The first Act of Faith is passive in receiving what God gives Here may we justly say it is a poorer and meaner Act to believe than to love nay rather Passion than Action for we are first apprehended of God before we apprehend him again Phil. 3.12 This Grace is most freely Graced that it might the more frankly reflect all on God again No doubt Faith receives a full discharge makes it not we rather by Faith receive an Acquittance Sealed in the Blood of Christ than the Blood of Christ to make our own Works Meritorious which we may offer to God in payment for our selves Here lyes the Errour of Papists even in Faith iâ— self and other Graces If God will â—â—t bear half the Charges by his Co-operation Man shall undertake to Merit his own Glory and fulfill the Royal Law so abundantly that he shall have something over and above Works are the Effects of Sanctification Sanctification is the Effect of Justification P. 23. The Object of the Understanding is Truth of the Will Goodness Temble of Grace and Faith P. 111. Faith is an Assent to the Truth and Goodness of Divine Revelation wherefore we affirm that this Faith is an Act of the Understanding and of the Will both together approving and allowing the Truth and Goodness of Divine Things In which Asserâ—ion you are to note that we do not make the habit of Faith to be inherent in two Faculties but we affirm the subject is but one and the same viz the Intellectual Nature for I take it with divers of the Lerrned that these Speculations about the real distinction of Faculties in Spiritual Substances of Angels and Souls of Men are but meer subtilties in the Schools without any true ground in
in him and the Covenant Promise gives a part before that receiving him in giving Christ for the Gift of Christ must be by nature before we can receive him Neonom 3. Whether the Soul of a Sinner as to its habitual disposition and purpose is under the Reigning Power of Enmity Rebellion and Filthiness till after he hath a Saving Interest in Christ. This you affirm and I deny Antinom I do affirm that a Sinner hath no habitual disposition or true purpose of Heart for God and is under the power of Enmity c. till he hath a Saving Faith Here you will have a Sinner free from dominion of Sin before he is under the dominion of Grace the Heart changed and Sin mortify'd without saving Interest in Christ he must be sanctified before Christ is Justification or Sanctification to him This is strange Doctrine Neonom Whether some degrees of Conviction and Humiliation of Soul be necessary Prerequisites to the Souls true Acceptance of Christ for Pardon I affirm this and you deny it Antinom We have told you what Protestants long since say That no Antecedent Qualities before the Grace of Christ and the Inspiration of his Spirit are pleasing to God or make Men meet to receive Grace but all such are Sins the rather because they are not done as God wills for Effectual Vocation is by an Interest in Christ therefore it 's vain and frivolous to talk that those things are Prerequisites that are the thing it self Neonom I shall only prove the Truth as contained in the third and fourth Question 1. That the Soul of a Sinner as to its habitual disposition and power is not under the Reigning Power of Enmity Rebellion and Filthiness till after it hath a Saving Interest in Christ 2. Effectual Vocation makes this change in the habitual disposition of the Heart and this Vocation is necessary to our Interest in Christ Antinom What is it that you would prove That which you are to prove is this That the habitual disposition of the Soul is changed as to the dominion of Sin and as to the filthiness thereof before a Saving Interest in Christ and now you shift the Terms and after you have been speaking all this while of Preparatory Works how we must be humbled have self-denial and cast off all our Idols before we have an Interest in Christ now you shuffle your Cards and say The Soul is not continued under the Reigning Power of Enmity c. till after his Interest in Christ Doth not any Man that hath half an Eye see this Juggle and forsooth you 'l prove that this disposition of habitual and reigning Enmity doth not remain till after our Interest in Christ why Because it 's taken away in our Saving Interest in Christ Is not this shifting and shuffling That all this while you make such a noise and vapour of what we have before we come to Christ It 's nothing else but what we have by Vertue of an Interest in Christ And your Argument should run thus If Effectual Calling makes this change in the habitual disposition of the Heart and is necessary antecedaneously to our Interest in Christ then this Enmity Rebellion and Filthiness is taken away before our Interest in Christ Ergo We deny the consequence for this reason Because the reigning power of Sin hath it's first blow in our Effectual Calling and then and not before we are beginning to be made holy and this Effectual Calling is our Interest in Christ Sin shall not have dominion over us because we are under Grace Christ is made to us Sanctification and we are Sanctified in Christ c. And now you shift your Hands and fay We do not lye under this Enmity till after our Saving Interest and good Reason because Christ hath slain the Enmity upon the Cross and the Doctrine of Reconciliation being received by Faith in our Effectual Calling the Enmity is slain there also the New Man put on we are Created in Christ Jesus to good Works and the depraved disposition and habit changed and now what you go about to conclude is so far from the Question that it is against you but you say P. 85. That this disposition is altered in Effectual Vocation and there can be no true coming to Christ for Pardon and especially for Sanctification without that purpose whence it appears that Effectual Vocation must be before Saving Faith in Christ and that therein the Reigning Power of Sin must be slain before Justifying Faith or any Sanctifying Grace that is the Fruit of it Neonom The Confessions are for me for they both say That this Call lyes in Enlightning the Minds Spiritually taking away the Heart of Stone giving a Heart of Flesh c. Antinom I pray take their words together they say Confes ch 10. All those whom God hath predestinated unto Life and those only mark the words I know you cannot swallow all this Article without kecking he is pleased in his Appointed and Accepted Time effectually to call by his Word and Spirit Is not this to give them Saving Interest in Christ out of that state of Sin and Death Is not this the habitual purpose and disposition of the Heart under the Reigning Power of Enmity Rebellion and Filthiness in which they are by Nature to Grace and Salvation by Jesus Christ enlightning their Minds savingly taking away the Heart of Stone giving a Heart of Flesh c. Here is terminus à quo and ad quem And now you would argue because this habitual Disposition Enmity and Reigning Power of Sin is taken away in and by our Saving Interest in Christ therefore it 's done before our Saving Interest and because that would look so grosly absurd you say therefore It doth not remain till after our Interest in Christ I pray Gentlemen judge whether this be not either very foul play or from gross Ignorance of the Rules of Right Reasoning Neonom 2. How Inconsistent with Vocation Regeneration and Conversion are Hearts of such vile disposition Antinom Death and Life Darkness and Light are inconsistent they are Privantia a natural Estate and Effectual Calling are such because this takes that out of one state into another in an instant by uniting them to Christ they thereby pass from Darkness to Light from Death to Life and the Passage from Death is the Passage into Life it 's our Death unto Sin and Life unto God through Jesus Christ Rom. 6.11 And being made free from sin you became Servants of Righteousness Ver. 18 22. Neonom That cannot he a true Faith and Acceptance that consists with such vile Dispositions c. Antinom True but are not such vile Dispositions changed in the New Creation The taking away the Heart of Stone and giving a Heart of Flesh is at once and generatio unius is corruptio alterius and Faith is now in the New Heart yea the very Essence of it Neonom Can he be said to accept of Christ who as you say
if we have Faith to see it and yet I still shew how great a thing Salvation is and good Works in a due manner of Performance from true Principles and a right End I shewed that our Perseverance depends not on our Works and that I am ready to maintain I say God hath settled all things that appertain to Life and Godliness in his Son Jesus Christ and upon you for his own sake and setled Everlastingly and Vnchangeably upon you so that there can be nothing to make them more secure than the Grant of God himself hath made them I shew'd that a good Child knowing he is Heir and hath the Estate setled on him doth not obey his Parents in order to a better Security for the Estate than he hath he serves not now to get his Fathers Land but to Honour and Glorifie his Father that hath so freely setled the Estate upon him VVithout respect to good or evil the Lord hath Everlastingly established all that ever he meant to do i. e. good or evil of ours and in us The Lord doth nothing upon Conditions in his People D. Cr. p. 652. as if he did refer himself still to these Conditions and did suspend what he did intend to do to his People till he did perceive how they carry themselves to him All that I aim at is this that it is not a vain thing to yield due Obedience to any thing that God requires though the Lord intend not ye shall by your Obedience gain Life Neonom He saith When you Fast Pray Mourn keep the Sabbath c. your Eye should be simply to the Glory of God and not to gain that which is already ours in Christ c. Antinom All this I say still If in these Duties we think and propose to our selves to obtain Life we are acted by the Righteousness of the Law which is opposed to the Righteousness of Faith c. D. Cr. 134. Neonom He saith let subduing of Sin alone for Peace D. Cr. p. 13. Antinom It is an easie thing to expose Sermons and any continued Discourses to Contempt if Men will pick out here and there an Expression and not shew the reason and dependance thereof My words are How much filthiness is there in all your wrâ—stlings I say how many defects and infirmities might you see Could you chuse but fall foul upon your own Spirits for these infirmities and defects of your best performances seeing the wages of Sin is Death what can you run to then none but Christ none but Christ whilst your acts in respect of filthiness proclaims nothing but VVar Christ alone and his Blood proclaims nothing but Peace Therefore I will give you this hint by the way when I speak of the power of Christ subduing Sin because from the power of it in Man they are apt to think their peace depends upon their subduing of their Sin If their Sins be subdued then they have peace let subduing of Sin alone for Peace let Christ have that which is his due it is he alone that speaks peace he is our Peace I mean not that subduing of Sin should be let alone but doing it for such an end that belongs to Christ alone If you fetch your peace from any thing in the VVorld but Christ you will fetch it from where it is not Dr. C. p. 13. Neonom He saith I must tell you there is not any thing you perform when you have attained the highest pitch that hath any prevalency or availableness to produce or bring forth the least good unto your selves D. Cr. p. 150. Antinom I say there is nothing you can do by which you ought to expect any Grace to your selves in doing it My meaning was that our bare Duties are not available to good in themselves Paul may Plant c. but God must give the Encrease we may Eat Drink and Sleep but not expect good from the things themselves as in Efficacy so in respect of purchase and procurement what doth our Righteousness profit God therefore I add the words of the Apostle you are not your own you are bought with a price Christ hath redeemed us that we should not henceforth live to our selves but unto Christ that died for us Though some look at this as a discouragement yet there is a Spirit of Ingenuity in a Believer that he will be as Industrious to glorifie God and to do good to Men as if he did it for himself Neonom He saith If a Soul get under full-sail filled with a stiff gale of the Spirit when Floods of meltings flow from it if they can cry mightily c. hereby they think they shall get pardon settle Spiritual Civil and Spiritual Healings c. D. W. from D. Cr. p. 235 236. Antinom I was shewing how Man's Righteousness is exalted above what is meet sometimes when Duties are accompanied with Christ's Assistances by his Spirit and said to clear it up That it 's true indeed whilst a Believers Heart is over-cast with gross Vapours and is more than ordinary dull in Hearing flyes low and slow in Praying and is somewhat stiff and untoward in Fasting without measure such Righteousness goes usually for Loss and Dung But if a Soul get under full-sail fill'd with a stiff gale of the Spirit c. Then follows what he rehearseth and then it follows such courses some think will turn away and reconcile God to a Person of People But under favour the attributing of such Efficacy to this Righteousness though thus assisted by Christ's Spirit is more than is meer though Christ be Explicitly owned as the Author of such Assistances And this is a failing very ordinary among Believers to ascribe an Atoning Efficacy to their Duties especially when performed in the best manner when it is hard to keep their Hearts in the right frame not so duely considered that their Persons and Services when seemingly best performed have all their Acceptation in Christ and they are apt to think that they procure more at the Hands of God when they seem to be carried forth more than when they see as it were a withdrawment of those Assistances and so spoil their best Duties for want of due thorow Renunciation of their own Righteousness and that of their best Duties whereas God never intended that any of our best Graces or Duties should be of an Atoning Nature to Rob Christ of the Glory of his Atonement It may be Mr. Neonomian you never had any such Experience of the working of Corruption in your best Duties for the low esteem you have of Christ's Righteousness and the high valuation you have of your own as appears by these Discourses But know that the more we are carried forth in Duty the greater is our Temptation to Spiritual Pride and Selfulness Neonom His common phrase is We must not work for Life but from Life D. W. p. 124. Antinom Yes and it 's a great Gospel Principle being rightly understood we must not work for
not any just Exception you can have against this Divinity there being so clear Evidence for what is here delivered from the Word of God Neonom He saith Faith is the Eccho of the Heart to the Voice of the Spirit Calvin In the Continuation of Pool 's Annotations one of your Vouchers hath this on 1 John 5.10 He that truly believes hath the effectual Impress of this Testimony upon his Soul What is that but the Eccho of it speaking the same thing Neonom He means that Faith doth not evidence our Pardon as it is a Grace wrought in the Soul by the Spirit or a holy Qualification but only as it doth assent to and rest in this inward Voice D. W. p. 163. Antinom No he doth not place this Evidencing Nature of Faith which he speaks of in it as an Act or Qualification for as such it evidenceth no more than any other Grace but Faith hath a peculiar evidencing Nature in it because it is a receiving Grace he speaks not now of Assent it takes Possession of the Promise And would not you have Faith to be assenting to and resting on the Voice of the Spirit in the Word what would you have it be nothing at all Neonom He seems to own that Sanctification is some Evidence Antinom He doth so as was observed before Calvin I pray what is your Sence concerning the way of attaining Assurance Neonom Truth The ordinary way whereby a Man attaineth a well-grounded assurance is not by immediate objective Revelation or an inward Voice saying Thy Sins are forgiven D. W. p. 160. Antinom I judge by this Negation you set by these things from Assurance as having nothing to do ordinarily in it 1. That no Voice is heard any way by the Soul Thy Sins are forgiven that is not to be believed by a direct Act of Faith 2. That Forgiveness of Sin is not revealed to a Believer by the Word of Promise believed 3. That the Spirit of God hath nothing to do in bringing the Soul to appropriate and apply the general Promise particularly to his own Soul So that here as to our believing Forgiveness of Sin neither the Spirit nor the Objective Revelation of the Gospel nor indeed Faith it self in it's receiving Nature hath any thing to do but only as a Sign and Mark set upon the Soul Neonom But when a Believer is examining his Heaert and Life by the Word the Holy Spirit enlightens the mind there to discern Faith and Love and such other Qualifications which the Gospel declareth to be the infallible Signs of Regeneration And he adds such Power to the Testimony of Conscience for the Truth and In-being of these Graces as begets in a Soul a joyful sense of it's comfortable state and some comfortable Freedom from those Fears which accompany a doubting Christian And according to the Evidence of these Graces Assurance is ordinarily strong or weak Antinom I observe now though you would let the Spirit have no hand in the Evidence of Faith yet you need its help to enlighten about Signs and Qualifications I pray how doth the Spirit enlighten here Is it by any objective Revelation or by any inward Dictate or Intimation And cannot the Spirit as well enlighten the Mind to behold Christ in the Promise by an Act of Faith as to behold Faith and Love in our selves 2. You will not admit the Declaration of the Gospel received and embraced by Faith to evidence but that it seems the Heart and Life must be examined by the Word as a Rule So that Assurance must be wrought by the Word as a Law not as a Gospel so far as you are come up to a Conformity to the Rule not a Testimony of your Interest in the Grace of the Gospel 3. You had need have the Light of the Spirit to find an infallible Sign in you too though they be declared in the Gospel Hypocrites pretend to them and you cannot tell whether you are any better than a Hypocrite without an infallible Voice of the Spirit according to your Doctrine for you must know that you shall persevere in those Qualifications and it 's impossible for a Man to be assured till Death or can be assured of his Perseverance till then all other Signs will signifie nothing without an Infallible Witness 4. You must have a Power added by the Spirit to the Testimony of Conscience that it may witness the Truth and In-being of Graces What 's the Reason it cannot witness the Truth of our In-being in Christ and add a Power to our Faith to believe even unto Assurance 5. All this Examination Illumination of the Spirit Gospel-Declaration c. may at last beget a joyful Sense or a reconciled State you say but according to you it cannot be Assurance because you cannot yet try by Perseverance the Soul is in a little hopes it 's in a probable way to Salvation but cannot be assured he is in a sure state or shall certainly be saved because he must continue his Justified State by his Works and therefore it 's impossible for him to try and find so far as to Assurance because he hath not persevered you 'l say it may be He must believe his Perseverance and be assured of it by Faith then I say there 's as much ground to believe and be assured by Faith of all our Salvation 6. You speak not of an Assurance in all you have said but of some comfortable Freedom from Doubtings i. e. upon some probable Grounds This amounts to more than Opinion at last the only Judgment of a contingent Axiom and you tell us elsewhere our State here is but of Tryal not decided therefore there can be no Assurance at all in this Life 7. You do well to add at last that according to the Evidence of these Graces Assurance is ordinarily strong or weak And may not that Assurance be so which we call the Assurance of Faith May it not be strong or weak according to the Evidence that Faith gives in being strong or weak Faith But now go on to your Whethers and Neithers Neonom I will shew you wherein the difference is not D.W. p. 164. Antinom So you may and enumerate all things in the World by Sea and by Land besides It is not whether the Sun be the Element of Fire nor how many Regions in the Air nor whether Spirits are material nor whether Anima be ex traduce c. Neonom It is not whether the Spirit witnesseth by his Miraculous Operations to Christ and the Gospel which is a Truth and the meaning of many of the Texts which you quote Antinom I do not know that we were like to stumble there for we speak only of the Spirits witnessing in its ordinary way and so are all the Texts to be understood so far as they have been applyed to our purpose Neonom Nor whether the Spirit as a Worker of Grace in the Heart be an Earnest of Glory and Witness to our state