Antinom What kind of Supposition Supposition of Duty Antecedaneous to it This is false Faith is a Saving Benefit and it 's not bestowed with a Supposition that any saving Duty is precedent to it So our Union to Christ Gift of the Spirit Justification yea the Grace of Sanctification it self are all Saving Benefits of the highest Nature Neonom 3. The Influences of the Spirit and God's Institutions have no Causality in our Salvation if men have nothing to do in order to be saved Antinom That is as much as to say If we save not our selves the Spirit cannot save us We must be our own Saviours first or the Spirit must make us our own Saviours that we may be saved I told you Adam had been saved by the Influences of the Spirit if he had been saved in his innocent state and it had never the less been a Covenant of Works Neonom On what account is it said That we believe to the saving of our Souls Heb. 10.39 And Repentance to Salvation 2 Cor. 7.10 1 Tim. 4.16 Antinom Those Expressions are Descriptions of true Faith and Repenrance given as to that 1 Tim. 4.16 We deny not that the Covenant of Grace hath many Exhortations Directions Encouragements to Duty but not antecedent to the Promise The General Promise is first participated of before any Duty is or can be performed and after participation of the Promise Consequent to it and Effects of it particular Duties and Promises do follow Neonom The Destruction of Sinners under the Gospel is still laid to not Doing John 5.40 Their not coming not turning and repenting Antinom Yea their blameable moral Inability and Perverseness is that which they are under the Condemnation for Falling upon them in their Apostacy and so their refusing a Remedy is part of their Condemnation under the Law And therefore our Saviour saith such Unbelievers are condemned already they remain under the Power and Sentence of the first Condemnation Neither is the Destruction of Sinners laid to their not doing but not believing in Christ Believing is opposed to Doing because God will not have us to be saved by Doing And when a Sinner comes he is not saved by his Act in Coming but by Christ to whom he is come Neither doth he come till he is saved by the Father's drawing him and Christ finding every Sinner before he comes shews that he is a lost Sinner and never comes to Salvation till Salvation comes to him Neonom If men have nothing to do for Salvation then Christ hath no Rule to judge them that live under the Gospel Christ proceeds on the difference of Men's Carriage and Tempers at the last Day Consider any Description of the last Day you 'll find God saves and damns with respect to men's Neglect and Compliance with the Gospel Antinom Your Argument seems to run thus Upon the same Terms that Man shall be judged at the last Day upon the same shall they be saved now But Men shall be judged by their Works at the last Day Ergo saved by Works now I deny your Major If that were true you might have some Pretence that the Covenant of Grace was a Covenant of Works There 's a great deal of difference between Christ's proceedings in the Covenant of Grace and the Judgment of the Last Day 1. Christ in Covenant of Grace comes not as a Judge to condemn the World but to save it 2. Christ first saves his Church and exerts his Offices in that Salvation first as Priest to make Atonement as Prophet to teach by his Word and Spirit as King to conquer and subdue their Hearts unto himself and all this is done before he rules and governs them 3. Christ in the Covenant of Grace acts not in his Regal Power as King of the World but as King to his Church his Mediatorial Offices are all exerted towards his Redeemed ones in order to the saving of them All final Unbelievers are judged as such as are under the Condemnation of the Law and their Sins only judged the more aggravated because of their refusal of a Remedy The Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from Heaven in Plaming Fire taking Vengeance upon them that know not God and those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ The slighting and rejecting a Remedy offer'd is a ground of more severe proceeding in the way of Execution of the Sentence which the condemned Person lay under before How shall ye escape that neglect so great Salvation The Talents mentioned Matth. 25.21 24 28. refer only to the distinction that appears between Professors Some act from common Grace only some by special Grace Some are carried no further than common Grace will carry them and therefore bring not forth real Fruit unto God and are not in Christ Jesus have only common Graces and Gifts Neonom I could easily demostrate that if men have nothing to do in order to Salvation the Ministry of Christ and his Apostles is all Vanity and Falshood c. They are cold Pleadings with Sinners that are not backed with Life and Death Antinom It 's easie to demostrate that an unsaved Person can do nothing in order to Salvation and if they can the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles is false For Christ himself saith Without me ye can do nothing and we are sanctified in Christ Jesus and created in him to good Works and Christ worketh in us to will and to do All this is Salvation The first true Motive to a Sinner is the Salvation wrought by Christ already for Sinners in his Death and Satisfaction The Promise of Heaven is a Secondary Motive but is not to be brought as a Primary Motive The rendring Life and Death to working or not working is the preaching of the Law and of the Letter and makes the Gospel such a Law as is the Ministration of Condemnation And to conclude my Answer to the Proof of that Position That Sinners have much to do in order to Salvation And to prove it in the Negative I offer this Argument They that can do nothing in order to Salvation till they are saved have not much to do in order to Salvation But Sinners can do nothing in order to Salvation till they are saved Ergo a Sinner hath not much to do in order to Salvation in your Sence I leave you to consider of it and the Evidence of it for you cannot but apprehend the Demonstration that is therein for doing must be here understood effective Such Works you speak of as appears by what follows Neonom True Holiness sincere Obedience or good Works and Perseverance are the way to Heaven and so necessary to the Salvation of a Believer that without them he cannot be saved and continuing in them he shall be saved Antinom I find you make Holiness or Sanctification and Salvation two things whereas Sanctification is a part of Salvation True Holiness is the way to Heaven but it 's Salvation as well as the Perfection
the said Foederal Conditions But we affirm neither Faith it self no not the Gift of the Spirit that works Faith not our Union to Christ no Gifts that accompany Salvation are Foederal Conditions Christ in the Exercise of his Mediator's Office in his Humiliation and Exaltation is the only Foederal Condition wherein all entitling Conditions particularly mentioned in the Gospel are lodged and treasured up and are freely by Christ bestowed on us 12. There are also Conditions of Connexion by way of Order and Dependance of things one upon another Whereas the Scripture often inculcates such Expressions as these Without Faith none can please God Without Holiness none can see God as if they had called Faith and a new Life Conditions of the Covenant when in accurate speaking and according to the nature of this Covenant on God's part they are Executions of former Promises and an Earnest of future good But if we will call these Conditions they are not so much Conditions of the Covenant as of the certainty that we are in the Covenant Wits de Foed 196. which are rationes rerum inter se and belong to Logick and they arise from all Arguments Artificial or Inartificial Prime and Ort Simple or Comparate Consentany or Dissentany and they run in a Connex Axiom when the said Conditionality is express'd As thus Si Animal est homo est rationale si figura est trigularis est trilateralis If a Creature be a Man he is a Rational Creature If a Figure have 3 Corners it hath three sides all things in the World are capable of coming under this kind of Conditionality yea the most absolute Beings As if God be the first Cause he is the Creator of all things In this Sence Creation is a condition of Salvation If a Man be saved he must be created So Election a condition if a Man be saved he must be elected but Election is not a Foederal Condition So if a Man believe he shall be saved Believing is a condition of connexion to Salvation If a Man have the Spirit of Christ he shall believe unto Salvation but neither Faith nor Union are Foederal Conditions A state in Grace is a condition to a state in Glory by way of connexion in the Promise But one is not a Foederal Condition of another but both come in in the Gift of Grace In this Sence the Covenant of Promise contains all the Conditions of Order and Dependance in the Exhibition and Performance The Hearing the Word is the Condition of Faith but hearing the Word is not a Foederal Condition So the giving the Spirit is the condition of Union to Christ and Faith Faith the condition of receiving Pardon and living in Holiness And the giving of Pardon the condition of receiving it Holiness the condition of seeing God and eternal Happiness But these kind of Conditions are not Foeâ—eral entitling to the Promise but are contained in the Promise and denote only the connexion and dependance of one promised Benefit upon another 13. Hence the Ministry of Reconciliation runs conditionally because in it the absolute Covenant is preached 1. Indefinitely to Elect and Non-elect 2. The Covenant is declared in all the Promissary and Duty-Dependances contained in it and Duty required because promised 3. We must distinguish of the Ministry of Reconciliation in respect of the Letter of it Insertae sunt novisaederis conditiones novae obedientiae legali quidam Schaemate ad normam probationis nostrae ipsius gratitudinis debitae Sic tamen alio quoque Schemate ipsa resipiscentia in peccati mortificatione bonorum operum studio promittitur tanque Dei donum quod ipse operaturus sit in nobis ut isthoc signo argumento fas sit ex quo verè resipuimus credimus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sperate in eam quae ad nos defertur gratiam in patefactione Jesu Christi 1 Pet. 1.13 Promissionis formulae expressissimae novum foedus sancientes donatione rescipiscentiae novae obedientiae extant Jer. 32.40 Isa 52.2 1 Pet. 1.4 2 Pet. 1.3 1 Joh. 3.9 and ver 18. Clopeub dâ— foâ—d p. 516. Quicquid conditionis locum obtinere concipitur id omne vniversalitare promissionum includitur si vitam aeternam solum polliceretur Deus non deâ—sset specie aliqua dicendi rescipiscentiam fidem c. Conditiones hujus foederis esse Verum cum initium progression non intercisam continuationem consummationem denique novae vitae odem quasi â—â—lur addicat Deus in universalitte hâc promissorum nihil remanet quod totius foederis conditio censeri queat Nos hic de conditione foederis sic agimus non de aliquâ re in homine quae actuaalem fruitionem consummatae felicitatis precedere debet Witf p. 195 196. de Foeâ—ere and the Spirit of it 1 Cor. 3.6 In the Letter of it the meer external Dispensation that kills because a Sinner looks upon all these conditions of Dependance to be Foederal Conditions but the ministration of the Covenant by the Spirit in that Ministry is absolute according to the Original Contract and the fullest Discovery in its highest Freedom And therefore the Apostie tells us this Spirit giveth Life And the believing Corinthians are said to be the Epistle of Christ written and transcribed from the Original Covenant-Contract not with Ink but with the Spirit of the Living God not in Tables of Stone but in the fleshly Tables of the Heart according to that Promise of a new Heart Hence therefore we must distinguish between the Covenant of Grace it 's absolute Tenure and the Ministry of the Grace of the Coventnt which Ministry is conditionally dispensed according to the connexion and dependance of good things contained in the Promise to a mixed People Elect and Non-elect The effect of this Ministry is either to work effectually by the Spirit according to the nature of an absolute Promise and then becomes a Savour of Life or else it works only in the Letter in the conditional Nature as a Covenant of Works and then it killeth eventually and is a Savour of Death and Condemnation 14. The Covenant of Grace is to be distinguished according to its different Revelation and Dispensation under the Names of the Old and New Testament which is no Specifick Difference but only secundum adjunctae Revelationis The Absoluteness of this Covenant was abundantly revealed under the Old Testament Dispensation unto the Patriarchs and Prophets but not so clearly by the Ministry of the Worldly Sanctuary but vailed on which vailedness the faultiness of that Dispensation was charged and did consist in comparison of what was to ensue 1. It stood vailed under a Figurative Carnal Ministry and Ordinances 2. Such as were weak and insufficient as to reaching those Ends that were designed by the Grace of the Covenant Heb. 10.1 and that in respect of the main Gospel Grace in pardon of Sin and purifying the Conscience 3. In that it
by the several Fruits that it doth produce Neonom Because sometimes the worst of Sinners are made Subjects of Preparatory Work and of Effectual Calling as God's Act on them therefore he thinks that these Sinners are invited to conclude they have an Interest in Christ before they do at all answer that Call D. W. p. 90. Antinom You intimate as if you thought some Sinners were more capable Subjects of Effectual Calling as to God's Act than others and that there 's a Preparatory Work distinct from God's Act in Effectual Calling which I do not think Besides I think God's Act in Effectual Calling upon a Sinner is more than a bare Invitation And I do not think or say That any Man concludes their Personal Interest in Christ because they are invited but because being invited they did come therefore not before they answer the Call by coming Neonom But his greatest cause of mistake is that he thinks the worst of Sinners if Elect have as much Interest in Christ as the greatest Saint Antinom Est Argiva Calumnia when you make it appear that I think so by what I have spoken I will answer to it and your Sarcastick Inference therefrom Neonom You may see the large Catechise Q. What is Justifying Faith They tell us That a Sinner is convinced of Sin and Misery who receiveth Christ Antinom But they tell us that that Conviction which is Saving comes by Saving Faith their words are Justifying Faith is a Saving Grace wrought in the Heart of a Sinner by the Spirit and Word of God whereby he being convinced of his Sin and Misery and of disability in himself and other Creatures to recover him out of his lost Condition not only assenteth to the Truth of the Promise of the Gospel but receiveth and resteth upon Christ and his Righteousness c. And in the Shorter Catechism you may see a more particular account of Saving Convictions that they are wrought in Effectual Calling though they be not so properly of the Nature of Justifying Faith for they say Effectual Calling is the Work of God's Spirit whereby convincing us of our Sin and Misery enlightning our Minds c. He doth perswade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the Gospel You see Conviction and Illumination are both the Saving Works of the Spirit And in the Confession they 'll tell you That Saving Faith is of a larger extent as to the Object it Acts upon than meerly Justifying Saving Faith it convinceth it enlightens it justifies it sanctifies and in this sence they tell you the Nature of Saving Faith Chap. 14. whereby they are enabled to believe to the saving of their Souls and by this Faith a Christian is enabled to believe to be true what-ever is revealed in the Word and from thence comes trembling at the Word and embracing the Promises of Life c. So that this contradicts not but confirms the Doctrine of the 39 Articles That all Works before Faith even Legal Convictions are no more than Sin it 's but the filthy Conscience-polluting Guilt of Sin which Thousands have and which do not dispose the Sinner to love God but to hate him nor to seek Pardon but to seek out a Righteousness of his own Neonom Dr. O. tells us p. 133. Of Justif There is nothing in the whole Doctrine that I will more firmly adhere to than the necessity of Convictions previous to true Believing D. W. p. 89. Antinom If he mean saving believing he must mean previous sine qua non not as a Preparatory Vertue but as Sin is previous to Pardon and thereby Guilt also whereby Sin pollutes the Conscience and is both sin and misery and this may arise from a meer natural stirring of the Law or by the preaching of it which is the Death of Sin the Wrath and Curse that attends it and this may and must arise from a common Faith for a Man is not convinced of any thing that he believes not But if he mean Saving Convictions they are good Fruits and wrought in Saving Faith This he intends here For he said just before Let no Man think to understand the Gospel who knows nothing of the Law God's Constitution and the Nature of things themselves have given the Law the precedency with respect unto Sinners for by the Law is the Knowledge of Sin and Gospel Faith is the Souls acting according to the Mind of God for deliverance from that State and Condition which it is cast under by the Law and he supposeth the State of a Man under meer Legal Conviction to be a State of Death and Condemnation Neonom He saith Displicency Sorrow Fear a desire of Deliverance with other necessary Effects of true Conviction P. 102. Antinom True Convictions i. e. Saving have such Effects but observe he is there distinguishing between common Convictions which before Faith are the common Condition of Sinners more or less which is the Death they lye under He saith Temporary Faith and Legal Conviction are the Principles of all Works or Duties in Religion Antecedent unto Justification observe now what he saith which therefore we must deny to have in them any Causality thereof and so he proceeds to shew what Affections and Duties in Religion may follow thence not that they are Gospel Vertues but rather solendida peccata and they I say are so far from disposing the Natural Man to Justification by Grace that they dispose him rather to seek Justification in himself by the Works of the Law till the Law comes to be Preached in true Spirituality in the Gospel and received by Faith And he saith P. 103. That Reformation of Life and these things are where real Convictions are but yet it must be said that they are neither severally nor jointly though in the highest degree either necessary Dispositions Preparations previous Congruities in a way of Merit or Conditions of our Justification Now is not this a Marvellous measure of Presumption and palpable Design upon your Reader to take the Imperfect Sence of a Man's Discourse to justifie your Errours when you must needs see the said Discourse is point blank against you I 'll hear no more therefore of your Allegations in this point out of Dr. O. Neonom Mr. Norton speaks of Preparatory Works between the Carnal Rest of the Soul in a State of Sin and Effectual Vocation Antinom I know of no such middle State for there is but two States that of Death and that of Life that of Light and that of Darkness but the Works done before Conversion he tells you are called Preparatory by way of meer Order which he saith all the Orthodox assert for that which is plainly first in Order and Nature must be said to be so all the Sin and Wickedness as well as the common Graces and Religion performed by an Unregenerate Man are all Antecedent to his Regenerate State But saith Mr. Norton It 's contrary to the Scriptures to say they are
the Works of it and therein is a Neonomian and the rather because by that Rectoral Rule of Government which he hath usurp'd to himself and the Rule of Sin he hath judicially Sentenced all his Opposers to the Name of Antinomians or Abetters of them Insomuch that all our first Protestant Reformers and any known by the Name of Calvinists fall under his severe Censure as Ignorant Setters up of the Name of Christ and his Grace against his Government I thought it meet to call in the long-ago deceased Doctor also under what Name or Title soever he is pleased to call him whom he carries about to scare Children with and as a Trophy of his pretended Triumph that he might be made speak and the World may hear what he hath to say for himself and be acquainted how he is abused and that he may be hereafter permitted to rest quietly in his Grave and not used as Wickliff was i. e. Burnt for an Heretick so many Years after be hath been dead In a Word Shall we stand still with our Fingers in our Months in such a Day of Peace and Liberty while we are Brow-beaten or wheadled out of the great Fundamental Points of Eternal Life and Salvation which in all Ages of Antichristian Tyranny have triumph'd over the smartest Persecutions through the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of his Testimony in the Faith and Patience of the Saints who have not loved their Lives unto Death in the Heroick Defence of them against the very same sort of Opposition And who I pray will harm us now if we as strenuously defend the Truth as it is audaciously attack'd Have any of us suffered to the spoiling of our Goods in the Defence of Truth of a subordinate and subservient Nature to these and shall we suffer all this in vain and cast our selves tamely at the Feet of such a confident Invader of our most choice and precious things in the World yea our very Life in Christ What is it that affrightens us Doth the Scripture Law or Learning terrify us If so little a Foot-man can run us out of Breath how do we think to contend with Horses Dragooners I mean if they should come And if in the Land of Peace we are wearied what shall we do in the Swelling of Jordan If Popery should ever over-run us again which God forbid and we should be called to bear Testimony to these Truths at Fire and Paggot as the Famous Martyrs have done It 's to be feared now that many Protestants would provide for their Safety by flying to the Neonomian Asylum But to conclude however we shrink from the despised Truths of Christ shuffle and cut with him and sometimes huff and bounce at him or some Truth of his I am fully assured the God of Glory and all Grace who hath hitherto preserved the pure Doctrine of his Gospel not only from the impure Mixtures of Pretenders to Holiness the crafty Methodists of Satan as an Angel of Light but also from his open Rage as a roaring Lion will continue yet to maintain it against all the bâ—ting Winds of False Doctrine That Christ hath his Fan in his Hand and will thoroughly purge his Floor and that if any Man lay any other Foundation than what is laid which is Jesus Christ and continues so to do his Root shall be Rottenness and his Blossom go up as Dust I. C. Some of the Paradoxes contained in the Neonomian Scheme 1. SINS of the Elect are not forgiven immediately upon nor meerly by Christ's Enduring Sufferings but there were by Divine Appointment to interpose a Gospel Promise of Pardon the Work of the Spirit for a Conformity to the Rule of the Promise in the Person to be pardoned and a Judicial Act of Pardon by that Promise on the Person thus conformed to the Rule thereof 2. The Gospel hath another Sanction to the Preceptive Part of the Law than the Covenant of Works had Though nothing be abated in the Rule of Sin and Duty yet Blessings are Promised to Lower Degrees of Duty and a continuance in a state of Death with a Barr to the Blessing are not threatned against every Degree of Sin as the Covenant of Works did 3. This Change of the Sanction supposeth the Death of Christ and his honouring the Law by his perfect Obedience wherein God hath provided for his own Glory while he promiseth Life by Forgiveness to Imperfect Man and yet insists on some Degrees of Obedience to which of his meer Grace he enableth us 4. The Degrees of Obedience the Covenant of Redemption secures to the Elect tho' the Grant therein is pleadable only by Christ as the stipulating Party for us and our Personal Claim depends upon the Gospel Covenant whereof Christ is Mediator 5. The Gospel-Sanction determins as certain a Rule of Happiness and Misery as the Law of Works did tho' it be not the same for while it promiseth a Pardon to all believing repenting Sinners and declares a Barr to Pardon to the Impenitent Rejecters of Christ and Gospel-Grace it fixeth true Repentance and Faith unfeigned to be the Terms of Pardon 6. When it promiseth Heaven to the sincerely holy persevering Believer it fixeth sincere Holiness and Perseverance in Faith as the Terms of possessing Heaven 7. Hence the use of Faith and Holiness as to those Benefits is not fron the Conformity to the Precept but their Conformity to the Rule of the Promise 8. Our applying Christ's Righteousness and relying on it would no more Justifie us than our Holiness would Save us were it not for the Gospel-Promise God will justifie for Christ's sake all such as believe 9. God in dispensing Gospel-promised Blessings doth judicially determine a Conformity to this Rule of the Promise When he forgives he judicially declares a Man hath true Faith when he admits to Heoven he judicially declares a Man sincerely holy and persevering 10. The Wedding-Garment Matth. 22.11 is true uniting Faith 11. Forgiving Adopting Glorifying and Conveyance of every Gospel-Benefit given on God's Terms are Judicial Acts of God as a Rector if not he doth blindly and promiscuously dispense them without any regard to our being Believers 12. With respect to what is declared the Gospel is a Law of Faith and it especially insists on that Sincerity of Grace and Holiness which the Rule of the Promise makes necessary in it's Description of the Person whom it makes Partaker of it's included Benefits 13. The Merits of Christ are the Cause of this Gospel-Ordination his Righteousness Imputed is the Cause for which we are Justified and Saved when we do answer the Rule of the Gospel 14. The Righteousness of God Phil. 3.9 principally intends the Gospel Holiness of a Person justified by Christ's Righteousness both which by Faith in Christ all his Members shall be perfect in 15. The Grace of God is hereby stated as free as is Consistent with his Government and judicial rectoral Distribution of Rewards and Punishments THE Ancient Gospel
the Stomach and that the whole Mass of Blood is infected with ill Humours or the Morbid Constitution of some Parts Out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh saith our Saviour our great Physician Is it not sad when there is a poysonsom Juyce under the Lips and a Mouth full of Bitterness Rom. 3. You first charge the Ministry of some and most hereabout know what sort of Men you mean with being the Cause of Men's Security in Sin And why Because they preach the Doctrine of the Gospel in a free Justification of a Sinner by Faith without the Works of a Law according to the Apostle Paul and preach down your Doctrine of Justification by Works But you express the Effects of this dangerous Doctrine to lie in these things 1. Security in Sin A Doctrine that quickens Men that are dead in Trespasses and Sins one part of which Death is Security in Sin doth not cause Security in Sin But the Doctrine of Free Grace in Justification of a Sinner without Works of any Law doth so Eph. 2. I shall not now enlarge upon you 2. Another ill Effect is you say That it causes the mistaking the Motions of sensible Passions for Conversion This is rather the Effect of your own Doctrine wherein you lay the whole Stress of Justifying and Saving Grace upon Sensible Passions and set Men wholly to judge of their State thereby It 's marvellously to be wondred at that any Man should have the Impudency to charge those Effects upon an opposite Doctrine to his which are the natural and palpable Effects of his own and he sees so to be 3. You charge upon it the general Abatement of an exact and humble walking This Charge is likewise of the same Nature Whereas the Spirit of God hath disclaimed any true Cause of exact walking beside the Grace of God that brings Salvation and then teacheth it as hath been proved As for Humble walking what is a greater Inducement thereto than the Doctrine of Faith which ascribes all to the Gift of Grace empties us of every high Imagination and Thought It exalts Christ and makes him all and in all Whereas yours is the contrary no Doctrine tends more to the lifting up of the Creature than that of Neonomianism next to that of the Papists And no wonder say you when so many affirm such and such things Where are the many or the any that you can charge with saying these things in the same Sence you put upon them Many Expressions that taken together with their Connexion in the explained Sence of him that speaks are not only true but safe and sound but abstracted and wrested may be made to look as black as Hell You may say David saith That there is not an honest Man upon the Face of the Earth Psal 12. That he saith There is no God Psal 14. That Moses affirms God to be a Man Exod. 15.3 And in a Thousand Places in your way and manner it 's easie to charge Blasphemy upon the very Scriptures And how often Lying if Hyperbole's be not allowed to be used without Wrong to the Truth As to the particular Charges I shall speak to each in it's proper place and lay open your Prevarications Errors and false Imputations to the World Neonom In this present Testimony to the Truth of the Gospel I have studyed Plainness Pref. D. W. p. 3. and to that end oft repeated the same things in my Concessions to prevent the Mistakes of the less Intelligent tho' I could not think it fit to insist anew upon all Antinom Your Testimony is against the Truth as shall be made appear and is not to be accounted a Testimony For a Testimony is a credible Witness or Evidence As the Apostle Paul saith Our Testimony among you was believed 2 Thes 1.10 And this Testimony is with a good Conscience 2 Cor. 1.12 And Paul testified the Gospel of the Grace of God Acts 2.24 1. Your Testimony is not to the Gospel of the Grace of God but against it and therefore not materially true 2. Your Testimony is formally naught it being not accompanied with a good Conscience but with a purpose and design to deceive You pretend to do Good but you manifestly design Evil to blast the Honour of God's Free Grace as if it were a Sin-teaching Doctrine and blacken a Holy Servant of Christ who is now in Glory for Preaching the Gospel your Testimony can't be believ'd because of your manifold Prevarications Equivocations and False Teachings in this Treatise of yours And whereas you say you have studied Plainness if you mean that in some places is no better than plain Falshood in others plain Error it 's true enough Or if you mean Plainness in respect of Style it 's homely enough and hardly plain Sence But if you mean Plainness of Simplicity without double-tonguedness I utterly deny it For when you speak of things that one would think at first Glance you intend Truth by it 's nothing so No Jesuite in the World can out-do you at Equivocation and there lies your Natural Excellency You have impertinent Repetition enough your Concessions every where fall about your own Ears in your glozing Oppositions to the Truth you deny You design the rectifying the Mistakes of the Non-intelligent This is false it 's manifest you design the blinding of them more else why do you quote Dr. Owen and the Assembly for countenancing those Errors which you know they directly oppose Let but the Mistakes of the less Intelligent be removed their Stomachs will rise sufficiently against you and your Book too Neonom I have in nothing misrepresented Dr. Crisp 's Opinion nor mistaken his Sence Antinom This must be true or false and here is the turning Point of the whole Book Either Dr. Crisp was or you must be If you have not misrepresented him then according to your Representation he was so If you have misrepresented him and unjustly blackened him what are you But that which we have in hand is Falshood and Lying As to this Assertion of yours we shall prove you guilty of Falshood throughout the Book that though you have repeated some of Dr. Crisp's Words from time to time yet you have only repeated such part of his Words as might render him odious not those that give a true and can did Sence of what he intended and herein you misrepresented him and that on purpose Now the Spirit of God lays the Formal Nature of a Lie upon an Intention to deceive or to deal injuriously with others as in the Case of Doeg Though I do not design now to come to Particulars I will give one Instance wherein you in your Book and your Party do frequently expose Dr. Crisp and his Abettors such as you call Divers as also Crispians and Antinomians that he and they do assert Sin can do no hurt and you would have Men understand that he means That no Person in Christ need fear to commit Sin and that Sin
express it better than you do He would have said The Decree was of the Means and the End and he would not have said Willing the first i. e. The Means in order to a Will of the End but willing the End to be brought about by the Means Quod primum est in Intentione uttimum in Executione as to our Conception 4. You say it puts nothing in present being I say it puts the Promise in an Eternal Being And if you mean as to Created Beings and the manner of them it puts them into a determinate Futurition 5. You say it barrs not God of his Government No it 's not fit nor possible his own Pleasure should barr him of it neither is it possible it should barr him of what he would have neither is he the more barred because you are pleased to find Fault and it was his Pleasure to govern as he willed to govern and all the Connexion of Events so as they come to pass in a way of Necessity and Contingency But he determined absolutely and nothing that falls out is contingent to him for he judgeth not of Events as probable by Opinion but as certain to his Knowledge and therefore knows them because he willeth them to come to pass according to his Counsel and Purpose in himself Neonom So if the Dr. had animadverted that Christ's Sufferings were the Foundation of our Pardon but not formally our Pardon For them our Sins are forgiven whenever they be forgiven Without them Sin can't be forgiven and they were endured that the Sins of all the Elect when Believers should be forgiven Antinom There 's no doubt but the Dr. was so Learned and Wise that he animadverted as much as you can tell him and undoubtedly what was the main of his Judgment that he insisted upon was not from Inanimad version Ignorance or Mistake But you have found out it seems some subtile Distinction that he thought not of You say he should have said That Christ's Sufferings were the Foundation of Pardon All that he saith and means is that our Sins were fundamentally pardoned in Christ But your fundamentally is only a remote Causality as Election is to Creation and Redemption for that 's the Foundation of both If you had not intended so why had you not said the Material Cause seeing you deny them to be the Formal but you 'l have them to be neither and you say For them our Sins are forgiven Take heed how you touch there Be careful you come not too near Christ It 's a tender Point For them our Sins are forgiven How For them For them as an End Or how for them As a satisfying Reason to the Law and offended Justice of God Or only as a Benefit procured For them remotely or for them immediately For them alone or for them in conjunction with other things All that we have at present of your Meaning of for them is that without them Sin cannot be forgiven A poor Causa sine qua non As a Judge gives Sentence upon a Malefactor or acquits him Why doth he sentence or acquit him For his coming to the Judgment-Hall For say I unless the Judge had come to Court the Prisoner could not have been condemned or acquitted Christ is beholding to you for what you give to his Sufferings But we shall see more of this hereafter Neonom But yet they are not forgiven immediately upon nor meerly by his enduring those Sufferings Antinom But you mean by something else besides them not by an immediate Application of them but mediate and remote a causa fine qua non but not causa solibitaria suo genere Neonom But there was by Divine Appointment to interpose a Gospel-Promise of Pardon Antinom Now we come to the Nicety of the Point We shall split a Hair here with a Beetle and Wedges There 's the Curiosity of it What! The Promise come after Christ's Sufferings to interpose between us and Christ's Sufferings Was not the Promise the Cause of Christ's Suffering in the hidden State and Mystery of it before the World was Tit. 1. Was not the Promise declared and promulgated before Christ's Sufferings to Adam Abraham c. And was not Christ in all his Sufferings and Triumphs the great Gift of the Promise as well as the Condition of the Covenant But you 'll have Christ to be provided as an Indefinite good Medicine to stand in the Apothecaries Shop for some body or other when the Physician prescribes it Nay it 's not an absolute sick Patient neither that must have this Medicine it 's one that the Apothecary hath in a manner cured before But there 's some ugly Chronical Symptom or other remains which the Physician must be sent to for Before the Person be pardoned he must be in a very sound and safe Condition I suppose you mean Neonom There must be a work of the Spirit for Conformity to the Rule of the Promise in the Person to be pardoned and a Judicial Act of Pardon by that Promise on the Person thus conformed to the Promise Antinom The plain English of this Position is that there must be an Inherent Righteousness in the Person to be pardoned upon the condition whereof he is to be pardoned and that the Use of Christ's Sufferings are to compound with God for Sinners upon the Account of the Old Law and put a Bar upon his Proceedings according to that and procure another Law by the Righteousness whereof we are justified which Righteousness is our own inherent Righteousness and not Christ's This I affirm hath two things in it First the Abrogation of the Old Law That we have nothing to do with it at all it 's altogether out a-doors This is Antinomianism higher than ever Dr. Crisp affirm'd or any of his Abettors as you call them Secondly Here is Erection of a new Law of Works for our Justification which is Neonomianism Neonom To clear this Point consider 1. The Law is sometimes taken for the Perceptive part of God's Will with the Sanction of the Covenant of Works Antinom The preceptive Will of God with the Sanction of Rewards promised upon Performance of the things required and Threats of Punishment upon the Non-performance is always a Law or Covenant of Works Neonom In this Covenant Life was promised to sinless Obedience and Death was threatned against every Sin without admitting Repenance to Forgiveness Antinom To talk of any other Obedience to a Law besides sinless in respect of that Law in it's preceptive part is Nonsence For sinful Obedience which you are going to plead for is Disobedience and whereas you say Life was promised in that Law to Adam's sinless Obedience That 's a Supposition but there was no explicit Promise in the Sanction neither was there any need there should For a Sovereign may command a Duty or make a thing a Duty to a Subject upon a Penalty without promising a Reward And whereas you say Death was threatned without admitting Repentance to
can be nothing abated in the Sanction it must be Life or Death Ergo There 's the same Law still and we must be saved by the Covenant of Works or not at all But 3. The Reason you give of changing the Sanction is because the Blessings are promised to lower Degrees of Duty This as I said is no Change in the Promise but in the Condition and then see how you contradict your self in the same Breath You say there 's nothing abated in the Rule and yet lower Degrees of Duty admitted How can these Lower Degrees be admitted but by the Rule of the preceptive part For the Degrees of Duty required are according to God's Commands and he requires in a Law Duty answering the Perfection of the Precept Neonom And a Continuance in a State of Death with a Barr to the Blessing are not threatned against every Degree of Sin as the Covenant of Works did Antinom This is not Sence as express'd But I take your Meaning 1. Death was threatned in the Covenant of Works but it spake not of a continuance in that State with any such Barr to a Blessing as should hinder God from the saving of Sinners But you own that Barr might be removed and was but your Covenant puts as great a Barr as that That if Men perform not the Condition they must continue in the state of Death notwithstanding all that Christ hath done to remove the Barr from the Old Covenant For their Concernment in your Sence is not now for a Righteousness to answer that but to answer the New Law which lays them under Life or Death 2. Is the Condition the same and more And the Sanction the same How is it possible it should not threaten Death to every Degree of Sin 3. It seems our Salvation is according to the Degree of Sin We must know what Sins are of such a Degree as that they are pardonable what Venial and what Mortal and if Law and Gospel are distinguished by the Degrees of Sin Gospel lies in Sin not Grace it seems for if it be from the Degree of Sin that we are saved then not from the Blood of Christ which taketh away all Sin 4. Doth God's Law admit of Sin in any Degree then I say as the Apostle saith Is the Law Sin To admit of Sin into Law is Sin No the Law is Holy Just and Good and the Promise doth not make void the Law by abating one Jot or Tittle of it but establisheth the Law Therefore the Law cannot admit of Sin Neonom Can any doubt this to be the Grace of the Gospel-Promise Antinom Yea I do not only doubt it but know and do testifie to the World according to the Grace of God given to me That it is not the Grace of the Gospel-Promise Neonom Doth it promise Life to all Men however vile and impenitent they be Antinom It promiseth and giveth Life to the vilest and most impenitent Sinners Where Grace gives Life it supposeth Men dead and not alive For Repentance is part of the Life given and to talk of giving Life to penitent Sinners is to suppose them alive before Life is given but it doth not suppose that where Christ gives Life the vilest Sinners shall remain so or impenitent Neonom Or doth it threaten Damnation or a continuance of it unto any true penitent believing Godly Man because he is Imperfect Antinom Let a Man pretend himself or be look'd upon to be never so penitent believing and Godly and seek to be justified and saved by his Works I mean such as you mention Moral Obedience Acts of Faith Penitency c. I affirm thereby he is fallen from Grace Gal. 5.4 Being fallen short of the Righteousness of God Rom. 10. And as he puts himself under a Law for Justification so a Law condemns for imperfect Obedience For I roundly assert That no Law of God with a Sanction of Life and Death upon Performance or Non-performance of Obedience doth admit of the least Imperfection in the said Obedience Therefore such are under the Curse for their Imperfections Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things And I say if your Gospel be a Law it doth denounce Damnation to the Holiest and most Godly Man upon Earth Neonom This Change of the Sanction supposeth the Death of Christ and his honouring his Law by his perfect Obedience wherein God hath provided for his own Glory while he promiseth Forgiveness to imperfect Man Antinom I have proved the Sanction is not changed But in your Law it seems the Condition is changed It was in the Old Law Perfect Obedience in the New it's Imperfect Verily it is changed for the worse for Imperfect is worse than Perfect But how comes this to pass God hath provided for his own Glory in Christ that saving of Men is upon the Conditions of Imperfect Obedience i. e. by a worse Law an unholy and unjust Law might not turn to his Dishonour God hath provided for himself you mean seeing he rashly made such a Law as he finds will not answer his Ends Justice shall have it's due in his Son and then he shall be at liberty to make a Law with such easie imperfect and sinful Conditions that Sinners may be saved Is not this admirable Stuff for Gospel Neonom And yet he insists upon some Degrees of Obedience unto which of his meer Grace he enables us Antinom He could by his Grace as well enable us to Perfect Obedience if it were for his Honour that Obedience should be the Condition But doth it make it make it ever the less a Covenant of Works Doth what you say make it of Grace For 1. Forgiveness that 's but the Reward of Life But you 'll say it 's for the sake of Christ well that 's but in respect of the Old Law that it may not condemn you whereby you are come into a capacity to stand again for Life upon new Conditions 2. You say it 's to imperfect Man But is it not the same thing to save by Perfect or Imperfect Works so Works be the Condition 3. What if Grace enables them This alters not the Case Did not God give Adam his Holiness before the Fall and enable him to do what he did Neonom This the Covenant of Redemption secures to the Elect tho' the Grant therein is pleadable only by Christ as the Stipulating Party for us Antinom As for your Notion that your Covenant of Redemption is Distinct from the Covenant of Grace I deny it and shall hereafter make it appear that the Covenant of Grace and Redemption is one and the same Covenant And for the present I tax you for saying That the Covenant of Redemption is pleadable by none but Christ Do we never plead Redemption nor the Promise made in Christ nor Christ himself What is all in the Covenant of Redemption Do we not plead it daily And what Christ stipulated in this Covenant for us may we not plead it Is not
when we are Pardoned the whole Meritorious Cause of Pardon be that Atonement and what is required of Sinners is only a meetness to receive the Effects of it Antinom What do you mean by the whole Meritorious Cause Do you exclude Christ's Active Obedience from the Meritorious Causes And do you mean the Merit of Satisfaction or Procurement There 's a great deal of difference in the Case before us and what is the meetness whether it be not a meetness of Congruity if not of Condignity And whether this meetness be not of the Effects of Christ's Merits and if not from what other Cause it ariseth Neonom Nor whether this Atonement is the only way of Forgiveness which we can apprehend Antinom I had thought a meetness to be forgiven had been with you one way to be forgiven which you make to be distinct from Atonement and the Meritorious Cause of Forgiveness Now Sir you say these things are not the Question but they are questionable to me you might have told us of a Thousand more Questions which are not ours for there is no one thing but in genere disparatorum is separate from all other things in the World But after Sir you have freed our Brains from the mixture of all Impertinent Questions I pray put your Finger upon the very Spot Neonom The Real Difference lyes in two Things 1. Whether the Elect were Actually discharged of all their Sins at the time that Christ made Atonement D. W. p. 16. Antinom The Question is whether a Believer is not to look upon the laying of his Sins on Christ his full Release for I speak of an Elect Believer I say not that any other can whether Elect or no for all the burden and load of Sin was long ago laid on Christ it is not now to do Neonom Having spoken to the Question before I insist now only upon this Whether the very Act of laying Sin upon Christ on the Cross be the discharge of the Elect from all Sin Antinom You state your Questions still with great Ambiguity for what mean you by the Act of laying Sin on Christ The laying Sin on Christ must suppose and imply all things that conduced to the making him a compleat Sacrifice for Sin God's Acts and his own on God's part it 's to be supposed there was not only a charge of Christ but a discharge on Christ's part not only a Subjection to the Charge but a Suffering by way of Satisfaction not only an undertaking of the Debt but a payment I suppose you mean whether the Atonement that Christ made was in any sence a discharge unto the Elect for no wise Person will give a Discharge to a Debtor till the Money be paid or Suretiship accepted now then we distinguish of Pardon it was perfect and compleat by way of Impetration for all the Elect but it hath not an Actual Application till the Persons are in being to whom it is to be applyed and that Application in regard of the time of their Lives is according to the dispensation of Grace Now all this you seem to grant and need not put to any further Question you say Christ made full Atonement for Sin and it shall be certainly applyed you say only that a Sinner is not discharged till Application we distinguish of Discharge 1. There 's that which is Vertual and Fundamental and Real in Christ or else he could not have rose for the Charge upon him was our Sins and he must have a Discharge as a Surety and it was the Elects Discharge in the Mind of God and of Christ and really transacted But 2ly There 's a personal sensible Discharge which is at or by Application Now then in the same sence that Christ bore our Sins by Imputation as a Representative in that sence we were Discharged for the Discharge must be as large and full as the Charge to the very Person of Christ and all he undertook for or else he is bearing Sin still and the Sins of some of the Elect must be still upon him And 3ly If Christ obtained what he bore our Sins for then he had a Discharge not only for his own Person but for all he undertook for and represented and Christ having made good and full payment cannot remain undischarged for he finished the work which his Father appointed him to do Neonom But we can claim no Interest in his Atonement till we Believe Antinom A Sinner's first Ground of Claim is the Promise and free Offer of Christ in the Gospel and Faith is a laying hold upon him and receiving of him in whom is full Atonement and Pardon It is one thing to have Jus ad rem and another to have Jus in re a Child new Born or to be Born Heir of an Estate hath a good Right to the Inheritance else he could not be Heir which is previous and lyes dormant until the time of Claim and Possession and therefore the Apostle seems to speak in this way of Allusion Eph. 1.11 He saith In whom we have obtained an Inheritance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it 's grounded upon what he said ver 7. in whom we have Redemption And Dr. Goodwin saith That the Apostle speaks not there of the Redemption that we have here i. e. the Fruits of Redemption but of the Work of Redemption which Christ himself hath wrought which is the cause of all the Redemption we receive And 2dly We have Redemption in Christ as in a common Person and we have it not only when it is applyed to us but we have it in him as we had Condemnation in Adam before we were Born into the World so we had Redemption in Christ when he dyed So Dr. Goodwin on Eph. 1. Neonom It was not that Will or Purpose of God or Christ that the laying our Sins on Christ should be the Immediate Discharge of the Elect John 6.40 1 Pet. 1.2 D. W. p. 17. Antinom It was the Will and Purpose of God and Christ that upon Christ's Satisfaction for Sin he should have an immediate Discharge and all the Elect Vertually and Really in him a general Discharge but not manifested and personally applyed to particular Persons and in this sence the Elect are Discharged at and by Application and the places mentioned hold forth no more than this and this is all the Dr. saith That the Church had a general Discharge in Christ not a particular Application till Being Neonom This overthrows the whole Scheme so wisely contrived for the distribution of the Effects of his Death Antinom It may overthrow your Scheme but it overthrows no true Scheme of the Gospel Mystery Antinom Things are so adjusted that forgiving the Elect should be the Effect of Christ's Kingly Office as well as his Priestly Office Acts 5.31 1 Cor. 6.11 Acts 26.18 Antinom Christ wrought out our Forgiveness by way of Atonement as a Priest and God was Atoned and Appeased thereby and therein he also Gloriously Triumphed in his
Grace is no condition of a Covenant in us or conditionary part if there be any it 's in Christ 3. You do manifestly own that Sinners are not capable of a Covenant condition it must be wrought in them therefore how absurd is it to say a Covenant Promise was made to them upon condition of their own Act when they do not Act nor have Power to Act. 4. The conditions of the Covenant of Innocency as you would have it improperly enough were performed by a strength given freely and that before the condition was imposed you make the New Law harder because it commands Duty as a condition beâ—ore it gives strength to perform and how was it due to our Innocent Nature no more than a distinct Nature from Bruits was due to us it was all of Gracious Bounty and ex beneplacito there 's nothing due to the Creature from the Creator but what he will from his free good Will and Pleasure make due well then hitherto you shew us no more Grace in your New Law than in the Old Law and I am mistaken if not less Neonom 2. The Principal Conditions of the Covenant of Grace express the Guilt and Misery of them that perform them Repentance owns our Filth and Guilt and Faith in a Redeemer expresseth our sinful and lost Estate neither of these could have place in our Legal Righteousness as being utterly inconsistent with an Innocent condition Nor can they have much Room in Heaven where we shall be perfect whereas the Terms of the Covenant of Works implied nothing but Innocency and Happiness Antinom You tell us of Faith and Repentance being the Principal condition I pray which are the rest of the conditions it 's fit we should know them all and when we have performed our part that we make our claim for we can make none till we have performed all 2. If our Repentance only as a condition express Guilt and Filth it expresseth our Condemnation only and thereby not a condition of Salvation it worketh Wrath and thereby belongs to the Law of Works broken Rom. 4.15 If it be a condition of Salvation it must take off Guilt and Filth by Expiation which you dare not say Repentance doth make and so Faith it 's not enough to express a sinful and lost Estate that 's but a Sentence of Death but it must as a condition take off this Sentence by its own Nature 3. Whereas you say neither of these i. e. Faith or Repentance could have place in our Legal Righteousness it 's false for Faith had place in our Legal Righteousness Adam's Legal Righteousness was Faith and Obedience and his Legal unrighteousness was begun in Unbelief which is manifest from the Serpents Temptation Gen. 3.3 which Adam complyed with our First Parents fell first by Unbelief And why could not Repentance have been one of the conditions if the Law-giver had pleased to put it in Why might not the Law run in these Terms In the day thou eatest and dost not repent thereof thou shalt die and so one Law should have done all Why could there not have been as many conditions and the same in the Old Law as you will have in the New therefore there 's nothing hinders in the Nature of the thing that makes it inconsistent as you say with an Innocent condition why may not a provision be made in a state of Innocency for the cure of Nocency if the Legislator pleaseth For he made not his Law by necessity of Nature And know that Repentance â—â—th great consistency with the Law and naturally follows in case of Transgression and there was no need of it but upon that Supposition and upon the Fall Adam naturally fell into Repentance expressing the Guilt and Filth of his Sin 4. Nor you say can they have much room in Heaven it seems they have a little at least so much as to retain the Nature of a condition or else the Covenant is lost in Heaven for the Covenant must always be made up of Condition and Promises or Performance of things promised it is an Everlasting Covenant But bâ— your favour Faith hath place in Heaven and that a higher Faith than we are capable of here 5. You say the Terms of the Covenant of Works implyeth nothing but Innocency and Happiness there was not a Promise of Happiness expressed tho implyed and God never intended to give us Happiness by that Law for the Apostle saith Gal 3.21 If there had been a Law given which could have given Life verily Righteousness should have been by the Law Therefore God never intended to give Life to us bâ— that Law or any other if he had he could have given a Law sufficient for it at first and were there no Terms but Innocency and Happiness was there not Terms of Transgression and Condemnation and those were the exprest Terms the other were but supposed or implyed Neonom 3. The Conditions of the Covenant of Grace make us capable of no Happiness except what Christ hath bought and prepared for us his Blood is the Price of all But the Happiness granted to sinless Obedience was immediately from the Creator and knew no Atonement or Mediator D. W. p. 57. Antinom Doth that make your Covenant the better or the worse Is not a perfect entire Covenant without any flaws in it better than a faulty Covenant The Apostle condemns a faulty Covenant but you chuse to prefer a Covenant that is faulty made up of sinful Obedience and that must have a Mediator to provide against it and to mend the faults of it and hence this Covenant could not be without a Mediator because of its faultiness and you say your Covenant makes us capable of no Happiness but what was bought and prepared for us 1. Then this is a Covenant that capacitates us first for what Christ bought and then when we are capable we shall be partakers of Christ by a previous Covenant where Christ hath nothing to do but Extrinsecally only this capability is by congruity or condignity 2. It 's a kindness to Christ that you will allow him the honour to buy and prepare Happiness for us and have it ready against we have occasion for it 3. What other kind of Happiness can you suppose Is there any but what comes to us in or by Christ Would the Life promised to Adam have differed in specie and be of another kind But is not the Gift of the Son himself a Happiness all Blessings of the Covenant are Happiness to Sinners the Father's Love was not purchased nor the Gift of the Son God so loved the World that he sent his Son c. 4. But his Blood is the Price of all there 's enough for him he bought your whole New Law at a Lump both your Inherent Foederal Righteousness for a condition and the Reward of Debt he capacitated the Law and brought it to so low Terms that you were capable of performing the conditions of it But hath his Blood no
I will name no more of them for the present Antinom The Assembly is full on this Point that our Union to Christ is before the Act of Faith Shorter Catechism Q. 29. How are we made Partakers of the Redemption purchased by Christ A. By the Effectual Application of it to us by his Holy Spirit Q. 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the Redemption purchased by Christ A. By working Faith in us and thereby uniting us to Christ in our Effectual Calling The Spirit first comes as a Bond of Union and works Faith to Unite by its Act in the first Union by the Spirit we are passive made new Creatures new Born receive Spiritual Life In the second we are Active put forth lively Acts and lay hold on Jesus Christ and all Gospel Grace And if the Confessions say we are United to Christ by his Spirit and by Faith as you acknowledge then there is a Union by the Spirit which is effective of that which is by Faith You say my mistake is in thinking all Grace is wrought by Christ as an Actual Head you mean Grace comes not at first from Christ as our Head but as a designed Head therefore you find fault with my founding our Union on Christ as our Head Where I say P. 104. Christ is the Head of his Church i. e. the Fountain of all Spiritual Sense and Motion A Man cannot have Spiritual Eyes of Faith unless he have this Spiritual Head c. I am not alone here for Mr. Norton and others make Christ as our Head the Fountain and Spring of all Spiritual Life and Motion Evan. P. 249. The Person of Christ Mediator is the first Saving Gift actually applyed to any Elect Person The motion of the Spirit upon the Soul is from Christ the Head See p. 250. DEBATE XII Of Justification by Faith Neonom VVE having formerly discussed the Doctrine of Justifying Righteousness I desire we may now enquire into the Nature of Justification by Faith for Mr. Antinomian hath this Errour among the rest That the whole use of Faith in Justification is only to manifest that we were Justified before and Faith is no way necessary to bring a Sinner into a Justified State nor at all useful to that end D. W. p. 103. Antinom I must hear your proof Sir before I enter upon my defence Neonom You put this Objection Is not believing required unto the Justification of the ungodly Answ An ungodly Person after he is Justified doth believe but you will say it is an Act of Christ by Faith Answ Then Christ doth not Justifie alone c. Nay I say more Christ doth Justifie a Person before he doth believe c. He cannot believe that which is not but he is first Justified before he believes then he believes he is Justified Dr. C. p. 85. Antinom My words were these An ungodly Person after he is Justified doth believe But you must understand it it is not the Faith of the Person that doth simply and properly Justifie but it is that Christ in whom he doth believe he believeth on him that Justifieth the ungodly It is he that Justifieth that is Christ It is not believing that justifieth mark well that Phrase he that justifieth Justification is an Act of Christ not an Act of Faith How often is it said it 's God that Justifieth Justification is an Act of God and not of ours Faith is an Act of ours it 's God by his Grace efficiently Justifies and imputeth the Righteousness of Christ we are materially and objectively Justified by the Righteousness of Christ and by that alone and this I say is before a Sinner believes efficiently because the Object must be before the Act of the Recipient Organ A Man sees because there is Light to see which illuminates the Organ especially such a Light as takes off a privation of sight and restores the Habit so that Justification in regard of Application must be before believing the first Application in ordine naturae saltem is to an ungodly Man eo nomine that he may believe who is thereby made to believe that he may be Justifyed for in Justification we are both Passive and Active as Maccovius saith Calvin Mr. Norton Norton p. 214. hath this Objection If we are Justified by Faith then Faith is in order before Justification and consequently the Act is before the Object whereas on the contrary the Act depends on the Object and not the Object on the Act to this Effect Bellarmine Answ 1. We distinguish between the Being of Justification and our being Justified i. e. between Justification as taken in an Abstract Sence viz. without the receiving Subject thereof viz. a Believer and a Justification taken in a Concrete Sence i. e. together with the Believer Justification considered in the Actstract Sence taken simply and in it self which signifieth Remission of Sins and Righteousness to Acceptation prepared for though not yet conferred upon the Elect hath before Faith a Being not only in the purpose of God but also in the Covenant between the Father and Mediator and in the purchase of Christ This Truth held forth in the Gospel makes the Object of Faith and thus the Object is before the Act. The Grounds of this distinction or distinguishing between Justification actually procured and actually applyed Justification was in God's Decree before Faith P. 315 316. before Sin yea from all Eternity Gal. 3.8 Rom 3.25 The Actual procuring of Justification as considered in it self gives a Being to Justifying Faith Justification is compared to a Garment our being Justified to a Garment put on Justification of the Elect is absolutely and actually procured for them by Christ's Satisfaction before Faith Col. 2.14 The Hand writing of Ordinances cannot be limited to the Ceremonial Law only because it had respect unto the Gentiles then Living to whom the Ceremonial Law belonged not God hath declared his Acceptation of Christ So Calvin on the place P. 216. whereby he hath actually procured Justification for the Elect before Faith It is no small part of the Ministry of Reconciliation That God Imputed unto Christ the Sins of the World of the Elect before they did believe and will not impute them unto the Elect 2 Cor. 5.18 19. This great Gospel Truth is of special use to beget Justifying Faith in the Heart of a Sinner The same the Apostle confirms concerning their Reconciliation Rom. 5.10 That it was wrought for them when they were Enemies i. e. Unbelievers Here is a Twofold Reconciliation mentioned one at the Death of Christ before Paul or the Romans some of them at least were Believers the other at Conversion The first Reconciliation though it was vertually wrought before by the Lamb slain in God's Appointment and Acceptance togethr with his own consent from the beginning of the World Rev. 13.8 yet it was not Actually wrought until the Death of Christ for this Satisfaction sake God Imputes not Sin unto the Redeemed for he
not seen thence it comes to pass that the present Afflictions are light and shall be succeeded with an Eternal weight of Glory it 's an instance of the abundant Grace redounding towards him for the inward and outward Man for things Temporal and Eternal Neonom Were doing for Life and an Eye to gain by service such a legal and wicked thing as some represent it sure the Blessed Jesus would have admonished his Disciples and not answered them as he doth Mat. 19.28 29. Antinom This Arguing would well enough become a Papist but it is strange at this time a day from the Mouth of a Protestant but it 's easie to see the Devil is at work to betray us again into our Spiritual Egypt our Mouths hang too generally after the Leeks and Onions of their Corrupt Doctrine Now we must go to work upon the Terms of the Old Law for Life not Finalitèr as aimed at and travelled to as terminus ad quem taken for Glory but for Life as a Premium of our Works That this is intended by you clearly appears by the Application that you make of this place of Scripture as if it Justified the Doctrine of Merit The Disciples hearing our Saviours discourse concerning a Rich Man and how hard it is for him to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven they were amazed and said Who then shall be saved Peter hence concludes then surely poor Men may better be saved we are poor enough and have lest all for thee what shall we have And there is no doubt but something as yet remained in them of that legal Spirit as prevailed in and among the Jews expecting or enquiring after some proportionable Reward to their Sufferings which Spirit was not fully removed from them till after the Resurrection of Christ and sending down of the Spirit when they came clearly to see the Grace of Christ in the Gospel but it was not Christ's time yet to remove all Clouds and Obscurities from the Doctrine of the Gospel he did it not in his own Ministry it was to be the Work of the Comforter the Spirit as peculiarly belonging to his Office after Christ's Ascension As yet they had not askt any thing in his Name neither did Christ in the platform of Prayer teach them so to do as yet they were strangers to the Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Christ as yet they looked that the Kingdom of Christ would immediately be a Temporal and External Now the answer of our Saviour imports these things 1. That none shall lose any thing by following him though in parting with worldly advantages 2. That those Blessings that he bestows upon his true Followers are of another Nature than they expected they were of an Eternal Nature ver 29. and of a Spiritual Nature Mark 10.30 For their outward Enjoyments should be with Persecutions shewing how much the Cross and Reproach of Christ as in the Opinion of Moses is to be preferred before the greatest worldly Emoluments 3. He shews them though he abundantly Rewards his Followers yet they ought not to serve him as such that were led by that Principle to serve for Life and Glory as for Wages but they must do all for his own Name sake they must not act from a principle of intending advantage but for Christ's sake for the Love of his Person and for the sake of the Love that he hath shewed us 1 Cor. 3.20 21 22. The Lord knows how vain the Thoughts of his best People is apt to be as if they must by their Duties Earn something of God but there must be no glorying in Men and there 's no need of it for all things are yours already the Means of Grace the World Life Death things present and to come ye are Christ's and Christ God's Neonom Your Argument from the Vanity of proposing our own Gain by Labour and Duties because all is fixed and given already is to make the Decree an effectual means to overthrow the Government of Christ and brand all his Offers to Sinners with Weakness and Falsehood should not poor Sinners pray as they can apply the Word with an Eye to Conversion Should they not Believe and Repent with an Eye to Forgiveness and Escaping of Wrath Why else should God encourage them with an Offer of these upon such Terms D. W. p. 157. Antinom You go upon many Mistakes 1. You talk absurdly of God's Decree overthrowing his Government as if the Decree succeeded God's Government of the Creature that which overthrows a thing comes after the thing overthrown so God's Decree in its proper Nature as a Constituting Immanent Act must succeed his Government 2. Why should not God's Acting in a way of Free Grace be consistent with his most right and just way of proceeding in Government seeing the whole Gospel Revelation asserts that it is so and that therein lyes a great part of the Gospel Mystery which Natural Men and Carnal Reason will not receive 3. Is it any way absurd to say it's vain to propose our own gain by Labour and Duties when the Spirit of God hath expunged the Efficacy of Works as to procurement out of the Covenant of Grace Works are our Price and Money God saith We are to buy without Price and Money Isa 55.1 2. And saith Why do you spend Money for that which is not Bread i. e. Spend your Duties and Labours and get nothing by them Because you make Money of them and reckon you make advantage of them and pay a valuable consideration for the good expected and will not receive it as of Free Gift you will have all for the Money of your Duties and hence you labour and have not that which satisfieth you ask and labour for things to spend upon your own Lusts as the proud Pharisee did 4. You mistake in judging the Offers of the Gospel is in a way of Government it 's in order to Christ's gracious Rule and Government under which Unregenerate Sinners are not till through Grace they are translated into the Kingdom of Christ 5. You wickedly suggest that unless God intend that poor Sinners in their Unregenerate Estate should do some Duties whereby they might gain Life and Salvation God is chargeable with Weakness and Falshood this I take to be an ill Inference all the Offers of Grace must be upon Condition of Works or else God is chargable with Weakness and Falshood 6. You grosly mistake my Discourse or willingly pervert my Sence and Meaning I do not say but poor Sinners at their first believing are very apt to lay too great a stress upon their Duties as if thereby they obtained a Title to Life and Salvation or mâ—de a considerable addition to what Christ hath done and procured for them this legal Spirit I endeavour to take them off from that they should serve God more under the Conduct of the Grace of Adoption Rom. 8.14 15. And therefore say Except you fall to the performance of Duty without such Conceits
Adultery or the grossest Wickedness D. W. p. 170. Antinom Here 's many things put together in this Charge and by an undue mixture and wresting my sense and meaning he hath made it look as he pleaseth but we must hear his Proof and then I shall be the better able to make my defence Neonom Note that he speaks most of this concerning a Person as Elect tho' he uses the word Believer sometimes because he alone knows he is elect by believing D. W. p. 171. Antinom Do not you then in alledging my words make a confusion in my sense for your way is to pick up my Expressions here and there and put them together to make up that sense which you would put upon them Neonom You say tho' such persons do act Rebellion yet the loathsomness and abominableness and hatefulness of this Rebellion is laid on the back of Christ he bears the sin as well as the blame and shame c. and that 's the only reason why God can dwell with those persons that do act the thing because all the filthiness of it is transacted from them to the back of Christ. Obj. How should God know every sin the believer hath committed and yet God not remember them Ans Tho' he remember the things thou hast done yet he doth not remember them as thine for he remembers perfectly they are none of thine when he passed them over to Christ they ceased to be thine any longer D. W. p. 436 and Dr. C. p. 436. Antinom I have vindicated my self already as to those Expressions in our Debate concerning God's laying Sin on Christ but lest you should have forgot what was said I shall speak a little to it My design hath been in several Discourses and in that mentioned by you that we must have Christ before we can be holy as the Root of all gracious Qualifications and that Christ is bestowed in a way of efficacy before we have him in a way of evidence and God tells us whose Iniquities were laid on Christ even of them that were gone every one away as lost Sheep and turned to their own ways the same thing that the Apostle speaks Rom. 5.8 God recommended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners it must be meant unbeiieving and impenitent sinners Christ died for us and he saith Ver. 10. If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son that must be understood of our being in a state of enmity before we come to a state of Grace this reconciliation is wrought by Jesus Christ I shall give you my Discourse as briefly as I may that you may see my meaning Faith you know is the first of all Gifts God bestows upon a Soul Dr. C. p. 334. and all other Graces they follow that Faith that Christ doth give to Men. So that if there be not a Believing there can be no Grace of Sanctification at all but while persons are departing from the living God there remains in them an evil Heart of unbelieving and yet this is true that while they are departing from the living God and straying as lost Sheep their Iniquities are laid on Christ and the true meaning of the word turn to our own ways is that Men do what they list and what is good in their own eyes and yet it is the Iniquity of these Men that have thus turned to their own ways which the Lord hath laid upon Christ From whence I lay down this Conclusion That this Grace of the Lords laying Iniquity on Christ is certainly applied unto persons even while they are departing from the living God while they are lost Sheep while they are turned every one to their own way before they have amended their ways And because this Truth is so hardly received seeming to give so much way to loosness as some calumniate I endeavour to clear it Dr. C. p. 435. and that it is a most fearful Injury unto a Man's self and a forsaking a Man's own Mercy directly for a Man to conclude that there is no Grace for me because I cannot find such and such things in me as Universal Obedience Sanctification c. and you shall plainly see where Grace is applied unto Persons and to what Condition of Men Psal 68.18 And then I open that where God is said to give his Gifts to the Rebellious and use the said Expressions which he rehearseth which amounts only to thus much in my sense that when the Grace of Redemption and the application thereof is first applied it finds us lost Creatures lost Sheep rebellious ones turning every one to his own ways which I also illustrate from Ezek. 16.7 8 9. What Qualifications can you find in blind-eyed and shackled Persons that are bound up under the Bondage of Satan Dr. C. p. 439. even dead in Trespasses What renewed Qualifications in Sanctification can you find in such Persons seeing the first Work that God works upon any Person is to open the eyes to see him and to see themselves Now Christ must be present because he is given to do this thing before it can be done If it be the Eye of Faith Christ is said to be the Author and Finisher of it if it be the the Eye of God we must all be taught of God our Saviour speaks plainly when he pointed out directly to the Jews for whom he died and became sin I came to save that which was lost it 's by the Eye of Knowledge we must be taught all of God And this is one part of God's Covenant I will remember their Sins no more What is that Covenant I will be their God and thy shall be my People and your Sins and Iniquities will I remember no more Dr. C. p. 438. This is the substance of the Covenant And Christ himself is given over to Men as much as to say In Christ I will become thy God In Christ I will remember thy Sins and Iniquities no more This is the substance of the Covenant Christ is this Covenant and Christ himself is given over to Men quasi dicat In Christ I will become thy God In Christ I will remember thy Sins and Iniquities no more this have I given in him to you But when doth the Lord pass over this to persons When they are first renewed Have persons the knowledge of God and of themselves before the Lord makes this Deed of Gift over to them Mark what follows You shall see all the Qualifications of Sanctification must not only follow Christ given but they are the very work of Christ himself after he is given I will give thee for a Covenant to open blind eyes Now altho' the end of things be first in the Intention yet it is the last in Execution If a Workman be to build an House the Work must be prepared before the House can be builded by him Calv. I think Mr. Antinomian you have said enough to vindicate yourself