which shall deuoure the aduersaries And this he enforceth further not only by an allusion but by a manifest allegation of Moses Law q Heb. 10.28 29. He that despised Moses Law died without mercy vnder two or three witnesses Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden vnder foot the Sonne of God c. For we know him that hath said r Heb. 10.30.31 Vengeance belongeth vnto me I will recompence saith the Lord and againe The Lord shall judge his people It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God And this shall suffice for answer to your third generall Argument drawen from the practise of the Apostles in all their Epistles Your fourth Argument is this Argument 4 Antinomus Wheresoeuer the Holy Ghost handleth the abrogation of the Law there is neuer any exception of the Morall This is vtterly vntrue Answer for where the Holy Ghost handleth the abrogation of the Law it is either first The abrogation of the Law handled diuers waies First in the matter of Saluation Secondly in the matter of justification in the matter of Saluation as Acts 15.1 10. and there in the same Chapter the Morall Law is excepted because abstaining from Idolatries and Fornication being breaches of the first and second Table of the Morall Law is there inioined as from things of necessity to be refrained Acts 15.28 Or secondly in the matter of justification as Rom. 3.28 We conclude saith the Apostle that a man is justified by faith without the workes of the Law and yet there also vnto that obiection Doe we then make void the Law through faith he answereth as it were with detestation God forbid yea we establish the Law Rom. 3.31 So in the like Argument in the Epistle to the Galathians where he doth vtterly abolish the Law for righteousnesse in the Å¿ Gal. 2.16 Rom. 3.28 31. act of justification he doth yet establish the vse of the Morall Law for leading a godly and Christian life when he telleth vs that Faith t Gal. 5.6 worketh by loue and by loue we are bound to u Gal. 5.13 serue one another and the rule of loue is the Morall Law which he there vrgeth as a bond euen now in full force and vertue binding all Christians to obedience when he addeth this reason For all the x Gal. 3.14 Law is fulfilled in one word euen in this Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Leuit. 19.18 Matt. 22.39 And is not this an euident exception of the Morall Law made by the Holy Ghost and that euen in the same Epistle nay in the same Chapter where he handleth the abrogation of the Law also Thirdly the abrogation of the Law is handled as it was a wall of partition Or thirdly the Holy Ghost handleth the abrogation of the Law as it was a wall of a Ephes 2.13 14 15. partition betwixt Iewes and Gentiles as Ephes 2.13 14 15. and yet in the same Epistle he requireth and vrgeth the duties of the Morall Law as b Ephes 4.24 25 26 28. Cast off lying and speake the truth Be angry and sinne not Labour with your hands and steale not c Ephes 5.2 3 4 5 6. Walke in loue and hate not flie fornication and all vncleannesse and name it not And all this to be done vpon promise and penalty as euer they will haue any inheritance in the kingdome of God or auoid the danger of the wrath of God Nay further to cut off all occasion of cauill as if one should obiect That these duties are not vrged for obedience to the Morall Law but to the Gospell the Apostle by a special direction of the Holy Ghost doth in expresse words exhorting children to obey their Parents make mention of the d Ephes 6.1 2. first Commandement with promise and setteth downe both precept and promise out of the Morall Law as yet of speciall force to draw them thereunto And yet we doe not say that these duties are either so vrged vpon vs or performed by vs as duties of the Law for righteousnesse to liue by them Rom. 10.5 but as fruits of the righteousnesse of faith in the Gospell discerned and measured by the Law yet not by the rigour but by the e Rom. 12.2 13.8 9. tenor of it offered also and accepted only in the obedience of Christ Iesus who according to his Couenant hath put his f Heb. 8.10 10.16 Lawes in our mindes and written them by the finger of his Spirit not in Tables of stone but in the g 2 Cor. 3.3 fleshy Tables of our hearts That as the Apostle speaketh the righteousnesse of the Law might be h Rom. 8.1 4. fulfilled in vs who walke not after the flesh but after the spirit Or fourthly Fourthly the abrogation of the Law is handled touching Iewish obseruation the abrogation of the Law is handled as touching i Col. 2.16 17. Iewish and superstitious obseruations Col. 2.16 17. and typicall signification shadowing k Heb. 10.1 forth good things to come as Hebr. 10.1 And yet in both these Epistles where the law of carnall Commandements i. the Ceremoniall Law is cancelled and abolished the Commandements of the Law which is spirituall namely the Morall Law are confirmed and established as euidently appeareth by the plentifull and powerfull exhortations and injunctions for the performance of both generall and speciall duties of the Morall Law As for example Col. 3.14 l Col. 3.12 14. Aboue all things put on loue which is the bond of perfectnesse Heb. 10.24 m Heb. 10.24 Let vs consider one another to prouoke vnto lsue and good workes And n Rom. 13.8 9. loue you haue already heard is the fulfilling of the Law and when o Gal. 5.6 faith worketh by loue faith worketh by the rule of the Law and he that walketh in loue p Gal. 6.16 walketh by the line of the Law Which may yet be further seene by those speciall duties of Superiours and inferiours appertaining to the fift Commandement as of husbands and wiues parents and children gouernours and seruants Col. 3. 4. and Heb. 13. mentioned and vrged out of the Morall Law in both places By this time you may perceiue that euen in the same places where the Holy Ghost handleth the abrogation of the Law there is contrary to your assertion some exception of the Morall Law Nay I say more that wheresoeuer the Holy Ghost handleth the full and finall abrogation of the Law for all exercise in Gods worship or vse in the Church of Christ there he euer giueth instance in the Ceremoniall Law and neuer either mentioneth or meaneth the Morall Law And againe where he handleth the abrogation of the Law only in some circumstances or for some particular ends or vses he sometimes ioineth the Morall and the Ceremoniall * Aug. in Epist ad Galat. cap. 3. Calu. in Rom.
vtterly abolished Is there any sinewes or joints nay is there any life or soule in this Argument What if the Law were giuen as a b Gal. 3.24 Schoolemaster to the Iewes is therefore the Morall Law of no force nor vse to vs Christians of the Gentiles But I demand what Law is it which you say was instituted as a Schoolemaster vnto the Iewes If you say the Ceremoniall we grant that it was a Schoolemaster not only teaching obscurely by signes and sacrifices types and figures that c Tota Legis Occonomia rudis quaedam erat disciplina rudibus conaeniens Beza in rude people of the Iewes in their non-age to looke vnto Christ to come but also conuincing and condemning them seuerely of all manner of sinne and keeping them continually vnder the rod and whip in d Gal. 4.3 the bondage of seruants as an heire in his minority is vnder sharpe e Gal. 4.1 Caluin Jnstit li. 2. ca. 11. sect 2.5 tutors and gouernors though he be lord of all that so they might be driuen to looke and long for the time of release and liberty in Christ appointed by the Father If you meane the Morall Law we doe not deny but for the manner of deliuery measure of obedience forme of Legall Couenant rigour in exacting terror in threatning and seuerity in accusing and condemning as it was in Moses hand the f 2 Cor. 3.7 9. ministery of condemnation and a killing letter it was then to the Iewes a sharpe and seuere g Gal. 3.24 Schoolemaster to driue them vnto Christ Iesus not directly as teaching pointing out or promising Christ vnto them but indirectly and as it were occasionally forcing them by h Ioh. 3.14 sorrow and feare and despaire of their owne righteousnesse for obtaining life by the Law to cast about and seeke for some remedy and releefe elsewhere as sicke men enquire for a i Matt. 9.12 Physitian and such as are wounded seeke for a Chirurgion which because it could no where be found vnder heauen but k Act. 4.10 11 12. See Calu. de usu Legis in Harmo in 4. lib. Mos p. 442.443 only in Christ Iesus they were occasioned by the Law to flie vnto the Gospell and enforced as it were to appeale from Moses vnto CHRIST resting and relying vpon him alone who hath l Mal. 4.3 healing vnder his wings for m Luk. 4.18 binding vp all their n Ad justitiam Christi lex moralis homines revocabat ut ad medicum Bez. in Rom. 3.21 wounds and curing all spirituall maladies and miseries whatsoeuer And thus also for the substance though not for euery circumstance according to the Iewish Paedagogie the Morall Law as we haue often said before hath yet in the Church of Christ some speciall vse and office still and that not only for the wicked to humble them but euen for the godly to conuince them to rebuke them to stirre them and spurre them vp to all holy duties and to teach and instruct them what to doe and what to leaue vndone euen after they are called to beleeue and liue in Christ Iesus To this purpose o Luth. on Gal. 3.24 See Calu. summa legis in Harmo in 4. lib. Mos p. 440.441 Luther speaketh most excellently vpon Gal. 3.24 The Law was our Schoolemaster vnto Christ The Law doth not only terrifie and torment as the foolish Schoolemaster beateth his schollers and teacheth them nothing but with his rods he driueth vs vnto Christ like as a good Schoolemaster instructeth and exerciseth his schollers in reading and writing to the end they may come to the knowledge of good letters and other profitable things that afterwards they may haue delight in doing of that which before being constrained vnto they did against their wils and a little after he addeth The true vse of the Law is to teach me that I aâ—…â—…rought to the knowledge of my sinne and humbled that so I may come vnto Christ and be justified by faith c. That which you alledge out of p August de Doctr. Christi cap. 6. August de Doct. Christ cap. 6. helpeth you nothing in this businesse for he speaketh only of the Iewish Paedagogie in their Sacrifices and Ceremonies which their estate he calleth servitutem custodiam tanquam sub paedagogo puerorum and tearmeth their Ceremonies signa saying they were signa quae temporaliter erant imposita servientibus And what is this to the abrogation of the Morall Law q Beza in Gal. 3.23 4.1 3. againe abused Puerilis est jactantiae accusando illustres homines nomini suo famam quarere Hieron Ep. 13. Beza you doe abuse againe he mentioneth the Ceremoniall Law only in both places Gal. 3.23 and Gal. 4.1.3 Nunc eandem Ceremonialem Legem confiderans ut Euangelicarum promissionum umbram figuram docet illam quoque hoc respectu cessasse quam comparat cum paedagogo postea cum tutore Gal. 4.1 And will you inferre vpon this Beza saith The Ceremeniall Law which to the Iewes was a Schoolemaster and Tutor vnto Christ is now ceased Ergo The Morall Law is vtterly abolished since the death of Christ The place of Mr. Perkins Galath 3.23 hath beene cleared before let me now stop your mouth once for all for euer mentioning Mr. Perkins name as being of your opinion for the vtter abolishing of the Morall Law and I will not goe far to fetch a stoppell but euen to the other side of the leafe which you haue quoted r Perk. on Gal. 3.23 Seeing faith is now come saith he it may be demanded what is the guard whereby we are kept now Answ The precepts of the Morall Law The sayings of the wise are as nailes and stakes fastened to range men in the compasse of their duties Eccles 12.11 If this stoppell will not serue your mouth is huge wide till you send me the measure of it I shall not fit it right to serue your turne Antinomus Vnto your eighth ninth and tenth short Arguments I will make no long answer Argument 8 9 10. they being all of one nature may receiue one manner of satisfaction and resolution The * Aug. ad Bonif. cont duas Epist Pelag. lib. 3. cap. 4. Law of Moses as it was giuen vnto the Iewes in the letter for the outward forme of Legall Couenant in Mount Sinai Answer is resembled to Hagar that bringeth forth children vnto bondage as she did Ismael and being giuen in such horror and terror bestoweth nothing but the spirit of feare vpon her children And in this regard we say It is the old and no part of the new Couenant See Muscul loc Com. de Discrim Veteris Nov. Iestam that is of the Gospell which on the contrary bringeth forth children vnto spirituall liberty as Sarah did Izaacke and bestoweth vpon them the spirit of Adoption making them heires of promise and fellow-heires annexed with Christ Iesus But what is
that as Iunius saith non humana traditione sed Christi ipsius observatione atque instituto and so commended to the Churches and receiued by them as Augustine himselfe confesseth and declareth more at large elsewhere Antinomus Now whereas you say That the Holy Ghost in the New Testament doth not exact naturall precepts such as the Decalogue is for that is fulfilled in one word Loue Answer Gal. 5.14 I answer hereunto That if you haue as great felicity as I see you haue facility to contradict your selfe and to marre with one hand what you haue made with the other you are worthy more pitty than blame and haue more need at this present of a Physitian to purge you than of a Diuine to answer you Notwithstanding we will yet make triall whether you can be sensible of your error and see what you haue said or done amisse herein by asking a question or two and crauing your direct answer to the same I demand then Is not the Epistle to the Galathians a part of the New Testament Gal. 1.1 Yes it is And did not the Apostle Paul pen that Epistle by the instinct of the Holy Ghost Gal. 5.13 No doubt he did And did not the Holy Ghost by Paul require and exact of the Galathians Gal. 5.6 the duty of loue Yes he did for he commands them verse 13. Rom. 13.8 9 10. To serue one another by loue And is not this loue both a fruit of faith and a duty of the Morall Law Yes indeed it is both for in this very Chapter Gal. 5.6.14 the Holy Ghost testifieth that a true faith worketh by loue verse 6. and in the 14. verse erewhile alledged telleth vs also that this worke or duty of loue must be measured by the Morall Law For saith he the whole Law is fulfilled in this Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Why now you haue dealt honestly you haue answered directly and truly Gather vp your seuerall answers now and binde them vp in one proposition and you will finde that as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sed sero sapiunt Phryges your second thoughts are often wiser than the first so your latter position is better and truer than your former opposition Your former opposition was That the Holy Ghost in the New Testament doth not exact naturall precepts such as the Decalogue or Morall Law is for that is fulfilled in one word Loue Gal. 5.14 and now your latter and truer position is this That the Holy Ghost in the New Testament euen in the Epistle to the Galathians doth require loue not as a naturall but as a spirituall and morall duty being both a fruit of faith and the summe and substance of the whole Morall Law Gal. 5.6 and 13.14 Gal. 5.6 13.14 Certainly if your left hand be not better able to defend your selfe than your right hand hath beene to offend your aduersary you will feele the smart of your owne weapon thus beaten downe vpon your owne head more sensibly hereafter in a better mood than yet you can doe for the present in your hot bloud As for that peece which you patch and adde to the same sentence Antinomus That none of the works of the spirit are properly commanded in the Decalogue What Answer None of the works of the spirit commanded in the Decalogue properly This is a proper lie with a witnesse Tell me I pray you are not the works of the spirit there commanded where the works of the flesh are forbidden Are not adultery fornication idolatry witchcraft Gal. 5.19 20 21. hatred heresies murther drunkennesse and the rest mentioned Gal. 5.19 20 21. Are not all these forbidden in the Law and the contrary vertues or duties as chastity purity piety charity c. commanded in the same also Take the Law as Paul takes it not as it stands in opposition to the Gospell but as it stands in communion and conjunction with it and the same spirit of truth speaketh in both and requires spirituall duties in both Phil. 1.11 as the fruits of righteousnesse and holinesse to the praise and glory of God by Christ Iesus Rom. 7.12 14. Besides such as the Law it selfe is namely spirituall Iam. 2.8 9 10 11 12. holy just and good such must also the works of the Law needs be Lastly S. Iames beares witnesse hereunto very plainly and effectually saying If you fulfill the royall Law according to the Scripture Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe yee doe well This the spirit speaketh vnto the Churches by Iames vpon the same ground of the Morall Law and that not only in that generall summe of the second Table Loue thy neighbour as thy selfe but in mentioning some of the speciall Commandements as Doe not commit adultery Doe not kill prouing also that the Christians to whom he writes among the twelue Tribes now dispersed stand now bound to obey the whole Morall Law First because if they faile in one point they are guilty of all as if they commit no adultery yet if they kill they are become transgressors of the Law Secondly because they are charged not only to shunne that which is euill but to follow that which is good and that according to this rule of the Morall Law Iam. 2.12 as in the very next verse the spirit speaketh and commandeth So speake yee and so doe as they that shall be judged by the Law of liberty I would you would take the paines to reade Augustines Epistle vnto Hierome August Epist 29. ad Hiero. touching the exposition of this place of Saint Iames you shall there I doubt not finde him of an other minde than your selfe for the continuing of the office and vse of the Morall Law in binding all Christians to all duties of loue euen in the daies of the Gospell required in the same The like you may also see in his first Booke de doctrina Christiana August de Doct. Christ lib. 1. cap. 30. in his Bookes de litera spiritu contra adversarium Legis Prophetarum And now hauing deliuered your selfe of your maine businesse Antinomus and rid your hands of that confused stuffe which stucke in your fingers you are at leasure to bring vs in a Simile to illustrate as you say the conclusion of your fift section and another to illustrate the generall point If your section and your point haue no greater light than your Similies bring them Answer they may both stumble and fall in the darke for all the helpe that they shall haue by their meanes I haue heard that nullum Simile currit quatuor pedibus no Simile runs vpon foure feet but how shall that run or goe or stand which being maimed and starke lame hath neuer a sound neither legge nor foot at all If Venice and England in your supposition were vnder one and the same King and Gouernour vnder the same Law and Lawgiuer yet
of the Morall Law Nay is there not much to the contrary For doth he that saith we are freed from the rigour yoke and bondage of the Law affirme in so saying that the Morall Law is wholly abolished or are we therefore discharged of all obedience to the Law altogether because by faith in Christs obedience we stand not charged with the exact and rigorous obseruation of the same Doth not o Caluin Instit lib. 3. cap. 19 sect 4. Caluin himselfe in this very section which you alledge giue instance in one precept of the Morall Law as now in force and of great vse for beleeuers to frame their hearts and liues in obedience thereunto Doth he not say plainly Legis praeceptum est ut diligamus Deum He doth not say as it seemes you would haue him Legis praeceptum fuit as implying the Law was once but now is not as p Virg. Aeneid li. 2. fuit Ilium ingens gloria Teucrorum sed jam seges est ubi Troia fuit or as Tullie also could say q Cicer. Tuscul quaest lib. 1. Triste vocabulum fui subest enim haec vis habuit non habet but he saith legis praeceptum est as being yet still in force ut diligamus Deum as binding himselfe and all the faithfull to a filiall and cheerefull not to a rigorous and seruile obedience in the duties of it But seeing you haue done Caluin so great wrong as contrary to his minde and meaning yea to his words and writing to charge him with that he neuer wrote spoke nor thought will you doe him that fauour as to let him speake for himselfe and deliuer his owne opinion in his owne words whether he be of your minde or no touching the vtter abolishing of the whole Morall Law Neque hinc rectè quis colligat saith r Caluin Instit lib. 3. cap. 19. sect 2. he hauing proued that the Law hath no place nor power in the justification of a sinner before God legem fidelibus supervacaneam esse quos non idâ—o docere hortari stimulare ad bonum definit tamet si apud Dei tribunal in eorum conscientijs locum non habet and he addeth a little afterward In hoc fitum est legis officium ut eos officij sui admonendo ad sanctitatis innocentiae studium excitet Me thinkes Caluin seemeth to frame his speech of purpose as if he meant to answer one in your coat and to meet with your opinion though he were neuer acquainted with your person For you will haue the whole Morall Law to be wholly abolished he blames the very conceit of such as thinke it needlesse or superfluous indeed he acknowledgeth that it is of no force for our justification but confesseth withall that it is of great vse for edification and sanctification You will haue it not only ceased but abrogated as hauing neither any office nor vse he saith it is so farre from being abrogated that yet it doth not cease to teach to exhort and to pricke the faithfull vnder the Gospell forward vnto that which is good and testifieth that it is a speciall office of the Law by admonishing them of their duty to stirre them vp vnto holinesse of life You say The whole Epistle to the Galatians and the generall Argument of it importeth that the whole Morall Law is wholly abolished and he to the cleane contrary addeth these to his former words Å¿ Caluin Instit lib. 3. cap. 19. sect 3. In hoc cardine totum fere argumentum Epistolae ad Galatas vertitur giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that by the Argument of the Epistle to the Galatians the Morall Law is not abolished but in speciall office and vse euen now and for euer in the daies of the Gospell to be continued The words I haue cited out of Caluin I haue not fetcht very farre being so neere neighbours to the place whence you tooke yours Yours out of the fourth section Caluin Instit lib. 3. cap. 19. sect 4. sect 2. 3. where yet you haue nothing which makes for you and mine out of the second third section where you may see almost euery line is drawen to my hand cleane ouerthwart and crosse vnto your opinion What may a man that would willingly thinke well of you thinke of your dealing in this allegation Did you reade the fourth and not the second nor third sections That had beene great negligence especially there being so necessary dependance one vpon another Did you reade them and not vnderstand them taking that to be for you which was altogether against you That had beene too grosse ignorance Did you reade and vnderstand that Caluin in those sections had nothing to confirme but much to confute your opinion And would you notwithstanding beare vs in hand that he stood as firme on your side as you had set him faire in your margent This were wilfully to shut your eies against the light and to endanger the comfort of a good conscience Which of these faults you are fallen into I leaue to your second thoughts to consider and to amend what you finde amisse Thus we leaue Caluin who doth neither proue nor approue your opinion but plainly reproues it rather Let vs now examine Beza * Antinomus your next witnesse and see if his testimony will stand you in any stead for the vtter abolishing of the Morall Law Answer In the place which you alledge in Galat. 3.22 he speaketh something of the abrogation of the Ceremoniall but not a word of the abolition of the Morall Law his words will witnesse what I say and conuince you of no small fault in this allegation also t Beza in Gal. 3.22 Antea docuerat saith he legem ceremonialem abrogatam esse tum quatenus nos arguebat peccati ac mortis per transgressiones tum quatenus fuerat ipsius damnationis externum Chirographum Nunc autem eandem ceremonialem legem considerans ut promissionum Euangelicarum suo tempore exhibendarum umbram figuram docet illam quoque hoc respectu cessasse c. What could be said more distinctly or more effectually for expounding that very verse of the abrogation of the Ceremoniall which you say he expounds of the abolishing of the Morall Law Beza u Beza in Gal. 3.23 saith That the Apostle vnderstands the Ceremoniall Law in this 23. verse and that being but a shadow and figure of the promises of the Gospell it ceased when Christ was exhibited and you say how truly let others judge that the same Beza saith that the same verse is to be vnderstood of the Morall Law and that he proueth thereby that the whole Morall Law is wholly abolished There may be as much agreement betwixt light and darknesse fire and water truth and errour as betwixt Beza his Assertion and your Allegation in this point But will you with patience heare his opinion direct and downe-right not for the abolishing but for
the establishing of the Morall Law Quid igitur saith x Beza in 2 Cor. 3.11 he writing vpon 2. Corinth 3.11 Num lex abolita sanè quod ad ceremonias attinet cessavit At enim dices num hac in parte abolitum est Mosis ministerium minimè verò semper enim sunt homines ad Euangelium praedicatione legis praeparandi You may here see if you will but turne your eie aside vnto this place that he is so farre from thinking the Morall Law to be abolished that he answereth that obiection and so dasheth out the braines of your opinion with a minimè verò and further affirmeth that the y Vide Bez. Theol. Epist Epist 10. p. 104. Law is to be preached as frequently and necessarily as men are to be prepared for the receiuing of the Gospell Consider also what the same z Beza in 1 Epist Joh cap. 2.7 Lex posita est regendae sanctorum vitae c. Est igitur damnanda Antinomorum Libertinorum detestanda â—…esis Bez. in 1. Tim. cap 1. v. 9. Beza saith writing vpon 1. Iohn 2.7 A New Commandement I write vnto you there he putting a difference betwixt the Morall Law and the Gospell saith Lex quid sit faciendum Euangelium quid sit credendum docet sciendum est igitur sic esse haec duo distincta ut tamen unum alteri subserviat Nec enim Euangelio lex aboletur quatenus quod rectum est praecipit sed duntaxat quatenus mortem omnibus ipsam perfectè non praestantibus minatur Lex mortis terrore nos monet ut de vita in Euangelio quaerenda cogitemus lex jam nobis suavis est seccundùm interiorem hominem magister sicut copiosè docet Apostolus Rom. 6.7.8 capitibus Hinc illud toties à Christo iteratum de Deo proximo diligendo mandatum I pray you consider these particulars out of this testimony and tell me then whether Beza be with you or ouer-against you 1. That the Law and Gospell are distinguished but neither of them both abolished 2. The Law and the Gospell doe mutually serue one another in their seuerall offices and vses 3. The Law is not abolished by the Gospell but established by the same 4. The Law to them that are in Christ See Bez. Epist Theolog. Ep. 20. of the vse of the Morall Law euen for Christians at large is a sweet Master or Teacher in whose lessons and instructions they delight in the inner man 5. That all these offices and vses of the Morall Law are warranted and confirmed by the authenticall Authority of Christ himselfe and his Apostle Paul All these points being set downe by Beza so sound and sufficient for establishing the Law are as so many strong Arguments to conuince you of errour that goe about to abolish it and as so many rebukes also of your vnaduised and injurious dealing with so worthy a Diuine whom you will needs draw in to speake to your minde though neuer so contrary to his owne true meaning Let vs now come to heare your third witnesse Mr. Perkins whether he can speake any more to the matter than Caluine and Beza haue already done * Antinomus You cite him on the Galatians Answer 3.11.23 And tell me I pray you what you haue found here for the whole abolishing of the Morall Law Vpon these words verse 11. No man is justified by the Law a Perkins in Gal. 3.11 he saith that by the Law is meant not onely the Ceremoniall but also the Iudiciall and the Morall Law and that Paul enlargeth his disputation from one part to the whole Law And he giueth a good reason why he would abrogate the vse of the Morall Law as well as of the Ceremoniall in the matter of justification for they saith he which thought Ceremonies necessary to justification would much more thinke Morall duties necessary All this we willingly acknowledge with Mr. Perkins What would you conclude hence Is this your Argument from this place No man can be justified by the workes neither of the Ceremoniall nor of the Morall Law ergo the whole Morall Law is abrogated wholly as well as the Ceremoniall Law We grant the Antecedent and deny the Consequence or Argument For how doth this follow The Morall Law doth not justifie ergo it doth not instruct nor edifie vnlesse it had no other neither office nor vse but that alone Will you see the fallacy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by another of the like stampe b 1 Sam. 8.7 Samuel hath ceased to rule correct condemne the people as a Iudge ergo c 1 Sam. 12.23 24. Samuel hath ceased to pray for the people and to teach and shew them the good and right way as a Prophet Or to vse the Apostles comparison A d Gal. 4.1 Gal. 3.24 Schoolemaster ceaseth to nurture and keepe his scholer vnder the rod and in the rudiments of Grammar as a childe ergo he hath no sufficiencie nor ability to teach him greater or better things being now of riper age But to leaue this Argument weake and feeble as it is shall I be bold to aske you a question Doe you reade and alledge your Authors for satisfaction or contention for colouring and countenancing of an error or for searching and lifting out the truth I would gladly if I might safely conceiue the best but it seemes strange vnto me that seeing e Perk. on Gal. 3.12 Mr. Perkins in the very next leafe vpon the 12. that is the very next verse hath so plaine and euident sentences to confute you that euer you durst alledge any thing out of him as standing with you or for you His words be these I say that the law written in our hearts is still the law of Moses And againe Since mans fall the Lord repeates the Law for weighty causes 1. To teach vs that the Law is of a constant and vnchangeable nature 2. To aduertise vs of our weaknesse and shew vs what we cannot doe 3. To put vs in minde that we must still humble our selues vnder the hand of God after we haue begunne by grace to obey the Law because euen then we come farre short in doing the things which the Law requireth at our hands Who would once imagine that a man fearing God and bearing an honest minde to learne and seeke out the truth would not haue sought and seene a little farther into Mr. Perkins before he would or durst haue produced him for a witnesse against himselfe and against the truth also If all this be not yet sufficient will you for your full satisfaction heare his finall determination of the question He proposeth it thus f Perk. on Gal. 3.23 p. 251. How farre forth is the Law abrogated and answereth this The Morall Law is abrogated in respect of the Church and them that beleeue three waies First in regard of justification and this Paul proues at large in this Epistle Secondly in respect of the
Gospell and doth he not conuince them all of sinne by the present vse of the Law Obserue what he saith verse 19. Now we know that whatsoeuer the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it speaketh to them that are vnder the Law Doth he not vse the present time for the manifesting of the present vse of the Law three times together in this verse and concludeth in the next That therefore by the deeds of the Law no flesh shall be justified in his sight because by the Law commeth or is the knowledge of sinne So o Beza in Rom. 3.19 20. Beza on this place doth expound it and p Paraeus in Rom. 3. v. 20. Paraeus rendreth the words thus Per legem habetur agnitiâ— peccati whence he concludeth ergo non justitia and q Caluin in Rom. 3.20 alibi Quid enim quaeso ist sibi volunt tegem propter transgressiones positam esse Gal. 3.19 per legem esse cognitionem peccati Rom. 3.20 legem peccatum efficere See Caluin Instit lib. 2. cap. 5. sect 6. See Aug. lib. de Spiritu litera cap. 13. Caluin giues the sense of these words Per legem agnitio peccati to be this Lex convincit nos peccati damnationis You see then these learned men take these words otherwise than you doe That by the Law commeth not came or is not was the acknowledgement of sinne As for that which you alledge out of Galath 4.1 I must confesse I neither know how it maketh any thing at all for your point or purpose nor can I conceiue what you meane to goe about to make so large proofe of that which no man doth deny What here you write hath neither dependance nor consequence neither ioints nor sinewes much like vnto a shadow which hauing some proportion of a mans body hath yet neither life nor substance in it For what if we yeeld you all this that the Apostle by the Heire in his minority meaneth the Church of the Iewes before Christ and by the same in his riper age the Church of Christ since his death What is there here I say not of any power but of any colour to proue the abolishing of the Morall Law Is the Morall Law therefore wholly abolished because the Mosaicall regiment in Rites and Ceremonies in Types and Figures in Legall burdens and Leuiticall seruices together with the rigour and terror of the Law is now ceased and abrogated You might as well say the Heire when he was a childe was kept in vnder sharpe and seuere Tutors and Gouernors but being now come to age he may now liue as he list Or the Church in her infancie was in bondage to the Ceremoniall Law therefore in her riper age she is not bound to obey either God or man by the duties of the Morall Law I could wish you would aduisedly consider what our SAVIOVR CHRIST himselfe saith I came not to r Est igitur damnanda Antinomorum libertinorum detestanda haeresis saith Bez. in 1 Tim. 1.9 and so say I. destroy the Law but to Å¿ Mat. 5.17 18 19. fulfill it and whosoeuer he be that shall breake one of the least of these Commandements and shall teach others so to doe he shall be called the least in the kingdome of heauen but whosoeuer shall doe and teach them he shall be called great in the kingdome of heauen And remember againe what S. Paul hath once told you already t Rom. 3.31 Doe we make void the Law by faith God forbid nay rather we establish the Law Christians indeed are freed from the bondage and burdens of the Law of Moses but yet must they take vpon them u Mat. 11.23 29 30. Christ his yoke and burden for his yoke is easie and his burden light Yea they are charged to beare one anothers burdens and so to fulfill the x Gal. 6.2 Law of Christ that their faith may y Gal. 5.6.13 worke by loue and they by loue serue one another and so shew that they delight in the z Rom. 7.22 Law of God concerning the inner man a Luc. 1.74 75. seruing the Lord in righteousnesse and holinesse all the daies of their liues that is according to both the Tables of the Morall Law Touching your quotation out of Socrat. Eccl. Hist lib. 5. cap. 21. I haue seene what he saith but can see nothing for the abolishing of the Morall Law He blameth them that contend so much for Iewish Ceremonies keeping of Easter obseruing Daies and Moneths as neuer hauing well considered that Quando religio Iudaica erat in Christianam commutata accurat is illas Mosaicae legis observationes rerum futurarum figuras penitus evannisse and so vrgeth that out of Galath 4.21 against them But what will you say if out of the same Chapter I bring you some euidence that Socrates doth not abolish but establish the Morall Law b Socrates Eccles Hist lib. 5. c. p. 21. Apostolis propositum fuit non ut leges de festis diebus celebrandis sancirent sed ut rectè vivendi rationis pietatis nobis authores essent The Apostles saith Socrates neuer purposed to make lawes for holydaies but to teach vs both by words and writing the way of godlinesse and good liuing And did not the Apostles this especially by vrging and applying the duties of the Morall Law in both Tables vnto Christians both for their persons and callings Reade and consider Rom. 1.2.6.7 12.13 Cap. 1 Tim. 1. 2 Tim. 3. Ephes 5.6 Chapters Moreouer Socrates in the same Chapter complaineth of the Churches of the Gentiles for the breaking of the Morall Law and violating the c Acts 15.20 Apostles Commandement Acts 15. Caeterum nonnulli his neglectis omnem scortationem rem quidem indifferentem arbitrantur sed tamen de diâ—bus sestis tanquam de vita decertant Dei d Vide Iunium de polit Mosis cap. 8. col 1552. praecepta evertunt ipsis sibi leges sanciunt In which words doth he not blame such as professing themselues to be Christians did yet account fornication which is a breach of the seuenth Commandement in the Morall Law to be a thing indifferent and so following their owne lust did ouerthrow Gods Law You haue gained nothing then by your allegation out of Socrates but lost more than you lookt for at his hands And as little haue you got by that which you take from Mr. Perkins againe out of Galat. 4.3 Antinomus who as you say setteth it out very fully What is that which he setteth out so fully The abrogation of the Morall Law If you meane that Answer as that you must meane if you meane to speake to the purpose then you offer him too too hard measure againe to charge him with that he neuer spake and to gather that he neuer scattered Or is it that the Church vnder the Law was but as the Heire in his minority but the Church vnder the
Apostels in all their Epistles which you seeme to me to haue both mounted higher and charged deeper as a principall peece of Ordnance for this speciall seruice of battery and beating downe to the ground not only the wals and windowes but the stateliest and strongest towers and bulwarkes of the Morall Law * Antinomus You say The practise of the Apostles in all their Epistles vseth brotherly exhortations still calling them brethren This English I vnderstand not but I conceiue you would say Answer That It is the practise of the Apostles in all their Epistles to vse brotherly exhortations still calling them to whom they write Brethren And what of that I pray you Is the practise of the Apostles therefore against the Morall Law because in their Epistles they vse brotherly exhortations and call them to whom they write Brethren Why then belike Moses himselfe both spake and wrote against the Morall Law when endeuouring to keepe men in obedience to the sixt Commandement he vsed brotherly exhortations and called them brethren y Act. 7.26 Exod. 2.13 Sirs you are brethren why doe you wrong one to another Act. 7.26 And tels vs not only that they two were brethren but hath left it vpon record that they were also his brethren z Exod. 2.12 Exod. 2. And Lot also like enough practised somewhat against the Morall Law when labouring to preuent the villany of the Sodomites in the breach of the seuenth Commandement he vsed brotherly exhortations calling them brethren saying a Gen. 19.7 I pray you Brethren doe not so wickedly I had thought that neither the name of Brethren nor brotherly exhortations had beene so peculiarly appropriate to the Gospell but that both might be vsed for the furtherance of the duties and restraint of the breaches of the Morall Law Neither are rebukes or threats in my opinion so proper to the Law that they may not haue their place and vse in the Gospell also Ahab was neuer a whit the better because he could say in foolish pitie of King Benhadad Is he yet aliue he is my b 1 King 20.32 Brother For there is * August ad Macedon Ep. 64. Sicuti est aliquando misericordia puniens ita crudelitas parcens crudelitas parcens Nor was Paul euer the worse because he wrote so sharply to the c 1 Cor. 5.3 4 5 13. Corinthians and dealt so seuerely with the incestuous person as to deliuer him vp to Satan for there is misericordia puniens The Apostles in their Epistles haue not only oile to supple but wine to search imitating that good d Luc. 10.34 Samaritane that vsed both in the cure of the wounded man Neither doe they alwaies apply milde lenities but sometimes sharpe corrasiues to their ill affected or afflicted patients Could you obserue that the Apostle calleth the Galathians ten times Brethren in that Epistle and could you take no notice of the sharpe and bitter rebukes and reproofes which he vseth against them e Gal. 3.1 3. O foolish Galathians who hath bewitched you Are yee so foolish I am f Gal. 4.11 20. afraid of you I stand in doubt of you g Gal. 4.9 How turne you againe to beggerly rudiments Behold I h Gal. 5.2 3 4. Paul say vnto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing Christ is become of none effect vnto you whosoeuer of you are justified by the Law you are fallen from grace I i Gal. 5.12 would they were euen cut off which trouble you yea if he were an k Gal. 1.8 9. Angell from heauen let him be accursed Haue not these ten rebukes almost ten times as much acrimony and tartnesse as the naming of them ten times brethren hath lenity and mildnesse Paul a Preacher of the Gospell knew there was vse of both and at this present saw that euen the Galathians his l Gal. 4.12 19. brethren and his little children had need of both although a people that had receiued and did professe the Gospell If then your reason be good The practise of the Apostles stands against the Morall Law because they vse in their Epistles brotherly exhortations to them to whom they write and call them brethren then the practise of the Apostles stands against the Gospell also because in the same Epistles they oftentimes rebuke them as wicked and threaten them sometimes as accursed creatures But * Antinomus you say They ground their exhortations neither vpon Moses Law nor vpon any other Commandement but on the mercies of God in Christ as may be seene in all their Epistles Now certainly Answer this is one of the strangest and boldest speeches that euer I heard from any man bearing the name of a true Christian and making some shew of reading and learning as you doe Are you such a stranger in the Epistles of the Apostles that you could yet neuer finde any of their exhortations grounded on the Commandements and terrors of the Law And dare you be so bold as to say They are all grounded only on the mercies of God in Christ And that this may be seene also in all their Epistles Haue you read Rom. 12.1 m Rom. 12.1 I beseech you Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a liuing sacrifice c. And haue you not read in the same Apostle 2 Tim. 4.1 n 2 Tim. 4.1 I charge thee before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judge the quicke and the dead at his appearing preach the Word c. o Rom. 11.22 He that bids vs behold the goodnesse of the Lord bids vs behold his seuerity also vnto the Iewes that fell seuerity but towards vs goodnesse if we continue in his goodnesse otherwise we are threatned to be cut off also And Some as p Ep. Iud. v. 23. Iude speaketh we must deale withall in compassion and by the looking for of the mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto eternall life and others we must saue by feare plucking them as brands halfe burnt out of the fire He that exhorteth vs to q Col. 3.13 Forbeare and forgiue one another if any haue a quarell against any and that vpon this ground of Gods mercy in Christ euen as Christ for gaue vs Col. 3.13 doth likewise exhort vs Not to r Rom. 12.19 auenge our selues but rather to giue place vnto wrath vpon another ground of Gods justice and that taken out of the Law Deut. 32.35 for it is written vengeance is mine and I will repay it saith the Lord. He that saith of the Ministers of the Gospell as of Å¿ 2 Cor. 5.20 Ambassadors of peace We beseech you in Christs stead to be reconciled vnto God saith also being himselfe one of the same as an Herauld of Armes t 2 Cor. 5.10 11. We must all appeare before the judgement seat of Christ to giue an account of whatsoeuer we haue done in our bodies be it good or
remarkable for the time to come as euer it was vpon the Iewes and euen in the same words This is a rebellious people lying children and that euen for the same reason Because you stand so much against the Law of the Lord. But to proceed yet a little further for your better conuiction and satisfaction in this point If I shall shew you out of the Epistles of the Apostles not only * The Apostle S. Iohn proueth hatred of our Brethren to be a sin because it is a breach of the Morall Law viz. Murther offending against the sixt Commandement and so doth not only proue it but reproue it also 1 Ioh. 3.14 15. as deseruing death and depriuing vs of eternal life So doth Paul also rebuke and threaten Couetousnesse because it is Idolatry a breach of the first Commandement sharpe rebukes as you haue heard some already but some bitter and ironicall taunts many serious and seuere Commandements for auoiding of the sinnes and performing of the duties of the Morall Law many terrible threatnings of dreadfull judgements and curses and that not only by way of allusion but by plaine allegation of the Morall Law If I say I shall shew you all these out of the Epistles will you then honestly and ingenuously confesse your error hauing so boldly affirmed the contrary and so rest satisfied with the truth in this particular Vpon this subject a man might gather enough to fill a Volume and might spend more daies then I can spare houres for this businesse A touch of some and a taste of others shall serue the turne When the Apostle k 1 Cor. 4.8 Paul saw the Corinthians swolne and puffed vp with a vaine and insolent conceit of their owne excellency as now boasting of their gifts and that being now full by their elegant and eloquent Teachers they began as it were to loath the hony combe of the Word in Pauls preaching he wisely labours to let out this winde of vanity with an ironicall and bitter rebuke as sharpe and piercing as the point of a speare or sword Now saith he yee are full now yee are rich now yee haue reigned as Kings without vs we are fooles for Christs sake but yee are wise in Christ l 1 Cor. 4.10 we are weake but yee are strong yee are honourable but we are despised Some m Quintil. Instit Orat. lib. 6. cap. 3. lib. 9. cap. 2. learned men doe hold that this and such like ironicall n Lyra in 1 Cor. 4.8 Ironicè loquitur ut ostendat praesumptionem corum derisibilem derisions are the sharpest and seuerest reprehensions Like vnto that of our Sauiour Christ Mar. 7. where sharply reprouing the ceremonious and superstitious Pharisies for preferring their humane Ordinances before Gods Commandements Full o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rajn Censur praâ—ect 169. See Beza advers Sycoph p. 136. ut Amos. 4 4 â—…e Bethel peccate well saith p Mar. 7.9 10. he doe yee reject the Commandements of God that yee may keepe your owne Traditions For Moses said Honour thy Father and Mother and yee say It is Corban c. Or like vnto that bitter mocke of q 1 King 18.27 Elijah against the worshippers of Baal 1 King 18.27 Cry aloud for he is a God either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a journey or peraduenture he sleepeth and must be awaked The same Apostle Paul also warning the Philippians of false Teachers of wicked liuers and of them of the Circumcision that were amongst them doth he not rate such persons as Dogs and scoffingly tearme their Circumcision Concision saying Beware of r Phil. 3.2.3 Dogs beware of euill workers beware of the Concision and doth not the same Apostle giue direction vnto Å¿ Tit. 1.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Titus to muzzell and stop the mouthes of such Dogs and branding the Cretians with reprochfull names by a Verse alleged out of Epimenides one of their owne Poets t Tit. 1.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cretians all are liars still bellies slow and beasts ill u Tit. 1.13 He alloweth of this testimony as true and thereupon chargeth Titus to rebuke them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cuttingly or sharply that they may be sound in the faith As if he would haue Titus to vse these sharpe reproofes and reproches as Chirurgions sometimes doe their keene rasors to cut away all brutish and base sinnes as either dead or proud flesh that so they might be cured of their errors and made sound in the knowledge and profession of the Gospell of Christ Iesus By all which bitter taunts sharpe reproches and cutting rebukes any that hath either sight or sense may plainly see and perceiue that all Pauls Epistles are not tempered with such mildnesse as you haue ignorantly and rashly affirmed as if there were not so much as any taste of tartnesse or sharpnesse in them at all But that Paul retaining his x 2 Cor. 13.10 1 Cor. 4.21 Apostolicall liberty sometimes to smite with his rod of rebuke and censure as well as to speake in the spirit of meeknesse did not only himselfe inflamed with holy and heauenly zeale rebuke sharply reproch bitterly and reproue grieuously but did also charge y Tit. 1.13 2 Tim. 4.2 others of Gods Ministers seuerely as occasion should require so to doe And all this he did with a wise heart and mercifull hand to humble the people of God not to discourage them for z 2 Cor. 10.8 13.10 edification not vnto destruction to make them sound in judgement and holy in affection and conuersation Now whereas * Antinomus you say further That there is no forme of Commandement in the Epistles no penalty no vrging of the Morall Law nay not so much as any allusion vnto Moses Law or the Ten Commandements I say no more Answer but let vs search the records and the very sight of the Euidence will I hope conuince your conscience of too much blindnesse and boldnesse in these also Turne me therefore I pray you vnto 1 Tim 6. I a 1 Tim. 6.13 14. giue thee charge in the sight of God who quickneth all things and before Iesus Christ who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession that thou keepe this Commandement without spot vnrebukeable vntill the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ And vnto 2 Tim. 4.1 I b 2 Tim. 4.1 charge thee before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judge the quicke and the dead at his appearing and his kingdome Preach the word be instant in season and out of season reproue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and Doctrine See also 2 Tim. 2.14 c 2 Tim. 2.14 Of these things put them in remembrance charging them before the Lord that they striue not about words to no purpose but to the subuerting of the hearers Consider now these places and tell me I pray you if the Apostle doe not in these
to glory and being enabled by his spirit which he hath according to his t Ezek. 36.26 27. 2 Cor. 3.17 Couenant put within vs to walke in his statutes and to doe his will we delight in the Law of God after the inward man Rom. 7.22 and shew our loue to God in keeping his u Ioh. 14.15 Commandements which now are not x 1 Ioh. 5.3 grieuous as they were in the letter to the Iewes but easie and y Matt. 11.30 light as Christ hath made them by his spirit vnto vs they being driuen and enforced to obedience by the spirit of z Rom. 8.15 bondage and feare we drawne and allured thereunto by the a 2 Cor. 3.17 spirit of liberty and loue they vnder the Morall Law as a Law of b Gal. 3.24 cruell tyranny and we vnder it only as vnder a c Iam. 2.8 12. royall Law of liberty So that as the d Ioh. 4.42 Samaritans which formerly had beleeued the report of the woman concerning Christ the Sauiour of the world when once they heard him themselues said vnto her Now we beleeue not because of thy saying for we haue heard him our selues and know that this indeed is the Christ the Sauiour of the world So may we say concerning our obedience to the Morall Law Now we obey not because Moses did in that manner and measure charge and command the Iewes to keepe the Morall Law but because we haue heard the Law-giuer himselfe whose voice then e Heb. 12.26 27. shooke the earth and hath yet once more shaken not only the earth but the heauen in remouing those things that may be shaken confirming the Morall Law vnto vs f Matt. 5.22 28 34 clearing it from the false glosses of the Pharisies g 39 44. opening the true meaning of it to his disciples requiring a h 2 Cor. 8 12. 2 Cor. 9.7 willing and vpright not an absolute and perfect obedience vnto it and giuing i Phil. 2.13 2 Cor. 9.8 2 Cor. 8.16 ability to doe what he requires vnto all that beleeue and obey the Gospell and yet further both threatning a k Matt. 5.19 judgement vnto all whosoeuer they be that shall wilfully breake one of the least of the Commandements and shall teach others so and promising a blessing vnto all that shall willingly doe them and teach the same to other men accordingly * Antinomus But it may be you thinke the Morall Law was giuen to the Iewes only because there be some reasons vrged to enforce obedience thereunto which may seeme to belong only vnto that people and no other to which purpose as I conceiue you alledge Exod. 20.2 12. where mention is made of their deliuerance out of Egypt and their inheritance in the land of Canaan To this I answer That we doe not deny but Answer as the Morall Law was deliuered both by word and writing to the Iewes as then they stood there were in it some things touching the personall estate and condition of that people which were temporall and peculiar to that people only Such was the late blessing of God in their wonderfull deliuerance our of the land l Exod. 20.2 12. of Egypt and out of the house of bondage being but m Exod. 19.1 three monethes before the giuing of the Law which being yet so fresh in their memories and the remembrance thereof so sweet vnto them was held in the wisdome of God considering their dulnesse vnto holy duties to be as a spurre or a goad to quicken them and prouoke them to yeeld obedience vnto the Morall Law both in generall as in the Preface to the Law in this and other places which you alledge and in n Deut. 5.14 15. speciall to the fourth Commandement in keeping of the Sabbath day Deut. 5.14 15. And yet we know for certaine that this reason taken from their deliuerance out of Egypt was temporall only and not perpetuall both because the Lord doth charge the children of Israel vpon their deliuerance out of the Babylonian captiuity to say no more The Lord liueth which brought vp the children of Israel o Ier. 16.13 14 15. out of the land of Egypt but The Lord liueth which brought vp the children of Israel out of the land of the North and also because the deliuerance out of Egypt being literally and personally taken in these places could binde no more of the children of Israel to heare and obey the Law but only them that in their owne persons ware so deliuered and with their owne eares p Exod. 20.1 2. heard the voice of God speaking all the words of the Law vnto them and so not only the force of this reason taken from their deliuerance out of Egypt but the Law it selfe also for which it is vrged should both haue fallen together with the carkases of those that fell in the wildernesse seeing q Num. 14.29 30. not one of all those that in their owne persons were deliuered out of Egypt and heard the voice of the Lord in the giuing of the Law except Caleb and Iosuah did euer enter into the holy Land You see then that the particular conueniency of this reason taken from their deliuerance out of Egypt will not binde the Morall Law in absolute propriety to the Iewes neither only ☜ nor alwaies And also that not so much the speciall quality of the benefit as the generall equity of the same See Muscul loc com in Explicat primi praecepti is to be weighed and considered in this reason for if corporall deliuerances were or else might haue beene of some force to draw carnall Israel to heare and obey the Morall Law why are not or ought not spirituall deliuerances be of like effect and power to preuaile with all Beleeuers the r Rom. 9.6 Gal. 6.16 true Israel of God to the same purpose And who doubteth but a Minister of the Gospell to draw the people of God to performe the duties of piety and charity in the first and second Table might by analogy and like equity preach and proclaime Thus faith the Lord heare ô Israel I am the Lord thy God which haue deliuered thee from the ſ Col. 1.13 power of darknesse and translated thee into the kingdome of the Sonne of my loue Thou shalt haue no t 1 Cor. 8.6 other Gods before me c. Especially seeing there was neuer any u Ioh. 3.16 mercy matchable with this mercy neuer x 1 Ioh. 4.9 Ioh. 15.13 any loue like vnto this loue the Lord being more y Rom. 5.8 gracious and glorious in this deliuerance than in any other since the beginning of the world whatsoeuer And yet in so doing for ought I see he should not offer any violence to the Morall Law not any wrong to the Lawgiuer no more than if he had said Heare ô Christians The z Tit. 2.11 grace of God that bringeth saluation to all men
hath appeared and teacheth vs that denying vngodlinesse and worldly lusts we should liue soberly and righteously and godly in this present world which is the summe * Armin. disput de peccato actua thes 8. sect 4. and substance of the whole Morall Law As for that promise of long life and prosperity Exod. 20.12 annexed to the fifth Commandement Exod. 20.12 which * Antinomus you vrge as if it were appropriated only to the Land of Canaan that you might binde fast the Morall Law vnto the Iewes onely The Apostle Paul Answer Ephes 6.2 shall giue you vpon the same ground of generall equity an effectuall and full answer thereunto For pressing and perswading there diuers duties of the Morall Law he requireth and allureth children to honour and obey their Parents both by precept and by promise of the first Commandement of the second Table Children saith he Ephes 6.1 2. obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Honor thy father and mother which is the first Commandement with promise that it may be well with thee and thou maiest liue long on the earth The precept he setteth downe in the same words as it is written in the Law Exod. 20.12 The promise he a little changeth not in the substance and quality of it but in the circumstance of persons and place and that according to the rule of generall equity and conueniency for the better vnderstanding and enioying of the same The substance and quality of the promise to such children as honour and obey their Parents is one and the same be they Iewes or Gentiles viz. long life and a prosperous estate in this world and this is perpetuall as the precept it selfe is The circumstances of persons and place are different in both places For in the giuing of the Law Exod. 20.12 Exod. 20.12 the promise was at that time directed to the people of the Iewes to be made good in the Land of Canaan running in this tenor That thy daies may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giueth thee But in the renewing and applying of the Law in and since the dayes of Christ the promise is directed to all beleeuers both Iewes and Gentiles as the Apostle doth here deliuer it to the Ephesians in these tearmes That it may be well with thee and that thou maist liue long not only in Canaan or in Ephesus but on the earth i. whatsoeuer thy estate or wheresoeuer thy abiding be How opposite and contrary to the Apostles judgement and dealing is your position and opinion You will needs wholly abolish the whole Morall Law the Apostle doth establish it you will needs haue it to be giuen to the Iewes only the Apostle saith it belongeth to the Gentiles also you will needs abolish the precept because of some circumstance wanting now in the promise the Apostle passing by or letting fall the circumstance as temporall preserueth and maintaineth the substance and equity of them both as perpetuall you will needs restraine and confine the blessing of long and happy daies vnto Canaan the Apostle doth extend and enlarge it to euery City and Countrey to euery corner and quarter of the earth euen ouer the vniuersall world Let this suffice for answer to the scriptures which you haue brought out of the 19. and 20. Chapters of Exodus Antinomus as for the rest which you heape vp out of Deuteronomy and the Psalmes to the number of a dozen more being all one in substance with the former and diuers of them the very same in the same words Me thinks you deale as wisely herein Answer as if hauing offered to pay a shilling in two sixpences you should to shew your store of siluer draw out twelue single pence also to discharge the summe as reckoning the payment to be better in many peeces than in few because the shew and flourish is not so great in few as in many But seeing it is so ordinary with you to deliuer in your Scriptures and Testimonies by number rather than by measure and so to carry out or couer an error with some colour and shew of truth I will follow you no further in this maze but either put you ouer for answer vnto that which I haue answered to the former of like nature or else giue you ouer to runne round in your owne circle vntill you waxe giddy with your owne conceit and course as many others of like temper haue done before you Those which you alledge out of the New Testament some of them are flat against you and not one of them will proue your point That the Morall Law was giuen to the Iewes only That of Matthew 10.6 I send and 15.24 Matt. 10.6 Matt. 15.24 See Calu Instit li. 2. cap. 11. sect 12. I am not sent but vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel would serue with greater shew of probability to proue that the Gospell was not sent vnto the Gentiles than that the Law was giuen only to the Iewes Howbeit the meaning of Christ is not to binde himselfe or the Gospell only to the Iewes and to exclude the Gentiles but that for his personall ministration he was first and so they a Act. 13.46 principally to offer the bread of life to the Iewes being Gods children and so to seeke the lost sheepe of the house of Israel And albeit he commanded his Apostles for a season that they should not go into the way of the Gentiles but vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel yet after his resurrection when he renewed their commission he gaue them in charge to goe and teach b Matt. 28.19 20. all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost The Apostles were first indeed to offer the food of the Gospell vnto the Iewes but when they as wanton or wicked children turned away their food from them they waxed bold and said Loe c Act. 13.46 we turne vnto the Gentiles that the Prophecy of Isaiah might so be fulfilled in all this Out of d Isa 2.3 Sion shall goe forth a Law and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem Isaiah 2.3 As for that of Acts 14.16 How doth this follow Antinomus The Lord in times past suffered all Nations to walke in their owne waies Ergo the Morall Law was giuen to the Iewes only for the time past and not vnto vs of the Gentiles for the time present Answer For although the Gentiles had not the Law e Rom. 2.15 written in Tables of stone to teach them to walke in the waies of God so euidently as the Iewes had yet had they the effect of the Law written in their hearts in times past but now since the daies of the Gospell the beleeuers of the Gentiles haue the same Morall Law written in the fleshy f 2 Cor. 3.3 Tables of their heart by the finger of Gods Spirit with much clearer light g
all this to the vtter abolishing of the Morall Law Such things as were but accidentall or * Zanch. in Hos cap. 2. p. 45. col 1. accessory to the Couenant made with Abraham or to the promulgation or administration of the Legall Couenant amongst the Iewes are all abolished But the Morall Law which for substance was euer the same rule of righteousnesse before the fall before the t Muscul loc de foedere Dei p. 144. Law giuen by Moses and before the publishing of the Gospell by Christ Iesus was then and is yet still of good and great u Vrsin de lege divina p. 278. vse in the Church of God For as the x Aug. Ep. 49. ad Deogâ—at Couenant of Grace made betwixt God and man in Christ Iesus was euer since the fall one and the same in the daies of Adam Abraham Moses and of Christ and his Apostles though the administration thereof was diuers according to the different ages and estates of God Church and children so the Morall Law of God was euer the rule of obedience in all those times for all duties of loue to God and man and shall so continue together with the Gospell euen vnto the end of the world although it was not alwaies either deliuered vnto or vrged after the same manner vpon Gods people Abraham y Vide Zanch. in Hos c. 2. p. 44. col 2. Paraeus in Rom. 2. v. 25. Gen. 17.1 before the Law written hauing a portion of this Couenant was charged to walke before God and to be vpright I demand by what rule must Abraham thus walke Doubtlesse by the rule of the Morall Law written in his heart and by the word and will of God reuealed by his Spirit Moses Dauid Samuel Daniel and all other holy Prophets and holy men in the daies of the Law were in the same z Hyper. in Heb. cap. 3.1 Cor. 10.1 2 3. Aug. cont duas Ep. pelag lib. 3. ad Bonis cap. 4. Couenant of Grace by faith in Christ Iesus and yet as during the time of the Iewish Paedagogy they conformed themselues in the outward worship of God to the Ceremoniall Law looking by faith vnto Christ the a Col. 2.17 substance of those b Heb. 10.1 shadowes so did they frame their affections and actions for a sober righteous and holy life according to the Morall Law which yet they did not follow for righteousnesse to be justified and saued by the workes of it as the greatest number of the c Rom. 10.3 4 5. Iewes did but because they knew that the Law of God was a d Psal 119.105 light vnto their feet and a lampe vnto their paths and God did call them to the Law and to the e Isai 8.16 20. Testimony and charged the Prophet to binde vp the Testimony and to seale vp the Law amongst his disciples Isa 8.16.20 So likewise hath our Sauiour Christ and his Apostles the f 2 Pet. 1.19 night of darke Ceremonies being dispelled by the bright day of the Gospell continued and g Matt. 5. cap. 22. cap. v. 36 37 38 39 40. Gal. 5.14 Iam. 2.8 9. established the Morall Law of God being now a part of his written word and reuealed will to be for euer vnto all Christians the rule of life and the line of loue by which we must measure out all our duties and seruices of piety towards God and charity towards men before him and his for euer In which regard loue which is the summe of the Law is said by the Apostle h 1 Ioh. 2.7 8. Iohn and by i Ioh. 13.34 Ioh. 14.15 Ioh. 15.10 11 13. Christ himselfe to be both an Old Commandement and a New an Old Commandement because the duties of loue were euer enioyned and required from the beginning and a New because the same Law of loue was vpon new grounds of loue both renewed and reenforced by Christ himselfe the Lawgiuer Argument 10 Now whereas in your tenth Argument you seeme to conclude That because the Morall Law was giuen with manifest tokens of Gods wrath Antinomus in great terror and is called a fiery Law Deut. 33.2 therefore it was giuen to the Iewes only and so consequently is now vtterly abolished Answer and belongs not now vnto vs Might you not as well and wisely i. indeed as absurdly conclude also that because the Day of the Promulgation of the Gospell is called by the Prophet Ioel and by k Ioel 2.28 Peter The great and terrible day of the Lord a day wherein the Lord will shew l Act. 2.16 17. wonders in heauen aboue and signes in the earth beneath bloud and fire and vapor of smoke when the Sunne shall be turned into darknesse and the Moone into bloud therefore the Gospell sure being giuen and the Holy Ghost being sent with such manifest tokens of Gods wrath as also by a m Act. 2.2 3 c. rushing and mighty winde and fiery tongues which did make many amazed and as it were at their wits end doe both belong vnto them that were then present whether Iewes or Proselytes but neither of them vnto vs Christians to whom no such fiery feares and bloudy terrors doe belong at all For shall not the like causes in the like case produce and bring forth the like effects Or shall fires and feares proue the abolishing of the Law when the like meanes are vsed by the wisdome of God for the publishing and establishing of the Gospell Argument 11 But let vs now heare your eleuenth Argument if it can speake any thing more directly to the point and purpose Antinomus than his fellowes haue done I cannot finde say you that saluation was euer promised to him that should keepe the Law Answer And what then I pray you will you needs inferre hereupon that the Morall Law is vtterly now abolished What true Christian doth now seeke for saluation by the keeping of the Law Or who is he that maintaineth the vse of the Morall Law for this purpose How often haue we told you That we looke for saluation and justification by the n Rom. 3.24 25 28. righteousnesse of faith in Christ Iesus and not by the keeping or fulfilling of the o Phil. 3.9 Morall Law If the Morall Law indeed had no other vse but this you speake of then had your Argument spoken something to the purpose but seeing it is vrged and vsed by vs as a chrystall glasse of Gods will to discouer vnto vs the spirituall blemishes and beauties of our hearts and liues and as a guide to teach vs to walke in his waies telling vs what to doe and what to leaue vndone and seeing it hath many other speciall p Vide Calu. de usu Legis in Harmo in 4. lib. Mos p. 442 443. offices as formerly you haue heard both for Gods glory and our good we can neuer yeeld this vnto you for a sound Argument That therefore the
circumstances and accessories of the Morall Law Thirdly doth not Zanchius auouch euidently the cleane contrary Fourthly why then doe you blame his exposition as establishing the forme as well as the matter of the Morall Law Fiftly how doe you that haue so long stood out against the Morall Law for the absolute abrogating of it euen the whole Law and wholly too now so come in vnto Zanchius and others that haue stood for it that you yeeld them and vs the whole substance and matter of the Morall Law to be in force still and content your selfe only to carry away the shadowes accessories and circumstances of the same to feed your fancy with an idle and adle conceit of a glorious victory Egregiam verò laudem spolia ampla tulisti Virgil. Exhortat ad Confiliarios Regis Galliae It is recorded of Paulus Vergerius a man very gracious with Pope Paul the third that when he attempted to write against Luther he was so ouercome with the force of Luthers Arguments that he changed his opinion and became a conuert of Luthers religion I wish it were so well and no otherwise with you that the Lord would giue you such a teachable and tractable heart and spirit that whereas you haue read Zanchius Luther Caluine and other Orthodoxall Writers with a minde and purpose to draw them to your error and so to call them in both as witnesses and counsellors against the Morall Law you may so be conuinced your selfe by the euidence of the truth which they deliuer and the force of the reasons which they render for the continuance and maintenance of the Morall Law that if hitherto you haue not yet henceforth you may renounce your error and embrace the truth with them But I see you haue made your selfe a bolting hole that by way of distinction you might haue an euasion For say you it cannot be denied Antinomus but the matter of the Decalogue being the Law of Nature is in force as it is the Law of Nature and vnderstood Philosophically but how it can be in force Theologically vnderstood for that say you is our question in hand being we haue no warrant in Scripture for it but the contrary Answer you say you cannot see And I say if the mist of Philosophy had not blinded the eies of your Theology you might haue seene as much as this comes vnto and more too For I demand First may it not now be denied that the whole Morall Law is wholly abrogated as you affirme seeing it cannot be denied but the matter of the Morall Law is yet of force as you now confesse Secondly if the matter of the Morall Law be of force at this present as the Law of Nature commanding is not the forme also in force by our conformity thereunto in obeying And thirdly if both matter and forme the essentiall parts of the Morall Law be yet continued as it is the Law of Nature that is a naturall rule of righteousnesse and holinesse to such as are in the state of nature is it therefore so depriued of all spirituall force and vse that it cannot be also a spirituall rule of righteousnesse and holinesse to such as are called to the estate of grace Fourthly shall Plato and Aristotle confine vs for teaching or learning of Naturall or Morall duties to their Physicks or Ethicks their Naturall or Morall Philosophy Or would you restraine Christians from hearkning to Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles for their better instruction and direction in the same Surely if true beleeuers haue now no other benefit nor vse of the Morall Law but as it is the Law of Nature and Philosophically vnderstood then is the Law written so distinctly by Moses a penman of the Holy Ghost not written Rom. 15.4 2 Tim. 3.16 as other Scriptures are for our learning Then was Abrahams direction for reformation to no purpose Luk. 16.29 They haue Moses and the Prophets let them heare them Then may infidels and heathens see as farre into the nature and danger of sinne as true Christians can Then may naturall reason be a light vnto our steps and a lanthorne vnto our feet without the Law written And when all this proues true then shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and your Naturall and Morall Philosophy true Diuinity Caluine writing de usu Legis saith Calu. in Deuter. Append. de usu Legis Meritò vocatur bene justè vivendi regula atque hic finis Legis omnibus fere notus est Naturaliter quidem insculpta est boni mali notitia hominibus quò reddantur inexcusabiles This last he speaketh of the Law of Nature as common to all men and seruing only to leaue them without excuse and presently after he speaketh of the Morall Law written by Moses and giuen by God by a singular priuiledge to the Israelites and so to vs as the Doctrine of good-liuing Rom. 4.15 which albeit as Paul saith it be in it selfe holy and the Commandement just and good yet Asperum est saith he quod alibi dicit legem iram operari propter transgressiones esse positam Gal. 3.10 19. And marke I pray you to whom this is asperum so sharpe and bitter nempe hominibus profanis qui tantum Philosophicè judicant Consider and obserue by this that in Caluins judgement they that will judge of the Morall Law Philosophically they are such as are offended with it grieuously and liue profanely Consider also that seeing the Doctrine of the Morall Law deliuered expresly and distinctly in writing to the Israelites was for that time a singular priuiledge and pledge of their adoption aboue and before all other people if you will absolutely cancell this writing and depriue vs of all lawfull vse of this Law being so holy and heauenly a Doctrine and rule of good-liuing consider I say lest you make vs Christians in worse estate than the Iewes and in as bad as the Gentiles our priuiledge lesse than the Israelites according to the flesh and our portion no better than theirs who are strangers from the life of God Antinomus according to the faith But you say how the Morall Law can be in force Theologically vnderstood being no warrant in Scripture for it you cannot see Answer If you wanted light only some helpe might be had but if you want sight too we haue no faculty nor faith of miracles to make a blinde man see only we will lay the matter so plainly in open view that he that can and will see shall and may see that which you say you cannot see To this end it is very requisite that we sift out your meaning what it is to vnderstand the Morall Law Theologically By the opposition which you make of vnderstanding it Philosophically and Theologically it should seeme that as they vnderstand it Philosophically which vnderstand it naturally by the light of naturall reason only Rom. 2.15 without