some other to the end it may appeare haue more and I will beginne with thâ— Doctrine of our owne Church of England which ought to preuaile with vs bâ—yond other testimonies of particular Dâ—uines Homily of saluation the 3. part How can a man haue this true faitâ— this sure trust and confidence in God thâ— by the merits of Christ his sinnes are foâ—giuen him and he receiued to the fauour 〈◊〉 God and to be partaker of the Kingdoâ— of Heauen when he liueth vngodly and dâ—nieth Christ in his deedes and in anothâ—â— Homily As he that readeth Caesars commentâ—ries Homily of faith the 1. part beleeueth the History of Caesar 〈◊〉 be true yet it is not properly sayd that 〈◊〉 beleeueth in Caesar of whom he seeketh 〈◊〉 helpe or benefit so he that beleeueth all thâ— is spoken of God in the Bible to be true and yet liueth so vngodly that hee cannot looke to enioy the promises and benefits of God Although it may be sayd that such a man hath a faith and beleefe to the word of God yet is it not properly sayd that he beleeueth in God or hath such a faith or trust in God whereby hee may surely looke for grace mercy and euerlasting life at Gods hands but rather for iudgement and punishment according to the demerits of his wicked life With this agrees the Common Prayer Booke The Common Prayer booke where in the forme of administring the Lords supper it exhorts the repentant onely to come to Christ that is to beleeue in him for saluation in these words Heare what comfortable words our Sauiour Christ sayth to all those that truely turne to him come vnto mee all yee that trauaile and be heauy laden and I will ease you So God leued the World that hee sent his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeues in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life According to which the Catechisme in the common Prayer booke requires those that are to be baptized and are to come to the Communion repentance or a stedfast purpose to leade a new life before a liuely faith in Gods mercy After the Doctrine of our Church shall follow the testimony of some learned Diuines and Preachers of our Church If you haue not found the Sonne saitâ— Mr. Foxe seeke for him by repentance seeke and yee shall find Mr. Foxe of Christ crucified fol. 16. B. in quarto repentance seeketâ— Christ faith findeth him and obedienâ—â— holds him This faith is a great state a Lady 〈◊〉 Dutches saith Mr. Latimer first shâ—â— hath a Gentleman Vsher that goeth beforâ— her Mr. Latimers fourth Sermon before K. Edward page 57. this Gentleman Vsher is called thâ— knowledge of sinne When we enter into oâ— hearts and acknowledge our faults anâ— stand not about to defend them hee is none of these winkers hee kickes not when heâ— heares his fault Now as the Gentleman vsher goes before her so she hath a trainâ— that commeth behinde her c. and these are the workes of our vocation viz. to bee good to his neighbour D. Halls workes page 147. of baptisme and to obey God c. Neuer will Christ come vnto that soule where the Herauld of Repentance hath not beene before The Key of Dauid pa. 27. printed at London 1610. in octa The Scriptures calls this worke of the Holy Ghost which is the beginning of our regeneration by the name of Repentancâ— euen the thing whereby wee are prepared to receiue the sanctification of faith And afterward It is most impossible for any one Ibid pa. 30. 31 to obtaine this confidence of grace except he first repent himselfe of his former life sincerely and from the bottome of his heart for euen as the faith of knowledge namely to beleeue without all doubt that God is and that he is a rewarder of all that seeke him in Iesus Christ and contrarily one that taketh vengeance on all those which turne away from him for all their sinnes and wickednesse which euer they committed as I say this faith must of necessity goe before true repentance towards God so our repentance namely that wee conuerting from our owne wayes unto God doe returne into the right way must needes goe before that faith of Iesus Christ and immediately after The beginning of the Gospell of God is repentance as it is written The beginning of the Gospell of Iesus Christ prepare you the way of the Lord viz. performe repentance and againe True Repentance towards Gods must of necessity goe before the faith of Iesus Christ and lastly Repentance is the first beginning and as it were the entry of our regeneration but faith is the very perfection and as it were the highest toppe of our Regeneration viz. the insculpture and engraving of the Holy Ghost whereby the repentant doth assuredly beleeue that all his iniquities are forgiuen and that he is vnited with God in euerlasting loue in Iesus Christ Next to the testimony of our Church and her Diuines I will produce the witnes of the Diuines of other Churches and first the ancient Doctors and Fathers and then the latter writers Of the auncient Doctors these shall suffice Iust Mart. qua 37. ad orthodoxos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The baptisme of Iohn which was the baptisme of repentance Acts 19.4 was saith Iustin Martir the beginning or entrance of the Gospell of Grace wherefore it was aboue the Law otherwise hee had not admitted them which had sinned according to the Law that hereby they might by repentance and faith in Christ receiue forgiuenesse of their sinnes comitted Tertul. lib de â—aptismo c. 10 â—uasi candidaâ—uâ— c. Tertullian speaking of the baptisme of Iohn saith that in those dayes therefore the baptisme of Repentance was acted as if the party baptized were thereby declared to bee a suter for remission and sanctification by Christ to follow after And in another place Tertul. lib de â—enitentia ss 6. The lauer of baptisme is the seale of faith which faith is begunne and commended by the faith of repentance VVith what teares sayth Basill oâ—ght that soule burdened with many sinnes depart from sinnes Basil mag quest compendio explicat quest 10. and with what hope and affection approach vnto God Respons first it ought to hate the former condemned life so that it ought euen to abhorre the remembrance of it and to detest it St. Chrysostome speaking of Iohns ministery and baptisme in the Wildernesse of Iudea saith thus Chrysostome in Matth 3. Homil. 10. Because hee came to Preach the baptisme of Repentance c he inferred for remission of sinnes as if hee should say I perswaded them to confesse their sinnes and to repent not altogether that they might be punished but that the more easily they might receiue the gift of remission for unles they had condemned themselues they had neuer sought for grace and not seeking for grace neither could they obtaine remission for this Baptisme prepares
vs till wee bee actually vnited to him by Faith which is the question The contrary may bee seene in illumination a beleefe of the Gospell and vocation which are and may bee wrought in the elect before this vnion Romans 8.20 though they tend to regeneration or rather are a branch and member thereof and there can noe inconuenience follow hereupon as long as the regeneration begunne before this actuall vnion is the worke of the spirit in the elect and for Christs sake that shall be perfected in due time appointed by God for that end The Exception Secondly they prooue that regeneration is not begunne before faith in Christ because I my selfe say as much in my treatise pag. 310. The Apology I answere by acknowledging that faith in Christ becomes effectuall to bring forth good workes and new obedience in a holy life and to beget in vs other Christian graces as hope ioy peace newnesse of heart and vprightnesse c. which are the fruites of faith in Christ and it becomes thus effectuall by our vnion with Christ through faith but I doe not there affirme which is alleaged and is the point to bee prooued that no grace tending to regeneration as a disposition to it is wtought before this our vnion and therefore for all these two reasons their last Argument is weake and insufficient As I haue added to my six arguments one more in defence of my opinion so will I adde one more obiection which is an argument of theirs against it and it is this The Exception If faith in Christ goe before loue and loue before repentance then faith goes before repentance But faith in Christ goes before loue and loue before repentance Therefore faith goes before repentance The consequence they thinke is good because that which goes before the cause goes before the effect ergo if faith go before the cause of repentance which is loue then must it goe before repentance which is the fruite of loue The Assumption they prooue in the parts of it 1 Faith goes before loue because faith workes by loue Gal. 5.6 2 Loue goes before repentance for the doctrine of the Church of England sayth so The Apology I answere 1. If by loue be meant any kinde of loue to God then I grant the consequence and deny the assumption But if thereby bee meant that loue of God which proceedeth from our actuall being beloued of God in Christ and our apprehending of the same in our owne perticular iustification then I deny the consequence and grant the assumption Some loue of God may be before iustifiing faith for God is the obiect of loue and God may bee conceiued and apprehended as louing not onely in many temporall blessings but euen in some spiritual before men beleeue in Christ For God may be apprehended louing in sending his sonne to purchase redemption for man and manifesting in the meanes a possibility of obtaining our share therein vpon repentance and faith in Christ and as preparing vâ— by some workes of Gods Spirit to faith in Christ and if we may be some way affected towards God vpon these considerations and grounds before faith in Christ then may there be some loue before faith and if our loue to God bee suteable to such preparing workes of Gods Spirit as haue yer bin past vpon vs and such good as hath bin manifested to vâ— from God I say such loue is true in it kind as being answerable to that which God aimes at in such meanes though not with that perfection which is requisite to saluation immediately yet with that which is requisite by way of disposition and preparatorily But that loue of God which proceedeth from the receiuing and apprehension of our iustification is a fruit of faith in Christ and followes it 2. I answer that if by repentance be meant the practise of amendment of life and new obedience then the loue of God goes before repentance but if by repentance be meant hearty sorrow for sinne past and true purpose to leaue it then I say the loue of God doth not go before repentance Touching the first part of their asumption out of the Galathians that faith goes before loue I say it is not to purpose because it proues not that faith goes before all loue but only that loue which proceeds from our first beeing beloued of God which we apprehend by faith in Christ Neither is the doctrine of the Church of England out of the Homilies rightly alleaged to proue the 2 part of their assumption viz. that repentance hath an ingredient charity that repentance is a fruite of the loue of God for the repentance the Homily speakes of is not repentance strictly taken viz. sorrow for sinne and purpose of leauing it of which I speake but the whole worke of Gods Spirit on man to make him capable of iustification and salvation or the whole conuersion of man in minde and will in affections and actions inward and outward and this appeares in that it makes foure parts of repentance there spoken of viz. 1. Sorrow for sinne 2. acknowledgment and confession of it 3. faith in Christ and 4. amendment of life in which sense it is no maruell if hee include loue and charity in repentance soe that there is no reason to conclude thence that loue is included in repentance strictly taken as I do except they meane by loue some affection to God for making it possible for vs to bee saued and prouiding a meanes to that end and not a loue of God for our being actually saued or meane by repentance amendment of life for this is a fruite of loue and in this sence it is that St. Augustine speakes to this effect Many do daily say they are sinners and yet still they delight to sinne this is but profession not amendment the soule is accused not healed the offence is pronounced not taken away August 10. tom Ser. 7. de tempore nothing makes true repentance but the hatred of sinne and loue of God the fire of this sacrifice is loue Now at length I draw homeward toward a conclusion of the whole namely to the last thing propounded in handling this point of the precedency of repentance vnto faith in Christ which is the vse and application I made thereof in my Treatise with which as with the rest there is fault found It will not be worth my labour to confute muchlesse recite the particular faults and aberations they espie therein The applying of the point because the answere vnto them will little serue to the cleering of the Doctrine it selfe partly because that which I should write in confutation thereof must be gathered out of that I haue already sayd in this Defence and partly also because the whole frame of those exceptions will of it selfe vpon my Defence fall to the ground For I thinke they would neuer haue written against the application but vpon a supposition that the point whereupon it was raysed is vnsound for
APOLOâ—â— FOR THE TRâ—â—TISE CALLâ—â— Triall of Faitâ— CONCERN◠〈…〉 The prâ—cedenc◠〈◊〉 â—tance for sinâ—◠〈…〉 Faith 〈…〉 AT WILL. CHIâ—â— Apâ—â— 22. â— Men Brethâ—â—n and 〈…〉 yee my Apology wâ—◠〈…〉 vnto you LONDâ—â— Printed by 〈…〉 SAMVEL 〈…〉 sold at 〈…〉 Chuâ—â—â—-yaâ—◠〈…〉 of the 〈◊〉 â—â—24 To the Courteous Reader IN a Defence of one point of my Triall of faith opposed by some I tooke occasion to write a briefe explication of a second contradicted by others In the conclusion of that explication I prayed the Reader to be content that of the later point as yet I sayd no more because as yet I saw no more By Gods prouidence I haue seene more since that time â—â—th the spectacles of some which oppose that Doctrine It remaines because those words implied a promise that now I write more of that matter because I vnderstand more thaâ— I say more because I see more But first when I say that now I see more my meaning is not that I am sâ—aggered in my iudgement by somewhat laâ—â—y seene that therfore now I vnderstanding question otherwise then I did at thâ—◠〈◊〉 but that now I know more of their 〈…〉 that oppose it then I did before and know better how to confirme mine owne opinion That this may appeare I pray the Christian Reader to remember the state of the question set downe in my Treatise in these wordes Repentance is begunne before faith in Christ and therein to consider two things first of whom I speake in this question secondly of what They of whom I speake are the Elect onely who onely are ordained by God to eternall life â—cts 23.48 and who for that purpose are appointed also to all the meanes effectually conducing thereunto from the beginning to the end in all the parts and degrees of the same For because this faith is onely wrought in them therefore is it called the faith of the elect Tit. 1.1 and because these only are in the euent saued by it therefore do they receiue the end of their faith 1 Peter 1.9 which is the saluation of their soules That whereof I speake is contained in the wordes of the Question before recited Wherein I pray further that two things may be considered First the Antecedent subiect matter of the question or the thing that is spoken of in this word Repentance Secondly the consequent predicat or saying that is affirmed of this Repentance in the rest of the words is begunne before faith in Christ for these termes must be rightly vnderstood First the subiect matter or thing spoken in that Question is Repentance Repentance and by repentance I meane not the practicall repentance of the conuersation or practise of the purpose of amendment of life in a constant conscionable and cheerefull course of new obedience but onely the repentance of the heart and by the repentance of the heart I do not vnderstand newnesse of heart or rectitude of Spirit or mortification Psalme 51.10 and viuification or habituall conuersion to God with the whole soule in all the powers and faculties of it ioyned with a good conscience which all are fruites and effects of faith in nature following it But by Repentance I meane onely hearty sorrow for past sinnes already committed and purpose first not to commit the very same sinnes if they were not already done but were againe to be committed and then consequently a purpose not to commit the like sinnes in kinde for time to come namely a purpose in truth without hypocrisy and dissimulation Repentance from dead workes being a qualification to fit men for beleefe in Christ beleeuing in Christ a qualification to fit them to receiue benefit by the promise of the Gospell vnto iustification and amendment of life or new obedience being a qualification to fit them to the further assurance of their iustification and of eternall life Secondly in the predicate or saying that is affirmed of this repentance three things are to be obserued 1. What is meant by being begunne 2. By Before 3. By Faith in Christ 1 Is begunne First by being begunne I doe not meane a being of repentance in the heart sufficient to saluation but onely a beginning of it in all the preparations thereunto as also a beginning of the habit it selfe so farre as concernes sorrow and purpose namely a being thereof in some measure without dissimulation and if it may be proued sufficiently that amendment of life is a part of repentance then I say repentance is begun in some part viz. in sorrow and purpose touching past sinnes before faith in Christ and finished in another viz. amendment of life after faith 2 Before Secondly by Before I doe not meane a precedency some space of time but in nature onely and in the order of causes Thirdly by faith in Christ I doe not meane a beleefe of the word and Gospell Faith in â—st for this of necessity must goe before repentance in as much as it is the meanes to driue and to draw thereunto Acts 2.32 Math. 11.68 Hebr. 11.6 but I vnderstand thereby a resting and relying vpon Christ with our whole hearts or a trusting to and putting confidence in the merits of the death and righteousnesse of Iesus Christ for and vnto saluation In the second place in that now I say more It is not because I thinke I haue not sayd enough all ready to the point it selfe for the prouing of it but because I haue not sayd enough to some for the perswading of them Nor yet because I haue not sufficiently answered the obiections which I knew but because I knew them not all then to the end I might haue answered them at the first for now I stoppe three or foure gapps with one bush and answere the Exceptions of more then one man As in these regards this further labour by way of Apology hath beene vndertaken not without some cause so in other respects it ought to be well construed accepted and vsed namely because the Lord knows my purpose herein is not to maintain my credit but the cause of God and the Doctrine of the Church of England nor to striue for Triumph and Victory but for Truth and verity muchlesse wilfully to oppose any that hold the contrary Least of all to detract from pretious faith or our blessed Sauiour in any the least measure or meaning â— Pet. 1.1 â—uke 1 42. â—om 9.5 Of my sincerity herein the Christian Reader may the rather be perswaded by considering these particulars 1. I labour not to darken my opposite with disgrace except it bee by clouding their names with silence but onely to cleare the point in question with a larger explication and confirmation 2. I seeke not to shift of the force of an argument by evasions but answer therevnto with direct solutions to my best vnderstanding 3. I study not to iustifie any thing that cannot be defended with truth and plainnes for I freely confesse the weakenesse