making away themselves or destroying their own lives though there be no absolute Decree of God to secure them in this behalf the Naturall desire of self-preservation which God hath planted in them easily over ruling by the Power and Strength of it all motions â—or dispositions towards self-destroying which are wont to arise from such occasions in like manner the strength of that inclination or desire which is or ought to be and very possibly as hath been Proved might be in the Saints to save their Soules and consequently to preserve themselves from apostasie is sufficient without any such Decree in God as was mentioned to secure them both from all danger and from all feare of apostatizing to destruction notwithstanding all weaknesses or infirmities that they are subject unto The truth is that the infirmities and weaknesses of the Saints as such are so far from being any necessary or just ground of fear unto them that they shall fall away that the sence and acknowledgement of them are most cleer pregnant and effectuall Antidotes and Preservatives against falling away For he that is inwardly and truly sensible of his own weaknesse and inability to stand will especially being a Saint or Believer most certainly depend upon him for strength who is both able and willing to supply and furnish him upon such terms 3. And lastly upon the former accompt and for a close of this Chapter §. 36. I answer that if the Doctrine of falling away be so uncomfortable unto the Saints as the objection pretends the truth is as we have in the Premisses of this Chapter made it to appear they are not much relieved at this Point by the Received Doctrine of Perseverance For this Doctrine as hath been shewed scarce suffereth any man to believe upon any Rationall competent or sufficient grounds that he is a true Saint or Believer yea and doth little lesse then tempt him to such things which are exceeding apt and likely to fill him with feares and questionings touching the truth of his Faith And what great comfort can it then be unto him to hear or believe that true Believers cannot fall away or perish whereas the other Doctrine leaveth them a good latitude of competent ground whereon to judge themselves true Saints and true Believers nor doth it deprive them of sufficient ground on which to secure themselves both against the danger and against all feare of the danger of Apostatizing or falling away to Perdition This Doctrine therefore of the two is questionless of the more benevolous aspect and influence upon the Peace and Comforts of the Saints CHAP. X. A Continuation of the former Digression wherein the Texts of Scripture commonly alledged to prove the impossibility of Saints declining unto Death are taken into consideration and discharged from that Service BEing occasioned and after a sort necessitated for the securing of §. 1. some passages of interpretation Cap. 8. being of main concernment to the Principall cause undertaken in this Discourse to ingage home in the Question about Preseverance I should according to ordinary Method and that hitherto observed in the traverse of the maine Doctrine first have argued my Sence and Judgement in the Question 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assertively and then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. by answering such Objections whether from Scripture or otherwise which are wont to be levied by Men of contrary judgement in opposition thereunto But finding by experience that weaker men through too much fulnesse and aboundance in their own sence in matters of Controversie and this chiefly by meanes of some Texts of Scripture running still and working in their heads which in sound of words and surface of Letter seeme to stand by them in their Sence and Notion are under a very great disadvantage either for minding or understanding such things which are spoken unto them for their information in the Truth I thought it best for their relief in this case to invert that Method in the present Dispute and first to endeavour to take from them those weapons whether of Scripture or argument wherein they trust and afterwards present them with such other Scriptures and grounds which are Able Pregnant and Proper to build them up and establish them in the Truth We shall not tie our selves to any Rule or Prescript of Order in bringing §. 2. those Scriptures upon the theatre of our Discourse which men of differing judgement in the cause in hand are wont to plead in defence thereof themselves as far as I have observed observing none but shall produce them one by one as God shall please to bring them to mind unlesse haply two or more of them by reason of affinity or likenesse in Phrase or import may commodiously enough be handled together Most of the places compelled to serve in this warfare I finde scituate in the New Testament The first that commeth to hand is that of our Saviour unto Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it a Mat. 16. 18 From hence it is argued that those that are once built by Faith upon the Rock Christ or upon the truth of the Gospell are not in danger or in a possibility of being prevailed against viz. to destruction by all the Powers of darkness whatsoever I answer 1. That this promissory assertion of Christ the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile §. 3. c. doth not necessarily respect every individuall and single Person who de praesenti is a Member of his Church so as to secure him of his Salvation against all possible sins or wayes of sinning whereunto he may or can be drawn by Satan but may well be understood of the Church in generall i. e. considered as a body of men separate and distinguished from the world Now the Church in this sence may be said to stand and be secured against all the Power and Attempts of the Devill though not only some but even all the Particular Saints of which this body consists at present should be prevailed against by Satan to destruction Because the ratio formalis or essence of the Church in this sence doth not consist in the Persons of those who do at present believe and so are members of it for then it would follow that in case these should die or when they shall die Christ should have no Church at all upon the Earth in as much as nothing can be without the essence of it but in the successive Generation of those who in their respective times believe whether they be fewer or whether they be more whether they be such and such Persons or whether others As suppose there be not now one drop of that Water in the chanell of the River of Thames as it is like there is not which was in it seven years since yet is it one and the same River which it was then and so put the case there be not one Person now alive in any
which now suffer the ignominy and reproach of Arminianism Socinianism Pelagianism c. shall be found to be the Truths of the ever-living God sorrow and shame and confusion of face will be a portion at least of the portion of thâ—se who have crowned them with the honor of such Martyrdom The day will declare it because it shall be revealed as by fire Some pretend that all disputes in matters of Religion wherein the received Doctrines or Tenents generally held in those places where such disputes are commenced are opposed tend to the unsetling and disquieting the minds and consciences of men and minister occasion unto many to abandon all care and thoughts of Religion as containing little in it but matter of uncertainty and doubtfulness of disputation and upon this account very passable as they suppose are professed enemies to such Disputes But to this we briefly answer 1. That it is much better that mens judgments and consciences should be for a time disturbed then that they should always remain setled upon the lees and dregs of any rotten and unsound opinion We lately shewed how perilous Error is to the precious Souls of men God never dealt more graciously by the Earth then when he shook the Heavens by sending the Messiah of the World to turn the state of Religion as it were upside down in the midst of it David acknowledged unto God that it was good for him that he had been afflicted that so he might learn his statutes a Psal 119. 71 And so many I beleeve have and happy were it had more the like cause to say it It is good for us that we were sometimes shaken in our judgments and consciences that we might learn the Truth 2. They who are offended that there should be arguings and disputes to and fro about the things of God and matters of Religion seem to be either discontented that the things and counsels of God should be so spirituall or remote from the common or first apprehensions of men that all men should not at once understand them or else loath that they who are in the gall of any bitterness by being intangled with error should be delivered We read that Paul frequented the Synagogue for the space of three months together disputing and perswading the things concerning the Kingdom of God b Acts 19 8 And afterwards that for two years together he disputed dayly about matters of the same nature and import in the house of one Tyrannus c Ver. 9. 10 3. and lastly Had it not been for disputes in matters of Religion the pillars of Antichrists Throne had not been shaken to this day Vpon occasion of those frequent disputes in Germany aâ—out matters of Religion in Luthers days a Magistrate and Judg of the Popish party said If it comes to matter of dispute our whole mystery will be confounded d Si Disputetur totum nostrum mysterium destruetur Sculpet Annal. Decad. 2. p. 384 And as Wisdom saith All they that hate me love death e Prov. 8. 36 So may sober and through examinations and discussions of the mysteries of our faith say All they that hate us love darkness love error love danger yea and death also As for the allegation of those who pretend all controversies and disputes about matters of Religion to be malignant to the Civil Peace and therefore judg it an high point of State-policy to discharge their Coasts of them as the Gadarens did of Christ it is not worthy an answer in as much as it savours more of Atheism and profaneness then of reason or Christian policy For it is an express Order from Heaven directed unto all Christians to contend and that earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the Saints f Jude v. 3 Now to restrain the members or subjects of a State from doing that which God upon whom the peace safety and prosperity of all States so entirely depend hath so expresly enjoyned them to do is without all peradventure to consult not the joy or peace but the sorrow trouble ruine of this State Other pretences of a lighter and looser notion it is like there are by which some are made such affectionate and effeminate Proselytes to the opinions rejected in this Treatise that they cannot bear the gentlest or softest ayr that breathes cool upon them But I am already beyond the line of an Epistle and therefore shall not pursue the chasâ— of such enemies any further I crave leave only to add a few words concerning the change of my judgment in the great controversie about the death of Christ with the rest depending hereon by way of answer unto those who labour to represent my present judgment in the said points as little valuable or considerable because it sometimes stood a contrary way Though I know nothing in the allegation subservient in the least degree to the end and purpose therein mentioned but â—ather much against it yet let me say 1. That however sin and an evil conversation are just matter of shame and disparagement unto a man yet Repentance and amendment of life are truly honourable Nor do I know why it should be of any more disparaging an interpretation against any man to reform his Judgment then his life neither of which can be done without a change in either Nor 2. can I resent any such conformity with my never-sufficiently-admired adored Saviour which consists in an increase of wisdom for herein he is reported to have increased in the days of his flesh g Luke 2. 52 any matter of prejudice or disparagement either to my self or any other man Though he indeed was never prevented with error yet was He post enriched with the Truth in many things A man can hardly if possibly grow in Grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord h 2 Pet. 3. 18 without out growing himself in judgment and understanding from time to time without rectifying and making streight many things in his mind and thoughts which were crooked before 3. That chosen vessel Paul never quitted himself like a man never consulted peace and glory to himself untill he built up that Faith which sometimes he had destroyed Nor was his Authority or esteem in the Gospel and in the things of Jesus Christ ever a whit the lighter upon the ballance because he had sometimes been a Pharisee 4. I desire to ask the men that make the change of my judgment a spot of weakness or vileness in it whether themselves were always in the same mind touching all things with themselves at present If so it plainly argues that their thoughts and apprehensions now they are men are but such which are incident unto children And if since their coming to riper yeers they have always stood and are resolved always to stand by their first thoughts and apprehensions in all things it is a sign that their judgments reside more in their wills then their wills in their judgments and
of the Companies in London of which they respectively consisted 40. yeares since yet are they the self same Companies which they were then So then the saying of Christ that the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against His Church may stand clear and firme though many particular members thereof should be overcome Therefore there is nothing in this Scripture to evince that universall Perseverance of all Saints which is commonly taught and received amongst us 2. When our Saviour promiseth that the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile §. 4. against His Church his meaning questionlesse is this that death or the Grave which may very properly be called the Gates of Hell because they that goe or are sent to Hell enter by them thereinto or else that Hell it self shall not prevaile i. e. shall not have a full or finall conquest over those that shall die built upon the Rock he speaks of by Faith as by Reason of their most formidable strength they are like to have over all other Men. According to this interpretation his meaning only is that those that shall continue firmly built upon him by Faith shall in time be rescued and delivered out of the hand of all adverse Powers yea from death and the grave themselves the most formidable of all others This Exposition fully accords with what Chrysostome hath upon the place §. 5. If saith he Paraphrasing the words of Christ they shall not prevaile against it my Church much more shall they not prevaile against me Therefore he not troubled when thou shalt heare that I shall be Betrayed and Crucified a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These words clearly imply that by the prevailing of the Gates of Hell the Author understands the finall prevailing of Death or the Grave and not the prevailing of Satan by subtilty or temptations in one kinde or other Amongst our late Protestant Divines Cameron who comonly strikes as §. 6. happy a stroake in opening the Scriptures which he undertakes as any man doth not only deliver but with an high hand asserts argues and evinceth this Interpretation This then saith he seemes to have been the minde of Christ in this place Let those who believe lie for a time dead let death have dominion over them let death exercise his right or execute his Law upon them hold them fast shut up in the Grave as in a Prison bound with bands or fetters yet shall he not alwayes have his will over them he may or shall doe much against them but shall never have a full conquest over them b Haec ergo Christi hoc in loco mens fuisse videtur Jaceant fideles ad tepus demortui mors in illos dominetur exerceat jus suum in Sepulchro veluti in carcere eos teneat conclusos vinculis quasi constrictâ—s haud tamen usque usque obtinebit valebit quidem certè at non prevalebit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Exposition he confirmes 1. by instancing severall other places of Scripture as Job â—8 17. Psal 9. 13. Psal 107. 18. in all which by the Gates of Hell or of Death is clearly meant the Grave To which he add's Psal 18. 16. Psal 116. 3. as places of affinity with these 2. By shewing that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated Hell is never in Scripture except once used to signifie Hell properly so called i e. the place or state of the damned but constantly either the Grave or the state and condition of those that are dead 3. By minding us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Grave and Death are elsewhere termed the enemies of the Church yea the last enemies as 1 Cor. 15. 26. to which he adds the consideration of their being cast into the Lake of Fire Revel 20. 14. 4. and lastly by particular arguments against every other interpretation offered by Expositors Musculus though by the Gates of Hell he understands as well the Policy §. 6. as Power and strength of the Devill yet by the Relative Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it a Mihi videtur certius ut ad Petram â—d est Ecclesiae fundamentum referamus non quod dâ—bitem de Ecclâ—siae soli ditate sed quâ—d ea si ex pâ—tra super quam aedificaâ—a est quae tam est robusta c. he doth not understand the Church but the Rock or Foundation of Doctrine on which the Church is built So that his sence of the place seemes to be this that that Doctrine on which the Church is built is so firme and strong that all the Policy and Power of Satan though joyning together shall never be able to prevaile against it so as either to evict it of falshood or otherwise to destroy and cast it out of the World None of all their interpretations suppose any such thing deducible from the place as this that those who are once Believers or Members of the Church of Christ shall never be seduced by Satan to destruction The place speaks nothing of Satan much lesse of his Subtilty Policy or Power to seduce the Church but supposing the exceeding great and formidable strength of Death and the Grave asserteth the glorious and finall conquest of his Church over them notwithstanding So that this passage of Scripture perfectly sembleth with these and the like He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die b Ioh. 11. 25 26. And againe And this is the Fathers Will that hath sent Me that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up againe at the last day c Ioh 6. 39. See also Joh. 5. 25. 28 29 c. That which is pleaded by some for such a sence of the place which carries §. 7. the Doctrine of Perseverance in it is weake and value lesse Whatsoever say these opposeth the building of the Church upon the Rock or the constant adhering of it unto Christ is meant by the Gates of Hell prevailing For in these words and the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it Christ must needs be supposed to remove whatsoever is contrary to that which he had asserted in those And upon this Rock will I build my Church But the politique and subtile tentation of Satan to seduce Believers are opposite to the building of the Church upon the Rock and to the constant adhering of it unto Christ Therefore by the Gates of Hell not prevailing against the Church must needs be meant the defeature or non-prevailing of the strategems or counsells of Satan against Believers and consequently their persevering unto the end For to this I answer 1. By denying the Major Proposition in the Argument For that which Christ takes away in this clause And the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it is not whatsoever opposeth the building of His Church upon the Rock but
be besides those inquired into in this Chapter wherein some may imagine the treasure of such a perseverance to be hid but these which we have strictly examined upon the matter have still been counted the Pillars of that Doctrine and yet as we have seen are no supporters of it Nor doe I question but that by those unquestionable principles and rules of interpretation by which the Minde of God in the Scriptures discussed in this Chapter hath been brought into a cleare light all seeming compliance that way in others also may be reduced and so the wisdom which hath been revealed from Heaven perfectly acquitted from all interposure by way of countenance on the behalf of the commonlytaught Doctrine of Perseverance Two Texts I call to minde at present which are sometimes called in to the assistance of the Doctrine of Perseverance hitherto opposed and have not received answer in this Chapter The former is Mat. 7. 18. The latter Rom. 11. 29. But for this latter it hath been sufficiently handled upon another account Cap. 8. Sect. 56. As to the former we shall I conceive have occasion to speak in the second part of this Discourse We now proceede to the Examination of such Arguments and Grounds otherwise upon which the said Doctrine in some Mens eyes stands impregnable CHAP. XI A further Continuation of the former Digression wherein the Arguments and Grounds commonly alledged in defence of the received Doctrine of Perseverance are detected of insufficiency proved and declared null WE shall begin with that which is the First borne of the strength of §. 1. our Adversaries in this kinde That say they which God hath Promised in His Word is certaine and shall take place against all opposition and contradiction whatsoever But God hath Promised in his Word that all true Believers shall both totally and finally Persevere Therefore all such shall certainly so Persevere against whatsoever may or shall at any time oppose their Presevering To this I Answer 1. By explaining the major proposition What God hath Promised in His Word is certaine and shall take place c. viz. in such a sence and upon such terms as God would be understood in His promise But what God Promiseth in one sence is not certaine of performance in another As for example God promised the preservation of the lives of all that were with Paul in the Ship but his intent and meaning in this promise was not this preservation against whatsoever might possibly be done by those in the Ship against it or to hinder it but with this proviso or condition that they in the Ship should hearken unto him and follow his advice in order to their preservation as is evident from those words of Paul himself to whom this promise was made Except these abide in the Ship yee cannot be safe a Acts 27. 31. So that had the Centurion and rest in the Ship suffered the Mariners to have left the Ship whilest it was yet at Sea there had been no failing in promise with God though they had all been drowned In like manner though Christ promised to His twelve Apostles Judas being yet one of the twelve that in the Regeneration i. e. in the Resurrection or Restauration of the World they should fit upon twelve Thrones and judge the twelve Tribes of Israel b Mat. 19. 28. yet is he not to be judged a promise-breaker though Judas never comes to sit upon one of these Thrones And in case the rest of the twelve had declined from that integrity of Heart under which that promise was made unto them as Judas did neither would it have argued any breach of promise in Christ to have advanced others upon these Thrones instead of them The reason whereof is elsewhere noted from Peter Martyr whose Doctrine it is that the Promises of God are wont to be made with respect had to the present estate and condition of things with Men c Promissiones itaque illae Dei pro stat◠praesentirerum sunt intelligendae P. Mar. Loc. Class 3. c. 13. Sect. 4. His meaning is as appeares by the tenor of the adjacent Discourse that all Gods promises made unto Men being or considered as being under such and such qualifications are not to be understood as any otherwise intended by him to be performed unto them then as abiding and whilest they shall abide in the same qualifications As for example what promises soever God makes unto Believers with respect had to their Faith or as they are Believers are not to be looked upon as performable or oblieging the Maker of them unto them in case they shall relapse into their former unbelief But of this we spake plentifully in our last Chapter d Sect. 43. 51. See also Sect. 9. of this Chapter and elsewhere The major proposition thus explained and understood we admit Whatsoever God Promiseth is certaine c. viz. according to the true intent and meaning of the promise The Minor also releived with an Orthodox and sober Explication as §. 2. likewise the conclusion it self and whole Argument is blameless and thinketh no evil against the Doctrine now under vindication For in this sence it is most true that God hath promised that all true Beleevers shall persevere i. e. that all true Beleevers formally considered i. e. as such and abiding such shall persevere viz. in his grace and favor But this I presume is not the sence of the Argument-makers Their meaning is that God hath promised that all true Beleevers shall persevere thus beleeving or in the truth of their Faith against all interveniences whatsoever and that he will so interpose with his Grace and Power that none of them shall ever make shipwrack of their faith upon what quick-sands of lust and sensuality soever they shall strike against what rocks of obduration and impenitency soever they shall dash In this sence their Proposition I confess is sore against us but their Proofs are weak and contemptible nor will any of the Scriptures from which they claim countenance and confirmation own the cause or comport with them therein Some of the fairest appearance and greatest hope that way we examined narrowly in the next preceding Chapter and found them in heart much estranged from them as viz. Jer. 32. 38 39 40. Mat. 16. 18. Joh. 10. 9. with some others I acknowledg that there are several others besides those there discharged chosen by men of that judgment to serve in the same warfare but they are all of the same minde with their fellows who as we have heard detract that service Most of these are Promises anciently made unto the Jewish Nation in the Old Testament all or most of them of like import with that Ier. 32. 39 c. largely opened towards the end of the former Chapter and are to be measured with the same line of interpretation Nor can it ever be so much as competently proved that they were made with appropriation unto Saints or
the watchfulnesse and diligence of Men. But it is like we shall have better occasion to survey such Texts as these hereafter We have now done with the first argument of our opponents in the Present Controversie Their second is built upon such Texts which affirme and teach that God §. 16. Argum. 2. will according to his Promise so Preserve and keepe all true Believers that none of them shall ever fall away from their Faith either totally or finally Let us hearken to what they bring forth upon this account From the Apostle Paul they furnish themselves with such sayings as these Who speaking of Jesus Christ shall also confirme you unto the end that yee may be blamelesse in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is faithfull by whom yee were called a 1 Cor. 1. 8 9 c. Againe But the Lord is faithfull who shall stablish you and keepe you from evill b 2 Thess 3. â— c. That neither of these Scripturs nor any of like Character hath any communion with that Doctrine of Perseverance which hath been disowned hitherto hath been sufficiently proved already c Cap. 10. Sect. 20. where the passages themselves were briefly opened and a cleer sence rendered wherein God according to Scripture Phrase may be said to establish and confirme Men unto the end though these Men be neither actually or with effect established nor confirmed thereunto The Scripture frequently attributes Actions Events or Effects where means or endeavors are or have been used or attempts made yea and when intentions only have been entertained in order to the acting or effecting such things yea and sometimes where occasion only hath been administred for the effecting of them Instances have been given formerly of all these kinds of expression in the Scripture So that God may properly enough as the Scripture counts propriety be said to establish or confirme Believers unto the end when he vouchsafeth unto them means sufficient both inward and outward for their establishment and confirmation in this kind or when he doth that which is proper and fitting for him to doe for and towards the procuring and effecting the one and the other Now God may doe all this and yet Men neither be compleatly and to Salvation established nor confirmed unto the end through their own negligence and carelessnesse to comport with the grace of God towards them in this behalf and to doe that which is required on their part towards the working out of their Salvation And 2. That the Apostle in neither of these places doth undertake or affirme §. 17. that God will establish or confirme them unto the end after any such manner or in any such sence but that they may possibly miscarry notwithstanding appeares from the Context it self where the latter of them stands For having comforted them with the words mentioned Verse 3. But the Lord is faithfull who shall stablish you and keepe you from evill d 2 Thess 3. 3 and professed Verse 4. a confidence i. e. a confident hope in the Lord touching them that they both did and would doe the things which He commanded them which by the way had been a very weake saying if he had known that they must of necessity doe them and could not chuse to doe otherwise Verse 5. He lifterh up this Prayer for them And the Lord or now the Lord direct your Hearts into or unto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the love of God and into or unto a patient waiting for Christ Doubtlesse had he first absolutely promised unto them such an establishment and keeping from evill by God the saving successe or event whereof had no wayes depended upon them nor upon any such comportment on their part with it which they might possibly have neglected or refused He would not so immediately have conceived such a Prayer for them as we heard viz. that God would direct their Hearts into unto or towards as the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might very well be translated the love of God c. It is of no good consistence that a Man should first absolutely and confidently affirme that such or such a thing should or would be done by God against all opposition whatsoever and then presently Pray unto God that He would direct the Hearts of Men to such a course upon their walking wherein the event or comming to passe of the thing so promised depended especially considering that a drecting of the hearts of Mâ—n into or towards such a course or way doth not necessarily suppose that therefore they will or of necessity must walke in them Therefore certainly that stablishment and keeping from evill which the Apostle in the place in hand promiseth unto them imports nothing else but his willingnesse and readinesse at all times to furnish and follow them with such means of grace which would be proper and abundantly sufficient to stablish them and to keepe them from evill yea and which would actually stablish and keepe them from evill if they proved not extreamly negligent and unfaithfull to their own Soules in despising them Therefore 3. Whereas the Apostle in both places mentioneth the faithfulnesse §. 18. of God God is faithfull by whom yee were called c. as that Divine Principle in Him or Attribute out of which He is moved to establish and confirme them unto the end and so to keepe them from evill by faithfullnesse He doth not necessarily meane that property or attribute in Him which renders Him true and just or constant in the performance of His Promises I meane of His Promises properly and commonly so called and which are exhibited in words as if the Apostle in these or any the like places supposed such a Promise one or more by Him by which He stands obliged to stablish or confirme His Saints unto the end by a strong and irresistible Hand but such a kinde of faithfulnesse or disposition in Him as that meant by Peter when He stileth Him a Faithfull Creator e 1 Pet. 4. 19 Now God as we formerly shewed f Cap. 4. Sect. 39. is and may properly be termed a Faithfull Creator because He constantly performs unto His Creature whatsoever the Law or Relation of a Creator Promiseth in an equitable and rationall way unto it which we there signified to be a great care tendernesse and love towards it for the preservation and well being of it according to the nature and condition of every Creature respectively In like manner He may yea it is most likely that He is called Faithfull in His calling of Men God is faithfull by whom yee were called i. e. as He is a Spirituall Father or Creator a giver of a new and more excellent being unto Men because He never faileth to performe unto these new Creatures of His whatsoever such a being as this regularly interpreted promiseth unto Him who receiveth it from Him who is the Donor or Collator of it i. e. convenient and sufficient means for the
an actual production and the reason of the non-attainment or non-production of the effect resteth not at all in them but in some other cause one or more which should have contributed their efficiency or strength likewise towards the same production but did not As for example Suppose four or five Horses yoked in a Team and that one or two of these should pull or draw lustily yet because the rest are jadish and lazy and will not put their shoulders to it the wain being heavy laden sticks fast in the slow is not drawn out in this case because the Horses supposed to pull stoutly do as much for their parts as was requisite for them to do towards the drawing of it out and that which would actually have drawn it out in case their fellows had joyned as they ought and might in the same act of drawing with them there is no reason why they should lose the credit or commendation of their activity through the jadishness of their fellows nor consequently why they should not be said to have drawn the Wain out of the mire In like manner when God contributes his efficiency towards the keeping of men blameless and that such an efficiency which being seconded and complied with by them according to their duties and abilities for the action would actually produce the effect and keep them blameless indeed there is no reason why he should be deprived of the honor of his action because men are slothful and will not act with him and consequently why he should not be said to keep them blameless how blame-worthy in the mean time soever they be through their own default For of the two it is a more honorable expression to say that a man did such or such a worthy action then that he did somewhat towards it And for as much as 1. God doth no more towards the keeping of those Saints of his blameless who are actually and indeed kept blameless then he either doth or is ready to do in a regular way towards the keeping of others of them blameless who yet miscarry And 2. considering that when any of the Saints are actually kept blamelesse through that gracious supply of his Spirit and other means vouchsafed by him in order thereunto though not without their own care and concurrence with him herein the honor of this action or keeping blamelesse is most properly due unto him there is no reason why it should not be ascribed unto him in the former case as well as in the latter or that he should not be as well said to keep those blamelesse who only through their own unworthinesse prove blame-worthy as those who through his grace attended with their own endeavours are kept blameless It is a saying approved I suppose on all hands careat successibus opto Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putet i. e. Successe in his attempts I wish him none Who by th' event will judg an action Therefore when God acteth uniformly in a way of grace he is uniformly to be honoured what difformity soever there be found in the event issue or consequent of his action 5. And lastly the words in hand cannot be judged Promissory or to suppose a Promise because then it would follow that God should stand ingaged by Promise to preserve Believers not only from totall and finall Apostacy but from all partiall and temporary declinings also For they that are sanctified wholly or throughout and whose whole Spirit and Soule and Body are preserved blamelesse c. are in the same sence preserved from all and all manner of declining The last piece of Scripture frequently called upon for support of this second §. 24. Argument answereth in these words Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good worke in you will performe it untill the day of Jesus Christ a Philip. 1. 6 This Text is of the same interpretation with the former only it hath not so much of the letter or face as some of them have for an absolute Promise from God unto the Saints that He will cause them to Persevere For 1. That confidence or perswasion rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle here professeth is not said nor insinuated to be built upon any Promise much lesse upon any absolute Promise of God to interpose after any such manner for their Perseverance that it should not be possible for them to decline or not to persevere but upon a charitable or equitable apprehension he had of the ingenuous integrity and simplicity of their hearts towards Christ His Saints and Gospell which kinde of temper or frame of spirit in Men is of all others most promising of perseverance in well doing through the Grace of God and consequently of the continuation of this grace unto Men in as much as according to the common saying of Divines Deus non deserit nisi deserentem God forsakes no Man but those who forsake Him first That such an apprehension of the holy ingenuity and uprightnesse of their Hearts as we speak of in conjunction with that gracious Principle or Disposition in God now hinted was the ground of that good perswasion which he here expresseth most evidently appeareth from the words immediately following Even as it is meet for me to thinke this of you all viz. that He who hath begun a good work in you will performe it c. because I have you in my Heart in as much as both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospell yee all are partakers of my Grace b Philip. 1. 7. Therefore it was the present goodnesse or honestnesse of their Hearts expressed by their willingness to partake of the afflictions of the Gospell and of the Saints not any Promise of God which was the ground of that perswasion in him which he here mentioneth 2. Had he had any absolute Promise of God for the ground of that his perswasion doubtlesse he would not have expressed himself with so much tendernesse and warinesse as to say even as it is meet for me to think c. The Promises of God would have taught Paul to speak at another manner of rate of confidence then so 3. And lastly had he here given unto these Philippians any absolute assureance of Gods performing the good worke begun in them untill the day c. or such which might have satisfied or made them confident that the good worke He speaks of should have been continued and perfected by God without all interposall or means to be used on their part he had layed a very slippery foundation to build all those Exhortations upon which with much earnestness he presseth upon them in the sequell of his Epistle and more particularly these Only let your conversation be as it becommeth the Gospell of Christ that yee stand fast in one spirit with one minde striving together for the Faith of the Gospell c Philip. 1. 27. c. And againe Wherefore my
of His Word the examples and converse of his Saints many providentiall opportunities apt and proper to prevaile with a rationall Creature to minde the things of God and of its own Peace c. but not by any necessitating administrations or applications of Himself whatsoever So that though Christ performes the office of a Saviour towards His Body upon the most faithfull carefull and honorable terms that can be imagined yet there must needs be a possibility at least left for any Member thereof to miscarry But 2. I rather conceive that Christ is here called the Saviour of His Body in respect of that protection which He affords unto it and to every particular Member of it as such and whilest it continues such or rather in respect of that great Salvation and Deliverance from Death and Hell and all manner of penall evills which He hath purchased for it with His Blood and with which He will actually invest the members of it in due time But this doth not prove that every present Member of His Body though it corrupts and putrifies and falls off from it should neverthelesse partake in Priviledges with the sound nor yet that every Member sound at present will never hereafter putrifie or corrupt Nor is it any whit more dishonour or disparagement unto Christ to have such Members relating to His Body which are capable of spirituall then which are liable to corporall putrifaction He that vouchsafeth to be the Head of a Body consisting either in whole or in part of flesh and blood in and by this very act of grace condescendeth to be an head of such Members which are very capable of sinning and therefore not uncapable of dismembring themselves through sin To that of Iude Verse 1. to them that are sanctified by God the Father and §. 39. preserved in Jesus Christ and called I answer 1. It is not denied but that Christ doth preserve His Saints and that with much care and tendernesse yea and watcheth over them for good The question is whether by His preserving them He imposeth an unconquerable necessity upon them of persevering in Faith unto the end The simple preservation of the Saints by Christ is all that can be concluded from this Scripture the manner of it or the terms on which it is performed are not at all so much as intimated here 2. The Participle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 preserved being of the Preterperfect-tense imports only that the Persons to whom he speaks had been viz. hitherto preserved or kept by Iesus Christ or for Iesus Christ for so the words will beare not that He intended whatsoever their after-misdemeanors in sin should be to preserve them in Faith unto the end Here is no Word Sylable Letter or Iota of any such thing as this And if His intent had been to informe them that they were so kept by Iesus Christ that there was no danger or possibility for them finally to miscarry He had laid a very slippery and incongruous foundation to build that serious exhortation upon wherein He addresseth Himself unto them Verse 3. viz. to contend earnestly for the Faith For what need they contend earnestly for the Faith who have assureance from God that they shall be preserved in the Faith whether they contend for it or no And if they were against all possible interveniencies whatsoever to be preserved by Christ in the Faith to what purpose or with what co-herence of discourse doth He re-mind them of the example of Gods Severity upon many unbelieving Israelites even after he had delivered them out of the Land of Egypt as likewise upon those Angels who kept not their first standings Verse 5. 6. The very proposall of such examples unto them as these plainly enough supposeth that they also were liable to suffer the same severity from God upon the like terms The next place 2 Tim. 1. 12. acquaints us with the Apostle Pauls spirit as §. 40. far as these words will extend I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day I answer That this place of all the rest is eccentricall to the businesse in hand For it speaks only of the Power of God to keep whereas this never came within the verge of the question Or if the Will of God to keep be here included or supposed also neither was it ever questioned by me whether God be willing to keep His Saints or no. That which I oppose is that manner which some obtrude affirming that God preserves his Saints upon such terms after such a manner that he peremptorily hereby necessitates their Perseverance Certaine I am that the Scripture in hand gives no such sound as this Besides that depositum or thing committed by him unto God which the Apostle here speaks of was not his Faith this can in no very tolerable sence be said to be committed unto God but rather his Soul which he committed to the care and safe-keeping of God Nor is there the least doubt or question to be made but that God was both able and willing to keep this safe as long as the Apostle was desirous and willing to intrust him with it and to suffer it to lie in his hand But this proveth not but that the Apostle himself was at liberty to have recalled or taken back this his depositum out of the hand of God in which case he had been discharged from taking further care of it Whereas Heb. 12. 2. Christ is stiled the Author and Finisher of our Faith §. 41. or rather of the Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Particle ours is not in the Greek it doth not imply any acting of Christ in about or upon our Faith in a Physicall way or with any efficiency properly so called much lesse with any necessitating efficiency but that he was an absolute or perfect Captaine or Leader in that way of Faith wherein we all stand bound to follow him at the perill of our Souls He was dismayed discouraged danted at nothing which he was called to suffer or indure in his course but with an excellent and unconquerable spirit of Faith held on his way through the midst of those threatnings and devouring afflictions which incountred him untill he came where glory and blessednesse waited for him and attended his comming This to be the sence and meaning of the said words the carriage of the Context round about doth perfectly manifest we shall not need to argue for it So that Christ is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the Arch-leader or Captaine of Faith not because by any Physicall or proper efficiency much lesse because by any irresistiblenesse of Power he worketh the begining of Faith in his Saints but because he marched as it were in the head of his Saints and like a valiant and resolute Captaine lead the way of Faith unto all that should believe in him and shewed them how to walk in
8. Which words plainly suppose that we may doe many things of a beneficiall tendency and import which must needs be by doing the sayings of Christ and yet lose the benefit of such doings by turning-aside out of the way of them before we come to receive our reward So againe the love of many shall wax cold but he that continueth unto the end shall be saved b Mat. 24 The Galatians did for a time run well c Gal. 5. 7. yea and suffered many things for Christs and the Gospells sake d Gal. 3. 4. but afterwards they were bewitched e Gal. 3. 1. proved disobedient to the Truth and so fell from that Grace f Gal. 5. 4. and favour of God wherein they stood whilest they obeyed the Gospell But we shall God willing in due time muster greater numbers of such passages as these The third and last comparison Luke 8. 8. hath lesse colour in the face of §. 46. it then either of the former In this they who receive the Word with good and honest Hearts are compared unto seed that fell on good ground which springeth up and beareth fruit an hundred fold For 1. It is not said that the seed which fell on good ground are they who hear the Word with a good and honest Heart but who having heard the Word detaine or keepe it in a good and honest Heart The tenor of the place in Luke is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Luke 8. 15. So that it is not simply the hearing of the Word with a good and honest Heart that brings Men under the comparison of the seed that fell into good ground but the retaining and keeping of it in such an Heart and that so as to bring forth fruit with patience i. e. with parient continuance in well doing whatever temptations they shall meet with to interrupt them in their way as the word is translated Rom. 2. 7. both by our English Translators and by Calvin himself who interprets the place accordingly 2. Our Saviours intent in describing the severall tempers and conditions of those that should hear the Gospell together with the event and consequence of their hearings respectively by that variety of grounds which the Parable of the Sower speaketh of was not to assert the absolute necessity of the severall events specified upon the respective hearings as if for instance those who at the time of their first hearing were like unto the thorny ground must necessarily miscarry and never afterwards believe savingly but to informe and admonish the World what is like to be the event and consequence and what ordinarily is the event and consequence of such hearings as are here described by the severall tempers of those that heare being habituall and of long standing with them For otherwise there is no absolute impossibility but that he in whose Heart the Gospell is for the present much incumbred and choked with the Cares and Pleasures of this life and so hath been for a long season may yet recover Himself from under this great disadvantage and so believe unto Salvation though such a recovery as this be very difficult and rare which is all that our Saviour intended to shew or teach in this part of the Parable There is the same consideration of all the other grounds or kinds of hearers So that though he that should hear the word with a good honest heart should be compared to the seed falling on good ground yet could there not an absolute necessity be concluded from hence that therefore such a Man must bring forth fruit unto Salvation but only a great likelyhood and hopefull Probability that such an heater will not miscarry by the way but will hold out with Patience in well doing unto the end and so be saved So that there is nothing in this Argument neither to keepe that Doctrine from falling which is already shaken Therefore A tenth Argument is built by some for the honour of the said Doctrine §. 47. upon such Scriptures which testifie that such as doe not Pesevere but make either a totall or finall defection in or from the Faith were never true Believers or by a true Faith ingrafted into Christ and that make it the Property or badg of a true Believer that he still doth continue in the Faith The Scriptures Produced to justifie this account are Joh. 8. 31. 1 Joh. 2. 19. Heb. 3. 6. 14. To this also we answer 1. In generall three things 1. That there is no good consistency of sence in it to say that they fall away from Faith who never were at it never were true Believers If it be said that Men are said to fall away from Faith when they fall away from such a Faith as they had as viz. from a temporary Faith or a light and superficiall believing of the Gospell c. I answer 1. If this be the Faith from which Men are said to fall in the Scriptures then must this needs be the Faith also wherein they are exhorted and charged to Persevere For those that have in any kinde or with any Faith imbraced the Gospell and made Profession of it are exhorted to continue in the Faith Now that the Holy Ghost should perswade Men to continue in a temporary Faith I meane in such a Faith which is not accompained with justification or which worketh not by love or which will certainly faile imports a kinde of impious contradiction 2. If this were all the apostasie or backsliding from Faith mentioned in the Scriptures viz. to apostatize from a temporary false hypocriticall dead Faith the sin of apostasie would not be a sin of that deep demerit or high Provocation unto God which the Scripture so frequenly declareth it to be Nor hath God any reason to say that his Soule shall have no pleasure in such Men who withdraw themselves from an Hypocriticall feyned or unsound Faith 3. And lastly it is no where to be found in the Scriptures either explicitly or implicity that they who make Shipwrack of Faith or prove Apostates were no true or sound Believers at any time before this shipwrack but the contrary hereunto will be made manifest in due time In the mean while to the Scriptures upon which this argument is built I answer 2. And in Particular 1. That these words of Christ Joh. 8. 31. If yee §. 48. continue in my words then are you my Disciples indeed doe not imply that in case they should not continue in his words for the time to come it would argue that they were not His Disciples at the present but that they could not approve themselves Disciples of His upon those excellent and blessed terms which being Disciples of His at present they very well might doe and were hereby in a ready way of doing unlesse they did continue in his words i. e. in obedience unto His Commands unto the end For that they were His Disciples at present without
Believers and of a temporary Faith I answer 1. That if by a temporary Faith the Objectors meane a Faith which is eventually onely such it is acknowledged that the Scripture owneth both the terme and notion But if by a temporary Faith they meane a Faith intrinsecally in the nature and kinde of it differing from that which is true and truly justifying they devise a new kinde of Faith which the Scriptures know not of And of how dangerous a consequence the introducing of an exotique Faith into the affaires of Christian Religion may be I leave to themselves to judge For those Hearers or Professors which in Mathews relation of the Parable our Saviour calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 temporaries are explained by Luke to be such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who BELIEVE for a season as we heard before Now the ordinary and most familiar signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to believe in such cases and constructions as this I meane when it is used indefinitely and without a specification of some particular Object is to signifie true Believers or such who believe unto justification Instances hereof are too many to be numbred And to turne words out of their native proper and best-known significations into unusuall by and improper sences no exigency of the Context compelling hereunto hath alwayes been adjudged a dangerous breach of the Lawes of Scripture-Interpretation 2. The temporarinesse of the Faith found in the Stony ground did not arise §. 34. from the nature essence or any internall property in this Faith wherein it was specifically distinguished from the Faith of those emparabled by the good ground but partly from the ill temper or inconsideratenesse of the Persons in whom it was seated who neglected to give it sufficient rooting or establishment within them partly from the outward occasions of trouble and persecution for the Gospell which came upon them Nor is there any sufficient ground or reason to conceive that it would have proved temporary and not perseverant unto the end had not the persons in whom it was been attempted with persecution When the year proves very moist showers of Râ—ine ever and anon falling from Heaven upon the Earth the seed that is sown even in stony ground is wont to prosper and to yeild a competent increase at least at harvest to the husbandman Otherwise such ground as this would never be sown nor would our Saviour have had the opportunity of furnishing his Parable with the mention of that event or ill successe which frequently befalleth the seed sown in such ground Now if the temporarinesse of the Faith we speak of was occasioned onely ab extra or by means accidentall and extraneous to it evident it is that it did not arise from any thing in the nature or essence of it and consequently that it was of the same kinde with that Faith which did persevere unto the end 3. If the temporarinesse of the Faith now under consideration either caused §. 35. it or declared it to be specifically distinct from that which was sound and justifying and which held out to the end then must perseverance or an impossibility of failing be of the nature and essence of true Faith The consequence is evident and needs no proof Now 1. If perseverance be of the essence of true Faith no person can be looked upon as a true Believer either by Himself or others untill he gives up the Ghost and dieth 2. If an impossibility of failing be of the essence hereof no Man can be looked upon as a true Believer neither before nor after he be dead For what though a Mans Faith should not faile before he dieth yet this amounts to no sufficient proof that therefore it was impossible that it should faile A thousand things come to passe which yet very possibly might not have come to passe Againe that Perseverance is not an intrinsecall or essentiall property of true Faith but onely a consequent of it and that contingent appears 1. From the Principles of our Adversaries themselves who commonly distinguish between the gift of Faith and the gift of Perseverance Wonderfull it is saith Austin and much to be wondered at that God should unto some of his Children whom he hath regenerated in Christ to whom he hath given FAITH hope and love NOT GIVE PERSEVERANCE a Mirandum est quidem multumque mirandum quod filiis suis Dâ—us quibusdam quos regeneravit in Christo quibus fidem spem dilectionem dedit non dat â—rseverantiam Aug. de Corrept Et Grat. c. 8. Therefore by the way Austin is no friend to the common Doctrine of Perseverance as it is taught and received amongst us 2. Adam they say before his fall had true Faith or at least a Power of believing truly which now they acknowledge in none but in those who truly believe however certaine it is that he had true holinesse yet the event in his fall declared that Perseverance was not essentiall unto any of these and consequently that in case he had persevered in them this Perseverance had been but consequentiall to them and that contingently 3. That which is true is not wont to be opposed or contra-distinguished to that which is temporary but may commodiously enough be distinguished into that which indureth for a season and that which continueth for ever Therefore that which is temporary and which standeth by a Man onely for a short time may be as reall and true in the same kinde as that which continueth with him all his dayes 4. If the Faith under dispute were temporary in the nature of it and not by consequence onely then could not a falling away from it by those who were possessed of it be the cause of their finall miscarriage which yet our Saviour plainely supposeth because should they have persevered in it they should not have been any whit more saved by it then now they were under a falling away from it The losing of that which being kept would not have saved a Man cannot be the cause of his losse of Salvation 5. And lastly if the said Faith were temporary and not true justifying or saving in the nature of it then the lack of moysture afterwards could not be the reason or cause thereof I mean why it was or proved temporary and not true or saving The reason hereof is plaine viz. because what is so or so such or such in the nature of it cannot be made or become such by any after means or occasion whatsoever whether act or neglect But evident it is from the express words of the Parable that the reason why the said Faith was or proved temporary was because the seed from whence it sprang wanted moysture And some fell upon a Rock saith Luke and as soone as it was sprung up i. e. within a short time after as appeares Mar. 4. 17. it withered away because it lacked moysture a Luke 8. 6. So that the withering of it away i. e. the
Possibility of their finall fall by the dim light of some sensuall Principles and Apprehensions and in an overly and superficiall manner as it were at a distance are much troubled at it as if it were a Doctrine of an Anti-evangelicall spirit that would bring them into a Bondage of fear and torment them Which Doctrine notwithstanding would they look upon it narrowly and with an unprejudiced attention and this by the clear light of such considerations which exhibit it like it self unto them they would then soon confesse to be a Doctrine which was set not at all to curse but to blâ—ss them altogether The sole undertaking of this Chapter is to commend the said Doctrine unto §. 2. Argum. 1. the Judgements and Consciences of Men for a Truth by a Proposall of such worthy things which relate to it either by way of causality or affinity in Truth In the first place I pleade the cordiall sympathy it hath with that righteousness of God which the Scripture calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a non-acceptation of Persons thus That Doctrine which rendereth God free from that unrighteousness which the Scripture calls a respecting the Persons of Men is a Doctrine of perfect consistency with the Scriptures and the Truth The Doctrine which teacheth a Possibility of the Saints declining and this unto death is a Doctrine of this import Ergo. The reason of the former Proposition is plaine in as much as the Scriptures frequently assert that Principle of non-respecting Persons most worthy the judge of all the Earth unto God Deut. 10. 17. Gal. 2. 6. 1 Pet. 1. 17. c. The latter Proposition needeth no labouriousnesse of Proof neither Evident it is that the Doctrine here spoken of representeth God as a non-respecter of Persons in as much as it rendreth him a Judge of the same righteous severity against the enormous transgressions of his own Children and Friends which he exerciseth towards his enemies and those that are strangers unto Him upon the like Provocations This Doctrine subjecteth Saints as well as others to this righteous Law of God Neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with Mankinde nor Theâ—ves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdome of God a 1 Cor. 6. 9. meaning as is evident from other Scriptures without Repentance Whereas the common Doctrine of Perseverance exempteth all such who have at any time been true Believers or Children of God from the penalty or doome of this Law teaching that though such as these should turne Fornicators Idolaters Adulterers c. and continue never so long in these abominations without Repentance yet they retaine their Right and Title of Inheritance in the Kingdome of God and that they remaine under the greatest love that God can shew or beare towards Men the love of Election and of Children even in the midst of these deep and desperate Provocations And thus it maketh God the greatest accepter of Persons in the World rendring Him implacably severe towards lesser sinners and indulgent above measure to the greater For that such who have or have had the knowledge of God and have believed in Jesus Christ and made Profession of love and service to Him when they turn Fornicators Idolaters Adulterers c. are far greater sinners then Men committing the same sins in ignorance and unbeliefe is I think no Mans doubt or question Certaine I am that the Scripture still representeth God as more severe in punishing where greater means of Righteousnesse and well doing have been vouchsafed You said He to His own People the Children of Israel of old onely have I knowne of all the Families of the Earth Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities b Am. 3. 2. In the Gospell And that servant which knew His Lords will and prepared not himself neither did according to His Will shall be beaten with many stripes But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes For unto whom much is given of him shall much be required c Luk. 12. 47 48. c. It cannot be denied and confessed it is by our Adversaries themselves as hath been formerly observed but that true Believers have fallen into the Practise of the foule transgressions mentioned yea and have remained impenitent in them for a long season Therefore if during the time of such Practise and impenitency they should not be in the same or worse condition to God-ward and Salvation-wise then ignorant Persons and such who were alwayes strangers unto God are when they live in the same impieties God must needs be an accepter of Persons in the highest and shew a thousand times more favour to grand and signall Delinquents then to ordinary and lighter Offendors in comparison So that to pretend though true Believers may and oft doe fall into the fore-named sins and continue for a time in them without Repentance yet God alwayes reneweth them by Repentance before their death though this was never yet proved nor ever will be it doth not at all salve the honour of the said Doctrine Because such a supposall notwithstanding the Persons contended about may and doe according to the tenor of the Premises lately Proved suffer a totall eclipse and intercision of the grace and favour of God in the mean season Secondly for a Possibility of the Saints defection either totall finall or §. 3. both I thus argue If the common Doctrine of Perseverance rendereth the Ministry of the Gospell Argum. 2 so far as it concerneth the Perseverance of the Saints vaine impertinent and voyd then is it not a Doctrine of God but of Men and consequently that which opposeth it is the Truth But certaine it is that the said Doctrine is of this un-Christian tendency and import Ergo. The consequence in the Major Proposition is pregnant of truth in as much as the Preservation of the Saints in Faith and Holinesse unto the end is one of the most considerable ends of the Ministry of the Gospell about the effecting whereof it is mainly conversant Therefore if God who hath ordained the Ministry of the Gospell for the advancement of this end should assert any such Doctrine which rendereth it unnecessary and impertinent in Reference to this end He should be divided in Himself and pull down with one hand what He buildeth up with another The Minor Proposition is demonstrable thus That Doctrine which rendreth the labour and faithfulnesse of a Minister in pressing such Exhortations Threatnings and Promises which tend to the Preservation of the Saints in Faith and Holinesse unto the end uselesse rendereth the Ministry of the Gospell as far as it concerns the incouragement or inabling of the Saints to Persevere needless and vaine but guilty of such a tendency as this is the commonly-received Doctrine of Perseverance Ergo. The truth of the Major Proposition here shineth clearly enough with its own light or however
import they speak only of Faith of the second degree i. e. of such Faith which is not only justifying and saving in respect of the nature of it but which actually saveth and in places of the latter import that they speak only of Faith of the third and highest degree i. e. of a perfect solid rooted and groundâ—â— Faith For the Readers better satisfaction I shall exhib 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 hors own words at large This nevertheless is to be taken intâ—â—pecial consideration that when the Illud interim maximoperé in considerationem venit quòd cum Patres fidem posse amitti eóque ex Fide haut rectè aeternaÌ„ electionem colligi posse contendunt non omnes de quacunque Fidei mensur âloquuntur cum plurimi eoruÌ„ distinguant tres Fidei gradus Quorum primus dat Fidei essentiam secundum quam justificat dicitur Fides viva atque oppositam habet Fidem mortuam ac putatitiam qualis hypocritarum Alter gradus addit durationem quâ ratione salvificat sibique oppositam habet Fidem ut vulgò loquimur quod de hominibus dicit Scriptura Fidei eorum per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tribuentes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sive temporariam qualis est Apostatarum Tertius gradus superaddit soliditatem dicitur perfecta solida radicata quae quocunque vitae tempore certificat hoc est ut Gregorii Magni verbis utar sic confirmat ut quis ulteriùs caedere non possit hoc de sese certissimé sciat Cui gradui opponitur Fides debilis qualis etiam multorum est Electorum Patrum loca quibus dicunt Fidem veram quidem amitti posse sed nunquam non reparari semper loquuntur de secundo Fidei gradu At illa quibus ajunt neutiquam posse amitti omninò intelligi debent de gradu tertio Cum quibus mininè pugnat quòd universi alià s dicunt multos per defectionem à Fide aeternùm perire Nam intelligunt Fidem primi gradus hoc est formaliter sive essentialiter veram sive quod idem est justificam etsi non salvificam sed justificam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per quam quis in praesentiâ est justus non justificam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quaendo si veritatem finis spectemus vere justifica non est quae aliquando desinit justificare quia non alia habet promissionem vitae aeternae quam quae perseverat Gerard. Joh. Voss Hist Pelag. lib. 6. Thes 13. Fathers affirm that Faith may be lost and 〈…〉 fore that eternal Election cannot rightly be inferred from Faith they do not all speak of any measure or degree of Faith whatsoever since many of them distinguish three several degrees of Faith The first of which gives Essence or Truth of Being unto Faith in respect whereof it justifieth and is called a lively Faith opposite hereunto is a dead and putatitious i. e. an imaginary Faith which is proper to Hypocrites The next degree adds Duration or Perseverance in respect whereof it saveth i. e. becomes actually saving Opposite to this Faith is that which we commonly call Temporary attributing that unproperly unto mens Faith which the Scripture attributes to men themselves which is the Faith of Apostates The third and last degree superaddeth Solidity this Faith is termed perfect solid rooted which at any time of a mans life gives him assurance i. e. to use the words of Gregory the Great doth so confirm or strengthen that a man cannot fall afterwards and knoweth this most certainly of himself To this degree of Faith a weak Faith is opposed which is the Faith of many of the Elect. Those passages of the Fathers wherein they say That true Faith may be lost but is always recovered again always speak of the second degree of Faith But those where they say That such Faith cannot be lost must necessarily be understood of the third and highest degree of Faith Between which expressions and what they generally teach otherwise viz. That many perish eternally through a falling away from their Faith there is no repugnance For in such assertions as this they understand Faith of the first degree i. e. such a Faith which is formally and essentially true or which is the same which is justifying though not actually or in the event saving but justifying in the essence or substance of it in respect whereof a man is at present righteous or just not justifying in respect of continuance since if we consider the Truth of the end that Faith is not truly justifying which at any time ceaseth to justifie because no other Faith hath the promise of eternal life but only that which persevereth By the express tenor of these things it fully appears that the uniform and §. 5. constant opinion of all Orthodox Antiquity was that true Faith true Grace true Justification and forgiveness of sins may by security carelessness ungodliness and profaneness of life and conversation be totally and finally lost and the persons in whom they were sometimes found eternally perish As for that which some of them teach concerning the inamissibility or infallible Perseverance of such a Faith which is perfected and radicated in the Soul so throughly and to such a degree as we have heard expressed were it granted that they speak of a simple and absolute inamissibility in this kind and that their meaning is that there is an utter impossibility and not a great difficulty or improbability only that such a Faith should miscarry or no instance producible to prove that such a Faith ever did miscarry it no ways rebuketh the confidence of that Assertion which we have in this present Chapter and elsewhere in the Discourse formerly avouched viz. That a possibility of the falling away of true Saints and true Beleevers and that both totally and finally was the general and joynt Doctrine of the Primitive Christians for several ages together after Christ. The consideration whereof is abundantly sufficient to stop the mouth of that undue pretext which presumeth to say and that with confidence That the best and most conscientious men were always of this Judgment that true Grace is imperishable and true Beleevers under no possibility of miscarrying finally But of this we spake more at large in the nineth Chapter I here only add That when any of the ancient Fathers or Councils express themselves in words of any such import as this that there is or may be a Faith so raised rooted or strongly built that it cannot either totally or finally miscarry it is no ways probable that their meaning should be that there is an utter simple or logical impossibility that such a Faith should be wholy lost but that they rather speak rhetorically and would be understood of a kind of moral impossibility only which imports a great difficulty improbability or rareness of an event in which sence or notion the Scriptures themselves as knowledg hath been given elsewhere d Cap. 10. §. 28.
in the preceding Chapters of this Book managed I trust to the satisfaction of all such who count it more safe to stand upon a rock alone or with a few then upon a quagmire or quicksand with a greater company But because all Men have not this Faith I shall shew unto those that want it a cloud of as honorable Persons I suppose even in their own eyes as any that have inhabited Mortality since the Apostles days standing upon the Rock of that Doctrine which hath been asserted and recommended in our former Discussions For who within that compass of time we speak of have had a spirit of greater glory resting on them then those that sate in the Apostles Chairs next after them and were Pillars of light and fire in the Christian Church in her Primitive and purest days And that these in their respective stations and successive generations were not onely Partakers but Defenders and Assertors of the same Faith with us in the Doctrine of Redemption hitherto maintained is legible enough in the next ensuing Testimonies after which we shall shew how fluctuating and inconsistent with themselves the Judgments of later Writers have been about the said Doctrine and how unpossible it is for any man to be of an established Conscience therein that shall build himself upon their Authority We shall begin with Augustin the first born amongst the Fathers though not in time yet in worth and Name and from him proceed first unto those that lived before him by a gradual ascent and then to those that succeeded him by a descent answerable That Austin's Doctrine concerning the Intentions of God about the extent of the Death of Christ was the same with that asserted by us for orthodox and sound in our present Discourse needeth I suppose no greater proof then an unpartial and due consideration of these and such like sayings scattered up and down his Writings from place to place upon occasion In that Discourse wherein He makes answer ad Articulos sibi falso impositos to certain Articles falsly fathered upon Him He insisteth upon this in the first place as layd to his charge that he should hold That our Lord Iesus Christ did not suffer for the Redemption of all Men a Quod Dominus nostâ—â— Iesus Christus non â—â—o omnium hominum redemptione sit passus The second He mentioneth is this That God should not be willing to save all Men though all Men were willing to be saved b Quod Deus omnes nolit servaâ—e etiamsi omnes salvari vâ—lint In purging himself upon the former of these He writeth thus Against the wound of original sin wherewith in Adam the Nature of all Men was corrupted and become dead and from whence the disease of all manner of concupiscence groweth the Death of the Son of God our Lord Iesus Christ is a true potent and the singular Remedy who being not liable to the debt of Death and the onely Person without sin dyed for those that were sinners and debtors in this kinde Therefore as to the greatness and potency of the price and as far as concerns one and the same cause of Mankinde the Blood of Christ is the REDEMPTION OF THE WHOLE WORLD But they who pass through this world without the Faith of Christ and the Sacrament or sacred work of Regeneration are strangers to or estranged from this Redemption Therefore whereas by reason of one and the same Nature of all Men and by one and the same cause of all Men truly undertaken by our Lord all Men may truly be said to be redeemed yet all Men are not actually brought or delivered out of captivity The propriety i. e. the actual possession and enjoyment of Redemption is doubtless with them out of whom the Prince of this World is cast forth and who are now not Vessels of the Devil but Members of Christ Whose Death is not so bestowed upon Mankinde that they who never come to be regenerate should belong to the Redemption thereof i. e. should actâ—ally partake of this Redemption but so that what by one onely Example or exemplary Act was done for all Men together or at once might be celebrated in all particular persons by a particular Sacrament i. e. might by a particular administration of the Sacrament of this Redemption meaning I suppose Baptism to each particular man be plainly declared to relate unto or to concern all particulars For that cup or potion of immortality which was tempered and made of our infirmity and the Divine Power or Vertue hath in it wherewith to profit all Men but it profiteth no man unless He drinketh it c Contrà vulnus originalis peccati quo in Adam omnium hominuÌ„ corrupta mortificata est Natura unde omnium concupiscentiaruÌ„ morbus inolevit verum potens singulare remedium est mors filii Dei Domini nostri Iesu Christi qui liber à mortis debito solus absque peccato pro peccatoribus debitoribus mortuus est Quòd ergo ad magnitudinem potentiam precij quod ad unam pertinet causam generis humani sanguis Christi Redemptio est totius Mundi Sed qui hoc saecuium sine fide Christi sine Regenerationis Sacramento pertranseunt Redemptionis alieni sunt Cùm itaque per unam omnium naturam omnium causam à Domino nostro in veritate susceptam Redempti omnes recté dicantur non tamen omnes captivitate sunt eruti Redemptionis proprietas haud dubium penes illos est de quibus Princeps hujus Mundi missus est foras jam non vasa Diabolt sed membra Christi Cujus Mors non impensa est humano generi vt ad Redemptionem ejus etiam qui regenerandi non erant pertinerent sed ita quod per unicum exemplum gestum est pro universis per singulare Sacramentum celebraretur in singuilis Poculum quippe Immortalitatis quod confectum est de infirmitate nostrâ virtute divinâ habet quidem in se vt omnibus prosit sed si non bibitur non proficit What Testimony from a man concerning his Judgment in any Point can be imagined more pregnant satisfactory and clear then such wherein He expresly complains of being falsly charged with the contrary and vindicates and explains himself accordingly Beza because of this Testimony so full and particular against his Opinion of limited Redemption and being loth to have this his Opinion â—â—cumbred with the opposite Authority of this Father dischargeth it of the burthen by pretending that the Book or Tract wherein it standeth is supposititious and not Augustins But besides the genius phrase and stilâ— every ways 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 resembling the Author whose Name it beareth Calvin who of the two was a man of greater discerning abilities acknowledgeth it accordingly d De occultâ Dei Provid in Respons ad Praefat. Opusc p. 851. Nor is there any piece in all those