his sins in particular And others that there is only this later and therefore the fore-mentioned Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance makes this only Gospel-repentance but as Gospel-faith is not that reflect act of the soul in a man whereby it is perswaded that Christ is his but a direct act of taking and receiving Christ to be ours so a Gospel-repentance is not that mainly whereby we are humbled because we receive Gods love to us in pardoning but principally in that loathing of our selves to obtaâ—n pardon It is therefore great ignorance in that Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance when pag. 58. he cals Repentance that goeth before this Faith viz. that my sins are pardoned a dead work as if the Faith that justifieth and without which it is impossible to please God were the believing that my sins are pardoned whereas the Scripture makes it to be the receiving of Christ and laying hold on him and seeing that the object must in order of nature be before the act that is imployed about it it followeth infallibly that I must have Justification before I can believe I have it Repentance therefore may be thought to go before a two-fold act of Faith First That whereby Christ is laid hold upon and made ours and so the Repentance that precedeth this may be called legal and slavish Or secondly Before a perswasion that my sins are pardoned and before this act of Faith Repentance must necessarily go because the Covenant of Grace dispenseth pardon only to such But because I have already spoken enough of the former kinde of Repentance anteceding Remission of sins vindicating the necessity of it I shall press upon this later as being most proper to my Text. And that assurance of apprehension of pardon doth not beget security but rather increase godliness will appear several wayes And first thus Those places which speak of Gods gracious Properties do represent them as grounds of duty as well as of consolation Psal 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Mark that expression There is forgiveness with thee which implieth forgiveness to be in God as in a fountain and therefore he doth easily and plentifully forgive but lest any Spider should suck poison out of this sweet flower he addeth That thou mayest be feared here is no incouragement to security Thus Hos 3.5 there is a gracious Promise of God to his children that they shall fear him and his goodness As it is Gods glorious Property to work good out of evil so it is a most devilish quality to work evil out of good 2. The Promises of God they also require an holy and humble walking 2 Cor. 7.1 The Apostle having in the Chapter before mentioned those glorious Promises in the Covenant of Grace That he would be our God and we his sons and daughters makes this inference Having those promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness perfecting holiness in the fear of God So that here is no danger as long as we keep close to the genuine use of the Scripture Thus also Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed c. Where Assurance is so far from incouraging to sin that by sin it is weakned and destroyed The more gracious then we perceive God to us the more humiliation and debasement we finde in our selves Thus the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 1.17 If ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth all men pass the time of your sojourning here in fear To make therefore doubting a duty and meritorious as some Papists have done is to betray great ignorance of Scripture motives 3. That Assurance of pardon is apâ— to kindle spiritual affections in us is plain if you consider the nature of such Assurance 1. Originally it is wrought by the Spirit of God as a man by the power of Free-will is not able to do any supernatural good thing so neither by the strength of natural light can he discern the gracious priviledges God bestoweth upon him 1 Cor. 2.12 The Spirit whereby we know the things that are freely given us of God is opposed to the spirit of the world If then this perswasion be not the fruit of the flesh but of the Spirit is it any wonder that it inclineth us to holy things Again 2. This perswasion of pardon cometh in the use of those means appointed by God 2 Pet. 1.10 By giving great diligence in the use of the means we only come to Assurance How then can such a perswasion of forgiveness cause a neglect of the means Lastly That Spirit which doth thus assure doth work also at the same time concomitant gracious effects especially servent and effectual prayer Rom. 8. Gal. 3. Now where constant powerful Prayer is that soul is like a tree planted by the waters side 4. That this perswasion of pardon doth inflame much to Holiness appeareth from the nature and state of those who are in it They are sons Now by experience we see that in an ingenuous son the more apprehension there is of his fathers tender love and kindeness to him the more obsequious and serviceable he is Can we think that the fathers great love to his prodigal son was not like coals of fire poured on him to melt and thaw him We rather see jealousies and suspitions of love to breed hatred at last Hence diffidence worketh despair and despair hatred of God It is therefore a special duty lying upon the people of God to entertain good thoughts of God and to be perswaded of his loving kindeness to them 5. That the people of God do yet mourn and abhorre themselves for their sins though perswaded of the pardon of them ariseth from the sincerity and uprightness of their heart whereby they hate sin as sin and grieve for the dishonour they have put upon God It is indeed lawful yea a duty to repent of sin that it may be pardoned because the Scripture propounds this as a motive and incouragement to the duty And it is a vain thing to affect more high and spiritual strains then the Scripture But Humiliation of sin when pardoned and after the knowledge of the pardon doth evidently discover an upright heart that the dishonour of God is more trouble and grief to him then his own punishment and destruction Whereby it is that hedoth so accuse and condemn himself for dealing so wretchedly and frowardly with so gracious a God 6. That ingenious principle of Gratitude and Thankfulness which reigneth in the godly will put them upon all these services Godliness in the lives of the godly may be considered two wayes First as a means wherein they attain to eternal life Secondly as an expression of Thankfulness unto God Hence Vrsine in his Catechism inscribeth that part of Divinity which containeth our duty de gratitudine of Thankfulness Bern. Ep. 107. Justus quis est nisi qui amanti se Deo vicem rependit amoris quod non
respect viz. as far as by-past sins are virtually contained in the following sin as if by a new sin a mans ingratitude is so great that he becomes as guilty as if he had all his former sins incumbent on him But whatsoever mens judgments are the Scripture-expressions about pardon of sin which are The remembring of them no more The blotting of them out and throwing them into the bottom of the sea c. do plainly evidence That God when he pardons a sin pardons it absolutely and for ever so that it shall never live again to condemn him here or hereafter There are two places of Scripture that seem to give a check to this Doctrine The first is Ezek. 18.24 26. where God saith If a righteous man turn away from his righteousnesse and commit iniquity his righteousnesse shall not be mentioned but he shall die in his sin Quid clarius sâ—ith Bellarmine What is more clear then this place Hence this is strongly insisted upon by Papists Arminians Lutherans as the Achilles Now to this place these Answers are given First That the Prophet speaks not of a truly righteous man but a pharisaical bragging man who hath a conceit of his righteousness without any reality at all and such a feigned righteousness may quickly melt away but this may seem too much forced though learned men insist on it partly because the opposition is made of a righteous man to one really wicked partly because it is such a righteousness which if a man had continued in would have saved him he should have lived by it Others therefore say The expression is only conditional and by supposition if he do this which doth only imply a posse if a man be left to himself not an esse or that indeed he will do so yea God useth these conditional comminations as a sanctified means to keep a righteous man from falling This is a good Answer but there are others with whom I joyn that say The Scripture doth here consider a man as of himself and what he is in his own power not what he is by a Covenant of Grace which is only per accidens and ex hypothesi a meer extrinsecal and accidental thing to a man And now speak of a godly man thus we may say that he may fall and lose the favour of God for although in respect of Gods predestination and Covenant of Grace he cannot yet that is meerly external and from without So that the Scripture speaks of a godly man sometimes in respect of his external relative condition as elected and federated Thus he is made unchangeable in respect of his state Again in other places it speaks of him in respect of his internals and what is dwelling in him and in this sense He that stands must take heed lest he fall And that this is the right interpretation is plain by the opposition in a wicked mans estate for there saith the Text If the wicked leave his wickednesse and do that which is righteous he shall live Here is no mention of Grace at all Can any from hence infer therefore a wicked man without Gods Grace is able to turn to God No. Other places demonstrate the necessity of that So that it is plain these Texts do not at all relate to any thing external and extrinsecal to a man The next place urged for the return of sins pardoned is Mat. 18.32 34. where in the Parable The Master is said to forgive a servant all his debt but because the same servant shewed not the like compassion to a fellow-servant his master was wroth with him and charged all the debt he had forgiven upon him again By which it may appear That if we after our sins are forgiven do those things that are very distasteful to God he will remember our former sins against us But the scope of the Parable which is the right key to open it is not to shew That God will remember sins pardoned for new ones committed but to manifest That forgiveness of others is a necessary qualification to be forgiven by God and that we may not believe God will forgive us unless we forgive others and this is clear from the conclusion of the Parable ver 35. So will not my heavenly Father forgive you unlesse you from your hearts forgive one another Besides every passage in a Parable is not argumentative but the chief intention only Many things are flourishes in the Picture not lineaments In the second place Neither doth a justified person so sinning fall from the Grace of Justification or his Adoption he is not cast out of the right of his Inheritance Whom he loveth he loveth to the end all this while Christs intercession is effectual for him Though he be a Prodigal living with Swine and upon husks yet he is a Sonne still Quod Christus naturâ nos gratiâ as Christ is perpetually the Sonne of God by nature so we in him and by him are alwayes the sons of Grace and the perpetuity or stability of our Justification is not founded upon any thing in us but upon Gods will and love and his sure promises Neither thirdly Doth he fall from the state of inherent or sanctifying Grace no more then imputed for by Gods gracious Covenant the principles of Grace are more firmly infixed and rooted in a godly mans soul then his soul in his body Vt custodiat nos per fidem custodit in nobis ipsam fidem That he may keep us by Faith he keepeth Faith in us saith a learned man Neither fourthly Doth a godly man fall into these grosse sins without a merciful ordering of them even to the godly mans good Although afflictions may befall a man to his good yet some have questioned Whether God suffers a godly man to fall into sins for good because sins have an inward malignity and poison in their natures which the evils of afflictions have not But if Gregory said truly of Adams sin Foelix culpa it was an happy fault because God wrought such a good the good of a Mediatour which is a greater good then that sin was no question but God can over rule the sins of Gods people for their own advantage as a godly man said He got more good by his sins then his Graces Audeo dicere c. saith Austin de civit Dei lib. 13. I dare be bold to say it That it is profitable for proud men to fall in manifest and open sins whereby they may be ashamed and made loathsome in their own eyes Salubrius sibi displicuit Petrus quando flevit quam sibi placuit quando praesumpsit It was better with Peter disliking himself in his weeping then pleasing himself in his presumption This therefore God doth to his people to prevent sin he lets them fall into sin and as Austin saith Sectio dolorem operatur ut dolor dolore tollatur The cutting of the wound causeth pain that so pain may be removed by pain and sometimes venena venenis
dispelluntur poison is driven out by oison And thus much for the Negative we come to the Affirmative and in the general we say A godly man committing such a gross sin till he doth repent is in a state of suspension from all the effects of Gods Grace in Justication though not of abdication or exheredation He is under Sequestration though not Ejection he is under an interdiction though not an exile He is as Absolom that was cast out of his fathers family though not from being a son The English Divines expressed it well in the Synod of Dort by a leper who was shut out from his own house so that although he had a right to his house yet he had no claim by any law to enjoy his house So though a godly man have a right to pardon of sin yet he cannot claim this as due to him as long as the guilt of sin abideth on him Hence that is expounded Purge me with hysop as an allusion to the leper who in such a manner was cleansed not that this state is to be conceived a third estate between a state of Justification and Condemnation but a suspending of the benefits of the former In which sense a godly man justly cast out by Church-officers for a sin is said to have his sins bound in Heaven And in this respect Zanchy saith he doth Quodammodo excidere à gratiâ Dei and that they are made quasi inimici as it were enemies Thus Perkins also Upon the committing of such sins saith he God turneth the effects of his grace into the effects cujus dam odii of a kinde of hatred to their sins so that quodammodo fiunt inimici Dei Now that the terrour of this condition may more fasten on the godly to make them cautelous against such fals let us consider what particulars this general doth include And first it supposeth a present unfitness for the Kingdom of Heaven or any gracious Priviledge There is no aptitude or preparation in a godly man so lapsed for comfort or salvation but like the unclean man is to stand aloof off from all this Now how woful is this to consider that such a man who had Gods gracious Scepter alwayes held out to bid him come into his presence must now finde the doors and gates of mercy for a season shut upon him Now the Master of the feast may say to him How camest thou in here without a wedding Garment When David sate not according to his custom at the Kings Table it was excused he had uncleanness upon him Alas it is a godly mans aggravation of this guilt why doth he not apply the Promises as formerly Why is he not had into the Spouses Wine-cellar Alas uncleanness is upon him As Christ said to Mary Touch me not for I am not yet ascended we may apply otherwise the Promise of Grace Christ saith to thee Touch me not lay not hold upon me for thou art not yet risen out of thy filth 2. As there is no aptitude for gracious priviledges So also God doth now change all his dealings and administrations towards them Those effects of love delight comfort assurance and sweetness they had are now turned into the bitter effects of wrath displeasure trouble and grief of soul sad pangs and convulsions of conscience so that they have no peace with God nor themselves Thus their sins swallow them up like Jonahs Whale and they are as it were in the bottome of hell God is really offended and displeased with them hereupon their conscience doth truly and sadly accuse them And all this being set home by Gods Spirit convincing of them of sin in all the aggravations of it O the groans and agonies their souls must needs conflict with This David doth evidently teach us in what he felt upon him Hearken then to Davids cryings and groanings and take you heed how you abuse the Grace of God either doctrinally or practically to a secure committing of gross sinne Be sure if ye belong to God your sinne will finde you out and no Doctrine of free Grace will be Altar or Sanctuary safe enough for you to hide your selves in God who was the God of all consolation is now the God of all sorrow and fear Thou thinkest on him and thy meditations are not sweet but troublesome Now it s not the Spirit of God that seals and comforts but of Conviction and Humiliation Now Christs bloud which thou despisedst doth speak bitter things against thee A drop of Gods anger fals into the conscience of a godly man thus awakened like a drop of scalding lead into a mans eye O what comfort do those pleasures those lusts now afford him Now he may say of them as she of her husband Thou art a bloudy husband 3. Although he hath a right to the Covenant of Grace to the priviledges contained therein yet as you have heard He may not without renewed Repentance claim any of these He cannot say my God my Christ my Pardon No God hath spit in his face as the expression is to Miriam and the soul is become filthy and noisome and she must be washed again ere Christ will receive her Though there be a Well of Salvation yet thou hast no bucket to draw out of it As long as a godly mans heart stands thus averse from God and hath a purpose to continue in sin all the Promises are like a fountain sealed up and a Garden enclosed He is in a worse condition then the wounded man in the way to Jericho for not only the Priest and the Levite the Moral Law pass by him but even the good Samaritan Christ and the Promises pour no oil into his wounds All the while he applieth comforts to his soul and supports himself with hopes of Gods favour he liveth upon spiritual robbery And he can with no more truth if we speak of the actual use and application say of the Promises then the devil of the world and the glorious things thereof All these are mine 4. By this they incur the guilt of eternal damnation There is a two-fold guilt as some distinguish one potential which by others is Reatus simplex a simple guilt another actual which by others is Reatus redundans in personam a guilt falling upon the person Now it is upon all sides agreed That by those sins he deserveth eternal damnation And therefore a godly man so offending ought to bewail the forfeiture he hath made If God should deal with him according to that strict rule Cursed be every one that abideth not in all the things that the Law requireth where should he appear But may we not say they have an actual guilt obliging them to eternal wrath not absolutely but conditionally till they take the means appointed by God for their pardon I see not but in a sound sense this may be said for God doth not will to them salvation while they abide in that state though at that time he wils to give them
things that are not as if they were but although it be thus with God yet we are not to conceive of things any other wayes then according to that manner of his dispensation whereby things decreed from Eternity are produced to act in time and certainly as sins future to us are present to him so Repentance also future to us is present to him And therefore Gods Decree for Remission was also for Repentance and both are present to him Thirdly This must be granted That although future sins are not pardoned before committed yet by the Covenant of Grace God will so preserve that as sins are committed so Grace will be dispensed that no sin shall actually condemn us And this may be the virtual Remission of future sins which some speak of So that although a justified person may not believe that his sins are pardoned which he shall commit yet he may believe that God will keep him by his power through faith to salvation and that if he fall in sin God will renew Repentance in his soul and our peace of conscience doth not simply arise from hence That God will pardon our sins but that he will so preserve us from evil and lead us into every good duty that so pardon may be vouchsafed unto us These things explained I come to lay down the Arguments Why none should presume that because of his Justification all future sins not committed or present sins not repented of are forgiven unto him The first ground is from those places which presume and necessarily suppose sinne to be committed before it is pardoned One place is brought by some learned men Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth a Propitiation to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of sins that are past Here say they Remission of sins through Christs bloud is restrained to sins past and upon this some argue Therefore future sins are not remitted Thus as I take it argue Peter Martyr Hiperius Domnam but it is more probable that by sins past are meant those committed before Christ came into the world And Beza who is followed by other learned men make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to be pardon but connivance as if the sense were God did passe by the sins of our Fathers before Christs coming and did not manifest his wroth in a Sacrifice expiatory of their sins till Christ himself came and suffered upon the Cross So he makes this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here with that which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Act. 17.30 Therefore I leave this and urge one or two places more 1 Job 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Here we see is intercession for sin and a way for Remission but how upon a supposition that sin is If any man Ezek. 18.22 speaking of a wicked man that turneth to God and now shall surely live he expresseth it thus All his transgressions that he hath committed shall not be mentioned to him Observe All that he hath committed not all that he shall commit A third place is eminently set down Jer. 33.8 Where God makes a glorious Promise of the pardon of sin but take notice to wâ—at sins he limits it even to those that have been committed I will cleanse them from all their iniquity wherby they have sinned against me and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against me It s of what they have done not of what they shall do A second sort of Arguments is from the expressions Gods word useth about Pardon All which do suppose That sinne goeth before and that God doth not antidate his Pardon Such as these are Remember not iniquity Now although this be attributed unto God improperly yet the very sense of the word supposeth That sins were precedent and how God by his grace will remember them no more So the phrase to blot out supposeth sin was already registred in Gods book Men do not use to forgive Debts before they be Throwing them into the sea what doth this imply but that sins did appear before and that in a terrible threatning manner Covering of sin How can that be understood if sin be not with some loathsomnes Thus we might instance in all the expressions used by Scripture to represent Pardon Thirdly This truth may be proved from the necessary qualifications required in those that have Pardon which cannot be unless a man have already committed the sin as 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confesse our sins he is faithful to pardon Now confession is alwayes of a thing already extant How absurd would it be for a man to go and confess the sins he will commit This would rather be impudence then humiliation look over all the confessions made by the people of God for themselves or in the behalf of others as Davids Ezrahs Nehemiahs Daniels and you shall observe them all limited to sins that have been done never extended to what they shall commit Thus in the old Testament when any had sinned they offered sacrifices There was no sacrifice appointed for a future sin but only for that which was already committed Thus to pardon is required forsaking of a mans sin Prov. 28.13 Now how can a man be said to forsake that which is not to leave that which is future especially as you have heard repentance is commanded as the way wherein only pardon may be had now how can repentance be about that which is to come Can a man repent of any â—hing but what is past The two Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be wise and understand after the fact is done and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reditus a turning again to those whom we have offended make it as clear as the Sun that there is no pardon of sin before committed Fourthly There is no promise in all the word of God made for the pardon of a sin before it be committed and repented of If therefore the Word of God give no such encouragement what presumption is it to make a faith that all sins are pardoned the Gospel-faith for grant that such a thing were true and to be beleeved viz. That all sins are pardoned yet that could not be the Gospel-faith for the Gospel-faith is justifying faith now the object of justifying faith is not ens complexum a proposition such as this is All my sins are pardoned but ens incomplexum a single object which is Christ himself received and applied by faith I am not justified by beleeving my sins are pardoned but by relying upon Christ for pardon But this by the way The strength of the Argument lieth in this God hath made no promise for the pardon of a sin before it be committed and repented of Therefore none may either beleeve or claim such a thing The grand charter or priviledge for pardon as it is laid down in the Covenant of Grace is contained in Jer. 31.34 which is also repeated Heb. 8.12 Now this
many other places do abundantly prove that there is not forgivenes but where there is repentance Therefore look upon all those doctrines as false and dangerous which make justification to be before it Not that we do with Papists make any merit or causality in repentance or that we limit it to such a measure and quantity of repentance nor as if we made it the condition of the Covenant of Grace but only the way without which not the cause for which remission of sins is not obtained neither can there be any instance given of men forgiven without this repentance and the same likewise is affirmed of faith though faith is in another notion then repentance this being the instrument to apply and receive it But of this hereafter 9. This remission of sin is not limited to persons times or the quantity and quality of sins Indeed the sin against the holy Ghost cannot be forgiven we will not explain that cannot by difficulty as if indeed it might be forgiven but very hardly The ordinary answer is that therefore it cannot be forgiven because the person so sinning will not confesse humble himself and seek pardon God is described by pardoning iniquity transgressions and sins Christ is said to take away the sin of the world David and Peters sins were voluntary yet God forgave them LECTURE IV. ROM 3.24 25. Being Iustified freely by his grace c. THe Doctrine about remission of sin being thus particularly declared we come to that great Question How afflictions come upon the godly after the pardon of their sins For the Antinomian goeth into one extremity and the Papist into another so true is that of Tertullian Christ is alwayes crucified between two thieves that is Truth suffers between two extream errors Therefore in prosecuting this point which is of great practical concernment I will lay down First What the Antinomian saith Secondly What the Papist And lastly What the Orthodox The Antinomian in his book called the Honey-Comb of Justification explaineth himself in these particulars by which you may judge that his Honey is Gall. Having made this Objection to himself That the children of God are corrected by God therefore he seeth sin in them maketh a large Answer Distinguishing first of afflictions calling some Legal and some Evangelical and then he distinguisheth of Persons making some unconverted others converted the unconverted again he makes to be either such as are reprobate or else elected now saith he the legal crosses have a two-fold operation either vindicative or corrective Vindicative are such afflictions as God executeth upon the wicked and reprobates in which sense God is called the God of vengeance Corrective are such lashes of the Law as are executed upon those persons that are the children of God by election but not yet converted and so under the Law therefore these afflictions are not in wrath to confound them but in mercy to prepare them to their conversion for God seeing sins in them layeth crosses upon them Now these elect persons he cals unconverted actively and declaratively in a very ambiguous and suspicious manner as if conversion were from all eternity as well as Justification so that as they say a man in time is justified only declaratively being indeed so from all eternity thus he must be said to be converted and if this be true then it will likewise follow that a man in heaven is glorified likewise onely declaratively but actually and indeed glorified from all eternity even while he is in this miserable house of clay In the next place he comes to Evangelical crosses which fall upon them that are actively and declaratively as he cals it converted and these he denieth expresly to be for their sins for this were saith he to deny Christs satisfactory punishment because by his death we have not one spot of sin in us therefore he makes them to be only the tryal of their faith and to exercise their faith so that by his divinity when a godly man is afflicted the flesh would indeed perswade a man hath sin in him but this is to try whether thou canst beleeve thou art cleansed from sin for all these afflictions Therefore if any man yield to this temptation viz. that he hath sin in him when he is afflicted what is this saith he but to deny Christ and his bloud Think you this to be the voice of the Scriptures Hence he laboureth to shew that twelve absurdities would follow from this doctrine of Gods afflicting his children for their sins the strength of which shall be in his place considered I have now only laid down his judgement and he makes the Doctrine of the Protestants opposing this to be Popish and confounding the Law and the Gospel together Hence intending the Protestant Authors and Ministers he saith They paint God like an angry father ever seeing sin in us and ever standing with a rod and staff in his hand lifted up over our heads with which by reason he seeth sins in us he is ever ready though not to strike us down yet to crack our crowns and sorely to whip us whereas the Gospel describeth him to be not only a loving Father but also our well-pleased Father at perfect peace with us so that the upshot of his position is to shew that they are taskmasters and do degenerate to the legall teaching in the Old Testament whosoever preach that God doth correct Believers for their sins and I have saith he somewhat the more largely hunted this Fox because it is so nourished not only by the Papists but also some of us Protestants who by lisping the language of Ashdod do undermine the very roots of the Lords vine And that you may see it is not one mans judgement amongst them see what their great General saith in a Sermon pag. 162. Know this that at that instant when God brings afflictions upon thee he doth not remember any sin of thine they are not in his thoughts towards thee Again whatsoever things befall the children of God are not punishments for sins they are not remembrances of sin and if men or Angels shall endeavor to contradict this let them be accounted as they deserve Thus the Antinomian The Papist goeth into another extremity for thus they hold Bellar de poen lib. 4. cap. 1 2. That when God hath forgiven a sin yet it is according to his Justice that the sinner should suffer or do something to satisfie this justice not in respect of the sin as it is against God for although some say so yet others reject it but in respect of some temporal punishment either in this life or in the life to come which is the ground of Purgatory And that this may be made good they say When God doth forgive a sin he doth not presently remit the temporal punishment therefore men may by some satisfactory penalties voluntarily taken upon themselves rescue themselves from these temporal punishments Now this is a
Blesse the Lord O my soul who forgiveth all thine iniquities This particular assurance inlarged his heart to praises But although this be part of the sense in this Petition yet this is not all we pray for as the Antinomian contends for we pray principally for the real exhibition of pardon and secondarily for the Declaration and manifestation of it in our consciences Their conceit is That God from all eternity hath pardoned our sins past present and to come and that when we believe or repent our sins are pardoned declaratively only to our conscience they being forgiven before This I shall handle in a Question by it self Only I shall lay down some few Arguments to prove that we do not only pray for assurance and manifestation of pardon but also for pardon it self The reasons are these First We might by the same rule interpret all the other Petitions in regard of Declaration only and not exhibition when we pray for sanctification and glorification in that Petition Thy Kingdom come it might be as well said that we were sanctified and glorified from all eternity and therefore when we are converted or saved in heaven this is but to our sense and feeling This Argument seemeth to be so strong against them that they have confest A man is already glorified while he is upon earth most absurdly confounding the Decrees of God from eternity to do things with the executions of them in time How ridiculous would it be to expound that Petition Give us our daily bread thus Not that God should give us daily bread but only make us to see and feel that he hath given it us A second reason is from the nature of forgivenesse of sin When sinne is pardoned it is said to be blotted out now that blotting out is not only from a mans conscience and feeling but more immediately out of Gods Book So that when God doth forgive he doth cancel those debts which are in his Book and not only the guilt that lieth upon our hearts therefore these are very separable the one from the other A man may feel no weight or burden of sin upon him and yet it stand in fiery Characters against him in Gods Book and on the contrary a sin may be blotted out there yet be very heavy and terrible in a mans feeling and apprehension so sin pardoned is said to be covered or hid not in respect of us as if it were taken from our sight but from Gods sight and he is said to cast our sins behinde his back not ours The third reason This Explication as the whole sense of the Petition would overthrow all other places of Scripture which make no pardon of sin to be but where the subject hath such qualifications as this in the Text of forgiving others it is not indeed put as a cause or merit but yet it is as a qualification of the subject therefore our Saviour repeateth this again Except ye forgive others neither will my heavenly Father forgive you So Act. 10.43 Whosoever believeth on him shall have remission of sins Rom. 3.15 He is a propitiation through faith in his bloud here faith is made an instrument to apply and bring that pardon to the soul which it had not before So 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confesse our sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins By these and the like Scriptures it is plain That remission of sin is given us only in the use of these graces not that hereby we merit at Gods hand or that God is tied to these wayes but it is here as in the Sacraments he hath tied himself to convey his graces in no other chanels or conduits then he hath appointed Lastly This would make no difference between sins repented of and not repented of for if they be all pardoned from eternity then sins that are humbled for and that are unhumbled for have the like consideration on Gods part and I may feel the pardon of the latter though not repented of as well as the former yea I may have the sense of the pardon of all the sins I shall commit for the future and so whereas I pray for daily bread not to-morrow bread I shall here beg for the sense of the pardon not only of my sins to day but tomorrow and the next year But I never read that God made such a Jubile as one Pope did who promised a plenary Indulgence not only for sins past but afore-hand also for all sins to come God doth not antidate his pardon before the sin be committed or repented of but of this more largely in time 6. We pray That as God doth forgive the sin so also he would release the punishments and take away all the wrath that doth belong to it It is a mockery which Papists make about pardon as if indeed God did pardon the sin but the punishment that abideth still and we must work out a release from that by our own selves It is true as we have proved God though he doth pardon sin yet he may grievously afflict but these are fatherly chastisements not judicial punishments but in this Prayer we desire also that as the sins are removed so also whatsoever troubles afflictions and chastisements do remain that they also may be taken away that as the gulf of hell is removed so every cloud also may be dispelled 7. In this Petition we pray That God would deliver us from those effects of sin which God hath immutably set upon it such as are sicknesses death and corruption For although God by vertue of the Covenant of Grace hath promised a perfect pardon of sin yet we cannot come to a full enjoyment of all those priviledges which remission of sin doth bring till we be freed from death and corruption So that as long as there is the death and grave still sin hath some power We therefore pray that whatsoever mortality and corruption sin hath brought in it may be taken away and we made fit for eternal life which is the consequent of pardon of sin for you must know that pardon is not a meer privative mercy freeing us from Gods wrath but there is also a positive investing of us with a title to everlasting life and glory only our corruptibility hinders us from the actual possession of that which we have a right unto we therefore pray That as God removed our sins so he would also remove all the sad effects and mischievous fruit which came in by it 8. We pray not only for pardon of sin but also for the good concomitants and effects of it which are Peace with God and Joy in the holy Ghost Rom. 5.1 Hence Luther speaketh of a twofold pardon one secret and hidden when he forgiveth sins but the people of God do not feel or regard it The other is open and experimental now both these condonations are necessary The first saith he is more bitter and troublesome but more
the Scripture but the same entire mercy Now although this be true yet how few do reform their judgements in this point and thereupon they come to put that upon their grace within them which belongs to grace without them Use of Instruction That there may be an happy reconciliation and accord between Gods grace in forgiving and mans duty in repenting one need not be preached to justle out the other All error is an extremity of some truth and therefore it is hard to discover truth because its difficult to find out where the bounds are that truth parts from error Let not therefore a Christian so relie upon his repentance as if there were no Covenant of grace no bloud of Christ to procure an atonement so neither let him extol these causes to the extinguishing of his duties To stir up to this duty of repentance as that without which pardon of sin cannot be obtained There is no such free grace nor Gospel-mercy that doth supersede a broken and contrite heart Christ was broken for thy sins yet that will not excuse thee from a broken heart for them also Christ was wounded and a man of sorrow for thy sins yet that will not take ofâ— thy wounds and sorrow also Indeed if these were able to satisfie Gods wrath or to make an atonement then Christ was wounded and became a man of sorrows in vain for God doth not require a two-fold satisfaction but we are wounded for sin upon other grounds then Christ was we mourn for other causes then he did and consider thou that art afraid to grieve here for sin how little is this to that which thou shalt be forced to grieve for hereafter Thou art unwilling to be burdened here but oh how easie is that to the load thou must stand under hereafter This Bernard urged When saith he we urge men to repent they say this is durus sermo an hard speech who can bear it But you are deceived when God shall say Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire This is indeed an hard speech And account that repentance is as much as the bringing of a man to his wits and minde again All the while thy sins are not a burden to thee thou art in blindenesse even as the childe as long as it is in the dark womb weeps not but as soon as ever it cometh into the light then it crieth As long as thou liest in the womb of darknesse and ignorance thou mournest not but when God shall open thy eyes to see thy estate and the aggravation of thy sins then thou wilt burst out into sorrow LECTURE XIX MAT. 6.12 And forgive us our debts IT hath been shewed That there is an happy accord between Gods grace in pardoning and our duty in repenting In bounding of which you have heard the Scripture excludes all merit and causality from our repentance and gives the glory of all to Gods grace and Christs bloud Before I leave this point it will be necessary to answer some practical Objections for there is a great miscarriage in many about this very duty of repentance If they be asked How they hope to be saved they will reply by their repentance Thus they make that their Ark and city of refuge they look upon that as the brazen serpent and not Jesus Christ And it is no wonder if this be so among ignorant people when the most learned amongst the Papists do give such power and merit unto repentance Insomuch that Vasques saith He wonders at those Catholikes who have such low and despicable thoughts of the righteousnesse in us as that it should not exclude sin without any new favour or pardon of God as if the enabling us to repent did expel the guilt of sin as fire doth water by a natural necessity The first Objection therefore may be To what purpose doth God require Repentance seeing it is no cause of pardon Why may not God forgive sin as well without this sorrow of ours for if it have no efficacy of it self to deliver from the guilt of sin then sin might be pardoned as well without it as with it for if the Spirit of God prepareth us for pardon by exciting and stirring up Repentance this Repentance must have some respect of causality to pardon or else to what purpose it is wrought It is hard therefore to see the necessity of Repentance unlesse it have such effects Insiste fortitèr poenitentiae inhaere tanquam naufragus tabulae said Ambrose And this efficacy all are pronâ— to give to Repentance Now to answer this lay first this foundation That God doth indispensably require repentance of all Act. 17.30 where not only the command of repentance is made known but the goodnesse of God in pressing this duty for whereas God hath neglected and passed over the former times of ignorance by not revealing any such command unto them now by the general spreading of the Gospel he doth For howsoever we translate it winked at as also Beza doth yet Dieu upon the place sheweth more probably that it signifieth Gods anger and indignation to them and therefore hid the means of salvation from them This grace is also required of the godly sinning 2 Cor. 7.9 1O Revel 2.16 Tertullian subtilly but not solidly saith God first dedicated repentance in his own self for before God said It repenteth me that I have made man the name of repentance was not heard But we know that God cannot in a proper sense be said to repent because there is no ignorance in his understanding or mutability in his will But to answer Why God doth require it this in the first place might be enough Because it is his will and command Bonum est poenitere an non quid revolvis Deus praecipit said Tertulâ—ian Is it good to repent or not Why doubtest thou Hath not God commanded it It is Gods will to joyn pardon and repentance together Though there were no more connexion between these two then by that meer appointment of God we were bound up to do it As we see in the Sacraments God hath promised such spirituall grace in the holy use and application of such outward signs where there is no naturall connexion at all between the grace and the sign but the union comes by the meer institution and command of God Although the conjoyning of pardon with repentance be more then from a meer positive command there is an aptnesse and fitnesse in the thing it self Now God in commanding of this doth not because he needed it or as if he could not do otherwise for if a man may forgive another that hath injured him although he do not grieve or be troubled for such an offence why may not God if we speak of absolute power Thy tears therefore and thy repentance they make not God more happy neither are they required for Gods good but for thy own good Neither doth God require them as if they should make up any defect or
bear it And this aggravation of Gods seeing it he mentioneth also vers 4. Against thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight That God did see it and was offended did more trouble him then the eyes of all the world upon him So 2 Sam. 11.27 where this History is related there is this peculiar brand upon Davids sin that what he had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord therefore God did see it and take notice of it so as to be displeased with it This Doctrine is worthy of all diligent examination both because it will be a strong Antidote to keep Gods people from scandalous gross sins as also to inform how far in such sins the people of God make a breach upon their peace with God and claim to the Covenant of Grace And although this Question hath been vexed in some respects with the scratching claws of the Schoolmen yet I shall endeavour not to be so ill a seedsman as to sowe among thorns nor as one of the Ancients alludes Plantare nemus Aristotelicum juxta altare Dei Plant Aristotles dark Grove near Gods Altar And for the clearer proceeding in this great Point I shall consider the Doctrine briefly in the hypothesi as it was Davids case and then in thesi as it may be any believers condition for David take notice of two things First The aggravation of his sin Secondly Of the evil befalling him because of it Davids sin is at large mentioned 2 Sam. 11. where you have several aggravations of this ungodly act First He was a King and so his wickedness was the greater by how much his person was greater Men in place being like the Sun which if in an eclipse causeth much destructive alteration to inferiours Secondly A man advanced by God to special mercies both temporall and spirituall and for him to sinne thus we may cry out What ailest thou O Jordan to runne backward Thirdly The nature of the sin was a very gross one against the light of an Heathens conscience to deflour his neighbours wife Fourthly It was a trespass against his faithful servant Vriah who was venturing his life to preserve David This was horrible ingratitude Fifthly This aggravation God addeth That he had many other wives and for him as Nathan wisely reproved him to go and take the poor mans lamb who had only that this was to become very guilty Sixthly Here was great deliberation and consultation how to cover the matter and to make Vriah the father of it O where is Davids heart that it doth not smite him all this while Seventhly To bring this wretched plot about hâ— sends Vriah with letters to Joab for his own destruction Doth not David here that which he condemned and prayed against so much in others lie in wait like a Lion to devour the poor innocent Eighthly His sin becomes more hainous in that to colour this he will have Vriah and many other innocent persons set in the fore-front on purpose to be killed and afterwards with most transcendent hypocrisie excuseth it with this The battel fals alike to all So that here is a sinne with many sins complicated in it Ninthly When all this is done David takes Bathsheba to wife delights in her and rejoyceth with her Tenthly To make his sinne out of measure sinful after these horrid sins committed thus against natural light as well as spiritual we finde no remorse of conscience no trouble of heart till Nathan the Prophet come and arouse him But presently upon his Reproof How doth this Mountain melt like wax before the fire And therefore let no man encourage himself with Davids sin unless he finde in himself also Davids Repentance And therefore in the second place take notice what way God takes to break him and how much displeasure of God fell upon him First He hath great terrour and trouble upon him which he expresseth by the most exquisite torment that is viz. Broken bones It was with him as if all his bones were brayed and pounced together Thus fearful is it to fall into the hands of the living God who even to his own people is a consuming fire As the Sunne which useth to dart forth resplendent beams of lustre by grosse and thick clouds is darkned and obscured so David who heretofore rejoyced in God took comfort in his Promises doth now like Dives beg for one drop of comfort and findes a great Gulf between that and him insomuch that it cannot come to him nor he to it Now what are all Davids pleasures all his lustful delights to these wounds of his soul Hath he not bought Repentance at a dear rate Let the godly hear this and tremble and do no such thing Secondly As he found hell thus within him So God was also really displeased his sins were uncancelled till he repented So that Gods displeasure was not only in Davids sense and feeling but in Gods heart also As the earth of his own heart was like iron in respect of the yeelding any fruit of comfort so the Heavens were like brasse God had spoke to his soul to be like the mountains of Gilboa on which no dew of his favour shall fall Therefore he doth not only pray for pardon but plenty and iteration of pardon Multiply to pardon as vers 2. I need pardon again and again I need a plentiful pardon because I have sinned many sins in one sin Now David might justly be more solicitous and fearfull about the pardon of these sins because there was no particular Sacrifice appointed for murder and adultery but an expectation of vengeance either from God or man but this must not be stretched to the Socinian errours as before I have shewed Thirdly He found in himself a loathsomnesse and defiling guilt upon his conscience whereby like Adam he could runne and hide himself that God might not see him Hereupon he prayeth Wash me Cleanse me Purge me O how loathsome and abominable was he in his own eyes if Davids Righteousness be accounted a menstruous cloth or dung by him what debasing and abhorring thoughts must he needs have of his sins He looketh upon himself as the Swine wallowing in mire and the dog licking up his vomit Fourthly He feeleth a spiritual consumption and languish upon him that he cannot exercise any of those graces that he used to do Therefore he prayeth for a principal or voluntary spirit that with delight and strength he may do Gods will David ariseth as Samson when his Hair was cut off thinking to doe such great exploits as he had before but he findes his strength gone Fifthly He discovereth a world of Hypocrisie in his heart and crieth out of that praying for truth in the inward parts He now probably fears himself for an Hypocrite questions whether any truth of grace be in him at all and certainly it might justly amaze and astonish him to consider he could do all that wickedness deliberately in cold bloud without any remorse
such effectual Grace that thereby they shall recover and so remove that gulf which is between them and God So that at the same time God doth will to give them grace to repent and recover and yet he doth not will salvation to them till they do recover Here is no contrariety in Gods will because though this be about the same person yet not in the same respects for Gods will not to give salvation while in such an estate and to give Repentance that he may come out of that estate do no wayes oppose one another and because of this later mercy it is that we may alwayes say There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Their sins are never imputed to them for their condemnation but there is a conditional obliging of them till they sue out their pardon So that it is here as Solomon did with Abiathar 1 Kin. 2.26 Thou art saith Solomon worthy of death but I will not at this time put thee to death 5. Because of this guilt and demerit of sin it is that our Divines do say That if such an one David for example should die before these sins be repented of he would be damned For if you suppose a justified person to persevere alwayes in gross and vile sins without reformation you may as well suppose him to be damned Hence there is as some observe a two-fold impossibility There is an impossibility that David elected and justified should be damned There is also an impossibility that David a murderer and an adulterer should without Repentance be saved but God by his powerful grace will untie this knot by a certain and infallible recovery out of his sins for that is a perpetual and sure rule Election hath obtained Rom. 11. otherwise speak of David as in that state before Repentance we may say if he had died in it he would have been damned Thus Beza Twiss c. Yet Gods grace which was so potent at the first to raise out of the grave of sin how much rather if life be in us will it quicken us to turn unto God 6. From hence further it ariseth That he needeth a particular Justification in respect of that guilt which is to be done away Some Orthodox and learned Writers Abbot and others distinguish of a two-fold Justification one universal whereby a man is absolutely received into the grace and favour of God becoming his Son A second is particular whereby sins are remitted to them that are already made the children of God without which they would fall from their first benefit of sonship The one is called Justificatio simplicitèr The other Secundùm quid and this particular Justification they make to be often repeated Thus Peter Martyr Rom. 3. Lapsis post Justificationem repetitâ denuò Justificatione per fidem condonari Thus Bucer Defensio pag. 85. acknowledgeth an iteration of Justification after we repent and arise from more grievous sins Others call it not a particular Justification but an application of that universal Justification And certainly Justification doth denote the state of a man but seeing the Remission of such sins doth not put them into a new estate for they never fell from that we cannot so properly call it Justification and I know not any place where the Scripture cals it so and it would be very hard to say That Justification is re-iterated as often as sin is pardoned Though therefore there may be some difference in the words yet the matter it self is clear viz. There is a necessity of the removing of this guilt that so the person offending may be brought into Gods favour again 7. Seeing all this is true then it followeth That such a man so offending must renew an act of Faith and Repentance So that the former acts of faith and godly sorrow will not discharge or acquit from the new sins committed Therefore lastly it is a most dangerous errour in practice to hold That after a known sinne committed the first thing a believer is to do before Repentance or Humiliation is to believe that that sin is already pardoned Thus a late Writer Cornwell in a Treatise called Gospel-repentance wherein he labours to prove That a believer entred into the Covenant of Grace upon the commission of an actual known sin ought to believe the actual pardon of that sin before he actually repent of the same Now although this is to be confuted when we handle Faith and Repentance yet thus much we may say That this Doctrine must needs be very unsound for first There is no sin actually pardoned before Repentance as at large I have shewed and no sin is pardoned before it be committed as in the next Question is to be shewed So that it would be abominable presumption yea and falshood to believe such a thing Hence such a perswasion as this God hath or will pardon my sins can bring no comfort or peace to our conscience till we repent for a Scripture perswasion is That God enabling me to repent and to use the means will vouchsafe pardon and in this only can I have comfort Besides the Author makes the last work of Faith the first for upon a known sin committed Faith is to be exercised first in the threatnings of God to believe those due to him In the next place Faith is to relie upon Christ for pardon that he may receive remission of sins for as Rivet and Perkins urge well There is no pardon offered on Gods part or received on mans till he do believe and then when these acts are done God doth many times incline the soul to believe the sin is pardoned But the pardon of sin must be received by a direct act of Faith before we can believe that it is pardoned by a reflex But this is more largely to be confuted Now the Objection may be How can sinne thus far prevail in the filth and guilt of it and yet the man so sinning not fall from his Justification This will be cleared if you consider these things First That Justification is an act of God meerly it is not our act We are said to be justified and God he doth justifie Now Opus Dei non potest irritum fieri per opus hominis Those acts of God which he doth we cannot make void but he ordereth them for their time and continuance as he pleaseth Secondly Consider That sin doth not expel the Grace of Justification efficiently or physically as darkness doth light or coldness heat but meritoriously by way of desert Now God doth not with us according to our desert when he entered into a Covenant of Grace with us he so appointed it that no sin should break the league of friendship whereas if he had pleased he might so have appointed it that the least sin should have dissolved this bond and if sin did expel the Grace of Justification efficiently the least sin would have done it But now if it was wholly at Gods pleasure to make this
state dissoluble or indissoluble and if so then that neither great sins or less should break it and this makes us to wonder how David in his adultery and murder could be justified because we prepossess our selves with this principle That sin doth by a natural necessity expel the grace of God whereas many Schoolmen are bold to determine That de potentiâ absolutâ God might pardon sin though there were no Repentance or infused grace at all in a man Thirdly That a particular partial guilt is not the immediate opposition to universal Justification of the person unlesse it were to abide in him Justification of a mans person will keep him from being actually condemned though not from the guilt of condemnation As a guilty person thrown into prison is kept from the use of his house goods and all comforts but he is not deprived of them till he be actually condemned so a believer falling into gross sins is deprived of the use of all spiritual comforts but not cast out of the right of them because he shall never actually be condemned LECTURE XXVIII PSAL. 51.9 And blot out all my iniquities THe next thing in this Text to be considered is the second Petition which though differing from the former in words yet is coincident in the matter In this was observable as you heard the Petition it self Blot out my iniquities 2. The extent All all my iniquities Now from hence we may justly take an occasion to handle that Question Whether God in pardoning do forgive all sins together So that sins past present and future are remitted together for that is the opinion of some That as soon as ever a man is actually entered into the Covenant of Grace all his sins even future are actually forgiven and that they are bound to believe the same even before they actually repent of any iniquity committed This at large Cornwell maintaineth in his Book of Gospel-repentance Yea there are some learned and worthy Authours who seem to encline this way D. Ames in his Medulla in the Chapter of Justification saith Not only the sins of justified persons that are past are remitted but also in some sort those that are to come Neither saith he can sins past and present be altogether and fully remitted unlesse sins to come be in some sort remitted also Only he makes this difference sins past are remitted by a formal application sins to come only virtually sins past are remitted in themselves sins to come in the subject or person sinning But this in effect to say they are not remitted but that God by his Covenant of Grace will as sins are committed give Grace to repent whereby there may be a forgiveness of them This is to say rather No sin shall hereafter actually condemn them rather then to say they are forgiven Doctor Twisse Vindic. Gratiae pag. 82. de Eurat lib. 3. Quid si dicam in Justificatione nostra c. What if I say in Justification we receive the forgivenesse of our sins not only that are past but of future also that is we are made more certain of their forgivenesse For saith he that internal act of God whereby he doth remit sins cannot be renewed in God Certissimum esse judico c. I judge it most certain as he goeth on to whom God once doth forgive sins to the same man he forgives all his sins whatsoever they are of which absolution there is indeed a frequent pronunciation iterated to Penitents often in the Scripture Thus that learned Authour going upon those two grounds 1. That Pardon of sinne is an immanent act in God 2. That application of Pardon to us is no more then the sense and manifestation of that pardon which was from all Eternity But the weakness of these grounds hath been already demonstrated and we have other Orthodox Writers speaking more consonantly to Truth denying that future sins are forgiven before committed and repented of When Grâ—tius had objected That the Protestants Doctrine was Peccata condonari antequam fiant That sins were forgiven before they were committed Rivet in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 467 replieth Imo id nos absurdissimum credimus c. Yea we think such a Doctrine most absurd and the imputation of it to us most unjust For though saith he God decreed to pardon our sins from all Eternity yet the execution of this is not from all Eternity As God decreed from all Eternity to create the world yet the world was not from all Eternity Those that know God hath decreed from Eternity to pardon sinne upon the condition of Repentance Those that know God hath not decreed the end without the means will never ascribe to themselves Pardon of sin without these exercises of Repentance Thus the same Author in the same Book pag. 533. Absurdum est credere c. It is absurd saith he to believe a Remission of sins which are not yet committed for neither in the Decree of God is there an actual Remission decreed without Repentance preceding Remission To this purpose Perkins in his Book of Predestination There is no actual Pardon saith he offered on Gods part to us nor on our part received without Faith and Repentance When Thomson in his Diatriba had made mention of an answer formed by some Author That in Justification all sins past present and future were forgiven and a justified person was bound to believe this Bishop Abbot in his Answer cap. 24. cals this incommodè dictum an incommodious expression and argueth against it Having premised this I come to lay down the grounds that sins are not pardoned to a justified person before they be committed and repented of and therefore it is dangerous presumption to believe such a thing Only these things must be acknowledged First That God when he pardons sins past to those that repent He forgiveth all them together God doth not pardon some and leave out others Thus the gracious Promise Heb. 8. of remembring our iniquities no more and blotting them all out is to be thus farre universally interpreted that all those sins which then are found in the lives of believing persons shall be removed and taken away All past sins are forgiven together And the ground of this Truth is two-fold partly because the same Grace and love of God which moveth him to blot out one will also stirre him up for the other And indeed if it were not so God would have love to a man as his friend and hatred to him as an enemy at the same time whereas Remission is Reconciliation with God and therefore every obstacle must be removed partly this ariseth from the nature of Repentance for where that is truly for one sin it is also for all other sins and then the guilt of all must needs be taken away Secondly We must grant That to speak properly there is nothing future to God and those things that are not yet to us they are present to him For he calleth
Covenant of Grace as it promiseth pardon of sin so also a new heart and actual exercise of grace so that they shall walk in all Gods waies Now the way wherein pardon is to be had is repentance and faith We must not therefore conceive of the Covenant of Grace as promising pardon and forgiveness without any qualification in the subject this would contradict other places of Scripture Therefore in the Covenant of Grace some things are promised absolutely supposing nothing to go before such are regeneration the working of faith in us giving his holy Spirit to us and union with Christ 2. There are many priviledges in the Covenant of Grace and those are given where God hath wrought some former effects of his grace and suppose them to be such are Justification pardon of sin increase in grace Glorification all these things are promised in the Covenant of Grace but made good where there are the former effects of Gods grace wrought in them We do not therefâ—re say God doth not pardon sin unless repentance go before as if God needed repentance as if he could not do it without repentance as if repentance made God the better or made him amends These are idle calumnies cast upon this Doctrine in some Pamphlets But only God hath appointed one effect of his grace before another in order and he will not vouchsafe one before he hath wrought the other As for instance God hath appointed no unclean thing shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven God will not give glory where he hath not given grace If one should tragically exclaim upon this This is to make God need our graces This is to make grace meritorious with God This is to be a Papist a Formalist to make men rest in themselves you would presently judge this a vain weak cavill No less is it when we are charged thus for holding God will not forgive sin but to those that believe and repent It is not for any worth in what we do but because God will have an order and a method in his graces Justification where Repentance is Glorification where Holiness is It being not fit to give pearl unto swine nor childrens meat to dogs Fifthly If a man may believe his sins are pardoned before they be committed and so before repented of then he may have full joy and unspeakable boasting in God while he lieth wallowing in the midst of sins The reason of the consequence is this By such an act of faith we have peace with God and we glory in him This floweth as a proper effect of faith though it do not alway follow yet it may follow and happily it is our weakness if it doâ—â—â—ot And if so then it was Davids weakness to bâ— troubled about sin It was for want of a right considering of the Covenant of Grace that he had no joy in his heart and that his bones were broken The Adversary seeth the necessity of this consequent and therefore is not afraid to say That a justified person even when sin is most prevalent and the heart most hardened yet then can glory in Jesus Christ with a large heart breaking forth into thanksgivings Cornwel of Gospel-Repentance pag. 125. How contrary is this to Davids experience Psal 32. who while he humbled not himself for his sin found nothing but terrour and trouble in his own soul And certainly this Doctrine must be very distastfull to â—very gracious heart which shall make faith and assurance in the glorious effects of it amicably concording as it were with great and grievous sins And let the Adversary shew such an instance in all Scripture For as for his example in Paul Rom. 7. who found himself captivated unto sin doing the things he would not yet giving thanks to God through Jesus Christ this is clean contrary to him for Paul did greatly humble himself and was deeply sensible of this tyranny of sin which made him cry out O miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin So that we cannot with any colour call him an hardened sinner Somnium narrare vigilantis est said Seneca and to complain of sin especially in the first motions and suggestions of it as Paul did argues a tender life of grace in him No less absurd is it to bring Habakkuk to patrocinate this great errour for although he said He would rejoyce in God and glory in his salvation Hab. 3.8 9. in the midst of Gods judgements upon the publike yet this doth not suppose any personal grievous sins he was fallen into Sixtly If sins be pardoned thus before committed and repented of then it would be in vain to pray for forgiveness of sin seeing it is already past This Argument as before was said Gomarus urged against Piscator explaining that Petition Forgive us our sins for the sense and assurance of it only in our hearts It is true we may pray for a thing that is past thus far for the continuance of it but not for the thing it self Although there can hardly be an instance in all Scripture given of such a Petition We do not reade of any prayer in Scripture that God would elect us and predestinate us yet that might admit of the same interpretation which they give for pardon of sin viz. To make us more assured and perswaded of it in our own hearts Hence when God speaks of pardon of sins he useth many times the future tense Jer. 31. I will forgive their iniquities which if pardoned before would be very difficult to say even as hard as if God should say I will predestinate and elect such men It is indeed often said That when we pray for pardon of sin we pray for the sense and feeling of it but let such that interpret so give any parallel place for such a sense yet we deny not as before hath been said but reductively this may be included in that Petition Seventhly If a mans future sins be already pardoned in a justified man then in a reprobate man all his future sins are actually condemned The consequence is firm upon that rule Eadem est ratio contrariorum there is the same reason of contraries Therefore if a mans future sins be pardoned before they be committed then a reprobate mans sins shall be punished before they be Now how contrary is this to Gods dispensation revealed in the Scripture Where can we finde any one man punished for a future sin Were not all the sins men are afflicted for in Gods Word because they had done them not because they were to do them Indeed the Scripture Matth. 5. sometimes makes the desires and lusts of the soul after sin to be the sin it self but that is because they are the proxime and immediate cause of such a sin but we are now speaking of future sins that it may be as yet have no preparation at all for them in any cause Eightly By what principles the Opponents can prove That God pardons sins future by
the same we can prove it is because of repentance future So that still no sin will be forgiven without repentance For suppose that were a true rule to stand upon Gods internal will to pardon is an immanent act and therefore from all eternity will it not as well follow Gods internal will to give repentance is an immanent act and therefore repentance is from all eternity If another be a true rule That God hath given us all pardon from eternity only we have the sense of it and manifestation in our own souls may we not then say that we had the grace of repentance from all eternity but it is declarative in time in our own souls For although justification be Gods act and repentance ours yet we are passive in the infusion of this as well as justification I speak not of repentance as an act which cannot so properly be said to be infused but of the frame of the soul If a third rule should be true That therefore sins are pardoned because the Covenant of Grace saith it will pardon all Doth not this hold also for repentance seeing in the Covenant God promiseth to give a repenting heart Lastly If God may be thought changeable because now he pardons and once he did not will it not as well hold because he now gives grace to such a man to repent and once he did not To conclude therefore it followeth with an equal necessity That if future sins are forgiven before they be committed That God also did accept of future repentance before it was practised or else if repentance be not received by God till actually performed so neither is sin forgiven till actually committed and repented of The result of this whole truth is by way of Use to admonish us That we make not any Doctrine about grace in the genious and natural consequence of it to encourage or harden to sin If the grace of God which hath appeared to teach thee to deny all ungodly lusts make thee love them the more If because you are under grace sin hath therefore dominion over you If there be goodness with the Lord and therefore you do not fear him then know all things work contrary to their nature and Scripture-directions All Gospel-grace is a cleansing purifying refining property it is fire to get out the dross it is water to wash away the filth it is oyl to mollifie the wounds of the soul it is wine to make the heart glad and rejoyce in God Do not while you promise your selves a liberty by grace therein become servants of corruption more especially let the children of God who have had sweet experience of the Covenant of Grace upon their souls take heed of fals and relapses If the Prodigal son after that reconciliation made with his father after all that glory and love vouchsafed to him had again wandered into far Countries prodigally consumed all his estate living with swine upon husks How unpardonable and unworthy would this fact have been No less guilty wilt thou be who hast had the ring put on thee who hast fed on the fatted Calf if after this thou provoke God by gross transgressions Some have disputed Whether it be possible for a godly man to be secure in sinning and more willing to offend because of Gods gracious Covenant which will infallibly rescue him out of that sin But what sin is not possible except that against the holy Ghost even to a regenerate man Take heed then lest thou love the Gospel because it hath alwaies glad tidings and thou canst not abide the precepts or threatnings because they speak hard things to thee There may be a carnal Gospeller as well as a Popish Legalist LECTURE XXIX ACTS 3.19 Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out THe Apostle Peter in this exhortatory discourse of his to the Jews deals like a wise Physitian First Discovering the danger of the disease Secondly Applying an effectual remedy The disease is that hainous sin the Jews were guilty of in killing of Christ the Prince of life Which sin is aggravated by a threefold antithesis 1. They delivered up and denied Christ in the presence of Pilate when he would have acquitted him 2. They denied him though he was an holy and just One 3. They desired a murtherer to be released rather then him This is their sin In the next place you have the remedy prescribed in two words Repent and be converted Repent that denotes a change in the heart and to be converted an alteration in the outward conversation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Howsoever it be generally received that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth only true and godly sorrow and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that imperfect and unsound grief which is upon hypocrites yet this is not universally true for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is applied to true repentance Mat. 21.19 32. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to an outward repentance meeerly Mat. 11.21 The other word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is to be understood reciprocally Turn your selves or be turned This exhortation doth not suppose free-will in us it only denoteth our duty not our ability Neither is Grotius his assertion better then Semipelagianisme when he compareth the will of a man to the mother and grace to the father so that as children are named after the father and not the mother thus good actions are denominated from grace not free-will for in our conversion free-will is neither a totall or partiall cause preoperant or cooperant but the passive subject recipient of that Vim gratiae vorticordiam as Austin called it the heart-changing power of grace This duty of repentance is urged from the profitable consequent Piscator cals it effectu utili the effect of conversion which is that your sins may be blotted out It is not an inference of causality but of consequence Blotting out is as you heard from merchants that expunge their debts or the Scribe that raceth out those letters which ought not to be in the paper or the Painter that defaceth those lineaments which should not be in the Picture In the next place you have the time when these sins shall be blotted out that is when the times of refreshing shall come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used Exod. 8.15 Some do not understand this nor that expression The times of restitution of all things vers 21. of the day of judgement but of that preservation the elect should have when the destruction of Jerusalem should be Hence it is that they expound the day of the Lord so much spoken of in Peter and other places which is said to be coming upon the beleevers of that time when God came to destroy Jerusalem but there is no cogent reason to go from the received interpretation which maketh the day of judgement to be the times of refreshing to the godly for so indeed it is because then they are eased from all those troubles and oppressions they lay under in