that are his mystically considered and is properly made with all Believers in Christ and therefore it is called their Covenant Zech. 9. 11. As for thee also by the blood of thy Covenant I have sent forth thy Prisoners out of the Pit wherein is no water So when God entred into the Covenant of Grace with Abraham Gen. 17. 7. I will establish my Covenant saith he between me and thee thy Seed after thee So when he took the People of Israel into this Covenant Ezek. 16. 8. I sware unto thee saith he and entred into a Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine This Covenant of Grace made with Believers in Christ is not the same nor must it be confounded with the Covenant of Redemption made with Christ before the World began They are two distinct Covenants for in the Covenant of Grace into which Believers are taken there is a Mediator and this Mediator is Christ himself but in the other Covenant of Redemption there neither was nor could be any Mediator which manifestly distinguishes them Besides In the Covenant of Grace Christ bequeaths manifold and rich Legacies as he is the Testator but no man gives a Legacy to himself This Covenant is really and properly made with every Believer as he is a Member of Jesus Christ the Head and they are truly and properly federates with God the Covenant binds them to their Duties and encourages them therein by promises of strength to be deriv'd from Christ to enable them thereunto 2. We thankfully acknowledge That the glory of the New Covenant is chiefly discovered in the Promises thereof upon the best Promises it is established And all the Promises are reducible to the Covenant They meet and center in it as the Rivers in the Sea or Beams in the Sun But yet we cannot say that nothing but Promises is contain'd in this Covenant for there are Duties required by it as well as Mercies promised in it Nor may we say That those Duties required by it are required only to be performed by Christ and not by us but they are required to be performed by us in his strength Nor is it Christ that repents and believes for us but we our selves are to believe and repent in the strength of his Grace And till we do so actually in our own persons we have no part or portion in the Blessings and Mercies of this Covenant If Christ by believing for us give us an actual Right and Title to the Promises and Blessings of the New Covenant then it will unavoidably follow 1. That men who never repented for one sin in all their lives may be nay certainly are pardoned as much as the greatest Penitents in the World because though they never repented themselves yet Christ repented for them expresly contrary to his own words Luke 13. 3. Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish And contrary to his own established Order Luke 29. 47. Acts 3. 19. 2. It will also follow That Unbelievers who never had union with Christ by one vital act of Faith in all their lives may be nay certainly shall be saved as well as those that are actual Believers because though they be Unbelievers in themselves yet Christ believed for them expresly contrary to Mark 16. 16. He that believeth not shall be damned John 3. 36. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him And Luke 12. 46. He will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with unbelievers 3. It will also follow from hence That men may continue in a state of disobedience all their days and yet may be sav'd as well as the most obedient Souls in the World expresly contrary to Eph. 5. 6. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience And Rom. 2. 8. But unto them that are contentioâ—s and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath And 1 Pet. 4. 17. What shall the end of them be that obey not the Gospel of God! This Language sounds strange and harsh to the Ears of Christians a repenting Christ saving the impenitent Sinner A believing Christ saving Unbelievers An obeying Christ saving obstinate and disobedient Wretches Whither doth such Doctrine tend but to encourage and fix men in their impenitence unbelief and disobedience But the Lord grant no poor Sinner in the World may trust to this or build his hopes of Eternal Life upon such a loose sandy foundation as this is Reader All that Christ hath done without thee will not cannot be effectual to thy Salvation unless Repentance Faith and Obedience be wrought by the Spirit in thy Soul 'T is Christ in thee that is the hope of glory Col. 1. 27. Beware therefore on what ground thou buildest for Eternity Error X. They deny Sanctification to be the evidence of Iustification and deridingly tell us This is to light a Candle to the Sun and the darker our Sanctification is the brighter our Iustification is Refutation I am not at all surprized at this strange and absonous Language 'T is a false and dangerous Conclusion yet such as naturally results from and by a kind of necessity follows out of their other Errors For if the Elect be all justified from Eternity and that neither Repentance Faith or Obedience be required of us in the Covenant of Grace but were all required of and performed by Christ who repented believed and obeyed for us then indeed I cannot understand what relation our Sanctification hath to our Justification or how it should be an evidence mark or sign thereof or what regard is due from Christians to any Grace or Work of the Spirit wrought in them to clear up their Interest in Christ to them For we being in Christ and in state of Justification before we were naturally born we must necessarily be so before we be regenerated or new-born and consequently no work of Grace wrought in us or holy Duties performed by us can be evidential of that which from Eternity was done before them and without them 1. I grant indeed That many vain Professors do cheat and deceive themselves by false unscriptural signs and evidences as well as by true ones misapplied 2. I grant also That by reason of the deceitfulness of the Heart instability of the Thoughts similar works of common Grace in Hypocrites Distractions of the World Wiles of Satan weakness of Grace and prevalency of Corruptions the clearing up of our Justification by our Sanctification is a work that meets with great and manifold Difficulties which are the things that most Christians complain of 3. I also grant That the evidence of our Sanctification in this or any other method is not essential and absolutely necessary to the being of a Christian. A man may live in Christ and yet not know his interest in him or relation to him Isa. 50. 10. Some Christians like Children in the Cradle
faith consider'd and answer'd 206. Dr. Edw. Reynolds's Opinion about the Law 207 213. The Position about Abraham's Covenant being a Covenant of Grace defended 213. The first Argument for the proof of it 214. Mr. C's Reply answer'd 215. His distinction of A Covenant of Works and The Covenant of Works overthrown 217 218. The second Argument for the proof of it 220. Mr. C's Reply answer'd 221. Third Argument 222. Mr. C's Reply answer'd 223. The Covenants not made with Abraham in Gen. 17. 225 228. Circumcision did not oblige all men on whom it passed to keep the whole Law of Moses for Righteousness 230. Fourth Argument 231. Circumcision in its direct end taught them the corruption of Nature by sin and the mortification of sin by the Spirit 231. Mr. C's Reply answer'd 232. His Arguments to prove the Sinai Covenant a Covenant of Works likewise answered 233. Cutting off in Gen. 17. 14. not the same with the death threatned to Adam ibid. How faith reckon'd to Abraham for Righteousness while he was in Vncircumcision 234. How the Sinai Covenant is a Bondage Covenant 236. Dr. Crisp's Iudgment 237. Of the Conditionality of the New Covenant 242. The Question stated 243. What the word Condition signifies 245. Antecedent and consequent Conditions 246. No condition of the Covenant with respect to its first sanction with Christ 247. but hath an antecedent Condition with respect to the application of its benefits unto men 248. Which is Faith as organically consider'd 249. The Opinions of Orthodox Divines in this Question cited 250. That the Covenant is Conditional proved from M. C's own Concessions 256. Christ hath not perform'd the Condition for us 262. Tho he works Faith in us by his Spirit 263. A Condition does not imply merit 264. Arguments to prove the conditionality of the Covenant 266. First Argument 267. Second Argument 268. Third Argument ibid. Fourth Argument 270. Fifth Argument 272. Mr. Cary's Reply to it 273. The answer 274. The Reasons of my Faith and Practice in the Baptism of Infants 278. in several Theses Thes. 1. God hath dealt with his Church and People in the way of a Covenant and will do so to the end of the World 281. Thes. 2. After the Cessation of the first Covenant as a Covenant of Life God hath published a Second Covenant of Grace by Iesus Christ 283. When the Covenant of Grace took place 284. Thes. 3. Tho the primordial Light of this Covenant of Grace was comparatively weak and obscure yet God from the first publication of it hath been heightning its Privileges and amplifying its Glory in the after Editions and will more and more illustrate it to the end of the World 287. Thes. 4. It is past all doubt that the Infant-seed of Abraham under the second Edition of the Covenant of Grace were taken into God's gracious Covenant had the Seal of that Covenant applied to them and were thereby added to the visible Church 289. Thes. 5. That Rom. 11. 17. is a clear proof that believing Parents and their Seed are ingrafted into the room of the Jews who were broken off 290 291. Thes. 6. Suitably hereunto when a Christian Church was constituted the Children of such believing Parents were declared foederally holy 1 Cor. 7. 14. That the Promise which was seal'd to them by Circumcision is now seal'd by Baptism Act. 2. 39. 292. Thes. 7. The change of the Token and Seal of the Covenant from Circumcision to Baptism will by no means infer the change of the Covenants especially when the latter comes into the place of and serves to the same use and end with the former Col. 2. 11. p. 295. A Postscript to Mr. Cary 297. Some absurdities chargeable upon him 300. The Contents of the Second Appendix Or The Rise and Growth of Antinomianism THe rise of Antinomianism Ap. 2. 308. The Abuse of Free-grace chargable upon good as well as wicked Men 311. By what means some good Men may be drawn to such dangerous Opinions 313 314 315 316. A Catalogue of Ten Antinomian errors 318. which are all contrary to the current of the Scriptures 323. and to the experience of Saints 325. Error 1. That Iustification is an eternal Act of God and so perfectly abolishes Sin in our Persons that we are as clear from Sin as Christ himself 328. Sense of the Orthodox about it 328 329. This proved to be irrational 332. Vnscriptural 335. Injurious to Iesus Christ 338. and injurious to the Souls of Men 340. Error 2. That Iustification by Faith is only the manifestation to us of what was really and actually done before Reasons against it 341 ad 350. Error 3. That Men ought not to doubt of their Faith or question whether they believe or no. Reasons against it 351 ad 354. Error 4. That Believers are not bound to confess their Sins or pray for the Pardon of them From whence will follow either 1. That there is no Sin in Believers 355. Or 2. That Sin in them is inconsiderable 357. Or 3. That it is not the Will of God they should confess and mourn over them which is refuted 358 Error 5. That God sees no Sin in Believers 360. This proved to be injurious to God's Omniscience 361. To be inconsistent with his providential Dispensations 362. To have no foundation in Scripture 363. To clash with their other Principles 365. Error 6. That God is not angry with the Elect for their Sins 365. How the Antinomians led into this Error 366. Three Concessions about God's Corrections of his People 368. God lays his Corrections on his People 369. And for their Sins 371. These Corrections consistent with his satisfi'd Iustice 373 Error 7. That by God's laying our Iniquities upon Christ he became as sinful as we and we as compleatly righteous as he That not only the Punishment of Sin but the Sin it self was laid upon Christ 375 376. Four Concessions 377 378. Sin simply considered did not become the Sin of Christ 379. We are not as compleatly Righteous as Christ 384. Error 8. Neither Believers own Sins nor the Sins of others can do them hurt Nor must they do any Duty for their own Good Salvation or eternal Reward 389. That Believers sins do them no hurt refuted ibid. Sin consider'd formally 392. Effectively 392. Reductively 393. That Believers ought to do no Duty for their own good or with an Eye to their reward refuted 395. Self-ends either Corrupt or Spiritual 397. This Error injurious to the Souls of Men ibid. Error 9. The new Covenant is not made with us but Christ for us The Covenant is wholly a promise without any Condition on our parts That Faith Repentance Obedience are Conditions on Christ's part and that he performs them for us 398. Refuted 399. The Covenant of Redemption and of Grace distinguished ibid. Christ did not believe and repent for us 401. Error 10. They deny Sanctification to be the evidence of Iustification 404. Refuted ibid. The Contents of the Sermon about
make one assault How many wavering Professors at this day lie in Temptation's way and how great a harvest have Errorists and Hereticks had among them There 's not a Mountebank comes upon the Stage but he shall find ten times more Customers for his Druggs than the most Learned and Experienced Physician The giddy-headed Multitude have more regard to Novelty than Truth The Remedies How necessary and desirable are some effectual Rules and Remedies in this Case O what a mercy would it be to the Professors of these days to have their Minds fixed and their Judgments setled in the Truths of Christ Happy is that man whose Judgment is so guarded that no dangerous Error or Heresie can commit a Rape upon it To this end I shall here commend the four following Rules to prevent this vertigenous malady in the heads of Christians Rule I. Look warily to it that you get a real inward implantation into Christ and lay the foundation deep and firm in a due and serious deliberation of Religion whenever you engage in the publick profession of it To this sense sound the Apostle's words Col. 2. 6 7. As you have therefore received Christ Iesus the Lord so walk ye in him rooted and built up in him and stablished in the faith as you have been taught Fertility and stability in Christ a pair of inestimable Blessings depend upon a good rooting of the Soul in him at first He that thrusts a dead stick into the ground may easily pull it up again but so he cannot do by a well-rooted Tree A colour raised by violent action or a great fire soon dies away but that which is natural or constitutional will hold Every thing is as its foundation is 'T was want of a good root and due depth of earth which soon turned the green Corn into dry stubble Matt. 13. 21. Rule II. Labour after an inward experimental taste of all those Truths which you profess This will preserve your minds from wavering and hesitation about the certainty and reality of them We will not easily part with those Truths which have sensibly shed down their sweet influences upon our hearts Heb. 10. 34. No Sophister can easily perswade a man that hath taâ—ted the sweetness of Honey that it is a bitter and unpleasant thing Non est disputandum de gustu you cannot easily perswade a man out of his Senses Rule III. Study hard and pray earnestly for satisfaction in the present Truths 2 Pet. 1. 12. That you may be established 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the truth that now is under opposition and controversie Be not ignorant of the Truths that lie in present hazard Antiquated Opinions that are more abstracted from our present Interest are no tryals of the soundness of our Judgments and integrity of our Hearts as the controversies and conflicts of the present Times are Every Truth hath its time to come upon the stage and enter the lists some in one Age and some in another but Providence seems to have cast the lot of your Nativity for the honour and defence of those Truths with which Error is struggling and conflicting in your time Rule IV. Lastly Be throughly sensible of the benefit and good of establishment and of the evil and danger of a wavering Mind and Judgment Be not carried about with divers and strange Doctrines saith the Apostle for it is a good thing that the heart be established c. Heb. 13. 9. Established Souls are the honour of Truth It was the honour of Religion in the primitive days that when the Heathens would proverbially express an Impossibility they used to say You may as soon turn a Christian from Christ as do it The Fickleness of Professors is a stumbling-block to the World They 'l say as Cato of the Civil Wars betwixt Caesar and Pompey quem fugiam video quem sequar non video they know whom to avoid but not whom to follow And as the honour of Truth so the flourishing of your own Souls depends on it A Tree often removed from one Soil to another can never be expected to be fruitful 't is well if it make a shift to live Fifth Cause Another inward Cause disposing men to receive Erroneous Impressions is an unreasonable EAGERNESS to snatch at any Doctrine or Opinion that promisesh ease to an anxious Conscience Men that are under the frights and terrours of Conscience are willing to listen to any thing that offers present relief Of all the Troubles in the World those of the Mind and Conscience are most intolerable And those that are in pain are glad of ease and readily catch at any thing that seems to offer it This seems to be the thing which led those poor distressed Wretches intimated Micah 6. 6. into their gross Mistakes and Errors about the method of the remission of their Sins Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and â—ow my self before the high God shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings with Calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousand of Rams or with ten thousand of Rivers of Oyl Shall I give my First-born for my Transgression the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul They were ready to purchase inward peace and buy out their pardon at any rate Nothing but the twinges of Conscience could have extorted these things from them Great is the efficacy and torment of a guilty Conscience Satan who feels more of this in himself than any other Creature in the World and knows how ready poor ignorant but distressed Sinners are to catch at any thing that looks like ease or comfort and being jealous what these troubles of Conscience may issue into prepares for them such Erroneous Doctrines and Opinions under the names of Anodines and quieting Recipe's by swallowing of which they feel some present ease but their Disease is thereby made so much the more incurable 'T is upon this account he hath found such vent in the World for his Penanees Pilgrimages and Indulgences among the Papists But seeing this Ware will not go off among the Reformed and more enlightned Professors of Christianity he changeth his hand and fitteth other Doses under other names to quiet sick and distressed Souls before ever their frights of Conscience come to settle into true Repentance and Faith in the Blood of Christ by dressing up and presenting to them such Opinions as these viz. That they may boldly apply to themselves all the Promises of pardon and peace without any respect at all to Repentance or Faith in themselves that it is not at all needful nay that it is illegal and sinful to have any respect to these things forasmuch as their Sins were pardoned and they justified from Eternity and that the Covenant of Grace is in all respects absolute and is made to Sinners as Sinners without any regard to their Faith or Repentance and whatever Sins there be in them God sees them not To such a Charm of Troubles
Whether any Condition required by it on our part have any thing in its own nature meritorious of the Benefits promised nor 4. Whether we be able in our own strength and by the power of our Free-will without the preventing as well as the assisting Grace of God to perform any such work or duty as we call a Condition These things I told you were to be excluded out of this Controversy But the only Question betwixt us is Whether in the New Covenant some act of ours though it have no merit in it nor can be done in our own single strength be not required to be performed by us antecedently to a blessing or privilege consequent by vertue of a promise And whether such an act or duty being of a suspending nature to the blessing promised it have not the true and proper nature of a Gospel-condition In your Reply contrary to all rule and reason you include and chiefly argue against the very Particulars by me there excluded and scarcely if at all touch the true Question as it was stated and by you ought accordingly to have been considered I might therefore justly think my self discharged from any further concernment with you about it for if you will include what I plainly excluded you argue not against mine but another man's Position which I am not concerned to defend You here dispute against meritorious Conditions which I explode and abhor as much as your self You say p. 34. of your Reply that a Condition plainly implies something of merit by way of condignity or congruity which is false and turns the Question from me to the Papists And were it not more for the clearing up of so great a Point for the instruction and satisfaction of others than any hope you give me of convincing you I should not have touched this Question again unless I had found your Replies more distinct and pertinent But finding the Point in controversy of great weight I will once more tell you 1. What the word Condition signifies 2. In what sense it is by us used in this Controversy 3. Establish my Arguments for the conditionality of the New Covenant 1. And first we grant That neither our word Condition nor your term Absolute are either of them found in Scripture with respect to God's covenanting with Man so that we contend not about the signification of a Scripture term But though the word Conditional be not there yet the thing being found there That brings the word Conditional into use in this Controversy For we know not how to express those â— sacred Particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If If not Vnless But if Except Only and the like which are frequently used to limit and restrain the Grants and Privileges of the New Covenant Rom. 10. 9. Matt. 18. 3. Mark 5. 36. Mark 11. 26. Rom. 4. 24. I say we know not how to express the true sense and force of these Particles in this Controversy by any other word so fit and full as the word Conditional is Now this word Condition being a Law-term is variously used among Iurists and the various use of the word occasions that confusion which is found in this Controversy He therefore that shall clearly distinguish the various senses and uses of the word is most likely to labour with success in this Controversy I shall therefore briefly note the principal senses and uses of the term and shew in what sense we here take it Of Conditions there be two sorts Conditions 1. Antecedent 2. Consequent As to the latter namely consequent Conditions you your self acknowledge p. 100. That in the outward dispensation of the Covenant many things are required of us in order unto the participation or enjoyment of the full end of the Covenant in glory So then the Covenant is acknowledged to be consequently conditional which is no more than to say with the Apostle Without holiness no man shall see God or that if any man drawâ— back his soul shall have no pleasure in him c. Our Controversy therefore is not about consequent Conditions laid by God upon Believers after they are in Christ and the Covenant the Covenant so considered à posteriori will not be denied to be Condiâ—tional The only Question is about Antecedent Conditions and of these we are here to consider 1. Such as respect the first Sanction of the Covenant in Christ. 2. Such as respect the application of the benefits of the Covenant unto Men As to the first Sanction of the Covenant in Christ we freely acknowledg â—t hath no previous Condition on Manâ—s part but depends purely and only upon the Grace of God and Merit of Christ. So that our Question proceeds about such antecedent Conditions only as respect the Application of the Benefits of the Covenant unto Men. And of these Antecedent Conditions there are likewise two sorts which must be carefully distinguished 1. Such Antecedent Conditions which have the force of a meritorious and impulsive Cause which being performed by the proper strength of Nature or at most by the help of common assisting Grace do give a Man a right to the reward or blessings of the Covenant And in this sense we utterly disclaim antecedent Conditions as I plainly told you p. 61. of my Vindiciae c. Or 2. An Antecedent Condition signifying no more than an Act of ours which though it be neither perfect in every degree nor in the least meritorious of the benefit conferred nor performed in our own natural strength yet according to the constitution of the Covenant is required of us in order to the blessings consequent thereupon by vertue of the Promise and consequently the benefits and mercies granted in the Promise in this order are and must be suspended by the Donor or Disposer of them until it be performed Such a Condition we affirm Faith to be But here again Faith 〈…〉 the Condition of the New Covenant is considered 1. Essentially Or 2. Organically and Instrumentally In the first consideration of Faith according to its Essence it is contained under Obedience and in that respect we exclude it from justifying our persons or entitling us to the saving-mercies of the New Covenant as it is a work of ours and so I excluded it p. 133. of my Method of Grace which you ignorantly or wilfully mistake when in your Reply p. 88 89. you object it against me Faith considered in this sense is not the Condition of the Covenant nor can pretend to be so more than any other Grace But We consider it Organically Relatively and as most speak Instrumentally as it receives Christ Ioh. 1. 12. and so gives us power to become the Sons of God it being impossible for any Man to partake of the saving benefits of the Covenant but as he is united to Christ. For all the Promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. And united to Christ no Man can be before he be a believer for Christ
dwelleth in our hearts by Faith Eph. 3. 17. Upon which Scriptural Grounds and Reasons it is that we affirm Faith to be an Antecedent Condition or Causa sine quâ non to the saving benefits of the new Covenant and that it must go before them at least in order of nature which is that we mean when we say Faith is the antecedent Condition of the New Covenant And those that deny it to be so as the Antinomians do who talk of actual and personal Justification from Eternity or at least from the death of Christ must consequently assert the actual Justification of Infidels and not only disturb but destroy the whole order of the Gospel and open the Sluces and Flood-gates to all manner of licentiousness And thus our Pious and Learned Divines generally affirm Faith to be the condition of the Covenant So Mr. Ieremiah Burroughs Faith saith he hath the great honour above all other Graces to be the Condition of the second Covenant therefore certainly it is some great matter that Faith enables us to do Whatsoever keeps Covenant with God brings strength though it self be never so weak as Sampson â—s Hair What is weaker than a little Hair Yet because the keeping that was keeping Covenant with God therefore even a little Hair was so great strength to Sampson Faith then that is the Condition of the Covenant in which all Grace and Mercy is contained if it be kept it will cause strength indeed to do great things And as this excellent Man Mr. Burroughs is in this sense for the Conditionality of the New Covenant so are the most Learned and Eminent of our own Divines Dr. Edward Reynold's assigning the differences betwixt the two Covenants gives this for one They differ in the Condition saith he there Legal Obedience here only Faith and the certain consequent thereof Repentance There is difference likewise in he manner of performing these Conditions For now God himself begins first to work upon us and in us before we move or stir towards him He doth not only command us and leave us to our created strength to obey the Command but he furnisheth us with his own Grace and Spirit to obey the Command Of the same judgment is Dr. Owen Are we able saith he of our selves to fulfil the Condition of the New Covenant Is it not as easie for a Man by his own strength to fulfil the whole Law as to repent and believe the Promise of the Gospel This then is one main difference of these two Covenants That the Lord did in the Old only require the Condition now in the New he also effects it in all the foederates to whom the Covenant is extended This is the Man you pretend to be against Conditions Mr. William Pemble opening the nature of the two Covenants saith The Law offers Life unto Man upon condition of perfect Obedience the Gospel offers Life unto Man upon another condition to wit of Repentance and Faith in Christ. And after his proofs for it saith From whence we conclude firmly That the difference between the Law and the Gospel assigned by our Divines is most certain and agreeable to the Scriptures viz. That the Law gives Life unto the just upon condition of perfect obedience in all things the Gospel gives Life unto sinners upon condition they repent and believe in Christ Jesus Learned and judicious Mr. William Perkins thus The Covenant of Grace is that whereby God freely promising Christ and his Benefits exacts again of Man that he would by Faith receive Christ. And again in the Covenant of Grace two things must be considered the Substance thereof and the Condition The Substance of the Covenant is That Righteousness and Life Everlasting is given to God's Church and People by Christ. The Condition is That we for our parts are by Faith to receive the foresaid Benefits and this Condition is by Grace as well as the Substance That Learned Humble and Painful Minister of Christ Mr. Iohn Ball stating the difference betwixt the two Covenants shews that in the Covenant at Sinai in the Covenant with Abraham and that with David that in all these Covenant expressures there are for substance the same Evangelical conditions of Faith and Sincerity Dr. Davenant thus In the Covenant of the Gospel it is otherwise for in this Covenant to the obtainment of Reconciliation Justification and Liâ—e Eternal there is no other condition required than of true and lively Faith Iohn 3. 16. Therefore Justification and the right to Eternal Life doth depend on the Condition of Faith alone Dr. Downame harmonizeth with the rest in these words That which is the only Condition of the Covenant of Grace by that alone we are justified But Faith is the Condition of the Covenant of Grace which is therefore called Lex Fidei Our Writers saith he distinguishing the two Covenants of God that is the Law and the Gospel whereof one is the Covenant of Works the other the Covenant of Grace do teach That the Law of Works is that which to Justification requireth works as the Condition thereof The Law of Faith that which to Justification requireth Faith as the Condition thereof The former saith Do this and thou shalt live the latter Believe in Christ and thou shalt be saved But what stand I upon particular though renowned names You may see a whole Constellation of our sound and famous Divines in the Assembly thus expressing themselves about this Point The Grace of God say they is manifested in the second Covenant in that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners a Mediator and Life and Salvation by him and requiring Faith as the Condition to interest them in him promiseth and giveth his Holy Spirit to all his Elect to work in them that Faith with all other saving Graces and to enable them to all holy Obedience as the evidence of the truth of their Faith c. I could even tire the Reader with the Testimonies of eminent foreign Divines as Cameron de triplici foedere Thes. 82. Vrsinus Paraeus explicatio Catech. Quest 18. de foedere Wendeline Christian Theology Lib. 1. cap. 19. Thes. 9. Poliander Rivet Wallaeus and Thysius the four learned Professors at Leyden Synops Disp. 23. Sect. 27 c. And as for those Ancient and Modern Divines whom the Antinomians have corrupted and misrepresented the Reader may see them all vindicated and their concurrence with those I have named evidenced by that Learned and Pious Mr. Iohn Graile in his Modest Vindication of the Doctrine of Conditions in the Covenant of Grace from p. 58. onward a Man whose name and memory is precious with me not only upon the account of that excellent Sermon he Preached and those fervent Prayers he poured out many years since at my Ordination but for that Learned and Judicious Treatise of his against Mr. Eyre wherein he hath cast great light upon this Controversy as excellent Mr. Baxter and
produced to prove it To my second Argument recited p. 94. where I argued from God's Covenant with Abraham and proved it to be conditional and yet by you acknowledged to be a pure Gospel-covenant all that you say is That you have dispatched that before in your Discourse about the Covenant of Circumcision and therefore will say nothing to it here In saying nothing to it here you have said as much as you did before in the place you refer to and therefore finding nothing said here or there I conclude you can say nothing to it at all My third Argument was this If all the Promises of the Gospel be absolute and unconditional then they do not properly belong to the New Covenant That cannot properly and strictly be a Covenant which is not a mutual Compact and in which there is no restipulation nor reobligation 't is a naked Promise not a Covenant To this you answer three things In the first branch of your Answer you impudently beg the Question by saying That you have proved already in your Replies to my former Arguments that the New Covenant is wholly free and absolute Upon this absurd Petitio Principii you make bold to invert my Argument thus in your second Reply If all the Promises of the Gospel be wholly absolute and unconditional they do properly and truly belong to the New Covenant But so they are Therefore c. Oh rare Disputant In the last place in opposition to the Sequel of my Major Proposition you tell me you will oppose the Judgment of Dr. Owen on Heb. 8. 10. where he saith That a Covenant properly is a Compact or Agreement on certain terms stipulated by two or more Parties c. and that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there used it signifies a Covenant improperly c. If you call this an opposition to the Sequel of my Major either your Brains or mine do want Hellebore Doth he not say the very same thing I do that there must be a restipulation in â— proper Covenant And as for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he saith signifieth a Covenant improperly but propâ—rly is a Testamentary Disposition I fully concur with him therein But I hope a Testamentary Disposition may have a Condition in it to be sure such a one as I assert Faith here to be which is the free gift of God and in this sense I shewed you before where the Doctor yields Faith to be the Condition of the New Covenant My fourth Argument was this If all the Promises of the New Covenant be absolute and unconditional and have no respect nor relation to any grace wrought in us or duty done by us then the trial of our Interest in Christ by marks and signs of Grace is not our duty nor can we take comfort in Sanctification as it is an evidence of our Justification c. Your Answer is That at this rate I may prove quidlibet à quolibet for it doth not follow that because the New Covenant is absolute therefore it hath no respect nor relation to any Grace wrought in us nor Duty done by us or that we may not justly take comfort in Sanctification as an evidence of our Justification If I had a mind to learn the art of proving quidlibet à quolibet and make my self ridiculous to others by such foolish attempts I know no Book in the World fitter to instruct me therein than yours Certainly you have the knack of it and gave us an instance of it but now in confuting the Sequel of my Major by an Aldegation out of Dr. Owen which expresly confirms and establishes it But to the Point I would willingly know how it is possible for Sanctification to be a true and certain mark and sign of Justification when according to the Antinomian Principle which you here too much comprobate and espouse a man may be justified before he believe yea before he is a man even from the time of Christ's death and as others of them speak from eternity A true mark and sign must be proper to and inseparable from that which it signifies Now if that be true which you said before That after Christ's fulfilling of the Law in his own person c. nothing can remain but to declare this to men to incline them to believe and accept it and to prescribe in what way they shall come to inherit eternal life If this be all that can remain to us then nothing but the Declarations and Prescriptions of the Gospel which are things without us can remain to be marks and signs of Justification to us and consequently all those to whom those Declarations and Prescriptions are made and given have therein the marks and evidences of their Justification But I am truly weary of such stuff I am sure the Apostle places Vocation before Iustification Rom. 8. 30. Whom he called them he justified And without an immediate Testimony from Heaven I know not how to evidence and prove my Justification but from and by my faith and other parts of Sanctification whereby I apprehended and applied the Righteousness of Christ if you can prove it from the Declarations and Prescriptions of the Gospel I cannot My Fifth and last Argument ran thus If the Covenant of Grace be altogether absolute and unconditional requiring nothing to be done on our part to entitle us to its benefits then it cannot be man's duty in entring Covenant with God to deliberate the terms count the cost or give his consent by word or writing to the terms of this Covenant for where there are no terms at all as in absolute Promises there are none there can be none to deliberate But I shewed you this is man's duty from clear and undeniable Scriptures c. You say by way of answer hereunto that you must tell me that the Scriptures do make a plain distinction betwixt the New and Everlasting Covenant which God hath been pleased to make with Sinners in Jesus Christ and the return of that sincere and dutiful obedience which he requires of us by way of answer thereunto 2. You say there are many things which tho promised in the Covenant and wrought in us by the Grace of God are yet duties indispensably required of us in order to the participation of the full end of the Covenant in glory and in respect hereof we are indeed to deliberate the terms count the cost and give up our selves solemnly to him with sincere resolutions c. But then you thought I had understood there had been a vast difference betwixt God's Covenant with us and our Covenant with God citing Ezek. 16. 59 60 61. where God promiseth to give them their Sisters for Daughters but not by their Covenant And with this you compare Psal. 89. My Covenant will I not break where you say we find a plain distinction betwixt God's Covenant with them and their duty to God And lastly you say p. 105.
and so great evils in them as makes them admire at his patience that they are not consumed in their Iniquities They find cause enough to suspect their own sincerity doubt the truth of their Faith and of their Graces and are therefore frequent and serious in the trial and examination of their own states by Scripture-marks and signs They urge the Commands and Threatnings as well as the Promises upon their own hearts to promote Sanctification Excite themselves to duty and watchfulness against Sin They also encourage themselves by the rewards of obedience knowing their labour is not in vain in the Lord. And all this while they look not for that in themselves which is only to be found in Christ nor for that in the Law which is only to be found in the Gospel nor for that on Earth which is only to be found in Heaven This is the way that they take And he that shall tell them their Sins can do them no hurt or their Duties do them no good speaks to them not only as a Barbarian in a Language they understand not but in such a Language as their Souls detest and abhor Moreover The zeal and love of Christ and his Glory being kindled in their Souls they have not patience to hear such Doctrines as so greatly derogate from his Glory under a pretence of honouring and exalting him It wounds and grieves their very hearts to see the World hardned in their prejudices against Reformation and a gap opened to all licentiousness But notwithstanding this double Antidote and Security we find by daily experience such Doctrines too much obtaining in the professing World For my own part He that searches my Heart and Reins is witness I would rather chuse to have my right hand wither and my tongue rot within my mouth than to speak one word or write one line to cloud or diminish the Free-grace of God Let it arise and shine in its Meridian Glory None owes more to it or expects more from it than I do And what I shall write in this Controversy is to vindicate it from those Doctrines and Opinions which under pretence of exalting it do really militate against it To begin therefore with the first and leading Error Error I. That the Iustification of Sinners is an immanent and eternal act of God not only preceding all acts of sin but the very existence of the sinner himself and so perfectly abolishing sin in our persons that we are as clean from sin as Christ himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some of them have spoken To stop the progress of this Error I shall 1. Lay down the Sentence of the Orthodox about it 2. Offer some Reasons for the refutation of it 1. That which I take to be the truth agreed upon and asserted by sound reformed Divines touching Gospel-Justification is by them made clear to the World in these following Scriptural distinctions of it Justification may be considered under a twofold respect or habitude 1. According to God's Eternal Decree Or 2. According to the execution thereof in time 1. According to God's Eternal Decree and Purpose and in this respect Grace is said to be given us in Christ before the World began 2 Tim. 1. 9. And we are said to be predestinated to the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ Eph. 1. 5. 2. According to the execution thereof in time So they again distinguish it by considering it two ways 1. In its Impetration by Christ. 2. In its Application to us That very mercy or privilege of Justification which God from all Eternity purely out of his benevolent Love purposed and decreed for his Elect was also in time purchased for them by the death of Christ Rom. 5. 9 10. where we are said to be justified by his Blood and he is said to have made peace through the Blood of his Cross to reconcile all things to himself Col. 1. 20. to be delivered for our Offences and raised again for our Justification Rom. 4. 25. Once more That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses 2 Cor. 5. 19. God the Father had in the death of Christ a foundation of reconciliation whereby he became propitious to his Elect that he might absolve and justify them Again 2. It must be considered in its application to us which application is made in this Life at the time of our effectual Calling When an elect Sinner is united to Christ by Faith and so passeth from Death to Life from a state of Condemnation into a state of Absolution and Favour this is our actual Justification Rom. 5. 1. Acts 13. 39. Iohn 5. 24. which actual Justification is again considered two ways 1. Universally and in General as to the State of the Person 2. Specially and Particularly as to the Acts of Sin As soon as we are received into Communion with Christ and his Righteousness is imputed by God and received by Faith immediately we pass from a state of Death and Condemnation to a state of Life and Justification and all Sins already committed are remitted without Exception or Revocation and not only so but a Remedy is given us in the Righteousness of Christ against Sins to come and tho these special and particular Sins we afterward fall into do need particular Pardons yet by renewed Acts of Faith and Repentance the Believer applies to himself the Righteousness of Christ and they are pardoned Again they carefully distinguish betwixt 1. It 's Application by God to our Persons And 2. It 's Declaration or Manifestation in us and to us Which Manifestation or Declaration is either 1. Private in the Conscience of a Believer Or 2. Publick at the Bar of Judgment And thus Justification is many ways distinguished And notwithstanding all this it is still actus indivisus an undivided act not on our part for it is iterated in many acts but on God's part who at once decreed it and on Christ's part who by one Offering purchased it and at the time of our Vocation universally applied it as to the state of the Person justified and that so effectually as no future Sin shall bring that Person any more under Condemnation In this Sentence or Judgment the Generality of Reformed Orthodox Divines are agreed and the want of distinguishing as they according to Scripture have distinguished hath led the Antinomians into this first Error about Justification and that Error hath led them into most of the other Errors That this Doctrine of theirs which teaches that Men are justified actually and compleatly before they have a being is an Error and hath no solid Foundation to support it may be evidenced by these three Reasons 1. Because it is Irrational 2. Because it is Unscriptural 3. Because it is Injurious to Christ and the Souls of Men. It is Irrational to imagine that Men are actually justified before they have a Being by an immanent Act or Decree of God Many things have been urged upon this
any the least guilt in the Elect to be pardoned and consequently no place or room could be left for any Justification in time And then it must follow that seeing Christ died in time for sin according to the Scriptures It must be for his own sins that he died and not for the sins of the Elect Diametrically opposite to Rom. 4. 25. and the whole current of Scripture and faith of Christians 'T is therefore very unbecoming and unworthy of a justified person after Christ hath taken all his guilt upon himself and suffer'd all the punishment due thereunto in his place and room Instead of an humble and thankful admiration of his unparallel'd grace therein to throw more than the guilt and punishment of his sins upon Christ even the transgression it self and comparing his own Righteousness with Christ's to say he is as compleatly Righteous as Christ himself This is as if a company of Bankrupt Debtors Arrested for their own Debts ready to be cast into Prison and not having one Farthing to satisfy after their Debts have been freely and fully discharg'd by another out of his immense treasure should now compare with him yea and think they honour'd him by telling him that now they are as compleatly Rich as himself I am well assur'd no good Man would embrace an Opinion so derogatory to Christ's Honour as this is did he but see the odious consequences of it doubtless he would abhor them as much as we And as for those now in Heaven who fell into such mistakes in the way thither were they now acquainted with what is transacted here below they would exceedingly rejoyce in the detection of those mistakes and Bless God for the refutation of them Error VIII They affirm That Believers need not fear their own sins nor the sins of others for as much as neither their own or others sins can do them any hurt nor must they do any duty for their own good or salvation or for eternal rewards That we need fear no hurt from sin or may not aim at our own good in Duty are two Propositions that sound harsh in the ears of Believers I shall consider them severally and refute them as briefly as I can Proposition I. Believers need not fear their own sins or the sins of others because neither our own or others sins can do us any hurt They seem to be induced into this Error by misunderstanding the Apostle in Rom. 8. 28. as if the scope of that Text were to assert the benefits of sin to justified persons whereas he speaks there of Adversities and Afflictions befalling the Saints in this Life Vniversalis restringenda est ad materiam subjectam loquitur enim de afflictionibus piorum The subject matter saith Pareus on the place restrains the Universal expression of the Apostle For when he there saith All things shall work together for good he principally intends the afflictions of the Godly of which he treats there in that context It may be extended also to all providential events Omnia quaecunque eis accedunt forinsecus tam adversa quà m prospera All adverse and prosperous events of things without us as Estius upon the place notes Nothing is spoken of sin in this Text. And the Apostle distributing this General into Particulars verse 38. plainly shews what are the things he intended by his Universal expression verse 28. as also in what respect no creature can do the Saints any hurt namely that they shall never be able to separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. And in this respect it is true that the Sins of the Elect shall not hurt them by frustrating the purpose of God concerning their Eternal Salvation or totally and finally to separate them from his Love This we grant and yet we think it a very unwary and unsound expression That Believers need not fear their own sins because they can do them no hurt 'T is too general and unguarded a Proposition to be received for truth What if their sins cannot do them that hurt to frustrate the purpose of God and Damn them to Eternity in the World to come Can it therefore do them no hurt at all in their present state of conflict with it in this World For my part I think the greatest fear of caution is due to sin the greatest evil and that Chrysostome spake more like a Christian when he said Nil nisi peccatum timeo I fear nothing but sin Though sin cannot finally ruine the Believer yet it can many ways hurt and injure the Believer and therefore ought not to be misrepresented as such an innocent and harmless thing to them In vain are so many terrible threatnings in the Scriptures against it if it can do us no hurt and it is certain nothing can do us good but that which makes us better and more Holy But Sin can never pretend to that of all things in the World But to come to an issue Sin may be consider'd three ways 1. Formally 2. Effectively 3. Reductively First Formally as a transgression of the Preceptive part of the Law of God and under that consideration it is the most formidable evil in the whole World The evil of evils at which every gracious heart trembles and ought rather to chuse Banishment Prison and Death it self in the most terrible form than Sin or that which is most tempting in Sin the pleasures of it as Moses did Heb. 11. 25. Secondly Sin may be consider'd Effectively with respect to the manifold mischiefs and calamities it produceth in the World and the Spiritual and Corporeal Evils it infers upon Believers themselves Though it cannot Damn their Souls yet it makes War against their Souls and brings them into miserable Bondage and Captivity Rom. 7. 23. It wounds their Souls under which wounds they are feeble and sore broken yea they roar by reason of the disquietness of their hearts Psal. 38. 5 8. Is War Captivity Festering painful Wounds causing them to roar no hurt to Believers It breaks their very Bones Ps. 51. 8. And is that no hurt It draws off their Minds from God interrupts their Prayers and Meditations Rom. 7. 18 19 20 21. And is there no hurt in that It causeth their Graces to decline wither and languish to that degree that the things which are in them are ready to die Rev. 3. 1. and Rev. 2. 4. And is the loss of Grace and Spiritual strength no hurt to a Believer It hides the Face of God from them Isa. 59. 2. And is there no hurt in spiritual withdrawments of God from their Souls Why then do deserted Saints so bitterly lament and bemoan it It provokes innumerable afflictions and miseries which fall upon our Bodies Relations Estates and if Sin be the cause of all these inward and outward miseries to the People of God sure then there is some hurt in Sin for which the Saints ought to be afraid of it Thirdly Sin may be consider'd Reductively
and Adam had not sinned in that noble Virgin-faculty To defend this Idol which is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are forced to oppugn and deny several other great and weighty Truths as particular eternal Election the certainty of the Saints Perseverance the necessity of preventing Grace in Conversion which Errors are but the outworks raised in defence of that Idol So in the Baptismal Controversie men would never have adventured to deny God's Covenant with Abraham to be a Covenant of Grace or to assert the Ceremonial Law so full of Christ to be an Adam's Covenant of works and Circumcision expresly called the seal of the Righteousness of Faith to be the condition of Adam's Covenant Much less would they place all the elect of God in Israel at one and the same time under the severest Curse and Rigor of the Law and under the pure Convenant of Grace were they not forced into these Errors and Absurdities by dint of Argument in defence of their darling Opinion Fourteenth Observation Errors abound most and spring fastest in the times of the Churches Peace Liberty and outward Prosperity under Indulgent Rulers Arrianism sprang up under Constantine's mild Government Christian benevolent Rulers are choice Mercies and Blessings to the Church Such as rule over men in the fear of God are to the Church as well as Civil State like the light of the morning when the Sun ariseth even a morning without Clouds as the tender Grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain 2 Sam. 23. 4. But this as well as other mercies is liable to abuse and under the influences of indulgent Governours Error as well as Truth springs up flowers and seeds Persecution gives check to the wantonness of mens Opinions and finds them other and better work to do Caterpillars and Locusts are swept away by the bitter East-winds but swarm in Halcyon days and fall upon every green thing So that the Church rides in this respect more safely in the stormy Sea than in the calm Harbour Peace and Prosperity is apt to cast its Watchmen into a sleep and whilst they sleep the envious one soweth Tares Matth. 13. 25. 'T was under Constantine's benign Government that Poison was poured out into the Churches The abuse of such an excellent mercy provokes the Lord to cut it short and cause the Clouds to gather again after the Rain We have found it so once and again alas that I must say again in this wanton and foolish Nation Professors could live quietly together Converse Fast and pray in a Christian manner together under common Calamities and Dangers differences in Opinion were suspended by consent But no sooner do we feel a warm Sun-blast of Liberty and Peace but it revives and heats our dividing Lusts and Corruptions instead of our Graces The Sheep of Christ fight with each other though their furious pushing one at another is known to presage a change of Weather Fifteenth Observation Errors in the tender bud and first spring of them are comparatively shy and modest to what they prove afterwards when they have spread and rooted themselves into the minds of multitudes and think it time to set up and justle for themselves in the World They usually begin in modest Scruples conscientious Doubts and Queries But having once gotten many Abetters and amongst them some that have subtilty and ability to plead and dispute their Cause they ruffle it out at another rate glory in their numbers piety and ability of their Party boast and glory in the conceited Victories they have atchieved over their Opposers The Masque drops off its face and it appears with a brow of Brass becomes insolent and turbulent both in Church and State Of which it is easie to give many pregnant instances in the Arians of old and more recent Errors which I shall not at present be concerned with lest I exasperate whilst I seek to heal the Wound Should a man hear the Sermons or private Discourses of Errorists whilst the Design is but forming and projecting he should meet with little to raise his jealousie They speak in Generals and guard their Discourses with politick Reserves You shall not see tho you see to see the tendency of their Discourses Hence the Apostle saith 2 per. 2. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They shall privily or covertly bring in damnable Heresies As the Boy in Plutarch being asked by a Stranger what is that you carry so closely under your Cloak wittily answered You may well know that I intend you shall not know it by my so carrying it Sixteenth Observation Nothing gives more countenance and increase to Error than a weak and feeble defence of the Truth against it The strength of Error lieth much in the weakness of the Advocates and Defendants of Truth Every Friend of Truth is not fit to make a Champion for it Many love it and pray for it that cannot defend and dispute for it I can dye for the Truth said the Martyr but I cannot dispute for it Zuinglius blamed Carolostadius for undertaking the Controversie of that Age because said he non habuit satìs humerorum his shoulders were too weak for the burthen It can be said of few as Cicero speaks of one Nullam unquà m in disputationibus rem defendit quam non probârit nullum oppugnavit quem non everterit He undertook no Cause in disputation which he could not defend he opposed no Adversary but could overthrow him He is a rare and happy Disputant who can clear and carry every point of Truth of which he undertakes the defence 'T were happy for the Church if the abilities and prudence of all her Friends were commensurate and equal to their love and Zeal Every little foyl every weak or impertinent Answer of a Friend to Truth is quickly turned into a weapon to wound in the deeper Seventeenth Observation Errors of Iudgment are not cured by compulsion and external force but by rational conviction and proper spiritual Remedies Bodily sufferings rather spread than cure intellectual Errors I deny not but fundamental Heresies breaking forth into open Blasphemies against God and Seditions in the Civil State ought to be restrained 'T is no way fit men should be permitted to go up and down the World with Plague-sores running upon them Nor do I understand why men should be more cautious to preserve their Bodies than their Souls But I speak here of such Errors as may consist with the foundations of the Christian Faith and are not destructive to Civil Government They take the ready way to spread and perpetuate them that think to root them out of the World by such improper and unwarrantable means as external force and violence The Wind never causes and Earth-quake till it be pent in and restrained from motion We neither find nor can imagine That those Church or State Exorcists should ever be able to effect their end who think to confine all the Spirits of Error within
without a Priest but the Second is a Covenant with a Priest 4. In the First Covenant there is matter of glorying but in the Second there is none Rom. 3. 27. So that these two can never consist except you can compound or reconcile these four Opposites in the justification of the same Person To the same purpose saith that Excellent Mr. Samuel Bolton If the Law were a Covenant of Works then were the Iews under a different Covenant from us and so none of them were saved which the Apostle gainsays Acts 15. 11. or else they were both under a Covenant of Works and a Covenant of Grace But that they could not be they are utterly inconsistent Ergo. And thus all sound Divines speak I may therefore say of Mr. Cary's Position as Ruveus before me did omnem absurditatem excedere videtur it seemeth to exceed all Absurdities A man may more rationally suppose two Natures and essential Forms in one Body and place the same thing under divers Species in the predicament of substance yea 't were more tolerable to affirm That ex duobus entibus per se fit unum ens per se than to place any as Mr. C. places all of God's People under two opposite Covenants If Mr. C. were absolutely under the condemnation of the Law would he not be purely justified think you Yet he places Abraham Moses and all Believers with them absolutely under the severest condemnation of the Law and the pure Gospelâ—Covenant at once But to cover the shame and nakedness of his Assertion which places Believers absolutely under Adams Covenant he is fain to make use of two Fig-leaves as Adam did 1. And the first attempt he now makes p. 4 5 6 7. of his Reply is by way of retortion by telling us That the same pretended Absurdities do fall as heavily and a great deal more on our Doctrine who affirm the Sinai Law complexly taken to be a Covenant of Faith or Grace than upon his who makes them two essentially different Covenants because we are forced to comprize perfect doing with the curse for non-performance under the same Covenant with believing and that it cannot be denied but that all the People of God were absolutely under the Sinai Covenant Gal. 3. 23. and Gal. 4. 4 5. and consequently under the curse Gal. 3. 10. This is the sum and substance of his first Answer I will not be tempted to expose my Neighbour to derision for this his strange Answer but rather propound two sober Queries to him and the Reader viz. 1. What Orthodox Divines he ever met with and what are their names who are forced to comprize perfect doing with the curse for non-performance under the same Covenant with believing and so make the two opposite Covenants to be specifically one and the same Name your Men with their Books and Pages or retract with shame and sorrow what you have here abusively affirmed of them Cameron indeed makes it a subservient Covenant the most a true though obscure Covenant of Grace but none comprize Adam's Covenant with its Curse in the New Covenant 2. Whether it be imaginable That the same Absurdity can follow from their Doctrine that make the whole complex body of the Sinai Law a Covenant of Grace though more obscure and so place all the People of God in those Ages under it as does necessarily follow his Doctrine who makes it a pure Adam's Covenant of Works and places the Church of God absolutely under the curse of it and also under the pure Covenant of Grace at the same time If Grace and Grace how diffeferent soever in degrees of manifestation be as opposite and repugnant as Grace and Works as Justification and Condemnation are 't is time for me to lay down my Pen for I have certainly lost my Understanding to guide it any further But Mr. Cary will say If you do not yet Mr. Roberts doth comprize both in one Covenant I say you abuse Mr. Roberts in so affirming for he saith in that very place you refer to That believing in Christ was ultimately and chiefly intended in the Sinai Covenant and perfect doing was only urged upon Israel in subordination and tendency to that believing And upon that ground it is he affirms that Covenant to be a Covenant of Faith and so denominates it from the chief scope and intent of it He sets not doing and believing in co-ordination or places the Church under two opposite Covenants as you do but places the Law where it ought to be placed in subordination to Faith and Christ. And therefore you have abused that good Man as well as me and your self most of all in this your first impertinent and silly Answer 2. But you have one Evasion more p. 7. where you say That how harsh and dreadful soever the Terms or Conditions of the Legal Covenant were to those that were under it as Moses and the whole body of the Israelites then were yet the grace of the Gospel-Covenant far superseded and was by far more victorious powerful and efficacious Rom. 5. 17 20. Worse and worse Your Discourse mends like sower Ale in Summer Here you fancy the two Covenants under which you place the whole Church of God to be in a conflict one with the other Condemnation and Justification strugling one with another as I told you before they would but however the Grace of the New Covenant prevails at last and gets the victory over the Covenant of Works Very good but then pray Sir if you please answer me a plain Question or two at your leisure First How far did the Covenant of Grace prevail against the Covenant of Works Was it so far prevalent and victorious as utterly to vanquish and disannul it as a Covenant of Works to them or was it not Was the Victory you speak of a compleat or a partial one If you say it was incompleat and partial then you leave them as I told you before you must partly under the Promise and partly under the Curse justified in part and condemned in part But if you say it was a compleat and perfect Victory then it utterly dissolved its obligation as a Covenant of Works then they did not remain under two opposite Covenants as you affirmed they did but on their believing changed their state with their Covenant as we affirm they did Secondly If you say it did not totally free them from the Curse of the Covenant of Works but however prevailed so far that they were not actually damned by vertue of the Curse then be pleased to answer me one Question more How it was possiâ—le for them to be absolutely under the Curse of the Law as you affirmed they were and yet that Curse to be so superseded by the Covenant of Grace as here you speak To supersede the Curse though it be a Phrase I never met with before if it signify any thing it must signify this That the Covenant of Grace caused the
three Lines in the 49th page of your Reply where you say you have sufficiently answered and cleared this in p. 169 172. of your former Discourse from the corrupt interpretation by me fastened thereon Now if the Reader will give himself the trouble to examine those Pages he shall find that Mr. C. there allows that very interpretation which he here calls corrupt and saith it comes all to one reckoning with his own If this will overthrow my second Argument it is gone Argument III. My third Argument was drawn from Acts 7. 38. in this Form If Christ himself were the Angel by whom the Laws were delivered to Moses which are there called the lively Oracles of God then the Law cannot be a pure Adam â—s Covenant of Works For it is never to be imagined that ever Jesus Christ himself should deliver to Moses such a Covenant directly opposite to all the ends of his future Incarnation But it is more than probable from that Text that it was Christ which delivered the Law to Moses on the Mount Ergo. To this Argument he saith not one word in p. 49. of his Reply where he cites a part of it nibling a little at that expression The lively Oracles of God thinking it unimaginable the Sinai Law should be such when as the Apostle Paul Rom. 7. 10. found the Commandment to be unto death and the Apostle 2 Cor. 3. 6 7. calls it a Ministration of death I must therefore leave Mr. C. to reconcile those two Scriptures And withal I must tell him that Spanhemius gives the same sense I do of Acts 7. 38. as the current judgment of Christians against the Iews That it was not a created Angel but Christ himself Argument IV. The last Argument I urged was from Rom. 9. 4. and thus it may run No such Covenant as by the Fall had utterly lost all its Promises Privileges and Blessings and could retain nothing but Curses and Punishments could possibly be numbred among the chief Privileges in which God's Israel gloried But the Law given at Sinai was numbred among their chief privileges Rom. 9. 4. Ergo. To this he only saith p. 57. of his Reply That the Law even as it was a Covenant of Works was a privilege inestimable beyond what all others enjoyed because the very Curses and Punishments annexed thereunto in case of the least faileur were of excellent use to convince them of their sin and misery without Christ and their necessity therefore of a Saviour which was the proper work of the Law as a Covenant of works which advantage all other Nations wanting it might well be numbred among the chief Privileges they were invested with But 1. If the Law were intended by God to be an Adam's Covenant to them as Mr. C. saith it was where then is the Privilege of God's Israel above other Nations 2. If their Privilege consisted in the subserviency of that Law to Christ as he here intimates it did then he yields the thing I contend for For this being its chief scope and end we do hence justly denominate it a Covenant of Grace though more obscure and legally administred And in this judgment most of our solid Divines concur Mr. Charnock on the Attributes p. 390. is clear and judicious in the point Mr. Samuel Bolton in that excellent Book called The Bounds of Christian Liberty gives nine solid Arguments to prove the Law was not set up at Sinai as a Covenant of Works Mr. Anth. Burgess gives us six Arguments to prove the same Conclusion Mr. Greenhill on Ezek. 16. gives us demonstration from that Context That since it was a Marriage-Covenant as it appears to be v. 8. it cannot possibly be a distinct Covenant from the Covenant of Grace The incomparable Turrettine Learnedly and Judiciously states this Controversy and both positively asserts and by many Arguments fully proves That the Sinai Law cannot be a pure Covenant of Works or a Covenant specifically distinct from the Covenant of Grace It were easie to fill Pages with Allegations of this kind but I hope what hath been said may suffice for this Point But still Mr. Cary complains that I have all this while but threatned his Arguments to prove them fallacious or to have four Terms in them and therefore he hath drawn out some select Arguments as he calls them p. 37. to try my skill upon I will neither tire my Reader in a foolish chase of such weak and impertinent Arguments as he there produceth nor yet wholly neglect them lest he glory in them as unanswerable And therefore to shew him the fate of the rest I will only touch his first Argument which being his Argumentum Palmarium deservedly leads the Van to all the rest And thus it runs upon all four That Covenant that is not of Faith must needs be a Covenant of Works yea the very same for substance with that made with Adam But the Scripture is express That the Law is not of Faith Gal. 3. 12. Ergo. The Law is considered two ways in Scripture 1. Largely for the whole Mosaical Oeconomy comprehensive of the Ceremonial as well as Moral Precepts and that Law is of Faith as the Learned Turrettine hath proved by four Scripture Arguments Pars secunda p. 292 293. Because it contained Christ the Object of Faith c. Because it impelled men to seek Christ by Faith Because it required that God be worshipped which he cannot rightly be without Faith And because Paul describes the Righteousness of Faith in those very words whereby Moses had declared the Precepts of the Law Deut. 30. 11 12 13. Again the Law in Scripture is taken strictly for the Moral Law only considered abstractly from the promises of Grace as the Legal Iusticiaries understood it These are two far different senses and acceptations of the Law Your Major Proposition takes the Law in its large complex body as appears by your 3d page Your Minor Proposition which you would confirm by Gal. 3. 12. takes the Law strictly and abstractly as it is set disjunctly from yea in opposition to Faith and the Promises and so there are two sorts of Law in your Argument and consequently your Argument is fallacious as all its fellows be and runs as I told you before upon all four I hope this may suffice with respect to the Sinai Covenant controverted betwixt me and my Neighbour to evince that it cannot be what he asserts it to be even an Adam's Covenant of Works and that I have discharged what I undertook to prove with respect to this Covenant namely That Mr. C. cannot free his Position from the gross Absurdities with which I loaded it but endeavouring to do that hath incurred many more that his Reply hath left my Arguments standing in their full strength against him and that the Position I have set up against him is well founded in Scripture and hath the general concurrence and consent of Learned Holy and Orthodox Divines To
Mr. Woodbridge have also done But alas what evidence is sufficient to satisfy ignorant and obstinate Men Sir it pities me to see the lamentable confusion you are in You are forced by the evidence of truth to yield and own the substance of what I contend for You have yielded the Covenant to be consequently Conditional in p. 84. of your Reply You have also as plainly yielded that the Application of Pardoning Mercy unto our Souls is in order of nature consequent unto believing p. 31. of your Reply From both which concessions in your own words recited this Conclusion is evident and unavoidable viz. That no adult person notwithstanding God's Eternal Election and Christ's meritorious death and satisfaction according to the Constitution and Order of the New Covenant can either be justified in this World or saved in the World to come unless he first believe For if the Application of Pardoning Mercy unto our Souls is in order of Nature consequent unto believing as you truly affirm it to be then according to the Constitution and Order of the New Covenant no application of pardoning Mercy can be made to our Souls before we believe And if it be evident as you say it is p. 84. that unto a full and compleat enjoyment of all the Promises of the Covenant Faith on our part is required then as no Man can be actually justified in this World so neither can he be saved before or without Faith in the World to come And if you did but see the true suspending nature of Faith which you plainly yield in these two concessions you would quickly grant the conditional nature of it For what is the proper nature and true notion of a Condition but to suspend the benefits and grants of that Covenant in which it is so inserted And thus the Controversy betwixt us is fairly issued But I doubt you understand not what you have here written or are troubled with a very bad memory Because I find you in a far different note from this in p. 103. of your Reply where you say That if Iesus Christ fulfilled the Law and purchased Heaven and Happiness for Men as all true Protestants hitherto have taught then nothing can remain but to declare this to them to incline them to believe and accept it and to prescribe in what way and by what means they shall finally come to inherit Eternal Life To affirm therefore that Faith and Repentance are the Conditions of the New Covenant required of us in point of Duty antecedent to the benefit of the Promise doth necessarily suppose that Christ hath not done all for us nor purchased a right to Life for any but only made way that they may have it upon certain terms or as some say he hath merited that we might merit But the Conditions of the Covenant are not to be performed by the Head and Members both Gal. 4. 4. Christ therefore having in our stead performed the Conditions of Life there remains nothing but a Promise and the Obedience of Children as the fruit and effect thereof to them that believe in him together with means of obtaining the full possession which here we want Either these passages I have here cited and compared were fetched at a great distance of time out of Authors differing as much in judgment as you and I do and so the dissonancy of them is the meer effect of oblivion and incogitancy Or else your Intellectuals are more confused and weak than I am willing to suspect them to be For if the application of Pardoning Mercy to our Souls is in order of Nature consequent to Believing as you truly say it was then certainly notwithstanding Christ's fulfilling the Law and purchasing Heaven and Happiness for Men something else must remain to be done besides declaring this to them to incline them to believe and accept it or prescribing to them in what way they shall finally come to inherit Eternal Life For besides those declarations and prescriptions you talk of Faith it self must be wrought in the Souls of Men or else Pardoning Mercy is not in order of Nature consequent unto believing as you said it was For all the external Declarations and Prescriptions in the World are not Faith it self but only the means to beget it which may or may not become effectual to that end Secondly Whereas you say that this senseless notion is consequent upon the Doctrine of all true Protestants you therein grosly abuse them and make all the true Protestants in the World guilty of worse than Arminian or Antinomian dotage The Antinomian indeed makes our actual justification to be nothing else but the manifestation or declaration of our Justification from Eternity or the time of Christ's death And the Arminian tells us That the Declaration of the Gospel to Men is sufficient to bring them to Faith by the assisting Grace of the Spirit But your notion is worse than the very dregs of both and yet you tack it as a just consequent to the Doctrine of all true Protestants Thirdly You say That to affirm Faith and Repentance to be the Conditions of the New Covenant required of us in point of Duty antecedent to the benefit of the Promise doth necessarily suppose that Christ hath not done all for us nor purchased a right to Life for any but only made way that they may have it upon certain terms or merited that we might merit Here Sir you vilely abuse all those worthy Divines before mentioned who have made Faith the Condition of the New Covenant pinning upon them both Popery and Iudaism Popery yea the dregs of Popery in supposing their Doctrine necessarily implies that Christ hath merited that we might merit And Iudaism to the height in saying their Doctrine necessarily supposes that Christ hath not purchased a right of Life to any What can a Iew say more Ah Mr. C. can you read the words I have recited out of blessed Burroughs Owen Pemble Perkins Davenant Downame yea the whole Assembly of Reverend and Holy Divines with multitudes more who have all with one mouth asserted Faith to be the Condition of the New Covenant required on Man's part in point of Duty and that Men must believe before they can be justified which is the very same thing with what I say That it is antecedent to the benefit of the Promise and not tremble to think of the direful charges you here draw against them The Lord forgive your rash presumption Fourthly Whereas you say Christ hath in our stead performed the Conditions of life and that there remains nothing but a Promise c. you therein speak at the highest dialect of Antinomianism Hath not Christ by his Life and Death performed the Conditions of Life in our stead yet you your self confess that pardoning Mercy is in order of nature consequent to our believing certainly then there is something more to be done beside the mere making or being of a Promise there must be the effect
of the Promise in our hearts yea the effects of those absolute Promises of the first Grace Ezek. 36. Ier. 32. Or else notwithstanding Christ's performance of Redemption on his part we can neither be justified nor saved For I don't think you intend to lay the Conditions of Repentance or believing upon Christ who in the New Covenant hath laid them upon us tho in the same Covenant he graciously undertakes to work them in us and yet your words sound in that wild Antinomian Note But I suppose you take my Notion to be as self-repugnant as your own when I say Faith is an antecedent Condition to Justification because I also say this Grace is also supernaturally wrought in us and is not of our selves This staggers you and is the very stone you stumble at all along this Controversie for in your sense p. 34. every Condition is meritorious by condignity or congruity First What do I say more in all this than what those Worthies before-mentioned do expresly affirm Doth not Dr. Owen the man whom you deservedly value make Conditions both in Adam's Covenant and the New with this difference that Adam's Covenant required them but the New Covenant effects them in all the Foederates Sir We take it for no contradiction to assert That the planting of the Principle and the assisting and exciting of the Acts of Faith are the proper Works of the Spirit of God and are also contained in the absolute Promises of the New Covenant Ezek. 36. 26 27. Ier. 32. 39 40. And yet Faith notwithstanding this is truly and properly our work and duty and that upon our believing or not believing we have or have not an actual interest in Christ Righteousness and Life For though the Author of Faith be the Spirit of God yet believing is properly our Act and an Act required of us by a plain Command 1 Iohn 3. 23. This is the Command of God That ye believe And if its being wrought in God's strength makes it cease to be our Work I would fain know what Exposition you would give of that place Phil. 2. 12 13. Work out your own Salvation c. for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do And as this Faith is truly and properly our work though wrought in God's strength for it is not God but we that do believe so it is wrought in us by him by your own confession before the application of pardoning Mercy which is consequent in order of nature thereunto and therefore hath the true nature of an antecedent Condition which is that I contend for and did you but understand your own words you would not contend against Oh but say you p. 34. every Condition is meritorious either by way of congruity or condignity This is your ignorance of the nature of a Condition with which I find you as unacquainted as with the nature of a Covenant A Condition whilst unperformed only suspends the act of the Law or Testament it being the will of the Testator Legislator or Donor that his Law or Testament should act or effect when the Condition is performed and not before but it is not essential to a Condition to be a meritorious or impulsive cause moving him to bestow the benefit for the sake thereof A man freely gives another out of his love and bounty such an Estate or Sum of Money which he shall enjoy if he live to such a year or day and not before is this quando dies veniet this appointed time the meritorious or impulsive cause of the gift surely no man will say it but that it is a causa sine quâ non or a Condition suspending the enjoyment of the gift no man will deny that knows what the nature of a Condition is An act meritorious by way of Congruity is that to which a reward is not due out of strict justice but out of decency or some kind of meetness Merit of condignity is a voluntary action for which a reward is due to a man out of justice and cannot be denied him without injustice Our Faith is truly the Condition of the New Covenant and yet we detest the meritoriousness of it in either sense But you object my words to me in my Method of Grace where I assert the impossibility of believing without the efficacy of supernatural Grace p. 102 103. Sir I own the words you quote and am bold to challenge the most envious Eye that shall read those lines to shew me the least repugnancy betwixt what I said there and what I have said in my Vindiciae Legis c. p. 9. of the Prolegomena and p. 61. of that Book You shew your good-will to make an advantagious thrust but your Weapon is too short and can draw no blood But leaving these weak and impertinent Cavils let us come to your Solution of my Arguments p. 98. by which I proved the Conditionality of the New Covenant My first Argument was this If we cannot be justified or saved till we believe and are justified when we believe Then Faith is the Condition on which those consequent Benefits are suspended c. The sum of your Answer without denying distinguishing or limiting one Proposition is this That here Faith is properly put into the room of perfect Obedience and is to do what perfect Obedience was to do under the Law whereas say you Faith is only appointed as an Instrument to receive and apply the Righteousness of Christ which is the alone matter of our Justification before God and Faith it self is not our Righteousness as it would be if it were a Condition p. 105 106. Not to note the weakness and impertinence of this Answer I shall only take notice of what you here allow and grant That Faith is appointed as an Instrument to receive and apply the Righteousness of Christ which is the alone matter of our Iustification before God Whence I infer three Conclusions First That we cannot be justified before God till we believe except you can prove that the unaccepted and unapplied Righteousness of Christ doth actually justify our persons before God Secondly That the justification of our persons before God is and must be suspended as by a non-performed Condition untill we actually believe Which two Conclusions yield up your Cause to my Argument which you here seem to oppose Thirdly That hereby you perfectly renounce and destroy your Antinomian Fancy before-mentioned That if Christ have fulfilled the Law and purchased Heaven for men nothing can remain but to declare this to them c. for it seems by this they must receive and apply Christ's Righteousness by Faith or they cannot be justified you say not declaratively in their own Consciences but before God And thus instead of answering you have confirmed and yielded my first Argument and only oppose your own Mistakes not the sense or force of my Arguments in all that you say to it or the Scriptures
or commit murther God sees no sin in him with much more of the same Bran which I will not transcribe But others there be whose Judgments are unhappily tainted and leavened with these loose Doctrines yet being in the main godly persons they dare not take liberty to sin or live in the neglect of known duties though their Principles too much incline that way But though they dare not others will who imbibe corrupt notions from them and the renowned Piety of the Authors will be no antidote against the danger but make the Poison operate the more powerfully by receiving it in such a vehicle Now it is highly probable such men as these might be charmed into such dangerous Opinions upon such accounts as these 1. 'T is like some of them might have felt in themselves the anguish of a perplexed Conscience under sin and not being able to live with these terrors of the Law and dismal fears of Conscience might too hastily snatch at those Doctrines which promise them relief and ease as I noted before in the 5th Cause of my Treatise of Errors And that this is not a guess at random will appear from the very Title-page of Mr. Saltmarsh's marsh's Book of Free-grace where as an inducement to the Reader to swallow his Antinomian Doctrine he shews him this curious Bait. It is saith he an experiment of Iesus Christ upon one who hath been in the bondage of a troubled Conscience at times for the space of about twelve years till now upon a clearer discovery of Iesus Christ in the Gospel c. 2. Others have been induced to espouse these Opinions from the excess of their Zeal against the Errors of the Papists who have notoriously corrupted the Doctrine of Iustification by Free-grace decried imputed and exalted inberent Righteousness above it The Papists have designedly and industriously sealed up the Scriptures from the People lest they should there discover those sovereign and effectual Remedies which God hath provided for their distressed Consciences in the riches of his own Grace and the meritorious Death of Christ and so all their Masses Pilgrimages Auricular Confessions with all their dear Indulgences should lie upon their hands as stale and cheap Commodities Oh said Stephen Gardiner let not this gap of Free-grce be opâ—ned to the People But as soon as the Light of Reformation had discovered the Free-grace of God to Sinners which is indeed the only effectual remedy of distressed Consciences and by the same Light the horrid Cheats of the Man of Sin were discovered all good men who were enlightened by the Reformation justly and deeply abhorred Popery as the Enemy of the Grace of God and true Peace of Conscience and fixed themselves upon the sound and comfortable Doctrines of Justification by Faith through the alone Righteousness of Christ. Mean while thankfully acknowledging that they which believe ought also to maintain good Works But others there were transported by an indiscreet Zeal who have almost bended the Grace of God as far too much the other way and have both spoken and written many things very unbecoming the Grace of God and tending to looseness and neglect of Duty 3. 'T is manifest that others of them have been ingulphed and suckt into those dangerous Quick-sands of Antinomian Errors by separating the Spirit from the written Word If once a man pretend the Spirit without the Scriptures to be his Rule whither will not his own deluding Fancies carry him under a vain and sinful pretence of the Spirit In the Year 1528. when Helsar Traier and Seekler were confuted by Hallerus and their Errors about Oaths Magistrates and Paedo-baptism were detected by him and by Colvius at Bern that which they had to say for themselves was That the Spirit taught them otherwise than the letter of the Scriptures speaks So dangerous it is to separate what God hath conjoined and father our own Fancies upon the Holy Spirit 4. And it is not unlike but a comparative weakness and injudiciousness of mind meeting with a fervent zeal for Christ and his Glory may induce others to espouse such taking and plausible tho pernicious Doctrines They are not aware of the dangerous Consequences of the Opinions they embrace and what looseness may be occasioned by them I speak not of Occasions taken but given by such Opinions and Expressions A good Man will draw excellent Inferences of duty from the very same Doctrine Instance that of the shortness of time from whence the Apostle infers abstinence strictness and diligence 1 Cor. 7. 29. but the Epicure infers all manner of dissolute and licentious practices Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die 1 Cor. 15 22. The best Doctrines are this way liable to abuse But let all good men beware of such Opinions and Expressions as give an handle to wicked men to abuse the Grace of God which haply the Author himself dare not do and may strongly hope others may not do but if the Principle will yield it 't is in vain to think corrupt Nature will not catch at it and make a vile use and dangerous improvement of it For example If such a Principle as this be asserted for a truth before the World That men need not fear that any or all the Sins they commit shall do them any hurt let the Author or any man in the World warn and caution Readers as the Antinomian Author of that Expression hath done not to abuse this Doctrine 't is to no purpose The Doctrine it self is full of dangerous Consequents and wicked men have the best skill to infer and draw them forth to cherish and countenance their Lusts that which the Author might design for the relief of the distressed quickly turns it self into poison in the bowels of the wicked nor can we excuse it by saying any Gospel-truth may be thus abused for this is none of that number but a Principle that gives offence to the godly and encouragement to the ungodly And so much as to the rise and occasion of Antinomian Errors II. In the next place let us view some of the chief Doctrines commonly called Antinomian amongst which there will be found a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the radical and most prolifique Error from which most of the rest are spawned and procreated Error I. I shall begin with the dangerous mistake of the Antinomians in the Doctrine of Iustification The Article of Justification is deservedly stiled by our Divines Articulus stantis vel cadentis Religionis the very Pillar of the Christian Religion In two things however I must do the Antinomians right 1. In acknowledging that though their Errors about Justification be great and dangerous yet they are not so much about the substance as about the mode of a Sinner's Justification An Error far inferior to the Error of the Papists who depress the Righteousness of Christ and exalt their own inherent Righteousness in the business of Justification â— I am bound in charity to believe that some
among them do hold those Errors but speculatively whilst the Truth lies nearer their hearts and will not suffer them to reduce their own Opinions into practice Now as to their Errors about Justification the most that I have read do make Iustification to be an immanent and eternal act of God and do affirm the Elect were justified before themselves or the World had a being Others come lower and affirm the Elect were justified at the time of Christ's death With these Dr. Crisp harmonizes Error II. That Justification by Faith is no more but a manifestation to us of what was really done before we had a being Hence Mr. Saltmarsh thus defines Faith It is saith he a being perswaded more or less of Christ's love to us so that when we believe that which was hid before doth then appear God saith another cannot charge one sin upon that man who believes this truth That God laid his Iniquities upon Christ. Error III. That men ought not to doubt of their Faith or question Whether they believe or no. Nay That we ought no more to question our Faith than to question Christ. Saltm Of Free-grace p. 92 95. Error IV. That Believers are not bound to confess Sin mourn for it or pray for the forgiveness of it because it was pardoned before it was committed and pardoned Sin is no Sin See Eaton 's Honey-comb p. 446 447. Error V. They say that God sees no Sin in Believers whatsoever Sins they commit Some of them as Mr. Town and Mr. Eaton speak out and tell us That God can see no Adultery no Lying no Blasphemy no Cozening in Believers For though Believers do fall into such Enormities yet all their Sins being pardoned from Eternity they are no Sins in them Town 's Assertions 96 97 98. Eaton's Honey-comb chap. 7. p. 136 137. with others of a more pious Character than they Error VI. That God is not angry with the Elect nor doth he smite them for their Sins and to say that he doth so is an injurious Reflection upon the Justice of God This is avouched generally in all their Writings Error VII They tell us That by God's laying our Iniquities upon Christ he became as compleatly sinful as we and we as compleatly righteous as Christ. Vide Dr. Crisp p. 270. Error VIII Upon the same ground it is that they affirm That Believers need not fear either their own Sins or the Sins of others for that neither their own nor any other mens Sins can do them any hurt nor must they do any duty for their own Salvation Error IX They will not allow the New Covenant to be made properly with us but with Christ for us and that this Covenant is all of it a Promise having no Condition on our part They do not absolutely deny that Faith Repentance and Obedience are Conditions in the New Covenant but say They are not Conditions on our part but Christ's and that he repented believed and obeyed for us Saltmarsh of Free-grace p. 126 127. Error X. They speak very slightingly of trying our selves by marks and signs of Grace Saltmarsh often calls it a weak low carnal way but the New-England Antinomians or Libertines call it a fundamental Error to make Sanctification an evidence of Justification that it is to light a Candle to the Sun that it darkens our Justification and that the darker our Sanctification is the brighter our Justification is See their Book entitled Rise Reign Error 72. In this Breviate or summary Account of Antinomian Doctrines I have only singled out and touched some of their principal Mistakes and Error into which some of them run much farther than others But I look upon such Doctrines to be in themselves of a very dangerous nature and the malignity and contagion would certainly spread much farther into the World than it doth had not God provided two powerful Antidotes to resist the malignity Viz. 1. The scope and current of Scripture 2. The experience and practice of the Saints 1. These Doctrines run cross to the scope and current of the Scriptures which constantly speak of all unregenerate Persons without exception of the very Elect themselves during that state as Children of wrath even as others without Christ and under condemnation They frequently discover God's Anger and tell us his castigatory Rods of affliction are laid upon them for their Sins They represent Sin as the greatest Evil most opposite to the Glory of God and good of the Saints and are therefore filled with Cautions and Threatnings to prevent their sinning They call the Saint frequently and earnestly not only to mourn for their Sins before the Lord but to pray for the pardon or remission of them in the blood of Christ. They give us a far different account of saving Faith and do not place it in a persuasion more or less of Christ's love to us or a manifestation in our Consciences of the actual remission of our Sins before we had a being but in our receiving Christ as the Gospel offers him for righteousness and life They frequently call the People of God to the examination and trial of their Interest in Christ by marks and signs and accordingly furnish them with variety of such marks from the divers parts or branches of Sanctification in themselves They earnestly and every-where press Believers to strictness and constancy in the duties of Religion as the way wherein God would have them to walk They infer Duties from Privileges and therefore the Antinomian Dialect is a wild note which the generality of serious Christians do easily distinguish from the Scripture-stile and Language 2. The Experience and Practice of the Saints recorded in Scripture as well as our Contemporaries or those whose Lives are recorded for our imitation do greatly secure us from the spreading malignity of Antinomianism Converse with the living or read the Histories of dead Saints and you shall find That in their Addresses to God they still bless and praise him for that great and wonderful change of state which was made upon them when they first believed in Christ and on their believing passed from death to life freely acknowledging before God they were before their conversion equal in sin and misery with the vilest Wretches in the World They heartily mourn for their daily Sins fear nothing more than Sin no Afflictions in the World go so near their heart as Sin doth They mourn for the hardness of their hearts that they can mourn no more for Sin They acknowledge the Rods of God that are upon them are not only the evidences of his displeasure against them for their Sins but the fruits of their uneven walking with him And that the greatest of their Afflictions is less than the least of their Iniquities deserve They fall at their Father's feet as oft as they fall into sin humbly and earnestly suing for pardon through the Blood of Christ. They are not only sensible that God sees Sin in them but that he seeth such
as it is over-ruled reduced and finally issued by the Covenant of Grace Under this consideration of sin which rather respects the future than present state the Antinomians only respect the hurt or evil of it over-looking both the former considerations of sin which concern the present state of Believers and so rashly pronounce sin can do Believers no hurt An Assertion tending to a great deal of looseness and licentiousness A Man drinks deadly Poison and is after many months recover'd by the skill of an excellent Physician shall we say there was no hurt in it because the man died not of it sure those fearful twinges he felt his loss of strength and stomach were hurtful to him tho he escaped with life and got this advantage by it to be more wary for ever after Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum And then for other mens sins which they say we need not fear 't is an Assertion against all the Laws of Charity For the sins of wicked men eternally damn them Disturb the Peace and Order of the World Draw down National Judgments upon the whole Community Cause Wars Plagues Persecutions c. Which Considerations of the sins of others opened fountains of tears in David's Eyes Psal. 119 136. caused horror to take hold upon him vers 53. And yet if you will believe the Antinomian Doctrine Believers have no need to fear much less be in horror which is the extremity of fear for other mens sins How is Satan gratified and temptations to sin strengthned upon the Souls of men by such indistinct unwary and dangerous Expressions as these are A good Intention can be no sufficient salvo for such Assertions as these Secondly They tell us That as the Saints need fear no sin for any hurt it can do them so they must do no duty for their own good or with an eye to their own Salvation or Eternal Rewards in Heaven Refutation This as the former is too generally and indistinctly deliver'd He that distinguisheth well teacheth well The confounding of things which ought to be distinguish'd easily runs men into the bogs of Errors Two things ought to have been distinguish'd here in Duties 1. Ends 2. Self-ends First Ends in Duty There are two ends in Duties one supream and ultimate viz. the glorifying of God which must and ought to take the first place of all other ends Another secondary and subordinate viz. the good and benefit of our selves To invert these and place our own good in the room of God's Glory is sinful and unjustifiable and he that aims only at himself in Religion is justly censured as a mercenary Servant especially if it be any external good he aims at but spiritual good especially the enjoyment of God is so involv'd in the other viz. the glory of God that no man can rightly take the Lord for his God but he must take him for his Supream Good and consequently therein may and must have a due respect to his own happiness Secondly Self-ends must also be distinguished into 1. Corrupt or carnal Self-ends 2. Pure and spiritual Self-ends As to carnal and corrupt Self-ends inviting and moving men to the performance of Religious Duties when these are the only Ends men aim at they bewray the Hypocrisy of the Heart and accordingly God charges Hypocrisy upon such Persons Hosea 7. 14. They have not cried unto me with their heart when they howled upon their Beds they assemble themselves for Corn and Wine c. God reckons not the most solemn Duties animated by such Ends to be done unto him Zech. 7. 5. Did ye at all fast to me But beside these Man hath a best self a spiritual self to regard in duty viz. The conformity of his Soul to God in holiness and the perfect fruition of God in glory Such holy Self-ends as these are often commended but nowhere condemned in Scripture 'T was the Encomium of Moses That he had respect unto the recompence of reward Heb. 11. 26. These ordinate respects to our spiritual best self are so far from being our sin that God both appoints and allows them for great uses and advantages to his People in their way to glory They are 1. Singular Encouragements to the Saints under Persecution Streights and Distresses Heb. 10. 34. And to that end Christ proposes them Luke 12. 32. And so the best of Saints have made use of them 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. 2. They are Motives and Incentives to Praise and Thankfulness 1 Pet. 1. 3 4. 1 Coloss. 12. 3. They stir up the Saints to chearful and vigorous industry for God Col. 3. 23 24. 1 Cor. 15. 58. Now to cut off from Religion all these spiritual and excellent Self-respects and to make them our sins and marks of our Hypocrisy is an Error very injurious to the Gospel and to the Souls of Men. For 1. it crosses the strain of the Gospel which commands us to strive for our Salvation Luk. 13. 24 25. Phil. 2. 12. 1 Tim. 4. 16. 2. It blames that in the Saints as sinful which the Scripture notes as their excellency and records to their praise Heb. 11. 26. 3. It makes the Laws of Christianity to thwart and cross the very fundamental Law of our Creation which inclines and obliges all men to intend their own Felicity And on this account not only our Antinomians are blame-worthy but others also who are far enough from their Opinion who urge humiliation for sin beyond the Staple teaching men they are not humbled enough till they be content to be damned 4. It unreasonably supposes a Christian may not do that for his own Soul which he daily doth and is bound to do for other mens Souls viz. to pray preach exhort and reprove for their Salvation Error IX They will not allow the New Covenant to be properly made with us but with Christ for us And some of them affirm That this Covenant is all of it a Promise having no Condition upon our part They acknowledge indeed Faith Repentance and Obedience to be Conditions but say they are not Conditions on our part but on Christ's and consequently affirm That he repented believed and obeyed for us Refutation 1. The confounding of distinct Covenants leads them into this Error we acknowledge there was a Covenant properly made with Christ alone which we call the Covenant of Redemption This Covenant indeed though it were made for us yet it was not made with us It had its Condition and that Condition was laid only upon Christ viz. That he should assume our Nature and pour out his Soul unto death which Condition he was solely concerned to perform but beside this there is a Covenant of Grace made with him and with all Believers in him with him primarily as the Head with them as the Members who personally come into this Covenant when they come into union with him by Faith This Covenant of Grace is not made with Christ alone personally considered but with Christ and all
none in the Towns or Neighbourhoods where you live Are you sure there are none that have hopeful inclinations towards Religion desires and purposes to attend on the same means of Grace you sit under who will charge the occasion of their Damnation upon you at the Bar of Christ and say Lord we had some weak convictions upon our Consciences that we needed a rouzing and searching Minister we were convinced that the profane and carnal World among whom we had our conversation were not in the right path that leadeth to Salvation We felt in our selves inclinations to cast off our old Companions and associate with those that professed more strictness and holiness and place our selves under the most fruitful and advantagious Ministry and accordingly improved opportunities to get acquaintance with them but when we came nearer to them we found such wrath and envy such wranglings and divisions such undermining and supplanting each others reputation such whisperings and tale-bearings such malicious aggravations and improvements of common failings and infirmities such covetousness and worldliness such pride and vanity as gave us such a disgust and offence at the ways of Reformation that we could never more be reconciled to them Beware I say how you incur the guilt of such a dreadful charge as this by giving liberty to such Lusts and Passions under a profession of Religion and pretence to Reformation Motive IV. Consider the contrariety of such Practices to that solemn and fervent Prayer of Jesus Christ recorded in Iohn 17. 'T is highly remarkable how in that Prayer which he poured out a little before his death with such a mighty Pathos and fervency of Spirit he insists upon nothing more than Unity among his People He returns upon his Father again and again for the obtaining of this one thing Four times doth he beg for Unity among them and every time he seems to rise higher and higher beseeching his Father 1. That they may be one 2. That they may be one in us 3. That they may be one as thou and I are one and lastly That they may be made perfect in one By all this shewing how intent his Spirit was upon this one thing Brethren If you would study how to frustrate the design and grieve the Heart of your Lord Jesus Christ to whom you profess love and obedience you cannot take a readier way to do it than by breaking the bonds of Unity among your selves I beseech you therefore in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath so earnestly prayed for the unity of his People That ye be perfectly joined together in one heart and in one mind as the Text speaks Motive V. Consider how directly your Divisions cross and frustrate the Design and End of Church-fellowship which is instituted for the improvement of each other's Graces and helping on the mortification of each other's Corruptions God hath distributed variety of gifts and graces in different degrees amongst his People the improvement of these gifts and graces to the glory of God and our mutual edification is the very scope and end of particular Church-fellowship and Communion every man hath his proper gift of God and as a late Worthy notes the gifts and graces of all are this way made useful and beneficial Iob was exemplary for plainness and patience Moses for faithfulness and meekness Iosieh for tenderness and a melting Spirit Athanasius was prudent and active Basil heavenly and of a sweet Spirit Chrysostom laborious and without affectation Ambrose resolved and grave One hath quickness of parts but not so solid a Judgment Another is solid but not ready and presential One hath a good Wit another a better Memory a third excells them both in utterance One is zealous but ungrounded another well principled but timorous One is wary and prudent another open and plain-hearted One is trembling and melting another chearful and full of comfort Now the end and use of Church-fellowship is to make a rich improvement unto all by a regular use and exercise of the gifts and graces found in every one One must impart his light and another his warmth The Eye viz. the knowing man cannot say to the hand viz. the active man I have no need of thee Unspeakable are the benefits resulting from spiritual and orderly Communion but whatever the benefits be they are all cut off by Schisms and Dissentions for as Faith is the grace by which we receive all from God so Love is the grace by which we share and divide the comfort of all among our selves The excellent things of the Spirit are lodg'd in earthen Vessels which death will shortly break and then we can have no more benefit by them but these Jars and Divisions render Saints as it were dead one to another whilst they are alive Ah how lovely how sweet and desirable it is to live in the communion of such Saints as are described Mal. 3. 16. To hear them freely and humbly to open their hearts and experiences to one another After this manner some say the art of Medicine was found out As any one met with an Herb and discovered the virtue of it by any Accident he was to post it up and so the Physicians skill was perfected by a collection of those posted Experiments But wo to us we are ready to post up each other 's Failings and Infirmities to the shame and reproach of Religion and to furnish our common Enemies with matter of contempt and scorn against us all Motive VI. In a word These Schisms and Dissentions in the Churches of Christ are ominous presages and foreboding signs of some sweeping Judgment and common Calamity near approaching us 'T is a common observation with Shepherds That when the Sheep push one another a storm speedily ensues I am sure 't is so here if God turn not our hearts one towards another he will come and smite the Earth with a Curse Mal. 4. 6. I believe it Sirs you will have other work to do shortly There be those coming if God prevent not that will part the fray VSE II for Direction In the last place therefore give me leave to lay before you some necessary and proper Directions and Counsels for the prevention and healing of Schisms and Divisions amongst the Churches of Christ for it is not Complaints and Lamentations but proper Counsels and Directions and those not only prescribed but obeyed that must do the work When Ioshua lay upon his face before the Lord Ioshua 7. 8 9 10. bewailing the sins and miseries of Israel Vp saith God sanctify the people wherefore liest thou upon thy face As if he should say Thy moans and lamentations are good and necessary in their place but speedy action and vigorous endeavours must be also used or Israel will perish So say I up up fall speedily to your duties as men in earnest and for your guidance in the paths of duty I will lay before you the following plain and necessary Directions Direction I.