10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to Man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it The Design of which Words is certainly to encourage Christians against the bigest Temptations by an Assurance of Relief from God proportionable to our Necessities and consequently must imply that if we yield to a Temptation 't is our own fault God expects we should stand firm under the highest Trials Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne Rev. 3.21 But whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven Matt. 10.33 If therefore by Sins of Infirmity Men mean such as are consistent with the state of Grace i. e. such as good Men may frequently fall into without forfeiting the Peace of Conscience and the Favour of God I cannot possibly think that any Deliberate Sin can be such upon the score of the Temptation or that any of those Sins reckoned in the Catalogue Gal. 5. and Eph. 5. can be such on the account of the Violence or Perseverance with which they attack us But Secondly if by Sins of Infirmity they mean such Sins as Righteous Men are liable to I know not what they are from which they are exempted But if Lastly by Sins of Infirmity they mean such for which God is more easily entreated then there is no Question to be made but that there is a Difference in Sins which is to be estimated by the different Measures of Grace and Knowledge by the different Degrees of Deliberation and Surprise and by the Force or Weakness the Continuance or Shortness of a Temptation And Finally by the different Effects and Tendencies of Sins To all which I do not question but that the Spirit has regard in those Directions which it gives us for our Behaviour towards such as fall Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted And of some have compassion making a difference And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire Jude 22 23. § 2. A Second sort of Actions are such as we call Involuntary that is those wherein we exercise no Deliberation no Choice Some have reduced Sins of Infirmity to this Head but with what Colour of Reason any one may judge For since Actions truly Involuntary are neither the Object of the Understanding nor Will 't is hard to conceive what Morality there can be in them The Grounds on which this Opinion is built are such as these First the Measure say they of Good and Evil is the Law of God But Involuntary and unavoidable Actions are not a proper Subject of Laws for to what purpose is it to prescribe Rules or to propose Rewards and Punishments to such Actions as are no way subject to our Choice Secondly they tell us 't is inconsistent with the Goodness of God and the Riches of Gospel Grace to impute those things to a Man as Damnable Sins which fall not within the Compass of his Power of Deliberation Now I must confess I am so far from denying any Actions that can lay a just claim to this Apology to be Venial that I cannot forbear thinking that they are not sinful For where there is no Law there is no Transgression But how does this way of arguing for the Excusableness of Involuntary Transgressions consist with those other Doctrines which they maintain concerning them namely That we are bound to Repentance for them That these Sins are not Venial in their own Nature but only through the Favour of God For the Law taken in its Rigour denounces Death against all Sin in general without Limitation or Exception so that if God should judge rigorously even Involuntary Sin would fall under that Sentence the wages of Sin is Death This I must confess seems to me very incoherent For if an Action be of that Nature that it cannot properly be the Matter or Subject of a Law how can it fall under the Condemnation of Law If it be of that Nature that it is incapable of any Moral Regulation nor subject to the Influence of Reward or Punishment how can it be meer Matter of Grace that a Man is not Damned for it In a word if an Action be truly and properly Involuntary it can by no means be Sin and if it be Voluntary it is subject to the Regulation of Laws 'T is a proper Instance of Deliberation and Freedom and capable of Rewards and Punishments And the Truth is the one needs no Apology and the other is not capable of any the one is a Mortal Sin and the other no Sin at all And therefore we must look for Venial Sin in some other Species of Action § 3. The last Class of Actions are those which are of a mixt Nature partly Voluntary and partly Involuntary And here I think we must place Sins of Infirmity by whatever Names we may call them For these surely if they are be rankt as by all they are amongst Actual Sins must be such Actions as have in them something of Voluntary something of Involuntary much of Human Frailty and something of Sinful much of unavoidable and something of Moral Obliquity These are the Transgressions which the Scripture seems to me to intend by Errors Defects Slips Motes the Spots of God's Children and these certainly if any must be the Sins that can consist with a state of Grace For these do not imply a Deliberate Wickedness in the Will much less an Habitual one nay they do not include in them any Wickedness at all strictly speaking but are truly the Effects of Human Frailty and the unhappy Circumstances of this Mortal Life Thus then I describe a Venial Sin it has in it so much of Voluntary as to mak it Sin so much of Involuntary as to make it Frailty it has so much of the Will in it that it is capable of being reduced and yet so much of Necessity in it it is never utterly to be extirpated it has some thing in it Criminal enough to oblige us to watch against it repent of it and yet so much in it pitiable and excusable as to entitle us to Pardon under the Covenant of Grace And thus I distinguish Venial from Mortal Sin Mortal Sin proceeds from a Heart either Habitually corrupted or deceived and captived for the time but Venial Sin results from the Imperfections and Infelicities of our Nature and our State Mortal Sin is truly Voluntary and Deliberate in the Rice and Birth of it and mischievous and injurious in its Consequence But
Inadvertency in compleat Acts of crying Sins Secondly There is no pretence for Inadvertency if we had any Misgivings within or Warnings without concerning that particular Sin into which we fell afterwards much less if we cherish ill Motions till they grow too strong for us And Last of all if we repeat the same Sin frequently and contemptuously And to this I may add he cannot be said to Sin through Surprise who throws himself into the Way of Temptation even though he be conscious of his own Infirmity 3ly As to those Moral Defects which flow from natural Infirmity they will not destroy us if the Infirmity it self be pardonable There are Infirmities which we acquire Infirmities which grow stronger by Indulgence Infirmities which continue meerly because we do not take Pains to subdue them Our Moral Defects must not flow from these kinds of Infirmities but from such as considering Human Nature and the State of this World 't is impossible utterly to root out These moral Defects will do us no harm if First we take Care to settle in our Minds the Habits of those Vertues that are directly opposite to them Secondly If we watch and fight against our natural Infirmities and endeavour to reduce our Appetites even our natural Appetites within strict and narrow Bounds Thirdly If we wash off the Stains of our Slips and Defects by a general Repentance For upon the Notion I have here given of Venial Sin Repentance appears to be very necessary for I require in them something of Voluntary someting of Freedom enough to make an Action sinful though not to prove the Heart corrupt or wicked And because the Degrees of Voluntary and Involuntary are not so easily distinguishable from one another 't is plain our best security against any ill Consequence of our Defects and Frailties is a Godly Sorrow And therefore I wonder not if David charge himself more severely than God does my Sins are more in number than the hairs of my head this was a Confession that became the Humility and Sollicitude of a Penitent That became the Reflections of a wise and Perfect Man and the Corruption of Human Nature the Alloy of Human Performances the slips and Defects the Interruptions Neglects and Deviations of the best Life CHAP. VI. Of Liberty as it imports Freedom or Deliverance from Mortal Sin HERE I will Enquiry into three Things 1. What Mortal Sin is or what kind of Sins they be which are on all hands acknowledg'd to be Inconsistent with a state of Grace and Favour 2. How far the Perfect Man must be set free or deliver'd from this kind of Sins or how remote he is from the Guilt of them 3. Which way this Liberty may be best attained S. 1. The First thing necessary is to state the Notion of that Sin which passes under the Name of Mortal Wilful Presumptuous or Deliberate Sin For these in Writers are equivalent Terms and promiscuously used to signifie one and the same thing Sin saith St. John 1 Ep. 3.4 is the Transgression of the Law This is a plain and full Definition too of Sin For the Law of God is the Rule of Moral Actions 't is the Standard and Measure of Right and Wrong of moral Good and Evil whatever is not within the Compass of the Law is not within the Compass of Morality neither whatever cannot be comprehended within this Definition cannot have in it the entire and compleat Notion of Sin or which is all one it cannot be Sin in a strict proper and adequate Sense of the Word Hence St. John in the same Verse tells us That whosoer sinneth transgresseth a Law and St. Paul Rom. 4.15 where there is no Law there is no Transgression Sin then must alwaies suppose a Law without which there can be neither Vice nor Vertue Righteousness nor Wickedness For these are nothing else but the Violation or Observation of the Law of God or Habits and States resulting from the one or the other But this is not all Two Things more must be remark'd to render this Definition which the Apostle gives us of Sin clear and full First The Law must be sufficiently reveal'd Secondly The Transgression of it must be truly Voluntary 1. By sufficient Revelation of a Divine Law every one understands That the Law must be so publish'd to the Man who is to be govern'd by it that the Authority and Sense of it may be if it be not his own fault render'd evident to him If the Divine Authority of any Rule or Precept be doubtful and uncertain the Obligation of it will be so too And it is as necessary that the sense of the Law should be evident as its Authority The Law that is pen'd in dark and ambiguous Terms is properly speaking no Law at all Since the Mind of the Law-giver is not sufficiently made known by it Whatever is necessarily to be forborn or done by us must be fully and clearly prescribed in the Law of God and if it be not it can never be necessary Men through Weakness or Design may Enact Laws that are but a heap of Letters a Crowd of dubious Delphick Sentences But God can never do so because this is repugnant both to his Wisdom and Goodness and to the very End of a Law too which is to be a Rule not a Snare 't is to give Understanding to the Simple to be a Light to our Feet and a Lamp to our Paths not like an Ignis fatuus to betray us into Brakes and Precipices and Ruin and Death 2. Transgression must be a Voluntary one And this imports two Things 1. A Knowledge of Law 2. A Consent to the Breach of it First As to the Knowledge of the Law All that I have to say here in few words is That Ignorance of the Law excuses a Transgression when it is it self excusable but if the Ignorance it self be Criminal the effect of it must be so too We must never think of excusing our Sins by alledging an Ignorance into which not our own Incapacity or any other reasonable Cause but Neglect or Contempt of the Truth or some other vicious Lust or Passion has betray'd us Secondly As to the Consent of the Will This is necessary to demonstrate any Action sinful or vertuous without this the Mind will be no Partner in the Sin and by Consequence cannot be involved in the Guilt of it Whatever we cannot help is our Misfortune not our Fault Actions meerly natural or meerly forc'd can neither be good nor evil The concurrence of Reason and Choice is indispensably necessary to the Morality of an Action All this is plainly taught us by St. James 1.14 15. But every Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lust and enticed then when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is finished bringeth forth Death Which words do certainly imply That the Spring and Principle of Sin is within our selves That 't is our natural Corruption that entices
consequently acceptable to all faithful Christians in the next CHAP. III. Of Liberty AFter Illumination which is the Perfection of the Vnderstanding follows Liberty which is the Perfection of the Will In Treating of which I shall First give an account of Liberty in General And then discourse of the several Parts of it as it regards Wickedness Vnfruitfulness Human Infirmities and Original Corruption § 1. What Liberty is There have been several Mistakes about this Matter But these have been so absurd or extravagant so designing or sensual that they Need not I think a serious Refutation However 't is necessary in a word or two to remove this Rubbish and Lumber out of my way that I may build up and establish the Truth more easily and regularly Some then have placed Christian Liberty in Deliverance from the Mosaick Yoke But this is to make our Liberty consist in Freedom from a Yoke to which we were never subject and to make our Glorious Redemption from the Tyranny of Sin and the Misery that attends it dwindle into an Immunity from external Rites and Observances 'T is true the Mosaick Institution as far as it consisted in outward Observances and Typical Rites is now dissolved The Messias being come who was the Substance of those Shadows and the Beauty of Holiness being unfolded and displayed without any Vail upon her Face But what is this to Ecclesiastical Authority Or to those Ecclesiastical Institutions which are no Part of the Mosaick Yoke From the Abrogation indeed or Abolition of Ritual and Typical Religion one may infer First That Christianity must be a Rational Worship of Moral Spiritual Service And therefore Secondly That Human Institutions when they enjoyn any thing as a necessary and essential Part of Religion which God has not made so or when they impose such Riâ—es as through the Number or Nature of them cherish Superstition obscure the Gospel weaken its Force or prove burthensome to us are to be rejected and not complied with Thus much is plain and nothing farther There have been Others who have run into more intolerable Errors For some have placed Christian Liberty in Exemption from the Laws of Man And Others advancing higher in Exemption even from the moral and immutable Laws of God But the Folly and Wickedness of these Opinions sufficiently confute them Since 't is notorious to every one that Disobedience and Anarchy is as flat a Contradiction to the Peaceableness as Voluptuousness and Luxury is to the Purity of that Wisdom which is from above But how absurd and wicked soever these Notions are yet do we find them greedily embraced and industriously propagated at this day And behold with Amazement the baffled and despicable Gnosticks Priscilianists Libertines and I know not what other spawn of Hell reviving in Deists and Atheists These indeed do not advance their Errours under a Pretence of Christian Liberty but which is more ingenious and less scandalous of the two in open Defiance and confessed Opposition to Christianity They tell us that we impose upon the World false and fantastick Notions of Vertue and Liberty That Religion does enslave Man not set him free awing the Mind by groundless and superstitious Principles and restraining and infringing our true and natural Liberty Which if we will believe them consists in giving Nature its full swing letting loose the Reins to the most head-strong Lusts and the wildest and the most corrupt Imaginations But to this 't is easie to answer That while these Men attempt to establish their Errours and fortifie their Minds in them by Arguments of some sort or other as they do 't is plain that they suppose and acknowledge with us That we ought to be ruled and governed by Reason And if this be true then by undeniable Consequence true Liberty must consist not in doing what we list but what we ought not in following our Lust or Fancy but our Reason not in being exempt from Law but in being a Law to our selves And then I appeal to all the World whether the Discipline of Vertue or Libertinism whether the Schools of Epicurus or Christ be the way to true Liberty I appeal to the Experience of Mankind whether Spiritual or Sensual Pleasure whether the Love of God and Vertue or the Love of the World and Body be the more like to qualifie and dispose us to obey the Dictates of sober and solid Reason But the Truth is here is no need of Arguments The Lives and Fortunes of Atheists and Deists proclaim aloud what a glorious kind of Liberty they are like to bless the World with 2 Pet. 2.19 Whilst they promise Liberty they themselves are the Servants of Corruption And this Corruption draws on their Ruin The dishonourable and miserable Courses in which these poor Wretches are plunged and in which generally they perish before their time are such an open Contradiction to Reason that no Man doubts but that they have abandoned its Conduct that they have given themselves up to that of Lust and Humour And that they earnestly endeavour to force or betray their Reason into a Compliance to Screen themselves from the reproach and disturbance of their own Minds and from the shame and contempt of the World I have dwelt long enough on this Argument 'T is now time to pass on and resolve what Christian Liberty really is This is in a manner evident from what has been suggested already For if Reason be the governing Faculty in Man then the Liberty of Man must consist in his Subjection to Reason And so Christian Liberty will be nothing else but Subjection to Reason enlighten'd by Revelation Two things therefore are Essential to true Liberty A clear and unbiassed Judgment and a Power and Capacity of Acting conformable to it This is a very short but full Account of Liberty Darkness and Impotence constitute our Slavery Light and Strength our Freedom Man is then free when his Reason is not awed by vile Fears or bribed by viler Hopes When it is not tumultuosly transported and hurried away by Lusts and Passions nor cheated and deluded by the guilded appearances of Sophisticated Good but it deliberates impartially and commands effectually And because the great Obstacle of this Liberty is Sin because natural and contracted Corruption are the Fetters in which we are bound because the Law in the Body wars against the Law in the Mind obscuring the Light and enfeebling the Authority of Reason hence it is that Christian Liberty is as truly as commonly described by a Dominion over the Body by the subduing our corrupt Affections and by Deliverance from Sin This Notion of Liberty may be sufficiently established upon that Account of Servitude or Bondage which the Apostle gives us Rom. 7. where he represents it as consisting in Impotence or Inability to do those things which God commands and Reason approves for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not ver 18. Liberty therefore must on
slight and insignificant that they seem to be attended by no mischievous Con̄sequence nor to offer any Dishonour to God nor Injustice to Man But I doubt this Notion of Venial Sin has no Solidity in it For either Men perform such Actions Deliberately or Indeliberately knowing them to be sinful or believing them to be innocent Now if we perform any Action Deliberately and knowing it to be sinful we never ought to look upon this as a little Sin much less a Venial one The Reason of this is plain The First Notion that every Man has of Sin is that it is forbidden by and displeasing to God and then to do that deliberately which we know will provoke God is an Argument of a fearless and irreligious Heart a Heart destitute of the Love of God the Love of Righteousness and Heaven But if a Man transgress in a trifling Instance indeliberately this alters the Case for the Matter not being of Importance enough to excite the Intention and Application of the Mind and there being consequently no Malignity of the Will in an Action where there was no Concurrence of the Judgment I cannot but think this may very well pass for an Human Infirmity for all the fault that can be here laid to the Charge of Man is Incogitancy or Inadvertency and that too as excusable a one as can be Lastly where the Matter of an Action is very trifling and inconsiderable and draws after it no ill Consequence either with respect to God or Man in this Case if a Man judge it no Sin I cannot think it i◠any to him though by a Nice and Scrupulous Construction it may fall within the Compass of some Divine Prohibition The Distinction of the Schoolmen is good enough here it is besides the Law but not against it or it is against the Letter but not the Design and Intention of the Law of God I cannot think that it is consistent with the Infinite Goodness of God to punish such things as these with Eternal Misery or that it can become a Man of sense seriously to afflict his Soul for them I cannot for my Life perswade my self that I should provoke God if passing thorough a Field of my Neighbour's Corn or Pease I should pull off an Ear or Cod or passing through his Orchard should eat an Apple The Notion I have of God and the great End and Design of his Laws will not suffer me to entertain such trifling weak and superstitious Fancies And here I cannot but take notice of two Things which very much perplex the Minds of some good People that is an Idle Word and Jesting concerning both which 't is very plain That such are miserably mistaken and that they are no sins at all unless unreasonable and superstitious scruples make them so This I say on supposition that by Idle word they mean only such talk as does not tend to Edification and by Jesting only that which is Innocent and Divertive By an Idle Word Matt. 12. our Saviour plainly means a blasphemous Word if that saying of our Saviour of every idle Word c. be to be limited and confined by the sense of the Context For the occasion of that Assertion of our Lord was the Blasphemy which the Jews belch'd out against his Miracles Or if our Lord here on this occasion advances a general Doctrine then by an Idle Word we must understand a wicked one proceeding from a corrupt and naughty Heart and tending as directly to promote Impiety as gracious and wholsome Discourse does to promote Edification This is evident from ver 25. a good Man out of the good treasure of the Heart bringeth forth good things and an evil Man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things And ver 37. for by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned By Jesting Eph. 5.4 The Apostle understands the modish Raillery of the Greeks which was generally made up of Prophaneness and Wantonness or brisk and sharp Ironies This is plain both from the Company we find it in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Filthiness and Foolish Speaking and from the Character given it in common with the other two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being the very same that is given the most infamous and vilest Lusts and Passions Rom. 1.28 Things not convenient is a diminutive Expression implying such things as contain much Turpitude and Wickedness in them Beza as appears by his Notes read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place foolish speaking or not and Jesting which as he observes makes Jesting the same thing with foolish Speaking or Buffoonry And justifies that Jesting which consists in a pleasant and divertive Facetiousness from 1 King 18.27 2 King 3.23 Isa 14.11 2. Some think that the meer Reluctancy and Opposition of Conscience against Sin is sufficient to constitute a Sin of Infirmity And this has received no small Countenance from such an Interpretation of Rom. 7. as makes Holiness to be nothing else but a Vicissitude of Desires and Actions repugnant to one another But at this rate no Man's Sins would be Damning but his whose Conscience were sear'd and when ones Heart did condemn one God would be sure to acquit one which agrees very ill with St. John If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things 1 Joh. 3.21 No man unless arrived at a Reprobate Sense can do that which is evil without Reluctancy for his Conscience will forbid him as long as it has the least Degree of Tenderness in it and restrain him as far as it has power And as to Rom. 7. it has been abundantly consider'd and I think sufficiently proved to belong to those who are the Servants of Sin as Rom. 8. does to those who are set free St. Austin indeed tells us that he understood that Chapter at first as the Pelageans did for a Person under the Law and under the Power of Sin But that he found himself constrained afterwards to understand it of St. Paul himself I will not examin the Solidity of his Reasons 'T is enough to me that his Change of Opinion does Religion no harm For he is so far from making a state of Holiness to consist with Acts of Deliberate Sin against Conscience that he will not excuse so much as rebellious Motions and Appetites if consented to All that he contends for in a good Man from this Chapter is That Lapsed Nature will sometimes exert it self even in the best Men in disorderly and distemper'd Appetites 3. Others Lastly will have those Sins into which we fall either over-power'd by the strength or wearied out by the Assiduity or Length of a Temptation pass for Infirmities But this Opinion has as little ground as the two former I can find no Scripture that countenances this Notion There are indeed some of great Reputation who have promoted it But I think the words of St. Paul make against it 1 Cor.
Appearance of it and 't is hard to imagine that a sincere Man who does indeed strain at a Gnat should swallow a Camel He that preserves the Tenderness of Conscience as he will have an Aversion for small Sins so will he have an Horror for great ones Thirdly The Mind of a Christian ought to be possessed and awed by the Fear of God and that not a slight and transient but a deep and lasting one The Psalmist was not content to say I am afraid of thy Judments but to express how thoroughly this Fear had seized him he adds my flesh trembleth for Fear of thee Psal 119. And certainly this Fear is a sort of impenetrable Armour which extinguishes all the fiery Darts of the Devil In vain is the Suddenness or the Briskness of a Temptation unless we first lay aside this Shield Fourthly We are bound to be always on our Watch and Guard and therefore if we relax our Discipline if we live secure and careless if we rashly cast our selves upon Dangers our Sin then will be but the Consequence of our Folly and therefore one Error cannot be an Excuse or an Apology for another I think therefore the Apology of Surprise should be confin'd and limited to slight Offences it cannot properly have room in great ones or if it have it may be urged in Mitigation of our Punishment but never I doubt for total Impunity 3. Lastly Venial Sin has its Rise from the Defects and Imperfections of our Nature and the disadvantageous Circumstances of our State Here come in the Failures and Defects in the Measures and Degrees of Duty if these can be properly reckon'd for Sins I say if they can For I do not see that this is a good Argument we are bound to the highest Degree of Love by that Law thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart therefore whatsoever falls short of the highest and most absolute Degree of Love is a Sin For at this Rate whatever were short of Perfection would be Sin We must love nothing better than God nothing equal to Him This will constitute us in a State of Sincerity What is further required is that we are bound to aim at and pursue after the highest and most perfect Degrees of Love but we are not bound under Pain of Damnation to attain them But on the other hand I readily grant that our falling short in the Degrees of Faith Love Hope and the like may be properly reckoned amongst Sins when they spring from Defects of Vigilance and Industry And if these Defects be such as can consist with Sincerity then are the Imperfections or the Abatements of our Virtues pardonable and then only Here again fall in Omissions wandring Thoughts Dulness and Heaviness in Duty the short Titillations of some irregular Fancies Forgetfulness slight and short Fits of Envy Discontent Anger Ambition Gaiety of Mind Thus we find the Disciples falling asleep when they should have pray'd Mat. 26. and David praying quicken thou me Psal 119. Thus his Soul too was often cast down and disquieted within him Psal 42. 2 Chron. 30.18 19. Job cursed the Day of his Birth In short our Natures are Human not Angelical and our State is full of Variety of Accidents that they are too apt to discompose the Mind and divert it from its great End The Ebbs and Flows of Blood and Spirits and an unlucky constitution or a Distemper the Multitude or Confusion of Affairs the Violence or the Length of Tryals the Ease and Flattery of Prosperity the Weariness of the Body or of the Mind the Incommodiousness of Fortune Roughness of Conversation these and a thousand other things are apt to produce Defects and Failures in our Obedience short Disorders in our Affections and such Emotions and Eruptions as abundantly prove the best to be but Men and the highest Perfection if it be but Human to be wanting and defective I think I have now omitted nothing necessary to form a true Notion of Sin of Infirmity My next business therefore is to consider S. 3. How far the Liberty of the Perfect Man in respect of Venial Sin ought to be extended There is great Affinity between Venial and Original Sin and therefore the Perfect Man's Liberty as it relates to the one and the other consists in much the same Degrees and is to be attain'd by the same Method so that I might well enough dismiss this Subject and pass on to Mortal Sin But reflecting on the Nature of Man how prone we are to Sin and yet how apt we are to think well of our selves I judge it necessary to guard the Doctrine of Venial Sin by some few Rules which may at once serve to secure our sincerity and point out the Perfection we are to aspire to 1st then If we would prevent any fatal event of Sins flowing from Ignorance we must take care that our Ignorance it self be not Criminal and that it will not be if our Hearts be sincerely disposed to do our Duty and if we use moral Diligence to know it if we be impartial humble and honest and have that Concern for the Knowledge and Practise of our Duty that is in some sort proportionable to the Importance of it The Ignorance that arises from natural Incapacity or want of sufficient Revelation is invincible and therefore innocent Joh. 9.41 Jesus said unto them if ye were blind ye should have no Sin but now ye say we see therefore your Sin remaineth and 15.22 if I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had Sin but now they have no cloke for their Sins This Rule must be understood of necessary Knowledge in General and more legible and conspicuous Lines of Duty Both which notwithstanding there may be room for Sins of Infirmity to enter where Mortal ones cannot there may be imperfect Dispositions of Mind and latent Prejudices there may be Instances of Duty of a slighter moment there may be several Circumstances and small Emergencies that may either be without the Aim or escape the Discovery of a moral Search that is of a Human one which though it be without Hypocrisie is yet not without more or less Frailty As to Perfection it differs in this as it does in other Cases from sincerity only in the Degrees by which it is advanced above it He that will be Perfect must search for Wisdom as for hid Treasures his Delight must be in the Law of the Lord and in his Law must be meditate day and night his Thirst of Truth must be more eager and impatient his Diligence more wakeful more circumspect more particular more steady and constant than that of the Beginner or of one who is no farther advanced than such Measures of Faith and Love as are indispensably necessary to Sincerity will carry him 2ly Sins that are occasion'd by Surprise and Inadvertency will not prove destructive if the Inadvertency it self be in a manner innocent That is First there is no room for
and allures us and 't is our Consent to its Enticements that gives Being to Sin and defiles us with Guilt From all this now put together 't is easie to conclude what sort of a Description we are to form of Mortal Sin 'T is such a Transgression of the Law of God as is vicious in its Original deliberate in its Commission and Mischievous in its Tendencies or Effects The Heart is corrupted and misled by some Lust or other and so consents to the Breach of the Moral Law of God a Law of Eternal and Immutable Goodness or if the Sin consists in the Breach of any Positive Law it must yet imply in it some moral Obliquity in the Will or in the Tendency of the Action or both So that Presumptuous or Mortal Sin call it by what Name we Will is a Deliberate Transgression of a known Law of God tending to the Dishonour of God the Injury of our Neighbour or the Depravation of our Nature Such are those sins which the Prophet Isaiah exhorts those who will repent to cease from And such are those we have a Catalogue of Eph. 5. Gal. 5. and elsewhere Now the Works of the Flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such-like These are the sins of which as of so many Members the Body of sin consists These constitute the old Man These are sometimes called the filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit Vngodliness Wickedness Iniquity the Lusts of the Flesh worldly Lusts and such-like These and the like sins have as I said in them very apparent Symptoms of Malignity and Mortality They are always the Effect of some carnal and worldly Lusts prevailing over the Law of the Mind and they imply a contempt of God Injustice to our Neighbour and some kind of Defilement and Pollution of our Nature And that these are the plain Indications of such a Guilt as excludes a Man from Heaven and the Favour of God is very plain from the account which the Scripture gives us both of the Origine and Influence of sin from the Care it takes to fortifie the Heart against all Infection from the constant Representations it makes us of the shamefulness and the Mischief of sin even in Reference to this World as well as the other I cannot see any thing further necessary to the Explication of Deliberate or Presumptuous sin unless it be here fit to add That it is Mortal though it proceed no further than the Heart There is no need at all that it should be brought forth into Action to render it Fatal and Damnable This is evident not only from the Nature of Divine Worship which must be entire sincere and spiritual and therefore can no more be reconciled to the Wickedness of our Hearts than of our Actions but also from the express words of our Saviour Out of the Heart proceed Fornication Adultery Theft c. And elsewhere he pronounces the Adultery of the Heart Damnable as well as that of the Body Mat. 5.28 But I say unto you that whosoever looketh upon a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery already with her in his Heart S. 2. I am next to give some account of the Liberty of Perfect Man in reference to the sin I have been discoursing of I shall not need to stop at any General or Preliminary Observations as That Abstinence from sin regards all the Commandments of God alike and to do otherwise were to mutilate and maim Religion and to dishonour God while we pretend to worship and obey Him For the Breach of any single Commandment is a manifest Violation of the Majesty and Authority of God whatever Observance we may pay all the rest For he that said do not commit Adultery said also do not kill Now if thou commit no Adultery yet if thou kill thou art become a transgressor of the Law Jam. 2.11 That the Restraints Man is to lay upon himself relate no less to the Lusts of the Soul than the Actions of the Body Except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees you shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5.10 That to begin well will avail us little unless we finish well too Universality Sincerity and Perseverance are generally acknowledged to be essential and indispensable Properties of Saving Justifying Faith These things therefore being but just mentioned I proceed to the Point to be enquir'd into and resolve 1. To be free from the Dominion and Power of Mortal Sin is the first and lowest step this is indispensable to sincerity and absolutely necessary to Salvation Let not Sin reign in your mortal Bodies to fulfil the Lusts thereof Rom. 6.12 And the advancing thus far does I acknowledge constitute Man in a state of Grace For in Scripture Men are Denominated righteous or wicked not from single Acts of Vice or Vertue but from the Prevalence and Dominion from the Habit or Custom of the one or the other know ye not that to whom ye yeild your selves Servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of Sin unto Death or of Obedience unto Righteousness Rom. 6.16 But then I must here add two Remarks by way of Caution 1st We must not presume too soon of Victory over an Habitual Sin An evil Habit is not soon broken off nor is it an easie Matter to resolve when we have set our selves free from the Power of it Sometimes the Temptation does not present it self as often as it was wont or not with the same Advantages sometimes one Vice restrains us from another sometimes worldly Considerations or some little Change in our Temper without any thorough Change in our Minds puts us out of humour for a little while with a darling Sin and sometimes the Force and Clearness of Conviction produces some pious Fits which though they do not utterly vanquish a Lust do yet force it to give way and retreat for a while and interrupt that Love which they do not exstinguish All this may be and the work not yet be done nor our Liberty yet gain'd If therefore we fall though but now and then and though at some Distance of time into the same sin we have great reason to be jealous of its Power and our Safety Nay though we restrain our selves from the outward Commission of it if yet we feel a strong Propension to it if we discern our selves ready to take fire on the Appearance of a Temptation if we are fond of approaching as near it as we can and are pleas'd with those Indulgencies which are very near a kin to it we have reason to doubt that our Conquest is not yet entire Nay the Truth is we cannot be on good Grounds assured that we are Masters of our selves till we have a setled Aversion for the sin which before we doted on and shun the Occasions which before
another since otherwise the Notion of Perfection would be extreamly maimed and incompleat I 'll insist therefore no longer on the use of the Words Perfect and Perfection in Scripture But as a further Proof that my Notion of Perfection is truly Scriptural I will shew 2. That the utmost Height to which the Scripture exhorts us is nothing more then a Steady Habit of Holiness that the brightest Characters it gives of the Perfect Man the loveliest Descriptions it makes us of the Perfectest State are all made up of the Natural and confessed Properties of a Ripe Habit. There is no Controversie that I know of about the Nature of a Habit every Man's Experience instructs him in the whole Philosophy of it We are all agreed that it is a kind of Second Nature that it makes us exert our selves with Desire and Earnestness with Satisfaction and Pleasure that it renders us fix'd in our Choice and constant in our Actions and almost as averse to those things which are repugnant to it as we are to those which are distasteful and disagreeable to our Nature And that in a word it so entirely and absolutely possesses the Man that the Power of it is not to be resisted nor the Empire of it to be shaken off nor can it be removed and extirpated without the greatest Labour and Difficulty imaginable All this is a confess'd and almost palpable Truth in Habits of Sin And there is no Reason why we should not ascribe the same Force and Efficacy to Habits of Virtue Especially if we consider that the Strength Easiness and Pleasure which belong naturally to these Habits receive no small Accession from the Supernatural Energy and Vigour of the Holy Spirit I will therefore in few words shew how that State of Righteousness which the Scripture invites us to as our Perfection directly answers this account I have given of an Habit. Is Habit in General a second Nature This State of Righteousness is in Scripture called the New Man Eph. 4.24 the New Creature 2 Cor. 5.17 the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Does it consequently Rule and Govern Man Hear how St. Paul expresses this Power of the Habit of Holiness in himself Gal. 2.20 I am Crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the Life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me This is a constant Effect of Habits and is equally discernable in Those of Vice and Virtue that they sway and govern the Man they possess Rom. 6.16 know ye not that to whom ye yield your selves Servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of Sin unto Death or of Obedience unto Righteousness Shall I go on to a more distinct and particular Consideration of the Properties of an Habit The first is a great Aversion for those things which are contrary to it or obstruct us in the Exercise of it And this is directly the Disposition of the Perfect Man towards Temptations and Sins he is now ashamed of those things which before he gloried in he is filled with an Holy Indignation against those things which before he took Pleasure in and what before he courted with Fondness and Passion he now shuns with Fear and Vigilance In brief the Scripture describes such an one as possessed with an utter Hatred and Abhorrence of every Evil way and as an irreconcileable Enemy to every thing that is an Enemy to his Virtue and his God Thus Psal 119.163 I hate and abhor lying but thy law do I love and verse 128. Therefore I esteem all thy Precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false way And this is a genuine and Natural Effect of Integrity or uprightness of Heart whence 't is the Observation of our Saviour Math. 6.24 No man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other And indeed every where a Hatred a Perfect Hatred of Evil is accounted as a necessary Consequence of the Love of God Psal 37.10 ye that love the Lord hate Evil and therefore the Psalmist resolves to Practise himself what he prescribes to others Psal 101.2.3 I will behave my self wisely in a perfect way O when wilt thou come unto me I will walk within my House with a perfect Heart I will set no wicked thing before mine Eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside it shall not cleave to me And how can this be otherwise The Love of God must necessarily imply an Abhorrence of Evil and that Habit which confirms and increases the one must confirm and increase the other too 2. The Next Property of an Habit is that the Actions which flow from it are if we meet not with violent opposition performed with Ease and Pleasure what is Natural is pleasant and easie and Habit is a Second Nature When the love of Virtue and the hatred of Vice have once rooted themselves in the Soul what can be more natural then to follow after the one and shun the other Since this is no more then embracing and enjoying what we love and turning our backs on what we detest This therefore is one constant Character of Perfection in Scripture Delight and Pleasure are every where said to accompany the Practice of Virtue when it is once grown up to Strength and Maturity The ways of Wisdom are ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace Prov. 3.17 Perfect Love casteth out Fear 1 Joh. 4.18 and to him that Loves the Commandments of God are not grievous 1 Joh. 5.3 Hence it is that the good Man's delight is in the Law of the Lord and that he meditates therein day and night Psal 1.2 Nor does he delight less in Action then Meditation but grows in Grace as much as Knowledge and abounds daily more and more in good works as he increases in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost Consonant to this Property of Perfection it is that in Psalm 19 and 119. and elsewhere frequently we hear the Psalmist expressing a kind of inconceiveable Joy and Transport in the Meditation and Practise of the Commands of God So the first Christians who spent their Lives in Devotion Faith and Charity are said Act. 2.46 to have eaten their Meat with Gladness and Singleness of Heart And 't is a delightful Description we have of the Apostles 2 Cor. 6.10 as sorrowful yet alway rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things 3. Vigour and Activity or much Earnestness and Application of Mind is a third Property of an Habit. 'T is impossible not to be intent upon those things for which we have even an Habitual Passion if this Expression may be allowed me an inclination which has gathered Strength and Authority from Custom will exert it self with some warmth and briskness Now certainly there is nothing
of all things O my God may I at least be one to fill the Train of this Triumphant Procession in that blessed Day when thou shall Crown the Zeal and Patience of thy Saints Thus have I given a short Account of Zeal I will now endeavour to kindle it in every breast by some few Considerations which will at once evince the Necessity and declare the Fruit of it 1. Our own Security and Happiness demand of us a Zeal fruitful in good Works 2. It is indispensable to the Welfare and Good of our Neighbour 3. It ministers most effectually to the Glory of God 1. Our own Salvation and Happiness depend upon it For without this we reject on at least frustrate the Counsels of God against our own Souls 't was for this Christ Died that he might purifie to himself a peculiar People Zealous of good Works This is the great End of our Election God hath chosen us in Christ before the Foundation of the World that we should be holy and without blame before him in Love Eph. 1.4 which is to be explain'd by Eph. 2.10 where God is said to have before ordain'd that we should walk in good Works And the beginning of the ver minds us that 't is for this End God imparts the Light of his Word and the Vigour of his Spirit that for this End he sanctifies and renews our Nature We are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works St. Peter tells us That this is that which all the great and precious Promises of God immediately aim at First Godliness then Life First Vertue then Glory What shall I say more Our Lord in his Narrative of the Last Judgment and elsewhere and his Apostles in almost innumerable Places have with great Power and great Earnestness inculcated this Doctrine that we shall be judged according to our Works that Immortality and Glory is the Portion not of Knowledge but Patience and Charity not of an Orthodox Belief and Specious Pretention but of Righteousness and Zeal for the incorruptible the never-fading Crown is a Crown of Righteousness Or if Men will be judg'd by their Faith which is not the Language of the Gospel this does not alter the Matter at all Since Faith it self will be judg'd by its Works And as a happy Eternity depends upon our Zeal so nothing else can give us any comfortable any rational Assurance of it in this Life The Reason is plain because 't is Zeal that is the only unquestionable Proof of our Integrity and Good Works are the Fruit which alone can evidence the Life and Truth of our Faith and Love hereby we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments 1 Joh. 2.3 Yea a Man may say thou hast Faith and I have Works shew me thy Faith without thy Works and I will shew thee my Faith by my Works Jam. 2.18 Dost thou believe in God why art thou not holy as He is holy Dost thou believe in Jesus why dost thou not deny thy self take up thy cross and follow him why dost thou not walk as he walk'd Dost thou believe a Judgment to come why dost thou not work out thy Salvation with fear and trembling why dost thou not prepare to meet thy God why art thou not rich in good Works that thou mayest lay up a good foundation against the time to come and lay hold on Eternal Life Nor are good Works less necessary to prove our Love than Faith Certainly if we love Holiness if we hunger and thirst after Righteousness we shall never live in a direct Contradiction to the strongest Passions of our Soul we shall never refuse to gratifie an Inclination which is not only fervent in us but its Gratification will procure us Eternal Rewards too Certainly if we love God we cannot but seek his Glory we cannot but be desirous to maintain Communion with him And if so do we know any Sacrifice that is more acceptable to God than good Works do we know any that he delights in more than Zeal Do we Love the B. Jesus are not good Works the very Test of this Love which himself has appointed If a Man love me he will keep my Commandments Joh. 14.15 Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Joh. 15.14 The Love of Christ saith the Apostle constrains us what to do to live not to our selves but to him that Died for us and rose again 2 Cor. 5.15 What other Returns can we make to Jesus what other way can we express our Gratitude to him He sits on the Right hand of God all Power is given him in Heaven and in Earth he does not himself need our Ministry nor want our Service and Charity But hear what he says in as much as you did it to one of these my little ones you have done it to me Matt. 25.40 2. Our Zeal is indispensably necessary to the Welfare and Happiness of Others Do we regard our Neighbours Eternal Interest 't is Zeal represses Sin and Propagates Righteousness 't is Zeal defends the Faith and suppresses Heresie and Error 't is Zeal converts the Unbeliever and builds up the Believer 't is Zeal that awakens the drousie quickens the lukewarm strengthens the weak and enflames the good with a holy Emulation 't is Zeal that baffles all Objections refutes all Calumnies and vanquishes all Oppositions raised against Religion and oppresses its Enemies with Shame and Confusion 'T is in a word Zeal and Zeal alone that can make Religion appear lovely and delightful and reconcile the World to it for this alone can adorn the Gospel for it renders Vertue more conspicuous more taking in Life and Example than it can be in the Precepts and Descriptions of Words Nor is Zeal less serviceable to the Temporal that Eternal Interest of Mankind When God laid the Foundations of the World he laid the Foundation of Vertue too and when he form'd Man he wove the Necessity of good Works into his very Nature How necessary is Justice to poor Creatures who lie so open to Wrongs and Injuries how indispensable is Charity or Generosity to these who are expos'd to so many Accidents to so many Wants to such a Viscissitude of Fortune and being all subject to so many Follies and Infirmities to so many Mistakes and Fancies how strong must be our Obligation to mutual Forbearance Patience and Gentleness In a word Sin and Misery abounds in the World and if there were not Vertues and good Works to ballance the one and â—o relieve and support us under the other Life would be intollerable So that Reveal'd and Natural Religion do necessarily terminate and center in a Zeal for good Works as their ultimate End and utmost Perfection in this Life and that Rule of our Saviour whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you do ye even so unto them is an Abstract not only of the Law and the Prophets but of the Code of Nature too and this single Principle if sincerely pursued