faithful to him The question is of the continuance of our Love to him John 8. 31. If ye continue in my Word c. John 15. 9 10. As the Father hath loved me so have I loved you continue ye in my Love And if ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love Now if there were no danger of losing their Love to Christ there were no need for Christ to exhort them to keep his Commands in order to their abiding in his Love But this place shews that Christ having loved his own he loved them to the end of his days 't is not said of their days but all the time of his abode in the World here 's nothing of the final perseverance of the Saints how desperately wicked soever they be but what if the Lord should so set his Love upon these his beloved Disciples that were given him out of the World by his Father that maugre all the Frailties of the Flesh and the Temptations of the World and the Devil yet none of them should be lost but that they should be carried on through all Difficulties to the fruition of Eternal Glory Doth it prove that because some shall never fall that therefore no true Believer can fall away Pray consider the Parable of the Prodigal Son the lost Groat the lost Sheep doth it not shew that a true Believer may be lost and being lost may be found Moderat I believe God hath elected a certain number to Salvation and those that are given out of the World to Christ he will not fail to keep them to himself but will by interposing Grace so preserve them that they shall never perish But the others that Christ died for upon condition of their repentance believing and persevering therein to the end I dare not say but some of these may believe for a time and that with a true Faith believe and yet fall away so as to perish these times have afforded many sad and shaking Examples of this kind and I am not strictly certain of my perseverance and so not fully or strictly certain of my own Salvation Philet O what an uncomfortable Doctrine is this of falling from Grace Philad This Doctrine doth not destroy all Christian Comfort but a Life of much Christian Comfort may be had out of it seeing it is the unchangeable Purpose of God to give Life and Salvation to all those that shall persevere in Faith and Holiness to the end and that if they will but quit themselves like Men abstain from all foolish and hurtful Lusts and not wilfully stab their own Souls nor pull Misery upon their own Heads they shall be happy And what tho true Believers may be under a possibility of perishing yet seeing God hath through his bounty vouchsafed unto them so rich and such full proportion of Means thereby to prevent their perishing and to preserve them from Apostacy so that they need not apostatize or perish except they themselves please why should it abate any of their Comforts or Hopes of Salvation because under a possibility of perishing Men may possibly fall into the Fire and be burnt or into the Water and be drowned from the top of Houses and be dashed in pieces yet no Man lives ever a whit the more uncomfortable because under a possibility of suffering these Evils because they know God hath given them Reason and Understanding to preserve them from these things The Apostle Paul knew that he was under a possibility of being a Cast-away 1 Cor. 9. 27. yet how chearfully and at what an excellent rate of comfort did he live I am perswaded saith he Rom. 8. 38 39. that neither death nor life nor things present nor things to come c. The assurance he had that upon a diligent use of the means which God of his Grace had vouchsafed to him he should prevent his being a Castaway made him live at that height of confidence and courage which he did What can no one injoy comfortable hopes of Heaven unless they have a full and perfect assurance of the continuance of the Love of God to them how loosely and profanely soever they live and that if they commit all manner of Sin and Wickedness affront Heaven defy the Almighty laugh Jesus and his Gospel to scorn yet they run no hazard of losing their Souls Indeed such a Doctrine as this and such is the Doctrine of Absolute and Unconditional Perseverance contributes to the peace and comfort of the carnal part in Men and indulgeth to them a liberty of Sin but no Child of God that hath received of that Spirit whereby it can cry Abba Father either wisheth or desires Heaven or Salvation but in the way of holiness and upon that condition which the Lord Christ injoyned it John 15. 10. Nor is it possible that any Man should have comfortable hopes of Heaven or any assurance of being saved unless he hath through Grace discharged those Duties to which the Blessing and Privileges are therein promised This is the Foundation whereupon through Christ to build our Hopes and Comforts and not that God loves us for we know not what reason and that we cannot possibly sin our selves out of his Love but he will infallibly bring us to Heaven no but saith the Apostle 1 John 2. 3 5. Chap. 3. 18 19 20 24. Chap. 5. 18. hereby we know and are assured that we are in God and that he loves us But how comes Persons to this why if we love him and keep his commandments which if we do we shall never fall 2 Pet. 1. 10. But I must beg your excuse at this time I cannot stay only I desire you to consider this one thing concerning falling from true Grace If we consider Faith and Regeneration in themselves they may be lost because nothing in it self is unchangeable but God it cannot be said of any but God that he cannot lie and if so then all Men may lie and that Lie may be our ruin for ought we know Rev. 21. 27. And tho I do not doubt but that there is a State of Grace attainable in this Life from which Persons by the Grace of God shall never fall yet I would not have you affirm of your selves or any others that you cannot fall how wicked soever you live but rather remember we all stand but by Faith and therefore ought not to be high-minded but fear working out our Salvation with fear and trembling not lest God should forsake us but lest we should forsake God FINIS
sin Philad I believe the same that Believers considered as to that state they are in cannot sin as wicked Men sin to wit in making a customary trade of Sin but that they may sin with delight yea with deliberation yea plot and cast Projects for the committing of Sin as well as the Wicked witness David 2 Sam. 11. But now the Question is Whether they cannot cease to be Believers and then sin as other Men sin Mar. The Seed of God doth so remain in true Believers that they cannot but continue such yea they must remain Believers while the Seed of God remains in them for that keeps them from sinning as wicked Men sin or from finally falling neither can they do any thing to occasion the Seed of God to be taken away from them Philad This word remain signifies a present abode a present being in him it doth not shew a continuance of being and so it is true that those that are born of God begotten by the immortal and incorruptible Seed the Word of God 1 Pet. 1. 23. James 1. 18. and made partakers of the Divine Nature cannot sin as wicked Men sin so long as the Seed remains but you are to prove that it cannot but remain as Mr. Ives says in his Dispute with Mr. Danson Mar. The Seed is Grace by your own grant and it is for the substance of it incorruptible unperishable 1 Pet. 1. 23. John 3. 9. 17. 3. 10. 28 29. 6. 54. 1 John 5. 13. Peter's Faith failed sadly as to the act but the Seed remained c. and he was kept by the Power of God that he did not finally fall away Philad 'T is true the Seed or the Word of God is in its own nature incorruptible tho all the Men in the whole World should reject it 't is not called incorruptible because it cannot be forsaken or taken from those in whom it hath a residence for the present but because whether it be taken away or forsaken by them or not whether it be received or rejected yet still it remains in it self incorruptible and unperishable But you seem to lay the stress upon the word remain to shew that true Believers cannot fall away now the same Apostle John supposeth that the same Seed or Word might not remain by the word if Chap. 2. 24. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you c. you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father c. and so Chap. 2. 14. I have written to you young Men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you yet that this was subject to be lost appears by ver 28. where he exhorts the same little Children to abide in him that they might not be ashamed at his coming surely the Apostle would not admonish to that which it was impossible should fall out otherwise So Christ promiseth that the Comforter should abide with his Disciples for ever John 14. 6. Yet that doth not suppose that it was impossible for them to fall for he tells them Chap. 15. 2. That every Branch in me mind in me that hears not Fruit he taketh away And vers 10. If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love Christ never said to any of his Disciples That the most abominable Practices you can commit shall never lessen my Love to you nor is it possible you should die in your Sins in the midst of your Impieties there is a Seed of Grace in you that shall keep you from final falling away 'T is true so long as a Man is a true Believer the Seed remains but when once a Man departs from that state then the Seed doth not abide in him so that the word remain or abide doth not imply that it shall never depart the Scripture tells us John 3. 36. That he that believes not the Wrath of God abides upon him doth it follow from hence that it is impossible for him that is an Unbeliever and as such under the abiding Wrath of God to be a Believer So Whoremongers Adulterers Idolaters 1 Cor. 6. 10. Heb. 13. 4. are threatned with the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven without any mention made that if they repent afterwards the Punishment shall be reversed yet would it not be strange Divinity to affirm That no such kind of Sinners shall enjoy Life and Salvation upon their Repentance So God promiseth Life and Salvation to just and faithful Men without mentioning the loss of Life and Salvation they are like to sustain in case they turn aside yet manifest it is in Scripture such are threatned with death and destruction as Ezek. 18. 24 25. 33. 12 13. it being ordinary in Scripture to predict unto Men both Future Punishment and Reward according to their present Ways whether Good or Evil. Philet I believe many Believers fall away but by their falling away they plainly declare they were never of the number of real Saints Philad The Apostle speaks of some in his days that made Shipwrack of Faith c. Philet Ay what Faith was it It was only a temporary Faith or a light believing the Gospel such as believe for a season and then fall away like the stony ground but this differs much from true Justifying Faith Philad He that received the Seed in stony ground might be a true Believer as well as the other for that Faith which springs from the same Seed of the Gospel must needs be of one and the same nature and kind neither doth the withering of a man's Faith in time of Temptation prove he never had true Faith or that it differs in nature from that which is real and endures to the end the Scripture owns no such distinction that I know of neither do I see but that that Faith which indureth but a short time may be as real and true in Nature as that which abides all a Man's days But if a temporary Faith a Faith that is not accompanied with Justification and Salvation be the Faith that these are said to fall from then is it such a Faith that they are exhorted to persevere in and surely he would not exhort them to keep such a Faith with which they might perish and which would certainly fail them neither can you possibly prove that those that made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience never were true Believers Besides if to fall from a false hypocritical dead Faith be the Apostacy that the Scripture speaks of surely it would not be a Sin of so high a provocation to God Heb. 10. ult as the Scriptures declare it to be and which you in your preaching and printing declare it to be But I must away I shall be thought long Philet One word more What say you to John 13. 1. Having loved his own which were in the World he loved them to the end Philad Who questions the continuance of God's or Christ's Love to those that continue in love and
the manner of Men yet it is not necessary that all those things which are attributed to God should have something in his Nature correspondent to them according to that ancient Saying Similitudes are not wont to run on all-fours Metaphors are not to be strain'd to express things in themselves quite opposite nor make the parallel run till it grows lame but great care must be taken that no mean base or unworthy thing be attributed to the most high And therefore from the Potter's Power over his Clay to make thereof a Vessel of Honour or Dishonour as he pleaseth to infer positively from thence that God hath purposely made some to be Vessels of Wrath is an unjustifiable Inference from that Similitude Surely the Holy Ghost compares not our most wise Creator to a foolish Potter who because he might make what he would of his Clay did therefore make the greatest number of his Pots to be broken again to shew that he had as well a Power to break them as to make them which none but a mad Man would do but rather to a wise Potter that designs his Work for some good end and use Doubtless God so made all things that not one of his Creatures hath so much cause of dislike as to say why hast thou made me thus No Vessel of Wrath came so made out of his Hands So that if any be Vessels of Wrath the fault is not in him but in themselves by reason of their Infidelity and Contempt of the Lord and his long Sufferance I know this place is usually made use of as a Fortress for such as you are to flee to and is misunderstood to imply what you say but if you will but mind what the Apostle was upon and let this place be expounded by the Context and other places of holy Scripture so that the whole and every part of God's Word may agree in one Truth then we shall never take it in this sense of yours for then this dark and obscure part of Paul's Epistle which the Apostle Peter saith many wrest to their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3. 16. must be taken openly to oppose and contradict the whole Course and Tenour of God's Word Is there no way to understand the 9th of the Romans than by making those places which sound severely to clash against those that sound compassionately Is it not far the best way to interpret hard and doubtful Texts by those many Texts that are clear and easy than to interpret the many clear Texts by one that is dark and difficult or if one Scripture may have a double sense must we needs take it in the worst must I needs say that the Father of Mercy and God of Consolation which doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men did absolutely damn him before he had done either good or evil is it not the best so to understand it that his Mercy and Justice his Love and Power may imbrace and kiss each other Now the Scripture speaks in some places darkly and dubiously in other places it expresses the same thing more clearly and certainly the doubtful are to be expounded by the certain and dark places by those that are clear and all Exposition answerably to the Current of Scripture not contrary to it Now it doth seem as if the Apostle in these Words had an Eye to Jeremiah 18. 3 4 c. where he speaks of the Clay in the Potter's Hands not as it was in Creation but in Vocation being marr'd in the Hands of the Potter and so finding it would not be for that use he designed it for made thereof a Vessel as pleaseth him So God sometimes whilst he is at work to fashion a Soul for his own Work by the preaching of the Gospel by the sweet motion of his Spirit by Mercy and long Sufferance yet the Vessel is marr'd the Clav yields not nor is pliable to the Will of God and so finding it will not be a fit Vessel for Honour he makes a Vessel of Dishonour Read the 7 8 9 Verses and compare them with 2 Tim. 2. 20 21. so that it is plain God made of one Lump all Innocent and Upright Gen. 5. ult Eccles 7. ult at the first See what Mr. Loveday saith upon this in his Personal Reprobation Reprobated Page 243 God saith he like a Potter makes of low vile Man honourable Vessels Hath not the Potter any ordinary Potter power over the Clay to make it what Vessel he pleaseth and when a piece thereof runs coarse and is marr'd upon the Wheel hath he not power to make it a less honourable Vessel and hath not God the same and much more power over you that have imbas'd your selves by slighting and abusing all those Mercies he hath designed to bestow upon you and thereby make you honourable To be plain saith the Apostle why may not God for your Disobedience and Rebellion to his Son as zealous as you are for the Law of Moses of a glorious People and invested with all those extraordinary Privileges make you a base and contemptible People and besides your continuing still in Unbelief make your Condition far worse in the World to come Such a Paraphrase as this seems to bear a sweet Harmony with Jeremiah 18. also with the Scope of the whole Context and with the Apostle's conclusive Result Verse 32. that they did not attain to it because they sought it not by Faith but as it were by the Works of the Law So that when Persons do Evil against God and will not obey his Voice but obey Unrighteousness and harden their Hearts against him then he will make them Vessels of Dishonour prepared for Destruction These are they that Jude speaks of Verse 4. that were of old ordained to this Condemnation not simply as they were Men but ungodly Men turning the Grace of God into Wantonness c. By what is or might farther be said we may see that those absolute Decrees of Mers inevitable Damnation is no part of God's revealed Will for if this 9th of the Romans faileth to prove what you bring it for as it is evident it doth then there is not the least shew in the Scripture for it Nay this Opinion of yours seems rather to be taken out of the Turkish Alcoran or Heathen Authors than the Bible for the Holy Scriptures are so far from containing or asserting any such Exercise in God over his Creatures which consists in a most severe and dreadful dooming them from Eternity to endless Misery that on the other hand they frequently exalt him as very gracious loving merciful and bountiful towards all and that there must be a great Breach on the Creatures part in point of Degeneration before the Lord gives him up to ruin Isa 27. 11. yea the Love and Pity of God to his Creature Man exceeds the Affections of a Father to his Son or of the tenderest Mother to her sucking Child Mat. 7. 11. Isa 49. 15. Martha I cannot
do you think that God Almighty doth so delight in the Blood and Ruin of Men that rather than not destroy them Soul and Body he will have them live and die in Sin that he may destroy them This is like that which Suetonius reports of Tyberius in God's Love to Mankind Page 59. who being minded to put certain Virgins to death because it was against the Roman Laws to strangle Virgins caused them all to be defloured by the Hangman that so they might be strangled but far be any such thing from the God of Truth and Father of Mercy that he should appoint that the Devil should lead Men into Sin that afterward he might take occasion to damn them for it Mar. But you ought to distinguish between the Actions of Men and the Sin of the Action tho God is the Author of the Actions of Men yet not of the Evil of their Actions Phil. This is a nice Distinction you would seem to split a Hair God you say is the Author of the Fact but not of the Fault of their Disobedience not of their Sin but is this any part of God's revealed Will Mar. You read Acts 4. 27 28. Of a Truth Lord against thy Child Jesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the People of Israel were gathered together for to do what soever thy Hand and Counsel determined before to be done Here you see that it was the determinate Counsel of God that his Son should not only suffer but also that Herod Pontius Pilate Jews and Gentiles should betray and murder him Now had they done this in Obedience to the Will of God they had not sinned but they doing of it to make him a Sacrifice to their Revenge and Malice that was their Sin here God decreed the Fact but not the Fault Phil. This is no good Distinction How much better had it been for the World and what Peace might the Church of God have enjoyed had People contented themselves with what was spoken to them from the Lord and had not given their Imagination such unbounded Scope as to pester the World with such abundance of Scriptureless Distinctions and frivolous Niceties Now I readily grant that it was the determinate Will of God to redeem lost Man by the delivering up of his Son unto Death that is by leaving him in the Hands and to the Will of those who were his Enemies and whom the Lord did foreknow would put him to Death unless he did interpose by his Power to prevent their Rage and Malice Now for the effecting of this great and blessed Work the Redemption and Salvation of Mankind it was sufficient for God to decree that in case these or any other should attempt his Death he would not hinder them from effecting it but neither this Scripture nor any other saith that the Hand and Counsel of God had determined that the Jews and Gentiles should betray and murder Christ but only that these were gathered together to effect that which God in his Counsel had determined before to be done to wit the Redemption of the World Compare this Text with Act. 2. 23. where the Apostle plainly lays this Sin upon their own Heads in that they took and by wicked Hands crucified and slew the Lord of Life and Glory Du-Veil commenting upon this place saith That this Jesus by the Decree of the Father to whom he in all things voluntarily obeyed being surrendred into your Hands with incredible Importunity you forced the Romans to nail to a Cross Therefore Christ by the determinate Decree of God was given up into the power and disposal of his Enemies whose hostile and inhuman Rage God did not predestinate but only foreknew Now tho God did decree to leave his Son in the Hands of wicked Men that so he might die for Sin yet it is no less than Wickedness and horrid Blasphemy to say that God decreed that such and such Men by Name should betray and murder him Now to kill a holy and innocent Person is a sinful Act which is not from God but of the Devil who is the Author of it John 8. 40 43 44. and therefore it is said John 13. 2. that the devil put it in Judas's Heart to betray Christ and that Judas fell by Transgression Act. 1. 25. Now if God who hath by his Word prohibited the shedding of Blood or taking of any Man's Life away unjustly should any way incline or compel Men to it so as to lay them under a Necessity of being wicked he must needs be the Author of it Bishop Vsher in his History of Gotteschalk p 138. as quoted by the Author of God's Love to Mankind hath these Words Whosoever saith that God hath laid a Constraint or a Necessity of sinning upon any Man he doth manifestly and fearfully blaspheme God inasmuch as he makes him by that the Author of Sin and therefore I look upon your Distinction no better than meer Delusion to deceive the simple and inconsiderate ones First Because in wicked Actions the Acts themselves are simply Sin as Adam's eating the forbidden Fruit was simply Sin and is not Murder Drunkenness profane Swearing Stealing Whoring in themselves Sin Is it not because of such things that the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience Eph. 5. 5 6. The Wrath of God doth not take hold upon Men for such Actions as bare Actions but as sinful Actions as they are the Transgression of the Righteous Law of God 1 John 3. 4. How shall God be just in rendering to every Man according to the things done in the Body if Men sin by the Determination of God Secondly Because if God by his divine Decree lays Man under a necessity of sinning he is truly the cause of Sin and Man by thiâ— comes to have some Cloak for his Wickedness because he cannot justly be blamed nor punished for doing of that which he had no power to withstand but was forced on by an irresistable Necessity It was a grave and true Saying saith Goodman upon the Parable of the Prodigal Son of Seneca Necessity is the great Sanctuary of human Infirmity which whosoever can lay claim to obtains Protection for it perfectly excuseth all the Faults it commits No Punishment either Temporal or Eternal can in Justice be inflicted for any bad Action where there is no power in the Party to avoid it Why doth our Law condemn Men to suffer Death for wicked Actions if they were unavoidable and that when they murder steal plot Treason or practise any other Villanies they do them by Necessity of God's unalterable Decree Pray see what we have Deut. 22. 25. where we may see the Law of God awards no Punishment to the Damsel because what she did was by Compulsion being over-born by force which she was not able to withstand Nay farther if God hath decreed all the Actions of Men and bound them under the Dominion of absolute Necessity to commit them why then should we be
to come are taken away by Christ Rom. 8. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect c. and so Rom. 4. 23. Isa 35. 8. The Lord hath laid upon him the Iniquity of us all and 1 Pet. 2. 24. himself bore our Sins on his Body c. and what I said I will say that tho the Elect may sin as well as others yet their God in Christ will never un-son them nor yet touching their Justification and eternal Salvation will he love them ever a whit the less yea tho they commit never so many and great Sins For this is a certain Truth that as no Good in them or done by them did move him to elect and justify them and to give them eternal Life so no Evil in them or done by them can move him to take that away when once given Philad This is like that which is in the Mouth of some Be in Christ and sin if thou canst what pity is it that Men pretending to Wisdom and Sobriety and Professors of Godliness should fall into such Raptures as are next to Madness What a bundle of Errors are here wrapt up together and that under Scripture-guize but surely you do not read the Scripture in that Spirit in which it was wrote or else you might see notwithstanding the Apostle's triumphing that till Persons repent of their Sins and turn to God they stand charged with many things as I have told you from Eph. 2. and from Paul who was before his Conversion a Persecutor a Blasphemer and confess'd himself the chief of Sinners yea before the Apostle comes to this Triumphing he was long exercised with Frights Terrors within and Frightnings without and tells the Corinthians 1 Cor. 2. 3. that his Preaching among them was in great fear and trembling so that we must Fight before we Triumph and Mourn before the Lord Comfort us And how clearly doth 1 Pet. 2. 24. shew that the proper intention of Redemption is Dominion eternal Redemption is an eternal Obligation to Service Ye are bought with a price ye are not your own your Bodies and Spirits are the Lord's 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. Rom. 14. 9. You may see that one end of Christ's being a Redeemer was that he might be a Sovereign Lord over his Purchase yea this is one great end of the Lord 's entering into Covenant with his People promising to do great things for them Ezek. 11. 19 20. I say the end of all is that they might serve him Hockins on God's Decree p. 93. Can we entertain so ignoble a belief that the eternal Son of God should suffer for any less end than to advance our Human Nature to the greatest height of Piety and Purity of Life and to raise our Souls to the most refined and sublimate goodness What did Christ take our Nature upon him and become Surety for us and pay such an infinite price for us that we might spend more freely and daringly on the Stock of our Surety's Satiffaction Ah! Who can with-hold their Eyes from Tears to think that any should make use of Mercy to damn them For many had not been guilty of so many Sins nor persisted in them without Repentance had it not been for their false hope in Christ not considering Christ came to redeem from all Iniquity as well as from all Wrath. Philet But Christ dying for the Elect hath thereby fulfilled all Righteousness satisfied Divine Justice and purchased Heaven for them Philad And what then Philet Why then there 's no doubt but they shall be saved for in the very moment of Election they were pardoned of all Sins past present and to come Philad What as if now nothing could endanger their Souls they have enough for Heaven Pray what should hinder them from bidding all Sin welcom Why may they not kill whore c. and commit all Abomination and if impleaded for it bring in this as an Evidence that they were in the very moment of Election pardoned of all Sins past present and to come they have a Gracious God that will forgive them and a Surety who hath paid for all Philet I perceive what you are driving at You hold that Faith and Obedience in us to be the cause of God's Electing or Chusing us to Life and Salvation Doth not the Scripture prove that Election is not according to foreseen Faith not because Men do or will believe but because they should believe Rom. 9. 11. 1 Pet. 1. 2 3 4. 2 Tim. 1. 9. Tit. 1. 1. Now if Faith and Obedience be the cause of God's loving us then here is Merit this eclipses the Glory of God's free Love and renders Salvation of Debt and not of Grace Mar. This is down-right Popery nay I affirm that Faith and Repentance are no more a means to go to Heaven by than prophane Cursing and Swearing Philad That Faith in Christ and Obedience to the Lord is a cause without which God chuseth none to Life and Salvation is a Truth unless you can prove that God hath designed his Son to die to save such as will neither repent of their Sins believe nor obey him but live and die in open Rebellion against God and do despight to the Spirit of Grace and trample under foot the Blood of the Son of God c. but that it is the cause for which God chuseth any I disown as well as you For the Love of God the Father to the Sons of Men as they were Sinners and Enemies to him was the essential cause of our Salvation John 3. 16. Rom. 5. 6 8 10. 1 Pet. 3. 18. and Jesus Christ the meritorious and procuring cause of Man's Salvation and should we admit of any thing else but Christ to be the matter of our Justification or the meritorious Cause of Eternal Life this would be injurious to the Perfection of Christ's Righteousness and overthrow the freeness of Divine Grace and Love But you and all Men ought rightly to divide and distinguish between the Cause and Condition of our Salvation that Christ may be owned as the Cause and Author of it and Faith and Obedience as the way and means to attain to it for as God Almighty hath prepared a Heaven for Men so he hath appointed the way and means to fit and prepare them for it as Christ is the Way so if I should say that Faith and Obedience is a way to come to enjoy it I might say it was advancing Nature above Grace or setting up our own Righteousness in the room of Christ's Righteousness and so robbing him of his Honour or asserting Merits surely Eternal Happiness hereafter hath some dependance upon Holiness here Mod. I like this well and do believe that God that hath appointed the end hath also appointed the means as in the Case of Paul Acts 27. 22. though God had promised to save Paul and all that were in the Ship yet they were to use the means otherwise they could not be safe I would have
Apostle saith that the Elect that believe are dead to the Law the Law can no more command a Man than a dead Husband can command his Wife Philad 'T is true Believers are dead to the Law with respect to the Curse and Rigor of it but yet this Death to the Law brings Believers to a New Subjection you are dead to the Law that you might be married to another that you should bring forth Fruit to God so that you may see the blessing of the Marriage-Union between Christ and faithful Souls is fruitful before God in living in Subjection to his blessed Maker and Redeemer Mar. But doth not the Apostle bid Believers stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free and be not intangled in the Yoke of Bondage which is the Law Philad This word Liberty not rightly understood may be a Snare to destroy precious Souls we are bid to stand fast in the Liberty in which Christ hath made us free but not in the Liberty in which Satan the Lust of Men the Spirit of Error Carnal Interest c. make us free Christian Liberty is a freedom from Sin not in Sin Rom. 6. 18. it is a free serving of God to do his Will not the will of the Flesh we are called to Liberty but we are not to use it as occasion of the Flesh Gal. 5. 13. Gospel Grace brings glorious freedom 't is true from the Curse of the Law the guilt of Sin and wrath of God and from the burden of legal Ceremonies Sacrifices Circumcision with other heavy Yoaks yet is this Liberty to be confined to Scripture Rules Believers freedom should be like the Heavenly Liberty Angels are free but 't is to Duty not Rebellion and here will come in the surest Mark and the best Evidence of our Election 1 Joh. 3. 7 10. Little Children let no Man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous c. in this is manifest the children of God and the children of the Devil 1 Joh. 1. 6. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we do but lye 2 Pet. 2. 19. Mod. I believe that in many things Philadelphus is in the right Duties are means which God hath appointed for us to walk to Heaven in and those that belong to him he will give them Faith and Repentance and will by his Grace overpower their Hearts that they shall obey him in all his Holy Precepts I also believe that the New Covenant includes Conditions something to be done by us that believe for though the Love of God the Suffering of Christ was wholly free yet the Saving Fruits and Benefits by the Suffering of Christ doth not actually become ours upon the bare shedding of his Blood till it be receiv'd by Faith for his Death doth not necessarily save any but only as God the Father Son and Spirit shall think fit to communicate and dispense with the Issues of them as he that pardons an Offender may bring him to Terms before he pardons him and he that dispenseth Crowns and Scepters to unworthy Persons may require Homage and Observance from them without rendering it no Act of Grace As to the Law I say we are not justified by that but by Christ alone receiv'd by Faith and that it is necessary that Godly Preachers should teach the Moral Law or the Doctrine of Good Works as the Doctrine of Faith for Satan is a deadly Enemy to both Philad Well said Moderatus indeed to what end should the Great God of Heaven give forth his Divine Laws if they do not require our due observance for the Life of Christianity is not barely a Speculative but an active Life and does as seriously tell us what we are to do for Christ as well as what we are to receive from him Mar. There are many that lead sober Lives yet may nay shall go to Hell for all their Morality 't is not that will save them Philad I believe so too but why should you condemn honest Men fearing God as only Moral Men and as such who must certainly go to Hell yet others must escape it that are guilty of far worse Vices and who have been out-done by meer Heathens in their Practices Some must question their Condition for every Sin though never so small but such as you that reckon your selves true Believers must by no means question your Condition though your Sins be never so great No wonder to hear such expressions as these viz. that if a Believer be overtaken with gross Sins yet he blasphemes Christ that dare serve a Writ of Damnation upon him and that if they be but Believers and have once set their foot upon Christ they need not stagger for the greatness of their Sins nor their continuance in them it seems tho you be not good Moral Men yet you have a right to Heaven for all that Mod. Well but there are many very ignorant in the Mystery of Faith Faith hath the honour to be the Grace that apprehends the Mercy of God in Christ and lays hold upon his perfect Righteousness by which Persons come to be justified and to have peace with God Rom. 5. 1. yea by which Persons become the Children of God and by which they receive Christ as tendered to them in the Gospel and see him to be the end of the Law God hath now in respect to us cancel'd the Law which stood as a hand-writing against us and hath by the Gospel shewed us a way whereby to be made Righteous without the Law nay justified from those things by which we could not be justified by the Law for saith the Apostle by the Works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified but by Faith or by Christ made ours by Faith this was the great overthrow of the Jewish Nation Rom. 10. they being ignorant of Christ's Righteousness went to establish a Righteousness of their own c. this is a Righteousness without the Law and yet witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets and the whole Law is fulfilled in the Children of God because Christ's Righteousness is made theirs through believing and I must tell you that in many things Faith stands at defiance with Working and Doing Philad I believe Moderatus these things to be true and that it is the work of Faith to do what you say yet by the Scripture 't is plainly evident that 't is not a bare naked Faith a Faith that swims and floats in the Brain or a lazy Reliance upon Christ destroying of good Works that can or will save any let not any Persons flatter themselves into Misery for that Faith that is barren of the Fruits of good Works bears its own Curse that Faith that is not accompanied with good Works is stiled a dead Faith a Faith that can never bring us to Life and no better than the Faith of Devils James 2. 19 20. And tho it is true as you have said Faith hath the Honour to be the Grace that
he ever will his Will is regulated and is acted forth agreeable to his Wisdom Righteousness and Justice and according to his Divine Nature and as God hath made Man a rational Creature so he very seldom forceth Man to repentance against his will yet is the Lord pleased so to will the Salvation of all yea with such an effectual Will that he doth that which is of a proper tendency and sufficient thereunto that unless they wickedly and wilfully oppose the Means they should be saved yea so far as is any ways meet for him to act or assist towards their Salvation Isa 5. 4. What could I have done more that is tho God could have done more than he did yet it was not consistent to that method and stated order of things but more of this hereafter Mar. No Text of Scripture must be understood as to make God Impotent instead of Omnipotent or in the least reflect upon the Soveraignty Immutability and Omnipotency of God as if he could be disappointed in bringing to pass what he hath purposed and intends to do Philad Nor no Scripture must be so interpreted as to disparage or undervalue the Love and Bounty of God to all Men the general tenour of them representing in the highest degree the Goodness of God and as God is perfect in Power perfect in Wisdom so also perfect in Goodness yea Perfection it self any Defect is inconsistent with a perfect Being and above all a Defect in Goodness which gives a Value to the other Attributes of God If therefore some things in Providence or some Passages appear in Scripture that we cannot exactly reconcile but that they seemingly oppose this Point we ought to impute that to our deficiency in understanding and to try if they may not reasonably bear another sense or reserve them to be understood hereafter than to adhere to them in contradiction to the general Tenour of Scripture and the Light of Nature and Reason seeing nothing can be alledged which with that same clearness oppugns the perfection of Goodness in God as others may which assert it And seeing the Nature of Goodness consists in the taking a pleasure in the Happiness of others and in promoting it We must conclude from hence that God hates no Man but loves and desires the Happiness of all Men and that for his Will-sake he reprobates none either from Eternity or in Time to think otherwise greatly opposes God in all his Attributes it opposes his Mercy God is in Scripture declared to be a merciful God Exod. 34. 6. 1 John 4. 16. God is Love yea called the Father of Mercy and God of all Consolation yea rich in Mercy Ephes 2. 4. abundant in Mercy Pray see Psal 33. 5. He loveth Righteousness and Judgment the World is full of the Goodness of the Lord And Mica 7. 18. He retains not his Anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy And Psal 145. 9. the tender Mercies of God are over all his Works But how God could delight in Mercy and how his tender Mercies are over all his Works I do not understand What doth God delight in Mercy when he hath made such a Decree which sheweth more Severity towards poor Man than Mercy Are his tender Mercies over all his Works when for one only Sin and that once committed and that not in their own Persons he hath shut the greatest part of Mankind up under invincible Sin and Damnation not affording them a Mediator which was the greatest and most choice Act and Manifestation of God's Mercy that he could bless the World withal Now all the Attributes of God must take place upon Man And I beseech you tell me where the tender Mercy of God takes place upon those for whom Christ did not die for you will own there is Mercy in God as well as Justice do you not Philet Yea I do and God by his Decree doth fully manifest both Mercy and Justice his Justice to the Reprobate and his Mercy to the Elect. Philat Well but do you think that one Attribute of God destroys another Doth Justice in God wholly devour and eat up his Mercy leaving no room to take place upon some Persons Philet God who is the Supreme Lord of all may do what he will with his own when Man had sinned he was at perfect liberty whether he would shew Mercy to any or not and if he had made no provision at all for any of fallen Man it could not be termed an Act of Unmercifulness Philad I did not ask you what an Almighty God can or might do but I ask you how or wherein the Goodness and Love of God is manifested to those for whom Christ did not die Or how God who is the Perfection of all Goodness Mercy and Bowels of Pity can be said to bear any Love Good-will or Affection unto those before any personal or actual Sins by them committed upon whose ruin he was so bent that he hath wholly left them without all possibility of escaping Eternal Misery and Torment How can Mercy stand with such a Decree Doth not the Apostle Paul Tit. 3. 4. speak of the appearance of the Love of God our Saviour toward all Men But can there be any appearance of Love and Kindness to those for whom Christ did not die and whom God was resolved from Eternity to exclude from all parts and fellowship in Eternal Life Was not there as much Mercy Kindness and Good-will shewed to the very Devils as to such Men Nay Mr. Keach tells us That if Christ did not die for all God deals more severely with many of Adam's Off-spring than he dealt with the Devils because they were excluded from all terms of Reconciliation for their own actual Disobedience but Mankind only for the Sins of Adam made theirs by Imputation and as they partake of the same Nature Neither is their Condemnation aggravated by Christ's coming as those Persons are for whom Christ did not die Youth 's Celestial Guide Much to the same purpose you may see God's Love to Mankind pag. 136 137 138. That altho the Devils are set forth in Scripture for the greatest Spectacles of God's ireful Severity yet is God more merciful to them than to such Men and though they are both sure to be damned yet in three things Man is in a far worse condition by such a Decree 1. In their appointment to Hell not for their own personal Sins for which only the Devils are damned but for the Sin of another that lived and sinned long before they were born 2. In their unavoidable destination to endless Misery under a colour of the contrary the Devils as they are decreed to Damnation so they know it and look for no other But Men that are appointed to Wrath are yet fed up with hopes of Salvation and made to believe that if they perish 't is not because God would not have Mercy upon them but because they will not be saved when indeed there is no such
which God's Spirit had upon many others as Job Melchizedeck c. And how did the Lord secretly teach and instruct Abimclech Nebuchadnezzar Cyrus Darius in the Old Testament And the Heathens have at this day and before Christ's coming in the flesh had some glimpse of his coming into the World as may be seen in the Sibyls Verses and many others nay they came to injoy in some measure the Doctrine of Christ's coming and hath not the Gospel-sound gone thro the World and Paul saith that the Gentiles who did by Nature the things contained in the Law Rom. 2. were counted the Circumcision yea the Law should judg those that are circumcised in the Flesh if they broke it and so tho many boast of the Word and Sacrament of the Gospel amongst them and despise others tho the Means of Grace be abused the Gospel-Call neglected the Grace of God turned into wantonness and seek Gain by pretending Godliness yet those that have less means and yet have obeyed them shall be received and others rejected for many are called but few chosen And I beseech you all that set light by them take heed lest you become guilty of as great a Sin as the Heathen Nations are in worshiping false Gods by imputing that to the true God which is proper only to the Devil for it was the saying of a very Learned Man Mr. Withers in his Paraphrase upon the Lord's Prayer page 94. speaking something of the Doctrine of Reprobation without respect to Sin That whatsoever opinion others may have of it I conceive that all the Idolatries of the Heathens heretofore in communicating to Men Beasts or Devils the Honour and Attributes which are due to God only yea and the crucifying of Christ added thereunto amount not to so hainous an Offence as their Crimes who are knowingly guilty of this Sin because it seems to me more pardonable to ascribe to a base Creature part of that Honour which is due to God than to impute that unto him which is proper to none but the Devil And in his Parallello-Grammaton p. 61. he saith That it is an extraordinary high affront put upon God and more heinous than Murder Adultery and all other mere carnal Sins whatsoever yea more heinous than those the Jews committed by their Idolatries killing the Prophets and crucifying Christ in the Elesh for the last was but a Sin against his Humanity and their Idolatries but the ascribing some part of that Honour to the Creature which is due to God only whereas the limiting God's Universal Grace in Christ with the concomitant Doctrine and the Consequences thence arising and the imputing to God an eternal Reprobation of the greatest part of Mankind before they had done good or evil for those Sins which they blasphemously say he necessitates them to commit to shew his Justice and manifest his hatred to Sin is a despoiling him of his Divine Nature and ascribing unto him that which belongs only to the Devil Mar. That which the Gentiles receive is but common Grace and the improvement of any common Gift will not save any and should the Gospel be preached to them it would be of no saving use to them unless there be special Grace in the Soul Philet That 's true the Gospel may be preached a thousand times over and yet without the mighty Power of God none can receive it 't is not the Power of God to Salvation 't is but the external Offers of Grace or the external Dispensation of Grace by the Word Philad Here 's off and one sometimes Christ died for all that the Gospel might be preached to all and those that the Gospel is not sent to you look upon them Castaways and yet at last whether it be sent or not 't is all one there 's nothing in it but a dead Letter but pray tell me is not the Gospel called the Ministry of the Spirit Philet Yea in opposition to the Law Philad Well then I must tell you that there is such a power of the Spirit accompanying of it where it is faithfully preached as is sufficient for the conversion of Sinners or to leave them without excuse if they believe it not yea to judg them at the last day tho 't is true 't is but the instrumental Means to beget Souls to God for the original cause of our conversion is the Love of God the Father John 3. 16. Rom. 5. 6 8 10. 1 Pet. 3. 18. The Blood of Christ is the meritorious Cause the efficient or working Cause is the Power of God's Grace or Spirit the Ministerial Cause is the preaching of the Gospel Rom. 10. so tho God alone decrees it Christ alone meriteth it the Spirit sealeth it yet the Gospel revealeth it Faith apprehendeth it and so persons come to be justified and saved So tho God Christ and the Spirit are the efficient Cause of Righteousness and Salvation yet the instrumental Means of Salvation is not to be cast away Philet But there must be special Grace in the Soul before God calls any by the Gospel or else they could not give consent to his Call No there must be a Principle of Grace infused into the Souls of Men or they could not consent To say the stony Heart dead Man old Nature gives consent is very incongruous the Tree must first be good before it can produce good Fruit there must be first a Sun then a Beam first a Fountain then a Stream Philad It seems by what you say a Man must be a spiritual Man before the Lord calls him and before he hears or receives the Word which is a mistake for there is no Man but is carnal before he receiveth the teaching of the Almighty and by receiving the teachingof the Lord becomes spiritual for Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Mr. Brown in his Scripture Redemption saith James 1. 18. Of his own Will begat he us by the Word of Truth 't is a Life-Creating Word John 6. 63. and therefore called the Word of Life Phil. 2. 16. because through and by the word Life is wrought in us John 5. 25. and Faith wrought in us Rom. 10. and is a glorious Instrument of God's saving Power Rom. 1. 16. and called the Grace of God Acts 13. 47. that comes to us by his Grace Heb. 12. 1. 1 Pet. 5. 12. and this way are we to expect Grace from him and where the Word of Life is preached there and then God seeks and sues to us to receive his Grace yea and through the Spirit bestows so much Grace upon all Men when the Word of Faith is preached as is sufficient to beget Faith in them and to carry on their saving Conversion gradually unto the end Mat. 11. 21. Titus 3. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 23. 2. 9. James 1. 18. 2 Cor. 3. 6. Heb. 4. 12. observe Acts 26. 18. Dr. Holmes upon the Golden Chain of Salvation page 158. upon the Question How shall I come by the gift