them Secondly to bring to an end issue or event So Predictions and Prophesies Types and Figures are said to be fulfilled when the things are come to pass which those did foresignifie So the Scripture was fulfilled which saith He was numbred with the transgressours and thus the Ceremonial Law of Moses was fulfilled when Christ came and died for us and put an end to it Now of these two significations of the word fulfill in this sentence Love fulfilleth the Law he seemeth to take it in the latter sense as if it were said The Spirit of God and Grace of Charity hath made the Law out of Date and put a final period to it so that now it is not to be regarded any otherwise than the prophesies and shadows which have accomplishment in Christ whereas the word fulfill is not to be taken in this sense but in the former And yet if he doth take the word fulfill in the former sense namely perfectly to perform as the word is taken there understanding the while perfection of parts not of degrees then he is mistaken in thinking that love fulfills the Law per actus elicitos doing it self all that is required whereas it doth not fulfill the Law otherwise than per actus imperatos by setting others other faculties and graces on work The Sun giveth light to the world per actum elicitum it bringeth forth flowers and fruits per actum imperatum Love causeth us to be well and kindly affected this is the own and proper work of it but over and above it layes a command upon us to be serviceable in several Duties Love is not the fulfilling of the Law by elicit actions for fear and trust are required moreover in the first Table upright dealing and mercifulness in the second if it were it should indeed bring some discharge to the Law because it should contain in it self all the several parcels of the Law But because it doth fulfill the Law onely by exciting us or setting us on work to do the several duties enjoyned therefore it is needfull nevertheless that the Law should still abide in place and force that we may know what the particulars are that God requireth of us and that we may do them out of obedience to his will who commandeth these particulars to be done And certainly Love is not more a fulfilling of the Law after that Christ is come then it was before his coming for to love God above all was ever the sum of the first Table and to love our Neighbour as our self was always the sum of the second Table and howsoever meant the meaning was ever the same and as much did charity put an end to the Decalogue in the Old Testament as it doth in the New One chief place of Scripture by occasion of which and by following the sound of it more than seeking after the sense of it he is mis-led and mis-leadeth others is that which he quoteth to the Qu. 167. of the Law being a schoolmaster to Christ which text as some others also do he mis-understands thorowout For first by the Law they mean the Moral or ten Commandments whereas indeed it meaneth the Law Ceremonial chiefly if not onely which hath as much of the Gospel in it as of the Law the several rites and Ceremonies being but appendices Evangelii annexed to the Doctrine of the Gospel then though somewhat darkly revealed That the Apostle means this and not the Law Moral considered as a Covenant of works holding nothing for the present of a Saviour appears by the scope of the Apostle to the Galatians which is against them that would have circumcision and all the Ceremonies of Moses retained in the time of the Gospel as necessary to our Justification in Christ the very same opinion that beginning at Antioch the Apostles condemned at Jerusalem Acts 15. The errour of the beleeving Pharisees was not that it was needfull to be circumcised and to keep the ten Commandments but to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses namely that Law of Moses which was of the same kinde with circumcision which properly is the Law of Moses the law Moral being the Law of Nature written in mans heart before and by Moses ministery written out fair in Tables of stone Yet is it true that the Apostle speaketh in that Epistle against the Moral Law so far as it was supposed to justifie us but this he doth by way of argument against his adversaries and not as if he made the cause of the Moral Law and Ceremonial all alike in respect of retaining or not retaining them his way of arguing being à genere ad speciem negativé We are not justified by the Law any Law whatsoever therefore not by the Law Ceremonial And as our Authour mistakes the term Law here so doth he also in the fourth lawfull use of the Law which is to witness to Christ quoting Rom. 3. 21. where it is said that the Righteousness of Christ is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets Where the Law signifies the Books of the Law not the ten Commandments In the promise made to Adam Gen 3. to Abraham Gen. 12. is testimony given to Christ and his grace and in all those places where Moses wrote of him The Law and the Prophets being the same in that place that Moses and the Prophets Acts 26. 22. Moses in his five books wrote of Christ so did the Prophets So for the Law The word Schoolmaster mistaken helpeth to deceive them further for upon hearing of that they presently imagine great rigour and hard usage to be intended they think of nothing but stripes and scourges and ruling with a wooden sceptre as if he must needs be an Orbilius plagosus such a one as Fr. Junius met withall that he complains of so much in his life Corpus suum exercitavit in corpore meo whereas the best authours that treat of teaching young scholars as Plutarch and Quintilian will not allow of striking of them But be it as it may for that Paedagogus howsoever through penury of words we be forced to turn it is Formator morum such a one as was allowed and appointed to wait on great mens sons and heirs apparent and to teach them how to behave themselves and to frame their pliable and waxen age to love of goodness and practise of vertue and detestation of vice to fashion them betimes so far as might be for what they were to be another day {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} so calls it Constantine Manasses speaking of him that was Pedagogue to the Emperour Augustus he did set him in right tune for his carriage and made his behaviour congruous to himself so great a Personage Thus Cyrus had one who taught him before-hand not to respect persons in matters of Justice by reproving him for that he would have adjudged a coat that was in question not to the true owner but to another whom it best fitted And Iulian in his
not command any thing that is impossible I mean not that is impossible to such a person as now he is and at such a time but that is impossible in it self to be done But now it is a thing not possible or any way feasable for me to lay hold on Christ a Saviour unless he be ordained and appointed a Saviour for me and this cannot be but by Gods appointment and institution setting him forth to be a common Sacrifice and propitiation thus it is in life spiritual even as in corporal life and the course of nature it is impossible to be fed and nourished by a stone because it never was ordained of God for food Therefore Jesus Christ did give himself a Sacrifice for all men that hear the Gospel and as for them who never heard of him he offered Sacrifice for their sins also and whosoever shall go and tell them so shall tell them but the truth Although untill they hear it they do not sin in not beleeving it as they do who hear and beleeve not So much for the general intention and ordination of Christs Death for all men But as there is this general Redemption by means of that one Sacrifice for all men so there is proper to those who are chosen to life A special Redemption which as it proceeds from Election Eph. 1.4 so it consists in actual forgiveness of sins v. 7 in whom we have Redemption the forgiveness of sins All men are no where said to be elected All men are no where said to be forgiven So some Redemption belongs to all but not every kinde of Redemption And that the intention of benefit by Christs Passion was not alike to all on his part but more to some than to others appeareth hence that there was not the like application of it made by him to all He who offered himself a Sacrifice for the sins of all men yet did pray for some onely Joh. 17. 9. And God who gave his son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish did absolutely intend that the benefit of that promise should infallibly take place in some by removing that infidelitie which might have hindred them and by giving faith which enabled them to perform the condition and lay hold on the promise for want of which faith others are lost If in time and in execution he dealeth not alike the fruit of Christs Death to all men then may we safely gather that his purpose and intention touching the fruit of Christs Death was not alike to all men Executio est speculum Decreti we may safely behold and view Gods purpose and determination in what he doth in time effect and bring to pass And if any man shall now murmure within himself and say I know not whether I be of that selected number for whom Christs Death was intended to be actually every way efficacious nor whether Gods love and good will be as much to me as it is to any other and shall thereupon neglect the duties of Gods law and the means of his own eternal safety giving ear to the whispers of some false teachers by whom he is encouraged so to do or at leastwise excused for so doing rather than listening to the grave and wholsome advice of our Church-Articles which is To receive Gods promises in such wise as they be generally set forth in holy Scriptures I shall onely desire him to call to minde that saying of Moses Deut. 29. Secret things belong to the Lord our God but things revealed belong to us In which words the Man of God setteth bounds to our knowledge and to our search as once he did to the people at the foot of the mount that they might know their distance and keep it and not at their utmost peril break thorow ani gaze And whosoever he be that shall refuse to entertain and embrace points of belief and the Doctrine of godliness fully revealed and in the mean time busily intermeddle with secrets reserved shall add to disobedience the sacriledge of curiosity and may fear that God will set his face against him that shall dare to cross and thwart in such a manner so severe an Edict made known and published Having delivered by way of Question and Answer that Christs Death was a satisfactory Ransome for all and that nevertheless the greatest part go to destruction he proceedeth Qu. 96. How can that be if Christs Death was a satisfactory Ransome for their sins what shall they perish for A. Because he here through coming a light into the world they love darkness rather sin against his mediation and refuse to be saved by him Qu. 97. Was not his Death the Ransome for these sins too A. Properly and absolutely it was not so as to make the forgiveness of them due debt but onely for the sin of Adam and the sins that it brought upon us considered as before and without Christs coming which was all the sin we were bound over to death by and must have perished in had not God sent him to die for us Qu. 98. Must all they then that sin against his Mediation and the light and Grace thereby received perish A. All that persist finally so to sin shall but not all that at any time sin such sins for he can forgive them also and doth to them that repent of them Qu. 99. How can that be A. Very well because of the superabundancy of the worth and merit of his Death beyond the demerit of Adams sin and of all the sins that thereby he found upon us The Brief of these Instructions is this All sin and sins whatsoever Original and Actual of all men whomsoever whether they repent of those sins or not do obtain at Gods hand forgiveness as due debt by means and vertue of Christs satisfaction those sins excepted which are against the Gospel and Christ coming a light into the world yet these may be forgiven too if they be repented of because Christs gift for Justification superaboundeth for the forgiveness of more sins than Adams transgression brought upon us An accusation that is found to be false reboundeth with greater force upon him that brought it I will not charge the Catechist with this opinion now set down by me It is charitable to think he wrote here he could not well tell what but I do charge his words his Questions and Answers with the collection abovesaid The worst of Pagans may claim it seems as due debt the pardon of their most atrocious crimes because these are sins that Adams sin brought upon them Answ 97. that Christ found upon them Answ 99 Original sin produceth or bringeth upon us all actual sins as the root produceth the fruit The greatest sins of all those by the Apostle enumerated Rom. 1. Sins against the law of nature sins ripe to judgement filled in measure and running over such as for number and greatness and multiplication follow one another till they reach to
heaven Revel. 18.5 these all if they be but against the Law of nature and not against the Grace of Christ claim pardon as due debt first without asking pardon it is but just and just it is to give or pay due debt though it be not demanded secondly without Repentance indeed for sins against Christs Mediation there is a Condition or Proviso that they be repented of but none at all for other sins they are forgiven absolutely without further suit or service So that according to this Doctrine it is far better to hold of the first Adam as our Head and as our Root than to hold of the second or to hear of him For by the first Adam and the priviledge procured for him we are clear of our old debts and by means of the second we contract new If any shall say to salve his words from this worse than heathenish Divinity that whereas he speaks Answ 96. of sinning against Christs Mediation he may haply mean that Mediation which the works of Creation do speak according to his Instructions Qu. and Answ 152 153. and that thus all hainous sins against the law of nature may be said to be against the Grace of Christ and thus the Sodomites might be said to sin against Christs Mediation obscurely intimated in that God gave them a pleasant countrey and caused the sun to rise upon their city To this I answer He cannot mean the Mediation and Grace made known by the creatures but must mean the Mediation made known by Christs Incarnation because Answ. 97. he saith Christs Death was a Ransome for those sins that were upon us Before and considered Without Christs coming a light into the world now I think Christs coming cannot possibly be understood otherwise than of his coming in the flesh and Answ 96. He here-through coming that is by his Death as is plain by the Question And howsoever there weit no sins before God did speak his goodness in the heavens and works of Creation or that can be considered without Christs Mediation supposed to be shown in temporal blessings So that the sense which the words yeeld cannot be but as is said There be some opinions if they be fit to be rehearsed in Christian ears need nothing but their mere rehearsal for their confutation for their detestation I love not to rake in this worse than Pelagian puddle where the Preaching of the Gospel is so far from being made a benefit or a blessing upon a People that Christians and none but Christians thorowout the world are capable of being cast away or perishing But for his Pelagian Crambe I call it so as by him urged of the Universal particle All he hath alledged two texts One Rom. 5. 18. By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification the other 1 Cor. 15.22 for I take that verse and not the 21 to be meant as being the parallel place In christ shall all be made alive concerning this last place whether it be the 21 or 22 or both somewhat is to be premised because it may be diversly understood I think it is to be taken of a glorious vivification or Resurrection to life for this properly is a Resurrection and of this onely is treated in that whole chapter for the wicked or cast-aways shall arise not by efficacy of Christ the Saviour but by sentence of God the Judge for being by him sentenced to Death they must come forth of prison to be led to execution That Resurrection which is a priviledge of the holy Catholick Church in the Apostles Creed That which is spoken of Luke 20. 36. children of God being children of the Resurrection is that spoken of in this chapter also in 1 Thess. 4. the comfort of Gods people being intended both there and here Now for the Texts brought to prove the forgiveness of mens sins that were brought upon them by Adam to be Due Debt I answer he might have looked within a few verses of his second text and thus have read But when he saith all things it is manifest that he is excepted c. In some universals there be manifest exceptions and in every universal there is restriction to the subject matter or that which for the present is spoken of he chargeth us somewhere with broad denial of Scripture-sayings Not so but it is the Denial of the broad sense of some Scripture-sayings this we own and acknowledge All things that are said in Scripture or anywhere else are not to be taken in the full latitude Divinâ gratiâ opus est saith St Chrysostom Hom. in Joann 39. nè {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} insistamus itâ haeretici in errorem incidunt We had need pray that God would give us grace not to stand too much upon the bare words for so come hereticks to fall into their errours Gods word is written for them that are awake and have understanding and make use of it when they read But for those two places he needed not to have looked far to finde a limitation of the universal particle all for Rom. 5.18 it is limited in the very next verse vers. 17. recipientibus to them that receive the abundance ot Grace And in 1 Cor. 15.22 it is limited in the very next verse 23. to those that are Christs christ the first fruits afterward they that are christs And as tor the difference he hath given us between the sins against the Law of Nature and the sins against the light of the Gospel that Christs Death should be properly for the pardon of the former and not of the other I can no where finde nor do I acknowledge any ground for it St John telleth us that the bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin and the Apostle Paul who persecuted Christ when he was come a light into the world was nevertheless made a pattern to those that should afterwards believe 1 Tim. 1.16 if he who fiercely persecuted Jesus Christ be made of God a Pattern and Precedent to others of the vertue of his Death surely then was Christs Death as proper for him as for others and as proper for them that sin as he did as for him They who never heard of Christ are commanded to repent Act. 17.30 as well as they who crucified the Lord of life Act. 2. 38. Christ died for both and both must repent and neither of them can claim forgiveness of due debt without Repentance M H. talks much and unseasonably enough of the extent of Christs Death and makes it almost an unpardonable crime to limit it to Gods elect or them that shall be saved But who ever made so odious a restraint of it as he hath here made as if it were not properly and absolutely a Ransome for any person this day in England or yet in all Christendome for all the sins of Christians must needs be against the light of the Gospel their sins cannot be considered before or without Christs