if we are then it will either be accepted of God or it will not If it will not Then to what purpose is it performed If it will Then is it of Grace that God accepts it And if of Grace must it not be accepted in and through Christ's Satisfactory and Meritorious Righteousness If so then it must be revealed by God in his word to be his will that we should thus obey i. e. sincerely and that we shall be accepted through Christ hereupon this will of God commanding is either a Law or it is not If not then there is no Transgression if we do not obey if it be then they must grant us a Law of Grace which for the sake of Christ will accept of sincere obedience instead of perfect and also they must grant that Christ hath purchased this or else they and all Mankind upon a supposition that God had continued Man should still have been obliged to sinless obediâ—â—ce as a condition or qualification of Life and so for want of obedience of this sort we should all have been left to the execution of the Curse and been damned for ever And observe this Law of Grace of which we speak doth not destroy the Moral Law summarily contained in the Ten Commands for we say still we are under obligation to have respect unto and obey all its commands in avoiding Sins which are forbidden and performing the duties which are commanded therein But this is that we say that we cannot nor do not perfectly obey though we have a principle of Grace wrought in us by the Holy Spirit but yet we sincerely obey and have respect unto its commands this shall be pleasing and acceptable to God for the sake of our blessed Mediatour And seeing such obedience would not have been accepted of God upon a supposition that fallen Man could have performed it of himself which I am sure he could not had not the Lord Jesus Christ by his Satisfaction and Merit procured it should is not here a plain different constitution and so a new Law purchased by Christ distinct from that which Adam in the state of Innocency was under But upon the matter some say the obedience injoined Adam and the obedience commanded us now is the same specifically or in its own nature and differs only gradually and therefore the Law must be the same and there is no necessity of a new one I Answer grant we that the obedience doth only differ gradually considered materially yet the obedience injoined us formally differs from that of Innocent Adam's and therefore cannot be of the same nature with his for our obedience is to be performed by us as penitent Subjects not so innocent Adam's and also in Faith of acceptation through a Redeemer and Mediatour but not so innocent Adam's so that our obedience now formally differs from that of Adam's in Innocency and therefore differs from it specifically and not only gradually and hence there must be a new constitution or Law injoining it Or else what warrant have we for it But suppose there should be only a gradual difference when indeed there is more as is manifest yet it doth not follow that the Law commanding is the same for it is sinless obedience the Law of Innocency requires and it will accept of no less now if less be accepted we must have a new Revelation and so a new warrant for it from a command or else what foundation for it or incouragement unto it and seeing we have a new Revelation and so a new warrant from God's command of this obedience then we must have a Law to which it relates distinct from that given to Innocent Man but in the very matter of obedience we shall find that injoined us which was not commanded Adam in the Law of Innocency nor indeed did suit at all with the nature of such a Law which will make it further evident we must have a new Law as fallen Creatures distinct from that Isa 1. 16 17 18. Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil Learn to do well seek judgment relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the widow Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll Isa 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous Man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Ezech. 18. 21 22. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die All his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live Acts 3. 19. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord c. What is required in these Texts is the revealed will of God which Sinners through his Grace are to be subject unto And is not subjection where it is yielded obedience Can this will of God then thus commanding be any other than a Law seeing that non-performance must be a manifest transgression and disobedience Let it be considered then if what we find commanded in these Texts was injoyned Adam before his fall had he needed to wash him and make him clean and put away the evil of his doings was he then wicked and called upon to forsake his wicked ways and sinful thoughts and turn unto the Lord before he was guilty of any transgression was he called upon before his fall to repent and be converted that his Sins might be blotted out before he had any Sin and to believe in a Redeemer that he might be saved or are these the commands of the Law requiring sinless works One would think those that oppose us should not affirm it and if not is not all this required of Sinners and must not that be a distinct Law by which it is required and is not God's own constitution how dare some Men then call it an humane invention It shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's house shall be established and many People shall go and sup come ye and let us go up to the house of God and he will mark us his ways and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the word of the Law from Jerusalem SECT VI. Justification described and made good partly in this and partly in the Sections ensuing HAving proved that there is a Law of Grace distinct from that which requires sinless works and that God justifies by this Law you may take this definition or description of Justification i.
implies Assent to these following things 1. That by Nature we are all lost perishing Creatures for how should a Man look after or be concerned about Salvation by Christ if he be not convinced of and give his assent unto this i. e. that in himself he is in a lost helpless condition Luke 19. 10. 2. That Sin hath brought Mankind into this condition Man was not in a perishing case as he came forth of God's hands but Sin hath made him miserable a Subject liable to all the Miseries of this Life and to the Pains of Hell for ever Rom. 5. 12. 18. and 6. 23. 3. That God made Man sinless and upright Man came not out of God's hands a crooked but a straight piece of Work He had not only the Natural but Moral Perfections which he was capable of God saw all that he had made and it was good i. e. had the Perfections which were suitable and agreeable unto its Nature Eccles 7. 29. 4. That as God made Man a sinless upright Creature and capable of Moral Government so sinless and perfect Obedience from Man became due unto God 5. That God gave Man a Law as the Rule of his Obedience and this Law did require of Man personal perfect and sinless constant Obedience promising Life upon his Obedience and threatning Death upon his Disobedience 6. That this Obedience the Law required was due unto God from Man as his absolute Owner rightful Governour and great Benefactor for whom should Man obey but him who made him hath the absolute dispose of him the absolute Authority over him and from whom he hath all his good 7. That we have by our Sin violated the righteous Law of an Holy God alienated and estranged our selves from him cast off his Government and made our selves voluntarily Vassals and Slaves to Satan and thus have cast off our best good and last end and are turned to the Creature and so have forsaken God the Fountain Jer. 2. 13. 8. That by this our Sin we have brought upon our selves the doleful Curse and Condemnation which the Law threatned against the Transgressors 9. That we cannot deliver or save our selves from this cursed condemned state seeing that 't is impossible that he who hath once sinned should be accounted by the Law an Innocent Person or one that never sinned and so also it is impossible that finite Creatures who are Transgressors should ever pay a sufficient Ransom or the full price of Redemption to offended Justice 10. That there is need of a Saviour or a Redeemer for such poor lost undone Creatures one that may be an Innocent Person and able to make full satisfaction to God for Man's offence 11. It implies an assent that there is a Saviour and this Saviour is appointed by God and that he is able to save yea mighty to save 12. That this Saviour is the only begotten Son of God given and sent by God for this purpose John 3. 16. 13. That God by the Gospel did reveal and promise this Saviour to our first Parents upon their Apostacy Gen. 3. 15. And so also to us 2 Tim. 1. 9. 10. 14. That this Gospel in which Christ a Saviour is revealed is true the very truth of God Coloss 1. 5. 15. That it was the meer love and mercy of God that moved him to give and send his Son to be a Saviour no previous deserts in Man could be the motive 1 John 4. 9 10. 16. That Christ our Saviour is true God of the same Essence with the Father equal in Power and Glory Rom. 9. 5. 17. That Christ that he might be a fit Saviour though he was God yet became Man not that he ceased to be God but by becoming what he was not God and Man in one Person for ever It was fit he should be Man that he might obey and God that his obedience might be meritorious it was fit that he should be Man that he might suffer and God that his sufferings might be satisfactory Heb. 2. 14. 16. Philip. 2. 6 7 8. John 1. 14. Galat. 4. 4. 18. That he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin Mary and born of her and that without Sin Matt. 1. 20. Luke 2. 6 7. 19. That his Name was given him according to his Office and the great work appointed for him by the Father i. e. Jesus because he should save his People from their Sins Matt. 1. 21. 20. That this Lord Jesus having lived upon Earth in perfect constant Obedience without the least Sin teaching and preaching the way of Salvation working many Miracles for the testimony and confirmation of the Divinity of his Person and the truth of his Doctrine and Office he freely gave himself to be a Sacrifice for our Sins to pay our Ransom and make our Atonement in suffering the shameful and painful Death of the Cross and also to free us from the Curse of the Law Heb. 4. 15. Heb. 7. 26. Heb. 2. 3 4. Titus 2. 14. Heb. 9. 26. Matt. 20. 28. 21. That he expired died or gave up the Ghost upon the Cross Luke 23. 46. 22. That he was taken from the Cross and laid in the Grave Luke 23. 53. 23. That he rose again the third day though he did really die and was laid in the Grave yet he saw no corruption he could not be holden by the bonds of Death but arose by his own Power Luke 24. 46. Acts. 10. 40. 24. That he about Forty days space after his Resurrection ascended triumphantly into Heaven in the sight of many Witnesses Luke 24. 50 51. Acts 1. 3. 9 c. 25. That he is advanced Lord over all in Dignity Honour Power and Glory with the Father Acts 10. 36. Acts 2. 36. 26. That he hath by the Gospel purchased a Covenant or Law of Grace and appointed that those in and among the Adult shall be saved who do unfeignedly repent believe in him and love him above all things and persevere in the following of him in the ways of Holiness unto the death Acts 2. 38. Ephes 6. 24. Heb. 5. 9. Revel 22. 14. 27. It doth imply on the contrary that such as do not sincerely repent believe and obey the Gospel and persevere in the ways of Holiness they shall lose Salvation and have Damnation for their everlasting portion Luke 13. 3. John 3. 18. 28. That Christ hath appointed and set up a Gospel Ministry and injoined them to cry aloud to give Sinners warning to offer them terms of Peace and beseech them to be reconciled 29. That though Christ be ascended and exalted in Heavenly Glory yet he is appointed by the Father to be the judge both of the quick and dead and will render to every one according to their Works Acts 10. 42. 30. That though he be now exalted on the right hand of the Majesty on high in Heaven yet he will descend from thence with Angels and glorified Spirits and will by his glorious and mighty Power raise
supposition i. e. that I hold Faith justifies as an act whereas I deny it and therefore it is a wonder how Men daâ—e appear in writing to the world charging a Man with that which he disowns and which they cannot prove against him and whereas this Man insinuates that I hold Justification by the simple act of Faith without relation to its object He saith as much as that I hold Justification by that which is not Faith for Faith without relation â—o its object is no Faith How Faith justifies I have shewn and also how we are justified by Christ and his righteousness Q. 9. What is that wedding garment that best robe that change of raiment that garment of Salvation and robe of righteousness that fine linnen that 's white and clean Are these our acts of Faith and Obedience or Christ's Righteousness imputed He â—till sings over the old Song and if he would have an Answer if he will take pains to look back thither where I treat of these matters he may find one Q. 10. If Justification be an act of God's free grace wherein he pardoneth all our Sins and accepteth us as righteous in his sight only for the Righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by Faith alone as saith the Assemblies How then is Faith itself our justifying Righteousness seeing it doth but only receive Christ's Righteousness which God imputes This he hath puâ—me to answer before in speaking unto the 23d Article of his Faith Q. 11. Whether was it not as possible and easie nay whether was it not more easie for Adam to have obeyed the Law of Innocency being free from sin in his nature as it is for fallen Man dead in Sin to believe and keep the conditions of the new purchased Covenant If so then saith he how doth the exceeding riches of God's grace appear thereby according to such an one that â—â— me whom he names What a Man is this to bring such a thing into question Have I any where or at any time affirmed that it is as easie for a Man dead in Sin to believe and keep the conditions of the Covenant of Grace as it was for innocent Adam to have obeyed the Law of Innocency Thus it is in the practice of such Men as this in the first place falsly to charge such as they know oppose them and thus beget a prejudice in others against them and so bring them over to their own party and keep them fast to them He supposes nay takes it for granted that I hold that which yet I deny i. e. I deny that Sinners have any moral power to repent or believe without the renewing and quickening power of the Spirit of God and seeing his supposition is false his Question is ungrounded and therefore is vain and frivilons for whether he will know it or no I affirm that by grace they are saved who are saved through faith but yet not of themselves it is the gift of God Qâ— 12. Hath Christ purchased a Covenant which accepts of that which is imperfect as such an one still naming me grants Faith to be and so morally evil Is this to honour the Law of God or the death and obedience of the Son of God or to set up the golden calf the fruit of our own brains drawn out of the forge of our imagination and dance about it saying this is thy God O Israel that justifies and saves thee Though I have already said enough for the solution of this yet there is in this which he calls a Question I would have taken notice of i. e. He supposeth seeing that the sincere grace and duties of God's People do not answer the Law of Innocency nor are not a conformity in full to that Law therefore they are morally evil i. e. in plain terms they are no other but Sin for he supposeth Faith to be so and if Faith then all other graces and duties Now I grant that although Persons have true Faith and performs sincere Obedience yet the Law of Innocency in it self or as such a Law condemns them for all this though through and for Christ they are delivered from a condemned state so as that the Laws sentence shall not everlastingly be executed upon them Rom. 8. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit And that because Faith in a Redeemer and sincere Obedience is not that conformity to this Law it calls for But then that true Faith in a Redeemer and sincere in Obedience as such are morally evil in themselves and so Sin this I deny for they are both commanded where then or in whomsoever they are found they are a conformity to the will of that God who commands them And can that which is a conformity to God's command be morally evil in it self or in its own nature and so Sin If this were so then it would be all one for Persons to continue disobedient Infidels as to be obedient Believers and this is uncouth Doctrine Indeed neither Faith in a Redeemer or Mediatour nor yet sincere Obedience under that formality only are commanded by the Law of Innocency seeing it is sinless perfect Obedience or obedience in a Subject where is no Sin that it requires seeing then that both the Faith and Obedience above spoken of are commanded they must be commanded by some Law and what Law can this be but a Law of Mercy and Grace which for Christ accepts of the sincere obedience of Faith when God might have insisted upon perfect obedience in a sinless subject Manifest it is that Man as he gathers from others confounds Law and Gospel which sets him and keeps him sadly wrong and dark in the Doctrine of Salvation by Grace through Christ And yet notwithstanding I have ground enough to think that he judgeth himself to be exceeding clear in the matter and looks upon me to be a silly deceived Creature and that there is no Salvation for me if I die an opposer of his confused notions seeing that by what he saith in this which he calls his Question he accounts me no other than a gross Idolater that forms and frames a God intending hereby the Doctrine I own out of the forge of my own brain and imagination calling it a golden calf which I dance about and call upon others to worship By such disdain as this this poor Mâ—n discovers what his Spirit is And though I could retaliate yet I do not think it my way and therefore all I shall say to this which is downright calumny for he cannot prove what he hath said is I wish there may be the like convictions and hopeful work upon his Soul which sometime since were manifest And that the Lord of his abundant Mercy in Jesus Christ if there be the truth of grace in his heart would take away all that which obstructs the exercise of spiriâ—â—al light life and love with relation to
union of the Soul with Christ by Faith and so its actual right hereupon through Christ to Pardon and Life and this â—aith as it is the matter of right is the Souls personal justifying Righteousness and the Gospels afferting such a Soul i. e. a Believer to have this right is God's mediate justifying act Consider still John 3. 16. For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life See then upon the matter if it be not of Faith that it might be by Grace and pretend not to exclude Faith for fear you should exclude Grace but fear to exclude Faith seeing that if you do you most certainly exclude Grace for the more of the Obedience of Faith and the more is the creature depressed and God in Christ exalted Rom. 4. 20. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God 7. A Seventh Text they would have speak for them is Rom. 5. 19. For as by one Man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous If they mean by what this Scripture saith that God did account Adam's act of his disobedience in violating the Laws to be ours so he accounts Christ's obedience in fulfilling the Law to be ours in it self and that we fullfiled the Law in him I Answer God did not account Adam's act in eating the forbidden Fruit so to be ours as though we had eaten our selves for God knows we neither took received nor did eat of the Fruit in our own Persons our Persons then having no Existence or actual Being And God is true and will not account that to be done by us which he knows we did not Indeed we partake of the sad Fruits of that disobedience having derived from Adam originally by natural Generation a nature sadly corrupted and violated and so are guilty before God and are accounted both by him and his Law really to be so And so God doth not account the Obedience of Christ in his fulfâ—ing the Law to be ours as though we had performed it in our own Persons for he knows and we may know our selves we did not But this God doth for and upon the account of Christ's sinless perfect meritorious righteousness constitute us righteous by his Gospel Law upon true Faith and accounts us as we are Believers for Christ to have an actual right to Pardon and Life 8. Another Text is Rom. 8. 4. That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit I take the meaning of this Text to be this i. e. Christ Jesus having answered the ends of the violated Law by his perfect Obedience and Suffering hath obtained hereby that a Christian's sincere Obedience which consists in conformity to the Law of Grace shall be accepted for Christ's sake as really by God as though he had fulfilled or perfectly obeyed the Law of Innocency in his own Person which now as a fallen Creature he is incapable of doing The ground of this my apprehension are the words that follow who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Now though every true Christian as to the bent of his Heart and Life doth walk after the Spirit and not according to the Flesh or corrupt Nature yet it cannot be that by this the Law of Innocency is fulfilled in him seeing that it must be a sinless conformity that must be a fulfilling of that Law now mark the Text speaks of a personal fulfilling and this by a walking according to the Spirit therefore this Law which is fulfilled in them or by them must be the Law of Grace and not the Law of Innocency And let not Man say still that God accounts that a true Believer doth fulfil the Law of Innocency in Christ for if so that Law must justifie and the Covenant of Grace be made void Christ fulfilled that Law for us but we did not fulfill it in our own Persons in his fulfilling of it 9. The Ninth Text is in Psalm 71. 16. I will make mention of thy righteousness even of thine only What is there in this Text to prove that God accounts the righteousness of Christ to be the formal personal righteousness of every Believer Plain it is the Text speaks of God's righteousness in keeping and fulfilling his gracious Promises which righteousness is no other but his truth and faithfulness But suppose we this Scripture to speak of the righteousness of Christ as Men would have it what will it still be to their purpose all that they can gather from it upon any likely ground upon this supposition is only that David would make mention of Christ's righteousness as the merit of all the good which he both had and did expect and the ground of his acceptance which is a great truth in it self but I do not say it is that which by the Holy Spirit is intended chiefly in the Text. 10. Another Text is in Ezech. 16. 14. And thy renown went forth among the Heathen for thy beauty for it was perfect through my comliness which I had put upon thee saith the Lord God This comliness say they which God put upon this People and from whence they had their beauty was the righteousness of Christ imputed in it self Now if the People would but a little consider what follows they might see this comliness God put upon them spoken of here was a civil comliness i. e. the Peace Plenty fulnses of all temporal good things the Honour Greatness Dignity c. that God had advanced them unto especially in David's and Solomon's times above their Neighbours But come on if so be they will have the righteousness of Christ meant then belike it must follow 1. Believers how mean or contemptible soever they be in this World must be renowned and very famous among the very Heathen for Christ's imputed righteousness And yet alas the poor Heathen are meer strangers to it knowing nothing of it and here is the wonder indeed 2. Believers they may trust too much to Christ's righteousness now I ever thought these Men that are for this strict Imputation had been of a mind that a Person could not trust too much to Christ's righteousness but its like Persons may if by this comliness be meant Christ's righteousness as they will see ver 15. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty and playedst the harlot because of thy renown and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by his it was 3. Persons valuing Christ's righteousness too much and trusting too much unto it may thereby be drawn to commit Spiritual Whoredom to break their Covenant with God and become Apostates from God by falling into Idolatry c. If they will have the righteousness of Christ meant by this comliness and the beauty that was upon this People then they must have these
account me a Transgressor of it so that plain it is if God do account us to be the fulfillers of the Law in Christ he must account us as such to be righteous according to that Law and if righteous then justified by it SECT V. The Nature of Gospel Justification farther opened HAving briefly dispatched the Objections which are most material I shall proceed a little further to open the Nature of Gospel Justification 1. God endued Man at the first not only with Natural but Moral perfection having adorned him with his own Image Gen. 1. 26 27. So God created Man in his own Image Male and Female created he them and this Image of God which we call Moral consisted in Knowledge Righteousness and Holiness Coloss 3. 10. And have put on the new Man which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created him Ephes 4. 24. And that ye put on the new Man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness He had Light for his Understanding Holy Love for his Will Righteousness for his Life and Conversation 2. Man being such a Creature must be capable of Moral Government i. e. of being ruled by Law for that Creature which is capable of knowing loving and obeying God must also be capable of being ruled by the Law of a Wise Holy and Righteous God 3. God therefore from the first put Man under a Law To say that God did not is to affirm That the capacity which Man had of knowing loving and obeying God resulting from his Moral perfections was in vain but God gave Man nothing in vain And it would be to affirm that God did not stand in relation to Man as his Rector and Governour nor Man in â—elation to God as his Subject by right 4. God ever suited his legal Constitutions or Laws to the state and condition of Man in the state of integrity God suited that his state with a Law requiring personal perfect Obedience Man considered as fallen from that integrity into a state of Sin and Misery God suited this his state with a Law injoining sincere Obedience and this not only initial or upon his first subjection but continued and constant to the end of his Life the one for giving him right through Christ to Pardon and Life the other for continuing that right 5. Both these Laws i. e. that of Innocency and that of Grace have their sanction both premiant and penal i. e. a promise of reward in case of Obedience and the threatning of punishment in case of Disobedience 6. These things being so I put the Question whether Innocent Adam's Obedience to the first Law would not have given him right unto the Life promised And whether this same Law of Innocency would not have maintained this his right The first we must grant or else say that the promise gives no right to the benefits promised though the condition be performed which to say is against the rule of common equity we must grant the latter also or else say that the very Instrument God hath appointed for the conveying of right to Life to Innocent Adam should not be regarded by him in point of claim for all Adam's perfect Obedience suppose his right should have been called into Question which to say must needs be to charge God with unfaithfulness and injustice Now if so be as is clear Adam's Obedience to the Law of Innocency would have given him right to the Life promised and also maintained this his right then will not our Obedience to the second Law i. e. to the Law of Grace give us right unto the reward promised and secure us through Christ from the punishment threatned And secondly Will not this same Law of Grace also maintain our right It must or else we must say that the promise gives no right unto the benefits promised though the condition required be performed by the Grace of God also that the very instrument God hath appointed for the conveying of right unto us should by him not be regarded or not be at all of any benefit unto us notwithstanding our performance of the condition if our right should be called into question To illustrate what I have said suppose that we should have a deed of gift of such an inheritance upon the due performance of such or such conditions therein expressed Will not the performance of these conditions give us right according to the deed unto the inheritance and if so be our right be called into question what must vindicate our right but the deed whereby it was given and granted unto us upon the performance of the conditions expressed If then these things be so as is evident then I gather from hence that which I intended i. e. that there must be such a thing as Justification by constitution or Law and seeing there can be no Justification by the Law of Innocency or Covenant of Works then there must be another Law which we must have Justification by and what can this be but a Law of Grace and Mercy which is the same with that we call the Gospel now if Persons will not grant such a Law then Justification must either be by the Law of perfect Works i. e. by the Covenant of Works or that Justification we now have must be no Law act and if so they who contend against us to destroy their own declared Opinion asserting that Justification is a juridical or Law term those therefore that deny the Gospel to be a Law they must either deny Justification by it and so account we are justified by the Law of Works or else they must contradict themselves in affirming Justification not to be by Law But because some Persons do not only deny but ridicule such a thing as a Law of Grace calling it an humane invention it will not be amiss a little to clear this that there is a Law of Grace distinct from that of Works Observe then I hope those that oppose us will grant that God required of Man while in the state of integrity a sinless Obedience Now the Question will be seeing Man is a fallen Creature whether God doth require any Obedience of him If not then Man must be at his own will to do what he listeth and is he so If God doth require Obedience what is it Is it sinless Obedience If so then all Mankind must be lost for none of the fallen race of Adam can perform it If they say that Obedience is performed by Christ for us I ask Hath Christ performed this Obedience that we might be exempted and obey none at all If so then he obeyed to set us free from all subjection to God if not then it remains for all Christ perfectly obeyed that yet still we are under obligation to obey in our own Persons Seeing then we cannot yield sinless Obedience or Obedience without Sin attending it Are not we through the assisting Grace of God to perform sincere Obedience If not then none at all
again Did not Paul account his Christian Righteousness the best of his grace dung I Answer no if we may believe his own express words for he saith Philip. 3. 8. that he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord and was his knowledge of Christ no part of his Christian Righteousness or was it no Grace or did it not include Faith if so then how could he account it dung or how did he so But it may be said Suppose that a Person be sincere and a true Believer Doth not Sin attend the best of his Graces and Duties I Answer Yes for certain But then is Grace and sincere Obedience in it self or in its own nature Sin Surely no. Persons would do well if they would distinguish betwixt Grace and Sin I am sure God doth and that both those that are in Heaven and Hell know Sin I grant is dung and filth wherever it is but so is not Grace true Grace Indeed I must say to such as are sincere Christians you have cause and occasion to bewail and beg Pardon for the want of the free exercise of Grace i. e. of Repentance Faith love to God c. in duty But then do you or ever did you mourn and grieve and sorrow because you have Grace I trow not And what is it which hinders the free exercise of Grace but Sin this you are to bewail and crave pardon for and believe assuredly that your duties cannot be accepted without the Mediation and Intercession of Christ Well but it may be said further our Repentance and Faith we account them only dung in point of Justification I Answer they are so I grant if either you or I set them in Christ's place or make them that which they neither are nor can be i. e. the merit of our Justification or a meritorious Righteousness but they are not so as they are appointed by God in the Gospel to give right unto and interest in Christ For let me ask Persons whether they think that God doth ever accept any of the services and duties of his People Must they not say yes through Christ and his Mediation And so say I I do not expect the best of my duties should be accepted any other way Well then if God accept the services of his People I ask again whether God will accept of Sin or no must it not be said no if so that God will accept of his Peoples duties and yet neither can nor will accept of Sin then how can their duties be Sin But it may be said again our best services are no better than Sin till they be offered up by Christ I Answer still I grant that Sin attends our best services and so we need pardon in our best performances and the Mediation of Christ for their acceptation But now if our best services in themselves be no better than Sin until Christ offer them up then Christ doth either tender to God that which is no better than Sin in it self or else he makes our Christian duties another thing than they were and so offers them up to God And if so it is not the very service he tenders but another thing a thing of another nature and if so the consequence must be that Christ doth not at all offer up a Believers service to God This then is that which I believe upon the matter 1. That God for Christ's sake pardons the Sins that attend the sincere services of his People 2. So far as they are sincere he is well pleased with them and accepts them for Christ's sake 3. Whoever they are who are not sensible of and lament the Sins of their best duties Look not unto and rest not upon the Merit of Christ for Pardon And do not rest alone upon Christ's Mediation and Intercession for their Acceptation their duties cannot be pleasing to God And I shall take leave here to tell such as make Conscience of the performance of Christian duties if you have true Faith and the exercise of it in a duty it will direct you to trust to and rest in Christ alone and his Mediation for your acceptation It is of the very nature of true Faith exercised in a duty to lead the Soul to rest upon and trust unto a blessed Mediator for its acceptance and whoever they are who pretend to Faith and yet do not make this use of Christ I must tell such their Faith is not true for I say it is of the nature of true Faith not to lead Persons to rest in themselves nor to rest in their duties but to rest in a Mediatour alone for the acceptation both of their Persons and duties and therefore I conclude that if Persons be such as have true Faith and the exercise of Faith in a duty it is not possible for them to rest in that duty or in themselves as performers of it SECT X. Concerning resting in Duty Pride of Grace and an unopperative Faith with some sensible concluding Instructions thereupon MUCH hath been said to caution Persons against resting in their Duties and Graces and I am satisfied was well meant and I do not deny but that Persons may rest yea and I am afraid too many do rest in their Duties but that any Person doth rest in the performance of Duty where Grace is in exercise this I deny For when a Person in the performance of Duty doth rest upon Christ and his Mediation for Acceptation 't is either one that hath Faith and the exercise of it or it is as he who is destitute of Faith and so of the exercise of it If the former manifest it is that where there is true Faith in its exercise that Soul cannot but rest upon Christ if the latter then the consequence must be supposing that a Person perform Duty that is destitute of true Faith and so without the exercise of it he is a Person that rests upon Christ and whose duties shall be accepted when yet the Scripture saith that without Faith it is impossible to please God Touching Persons trusting in their Graces and making Saviours of their Graces I affirm in like manner that where there is the truth and exercise of Grace it is impossible for that Person to rest in his Grace or make a Saviour of it and that because as before it is of the very nature of Grace to lead thither from whence it came i. e. to God in Christ as the Souls rest and Center whatsoever is from our selves leads us into our selves but whatsoever is from God as a moral good tends towards God Well but say some though Grace be from God and so be good yet it no sooner passeth through us but it is defileâ— I wonder for my part what notion Men have of this Allusive term passing through or when they say that grace passeth through us but I shall let that pass as a thing I understand not neither I think they that use the Phrase But
if Grace be defiled so soon as we are the subjects of it or so soon as it is given unto us or wrought in us then how comes it by this defilement it must either be from some change or it remains what it was if it be from some change that it is defiled seeing that this defilement must be moral then it must partake of the nature of Sin and if so it must cease to be Grace and if it do and become Sin as it must if it partake of moral pollution then in whom will mortifying and sanctifying Grace be found If Grace remain what it was and it was pure and good as granted as it had the Spirit as its Author then how comes it to be defiled I do not deny but there is Sin and much Sin where Grace is but then that this Sin pollutes Grace so soon as it is given and so it becomes morally defiled and partakes of the nature of Sin this I cannot reach for I think that what is morally evil must be sin and what is morally polluted must either be sin or sinful and to say sinful Grace and Holiness sounds harsh But it may be said doth not a true Christian exalt and set up his grace above Christ in a time of temptation to spiritual pride because of his grace if the temptation prevail I Answer in a time of temptation to pride if the temptation prevail a Person that is a Christian doth exalt and set up himself but he cannot be said to set up and exalt his grace above Christ hereby nor indeed doth he exalt grace at all because this exalting and high esteem of himself is a depressing of his grace and a putting a stop unto its exercise whereby he should exalt Christ so that grace cannot be the cause of this his pride for it is against its nature but the suppressing of grace or a putting a stop to its exercise by the prevalency of the contrary corruption So then you I say a Man cannot be proud of his grace I answer he cannot be proud of his grace that hath his grace in exercise because a Person is never more humble nor is God in Christ ever more exalted by him than when grace in him is most exercised for it is of the very nature of true grace to depress self lay low the Creature and exalt God and Christ so that the more of grace and the exercise of grace and the more of this But may not a Christian be proud of the exercise of grace I Answer he may be lift up in himself and proud of himself after the exercise of grace not that this exercise is the cause hereof it may be an accidental occasion but then it is the abuse both of grace and the exercise of it The truth is Christians if you would be secured from spiritual pride be kept humble labour to be much in the exercise of grace fear not that the exercise of grace should lead you to rest either in it or in your self for it is against the very nature of it the more of the exercise of grace the more doth the Soul take up its rest in God through Christ It is very strange in some Men O say they you must cast away all your graces and sincere duties and account them as dung and rest wholly upon Christ and his Righteousness just as though there was such an inconsistency and opposition betwixt Christ and the graces of his Spirit and Holy Obedience as that Christ and his Righteousness could not be relied upon and trusted to for acceptation except we laid by grace and sincere duty as useless here when for my part it is a matter quite beyond my reach to know how or with what or in what to rely upon Christ and his Righteousness for my acceptation without grace and the exercise of it in holy duties for think I if I rely upon Christ and his Righteousness I must have some way in which and something by which I must thus rely or how can I But it is like somâ— Men will have neither if both grace and sincere duty must be accounted and cast away as dung here O but say they you must beware of resting upon your grace and sincere duties for your acceptation and so of making a Christ of them I Answer for my part I do not fear this if I have but the truth and exercise of grace for God hath given grace and draws forth grace into exercise for this very end that Persons should rest upon and trust unto Christ's M diation for their acceptation and sure I am grace where it is in act will act according to its nature and this is to lead the Soul that hath it towards God in Christ as its center and rest and therefore if some Persons will amuse themselves and others unnecessarily I cannot help them but I shall pray the Lord to measure my Faith and quicken Grace and grant me the free exercise of it in every duty and then I know I shall be humble advance Christ and rest upon him as my only Mediator to obtain for me the grant of all saving good both Grace and Glory For in whose Hearts soever the Lord is pleased to suppress Pride Hypocrisie and Formality and keep them humble sincere and lively in the practice of Piety it is not possible but such should depend upon Christ both for pardon for the iniquities which attend their best duties and also for their acceptation for whose Hearts so ever are kept humble sincere and lively in grace and so in obedience such Persons cannot chuse but see and know their own sinfulness nothingness spiritual emptiness as considered morally in themselves and so on the contrary admire and adore the grace of God in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit for any thing of distinguishing grace and love towards their Souls and is this some resting in themselves and in their own graces and duties The grace and love of God in Christ Jesus certainly is the most highly advanced in Heaven and what is the reaâ—on but because their grace is perfected in the Spirits of just Men hence therefore the nearer any Soul upon Earth comes towards this Heavenly perfection by the growth and exercise of grace the more humble that Soul will be and the more God in Christ will be adored and glorified in and by that Soul John 15. 8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my disciples So that while some Persons caution others against resting in their grace I say beware of Pride Hypocrisie and formality and endeavour after the growth and exercise of grace and then no danger while grace is in its growth and exercise I wish it be not the case of many Professors that while they are pretending highly to advance the Lord Jesus and to rest in him and trust solely unto him they do not content themselves much with formality and take little care to see they have that
intercession of Christ Luke 22. 31 32. And the Lord said Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sist you as wheat But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren And that Christ is the Head of his Church which is called his Body I deny not But then that Christ was a publick Person in such a sense as that the Law of Innocency accounted what Christ did the Elect did and what he suffered they suffered I deny and have shewed the vanity of this above And though this Man speak not out plainly yet this seems to be at the bottom and the comparison betwixt Christ and Adam will afford him no such thing I grant that as all mankind were seminally in Adam as the common root so in that respect they fell in him as the prime progagator of a guilty and corrupt nature to his posterity to all that were to proceed from him by natural Generation yet that if Adam had stood and had propagated an Holy Seed that this Seed thus propagated had been secured in their standing by their Parent standing and had not any of them fallen this I want a word from God for its warrant I dare not make it an Article of my Creed Let him find me a promise in the Bible that runs thus or to this purpose either expresly or implicitely Adam if thou keep thy standing then an Holy Seed proceeding from thee by virtue of thy standing shall most certainly stand too and then I will be of the same Faith with him but until then he must excuse my dissent for this is certain to me that though Adam had stood and propagated an Holy Seed yet that Seed would have been under the same Law with their Parent and must have performed in their own Persons the same obedience that Law required of their Parent or else the Law would have condemned them notwithstanding the obedience of their Parent see then if his obedience would have secured their standing without their own personal obedience and that all mankind should have performed a personal constant obedience to the Law of Innocency suppose Adam in his own person had never fallen this we want proof for And so that Christ hath secured by what he hath done and suffered the state and standing of all the Elect without obedience to the Law of Grace I speak of the Adult i. e. though they live and die impenitent disobedient Infidels I deny for all such shall most certainly be brought to Heaven in the way of Repentance Faith and sincere Obedience and the reason is because the Lord Jesus Christ hath merited this for them but let it be proved by them that can that Adam besides his own Justification had he continued Obedient would over and above have merited assuredly grace and strength for the infallible standing of all his posterity which this Man's notion and the notion of others with him upon this point implies Men talk against and decry works of Superarogation holden by the Papists and see not how near they come to this themselves in attributing so much to a meer Man and to his Righteousness 8. I believe saith be that the Lord Jesus Christ the second Person in the blessed Trinity did when the fulness of time was come according to God's purpose and promise for the fulfilling of the conditions and bringing forth of the Grace and Life of this Covenant take upon himself the Nature Flesh and Humanity of the Elect and become God-man having both Natures in the unity of his Person the Godhead and Manhood I grant that Christ the Son of God did in time take upon him Man's Nature and united that Nature into one and the same Person with his Divine Nature but he would have done well if he had shewn first the difference betwixt Christ's Nature Flesh and Humanity considered as Man and secondly how the Nature Flesh and Humanity of the Elect differ from these in other Men. 9. I believe saith he according to the Scriptures that as Christ the Covenant head of the Elect was made under the Law so he was thus made and constituted in the room and stead of his Elect. There is nothing in this Article of his Creed but what I have spoken to before 10. I believe saith he according to Scripture he should have said so far as I understand it that the Father by way of Imputation laid all the iniquity and sin of the Elect upon Christ the Son of his love that he was made sin in a Curse for them and that he bore their sin in his own Body upon the Tree My reply is that Christ who suffered for us was an Holy Innocent Person Holy Harmless Undefiled seperate from Sinners He knew no Sin neither was guile found in his mouth The Sacrifices under the Law they were to be without blemish and without spot and as such were types of the sinless purity of Christ the great Sacrifice He by the eternal Spirit offered up himself without spot to God The Apostle Peter saith the just suffered for the unjust and we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Therefore Christ as our Mediatour did not take our Sin upon him so as to be accounted by his Father as some say guilty of our faults and offences nor did God the Father account and reckon him as such indeed by his free and voluntary undertaking to satisfie offended justice for us he obliged himself to suffer for our Sins but he never so took our Sins upon him as to be accounted and esteemed by God one that was wicked or a Sinner for if God his Father had thus accounted him as such he must have hated him but did God hate Christ either in his own Person or as our Surety Surely no. The contrary is plain this is my beloved Son and we are said to be accepted in the beloved He was the Holy and Just one in his sufferings yea as our Mediatour for he suffered as such Whereas then it is said Isaiah 53. that God laid upon him the iniquities of us all and by the Apostle Peter that he bore our Sins in his own body upon the tree we are to understand by sin and iniquity punishment for Christ's satisfactory sufferings were a punishment tho' not inflicted upon him considered as a Sinner or transgressor of any Law but voluntarily undertaken and suffered by him in our place and stead for the making our attonement A punishment Christ's sufferings were but yet not with relation to any Sin in or upon himself as our Mediatour but with relation to our Sins which were the remote occasion and procuring cause of his suffering though not as God did account them to be his but as he voluntarily suffered for them which would not have been had we never sinned Christ was not immediately obliged by or upon our sinning to suffer whether he
by the obedience of one i. e. the Obedience of Christ many shall be made righteous but this not by accounting the satisfactory and meritorious Righteousness of Christ to be the formal Righteousness of their Persons for this is proper to him as Mediatour and cannot be appropriated to them But by this i. e. for the sake of this Righteousness of Christ all those that by Faith accept him shall by the Covenant of Grace be accounted Righteous or their Faith shall be accepted for Righteousness Rom. 4. 5. But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness And whereas he adds in this Article for it is by the Obedience of one and not by the Faith and Obedience of many that many are justified that is a meer jumble for who saith that it is by the Faith and Obedience of many that others are justified And who saith that any are justified without the Obedience of that one i. e. Christ giving that its proper place and office which is to be a meritorious Righteousness And whereas they themselves make Christ's Righteousness to be the meritorious cause of our Justification and yet after that make it the material cause or that with which we are personally righteous they themselves affirm hereby that justified Persons are righteous in the sense of the Law and in God's account with the meritorious Righteousness of Christ and how Persons can in God's account have a meritorious Righteousness with which they themselves are in Law-sense righteous and yet be wholly stripped of that in their own Persons that will merit is a great Paradox for Christ's Righteousness is denominated meritorious from its inseperable property merit as he is our Mediatour 14. I believe saith he that this Obedience and Righteousness of Christ imputed is as able powerful and certain for the Justification of the Elect as the Disobedience and Sin of Adam was for the condemnation of him and his posterity It may be doubted whether this Man do believe that those he calls the Elect were of Adam's posterity seeing that he opposeth them in this Article and touching Adam's Disobedience and Sin which he calls his ability and power implicit for the condemnation of him and his posterity alas it was his moral impotency if he had said it was that which merited procured the condemnation of him and his posterity as they derived a guilty and corrupt nature from him it had been more like and near the truth And thus I grant that Christ's Righteousness had infinitely more merit in it to procure Justification for Sinners upon their believing than Adam's Sin had merit to procure his own or his posterities condemnation 15. I believe saith he that Jesus Christ by his Death Blood Merits Righteousness and obedience hath purchased bought and redeemed his Elect Church and People but that he obeyed and died to procure and purchase a new Law or Covenant with terms and conditions to be performed by them to give them a right and title to Justification I see no ground as yet to believe Indeed I believe him such a stranger belike is he to the blessed Covenant of Grace and yet for sure he looks upon himself to be a Gospel Preacher if there be one in the World In this Article further he wants my proof that there is a Law or Covenant of Grace with terms and Conditions to be performed by Souls to give them a right and title to Justification and this purchased by Christ That I have already done as he may find above and if it would do him any good I should be glad of it 16. I believe saith he that the satisfaction made by Christ to the Law and Justice of God gives the Elect a right to Justification and Life in way of title and that the Adult by Faith receive and enjoy that right That Christ gave full-satisfaction to an offended God I grant but then that that satisfaction consisted in Christ's suffering the same in kind which was due to us transgressors by the Laws threat which I suppose is that which he aims at this I deny and have shewed above it cannot be I believe that Christ hath undoubtedly purchased a right to Pardon and Life which is Justification by his satisfaction and merit for all those the Father hath given him But then that any of these I speak of the Adult have an actual interest in him or right and title to Pardon and Life so long as impenitent unbelievers this I deny seeing so long as they remain such they are in a perishing condemned state Luke 13. 3. I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish John 3. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God And is it like Persons should have an actual interest in Christ and an actual right and title to Pardon and Life by the Gospel so long as they are in a perishing condemned state in the account of the Gospel And then further saith he the Adult by Faith receive and enjoy this right I say the Adult receive Christ which receiving is not Physical but Moral which consists in a sincere consent to take Christ to be their Propitiation Head and Teacher and by this consent which is Faith they are united to Christ and have an actual right hereupon to the great priviledge of Adoption which includes Pardon and Life John 1. 12. But as many as received him to them gave he power or the right of priviledge or the priviledge of right to become the Sons of God and this right is continued by our yielding that subjection through Grace to Christ which we promised in our first consent or when we first did consent to be his Servants Revel 22. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the City 17. I believe saith he that all those thus elected and chosen and by the Father given to Christ redeemed c. are in God's appointed time the day of his power effectually called from a state of nature sin and death to a state of Faith Grace Justification and life and that all those who live and die in infidelity being Adult shall as certainly be damned as though they were in Hell already Mark Reader how he hath confirmed by thus much what I have said above But then saith he that any of the Elect being Adult shall live and die Infidels such an one speaking of me quoth he hath not yet proved That many of the Elect do live many years in Infidelity is out of doubt with me But that any of them shall die Infidels this I never said nor thought for saith Christ John 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will no wise
Christ only meritorious of these Wherein now do I contradict these Holy Martyrs in this And whereas he saith that these Men sealed the Doctrine contrary to Winchester's and so to mine which he would make to be of the same piece with his with their dearest Blood he insinuates the cause of their Death to have been known unto them when yet they themselves enquired after the cause and could have no account as to any particular in this matter of which this Man speaks But he hath not done yet I must have another cast of his Office before he leave this his Question and that is that really and in truth he doubts whether I hold any Imputation of Christ's Righteousness at all in a Protestant sense So that in his account he must be no Protestant that holds that God reckons the satisfactory and meritorious Righteousness of Christ to have been for our Redemption and Salvation or to have been the merit of the Covenant of Grace and the promised benefits thereof to â—â—evers or to have been the merit of the acceptation â—â—eir grace and duty c. And if he be no Protestant that holds these things then those that hold things concontradictory unto them must be the only Protestants for aut hoc aut ejus contradictorium and who can these be but the Socinians So that plain it is none are Protestants with this Man but such as to this point Thus I have done with his Interrogatories The next province he hath entered upon hath been to transcribe Mr. Troughton's Theses and Antitheses to which there is enough said already in answer so that to speak to these particularly will be but actum agere to do that which is already done But for all that Mr. Troughton hath said in his Book to render the Doctrine I have been insisting upon and according to my weak ability vindicating odious Yet if I mistake not Page 121 saith he Faith is the means whereby the obedience and death of Christ is applied to us not saith he by a physical but a moral application giving us a right to all the benefits of them Benefits of what why of Christ's obedience and death So that plain it is Christ's Righteousness which he makes consist in his active and passive obedience is not made over to us quoth he by physical application i. e. not in it self or in its own nature but by a moral Faith as a moral means giving us a right to all the benefits of them i. e. of his obedience and death And what can be more fully said to our purpose or on our part than this And he adds God having promised Salvation upon the account of his Son's satisfaction to all that come to him and believe in him Page 122 he saith there being but these two ways by which Man can be saved either by fulfilling the Law of God or in case of Sin by fleeing unto and trusting in the mercy of God if so then Faith must give the interest Pag. 23. Faith is not a proper condition but a qualification capacitating the Soul to receive benefit of Christ appointed by God for that use and having the promise of success Man being a rational Creature cannot be taken into God's favour without his own consent nor can he be made partaker of any promise without accepting of it and 〈◊〉 ing in it An heir saith he further if he live not 〈◊〉 lack understanding cannot inherit the estate though never so absolutely purchased and yet life and discretion are not conditions of the purchase mark here he only denies Faith to be a meriting or purchasing condition and he doth well but qualifications of the subject necessary to enjoy it it is well if he and some do not part for this but he goes on these qualifications are not in Men's power as Faith is in Christ's power to give it very good still true he having purchased faith and perseverance for all those he died for which binders not his purchase from being full and absolute whereas to suspend it upon any condition doth not make it not full We will not differ about a term seeing he fairly grants the thing i. e. that faith is a qualification capacitating the Soul to receive benefit by Christ and is a moral means giving right to the benefits of Christ's obedience and death which is only made ours in its benefits hereby by which he must grant an Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to us only in its fruits and effects Towards the Conclusion saith he I mean the Man I have had to deal with you may as well seek to rend the skin from my flesh as cause me to let go Christs imputed Righteousness I may not I dare not c. If he mean in it self he will find it neither is nor can be his so neither doth God account it to us after a Physical sort and therefore he need not fear that any should robb him of this for no Man can take away that from another that he neither hath nor is ever like to have Christ's Righteousness is his own proper to him and it is for this we have the application of saving good upon repentance and faith but it is not for us to be made righteous with in our own persons If it be in it self for impetration it is not in it self or in its own nature for application i. e. to be applied unto us but only in its benefits upon Faith Here he brings in one that respect and reverence forbids me to name saying Christ's Righteousness imputed is the sweetest word in all the Scriptures yea and saith this Man again we find the Apostle expressing the same ten times in the 4th Chapter of the Romans when yet there is no such expression in all the Bible it is a wonder how Men dare say that God in his word saith such a thing expresly when yet no such expression is there to be found I have made it evident that I deny not the thing in a sound sense but so as some Men will have it this I must deny for reasons already given Thus I am brought nigh to the Conclusion of this work which I have endeavoured to perform according to the rule and line of the Holy Scripture I impose nothing herein upon any 〈◊〉 desire the Readers to lay aside prejudice and judge acâ—â—â—â—ing as matters herein contained will bear weight in 〈◊〉 ballance of the Sanctuary imploring the conduct of the Holy Spirit which leads into all that is truth And if any shall account it their concern to oppose judging me to be Heterodox I desire they will produce argument and this particular and distinct and such as may be concordant to the Sacred Text and carry in it convincing evidence that hereby I having a discovery of my mistake for I have not attained to a state of sinless unerring perfection though at the present I am satisfied touching the substance of what is mine that it is truth may learn more for