Christ never agreed for the salvation of final impenitent Unbelievers never satisfied for that though he did for impenitency and unbelief and rejection of Christ for a time provided they came in at last He obtained of God not to take every denial every rejection for an utter loss of all for then we had all perished but obtained that God would wait and be long-suffering to sinners and accept them to righteousness and life provided they come in before death They that have a mind to it notwithstanding Christ's bearing their sins may bear them themselves and many will do so even they that knowing the terms of Justification and Salvation by Christ do chuse rather his eternal wrath and displeasure than to accept him on the condition of his love and favour They agreed that they and they only shall have benefit by this Propitiatory death of Christ that shall in this life perform the conditions whereon it is offered and if they finally refuse it on these terms they shall have no benefit by it but the wrath of God shall abide on them yea and they shall perish with heavier perdition with soâ—â—r punishment because of their treading under foot the blood of the Covenant slighting of it as not worthy their acceptance upon the terms of it Which is this new Covenant this second Covenant made in the blood of Christ So that I may say Though immediately and antecedently to the consideration of fixing the terms and making this second Covenant Christ dyed as I told you before that God might be just though he should pardon sinners yet he dyed eventually and the new Covenant being considered that God might be just and the justifier of him that is of the faith of Jesus He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed c. And for this cause he is the Mediator of the new Covenant that by means of death for the redemption of Transgressions they which are called that is Heb. 9. 15 effectually called converted might receive the promise of the eternal Inheritance Now it is necessary for your instruction herein that I make out to you these three things 1. What Justification is 2. What the Covenant 3. What the Condition First What Justification and to justifie â—s If you know what Condemnation is you may by it know what Justification is for contraries are mutually known by one another Now Condemnation is contrary to Justification Who shall lay any thing to Rom. 8. 33 the charge of Gods Elect it is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth If there be a controversie between men Deu. 25. 1 and they come unto judgment that the Judges may judg them then they shall justifie the righteous and condemn the wicked Now there is a two fold Condemnation viz. by the Law and according to the Law that is by the Law and by the sentence of the Judg. A man that transgresseth a Law is immediately condemned by the Law Adam in the very moment he transgressed the Law was condemned in Law that is made guilty the death threatned was made due to him And again when an offender is proceeded against according to the Law and by the sentence of the Judg sentenced according to the Law then he is Sententially condemned First the Law condemns him and then the Judg according to the Law So there is a Justification in Law and a Justification by the Sentence of the Judg. And these two senses of the word can only challenge any kind of propriety one is called Sentential Justification by the sentence of the Judg pronouncing him righteous and one that ought to be acquitted according to the Law The other is called * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constitutive Rom. 5. 19 Justification or Justification in Law which is of one that hath right to be acquitted when accused When the Scripture speaketh of Justification by Christ by faith or to life it constantly useth it in one of these senses He that is a believer that hath performed the Gospel-condition is justified immediately ipso jure in Law-title by the Law of Grace he is constitutively justified by that Covenant or Gospel-grant He that believeth shall be saved hath right to not-perishing and a right to eternal life by this promise though he is not sententially justified till the day of Judgment The Lord grant he may find mercy at that day saith the Apostle By the Law of Grace or Promise immediately the sinner upon his believing hath right to impunity as to Hell and right to the Inheritance by Promise and at the last day shall be adjudged to it to the immediate possession of all those Immunities which were given by the Law of Grace or Promise Not the hearers but the doer of the Law shall be justified In the Gal. 5. 5. day when God shall judg the secrets of all men according to my Gospel We through the spirit do wait for the hope of righteousness by faith that is for justification by faith at the last day But this Sentential justification is to come Therefore whensoever the Scripture speaketh of justification in this life as for the most part it doth being justified by faith we have peace with God But you are sanctified you are justified it is to be understood of justification in Law-title and in this sense it is to be understood here We may say of a man whose case is good according to the Law that ought to be acquitted when it cometh to trial The Law justifieth him the Law acquits him he is justified already in Law and so are believers in this life There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit The justification here spoken of is expressed by another word in the Text viz. Remission of sins And the Scripture constantly useth Justification in the Gospel-way and pardon or remission of sins as equipollent terms and the Apostle proveth there is no justification now by works but by pardon of sins Rom. 4. 7 8. citing it out of the Psalms Blessed are they whose iniquities are pardoned and whose siâ—â— are covered Blessed is the man to whâ—â— the Lord doth not impute iniquity Observe the place and you will see he useth imputing righteousness without works and not imputing iniquity as the very same Again in the Text justified freely by his grace through the 〈…〉 pt 〈…〉 â—hat is in Christ is thâ—s 〈…〉 Scriptures Redemption through his Eph. 1. 7. blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace And redemption through his blood even Col. 1. 14. the remission of sins Be it known unto Acts 13. 38 39. you therefore brethren that through this Man is preached unto you the remission of sins and by him all that believe are justified from those things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses The blood of the Matt. 26.
hearts lest we should draw back and his soul have no pleasure in us Do not say This is not to be supposed for you ought to put such suppositions to your selves viz. If I should now leave off to be wise and to do good I should perish For what else doth God threaten for If the righteous forsake his righteousness he shall dye As a man that never maketh this Supposition If Christ had not died I had perished or if God had not converted me cannot but be very unthankful which Suppositions are at least as equally impossible as the Supposition of your total Apostacy So a man that never maketh these Suppositions If I should fall away I should lose all cannot but be very unwary and remiss in care and watchfulness Concerning those several Names the Gospel-condition is called by let me add this Observation I know sometime these words may be and are used in Scripture in their proper sense for one act and no more And it may be sometimes by confess may be meant no more than confess And sometime Faith is used only for Faith as when he saith He that cometh to God must believe that God is There by believing is meant only assent And so when we read of Faith's operativeness it means only the belief of the Truth and so would I be understood when I at any time speak of Faith's operativeness as purifying their hearts by Faith yet whenever any Promise is made to any Grace or Act whatsoever of Justification Salvation Pardon there it implieth the whole Gospel-condition and all Graces essential to Christianity It must be understood caeteris paribus if other things answer thereto And this I can prove evidently to you by this argument else a man would have right by the Promise upon his Confessing though he did not forsake and by believing that Christ is risen from the dead though he should refuse to obey the Gospel and God would be unfaithful in denying him the things promised If you promise a Vintner so much money to send you such a Butt that stands in his Cellar and he sends you the empty Vessel if you can assure me that you are not by truth and promise bound to pay him then I am equally sure that you meant the Vessel and the Wine also you spake Synecdochically Methinks I may say as the Town-Clark of Ephesus once did with greater reason than he These things are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things that cannot be spoken against Object Is not this working for Justification or Righteousness Is there no danger in seeking to be justified and saved by works Ans No danger at all in this sense and yet great danger in another sense but it is so far from being dangerous in this sense that it is indispensably necessary to salvation They only shall be blessed that keep his Commandments in Gospel-sincerity that they may have right to the tree of life that is that they may be justified And I dare confidently say that never any did sincerely obey God whatever confused notions some good men have had in their brains that they held only speculatively but for this end among others that they might have right to Heaven which is Justification for as humane nature now is and I think I may say the same concerning the state of Innocency it is not capable of undergoing the difficulties of obedience but for such ends To escape the curse and attain the blessing which is to attain Justification and escape Condemnation And to say otherwise is to say God hath indeed made promises of remission of sins and Heaven to those that repent turn from sin and obey the Gospel but I will not regard these promises I will not be moved by them I will do none of these things for these ends but I will only act out of love Which yet I could shew you would be impossible For how can I love him who I think hath done me no good and how can I think he hath done me any good when I think my own salvation is no good as I certainly do if I do not desire and endeavour it And God hath threatned those that go on in sin with a Curse and Hell But I will not refrain sin for these ends that I may escape Hell I will only act out of Love I will be above Scripture I will neither be moved with promises nor threats But there is another sense which the Apostle speaketh of as damnable The Pharisaical Jews would have Justification and Righteousness without pardon would purely and meerly be justified so as not to be pardoned that it should be no favour to justifie them but their due without grace and pardon and that maketh him prove out of David the necessity of pardon Rom. 4. and that would be in effect to say without the Satisfaction and Righteousness of Christ and if so Christ died in vain this would make void his death they would have their obedience to the Moral Law which they commonly interpreted as reaching only to the outward act either to be perfect or so little defective that the great meritoriousness of being Abraham's Seed and circumcised and their strict observance of the Ceremonial Law and other Traditions never commanded would make up what wanted And their Righteousness being compleat of it self their Justification would be of due debt from the old Law through Justice and not of Pardon and Grace through a Propitiation And so too many among us look upon their good works as meritorious though they be sinners and know it yet they think the good works of Alms and other things which they look upon as no duties will satisfie for those sins and think God would do them wrong if he do not for their good deeds pardon their evil deeds think their good works are very good and deserving much from God and their evil not very evil and so God would be very hard yea unjust if he should condemn them If this was true then no need of Christ he then dyed in vain then salvation would be of debt from natural Justice from the old Law and not of Grace and Mercy and Pardon through Christ Will any dare to say If what I have spoken be true that he will pardon none but repenting returning believing sinners that it is not of Pardon Mercy Grace but of debt from the old Covenant which allows no Pardon I confess Paul's Epistles about Justification are hard to be understood and I am confident many Expositors are and have been notoriously mistaken about these things and that by Faith he meaneth as I do Faith and Obedience to the Gospel I have written something to shew to my Acquaintants the meaning of these places which I think make them appear rational and plain to this sense and absit verbo invidia will do so to rational men But it is not fit to speak so largely here I wish you to read considerately Cap. 3. v. 5. of his Epistle to Titus Can you
essentially one and the same act and both proper Efficients of the effect If one strike with a rod he strikes and the rod strikes though less principally yet both truly If a man promise he gives right and the promise gives right properly 3. Christ's Death and Merits justifie as a Satisfaction to God's Justice that he might pardon with safety to his honour and government 4. The faith of Christ or true Christianity as the condition Now a condition is a causa sine quâ non and it is agreed that a causa sine quâ non is no cause but only so necessarily called for want of a better word just as we are forced to speak always of non-entities as if they were entities whenever we speak of them as Tenebrae sunt Nihil fuit So I was wittingly forced sometimes before to use the word of Faith's influence into right And it is almost impossible to speak otherwise but any intelligent man may see though the performance of the Gospel-condition seemeth at the first view to have something like influence into right like causality yet it hath not but that influence which it seemeth to have is to be ascribed in propriety only to God and the Promise When a Felon reads it was not his reading that pardoned him but the Legislators by the Law upon his reading So that they err that use to tell us that Faith is a cause of Justification and not other graces for it is no cause it doth not in propriety justifie and pardon our sins at all If Faith did merit then it would be a moral efficient of our right Methinks none should say Faith is an Instrument of Justification for then it would be a true proper saying in the strictest sense Faith pardoneth our sins Faith acquitteth us You have seen upon what honourable terms God hath dispensed with his Law in not executing it however not fully executing it upon offenders 1. He doth execute some of it in this life upon his pardoned ones pardoned as to the great matters for Christ did not bargain that the curse should in every part be taken off immediately upon their believing No God makes sin evil and bitter to them in this life many ways and they must dye and their bodies rot in the grave for a time God told Moses he had pardoned the Israelites that is so as not to cut them off from being a people but as truly as I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord their carkasses shall fall in the wilderness And I doubt not but this tends to the honour of God's Justice to leave some drops of this curse upon us in this life and we ought to take notice of his righteousness as well as mercy in afflicting us Some will object But the Sufferings of Believers are not satisfactory Ans I know they are not in the strict sense of the word for that signifieth compensation enough for the fault or in the sense the Papists use the word For little Sufferings buying off other Sufferings yea the great or eternal suffering And some object They are not vindictive and when they explain the word they mean they are not eternal or totally destructive which is true indeed But if any by the words Satisfactory or Vindictive mean that they are not inflicted by the Rector by virtue of the Law for a fault in token of his displeasure and for the honour of his Justice and warning of others I must deny it and say So far as they are for sin they are satisfactory and vindictive in this sense and can plainly prove it 2. That which God hath and will take off as indeed all will be clear taken off at the great full executive Redemption the Resurrection of the body Christ hath paid deer for it 3. Though Christ hath paid this great Price yet we shall have this benefit by it only upon such terms of honour to God as acknowledging in deep sense of our unworthiness God's righteousness if he had condemned us and turning from sin accepting the Redeemer Methinks we should be so far from quarrelling at that we should see high reason for and admire the wisdom of God in this whole Transaction and while we see some of his ways are rational conclude all are so and our ignorance is the cause they appear no more amiable to us Here is no shadow of injustice in the Universal Magistrate of the World neither to Christ nor to Christians nor to the Commonwealth of the World nor to his old Law that was not executed 1. No wrong done to Christ for he underwent it willingly Et violenti non fit injuria No wrong can be done to a mind willing of the damage 2. Not to Christians The highest praises are due to God from them and given by them for this very transaction 3. Not to the World It was to reform it and lay a new foundation of Religion in it 4. Not to his Law For the repute of that hath been as well secured and kept as inviolable by the revelation of this to be adored Justice of God as if it had been executed upon all offenders to all Eternity I will answer but one Objection more before I come to apply all Some will expect to hear how this whole Doctrine is consistent with Election and Special Grace If you ask men of different perswasions concerning general and special Grace How it comes to pass that any of the degenerate sons of Adam are saved They will answer Only by Grace and Mercy through Christ If you ask them further How comes it about that some are saved and some perish notwithstanding this Grace They will further answer Because some believe perform the Gospel-condition others not If you demand How comes this that some perform the Gospel-condition and not others They will still concent in answering Some will and some will not some chuse mercy on the terms of it and others chuse rather to perish than to accept Christ and Mercy on the Gospel-terms Thus far they agree commonly so that it doth not properly concern me to speak in this Discourse of the things wherein they differ both granting all that I affirm But if you enquire further of them How comes it to pass that some are thus willing and others not Here they disagree Some will say this of man's willingness it is to be ascribed to man himself or give such answer that it inevitably follows from it and that God doth no more in this case for one than for another helps one as much as another and then consequently it follows that a man converted is not a jo◠more beholden to God than one not converted God doing no more for him than the other And some doctrinally hold That God giveth men only free-will and the Gospel or objective Evidence and will go no further with any I cannot understand how such can pray for Grace or for God's giving them to improve the Gospel and his
would not be true arguing If Christ died for the good of all then were all dead But this way that I am speaking of is good and cogent If in the stead and room of all they all were judicially dead Again the word used in the Original for us is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may when there is fit subject matter signifie only the final cause but it is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as Grotius well observes always imports either contrariety or commutation and it can by no means signifie contrariety therefore it signifies commutation compensation He gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ransom for many like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 20. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. vice So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And they were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who devoted themselves to death in the stead of others 3. He is said in many places to redeem us Gave himself for us that he 2 Tit. 2. 14. might redeem us from our iniquities To ransom us to be a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ransom He gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. Now the proper import of redeem and such words is by way of price And what if as they object the word redeem sometime be used Metaphorically for our deliverance from any evil whether with price or without for redemption by power as when he saith I will redeem you with stretched-out arm and with great judgment Doth it therefore follow that it can possibly so signifie redemption by power when we are said to be redeemed with price and bought with a price and with a price of great value and when we are told with what price we are redeemed Not with corruptible things as silver and gold but 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Act. 20. 28. with the precious blood of Christ And when we read it was done by bearing the punishment due unto us His own self bare our sins in his body on a tree 2. This is plainly proved by the peculiarity of his Death We will readily grant He died for us as none in the world else ever died for us therefore not only for our good Socinus and his Followers tell us that Christ having taught as a Prophet sent from God a Doctrine of holiness and piety and that they that imbrace it believe repent return shall be saved notwithstanding all their former sins He died only to confirm the truth of his Doctrine and to leave the world an example of patience and submission courage in suffering but not for expiation satisfaction Certainly Christ did some singular thing by his Death and if this be all we may ask What singular thing hath he done Have not all Martyrs done the same by their Death they taught true Doctrine and died to give Witness to the Truth and to encourage us in sufferings Did not the Apostles do the same the Apostle speaketh of his sufferings for their good in Col. 1. 24. this sense Who now rejoyce in my sufferings for you for the Church Therefore I endure all things for the Elects 2 Tim. 2. 10. sake that they also may obtain the Salvation by Jesus Christ And yet he speaketh it with abhorrence Was Paul crucified for you Do we suffer 1 Cor. â—1 13. for you in the sense that Christ suffered for you as a Satisfaction as an Expiation And if this be all the meaning of our Redemption by his blood and Justification by his blood then we may as well say We are redeemed and justified by the blood of Martyrs however as really though not fully his death and sufferings being at most but a greater attestation of the truth and encouragement of us in our suffering for it If Christ died only for the Confirmation of the Gospel which he preached and for our encouragement and imitation in suffering for the truth we may say Where is the Lamb for the Burnt-offering We are guilty and want atonement Captives and want a ransom If we should look on Christ's Death as one saith through Socinus his Spectacles we should look on it as neither satisfactory to God nor us we have yet no help meet for us there is no days-man between us he that was to come is not come And yet we look not for another 3. I shall prove it from the Sacrifices under the Old Testament which typified and shadowed out these things The Law had a shadow of good Heb. 10. 1 2. things to come not the very image implying Christ's Sacrifice was the very reality The blood of Bulls and Goats could not expiate moral guilt but only shadowed out that which could do it Every Priest standeth daily Heb. 10. 11 12. ministring and offering often times the same Sacrifices which can never take away sins But this Man after he had offered one Sacrifice for sins c. They were but dumb shews of this Tragedy to be acted Consider these three things 1. These Sacrifices did take away did expiate typical guilt in some sense took away the typical punishment of being excluded the congregation and society and such temporal punishment as was to be inflicted by God or Man for such faults as they were appointed Offerings for For the Apostle saith The blood of bulls and goats did sanctifie thus far to the purifying of the flesh Now by sanctifie he meaneth expiate which will appear by perusing how this Author useth this word in other places of that Epistle and not taking away the fault it self But these Sacrifices were Heb. 9. 14 Lev. 10. 14 but only typical of that which took away the eternal punishment and moral guilt and obligation Now since these typical Sacriâ—ices were expiatory satisfactory in respect of typical guilt What similitude can there be what relation of Types can they have if Christ's offering up Himself was no expiation for real moral guilt for Types were not ordained for their own sakes but for the sake of those things they did shadow out Why would God put them upon typical propitiatory Sacrifices if they did signifie nothing of real Propitiation 2. The Sacrifices were offered in Men's stead in the Sinners stead to make atonement for his Soul for his Life that he died not for such typical guilt He shall put his hand on the Lev. 1. 4. head of the Burnt-offering and it shall be accepted for him They were offered for Man's good indeed but how for his good why in his stead When a man was to die they died for him and he was kept alive And that which yet maketh it more plain is this because in capital offences where men were absolutely to die without remedy there were as is well observed by many no private Sacrifices instituted because the man himself was to die for his fault and so a beast could not die in his stead And if Sacrifices were only offered for the good of Men and not by way
Contraries are of the same general nature As condemnation is by a Law-threat so Justification of a sinner must be by a Law-promise It is a Law-rule that Obligations are dissolved by the same way whereby they are made The Apostle speaking of boasting being excluded in Justification asketh By what Law and answers By the Law of Faith implying plainly Men are justified by the Law of Faith 4. We may clearly see it by the tenour of the Covenants Rom. 10. 5 6 9 Moses describeth the righteousness of the Law the tenour of the Covenant of Works which would have justified men had they performed the condition of it The man which doth these things shall live in them But the righteousness of faith the tenour of the Covenant of Grace the word which we preach is this If thou confess with thy mouth and believe with thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Had man performed the Legal Condition perfect and perpetual obedience the Law of Works would have justified him Therefore now if a man perform the Gospel-condition the Gospel this Law of Faith will justifie him See also Gal. 3. 16 17 21 22 of the two Covenants To Abraham and his seed were the Promises made that is to Abraham and all true Believers that are of the Faith of Abraham as he fully explains himself in other places of the Chapter especially the last verse And is the Law against the Promises of God against this Covenant confirmed of God in Christ That he that believeth shall live Had there been a Law which could have given life verily righteousness should have been by that Law but the Scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe We may argue plainly thus This Law this Covenant-Promise Believe and live can give life that is right to life for some do perform the Condition of this Law Therefore verily Righteousness is and must be by this Law Can any man possibly give a reason why that Law would have justified would have given right to life and so righteousness have been by it to a man that had performed perfect obedience and not this Believe and live perform the Gospel-conditions and live and not this justifie give right to life and so righteousness be by it 5. To deny this is to say the Gospel-Promises are meer Cyphers and Nullities they have no effect if they do not give right to Impunity and eternal life which is Justification to those that perform the conditions Nay it is to deny that they are Promises for if Promises they must have the common nature of Promises which is to give right To deny the efficacy of them is to deny they are gracious Promises it is to say they are useless as to giving the right we should have had right without them It is no Act of Oblivion much less a very gracious Act of Oblivion that doth not pardon and justifie properly them that perform the Conditions of it no Act of Oblivion to him that would be justified by doing that which is the condition of it without it And this by the way They that say Faith attaineth right as an Instrument and not as a condition make all the Promises Nullities they in effect say We should have had right had we performed that thing which is the condition without such a promise Thus you see Justification must be by some Law of Grace and indeed Protestants seem agreed it is a Juridical Act. Now what Law of Grace is it What names is it to be called by You may call it The Promise the Covenant the Law of Grace the Law of Faith the Gospel by these names it is called in Scripture The tenour of it is this He that turneth shall live He that believeth shall be saved He that accepteth Christ in the Gospel-way on the Gospel terms shall have the benefit of this Propitiation to his justification and salvation though never so great a sinner This is the Gospel the Law of Faith the Law or Covenant of Grace founded in the blood of Christ These Promises are Yea and Amen in Christ are the Covenant confirmed of God in Christ as the Apostle calls them And by this all were justified and saved that ever were saved by the blood of Christ You shall all be judged that is justified or condemned sententially according to this Gospel And as you shall be sententially judged according to this Law of Liberty at the last day so you are here in this life constitutively justified or condemned here in law The word which Christ spake shall John 1â— 48. condemn 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 last day shall justifie or 〈◊〉 So it doth in Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them that obey the Gospel here For not the hearers of the 〈◊〉 are just before God he speaketh Rom. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Law of Grace it is like that Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord but he that doth the will of my Father shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven but the doers of the Law shall be justified in the day when God shall judg the secrets of all hearts according to my Gospel I hope you now begin to see into the nature of Justification and by seeing what it is you see what it is not Only these things following to my best remembrance are and can with any shew be pretended to be called Justification except what the Pupists pretend That it is nothing else but Sanctification which I pretermit as ridiculous He would not be an abomination to God that could justifie the wicked that is sanctifie them according to thâ—ir interpretation First It is not Our knowing we are justified which some call Justification in Conscience For 1. The Scripture never calleth Assurance our knowing we are justified Justification 2. We may be justified in scripture-Scripture-sense by this Gospel having the condition of Justification and yet not know it yea think we are not justified and have no right to salvation else wo to troubled souls And we may not be justified and think we are 3. In this sense we should be properly said to justifie our selves and not God to justifie us for it is we that know we are justified by the act whereby we know it and not God though God enable us to know we are justified Secondly Justification is not God's knowing we are justified and have right to Impunity right to Heaven it is not God's knowing accounting us judging us justified for we are first justified pardoned in order of Nature though not of Time before he knows accounts us so be We first have this right to Impunity Salvation before He knows or accounts us to have it The Object is in order of Nature before the Act a thing is before it be known If there be an Act of Oblivion made upon condition of Rebels laying down their Weapons Offenders are pardoned justified in Law-title upon laying down their Weapons in
order of Nature before the King or any else know or account them pardoned God doth not account men's sins pardoned till first they be so by his own Law of Grace They that justifie the wicked or condemn the righteous are both an abomination to the Lord. As God did not account Adam guilty condemned till first he was so by his own Law through sin so he doth not will not account any justified pardoned till first they are so by his own Law of Grace made in the Blood of Christ which is upon their performing of the Condition of it Thirdly Justification is not God's knowing we shall be justified God indeed doth know men shall be justified when they believe but this is not Justification It doth not follow that a man is justified and his sin pardoned who is going on in all villany because he belongeth to the Election of Grace because God knoweth he will believe and so will be justified when brought home For 1. God knoweth till he believe he is unjustified his sin not pardoned he is under the curse of the Law and under the Rectoral displeasure of God for Without Faith it is impossible to please God God hateth all workers of iniquity with this Rectoral hatred He that believeth not is condemned already he is so far from being justified You cannot say of such a man he is justified his sins pardoned but he knoweth it not No till a man believe the wrath of God abideth on him Hell is yet his due by God's own Laws of Government though Heaven will be so when he believes 2. Else Justification and pardon of â—in would be from Eternity which we are sure is contrary to all Scripture that maketh them consequent of Faith Repentance and Conversion whatsoever some have said to the contrary turn them from darkness to light that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance c. We have believed Gal. 2. 16. that we may be justified by the faith of Christ To whom righteousness shall Rom. 4. 24. be imputed if we believe That they may return every man from his evil Jer. 36. 3. way that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin lest they should see with their eyes and be converted Mar. 4. 12 and their sin be forgiven them Fourthly Justification is not God's intending decreeing willing that men should be justified when they believe 1. Then it would be from Eternity which is repugnant to all Scripture God speaketh of it as a thing future God intended from Eternity That our King should be King of England but he was not King of England till his Father was dead and then h◠〈◊〉 the legal Title 3. God's intending from Eternity to condemn men for their sins is not Condemnation else men would be condemned from Eternity but then men are condemned when they sin and the Law condemns them So God's intending to justifie sinners upon believing is not Justification But when men believe then God justifieth them by his Law of Faith 3. To say This is meant by Justification is to make non-sense of all those places of Scripture that make it future When he saith God will justifie we must then say the meaning is He will willjustifie We must double the word will Fifthly Some tell us That Justification is properly and formally Christ's suffering or obedience or properly God's laying our sins on Christ But then we must say Christ never merited our pardon or justification we are not forgiven for Christ's sake for Christ never merited thâ—se things which they call Justification viz. his own sufferings or our sins laying on him Could you think of any other thing to call Justification beside what I have here taught you I could with much ease shew you the absurdity of it These are the likeliest of any I can think of to pretend to be it that are not it and are pretended by some to be it You now see or may see Justification is God's Juridical Act by his Gospel by his Law of Grace If an Act of Oblivion be made on these terms That whosoever of such Rebels shall go and promise before some Justice of Peace they will be loyal Subjects for the future as soon as ever they have thus promised this Law justifieth pardoneth them They did not pardon themselves that is a foolish pretence of some weak men contrary to the knowledg of all Lawyers and Divines yea of any rational men but the Law-giver did pardon them by this Rectoral Act of Pardon upon their promise If there be a Law in force that every Felon should dye but there is also another remedying Law That if the Felon read he shall not dye When he readeth the Law pardoneth him the Law-giver by this Law justifieth him from the charge and condemnation of the other Law It is by this Gospel this perfect Law of Liberty that we are justified this is that new Law that Ministers are sent to preach Go preach the Gospel to every creature He that believeth shall be saved He that believeth not shall be damned This is our great business To tell men the condition on which they shall be pardoned justified and so saved And should any Ministers be ignorant of their great Message yea so ignorant as to say These are no conditions no terms nothing required of us in order to attaining the benefit of Christ's death How sad should this be to us Men are justified or condemned here in this life by this Gospel in a law-Law-sense and in this sense Scripture for the most part useth the word Justifie and men shall hereafter be justified or condemn'd sententially according to this Gospel Thus I have told you what Justification is which was the first Question propounded to be answered and I have tacitly slidden into the second Question What the Covenant is and answered that The third propounded was To tell you what the Condition is Thirdly What is meant by this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Him that believeth in Jesus or Him that is of the faith of Jesus This is the Question now to be answered What is the Condition of the Covenant of Grace of the Law of Grace on the performance of which this Propitiation this price of Redemption shall be ours for our justification and salvation Ours I say with this limitation For our justification and salvation or to speak more strictly The condition of our justification and salvation by it For God never giveth us interest in his Son's Merits and Satisfaction in its essential nature but only in the fruits and effects of it He giveth us his Merit only in such a sense as a man be said figuratively to give a Captive a sum of money which it may be the Captive never handled never had it given to him at all properly but only it was paid to the King of that Countrey for his ransome I answer What would you wish or desire it should be Think of that a little for that is it I dare
Heaven and whosoever shall do any other duty or act for these ends seeks to be justified by works in the Apostle Paul's sense They make it a certain damning sin to do any other act that we may be pardoned justified obtain right to Salvation For that certainly was it which the Apostle wrote against Now quae nimium probant nihil probant that which will prove more than they upon deliberate thoughts dare grant that use the argument that answers it self as to them Surely they dare not own what inevitably follows from this Then it follows that no man must pray for pardon of sin upon pain of damnation for this is to do one act more for Justification than that one act No man must repent for this end That his iniquities may be blotted out that is for Justification No man must by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and immortality for then he must be damned for surely well-doing comprehends more than believing when they take it for one act but God hath said To such only he will give eternal life No man must do the Commands of God for this end That he may have right to salvation If he do he shall be accursed whereas God saith Blessed Rev. ult 14. are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life What hath God made promise to repentance returning sincere Obedience of Pardon Justification Heaven and shall we provoke God if we perform the condition for attaining the benefit and expect the benefit upon performing the condition Would not this be as rational to threaten death for sin and yer be angry at us for fearing his threat for avoiding the sin upon the account of his threat as to be angry at us yea according to this principle damn us for performing the condition of the Promise that we may have right to the thing promised There is no possible avoiding this consequence for if you may act for reward then for right to the reward for you are not as I shewed before to act for Possession any further than for right to it And if any should object But you must not expect Justification and Salvation to come by these this would be to say You must think God unfaithful and his Promises nullities and we are apt to be too distrustful herein without bidding or but you must not think to merit by these things Very true but is it impossible to perform them for these ends but we think to merit by them Do they that say they may do the one act of Believing for Justification think they merit Justification by it Sure I am that many that held these things notionally did not hold them practically for many of the worthiest men both Prelates and others that ever England had held these things notionally yet so as to deny the consequence but never any good man held them practically I mean except just in a sudden fit of temptation I shall now yet more fully make out to you what this Gospel-condition the Covenant-terms of Justification and Salvation and all other benefits by Christ are for they have all the same condition every Covenant-benefit or any Covenant-benefit by reciting some of the most eminent Names the Gospel-condition is called by which is an easie matter to do and some may think it as well let alone as needless But the thing I am speaking of seems to me to be as weighty a matter as any point in Divinity and is opposed by many and therefore it shall not be grievous or burdensome to me and for you I think it safe and needful and let the more intelligent pardon my using so many words yea and Tautologies since I do it that the lowest-parted may understand me and doubt no more That Condition which we are to be justified and saved by is called by many Names which yet always mean the same thing for substance 1. It is called Knowledg By his Isa 53 11. knowledg shall my righteous servant justifie many Knowledg here is taken objectively not subjectively viz. for our knowledg of Christ not his knowledg whereby he knows So This is life eternal i. e. the condition of life to know thee and thy Son but it meaneth also Love Believe Obey and carry suitably to such Knowledg 2. The Gospel-condition is called Confession If we confess he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins So if any man say I have sinned and perverted that which is right it profiteth me not he will deliver his soul But the meaning is Si caetera sint paria Confess so as to forsake obey c. Else if God meant no more by these Promises we should have right and he would be unfaithful in denying us possession though we forsake not our sins 3. Sometime it is called Faith The righteousness of Faith speaketh on this wise that is the Gospel the Law of Faith in opposition to the Covenant of Works If thou confess with Rom. 10. 9. thy mouth and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved What doth he mean no more than you must believe Christ is risen Nay you must believe he is ascended into Heaven also yea and believe the whole Gospel and obey and carry suitably to the Gospel also The Gospel-condition which is a sincere endeavour according to the best of our knowledg to perform the whole duty of man is frequently called by the name of Believing in the New Testament because it was the great business at that time to perswade the Jews and Gentiles that Christ was the Messiah and that he rose again There were new Articles now added to the old ones new Conditions to the old They take it for granted as a thing known that they were to repent and obey that they knew the duty of repentance toward God But this was the great difficult Doctrine to perswade them there was a necessity of Faith in the Lord Jesus and to believe his death and resurrection Try the spirits for many false prophets are gone out into the world and 1 Joh. 4. 1 2 3. gives this as a trial of the Prophets every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God but he that confesseth it not is not of God We may take this as a probable interpretation of the place He takes it for granted that they knew they that taught wickedness and idolatry were not of God whatever confession they made of Christ But his meaning may be If any coming as a Prophet seeming to be a man teaching Holiness he is not of God if he deny Christ come in the flesh but if he add to other such virtues Faith in the Lord Jesus he is of God You may easily apply it to the case in hand And whatever interpretation else you will give of this as confessing Christ in time of trial yet it must be meant and teach suitably to such confession
sicut Christi meritum ita merita justorum aliorum vim accipiunt à dignitate personae that is There is the same account of Merit in the Head and in the Members therefore as the Merits of Christ received their force or virtue from the Dignity of his Person so do the Merits of other just and holy men from the Dignity of their Persons Yet he allows the Merit of good works to be ascribed not only to the Dignity of the Persons of good men and worthiness of the works themselves but also to God's promise and acceptation though it be a contradiction for if of meritorious works then not of grace and if of grace then not of meritorious works else grace is not grace and merit is not merit Rom. 11. 6. But Vasquez the renowned Jesuit affirmeth and endeavoureth to prove these three things 1. Opera ex se-ipsis Gabr. Vas Com. in 1am 2ae qu. 114. disp 214. Cap. 5. 7 8 absque c. That the good works of just men are of themselves without any Covenant and Acceptation worthy of eternal life 2. Nullum dignitatis accrementum c. That no accession of dignity doth come to the works of the just by the Merits or Person of Christ 3. Operibus justorum accessisse quidem promissionem c. That God's promise is annexed indeed to the works of just men yet it belongeth no way to the reason of the merit If you be Christians you abhor such talk and I will offend your ears no longer with it How far is the performance of the Gospel-condition from meriting the things promised when Christ dyed for this end That God might justifie and save them that perform it There is no other Name given under Heaven whereby we can be saved Neither Saints nor Angels could by any means redeem us or give to God a ransome for us for then Christ dyed still in vain for it is in vain for that to be done with greater cost which may be done with less Could we once see all our righteousness to be as filthy rags could we cry out in sense of our unworthiness Wherewith should we come before him Then we might with great delight hear Christ sayiug Come unto me take up my yoke and you shall find rest for your souls 4. They much wrong God and Christ that think Christ dyed to procure liberty to sin or to free men from duty from obedience to the Law He dyed to free men from the curse of the Law but not from obedience to it but from the curse on condition of their sincere obedience Christ hath indeed procured pardon for our sins and imperfect obedience but enjoins us under the greatest forfeiture a sincere endeavour of universal obedience Some have said Do but believe you shall be saved and you shall be saved do but keep up a good conceit of your safety a strong faith as they call it you are safe Others Do but rely and you are justified and shall be saved This reliance on Christ for justification and salvation is a great duty but a secondary one None should trust in God or stay himself on him for salvation but such as first have the main of the Gospel-condition such as fear the Lord and obey the voice of his Prophets Isa 50. 10. It would be a Minister's sin to bid people rely on Christ for salvation that are going on resolvedly in their sins for such should be so far from relying on him to save them that they ought to believe He will not save such as they and it is to dishonour Christ to think he will But they are to bid them consent to the Gospel-terms perform the Gospel-condition and so rely Reliance is a very inconvenient word to express the condition of justification by because it is separable from justification for a man may rely and yet perish Mich. 3. 11. And one may be in a justified estate having the true Gospel-condition of heart-consent and yet think God will not save him through some misapprehensions And surely they do not rely and trust on him to save them while they judg he will not though they know none else can save them But hearty-consent to the Gospel-terms is inseparable from justification for a man cannot be or continue in a justified estate without hearty willingness to obey the Gospel Ministers are to bid the greatest resolved sinners believe while they take belief in the scripture-gospel-Scripture-Gospel-sense for consent to the Gospel-terms for accepting Christ for their Lord and Saviour for believing the Gospel and carrying suitably to such a belief but not in that sense that many use the words Faith and Believing Christ you see dyed not that those might be justified that refuse finally to give sincere obedience to the Law and so obedience to the Gospel but that he might be a justifier of him that is of the Faith of Christ of the Christian Faith a Christian indeed 5. We may learn hence the infinitely mischievous nature of sin What wickedness and malignity is there in it when nothing but the blood of Christ could expiate it And oh the deep stain that sin maketh that nothing but such precious blood could wash out A desperate Disease sure that required such a desperate remedy The evil of sin should be more seen by us in Christ's dying for it than in millions being damned for it If we could look into Hell and see the torments there they could not so fully shew us God's hatred of sin as Christ crucified doth Sin striketh at the Being of God striveth with all its might that God might not be it is enmity against God In every act of deliberate sin we make a scoff at God's Holiness contemn his Justice we slight his Counsel as foolishness think we know better than he what is good for our selves or we think God a deceiver one that envies our good and counselleth us for our hurt we strike at his Rule and Dominion No wonder if God be an enemy to sin and set himself against it to purpose No wonder if God with great difficulty and much ado hath returned into favour with sinners What fools are they that make a mock of sin a sport at sin at a high affront of the High and Holy Majesty of Heaven and Earth Will you laugh at that which was such a weight on the shoulders of the Mighty God and Prince of Peace and must be a bitter weight to thee in Repentance ere thou get easement Oh the blindness and prophaneness of the secure World What a leight matter do they make of sin Make but little matter of outward gross sins and look upon inward sins as Pride Malice Covetousness as no sins How easily they think God might pardon and wonder God should make so much ado think his thoughts should be like theirs and he should hate it no more than they How far are their thoughts from his thoughts Oh you that have slight thoughts of sin as of a tame mild
word ungodly in this verse is implied that Abraham was once an Idolater as the Gentiles are This plainly proves his justification was by pardon of sin and that he was a man God might justly have refused to have thus justified and that he was not righteous in God's sight in the primary strict and properest sense of the word but meerly of grace and pardon Ver. 6. And David fully proveth this in his describing blessedness and wherein it lies for he taketh for granted that blessedness comes not by unsinning obedience or meritorious works which are inconsistent with pardon else he would have said Blessed are they that never sinned or have made full satisfaction for their sins But he tells us it lies in not imputing iniquity and imputing accounting righteousness is nothing else but pardon of sin imputing righteousness and not imputing sin are all one and signifie the same because to impute or account righteous signifieth as he proved before graciously to impute and that can be nothing but pardon of sin and so the meaning is God pardoned Abraham's sin upon his believing God Which sheweth he was no such worthy man as you think your selves so as to need no forgiveness Ver. 9. Now will this blessedness of Justification come only on you Jews Are not the wicked Gentiles capable of it if they turn from sin and Idols to God and believe his testimony of his Son and obey him though they never be circumcised for we say his faith was reckoned for righteousness it was not from his worthiness but by pardon of his sin upon believing Ver. 10. He yet improveth this Scripture-citation as further cogent thus Was this justification conferred on Abraham when he was circumcised or when he was uncircumcised You will find this was said concerning Abraham before he was circumcised when he was as yet uncircumcised when he could not pretend to this high meritorious priviledg you boast of viz. Circumcision but when he was as the Gentile-believers now are that are confessedly void of such accomplishments Why may not they therefore be justified in such a Gospel-way as he was having their sin pardoned through the Propitiation upon their only believing and obeying the Gospel For though you look upon Faith and Obedience as low things in comparison of Circumcision yet these were graciously accepted from him by God and his sins pardoned thereon and why may they not be accepted from them without meritorious works if it be granted such are so which you account so Ver. 11. And he received the sign of circumcision the seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had being uncircumcised that he might be the father of all them that believe though they be not circumcised that righteousness might be imputed unto them also I shall here take a liberty not allowed me by my designed method to speak largely of these words because they are difficult and there is a strange disagreement about the meaning of them The words that these are coupled unto are these It was counted to him in uncircumcision then follows and he received the sign of circumcision And that is and then or and after it is ordinal as it is frequently The sign of circumcision or Sacrament of Circumcision it is an ordinary manner of speaking the genitivus specie as we use to say the sacrament of Baptism for the sacrament Baptism so the sign of Circumcision for the sign Circumcision and Beza saith he found it so in the Accusative case in an ancient Copy By receiving the sign of circumcision is not only or chiefly meant his receiving it in his body though he did so but his receiving it in the institution or law of it from God as John may be said to have received baptism being the first to whom it was delivered by God as an Ordinance to be by him as a Minister administred And as Moses is said Acts 7. 28. to receive the lively oracles of God to give to the Jews and John 7. 22. Moses gave unto you circumcision i. e. the Ordinance of it Without doubt he is said here to receive circumcision in the sense that God is said Acts 7. 8. to give him the covenant of circumcision not in the sense wherein he gave it to himself circumcised himself I grant it doth connote secondarily his receiving it in his body yet still as in the law and ordinance of it so as to begin it to others And that which makes it further appear to be so meant is this because the stress of his becoming the father of all that believe c. seemeth to be laid here For if it should have the other sense all circumcised might on the same account be called Fathers of them that believe And else it is probable the Apostle would have used the ordinary word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and have said he was circumcised and not he received circumcision Abraham was honoured by God to be the first receiver of this Institution Indeed the promise or covenant that this sealed had been made known to the world long before viz. That whosoever of faln man should repent and believe God and obey him sincerely should be saved and all that were justified before Abraham were justified by this law of grace made in the blood of Christ but Abraham was the first that received from God this visible seal to confirm it to the world The seal of the rightsousness of the faith which he had being uncircumcised These words seem an exegetical Parenthesis or a Parenthetical explication of the former words received the sign of circumcision For these words that he might be the father seem to have their dependance on and respect to the former words received the sign of circumcision In these words here is a definition of that and also of every other Sacramental Institution Circumcision is called a sign or token of the Covenant Gen. 17. 11. and it is called figuratively the Covenant v. 10. and Acts 17. 8. even as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is also called the Covenant This is the new covenant in my blood that is the sign or seal of the Covenant founded in my blood By the faith of Abraham is not here to be understood that personal individual faith which he had but a faith of that sort or kind which he had even in such a sense as that faith which dwelt first in his Grandmother Lois and Mother Eunice is said to dwell in Timothy to wit not the same individual act or habit but a faith of the same sort or species i. e. faith unfeigned as he explains it 2 Tim. 1. 5. and so these words the faith of Abraham ver 16. of this Chapter must necessarily be understood to this sense Again Circumcision is not said by the Apostle to be a sign or seal of his faith or any one's else no that is a mistake though I know in another sense Circumcision was and Baptism and the Lord's Supper are a seal or seals
of mens faith or restipulation viz. as they are mens seals We receiving them engage and profess we do restipulate and oblige our selves to perform faith the condition and seal it by receiving the elements We so seal as hereby to oblige our selves and to be guilty of falshood in the Covenant if we do not perform Yea he that is baptized while an Infant is a debtor to the Gospel as well as he that was circumcised when an Infant was a debtor to the Law But this is not meant here for this definition speaketh only of Circumcision as God's seal and God doth not seal that any man believeth restipulateth he sealeth only what he saith and testifieth to wit his own part of the Covenant He no where testifieth that this or that man believeth but that if he do he shall be saved I say it is not said to be a seal of his faith but of the righteousness of his faith of that faith which he had being uncircumcised of such a kind of faith That is it is a sign or seal of justification upon condition of believing as he did while uncircumcised It is a seal of the truth of this Covenant or Promise and of God's faithfulness in standing to it He that believeth with such a kind of working-faith shall be justified and saved or to speak more properly he that believeth and obeyeth as Abraham did It was indeed a seal of the righteousness of Abraham's faith subjectively and individually taken but not as his faith else it would seal righteousness and justification to none else upon such a faith as his Though it did seal his Justification he having that sort of faith the general promise was made to yet it did not seal his justification primarily but only consequentially viz. by sealing the general promise It did not seal justification to his faith as his but as true unfeigned or faith of such a sort such an operative obediential one as the Promise was made to which was sealed It would have sealed that thing it did seal that promise he that so believeth shall be saved he that believeth with such a kind of faith as is described by being called the faith which Abraham had being uncircumcised whether Abraham had believed or no for that he believed was as we use to say contingent or accidental to the thing sealed I know some Anabaptists to elude arguments drawn from hence would have it a seal of the righteousness of Abraham's faith only and that it was so to none else interpreting it to this sense to wit That it was given as a reward to him a great and signal believer and others were circumcised upon other accounts But if this was the meaning we might as well call every great blessing which he had as a reward of his faith as having children in his old age deliverance from dangers and difficulties and conquering enemies which were given to him as rewards of his faith and tokens of God's love a seal of the righteousness of his faith and a sign or token of the Covenant as this is called Gen. 17. 11. and as the Rain-bow is called a sign or token of another Covenant Gen. 9. 8. Now if Circumcision was not a seal of Abraham's faith at all nor a seal of the righteousness of Abraham's faith as his as hath been and might further be made apparent but of the righteousness of such a kind of faith as his was then it evidently and essentially follows that it was a seal or confirming-sign of this doctrine covenant or promise made to the whole world That whosoever of faln man should believe God as Abraham did should be righteous treated by God as righteous be justified pardoned rewarded blessed these words are promiscuously used whether he be circumcised or not and so the Apostle saith in the latter part of the verse that righteousness might be imputed to them also that believe though not circumcised For that he be circumcised is so alien from the promise as to be no part of the condition for else Circumcision had sealed an untruth if a man that should perform the condition should not be justified though he be uncircumcised And indeed since Baptism is a seal of the same viz. of justification or remission of sins upon repentance and bringeth forth fruits meet and suitable as is said of John's Baptism and sure you will grant the faith required in those days was included in the word Repentance And the Lord's Supper is a seal of the same New Covenant made in Christ's blood called also the Gospel which the Apostles were sent to preach And the Apostle Paul saith He hath made us able Ministers of the New Covenant 2 Cor. 3. 6. and we see what that Covenant is Rom. 10. 6 8. The word of faith which we that is he and other Apostles preach the law of faith is this If thou believe thou shalt be saved Since I say this is the tenour of that which Baptism and the Lord's Supper seal if men believe and obey the Gospel they shall be saved it doth demonstrably also follow that if a man did perform the Gospel-condition the condition of that Covenant whereof Baptism is a seal he would be justified and saved whether he were baptized or no whether he received the Lords Supper or not as our Divines use to prove against the Papists else they did seal an untruth And surely none will deny but those holy Ancients we read of in the primitive time of Christianity who terrified through an Error taught by some viz. That there was no remission for sins committed after it deferred Baptism till toward their death were justified before Baptism and they that so delayed as to dye without it were yet saved by virtue of the Gospel promise which it seals If it it seal this He that believeth in the Gospel sense that is believeth and obeyeth the Gospel shall be saved then it evidently follows that the receiving the seal is no part of the condition nor necessary with this kind of necessity as the condition Though I could shew you how it may indirectly and quasi postliminio jure come to be necessary to the condition and also how it is directly necessary upon other accounts not only necessitate praecepti but by way of accommodation to work preserve and encrease the condition and to comfort and assure And the Objection here arising is inconsiderable viz. That one that should refuse to be baptized having never been baptized before and to receive the Lords Supper cannot have the condition For though in ordinary circumstances in our days wherein there is much light and such things are made plain it would be next to an impossibility that a man should heartily believe all Fundamentals and be heartily willing and earnestly desirous to obey God and Christ in every command to the best of his knowledg and yet through some â—â—â—or refuse the Sacrament yet such a thing it may be is possible for you will not be so
oppose the Doctrine delivered are to be interpreted in pursuance of this design That men are justified only by pardon of sin through the Propitiation upon performing those conditions pardon is promised to and so may the Gentiles be justified without such perfect obedience to the Law or meritorious priviledges or satisfactions If I should proceed I can only repeat the same again and again with very little variation upon the places following Gal. 2. 11 12 13 14 15 16. Gal. 3. Gal. 5. 2. Paul once circumcised Timothy yet here saith Behold I Paul say unto you If you be circumcised that is upon this account else he would not have spoken so severely to make you such worthy persons as to need no pardon Christ shall profit you nothing Ver. 3. For I testifie again to every man that shall now be thus or on this account circumcised he is a debtor to the whole Law He must look to it that he fail not in the least for he virtually disclaims all pardon by Christ and so shall not have it So Tit. 3. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Ver. 7. That being justified by his grace c. This Scripture tells us what is meant by work and what by faith and plainly to any considering man James 2. 14 to the end When some had it is probable mis-understood such expressions in St. Paul's Epistles as if only believing the truth was enough for salvation the Apostle James shews that by Abraham's faith was meant his faith and obedience and saith that those words believed God mean believed God and obeyed him in offering up his son and other difficulties like that 1 Maccab. 2. 52. Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation and it was imputed to him for righteousness As Phineas executed judgment and it was counted to him for righteousness throughout all generations that is God rewarded him graciously with an everlasting Priesthood as if he had been a righteous man a deserving man when yet he was not by the Apostle Paul's argument that the word counted implieth it was not due to him so doing but of grace Ver. 22 23. When he offered up his son then the Scripture was fulfilled perfectly explained that saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness that is God acquitted and rewarded him upon his faith and obedience as if he had been a righteous man in the strictest sense when indeed he was not And you may observe it would as much serve the Apostle Paul's arguing and support what he builds upon it if the very words had run thus Abraham believed and obeyed and it was counted c. and it is plain that was the meaning as you may see Gen. 22. 8. In thy seed shall all nations be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice or if they had run thus He walked before God and was upright and it was counted c. and this is said in effect in saying If he did so God would do great things for him cap. 17. 2. Or if the words had been expresly thus Abraham feared God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and we do read as much in sense though not in express words Gen. 22. 12. For now I know thou fearest God seeing thou hast not with-held c. Ver. 16. By my self have I sworn For because thou hast done this thing and hast not with held thy son that in blessing I will bless thee It would be a poor blessing if it did not include justification I say had the words run so the Apostle is so far from excluding these things from being a condition of justification that such words would as well have proved what he is proving only they would not so occasionally have served to press them to the great difficult duty of that day the believing Christ's Resurrection FINIS