Confession it is revealed to all elect Persons who are uncapable of being outwardly called by the Word the Spirit working in them when where and how he pleaseth 7. But whether any are or can be saved or justified without the express Knowledge and Faith of Christ crucified and risen again is one Question and whether without all outward hearing of Christ crucified outwardly Preached unto them is another Question For without all outward preaching of Men the mystery of Christ crucified can be revealed and preached inwardly to Men by the Spirit of God and by the same Spirit Faith can be wrought in them by that inward hearing as these Men confess And though it may seem hard and difficult to prove that all honest Gentiles who did by Nature to wit by the Principle of the divine Nature implanted into the true Nature of Men the things contained in the Law had that express Knowledge and Faith of Christ crucified and raised again yet it is more hard and difficult unto them who affirm they had it not to prove it seeing the Spirit who worketh when and where and how he pleaseth might reveal it unto them and that they grant the Spirit doth work in all elect Persons who are not outwardly called by the Word and doth regenerate and save them by Christ. And to the further clearing of this matter we are to consider that the Work of Salvation is not a thing that is commonly done in an instant but hath its gradual Steps its beginning progress and finishing even as Faith it self hath for as at the first instant of a Man's sincere believing he is enâ—â—ed into a state of Salvation so as his Faith groweth his Salvation doth gradually encrease and grow with it the which Salvation is not only a Salvation from Wrath to come or from Hell fire and torment but is a Salvation from Sin and from under the Power of Darkness and from all Ignorance and Error and Darkness of Understanding and a thorow renewing into the Image of God and bringing Man into Conformity unto the Image of the Son of God the heavenly and second Adam And the true knowledge of Christ and of God the Father being a part of the Image of God that is to be renewed in them that are to be saved according to Col. 3.10 And have put on the new Man which is renewed in Knowledge after the Image of him that created him Therefore it doth necessarily follow that perfect Salvation in the full extent of it cannot be had without the full and perfect knowledge of Christ the which full and perfect knowledge of Christ is to know him both as he is that eternal Word and Son of God the only begotten of the Father who was with the Father before the World was by whom all things were made and as he is God manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit c. to wit Christ crucified and raised which Paul calleth the great Mystery of Godliness And that both Salvation and Faith is gradual and hath its steps and progress beginning growth and perfection is very clear both from the Scriptures Testimony and the Saints experience for Paul writing to the believing Philippians exhorted them to work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling 2 Philip. 12. So though they were entred into a state of Salvation through Faith in Christ yet it was not perfected in them but was to be further wrought out and to encourage them in this great Work he told them It was God which worketh in them both to will and to do of his own good pleasure And Paul encouraged the believing Romans and also himself saying Now is our Salvation nearer than when we believed Rom. 13.11 And the perfect Salvation of Souls is called the end of Faith 1 Pet. 1.9 And verse 10. Of which Salvation the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently who prophecyed of the Grace that should come unto you Verse 11. Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signifie when it testified before-hand the Sufferings of Christ and the Glory that should follow And Verse 13. Wherefore gird up the Loins of your Mind be sober and hope to the end for the Grace that is to be brought unto you in the Revelation of Jesus Christ so the Greek hath viz. Enapokalepsei And Philip. 1.6 Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good Work in you will perform it unto the Day of Jesus Christ And as the Work of the outward Creation is distinguished into six Days and that a Day of Sabbath or Rest which is the perfection So the Work of the inward Creation which is the creating Men anew in Christ Jesus by way of Analogy may be said to have its six Days and then the spiritual Sabbath or Rest according to Heb. 4.9 There remaineth therefore a Sabbath to the People of God And verse 11. For he that is entred into his Rest hath ceased from his own Works as God did from his And Verse 11. Let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest c. Where its plain the Writer doth hint at the said Analogy Now though it ought to be granted that the Knowledge and Faith of Christ crucified and raised again doth belong to the finishing and perfecting of the Saints Salvation yet it is most clear and plain from Scripture that it doth not universally belong to the beginning of it For we can prove most clearly from Scripture that the good work of God even the Work of Salvation was begun in them who had not that Knowledge and Faith of Christ crucified as first to instance in Nathaniel of whom Christ gave a noble Testimony Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no Guile John 1.47 And yet at that time he had not Faith in Jesus of Nazareth as being come in the Flesh but reasoned or questioned saying Can any good thing come out of Nazareth Philip saith unto him Come and see c. Next to instance in the Disciples of Christ who for sometime after they had followed him and that Peter had confessed to him that he was the Son of God and that Christ had told him his Father had revealed it to him yet the mystery of his Death and Resurrection was for all that hid from him and the rest of them For this see Mark 9.31 For he taught his Disciples and said unto them the Son of Man is delivered into the Hands of Men and they shall kill him and after that he is killed he shall rise the third Day And verse 32. But they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him See again Luke 9.43 But that instance of Cornelius is a most manifest and clear demonstration of this Truth For this Cornelius was a Gentile and uncircumcised and therefore no Proselite of the Covenant to be sure and though some alledge that he was a Proselite of the Gate according to that distinction that was
process of time so changed and renewed that they become good Ground and bring forth good Fruit to the end So the more stony and thorny that the Heart is the more labour is to be used to make it good which by the Grace of God may well be done Sixthly The Parable of the ten Virgins five whereof were foolish hath the same signification for these five foolish Virgins had some Oyl in their Lamps but not being wise to get enough they spent what they had and so their Lamps went out for though they had Oyl in their Lamps otherwise their Lamps could not have gone out yet they had not in their Vessels as the wise Virgins had and so when they were called at midnight to meet the Bride-groom they had no Oyl at all neither in their Lamps or Vessels see Mat. 25. from Verse 1. to 12. Seventhly It is expresly said Ezek. 18.24 and 26 27. When a righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness and committeth Iniquity he shall die And again when the wicked Man turneth away from his Wickedness and doth that which is lawful and right he shall live And Eighthly The example of David is a most clear Instance who fell from his Integrity by these two great and capital Sins of Adultery and Murther and brought Death upon him and had not God renewed him again by Repentance and restored him he had dyed in his Sins and perished and this fall of his was total though not final because God restored him before he dyed But to say as these Faith-publishers say and affirm That no Men once sanctified in the least measure can fall totally from their Sanctification though committing Murder and Adultery as was the case of David see Cap. 17. Sect. 1. and Cap. 11.5 of their Confession nor from their Justification is not only a most false and pernicious Doctrin but a most wonderful piece of Confusion For if he that is both Murderer and Adulterer in the very act and remaining in that or these Sins without Repentance for some time are really Saints and justified then who may be said not to be Saints Or what difference is there betwixt the Saints and no Saints betwixt the godly and the wicked good men and evil men If a man that is both Murderer and Adulterer be a real Saint and a justified man then the worst of men may generally believe they are true and real Saints and ye cannot convince them of the contrary For by what means can they be convinced thereof Tell them of their Sins Lying Stealing Drunkenness Swearing Murther and Adultery none of all this according to this wicked Doctrin doth prove them to be no Saints or that they have not true Faith and therefore if they die in these gross Sins they must go to Heaven immediately because they shall die in Faith they shall die sanctified and justified men than which I know no greater Confusion and daubing with untempered Morter and sewing Pillows under Peoples Arm-holes like the false Teachers of Old and prophecying smooth things unto People in their Sins and flattering them yea imboldning and encouraging them to Sin And no doubt many are wofully imboldned and encouraged to run into Sin and excess of Sin by such poysonous Doctrin that these false Teachers feed them with that is like sweet Poyson that though it be sweet to the Flesh yet it kills the Soul Doth not the Scripture say The Soul that sinneth shall die and the Wages of Sin is death And as every Sin doth in some measure kill the Soul so great Sins such as Murder and Adultery than which we can hardly suppose any greater unless that unpardonable Sin of Blasphemy against the holy Ghost do wholly kill and destroy the Soul insomuch that if any such Soul ever be saved it must be by a new Creation and renewing and of this David was well sensible when after God was pleased spiritually to visit and awaken him again he prayed unto God saying Create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Psal 51.10 And thus according to these false Teachers there is no mortal Sin that any Soul once quickned in the least degree can commit and the same Sin that is mortal in the unbeliever is not mortal in him that once was a believer as Murder Adultery yea Incest or worse is no mortal Sin in one and yet is a mortal Sin in the other Doth not this loose the reins to all sorts of Wickedness and make God a respecter of Persons and Faith a sort of Proof that though men once having Faith commit the worst sort of Sins as Murder Adultery Incest Rapine yet their Faith is a sort of proof unto them that none of these Sins doth or can kill them They are still Saints for all this and justified in the sight of God and if Saints then good enough to be your Church-Members yea Members of the Independent or Congregational Church Why what doth hinder but they are as real and lawful Members of the Church as any others And if Murderers and Adulterers while such are still Saints and qualified to be your Church-Members it is no wonder that your Church be large and have a great number of Members It is no great difficulty to be a Member of that Church when a Murderer an Adulterer can be a Member of it Is this your pretence to Reformation And why ye estimate your Church more holy than the Church of Rome But is not your Church and Doctrin in this respect much more unholy For the Church of Rome saith All gross or great Sins as Fornication Adultery Murder and the like are really mortal Sins in all that commit them without respect of Persons and whoever commit such Sins are fallen from their state in Grace And so saith the Scripture 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God The which Kingdom of God is a state of Grace as well as of Glory And here we see the Apostle Paul maketh no distinction betwixt one that hath formerly believed and one that hath not believed but without distinction or respect of Persons he concludeth in general against them all that while such they cannot inherit the Kingdom of God But according to this Westminster and New-England Confession of Faith Fornicators and Murderers and Adulterers that have at any time once believed do still inherit the Kingdom of God to wit a state of Grace which is in a true sense the Kingdom of God and is frequently so called in Scripture And thus it doth most evidently appear that their Doctrin in this particular is Antichristian and contrary to the Doctrin of the holy Scriptures And to say that Murder or Adultery in him that hath once truly believed is not a mortal or killing Sin but is a mortal Sin in him that hath not believed is not only to make God a respecter of Persons in the worst sense
all things And Christ said his Yoke was easie and his Burden was light And John said His Commandments are not grievous But according to these Faith-publishers Christ's Yoke is so heavy that none can bear it for what is it to bear his Yoke but to keep his Commandments And if they cannot be fulfilled by Men and yet many Thousands cast into Hell-Fire for not fulfilling them they are very grievous which God forbid we should think And to say that God requireth perfect Obedience from any part of Mankind and yet giveth them no Ability to perform it and punish them with Hell-Fire for not doing that which is utterly and absolutely impossible for them do doth wofully reflect upon the Justice of God and rendereth him not only severe and hard but most Cruel and Tyrannical worse than Pharoah to the poor Israelites who required of them the tale of Brick but gave them no Straw and yet punished them for not performing their Task And lastly It is wofully injurious to Men to discourage them to press after Perfection or a perfect freedom from Sin to tell them They cannot attain to it while they live As if a Physician should tell his Patient For all the Physick I give thee thou must still remain diseased and never be healed till Death heal thee Or as if one should say to a Traveller that is going to such a City Thou shalt never reach to it whilst thou livest in this World Would not this greatly discourage them And also it doth greatly encourage People to live in sloath and neglect to tell them That though they live and die in their Sins they shall be saved if they have at any time once in all their Life believed in Christ Jesus that Faith will save them though they live and die in their Sins But we find that Christ fore-warned People That if they died in their Sins they should not come whither he did go John 8.21 And it was a fearful threatning that God denounced against that People Isa 22.14 Surely this Iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die saith the Lord God of Hosts But this false Doctrin of your Teachers telleth you It is no matter though ye die in your Sins yet ye shall immediately after Death go into Heaven if ye have once believed And the Scripture saith Where the Tree falleth there it shall be whether towards the South or towards the North Eccles 11.3 But according to this evil and corrupt Doctrin though the Tree falleth North it shall lie South It is a fearful thing to teach or believe such Doctrin in a matter of so great moment so to smooth and daub with untempered Morter and to flatter People to tell them They not only may but must live and die in their Sins and yet immediately after Death they shall go into Heaven if once they have believed their Faith secureth them though they sin daily in Thought Word and Deed and break all God's holy Commandments every day and that there be no Health nor Soundness in them And indeed it is the great love that People have to Sin and Iniquity that maketh them plead so earnestly for it for if they were weary of Sin and did hate it as a most cruel Tyrant they would be glad to hear of a possibility of deliverance from Sin here in this World And they that plead so much for Sin to live and die in it they plead for the Devil's Kingdom and are his Servants and Ministers in that respect and not the Servants and Ministers of Christ 6. But to clear the Doctrin of Perfection as it is believed and preached by the People called Quakers take these following considerations 1st It is not an absolute Perfection that we plead for as attainable in this Life as many of you have falsly accused us and particularly Nath. Morton in his New-England Memorial pag. 157. as in many other things he doth most falsly charge that People in his said Book for we say That the highest degree of Perfection attainable in this Life ought not to be sit down and rested in by any but there ought to be a continual progress by the best in Holiness and in conformity to the Image of the Son of God until the very last moment of their Life for Christ himself who was free from all sin yet was perfected further as he was Man and did grow both in Grace and Stature and Adam in the innocent state was still to have increased in Virtue and Goodness and then he would not have fallen as he did 2 dly This perfection or freedom from Sin and Possibility by the Grace of God to keep his Commandments we do not say it is attained by every one at their first Conversion or entrance into the true Faith but on the contrary we say many true Believers and who have a true measure of sincerity towards God are yet short of that state of a sinless Perfection and that it is not attained but by great diligence and wrestling against sin through the ability of the Grace of God and much watching and praying and using all the means appointed of God both inwardly and outwardly to attain to that blessed Conquest and Victory over sin 3 dly The most perfect in this Life have need to watch and pray that they enter not into Temptation for as Adam in Innocency and in the Garden did sin and by his sin lost his Innocency so may Men that are inwardly come to this state if they be not duly watchful sin against the Lord therefore it is not the impossibility of sinning in all respects that we plead for but the possibility of not sinning and that by the Grace of God and not otherwise Altho' some may arrive to that state in Holiness in conformity to the second Adam that they neither sin nor can sin in that sense as the Scripture doth intend it 1 John 3.19 which doth at least hold forth that such who are attained to this noble degree of Holiness they cannot commit any gross sin although in some things not for want of love but not having a full and perfect Knowledge in all things they may a little fall short as a most loving Child not perfectly understanding the Fathers mind in all things may do a thing amiss and yet without breach of true Love to his Father and therefore his Father doth not charge it upon him as a crime and the like example may be of a most loving Wife to her Husband who retaineth her chaste and perfect Love to her Husband and yet may do some things not according to his mind for as the Scripture saith Love is the fulfilling of the Law and he that faileth not in his Love and transgresseth not against the Law of Love though in some case he may fall short in understanding God doth not impute it to be a crime unto him 4 thly It is not temptations or motions unto sin that may arise either from the Devil or
shall finally perish not simply as men nor yet simply as sinners either for Adam's sin or other sins that they have formerly committed before that great sin of final Vnbelief and Impenitency but it doth regard and consider them as having a day of Visitation and a Call to Repent and a tender of Grace Love and Mercy from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and as having resisted and rejected the same and hardning their hearts against it and that finally until the Day of their Visitation be over whereby they declare themselves unworthy of eternal Life and that they are none of Christ's Sheep but Goats to be put at the left Hand and if any say If these Men were not Elected before the Foundation of the World it will follow that they were Reprobated before it I answer it doth not follow for Elected and Reprobated are not contradictory terms being both positive and Election signifieth a Preference of some before others but that doth not argue a total Reprobation of others when God did elect some But at the End of the World and in the Conclusion it is granted that all who are not elected are but Reprobates to wit when all God's elect Seed every where are gathered out selected and separated from others as so many Grains of pure Gold from all the Dross Tin and Lead that they have been mingled with for a time here in this World that then nothing will remain but that which is Reprobate and which the Scripture calleth reprobate Silver the pure being wholly separated and selected from the impure the Gold and Silver from the Dross the Wheat from the Tares the Sheep from the Goats and the good Fish from the bad and the Children of the Kingdom from the Children of the wicked One he who hath Ears to hear let him hear and the wise in heart let them understand for unto them it is given but unto others as Christ said in Parables that seeing they may not see and hearing that they may not hear nor understand And also it is readily granted that there is a special and peculiar and singularly gracious Care and Providence of God towards all that shall be saved from the beginning of the world to the end and the number of them is most infallibly known unto God and every one of that number shall certainly be saved and none of them shall finally perish but in the proper season and time shall be graciously visited called converted justified sanctified and last of all glorified and this without any Violence done to their rational Faculties or Free-will for God doth well know how to gain and prevail upon the Understanding and Will and Inclinations of his People by such gentle and yet prevalent and overcoming Perswasions and Allurements and Motions of his holy Spirit of Grace of Light and Life as shall infallibly gather them unto himself And it is also granted that as God hath provided that Grace whereby some shall certainly be saved so by the same all are put under a capacity or possibility of Salvation And therefore that any are not saved in this World is not because of any want or defect in the sufficiency or efficacy in the Grace in its own Nature but because of them whom God in his infinite Justice and Counsel permits finally to resist it even as in the Parable of the Sower the Seed was one and the same in all the four Grounds but the Grounds differed one from another and that one Ground was good was of God but that others were bad was of themselves and the word Election doth properly enough signifie selection seperating and setting a part or refining as when Gold or Silver is separated in the Furnace from the Dross And this separation hath had its various degrees and progress from first to last as when Gold or Silver is purified or purged in the sire seven times and then in the seventh time it hath no mixture but is all pure or as when Liquor is poured from Vessel to Vessel several times or as Wheat is winnowed again and again until all the Chaff be separated And in this sense we find the word Election used in Scripture divers times Isa 14.1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet chuse Israel And Isa 49.7 And he shall chuse thee And Zach. 1.17 And the Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet chuse Jerusalem And Zach. 2.12 He shall chuse Jerusalem again And Isa 48.10 I have chosen thee in the Furnace of Affliction And in this sense of the Word as it signifieth a selecting or separating the pure from the impure Election doth go before Reprobation and is not Co-evous with it But whether that Election in Christ before the Foundation of the world doth in some sort signifie a selection or setting apart in Christ the Head who was before the Foundation of the world and is said to be the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World as some mystick Writers affirm it is not my present business to determine neither is it necessary at this present occasion 6. But the place of Scripture which they mainly abuse and wrest to prove this reprobate Doctrin of theirs of an absolute Reprobation of the greatest part of mankind even before they are born and that not only Babes and Sucklings on the Mothers Breasts but in the Womb are absolute Reprobates and cast-aways and that some yea many Infants die in a state of Reprobation and perish eternally only for Adams sin imputed unto them as they say without any knowledge or eonsent of theirs and corrupt Nature derived into them and that all such Reprobates never had or ever shall have any opportunity of saving Grace whereby it was possible to them at any time to be saved The place of Scripture I say they mainly abuse and wrest to favour this evil and pernicious Doctrin is that in Rom. 9.11 12 13. But for the opening and vindicating of this place of Scripture let it be considered that here is only a preference mentioned of Jacob before Esau how that the Elder shall serve the Younger but this saith nothing of Esau his being absolutely reprobated The great design of the Apostle Paul being to shew that God had chosen the Line of Jacob before the Line of Esau and given unto that Line and Posterity of Jacob a Preference and Dignity over the Line and Posterity of Esau and that the reason of this Preference was not any Works that they had done but for some other cause hid in the secret counsel of God and this Preference did appear first in chusing the Line and Posterity of Jacob to be his Church in that peculiar Dispensation of the Mosaical Law and giving them many Prophets and other excellent Men to be raised up among them and honouring them with many great and signal Appearances Signs and Wonders whereas the Posterity of Esau was not so highly favoured and yet they had a divine Dispensation among
the ordinary way of Generation and that the menstruous Humour was held in Scripture to be such a filthy and unclean thing which is called The Fountain of her Blood Levit. 20.18 hath the same signification also the Circumcision of Children on the eighth day And it s said in Job 25.4 How can Man be justified with God or how can he be clean that is born of a Woman To wit in the ordinary way of Generation And here the natural state of Man is declared before his spiritual Regeneration in Christ Jesus And though that was said by Bildad one of Job's Friends yet it is confirmed by Job himself Chap. 14.4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one But this Seed or Principle of Sin and Corruption is not charged or imputed unto Men until they joyn and consent unto it and actually obey it as is clear from Rom. 5.13 For until the Law Sin was in the World but Sin is not imputed when there is no Law Now when is it that there is no Law but in the time of Infancy wherein Children are not capable of any Law or of doing Good or Evil any more than when in the Womb For until Children begin to have the use and exercise of their reasonable understanding so as to know the Right hand from the Left according to Jonah 4.11 they cannot be understood to be under the Law But to say that any Infants are eternally damned for that first Sin and without any actual Sin or Transgression of theirs committed in their own Body is expresly contrary to Scripture that saith The Soul that sinneth shall die and every one shall receive according to the Deeds done in the Body good or evil and he that soweth to the Flesh shall reap Corruption as he that soweth to the Spirit shall reap Incorruption and Life eternal And therefore none shall finally perish or be lost for that first Sin according to Scripture but for their actual Disobedience here in this World and their final Unbelief and Impenitency For as concerning the Judgment and Punishment of the first Sin it was immediately inflicted after the Fall to wit the Death of all in Adam But Christ the second Adam by his death for all that died in Adam doth give unto all his free Gift that cometh upon all unto Justification of Life and thus the Plaister is as broad as the Sore and the Medicine as universal as the Disease and it is not simply the Sin or Disease but the refusing and rejecting the Medicine and Physician that is the cause of any Mans final destruction And how or in what manner Adam's Children and Posterity were concerned in that first Sin whether only by Imputation as some say or by real Participation as others say the Wise in heart may easily judge Let it suffice at present to say that Adam's Children being his Branches and he their Root they do really partake with him both in the defilement and also in the promised Seed in order to their Restoration for when God said to Adam In the Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die his Children and Posterity were included So when God said I will put enmity between thee to wit the Serpent and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Their Children and Posterity are equally included for Adam after his Fall being restored and made an holy Root as is generally acknowledged as Paul declareth If the Root be Holy so are the Branches and if the first Fruit be holy the Lump is also holy And as God promised unto Noah and to his Sons Gen. 9.8 And behold I establish my Covenant with you and with your Seed after you His Branches are holy with him to wit not actually but by having a Seed or Principle of Holiness put in them derived from Christ the second Adam who is that promised Seed whereby they are made capable of becoming Holy by improving the same and this is that federal Holyness which all the Children of Adam and Noah have that is all mankind which is more encreased or diminished but not totally abolished in any as the immediate Parents are found more or less actually holy for the more that any sin that noble Seed and Principle of Holiness both in them and in their Children is the more clouded and vailed every Sin that a Man committeth until it be purged and done away being a vail over that noble Seed And God renewed the promise to Abraham to make him the Father of all Nations and Families of the Earth and that in him they all should be blessed and in his Seed not that this should be fulfilled by his being their Father according to the Flesh or in the way of carnal Generation but through Christ who is the Seed of Abraham by whom the Blessing and Grace of God was to come upon all Rom. 4.16 17. and in this respect Abraham is called the Father of us all as it is written I have made thee a Father of many Nations before him whom he believed God quickening the Dead and calling the things which were not as though they were to wit the Dead in Adam are all in due time quickned by Christ the promised Seed of Abraham that they may all become the Children of Abraham through Faith in Christ Jesus for by virtue of Christ's Death and the Promise made to Adam Noah and Abraham these three general Fathers all Adam's Posterity are holy in a Scripture sense not actually but in capacity to become actually Holy through the holy Seed given unto them and put into them as they come to close and joyn with it in true Faith and Obedience And this doth well answer to Peter's Vision whereby all manner of four footed Beasts of the Earth and wild Beasts and creeping things and Fowls of the Air which God had cleansed all Nations of Adam are understood Acts 10.12 13 14 15. CHAP. VI. More particularly and largely concerning the way of Restoration by Jesus Christ his dying for all and giving unto all sufficiency of Grace and means of Salvation whereby they may be saved ACcording to the Testimony of the holy Scriptures Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all Men but especially of them that believe 1 Tim. 4.10 and he is called the Saviour of the World John 4.42 and the Saviour of the Body Ephes 5.23 and that he hath dyed for all Men is the express Testimony of the holy Scriptures in divers places 2 Cor. 5.14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them 1 Tim. 2.4 5 6. God will have all Men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth for there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man
Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time Heb. 2.9 That he by the Grace of God should taste death for every Man 1 John 2.2 He is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World But it is commonly alledged by the Adversaries of Truth that by All in these places is understood not all particulars but some of all sorts or all the elect To this I answer the word All must needs be as full and universal with respect to Christs death and the benefit of it as it is with respect to Adam's fall because the Scripture maketh a plain parallel betwixt all that die in Adam and all that Christ died for as in that fore-cited place 2 Cor. 5.14 If one dyed for all then all were dead Now if All only signifie Some in the first part of the verse the sense must run thus If one dyed for some or a few then all were dead This quite maketh void the Apostles inference for if Christ only dyed for some then only some were dead and not all Again in Rom. 5.18 the parallel is very plain As by the offence of one Judgment is come upon all unto Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift is come upon all unto Justification of Life not that all are actually justified but the free gift is come upon them that they may be justified and so it is that the two sides or parts of Parallels are of equal extent Beside that the word All in Scripture doth most commonly signifie all particulars and therefore to restrict it in respect of Gods Grace and Mercy through Christ savours of a narrow Spirit and this narrowness of Spirit in Presbyterians and Independents is a great evil in them and maketh them so peevish uncharitable and cruel 2. And whereas they object against Christ his dying for all Men because he said he did not pray for the World and therefore he did not die for the World John 17.9 I pray for them I pray not for the World It may be very well granted that he dyed not for the World which he doth not pray for But what World is that It is not any part of Mankind as they are considered when first born into the World and having had a time to live in the World and a day of visitation wherein they might have repented and have been converted unto God but as having finally rejected the great Mercy and Grace of Christ after many tenders and offers of it until that the Lord hath wholly left striving with him by his Spirit in their hearts and then they become Reprobates and that World whereof Christ spoke when he said he prayed not for the World And therefore it ought to be well noted and considered that when it is said Christ dyed for the sins of the World it is only with respect to sins past or any other sins that Men may commit before the precise time and period of Gods leaving them and ceasing any more to strive with them when they are become perfected so to speak in sin and evil and are as the ripe Tares fit for burning having nothing remaining in them of any tenderness simplicity or sincerity or true Love to God or Man no grain of Goodness or Virtue nay not the least Seed but are wholly become as Dross after all the precious Mettal to the least grain is extracted or separated from it for such I say Christ hath neither dyed nor prayed And thus it may be with many and is with many before they die and concerning these John declared saying There is a sin unto Death I do not say that he shall pray for it 1 Joh. 5.16 and this is that sin of final Unbelief and obstinate Impenitency wherein men may be permitted to live some considerable time before they die And this is no Contradiction nor Inconsistency but serveth greatly to clear the understanding of this weighty matter how Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and yet hath dyed for none of these Men after they have wilfully neglected that day of Grace and resisted the Spirit of Grace until he did altogether leave and forsake them And also it is to be considered that though Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and Mercy beyond which time they have not the benefit of his death and there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin unto them yet he hath not died with the same equal intention and degree of Love Kindness and Good-will for them who finally perish as for them who are saved nor are the gracious Providences of God and his dealings both inwardly and outwardly after the same way and manner towards all And therefore all who shall be saved at the end of the World have very great and unspeakable cause to praise God for his more abundant Mercy Grace and Love towards them in Christ Jesus and that he and not they did make them to differ from others yet none that perish can have any just cause to complain against God for when that that is sufficient is given to them they have no cause to complain But all who are saved God is pleased at one time or another that suiteth with his infinite Wisdom and good pleasure so to draw perswade move and incline them to come unto him and when come so to preserve them with him and in him or if at any time he suffer them to depart infallibly to reclaim them before the end that they shall certainly be saved and this the Lord can well do so as to put a difference betwixt Cattel and Cattel or Men and Men without their observation and so as neither to give unto the one any occasion of Presumption nor unto the other of Despair and without giving any greater measure of inward Grace although he may and oft doth give a greater measure to one than to another for he is free to give of his own as he pleaseth but only by suitable Providences and Dispensations and means of his own chusing the one may be taken and the other left the one gained and saved and the other not the inward Grace being the same both in kind and degree in some that are saved and in some that are not as the Parable of the Pounds and Marks plainly declare every Servant had his Pound or Mark which is an equal sum and some improved it and some not And of this more abundant Love of God towards Paul he himself taketh special notice with great Thanksgiving unto God 1 Tim. 1.14 16. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all Long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to Life everlasting And the like notice he taketh of the
Scripture would not have said Work out your Salvation with Fear and Trembling And if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body ye shall live And therefore when Paul doth so earnestly plead that men are not justified by the Works of the Law it is evident he doth only exclude these legal Performances and Observations that the Jews rested in who had not Faith in Christ And that no Works however so good or holy being performed by men ought to be rested in as a Foundation or ground of Justification for that were to exclude Christ and make his Death of no effect And again when James doth plead so earnestly that men are justified by Works and not by Faith only giving an instance in Abraham and Rahab he only placeth Faith and Works together viz. such Works as accompany true Faith and work together with it as necessary Instruments and Conditions whereby to obtain Justification but not to be the Foundation thereof 8. And whereas Paul generally so much useth that manner of Speech of Justification by Faith it is manifest that by Faith he doth not mean only that single Virtue called Faith but as by way of Synecdoche the most eminent or noted part is put for the whole as when in Scripture as well as in common Speech the Head of a man is put for the whole man Ezek. 33.4 Ezek. 17.9 Even so by Faith the Apostle in these places doth mean the whole complex or systeme or intire Body of the Evangelical Virtues and Graces whereof Faith is as it were the Head and is first in order of Nature at least in respect of the other and sometimes also by Faith he understandeth the whole Evangelical Dispensation and Doctrin as especially in that noted place Gal. 3.23 But before FAITH came we were kept under the Law c. And verse 5. But after that FAITH is come c. Where certainly Paul doth not mean only that single Virtue called Faith but the whole Evangelical Dispensation with all the spiritual Gifts and Graces of it And again Gal. 3.2 Received ye the Spirit by the Works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith which hath the same signification And thus in common Speech among Christians and Christian Writers the Christian Faith doth signifie the whole Christian Religion and Obedience and so Unbelief in Scripture is put for all other Sin that Men generally are under before they believe as Rom. 11.32 9. True Faith in Christ Jesus on whom alone the Soul resteth as on the true Foundation for Justification and all other divine and spiritual gifts blessings is not only a believing in him as he is the Word which was in the beginning with God and is God by whom all things were made and which was in all the Prophets and faithful and holy Men in all Ages but as the same Word did take Flesh and was God manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit c. 1 Tim. 3.16 which Paul called The great Mystery of Godlinss to wit Christ crucified and risen again made of a Woman made under the Law the Son of God that did come in the likeness of sinful Flesh made like unto us in all things Sin excepted who being in the form of God and thought it no Robbery to be equal with God humbled himself and took upon him the form of a Servant and was found in the true Form and Nature of a Man the Seed of Abraham and David conceived by the holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary at Bethlem in the Land of Judah And thus the true Faith doth not divide Christ but receiveth him and joyneth the Soul unto him entirely to wit the whole and intire Christ both as he did come outwardly in the Flesh and as he did and doth inwardly come in the Spirit and as the said true Faith doth not divide him so nor doth it divide his Offices but taketh or receiveth him in all his Offices as King Priest and Prophet Shepherd Physician Husband c. And as he is called Jerm 23.6 The Lord our Righteousness in Scripture so as none can have him to be their Righteousness and Justification but who have him to be their Lord King and Ruler in them and their Sanctification Wisdom and Redemption And thus every truly believing Soul is as the true Mother of the Child who would not have the Child divided but she who was not the true Mother of the Child she would have the Child divided a true Figure of all false Christians who would have Christ divided and say They believe in Christ without them but do not believe and receive Christ within them as God the Father doth inwardly reveal him or as Ranters and other high Notionists who pretend to believe in Christ as he is the Word and Light in them but slight and blaspheme against Christ that was crucified without them Whereas the true Believer doth both believe in Christ and receive Christ as he came in the Flesh and was crucified for our Sins and rose and ascended into Heaven and is now in Heaven glorified in the intire and perfect Nature of man in Soul and Body appearing in the presence of God for us our Advocate with the Father and also doth believe in him and receive him spiritually to live and dwell in his Heart as he is the Lord that Spirit and the second Adam or heavenly Man the quickning Spirit who is the true spiritual Meat and Drink to every believing Soul even as Christ said I am the true Bread of Life he that eateth me shall live by me 10. And this true Faith in the least true measure of it as it is an act or exercise hath assurance in it of the Love and Mercy of God revealed in Christ Jesus and true infallible Assurance is of the very Nature and Being of true Faith as it is exercised on Christ its true and proper Object and Foundation and upon the Love and Mercy of God the Father revealed in Christ hence Paul said That his Gospel came unto these to whom he preached not in Speech only but in Power and in the holy Ghost and in much Assurance or as the Greek hath it much full Assurance 1 Thes 1.5 And he said further his Preaching was in the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power 1 Cor. 2.4 5. That their Faith ought not to be in the Wisdom of Man but in the Power of God And this was sure footing and had assurance in it as the building on the sure Rock But they who deny all inward new Revelation of the Spirit it s no wonder they deny that Faith hath Assurance in the Being and Nature of it But without divine inward Revelation which begetteth Assurance there is no true Faith but only Opinion or Conjecture seeing there is no midst betwixt Assurance and Opinion or Conjecture and therefore these Faith-Publishers have denyed the true Faith of God's Elect when they say It may be without Assuranee and that
Works were finished from the Foundation of the World and therefore that seventh day doth signifie Christ Jesus the first and the last who is the alone true Rest and Sabbath of all the Faithful as he invited saying Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest And concerning this spiritual and divine Sabbath or Sabbatism it is said in Heb. 4.9 10. Therefore there doth remain a Rest unto the People of God for he that is entred into his Rest he also hath ceased from his own Works as God did from his let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest c. And Verse 3. We which have believed do enter into Rest By all which it doth plainly appear that the New-Testament understandeth the Christian Sabbath not of any outward Day but of Christ which the outward Sabbaths of the Jews did by way of Allegory signifie and hold forth And lastly as to Matth. 5.17 where Christ saith he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it It is not to be understood that he came to keep up and perpetuate the Types and Figures of the Law but to put an end to them and in the room and place thereof to fulfil all the Righteousness Equity and Justice that they did signifie or hold forth which is as the Kernal Otherwise ye might argue as much for upholding the outward Circumcision as the outward Sabbath and that outward Sabbath was not the first day but the seventh day And whereas some plead that the 4th Commandment is altogether Moral as well as the other nine that were given forth immediately by the Mouth of the Lord unto the People and writ by his Finger on the Tables of Stone and therefore is perpetual and never to be abrogated If all this be granted it doth not prove that the first day of the Week is there commanded as these called Presbyterians and Independents would have it Nor can they who plead for the keeping of the seventh day of the Week for the Sabbath prove that the said fourth Commandment did enjoyn to the Jews the keeping of any outward or natural seventh day of the Week for their keeping the outward seventh day of the Week was enjoyned to them among the other Ceremonial Laws and Precepts as is clear from Exod. 16.23 and Chap. 31.13 14. where it is called a Sign to wit of that spiritual moral and perpetual Sabbath And therefore if it be granted that the fourth Commandment is altogether moral and perpetual it doth not follow that the seventh day therein mentioned is any outward day or that it enjoyneth any outward day for it can all be spiritually understood very well as the tenth Commandment Thou shalt not covet doth not enjoyn any outward thing but reacheth to the Heart and inward part only and is altogether Spiritual And as the last Commandment of the second Table is altogether spiritual so why may it not be said that the last Commandment of the first Table is altogether spiritual And even the mystick Writers among the Jews do acknowledge that not only the seventh day mentioned in the fourth Commandment but all the six days signifie spiritual Days and Mysteries as well as the seventh of which I shall not particularly enlarge at present A Call and Warning from the Lord to the People of Boston and New-England to Repent c. THE Burden of the Word of the Lord that came unto me on the twenty first day of the fourth Month 1688. in the Town of Boston in New-England to declare it unto Boston its Inhabitants and to the Inhabitants of New-England who have been or are concerned in opposing and hardning their Hearts against the inward appearance of God and of his Son Christ Jesus in the Hearts of his Servants and in the Living Testimonies they have born unto you to call you to believe in the Light of his Son Christ Jesus who hath enlightned you all and every one of you and to turn you from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Oh! Repent Repent for your great Sins and Transgressions of all sorts that ye have committed against the Lord and against his holy and divine Light and Gift in all your Hearts and especially Repent of your great Hypocrisie all Teachers and People of Boston and New-England every where who call your selves Christians and have a Name to live but are dead who draw near unto God with your Mouths and honour him with your Lips but have removed your Hearts far away from him and who have the Name of Christ oft in your Mouths and think to cover you with his imputed Righteousness while ye are ignorant of his Life and holy Power Spirit and divine Nature in your Hearts and while ye are daily crucifying the Lord of Glory afresh and putting him to open shame and treading under Foot the Blood of the Covenant as the holy Scripture declareth concerning some that professed Christ Jesus in former Ages And this is the state of many of you yea of the generality of you both Teachers and People of Boston and New-England of all sorts a few Names excepted whom the Lord doth honour and they shall walk with him in White although ye have sought to dishonour them And this I have seen from the Lord in that pure Light of his that maketh all things manifest and before which all things are naked and bare which Light ye generally despise and reject and blaspheme calling it A meer natural Light and insufficient to lead unto God and the Children of it ye have hated reproached and mocked with cruel Mockings whereby ye have sufficiently declared your selves to be born after the Flesh and not after the Spirit Oh ye Blasphemers against God and his Temple which is his Light and them that dwell therein Repent repent of your Blasphemies and hard Speeches and hard Thoughts against Gods inward appearance by his holy Word Light and Spirit in all your Hearts And Repent of all your Pride Vanity Folly Excess in Meats Drinks and Apparel who though ye profess your selves to be more pure and more purely reformed than other Churches so called yet in the sight of God ye are nothing better but many of you worse and the Sin of Sodom which was Pride and Excess and fulness of Bread is the Sin of many of you especially of the richer sort Oh unthankful Nation Do ye thus requite the Lord who are Jesurun like that since ye waxed fat have kicked against the Lord and are gone from that Tenderness Sobriety and Simplicity that was among you and your Fathers sometime ago Oh! how quickly have ye degenerated and departed from the Lord of whom ye have made and still are making a great Profession The anger of the Lord is ready to break out against you yet more than formerly unless ye Repent And though his Hand hath been manifestly stretched out against you in manifest Judgments and especially in
but to extenuate the Sin in the Believer and to aggravate it in the Unbeliever contrary to the Scriptures Testimony which doth aggravate any Sin that Men having once believed fall into more than in unbelievers as is clear from 2 Pet. 2.20 21. 2. And as for the Scriptures they bring in their said Confession to prove their false Doctrin let them be impartially examined and they will be found to prove no such thing some of them being expresly conditional as that in 2 Pet. 1.10 For if ye do these things ye shall never fall Here it is only promised conditionally but not absolutely that they shall not fall to wit if they give all diligence to add to their Faith Virtue c. Verse 5. And this serveth them not only from falling totally but from falling indefinitly or universally so as not at all to fall for he saith not Ye shall not fall totally But Ye shall not fall And there are many other Scriptures that though they do not expresly mention the Condition yet do Imply it and are to be expounded by other Scriptures that do express it 3. It is readily and willingly granted that there is a state in Holiness or Sanctification that may be attained and grown up into wherein men cannot fall away totally from a state of Grace but as they cannot fall away totally so they cannot commit any gross or great Sin which in the Scripture phrase is commonly called Sin to wit a hainous Sin or Crime which John calleth A Sin unto Death 1 John 5.16 17. And here he distinguisheth betwixt a Sin unto Death and a Sin that is not unto Death viz. that doth not totally slay the Soul's Life but woundeth it and killeth only in part as some small wandring or evagation of mind or giving way through slackning the Watch unto a vain Thought for some small time something of Anger or Passion upon some sudden occasion something of glorying in Sufferings or Services or Knowledge or in spiritual Attainments something of too forward and hasty Zeal and divers like sudden Motions that a gracious and godly Soul may be tryed and afflicted with that are as Thorns in the Flesh-and do wound and afflict the Soul but are not suffered to proceed so far as to carry it forth into any secret or open gross Crime either inwardly in the Heart or outwardly in Word or Deed. Hence both in the Old and New Testament we find divers kinds and degrees of Sin more or less heinous and these expressed by divers both Hebrew and Greek Words The more heinous are called Iniquities Vngodliness Impiety Vnrighteousness Perverseness Rebellion and others of an inferiour Nature are called Trespasses Debts Omissions Faults c. Now the least kind or degree of Sin doth weaken and wound yea kill in part the Soul 's spiritual Life as when in the natural Body some Member is mortally wounded and killed and yet the whole Person is not slain thereby but all gross Sins such as Fornication Adultery Murder Theft Robbery c. make havock waste and destroy the Soul's Life and kill the whole man whom notwithstanding God in his infinite mercy may and doth at times restore For we read of no Sin unpardonable but that of Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost and doing despite to the Spirit of Grace And such who are come to this noble degree and state of Sanctification are described Psal 119.2 3. Blessed are they that keep his Testimonies and that seek him with the whole Heart they also do no Iniquity they walk in his ways And such have their Calling and Election made sure unto them such are not meerly or barely Servants nor Sons of the Bond-woman but Sons of the Free-woman and throughly renewed and born of God who doth not commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in them 1 John 3.9 And he cannot sin because he is born of God For indeed to him that is born of God Sin is contrary to his new Nature as much as Holiness or Righteousness is contrary to the Devil's Nature or as one contrary thing can be to another as it is contrary to a Fish to live on dry Land or for a Sheep or Dove to live in the bottom of the Seas But whoever commit any gross thing as Fornication Murder Adultery Theft Robbery Perjury c. never arrived to this pure and perfect state of Sonship were but Servants and not purely and perfectly Sons and yet the state of the Servant is a true and good state in its place and as faithfully improved leadeth on infallibly to the state of pure and perfect Sonship and such who have attained to this pure and perfect state of Sonship can say with Paul Gal. 4.31 So then Brethren we are not Children of the Bond-woman but of the Free And with John 1 John 2.19 They to wit such who were not true Sons but at best only Servants went out from us but they were not of us c. To wit Sons and Children of the Free-woman or the Children of the New Covenant they were only of Hagar that signifieth the Law or first Covenant And to conclude the Righteousness and Holiness of the first Covenant may be totally fallen from such as was that of the Angels who fell and Adam the first man he fell totally and so may they who are not further advanced than to bear the Image of him the earthly Adam but the Righteousness and Holiness of the New Covenant such as they attain unto who are throughly born of God and are made Overcomers and Conquerors yea more than Conquerors as the Scripture phraseth it and are made conform to the Image of Christ the second Adam the Lord from Heaven heavenly cannot be fallen from or lost such having overcome are made Pillars in the House of God so as no more to go out Rev. 3.12 And to this state only do all these places of Scripture relate that hold forth and imply a sure and absolute stedfastness in Holiness and Righteousness But who are thus far advanced and who are not although infallible Signs and Marks of distinction may be given of these two so differing states God only infallibly knoweth and they to whom he doth reveal it For it is God that must make known by the inward Revelation of his holy Spirit who hath these marks otherwise men may presume to have them when they have them not And of these infallible Signs and Marks some of them are to love God with the whole Heart to love him purely and perfectly to love him for himself and to desire to enjoy him as he is a God of Holiness Purity and Righteousness more than for Gifts or Comforts or Rewards that are of an inferiour Nature to hate and fear Sin more than all punishment for Sin to have no inward inclination or desire to revenge Injuries but most willingly and heartily to forgive and bear them to love Enemies from the very inward ground and bottom of the Heart and always to render