Servant of all If our Saviour had intended a primacy of Jurisdiction or Authority to St. Peter over the rest of the Disciples would he have exprest himself in such universal Terms so absolutely denying this Authority and Superiority to all Would he not have excepted St. Peter's Right and Priviledg which he intended to him But here 's an universal Negation of such supreme Authority to all of them indifferently without any such Exception Mat. 19. 28. Jesus said unto them Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the Regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory ye shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel The Apostles are here represented sitting equally upon twelve Thrones Is not this to let us understand that they were to have an equal Authority Whereas if St. Peter was to have had a superior Authority one would think he should have had a Throne too superior to all the rest Mat. 23. 8. Be not yâ— called Rabbi or Master for one is your Master even Christ and all ye are Brethren Here is no assignation of any Mastership to St. Peter as Christ's Vicar But all the Disciples are joined together in an equality of Brotherhood under Christ their Lord. Luke 22. 24. There was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted the Greatest Note that this Dispute was but the Evening before the Passion of Jesus Christ after these words were spoken Mat. 16. 19. I will give unto thee the Keys If St. Peter had been then constituted the Chief of the Apostles there would never have been this Dispute among them touching the Primacy For our Saviour upon this Dispute said not one word that he had given it to St. Peter But on the contrary Vers 25. 26. The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and they that exercise Authority upon them are called Benefactors but ye shall not be so Which certainly excludes such a Supreme Authority as is claim'd by the Pope John 20. 22 23. Jesus Christ breathed upon his Disciples and said unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whose Sins ye remit they are remitted and whose Sins ye retain they are retained Note here that the Power of binding and loosing which was promised to St. Peter Mat. 16. 19. is here given to all the Disciples indifferently Therefore that Promise conveyed no special Priviledge or Authority to St. Peter but what was given in common to them all Ephes 2. 20. Ye are built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-Stone Note that the Apostles and Prophets are here put in the same rank and are all equally called Foundation-stones as St. Peter was called a Rock Matth. 16. 18. and James and John Pillars as well as he Gal. 2. 9. To Jesus Christ alone belongs the Preheminence So Rev. 21. 14. And the Wall of the City had twelve Foundations and in them were the Names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. You see here still the Apostles advanc'd to the same degree of Honour Buâ— note that the Apostles are not called Foundations in respect of their Persons but in respect of the Doctrine which they held or preach'd And in the Text Matth. 16. 18. Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church The Rock there mentioned is expounded by many of the Ancient Fathers as St. Chrysostom St. Ambrose St. Austin c. of the Doctrine which St. Peter confest that Christ was the Son of the living God. Which Christ calls a Rock and that upon which he would build his Church with allusion to St. Peter's Name that spoke it which signifies a Stone And upon this Doctrine all the Apostles indifferently founded the Churches where they came as well as he John 21. 17. Where our Saviour three times saith to St. Peter Feed my Sheep What is there contained in that or signified by it but what is equally the duty of all other Pastors of the Church So that here is no Priviledg conferr'd only to him but a Duty injoined which concerns all but is there particularly three times repeated to St. Peter and urged upon him as the best expression of his Love which he then professed to his Lord and Master whom before he had thrice denied and perhaps was as a rebuke for that denial three times repeated 1 Pet. 5. 1 2 3. Here St. Peter puts himself in the rank of the Elders that is to say the Pastors of the Church and doth not in the least attribute to himself any manner of Domination and forbids the same to others The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder He doth not say who am supreme Ruler and Governor over all as he might and should have done to have inforc'd his Exhortation the more if it had been true For he should have magnified his Office as St. Paul did Feed the Flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof Which is the same Exhortation which our Saviour gave him And how then is it a special Prerogative belonging to him alone But then he adds likewise not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready Mind neither as being Lords over God's Heritage but being Enamples to the Flock Quite contrary to the Pride and Arrogance of many Bishops of Rome that lord it over all Consider farther there are no Indications of any such supreme Authority in St. Peter but the quite contrary in very many Instances St. Peter is not always named in the first place as Mark 16. 7. Joh. 1. 44. 1 Cor. 1. 12. Gal. 2. 9. He spake not first in the Council of Jerusalem but a great Dispute there had been before he began his Discourse Acts 15. 7. It was not by his Sentence that the Decree of the Council was stated vers 13. The Message to the Gentiles was not sent by him vers 22. The Decree of the Council was not publish'd in his Name vers 23. He shared the Ecclesiastical Charge with the Apostles as their Fellow and Companion in the Work of the Lord. Gal. 2. 9. And when James and Cephas and John who seemed to be Pillars perceived the Grace that was given to me they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of Fellowship that we should go unto the Gentiles as they unto those of the Circumcision St. Paul makes himself equal unto him in all things Gal. 2. 6. Of those that seemed to be somewhat whatsoever they were it maketh no matter to meâ— God accepteth no Man's Person They that seemed to be somewhat in Conference added nothing to me So 2 Cor. 11. 5. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles It had been good manners to have excepted St. Peter his Head and Lord at least St. Peter was sent in Commission by the rest of the Apostles Acts 8. 14. When the Apostles that were at Jerusalem
great strait betwixt two desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better This implies that he did not doubt but it would be so But if there were a Purgatory to pass through first it would be far better to abide longer in the Body For though St. Paul had less Sin than others yet it cannot be denied but he might have some venial Sins And if there must be Punishment undergon by way of satisfaction for these Sins equivalent to the Fire of Hell as that in Purgatory is said to be though he did undergo more Crosses and Afflictions than others yet ye did not undergo those that were equivalent to the Fire of Hell and how could he be sure then but that he also must enter into Purgatory first before he pass into Heaven and then one would think he should have little Heart to desire to be dissolved But he doth not fear any of this And note that the Apostle speaks of the Happiness in the next Life in common in the plural number as belonging to all the Saints and not as a special Priviledg to himself alone So 2 Tim. 4. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judg shall give me at that day that is the day of his departure out of this Life vers 6. And then mark Not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing Luke 23. 43. Our Saviour said to the believing Thief on the Cross This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise He doth not say when thou shalt have been some Years in Purgatory I will receive thee into Paradise but this day c. Now Paradise is acknowledged to be the Seat of the Blessed not a place of Torment And yet there was no Person that could deserve more to be sent to such a place than the Thief having had no time to do Penance for any of his Sins For if to suffer Death for his Sins was a sufficient Satisfaction then it were best for every Man to desire to suffer such a Death or worse For the pains of the worst of Deaths are much easier it seems than those of Purgatory But is it not indeed very strange that God should forgive Men the Eternal Punishment due to the worst and most mortal Sins for the sake of Christ's Satisfaction and yet exact so severe a Punishment for Sins in their own nature Venial which may be so easily remitted that God should do the greater and yet that he should not do the less When yet it must needs be owned that Christ hath offered a Satisfaction enough for all if it be but applied As for those places that are pretended to prove a Purgatory 1 Cor. 3. 13 15. There we read of Fire indeed and that is all but not one word of Purgatory-Fire It is the Fire of the Day of Judgment is there meant which is eminently in Scripture called the Day and is that indeed which shall be revealed by Fire 2 Thess 1. 7 8. And it is the Works of Men there that shall be burnt that is their false Doctrines which are but Hay and Stubble when the Trial comes But it doth not speak of the burning of their Persons that hold the Foundation who are not to be burnt but saved yet so as by Fire which is only a phrase to express the doing of a thing with great difficulty Zech. 3. 2. see a like phrase Jude 23. As for Mat. 12. 32. it speaketh of the greatest of Sins the Sin against the Holy Ghost which shall never be forgiven and so that Phrase signifies neither in this nor in the World to come that is not at all So Mark 3. 29. it is exprest He hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal damnation or that Phrase may signify that that great Sin should not be forgiven in the Times of the Messiah or under the Gospel which is sometimes exprest by the World to come Heb. 2. 5. 6. 5. when the Jews expected that greater Sins should be forgiven than could be expiated by Levitical Sacrifices Or if Sins be said to be forgiven in the World to come what is that but at the Day of Judgment when the actual deliverance of the Just from Punishment and their final acquittal may be not improperly called the full remission of their Sins What is this to Purgatory where Sins are not forgiven but punish'd Mat. 5. 26. They shall not come out thence till they have paid the uttermost Farthing that is never but must abide in Hell for ever Hell is mentioned vers 22 29 30. And divers degrees of Punishments intimated there with allusion to the different degrees inflicted in the Jewish Courts but not one word of Purgatory As for 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. those Spirits there said to be disobedient were not saved at all as it is pretended they shall be out of Purgatory And the Prison that they are said to be in doth not signify Purgatory as if Christ then by his Spirit preach'd to them there But by his Spirit in Noah he preach'd to a disobedient World though his preaching did then no good their Souls being then as it were by Lust and Sin enslaved and imprisoned in their Bodies and are now lying in the Prison of Hell for all this Now then if there be no Purgatory or place of Torment in the next Life for just Men to the end pretended then likewise Prayers or Masses and Alms for them are vain things to the end proposed viz. in order to the deliverance out of it If there be no such thing then these things that have relation to it can be of no use And yet if there were a Purgatory for expiation of Sins and for satisfaction for temporal Punishments due to them how doth it appear that Prayer for those in that State will help them out of it or who can tell but that they must continue there if they be there till the Day of Judgment As for the supererrogating meritorious Works of the Living and their availableness to deliver their dead Friends out of Purgatory it is after proved likewise that there are no such Works But yet if they were how should they be available to get them out of it when the superabundant Merits and Satisfactions of Christ were not available to prevent their going in If others Satisfactions and Merits might be of use to them in Purgatory one would think Christ's should have kept them out But if Christ's Satisfactions could not help them but they must satisfy for themselves how should the Saints good Works upon Earth help them This is the great Doctrine with the Appendages of it that brings in so great Wealth to Rome and therefore no wonder it is so stifly retained though among all the Directions that are given about Prayer up and down the Scripture there is not any where the least intimation of any direction for praying for the Dead or of
any use that it would be Which it is very strange that it should be omitted among so many Instructions that are given about Prayer if it were to have been done As for 2 Maccab. 12. 39 c. where he saith Mony was sent to Jerusalem that Sacrifices might be offered for the Slain and 't is recommended as an holy Cogitation to pray for the Dead Those Men that died died in the Sin of Achan and therefore were liable to eternal Punishment And so there could be no ground to suppose even according to Popish Principles that they were in Purgatory but in Hell. And if it proves the benefit of Sacrifice and Prayer for the deliverance of dead Sinners it must be out of Hell it self and not out of Purgatory Judas's Offering was a Sin-offering for the sake of the Living that the whole Assembly might not suffer for the Sin of the Dead as they once did in the Case of Achan Josh 7. And Prayers were offered up to God to the same end to avert his Anger from them But Jason the Writer of the History or his Epitomizer being a Platonick Jew and having his Head fill'd with some Platonick Notions ignorantly applies all this as done for the Slain But he commends Self-murder too and praiseth Razias for killing himself 2 Mac. 14. 42. So that we have no great reason to rely much upon the Judgment of this Author Of Justification and Pardon of Sin. CHAP. XX. That Justification is by Charity or Righteousness which is infused and inherent in us Conc. Trent Sess 6. cap. 7. Bellarm. de Justificat lib. 1. FOR the understanding of this it must be considered that the Romish Doctors distinguish Justification into the first and second The first in which a Man is made Just by the infusion of the habit of Charity The second is his co-operating with the Grace received by which he merits and attains to a greater increase of Righteousness But both these are inherent in him so that Justification with him is the same with Regeneration and Sanctification and all is wrought in them in the use and by virtue of the Sacraments But besides this they speak of and seem to include Remission of Sins in Justification by which they mean both the removing of the Fault and the guilt of Sin. But the remission of the Fault is nothing else but the abolishing of Sin by the aforesaid infused Grace whereby it is destroyed and ceases in its being And then the guilt of Sin which is its desert of and obligation to Punishment is remitted of course by natural and necessary Consequence For Sin being abolish'd where there is no Sin there can be no Desert or Punishment and so no Obligation to it So that Sin being abolish'd the Guilt is taken away but it is no otherwise taken away than by taking away the being of Sin but it follows that by a necessary result So that according to-them Justification or Remission of Sin is not an Act of God's Grace absolving the believing and penitent Sinner from Guilt and graciously imputing his Faith to him for Righteousness and so accepting him as Righteous and dealing with him accordingly though his Righteousness be imperfect and do not deserve it meerly of his own free Grace upon the account of the satisfactory or meritorious Sacrifice of Christ Jesus offered up to him But the taking away the Punishment of Sin is a thing arising by a natural Consequence from the abolishing of Sin and so is necessarily due upon the infusion of Grace and is really no distinct Act from it And so the free Grace of God and Redemption of Christ has no other hand in the Justification and Remission of a Sinâ—â—r than as procuring and giving Grace to the Siâ—ner for abolishing of Sin and making him inherently just and then the rest is due and follows of course Against that which is written Acts 13. 38 39. Be it known unto you therefore Men and Brethren that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of Sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses Where that which is the Forgiveness of Sins in the first place in the second is expressed by Justification So that Justification and Forgiveness are the same thing and are consequent to Faith which is the condition of it and so is to go before And this Forgiveness now under the Gospel-Law or Covenant is of such Sins of which by the Sacrifices of the Law of Moses there was no remission So that Gospel-forgiveness or Justification is the acquitting of the Sinner from his Sin upon the account of the Sacrifice of Christ So Rom. 3. 24 25 26. Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past that he might be just and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus Where Justification and Remission of Sins are also taken for the same and the one is but explicatory of the other And it is an Act of God's Grace not infusing of Grace but forgiving of Sins past upon the account of Christ's Propitiatory Sacrifice to all those that believe in him though they be not innocent or sinless nor have any thing of Merit or Vertue in themselves towards the purchasing of this Remission And vers 28. Therefore we conclude that a Man is justified by Faith without the Deeds of the Law. And being without the Deeds of the Law it cannot be supposed to consist in Sanctification which is expressed by such Deeds But the meaning of it therefore is That Faith and sincere Obedience to the Gospel of Christ is so accepted by God upon the account of Christ's Sacrifice that though it be not a perfect Righteousness the true Believer shall be freely discharged and acquitted of all his Sin by God's pardoning-Grace without having a perfect legal Righteousness in himself to deserve it Rom. 4. 3. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for Righteousness And vers 5. To him that worketh not but believeth in him that justifieth the Vngodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness And vers 22. It was imputed to him for Righteousness Where Justification is not the infusion of Faith or Righteousness but it is the Acceptation of the Believer's Faith through meer Grace as if it were a perfect Righteousness though it be not and though a Believer has not in himself a perfect innocence or blamelessness Vers 6 7 8. Even as David describeth the blessedness of the Man to whom the Lord imputeth Righteousness without Works saying Blessed are they whose Iniquities are forgiven and whose Sins are covered Blessed is the Man to whom the Lord will not impute Sin. Where the imputing of Righteousness and the not imputing of Sin and the forgiving of Iniquities and covering of Sins are all
of a Priest nor was it exacted or required as a Matter of necessary Obligation And as for what St. James says Chap. 5. 16. Confess your Faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed Note that he directs to this only in case of bodily Sickness accompanied with an afflicted or distressed Conscience in order to the obtaining the more fervent Prayers of those who are made privy to their Case for their relief and help from God but he does not appoint it for an universal standing Rule for all Men and of absolute obligation upon them in all Cases for the obtaining of Remission of Sin by a Priestly Absolution And note that when our Saviour says John 20. 23. Whose soever Sins ye remit they are remitted and whose soever Sins ye retain they are retained It can only be meant of such Sins as might happen to come to their knowledg and in such Cases wherein they might be able to make a right and sure Judgment of Mens Repentance of or pertinacy in Sin which the Apostles were sometimes enabled to do by special Revelation and then they had an extraordinary Power given them by the Holy Ghost to inflict extraordinary Punishments upon Men and to take them off again as they saw cause upon Mens Repentance Acts 5. 3 4. 13. 11. 1 Cor. 5. 5. 2 Cor. 2. 6 7. But the most that any Priest now can do who is not invested with those extraordinary Gifts is to pronounce Men absolved from the Guilt of their Sin upon condition of their Repentance or condemned for their not coming up to it And here is no Institution of Confession to be necessarily made to a Priest nor the least intimation given that the Sins of Men cannot be otherwise remitted if so be they perform the condition of a sincere Repentance in themselves There is no trace or track of it in our Saviour's dealing with Sinners though he had to do with very great ones Nor yet in the Apostles And St. Peter himself when he sinned we hear of him only that he went out and wept bitterly by that Sign expressing the real Contrition and sincere Repentance of his Heart but we read not a word of his going to a Priest to make Confession In case of publick Scandal indeed given to the Church a publick Confession is very needful and was always the Discipline of the Ancient Church And in case of perplexity of Conscience for the disburdening of that and as an help to Repentance a private Confession of the Sinner and opening his Case to some Spiritual Guide is also very useful But that a particular private Confession of all Mortal Sin with all its Circumstances to a Priest is of perpetual and necessary obligation to all in order to the obtaining pardon of Sin can no where be proved And therefore is an horrid Imposition and intolerable Tyranny upon Mens Consciences and is to change the Terms of Salvation from what God himself has appointed and to make that both easier and harder than he has made it either as it is said that Confession is enough with bare Attrition or that it must be added over and above to true Repentance it self And note that the priestly Absolution when it is given is not Authoritative and Judicial For so to absolve Sinners and forgive Sins belongs only to God Mark 2. 7. Isa 43. 25. who is the only Lawgiver Jam. 2. 12. or to Jesus Christ who hath the Key of David who openeth and none shutteth Rev. 3 7. who alone hath the supreme independent and absolute Power and Authority to do all things in the Church And whereas he hath likewise given unto the Pastors of the Church the Key of the Kingdom of Heaven they then open Heaven when they declare the Grace of God to repenting Sinners they shut Heaven when they declare the Judgment of God to impenitent Sinners But if they be ignorant or wicked let them pardon the Impenitent and excommunicate the Good that which they do on Earth is not ratified in Heaven The Authority they have to pardon Sin or to absolve the Sinner being only ministerial declarative and conditional upon the profession and supposition of the Sinner's Faith and Repentance Of the Merits of Good Works and Works of Supererrogation CHAP. XXII That the Good Works of Justified Persons are truly and properly Meritorious and fully worthy of Eternal Life Council of Trent Sess 6. chap. 16. Can. 32. THese Good Works are said by them indeed to be done by the Grace of God and Merit of Christ But then it is the good Works themselves that are truly meritorious of Eternal Life And the Grace of God and Merit of Christ have only a remote or mediate Influence towards the procuring Eternal Life viz. by giving us Grace to enable us to act And that being done the Acts or Works themselves which justified Persons perform do truly and properly deserve Eternal Life Contrary to Rom. 6. 23. The Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He said The Wages of Sin is Death Sin deserves Death But he doth not say by way of opposition the Wages of Righteousness is Eternal Life but the Gift of God is eternal Life To teach us that Eternal Life is a free Gift to us and not merited by the Righteousness and good Works of any For free Gift and Merit cannot stand together So Luke 12. 32. Fear not little Flock it is your Father's good Pleasure to give you a Kingdom The Kingdom of Heaven is represented as a Gift and that as flowing from the Father's good Pleasure and therefore not from their merit So again John 10. 28. My Sheep hear my Voice and follow me and I give unto them Eternal Life This is given to Men upon their hearing and following of Christ It is not their following of him doth deserve it Ephes 2. 8 9. By Grace are ye saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God. Both Faith and Salvation it self which is the End of Faith is all of Grace and Gift not of Works lest any Man should boast So Tit. 3. 4 5. After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared 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 that being justified by his Grace we should be made Heirs according to the Hope of Eternal Life Regeneration is of Grace and Justification is of Grace and free and we have the hope of Eternal Life as Heirs partaking of the Adoption which is free and not as Mercenaries by Work and Merit And the whole of our Salvation from first to last is of meer Mercy Thus Exod. 20. 6. Shewing Mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments Those that love God and render the most obedience to the Commands of God have yet need of his Mercy