Justification or that of Adoption do properly import in the Object a Real Change but only a Relative For the Traitor thus Pardoned and thus Advanced may yet remain a Wicked Person and as very an Enemy to his Soveraign as he was before if there be not a change wrought in his Mind as well as in his Relative state Nor is this the Sonship which the Text speaks of But beside this Sonship by Adoption there is also a Sonship by Regeneration which the Text mentions as Necessary to those who shall See the Kingdome of God And this implies as was said before not so much a Relative change of the State as a Real change of the Person Except a man be born again and thereby have a New Nature as well as a New Relation he cannot See the Kingdome of God 'T is vain to think of being the Sons of God by Adoption unless we be his Sons by Regeneration also The one never goes without the other For like as 't is a Vain thing to talk of Saving Faith which is not as occasion serves attended with Good Works And a Vain thing to talk of being Justified without being Sanctified also So 't is a Vain thing to talk of Adoption without Regeneration For though the Notions be Different the Things alwaies go together And are commonly so mentioned in Scripture Thus 1 Joh. 12 13. To as many as Received him that is to as many as believed on his name as it is there explained he gave Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Right or Privilege as the Margin renders it to be the Sons of God to wit by Adoption But it then follows which were Born to wit by Regeneration not of the will of Man but of God Those that are the Sons of God by Adoption must be Born again by Regeneration So Gal. 4 5 6. When he had said God sent his Son c. that we might receive the Adoption of Sons he adds And because ye are Sons God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father That is the Spirit of Regeneration the same Spirit by which the Text says we must be Born again Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit ver 5. he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God And again Rom. 8.15 16. We have not received the spirit of Bondage again to Fear but we have received the spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father The Spirit it self bearing witness with our Spirits that we are the Sons of God But how doth he thus bear witness to our Adoption He tells us ver 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God By being a Spirit of Regeneration it bears witness of our Adoption For like as no man can know that he is Elected till he know that he is Justified and Sanctified So neither can we know that we are Adopted till we first know that we are Regenerate Whom he did Fore-know saith St. Paul Rom. 8.28 he did also Predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son that is whom he designed to be Happy he designed to be Holy And whom he did thus Predestinate them he Called them he Justified and them he Glorified But till we find by the Effect we were designed to be Holy we can never know that we are designed to be Happy And in like manner Till we find that we are led by the Spirit of Regeneration we can never know that we are the Sons of God by Adoption And our Text says the same though in other words Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdome of God that is Except he be born again by Regeneration he cannot pretend a title to the Kingdome of God by Adoption Till they be born again they cannot be Children of the Kingdome as the Phrase is Mat. 13.38 Adoption and Regeneration alwaies go together Now as being the Sons of God by Adoption is the Completing of our Justification So To become the Sons of God by Regeneration is the Beginning of our Sanctification For what in the Origine or Beginning we call Regeneration or a New Birth that in the Progress we call Sanctification or a New Life And 't is called in Scripture by many other Names to the same purpose 'T is called A dying to Sin and being alive to God Rom. 6.4 11. that we may thenceforth Walk in newness of Life 'T is called Conversion or a turning from darkness to light from the power of Sathan unto God Act. 26.18 That they may receive forgiveness of Sins and Inheritance among those that are Sanctified Where you see Conversion attended with Justification or the Forgiveness of Sins and Adoption to the Inheritanc◠but 't is amongst those that are sanctified And again Mat. 18.3 Except ye be Converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Where being Converted is the same with what the Text calls being Born again 'T is becoming a new Creature Gal. 5.17 If any man be in Christ he is a new Creature Old things are passed away and all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 A new Heart a new Spirit Ezek. 36.26 that is A new Frame and Temper of Mind new Principles new Propensions and Inclinations To be renewed in the spirit of our Minds Eph. 4.23 To be created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2.10 which God hath before ordained that we should walk therein that is according to our present Idiom wherein God hath before appointed that we should walk 'T is a repairing of God's Image in us which by the Fall was Obliterated and Defaced A putting off the Old man with his deeds and putting on the New man which is renewed after the Image of him that created him Col. 3.9 10. A putting off the Old man which is corrupt according to the deceitfull Lusts and putting on the New man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness Eph. 4.22 24. With many other Expressions of like import For in expressing Spiritual things by Metaphors taken from things Sensible 't is frequent in Scripture because no one can adequately reach it to make use of many some-way to Resemble the thing intended The Result of all tends to this That there must be a Change of Nature wrought in those who are to Inherit the Kingdome of God Not as to the Essentials of humane Nature but as to the perverse inclinations of corrupt Nature Whence those who by Nature as now Corrupted are prone to Evil may from a new Principle become in Love with God And that in order thereunto we must have not only a Principle of Reason from our First Birth to act as Men but a Principle of Grace also from our new Birth to act as Good Men. For an Evil Tree Heb. 12.15 or a Root of Bitterness will never Mat. 7.17 bring forth good Fruit But the Tree must be made good Mat. 12.33 that the
in our hearts that we shall not depart from him Jer. 32.40 We may well rest satisfied that he who hath said it can doe it without cavilling or nice inquiring How can these things be And the like when God threatens to harden Pharaoh's heart Exod. 4.21 and 7.3 or to make the heart of the people fat that hearing they may hear but not understand Isai. 6.9 10. and seeing they may see but not perceive Mat. 13.14 15. To wit by leaving them to their natural hardness and blindness without correcting it by his Spirit Now that which hereby we prove is this Not that God forces us to will against our wills for that in sensu composito as to the Elicite Act is impossible as implying a contradiction in the terms for as to what we will we are so far willing But that by the Spirit we are born again that is that God by his Spirit works in us a new Nativity a new Nature that is a new Habit of Grace whereby we are inclined to Love and Delight in Good as by the habitual Corruption of our Nature we are inclined to Evil. And this is the concurrent doctrine of the Schools Who I think do generally allow that our Souls are capable of Infused Habits as well as acquired And if by derivation from our first parents we be capable of habitual Corruption I see not why we should doubt but that we are alike capable of habitual Grace And of this for ought I know as early as of that For like as there may be habitual Corruption before we be in a capacity for want of the use of Reason to commit Actual Sin So may God as early put into our hearts the Seeds of Grace which may afterwards when occasion shall serve bring forth the Fruits of good living He may I say when he please not that he alwaies so doth We reade of Isaiah that he was called from the womb Isai. 49.1 and of Jeremiah Jer. 1.5 Before thou camest out of the womb I Sanctified thee and of John the Baptist that he should be filled with the holy Ghost even from his mothers womb Luk. 1.15 And our Church presumes of Infants that they be at least some of them Regenerate when Baptized And therefore For as much as all men are conceived and born in Sin and that our Saviour Jesus Christ says None can enter into the Kingdome of God except he be Regenerate and Born anew of Water and of the holy Ghost doth direct us to call upon God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ that of his bounteous mercy he will grant to this Child that thing which by Nature he cannot have And doth pray accordingly that God will Wash him and Sanctifie him with the holy Ghost And that he may receive remission of Sins by Spiritual Regeneration Nor is the Holy Ghost less able to work effectually afterwards Else why are we taught to pray to God to grant us true repentance and his holy Spirit that the things may please him which we doe at present and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy That all our doings may be ordered by his Government to doe alwaies that which is righteous in his sight And for the King's Majesty That God will replenish him with the grace of his Spirit that he may alwaies incline to God's will and walk in his waies and to endue him plenteously with heavenly Gifts And for the Royal Family That God will endue them with his holy Spirit and enrich them with his heavenly Grace And for the Clergy That God will send upon our Bishops and Curates and all Congregations committed to their charge the healthfull Spirit of his Grace And for our selves That being Regenerate and made his Children by Adoption and Grace we may be daily renewed by his holy Spirit That as by his special Grace Preventing us he puts into our minds good Desires so by his continual Help we may bring the same to good Effect That by his holy Inspiration we may Think those things that be good and by his mercifull Guiding we may Perform the same That God who did teach the hearts of his faithfull people by sending them the light of his holy Spirit will grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things That because by the weakness of our mortal nature we can doe no good thing without him he will grant us the help of his Grace that in keeping his commandments we may please him both in Will and Deed. That God who is the Author and Giver of all good things will graft in our heart the Love of his Name That he will Grant us the Spirit to Think and Doe alwaies such things as be rightfull that we who cannot doe any thing without him may by him be enabled to live according to his will That because the frailty of Man without him cannot but fall he will keep us ever by his help That his Grace may alwaies Prevent and Follow us and make us continually to be given to all good works That Almighty God will cleanse the Thoughts of our Hearts by the inspiration of his holy Spirit that we may perfectly love him and worthily magnify his holy Name With much more in the Prayers of our Church to the same purpose All which implies that there is a power in God to work in our Souls by his Spirit such a gracious frame and temper of Heart inclining it to Good as before it was to Evil as without it would not have been And truly if we do allow that the Wisdome of man by moral Arguments and rational Discourse may without doing violence to his Will perswade another to Think otherwise than before he did and to Doe what otherwise he would not have done which yet when he doth he doth Freely Nay more if a Glass of Wine though taken moderately and without excess may give a man that Life Vigour and Alacrity as to make him almost another man to Speak Think and Doe what else he would not or at least not in such a Manner and to such a Degree Surely we may allow the Wisdome of God and the Efficacy of his Spirit without intrenching upon our Freedome to doe as much or more than so And either without or in concurrence with such moral Swasions to put that Warmth into our hearts as to act beyond what without it we should have done Nor is there any reason to fear that such Inclination to Good from the Spirit of God should prejudice the Freedome of our Will any more if so much as the Inclination to Evil from our own Corruption or the Temptations of Sathan Especially since that the Blessed Angels and the Glorified Saints in Heaven where Sorrow and Sin shall be no more shall as Freely Love God and Praise him as we on Earth can do Notwithstanding that they shall be
then not only Inclined to but Confirmed in Good and not in a capacity to Sin Not for want of Freedome but as having no Inclination to Evil. All which is not said to incourage any man in Sloth or Idleness in doing what is his Duty upon pretence of waiting on the Spirit of God to doe all for him But rather to a diligent use of all the Means of Grace in hope of his concurrence and to Implore withall the Divine Goodness to Assist us mercifully To Prevent us in all our doings with his most gracious Favour and further us with his continual help that in all our Works Begun Continued and Ended in him we may have his blessing on them According to Solomon's advice in a like case Eccl. 11.6 In the Morning sow thy Seed and in Evening withold not thy hand For thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they shall both be alike Good And St. Paul makes the like Inference from the same Premises Phil. 2.12 13. Work out your own salvation with Fear and Trembling For it is God that worketh in you both to Will and to Doe of his good pleasure And if we be not failing on our part we have great incouragement to believe that God though a Free Agent will not be wanting to give his holy Spirit to those that ask him Luk. 11.13 Now for Application this Doctrine concerning the Necessity of Regeneration in those who shall see the Kingdome of God doth vindicate our Church whose Doctrine it is from the Reproach and Calumny cast upon her Doctrine As if when she says that we are Justified by Faith only she taught a Loose and Easy way of coming to Heaven without Regeneration Sanctification or Good Works the Effect of both 'T is very true she saith in her 11 th Article We are accounted Righteous before God only for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith and not for our own Good Works or Deservings Wherefore That we are Justified by Faith only is a most Wholesome Doctrine and very Comfortable And more to the same purpose in the Homily to which that Article refers But though she say We are Justified by Faith only she doth not say there is nothing more requisite to Salvation For we must be Sanctified as well as Justified if ever we be Saved And therefore that we may not possibly mistake her Doctrine unless wilfully she adds in the Next words which are her Twelfth Article Albeit that Good Works which are the fruits of Faith and follow after Justification cannot put away our Sins and indure the severity of God's Judgment Yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith In so much as by them a lively Faith may be evidently known as a Tree discerned by the Fruit. But which is her Tirteenth Article Works done before the Grace of Christ and the Inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God Forasmuch as they spring not from Faith in Jesus Christ. Neither do they make man Meet to receive Grace or as the School Authors say Deserve Grace of Congruity Our Church therefore in teaching Justification by Faith only doth not teach us That we need no more to carry us to Heaven but only a Sanguine Belief that we shall come there and may thenceforth live as we list without Holiness or a Godly Righteous and sober Life For she makes this Necessary to bring us to Heaven as well as Faith or Justification it self And a pretence of Faith without this she doth not own for Faith but Presumption She owns none for a true and lively Faith but what is attended herewith as the Necessary Fruit thereof only she doth distinguish what of this belongs to Justification and what to Sanctification Which others labour studiously to Confound If any please to Cavil That if we be Justified by Faith only then there need no more to Save us because God Saves all that he Justifies I say This Cavil might seem to have some weight in it if God did Justify any whom he doth not Sanctify also A Prince I confess may sometimes Pardon a Male-factour and so Justify him or put him inâ—o a Condition of Not-guilty without making him an Honest Man But God never Justifies any whom he doth not also Sanctify And therefore 't is here the same thing to infer That a man may be Sanctified without Holiness as That he may be Saved without it if Justified by Faith only But if any indeed there be I confess I know none except the Papist that hold a man may be Justified and Saved without being Sanctified I have nothing to say in the defence of such Nor is this the Doctrine of our Church when she says We are Justified by Faith only And for any to load her Doctrine with such Consequences is great Ignorance or somewhat Worse But I proceed The two great Enemies to the Doctrine before us the necessity of Regeneration and Sanctification in order to Salvation and consequently of Good Works the effect thereof are the Atheist and the Papist With whom we may join those who Symbolise with either so far as they so do With the Atheist who thinks there is no God I join the Profane Debauched Person who so lives as if there were none Such as Profess that they know God but in Works Deny him being Abominable and Disobedient and to every good Work Reprobate Tit. 1 16. These men have as little veneration for Heaven and Holiness as the Papists have for the Word of God Which they can make use of as a Nose of Wax as they Phrase it to serve a present turn so far as it makes for them but as to much of it they had rather it were not at all And therefore care not how little it be known And when it is they would have it Truckle under their Churches Interpretation as if Insignificant without it And in like manner the Profane Atheist as to a Holy Life and a Future State He could wish perhaps with Balaam to Dye the Death of the Righteous and that his latter end might be like his Num. 32.10 But finding so little Hopes of that doth rather Wish there were no such thing And Thinks it his great Unhappiness That he is not a Beast That since he Lives like a Beast he cannot Dye like a Beast too without Hopes or Fears of Heaven or Hell For since he so Lives as to have Little hopes of Heaven he heartily Wisheth there were no fear of Hell With such as these if any man presseth for Regeneration Sanctification and a holy Life He was to pass heretofore for a Puritan then a Roundhead and now for a Damn'd Fanatick Nor shall he scape this Censure though never so great a Church-man and do exactly Conform to the Church as now Established For 't is Holiness they hate more than Non-conformity To these men I shall say