A HOLY LIFE THE BEAUTY OF Christianity OR An EXHORTATION to CHRISTIANS to be HOLY By JOHN BUNYAN Holiness becomes thy House O Lord for ever LONDON Printed by B. W. for Benj. Alsop at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry 1684. AN INTRODUCTION To the following DISCOURSE WHen I write of Justification before God from the dreadful curse of the Law then I must speak of nothing but Grace Christ the Promise and Faith but when I speak of our Justification before Men then I must joyn to these good Works For Grace Christ and Faith are things invisible and so not to be seen by another otherwise than through a life that becomes so blessed a Gospel as has declared unto us the remission of our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ. He then that would have Forgiveness of Sins and so be delivered from the Curse of God must believe in the Righteousness and Blood of Christ but he that would shew to his Neighbours that he hath truly received this Mercy of God must do it by good Works for all things else to them is but talk As for example A Tree is known to be what it is to wit whether of this or that kind by it's Fruit. A Tree it is without Fruit but so long as it so abideth there is ministred occasion to doubt what manner of Tree it is A Professor is a Professor though he hath no good Works but that as such he is truly godly he is foolish that so concludeth Not that Works make a Man good for the Fruit maketh not a good Tree it is the Principle to wit Faith that makes a Man good and his works that shew him to be so What then why all Professors that have not good Works flowing from their Faith are naught are Bramble-bushes are nigh unto Cursing whose end is to be burned For Professors by their fruitlesness declare that they are not of the planting of God nor the Wheat but Tares and Children of the Wicked one Not that Faith needeth good works as an help to Justification before God For in this matter Faith will be ignorant of all good Works except those done by the Person of Christ. Here then the good Man worketh not but believeth for he is not now to carry to God but to receive at his Hand the matter of his Justification by Faith nor is the matter of his Justification before God ought else but the good deeds of another Man to wit Christ Jesus But is there therefore no need at all of good Works because a Man is justified before God without them or can that be called a justifying Faith that has not for its Fruit good Works Verily good works are necessary though God need them not nor is that Faith as to Justification with God worth a rush that abideth alone or without them There is therefore a twofold Faith of Christ in the World and as to the notion of Justifying Righteousness they both concur and agree but as to the manner of application there they vastly differ The one to wit the non-saving faith standeth in speculation and naked knowledg of Christ and so abideth idle but the other truly seeeth and receives him and so becometh Fruitful And hence the true justifying Faith is said to receive to imbrace to obey the Son of God as tendred in the Gospel by which expressions is shewed both the nature of Justifying Faith in its actings in point of Justification and also the cause of its being full of good Works in the World A gift is not made mine by my seeing of it or because I know the nature of the thing so given but then it is mine if I receive and imbrace it yea and as to the point in hand if I yield my self up to stand and fall by it Now he that shall not only see but receive not only know but imbrace the Son of God to be justified by him cannot but bring forth good Works because Christ who is now received and imbraced by Faith leavens and seasons the Spirit of this Sinner through his Faith to the making of him capable so to be Faith made Sarah receive Strength to conceive Seed and we are Sanctified through Faith which is in Christ. For Faith hath joyned Christ and the Soul together and being so joyned the Soul is one Spirit with him not essentially but in agreement and oneness of design Besides when Christ is truly received and imbraced to the justifying of the sinner in that Mans Heart he dwels by his Word and Spirit through the same Faith also Now Christ by his Spirit and Word must needs season the Soul he thus dwells in so then the Soul being seasoned it seasoneth the Body and Body and Soul the Life and Conversation We know it is not the Seeing but taking of a potion that maketh it work as it should nor is the Blood of Christ a Purge to this or that Conscience except received by Faith Shall that then be counted right believing in Christ unto justification that amounts to no more than to an idle speculation or naked knowledg of him shall that knowledg of him I say be counted such as only causes the Soul to behold hold but moveth it not to good Works No verily For the true beholding of Jesus to justification and Life changes from glory to glory Nor can that Man that hath so believed as that by his Faith he hath received and imbraced Christ for Life before God be destitute of good works for as I said the Word and Spirit comes also by this Faith and dwels in the Heart and Conscience now shall a Soul where the Word and Spirit of Christ dwels be a Soul without good Works Yea shall a Soul that has received the Love the Mercy the Kindness Grace and Salvation of God through the Sorrows Tears Groans Cross and Cruel Death of Christ be yet a Fruitless Tree God forbid This faith is as the Salt which the Prophet cast into the Spring of bitter Water it makes the Soul good and serviceable for ever If the receiving of a temporal Gift naturally tends to the making of us to move our Cap and Knee and binds us to be the Servant of the Giver shall we think that Faith will leave him who by it has received Christ to be as unconcerned as a Stock or Stone or that it 's utmost excellency is to provoke the Soul to a lip-labour and to give Christ a few fair Words for his Pains and Grace and so wrap up the business No no the Love of Christ constraineth us thus to judge that it is but reasonable since he gave his all for us that we should give our some for him Let no Man then deceive himself as he may and will if he takes not heed with true Notions but examine himself concerning his Faith to wit Whether he hath any and if some Whether of that kind that will turn to
their profession of faith in him a holy and blessed conversation Having thus briefly shewed you these things I shall come in the next place to shew you Why some that as to words rightly name the name of Christ do not depart from iniquity That it is incident to men to name the name of Christ religiously and not to depart from iniquity I have proved already and now I must shew you why it is so and the reasons are of three sorts First Some profess him yet have not saving faith in him nor yet received grace from him That some profess him that have not saith in him nor received grace from him I will make appear first And then that they do not depart from iniquity shall be shewn afterwards That the first is true consider Christ saies to his Disciples there are some of you that believe not And again For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him Now if they believe not they have none of his grace in them for faith is the first and head grace the beginning and leading grace he therefore that is destitute of that is empty of all the rest Besides other Scriptures also confirm this truth James calls some of the professors of Christ that were in his day vain or empty men that is men void of grace And the Apostle suggesteth in the very words below the Text that as in Gods house there are Golden and Silver Saints so their are also earthy and Wooden ones For in a great house as Gods is are not only Vessels of Gold and Silver but also of wood and of earth and some to honour and some to dishonour that is some for Heaven and some for Hell Now they are these Wooden and Earthy professors that he aimeth at in the Text to wit that they should depart from iniquity or else their profession would do them no good and these also that he despaireth of in the next words saying But but in this great house of God there will not only be Golden and Silver Christians but Wooden and Earthly ones And if any man purge himself from these from these mens companies and from these mens vices he shall be a vessel to honour sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared to every good work From all which it is gathered that there are some that name the name of Christ in a way of profession that have neither faith nor grace in them and so consequently that do not depart from iniquity For First These want that principle that holy and blessed principle that should induce them thereunto to wit the great and principal graces of the spirit and they are four First As I have said They want faith that heart purifying grace for the heart is purified by faith I have shewed you already that departing from iniquity must be with the mind and affections or with the heart but how can that be where the heart is not sanctified and made holy For an unsanctified mind cannot depart from iniquity no more than the Ethiopian can change his Skin but nothing can purifie the heart but faith Therefore nothing can make a professor depart from iniquity where faith is wanting So then when men professedly name the name of Christ without having holy faith in him they still abide by their iniquity they depart not from their iniquity but rather make of their profession a cloak for their iniquity for their malice and for their covetousness and the like It is not profession but faith that bringeth God and the Soul together and as long as God and the soul are at distance what ever profession is made there is not a departing not an heart departing from iniquity Wherefore to these professors James writeth thus Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded Men far from God cannot think reverently of him nor so speak and profess him as standeth with the nature of Gospel Religion wherefore God saith draw near hither that is by faith and again let them come near then let them speak then let them profess Without faith a man cannot please God because he cannot without it stand before him in the spotless righteousness of Christ nor yet depart from iniquity and live a holy life There are three things in Faith that directly tend to make a man depart from iniquity 1. It apprehendeth the truth of the Being and greatness of God and so it aweth the spirit of a man 2. It apprehendeth the love of this God in Christ and so it conquereth and overcometh the spirit of a man 3. It apprehendeth the sweetness and blessedness of the nature of the Godhead and thence perswadeth the soul to desire here communion with him that it may be holy and the injoyment of him when this world is ended that it may be happy in and by him for ever But without Faith these things cannot be apprehended and therefore those that want it whatever their profession is they will not depart from iniquity Secondly Repentance is another of the great and principal graces which the Holy Ghost worketh in the heart Wherefore without this also there can be no departing from iniquity It is in vain to expect it of any man let his profession be never so stately and great if he is a stranger to found repentance How many are there in our day since the Gospel is grown so common that catch up a notion of good things and from that notion make a profession of the name of Christ get into Churches and obtain the title of a Brother a Saint a member of a Gospel congregation that have clean escaped repentance I say they have catcht up a notion of good things and have through that adventured to name the name of Christ quite forgetting to take repentance with them Repentance should be and is one of the first steps into true Gospel profession but some know nothing of it untill they come to the end of all and their repentance will do them no good Repentance is not but where the true fear of God is yea the fear of God is one ground of repentance Repentance is the scouring grace 't is that which purges Repentance is as I may call it that bitter pill without the taking and sound working of which base and sinful humours will rest unstirred unpurged undriven out of the soul. Can repentance be where godly sorrow is not or can repentance be where the fruits of repentance are not O the fruits of repentance thick sown by preachers but it comes up but thinly Where shall the fruits of repentance be found Confession of sin is one fruit of repentance shame for sin is another fruit of repentance amendment of life is another fruit of repentâ—nce restitution for cousening cheating defrauding beguiling thy neighbour is another
lacking but mixed there with Therefore I say since God has put his name into thy mouth to profess the same and grace into thy heart to season that profession with such carriage such behaviour such life and such conversation as doth become the same thou hast great cause to thank God A man into whose mouth God has put the name of Christ to profess it is as a man that is to act his part upon a stage in the Market-place if he doth it well he brings praise both to his Master and himself but if he doth it ill both are brought into contempt No greater praise can by man be brought to God than by joyning to the profession of the name of Christ a fruitful life and conversation Herein saith Christ is my my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my Desciples Fruitful lives God expecteth of all that profess the name of Christ. And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity Bless God therefore if he hath kept thee from blotting and blemishing of thy profession if thy conversation has not been stained with the blots and evils of the times What thou feelest fightest with and groanest under by reason of the working of thine inward corruptions with that I meddle not nor is thy conversation the worse for that if thou keepest them from breaking out Thou also shalt be counted holy unto God through Christ if thou be of an upright conversation though plagued every day with the working of thine own corruption As Gods grace is the salt of Saints so Saints are the salt of God The one is the salt of God in the heart and the other is the salt of God in the world Ye are the Salt of the earth that is the salt of God in the earth For the earth would be wholly corrupt and would altogether stink if professors were not in it But now if the professor which is the salt shall indeâ—d lose his savour and hath nothing in his conversation to season that part of the earth in which God has placed him where with shall it be seasoned The place where he dwels as well as his profession will both stink odiously in the nostrils of the Lord And so both come to ruin and desolation Indeed as I have shewed the professor will come to the worst of it for that God doth deny further to give him salt If the salt has lost its savour wherewith shall it be salted wherewith shall the salt be salted with nothing Therefore it is thenceforth good for nothing No not for the Dunghill but to be casâ— out and troden under foot of men He thaâ— hath ears to hear let him hear How much therefore is the tender hearted and he that laboureth to beautifie his profâ—ssion with a Gospel conversation bound to bless God for the salt of his grace by the which his heart is seasoned and from his heart his conversation Secondly As such Christians should bless God so let them watch lâ—t them still watch let them still watch and pray watch against Satan and pray yet for more grace that they may yet more and more beautifie their profession of the worthy name of Christ with a suitable conversation Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garment that is his conversation clean nor is their any thing save the overthrowing of our Faith that Satan seeketh more â—o destroy He knows holiness in them that rightly as to doctrine name the name of Christ is a maul and destruction to his Kingdom an allurement to the ignorant and a cutting off those occasions to stumble that by the dirty life of a professor is laid in the way of the blind He knows that holiness of lives when they shine in those that profess the name of Christ doth cut off his lies that he seeketh to make the world believe and the slanders that he seeketh to fasten upon the professors of the Gospel Wherefore as you have begun to glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods so I beseech you do it more and more Thirdly To this end shun those profâ—ssors that are loose of life and conversation From such withdraw thy sâ—lf saith Paul and follow righteousness faith charity peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart If a man if a good man takes not good heed to himself he shall soon bring his soul into a snare Loose professors are defilers and corrupters a man shall get nothing but a blot by having company with them Besides as a man shall get a blot by having much to do with such so let him beware that his heart learn none of their ways Let thy company be the excellent in the earth even those that are excellent for knowledge and conversation He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed Be content to be counted singuler for so thou shalt if thou shalt follow after righteousness c. in good earnest for holiness is a rare thing now in the world I told thee before that it is foretold by the word that in the last dayes perilous times shall come and that men shall walk after their own lusts yea professors to their destruction Nor will it be easie to keep thy self therefrom But even as when the Pestilence is come into a place it infecteth and casteth down the healthful So the iniquity of the last times will infect and pollute the godly I mean the generality of them Were but our times duly compared with those that went before we should see that which now we are ignorant of Did we but look back to the Puritans but specially to those that but a little before them suffered for the word of God in the Marian days we should see another life than is now among men another manner of conversation than now is among professors But I say predictions and prophecies must be fulfilled and since the word says plainly that in the last days there shall come scoffers walking after their own lusts and since the Christians shall be endangered thereby let us look to it that we quit our selves like men seeing we know these things before lest we being led away with the error of the wicked fall from our own stedfastness Singularity in godliness if it be in godliness no man should be ashamed of For that is no more than to be more godly than to walk more humbly with God than others and for my part I had rather be a pattern and example of piety I had rather that my life should be instructing to the Saints and condemning to the world with Noah and Lot than to hazard my self among the multitude of the drossie I know that many professors will fall short of Eternal life and my judgment tells me that they will be of the slovenly sort of professors that so do And for my part I had rather