for it we have this Evangelists word for it as appears by the latter part of the fore-cited verse where he sayes that they viz. the Devils knew that he was Christ If any should think that possibly the Devils may have the same faith that would justifie men if it were in them though it will do them no good as not being in the like capacity of grace as men are yet that passage in Iames 2. 19. will oppose such a thought For wherefore does the Apostle mention the faith of Devils there but to disparage the unprofitable and dead faith of some Christians and to give them to know that if their faith rested only in the beleef of things and did not carry out the soul in love both to God and men it was even no better a faith than is in the devils and consequently would save them no more than it would save the devils Sect. 5 3. The Faith of Assent as it is the act of the understanding is frequently forced the mind compelled to beleeve the truth of divine things by the strength of conviction which sometimes is so great that it is not in the power of men to dis-beleeve them which I concieve is the plain case touching that faith which the Devils have and the faith which some wicked men under despair have of the judgement to come who would be glad if they knew how to believe otherwise than what they do believe they would be glad if they knew how to believe that there is no God no Heaven no Hell and it is their torment to believe there is the Devils believe and tremble and so do some men And it is very like that those believers of which we heard before Iohn 2.23 and 12.42 had that Faith which they had concerning Christ forced upon them by the hand of those miracles of Christ in conjunction with his holy life and doctrine which were too hard for their consciences and evinced with power him that wrought them to be the Son of God And it may be they might have a desire to have stifled that light and to have overcome that conviction which they had as that which did oppose that carnal interest of praise which they had with men which it seems they loved more than Christ and therefore would not let it go for his sake And is not this the case of such who hold the truth in unrighteousness Rom. 1.18 when the light of divine truth breaks into the mind and cannot be kept out but convinces the conscience that things have been so and so done by the Father and by his Son Jesus Christ in favour to man-kind and that therefore men ought to love the Lord and in love to obey him and that it is the way to be happy so to do and yer for all that this truth which hath thus far compel'd the conscience to assent to it is detained and held as prisoner in the mind by the power of lust so that it does not walk abroad in the life of such a man the thorns spring up with the seed and over-top it the seed springs up in the mind by its power of conviction shewing what should and ought to be but the thorns of lust spring up in the affection and determine what shall be and what shall not be in such a mans life Such a man indeed hath received the truth as he assents to it to be truth but hath not received the love of the truth by consenting to and affectionately imbracing what it enjoynes And shall we think that God will reward with the great and unspeakable blessing of Justification and Salvation such an act of the Creature as is not voluntary but forced from him whether he will or no surely he will not 2 Thes 2.10 Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved c. No other receiving of the truth then will be rewarded with Salvation but the receiving it in love and what 's more voluntary than love If a man had all faith never so strong a perswasion touching the vertue and power of Christ So that he could remove mountains and have not love it would profit him nothing 1 Cor. 13.2 If there be first a willing mind it is accepted c. 2 Cor. 8.12 that 's surely a necessary ingredient to render any act of the creature acceptable to God and consequently rewardable by him 1 Cor. 9.17 For if I do this thing willingly I have a reward Take heed then of venturing your precious souls upon this Faith that lies but in a naked and bare assent to the general truth of the Gospel CHAP. VI. Further discovering that neither the act of Relyance or Dependence upon God or Christ for Salvation without the concurrence of a loving and loyal adhesion to him will avail to Salvation Sect. 1 HAving already shewed that Faith by the first of those three acts mentioned in the former Chapter will not justifie without the addition and concurrence of more I shall now likewise shew you that neither will this act of trust confidence dependance or relyance upon the Lord for Salvation though added unto the former of assenting to the truth of that report which the Gospel makes of Christs being the Son of God his dying for sinners c. prove effectual to justifie save unless it be found in conjunction with an obediential cleaving to Christ to be delivered by him from the power and dominion of sin as well as the guilt and condemnation of it That there may be found in men a presumptious leaning upon the mercies of the Lord and his promises and acts of grace and an expectation of being thereupon secured by God from destruction while in the mean time they cut off their claim and title to those promises and acts of grace by loving of and cleaving to their inward lusts or outward enormities instead of cleaving to those precepts and promises touching holiness which would carry them out of those sins is a thing very visible in the Scriptures as well as obvious to experience It was so with men under the Old Testament Mica 3.11 The heads thereof judge for reward and the Priests thereof teach for hire and the Prophets thereof divine for money yet will they lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord among us none evill can come unto us The Lord had indeed made many gracious promises to that people of his being their God of his dwelling and walking among them of saving them from those evils which he would bring upon their enemies but all upon condition that they would be to him a people in love loyalty and obedience as he to them a God in protection and blessing Levit. 26. Deut. 28. but these men Judges Priests Prophets Sinners of sundry sorts eye the promises over-looking the condition upon which they were made and would needs lean upon these as if God were obliged to them by these to secure them from those evils
propitiation unto all there 's the extent of the offer and tender of grace But then 2. He is set forth as such through Faith in his blood there 's the limitation of the propitiating vertue of his blood viz. to such as have Faith in it The Author to the Hebrews saith chap. 13.10 We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat that serve the Tabernacle meaning Christ of which they had no right to partake that did Judaiz it adhere to the Mosaical way and is parallel with Gal. 5.2.4 But that which I note hence is that men in order to their partaking of Christ must have a right to him Now what is that which gives men a right to Christ his Death Blood Resurrection and Intercession is it not this Faith of which I have been speaking so much surely it is Hence the Apostle suspends the beleeving Hebrews being made partakers of Christ upon their holding the beginning of their confidence stedfast unto the end Heb. 3.14 It was that Faith and confidence which they had by which they were made partakers of Christ when they first beleeved and they were to continue their right by continuing their Faith for thereto did his Exhortation tend Another-like place is that Cel. 1.21 22 23. And you who were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his Flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight if ye continue in the Faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel If their final reconcileation by the death of Christ so as to be presented unreproveable in his sight depended upon their continuing in the Faith then certainly that which first invested them with that priviledge in which for the present they stood was their beleeving Sect. 4 And the reason why I conceive this right which Faith gives unto Christ and the justifying vertue of his blood is one cause or consideration for which it s said to be counted for Righteousness is this because Faith it self without this office and use is neither righteousnesse nor means of righteousnesse unto any man and consequently cannot be counted to him for Righteousnesse But for as much as though Faith is not virtually or meritoriously any mans righteousnesse as Christs blood is and yet by the grace and appointment of God becomes a means of possessing him with that which is hence Faith it self may well be said to be counted to him for Righteousnesse with like propriety of speech as when in Scripture the means bears the denomination of the end as John 4.22 2 Pet. 3.15 For that now I conceive may be a reason of the phrase counted reckoned or imputed for righteousnesse as it is applyed to Faith viz. because by it as it hath to do with Christ a man though he be not formally righteous with a personal and sin-lesse righteousnesse yet becomes possessed with the same priviledge of enjoying Gods favour and love and the blessed effects of it in respect of Justification which a personal and sin-less righteousnesse in the formality of it in case he had it would invest him with And therefore may well be said to be reckoned for or put to account instead of Righteousnesse because it does a man the self-same service as that would do Sect. 5 2. There is another notion or consideration in respect whereof Faith may be said to be counted for Righteousnesse to him that hath it And that is as it is a fulfilling of the termes of the Gospel or New Covenant For Faith in that latitude of which I have been speaking of it as it is a lively active working Grace and disposes the Soul in affection and subjection to the Lord as well as to depend upon him for what it would have is really the fulfilling of the condition or termes of the Gospel and consequently that which puts him that hath it under the great promises of Justification and eternal life contained therein For the Gospel declares who and what manner of persons shall have their sins pardoned for Christs sake shall be accepted and approved of God and are by him designed to eternal life viz. Beleevers no man by name but all under this qualification of effectual Faith For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith Rom. 1.16 17. And whoever does accordingly beleeve does fulfill the Gospel and so is righteous in the account thereof As any man that lived under the first Covenant I mean the Mosaical Covenant had he but observed and kept the termes of it the man that doth those things shall live by them Rom. 10.5 he should have been righteous in the eye of that Law or Covenant Deut. 6.25 even so he that does but observe and keep the terms or condition of the Gospel or New Covenant which is Beleeve in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved Acts 16.31 he also is righteous in the eye of that As it is in the common Law of Nations those that are justified are justified by that and those that are condemned are condemned by that if there be righteousnesse of proceeding John 7.51 If men be cast they are cast by the Law and if they are acquitted they are acquitted by the Law the Law cannot justifie the guilty nor condemn the innocent whatever men may do that have the handling of it Just so is it with the Gospel and those that are under the administration thereof all such shall be cast as guilty or acquitted as righteous by it The word that I have spoken said Christ the same shal judg him Jo. 12.48 The Doctrins of Christ are his Statute-laws which whosoever beleeves and sincerely obeyes shall be justified by their sentence All the holy word is on such a mans side against such as the Apostle saith there is no Law Gal. 5.23 but he hath as Demetrius had a good report even of the truth it self 3 John 12. Mica 2.7 As he hath been a true Friend to this to beleeve love and obey it in truth and uprightnesse though not without weaknesse so will it be a true Friend to him to stand by him to vindicate and justifie him against the accusations of the enemy So that mark we then Faith in the latitude of it being that very thing which doth answer the very mind and scope of the Gospel which is the Law of Faith Rom. 3.27 it must needs be counted to them for Righteousnesse that have it because by it they stand right in the eye and account of this law of life And indeed it is this heavenly and divine Law in the promisory part of it which furnishes Faith with that power which it hath to justifie As on the contrary the Law is said to be the strength of sin 1 Cor. 15.56 It arms sin with that power which it hath to condemn the Creature so is the Gospel the strength of Faith that which invests it with
line 27. for for us read far as pag. 11. line 31. for Jews r. Jew page 12. line 5. blot out as A Glass of Justification Wherein the Apostles Doctrine touching JUSTIFICATION without the DEEDS of the LAW is opened and the sence in which Gospel-Obedience is absolutely necessary to Justification is stated CHAP. I. Containing an Introduction to the following Treatise Romans 4. Ver. 5. But to him that worketh not but beleeveth on him that justifieth the ungodly his Faith is counted unto him for Righteousnesse AMongst other things in Pauls Epistles which as the Apostle Peter observes 2 Pet. 3.16 are hard to be understood and which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction there is too much cause to suspect the Text now before us to be one For whoever shall but judiciously consider the Epistles of the Apostles James Peter John and Iude besides other Scriptures may easily perceive that many professors of the Gospel then did so bear themselves upon a me form of knowledge and Faith as if the promise of Salvation had been entailed to that alone without respect had to that holy life enjoyned in the Gospel without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 Into which most dangerous deadly snare its like enough they might be brought by mis-understanding and wresting such Scriptures as my Text which makes the man that Worketh not but Believeth the capable subject of Justification And is there not cause to fear that multitudes of poor Souls to this day are still under the same desperate and destructive mistake Whence else proceeds that high confidence in the most amongst us of their being saved by Christ although but strangers to the life of God having this saying to defend themselves against the reproof of their sinful life no man shall be saved by his Works or else not by the works of righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us leaving out that which follows viz. by the washing of regeneration and renewng of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 Whence is it also that multitudes of Professors under various forms as well that which is right as those which are wrong take themselves to be rich and to have need of nothing more than they have to entitle them to remission of sins and Salvation when as they are meer beggars and bankrupts as to a humble sober self-denying life Is it not that they value themselves by that stock of brain-knowledge and barren Faith which they are sure they have and thereupon think themselves sure of those promises which are made to those that know and believe the truth Nay hath not the doctrine of Justification without Works as commonly asserted from that Text which I have chosen on which to found my present Discourse and other of the like nature proved a Temptation even to many good men to have a lighter and lower esteem of good Works and of the necessity of them to Justification and Salvation than of right belongs to them Yea I am perswaded that the strenuous urging of such Texts against the Papists in disputes about Justification without that due care which ought to be had in distinguishing the works which my Text speaks of from those of another nature hath occasioned many honest hearts to content themselves to write but fifty which otherwise would have subscribed an hundred towards the promoting of the Gospel designe in themselves and others had they clearly understood the mind of God in this business What shall I say Christ Jesus himself though sent on purpose to save and not to destroy and not only to shew but to be the very way unto life and glory yet the ignorance and mis-understanding of the counsel of God touching the termes how and after what manner he is so hath rendred him to very many a stone of stumbling a rock of offence a snare and a gin a means of a more dreadful condemnation than ever they should have fallen into had Christ never been offered to them as a Saviour But to whom is he so but as Peter tells us to those that stumble at the Word 1 Pet. 2.8 not understanding but mistaking the nature and temres of the doctrine of grace and the Scripture expressions thereabout either thinking that Faith will save without Works otherwise than the Scripture intends or that this or that Belief is the Faith unto which Justification and Salvation are promised when as it is neither this nor that but another So that when Peter sayes that such as are unlearned and unstable wrest the Scriptures of Paul and others to their own destruction 2 Pet. 3.16 it is not meant of such as are unlearned in humane arts but unlearned in the method and termes of Gods proceeding with men to bring them to Salvation being carried away with a sound of letters and words not being carefull to order themselves in their understanding of Scripture expressions by those principal heads and veins of Doctrine which are but few unto which a great variety of words and scripture expressions do relate A piece of unlearnedness unto which the wise and prudent of the world Doctors and Rabbies of the times have been and may be more liable and in which more intangled than others who in comparison of them have been but Babes and sucklings as these and the like Scriptures do witness Mat. 11.25 John 7.48 49. 1 Cor. 1.26 27. one main reason whereof is this because they I mean the wise and learned of the world by their wisdom and learning being vessels better fitted and prepared for worldly glory than others are are in that respect under the greater temptation to seek and receive honour one of another and not that honour that comes from God onely and consequently by their greater parts to over-master bend and bow wring and wrest under plausible pretences and fair flourishes the holy Scriptures in their several forms of expression so as that they may not so much as seem to contradict but to countenance their designe of worldly glory and interest and their worldly honour and interest likewise as intermixt with their Gospel profession not so much as seem to obstruct but to accomodate the designe of God and the affairs of the Gospel in themselves and others The prevailing of which carnal device of corrupting the Word reducing and accommodating the pure Gospel doctrine and life unto a nearer complyance with the principles of worldly wisdom and interest than would consist with the simplicity which is in Christ was that which proved the bane of those flourishing Churches which were planted by the Apostles and at this day is the great enemy of the life and power of godliness and such as betrayes men into a soul-deceiving way of professing the Gospel as might easily be shewed might I now stand upon it On the other hand whereas the babes and sucklings I mean persons who by reason of their natural capacities education or rank in the world are but
gracious not only in forgiving but also in rewarding such who duly and diligently seek his favour grace and love in such wayes and by such means as he himself hath appointed for that end Heb. 11.6 But without Faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is there 's the former act of Faith touching the truth of his being and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Thirdly by trusting in and relying on his might mercy grace and love for pardon justification and eternal salvation Psalm 52.8 But I will trust in the mercy of the Lord for ever Rom. 4.5 But beleeveth on him that justifieth the ungodly Iohn 5.24 But all this at least since God was manifested in the flesh in and by Christ there being no coming to or believing in the Father but by him Iohn 14.6 1 Pet. 1.21 Though formerly he was worshipped and served under the name and title of the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Iacob yet now in the New Testament under the Name and Title of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Eph. 1.17 and 3.14 Sect. 3 I might here shew also that the word promise or record of the Father concerning his Son is the object of Faith Yea Abrahams justification is cast upon his beleeving this word of God So shall thy seed be For Abraham beleeved God and it was counted to him for righteousnesse Gen. 15.6 Rom. 4.3.18 Gal. 3.6.8 Iames 2.23 Now the record which the Father hath given of Christ in the New Testament as the object of Faith is two-fold 1. That he is his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased and that he ought to be heard and obeyed Mat. 3.17 and 17.5 And 2. That in him is life and that salvation is now offered to the World by beleeving in and obeying of him 1 Iohn 5.9 10 11 12. If we receive the witnesse of men the witnesse of God is greater for this is the witnesse of God which he hath testified of his Son He that beleeveth on the Son hath the witnesse in himself he that beleeveth not God hath made him a lyar because he beleeveth not the record which God gave of his Son And this is the record which God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life This testimony which the Father gave of his Son was partly by voice from Heaven 2 Pet. 1.17 18. and partly by those Works which he gave him to finish by which men saw his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father Iohn 5.36 I have greater witnesse then that of Iohn for the works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that do I bear witnesse of me that the Father hath sent me John 10.37 38. If I do not the works of my Father beleeve me not but if I do though ye beleeve not me yet beleeve the works that ye may know and beleeve that the Father is in me and I in him Sect. 4 II. As the Father so also Christ the Son is in Scripture set forth as the more immediate object of Faith Acts 16.31 And they said beleeve on the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house Now ye must know that Christ is propounded as the object of Faith in several respects and under several considerations Sect. 5 1. As he is the Messias of which Moses and the Prophets wrote and said should come And therefore is Christ called the He that should come Mat. 11.3 Art thou he that should come or do we look for another John 13.19 Now I tell you before it come that when it is come to passe ye may beleeve that I am HE. It was one thing to beleeve in general according to the Prophets that Messiah should come which was the common Faith of the Jews and as it should seem of the Samaritans too Iohn 4.25 and another thing to beleeve in particular that Jesus which is come is the Christ This was the Faith of such as did receive him and cleave to him when he did come Iohn 11.27 She said yea Lord I beleeve that thou art the Christ the Son of God which should come into the world The want of which is the destroying sin that lies so heavy upon the Jews John 8.24 For if ye beleeve not that I am HE ye shall dye in your sins 2. Christ as he is the Son of God is made the object of Faith Joh. 20 31. But these are written that ye might beleeve that Iesus is the Christ the Son of God and that beleeving ye might have life through his name Acts 8.37.1 John 5.1 4 5. and 4.15 By Faith he is beleeved to be the Son of God not as Adam was the Son of God viz. by Creation Lu. 3. last in which sence we are all his Offspring Act. 17.28 Nor yet as the Saints are the Sons of God to wit by Adoption Gal 4.5 but that he is the begotten yea the only begotten Son of the Father so the Son and so begotten of the Father as none else is among all the creation of God John 1.14 and 3.18 He that beleeveth on him is not condemned but he that beleeveth not is condemned already because he hath not beleeved in the name of the only begotten Son of God Sect. 6 3. Christ as dying and shedding his blood is the object of Faith and that by which sinners become justified Rom. 5.9 Much more then being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood Faith eyes the blood of Christ as its object under a three-fold consideration First it believes that Christ did dye and shed his blood for our sins 1 Cor. 15.2 3. If ye keep in memory what I preached unto you unlesse ye have beleeved in vain For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ dyed for our sins according to the Scriptures Mat. 26.28 For this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins Secondly that this death and shedding of this blood of Christ is both the only and the all-sufficient means appointed by God to make an attonement for and to purge away sin Heb 1.3 When he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high Revels 1.5 Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood c. Heb. 10.14 For by one offering hath he perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 9.14 How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God Thirdly
as it beleeves the blood of Christ to be it and it alone that is in it self and by the ordination of God fully sufficient to take away sin the guilt of it or the condemning power or destroying nature of it so accordingly does it relye upon this blood of Christ under the gracious appointment of the Father to do this great thing for him to particular in whom this Faith dwells Rom 8.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood In this Scripture there are three things that are especially to be marked in relation to the point in hand 1. That Christs blood is the blood of propitiation or that Christ himself is the propitiation by means of his blood i. e. the reconciler the procurer of savour in pardon or remission 2. That God hath ordained him in his blood thus to be and accordingly hath proposed and offered him to all the world as a publick propitiation but yet so and upon condition that men have Faith in his blood i. e. do believe it to be of it self and by the appointment of the Father of sufficient efficacy force and vertue to purge them from their sins Which Faith also must be of the right kind or else it will not interesse any man in this great benefit 3. That which is moreover implyed is that the Faith of a man feeling so good a foundation and ground under it as is the blood of Christ in conjunction with the Fathers will as by which to be confident of a plenary purgation from all sins how great or how many soever they have been does accordingly safely and securely build thereupon Sect. 7 4. Christ as being risen from the dead is the object of justifying Faith Rom. 10.9 If then shalt confess with thy meuth the Lord Iesus and shalt beleeve in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Rom. 4.25 Who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our Iustification And no marvel that the Resurrection of Christ should be the object of saving Faith inasmuch as in it is included the beleef of the main foundation Doctrines of the Gospel and without it Faith could have no firm footing to rest upon touching other great gospel-Gospel-truths As 1. The beleeving of him to be the Son of God which is an ingredient absolutely necessary in the gospel-Gospel-faith doth at least in great part depend upon the Faith of his Resurrection For Faith can ground its belief touching his being the Son of God upon nothing else than that which declares him to be so But now he is declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the Resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.4 2. The keeping promise and Covenant with the holy Patriarchs and their Seed which Faith must needs eye did depend upon Gods raising Christ from the dead Acts 13.32 33. And we declare unto you glad tidings how that the promise which was made unto the Fathers God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he hath raised up Iesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And again Acts 2.30 31. Therefore being a Prophet and knowing that God hath sworn with an Oath to him that of the fruit of his loyns according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit upon his throne he seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption 3. The Resurrection of Christ is so necessary to Justification and to the Faith of it that take away this and Justification and the beleef of it are all laid in the dust 1 Cor. 15.14 17. And if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your Faith is also vain And again vers 17. And if Christ be not raised your Faith is vain ye are yet in your sins Without beleeving is no justification and if there had been no Resurrection of Christ there could have been no Faith touching that attonement that is now made by his death For could men have beleeved that the death of Christ had been of sufficient force and vertue to expiate sin had it not been manifested by his Resurrection surely no. For so long as he was under the power of death he was under the power of sin of which death is but the wages For in that he dyed he dyed unto sin saith the Apostle Rom. 6.10 The sting of Death to wit that which gives it power of prevailing over the creature is sin 1 Cor. 15.56 And the time when that saying O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory shall be brought to passe is not till the day of Resurrection When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal immortality 1 Cor. 15.54 And therefore as the Saints shall not actually and perfectly be delivered from all the effects of sin till the day of their Resurrection so neither was Christ delivered from that burden of other mens sins which he bore in his own body untill he rose from the dead And if sin had been too hard for him in keeping him under the power of death it would much more have been too hard for us But in that God raised Christ from the dead he did as it were thereby acknowledge satisfaction for the debt of mens sins which he by his death as a surety had discharged While he lay in the grave he was detained as a prisoner for other mens debts but when the prison doors were opened and he let out the Father acknowledged satifaction and did as it were seal him in the behalf of those for whom he undertook a release and discharge By his entring into suffering he took the sins of the world upon him but by his Resurrection by which he came out of his suffering-state he put them off As in his suffering he was made sin for us and dealt with as if he had been a sinner so by his Resurrection he was justified from those sins which were imputed to him And unlesse he had been first justified from our sins which were imputed to him all the while he suffered we could not have been justified from them our selves And therefore no marvel that the Apostle should attribute our Justification with a Rather unto the Resurrection of Christ than to his Death as he does Rom. 8.33 34. Who is he that condemneth it is God that justifieth it is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again He seems to feel a firmer footing for his Faith in the Resurrection of Christ than in his death more to bear him out against the accusations of any that had a mind to condemn him the answer which a good conscience makes it is by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead 1 Pet. 3.21 4. I might here add that the beleef of the Resurrection of our bodies
former and all acted upon the same object Now that which I shall endeavour is to shew that the first and last of these acts the assent of the mind unto the truth of things that are to be beleeved and the confidence of the soul to meet with salvation from the Lord may be found in such men in whom the middle act of a loving and loyal adherence to the Lord is not found and that the other two without this will not avail to Justification and Salvation Sect. 2 First that men may by way of assent unto the truth of that by which Jesus hath been manifested to be the Christ of God beleeve him to be so or beleeve on him as such and yet that beleeving of theirs not avail them to salvation will appear first of all by Ioh. 12.42 43. compared with other Scriptures The words are these Neverthelesse among the chief Rulers also many beleeved on him but because of the Pharisees they did not confesse him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue for they loved the praise of men more then the praise of God That these men did beleeve Jesus to be the Messiah the Christ of God is most evident in that upon conviction by his Miracles and Doctrine which declared him so to be they beleeved on him and consequently must beleeve in the generall his Doctrine to be true And yet that whilst they did thus beleeve they were in an unsafe condition as touching the salvation of their souls will appear by two material circumstances in the words The first is this That for all their Faith they durst not confess him lest they should be put out of the Synagogue which unworthy deportment of theirs put them under that threatning of Christ Mark 8.38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels And John saith that every spirit that confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God 1 John 4.3 And confessing with the mouth is as well required unto salvation as beleeving with the heart Rom. 10.10 The second is this that while they thus beleeved they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God which whosoever does cannot beleeve savingly according to Christs own words Iohn 5.44 How can ye beleeve which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God only Such beleevers likewise surely were they Iohn 2.23 24. Who when they saw the miracles which Christ did they beleeved in his name but Iesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men he knew that for all their Faith of assent that he was indeed the Messias of which they were convinced by his miracles yet there was not in them the Faith of adherence in a constant and an affectionate sticking to him and therefore would not trust himself with them Which is argument enough that their Faith was not saving nor such as would denominate them faithful Disciples unto Jesus whose property it is to forsake all rather than to forsake Ghrist Luke 14.33 which had it been their case Christ would not have been shie of betrusting himself with them It 's probable that Simon Magus was a beleever of this kind one whose Faith was right as touching the object of it and as touching this first act of it also for the Scripture saith Then Simon himself beleeveh also Acts 8.13 And what did he beleeve that 's exprest in the former verse where it 's said that when they beleeved Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the Name of Iesus Christ they were baptized both men and women Then Simon himself beleeved also that is as well as they or the same things which the others beleeved viz. Philips doctrine concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus And yet for all his perswasion of the truth of the doctrine of the Gospel preached by Philip his heart was not purified by his Faith as the hearts of all are by Faith of the right kind Acts 15.9 for Peter told him First that his heart was not right in the sight of God vers 21. Secondly that he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity vers 23. and consequently was in danger of perishing as the Apostle intimated to him saying Thy money perish with thee verse 20. There was in him the Faith of Credence but not of Adherence the assent of the mind unto the truth of Philips Doctrine but not the powerful consent of the will unto the superlative goodness of the way to the Kingdom taught by him Sect. 3 That this Faith of which we now speak which consists onely in the general assent of the understanding unto the truth of divine Revelation is not that Faith to which the great promises of the Gospel are made I shall endeavour further to manifest by adding two or three Reasons to the Scripture-testimonies already alledged 1. This assent as it is but one single act of Faith and therefore comprehends not the whole general nature of that grace so it is but the act of one single faculty of the soul the mind or understanding and so is not that beleeving with all the heart which is the right christian Faith Acts 8.37 which consists as well in the consent of the will touching the goodness of the thing beleeved as the assent of the mind to the truth of its being For as the object of the Christian Faith the Gospel bears the relation and carries as full a proportion of goodness as of truth in it so does the beleeving soul accordingly by the faculty of the mind assent to it as true and by the faculty of the will accept of it as a soveraign good And under this two-fold consideration is the Gospel propounded as the object of Faith 1 Tim. 1 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Iesus came into the world to save sinners It 's a saying faithful in respect of its truth and worthy of all acceptation in respect of its goodness Sect. 4 2. The Devils themselves have such a faith as by which they assent to this truth that Christ is the Son of God and it is the first-born of improbabilities that ever the Devils should have that faith abiding in them by which men shall be saved That the Devils do not only beleeve that there is one God and tremble according to Iames 2.19 but that they also beleeve Christ to be the Son of God the Christ of God is evident Luke 4 41. And Devils also came out of many crying out and saying thou art Christ the Son of God If any shall here object and say that we have but the Devills own word for it who was a lyar from the beginning The answer is that we have more than their word
or as he had said vers 14. to save For that clearly is the sence of Faiths being dead in this place and not its barrenness of good Works Though that 's true likewise that Faiths being dead in another sence i. e. void of spiritual vigour force and power is the cause why it is alone and not accompanied with the goodness of conversation yet here in this place the deadness of Faith is the effect of its being alone and not the cause of it the deadness of Faith proceeds from the absence of Works as here spoken of and not the absence of Works from the deadness of Faith Faith is dead being alone saith he that is because it is alone for so it is plain that its being alone carries the force of a reason why it is dead And therefore Faiths being dead here notes it utter inability to justifie or save which answers the scope of the Apostle which is to convince the carnal professor that his Faith without Works would not save him as is manifest by the fourteenth Verse upon which the following Discourse to the end of the Chapter depends He sayes after Verse 26. That as the body without the spirit is dead so Faith without Works is dead also In which comparison or similitude as the body answers Faith so the Spirit answers Works and as the absence of the spirit from the body is the cause why the body is dead and does not the service unto which a living man is appointed so the absence of Works from Faith is the cause why Faith is dead and does not him in whom it is the service unto which the true Faith is appointed to wit to justifie or save him that hath it Sect. 4 And here by the way we have clearly set before us the true sence in which Works are necessary to justification as well as Faith and that is as they do qualifie Faith for that Work or Office of justifying unto which God of his meer Grace hath designed it For so is the will of God that though he will so magnifie his grace in the salvation of men as to justifie and save them by Christ upon or upon condition of their believing in him yet hath he therein made such provision to magnifie his holiness and his love of it in his Creature as that he will not confer the grace of Justification upon any other Faith or entitle any other believing unto that attonement which Christ hath made by his blood than such as hath its fruit unto Holiness the end of which will be everlasting life In which sence I conceive it is that Faith is said to be made perfect by Works James 2.22 that is as I understand put into a compleat capacity of attaining its end which is to justifie as a house is then said to be perfected when nothing is wanting in it as to the end and service for which it is built 2 Chron. 8.16 So is Faith when nothing is wanting to it to answer the end whereto it is to serve But now as long as Faith is alone or by it self without Works it is dead as we heard before and so in no capacity to justifie or reach its end Nor does it come under the saving influence of the Promise till it Work by Love that being the only kind of Faith that hath the promise to avail Gal. 5.6 and therefore Works added to Faith as children are added to their Mother being the same thing that makes the difference between that Faith that will justifie and that which will not and which brings that kind of believing under the promise without which all other believing is excluded hence it is I conceive that Works may well and truly be said to perfect Faith as putting it into a right capacity of reaching its end But thus much on the by in this place Sect. 5 As Iames so Iohn opposeth the vain confidence that is built upon the dead Faith 1 Iohn 1.6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth This doubtless he wrote in opposition to some professors of the Christian Faith who though they walked in darkness led lives disagreeing to the light of Christs Doctrine yet said profest and were confident that they had fellowship partnership with God and with his Son Jesus Christ in his Love Saving-mercy and promises of Grace as if as these were Gods to give so they were all theirs to enjoy But as he would take them off their vain confidence in this so he directs them how to be better built in the next Vers 7. saying But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Iesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin Meaning I suppose that if that perswasion which they had of fellowship with God interest in his Grace Love and Mercy and share in Christs blood were but accompanied with an upright endeavour of purifying themselves as he is pure and of being holy in all manner of conversation as he that had called them is holy which I think is the same thing as to walk in the light as he is in the light then they might be confident indeed that they had fellowship with God in his Grace and Love and share in Christs blood to cleanse them from all sin But otherwise and without this what ever their opinion pretence or confidence was of their good condition they did but lie and falsifie the truth Of which delusion and dangerous deceit he admonisheth the Christians Chap. 3.7 8. saying Little children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous as he is righteous he that committeth sin is of the Devil By which saying he suggests that there were some amongst them of another opinion and perswasion and that they were in danger of being deceived by them to think that though they did indulge themselves in some sin yet they might be counted and dealt withall as righteous persons as being in Christ and knowing of him as they supposed In opposition to which vain conceit and lying imagination he had said in the verse before Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him neither known him The like admonition ministred by Paul to the Ephesians implyeth like danger from men of the same profession Eph. 5.6 Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience .. Implying that there were some among them that were otherwise perswaded than that those unholy wayes from which he had newly before dehorted them would expose them to the wrath of God who trusted in Christ for salvation For of such he prophecied whilst he was yet with them Acts 20.30 That of their own selves should men arise speaking perverse things wrested or swerving things to draw away Disciples after them Men professing the same Faith and expecting
at the last day and the eternal judgement that will follow thereupon which are two great Arricles of the Christian Faith and fundamental Doctrines Heb. 6.2 does depend upon our beleef of the Resurrection of Christ For if Christ the Son of Gods love him in whom his soul delighteth more than in any man should not have been raised by the glory of the Father there would have been little reason for any other man to expect so great a favour But now is Christ risen from the dead and is become the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15.20 as a pledge of their Resurrection also In that any have a lively hope of being raised again to an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away they are thereunto begotten by the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead so saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 1.3 4 And again verse 21. In that God raised him up from the dead and so gave him glory it was that our Faith and hope might be in God that he will do so to us likewise For God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power 1 Cor. 6.14 For if we beleeve that Iesus dyed and rose again even so them also which sleep in Iesus will God bring with him 1 Thes 4.14 Because I live ye shall live also saith he who is the Resurrection and the life Iohn 14.19 and 11.25 And that there shall be a righteous Judgement following the Resurrection and that Christ Jesus shall be the Judge is such a thing of which the Father hath given assurance or offered Faith unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Acts 17.31 Sect. 8 5. The Word Gospel or Doctrine of Christ and of his Apostles is so the object of Faith as that salvation is promised unto the right beleef thereof Mark 16.15 16. Go ye into all the World and preach the Gospel to every Creature he that beleeveth and is baptized shall be saved 2 Thes 2.13 Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and beleef of the truth 2 Thes 1.10 When he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that beleeve because our testimony among you was beleeved in that day The Doctrine of Christ and of his Apostles may well be counted the object of Faith inasmuch as to beleeve it is all one as to beleeve that the Father hath set forth his Son to be a propitiation for sin through Faith in his blood and so it is to beleeve that Christ dyed for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures because the Doctrine of the Gospel is a testimony and declaration of these things and he that beleeves the one beleeves the other also Gods giving his Son to dye and Christs dying and rising again without a declaration of the mind and counsel of God thereabout as viz. for what cause upon what account and for what end he did so as also upon what termes and conditions men shall reap the fruit of his Death Resurrection and Intercession I say the one without the other does not seem to be the adequate object of Faith but both together are For which cause the Doctrine of the Gospel in its Enunciations Precepts and Threatnings as well as in its Promises is the object of Faith And because the Doctrine of the Gospel contains declares and amply sets forth all these things together with those things which are to come viz. the Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgement in order to which the former first take place as being all of them matters about which Faith is busied therefore is it that the Doctrine of the Gospel is frequently called the Faith Gal. 1.23 and 3.2 5 23. Acts 6.7 Romans 1.5 1 Tim. 4.1 Iude 3. And so now I have done with my first point touching Faith viz. the object of it or the beleeving of what it is that shall be imputed for righteousness CHAP. V. Shewing that that Faith which consists onely in assenting unto the truth of that report which the Gospel makes touching Christ his being the Son of God and of his coming into the World to save Sinners by dying for them will not availe to Iustification and Salvation as a Gospel-Faith of the right kind will do Sect. 1 HAving briefly shewed from the holy Scriptures the beleef of what it is objectively that hath the promise of Salvation annext to it I shall now in the next place come to enquire what and what manner of beleeving it is subjectively that hath the same promise or whether every act of beleeving that is placed on a right object hath this great priviledge of Justification entailed to it And upon due enquiry it will be found that not any act or acts of Faith one or more be they never so many of them that fall short of engaging the Soul in true Love and sincere obedience unto the Lord Jesus will avail the man in whom they are unto the saving of the soul If I mistake not all the acts of a saving Faith may be reduced to and comprehended under these three heads The first I call an act of Credence the second an act of Adherence and the third an act of Confidence in the exertion of which three acts of Faith having Christ for their object the whole soul mind will and affections are engaged which make up the beleeving with all the heart which the Gospel calls for Acts 8.37 By that act which I call an act of Credence I mean the assent of the mind unto the truth of what the Gospel reports especially touching Christ and Gods love to mankind in him as that he is the Son of God and Saviour of the world that he was sent of God the Father to shew unto men the way of salvation and then to dye rise again and after his ascension to make intercession to bring that salvation about and that remission of sins is to be had through his name By that act of Faith which I call an act of Adherence I understand the souls fast cleaving unto the Lord Jesus in affection and subjection as counting him more worthy of both than any Creature or thing in all the world as also taking hold of that grace and strength which is in Christ for deliverance from the power of sin and of bringing the soul back again to God in point of holiness And lastly by an act of Confidence I mean the Souls relyance rest or dependance upon Christ or on the Father through Christ for remission of sins acceptation and eternal salvation the committing of the Soul to his mercy the throwing it upon his grace These three acts of Faith relate to each other by way of dependance the second depending upon the first as the acts of the Will do upon the Understanding and the third upon both the
a power to justifie The efficacy justifying power and vertue of Faith depends not upon nor rises out of the excellency or dignity of its own nature but it depends upon and proceeds from the will good pleasure ordination or appointment of God digested and put into the Gospel as a standing Law and unchangeable decree As it was not the naturalness of proportion between the Israelites looking up to the Serpent of Brass and that effect of healing that was procured thereby Numb 21.9 that brought the thing to pass but the production of such an effect by such means depended upon the operativeness of Gods will so in the antitype of this Jo. 3.14 mens being healed justified by looking up to and beleeving in Jesus as lift up upon the Cross this is not brought to pass neither meerly by the act of Faith it self as such but by the efficacy of the divine will which hath ordained it to that end and use And therefore is it I suppose that the Scripture so frequently casts this great effect of mens being justified upon God as his act grant and gift though by or through Faith as subservient to his will herein calling it The righteousness of God which is by Faith and saying That it is one God which shall justifie the Circumcision by Faith and uncircumcision through Faith Rom. 3.22 30. Phil. 3.9 And if Christ himself is said to be unto us Righteousnesse because made so of God 1 Cor. 1.30 and salvation to be had through his Name because given for that end Acts 4.12 then much more certainly does the justifying office or work of Faith depend upon the divine will John 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life This might be further argued from Rom. 3.25 John 1.12 and 3.16 but I forbear Sect. 6 But in the mean while a comfortable Doctrine surely it is to understand that our justification by Faith does not depend so much upon the nature of the grace it self as upon the will of him that hath appointed it to that office and upon the Gospel as that Charter by which such a priviledge is conferred upon it which is a thousand times richer and firmer foundation to bear such a building as the hope of Righteousness by Faith is than is the nature of the grace it self which is subject to ebbings and flowings and times of shaking and fits of feebleness and weaknesse If the justifying effect of Faith had depended meerly upon the nature and operation of the grace it self then the infiniteness of disproportion that is between such a cause and such an effect the inconsiderableness of the service and vastness of reward might have rendred the confident expectation of so great a benefit upon such terms matter of greater difficulty But now seeing that the weight and stresse of this great effect which is produced by or through Faith as that without which God will not have it take place does depend upon the powerful and operative will of God which is infinitely full of Grace and Kindness to the poor Creature and upon the everlasting and unalterable Covenant of his Grace and Love the confidence of Justification by Faith now becomes much more easie and pleasant as feeling firmness rockiness substantiality of ground under the feet of it He that holds an estate worth a thousand pounds by the year by Lease or Charter though he pay but a Pepper-corn by way of acknowledgment hath as good a Title in Law to that Estate as another that holds the like Estate from the same Landlord though he pay a thousand pound Rent by the year for it because the one Lease is the voluntary act of the Landlord as well as the other Even so though Faith amount but to little in comparison of that absolute perfection of holiness love and obedience that was found in Adam while he stood yet considering that the same Lord hath now graciously by an unchangeable act of his own will setled and entailed Justification and eternal life upon mens unfeigned beleeving in his Son Jesus Christ which once setled ever-living upon Adams absolute perfect holiness love and obedience it hereupon follows that whosoever doth in truth unfeignedly beleeve hath therefore as real as sure and as certain a title to eternal life as Adam himself had and would have kept in case he had kept his first integrity But then that which is the amountment of all this is that seeing there is now a new Law given by God a new Covenant established and that the sum and substance of it is this that God having sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners he requires and enjoyns men to receive him and beleeve in him in that capacity in which he is sent and upon their so doing promises Justification and eternal life as on the contrary threatens eternal death to those that do not hereupon it follows that those that do thus beleeve in Christ do fulfill the terms of the Gospel and fulfilling the terms of it must needs be righteous in the account of it For what else is a mans righteousness but his conformity to that Law under which he lives or which is given him to live by As transgression of it is sin 1 John 3.4 so conformity to it is righteousness And therefore since Faith bears such a proportion of conformity to the Gospel as it does when it is sound and sincere well may it be counted for Righteousness to them that have it Sect. 7 Yet because this Righteousness which is called the Righteousnesse of Faith consists in great part at least in the forgivenesse of sins and since both that and all the gracious acceptation with God which does accrue to men upon their beleeving is vouchsafed them not for their Faith sake though not without it but upon the account of another to wit Jesus Christ Ephes 4.32 1 John 2.12 thence it may well be that though Faith be really and truly a mans righteousness in the Gospels account yet it is so only in the way of imputation reckoning or account of grace Which is a thing I would not have slightly passed over but diligently and carefully observed as having much of the Spirit of the Gospel and Doctrine of Grace in it For Faith though it be rich indeed and hath glorious things in it and signifies much in the reckoning or account of the Gospel yet it is rich with the riches of another Faith it is the borrowing Grace as the Moon borrows its light from the Sun so Faith borrows that by which it does such great things for the Soul from another from Christ It is true Faith is a worthy thing as it gives glory to God in beleeving all that he sayes as it carries the Soul and unites it to him as it purifies the heart and works by Love and the like but alass what would all this do towards the making of