Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A67000
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The freeness of Gods grace in the forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ, vindicated. Against the doctrine of Mr. Fergusson, in his sermon preached at the morning lecture, the fifth of August 1668. in a letter to a friend. By H. W. a lover of the truth that is according to Godliness.
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H. W.
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1668
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Wing W35; ESTC R217619
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15,119
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THE Freeness of Gods Grace IN THE Forgiveness of Sins BY JESUS CHRIST VINDICATED Against the Doctrine of Mr. Fergusson in his Sermon Preached at the Morning Lecture the fifth of August 1668. in a Letter to a Friend By H. W. a lover of the Truth that is according to Godliness Rom. 3. 24. Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ Col. 1. 14. In whom we have redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of sins Prov. 12. 15. He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are abomination to the Lord. London Printed for J. J. and are to be sold at William Crooks at three Bibles near Temple Bar and at Peter Parker's in Billeter Lane Anno 1668. My Friend BEing the other day in your company you told me of your being the fifth instant at the morning Lecture where as you said a great company of well disposed people were assembled to hear I was glad to hear it Then you gave me to understand that one Mr. Fergusson there preached at that time from Heb. 2. 10. And you also gave me in writing an account of his Sermon desiring me to peruse it Sir your Paper I return with many thanks and therewith also a few Animadversions upon the Sermon which you may read when your leasure permits you There are three faults inexcusable in a Preacher as all do acknowledge for it is in it self most evident First To propose a Text out of the Holy Scriptures and thence to draw Doctrines which are true in themselves but which the Text affords not This is one way of prophaning the Word of God and of doing the Work of the Lord negligently But Secondly It is a greater fault and much more to be lamented when such Doctrines or Theses are grounded upon a Text of Scripture which are so far from being rightly drawn from that Text that they are deducible from no other Text being such Doctrines as contain not the truth in them but are false and therefore contrary to the Scriptures of Truth But Thirdly The fault is then greatest and most of all to be lamented when the Doctrines or Articles proposed as from a Scripture are not meerly false and errors of a mean import but are false in matters of high concernment in Faith or Manners These three things Sir came to mind by the unhappy occasion of your Preachers Sermon whom I may charge though not with the first of those faults for he was not so little unhappy as to preach Truth from a Text that reach'd it not to him yet I may charge him with not onely the second but the third also For alas I grieve to speak it he preach'd such a Doctrine which greatly reflects disparagement upon Almighty God in respect of his Goodness Wisdom and Power and therefore must needs have much of malignity in it how devout soever the Preacher may seem to be Now that you may not think me to be rash and inconsiderate in thus charging that Gentleman give me leave to evince by a few words the truth of the Charge I pray consider his Text and his Doctrine grounded thereon The words of the Text are these For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons unto Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings His Doctrine was this That there was no other way imaginable or possible whereby God might forgive sins but by a full and plenary satisfaction made to his Justice by the death of his Son He branches this Doctrine into three Propositions which are these 1. That it is not possible for God to pardon sin and save sinners without satisfaction to his Justice 2. That it was impossible to obtain satisfaction by any other way but by Christ 3. That Christ hath given God a full and plenary satisfaction and thereby made way for the bringing of all those Sons to Glory that the Father and he agreed about when he undertook this work Now consider I pray you seriously whether any man but one that is first prepossess'd with such an Opinion could have drawn such a Doctrine from that Text. The terms I am sure are at a vast distance The Text saith It became him for whom are all things c. Now suppose that to be in the Text which is not viz. That Christ made satisfaction to the Justice of God for mens sins in Mr. F's sence it will not follow from this It became God c. First That it was impossible to have been otherwise for Mr. F. knows well enough that though God cannot chuse good or evil yet he may chuse this or that good so that when it is said That such or such a thing becomes God it doth not follow that the omission of that and the chusing of another might not also have become him It did well agree with the Wisdom and Goodness of God to make the Captain of our Salvation perfect through sufferings But what are we poor silly Worms that we should hence conclude That the Wisdom of God could have found out no other way for his goodness to appear unto us in Let us be thankful for this that he hath done and admire his Wisdom in it but let us not by our wisdom set bounds to the onely wise God However let us not do it grounding upon a Text that will not justifie us therein as this Preacher doth But secondly How doth it arise from this Text That Christ made full satisfaction to the Justice of God The Text saith To make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings As if for God to make Christ perfect through sufferings and for Christ to make satisfaction to the Justice of God were all one Whereas for God in bringing many Sons to Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings seems plainly to imply no more but this To make the Captain a perfect and compleat Captain or Leader 1. By making him to be to his Souldiers or Followers those Believers he was to bring to Glory a Pattern in doing in suffering and in receiving of Glory 2. By making him to have pitty and compassion towards them in all difficulties and sufferings through having experience of the same himself 3. And lastly By giving him power to supply them in the way and give them glory at the end inasmuch as by his sufferings he came to sit down at the right Hand of God If any man of a more refined wit than ordinary can draw any thing more from these terms yet I perswade my self That no man will ever be able to convince an impartial hearer that Christ's being made perfect through sufferings is Christ's making full satisfaction to the Justice of God But if this Proposition be not to be found in the Text much less the other two that it was not possible for God to pardon without a satisfaction and that no
other could do it but Christ Now having shew'd you that his Doctrine is not in his Text nor deducible from it I shall shew you in the second place that it is false and therefore not deducible from any Text but contrary to the Scriptures But to make good this charge it would behove me to write a large Volumn if I should disprove all the frivolous Arguments that are wont to be brought for the maintaining it but I intend only a short Letter and therefore shall content my self 1. To shew you the contradiction of this Doctrine to it self and to the holy Scriptures 2. To vindicate those Scriptures or the chief of them he brings for proof from giving countenance to his Doctrine And First That it is contradictory to it self and the Scriptures observe two clauses in it one is Making full satisfaction to the Justice of God the other is God's forgiving sins To make full satisfaction to the Justice of God for sin is in this Preacher's sence To bear all that punishment which is due to men for their sins in their stead To forgive sin is according to the Apostle Paul Rom. 4. 7 8. Not to impute sin or to deal with the sinner as if he had not finned But now every one may perceive that these two are contradictory as to bear all the punishment due to sin and to bear none of the punishment due to sin To exact of the sinner or his surety as they speak all the punishment which he owes and to exact neither of the sinner nor his surety any thing that he owes For whether the sinner himself or his surety bear the punishment of his sin sin is in that case imputed If these be not flat contradictions I know not what are for the terms in the affirmation and negation are taken in the same sence and latitude So that for any one to say That God could not pardon mens sins till Christ had made full satisfaction to his Justice is alike as to say The King cannot pardon a Rebel without punishing as the Law requires forasmuch as to pardon is not to punish as the Law requires And this is so clear and evident that in all other cases save in this even the Asserters of this Opinion do easily perceive the absurdity Which of them having committed an offence deserving death by the Law of the Land would account himself pardoned if all that punishment were exacted that the Law required In debts of money which may be transfer'd from one to another which of them would account himself forgiven a debt of an hundred pounds if he himself or any other paid it in his name What an empty vain word would Forgiveness be at this rate Pay me all you owe me and I will forgive you is either a senceless or cruel saying What! must we be absur'd onely in our Faith Must Absurdities there be reputed for Mysteries Why not believe the Papists then when they assert the Bread to be Flesh and say it is a Mystery Nay much rather believe them than these for they have the words of Scripture on their side but these have not save ill-forg'd premises Thus you may see this Doctrine is contradictory to it self as much as punishing and not punishing exacting a debt and not exacting it are flatly contradictory That it is contrary to the Scripture is proved by the same labour for every thing absurd and contradictious to it self must needs be contrary to the holy Scriptures But more particularly 1. It is contrary to all those Scriptures that speak of God's forgiving or pardoning or remitting our sins through Jesus Christ or through his Blood And I think I need not tell you the Scriptures are full of such Will it not be impertinent to name a few among so great a number Nay is it not the main purport of the Gospel to shew that God forgives us our sins by Jesus Christ John Baptist the fore-runner of Christ Preaching the Baptism of Repentance for the remission of sins Luk. 3. 3. Christ himself taught us to pray Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors Mat. 6. 12. v. 14 15. For if ye forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will also forgive you But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses Will any man be beholden to us for forgiving his trespasses when we have receiv'd full satisfaction as much to a tittle as the Law allows Or dare we say We immitate God when we do not pardon them any thing except we have our due to a doit Might not the Servant in the Parable Mat. 18. have excus'd himself for his severity to his fellow-servant by this Doctrine For his Lord said v. 32 33. O thou wicked Servant I forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me Shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pitty on thee Might he not have replyed Lord thou didst receive a full and plenary satisfaction for me but I received no satisfaction for him and therefore thy example is no Argument in this case Is not this to clude the most plain and excellent Precepts and Arguments in the Gospel Christ saith in the institution of his last Supper Mat. 26. 28. For this is my Blood of the New Testament Marg. Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins He doth not say for the satisfaction of divine Justice for the bearing the punishment of your sins for what hath a Covenant or Testament to do with satisfaction or punishment for sin And after his resurrection he said unto them the Diciples Thus it is written and thus it behoved the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins not satisfaction for sins should be preached in his name c. accordingly the preachings of the Apostles and Evangelists are full of this Doctrine of remission of sins See a few Act. 2. 38. ch 3. 19. ch 5. 31. ch 10. 43. ch 13. 38. 2. This Doctrine of Christ satisfying the Justice of God by bearing the punishment due to their sins is contrary to all those Scriptures that attribute our Remission or Salvation to the Grace Mercy and Kindness of God for what is more contrary to Mercy than punishing the miserable to the utmost what is more contrary to Grace than to give nothing but what one is paid for what more opposite to Kindness or Goodness than exacting all that strict Justice may require Now the Name of the Lord is proclaimed Exod. 34. 5 6 7. The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping mercy for Thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin Here it follows that I may take notice of it in my way because the Preacher urges it to prove that God cannot forgive sin without satisfaction and that will by no means clear the guilty I pray Friend