be sufficiently avoided by alledging that although it be true that Faith is the only thing that is effectual to Justification or remission of sin and that no other Act or Vertue can contribute any thing to this end yet neither are the forementioned Promises nor the Exhortations void or useless in reference to this effect 1. Because there is a Necessity of presence though not of efficacy of those other Acts and Vertues which are mentioned in the Promises and Exhortations And so Charity amongst other things may be a causa sine quâ non of Salvation and remission of sin in respect of its necessary presence together with Faith 2. Because the same things are necessary to the verification of Faith i. e. to manifest the Truth of it though they have no concurrent efficacy with Faith to the Justification or Salvation of the Believer 3. Because the practice of these Vertues is necessary or at least usefull for the assurance of a mans Justification Pardon of sin and Salvation though it be no ways effectual to any of those ends considered in themselves Heb. 6.10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have shewed towards his name in that ye have ministred to the Saints and do minister And 2 Pet. 1.5 10 11. And besides all this giving all diligence add to your faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity i. e. an universal Charity extended to all men as well as Christian Brethren Wherefore ye rather give diligence to make your calling and election sure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in some Greek Copies and though these words are left out in our own and other Translations because they are so in ordinary Greek Copies yet the Sense of them is confessedly included in all readings for so an entrance shall be given you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And 1 Joh. 3.18 19. My little children let us not love in word nor in tongue but in deed and in truth And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him So 1 Jo. 3.14 We know that we have passed from death unto Life because we love the brethren By these Texts and many more of like Sense it is evident that Charity is usefull to procure a mans assurance of those Benefits which are supposed to be obtained by Faith only Another verbal evasion of all the Arguments which are produced for the effectual concurrence of Charity and Good Works to the attainment of the great Benefits of final Justification and Salvation hath been vulgarly expressed by that trite saying of the Latin Father Bernard Bona opera sunt via ad regnum non causa regnandi Good Works are indeed the way to the kingdom of Heaven but not the cause of reigning Which words applied to the Doctrine by us grounded upon the words of the Apostle must have this Sense viz. That Charity is the way to obtain the covering or non-imputation of sin but no cause of it i. e a means but not a cause a very nice distinction to be considered further hereafter This I take to be a just account of the chief Answers that have been made to the premised Arguments from the Promises and exhortations of Scripture for the efficacy or validity of Charity and Good Works unto the remission of sin and the Salvation of a sinner Now in order to a sufficient reply to these Answers I think it necessary in this place to say something by way of explication of the Question tending to the clearing of the true Sense and meaning of the Doctrine what is meant by that Efficacy which any act that can be done by men may have towards the remission of their sins their Justification and Salvation It is evident that all these things are the proper and peculiar Acts and Effects of God himself who is the agent of efficient cause of them all And therefore 't is impossible that any Humane Act should have any direct or immediate influence or efficiency upon these Effects Who can forgive sins but God And 't is God that justifies and saves actively And therefore all the Efficacy that can be in Humane Acts towards these effects can be no more than preparative or passive And what can that signifie more than that they are certain Dispositions and Qualifications of the Patient or Subject to receive these Effects of Divine Grace Nor can Faith it self have any other influence or efficacy upon these Effects any more than Charity Faith it self doth neither pardon our sin or contribute any thing to that Divine Act by which we are pardoned Neither doth qualifie or save us any otherwise then by making such a Change or Qualification in us whereupon this Grace of Justification to Life is freely given us of God But against this Explication of the Efficacy of Faith to the Grace of Justification it hath been alledged that Faith in Christ doth not justifie as an act or qualification found in us but as it hath a peculiar Vertue not common to Charity or any other Act of ours and that is of apprehending and receiving Christ or uniting us to him and so making us Partakers of his Righteousness imputed to us by means whereof we come to be Justified our sins Covered and our Souls saved Whereunto I answer 1. By allowing an union of Believers with Christ the common Saviour to be indeed the true ground and foundation of the Benefits which we receive by him And that this Union is not barely Relative or Political such as is betwixt a King Lord or Husband and their respective Subjects Servants and Wives Nor only Pactional imputed and founded upon the Promise or Covenant of the Gospel to them that believe in him but a true and real Union effected by the Medium of the Holy Spirit communicated to them that believe and are baptized into the Faith of Christ 1 Cor. 12.13 For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body and 1 Cor. 6.17 He that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit ver 11. of the same Chapter But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God Rom. 8.12 If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his This Spirit of Christ is ordinarily called the Spirit of God abiding or dwelling in all true Believers whereby they are partakers of the Divine Nature as St. Peter speaketh as Christ also was 1 Cor. 3.16 1 Cor. 8.19 2 Pet. 1.4 though not in the same measure and manner Such a real Union there is between Christ the Head and all true Believers Members of his Body as there is between the head and members of a natural Body partaking of one and the
Octob. 18. 1694. Imprimatur Gul. Stanley Procan Jos Beaumont Joh. Mountagu Jo. Eachard Joh. Covel A DISCOURSE UPON I Peter IV. VIII Wherein the Power and Efficacy OF CHARITY As it is a Means to procure the Pardon of Sin Is EXPLAINED and VINDICATED By the Reverend Mr John Whitefoot Sen. of NORWICH CAMBRIDGE Printed by John Hayes For William Graves and are to be sold by Samuel Oliver Bookseller in NORWICH 1695. TO All Good Christians whose Faith is made Effectual by CHARITY The AUTHOR Dedicateth this DISCOURSE Wishing Them Increase of that most Divine most Christian and most Spiritual Grace 1 Pet. 4. 8. And above all things have fervent Charity among your selves for Charity shall or will cover a multitude of Sins AS in the Ethnick Theology of the Greek Poets we read of a Famous Triade of Graces reported to be the Daughters of Jupiter So the Apostle St Paul makes mention of a certain Trinity of Christian Graces all special Fruits and Daughters of the Holy Spirit 1 Cor. 13.13 And now abideth Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of these is Charity And that may duely be esteemed the greater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or greatest of the Three in many respects besides that which the Apostle seems specially to aim at in that Text viz. That of continuance and duration in another Life after the Expiration of the other Two For Charity is a Vertue of the greatest Perfection that can be and most highly deserving the Name of Grace Gratia gratis data gratia gratum faciens As freely given as any other and most gratefull to God and Man This Charity is the Root Ground and Foundation of all Christian Piety as is intimated by the words of the Apostle Eph. 3.17 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Radicati Fundati That ye being rooted and grounded in love c. It is indeed the end and fruit of the other Two Faith teaches it Hope excites and cherishes it It is also of greatest Extent extending both to God and Man All Men our selves our Friends and Enemies Faith and Hope will be antiquated by possession sight and fruition but Charity is a thing that we shall carry with us into the other World where we shall improve and keep it for ever 'T is the end of the Commandment 1 Tim. 1.5 and the fulfilling of the Law Gal. 5.14 For all the Law is fulfilled in one word even in this Thou shalt love c. That one little Monosyllable Love is a perfect abbreviation of the whole Code and Pandects of the Divine Law The first and the great Commandment is this Mat. 22.37 c. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul with all thy mind and with all thy might And the Second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets He that truly loves God will not break any of his Commandments willfully and he that doth not love him cannot keep any of them 1 Jo 5.3 'T is this love that keeps us from transgressing the Law and so prevents sin and as I shall shew hereafter the same is usefull to cover sin and to procure the pardon thereof It keeps us from injuring or offending our neighbour and inclines us to forgive his offences against us 'T is the bond of perfection both of Nature and Grace of Humanity and Divinity A loving Disposition is that which we call Good Nature the most Ingenuous Noble and Amiable Whereas the want of it and especially the contraries to it an envious malicious peevish froward rigid cruel covetous and penurious mind is Ill Nature Disingenuous and Hatefull Therefore the extream opposite to Love beareth the name of Wickedness in an Emphatical Sense in the Greek and Latin as also in our own and other Languages that have any Derivation from them So the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malitia malice are generally used And the Spirit of wickedness or the wicked Spirit is called by the name of Satan which signifies an absolute privation of all Love to God or Man together with the opposite to both consisting in his enmity to both But Charity is Goodness it self in the Common Sense of that Word and without it there is no such thing as Goodness truly so called And whereas there are divers sorts of Goodness noted by the ordinary distinction of Bonum jucundum utile honestum the pleasant profitable and honest Good Charity comprehends them all in the greatest Perfection nothing so pleasant both to the Lover and the Beloved nothing so Profitable to both nothing so Honourable 'T is the Perfection of Righteousness in the Sense of Holy Scripture where the word Righteous Mat. 6.1 some Copies read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Righteousness for Alms. and Righteousness do most frequently signifie especially in the Psalms more than meer innocence or common Justice Nor is the Sense of them to be contracted into the short and scanty measures of the Cardinal Vertue in the Ethick Philosopher or the Definition of Justinian Justitia est constans perpetua voluntas suum cuique tribuendi Though even that might pass for a Definition good enough with a Christian Gloss borrowed from St Paul and our Saviours command Rom. 13.7 8. Render to all their due where Love is one and the chiefest of all made so by the Common Law of Nature and by the express Precept of our Saviour of loving our Neighbour as our selves which makes it a general debt so interpreted by the Apostle Owe nothing to any man but to love one another And if this Obligation of debt could be dispensed with or abstracted from this Act of Charity in men as it is in God it would have so much the more of Divine Perfection as being more free St Paul calls it Piety or Godliness 1 Tim. 5.4 St James makes it Pure Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To shew Piety at home he means Charity Ja. 1 27. Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherless and the widows in their distress And the same Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies both Charitable and Godly It is the Energy Life and Perfection of Faith These are all Apostolical Titles vid. Gal. 5.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 2.18 21 26. I do not add the Scholastick Notion that it is the form of Faith because that 's liable to some Quarrel I shall conclude the present Encomium of this Grace in Three Words shewing that it is the most Divine the most Christian the most Spiritual Vertue 1. The most Divine For God is Love saith the most Loving and beloved Disciple twice over in one Chapter 1 Jo. 4.7 8 16. Beloved let us love one another for Love is of God And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God He that loveth not
Not that any such Charity or Mercy can be found in a Sinner as is sufficient in it self to justifie him or expiate his sin in strictness of Justice or Merit but that by the Goodness and Mercy of God for Christs Sake it shall obtain this Effect in the last Judgment And as in this first Branch of the Text the word Mercy twice used doth plainly signifie the Mercy of God as well as the mercy of Man He shall have Judgment without Mercy i. e. from God that hath shewed no Mercy to men So in the second Branch the same word Mercy may have respect both to the Mercy of God as many Good Divines have interpreted it and to the Mercy of men It is Mercy in God rejoycing over Judgment or Justice that gives men Cause of Rejoycing and Mercy in men that by Divine Acceptance qualifies them for that Mercy of God This Sentence of St. James in both Parts of it stands fully confirmed by that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Representation of the last Judgment which is given by our Saviour Matt. 25. from the 21 ver to the end of the 41 ver Then shall he say to them on the Left hand depart from me ye Cursed into Everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels There 's Judgment without Mercy and the Reason of it follows For I was an Hungred and ye Fed me not I was Thirsty and ye gave me no Drink Naked and ye Clothed me not c. In as much as ye did it not to these little ones ye did it not to me That is ye shewed no Mercy for my Sake to them that needed it So is the first Part of the Apostles Sentence confirmed and exemplified by the latter Part of our Saviours They shall have Judgment without Mercy that shewed no Mercy The second Part of the Apostolical Sentence is likewise abundantly confirmed by the first Part of our Saviours Then shall the King say unto them on the Right hand come ye Blessed of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World For I was an Hungred and ye gave me Meat I was Thirsty and ye gave me Drink c. That is by his own Interpretation ver 40. In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of my Brethren being also your Brethren you have done it unto me Where 't is to be noted how the Mercifull Man hath not only his sins covered for which he might have been Condemned but is advanced to a state of Glory and Triumph in the Kingdom of Heaven So doth Mercy not only escape but triumph over Judgment In each part of this Description of the distributive Justice or Judgement of God in the latter day a common Synechdoche of the Part for the Whole must be understood that is in the Assignment of the respective Reasons of the contrary Judgements of Absolution and Condemnation For neither will Charity be respected as the only reason or condition of the Reward but therewith also all other Christian Vertues and Good Works especially that of an unfeigned Faith as the Root of them all Nor will the want of Charity or the Vices most contrary to it be the only reason of the Sentence of Condemnation but all other sins against the known will of God will be jointly respected in the awarded Punishment But since it hath pleased our Saviour who is himself to be Judge at that day to specifie these two opposite Practises as the only Instances of the reason of his future Judgement we have sufficient ground to conclude that they will be especially though not only considered by him in that Judgement The same Synechdoche of the Part for the Whole necessary to be understood in the words of our Saviour which we have last mentioned is no less necessary to be understood in all Promises of the same Reward to any particular Vertue or sort of Good Works of any kind Partly because no single Vertue that is sincere and genuine can exist without a Connexion of all other Vertues as hath been often notified in the Doctrine as well of Heathen as Christian Vertues And partly because no single Vertue in the want of the rest can be enough to qualifie a Man for the State of the Heavenly Life or render a Man so much as capable thereof Because that Life doth require as an Indispensible Preparative for it such a Principle of Divine Life or Holiness as comprehends the Habit and Disposition at least of all Goodness and as is perfectly inconsistent with a total privation of any Real Vertue So that if it were possible for a Man to have any such Vertue in him as Charity with a total privation of Sobriety Humility Temperance and Piety towards God he could not be capable of that Benefit or Reward which the Text speaks of that is of having all his sins covered or perfectly discharged from all Punishment at the last Judgement Although that single Vertue however imperfect and insincere might possibly abate the degrees of Punishment for the want of the rest as hath been intiâ—â—â—â—ed before But although in the promises of this reward to any particular Vertue or sort of Good Works there be a necessity of the foresaid Synechdoche yet in the Threatnings of Judgments to particular Vices there is no necessity of any such Figure Because as there is no such necessary Connexion of all sorts of Vices as there is of Vertues some of which are contrary and inconsistent with some others so it is certain that any one Vice notwithstanding any freedom from others is enough to reader a Man liable to the Sentence of Condemnation As in Humane Justice one Capital Crime renders a man liable to death notwithstanding any possible Plea of Innocence as to other Crimes And one Mortal Disease will kill a Man notwithstanding any freedom from other Diseases So in the last judgement if a Man be able to plead as many will be that they were no Idolaters Whoremasters Theeves or other sorts of Criminals And that they are not guilty of starving any body or depriving them of their bread robbing or oppressing or casting into Prison or other like breaches of Charity no such Plea will hold before the Righteous Judge which will never change any thing upon a Man that he is not guilty of nor doth he instance in any such practice in this Monitory Description of his last Judgement He saith not ye robbed me of my Meat Drink or Clothing or ye wronged me by Violence or Fraud but ye fed me not when I was hungry ye clothed me not when I was naked ye relieved me not in my Necessities neither did ye visit or comfort me in my Distresses Go therefore ye cursed c. not for your Injustice or Injuries but for your Uncharitableness What could our blessed Lord mean by this negative manner of describing his future Judgement but to warn all People of that vulgar Deceit which they are so