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A20741 A treatise of iustification· By George Dovvname, Doctor of Divinity and Bishop of Dery Downame, George, d. 1634. 1633 (1633) STC 7121; ESTC S121693 768,371 667

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a prayer for the justification or sanctification of the wicked that his sinne may bee no more as Bellarmine absurdly expoundeth it dicet peccatum fuisse non esse but is a propheticall imprecation against the wicked that God would break their arme that is their power and strength and that when he as a judge should inquire into their wickednesse they should not be found according to that Prov. 10. 25. he shall be no more that is as Augustine expoundeth it that the wicked when he is judged shall perish for his sinne And so Vatabius make inquiry into his sinne thou shalt not finde him neither doth the Psalmist say non invenietur ipsum scil peccatum sed non invenietur ipse scilicet peccator not it but he shall not be found § VI. For the perfection of righteousnesse hee alleageth three places two out of Ephes. 5. vers 8. Yee were sometimes darkenesse but now light in the Lord where the abstract Light is put for the concrete Lightsome as being inlightned as the Children of Light not that they are that light in which there is no darkenesse Neither is it said that we are in our selves Light but notwithstanding that darkenesse which remaineth in us wee are Light in the Lord. The second place is Ephes. 5. 26 27. where it is said that Christ did give himselfe for his Church that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that hee might present it to himselfe a glorious Church not having spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should be Holy and without blemish In which words there is no mention of justification but of sanctification which in this life is begun and increased by the worke of the Spirit in the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments that at the Marriage of the Lambe it may bee presented unto him a glorious Church not having spot or wrinckle c. Wherefore Augustine That which I said saith he that God hath chosen unto himselfe a glorious Church I did not therefore speake it because now it is altogether such though no doubt she was chosen that she might be such when Christ who is her life shall appeare for ●…en she also with him shall appeare in glory for which glory she is called a glorious Church And againe wheresoever I mentioned the Church not having spot or wrinckle it is not so to bee taken as though now it were but because it is prepared to be such when she also shall appeare glorious And the same answer will serve for the third place cited out of the Canticles 4. 7. Tota pulchraes macula non est in te thou are all faire there is no spot in thee unlesse perhaps he speake of the beauty of the Spouse adorned in her justification with the perfect righteousnesse of Christ for of her Sanctification which is but begun in this life it is not true But the Papists are without shame who apply such texts of Scripture to the now Church of Rome § VII Besides these places of Scripture Bellarmine saith many other very weighty arguments might bee brought but hee hath already produced them in his first booke De Baptismo cap. 13. which when they shall call come to bee weighed will be found light enough For those places which speake of the efficacie of Baptisme in washing cleansing and taking away our sinnes prove not that in justification sinnes are utterly abolished For in Baptisme is sealed to them that are Baptized yea and conferred to the faithfull the benefits not onely of justification but also of sanctification And therefore as it is the Sacrament of remission of sinne and the seale of that righteousnesse which is by faith so it is called the Laver of regeneration wherein we are Baptized into the similitude of Christ his death and resurrection And therefore though in Baptisme sinne were wholly taken away as well in respect of the corruption as of the guilt yet it would not follow that in justification there is a Totall deletion of sinne But neither in Baptisme is there a totall abolition of sin seeing it is manifest that originall sinne which is called the flesh the old man and evill concupiscence remaineth in all the faithfull though in some measure mortified yet never fully and altogether extinguished in this life And although the Papists for maintenance of their severall errors viz. of justification by inherent righteousnesse of the perfect fulfilling of the Law of merit of works of supererogation doe maintaine that concupiscence remaining in the faithfull after Baptisme is not a sinne and the Councell of Trent hath denounced Anathemà against them that shall say it is a sinne yet it is manifest not onely by the testimony of antiquity and evident reasons which I could produce if I would runne into another controversie but also by the doctrine of the Apostle who doth not onely in many places expressely call it a sinne and describeth it as a sinne but also setteth it forth as the mother of sinne the sinning sinne which because it taketh occasion by the Commandement forbidding lust to worke in men all manner of evill concupiscence is not only convinced to be a sinne but also to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exceedingly sinnefull § VIII And not only habituall concupiscence in generall which is the body of sinne and the body of death in respect of which sinne the body of the faithfull is said to be dead Rom. 8. 10. is sinne but also the severall members and branches thereof which remaine even in the best are so many habituall sinnes as a spice at the least of pride selfe-love carnall security infidelity hypocrisie envy worldly and carnall love of pleasure profit preferment and glory in this world c. Which though they bee not imputed to the faithfull yet in themselves are sins as being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 swervings from the Law of God not onely as defects of righteousnesse which were enough to make them sinnes but as positive vices Neither is it to be doubted but that as the acts of pride and other habituall vices remaining even in the best are sinnes so much more the vices themselves from which they proceed are sinnes and are by the same Commandement of the Law forbidden Now whatsoever is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sinne For as every sinne is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so every 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a sin that being a perfect definition of sinne as Bellarmine himselfe confesseth Non potuit rectius brevius definiri peccatum quàm ut à S. Ioanne fuit definitum illis verbis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But all evill concupiscence both habituall and actuall both in generall the body of sinne and in particular the severall branches being so many habituall sinnes in whomsoever they are found even in the most regenerate are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aberrations from the
merit of his works but for the truth and fidelity of God who is just in keeping his promise made to the upright though unperfect indeavers of his servants And therefore the reward whereby God doth crowne his owne gifts in us is called a crowne of righteousnesse not of ours but of Gods righteousnesse as Bernard saith § XVIII The third If all the works of the righteous were mortall sinnes then God himselfe should sinne mortally because it is God that worketh in us when we doe any good works Phil. 1. and 2. Answ. If all good workes were absolutely sinnes yea mortall sinnes as they malitiously charge us to hold then indeed God who is the author of them might perhaps bee said though not to sinne and much lesse to sinne mortally for he is not subject to the precept of the Law and much lesse to the curse of it yet to be the author of sinne But wee hold that the good works of the faithfull are truly good though not purely good and that what goodnesse is in them is the worke of God and what impurity is in them it is from the flesh which staineth the workes of grace in us Neither are the defects of the secondary causes to be imputed to the first cause That which God worketh in us no doubt is good but this good worke hee hath but begun in us as in the place by him quoted Philippians 1. 6. for our in regeneration wee are not wholly renewed and at once for then wee should bee wholy spirit and no flesh Neither doth the leaven of grace season the whole lumpe at once but the inward man is renewed day by day And what is not yet renued is a remainer of the old man and what is not Spirit is flesh Now betweene these two there is a perpetuall conflict the spirit lusting against the flesh and the flesh lusting against the Spirit So that a man regenerate cannot with full consent of will doe either good or evill there being a reluctation of the Spirit against the evill which the flesh affecteth and a rēluctation of the flesh against that good which is willed by the Spirit By reason of this conflict it comes to passe that as the sinnes of the faithfull are sinnes of infirmity more or lesse and not wilfull sinnes committed of meere malice so the good works of the faithfull are not purely good but stained with the flesh § XIX The 4. that our assertion is greatly injurious to our Redeemer who as the Apostle saith gave himselfe for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity might purge unto himselfe an acceptable people zealous of goodworks For neither should he truly have redemed us from any iniquity nor truly cleansed his people nor made them zealous of works truly good but of mortall sinnes namely if all their good works be mortall sinnes which we utterly deny But I answere Our Saviour Christ gave himselfe for us both that he might justifie us by redeeming us from all iniquity and also that hee might sanctifie or as the Apostle speaketh that hee might purifie unto himselfe a peculiar people zelous or studious of good works The iniquity from which he redeemeth us is not onely of those transgressions which are absolutely sinnes but also of those unperfect and defective workes which wee indevour to performe in obedience to God And herein as I have said the high Priest was a notable type of our Saviour Christ who did weare in the forefront of his Miter a plate of gold in which was ingraven this inscription Holinesse of the Lord meaning of Iehovah our righteousnesse which he was appointed to weare that he might beare the iniquity of the holy things which the Children of Israell should hallow in all their holy gifts that notwithstanding the iniquity of them they might be accepted before the Lord by imputation of his holinesse who is Iehovah our righteousnesse And the like is to be said of the incense of the Saints upon earth that is of their prayers and all other their good works which have need to bee perfumed with the odours of Christs sacrifice that so being defective in themselves they may be accepted of God in Christ. As for our sanctification it is true that Christ gave himselfe to sanctifie us But this sanctification is but begun and in part in this life and is to be perfected in the life to come So saith the Apostle Ephcs. 5. that Christ loved his Church and gave himselfe for it that hee might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himselfe viz. at the mariage of the Lambe a glorious Church not having spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish which last words as I have shewed out of Augustine are to bee understood not of the Church militant on earth but of the Church triumphant in heaven The workes which we are to be studious of are workes not onely truly but also as much as is possible purely good For though wee cannot in this life attaine to full purity and perfection yet we must aspire towards it affecting and desiring to performe good works in a better manner and measure than wee can indeed attaine unto Howbeit we must say with the Apostle to will is present with me but how to performe that which is good I finde not for the good that I would I doe not but the evill which I would not that I doe and lest it should bee said that the Apostle speaketh all these things in the perof a carnall man he concludeth thus so then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even I my selfe with the minde that is the Spirit serve the Law of God but with the flesh the Law of sinne § XX. The fifth If all good workes are mortall sinnes then some mortall sinnes are good works and then we may conclude thus All good works are to be done some mortall sinnes are good works therefore some mortall sinnes are to be done Againe no mortall sinne is to bee done all good workes are mortall sinnes therefore no good worke is to bee done Conclusions worthy of the Lutherans that some mortall sinnes are to bee done and that no good worke is to be done Answ. we deny good workes to bee mortall sinnes though in every good worke the most righteous doe sinne The worke it selfe is good though the defect or imperfection which goeth with it is evill The good worke therefore is to bee done the defect we are to strive and to pray against and to crave pardon for it To which deprecation we are to expect this answeare or the like My grace is sufficient for thee and in thy weakenesse my power is perfected Againe wee must distinguish betwixt workes which are sinnes absolutely and per se and those which are onely by accident For those which are good per se are to be