that ye believe in him whom he hath sent we may very well conceive his meaning to be that it is Faith only and no other work whereby we do receive Christ and feed upon him to the salvation of our souls Lastly It may also be said that Faith is by our Saviour called the work of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seu per modum eminentiae by way of excellency and eminency because it doth though not formally yet virtually contain all other good works in it Calv. in locum For as Calvin saith Faith excludeth not either charity or any other good work seeing it containeth them all in it For Faith is called the only work of God because we possessing Christ by it are made the Sons of God that he may govern us by his Spirit Because therefore Christ doth not separate Faith from its fruits non mirum est si in eâ constituat proram ut loquuntur et puppim it is no marvel if he do include all in it By this that hath been said it appeareth evidently that although faith in Christ be the only work of God which he requireth of us to our justification yet it is not the only work of God absolutely as if he required nothing else but Faith of us or as if he commanded us to practise none other good works in our life and conversation though otherwise in some sense or in some respect and to some purpose as hath been before shewed it may be said to be the only work of God Before I do proceed unto Mr. S. his second Objection I have thought good to demolish those other fortifications which he hath raysed and reared up to uphold his former assertion that Faith is the only work of the Gospel Object First He argueth thus Salvation is not a businesse of our working and doing it was done by Christ with the Father All our work is no work of salvation but in salvation We here receive all not by doing any thing that we may receive more but doing because we receive so much because we do not that we may be saved And yet we are to do as much as if we were to be saved by what we do because we should do as much for what is done already for us and to our hands as if we were to receive it for what we did our selves Answ That I may examine these things severally 1. Whereas he saith Salvation is not a business of our working and doing it was done by Christ with the Father Hereunto I answer That Christ only saveth us per modum meriti by his merits purchasing our salvation Secondly He also only saveth us tanquam author salutis nostrae as the author or principal efficient cause of our salvation by his Spirit regenerating us and by his power delivering us from the servitude of sin and Satan There is nothing therefore for us to do by way of merit neither can we do any thing that may any way conduce to our salvation virtute propriâ nostrâ by our own power or by our own strength Notwithstanding there are many things for us to do by the grace of God before we shall perfectly be saved even all those good works that God requireth of us which are as it were the way to Heaven Eph. 2.10 For as St. Paul saith VVe are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them In this regard we are not to be idle or to do nothing but as we are commanded we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling that is Phil. 2.12 we are to use the means which God hath appointed that we may come to Heaven and take possession of that salvation which Christ hath purchased for us In which regard St. Peter also counselled his hearers Acts 2.40 to save themselves from that untoward generation of the incredulous Jews amongst whom they lived to wit by departing from their infidelity and evil works 1 Tim. 4.18 And St. Paul exhorteth Timothy to attend unto himself and to doctrine and to continue therein telling him that in so doing he should both save himself by the faithful discharge of his duty those that did hear him by converting them to faith in Christ and leading them in the right way to Heaven But saith Mr. S. All our work is no work Of salvation but In salvation But I answer him It is both for the work of a Christian is to work out his salvation in that sense and in that manner as he is commanded by St. Paul as I have already sufficiently shewed And it is a work also In salvation because it is performed and done by those who are in statu salutis in the state of salvation or whose salvation is already begun in their Regeneration and Sanctification But saith he We here receive all not by doing any thing that we may receive more but doing because we receive so much because we do not that we may be saved What Mr. S. Do we here receive all that is if you speak consonantly to your self all our whole salvation I had thought that we had received only the a Rom. 8.23 first fruits of the Spirit as b 2 Cor. 1.22 Eph. 1.13.14 an earnest or a seal of our salvation to be perfected in Heaven as St. Paul teacheth and that we are in regard theteof only saved in c Rom. 8.24 hope and do here waite for d Rom. 8.23 24. the accomplishment of our adoption the redemption full and final of our body How then can you say that We are not to do any thing that we may receive more more then we have are actually possessed of already But say you We are not to do that we may be saved Is it so indeed Are we to do nothing that we may be saved This is new light or rather a new delusion of the Devil For when those Jews that were pricked in their hearts with sorrow and remorse at the hearing of St. Peter's Sermon Acts 2. said unto him and to the rest of the Apostles Men and Brethren What shall we do Peter answered them not Ye need to do nothing Christ hath done all for you but Repent Acts 2.37 and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Thus St. Peter teacheth that there is something to be done of us for the obtaining of the forgiveness of our sins Acts 16.30 and consequently of salvation by Christ And in like manner when the Jaylor came trembling to Paul and Silas and said unto them Sirs what must I do to be saved St. Paul did not check him for this question of his he told him not that it savoured of grosse ignorance for him to ask what he was to do that he might be saved but answered him and said Beleive in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy
any conditions He speaketh therefore not so advisedly when he saith Reconcil of God to man pag. 64. If you search into the reason of your many years bondage of your miserable doubting you shall finde your disease in that which hath been spoken I hope the remedy also And as frivolous are those words of his Ib. pag. 65. Let us learn to distinguish when God speaketh of his Reconciliation to us and when he speaketh of our Reconciliation to him For how shall we learn this seeing he hath told us before that there is no mention in the Scripture of Gods Reconciliation to us Quest 15 but of our Reconciliation to Him But this matter shall be discussed more largely when I come to the last Question Quest 6. Whether all the Elect be justified ab aeterno When I say that we are justified by Faith instrumentally I do not meane that Faith is properly but analogically the Instrument or means whereby we do receive Christ and his righteousness to our justification from all eternity before they do believe in Christ and consequently whether the Scripture when it saith that we are justified by Faith meaneth that Faith justifieth us only in tribunali conscientiae nostrae in our own coâ—sciences as same of the learned Protestants speak or declaratively as saith Mr. D. Or whether it doth not justifie us instrumentaliter et correlativè as other Orthodox Protestants not a few do teach that is as an Instrument or means wherby we are made partakers of Christs righteousness renouncing our selves and our own works altogether and relying on Christ only for our justification SECT I. Proâ—ed by Scripture that we are actually justified by Faith IT is not denied by any that we are justified ab aeterno from all eternity in Gods eternal Counsel and Decree but so are we also eternally sanctified and gloryfied The Question is Whether we be not actually justified Or whether our sins do not remain upon record against us until we do believe in Christ Doubtless the Scripture every where avoucheth that we are justified by Faith in Christ St Paul affirmeth that the Scripture that is of the old Testament saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness Where the Apostle telleth us Rom. 4.3 whom they are to whom God impuâ—eth righteousness that is Believers It is false therefore that Mr. D. saith that men are justified by God before they do believe St. Paul also telleth us That he counted all things he had but as dung that he might win Christ be found in him not having his own righteousness which was of the Law Phil. 3.8 9. but that which is through the Faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by Faith In these words St. Paul giveth us to understand that there was a time when he was not in Christ for otherwise why doth he say that he accounted al things but dung that he might win Christ and be found in him if he had been in him already And he here teacheth also that this benefit did accrue unto him by being in Christ that whereas he was of himself a sinner as we all are it was by Faith in Christ only that he came to be righteous before God For why doth he say That the righteousness which is of God is through the Faith of Christ and by Faith but because we are made partakers of this righteousness to our justification before God by Faith in Christ and not otherwise Those words of the Apostle also do fully confirm this VVe who are Jews by nature Gal. 2.15 16. and not sinners of the Gentiles knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ and not by the works of the Law for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified Hence I do reason thus In the same sense that the Apostle denieth justification to works he attributeth it to Faith This is evident because he maketh a manifest opposition between justification by the works of the Law and by Faith in Christ But he denieth us to be justified by works before God and not declaratively to others or to our own consciences On the contrary therefore when St. Paul saith that we are justified by the Faith of Christ his meaning is that we are justified actually and before God by Faith and not declaratively only to our own consciences Again I do reason thus Without Christ there is no remission of sins Eph. 1.7 1 John 1.7 Apoc. 1.5 But men before they believe are without Christ Eph. 2.11.12 Therefore before they believe their sins are not pardoned or which is all one before they believe they are not justified nor absolved from their sins Moreover St. Paul teacheth us Acts 26.18 that we receive forgiveness of sins by Faith in Christ not before but after our conversion For so he saith that God sent him unto the Gentiles to open their eyes and to turn them from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan to God that they might receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance amongst all that are sanctified by Faith in Christ Hence I infer that they were not justified and absolved from their sins before they were enlightened and believed in Christ even while they walked in darknesse and were under the power of Satan For what needs the Apostle to say that he was sent to turn them from darkness to light that they might by Faith receive forgiveness of sins if they had had it before Like hereunto is that of St. Peter Be it known unto you men and brethren Acts 13.3 that by this man by Jesus Christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe not any before they believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses For the Law justifieth none but condemneth all that do not in all things observe it Deut. 27.26 From which condemnation as St. Peter here teacheth they are not absolved and freed but by Faith in Christ Now what is this but to say that we are justified by Faith and not before Faith or without it I may also reason thus Whosoever is justified is reconciled unto God and through Christ doth please him For he is that beloved Son of the Father in whom he is well pleased with all that are in Christ Matth. 3.17 But without Faith it is not possible to please God Heb. 11.6 Therefore neither is it possible that any one without Faith should be justified Again there is no remission of sins to be had without repentance for our Saviour hath joyned remission of sins and repentance together He telleth his Disciples That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name amongst all Nations Luke 24.47 And Peter also saith That God hath exalted Christ
he be never so much terrified and troubled in his mind with doubts and fears shall yet be saved if he do cast himself upon Christ and constantly rely upon him for salvation according to the gratious Promises in the Gospel For blessed is every one that trusteth in him Psal 2.12 Lastly That I may adde one Reason more The opposition which St. Paul maketh between the Corinthians former estate while they lived in sin and their estate since they believed plainly proveth that Justification goeth not before but after Faith Such saith he were some of you that is spotted and polluted with those vile sins which he had before mentioned but ye are sanctified but ye are justified they were not therefore justified before no more then they were before sanctified for of both these he speaketh alike neither will there be any reall opposition between the Corinthians estate before and after their calling and conversion unlesse we shall say that as they were really adulterers idolaters c. and not only in outward appearance so now after they were converted and did believe they were really and actually justified as well as sanctified and not declaratively only to the conscience or eternally only in Gods Decree SECT V. Another Objection answered LOng after I had finished this Treatise a Souldier that quartered with me in a calm conference that we had together reasoned thus against me to prove that men are justified before they do believe even from everlasting St. Paul saith VVho shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifieth that is the Elect. But men are elected before they do believe therefore they are justified before they believe To the Major proposition to wit That God justifieth the Elect I answer that all the Elect are actually justified not as soon as they are elected but in that time and after that manner as God in his Decree of Election hath determined set down that is when they do believe as St. Paul explaineth himself in the words following where he first moveth another Question like to the former saying VVho shall condemn And then he answereth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who also sitteth at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for us us believers And then he asketh us again VVho shall separate us from the love of Christ us he meaneth who do believe in Christ and are his members Thus he useth these two words indifferently Elect and Us as expressing the same persons and so giveth us to understand that when he saith VVho shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifieth he speaketh of the Elect as they are Believers in the same sense as he said before those whom he did predestinate them also he called and whom he justified them also he glorified not that they were actually called as soon as they were predestinated or glorified as soon as they were justified But either because they were so apud Deum with God to whom all things are present Or else he saith not whom he hath predestinated them he will call whom he hath justified them he will glorifie but he hath called he hath glorified them because they shall in the due time appointed by God he as certainly called and glorified as if they were so already And even so in like manner when the Apostle saith It is God that justifieth the Elect he speaketh thus because of the certainty of their justification SECT VI. The Objections of the most Learned Chamierus answered BEing put in mind by a worthy friend of mine that the most learned Chamierus who by his acute elaborate and most excellent works and writings hath very well deserved of the Church of God doth oppugn the former Doctrine of actual justification by Faith in Christ I have thought good in the last place to examine those things that are asserted objected by him against that which is most commonly taught and professed by other Protestant Divines Object First He teacheth That a man must be justified before he can be loved of God Whence it will follow That seeing Gods love to his Elect is eternal they are justified therefore not in time but from everlasting and therefore before they do know Christ and believe in him Now that God loveth none but those that are justified he endeavoureth to prove by divers Reasons First Panstrat de justif he argueth thus Paul testifieth That God loved us even then when we were enemies Now this cannot be without imputation of righteousnesse for it cannot be imagined that God should love any sinner as he is a sinner But when we were Gods enemies and as yet did nothing that was good we were only sinners secunâ—um inhaerentiam according to inherency or inherently therefore we could not be loved of God But say I secundum essentiam Answ according to the essence of our humane nature wherein sin is inherent we were the creatures of God It followeth not therefore as the learned and most worthy Chamier would have it that God loved us meerly as sinners but as his creatures As a father redeemeth and releaseth his riotous son out of prison into which he is cast for debt non quatenus prodigum not as he is an unthrift but as he is his son whom he loveth though he hate his vice This most learned man therefore did not so well confisider of the Matter when he said Monstra sibi fingunt they feign monstrous conceits to themselves who say that sinners who are just neither by their own nor by anothers righteousnesse are loved of God that is meerly as sinners than which nothing can be devised more abhorrent to divinity This is true indeed if we should be compelled and inforced by our Doctrine to say that God loveth sinners as sinners but it driveth us not upon any such rocks We are not necessitated therefore to grant his Conclusion which is There was need of this imputed righteousness preventing whatsoever good can be in us that is as he meaneth that we might be loved of God before we were and had my being even from eternity For if imputation of righteousnesse do prevent whatsoever good can be in us then it must needs prevent and go before Faith And so it will follow that our justification is an immanent and an eternal Act of God which this learned Divine will have in Gods consideration to prevent his loving of us But that it is no such immanent Act is proved afterwards I find this great learned Divine in another place reasoning thus De Sola fide justificante lib. 22. c. 8. to prove that God loveth none but those that are justified have their sins forgiven them by him Dilectio Dei opponitur odio c. Gods love is opposed unto hatred Object But Gods hatred is for the guilt of sin Therefore so long as a man is guilty of sin so long must he needs be hated of
Deo definito not from eternity but at that time which God had determined Gal. 4.4 His Passion therefore either must not be the cause of our justification or if we shall say that it is as this most learned Divine and all other for any thing that I know to the contrary do we must needs grant that we were not actually justified ab aeterno from all eternity but in time Lastly Whereas St. Paul teacheth Rom. 3.24 25. that We are justified by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood from hence also it followeth that our sins are actually pardoned and we justified from them in time and not from all eternity For it cannot be said of our Election and there is the same reason of every other immanent and eternal Act of God that we were elected through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus as a cause thereof For our Election is immediatly of Gods grace and not effected by any external means or for any external cause extra Deum without God himself no more then are opera ulla ejus ad intrà any of his internal acts or works For as much therefore as the Apostle teacheth That we are justified by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood unto me it seemeth very evident that our justification can be none of the immanent and eternal works of God that are acted altogether within himself Object I know there are those that do object against this that I have said those words of St Paul 2 Thess 2.13 where he telleth them That God had from the beginning chosen them unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth But his meaning is not That sanctification of the Spirit and Faith of the truth were any causes no nor means of their Election but of their salvation as if he should have said God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation to be enjoyed and possessed of you by being sanctified by Gods Spirit and by believing in Christ as by means leading thereunto Thus the Apostle in saying he hath chosen you unto salvation that is to obtain salvation by sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth maketh these means of their salvation not of their Election Yea not only the Orthodox Protestant Divines but Popish Doctors also do thus expound these words of St. Paul amongst whom Estius commenteth thus upon them The effects of Gods Election ordained unto salvation are hereby signified as if he should say God hath chosen you or hath taken you unto salvation by means thereunto allotted to wit through sanctification of the Spirit and Faith of the truth Theophylact also alledged by him thus expoundeth these words God hath from the beginning that is from eternity chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit that is saith he he hath saved us in sanctifying us by the Spirit Thus our salvation is by means but our Election is the immediate work or act of God whereof there can no cause or reason be given nisi bene placitum Divinum but Gods own gracious good pleasure This that I have thus taught is the Doctrine of the most Orthodox Divines I cannot therefore but wonder what should move the most illustrious Chamier to say quòd amari mereamur à Deo per imputationem justitiae Christi et quôd inde diligamur et destinemur vitae aeternae that we deserve to be loved of God through the imputation of Christs righteousnesse and that thereupon we are beloved and allotted or elected unto eternal life This I say seemeth unto me a most strange assertion for hence it would follow that Gods Love and his Election were not free or altogether gratuitous But God speaking unto his Church and people saith dilexi te gratis I have loved thee freely And St. Paul teacheth that God hath predestinated us to the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will The same Apostle also saith that the Election of Gods people is of grace Now merit and free love and grace cannot stand together Christ indeed hath merited all the saving effects of Gods Love at dilectio ipsamet Dei est gratuitae but Gods love it self is not merited but free He loveth us meerly ex beneplacito suo of his good pleasure This love of his is the cause why he gave us his only begotten Son to work our salvation John 3.16 This love of his therefore must needs be the cause also of all Christs merits both of our redemption justification adoption sanctification and glorification Neither our justification therefore nor any other of these can be the cause of Gods love if we shall speak properly of his love and not of some one or other effects thereof But proceed we to the next thing wherein Chamierus dissenteth from that which is most commonly taught by other Protestants concerning our justification This learned man also teacheth contrary to the common Doctrine of the Protestants that there are no preparations unto our justification Now if it were as he saith that our justification is an eternal Act of God this would necessarily follow But seeing we are not actually justified until we do believe in Christ and are not ordinarily brought to renounce our selves and to put the whole confidence of our salvation in Christ until we be wrought upon and prepared thereunto both by the Law and the Gospel as is to be shewed in the next Question therefore seeing he produceth nothing that I have met with for confirmation of this his assertion I will leave the further examination and sifting of it unto its due place And so I come to the last thing that by the learned Chamierus is asserted in opposition to the common Doctrine of Protestants and that is That we are not justified by Faith in Christ for he speaketh expresly and saith falsum est fidem impetrare justificationem It 's false that Faith obtaineth justification For confirmation whereof he reasoneth thus If it were so then Faith should go before our justification both in reason and in time which may by no means be granted For Faith it self is by it self a part of our sanctification but there is no sanctification but it is after justification which in deed and in nature is before it Which is the cause why we do say that Faith doth no otherwise justifie but relatively that is because it hath for its peculiar object the mercy of God on which it relieth Now this is that properly that justifieth as the Church is built relatively upon the Faith of Peter that is upon Christ whom the Faith of Peter confessed That I may examine these things in order as they lie First whereas he saith If Faith should obtain our justification then Faith should go before our justification both in reason and in
time I deny this consequence for from hence it followeth only that Faith goeth before our justification in order of nature or in reason but not in time because a man is justified at the same instant that he layeth hold on Christ believeth in him But he denieth that Faith goeth before our justification in any respect at all his reason is because Faith is a part of our sanctification but there is no sanctification but it is after justification which indeed and in nature is before it The first of these Propositions I do willingly grant that Faith is a part of sanctification but whereas he assumeth that there is nosanctification but it is after justification I cannot assent unto him in this For many worthy Divines do hold that sanctification is before justification their judgment therefore I might oppose unto the learned Chamiers others that hold the contrary For the clearing of this matter I do distinguish of sanctification and say that it is either habitual and so God doth sanctifie us by infusing holinesse into us or actual and so we do sanctifie our selves by renouncing the works of sin and living holily Of both these Moses speaketh when he saith Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy for I am the Lord your God and ye shall keep my Statutes and do them Lev. 20.7.8 for I am the Lord which sanctifie you When the Lord saith here Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy this must be understood of actual sanctification that is of holiness that is to be actually performed by us But whereas the Lord useth this as a reason to stir us up hereunto for I am the Lord which sanctifie you this is spoken of habitual sanctification For how doth the Lord sanctifie us but by infusing the habit or the internal grace of holinesse into us whereby we are inabled to perform the several acts of holinesse or to live holily the effectual excitation of Gods blessed Spirit herewith concurring But because these words of the Lord which I have alledged though they speak of a twofold sanctification are taken in another sense by very learned Divines than this that I have given for confirmation therefore of habitual sanctification I do alledge those words of St. Paul 1 Thess 5.23 where he prayeth that God would sanctify them wholly or throughly And those 1 Cor. 1.30 where he saith That Christ is made unto us sanctification See also 1 Pet. 1.2 Now of actual sanctification St. Paul speaketh when he saith This is the will of God even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God Hereof also speaketh St. Peter in that precept of his Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts In these and in other places the Scripture speaketh of Sanctification both habitual wrought in us by God himself and of sanctification acted and wrought by us through the assistance of Gods Spirit exciting us unto holinesse Whereas then this most learned Divine saith That there is no sanctification but it is after justification this is true if it be understood of actual sanctication For we are first justified by Faith and then this Faith inflameth our hearts with the love of God and stirreth us up to glorifie him and to serve him in holiness and righteousness according to all his commandements Thus the several works of holiness and righteousness do proceed from Faith Etiamsi non elicitivè imperativè tamen though not elicitly yet imperatively Faith stirreth us up unto them For as St. Paul saith The end of the commandement is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience 1 Tim. 1.5 and Faith unfeigned It is true therefore that Faith and therefore justification which is thereby laid hold of and obtained is before actual sanctification For as this learned man saith well fides vera est fons et scaturigo omnium bonorum operum in fidelibus De sola fide justificante Lib. 22. cap. 12. True Faith is the fountain and source of all good works in the faithful But I cannot say that there is no sanctification but it is after justification for habitual Faith is a part of habitual anctification Now the infused habits of grace such as Faith is are before their acts If therefore it can be proved that adulti or such as are of capacity and understanding are not justified without or before actual Faith then it will inevitably follow that there is some sanctification that is not after justification Yea beside what hath been said already to prove that we are actually justified by Faith and not without it methinketh Chamierus himself doth as good as grant it when he saith Verum est proptereà nos factos in Christo justitiam Dei quòd Christo nos simus incorporati per fidem It is true that we are therefore made the righteousnesse of God in Christ because we are incorporated into him by Faith We are not then justified before Faith or before we do believe in Christ Again this most excellent Divine saith In adultis fatemur remissionem peccatorum ab inhaerente justitiâ nunquam sepaerari We confess that remission of sins is never separated from inherent righteousness in those that are grown in years But say I many of the Elect after they have the use of reason and understanding being well grown in years do yet live in sin for some time and do not serve God in righteousness until he by his grace doth afterward convert them According therefore to his own Doctrine it followeth that justification from sin at least in adultis in those that are grown in years doth not go before Faith But saith he Faith justifieth relativè as it hath for its proper peculiar object the mercy of God on which it relieth Whence as I conceive he would have it inferred That seeing the mercy of God is eternal therefore our justification is so also and therefore before Faith Now hereunto I answer that though Christs righteousnesse be materialiter the proper object of our justification or that which is imputed to us for our justification Yet I will not deny bur that Gods mercy considered as the internal cause moving God to justify us may thus be said to be the proper and peculiar object on which our Faith relyeth for justification But it doth not follow hereupon that we were justified ab aeterno from everlasting because Gods mercy is the cause of our justification no more than that we are sanctified and glorified eternally because our sanctification and glorification are wholly of Gods mercy Quest 7. Whether any previous dispositions preparations or qualifications be required of men in the Gospel that they may be partakers of salvation by Christ SECT I. The Preparations that go before our Regeneration and Conversion THose that take upon them to be the only Preachers of
Law indeed is abrogated to Believers as it is the Covenant of works or in respect of the condemning power thereof or of any power we receive thence to do the duties therein prescribed Thus as St. Paul hath told us VVe are not under the Law but under Grace But otherwise the moral Law hath not lost its power nor its authority to bind us to to our duties that we owe to God and man For in this regard St. Paul alledgeth the authority of the Law to prove that children ought to honour their Parents Eph. 6.2 and that Christians ought by love to serve one another For saith he all the Law is fulfilled in one word Gal. 5.13.14 even in this Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self And by alike Argument from the authority of the Law he proveth that we ought to love one another Rom. 13.8 9 Owe no man any thing but to love one another for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law For this thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not kill thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness thou shalt not covet And if there be be any other Commandement it is briefly comprehended in this saying Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Jam. 2.8 9 10 11. St. James also teacheth that believers are bound to the obedience of the Law when he saith If you fulfil the Royal Law according to the Scripture Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self ye do well But if ye have respect to persons ye commit sin are * If believers be not bound to the obedience of the Law they cannot thereby be convicted as transgressors though they fail never so much in the duties that are therein required convinced of the Law as transgressors c. Now let any reasonable man judge whether the Apostles of Christ would thus have alledged the Law to stir up believers to mutual love and the offices thereof if the moral Law were altogether abrogated and had no authority to bind us to the obedience of it no more than the ceremonial If any one should tell Christians that they are bound to be circumciâ—ed or to abstain from the eating of Swines flesh because the Ceremonial Law forbiddeth the eating of Swines flesh and commandeth every male-child to be Circumcised the eighth day every one would laugh at such reasoning as this because the Ceremonial Law is abrogated and is of no force to bind us to the obedience of it Now thus ridiculous would these men make both St. Paul and St. James to be in pressing us to love one another by that precept of the moral Law which saith Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self if the moral Law be of no authority now to bind believers to obedience but altogether abrogated as is the Ceremonial But far be it that any Christian should thus blasphemously slight or extenuate the force of the Apostles Argument It standeth us upon therefore all of us to say and to acknowledge every one 1 Cor. 9.21 for himself as St. Paul doth That he is not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ that is as it is Regula vitae et morum the Rule of our life and of our actions In this respect St. Paul said of himself That he did with his mind serve the Law of God Rom. 7.25 acknowledging that he was subject unto the direction and commanding power and authority of it And doth not St. Paul also say That the Woman that hath an husband is bound by the Law to her husband as long as he liveth Rom. 7.2 The Law therefore is not abrogated as it is the rule of righteousness whereby our actions are to be regulated but we are thus still bound unto the obedience of it SECT V. Other Objections answered whereby Mr. S. endeavoureth to prove that sinners as sinners are called to believe in Christ without any precedent Qualifications or Preparations These for the avoiding of tediousness I do divide into several ranks Object 1. That Faith is not the only work of the Gospel FIrst he objecteth thus Faith is the only work of the Gospel This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent John 6.29 And this is his commandement that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ 1 John 3.23 Whence his Conclusion seemeth to be therefore no Preparations nor any thing else is required of us but Faith only For answer hereunto I say Object that it is one thing to say as our Saviour doth that Faith is the work of God and another thing that it is the only work of God or of the Gospel as Mr. S. avoucheth For when our Saviour saith this is the work of God that ye believe in him whom he hath sent his meaning is as St. John in the latter place alledged by him expresseth it that Faith in Jesus Christ is a work commanded and required of us by God Now so is repentance also for as St. Paul saith Acts 17.30 Now that is in these daies of grace the Lord commandeth all men every where to wit to whom the Gospel is preached to repent The Lord also in the Gospel commandeth good works as necessary effects and fruits both of Faith and Repentance For Faith worketh by love Gal. 5.6 And hereupon the Apostle saith Tit. 3.8 This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be carefull to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto men And afterwards ver 14. he layeth down this precept Let ours also that is believers learn to maintain good works for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful By these places it appeareth that there are other works commanded of God in the Gospel beside Faith and that as Faith hath its necessary uses so have they also theirs It doth not follow therefore because Faith is called the work of God nor because it is said this is his Commandement that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ that it is the only work of the Gospel as Mr. S. inferreth for St. John even in the place which he alledgeth speaketh the same of charity and saith 1 John 3.23 This is his Commandement that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandement Again Faith is also called the work of God not as if Repentance and all other good works were either to be contemned or neglected but because it is the only act or work prescribed us by God whereby we are to apprehend and receive Christ the bread of life that we may live eternally by him Christ in that chapter calleth himself the living bread which came down from Heaven 1 John 3.23 and saith that if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever Whereas then our Saviour said unto the Jews this is the work of God
the terrors of the law he be not first made to see in what a wofull case and condition he was by his sins to wit that he should have perished and been damned to unspeakable and unconceivable torments in Hell if God out of his surpassing love pity and compassion towards him had not provided and given him a Saviour Thus must we first be brought by the Law and the judgments and terrours thereof to apprehend our own misery before we can acknowledge the depth of Gods mercy and be inflamed with love towards him and stir up our selves unto thankfulnesse unto his Divine Majesty for the great and most gracious work of our redemption and salvation by Christ The preaching then of Hell and damnation and the rendring of a terrible account to a severe Judge is not the laying of the foundation neither of Faith nor of our justification and sanctification whereby we are made good Christians but a digging deep to remove the rubbish of self-confidence and spiritual pride and presumption that so the foundation of our conversions may be laid in the Love of God and of his comprehensible mercy towards us in Christ Jesus SECT VII Objections answered and the truth in this Controversy cleared AS long as any colourable specious and plausible objections against the truth remain unanswered men who have been taken and deluded by them will hardly be brought to renounce their errors no not when the truth shall be solidly taught and confirmed from the alone ground of all Divine and supernatural truth the holy Scripture Having therefore of late met with a Book of very high esteem with many intituled The exaltation of Christ in the dayes of the Gospel by T.C. and finding that the Author thereof doth teach that men are not at all prepared for Christ and Faith in him by the preaching of the Law but by hearing of the Gospel only I have thought good therefore not to passe over in silence but to examine those things he delivereth and the rather because his reasons and allegations do differ from those which I have before met with Exalt of Christ pag. 216. Edit 3 First he telleth us that though all are under the Law by nature yet it is the preaching of the Gospel that discovers it that is as he after explaineth himself that discovereth unto them that they are under the curse and condemnation of the Law See also before pag. 112. and so most miserable creatures He teacheth therefore that a man must first in the preaching of the Gospel see Christ and then by reflecting upon himself see his own misery which otherwise is not to be seen and discerned by the Law But in this he contradicteth St. Paul for he telleth us that by the Law cometh the knowledge of sin And he instanceth in himself Rom. 3.20 Rom. 7.7 and saith I had not known sin but by the Law for I had not known lust except the Law had said Thou shalt not covet Thus the Law sheweth us our sins yea and the punishment also Deut. 27.26 Gal. 3.10 that by them we have deserved when it saith Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them 2 Cor. 3.7.9 And hereupon it is that the Apostle calleth it the ministration of death and of condemnation For as the Law at the promulgation and publishing thereof upon Mount Sinai was delivered with great terrour so it still of it self terrifieth and astonisheth the consciences of sinners accusing them when they do evil as both St. Paul Rom. 2.15 and every mans own experience teacheth But let us take notice of the Arguments of Mr. C. whereby he endeavoureth to make good that which he hath taught Object First he telleth us That a man never savingly seeth his evil condition without Christ And again That it is the Spirit of God that discovereth sin unto him Now the preaching of the Law bringeth not this Spirit but the hearing of Faith as witnesseth St. Paul Gal. 3.2 But here first I would know of him why he saith Answ a man never savingly knoweth his evil condition without Christ For our salvation consisteth not in knowing of our evil condition but in the knowledge of Jesus Christ John 17.3 Isa 53.11 For a man to know his evil condition by sin is to know that damnation is due unto him for his sin Now many a man hath attained to this knowledg who was never saved Salvation therefore doth not at all consist in this but in a mans flying unto Christ and laying hold of him when he seeth how miserable his condition is become through sin Now whereas he alledgeth the Apostles words Gal. 3.2 to prove that a man is not brought by the preaching of the Law but of Faith to be made partaker of the Spirit without which he cannot see his miserable condition by sin I answer him That the Apostle speaks there partly of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit which were by God bestowed on none but those that had heard the Gospel and made profession of Faith in Christ and partly of the Spirit of adoption which also is peculiar to believers Now thus indeed we do not receive the Spirit by the preaching of the Law but otherwise Rom. 8.15 as the same Apostle giveth us elsewhere to understand we did by the Law receive the Spirit of bondage to fear His meaning is that the Spirit of God which we received from him illightning our minds with the true knowledge and understanding of the Law did fill our hearts with fears and terrours and so did put us as it were in a state of bondage at or before our conversion unto Faith in Christ We have need therefore of the illumination of the Spirit that we may throughly understand the Law For as long as men are left to themselves their very knowledge of the Law is but shallow and superficial as it to be seen in the Pharisees and in all those who are only civilly honest which sort of men are either not at all or but a little troubled in their souls and consciences with the fear of their sins or of hell and damnation Whereas then Mr. C. saith The Apostle was once alive without the Law that is without the spiritual understanding of the Law but when the Commandement came sin revived and he died that is when Christ had opened his eyes to see into the spirit of the Law the spiritual sense thereof I trow he meaneth In all this I do agree with him but not in that which followeth when he addeth That we come thus to know the spiritual understanding of the Law only by the preaching of the Gospel For I have already proved the contrary to wit that when the Law is preached men come to understand it by the illumination of the Spirit opening their minds to see the true meaning of the several precepts thereof Object But Mr. C thinketh by instancing in
out and that they may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Object What is this say these men but to teach and preach legally when you do thus tie men to conditions for the obtaining of salvation as the Law did Answ It s true indeed we should be legal teachers if we did require of men the same conditions for the obtaining of salvation and after the same manner that the Law doth but we are far from this for the Law requireth perfect obedience to all the Commandements thereof that is to say all manner of good works as that whereby we are to be justified before God or as the cause of our salvation Now we on the contrary do teach that we are saved only and altogether by the grace of God through the merits and satisfaction of Jesus Christ And we say that works are necessary to our justification at leastwise to the continuance of it after a far inferior manner that is necessitate presentiae non efficientiae as duties necessarily accompanying it and going with it not as any causes meriting or working it Thus whereas the Law requireth works as causes of our justification and salvation we require Faith Repentance and such works or duties as the Gospel teacheth only as necessary conditions without which we cannot be saved For as I have proved in the former Question the Gospel indeed offereth salvation unto all by Christ but not absolutely but upon condition of their faith and repentance Where faith therefore in the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance are wanting it is in vain for men to believe that they are reconciled unto God or that they are in the state of salvation which is the Doctrine now taught by Mr. D Mr. S. and many others Whereas these men then do think that all conditions are legal they are herein deceived For the difference between the Law and the Gospel is not that the one requireth conditions to be performed and the other none at all which were it so then the Gospel should be a Doctrine of licentiousness and carnal liberty but in this that the Law offereth salvation unto none but unto those that do perfectly fulfill it without failing in any the least duty therein required and commanded but the Gospel offereth pardon of all sins and transgressions unto all that believe in Christ and rise up out of their sins by repentance when they are fallen and do not still lie in them Thus the Law is a covenant of works because it promiseth salvation to none but to those that do the works therein prescribed and commanded Rom. 10.8 but the Gospel is a covenant of faith or as St. Paul calleth it the word of faith because it promiseth forgiveness of sins and salvation to all those that renouncing themselves and their own works do relie only upon Christ for salvation according to the promises of his Gospel SECT II. Both repentance and all manner of good works are commanded and required in the Gospel THis that I have already said might be sufficient for an answer unto this Question notwithstanding because many at this day by hearing of our late new Preachers and reading of their Books have their mindes and understandings so vitiated and depraved that whensoever they hear us teach the necessity of repentance unto salvation or hear us presse the practise and performance of good works upon mens Consciences presently they think that we are enemies unto the grace of God and do preach nothing but the Law For so indeed some few years since when one heard me tell my hearers that as long as any one of them did live in sin and not practise repentance it was in vain for him to believe that his sins were forgiven and that he should at the comming of Christ to judgement rise again in his own body to live eternally with Christ After he was returned home from the Church he spake aloud in the hearing of divers and said here is nothing but preaching of the Law preaching of Repentance Repent and ye shall be saved repent and Heaven Gates shall be set open for you To the intent therefore that such poor seduced souls may be brought to see their error I will handle this matter a little more fully First of all then It is certain that the Law requireth perfect obedience of us unto all the Commandements thereof and will not accept of any repentance if we fall but into any one sin or fail in any one duty but concludeth and shutteth us up under the curse of God The Doctrine of Repentance therefore as these men think is not legal Deut. 27.26 but meerly Evangelical And therefore when Christ taught the people repentance it is said that he preached not the Law but the Gospel Now it is manifest and evident also Mar. 1.15 that all manner of good works which are the fruits and effects of repentance are required and commanded in the Gospel as well as in the Law For St. Paul telleth us that we are Gods workmanship Eph. 2.10 created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he hath appointed that we should walk in them When St. Paul saith here that we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works it is certain that this is the voyce not of the Law but of the Gospel For the Law neither speaketh of our new Creation in Christ Jesus that is of our Regeneration neither maketh any mention of Christ at all Christus enim non est revelationis naturalis sicut est lex Rom. 2.14 sed supernaturalis It is not the Law but the Gospel that revealeth Christ unto us It is therefore the Gospel also and not the Law that informeth us and telleth us that Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity Tit. 2.14 and purifie a peculiar people unto himself zealous of good works And seeing this is one end of Christs passion for as much as he hath delivered us out of the hands of our enemies that we might serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness Luk. 1.74 75. before him all the dayes of our life And did therefore bear our sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead to sin should live to righteousness hereupon St. Paul wrote unto Titus and said This is a faithful saying and these things I will 1 Pet. 2.24 that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God Tit. 1.8 might be careful to maintain good works And afterwards in that Chapter Vers 14. He writeth thus unto him Let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses that they be not unfruitful In all these and many other places of the Gospel are good works required of us Yea I will say more they are required as necessary to our eternal salvation in Heaven though not by way of merit yet as a condition necessarily to be performed by us Eph. 2.10 and as the way wherein we are to walk
finished the work of thy salvation I tell thee thy salvation is not now to be begun thou hast been in the state of salvation ab aeterno from everlasting or at leastwise ever since Christ suffered his bitter Passion on the Crosse Believe only in the Lord Jesus and this thy Faith hujusce rei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 erit evidentissimum shall be a most clear evidence hereof Thus Mr. D. would have answered but St. Paul knowing well that the Jaylor did only enquire concerning the means of his salvation which were by him to be used he answered him therefore Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Phil. 2.12 and thine house And in a like sense did St. Paul bid the Philippians Work out their salvation not in regard of the merit but the means thereof with fear and trembling And St. Peter prescribeth repentance as a means to be practised by us that our sins may not be laid to our charge by Christ at his coming but that we may be absolved from them Acts. 3.19.20 for so he saith Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you Let it be considered therefore whether Mr. D. doth nor deal most injuriously with us when he censureth our Religion for a falâ—e Religion because we do thus prescribe unto men Faith and Repentance as means of their eternal salvation by Christ Certainly St. Paul speaking of himself and of the rest of the Ministers of the Gospel saith 2 Cor. 5.20 As though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead that ye be reconciled unto God Now how is this to be understood but in respect of the means of our reconciliation Reconcil of God to man pag. 34. which are to be performed by us Yet Mr. D. is not ashamed to write thus Now this is the common character of all false Religions of what sort soever Jews Turks Papists Pharisaical Protestants Heathen all propound in some degree or other an angry God a Diety not reconciled and then prescribe certain means and services whereby to appease his wrath and to quench his displeasure or to obtain his love and favour that is in regard of the effects thereof so it must be understood or else he fighteth not against us but against a fancy of his own We are told that the wrath of God abideth on him that believeth not John 4 36 Are not all then under wrath or as St. Paul calleth them the children of wrath untill they do believe Eph. 2.3 But for the better understanding hereof our next Question shall be Quest 3. Whether God may be said to love us eternally before we do repent and believe in Christ even while we do live in sin And whether God do love his Children as much while they lye in sin as when they rise out of it by Repentance and live holily SECT I. Mr. D's opinion concerning this Question is set down and censured MR. D's resolution and determination hereof is this Ezek. 16.4 God loved us with as great love when we were in blood and pollution as he did ever afterwards when we were cleansed as well before as after our conversion He loved Paul with as great a love when he persecuted the Church as when he preached the Gospel Thus speaketh Mr. D. of this high mystery without distinguishing of the diâ—ers acceptions of Gods Love which cannot but greatly offend many godly good souls and confirm harden profane ones in their wicked courses yea imbolden them to do evil For will such carnal ones say seeing God loves his elect as much when they welter and wallow in sin as when they live holily and purely I 'le therefore take my pleasure and deny my self nothing that is delightful unto me For though I be not so strict as some are yet I see that I may be as highly in Gods love as the holiest of them all For preventing of such presumptuous thoughts And for clearing of the truth I will lay down the answer to the Question in two several conclusions SECT II. How Gods love is ever the same without any alteration THe former whereof is That if the Love of God be taken properly as it is in it self pro actu divini amoris for the internal Act of Gods Love so it is immutable eternal and ever the same accidens enim in Deo nullum est and hereupon it is that St. John saith 1 Iohn 4.11 God is Love his Love therefore must needs be immutable and eternal as he himself is Wherefore if we shall speak of Gods Love properly so it must be granted that he loved his people from all eternity even before they did believe in Christ and forsake their sins This is that which the Lord maketh profession of by his Prophet when he saith Ier. 31.1 I loved thee with an everlasting love And our blessed Saviour saith Iohn 13.1 that whom the Lord loveth he loveth unto the end When any of the children of God therefore are at any time or other supplanted by the Devil and do fall into sin as David did the Lord ceaseth not to love them for it is his love that upholdeth them that they do not fall totally and finally and that recovereth and raiseth them up again Thus Gods Love is eternal in it self and hath neither beginning nor end as our love hath Objection But how then are we to understand those words of David Psalm 5.5 where he saith Thou hatest all workers of iniquity for hatred is contrary to love Wherefore seeing the elect of God as well as others before their calling and conversion were workers of iniquity How can it be said that God loved them eternally Reconcil of man to God pag. 19 20 21 22. This Objection Mr. D. encountreth And first he bringeth three answers of Others The first whereof is That God hates the works but not the persons of his elect The second That God loveth his elect before their conversion amore benevolentiae sed non complacentiae with a love of benevolence not of complacencie The third that God loveth them with the love of election but not of justification all which he scornfully rejecteth And then taketh upon him to unty the knot thus The Lord hateth all the workers of iniquity is the voice of the Law The other the Lord loves sinners * He should say workers of iniquity is the voice of the Gospel Now the Law and the Gospel speak divers things the one being the manifestation of Gods justice tells us what we are by nature the other being the manifestation of Gods mercy tells us what we are by grace in Jesus Christ Thus he Now I do acknowledge indeed that the Law doth reveal Gods wrath against sin and passeth sentence of condemnation not only on
with his own right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins Acts 5.31 To whom also hath God promised remission of sins Verily not to those that do live in sin but that do leave their sins and return unto GOd Ezek. 18.21 22 23 24. Pardon of sin therefore or which is all one justification and absolution from sin is not to be had until a man do repent and become a new man But what need I to heap up any more testimonies or to use any more reasons seeing St. Paul shutteth up his disputation of justification in these words Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law Rom. 3.28 It will not serve M. D.'s turn to say That Pauls meaning is that we are justified declaratively to our own consciences by Faith only and not by works For St. Peter who spake by the same Spirit that St. Paul did teacheth us That by the constant practice not only of Faith but of other vertues and good works also we are to make our Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 2.10 that is to our own souls and consciences Consequently therefore by the same works may also be assured in our consciences of our justification before God and of our reconciliation to his Divine Majesty For he that is assured of his Election and of his effectual Vocation is assured of his justification and salvation Mr. D. therefore setteth a false glosse upon St Pauls words when he saith that his meaning is not that we are actually justified before God by Faith only but declaratively to our own consciences for thus are we justified by other Vertues as well as by Faith SECT II. Mr. D. his Objections answered ALL these plain Testimonies and many more Mr. D. thinketh to avoid and put off by saying that we were justified actually by Christs righteousness before we did believe even at that very time when he suffered his bitter Passion and bare our sins on his Body on the Tree and that therefore as I intimated before the Scriptures which say we are justified by Faith must be thus understood That Faith justifieth declaratively that is that our Faith declareth and maketh it evident unto our consciences that our sins are forgiven and that we are justified before God But the Scriptures as I have shewed do speak so plainly that they will not suffer themselves thus to be wrested Notwithstanding he goeth about to prove this his exposition by these Arguments following Object Confer p. 14. Rom. 4.5 Rom. 5.10 1. That the Act of our Faith is a Consequent of our justification and not an Antecedent is plain For God justifieth the ungodly And we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies Now saith he Believers cannot be called enemies but friends But we were reconciled when we were enemies The answer hereunto is easie to wit Answer That we were ungodly and so enemies antecedenter ad reconciliationem nostram that is before we were reconciled but not when we did actually believe The Apostle therefore in these words of his denotat tatum terminum à quo istius reconciliationis non terminum ad quem that is And so speaketh in the same sense as Isay doth c. 3. when he saith The lame man shall leap as an Hart and the tongue of the dumb sing which as Chamier saith must be understood in sensu diviso non in composito he sheweth what manner of persons we were before we were reconciled to God not what we are being reconciled He speaketh therefore in the same sense as our Saviour doth when he saith Math. 11.5 the lame walk and the deaf hear The meaning whereof no man will conceive to be that the lame still continuing lame did walk and that the deaf still continuing deaf did hear but that those who formerly were lame and deaf being cured by Christ did go and hear And even so in like manner when the Apostle saith that God justifieth the ungodly and that we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies the meaning is not That the ungodly remaining ungodly are justified or that any are enemies to God after they are actually reconciled unto him but that we who by nature and of our selves were ungodly and therefore enemies were justified from that ungodliness of ours and reconciled unto God when we believed in Christ Objection But saith he We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Christ bare our sins in his body on the Tree Remission of sin therefore is even as ancient as satisfaction for sin and at what time Christ Jesus taketh our sins upon himself at the same time are the persons of Gods Elect just before the tribunal of Almighty God Answer Hereunto I answer That we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son meritoriè that is in regard of merit but are not actually reconciled until we do by Faith receive Christ apply the merits of his Passion to our souls In the same sense is Christ said to bear our sins on his Body on the tree that is the punishment of our sins whereby he purchased the pardon of them It doth not follow therefore neither from these nor from any other the like sayings that actual remission of sins is as ancient as satisfaction for sin nor that the persons of Gods Elect were just before the Tribunal of God at the same time when Christ Jesus took our sins upon himself Mr. D. therefore doth indeed wrest those places of Scripture which speak of the actual performance of the price of our Redemption when he alledgeth them to impugn actual remission of sins by Faith Another of his Objections is this Object Confer p. 15. They that are ingrafted into Christ Jesus are justified but we must be ingrafted into Christ Jesus before we can believe therefore we must be justified before we can believe What force and what strength there is in this reasoning of his I will request him to consider by the like Answer They that are ingrafted into Christ Jesus are holy for so are all his members but we must be ingrafted into Christ Jesus before we can believe therefore we must be holy before we can believe Will he say that this is rightly concluded from the premises No he must not for he telleth us that holiness cannot go before Faith but must follow it But to answer his Argument Confer p. 21. When he saith They that are ingrafted into Christ Jesus are justified But we must be ingrafted into Christ Jesus before we can believe If here he do understand priority of time I deny this Assumption of his For at the same time that we are ingrafted into Christ we receive power from him to believe Again seeing Christ is offered unto us in the Promises of the Gospel How can we be made partakers of Christ if we
house Both these Apostles do inform us that there is something to be done of us that we may be saved that is that we must repent and believe in Christ and be fruitful in all good works which are inseparable effects of Faith and Repentance Whereupon St. Paul exhorteth us not to be weary of well doing Gal. 6.9 and to incourage us hereunto he telleth us that in due time we shall reap if we faint not There is something then to be done or us contrary to Mr. S. his assertion that we may receive more then we have already For as we are here by the Apostle given to understand this present life of ours is but the seed time wherein we are to sow the seeds of virtue and good works and hereafter at Christs appearing the harvest cometh when we shall reap a crop of glory This is the expectation of all true believers for as St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15.19 had we hope in Christ only in this life we were of all men the most miserable Lastly Whereas he saith We are to do as much as if we were to be saved by what we do because we should do as much for what is done already for us and to our hands as if we were to receive it for what we did our selves Hereunto I answer That seeing Gods glory is to be preferred before our own salvation therefore we ought both to desire and to endeavour were it possible to do not as much but more for what is done for us already as if we were to be saved by what we do our selves But otherwise I must tell him that if we would obtain our salvation for our own works then we must look to it that they be pure and perfect and that we do all that the Law requireth without fayling in any thing But he that shall challenge such perfection to himself is to be ranked amongst proud Pharisees and deserveth not the name of an humble and lowly hearted Christian For a farewel therefore to this first reason of his I would know how Faith can be the only work of the Gospel if the Gospel do teach us to do as much in way of thankfulnesse to God for our redemption and salvation as if we were to redeem and save our selves Obiect 2 I come now to his next Reason whereby he endeavourete to prove That Faith is the only work of the Gospel Salvation saith he is a short work Believe and thou shalt be saved Rom. 10.10 Answ But I must tell him As short as he maketh it there will be work enough for the believer all his life long for the Faith which St. Paul speaketh of will not suffer a believer to be idle or unfruitful but as he himself telleth us Gal. 5.6 1 Cor. 15.58 it worketh by love yea it stirreth up believers alwaies to abound in the work of the Lord. Mt. S. his Faith therefore if it be without works and do set all upon Christs score as if he had repented for us and done all for us that we our selves should do is no better as St. James telleth us Jam. 2.17 then a dead Faith Obiect 3 Now whereas he saith It is the Gospel way of dispensation to assure and passe over salvation in Christ to any that will believe Answ I grant it is so but must tell him that true Faith as our Saviour himself teacheth us is to believe the Gospel Mark 1.15 The Faith therefore that is not founded on the Promises of the Gospel but a mans own fancie as is the Faith which Mr. S. requireth is not a true but a false Faith Obiect 4 But saith he There needs no more on our sides to work or warrant salvation to us but to be perswaded that Jesus Christ died for us because Christ hath suffered and God is satisfied Now suffering and satisfaction that great work of salvation How Christ by his Passion hath wrought the great work of our salvation I have already shewed But it followeth not hereupon that there is nothing to be done by us in a lower way for we must walk in that narrow way of which our Saviour speaketh Matth. 7.14 Matt. 7.14 that leadeth unto life or else we shall never come to Heaven nor have any part in that salvation which is there purchased and prepared by Christ for his Saints It 's therefore not only a false but a most impious and most dangerous assertion to say as here Mr. S. doth That there needs no more on our sides to work or warrant salvation to us but to be perswaded that Jesus Christ died for us If this were so then indeed salvation would be a short work For not only all those must needs be saved who are perswaded that Christ died for all men absolutely and therefore for themselves in particular but also the most loose and licentious Libertines and carnal Gospellers that are for even those if not all yet many of them do perswade themselves that Christ died for them as well as for any other but this Faith of theirs is nothing else but most deadly and damnable presumption as is shewed in the 15. Question Lastly Whereas he objecteth and saith They only Obiect 5 are justified who believe Rom. 1.17 Acts 13.39 And that we are justified by grace not of works Rom. 3 2â— Answ This we willingly grant but tell him that there is more required to our salvation than to our justification For as Bernard saith excellently well Bona operae De gratiae et libero arbitrio sunt occultae praedestinationis indicia futurae glorificationis praesagia via regni non causa regnandi Good works are tokens of our predestination that otherwise lieth hidden from us fore-tokens of our future glorification the way to the Kingdom but not the cause of the crown Whosoever therefore liveth here idly and worketh not nor imployeth the talent which he hath received of his heavenly Lord and Master shall never come to Heaven Matth. 25.30 but be cast into utter darknesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Again whereas he saith They only are justified who believe We acknowledge this true but tell him that no man believeth until he seeth his own misery by sin and in what great need he standeth of Christ as hath been already shewed Albeit then we are justified by Faith only yet this Faith is not ordinarily to be had without some precedent qualifications such as are the hearing of the word denial of a mans own self and of his righteousnesse and a belief of perswasion that salvation is to be had by Christ only Object 2. Gods love is not offered to all equally and indifferently or to all absolutely Object 2 Secondly He alledgeth also these sayings of holy Scripture against us as if they excluded all preparation to Faith God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Rom. 5.8 God so loved the world that he gave his
to Heaven For our Saviour hath told us plainly Mat. 5.20 That except our righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharises we shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven These things which I have thus alledged being rightly considered any one may see that they do not preach the Gospel rightly and truly who do not presse the necessity of good works on the Consciences of their hearers SECT III. Why the Gospel seeing it prescribeth and requireth works is not to be called a Covenant of works as well as the Law Or how it can be said to be the Covenant of Grace BUt not unlikely some one or other will here say what difference is there then in this particular between the Law and the Gospel if both do urge the necessity of good works or why is not the Gospel to be called a Covenant of works and not of grace as well as the Law I will shew you the reason hereof 1. The Law is called the Covenant of works because works are therein required as causes antecedent to our justification and salvation or as that whereby and for which we are to be justified now so are they not in the Covenant of the Gospel as hath been sufficiently shewed before 2. Again The Law is also called the covenant of works because works are therein commanded and required but no power nor ability is ministred and given to perform them but the Gospel is the ministration of the spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 For it doth not only command us to repent and to bring forth the fruits of repentance which are good works but sheweth how we may be inabled to do this to wit by faith in Christ who hath merited not only forgiveness of sins but the spirit of sanctification for all that do believe in him Gal. 3.14 The Gospel therefore is a Covenant not of works but of grace not only because it teacheth that we are justified not of works but of grace but because by faith in the promises thereof we do obtain grace to repent and to do all those things which it requireth of us Lastly The Gospel is truly said to be the covenant of grace because it is such a covenant as is not only begun and entred into but altogether ratified and consummated by grace For first It was meerly and only of grace and mercy that God after we had broken and dissolved the former covenant of works or of the Law was pleased to enter into a new covenant of salvation with us the form whereof is revealed in the Gospel Secondly as I said before it is meerly of his grace that God inableth us to perform the conditions of this new covenant to wit Faith and Repentance which otherwise would become impossible unto us for we are as unable of our selves to repent and believe in Christ as we are to fulfil the whole Law It s true Faith and Repentance are in themselves easier conditions than the universal and most perfect obedience which the Law requireth But otherwise As it is as impossible for a man when he is dead to lift up a straw as an Oxe so while we are dead in trespasses and sins as we are all by nature Eph. 2 3. and of our selves it is as impossible for us to believe and obey the Gospel as it is for us to fulfill the Law until we be quickened by the spirit of Christ Thirdly It is of grace that we are kept and upheld by the power of God from falling away from him or that he keepeth us firm and fast in his Covenant for otherwise if he should leave us to our selves but a day or an houre we should break and altogether dissolve the covenant of the Gospel as we did the legal covenant Lastly It is of grace and not for any merit or desert of ours that we are in part for the present Eph. 2 8. Tit. 3.5 and shall hereafter perfectly and fully be made partakers of the benefits and blessings that are conveyed and passed over unto us in the covenant of the Gospel that is to say of justification adoption sanctification and glorification or eternal happiness in Heaven Thus the new covenant of the Gospel is wholly of grace and therefore deservedly it is called the covenant of grace and not of works as is the Law Now seeing all these things are acknowledged professed and constantly taught by us what cause hath Mr. S. or any other to say that we turn the Gospel into a covenant of works or to alledge against us that saying of the Apostle Rom. 11.6 if it be of works it is no more of grace It s true indeed if we did make works any cause of our salvation then we should make the Gospel a covenant of works as the Law was but this we do not but require them as necessary conditions to be performed by us in way of thankfulness to God for our salvation by Christ and for other necessary uses and not to merit any thing by them Quest 15. Whether the Orthodox Protestant Ministers who teach men to believe in Christ and to repent that they may obtain remission of sins and salvation by Christ or those who offer Christ and Remission of sins to all without requiring any thing of them either Faith or Repentance or â—eâ— obedience do preach Christ the more truly and more to the edification and consolation of their hearâ—rs SECT I. Where is shewed which is the right way of preaching the Gâ—spel IT is most certain that those who preach the Gospel as Christ himself and his Apostles did are they who preach Christ not only most truly but most to the edification and consolation of their hearers Now so do not they who offer Christ and Salvation by him to sinners as sinners or to sinners without any condition either of Faith or Repentance but who teach men to repent and believe in Christ that they may be saved or which offer Christ and Salvation by him to all the greatest sinners not excepted if they will lay hold of him and his merits by Faith and turn from their sins and practise Repentance That our Saviour did thus preach the Gospel St. Mark assureth us Chap. 1.14.15 For there he saith that after John was put in prison Jesus came into Galilee preaching the â—ospel of the Kingdom of God and saying the time is at hand repent ye and believe the Gospel I know not what they will here reply Object except perhaps they will say that John had before preached the Gospel to the Galileans and that they had received it Now they do not deny but grant and teach that after that men have received the Gospel then Faith and Repentance and new obedience are to be pressed upon them but not when Christ is first offered and tendered unto them But Johns preachings may be a sufficient confutation of such conceipts and surmises as this Answ for he began his Ministry with the Doctrine of