action be lawful to me and not onely whether it be lawful in it self or not forbidden by some Law unknown to me I say If this be the doubt the Principle will be true and the Resolutions upon it certain without any prejudice to this Hypothesis These cautions premised I shall proceed to give an instance or two of the Case 1. Some Divines have asserted the second Commandment to forbid all manner of Ceremonies not expresly commanded in Scripture to be used in Divine Worship Suppose this assertion should be true can it be said to be sufficiently evident to oblige my belief or to convict me of any culpable ignorance whilst I understand it not being no otherwise declared than in the terms of that Commandment forbidding nothing expresly besides the making and worshipping of Images and having no evidence for this comprehension of uncommanded Ceremonies other than from the interpretation of those Divines contradicted by most other Divines of equal judgement at least whether now is the interpretation of those Divines that affirm the Prohibition of un-instituted Ceremonies from that Commandment a sufficient Promulgation of that Law to me If it be it must certainly be such as obligeth my belief for I cannot be bound to obey a Law which I am not bound to believe to be a Law because then my obedience could not be grounded upon my faith as all obedience ought to be But how can I in reason be obliged to believe this interpretation upon the account of their assertion whilst I know it to be denyed by others of equal credit and greater Authority And if that Interpretation be not a sufficient Promulgation of this supposed Law how am I that have either no other or no better evidence for it obliged by it though it were a Law And if I be not why may I not act in Faith especially when I am commanded by just Authority to the Act notwithstanding my doubt whether that interpretation may not possibly be true Why may I not perswade my self that if this should be the sence of the Commandment I am not at all obliged by it till I have some better evidence thereof Or 2. Let the Question be whether it be lawful to use any set Forms of Prayer It is certain this is no where expresly forbidden in Scripture But some Divines have judg'd it unlawful and given some reasons for their opinion depending upon uncertain Principles or unnecessary consequences Suppose now a weak judgement be induced to doubt the lawfulness of any forms upon the account of these Divines Opinion and Arguments against them This doubt must necessarily suppose ignorance because if the truth were known the doubt could not remain is then this ignorance culpable or inculpable If it be culpable then the doubt is so too and then the party was bound to believe that Opinion without any doubt notwithstanding whatever reasons he might have to the contrary If it be inculpable whilst he hath no better evidence to determine his belief how can he be hound to forbear the use of Forms by any Law whereof he is thus ignorant notwistanding his doubt which doth not take away but necessarily infer the ignorance which would be impossible without it May be not therefore notwithstanding this doubt make use of Forms with perswasion that to him it is yet lawfulâ— to do whatever be true concerning the question in general I am very sensible how much these Discourses â— want of those enlargements of illustration and conâ—imation which they might and perhaps ought to havâ— if the occasion would bear it But I must not forgâ— that I am writing a Preface to a small Book where I have already exceeded the bounds of a just proportion and therefore am to leave the modest proposal of thâ— Problems to them that are best able to consider aâ— judge of them hastening to a conclusion of these prely minary Discourses which I shall finish with the addtion of a few things concerning the second Tract tâ— wards the further clearing of the Doctrine there delivered from appearance of contradiction to that St. Paul concerning justification by Faith withoâ— works I say therefore 1. That the business of that Discourse upon â— proposed Text was not to determine what particulâ— Act it is which God in the New Covenant doth prinâ— pally require as the special condition of justification But to inquire what that intire Work is whereby aâ— cording to the direction of Scripture the Salvation 〈◊〉 a Christian was to be wrought out 2. Yet in the Method of the same Discourse a prâ—critie is given to Faith as that which gives the first rigâ— to justification or a right to the first justification beforâ— and therefore without any such works as are consequâ— to that Faith Vndoubtedly Faith is the Root of â— such Works as are truely goâ—d in a Theological sencâ— that is of all such as are done upon any account of â— ligion because it is plain Faith is the first act of Reâ— gion and the ground of all the rest He that comâ— to God must believe that he is and that he is thâ— Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 Whatever good Works can be done by a man without Faith or not proceeding from Faith can have no respect at all to God and therefore are not respected by him St. Paul therefore in that Chapter by many Examples proves Faith to be the principle of all good Works Vers 5. By faith saith he Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For he had this testimony that before his translation he pleased God So the words I am sure may and I think should be read because it is certain that Enoch pleased God before his translation but the testimony thereof he had not before but long after his translation being that which was given him by Moses above a thousand years after in the words of that Text Gen. 5.24 which the Apostle refers to as appears by his using the same words which are there used by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And Enoch pleased God and was not found c. The same translation is quoted by the Son of Syrach Ecclus 44.16 We read according to the Hebrew he walked with God which imports the same sence For they are said to walk with God in Scripture phrase whose life is pleasing unto God or agreeable to his Will Amos 3.3 But so can no mans life be without Faith as the Apostle adds But without faith it is impossible to please God That which makes any mans works pleasing to God is his Faith without which as they could not be done to any such end so neither would they have any such effect For he that cometh to God must believe at least so much that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him This is the shortest Creed that can be and
what acceptance it may have with God in such as are invincibly ignorant of the Gospel we are not concerned to inquire But to all them to whom this Gospel is sufficiently revealed the Christian Faith or Faith in Christ is absolutely necessary to render their works pleasing to God And that Faith is undoubtedly the principal◠condition of Justification and Salvation And although other conditions be required to Salvation yet they are subordinate to this Faith as the proper effects and verifications thereof whereby it becomes allowable to God So that the concurrence and efficacie that other Graces and all good Works have unto Salvation is by vertue of Faith from whence they proceed It is Faith in Christ the Saviour that gives us Vnion with him and his Church and that consequently gives the first right to that Salvation which is procured by him and is the onely priviledge of his Church But this Faith must he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Faith unfained which it cannot be unless it be joyned with repentance and worketh by love and so makes a man a new Creature Faith is the prime Article of the New Covenant And in congruity to the design of mans Redemption and Salvation by Christ the principal act of this Faith is to receive him as the Author of this Salvation and to depend upon him and the expiation that he hath made for us by his blood But because he is also propounded to us in the same Gospel as Christ the anoynted of the Lord as well for a Prophet and a King as a Priest and sent by his Father to declare the Minde and Will of God in his Precepts as well as to publish his Grace in the Promises and is invested with all power to rule and govern his people as well as to save them therefore are all Christians that expect to be saved by him equally obliged to receive him as Lord and Christ to observe and keep his Precepts as well as to trust upon his Promises And thus much is included in the notion of their Faith given unto him when they are baptised for his Disciples which is the solemn Rite of ingaging our Faith unto him For that Faith which is professed in our Baptism is undoubtedly the same with that by which we are justified and saved But the Faith which is professed in Baptism is not a bare trust in Christ as a Saviour but a Faith given unto him as our Lord and Master to become his faithful Disciples importing our defire to learn and stipulation to observe his Precepts And therefore as S. Paul saith we are saved by faith Eph. 2.8 So S. Peter saith Baptism doth also save us 1 Pet. 3.21 Interpreting his meaning in the following words Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer or stipulation of a good conscience And to this purpose it is observable that when our Saviour gave commission to his Apostles to go and make Disciples of all Nations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost he adds this as the interpretation of their discipleship teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you Implying that their Profession to be his Disciples which is the import of their Baptisin doth signifie their ingagement to observe his Precepts and to live like Christians To believe in Christ is to be a Christian that is a Disciple if Christ which was the first Title of Believers Act. 11.26 But that Title of a Disciple of Christ without respect to his Precepts imports contradiction to believe in Christ therefore and not to observe his Commandments is a plain contradiction As therefore all Christians are obliged to an explicit faith in Christ which is the ground of their Title to that name s◠are they to do all manner of good Works upon the groun◠of this Faith with desire and confidence of pleasin◠God through Christ and not expecting any acceptan◠of their works otherwise than by and through Christ Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word or deed d◠all in the name of the Lord Jesus 1 Pet. 2.5 The Original of the first transgression by which th◠whole Race of Mankinde fell into a state that neede Salvation was unbelief Eve by the temptation of th◠Devil was first induced to quit her Faith in Go◠Word that had said The day thou eatest there of thou shalt surely dye the death This unbelief was that which made way for the sin of disobed◠ence to the Command For had she not doubted th◠truth of Gods Word she could never have been per◠swaded to taste of that forbidden Fruit. Thus w◠unbelief the prime cause of mans ruine and there◠fore the first step and principle of his restauration an◠Salvation is Faith And as unbelief of the threa◠ning by which the first Law was fortified was th◠cause of our destruction so the belief of the promi◠of the Gospel is the principle of our justification B◠believing the Serpent the Abaddon and Apollyo◠the destroyer we were undon by believing in Jesu◠the Saviour we are saved But as that unbelief became destructive by its effects as a practical infidelity producing disobedience to the Commandment So is our Faith effectual to Salvation then onely when it is sincerely practical reducing us to our duty of obedience to our merciful Saviour If that saying of the Father must stand for a Catholick Axiom bona opera sunt via ad regnum non causa regnandi I must have leave to interpret the latter Clause so as may import no contradiction to the first that is that good works are the way to the Kingdom not the Cause that is the principle or meritorious Cause of our raigning for a Cause they must needs be that is a moral Cause if they be the way that is the means of our raigning as that signifies not onely the Term or End of this way but the Reward of our walking in it When therefore S. Paul excludes works from justification I take it his onely scope is to secure the freedom and assert the necessity of Divine Grace purchased by Christ and promised by the New Covenant of the Gospel And when he saith a man is not justified by the works of the Law he sometimes means ceremonial works such as was that of Circumcision and the obedience to that whole Law which a man was made a debtor to keep by his Circumcision Gal. 5.3 otherwhiles by the righteousness of works he seems to understand perfect indefective obedience to the whole Law or Will of God upon which account it is impossible for a sinner as he concludes all men to be now Rom. 3.23 Gal. 3.22 to be justified because his being so imports a contradiction to such Works Besides it is observeable that S. Paul doth never say that a man can be saved without Works but that he is justified without them speaking generally of the first
are to be found in Scripture pertaining to this end I shall take up with a few of them and principally with three to which all others may be referred and which are the more remarkable because they were purposely designed by our blessed Saviour himself and the two great Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul for a distinct answer to the question we have propounded i. e. What a man should do to be saved I shall begin with the resolution of the same Apostle that directs the admonition in the Text. When the Gaoler sympathising with the quaking Earth with fear and trembling came to him and Silas his fellow-prisoner inquiring What he must do to be saved They said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Acts 16.30 31. The same answer was given by our blessed Saviour himself to the Jews that put the question to him What they should do that they might work the works of God Which question bears the same sense with that of the Gaoler as appears by the occasion of it expressed in the fore-going verse where our Saviour had bidden them Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth to eternal life Hereupon they moved this question What was that work which God had appointed them to do in order to that end which he had prescribed them that is to obtain that mean which endureth to everlasting life which is all one with What they should do to work out their own salvation Jesus answered and said unto them This is the work of God meaning not now the work which God works but which he requires of them to work that ye beleeve on him whom he hath sent John 6.27 28 29. This then appears to be the first and principal work so called by our Saviour to be done by him that designs to work out his own salvation viz. to believe on Jesus Christ the Author of salvation This is the term by which the condition of salvation is most commonly expressed both in the Gospels and Epistles especially of St. Paul who laboureth much to confirm the Doctrine of Justification by faith in Christ And to be justified is to be put into a state of salvation wherefore also he saith By grace ye are saved through faith Eph. 2.8 Jesus Christ being the Author of this salvation the way to attain unto it in reason must needs be to believe in him For nothing can be more reasonable than that they that will attain unto salvation should be obliged to acknowledg the only Author thereof and depend upon him for it especially since he hath purchased it for us at so dear a rate as that of his own blood it was most highly equitable that he should have the honour of it which is given him by faith as that imports an affiance or trust in him for the attainment thereof Faith in Christ therefore is the undoubted foundation of our hope and the prime title to Salvation And that being so proves that every man is as much concern'd to work out his Faith as he is to work out his own Salvation Which that he may do it is at least very requisit that he should understand what this Faith is Although the end of this Faith which is the salvation of the Soul doth not necessarily depend upon the truth of the notion that a man hath of it but upon the truth of the thing it self For it is no lesse possible for a man to have a true Faith that hath a false notion of it than it is for a man to attain unto Salvation and the felicities of Eternal life although he neither hath nor can have any exact notion thereof in this life Or than it is to have a reasonable soul and to act reasonably thereby though a man knows neither what the Soul nor yet what Reason is As the Sadduces that believed not that there were any Spirits at all were nevertheless informed with rational and immortal Spirits Yet in as much as the want of a right understanding of the nature of a true Faith may render a man liable to be deceived as well in the practice as in the notion thereof it is hugely necessary that he be possessed with a right knowledg of this work of God as I may take leave to call it after our Saviour in the forementioned Text Joh. 6.29 And after St. Paul 1 Thes 1. Remembring your work of Faith Which term 2 Thes 1.11 beside that agreement that it hath with my Text is useful towards the resolution of that great Question What Faith it is to which the Scripture doth so often attribute the effect of justification and Salvation For by these Texts and many others hereafter to be quoted we may learn that the true justifying and saving Faith is not 1. A bare notional historical or intellectual Faith consisting altogether in the asseâ— of the minde or understanding to the truth of thâ— holy Scriptures and all the Articles of the Christiâ—â— Creed which in it self or as such differs not froâ— the faith of devils Jam. 2.19 save that it seems neâ— to be so strong and free from all degrees of doubâ— as theirs is for want of that forcible Evidence sense and experience which they have of the truâ— of those things which they have seen and felâ—â— viz. the Miracles of Christ his Death Resurrect on and Ascention c. Nor yet secondly the single act of Affiance reliance trust or rolling mans self upon Christ for Salvation which indeeâ— is an eminent act or effect of Faith and so muâ—â— the more acceptable to God as it excludes all glâ—rying in our own works Rom. 3.27 Much lâ— thirdly that reflex act or consequent of Faith which consists in a full assurance confidence â—â—perswasion of a mans salvation by Christ which Scripture is no-where to my understanding â—â—led Faith And therefore although it were indeâ— the first notion of faith that I was Catechised 〈◊〉 in English and seems to be confirmed by the 〈◊〉 definition in sense found in many of the most 〈◊〉 thentick Catechisms of reformed Churches yeâ— must profess my self least satisfied with it of 〈◊〉 that I have met with Because all the assurance salvation that can ordinarily be had in this 〈◊〉 is nothing but a consequence of Faith ground upon the promise of salvation to him that 〈◊〉 believes And if I have any assurance of my 〈◊〉 vation I must first be assured that I do believe 〈◊〉 then my believing cannot be my assurance of my salvation Because that were to make the same thing the consequent of it self And imports no less absurdity than this that I believe or am assured that I shall be saved because I believe or am assured that I shall be saved For he that saith Faith is Assurance saith also that Assurance is Faith and then if my assurance or confidence that I shall be saved be grounded upon my faith as the condition to which Salvation is promised it must
Faith as hath been declared doth not exclude other works but necessarily require them as it's effects and consequents By the work of the Lord therefore must certainly be understood all manner of good works that is all such as are agreeable to the known Will of the Lord. For albeit no man may expect to be saved by or for any merit of his works yet the Scripture frequently declareth that every man shall be judged by and according to his works And though Faith be the prime condition of justification and gives a man a title to Salvation yet is this title to be held under the Condition of good works without which this Right cannot be maintained Because such a Faith as gives this right cannot be maintained without them Jam. 2.14.22 For Faith without works is dead that is ineffectual and vain What will it profit a man to say he hath Faith and have not works Can Faith save him No for Faith is made perfect that is effectual and saving by works To work out a mans Salvation then is to do all manner of good works that are in his power and to abstain from evil upon a principle of Faith in the Lord Jesus working by love And this must needs be all that can be done by a Christian in order to this end Provided that this work be persued in such manner as is directed by the Apostle's Exhortation in the first words Be ye stedfast and unmoveable alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord wherein two things are prescribed concerning the performance of this duty the first is Constancy expressed in three words stedfast unmoveable always The second is Diligence and Zeal signified by the word abounding First to be stedfast and unmoveable is to stand fast in the Faith and to be constant in the work of Faith And so much is implied in the word work out your own Salvation which as before was observed supposeth the work already begun and yet remaining to be perfected by a continued perseverance whereunto only the promise of Salvation is made He that endureth to the end shall be saved Mat. 10.22 And when the Apostle saith God will render to every man according to his works he interprets himselfs in the next words To them that by patient continuing in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality God will render eternallife Ro. 2.6 7. Secondly He that will work out this end is advised by the Apostle to labour to abound in the work of the Lord which is the same thing that S. Peter teacheth us when he exhorts to give disigence by good works to make our calling and election sure And though the abounding in good works be not absolutely necessary to the attaining of Salvation as it is to the qualifying a man for the Degrees of the reward yet it is without doubt the safest course to secure the Title it self which a few good works with the neglect of others will not do If these things be in you and abound saith S. Peter they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful A field or tree is judged barren and unfruitfull though it doth bear some fruit as suppose there and there an ear of Corn or an Apple if there be no proportion between the ground or the tree with the respective cost bestowed upon them and the crop that they yield So certainly will men be judged by the proportion of the ablities that God affords them to their good works else almost every man would be saved because there is scarce any man so bad but he doth or hath done some good works at least materially good Thus I have shewn at large from Holy Scripture only what that work is by which our Salvation is to be wrought out and shall finish my Answer to that Question with the addition of one Advertisement more which is that none of this work can be done without the assistance of Divine Grace as we are taught by the words immediately following my Text For it is God that worketh in you to will and to doe of his good pleasure of which something more afterward At present I only observe this consequence from them agreeable to the question in hand viz. That seeing there is such an absolute necessity of Gods Grace to the performance of this work it follows that Whatsoever is necessary to obtain this Grace must be equally necessary to work out our own Salvation Seeing therefore that Prayer Hearing Reuding and Meditating on Gods word and the frequent participation of the Holy Eucharist or Supper of the Lord are the ordinary means instituted by God for the obtaining of his grace it is necessary that a Christian should diligently apply himself to the practice of these duties not only as good works but as the means of grace to inable him to do what ever else is required of him to work out his Salvation But of these things more hereafter in the Application Come we now to the third Question viz. What is meant by those words with * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fear and trembling We have spoken of the matter of this work wherein that consists These words are added to expresse the manner of the performance of this duty And it is not to be imagined that there is any material difference in the sense of these two words though the latter of them doth properly signifie the effect the former 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chryst For Trembling is the effect of fear But here they are no other than Synonymous expressions the general use whereof is only to fortifie and urge the same sense The meaning of the words will best be understood partly from the opposites of such a disposition as is thereby signified and partly from the use of the same words in other Texts of Scripture Now the direct Opposites of fear and trembling are presumption and self-confidence or vain confidence together with * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Ioc. negligence and spiritual sloth Fear and Trembling is first opposed to presumption and self-confidence and so signisies humility modestie and reverence From an humble sense of our own weakness aptness to neglect and inability to perform this work without the special assistance of divine grace Rom. 11.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be not high-minded but fear This agrees with the subsequent words declaring the reason of this disposition For it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure And with this sense of these words agrees the use of them in Psal 2.11 Serve the Lord with fear and rejoyce with trembling i. e. with all humble reverence and dread of his Divine Majesty as Heb. 12.28 Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear And without doubt a second thing signified by this fear and trembling 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost is diligence care and sollicitude upon the due apprehension and consideration of
justification or being put into a state of justification by the free pardon Rom. 4.8 2 Cor. 5.19 or not imputing of sinâ— past This Grace he affirms to be obtain'd by a sincere Faith in Christ not onely without respect to Works antecedent to this Faith buâ— also without and before any such works as are duly consequent unto it All those who were converted from Heathenism or Judaism unto the Faith of Christ were by that first act and profession of this Faith brought into a state of justification before and there fore without any such works as remained afterwarâ— to be done by the ingagement of this Faith But because this Faith if it was unfaigned did imply an ingagement of the Believer to all good works of love anâ— obedience to the commands of the Saviour the Lorâ— Jesus therefore this right of justification conferrâ—â— upon the condition of such an ingagement could nâ— be beld without works And consequently Salvation which is nothing else but the final conpletion of this justification unto life Rom. 5.18 〈◊〉 not attainable without them But stiâ— good works have their acceptance and validity unâ— the reward of Salvation by vertue of Faith in Chriâ— the onely Saviour and his Merits So that they 〈◊〉 concurr to Salvation onely as verifications of our since Faith in Christ It is this Faith that must be the plâ— of a sinner for his final justification at the last judgment but this plea can never be made good unless thâ— Faith be found free from any contradiction or 〈◊〉 faisance by the works of a mans life The two Apostles S. Paul and S. James will 〈◊〉 perfectly cleared from all reality of contradiction all or any of these three things shall be found true 1. That they speak not of the same Faith 2. Nor of the same Works 3. Nor of the same Justification 1. Not of the same Faith S. James speaking of an ineffectual dead faith not onely abstracted from works in its notion but being altogether without them Jam. 2.14 What doth it profit my brethren though a man say he hath faith and hath not Works And vers 17. Even so faith if it hath not works is dead being alone And vers 26. Whereas S. Paul speaks of a true and living Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 such as was the Faith of Abraham that offerd up his onely Son Isaac at the command of God 2. Not of the same works S. James speaking of Evangelical works done in and with the Faith of the Messiah and in obedience to the Gospel Whilst S. Paul speaks of legal works or works of the Law as such Nor thirdly of the same justification S. Paul speaking of the first justification of a sinner upon his sincere believing in Christ before the confirmation of that faith by his works S. James understanding the continued state of justification as appears by his Example of Abraham vers 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar Abraham was justified long before that work yet he is said to be justified thereby not before men but before God Any one of these differences in the Discourses of the two Apostles is sufficient to salve them from any reality of contradiction But the exact disquisition of those particulars not agreeing with the limits of my present undertaking must be left to them that are better able to pursue it It is more than time to relieve the patience of the Reader which shall be done witâ— the addition of this onely request that he will joyn witâ— the Author in his hearty Prayer to the Lord of Glory and the God of our Salvation for such a blessinâ— upon these Discourses as may render them at least iâ— some measure effectual to those blessed Ends tâ— which they are intitled ERRATA REader you are desired to take Notice That the words Part I in the running Titles upon the head of the pages in the latter part of the Book are wholly to be left out And in the first Discourse Page 16. line 9. read as is p. 25. l. 21. dele with p. 41. in the Margent r. je renie dieu maugré de dieu malgrádo de dÃo In the second Discourse Page 10. line 5. read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 36. l. 1. r. as is p. 46. l. 12. r. the work of conversion or repentance to begin in the understanding the ruling faculty c. p. 50. l. 10. r. supposition p. 57. l. 11. dele as p. 73. l. 16. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 91. l. 20. dele by it p. 108. l. 8. r. prevention THE Main Duty of a Christian 1 Cor. 10. 31. Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God AS the highest Happiness of Man consists in the fruition of God and his favour So the highest Vertue and Perfection of man consists in his being intirely devoted to God by dedicating and Consecrating all that he is and all that he hath and all that he doth to the glory of God according to the precept of this Text which is the most transcendent Rule of Religion the prime fundamental Law of godliness properly so called In Moral and Civil Conversation between man and man that Common Rule of Equity and Charity is fundamental viz. that Eveny Man should do unto others as he would they should do to him In Politicks or publick Acts of Civil State and Government The safety of the People is the supream Law and all things are to be done to that end but in Religion the Canon of the Text is the only fundamental Whether ye eat or drink c. This general Rule is here brought in by the Apostle upon a special and particular occasion viz. by way of Argument to confirm an Admonition given to the Corinthians to beware of the Scandal of Idolatry by Communion with the Heathens in their Sacrificial Feasts celebrated to the honour of their Idols This Admonition the Apostle had begun at the 8th Chap. and after a brief Intermission he resumes it in this v. 14. Where he declares the main Reason why Christians should not partake with Heathens in their Idol Feasts namely because that would be to Communicate with and to be partners in the Idol-sacrifices and so to joyn in the worship of Daemons or Devils to whom those Sacrifices were offered v. 20. and therein to have communion with Devils As in the Christian Feast of the Lords Supper which is also a Sacrificial Feast or a feast upon the Sacrifice oâ— Christ's body and bloud repesented by bread and wine they that are partakers of that Supper are thereby partakers of the Sacrifice viz. of the body and bloud of Christ v. 16 17. And as in the Jewiss Feast upon their Sacrifices they that did eat of the Sacrifices were partakers of the Altar so they that are of the Sacrifices which by the Heathens were offered to Devils v. 7. Fxod 34.15.16
thou shalt have Treasure in Heaven and come and follow me Which last words do indeed imply a necessity of Faith in Christ without which no man can come to him but they do also as plainly teach a necessity of Obedience too without which no man can be said to follow him And the whole Answer doth clearly intimate that it was not only necessary for him to endeavour the keeping of those Commandments if he would enter into Lâ—fe but that he must do more than so namely be ready upon his command to part withall that he had to follow him as his Disciples had done 4. Because the foremention'd Interpretation seems to have been devised of purpose to exclude the necessity of Obedience to Salvation and to secure the Doctrine of Salvation by Faith only without Works in such a sense as St. Paul never meant Therefore I find no such interpretation in any of the Ancients before the Controversie about Works was raised Lastly because the same necessity of Works of Obedience to Salvation that seems to be taught by our Saviour in this Text is fully and plainly asserted by himself and his Apostles in many other Texts As Mat. 5.20 Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Where by the Sequel of his Discourse it is evident that he speaks not of a meer imputed righteousness but such a one as is inherent and practical consisting in the observation of the Precepts there afterward mention'd by himself in the same and the two following Chapters And as it were of purpose to prevent the error of the Solifidian Doctrine or a presumption of Salvation by Faith without Works he expresseth himself most clearly Chap. 7.21 Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord that is pretendeth or professeth to believe on me shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven The whole Sermon contain'd in those 3. Chapters is a summary of the Law of Christ Gal. 6.2 The Christian Ethicks or the institutions of the Christian Philosophy The main Scope whereof is to shew upon what terms and conditions that Kingdom of Heaven which he preached and promised was to be obtained as may appear both from the beginning and end of the Sermon For as it begins with the Promise of Blessedness limited to the endowments and practice of special Christian Vertues such as Humility Meekness Mercy purity of Heart Peace and Patience c. so it ends with a peremptory assertion of the necessity of Obedience to the Precepts before delivered Chap. 7. from vers 22. to the end Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his House upon a Rock c. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his House upon the Sand c. Which words can signifie no less than that all hopes of Salvation that are built upon any other Foundation than that of Obedience to his Precepts as the proper effect fruit and trial of an unfained Faith in him are built upon the Sands Or that the study of conformity to his Commandments is fundamentally necessary to the hope of everlasting Life From whence this Inference seems to be necessary that to believe there is no such necessity of good Works to Salvation is no less than a fundamental Error in the Christian Profession And so without doubt it is if it be held practically But because such an erroneous Opinion notionally held may be consistent with the real practice of Christian Obedience as I doubt not but that it is in many Lutherans and some Antinomians it doth not necessarily exclude from Salvation For whosoever heareth Christ's sayings and doth them is by our Saviour likened unto a wise man that built his House upon a Rock and therefore shall undoubtedly be saved whether he believes his Obedience necessary to Salvation or not A simple error in the Understanding effectually corrected in the Will I believe shall never be imputed to the honest-minded man But considering the natural influence of the Understanding upon the Will this Heresie though not in it self to be reckon'd in the number of those which St. Peter calls damnable may yet easily prove so And therefore though it must needs exercise the Patience of an intelligent Orthodox Reader to add to these express words of our Saviour so many Testimonies of his Apostles as might be alledged from their Epistles for the confirmation of this Doctrine Yet their pardon must be allowed for the mentioning of some of them towards the removal of so dangerous an Error as the same Apostles thought necessary to warn Christians of by many Emphatical Texts Saint Paul himself after he had msisted so much in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians upon the Doctrine of Justification by Faith without the Works of the Law doth specially caution both Churches to take heed of this misprison Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live See Gal. 5.6.21 and Chap. 6. v. 7 8 9.15 Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall be also reap For he that soweth to his Flesh shall of the Flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1. Cor. 6.9 10. St. James Jam. 2. spends a whole Chapter to undeceive Christians of this Error St. John gives the same admonition 1 Jo. 3.7 Little Children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous as he is righteous He that committeth Sin is of the Devil c. What can be plainer than the words of our Saviour Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City viz. the heavenly Hierusalem From whence it is to be concluded beyond dispute that howsoever the right to this heavenly Inheritance be at first obtained by the act of an unfeined Faith in Christ yet it is held by the homage of Obedience to the Commandments I shall conclude with that General Doctrine so oft delivered as well in the New Rom. 2.6 2 Cor. 5.10 Mat. 16.27 Rev. 22.12 as in the Old Testament That God will render to every man according to his Works Confirmed by our Saviour's description of the last Judgement Matth. 25.31 to the end of the Chapter That all men shall fare in the Life to come according to their doings in this L. Herbert E. of Cherbery Lib. de Veritate is one of
of Faith we met withall before and if there were not some other of Repentance as easie it were scarce possible for men to perswade themselves they have repented of their Sins without any actual sincere reformation of their lives Or to believe that the last hour of their lives is time enough for this work when they know such a reformation is altogether impossible But I am not in this place to enter upon the common place of Repentance or to discourse 〈◊〉 the various acceptions of the word My design iâ— only to shew what that Repentance is which iâ— necessary to be wrought out in order to a man's salvation And that will be learned most compendiously from a remarkable Text of Saint Pauls 2 Cor. 7.10 For godly Sorrow worketh Repentance to Salvation never to be repented of Where it is first to be observed that the rise or spring of Repentance is * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Godly Sorrow or â— Sorrow according to God which inports first a due sight and sense oâ— Sin secondly a hearty sorrow for it as it relatâ— to God that is as it is a transgression of the Law of God and so injurious and offensive â— Him and not only as it is noxious or perilous â— our selves There may be a true Godly sorrow as well foâ— the sufferings as the sins of others But the sorrow which is apt to bring forth repentance is a sorrow for our own sins And two things there are in Sin which are the just matter and motive of a Godly sorrow 1. The nature of it 2. The effects and consequents of it 1 Joh. 3.4 Rom. 2.15 The proper nature of sin is the transgression of Gods Law whether written in the Bible or in the Heart The Effects of sin do referre either to God or to our Selves and our Brethren Those which respect God are his displeasure and his dishonour For all sin is both displeasing and dishonourable to God upon the same account because it is a transgression of his will Those which respect our selves are â—ll manner of evils privative and positive that may accrue to us from sin either by the nature or by the punishment thereof Now albeit these â—atter events of sin be just matter of sorrow â—nd that sorrow may also conduce to the effect of â—epentance yet is not this properly called Godly sorrow because it is not a sorrow for Gods cause so â—uch as for our own And the root of it is self-â—ove rather than the love of God I conclude â—herefore that the proper object and motive of â—odly sorrow is sin as sin considered with â—â—e event that necessarily proceeds from it as such â—â—z the dishonour of God with his just displeasure â—hich being the greatest evil in the world is the â—â—â—test matter of Sorrow The glory of God and his â—â—vour are the most desirable good things and â—â—ght to be the highest ends that we should proâ—ound to our selves and most to be rejoyced in â—nd therefore the contraries of these things his â—ishonour and his displeasure ought above all â—â—ings to be averted and grieved for And the â—â—rrow for sin upon these considerations is the â—ost Godly sorrow because it implies a love to God with a conversion of our wills unto his will from which by sin it had been averted This is thaâ— Sorrow which is signified by the Scholastiâ— term of Contrition the abstract of the concreâ— word so oft used in Scripture Contrite to expresse the disposition of a penitent heart Thâ— Latin word Poenitere and the English to Repeâ— do first and most properly signifie to be sorry â— a thing done amiss And the word Repentanâ— in Scripture doth sometimes signifie no more thâ— this But in this Text and all others where 〈◊〉 hath the promise of salvation or remission of â— annexed to it Repentance hath a further signifiâ— tion Which is The second thing to be observed from â— Apostle's words towards the rectification of meâ— judgments concerning the notion of Christian Râ—pentance which is available to Salvation viz. that is not a bare sorrow for sin though it be a goesorrow much less every kind of sorrow A nâ— may have sorrow for sin more than enough aâ— yet be as far from repentance to Salvation as Juâ— was who is expresly said to have repented hâ—self Matth. 27.3 His heart was desperately 〈◊〉 mortally wounded with the sense of his â— and sorrow for it But a godly forrow it was â— that brings forth repentance to Salvation but â— quite contrary the sorrow of the world that brâ— forth death Act. 1.25 and hastened his dispâ— to his own place where there a good store of such penitents weeping and waing and gnashing their teeth without dâ— for their sins that brought them thither Judâ— case was indeed very miserable if we consider a repentance wherein there seems to be a distinct example of all three parts of the Scholastical repentance As first such a deep Attrition as by the Pontifician Doctrin seemed to want nothing to have turned it into Contrition but Absolution which considering his free and particular Confession the second part of his Repentance I have sinned in betraying innocent blood and that joyned with a voluntary satisfaction the third part in his bringing again the thirty pieces of silver was unmercifully denied him by the chief Priests Matth. 27.3 4 5. But Judas his conscience could not be satisfied much less his sin discharged with all this repentance which yet was a great deal more than that which is commonly presumed to be sufficient For most people think if their consciences be pricked with the sense of their sins so that they can say they are sorry for them let it be upon what consideration it will they are truly penitent especially if this sorrow be but distinguished from that of Judas by a presumptuous hope and confidence of pardon And much more if they can but deceive themselves into a present sleight purpose of some amendment of their lives Then they think they are out of danger and may build upon the promise of the Gospel for a certain Pardon Whereas by the necessary sense of this Text it is perfectly evident that the most sincere sorrow for sin is not in it self a compleat repentance but a cause and a preparative to it For Godly sorrow worketh repentance But the cause and the effect cannot be the same thing nothing can produce it self But because Godly sorrow if it be right will work repentance therefore it may in some case where there is no time for any works to be brought forth be accepted for Repentance upon the same account by which the will is accepted for the deed when it is a sincere firm and ratified Will which God only can judg of and which it is scarce possible for any man to know of himself without some reasonable trial And therefore there is small comfort for any man in a repentance that hath proceeded no farther God may
11.6 4.4 then it is no more of Grace otherwise Work is no more Work Now to him that worketh is the Reward not reckoned of Grace but of Debt 1. The Answer to the Objection from these Texts is clearly suggested in the last of them wherein the strength of the Objection chiefly lies to wit in the specification First of this Gift or Grace by the relative term of a Reward And secondly of the Work as being such as makes the Reward to be of Debt 1. Thus Grace is termed a Reward as it is also called in other Texts The Reward of the Inheitrance And the Recompence of the Reward Rev. 22.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 2.18 3.24 Heb. 11.26 My Reward is with me to give to wery man according as his Work shall be A Reward cannot be without respect to some Work A free Gift may be without any Condition but not such a one as is reckon'd for a Reward Whereas therefore the Apostle saith To him that worketh the Reward is not reckon'd of Grace but of Debt He cannot be understood to speak of all manner of Work without contradiction to himself in the term of a Reward but of such only as is inconsistent with Free Grace that is Meritorious Work and such as makes the Reward to be a due debt But no such work can be done by a Creature Though God may oblige himself in point of Truth to his Creature by his free Promise yet he can never be obliged by it in point of Justice by any Work of his Creature to any Reward much less to such an one as is so infinitely disproportionable to any possibility of their Works Because all that can be done by a Creature in conformity to God's Will that is all the good that can be done by him is a due Debt to the Creator But where the Work is a Debt the Reward if any be given can be none Besides it is absurd to think that any man can be bound to reward his own Works But every good Work is the Effect of God's grace For it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure So that this Condition of Evangelical Works doth not evacuate the freedom of God's grace nor yet diminish it but rather advance it Seeing those Works as well as the Reward are the Effects of his grace 2. But how little moment there is in this Objection must needs appear to him that first believes that which no body but an Atheist or an Epicurean will deny viz. that there is no temporal Salvation of the Body Life Health or any other good thing in this World but is also the gift of God And secondly considers what necessity there is of humane industry care and pains to the obtainment of some at least of these Gifts And this Answer if it be duly adverted will suffice to solve an other Objection against the necessity of Working in order to Salvation drawn from 2. Object the Doctrine of Predestination Because that Salvation which the Text speaks of is not only a free Gift of God but such a one as is given to none but them to whom it is predestinated And to them it is so certain as can never fail without the frustration of the Divine Decrees What need then of our sollicitude or labour to work it out Is it our part to take care that God be not deceived in his Providence or disappointed in his Decrees They that make this Objection Answer shall need no other Answer than that which they shall be able to make to themselves in reference to the following Questions 1. Whether they do believe that any kind of temporal bodily salvation or any other worldly good thing is given to any but them to whom it is predestinated Or which is all one whether God's Decrees do not extend as well to things Temporal as to eternal Secondly supposing they do What need is there of any work or care of man's for any end or purpose whatsoever What need so much toil of the Husbandman to plow and sow and mannure his ground seeing his Crop if he shall have any is predestinate What need any working for meat drink or rayment Nay what need of Meat Rayment Physick what need of Eating or Drinking in order to the presevation of life or health what needs any care or defence to preserve the body from the most imminent danger that can be seeing that all preservation of life and health is decreed by God The answer which any sober man can make to himself as to these questions will fully suffice to discharge his mind from the temptation of this old Objection Seeing he cannot but understand that it may be altogether as true that no body is predestinate to Salvation but he that indeavours to work it out with fear and trembling as it is that no body is predestinate to live in bodily health and safety but he that eats and drinks and avoids such things as would necessarily destroy his life And that the certainty of the End doth not take away but rather inferre the necessity of the Means 3. The third Motive may be taken from the equity and reasonableness of this work There is nothing required of us in order to the obtainment of this great Salvation but what as reasonable men we must conclude to be altogether just and indispensably necessary To believe in the Son of God after that he hath been sufficiently declared to be so by all reasonable evidences obey Him to whom all power in Heaven and Earth is given and whom God hath made Lord of quick and dead To repent of and to forsake all known sin To deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world To love God with all the heart and all the soul and all the might and our neighbours as our selves To do to others as we would they should do to us These and whatever other Christian duty is required as part of the condition of Salvation are things so apparently just and reasonable as will admit of no colour of exception against them Let us but examine what those things are which are required of us to render us capable of Salvation and judg Which of them we could wish with any face of reason to have been abated Would we be saved by Christ without believing in him without acknowledging him for a Saviour without any dependence upon him Would we have the Son of God to be sent from Heaven on purpose to preach the Gospel of Salvation to us and our selves not bound to believe on him Or would we be bound to believe his Doctrine to be the Will of God but not be obliged to practise it Would we believe in him for a Saviour and have liberty to reject him as a Lord Would we that he should have nothing to do to exact any service or obedience from us that hath bought us with the price
there is some store of Examples in Ecclesiastical Story And whether the acknowledgement of Christ with so full and free Confession of Faith in him by one that had been so much a Stranger to him at such a time when the Faith of all men was so much discouraged and that of his own Disciples so much shaken was not equivalent to that of any Martyr is a reasonable Problem That is Whether upon all due considerations it were not as great a Faith to believe in a dying Saviour as it can be to die for a living one It seems to me a very evident truth that the strength of this man's Faith did exceed that of any person living in the World except the Blessed Mother's True it is the Heathen Centurion and some others that were with him did make a verbal profession of a like Faith in him when they said Truly this was the Son of God Matth. 27.54 But it is observable that that perswasion was raised in them only by the sight of the many Miracles and Prodigies which followed his death which the Thief lived not to see Besides to dismiss this Example with one Consideration more from the Circumstance of the time when it happened for any wilful impenitent Sinner to presume of Pardon at last notwithstanding his present delayes by the incouragement of this singular Example hath apparently no more of reason in it than it would be in a common Malefactor to adventure upon Capital Crimes upon the hope of a general Pardon by the Example of such a thing once granted by his Prince at his Coronation A second Consideration against the delay of this Work is to be drawn from the multitude of Examples of such as by unexpected Circumstances in their Death have been prevented of all possibilities of doing any thing towards it by reason of suddenness either of Death or which makes the Case perfectly equal of the loss of Understanding Were the Examples of such a fatal pretension as rare and singular as that of the dying Thief 's effectual Conversion yet considering the infinite moment of it's Consequence they should in reason be far greater Motives of Fear and Caution against Delay than that can be of Hope or Incouragement in it But this Consideration is much to be advanced by the innumerable contingencies and possibilities that may cause such an absolute prevention or at least may shorten and determine that remainder of time that a sinner can hope to have to work out his salvation Certain it is that every man's glass is turn'd for his Life but what the Content of it is is impossible to know Whiles every man knows that the contingencies of it's being broken or suddenly exhausted are more than the number of Sands in the biggest Glass that is To go about to collect the number of Casualties by which the life of man hath been cut off were an endless business and yet so far short of the possibilities by which it may be as is not imaginable A third Consideration against delay in this Work may be this That seeing nothing doth provoke the wrath of God so much as presumption in Sin it is justly to be conceived that the measure and continuance of such presumption is the most probable thing that can be to determine the extent of God's patience and to move him to give up a sinner to such a penal invincible hardness of heart as will make it impossible for him to repent We read of God's hardening the heart of Pharaoh after he had so stubbornly hardened himself against all the admonitions that had been given him by the mouth and hand of Moses Now God's hardening Pharaoh's heart doth undoubtedly signifie the withdrawing of that Grace which was necessary for his Conversion which left him under a necessity of perdition And this punishment the severest that a man is capable of out of Hell is therefore justly to be feared by him that wilfully delayes his Repentance because so to do is an extreme presumption And though it be possible for such a person notwithstanding this provocation to obtain Grace not only sufficient but effectual to Salvation yet no person is more unlikely so to do Such persons have least reason to hope for that Grace and most cause to fear the privation of it Every man that believes any thing in the matter of Religion must needs be convinc'd that he ows his whole Life to the service of God Now for him that cannot but acknowledge he owes all his time to God's service and hath already wasted the greatest part of it in following his own lusts and in a course of rebellion against God still to withold deliberately and presumptuously that unknown part of it which remains is such a degree of wickedness as though God may pardon no man can tell Whether he will or no. And though we are assured he will accept the Work of his own Grace whensoever it takes effect yet we have little reason to hope he will afford that Grace to such as desire not to partake of it till it cannot be serviceable to him let this then be the fifth Argument or Motive to stir up Christians to the diligent pursuit of this Work The shortness of the time that we have to finish it in together with the extreme hazard of delaying it 6. I shall add but one Argument more which is to be drawn from the infinite love and mercy of God which he hath shewed in this Design of our Salvation contrived and procured by the Incarnation of his Eternal Son and effected by the shedding of his most precious Bloud Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works For we know that we are not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold from our vain Conversation but with the precious Bloud of Christ And shall we now neglect that great Salvation that infinite Grace that cost so dear the procuring Ought we not to estimate the Worth and excellency of this end by the means whereby it was effected Will any wise Agent bestow more Cost upon a thing than it is worth The infinite worth of the Means used by so wise a Contriver doth fully confirm the excellency of the End which in it self doth so much transcend the hopes of such poor Mortal Creatures The height and dignity of that far more exceeding eternal weight of Glory the Felicity of that State together with the Immutability thereof is rendred credible by the Means whereby it was purchased For had it not been a glorious and immutable thing surely God would never have designed to bring it about by such an Infinite Project And though God needs not the glory of our Salvation no more than he doth that of our present Service yet how much he values both is to be estimated by the Price that was given for it Now then to despise or neglect this End that was procured by such a costly