our selves to or to be justified by God S. But what then was the Faith of Abraham C. Many acts of Abrahams Faith there are mentioned in the New Testament which were severall exercises of that grace in him but especially two there are by which in two trials of his Faith he approved himselfe to God so farre as that God imputed them to him for righteousnesse i. e. accepted of those acts of his as graciously as if he had performed perfect unsinning obedience had lived exactly without any slip or fall all his life yea and gave him the honour of being called the freind of God S. What was the first of those acts C. That which Saint Paul referres to Rom. 4. and Gal. 3. his beleeving the promise of God made unto him Gen. 15. S. What was that promise C. It consisted of two parts First that God would sheild and defend or take him into his protection and withall reward him abundantly for all the service that he should ever performe unto him This promise is set down v. 1. in these words feare not Abraham I am thy sheild and exceeding great reward The summe of which is that God will protect all those that depend and trust on him and reward all his faithfull servants in a manner and measure inexpressibly abundant and particularly that he would then deale so with Abraham a true faithfull servant of his and consequently that he should not fear This promise it is not said in the text expressely that Abraham beleeved but yet it is so farre implied that there is no doubt of it for Abrahams question v. 2. What wilt thou give me seeing I goe childlesse is in effect a bowing and yeilding consent to the truth of this promise and firmely depending upon it and thereupon proceeding to a speciall particular wherein he desired that favour of God to be made good to him the giving him a child for his reward whereas otherwise having none and so his servant being his onely heire apparent all the wealth in the world would not be valuable to him and thereupon as a reward of that his former faith on the former promise God proceeds to make him that second more particular promise which I called the second part of it S. What was that C. The promise that he should have an heire of his own body from whom should come a posterity as numerous or rather innumerable as the stars of heaven and among them at length the Messias in whom all the people of the world should be blessed for that is the meaning of so shall thy seed be v. 5. and of the same words delivered by way of Ellipsis Rom. 4. 18. Who beleived that he should be the father of many nations accordingly as had beene said to him by God So i. e. as the starres of heaven shall thy seed be This second part of the promise being a particular conteined before under the generall of rewarding him exceedingly but not till now explicitely revealed to Abraham that God would then reward him by giving him a son and a numerous posterity and the Messias to come from him was a particular triall whether his former beleife were sincere i. e. whether he would trust and depend on God or no there being little reason for him to expect a child then having remained so long without one and so some difficulty in so beleeving and then it followes that in this triall he was found faithfull he beleeved v. 6. or as Saint Paul heightens it beside or beyond hope he beleived Rom. 4. 18. and God counted it to him for righteousnesse i. e. tooke this for such an expression of his faithfullnesse and sincerity and true piety that he accepted him as a righteous person upon this performance though no doubt he had many infirmities and sinnes which he was or had beene guilty of in his life unreconcileable with perfect righteousnesse S. What was the second of those acts of Abrahams faith C. That which Saint Iames mentions c. 2. 21. and Saint Paul Heb. 11. 17. offering up his sonne Isaak upon the Altar For God having made triall before of his faith in one particular that of beleeving his promise makes now a new triall of it in another that of obedience to his commands for when God gives commands aswell as promises the one is as perfect a season and meanes of triall of faith as the other and to say I have faith and not thus to evidence it not to bring forth that fruit of it when God by expecting it and requiring it puts mee to the triall is either to manifest that I have no faith at all or else not a through faith but only for cheaper easier services not able to hold out to all trials Or else that this is but a dull livelesse habit of faith without any vitall acts flowing from it which yet are the things that God commandeth and without yeilding of which in time of triall or when occasion is offered the habit will not be accepted And this I conceive the clearest way of reconciling Saint Iames and Saint Paul Abraham was justified by faith saith Saint Paul Rom 4. and not by workes i. e. by beleeving and depending on God for the performance of his promise and resigning himselfe up wholly to him to obey his precepts or more clearely by that Faith which howsoever it was tried whether by promises of strange incredible things or commands of very hard duties killing his onely sonne did constantly approve it selfe to be a true saith and so was accepted by God without performance of absolute unsinning obedience much more without performance of the Mosaicall law Abraham then being uncircumcised which two things one or both are generally by Saint Paul meant by workes But then saith Saint James Abraham was justified by workes i. e. his Faith did approve its selfe by faithfull actions particularly by offering up his sonne an act of the greatest fidelity and sincerity and obedience in the world and if in time of triall he had not done so he had never pass't for the faithfull Abraham had never beene justified i. e. approved or accepted by God which is in effect all one with that which Saint Paul had said neither one nor the other excluding or seperating faithfull actions or acts of Faith from Faith or the condition of justification but absolutely requiring them as the onely things by which the man is justified onely Saint Paul mentions the workes of the law and excludes them from having any thing to doe toward justification leaving the whole worke to Faith and Saint James dealing not with the Jewes but with another kind of adversaries hath no occasion to adde that exclusive part but rather to prevent or cure another disease which he saw the minds of men through mistake and abuse of Saint Pauls doctrine possess 't with or subject to thinking that a dead habit of Faith would serve the turne and mistaking every slight motion or formall profession such as bidding
of my future condition that assurance reflexive of which this is one ingredient cannot be a divine Faith but at the most an humane yet such as perhaps I may have no doubting mixed with nor reason that I should so doubt For at the conclusion of life having finisht his course and persevered Saint Paul could say without doubting henceforth there is laid up for me a crowne of righteousnesse Which if another man be not able to say with that assurance 't will not presently be want of Faith in him as long as this want of assurance proceeds not from any distrust of the truth of Gods promises but onely from an humble conceit of his owne repentance that 't is not such as God requires of him And if that place 2 Cor. 13. 5. Know ye not that Christ Jesus is in you except you be reprobates be objected to prove that all are Reprobates that know not that Christ is in them the answer will be satisfactory that the words rendred in you signifie very frequently in the Scripture and peculiarly in a place parallell to this Exod. 17. 7. among you or in your congregation And so the sence will be best dissolved into a question and answer know you not by the miracles preaching the demonstration of the spirit and of power that Christ Jesus is among you by way of interrogation for so 't is in the Greeke and the meaning appeares by the context to be Know ye not discerne you not your selves that the power of the Gospell is come among you by my Apostleship and then by way of answer Except you be reprobates you are obdurate insensate creatures undoubtedly unlesse you doe S. You have shewed me the difference betwixt Generall and Particular Faith and I shall not follow that matter any farther but I pray helpe me in one difficulty We are said in Scripture to be justified by faith and we heare much talke of a justifying faith I pray tell me what Faith this is to which Justification is attributed C. First let me tell you that Faith in whatever acception is no proper efficient cause of justification for such is onely God through the satisfaction of Christ accepting our persons and our weake performances and not imputing our sinnes in which act nothing in us can possibly have any so much as inferiour instrumentall efficiency the most that can be said is that 't is a condition without which God that justifies the penitent beleiver will never justifie the impenitent infidell and therefore 't is observable that 't is no where said in Scripture that Faith justifies but that we are justified by Faith which particle by is a peculiar note of a condition not a cause S. But then what Faith is this which is the condition of our justification C. That Faith which we shewed you was Abrahams Faith or infewer words the receiving the whole Christ in all his offices as my King my Preist my Prophet whereby I beleeve the Commands as well as the Promises of the Gospell or take the Promises as they are i. e. as conditionall Promises And this a cordiall practicall beleife a firme resolution of uniforme obedience and Discipleship faith made perfect by workes Ja. 2. 22. Intimating that without the addition of such workes such obedience Evangelicall it would be imperfect unsufficient to this end that is to our Justification The same is called in a parallell phrase faith consummate by love Gal. 5. 6. which indeed we render working by love but the Greeke and Syriack signifies consummate by love that is by acts of Christian Charity and therefore in two parallell places is thus varied in one we reade instead of it the new Creature Gal. 6. 15. in another the keeping the Commandements of God 1 Cor. 7. 19. S. But how then is it so often said that we are not justified by workes Gal. 1. 16. and Rom. 3. 28. that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law C. I have in effect already told you and shall in a word again tell you The word workes and deeds of the law in those places signifies perfect legall obedience or circumcision and the like Judaicall out-dated Ceremonies and Faith the Evangelicall Grace of giving up the whole heart to Christ without any such perfect obedience or Judaicall observances and so 't is truly said we are justified by Faith without them i. e. without such workes such perfect obedience yet not excluding but including that Evangelicall obedience for without that Faith is dead saith Saint James 2. 17. and then sure not able to justifie any And therefore you may observe in that Apostles discourse Ja. 2. he affirmes that Abraham was justified by workes v. 21. and makes that a parallell phrase to that of the Old Testament Abraham beleived God and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse v. 23. where as justification and imputed to him for righteousnesse are phrases of the same importance so are workes and beleiving also S. The reason of it I conceive is because Faith alwaies brings forth good workes or if it doe not it is no true Faith C. I am not altogether of your opinion for I conceive it very possible for me to beleive and yet not to live accordingly The truth is that is not a justifying Faith or such as even now I defined and so no truefaith in that sence but yet it may be a true Faith for so much as it is I may truly without all doubting beleive the promise of mercy and salvation to the true penitent and none else which beleife is very fit and proper to set me a reforming and amending and yet 't is possible for temptations of carnall objects to perswade me to deferre this duty nay never to thinke fit to set my selfe to the performance of it the present pleasures of sinne may outweigh in my debauched choice those future spirituall joyes nay I may see and like them and yet for the present embrace the contrary the will of man being a middle free faculty not absolutely obliged to doe or choose what the understanding judgeth most honest i. e. what Reason and Faith and the Spirit of God commandeth to be done The truth is if this faith get once to be radicated in the heart to rule and reigne there if the will chooseth what Faith recommendeth then it bringeth forth all manner of good workes and so then 't is the consummation of Faith by Charity and Good workes that God accepteth in Christ to justification and not the bare aptnesse of faith to bring forth workes if those workes by the fault of a rebellious infidell will be not brought forth S. But is there no one peculiar act of Faith to which justification is particularly imputable C. That to which justification is promised is certainly the giving up of the whole soule intirely unto Christ accepting his promises on his conditions undertaking Discipleship upon Christs termes But yet 't is possible that some one
24. i. e. some relicks of that bitter passion-cup of his for us to drinke 3. Because it is such an expression of a curse to have our reward and with Dives all our good things in this life and that an ominous signe that there is nothing left to be rewarded in another life S. What then is to be thought of them who to get the crosse off from their owne shoulders and to put it on other mens will venture on things most contrary to peace and shake the quiet perhaps the foundations of a Kingdome C. I will say no more and I can scarcely say worse then that they are enemies to the crosse of Christ a very ill and sad spectacle among Christians and that there is nothing more unreasonable then to pretend Christianity for the doing this which is so perfectly contrary to it S. You have now past through all Christian graces at the first designed for consideration I shall put you in minde of the next thing whereof you have made your selfe my debtor the difference of and dependence betweene Justification and Sanctification wherein first you will please to give me the notion of the single termes And 1. what is Justification C. § 4 It is Gods accepting our persons and not imputing our sinnes his covering or pardoning our iniquities his being so reconciled unto us sinners that he determins not to punish us eternally S What is the cause of that C. God's free mercy unto us in Christ revealed in the new Covenant S. What in us is the Instrumentall cause of it C. As an Instrument is logically and properly taken and signifies an inferiour lesse principall efficient cause so nothing in us can have any thing to do i. e. any kind of physicall efficiency in this worke neither is it imaginable it should it being a worke of God's upon us without us concerning us but not within us at all And if you marke Justification being in plaine termes but the accepting our persons and pardoning of sinnes it would be very improper and harsh to affirme that our workes our any thing even our Faith it selfe should accept our persons or pardon our sinnes though in never so inferiour a notion which yet they must if they were instrumentall in our Justification 't is true indeed those necessary qualifications which the Gospell requires in us are conditions or morall instruments without which we shall not be justified but those are not properly called instruments or causes S. What are those qualifications C. Faith repentance firme purpose of a new life and the rest of those graces upon which in the Gospell pardon is promised the Christian all comprizable in the new creature conversion regeneration c. S. Are these required in us so as without them we cannot be justifyed How then are we justified by the free grace of God C. Yes these two are very reconcileable for there is no merit in our Faith or Repentance or any poore weake grace of ours to deserve Gods favour to our persons or pardon of what sins are past or acceptation of our imperfect obedience for the future 't is his free grace to pardon and accept us on such poore conditions as these and this free grace purchased and sealed to us by the death of Christ S. What now is Sanctification C. The word may note either a guift of God's his giving of grace to prevent and sanctifie us or a duty of ours our having i. e. making use of that grace and both these considered together either as an Act or as a State S. What is it as it signifies an Act C. The infusion of holinesse in our hearts or of some degrees of holynesse and parallell to that the receiving and obeying the good motions of God's sanctifying spirit and laying them up to fructifie in an honest heart the turning of a soule to God or the first begining of new life S. What is it as it signifies a State C. The living a new a holy a gracious life in obedience to the good grace of God and dayly improving and growing and at last persevering and dying in it S. What now is the dependence between Justification and Sanctification C. This that the first part of Sanctification the beginning of new life must be first had before God pardons or justifies any then when God is thus reconciled to the new convert upon his vow of new life he gives him more grace enables assists him for that state of Sanctification wherein if he makes good use of that grace he then continues to enjoy this favour and Justification but if he performe not his vow proceed not in Christian holy life but relapse into wasting acts or habits of sinne then God chargeth againe all his former sinnes upon him and those present iniquities of his and in them if he returne not againe he shall die as appeares by Ez. 18. 24. If the righteous i. e. the sanctified and justified person depart from his righteousnesse and committeth iniquity in his sinne that he hath sinned he shall dye and by the parable of the King Matt. 18. where he that had the debt pardoned him freely by his Lord yet for exacting over severely from his fellow servant is againe unpardoned and cast into prison delivered to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him v. 34. which parable Christ applyes to our present businesse v. 35. So likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you S. But is not a man Justified before he is Sanctified and if he be how then can his Justification depend on his Sanctification C. If he were justified before he were sanctified in any kind then would your reasoning hold for sure by the same reason that justification might be begun before repentance or resolution of new life or conversion to God it might also be continued to him that repented not or that returned to his evill way and therefore without all doubt this kind of Sanctification is precedent in order of nature to justification i. e. I must first beleive repent and returne all which together is that faith which is required as the condition of our being justified a receiving of the whole Christ a cordiall assent to his commands as well as promises a giving up the heart to him a resolution of obedience a pronenesse or readinesse to obey him the thing without which saith an antient writer Christ can do none of his miracles upon our soules any more then he could his mighty workes among his unbeleiving countrymen before God will pardon though indeed in respect of time there is no sensible priority but God's pardon and our change goe together at what time soever we repent or convert sincerely God will have mercy i. e. justifie A further proofe of this if it be needfull you may take from the author to the Hebrewes c. 10. where having said v. 14. that Christ by his owne suffering perfected for ever them that are sanctified intimating
off to so long a date as the reversion in another world and consequently these two are most diversely rewarded the first with a great degree of glory for the glory we have brought to God's name the second so odious in the sight of God that even our almes giving or best actions are eaten thorow and smitten as the gourd with the worme and come to nothing find no reward in another world the little reputation gotten here and affected by us must serve our turnes the only reward we are to hope for which shewes the unhappynesse and folly of this sinne of vaine-glory it robbes us of all the reward that our most esteemeable acceptable free-will-offerings our workes of mercy can hope for from God S. Is this desire to be seene and have glory of men a sinne or no C. A sinne surely it is as a deflexion to the creature and if it be the principall motive of our actions then a wasting sinne unreconcileable with charity or the favour of God for it seemes the praise ef men rules in us and not the love of God and then how can you beleeve Jo. 5. 44. but if the love of God be the principle or prime mover of our actions and this other of the desire to be seene of men do only steale in as a secondary carnall interest of our owne then though it be a sinne still and such an one as will deprive us of all future reward of that good worke to which it is adherent yet through God's mercy in Christ and his equitable interpretation of our infirmities it will not prevaile so farre as to seperate betweene God and us eternally or to cast us out of his favour this I conceive may be concluded by analogy from that hard place of Saint Paul 1 Cor. 3. 12. or an example whereby that being of a larger extent and belonging first to matters of doctrine then to many other things may be illustrated The foundation being once layed i e. Jesus Christ he being set the principle of all our actions the faith in love of him being depeest grounded in our hearts superstructures on this are either of pure substantiall metall which will beare the test or tryall or judgement of God for that is meant by the day which word in all languages almost signifyes judgement when done without this mixture of drosse or hypocrisie or else of a baser allay which will not hold out the tryall but will perish in the fire when they are brought to it for tryall such are these almes-givings c of ours which have this desire of vaine-glory mixed with them The former of these workes as gold c. not consumable by the fire abide the tryall and are rewarded v. 14. the latter like wood c. combustible matter perish in the fire or tryall are burnt v. 15. come to be acounted to him for reward and so all those good deeds of his are lost come to nothing eaten through with that cankar of vaine-glory this mulct or punishment lies upon him for this fault but yet the foundation remaining still firme the faith and love of God in his heart he himselfe shall be saved or escape shall not himselfe be burnt though his workes are yet so as by fire or through or out of fire As one that being in the midst of a fire hath his very clothes burnt from his backe and scapes onely with his life these tainted workes of his are lost but himselfe escapes naked and bare to be one of the Nethinim as it were or doore-keepers in the Kingdome of God meane while this favour which he finds that is thus guilty of this blasting sinne will give him but little encouragement or comfort to indulge to it when he knowes that when 't is cheife in his heart the principle of his actions or superiour to the love of God in him 't is then an act of arrant infidelity and little mercy to be expected then and even when it comes in but as a secondary appendant to his good deeds 't is yet then a meanes to deprive him of all the reward or benefit of his best actions his Almes-giving prayer and fasting and brings him low to a very sad estate here and comparatively meane one hereafter all which he that will adventure for a little paultry praise that meere blast and wind and breath of sinfull men is sure very ill advised S. This being so unhappy a sinne and yet so hardly gotten out of us what meanes can you direct me to to prevent it C. 1. A consideration of the price it costs us Ye have no reward of your Father which is in Heaven or they have their reward here and so none behind in another world 2. A resolution before hand never to make my good deed more publicke then the circumstances necessarily attending the present occasion extort from me If I doe every good deed in the season and place that God represents the object to me let him alone to provide for his owne glory that is to rise from it and therefore I shall not need in that respect to use any artifice to publish it under pretence of making my light shine before men Therefore I say the second meanes will be a resolution not to make my good action more publicke then it needs as by browing a trumpet or using any meanes proportionable to that though in a lower degree to call mens eyes towards me or to doe what I doe on purpose and by choice in the market place or street or places of publicke meeting and concourse for so the word rendred Synagogues signifies But 3 rather on the other side if I find that humour of vanity getting in upon me to labour for the greatest secrecy imaginable for that is meant by that impossible phrase of not letting the left hand know what the right hand doth which by the way gives also a very usefull advertisement for our direction in our dispensing of almes Not to doe them so much to the beggar in the street who 1. Is here by accident literally forbidden v. 2. not in the streetes And 2. For the most part is a disorderly walker and not the fittest object of such charity releife of his wants without his labour being the nourishing his idlenesse And withall 3. Is the most proper food for our vaine glory as to the poore labourer in secret the house-keeper that comes not abroad and yet needes aide and releife more truly to support the burthen of a numerous hungry family and withall cannot be any temptation to our vaine-glorious humour at least so probably is not as the other 4. The contemplation of the reward that attends my contempt of the praise of men a thousand times more even in kinde then that which the vaine man attaines to to wit being praised of God openly before Men and Angells whereas a few spectators of sinfull men is all that can here be compassed in a full quire all looking upon us