come to whom the Promise was made v. 19. And v. 23. Before Faith came we were kept under the Law shut up unto the Faith which should afterward be revealed Wherefore the Law was our School-master to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by Faith But after that Faith is come we are no longer under a School-master 11. The Third Argument which the Apostle makes use of to prove that those who were converted to the Christian Religion were not bound any longer to observe the Jewish is this The Religion of Abraham was such a Religion as was acceptable to God and available to Justification But now the Religion of Abraham was the same with the Christian Religion consisting only of Faith and Obedience without the works of the Jewish Law For the Scripture saith expresly that the Gospel was Preached before unto Abraham and that his Faith was reckoned unto him for Righteousness when he was not in Circumcision but in Uncircumcision It follows therefore that the Faith and Obedience of the Christian Religion shall be imputed unto us for Righteousness without the works of the Jewish Law This Argument the Apostle largely and strongly insists upon in the whole 4th Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans and in the 3d to the Galatians as you may there read at large 12. The fourth and last Argument by which the Apostle proves that the Christian Religion is sufficient to Salvation without retaining the Jewish is this The Posterity of Abraham were the Elect and the peculiar People of God But by the Posterity of Abraham is not meant strictly those who descend from Abraham according to the flesh but the Children of the Promise that is as many as are of the Faith of Abraham shall be counted for the Seed The true Religion therefore and Service of God is not confined to the Jewish Nation who are the Posterity of Abraham according to the flesh but the Gentiles also which believe have attained to Righteousness even the Righteousness which is of Faith that is those of all Nations as well Gentiles as Jews who embrace the Christian Religion which is the same with the Religion of Abraham shall be justified with faithful Abraham And this Argument the Apostle insists upon in the 9th 10th and 11th Chapters of the Epistle to the Romans and in the 4th to the Galatians 13. This is the Sum of the Arguments which the Apostle makes use of in these two Epistles to prove against the Judaizing Christians that there was no necessity of retaining the Jewish Religion together with the Christian. And from the largeness clearness and strength of these Arguments 't is evident that the determination of this Question is indeed the principal scope and design of the Apostle in these Epistles For nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that the Apostle should most strongly and largely demonstrate a thing which was not really the design of his discourse or that on the other hand he should make a thing the professed Subject of his discourse and yet prove it by such intricate and obscure Arguments as the wisest and cunningest of Men should never be able to reconcile either with the rest of the Scripture or with themselves 14. We must not therefore so understand any passages in these Epistles as if the Apostle designed to magnifie one Christian Virtue in opposition to all or any of the rest but only that he would set forth the Perfection of the Virtues of the Christian Religion without the Ceremonies of the Jewish Thus when he tells us that we are justified by Faith without Works we must not interpret it of the Faith of the Christian Religion in opposition to the Works of the Christian Religion but of the Faith of the Christian Religion in opposition to the Works of the Jewish For so the Apostle himself most expresly explains it Gal. 5. 6 In Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love that is it matters not whether a Man observes the Works of the Jewish Religion or no if he maintains but the Faith and the Obedience of the Christian. But as to the Works of the Christian Religion the same Apostle every where urgeth their necessity and particularly the five last Chapters of the Epistle to the Romans are a most earnest exhortation to be fruitful therein 15. From which it follows most evidently that there is no contradiction between St. Paul and St. James when the one says that a Man is justified by Faith without Works and the other saith that Faith without Works cannot justifie For the one speaking professedly of the Works of the Jewish Religion and the other of the Works of the Christian 't is plain that the Faith of the Christian Religion may avail to justifie a Man without the Works of the Jewish Religion which is the Assertion of St. Paul tho' it cannot do so without the Works of the Christian Religion which is the Assertion of St. James The Faith of Abraham saith St. Paul was accounted to him for Righteousness that is his Faith was accepted without Circumcision and without observing the external Rites of the Law But it was by Works saith St. James that Abraham our Father was justified that is it was by real Obedience to the moral and eternal Law of God such as is now required by the Christian Religion that his Faith was made available to Justification So that there is no other difference between these two great Apostles than as if a Man should say That believing the Christian Religion is sufficient to Salvation without obeying the Jewish Religion but that it cannot be so without obeying the Christian. 16. From all which 't is plain that the Doctrine of St. Paul concerning Faith and Works delivered in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians is so far from contradicting what I have laid down in the foregoing Chapter concerning the True Notion of Religion in general namely that the Essence and End of all true Religion is Obedience to the Moral and Eternal Law of God that on the contrary nothing does more clearly and more strongly confirm it CHAP. V. Of the Duties of Religion in particular 1. THirdly Endeavour to gain a clear and distinct Knowledge of the particular Duties of Religion 'T is not sufficient to understand in general wherein True Religion consists and to have right Notions concerning its Obligations in general but we must also consider the Particulars of our Duty and view them distinctly under some proper Heads Many there are who have right and true Notions concerning the Nature of Religion in general who understand well enough and are convinced that the only thing that can be accepted in the sight of God is Holiness of Life and Universal Obedience to all his Commands who yet contenting themselves with this slight general and superficial Knowledge and never giving themselves time to meditate seriously on the several particular Branches of their
than to run the hazard of being mistaken in judging too loosly of them THE CONTENTS Essay the First Of Baptism CHap. I. Of Baptism in general CHap. II. What was required of Persons to be baptized in the Primitive Church in order to fit them for Baptism CHap. III. In what manner Persons converted to Christianity were Baptized to what Privileges they were admitted and to what Duties they were engaged by their Baptism CHap. IV. What was required of Persons after Baptism CHap. V. Of the Baptism of Infants CHap. VI. Of the Duty of God-Fathers and God-Mothers Essay the Second Of Confirmation CHap. I. Of the Nature Design and Use of Confirmation CHap. II. What is to be done before Confirmation Of Faith Of the Necessity of Religion Of the Necessity of Revelation Of the Evidence of the Christian Religion and of Consideration CHap. III. Of right Notions concerning Religion in General CHap. IV. A Digression concern the Doctrine of Faith and Works delivered by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans and in that to the Galatians CHap. V. Of the Duties of Religion in Particular CHap. VI. What is to be done at Confirmation Of solemnly renewing the Baptismal Vow CHap. VII Of the Certainty of God's Grace and the Assistance of his Holy Spirit CHap. VIII What is to be done after Confirmamation Of Perseverance and of the danger of Apostacy CHap. IX Of Innocence and an early Piety CHap. X. Of making Religion the Principal Business of our Lives CHap. XI Of the Contempt of the World CHap. XII Of our Obligation to be particularly careful to avoid those Sins to which we are most in danger to be tempted CHap. XIII Of Growth in Grace and of Perfection Essay the Third Of Repentance CHap. I. Of Repentance in General CHap. II. That God allows Repentance even to the greatest of Sinners CHap. III. That true Repentance must be Early CHap. IV. That true Repentance must be Great And of Penance CHap. V. That true Repentance must be Constant and Persevering in its Effects And of the One Repentance of the Ancients ERRATA PAge 3. line 2. r. converted p. 4. l. 23. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 27. r. pervigiliis p. 44. l. 7. r. wilful p. 48. l. 17. r. the Ministers p. 72. l. 5. r. a matter p. 151. l. 6. r. magnificas p. 162. l. 29. r. Integrity p. 176. l. 8. r. subtracted p. 199. l. 22. r. Intemperance p. 201. l. 16. r. things p. 216. l. 32. r. poenitentiam l. 35. filium p. 230. l. 29. r. medician l. 31. r. fletibus p. 238. l. 26. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Essay the First Of Baptism CHAP. I. Of Baptism in general 1. BAptsm is the Rite whereby those who believe in Christ are solemnly admitted to be Members of the Christian Church What the first original of Baptizing with Water was how the Jews used to Baptize their Proselytes and the Heathens those who were to be initiated to any sacred Function I shall not now enquire Sufficient it is to our present purpose that our Saviour has instituted this Sacrament as a Rite whereby Converts at their Admission into his Church do solemnly oblige themselves to live suitably to the Profession they then enter into and whereby they are intitled to all the Benefits and Privileges belonging to the Society into which they are admitted 2. This Baptism is either 1. Of Persons of riper years or 2. Of Infants At the first Preaching of the Gospel the main body of Christians consisted of those who had by the Apostles Preaching been converted from the Jewish or from the Gentile Religion to the Christian and these were consequently baptized into the Name of Christ after they were come to riper years Afterwards when the Christian Religion had spread it self over whole Countries and Nations the Church consisted chiefly of such as were born of Christian Parents and educated from the beginning in the Christian Religion and these were generally even in the Primitive Times admitted into the Church by Baptism in their Infancy 3. In the Baptism of Persons of riper years we must observe 1. What was required of them before-hand in order to prepare them for Baptism 2. In what manner they were baptized to what Privileges they were admitted and to what Duties they were engaged by their Baptism And 3. What was required of them after their Baptism CHAP. II. What was required of persons to be baptized in the Primitive Church in order to fit them for Baptism 1. THE first thing to be considered in the Baptism of Persons coverted to Christianity is what was required of them before-hand in order to fit them for this most solemn Admission into the Church of Christ. Now that which was indispensibly necessary to prepare them for this solemnity and to qualifie them to be partakers of this Holy Sacrament was Faith and Repentance i. e. a declaration of their firm belief of the great Doctrines of the Christian Religion and of their resolution to live suitably to that belief 2. In the Apostles times when the Miracles wrought by those first Preachers of Christianity were so convincing and the extraordinary Grace of God poured down upon Men so effectual as to convert them to the Faith of Christ as it were in an instant a single declaration of their Faith and Repentance seems to have been accounted sufficient to prepare them to receive Baptism immediately For thus we find St. Philip baptizing the Eunuch immediately upon his professing his belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God Act. 8. 38. and St. Paul baptizing the Jaylour immediately upon his being converted by the Miracle of the Prison doors opening with an Earthquake Act. 16. 33. 3. But afterwards when these mighty operations of the Spirit grew less common and men began to be convinced more gradually by the ordinary means of the Preaching of the Word it was not thought sufficient in most Churches for men upon their Conversion to Profess their Faith and their Repentance but they were obliged to give some evidence of the sincerity of both before they could be admitted into the Church by Baptism If they had formerly been great sinners they were to evidence their Repentance by Prayers and Watchings and Fastings and Confessing their Sins They were to demonstrate by the real change of their whole course of life that they had actually renounced all the rites and practices of their former Profession and would for the future conform their lives to the Rules of the Christian Institution They were to endeavour to purge their Conscience from every evil work that their Baptism might be not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God 4. They who were willing thus to make proof of their Repentance and of their sincere desire to be admitted into the Church of God were Catechised in all those necessary Articles of the Christian Faith which they were to make
to exhort those who are in any capacity intrusted with the Instruction of Children that they be careful for the Honour of God and for the Welfare of his Church to teach them to Love God and Religion with their first Love to improve in them those Natural Principles of Justice and Truth Honesty and Thankfulness Simplicity and Obedience which God hath planted in their very Creation to teach them to resist the Prejudices and first Insinuations of Vice and to be afraid of a Sin as of Death to fill their Minds with great and honourable thoughts of the Privileges of being made Members of Christ Children of God and Heirs of Heaven to instruct them fully in the Extent and Obligation of all the Duties of the Christian Life which in their Baptism they ingaged to perform and when they be thus Qualified to bring them with Understanding and Resolution with Desire and Zeal to receive at Confirmation the Consummation of Baptismal Grace and a joyful Assurance of Glory and Immortality if they shall persevere in their Faith and their Obedience to the end 8. My Design in the following Essay is not to enter into any Question of Dispute but only to lay down some brief and practical Directions by which one that designs to be Confirmed whom I always suppose of Age to understand the whole Doctrine of Religion or one that is already Confirmed and is sincerely desirous to lead a Religious Life may attain to that Primitive Holiness and that Perfection of Virtue which becomes the Truth and the Purity of the Gospel CHAP. II. What is to be done before Confirmation Of Faith of the Necessity of Religion of the Necessity of Revelation of the Evidence of the Christian Religion and of Consideration 1. FIrst then in order to receive Confirmation or to begin the great Work of Religion with due preparation of Mind Endeavour before all things to attain a real and firm Belief of the great Doctrines of the Christian Religion This is the only Foundation that will be able to support the Design of a truly Religious Life If we do really and firmly believe the Being and the Providence of God if we be indeed convinced that the Christian Religion is a Revelation of the Divine Will if we be in earnest persuaded that there will certainly come a Day of Retribution wherein every Man shall receive according to that he has done whether it be Good or Evil this is a Faith which will assuredly overcome the World this is a Belief which will certainly baffle all the Temptations of Sin and Satan this will make all the Glories of the World seem mean and all the Pleasures of Sense insipid in a word this will inspire Men with such a vigorous Zeal as will make them not only with Ease and Contentment but with a mighty Pleasure sacrifice all earthly Enjoyments to the doing the greatest Good here and obtaining the greatest Happiness hereafter But if we enter upon the Profession of Religion rashly and inconsiderately more for Form and Custom than upon any mature Deliberation and Conviction of Mind it is not possible we should persevere in well-doing with Resolution and Patience The Cares of the World and the Deceitfulness of Riches the Solicitations of Pleasure and the Lusts of other things will certainly prevail over us and seduce us into Sin Nothing but a firm Faith grounded upon an impartial View and a deep Consideration of things can possibly carry a Man through the Difficulties and Discouragements of a Religious Life But he that begins to build upon this Foundation and lays down his first Principles of Faith immovable as a Rock will be able to surmount all Difficulties with Bravery and Constancy and will attain the end of his Hopes with Triumph and Joy 2. The true Reason why so great a number of those who make Profession of Christianity are either wicked and licentious or at least cold and indifferent in Matters of Religion is plainly this That they do not in earnest believe as they pretend and profess to do the great Articles of Religion They in course profess themselves to be Christians without having ever considered what Christianity is and therefore it has little or no Influence upon their Lives and Actions For did Men indeed as firmly believe the Doctrines of the Christian Religion as the Character they are willing to bear in the World obliges them to pretend they do it would be in a manner as strange to find a Man whose Actions should give his Words the Lye and his Life be unsuitable to his Profession as to hear one disputing whether there were a Hell or no while he were actually tormented in the Flames thereof For though Faith has not the Evidence of Sense as indeed it is impossible it should yet if it be well grounded it could not but have in good measure the same effect upon the Lives of Men as the Evidence of Sense would have When a Temporal Prince declares that whoever be found guilty of such or such Crimes shall certainly undergo this or that particular Punishment such a Declaration has generally the same Influence upon all the Subjects concerned as if they saw the Punishment already actually inflicted upon the Criminals When therefore the Supreme Governour of the World declares to Mankind his Will which is their Law and Rule of Life and inforces the Obligation of that Law by such Threats and Promises as the Scripture which is that Declaration of his Will contains If these Threats and Promises of the Almighty have not the same influence upon the Hearts and Lives of Men as those of an earthly Prince in other Cases generally have is it not evident either that Men do not in earnest believe that these Threats and Promises are indeed the Declaration of his Will or else that they imagine that though he now so earnestly presses and seems so severely to exact Obedience to his Laws yet at last he will not punish the Contempt of them If this be not the case how comes the Christian Religion to have lost that Efficacy in reforming the Lives and Manners of Men for which it was once so eminent even amongst its Enemies themselves If We do indeed believe the same Gospel and live under the power of the same Religion that the Primitive Christians did how comes that Religion not to have the same Influence upon our Lives and Actions that it had upon theirs Can we hear Men daily profane the Sacred Name of God with impious and horrid Oaths and yet think they believe there is a God jealous of his Honour and that will avenge himself on such a Nation as this Can we see Men cheat and cozen destroy and prey upon one another without the least scruple or appearance of remorse and yet think they believe the Truth of the Christian Religion and the Severity thereof In a word can we see Men dally with Eternity and for the sake of a few empty and momentany Gratifications
God and his Relation to Men t is plain all that these things naturally led Men to was only to keep up in themselves such a Holy Temper and Disposition of Mind as might discover it self in a constant endeavour of being Like unto God and of obeying his Laws And though this most simple and absolute Religion did through the corruption of Mens Wills and Affections quickly degenerate into the grossest Idolatry and most ridiculous Superstition tho' instead of real and substantial Virtue the generality of Men soon fell into the Observance of foolish and absurd Rites and the World was overspread with Ignorance and Vice yet the wisest and most considerate Men amongst the Heathens always understood that God did not look so much at the Outward Pomp and Ceremony of Religion as at the Inward Holiness and Purity of the heart that God valued not Sacrifices and Rich Offerings but only the Piety and Devotion of the Mind and that the only way to keep the Favour of God was to imitate his Nature and to obey his Commands 8. Nor is it less evident that the great and ultimate design of the Jewish Religion was to preserve and increase the Moral Virtue of Men. For though God did impose upon the Jews a burdensom System of Rites and Ordinances yet 't is plain he did it not that he took any delight in that External and Ceremonial Service but that by condescending in that manner to the infirmities and prejudices of a stiff-necked People he might keep up the Worship of the True God and restore that Holiness and Inward Religion of Mens Minds which the Light of Nature had not been sufficient to maintain This therefore God perpetually inculcates to them by his Prophets that he did not value their Ceremonious Performances without Holiness and Obedience to the Moral Law I spake not to your Fathers saith he nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt concerning Burnt-Offerings and Sacrifices but this thing commanded I them saying Obey my Voice Jer. 7. 22. Nay so far was God from Instituting the Jewish Service upon any other design than the making that People more holy than the Heathen about them were that whensoever it failed of having that desired Effect he declares that he even abhorred all their Religious Exercises He that killeth an Ox is as if he slew a Man he that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Dogs neck he that offereth an Oblation as if he offered Swines Blood and he that burneth Incense as if he blessed an Idol yea they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations Isa. 65. 3. And though the later Jews grew generally so superstitious in the observance of their Ceremonies as thereby even to neglect the weightier matters of the Law yet those who considered things more throughly always maintain'd taught zealously that it was not slaying a multitude of Sacrifices or bringing splendid Offerings or even building and adorning the Temple of God with all the cost and beauty in the World that could truly denominate a Man religious that it was a great deceit for Men to think that God would be flattered and put off with Outward Ceremonious Services instead of Truth Righteousness and Holiness of Mind and that nothing could be more ridiculous than for Men to be very careful not to enter into the Temple which is built of Wood and Stone without first washing and cleansing their bodies and yet not be afraid to appear before God in Prayer with unclean and polluted Minds 9. Lastly That the only design of God's Instituting the Christian Religion was to make Men yet more Vertuous and more Holy is evident from the whole Tenour of the Gospel The design of our Saviour's Life and Preaching was to give Men a body of more Spiritual and Refined Laws to set them an Example of a more perfect and holy Life and to make a clearer Revelation of the Wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men The Design of his Death and Passion was to make an Expiation for Sins that are past and to make a fuller discovery of the heinous nature of Sin which God would not pardon even upon true Repentance without so great and sufficient a Satisfaction And the Design of his sending the Holy Spirit was to purifie to himself a peculiar People by teaching and enabling Men that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts they should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World 10. Accordingly we find the Apostles every where in their Epistles plainly declaring and giving Men warning that since they had now received a most full Revelation of the Will of God and a most clear Discovery of the Rewards and Punishments of a future State if their Virtue did not become proportionable to their Knowledge and they purified not themselves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God it would be even worse for them than if they had never known the way of Righteousness Be not deceived saith Saint Paul neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards c. i. e. no unrighteous person shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6. 9. And again Let no man deceive you with vain words For because of these things cometh the Wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience Eph. 5. 6. And again Of which things I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5. 21. And all those Metaphorical Expressions such as the New Man the New Creature the New Birth Regeneration Conversion and the like by which the Apostles frequently represent Religion do manifestly tend to this that under the Gospel-dispensation nothing will stand a Man in any stead but an entire Reformation of Life and Manners and that all other things are nothing except only the keeping the Commandments of God 11. How miserably then do those Men abuse this great Salvation and turn the Grace of God into lasciviousness who imagine that because Christ has disannulled the Old Law which was appointed only for a time therefore we may be excused by our Christian Liberty from obeying the Eternal Commands of God that because Christ has established for us a Covenant of Grace therefore we need not be zealous to abound in good Works that because Christ has Redeemed us from the Punishment of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself therefore we need not be zealous to rescue our selves from under the Power and Dominion of it that because the Righteousness of Christ shall be available for us unto Justification therefore there is no necessity we should have any of our own In a word that because Christ has promised Salvation to those who believe the Gospel therefore there is no necessity we should be solicitous to
obey it 12. Our Saviour has indeed disannulled the Ceremonial part of the Law which was appointed only for a time but he has thereby more firmly Established the Moral part of the Law which is of eternal and unchangeable Obligation And therefore as nothing could be more foolish than the Opinion of those Judaizers who thought that Christ had not abrogated any part of the Law so nothing can be more impious than the Opinion of these Gentilizers who contend that he has destroyed it all Our Saviour has indeed purchased for us a Covenant of Grace that is a Covenant wherein Pardon is granted to past sins upon Repentance but the indispensable Condition of that Covenant is that we be for the future zealous of good works He has indeed brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel and opened to us an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God but 't is not that any unrenewed Nature should be admitted to have a share in those pure and undefiled Rewards but that those who have broken off their Sins by Repentance and their Iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor may through his Merits be restored to the Love and Favour of God Our Saviour has indeed redeemed us from the Punishment of Sin by the Sacrifice of himself but 't is expresly upon condition that we rescue our selves from the Power and Dominion of it In order to this he has made a most clear Discovery of the Will of God to us and enabled us to obey it according to that Discovery he has beaten off our Chains and opened us a way to retreat out of the bondage of Sin and Satan into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God he haâ— paid the Price and Redeemed us out of Captivity But if notwithstanding all this we still continue in Sin 't is our own fault and extreme folly here and will be our condemnation and misery hereafter if notwithstanding all that Christ has done for us we will yet sit still under the Power of Sin we shall notwithstanding all that he has done and suffered for us at last fall into the Punishment thereof The Righteousness of Christ is indeed so far available to those who sincerely desire to obey the Gospel as that for his sake that Imperfect Righteousness by which they could not be justified according to the Law shall be acceptable before God through Faith in him unto Justification But for one who uses no indeavours to be righteous himself to expect to be justified by the external Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ is for a Sick Man to expect to be made whole by the Imputation of anothers Health or for a Miserable Man to be made happy meerly by the Imputation of another Mans Felicity Righteousness is not an outward imaginary Quality but an inward and real Disposition of heart and mind which must shew forth it self in real and substantial acts of Holiness and Piety Little Children saith St. John let no man deceive you He that doth Righteousness is righteous 1 John 3. 7. Lastly Our Saviour has indeed promised Salvation to those who Believe the Gospel but 't is most expresly upon this condition that they Obey it also Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Matt. 5. 21. Without this Obedience nothing in the World can stand a Man in any stead His Believing and Professing the Truth of the Christian Faith will avail him nothing His continuing in the Communion of the Church of Christ will profit him nothing If any man seems to be religious and continues in any one Sin deceiving his own heart that Mans Religion is vain For though he could speak with the Tongue of Men and Angels and had all Faith so that he could remove Mountains yet if he were not holy in his Life and Conversation it would profit him nothing Many will plead before our Saviour at the Day of Judgment that they have not only believed his Doctrine but also have taught in his Name and in his Name have cast out Devils and in his Name done many wonderful Works that is have had the extraordinary Gift even of working Miracles and yet if they be workers of Iniquity he will say unto them Depart from me I know you not CHAP. IV. A Digression concerning the Doctrine of Faith and Works delivered by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans and in that to the Galatians 1. THere is but one thing that I know of that can with any colour be urged against this Notion of true Religion which I have now laid down And that is the Doctrine of Faith and Works delivered by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans and in that to the Galatians Which because it is a Doctrine of the greatest Importance and liable to be misinterpreted to countenance the most pernicious Errors I shall therefore in this Chapter by way of Digression endeavour to give a brief Account of the Occasion of the writing these two Epistles and to explain the Doctrine delivered therein 2. Before the coming of Christ the Jews we know were the peculiar People of God selected out of all the Nations of the Earth to be the Standard of true Religion and to be the People among whom God would chuse to place his Name To them were committed the Oracles of God Rom. 3. 2. To them pertained the Adoption and the Glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the Service of God and the Promises whose are the Fathers and out of whom according to the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Rom 9. 4 5. that is with them were intrusted the Revelations of the Will of God the Law and the Prophecies To them was granted the peculiar Honour and Privilege that they should be accounted the Sons or People of God and that they should be accordingly under the more peculiar Care and Protection of his Providence Among them was the Ark and Temple of God the Shecinah or Glorious Presence of the Divine Majesty In Judah was God known his Name was great in Israel In Salem also was his Tabernalce and his dwelling place in Sion With them God entered solemnly into Covenant that he would be their God and they should be his People and confirmed this Covenant with the Sacramental Seal of Circumcision and with sprinkling of Blood To them God himself prescribed a Law or Form of Worship in a wonderful and miraculous manner and their Polity also was of Divine Institution and Appointment God shewed his Word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He did not deal so with any other Nation neither had the Heathen knowledge of his Laws Lastly They were the Posterity of those Patriarchs to whom God had so often promised and sworn by himself That in their Seed should all the Nations
withdrawing and separating himself from the Gentiles for fear of them which were of the circumcision Ch. 2. Ver. 12. All which and many other the like Passages do so evidently refer to that Controversie Whether the Jewish Religion was to be mixed with the Christian or no that I know not whether any one ever attempted to interpret them to any other Sense 4. And that those other Parts also of these Epistles which have by some been otherwise interpreted ought indeed to be understood wholly to relate to the same Controversie appears sufficiently from the Apostles way of arguing For according to any other Interpretation the Terms which the Apostle makes use of are improper and his reasoning is hard intricate and not concluding As is sufficiently evident from the difficulty that some Expositors have met with to vindicate St. Paul from thwarting the main Design of the Gospel from contradicting the express Words of some other of the Apostles and also from contradicting himself But if these whole Epistles be understood to refer to that Question Whether the Christian Religion be alone sufficient to Salvation or whether it be necessary to observe together with it the Ceremonies also of the Jewish Law the Terms which the Apostle uses are most apt and proper and his Reasoning is most easie strong and conclusive As will most evidently appear from a brief view of them both 5. The design then of the Apostle being on one hand to magnifie the Christian Religion by setting forth its sufficiency to Salvation and on the other hand to demonstrate the insufficiency and unnecessariness of the ceremonial observances of the Jewish Law the Terms which he all along makes use of to express the Christian and Jewish Religion by are such as may best serve to set forth the excellency of the one and diminish the opinion which Men had taken up of the necessity of the other Thus because the first and most fundamental Duty of the Christian Religion is believing in God and believing that most perfect Revelation of his Will which he has made to Mankind by our Saviour Jesus Christ whereas on the contrary the principal part of the Jewish Religion or at least of that Religion which the Judaizing Christians so earnestly contended for was an anxious observance of the burdensome Ceremonies of the Mosaick Law therefore the Apostle calls the Christian Religion Faith and the Jewish Religion the Law Thus in the Epistle to the Romans ch 3. ver 28. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law that is It clearly appears from what has been already said that Obedience to the Christian Religion is sufficient to justifie a Man without observing the Ceremonies of the Jewish And ver 31. Do we then make void the Law through Faith God forbid yea we establish the Law that is Do we then as some Men object by our preaching up the Christian Religion make void the Law of God or that Revelation of his Will which he made to the Jews No we are so far from that that by introducing Christianity we establish confirm and perfect the moral and immutable part of the Law much more effectually than the Jewish Ceremonies were able to do Thus likewise in the Epistle to the Galatians ch 3. ver 2. This only would I learn of you Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith Or as 't is expressed ver 5. He that ministreth to you the Spirit and worketh Miracles among you doth he it by the works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith that is I appeal unto your selves who contend so earnestly for the necessity of keeping up the Jewish Ceremonies was it by your observing the Rites of the Jewish Religion that ye received the Gifts of the Holy Ghost or by your being converted to the Christian So also ver 24. The Law was our School-master to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by Faith that is The Jewish Dispensation was appointed by God in condescention to the weakness of that People to fit them by degrees for the reception of the Christian And ch 2. ver 15. The Apostle having rebuked St. Peter openly for withdrawing himself from the Gentiles at Antioch adds We who are Jews by nature 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 that is If we our selves who were brought up in the Jewish Religion being convinced that that Religion was not able to justifie us in the sight of God have thought fit to forsake it and imbrace the Christian Religion in hopes to be justified thereby how much less reason have you to compel the Gentiles who were never brought up in the Jewish Religion to conform themselves to the Customs of the Jews after their Conversion to Christianity 6. Again because the Christian Religion teaches us to expect Salvation not from our own Merits but from the Grace of God that is according to the Terms of that new and gracious Covenant wherein God has promised to accept of Sincerity instead of perfect Obedience whereas on the contrary the Jews depended upon their exact performance of the Works of the Law therefore the Apostle calls the Christian Religion Grace and the Jewish Religion Works Thus in the Epistle to the Romans ch 11. ver 5. So then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of Grace that is tho' the Jewish Nation having rejected the gracious offer of the Gospel are thereupon rejected from being the People of God yet has God reserved to himself a Remnant from among them even those who have embraced the Christian Religion And if by Grace then is it no more of Works that is and if it be upon account of their having embraced the Christian Religion that they are reckoned the peculiar People of God then is not this Privilege any longer annexed to the Professors of the Jewish Religion otherwise Grace is no more Grace that is otherwise the Christian Religion is in vain and not what it pretends to be the Grace of God Thus also ch 6. ver 14. Sin shall not have the dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace that is ye are not under the Jewish Religion but under the Christian. So likewise in the Epistle to the Galatians ch 5. ver 4. Christ is become of no effect unto you whosoever of you are justified by the Law ye are fallen from Grace that is whosoever will needs retain the Jewish Religion he takes upon him to fulfil the whole Law forsaking the gracious Dispensation of the Christian Religion and therefore Christ shall be of no effect unto him 7. Again because the Duties of the Christian Religion are
of the Apostles and from the general Sense of the Primitive Church 2. God is a Being as of infinite Purity and Holiness so also of infinite Goodness and Mercy and as he cannot possibly be reconciled to Men so long as they continue wicked so when ever they cease to be so and return again to the Obedience of Gods Commands and to the imitation of his Nature we cannot suppose but that he will again admit them to his Pardon and Favour Goodness and Mercy are our most natural Notions of God and the Discoveries which he hath made of himself by Revelation are most exactly agreeable thereto At the passing by of his Glory before Moses he proclaimed himself The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth forgiving Iniquities Transgressions and Sins Exod. 34. 6. By the Prophets he declares and swears by himself As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33. 1â— And above all by that stupendous Instance of Mercy the sending his only Son out of his Bosom to give himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of Men he has discovered such an earnest desire of our Reconciliation and Salvation as will be the everlasting subject of the Praises of Men and the Admiration of Angels If therefore God when he had made a Covenant of perfect Obedience and had not promised Pardon at all to great and presumptuous Sins did yet give Pardon and declare also to the Jews by his Prophets that he would do so And if when Men were yet Enemies to him he was so willing that not any should perish but all should come to Repentance yea so desirous to have all Men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth that he not only spared not his own Son to deliver him up for us all but tells us even of Joy in Heaven at a Sinners accepting the gracious Terms of the Gospel and represents himself as a tender Father running to meet his returning Prodigal and falling up-his Neck and kissing him If this I say was the Compassion which God shewed to Man in his first sinful and miserable State 't is very reasonable to conclude and hope that his Mercy is not so entirely exhausted at once but that the same Pity may be yet further extended even to those also who after the knowledge of the Truth having been seduced by the Temptations of the World and the Devil to depart from God and to forsake their Duty shall again return unto him with Sincerity and Perseverance 3. The Design of the Gospel is to teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world And certainly whensoever it comes to have this effect upon a Man it gives him a Title to the blessed Hope and a well-grounded Assurance of Mercy at the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Foundation of the Christian Dispensation upon which the whole Summ of Affairs is now established is Faith and Repentance and whensoever a Man so truly repents as to purifie himself effectually from every evil Work and by the Spirit mortifies the deeds of the Body he shall certainly live Our Saviour himself gives express Directions when a Man's Christian Brother trespasses against him to use all possible means to reclaim him both by private and publick Reproof before he rejects him utterly as a Heathen Man and a Publican He commands us though our Brother sins never so often against us yet if he turns again and repents to forgive him and has promised upon this Condition that we also shall in like manner find forgiveness at the Hands of God And in the Epistles sent by the Apostle St. John to the Bishops of the Seven Churches of Asia he exhorts them earnestly to remember from whence they were fallen and to repent and be zealous and do their first works and promises that if upon this Invitation any Man would hear his Voice and open the Door that is would be moved by these Exhortations to repent and amend he would come in to him and sup with him that is would again receive him to his Mercy and Favour 4. Accordingly the Writings of the Apostles though directed to Christians are yet full of earnest Exhortations to Repentance and their History contains many Instances of those who after great falls were thereby restored to their first state St Peter exhorts Simon Magus who thought the Gift of God could be bought with Money to repent of this his wickedness and gives him encouragement to hope that he should thereupon obtain forgiveness Acts 8. 22. St. John tells us That if any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins 1 John 2. 2. St. James tells us That if any one err from the Truth and one convert him he that converteth the Sinner from the Error of his way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of Sins Jam. 5. 20. St. Jude advises us to have compassion of some making a difference and to save others with fear pulling them out of the fire ver 23. St. Paul exhorts Timothy to instruct in meekness those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth and that they may recover themselves out of the Snare of the Devil who are taken Captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2. 25. He advises the Galatians that if any Man be overtaken in a fault they which are spiritual should restore such a one in the Spirit of meekness considering themselves lest they also be tempted Gal. 6. 1. He threatens the Corinthians to excommunicate those who had sinned and had not repented of their uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they had committed 2 Cor. 12. 21. And even the Incestuous Person who had been guilty of such a Sin as was not so much as named among the Heathens themselves he delivers indeed to Satan for the destruction of the Flesh but it was that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 5. 5. For when the punishment which was inflicted of many had been sufficient to reduce him to Repentance he writes to the Church to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow 2 Cor. 2. 7. 5. And this excepting as I have said one Sect of Men was the constant Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Church To those who were yet Innocent they thought indeed no Promises too great and no Threatnings too severe whereby they might make them infinitely careful to preserve their Innocence But those who had already sinned they incouraged to repent and upon their Repentance admitted them again to the Peace of the Church and