Reformatione Vitae a moral Reformation of Life What other Socinians our Author hath found out besides the modern I know not but here he calumniates us and the Socinians too Though the Socinians deserve rebuke yet they are not to have lies told of them for not onely we who are no Socinians but those that are do acknowledge the state of a regenerate man to consist in the spiritual renovation of his Nature Whereas therefore he tells us If they will grant that this moral reformation of Life doth proceed from a spiritual renovation of our Nature this difference will be at an end I answer him that this difference is at an end before 't is begun For we have always granted it and as I shall shew him presently he knew it too Onely our Author was willing to impose the fallacy of Non causa pro causâ upon his Readers and to gain the better opinion of his endeavours in this Chapter he would make them believe that his designe is indeed to prove that there is a change of the Heart as well as of the Life in a regenerate man Now this is not the thing he had to prove against us however he shifts the Question here that to use his own words he might take an opportunity to rail at others for want of better advantage His business was to prove that Regeneration and the new Creation are to be understood properly and as he knows a foundation was hereby to be laid of affirming that we cannot be regenerated without the interposal of an irresistible power like to that whereby the world was made and the dead shall be raised Here lies the difference between him and us not whether Regeneration implies a change of the Soul as well as of the Life And this he confesseth himself in the very next Page Sect. 20 where he saith Some say a new Creature is no more but a changed Man it is true but then this change is internal also yes in the Purposes Designes and Inclinations of the minde But is it by a real infusion of a new Principle of spiritual Life and Holiness No it denotes no more but a new course of Conversation onely the expression is Metaphorical A new Creature is a moral Man that hath changed his course or way Now under that new course of Conversation which he saies some mean by Regeneration either he includes an internal change as their meaning too or not If he does then he confesseth their true meaning and the difference is at an end If not then he either wants a good Conscience or a good Memory for he granted before that they confessed an internal change also As to what he addes that they deny the real infusion of a new Principle of spiritual Life and Holiness I say they do not deny a new Principle of Holiness to be in the Regenerate for they confess the Seed of God that is the Word of God to be in them the Precepts and Motives whereof prevailing in their mindes are properly a principle of Holiness of Life in them Now whether this Principle be really infused into them or not belongs not to this place to consider where we are treating about the state of Regeneration and not the manner whereby the Holy Spirit doth regenerate us Whereas he saith that the new Creature according to them is a moral man that hath changed his course or way he ought not to blame them for it since the change of the Heart is supposed in that of the Life He knows there is no better way to judge of the Tree than by the Fruits of the temper of the Minde than by the constant course of the Life and therefore we should conclude it is a very honest account which they give of the new Creature because it will not suffer a man to reckon himself regenerate who doth not sincerely amend his Life according to God's holy Word which is a good way to keep Hypocrites from pretending too fast to Regeneration who might else be comforting themselves that their hearts are good while their lives and manners are naught I am sure their description of the regenerate state is agreeable to what St. John saith of it He that doth righteousness is born of God But after all I thus far differ from him that I look upon his distinction between Spiritual and Moral to be vain and useless in the description of a regenerate state or of Regeneration which is his own phrase as passively considered For as the moral reformation of Life which he speaks of is spiritual so the spiritual renovation of our Nature is moral For as the state of a regenerate man in both respects may be called spiritual as being caused by the grace of the divine Spirit so in both it may be called moral as consisting in the purity both of Heart and Life and the conformity of our Mindes and Actions to the divine Laws For I suppose he will grant that all sin i. e. all unbelief of God's Word and all disobedience to Gods Commands whether moral or positive is Immorality Therefore faith in God and obedience to his Will is Morality or moral goodness i. e. they are things good in their own nature eternally and unalterably so This man chargeth his Adversaries here with confused notions and Sophistical expressions about Morality where he doth not tell the Reader one of their notions or expressions about it and therein he hath done more like a Sophister himself than a Doctor 'T is in this Latitude which I have told you that they understand moral Righteousness and Virtue who affirm that the state of a regenerate man doth consist therein and that there is no difference between Grace and Virtue between Spiritual and Moral supposing that by Grace and Spiritual you express not the cause but the state of Regeneration If Dr. Owen does not take them in this sence he misunderstands them and makes a wrong report of their judgement concerning the sufficiency of moral Righteousness to qualifie men for Heaven If he does thus understand them and yet is angry because they make no distinction between Grace and Virtue a spiritual and moral state as I finde he is Sect. 19. sure it must be because he thinks all is not moral Virtue which they say is viz. faith in God and universal obedience to his Will and then the contention between us is a mere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a strife about words in which I suppose he has the hardest part unless he can shew that to disbelieve any of the Revelations and to disobey any of the Commands of God are not Immoralities Or else the reason of his displeasure must be because he thinks a regenerate state doth not consist in Faith and Obedience which if I understand him is his opinion and 't is our affirming the contrary which hath made him so fierce against us as I observe him to be Sect. 17. where he hath these strange words Regeneration doth
consideration is a clear compliance with the Wisdom of God and a mark of Regeneration I take this to be a competent instance of the Doctor 's proving himself to be regenerated by his spiritual understanding of things but how he came to understand them so spiritually you heard before viz. by an Almighty Power which induced a new saving Light into his minde for I suppose he has not a way by himself of arriving at this Felicity This now is very plain That if you spiritually understand the necessity of Holiness you must not understand it to be necessary to Justification But if you ask the Doctor why you cannot understand it as he doth his Answer is Because you are not enlightned and regenerated by the irresistible Work for where this work is not that spiritual thing cannot be so understood and where it is 't is impossible but it should be so understood Now then if you ask how the Doctor proves himself to be a regenerate man he proves it clearly by his understanding the necessity of Holiness in that spiritual manner wherein he understands it And at this rate I think a man may prove any thing Thus the Doctor tells us how the purifying vertue of the blood of Christ is applied to us by Faith but in so mystical a manner that he is forced to confess it himself and therefore says he when you understand these things you will not think it so strange that God should appoint this way of believing onely as the means to interest us in the purifying vertue of the Blood of Christ. For the truth is before he had done with that point he had made it so unintelligible that he had nothing to keep up his Readers in heart withal but by promising them that when they understood those things they would not think them strange i. e. when that new saving Light is once darted into their mindes by which the Doctor discerns spiritual Mysteries In the mean time he cautions them against those that pretend the believing he speaks of to be no more than a work of the fancy in these words Despise their ignorance for they know not what they say when men come to the real practice of this Duty the practise of believing that the Blood of Christ without any more ado will cleanse them from their Sins they will finde what it is to discard all other ways and pretences of cleansing viz. a sincere reformation of Heart and Life what it is to give unto God against all difficulties and oppositions i. e. though it be never so absurd to imagine this makes for the Glory of God the glory of his Attributes in finding out this way for us Again after he had given such a description of Gospel-holiness as any one would be asham'd to own that pretends to an intelligible Religion he hopes to make up all with saying The thing it self as hath been declared is deep and mysterious not to be understood without the aid of spiritual Light in our mindes So that if you do not understand what the Doctor says the reason is plain because you have not the Spirit and at this rate any man may write Nonsense safely enough and put it off for a Gospel-mystery when he has done For the thing may be understood though you do not understand it for it may be understood by the aid of spiritual Light And if you understand it not 't is because you rely upon carnal Reason and have not the Light of the Spirit For thus the Doctor tells us The reason why men have other notions of holiness than he has is their ignorance and hatred of the onely true real principle of Evangelical holiness which we have described for what the world knoweth not in these things it always hateth and they cannot discern it clearly or in its own light and evidence for it must be spiritually discerned This the Natural man cannot do 1 Cor. 2.14 and in that false light of corrupted reason wherein they discern and judge it they esteem it foolishness and fancy So that 't is to no purpose what the Natural man a man that useth the best means he can to finde out the meaning of the Scriptures says in these matters till that new Light be created in his minde by the help whereof this Author as it should seem talks of sublime Mysteries which we use to call Nonsense and yet are blamed for it though he confesses 't is impossible that we should do otherwise Now the Doctor is as safe as may be if he can thus make his Reader believe that to understand the Doctrines of the Gospel spiritually is to understand them according to his apprehensions of them and that to contradict him is an infallible signe of one that wants the special illumination of the Holy Ghost For upon these terms whoever goes about to write against him must do it at the peril of being reckoned an unregenerate man and then the Doctor is secure for we have often seen as it is said by him that such a man because he wants special illumination cannot understand the Mysteries of the Gospel spiritually and then he cannot discourse of them spiritually and then I think he may as well hold his tongue for any good he is likely to do with his carnal Reason And this is that prejudice which I am in danger of lying under with the Doctor 's party while I treat concerning the assistance of the Holy Spirit for he uses the same artifice to support his notions in this matter Thus he tells us A Command they suppose leaves no room for a Promise at least such a Promise as wherein God should take upon himself to work in us what the Command requires of us and a Promise they think takes off all the influencing authority of the Command If Holiness be our duty there is no room for Grace in this matter and if it be an effect of Grace there is no place for Duty But all these arguings are a fruit of the wisdom of the flesh Now as I shall shew hereafter in these words he belies those whom he writes against for they suppose no such matter as he talks of But the Doctor as we shall see doth in other places mean by Grace an irresistible force upon the mindes of men though he conceals it here dishonestly to slander his Adversaries Now that such a Grace is inconsistent with the commands of God in Scripture may be so evidently argued that he hath nothing to say against it but to call such arguing a fruit of the wisdom of the flesh which is his perpetual refuge But to be short he expresly tells us The whole work of the Spirit is rationally to be accounted for by and unto them who believe the Scriptures that I like very well and have received the spirit of Truth but there we are all spoil'd again for we know what he means by having received the spirit of Truth viz. being
speaks of we agree that those Doctrines which were to be known by his Revelation are meant But this by the by it is however clear that our Saviour challengeth the Jews of unreasonable incredulity for disbelieving what was sufficiently testified and proved to them 2. Christ assigneth the true cause of their unbelief This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil vers 19. i. e. The truth of that Doctrine which I bring is so bright and clear that the cause why men believe it not is not because they want Reason and Argument to induce them thereunto or supposing that our Saviour means himself by Light it is so evident that I am the Son God that if you do not perceive it 't is not for want of means of Conviction but because your deeds are evil because my Doctrine is so contrary to your Lusts and Vices that you are not willing it shoud be true and so you do not attend to the evidence of its truth and therefore greater shall be your Condemnation Every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved But he that doth the truth that is sincerely disposed to do whatever is the will of God cometh to the light that his deeds may be manifest is not unwilling to have his actions proved that they are wrought of God whether they be according to the Will of God or not I think it is thus sufficiently plain that the scope of our Saviour in this his discourse to Nicodemus is to shew the necessity of coming to him or believing in him i. e. of being his Disciple in order to everlasting Salvation and to convince those of unreasonable obstinacy and incredulity who would not be his Disciples It is therefore plain that supposing the true Disciple of Christ is to be understood by the Regenerate man then the beginning of our Saviour's discourse concerning the necessity of Regeneration is consonant to his plain designe which was to shew why we must be his Disciples and how inexcusable we are if we be not But that the connexion of the whole may be clearly seen I shall here subjoyn a Paraphrase of that part of it which concerns Regeneration proceeding upon our notion of it It is probable as Grotius observes that after Nicodemus had acknowledged our Saviour to be sent from God he asked him what Qualifications a man must have to see the Kingdom of God which in his preaching he had made so much mention of To which question our Saviour's answer was Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God as if he had said No man can enter into the Kingdom of God except he become my Disciple which you seem unwilling to be because you come secretly to me for fear of the Jews but I tell you it is not sufficient for you to acknowledge to me that I am a Teacher sent from God but withal you must become one of my Disciples and own your self so to be though you forfeit thereby the honour you have in the Jewish State for you must forsake all to follow me Nicodemus not understanding this to be our Saviour's meaning replies as if it was required that a man should be born again in the literal and proper sence How can a man be born when he is old as I am can he c. Jesus answered Verily I say unto thee Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God q. d. It is not such a Birth that I mean but that of Water and the Spirit you must be born of Water you must by Baptism become a professed Disciple of mine whom you acknowledge to be a Teacher sent from God and this is not all you must be born of the Spirit too it is equally necessary that by the Operations of the Holy Spirit the promise whereof is part of my Doctrine you become obedient in Heart and Life to those Laws which I deliver which are so holy and divine that they are hated by them whose deeds are evil who will not be perswaded to leave their sins vers 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit That which is born in the literal sence as when an Infant is born of his Mother is discernible to your eyes and the change made thereby is evident to your grosser Senses it is not this change which I mean but I say you must be born of the Spirit and it is a spiritual change that I mean thereby viz. that of the Dispositions of mens Hearts and the manner of their Lives which change together with those Operations of the Spirit whereby it is produced are not discernible the same way in which the natural Birth is vers 7 8. Marvel not that I said unto thee Ye must be Born again The Wind bloweth where it lifteth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of Spirit By this it should seem that which was most troublesom to Nicodemus to understand was this viz. How a man could be born of the Spirit and that the difficulty which he stuck at in this matter was the Imperceptibleness of that Operation of the Spirit whereby this change was produced for how should a man know when he is born of the Spirit This being supposed our Saviour's answer to him removes the doubt for it shews 1. That the Operations of the Spirit though they are not perceptible to the Senses yet they may be otherways known to this purpose he useth a familiar similitude to explain himself by viz. that of the Wind which blowes hither and thither but is not discernible to the eye and though we see it not yet we are sure there is such a thing because we hear it Now as every Body is to be judged of by its proper Sense so is every thing to be judged of by its proper faculty and as we do not deny the existence of some Bodies because they are not evident to one sense if they are evident to another so we are not to deny the existence of some things because they are not evident to our Senses if they be evident to our Mindes as the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes may be 2. Our Saviour's answer shews that we may know an effect the immediate cause whereof we do not know and that by the same Similitude of the Wind the natural cause whereof the generality of men who are yet sure there is such a thing are ignorant of Now in like manner we may perceive or feel an effect in our mindes viz. that change which the Spirit makes there though we do not perceive and in that sence do not know the Operations of the Spirit themselves which are the causes
purged thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more i. e. God would afford them the means and opportunities of Conversion no longer because they had already obstructed the efficacy of them so long together And then by his purging Hierusalem it is plain nothing can be meant but his doing all that was proper for him to do in order to that end and which would certainly have accomplished it had they complied as they might with his gracious methods Thus also the goodness of God is said to lead them to Repentance who are not actually led by it being such as after their hardness and impenitent hearts treasure up wrath unto themselves against the day of wrath Rom. 2.4 5. The meaning is plainly this that the forbearance and Grace of God is a most sufficient means of bringing those to repentance who do not onely neglect what they ought to do in compliance with the goodness of God but harden their Hearts against it Thus we see the holy Scripture does ascribe unto God the honour of what he does toward the conversion of those Sinners that continue in impenitence by saying that he has converted and healed them even while they are yet in their sins hereby intimating to us that it was not through any defect of Grace on his part but onely through their own failing to excite such endeavours as they might have done that they were not actually reformed Now in like manner and according to the usual stile of the Scripture God may be said to Work even in those men to Will and to Do who are still unwilling and disobedient and therefore that Phrase does not necessarily import that God does more than excite and stir up our Wills by his Grace or that he does not leave it possible for us to obstruct the efficacy of his Operations For we see the Scripture supposes God's administring of those gracious Helps which are abundantly sufficient to make us true Converts to be ground enough for saying that he hath converted us Wherefore if the Words themselves are capable of such a meaning if the scope also and designe of the place does necessarily require such a meaning I know not what can be required more to prove this to be the true meaning of them viz. that God worketh in us to Will and to Do in that manner that if our own care and diligence be wanting we may neither will nor do but continue in our sins and perish everlastingly Further whereas God is said to give Repentance and a new Heart it is from hence plain that the meaning of such places is not this that he does all himself and leaves nothing for us to do that we may be converted because he commands us often to do those things which he is yet said to do for us Thus as it is said in Ezek. 36.26 A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and cause you to walk in my statutes which words considered by themselves run as if God had absolutely undertaken to do this for his People and they needed not now to trouble themselves with doing any thing towards it So by the same Prophet God requires them to Cast away from them all their transgressions to make themselves a new heart and a new spirit for saith he why will ye die O house of Israel Ezek. 18.31 From whence it is plain that notwithstanding God's promise of giving them a new Heart it was necessary for them to Renew their own Hearts And what can this signifie but that the Promise is not absolute but supposeth the concurrence of our own endeavours and consequently that it was given to encourage them but not to make them needless And this will be more evident to you if you consider that what the Lord promised to do in this kinde for his People was not done for some of them as you may see in Ezek. 11.19 20 21. I will put a new spirit into them and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh That they may walk in my statutes c. But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations I will recompence their way upon their own heads saith the Lord God From whence the needfulness of their own care to walk in God's Statutes is most evident for if no such condition had been implied in the Promise none of them could have walked after their Abominations Finally Since the Holy Spirit is not onely promised to work in us all needful Qualifications for eternal Life but we are also Commanded Exhorted Entreated and that most Seriously Affectionately and Frequently to Repent and be Converted and to persevere in Holiness and all this with promises of an eternal Reward if we do and with threatnings of everlasting Punishment if we do not it follows that the Spirit is not promised to work his Graces in our Hearts in such a manner as to make our own endeavours unnecessary to the attainment of them For this were to make all those Commands and Exhortations of God's Word a solemn piece of Pageantry and to say that God hath required us under the greatest penalties and with the most alluring promises to obtain those Qualifications which will be thrust upon us though we do nothing to obtain them Wherefore I conclude that the Holy Spirit worketh no otherwise in the mindes of men than to leave them under as great an obligation to be diligent in the use of all proper means for their recovery and perseverance as if they had not the benefit of any such divine Operation but were left if it had been possible for them to do all themselves SECT 4. 4. It may be added that the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon the mindes of men are suited or proportioned to their present spiritual state He does not produce those effects in us all at once which the Scripture ascribes to divine Grace but in such an Order and by those Degrees that suit with our capacities and qualifications This is partly evident 1. From what hath been already said concerning the communications of special Grace the promises whereof are made onely to Believers and good men the Holy Spirit doth not form his other graces in us till he hath wrought an hearty belief of the Gospel in our Souls Nor does he dwell in them till they are purged from the love of sin and this world And since there are various degrees of holiness according to which good men differ from each other since also our Saviour hath told us that to him that hath more shall be given we may conclude that the communications of the Holy Spirit are not made in equal measures to all good men neither but according as their mindes are more or less raised towards the heavenly state And that the more perfect Christian enjoys a more plentiful influence of Grace from above and is