to offer him up not doubting but God was able to raise him from the dead of whom it is said that in Isaac shall thy Seed be called And last of all In that he rested in the Promise that his Seed should possess the Land wherein himself was but a Pilgrim and which to them was not to be fulfilled while divers Ages after The object of Abrahams Faith in all this was no other but inward and immediate Revelation or God signifying his will unto him inwardly and immediately by his Spirit But because in this part of the Proposition we made also mention of external Voices Appearances and Dreams in the alternative I think also fit to speak hereof what in that respect may be objected to wit Obj. That those who found their Faith now upon immediate and objective Revelation ought to have also outward Voices or Visions Dreams or appearances for it It is not denyed but God made use of the Ministry of Angels who in the appearance of men spake outwardly to the Saints of old and that he did also reveal some things to them in Dreams and Visions none of which we will affirm to be ceased so as to limit the power and liberty of God in manifesting himself towards his Children But while we are considering the object of Faith we must not stick to that which is but circumstantially and accidently so but to that which is universally and substantially so Next again we must distinguish betwixt that which in it self is subject to doubt and delusion and therefore is received for and because of another and that which is not subject to any doubt but is received simply for and because of it self as being prima veritas the very first and original Truth Let us then consider how or how far these outward voices appearances and dreams were the object of the Saints faith was it because they were simply voices appearances or dreams nay certainly we know and they were not ignorant that the Devil can form a sound of words and convey it to the outward ear That he can easily deceive the outward senses by making things to appear that are not Yea do we not see by daily experience that the Juglers and Mountebancks can do as much as all that by their Legerdemain God forbid then that the Saints faith should be founded upon so fallacious a foundation as man's outward and fallible senses What made them then give credit to these visions eertainly nothing else but the secret testimony of Gods Spirit in their hearts assuring them that the voices dreams and Visions were of and from God Abraham believed the Angels but who told him that these men were Angels we must not think his faith then was built upon his outward senses but proceeded from the secret perswasion of Gods Spirit in his heart This then must needs be acknowledged to be originally and principally the object of the Saints faith without which there is no true and certain faith and by which many times faith is begotten and strenthenged without any of these outward or visible helps As we may observe in many passages of the Holy Scripture where it is only mentioned and God said c. And the word of the Lord came unto such and such saying c. But if any one should pertinaciously affirm that this did import an outward audible voice to the carnal ear I would gladly know what other argument such a one could bring for this his affirmation saving his own simple conjecture It is said indeed the Spirit witnesseth with our Spirit but not to our outward ears Rom. 8.16 and seeing the Spirit of God is within us and not without us it speaks to our Spiritual and not to our bodyly ear Therefore I see no reason where it 's so often said in Scripture the Spirit said moved hindered called such or such a one to do or forbear such or such a thing that any have to conclude that this was not an inward voice to the ear of the Soul rather than an outward voice to the bodyly ear If any be otherwise minded let them if they can produce their arguments and we may further consider of them From all then which is above declared I shall deduce an argument to conclude the probation of this assertion thus That which any one firmly believes as the ground and foundation of his hope in God and life Eternal is the formal object of his faith But the inward and immediate revelation of God's Spirit speaking in and unto the Saints was by them believed as the ground and foundation of their hope in God and life eternal Therefore these inward and immediate revelations were the formal object of their faith § IX That which now cometh under debate is what we have asserted in the last place to wit That the same continueth to be the object of the Saints faith unto this day Many will agree to what we said before who differ from us herein There is nevertheless a very firm argument confirming the truth of this assertion included in the Proposition it self to wit That the object of the Saints faith is the same in all ages though held forth under divers administrations Which I shall reduce to an argument and prove thus First Where the Faith is one the object of the Faith is one But the Faith is one Therefore c. That the Faith is one is the express words of the Apostle Eph. 4.5 who placeth the one Faith with the one God importing no less than that to affirm two faiths is as absurd as to affirm two Gods Moreover if the Faith of the Ancients were one and the same with ours i. e. agreeing in substance therewith and receiving the same definition it had been impertinent for the Apostle Heb. 11. to have illustrated the definition of our faith by the examples of that of the Ancients or to go about to move us by the example of Abraham if Abraham's faith were different in nature from ours Nor doth hence any difference arise because they believe in Christ with respect to his appearace outwardly as future and we as already appeared For nor did they then so believe in him to come as not to feel him present with them and witness him near seeing the Apostle saith they all drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them which Rock was Christ Nor do we so believe concerning his appearance past as not also to feel and know him present with us and to feed upon him except Christ saith the Apostle be in you ye are reprobates so that both our faith is one terminating in one and the same thing And as to the other part or consequence of the antecedent to wit that the object is one where the faith is one the Apostle also proveth it in the forecited Chapter where he makes all the Worthys of old examples to us Now wherein are they imitable but because they believed in God and what was the object of their Faith
and whereof he was a Minister is one and the same is not far off but nigh in the heart and in the Mouth which done he frameth as it were the objection of our adversaries in the 12 and 15 verses How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard How shall they hear without a Preacher This he answers in the 18 verse saying But I say have they not heard Yes verily their sound went forth into all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World insinuating that this Divine Preacher hath sounded in the ears and hearts of all men for of the outward Apostles that saying was not true neither then nor many hundred years after yea for ought we know there may be yet great and spatious Nations and Kingdoms who never have heard of Christ nor his Apostles as outwardly This inward and Powerful Word of God is yet more fully described in the Epistle to the Hebrews c. 4. v. 12 13. For the Word of God is quick and sharper than a two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart The vertues of this Spiritual Word are here enumerated it is quick because it searches and tries the hearts of all no man's heart is exempt from it for the Apostle gives this reason of its being so in the following verse but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do And there is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight Tho this ultimately and mediately be referr'd to God yet nearly and immediately it relates to the Word or Light which as hath been before proved is in the hearts of all else it had been improper to have brought it in here The Apostle shewes how every intent and thought of the heart is discerned by the Word of God because all things are naked before God which imports nothing else but it is in and by this Word whereby God sees and discerns mans thoughts and so must needs be in all men because the Apostle saith there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight This then is that faithful Witness and Messenger of God that bears witness for God and for his righteousness in the hearts of all men For he hath not left man without a witness Act. 14.17 and he is said to be given for a Witness to the people Isa. 55.4 And as this Word beareth witness for God so it is not placed in men only to condemn them for as he is given for a Witness so saith the Prophet He is given for a Leader and a Commander The Light is given that all through it may believe Joh. 1.7 For faith cometh by hearing and hearing by this word of God which is placed in mans heart both to be a Witness for God and to be a means to bring man to God through faith and repentance It is therefore powerful that it may divide betwixt the Soul and the Spirit It is like a two-edged Sword that it may cut off iniquity from him and separate betwixt the precious and the vile and because mans heart is cold and hard like Iron naturally therefore hath God placed this Word in him which is said to be like a Fire and like a Hammer Jer. 23.29 that like as by the heat of the Fire the iron of its own nature cold is warmed and by the strength of the Hammer is softned and framed according to the mind of the worker so the cold and hard Heart of Man is by the vertue and powerfulness of this Word of God near and in the Heart as it resists not warmed and softned and received a Heavenly and Coelestial Impression and Image The most part of the Fathers have spoken at large touching this Word Seed and Light and saving Voice calling all unto Salvation and able to save Clemens Alexandrinus saith lib. 2. Stromat The Divine Word hath oried calling all knowing well those that will not obey And yet because it is in our power either to obey or not to obey that none may have a preâ—â—xt of ignorance it hath made a righteous call and requireth but that which is according to the ability and strength of every one The self same in his warning to the Gentiles For as saith he that Heavenly Ambassador of the Lord the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared unto all c. This is the new Song coming and manifestation of the Word which now shews it self in us which was in the beginning and was first of all And again Hear therefore ye that are a far off hear ye who are near the word is hid from none the Light is common to all and shineth to all There is no darkness in the World let us hasten to Salvation to the New birth that we being many may be gathered into the One alone love Ibid. he saith that there is infused unto all but principally into those that are trained up in Doctrine a certain Divine Influence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And again he speaks concerning the innate Witness worthy of belief which of it self doth plainly chuse that which is most honest And again he saith that it is not impossible to come unto the Truth and lay hold of it seeing it is most near to us in our own houses as the most wise Moses declareth living in three parts of us viz. in our hands in our mouth and in our heart this saith he is a most true badg of the Truth which is also fulfilled in three things namely in Councel in Action in Speaking And again he saith also unto the unbelieving Nations Receive Christ receive Light receive Sight to the and thou maist rightly know both God and man The Word that hath inlightned us is more pleasant than Gold and the stone of great value And again he saith let us receive the Light that we may receive God let us receive the Light that we may be the Schollars of the Lord. And again he saith to those Infidel Nations The Heavenly Spirit helpeth thee resist and flee Pleasure Again lib. Strom. 5. he saith God forbid that man be not a partaker of Divine Aquaintance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who in Genesis is said to be a partaker of Inspiration And Paed. lib. 1 cap. 3. there is saith he some lovely and some desirable thing in man which is called the in breathing of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same man lib. 10. Strom. directeth men unto the Light and Water in themselves who have the Eye of the Soul darkned or dimmed through evil up bringing and learning let them enter in unto their own domestick light or unto the Light which is in their own House 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the Truth which manifests accurately and clearly these things that have been written Justin Martyr in his first Apology saith that the Word which
some will have him to be present therein this way and some the other way and some in Scriptures in Books in Societies and Pilgrimages and Merits But some confiding in an external barren Faith think all is well if they do but firmly believe that he died for their Sins past present and to come while in the mean time Christ lies crucified and slain and is daily resisted and gain-said in his appearance in their Hearts Thus from a Sense of this blindness and ignorance that is come over Christendom it is that we are led and moved of the Lord so constantly and frequently to call all invite all request all to turn to the Light in them to mind the Light in them to believe in Christ as he is in them And that in the Name Power and Authority of the Lord not in School arguments and distinctions for which many of the wise men of this World account us Fools and mad men we do charge and command them to lay aside their Wisdom to come down out of that proud airy brain knowledg and to stop that mouth how eloquent soever to the worldly ear it may appear and to be silent and sit down as in the dust and to mind the Light of Christ in their own Consciences Which if it minded they would find as a sharp two edged sword in their hearts and as a fire and a hammer that would knock against and burn up all that carnal gathered natural stuff and make the stoutest of them all tremble and become Quakers indeed Which those that come not to feel now and kiss not the Son while the day lasteth but harden their hearts will feel to be a certain truth when it is too late To conclude as saith the Apostle All ought to examine themselves whether they be in the Faith indeed and try their own selves for except Jesus be in them they are certainly reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 § XXV Secondly that which remains now to be proved is that by the operation of this Light and Seed some have been and may yet be saved to whom the Gospel is not outwardly preached nor the History of Christ outwardly known To make this the easier we have already shewn how that Christ hath died for all men and consequently these are inlightened by Christ and have a measure of Saving Light and Grace yea that the Gospel though not in any outward dispensation is Preached to them and in them So that thereby they are stated in a possibility of Salvation From which I may thus argue Arg. To whom the Gospel the Power of God unto Salvation is manifest they may be saved whatever outward knowledg they want But this Gospel is preached in every Creature in which is certainly comprehended many that have not the outward knowledg Therefore of those many may be saved But to those arguments by which it hath been proved that all men have a measure of Saving Grace I shall add one and that very observable not yet mentioned viz. that excellent saying of the Apostle Paul to Titus c. 2. v. 11. The Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godlily in this present World Than which there can be nothing more clear it comprehending both the parts of the controversie First it testifies that it is no Natural Principle or Light but saith plainly it brings Salvation Secondly it says not that it hath appeared to a few but unto all men The Fruit of it declares also how efficacious it is seeing it comprehends the whole Duty of Man It both teacheth us first to forsake Evil to deny Ungodliness and worldly Lusts and then it teacheth us our whole Duty First to live Soberly that comprehends Temperance Chastity Meekness and those things that relate unto a man's self Secondly Righteously that comprehends Equity Justice and Honesty and those things which relate to our Neighbours And Lastly Godlyly which comprehends Piety Faithfulness and Devotion which are the Dutys relating to God So then there is nothing required of man or is needful to man which this Grace teacheth not Yet I have heard a publick Preacher one of those that are accounted Zealous men to evite the strength of this text deny this Grace to be saving and say it was only intended of common Favours and Graces such as is in the heat of the Fire and outward light of the Sun Such is the darkness and ignorance of those that oppose the Truth whereas the Text saith expresly that it is Saving Others that cannot deny but it is saving alledg this all comprehends not every individual but only all kinds But is a bare negation sufficient to overturn the strength of a positive assertion If the Scriptures may be so abused what so absurd as may not be pleaded for from them or what so manifest as may not be denied But we have not reason to be staggered by their denying so long as our Faith is found in express terms of the Scripture they may as well seek to perswade us that we do not intend that which we affirm though we know the contrary as make us believe that when the Apostle speaks forth our Doctrine in plain words yet he intends theirs which is the quite contrary and indeed can there be any thing more absurd than to say where the word is plainly all few is only intended For they will not have all taken here for the greater number Indeed as the case may be sometimes by a Figure all may be taken of two numbers for the greater number but let them shew us if they can either in Scripture or Prophane or Ecclesiastical Writings that any man that wrote sense did ever use the word all to express of two numbers the lesser Whereas they affirm that the far less number have received Saving Grace and yet will they have the Apostle by all to have signified so Though this might suffice yet to put it further beyond all question I shall Instance another saying of the same Apostle that we may use him as his own Commentator Rom. 5.18 Therefore as by the Offence of One judgment came upon all to condemnation even so by the Righteousness of One the free Gift came upon all men to Justification of Life Here no man of reason except he will be obstinately ignorant will deny but this similitive particle as makes the all which goes before and comes after to be of one and the same extent Or else let them shew us one example either in Scripture or elsewhere among men that speak proper language where it is otherwise We must then either affirm that this loss which leads to condemnation hath not come upon all or say that this Free Gift is come upon all by Christ. Whence I thus argue First If all men have received a loss from Adam Arg. which leads to condemnation then all men have received a Gift from Christ which leads to
The Second Proposition Concerning Immediate Revelation Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son revealeth him and seeing the Revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit therefore the Testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been is and can be only revealed who as by the moving of his own Spirit converted the Chaos of this World into that wonderful order wherein it was in the beginning and created Man a living Soul to rule and govern it so by the Revelation of the same Spirit he hath manifested himself all along unto the Sons of Men both Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles which Revelations of God by the Spirit whether by outward voices and appearances Dreams or inward objective manifestations in the heart were of old the formal object of their Faith and remaineth yet so to be since the object of the Saints Faith is the same in all ages though set forth under divers Administrations Moreover these divine inward Revelations which we make absolutely necessary for the building up of true Faith neither do nor can ever contradict the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or right and found Reason Yet from hence it will not follow that these Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the examination either of the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or of the natural reason of Man as to a more noble or certain rule or touchstone for this Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident and clear of it self forceing by its own evidence and clearness the well disposed understanding to assent irresistibly moving the same thereunto even as the common Principles of natural Truths move and incline the mind to natural assent Such as are these that the whole is greater than the part that two contradictory sayings cannot be both true or false which is also manifest according to our adversaries Principle who supposing the possibility of inward Divine Revelations will nevertheless confess with us that neither Scripture nor found Reason will contradict it and yet it will not follow according to them that the Scripture or found Reason should be subjected to the examination of the Divine Revelations in the Heart The Third Proposition Concerning the Scriptures From these Revelations of the Spirit of God to the Saints have proceeded the Scriptures of Truth which contain 1. A faithful Historical Account of the Actings of God's People in divers Ages with many singular and remarkable Providences attending them 2. A Prophetical Account of several things whereof some are already past and some yet to come 3. A full and ample account of all the chief Principles of the Doctrine of Christ held forth in divers pretious declarations exhortations and sentences which by the moving of God's Spirit were at several times and upon sundry occasions spoken and written unto some Churches and their Pastors Nevertheless because they are only a Declaration of the Fountain and not the Fountain it self therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal ground of all Truth and Knowledge nor yet the adequate primary Rule of Faith and Manners Nevertheless as that which giveth a true and faithful Testimony of the first Foundation they are and may be esteemed a secondary Rule subordinate to the Spirit from which they have all their excellency and certainty for as by the inward Testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them so they testifie that the Spirit is that guide by which the Saints are led into all Truth Therefore according to the Scriptures the Spirit is the first and principle Leader And seeing we do therefore receive and believe the Scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit therefore also the Spirit is more originally and principally the Rule according to that received maxim in the Schools Propter quod unumquodque est tale illud ipsum est magis tale Englished thus That for which a thing is such that thing it self is more such The Fourth Proposition Concerning the Condition of Man in the fall All Adam's Posterity or Mankind both Jews and Gentiles as to the first Adam or earthly man is fallen degenerated and dead deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward Testimony or Seed of God and is subject unto the power nature and Seed of the Serpent which he sows in mens hearts while they abide in this natural and corrupted State from whence it comes that not their words and deeds only but all their imaginations are evil perpetually in the sight of God as proceeding from this depraved and wicked Seed Man therefore as he is in this state can know nothing aright yea his thoughts and conceptions concerning God and things Spiritual until he be disjoyned from this evil Seed and united to the Divine Light are unprofitable both to himself and others Hence are rejected the Socinian and Pelagian Errors in exalting a Natural Light as also the Papists and most of Protestants who affirm that Man without the true Grace of God may be a true Minister of the Gospel Nevertheless this Seed is not imputed to Infants until by transgression they actually joyn themselves therewith for they are by Nature the children of Wrath who walk according to the Power of the Prince of the Air The Fifth and Sixth Proposition Concerning the Vniversal Redemption by Christ and also the Saving and Spiritual Light wherewith every Man is enlightened The Fifth Proposition God out of his Infinite love who delighteth not in the death of a sinner but that all should live and be saved hath so loved the world that he hath given his only Son a Light that whosoever believeth in him should be saved who enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world and maketh manifest all things that are reproveable and teacheth all temperance righteousness and godliness and this Light enlighteneth the hearts of all in a day in order to Salvation if not resisted Nor is it less universal than the seed of sin being the purchase of his death who tasted death for every Man For as in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive The Sixth Proposition According to which principle or Hypothesis all the Objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved neither is it needful to recur to the Ministry of Angels and those other miraculous means which they say God makes use of to manifest the Doctrine and History of Christ's passion unto such who living in those places of the world where the outward preaching of the Gospel is unknown have well improved the first and common Grace For hence it well follows that as some of the old Philosophers might have been saved so also may now some who by Providence are cast into those remote parts of the world where the knowledg of the History is wanting be made partakers of the Divine Mystery if they receive and resist not that Grace a manifestation whereof is given
Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever By the latter part of this is sufficiently expressed the perpetuity and continuance of this Promise It shall not depart saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever In the former part is the promise it self which is the Spirit of God being upon them and the words of God being put into their mouths First this was immediate for there is no mention made of any medium he saith not I shall by the means of such and such writings or books convey such and such words into your mouths but my words I even I saith the Lord shall put into your mouths Secondly this must be objectively for the words put into your mouth are the object presented by him He saith not th◠words which ye shall see written my Spirit shall only enlighten your understandings to assent unto but positively my words which I have put into thy mouth c. From whence I argue thus Upon whomsoever the Spirit remaineth alwaies and putteth words into his mouth him doth the Spirit teach immediately objectively and continually But the Spirit is alwaies upon the Seed of the Righteous and putteth words into their mouths neither departeth from them Therefore the Spirit teacheth the Righteous immediately obejectively and continually Secondly the nature of the New Covenant is yet more amply expressed Jer. 31.33 which is again repeated and reasserted by the Apostle Heb. 8.10 in these words For this is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel in those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their minds and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest The object here is God's Law placed in the heart and written in the mind from whence they become God's People and are brought truly to know him In this then is the Law distinguished from the Gospel The Law before was outward written in Tables of stone but now it is inward written in the heart Of old the People depended upon their Priests for the knowledg of God but now they have all a certain and sensible knowledg of him concerning which Augustin speaketh well in his book De Litera Spiritu from whom Aquinas first of all seems to have taken occasion to move this question Whether the New Law be a written Law or an implanted Law Lex scripta vel Lex indita which he thus resolves affirming that the New Law or the Gospel is not properly a Law written as the Old was but Lex indita an implanted Law and that the Old Law was written without but the New Law is written within on the Table of the Heart How much then are they deceived who instead of making the Gospel preferable to the Law have made the condition of such as are under the Gospel far worse for no doubt it is a far better and more desirable thing to converse with God immediately than only mediately as being a higher and more glorious Dispensation And yet these men acknowledg that many under the Law had immediate converse with God whereas they now cry it is ceased Again Under the Law there was the Holy of Holys into which the High-Priest did enter and received the word of the Lord immediately from betwixt the Cherubins so that the People could then certainly know the mind of the Lord but now according to these mens judgment we are in a far worse condition having nothing but the outward letter of the Scripture to guess and divine from concerning one verse of which scarce two can be found to agree But Jesus Christ hath promised us better things though many are so unwise not to believe him even to guide us by his own unerring Spirit and hath rent and removed the vail whereby not only one and that once a year may enter but all of us at all times have access unto him as often as we draw near unto him with pure hearts He reveals his will to us by his Spirit and writes his Laws in our Hearts These things then being thus premised I argue Where the Law of God is put into the mind and written in the heart there the object of Faith and revelation of the knowledg of God is inward immediate and objective But the Law of God is put into the mind and written in the heart of every True Christian under the new Covenant Therefore the object of Faith and Revelation of the knowledg of God to every True Christian is inward immediate and objective The assumption is the express words of Scripture The Proposition then must needs be true except that which is put into the mind and written in the heart were either not inward not immediate or not objective which is most absurd § XII The third Argument is from these words of John 1 John 2. ver 27. But the Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but the same Anointing teacheth you of all things and is Truth and no Lye and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him First This could not be any special peculiar or extraordinary priviledg but that which is common to all the Saints it being a general Epistle directed to all them of that Age. Secondly the Apostle proposeth this Anointing in them as a more certain Touch-stone for them to discern and try Seducers by even then his own writings for having in the former verse said that he had written some things to them concerning such as seduced them he begins the next verse but the Anointing c. and ye need not that any man teach you c. which infers that having said to them what can be said he refers them for all to the inward Anointing which teacheth all things as the most firm constant and certain Bull-wark against all Seducers And Lastly that it is a lasting and continuing thing the Anointing which abideth if it had not been to abide in them it could not have taught them all things neither guided them against all hazard From which I argue thus He that hath Anointing abiding in him which teacheth him all things so that he needs no man to teach him hath an inward and immediate Teacher and hath some things inwardly and immediately revealed unto him But the Saints have such an Anointing Therefore c. I could prove this Doctrine from many more places of Scripture which for brevitys sake I omit and now come to the second part of the Proposition where the objections usually formed against
which is only evil and that always cannot of its own Nature produce any good thing The Lord expresseth this again a little after chap. 8. v. 21. The Imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth Thus inferring how natural and proper it is unto him From which I thus argue If the thoughts of mans heart be not only evil but always evil then are they as they simply proceed from his heart neither good in part nor at any time But the first is true Therefore also the last Again If mans thoughts be always and only evil then are they altogether useless and ineffectual to him in the things of God But the First is true Therefore also the Last Secondly this appears clearly from that saying of the Prophet Jeremiah 17.9 The Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked For who can with any colour of reason imagine that that which is so hath any power of it self or is any wise fit to lead a man to righteousness whereunto it is of its own Nature directly opposite This is as contrary to reason as it is impossible in Nature that a stone of its own nature and proper motion should flee upwards For as a stone of its own nature inclineth and is prone to move down-wards towards the Center so the Heart of man is naturally prone and inclined to evil some to one and some to another From this then I also thus argue That which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked is not fit neither can it lead a man aright in things that are good and honest But the heart of man is such Therefore c. But the Apostle Paul describeth the condition of men in the Fall at large taking it out of the Psalmist There is none righteous no not one There is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God They are all gone out of the way they are altogether become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one Their throat is an open Sepulchre with their Tongues they have used deceit the poison of Asps is under their Lips whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness Their feet are swift to shed blood Destruction and Misery are in their ways and the way of peace have they not known There is no fear of God before their Eyes What more positive can be spoken He seemeth to be particularly careful to avoid that any good should be ascribed to the natural man he shews how he is polluted in all his ways he shews how he is void of Righteousness of Understanding of the Knowledg of God how he is out of the way and in short unprofitable than which nothing can be more fully said to confirm our judgment For if this be the condition of the natural man or of man as he stands in the fall he is unfit to make one right step to Heaven If it be said That is not spoken of the condition of man in general Obj. but only of some particulars or at the least that it comprehends not all The Text sheweth the clean contrary in the foregoing verses Answ. where the Apostle takes in himself as he stood in his natural condition What then are we better than they No in no wise for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under Sin as it is written And so he goes on by which it is manifest that he speaks of Mankind in general If they object that which the same Apostle saith Obj. in the foregoing chapter verse 14. to wit that the Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the Law and so consequently do by Nature that which is good and acceptable in the sight of God I answer This nature must not Answ. neither can be understood of mans own nature which is corrupt and fall'n but of the Spiritual Nature which proceedeth from the Seed of God in man as it receiveth a new visitation of God's love and is quickened by it which clearly appears by the following words where he saith These not having a Law id est outwardly are a Law unto themselves which shews the work of the Law written in their Hearts These acts of theirs then are an effect of the Law written in their hearts but the Scripture declareth that the writing of the Law in the heart is a part yea and a great part too of the New Covenant dispensation and so no consequence nor part of mans nature Secondly if this nature here spoken of could be understood of mans own nature which he hath as he is a man then would the Apostle unavoidably contradict himself since he elsewhere positively declares That the Natural man discerneth not the things of God nor can Now I hope the Law of God is among the things of God especially as it s written in the heart The Apostle in the 7 chap. of the same Epistle saith verse 12. that the Law is Holy just and good and verse 14. that the Law is Spiritual but he is carnal Now in what respect is he carnal but as he stands in the Fall unregenerate Now what inconsistency would here be to say that he is carnal and yet not so of his own Nature seeing it is from his Nature that he is so denominated We see the Apostle contra-distinguisheth the Law as Spiritual from mans Nature as carnal and sinful Wherefore as Christ saith there can no Grapes be expected from Thistles nor Figgs of Thorns so neither can the fulfilling of the Law which is Spiritual Holy and Just be expected from that Nature which is Corrupt Fall'n and Unregenerate Whence we conclude with good reason that the Nature here spoken of by which the Gentiles are said to have done the things contained in the Law is not the common Nature of men but the Spiritual Nature that ariseth from the works of the Righteous and Spiritual Law that 's written in the heart I confess they of the other extream when they are pressed with this Testimony by the Socinians and Pelagians as well as by us when we use this Scripture to shew them how some of the Heathens by the Light of Christ in their heart come to be saved are very far to seek giving this answer that there were some reliques of the Heavenly Image left in Adam by which the Heathens could do some good things Which as it is in it self without proof so it contradicts their own assertions elsewhere and gives away their cause For if these reliques were of force to enable them to fulfil the Righteous Law of God it takes away the necessity of Christs coming or at least leaves them away to be saved without him unless they will say which is worst of all that though they really fulfilled the righteous Law of God yet God damned them because of the want of that particular knowledg while he himself withheld all means of their coming to him from them but of this hereafter § III. I might also here use
saith is in his sinning and then as if he purposed expresly to shut out such an opinion he assures us the Son shall not bear the Fathers Iniquity From which I thus argue If the Son bear not the Iniquity of his Father or of his immediate Parents far less shall he bear the iniquity of Adam But the Son shall not bear the Iniquity of his Father Therefore c. § V. Having thus far shewn how absurd this Opinion is I shall briefly examine the reasons its Authors bring for it First They say Adam was a publick Person Obj. and therefore all men sinned in him as being in his loins And for this they alledg that of Rom. 5.12 Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so Death passed upon all men for that all have sinned c. These last words say they may be translated in whom all have sinned To this I answer That Adam is a publick person is not denyed and that through him there is a seed of sin propagated to all men Answ. which in its own nature is sinsiul and inclines men to iniquity yet will it not follow from thence that Infants who joyn not with this Seed are guilty As for these words in the Romans the reason of the guilt there alledged is for that all have sinned Now no man is said to sin unless he actually sin in his own person for the Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may very well relate to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the nearest antecedent so that they hold forth how that Adam by his sin gave an entrance to sin in the world and so death entred by sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. upon which viz. occasion or in which viz. death all others have sinned that is actually in their own person to wit all that were capable of sinning of which number that infants could not be the Apostle clearly shews by the following verse Sin is not imputed where there is no Law and since as is above proved there is no Law to Infants they cannot be here included Their second Objection is from Psal. 51.5 Obj. Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me Hence they say it appears that Infants from their Conception are guilty How they infer this consequence for my part I see not The iniquity and sin here Answ. appears to be far more ascribable to the Parents than to the Child It is said indeed In sin did my mother conceive me not my mother did conceive me a sinner Besides that so interpreted contradicts expresly the Scripture before mentioned in making Children guilty of the sins of their immediate Parents for of Adam there is not here any mention contrary to the plain words the Son shall not bear the Fathers iniquity Obj. Thirdly They object that the wages of sin is death and that seeing Children are subject to Diseases and Death therefore they must be guilty of sin Answ. I answer That these things are a consequence of the fall and of Adams sin is confessed but that infers necessarily a guilt in all others that are subject to them is denyed For though the whole outward Creation suffered a decay by Adam's fall which groans under vanity according to which it is said in Job that the Heavens are not clean in the sight of God yet will it not from thence follow that the Herbs Earth and Trees are sinners Next Death though a consequent of the fall incident to mans earthly Nature is not the wages of sin in the Saints but rather sleep by which they pass from death to life which is so far from being troublesome and painful to them as all real punishments for sin are that the Apostle counts it gain To me saith he to die is gain Psal. 1.21 Obj. Some are so foolish as to make an objection farther saying That if Adam 's sin be not imputed to those who actually have not sinned then it would follow that all Infants are saved But we are willing that this supposed absurdity should be the consequence of our Doctrine rather than that which it seems our adversaries reckon not absurd though the undoubted and unavoidable consequence of theirs viz. that Many Infants eternally perish not for any sin of their own but only for Adams iniquity where we are willing to let the controversie sist commending both to the illuminated understanding of the Christian Reader This error of our adversaries is both denied and refuted by Zwinglius that eminent Founder of the Protestant Churches of Zwitzerland in his Book De Baptismo for which he is anathematized by the Council of Trent in the fifth Session We shall only add this information that we confess then that a seed of sin is transmitted to all men from Adam although imputed to none until by sinning they actually joyn with it in which seed he gave occasion to all to sin and it is the orignal of all evil actions and thoughts in mens hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to wit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in the 5. of the Romans i. e. in which death all have sinned For this seed of sin is frequently called Death in the Scripture and the body of death seeing indeed it is a death to the Life of Righteousness and Holiness Therefore its seed and its product is called the old man the old Adam in which all sin is for which cause we use this name to express this sin and not that of original sin of which phrase the Scripture makes no mention and under which invented and unscriptural Barbarism this notion of imputed sin to Infants took place among Christians The Fifth and Sixth Propositions Concerning the Vniversal Redemption by Christ and also the saving and Spiritual Light wherewith every man is inlightned The Fifth Proposition GOD out of his Infinite love who delighteth not in the Death of a Sinner but that all should live and be saved hath so loved the World that he hath given his only Son a LIGHT that whosoever believeth in him shall be saved John 3.16 Who inlighteneth every man that cometh into the World John 1.9 And maketh manifest all things that are reprovable Eph. 5.12 And teacheth all Temperance Righteousness and Godliness And this light lighteneth the hearts of all in a day in order to Salvation and this is it which reproves the Sin of all Individuals and would work out the Salvation of all if not resisted nor is it less Universal than the Seed of Sin being the purchase of his death who tasted death for every man For as in Adam all dye even so in Christ all shall be made alive 1 Cor. 15.22 The Sixth Proposition According to which Principle or hypothesis all the objections against the Universality of Christs Death are easily solved neither is it needful to recur to the Ministry of Angels and those other miraculous means which they say God useth to manifest the Doctrine and
shewing that the tendency of God's goodness leadeth to repentance How could it necessarily tend to lead them ro repentance How could it be called riches or goodness to them if there were not a time wherein they might repent by it and come to be sharers of the riches exhibited in it From all which I thus argue If God plead with the wicked from the possibility of their being accepted if God's Spirit strive in them for a season in order to save them who afterwards perish if he wait to be gratious unto them if he be long-suffering towards them And if this long-suffering be Salvation to them while it endureth during which time God willeth them not to Perish but exhibiteth to them the riches of his goodness and forbearance to lead them to repentance then there is a day of Visitation wherein such might have been or some such now may be saved who have perished and may if they repent not perish But the first is true Therefore also the Last § XX. Secondly this appeareth from the Prophet Isa. 5.4 What could I have done more to my Vineyard for in the 2 verse he saith he hath fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest Vine and yet saith he when I looked it should have brought forth grapes it brought forth Wild grapes Wherefore he calleth the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judea to judg betwixt him and his vineyard saying what could I have done more to my vineyard than I have done in it and yet as is said it brought forth wild grapes Which was applied to many in Israel who refused God's Mercy The same example is used by Christ Matth. 21.33 Mar. 12.1 Luk. 20.9 where Jesus shews how to some a Vineyard was planted and all things given necessary for them to get them fruit to pay or restore to their Master and how the Master many times waited to be merciful to them in sending servants after servants and passing by many offences before he determined to destroy and cast them out First then this cannot be understood of the Saints or of such as repent and are saved for it is said expresly he will destroy them Neither would the parable any wayes have answered the end for which it is alledged if these men had not been in a Capacity to have done good yea such was their capacity that Christ saith in the Prophet What could I have done more So that it is more than manifest that by this parable repeated in three sundry Evangelists Christ holds forth his long-suffering towards men and their wickedness to whom means of Salvation being afforded do nevertheless resist to their own condemnation To these also are parallel these Scriptures Prov. â—1 24 25 26. Jer. 18.9 10. Matth. 18.32 33 34. Acts 13.46 Lastly that there is a day of Visitation given to the wicked wherein they might have been saved and which being expired they are shut out from Salvation appears evidently by Christ's Lamentation over Jerusalem expressed in three sundry places Matth. 23.37 Luk. 13.34.19 v. 41 42. And when he was come near he beheld the City and wept over it saying If thou hadst known euen thou at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes Than which nothing can be said more evident to prove our Doctrin For first he insinuates that there was a day wherein the inhabitants of Jerusalem might have known those things that belonged to their Peace Secondly that during that day he was willing to have gathered them even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens A familiar Example yet very significative in this case which shews that the offer of Salvation made unto them was not in vain on his part but as really and with as great chearfulness and willingness as a Hen gathereth her Chickens Such as is the love and care of the Hen towards her Brood such is the care of Christ to gather lost Men and Women to redeem them out of their corrupt and degenerate state Thirdly That because they refused the things belonging to their Peace were hid from their Eyes Why were they hid because ye would not suffer me to gather you ye would not see those things that are good for you in the season of God's Love towards you and therefore now that day being expired ye cannot see them and for a farther judgment God suffers you to be hardened in unbelief So it is after real offer of Mercy and Salvation rejected that God hardens Mens Hearts and not before Thus that saying is verified To him that hath shall be given and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath This may seem a riddle yet is according to this Doctrin easily solved He hath not because he hath lost the season of using it and so to him it is now as nothing for Christ uses this expression Matth. 25.26 upon the occasion of taking the one Talent from the sloathful Servant and giving it to him that was diligent which Talent was no wayes insufficient of it self but of the same nature with those given to the others and therefore the Lord had reason to exact the profit of it proportionably as well as from the rest So I say it is after the rejecting of the day of Visitation that the Judgment of Obduration is inflicted upon Men and Women as Christ pronounceth it upon the Jews out of Isa. 6.9 which all the four Evangelists make mention of Mat. 13.14 Mat. 4.12 Luk. 8.10 Joh. 12.40 And last of all the Apostle Paul after he had made offer of the Gospel of Salvation to the Jews at Rome pronounceth the same Acts 28.26 after that some believed not Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the Prophet unto our Fathers saying Go unto this People and say hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive For the heart of this People is waxed gross and their Ears are dull of hearing and their Eyes have they closed least they should see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and understand with their Heart and should be converted and I should heal them So it appears that God would have them to see but they closed their Eyes and therefore they are justly hardened Of this matter Cyrillus Alexandrinus upon John lib. 6. cap. 21. speaks well answering to this objection But some may say if Christ be come into the World that those that see may be blinded their Blindness is not imputed unto them but it rather seems that Christ is the cause of their Blindness who saith he is come into the world that those that see may be blinded But saith he they speak not rationally who object these things unto God and are not afraid to call him the Author of evil For as the sensible Sun is carryed upon our Horizon that it may communicate the gift of its clearness unto all and make
Saints and the Blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin is possessed must be Sufficient But such is the LIGHT 1 Joh. 1.7 Therefore c. Moreover That which we are commanded to believe in that we may become the Children of the Light must be a Supernatural Sufficient and Saving Principle But we are commanded to believe in this Light Therefore c. The Proposition cannot be denyed The Assumption is Christ's own words John 12.36 While ye have Light believe in the Light that ye may be the Children of the Light To this they object that by Light here is understood Christ's outward Person in whom he would have them believe That they ought to have believed in Christ that is that he was the MESSIAH that was to come is not denyed but how they evince that Christ intended that here I see not nay the place it self shews the contrary by those words While ye have Light and by the verse going before Walk while ye have the Light least Darkness come upon you Which words import that when that Light in which they were to believe was removed then they should lose the capacity or season of believing Now this could not be understood of Christ's Person the Jews might have believed in him and many did savingly believe in him as all Christians do at this day when the Person to wit his bodily presence or outward man is far removed from them So that this Light in which they were commanded to believe must be that inward Spiritual Light that shines in their Hearts for a season even during the day of Man's Visitation which while it continueth to call invite and exhort Men are said to have it and may believe in it but when refuse to believe in it and reject it then it ceaseth to be light to shew them the way but leaves the sense of their unfaithfulness as a sting in their Conscience which is a terror and darkness unto them and upon them in which they cannot know where to go neither work any waies profitably in order to their Salvation and therefore to such rebellious ones the day of the Lord is said to be darkness and not light Amos 5.18 From whence it appears that tho many receive not the Light as the darkness comprehends it not nevertheless this Saving Light shines in all that it may save them Concerning which also Cyrillus Alexandrinus saith well and defends our Principle With great diligence and watchfulness saith he doth the Apostle John endeavour to anticipate and prevent the vain thoughts of men for there is here a wonderful method of sublime things and overturning of Objections he hath just now called the Son the true Light by whom he affirmed that every man coming into the world was inlightned yea that he was in the World and the world was made by him One may then object if the Word of God be the Light and if this Light inlighten the hearts of men and suggest unto men piety and the understanding of things if he was alwayes in the world and was the Creator or Builder of the world why was he so long unknown unto the world It seems rather to follow because he was unknown to the world therefore the world was not inlightened by him nor he totally Light Let any should so object he divinely infers and the world knew him not Let not the world saith he accuse the Word of God and his Eternal Light but it s own weakness For the Son inlightens but the creature rejects the Grace that 's given unto it and abuseth the sharpness of understanding granted it by which it might have naturally known God and as a prodigal hath turned its sight to the Creatures neglected to go forward and through lazyness and negligence buried the illumination and despised this Grace Which that the disciple of Paul might not do he was commanded to watch therefore it is to be imputed to their wickedness who are illuminated and not unto the Light for as albeit the sun riseth upon all yet he that is blind receiveth no benefit thereby none thence can justly accuse the brightness of the Sun but will ascribe the cause of not seeing to the blindness So I judg it is only to be understood of the Only Begotten Son of God for he is the true Light and sendeth forth his brightness upon all but the God of this world as Paul saith hath blinded the minds of those that believe not 2 Cor. 4.4 That the Light of the Gospel shine not unto them We say then that darkness is come upon men not because they are altogether deprived of Light for Nature retaineth still the strength of understanding divinely given it but because man is dull'd by an evil habit and become worse and hath made the measure of Grace in some respect to languish When therefore the like befals to man the Psalmist justly Prays crying Open mine Eyes that I may behold the wonderful things of thy Law For the Law was given that this Light might be kindled in us the blearedness of the eyes of our minds being wiped away and the blindness being removed which detain'd us in our former ignorance By these words then the world is accused as ungrateful and unsensible not knowing its Author nor bringing forth the good fruit of the illumination that it may now seem to be said truly of all which was of old said by the Prophet of the Jews I expected that it should have brought forth grapes but it brought forth wild grapes For the good fruit of the illumination was the knowledg of the Only Begotten as a cluster hanging from a fruitful branch c. From which it appears Cyrillus believed that a saving illumination was given unto all For as to what he speaks of Nature he understands it not of the common nature of man by it self but of that nature which hath the strength of understanding Divinely given it for he understands this Universal Illumination to be of the same kind with that Grace of which Paul makes mention to Timothy saying Neglect not the Grace that is in thee Now it is not to be believed that Cyrillus was so ignorant as to judg that Grace to have been some natural gift § XXII That this Saving Light and Seed or a measure of it is given to all Christ telleth expresly in the Parable of the Sower Matth. 13. from v. 18. Mark 4. and Luke 8.11 he saith that this seed sown in those several sorts of grounds is the Word of the Kingdom which the Apostle calls the Word of Faith Rom. 10.8 Ja. 1.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the implanted ingrafted Word which is able to save the Soul the words themselves declare that it is that which is Saving in the nature of it for in the good ground it fructified abundantly Let us then observe that this Seed of the Kingdom this Saving Supernatural and Sufficient Word was really sown in the stony thorny ground and by the way-side where
it did not profit but became useless as to these grounds It was I say the same Seed that was sown in the good ground It is then the fear of Persecution and deceitfulness of riches as Christ himself interpreteth the parable which hindereth this Seed to grow in the hearts of many Not but that in its own nature it is sufficient being the same with that which groweth up and prospereth in the hearts of those who receive it So that though all are not saved by it yet there is a Seed of Salvation planted and sown in the hearts of all by God which would grow up and redeem the Soul if it were not choaked and hindred Concerning this parable Victor Antiochenus on the 4 chap. of Mark as he is cited by Vossius in his Pelagian History Book 7. saith that Our Lord Christ hath liberally sown the Divine Seed of the Word and proposed it to all without respect of persons and as he that soweth distinguisheth not betwixt ground and ground but simply casteth in the seed without distinction so our Saviour hath offered the food of the Divine Word so far as was his part altho he was not ignorant what would become of many Lastly he so behaved himself as he might justly say what should I have done than I have not done And to this answereth the parable of the Talents Mat. 25. he that had two Talents was accepted as well as he that had five because he used them to his Master's profit And he that had one might have done so his Talent was of the same nature with the rest it was capable to have proportionably brought forth its interest as the rest And so tho there be not a like proportion of Grace given to all to some five Talents to some two Talents and to some but one Talent yet there is given to all that which is sufficient and no more is required than according to that which is given For unto whomsoever much is given from him shall much be required Luk. 12.48 he that had the two Talents was accepted for giving four nothing less than he that gave the ten so should he also that gave the one if he had given two and no doubt one was capable to have produced two as well as five to have produced ten or two four § XXIII Thirdly this Saving Spiritual Light is the Gospel which the Apostle saith expresly is preached in every creature under Heaven even that very Gospel whereof Paul was a Minister Col. 1.23 For the Gospel is not a meer declaration of good things being the power of God unto Salvation to all those that believe Rom. 1.16 tho the outward declaration of the Gospel be taken sometimes for the Gospel yet it is but figuratively and by a Metonymie For to speak properly the Gospel is this inward Power and Life which preacheth glad tidings in the hearts of all men offering Salvation unto them and seeking to redeem them from their iniquities and therefore it is said to be preached in every creature under Heaven whereas there are many thousands of men and women to whom the outward Gospel was never preached Therefore the Apostle Paul Rom. 1. where he saith the Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation adds that therein is revealed the Righteousness of God from faith to faith and also the wrath of God against such as hold the Truth of God in unrighteousness For this reason saith he because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them Now that which may be known of God is known by the Gospel which was manifest in them For those of whom the Apostle speaks had no outward Gospel preached unto them so that it was by the inward manifestation of the knowledg of God in them which is indeed the Gospel preached in man that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith that is it reveals to the Soâ—l that which is just good and righteous and that as the Soul receiveth it and believes righteousness comes more and more to be revealed from one degree of Faith to another For tho as the following verse saith the outward Creation declares the Power of God yet that which may be known of him is manifest within By which inward manifestation we are made capable to see and discern the Eternal Power and God-head in the outward Creation so were it not for this inward Principle we could no more understand the invisible things of God by the outward visible Creation than a blind man can see and discern the variety of shapes and colours or judg of the beauty of the outward Creation Therefore he saith First That which may be known of God is manifest in them and in and by that they may read and understand the Power and God-head in those things that are outward and visible And tho any might pretend that the outward Creation doth of it self without any supernatural or Saving Principle in the heart even declare to the natural man that there is a God Yet what would such a knowledg avail if it did not also communicate to me what the will of God is and how I shall do that which is acceptable to him For the outward Creation tho it may beget a perswasion that there is some Eternal Power or Vertue by which the World hath had its beginning yet it doth not tell me nor doth it inform me of that which is just holy and righteous how I shall be delivered from my temptations and evil affections and come unto righteousness That must be from some inward manifestation in my heart Whereas those Gentiles of whom the Apostle speaks knew by that inward Law and manifestation of the knowledg of God in them to distinguish betwixt good and evil as in the next chapter appears of which we shall speak hereafter The Prophet Micah speaking of man indefinitely or in general declares this Mic. 6.8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good And what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God He doth not say God requires till he hath first assured that he hath shewed unto them Now because this is shewed unto all men and manifest in them therefore saith the Apostle is the wrath of God revealed against them for that they hold the Truth in unrighteousness that is the measure of Truth the Light the Seed the Grace in them for that they hide the Talent in the Earth that is in the earthly and unrighteous parts in their hearts and suffer it not to bring forth fruit but to be choaked with the sensual cares of this life the fear of reproach and the deceitfulness of riches as by the parables above mentioned doth appear But the Apostle Paul opens and illustrates this matter yet more Rom. 10. where he declares that the Word which he preached now the Word which he preached and the Gospel which he preached
by some citations out of them hereafter to be mentioned will appear though this Doctrine hath not since the Apostacy so far as ever I could observe been so distinctly and evidently held forth according to the Scriptures Testimony as it hath pleased God to reveal it and preach it forth in this day by the witnesses of his Truth whom he hath raised to that end Which Doctrine though it be briefly held forth and comprehended in the Thesis it self yet I shall a little more fully explain the state of the Controversie as it stands betwixt us and those that now oppose us § III. First then as by the explanation of the former Thesis appears we renounce all natural power and ability in our selves in order to bring us out of our lost and faln condition and first Nature and confess that of our selves we are able to do nothing that is good so neither can we procure remission of sins or justification by any act of our own so as to merit it or draw it as a debt from God due unto us but we acknowledg all to be of and from his Love which is the original and fundamental cause of our acceptance Secondly God manifested this love towards us in the sending of his Beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ into the world who gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour and having made peace through the blood of his Cross that he might reconcile us unto himself and by the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot unto God and suffered for our sins the Just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God Thirdly then forasmuch as all men who have come to man's estate the Man Jesus only excepted have sinned therefore all have need of this Saviour to remove the Wrath of God from them due to their offences in this respect he is truly said to have born the Iniquities of us all in his Body on the Tree and therefore is the Only Mediator having qualified the Wrath of God towards us so that our former sins stand not in our way being by vertue of his most satisfactory Sacrifice removed and pardoned Neither do we think that remission of sins is to be expected sought or obtained any other way or by any works or Sacrifice whatsomever though as has been said formerly they may come to partake of this remission that are ignorant of the History So then Christ by his death and sufferings hath reconciled us to God even while we are Enemies that is he offers reconciliation unto us we are put into a capacity of being reconciled God is willing to forgive us our iniquities and to accept us as is well expressed by the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath put in us the Word of Reconciliation And therefore the Apostle in the next verses treats them in Christs stead to be reconciled to God intimating that the Wrath of God being removed by the obedience of Christ Jesus he is willing to be reconciled unto them and ready to remit the sins that are past if they repent We consider then our Redemption in a two fold respect or state both which in their own Nature are perfect though in their application to us the one is not nor cannot be without respect to the other The first is the Redemption performed and accomplished by Christ for us in his Crucified Body without us The other is the Redemption wrought by Christ in us which no less properly is called and accounted a Redemption than the former The first then is that whereby man as he stands in the fall is put into a capacity of Salvation and hath conveighed unto him a measure of that Power Vertue Spirit Life and Grace that was in Christ Jesus which as the free Gift of God is able to counter-ballance overcome and root out the Evil Seed wherewith we are naturally as in the fall leavened The second is that whereby we witness and know this pure and perfect Redemption in our selves purifying cleansing and redeeming us from the power of Corruption and bringing us into unity Favour and Friendship with God By the first of these two we that are lost in Adam plunged in the bitter and corrupt Seed unable of our selves to do any good thing but naturally joyned and united to evil forward and propense to all iniquity servants and slaves to the Power and Spirit of Darkness are notwithstanding all this so far reconciled to God by the death of his Son while Enemies that we are put into a capacity of Salvation having the glad tidings of the Gospel of peace offered unto us and God is reconciled unto us in Christ calls and invites us to himself in which respect we understand these Scriptures He stew the enmity in himself He loved us first seeing us in our blood he said unto us live he who did not sin his own self bare our sins in his own Body on the Tree and he died for our sins the just for the unjust By the second we witness this capacity brought into act whereby receiving and not resisting the purchase of his death to wit the Light Spirit and Grace of Christ revealed to us we witness and possess a real true and inward Redemption from the power and prevalency of sin and so come to be truly and really redeemed justified and made righteous and to a sensible union and friendship with God Thus he died for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and thus we know him and the Power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable to us This last follows the first in order and is a consequence of it proceeding from it as an effect from its cause So as none could have enjoyed the last without the first had been such being the will of God so also can none now partake of the first but as he witnesseth the last Wherefore as to us they are both causes of our Justification The first the procuring efficient the other the formal cause Fourthly we understand not by this Justification by Christ barely the good works even as wrought by the Spirit of Christ for they as Protestants truly affirm are rather an effect of Justification than the cause of it But we understand the formation of Christ in us Christ born and brought forth in us from which good works as naturally proceed as Fruit from a Fruitful Tree It is this inward Birth in us bringing forth Righteousness and Holyness in us that doth Justâ—fie us which having removed and done away the contrary Nature and Spirit that did bear rule and bring condemnation now is in dominion over all in our hearts Those then that come to know Christ thus formed in them do enjoy him wholly and undivided who is The LORD our RIGHTEOVSNESS Jer. 23.6 This is to be cloathed with Christ and to have put
thus reconciled never sin or that when they so do they are still reconciled and their sins make not the least separation from God yea that they are justified in their sins From whence also would follow this abominable consequence that the good works and greatest sins of such are all alike in the sight of God seeing neither the one serves to justifie them nor the other to break their reconciliation which occasions great security and opens a door to every lewd practice Thirdly this would make void the whole practical Doctrine of the Gospel and make Faith it self needless for if Faith and Repentance and the other conditions called for throughout the Gospel be a qualification upon our part necessary to be performed then before this be performed by us we are either fully reconciled to God or but in a capacity of being reconciled to God he being ready to reconcile and justifie us as these conditions are performed which later if granted is according to the Truth we profess and if we are already perfectly reconciled and justified before these conditions are performed which conditions are of that Nature that they cannot be performed at one time but are to be done all ones Life-time then can they not be said to be absolutely needful which is contrary to the very express Testimony of Scripture which is acknowledged by all Christians For without Faith it is impossible to please God They that believe not are condemned already because they believe not in the Only begotten Son of God Except ye Repent ye cannot be Saved For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye And those that were converted I will remove your Candle-stick from you and unless you repent Should I mention all the Scriptures that positively and evidently prove this I might transcribe much of all the Doctrinal part of the Bible For since Christ said It is finished and did finish his work Sixteen Hundred Years ago and upwards if so he fully perfected Redemption then and did then actually reconcile every one that is to be saved not simply opening a door of mercy for them offering the Sacrifice of his Body by which they may obtain remission of their sins when they repent and communicating unto them a measure of his Grace by which they may see their sins and be able to repent but really make them to be reputed as just either before they believe as say the Antinomians or after they have assented to the Truth of the History of Christ or are sprinkled with the Baptism of Water while nevertheless they are actually unjust so that no part of their Redemption is to be wrought by him now as to their reconciliation and justification then the whole Doctrinal part of the Bible is useless and of no profit in vain were the Apostles sent forth to preach Repentance and Remission of sins and in vain do all the Preachers bestow their labour spend their Lungs and give forth Writings yea much more in vain do the People spend their money which they give them for preaching seeing it is all but actum agere but a vain and uneffectual essay to do that which is already perfectly done without them But lastly to pretermit their humane labours as not worth the disputing whether they be needful or not since as we shall hereafter shew themselves confess the best of them is sinful this also makes void the present intercession of Christ for men What shall become of that great Article of Faith by which we affirm that he sits at the Right Hand of God daily making intercession for us and for which end the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered For Christ maketh not intercession for those that are not in a possibility of Salvation that is absurd Our Adversaries will not admit that he prayed for the World at all And to pray for those that are already reconciled and perfectly justified is to no purpose to pray for remission of sins is yet more needless if all be remitted past present and to come Indeed there is not any solid solving of this but by acknowledging according to the Truth that Christ by his death removed the Wrath of God so far as to obtain remission of sins for as many as receive that Grace and Light that he communicates unto them and hath purchased for them by his Blood which as they believe in they come to know remission of sins past and power to save them from sin and to wipe it away so often as they may fall into it by unwatchfulness or weakness if applying themselves to this Grace they truly repent for to as many as receive him he gives power to become the Sons of God So none are Sons none are Justified none Reconciled until they thus receive him in that little Seed in their hearts And Life Eternal is offered to those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek Glory Honour and Immortality For if the Righteous man depart from his Righteousness his Righteousness shall be remembred no more And therefore on the other part none are longer Sons of God and Justified than they patiently continue in righteousness and well doing And therefore Christ lives always making intercession during the day of every man's visitation that they may be converted and when men are in some measure converted he makes intercession that they may continue and go on and not faint nor go back again Much more might be said to confirm this Truth but I go on to take notice of the common objections against it which are the Arguments made use of to propogate the Errors contrary to it § VI. The first and chief is drawn from that saying of the Apostle before mentioned 2 Cor. 5.18 19. God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them From hence they seek to infer that Christ fully perfected the work of reconciliation while he was on Earth Obj. I answer Answ. If by Reconciliation be understood the removing of wrath and the purchase of that Grace by which we may come to be reconciled we agree to it but that that place speaks no more appears from the place it self for when the Apostle speaks in the perfect time saying He hath reconciled us he speaks of himself and the Saints who having received the Grace of God purchased by Christ were through Faith in him actually reconciled But as to the World he saith Reconciling not Reconciled which reconciling though it denotes a time somewhat past yet it is by the imperfect time denoting that the thing begun was not perfected For this work Christ began towards all in the days of his Flesh yea and long before for he was the Mediator from the beginning and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World But in his Flesh after he had perfectly fulfilled the Law and the Righteousness thereof and rent the vail and made way
can draw near to the Lord with boldness and know their acceptance in and by him in whom and in as many as are found in him the Father is well-pleased The Eighth Proposition Concerning Perfection In whom this Pure and Holy Birth is fully brought forth the Body of Death and Sin comes to be Crucified and removed and their hearts united and subjected to the Truth so as not to obey any Suggestions or Temptations of the Evil One to be free from actual sinning and transgressing of the Law of God and in that respect perfect yet doth this perfection still admit of a growth and there remaineth always in some part a possibility of sinning where the mind doth not most diligently and watchfully attend unto the Lord. § I. SInce we have placed Justification in the Revelation of Jesus Christ formed and brought forth in the Heart there working his works of Righteousness and bringing forth the Fruits of the Spirit The question is how far he may prevail in us while we are in this Life or we over our Souls Enemies in and by his strength Those that plead for Justification wholly without them meerly by imputative Righteousness denying the necessity of being cloathed with real and inward Righteousness do consequently affirm that it is impossible for a man even the best of men to be free of sin in this life which they say no man ever was but on the contrary that none can neither of himself nor by any Grace received in this life O! wicked saying against the power of God's Grace Keep the Commandments of God perfectly but that every man doth break the Commandments in Thought Word and Deed. Whence they also affirm as was a little before observed That the very best actions of the Saints their Prayers their Worships are impure and polluted We on the contrary though we freely acknowledg this of the Natural Faln man in his first state whatever his profession or pretence may be so long as he is unconverted and unregenerate yet we do believe that those in whom Christ comes to be formed and the new man brought forth and born of the incorruptible Seed as that birth and man in union therewith naturally doth the will of God so it is possible so far to keep to it as 〈◊〉 to be found daily Transgressors of the Law of God And for 〈…〉 stating of the controversie let it be considered 〈…〉 that we place not this possibility in man 's own will and 〈…〉 is a man the Son of faln Adam or as he is in his natural state however wise or knowing or however much endued with a notional and literal knowledg of Christ thereby endeavouring a conformity to the letter of the Law as it is outward Secondly that we attribute it wholly to man as he is born again renewed in his mind raised by Christ knowing Christ alive reigning and ruling in him and guiding and leading him by his Spirit and revealing in him the Law of the Spirit of Life which not only manifests and reproves sin but also gives power to come out of it Thirdly that by this we understand not such a perfection as may not daily admit of a growth and consequently mean not as if we were to be as Pure Holy and Perfect as God in his Divine Attributes of Wisdom Knowledg and Purity but only a perfection proportionable and answerable to man's measure whereby we are kept from transgressing the Law of God and enabled to answer what he requires of us even as he that improved his Two Talents so as to make Four of them perfected his work and was so accepted of his Lord as to be caled a good and faithful Servant nothing less than he that made his Five Ten. Even as a little Gold is perfect gold in its kind as well as a great mass and a Child hath a perfect body as well as a man though it daily grow more and more Thus Christ is said Luke 2.52 to have increased in Wisdom and Stature and in favour with God and man though before that time he had never sinned and was no doubt perfect in a true and proper sense Fourthly though a man may witness this for a season and therefore all ought to press after it yet we do not affirm but those that have attained it in a measure may by the wiles and temptations of the Enemy fall into iniquity and lose it sometimes if he be not watchful and diligently attend not to that of God in the heart And we doubt not but many good and holy men who hath not arrived to everlasting life have had divers ebbings and flowings of this kind for though every sin weaken a man in his Spiritual condition yet it doth not so as to destroy him altogether or render him uncapable of rising again Lastly though I affirm that after a man hath arrived to such a condition in which a man may not sin he yet may sin I will nevertheless not deny but there may be a state attainable in this life in which to do Righteousness may become so natural to the Regenerate Soul that in the stability of this condition they cannot sin Others may perhaps speak more certainly of this state as having arrived to it For me I shall speak modestly as acknoâ—ledging my self not to have arrived at it yet I dare not deny it for that it seems so positively to be asserted by the Apostle in these words 1 John 3.9 He that is born of God sinneth not neither can he because the Seed of God remaineth in him The Controversie being thus stated which will serve to obviate objections I shall proceed first to shew the absurdity of that Doctrine that pleads for sin for term of life even in the Saints Secondly prove this Doctrine of perfection from many pregnant Testimonies of the Holy Scripture And lastly answer the arguments and objections of our opposers § III. First then this Doctrin viz. that the Saints nor can nor ever will be free of sinning in this life is inconsistent with the Wisdom of God and with his glorious Power and Majesty Who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity who having purposed in himself together to him that should worship him and be witnesses for him on earth a chosen people doth also no doubt sanctifie and purifie them For God hath no delight in iniquity but abhors transgression and though he regard man in transgression so far as to pitty him and afford him means to come out of it yet he loves him not neither delights in him as he is joyned thereunto Wherefore if man must alwaies be joyned to sin then God should alwaies be at a distance with them as it is written Isa. 59.2 Your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his Face from you whereas on the contrary the Saints are said to partake even while here of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 and to be one spirit with the Lord 1 Cor.
heavenly Mansions which together do make up the one Catholick Church concerning which there is so much controversie out of which Church we freely acknowledge there can be no Salvation because under this Church and its denomination are comprehended all and as many of whatsoever Nation Kindred Tongue or People they be though outwardly strangers and remote from those who profess Christ and Christianity in words and have the benefit of the Scriptures as become obedient to the holy Light and Testimony of God in their hearts so as to become sanctified by it and cleansed from the evils of their wayes For this is the Universal or Catholick Spirit by which many are called from all the four corners of the earth and shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. By this the secret Life and Vertue of Jesus is conveyed into many that are afar off even as by the blood that runs into the Veins and Arteries of the Natural Body the Life is conveyed from the Head and Heart unto the extremest parts There may be members therefore of this Catholick Church both among Heathens Turks Jews and all the several sorts of Christians Men and Women of integrity and simplicity of Heart who though blinded in something in their understanding and perhaps burthened with the Superstitions and formality of the several Sects in which they are ingrossed yet being upright in their Hearts before the Lord chiefly aiming and labouring to be delivered from iniquity and loving to follow righteousness are by the secret touches of this Holy Light in their Souls inlivened and quickened thereby secretly united to God and there through become true members of this Catholick Church Now the Church in this respect hath been in being in all generations for God never wanted some such witnesses for him though many times slighted and not much observed by this World And therefore this Church though still in being hath been oftentimes as it were Invisible in that it hath not come under the observation of the men of this World being as saith the Scripture Jer. 3.14 One of a City and two of a Family And yet though the Church thus considered may be as it were hid from wicked men as not then gathered into a visible fellowship yea and not observed even by some that are members of it yet may there notwithstanding many belong to it as when Elias complained he was left alone 1 Kings 19.18 God answered unto him I have reserved to my self seven thousand men who have not bowed their knees to the Image of Baal whence the Apostle argues Rom. 11. the being of a remnant in his day § III. Secondly the Church is to be considered as it signifies a certain number of persons gathered by Gods Spirit and by the testimony of some of his servants raised up for that end unto the belief of the true Principles and Doctrines of the Christian Faith who through their hearts being united by the same love and their understanding informed in the same Truths gather meet and assemble together to wait upon God to worship him and to bear a joynt testimony for the Truth against Error suffering for the same and so becoming through this fellowship as one family and houshold in certain respects do each of them watch over teach instruct and care for one another according to their several measures and attainments Such were the Churches of the Primitive time gathered by the Apostles whereof we have divers mentioned in the Holy Scriptures And as to the visibility of the Church in this respect there hath been a great interruption since the Apostles days by reason of the apostasie as shall hereafter appear § IV. To be a member then of the Catholick Church there is need of the inward calling of God by his Light in their Heart and a being leavened into the nature and Spirit of it so as to forsake unrighteousness and be turned to righteousness and in the inwardness of the mind to be cut out of the wild-Olive-tree of our own first faln nature and ingrafted into Christ by his Word and Spirit in the heart And this may be done in those who are strangers to the History God not having pleased to make them partakers thereof as in the V. and VI. Propositions hath already been proved To be a member of a particular Church of Christ as this inward work is indispensibly necessary so is also the outward profession of and belief in Jesus Christ and those holy Truths delivered by his Spirit in the Scriptures seeing the testimony of the Spirit recorded in the Scriptures doth answer the testimony of the same Spirit in the heart even as face answereth face in a glass Hence it follows that the inward work of Holiness and forsaking iniquity is necessary in every respect to the being a member in the Church of Christ and that the outward profession is necessary to be a member of a particular gathered Church but not to the being a member of the Catholick Church yet it is absolutely necessary where God affords the opportunity of knowing it the outward testimony is to be believed where it is presented and revealed the summ whereof hath upon other occasions been already proved § V. But contrary hereunto the Devil that worketh and hath wrought in the mystery of iniquity hath taught his followers to affirm That no man however holy is a member of the Church of Christ without the outward profession and that he be initiated thereunto by some outward Ceremonies And again That men who have this outward Profession though inwardly unholy may be members of the true Church of Christ yea and ought to be so esteemed This is plainly to put Light for Darkness and Darkness for Light as if God had a greater regard to words than actions and were more pleased with vain professions than with real holiness But these things I have sufficiently refuted heretofore Only from hence let it be observed that upon this false and rotten foundation Antichrist hath builded his Babylonish Structure and the anti-Christian Church in the apostasie hath hereby reared her self up to that heighth and grandeur she hath attained so as to exalt herself above all that is called God and sit in the Temple of God as God For the particular Churches of Christ gathered in the Apostles dayes soon after beginning to decay as to the inward Life came to be over-grown with several Errors and the hearts of the professors of Christianity to be leavened with the old Spirit and conversation of the World Yet it pleased God for some Centuries to preserve that life in many whom he emboldened with zeal to stand and suffer for his Name through the ten Persecutions But these being over the meekness gentleness love long-suffering goodness and temperance of Christianity came to be lost For after that the Princes of the earth came to take upon them that Profession and that it ceased to be a reproach to be a Christian but rather became a means to
participation of the Body Flesh and Blood of Christ than any of them all For Christ in this Chapter perceiving that the Jews did follow him for Love of the Loaves desires them ver 27. to labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth for ever but forasmuch as they being carnal in their apprehensions and not understanding the Spiritual Language and Doctrine of Christ did judg the Manna which Moses gave their Fathers to be the most excellent Bread as coming from Heaven Christ to rectifie that mistake and better inform them affirmeth first that is not Moses but his Father that giveth the true Bread from Heaven ver 32 48. Secondly This Bread he calls himself ver 35. I am the Bread of Life and ver 51. I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven Thirdly he declares that this Bread is his Flesh ver 51. This Bread that I will give is my Flesh And ver 55. For my Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed Fourthly the necessity of partaking thereof ver 53. Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you And lastly ver 33. the blessed fruits and necessary effects of this communion of the Body and Blood of Christ This Bread giveth life to the world ver 50. He that eateth thereof dieth not ver 58. he that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever ver 51. who so eateth this Flesh and drinketh this Blood shall live for ever ver 54. and he dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him ver 56. and shall live by Christ ver 57. From this large description of the origin nature and effects of this Body Flesh and Blood of Christ it is apparent that it is Spiritual and to be understood of a Spiritual Body and not of that Body or Temple of Jesus Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary and in which he walked lived and suffered in the land of Judea because that it is saâ—d both that it came down from Heaven yea that it is he that came down from Heaven Now all Christians at present generally acknowledg that the outward Body of Christ came not down from Heaven neither was it that part of Christ which came down from Heaven And to put the matter out of doubt when the carnal Jews would have been so understanding it he tells them plainly ver 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth but the Flesh profiteth nothing This is also founded upon most sound and solid reason because that it is the Soul not the Body that is to be nourished by this Flesh and Blood Now outward Flesh cannot nourish nor feed the Soul there is no proportion nor analogy betwixt them neither is the communion of the Saints with God by a conjunction and mutual participation of Flesh but of the Spirit He that is joyned to the Lord is One Spirit not by Flesh I mean outward Flesh even such as was that wherein Christ lived and walked when upon Earth and not Flesh when transported by a metaphor to be understood Spiritually can only partake of Flesh as Spirit of Spirit as the Body cannot feed upon Spirit neither can the Spirit feed upon Flesh and that the Flesh here spoken of is spiritually understood appears further in that that which feedeth upon it shall never die but the Bodies of all men once die yea it behoved the Body of Christ himself to die that this Body and Spiritual Flesh and Blood of Christ is to be understood of that Divine and Heavenly Seed before spoken of by us appears both by the nature and fruits of it First it 's said it is that which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life unto the world now this answers to that Light and Seed which is testified of Joh. 1. to be the Light of the World and the Life of Men. For that Spiritual Light and Seed as it receives place in mens hearts and room to spring up there is as Bread to the hungry and fainting Soul that is as it were buried and dead in the lusts of the World which receives life again and revives as it tasteth and partaketh of this heavenly bread and they that partake of it are said to come to Christ neither can any have it but by coming to him and believing in the appearance of his Light in their hearts by receiving which and believing in it the participation of this body and bread is known And that Christ understands the same thing here by his Body Flesh and Blood which is understood John 1. by the Light inlightening every man and the Life c. appears for the Light and Life spoken of John 1. is said to be Christ he is the true Light and the Bread and Flesh c. spoken of in this 6 of John is called Christ I am the Bread of Life saith he Again they that received that Light and Life John 1.12 obtained power to become the Sons of God by believing in his Name so also here John 6.35 He that cometh unto this bread of Life shall not hunger and he that believes in him who is this bread shall never thirst So then as there was the outward visible Body and Temple of Jesus Christ which took its origen from the Virgin Mary so there is also the Spiritual Body of Christ by and through which he that was the Word in the beginning with God and was and is GOD did reveal himself to the Sons of Men in all ages and whereby men in all ages come to be made partakers of Eternal Life and to have communion and fellowship with God and Christ. Of which body of Christ and flesh and blood if both Adam and Seth and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Moses and David and all the Prophets and Holy men of God had not eaten they had not had life in them nor could their inward man have nourished Now as the outward Body and Temple was called Christ so was also his Spiritual Body no less properly and that long before that outward Body was in being Hence the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 10.3 4. that the Fathers did all eat the same Spiritual meat and did all drink the same Spiritual drink for they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. This cannot be understood otherwise than of this Spiritual body of Christ which Spiritual body of Christ though it was the saving food of the Righteous both before the Law and under the Law yet under the Law it was vailed and shaddowed and covered under divers types ceremonies and observations yea and not so but it was vailed and hid in some respect under the outward Temple and Body of Christ or during the continuance of it so that the Jews could not understand Christ's Preaching about it while on Earth And not the Jews only but many of his Disciples judged it an hard saying murmured at it and many from that
was no other than of unjust to be made just through the Grace of God for Christ. He mentioneth more but this may suffice to our purpose § VIII Having thus sufficiently proved that by justification is to be understood a really being made righteous I do boldly affirm and that not only from a notional knowledg but from a real inward experimental feeling of the thing that the immediate nearest or formal cause if we must in condescendence to some use this word of a man's justification in the sight of God is the revelation of Jesus Christ in the Soul changing altering and renewing the mind by whom even the Author of this inward work thus formed and revealed we are truly justified and accepted in the sight of God For it is as we are thus covered and cloathed with him in whom the Father is alwaies well pleased that we may draw near to God and stand with confidence before his throne being purged by the blood of Jesus inwardly poured into our Souls and cloathed with his Life and Righteousness therein revealed And this is that order and method of Salvation held forth by the Apostle in that Divine saying Rom. 5.10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life For the Apostle first holding forth the reconciliation wrought by the death of Christ wherein God is near to receive and redeem man holds forth his Salvation and Justification to be by the Life of Jesus Now that this Life is an inward Spiritual thing revealed in the Soul whereby it is renewed and brought forth out of death where it naturally has been by the fall and so quickned and made alive unto God The same Apostle shews Eph. 2.5 Even when we were dead in sins and trespasses he hath quickened us together in Christ by whose Grace ye are saved and hath raised us up together Now this none will deny to be the inward work of renovation and therefore the Apostle gives that reason of their being saved by Grace which is the inward Vertue and Power of Christ in the Soul but of this place more hereafter Of the Revelation of this inward Life the Apostle also speaketh 2 Cor. 4.10 That the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our Bodies and ver 11. That the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal Flesh. Now this inward Life of Jesus is that whereby as is before observed he saith We are saved Secondly That it is by this revelation of Jesus Christ and the new Creation in us that we are justified doth evidently appear from that excellent saying of the Apostle included in the Proposition it self Tit. 3.5 according to his mercy he hath saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost c. Now that whereby we are saved that we are also no doubt justified by which words are in this respect synonimous Here the Apostle clearly ascribes the immediate cause of Justification to this inward work of Regeneration which is Jesus Christ revealed in the Soul as being that which formerly states us in a capacity of being reconciled with God the washing or regeneration being that inward Power and Vertue whereby the Soul is cleansed and cloathed with the Righteousness of Christ so as to be made fit to appear before God Thirdly This Doctrin is manifest from 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your own selves whether ye be in the faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates First it appears here how earnest the Apostle was that they should know Christ in them so that he presses this exhortation upon them and inculcates it three times Secondly he makes the cause of reprobation or not-justification the want of Christ thus revealed and known in the Soul whereby it necessarily follows by the rule of contraries where the parity is alike as in this case it is evident that where Christ is inwardly known there the persons subjected to him are approved and justified For there can be nothing more plain than this that if we must know Christ in us except we be reprobates ortunjustified persons that if we know him in us we are not reprobates and consequently justified ones Like unto this is that other saying of the same Apostle Gal. 4.19 My little Children of whom I travel in Birth again until Christ be formed in you and therefore the Apostle terms this Christ within the hope of Glory Col. 1.27.28 Now that which is the hope of Glory can be no other than that which we immediately and most nearly relie upon for our Justification and that whereby we are really and truly made Just. And as we do not hereby deny but the Original and Fundamental cause of our Justification is the Love of God manifested in the appearance of Jesus Christ in the flesh who by his Life Death Sufferings and Obedience made a way for our Reconciliation and became a Sacrifice for the remission of sins that are past and purchased unto us this Seed and Grace from which this birth arises and in which Jesus Christ is inwardly received formed and brought forth in us in his own pure and Holy Image of Righteousness by which our Souls live unto God ond are cloathed with him and have put him on even as the Scripture speaks Eph. 4.23 24. Gal. 3.27 We stand justified and saved in and by him and by his Spirit and Grace Rom. 3.24 1 Cor. 6.11 Tit. 3.7 So again reciprocally we are hereby made partakers of the fulness of his merits and his cleansing blood is near to wash away every sin and infirmity and to heal all our back-slidings as often as we turn towards him by unfeigned Repentance and become renewed by his Spirit Those then that find him thus raised and ruling in them have a true ground of hope to believe that they are Justified by his Blood But let not any deceive themselves so as to foster themselves in a vain hope and confidence that by the Death and Sufferings of Christ they are Justified so long as sin lies at their door Gen. 4. v. 7. Iniquity prevails and they remain yet unrenewed and unregenerate lest it be said unto them I know you not Let that saying of Christ be remembred not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter but he that doth the will of my Father Matth. 7.21 To which let these excellent sayings of the beloved Disciple be added Little Children let no man deceive you he that doth Righteousness is Righteous even as he is Righteous He that committeth sin is of the Devil because if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things 1 Joh. 3.7 20. Many Famous Protestants bear witness to this inward Justification by Christ inwardly revealed and formed in man as 1. M. Borrhaeus In the Imputation saith he wherein Christ
is ascribed and imputed to Believers for Righteousness the merit of his Blood and the Holy Ghost given unto us by Vertue of his merits are equally included And so it shall be confessed that Christ is our Righteousness as well from his Merit Satisfaction and Remission of sins obtained by him as from the gifts of the Spirit of Righteousness And if we do this we shall consider whole Christ proposed to us for our Salvation and not any single part of him The same man pag. 169. In our Justification then Christ is considered who breaths and lives in us to wit by his Spirit put on by us concerning which putting on the Apostle saith Ye have put on Christ. And again pag. 171. We endeavour to treat in Justification not of part of Christ but him wholly in so far as he is our Righteousness every way And a little after as then blessed Paul in our Justification when he saith whom he Justified them he Glorified comprehends all things which pertains to our being reconciled to God the Father and our renewing which fits us for attaining unto glory such as Faith Righteousness Christ and the Gift of Righteousness exhibited by him whereby we are regenerated to the fulfilling of the Justification which the Law requires so we also will have all things comprehended in this cause which are contained in the recovery of Righteousness and Innocency And pag. 181. The form saith he of our Justification is the Divine Righteousness it self by which we are formed just and good This is Jesus Christ who is esteem'd our Righteousness partly from the forgiveness of sins and partly from the renewing and the restoring of that integrity which was lost by the fault of the first Adam so that his New and Heavenly Adam being put on by us of which the Apostle saith Ye have put on Christ ye have put him on I say as the form so the Righteousness Wisdom and Life of God So also affirmeth Claudius Alberius Inuncanus see his Orat. Apodeict Lausaniae excus 1587. orat 2. pag. 86 87. Zuinglius also in his Epistle to the Princes of Germany as cited by Himelius c. 7. p. 60. saith That the Sanctification of the Spirit is true Justification which alone suffices to Justifie Essius upon 1 Cor. 6.11 saith Lest Christian Righteousness should be thought to consist in the washing alone that is in the remission of sins he addeth the other degree or part but ye are sanctified that is ye have attain'd to purity so that ye are now truly Holy before God Lastly expressing the sum of the benefit received in one word which includes both the parts But ye are Justified the Apostle adds in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that is by his merits and in the Spirit of our God that is the Holy Spirit proceeding from God and communicated to us by Christ. And lastly Richard Baxter a Famous English Preacher who yet liveth in his Book called Aphorisms of Justification pag. 80. saith that some ignorant wretches gnash their Teeths at this Doctrine as if it were flat Popery not understanding the Nature of the Righteousness of the New Covenant which is all out of Christ in our selves though wrought by the Power of the Spirit of Christ in us § IX The third thing proposed to be considered is concerning good Works their necessity to Justification I suppose there is enough said before to clear us from any imputation of being Popish in this matter But if it be queried Whether we have not said or will not affirm that a man is justified by Works Quest. I answer I hope none need neither ought to take offence if in this matter we use the plain Language of the Holy Scripture Answ. which saith expresly in answer hereunto Jam. 2.24 Ye see then how that by works a man is Justified and not by Faith only I shall not offer to prove the Truth of this saying since what is said in this Chapter by the Apostle is sufficient to convince any man that will read and believe it I shall only from this derive this one argument If no man can be Justified without Faith and no Faith be living nor yet available to Justification without works then works are necessary to Justification But the First is true Therefore also the Last For this Truth is so apparent and evident in the Scriptures that for the proof of it we might transcribe most of the precepts of the Gospel I shall instance a few which of themselves do so clearly assert the thing in question that they need no commentary nor further demonstration And then I shall answer the objections made against this which indeed are the arguments used for the contrary opinion Heb. 12.14 Without Holyness no man shall see God Matth. 7.21 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 Joh. 13.7 If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them 1 Cor. 7.19 Circumcision is nothing and Vncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the Commandments of God Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life and through the Gates may enter into the City and many more that might be instanced from all which I thus argue If those only can enter into the Kingdom that do the will of the Father If those be accounted only the wise builders and happy Arg. that do the sayings of Christ if no observation avail but only the keeping of the Commandments and if they be blessed that do the Commandments and thereby have right to the Tree of Life and entrance through the gate into the City then works are absolutely necessary to Salvation and Justification But the First is true And therefore also the Last The consequence of the antecedent is so clear and evident that I think no man of sound reason will call for a proof of it Obj. § X. But they object that works are not necessary to Justification First because of that saying of Christ Luk. 17.10 When ye shall have done all these things that are commanded you say We are unprofitable Servants c. Answ. Answer as to God we are indeed unprofitable for he needeth nothing neither can we add any thing unto him but as to our selves we are not unprofitable else it might be said that it is not profitable for a man to keep God's Commandments which is most absurd and would contradict Christ's Doctrine throughout Doth not Christ Matth. 5. through all those beatitudes pronounce men blessed for their Purity for their Meekness for their Peaceableness c. And is it not then that for which Christ pronounceth men blessed profitable unto them Moreover Matth. 25.21 23. doth not Christ pronounce the men good and faithful Servants that improved their Talents Was not their doing of that then profitable unto them and verse 30. It is said of him