think may take Sanctuary in that Ignorance which will I hope make some abatement for the mistakes of the people but as for the rest they would do well to consider those dreadful words of our Lord Luke 17.1 2. It is impossible but that offences will come but wo unto him through whom they come It were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones SECT 5. I should come next to consider that Argument of the Doctor which lies particularly against the supposal of Regeneration to be a Metaphorical expression of reformation of Life according to the Scriptures which he takes to be his Adversaries notion of Regeneration But it is fit their notion should be better understood than as 't is lamely represented by him Wherefore my next business shall be to state what I conceive to be the true meaning of Regeneration which being done I promise the Doctor not to forget his Objection against it The meaning of being Regenerate or born again will be fully known if we know what it signifies as a State and what as an Effect I shall first consider what is the meaning of being Regenerate as that phrase implies the state or condition of that man who is said to be Regenerate and then I shall offer those reasons which make it evident that that meaning is fit to be expressed by this Metaphor 1. As Regeneration denotes a State I affirm that to be regenerate or born again signifies in its utmost meaning to become a sincere Proselyte or Disciple of our Lord Jesus I shall first briefly shew what I mean by a sincere Disciple of Christ. Secondly I shall prove that to be the meaning of a regenerate state To be a sincere Disciple of Jesus consists in these two things 1. In being baptized as our Saviour requires 2. In making good the profession of Baptism which is to believe in Christ and to obey his Commands This is clearly answerable to that rule which our Blessed Saviour gave to his Apostles according to which they were to make men his Disciples Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost i. e. admitting them by Baptism into the Church and thereby engaging them to believe and to profess their Faith in the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of that Doctrine to which they have born record Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you i. e. and by the same Baptism engaging them to obey all my Commands That therefore which makes us sincere Disciples is thus to believe and obey as we are by Baptism engaged to do Now because to obey the Commands of Christ whatever we lose or suffer by it is the clearest proof we can give to our selves or others that we own him in good earnest to be our Lord and Master and that we do heartily believe him to be the Son of God therefore we finde that our Saviour speaks of this obedience to him as if it were the onely thing in which our being his true Disciples did consist Thus John 15.8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit that ye be fruitful in Piety and good works so shall ye be my Disciples The same thing is affirmed of obedience to one but that a very remarkable Precept of our Saviour John 13.34 A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one to another i. e. such love as Christ had to us Now we are not to think that this last saying of our Saviour concerning that one instance of obedience to him or that the former concerning obedience in general do exclude either the one obedience to the rest of his Laws or the other believing him to be the Son of God from being necessary to make us his true Disciples But that by such an high act of Vertue as to love the Brethren as Christ loved us it may strongly be concluded that we will not stick at any thing he requires of us and that our yielding a sincere obedience to all his Commands does clearly suppose that we believe him to be the Son of God and all his promises to be true Hence our Saviour does not admit that we can be his Disciples if we do not entirely submit our selves to him If any man come to me and hate not his Father c. and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple i. e. unless he loves God and Truth and Goodness so much more than all his worldly Interests even his Life it self that he may be said to hate these things when his love to them is compared with his love to Christ he cannot be a Disciple of Christ He cannot be so if he be not willing to part with all earthly things in obedience to Christ. The meaning is he cannot be a sincere Disciple he cannot answer the profession of Baptism while it is thus with him Thus are we taught to interpret those words by our Saviour himself in another place If ye continue in my word to do according to it whatever betides you for so doing in this world then are ye my Disciples indeed St. John 8.31 So that the best notion we can frame of a true Disciple of Christ and that to which we are guided by Christ himself is this that he is one who doth so firmly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that all his promises are true as to love God above all things and yield an hearty obedience to all the Commands of Christ. Now Secondly I am to prove that the state of Regeneration means no more than to become such a Disciple of Christ as I have described and my first Argument is this 1. It is acknowledged that unless we be Regenerate we cannot see the Kingdom of God and withal that if we be Regenerate we have thereby all that is necessary to qualifie us for his Kingdom It is I think likewise acknowledged that it is equally necessary and sufficient for that end that we be the sincere Disciples of Christ. Let these things be granted and I am much mistaken if it does not follow that to be Regenerate and to be a sincere Disciple of Christ are the same thing If the latter be not readily granted it is clearly proved from all those Scriptures which suppose Faith and Obedience to be necessary and sufficient qualifications for eternal Happiness such as these He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Christ is the Author of salvation to them that obey him He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Blessed are the pure in
heart for they shall see God Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. No unrighteous person shall enter into the kingdom of heaven The righteous shall go into life eternal And who is righteous He that doth righteousness is righteous Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them I will c. Matth. 7.24 Thus coming to Christ is sometimes affirmed to be the condition of having life by him and then by coming to Christ nothing can be meant but being his true Disciple which in allusion to the Jewish Proselytism is called coming to him I am the bread of life saith our Saviour he that cometh to me i. e. is my Disciple shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Now is there any thing plainer in the Book of God than that to be a sincere Disciple of Christ i. e. to believe in him so as to love him and obey his Commands is that state or condition of a man whereby he is and onely is qualified for the Kingdom of Heaven And if that be true it follows by undeniable consequence that Regeneration and all those other Metaphors which express the state of a man qualified for eternal happiness do signifie nothing else but his being such a Disciple of Christ as to believe in him to love him and obey him For if Regeneration signifies any other state then first to believe in Christ and to obey his Gospel is not a sufficient Qualification for pardon of sin and eternal happiness contrary to all those clear Texts now mentioned for besides this that other state supposed to be meant by Regeneration would be necessary And then secondly which is equally contrary to the Scripture Faith and Obedience would not be so much as necessary to qualifie us for Salvation since that other state supposed to be meant by Regeneration would be sufficient without them 2. The state of a regenerate man is by St. John explained to be that of being such a Disciple of Christ as we have described Thus he tells us 1 John 5.4 5. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God Here we have the full character of a true Disciple of Christ viz. one who so believes that Jesus is the Son of God that his Faith prevails against all worldly temptations the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eye and the pride of Life and who therefore keeps the Commandments of God not reckoning them to be grievous For this is the reason given by St. John why he that loves God keeps his Commandments because he that is born of God overcometh the world Thus also vers 1. Whoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God This is the state of Regeneration to believe that Jesus is the Christ with such a faith as implies obedience which is afterwards expresly added in those terms of keeping Gods Commandments and overcoming the world Again Chap. 2.29 If ye know that he is righteous ye know that every one that doth righteousness is born of him And in the next Chapter vers 9. we finde that every one that is born of him doth righteousness Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God i. e. such is the state and temper of his Minde such is the disposition of his Will and Affections that he doth not sin but his Life is agreeable to the Laws of God for his seed remaineth in him for the Word of God that divine Seed so called Matth. 13.19 1 Pet. 1. hath wrought its due and proper effects upon his soul by its precepts and motives for where this seed is received into a good and honest heart it will grow into good fruits and be an effectual principle of obedience and a holy life Wherefore the Apostle addes and he cannot sin i. e. it is not onely true of him that he abstains from sin but it is contrary to the genius and the sense of his soul to sin It is not the consideration of worldly Interests it is not the want of Temptation and opportunity that keeps him at any time from offending God so much as the sense of his duty to God his love of Virtue and the conformity of his Minde to the Laws of God which so long as they continue are principles which will carry a man through the whole circle of holiness and vertue Thus we use to say of a meek-spirited man that he cannot be furious and of an honest man that he cannot deceive and of a generous man that he cannot do a base or unworthy action By which words we do not mean that it is absolutely but morally impossible that he should it being directly contrary to the frame and the temper of his minde so to do And such is the state of him who is born of God and it is well expressed in those words of Joseph How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God He cannot sin i. e. the reason why he doth not sin is because it is abominable to him so to do and repugnant to the bent and inclination of his nature which being Holy and Divine will therefore produce a correspondent i. e. a godly and vertuous Life So apparently false is that Doctrine that although a man who hath been once regenerated fall into foul and abominable offences yet the Seed of God and the Root of the Matter and true Grace remains in him still For the Apostle saith He that is born of God sinneth not because the seed of God remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God How should this be a reason why he cannot sin viz. that the Seed of God remains in him that he is born of God if he may be guilty of notorious and wilful sins and yet that Seed remain and he be regenerate still Thus have I proved out of the holy Scripture that by a state of Regeneration the Scripture means no more than being a sincere Disciple and Follower of our Lord Jesus SECT 6. I must now tell Dr. Owen that he hath not done fairly to represent the opinion of his Adversaries concerning the state of Regeneration as if they believed it consisted onely in a Reformation of Life excluding a real change in the Soul And this is the best artifice he hath wherewith to delude his Reader into an ill opinion of them viz. to state their opinions falsly and then to fasten odious names upon them as he doth frequently in his Book Thus he tells us We meaning himself and his followers say and believe that Regeneration doth consist in Spirituali Renovatione Naturae a Spiritual Renovation of our Nature Our modern Socinians that it doth so in Morali
the proper sence But I do not see how so learned a man as Dr. Owen can excuse himself from dishonesty for making this construction of it which must appear ridiculous to any considering man However I hope the Reader will acknowledge that I have given a plain and reasonable account of the use of these Metaphors by shewing wherein the Similitude lies between the proper and figurative significations of them And hereby I may have helped our Author to conceive it a very possible thing that the Scriptures mean nothing more by those grand and Hyperbolical expressions as he calls them of being Regenerate c. then becoming a sincere Disciple of Christ which is his Adversaries notion of a Regenerate man Thus also I have shewn how far we may argue from these Scripture metaphors If any man can go further and finde out more Similitudes between the Metaphors and that which is meant by them I shall not be his Adversary provided he keeps himself within the bounds of Sense and Reason But to argue from the proper signification of any one or all these Metaphors to conclude something parallel in the state of a Believer to every thing which can properly be affirmed of them is to run upon such wilde and absurd consequences as any wise man would be asham'd to own and any good man would be afraid to fasten upon the Scriptures How our Author argues from them we shall see hereafter In the mean time we have proceeded thus far as to state the true notion of Regeneration SECT 10. Though I have as I conceive sufficiently proved that to be born again is to become a true Disciple of Christ yet for further confirmation and because it may be of some use to the ordinary Reader I shall make it plain that this notion is agreeable to the scope and designe of our Saviour's discourse to Nicodemus Joh. 3. which is the most famous place in the whole New Testament where this phrase is used It is one of the best ways of interpreting any difficult passage in Divine or Humane Authors to observe the designe of that whole discourse to which it belongs and then to fix such a meaning upon that passage as is apparently suitable to the scope of the Author if the words will bear that meaning That the Phrase of being Regenerate will bear that sence which I have assigned to it I have shewn and that it is the true sence thereof I have proved by clear Arguments from other Scriptures wherefore if I shew also that this sence of the Phrase is consonant to the plain scope of our Saviour in that discourse where he made the first mention of it that we read of nothing can be further desired to demonstrate that this indeed is the true meaning thereof The designe of our Saviour's discourse may easily be gathered from the plain passages of it and then it will appear to be this 1. To shew that faith in Christ and obedience to him were the means by which God had appointed to bring men to eternal Happiness 2. To shew the unreasonableness of the Jews who would not believe in him The former we finde vers 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life i. e. this is the way by which God hath determined to save Mankinde viz. by faith in his Son who was to be lifted up upon the Cross as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness a rude Salvage place and so fit to be the figure of that corrupt state of the World in which Christ came to die for us that whosoever believed in him should not perish but c. vers 14 15. Now this was so great a demonstration of God's Love to man thus to give his onely begotten Son that no man could hope to escape the anger of God who should refuse the benefit of this Sacrifice For though indeed God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved vers 17. yet he that believeth not is condemned already vers 18. is in a state to which condemnation belongs and that a more severe one for refusing so gratious an opportunity of Salvation as was now offered 2. Our Saviour shews the unreasonableness of those men that believed not and that by noting 1. The Evidence of that Truth which they disbelieved 2. The true cause of their unbelief The former he admonished Nicodemus of in these words Verily verily I say unto thee We speak that we do know and testifie that we have seen and ye receive not our testimony vers 11. i. e. Ye believe not my Doctrine concerning that onely way by which you must come to see the Kingdom of God although it be evidently true for this is that very Message which I bring you from God this is that Counsel and Decree of God which I come from him to testifie unto you that there is no other way but that Now this you acknowledge that I am a Teacher come from God for no man can do those Miracles that I do except God be with him v. 2. how strangely incredulous therefore are you that yet you will not believe me delivering that Doctrine which by these Testimonies of my coming from God I confirm For I prove that I have seen and known what I testifie I prove the truth of what I say by those Arguments that convince you that I am a Teacher come from God Hence we may probably gather the meaning of those words And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the Son of Man which is in heaven vers 13. to be this No man hath known the secret purposes of God concerning the way of saving Mankinde viz. by the death of his Son No man hath thus ascended into Heaven but he that is come from Heaven whom God hath sent to reveal this to you even he who now speaketh to you who am in Heaven who know the purposes and intentions of my Father concerning the way of Salvation This I take to be a more probable interpretation of this difficult place than that which supposeth our Saviour to speak here of his local ascension into Heaven afterward because 1. The words themselves seem not well able to bear the notion of a future ascension 2. As Grotius hath well shewn the phrase of ascending into Heaven is in other places of Scripture to be taken in the former sence viz. of gaining knowledge from God as in Prov. 30.3 4. And 3. if thus it is understood in this place then what our Saviour saith here hath a clear connexion with vers 11. where he rebuketh the Jews for not believing his Revelations taxing them of unreasonableness for it since he delivered nothing but what he had seen and known from God and also with the precedent verse where by the heavenly things our Saviour
hope and expectation These words I confess are capable of a double construction viz. that the expectation of Glory either without holiness previous to that expectation or without holiness previous to the obtaining of that Glory is a cursed hope If he means the latter he supposeth it possible for a Christian to expect Salvation and Glory though he is neither holy at present nor presumes that he shall be so hereafter and this is a cursed hope indeed but I believe it will be hard to meet with it any where either amongst Christians who deny the Doctrine of personal Election for they are perswaded that holiness is the condition of obtaining eternal Life or amongst Christians that grant it for they are perswaded as the Doctor can bear them witness that God will take care to make the Elect who shall onely be saved holy before he brings them to Glory There being therefore no great danger of any Christian's entertaining this cursed hope that he shall be brought to blessedness without being made holy antecedently thereunto as our Author's expression is one would think his zeal were meant against a wicked man's hoping to be saved i. e. who wants that ground for his hope which the Gospel affords to them who have sincerely forsaken their sinful courses Now if this be his meaning it is a very good meaning and I think he can hardly say too much to awaken those men who go on in their ungodly practices and still flatter themselves with the hope of Salvation But then from his words I infer 1. Such mens expectation of Glory cannot be built upon this foundation that God hath absolutely elected some persons to eternal Life for the Doctor saith it cannot be built upon any other foundation than this that God will rescind his eternal Decrees to comply with them in their sins and these are plainly two distinct things 2. That therefore there are no persons who are thus absolutely elected for if there were then a wicked man might hope that he is one of them and to nourish this hope he need not suppose that God will change his purposes to comply with him in his sins but that God will take care to convert him from his sins in compliance with his own purposes And then 3. It follows plainly that God hath decreed to save no man but upon condition of his being holy and therefore 4. There is not the least ground for any man to hope that he may be regenerated because he may be elected since Holiness or Regeneration it self is the condition of any man's being elected to eternal Life And this is to the full as much as I said concerning the desperateness of putting our Regeneration upon the venture of our Election And whether it be not the consequence of the Doctor 's words according to the most charitable construction of them I leave the Reader to judge between us But that he may not complain that I mis-represent his opinion concerning that which he calls the Decree of Election I shall here give you his own account of it from the second Chapter of his fifth Book where he discloseth his judgement of it very solemnly His designe in that Chapter is to prove that eternal Election is a cause of and motive unto holiness as the Title thereof acquaints us and therefore I acknowledge he took a very proper way to begin with explaining what he understands by eternal Election But I can by no means think he hath done fairly to make Election to be one thing when he industriously explains his notion of it and another thing when he proceeds to use it for the proving of something else To make it plain to him that he is guilty of this fault I will first shew what he understands by the Decree of Election where he pretends to prove that it is a motive to Holiness To this end he saith First the Soveraign Grace and Love of God herein is a powerful motive thereunto Now the Grace which he means is this That God should first chuse us unto Life and Salvation by Jesus Christ decreeing immutably to save us out of the perishing multitude of Mankinde from whom we neither then did in his eye or consideration nor by any thing in our selves ever would differ in the least which is as much as to say that Election is a peremptory Decree of God that this and that man shall be saved without considering them under any qualification which the Gospel saith is necessary to eternal Life so that his judgment in this place is that God hath absolutely elected all that shall be saved which he plainly affirmed not long before by saying that every thing else will fail but what is an especial fruit and effect of this Decree of Election But that he might be sure to be understood he propounds the common Objection against this Doctrine viz. that on supposition thereof a chosen one may happen to argue in this manner If God hath thus chosen me I may then live in sin as I please all will be well and safe in the latter end which is all I need care for i. e. Election to eternal Life being supposed to be absolute it follows that a man may live in sin all his days and it shall not go the worse with him hereafter Which inference seems to be plain and strong and I think our Author confesseth it so to be by not once attempting to shew the contrary But instead thereof he tells us This is the language of a Devil and not of a man and he that shall act practically according to this inference is such a Monster of Impiety and presumptuous Ingratitude as Hell it self cannot parallel in many instances May be so but I hope a man may doctrinally make this inference without being as ill-natured as the Devil and that our Author will not call us Devils for urging him with an Objection that he is not able to answer For when all is done if Believers should argue in this sort and live accordingly he has no way that I can see to convince them that they shall fare the worse for it But thus he goes on I shall use some boldness in this matter and to do him right he is every jot as good as his word for presently he sets himself to call them stupid impious and ungrateful Monsters and to bestow such language upon them as might make him liable to be questioned by his Brethren whether he has not taken too much boldness with the Elect if he had not made his peace with them in particular by saying that he never knew any man who was duely perswaded of his election in whom it tended to ingenerate loosness of Life But I suppose he is not acquainted with them all and if there be any of them that make this hellish inference doctrinally and practically too any man may see that his foul words do not confute the consequence of their arguing although they
of that change And as that original or cause of that change is not perceived by us as we know not whence the Wind cometh so the end of it is not perceived by us neither for that is eternal Life which yet we do not see as we know not whither the Wind goeth but onely believe 3. Our Saviour's Similitude likewise shews that a thing may be discoverable onely by its effects as the Wind is by the noise it maketh and other effects thereof so likewise the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes though they are not in themselves perceivable by us yet in their effects they are for if Christian Virtue and Piety cannot be attained or preserved without the Operations of the Holy Spirit then where there is this change in a mans state there we are sure have been and still are the Operations of the Spirit and though he doth not feel the cause it self yet he discovers it in its effects Dr. Owen indeed tells us that the Work it self is discoverable in its Causes and brings this very Text to prove his saying which proves the contrary 'T is true we know that the Spirit of God is the cause of this change but how not by the Work it self but by the Revelation of Christ who withal hath informed us that we have no other way to discern the Operations of the Spirit in us but by their effects i. e. those alterations that are thereby produced in our Hearts and Lives Thus then we may understand our Saviour's words Let not this startle you that the Operations of the Holy Spirit whereby you must be changed and as it were born again are not discernible and sensible for though you cannot feel them yet you may understand them by the effects and alterations in you that are caused by them Now whereas Nicodemus answered How can these things be I suppose the reason of his Hesitation was either 1. That he did not understand this to be our Saviour's meaning or 2. That he thought as Dr. Owen does that to be born again was too Hyperbolical an expression of that which he now perceived our Saviour meant by it I cannot positively say which it was But suppose whether you will our Saviour's Reply to him rebuked his Ignorance either way Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things vers 10. q. d. Art thou one of the Great Council a learned Jew and yet ignorant of these matters Do you not perceive that I speak to you of the necessity of becoming my Disciple in such language as any man who is vers'd in your Customs and in the Writings of the Prophets may easily understand Is not being born again that very phrase whereby you express the making of a Proselyte Is not washing one of the Ceremonies whereby a Proselyte is made amongst you and therefore when I tell you a man must be born of Water what should you think I mean but that he must become my Disciple by Baptism I have also told you that he must be born of the Spirit too and can you be ignorant that those Prophecies which speak of the days of the Messias do mention the Operations of the Holy Spirit upon the Hearts of men which shall then be liberally bestowed upon the Subjects of his Kingdom to make them good and holy persons viz. that God will circumcise the Hearts of his people that he will take away their Heart of stone and give them an Heart of flesh with his Law written in it that they may be the true Disciples of the Messias that Prophet to whom you are to hearken in all things I say unto thee We speak that we do know and testifie that we have seen and ye receive not our testimony vers 11. Now I am that Prophet but how credible soever that testimony is which is given hereof ye regard it not If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things vers 12. This last is a place of some difficulty for although by heavenly things are meant Doctrines which were to be known by the Revelation of Christ yet by those earthly things which our Saviour had told Nicodemus already we must not understand truths merely natural for that Jesus was the Messias that it was necessary for the Jews to become his Disciples by Baptism and to be born of the Spirit which none but his Disciples could be these were heavenly Doctrines too in this sence that they were knowable onely by Revelation Wherefore I conceive that by heavenly things here may probably be meant such revealed Doctrines as were most contrary to the worldly and sensual expectations of the Jews who had long cherished in themselves the notion of a Messias who should fight their Battels for them as their other Saviours and Deliverers had done and rescue them from the Roman Power Now these Doctrines were that Christ should be delivered into the hands of the Romans and be Crucified for the sins of the World that those who believed in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Divers Considerations make it probable that these are the heavenly things meant by our Saviour in this place for 1. After he had made way for it by telling Nicodemus that he onely ascended up into Heaven i. e. knew the secret purposes of God concerning the way of Salvation he falls upon the mention of that Death which he was to undergo for the sins of the World And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in c. 2. The Cross of Christ was that which made the Jews most of all offended that his Disciples should still pretend him to be the Christ. It was to the Jews a Stumbling-block and to the Greeks Foolishness and therefore it is probable this was the thing which the Jews would hardly believe viz. that God would save Mankinde by the death of his Son 3. When St. Peter rebuked our Saviour foretelling his own Passion he said unto Peter Get thee behinde me Satan for thou savourest not the things that be of God or heavenly things i. e. the wisdom of God's way to save the World but the things that be of man thou speakest according to the imaginations of the Jews who perswade themselves that the Kingdom of the Messias will be of this World Lay all these things together and it will appear probable that by those heavenly things which our Saviour intimated would be more difficulty believed by the Jews than those which he had already mentioned to Nicodemus are meant his Sufferings and Death by which Believers should be saved and which he discoursed to Nicodemus of presently after And then by the earthly things on the other hand we are to understand those truths which were indeed divinely revealed but were not so contrary to the worldly expectations of the Jews as the other viz. that Jesus was the Christ and that all men were to be his Disciples which
elected to the testimony of the Spirit or while men impatient of contradiction ascribe their absurd interpretations of the Scripture to the Revelation of the Spirit or while men low and weak in their national apprehensions of things impute the vanity which they frequently utter in their Prayers to the impulse and suggestion of the Spirit 2. To take off the minds of Christians from the expectation of such gifts from the Spirit as are nowhere promised that they may more zealously pursue after those Graces which are indeed promised and without which they cannot be saved And thus much for that part of my undertaking which concerned those Effects for the producing of which the Holy Spirit is promised CHAP. VI. Concerning those to whom the Holy Spirit is promised and given SECT 1. TO speak clearly to this matter we are in the first place to observe that the Operations of the Holy Spirit are either 1. Such as prevent our belief of the Gospel and our very first desires to know the will of God and to live according to it this is that Grace which depends not upon our believing being the cause of those dispositions which I have shewn to be preparatory and antecedently necessary to Faith it self 2. Such as follow after to cherish and improve such good beginnings in us and to endue us with all qualifications necessary to eternal Life Now the promises of this Grace are conditional such is that promise in St. Luke 11.13 and the condition is plainly exprest God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him who are already convinced of the Truth and desire to do the Will of God and pray for divine assistance Such also is that promise in 2 Cor. 6. that God will dwell in us which depends upon our being the sincere Disciples of Christ and cleansing our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit These are the principal promises of Grace made to us in the Gospel and it is evident we have no right to the former but on condition of our believing in Christ and owning our selves to be his Disciples nor to the latter if we do not obey the Gospel And from hence we may learn where the true difference lies between common and special Grace which is a distinction I doubt oftner used than understood That special Grace implies an higher degree of favour towards them upon whom it is bestowed than is signified by common Grace is obvious to every man's understanding Now there are indeed divers promises of such Grace to be met with in the Gospel and which will be in force to the end of the world but they are all of them conditional and made with respect to some Qualification without which they do not belong to us Wherefore special Grace is that which is suspended upon the performance of some condition and consequently that Grace to which such a condition is not required beforehand is common But since there are several degrees of Grace proportionable to the several Qualifications of men For instance since more Grace is promised to Believers than to Unbelievers and yet more to sincere Christians than to mere Professors The distinction is to be understood in this Latitude that the same degree of Grace which is special in one respect may be common in another for that Grace whereof Faith is the condition is common in respect of that which obedience qualifies a Believer to receive as it is special with regard to that which does not require the condition of Faith and which an Unbeliever is capable of Wherefore the distinction is not accurate enough to be nice withal for if it be strictly held to there are several instances of divine Grace that will not fall under it because then onely the first Operations of the Spirit upon our mindes preventing all good inclinations in them will be common Grace and those onely which crown our obedience with perseverance special But admitting the former Latitude the distinction will reach every Operation of the Holy Spirit upon our mindes and the difference between that Grace which is common and that which is special may be so placed as that we may understand one another when we use the distinction And then I offer it to be considered whether it be not most agreeable to the Scriptures to place the difference between them in this that common Grace is that whereby we are led to the faith of Christ and the profession of Christianity and so includes all those goods desires that are excited and all those good dispositions that are produced in the mindes of men before they believe and special Grace that which is given to Believers onely for the strengthning of their Faith the increasing of their good desires and the enabling of them to live according to the Gospel For although there are degrees of that Grace to which Faith is pre-required and of that which is antecedent to Faith our Saviour's rule To him that hath shall be given holding equally in both cases yet it is observable that the promise of the Holy Spirit in St. Luke and all the particular promises of that nature in the Gospel are given onely to Believers and that we have no right to them but upon the performance of some condition required in the New Covenant Now since there are peculiar promises of the Holy Spirit which belong onely to them that believe it seems agreeable to the Scriptures to suppose Faith to be the first condition of special Grace and consequently that Grace to be common which requires not the performance of any condition undertaken by us when we are admitted into the Covenant It is in this sence that I shall understand the distinction because otherwise I think it will often prove a Distinction without Difference since in the strict meaning of the words the same Grace may be both common and special Thus also we may understand the difference between preventing and co-operating Grace and between preparing and perfecting Grace For these distinctions express the same thing in other respects that is meant by common and special Grace For that Grace which we call common because it is given without that condition which is necessary to qualifie us for greater Grace is also said to be preventing Grace with respect to God who is the first cause of all that is good in us and likewise preparing Grace with regard to some further improvement that we are thereby made capable of attaining And then co-operating and perfecting Grace are but other words expressing the same thing that is meant by special Grace with a like difference of respects So that these distinctions are to be understood with the same Latitude and used with the same caution that the former is If I am mistaken in this they are more subtile and intricate than I was aware of But the accurate use of these distinctions is not that which I contend for it is sufficient for me if I can make my meaning to be
be effected but by a Physical Irresistible Operation which whether it can be called an Assistance I leave you to judge after you have considered these words which are your own The most effectual perswasions of the Holy Spirit for of them you were speaking cannot prevail with men in the state of Nature to convert themselves any more than Arguments can prevail with a blinde man to see or with a dead man to rise from the Grave and you must not forget that you make as irresistible an Operation necessary to Conversion as we suppose to be necessary for the raising of a dead Body Now you know 't is to no purpose to perswade a dead man to stir and by your Argument 't is to as little to perswade a man dead in Trespasses and Sins to Repent But would it not be also a most absurd thing to say that God assists a dead body to be alive again Whoever is said to assist another to do any thing is not supposed to do it all himself much less by an irresistible Power but the person that is assisted is supposed to contribute his own endeavour towards the thing Now a dead Body can do nothing towards its own Resurrection and therefore is incapable of being assisted to rise and if God raiseth it to life he must do all himself And do you not therefore make a Sinner incapable of being converted by the assistance of the Holy Spirit If you do not see this Consequence pray will you acknowledge your own plain words where you give us your sence of that saying of the Apostle ascribing the honour of all he did to the Grace of God Not I but the grace of God which was in me 1 Cor. 15.10 For thus you argue from thence Suppose now that God by his Grace doth no more but AID ASSIST and EXCITE the Will in its actings that he doth not effectually work all the Gracious actings of our Souls in all our duties that is that he doth not do all himself the Proposition would hold on the other hand not Grace but I seeing the principal relation of the effect is unto the next and immediate Cause and thence hath its denomination These are your own words wherein you do not onely deny Regeneration but which is much stranger even the Good which regenerate men do to be the effect of divine Assistance and you deny this in such plain terms that you allow them not to be the next cause of the good they do as if S. Paul had meant that in truth he had not laboured at all though he plainly said I laboured abundantly And thus you plainly make Believing Repenting and Labouring not to be so much as our own acts but purely the acts of God so that we do not believe and obey but according to you God does all this for us not so much as making us to believe and obey as 't is impossible he should without making us the next and immediate cause of our doing so Can you read these words of yours without blushing if you remember your crafty Preface where you were all for the Aids and Assistances of the Spirit and put your self into such a combustion to defend them as if Pelagius were risen from the dead You knew well enough that we do believe God doth AID and ASSIST us by his Grace and that no body but your self and such as you denies Conversion and Perseverance to be the effects of divine Assistance onely you strained a point with your Conscience and cast the Odium of so detestable a Doctrine upon us in your Preface to make all the reviling Speeches you bestow on us in your Book go down the better with your Readers But this Artifice of yours is not confined to the Preface but used also in divers places of your Book I shall give you but one instance of it at present In the fifth Chapter of the second Book you pretend to reconcile the usefulness of the Commands Threatnings Promises and Exhortations of the Scripture with the promised Aids of the Spirit and ascribing all that is good in us to the Grace of God For this you say is the principal difficulty wherewith some men seek to entangle and perplex the Grace of God Who you mean by some men your Followers and we understand well enough but you know your Adversaries do not so much as believe that there is any difficulty at all in reconciling the assistances of Grace with the usefulness of Motives and then they cannot seek to entangle the Grace of God with this difficulty Now this is your way very often when you talk of the Objections that are made against supposing the Grace by which we are converted to be irresistible you make it your business to shew that these Objections do not lie against saying that the Operations of the Spirit are Aids and Assistances as here in this place you say If there be any opposition between the Commands of Duty and the Promises of Grace it is either because the nature of man is not meet to be commanded or because it needs not to be assisted and then you say very well that what the Holy Spirit doth in us he doth by us and our duty is to apply our selves unto his commands according to the conviction of our mindes and his work it is to enable us to perform them Very good All this we heartily believe but now the Doctrine we seek to entangle by the fore-mentioned difficulty is that men cannot be converted but by such an almighty Operation as that which made us out of nothing and will hereafter raise our dead bodies to Life And now I cannot understand why you should so often attempt to disentangle the Doctrine of the Aids of Grace from the former Objection which does not lie against it but because you have a minde to perswade the world that some men say we can keep the Commands of God without the help of his Grace Indeed in one place you apply the Objection as it ought to be viz. against your own Doctrine and I intend to let you see shortly that you have not taken it off but this is an argument that you had no other meaning in applying it wrong and so changing the state of the Question between us but to make the most odious representation of us you could devise And now I take may leave of you for a while wishing that you may hereafter write with the clearness of a Doctor the good temper of a Gentleman and the sincerity of a Christian and then we shall be very forward to give you that respect which is due to your abilities To sum up all that hath been said in this Chapter the Holy Spirit of God doth in that manner work his Graces in us that they are still the genuine effects of the Evidence and the motives of the Gospel of the natural use of our Faculties of Understanding and Will and of our own Care and
consideration is a clear compliance with the Wisdom of God and a mark of Regeneration I take this to be a competent instance of the Doctor 's proving himself to be regenerated by his spiritual understanding of things but how he came to understand them so spiritually you heard before viz. by an Almighty Power which induced a new saving Light into his minde for I suppose he has not a way by himself of arriving at this Felicity This now is very plain That if you spiritually understand the necessity of Holiness you must not understand it to be necessary to Justification But if you ask the Doctor why you cannot understand it as he doth his Answer is Because you are not enlightned and regenerated by the irresistible Work for where this work is not that spiritual thing cannot be so understood and where it is 't is impossible but it should be so understood Now then if you ask how the Doctor proves himself to be a regenerate man he proves it clearly by his understanding the necessity of Holiness in that spiritual manner wherein he understands it And at this rate I think a man may prove any thing Thus the Doctor tells us how the purifying vertue of the blood of Christ is applied to us by Faith but in so mystical a manner that he is forced to confess it himself and therefore says he when you understand these things you will not think it so strange that God should appoint this way of believing onely as the means to interest us in the purifying vertue of the Blood of Christ. For the truth is before he had done with that point he had made it so unintelligible that he had nothing to keep up his Readers in heart withal but by promising them that when they understood those things they would not think them strange i. e. when that new saving Light is once darted into their mindes by which the Doctor discerns spiritual Mysteries In the mean time he cautions them against those that pretend the believing he speaks of to be no more than a work of the fancy in these words Despise their ignorance for they know not what they say when men come to the real practice of this Duty the practise of believing that the Blood of Christ without any more ado will cleanse them from their Sins they will finde what it is to discard all other ways and pretences of cleansing viz. a sincere reformation of Heart and Life what it is to give unto God against all difficulties and oppositions i. e. though it be never so absurd to imagine this makes for the Glory of God the glory of his Attributes in finding out this way for us Again after he had given such a description of Gospel-holiness as any one would be asham'd to own that pretends to an intelligible Religion he hopes to make up all with saying The thing it self as hath been declared is deep and mysterious not to be understood without the aid of spiritual Light in our mindes So that if you do not understand what the Doctor says the reason is plain because you have not the Spirit and at this rate any man may write Nonsense safely enough and put it off for a Gospel-mystery when he has done For the thing may be understood though you do not understand it for it may be understood by the aid of spiritual Light And if you understand it not 't is because you rely upon carnal Reason and have not the Light of the Spirit For thus the Doctor tells us The reason why men have other notions of holiness than he has is their ignorance and hatred of the onely true real principle of Evangelical holiness which we have described for what the world knoweth not in these things it always hateth and they cannot discern it clearly or in its own light and evidence for it must be spiritually discerned This the Natural man cannot do 1 Cor. 2.14 and in that false light of corrupted reason wherein they discern and judge it they esteem it foolishness and fancy So that 't is to no purpose what the Natural man a man that useth the best means he can to finde out the meaning of the Scriptures says in these matters till that new Light be created in his minde by the help whereof this Author as it should seem talks of sublime Mysteries which we use to call Nonsense and yet are blamed for it though he confesses 't is impossible that we should do otherwise Now the Doctor is as safe as may be if he can thus make his Reader believe that to understand the Doctrines of the Gospel spiritually is to understand them according to his apprehensions of them and that to contradict him is an infallible signe of one that wants the special illumination of the Holy Ghost For upon these terms whoever goes about to write against him must do it at the peril of being reckoned an unregenerate man and then the Doctor is secure for we have often seen as it is said by him that such a man because he wants special illumination cannot understand the Mysteries of the Gospel spiritually and then he cannot discourse of them spiritually and then I think he may as well hold his tongue for any good he is likely to do with his carnal Reason And this is that prejudice which I am in danger of lying under with the Doctor 's party while I treat concerning the assistance of the Holy Spirit for he uses the same artifice to support his notions in this matter Thus he tells us A Command they suppose leaves no room for a Promise at least such a Promise as wherein God should take upon himself to work in us what the Command requires of us and a Promise they think takes off all the influencing authority of the Command If Holiness be our duty there is no room for Grace in this matter and if it be an effect of Grace there is no place for Duty But all these arguings are a fruit of the wisdom of the flesh Now as I shall shew hereafter in these words he belies those whom he writes against for they suppose no such matter as he talks of But the Doctor as we shall see doth in other places mean by Grace an irresistible force upon the mindes of men though he conceals it here dishonestly to slander his Adversaries Now that such a Grace is inconsistent with the commands of God in Scripture may be so evidently argued that he hath nothing to say against it but to call such arguing a fruit of the wisdom of the flesh which is his perpetual refuge But to be short he expresly tells us The whole work of the Spirit is rationally to be accounted for by and unto them who believe the Scriptures that I like very well and have received the spirit of Truth but there we are all spoil'd again for we know what he means by having received the spirit of Truth viz. being
they must be discerned that 't is impossible to discern them without that new light And now that I have taken this pains to bring the Doctor out of the clouds I challenge him to show that this Paraphrase is not the just sum of his talk concerning the Text before us now although the naked representation of this Paraphrase were enough to expose it yet because this is the Text which these men perpetually rely upon when they set themselves to cant down the use of reason in Religion I shall briefly let the Doctor see that his notions of it are either groundless or absurd and inconsistent with themselves and incoherent with the Context SECT IV. 1. WHereas he makes the natural man to be one in whom spiritual Light is not created by the Almightiness of God 't is altogether groundless for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not of it self signifie one who wants that light nor doth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denote any Almighty Act whereby a man comes to be spiritually enlightned Nor can the Doctor shew from the circumstances of the place any reason for this his notion for those words neither can he know them do not infer that a man cannot know them without such an irresistible light as he supposes nor is there the least mention of any such thing in the whole Context He tells us indeed that St. Paul plentifully shews elsewhere that this Light must be created in us by Almightiness and he instanceth in 2 Cor. 4.6 I shall in due place prove that St. Paul shews no such thing in that Text But admit he did yet it does not presently follow that St. Paul does in this place mean by the Natural man one in whom this Light is not created for 't is certain he does not speak one word of it throughout the whole Chapter Wherefore the Doctor ought at least to have proved by comparing both these Texts that he designed the same thing in them which he has not once attempted and yet this arbitrary supposal is the foundation of his whole Comment upon this place 2. His granting that the Natural man may assent to the truths of the Gospel and his denying that he can discern their agreeableness to the Divine Perfections and their fitness to promote the ends of the Gospel is palpably absurd For how is it possible that a man who exercises his rational faculties about divine things which he grants the natural man may do should believe the Revelations of the Gospel to be divine and yet see no consistency in them with the Divine Attributes and no suitableness in them to the ends of Gods Glory and Mans Good The Doctor whatever he says about those improvements of the natural mans minde which he allows to him seems rather to take him for a natural fool than a rational man A great part of that evidence upon which we believe the Doctrine of Christ is that it is a Doctrine worthy of God and a means conducible to the recovery of man and if the literal sense of the Christian Doctrines themselves is not more evident to a man that can consider than that they are so why may not a considering man who believes the Doctrines believe this of them Or how can he believe the former without believing the latter I know not which way the Doctor can hope to escape but by pretending it is possible for a man to assent to a Doctrine or Proposition the true reason whereof he doth not discern For example that a man may assent to the Creed upon the Authority of his Spiritual Guide and not discern the true reasons of those Propositions which are contain'd in it But this will not serve him For the natural man is by him granted to be one who may have an improved Reason and may exercise it in the consideration of divine things and of such a man viz. who is thus improved and considering I say 't is absurd to affirm that he may assent to the revelations of the Gospel and cannot discern that they are agreeable to the Divine Attributes c. The reason is because this is to suppose him as dull and ignorant as he was allowed to be knowing and rational before Since 't is plain that they are agreeable to the Divine Attributes c. As for those who believe the Christian Doctrine upon that meanest motive of the Authority of their Teachers though for want of considering they do not discern its agreeableness to the divine Perfections yet they do believe it it being not only unreasonable but impossible for a man to assent to any Proposition as a divine Revelation which at the same time he believes to be inconsistent with the Perfections of God But men that can tolerably well use their Understandings in Divine things as the natural man may do to abate the Philosophical Improvements which the Doctor is willing to cast into the bargain may not only believe but discern this Agreeableness and it is nonsence to suppose they have exercised their Rational Faculties as they might have done in this matter and withal to affirm that they assent to the truths of the Gospel but cannot discern that they are consistent with the Divine Perfections To put this out of question I will instance in these Propositions of the Gospel That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life This a natural man according to the Doctor may assent unto But I demand This Proposition being revealed is it not very discernible that God's giving his Son for Mankinde is very agreeable with his Goodness And that his purpose of saving Mankinde by the Sacrifice of his Sons death is agreeable with his hatred of Sin and his Justice And that the demonstration of his Justice and Mercy this way is agreeable to his Wisdom 2. That no unrighteous person shall enter into the Kingdom of God This also the Natural Man may assent to But I demand Is it not very discernible that this Doctrine is agreeable with the Holiness and Righteousness of God Is it not discernably agreeable with his Wisdome and Soveraignty And then why may not the wise and knowing man that believes these Doctrines to be divine Revelations discern them to be agreeable with the divine Perfections Take the same Doctrines again and I demand concerning them Are they not manifestly suitable to promote the ends of the Gospel These ends the Doctor saies are the Glory of God and our deliverance from a state of Sin and Misery As for the Glory of God they plainly tend to the promoting thereof because they manifest the Divine Wisdom Goodness and Holiness and the Perfections of God which was observed before As for our deliverance from Sin Is not that Doctrine plainly suited to that end which assureth us there is room for Repentance since God hath given his only Son c. and which acquainteth us
Reformatione Vitae a moral Reformation of Life What other Socinians our Author hath found out besides the modern I know not but here he calumniates us and the Socinians too Though the Socinians deserve rebuke yet they are not to have lies told of them for not onely we who are no Socinians but those that are do acknowledge the state of a regenerate man to consist in the spiritual renovation of his Nature Whereas therefore he tells us If they will grant that this moral reformation of Life doth proceed from a spiritual renovation of our Nature this difference will be at an end I answer him that this difference is at an end before 't is begun For we have always granted it and as I shall shew him presently he knew it too Onely our Author was willing to impose the fallacy of Non causa pro causâ upon his Readers and to gain the better opinion of his endeavours in this Chapter he would make them believe that his designe is indeed to prove that there is a change of the Heart as well as of the Life in a regenerate man Now this is not the thing he had to prove against us however he shifts the Question here that to use his own words he might take an opportunity to rail at others for want of better advantage His business was to prove that Regeneration and the new Creation are to be understood properly and as he knows a foundation was hereby to be laid of affirming that we cannot be regenerated without the interposal of an irresistible power like to that whereby the world was made and the dead shall be raised Here lies the difference between him and us not whether Regeneration implies a change of the Soul as well as of the Life And this he confesseth himself in the very next Page Sect. 20 where he saith Some say a new Creature is no more but a changed Man it is true but then this change is internal also yes in the Purposes Designes and Inclinations of the minde But is it by a real infusion of a new Principle of spiritual Life and Holiness No it denotes no more but a new course of Conversation onely the expression is Metaphorical A new Creature is a moral Man that hath changed his course or way Now under that new course of Conversation which he saies some mean by Regeneration either he includes an internal change as their meaning too or not If he does then he confesseth their true meaning and the difference is at an end If not then he either wants a good Conscience or a good Memory for he granted before that they confessed an internal change also As to what he addes that they deny the real infusion of a new Principle of spiritual Life and Holiness I say they do not deny a new Principle of Holiness to be in the Regenerate for they confess the Seed of God that is the Word of God to be in them the Precepts and Motives whereof prevailing in their mindes are properly a principle of Holiness of Life in them Now whether this Principle be really infused into them or not belongs not to this place to consider where we are treating about the state of Regeneration and not the manner whereby the Holy Spirit doth regenerate us Whereas he saith that the new Creature according to them is a moral man that hath changed his course or way he ought not to blame them for it since the change of the Heart is supposed in that of the Life He knows there is no better way to judge of the Tree than by the Fruits of the temper of the Minde than by the constant course of the Life and therefore we should conclude it is a very honest account which they give of the new Creature because it will not suffer a man to reckon himself regenerate who doth not sincerely amend his Life according to God's holy Word which is a good way to keep Hypocrites from pretending too fast to Regeneration who might else be comforting themselves that their hearts are good while their lives and manners are naught I am sure their description of the regenerate state is agreeable to what St. John saith of it He that doth righteousness is born of God But after all I thus far differ from him that I look upon his distinction between Spiritual and Moral to be vain and useless in the description of a regenerate state or of Regeneration which is his own phrase as passively considered For as the moral reformation of Life which he speaks of is spiritual so the spiritual renovation of our Nature is moral For as the state of a regenerate man in both respects may be called spiritual as being caused by the grace of the divine Spirit so in both it may be called moral as consisting in the purity both of Heart and Life and the conformity of our Mindes and Actions to the divine Laws For I suppose he will grant that all sin i. e. all unbelief of God's Word and all disobedience to Gods Commands whether moral or positive is Immorality Therefore faith in God and obedience to his Will is Morality or moral goodness i. e. they are things good in their own nature eternally and unalterably so This man chargeth his Adversaries here with confused notions and Sophistical expressions about Morality where he doth not tell the Reader one of their notions or expressions about it and therein he hath done more like a Sophister himself than a Doctor 'T is in this Latitude which I have told you that they understand moral Righteousness and Virtue who affirm that the state of a regenerate man doth consist therein and that there is no difference between Grace and Virtue between Spiritual and Moral supposing that by Grace and Spiritual you express not the cause but the state of Regeneration If Dr. Owen does not take them in this sence he misunderstands them and makes a wrong report of their judgement concerning the sufficiency of moral Righteousness to qualifie men for Heaven If he does thus understand them and yet is angry because they make no distinction between Grace and Virtue a spiritual and moral state as I finde he is Sect. 19. sure it must be because he thinks all is not moral Virtue which they say is viz. faith in God and universal obedience to his Will and then the contention between us is a mere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a strife about words in which I suppose he has the hardest part unless he can shew that to disbelieve any of the Revelations and to disobey any of the Commands of God are not Immoralities Or else the reason of his displeasure must be because he thinks a regenerate state doth not consist in Faith and Obedience which if I understand him is his opinion and 't is our affirming the contrary which hath made him so fierce against us as I observe him to be Sect. 17. where he hath these strange words Regeneration doth
their natural contrivance and invention either just before or while they are praying It seems strange likewise that by the Prayers of men low and weak in their notional apprehension of things we may see them led into Communion with God in the highest and holiest mysteries of his Grace and that they have an experience of the life and power of the things themselves in their own Hearts For what have we to see this by but their Words and Gestures c. But it is past my reach how by these helps we can see that which he told us before God onely sees viz. the fervent workings of the New Creature when acted by the Holy Ghost in supplications And to do him right he seems not to ascribe the extemporary utterance but onely the present conception of matter to the Spirit Other observations of this kinde might be made which I shall not clog the Reader withal But upon the whole matter Rom. 8.26 27. seems to me much easier to be understood than any thing that he saith with relation to it and unless he shall please to explain himself further one may sooner I think understand St. Paul than him though there be considerable difficulties in the Text which need an Interpreter Therefore I shall 1. Consult the sence of good Authors and such as the Doctor I hope will not take upon him to say were Proud Carnal Ignorant and Profane persons words which he throws so fiercely about him whilst he is discoursing of Prayer the very mention of which one would think should have taught him more meekness 2. I shall compare what they say with that which seems to me to be the designe of St. Paul in the foregoing and following Verses This I take to be a good way both to understand the Text and to avoid the Doctor 's displeasure if we should not altogether agree about the meaning of it at last St. Chrysostom saith that in those words Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for c. St. Paul instructs us not always to judge those things profitable which seem to be so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to mere natural Reason For it was likely that they who suffered so many evils wished a relaxation asking it as a grace from God But saith he do not think that would be best which presently appears to be so upon this very account we need divine assistance for man knoweth little or nothing what is for his welfare wherefore the Apostle saith We know not c. And then he shews this was St. Paul's case too when he prayed that the Thorn in the Flesh might be removed 2 Cor. 12. but obtained it not For he proves that this Thorn were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Dangers and Persecutions he lay under In like manner St. Austin tells us It is not to be believed that St. Paul or those to whom he spake knew not the Lord's Prayer why should he therefore say We know not what to pray for as we ought but because temporal afflictions are mostly profitable either to cure us of the swelling of Pride or c. but we not considering this desire to be exempted from them From which ignorance the Apostle shews himself not to have been free when lest he should be exalted by the abundance of Revelations there was given to him a Thorn in the Flesh a Messenger of Satan to buffet him and he besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from him herein not knowing what to pray for as he ought Therefore in these tribulations which may be either profitable or hurtful we know not what to pray for i. e. whether it be better to have them removed or not and yet because they are hard to be born we do as men altogether desire to have them removed And not long after he saith The Spirit causeth the Saints to intercede with unutterable groans inspiring them with the desire of a thing yet unknown which they patiently expect for how should that which is desired be uttered when it is yet not known To the same purpose St. Hierom saith the Spirit helpeth our Infirmities that we should not desire earthly but heavenly things we know not what to pray for They are commonly hurtful things which we think profit us and therefore our desires are not granted as he saith himself elsewhere For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me He maketh intercession for the Saints Here saith he St. Paul by the Spirit means the grace of the Spirit For the Spirit intercedes because he maketh us to pray with unutterable groans as God is said to try us that he might know us that is that he might make us know our selves And to intercede according to the will of God is to desire Holy and not Secular things Thus St. Ambrose if he was the Author of those Commentaries We know not c. for we are deceived thinking those things will profit us which we desire when they are not profitable and here he useth the same instance likewise of St. Paul's desiring that the Messenger of Satan might depart from him to which he addes that of James and John desiring the pre-eminence in Christ's Kingdom who asked they knew not what But withal he supposeth that the Spirit doth properly intercede with God in our behalf that we may have such things as are profitable for us Theodoret saith the Apostle speaks to this purpose Pray not to be delivered from troubles for you know not what is profitable for you as God doth who governs all Resigne up your selves to him that holds the Helm of the Vniâ—â—â—se c. But saith he by the Spirit is meant the grace of the Spirit which is given to them that believe for being thereby stirred up we pray more earnestly c. And he addes that the Apostle spake this from the experience of what he had suffered referring probably to that passage concerning the Messenger of Satan so often already mentioned To mention no more Origen thus paraphraseth upon the Text Sometimes through infirmity we desire things contrary to our welfare as a sick man would have the Physician prescribe him what is agreeable to his present appetite instead of that which is for his health so in this infirm state of ours we ask sometimes what is not expedient for us And I Paul who had the Messenger of Satan given me thrice asked c. not knowing what I asked and received this answer My grace is sufficient for thee The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit but when the Spirit of God seeth our spirit striving against the Flesh he reacheth out his help Now saith he if any one can finde out a more sublime sence than this let him enjoy it to himself But they are to be admonish'd who desire of God the prosperity c. of this life because in these respects they know not what to pray for
Son and in order hereunto I decree that they shall be holy Now it is not at all probable that he should so soon forget that he had solemnly made eternal Election to consist onely in God's purpose to regenerate all that were his in a peculiar manner c. i. e. now that his designe begins to be opened all those that were absolutely elected to Glory Onely it was not fit to put these plain words into the definion for then every ordinary Reader would have discovered there was another Decree of Election antecedent to that which the Doctor had defined and perhaps might be so uncivil as to expect a proof of the supposition But instead of these plain words it was more prudently done to put in those who are his in an especial manner which are somewhat obscure words and those whom he designes to bring to blessedness which express but half his meaning For he supposes the designe he speaks of to be absolute This care being taken that which he takes upon him to confirm briefly as he saith is this viz. That if we are not personally holy we have no interest in that Decree of God whereby any persons are designed unto Glory which is a great truth but by the way most false according to his principles for while a person who is absolutely elected remains unholy as he doth till he is regenerated he hath as full an interest in the purpose of God to bring him to Glory as he can have after he is regenerated since nothing can be more plain than that he who is elected upon no consideration of holiness cannot have the less interest in that Election for not being holy But this I see that our Author 's unhappy way of expressing himself sometimes makes him hit upon a better saying than he intended That which he meant to say as is plain from his definition is this that all who are elected to Glory shall be made holy which while he is proving he does very carefully drop in a word now and then as if he were proving absolute election to eternal Life and this for a very good reason viz. that he might by convenient degrees slip into that notion of Election against his turn came to prove it to be a motive unto holiness But such unintelligible work he has made by mingling these things together in his third Sect. where his designe is to prove that the Elect shall be made holy that any one may see how his thoughts were puddled while he was contriving to come off in this business and he comes off very fairly for thus he winds up that Section The Councils of God therefore concerning us i. e. his electing us to eternal Life do not depend upon our Holiness which is as much as to say that the Decree of Election to eternal Life is not conditional but absolute but upon our holiness our future happiness depends in the Councils of God which is saying quite backward that the Decree of Election is not absolute but conditional For to say that our future happiness depends upon our holiness in the Councils of God is in plain English to say that it is one of the Councils concerning us that our happiness should depend on our holiness which cannot truely be said if it depends upon an absolute Decree Therefore the Decree of Election to eternal Life is conditional for if it were absolute then according to that Decree a man may be saved without any holiness at all which the Doctor denies and thus he comes off with contradicting himself within the compass of three Lines as you cannot but see unless you are so taken with the chiming of his words that you are not at leisure to examine the sence From all this it may I think be presumed without any uncharitableness that the Doctor did not write with an intention to satisfie his Reader and what other end he proposed to himself I leave it to his own Conscience For his evasions when he is to prove the chief matter in question and his obscurities when it is inconvenient to speak plainly cannot without an incredible reproach to his Parts and Abilities be looked on otherwise than as studied Artifices to serve his Cause withal Especially if you consider how seasonably he contradicts himself when his designe requires it and of this I will give him one instance more out of his present discourse and then leave his Friends to judge of his honesty as they please In answer to that Objection against his Opinion that indeed it rendred holiness unnecessary among other things he thought good to say That as for a mans own personal election he cannot believe it nor is obliged to believe it any otherwise but as God reveals it by its effects i. e. in plain terms no man can or ought to believe that he is one of the Elect till he believes and obeys the Gospel for that he means by the effects of Election Now supposing this did something to satisfie the former Objection yet the Doctor saw well enough that it would raise another viz. that if this be true then no man's personal Election can be a motive to him to become an holy person because he cannot believe it till he is so already The Doctor does not indeed propound this Objection but he forestals it as you will see presently what reason he had so to do by a down-right contradiction to what he had immediately said before for he goes on thus No man ought no man can justly question his own Election DOVBT of it or disbelieve it until he be in such a condition as wherein it is impossible that the effects of Election should ever be wrought in him if such a condition there be in this world Now this is very strange cannot a man believe his Election till he sees it in the effects and yet cannot he justly doubt of it before those effects are wrought in him Is he not obliged to believe it till then and is it yet true that he ought not to disbelieve it till 't is impossible those effects should be wrought and yet perhaps there is no such condition in this world I hope our Author will not say that this is one of those Mysteries which we cannot understand without his New Light but rather confess against himself what he has taken upon him to accuse S. P. of viz. that these are the words of one who seems not much to Consider what he says so as that it may serve his present turn For he does not use to contradict himself for nothing and the reason is plain why it was necessary here In the next Page he was to shew that personal Election was a motive to Holiness in point of Gratitude Now that the Motive might be fit to be used upon every body it was necessary to say that no body had cause to doubt of his Election which part of the Contradiction look'd forward to encounter a second Objection as the
more sensibly affected with those joys of the Holy Ghost which increase the love of Virtue and confirm him in every divine disposition 2. This is further evident from those passages in Holy Writ where we are required to grow in grace to abound in the work of the Lord and to go on to perfection For these places and the like do strongly imply that we cannot on a sudden arrive to any degree of goodness which we fall greatly short of at present much less that we can presently be filled with the fulness of God Wherefore it plainly follows that the Holy Spirit does not affect our mindes when we begin the Christian life in the same manner and measure that he moveth us in after we have made some progress in it or shall arrive to such an eminent degree of Christianity as may answer that expression of being filled with the fulness of God For if it were thus then we might become Men in Christ assoon as we are Babes and come to the fulness of our stature without growing and going on to perfection It is further observable that the Word of God is affirmed to be the means of our increasing in holiness we must desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby as St. Peter tells us and in Col. 1.9 St. Paul instructs us that the way whereby the Spirit maketh us to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing being fruitful in every good work is by filling us with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding From whence I observe that our improvement in holiness is greater or lesser according as we consider and meditate upon divine Truths viz. for this end of governing our lives by them which is to know them in Wisdom and spiritual Vnderstanding Now since the effects of the Holy Spirit 's Operation in our mindes are as I have shewn the genuine and proper effects of the Word of God seriously considered and laid to heart it follows that the Holy Spirit worketh in us according to that measure wherein divine Truths are considered by us Therefore since our fruitfulness depends upon our increasing in the knowledge of God or that spiritual Vnderstanding which the Apostle speaks of the Holy Spirit who worketh in us by the Word of God does not make us capable of arriving to that state of walking before the Lord in all well-pleasing all at once but by degrees viz. as we increase in the knowledge of God by daily Meditation Lastly since by the experience we have of Humane Nature we see that customes are not easily and presently put off and that matters of difficulty cannot be made familiar to us but by use and practice more particularly that they who are accustomed to do evil cannot of a sudden learn to do well that ill habits are not wasted but by degrees that the difficulties of a Religious life press most upon us when we first enter upon it and that they wear away insensibly by continuance in well-doing likewise that vertue is improved by exercise and that the Path of the just as the Wise man speaks is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day I say this being considered we must needs acknowledge that the Holy Spirit does not produce the effects of his Grace in the mindes of men all at once but that he accommodates his Operations to the state in which they are at present prompting them to that amendment which the measure of their capacity will admit And this I take to be a Consequence also of what the Doctor so fully grants viz. that the Spirit acts the mindes of men onely as they are meet to be acted according to their own Nature Power and Ability and according to their natural Operations For if we may trust the constant experience of Mankinde both of the good and the bad although an evil habit is sooner contracted than a good one yet none is gained without some use and exercise and ordinarily it cannot be otherwise Now if the Spirit moves us no otherwise than according to the Nature Power and Ability of our mindes we must not think that by his Grace we may leap out of a wicked course of life in a moment into the habits of Piety and Virtue but that he is in that manner present with us as to enable us to make a good beginning and if we do so that by his more abundant Grace we may proceed and so by degrees come to a divine temper of minde and to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing There is no doubt but God if he pleaseth can in an instant change the most vicious man into a Saint but we have no more reason to think that he will do so than that he should work new Miracles to convert us But we have great reason to perswade us that he will not do so for if we may judge of the Manner and Measure of the Holy Spirit 's Operations by the promises of special Grace which belong onely to qualified and prepared persons or by the Commands of the Scripture to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of Christ or by the general experience of Humane Nature we may conclude that an habitual Sinner cannot become a good man in an instant He must first learn to be afraid of God's angry Justice he must be heartily sorry for his sins he must deeply consider the promises of the Gospel he must avoid the occasions of sin and fortifie himself with vehement resolutions to forsake his wicked course and he must make many earnest prayers before he can subdue his Lusts and overcome the world and yield a sincere obedience to all the Commands of God And by consequence he cannot expect that the Operations of the Holy Spirit should make him a holy man but by the former means and therefore by degrees This Consideration ought not to have been omitted because it may be of great use to two very different sorts of men 1. To those who have been long accustomed to a sinful course of life and think it impossible to recover themselves although they have the opportunities of amendment before them For it happens sometimes that such men wish they had taken an early care to live in the fear of God and the practice of Religion and Virtue but they believe it is now in vain to strive against those fatal habits which are so deeply rooted in their mindes and so they abandon themselves to carelessness and desperation The reason whereof is commonly this that when they attempted their own reformation and had purposed to lead a new life they soon found themselves surprized again by their former temptations and carried away as strongly by their sensual appetites as ever they were before which makes them conclude it is to no purpose to take any more pains with themselves as if because their freedom from the servitude of sin could not be effected in a
from being addicted to sensuality and worldliness they are come to love God with all their Hearts and to be strongly inclined to Holiness and Virtue This likewise produceth a suitable change in their lives which now are led not according to the lusts of the Flesh and the examples of evil Men but the Laws of God and the Example of Christ. And thus we come to the true use of all our Faculties as an Infant after it is born falls into those natural motions which are hindred by its imprisonment in the Womb. Now when our mindes are thus purified from sin when the Spirit that was in Christ is in us and our bodies and souls are become the Instruments of Righteousness there follows a Relative change in our state as considerable as the other For then are we the Sons of God Heirs with Christ Brethren to God's Children in heaven and on earth we are of kin to the Family of God we enjoy his Favour and Blessing and have an actual right to that promise which he hath promised even eternal life Lay all these things together and nothing will be more evident to you than this that so great a change of our state is implied in our being the true Disciples of Christ that we are as it were other men by being so and so may fitly be said to be Born again when we become such persons But that Intrinsick alteration which seems to afford the clearest Similitude regards that sense of good and evil which is proper to a true Christian. We know that all living Creatures have such a sense of things hurtful and destructive to them that they are thereby generally prompted to avoid them 'T is thus I say in the natural life that we readily apprehend what is contrary to it and therefore we do not run into the Fire nor venture down Precipices because these things are contrary and destructive to our Natures And this is a very fit Emblem of the state of a true Christian for by reason of that divine temper of Soul which is wrought in him by the Holy Spirit he hath such a like sense of good and evil with regard to his Minde and Conscience as all living Creatures have with respect to their Natures He therefore that is in Christ i. e. who is a true Christian is said to be Born again and to become a new Creature for he hath a new sense of things which he had not before he hath other apprehensions of sin than sensual and worldly men have he looks not upon any immorality as a harmless thing but apprehends all kindes of wickedness to be what they are pernicious and detestable which is the reason as I have already intimated of what St. John saith He that is born of God sinneth not In like manner that which in the Relative change seems to be most visibly intended by this Metaphor is our being qualified to enter into the Kingdom of God which is the Inheritance of the Saints or the true Disciples of Christ for by becoming his Disciples we are as it were born to this Inheritance we are the Sons of God and if Sons then Heirs as the Apostle tells us Now if faith in Christ and obedience to his Laws make men so much better and more excellent persons than they were before and qualifie them also for an everlasting reward then here is another visible reason for the choice of this Metaphor to express the state of a good Christian by viz. the great advantages they gain by it we have as it were a new being given unto us when we truely believe in Jesus and conform our selves to his Doctrine and Example we are so much altered for the better as if we had never lived till then and we have infinitely more reason to think of this alteration in our state than to remember the day of our Birth with joy and gladness Hence we finde that the Scripture does not onely represent the advantages we gain by the Gospel of our Saviour under Metaphors taken from things most grateful to our natural Appetites as Liberty Life and Light but withal it assures us that the good implied in those things does in a more eminent manner belong to the true Disciples of Christ than to any body else as when our Saviour saith Joh. 8.36 If the Son shall make you free then are you free indeed Now what this freedom is we are told vers 32. The truth shall make you free and vers 34. He that committeth sin is the servant of sin So that this freedom consisteth in the knowledge of the Truth and in obedience to the Laws of God which is that very state that the Scripture elsewhere calls Light and Life and being Born again and created in Christ Jesus Lastly Since it is by the Operations of the Holy Spirit in us that we become true believers and good men it is visible that our being then said to be born of God does fitly express the concurrence of that Divine power whereby this change is effected in us There are other Metaphors whereby the Scripture expresseth the same thing but none of them seem to be so full of signification as this although the use and meaning of all of them is easily discernible Those expressions of Creating and Drawing seem principally to respect that divine Grace by which we are enabled to overcome the world and to live to God Converting or Turning peculiarly notes that alteration that is hereby made in our state Taking away the Heart of stone expresseth the same thing but chiefly with regard to what we were before as giving the Heart of flesh also doth with respect to what we become afterward Making a new Heart and a new Spirit signifies that change which is wrought in the Dispositions of the Minde as causing us to walk in God's Statutes notes the reformation that is made in the life Purifying Cleansing and Purging are Metaphors that express the excellency of this change and how much our Natures are bettered by it But Quickning and making Free and turning from darkness to light do express all the advantages which we gain by the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel whether they be Inherent or Relative And this may serve to shew in what divers respects these Metaphors conspire to express the same thing But you may observe that the Metaphor of Regeneration or the new Birth contains all those Similitudes to the state of a true Christian which are severally discernible in the rest And this probably is the reason why it is more frequently used in the Scriptures than the rest are as that is the reason I suppose why it hath obtained amongst Christian writers to treat of the conditions of eternal Life more frequently under the name of Regeneration than under any other phrase whereby they are Metaphorically exprest And possibly this common use of the word may have been an occasion to some unwary Christians of imagining that it is to be understood in