tell him what both I my self and some others heard one speak with great rejoycing whose conversation was none of the best We never had the Gospel preached until now Christ is freely offered unto all nothing is required of us free Grace is preached What will you say to those who hearing you preach thus do turn the grace of God into lasciviousness and say That they know they shall be saved by their Faith in Christ who is freely offered them without any conditions what you and those who preach thus will say I know not but sure I am St. Paul saith to them and to all Prove your selves whether ye be in the Faith And then he sheweth how this is to be done 2 Cor. 13.5 Know you not your own selves that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates As if he should say Whosoever they are that believe in Christ they have him dwelling in them by his Spirit hereby therefore shall you know that ye are true believers even by his spirit whereof ye are made partakers For as St. John also saith Hereby we know that he abideth in us 1 Joh. 3.24 by the Spirit that he hath given us He therefore that upon good proof and experience findeth that the Spirit of God is in him mortifying his carnal lusts and affections and renewing him in holiness may be assured hereby that he is by Faith ingrafted into Christ and that he shall be saved by him For it is not flesh and blood that worketh such an inward and universal change in us but the spirit of God by Faith in Christ Jesus And of this St. Iohn assureth us when he saith This is our Victory that overcommeth the World even our Faith As if he should say it is our Faith in Christ 1 Ioh. 5.4 whereby we are made pertakers of the spirit of God which he merited for us who believe in him that makes us Conquerors of the World that is of those sinful lusts that raign in worldly men and not any power or strength of our own Where sin therefore is thus conquered there is true faith but in whomsoever sin still raigneth 't is in vain for him to boast of his faith or of the free grace of God for as yet he can lay no claim thereto Thus Mr. D. I have proved that our love to the Brethren and other effects of the spirit which are never seperated from true Faith do bear witness to our Faith and testifie the truth of it not only before men Confer with a sick man Pag. 8. as you say but inwardly also to our souls and consciences which you must not deny if you remember what you have written concerning the reconciliation of Man to God pag. 57 59 60. for there you say that joy in the Holy Ghost and the love of God and of our Brethren and new obedience are inseperable Companions to our reconciliation by Faith Every one of these therefore must needs assure us of our reconciliation to God unless you will say that a man may know that he hath faith but cannot know either that he rejoyceth in God or that he loveth God and his Children or that he obeyeth his word and Commandements of which I can see no reason seeing faith is as spiritual supernatural and as hard to be known as any of these For my part I cannot conceive how the souls of those that are reconciled unto God should have such abundant joy as you speak of be filled even with floods of comfort and have no knowledge nor feeling thereof at all And though the true love of God cannot alwayes so easily be seen and discerned by every one in whose heart it is as such superabundant joy and rejoycing may yet if he that loveth God could not know that he doth so our Saviour would not have said unto Peter Lovest thou me neither could Peter have answered as he did Yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee â—â—h 21.15 â—sal 116.1 Nor could David so confidently have said as he doth I love the Lord because he hath heard my voyce and my supplications Now as a true Christian may know that he loveth God so may he also that he truly repenteth and liveth not according to his fleshly lusts but according to Gods Commandements and is therefore his Servant For else how could Iob have said Iob 42.6 Psal 116.6 that he abborred himself and repented in dust and ashes Or how could David have said Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant and the Son of thine Handmaid It will be worth the while also to take further notice what Mr. D. hath written concerning the love of God and the keeping of his Commandements This Garment of love saith he is like the Garment of divers colours wherewithall the Kings Daughters which were Virgins were apparelled If a woman be seen in the street without a party coloured Garment it is concluded that she is either none of the Kings daughters or at least no Virgin so is that Ornament of love I say that thing wherewith all the people of God reconciled to him are adorned if we see a soul altogether stript of this Ornament we conclude they are not in the number of Gods people at least not reconciled Therefore the Holy Ghost concludes He that loveth not knoweth not God 1 Ioh. 4.8 And as on the affirmative he pronounceth Grace be on all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity Eph. 6.24 So also on the negative If any love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha 1 Cor. 16.22 Now with the love of God is joyned the keeping of his Commandements as an inseparable effect thereof This is the love of God that we keep his Commandements 1 Joh. 5.3 If ye love me keep my Commandements 1 Iohn 14 15. If a man love me he will keep my words Vers 23. Christ entering into the soul shall drive out whatsoever is prophane and draw up the soul by the cords of love unto new obedience And to this place we refer hatred of sin love of vertue a godly sorrow for transgression committed revenge upon our selves for the things that are past and a jealous care for that which is to come Thus far Mr. D. From all which I pray you may not I infer and conclude both negatively that he who liveth in sin and loveth the World and the things thereof is destitute of the true love of God and as yet can have no assurance of salvation and affirmatively that if a man can find that he sincerely and unfainedly loveth God and testifieth the truth hereof by obedience unto his Commandements he may hereby and not by faith only as Mr. D. will have it be assured of Gods love and of his own eternal salvation by Jesus Christ Doubtless St. Peter would have us thus to conclude 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8 9 10. and resolve upon it for he biddeth us make our Calling and Election sure
those that are workers of iniquity but on every one that commiteth the least sin that is for so it saith Deut. 27.26 Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them But where doth the Gospel reveal Gods Love or offer any mercy to those that are workers of iniquity Not any where but on the contrary saith that he that committeth sin that is that sinneth dedi◠â operâ of set purpose or pleno voluntatis consusu with full consent of will as Zanchius saith or as Polanus fitly expresseth it qui facit artem peccandi he rhat maketh a Trade of sin which is to be a worker of iniquity he is of the Devil 1 John 3.8 Again it is not the Law but the Gospel also that saith Except ye Repent Luke 13.3 John 3.38 ye shall all perish And he that believeth in the Son hath eternal life but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Thus not only the Law but the Gospel also revealeth the wrath and hatred of God against all that are workers of iniquity It is true the Gospel offereth pardon and revealeth Gods love to repentant sinners but I believe Mr. D. will not call such workers of iniquity Whereas then Davâ—d saith Question The Lord hateth all workers of iniquity First it may be said that if we shall speak of the elect themselves not as they are elect but being considered as they before their calling and conversion were workers of iniquity as well as others so God hated them though not odio redundante in personas illorum or odio inimicitiae that is so as to reprobate or to reject and cast them off yet odio abominat onis that is so that he was offended and displeased with them while they took such courses and did not love them amore complacentiae with a love of complacencie but loath them while they were polluted and defiled with their sins Thus afterwards in the very next verse the Prophet saith Virum sanguinum et doli abhominabitur Jehovah The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man I find that Estius in tert Sent. et in D st 32. and others do say That God doth hate the elect quoad statum presentem suum while they live in sin and are unconverted alleadging for confirmation hereof this very saying of David The Lord hateth all the workers of iniquity and that in the 14th Chapter of the Book of Wisdom Similiter odio sunt Deo impius et impietas ejus The ungodly and his ungodliness are both alike hateful unto God Thus do they speak of the elect being considered as they were sinners before their conversion But otherwise if we shall consider the elect as God in his eternal Counsel and Decree saw them justified and sanctified so he loved them not only amore benevolentiae that is with such a love whereby he did will their good sed complacentiae but of complacencie or delight For thus all things are present with God ab aeterno from all eternity and there is nothing neither past nor future unto him And the the reason hereof is God knew all things most perfectly before any of them were because he seeth all things that either are were or ever shall be in the world non extra se in creaturis not without himself in the creatures as we do but in se in himself that is in his eternal Counsel and Decree or in se non solum tanquam in causa efficiente sed exemplari rerum omnium Wherefore although being considered as we were in our selves before our calling and conversion that is full of sin and void of all goodness we may in some sense be said to be objects of Gods hatred yet as we were vessels of Election so we were alwaies beloved For as St. Augustine saith Tract in Johan 112. Deus omnes sanctos suos ante mundi constitutionem dilexit sicut praedestinavâ—t God loved all his Saints before the foundation of the world as they were of him predestinated For we must not say that God absolutely and simply first hateth and then loveth the same things as men do for then we shall make him variable mutable as we our selves are whereas there is neither Variableness nor turning Jam. 1.17 nor so much as any shaddow of turning with God If this answer do not give full satisfaction Answer then I say further That when Davâ—d saith The Lord hateth all the workers of iniquity he speaketh of those that do work iniquity perseverantly that is who do continue in sin without Repentance as the next words may seem to declare when he addeth thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing For it is certain God will destroy none eternally but obstinate and impenitent sinners This answer I do prefer before the former For if we shall speak of hatred as the word is commonly used then I cannot but subscribe to Zanchius whose thesis or position is this Electos nunquam odit Deus trascitur quidem illis ut illos duriter castiget saepe De natura Dei lib. 4. c. 7. Quest 2. sed hoc facit ex amore ad illorum salutem odit tamen nunquam In English thus God never hateth the elect indeed he is angry with them so that he doth oftentimes chasten them sharply but this he doth out of love to their salvation notwithstanding he doth never hate them For saith he odisse dicitur Deus quibus male vult God is said to hate those whom he beareth ill will unto And thus also doth Cicero speak of hatred when he saith Quem quis odit periisse expetit whom a man hateth he desireth his destruction In which words he letteth us see what is commonly meant by hatred Thus I hope I have cleared this matter And now I would know of Mr. D. why he doth say that Faith doth justifie declaratively if the Gospel which preacheth Faith in Christ doth declare the love of God either to all or to any that are workers of iniquity For Faith cannot be without a reformed conversation as he himself acknowledgeth All the workers of iniquity therefore are destiture of true justifying Faith Reconcil of God to man pag. 44. whereby to be assured of Gods love of their salvation by Christ Mr. D. therefore will he nill he must needs acknowledge that if Faith do justifie declaratively then the Gospel doth no where declare the Love of God towards the workers of iniquity and consequently That it is not only the voice of the Law but of the Gospel also that saith The Lord hateth all the workers of iniquity SECT III. How God way be said to love his children sometimes more and sometimes lesse THe second Conclusion is this If we shall speak of the Love of God as it doth manifest it self by its effects so it is neither eternal nor alwaies
God If therefore he whom God loveth must not be guilty of sin and there is none but he is guilty of fin unless sin be pardoned remitted unto him that is unless he be justified Hence he leaveth it to be inferred and concluded that a man is not loved of God until he is justified Answer Here are many Propositions linked together which I shall examine in order And first whereas he saith Gods love is opposed to hatred To this I answer That Love and hatred in God as also the rest of his Attributes are the same single and undivided essence of God they are not therefore opposite as they are in God but in their Effects or in their Objects in quibus contrarie operantur in which they work those things which are contrary one to another For example justification and condemnation are opposite Effects of Gods Love and of his hatred But it doth not follow hereupon that because God damneth none but obstinate sinners whom he hateth that he loveth no man unlesse he be first justified from his sins For though God doth not condemn any nor hate any but for their sins yet he doth gratis freely justifie as many as he justifieth through his grace without any merits of theirs yea contrary to the merit of their sins as St. Paul teacheth Rom. 3.23 24. And this indeed the most Learned Chamier not only acknowledgeth but abundantly confirmeth by most valid testimonies of holy Scripture Probat enim justificationem effici per charitatem Dei tanquam efficientem causam For he proveth that our justification is through the love of God as the efficient cause thereof After that the kindness love of God our Saviour toward man appeared not by works of righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us Tit. 3 4 5. God commendeth his love to us that whereas we were yet sinners Christ died for us Being justified therefore by his blood we shall much more be saved now by his life Rom. 5. Seeing these things are thus alledged and delivered by Chamierus himself I wonder that he could so far forget himself as after a few lines to say Deum non amare aliter nisi remissis peccatis that God doth not loâ—e us unlesse our sins be first forgiven us For if it were so How could Gods Love be said to be the efficient cause of our justification For sure I am he will not say Causam effectu suo posteriorem esse that the Cause is after its Effect In the next place whereas he saith the hatred of God is for the guilt of sin therefore as long as the guilt of sin remaineth so long must we needs be hated of God I grant that God hateth none but for sin but it doth not follow hereupon that every one is hated of God as long as the guilt of his sins doth remain For then seeing the guilt of sin in all the Elect doth go before the remission thereof Quod enim non est non remittitur for that which is not cannot be said to be forgiven it would follow that the Elect themselves as well as others were once hated of God and not beloved of him whereas the Lord himself saith That he loved them with an everlasting love Jer. 31.3 Thus then it is God hateth sin in all yea in the Elect themselves but he pitied their persons and loved them from all eternity as they were his Creatures and out of this his love provided for them a Saviour Whereas then this most worthy Divine concludeth thus If therefore it behoveth him whom God loveth not to be guilty of sin but there is no man but he is guilty of sin unlesse his sin be pardoned and forgiven him that is unlesse he be justified and so leaveth it to be inferred that we must be justified before we can be loved of God That which I have said already doth sufficiently manifest the inconsequence hereof Whereunto this I add further that where thre is alike guilt we cannot alwaies infer a necessity of like condemnation As for example a Soveraign Prince or King when many of his Subjects are risen up against him in rebellion and are all alike guilty of death doth of his mercy and free grace pardon some of them but others he as freely maketh examples of his justice for terrour unto the rest of his Subjects and causeth them to be put to death Even thus it is in this present case for whereas all of us for our sins have deserved eternal death God of his grace converteth absolveth and justifieth some and others he leaveth in their sins and condemneth them according to their demerits Thus Gods love or his grace is the cause of our justification and not our justification the cause of Gods loving us as hath been shewed before and shal now by Gods grace be further proved tum ex concessis Chamieri both from that which Chamier granteth and delivereth for truth and from other places of Scripture beside those which I have already produced Lib. 22. cap. 12. de sola fide justificante Mat. 26.28 Mors Christi est vera causa justificationis saith he The death of Christ is the true cause of our justification And this indeed is most truly spoken of him for our blessed Saviour himself telleth us That he shed his blood for the remission of our sins Now how is this to be understood but that he shed his blood to purchase the pardon of our sins Eph. 1.7 For thus St. Paul also saith that we have redemption through his blood even the forgivenesse of our sins And St. John likewise saith that the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sins 1 John 1.7 Now what is this but for him to say that the forgiveness of our sins is an effect of Christs blood which he shed for us Or that I may speak in Chamier's words that Christs death is the true cause of our justification Now from hence I do first inferr that our justification cannot be the cause why God loveth us Quicquid enim est causa causae est causa causati For whatsoever is the cause of the cause is also the cause of that which is caused by that cause Now Gods love was the cause why he sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins 1 John 4.10 Our propitiation therefore and consequently our justification which is therewith necessarily connexed or which is involved in it Rom. 3.25 cannot be the cause of Gods love for then Gods love should both be the cause and the effect of our propitiation and justification by Christ Again if Christs death be as it is indeed the true cause of our justification then we cannot be actually justified ab aeterno from all eternity Temporale enim non est causa aeterni for that which is in a definite time cannot be the cause of that which hath been for ever But Christ suffered for our sins non ab aeterno sed tempore Ã
risen though perhaps that might not be the very first moment of the rising thereof when this was spoken and the Suns shining upon the wall is made a sign or an evidence and manifestation thereof And even so in like manner when our Saviour saith Her sins which are many are forgiven her his meaning was that they were really forgiven though not at that instant onely but from the first moment of her conversion And he maketh this manifest by his next words from her abundant love which she so many wayes shewed and expressed towards him saying For she loved much I know Mr. D. will not here say with the Papists that her love to Christ was the cause that he pardoned and forgave her her sins but that he drew an Argument from thence to prove and to evidence that her sins were forgiven And so this conjunction causal for est causa consequentiae non consequentis is only the cause of the consequence in his Argument or in his reasoning but not of the thing it self whereof he speaketh that is of the pardon of her sins He would prove also from the judgement of Protestant Interpreters that our Saviour speaketh not of remission of sins really but of the manifestation thereof because when we pray in the fifth Petition of the Lords Prayer Forgive us our trespasses they make this to be the meaning hereof that the Children of God whose sins are already pardoned do pray for more assurance thereof But I have shewed already Quest 9. that they make this to be the meaning thereof only in part and not the full sense of that Petition as Mr. D. would have it Recon of God to man pag. 43. Another place of Scripture which he perverteth and corrupteth by a novellous and strange Exposition are those words of St. Paul 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God The meaning hereof he will have to be that they shall not enter into the Kingdom of God here on Earth which is his Church But in expounding these words thus he commeth far short of the meaning of the Apostle for albeit it is most certain that the unrighteous are no true members of the Church though they be in it for a time yet the Scripture when it speaketh of the inheritance which Christ hath purchased for his Saints from which the unrighteous are excluded referreth the possession thereof not to this World where we sojourn for a time as Pilgrims in a strange Country but to that happy life that is to come Thus our Saviour at the day of judgement will say unto his Elect people and righteous Servants Mat. 25.34 Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world St. Paul also telleth us that flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 15. neither shall corruption inherit incorruption Which words it were absurd to refer unto the Kingdom of grace or to say that the Apostle excludeth all such out of the Church here on earth who carry about them corruptible flesh and blood St. Peter also in plain words so speaketh of the inheritance of Heaven as of a thing the possession whereof is not to be had in this life but in the World to come Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the power of God 1 Pet. 1.3 4 4. through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time When St. Paul therefore saith that Fornicators Adulterers and such unrighteous persons shall not inherit the Kingdom of God his meaning is that they shall never enter into the glorious Kingdom of Heaven but be excluded thence and be cast into Hell 3. As strangely doth he expound those words of the Apostle Heb. 12.14 Recon of God to man p. 43 44. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord that is saith he with spiritual eyes or with the eyes of faith whereas the Apostle speaketh not here in praesenti of that Vision or seeing of the Lord which is to be had in this present World but in futuro of our seeing of him hereafter to our endless comfort in his Kingdom and in his glory in the same sense as St. John doth 1 Joh. 3.2 We know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Most false therefore it is which Mr. D. saith To see God and to inherit the Kingdom of God are nothing else but to believe in God and in his Son Jesus Christ When we come to Heaven faith in Christ shall cease and yet we shall not cease then to see God Another place of holy Scripture 1 Cor. 13.13 Confer with a sick man pag. 7. 1 Ioh. 3.14 which he grosly perverteth with a false Exposition and so goeth about to deprive the godly of the comfort which they take from it are those words of St. John We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the Brethren Many good souls have acknowledged that when all other grounds of comfort have failed them or at the least when in time of temptation they have not been able to apprehend any comfort from any thing else yet these words of the Apostle have upheld them from despairing of their Estate because their Consciences did testifie unto them that they did unfainedly love and ardently affect all that are godly Now this comfort also Mr. D. denyeth them * Confer p. 9. I do saith he for the present believe that St. John doth principally speak of our assurance whereby we know one another to be the Children of God And Conf. p. 8. He telleth us that it is before man that our love beareth witness to our Faith For he saith that St. Johns meaning is not that a man may know by his love to the Brethren that he himself particularly is in the state of grace but that the faithful in general by means of the love which they professed and shewed one to another were well perswaded one of another and believed by the judgement of charity that they were all the Children of God But this Exposition of his crosseth the main scope and drift or the purpose and intention of the Apostle in writing this Epistle which was to comfort the faithful by shewing them what signes and tokens and particular evidences they had of the forgiveness of their sins and of their salvation by Christ for so he saith Chap. 5.13 These things have I written unto you whereof their love to the Brethren was one that believe on the name of
the Sonne of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God that is perseverantly unto the end What will Mr. D. except against this Will he say as Estius and the Papists do that the Apostles meaning is not that every or any ordinary faithful man knoweth certainly that he is translated from death to life and therefore in the state of salvation but that he speaketh generally in the person of all the faithful and is thus to be understood We Christians know by an assured faith that all good faithful people of which number we severally trust that we are are translated from death to life But surely this Expositiō of his est nimis jejuna is too hungry and leane For what comfort will it be to any one to know certainly that all good Christians and true believers are translated from death to life as long as he knoweth not whether he himself be of that number but doubteth hereof Again Shall we think or can we perswade our selves that St. John wrote so large an Epistle and used so many Arguments only to make known unto the faithful that all good Christians or that all good faithful people have their sins pardoned and are in the state of salvation which they never doubted of It s certain That St. John in writing this Epistle had a farther intent and that is to make it evident unto us by many infallible signes and tokens how we may know that we are the Children of God and that we are translated from death to life which is a matter of greatest comfort and rejoycing to a Christian heart that can be Mr. D. indeed for I would not willingly do him any wrong acknowledgeth that true charity is an assured signe or mark of grace received but for all that Cor a s pag. he holdeth that a Christian cannot certainly know that he hath charity whereby he may be assured that he is the Child of God But herein he joyneth with the Papists For they say as Estius doth quantum de dilectione fraternâ certi sumus tantum de isto look how much we are assured of our love to the Brethren so much are we assured of that also he meaneth that we are translated from death to life whereof he spake before Now he hath told us that this cannot certainly be known of us and so his meaning is as also Mr. D. that we cannot certainly but conjecturally only know that we love the Brethren Thus both Mr. D. and they would make St. John a silly and sory disputant as if he would prove ignotum per ignotius that which is unknown to us by another thing which is as much or more unknown for how can we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the Brethren if we have no more certain knowledge of this then of the former Our conjectural hope that we love the Brethren will only breed and beget in us an Opinion that we are translated from death to life but no knowledge thereof at all But on the contrary St. John saith not We hope we conjecture or we think but we know that we have passed from death to life And he proveth it as effectu tanquam signo hujus infallibili by an effect of this translation as an infallible sign thereof because saith he we love the Brethren Thus he maketh our love of the Brethren an evidence that we are in the state of salvation And hereupon St. Augustine writing on these words saith redeat unusquisque ad cor suum Si ibi invenerit charitatem fraternam securus sit quia transiit à morte ad vitam Let every one return unto his own heart if he doth there finde brotherly charity let him be secure because he hath passed from death to life Surely St. Augustine would never have spoken thus if he had thought that a Christian can have no certain knowledge of his love to the Brethren For it is not an uncertain hope or an opinion grounded on conjectures that can breed and beget any security in the soul Thus Christian Reader I have given thee a tast of Mr. D. his faculty in expounding of the Scriptures after his fancy More of his detorted Expositions I cannot acquaint thee with because I neither remember any more nor have his Book by me it being restored to the owner by him that lent it me long since And indeed I should both trouble my self and the Reader in rehearsing any more of them and this Treatise would swell and grow into too great a bulk whereby the weaker sort of Christians might be deterred and discouraged from reading of it for whose sake principally I have penned and published it that they may be setled and stablished in the truth which hath been formerly taught them and not be carried away with the deceiptfulness of novellous errors Here I made an end long since and thought to have proceeded no further but upon a second review of Mr. D. his three Treatises I started these Questions following which having discussed and determined I do here add unto the former hoping that they will not be altogether unacceptable unto not a few good Christians because the most of them may give some satisfaction unto them in divers doubts and scruples of Conscience wherewith their souls are exercised Quest 16. WHether all that are called of God and consequently that are his Children have alwayes and at all times their hearts ravished and replenished with surpassing joy and comfort Quest 17. Whether the Repentance which the Prophets taught and exhorted their hearers unto in the old Testament be the same which is taught in the new Quest 18. Whether there was any actual forgiveness of sin in the old Testament Quest 19. Whether there be not many things to be done by us before we can be saved Quest 20. Whether a man may not have a steadfast hope in God that he shall be saved who hath a care to keep Gods Law to do all things commanded and to shun all things forbidden to the uttermost of his power Quest 21. Whether a desire to believe be faith it self Quest 22. Whether he that useth the means of salvation constantly may not confidently expect and hope to be saved through Gods mercy in Christ Quest 23. Whether every one that he may be assured of the forgiveness of his sins and of his salvation is without reason or against reason to believe that his sins are pardoned and that God hath given him eternal life Quest 24. Whether he that hath oppressed defrauded or otherwise wronged his Neighbour in his goods and outward Estate can believe that his sins are pardoned before he hath made him restitution and satisfaction Quest 25. Whether the way for a wicked man to overcome and leave his sins be for him to believe that his sins are pardoned and forgiven him Quest 26. Whether every one that truly believeth in Christ be assured of salvation Quest 27. Whether every one who in his Conscience is not assured of his reconciliation to God and of his own salvation be a wicked man Quest 28. Whether a man can take no comfort in any of Gods promises unless he be first assured of his Faith FINIS
do not by Faith believe and receive those promises To say nothing that to be ingrafted into Christ is nothing but to believe in Christ For God by working Faith in us doth ingraft us into Christ I deny therefore his minor Proposition for we are not ingrafted into Christ at all untill the Spirit hath wrought Faith in us He alledgeth That the effects of righteousness is Assurance but to what purpose I know not Obiect Esay 32.17 unless it be against himself For if righteousness do alwaies bring assurance with it of Gods Love favour or of the forgiveness of sins and of our justification then it cannot be said that we are assured of our justification only by Faith as he teacheth Afterwards I finde him reasoning thus St. Peter saith Object That Christ bare our sins in his own Body on the tree that we being delivered from sin might live in righteousness 1 Pet. 2.24 St. John tells us John 1.29 Christ takes them away Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world If the justice of God hath laid allour iniquities upon his back hath not his mercy taken them from us If the Lord Christ did take them away then they are no more Answ For answer hereunto I say first That they are taken away and are no more in regard of any satisfaction to be performed by us for so Christ bare them and took them away as I have shewed before Again I do here further add That the persons of whom both St. Peter and St. John do speak in these words are Believers Christ bare our sins that is ours who believe in him for of them St. Peter speaks and to them he wrote this and not to infidels So also when St. John saith Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world By the world here he meaneth all those throughout the world both Jews and Gentiles that do believe in him and receive him for their Saviour in the same sense as St. John the Apostle speaketh when he saith If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the just 1 John 2.1 and he is the propitiation for our sins ours of the Jewish Nation or of the Israelites who do believe in him and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world that is of all both Jews and Gentiles that do believe in him throughout the world SECT III. An Objection answered I Have done with Mr. D. And must now essay if I can give satisfaction to a stronger reason than any of his which I finde alledged by an acute and learned Divine for whom I am no fit match Vindic Gra. Lib. 1. Sect. 4. For thus doth he reason Justificatio est actus Dei immanens non transiens that is to say an internal not an external Act of God est ergo aeternus non temporaneus it is therefore eternal and not done in time as the outward works of God are Whereupon he inferreth and concludeth that when the Scripture saith We are justified by Faith the meaning hereof is that we are justified by Faith in tribunali conscientiae that is that God when we believe in Christ justifieth us in the tribunal which be setteth up in our own souls and consciences but that otherwise we were justified ab aeterno apud Deum eternally with God But methinks this exposition of his quite overthroweth the Doctrine of justification by Faith as it is taught by the Protestants For the Protestants Doctrine is First that our justification is actus individuus an individual act that is accomplished all at once in one and the same instant Secondly quòd non admittit majus et minus that it is not increased nor diminished by degrees as our sanctification is But this justification is not any such indivisible act For frequent and ordinary experience sheweth that those who are Believers and in the state of grace yea excellent Christians otherwise are somtimes confident that their sins are pardoned and that they are in Gods favour and at other times though they rely still upon God for the pardon of their sins and for salvation by Christ yet they cannot say that they are pardoned In a word the Children of God have sometimes a greater sometimes a lesser assurance of the pardon of their sins and of their salvation and sometimes hardly any at all The reason whereof in many of them is melancholy abounding which depraveth the fancy depresseth the heart and alwaies raiseth fears in opposition contrary to that which a mans heart is set upon and which it most desireth Somtimes again the Faith of the Believer is assailed with strong strange and hideous temptations which deprive him of that assurance which formerly he had or were it not for these temptations would have And sometimes also weakness of judgment in those whose hearts are upright with God is a great cause why they cannot lay hold of that comfort which belongeth unto them Now if we shall say that a man is justified by Faith when his Faith doth declare and evidence unto his conscience that his sins are pardoned then we shall exclude some of these good Christians from the state of justification and of others of them we shall say contrary to the common tenent of Protestants that they are sometimes more and sometimes lesse justified Object But how then shall we answer the aforesaid Reason which is alledged to prove the eternity of the justification of Gods Elect Answ I answer it thus That the Decree indeed of justifying or absolving Believers is an immanent and eternal Act of God Thus they are justified ab aeterno in mente Dei eternally in Gods counsel or in Gods mind and purpose even as those that are arraigned in Courts of justice here in this world are acquitted or condemned in animo et mente judicis in the Judges mind and decree or determination before he passeth sentence of judgment upon them But they are not actually judged until this sentence is pronounced and published Now the same is to be said concerning the actuall justification of those that do believe in Christ For justification as the Protestants do prove by the Scriptures est vocabulum forense is a judicial term and therefore is to be taken in sensu forensi in a judicial sense It importeth therefore an external judicial act of God that is to say his pronouncing or publishing of sentence of judgment For then is a Judge said to judge him that is arraigned before him when he giveth either sentence of absolution or condemnation upon him and even in like manner God the judge of all the world doth justifie those that believe in Christ by passing sentence of absolution upon them and condemneth all unbelievers and ungod y sinners by giving sentence of condemnation against them Object But it may be you will say unto me It is true Christ at his coming will judge the quick and the dead
time I deny this consequence for from hence it followeth only that Faith goeth before our justification in order of nature or in reason but not in time because a man is justified at the same instant that he layeth hold on Christ believeth in him But he denieth that Faith goeth before our justification in any respect at all his reason is because Faith is a part of our sanctification but there is no sanctification but it is after justification which indeed and in nature is before it The first of these Propositions I do willingly grant that Faith is a part of sanctification but whereas he assumeth that there is nosanctification but it is after justification I cannot assent unto him in this For many worthy Divines do hold that sanctification is before justification their judgment therefore I might oppose unto the learned Chamiers others that hold the contrary For the clearing of this matter I do distinguish of sanctification and say that it is either habitual and so God doth sanctifie us by infusing holinesse into us or actual and so we do sanctifie our selves by renouncing the works of sin and living holily Of both these Moses speaketh when he saith Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy for I am the Lord your God and ye shall keep my Statutes and do them Lev. 20.7.8 for I am the Lord which sanctifie you When the Lord saith here Sanctifie your selves and be ye holy this must be understood of actual sanctification that is of holiness that is to be actually performed by us But whereas the Lord useth this as a reason to stir us up hereunto for I am the Lord which sanctifie you this is spoken of habitual sanctification For how doth the Lord sanctifie us but by infusing the habit or the internal grace of holinesse into us whereby we are inabled to perform the several acts of holinesse or to live holily the effectual excitation of Gods blessed Spirit herewith concurring But because these words of the Lord which I have alledged though they speak of a twofold sanctification are taken in another sense by very learned Divines than this that I have given for confirmation therefore of habitual sanctification I do alledge those words of St. Paul 1 Thess 5.23 where he prayeth that God would sanctify them wholly or throughly And those 1 Cor. 1.30 where he saith That Christ is made unto us sanctification See also 1 Pet. 1.2 Now of actual sanctification St. Paul speaketh when he saith This is the will of God even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God Hereof also speaketh St. Peter in that precept of his Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts In these and in other places the Scripture speaketh of Sanctification both habitual wrought in us by God himself and of sanctification acted and wrought by us through the assistance of Gods Spirit exciting us unto holinesse Whereas then this most learned Divine saith That there is no sanctification but it is after justification this is true if it be understood of actual sanctication For we are first justified by Faith and then this Faith inflameth our hearts with the love of God and stirreth us up to glorifie him and to serve him in holiness and righteousness according to all his commandements Thus the several works of holiness and righteousness do proceed from Faith Etiamsi non elicitivè imperativè tamen though not elicitly yet imperatively Faith stirreth us up unto them For as St. Paul saith The end of the commandement is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience 1 Tim. 1.5 and Faith unfeigned It is true therefore that Faith and therefore justification which is thereby laid hold of and obtained is before actual sanctification For as this learned man saith well fides vera est fons et scaturigo omnium bonorum operum in fidelibus De sola fide justificante Lib. 22. cap. 12. True Faith is the fountain and source of all good works in the faithful But I cannot say that there is no sanctification but it is after justification for habitual Faith is a part of habitual anctification Now the infused habits of grace such as Faith is are before their acts If therefore it can be proved that adulti or such as are of capacity and understanding are not justified without or before actual Faith then it will inevitably follow that there is some sanctification that is not after justification Yea beside what hath been said already to prove that we are actually justified by Faith and not without it methinketh Chamierus himself doth as good as grant it when he saith Verum est proptereà nos factos in Christo justitiam Dei quòd Christo nos simus incorporati per fidem It is true that we are therefore made the righteousnesse of God in Christ because we are incorporated into him by Faith We are not then justified before Faith or before we do believe in Christ Again this most excellent Divine saith In adultis fatemur remissionem peccatorum ab inhaerente justitiâ nunquam sepaerari We confess that remission of sins is never separated from inherent righteousness in those that are grown in years But say I many of the Elect after they have the use of reason and understanding being well grown in years do yet live in sin for some time and do not serve God in righteousness until he by his grace doth afterward convert them According therefore to his own Doctrine it followeth that justification from sin at least in adultis in those that are grown in years doth not go before Faith But saith he Faith justifieth relativè as it hath for its proper peculiar object the mercy of God on which it relieth Whence as I conceive he would have it inferred That seeing the mercy of God is eternal therefore our justification is so also and therefore before Faith Now hereunto I answer that though Christs righteousnesse be materialiter the proper object of our justification or that which is imputed to us for our justification Yet I will not deny bur that Gods mercy considered as the internal cause moving God to justify us may thus be said to be the proper and peculiar object on which our Faith relyeth for justification But it doth not follow hereupon that we were justified ab aeterno from everlasting because Gods mercy is the cause of our justification no more than that we are sanctified and glorified eternally because our sanctification and glorification are wholly of Gods mercy Quest 7. Whether any previous dispositions preparations or qualifications be required of men in the Gospel that they may be partakers of salvation by Christ SECT I. The Preparations that go before our Regeneration and Conversion THose that take upon them to be the only Preachers of
and brethren what shall we do This is the very nature of the thing required For as in the naturall generation of a man there are many previous dispositions which go before the introduction of the form so also in the spiritual by many antecedent actions of grace do we come to our spiritual maturity This lastly is apparent by the instruments which God useth in regenerating men for he useth the ministery of men and the instrument of the word 1 Cor. 4.15 I have begotten you by the Gospel But if God would immediatly regenerate and justifie a wicked man prepared hereunto with no sorrow no desire no hope of pardon there would be no need neither of the ministery of men nor of the word preached for the effecting thereof neither need the Ministers to take any care to divide the word aright first by wounding the consciences of their hearers aptly and prudently with the terrours of the Law and afterwards by raising rhem up with the Promises of the Gospel and exhorting them to seek Repentance and Faith of God by prayers and tears Thus far those worthy Divines SECT II. The Preparations that are necessary to our future glorification and perfect salvation in Heaven THus I have shewed what qualifications are necessary to the receiving of saving grace and consequently to the first beginning of our salvation by Christ Now if we shall speak of our salvation as it shall be consummated and perfected in Heaven it is most true that we must also by Gods grace and by his Spirit be qualified renewed and prepared for it as our Saviour himself assureth us in these words Matth. 5.20 For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharises ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Heb. 12.14 Consonantly unto this the Apostle telleth us that without holinesse no man shall see the Lord that is in his kingdom and to his comfort For all unclean persons shall be excluded out of the new Jerusalem as St. John also beareth witness 1 Cor. 6.9 Revel 21.27 Whereunto St. Paul also subscribeth when he saith Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Wherefore if salvation be taken for our compleat salvation in Heaven so Sanctification Faith Repentance John 3.16.38 Luke 13.3 Rev. 19.7 and good works go before it although not as any meritorious causes thereof yet as preparations to it as we are given to understand when it is said The mariage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready and the next words shew how not by any natural power or ability of her own sed dono Dei but by Gods free gift or grace for so it followeth and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linnen clean and white for the fine linnen is the righteousness of Saints And that it is necessary for us thus subsidio gratiae divinae by the assistance of Gods grace to prepare our selves to meet Christ in his Kingdom of glory both the parable of the five wise Virgins Matth. 25. that prepared their lamps to meet the bridegroom sheweth and St. John also confirmeth it when he saith 1 Joh. 3.3 whosoever hath this hope in him that is to see Christ Jesus in his glory and to be glorified with him he purifieth himself as he is pure These things which I have thus alledged do manifest and make it evident that God sanctifieth prepareth and maketh his Elect fit for his Kingdom of Glory before he doth admit and receive them into it SECT III. An Objection answered Obiect BUt against this Doctrine Mr. H. Mr. S. and the rest of them do object and say That if such previous dispositions qualifications and preparations do go before our justification and salvation then our salvation shall not be of grace but of works Answ and so the Gospel will be a Covenant of works It 's true indeed if we did hold as the Papists do that we by such works of preparation do merit our salvation then it should be of works and not of grace but we are far from this For first we say that God of his grace by his Word and Spirit doth work these preparations in us and not we our selves by any strength or power of our own free will Secondly we therefore acknowledge and say that it is of his meer grace that he doth both justifie and sanctify us and after our warfare is ended crowns us with the glory of his Kingdom Over and besides all this we do also acknowledge that many of those in whom the common graces of the Spirit are wrought whereby the Elect are ordinarily â—ted and prepared for the work of regeneration 〈◊〉 through their own negligence and wickedness queâ—â— the Spirit and fall away from the grace which they 〈◊〉 thus received and so are never regenerated but juâ—â— rejected of God for their unthankfulness and neâ—â—r brought by him into the estate of salvation We do 〈◊〉 therefore say nor do we hold that the regeneration 〈◊〉 conversion of a sinner doth necessarily spring as it were or arise out of these previous dispositions as natura forms do out of the matter when it is rightly disposed for them for even the Elect themselves after they are thus wrought upon and disposed by the Word and Spirit of God do many times grow careless and do too much neglect the means of their salvation and so would utterly perish if God should leave them to themselves but hi Love towards them is such that he rouseth and raiset them out of their security and in due time by his wor and Spirit converteth them and bringeth them into th estate of grace This that we thus teach and acknowledge doth make it evident that our justification sanctâ—fication and whole salvation is of grace and not of aâ— works of ours It 's false therefore that we as they char us do by our Doctrine make the Gospel a Covenant works But hereof more at large Quest 14. SECT IIII. More Objections answered A Good while after I had thus answered the former Obiection in a private conference which I had with â—ne who denied all antecedent preparations to a sinners â—onversion he spake unto me to this effect Let Christ be offered unto sinners Object and let the riches â—f Gods grace be manifested and made known unto â—hem for that alone will be a sufficient means to make â—hem to receive Christ and to come in unto him yea â—nd to love and obey him Whereas on the contrary the preaching of the Law hath kept men from Christ and hath hindred the salvation of many souls Hereunto I replyed that no doubt many will be ready to come in unto Christ Answer and make a formal profession of his name when the Gospel is thus preached unto them but unlesse they be humbled by the Law and brought to see in what need they stand of Christ
ones we are by sinners whom Christ professeth that he came to call to understand contrite and broken hearted sinners that being terrified with the judgements of the Law do acknowlege that they stand in great need of Christ the heavenly Physician and of every drop his blood which he shed for them But of this I have spoken enough before Object 7. He goeth on and saith All that ever received Christ Object 7 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians received him in a sinful condition when they were unwashen darkness dead in sins enemies in their minds by wicked works Answ Here also Mr. S. setteth up an adversaâ—y unto himself of his own devising and then dischargeth fiercely and furiously upon him For no Protestant teacheth that those that are only prepared for the preaching of the Gospel by the terrours of the Law are washed from their sins and do live the life of grace but on the contrary they hold That as yet they are dead in sin and if they proceed no further shall perish everlastingly Object 8. Object 8 Lastly He thus also objecteth God offereth Christ in time as God gave him God before all times gave him to us because we were sinners and now he is but offered as he was given Answ Hereunto I answer First That God neither before time gave Christ in his eternal decree because we were sinner nor in time doth he give us him because we are sinners For there is no cause in us at all of our salvation it is to be ascribed wholly to Gods grace As for sin it is in it self a cause of damnation not of salvation But if his meaning be that God before time considered us as sinners when he gave us Christ there followeth nothing more from hence but that God in time offered Christ unto us when we were sinners which we willingly grant But we add further that God before all time decreed not only to give Christ to sinners but that those sinners should by the power of his Spirit be brought in time to acknowledge their sins and spiritual misery and woful condition under sin and so be driven out of themselves and be made to fly unto Christ Seeing therefore whatsoever God decreed before time shall be fulfilled and accomplished in time hereupon therefore it followeth not that all sinners absolutely but that those only who do acknowledge their sins and their eternal misery by sin are they to whom Christ is offered in the Gospel and that do come unto him SECT 6. Two Objections of Mr. D. answered THere are two Objections of Master D. which I formerly passed over at my first reading of his Book whereunto I have thought good now to return an answer First Object he reasoneth thus against any qualification or preparation or other to be wrought in us before we be justified Reconcil of God to man pag. 16. Let us hear the Lord speaking of his own work upon the Creature Isa 57.18 He went on frowardly in the way of his heart I have seen his wayes and will heale him I will lead him also and restore comforts to him and to his mourners Whom wilt thou heale O Lord Whom wilt thou restore Even him whose wayes I have seen What are those wayes Even frowardnesse and perversnesse He went on frowardly in the way of his heart See again Isa 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my owne sake and will not remember thy sins Whose sins will the Lord blot out Look we back unto the 22. vers Thou hast not called upon me O Jacob thou hast been weary of me O Israel Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities verse 24. See Thou hast been weary of me Yea thou hast wearied me This is Iacobs qualification This is Israels preparation Then follows I even I am he that blotteth out thy trangressions As if the Lord should say unto his people as he speaketh by the prophet Ezek. 36.22 Say unto the house of Israel Thus saith the Lord God I do not this for your sakes O house of Israel but for my holy names sake which ye have prophaned among the heathen whither ye went See also Deut. 9.6 Isa 48.9 alleadged by him And then his conclusion is This is all the qualification we bring unto God to win his love and mercy Answer But I answer whereas the Lord saith he went on frowardly in the way of his heart c. This is not Jacobs qualification but a description of his perverse disposition being considered as he was in himself to the magnifying of Gods most rich mercy and superabundant grace towards him in pardoning his sins His qualification precedent to his justification was his humiliation and abenegation of himself wrought in him by Gods Spirit opening his eyes to see his sins and the great wrath that was due unto him for them This was that which through the gracious working of Gods Spirit drew him unto Christ the promised redeemer of his people when he was offered unto him that he might be saved through faith in him But it was not this nor any thing else that Jacob did or could do that merited the pardon of his sins or that moved made God to justifie him for we acknowledge that our justification is wholly of grace yea that this preparation is also of grace yet not necessitating our justification as if it did alway follow it But of this enough hath been said before Yet Mr. D Dr. C and others do so represent our doctrine as if we taught precedent qualifications to win Gods love to procure him to have mercy upon us to forgive us our sins Object Master D. second Objection against precedent qualifications not onely to our justification but to our Conversion and Sanctification Reconcil of God to man pag. 31. is this John Frith whose Learning was by his adversarie commended whose constancy and patience in his Martyrdome was admired writeth to this effect Thou maist preach Hell Damnation and the rendering of a terrible account to a severe Judge seven years together and yet not make one good Christian He that would make a good Christian let the love of God be the first stone which he layeth for the foundation Answ That which this holy man saith I acknowledge to be most true A minister may preach not only seven but seventy time seven years together and yet if he preach nothing else but Hell and Damnation not convert one soule For it are not the terrours of the law but the glad tydings of Salvation by Christ in the preaching of the Gospel whereby the Spirit of God worketh faith in us to our conversion and salvation and stirreth us up to love and thankfulness towards God Notwithstanding the terrours of the Law are necessary by way of preparation hereunto For how can a man se of apprehend the great love of God to him in giving his Son to death for his Redemption if by
to lead a godly life and yet our Saviour rejected their obedience saying Mat. 5.20 Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharises ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven For their righteousness was externa non interna justitia outward onely before men but the inward purity of the heart was wanting in them For which cause our blessed Saviour compared them to whited Sepulchres and told them that they did make clean the outside of the Cup and of the platter whereas their inward part was full of uncleanness Besides this Luk. 11.39 they tythed Mint and Annise and Cummin but neglected the weightier matters of the Law as our Saviour layeth this to their charge He is much mistaken therefore Mat. 23.25 when he saith that the Scribes and Pharises had a constant purpose to forsake all sin and to walk in all holiness But saith he St. Paul a Pharise saith of himself Object Phil. 3.6 that he before his conversion was as touching the righteousness which is of the Law blameless The answer hereunto is Answ that he speaketh only of the outward righteousness of the Law as his enemies the Pharises understood it His meaning therefore is that he was unblameable in the Opinion of the Jews who were seduced by the Pharises and did as much as they required of him or that he was unblameable in regard of his outward cōversation before men and what if St. Paul did think well of himself whilest he was a Pharise and did persecute the Church of God can none therefore no not those who have received the spirit of God whereby they know the things that are given them of God 1 Cor. 2.12 be assured that they do in truth serve God according to all his Commandements SECT II. Faith and Repentance are distinct Graces Object Confer p. 19 20. Answ Synop. purioris Theologiae BUt he telleth us wherefore he acknowledgeth true Repentance to be a sure mark of salvation to wit because Repentance includeth Faith as a part thereof Whereunto I answer as the learned professors of Leyden and other Protestants do that Repentance is sometimes taken generally for the whole conversion of a sinner from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God and so faith is a part of it but otherwise the holy Scripture speaketh of Faith and Repentance as of two distinct graces For so doth St. Paul when he saith that he kept back from the Ephesians Act. 20.21 nothing that was profitable for them but taught them repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ Whence I reason thus Conf. p. 20. those vertues or those graces that are differenced by their objects are different vertues but so are repentance and faith therefore they differ really non sicut totum pars and not as the whole and the part Object Act. 2.37 38. the one whereof is included in the other But saith he when the Jews asked what shall we do to be saved Peter answered Repent and be baptized And when the Jaylor made the same Question Paul answered Act. 16.31 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved therefore either repentance must include faith or else St. Peter giveth not a full answer yea rather say I or else Mr. D. is deceived for in that saying of St. Peter Faith is not included in the word Repent but in the words following And be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that is in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ Although otherwise as I have said before I do not deny but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Repentance when it is used alone and not opposed to faith may comprehend or include in it faith in Christ Jesus as a part of our conversion SECT III. That Charity doth not bind a man universally to give half his Goods to the poor as Zacheus did HE granteth also That Love to the Brethren is a sure and certain note of a true Child of God and of Salvation is plainly taught 1 Joh. 3.4 which place is vindicated from the false glosse which Mr. D. hath set upon it Pag. 234. Confer Pag. 7 8. that where unfained love to the Brethren is found it may be a testimony of grace received but addeth that a man cannot love them unless he do sell either the whole or half of his possessions and divide them among such of his Brethren as he knoweth to be poor But if this be an inseparable note of true charity as he teacheth I dare boldly say he by this Doctrine of his will much more trouble mens Consciences then we do by ours and give them lesse assurance of Salvation 1 Joh. 3.14 For he that loveth not his Brother abideth in death Now how many can he find in this Kingdom that with Zacheus do give half their goods to the poor or that having Lands and possessions do with those primitive Christians sell them and lay down at their Ministers Act. 4. or Pastors feet the price of them that it may be distributed amongst their Brethren as their necessity shall require doubtless he will find but a few if any that will do this Now what shall we exclude all the rest from the state of grace and consequently from all hope of salvation I dare not do so and yet I must needs say seeing the faith that is available to salvation worketh by love Gal. 5.6 the great want of love in many forward professors of the Gospel may give them just cause to doubt of their salvation Luk. 19. Act. 2.45 4.34 35. But that I may come nearer to Mr. D. although Zacheus at his conversion gave half his goods to the poor and those that were possessors of Lands sold them and laid down the money at the Apostles feet yet the Lord no where bindeth us by any precept to do the like neither do their examples bind all to imitate and follow them in this their practice For God distributeth his graces diversly to some he giveth very large hearts and stirreth them up to do more then others can ordinarily attain unto who have received an inferior portion of the spirit 1 Pet. 4.10 or gift of grace And hereupon it is that St. Peter exhorteth As every man hath received the gift so minister the same one to another as good Stewards of the manifold grace of God And St. Paul exhorting the Corinthians to be liberal in their contributions to the poor Saints at Jerusalem doth not call upon them to give half or any certain and determinate part of their goods unto them although they were in great necessity but saith he Every man as he purposeth in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity 2 Cor. 9.7 for God loveth a chearful giver There are sometimes more sometimes fewer poor to be relieved by us and sometimes their necessity is greater and
by the practice of other vertues as well as of Faith and consequently giveth us to understand that assurance of salvation is to be had not from Faith only but from charity also and from brotherly love and all those other Vertues and Graces that are joyned with it and by the Apostle in that place particularly rehearsed and reckoned up For it must needs be granted that those who are assured of their election are thereby also assured of their salvation seeing it is not possible that any of the Elect should perish Math. 24.24 For Gods decrees are immutable his counsel shall stand and he will do all his will and pleasure Isa 46.10 SECT VI. Objections answered and Doubts resolved THere remaineth nothing now but that I answer certain Reasons of Mr. D. which I have not yet touched whereby he goeth about to prove that our works of piety or charity cannot possibly assure us of salvation when faith lyeth hid that we cannot see that we believe by the inward testimony of our Conscience Object Convers J. Baptist p. 51. The first of them is this That which maketh me doubt of my Faith will make me doubt of the sincerity of my works No it will not for the cause many times lyeth hid when the effect discovereth it self and is obvious to sight and sense Answ 1 He that is shut up in a Dungeon or in a dark house cannot see the Sun when it is risen yet notwithstanding he may assure himself that it is not night but day and that the Sun is risen by those beams of light which do dart into the house through some little crevises or chinks that are in the wall and even so in like manner when a mans faith cannot be seen being over-clouded with tentations yet by the lively effects thereof by his love to God and to his word and Children and by the opposition which he maketh against all sinful lusts and tentations and by his constant purpose desire and endeavour to obey God and to please him in all things he may gather that he is not destitute of Faith though he cannot so clearly see it nor behold it directly and immediately in it self or in its own proper acts Again whereas he saith That which maketh him doubt of his faith will make him doubt not of his work but of the sincerity of it Answ 2 I further answer That there is a two fold sincerity the one agentis seu operantis of the person that doth the work the other operis of the work that is done 1. The sincerity of the person consists in the true intention of his minde or heart and so it is opposed to hypocrisie Now whether a man doth his works in sincerity and truth or but in hypocrisie his own Conscience will tell him 2. The sincerity of the work is when it is true and real and not imaginary or counterfeit Now if sincerity be taken in this sense there is apparent reason why many a believer doubteth more of the sincerity of his faith then of his works to wit because his faith is assaulted with strong yea and now and then with hideous and with fearful tentations which do shake it and make him to doubt of the truth of it whereas he may have no such cause to doubt of the truth of his works Even as though not the same man yet some other for the same cause may doubt more of the truth and sincerity of some of his vertues actions and works then of others As for example of his chastity rather then of his liberality and justice because lascivious thoughts do now and then rise in his minde although he taketh no delight in them but resisteth them and grieveth and condemneth himself for them Whereas he is not so assaulted in the exercise of other vettues which maketh him lesse to doubt of the truth and sincerity of them Lastly Whereas he saith That which maketh me Answ 3 doubt of my faith By retorning the Objection will make me doubt of the sincerity of my works I must tell him That if this reason of his be any thing worth then neither will his faith give him any assurance of his salvation when he doubteth of the sincerity of his works or of his love to God and Man Gal. 5.6 for the true justifying and saving faith worketh by love But contrary hereunto he telleth us as you heard before that when the soul is loaden with the burthen of sin and sense of misery it is sufficient for our assurance to believe God in his promises according to that Act. 16.21 Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved Object A second Reason of his is this How is it possible I should judge my works sincere when I cannot see I believe Whatsoever is not of faith is sin Answ To this I answer It is one thing to be without faith another for a man to want the sense and sight or feeling of his faith No works in deed are any thing worth where faith is altogether wanting for without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 But as fire on the hearth cannot be seen when it lyeth covered under ashes so is the faith of Gods dear Children many times so covered by reason of doubts that arise in their minds or the dimness of their spiritual eye-sight that they cannot see it Yet I hope Mr. D. will not say that all their works in this case are unsound or that they or others shall do well to think so of them as long as their Consciences do tell them that whatsoever they do they do it in sincerity and in the singleness of their hearts and not as time-servers or men-pleasers Object Lastly He asketh What works are done in faith that the same acts may not be done in the spirit of bondage Answ I answer him That though the same acts that are done in faith may be done in the spirit of bondage He that is acted only by the Spirit of bondage doth love sin still and whatsoever good he doth Act. 15.9 it is only for fear and not out of love to God Heb. 9.14 that he may glorifie him quoad materiale according to the matter of them yet not quoad formale that is according to the purity and sanctity of them for it is faith that purifieth the heart as St. Peter saith And as another Apostle telleth us It is faith in the blood of Christ that purifieth the Conscience from dead works to serve the living God Men in deed may be restrained from acting sin for a time by the terror and fear of Gods judgements which the spirit of bondage worketh in them but when that fear is gone or when it is but forgotten as usually it is in their mirth and meriments then they break out again and commit the same sins which they did before with greediness The sum of all then is this it is faith and the filial fear of God and not the