Usurpation over the Bodies and Souls of Men and the ultimate end of them all was to set up Gods Kingdom among Men and to destroy Satans Kingdom Therefore the Devil could not possibly be the Author of Christs Miracles since they were directly contrary to his Nature and destructive of his Kingdom and Interest in the World The consequence is evident because if the Devil be supposed to do such Miracles so circumstantiated he is and must be ipso facto supposed to be a silly weak Prince that for want of a Politick Head and Ambitious Heart acts quite contrary unto his own Nature and doth what he can to destroy his own Kingdom and Interest in the World But the Devil cannot be supposed to be a silly weak Prince who so Acts for want of Policy and Pride Such a Supposition is evidently false and self-contradictious for the Devil is a most Politick proud Spirit that is his very Nature as he is a Devil and his Politick proud Nature always Acts like it self and ever prompts him to defend maintain and propagate his Kingdom and Interest among Men. Therefore it 's impossible that the Devil should be the Author of such Miracles as are so contrary to his Nature and destructive of his Kingdom and Interest among Men since it cannot be that such a Politick Ambitious Spirit as the Devil is should be so filly as to make war upon his own Subjects pull down his own Kingdom and take the Crown from his own and set it on anothers Head This was our Lords Argument whereby he proved his Miracles to be from God and not from Satan And this Reason with others he hath given us why we should believe both his Doctrine and Miracles to be from Heaven and doth no where require us to believe it without any Reason Now if neither Christ nor his Apostles desired Men to believe them upon their bare Word without good proof who are we and who is our Author that either we or he should desire People to believe either the one or the other of us upon our bare Words without good proof Especially when the matter in Controversie is of the highest Nature and greatest Importance to wit whether we preach a new Gospel which he affirms and we deny and without any Reason but with a great many Falshoods and Calumnies he affirms it but with good and solid Reason we deny it and have disproved his Falshoods and wiped off his Calumnies Amongst other things our Author reproaches us as hath been shewed with the Name of Rational Divines by which it plainly appears that he himself would not be accounted a Rational Preacher or Writer of matters of Divinity and then belike he would not have the People to be Rational Hearers and Readers but to believe all that he either Preaches or Writes without knowing any good Reason why or wherefore But that which he casts upon us as a reproach we take it as a Crown being rightly understood as we have shewed it ought to be And if we be indeed Rational Divines we bless God who hath made us such and pray him so to continue us whilest he hath any Service for us here and still to make us more Rational that we may be the better able to open unto his People the true Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Faith And as we desire to be Rational Divines in the sense before explained so we desire that the People may be Rational Hearers Readers and Believers so rational as not to receive every Doctrine they hear from the Pulpit and read from the Press without knowing by Scripture and Scriptural Reason why and wherefore they receive it Therefore we exhort and beseech them to try before they trust Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God 1 Joh. 4.1 1 Thes 5.21 prove all things and hold fast that which is good Consider what we have said to clear up God's Truth and to vindicate our own Innocency from the Aspersions and Calumnies of the Accuser of the Brethren and according to the Evidence we offer you judge impartially as you will Answer to God and your own Consciences FINIS Some Books Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey SEveral Discourses 1. Of Purity 2. Of Repentance 3. Of Seeking first the Kingdom of God By Hezekiah Burton D. D. late Rector of Barns near London and Published by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Dr. Tillotson in 8vo Bishop Wilkins hâ—s Gift of Prayer and Preaching newly Reprinted with the Addition of near a thousand Authors to the Preaching in 8vo Mr. Slaters Thanksgiving Sermon October 27th 1692. 4to His Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. John Reynolds Minister of the Gospel Jan. 8. 1692. 4to His Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Richard Fincher Minister of the Gospel Feb. 19. 1692. 4to Mr. Daniel Burgess his Mans whole Duty and Gods wonderful intreaty of him thereunto from 2 Cor. 5.20 in Twelves His Advice to Parents and Children the summ of a few Sermons Contracted in 12o The Death and Rest Resurrection and Blessed Portion of the Saints in a Discourse on Dan. 12.13 Being preached on the Occasion of the Death of Dr. Daniel Rolls Minister of the Gospel Together with the Work of the Redeemer and the Redeemed in 12o A Good Minister of Jesus Christ a Funeral Sermon for the Reverend Mr. Richard Steel a faithful and useful Minister of the Gospel Nov. 27. 1692. By George Hammond M. A. and Minister of the Gospel
Souls is and through Grace shall be our fervent and frequent Prayer unto him that is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think Ephes 3.20 21. unto whom be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all Ages World without end Amen The INDEX THE INTRODUCTION No just cause appears for raising such a clamour against the Subscribers The Test proposed by our Accuser out of the Assemblies Confession of Faith and Catechisme accepted by us who are ready to subscribe to it in the Assemblies own sense page 1. to 8. CHAP. I. Concerning the Occasion and Design of the Letter Some remarks on it page 8. to 18. CHAP. II. Of the Authours Errors in Doctrine against the Purity of our Christian Faith SECT I. Of his first Errour That there is no new Law of Grace The Controversie stated p. 20 21. The Affirmative proved by Scripture and by Testimonies of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines p. 22 to 33. SECT II. Of his second Errour That the Covenant of Grace is Absolute and not Conditional 1. It is shewed in what sense we hold it not to be and in what sense to be Conditional p. 34 to 49. 2. With respect to Justification and Glorification it is proved to be conditional That Faith and Repentance with respect to Justification and sincere Obedience with respect to Glorification are conditions in the sense there declared proved 1. By Scripture 2. by Reason agreeable to Scripture 3. By Testimonies of Ancient Fathers and many Modern Divines p. 49 to 120. SECT III. Of his Third Errour that there is no real Change no Holy Disposition or Qualification no good or Holy thing wrought in or done by Man in order to and before Justification c. The question stated p. 120. The contrary Truth proved by Scripture and Reason agreeable to Scripture and by the Testimony of Protestant Divines especially of the Synod of Dort and objections an swered p. 120 to 145. An Appendix of the Third Section concerning Dispositions previous to Regeneration and Conversion Shewed what they ordinarily are p. 146. What our Opinion is concerning them p. 146 147. That our Opinion is neither new nor singular proved by Testimonies of Famous Protestant Divines p. 148 to 156. Objections answered p. 156 to 162. Bradwardin for Justification by inherent Righteousness and Humane Satisfaction some further account of his Principles and Practices p. 163 to 165. More Testimonies of Mr. Dickson Claude Charnock Turretin c. for previous Dispositions p. 165 to 168. CHAP. III. Of his Ridiculous way of Converting an Vnbeliever p. 168 to 183. CHAP. IV. Of the Calumnies wherewith he asperses Christ's Ministers and particularly of the middle way Shewed that we are neither Pelagians nor Arminians in whole or in part p. 184 to 190. That called the middle way stated and shewed not to be a new Gospel but the Opinion of Calvin and others of our Reformers p. 191 192. The Calumny relating to Justification refuted p. 193 to 195. As also p. 37 to 40 and 42 to 45. Other Calumnies refuted p. 195 to 204. CHAP. V. People are advised to try before they trust and not suffer themselves to be imposed upon and led into Errour by the bold unproved Assertions and Dictates of any Preachers or Writers whatsoever p. 204 to the end The Errata of the Press thus to be Corrected TItle Page for nostraas read nostras Preface page 3 line 2 read Rule Book p. 1. l. 2. f. flesh r. flesh p. 1. l. 10. after battle add p. 14. l. 1. for the that r. that the. p. 23 l. 36 f. perfect of r. perfect or l. 8. r. virtual p. 25 l. 2 r. pius p. 51 l. 31 r. it is a condition p. 52 l. 47 r. goeth on p. 55 l. 33 f. of them r. on them p. 63 l. 43 f. or r. of p. 67 l. 10. f. atr r. act p. 80. l. 24 f. inward applicative r. inward applicative without a Comma p. 85. lin 40. f. he an r. he is an l. 41. blot out is p. 88 at the end blot out the last word this p. 105. l. 34. r. Receive it p. 110. l. 3. after emendationem for a point put a Comma In the same line after life put a p. 115. l. 48. r. prove that no man without a p. 128. l. 32 f. he r. it and l. 33 r. penitent p. 138 l. 6 f. make r. made p. 147 l. 30. f. discourse r. discourse p. 149. l. 17 f. Ecclesiastical r. Scholastical p. 162 l. 54 f. they who r. those which p. 163 l. 20 r. Reformationem and f. predictis r. praedictis l. 23 r. punishment p. 183. l. 40 f. oar r. our p. 186. l. 30. f. in all Ages might r. in all Ages might without a Comma p. 186 l. 18 19 f. chap. 28 r. chap. 30. and l. 24. f. infer for what r. infer what p. 189 l. 46 f. and efficaciously r. But efficaciously p. 194. l. 40 and 41 r. Justification p. 198 l. 38 f. doath r. death p. 201 l. 42. r. merits of p. 202. l. 50 f. Relation r. Revelation What other Faults the Reader may find he is desired to Correct or Excuse them Advertisement A Brief Review of Mr. Davis's Vindication By Giles Firmin one of the United Brethren Printed by John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey 1693. The Introduction HOly David the man after Gods own heart said of old My flesh trembleth for fear of thee Ps 119.120 and I am afraid of thy judgments We would it were thus with all that pretend to any seriousness in the Profession of the Protestant Religion at this day But alas where are such to be found where are they that are affected with the fear of God as David was and that are duly apprehensive of the Judgments of God which are actually upon and seem to be yet further coming upon the Reformed Churches Is it not visible that all sorts of men turn to their several courses of sin as the Horse rusheth into the battle They run on in the ways of their own hearts blindly and boldly without considering or fearing the issue And who can wonder that those who have hardned their hearts from Gods fear should boldly venture upon sin especially if they have got a strong but false perswasion that they are The Temple of the Lord the true the best and purest Church upon Earth most highly in favour with God and that their sins are the spots of Gods children which do not hurt them and are well consistent with his highest Love and Favour The Scriptures of truth assure us that when once Professors of Religion have brought themselves to this then they can securely lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord amongst us none evil can come upon us Though at the same time the Lord saith that Sion for your sakes shall be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps Mic. 3.11 12. We wish it be
we do and always did what reason had he to make such a clamour and with what Conscience did he tell the World that his Brethren the Non conformists especially the younger sort of them were dangerously erroneous in the Fundamental point of Justification Is it a light matter with him to traduce the faithful Ministers of Christ For our parts we durst not have done so by him or any of his Consorts without as clear evidence as a matter of fact of that nature is capable of and without producing our evidence too which he hath not done in his Letter nor is it possible to be done for the matter of fact is most certainly and evidently false And we would yet hope that he will have a better opinion of his Brethren and be sorry for the wrong he hath done them when he shall understand that they are far from being the Men he affirmed them to be and that they willingly accept of the Test which he himself offers in order to an Agreement not as if they had changed their Judgments upon the reading of his Letter which is more likely to make Proselytes of weak well meaning Women than of Men of understanding but because they were of the same Judgment before and now declare it that the World and he may see how injurious he hath been to his Brethren But though we are willing to agree with him in the foresaid Articles of the Assemblies Confession of Faith yet it is upon Condition that he will assent to the Assemblies Words in their plain and genuine sense aforesaid as we also do And that this shall not be accounted an agreement with him in all the rest of his Letter For we hope by the help of our God and Saviour never to agree unto many things in his Letter because they are neither consistent with the purity of Faith nor with the sincerity of Love We are indeed willing that it should be known to the real and right Antinomians that he is none of them if he will stand to several Passages in his Letter particularly to what he writes in the end of the 4th and in the 5th Pages again in the end of the 23d and beginning of the 24th Pages as also in Page 40. Line 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28. And for our parts if he would be consistent with himself and not contradict what he there owns for Truth we should be willing and ready as we have occasion to vindicate him from being an Antinomian in Principle but we cannot acquit him from being an Antinomian in Practice so long as it is written in our Bibles Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour And so long as he approves of those Passages in his Letter whereby he has falsely accused and traduced his Brethren and represented them to the World as Arminians and Pelagians and Preachers of a new Gospel It is none of our business to perswade any Body to believe that he is a real Antinomian in Principle but it is to Vindicate our own innocency by wiping off those most false and soul Aspersions he hath cast upon the Lords Ministers and to correct some of those gross mistakes that occur up and down in his Letter and to let People see that some have been too forward to receive for truth many things which he hath presented them with in his Letter This is that which we design in Animadverting upon his Letter and our Method in doing it shall be First In the first Chapter to consider of the Occasion and Design of his Letter Secondly In the second Chapter divided into several Sections to refute some of his Doctrinal Errors against the purity of Faith Thirdly In the third Chapter to shew that we cannot approve his ridiculous way of Converting Unbelievers and bringing them to Faith in Christ Fourthly In the fourth Chapter to refute his Calumnies and false Accusations of Christs Ministers against the sincerity of Love Lastly In the fifth Chapter to advise Christian People to try before they trust and not to suffer themselves to be imposed upon and lead into errour by the bold unproved Assertions and Dictates of any Preachers or Writers whatsoever CHAP. I. Concerning the Occasion and Design of the Letter FIrst of all We will consider the Occasion and Design of his Letter And for the Occasion of his Writing it he saith It was a Countrey Ministers earnest desire of information about some difference amongst Non-conformists in London which was the cause of it We suppose he means the occasional cause And if this be true we allow it for a lawful occasion of writing a Letter of Information to his Friend and Brother in the Country provided his Information had been true but nothing can ever make it lawful to give false information to any either in City or Countrey Whether he hath done so or not by his Letter will appear by what follows in this Answer Next for his design in writing he saith in Page 35. That All his design in publishing that Letter was plainly and briefly to give some information to ordinary plain people who either want time or judgment to peruse large and learned Tractates about the point of Justification wherein every one is equally concerned We do not believe this to be true yea we think it is not true For surely it was part of his design to give a fuller information to his Brother in the Countrey who being as he saith a Minister we presume he is none of the plain ordinary people who want time and judgment to peruse large and learned Tractates c. We do not think that he first sent the whole Manuscript in a private Letter into the Country to inform a Minister and afterwards printed it to inform the People that want time and judgment But that if he did really write a Letter into the Countrey it was but a small part it may be some of the Heads of it See Lett. p. 27. and then published the whole with a design to inform and to alarum too both Ministers and People in City and Countrey And whether this be so or not yet we cannot believe that All his design in publishing his Letter was plainly and briefly to give some Information to the People about the point of Justification For he plainly manifests throughout his Letter that a part of his design in writing was to vindicate himself and some of his Party from the suspicion of Antinomianism and to load other Ministers who differ from him in some things with the odious charge of Arminianism and Pelagianism and to warn the People upon their peril to have a care of such Ministers as preach the necessity of Repentance in order to pardon of sin that they be not corrupted by them in most Fundamental points of Religion Let any body of common understanding but read Pages 1 2 3 4 5 9 10 13 15 23 24 25 26 27 28 30. of the Letter and he
insisted long upon this that all may see how sound and orthodox our Principles are in the point of Justification and how we have been abused and misrepresented to the People by the Authour of the Letter Whether he did it ignorantly or maliciously he knows best himself But which way soever he did it it was certainly very ill done 5thly and lastly We believe that as the Faith of God's Elect is a Condition of the Covenant of Grace so that it is not an uncertain but a most certain Condition our meaning is that before the Elect believe it is not uncertain whether ever they will believe or not It is indeed uncertain to the Persons themselves but it is not objectively uncertain the thing is not uncertain in it self nor is it uncertain unto God whether ever his Elect shall believe No it is most certain in it self and unto God that all the Elect shall believe for God hath chosen them through Christ unto Faith Christ hath merited special Grace for them whereby they shall believe God through Christ hath promised that special Grace and God by his Spirit for Christ's sake gives them that special Grace whereby they do all certainly and infallibly believe The contrary Opinion to this is by our Divines generally charged upon the Arminians It is said that the Arminians hold that it is so far left to Mens Wills assisted by Universal sufficient Grace whether they will make that Grace effectual and so whether they will believe or not that it may come to pass that not one Man in the whole World shall ever eventually believe and consequently that Christ's Blood might have been shed in vain and not one Soul have been effectually redeemed and saved by it This Opinion whoever they be that hold it we utterly detest and abhor and declare to the World that as we are infallibly sure that many of the Elect have believed already and do at present believe so all and every one of them in their several times shall by the special and effectual Grace of God believe to the saving of their Souls We also believe that this certainty of the Faith of God's Elect doth not at all hinder their Faith from being a condition but rather that it makes it to be a certain Condition The Arminians pretend they cannot understand how Faith can be a Duty required of us and a condition to be freely performed by us and that yet at the same time we are so excited to it and assisted by the Grace of God in the doing of it that it is done with an infallible certainty And therefore they say that if we did believe by such a special effectual Grace as that we could not but believe at the time we are influenced by that Grace then our believing would neither be a Duty nor Condition of the Gospel Thus the Arminians argue against Special Effectual Grace But what say our Antinomians to this Argument Why truly they say it is a very good argument that the Arminians have reason on their side and that they do effectually prove that Faith cannot be a Condition of the Gospel-Covenant Now we desire the World to take notice that the Antinomians join with the Arminians against us and take up their very Argument to prove that Faith neither is nor can be a Condition of the Gospel-Covenant And since they account this their chief argument we desire they would be so just and honest as to take the whole argument and not only a part of it and consider that the whole argument proves that upon supposition of special effectual Grace Faith can neither be a Duty nor a Condition and it proves as strongly that Faith cannot be a Duty of the Gospel as that it cannot be a Condition of the Gospel Either then our Antinomians must say that Faith is no Duty because of this argument or if it may be still a Duty so may it also be still a Condition notwithstanding the force of this Argument For ought we know the right Antinomians may be willing enough to grant the consequence of the argument to be good as to both parts of it for we are afraid they care as little for Duties as they do for Conditions and some of them have plainly renounced Faiths being their Duty and have put it over upon Christ as his Duty and not theirs But we hope the Authour of thy â—etter is not yet so far gone and that he still retains some respect for Rutherfond's Examen Arminianismi which he had a hand in publishing and where he will find these words following page 270. Quaeritur an fides non potest esse conditio c. The Question is whether Faith cannot be a Condition required of the Elect by way of Duty and free Obedience and at the same time be a thing promised by God and unavoidably wrought by God in us The Remonstrants deny it we affirm it We likewise are for the affirmative against the Remonstrants who hold the negative of the Question But how to reconcile the Efficacy of God's Grace with our Free Will in doing the Duties incumbent upon us is no easie matter S. Augustin lib. deâ—praedest Sanct. cap. 14. says that it is Difficilis ad solvendum quaestio A Question difficult to be resolved Erkstra blasphemas ignorantium auribus ingeris nos lib. arb condemnare damnetur ille qui damnat Hieron Epist ad â—tisi hontem And Epist 46. Ad Valentinum he says it is difficillima quaestio paucis intelligibilis a most difficult question and such as few can understand And again lib. de gratiâ Christi contra Pelagium Caelestium cap. 47. Ista quaestio ubi de arbitrio voluntatis Dei gratiâ disputatur ita est ad discernendum difficilis ut quando c. That Question where Men dispute about Free Will and God's Grace is so hard to discern or understand that when Men defend Free Will they seem to deny God's Grace and when they assert God's Grace they seem to take away or destroy Free Will What must we do then in this case must we deny Free-will altogether No not altogether for as Augustin saith Epist 47. ad Valentinum Fides Catholica neque liberum arbitrium negat sive in vitam malam sive in bonam neque tantum ei tribuit ut sine gratiâ Dei valeat aliquid c. The Catholick Faith neither denies Free-will whether in order to a bad life or a good neither doth it ascribe so much to Free-will as that without God's Grave it can do any good c. We must not then altogether deny Free-will the Catholick Faith will not allow us so to do nor will the inward sense and experience that we have of our own Soul and its Actings suffer us to do it For as Augustin saith Lib. 83. Quaest 98. Moveri per se Animam sentit qui sentit in se esse Voluntatem He feels his Soul to be moved by it self who feels that
through Grace we be sincerely obedient we shall be saved but if not we shall be damned Now this Faith acting upon the several parts of God's Word according to their respective Natures is of great force and efficacy to determine us unto the practice of sincere Obedience 1. the Faith of God's Word commanding sincere Obedience as indispensably necessary to Salvation makes our Consciences how down to God's Authority in the Command and makes us endeavour to yeild Obedience to it 2. The Faith of God's Word of threatning against the disobedient Rebel works upon our Fears 2 Cor. 5.10 11. Heb. 4.1 and Fear restrains us from disobedience lest thereby we should bring upon our selves the everlasting punishment threatned 3. The Faith of God's Word of Promise to obedient Believers works upon our hope and hope quickens us unto Obedience as the necessary means to obtain the Eternal Reward promised It makes us follow after Holiness in expectation of Happiness 1 John 3.2 3. It is essential to saving Faith to act thus differently on the several parts of the Word according to their respective Natures making us tremble at the Threatnings embrace the Promises and by that means obey the Commands of God As our Confession of Faith intimates in Chap. 14. Art 2. Now our Faith its being thus naturally fitted to make us sincerely obedient unto the Lord in all his Commands and Institutions ariseth partly from hence that the indispensable necessity of sincere Obedience in order to the obtaining of Eternal Salvation is one of the objects of a sound Faith which it firmly assents to and is strongly perswaded of For this firm assent and strong perswasion that sincere Obedience is so necessary to Salvation will not let us rest but will be still putting us on to yeild sincere Obedience unto the Law of Christ as that which must be done or we shall be undone for ever But if a Man be once firmly perswaded in his own Mind that no sincere Obedience but onely the Act of Faith in way of Obedience is indispensably necessary to Salvation his Faith will not have so much Power over him to make him sincerely obedient unto the Lord in order to Salvation Indeed it is much to be doubted whether that Man hath a sincere Faith at all who is under the Power of this erroneous Opinion that no sincere Obedience distinct from the Act of Faith is indispensably necessary to Salvation for a sincere sound Faith amongst other of its Objects it believes this for one that as first Faith so next sincere Obedience is indispensably necessary to Salvation Thus we have proved our Second Proposition to wit It is false that no sincere Obedience but the Act of Faith is required as indispensably necessary to the obtaining the promised Blessing of Eternal Life and Glory Now both the Premisses being certainly and evidently true the Conclusion follows unavoidably which is this That it is true that some Obedience besides the Act of Faith is required as indispensably necessary to the obtaining of the promised Blessing of Eternal Life and Glory For who is so stark blind as not to see that if it be false that no Obedience but Faith is indispensably necessary to Salvation as we have proved it to be false then its contradictory is true that some Obedience besides Faith is indispensably necessary to Salvation We proceed then and thus argue If some Obedience besides Faith be indispensably necessary to Salvation then that some Obedience besides Faith must be either a most perfect personal sinless Obedience or an imperfect personal sincere Obedience There can be no other personal Obedience but one of these two thought indispensably necessary to Salvation But it is not it cannot be a most perfect personal sinless Obedience for if such an Obedience were required as indispensably necessary to Salvation then no Man could be saved because no meer Man ever performed such Obedience to the Law of God in this life no Man ever lived so holily as never to sin in Thought Word or Deed after his Conversion and 〈…〉 And so if such sinless personal Obedience were required of all as indispensably â—â—â—â—â—sary to Salvation no Flesh could be saved but all would be damned notwithstanding all that Christ hath done and suffered to purchase Salvation for his People Christ's blood would have been so far shed in vain that not one Soul would be saved by it which were Blasphemy to affirm and therefore it cannot be that now under the Gospel-Covenant a most perfect personal sinless Obedience is required of us as indispensably necessary to Salvation Since therefore some personal Obedience besides Faith is indispensably necessary to Salvation and it is not a most perfect personal sinless Obedience that is so necessary we must of necessity conclude that it is an imperfect personal sincere Obedience which besides Faith is indispensably necessary to Salvation The other most perfect personal sinless Obedience is not attainable in this Life by the ordinary assistance of God's Grace but this personal imperfect yet sincere Obedience is attainable in this Life by the ordinary helps of God's Spirit and Grace For Christ's yoke is easie and his burden is light Mat. 11.30 And God's Commandments are not grievous 1 John 5.3 The Spirit helpeth our infirmities Rom. 8.26 Through the Spirit we mortifie the deeds of the body Rom. 8.13 We purify our souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit c. 1 Pet. 1.22 In short though without Christ we can do nothing John 15.5 Yet through Christ strengthening us we can do all things Phil. 4.13 that is we can do all things which Christ requires of us as indispensably necessary to our obtaining the promised Blessing of Eternal Life and Salvation If any should object against this and say that a Man may be saved although he do not perform that Obedience which is indispensably necessary to Salvation because though he fall into very great Sins yet he may repent of them and so be saved through Christ upon his repentance We Answer 1. That it is contradictious Non-sence to say a Man may be saved without that sincere Obedience which God hath made indispensably necessary to his Salvation 2. We answer with Rutherford and others as aforesaid that when a Regenerate Justified Man fulls into gross Sins against Knowledge and Conscience he cannot be saved whilst he continues in those Sins without Repentance for then he doth not walk after the Spirit but rather after the Flesh then he is going astray from the way that leads to Life and Salvation and is walking in the broad way that leads to destruction And therefore if he do not turn back and return again into the narrow way that leads to Life and Salvation he will certainly be undone he will perish everlastingly Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the flesh ye shall die But when a justified Man that had fallen as is said rises again by Repentance he returns to his Obedience And we desire it
but adhering to sin and the enjoyment of a Holy God are utterly inconsistent And can you be happy without happyness or by retaining that which is inconsistent with it So that you see there is an utter impossibility that Salvation should be had but upon these terms There is an inconsistency a plain contradiction in any other supposition It is an impossibility not only to us but to the Almighty and therefore the terms are as free and gracious as possibly could be Ommpotent Grace it self could not make them more gracious thus Mr. Clarkson Now let any Body of common understanding and honesty read and consider this passage and they will plainly see that he speaks here of Repentance and of Repentance not only as it denotes a Holy fruitful Life and is the condition of consummate Salvation and Glorification but also as it denotes the Souls first turning from sin and returning to God and is the disposing preparing Condition of our first obtaining the Pardon of our Sins and Justification and Reconciliation of our Persons And in both respects he holds Repentance to be a Condition indispensably necessary not only from the free Constitution and Ordination of God but also from the very nature of the thing so that God himself cannot dispense with it Now if this Doctrine of Mr. Clarkson's be true and good then let the World judge whether that Doctrine be not false and pernicious which our Authour delivers in the 30 page of his Letter That a real Change and Repentance is not antecedently necessary to Justification and Pardon of sin This indeed we affirm to be necessary and he finds fault with us for it and makes it to be a part of our New Scheme of Divinity into which he foists sincere Obedience as if that also were a part of our new Scheme That sincere Obedience is antecedently necessary to Justification But this is his calumny that we hold sincere Obedience distinct from Faith and Repentance to be antecedently necessary to Justification all that know us and our Doctrine know this to be false and the contrary to be true that in our Judgment sincere Obedience is not necessary before but after our Justification and before our Glorisication As for a real Change and Repentance we do indeed believe and preach that they are necessary indispensably necessary in order of Nature at least before our Justification and pardon of sin for a real change is wrought in us by effectual calling and that is certainly before Justification Rom. 8.30 And Repentance is the dispositive condition of Justification and the means to be used by us for obtaining the pardon of our sins which is an essential part of Justification But so it is that the condition is in order of Nature before the thing conditionate or the thing promised upon condition as also the means is in execution before the end therefore Repentance which is the Condition and Means is in order of Nature before Justification which is the thing conditionate and the end This we proved before both by Scripture and Reason and so doth Mr. Clarkson prove it in the passage we have now quoted by two pertinent Scriptures Prov. 28.13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy and Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and unto our God for he will abundantly pardon Surely one would guess by this that Mr. Clarkson in his time was one of the Masters in our Israel with whom our Authour finds fault page 15 of his Letter for saying to a Man who asks them What he must do to be saved that he must repent and mourn for his known sins and leave and loath them and God will have mercy on him And most certainly if ever there were any such Masters in our Israel Mr. Clarkson was one of them for according to his Principles he must in that case have given a Man that answer for he strongly asserts that God Almighty cannot have Mercy upon and pardon a wicked Man unless he repent mourn for his known sins leave and loath them But it would seem our Authour is such a Crafts-Master that he can teach a wicked Man how to obtain the Mercy of God in the pardon of his sins before and without repenting of mourning for leaving and loathing of them for he blames us for telling a wicked Man who comes to us for advice what he must do to be saved that he must repent mourn for and turn from his sins and God will have mercy on him and pardon him now if this be bad Advice then it plainly follows that if the same wicked Man go to our Authour and if he can give him better advice he must shew him a way to obtain God's mercy in pardoning his sins and saving his Soul before and without his repenting of mourning for and turning from his sins But how can our Authour effect this how can he teach a wicked Man to be saved from Sin and Wrath without Repentance Why he pretends this is easily done by giving the Man that same advice which Paul and Silas in Acts 16.30 31. gave unto the Goaler when he asked them what he should do to be saved And they said to him Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house This he says is an old Answer so old that with many it seems to be out of date page 14 and it is the right Answer For says he page 15 Why should not the right Answer be given believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved By this it is evident that he sets these two Answers in opposition the one to the other as inconsistent and makes Repent and God will have mercy on you to be the wrong Answer And Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved to be the right Answer And now is not he a wise Master in our Israel who talks thus If he had only talkt thus to his silly Proselytes in a private corner though we had been credibly informed of it we should not have easily believed it or if the evidence had been such as we could not choose but believe it yet we should not have wondred so much at the matter but that he should appear in print with such stuff that he should appear on the Theatre of the World in the face of the Sun and tell a knowing wise People that a wicked man who asks Ministers what he must do to be saved must not be taught to repent of his sins but to believe in Christ that he may be saved as if these two things were inconsistent the one being right and the other wrong It cannot but move us to admiration of his strange confidence to an indignation at his gross ignorance or vile hypocrisie and to a tender compassion towards those poor
obtained Hence Paul saith Rom. 8.13 If ye live after the flesh ye shall die And Heb. 3.12 Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God We do not therefore think that the Act it self of believing repenting and mortifying the flesh doth effect or merit the conservation of Justifying Grace because all these things are done by us faintly and imperfectly sometimes also through the Prevalency of some great Tentation they are as it were choaked and oppressed but we say that God himself of his free Mercy preserves the Regenerate in a state of Grace and Salvation whilst they walk in these wayes As therefore for the preservation of Natural Life it is necessarily required that a Man carefully avoid Fire Water Precipices Poysons and other things which destroy the Health of the Body so for the preservation of Spiritual Life it is necessarily required that a Man avoid Vnbelief Impenitency and other things that are destructive and contrary to the Salvation of Souls which cannot be avoided unless the opposite and contrary Actions be exercised But these Actions do not preserve the Life of Grace properly and of themselves by touching or producing the very effect it self of preservation but improperly and by accident by excluding and removing the cause of destruction Thus we have at large refuted the Authour of the Letter his Second Errour against the Purity of Christian Faith and have fully and clearly proved the Covenant of Grace to be Conditional This we have done first by clear Scripture Secondly by certain and evident Reason grounded upon Scripture Thirdly by Testimonies of Orthodox Divines and First by Testimonies of the Antient Doctors of the Primitive Church Secondly by Testimonies of Divines of the Reformed Churches both at Home and Abroad and particularly by the Testimony of the Divines of the Famous Synod of Dort Whence it is as clear as the Sun that we preach no new Arminian Gospel in this great Point of the Covenant of Grace and consequently that the Authour of the Letter is a false Witness in Matter of Fact who hath proclaimed us to the World to be Preachers of a new Arminian Gospel on the account of our Doctrine in the point of Justification If after all this he should say that though we have proved the Covenant to be conditional and Faith to be the receptive applicative condition of it yet we have not proved that Faith justifies as a Condition We Answer That look by what place of Scripture he shall ever be able to prove that Faith justifies as an Instrument and a hand by the same shall we prove that Faith justifies as a receptive applicative condition For as we said before we take a receptive applicative Condition and a moral foederal instrument to be one and the same thing So did the Westminster Assembly of Divines before us And in this sense which alone is justifiable we hold Faith to be both an Instrument and a Condition with respect to Justification And if that will please our Authour we shall grant him that Faith is a hand and not only a hand but an eye and a mouth too an eye to look unto Christ crucified John 3.14 15. John 6.40 Isa 45.22 And a mouth to eat and drink and feed on his Crucified Flesh and Blood John 6.35 50 51 53 54 55 56 57 58. We shall conclude this Answer with the Testimony of Two Learneder and Wiser Men than our Authour seems to be The first is the Reverend Mr. Lukin a Worthy Judicious Congregational Minister in his Life of Faith printed above Thirty years ago Lukin 's Life of Faith p. 24 25. For the question about the Interest of Faith in our Justification whether it justifie as an Instrument or as a Condition I think saith he it deserves not half the words that have been used about it they are both of them School-terms and not found in the Scripture and should not therefore disturb the peace of the Church especially seeing both Parties at variance are agreed in the thing but not in the formal notion under which they do conceive it and I think both lides are so far agreed that Faith may be called an Instrument allowing much impropriety of speech and that it may be called a Condition while we thereby do not suppose any such thing as merit Thus Mr. Lukin Now we heartily accept of this expedient for the calming of the Tempest which the Letter hath raised We will never desire the Authour to call Faith a meritorious condition for we never called it so our selves if he will grant us that it is but improperly an Instrument of Justification The other is the Learned Turretin that famous Calvinist Professor of Divinity lately at Geneva who writes thus Caeterum non anxiè quaerendum putamus an fides instrumenti notionem induat in hoc negotio c. Turretin Instit part 2. loc 16. quaest 7. p. 737. But we do not think that it is curiously to be enquired after whether Faith put on the nation of an Instrument in this matter of Justification or likewise of a condition as it seems to some men For nothing hinders but both notions may be ascribed to it provided Condition be not taken for that in consideration whereof God justifies Man in the Covenant of Grace after the manner that works were the Condition of Justification in the Legal Covenant For in this sense it cannot be called a condition unless we come over to the Socinians and Arminians who will have Faith or the Act of believing to be accepted by God for perfect Righteousness which we have but now resuted But taking the word Condition in a large sense for all that which is required on our part to obtain that benefit whether it have the notion of a cause properly so called or only of an instrumental Cause for as that Condition hath the relation of an Instrument so that Instrument hath the nature of a Condition on our part without which Justification cannot be obtained Thus Turretin to which we fully agree except that we think he gives too much to Faith in conceiving it to be an instrumental cause of Justification yet since he says that it is no cause properly so called it follows necessarily that it is not properly an instrumental cause and so hath no proper causal influence upon the act of Justification and if so then it is but improperly an instrument as Mr. Lukin saith and so the whole Controversie comes to nothing but a strife about the propriety or impropriety of a word which Turretin plainly saw and therefore confessed that Faith is so an Instrument as to be a Condition and so a Condition as to be an Instrument of Justification And taking the word Instrument in a moral Sense for a means of receiving the benefit of Justification for Christ's sake only we do unfeignedly affirm as Turretin doth that a sincere Faith is both the Instrument and Receptive
of Christian Questions and Answers To the Question how we can be truly said to have all gifts from Christ received by Faith since if Christ be apprehended or received by Faith Bez. lib. quaest Resp p. 1. 149. 49. pag. edit 1587. then Faith it self must go before that apprehension or reception He Answers If thou consider the order of causes I confess that the principle or beginning of Faith and that also true Faith goes before the apprehension of Christ and therefore that it is not given to them who are already ingrafted but who are to be ingrafted By this passage we see likewise that Beza never thought that all saving Grace flows into us from Christ already united to us But that before Union he gives us saving Grace by his Spirit whereby we may be united to him Christ by his Spirit first apprehends and takes hold of us and sits us for and brings us into actual Union with himself and this Grace is in the order of causes before the Union on our part and so is before our Justification If our Author had understood and considered all this that we have quoted out of Beza he would never have thought it impossible that we can have any true Grace any Holy Disposition or Qualification before we be in Christ and justified by Faith in him For it is plain that we have the Grace from Christ whereby we come to be in Christ and Christ to be in us And if it were not so it would be impossible for us ever to be actually in Christ at all or to be justified by Faith in him Our Third Witness is Mr. Fox in his Book De Christo gratis justificante Although saith he it be an undoubted Truth That Faith in Christ the most high Son of God page 307. alone without works hath the Vertue and Power of justifying as appears from the most clear words of Paul and the Examples of Saints but yet it doth not put forth this its justifying Vertue and Power upon all praeterquà m in eos quos idoneos solùm invenit suscipiendae Divinae gratiae but only upon those whom it finds fitted or qualified for receiving the Divine Grace or Favour of Justification And that is the humble and Penitent as he shews in the following Section Where towards the end of it in page 310 he says Praeparat quiâ—tem poenitentia inateriam ad suscipiendam Justificationem c. Repentance indeed prepares the matter for the receiving the Grace of Justification That is it prepares the Soul for receiving Justification not as an inherent form in the Popish Sense but as a rich Priviledge and Favour bestowed upon those who are disposed and qualified for it by Repentance And that it is not only a Legal but an Evangelical Repentance which he speaks of is evident from what he saith at large in that Section and especially from the Testimonies of Scripture which he brings to prove it Such as Psal 34.18 Isa 57.15 Our Fourth Witness is Rollok whom we made use of before and to whom Bodius his Scholar in his Commentary on the Ephes p. 1081 gives this Testimony That he was a Man quo nemo nostra aetate Christum Jesum vel penitiùs imbiberat vel aliorum animis efficacius instillabat Then whom none in our Age either had drunk in Christ Jesus more deeply or thoroughly into his own heart or more Powerfully conveyed him into the hearts and Souls of others This Holy and Orthodox Minister of Christ in his Book of Effectual Calling saith page 3 4. That in effectual Calling considered as it is internal Duplex est Dei Gratia sive operatio in cordibus nostris c. There is a two-fold Grace of God or operation in our hearts The first Grace is whilst God by his Holy Spirit creates a new and heavenly light in the mind before involved in darkness which neither saw nor could see the things of the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.14 In the Will wholly perverted and turned away from God he creates a rectitude and lastly a new Sanctity in all the Affections Out of this Creation there exists or ariseth that which is called the new Creature that which is called the new Man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness Ephes 4.24 The second Grace or the second Operation of the Spirit is the act of Faith it self or an action proceeding from the new Creature page 5. the action of the enlightned mind in knowing God in Christ the action of the sanctified Will in embracing or apprehending God in Christ Here the principal Agent is the Spirit of God himself the secondary Agent is the Humane Soul it self or rather the new Man and the new Creature it self in the Soul and its faculties In this second Grace which is the action or work of Faith we are not now meerly passive page 6. but being acted by the Holy Spirit we act being excited to believe we believe In one word with the Holy Spirit operating we cooperate and are workers together with the Holy Spirit Now he cap. 34. p. 258. tells us afterwards in the same Book that all this and more than this even the Holy Change that is wrought in the Soul by a true Evangelical Repentance is before Justification For saith he Repentance belongs to the place concerning Effectual Calling Repentance goes before Justification as Faith and Hope go before it From all which we observe that in the judgment of Rollock there is a real change made in the Soul before it be justified and that it is prepared for Justification by God's working in it an Holy Principle or disposition whereby it is inclined and enabled to produce the act of Faith whereby it receives Christ that for his sake and through his Righteousness it may be justified We might bring Dr. Ames and Dr. Twiss for our Fifth and Sixth Witnesses for they are of the same Opinion with Rollock as to this matter save that Rollock took the Word Regeneration to signifie the same thing with Sanctification which comes after Effectual Calling and Justification whereas they took Effectual Calling and Regeneration to be two words which signifie the same thing to wit the first saving change which is wrought in the Soul when a new Seminal Principle of Spiritual Life is put into it and it is brought off from Sin and the World unto Christ and unto God through Christ that it may be justified by Faith in his Blood This appears to have been their Judgment by what we have already quoted out of them upon the former head Let but any that can read in Ames his Marrow of Divinity the Twenty Sixth Chapter of the first Book concerning Vocation as likewise the Tenth Chapter of his Reply to Grevinchovius concerning the Nature of Faith where he proves That God by his Spirit puts a Seminal permanent Principle of Grace into the Soul at its first Conversion and that before any act of saving
Covenant he is found to be a Godly Man through Grace to be Evangelically Godly because he is just such a Man as the Lord by the New Covenant and Evangelical Law requires him to be that he may be first justified by Christs Righteousness imputed to him that is he is found to be a Man whom God hath blessed with a new Heart and who is a true Penitent Believer and that is a Man Evangelically Godly Now there is no Contradiction at all in this for the same Man at the same time to be legally ungodly and Evangelically Godly because it is with respect to different Laws and Covenants that such contrary things are affirmed of him Let our Author if he please consult Turretine and he will find that that Learned Calvinist saith expresly Turret Instit part 2. loc 16. pag. 714. That a true Believer when he is justified by Faith in Christ is impius partim antecedenter partim respectivè ad Justificationem non autem concomitanter Ungodly partly antecedently and that is because he was altogether ungodly in former times partly with râ—spect to Justification because he hath nothing in himself that can be the matter and cause of his Justification but he is not concomitantly ungodly that is he doth not remain Ungodly when God is justifying him and till immediafely after he be justified If our Author upon this should say to us what he saith to his poor awakened Sinner That it is Non-sense Ignorance and Pride Let. p. 31.32 to maintain that a Man must be in some measure Godly in Disposition and Principle before he be Godly in Act and that he must actually believe with a Godly Faith in Order of Nature before he he justified for this is as much as to say that a Man must be pretty well recovered before he make use of the Physician c. We should reply 1. That as for his Poor awakened Sinner he makes a poor Fool of him he puts what Words he pleases in his Mouth and makes him say in effect that if he first had Faith before he first had Faith then he would first believe before he had first believed which we think no Man ever thought or said nor is capable of saying unless it be some poor Creature that is awakened out of his right Wits or else it be such an one as our Author who hath the Art of Believing or Writing Contradictions 2. That he had need to take heed that he do not blaspheme our Saviour who hath said that the Tree must be good before the Fruit can be good Matth. 7.16 17 18. and 12. v. 33. And that is as much as if he had said what we hold that there must be some Renovation of the Inward Disposition of the Heart before a Man do actually believe with a saving justifying Faith 3. That if our Author will not believe us let him believe his own beloved self for he says Pag. 16. That a Man is to believe that be may be justified And that necessarily implies that he must bring forth some good Fruit in order of Nature before he be justified and in Pag. 12. He himself quotes Matth. 12.33 To prove that the Tree must be good before the Fruit be good 4. We believe that our Heavenly Physician comes first to us ordinarily in the Ministry of the Word by his preventing Grace and doth indeed recover us in part by curing the deadness and indisposedness of our Hearts before we go to him by an actual saving justifying Faith and thereby imploy him for our Justification Christ comes first to us by his Word and Spirit and begins to cure us of our Spiritual deadness to any thing that is savingly good before we go to him by actual justifying Faith and be by him delivered from our Legal Death in Justification by Faith in his Blood 5. If our Author will yet go on to tell the People that we teach them not to employ the Physician of Souls till they have first pretty well cured themselves we take Heaven and Earth to witness that he belies us and abuses the Simplicity of the People for we believe in our Hearts and confess with our Mouths to the Glory of Christ the Physician of Souls that it is he who by his Word Spirit and Grace both begins carries on and perfects the cure of all his select People and that he doth it in the way and order set forth in his Word of which we have here given the World an account according to that measure of Light which it hath pleased him of his rich Mercy and free Grace to bestow upon us 6. And lastly We desire it may be considered whether our Authors saying that to tell the People they must begin to be Godly through Grace by being Penitent Believers in order to their being justified is all one as to tell them that they must be pretty well recovered and must cure themselves before they employ Christ the Physician of Souls we say it is our desire People would consider whether this be not a piece of Antinomian Cant for it is certain that this is the Language of Saltmarsh one of the grossest of that Sect in England That the Promises belong to Sinners as Sinners not as repenting or humbled Sinners as is to be seen in Gatakers Shadows without Substance Pag. 53. And again saith Saltmarsh like our Author in this Do you look that Men should be first whole for the Physician or Righteous for Pardon of Sin or justified for Christ Ibid. Pag. 54. or rather Sinners Unrighteous Ungodly And Gataker there Confutes this precious Stuff in Pag. 54 55 56 57 58. Again You Saltmarsh say that every one who receives Christ receives him in a sinful Condition and consequently in an impenitent one Ibid. p. 73. And again saith Saltmarsh as our Author doth in Pag. 11. of his Letter Can any Man believe too soon Gatakers shadows without substance p. 75. To which Question Gataker Answers No more than he can repent too soon Thus we have at large answered every thing which we can find in the Letter that looks like an Objection or Argument against the Truth which we believe according to the Scriptures But after all it may be some will seriously put this Question Is it likely that God will give us any Grace to sanctifie us in any Kind or Degree before he so love us as to justifie us To which we answer that it is not only likely to be but it certainly is so that God loves us so far as to make Conditional Promises to every one of his People and so far as to give them for Christs sake Grace to begin to perform the Condition before he so far love them as actually to justifie them for Christs sake and that we say is a giving of Grace to sanctifie us Initially or to begin a Holy change in us before we be actually justified and our Sins be forgiven us This we have so clearly proved by
way of Preparation for Christ but they may and ought immediately to receive him into their Hearts by Faith and Confidently trust him with their Souls and Bodies with their whole Person to be saved by him in the way agreed upon between God and Him and may be firmly and fully perswaded that if they do so through Grace they cannot possibly miscarry under the hand of such a Saviour and Physitian of Souls Thus we Preach and we know none can have just cause to say that this is a new Gospel and we hope none will any more say so We are sure this used not to be accounted a new Gospel heretofore in England nor is it so accounted at Geneva * Turret Instit Theolog. Elenct part 2. Loc 15. quest 5. p. 592. for Turretin lately taught there That in the Spiritual Generation no less than in the natural the Soul of Man attains unto the Spiritual Birth by many precedent Operations and God who will effect that Work in man not by violent raptures and Enthusiastical Motions but in a way agreeable to our Nature and who doth not in one Moment but successively and by degrees carry it on uses various Dispositions whereby man may be prepared by little and little to receive saving Grace at least he does so in the ordinary way of Calling So that there are various Acts previous to Conversion and as it were degrees or steps towards the thing it self before Man be brought unto the State of Regeneration And they are either External which may be done by a Man or are in his Power such as to go unto the Church to hear the Word and the like or they are Internal which are excited by Grace even in the Hearts of the unconverted such as the Reception and Apprehension of the Word Preached Knowledge of the Divine Will some Sense of Sin Fear of Punishment and some kind of Desire of Deliverance Thus Turretin in a Book Printed at Geneva in the Year 1688. By all which Testimonies we have made it plainly appear That our Opinion concernnig the Preparations and Dispositions which ordinarily go before Regeneration and saving Conversion is neither new nor singular but that what we Believe and Preach as to this matter we have learned and received from the most eminent Pastors of the Reformed Churches whereof many have lived and died in the true Faith before many of us were born And this may suffice as enough and indeed too much for the Confutation of our Authors third Error against the Purity of our Christian Faith CHAP. III. Of his Ridiculous Way of Converting an Vnbeliever AND first we acknowledge to our Authors Praise that he made a good beginning and from the 17th line of the 15th page to the beginning of the 16th he Discourses well enough and shews how indispensibly necessary it is that a Sinner believe on Christ and what warrant he hath from the Command as also what encouragement from the Conditional Promise of God in the Gospel to believe on Christ for Justification and Salvation But we cannot say that as he made a good beginning so he continues till he have made a good end for he gives several miserable Answers to the Questions which he makes the Unbeliever to put unto the Minister who is perswading him to believe in Christ First He makes the Unbeliever to ask the Minister What it is to believe on Jesus Christ Whereunto he Answers That be finds no such Question in the Word of God but that all both Believers and Unbelievers the Disciples and the Enemies of Christ did some way understand the Notion of it And this he endeavours to prove because it was commonly reported by Christ and his Apostles That Faith in Christ is a believing that the Man Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Son of God the Messiah and Saviour of the World so as to receive and look for Salvation in his Name and this common report was known by all that heard it This is no satisfactory Answer for the Unbeliever may easily reply 1st That though in the Scriptures there be no such Question in so many express formal Words yet there is sufficient ground in and from the Scripture for a Man to ask such a Question because the Scripture speaks of several sorts of Faith of an Historical Temporary and miraculous Faith and of a saving justifying Faith Of a Faith that is common to unconverted Wicked Men and Devils and of a Faith that is proper and peculiar to Gods Elect. These Faiths are of different natures and therefore one of them must have something that another hath not and each of them must have that whereby they are constituted in themselves and distinguished from one another And this being â—o that the man be not deceived to his ruin he hath great reason to put the foresaid Question and should be commended for asking if he do it seriously What it is to believe on Christ To believe in him so as he ought to do so as may be to Gods Glory and his own Spiritual and Eternal Good 2. He may reply that if there were no ground for such a Question why did the Westminster Assembly put that same Question in the Shorter Catechism which they composed for the use of Children Had they no warrant from Scripture for putting such a Question Or doth the Scripture only warrant Ministers to put Questions to the People but not warrant the people to put Questions to the Ministers Again he may say that if there were no ground for putting such a question Cap. 14. Art 1 2. why did the same Assembly in their Confession of Faith give such a large Description of Faith was it not that they and all who own their Confession might be readily furnished with an Answer to such a question which they knew was expedient to be asked since there are several sorts of Faith in Christ and so much Hypocritical counterfeit Faith in the World and in the Church and necessary to be wisely and judiciously answered that people may understand what kind of Faith it is that they are chiefly to seek after and get and if they have it that they may know it to their comfort and may bless God for it and give him the glory of it 3dly The Unbeliever may reply That it doth not follow that because Christ and his Apostles commonly reported that Faith is a believing that Jesus is the Son of God the Messias and Saviour of the World so as to receive and look for Salvation in his Name Therefore the thing Reported was known by all that heard the report and they did all some way understand the notion of it For we read in Luke 18. v. 31 32 33. That Christ told his own Apostles as plainly as any thing can be expressed in words that he would go up to Jerusalem and that there he should be most cruelly and shamefully put to death and rise again the third day And yet in the very next verse