it enter Heaven Ans The stay cannot be long for said Jesus Christ to the Thief on the Cross This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Who stood in need of as long a stay for a further Sanctification as any his conversion being just then How then is it I answer That since 't is certain That 't is the Spirits work to sanctify which work is not perfected while the soul is in the body and yet enters into Heaven perfect we should satisfy our selves with these plain truths without any further search into the secrets of the Almighty especially since the Spirit of God on the souls parting from the body of sin can in a moment perfectly Sanctify it But for your fuller Satisfaction Consider That the Tyrant Sin hath its usurped Throne in our members in our body the flesh which is the true reason why the Elect in the body are not perfectly sanctified and you will suddenly be engaged to conclude That our sanctification may be immediately perfected on the souls freedom from the body If the body of sin be the hinderer of our perfect Sanctification how easily may our perfect Sanctification be accomplished when once we are freed from the body of this death Remember the guilt of sin being removed by the Blood of Christ a Right to Glory purchased by his Righteousness and through the Sanctification of the Spirit all the faculties and powers of the soul being exactly conformable to the Rule given 'em by the Lord which is done on the souls leaving the body casting off its Chains and Fetters nothing remains but that the soul immediately at death may go to God Read seriously the 7th of the Romans CHAP. VII The Glory of Gods Free-Grace further discovered in several propositions Grace how shewn unto mankind in General The greatness and extensiveness thereof Common Grace offered unto more than the Elect. Special Grace to some only This Irresistible without the laying any violence on our faculties Man though passive in conversion yet not so passive as pure matter Several other Gospel truths evinced The Uses c. FRom what hath been said it evidently appears that although our blessed Redeemer was never polluted or any way defiled by the sins of the Elect yet in order to the glorifying Free-Grace consistently with the magnifying the Justice Truth Faithfulness and infinite Wisdom of God it was necessary that the Lord Jesus should take on him the guilt of our iniquities which being done 't was but Righteousness in God the Father to lay on him all those sorrows he underwent A particular consideration whereof cannot but deeply affect the souls of truly sincere and sound believers But I must hasten to what I design further on this subject and insist on some of those special Blessings that are the purchase of Christs blood All which for the greater clearness I shall lay down in several propositions passing by those which are most evident and making my stay only in explicating and confirming such as may seem to some obscure Propos 1. 1. That on the account of Christ's sufferings in humane nature all mankind is in some sense so far redeemed from that misery in which antecedently unto the Promise of Christ's death they did lie that they are now in a much more happy condition than the faln Angels not only upon the account of their receiving at least a temporarie reprieve from everlasting flames but also because their Salvation is become possible EXPLICATION Faln man antecedently unto the promise of the Messiah being in as helpless and as desperately miserable condition as the Devils themselves and as unable to satisfie divine justice any other way than by remaining in chains of darkness for ever Christ's sufferings afford that relief unto all mankind as to deliver them from this misery that is so desperate for their salvation is not now as impossible as it was before the promise of the Lord Jesus For the Lord Christ satisfying infinite justice no one man can truly say that the reason why he perished is because there was not enough in the blood of Christ to ransom him for whosoever doth sincerely believe shall be actually redeemed from the wrath to come Our remaining in our sin is the great reason why the wrath of God abideth on us so St. Austin that great enemie to Pelagianism so much envied by the Arminians Quod ergo ad magnitudinem et potentiam pretii quod ad unam pertinet causam generis humani Sanguis Christi Redemptio est totius mundi sed qui hoc seculum sine side Christi sine regenerationis sacramento pertranseunt redemptionis alieni sunt Aug. lib. ad Artic. sibi imposit ad Artic. 1. Again Sed hoc inter malos homines et Daemones distat quod hominibus etiam valde malis superest si Deus misereatur Reconciliatio Daemonibus nulla servata est conversio Aust ubi sup ad Art 6. 2. That what Person soever doth savingly believe sincerely repent and is really a sound convert shall actually be saved in the day of the Lord Isa 55.1 Mark 16.16 Joh. 3.16 Joh. 7.37 1 Tim 2.3,4 Rev. 3.20 Rev. 22.17 3. That the helps vouchsafed unto all for the enabling us savingly to believe and sincerely to repent are such as will leave all those who believe not inexcusable For 1. They who receive least receiving one talent have given them sufficient for the enabling them to do more towards the saving their souls than they actually do 2. If those men do actually improve the common helps vouchsafed them they may for ought any man can prove to the contrary receive such further assistances as may have a special influence in enabling them to turn sincerely unto God through Jesus Christ For there is in Scripture as a motive to sincere repentance a who can tell a may be or who knoweth but or a perhaps the Lord may be gracious Joel 2.13.14 Amos 5.15 Jonah 3.8,9 Zeph. 2.3 Acts 8.22 Call these Scriptures half-Promises or not the encouragement they afford all to improve the received talents is as great as is given any to engage in worldly affairs What greater motive hath the Seeds-man to sow his seed than a May be he shall meet with a good harvest what moves the Merchant to send a considerable part of his estate beyond Seas but a perhaps there may be a good return what animated Jacob in his great distresses to go on when he feared that his Brother Esau designed the destroying him but a peradventure he will accept of me Gen. 32.26 What was the motive Jeremiah gave Baruch to read in the roll the words of the Lord in the ears of the People but It may be they will present their supplications before the Lord and return or what other encouragement did the Lord himself give Jeremiah to Preach unto Judah but It may be the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them that they may return
currere 〈◊〉 Haec enim omnia nullatenus haberes nisi a Deo manere Gratuitae Donationis acciperes Non hoc homini dat natura sed Gratia Non hoc ex qualâ—… te condition is humanae habetur sed ex benignitate divinae illuminationis acquiritur Again Quicquid habes bonae voluntatis vel bonae operationis Deo assigna qui dedit Fulgent de convers ad Theod. Epist 6. towards the end 8. To assert That any while in unregeneracy may be united unto Christ or that any who savingly believe may not be united unto Christ is most false unsound and dangerously absurd 1. To be unregenerate is to abide in a state of sin altogether Unclean Filthy and Polluted at a distance from God and Jesus Christ how then can these be One what is Christ joyned to an Harlot or can light have any Union or Communion with darkness 2. A believer doth close with Christ which cannot be without Union 9. T is both unnecessary and unprofitable to dispute about a moment or instant of nature as to the precedency of Faith unto Union or of Union unto Faith e. g. whether Faith or the Union is in order of nature first it being evident that there is no instant supposable in which a soul who hath saving Faith is not united unto Christ or in which One united unto Christ hath not sound saving Faith But 10. This Faith and this union is in order of nature antecedent to an actual imputation of Christs Righteousness and consequently before our actual Justification in the sight of God Communion presupposeth Union and therefore Union must precede an actual imputation which is but the Communication of Christs Righteousness unto us Faith and Union being Simultanecus and at one and the same instant as Union even so Faith must precede the Communication of Christs Righteousness and our actual justification in the sight of God thereby 11. This Faith which doth so necessarily precede and go before the actual justification of a sinner is the †Fidem autem hominum Donum Dei esse fateamur sine enjâ—s Gratiâ 〈◊〉 currit ad gratiam Prosper Aq. Resp ad Gal. Object ad Obj. 8. gift of God infus'd into the soul by the holy Spirit that doth irresistibly carry on its work 1. Grace being the gift of God the first thing which the soul is capable of in the work of Regeneration or conversion is the receiving the gift or infused habit the soul doth recipere effectum agentis which is as much as Pati whence the soul the first instant or moment of conversion must be considered as passive 2. This Converting Grace is irresistible which may be evinced to any unprejudiced mind that will but consider that antecedently unto conversion the soul is obstinately bent towards sin The inclinations of the will are continually evil averse to what is good and both actually and habitually determined to vanity for which reason the Spirit in carrying on the work of conversion meets with great opposition from the sinner yea with such opposition as would altogether impede and hinder the Spirits work had not the power of the Spirit been great enough to conquer and overcome this habitual obstinacy of the will but the power of God's Spirit being greater than that of the Sinner the Sinner is overcome and converted How but by that Grace that is Irresistible it being most evident that 't is naturally impossible for finite power to prevail against what is infinite So clear 't is that converting grace is irresistible And surely had it not been so never one obstinate sinner no not one child of Adam since all are by nature obstinately rebellious sinners would be converted for such is the nature of our corrupt wills that they will never yield until overcome by an overstrong and irresistible power 12. This infused Irresistible grace is given unto the Adult ordinarily in the use of means as the preaching of the word c. Whence man though passive in the first moment of his conversion yet not so passive as some suggest 1. It must be noted that Man in conversion is not so passive as a Stone when thrown up into the Air For the infusion of Grace being into a Soul that is active life to the end the Soul may be the better prepared for action the Soul must be also active in the great work of conversion The infusion of Grace into the soul that is active life is not like the infusion of the soul into the body that is antecedently to its receiving the soul wholly unactive purely passive No the Lord doth consider the nature he hath given beings and his actions towards such beings are suitable to their natures As a meer passive thing is purely passive in its receptions even so what is essentially active cannot but be active in its receptions To insist on niceties concerning the opposition that is between action and passion and consequently on the seeming inconsistency some may judge to be in this expression active reception q. d. active passion is but to quibble since 't is impossible to suppose an Essentially-active-being to be in every regard as passive as pure matter is God carries on the work of conversion on man in a way agreeable unto that nature God hath given him which is by inlightening the understanding and by suscitating and stiring up the powers of the soul to their being duly conversant about their proper objects influencing and enabling the will to close with what is proposed in the word as good and accordingly understood and believed to be so Although we cannot comprehend how yet nothing more evident than that God doth irresistibly and yet most sweetly without laying any violence on our faculties draw us from sin unto Jèsus Christ * This notion is agreeable to the Sentiments of the Schoolmen as Marius Scrib de lib. Arb. disp 19. qu. 8. doth assert Dionys Carthusianus in 2. d. 39. q. 2. Capreolus d. 45. q. 1. Concl 5. Ferrariensis primo contr Gent. c. 88. Dreido opusc lib. de concordia Lib. arb et praed estinationis 2. p. c. 3. ad primum All these reconciling humane Liberty with the Irresistable Divine Will thus Dicunt enim Dei voluntatem et providentiam Dei tantae esse virtutis efficaciae ut licet et nulla potentia libertas refistere valeat omnes tamen causas quibus cooperatur suaviter moveat infinitae siquidem est virtutis sapientiae cum fit infinitae Sapientiae scit omnia suaviter disponere licet nobis videantur factu impossibilia cum verò infinitae sit virtutis attingit à fine usque ad finem fortiter ita ut per infinitam suam virtutem sciat etiam quae videntur dissonantia concordare et propter Sapientiam sine praejudicio humanae libertatis effectum suae voluntatis semper sortiri Et Cajetanus iisdem pene id videtur profiteri 1. p. q. 4. a 23. 9.19 ar 8.
Just it must be because antecedently to the infliction of punishment Guilt was laid on him for otherwise not only the Innocent would be punished but moreover as Innocent which is injustice for although an Innocent Person may justly undergo severe punishments yet not as Innocent but as guilty of another's Faults For the fuller clearing this Truth I 'le only attempt to prove that the bearing sin or Iniquity or the being made sin and a Curse doth signify both the being Guilty and as such the being punished That Punishment by a Metonymy bears the name of sin I have proved out of Gen. 4.13 ch 19.15 and which may be further confirmed from that in 1 Sam. 28.10 Where Saul sware to the Witch that there shall no Punishment happen unto her In the Hebrew 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there shall no Sin or Iniquity happen So also in Zechar. 14.19 This shall be the Punishment of Aegypt and the Punishment of all nations In the Hebrew 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sin of Aegypt c. In like manner to bear sin is to bear the Guilt or Punishment of sin Ezek. 18.20 The Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father i.e. the Son shall not bear the Guilt nor the Punishment of the Fathers sin but the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him i.e. the Guilt and Punishment of the wicked shall be upon him whence that word which in the Hebrew doth signify Guilt doth also signify Sin t is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 42.21 we are Guilty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same word is elsewhere translated sins and trespasses as in Psal 68.21 God will wound the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again to have iniquity laid on us is the same with the bearing iniquity that is the bearing the guilt of sin In fine The being made sin and the being made a curse are terms much of the same import denoting the Guilt and Punishment and as I humbly conceive more properly the guilt of sin because the wicked even on their sinning are immediately accursed are abnoxious though not immediately Punished q. d. Since to be obnoxious is to be guilty to be cursed is to be guilty but that the being made a curse doth not as formerly considered signify the being made formally sin is evident in that 't is an evil threatned for what is strictly sin and therefore as such denotes somewhat distinct from sin taking sin in a strict sense for the very fault or transgression it self Thus I have in some weak measure performed what I engag'd to doe and have prov'd That Guilt is separable from Sin the formal Nature and Filth thereof and consequently may pass from us to Christ even when it must not be concluded as if Christ had been for such a reason formally a sinner I have further shewn That the Guilt as well as Punishment of sin is laid on Christ These being so inseparable that a Righteous Judge in doing Right cannot omit the Punishing the Guilty nor presume to inflict any evil penally on such as are not in any wise Guilty But 3. To consider the Filth of Sin The Filth of Sin being of a Polluting and Defiling Nature was not laid on Christ as some very boldly have asserted who not distinctly minding what the Filth of Sin is how distinguished from Guilt c. have under the notion of exalting Free-Grace faln into Dangerous Errors which I will essay to demonstrate by shewing the falseness Absurdity and Impossibility thereof But before I do so 't will be necessary that I acquaint you with the sense of those men that assert it which is this God doth not only lay the Punishment and Guilt of Sin on Christ but simply the very Fault it self that men commit that is The Transgression it self is become the transgression of Christ so that in respect of the Reality of being a Transgressor Christ is as really a Transgressor as the person that did commit the sin Yea Christ Jesus by vertue of Gods laying sin on him is as really a Transgressor as if he himself had actually committed Transgression The very Erring Straying and Transgressing of the Elect is passed from them and laid on Christ Hast thou been an Idolater Blasphemer c. If thou hast part in the Lord Christ all these Transgressions of thine become actually the Transgressions of Christ and so cease to be thine and thou ceasest to be a Transgressor from that time they were laid on Christ to the last hour of thy life Thy Sins being laid on Christ are taken from thee If God himself say thy sins lye upon thee and withal say he did before lay them on Christ how much is this better than a Contradiction The Sin it self or the Filth is removed from the Elect by being laid on Christ and the soul made Perfect God doth not wash them by halves nor doth he leave some spots and blemishes and stains behind Christ's holiness is imputed unto the Elect as well as his Righteousness otherwise they could not be perfect in this life since the Spirit 's work in their Sanctification is but imperfect in this life 't is Christ therefore who by bearing our sins carries away all the Abhorrency and loathsomness of sin otherwise God could take no pleasure in us God is a God of so much Purity that he cannot endure that Person where the least SPOT of Sin is found This and much more is asserted by Dr. Crisp in his Sermons on Isaiah 53.6 as also by some others which for the greater clearness I 'le sum up in these following particulars 1. That these men conclude that the Filth of sin is laid on Christ and made really his Filth 2. That Christ is our Justification by the Imputation of his Righteousness even so he is our Sanctification by the Imputation of his Holiness 3. That the Filth of sin being laid on Christ the Elect are thereby totally and perfectly delivered from every loathsome Spot and blemish of sin To all which I reply distinctly 1. To the first That the Filth of sin is laid on Christ and made really his Filth as they say this is Impossible Absurd and False 1. Impossible for by the Filth of sin we must understand either Irregular Oblique and disorderly defections or inclinations or words or actions For sin is a moral relation which cannot be but in a subject and as the Person sinning is the Remote Subject even so the Disposition Thought Word or Action or some defection must be the nearest Subject whence then since sin cannot be and not be in some Subject the sin in its filth cannot pass from us to Christ but in transity i.e. in its passage from one Subject to another it must be considered as in no Subject i.e. as what is destroyed For the Relation must pass without its Subject which is impossible or with the nearest Subject it self that is All our
sinful Defections Propensions Words and Actions must pass from us into Christ but if this be not also impossible what is But 2ly T is Absurd and false For 2. If the Filth of our sin be laid on Christ then surely the Lord Christ is thereby made really filthy for as Guilt is laid on Christ and thereby Christ is made really guilty that is really guilty of another mans sin even so if the Filth of sin be laid on Christ then Christ must be really filthy for in quocunque inest abstractum de eo dicitur concretum the denomination is à forma denominante Filth on whomsoever 't is doth give the denomination of filthy but was our Lord Christ really filthy Was there any sin in any respect in him who knew no sin and in whom there was no guile Guilt is an extrinsecal respect of sin to the threatning of the Law and a man may be guilty of sin that is of anothers sin who hath no sin in him of his own but Filth the fault it self is so intrinsecal to sin that in whomsoever the Filth of sin is in him sin must be and were it a thing possible that the sin of the elect should pass from the elect to Christ it would make the Lord Christ a real sinner really Unclean Impure Filthy and Corrupt but who can entertain such a thought without abhorrence For 1. The Scriptures never assert that the Filth of sin was laid on Christ T is true our iniquities were laid on Christ that is the Punishment and Guilt of our iniquities as hath been proved but not the Filth of our iniquities neither was it necessary that any more should be laid on Christ than the Punishment and Guilt For the Lord Christ came only to exempt us from wrath to bring us into a state of Grace and to purchase a right to glory for us by his sufferings and perfect righteousness But 2. The Scriptures do most vehemently conclude that there was no spot in Christ 1. As Christ is God we cannot say that any Filth was on him without blasphemy surely that God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity could never be so in love with the filth the worst of iniquity as to take it on himself Neither 2 Durst we aver that the Lord Christ with respect to his Humane Nature had the least Filth of sin either in or upon him For he was born an Holy thing Luke 1.35 therefore also that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God He was born with holy inclinations and propensions yea and all his Thoughts Words and Actions were holy all his lifetime for he fulfilled all Righteousness Matth. 3.15 ch 5.17 and at his death his blood was the pretious blood of him who was without blemish and without spot 1 Pet. 1.19 He did not sin neither was guile found in his mouth Ch. 2.22 For such an High Priest became us who is Holy Harmless Undefiled Separate from Sinners Heb. 7.26 Which could not be had he the least spot or blemish on him Note well Isa 53.9 3. In what part of Christ was the filth of sin laid or what was there in Christ that was either faulty or filthy was there any flaw in his understanding or were the inclinations of his soul after evil were his thoughts irregular or his words or actions dissonant from Gods Law The Filth of sin is a spiritual filth polluting the Soul but which part of his righteous soul was polluted was our Ignorance laid on Christ making Christ Ignorant or our Pride Stubbornness Uncleanness Sinful anger and Undue Passions in Christ was the Lord Christ Ignorant Proud Passionate or Unclean what sound believer doth not tremble at such thoughts as these But for the Filth of sin to be laid on Christ and yet the Filth of no one particular sin to be found on him is strange Oh that men who presume to contradict the Generation of the Just would shew what they mean by the filth of sin as 't is distinguished both from Guilt and Punishment and what they understand by the Fathers laying the Filth of sin on Christ or what by the words transacting the filth of sin on Christ For methinks 't is impossible that any truly gracious soul should conclude that the filth of sin the fault it self as distinguished from Guilt and Punishment can in any respect be laid on Christ Wherefore then consider 't is a great dishonor to Free-Grace to say that the Father laid the filth of sin on Christ for this is inconsistent with the Holiness and Wisdom of God and to set up Free-Grace to the reproach of Divine Holiness or Wisdom is to abuse it CHAP. V. A second Error of the Antinomians viz. The Elect made holy by Christ's Holiness Somewhat concerning Justification premised Several reasons against the Error Wherein its tendency to the subversion of a great part of the Christian Religion is evinced The third error considered its destructiveness to all Religion proved particularly To the Second THat as Christ is our Justification by the imputation of his Righteousness even so he is our Sanctification through the imputation of his holiness For 't is suggested that they must be perfectly Holy before their entrance into Heaven and that they are not made so in this life by the sanctification of the Spirit therefore it must be by the imputed Holiness of Christ That I may be the more clear in considering this I humbly apprehend it very necessary that I do acquaint the vulgar with the true notion of Justification and Sanctification In order unto which t is requisite that we remember the distinction that is between the guilt and the filth of sin Justification respecting the guilt Sanctification the Filth of sin Guilt of sin is an external respect of it with regard unto the sanction of the Law only and is separable from sin as the Reverend Dr. Owen also hath shewn of Justification pag. 285. But the Fault it self or the filth the transgression of the preceptive part of the Law is the formal nature of sin and is so intrinsecal thereunto as to be inseparable from it Justification then makes only an external relative-change by removing guilt and giving us a right to life and as it regards guilt it respects the past State Sanctification imports an internal and a physical change by introducing new light into the the heart and new principles inclinations and propensions towards God and regards the future state weakning the habits of sin strengthening the habits of infused Grace and thereby preventing much sin that otherwise would pollute the soul whereby the man is in part sanctified Justification is through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ Sanctification is through the working of the Spirit of the same Lord Jesus Christ is our Justification by his blood and Righteousness and the same Christ is our sanctification by his Spirit For God hath chosen you to salvation through the
sanctification of the Spirit 2 Thes 2.13 1 Pet. 1.2 Thus the filth and guilt of sin are distinguished and accordingly Justification and Sanctification But such as confound the guilt and filth of sin with some * 'T is said by one I do not think as some do that Guilt dissers from sin as that which is an obligation or a binding over to the Punishment of sin rather than sin it self being past and gone to be guilty and to commit a sin is all one they are but two words expressing the same thing Dr. Crisp on Isaiah cannot but confound Justification and Sanctification and consequently fall into the Popish error about this point for the great error of the Papists in this lyeth much in their considering Justification and Sanctification promiscuously as though the being Justified did import the same with the being sanctified Whence 't is that it must be seriously considered that Justification doth no way regard the filth of sin as its object Neither is the soul cleansed from filth even in that 't is Justified for Justification as such doth not consist in the renewing of our minds or the making any internal-physical-change on our hearts for that is the Spirits work in our Sanctification and therefore it must be acknowledged That we are not made holy by Christ's Holiness by the imputation of it i.e. God doth not judge the elect to be really and perfectly holy because Christ is really and perfectly so for Holiness in whomsoever 't is imports an inward work on the soul No one can be really and perfectly holy but he in whom are the habits of holiness He whose Propensions Dispositions and Habits are not holy cannot be reputed perfectly holy Christ's Holiness therefore cannot be made ours but by a transfusion of Christs Habits into our souls 't is true Christs Righteousness may be given us and after the Donation or gift thereof be truly reputed and reckoned as ours and we may be dealt with accordingly but there can be no giving the Holiness of Christ unto us in a way distinct from the imputation of Righteousness but by transfusing it into us which is as impossible as the transfusing of sin from one into another a So that understanding the course of Scripture and the common use of the phrase of Reckoning and Accounting you shall find that Imputing is nothing but Gods determination and conclusion that he doth pass upon things as really and truly things are without any Imagining and fancying things to be so and so when indeed and Truth they are not so Dr. Crisp on Isaiah whence if the Elect are Reputed perfectly holy by Christs holiness the holiness of Christ must be indeed and in Truth in them for De quocunque dicitur concretum ei inest abstractum Dici de sequitur esse in For the clearing this remember that as sin guilt and Punishment are to be distinctly considered even so Holiness Righteousness and the Reward But before I proceed to shew how Holiness Righteousness and the Reward are to be distinctly considered it will be meet I prove That although Holiness and inherent Righteousness are the same yet there is a Righteousness somewhat distinct from Holiness which is done by a due observation of the import of the words Righteous and Holy for if to be Righteous is somewhat distinct from the being Holy then surely Righteousness is somewhat distinct from Holiness in that the Denominatives Righteous and Holy are from Righteousness and Holiness their Denominating Forms for which reason if Righteousness and Holiness be the same since Denominativum Denominans conveniunt in re significatâ quia significant eandem formam essentialiter to be Righteous and to be Holy must be the same The same denominating Form ever giving the same denomination And if to be Righteous be not the same with the being Holy Righteousness and Holiness cannot be the same But to be Righteous is somewhat distinct from the being Holy To be made Righteous is to be declared pronounced judged esteemed and reputed in the eye of the Law to be just i.e. to be not guilty not liable unto the curse due to sin but to have a right unto the Reward He is Righteous that is not guilty He is Righteous i.e. He hath a right unto the Reward But to be made Holy is another thing it is to be Sanctified which is by the infusion of Habits into the Soul To be sanctified is to be Physically and internally changed to be inherently Holy So that 't is most apparent that there is a great difference between the being Righteous and the being Holy or between the being made Righteous and the being made Holy the one being our Justification the other our Sanctification which do greatly differ And therefore Righteousness as Formally and strictly considered differs from Holiness for otherwise the imputation of Righteousness would be the same with the imputation of Holiness or our being made Righteous would be our being Holy i.e. by a Righteousness imputed we should be sanctified which is most untrue it being a confounding Justification and Sanctification A thing not to be admitted by sound Protestants which confusion cannot well be declined but by our distinguishing between Holiness and Righteousness as well as between sin and guilt That there is a difference between these and the Reward is no way doubted by any This premised I proceed to the shewing how Holiness Righteousness and the Reward are distinguished 1. Holiness which is opposed unto the formal nature of sin consists in the souls conformity to the preceptive part of the Law When the inclinations propensions thoughts words and actions are exactly agreeable to Gods most holy Law then 't is that the man is Holy Formally Holy Christ's Holiness then consists in the consonancy agreeableness and conformity of Christ's propensions dispositions and habits unto that Law given him by the Father and is subjectively in Christ The Lord Jesus Christ exactly answering the whole Law in his life was perfectly holy 2. Righteousness as 't is condistinguished from Holiness regards rather the promissory part of the Law than the preceptive it being in an especial manner opposed unto Guilt as Holiness is unto sin whence as to be Guilty and Unrighteous imports one and the same thing even so to be Guiltless or Innocent and to be Righteous For saith the Apostle as by one mans disobedience many are made Sinners i.e. guilty even so by the obedience of one shall many be made Righteous i.e. Guiltless or Innocent free from wrath having a Right unto the Reward Righteousness being holiness's respect unto the promissory part of the Law and is somewhat extrinsecal unto holiness and therefore can as easily pass from one unto another as Guilt can and as the sin of one cannot be imputed unto another but in its Guilt even so the holiness of one cannot be imputed unto another but in its Righteousness 3. The Reward is the good thing promised unto Holiness as the
sinner the only Subject capable of Justification A return from the digression shewing wherein Grace is highly glorified by some and wherein abused by others THus you see where these errors lead men and how such as do entertain one error do but prepare they way unto many For that which is remarkable is this Those persons who embrace the error I have now confuted do assert that the Elect are actually justified even in the womb though they know it not for saith one God laies the sins of the Elect on the Lord Jesus Christ by Obligation Execution and Application which Application as done by the Father is secret and manifest Secretly unto particular Elect Persons before they come into the world even while in the womb assoon as conceived for which Reason the Lord hath no more to lay to the charge of an Elect person yet in the height of iniquity and in the Excess of Riot and committing all the Abominations that can be committed even then the Lord hath no more to lay to that Persons charge than he hath to lay to the charge of a Person Triumphant in Glory though the Elect person knows it not So Dr. Crisp on Isaiah The Reading which is enough to engage a tender conscience to abhor it But to go on and shew the unsoundness hereof If the Elect assoon as they receive Being are in the sight of God actually justified by this secret Application of their sins unto Christ 't is impossible that any one Elect soul can be truly considered as born or as conceiv'd in sin for their conception and this secret application is in one and the same instant Neither do they need any Sanctification by the Spirit as I shall shew immediately neither can they be capable of a Pardon for they are not actually guilty nor by nature the Children of Wrath This is plain For Christs Holiness being made their Holiness assoon as they received their Being in the Womb there was no one instant in which they were sinners without perfect Holiness whence 't will follow that there is no Original sin no being by nature the Children of wrath no need of pardon for a pardon presupposeth Guilt as Guilt inferreth Sin where no Sin their no Guilt no Pardon yea and hereby Repentance and Faith in the blood of Christ for pardon is made of none effect But if it be said that although the Righteousness and Holiness of Christ is imputed unto the Elect assoon as they receive their Being yet the Elect may remain under the power of sin filthy unclean and polluted full of sinful spots and blemishes If so it must be acknowledged That one and the same person may be at one and the same time a Child of God and a Child of the Devil 1. As Christs Righteousness and Holiness is imputed unto him so He is the Child of God in a state of grace actually in Gods account justified having a right unto the Kingdom the Object of Gods special love and favour but yet 2. As he is under the power of sin and Unclean so he is the Child of the Devil and in a state of wrath actually unjustified in Gods account liable to eternal burnings the Object of Gods hatred being a worker of iniquity But how impossible is this Oh how dangerous to assert what can a man be at one and the same time the Child of God and also of the Devil He may as well be in Heaven and Hell at the same time bathing himself in the Rivers of pleasure that run at the right hand of God for ever even when tormented in that lake that burneth with Fire and brimstone What strange confusion is this but they say that the sin passing from the Elect ceaseth to be the sin of the Elect. q. d. The Elect are never in a state of sin or wrath though under the Power of sin The truth then is this The Righteousness of Christ is not actually imputed unto any under the reigning power of unbelief for he that believeth not is condemned already Joh. 3.18 The wrath of God abideth on on him ver 36. There is no Communication of any justifying pardoning grace to any that are not united unto Christ and whatever soul is united unto Christ he is so by Faith for as the Reverend Dr. O. it must be remembred that we require Evangelical Faith in order of nature antecedently unto our justification by the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ unto us which justifying Faith includeth in its nature the entire principle of Evangelical repentance so as that it is utterly impossible that a man should be a true believer and not at the same instant of time be truly penitent A man that continueth under the power of sin no way convinced of his lost estate out of Christ as is the case of many Elect persons a long time after they are out of the Womb is so far from being actually justified in the sight of God that he is not while so a meet Subject of justification Conviction of sin being a necessary antecedent unto that Faith that in order of nature goes before justification and therefore it must be considered that a Convinced sinner as the same Reverend Dr. hath largely proved is the only Subjectum capax justificationis But to return From what hath been said we may clearly see wherein the Grace of God is highly glorified and wherein by some 't is greatly abused 1. T is highly glorified in that the Son of God according to the eternal compact between the Father and the Son assum'd Humane Nature made under the Law voluntarily taking on him the Guilt and Punishment of our sins whereby poor faln man may be freed from both in being pardoned and in being delivered from the weight of that wrath which omnipotency was to inflict Now the Guilty may escape that guilt which tormenteth the consciences of many here and which is amongst the damned as a Gnawing Worm that continually adds to their insupportable horrors hereafter 2. Free-Grace is greatly abused by such as do assert 1. That the spots and blemishes of our sins are laid on Christ as if he who is infinitely pure had been defiled and stained with the Filth of our abominations as if infinite Wisdom could not find out a way to make a display of Free-Grace in the accomplishing faln mans salvation but by the making Jesus Christ God-Man subject unto the Pollution of sin Oh! How is God dishonoured by the bold confidence of Finite mortals who can presume to deny the Lord to be gracious unless his grace be made known in a way agreeable to their corrupt imaginations 2. To assert that the Grace of God is such as makes the Elect holy by Christs Holiness even when they are not only subject to much sin but are under the reigning power of the worst of sins is to abuse the Grace of God for these talk as if such as are in themselves impure unclean and unholy could while so be
esteemed by the Father of our blessed Jesus as clean pure and holy or as if God could not set forth the Excellency of his Grace any other way than by lying under many a mistake These notwithstanding their pretence of exulting Free-Grace denying the Omniscience or Infinite knowledge of him who is All-wise and representing the Infallible God as liable to error do sadly abuse Free-Grace 3. To suggest that Free-Grace is glorified in the actual imputing Christs righteousness unto any while in unbelief as if the swearer or Sabbath breaker the drunkard or unclean person that delights in fornication and adultery might while so be an actual partaker of the special blessings of God or as if the Sanctification of the Spirit had been no way necessary to our Salvation is a sad abuse of Grace tending to the great dishonour of the infinite Holiness and purity of God But since God is not only Gracious but also is most holy Grace is not it cannot be revealed but in a way consistent with the glory of Divine Purity and Holiness But 4. Some there are who magnifie the Free-Grace of God by concealing that glorious discovery God hath made thereof in our Lord Jesus these are they who contend for the actual justification of all the Elect from Eternity as if Jesus Christ died to procure that for the Elect which they had before the Worlds were made or as if the decree of God his electing Will an Immanent act had been transient in the actual creating justifying and saving all the Elect from eternity that is as if they had been created millions of years before there was any creature Thus men on pretence of lifting up the Free-Grace of God do not only trouble the Churches with their confusion and variety of contradictions but morcover do lightly esteem the greatest Instance of Free-Grace the Elect â—…re capable of receiving viz. the Love of God in Christ For hereby God commendeth his Love to us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Rom. 5.8 Again God SO loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 and without blood no Remission 5. There are others who in their abuse of Free-Grace do greatly reproach the Spirit of Christ and of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by asserting that the Elect are actually Justified in the womb even before they do believe yea while they are in a state of darkness and strangâ—… to the powerful working of Gods holy Spirit These are they who insist on Faith as necessary only for the procuring the knowledge of that justification which they actually had before 〈◊〉 But how do these men sin against the Spirit of God by reproaching its works as if the grâ—…s of the Spirit had been of no esteem as if our Faith and Repentance our Love to God and 〈◊〉 â—…lking according to the Gospel of our 〈◊〉 Redeemer had been our sin T is true the 〈…〉 doth consider the Righteousness of the 〈…〉 and the Apostle concluded that his righteousness which was not done in Faith to be as dung in comparison of the righteousness of Christ And surely because of the many imperfections that attend our best performances we have cause to be humbled daily before the Lord and to apply our selves to the blood and righteousness of Christ for pardoning mercy But yet it must be still asserted that there is a difference between those graces that are the work of God's spirit in us and the imperfections which proceed from the remains of our old corruption for that which is the work of God's Spirit as such is not dung nor dross nor filth nor stinking rags much less filthy sins The Spirit of God is the Author of Faith and Love and other graces but the Spirit of God is not the Author of sin and filth The giving grace to the soul is the renewing the Image of God on the soul but the image of God doth not consist in sin and filth and stinking rags The believer in being a partaker of the graces of God's spirit is a partaker of the divine nature but the divine nature is not composed of sin or any filthy thing 'T is our duty to believe in Christ to love God c. but 't is not our duty to sin or wallow in any spiritual uncleanness Whence then such as do deny the necessity of saith in order to our being actually justified or such as do reproach the working of Gods holy spirit calling what is holy unholy what is pure impure reviling the divine nature reproaching Gods image on pretence of exalting free grace do greatly sin in abusing a great instance of free grace viz. The holy Spirit 's work unto which we are infinitely obliged For 't is the Spirit that doth begin carry on and finish the work of Sanctification on the soul whence although while we are in this life our Sanctification is but imperfect yet there is not one soul in Heaven one instant without perfect holiness But it may be you 'l quaery how it can be that the soul which while on earth is but imperfectly sancâ—…fied should 〈◊〉 perfectly purged from the filth of sin when in Heaven I Answer There are several sorts of men who talk as if they had been fully acquainted with the whole counsel of God and as if they could give a particular account of the methods of divine operations hence some are confident enough to assert that the perfect purgati-on of the filth of sin must be either by the Spirit in this life or by a purgatory fire in the other The one asserts perfection not only of parts but of degrees attainable here and consequently denies the necessity of Ordinances c. The other viz. the Papists conclude that as some arrive to perfection here others do not e're they arrive unto the purgatery sire but the Antinomian presumes to say that our perfect Sanctification must be by Christ's Holiness even as our compleat Justification is by Christs Righteousness But I have already shewn That our perfect Sanctification which consists in the removal of the filth of every sin is not done by the Holiness of Christ Neither is it possible that any material flames should be adjusted for the cleansing the soul which is a Being spiritual and Immaterial Materiale non agit in immateriale It is done then by the Spirit when not in this life for until the body of Sin be put off there will be the remainders of old lusts * Note 1 King 8.46 Prov. 20.9 Eccl. 7.20 1 Joh. 1.8 No meer man since the Fall ever arriv'd unto a state of sinless perfection in this life which are inconsistent with a Sanctification that is perfect with a perfection of degrees Doth it you it may be will say enter into Heaven with its imperfections i.e. Spots and Filth Ans No surely for no Spot can have an admittance into that holy place Doth the departed soul make its stay after it passeth from the body e're