Brethren Universal Obedience Sincerity and Singleness of Heart and all other inherent Qualifications are not Signs by which we should judge our state Serm. 16. he calls the Revealing Evidence of the Spirit and endeavours to prove this Immediate Revelation P. 473. he puts this Objection We will not deny but it is the Voice of the Spirit will satisfie the Case But suppose I hear such a Voice c. Here is the doubt If the Word it self did bear witness to this particular Voice of the Spirit then could I be satisfied this were the Voice of the Spirit of God that speaks but if the Word do not bear witness to this Voice c. I dare not trust it He Answers This Voice is always according to the Word But P. 475. he tells us The Word according to which the Spirit of the Lord speaks when he speaks Peace to his People is the Word of Grace And that Word of Grace is no more but this God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their Trespasses unto them This is the Word of Grace according to which it speaks reconciling the World to himself even the World when Men are no otherwise but merely Men of the World Reader Thou seest that the Spirit 's Voice according to the Word is no more than according to the general Account That Christ came to save Sinners And so if any Sinner have this inward Voice that Voice is according to the Word whether he be a regenerate Person or no. The Doctor in this Page and Page 476. shews That if this Voice be according to this general Rule we must not try it by any thing else or question it And adds As for Example There is the Voice of the Word of Grace we are justified freely by his Grace and there is this Voice in the Spirit of Man telling him according to this word That his Sins are forgiven him How shall I know saith he that this Voice is the Voice of the Spirit of God For Answer let me ask but this Question Is there any thing in the world of better credit than the Spirit himself And P. 474. Beware that you make not the credit of the Voice of the Spirit to depend upon the Word Obj. But he seems to allow Faith to give Assurance But I Ans. he tells us p. 491. Not as a Revealing Evidence nor as an effecting Evidence but it is a Receiving Evidence or it is an Evidence as it doth receive that Testimony which the Spirit holds out c. Faith doth take possession of that which the Spirit reveals and manifests to a Person c. It clears the Title to us though good in it self before c. And P. 493. Faith is the Echo of the Heart to the Voice of the Spirit The Doctor 's meaning is That Faith doth not evidence our Pardon as it is a Grace wrought in the Soul by the Spirit or as a holy Qualification but only as it doth assent to and rest in this inward Voice Obj. But he seems to own that Sanctification is some Evidence A. He tells us how P. 482. viz. When the Testimony of the Spirit is received by Faith and the Soul sits down satisfied with that Testimony of the Lord then also the gifts of God's Spirit do bear witness together with the Spirit of the Lord and the Faith of a Believer You see there must be Assurance first and then these do witness after not to guide our Hopes but over and above See P. 100. There 's no better way to know your Portion in Christ than on the general tender of the Gospel to conclude absolutely he is yours Wherein the difference is not 1. It is not Whether the Spirit witnesseth by his miraculous Operations to Christ and the Gospel which is a Truth and the meaning of many of the Texts which the Doctor produceth 2. Nor Whether the Spirit as a Worker of Grace in the Heart be an Earnest of Glory and Witness to our State 3. Nor Whether the Spirit witnesseth by and with the Conscience in the Manifestation of our Graces for Assurance 4. Nor Whether the Spirit of God may in some extraordinary Cases give an immediate Testimony by a Voice or some equivalent Impressions But then there is the Truth of Grace in the Heart though it was doubted before and nothing utterly inconsistent with true Grace either is in the Heart nor then appeareth to the Conscience All these I affirm The real Difference 1. Whether none attain Assurance but by the inward Voice of the Spirit pronouncing the actual Forgiveness of their Sins without manifesting their true Grace and Sanctification This the Doctor affirms and I deny 2. Whether the usual way of attaining Assurance is by the Conscience upon trial discerning and concluding through the help of the Spirit that a Man hath those Graces or Signs which describe a Man blessed and pardoned according to the Gospel This I affirm and the Doctor denies The Truth confirmed 1. This is the way which God appoints to attain Assurance 2 Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether you be in the Faith prove your own selves know ye not that Christ is in you except you be Reprobates Here we are to try What 's our great Enquiry to be about Are we in the Faith which may respect Faith inherent or the Doctrine of Faith professed He concludes they must inferr Christ is in them except they had vile Hearts or were Men as to the frame of their Hearts unapproved by God For so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports 2 Pet. 1. 10. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure How was this to be done By adding Grace to Grace abounding therein and carefully looking that these things be in you See from ver 5. to 11. 2. This is the way whereby the Scripture-Saints were assured They concluded their Justification by Sanctification and a State of Peace by the Truth of Grace 1 Joh. 3. 14. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren Ver. 9. And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him How was this See Ver. 18. Let us not love in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth and hereby we know c. Thus David Paul and other Saints concluded the safety of their state 3. Conscience is bound to condemn every Man in whom the contrary to these Graces do appear yea where it 's evident that they are wholly wanting It 's otherwise a seared Conscience 2 Tim. 4. 2. It is not the Candle of the Lord in Man Now there can be no Assurance where the Conscience condemns as the Apostle argueth 1 Joh. 3. 19 20 21. 4. The Spirit witnesseth with our Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 16. It doth not witness before our Spirit doth witness It is not a separate Testimony from our Spirits but it concurs with our Spirit as its Instrument
Our Spirits witness in the light of the Spirit as 1 Cor. 9. 1. My Conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost 5. A Testimony of the Spirit giving an Evidence of Pardon without any Evidence of Grace is not according to the Word of Grace for the Word of Grace never declareth any Sinners are pardoned but believing penitent Sinners It is not as mere Sinners the Word pardoneth for it flatly condemneth and leaves Guilt on all impenitent Unbelievers as I have proved chap. 8. 12. Therefore if there should be a Voice a true Voice of God carrying it 's own Evidence saying Thy Sins are forgiven it doth at the same time and by the same Voice witness to the truth of our Grace because he forgives no other according to the Word of the Gospel And if the Spirit should say to an impenitent Soul Thou art pardoned while such it is no Promise in the Gospel nor according to it but a new Promise and not to be tried by the VVord and the Writers thereof having had more of the Spirit than any now can pretend to it 's dangerous to rest on that Voice which will not bear the Tryal by the VVord c. 6. To have the ordinary way of Assurance to be as it 's stated by the opposite Errour hath very dangerous Consequences Most Saints must quit their Hopes and Assurance for they never had this Voice though they have greater stamps of the Spirit than any I ever knew pretend to this It makes all Examination useless and vain It overturneth one of the great Uses God hath assigned to the work of his Grace on the Heart It makes Assurance impossible without this miraculous Voice which can hardly carry its Evidence to a Soul that hath no Grace at all It 's a way too far Enthusiastick to be allowed in so stated a Case It gives the Devil a great advantage against Sinners to live in Sin and against honest People if once they find cause to question this Voice Yea it sets up the Spirit against it self if any can boast of Assurance by this Voice when their State is justly challengeable by the Gospel as wanting all sight of Gospel-Marks TESTIMONIES The Assembly in Confes. ch 18. a. 2. say It 's an Infallible Assurance of Faith founded upon the Divine Truth of the Promises of Salvation the inward Evidences of those Graces unto which these Promises are made the Testimony of the Spirit of Adoption witnessing with our Spirits that we are the Children of God And a. 3. they tell us A Believer being enabled by the Spirit may without extraordinary Revelation in the right use of ordinary Means attain thereunto And therefore it is the Duty of every one to give all diligence to make his Calling and Election sure that thereby his heart may be enlarged in Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost c. as say the Cong Elders chap. 18. a. 3. See a. 4. Both shew how Assurance may be revived from the Graces in the Heart The Synod of New-England oft confute the contrary Errour which it seems was one that sadly troubled them Errour 44. No createâ— Work can be a manifest Sign of God's Love Errour 47. The Seal of the Spirit is limited only to the immediate witness of the Spirit nor doth ever witness to any Work of Grace or Conclusion by a Syllogism Errour 67. A Man cannot evidence his Justification by his Sanctification but he must needs build upon his Sanctification and trust to it Errour 72. It 's a Soul-damning Errour to make Sanctification an Evidence of Justification Errour 77. Sanctification is so far from evidencing a good State thâ—â— it darkens it rather and a Man may more clearly see Christ when he seeth no Sanctification than when he doth The darker my Sanctification is the brighter is my Justification The Synod shew at large how each of these are contrary to the Scriptures And one 〈◊〉 the evil Speeches they confute p. 19. I may know I am Christ's Not because I do crucifâ—â— the Lusts of the Flesh but believe in Christ that crucified my Lusts for me See Errour 63 69. The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because the Spirit of God is a Comforter therefore he cannot comfort us by helping us to see the VVork of his Grace in order to Joy in his Blessings Because the Spirit was to convince the World of Christ's Righteousness as what alone could procure Life therefore he tells Men that they have an Interest in it without shewing them any change on their Hearts Because he was to take of Christ's Fulness and shew it to his Disciples therefore he immediately speaks peace to the hearts of such as are or at least appear his resolved Enemies Because by the Spirit of Adoption we cry Abba Father therefore we need not find any love to God to know that we are his Children Because the Spirit witnesseth with our Spirits that we are the Children of God therefore he witnesseth alone without so much as revealing to our Spirits that we have the temper of Children Whereas there are many great Effects of the Spirit manifest on the Souls of them to whom the Apostle speaks Rom. 8. 11 12 14 15 16. And the design of the place is more to express our Dignity and free Access to God under a Gospel-state than mere Assurance of Forgiveness Because a Natural Man cannot perceive the Riches of the Promise and the Spirit enableth a Spiritual Man by his Teachings to perceive the nature of them therefore by an immediate Voice he discovers to the Natural Man his Propriety in them even while he is and appears Natural Because there is Imperfection in the Graces of a Saint therefore he cannot see the Sincerity of them by the help of the Spirit without an immediate Voice CHAP. XVI Of God's seeing Sin in Believers and their Guilt by it c. TRUTH THe Sins of Believers have the Loathsomness of Sin adhering to them which God seeth and accounteth the Committers guilty thereby And they ought to charge themselves therewith so as to stir up themselves to Repentance and renew their Actings of Faith on Christ for Forgiveness Nevertheless they ought not thereby to fear their being out of a Justified State further than their Falls give them just cause of suspecting that Sin hath dominion over them and that their first believing on Christ was not sincere ERROUR God seeth no Sin in Believers though he see the Fact neither doth he charge them with any Sin nor ought they to charge themselves with any Sin nor be at all sad for them nor confess repent or do any thing as a Means of their Pardon no nor in order to assuring themselves of Pardon even when they commit Murther Adultery or the grossest VVickedness Proved that this is Dr. Crisp 's Opinion Reader Note That the Doctor speaks most of this concerning a Person as Elect though he uses the word Believer sometimes because he alone knows that he is Elect by
And this is not in order to an Interest but to our Knowing it P. 106. The Dr. saith I must tell you There is no better way to know your Portion in Christ than upon the general tender of the Gospel to conclude absolutely he is yours c. Say to your selves and let not this be contradicted seeing Christ hath reached out himself to Sinners as Sinners My part is as good as any Man's Set down thy rest here question it not but believe it c. Venture thy Soul upon it without seeking for further Security But some will say He doth not belong to me Why not to thee he belongs to Sinners as Sinners and if there be no worse than Sinfulness Rebellion and Enmity in thee he belongs to thee as well as to any in the World A. 2. Not Believing or not Coming to Christ is nothing with the Doctor but not Concluding within one's self that Christ is mine Pag 203. It would be welcome to them to be certainly satisfied that his Blood is their Ransom and that their Sins are blotted out thereby but they dare not yet close with Christ they dare not set up their rest there they dare not sit down with any such Conclusion but still there is something or other that remains that must be removed out of the way before they can make this certain Conclusion Christ is their Christ. Now my Errand is to this sort of People whose hearts tell them If it could clearly appear that without danger to them they may say Christ is their Salvation and sit down with this c. but they dare not something or other is wanting they dare not lay hold on Christ and it's Presumption for them to sit down satisfied that Christ is their Christ. See p. 36 44 432 490. Wherein the Difference is not 1. It is not Whether there is in Christ a sufficiency of Merit and Grace to save the worst of Sinners 2. Nor Whether Christ is offered to the worst Sinners if they will accept of him on the Terms of the Gospel 3. Nor Whether the worst Sinners are often the Objects of God's Effectual Calling in order to an Interest in Christ 4. Nor Whether there may not be Knowledge Assent Convictions Humblings and feigned Resolves and yet a Soul fail of an Interest in Christ for want of true Conversion though they are hopeful Signs All these I affirm 5. Nor Whether the degrees of Convictions and Humblings be equal in all This I deny 6. Nor Whether Preparatory Qualifications do merit True Grace Yea Or Faith or Repentance do merit an Interest in Christ This I deny and say That their whole Use depends on Christ's Ordination 7. Nor Whether a Soul may neglect to accept of Christ as Prophet Priest and King because they feel not that degree of these Humblings and Convictions which they desire and expect This I deny 8. Nor Whether these Preparatory Qualifications be the Work of the Spirit by Common Grace This I affirm 9. Nor Whether their immediate Influence be to prepare the Soul for a true consenting Acceptance which they are hereby less averse to and more disposed for This I affirm though Dr. Owen adds No Man that wants these is a Subject capable of Justification See Treat of Justif. p. 109. Wherein the real Difference is 1. Wheâ—her Coming to Christ is an Inward Persuasion that Christ is mine This the Doctor affirms and I deny Of which see Chap. IX Of Saving Faith 2. Whether Christ is offered to Sinners with a design that they may conclude they have a Saving Interest in him before they are regenerated by the Spirit and savingly believe This the Doctor affirms and I deny 3. Whether the Soul of a Sinner as to its habitual Disposition and Purpose is under the reigning power of Enmity Rebellion and Filthiness till after it hath a Saving Interest in Christ This the Doctor affirms and I deny affirming this Disposition is altered in our Effectual Vocation and there can be no true Coming to Christ for Pardon and especially for Sanctification without that purpose 4. Whether some degrees of Convictions and Humiliation of Soul be necessary Prerequisites to the Soul 's true Acceptance of Christ for Pardon This the Doctor denies and I affirm The Truth Confirmed The main Question is decided by what I have spoken of Saving Faith For if Coming be not this Persuasion and Saving Faith be necessary to our Interest in Christ there remains little to prove Of this last see ch 11. Of Union and ch 8. Only consider That Christ cannot be offered to be ours on any lower Terms than such as by which he actually becomes ours by the Gospel-Grant It remains then that I briefly prove the Truth as contained in the Third and Fourth Questions 1. The Soul of a Sinner as to its habitual Disposition and Purpose is not under the reigning power of Enmity Rebellion and Filthiness till after it hath a Saving Interest in Christ. You see I speak not of Degrees of Sanctification nor Change of Practice but of a Disposition of Heart and Purpose of Mind This Truth appears 1. Effectual Vocation makes this Change in the Habitual Disposition of the Heart and this Vocation is necessary to our Interest in Christ. The Elders at the Savoy and the Assembly agree Decl. and Conf. ch 10. a. 1. That this Call lies in enlightning their Minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God taking away their Heart of Stone and giving them an Heart of Flesh renewing their Wills and by his Almighty Power determining them to that which is good effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ yet so as they come most freely being made willing by his Grace And a. 2. Until being quickned and renewed by the Holy Spirit he is thereby enabled to answer this Call and embrace the Grace offered and conveyed in it Thou seest what a great Change is made on the Heart and Mind by Effectual Calling and that our Answer to this Call which lies in a Consent answerable to this Change in the Faculties is the Means of our Interest in the offered Grace which is Christ and his Benefits It 's a Call to Life see Joh. 5. 25. The Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live It 's a Call to Holiness 1 Thes. 4. 7. Hence called a Holy Calling 2 Tim. 1. 9. A Call to Light 1 Pet. 2. 9. If any doubt whether our Vocation be a Means to our Interest in Christ see 1 Cor. 1. 9. God is faithful by whom you are Called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 2. How inconsistent with Vocation Regeneration and Conversion are Hearts of such vile Disposition Is this a Heavenly Calling Heb. 3. 1. What would it avail to make such a Calling sure 2 Pet. 1. 10. Is this being Born not of the Will of the Flesh but of the Will of God Joh. 1. 13. Doth the new Birth or Circumcision
is their Father though they resolve against being Separate Men can though God saith they cannot partake of the Table of the Lord and of the Table of Devils 1 Cor. 10. 21. For Union and Communion with Christ be the Heart of the Benefits included in partaking of the Lord's Table Reader Weigh these things and thou canst hardly conceive what Act of God an Union before Faith can be ascribed to It 's not to the Decree for that only resolveth it shall be in future It 's not to God's appointing or Christ's engaging to be a Mediator for thereby he undertook in time to raise a Seed which in the fulness of Time God would gather in one in him Eph. 1. 10. It 's not in Christ's assuming the humane Nature for that admits all Mankind to be united to him as well as the Elect. And what Mr Sterry and others talk of a radical Union with Christ as he is the top Branch or the universal Spirit of the Creation in a Nature distinct from his Divine and Humane it's fordid to such who know of but two Natures in Christ and if granted would not prove the Doctor 's Notion of actual Union TESTIMONIES The Assembly Confess Ca. 26. a. 1. and the Elders at the Savoy Chap. 27. a. 1. affirm That we are united to Jesus Christ by-his Spirit and by Faith A. 5. Only the Elders add We are not thereby made one Person with Christ. The Lesser Catechism hath this Question How doth the Spirit apply to us the Redemption purchased by Christ A. By working Faith in us and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual Calling The New England Synod confute this as Errour 37. We are compleatly united to Christ before or without any Faith wrought in us by the Spirit They sum up their Confutation of this in these VVords If there be no Dwelling of Christ in us no coming to him no receiving him no being married to him before and without Faith But the former is true Errour 16. which Boston Church charged Mr. Hutcheson with was That Union to Christ is not by Faith Errour 38. The Synod Confutes is There can be no true closing with Christ in a Promise that hath a Condition expressed Errour 69. Though a Man can prove a gracious VVork in himself and Christ to be the Author of it if thereby he will prove Christ to be his this is but a sandy Foundation He never read Doctor Owen who did not find him as express in this as any Man can be Norton Orthod Evang. P. 291. Union in order of Nature though not of Time followeth Vocation P. 181. Union not without the Act of Faith P. 222. It 's by the Spirit and Faith The Grounds of the Dr's Mistake Because Christ is appointed and given to raise a Body eternally elected thereto therefore he thinks they are this Body before they be raised Because all After-Grace is from Christ as our actual Head therefore he thinks Christ cannot by his Spirit work the first Grace as our designed Head VVhereas the Spirit makes us an Habitation to God Eph. 2. 22. And it 's a strange conceit that Christ can exert no Act of Power on a dead Soul in order to Union but Men must infer that Union prior to it Because the natural Body cannot see without a Head therefore Christ cannot convert a Sinner to bring him into his mystical Body One might better infer the Head cannot see without the Body and the Body sees as much as the Head and the Head sees no better than the Body and so conclude Christ can see nothing till every elect Person be a Member and every Member seeth as well as Christ and the dim Sight of every Member makes the Sight of Christ as blind as his Because Christ received Gifts for the Rebellious that God might dwell among them therefore God dwells among them before those Gifts operate or be communicated to them Whereas the Apostle Eph. 4. 10 11 12. tells us how these Gifts are the Means by which the Elect are converted and made Believers and so come to partake of Union with its peculiar Effects Because from the Parable of the Vine the Gardiner puts the Graff into the Tree before there 's Sap or Fruit therefore he thinks a Man is in Christ before God puts him in Christ by the Spirit and Faith which is the only ingraffing the VVord tells us of besides external Church Privileges Rom. 11. 17 19. I may as well argue a Member of Christ must always do wicked VVorks because the Graff bears always Fruit of its own Kind and not after the Kind of the Stock into which it is ingrafted How sad is it to strain and abuse Parables or Metaphors against the Scope of the Gospel because God condescends to explain some Truths thereby as if all that belongs to the Metaphor teach and prove any Doctrine because that one Point for which the Lord useth it is illustrated thereby VVhat VVork may soon be made by fond People if this be true Because we are chosen in Christ from eternity that is elected to obtain Life by him as Mediator therefore we are one with him before any uniting Bonds Reader I forbear to represent the Nature of this Union as he seems to state it P. 104 105 648 649 615. hoping he meant better than many of his VVords do import but for thy own Good know that upon believing we are made Partakers of Gospel-Benefits we are related to him for all the Advantages which the Metaphors of this Union express He loveth enricheth and honoureth us as a Man doth his Wife He directs rules and quickens us as a Head doth the Members He ministers Grace for Fruit and Exercise as the Root doth to the Branches Yea This Relation he 'll keep undissolved and yet more the very Spirit that his Humane Nature received in Fulness abides in and worketh a Conformity to the Life and Temper of Christ in all his Members which at last he will perfect to the utmost of our Capacity But yet fansie not that we are deified with God or christified with Christ or one natural Person with him as if he had a superangelick Nature which was a sort of a commen Soul or that our distinct Personality shall ever cease with other Notions destructive of God's Government and of all Judgment Beware of confounding God and the Creature or making Christ the Subject of our Graces because he is the Author of them Obj. But you said in the Errour that Men are said to receive Christ against their VVills A. The Doctor tells us Our first receiving of Christ is when Christ comes by the Gift of the Father to a Person while he is in the Stubbornness of his own Heart and the Father doth force open the Spirit of that Person and pours in his Son in spight of the Receiver P. 99. In P. 98. It 's as a Physician poureth Physick down the Patient's Throat and so it works against his Will
of Faith ch 14. a. 2. Declarat ch 14. a. 2. of Saving Faith By this Grace a Christian believeth to be true whatever is revealed in the Word for the Authority of God speaking therein and acteth differently upon that which each particular Passage thereof containeth yielding Obedience to the Commands Trembling at the Threatnings and Embracing the Promises of God for this Life and that which is to come But the principal Acts of Saving Faith are Accepting Receiving and Resting upon Christ alone for Justification Sanctification and Eternal Life by virtue of the Covenant of Grace Reader weigh this sound Account of Faith Which if it were regarded and no Essential part of it excluded when Faith is considered as a Condition of any Gospel-Benefit How much vain Disputes would be prevented as well as Danger to poor Souls And one would think no Man need prove That it is not Saving Faith when any Essential part of it is wanting And that it must be Saving Faith when we mention Faith as the Condition or Moral Instrument of any Saving Benefit ERROUR Saving Faith is nothing but our Persuasion or absolute Concluding within our selves That our Sins are pardoned and that Christ is ours Proved that this is Doctor Crisp 's Opinion The Doctor tells us pag. 493. The whole Essence of Faith is nothing else but the Echo of the Heart answering the foregoing Voice of the Spirit and Word of Grace Thy Sins are forgiven thee saith the Spirit and Word of Grace My Sins are forgiven me saith Faith And the Soul that can assume thus from the Spirit and Word of Grace hath the whole Essence of Believing When the Doctor pag. 107. puts a Man on examining his Faith he hath these words How do I know I believe in Christ He Answers Do I rest my Heart upon this Truth Do I receive it as a Truth that I do believe Or do I reject it and will not receive it Then I do not believe But if you sit down and rest upon this Truth and receive it and do in reality believe it then you may absolutely conclude Christ is yours And pag. 296. If the Lord I say again give to any to believe this Truth That it is his Iniquity the Lord hath laid on Christ God himself cannot charge one Sin on that Man And pag. 158. he makes the difference betwixt a strong and weak Believer to consist in the Degree of this Persuasion See more in chap. 10 11. Wherein the Difference is not 1. It is not whether Assurance be attainable in this Life as the Effect of Faith 2. Nor whether a Sinner ought to apply yea doth personally apply the general Offers of Christ and Life by his own Compliance with the Terms of the Gospel For upon a true Acceptance of a whole Christ he is mine in virtue of the Gospel Promise which God will perform in giving Christ and Life to all that accept of him as he is proposed for our Acceptance 3. Nor whether a convinced Sinner hath at first a more especial regard to Christ's Priestly Offices and Sufferings as what are more sensibly fitted to his guilty State 4. Nor whether every thing recorded in the Scriptures must not be dwelt on with the same regard concern and assurance as the Essentials of the Covenant of Life 5. Nor whether Faith contain in it a reliance on Christ as the only Saviour and on his Satisfaction and Merits as what alone purchased our Pardon and Acceptance as well as it includes the realizing Assent to the Truth and unfeigned fiducial Consent to and Acceptance of a whole Christ in all his Offices All these I affirm The real Difference 1. Whether the whole Essence of Saving Faith consists in an Inward Persuasion or Assurance that our Sins are pardoned and Christ is ours This the Doctor affirms and I deny yea I deny that it is at all of the Essence of Saving Faith 2. Whether Saving Faith include not in its nature that powerful efficacious Assent to the Word and fiducial consenting Acceptance of Christ as Prophet Priest and King with a Reliance on his Merits and obediential Regards to God as the TRUTH above-mentioned doth express This the Doctor denies and I affirm The Truth confirmed 1. Faith is not an Assurance or Inward Persuasion That Christ is ours and our Sins are pardoned For 1. Men may have this Persuasion who do not savingly believe They in Mat. 7. 22. had this when they cried Lord Lord open to us Neither did the foolish Virgins seem without it Mal. 25. 1 2. Yea it's what the most profligate Sinners grow secure by to their own Destruction and this upon the general Word of Grace 2. Many true Believers have not this Persuasion let common Experience be consulted 3. Such as have had Assurance do by the Doctor 's Opinion fall into the Sin of damning Unbelief whenever they doubt their Interest in Christ and especially if they conclude that they have not this Interest A sad Doom on many pious Souls 4. This Persuasion should suppose an Interest in Christ and doth not give it It 's a false Conclusion That Christ is mine before he is so And must the great term of Life be a Lye We are to examine our selves whether we be in the Faith and so whether Christ be in us before we assure our selves that he is in us 2 Cor. 13. 5. And where hath God made this Proposition My Sins are laid upon Christ to be the Object of Saving Faith This Proposition is not God nor Christ nor any part of the Scripture unless you suppose a General Redemption and that to the actual Pardon of every Sinner And as the Word of Grace promiseth Pardon to none but a Believer so the Spirit speaks it to none but to the Believer as a Believer 2. Saving Faith includes the Essentials expressed in the above-mentioned Truth as Assent Trust Consenting Acceptance of Christ Reliance c. This appears 1. Faith can be no less than the Soul's Answer to the Call of God in our effectual Vocation And to this all those things are necessary 2 Pet. 1. 3. 2. The Scriptures describe Saving Faith by all these Acts It 's the Evidence of things not seen and Substance of things hoped for Heb. 11. 1. It 's a Receiving of Christ Joh. 1. 12. which must be as God gives him and that is a Witness a Leader and Commander of the People Isa. 55. 4. Acts 3. 26. to bless us in turning every one of you from his iniquity Rom. 15. 12. In him shall the Gentiles trust Isa. 44. 5. One shall say I am the Lord's and another shall subscribe with his Hand unto the Lord which express consent 3. Christ cannot be received as a Saviour nor as the Way of a Sinner to God if Faith include not these Great things He is not a Saviour if you exclude any of his Offices and as an intire Saviour we must receive him Mat. 1. 21. Can any Man receive
Heathen through Faith Must not Faith be at least present It 's impossible to exert an Act by a Thing when that Thing is not 2. Faith is enjoyned as an indispensible Means of Justification by Christ and complied with by All Converts to that End Act. 16. 30. Believe and thou shalt be saved Rom. 10. 9 10. If thou believe with thine heart thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth to righteousness not to Assurance only To be Justified was a Benefit which Paul and the other Converts had an Eye to in Believing Gal. 2. 16. We have believed That we may be justified by the faith of Christ. The Blessing of Justification is limited to a Believer and extended to such by such conditional and indefinite Clauses as these Rom. 4. 23 24. To us it shall be imputed for Righteousness if we Believe on him that raised up Christ from the dead Act. 10. 43. Whosoever Believeth in him shall receive Remission of Sins What a gross Notion would it create That Faith should be required by God in order to a Benefit and this Faith acted by the guidance of the Spirit as a Means to partake of that Benefit and this Benefit proposed and limited to all under an express respect to that Faith and yet that Benefit is ours before Faith hath a Being 3. The Gospel denounceth and declareth All Condemned till they do Believe It declares they are so and denounceth they shall be so Joh. 3. 36. He that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him And ver 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already Here 's the Case of all Men by the Fall They are Condemned and under Wrath. Here 's the way of Relief A Christ believed on And they that believe their Condemnation is revers'd Here 's the Case of every Man that believeth not Wrath abideth on him The Condemning Sentence remains and Men are distributed into Condemned or Justified and this as Believers or Unbelievers Oh! that any can think all this Wrath that abides is no more than want of an Assurance that we are Justified Sure it 's more danger Joh. 8. 24. If you believe not you shall die in your sins Mark 16. 18. He that believeth not shall be damned Then they must be liable to Damnation whilst in Unbelief or they could not be Damned for Unbelief To be Condemned and Justified are Opposites at once none can be both Nor can God Justifie a Man whom he then and still Condemns 4. Unbelief is the cause why Men are barred from Justiâ—â—cation and remain obnoxious to Misery Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come to me that ye may have life What undid the Jews Heb. 3. 18 19. They could not enter because of Unbelief And ch 4 6 7. And if Unbelief did not obstruct Life and a Right to it the Apostle would oddly inferr ch 4. ver 1 2 3. Let us therefore fear lest a Promise being left us of entring into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it c. for we which have believed do enter into rest How easily might I argue this Point from the Nature of Justification as it 's a judicial Act of God by a Gospel-Rule supposing Christ's Satisfaction As also from the immediate Effects of Justification which are all suspended as to Unbelievers God in all his Carriage not executing the Justifying Sentence on them but the contrary he leaves them many years Slaves to Sin and Satan void of his Spirit admitting them to no Communion with him rejecting their Prayers barring them from his Table suffering them to blaspheme and dishonour him he suffers them to remain Curses and Plagues to other Souls c. Doth God deal thus with the Justified What short of Hell is the Execution of the Curse if these be not Reader I leave it to thy self to judge whether all these things make Faith of no more use than to shew us the goodness of our state which we were as much possessed of before only we did not know it Is that all the change on believing which such great Expressions import Is our being now washed and justified 1 Cor. 6. 11. no more than we now know it Is Assurance all the motive we can honestly use with Sinners to believe Or the want of it all the Danger we have to threaten them with to any beneficial purpose against their abiding in Unbelief TESTIMONIES You have already heard the Assembly and the Congr of Elders at the Savoy Confes. chap. 11. a. 4. saying The Elect are not Justified until the Holy Spirit doth in due time actually apply Christ to them See ch 1. Of the State of the Elect Where I cited this Lesser Catech. Q. What Benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this Life A. They that are effectually called partake of Justification Adoption c. You see that the Assembly do suppose our Calling to our being Justified and Justification is a Benefit flowing from it In the next Answer they tell us We are Justified by receiving Christ's Righteousness by Faith alone So not before Faith The New-England Synod p. 18. thus confute that Speech of the Antinomians viz. To say we are Justified by Faith is an unsafe Speech we must say We are Justified by Christ. The Synod fully prove this is false and add To say a Man is Justified before Faith or without Faith is unsafe as contrary to the language of the Scripture Dr. Owen in his Treat of Justif. p. 299. saith 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 also is the Condition of the Continuation of it This is as plain as can be and this he oft proves p. 306 c. The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because God Justifies the Ungodly that is the Man who the moment before he believed to Justification was ungodly yea and who still remains ungodly in the Eye of the Law of Works needing daily Forgiveness by Grace therefore God Justifies him who continueth wholly ungodly fifty years after Because Christ alone Justifies as he whose Satisfaction and Merits are the only Righteousness for which we are Justified therefore he thinks there is nothing else present in our Justification not considering that God Justifies the Spirit Justifies the Gospel-Promise Justifieth in sences distinct from Christ And so doth Faith though not as what meriteth yet as what the Promise requireth in all whom God will Justifie for the sake of Christ's Merits Because it 's Christ the Object of Faith Justifies therefore Faith in that Object is not requisite to Justification though it 's as plain as the Word of God can speak it 's a Christ believed on which Justifies It 's not Faith without a Christ can do it and Christ without Faith will not do it but on
as increase of Peace returns of Prayer Joy c. Truth Though neither Holiness sincere Obedience or good Works do make any Atonement for Sin or are in the least the meritorious Righteousness whereby Salvation is caused or for which this or any Blessing becomes due to us as of Debt yet as the Spirit of Christ freely worketh all Holiness in the Soul and enableth us to sincere Obedience and good Works so the Lord Jesus hath of Grace and for his own Merits promised to bring to Heaven such as are partakers of true Holiness perform this sincere Obedience and do these good Works perseveringly and appoints these as the Way and Means of a Believer's obtaining Salvation and several other Blessings requiring these as indispensible Duties and Qualifications of all such whom he will so save and bless and excluding all that want or neglect them or live under the Power of what 's contrary thereto viz. Prophaneness Rebellion and utter Unfruitfulness Errour Men have nothing to do in order to Salvation nor is Sanctification a jot the way of any Person to Heaven nor can the Graces or Duties of Believers no nor Faith it self do them the least Good or prevent the least Evil nor are they of any Use to their Peace or Comfort yea though Christ be explicitely owned and they be done in the Strength of the Spirit of God And a Believer ought not to think he is more pleasing to God by any Grace he acteth or Good he doth nor may Men expect any Good to a Nation by the Humiliation earnest Prayer or Reformation of a People Proved that this is Dr. Crisp 's Opinion P. 41 42. The Doctor tells us Seeing all things are setled by Christ for us of free Gift all we do is for Christ himself I say that we do we do for Christ not for our selves If we do it for our selves we do but labour in vain if a Man will run a hundred Miles for Money if that Money be proffered to him before he step out of his House at his Door his Journey is in vain seeing he might have had it before he stept out of Door c. Christ comes and brings Justification loving Kindness and Salvation he lays them down presents them delivers them to the Heart when we are ungodly he enters into Covenant that we should become his What needs then all this Travel for Life and Salvation seeing it is here already But seeing we get nothing by it c. Obj. But sure the Doctor intends only That nothing we do can merit but not that they are not required as the requisite Means and VVay to obtain these Blessings A. The Doctor satisfies us he intends the last as well as the first P. 45. 46. I will note one thing before I go on to make clear this thing It is a received Conceit among many Persons that our Obedience is the Way to Heaven and though it be not say they the Cause of our Reign yet it is the Way to the Kingdom c. This he disapproves saying I must tell you all this Sanctification of Life is not a jot the Way of that justified Person unto Heaven c. The Truth is since Redemption is managed by Christ the Lord hath pointed out other Ends and Purposes for our Obedience than Salvation Salvation is not the end of any good Work we do P. 151 152. he puts this Objection We had as good sit still He that works all day and gets nothing more than he had in the Morning he had as good sit still and do nothing He answers Let me tell you the Prevention of Evil if there be reality of Evil in it and the obtaining of Good if there be reality of Good Peace of Conscience Joy in the Holy Ghost Pardon of Sin the Infallibility of Miscarriage the Light of God's Countenance All these I say which you aim at are abundantly provided for you and established firmly on you by the mere Grace of God in Christ before you do perform any thing whatsoever To what purpose do Men propose Ends to themselves which Ends are accomplished before their Proposition And to what purpose then do we propose to our selves the gaining of that to our selves in our Labour and Industry that is already become ours before we do a jot c. Must they now labour to gain these things as if it were referred to their well or evil Walking that as they shall walk so they shall speed c. The Lord doth nothing in his People upon Conditions in his People c. The Lord intends not that by our Obedience we shall gain something which in case of our Failing we shall miscarry of c. That they are to do they are not to do with any Eye to their own Advantage that being already perfectly compleated to their Hands before they do any thing but simply with an Eye to glorifie God and to serve their Generation and therein to serve the Lord c. When you do yield Obedience to God you go to Prayer and fall to Fasting to Weeping and Mourning and Self-denial Keeping the Sabbath Dealing righteously c. What is it you aim at in all this that God may do you good that God may be gracious that God may speak Peace to your Spirits then it follows that Life is that in your Eye that puts you on that which you do c. This is the Righteousness of the Law P. 13. Let Subduing of Sin alone for Peace P. 73. While you labour to get by Duties you provoke God as much as in you lies Obj. But though Holiness or Obedience do not profit us as to saving Good may they not bring us some Good or other Ans. The Doctor tells us No P. 150. I must tell you there is not any Duty you perform when you have attained the highest Pitch that hath any Prevalency and Availableness to produce to bring forth any though the least Good to your selves I say it again there is nothing you can do from whence you ought to expect any Gain to your selves by doing it The Doctor speaks the same as to the Uselessness of Reformation to a Kingdom P. 235 236. But if a Soul get under full sail filled with a stiff Gale of the Spirit when Floods of Meltings flow from it if they can cry mightily and be somewhat exact in observing practical righteous Means to mourn and pray lustily being helpt by the Spirit therein then such Exercises will do Wonders hereby Persons shall get Pardon settle Spiritual Civil and Natural Healings with National such Courses some will think will turn away Gods Wrath c. But he tells us in that Page though these be done by Persons being in Christ though thus assisted by Christ's Spirit though Christ be explicitely owned as the Author of such Assistance the Righteousness so assisted hath no efficacy at all to obtain any thing of the Lord c. So P. 425 426 124 125 24. His common Phrase is
shall proceed to the Proof of the Truth which is comprehended under these Heads 1. Sinners have much to do in order to Salvation There be few Leaves in the Bible but argue this It 's the Scope of all the Revelations of God to Men since the Fall It 's true we have nothing to do in a way of Atonement or Purchace but it is as true we have much to do in order to our Participation of what Christ hath purchased We must repent that our Sins may be blotted out Act 3. 19. We must believe that we may be saved c. Our Lord is express if you know these things happy are you if you do them Joh. 13. 17. All Gospel-discoveries are made known for the Obedience of Faith Rom. 16. 26. And Christ will take Vengeance on all them who obey not the Gospel neither Christ nor Gospel will secure them 2 Thes. 1. 8. The Revelations of God to Men are not a bare Description of Duty and Benefits but an Injunction of Duty in a Connexion with Benefits Rom. 10. 9. If thou confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and believe with thy Heart thou shalt be saved 2. I could shew there 's no one saving Benefit granted to a Sinner but on supposition of his Doing See much of this Chap. 8. 10 11 12. and Ch. 21 22. Christ never intended the Application of his Merits for our Privileges without ordering them as Motives to Duty on our Part. 3. The Influences of the Spirit of God and God's Institutions have no Causality in our Salvation if Men have nothing to do in order to be saved It 's plain that Salvation is ascribed to the Spirit and also to the Means of Grace Neither of them are the Atonement or Price of Salvation therefore they must save as they operate on the Soul in order to its Actings Rom. 1. 16. 1. Cor. 1. 21. And this must be as it answers the way appointed for our Participation of Life 4. On what account is it said that we believe to the saving of our Souls Heb. 10. 39. and Repentance to Salvation is the Expression of the Spirit of God 2 Cor. 7. 10. What Sence can be affixed to these and the like Phrases as they are opposed to their Contraries as destructive if Men do nothing towards their Salvation See Jam. 2. 14. Can Faith save him Yea and I may ask 5. What meaneth the Holy Ghost when he saith In so doing thou shalt save thy self and them that hear thee 1 Tim. 4. 16. Sure the Argument is not strong if it be true we can do nothing for Salvation 6. The Destruction of Sinners under the Gospel is still laid on not Doing they are condemned by the Law but they remain condemned and their Ruine is fixed and so they are twice dead for want of doing somewhat Ye will not come to me that you might have Life Joh. 5. 40. How oft is the Ruine of Souls laid on not Turning not Repenting c. 7. If Men have nothing to do for Salvation then Christ hath no Rule to judge them who lived under the Gospel I hope none will say the judicial Sentence will pass on Men as elected or not elected Doth it agree to the Proceedings of that Tribunal at that Day to say Thou shalt be damned because thou wert not elected Is this the Account the Scripture gives Doth it not proceed on the Difference in Mens Carriage and Tempers See the Parable of the Talents They who improved their Talents were saved he that hid it in a Napkin was therefore damned Mat. 25. 21 24 28. Consider any Description of the last Day and you 'll find God saves and damns with a Respect to Mens Neglects and Compliance with his Gospel 8. I could easily demonstrate that if Men have nothing to do in order to Salvation the Ministery of Christ and his Apostles the Ministery most apt and most blessed to Souls to this very day is all a Vanity and Falshood they are cold Pleadings with Sinners that are not backed with Life and Death Remove saving Benefits and undoing Dangers from being Arguments to Compliance with the Will of Christ and any Man may read the Success of such a Ministery and to use these Arguments to persuade Men to repent and believe if we have nothing to do for Heaven is a manifest Falshood and Trifling It 's awful to consider how inconsistent some Mens Application is with their Doctrine though it 's well their Uses to the Unconverted have so much Truth in them 2. True Holiness sincere Obedience or good Works and Perseverance are the Way to Heaven and so necessary to the Salvation of a Believer that without them he cannot be saved and continuing in them he shall be saved This might be evidenced by many Reasons 1. It is not saving Faith which is not operative to these Effects It ceaseth to be true whenever it wholly fails of purifying the Heart and working by Love Many affirm That all Graces are seminally in Faith as in their Principle Such must grant that as Faith justifies us at first in receiving and relying on Christ so it continues to justifie us by continuing those Acts and exerting it self in those other Operations which are essential to its Nature And thus some expound Jam. 2. 20 24. 2. Obedience good Works and Perseverance preserve us from those contrary Evils which do subject Men to Condemnation I keep my Body under least by any Means when I have preached to others I my self be a cast-away 1 Cor. 9. 27. I shall add to this in some following Heads 3. The Gospel-Constitution doth by its Promises and Threatnings make Persevering Holiness Obedience or Good Works the necessary way to Heaven These are not only a Natural but a Moral meetness for Heaven That this Point may be clear I shall 1. Shew that the Gospel-Constitution contains Promises and Threatnings which affect all of us as a Rule of Happiness and Misery it 's so to the Elect yea Believers as well as others 2. That by this Constitution Persevering Holiness Sincere Obedience or Good Works are necessary to Salvation 1. The Gospel-Constitution contains Promises and Threatnings which affect all of us as a Rule of Happiness and Misery By these God governs Men and Mens Hopes or Fears should be directed by these as their Rule Dr. Crisp not observing this hath run into those Mistakes which open a door to all Licentiousness though he intended it not His whole Scheme implies That Christ doth not distribute Blessings or Punishments by any Rule that referrs to the Actings of Men. I have proved the contrary chap. 8 c. For if the Covenant of Grace be Conditional and Faith and Repentance are Necessary to Forgiveness c. the Substance of this must be granted But I add a few Reasons more 1. Most of the Promises and Threatnings in the Bible that referr to the State of Souls are Evangelical Promises and Threats They are not the Sanction of the
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory Were all Doing for Life and an Eye to gain by Service such a legal and wicked thing as some represent it sure the blessed Jesus would have admonished his Disciples and not answer them as he doth Mat. 19. 27 28 29. Then answered Peter and said unto him behold we have forsaken all and followed thee What shall we have therefore And Jesus said unto them verily c. Ye shall sit upon twelve Thrones judging the twelve Tribes of Israel c. 4. The Doctor 's Argument from the Vanity of proposing our own Gain by Labour and Duties because all is fixed and given already is to make the Decree an effectual Means to overthrow the Government of Christ and brand all his Offers to Sinners with Weakness and Falshood Should not poor Sinners pray as they can abstain from Sin consider and apply the Word with an Eye to Conversion Why doth God call them to this Should not they wait and strive to believe and repent with an Eye to Forgiveness and escaping VVrath VVhy else should God encourage them with an Offer of these upon such Terms and tell the Unbelievers that they refuse these Mercies by new Forfeitures But by the Doctor 's Scheme the Elect may be idle and the Non-elect do best when they despair for there 's no Connexion between these Benefits and these Graces or Duties And so the Non-elect are in the same Case with Devils there being no serious Offer to them nay their Case is worse than Devils for these Offers are made to them for no other Design but to increase their Condemnation Nay every Sin of their's is the Sin against the Holy Ghost that is every Sin is alike the Unpardonable Sin and not only that Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost To say no more Christ hath no Rule of distributive Justice but his own eternal Purpose and Men's Regards to his promised Benefits are all forbidden even when our Respect to them is that which subserves his Government and is supposed in all the Methods of it 5. And why should we intend the Glory of God the Service of Christ or the Good of others Are not these as determined as our own Good Hath not God fixed and secured his own Glory Doth Christ need our services more than our selves Shall any other Persons receive more Good than God hath already given and provided for them Why should we intend these in our Duties more than our own Profit the very same Reason excuseth from all and so we ought to intend nothing at all I could shew had I Room that we cannot sincerely aim at our Souls good but we therein aim at God's Glory Nor doth God ever require us to intend his Glory but in a Concurrence with an Eye to our own Salvation TESTIMONIES You have seen in the last Chapter the Assembly's and Congregational Elders Judgment and that we are not the less under Grace for being encouraged to do good by the Promises c. The Case is so plain that I shall only give the Judgment of the greater part of those Reverend Divines whose Names are set in the Front of Dr. Crisp's Works and interpreted by the VVeak to a contrary purpose than what they intended These Divines in the Preface to Mr. Flavel's Book against Antinomianism which they approve of inform us That to say Salvation is not the End of any Good VVork we do or VVe are to act from Life and not for Life were to abandon the Humane Nature it were to teach us to violate the great Precepts of the Gospel it supposeth one bound to do more for the Salvation of others than our own 't were to make all the Threatnings of Eternal Death and Promises of Eternal Life we find in the Gospel of our blessed Lord useless as Motives to shun the one or obtain the other It makes the Scripture-Characters and Commendation of the most Eminent Saints a Fault Had I seen this sooner it might have spared some of my Reasons The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because we ought not to do any thing from Carnal Self-love therefore we ought to do nothing from Rational and Spiritual Self-love Because Christ redeemed us that we may not live to our selves as our own Lords therefore we must not in obeying him regard the Rewards he promiseth us as he is our Lord. Because we must aim at God's Glory above all therefore we must not at all intend our own happiness in the enjoyment of this God Because we must aim at the good of others therefore we must not aim at our own good Because we should obey God from Gratitude and Love therefore we should not obey him from any Hope or filial Fear Because God hath engaged to give Life and Happiness to the Elect when they have finished their warfare and work therefore they must not intend the obtaining that happiness in any part of that work or warfare CHAP. XV. Of the way to attain Assurance TRUTH THe ordinary way whereby a Man attaineth a well-grounded Assurance is not by immediate objective Revelation or an inward Voice saying Thy Sins are forgiven thee But when the Believer is examining his Heart and Life by the Word the holy Spirit enlightens the Mind there to discern Faith and Love and such other Qualifications which the Gospel declareth to be infallible Signs of Regeneration And he adds such power to the Testimony of Conscience for the Truth and In-being of these Graces as begets in the Soul a joyful sense of its reconciled State and some comfortable freedom from those Fears which accompany a doubting Christian and according to the Evidence of these Graces Assurance is ordinarily strong or weak ERROUR Assurance is not attained by the Evidence of Scripture-Marks or Signs of Grace or by the Spirits discovering to us that he hath wrought in our Hearts any holy Qualifications But Assurance comes only by an inward Voice of the Spirit saying Thy Sins are forgiven thee and our believing thereupon that our Sins are forgiven Proved that this is Doctor Crisp's Opinion P. 491. Would you know that the Lord hath laid your Iniquities on Christ you must know it thus 1. Is there a Voice behind thee or within thee saying particularly to thee in thy self Thy Sins are forgiven thee Dost thou see this Voice agree with the Word of Grace that is Dost thou see it held out to most vile and wretched Creatures as thou canst be and upon this Revelation of the Mind of the Lord by his Spirit according to that Word doth the Lord give thee to receive that Testimony of the Spirit to sit down with it as satisfied that upon this thou makest full reckoning thou hast propriety in this particularly to thy self If thou dost receive that Testimony according to that Word here is thy Evidence Thou hast thy Propriety and Portion in this On this Point the Doctor spends much time Serm. 15. is to prove That Love to the
believing it P. 436 Though such Persons do act Rebellion yet the loathsomness and abominableness and hatefulness of this Rebellion is laid on the back of Christ he bears the Sin as well as the Blame and Shame c. And that 's the only reason why God can dwell with those Persons that do act the thing because all the filthiness of it is transacted from them on the back of Christ. He puts an Objection How should God know every sin the Believer doth commit and yet God not remember them He Answers after many words Though God remembers the things thou hast done yet he doth not remember them as thine c. for he remembers perfectly they are none of thine and when he pass'd them over to Christ they ceased to be thine any longer P. 364. The Lord hath not one sin to charge upon an Elect Person from the first moment of Conception to the last moment of Life no nor Original Sin is not to be laid upon him the Lord hath laid it on Christ already P. 365. Every Elect Vessel of God from the first instant of his being is as pure in the Eyes of God from the charge of Sin as he shall be in Glory P. 298. It 's the voice of a lying Spirit in your Hearts that saith That you that are Believers have yet sin wasting your Consciences and lying as a burthen too heavy for you to bear c. Obj. Was not David a Justifâ—â—â— Person and did not he bear his own sin My sins are gone over my head c. After several things he Answers I must tell you all that David speaks here he speaks from himself and all that David speaks from himself was not truth c. David might mistake that God should charge his sin upon him c. P. 213. In a word Before a Believer doth confess his sin he may be as certain of the pardon of it as after Confession I say there is as much ground to be confident of the Pardon of Sin to a Believer as soon as ever he hath committed it though he hath not made a solemn Act of Confession as to believe it after he hath performed all the Humiliation in the World c. A Believer may be assured of Pardon as soon as he commits any Sin The Sins he speaks of are Adultery and Murther P. 215. But you will say All the Promises of Pardon do run with this Proviso In case Men humble themselves In case Men do this and that then Pardon is theirs but otherwise it 's none of theirs Take heed of such Doctrine P. 52. There is nothing but Joy and Gladness Obj. But some will say Believers find it otherwise there is not such joy and gladness but they are often oppressed with sadness and heaviness of Spirit I Answer There is not one Fit of Sadness in any Believer whatsoever but he is out of the way Christ c. I say the Soul is first satisfied of Forgiveness of Sins before there is that real kindly mourning in those that are Believers P. 15. God doth no longer stand offended nor displeased though a Believer after he is a Believer do sin often And it 's no wonder for he saith a few lines after Except God will be offended where there is no cause to be offended which is Blasphemy to speak he will not be offended with Believers For I say he hath no cause to be offended with a Believer because he doth not find the sin of the Believer to be his own sin but he finds it to be the Sin of Christ. See more p. 413 416 418 419 425 c. Wherein the Difference is not 1. It is not VVhether a Believer doth by new Sins fall from a Justified state 2. Nor whether God doth upon new Crimes judicially charge the Christian with those Sins he had pardoned before though he may present to his view some former Sins for his further humblings 3. Nor whether a Believer ought to question his Justified state upon any Sins that do not give just Suspicion that Sin hath dominion over him or his Faith was not true 4. Nor whether any past Sins and Sins present at his first believing be unpardoned 5. Nor whether renewed Acts of Faith Humiliation Repentance Fasting or Reformation do merit Pardon 6. Nor whether a Principle of Life given at our first Conversion will finally fail to exert it self in due Humblings for repeated Enormities and in holy Resolves 7. Nor whether the same degrees of Humblings be necessary for all Crimes and in all Persons and in all Times 8. Nor whether any gross Miscarriage should cause a Saint to condemn all past Experience and conclude his Graces to be Counterfeit Each of these I deny 9. Nor whether a Sense of Pardon ought not to affect and melt the Heart 10. Nor whether some true Penitents may not sometimes be too much dejected and overwhelmed with Sorrow for Sin 11. Nor whether a general Exercise of Faith and Repentance do not answer the Gospel-Rule of Forgiveness as to Sins of Ignorance Infirmity and Surprise These three last I affirm The Real Differences 1. Whether an Elect Sinner be at any time a guilty Person in God's Esteem This the Doctor denies and I affirm I have proved in Chap. 1 3. 7 12. 2. Whether the Remains of Sin defile us This I affirm and the Doctor denies against all Protestants who prove it of Original Sin against the Papists 3. Whether a justified Person falling into gross Enormities is defiled thereby and contracts Guilt upon himself thereby This the Doctor denies and I do affirm 4. Whether God esteems the repeated Abominations of Believers not to be their own Crimes and they not to be the Sinners but they are Christ's Sins This the Doctor affirms and I deny which I have cleared Chap. 3. and 4. and 7. 5. Whether a justified Person upon new Provocations is charged by God and ought to charge himself as guilty and defiled so as in God's appointed way to repent believe renew his Covenant and be earnest with God for Forgiveness This the Doctor denies and I afirm 6. Whether all Sins past present and to come are actually pardoned at once This the Doctor affirms and I deny 7. Whether God hath required new Exercises of Faith and Repentance for their actual Pardon This the Doctor denies and I affirm 8. Whether a Believer ought to be as assured of the Forgiveness of his repeated Provocations just when he hath committed them and before he hath humbled himself renewed Actings of Faith on Christ repeated his Covenant and prayed for Pardon for Christ's Sake as after he hath thus done This the Doctor affirms and I deny The Truth Confirmed I have said so much Chap. 3. 4 8 10 12 13. that tends to clear this Point that I shall single out now only the Substance of what was least insisted on 1. God doth see and charge a Believer with his new Enormities as his Sins and not Christ's 2
fear it before we commit it though not after Why should Saints desire Heaven to be rid of Sin Can that be a small Mischief that dishonoureth God reproacheth the Name of Christ grieves the Spirit pleases the Devil offends the Good hardens the Wicked puts the tender Heart on Mourning for it in it self yea in others Psal. 119. 136. If Sin be no hurt Grace and Holiness as the Contraries to it are not Good nothing is a Blessing as a Prevention of it Where shall I stop Yet each of these refer to the Sins of God's own People and some of them more affect their Sins than the Sins of other Men. 2. There 's great Hurt befalls God's People for committing Sin Doth not God hide his Face the Spirit abate its Influences Is not the Conscience oft seared the Heart oft less capable of Impressions by the VVord the Soul streightned in Duty great Decays in Grace and Vigour too oft never recovered this side the Grave Many are rendred incapable of Service by Reproach for Sin or by Poverty Diseases c. VVho hath not found by Sin what he must call Hurt VVhat Pains Loss of Friends Ruine on Estates Blasts on Undertakings Are VVars Plagues Fire Removal of Ordinances Famine cursed Relations c. no Hurt Sure so many will not be proselyted to this Opinion as to Transubstantiation But what can be offered for it Obj. God will order all this for the good of a Believer therefore none of these hurt him 1. A. I do not know where God hath promised ThatSin shall do us good and in its Nature it hath no aptness to Good and the best Good it can do is to prevent it self Rom. 8. 28. saith All things shall work together for good c. But it speaks of Sufferings for Christ not Sins against him and though God should over-master it to some Concurrence for Good yet it were a greater Mercy to receive that same Good by other Means 2. A. Though Sins or corrective Afflictions may be ruled to do us good yet that doth not hinder but that they do us hurt This may be evinced not only because it were a greater Mercy to have that Good another way which but for Sin we should not miss of But also 1. VVhatever God threatens to inflict that thereby he may dissuade from Sin must needs be a Hurt or Damage It is not a Threatning if it include no harm and it 's a Reproach to our God in his Government to think otherwise VVhat confounding of Promises and Threats would it inferr Doth not God intend to awe Men with some Hurt when he saith Rev. 2. 5. Remember c. or I will remove thy Candlestick out of its Place and was this no hurt when it befell them I might instance a thousand Places of this kind 2. Saints with God's Approbation bewail and deprecate Sins and Punishments for Sins as a real Hurt Why hast thou hardned our Hearts from thy Fear c. Isa. 63. 17. For the Hurt of the Daughter of my People I am black astonishment hath taken hold on me Jer. 8. 21. The Book of Lamentations Haman's David's Moans are forgotten Read Pauls Complaints of himself and others 3. God himself accounts these things to hurt his People for he calls it Patience and Long-suffering in him to forbear inflicting them He oft declares his Pity of his People when under them and a ceasing to Pity when he inflicts them Isa. 63. 9. Joel 2. 8. Jer. 13 4. The Removal of these he declares to be an Act of Mercy and Goodness Read the Prophets and you 'll find what Terms he gives these viz. Wounding Smiting Spoiling c. He oft testifieth against Insensibleness of these as evil and afflictive things and threatens to encrease them to beget a duer sence of Sin and Judgments Sure I need not add That Mercies opposite to these are Blessings and promised as such all the good in Repentance argues the Hurt we get by Sin and by the Effects of it If these things will not prove Sin brings hurt we must declare Patience in Saints to be no Grace or find a new Description of what is a Hurt in this VVorld The Doctor indeed calls us to this when Sin is made so innocent and present with-holdings of more Grace from us is a Mercy as he affirms P. 541. Let me add that by Sin a Saint's degrees of Glory may be diminished in another VVorld for sowing sparingly he shall reap sparingly and he therefore that shall break one of the least of these Commandements and shall teach Men so he shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5. 19. That 's unprofitable for you Heb. 13. 17. TESTIMONIES The Assembly and Cong Elders chap. 19. a. 6 tell us The Threatnings of the Law are of use to the Regenerate to shew what even their Sins deserve and what Afflictions in this Life they may expect for them although freed from the Curse threatned in the Law Chap. 18. a. 4 True Believers may have the Assurance of Salvation divers ways shaken and diminished c. by falling into some special Sin which woundeth the Conscience and grieveth the Spirit by some vehement Temptation by God's withdrawing the Light of his Countenance Chap. 17. a. 3. Saints may fall into grievous Sins and for a time continue therein whereby they incurr God's Displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit come to be deprived of some measure of their Graces and Comforts have their Hearts hardened and their Consciences wounded hurt and scandalize others and bring temporal Judgments on themselves Turretin tells us Instit. Theol. par 2. p. 650. That a Believer falling into gross Crimes incurreth the Fatherly Indignation of God loseth a present Meetness for Glory contracts damning Guilt So that if he remain Impenitent in that State he ought to conclude himself liable to Death and certain to perish except he return Do not Divines generally conclude That if David had not repented of his gross Sins he fell into he had perished Dr. Owen as much discovers the hurt of Sins to Believers as most Men do See Mr. A. Burgess of Justification lib. 1. from 240. to 245. The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because there is no Eternal Condemnation lies against a Believer therefore there is no penal Present Affliction upon a Believer Whereas there 's much hurt below Hell and and that it is not Hell that follows the Sin of a Believer is not from the Innocency of Sin but the Grace of God that brings him to Repentance and Faith in Christ for Remission Because all Sufferings for Christ work for Good therefore all Sins against Christ can do no Harm But allow that Sins and Sufferings for Sin were included then thus it reasoneth Because God can and doth over-rule these to some good at last therefore they do no harm in the mean while nor in any degree Because a Believer is freed from the damning Curse of the Law therefore no Gospel-Threatning
loved Rev. 3. 19. Was not that for Sin which you find 1 Cor. 11. 30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep What meaneth God when he saith he 'll be Sanctified in his offending Children He cannot hide his Face for Sin nor abate his gracious Influences for Sin and not shew Displeasure for Sin against the Offenders whom he so deserts How wickedly have most pious Persons been employed while they have humbly owned their Sins to be the cause of God's Withdraws and Corrections if what I assert be not a Truth And how strange such Texts You only have I known of all the Families of the Earth and therefore I will punish you for your Iniquities Amos 3. 2. Now who dare tell God Lyes to his Face c. TESTIMONIES You have seen the Assembly and Elders in the Savoy positively assert this Truth in my last Chapter which again consult And large Catech. Q How doth Christ execute the Office of a King Ans. among other things I Rewarding their Obedience and Correcting his People for their Sins The Provincial Synod of London p. 16. recite as one of the dangerous Errours of that day That God doth not chastize any of his Children for Sin nor is it for the Sins of God's People the Land is punished The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because God laid on our Sins on Christ to make Atonement for the Forgiveness of the Elect when they repent therefore God cannot be offended with the Elect for them before they repent Because God doth not hate the Believer as an unreconciled God when he sins therefore he is not at all displeased with him because of the grossest Sins Because the Refiner is not angry with his Gold which never could offend him when he casts it into the Fire therefore a holy God is no way angry with rational Offenders when he corrects them for their Reformation Because God will not hate a Believer so as to damn him therefore he cannot be angry with his People so as Fatherly to chastize them Because God afflicts from Sin therefore he doth not also afflict for Sin as if he could not rebuke for what is past if he resolve not against their amendment for time to come It seems also that the Doctor was led into his Opinion by not considering that Anger or Displeasure be not Passions in God but a Will of Correcting and are denominated from the kinds and degrees of Corrections CHAP. XIX Of the Beauty of sincere Holiness TRUTH THough the present sincere Holiness of Believers be not perfect according to the Precepts of the Word nor Valuable by the Sanction of the Law of Innocency nor any Atonement for our Defects and we still need Forgiveness and the Merits of Christ for Acceptance thereof yet as far as it prevails it 's lovely in it self and pleasing to God and is not dung or filth ERROUR The greatest Holiness in Believers though wrought in them by the Holy Ghost is mere Dung Rottenness and Filthiness as in them Proved that this is Doctor Crisp 's Opinion P. 232. Know that the motions and assistance of the Spirit be pure holy and without scum in the Spring to wit it self yet by that time these Motions and Assistances have passed through the channels of our Hearts and been mixed with our manifold Corruptions in doing even the whole Work becomes polluted and filthy our filthiness alters the property of the pure motions of Christ's Spirit c. As one drop of Poyson injected into the rarest Cordial makes the whole and every drop of the whole Mortal so that except the best of our Works can pass through us without the least touch or mixture of any Defect or Pollution it cannot but be Dung c. And whereas it may seem harsh that even what is the Spirit 's must be involved within that which is a Man 's own under the general Notion of Dung Know that it once being mixed with our filth ceaseth to be the Spirit 's and becomes our own It was the Spirit 's when injected but our Flesh being like the Viper's Stomach turns the wholsomest Food into Poyson or like an ulcerous Tumour that turns the purest Spirits and soundest Flesh into rottenness And some of this ulcerous Flesh remains in the best Saints on Earth and mingles it self in the best service and so turns the whole into its own nature P. 414. All our Righteousness are filthy full of menstruosity the highest kind of filthiness Do not say he meaneth that our gracious Actings are too imperfect to be the Righteousness for which we are Justified No he must intend more for that would not make them Dung or Rottenness and cease to be the Spirit 's it would only argue they are Imperfect c. He hath abundance of such terms to make Holiness vile as before he said much to render Sin innocent to the Elect. Wherein the Difference is not 1. It is not Whether the Holiness or best Acts of a Saint be such or so perfect as to atone for his Sin or procure a state of Pardon 2. Nor whether our Holiness can make us accepted with God without Christ. 3. Nor whether the holiest Action of the holiest Saint is such as not to need forgiveness 4. Nor whether by the Sanction of the Law of Innocency Sincere Holiness could be accounted Holiness All these I deny and the last because nothing but perfect conformity to the Precept was Holiness whereas the Gospel-Grace makes a great difference between True Holiness though Imperfect and what 's formally Wickedness between sincere Love and Enmity sincere Faith and utter Unbelief The real Difference 1. Whether the sincere Holiness of a Believer's Heart and Actions be really Dung and Rottenness This the Doctor affirms and I deny yet I own we should so esteem it is compared with Christ as meritorious of Justification 2. Whether sincere Holiness as far as it prevails in our Hearts and Actings be truly lovely in it self and pleasing to God according to the Grace of the Gospel and is not Dung. This I affirm and the Doctor denies The Truth confirmed Consider That whatever is spoken of Holiness in any mere Man on Earth since the Fall is spoken of Sincere Holiness for Perfect Holiness none had I have room but to expostulate this Matter Is that Dung which is the effect of Regeneration in the Soul and Actings Is that Dung which is so often honoured with the Name of the Spirit it self and called the Spirit of Love Prayer c. I not that more lovely which is called the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. How aimable must that be which is the New Man after God's Image Eph. 4. 24. The New Heart Ezek. 18. 31. The Law of God in the Heart and the Grace of God Are those Works Dung to which we are created in Christ Jesus Eph. 2. 10. and enabled by the Spirit Or is that Filthiness which renders Saints the Excellent of the
State 2 Pet. 3. 17. Seeing you know these things beware lest you also being led away with the Errour of the Wicked fall from your own Stedfastness He will most safely walk in Love and maintain Assurance that is in awe as his Sins grow strong and his Graces decline I might shew that all God's Threats are despised if without this Fear yea his being our future Judge is slighted his wise Methods of Government are dis-regarded and one great help to our Salvation lost by opposing this Fear Fear him that can cast Soul and Body into Hell is Christ's Charge Luke 12. 5. And if thou do that which is Evil be afraid Rom. 13. 4. And if we must fear the Magistrate as the Minister of God's VVrath here much more eternal VVrath if we sin our selves into such Symptoms as the Gospel declares a Danger of eternal Damnation by for though the Gospel doth not say as the Law that all Sinners shall be damned yet it saith that all impenitent Sinners shall be damned And this we are bound to preach and not gratifie the Devil to the Ruine of Souls But they are in danger who are above this kind of Preaching and Security Libertinism and Stops to the Conversion of Sinners will prevail as this Preaching grows unfashionable Nay let me hear a Man of this Opinion preach a few Sermons and I 'll demonstrate he 'll give the Lie to his own Principle by urging Fear by some Arguments from Danger or he 'll expose himself to the Contempt of all when-ever he disswades from Sin TESTIMONIES I have recited so much belonging to this Head Chap. 1 8 11 12 13 16 17 19 20. that I need only add to the last Chapter New-England Synod condemns as Errour 32. After the Revelation of the Spirit neither Devil nor Sin can make the Soul to doubt Errour 48. Condional Promises are legal Errour 52. It 's legal to say we act in the Strength of Christ. Errour 56. A Man is not effectually converted till he hath full Assurance Errour 57. To take delight in the holy Service of God is to go a whoring from God Errour 59. A Man may not be exhorted to any Duty because he hath no power to do it Errour 70. Frequency or length of holy Duties or Trouble of Conscience for the Neglect thereof are all Signs of one under a Covenant of VVorks Errour 68. Faith justifies an Unbeliever that is that Faith that is in Christ justifieth me that have no Faith in my self Errour 76. The Devil and Nature may be the cause of a gracious Work All these that Synod confutes as also that Speech if Christ will let me sin let him look to it upon his Honour be it With these Notions so exclusive of Fear and Care were they pester'd Doctor Owen Of Justif. P. 52. assures us he had written very much of the Nature and Use of Threatnings under the Gospel and the Fear that ought to be ingenerated by them in the Hearts of Men. The Grounds of the Doctor 's Mistake Because the Law of Works made Life to be of Debt for perfect doing therefore it s legal to call Men to do what Christ commands in order to any Benefit which he promiseth by the Grace of the New Covenant to bestow on such as shall so obey him Because it 's legal to denounce Wrath as unavoidable therefore it 's legal to denounce VVrath that it may be avoided Because God is not angry with his People for Sin when he hath forgiven them it upon Repentance therefore they should not be called to fear his Anger as a disswasive from Sin or Motive to Repentance when they have sinned Because we cannot say the Elect shall at last be damned being that God will bring them to Faith and Repentance that they may be saved therefore it 's legal to tell them they shall be damned unless they believe and repent though Christ oft tells them so Because the Believer is not in a state of Wrath therefore it 's Legal to warn him against Apostacy from the Terrour of that VVrath which Apostacy would bring him under And Note Reader That all awful Expressions against Apostacy are especially directed to true Believers Because we should not destroy the Hope or Joy of an humble watchful Christian therefore it 's legal to allarm and awaken the drowsie careless backsliding Christian. CHAP. XXII Of the Exalting of Christs I Do observe that the Pretence for these Opinions is That they exalt Christ and Free Grace Under this shadow Antinomianism set up in Germany This was the great Cry in England above fifty years since The Synod of New-England expose this as one of the Speeches of them whom they call Autinomian Here is a great stir about Graces and looking to Hearts but give me Christ I seek not for Graces but for Christ I seek not for Promises but for Christ I seek not for Sanctification but for Christ Tell not me of Mediation and Duties but tell me of Christ. P. 19. Dr. Crisp very often bears upon this Point as if all he said were to advance Christ and Grace I shall therefore enquire Whether the Opinions of Dr. Crisp or the Truths I have stated do most exalt Christ and Free Grace It were enough to say That I have proved his Opinions to be Errours and what I have laid down to be Truths Then Christ is more exalted by these Truths He needs no Lyes to advance his Praise and knew how to provide the best for his own Glory by what he hath revealed But for farther Evidence I shall insert 1. How Christ is said to be exalted according to the Gospel It is not what we fancy will Exalt him but what he declares conducive to his Praise that he will accept for Glory He that will not allow Men to worship him in a way they think most devout but binds them to his own Rule to exceed which is Superstitious will less venture his Glory to our ignorant Methods whereby we are apt to diminish his real Glory when we conceit he is exalted It 's an Honour becoming his Person and Offices which is his Honour and not what seems dazling to our blind Affections His Divine Glory cannot be added to but only declared It 's only the Glory of Christ as Mediator that I shall speak of As to this Christ is exalted when every Knee bows to him Phil. 1. 11. VVhen made a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sin Act. 2. 23. VVhen his Kingdom is enlarged Ifa 49. 4 5 6. VVhen his People are filled with the fruits of Rightcousness Phil. 1. 11. VVhen their Grace is perfected 2 Thes. 1. 11 12. VVhen they suffer and act vigorously for him Phil. 1. 20. VVhen we own his Priestly and Kingly Office relying on the first as that whereby Satisfaction is made and all the Blessings for Sinners purchased yielding to the Kingly Office as that whereby he applieth the Effects of his Merits Zech. 6. 13. VVhen