The Christians Apparelling, Part 3 · Section 17 – Section 18
Par. 3. §. 17
2. The ſecond ſtrife is betweene Nature and Corruption; 2 Betweene nature and the corruption of nature.which is in men vnregenerate. Nature in them is not ſo wholly corrupted and blotted out, but that it remaines intire in good part for the common and moſt generall principles of it, which are as the rellicks of the Image of God in man, according to which he was firſt created,Gen. 1.21. whereby hee hath ſome generall knowledge of good and euill (eſpecially if wee ſpeake of naturall good and euill, not Morall) and ſome generall will and inclination to good, as whereby generally he deſires happineſſe, and hath no will to that which would hinder his happineſſe and things which are naturall to him,This may be and is in meere naturall men. and ſo a kind of conſcience naturally, of good and euill, grounded vponupon thoſe generall principles; though in drawing particular concluſions thence, and in application he faile exceedingly. This is called the Law of Nature in him, by which naturall men, and generally all men, without ſauing grace are guided and led hence; there is in naturall men that which Paul calls, the Truth, and the worke of the Law written in their hearts, Rom. 1.18. & 2.15.their conſcience alſo bearing witneſſe, and their thoughts the meane while accuſing or elſe excuſing one another. Now theſe mens cōciences receiue alſo information from without, as not only from experiēce & the knowledg of Arts & Sciēces as of moralitie; but alſo by good inſtruction and from diuine and ſupernaturall Principles and knowledge reuealed in and by Gods word, which euen Nature it ſelfe in vnregenerate men, will, in the generall acknowledge ſhould be obeyed & entertained (which therefore ſo farre we may call naturall.) But all theſe are wonderfully corrupted, when application is to bee made, where corruption of nature, through ſelfe-reſpects of ſinful & inordinat affectiōs & deſires of pleaſures, profits, honours, intermingles it ſelfe, and puts good nature, (which awhile may reſiſt, ſtand out & ſhew itſelfe) to ſilēce, & as for ſupernaturall knowledge & motiōs, generally approued of, they are in particular caſes, by corruptiō oppoſed & reiected, thogh not alwaies without ſome ſtrife.
There is then a ſtrife oftē in vnregenerate men, whereby they are both long a yeelding to their corrupt affections & hauing yeelded, find ſome touch of their naturall conſcience and remorſe in themſelues for their yeelding with a horror oftentimes: but we cannot make this an effect of Gods ſāctifying ſpirit in thē, ſeeing the reſiſtāce is not made againſt theſe ſinful affections, as they are ſinfull, that is, repugnant & ccontrary to Gods will, & to his moſt pure nature, in obedience to God, & in a good conſcience deſirous to pleaſe God; but in regard of ſome euill conſequent or other; as ſhame of the world reproach, puniſhment, temporal or eternall; or at the beſt out of the goodnes of nature, and out of a generall approbation of goodnes & diſlike of euill, whereby either reaſon awhile reſiſts the appetite and paſsions of the mind which fight againſt reaſon; or natural cōſcience doth withſtād the motions of ſin vponupon the aforeſaid reſpects or the like, it euermore in reſiſting being accompanied with ſome ſelfe-reſpect or other, which yet is often ouercome & maſtered by the other; ſo that whether it yeeld or ſtand out, (as it doth in many ciuill men) yet this ſtrife is no work of Gods ſauing grace or ſanctifying Spirit in thē:As in Herod ſee this in & by inſtances. Herod had Iohn the Baptiſt in ſome reuerēce: ſuch was Iohns innocency & integritie and faithfullneſſe, otherwiſe that right reaſon and iudgement in Herod muſt needes approue of it, commend, yea admire it: yea, but withall, Herod was addicted to his Luſt, he inceſtiouſly loued and kept Herodias his Brothers wife, which when once Iohn reproued in him, there aroſe a conflict in him betweene his affection to Iohn, and to Herodias and his ſin, eſpecially when Herodias made requeſt for Iohns head. Hereupon Herod is diſtracted in his thoghts, he finds a combate within him and hereupon he is very ſory. Yet his affection to ſinne, which hee meant not to leaue,Mat. 14 9. and to Herodias ouercame his naturall conſcience, and therefore he yeelds to the beheading of Iohn. Here was a great ſtrife in Herod, and many a man (ſuch like as he was) could halfe excuſe his fact, alas it was againſt his will, what wold yee hauehave had him done? &c. But this ſtrife was not from true grace in him, which would ſo hauehave oppoſed his ſinfull and luſtfull affection, and the vniuſt requeſt of Herodias Daughter, that he would either neuer hauehave yeelded to either of them; or if hee had, it would hauehave brought him to ſpeedy and vnfained repentance for that fact, and to reformation of life in caſting off Herodias; but this it did not. Nay let vsus ſuppoſe Herod had withſtood and denyed her requeſt, and therein ouercome himſelfe and his raſh Oath to her, could we call this an effect of grace? nothing leſſe; ſeeing he would hauehave done this euill before, vponupon Johns reprouing of his ſin,Mat. 14.3-5 for which yet he laid hold on Iohn and bound him, and put him in Priſon for Herodias ſake, and for which he would hauehave put him to death: but why did he it not? he feared the multitude, becauſe they counted him as a Prophet. He was then at a ſtrife before what to doe with Iohn; his luſt bad kill him, his reuerence to Iohn, but chiefely his feare of the people, bad ſpare him; this preuailed till new occaſion offered it ſelfe. Was his ſparing of Iohn, a fruite of the Spirit? No: It had no part in this combate; if it had, it would hauehave taught him to hauehave feared God more then man, and to hauehave obeyed the motions of it, and not of ſinne,And in Pilate. &c. The like wee ſay of Pilate in his adiudging of our Sauiour Chriſt to death; what anotable ſtrife was in him? the Iewes in their malice would needs hauehave him crucified, he would hauehave him ſaued. Pilate would faine pleaſe the people, and hee would alſo faine acquit Chriſt; both he could not doe. Hereupon, hee is wonderfully perplexed and diſtracted in his thoughts. On the one hand,Mat. 27.18.] 19-24-26. his conſcience iudgeth Chriſt innocent; For, hee knew that for enuy they had deliuered him; yet moreouer, being further awakened with the Dreame of his wife, tells him of plagues and iudgement, if hee condemned the innocent and iuſt; faine therefore would he hauehave deliuered him, pleading hard for him: yea but his affection tells him (when he ſaw a tumult and that he could preuaile nothing, and how eagerly the people was bent againſt Chriſt) that he muſt pleaſe the people, who told him he elſe could not bee Caeſars friend: hereupon, making a proteſtation of Chriſts innocencie, and of his owne vnwillingnes to condemne Chriſt, charging them with his blood; he ſcourged him and deliuered him to bee Crucified. And heere, what naturall man would not hence excuſe Pilate, and bee ready to plead for him, as cōdemning Chriſt againſt his wil, cōceiuing him to be innocēt, & perhaps ſorrie in regard of that neceſſitie which compelled him to giuegive him into the hands of the Iewes; Pilate might ſeeme iuſt and innocent, (which doubtleſſe hee was in his owne eyes and iudgement, whiles he waſhed his hands, and proteſted his owne innocencie) whiles the malicious Iewes only might ſeem culpable. But indeed this conflict in Pilate was ſo farre from excuſing his fact, that it makes it ſo much the more vniuſt and hateful, that hee, againſt ſo cleare light of his conſcience ſhould condemne innocency it ſelfe; and ſuppoſe he had indeed taken Chriſts part, and acquitted him, not giuing him ouer vntounto the Iewes, yet it being done vponupon thoſe grounds onelyonly, (of naturall conſcience, feare of plagues in his conſcience, from God) which cauſed the conflict, it had been no argument of ſauing grace in him, nor no worke of Gods ſanctifying ſpirit.
And generally in the vnregenerate.Such conflicts then, betweene nature (either approuing of good, or ſeeking its owne good and preſeruation, though corruptly) and corruption, are no arguments of true grace; we ſee the like daily in naturall, yea often, wicked men, who can ſay, I ſee and approue that which is good, but I follow and doe that which is euill; who can alſo after ſin is committed, condemne themſelues, whiles the light of nature ſhewes them the vileneſſe of their doings, and the light of Gods word generally beleeued, vengeance hanging ouer their heads for the ſame. But ſhall any thence conclude they hauehave this holy ſpirit of God, which makes them ſo diſlike their doings? No, though I know many yet ſo do, becauſe, hauing ſinned, they can ſay, they did it not without ſome ſtrife within themſelues before, and ſome acknowledgment and griefe after. But if this be all, then ſhall Caine and Iudas be Saints, whoſe conſciences troubled them after their euill deeds; or at leaſt Felix and his like, who hearing or thinking of iudgement due to them for their ſins, tremble, Acts 24.25.and yet liue in their ſinnes ſtill, &c.
Section. 18.
We conclude then, that not eueryevery combate in a man,3 The third combate is betweene grace and corruption. but the third and laſt eſpecially (as in part the firſt) is a ſigne of Gods ſanctifying and holy Spirit,Par. 3. §. 18. and that thereby a man hath put on Chriſt. This is between grace and corruption, as is ſaid in the beginning, whereby this ſtrife being grounded vponupon a true louelove of God, and a deſire of godlineſſe for it ſelfe, and vponupon a perfect hatred of ſinne for it ſelfe, makes a man looke in all things to the glory and will of God,And it is proper to the ſpirit of Sanctification. denying himſelfe, and to oppoſe himſelfe againſt all ſin, which corruption lookes at: where as affection to ſinne, and feare of euill and puniſhment make the combate in the naturall man. The difference between which two combats, may be further conceiued hence; In the naturall man the combate is in ſeuerall and diſtinct faculties and powers of the ſoule,And differs from that combate which is in naturall men. as betweene the ſenſuall appetite and reaſon, between rebellious affections and the naturall conſcience; but in the ſpiritual man, (there being in him and in each facultie both fleſh and ſpirit mixed together, & not fleſh in one part, and ſpirit in another; no more then we can diſtinguiſh hote and cold in luke-warme water, light and darknes in the dawning) in him I ſay, the combate is in one and the ſame faculty, and in each power of the ſoule, in which is both fleſh and ſpirit: ſo that the mind is carried againſt it ſelfe, it being at once both fleſhly and ſpirituall, and ſo the will againſt it ſelfe, and each affection againſt it ſelfe; inſomuch, that when according to corruption we would doe euill, yet Gods ſpirit teacheth vsus to will the contrary, ſo that wee cannot doe what we would, but either it makes vsus that wee cannot ſinne, that is, as do the wicked,Ioh. 3.9. liue in the practiſe of any one ſinne, or if we do fall through the ſtrength of temptation, yet wee ſinne not with full conſent of will, but euen by grace hate that euill, which, by corruption, we doe: yea, when we would doe good, by the Spirit regenerating our wils, and alſo doe duplicate page duplicate page it, yet through the corruption of the ſame will, euill is preſent, and wee faile in the doing of it, being not able to fulfill, Rom. 7.18.or throughly to accompliſh that which is good. Where then we find our wils carried againſt themſelues, our heart carried againſt it ſelfe, and againſt its owne liking, in regard of our deareſt & beſt pleaſing corruptions; where we can find a diſlike & loathing of that ſinne, which corrupt nature moſt inclines vntounto, &c there is the true combate indeed, and there is this holy and ſanctifying ſpirit, by which we put on Chriſt, which thus oppoſeth ſinne in the motions and luſts of it, as moſt oppoſite and contrary therevnto, ſo that the godly ſinne not, in Gods account, when indeed they ſinne and doe euill: Chriſt, whom they by the ſpirit hauehave put on, couers and imputes not to them, their imperfections and failings. But the differences between theſe two combats in naturall and ſpirituall men,Par. 3. &. 19. will be more apparant afterwards by that which followes, and by thoſe other properties of the ſpirit.