The Principles of the Protestant Religion Maintained, Introduction · Reflections 8
Reflections on Cap. 8. of Perſeverence, &c.
Its worth the obſerving, that all thoſe that ſtand for Juſtification by works, deny the Doctrine of Perſeverance; and great reaſon might …e aſſigned for it. Wonder not then that we have him chopping at this Pillar too; but this Doctrine is a Cordial of ſuch worth, that we believe that none who have rereceived it in the promiſe, will readily part with it; let us then vindicate it from his falſe Comments.
Sect. 1. Real and true beginnings of faith and Sanctification (ſaith he) may be fallen from: What meanes he by this? There are ſome previous and preparatory common works that are wrought in men; ſuch as Conviction of ſin and miſery by the law, and the terrours of the Lord that make men affraid, and may put a ſtop to their lewd courſes, yea, and work a reformation in many things, and make a natural Conſcience to act more ſtrongly than before: if he meanes theſe, we deny not but they may be loſt; but then we deny them to be the beginnings of true juſtifying or ſaving faith, called the Faith of God's elect, to diſtinguiſh it from other faith, and thoſe which he inſtanceth in Heb. 6.4, 5, 6. belong to this head; they had through theſe arrived to a Temporary Faith, but not to that which is ſaying; and therefore the Apoſtle charitably exempts his Hebrews from any ſuch danger; as having other things in them, verſ. 9. His inſtance from Rom. 11. relates only to a viſible Church ſtate, which all that ſtand in are not true Believers. That of the Angels fall, is impertinent, for they were under a Covenant of Works. Their Faith in the thorny and ſtony ground was but a temporary Faith, it had not a ſaving root…ng, and for that Reaſon abode but a while. And we muſt diſtinguiſh between a falſe faith and one that is not ſaying: it is therefore blame-worthy for men to loſe ſome things, the keeping whereof will not ſave them; ſuch are all the moral principles which men have imbibed, ſuch as the young man had, Mat. 19. And it is to be obſerved, that the good ground is differenced from the other three, by the epethete good, to ſhew that the other were not ſo in a ſpiritual ſenſe: and though God's children feel many thorns & ſtones in their hearts after Converſion, yet their hearts being in ſaving meaſures ſoftned and broke-up, they receive their Denomination from the better part, according to Scripture. Nor will the Parable of the Virgins, Mat. 25. begin. help him at all: we grant, the oyl there ſignifies true ſaving grace; but then by Lamps we are to underſtand an outward profeſſion: by Veſſels, the heart; the fooliſh Virgins had oyl in their Lamps; i. e. they pretended to, and made a profeſſion and ſhew of Grace, though they had none really; the wiſe virgins had it in their lamps, i. e. profeſſion, and veſſels too, i. e. hearts; and it is no new thing for the Scripture to expreſs things which men ſeem to have, as if they had them, becauſe they hold others in hand and often deceive themſelves into a beliefe that they have them, ſee Luc. 8.18. compare Mat. 13.20. His allegation from Ezek. 18.24. &c. may at firſt ſeem to have a face of a plea in it, but it only ſeems ſo. Other Scriptures aſſure us that no true believer ſhall finally & totally fall away from grace; and Scripture doth not contradict it ſelf. Several things might here be offered; briefly Conſider, 1. This is but a conditional expreſſion, and therefore aſſerts nothing to his purpoſe. 2. God is pleaſed ſometimes, to curb in His people's Corruptions by ſuch Conditional Threatnings, ſee Rom. 8.13. Heb. 12, 14. for they have nothing in themſelves, but what they might loſe if God did not ſecure it; & God ſo preſerves His People as to ſtir up fear and care in them. 3. And what if we ſay, That God ſpeaks to them in reſpect of the typical part of the typical Covenant, to whom the promiſes and threatnings concerning the typical bleſſings of Canaan were made on theſe conditions, which they might either keep or bre…k, and by breaking fall from them, and forfeit their lives and Land.
That David is a clear inſtance of one that totally fell from grace, he proves not: the ſins he committed were great, the Aggravation… heinous, but if he had totally loſt his grace, why doth he pray, Pſal. 51.11. take not thy holy Spirit from me! Nor doth it follow (as he intimates,) that becauſe a juſtified man may fall into Murder and Adultery, therefore the worſt of men may believe that they are true & real Saints; for they never had the work of Converſion paſt upon them, as David had: and beſides, ſuch horrid falls break their bones, defile their hearts, wound their grace, and conſequently be-cloud their Evidences, what plea is there for ſuch as never had any Evidence? Nor doth it follow that if theſe men dy in their ſins they ſhall go to heaven immediately: For tho' God ſuffer (for holy ends) His Children to fall far, yet as not to fall totally, ſo He will give them Repentance: tho' the juſt fall, yet he ſhall riſe again: Nor will God ſuffer them to dy, before He hath recovered them. Neither yet doth our Doctrine encourage to any hope of ſuch who ſo defile themſelves, and dy without Repentance. I… …s therefore a vile Aſperſion to call our Doctrine Poiſonous. We believe that ſin of its own nature kills the ſinner, that its wages is death; that the ſoul that ſins ſhall d…: but w… believe that he may dy in his ſurety, that God can pardon and juſtifie him for Chriſt's ſake; and that if He doth, He will ſanctifie him too; and what poiſon is there in all this? the foundation of a ſinners hope is laid in this; and but for this hope, the leaſt ſin of thought is mortal; all the gall therefore that he vents in theſe three pages hurts us not, being meer falſe Aſperſions, or deceitful inſinuations; (and doth not he himſelf ſay, that if God ſuffers thoſe whom he hath drawn, at any time to depart, they ſhall certainly be reclaimed, p. 46. nay, that they ſhall infallibly be called, & at laſt glorified, p. 76.) Nor could he have ſaid, that this makes God a reſpecter of perſons in the worſt ſenſe, if he had not been ignorant o… what that Reſpect of perſons is: there is no reſpect of perſons in gratuitis; for that i… only when Juſtice is perverted, for ſome ſiniſter conſideration: the owner may do …it… his own what he will. Beſides there is in the beſtowing of the Recompence of glory, a vaſ… difference between them that receive it an… ſuch as miſs of it. Mat. 25, tho' ſtill it's Go… that makes them to differ.
Sect. 2. That God hath laid duty upon H… people to uſe endeavours for their ſtandin… we deny not, but conſtantly urge; but th… alwaies where the promiſe of preſerving 'em in faith is mentioned, this condition is underſtood; is warily to be taken up; if he intends that God will keep them, by fulfilling the Condition in them, it hurts us not: but if he mean, that the promiſe depends on our performing the condition, and ſo is meerly Hypothetical, its an errour; for it is certain that the very keeping of His people from utterly falling, belongs to the promiſe of the New Covenant, under which they are by Beleeving, Pſal. 84.11. Jer. 32.40.
Sect. 3. G. K. knowing that there were ſome Scriptures that did ſo fully aſſert the Perſeverance of God's People, that he could with no face deny the truth in them, begins, in this Paragraph, to concede, yet ſo as not to favour our principle at all, who ſay, that Its the priviledge of every true Beleever to perſevere. He therefore makes it a particular ſtate of Holineſs which only ſome of theſe arrive unto; and then they commit no groſs ſins, but only Peccadillo's (and thus, with the Papiſts he introduceth the diſtinction of mortal and venial ſins, which hath been ſufficiently confuted by ours; who have made it evident that all ſins are mortal by the law, Ezek. 18.4. That all ſin, excepting that againſt the Holy Ghoſt, is venial by the Goſpel, Mat. 12.31.) but when he comes to deſcribe who theſe are that are thus indulged, he wofully prevaricates. In p. 46. he tells us they are, 1. ſuch as are born of the free woman, and not of the bond woman; Well, this is not a peculiar priviledge of ſome, but is common to all Believers, even the Galatians, who were ſo weak and fooliſh, Cap. 4. ult. 2. They are throughly renewed. If by being throughly renewed, he meanes ſo ſanctified as to have no dreggs of ſin remaining; then there are no ſuch; for he grants of theſe he ſpeaks of, that they do commit little faults, & that muſt be becauſe there is ſomething of the old man in them. If by throughly, he meanes in all the parts, then it belongs to every Beleever, 2. Cor. 5.17. 3. They are ſuch as are born of God: and that belongs to Faith where ever it is, Gal. 3.36, Joh. 1.12. When he ſaith that, thoſe who commit any groſs ſins, as Fornication, Murder. Adultery &c. never arrived to to the pure ſtate of ſonſhip, he doth, 1. Miſtake the notion of the difference between ſervants and ſons; true beleevers are both, ſons by Adoption, ſervants by being devoted to the Obedience of the Goſpel. How often doth Paul call himſelf the ſervant of Jeſus Chriſt? and ſo does James, Cap. 1.1. & Peter, 2. Ep. 1.1. & Jude, verſ. 1. Its true, Paul diſtinguiſheth between the outward ſervile Condition of Beleevers under the Old Teſtament Diſpenſation, and the more free and ſon-like Condition of them under the New Teſtament, Gal. 4. begin. but he aſſures us that they were children, tho' but in their Nonage. 2. Contradict the Scripture; David fell into ſome of thoſe ſins, and the worſt of them, and yet before that, he had the higheſt Teſtimony of his Sonſhip. Solomon had his amazing falls, and yet God witneſſed before & after that he was His ſon, & that He lov'd him; called him Jedediah, 2. Sam. 12.24, 25. 1. Chron. 22.9, 10. He ſeems in all this diſcourſe to lay the ſtreſs upon the ſtrength of Inherent Grace, and the Beleevers own Attainment, whereas the Scripture aſſures us that it is of God, and depends upon His power, Rom. 5.2.14.4. 1. Pet. 5.12.1.5. and God hereby perfects ſtrength in weakneſs, 2. Cor. 12.9.
In p. 147. he ſtrangely confounds the two Covenants; and yet really grants the whole Caſe: He ſaith, The firſt Covenant may be fal…en from; the Angels and Adam fell totally; but the new Covenant cannot be fallen from? & thus we ſay; but the knack we were not aware of is, a man may be a Believer, and yet …e but in Adam's covenant, than which there can be no greater Contradiction; or a man may be in a middle ſtate between both; which is the greateſt confuſion, or finally, he will have none to be in the new Covenant till they come to Glory, and then they ſhall ſin no more; and this is directly againſt Scripture.
Pag. 148. He ſaith, There may be infallible marks and ſigns of ſuch given, and yet God only knows them, and ſuch to whom He reveals it. We thought that Marks had been given purpoſely to know by, but the Folly of this hath been already detected.
Sect. 4. We are now come to the Quakers Doctrine of Perfection of which they boaſt: and here he firſt rails at ours that denyes it, and then tries to prove his own, tho' that very Eſſay will prove him to be very imperfect.
That the beſt Dutyes of the beſt Saints in this life are imperfect, and that by reaſon of ſinful mixtures in them; and that daily the moſt holy come ſhort of perfect legal Obedience, & might be charged with ſin for their beſt, if God ſhould be ſtrict, we beleeve; & can appeal to the ſenſible complaints of holy men in Scripture; but for him hence to infer, that we ſay, that, the good works of God's Holy Spirit are defiled in & by the ſaints; and to print it in another Character, as our very words, is cheating. But how far our Duties are the work of the Spirit, and how far they are our own, has been already diſcuſſed. Its he that makes the Chimaera, and not we; we never ſay, that One & the ſame thing is a perfect man & a perfect dog: We ſay, that every Believer in this life, hath a new nature & an old in him; a body of Grace, & a body of Corruption: the one increaſing & the other decaying; imperfect grace, but growing; a body of death, but dying; and he is as it were two men: and ſo Paul diſtinguiſheth of himſelf, Rom. 7.15.17. Nor do we ſay that the work is totally perfect, and totally ſin; but we ſay, that the work it ſelf is imperfect, by reaſon that, though it be influenced by grace, it is alſo defiled by ſin, being done by one in whom there is both ſin, & the Influence of it into his beſt performances. Nor do we any whit misinterpret God, when we ſay, He accepts of theſe works in Chriſt, tho they be defiled: and if he ſhall ſay, that we do therefore ſuppoſe that God accepts of the defilement that is in them, he miſtakes: In all the gracious Actings of Gods people there is Imperfection (now all moral Imperfection is defilement) and God accepts of the ſincerity, & pardons the imperfection, and both in Chriſt. And this indeed is the priviledge of the Covenant of Grace, above that of works: why elſe was the High-Prieſt to make an Attonement for the Sanctuary, &c. Lev. 16.33. but that the Services, notwithſtanding the pollutions (but for which no attonement was needed) might be acceptable? and this was Typical. No doubt but that God ſees ſin in whomſoever it is, and where He ſees it, He condemns it; but in reſpect of Imputation to the perſon, He does not alwaies ſee it, i. e. charge it. Num. 23.21. and why? but becauſe CHRIST hath made Satisfaction and Attonement for it.
In his Examen of the Scriptures alledged by the Aſſembly, he plays foul with them: he firſt points to three places, where he ſaies they ſpeak of this matter: Confeſſ. cap. 16. fect. 5. Larger Catech. Q. 149. 89. tho' this laſt is on another ſubject. Secondly, he gathers up diverſe matters in one, endeavouring to expreſs them in as harſh words & ſenſe as he can. Thirdly in p. 155. 156. he gathers up the the whole, and ſaith, they expreſly ſo word it in Q. 39. which is utterly falſe, & indeed, he hath ſo worded it for them, that there are two things Charged on them which they ſay not: viz. 1. That that they muſt ſin as long as they live; as if there were a fatal neceſſity that God laid them under of ſo doing. 2. That they are only free from ſinning after death; whereas they ſay At their death. 3. he miſchievouſly perverts the deſign of the Scriptures alledged by them. All the Scriptures he animadverts upon, are only thoſe which they annex to Q. 49. (omitting thoſe added in the other places.) Let us obſerve, There were two things they had to prove, 1ſt. That no man can in himſelf perfectly keep the law, 2. Nor by the Grace of God; and from theſe principles they infer theſe Concluſions, That they daily break the Commands in thought, word and deed: and how pertinent theſe Scriptures are to prove theſe two Poſitions may be judged. That Man cannot do it in himſelf, one wou'd think that the deſcription given of his natural ſtate, Rom. 3.9. &c. & Gen. 6.5. is ſufficient to demonſtrate. That (as to the latter) he cannot do it by Grace received, doth not intend that God cannot give them grace enough, but that He doth not, & therefore their imperfect grace cannot attain it. And ſurely that is ſuffiiently proved by ſuch Scriptures as, 1. tell us, That in many things all do offend, for which, Jam. 3.2. Ezek. 7.20. 2. That every Beleevers grace depends for its exerciſe upon the help of Chriſt, without which they can do no gracious thing, for which, Joh. 15.5. And the Conſectary is not forced, if we conſider, that the Nature of man being ſo corrupt, unregenerate men can do no other than daily break the Command; that becauſe Beleevers are renewed but in part, and yet are active beings in thinking, ſpeaking, doing, there will be an Influence of remaining Corruption into theſe actions, which will make 'em ſhortcoming in point of the ſtrictneſs of the Law, and c…nſequently breakers of it. In the other place cited, Confeſſ. cap. 16. ſect. 5. they quote, Iſa. 64.6. Joh. 5.17. Rom. 7.15; 28. and certainly Paul had as much grace as any now can Pretend to.
As to his particular Reflections on the forecited Texts, they are ſcarce worth minding. What he obſerves on Jam. ….2. is a miſtake of what they brought it to prove, and it doth prove againſt him, the Imperfection of any in this life. For that in Ezek. 7.20. his obſervation, that the word is in the future, makes againſt him, intimating that they can do no other as long as they live; and his putting it for the potential, is precarious, his applying it to the times of the Law, which made nothing perfect, is fond; for they had the Goſpel as well as we, and were perfect in an Evangelical ſenſe, Gen. 6.9. Job. 1.1. Pſal. 37.37. For that in Gen. 6.5. when he ſaith it only ſpeakes of that generation of men ſo degenerate. he errs; it ſhews the natural ſtate of man by the Fall, and we have its Parallel after that generation was gone, Gen. 8.21. Nor was Noah, ſo perfect, but that he was afterwards drunken. For that Rom. 3.9. &c. we grant it expreſſeth the natural ſtate of men as they are (not only) generally, (but univerſally) under the Law; & it was brought by the Aſſembly for that purpoſe: nor is it any Contradiction to ſay, Righteous men ſin: we muſt diſtinguiſh between ſuch as are righteous legally, and them that are ſo evangelically; and between ſuch as are free from the Dominion, and them that are free from the preſence of ſin.
Sect. 5. When therefore he cites Rom. 3.18. to prove that Perfection, becauſe they are free from ſin, it will not do; that is to be underſtood of freedom from the dominion of it, ſee v. 14. And his Application of Ezek. 36.25. & Jer. 33.33. is confuſed, for want of diſtinguiſhing of what it there referred to Juſtification, and what to Sanctification; That Juſtification is perfect we acknowledge, (tho he before denied it.) that Sanctification is imperfect, we plead (tho he ſaith it is perfect): Now the making them clean from all their filthineſs, belongs to Juſtification: putting the Spirit in them: giving them an heart of fleſh, &c. belongs to Sanctification, and this confirms them in perſeverance; for they ſhall not depart, but doth not wholly deliver them from ſin.
His plea for perfection from Matth. 11.29. becauſe Chriſt's yoke is eaſy, and from 1, Joh 5.3. the commands not being grievous, is too far fetch't; we are to diſtinguiſh between Legal and Evangelical Obedience: the Goſpel hath abated of the Law, and provided ſtrength for us to obey Evangelically, and made the command grateful to our new nature; and Chriſt's grace is ſufficient for what he intends by it; but what is that to the Power of exact performing the law in its latitude?
And its his ignorance in the Goſpel which tranſports him into the following blaſphemy againſt God, calling Him Cruel and Tyrannical, and worſe than Pharaoh; his friends the Arminians do the like: and why? becauſe He requires of ſome, that which He gives them no ability to perform: Had man had none in Adam it would have look't harder; but ſince he had, and wickedly loſt it, and cares not for having it agen; ſhall God now loſe His Glory becauſe man hath by his own fault loſt his power, or muſt He otherwiſe be ſaid to be cruel? Certainly if we cannot ſee into the depth of His providence, an Holy God is not thus to be treated by a vile worm: Nor is it (as he pretends) injurious to mens preſſing after perfection, and his Similitudes to illuſtrate it by are fopperies, and no way quadrate. Death is but Catacreſtically (or worſe) ſaid to heal all bodily diſeaſes: bu… Grace is then properly perfected, and ſin aboliſhed; and that is a great comfort, that when we remove hence we ſhall ſin no more. the City we are going to lies beyond Death and the Grave, & ſo it is no diſcouragement that we cann't reach it in this world, Heb. 13.14. Chriſt hath provided ſufficiently to keep his people from ſloth, & make them preſs to the mark. Who of us ever ſaid that if a man dy in his ſins, his faith ſhall ſave him, tho he live and dy in his ſins? what's this but to ſlander? We ſay, that Believers ſhall not dy in their ſins, but God will give them Repentance, if at any time they fall: and yet that they ſin more or leſs till they dy, we ſay, GOD ſaith ſo too: but it's one thing to have Sin in us, another thing to be in our Sins: And when he ſaith (pag. 159.) That, It is an ill ſign that we plead ſo earneſtly for ſin; We Demand, Is a ſaying that we have ſin in us, which calls for our humbling, and plying the work of mortification, and going daily to Chriſt the fou… … tain, a pleading for ſin? ſurely they that Cover, and not they that Confeſs their ſins are pleaders for it: and then we are ſure that ſin never had ſuch Attourneys as the Quakers.
Sect 6. Now for the poſitive proof of Perfection: and he is at a loſs how to define it, or where to ſtate it: he ſeems to deny abſolute or perfect Perfection, & yet challengeth as much as Chriſt or Adam ever had nay, 2ndly. He grants that It is not in all, but in ſome; and that not at firſt converſion, but afterwards. Nay, 3dly. He further conceives that It is not in the moſt perfect without Infirmity (& that muſt be in a moral ſenſe) and then there muſt be ſome ſin: and that is almoſt as much as we ſay. Yea, 4thly. he yeilds all that we pretend to, though he will not acknowledge it to be ſin. Viz. Motions to ſin, not only from the devil without, but from the mortal part within: and that is it which Paul often calls ſin … Rom. 7. and whereas 5thly. he pleads tha… tho' it be, yet it is not imputed; that is another queſtion. It ſufficeth that it is imputable, and it is on Chriſts account that it is no… actually imputed. and 6thly. To wind u… the whole, he comes to a fair acknowledgment, that he pleads for no more perfection in ſaints than we do. It is a Faithfulneſs to God, in that degree of Grace and aſſiſtance that He affords, according as he ſees meet, ſome more, ſome leſs, I, but in them that have leaſt, it is ſafe dying for them in that ſtate: and all this we plead and preach for. And now let any man judge how he hath gone thro and cleared the charges that he made againſt us in his blaſphemous letter. If to ly, ſlander, pervert Scripture, magiſterially dictate Haereſies, is to be acknowledged for conviction, we are gone to all intents and purpoſes.