Neonomianism Unmasked, Part 2 · Debate 14
DEBATE XIV. Of Intending our Souls Good by Duties we perform.
Neonom.
THE next Errour that I charge upon this Antinomian is, That he ſaith, No Man ought to propoſe to himſelf any Advantage by any Religious Duty he performeth, nor ought he in the leaſt intend the profit of his own Soul by any Chriſtian Endeavours, it being vain and unlawful to do any thing with an Eye to our Spiritual or Eternal Good, though in ſubordination to God's Glory in Chriſt. D. W. p. 152.
Antinom.
I ſuppoſe you will not only charge but prove the very things you charge in thoſe words.
Neonom.
I will: you ſay, There is nothing you can do from whence you ought to expect any gain unto your ſelves, &c. Chriſt hath redeemed us that we ſhould not henceforth live to our ſelves, but to him that died for us, &c. The Scripture is plentiful in this, That no Believer for whom Chriſt died, ſhould have the leaſt thought in his Heart of promoting or advancing himſelf, to any end of his own by doing what he doth. Dr. C. p. 150.
Antinom.
Gentlemen, he deals with me as (you have found upon Examination) he hath done formerly— I was Preaching upon Rom. 10.2, 3, 4. and was ſhewing, That Zeal of God proves not a Man a Child of God,Dr. C. p. 144, 148. and I told them, All aim at this, that you Build not upon Foundations that will fail you, when you come to tryal, there is abſolutely perfection enough in the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt alone for your Reſt and Security, that you ſhall not need to truſt to any thing you do for Life and Peace. This is that which God calls you to, to go torth from your own Righteouſneſs, to reſt ſolely and only upon the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt, if ever you mean to have Comfort in this World, or in the World to come. I anſwered this Objection; you will ſay, This is the way to deſtroy all Righteouſneſs and Obedience whatſoever: What a Man never a jot the better, though never ſo zealous after God, though his Eye and aim be after God in his Zeal! A. The World is grown to a miſerable paſs that Obedience, Zeal, and ſeeking after God be of no uſe at all, except a Man himſelf be a Gainer by his Obedience; it's now as it was in the time of the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 4. Every one will be ready to cry out, Who will ſhew us any good? And if any thing be propoſed to Men to be done, they anſwer, But what ſhall I get by it? Every one will be ready to ſhun ſuch an Office or Employment that carry about with them a great deal of labour and expence of time, and brings in no profit. —I muſt tell you freely, There's not one Duty you perform, when you have attained the higheſt pitch, that hath any prevalency and availableneſs to produce and to bring forth any, though the leaſt good to your ſelves. You ought not to think to ſeek again to your ſelves by doing, or bring Chriſt to your ſelves by doing; You are not your own, ſaith the Apoſtle, but you are bought with a price, therefore glorifie God in your Bodies and Spirits. Chriſt hath redeemed us that we ſhould not henceforth live to our ſelves, but to Chriſt that died for us.
Now in this Diſcourſe I intend theſe things.
1. That our Duties ought not to Rob Chriſt's Righteouſneſs of the procuring vertue it hath of all the Bleſſings and Good that we have.
2. That we ought not to perform Duties from a Mercenary Principle, thinking thereby to obtain good things of God.
3. That we reſt not in the Duty done.
4. That Duties barely conſidered in themſelves, though of the higheſt Nature, are not available to obtain any thing of God, for what will our Righteouſneſs profit him? And when we have done all we are unprofitable Servants, and have done leſs than we ought to do; therefore there's no reaſon from our beſt Duties why God ſhould beſtow any good thing upon us.
5. That we ſhould do Duties from a gracious Spirit of Ingenuity, for the Glory of God, and Free Grace, not from a poor, narrow, and ſelfiſh Spirit. Not but that I am for Duty in a right manner, and for a right end.
Neonom.
He intends to forbid our intending our own Good, though in ſubordination to God's Glory, and laying no ſtreſs of meriting; for (ſaith he) People may think here's a marvellous diſcouragement to Perſons, to do what God calls them to do, when they ſhall have nothing for it. I anſwer, When there is a Spirit of Ingenuity they ſhall be as Induſtrious to glorifie God, to do good to Men, as if they did it for themſelves. They ſhall do as much for Good already beſtowed, as if they were to procure it by their own doing.
Antinom.
Is this not to intend my own Good, whereas it's not only to intend it, but to attend it, and walk in the higheſt Comfort and Enjoyment of it? as when Eſau and Jacob paſs'd mutual Complements; Eſau ſaith, I have enough; but Jacob ſaith, I have all. It is as plain as may be made, 1. That we ſhould in all we do mind and aim at the Glory of God, and Honour of Free Grace. For I ſaid, Except you mind chiefly, that all the Duties you perform are for other Ends and Purpoſes than your Preferment; viz. The ſetting forth the praiſe of the Glory of Free Grace, and the ſerving the Generation in which you live, and the ſtudy of good Works, becauſe they are profitable to Men. I ſay, Except you fall upon the performance of good Duties for the common good and benefit, without having any ſuch Conceits, as what ſhall accrue to you thereby; you are not Perſons yet come to have that common Spirit, and dead to the old Spirit, as becomes Chriſtians.
I ſay here, chiefly, and therefore am not to be underſtood, as if I did mean, as Mr. Neonomian ſaith, to forbid all intending our own good, but rather act as one that now hath nothing to do in compariſon; as to the ſecuring of Spiritual good things to my ſelf, Chriſt hath procured and ſettled all upon me. I have a goodly Heritage, Goodneſs and Mercy ſhall follow me all my days; and from the ſence of the greatneſs and fulneſs of Proviſion made for me in Chriſt; I will glorifie him in Soul, and Body, and Spirit, live to him, ſerve him, and my Generation, not thinking that I can add any thing by my Duties to what Chriſt hath procured and obtained for me; and in this ſence it is, I ſay, that it is no diſcouragement becauſe you cannot propound to your ſelf any poſſible Gain, [i. e. over and above what Chriſt hath procured,] but whatever is the greateſt and trueſt ſpur, or encouragement to Duty, is already provided to your Hand freely and graciouſly. I illuſtrate my meaning thus.
There are ſome Children in the World that are very obſervant of their Parents;Dt. C. p. 151. and their aim is, that by reaſon of ſuch compliance their Parents may ſettle an Eſtate upon them; but when a Child knows an Eſtate is already ſettled upon him, that it cannot be reverſed, and he is not able to add to it, will ſuch a Child propoſe to himſelf in his Obedience and Obſervance, the obtaining that Good his Father hath already paſſed? He knows it is paſſed already, and cannot be by any thing he doth, firmer and ſtronger. He ſerves not now to get his Fathers Land, but he ſerves to glorifie his Father that hath ſo freely ſettled his Land upon him.
[Hence you ſee plainly that I mean in reſpect of Title, not in reſpect of Poſſeſſion and Enjoyment, for] ſo I ſay of Believers that have the temper of Chriſt's true-bred Children indeed.
They in the Goſpel of Chriſt find all things that do appertain to Life and Godlineſs, they find them all ſo paſſed over by God's Goodneſs and Free Grace to them,Dr. C. p. 152. That the Lions ſhall want and ſuffer hunger, before they ſhall want any thing that is good. Muſt they now labour to gain theſe things as if they were in agitation, or as if they were yet referred to their will, or to their good and evil walking, that as they ſhall walk ſo they ſhall ſpeed? This is to argue. That God is yet to determine with himſelf how to diſpoſe of thoſe good things that he will beſtow upon his People, and that he gives good things according to their good or evil Carriage; and ſo the goodneſs of God to his People muſt depend upon his Peoples goodneſs to him [which is as the Morning Cloud;] and as Mens Works prevail with God, ſo God will pour out his Bounty upon them.
Calvin.
Mr. Antinom. gives us a very good account of his meaning, and I wonder that Mr. Neonom. you will offer to ſay he …orbids the intending our own good, though in ſubordination to God's Glory, yea, laying no ſtreſs of Meriting, whereas he is expreſs as to both theſe. And by procuring and obtaining he plainly intends procuring or obtaining a Title to Heavenly Things.
But Mr. Antinom. Did not Abraham in his Obedience unto God, Heb. 11.9, 10. look for a City which hath Foundations? And had not Moſes, v. 26. in his Self-denial an Eye to the Recompence of Reward? How is it then that we ſhould not think to gain or procure any thing by our Duties and Obedience?
Antinom.
The great things that the Faithful mentioned in that Chapter did by Faith in the Promiſe, ſurely Entitling them to thoſe great things they looked for; they did not eſteem that their Obedience added one grain to their Inheritance by Promiſe, any more than that the very Service of God it ſelf, and Enjoyment of him was of the Priviledges promiſed, and they walked therein in Expectation of further performances. Abraham looked for a City; upon what ground? Not of his Obedience, but as being Heir already of the Promiſe of it. Moſes had an Eye to the Recompence of Reward, not as procuring it by his Self-denial, but as being Entitled to it by the Promiſe believed, as already beſtowed upon him by the Gift and Procurement of Chriſt, and thence was carried forth to his Duty in Love to God, and in Honour of his Free Grace, as I have ſaid; thence it was that no difficulties of Affliction could diſcourage him, nor Worldly Preferments and Riches allure him from his Duty.
My whole deſign in the Expreſſions mentioned by Mr. Neonom. was to caution Believers againſt putting their Duties in the place of Chriſt in order to Life and Salvation. And I have Mr. Luther for my Preſident, ſpeaking in the like Caſe after the ſame manner.
The true Chriſt neither calleth thee to reckoning for thy Sins, nor biddeth thee truſt to thine own good Works,Luth. on Gal. 5.4. (but the falſe Chriſt, i. e. the Devil in the likeneſs of Chriſt doth;) and the true Knowledge of Chriſt or Faith diſputeth not whether thou haſt done good VVorks to Righteouſneſs, or evil Works to Condemnation, but ſimply concludeth after this ſort: If thou haſt done good Works, thou art not therefore Juſtified; or if thou haſt done evil Works, thou art not thereby Condemned. And I neither take from good Works their praiſe, nor commend evil Works; but in the matter of Juſtification, I ſay, we muſt look how we may hold Chriſt, leſt while we ſeek to be Juſtified by the Law, we make him unprofitable to us; for it's Chriſt alone that Juſtifieth me, both againſt my evil Deeds, and without my good Deeds. If I have this perſwaſion of Chriſt, I lay hold on the true Chriſt; but if I think that he exacteth the Law and Works of me to Salvation, then he becometh unprofitable to me, and I am utterly ſeparated from him.
Neonom.
He ſaith, When you labour by Prayer or ſeeking to prevail with God to take away his diſpleaſure, D. W. p. 154. Dr. C. p. 425.&c. and to procure ſuch good, you ſerve not God now, you ſerve your ſelves.
Antinom.
I was ſpeaking againſt Selfiſhneſs in our Performances, and ſaid, if you ſuppoſe you faſt, pray, mourn, or do any other Religious Services; if you apprehend your own turns are not yet ſerved, there will be altogether a Selfiſhneſs in the performance of theſe Duties; Selfiſh Ends and Motives will be your Load-ſtones, and they ſhall draw up your Spirits in theſe Services. As for Example, when we labour by our Faſting and Prayer, and ſeeking the Lord, to prevail with God to take away his Diſpleaſure, &c. and to procure ſuch good things unto us, do we ſerve the Lord or no? And do we not ſerve our ſelves? Nay, you ſerve no God now, you ſerve your ſelves, when only your ſelves put you upon the performance of the Duty; but you will ſay, I muſt Faſt and Pray to get my Sins pardoned. A. It's true, that as long as Men think their Sins are upon themſelves they cannot be at…eſt, but ſtill the conſideration of theſe Sins thus upon them muſt needs draw them out on theſe Services, till ſome way be ſought out to clear themſelves of them. Where is now that ſincerity and ſingleneſs of Heart that Men ought to have in the Service of the Lord? If he could be but once reſolved of this thing, that ail this Buſineſs of his is already diſpatched to his Hands, [viz. Sin pardoned, and Wrath removed,] then all this Selfiſhneſs would quickly die; —then you would ſerve God ſincerely, the End of your Duties would be the glorifying of God; then you would ſee that your Prayers, Tears, Faſtings and Performances were not appointed to Rob God of his Service by ſerving your ſelves, and Chriſt of his Glory, by putting your Services in the place of his Blood, which only taketh away Sin.
Calvin.
You have now given very good ſatisfaction of your Intention and Meaning in thoſe Expreſſions Mr. Neonomian chargeth upon you as unſound, tho ſome of your Expreſſions barely taken may give ſome offence, which I think might have been ſpared, and the truth you intend cloathed with more unexceptionable words; and on the other ſide, Mr. Neonomian, I think you may expoſe and banter moſt Sermons of Orthodox Divines, if you will pick out here and there a Sentence, and not give an account of the Connexion, upon what account ſuch were ſpoken. But I pray, Mr. Neonomian let us have the poſitive Truth from you in this matter, and the ſtate of the Queſtion.
Neonom.
You ſhall, Sir.
Truth. Though we ought to intend God's Glory as our Supream End in all our Duties, and Deſign therein expreſſing our Love and Gratitude to God for his Benefits, with a great regard to publick Good: Yet we alſo lawfully may and ought to ſtrive after Grace, grow in it, and perform Holy Duties and Services, with an Eve to, and concern for our own Spiritual and Eternal Advantage. D. W. p. 152.
Antinom.
You have delivered your Opinion: in a diſcreet Propoſition, wherein you ſay the ſame thing as I do in the firſt part, but yet the ſecond part doth not run full enough, it ſhould run thus; From this Motive of the Love of God, the Promiſe of Grace, and the procurement made by Jeſus Chriſt, entitling us to all the Bleſſings of the Goſpel, we ought to perform Holy Duties and Services, growing in all Grace, with an Eye to the Enjoyment of that full Inheritance provided for us in Grace and Glory, aſcribing all to the Glory of Free Grace, and nothing to the procurements of our own Works. And therefore I ſay, none ought to propoſe advantage to himſelf in reſpect of Title to the Bleſſings of the Covenant by any Duty he performs, being Heir of the Promiſe by Faith in Jeſus Chriſt, all the Promiſes being in him Yea and Amen; neither ought he to propound profit from any Duty as ſuch only, but in and thorough Chriſt, and in whom every Duty is accepted, and from whom we receive the Benefit; for whatever we ask it's in his Name, and for his ſake alone, (not for our Duties ſake) we receive it. And that it is vain and unlawful to do any thing with an Eye to our Spiritual or Eternal good, as a proper Effect by way of Remuneration of our Duty performed, for that cannot be in Subordination to God's Glory in Chriſt, but a Robbing of him.
Neonom.
I will tell you then wherein we differ not.
1. It's not whether we ſhould principally aim at God's Glory in what we do.
Antinom.
Is it not? But I will tell you more; we ſhould not only principally, but altogether aim at God's Glory in all we do, 1 Cor. 10.31. According to your Poſition many Sins will be Juſtified; as he that doth evil that good may come of it. And Paul's Perſecution in his Unregeneracy, wherein he principally aimed at the Glory of God, thinking that thereby he did God good Service.
Neonom.
Nor whether we ſhould aim at Publick Good with great concern; nor whether Gratitude to God deſerves our utmoſt Service, and Love to him ſhould Influence our Aims and Labours.
Antinom.
Gratitude to God ſhould not only Influence, but be the very procatarctick Moving Cauſe to us in all.
Neonom.
Nor whether we ought to renounce every Thought of purchaſing from God any Benefit for what we do.
Antinom.
Therefore not to think to have the Benefit for the Work ſake at all, for if ſo, it's purchaſing in a Law Sence; to have it upon Federal Condition…lity of the Work done, is to have upon Bargain, and Purchaſing Terms, either in reſpect of the firſt right, or as to continuation of right, therefore we ought not to tertain, but renounce the leaſt thought of this.
Neonom.
Nor whether Carnal Selfiſhneſs, or ſeeking of Pleaſures, Riches, Honour, &c. above Spiritual and Eternal good, be the undoing Sin of the World.
Antinom.
Nor whether it be not the undoing Sin of Profeſſors, there's no other to be expected from the World, and there's multitudes of Sins more, of a groſſer Nature, undoing to the World.
Neonom.
The real difference is,
1. Whether the Spiritual Improving and Saving our Souls, may be a Motive with us to our Religious Endeavours? This you deny, and I affirm.
Antinom.
Not upon the grounds afore-mentioned.
Neonom.
Whether our Souls advantage be not ſo joined with God's Glory, that we ought to intend both as the Scope of our Life and Labours.
Antinom.
Our Souls advantage is ſo provided for in the Promiſe of Grace, that we intend it as the great thing beſtowed on us for the Glory of God, and not to be obtained by us, or gained by Works and Services. The true Queſtion betwixt us is,
Whether we ſhould do Works as entitling us to, and gaining of life and Salvation in Subordination to the Glory of God; this you and the Papiſts affirm, but I deny; becauſe they are inconſiſtent, and can never be truely ſo according to the Goſpel, whatever is pretended, or Men may think of themſelves, as Paul did in his Ʋnregenerate State.
Neonom.
To confirm the Truth,
1. I have proved before, that God hath appointed Graces and Duties for that end, that we obtain thoſe Benefits; and if ſo, we then deſpiſe God's Ordination, in not intending our obtaining the Benefits, when we Act thoſe Graces and Duties, and we obey his Will in doing them for that end. D. W. p. 155.
Antinom.
We have ſhewed that you have not proved it yet in your ſence, by way of entitling us to, and continuing us in a Covenant ſtate or ſtanding.
2. We have ſhewed, that you make Graces and Duties nothing but a piece of Drudgery and Slavery, for a Man to work as for his Wages, and to be paid as he doth his Work, but make them none of the Benefits of the Covenant of Promiſe, which they are in an Eminent manner. And therefore,
3. You deſpiſe the Ordination of God, and his Conſtitution of the Covenant of Grace, who never gave them ſuch a place in the Covenant, nor ordained them to ſuch an end as you aſcribe to them.
4. Laſtly, You deſpiſe therein the Lord Jeſus, in giving that which is his place alone, to your Graces and Duties.
Neonom.
All Promiſes and Threats in the Word, directed as Motives to Obedience are fooliſh, if we muſt not intend [obtaining] our own good by our Obedience.
Antinom.
Are they ſo? You are not the firſt that hath reckoned the Goſpel Fooliſhneſs, and reproached the Grace of God; God hath choſen theſe fooliſh things to confound ſuch Wiſe Men as you are, that can undertake to teach Chriſt a better Goſpel, &c.
Neonom.
How are they Arguments with the Will, if we muſt not aim at Advantage in doing Duty?
Antinom.
It is one thing to have advantage by Gift, and another thing to have ſuch an Eye to it as to look upon our ſelves as Earners of it by our Work. A Child that knows his Father hath ſettled an Inheritance upon him, and will provide for him till he is of Age to take Poſſeſſion; is there no Motive to him to be dutiful to his Father, but an intending more gain and advantage to himſelf? Muſt his Father pay him for every Errand he runs, and Job of Service he doth? Muſt he look upon himſelf as Earning and Deſerving his Dinner every day, and for every Duty and Service his Father muſt ſay, Oh! thank thee my Son, I will remember this Service to give thee advantage for it? Or elſe this Child will be ſullen and dogged, and ſay, What p…ofit is there in ſerving my Father? Such Chriſtians as theſe you would make.
Neonom.
Chriſt calls with ſuch Motives, Mat. 11.28. Ezek. 18.32. 1 Pet. 5.2, 4.
Antinom.
Mat. 11. He Invites Sinners to come to him for reſt, he would give it them; he ſays not, Go to your Works and Duties for Reſt, I am not againſt your taking all Motives from Chriſt and the Riches of his Grace, but I am againſt Burning Incenſe to our own Drags, as you would have us. Tha… place of Ezekiel you mention, is nothing to your purpoſe, for turning and living there is the ſame thing: And whereas you ſay, What influence hath ſuch pleas? As 1 Pet. 5.2, 4. 1 Tim. 2.12. Coloſ. 3.34. Peter calls himſelf a Partaker, [i. e. by Faith] of the Glory to be revealed, and he chargeth other Elders to feed the Flock, and take the Charge, not by conſtraint, but freely and willingly; and not mercenarily, but as he himſelf was taught by Chriſt, Loveſt thou me, feed my Sheep; and he ſaith, When the chief Shepherd ſhall appear, you ſhall receive a Crown of Glory which he hath purchaſed and promiſed, not which they earned and gained by their working. So Paul fought and ran, 2 Tim. 4.7, 8. not expecting to receive a Crown as due to him for Fighting and Running, but as by Faith beholding it purchaſed for him, and enſured to him in the Promiſe; therefore he ſays, It's a depoſitum laid up for him even before his running; and ſo for all other Believers as well as he; he expected not to make an additional advantage to what he ſaw laid up for him already, or thereby to make it ſurer than the Promiſe had already made it; and as for other places where Duties are called for, and enſuing Benefits promiſed; it's but a Connexion of the Promiſed Grace in the Covenant under ſomething different Notions of particular Commands and Promiſes; whereas Duties there are Promiſes, and Gifts of Grace, and both together Grace upon Grace from the fulneſs of Chriſt; not that one hath in it a vertue to gain the other (which the Spiritual Man underſtands,) and Chriſt diſpenſeth Grace in the Word of his Grace in this manner, more humano, which is of uſe to the weak many times, when he teacheth them to walk as Ephraim, by the Conduct of a Spirit of Bondage, whilſt they labour under weak and ſtaggering Faith, but ſuch a frame and weak Underſtanding of the Truth ought not to be commended as a Vertue, and ſuch Weaklings are to be brought as ſoon as may be to more ſolid Underſtanding, and higher Principles to act from, and more Noble Aims and Deſigns to the Glory of God in Chriſt.
Neonom.
The Spirit of God approveth of Holy Mens regard to their own advantage.
Antinom.
Yes, for the whole Goſpel is a Sinners advantage, or elſe it were ſad, and they muſt ſee it, or elſe they will never embrace it; but they are to ſee all this advantage is founded in Chriſt, and conveyed by Promiſe and Free Gift to the Praiſe and Glory of God, Eph. 1.6, 7, 8, 12, 19, 20.
Neonom.
Moſes Heb. 11.26. had reſpect to the recompence of reward, and this is given as the very cauſe why he eſteemed the Reproach of Chriſt above the Treaſures of Egypt.
Antinom.
I have given an account of that place already; it's ſaid by Faith, Moſes did what he did by Faith, refuſing the World, chuſing and eſteeming Chriſt his great Treaſure, and greater than all Riches and Honours, even the Reproach and Croſs of Chriſt; for in believing he Eyed Chriſt himſelf, who was his, to be the great recompence of Reward; he had enough to carry him through all difficulties, having Chriſt, and God in Chriſt, and this was the reaſon of his Perſeverance, for he endured as ſeeing him that is Inviſible; he did not ſee him that is Inviſible as a Reward of his Perſeverance, but he endured becauſe he ſaw him.
Neonom.
Paul governed himſelf by theſe regards, 1 Cor. 9.17, 24. 2 Cor. 4.16, 17.
Antinom.
Paul made it his buſineſs in preaching the Goſpel to obtain the Ends of the Goſpel, but he doth anticipate all that you would gather from his Diſcourſe, 1 Cor. 9.17. for ver. 16. he ſaith, For though I preach the Goſpel I have nothing to glory of; and when he ſpeaks of his Reward, ver. 18. truely it is as much as to ſay, I look for none for my Work ſake, not ſo much as from Men, my Reward is that I make it without Charge, that as it comes freely from Chriſt, ſo alſo from me; he much leſs had any Mercenary Expectations of Reward from God, &c. And ver. 23. and all he doth for the Goſpel ſake, that he might be foreign, his participation of the Grace of the Goſpel was as much as he looked for, therefore he would not run at uncertrinty, foreign, but by Faith in the Promiſe, as looking unto Jeſus the Author and Finiſher of his Faith, Heb. 12.2. As to that place, 2 Cor. 4.16. For which cauſe we faint not; what is the cauſe? It's in the verſe preceding 14, 15. The Spirit of Faith was the cauſe; Whereby knowing that he that raiſed up the Lord Jeſus, ſhall raiſe us alſo by Jeſus; for all things are for your ſelves, that the abundant Grace might through the Thankſgiving of many redound to the Glory of God, for which cauſe we faint not; viz. from the abundant Grace apprehended by the Spirit of Faith, and looking at things not ſeen, thence it comes to paſs, that the preſent Afflictions are light, and ſhall be ſucceeded with an Eternal weight of Glory; it's an inſtance of the abundant Grace redounding towards him for the inward and outward Man, for things Temporal and Eternal.
Neonom.
Were 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 anſwered them as he doth, Mat. 19.28, 29.
Antinom.
This Arguing would well enough become a Papiſt, but it is ſtrange at this time a day from the Mouth of a Proteſtant, but it's eaſie to ſee the Devil is at work to betray us again into our Spiritual Egypt, our Mouths hang too generally after the Leeks and Onions of their Corrupt Doctrine. Now we muſt go to work upon the Terms of the Old Law, for Life, not Finalitèr, as aimed at and travelled to as terminus ad quem, taken for Glory, but for Life as a Premium of our Works. That this is intended by you clearly appears by the Application that you make of this place of Scripture, as if it Juſtified the Doctrine of Merit. The Diſciples hearing our Saviours diſcourſe concerning a Rich Man, and how hard it is for him to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, they were amazed, and ſaid, Who then ſhall be ſaved? Peter hence concludes then ſurely poor Men may better be ſaved; we are poor enough, and have leſt all for thee; what ſhall we have? And there is no doubt but ſomething as yet remained in them of that legal Spirit as prevailed in and among the Jews, expecting or enquiring after ſome proportionable Reward to their Sufferings, which Spirit was not fully removed from them till after the Reſurrection of Chriſt, and ſending down of the Spirit, when they came clearly to ſee the Grace of Chriſt in the Goſpel, but it was not Chriſt's time yet to remove all Clouds and Obſcurities from the Doctrine of the Goſpel; he did it not in his own Miniſtry, it was to be the Work of the Comforter, the Spirit, as peculiarly belonging to his Office after Chriſt's Aſcenſion. As yet they had not askt any thing in his Name, neither did Chriſt in the platform of Prayer teach them ſo to do; as yet they were ſtrangers to the Myſtery of the Death and Reſurrection of Chriſt; as yet they looked that the Kingdom of Chriſt would immediately be a Temporal and External. Now the anſwer of our Saviour imports theſe things.
1. That none ſhall loſe any thing by following him, though in parting with worldly advantages.
2. That thoſe Bleſſings that he beſtows upon his true Followers, are of another Nature than they expected; they were of an Eternal Nature, ver. 29. and of a Spiritual Nature, Mark 10.30. For their outward Enjoyments ſhould be with Perſecutions, ſhewing how much the Croſs and Reproach of Chriſt (as in the Opinion of Moſes) is to be preferred before the greateſt worldly Emoluments.
3. He ſhews them, though he abundantly Rewards his Followers, yet they ought not to ſerve him as ſuch that were led by that Principle, to ſerve for Life and Glory as for Wages; but they muſt do all for his own Name ſake; they muſt not act from a principle of intending advantage, but for Chriſt's ſake, for the Love of his Perſon, and for the ſake of the Love that he hath ſhewed us, 1 Cor. 3.20, 21, 22. The Lord knows how vain the Thoughts of his beſt People is apt to be, as if they muſt by their Duties Earn ſomething of God; but there muſt be no glorying in Men, and there's no need of it, for all things are yours already, the Means of Grace, the World, Life, Death, things preſent, and to come, ye are Chriſt's, and Chriſt God's.
Neonom.
Your 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 Falſehood; ſhould not poor Sinners pray as they can apply the Word with an Eye to Converſion? Should they not Believe and Repent with an Eye to Forgiveneſs and Eſcaping of Wrath? Why elſe ſhould God encourage them with an Offer of theſe upon ſuch Terms. D. W. p. 157.
Antinom.
You go upon many Miſtakes;
1. You talk abſurdly of God's Decree overthrowing his Government, as if the Decree ſucceeded God's Government of the Creature; that which overthrows a thing comes after the thing overthrown; ſo God's Decree in its proper Nature, as a Conſtituting Immanent Act, muſt ſucceed his Government.
2. Why ſhould not God's Acting in a way of Free Grace be conſiſtent with his moſt right and juſt way of proceeding in Government, ſeeing the whole Goſpel Revelation aſſerts that it is ſo, and that therein lyes a great part of the Goſpel Myſtery, which Natural Men and Carnal Reaſon will not receive.
3. Is it any way abſurd to ſay it's vain to propoſe our own gain by Labour and Duties, when the Spirit of God hath expunged the Efficacy of Works as to procurement, out of the Covenant of Grace; Works are our Price and Money. God ſaith, We are to buy without Price and Money, Iſa. 55.1, 2. And ſaith, Why do you ſpend Money for that which is not Bread; i. e. Spend your Duties and Labours, and get nothing by them? Becauſe you make Money of them, and reckon you make advantage of them, and pay a valuable conſideration for the good expected, and will not receive it as of Free Gift; you will have all for the Money of your Duties; and hence you labour, and have not that which ſatisfieth; you ask and labour for things to ſpend upon your own Luſts, as the proud Phariſee did.
4. You miſtake in judging the Offers of the Goſpel is in a way of Government, it's in order to Chriſt's gracious Rule and Government under which Unregenerate Sinners are not, till through Grace they are tranſlated into the Kingdom of Chriſt.
5. You wickedly ſuggeſt, that unleſs God intend that poor Sinners in their Unregenerate Eſtate ſhould do ſome Duties whereby they might gain Life and Salvation; God is chargeable with Weakneſs and Falſhood; this I take to be an ill Inference, all the Offers of Grace muſt be upon Condition of Works, or elſe God is chargable with Weakneſs and Falſhood.
6. You groſly miſtake my Diſcourſe, or willingly pervert my Sence and Meaning; I do not ſay but poor Sinners at their firſt believing are very apt to lay too great a ſtreſs upon their Duties, as if thereby they obtained a Title to Life and Salvation, or m…de a conſiderable addition to what Chriſt hath done and procured for them; this legal Spirit I endeavour to take them off from, that they ſhould ſerve God more under the Conduct of the Grace of Adoption, Rom. 8.14, 15. And therefore ſay, Except you fall to the performance of Duty without ſuch Conceits of what ſhall accrue to you thereby,Dr. Cr. p. 149. you are not Perſons yet come to have that common Spirit, and dead to the old Spirit, as becomes Chriſtians. Such Believers are acted more by a Spirit of Bondage than the Spirit of Adoption. The Apoſtle ſaith, They that are lead by the Spirit are the Sons of God; and therefore ſo far as they are lead by the Spirit act not mercenarily.
7. But to let paſs your perverting my Sence, you will have me to intend Works anſwering the Call of God to the Unregenerate; and you ſay to this purpoſe they muſt be encouraged by Rewards of their Works: Were it not rather to charge God as you ſay; when he ſhall offer them upon the account of their Duties, when the Spirit of God tells us, they can perform none, being Spiritually dead; and that which they ſuppoſe they do cannot pleaſe God, Rom. 8.8. therefore cannot obtain any thing from him. You ſay, muſt they not ſtrive to Believe and Repent with an Eye to Forgiveneſs, and Eſcaping of Wrath? I ſay, Not with an Eye to their Works of Believing and Repentance, but to the receiving of Forgiveneſs and Eſcaping Wrath.
Neonom.
By your Scheme the Elect may be idle, and the Non-…lect do beſt when they deſpair; for there's Connection between theſe Benefits and theſe Graces and Duties.
Antinom.
I pretend not to the making Schemes of the Goſpel-Myſteries, calculated to carnal Reaſon, as you do; I leave that to you that pretend to be ſo skilful in it. But in anſwer to what you inferr, I ſay, I preach not to Men as Elect, or not Elect, but unto Sinners; and I call them to look for the advantage of Life and Salvation in Chriſt, and not in their Duties. But yet, as I told you, I call them to Duty, and to the acting of it from higher and nobler Principles than you do, not from ſuch a ſlaviſh mercenary ſervile Spirit as you would have them to act from. And I think the Doctrine of Free-Grace is no ground of Idleneſs or Deſpair, but the contrary, the greateſt Encouragement to Service, and preſervative againſt Deſpair in the World, unleſs it be to ſuch Scheme-makers as you be, who charge God with Weakneſs and Falſehood, unleſs he ſave Sinners in a way of a Covenant of Works. And there's no ſuch Connection between Graces and Benefits as you plead for.
Neonom.
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 with no deſign but to encreaſe their Condemnation. Nay, every Sin of theirs is a Sin againſt the Holy Ghoſt, i. e. Every Sin is alike that unpardonable Sin, and not only that Blaſphemy againſt the Holy Ghoſt.
Antinom.
This is the Arminian Plea for Univerſal Grace, and what is this but the ſmoak of the Bottomleſs Pit? I ſay, Who art thou, O Man, that replieſt againſt God? You come now to prove your Charge of God for Weakneſs and Folly. But if the Non-elect be in as bad a Caſe as Devils, is God guilty of Weakneſs and Falſhood? A wiſer Man than you did not think ſo, when he ſaid, God made all things for himſelf, the wicked for the day of evil, Prov. 16.4. Neither was the Apoſtle Paul of your mind, as plainly appears by Rom. 9.18, 19, 20. But let me return upon you, Will you ſay that it was unrighteous with God to leave a part of Mankind under Non-election to eternal Life and Salvation? What, will you charge God with for leaving part of the Angelick Nature under it? 2. You talk of an Offer to the Non-elect, and that Offer, you ſay, muſt be ſerious, and if it be not offered upon ſuch a Condition as they can perform. But I pray, where's any Offer of Grace in the Goſpel to the Non-elect at all, as ſuch? And ſhew me any Graces given, or Goſpel Duties required of the Non-elect, or Benefits promiſed to the Non-elect upon their performance of Graces and Duties? It would not be ſerious indeed to call for Graces and Duties, or promiſe Life unto them, or ſaving Benefits upon Performance of the ſaid Duties after the Non-election was declared to them. Now you will not own there can be any ſerious Offer made, unleſs the Condition be equally performable by Elect and Non-elect, and both be alike in the next Capacity of Salvation, or elſe they are in the ſame caſe with the Devils. And what it they be as eventually as unlikely to believe and be ſaved as the Devils, why will you be preſumptuous to charge God? May not God have Mercy on whom he will, and harden whom he will, without giving an Account of any of his matters? And what if the Non-elect be in as bad a caſe as the Devils, is God bound to be any better to them than the Devils. For, ſay you, God muſt offer to the Non-elect with the ſame Mind and Purpoſe of ſaving Non-elect as well as of ſaving the Elect, or elſe God is not ſerious in his Offers. I deny that Goſpel-Offers are made to Elect or Non-elect, but to Sinners as ſuch; and it's made indefinitely, that the Election might obtain, and the reſt are blinded, Rom. 11.5, 6, 7. as it was with the Elect and Non-elect Jews, ſo it is with the Elect and Non-elect of all Mankind. And ſee there what God ſaith, and that ſeriouſly: At this preſent time, ſaith God, there is a Remnant [of Jews to be ſaved,] but according to the Election of Grace: What will you ſay but a Remnant? How comes it to paſs that the Offer was made to them that belonged not to the Election? You'll ſay God was not ſerious in his Offer to them, when it was ſaid Acts 3.4. Ʋnto you firſt [of the Nation of the Jews] God having raiſed up his Son Jeſus, ſent him to bleſs you, in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities. If the Non-elect in this Nation cannot perform Works (ſay you) upon the condition of which they may have the Promiſe, God deals falſly with them: Whereas the Spirit of God gives us another Account of theſe things, why notwithſtanding this general and indefinite Offer, but a Remnant was ſaved, viz. The Election had obtained it, ver. 7. For, ſaith he, if it be by Grace, then it is no more of Works, [nor of him that willeth or runneth, but of God that ſheweth mercy] otherwiſe Grace is no more Grace; but if it be of Works, then it is no more of Grace; otherwiſe Work is no more Works. 7. What then, Iſrael hath not obtained what he ſeeketh for, [or applying it to many Profeſſors, or others under a Goſpel-Miniſtry, ſuch and ſuch hath not obtained what they pretended to ſeek after] but the Election hath obtained it. [The Grace of God (not Works) became efficacious through the Election.] And what became of the Non-elect? You'll ſay, God mockt them. No, go you on to mock God with your carnal Reaſon, and hearken to the Hallow; I will tell you, yea the Spirit tells you, the reſt, the Non-elect Jews were blinded; foreign, Thoſe that were ſaved, the Grace of Election obtained for them. But as for the reſt, they who were not elected, they were hardned. And when you have done and ſaid all about your Serious Offers, unleſs you hold conditional Election, you muſt ſtill continue to lay, theſe foul Charges and Conſequences upon God: For whatever Offers are made, the Non-elect will neither believe or be ſaved, and in reſpect of Non-election are in the ſame Condition with the Devils.
Now ſay you, then their Caſe is worſe than Devils, theſe Offers are made to them for no other deſign, but to increaſe their Condemnation. But I will tell you, it becomes ſo to them per accidens; the deſign of offering Salvation to the World is that Sinners may believe and be ſaved, not that Elect Sinners ſhould be ſecure, or Non-elect Deſpair. But what is in God's Mind as his Reaſon in making ſo indefinite an offer and tender of Grace, whoſe is Election? It is for the calling and gathering in of the Elect, though an indefinite Invitation or Command of God makes the anſwer of it equally the Duty of all that hear it by the Law; and I will tell you,Ex Hebreae veritatis collatione appareat foreign reſpondere vocabulo H…braeo. foreign nemo mirabitur quod maluerim ſoporem aut etiam ſtuporem convertere. Ita n. Hebraei vocant altiſſimum veternum quod omnem ſenſum adimat idque optimè convenit ei quod preceſſit de Callo ſive Obduratione, & quod ſubjicitur oculis, de oculis ad videndam, & auribus ad audi…ndum ineptis. Beza, Chr…ſoſt. Theophyl. Oecum. Inte…r…t. Spiritum ſtaporis & perti…i…. i. e. animum in malo obſtinatum ut ne que aut moveri, quaſi clavo affixum. Lee's Crit. the Truth of God's Word will ſtand againſt your Carnal Weapons and Banter, Rom. 11.8, 9. The reſt beſides the Remnant that were ſaved, were not only blinded but hardned Judicially, according to the Word of the Lord by Iſaiah, chap. 29.10. God hath given them the Spirit of Slumber, foreign, Eyes that they ſhould not ſee. The Hebrew word is foreign deep Sleep; but the Apoſtle takes foreign, from the LXII. which primarily ſignifies compunction, derived of foreign, compungo, and uſed Acts 2.37. It ſignifies a Mind fixed and pertinacious in evil. God hath ſent or given them, ſaith Paul; the Hebrew hath it, foreign, he hath given them to drink down a Spirit of Stupidity; and ſee what follows, ver. 9.10. Notwithſtanding the offer made, the Non-elect fall under this Judicial proceeding of God, viz. a Spirit of Slumber given them, Eyes given them that they ſhould not ſee, Ears that they ſhould not hear; their Table becomes a Snare, the offer of Grace a ſtumbling to them. Nay, you ſay then, every Sin of theirs is againſt the Holy Ghoſt, i. e. every Sin alike the unpardonable Sin. There is no Sin unpardonable in reſpect of God, i. e. ſuch that God cannot pardon; but there are Sins of the ſame Nature and Kind with them that are pardoned in ſome, that will not be pardoned in others. God's not pardoning a Sin or Perſon makes not it or him unpardonable, ab actu ad potentiam non valet conſequentiam.
The Sin againſt the Holy Ghoſt is not therefore unpardonable, becauſe it cannot be pardoned; but from the poſitive and declared will of Chriſt concerning it, that it ſhall not be forgiven in this World, nor in the World to come; he hath made an exception upon this Species duplicate page duplicate page of Sin, or Individual Sin, Matth. 12.31, 32. but for this reaſon no other ſort or kind of Sin is unpardonable; Chriſt that ſpake the one ſpake the other; All manner of Sin and Blaſphemy ſhall be forgiven unto Men, ver. 32. Is it not a marvellous piece of Impudence in you to draw this Inference upon Chriſt, becauſe Sins in the Non-elect are not forgiven eventually, therefore now all manner of Sins in them are as unpardonable, as Sins againſt the Holy Ghoſt.
Neonom
To ſay no more, it will follow 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.
Antinom.
You need ſay no more, unleſs it be to expreſs your Repentance for what you have ſpoken. What mean you by Chriſt's Rule of Diſtributive Juſtice? Doth Chriſt offer Salvation unto Sinners, or diſpence Grace to Believers in a way of Diſtributive Juſtice? Is not this to make the Covenant of Grace a Law of Works with a witneſs? It's true, Chriſt governs the World as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; and this Rule of diſtributive Juſtice on the Providential Throne, and at his Second coming, is and ſhall be the Moral Law. But is this his Rule of ſaving Sinners? Doth he adminiſter the Covenant of Grace in a way of Diſtributive Juſtice, according to Men's Obedience to Commands, and regard to Promiſes made upon ſuch Conditions? If it were ſo, Sinners uncalled and called were all in a miſerable Condition.
Neonom.
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?
Antinom.
He hath ſo; he hath fixed it, and all our Duties and Bleſſings therein; and becauſe Chriſt provided for his own Glory, and the Glory of God's Free-Grace in all that he hath done, or is doing for us: Therefore we are in a ſpecial manner to beware leſt we rob him of his Glory, by giving that which belongs to him to our own Works, even the beſt we can do.
Neonom.
I could ſhew that we cant't ſincerely aim at our own good, but we therein aim at the Glory of God; nor doth God ever require us to intend his Glory, but in a Concurrence with an Eye to our own Salvation.
Antinom.
You ſhould have ſaid, we cannot truly aim at God's Glory, but therein we aim at our own Good: Men muſt firſt aim at God's Glory. But, 1. Men may ſincerely aim at God's Glory, and yet come ſhort of God's Glory and their own good: For ſo Paul did in his unregenerate Eſtate, and ſo will every unregenerate Man, Rom. 3.22. 2. How many Men ſincerely aim at their own Good in many things, and yet have not a true Aim at the Glory of God? Do not all Men ſay, Who will ſhew us any good, Pſal. 4. and ſeek it in Corn, Wine and Oyl? And did not the Jews aim at their own Good in following after the Law of Righteouſneſs, Rom. 9.31?
Neonom.
I will tell you your miſtakes.
Antinom.
I pray mend and recant your own groſs Errors firſt, before you undertake to be a Corrector of others; it's not worth our time to attend your Amendments.
Neonom.
Let me only tell you what thoſe 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 Work we can't, and we are to act from Life and not for Life, were to abandon the humane Nature.
Antinom.
I ſuppoſe you quote your Authority the rather, becauſe that you think the Preface was drawn up to expiate for a Fault ſome of them had committed, and was well ſchool'd for. But I pray let us a little examine whether thoſe Gentlemen be not miſtaken, in denying that Poſition, That we are not to act for Life but from Life.
For the firſt part, I am miſtaken if they will deny, That all Goſpel-acting is from Life. In natural things Life is always preſuppoſed to all Motion and Acting. A dead thing cannot, nor is expected to move and act: As in the natural Man, ſo in the Spiritual; and as he muſt have Life, ſo he muſt be alive unto God in Chriſt that acts; he muſt act from him, by vertue of him, through the Power and Influence of his Grace, through the Operation of his Spirit, from Faith in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and knows there's no acceptable Duties or Graces but to be acted from Life as the Fountain and Spring of them; and indeed the firſt Adam acted from Life. I pray make a thing act, if you can, that hath not Life to act from.
2. As for acting for Life, the true meaning ought to be adjuſted: That Life ſhould be our End and Aim is not to be doubted, according to a right Underſtanding of it. Chriſt propounds himſelf as Life unto poor Sinners, and ſaith, I am the Reſurrection and the Life. And ſo he is the Life unto a Believer; He that hath the Son hath Life. Now it muſt be underſtood when we ſpeak of Working for Life, we ſpeak of a conſiderate ſedate regular Acting and Working. Not Acting and Working as one that is ſcared and affrighted with the danger of Life, death lying inevitably to his Apprehenſion before him; not as ſcrambling to ſave himſelf in the Water from drowning. Now a poor Sinner awakened under the Law, and ſeeing a little Glimpſe of Goſpel-hope through Grace ſhining into his Heart, it may be beſtirs himſelf with all his might, and aſcribes much to every Duty he doth.
But we ſpeak here of what the true Spirit and Diſpoſition of a Chriſtian is, he ought to arrive at by Faith; the Queſtion is, Whether he works for Life? A. I ſay, He doth, and he doth not. 1. He makes Life his ſubordinate Aim and End. But, (1.) He that hath Chriſt by Faith, doth not work as if he had not Chriſt already: (2.) He doth not work for Life, ſo as to entitle himſelf unto Life; ſome work for this end, as if he had not Life already. He ſees by Faith that he is Chriſt's, and that all things are his, whether Life, or whether things preſent or to come. (3.) He doth not work for Life, ſo far as to think thereby to keep himſelf alive, or maintain himſelf in a Covenant-ſtate, ſo as by his Works to continue his Juſtification any more than to get it at firſt. (4.) He doth not work for Life in a way of remunerative Juſtice; no, not for the continuance of Life in a way of Remuneration: For indeed herein lies only the difference between a Legal and Goſpel-Spirit; If the Spirit that acted the firſt Adam before the Fall, (I ſpeak not of a Legal Spirit ſince the Fall) and the true Spirit of a Believer in Chriſt be compared together; for Adam then acted from Life already given; he acted not as having no Life, but acted for the continuance of Life, upon the account of the working Conditions enjoyned, and expected Life by way of Remuneration, i. e. the continuation of Life. Now ſuch working for Life as this we muſt reject, and ſuch is intended, when-ever we ſay we muſt not work for Life.
It's not to be underſtood, as if the Spiritual Man had not a ſanctified rational End in all his Actings, which we ſay is for the Glory of God in Free Grace, for Chriſt in whom his Life is; he acts from the Life that is in Chriſt, and he is carried forth to it, and in it: He is created in Chriſt Jeſus to good Works, that he ſhould walk in them, looking unto Jeſus, Heb. 12. And looking upon all things as his in Chriſt, his Buſineſs is to live unto Chriſt. 1 Cor. 1.30, 31. ch. 3.22, 23. To me (ſaith Paul) to live is Chriſt, and to die is gain, i. e. I ſhall come to a further Enjoyment of Chriſt. Theology is defined to be the Doctrine of living unto God; ſo that in living unto God, and to God in Chriſt, a Chriſtian hath all things that appertain to Life and Godlineſs, through the knowledge of God our Saviour, 2 Pet. 1.3. Chriſt is our Alpha and Omega, of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to him be Glory for ever and eaer, Rom. 11.36.
Now what need all this great ado about working for Life, ſhewing the danger of this Doctrine, that it teacheth to abandon Nature, and ſuppoſeth us to do no more than other Men, and it makes all Motives uſeleſs, &c. Whereas if Men will not have perverſe Minds, they muſt own and acknowledge the ſame things that they oppoſe, unleſs they will deny their own Reaſon. But when a Spirit of Contradiction prevails, there is nothing but Quirks, Sophiſms and Equivocations can take place with Men.
And notwithſtanding all your Noiſe and Authority, to work for Life in the true Sence, it is to act as by and under a Covenant of Works; it's to work for Life as Wages, and to gain a Right and Title thereby, and ſuch a Principle will abandon the Grace of the Goſpel: It will teach to violate all the Precepts and Principles of the Goſpel, it will elude all the Promiſes, and lay a Man under the full Rigour of the Law, and will never be any effective Motive to acceptable Duty. It is a Fault it ſelf that lies under the blackeſt Mark, and of as dangerous Conſequence as any the Goſpel cautions us againſt, and warns to take heed of ſeeking the eſtabliſhing our own Righteouſneſs.
That true Goſpel Diſcourſe of Worthy Mr. Vink at the Morning-Lecture will tell you better things, on 2 Tim. 2.19. wherein he ſhews, That Goſpel Grace is the beſt Motive to Holineſs. He ſaith—
Our buſineſs is to enquire after what we propound in our Obedience. If it be to expiate for my paſt Offences, or to merit undeſerved Favours, it muſt needs be abominable in the ſight of God, being the higheſt act of Pride or Preſumption that can be imagined, let our Works be what they will (though the beſt are but filthy Rags) if they be offered unto God by way of Barter or Exchange; they become moſt abominable, as if God ſtood in need of ſomething that we have— To depart from Iniquity, or to labour in Holineſs, in order to expreſs our Thankfulneſs unto God for his Mercies in Jeſus Chriſt, is moſt grateful and moſt forcible.
Again, Love unto God for all his Glorious Excellencies, eſpecially for his Mercy in Chriſt Jeſus, is the beſt Principle of Holineſs, and our departing from Iniquity, and this Love is begun and flows from God's Love firſt.
—He that Acts according to any of God's Commandments out of hope to Merit by them, may Act out of Love indeed, but it muſt be then Self-love, to obtain, as he vainly thinks, by his Obedience Eternal Happineſs. Our Love of God ſhould exceed Self-love as far as God himſelf exceeds, which is Infinitely. Our Love of God is a Vertue, and the Foundation of the reſt. Our Love of our ſelves, thus taken, is a Sin, a Mother Sin, the cauſe of all the reſt of our Sins, &c.
I am miſtaken if I find not this Doctrine of working for Life according to your ſence, exactly in the Council of Trent, Decree XVI.
Grace propoſeth to the Juſt the Exerciſe of Good Works, by which Eternal Life is gained, as Grace promiſed by the Mercy of God, and a Reward due to Good Works by the Divine Promiſe. And it concludeth, This Doctrine doth not eſtabliſh any Righteouſneſs of our own, refuſing the Righteouſneſs of God; but the ſame is ſaid to be in us, and of God, being infuſed by him for the Merit of Chriſt.
Calvin.
But Mr. Neonomian ſaith in his Reply, It's vain and falſe, Mr. Antinomian, that you ſay, that you are only againſt ſetting Graces and Holineſs in the place of Chriſt.
Antinom.
He that reads my Sermons muſt needs ſee the Truth of that Aſſertion; I have nothing to ſay to ſuch as only depend upon Mr. Neonomian's report.
Neonom.
He reckons they are put in Chriſt's place, though they be affirmed but as Means and Conditions antecedently neceſſary by Divine Appointment to obtain any Bleſſing for the ſake of Chriſt's Merits.
Antinom.
And well I may, if Men muſt be gracious and holy antecedently to any Bleſſing, for the ſake of Chriſt's Merits, and by vertue of that Antecedent Grace and Holineſs do obtain Bleſſings for the ſake of Chriſt's Merits; I think you outſtrip the Papiſts here in the Doctrine of Merit.
Neonom.
His Principles are, That Faith is not ſo much as an Inſtrument whereby we are united to Chriſt or Juſtified. P. 616.
Antinom.
He ſpeaks not there of Faith as an Inſtrument, but he doth ſpeak of it as ſuch, P. 597. where he ſaith— Faith is not the Inſtrument Radically to unite Chriſt and the Soul together, but rather is the Fruit that flows from Chriſt the Root, being united before-hand [by the Spirit] to the Perſons that do believe.
Neonom.
2. That Chriſt brings us all good things when we are ungodly, ſo it's in vain to do any thing to obtain theſe. P. 41.
Antinom.
He ſpeaks there of Juſtification by Faith alone, without Works— And we are delivered from Wrath before we ſtep a ſtep into Duties; and we do not the Duty to be delivered, but we do the Duty becauſe we are delivered; and ſeeing all theſe are ſettled by Chriſt for us, of Free Gift; all we do is for Chriſt himſelf; I ſay, that we do, we do for Chriſt, and not for our ſelves.
Neonom.
He ſaith, Obedience is not the way to Heaven, and Sanctification is not the way to a Juſtified Perſon.
Antinom.
No, Sanctification is not the way of Juſtification; he ſpeaks of the way of Juſtification; we are not according to his Divinity Juſtified by Inherent Holineſs or Righteouſneſs, though we are according to yours. And he tells you, Sanctification is our buſineſs in Chriſt the Way; for whatever Duty is performed acceptably, muſt be wrought by Faith in Chriſt Jeſus; we are Sanctified in Chriſt, Chriſt is the true way of Sanctification.
Neonom.
He ſaith, He ſhould not have the leaſt Thought in his Heart of promoting or advancing himſelf, or any end of his own, by doing what he doth.
Antinom.
You know this thing is no new Doctrine. It uſe to be one of the ſigns and marks of Truth of Grace, when we Act in Duty ſingly for the Glory of God, and not for ſelfiſh and ſiniſter ends and deſigns, but this is ſpoken to ſufficiently before.