Three Practical Essays, Essay 3
Essay the Third. Of Repentance.
CHAP. I. Of Repentance in General.
1. THE plain and express Condition upon which the Gospel promises Salvation to all Men, is Obedience or a Holy Life. The Time from which this Holy Life is to begin, is either Baptism or Confirmation; that is, the Time when those who are either at riper Years converted to the Christian Religion, or have from their Infancy been brought up in the Profession of it, come to a clear and distinct knowledge of their Duty. That from this Period every Man is obliged to persevere in a constant Course of Holiness, that is, in a continual and sincere, though weak and imperfect Obedience to all the Commands of God, the Gospel plainly declares to us: And that the glorious Rewards of Heaven should be at all promised to so small a Service, as the imperfect Obedience which weak, sinful, degenerate Man should be able to perform; is the Purchase of the Price of the Blood of the Son of God, and the Effect of the infinite Riches of the Divine Mercy made known to us by Christ. Had God therefore to those who had once been received to the Mercy of the Gospel, and had once been made partakers of the heavenly Gift, and had tasted the good Word of Heb. 6. 6.God and the Powers of the World to come, allowed no more Remission for wilful and presumptuous Sins; but accepted those only, who having once washed their Garments Rev. 1. 5, 7, 14.in the Blood of the Lamb, should from thenceforward keep themselves in a Gospel Sense pure and undefiled; yet had his Mercy been infinitely greater, than sinful Man could have deserved or expected. But such is the earnestness of God's Desire to make his Creatures Happy, and such the Abundance of the Grace made known by the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; that even to those who having been already admitted to the Mercy and Favour of the Gospel, and having received the Promise of a great and glorious Reward upon the Condition of an easie and most reasonable Obedience, and having been endued with the Earnest of his Holy Spirit, shall notwithstanding relapse after all this into wilful and deliberate Sins; even to these, I say, he has yet further granted, that if by a solemn Repentance they shall again unfeignedly renew their Obedience, and from that Period persevere in well-doing to the end, they shall yet attain to the Reward of the Faithful; and shall be saved as Fire-brands plucked out of the Fire, or as Men escaping upon a Plank after Shipwreck.
2. By Repentance therefore I would all along in this Essay be understood to mean, not that Repentance which is the constant Duty of all Christians; (who are indeed continually bound to repent in general of all those Slips and Infirmities, those Defects and Surprizes, which by the Condition of the Gospel-Covenant are most readily pardoned:) For this Repentance is not properly a new Period or Beginning of a Holy Life; but a necessary and continued part of that imperfect Obedience, which Man in this degenerate State is capable of performing, and which God has in his Gospel declared that he will always accept instead of perfect Innocence: But by Repentance I here understand that Repentance, which is an entire change of Heart and Mind, a turning from Darkness to Light, and from the power of Satan unto God; whereby those who by wilful and deadly Sins have left their first Estate, and forfeited their Title to the Crown of Righteousness, are to begin anew their Obedience, in order to recover the Mercy and Favour of God: And that no one may be perplexed with vain Scruples, and unreasonable Fears; this Repentance is such as plainly no Man is obliged to, but those who are guilty of great and deliberate Sins; of Blasphemy, Perjury, open Profaneness, or contempt of Religion; of Murder, Sedition, Theft, manifest and designed Injustice, Hatred, Fraud, Wrong, or Oppression; of Adulteries, Fornications, Uncleannesses, or habitual Drunkenness and Intemperance; or of some other Sins either maliciously wilful, or notoriously habitual.
CHAP. II. That God allows Repentance even to the greatest of Sinners.
1. IN the Primitive Church there was †Novatians.a Sect of Men, who upon a mistaken Interpretation of some Passages of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, contended that there was *foreign [sc. in Baptismo▪ ] foreign. Epiphan. …ar. 59.no more place of Repentance allowed to those who after Baptism should fall into any of these wilful and deliberate Sins: They taught that in Baptism indeed all manner of Sin and Blasphemy whatsoever, was forgiven Men absolutely, and wash'd away by the Blood of Christ; but that if after that great Remission they sinned again wilfully and presumptuously, they could no more obtain any further Pardon, than the Death of Christ, that great Sacrifice for Sin, could be repeated; and that therefore however they should sincerely repent, yet there now remained nothingHeb. 10. 27. more for them, but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation, which should devour the Adversary. But that this was a great mistake; and that God does admit even the greatest of Sinners, upon their true Repentance, to Forgiveness and Pardon, is evident both from the Nature of God, and the Design of Christianity; from the Practice of the Apostles, and from the general Sense of the Primitive Church.
2. God is a Being, as of infinite Purity and Holiness, so also of infinite Goodness and Mercy; and as he cannot possibly be reconciled to Men, so long as they continue wicked; so when ever they cease to be so, and return again to the Obedience of Gods Commands, and to the imitation of his Nature, we cannot suppose but that he will again admit them to his Pardon and Favour. Goodness and Mercy are our most natural Notions of God; and the Discoveries which he hath made of himself by Revelation, are most exactly agreeable thereto. At the passing by of his Glory before Moses, he proclaimed himself, The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in Goodness and Truth, forgiving Iniquities, Transgressions and Sins, Exod. 34. 6. By the Prophets he declares and swears by himself, As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live, Ezek. 33. 1…. And above all, by that stupendous Instance of Mercy, the sending his only Son out of his Bosom to give himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of Men, he has discovered such an earnest desire of our Reconciliation and Salvation, as will be the everlasting subject of the Praises of Men and the Admiration of Angels. If therefore God, when he had made a Covenant of perfect Obedience, and had not promised Pardon at all, to great and presumptuous Sins, did yet give Pardon, and declare also to the Jews by his Prophets that he would do so: And if, when Men were yet Enemies to him, he was so willing that not any should perish, but all should come to Repentance; 2 Pet. 3. 9.yea so desirous to have all Men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the Truth; that he not only spared not his own Son, to1 Tim. 2. 4. deliver him up for us all, but tells us even of Joy in Heaven at a Sinners accepting the gracious Terms of the Gospel, and represents himself as a tender Father running to meet his returning Prodigal, and falling uphis Neck and kissing him: If this, I say, was the Compassion which God shewed to Man, in his first sinful and miserable State; 'tis very reasonable to conclude and hope, that his Mercy is not so entirely exhausted at once, but that the same Pity may be yet further extended even to those also, who after the knowledge of the Truth having been seduced by the Temptations of the World and the Devil, to depart from God and to forsake their Duty, shall again return unto him with Sincerity and Perseverance.
3. The Design of the Gospel, is to teach Tit. 2. 12.us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world: And certainly whensoever it comes to have this effect upon a Man, it gives him a Title to the blessed Hope, and a well-grounded Assurance of Mercy at the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Foundation of the Christian Dispensation, upon which the whole Summ of Affairs is now established, is Faith and Repentance; and whensoever a Man so truly repents, as to purifie himself effectually from every evil Work, and by the Spirit mortifies the deeds of the Rom. 8. 1….Body, he shall certainly live. Our Saviour himself gives express Directions, when a Man's Christian Brother trespasses against him, to use all possible means to reclaim him, both by private and publick Reproof, before he rejects him utterly as a Heathen Man and a Publican: He commands us, though our Brother sins never so often against us, yet if he turns again and repents, to forgive him; and has promised upon this Condition, that we also shall in like manner find forgiveness at the Hands of God: And in the Epistles sent by the Apostle St. John to the Bishops of the Seven Churches of Asia, he exhorts them earnestly to remember from whence they were fallen, Rev. 2. 5.and to repent, and be zealous, and do their first works; and promises, that if upon this Invitation any Man would hear his Voice, and open the Door; that is, would be moved by these Exhortations to repent and amend, he would come in to him and sup with him; that is, would again receive himRev. 3. 20. to his Mercy and Favour.
4. Accordingly the Writings of the Apostles, though directed to Christians, are yet full of earnest Exhortations to Repentance; and their History contains many Instances of those who after great falls were thereby restored to their first state. St Peter exhorts Simon Magus, who thought the Gift of God could be bought with Money, to repent of this his wickedness; and gives him encouragement to hope, that he should thereupon obtain forgiveness, Acts 8. 22. St. John tells us, That if any Man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and he is the Propitiation for our Sins, 1 John 2. 2. St. James tells us, That if any one err from the Truth, and one convert him; he that converteth the Sinner from the Error of his way, shall save a Soul from Death, and shall hide a multitude of Sins, Jam. 5. 20. St. Jude advises us to have compassion of some, making a difference; and to save others with fear, pulling them out of the fire, ver. 23. St. Paul exhorts Timothy, to instruct in meekness those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the Snare of the Devil, who are taken Captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. 2. 25. He advises the Galatians, that if any Man be overtaken in a fault, they which are spiritual should restore such a one in the Spirit of meekness, considering themselves, lest they also be tempted, Gal. 6. 1. He threatens the Corinthians to excommunicate those who had sinned, and had not repented of their uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness, which they had committed, 2 Cor. 12. 21. And even the Incestuous Person, who had been guilty of such a Sin as was not so much as named among the Heathens themselves, he delivers indeed to Satan for the destruction of the Flesh, but it was that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, 1 Cor. 5. 5. For when the punishment which was inflicted of many, had been sufficient to reduce him to Repentance, he writes to the Church to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow, 2 Cor. 2. 7.
5. And this, excepting as I have said one Sect of Men, was the constant Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Church. To those who were yet Innocent, they thought indeed no Promises too great, and no Threatnings too severe, whereby they might make them infinitely careful to preserve their Innocence: But those who had already sinned, they incouraged to repent; and upon their Repentance admitted them again to the Peace of the Church, and to the Assurance of Pardon. They taught, that the *foreign. Epiphan. Haer. 59.Holy Word and Church of God, always admitted of true Repentance: That †Potest enim reduci ac liberari, si eum poeniteat actorum, & ad meliora conversus satis faciat Deo. Lactant. lib. 5. c. 24.he that had fallen, might yet recover and escape, if he repented truly of what was past, and for the future amended his Life, and made satisfaction to God: That ‖foreign. Clem. Alex. Strom. 2.God not only gave full Remission of Sins in Baptism, but allowed also to those, who should afterward sin, a further place of Repentance: That to †foreign. Clem. Alex. de eo Quis Dives, &c.every one who heartily and sincerely repents, God readily sets open a Door of Pardon, and the Holy Spirit returns again into a Mind purified from the pollutions of Sin: That *Vade & di… omnibus, ut poenitentiam agant, & vivent Deo; quia motus Dominus magra suâ clementiá misit me ut ponitentiam omnibus nu…ciarem, etiam eis qui non merentur propter facta sua … salutem; sed patiens eri… …ominus, & invitationem factam pe▪ …. i…m s…m … conserva…e. He… 3. 8.all Men who repent, even those who by reason of their great Sins did not deserve to have found any more Pardon, shall be saved; because God out of his great Compassion will be patient towards Men, and keep the Invitation which he hath made by his Son: That *foreign. Clem. Alex. de eo Quis Dives servandus.God will judge every Man in the Condition he finds him; and that therefore, as it will nothing avail a Man to have been formerly Righteous, if he at last grows wicked; so one who has formerly lived wickedly, may afterwards by Repentance and renewed Obedience blot out his past Transgressions, and attain to the Crown of Virtue and Immortality.
6. Thus that God admits even the greatest of Sinners to Repentance, is evident both from the Nature of God and the Design of the Gospel, from the Practice of the Apostles and from the constant Doctrine of the Primitive Church. But then to make this Repentance such, as will be acceptable to God and effectually available to obtain Pardon, there are several considerable Circumstances required: And these I think may be reduced to these Three; First, That it must be Early; Secondly, That it must be Great; and Thirdly, That it must be constant and persevering in its Effects.
CHAP. III. That true Repentance must be Early.
1. FIrst, That Repentance may be true and available to obtain Pardon, it is necessary that it be Early; that is, The Sinner must forsake his Vices so timely, as to obtain the Habits of the contrary Virtues, and to live in them: Otherwise he can have no security that his Repentance is hearty; or if it be, that it will be accepted by God.
2. First, We can never have any security that a late Repentance is hearty and sincere. A Man may very well at the amazing approach of Death and Judgment, be extreamly sorry that he has lived wickedly; he may strongly wish that he had lived the Life of the Righteous, and resolve, if he were to live over again, that he would do so; and yet all this may be meerly the Passion, and not at all the Duty of Repentance. The Duty of Repentance, is an entire change of Mind, and an effectual reformation of Life: But the Passion of Sorrow and Remorse, is such as accursed Spirits shall be for ever tormented with in vain; and such as a dying Penitent can never be secure that this late Repentance will exceed. Many upon a Bed of Sickness, have made all the holy Vows and pious Resolutions that could be desired; nay, perhaps there is hardly any wicked Man, who when he thinks he is about to die, does not desire and design to amend; yet how few are there of these, who if they recover, do ever make good those Vows and Resolutions? And no late Penitent can ever be sure, that this would not be his own Case. When an habitual Sinner is in Time convinced of the evil of his ways, and resolves and endeavours in earnest to reform, while he has Life, and Health, and Strength to do it; yet seldom does he at the first trial work himself up to such an effectual and prevailing Resolution against his Sin, as to change his whole course of Life in an instant, and at once deliver himself out of the Bondage of Corruption, into the Rom. 8. 2….glorious Liberty of the Children of God: Usually he proceeds by degrees; and after many Relapses and renewed Resolutions, arrives at last to a settled and steady course of Piety. How much less then can a late Penitent, who labours under all the contrary disadvantages, ever be secure that his Repentance will be sincere, and his Resolutions effectual enough, to translate him at one effort from the Power of Darkness, into the Kingdom of God?
3. For this Reason the Ancients never admitted any to the Peace and Communion of the Church, who began not their Repentance before the time of Sickness. Those, saith *Et idcirco poenitentiam non agentes, nec dolorem delictorum suorum toto corde & manifestâ lamentationis suae professione testantes, prohibendos omnino censemus à spe Communicationis & Pacis, si in infirmitate atque in periculo caeperint deprecari; quia rogare illos non delicti poenitentia, sed mortis urgentis admonitio compellit; nec dignus est in morte accipere solatium, qui se non cogitavit esse moriturum. Cyprian Ep 52.St. Cyprian, who would not in time repent, and by publick Lamentation testifie their hearty Sorrow for their Sins, we utterly reject from all hope of Peace and Reconciliation, if in the time of Sickness and Danger they begin to intreat; because then 'tis not true Repentance for their Sin, but the fear of approaching Death, that drives them to beg for Mercy; and no one is worthy to receive any comfort in Death, who never considered before hand that he was to die.
4. But, Secondly, Supposing a late Repentance to be hearty and sincere, yet have we no positive and absolute Promise, that it shall be accepted. The plain and express Condition of the Covenant established by Christ, is a Holy Life; that is, a constant and persevering Obedience to all the Commands of God, (in a Gospel and Merciful Sense allowing for humane Weaknesses and Imperfections,) from the time of our Baptism, or of our coming to the knowledge of the Truth, until the end of our Lives: And the least that can possibly lay Claim to the Reward promised upon this Condition, is such a Repentance as produces the actual Obedience of at least some proportianable part of a Man's Life.
5. To say that the Original Condition of the Christian Covenant is such, that a Man may safely live wickedly all his Life, and satisfie all his Lusts and Appetites to the utmost, provided he does but leave off and forsake his Sins at the last; is really to take away the necessity of a Holy Life, and to undermine the very Foundation of all Virtue. For considering on the one hand how prevailing the Custom of the World, how deceitful the Temptations of the Devil, and how powerful the Assaults of Lust and Passion are; and on the other hand how seldom sudden Death happens, and how little the Excellency of the Christian Life is understood; it will be hard, according to this Doctrine, to find Arguments sufficiently strong, to move Men to repent and to reform immediately: If there be no other danger, but in sudden Death; and no greater malignity in Sin, than what may be cured by an easie and short Repentance at last; most Men will venture to be wicked at present, and trust to the opportunities of growing better afterward. Though therefore God may possibly have reserves of Mercy, which in event he may exercise towards Men in their last extremity; yet Originally 'tis certain the Gospel Covenant gives no assurance of Comfort, but either to a constant and persevering Holiness, or to a Repentance evidenced by actually renewed Obedience.
6. At Baptism indeed, or when ever we first come to the knowledge of the Truth, all past sins are so entirely forgiven and wash'd away by the Blood of Christ, that Repentance, though it has no time to evidence it self in the Fruits of Righteousness, is without all Controversie available to Salvation: But when Men who have by Baptism Covenanted solemnly with God for a Holy Life, and confirmed that Covenant by other repeated Promises and Resolutions, shall yet wilfully live in Sin; and notwithstanding the express Threatnings of our Saviour and his Apostles, that they who do so shall not inherit the Kingdom of God; notwithstanding the earnest Exhortations and Warnings of God's Ministers; and notwithstanding the perpetual Reproaches of their own Consciences, continue obstinately to do so; such Persons have no reason in the World to expect, that God will at last accept their late, unactive, and ineffectual Repentance. The penitent Thief was received by our Saviour, as any other Infidel undoubtedly may be, who towards the end of his Life is convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion, and heartily embraces it; but there is nothing like a Promise in Scripture, that the unactive Repentance of a Christian, who has lived all his Life in notorious Wickedness, shall be accepted at the Hour of Death: The Labourers who were hired into the Vineyard at the eleventh Hour, received indeed the same Wages with them that had born the burden and heat of the Day; but our Saviour has no where promised, that baptized and professed Christians, who are hired into the Vineyard in the Morning, if they riot away all the Day in Idleness and Wickedness, shall at Night be accepted for their professing their Sorrow that they have not wrought.
7. Let those Men consider these things, who resolve now to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season, and hope hereafter by a late Repentance to get a share also in the eternal Rewards of Virtue. Let them consider that they may be cut off in the midst of their Hopes; or that *foreign. Arrian. in Epictet. l. 4. c. 12.they may be as unwilling to repent hereafter, as they are at present: But above all let them consider, That though they should live to that time, when they shall be willing to leave their Sins, because the strength of their Temptations will cease; yet they cannot be sure, that God will then accept them. The express Condition of the Gospel is, that we seek first the Kingdom of God, that we deny our selves, and that we overcome the World: How slender therefore must be the hopes of those, who spend their Life and Strength in the enjoyments of this World, and make Religion not their first but their last Refuge? Are the Glories of Heaven so inconsiderable? Or, is the Duty we owe to God so small, that he should accept our coldest and most unwilling Service? Offer the Blind for Sacrifice; offer the Lame and Sick; Mal. 1. 7.offer it now unto thy Governour; will he be pleased with thee? How much less will God accept us, when we are *Non pudet te relicuias vitae tibi reservare, & id solum tempus bonae menti destinare, quod in nullam rem conferri possi…? Quam s…r…m est tunc videre incipere, cum desinendum est? Quae …am stul…a mortalitatis oblivio, in quinquagesimum & s… …gesimum annum dir…erre sana Consilia; & inde velle vitam inchoare, q…ò pa…ci perduserunt? Seneca de vitae brevitate c. 4.least fit to serve him, and in those Days wherein we our selves have no Pleasure?
8. Terrible are the Threatnings which the Scripture denounceth against those, who refuse to hear the Voice of God when he calleth, and to seek him whilst he may be found. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand and no Man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my Counsel, and would have none of my Reproof: I also will laugh at your Calamity, I will mock when your Fear cometh. When your Fear cometh as Desolation, and your Destruction cometh as a Whirlwind; when Distress and Anguish cometh upon you: Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated Knowledge, and did not chuse the Fear of the Lord, Prov. 1. 24, &c. When the Jews whom God had saved out of the Land of Egypt, and was grieved with them forty Years in the Wilderness, and had brought them to the Borders of the promised Canaan, despised that good Land, and refused to enter therein; he sware unto them in his Wrath that they should not enter into his Rest: And when afterward they resolved to go up and possess it, he suffered them not. Esau in like manner for one morsel of Bread sold Heb. 12. 17.his birthright: And afterward, when he would have inherited the Blessing, the Scripture tells us that he was rejected; for he found no place of Repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. All which things the Apostle declares plainly to be written for our Example; Lest there be any Fornicator, or profane Person among us, as Esau was; and lest any among us tempt God, as the Jews also tempted, and fall after the same Example of Unbelief.
9. Let those therefore who have yet the Time before them, consider what they have to do: Let them be careful to hearken unto the Voice of God to Day, whilst it is called to Day: Let them be zealous to improve that Time and those Talents wherewith God has blessed them; that when their Master cometh he may find them so doing, and bid them, as having been good and faithful Servants, to enter into the Joy of their Lord.
10. The Summ of this Point is this. When a Christian has lived wickedly all his Life, and comes at his last extremity to be convinced of his Folly, and to desire to Amend; how far the Mercy of God may possibly extend it self, we cannot tell; and therefore such a one is not to be absolutely swallowed up in compleat Despair: But to all those, who have yet any space and opportunity left, it ought to be strongly and perpetually inculcated, that the Gospel Covenant allows not the least hopes to any other Repentance, than such as has time to evidence it self in the actual and persevering Obedience of a Holy Life.
CHAP. IV. That true Repentance must be Great: And of Penance.
1. SEcondly, True Repentance ought to be very Great; that is, he that repents ought to affect his Mind with such a deep Sorrow and hatred of Sin, as will put him upon those afflictive Duties of Fasting, Watching, Praying, Humiliation, Liberal Alms, and the like.
2. And the Reason of this is; First, Because in many Cases Repentance cannot otherwise be evidenced to be real and sincere. True Repentance is an effectual change of Mind, and an actual amendment of Life: And as a bare change of Mind is not an acceptable Repentance, unless it produces an actual amendment of Life; so neither is a bare amendment of Life, unless it proceeds from a real change of Mind. There are many Cases, wherein a Man may leave off committing an habitual Sin, and yet not truly repent of it: Some accidental change of the Circumstances of his Life, some present worldly and temporal Interest, or some other like Cause, may restrain a Man from continuing in a customary Sin; and yet he may retain such an affection to it, such a readiness to return to it in his former Circumstances, or at least may have so little Hatred and Resolution against it, as may make him very far from a true Penitent. In all such Cases therefore, where a Man may break off a Sin upon any other Consideration, than the Love of God and a true Sense of Religion; 'tis necessary for the evidencing the Truth of his Repentance, and for the preserving him from imposing upon his own Mind, that he testifie his Sincerity and the Reality of his change of Mind, by some such afflictive, laborious, or expensive Duties, as will prove him to have indeed attained such a religious temper of Mind, as would be sufficient to preserve him in the like Circumstances from returning again to the same, or to any other the like wilful Sin. Were this rightly considered, Men would not so easily sin on securely at present, and impose upon themselves with vain hopes of growing better afterward with less Pains, when some particular alteration of their Circumstances of Life, or perhaps Age and Sickness, shall have removed their Temptations.
3. But Secondly, When amendment of Life does alone sufficiently evidence the sincerity of Repentance, (as generally and in most Cases it does,) yet ought those who have sinned to do something to testifie their Sorrow for past Offences, and to judge themselves, that they may not be 1 Cor. 11. 31.judged of the Lord. They ought to take *foreign. Clem. Alex. Strom. 2.Shame to themselves, that after having received the knowledge of the Truth, and having been made partakers of the heavenly Gift, and having tasted the good Word of God, and the Powers of the World to come they should again have returned to Sin and Folly: They ought to consider with Confusion of Face the Ingratitude of having again committed those things, which are so hateful to God that he has threatned to punish the continuance in them with everlasting Destruction, and would not once pardon them under a less Ransom than the Blood of his only Son: And these Considerations ought to work in them that Carefulness, that Indignation, that Fear, that vehement Desire, that Zeal, and2 Cor. 7. 10. that Revenge; of which (St. Paul tells us) consisteth that godly Sorrow, which worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of.
4. Thus when St. Peter had thrice denied his Master, the Consideration of the Shamefulness and Ingratitude of the thing, made him, when he thought thereon, weep bitterly. Thus when David had committed those crying Sins of Adultery and Murder, the Consideration of the foulness and baseness of the Fact, made him every night wash his Bed and water his Couch with his Tears; and extorted from him those bitter Complaints, of which the greatest part of his Penitential Psalms are made up. And all the Saints, who ever fell into any notorious Sin, were very *Omne tempus in exomologesi consummavit, plangens & lamentans, &c. Irenaeus lib. 1. cap. 9.severe in their Humiliation, earnestly desiring that God would give them their Punishment in this World, that their Spirit might be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus.
5. For this Reason St. James advises those who had sinned, to be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; to let their Laughter be turned to Mourning, and their Joy to Heaviness; and to humble themselves in the sight of the Lord, that he might lift them up. And the Primitive Church always taught, That *foreign. Clem. Alexandrin. foreign. Idem Strom. 4. foreign. Chrysostom. Homil. in Pentecost.Sins committed wilfully after the knowledge and belief of the Truth, were to be done away with Labour and Sorrow: That such Sins †Nunquid ergo protinus putas aboleri delicta eorum, qui agunt poenitentiam? Non proinde continuò. Sed oportet eum qui agit poenitentiam, affligere animam suam, & humilem animo se praestare in omni negotio, & vexationes multas variasque perferre. Hermas Lib. 3. Simil 7.were not immediately forgiven upon a Mans beginning to repent, but after he had afflicted his Soul, and humbled himself deeply, and undergone many Troubles: That the ‖Quam magna deliquimus, tam granditer defleamus; alto vulneri diligens & longa medicima non de…it; poenitentia crimine minor non fit.—Orare oportet impensius & rogare, diem luctu tranfigere, vigiliis noctes ac flectibus ducere, tempus omne lachrymosis lamentationibus occupare, stratos solo adhaerere cineri, in cilicio & sordibus volutari.—Incunctanter & largiter fiat operatio; census omnis in medelam vulneris erogetur. Cyprian. Serm. de Lapsis.afflictive Duties of Repentance ought to bear some proportion to the greatness of the Sin: That the Penitent ought to spend much time in Watching, Fasting, Praying, and giving much Alms: And that †In quantum non peperceris tibi, in tantum tibi Deus, crede, parcet. Tertul. de Poenit.by how much the more severely he judged himself here, by so much the more might he hope God would spare him, and be merciful to him hereafter.
6. 'Tis true, the Sin which the Ancients particularly respected, when they preached up the necessity of this severe Repentance, was no less than that of denying our Saviour. But if we consider the Matter impartially, what great difference is there between renouncing Christianity, and living in an open and profane contempt of Religion; in the Practice of manifest Injustice, Fraud and Oppression; or in notorious and habitual Intemperance? Only *Quae justior venia in omnibus causis, quam Voluntarius an quam Invitus peccator implorat? Nemo volens negare [Christum] compellitur, nemo nolens fornicatur. Tertull. de Pud.they who denied Christ, did it being compelled by great and long Torments; but these other Vices are committed wilfully and of choice.
7. Very great Reason therefore there is, why those who have been guilty of great and wilful Sins, should enjoyn themselves a great and remarkable Repentance. But yet because after all, the End and Design, the whole Summ and Life of Repentance, is Reformation; therefore no Man ought to impose upon himself any other Penitential Severities, than such as are directly conducive to this main End. Ridiculous and foolish were the Penances enjoyned Men in the dark and more ignorant Ages of the Church; because they neither tended to improve the Virtues of Mens own Minds, nor to make Men more Useful and Beneficial to others: But such Penitential Exercises, as directly mortifie Mens Lusts and Passions, or lead them to be more Charitable and do more Good in the World; in these, by how much the Penitent is more strict and constant, by so much is he more secure of the Sincerity of his Repentance, and of the Fulness of his Pardon.
8. The best therefore, and the greatest, and the most effectual Repentance, that a Man can possibly exercise; is to endeavour to be so much the more careful in mortifying his Vices, and so much the more zealous in improving all Opportunities of doing Good, by how much he has formerly been more faulty in any Particular: And to resolve, by how much the more he hopes to have forgiven him, to Love so much the more. Let him, if he has been vanquished by any Temptation, †Repetet certamen suum miles, iterabit aciem, provocabit hostem, & quidem factus ad praelium fortior per dolorem. Qui sic Deo satisfecerit, qui poenitentiâ facti sui, qui pudore delicti plus virtutis & fidei de ipso lapsûs sui dolore conceperit, exauditus & adjutus à Domino, quam contristaverat nuper, laetam faciet Ecclesiam; nec jam solam Dei veniam merebitur, sed coronam. Cyprian. Serm. de Lapsis.resolve to strengthen himself so much the more against it, and to become for the future the more heroically Virtuous: He that thus endeavours to appease God, and by the Repentance, and Shame, and Sorrow of his past Faults is spurred on to exercise greater Faith, and Virtue, and Courage; such a one by the assistance of God may become a Joy to the Church, which he before made sorrowful; and shall obtain not only the Pardon of his Sins, but also the Crown of Righteousness.
9. Particularly, a Penitent ought above all things to endeavour after a great and fervent Charity. This is a Duty which *foreign. Clem. Alex. de eo quis dives, &c. foreign. Clem. Constitut. lib. c. 13.all wise and holy Men have in all Ages thought to have an especial Efficacy to procure Pardon of Sin: And very great are the Promises which are made to it in Scripture: Alms, saith the Son of Sirach, make an atonement for Sins, Ecclus. 3. 30. And Charity, saith St. Peter, shall cover a multitude of Sins, 1 Pet. 4. 8. And the merciful, saith our Saviour himself, shall obtain Mercy, Matth. 5. 7. Only Men must not hope by this or any other means to obtain *Nec tamen quia peccata largitione tolluntur, dari tibi licentiam peccandi putes: Abolentur enim, si Deo largiare quia peccaveras; si fiduciâ largiendi pecces, non abolentur. Lactant. lib. 6. cap. 13.a Liberty of continuing in Sin: For Charity shall procure forgiveness of Sins past, repented of, and forsaken; but not of Sins committed upon presumption of their being expiated thereby.
CHAP. V. That true Repentance must be Constant and Persevering in its Effects: And of the One Repentance of the Ancients.
1. THirdly and Lastly, True Repentance must be Constant and Persevering in its Effects; that is, it must put a Man into such a state, as †Hoc enim dico, poenitentiam quae per Dei gratiam ostensa & indicta nobis, in gratiam nos Domino revocat, semel cognitam atque susceptam, nunquam posthac iteratione delicti resignari oportere. Tertullian. de Poenit.that he will not any more return wilfully unto Sin. Till it arrive to this Pitch▪ Repentance is not true, and (however Men may deceive themselves with vain Imaginations about it,) can never be effectual to Salvation. The Condition that our Saviour expresly requires in his Gospel, is a continued Holy Life from the time of our knowing and embracing the Truth: But certainly he will never accept of any thing less, than a Life of Holiness and Persevering Obedience from some Period of Reformation and Repentance.
2. He therefore that repents, ought to be infinitely fearful of relapsing into Sin, †foreign. Clemens Alexandrinus, de eo, Quis Dives, &c.as one that is recovering out of a dangerous and almost mortal Sickness. When ever he wilfully relapses, he makes his Case worse than it was at first, and his Disease more in danger of being mortal: It becomes much harder for him to renew himself unto Repentance, and much more difficult to procure Pardon.
3. 'Tis true, evil Habits are not to be rooted out at once, and vicious Customs to be overcome in a moment. So long therefore as a Man does not return wilfully and deliberately into the habit of Sin, many Surprizes and Interruptions in the struggle with a customary Vice may be consistent with the Progress of Repentance: But 'tis then only that it becomes compleat and effectual, when †foreign. Id. Ibid. foreign. Id. Ibid.the evil habit is so entirely rooted out, that the Man from thenceforward obeys the Commandments of God without looking back, and returns no more to the Sins he has condemned.
4. Let no Man therefore think, that he has truly repented of any deadly Sin, so long as he continues to practise and repeat it. He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead Body, if he touch it again, what availeth his washing? So is it with a Man that fasteth for his Sins, and goeth again and doeth the same; who will hear his Prayer? Or what doth his humbling profit him? Ecclus. 34. 25. He may fast, and pray, and lament, and use all the apparent signs of Repentance imaginable; but †Cùm vidisset Dominus bonam atque puram poenitentiam eorum, & posse eos in eâ permanere, jussit eorum peccata deleri. Hermas 3. 9.God will never esteem his Repentance true, nor accept it as available to the forgiveness of Sin, till he sees it Pure, and Constant, and Persevering.Hortare homines ut poenitentiam agant, & poenitentia eorum munda siat reliquis diebus vitae eorum. Id. 2. 12.foreign. Clem. Alex. Strom. 2.
5. And this I understand to be the Reason, why the Ancient Church never allowed but one Repentance after Baptism. They taught that *Post vocationem illam magnam & sanctam siquis tentatus fuerit à Diabolo & peccaverit, unam poenitentiam habet: Si autem subinde peccet & poenitentiam agat, non proderit homini tali agenti; difficilè enim vivet Deo. Hermas 2. 4.if any one after that great and holy Calling should be tempted by the Devil and Sin, he had one space of Repentance; but if he should often Sin and Repent, it would not profit him; for he should hardly live unto God: They taught, That Man covenanted with God in Baptism for a Holy Life; but God foreseeing the Weakness of Man, and the Subtilty of the Devil, made Provision, †foreign. Clem. Alex. Strom. 2. Vide & Tertulliani librum de Poenitentiâ integr…m.that if any one, after that great and solemn Covenant, should either by the violence or deceitfulness of Temptation be drawn into gross and deadly Sin, he should still have another place of Repentance; but if after this he continued to go on in a Circle of Sinning and Repenting, that then he was to be look'd upon as no other than a Heathen and an Infidel, only as he differed in the wilfulness and in the guilt of his Sin: And according to this Doctrine did they constantly deal with their Penitents; always admitting those that repented to the Peace and Communion of the Church once; but if afterward they sinned oftner, and pretended to Repent, excluding them utterly.
6. Now by this 'tis plain they did not mean, that if any one sinned and repented, and after that sinned again, that such a one was utterly lost, and absolutely excluded from all hope of finding further Mercy and Pardon with God: For *Quamvis enim cautè & salubriter provisum sit, ut locus illius humillimae poenitentiae semel in Ecclesiâ concedatur, nè medicina vilis minùs utilis esset aegrotis, quae tanto magis utilis est quanto minus contemptibilis fuerit; quis tamen audeat Deo dicere, quare huic homini, qui post poenitentiam primam rursus se laqueis iniquitatis obstrinxit, iterum parcis? Augustinus.though the Church wisely appointed, that a place of publick Repentance for great and scandalous Sins should be allowed but once, lest the Remedy by being made too easie should grow useless and contemptible; (as afterward by Experience it was found to do;) yet no Man presumed to set Limits to the Mercy and Forgiveness of God. And therefore they always exhorted and incouraged Men to Repent so long as they had Life and Health. Let us Repent, saith †foreign Clemens ad Cor. 2.St. Clement, whilst we are yet upon the Earth: For we are as Clay in the Hand of the Potter. For as the Potter if he make a Vessel, and it be mishaped in his Hands or broken, forms it anew; but if he has gone so far as to throw it into the Furnace of Fire, he can no more remedy it: So we while we are in this World, let us repent with our whole Heart of all the Evil we have done in the Flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord. For, after we shall have departed out of this World, we shall have no Place to confess our Sins or to repent any more.
7. The Primitive Church therefore, I say, by allowing but One Repentance for great Crimes committed after Baptism, did not mean that true Repentance would at any time be in vain or unacceptable in the sight of God: But because Repentance *foreign Clem. Alexand. Strom. 2.never is true and effectual, till it restore a Man to such a state of new Obedience, that he will not wilfully fall into gross and scandalous Sins any more; and because he that having once done long and publick Penance for a gross and scandalous Crime, did yet afterward fall into the same or the like again, could not possibly give any greater Evidence of the sincerity of his Repentance to the Church, than he had done before; therefore they did †Placuit his ulterius non esse dandam communionem, nè lusisse de dominicâ communione videantur. Concil. Elib. Can. 2.not think fit to admit such relapsed Criminals to the Peace and Communion of the Church any more, lest they should again give occasion to blaspheme the Name of Christ and his Holy Religion.
8. Thus infinitely solicitous were those holy Men, not to give Men the least possible encouragement to continue in Sin, and yet very careful at the same time not to drive any Man to Despair. Let us consider these things; and while we rightly maintain that true Repentance cannot at any time be in vain or ineffectual to procure Pardon, let us be careful not to entertain any such Notions of Repentance, as will take away the Necessity of a Holy Life, and that Persevering Obedience, which is the express and indispensable Condition of the Gospel-Covenant.
THE END.
End of the text · Samuel Clarke, Three Practical Essays (1699)