The Measures of Christian Obedience, Book 1 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Of Pardon promised to Confession of Sins, and to Conversion.
The CONTENTS.
Of Pardon promised to Confession of Sins. The nature and qualifications of a Saving Confession. Its fitness to make us forsake Sin. The ineffectiveness of most mens Confessions. The folly and impiety of it. Pardon promised to Confession no further than it produces Obedience. Of Pardon promised to Conversion. The nature of Conversion. It includes Obedience, and is but another name for it.
FOurthly, That condition of Life and Pardon which the Gospel indispensably exacts of us, and whereupon at the last day Christ will accept and reward us, is sometimes called Confession of our Sins to God. When we acknowledge them, God will be sure to pardon them; he has engaged his word and faithfulness for it, and so cannot recede from it: If we aLevit. 26.40.42.confess our Sins, says St John, God is just and FAITHFVL to forgive us our Sins, 1 Joh. 1.9.
Now as for this Confession of our Sins, whereupon God promises mercifully to forgive them, it is not a bare naming of them, or giving in an Historical Catalogue of them to Almighty God, that he may know them and be informed of them. No, he sees all our thoughts afar off, and our actions long before. We cannot inform him when we lay open our transgressions before him; for we could never find any place wherein to act them so retired, but it was under his eye; nor any time and circumstances so secret, as to escape his knowledge. So that our Confession cannot be to instruct him; but only to shame, and to humble, and to work other effects in our own selves. And therefore it must not be a bare recital of such offences as we have committed; but an acknowledgment duly qualified, and accompanied with such tempers of mind, as will lead us on to forsake and amend them.
It is a Confessing of them with shame, with an humble debasement, and sense of our unworthiness, who could ever be so vile as to be guilty of them. And such was Ezra's Confession, Ezra 9. O my God, saith he, I am ASHAMED and blush to lift up my face to thee my God, for our iniquities are encreased over our head, and our trespasses are grown up unto the Heavens, vers. 6.
It is an acknowledgment of them with hatred and detestation, as things that are utterly odious and loathsome to us, which therefore we are prone to fly from, as from what is most offensive. And such is that Confession whereunto God directs the Jews by his Prophet Ezekiel, Ye shall remember your ways, saith he, and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall LOATH your selves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed, Ezekiel 20.43.
It is a recital of them with sorrow of mind, and a troubled heart; with such pain as we use to feel in those things which most afflict us: which therefore we are forward to avoid, as what creates the greatest torment. And such was that of St Peter, who when he remembred, and made mention of his Sin to God, wept, saith the Text, bitterly, Matt. 26.75. And of David, who tells us in the 38. Psalm, that when he declares to God his iniquity, he will be SORRY for his Sin, vers. 18.
It is a Confession of them, with a resolution, upon all this shame and sorrow which we have undergone for them, never more to be reconciled to them, or to act them over again and repeat them. A Confession of the mouth, that is accompanied with a turn and change of the heart, which is now set as much against them, as formerly it was inclined to them. And such was that Confession which Wise Solomon durst recommend to Gods mercy, and beg him to accept of for mens Pardon and Forgiveness. If they Repent, saith he, and say we have done perversly, we have committed wickedness: and so RETVRN unto thee with all their hearts, and all their soul: then hear their prayer, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed, 1 Kings 8.47, 48, 49, 50.
It is such an acknowledgment of our Sins, lastly, as undoes, so far as is possible, all that which we had done wickedly; and makes all just and sufficient recompence▪ and satisfaction for them. And this is that acknowledgment of all Sins of injustice, which God himself prescribes. When a Man or Woman, saith he, shall commit any sin of injury and wrong, that men commit one against another, to do a trespass thereby against the Lord, and that person be guilty: then shall they confess their Sin that they have done, and shall RECOMPENCE their Trespass with the principle thereof, or the thing it self which they took away wrongfully, and shall add moreover unto it a fifth part more thereof, and give it unto him against whom they trespassed, Numb. 5.6, 7.
Now a Confession of our Sins thus qualified, viz. a Confession of them with blushing and being ashamed of them; with an implacable hatred and loathing indignation of them, with bitter sorrow for them; with firm purpose and resolution against them, and with all possible endeavours to undo them by making just recompence and satisfaction: A Confession, I say, thus attended is a most natural cause, and powerful principle of our leaving and forsaking them. The four first concomitant tempers, are all most effectual causes of better obedience and reformation; and the last, viz. making of satisfaction, is an instance and effect of it. Shame, and sorrow, and hatred are the great rules and measures of what we shall forsake, the prime springs and directors of all aversation and avoidance. Nothing is more natural for us, than to be slow to do that we are ashamed of; to avoid what we hate; to turn away from that which grieves and torments us. So that if once disobedience fall under these passions, it has lost all its interest, and will surely be excluded from the service of our works and actions. Our passions oppose it, and our wills are set against it: and when both these are not only got loose from it, but also most resolutely contend with it; it is wholly bereft of all its power, and can do nothing in us. We have no temptation to pursue it further; we are weary of it, and offended at it, and so are sure to leave and forsake it.
And because this Confession, thus qualified and attended as we have seen, is so genuine a cause of better obedience and reformation: therefore alone it is that so great things are spoken of it. When God says he that confesses his sin shall find mercy, he means he that confesses and forsakes it, that acknowledges his offences in such sort, as to renounce them and become obedient. His speech is m…tonymical, he implies Obedience, although he doth not mention it. For no Confession of sin will serve any mans turn at the last day, except he leave it, and in his life and actions bid adieu to it.
The world indeed, abounds with another sort of Confession, which costs less, and effects nothing. They confess their sins without shame, and relate them without sorrow, and name them without hatred; they recite them to God without resolving against them, and acknowledge them daily without any amends, or making any recompence and satisfaction for them. For they cannot but be hardned against shame, who day by day, if not several times every day, have the face to tell God that they have rebell'd against him; and yet never endeavour to come with another story by disavowing and forsaking their Rebellion. They must needs be void of sorrow for sin, who will never keep back from it: it cannot but please them, so long as they continue to pursue it. For they would not continually repeat their pain, and at every turn act over again their own torment and vexation. It is beyond all doubt that they do not hate but entirely love disobedience, so long as they slip no opportunities of acting it. They are plainly resolved upon it, whilst they are most firmly fixt, and forward to embrace it. And since notwithstanding all their hideous Confessions, they stand ready still to close with their Sin upon the first meeting, and to repeat what they confessed upon the next occasion; it is plain that their hearts were never against it, whatever their words were. They only shewed their wit, but not their passions or perswasion; they declaimed against it, but all the while they meant no hurt to it. For even whilst they inveighed against the baseness, the loathsomness, the destructiveness of their Sin; their own heart did not believe it. They did no more but spare God their tongues, and speak what he pleased: but for their souls and actions, they reserved them for their Lusts, and would like and do what they pleased themselves.
But can any man be so blind as to think, that such a Confession of Sins as this can in any wise please God, and procure his Pardon? Has he any kindness for our Sins, that he should take delight to hear them spoken of? Are they so acceptable a service, that we may hope to gain his favour barely by reciting them in his presence? No, he hates them as things that are most loathsome to him, and will not endure to have them mentioned without real detestation. Is any man so weak as to think that he honours God, merely by reckoning up his own offences? That he gives glory unto him by declaring to his face how vilely he has affronted and despised him? To Confess thus, is to bNovum monstri genus, …adem pene omnes j…giter fa…iu…t, quae fecisse se plangunt; & qui intrant Ecclesiasticam Domum ut mala anti …ua d…fleant, exeunt ut moliantur— Et sic oratio eorum RIXA est magis Criminum, quam exoratrix. Salvian de Gub. l. 3. p. 89. Ed. Oxon.reproach him to his face, and boldly to defie him. It is a telling of him that we have disobeyed, and are resolved to go on in it: an open profession and avowing of our Rebellion, without any real signs or approach to amendment and due subjection. It is a transgressing bare-faced, an addition of impudence to sin; a continuing daily to Rebel against him, and yet coming as daily into his very presence to declare and own our continued Rebellions. And this now is not to supplicate, but to defie; not to beg peace, but to declare enmity; it is by no means the way to soften and appease, but a most effectual course to exasperate, and implacably to provoke him.
But then to go on still further, and to pretend to him that we are sorry at our heart, and loath our selves for having sinned against him, and are resolved to do so no more; when really, as our after-actions (which are the truest interpreters of our hearts and minds) declare, there is no such thing: this is to add mockery to sin, and a fresh affront to our former disobedience. It is most grossly to play the hypocrite, and in the most fulsome fashion to dissemble with him. It is an endeavouring to put tricks upon the Almighty; a tryal of his skill; a seeking to delude and impose upon an infinitely wise and all-seeing God, by such thin pretences as cannot but be seen through and discovered by any ordinary Man. But let no Man vainly deceive himself, for God is not mocked; nor can all the arts of Earth and Hell out-wit and go beyond him. No, he sees clearly through all this hypocrisie, and he will most severely punish it. And when he comes to judge of mens Confessions at the last day, he will then, in the face of all the world, distinguish reality from complement; an acknowledgment of Repentance, from one of form and custom; and will for ever reward the first, whilst he punishes Eternally the latter. He will Pardon no Confession of our Sins at that day, but only such as is sorrowful, penitent, and obedient; we must amend those faults that we confess, before we can with reason hope that he will accept us.
And for this the Scripture is clear. It is only our returning upon Confession that shall be rewarded and forgiven. If they Repent, says Solomon, and SAY, we have done perversly, we have committed wickedness; and so RETVRN unto the Lord with all their heart and all their soul: Then HEAR their Prayer, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, 1 King 8.47, 48, 49, 50. And to name but one place more, these words of Solomon are full and home to the purpose, He who Confesses, and FORSAKES his Sin shall find mercy, Prov. 28.13.
That Confession of our Sins then whereupon Christ our Judge will at the last day accept and Pardon us, is such only as ends in Reformation and Obedience. The service of our lives must go along with that of our lips; we must do as we say, and avoid what we condemn, before we can safely trust, that God will Sentence us to that Mercy and Life, which are not the rewards of idle acknowledgments, but only of a confessing obedience.
Fifthly, This Gospel condition of Life and Pardon is sometimes call'd Conversion. Without this we can have no hopes of happiness; For except ye be CONVERTED, says our Saviour, and become as little Children, as void as they are of all former impressions and courses, and free to enter upon new ones, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, Matt. 18.3. But if our Conversion goes before, Gods Pardon is sure to follow after; that being the duty, and this the reward. Repent, and be CONVERTED, says the Apostle Peter, that your Sins may be blotted out, Act. 3.19. Conversion sets us without the reach of Death, and beyond the precincts of Damnation; for he who Converts a Sinner from the error of his way, doth save a Soul from DEATH, Jam. 5.20.
Now our Conversion from Sin to God, is nothing else but our Obedience in another word. For it denotes a turn and a change, not only of our wills and desires; but withal, and that principally, of our works and actions. For our course of actions is in the familiar, and customary use of the Scriptures call'd our way; our Conversation, walking; and our particular actions, so many several steps: and our turning out of a course of Sin and Transgression, into a course of Righteousness and Obedience, being like the turning out of a wrong way into a right, is call'd our turning from Sin, and our turning to God, i. e. in one word our Conversion. So that to be Converted, is nothing else in the Scripture language but to have the course of our works or actions turned, and from workers of sin, to become workers of obedience.
When Mercy and Life then are promised to our Conversion; they are not made over to any thing which is separate from Obedience, but to that only which denotes it, and is but another name for it. We are not Converted until we obey; so that Obedience still is that which must procure our peace, and capacitate us for Pardon and happiness when Christ comes to judge us.