A Golden Mine Opened, Sermon 8
JOHN X. 28. And I give unto them Eternal Life, and they ſhall never periſh, neither ſhall any pluck them out of my Hand.
Serm. VI.I Cloſed with the 27th Verſe the laſt Day; and ſhall now come to the great Subject, which at firſt I told you I ſhould (God aſſiſting) endeavour to demonſtrate and fully prove:
Namely, The final Perſeverance of the Saints of God, or Sheep of Jeſus Chriſt.
But that we may the more orderly proceed, we ſhall firſt conſider again the Parts of our Text.Parts of the Text.
1. You have an Account of a Gift given, which is expreſſed, Life.
2. The Nature of that Life explained, Eternal Life.
3. The Donor, or whoſe Gift it is, viz. Jeſus Chriſt's.
4. To whom the Gift is given, namely, to his Sheep.
5. The Certainty of their poſſeſſion of it, They ſhall never periſh, neither ſhall any Man pluck them out of my Hand.
Some read it, neither ſhall any; and from the Greek word foreign, The Terme explained.it may be better ſo rendred, viz. [any]; that is, any Enemy, neither Sin nor World, Men nor Devils, Things preſent nor Things to come; let all Enemies do what they can, I have them in my Hand, in my Power, in my keeping; as if our Bleſſed Lord ſhould ſay, And I will hold them faſt, and they ſhall be preſerved through Faith by my Power, and the Power of my Father who gave them me, unto Everlaſting Life, and periſh they ſhall not.
1. I give them Eternal Life: I now give it to them in the Seed thereof. Thoſe that Chriſt gives ſaving Grace unto, he gives Eternal Life unto. I give them the promiſe of it, and when they die, they ſhall have the actual poſſeſſion thereof.
2. They ſhall never periſh, that is, eternally periſh; they ſhall not die the ſecond Death, or be caſt into the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimſtone. They ſhall not come into Condemnation, or be eternally damned, as all Unbelievers ſhall be.
3. Neither ſhall any pluck them out of my Hand: No doubt by the Hand of Chriſt, is meant his Power, his Protection; the Lord's Hand is not ſhortned that it cannot ſave; he is able to ſave, it is in his Power to ſave.
They were delivered into Chriſt's Hand by that Holy Covenant or Compact made with the Father before the World began. And when they believe, (or by that Grace which he infuſes into them) he then takes actual and faſt hold of them; and there he will keep them, and never let his hold go.
They come therefore into Chriſt's Hand, upon the ſame Conſiderations by which they came to be his Sheep; which (as I have already opened) was ſeven manner of ways, viz.
1. By Election.
2. By that holy Covenant or Compact made between the Father and the Son.
3. By the Father's free Donation they were given into his Hand, delivered to him by the Father.
4. By Purchaſe he bought them, and ſo they came into his Hand.
5. By Regeneration or Transformation he hath wrought his Image upon them, and ſo brought them into his Hand.
6. By Conqueſt, he fought for them, and conquered their Enemies, and ſubdued their own filthy and rebellious Hearts, and ſo they came into his Hand.
7. They by a holy Reſignation of themſelves, (as being overcome by his Divine Grace) yielded themſelves up into his Hands. So that he hath a ſevenfold hold of them.
Secondly, Their being in Chriſt's Hand, denotes
1. His perſonal poſſeſſion of them, he being now entered upon the actual Adminiſtration of his Paſtoral Office.
2. It denotes the preſent actual Charge he hath taken of them, he having gathered and brought them home to his own Fold, and put them into his own Paſture.
3. It denotes alſo their great Safety and bleſſed Security, he being, as Mediator, every way inveſted, qualified, and endowed with Power and Authority to keep them; having received all Grace, yea, the Fulneſs of Grace from the Father, as well as an expreſs Command to ſupply all their Wants and Neceſſities, to ſubdue all their Enemies, and to preſerve them unto Eternal Life. So much ſhall ſerve us to the Explanation of the Terms of our Text.
I ſhall only obſerve three Propoſitions from hence.
Doct. 1. Everlaſting Life is a free Gift, or Salvation is wholly by Grace; it is only of God, and the Gift of Jeſus Chriſt.
Doct. 2. The Saints of God are committed into the Hand of Chriſt, he hath the Care and Charge of them.
Doct. 3. All the Saints, all Believers, or Sheep and Lambs of Jeſus Chriſt, have Everlaſting Life given to them; and they ſhall, every Soul of them, be ſaved, and none of them ſo fall away as eternally to periſh.
I ſhall ſpeak to the firſt and laſt of theſe Propoſitions, in which the Second will be comprehended.
In opening the firſt, I ſhall,
1. Shew what is meant by Eternal Life.
2. Shew how it appears that Salvation is a free Gift, or wholly by Grace.
3. Shew why Salvation, or Everlaſting Life, is a free Gift, or by Grace only.
4. Shew why Chriſt doth, and will give Eternal Life unto his Sheep.
5. And laſtly, I ſhall briefly apply it.
1. Queſt. What is meant by Eternal Life?
A three-fold Life of Man.Anſw. There is a three-fold Life of Man.
1. The Life of the Body, which is a natural Life, or the Life of Nature: In him we live, move, and have our Being. Neither count I my Life dear to me, ſo that I might finiſh my Courſe with Joy. He giveth to all Life, &c.Acts 20. 24. Acts 17. 25. All have this Life; Sinners as well as Saints have a natural Life.
2. There is a Spiritual Life, which is the Life of the Soul, the Life of a Saint, or of the New Creature; this is the Life of Grace. Gal. 2. 20.I am crucified with Chriſt. Nevertheleſs I live, yet not I, but Chriſt liveth in me; and the Life which I now live in the Fleſh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God, &c. The Dead ſhall hear the Voice of the Son of God; and they that hear, ſhall live; that is, their John 5. 25.Souls ſhall live, or be quickned and raiſed to a State of ſpiritual Life.
3. Eternal Life, that is properly the Life of Glory, or the Life of the other World, that Life which the glorified Saints poſſeſs above: The Wages of Sin is Death; but the Gift of God is Eternal Rom. 6. 23.Life through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord.
Object. But Chriſt ſays, I give them Eternal Life; He ſpeaks in the Preſent Tenſe.
Anſw. 1. I anſwer; you heard before that true and ſaving Grace is the Seed of Eternal Life, or the Seed of Glory to come, as Glory is the Harveſt of Grace.
2. Spiritual Life is the earneſt of Eternal Life. Now every Believer hath received the Spirit, which is the Earneſt of their Eternal Eph. 1. 13, 14.Inheritance: And thus they have it, as a Man that purchaſes an Inheritance, he gives Earneſt for it; and no ſooner that is done, but he cries, ſuch a Houſe, or ſuch Land, is mine; 'tis his by virtue of the Earneſt given, though he hath not yet the actual poſſeſſion of it: ſo it is here.
3. Chriſt gives his Saints Eternal Life. Now becauſe he gives them a ſure Title to it, he makes them a Deed of Gift of it; or ſeals unto them a Right, and legal Conveyance of it, as firm as the Law and Ordinance of Heaven. Now when a Perſon hath a true Right and Title, or Deed of Gift, made and ſealed to him of ſuch or ſuch an Eſtate, he may ſay he has the Eſtate, 'tis his own. And thus Believers have Everlaſting Life, or the Eternal Inheritance, i. e. they have a true Right and Title of it ſealed to them here by the Holy Spirit: After that ye believed, you were ſealed with the Spirit of Promiſe, which is the Earneſt of the Saints Inheritance, Eph. 1. 13, 14. Heb. 11. 1.&c. Faith is the Evidence of things not ſeen.
4. The Spirit of God, who is that Principle of Divine Life in the Soul of Believers, is Eternal. Chriſt is in us; every Believer hath Chriſt in poſſeſſion, and Chriſt is Eternal Life; and therefore he that hath the Son, hath Everlaſting Life: Theſe things have Joh 3. 36.I written unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God, that ye may know you have Eternal Life, &c. Jeſus Chriſt being in us 1 Joh. 5. 13.here, is more to us than the Hope of Glory, for he is Eternal Life *1 Joh. 5. 11, 20.; and the Soul of a Child of God, ſhall never loſe nor be diſpoſſeſſed of Chriſt, no not by Death it ſelf, therefore may be ſaid to have Eternal Life. They have Eternal Life abiding in them, becauſe they have the Spirit abiding in them; But the Water that I ſhall give him, ſhall be in him a Well of living Water, ſpringing up unto Everlaſting Joh. 4. 14.Life.
Query. Methinks I hear ſome doubting Soul ſay, O that I could but experience this Spiritual Life to be in me! How may I know I am made alive, and have Eternal Life given to me?
1. In anſwer to ſuch it is neceſſary to conſider, that all Adam's Poſterity by Nature are ſpiritually dead in Sin, or under a Privation of the Life of God, until ſpiritually quickned and made alive by Jeſus Chriſt.
2. Now as natural Death is made uſe of by the Spirit of God, to ſhew what ſpiritual Death is; ſo alſo natural Life is tropically made uſe of, to demonſtrate and diſcover ſpiritual Life.
A Man naturally dead,
1. Is cold; all Heat is gone, if long dead. So all unregenerate Perſons are ſpiritually Cold, or without any Divine Heat or Warmth in their Spirits; that Principle of internal Life Man had before he fell, being loſt and gone, he is cold as a Stone God ward, or in a ſpiritual Senſe.
2. A Man naturally dead cannot move, all power of Motion and Activity, or all vital Actings are gone alſo. So in Men ſpiritually dead, there is a Diſability or Impotency unto all ſpiritual things to be performed in a ſpiritual manner; they can perform or act ſpiritually no Act of Life, or do any thing that is abſolutely accepted of him: The carnal Mind is Enmity againſt God; it is not Rom. 8. 7, 8.ſubject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be.—So then they that are in the Fleſh cannot pleaſe God.
3. A Man naturally dead cannot breath nor ſpeak, no more can carnal Men: Men ſpiritually dead breath forth their Deſires in Prayer to God, they have no Tongue to ſpeak for God, or to pray to God acceptably; all they do is dead Service, all their Prayers and Works, are dead Prayers, dead Works, becauſe performed from Perſons ſpiritually dead, and not from a Principle of Divine Life.
4. A dead Man can't feel, ſee, nor hear: No more can ſuch who are dead in Sin, they cannot feel ſpiritually, they have a heavy Burden, a mighty Weight of Sin, Guilt and Wrath lying upon them, but feel it not: They are grievouſly wounded, but feel no pain, do not cry out; think they are well, and all nothing: They cannot ſee ſpiritual Objects, nor ſpiritual Things. Theſe Dead ſee not Jeſus Chriſt, ſee not his Beauty, his Glory; neither the Want of him, nor the Worth of him; the Eye of their Underſtanding is darkned, they have no Faith, which is the Eye of the new Creature: Nor can they hear in a ſpiritual Senſe, until, like dead Lazarus, they hear Chriſt's voice by his Spirit, and are made alive.
5. The Beauty of the Dead is gone, Death is gaſtly; ſo is the ſpiritual Beauty of the Soul gone, of thoſe who lie dead in Sin and Treſpaſſes.
6. The Bodies of thoſe who are naturally dead, are fit for nothing, they ſoon ſtink, and therefore muſt be buried and put under the Ground, being loathſom, &c. So ungodly Perſons who are ſpiritually dead, are loathſom in God's ſight, as filthy Carion, or a ſtinking Sepulchre is in ours, and are fit for nothing but to caſt into Hell, as abominable and hateful to the Holy Jehovah.
1. By theſe things therefore you may know, whether you are How to know we are ſpiritually alive.ſpiritually alive, or not; for if ſo, you are quickned and made alive by the Operations of the Spirit, and there is a Principle of Divine Life infuſed into your Souls: So that from a holy and new Nature, you can and do breath forth your Deſires freely and frequently to God, and ſee the excellency of ſpiritual Objects and Things; Chriſt is muſt precious and lovely in your ſight: Your Eyes ſee, and your Ears hear, and you have ſpiritual feeling, and you can and do act and move; that is, believe, repent, and obey God, with great Activity, and a ſtrong Propenſity, or gracious Inclinations of Heart: There is alſo much of the Beauty of Holineſs ſhining forth in your Lives.
2. This alſo by the way may ſerve to detect that Doctrine ſome, nay too many maintain, of the Power of the Creature: Arminianiſm detected.Alas, alas, what can the Dead do! For evident it is, that thoſe who are thus dead, have no Principle or firſt Power of living unto God, or to perform any Duty to be accepted of him: It is with them, as to all Acts and Ends of ſpiritual Life, as with the Body, as to the Acts and Ends of natural Life, when the Soul is departed from it; or elſe God would never ſay they are dead, call them dead. Does God make uſe of an improper Metaphor? Dare they affirm that? It muſt be ſo, if Man naturally be not dead, but wounded, in a ſpiritual Senſe only. True, a wicked Man is naturally alive, and his Soul is in his Body, and he is endowed with Vnderſtanding, Will and Affection, and may perform many Duties God requires of him: But what of this? for in ſpiritual Life the Holy Ghoſt is unto the Soul, what the Soul is unto the Body, in reſpect of natural Life, namely, the quickning Principle. And (as a Learned Author well obſerves) to deny ſuch a quickning Dr. Owen.Principle of ſpiritual Life, ſuperadded unto us by the Grace of Chriſt, diſtinct and ſeparate from the natural Faculties of the Soul, is upon the Matter to renounce the whole Goſpel: It is all one as to deny that Adam was created in the Image of God, which he loſt, and that we are renewed unto the Image of God by Jeſus Chriſt.
2dly. They may alſo as well aſſert, Man hath a creating Power; for Regeneration is called the New Creature, which is created 2 Cor. 5. 17. Eph. 1. 18, 19, 20.in us after the Image of God, according to his own glorious Power.
3dly. Therefore whatſoever Sinners act in ſpiritual Things, by their Underſtanding, Will or Affections, that are not renewed, they do it naturally, and not ſpiritually, and are therefore called dead Works. We may alſo from hence infer, what a mighty Bleſſing and Favour it is to be made ſpiritually alive. How ſhould ſuch admire God, and his Free Grace in Jeſus Chriſt; for as they have an internal holy Life, ſo they ſhall never die, but have eternal Life; nay, that this Eternal Life is begun in them here: I give them Eternal Life.
But to proceed.
Secondly. I am to ſhew how Salvation, or Everlaſting Life is a free Salvation a free Gift.Gift, or by Grace only.
1. Life and Salvation is of Grace in oppoſition to Nature, we have it not as the Product of Nature: Which were born, not of Blood, nor of the Will of the Fleſh, nor of the Will of Man, but of God. To Joh. 1. 13.be born, ſignifies to receive a Principle of Life; and thoſe that are the Children of God, have not that ſpiritual Life that is in them, from the Motions or Powers of Nature; not from the Power of Man's Will, nor from their fleſhly or natural Parts and Abilities, however improved.
2. Life and Salvation is wholly of Grace, or a free Gift, in oppoſition to Merit; we cannot purchaſe or procure it by our Acts of Obedience: By Grace are ye ſaved through Faith, and that not Epheſ. 2. 8, 9. Tit. 3. 5.of your ſelves; it is the Gift of God: not of Works, &c. Not by Works of Righteouſneſs which we have done, but according to his Mercy he ſaved us. Not the deſert of our Works, let them be what they will, either before or after Grace, but from God's own ſovereign Mercy and Goodneſs, whoſe Bowels yerned towards his Elect in Miſery: For the VVages of Sin is Death; but the Gift of God is Eternal Rom. 6. 23.Life through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord. Death Natural, Death Spiritual, and Death Eternal, are the Wages and Deſert of Sin: And who will deny a Servant his Wages? Wicked Men are the Servants of Sin, and they ſhall have their Wages. But though Death is the Wages or Merit of Sin, yet Eternal Life is not the Wages of our good Works; no, but the Gift of God, through the Righteouſneſs of Jeſus Chriſt: It is not by our Works, or for our Worthineſs. The Apoſtle, as our Annotators note, varies the Phraſe, on purpoſe to ſhew that Salvation is wholly of God's Grace, and not of our own Merits: 'Tis of Grace, or the Gift of God through Jeſus Chriſt, that is, through his Merits, De gratia & libero arbitrio, ſaith Auguſtine.
3. Life and Salvation is by Grace only, or the free Gift of God, in oppoſition to the Law: The Law could not give Life, that could not ſave us: For had there been a Law given that could have given Gal. 3. 21.Life, verily Righteouſneſs ſhould have been by the Law. The Law requires perfect Obedience, and lays every one under the Curſe, that continues not in all things that is written therein to do them. Gal. 2. 10.Therefore no Life by the Law; that being weak through the Fleſh, Man could not perfectly fulfil it, and ſo could have no Life by it.Rom. 8. 3.
4. Life and Salvation is the free Gift of God, in oppoſition to any acceptable Service done for it, by us; as ſome times great Gifts are beſtowed on Perſons for the ſake of ſome ſmall Service performed for them: But it is not ſo here, though Salvation be a Reward of Grace, yet it is not given for the ſake of any acceptable Service done by us; we know that a ſmall Matter ſometimes purchaſes that which is of great Value; but nothing we do, or can do, can purchaſe Life and Salvation for our Souls. True, Eternal Life is a Purchaſe, it is a Reward of Merit; but O miſtake me not, it is not of our purchaſing, it is no Reward for any Work done by us, but it is the Purchaſe of Jeſus Chriſt, the Reward of his Work, by his fulfilling of the Righteouſneſs of the Law for us in our Nature, in his holy and ſpotleſs Life, and by his ſatisfying the Juſtice of God for our breaking and violating of his Holy Law, which he did by the painful and curſed Death of his Croſs: For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Fleſh, Rom. 8. 3.God ſending his own Son in the likeneſs of ſinful Fleſh, and for Sin condemned Sin in the Fleſh; that the Righteouſneſs of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the Fleſh, but after the Spirit. That the Righteouſneſs of the Law might be fulfilled in us, that is, in our Head, Surety, and Repreſentative; for though we in our Perſons were utterly unable to do it, yet Chriſt having done it in our Behalf, and Nature, it is accepted, as if we had done it our ſelves, Chriſt's Righteouſneſs and Obedience being imputed to us who do believe: ſo that what he did and ſuffered, is accounted unto us as if we had done and ſuffered it; yet it was Chriſt that purchaſed Life, not we; he purchaſed, and we poſſeſs; he is the Redeemer, Rom. 3. 24, 25.we are the Redeemed; he merited all, and we have all freely of Grace through his Merits, or through that Redemption that is in his Blood.
5. Life and Salvation is a free Gift, or of Grace only, doth appear yet further, becauſe the Foundation thereof laid from before all Worlds, in God's eternal Election, was the Spring of it; and this was alone of God's own free Grace: There is a Remnant according Rom. 11. 6.to the Election of Grace. And if it be of Grace, then it is no more of Works, otherwiſe Grace is no more Grace. But if it be of Works, then it is no more of Grace, otherwiſe Works are no more Works.
This Oppoſition or Contrariety is not only between Grace and legal Works, but between Grace and all manner of Works whatſoever; becauſe it lies betwixt the Nature of Grace and Works, they are repugnant or contrary the one to the other, they can no more be the Cauſes or Motive of any one Action, than one individual thing can be White and Black in the ſame part, as a worthy Writer notes. Men are not elected partly of Grace and partly of Works foreſeen, but wholly of Grace; nothing but an Act of God's Sovereign Grace was the Cauſe and Motive of it.
6. Life and Salvation is a free Gift, or by Grace only, becauſe the Glorious Covenant between the Father and the Son, made and entred into before the World began, was alone of God's Grace, of his infinite Grace and Favour: God was at liberty (who foreſeeing Man's Fall and horrible Tranſgreſſion, he having forfeited all thoſe Bleſſings beſtowed originally upon him) whether he would or would not afford him any Help or Relief, but might have juſtly and utterly rejected the whole Race of Mankind, as he rejected all the Angels that ſinned, or kept not their firſt Eſtate.
Did Man, fallen Man, deſerve this Love, this Favour, who was become an Enemy to God? Was there any thing in Man that could be a Motive to move the Almighty to enter into this Covenant, to ſave ſo vile a Creature, ſuch a poor and deſpicable a Creature as Man became by his Sins, the Viſage of his very Soul being now loathſom, deformed, and abominable in the ſight of God, God's holy Image being utterly defaced, and all his Beauty gone, being beſmeared and covered all over with noiſom Filthineſs and Pollution, filled with Enmity and Hatred againſt God; dethroning his bleſſed Creator, and ſetting up the Devil in his Place; ſubjecting himſelf to that implacable Enemy of his, and caſting off his moſt holy and gracious Sovereign from whence he received his Breath and Being.
Nay, and in reſpect of God himſelf, it muſt needs appear to be wholly of Grace; could Redemption of Man add any thing to the eſſential Glory of God? Did he ſtand in need of Man to make him more happy or glorious in himſelf, who being an independent Being, had been eternally happy in the Injoyment of himſelf, had Man never been made, or had he left him under Wrath and Miſery? Or was he obliged to ſave us, and that he might do it, to ſend his own Son to die, and be made a Curſe for us? Or could he not have created other Creatures to have ſhewed forth his glorious Perfections? Or why might he not have ſent his Son to have taken hold of the Nature of Angels to have redeemed them, (who were his Creatures as well as fallen Man, and more glorious too than Man before they fell) and let Man have periſhed for ever, and not have entred into ſuch a Covenant of Grace with his own Son on his Behalf?
7. Life and Salvation therefore is a free Gift; it is wholly of Grace, becauſe we could not have obtained it unleſs God ſent his Son out of his own Boſom to effect it. The giving of Chriſt, and the Father's ſending of him into the World, is nothing but an Act of his own free Grace: God ſo loved the World, that he gave his only Joh. 3. 16.begotten Son, &c.
8. Becauſe Everlaſting Life is by Chriſt alone, nor could we have had it, except he died: I am … the Truth, and the Life; no Man John 14. 3, 4, 5.can come unto the Father but by … is by Faith, that it might be by Grace. But after that the … and Love of God our Saviour Tit. 3. 4, 5, 6, 7.appeared: Not by Works of Righteouſneſs that we have done, but according to his Mercy he ſaved us, by the waſhing of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghoſt: Which he ſhed on us abundantly, through Jeſus Chriſt; That being juſtified by his Grace, we ſhould be made Heirs, according to the Hope of Eternal Life.
Thus if we conſider the Riſe, the Spring, the Motive, and the Author of Everlaſting Life, all appears fully to be of God's Grace alone; but ſhould we proceed a little further as to the Means and Application of the Remedy, in order to intereſt in this Salvation, that is all of Free Grace alſo.
1. We are called and quickened by God's ſpecial Grace, according to his Eternal Purpoſe in Jeſus Chriſt: No Man could quicken himſelf. All rational Arguments, without Divine Influence, or an Almighty Power, will not bring our Souls into a State of Life. See how Paul aſcribes his Converſion and ſpecial Vocation Gal. 1. 15, 16.to God's Grace; But when it pleaſed God who ſeparated me from the Womb, and called me by his Grace, to reveal his Son in me, &c. Special Vocation is of God's Free Grace, who hath ſaved us, and 2 Tim. 1. 9.called us with an Holy Calling; not according to our Works, but according to his own Purpoſe and Grace which was given to us in Chriſt Jeſus before the World begun. We are quickened, renewed, or regenerated by Grace, through the Operations of the Holy Ghoſt.
2. Adoption is of Grace; Having predeſtinated us unto the Adoption Eph. 1. 5.of Children, to the Praiſe of the Glory of his Grace. As the Purpoſe was free, ſo is the Execution free alſo: That the Purpoſe of Rom. 9. 11.God, according to election might ſtand; not of Works, but of him that calleth. To them gave he Power to become the Sons of God, &c. The Privilege Joh. 1. 12.of being Sons and Daughters of God, is freely given to us, through Jeſus Chriſt: 'Tis through Chriſt, for that we might become Sons he became a Servant, and died the curſed Death of the Croſs for us, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might Gal. 4. 5.receive the Adoption of Sons.
3. Juſtification is wholly of Grace: Being juſtified freely by his Rom. 3. 24.Grace, through the Redemption that is in Jeſus Chriſt, without Works. Now to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that juſtifieth the Vngodly, Rom. 4. 5.his Faith is counted for Righteouſneſs: 'Tis not becauſe we are righteous in our ſelves, therefore we are juſtified; no but being juſtified by the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt, we are declared righteous in him; and this is wholly by God's free Grace.
4. Faith is a Grace, or a Gift freely given to all that believe: To you it is given in behalf of Chriſt, not only to believe on him, but to Phil. 1. 29. Eph. 2. 8.ſuffer for his ſake. For by Grace ye are ſaved through Faith, and that not of your ſelves, it is the Gift of God.
5. Repentance is of Grace: Him hath God exalted with his right Acts 5. 31.Hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Iſrael, &c. God in the New Covenant promiſes to take away the Heart of Stone, and to give a Heart of Fleſh; that is, a broken, tender, and Ezek. 36. 26. 2 Tim. 3. 26.a repenting Heart. If God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging the Truth. If God will give them a Power and an Heart to repent, it is his own free and gracious Gift to poor Sinners.
6. Forgiveneſs of Sin is alſo freely given of God; it is of Grace, through the Redemption that is in Jeſus Chriſt.Rom. 3. 25.
So that it appears Eternal Life, from the firſt to the laſt, is wholly of Grace, both the Author of it, the Means of it, and the End thereof, all is of Grace: Heaven it ſelf is the Gift of Grace; Fear not, little Flock; it is your Father's good Pleaſure to give you the Luke 12. 32. Rev. 2. 10.Kingdom. The Crown of Glory is the Gift of Chriſt: Be thou faithful unto Death, and I will give thee a Crown of Life. Take the Water of Life freely; buy Wine and Milk, without Money, and without Price. Salvation was contrived by Infinite Grace, and all Iſa. 55. 1, 2.things that do concur or accompany it are freely given: Bread of Life, and Water of Life, is freely given; A new Heart will I give them, and a new Spirit will I put into them. To you it is given to know the Myſteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, &c.
Thirdly, To proceed to the Grounds of the Point, I ſhall give Why Salvation is of Grace.you the Reaſons why Eternal Life is the Gift of Chriſt, or of the free Grace of God.
1. It is becauſe Sin and Death cannot be removed out of the Way to Life, but only by Jeſus Chriſt, and ſo by Grace only. The Law of God is broke, and Juſtice calls for Wrath and Vengeance to be executed upon the Tranſgreſſor. Juſtice muſt be ſatisfied, but Man cannot make a Compenſation for the Violation of God's Holy Law, nor will God acquit the Sinner unleſs that be done; the Law is but an Impreſſion of God's Holy Nature, it reſulted not from a bare Act of his Sovereignty, but from his Holineſs and perfect Rectitude of his bleſſed Nature. If Man could have attained to Life by any Works of Obedience done by him, Chriſt died in vain; and if it had conſiſted with the Wiſdom and Holineſs of God to have accepted of imperfect Obedience, provided it had been ſincere, he could at firſt have given Man ſuch a Law, and ſo have ſaved the Life of his Son. For any therefore to affirm that God accepteth ſinful Man for the ſake of his imperfect (though ſincere) Obedience, it is to aſſert, in effect, that he accepted of ſome ſinful and polluted Acts as a Recompence and Satisfaction for other ſinful Acts and Deeds of Darkneſs; for all our beſt Services are unclean in themſelves. Paul accounted all his own Righteouſneſs but Dung, &c. Beſides, the Obedience under the Goſpel which God requires, is to be performed in the higheſt perfection imaginable; Be ye Perfect, as your Father in Heaven is Perfect. Mat. 5. 48.The Law of the Goſpel is the ſame in Nature with the Moral Law, therefore (if it may be called a Law) it is a perfect Law; we are ſtill commanded to love the Lord our God with all our Hearts, with all our Souls, and with all our Strength; yea, and to live and ſin not. Little Children, theſe things write I unto you, that ye ſin not. Our Faith, 1 John 2. 1.Love, and Patience, &c. ought to be perfect; the Law or Commands of the Goſpel know no Bounds nor Limits; Vntil we all Eph. 4. 13.come in the Vnity of the Faith, and of the Knowledg of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto the meaſure of the ſtature of the Fulneſs of Chriſt. It would therefore be a Work becoming the New-Lawyers to ſhew where the Commands lie in the Goſpel, that God's Law only requires ſincere Obedience unto; the Law certainly loſes no part of its Sanction by the Goſpel, that is as Holy, Juſt and Good as ever, and a perpetual Rule of Life and Obedience: "Therefore (as a reverend Perſon Notes)Mr. J. C. either the Goſpel-Law, or Law of Faith, muſt require Perfection of Obedience in theſe Duties, or ſome other Divine Law, or elſe God would become an indulger of Sin, by Law: if it be by another Law, viz. the Moral, that requires perfect Obedience, and this ſincere only, then theſe Laws differ but in Degree, not in Specie or Kind; becauſe both require the ſame Duties or Works; and ſo this Goſpel-Law would be no diſtinct Law, but only the Meaſure of ſincere Obedience would receive a new uſe; which we own it has, to wit, to be an Index and Mark of our Juſtification, tho we cannot own that uſe of its giving Right," &c. But to proceed, (ſaith he) "a diſtinct Law they muſt hold, or quit their Cauſe, or this Foundation of it; for the Text ſets the Law of Faith down as an oppoſite Law to that of Works, and that they hold. Then if it be a perfect Law, requiring perfect Obedience, there is no poſſibility of Juſtification in this Life. Poppius the Arminian grants the Concluſion, that our Obedience muſt be conſummate before our Aſſurance; and others diſtinguiſh between a compleat and partial Juſtification, the former is not, they ſay, until the Day of Judgment. But this is not all the Difficulty, for it's the adding a Load to a Burden: Is this Goſpel, to a Man that is unable to perform the leaſt part of the Moral Law, to tell him, that God, or the Mediator, requires perfect Obedience to it for the future, and another too? Or is this Goſpel, to ſay, you ſhall periſh eternally, and have the Fire of Hell ſeven times heated, if you obey not this Goſpel? It's indeed a conditional Hell, but it is more dreadful than the Fire of Hell; and the Condition is more impoſſible, becauſe we have leſs power to ſhun this Difficulty of two perfect Laws. Mr. Bull owns no other perfect Law but this Goſpel, ſince Man fell: but by ſhunning one Difficulty, he falls into two as great; (1.) Then the Moral Law is abrogated, beſides the falſneſs of the Doctrine it ſelf; for it is impoſſible that ſhould ceaſe to be our Duty, to love God with all our Heart and Soul. What Advantage brings Chriſt's Death, to abrogate one perfect Law, and eſtabliſh another? here is little Goſpel. A ſecond Difficulty is, we muſt either ſay Chriſt has purchaſed to us Pardon for Sins againſt the Goſpel-Law, or none at all, but that one Sin of Adam's, if the Moral Law be abrogated; after the Fall we never ſinned againſt any Law but the Goſpel, for we were under no other Law according to him," &c.
The Sum of that I drive at is this, viz. There is a neceſſity we muſt be juſtified and ſaved by Grace only, becauſe we cannot be ſaved by a Law of Obedience, but by Chriſt and Grace alone: If we ſly not to Chriſt by truſting, believing, and depending on him, and the Grace of God in him, who hath ſatisfied the Juſtice and Law of God for us, and brought in Everlaſting Righteouſneſs, the Law of God will cut us down and throw us into Hell for ever.
2. It is by Grace alone that we are ſaved, becauſe all boaſting is excluded, and cauſe of boaſting. And this is the Deſign of God in the Goſpel. viz. That Man might not have whereof to glory, but in the Lord alone: Nor could this be done any other way, but by his contriving our Salvation to be wholly by his own free Grace. Where is boaſting then? it is excluded; by what Law? of Works; nay, but by the Law of Faith, not of Works, leſt any Man ſhould boaſt.Rom. 4. 3, 24.
3. It is only by Grace that we are ſaved, or Eternal Life is the free Gift of God, and Gift of Chriſt; becauſe he will have all the Eph. 2. 8, 9.Glory of it: God will not give the Glory of our Salvation unto others. Having predeſtinated us to the Adoption of Children by Jeſus Eph. 1. 5, 6.Chriſt according to the good Pleaſure of his Will, to the Praiſe of the Glory of his Grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.
4. It is by Grace only becauſe God would magnify his Son, by whoſe Righteouſneſs and Obedience imputed to us, we are juſtified and ſaved: and it is to this end I ſay, that God might exalt Jeſus Chriſt; his Deſign was, to magnify Chriſt in our Salvation, and to abaſe Man: Thou haſt given him Power over all Fleſh, that he Joh. 17. 2.ſhould give Eternal Life to as many as thou haſt given him.
5. And laſtly, It is by Grace, becauſe God would have Salvation ſure to all Believers: Therefore it is of Faith that it might be Rom. 4. 16.by Grace, to the end the Promiſe might be ſure to all the Seed, &c. If Salvation were by our Works and Obedience, it might be very uncertain; or if the whole of our Happineſs and Eternal Life be not in Chriſt's Hand, but that it dependeth on the Will of Man, or on the condition of our Faith and Holineſs, or in the improvement of our Abilities; and it is poſſible that we may, or may not anſwer the Condition thereof; it might ſo fall out, that not one Soul might be ſaved: Beſides, ſhould it be ſo, thoſe that are ſaved, would then have ſomething to glory in, or boaſt of in the Great Day: They in effect may thank themſelves, and admire their own Wiſdom, Care and Induſtry, that brought them to Heaven.
Fourthly, Why doth and will Chriſt give Eternal Life to all his Sheep, to all his Saints?
Anſw. 1. Becauſe Eternal Life was purchaſed for them by his Death: But by his own Blood he entred once into the Holy Place, having Heb. 9. 12.obtained Eternal Redemption for us.
2. Becauſe all that are given unto Chriſt, are ordained unto Acts 13. 48.Everlaſting Life.
3. Becauſe Chriſt was ſent into the World to this End, to give Life unto them: I am come that ye might have Life, and that ye might Joh. 10. 10 Luk. 1. 77.have it much more abundantly. It was that he might give his People the Knowledg of Salvation, and ſave them from their Sins.
4. Becauſe Life is given to Chriſt to this End, viz. to communicate it to all his Elect: he is made a quickning Spirit, that he might quicken all his; As in Adam all die, ſo all that are in Chriſt ſhall live, Spiritually here, and Eternally hereafter: Becauſe I live, ye ſhall live alſo.John. 14. 19.
5. Becauſe all his Elect were quickned together with him virtually, Col. 2. 13.when he roſe from the Dead: yea and alſo virtually they entred into Heaven with him; for he aſcended as their Head and bleſſed Repreſentative.
6. Becauſe Eternal Life was promiſed to them in Chriſt before 2 Tim. 1. 9.the World began; and they have many firm and ſure Promiſes made of it to them ſince alſo.
7. Becauſe they are united to him, and Chriſt hath prayed, That they may all be made perfect in one; and he hath prayed that John 17. 22, 23.they may have Eternal Life. Now Union with Chriſt gives right to Glory; a whole Chriſt ſhall be glorified, and not a part only.
Queſt. What doth Eternal Life import?
Anſw. I anſwer, It doth import a Deliverance from all Evil, preſent and to come, and a full and perfect poſſeſſion and injoyment of all true ſpiritual and everlaſting Good and Glory above.
Queſt. But doth not this ſeem to diminiſh or leſſen the Glory of God the Father, to aſſert, That it is Chriſt that gives Eternal Life? &c.
Anſw. No, not in the leaſt, for all things are of God and through Jeſus Chriſt; All things are of God, who hath reconciled us 2 Cor. 5. 18.unto himſelf by Jeſus Chriſt. It is God that hath reconciled us unto himſelf; 'tis by Chriſt we are reconciled, his Blood being the Price of our Reconciliation; God the Father gave Chriſt for us, and alſo gives him to us: And this is the Will of him that ſent me, that Joh. 6. 40.every one that ſeeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have Everlaſting Life; and I will raiſe him up at the laſt Day. And thou haſt given Joh. 17. 3.him Power over all Fleſh, that he ſhould give Eternal Life to as many as thou haſt given him. It is the Father that gave Chriſt the Power (as Mediator) to give Eternal Life unto his Sheep.
APPLICATION.
Firſt. This may ſerve to reprehend thoſe that would not have Salvation to be wholly of Grace; it clearly condemns Free-Will; Free-Will detected and confuted.for if it be only by God's Grace, it is not at all of Man's Will. They, 'tis true, do acknowledg the Contrivance of our Salvation to be of God's Grace alone, or the Effects of his great Love, and his ſending of Chriſt into the World to be an Act of Infinite Grace, but withal deny Regeneration and effectual Vocation, to be wholly the Effects of God's ſpecial and diſtinguiſhing Love; but do affirm, that Grace which thoſe Men have who periſh at laſt, would have been ſufficient to have renewed them, had they improved it. They aſſert, that all Men have Power to believe, and that that Grace which God affords to Men to ſave them, 'tis in the preaching of the Word, or conſiſteth in no more than Moral Swaſions, Arguments, or Excitements, in a rational way. But whether this Light, Power, or Moral Grace, (as they call it) be Natural or Supernatural, Mediate or Immediate, they do not ſeem well to accord about it. Some of them (as one obſerves) ſay, the Power of Natural Reaſon, or the Exerciſe of Human Credence, is ſufficient to a Man, being convinced of the Truth of the Goſpel, or of the Declaration of God's Love and Grace in Chriſt, ſo that he may believe as eaſily as to believe any other Matter upon infallible Teſtimony. Others call it a Gift, or the Light of the Spirit, which all Men have; yet if thorowly examined, it is no more than a Natural Gift, Light or Ability: That it is the ſpecial Grace of God, or Illumination of the Holy Spirit, is not granted, but denied by theſe Men, it being no other Grace or Power, than is afforded equally to thoſe who periſh, as to ſuch who are ſaved. It is not ſuch Grace or Operations of the Spirit that infuſes holy Habits, which determines the Will, or inclines it to Good, but ſuch Excitements that only awaken and rouſe its Native Power; it is ſuch Grace that the Will may receive, or refuſe the whole Efficacy of it; (ſo far as I can gather) it lies not in its own Nature, nor from the effectual Operations of God's Spirit, but from the Will of Man.
Now how contrary this is to the Truth of the Goſpel, and all the Experiences of renewed and gracious Perſons, I leave to their conſiderations: yet to detect and condemn theſe Notions, I ſhall add a word or two before I conclude.
1. Can a dead Man quicken himſelf, or be raiſed to Life, without a vital Principle be infuſed into him? Will Moral Swaſions bring a dead Man to Life?
2. Hath Man a Power, naturally in him, exceeding the Power of Satan? Or is he ſtronger than that ſtrong Man armed? Or are not all Men naturally under the Power of the Prince of Darkneſs, he taking them Captive at his Will? Let this be conſidered, for ſeeing 2 Tim. 2, 26.God's Word doth poſitively declare this to be the State of all Men by Nature, i. e. that they are under Satan's Power; what ſignifies that which they affirm? Will Satan be perſwaded to releaſe and Mat. 12. 29. Mark 3. 27. Luk. 11. 21. Eph. 1. 18, 19, 20.let go his Captives, which he holds down in ſtrong Bonds and Chains? Or doth not our Saviour expreſly intimate, he will keep all his Goods in ſecurity until a ſtronger than he comes, and binds him, and deveſts him of his Power?
3. Is not Faith ſaid to be the Gift of God; and not only ſo, but that we believe according to the working of God's Almighty Power, and after the ſame manner that he wrought in Chriſt when he raiſed him from the Dead?
4. Is not the Carnal Mind enmity againſt God, having in it an utter Averſeneſs and Moral Impotency to do that which is ſpiritually Good? for it is not ſubject to the Law of God, neither indeed can Rom. 8. 7.be.
5. Doth not the Scripture ſay, that thoſe who are born again, Joh. 1. 12, 2, 13.are not born of the Will of Man, but of God? And again, it is ſaid, of his own Will begat he us. And if ſo, is not the Creature as Jam. 1. 18.paſſive in Regeneration, as the Child is in Generation? God doth not work on the Soul abſolutely of his Will, according to theſe Men, but waits to ſee what Man's Will will do, all depends on Man's-Will. Grace with them neither worketh Phyſically nor Irreſiſtibly; and that God cannot, or doth not, by any Divine Operations of unwilling make the Will of Man willing; for after all God doth, the Will hath power and oftentimes does reſiſt it and render all God doth of none effect.
"Now (as a reverend Perſon well obſerves)Mr. C. according to theſe Mens Doctrine, as the Power for theſe great Concerns of Salvation is not in God, or his ſpecial Grace, ſo neither is the Act from him: that which gives or work the Act, determines the Will, or cauſes it to determine it ſelf; but the Lord, by his Grace, brings it only to the Will's choice, and leaves it to do as it liſt—. The Lord by his Power works not the Will to turn to God, to lo…e God, to imbrace Chriſt, to yield to the Spirit, but leaves it indifferent to turn to God, or againſt him; to love God, or to hate him; to imbrace Chriſt, or reject him; to yield to the Spirit, or reſiſt him. It muſt be left indifferent as to either: Grace turns not the Scales, but leaves the Will an equal poiſe that the Will of Man, not the Grace of God may have the caſting weight; if Grace ſhould weigh it down, the Liberty of the Will, they ſay, would be violated and in nature deſtroyed."
Is this the Doctrine of general Love which they will have to be in God to Mankind? viz. Hath the Lord left it indifferent in his Eternal Purpoſe, whether any ſhould be ſaved, or no? For if the Will complies not, God will not bend it, or bring it, by irreſiſtible Grace, in a Phyſical Way, to a Compliance: and though Chriſt, in redemption, according to them, died for all, yet he hath left it indifferent whether any ſhould be actually redeemed, or no; for the depraved Will of Man determines the whole Event of all that which Chriſt hath done, and the Goſpel, or the Spirit doth do: and if ſome Men were not better natured, and more conſiderate than others, Chriſt might have died in vain. And it follows alſo that ſuch who are ſaved, have more cauſe to admire their Wills compliance in believing, than to exalt and admire the free Grace of God, if what they ſay be true. Alas, this general Love of God they talk of, (that is but an indifferent reſpect to all or any, for all are beloved alike, or elſe God is a reſpecter of Perſons, they ſay) ends in Love or Hatred, as the Sinner's Will determines it: If the Will accepts, chuſes and yields to Chriſt, then the Perſon is beloved and choſen by Him; but if the Will refuſes, (as the Will of every Mortal might, as well as one, according to their Notion) then he is hated: Whatever particular Love they aſcribe to God, it is no other than what riſes or is occaſioned from the Sinner's Love to him. God foreſaw that ſuch and ſuch Perſons would believe and love him, therefore purpoſed to ſave them: he foreſaw that they would embrace, chuſe, and love Chriſt, therefore he loved them and choſe them to Eternal Life; provided they continue their Good-liking and Affections to God unto the End. How they will be able to deliver themſelves from theſe and ſuch like Conſequents from attending their Notions, I ſee not. The Apoſtle ſays, We love him, becauſe he firſt loved us; and that 1 John 4. 19.we have not choſen him, but he hath choſen us: But certainly if theſe Men conſider their Principles, when they ſpeak of particular Perſons, they muſt ſay, he did not love us firſt, but we loved him; and that he did not choſe us firſt, but we choſe him. And thus the Doctrine of God's Free Grace is trampled upon; but let God be true, and every Man a Liar.
Object. But doth not this Doctrine of ſpecial Grace, render God unmerciful, becauſe he doth not give that Grace unto all Men that is effectual to their Salvation?
Anſw. I anſwer, We do not deny that God gives that Grace to all, which they ſay is ſufficient or effectual to ſave all; our Doctrine robs no Man of that Power they have but we do deny that common Light, Grace, and Abilities are ſufficient to ſave any one Soul: And if this be true, it follows that they render God more unmerciful than they are aware of, in that they will not have God to afford ſuch Grace that is ſufficient, viz. Special Grace to any at all. Certainly if God was not more merciful to them that aſſert this Doctrine, than their Notions import, or did not their Experiences contradict their Principles, it would be impoſſible one of them ſhould be ſaved: For will meer moral Swaſive Grace, (which leaves Salvation to the choice of Man's depraved and unrenewed Will, whether it will turn to God or no, believe in Chriſt or no) ſave one Soul? which they ſay is all the Grace God vouchſafes to any. So that by their Doctrine, none can be ſaved, but all muſt unavoidably periſh.
Beſides, how unjuſt do they render God to be, ſeeing he, as they ſay, gave Chriſt to die for all Men, with an intention to ſave them, and this without any deſert of Man, which is the greater Gift; and yet he denies the Goſpel to the greateſt part of the World, nay and effectual Grace to many (nay to all, according to them) that attend upon the Adminiſtration thereof, ſeeing he could as eaſily bend or incline the Wills (if he pleaſe) of ſuch who do not believe, as he doth theirs that do believe. Strange! did Chriſt ſpill his Blood for the greateſt part of Mankind in vain? nay, die in their ſtead for them, that he foreknew would reject him, and believe not? Did he give Millions for them to redeem them, and deny one Pound to make that Redemption effectual to them, in order to give them a Right to it, and Intereſt in it? What! give them the greater, and deny them the leſſer Gift? But how contrary is this to what Paul ſays, If when we were Enemies, we were reconciled to Rom. 5. 10.God by the Death of his Son; much more being now reconciled, we ſhall be ſaved by his Life: And again ſaith, He that ſpared not his own Chap. 8. 32.Son, but delivered him up for us all; how ſhall not he freely give us all things?
Secondly. If Life Spiritual and Eternal be by Grace, or if it is given freely by Jeſus Chriſt; Then all that have not this Gift given to them, Life given, Grace given, are ſpiritually dead: and if they die naturally before it is given to them, they muſt periſh for ever, or die eternally.
Thirdly. We may alſo infer, That all that would have Everlaſting Life, muſt come to Jeſus Chriſt, ſeeing it is his Gift: Ye will not not come to me, that ye might have Life. Thou haſt the Words of Joh. 5. 40. Joh. 6. 68. Joh. 4. 10.Eternal Life. Sinners, you muſt believe in, relie upon, or fly unto Chriſt if you would be ſaved: If thou knoweſt the Gift of God, and who it is that ſaith, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living Water. O know where this Life is, how it is given, and do not neglect the time; Chriſt is now giving forth this Gift, this is the time: Behold, now is the Day 2 Cor. 6. 2. Iſa. 55. 3.of Salvation. Hear, and your Souls ſhall live. 'Tis but asking Life, and thou ſhalt have it; thou muſt believe, &c. O ſeek and cry to God for Life, haſte to Chriſt. Were there an earthly Crown, or many Thouſands of Pounds to be freely given, what running and ſtriving would there be! every Body would make haſte, and be early at the Door, they would not neglect the Time. But alas, what are all Riches, all Crowns, or all Kingdoms here below to Eternal Life. So much for this Time.