Survey of the Spiritual Antichrist, Part 2 · Chapter 49 – Chapter 50
CHAP. XLVIX· Antinomians free us from any obligation to Evangelike commandements, and exhortations to duties, and say faith is onelyonly commanded now.
THey refuse all Evangelicke holinesse, all Commandements, and Gospel-exhortations of holy walking, and make beleeving and faith the onelyonly Evangelick Command. Vnbeliefe the only Evangelick sin; and acknowledge no righteousnesse of inherent sanctification, imputed righteousness must be all that the Gospel requireth, and to bring the Saints under a commandement of holy walking, so as they sinne, if they neglect so to walke in Christ, as they have learned him, is to them, to bring them back from under the sweet Sommer-Sunne-warmenesse of the Gospel, to the coole and darke night shaddowes of the Law, and to re-enter them in, and shut them up under the old prison, as if they had come out from under the Law, upon baile and surety, to enter in the old Goale againe upon demand.
For, 1. Mr. Towne aTowne asser. 71.72.tells us, that D. Tayler, and all ours, are strangers in the Scriptures (as if he, and his, were the onelyonly domesticks, and children of the Prophets and Apostles) who grant not, that to Faith there is no sinne, and hee that beleeves cannot sinne: and bEato. Ho… combe, cap. 8. pag 163.164.Eaton, that Free justification doth make us so perfectly holy, and righteous, from all spot of sinne in Gods sight, that he seeth no sinne in us; he meaneth, of perfection, both of persons, and workes, both imputed and inherent mortification: and saith, that the inherent mortification of Protestants, cHoney combe cap. 8. pa. 172▪ 173.by the Spirit of sanctification, was the foundation of Eremits, Monks, Anchorits, Nunneries, who shut themselves up within walles, to mortifie their sinnes out of Gods sight, by the Spirit; and call Sanctification dPag. 171.the very heart of Popery, and the essentiall forme of Anabaptisme.
2. So we have Antinomians affirming, that no Justified person sinneth before God, in Gods sight, really; or if they looke on things with the eyes of Faith, but onelyonly they sinne imaginarily before men, in their conversation, and seemingly to the world, or in their owne carnall sense of unbeliefe, which is a blind eHoney combe cap. 5. pag. 95. pag. 87. Saltmarsh Free grace▪ p…. 5 and par. 2. cap. …2. p. 142.Judge. For saith fSaltmarsh free grace, 154.Saltmarsh, The Scripture calleth us ungodly, and sinners; not that we are so, but seeme so, or not so in Gods account, but in the worlds. So as the justified mans Adulteries, Murthers, are but seeming and fancied Adulteries, and painted sins in the eyes of the deluded world, and the Judge ought not to punish imaginary and fancied felony, or paricides; so his acts of sanctification, and holy walking, that followes from justification, are meere fancies, and and holynesse onelyonly before men; for they are no conditions, no waies at all to heaven; Yea, nor commanded so as the justified sinne, if they disobey such Gospel-commandements. For if we say we have sinne, and doe any thing contrary to Gospel-precepts, which injoyne acts of Sanctification to the Justified, that sinne is no sinne, nor against the Law of God, or in the account of God, saith gHoney combe cap. 5 pag. 95.87.Eaton, hDenne ser. of the man of sinne, pag. 9.10.11.12.Denne, and iSaltmarsh Free grace, p…g. 154.Saltmarsh, but onelyonly before men, in our conversation, or seemingly, in our sense (saith Towne) and in the worlds account, as Saltmarsh speaketh.
3. Mr. Towne saith, to beleeve is to doe all duties; and he citeth kTowne …sser. pag. 39. Rollo. in Ioan Dum jubeo credere, omnia j. beo. Calvin. Fides omnia in se contine….Rollock on John, and Calvine; It is Townes aime, as it is the marrow of Antinomianisme, that there is no sinne condemned in the Gospel, but unbeliefe; so there is no command of holy walking, and sanctification in the Gospel, but onelyonly Faith, therefore Saltmarsh lSaltmarsh Free grace, pag. 84.85. Heb▪ 13.20.21.saith, All these Scriptures that set forth to us sanctification, and mortification, Christ is made to us sanctification, I live not, but Christ liveth in me. But yee are sanctified, but yee are justified; we are his workmanship, created unto good works; I can doe all things through Christ that strengthneth me, &c. All these Scriptures set forth Christ, the sanctification and the fulnesse of his, the All in All. Christ hath beleeved perfectly, hee hath repented perfectly, hee hath sorrowed for sinne perfectly, hee hath obeyed perfectly, hee hath mortified sinne perfectly: and all is ours, and wee are Christs, and Christ is Gods. And so wee are to beleeve our repentance true in Christ, who hath repented for us, our Mortifying sinne true in him, Antinomians deny …ll pe…s… nall holynesse, or any necessity thereof, and make cantiona…y righteousnesse all.through whom we are more then corquerours; our new obedience true in him, who hath obeyed for us, who is the ende of the Law to every one that beleeveth; our change of the whole man true in him, who is righeousnesse, and true holynesse; and thus without faith, it is unpossible to please God. And this is the divinity of mDenne conf. pag. 30.31.Denne, That mortification, and vivification, are but the living by, or through faith, and beleeving in him that justifieth the sinner. And that learned Divine Mr Tho. Gataker nGataker, Shaddowes without substance, pag. 36. answer to Saltmarsh of Free grace.saith of one Heyden, a follower of Eaton, That in a Sermon on 1 Joh. 3.7. He that doth righteousnesse is righteous, he expounded that place of our doing righteousnesse in Christ, who hath done righteousnesse for us; so hee expounded the doing of our heavenly Fathers will, oMath. 7.21. Math. 12.50.the putting on of the New man, which is created in righteousnesse and pEphes. 4.24.holynesse, abounding q1 Cor. 15.58in the worke of the Lord, to be the beleeving of Christs imputed righteousnesse, to bee ours. So doe Saltmarsh, and his fellowes teach us to expound all the Gospel-precepts, and exhortations, to holynesse; to walke in Christ, to be aboundant in the worke of the Lord, to walke in love, to love one another, to honour our father and our mother, to obey Magistrats, and Masters, to deale justly with servants, to abstaine from fleshly lusts, to mortifie our members, not to defraud one another, not to lye, &c. to be nothing but, beleeve Christ hath done all these for us. So as the grace of God, and the Gospel, layeth on us no tye, or obligation in our persons, to deny our selves, to live holyly, justly, and soberly in this present world, to love one another, by vertue of a Commandement, for that is Legall, saith rSaltmarsh Free grace, 168.169.Saltmarsh, and Jewish; so as Christ Jesus is made the same very way, our imputed sanctification, as he is our imputed righteousnesse: and so personall holynesse should no more be added by any obligation of command to Christ our sanctification, then to Christ our righteousnesse.
CHAP. L. How we are freed from the Law in regard of Sanctification, as of Justification.
NOr doe wee deny, as aTowne asser. 9.…0.Antinomians would charge us, But we are from under the Law, in regard of Sanctification, as well as of Justification, thus farre; that the Apostle saith, As many as are Christs, bRom. 8.14.are led by the Spirit of Christ, and so not under the Law; and cGal. 5.18.if yee be led of the Spirit, yee are not under the Law. But this onelyonly beareth so much, that our voluntary, free, sweet, and loving obedience, commeth not from the feare of cursings,The obliging rule of the Law, not contrary to Gospel love. Rom. 8.15. or the Spirit of bondage; but yet from the binding and obliging authority of the Law-giver, nor is this obliging rule, and government of the Law, contrary to the sweet cords of Gospel-love, by which the Spirit kindly draweth, and gently leadeth the Saints in the way of Sanctification, these two are made friends in Christ, and jarre not as contraries; which is the cardinall and first principle of grosse mistaking in the Antinomian, while hee grosely conceiveth, there is no awe of love in the Law, which commandeth all gracious acts of feare, though not from Law-principles; for the Law is terrible, and causeth Moses feare and dH…b. 12.2….quake, but it is because it acteth and breatheth out curses on Moses, as a sinner, and a broken man, to chase him in to his surety, and the sweet sanctuary of a terrified conscience; but the Law demandeth the same awe and feare of love, of sinne as sinne, and as done against a Father in a covenant of grace. It is true, when the man is once under sin, he cannot pay the debt of lovely awe, out of his owne unbroken and sinnelesse nature.How the Gospel and the Law demand the same debt of obedience, how not. Yet the Law still craveth as the Law, and it craveth the same debt, if the broken man pay it out of money borrowed from his suretie, that is, from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ; the Law is the same craver, the summe is the same debt now payed in gold, though clipped, and wanting many graines, because of the sinnefulnesse of flesh, out of the Kings treasure; the fulnesse of Christ, and his Spirit of grace; the sinner is the same debter, that is obliged to the same creditor and Lawgiver, onelyonly the bond, and the tenor of it is changed; grace is in the bond, and it is payed now not as Law-debt, this doe, and live, by Law-right, and a covenant of works, which pre-supposeth neither a bankrupt, nor a breach in the debter, nor an offence to the creditor, nor a surety or Mediator to bee baile for the broken man, but its payed with the same obligation, and Law-power, and commanding authority, but also now from a new principall, the summe is better money, and in one respect is choiser; it is the coyne of a new King, and stamped with a new Image of Gospel-grace; in another respect it is worse, because tainted with sinne. Whereas obedience under the covenant of works, was to be perfect and sinnelesse, or not at all.