Examination of Antinomianism, Treatise · Chapter 3
CHAP. III. A brief Anſwer to the Arguments of H. D. by him brought to prove Juſtification before Faith, i. e. before the act of Believing.
Arg. 1. INfants are juſtified, yet do they not believe, Rom. 10. 17. therefore, ſome are juſtified before they believe.
Anſw. This Inſtance of Infants is not to the point in hand, as not in the caſe of Apoſtacy, and falling from Grace, maintained by the Arminians: *See Suffrag. Theolog. Magn. Brit. in Artic. 5.So neither in this point of Iuſtification before Faith, maintained by the Antinomians; For why, That Iuſt fication which is in queſtion, conſiſteth in the Remiſſion of actual Tranſgreſsions: Not ſo that which Infants receive in their Infancy; They are as yet guilty of no more, but Original Sin: And it is enough for them that the guilt of that is removed: of Actual Sin they ſhall then receive the Remiſſion, when they ſtand in need of it, and are fitted for it.
Objection. But whatſoever Infants do receive, they receive it without Faith.
Sol. Hic aqua haeret. And Divines do not all agree in expediting themſelves: Some do not ſtick to affirm, That Infants have Faith; I grant it is an hard matter to prove the Negative, viz. That Infants have not Faith. That Text of Rom. 10. 17. Faith cometh by Hearing, is not fully to the purpoſe; If Hearing be reſtrained to the Ear, then all that are born deaf are excluded; if extended to any way of acquainting man with the will of God, even by the workings of the Spirit, who ſhall exclude Infants? As hard a matter it is to prove that Infants have Faith, eſpecially if Faith be defined by knowledge, perſwaſion or confidence. It is ſaid of Iohn Baptiſt, that he was filled with the holy Ghoſt: This ſheweth that Infants are capable of the Spirit, but it doth not thereupon follow that they do believe; Becauſe, though in its actings the Spirit depend not upon the faculties of the ſoul, and their fitneſs, yet doth it not uſually prevent them: Nor be the actings of Grace ordinarily found, but where Age hath added ſome perfection to the Abilities of Nature. All that can be ſaid in this point is this, That Infants do receive together with their Iuſtification, the principle of Faith, viz. The Spirit of Faith, as he is called, 2 Cor. 4. 13. This is that which ſome do call The Seed of Faith, or Seminal Faith (nor can the term be refuſed, ſince it is grounded on the phraſe of Scripture, 1 Pet. 1. 23. and Iohn 3. 9.) And ſo it may be ſaid, that Infants have Faith (as they have Reaſon) in Actu primo, though not in Actu ſecundo, in the ſeed, though not in the flower; And this is enough to make them capable of that Iuſtification which they receive in their infancy; conſequently, though they have it without, and before actual Faith: yet not before Seminal Faith, not before the ſeed, the root, the Spirit of Faith.
2. Arg. He that is in Chriſt is Iuſtified, and ſo Iuſtified before he do believe; Becauſe none can believe before he be in Chriſt: Faith is the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5. 22.
Anſw. Grant indeed, None can believe before he be in Faith, in Gal 5. 22. is Fidelity, as in Tit. 2. 10. a moral Virtue.Chriſt, though that Text do not prove it, yet he may believe ſo ſoon as he is in Chriſt; and full as ſoon for time as he is Iuſtified, and for order before he be Iuſt fied: for underſtanding whereof, know, That in the firſt moment of our Ʋnion with Chriſt, the Soul hath a Communion of all that floweth from Chriſt both for Grace and Glory: But how? In the vertue and power of a Root and Seed: from this Union floweth both Grace to enable the ſoul to do good actions, and alſo Glory to crown and reward each good act that is wrought, but each in his own order: Ex. gr. The plant engrafted into the ſtock, receiveth from it both ſap and fruit: Or thus, from the vertue of life in the ſoul, doth proceed a power both of Feeding, and of Growing, not both of them in the ſame maner; for Feeding cometh as an Act, Growing as an Effect, yea an Effect of this Act: ſo is it here, To Believe, and To be Juſtified, come from our Union with Chriſt (as indeed, all that we have, and all that we hope for is from him, and without him we can do nothing.) And in that Union are they folded up as in the root and ſeed; But ſtill to be conſidered in their natural order, in which one is the cauſe of the other, and therefore to be conſidered in order of Nature before the other: what ſay we that Glorification no leſs then Iuſtification doth flow from that Union: will you then ſay, that he that is in Chriſt is glorified, yea glorified before he do believe? Surely no: As none is glorified before he be Iuſtified: ſo neither is he juſtified before he be called, Rom. 8. 30. In which call, if Faith be not included, it will not be effectual. Thus every thing truſt be conſidered in its own order: All theſe, Grace and Glory, Faith and the Fruits thereof, are rolled up as in a Root, and beſtowed upon us in our firſt Union, but the explicite production and application of each to the Chriſtian ſoul is in a juſt order.
3. and 4. Arg. All the Elect of God are Iuſtified before God, for why, They cannot be charged with any thing, Rom. 8. 33. Their Sins are taken away, Iſa. 53. 6. Ioh. 1. 29. 1. Pet. 2. 24. And this before they believe: For ſome of them do not yet believe.
Anſwer. All the Elect of God, even they that yet have no being in the World; yet when they are look't upon as juſtified perſons, are conſidered of God as believers, no leſs then juſtified: before the World they are fore-ſeen as believing, before fore-ſeen as juſtified; Becauſe, in the World, till they believe, they are not juſtified: ſtill that that in the execution of the decree hath the precedency, is conſidered in the decree as fore-going, Sin before Condemnation, Faith before Iuſtification. The elect have their ſins taken away before they do believe, But how? Not otherwiſe ſave in the purpoſe of God, and the purchaſe of Chriſt: Elſe what uſe, nay what ſenſe in thoſe Exhortations, Act. 2. 38. Repent and be Baptized for the Remiſſion of ſins, Act. 3. 19. Repent and be converted, that your ſins may be blotted out, Act. 22. 16. Ariſe, be baptized, and waſh away thy ſins; is it not evident that the ſins of theſe were not as then blotted out and waſhed away, that they might uſe theſe means to compaſs this end? The Texts aleaged for Proof of the Argument, ſpeak not home to the point intended: That of Iſa. 53. 6. onelyonly ſheweth that deſignation of Chriſt to be the ſacrifice of Expiation: Not is there more in the 6. verſe then was expreſſed in the 5. verſe, He was wounded for our Tranſgreſſions; this onelyonly excepted, That v. 6. ſheweth, That Chriſt ſhould make peace for us by the way of a ſacrifice, even the ſacrifice of himſelf, upon whom God would lay the iniquities of us all; as Aaron laid the iniquities of the Children of Iſrael upon the Goat, Lev. 16. 21. Say the ſame of Joh. 1. 29. It ſheweth whom God had appointed to that work. And the Text of 1 Pet. 2. 24. ſheweth, That he hath executed his Office: but none of theſe Texts do ſay any thing concerning the benefit thereof, redounding to any one in particular, whether without, or before or after Faith: Truth it is, That this was ſaid and done long before many of the Elect did believe; So alſo, before many of them had any need of Faith and Iuſtification, even before they had a being. Nay in that Text, Rom. 8. 33. brought to prove the Elect juſtified, becauſe Nothing can be laid to their charge: It is evident, that the Apoſtle ſpeaks of the Elect, now made actual Believers; For that phraſe of laying any thing to the charge of Gods Elect, doth preſuppoſe them living and ſtanding before the Tribunal, conſequently actual Believers: For againſt the Elect, till actually believing, doth Satan lay no accuſation: And we doubt not to affirm, That the Elect of God believing in Chriſt, and laying hold on him by Faith, are ſo juſtified before God, that in vain ſhall Satan ſeek to charge any thing upon them: But till then, notwithſtanding the Purpoſe of God, and the Purchaſe of Chriſt, yet are they not actually diſcharged of their ſins, nor actually juſtified in the ſight of God.
5. Arg. We were made ſinners in Adam, before we had done any evil, and ſo we are made righteous in Chriſt, before we have done any good. This is the Aſſertion of the Apoſtle, Rom. 5. 18, 19.
Anſ. The Text of the Apoſtle doth only ſet down this, That as Adam is the Author of condemnation to all that be condemned, ſo Chriſt is the Author of Iuſtification to all that are juſtified. But as to the time when this is done, in the one or the other, the Text ſpeaketh nothing. Grant indeed, That in reſpect of the Merit of Chriſt, it may be ſaid, that we are juſtified in the ſight of God, before any good be done by us; but now in reſpect of actual Application to particular perſons, as no man is condemned till he have an actual being, and be found a ſinner in himſelf, ſo neither is any man juſtified before he have an actual being, yea an actual being in Chriſt, and in him made righteous: Condemnation preſuppoſeth ſin in the party condemned, and Iuſtification preſuppoſeth Grace and Faith in the party juſtified.
6. Arg. In Chriſt crucified (before we believed) was full ſatisfaction made, Heb. 10. 11—14. And God was contented to reſt in that ſatisfaction, Mat. 3. ult. Iſa. 53. 11. Therefore there will follow perfect Remiſſion of ſins.
Anſ. No doubt of it, perfect Remiſſion will follow, becauſe ſatisfaction is made and accepted: But when? Not till the ſinner need it: not till he be fitted for it: not till he have a being in Chriſt; not till he come to Chriſt, that he may receive. In very deed, the ſatisfaction was neither intended nor accepted, but upon that condition, That whoſo will have it, muſt come to Chriſt for it. Hence they in Ioh. 5. 40. are blamed in that they would not come to Chriſt, that they might have life. That Text of Iſa. 53. 11. is miſ-applied to the Father, being indeed ſpoken of Chriſt himſelf.
7. Arg. Either we are juſtified in the ſight of God before we believe, or elſe even the Elect of God are for ſome time hated of him; For he hateth all the workers of iniquity, but certainly the Elect of God are at no time hated of God: If ſo, Then God ſhould hate to day and love to morrow, with much changeableneſs of Affection: Nay more, Gods love to us ſhall depend upon our love to God.
Anſ. Set this down for a truth; 1. That God hateth all the workers of iniquity whatſoever, Pſal. 5. 5. 2. That the Elect of God are loved of him from all eternity, Ier. 31. 3. 3. That there is no variableneſs, nor ſhadow of change in God, Iam. 1. 17. 4. That we love him, becauſe he loved us firſt. Now, if there ſeem any contrariety in theſe laid together, we are forced to ſome diſtinctions, by which a commodious interpretation may be ſet down: So then conſider of theſe Explications:
1. The love and hatred of God to the Creature may be conſidered, either in the purpoſe of God, or in the execution of that purpoſe, & this execution is in the effects of love and hatred. The purpoſe of God is this, to appoint the Creature to be the object upon which in time he wil exerciſe the effects of love or hatred; in this purpoſe of God, the Elect are always Loved, never Hated: nor doth God vary and change in this his purpoſe: nor doth this purpoſe of his depend upō the foreſight of any good in man.
2. In the execution of this purpoſe, the ſuſpenſion of the Effects and Fruits of Love hath the name of Hatred: And God may be ſaid to hate them (as the Husband that Wife) from whom he with draweth the Effects of Love. Now in this doth God walk oftentimes according to the preſent diſpoſition of the Creature: whereſoever God findeth ſin, he hateth it, (ſin is properly the Object of Gods Hatred, ſin I ſay, not the Creature) and if this ſin be in a perſon appointed to love though he will not change his purpoſe, yet will he ſuſpend all effects and fruit of love, yea, and put forth the effects of hatred, until the party do part with his ſin. Contrarily, whereſoever he findeth any good, he loveth it, yea, though it be in a perſon not appointed to love; though this his purpoſe change not, yet will he ſuſpend all the effects of hatred, yea, and with much tenderneſs of affection put forth the effects of love to this party, till he doth wilfully let fall his care of goodneſs, and take up a Reſolution of evil, yea, and that incorrigibly.
3. The love of God to the Creature in reſpect of the effects thereof, is not unfitly diſtinguiſhed into the love of Benevolency, and the love of Complacency, the former conſiſting in well wiſhing or pittying the Creature, is abſolute and free: The other drawing with it delight in, or friendſhip with the Creature is reſpective, and hath an eye to the good behavior of the Creature: ſee both theſe expreſſed in that Parable of the wretched Infant, Ezek. 16. 6. an emblem and fit reſemblance, as thereof the Church of Iſrael, ſo generally of the Elect of God. For firſt God doth caſt an eye of pitty upon them in their wretched condition▪ and ſaith unto them Live; His word is operative, and did them good, as is intimated verſe 7. then afterward when his grace hath wrought in them, and faſhioned them into a comely beauty, he doth again paſs by them and behold them, and lo it is the time of love, whereupon he doth enter into a League and Covenant of friendſhip; ſo that now the ſoul of every one of them may ſay, as the Spouſe in the Canticles, I am my welbeloveds, and my welbeloved is mine: Gods delight is in them, and theirs in God: Theſe things well underſtood, will eaſily ſhew the Inconſequence of the Argument, for the Elect may be loved in the purpoſe of God, and yet not actually juſtified, nor God enter into a Covenant of love, till by the work of his grace they be fitted for the time of love. Again, whiles they are workers of iniquity and unconverted to God, their ſins may be hated, and the effects of love ſuſpended, notwithſtanding the eternal purpoſe of God. No variableneſs in God, becauſe it is his purpoſe, not to entertain them into the effects and fruits of his love and delight▪ till they be converted and fitted for it, by the actings of the ſpirit of grate moving and working in them.
To cloſe up the point, let us to prevent erroneous miſconceits which ſpring from the Confounding of things that d…ffer, let us, I ſay, take notice of this diſtinction; A man may be ſaid to be juſtified either Intentionally, or Virtually, or Actually, either in God, or in Chriſt, or in Himſelf.
1. Intentionally, in God, i. e. in Gods purpoſe and decree, this is from all eternity: But this decree and intention doth not put any thing into a ſtate of actual being but in the fulneſs of time; nor doth it exclude, nay it doth include and preſuppoſe Faith in the perſon juſtified; for though election be of the perſons, yet Iuſtification & Glorification are of the perſons ſo and ſo qualified.
2. Virtually, in Chriſt may a man be ſaid to be juſtified; And this is from the Day of Chriſts paſſion, and in the vertue of his ſatisfaction; yet this intendeth no more but this, that ſatisfaction is made, and Remiſſion purchaſed by the blood of Chriſt: Neither doth this exclude the conſideration of Faith, nay it doth call for it, that ſo there may be an actual Application of the price and purchaſe. We know that▪ in a purchaſe, beſide the payment of the price, there muſt be Livery and Seiſin given, before a man be in actual poſſeſſion of what is purchaſed: ſo here, there muſt be application of the Righteouſnes of Chriſt, as well as the Effuſion of his Blood, and this is received by Faith.
3. Actually, in himſelf is man ſaid to be juſtified, when he hath the poſſeſſion of it: But this Actual Iuſtification hath It's degrees of progreſſion. The beginning thereof is laid in our firſt Union and Incorporation into Chriſt: The Conſummation of it is not till the Judge at the latter day hath ſolemnly pronounced the ſentence of final abſolution, & ſo ſet us in full poſſeſſion of entire remiſſion. Between both theſe there is a progreſſive work of Iuſtification, by the conſtant actings of the Spirit applying the Blood of Chriſt, by the hand of Faith, to the quiet and comfort of the ſoul. The firſt you may term Initial juſtification, the latter perfective, and this between I would call progreſsive, it is the fruit of the firſt, and the preludial aſſurance of the latter: This is wrought and ſealed in the ſecond Sacrament, as the former is in the firſt Sacrament: and both theſe branches of Sacramental juſtification are to us the pre-aſſurance of that Complemental and perfective juſtification; The ſentence whereof putteth an end to all fears, changing our faith and hope into fruition and ful poſſeſſion; even the firſt of theſe acts is not tranſacted without the ſeed and ſpirit of Faith, much leſs the ſucceſſive agitations, and progreſs of the work. Thus every way Faith is conſidered as equal with, yea as foregoing the work of Iuſtification.