A Faithful Messenger Sent After the Antinomians, Letter 2
Another anſwer to more of J. Walkers cavils written in another Letter.
MAſter Walker, I have received your Letter, wherein I find ſome more of your cavils againſt my Booke, it ſeemes it hath netled your gall'd concience, by ſhewing the damnable errors that you Ant…omians hold, which almoſt perſwades you with King Ag…ippa to be a Chriſtian, Acts 26.28. So you almoſt diſavow thoſe errors in the beginning of your other letter, yet you afreſh, maſter up your affections, to fight againſt your owne conſcience, and will maintaine againſt it, that you were juſtified before you had either faith, or calling, your reaſon is, becauſe the purchaſe of it was paid 1600 yeares agon, although no ſurrender of that righteouſneſſe was ever made unto you by Chriſt, the purchaſer of it, nor ever yet received by you; but to confirme this, you ſay, That Chriſt was made ſin for us, that wee might be made the righteouſnes of God in him, 2 Cor. 5.21. And ſo the juſt, ſuffered for the u…juſt, 1 Pet. 3.18. But is Chriſt made ſinne in the abſtract? how then was he juſt, when he ſuffered for the unjuſt? and if he was a lump of ſin by moulding, or infuſing our ſin into him, or if Chriſt tooke away the being of ſin, as Simon the Cyrenian tooke the ſubſtance, and being of the Croſſe clearly from his ſhoulders, and laid it upon his owne, then we ſhould be juſt before he ſuffered, and ſo by conſequence hee died not for us, but for himſelfe, being made a lump of ſin in the abſtract; But if Chriſt were made ſin it ſelfe, how then could God love him before he ſuffered? and ſay, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleaſed, my beloved in whom my ſoule is well pleaſed; this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleaſed, heare him, Mat. 3.17.12. & 18.15. Doth God love ſin? Oh damnable blaſphemy! Againe, if Chriſt were made ſin, how came he into Heaven, where no uncleane thing ſhall enter? Revel. 21.27. And how came he to Gods right hand? Surely God hath no pleaſure in wickednes, neither ſhall evill dwell with him, Pſ. 5.4, 5. To ſay that Chriſt was made ſin in the abſtract, is to make him worſe than the Divell, or any reprobate, for they are the creatures of God, and ſome good things are in them, but ſo is not ſin; then you muſt be conſtrained to ſay Chriſt is not in Heaven, or forced to ſay, that although our ſins were imputed to him, yet was he the Lambe without ſpot of ſin, 1 Pet. 1.19. If the leaſt ſin had entred into his righteous ſoule, the whole worke of Redemption had miſcarried, Then Ieſus was onelyonly made a ſurety for our ſins, Heb. 7.22. But ſtill they remaine in us, and are not in hi…, as I have told you in my Booke, Page 2, neither did Chriſt part with that righteouſnes whereby we are juſtified, and leave himſelfe nothing but ſin, that righteouſnes that makes us juſt, remaines in him ſtill, elſe, if you had ſtripped him, and gotten all his righteouſnes from him, and left him to be nothing but a lump of ſin, how then could he be ſaved?
But is this your love to Chriſt you boaſt ſo much of, to reproach, and villefie him thus, to be nothing but a lump of ſin, and ſo unjuſtly take the righteouſneſſe of the righteous from him, and as Iob did, ſo doe you condemne God, that you may be righteous, Job 40.8. In ſo doing, yee degrade Chriſt of his God-Head, and of his righteouſneſſe, and all this to deifie your ſelves; and then you ſay, God ſees no ſin in you, becauſe that all your ſins are put into Chriſt, and ſo you have none, for he is made ſin for you in the abſtract, and you have gotten his righteouſneſſe, and ſo you are righteouſnes it ſelfe in the abſtract, oh curſed and helliſh blaſphemy! you might have obſerved my Booke better, and been convinced of this your errour, for although Chriſt hath given to believers his righteouſnes, yet it remaines in him ſtill, and not in us, and although our fins are given or charged upon him yet they remain in us ſtill, & not in him, Page 2. Then you would father ſo…e of your abhominable lies upon me, in ſaying it were a fooliſh thing to think that the holy ſpirit of God ſhould dwell where the Divel …eignes, and leads them Captive at his will; yet that I ſhould ſay, ſuch are all the Elect mincing my words, as the Divell did when he tempted Chriſt, leaving out a ſentence and ſo doe you, for you leave out, till they are recovered out of the ſnare of the Divell, 2 Tim. 2.26. But not afterwards, God be thanked; Yee were the ſervants of ſin, but now yee are the ſervants of righteouſneſſe, Rom. 6.17.18. Then you belch out another damnable lie, ſaying, that I ſhould affirme, that all the Elect are made the righteouſnes of God in Chriſt 1600 yeares agon, although they were not borne, but you are aſhamed to name the page, becauſe you cannot; yet ſuch is your Sophiſtry, to make contradictions where none is, and double dealing in the ſincereſt heart, and becauſe that I ſay the guilt of originall ſin is done away by Chriſt, page 2, line 4, from this the ſpider ſucks poyſon, and ſaith that I affirme, that the being of ſin is taken away, when I onelyonly ſay, that the guilt is taken away; but you not onelyonly belie me, but you belye David, a man after Gods owne heart, and Moſes, who was faithfull in all his houſe, when they ſay, I have ſinned in the ſight of God, and my fooliſhneſſe is not hid from thee, all our iniquities are in the light of thy countenance Pſal. 51.4. 69.5. & 90.8. Although they ſpeake as they were moved by the holy Ghoſt, 2 Pet. 1.21. Yet you ſay, them that ſay God ſees the ſin of his people, ſuch belie the ſpirit of God; but take heed how you give up your ſelfe to lying, and blaſpheaning the holy ſpirit of God, leſt your ſin bee found unpardonable.
Then you ſay, that you are not corrected for ſin, but this I have anſwered already in my other letter, and that you know your condition from a bare teſtimony of the ſpirit of God, this alſo I have anſwered already, and to my Booke I refer you, if you be not ſatisfied, onelyonly you ſay, when two witneſſes come together, you muſt heare but one of them, like ſome partiall Judge, although God bid you to try all ſpirits, aſwell his owne, as any other, 1 John 4.1. Yet you like that branded reprobate King Ahaz, you will not tempt the Lord to aske a ſigne, this you ſay is to miſtruſt him, but in this that you deſpiſe markes and ſignes, you doe not onelyonly weary men, but you (ſaith the Prophet) weary my God alſo, Iſa. 7.11, 12, 13. But if you weary him, He wil eaſe him of his adverſaries, and avenge him of his enemies, Iſa. 1, 24. ſee Amos 2.13, 14. Then you ſay that I affirme, that the judiciall Law was ended in Chriſt, which is another abominable lie, ſee page 14. And becauſe I ſay, from the curſe of the Law, and from the reigne of ſin, wee are freed by Chriſt, Rom. 8.1. Gal. 3.13. From this the ſpider ſucks poyſon, and ſaith that I affirme, that we are not under the commanding power of the Law of God, but under grace, but read page 14 a little better.
Then you conclude, ſaying if you could ſpeake with me, which is no extraordinary matter to doe, then you could ſhew me ſome downe-right lies, and nothing but contradictions, and Scriptures moſt barborouſly racked, and miſapplied: but not ſo much as one of them is named, no not ſo much as that one that was brought in ſtead of forty in your other letter, but it ſeemes that your conſcience hath whipped you for ſetching that one, that now you dare write none at all,; yet you encourage your ſelf as the Syrians did when they were beaten by the God of Iſrael on the hills, but they thought to beat him in the vallies, but they were miſtaken, 1 Kings 20.23.28. So your conſcience beats you now in your writing, that you dare not ſet down thoſe down-right lies, but you think to be too hard for conſcience, and in ſpight of it you will tell me them when you come to ſpeak with me; But if your conſcience condemne you, God is greater than your conſcience, and knowes all things, 1 John 3.20. Take heed of the judgment of God upon lyars, 2 Kings 5.25.27. Acts 5.4.5.8.9. Revel. 21.8. & 22.15. Then knowing the terrour of the Lord, we perſwade men, but we are made manifeſt unto God, and I truſt alſo are made maniſeſt in your conſciences, 2 Cor. 5.11.12. If they may but freely ſpeake.
The Errata.
P. 1. l. 9. for the, r. this p. 3 l. 9. for his, r. and his. p. 6. l. 20. for us, r. as. p. 9. l. 19. for low, r. not. l. 36. for as, r. or. p. 12. l. 2. for grace, r. peace. p. 13. l. 9. for diſtractions, r. diſtinctions. p. 14. l. 21 for people, r. Prophet. p 16 l. 15. for recovereth, r. receiveth. p 18. l 8. for tho, r. the. p. …2. l. 31. for proves, r. grows. p. 27. l. 10. for did mercy, r. did it in mercy. p. … l 14. for every, r. any. l. 15. for ni, r. …n. for ge, r. age. l. 20. for his, r. this. p. 32. l. 31, for Aypoc… it…, … Hipocrites.
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Bakewell, A Faithful Messenger Sent After the Antinomians (1644)