Mary Magdalenes Tears Wiped Off, Objection 8
OBJECTION VIII.
But though it will follow from hence that Perſonal Aſſurance of Remiſſion and Pardon of Sin, be not alwayes a neceſſary effect of Gods pardoning of us, or our being in a way to be pardoned: yet ſurely it is ſomewhat unlikely (ſay you) that the clean contrary, viz. a perſwaſion that I ſhall not be pardoned, ſhould flow from ſo happy a condition, as you would make me believe I am In.
SOLUTION.
13. IF you ſhould throughly examine your ſelf; that you do thus perſwade your ſelf, will undoubtedly appear to be falſe. For to what purpoſe do you then pray, faſt, and give alms, lead a ſtrict and ſevere life, &c. if you were indeed perſwaded that you ſhall not be ſaved? would any one but a mad man keep on his pace, in rough, and almoſt impaſſable wayes, if he were certainly aſſured, that he ſhould never come to his journeys end? his feet muſt needs be thought to confute his tongue, if he ſhould do thus.
Beſides how prepoſterous a thing were it, if you ſhould take ſuch ſharp and ſevere courſes, as you do, to enlarge your ſcore, ſuppoſing all theſe Actions of yours ſhould be charged by God upon your account, as ſo many guilded ſins, as you lately termed them? But this, I think, you will have little reaſon to be afraid of, ſeeing our Saviour hath told you, that the Alms-deeds and Prayers of the Phariſees themſelves were ſo rewarded, as they deſired they ſhould be, (viz. with the Praiſes and Commendation of men, Math. 6.16) and are not by him either ſtil'd ſins, or threatned with any puniſhment, more then with the no-ground of expecting a Reward from God.
But as concerning the pardon of our ſin, it will be very uſeful to obſerve theſe four things. 1. That the point of Faith, concerning Remiſſion of Sin, is, That by Chriſt, Remiſſion of Sins is given to Mankinde through Faith in his Blood. 2. That this Remiſſion is not abſolutely, though freely given; but doth depend upon certain Conditions or Qualifications, whereby men are made fit and capable of receiving it. 3. That the Rules as well for the means of conveying this Donation to us, as for our aptitude and capacity to receive the benefit thereof, are to be ſought out and taken from the Scriptures. 4. That becauſe many things of Importance, concerning this doctrine, are to be deduced from the Scriptures, by the Mediation of humane underſtanding, it is a mark both of Piety, Wiſdom, and Humility, to take the Catholique Church for our Guide, and relyance therein. Falſe Interpretations of Scripture, prove either full of Perplexity, or Danger, or both, to our ſelves and others; but moſt eſpecially in ſuch Doctrines, ſo nearly importing our Salvation, as this of Remiſſion of Sin doth. Therefore it is not to be regarded, by what Medums, or from what Principles your concluſions are drawn, if they be only your own: if you mean to ſayl ſecurely amidſt the Tempeſts raiſed in the World by ſuch diverſity of Judgements and Imaginations, embarque your ſelf in the Ʋniverſal Conſentient, and Ancient Interpretations and Doctrines of the Church; and do not adventure ſo pretious a Fraught, as is your ſoul, redeemed with the bloud of Chriſt, in the tottering Boat of your own, or other mens private Interpretations of Scripture. The Church teacheth you this doctrine, viz. 1. That you are pardonable upon your Faith and Repentance. 2. That God hath promiſed (who cannot lye, Heb. 6.18.) that he will pardon you, if you believe and and repent. 3. That the Manifeſtation of Gods pardoning your ſins, is at preſent but imperfectly, and inchoately wrought in your Heart by the Holy Ghoſt, and the uſe of Sacraments; but the full Evidence thereof is to be expected from Chriſt the Judge, and to be patiently, and chearfully waited for by Faith in the promiſes. 4. That the Teſtimony of your own Spirit, ariſing from your ſincere converſation in the doctrines of the Goſpel, is the moſt certain Evidence, that you or any man can ordinarily expect in this life: and all this from pregnant Teſtimony of Scripture.
For you, who hold a lawful and uninterrupted Succeſſion of Miniſters in the Church of Chriſth, you cannot but believe, that in the hands of the Church lyes much of your Peace, as well as of your ſafety: conſidering the Power they have over you, Heb. 13.17. and the Power they have for you, John 20.21.22.23. and both theſe derived down to this preſent Age, and ſhall ſo continue whereſoever the Church ſhall be, (though there be no neceſſity that they ſhould be continued whereſoever Chriſtians are) by verof our Saviours promiſe, even to the end of the World. And theſe powers to be pleaded for by them, and ſubmitted unto by you, as being of Divine right; framed and appointed by the Holy Ghoſt, (the principal Adminiſtrator of Church-Government) for the Advantage and Edification of the Bodie of Chriſt.
I doubt there be ſome, and thoſe no inconſiderable ones, that believe this doctrine not ſufficiently aſſerted by the Church of England, there being in the Frame and Contexture of her Church-Government, too much of the Lay, and too little of the Clergy-man. And though my Judgement tells me, that there is not any Civil Magiſtrate on earth, be he Emperour, King or Prince, that hath ſo Evident, and Immediate a Commiſſion for his Power, and the Exerciſe thereof, as hath the Church: yet who ſees not, that both the Adminiſtration, and the Adminiſtrators of this Government are deſpiſed, ſave in ſuch a ſubordinate way of diſpenſing this power, that muſt needs render it precarious in the eyes of ignorant men, and the Church Officers themſelves, no other things, but ſuch borrowed Hands, as by pulling, now this way, now that way, help to keep the carriage of the Civil State from overturning in rough and dangerous Deſcents