Part 24

§. V. [Sidenote: Proof 3. _The great and principal End of Christ’s Coming and Appearance was for the Removing of _Sin_, and to redeem us from all _Iniquity.] _Thirdly_, This evil Doctrine is _highly injurious to Jesus Christ, and greatly derogates from the Power and Virtue of his Sacrifice, and renders his Coming and Ministry_, as to the great End of it, _ineffectual_. For Christ, as for other Ends, so principally he appeared for the Removing of Sin, for the gathering a righteous Generation, that might serve the Lord in Purity of Mind, and walk before him in Fear, and to bring in everlasting Righteousness, and that evangelical Perfection which the Law could not do. Hence he is said, _Tit._ ii. 14. _to have given himself for us, that he might redeem us from all Iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar People, zealous of good Works_. This is certainly spoken of the Saints while upon Earth; but, contrary thereunto, these Men affirm, That _we are never redeemed from all Iniquity_, and so make Christ’s giving of himself for us void and ineffectual, and give the Apostle _Paul_ the Lie plainly, by denying that _Christ purifieth to himself a peculiar People, zealous of good Works_. How are they _zealous of good Works_, who are ever committing evil ones? How are they a _purified People_, that are still in Impurity, as they are that daily Sin, unless Sin be accounted no Impurity? Moreover it is said expresly, 1 _John_ iii. 5. 8. That _for this Purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the Works of the Devil; and ye know that he was manifested to take away our Sins_. But these Men make this Purpose of none Effect; for they will not have the Son of God to _destroy the Works of the Devil in his Children_ in this World, neither will they at all believe that he was manifest to take away our Sins, seeing they plead a Necessity of always living in them. And lest any should wrest this Place of the Apostle, as if it were spoken only of taking away the Guilt of Sin, as if it related not to this Life, the Apostle, as if of Purpose to obviate such an Objection, adds in the following Verses, _Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not_, &c. I hope then they sin not daily in Thought, Word, and Deed. _Let no Man deceive you; he that doth Righteousness, is righteous, even as he is righteous; he that committeth Sin, is of the Devil_; but he that sinneth daily in Thought, Word, and Deed, committeth Sin; how comes such an one then to be the Child of God? And if Christ was manifest to take away Sin, how strangely do they overturn the Doctrine of Christ who deny that it is ever taken away here? And how injurious are they to the Efficacy and Power of Christ’s Appearance? Came not Christ to gather a People out of Sin into Righteousness; from the Kingdom of Satan into the _Kingdom of the dear Son of God_? And are not they that are thus gathered by him his Servants, his Children, his Brethren, his Friends? _who as he was, so are they to be in this World, holy, pure, and undefiled_. And doth not Christ still watch over them, stand by them, pray for them, and preserve them by his Power and Spirit, walk in them, and dwell among them; [Sidenote: _The Devil dwells among the _Reprobates.] even as the Devil, on the other Hand, doth among the reprobate ones? How comes it then that the Servants of Christ are less his Servants than the Devil’s are his? Or is Christ unwilling to have his Servants throughly pure? Which were gross Blasphemy to assert, contrary to many Scriptures. Or is he not able by his Power to preserve and enable his Children to serve him? Which were no less blasphemous to affirm of him, concerning whom the Scriptures declare, That he has _overcome Sin, Death, Hell, and the Grave, and triumphed over them openly, and that all Power in Heaven and Earth is given to him_. But certainly if the Saints sin daily in Thought, Word, and Deed, as these Men assert, they serve the Devil daily, and are subject to his Power; and so he prevails more than Christ doth, and holds the Servants of Christ in Bondage, whether Christ will or not. But how greatly then doth it contradict the End of Christ’s Coming? as it is expressed by the Apostle, _Ephes._ v. 25, 26, 27. _Even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the Washing of Water by the Word: That he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having Spot or Wrinkle_, or any such Thing, _but that it should be holy, and without Blemish_. Now if Christ hath really thus answered the Thing he came for, then the Members of this Church are not always sinning in Thought, Word, and Deed, or there is no Difference betwixt being sanctified and unsanctified, clean and unclean, holy and unholy, being daily blemished with Sin, and being without Blemish.

§. VI. [Sidenote: Proof 4.] [Sidenote: Pastors, Teachers_, and_ Scriptures _are given for perfecting of the Saints._] Fourthly, This Doctrine renders _the Work of the Ministry_, _the Preaching of the Word_, _the Writing of the Scripture_, _and the Prayers of holy Men_, _altogether useless and ineffectual_. As to the first, _Ephes._ iv. 11. _Pastors_ and _Teachers_ are said to be _given for the Perfection of the Saints_, &c. _until we all come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto a Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ_. Now if there be a Necessity of sinning daily, and in all Things, then there can be no Perfection; for such as do so cannot be esteemed perfect. And if for effectuating this Perfection in the Saints the Ministry be appointed and disposed of God, do not such as deny the Possibility hereof render the Ministry useless and of no Profit? Seeing there can be no other true Use assigned, but to lead People out of Sin into Righteousness. If so be these Ministers assure us that we need never expect to be delivered from it, do not they render their own Work needless? What needs Preaching against Sin, for the reproving of which all Preaching is, if it can never be forsaken? Our Adversaries are Exalters of the Scriptures in Words, much crying up their Usefulness and Perfection: Now the Apostle tells us, 2 _Tim._ iii. 17. That the _Scriptures are for making the Man of God perfect_; and if this be denied to be attainable in this Life, then the Scriptures are of no Profit; for in the other Life we shall not have use for them. It renders the Prayers of the Saints altogether useless, seeing themselves do confess they ought to pray daily _that God would deliver them from Evil, and free them from Sin, by the Help of his Spirit and Grace, while in this World_. But though we might suppose this Absurdity to follow, _that their Prayers are without Faith_, yet were not that so much, if it did not infer the like upon the holy Apostles, who prayed earnestly for this End, and therefore no Doubt believed it attainable, _Col._ iv. 12. _Labouring fervently for you in Prayers, that ye may stand perfect_, &c. 1 Thess. iii. 13. and v. 23, _&c._

§. VII. [Sidenote: Proof 5.] [Sidenote: Darkness _and_ Light, Sin _and_ Righteousness_, inconsistent together._] But _Fifthly_, This Doctrine is _contrary to common Reason and Sense_. For the two opposite _Principles_, whereof the one rules in the Children of _Darkness_, the other in the Children of _Light_, are _Sin_ and _Righteousness_; and as they are respectively leavened and actuated by them, so they are accounted either as reprobated or justified, seeing it is [77]_Abomination in the Sight of God, either to justify the Wicked, or condemn the Just_. Now to say that Men cannot be so leavened by the one as to be delivered from the other, is in plain Words to affirm, that _Sin_ and _Righteousness_ are consistent; and that a Man may be truly termed _righteous_, though he be daily _sinning_ in every Thing he doth; and then what Difference betwixt _Good_ and _Evil_? Is not this to fall into that great Abomination of putting _Light_ for _Darkness_? and calling _Good Evil_, and _Evil Good_? Since they say _the very best Actions of God’s Children are defiled and polluted, and that those that sin daily in Thought, Word, and Deed are good Men and Women, the Saints and holy Servants of the holy pure God_. Can there be any Thing more repugnant than this to common Reason? Since the _Subject_ is still denominated from that _Accident_ that doth most influence it; as a Wall is called _White_ when there is much _Whiteness_, and _Black_ when there is much _Blackness_, and such like; but when there is more Unrighteousness in a Man than Righteousness, that Man ought rather to be denominated unrighteous than righteous. [Sidenote: _If all _daily sin_, where is the _righteous Man_ then spoken of in Scripture?_] Then surely if every Man sin daily in Thought, Word, and Deed, and that in his Sins there is no Righteousness at all, and that all his righteous Actions are polluted and mixed with Sin, then there is in every Man more Unrighteousness than Righteousness; and so no Man ought to be called _righteous_, no Man can be said to be _sanctified_ or _washed_. _Where are then the Children of God? Where are the purified Ones? Where are they who were sometimes unholy, but now holy; that sometimes were Darkness, but now are Light in the Lord?_ There can none such be found then at this Rate, except that Unrighteousness be esteemed so: And is not this to fall into that Abomination above-mentioned of _justifying the Ungodly_? [Sidenote: _The Blasphemy of the_ Ranters _or_ Libertines.] This certainly lands in that horrid Blasphemy of the _Ranters_, that affirm _there is no Difference betwixt Good and Evil, and that all is one in the Sight of God_. I could shew many more gross Absurdities, evil Consequences, and manifest Contradictions implied in this _sinful Doctrine_; but this may suffice at present, by which also in a good Measure the Proof of the Truth we affirm is advanced. Yet nevertheless, for the further evidencing of it, I shall proceed to the second Thing proposed by me, to wit, to prove this from several Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures.

[77] Prov. 17. 15.

§. VIII. [Sidenote: Sect. II.] [Sidenote: Proof 1.] And _First_, I prove it from the peremptory positive Command of _Christ_ and the _Apostles_, seeing this is a Maxim engraven in every Man’s Heart naturally, _That no Man is bound to do that which is impossible_: Since then _Christ_ and his _Apostles_ have commanded us to keep all the _Commandments_, and to be perfect in this Respect, it is possible for us so to do. [Sidenote: _Be ye perfect, _&c._ Keep my Commandments._] Now that this is thus commanded without any Commentary or Consequence, is evidently apparent from these plain Testimonies, _Matt._ v. 48, and vii. 21. _John_ xiii. 17. 1 _Cor._ vii. 19. 2 _Cor._ xiii. 11. 1 _John_ ii. 3, 4, 5, 6. and iii. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. These Scriptures intimate a positive Command for it; they declare the absolute Necessity of it; and therefore, as if they had purposely been written to answer the Objections of our _Opposers_, they shew the Folly of those that will esteem themselves _Children_ or _Friends_ of _God_, while they do otherwise.

[Sidenote: Proof 2.] [Sidenote: _The Possibility of it._] _Secondly_, It is possible, because we receive the Gospel and Law thereof for that Effect; and it is expresly promised to us, as we are under Grace, as appears by these Scriptures, _Rom._ iv. 14. _Sin shall not have Dominion over you; for ye are not under the Law, but under Grace_: And _Rom._ viii. 3. _For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Flesh, God sending his own Son_, &c. _that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us_, &c. [Sidenote: _The Difference of the_ Law _and_ Gospel.] For if this were not a Condition both requisite, necessary, and attainable under the Gospel, there were no Difference betwixt the _Bringing in of a better Hope_, and the _Law which made nothing perfect_; neither betwixt those which are under the _Gospel_, or who under the _Law_ enjoyed and walked in the Life of the Gospel and mere _Legalists_. Whereas the Apostle, throughout the whole _Sixth_ to the _Romans_, argues not only the _Possibility_ but the _Necessity_ of being free from Sin, from their being under the _Gospel_, and under _Grace_, and not under the _Law_; and therefore states himself and those to whom he wrote in that Condition in these _Verses_, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. and therefore in the 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18 _Verses_, he argues both the Possibility and Necessity of this _Freedom from Sin_ almost in the same Manner we did a little before; and in the 22d he declares them in Measure to have attained this Condition in these Words, _But now being made free from Sin, and become Servants to God, ye have your Fruit unto Holiness, and the End everlasting Life_. [Sidenote: Perfection _and_ Freedom _from_ Sin _attained and made possible by the Gospel._] And as this Perfection or Freedom from Sin is attained and made possible where the Gospel and inward Law of the Spirit is received and known, so the Ignorance hereof has been and is an Occasion of opposing this Truth. For Man not minding the _Light_ or _Law within his Heart_, which not only discovers Sin, but leads out of it, and so being a Stranger to the new Life and Birth that is born of God, which naturally does his Will, and cannot of its own Nature transgress the Commandments of God, doth, I say, in his natural State look at the Commandments as they are without him in the Letter; [Sidenote: _The Letter _kills_, and maketh not _alive.] and finding himself reproved and convicted, is by the Letter killed, but not made alive. So Man, finding himself wounded, and not applying himself inwardly to that which can heal, labours in his own Will after a Conformity to the Law as it is without him, which he can never obtain, but finds the more he wrestles, the more he falleth short. So this is the _Jew_ still in Effect, with his carnal Commandment, with the _Law_ without, in the _first Covenant State_, which _makes not the Comers thereunto perfect, as pertaining to the Conscience_, Heb. ix. 9. though they may have here a Notion of _Christianity_, and an external Faith in _Christ_. This has made them strain and wrest the Scriptures for an _imputative Righteousness_ wholly without them, to cover their Impurities; and this hath made them imagine an Acceptance with God possible, though they suppose it impossible ever to obey Christ’s Commands. But alas! O deceived Souls! that will not avail in the Day wherein _God will judge every Man according to his Work, whether good or bad_. It will not save thee to say, it was necessary for thee to sin daily in Thought, Word, and Deed; for such as do so have certainly obeyed Unrighteousness: And what is provided for such but _Tribulation and Anguish_, _Indignation and Wrath_; even as _Glory, Honour, and Peace, Immortality and eternal Life to such as have done Good, and patiently continued in Well-doing_. So then, if thou desirest to know this Perfection and Freedom from Sin possible for thee, turn thy Mind to the _Light and spiritual Law of Christ in the Heart_, and suffer the Reproofs thereof; bear the Judgment and Indignation of God upon the unrighteous Part in thee as therein is revealed, which Christ hath made tolerable for thee, and so suffer _Judgment in thee_ to be _brought forth into Victory_, and thus come to partake of the _Fellowship_ of _Christ’s Sufferings_, and be made _conformable unto his Death_, [Sidenote: _How we partake of Christ’s Sufferings, and are made conformable unto his Death._] that thou mayest feel thyself _crucified with him to the_ World _by the Power of his Cross in thee_; so that that Life that sometimes was alive in thee to this World, and the Love and Lusts thereof, may die, and a new Life be raised, by which thou mayest live henceforward to God, and not to or for thyself; and with the Apostle thou mayest say, _Gal._ ii. 20. _It is no more I, but Christ alive in me_; and then thou wilt be a _Christian indeed_, and not in _Name_ only, as too many are; then thou wilt know what it is to have _put off the old Man with his Deeds_, who indeed sins daily in Thought, Word, and Deed; and to have _put on the new Man, that it renewed in Holiness, after the Image of him that hath created him_, Ephes. iv. 24. and thou wilt witness thyself to be [78]_God’s Workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good Works_, and so not to sin always. And to this new Man _Christ’s Yoke is easy, and his Burden is light_; though it be heavy to the _old Adam_; yea, the _Commandments of God_ are not unto this Man _grievous_; for it is his _Meat and Drink_ to be found _fulfilling the Will of God_.

[78] Matt. xi. 30. 1 John v. 3.

[Sidenote: Proof 3.] [Sidenote: _Many have attained Perfection._] _Lastly_, This Perfection or Freedom from Sin is possible, because many have attained it, according to the express Testimony of the Scripture; some before the Law, and some under the Law, through witnessing and partaking of the Benefit and Effect of the Gospel, and much more many under the Gospel. [Sidenote: Enoch _walked with God, and was_ perfect.] As _first_, It is written of _Enoch_, _Gen._ v. 22, 24. that he _walked with God_, which no Man while sinning can; nor doth the Scripture record any Failing of his. It is said of _Noah_, _Gen._ vi. 9. and of _Job_ i. 8. and of _Zacharias_ and _Elizabeth_, _Luke_ i. 6. that _they were perfect_; but under the Gospel, besides that of the _Romans_ above-mentioned, see what the Apostle saith of many Saints in general, _Ephes._ ii. 4, 5, 6. _But God, who is rich in Mercy, for his great Love wherewith he hath loved us, even when we were dead in Sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by Grace ye are saved; and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly Places in Christ Jesus_ &c. I judge while they were sitting in these _heavenly Places_, they could not be daily sinning in Thought, Word, and Deed; neither were all their Works which they did there as _filthy Rags_, or as a _menstruous Garment_. See what is further said to the _Hebrews_, xii. 22, 23. _Spirits of just Men made perfect_. And to conclude, let that of the _Revelations_, xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. be considered, where though their being _found without Fault_ be spoken in the present Time, yet it is not without Respect to their Innocency while upon Earth; and their being _redeemed from among Men, and no Guile found in their Mouth_, is expresly mentioned in the Time past. [Sidenote: Sect III.] But I shall proceed now, in the _Third Place_, to answer the _Objections_, which indeed are the Arguments of our Opposers.

§. IX. [Sidenote: Obj. 1.] I shall begin with their chief and great Argument, which is the Words of the Apostle, 1 John i. 8. _If we say that we have no Sin_, _we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us_. This they think invincible.

[Sidenote: _Answ. 1._] But is it not strange to see Men so blinded with Partiality? How many Scriptures tenfold more plain do they reject, and yet stick so tenaciously to this, that can receive so many Answers? As First, [_If we say we have no Sin_, &c.] will not import the Apostle himself to be included. [Sidenote: _If we say we have no Sin_, &c. objected.] Sometimes the Scripture useth this Manner of Expression when the Person speaking cannot be included; which Manner of Speech the _Grammarians_ call _Metaschematismus_. Thus _James_ iii. 9, 10. speaking of the _Tongue_, saith, _Therewith bless we God, and therewith curse we Men_; adding, _These Things ought not so to be_. Who from this will conclude that the Apostle was one of those Cursers? [Sidenote: _Answ. 2._] But _Secondly_, This Objection hitteth not the Matter; he saith not, _We sin daily in Thought, Word, and Deed_; far less that the _very good Works which God works in us by his Spirit are Sin_: Yea, the very next Verse clearly shews, that upon _Confession_ and _Repentance_ we are not only _forgiven_, but also _cleansed_; _He is faithful to forgive us our Sins, and to cleanse us from all Unrighteousness_. Here is both a Forgiveness and Removing of the Guilt, and a Cleansing or Removing of the Filth; for to make _Forgiveness_ and _Cleansing_ to belong both to the Removing of the _Guilt_, as there is no Reason for it from the Text, so it were a most violent forcing of the Words, and would imply a needless Tautology. The Apostle having shewn how that not the Guilt only, but even the Filth also of Sin is removed, subsumes his Words in the Time past in the 10th Verse, _If we say we have not sinned, we make him a Liar_. [Sidenote: _Answ. 3._] _Thirdly_, As _Augustine_ well observed, in his Exposition upon the Epistle to the _Galatians_, _It is one Thing not to sin, and another Thing not to have Sin_. [Sidenote: _It is one Thing_, not to sin, _and another Thing_ not to have Sin.] The Apostle’s Words are not, _If we say we sin not, or commit not Sin daily, _but_ if we say we have no Sin_: And betwixt these two there is a manifest Difference; for in respect all have _sinned_, as we freely acknowledge, all may be said in a Sense to have _Sin_. Again, _Sin_ may be taken for the _Seed of Sin_, which may be in those that are redeemed from _actual Sinning_; but as to the Temptations and Provocations proceeding from it being resisted by the Servants of God, and not yielded to, they are the Devil’s Sin that tempteth, not the Man’s that is preserved. [Sidenote: _Answ. 4._] _Fourthly_, This being considered, as also how positive and plain once and again the same Apostle is in that very Epistle, as in divers Places above cited, is it equal or rational to strain this one Place, presently after so qualified and subsumed in the _Time past_, to contradict not only other positive Expressions of his, but the whole Tendency of his Epistle, and of the rest of the holy Commands and Precepts of the Scripture?

[Sidenote: Obj. 2.] _Secondly_, Their second Objection is from two Places of Scripture, much of one Signification: The one is, 1 _Kings_ viii. 46. _For there is no Man that sinneth not_. The other is, _Eccles._ vii. 20. _For there is not a just Man upon Earth, that doeth Good, and sinneth not_.

[Sidenote: _Answ._] I answer, _First_, These affirm nothing of a daily and continual _Sinning_, so as never to be redeemed from it; but only that all have _sinned_, or that there is none that doth not _sin_, though not always, so as never to cease to _sin_; and in this lies the Question. Yea, in that Place of the _Kings_ he speaks within two Verses of the returning of such _with all their Souls and Hearts_; which implies a Possibility of leaving off Sin. [Sidenote: _Diversity of Seasons and Dispensations_ respected.] _Secondly_, There is a Respect to be had to the Seasons and Dispensations; for if it should be granted that in _Solomon_’s Time there were none that _sinned not_, it will not follow that there are none such now, or that it is a Thing not now attainable by the Grace of God under the Gospel: For _A non esse ad non posse non valet sequela_. And _Lastly_, This whole Objection hangs upon a false Interpretation; for the Hebrew Word [Hebrew: ycht': יחטא] may be read in the _Potential Mood_, thus, _There is no Man who may not sin_, as well as in the _Indicative_: So both the old Latin, _Junius_ and _Tremellius_, and _Vatablus_ have it; and the same Word is so used, _Psalm_ cxix. 11. _I have hid thy Word in my Heart_, [Hebrew: lt'z l' 'cht' lk: לטעז לא אחטא לך׃] that is to say, _That I may not sin against thee_, in the _Potential Mood_, and not in the _Indicative_; which being more answerable to the universal Scope of the Scriptures, the Testimony of the Truth, and the Sense almost of all Interpreters, doubtless ought to be so understood, and the other _Interpretation_ rejected as _spurious_.