A treatise of original sin ... proving that it is, by pregnant texts of Scripture vindicated from false glosses / by Anthony Burgess.

¶. 2.

This last mentioned Scripture opened.

THis Text I have pitched upon will be a good and a sure foundation for the superstruction of our future Discourse; For Austin in his hot disputes with the Pelagians about the freedom of the will to what is good, doth often flie to this Text, as a sure Sanctuary: And Calvin (gravely upon this Discourse of our Saviour) saith, Eunt nunc Papistae (we may adde Arminians and Socinians) & liberum arbitrium factuosè extollunt, &c. Let them presumptuously exalt free will, but we being conscious of our own bondage, do glory in Christ onely our Redeemer: Though Maldonate is pleased to censure this expression of Cal∣vin, us Sententia digna verberibus, vel igne.

Let us therefore take notice of the Coherence, and we will go no higher then to the 30^th verse, where we have specified a blessed and fruitfull event upon Christs Discourse, concerning his Person and Office, For as he spake those words, many believed on him; not by their own natural ability and power, but the Fa∣ther did draw them by his omnipotent and efficacious grace: Christ while he spake

to the ear did also reach to the heart; he did not onely preach, but could inable the hearer also to believe, herein exceeding all Pastors and Teachers that ever were in the Church of God; Christ plants and watereth, and giveth the increase likewise all of himself; Yea Christ seemeth here to sow his seed upon the high way, and among thorns and stones, yet some seed cometh up and prosper∣eth well.

Upon this we have the love and care of Christ mentioned to these new Con∣verts, he immediately watereth these plants, and swadleth these new born In∣fants that they may not miscarry; This is seen in the counsel suggested to them, where you have, The Duty supposed, and the admirable Priviledge issuing from it▪ The Duty supposed, If ye continue in my Word; It is not enough to begin, unless there be perseverance. It is not enough to receive Christ and his Word, unless we abide therein and have our ears (as it were) boared, never to depart from such a Master; The neglect of this maketh all that dreadfull Apostasie, and those sad scandals to Religion, which in all Ages do terribly break forth, Except ye abide in Christ, as well as be in him, we shall fall short in the wilderness, and not be able to enter into Canaan.

It is also observable, that Christ saith, If ye abide in my Word; it must be the true Doctrine of Christ; it must be what he hath delivered, which denoteth two things:

1. That heresie and errour can no wayes make to our Christian-Discipleship, they cannot set us at liberty from any lust or sinne; and therefore no wonder if you see men of corrupt judgements at last fall into sinfull and corrupt practices; For the word of God is only the instrument and instituted means of sanctification, Sanctifie them by thy word, Joh. 17.

2. Hereby we see the necessity of the Ministry of it; by the preaching of Gods word they are first brought to believe, and after that are continually to depend on it; The Ministry is both for the begetting of grace, and the increase of it; Those that despise and neglect the Word preached, do greatly demonstrate they never got any good by it.

The consequent Priviledge upon this continuance in the Word, is to be Christs Disciples indeed; From whence we have a distinction of a Disciple in appearance and shew, or profession onely, and a Disciple indeed. There were many that became Christs Disciples in profession onely, they followed him for a season, but afterwards forsook him, which caused our Saviour so much in his Parables and Sermons to press them upon a pure. thorow and deep work of grace upon their souls: The title without reality will be no advantage. Musculus observeth, That Christ useth the Present tense, Then are ye my Disciples indeed; From whence he gathers,

That Continuance or Perseverance in grace doth not make the truth of grace, but the truth of grace maketh the perseverance, they do continue, and ther∣fore are Disciples indeed, but they are Disciples indeed, therefore they continue in Christs Word.

But Beza maketh 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as in other places; and if so, then it must be thus understood, That our Perseverance in grace doth not make grace to be true, but doth demonstrate and evidence the Truth; such will appear to be starres indeed fixed in the firmament, when others like blazing Comets will quick∣ly vanish away: But this is not all the Priviledge, there is a two-fold mentioned in the next verse,

First, Ye shall know the truth; when they did at first believe the Word, they did know the Truth in some measure, but now their knowledge should be more evident, clear, and encreasing; And indeed the godly they do so grow in know∣ledge about heavenly things, that they account their former knowledge even nothing at all.

The second Priviledge is, The truth shall make them free; Every man (till rege∣nerated) is in bondage and captivity, to blindness in his mind, to lust in hiswill;

And there is nothing can set us at liberty from this dungeon and prison, but the grace of God by the Word preached.

But no sooner is this Priviledge spoken of, then it stirreth up the Cavils and Objections of some that heard it, They answered him, We be Abrahams seed, and were never in bondage to any man, How then doest thou say, Ye shall be made free? Some think, That those who are said to believe did argue thus; But this seemeth very harsh; Therefore no doubt some others that were in the multitude, that did not believe, they were offended at this speech of our Saviours, and therefore dispute against it, arrogating to themselves both a Native freedom, We are A∣brahams seed; and also an actual one, We were never in bondage to any man. This expression exerciseth Interpreters very much, for whether by [We] they mean their Ancestours or Themselves, living at that time; It is plain, at first they were in bondage in Aegypt, afterwards in Babylon, and at that present in bondage to the Roman Empire, How then could they affirme such a notorious lie, that they were never in bondage to any man? Some say, They mean of such vassals and slaves, as sometimes in warre are taken and sold to others: Now (though the Israelites were often conquered, and brought under the power of others, yet) they were never sold slaves, and so not in bondage in that sense. Others say, They doe not speak of a Civil, or Publique, and State-Liberty, but (as it were) a religious and holy freedome; For, though they were in civil bondage, yet they glorified in Abraham's seed, and the religi∣ous freedome thereby in respect of Gods favour. So Hensius (in his Ari∣starchus Sacer. upon this place,) They (saith he) who spake this, did at∣tend to the Law and Covenant, for such who obeyed the Law, they called free. Hence they had a paradoxal Proverb, None unlesse he exercise himself in the study of the Law, is to be accounted a free man; And, Qui observat legem esse Regem, even as the Stoicks say of their wise man. Sixtus Senesis ma∣keth these words to be spoken by some of the Galileans, who would never owne any forreign power, but did chuse rather to die, then to make such an acknowledgement. That which many pitch upon is,

That the Jewes speak this to Christ from their pride and arrogancy, not willing to take any notice of their external subjection, but so that they may oppose Christ, care not what they say, though never so contrary to Truth.

Although Calvin well addeth, They might have a pretence for what they said, as if the Roman power did by force reign over them, and therefore that they were (de jure) free.

But our Saviour speaking of one kind of freedome and slavery, and they of another, he doth in the next verse more particularly open his meaning, and withall layeth a foundation to prove, That though they boasted and glo∣ried in their freedome, yet they were indeed servants and slaves; This he proveth by that universal Proposition, Whosoever committeth sinne is the ser∣vant of sinne; You must lay an Emphasis in that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it is not to be understood of every actual committing of sinne, but of the wilfull, ha∣bitual and constant committing of it: And thus though great men may boast in their Sovereignty they have over many others; though they may glory in multitude of servants, yet if they be overcome by any one vice, they be the vilest slaves and vassals of all, Quot vitia, tot Domini, so many vices, so many Lords: Now original sinne that is a Lord and Master to every one, that reigneth over all mankind; some actual sinnes enslave one man, and some another; but original sinne doth every man; yea though the godly are (in some measure) freed from the dominion of it, yet it keepeth up a tyrannical dominion over the most holy, as appeareth Rom. 7. by that com∣plaint of Paul, He could not doe the good he would, because he was sold under sinne.

This foundation then being laid, our Saviour shewing the difference between a servant and a sonne, doth in my Text suppose,

1. A necessity of every one till sanctified to be made free.

2. The Manner how. And

3. That this is freedom indeed.

The Necessity supposed is, If the Sonne make them free; Though he speaketh this to those Jews who were in a two-fold bondage to sinne, original and actual; natural and voluntary, yet this is to be applyed to every man that is not in the state of regeneration, He hath no liberty or freedome of will to do what is good, but is a vassal to all sinne; sinne is the lusts thereof do prevail-over him, so that he hath neither will or power to come out of this bondage.

2. There is the Manner how, or the Person by whom we obtain true liberty, If the Sonne make you free. In some Cities the elder brother had power to adopt sonnes, and so to make free, however Christ is therefore called the Redeemer, because he doth obtain spiritual freedome for his people, and that not onely in respect of the guilt of sinne freeing from that; which grace of Christ the Pela∣gians did acknowledge (and would constantly interpret my Text in this sense onely) but also the power of sinne by inherent Sanctification and Renovation of the whole man; and of this freedom the Text doth here principally speak, not so much the freedom from the guilt of sinne; by justifying grace, as from the power of sinne by sanctifying grace.

3. You have the Commendation of this spiritual liberty, it is called freedome indeed, implying, that though they had never so much civil freedom, never so much dominion and power, yet if servants to sinne, they were in the vilest bon∣dage that could be: Civil freedom is thought to be so great a good, that it can never be prized enough; Therefore the Rabbins have a saying, That if the Sea were ink, and the world parchment, it would never serve enough to contain the praises of liberty. The Scripture informeth us, how great an honour it was ac∣counted to be free of Rome, but if all this while men are captivated either to personal sinnes, or to sinnes of the nature, they remain in worse bondage, then ever any Gally-slaves were in; The people of Israel in their iron furnace and house of bondage did cry and groan for a Redeemer; but this is the un∣speakable evil of this soul-bondage, that we delight in it, that we rejoyce in it; all our indeavour and care is, that we may not be set at liberty, and have these chains taken off us. From this explication observe,

That no man hath any liberty or freedom of will to what is good, till Christ by his grace hath made him free. We do not by freedom of will obtain grace, but by grace we obtain freedom of will: So that by the Scripture we have not any true ground for a liberum, arbitrium, but a liberatum in spiritual things; There is no such thing as a free-will, but a freed will in a passive sense, and tunc est liberum, when it is liberatum, as Austin; Then it's actively free, when it is first passively made free, Rom. 6. 16. Being made free from sinne; He doth not say, you have made your selves free, but ye are made frre by the grace of Christ. And again, vers. 22. Ye are now made free from sinne; and Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sinne and death: By which expressions is implied, 1. That all men till sanctified are in an absolute vassalage and thraldom to sinne. And, 2. That it is onely the grace of Christ that doth deliver from this bondage. It is Christ not our own will that ma∣keth us free.