Heauen opened VVherein the counsaile of God concerning mans saluation is yet more cleerely manifested, so that they that haue eyes may come and se the Christian possessed and crowned in his heauenly kingdome: which is the greatest and last benefit we haue by Christ Iesus our Lord. Come and see. First, written, and now newly amended and enlarged, by Mr. William Cowper, minister of Gods word.

Verse 4.

That the righteousnesse of the Law might be fulfilled in vs, who walke not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit.

THe Apostle hauing taught vs in the former* 1.1 verse, how the Lord Iesus hath freed vs from the condemning power of sin, doth now let vs see how wee are freed also from the comman∣ding power of sin; for he sets downe this to be the first, and neerest end of Christs death in respect of vs, the renouation of our nature, and conformity thereof with God his holy law: which he expresses more cleerely in another place, when he saith, that Christ gaue himselfe to the death for his Church, that he might sanctifie it, and make it to himselfe a glorious Church, not hauing spot, or wrinckle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blame. This is the end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe, and whereof he cannot be frustrate, as he hath begun it, so he shall finish it, he shall conforme vs to the law, the righteousnesse thereof shall be fulfilled in vs, there shall not be left in our nature so much as a sinfull motion or desire, but hee shall at the last present vs pure and without blame to his Father.

This righteousnesse of the law, I vnderstand to be that* 1.2 perfect obedience to the Commandements thereof, which the law requires, flowing from the perfect loue of God and our neighbour: and it is fulfilled in vs two manner of wayes: first, by application or imputation of Christs righteousnesse vnto vs, he is our head and we his members, and are so vni∣ted with him, that now we are not to be taken as sundry but as one body with him. By vertue of the which communion it comes to passe, that that which is ours is his, & that which is his, is ours, so that in our head wee haue fulfilled the law, satisfied Gods iustice for our sinnes. Secondly, it will be fulfilled in vs by our perfect sanctification, though now we

haue but begun obedience and in part, the Lord Iesus at the last shall bring it in vs to perfection.

The Iesuites of Rhemes in their marginall notes on this* 1.3 Verse, collects a note which the word here rendreth not vnto them. We see (say they) that the Law, which is Gods commandements, may be kept, that the keeping thereof is iustice, and that in Christian men that is fulfilled by Christs grace which by the force of the Law could neuer be fulfilled: that the law may be fulfilled, and also shall be fulfilled by the grace of Christ▪ who hath deliuered vs from the Law of sin, is eui∣dent* 1.4 out of the Apostles words, we confesse it, and are com∣forted in it: this is an end which Christ hath proposed vnto himselfe; that he may make vs perfectly answerable to that holinesse which the Law requireth, and in his owne good time he shall bring it to passe: but that the Law is fulfilled of men in this life, cannot be proued, neither out of this place, nor any other place of holy Scripture. Damnatum est peccatum, non extinctum: Sinne is condemned (saith Caietane,* 1.5 one of their owne) but not extinguished.

And hereunto beside infinite testimonies of holy Scrip∣ture,* 1.6 agreeth also the suffrages of pure antiquitie. Non di∣cit familia tua sana sum, medicum non requiro, sed sana me Domine, & sanabor. It is not (saith Ambrose) the voyce of thy family, I am whole, and needes not a Phisition, but heale me, O Lord, and I shall be healed, Tu audes Noua∣tiane mundum te dicere, qui etsi operibus mundus esses hoc solo verbo i••mundus fieres. Ambrose spake it to the Nouatian Heretiques of his time, and it may be sitly turned ouer to the Iesuites of our time: Darest thou O Iesuit call thy selfe* 1.7 cleane and holy? Albeit thou wert cleane in regard of thy works, this one word were enough to make thee vncleane. With him also agrees Augustine: Sunt quidam inflati vtres* 1.8 spiritu elationis pleni, non magnitudine, ingentes, sed superbiae morbo tumentes, vt audeant dicere inueniri homines abs{que} p••c∣cato. There are some (saith hee) like vnto vessels blowne vp with winde, filled with a hautie spirit, not solidly great,

but swelled with the sicknesse of pride, who dare be bolde to say, that men are found in earth without sinne? Of such as these hee demaunds in that same place: Interrogo te, O* 1.9 homo sancte, iuste, sine macula, oratio ista, dimitte nobis debita nostra, fidelium est, an catechumenorum? certe regeneratorum est, immo filiorum, nam si non est filiorum, qua fronte dicitur Pater noster quies in coelis, vbi ergo estis, O iusti, sancti, in qui∣bus peccata non sunt? I demand of thee (O man) thou who* 1.10 art iust and holy, this prayer, Forgiue vs our sinnes, whether is it a prayer to be said by Catechists onely, or to be said also of such as are beleeuers and conuerted Christians? surely it is the prayer of men regenerated, yea, it is the prayer of the Sonnes of God, for they call God their Father in heauen; where then are ye, O ye iust and holy ones, in whom are no sinnes? If the regenerate and sonnes of God haue need to craue remission of sinnes, what are ye who say ye haue no sinne? If we say we haue no sinne, we lie, and the truth is not* 1.11 in vs, and our blessed Sauiour to let vs see how farre we are from doing that which we should doe, saith: When yee haue* 1.12 done all that yee can doe, yet say yee are vnprofitable Seruants. Where because they haue a silly subterfuge, that albeit wee were neuer so righteous, yet for humilities sake, we should say we are vnprofitable: I answere them, as Augustine an∣swered the same obiection in his time, propter humilitatem* 1.13 ergo mentiris, then for humilities sake, thou lyest; but it is certaine, Christ neuer taught man to lye for humility: this is but a forged falshood of their owne.

And to ioyne the third witnesse with the former two. Bernard who liued in a very corrupt time, yet retained this truth, Quis melior Propheta? de quo dixit Deus, inueni vi∣rum* 1.14 secundum cor meum, & tamen ipse necesse habuit dicere Deo: Ne intres in iudicium cum seruo tuo: who is better then the Prophet Dauid? of whom the Lord said, I haue found a man after mine owne heart, yet had he neede to say, Lord enter not into iudgement with thy Seruant. And againe, Suffi∣cit* 1.15 mihi ad omnem iustitiam solum habere propitium, cui soli

peccaui: non peccare Dei iustitia est, hominis iustitia indulgentia Dei. It sufficeth me for all righteousnes to haue him onely mercifull to me whom I haue only offended, to be without sinne is the righteousnesse of God, mans righteousnesse is Gods indulgence, pardoning his sinne: we conclude there∣fore with him. Ʋaegenerationi huic miserae, cui sufficere vide∣tur* 1.16 sua insufficientia, immo inopia tanta, quis enim ad perfectio∣nem illam, quam Scripturae tradunt, vel aspirare videtur? woe to this miserable generation, to whom their owne insuffici∣encie seems sufficient, for who is it that hath so much as aspired to that perfection, which the holy Scripture com∣maunds vs?

But to maintaine their errour, they enforce these places* 1.17 of holy Scripture, wherein mention is made of innocencie, iustice, and perfection in the Godly, whereupon they sim∣ply inferre that the Law is fulfilled. Their paralogismes shall easily be discouered, if we keepe Augustines rule: when the perfection of any man is mentioned, we must consider wherein, for a man may be righteous in comparison of others, so Noah was a righteous man in comparison of that generation wherein hee liued, yet was hee not with∣out sinne. A man may be also so called in comparison of himselfe, the Lord iudging a man according to that where vnto the greater part of his disposition is inclined: for the Lord doth repute and account his Children not after the remanents of the old man, but according to the new work∣manship of his grace in them; whereof it commeth to passe, that albeit in a great part they be sinfull, yet the Lord giueth vnto them, the names of Saints and righteous men.

Againe, in handling of the Apostles words, Philippians 3.* 1.18 let vs as many as are perfect be thus minded: hee moues the question, seeing the Apostle hath said immediatly before, that he was not perfect, how doth he now rancke himselfe among those who are perfect? how agrees these two▪ that hee is perfect, and not perfect? Hee answeres, the Apostle

was perfect, secundum intentionem, non secundum peruentio∣nem,* 1.19 that is, perfect in regard of his intention and purpose, not in regard of preuention, and obtayning of his purpose. And hereunto agrees that of Bernard, Magnum illud electi∣onis* 1.20 vas perfectum abnuit, perfectum fatetur, that great cho∣sen vessell of election graunts profection, that is, a going forward, but denyes perfection, for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is not onely he who hath come to the end, but hee also who is walkeing toward it; we are so perfect in this life that wee are yet but walking to perfection: therefore saith Ambrose, Apostolus* 1.21 aliquando quasi perfectis loquitur, aliquando quasi perfecturis, hoc est aliquando laudat, aliquando common••t: the Apostle speaketh vnto Christians sometime as vnto men that are perfect, othertimes as vnto men who are to perfect that which is required of them, that is, sometimes he praises them for the good they haue done, and otherwhiles he ad∣monishes them of the good they haue to doe. We conclude therefore with Augustine, perfectio hominis est, inuenisse se* 1.22 non esse perfectum, this is the pefection of man to finde he is not perfect.

And as for that place of Saint Luke, where it is said that* 1.23 Zacharie and Elizabeth walked without reproofe in all the Commandements of God, because the Iesuits of Rhemes in their obseruations would wrest it to confirme their errour, wee will shortly make it manifest. That it makes not for them, Augustine hath two reasons, whereby he proues out of that same Scripture, that Zacharie was not without sin, first, because he was a Priest, and was bound to offer as well for his owne sins, as the sins of the people. Secondly, in that the Euangelist saith, he walked in the commandements of* 1.24 God, it is an agreement, that as yet hee had not attayned to the marke: to the which we may adde the third out of that same place, the dumbnesse inflicted vpon him for his misbeleeuing, euidently proues he was not so perfect as to be without sinne. Beside this, he customably distinguishes betweene peccatum & crimen, sinne and a crime, that is,

some grieuous offence that giues slaunder, and is worthy of crimination. Sanctorum hominum vitam inueniri posse dici∣mus* 1.25 sine crimine, we affirme that the life of holy men may be found without a crime. And againe, nunc bene viuitur si sine crimine, sine peccato autem, qui se viuere existimat, non id agit vt peccatum non habeat, sed vt veniam non accipiat: now men liue well if they liue without crime, but he who thinks he can liue without sinne, doth not thereby make himselfe free of sinne, but debarres himselfe from the pardon of his sinne. And so much for refutation of their errour.

Now for our instruction we marke againe here, that see∣ing* 1.26 the end of Christs death is our sanctification, it cannot be but a mocking of the sonne of God, and a treading of his holy blood vnder the vncleane feete of men, to make the death of Christ a nourishment of sin: let such thoughts be farre from vs, that wee should take liberty to sinne, be∣cause we haue a Sauiour: this is to make Christ a minister of sinne, and as was said, to build vp that which Christ came to destroy. O thou who louest the Lord Iesus, be it far from thee to take pleasure in that which made his blessed soule heauie vnto death, let vs neuer nourish that life of sin, which was the cause of the death of Christ, but let vs daily cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit, and grow vp* 1.27 vnto full holinesse in the feare of God.

For albeit, by Christ wee be deliuered from the curse of* 1.28 the Law, yet are we not exempted from the obedience ther∣of. In respect of the one, the Apostle said, We are not vnder the Law but vnder Grace: in respect of the other, he hath said that the Law is good: and our Sauiour protests he came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it, both in himselfe and his members, not only by righteousnesse imputed, but also inherent. For the law stands to vs a rule of our life, we loue the holinesse thereof, & striues to conforme our selues vnto it: iustificati enim amics leges efficiuntur, for men when* 1.29 they are iustified, become louers of the law, which before they hated. So that hereby we are to try whether wee be in

Christ, if we delight in the law of God, if wee be grieued when our sinfull nature trangresses the precepts thereof, if we finde a begunne harmonie betweene our affections, actions, and her commaundements, by these and the like effects may we know that in Christ we are iustified.

Lastly, we haue this comfort, that seeing our sanctificati∣on* 1.30 is an end which the Lord Iesus hath proposed vnto him∣selfe, we may be sure he shall attaine vnto it. In the first creation what he commaunded was done, he made light to shine out of darknesse, no impediment could stay that work of the Lord: so is it in the second creation, neither Sathans malice, nor the deceitfull allurements of the world, nor the sinnefull corruption of our owne nature, shall stay that work of our perfect sanctification, which the Lord Iesus hath not onely begun, but also taken vpon him to accomplish.

Notes

• * 1.1

  2 Here followes the second member of the explication, wherein hee shewes how we are deliuered from the com∣manding po∣wer of sinne. Ephes. 5. 26.
• * 1.2

  How the ri••h∣teousnesse of the law is ful∣filled in vs.
• * 1.3

  The Iesuites collect here that the Law is fulfilled in this life.
• * 1.4

  This place proueth no such thing.
• * 1.5

  Caietane.
• * 1.6

  That the law is not fulfilled in vs, nor by vs in this life is proued. Amb. de pae∣niten. lib. 1. cap. 6.
• * 1.7

  Ierem. 17.
• * 1.8

  Aug. de verb. Apost. ser. 29.
• * 1.9

  Ibidem.
• * 1.10

  A question for Papist••.
• * 1.11

  1. Ioh. 1. 9.
• * 1.12

  Luke 17. 10.
• * 1.13

  Aug. de verb. Apost. ser. 29.
• * 1.14

  Ber. in annū. Mariae.
• * 1.15

  Ber. in Cant. Serm. 23.
• * 1.16

  Ber. ser. cont. vitiū ingrati.
• * 1.17

  Places of scrip∣ture wherein godly men are called Saints and righteous, makes not for their errour of perfect obser∣uance of the Law.
• * 1.18

  In what sense Godly men are called perfect in holy Scrip∣ture.
• * 1.19

  August. in Psal. 38.
• * 1.20

  Ber. in Cant. serm. 49.
• * 1.21

  Ambros. in Rom. cap. 8. ver. 9.
• * 1.22

  Aug. de temp. scr. 49.
• * 1.23

  How Zacharie and Elizabeth walked in all the comman∣dements of God. Luke. 1. 6.
• * 1.24

  Heb. 5. 3.
• * 1.25

  Aug. Enchi.
• * 1.26

  The end of Christs death is our sanctifi∣cation, there∣fore it should not be abused to giue libertie to sinne.
• * 1.27

  2. Cor. 7. 1.
• * 1.28

  Christ hath freed vs from the curse of the law, not from the obe∣dience thereof. Rom. 6. 15. Rom. 7. 12. Rom. 5. 17.
• * 1.29

  Ambrose in Rom. cap. 8. Rom. 7. 22.
• * 1.30

  We are sure our begun san∣ctification shall be perfected.