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I Need not be large on this or the following Chapters, but take notice principally of your grossest Perversions and false Quotations, recommending the substance of my former Book to the Readers, remaining unanswered.
Pag. 104. Ye pervert my words, as if I said, Christ only adops the adopted, because I
said, Christ hath left his spiritual goods, as Justification, Remission, Adoption and Eternal Life to his Brethren, by spiritual Regeneration; and since ye deny this, ye must allow, That Christ giveth Remission, Justification, Adoption and Eternal Life to such who are not spiritually regenerated; which is a Contradiction to your own Doctrine. And your own Doctrine di∣stinguisheth betwixt Regeneration and Adop∣tion. Ye grosly abuse me, in saying, I con∣found Justification and Sanctification, alledging, I fall into down-right Popery; for on the con∣trary I assert Justification as it is opposed to Condemnation, and according to the most proper and frequent use of the word, is di∣stinct from Sanctification; as thus, Justifica∣tion is Gods act of his free Grace, whereby he forgiveth the sins of all true Believers and Penitents, and accepteth and owneth them to be righteous in Christ, being cloathed with Christ and his Righteousness, imputed freely unto them, and whom he hath truly sanctified and begot into a true and real state of inward Holiness & Righteousness; so that true inward Righteousness and Holiness, or Sanctification, i•• not the Foundation of Justification, but a Condition & Qualification required, in order thereunto; and I place inward Righteousness and Holiness no other way than Faith, by which men are justified, to wit, as necessary Conditions and Instruments of Justification;
& all true Believers are cloathed, not only with Ch••ist imputed Righteousness, in respect of wh••t he hath done and suffered for them, ••ut with Ch••ist himself, in-dwelling, living and ruling in their h••arts, making them really hol•• and righteous; and this is a double cloa∣thing unto them, or as the Scarlet that is of a double Die, where-with all the true Child••en of Jerusalem from above, the Mother of all the faithful, are cloathed, so that they are not afraid of the Snow, according to Prove 31.21. But all such who think, that the alone Righteousness of Christ without them, while they are not inwardly cloathed with real in∣ward Righteousness, will cover them, will be greatly disappointed. True inward Sanctifi∣cation and Justification, though distinct, yea are not divided, nor is the one perfect without the other; he, who is imperfectly sanctified, cannot, while such, be perfectly justified; Sanctification is ingredient in the Object of Justification, and so is distinct from it; for it is only the holy Man whom God justifieth by his act of his free Grace and Favour. And therefore Sanctification is in the priority of order, tho' not of time, before Justification, as the Object is prior in order to the Act; for as God condemneth none but him who is wicked, so he justifieth none but who is ho••y; and he justifi••th the Ungodly from their Ungodliness, not in it, viz. such who had been formerly
ungodly, being now sanctified, he justifieth them; and still, Justification is as much the free Grace of God, as our Sanctification, yea, both equally his free Gifts and Favour. Note, that Augustine, cap. 26. de spir. er lit. doth acknowledge a twofold sense of the word [Justified] in Scripture; 1. To make just by the inward effect of Righteousness, wrought in men by the Spirit of God: 2. To account, reckon or repute to be just. And many Protestant Writers of great note have acknowledged that twofold sense, and for the first they cite Rev. 22.11. He that is just let him be just still, or more justified.
Pag. 106. Ye say, It is a great mistake in me, to say, that Faith is one hand to receive Christ, and Love another; and ye further say, By Faith we receive Christ, and by Love we serve him. A very unlearned and foolish distinction; do we not serve him both by Faith and Love? Yea, and we receive him by both Faith and Love, and by both he dwelleth in our hearts. And as ye bring no proof to contradict it, so the truth of what I say is manifest; for it is the Love of the Heart and Soul, as well as Faith, that qualifieth it to receive Christ, yea, Love doth most sweetly embrace Christ; for it is the nature of Love to embrace its beloved Object; the loving Parent embraceth the lo∣ving Child, and the loving Child embraceth the loving Parent, and one Friend embraceth another Friend, and not only receiveth him
into his House, bu•• into his Heart; and the ••••ore one said, The So••l is more where it lovet••, than where it breatheth; and al•• sensible Souls, who know in experience wh••t it is to love Christ, wi••l contradict you, and say with me, That by and with their Love, th••t he hath begot in th••m, they receive Christ, they embrace him, and hold him, as we•••• as by Faith. It s••emeth too much, it is your want of s••i∣ritual experience in this Love, that maketh you talk so widely. Yea, Faith, as it is a fiducial act of the Soul, and of the Will, and not a bare assent of the Understanding, hath Love and Des••••e in it, and belonging to the very natu••e and being of it, as Augustine said, What is it to believe in God? by believing, to love him, and to go into him. The virtue of divine Love doth wonderfully knit and unite the hearts of true Believers to Christ, and one to another, according to Col. 2.2. and this is felt by all that have any measure of the divine Love shed abroad in their hearts; and if Love knit the heart to Christ, by Love it recei∣veth him, as that which knitteth the Graft to the Tree, causeth the Graft to receive the Life and Substance of the Tree into it.
Ye say, In my sixth Paragraph I give up the whole cause, if I speak sincerely. Answ. I speak sincerely, and acco••ding to the plain and ge∣nuine sence of all the words contained in it, and yet I give up none of my Cause to you, but
still I differ from you considerably; for I say in the same Parag••a••h, T••at real inward Holi∣ness and Righteo••s••ess, as well as Faith, are the Instruments whereby ••en are j••stified, yet they are not the Foundation and g••o••nd of Justification. And as thi•• clear••th us of ••opery, so it doth not make us one with you, unless ye, and not I, give up your Cause; for ye say, Only Faith, and not real inward Holin••ss and Righteousness, a••e t••e Instruments of J••stification.
Pag. 107. That Paul, and other Saints re∣nounced inward Holiness and Righteo••sness, after believing, for being so much as Instruments of Ju∣stification, ye can never prove, though neither he nor they did build on them, but on Christ, the alone Foundation of Justification and of Sanctification, and all other Blessings and Mercies; and to be justified by Works, is but a secondary Justification; for inward Holiness and Righteousness planted and begot in the Soul, is before Works of Righteousness, as the Tree is good before it bear good Fruit, and as some Worthy Protestants have said, A good Tree maketh good Fruit; but a Tree cannot bear good Fruit before it be good. We are created by an inward Work of Christ's new creating unto good Works; and therefore this new Creation and work of Sanctification is before good Works outwardly wrought, in order of cau••e, as the good Tree is before the Fruit.
Pag. 108. That Faith is used in Scripture, not only to signifie Gospel Doctrine, as ye grant, but Gospel Holiness and Virtues, by a synecdoche of the part for the whole, is clear to any who are not partial; for the just shall live by Faith; and said Paul, the Life that I now live I live by Faith; and yet certainly his Life was not only the Life of Faith, but of Love, and other divine Virtues: And whereas the Faith of the Elders is frequently mentioned, Heb. 11. is it only their single Faith that is there com∣mended, or rather the whole Body of divine Virtues, whereof the Root, as it were, is Faith, as when we name a Tree by the Root, we understand the Branches included, and when we number men by the Head, we under∣stand the Body also; and Gal. 3.5. after that Faith is come, that was not the Doctrine only, but the Grace of Faith, together with all the other accompanying Graces and Virtues; and as Unbelief is put in Scripture for all other sin that men generally are under, Rom. 11.32. so Faith signifieth the whole Body of the Christian Graces and Virtues; but of this ye take no notice, but pass it with a dry foot, because ye can give no sollid Answer to it, though men∣tioned in my first Book.
And that it may appear I am not Popish, in the Doctrine of Justification, hear the Judg∣ment of James Durham, a Presbyterian Preacher, in his Commentary on the Revelations, in one
of his Digressions, where he saith, Who only place Repentance, Conversion and Holiness, &c. but as Conditions necessary to Justification, and but equally necessary as Faith, and in the same respect with Faith (or in words to that effect) the are not to be accounted Popish; and there∣fore hitherto ye cannot, nor shall find, in what ••emaineth, any Doctrine asserted by me▪ that is either ••opery or Heresie, but what is de∣fended by as good Protestants, and better than your selves, and which hath the Scripture Authority to warrant it.
Ye say, Ye understand not the meaning of my Rant about a Christ divided, a Christ without, and a Christ within, a Christ in Heaven, and a Christ in the H••art; we believe, say ye, that there is but one C••rist, &c. Here ye grosly mis∣represent my words, and pervert the sense of them, as if I did divide Christ, or hold two Christs, one Christ in Heaven, and another Christ in the Heart: Let the Reader see my words in my Book, and he will find, that I am not for dividing Christ, but blame them who do divide him, either in his Offices or in him∣self; nor do I use these words, a Christ in Hea∣ven, and a Christ in the Heart, as if they were two; but I say, it is one and the same Christ, which is both in Heaven, and also in the Hearts of his Children; and seeing ye call this a Rant, it is plain, that ye do not own Christ at all in the Hearts of the Saints: Let this be
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well remembred against you, for ye call it a Rant, to say, Christ is both in the Heaven, and in the Heart; did not the Lord say, He dwelleth in the High and Holy Places, and also in the Hearts of them that are Contrite, &c? Ye say, He dwelleth in the Hearts of all his People by his Virtue, Influence and Grace: But I say, his Virtue, Influence and Grace cannot be in the heart without him, and seperated from him; for if by Grace ye mean, Faith, Hope, Love, they would fail, wither and dye, if he were not present to nourish & preserve them. And how sillily and foolishly do ye infer, pag. 135. That I hold two Christs, because I say, That by the Spirit of Christ a man is joyned both to Christ in him, and to Christ in Heaven; and if two Ʋnions, then two Christs, say ye. But ye fight against your own shadow, I say nothing of two Unions, nor do my words infer it, more than when I say, a Graft that is grafted into a Tree is united both to the Branch that it is grafted into, and also to the whole Tree: Doth it thence follow, that there are here two Unions and two Trees? or that the foot is both uni∣ted to the Life or Soul in it, and to the Life or Soul in the Head, that therefore there are two Unions and two Heads? This shallow way of your Reasoning showeth what learned Clarks ye are.
Pag. 108, 109. Ye deny, That Faith hath any assurance in the being and nature of it, but
only that which is Objective, and not Subjective. And thus with School-Terms and Phrases ye seek to cover your selves in the Clouds, from Ignorant People: But let me explain it in English what ye say, which is this, That Christ & H••••piness hath the Assurance, but the Faith hath no Assurance of Knowledge, or Evi∣dence in the Nature of it; as who would say, There is assuredly such a City as London, or Paris, but he who is going towards it hath no assurance he is in the true way that leads to it. Ye say further, This assurance may be had with∣out extraordinary Revelation; and so say I; for it is ordinary to thousands of Gods Saints in all Ages; but what is that to you who deny all Revelation, both ordinary and extraordi∣nary at present, and say, The former wayes of Gods revealing his will are ceased? And yet many Protestants have acknowledged a Spirit of Prophecy in some of the Martyrs, as in George Wisehart and others, as is to be seen in Fox's Book of Martyrs, which contradict the Confession of the Assembly, espoused by you.