Saying of _Peter_, Acts x. 34. _Of a Truth I perceive that God is
no Respecter of Persons; but in every Nation, he that feareth him,
and worketh Righteousness, is accepted of him_. _Peter_ was before
liable to that Mistake that the rest of the _Jews_ were in; judging
that all were unclean, except themselves, and that no Man could be
saved, except they were proselyted to their Religion, and circumcised.
But God shewed _Peter_ otherwise in a Vision, and taught him to call
nothing _common_ or _unclean_; [Sidenote: _God regarded the Prayers
of _Cornelius_, a Stranger to the Law._] and therefore, seeing that
God regarded the Prayers of _Cornelius_, who was a Stranger to the
Law, and to Jesus Christ as to the outward, yet _Peter_ saw that God
had accepted him; and he is said to _fear God_ before he had this
outward Knowledge: Therefore _Peter_ concludes that every one in every
Nation, without respect of Persons, that feareth God and worketh
Righteousness, is accepted of him. So he makes the Fear of God and the
working of Righteousness, and not an outward historical Knowledge,
the _Qualification_: They then that have this, wherever they be, they
are saved. Now we have already proved, that to every Man that Grace is
given, whereby he may live godlily and righteously; and we see, that
by this Grace _Cornelius_ did so, and was accepted, and his Prayers
came up for a Memorial before God before he had this outward Knowledge.
[Sidenote: _From what Scripture did _Job_ learn his excellent
Knowledge?_] Also, Was not _Job a perfect and upright Man, that feared
God, and eschewed Evil_? Who taught _Job_ this? How knew _Job Adam_’s
Fall? And from what Scripture learned he that excellent Knowledge he
had, and that Faith, by which he knew his _Redeemer lived_? (For many
make him as old as _Moses_). Was not this by an inward Grace in the
Heart? Was it not that inward Grace that taught _Job_ to eschew Evil,
and to fear God? And was it not by the Workings thereof that he became
a just and upright Man? How doth he reprove the Wickedness of Men,
_Chap._ xxiv? And after he hath numbered up their Wickedness, doth he
not condemn them, _Ver. 13._ for _rebelling_ against this _Light_,
for not knowing the Way thereof, nor abiding in the Paths thereof? It
appears then _Job_ believed that Men had a Light, and that because they
rebelled against it, therefore they knew not its Ways, and abode not in
its Paths; even as the _Pharisees_, who had the Scriptures, are said
to _err_, not knowing the Scriptures. [Sidenote: Job_’s Friends; their
excellent Sayings._] And also _Job_’s Friends, though in some Things
wrong; yet who taught them all those excellent Sayings and Knowledge
which they had? Did not God give it them, in order to save them? or was
it merely to condemn them? Who taught _Elihu_, That _the Inspiration of
the Almighty giveth Understanding_; _that the Spirit of God made him_,
_and the Breath of the Almighty gave him Life_? And did not the Lord
accept a Sacrifice for them? And who dare say that they are damned?
But further, the Apostle puts this Controversy out of Doubt; for, if
we may believe his plain Assertions, he tells us, _Rom._ ii. _That the
_Heathens_ did the Things contained in the Law._ From whence I thus
argue;
[Sidenote: Arg.] In every Nation he that feareth God, and worketh
Righteousness, is accepted:
But many of the _Heathens_ feared God, and wrought Righteousness:
Therefore they were accepted.
The _Minor_ is proved from the Example of _Cornelius_: But I shall
further prove it thus;
He that doth the Things contained in the Law, feareth God, and worketh
Righteousness:
But the _Heathens_ did the Things contained in the Law:
Therefore they feared God, and wrought Righteousness.
Can there be any Thing more clear? For if to do the Things contained in
the Law, be not to fear God, and work Righteousness, then what can be
said to do so, seeing the Apostle calls the Law _Spiritual_, _Holy_,
_Just_, and _Good_? But this appears manifestly by another _Medium_,
taken out of the same Chapter, _Ver._ 13. So that nothing can be more
clear: The Words are, _The Doers of the Law shall be justified_. From
which I thus argue, without adding any Word of my own;
[Sidenote: Arg.] The Doers of the Law shall be justified:
But the _Gentiles_ do the Things contained in the Law:
[Sidenote: _The _Gentiles_ justified doing the Law._] All that know
but a Conclusion, do easily see what follows from these express Words
of the Apostle. And indeed, he through that whole Chapter labours,
as if he were contending now with our Adversaries, to confirm this
Doctrine, Ver. 9, 10, 11. _Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul
of Man that doth Evil, to the _Jew_ first, and also to the Gentile:
For there is no Respect of Persons with God._ Where the _Apostle_
clearly _homologates_, or confesses to the Sentence of _Peter_
before-mentioned; and shews that _Jew_ and _Gentile_, or as he himself
explains in the following _Verses_, both they that have an outward Law
and they that have none, when they _do Good_ shall be _justified_. And
to put us out of all Doubt, in the very following Verses he tells, That
_the Doers of the Law are justified_; and that the _Gentiles did the
Law_. So that except we think he spake not what he intended, we may
safely conclude, that such _Gentiles_ were justified, and did partake
of that Honour, Glory, and Peace, which comes upon every one that doth
Good; even the _Gentiles_, that are without the Law, when they _work
Good_; seeing with God there is no _Respect of Persons_. So as we see,
that it is not the having the outward Knowledge that doth save, without
the inward; so neither doth the Want of it, to such to whom God hath
made it impossible, who have the inward, bring Condemnation. And many
that have wanted the Outward, have had a Knowledge of this inwardly, by
Virtue of that inward Grace and Light given to every Man, working in
them, by which they forsook Iniquity, and became just and holy, as is
above proved; [Sidenote: _Many wanting the History, were sensible of
the Loss by _Adam_, and Salvation come by Christ in themselves._] who,
though they knew not the History of _Adam_’s Fall, yet were sensible in
themselves of the Loss that came by it, feeling their Inclinations to
sin, and the Body of Sin in them: And though they knew not the Coming
of Christ, yet were sensible of that inward Power and Salvation which
came by him, even before as well as since his Appearance in the Flesh.
For I question whether these Men can prove, that all the _Patriarchs_
and _Fathers_ before _Moses_ had a distinct Knowledge either of the one
or the other, or that they knew the History of the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil, and of _Adam_’s eating the forbidden Fruit; far
less that Christ should be born of a Virgin, should be crucified,
and treated in the Manner he was. For it is justly to be believed,
that what _Moses_ wrote of _Adam_, and of the first Times, was not by
Tradition, but by Revelation; [Sidenote: _How little the _Jews_ knew
Christ, mistaking the Prophets._] yea, we see that not only after
the Writing of _Moses_, but even of _David_ and all the _Prophets_,
who prophesied so much of Christ, how little the _Jews_, that were
expecting and wishing for the _Messiah_, could thereby discern him when
he came, that they crucified him as a _Blasphemer_, not as a _Messiah_,
by mistaking the Prophecies concerning him; for _Peter_ saith expresly,
_Acts_ iii. 17. to the _Jews_, _That both they and their Rulers did
it through Ignorance_. And _Paul_ saith, 1 _Cor._ ii. 8. _That had
they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory._ Yea,
_Mary_ herself, to whom the Angel had spoken, and who had laid up all
the miraculous Things accompanying his Birth in her Heart, she did not
understand how, when _he disputed with the Doctors in the Temple,
that he was about his Father’s Business_. And the Apostles that had
believed him, conversed daily with him, and saw his Miracles, could not
understand, neither believe those Things which related to his _Death_,
_Sufferings_, and _Resurrection_, but were in a certain Respect
stumbled at them.
§. XXVII. So we see how that it is the inward Work, and not the outward
History and Scripture, that gives the true Knowledge; [Sidenote: _The
_Heathens_ were sensible of the Loss received by _Adam.] and by
this inward _Light_ many of the _Heathen Philosophers_ were sensible
of the Loss received by _Adam_, though they knew not the outward
History: Hence _Plato_ asserted, That _Man’s Soul was fallen into a
dark Cave, where it only conversed with Shadows_. _Pythagoras_ saith,
_Man wandereth in this World as a Stranger, banished from the Presence
of God_. And _Plotinus_ compareth _Man’s Soul, fallen from God, to
a Cinder, or dead Coal, out of which the Fire is extinguished_.
[Sidenote: Heathen-Philosophers _Divine Knowledge_. Plato. Pythag.
Plotin.] Some of them said, That _the Wings of the Soul were clipped or
fallen off, so that it could not flee unto God_. All which, and many
more such Expressions, that might be gathered out of their Writings,
shew, that they were not without a Sense of this Loss. Also they had
a Knowledge and Discovery of Jesus Christ inwardly, as a Remedy _in_
them, to deliver them from that evil Seed, and the evil Inclinations of
their own Hearts, though not under that particular Denomination.
Some called him an _Holy Spirit_, as _Seneca_, Epist. 41. who said,
_There is an holy Spirit in us, that treateth us as we treat him._
[Sidenote: Cicero _calls it an Innate Light. _Lactan._ In Sect._]
_Cicero_ calleth it an _innate Light_, in his Book _De Republica_,
cited by _Lactantius_, 6 _Instit._ where he calls this _Right Reason,
given unto all, constant and eternal, calling unto Duty by commanding,
and deterring from Deceit by forbidding_. Adding, _That it cannot be
abrogated, neither can any be freed from it, neither by Senate or
People; that it is one, eternal, and the same always to all Nations;
so that there is not one at _Rome_, and another at _Athens_: Whoso
obeys it not, must flee from himself, and in this is greatly tormented,
although he should escape all other Punishments_. _Plotinus_ also calls
him _Light_, saying, That _as the Sun cannot be known but by its own
Light, so God cannot be known but with his own Light: And as the Eye
cannot see the Sun but by receiving its Image, so Man cannot know God
but by receiving his Image; and that it behoveth Man to come to Purity
of Heart before he could know God_; calling him also _Wisdom_, a name
frequently given him in Scripture; see _Prov._ i. 20. to the End; and
_Prov._ viii. 9, 34. where _Wisdom_ is said to cry, intreat, and invite
all to come unto her, and learn of her: And what is this _Wisdom_ but
Christ? Hence such as came among the _Heathen_, to forsake Evil and
cleave to Righteousness, were called _Philosophers_, that is, Lovers
of _Wisdom_. [Sidenote: Philosophers _whence so called?_] They knew
this _Wisdom_ was nigh unto them, and that _The best Knowledge of God,
and divine Mysteries, was by the Inspiration of the Wisdom of God_.
[Sidenote: Phocylides.] _Phocylides_ affirmed, That _the Word of the
Wisdom of God was best_. His Words in the Greek are, [Greek: Tês de
Theopneustou sophias logos estin aristos: Της δε Θεοπνευσςου σοφιας
λογος εστιν αριστος].
And much more of this Kind might be instanced, by which it appears
they knew Christ; and by his working _in_ them, were brought from
Unrighteousness to Righteousness, and to love that Power by which they
felt themselves redeemed; so that, as saith the Apostle, _They shew the
Work of the Law written in their Hearts, and did the Things contained
in the Law_; and therefore, as _all Doers of the Law are, were no
Doubt justified_, and saved thus by the Power of Christ _in_ them. And
as this was the Judgment of the Apostle, so was it of the primitive
Christians. [Sidenote: Socrates _a Christian_, &c.] Hence _Justin
Martyr_ stuck not to call _Socrates a Christian_, saying, That _all
such as lived according to the divine Word in them, which was in all
Men, were Christians_, _such as_ Socrates _and_ Heraclitus, and others
among the Greeks, _&c._ _That such as live with the Word, are Christians
without Fear or Anxiety._
[Sidenote: Clem. Alex.] _Clemens Alexandrinus_ saith, _Apol. 2.
Strom. Lib. 1_. That _this Wisdom or Philosophy was necessary to the
_Gentiles_, and was their _School-master_ to lead them unto Christ, by
which of old the Greeks were justified._
[Sidenote: Augustin. _de Civ. Dei._] _Nor do I think_, saith
_Augustine_, in his Book of the _City of God_, Lib. 18. Cap. 47. _that
the _Jews_ dare affirm that none belonged unto God but the_ Israelites.
[Sidenote: Lud. Vives.] Upon which Place _Ludovicus Vives_ saith, That
_thus the _Gentiles_, not having a Law, were a Law unto themselves; and
the Light of so living is the Gift of God, and proceeds from the Son;
of whom it is written, that he_ enlighteneth every Man that cometh into
the World.
[Sidenote: _The _Platonists_ saw the Word in the Beginning; which was
Light._] _Augustine_ also testifies in his Confessions, _Lib. 1. Cap.
9_. That _he had read in the Writings of the _Platonists_, though not
in the very same Words, yet that which by many and multiplied Reasons
did persuade, that in the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God; this was in the Beginning with God, by which all Things were
made, and without which nothing was made that was made: In him was
Life, and the Life was the Light of Men: And the Light shined in the
Darkness, and the Darkness did not comprehend it. And albeit the Soul
gives Testimony concerning the Light, yet it is not the _Light_, but
the _Word of God_; for GOD is the true LIGHT, which enlighteneth every
Man that cometh into the World_; and so repeats to Ver. 14. of _John_
i. adding, _These Things have I there read_.
[Sidenote: Hai Eben Yokdan.] Yea, there is a Book translated out of
the _Arabick_, which gives an Account of one _Hai Eben Yokdan_; who
living in an Island alone, without Converse of Man, attained to such
a profound Knowledge of God, as to have immediate Converse with him,
and to affirm, _That the best and most certain Knowledge of God is not
that which is attained by Premises premised, and Conclusions deduced_;
[Sidenote: _The _Supreme Intellect_ enjoyed by the Mind of Men._]
_but that which is enjoyed by Conjunction of the Mind of Man with the
Supreme Intellect, after the Mind is purified from its Corruptions, and
is separated from all bodily Images, and is gathered into a profound
Stillness_.
§. XXVIII. Seeing then it is by this inward Gift, Grace, and Light,
that both those that have the Gospel preached unto them, come to have
Jesus brought forth _in_ them, and to have the saving and sanctified
Use of all outward Helps and Advantages; and also by this same Light
that all may come to be saved; and that God calls, invites, and strives
with all, in a Day, and saveth many, to whom he hath not seen meet
to convey this outward Knowledge; [Sidenote: _The Day of the Lord
proclaimed._] therefore we, having the Experience of the inward and
powerful Work of this Light in our Hearts, even _Jesus_ revealed _in_
us, cannot cease to proclaim the Day of the Lord that is arisen in
it, crying out with the Woman of _Samaria_; _Come and see one that
hath told me all that ever I have done; Is not this the Christ?_ That
others may come and feel the same _in_ themselves, and may know, that
that little small Thing that reproves them in their Hearts, however
they have despised and neglected it, is nothing less than the Gospel
preached _in_ them; _Christ_, the _Wisdom_ and _Power of God_, being
_in_ and _by_ that Seed seeking to save their Souls.
Of this _Light_ therefore _Augustine_ speaks in his _Confessions_,
Lib. 11. Cap. 9. _In this Beginning, O God! thou madest the Heavens
and the Earth, in thy Word, in thy Son, in thy Virtue, in thy Wisdom,
wonderfully saying, and wonderfully doing. Who shall comprehend it? Who
shall declare it_? [Sidenote: Augustine _trembled at the In-shinings
of the Light unto him, and why_?] _What is that which shineth in unto
me, and smites my Heart without Hurt, at which I both tremble, and
am inflamed? I tremble, in so far as I am unlike unto it; and I am
inflamed in so far as I am like unto it: It is Wisdom, Wisdom which
shineth in unto me, and dispelleth my Cloud, which had again covered
me, after I was departed from it, with Darkness and the Heap of my
Punishments._ And again he saith, Lib. 10. Cap. 27. _It is too late
that I have loved thee, O thou Beautifulness, so ancient and so new!
Late have I loved thee, and behold thou wast within, and I was without,
and there was seeking thee! Thou didst call, thou didst cry, thou didst
break my Deafness, thou glancedst, thou didst shine, thou chasedst away
my Darkness._
[Sidenote: Buchanan _testifying to the Light._] Of this also our
Countryman _George Buchanan_ speaketh thus in his Book _De Jure regni
apud Scotos_: _Truly I understand no other Thing at present than that
_Light_ which is divinely infused into our Souls: For when God formed
Man, he not only gave him Eyes to his Body, by which he might shun
those Things that are hurtful to him, and follow those Things that are
profitable; but also hath set before his Mind as it were a certain
Light, by which he may discern Things that are vile from Things that
are honest. Some call this Power _Nature_, others the _Law of Nature_;
I truly judge it to be divine, and am persuaded that Nature and Wisdom
never say different Things. Moreover God hath given us a Compend of the
Law, which in few Words comprehends the Whole; to wit, that we should
love him from our Hearts, and our Neighbours as ourselves. And of this
Law all the Books of the holy Scriptures, which pertain to the forming
of Manners, contain no other but an Explication._
[Sidenote: Jew _and _Gentile, Scythian_ and _Barbarian_, Partakers
of the Salvation of Christ._] This is that universal evangelical
Principle, in and by which this Salvation of Christ is exhibited to
_all_ Men, both _Jew_ and _Gentile_, _Scythian_ and _Barbarian_, of
whatsoever Country or Kindred he be: And therefore God hath raised up
unto himself, in this our Age, faithful Witnesses and Evangelists to
preach again his _everlasting Gospel_, and to direct _all_, as well the
high Professors, who boast of the _Law_ and the _Scriptures_, and the
_outward Knowledge of Christ_, as the _Infidels_ and _Heathens_ that
know not him that Way, that they may all come to mind the Light _in_
them, and know Christ _in_ them, _the just one_, [Greek: ton Dichaion:
τον Δικαιον], _whom they have so long killed, and made merry over, and
he hath not resisted_, James v. 6. and give up their Sins, Iniquities,
false Faith, Professions, and outside Righteousness, to be crucified by
the Power of his Cross in them, so as they may know _Christ within_ to
be the _Hope of Glory_, and may come to walk in his Light and be saved,
who is that _true Light that enlighteneth every Man that cometh into
the World_.
PROPOSITION VII.
Concerning JUSTIFICATION.
_As many as resist not this _Light_, but receive the same, it becomes
in them an holy, pure, and spiritual Birth, bringing forth
Holiness, Righteousness, Purity, and all those other blessed Fruits
which are acceptable to _God_: By which holy Birth, to wit, _Jesus
Christ formed within us_, and working his Works in us, as we are
sanctified, so are we justified in the Sight of God, according to
the Apostle’s Words; _But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,
but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
Spirit of our God, 1_ Cor. _vi. 11._ Therefore it is not by our
Works wrought in our Will, nor yet by good Works considered as
of themselves; but by _Christ_, who is both the _Gift_ and the
_Giver_, and the Cause producing the Effects in us; who, as he hath
reconciled us while we were Enemies, doth also in his Wisdom save
us and justify us after this Manner, as saith the same Apostle
elsewhere_; According to his Mercy he saved us, by the Washing of
Regeneration, and the Renewing of the Holy Ghost, _Tit._ iii. 5.
§. I. The _Doctrine of Justification_ comes well in Order after the
discussing of the Extent of Christ’s Death, and of the Grace thereby
communicated, some of the sharpest Contests concerning this having
from thence their Rise. Many are the Disputes among those called
_Christians_ concerning this Point; and indeed, if all were truly
minding that which justifieth, there would be less Noise about the
_Notions of Justification_. I shall briefly review this Controversy
as it stands among others, and as I have often seriously observed it;
then in short state the Controversy as to us, and open our Sense and
Judgment of it; and _lastly_ prove it, if the Lord will, by some
Scripture Testimonies, and the certain Experience of all that ever were
truly justified.
§. II. [Sidenote: Observat. _The Method of Justification taken by the
Church of_ Rome.] That this _Doctrine of Justification_, hath been and
is greatly vitiated in the Church of _Rome_, is not by us questioned;
though our Adversaries, who for want of better Arguments do often
make Lies their Refuge, have not spared in this Respect to stigmatize
us with Popery, but how untruly will hereafter appear. For to speak
little of their _Meritum ex condigno_, which was no Doubt a very
common Doctrine of the _Romish Church_, especially before _Luther_,
though most of their modern Writers, especially in their Controversies
with Protestants, do partly deny it, partly qualify it, and seem to
state the Matter only as if they were Propagators and Pleaders for
good Works by the others denied; yet if we look to the Effects of
this Doctrine among them, as they appear in the Generality of their
Church Members, not in Things disapproved, but highly approved and
commended by their Father the _Pope_ and all his _Clients_, as the
most beneficial Casualty of all his Revenue, [Sidenote: _The _Pope_’s
Doctrine of _Merits_, the most beneficial of all his _Revenue.] we
shall find that _Luther_ did not without great Ground oppose himself
to them in this Matter: And if he had not run himself into another
Extreme, of which hereafter, his Work would have stood the better.
For in this, as in most other Things, he is more to be commended for
what he pulled down of _Babylon_, than for what he built of his own.
Whatever then the _Papists_ may pretend, or even some good Men among
them may have thought, Experience sheweth, and it is more than manifest
by the universal and approved Practice of their People, that they place
not their _Justification_ so much in Works that are truly and morally
good, and in the being truly renewed and sanctified in the Mind, as in
such Things as are either nor Good nor Evil, or may truly be called
Evil, and can no otherwise be reckoned Good than because the _Pope_
pleases to call them so. [Sidenote: Papists _Justification depends
upon the _Pope_’s Bulls._] So that if the Matter be well sifted, it
will be found, that the greatest Part of their _Justification_ depends
upon the Authority of his _Bulls_, and not upon the Power, Virtue, and
Grace of Christ revealed in the Heart, and renewing of it, as will
appear. [Sidenote: Proof 1. _Their Sacraments._] _First_, From their
Principle concerning their _Sacraments_, which they say confer Grace
_ex opere operato_. So that if a Man partake but of them, he thereby
obtains Remission of Sin, though he remains as he was; the Virtue of
the _Sacraments_ making up the Want that is in the Man. So that this
Act of Submission and Faith to the Laws of the Church, and not any
real inward Change, is that which justifieth him. As for Example;
[Sidenote: _Papists Penance._] if a Man make use of the _Sacrament_,
as they call it, _of Penance_, so as to tell over his Sins to a
Priest, though he have not true _Contrition_, which the Lord hath made
absolutely necessary for penitent Sinners, but only _Attrition_, a
Figment of their own, that is, if he be sorry he hath sinned, not out
of any Love to God, or his Law which he hath transgressed, but for
fear of Punishment, yet doth the Virtue of the _Sacrament_, as they
affirm, procure to him Remission of Sins; so that being absolved by
the Priest, he stands accepted and justified in the Sight of God. This
Man’s Justification then proceedeth not from his being truly penitent,
and in any Measure inwardly changed and renewed by the working of God’s
Grace in his Heart, but merely from the Virtue of the _Sacrament_, and
Authority of the Priest, who hath pronounced him _absolved_; so that
his Justification is from somewhat without him, and not within him.