PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Works of John Owen — Volume 11
John Owen · 384,374 words · 378 reading sections
Section 121
" Yea, but," saith Mr Goodwin, " no Scripture proves that those whom Christ preserves must, by any compulsory, necessitating power, use their diligence in preserving themselves." And who, I pray, ever said they did ? Compulsory actings of grace are your own figment; so are all such necessitating acts which proceed any …
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» 2 Cor. ii. 17. 196 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP. lose nothing," extends itself to the whole compass of our Savioui-'s duty in reference to his Father's will for the safeguarding of be- lievers. And is it only death, and the state of dissolution of body and soul, that it is the will of God that he sho…
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Some few observations will farther clear the mind of the Holy Ghost, and obviate the exceptions that are put in against our re- ceiving the words in their plain, proper, obvious signification. Ob- serve, then, — 1. Upon the intimation of the great power and prevalency of seducers, our Saviour adds this, as a matter of…
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There are such ways and things as in their own nature have an inconsistency with the life of Christ, as the abnegation of Christ himself. But this also we affirm to be twofold, or to receive a two- fold consideration:' — 1. It may be resolved, upon consideration, with the deliberate consent of the whole soul; which we …
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6. Suppose it be granted that the words refer to the endeavours of the seducers in this place, yet they must needs deny their preva- lency as to the end aimed at. It is asserted either to be possible that the elect should be so seduced, or not. If not, we have what we aim at. If it be possible, and so here asserted, th…
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A scripture of the like importance unto that before named is 2Thess. ii. 13, 14, "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth : where - unto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." First, The same fountain…
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Ha\ing shown the tmchangeable stability of the love and faTour of God towards his saints from the immntabLlity of his own nature and purposes, manifested by an induction of simdry particular in- stances from eminent places of Scripture, wherein both the one and the other are held out as the foundation of what we affirm…
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This, then, is inwrapped in this promise of the covenant unto the elect, with whom it is established : God will be a God to them for IV.] THE COVENANT OF GRACE. 207 ever, and that to bless them with all the blessings which he commu- nicates in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised seed. The continuance of his fa…
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First, The thesis under demonstration is directly and positively affirmed, in most significant and emphatical words, by God himself. Seeing, then, the testimony of his holy prophets and apostles concern- ing him are so excepted against and so lightly set by, let us try if men will reverence himself, and cease contendin…
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Secondly, Seemg that God and man, having been at so great a distance as they were by sin, must needs meet in some mediator, some middle person, in whom and by whose blood (as covenants usually were confirmed by blood) this covenant must be ratified, consider who this is, and what he hath done for the establishing of it…
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1. Then, saith Mr Goodwin, " Evident it is, from the whole tenor of the chapter, that the words contain especial promises, made pai'- ticularly to the Jews." Ans. If by particularly you mean exclusively, to them and not to others, this is evidently false ; for the apostle tells you, Heb. viii. 6, to the end of the cha…
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2. " This promise was appropriated and fitted to the state of the Jews in a sad captivity ; but the promise of perseverance was, if our adversaries might be believed, a standing promise amoDg them, not appropriated to their condition." A71S. 1. " Non venit ex pharetris ista sagitta tuis." It is Socinus', in reference …
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(2.) "If this be the sense, it was fulfilled in the captivity as well as afterward, for you say the saints always persevere." Ans. (1.) The typical part of it was not then accomplished. (2.) It is granted that as to the spiritual part of the covenant of grace, it was at all times fulfilled to them, which is now eviden…
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7. " If the spiritual promises be absolute, so must the temporal be also ; for their accomplishing depends solely on the things mentioned and promised in the spiritual." Ans. 1. Temporal things in the promises are often expressed only to be a resemblance, and to set off some eminent spiritual grace intended, as shall …
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1. To begin with the latter, he affirms this cannot be a promise of absolute perseverance, " because if it be so, the Jews enjoyed it in that captivity as well as afterward, when that is here promised which they were not to receive until in and upon their return from Babylon," sect. 52, pp. 220, 221, But if that which …
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IV.] THE COVENANT OF GRACE. 221 heart and spirit, the writing of the law in their hearts, and (which is all one) the quickening of the dead, the opening of blind eyes, the begetting of us anew, as they relate unto God, do signify no more but his administration of means, whereby men may be wrought upon and persuaded to…
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17.] THE COVENANT OF GRACE. 223 it was eminently fulfilled, in our acceptation of it, unto all to whom it was made. But he adds, — 2. " That if it be not so to be understood, and so said to be ful- filled as above, it is impossible for any one to assign how and when this promise was fulfilled; for, — First, It was ma…
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v.] THE PROMISES OF GOD. 225 For what tie lastly affirms, " That if this be a promise of absolute perseverance, it is inconsistent with all the prophecies of the rejec- tion of the Jews, which are accordingly fulfilled," I must refer him to St Paul, who hath long ago undertaken to answer this objection ; from whom if …
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I am not unacquainted with the usual exception that lieth against the demonstration of the truth in hand from the promises of God, to wit, that they are conditional, depending on some things in the persons themselves to whom they are made, upon whose change or alteration they also may be frustrated, and not receive the…
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Farther ',iuTesus Christ is himself in the promise. He is the gi'eat original, maenu-, and subject of the promises, and the giving of him was doubtlehiLQf free grace and mercy: so John iii. 16, "God so loved the wo-an tlhat he gave his only-begotten Son;" and Rom. v. 8, "God com insist \h his love toward us, in that, w…
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4. I say, these discoveries of God's good-will are made through Christ, as the only medium of their accomplishment, and only pro- curing cause of the good things that, flowing from the good-will of God, are inwrapped and tendered in them, 2 Cor. i. 20. And they are said to be in Christ, as, — (1.) The great messenger o…
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(1.) That all breaches and differences between him and us be re- moved, perfect peace and agreement made, and we rendered accept- able and well-pleasing in his sight. These are the terms whereon they stand to whom he is a God in covenant. For the accomplish- ment of this is the first main stream that floweth from the f…
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234 DOCTKINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP. the promise of any one. We, indeed, often alter our resolutions, and the promise that is gone out of our mouths, and that perhaps righteously, upon some such change of things as we could not fore- see, nor ought to have supposed, when we entered into our engage- ments. …
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236 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CIIAP. much : If they abide with God (for if they perform their duty, and do not suffer themselves to be seduced, nor wilUngly depart from God, they abide with him), God hath promised that they shall abide with him, — upon condition they abide with him, he hath promised they …
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238 DOCTRINE OF THE SATNTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP. ■waters of Noah unto mc : for as I have sworn that the Avaters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth Avith thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall de- part, and the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not depart…
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240 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP. plished, towards the cliildrcn of God. Though the things of the promise are often placed in dependence one on another, as means and ends, yet the promises themselves are absolute. These few things being premised, I shall now name and insist upon some j^u'^'ticulai- pro…
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VOL. XI. 16 242 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP. if ill the issue it had otherwise fallen out, there had not been any colour of justifying the faith of that God he served, or his own truth in bearing witness to him. Had any perished, those that remained would have argued him of lying. " Yea, but saith he …
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To the example urged, I shall only ask what Mr Goodwin's judg- ment is of the promises that God hath made to believers that they 24-i DOcxraNE of the saints' perseveea>;ce. [chap. shall never relapse into their former state of unbelief, and on what condition they are made? Whether his promise of his love unto and acc…
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A71S. 1. The sum of this answer is, that the apostle, by saying " God is faithful," doth not understand God's faithfulness. What other virtue is intended in God by his faithfulness but that whereby his truth and his constancy in words and promises is signified, I know not. Let the places from the beginning of the Scrip…
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2. He doth very faintly, when he hath made the farthest step in confident asserting that he dares venture upon (it may be, and it is most likely), suj^pose that the faithfulness of God in these places under consideration may be taken in such a sense as that before described. But, — (1.) This is no sense at all of the …
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1. Faithfulness; 2. Loving-kindness; 3. Covenant; 4. Promise; 5. Oath — The intendment of the words insisted on from 1 Sam. xii. 22 — Isa. xxvii. 2, 3, Zeph. iii. 17, illustrated — The intendment of these words, " I will not forsake thee" — The reason of the promise, and means promised therein — No cause in them to wh…
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VI.] PARTICULAR PROMISES ILLUSTRATED. 251 faithful in it though we never enjoy the mercy intended by it ;" I say), in the next words he leads believers by the hand to make the same conclusion with boldness and confidence, from this and the like pro- mises, as David did of old, upon the many gracious assurances that he…
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The promise as here mentioned hath a double use: — 1. It is held out as an inducement to obedience to that whole people; in reference whereunto he telleth them that "if they did wickedly, they should be destroyed, both they and their king," 1 Sam, xii. 25. In the dreadful threatenings that God dcnounccth against '…
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(2.) " In the thing that is gone out of my lips," or the gi\ace and love I have spoken of in the promise. Herein also will I be faithful, and that shall not be altered. All my promises are yea and anieu in Christ Jesus, 2 Cor. i. 20. And, — (3.) Lastly, All this I have confirmed by an oath, " I have sworn by my holine…
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(2.) The cause or reason is positively expressed why God will not forsake them: it is " for his great name's sake." His great name is all that ho consults withal about his continuance with his people. Tliis he calls himself, Isa. xliii. 25, " I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake ;" that is, " …
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Thus is God's mercy in not forsaking his people resolved into its original principle, — namely, his own good pleasure in choosing of them, carried on by the goodness and unchangeableness of his own nature to the appointed issue. This, then, is the sum of this argument: What work or design the Lord entereth upon merely…
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What reason, now, can be imagined why other saints of God, who have the same promises with David and Paul, established unto them in the hand of the same Mediator, being equally taken into the saine covenant of mercy and peace with them, may not make the same conclusion of mercy with them, — namely, " That the mercy and…
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262 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP. it would be impossible they should once imagine that of itself it is apt to draw the spirits of men into a neglect and contempt of God. (2.) As the e7id of God, intended in giving that assurance, to the effecting whereof it is exceedingly operative and effectual. So yo…
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Some few exceptions, with a great surplusage of words and phrases, to make them seem other things than what have been formerly in- sisted on again and again, are advanced by Mr Goodwin, to overturn this Zion and to cast down the mountains that are about Jerusalem, chap. xi. sect. 9, pp. 230-232. The sum of our argument…
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2. " That this promise is not made unto the persons of any, but merely unto their qualifications; like that, 'He that believeth shall be saved ;' it is made to the grace of trusting, obedience, and walking with God: for threatenings are made to the evil qualifications of men." Ans. This it seems, then, we are come unt…
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Obj. " All the promises are made to qualifications, not to persons." Ans. Prove that, and, 1. Take the case in hand ; and, 2. Cast down the church to the ground, it having no one promise, on that account, made unto it, as consisting of Abraham's seed. And so this witness also is freed from all exceptions put in again…
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VI.] PARTICULAR PROMISES ILLUSTRATED. 269 saith he (that is, " I have entered into a covenant to that end/' which was wont to be confirmed with an oath, and God being absolutely faithful in his covenant is said to swear thereunto, though there be no express mention of any such oath), "that the world should no more be …
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vl] particular promises illustrated. 271 to the heirs of promise, assureth the stability of his love and kind- ness to them by another allusion: Verse 10, "The mountains," saith he, " shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not depart f*om thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,…
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VI.] PARTICULAR PROMISES ILLUSTRATED. 273 tliem, but mixing them with itself, and there will be undoubtedly found the improvement before mentioned for the carrying on of god- liness and gospel obedience in the hearts of believers. But this I shall have occasion to speak to more afterward. Hos. ii. 19, 20, is pertinen…
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VI.] PARTICULAR PROMISES ILLUSTRATED. 275 Jews onl}'-, but also to tlie Gentiles; for so," saith he, " it is in Osee" (instancing in the passage we insist on), " I will call them my people which were not my people ; and her beloved which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said u…
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Tims, notwithstanding any exception to the contrary, the context is clear, as it was at first proposed. Let us, then, in the next place, consider the intendment ot God in this promise, with that influence of demonstration which it hath upon the truth we are in the con- sideration of, and then free the words from that c…
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1st In general, he will give them " vineyards from thence" (that is, from the wilderness), as he did to them in Canaan, when he brought them out of the wilderness. This God often mindeth them of, that he gave them " vineyards which they planted not,"" Deut. vi. 11 ; and he here setteth out the plenty of gospel grace, w…
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o. Now, because sundry objections may be levied against the ac- complishment of this engagement of God, upon the account of our instability and backsliding, the Lord addeth the manner of his en- tering into this engagement with us, obviating and preventing, or removing, all such objections whatever; which is the third …
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I cannot but add, that if there were no other place of Scripture in the whole book of God to confirm the truth we have in hand but only this, I should not doubt (the Lord assisting) to close with it upon the signal testimony given unto it thereby, notwithstanding all the specious oppositions that are made thereunto. F…
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John X. 27-29 closeth this discourse: "My sheep hear my voice, 284 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCK [CJIAP. and I know them, and they follow me : and I give unto them eter- nal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; a…
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2. " The security for which our Saviour engageth the greatness of his Father's power unto his sheep is promised unto them, not in order to the effecting or procuring their final perseverance, but rather by way of reward to it." Ans. But what tittle is there, I pray you, in the whole context to intimate any such thing?…
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There are sundry other texts of Scripture which most clearly and evidently confirm the truth we have in hand, which are all well worth our consideration for our consolation and establishment, as also something of our labour and diligence, to quit them from those 288 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCK [CHAP. glosses…
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There remains nothing for the confirmation of the first branch or part of the truth proposed, but only the consideration of the oath of God; which, because it ought certainly to be "an end of all strife," I shall reserve the handling of it to the close of the whole, if God be pleased to carry us out thereunto, that we …
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VII.] THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 291 SO obtains redemption. And the apostle, in the 10th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, disputes at large this difference be- tween the typical sacrifices and the sacrifice of the blood of Christ. He tells you those were " offered year by year," and could "never make the comers to…
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^yil.] THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 293 pan end of sin/' as was showed, "and brought in everlasting righte- ^ousness;" Heb. x. 14-18. To suspend the issue of all these trans- factions between God and the Mediator upon conditions by us to jbe accomplished, not bestowed on us, not purchased for us, and as fto their event un…
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• Juliu iii. uu; V.\>h. ii. 3; 2 Cor. v. 18; Ts. xxi. 3, 4; Matt. xvii. 6. VII.] THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST. 295 (2.) The law of God is fulfilled. Unless this be answered in all the concernments of it, the Lord would he thought to change his will, to reverse his word, and to blur the copy of his own holiness. There is i…
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Thus upon the account of the death of Christ, antecedently to all considerations of faith or belief in them for whom he died, thus much is done for the extijnguishing the quarrel about sin: The vindictive justice, law, and tririh of God, are disengaged from pursuing the sen- tence of death and Everlasting separation fr…
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\st. It is plainly affirmed that Christ, by his death, obtained " ever- lasting redemption," Heb. ix. 12. He obtained everlasting redemp- tion before his ascending into the most holy place, called elsewhere the "purging of our sins," Heb. i. 3. Now this redemption, as was said, the apostle informs us consists in "the f…
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4;thly. It appears from what God bestows upon his elect, upon the account of the undertaking of Christ for them, in the pursuit of the eternal purpose of his will, antecedently to any thing whatsoever in them that should engage him to do them the least good. When God comes as a friend, to hold out unto and bestow good …
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' Eph. ii. 18-17. « Gen. viii. 21. 3 John xvii. 19; Rom. v. 19, vl. 6; 2 Cor. V. 21; Eph. V. 25, 26; Tit. ii. 14. Hleb. ix. 14, x. 14; 1 Pet. ii. 24; 1 John i. 7 ; Rev. i. 5, 6. so 2 DOCTKINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVEKANCK [CHAP. woful experience, have discovered what such corrupt conclusions have tended unto. Others, …
934 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1850–1870); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.