THE PRECEDING DISCOURSE. 321
j)opular discourse, and never intended for scliolastie accuracy, yet, as to tlie assertions contained in it, I challenge this author to take and allow the ordinary, usual sense of the words, with the open design of them, and to answer them when he can. And, 8. In the meantime I appeal unto every indifferent reader whether the mere perusal of this whole passage do not cast this man's futilous cavils out of all consideration? So that I shall only content myself with very few remarks upon them : —
1. Upon my asserting the necessity of good works, he adds, " A very suspicious word ; which, methinks, these men should be afraid to name." And why so ? We do acknowledge that we do not seek for righteousness by the works of the law ; we design not our personal justification by them, nor to merit life or salvation; but betake our- selves unto what even Bellarmine himself came to at last as the safest retreat, — namely, the merits and righteousness of Christ: but for attendance unto them, performance of them, and fruitfulness in them, we are not afraid nor ashamed at any time to enter into judgment with them by whom we are traduced. And as I have nothing to say unto this author, who is known unto me only by that portraiture and character which he hath given of himself in this book ; wliich I could have wished, for his own sake, had been drawn with a mixture of more lines of truth and modesty: so I know there are not a few who, in the course of a vain, worldly conversation, whilst there is scarce a back or belly of a disciple of Christ that blesseth God upon the account of their bounty or charity (the footsteps of levity, vanity, scurrility, and profaneness, being, moreover, left upon all the paths of their haunt), are wont to declaim about holiness, good works, and justification by them ; which is a ready way to instruct men to atheism, or the scorn of every thing that is professed in religion. But yet, 2. He shows how impotent and impertinent our arguments are for the proof of the necessity of holiness. And as to the first of them, from the commands of God, he saith, "That if, after all these com- mands, God hath left it indifferent whether we obey him or no, I hope such commands cannot make obedience necessary." Wonderful divinity! A man must needs be well acquainted with God and himself who can suppose that any of his commands shall leave it in- different, whether we will obey them or no. Yea, " But will he damn men if they do not obey his commands for holiness?" Yes, yes; no doubt he will do so. Yea, " But we may be, notwithstanding this command, justified and saved without this holiness." False and im- pertinent: we are neither justified nor saved without them, though we are not justified by them, nor saved for them.
Unto my enforcement of the necessity of holiness from the ends of God in election and redemption, he replies, p. 127, "The Father
VOL. II. 21
S22 A VINDICATION OF
hath elected us to be holy, and the Son redeemed us to be holy; but will the Father elect and the Son redeem none but those who are holy, and rtject and reprobate all others? Doth this election and redemption suppose holiness in us, or is it without any regard to it? For if we be elected and redeemed without any regard unto our own being holy, our election and redemption is secure, whether we be holy or not." Wondei'ful divinity again ! Election and redemption sup- pose holiness in us ! We are elected and redeemed with regard unto our OAvn holiness ! that is, antecedently unto our election and redemp- tion; for holiness being the effect and fruit of them, is that_which he opposeth. Not many pages after this, he falls into a great admhation of the catechism of the church of England, which none blamed that I know of, as to what is contained in it. But it were to be wished that he had been well instructed in some others, that he might not have dividged and obtruded on the world such crude and palpable mistakes. For this respect of redemption, at least, unto an antece- dent holiness in us (that is, antecedent unto it), is such a piece of foppery in religion, as a man would wonder how any one could be guilty of, who hath almost " pored out his eyes" in reading the Scrip- ture. All the remaining cavils, of this chapter are but the effects of the like fulsome ignorance ; for out of some passages, scraped together from several parts of my discourse (and those not only cut off from their proper scope and end, which is not mentioned by him at all, but also mangled in their representation), he would frame the ap- pearance of a contradiction between Avhat I say on the one hand, that there is no peace with God to be obtained by and for sinners but by the atonement that is made for them in the blood of Jesus Christ, Avith the remission of sin and justification by faith which ensue thereon (which I hope I shall not live to hear denied by the church of England), and the necessity of holiness and fruitfulness in obedience, to maintain in our own souls a sense of that peace with God which we have, being justified by faith. And he who under- stands not the consistency of those things, hath little reason to de- spise good catechisms, whatever thoughts he hath had of his own sufficiency.