CHAPTER XVII
Of the Perseverance of the Saints
They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally, nor finally, fall away from the state of grace: but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
Phil. i. 6; 2 Pet. i. 10; John x. 28, 29; 1 John iii. 9; I Pet. i. 5, 9.
II. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
2 Tim. ii. 18, 19; Jer. xxxi. 3; Heb. x. 10, 14; Heb. xiii. 20, 21; Heb. ix. 12, 13, 14, 15; Rom viii. 33 to the end; John xvii. 11, 24; Luke xxii. 32; Heb. vii. 25; John xiv. 16 17; 1 John ii. 27; 1 John iii. 9; Jer. xxxii. 40; John x. 28; 2 Thess. iii. 3; 1 John ii. 19.
III. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.
Matt. xxvi. 70, 72, 74; Ps. li. title and verse 14; Isa. lxiv. 5, 7, 9; 2 Sam. xi. 27; Eph. iv. 30; Ps. li. 8, 10, 12; Rev. ii. 4; Cant. v. 2, 3, 4, 6; Isa. lxiii. 17; Mark vi. 52; Mark xvi. 14; Ps. xxxii. 3, 4; Ps. li. 8; 2 Sam. xii. 14; Ps. lxxxix. 31, 32; 1 Cor. xi. 32.
CHAPTER XVIII
Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes, and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God, and estate of salvation; which hope of theirs shall perish: yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.
Job viii. 13, 14; Mic. iii. 11; Deut. xxix. 19; John viii. 41; Matt. vii. 22, 23; 1 John ii. 3; 1 John iii. 14, 18, 19, 21, 24; 1 John v. 13; Rom. v. 2, 5.
II. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God: which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.
Heb. vi. 11, 19; Heb. vi. 17, 18; 2 Pet. i. 4, 5, 10, 11; 1 John ii. 3; 1 John iii. 14; 2 Cor. i. 12; Rom. viii. 15, 16; Eph. i. 13, 14; Eph. iv. 30; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.
III. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure; that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance; so far is it from inclining men to looseness.
1 John v. 13; Isa. l. 10; Mark ix. 24; Ps. lxxxviii throughout, Ps. lxxvii to ver. 12; 1 Cor. ii. 12, 1 John iv. 13; Heb. vi. 11, 12; Eph. iii. 17, 18, 19; 2 Pet. i. 10; Rom. v. 1, 2, 5; Rom. xiv. 17; Rom. xv. 13; Eph. i. 3, 4; Ps. iv. 6, 7; Ps. cxix. 32; 1 John ii. 1, 2; Rom. vi. 1, 2; ***. ii. 11, 12, 14; 2 Cor. vii. 1; Rom. viii. 1, 12; 1 John iii. 2, 3; Ps. cxxx. 4; 1 John i. 6, 7.
IV. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing the light of His countenance, and suffering even such as fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may, in due time, be revived; and by the which, in the mean time, they are supported from utter despair.
Cant. v. 2, 3, 6; Ps. li. 8, 12, 14; Eph. iv. 30, 31; Ps. lxxvii. 1 to 10; Matt. xxvi. 69, 70, 71, 72; Ps. xxxi. 22; Ps. lxxxviii throughout; Isa. l. 10; 1 John iii. 9; Luke xxii. 32; Job xiii. l5; Ps. lxxiii. l5; Ps. li. 8, 12; Isa. l. 10; Mic. vii. 7, 8. 9; Jer. xxxii. 40, Isa. liv. 7, 8, 9, 10; Ps. xxii. 1; Ps. Ixxxviii throughout.
CHAPTER XIX
Of the Law of God
God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which He bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it: and endued him with power and ability to keep it.
Gen. i. 26, 27 with Gen. ii. 17; Rom. ii. 14. 15; Rom. x. 5; Rom. v. 12, 19; Gal. iii. 10, 12; Eccles. vii. 29; Job xxviii. 28.
II. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness, and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables: the four first commandments containing our duty towards God; and the other six our duty to man.
James i. 25; James ii. 8, 10, 11, 12; Rom. xiii. 8, 9; Deut. v. 32; Deut. x. 4; Ex. xxxiv. 1; Matt. xxii. 37, 38, 39, 40.
III. Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated, under the New Testament.
Heb. ix chapter; Heb. x. 1; Gal. lv. 1, 2, 3; Col. ii. 17; 1 Cor. v. 7; 2 Cor vi. 17; Jude ver. 23; Col. ii. 14, 16, 17; Dan. ix. 27; Eph. ii. 15, 16.
IV. To them also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require.
Ex. xxi chap.; Ex. xxii. 1 to 29; Gen. xlix. 10 with 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14; Matt. v. 17 with ver. 38, 39; 1 Cor. ix. 8, 9, 10.
V. The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that, not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it: neither doth Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.
Rom. xiii. 8, 9, 10; Eph. vi. 2; 1 John ii. 3, 4, 7, 8; James ii. 10, 11; Matt. v. 17, 18, 19; James ii. 8; Rom. iii. 31.
VI. Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty, it directs, and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of His obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve; and what afflictions, in this life, they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof; although not as due to them by the law, as a covenant of works. So as, a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one, and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law; and not under grace.
Rom. vi. 14; Gal ii. 16; Gal. iii. 13; Gal. iv. 4, 5; Acts xiii. 39; Rom. viii. 1; Rom. vii. 12, 22, 25; Ps. cxix. 4, 5, 6; 1 Cor. vii. 19; Gal. v. 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23; Rom. vii. 7; Rom. iii. 20; James i. 23, 24, 25; Rom. vii. 9, 14, 24, Gal. iii. 24; Rom. vii. 24, 25; Rom. viii. 3, 4: James ii. 11; Ps. cxix. 101, 104, 128, Ezra ix. 13. 14; Ps. lxxxix. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34; Lev. xxvi. 1 to 14 with 2 Cor. vi. 16; Eph. vi. 2, 3; Ps. xxxvii.
1l with Matt. v. 5; Ps. xix. 11; Gal. ii. 16; Luke xvii. 10; Rom. vi. 12, 14; 1 Pet. iii. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 with Ps. xxxiv. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Heb. xii. 28, 29.
VII. Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the Gospel, but do sweetly comply with it; the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling the will of man to do that, freely and cheerfully, which the will of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done.
Gal. iii. 21; Ezek. xxxvi. 27; Heb. viii. 10 with Jer. xxxi. 33.
Of the Perseverance of the Saints
They, whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally, nor finally, fall away from the state of grace: but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
Phil. i. 6; 2 Pet. i. 10; John x. 28, 29; 1 John iii. 9; I Pet. i. 5, 9.
II. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
2 Tim. ii. 18, 19; Jer. xxxi. 3; Heb. x. 10, 14; Heb. xiii. 20, 21; Heb. ix. 12, 13, 14, 15; Rom viii. 33 to the end; John xvii. 11, 24; Luke xxii. 32; Heb. vii. 25; John xiv. 16 17; 1 John ii. 27; 1 John iii. 9; Jer. xxxii. 40; John x. 28; 2 Thess. iii. 3; 1 John ii. 19.
III. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.
Matt. xxvi. 70, 72, 74; Ps. li. title and verse 14; Isa. lxiv. 5, 7, 9; 2 Sam. xi. 27; Eph. iv. 30; Ps. li. 8, 10, 12; Rev. ii. 4; Cant. v. 2, 3, 4, 6; Isa. lxiii. 17; Mark vi. 52; Mark xvi. 14; Ps. xxxii. 3, 4; Ps. li. 8; 2 Sam. xii. 14; Ps. lxxxix. 31, 32; 1 Cor. xi. 32.
CHAPTER XVIII
Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes, and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God, and estate of salvation; which hope of theirs shall perish: yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.
Job viii. 13, 14; Mic. iii. 11; Deut. xxix. 19; John viii. 41; Matt. vii. 22, 23; 1 John ii. 3; 1 John iii. 14, 18, 19, 21, 24; 1 John v. 13; Rom. v. 2, 5.
II. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God: which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.
Heb. vi. 11, 19; Heb. vi. 17, 18; 2 Pet. i. 4, 5, 10, 11; 1 John ii. 3; 1 John iii. 14; 2 Cor. i. 12; Rom. viii. 15, 16; Eph. i. 13, 14; Eph. iv. 30; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.
III. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. And therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure; that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance; so far is it from inclining men to looseness.
1 John v. 13; Isa. l. 10; Mark ix. 24; Ps. lxxxviii throughout, Ps. lxxvii to ver. 12; 1 Cor. ii. 12, 1 John iv. 13; Heb. vi. 11, 12; Eph. iii. 17, 18, 19; 2 Pet. i. 10; Rom. v. 1, 2, 5; Rom. xiv. 17; Rom. xv. 13; Eph. i. 3, 4; Ps. iv. 6, 7; Ps. cxix. 32; 1 John ii. 1, 2; Rom. vi. 1, 2; ***. ii. 11, 12, 14; 2 Cor. vii. 1; Rom. viii. 1, 12; 1 John iii. 2, 3; Ps. cxxx. 4; 1 John i. 6, 7.
IV. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing the light of His countenance, and suffering even such as fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may, in due time, be revived; and by the which, in the mean time, they are supported from utter despair.
Cant. v. 2, 3, 6; Ps. li. 8, 12, 14; Eph. iv. 30, 31; Ps. lxxvii. 1 to 10; Matt. xxvi. 69, 70, 71, 72; Ps. xxxi. 22; Ps. lxxxviii throughout; Isa. l. 10; 1 John iii. 9; Luke xxii. 32; Job xiii. l5; Ps. lxxiii. l5; Ps. li. 8, 12; Isa. l. 10; Mic. vii. 7, 8. 9; Jer. xxxii. 40, Isa. liv. 7, 8, 9, 10; Ps. xxii. 1; Ps. Ixxxviii throughout.
CHAPTER XIX
Of the Law of God
God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which He bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it: and endued him with power and ability to keep it.
Gen. i. 26, 27 with Gen. ii. 17; Rom. ii. 14. 15; Rom. x. 5; Rom. v. 12, 19; Gal. iii. 10, 12; Eccles. vii. 29; Job xxviii. 28.
II. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness, and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables: the four first commandments containing our duty towards God; and the other six our duty to man.
James i. 25; James ii. 8, 10, 11, 12; Rom. xiii. 8, 9; Deut. v. 32; Deut. x. 4; Ex. xxxiv. 1; Matt. xxii. 37, 38, 39, 40.
III. Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated, under the New Testament.
Heb. ix chapter; Heb. x. 1; Gal. lv. 1, 2, 3; Col. ii. 17; 1 Cor. v. 7; 2 Cor vi. 17; Jude ver. 23; Col. ii. 14, 16, 17; Dan. ix. 27; Eph. ii. 15, 16.
IV. To them also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require.
Ex. xxi chap.; Ex. xxii. 1 to 29; Gen. xlix. 10 with 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14; Matt. v. 17 with ver. 38, 39; 1 Cor. ix. 8, 9, 10.
V. The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that, not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it: neither doth Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.
Rom. xiii. 8, 9, 10; Eph. vi. 2; 1 John ii. 3, 4, 7, 8; James ii. 10, 11; Matt. v. 17, 18, 19; James ii. 8; Rom. iii. 31.
VI. Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty, it directs, and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of His obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve; and what afflictions, in this life, they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof; although not as due to them by the law, as a covenant of works. So as, a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the one, and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law; and not under grace.
Rom. vi. 14; Gal ii. 16; Gal. iii. 13; Gal. iv. 4, 5; Acts xiii. 39; Rom. viii. 1; Rom. vii. 12, 22, 25; Ps. cxix. 4, 5, 6; 1 Cor. vii. 19; Gal. v. 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23; Rom. vii. 7; Rom. iii. 20; James i. 23, 24, 25; Rom. vii. 9, 14, 24, Gal. iii. 24; Rom. vii. 24, 25; Rom. viii. 3, 4: James ii. 11; Ps. cxix. 101, 104, 128, Ezra ix. 13. 14; Ps. lxxxix. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34; Lev. xxvi. 1 to 14 with 2 Cor. vi. 16; Eph. vi. 2, 3; Ps. xxxvii.
1l with Matt. v. 5; Ps. xix. 11; Gal. ii. 16; Luke xvii. 10; Rom. vi. 12, 14; 1 Pet. iii. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 with Ps. xxxiv. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Heb. xii. 28, 29.
VII. Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the Gospel, but do sweetly comply with it; the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling the will of man to do that, freely and cheerfully, which the will of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done.
Gal. iii. 21; Ezek. xxxvi. 27; Heb. viii. 10 with Jer. xxxi. 33.
