Concerning Perfection.

In whom this pure and holy Birth is fully brought forth, the Body of Death and Sin comes to be crucified and removed, and their Hearts united and subjected to the Truth; so as not to obey any Suggestions or Temptations of the Evil One, but to be free from actual sinning and transgressing of the Law of God, and in that Respect perfect: Yet doth this Perfection still admit of a Growth; and there remaineth always in some Part a Possibility of sinning, where the Mind doth not most diligently and watchfully attend unto the Lord.

II. The new Birth.Secondly, That we attribute it wholly to Man, as he is born again, renewed in his Mind, raised by Christ, knowing Christ alive, reigning and ruling in him, and guiding and leading him by his Spirit, and revealing in him the Law of the Spirit of Life; which not only manifests and reproves Sin, but also gives Power to come out of it.

III. Growth in Perfection.Thirdly, That by this we understand not such a Perfection as may not daily admit of a Growth, and consequently mean not as if we were to be as pure, holy, and perfect as God in his divine Attributes of Wisdom, Knowledge, and Purity; but only a Perfection proportionable and answerable to Man’s Measure, whereby we are kept from transgressing the Law of God, and enabled to answer what he requires of us; He that improved his Two Talents was nothing less acceptable than he with the five.even as he that improved his two Talents so as to make four of them, perfected his Work, and was so accepted of his Lord as to be called a good and faithful Servant, nothing less than he that made his five ten. Even as a little Gold is perfect Gold in its Kind, as well as a great Mass, and a Child hath a perfect Body as well as a Man, though it daily grow more and more. Thus Christ is said, Luke ii. 52. to have increased in Wisdom and Stature, and in Favour with God and Man; though before that Time he had never sinned, and was no Doubt perfect, in a true and proper Sense.

IV. Wiles of the Enemy.Fourthly, Though a Man may witness this for a Season, and therefore all ought to press after it; yet we do not affirm but those that have attained it in a Measure may, by the Wiles and Temptations of the Enemy, fall into Iniquity, and lose it sometimes, if they be not watchful, and do not diligently attend to that of God in the Heart. And we doubt not but many good and holy Men, who have arrived to everlasting Life, have had divers Ebbings and Flowings of this Kind; Every Sin weakens a Man in his spiritual Condition, but doth not destroy him altogether.for though every Sin weakens a Man in his spiritual Condition, yet it doth not so as to destroy him altogether, or render him uncapable of rising again.

V. Righteousness became natural.Lastly, Though I affirm, that after a Man hath arrived at such a State, in which he may be able not to sin, yet he may sin: Nevertheless, I will not affirm that a State is not attainable in this Life, in which to do Righteousness may be so natural to the regenerate Soul, that in the Stability of that Condition he cannot sin. Others may speak more certainly of this State, if they have arrived at it. With respect to myself, I speak modestly, because I ingenuously confess that I have not yet attained it; but I cannot deny that there is such a State, as it seems to be so clearly asserted by the Apostle, 1 John iii. 9. He that is born of God sinneth not, neither can he, because the Seed of God remaineth in him.

Part II.Sect. 1. The Controversy being thus stated, which will serve to obviate Objections, I shall proceed, First, to shew the Absurdity of that Doctrine that pleads for Sin for Term of Life, even in the Saints.

Sect. 2.Secondly, To prove this Doctrine of Perfection from many pregnant Testimonies of the Holy Scripture.

Sect. 3.And, Lastly, To answer the Arguments and Objections of our Opposers.

This Imperfection in the Saints either proceeds from God or from themselves: If it proceeds from them, it must be because they are short in improving or making use of the Power given them, whereby they are capable to obey; and so it is a Thing possible to them, as indeed it is by the Help of that Power: But this our Adversaries deny: They are then not to be blamed for their Imperfection and continuing in Sin, since it is not possible for them to do otherwise. If it be not of themselves, it must be of God, who hath not seen meet to allow them Grace in that Degree to produce that Effect: And what is this but to attribute to God the Height of Injustice, to make him require his Children to forsake Sin, and yet not to afford them sufficient Means for so doing? Who will give their Children a Stone instead of Bread?Surely this makes God more unrighteous than wicked Men, who if (as Christ saith) their Children require Bread of them, will not give them a Stone; or instead of a Fish, a Serpent. But these Men confess we ought to seek of God Power to redeem us from Sin, and yet believe they are never to receive such a Power; such Prayers then cannot be in Faith, but are all vain. Is not this to make God as unjust to his Children as Pharaoh was to the Israelites, in requiring Brick and not giving them Straw? But blessed be God, he deals not so with those that truly trust in him, and wait upon him, as these Men vainly imagine; for such faithful Ones find of a Truth that his Grace is sufficient for them, and know how by his Power and Spirit to overcome the evil One.

Proof 2.The Possibility of it. Secondly, It is possible, because we receive the Gospel and Law thereof for that Effect; and it is expresly promised to us, as we are under Grace, as appears by these Scriptures, Rom. iv. 14. Sin shall not have Dominion over you; for ye are not under the Law, but under Grace: And Rom. viii. 3. For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the Flesh, God sending his own Son, &c. that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, &c. The Difference of the Law and Gospel.For if this were not a Condition both requisite, necessary, and attainable under the Gospel, there were no Difference betwixt the Bringing in of a better Hope, and the Law which made nothing perfect; neither betwixt those which are under the Gospel, or who under the Law enjoyed and walked in the Life of the Gospel and mere Legalists. Whereas the Apostle, throughout the whole Sixth to the Romans, argues not only the Possibility but the Necessity of being free from Sin, from their being under the Gospel, and under Grace, and not under the Law; and therefore states himself and those to whom he wrote in that Condition in these Verses, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. and therefore in the 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18 Verses, he argues both the Possibility and Necessity of this Freedom from Sin almost in the same Manner we did a little before; and in the 22d he declares them in Measure to have attained this Condition in these Words, But now being made free from Sin, and become Servants to God, ye have your Fruit unto Holiness, and the End everlasting Life. Perfection and Freedom from Sin attained and made possible by the Gospel.And as this Perfection or Freedom from Sin is attained and made possible where the Gospel and inward Law of the Spirit is received and known, so the Ignorance hereof has been and is an Occasion of opposing this Truth. For Man not minding the Light or Law within his Heart, which not only discovers Sin, but leads out of it, and so being a Stranger to the new Life and Birth that is born of God, which naturally does his Will, and cannot of its own Nature transgress the Commandments of God, doth, I say, in his natural State look at the Commandments as they are without him in the Letter; The Letter kills, and maketh not alive.and finding himself reproved and convicted, is by the Letter killed, but not made alive. So Man, finding himself wounded, and not applying himself inwardly to that which can heal, labours in his own Will after a Conformity to the Law as it is without him, which he can never obtain, but finds the more he wrestles, the more he falleth short. So this is the Jew still in Effect, with his carnal Commandment, with the Law without, in the first Covenant State, which makes not the Comers thereunto perfect, as pertaining to the Conscience, Heb. ix. 9. though they may have here a Notion of Christianity, and an external Faith in Christ. This has made them strain and wrest the Scriptures for an imputative Righteousness wholly without them, to cover their Impurities; and this hath made them imagine an Acceptance with God possible, though they suppose it impossible ever to obey Christ’s Commands. But alas! O deceived Souls! that will not avail in the Day wherein God will judge every Man according to his Work, whether good or bad. It will not save thee to say, it was necessary for thee to sin daily in Thought, Word, and Deed; for such as do so have certainly obeyed Unrighteousness: And what is provided for such but Tribulation and Anguish, Indignation and Wrath; even as Glory, Honour, and Peace, Immortality and eternal Life to such as have done Good, and patiently continued in Well-doing. So then, if thou desirest to know this Perfection and Freedom from Sin possible for thee, turn thy Mind to the Light and spiritual Law of Christ in the Heart, and suffer the Reproofs thereof; bear the Judgment and Indignation of God upon the unrighteous Part in thee as therein is revealed, which Christ hath made tolerable for thee, and so suffer Judgment in thee to be brought forth into Victory, and thus come to partake of the Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings, and be made conformable unto his Death, How we partake of Christ’s Sufferings, and are made conformable unto his Death.that thou mayest feel thyself crucified with him to the World by the Power of his Cross in thee; so that that Life that sometimes was alive in thee to this World, and the Love and Lusts thereof, may die, and a new Life be raised, by which thou mayest live henceforward to God, and not to or for thyself; and with the Apostle thou mayest say, Gal. ii. 20. It is no more I, but Christ alive in me; and then thou wilt be a Christian indeed, and not in Name only, as too many are; then thou wilt know what it is to have put off the old Man with his Deeds, who indeed sins daily in Thought, Word, and Deed; and to have put on the new Man, that it renewed in Holiness, after the Image of him that hath created him, Ephes. iv. 24. and thou wilt witness thyself to be [78]God’s Workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good Works, and so not to sin always. And to this new Man Christ’s Yoke is easy, and his Burden is light; though it be heavy to the old Adam; yea, the Commandments of God are not unto this Man grievous; for it is his Meat and Drink to be found fulfilling the Will of God.

Proof 3.Many have attained Perfection. Lastly, This Perfection or Freedom from Sin is possible, because many have attained it, according to the express Testimony of the Scripture; some before the Law, and some under the Law, through witnessing and partaking of the Benefit and Effect of the Gospel, and much more many under the Gospel. Enoch walked with God, and was perfect.As first, It is written of Enoch, Gen. v. 22, 24. that he walked with God, which no Man while sinning can; nor doth the Scripture record any Failing of his. It is said of Noah, Gen. vi. 9. and of Job i. 8. and of Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke i. 6. that they were perfect; but under the Gospel, besides that of the Romans above-mentioned, see what the Apostle saith of many Saints in general, Ephes. ii. 4, 5, 6. But God, who is rich in Mercy, for his great Love wherewith he hath loved us, even when we were dead in Sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by Grace ye are saved; and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly Places in Christ Jesus &c. I judge while they were sitting in these heavenly Places, they could not be daily sinning in Thought, Word, and Deed; neither were all their Works which they did there as filthy Rags, or as a menstruous Garment. See what is further said to the Hebrews, xii. 22, 23. Spirits of just Men made perfect. And to conclude, let that of the Revelations, xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. be considered, where though their being found without Fault be spoken in the present Time, yet it is not without Respect to their Innocency while upon Earth; and their being redeemed from among Men, and no Guile found in their Mouth, is expresly mentioned in the Time past. Sect III.But I shall proceed now, in the Third Place, to answer the Objections, which indeed are the Arguments of our Opposers.

Answ. 1.But is it not strange to see Men so blinded with Partiality? How many Scriptures tenfold more plain do they reject, and yet stick so tenaciously to this, that can receive so many Answers? As First, [If we say we have no Sin, &c.] will not import the Apostle himself to be included. If we say we have no Sin, &c. objected.Sometimes the Scripture useth this Manner of Expression when the Person speaking cannot be included; which Manner of Speech the Grammarians call Metaschematismus. Thus James iii. 9, 10. speaking of the Tongue, saith, Therewith bless we God, and therewith curse we Men; adding, These Things ought not so to be. Who from this will conclude that the Apostle was one of those Cursers? Answ. 2.But Secondly, This Objection hitteth not the Matter; he saith not, We sin daily in Thought, Word, and Deed; far less that the very good Works which God works in us by his Spirit are Sin: Yea, the very next Verse clearly shews, that upon Confession and Repentance we are not only forgiven, but also cleansed; He is faithful to forgive us our Sins, and to cleanse us from all Unrighteousness. Here is both a Forgiveness and Removing of the Guilt, and a Cleansing or Removing of the Filth; for to make Forgiveness and Cleansing to belong both to the Removing of the Guilt, as there is no Reason for it from the Text, so it were a most violent forcing of the Words, and would imply a needless Tautology. The Apostle having shewn how that not the Guilt only, but even the Filth also of Sin is removed, subsumes his Words in the Time past in the 10th Verse, If we say we have not sinned, we make him a Liar. Answ. 3.Thirdly, As Augustine well observed, in his Exposition upon the Epistle to the Galatians, It is one Thing not to sin, and another Thing not to have Sin. It is one Thing, not to sin, and another Thing not to have Sin.The Apostle’s Words are not, If we say we sin not, or commit not Sin daily, but if we say we have no Sin: And betwixt these two there is a manifest Difference; for in respect all have sinned, as we freely acknowledge, all may be said in a Sense to have Sin. Again, Sin may be taken for the Seed of Sin, which may be in those that are redeemed from actual Sinning; but as to the Temptations and Provocations proceeding from it being resisted by the Servants of God, and not yielded to, they are the Devil’s Sin that tempteth, not the Man’s that is preserved. Answ. 4.Fourthly, This being considered, as also how positive and plain once and again the same Apostle is in that very Epistle, as in divers Places above cited, is it equal or rational to strain this one Place, presently after so qualified and subsumed in the Time past, to contradict not only other positive Expressions of his, but the whole Tendency of his Epistle, and of the rest of the holy Commands and Precepts of the Scripture?

Obj. 2.Secondly, Their second Objection is from two Places of Scripture, much of one Signification: The one is, 1 Kings viii. 46. For there is no Man that sinneth not. The other is, Eccles. vii. 20. For there is not a just Man upon Earth, that doeth Good, and sinneth not.

Answ.I answer, First, These affirm nothing of a daily and continual Sinning, so as never to be redeemed from it; but only that all have sinned, or that there is none that doth not sin, though not always, so as never to cease to sin; and in this lies the Question. Yea, in that Place of the Kings he speaks within two Verses of the returning of such with all their Souls and Hearts; which implies a Possibility of leaving off Sin. Diversity of Seasons and Dispensations respected.Secondly, There is a Respect to be had to the Seasons and Dispensations; for if it should be granted that in Solomon’s Time there were none that sinned not, it will not follow that there are none such now, or that it is a Thing not now attainable by the Grace of God under the Gospel: For A non esse ad non posse non valet sequela. And Lastly, This whole Objection hangs upon a false Interpretation; for the Hebrew Word [Hebrew: ycht': ????] may be read in the Potential Mood, thus, There is no Man who may not sin, as well as in the Indicative: So both the old Latin, Junius and Tremellius, and Vatablus have it; and the same Word is so used, Psalm cxix. 11. I have hid thy Word in my Heart, [Hebrew: lt'z l' 'cht' lk: ???? ?? ???? ???] that is to say, That I may not sin against thee, in the Potential Mood, and not in the Indicative; which being more answerable to the universal Scope of the Scriptures, the Testimony of the Truth, and the Sense almost of all Interpreters, doubtless ought to be so understood, and the other Interpretation rejected as spurious.

Obj. 3.Thirdly, They object some Expressions of the Apostle Paul, Rom. viii. 19. For the Good that I would, I do not; but the Evil which I would not, that I do. And Ver. 24. O wretched Man that I am! who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death?

Answ.I answer, This Place infers nothing, unless it were apparent that the Apostle here were speaking of his own Condition, and not rather in the Person of others, or what he himself had sometimes borne; which is frequent in Scripture, as in the Case of cursing, in James before mentioned. But there is nothing in the Text that doth clearly signify the Apostle to be speaking of himself, or of a Condition he was then under, or was always to be under; yea, on the Contrary, in the former Chapter, as afore is at large shewn, he declares, they were dead to Sin; demanding how such should yet live any longer therein? Paul personates the Wretched Man, to shew them the Redeemer.Secondly, It appears that the Apostle personated one not yet come to a spiritual Condition, in that he saith, Ver. 14. But I am carnal, sold under Sin. Now is it to be imagined, that the Apostle Paul, as to his own proper Condition, when he wrote that Epistle, was a carnal Man, who in Chap. i. testifies of himself, That he was separated to be an Apostle, capable to impart to the Romans spiritual Gifts; and Chap. viii. Ver. 2. That the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus had made him free from the Law of Sin and Death? So then he was not carnal. And seeing there are spiritual Men in this Life, as our Adversaries will not deny, and is intimated through the whole viiith Chapter to the Romans, it will not be denied but the Apostle was one of them: So then as his calling himself carnal in Chap. vii. cannot be understood of his own proper State, neither can the rest of what he speaks there of that Kind be so understood: Yea after, Ver. 24. where he makes that Exclamation, he adds in the next Verse, I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord; signifying that by him he witnessed Deliverance; and so goeth on, shewing how he had obtained it in the next Chapter, viz. viii. Ver. 35. Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? And Ver. 37. But in all these Things we are more than Conquerors: And in the last Verse, Nothing shall be able to separate us, &c. But wherever there is a continuing in Sin, there is a Separation in some Degree, seeing every Sin is contrary to God, and [Greek: anomia: a???a], i. e. a Transgression of the Law, 1 John iii. 4. Whom Sin has conquered, he is no Conqueror.and whoever committeth the least Sin, is overcome of it, and so in that Respect is not a Conqueror, but conquered. This Condition then, which the Apostle plainly testified he with some others had obtained, could not consist with continual remaining and abiding in Sin.

Obj. 4.Fourthly, They object the Faults and Sins of several eminent Saints, as Noah, David, &c.

Answ.I answer, That doth not at all prove the Case: For the Question is not, Whether good Men may not fall into Sin, which is not denied; but whether it be not possible for them not to sin? Can they that sin, be never freed from Sin.It will not follow because these Men sinned, that therefore they were never free of Sin, but always sinned: For at this Rate of arguing, it might be urged, according to this Rule (Contrariorum par ratio, i. e. The Reason of Contraries is alike) that if, because a good Man hath sinned once or twice, he can never be free from Sin, but must always be daily and continually a Sinner all his Life long; then by the Rule of Contraries, if a wicked Man have done Good once or twice, he can never be free from Righteousness, but must always be a righteous Man all his Life-time: Which as it is most absurd in itself, so it is contrary to the plain Testimony of the Scripture, Ezek. xxxiii. 12. to 18.

Obj.Lastly, They object, That if Perfection or Freedom from Sin be attainable, this will render Mortification of Sin useless, and make the Blood of Christ of no Service to us, neither need we any more pray for Forgiveness of Sins.

Answ.I answer, I had almost omitted this Objection, because of the manifest Absurdity of it: For can Mortification of Sin be useless, where the End of it is obtained? Seeing there is no attaining of this Perfection but by Mortification. Who fights and not in Hopes to overcome his Foe?Doth the Hope and Belief of overcoming render the Fight unnecessary? Let rational Men judge which hath most Sense in it, to say as our Adversaries do, It is necessary that we fight and wrestle, but we must never think of overcoming, we must resolve still to be overcome; or to say, Let us fight, because we may overcome? Whether do such as believe they may be cleansed by it, or those that believe they can never be cleansed by it, render the Blood of Christ most effectual? If two Men were both grievously diseased, and applied themselves to a Physician for Remedy, which of those do most commend the Physician and his Cure, he that believeth he may be cured by him, and as he feels himself cured, confesseth that he is so, and so can say this is a skilful Physician, this is a good Medicine, behold I am made whole by it; or he that never is cured, nor ever believes that he can so long as he lives? Praying for Forgiveness of Sins.As for praying for Forgiveness, we deny it not; for that all have sinned, and therefore all need to pray that their Sins past may be blotted out, and that they may be daily preserved from sinning. And if hoping or believing to be made free from Sin hinders praying for Forgiveness of Sin, it would follow by the same Inference that Men ought not to forsake Murder, Adultery, or any of these gross Evils, seeing the more Men are sinful, the more plentiful Occasion there would be of asking Forgiveness of Sin, and the more Work for Mortification. But the Apostle had sufficiently refuted such sin-pleasing Cavils in these Words, Rom. vi. 1, 2. Shall we continue in Sin that Grace may abound? God forbid.

But Lastly, It may be easily answered, by a Retortion to those that press this from the Words of the Lord’s Prayer, forgive us our Debts, that this militates no less against perfect Justification than against perfect Sanctification: For if all the Saints, the least as well as the greatest, be perfectly justified in that very Hour wherein they are converted, as our Adversaries will have it, then they have Remission of Sins long before they die. May it not then be said to them, What Need have ye to pray for Remission of Sin, who are already justified, whose Sins are long ago forgiven, both past and to come?