Part 1 › Chapter 3 › Direction 10 › Directions for faithful serving Christ, and doing Good., A Christian Directory by Richard Baxter (1673) | AskReformation

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Answ. 1. Your duty is to avoid both: and if both were not sinful, they would not both be¹ […]ish•d w•th […]: 2. Your Conscience is not your Knowledge when you err, but your Igno[…]. […] •• it signifieth the faculty of Knowing may be said to be Conscience when it erreth; as […] is […] in the ••••ulty when we err. And Conscience as to an erring act, may be called […] so far as there is any true Knowledge in the act; (as a man is said to see when he misjudgeth of […], or to Reason when he argueth amiss) But so far as it erreth it is no Conscience in act at all: •or Conscience is science, and not nescience. You sin against your Knowledge, when you sin against a well informed Conscience; but you sin in ignorance when you sin against an erring […] ▪ 3. And if the Question be not, what is your duty, but which is the smaller sin, then it is true, that […] ••••bus it is a greater sin to go against your judgement, than to follow it. But […] impa•ities in matter and circumstances, may be an exception against this rule.

Answ. 1. Your duty is to avoid both: and if both were not sinful, they would not both be¹ 〈…〉ish•d w•th 〈…〉: 2. Your Conscience is not your Knowledge when you err, but your Igno〈…〉. 〈…〉 •• it signifieth the faculty of Knowing may be said to be Conscience when it erreth; as 〈…〉 is 〈…〉 in the ••••ulty when we err. And Conscience as to an erring act, may be called 〈…〉 so farr as there is any true Knowledge in the act; (as a man is said to see when he misjudgeth of 〈…〉, or to Reas•n when he argueth amiss) But so farr as it erreth it is no Conscience in act at all: •or Conscience is science, and not nescience. You sin against your Knowledge, when you sin against a well in••rmed Conscience; but you sin in ignorance when you sin against an erring 〈…〉 ▪ 3. And if the Question be not, what is your duty, but which is the smaller sin, then it is true, that 〈…〉 ••••bus it is a greater sin to go against your judgement, than to follow it. But 〈…〉 impa•ities in matter and circumstances, may be an exception against this rule.

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Answ. 1. Your ignorance is culpable or not culpable. If it be not culpable, the thing which you¹ […] of is not your duty. If culpable (which is the case supposed) as you brought your self in •••• difficulty of knowing, so it will remain your sin till it be cured; and one sin will not war[…]. And all that time you are under a double command, the one is to Know (and use the […] Knowledge) and the other is to do the thing commanded. So that how long soever you ••main i[…] you remain in sin, and are not under an obligation to follow your error, but first to K••w and then to D• the contrary duty. 2. And as long as you keep your self in a necessity, or way •f […], you must call it sin as it is, and not call it duty: It is not your duty to choose a […] a greater, but to refuse and avoid both the lesser and the greater: And if you say, [ […] ▪ ] yet remember that it is only your sin that is your impotency, or your impotency is […]: But it is true that you are most obliged to avoid the greatest sin: Therefore all that re[…] in the resolving, of all such cases is but to •now of two sins which is the greatest.

Answ. 1. Your ignorance is culpable or not culpable. If it be not culpable, the thing which you¹ 〈…〉 of is not your duty. If culpable (which is the case supposed) as you brought your self in •••• difficulty of knowing, so it will remain your sin till it be cured; and one sin will not war〈…〉. And all that time you are under a double command, the one is to Know (and use the 〈…〉 Knowledge) and the other is to do the thing commanded. So that how long soever you ••main i〈…〉 you remain in sin, and are not under an obligation to follow your error, but first to K••w and then to D• the contrary duty. 2. And as long as you keep your self in a necessity, or way •f 〈…〉, you must call it sin as it is, and not call it duty: It is not your duty to choose a 〈…〉 a greater, but to refuse and avoid both the lesser and the greater: And if you say, [ 〈…〉 ▪ ] yet remember that it is only your sin that is your impotency, or your impotency is 〈…〉: But it is true that you are most obliged to avoid the greatest sin: Therefore all that re〈…〉 in the resolving, of all such cases is but to •now of two sins which is the greatest.

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Answ. 1. It is no duty to you, when you cannot do it without wilful sin, be it never so little.¹ Deliberately to choose a sin, that I may perform some service to God, or do some Good to others, is to run before we are called, and to make work for our selves which God never made for us; and to offer sin for a sacrifice to God; and to do evil that good may come of it; and abuse God and reject his government, under pretence of serving him: The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind. Prov. 21. 27 . & 15. 8. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be abomination. Prov. 28. 9. Be more ready to hear, than to offer the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Eccles. 5. 1. 2. If you will do Good by sinning, you must do Good in opposition to God: and how easily can he disappoint you, and turn it into Evil? It is not Good indeed, which must be accomplished by sin. The final Good is never promoted by it: And all other Good is to be estimated by its tendency to the End: You think that G••d which is not so, because you judge by the present feeling of your flesh, and do not foresee how it stands related to the everlasting Good.

Answ. 1. It is no duty to you, when you cannot do it without willful sin, be it never so little.¹ Deliberately to choose a sin, that I may perform some service to God, or do some Good to others, is to run before we are called, and to make work for our selves which God never made for us; and to offer sin for a sacrifice to God; and to do evil that good may come of it; and abuse God and reject his government, under pretence of serving him: The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind. Prov. 21. 27 . & 15. 8. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer shall be abomination. Prov. 28. 9. Be more ready to hear, than to offer the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Eccles. 5. 1. 2. If you will do Good by sinning, you must do Good in opposition to God: and how easily can he disappoint you, and turn it into Evil? It is not Good indeed, which must be accomplished by sin. The final Good is never promoted by it: And all other Good is to be estimated by its tendency to the End: You think that G••d which is not so, because you judge by the present feeling of your flesh, and do not foresee how it stands related to the everlasting Good.

1Answ.

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Answ. No: because your infirmities in the performance of your duty, which you would avoid¹ and cannot, are not made the condition of your action, but are the diseases of it; They are not chosen and approved of: The duty is your duty notwithstanding your infirmities; and may be accepted of: for you cannot serve God in perfection till you are perfect: and to cast away his service is a far greater sin, than to do it imperfectly. But you may serve him without such wilful chosen sin; if not in one way, yet in another. The imperfection of your service is repented of while it is committed: but so is not your approved chosen sin. For a man to make a bargain against God, that he will commit a sin against him, though the action be the same which he hath often done before in pardonable weakness, this is to turn it to a presumptuous heinous sin. If he do it for worldly gain or safety, he selleth his obedience to God for trifles. If he do it to serve God by, he blasphemeth God, declaring him to be Evil and a lover of sin, or so Impotent as not to be able to do good, or attain his ends by lawful means. It is most dangerous to give it under our hands to the Devil that we will sin, on what pretence soever.

Answ. No: because your infirmities in the performance of your duty, which you would avoid¹ and cannot, are not made the condition of your action, but are the diseases of it; They are not chosen and approved of: The duty is your duty notwithstanding your infirmities; and may be accepted of: for you cannot serve God in perfection till you are perfect: and to cast away his service is a farr greater sin, than to do it imperfectly. But you may serve him without such willful chosen sin; if not in one way, yet in another. The imperfection of your service is repented of while it is committed: but so is not your approved chosen sin. For a man to make a bargain against God, that he will commit a sin against him, though the action be the same which he hath often done before in pardonable weakness, this is to turn it to a presumptuous heinous sin. If he do it for worldly gain or safety, he selleth his obedience to God for trifles. If he do it to serve God by, he bl•sphemeth God, declaring him to be Evil and a lover of sin, or so Impotent as not to be able to do good, or attain his ends by lawful means. It is most dangerous to give it under our hands to the Devil that we will sin, on what pretence soever.

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Answ. 1. The Question de esse must go before the Question de apparere. Either that which you¹ say you are uncertain of, is indeed a sin, or it is none. If it be no sin, then you are bound both to search till you know that it is no sin, and not to forbear your duty for it. But if really it be a sin, then your uncertainty of it is another sin: And that which God bindeth you to, is to forsake them both. 2. Your Question containeth a contradiction: you cannot be certain that it is a duty ⟨p. 137⟩at all to you, any further than you are certain whether the Condition or means be lawful or a sin. What if an auditor in Spain or Italy say, I am certain that it's a duty to obey my Teachers; but I am uncertain whether their doctrines of the Mass, Purgatory, and the rest have any untruth or sin in them; therefore I must not forbear certain obedience for uncertain sin: Or if a Priest among them say, I am certain that it is a duty to preach Gods word, but I am not certain that the Trent-Articles which I must swear or subscribe are sinful or false; therefore I must not leave a great and certain duty for an uncertain sin. The answer to them both is easy: 1. It is your sin that you are uncertain of the sinfulness of those things which God hath forbidden: And God biddeth you first to search the Scriptures, and cure that error: He made his Law before your doubts arose, and will not change it, because you doubt. 2. You contradict your selves by a mistake: you have no more certainty that you should obey your Teachers in these particulars, than you have that the things which they teach or command you are not against that Law of God. You are certain that you must obey them in all things not forbidden by God, (and within the reach of their office to require). And you are as certain that it is unlawful to obey them against the Law of God, and that God must be obeyed before man: But whether you must obey them in this particular case, you cannot be certain while you are uncertain whether it be forbidden of God. And the Priest must be as uncertain whether it be any duty of his at all, to preach Gods word, as he is uncertain of the lawfulness of the Trent-Oath or subscription, unless he can do it without.

Answ. 1. The Question de esse must go before the Question de apparere. Either that which you¹ say you are uncertain of, is indeed a sin, or it is none. If it be no sin, then you are bound both to search till you know that it is no sin, and not to forbear your duty for it. But if really it be a sin, then your uncertainty of it is another sin: And that which God bindeth you to, is to forsake them both. 2. Your Question containeth a contradiction: you cannot be certain that it is a duty ⟨p. 137⟩at all to you, any further than you are certain whether the Condition or means be lawful or a sin. What if an auditor in Spain or Italy say, I am certain that it's a duty to obey my Teachers; but I am uncertain whether their doctrines of the Mass, Purgatory, and the rest have any untruth or sin in them; therefore I must not forbear certain obedience for uncertain sin: Or if a Priest among them say, I am certain that it is a duty to preach Gods word, but I am not certain that the Trent-Articles which I must swear or subscribe are sinful or false; therefore I must not leave a great and certain duty for an uncertain sin. The answer to them both is easie: 1. It is your sin that you are uncertain of the sinfullness of those things which God hath forbidden: And God biddeth you first to search the Scriptures, and cure that error: He made his Law before your doubts arose, and will not change it, because you doubt. 2. You contradict your selves by a mistake: you have no more certainty that you should obey your Teachers in these particulars, than you have that the things which they teach or command you are not against that Law of God. You are certain that you must obey them in all things not forbidden by God, (and within the reach of their office to require). And you are as certain that it is unlawful to obey them against the Law of God, and that God must be obeyed before man: But whether you must obey them in this particular case, you cannot be certain while you are uncertain whether it be forbidden of God. And the Priest must be as uncertain whether it be any duty of his at all, to preach Gods word, as he is uncertain of the lawfullness of the Trent-Oath or subscription, unless he can do it without.

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