A30248:163
The true doctrine of justification asserted and vindicated, from the errors of Papists, Arminians,…The true doctrine of justification asserted and vindicated, from the errours of Papists, Arminians,…
The true doctrine of justification asserted and vindicated, from the errors of Papists, Arminians, Socinians, and more especially Antinomians in XXX lectures preached at Lawrence-Jury, London / by Anthony Burgess ...The true doctrine of justification asserted and vindicated, from the errours of Papists, Arminians, Socinians, and more especially Antinomians in XXX lectures preached at Lawrence-Iury, London / by Anthony Burgess ...
London: printed by A. Miller for Tho. Underhill, 1651
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, That God pardoneth sin, and removeth the guilt of it totally §1and perfectly, so that a sin cannot be more forgiven then it is: not that all the pollution of sin is likewise totally taken away, for that would contradict other places of Scripture, which say, sin is still in us, but only the condemning power is subdued; and therefore this doctrine doth afford as much comfort, as any Antinomian would desire, and yet doth not fall foul with other places of Scripture. Those sins committed by thee and repented of, are as absolutely forgiven as can be desired: they can be no better pardoned if thou wast in heaven, or hadst perfect righteousness bestowed upon thee. It hath pleased God that the guilt of thy sin should be perfectly remitted, though the power be not fully mortified.
Secondly, These phrases imply, That its Gods mere act without §2us, which doth expel the guilt of sin, not any thing done in us, or by us, and therefore thou art not to build thy hope of pardon upon any work of Regeneration or Mortification within thee, but Gods goodness without thee; even as a Creditor doth forgive many thousands to a Debtor, by his mere voluntary Act. Now we are apt to think according to the principles of Popery, that our Justification is no better then our inherent holiness is, whereas any godly man may sit down and consider, that he is not able to go out with his five thousand, against, the Justice of God that comes against him with ten ⟨p. 50⟩thousand. Grace justifying takes away all guilt of sin; grace sanctifying doth not, because as Bonaventure well observeth, the remedy given by grace against original sin, is not ordained against it, prout corrumpit naturam, sed prout personam, as it doth infect our nature, for so it sticketh till death, but as it doth defile the person; measure not therefore the perfection of grace justifying, by the perfection of grace sanctifying.