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,…

Take we heed therefore, how we bring down the weight and guilt of the sin; here also we may see, why Paul found such a mountain upon him, by sinful motions only arising in his heart.

Take we heed therefore, how we bring down the weight and guilt of the sinne; here also we may see, why Paul found such a mountain upon him, by sinful motions only arising in his heart.

There are two places that seem to import such a difference between sins, as if some only deserved hell, and others not. The first is, Mat. 5.22. where our Saviour speaking of three degrees of sin, doth proportionably assign three degrees of punishment, and the last only is guilty of hell fire.

But the clear Answer is, That our Saviour speaks allusively to those three Courts of Judicature among the Jews, the least punishment whereof was death; so that the first Court punished with death, the second, death with a more grievous torment; The third with a most grievous. For that our Saviour doth only allude to these Courts, and not speak of what faults the Courts punished, is plain; for none can think that the Court put any to death for calling his brother fool. It was murder and such •ins that they punished with capital punishments. The other place is, 1 Joh. 5.15, 17. where the Apostle makes a difference ⟨p. 206⟩between a sin unto death, and a sin not unto death, but that is clearly to be understood either of the sin against the holy Ghost (which in those times, when the spirit of discerning was frequent, might easily be known) or of such sin that did plainly discover obstinacy and impenitency accompanying of it, otherwise no man might pray for another man that hath committed a mortal sin, if by a sin unto death, the Papist will mean every mortal sin.