THE WITNESS OF SALVATION.* For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.-ROM. VIII. 15, 16. THE apostle in this Epistle sets down a platform of Christian doctrine, whereupon all persons and Christian churches might safely build themselves; shewing therein a sure way how those might come unto the Lord Jesus, who are to obtain salvation by him: which he delivereth in three heads. 1. First, Shewing how God will convince the world of sin. 2. He discovereth unto them what that righteousness is, which without themselves is imputed unto them. 3. He setteth forth that righteousness inherent, created in us by sanctification of the Spirit, with the effects thereof and motions that help us thereunto. Answering that threefold work of the Spirit, John xvi. 8, where Christ promiseth that when the Comforter cometh, he shall reprove the world, 1. Of sin; 2. Of righteousness; 3. Of judgment. First, He shews the comforter shall work a conviction of sin, leaving a man as vile, empty, and naked as may be. Not a bare confession of sin only, which a man may have and yet go to hell; but such a conviction which stops a man's mouth that he hath not a word to speak, but sees a sink of sin and abomination in himself, such as the apostle had, Rom. vii. 18: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing,' &c. To attain unto this sight and measure of humiliation, there must be work of the Spirit. * 'The Witness of Salvation' forms No. 12 of the original Saints' Cordial,' 1629. It was withdrawn in the after-editions. Its separate title-page is as follows :— The Witnes of Salvation: or, God's Spirit Witnessing with ovr Spirits, that wee are the Children of God. In One Sermon. Wherein is shewed, What the spirit of Bondage is. Why God suffers his Children to be terrified therewith. The paralleling of the Witnesses in Heaven and Earth. What the witness of our spirit is. How to discerne of it. The order of the Witnesses. What the witnesse of Gods Spirit is: and, How to discerne the truth thereof. Prælucendo Pereo. Vprightnes Hath Boldnes. Iob 27. 5. God forbid that I should justifie you: till I dye I will not remove my integritie from mee. My righteousnesse I hold fast, and will not let it goe: my heart shall not reprove me as long as I live. London, Printed in the yeare 1629.-G, First, therefore, the apostle begins with the Gentiles in the first chapter, who failing grossly in the duties of the first table, God had given also over to err in the breach of all the duties of the second. Then the second chapter, and most part of the third, are spent on the Jews. They bragged of many excellent privileges they had above the Gentiles; as to have the law, circumcision; to be teachers of others; to have God amongst them; and therefore despised the Gentiles. The apostle reproves them, shewing, that in condemning the Gentiles they condemned themselves, they having a greater light of knowledge than they; which should have led them unto the true and sincere practice of what they were instructed in. Then he goes on, and shews naturally all to be out of the way, the 14th verse of the third chapter; and so concludes them to be under sin, 'that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world found guilty before God.' This is an end of the first part. Now, this being done, in the latter end of the third chapter he goes on and proceeds to that second work of the Comforter, to convince the world of righteousness. But upon what ground? 'Because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;' that is, he shall assure the conscience that there is now a righteousness of better things purchased for us; that Christ is wounded, condemned, and arraigned for us; that he was imprisoned, but now he is free, who was our surety; yea, and that he is not freed as one escaped, who hath broken prison and run away, for then he could not have stayed in heaven, no more than Adam in paradise after his fall: but now that Christ remains in heaven perfectly and for ever co-enthronized with his Father, this is a sure ground to us that the debt is paid, and everlasting peace and righteousness is brought in for our salvation. This the apostle enlargeth, and shews this to be that righteousness only which Adam had, and which all we must trust unto, unto the sixth chapter. Then the apostle goes on unto the third point, and comes unto the convincing the world of judgment and righteousness, in the eighth chapter, which are two words signifying one thing; but because he had named righteousness before, which was that righteousness without a man, in Christ Jesus, in justification, he calls the third judgment, which is that integrity inherent, bred, and created in us, as we may see in that place of Isaiah xlii. 3. It is said of Christ, A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench, till he bring forth judgment unto victory.' He shews judgment there to be a beginning of righteousness in sanctification, even such a one as can never be extinguished. So Job xxvii. 2, the word is taken, where he expostulates the matter: As the Lord liveth, who hath taken away my judgment from me, all the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God in my nostrils, my lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue deceit. God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, I will not let it go.' Here you see by judgment is meant integrity and that righteousness which is created and inherent in us, so that the ground of that place of Isaiah is, that God will never give over to advance and make effectual that weak righteousness and santification begun in us, until it shall prevail against and master all our sins and corruptions, making it in some a victorious sanctification. And the ground thereof is, 'For the prince of this world is judged;' he is like one manacled, whose strength and power is limited, so that now though he be strong, yet he is cast out by a stronger than he, that he cannot nor shall ever rule, as in times past. This strain of doctrine, the apostle holds in this epistle, shewing that, as that justi Therefore, fication of righteousness by the blood of Christ is a thing without us, so 'For the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God.' Here the apostle shews the ground of our union and communion with Christ, because having his Spirit, we are of necessity his; as St John speaks, 1 John iii. 24, And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.' What ties and makes one, things far asunder, but the same Spirit of life in both? So that Spirit which is in him, a full runningover fountain, dropping down and being also infused in us, unites us unto him; yea, that very Spirit communicated to me in some measure, which is in him in such fulness, that Spirit doth tie me as fast unto Christ as any joint ties member to member, and so makes Christ dwell in mine heart. As the apostle to this purpose speaks, Eph. ii. 21, 22, That thus by one Spirit we are built up and made the temple of God, and come to be the habitation of God by the Spirit.' So that now by this means we are inseparably knit and united unto him. For, I pray you, what is it that makes a member to be a member to another? Not the nearness of joining, or lying one to or upon another, but the same quickening spirit and life which is in both, and which causeth a like motion. For otherwise, if the same life were not in the member, it should be corrupt, dead, and of no use to the other; so that it is the same spirit and life which is in the things conjoined that unites. Yet to explain this more- -as I have often in the like case spoken-imagine a man were as high as heaven, the same life and spirit being in all parts, what is that now that can cause his toe to stir, there being such a huge distance betwixt the head and it? Even that self-same life which is in the head being in it; no sooner doth the head will the toe to stir but it moves. So is it with us; that very Spirit which is in him being in us, and he in us, thereby we are united to him, grow in him, and live in him, rejoice in him, and so are kept and preserved to be glori* That is, 'inflamed.'-G. VOL. VII. A & : འ fied with him. He is the Second Adam,' from whom we received the influence of all good things, showering* down and distilling the graces of his Spirit upon all his members, that look, as it was said of Aaron, who was a type of the second Adam, and of that holy oil representing the graces of the Spirit, Which did not only run down his head and beard, but the skirts of his garments, and all his rich attire about,' Ps. cxxxiii. 2; so when I see the oil of the Spirit of grace not only rest upon the head, but also descend to his heel and run upon the members, making me now as one of them, in some sort another thing than I was or my natural state made me, by the same Spirit I know I am conveyed into Christ and united unto him. To this purpose is that which Christ so stands upon, John vi. 63, unto the Jews, where, speaking of the eating of his flesh, and that bread of life which came down from heaven, lest they should mistake him, he adds, 'It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.' So that we see it is the Spirit that gives a being unto the thing; and therefore the apostle also proceeds to shew, 'As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,' Rom. viii. 13, 14; that look, as Christ is the true natural Son of God, so we as truly, by the conveyance of the same Spirit unto us, are his sons by adoption, and so heirs of God. This he begins to shew, ver. 15, that now being in this excellent estate, they were not only servants or friends a most high prerogative-but they were 'the sons of God,' having 'the Spirit of adoption,' whereby they might boldly call God Father. In which verse he opposeth 'the spirit of bondage,' which doth make a man fear again, unto the Spirit of adoption,' which frees a man from fears, so as boldly to call God Father. Now two things may be observed hence: first, the order that the Spirit of God keeps. Ere it comforts, it shakes and makes us fear. This the apostle speaks of, Heb. ii. 14, where he shews the end of Christ's coming was, that 'Because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part with them; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.' The first work then of the Comforter is to put a man in fear. Further, hence is shewed, that until this Spirit doth work this fear, a man doth not fear. The heart holds out. The obstinacy is so great, that if hell gates were open, a man will not yield till then that the Spirit worketh it. So St John speaks of the Comforter, that when he comes, he will convince or reprove the world of sin,' John xvi. 8; that is, he will convince and shew a man that he is but a bondman; and so he makes us to fear. No man must think this strange, that God deals with men at first in this harsh manner, as it were to kill them, ere he make them alive; nor be discouraged, as if God had cast them off for ever as none of his; for this bondage and spirit of fear is a work of God's Spirit, and a preparative to the rest. But it is but a common work, and therefore, unless more follow it, it can afford us no comfort. Obj. Why then doth God suffer his children to be terrified first with this fear? Ans. I answer, that in two respects, this of all other is the best and wisest course to deal with us by the Holy Ghost, or else many would put it off, and never rightly come unto a sense of mercy. 1. In respect of God's glory; 2. In regard of our good. * Misprinted 'shewing.'-G. |