Chapter IV
The objections against assurance answered.
Now I proceed to answer cavils and objections which are most specious, and I shall answer them out of this Epistle, which is a sufficient abundary to establish this doctrine ; only I premise, that I will name no more of them but what may hence be confuted, nor add any further confirmation
of those confutations than what the Epistle affords.
Obj. 1. The first evasion is this ; it is pretended that the persons to whom this great privilege is vouchsafed were men of extraordinary grace, as apostles, and some few such it may be attainable by, but every ordinary man cannot, nor must now look for this privilege.
Ans. I answer, As the scope of St John is to assure all believers, so he
says in general that he writes it to them that believe ; not to apostles only, but to you that believe, says St John, one of the apostles ; yea, he writes
to all believers, for it was ever yet deemed a catholic general Epistle, as the title of it is. Yea, and if the apostle, and St John himself, had assur ance (and if any of them had, I should think that this disciple, that Christ
loved, and who lay in his bosom, and who knew his heart, and whom the
disciples employed to get out Christ s secrets, had assurance), then other
believers may have it too. He speaks to this purpose, 1 John iv. 14, 16, We who saw Christ do testify these things ; we know and have believed the love that God hath to us. He tells them his scope was, that they believers might have fellowship with us ; you believers with us apostles ; that is, that they might have the same fellowship
: And our fellowship, saith he, is with God the Father, and God the Son, 1 John i. 3. Yea, Christ told his apostles, John xv. 9-11, that as his Father loved him, so he loved them ; and he had said as much afore in that sermon, and all
this was to assure them that they should undoubtedly be saved, and greater assurance could not be given: These things have I spoken to you, says he,
* that your joy might be full, ver. 11, i. e., that my joy might remain
in you ; Christ s meaning is, that his joy might be in them. Now Christ s
joy arose out of assurance that the Father loved him, and he would have them enjoy the same joy, not for measure, for that is impossible, but for truth,
to arise out of the same cause, and from the same grounds ; that so your joy might be full. Now the same joy that Christ wisheth to them, the same doth St John to all believers ; and as Christ says that he spake those things that their joy might be full, so St John says that he wrote these things that
CHAP. IV.J OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 357
their joy might be full also. So that (to wind up this) as Christ had assur
ance, and joy thence arising, so he here endeavoured to raise in his dis
ciples the same, that they might have his joy, and full joy; and the apostles endeavoured too to beget the same joy in believers that was in themselves : That ye may have fellowship with us, and that your joy may be full, 1 John
i. 8, 4. Now wherein were the apostles to rejoice but in this, that their names
were written in heaven ; so Christ says, Luke x. 20, that as in matter of
holiness Paul and the apostles propounded Christ as a pattern, and themselves
* Be ye followers of us, as we are
as an example, as they followed Christ,
of Christ, so in point of assurance Christ propounds his joy as the pattern for the apostles, and they theirs for believers ; and therefore this privilege
is not to be looked for only in them, but in believers.
Obj. 2. The second evasion is this; it is objected, that though assurance may be vouchsafed to some of lower rank than apostles, yet it is to such
as are of long standing in Christianity, who after long experience have
hope and assurance begotten in them.
Ans. I grant it, that many not till then have had it, yet it is attainable
for others also ; for all sorts of ages in Christ, for babes, young men, old men : 1 John ii. 14, I write to you babes ; ver. 12, for your sins are
forgiven you. He tells them so, because it is that thing he goes about to
persuade them of ; it is pardon which is the great thing they have in their
eye when they are young, and that is the grand mercy they are in pursuit
of, and which they most pray for, and are most solicitous about. And
though they are but babes, and so have but little faith, yet he says, their
sins are forgiven ; to you, babes and infants, it is given to know this, which
is hid from the wise and prudent. Christ therefore tells many new converts on the first day, that their sins were forgiven, and he tells this to those of
: so he told that palsy man, Mat. ix. 2 ; so he said to Mary, who was lately a sinner, a known sinner, Luke vii. 37, 39 (and the Pharisees thought her so still), he tells her,
ordinary rank, not disciples and apostles only
ver. 48, Thy sins are forgiven thee ; and to another, saith he, Thy
faith hath made thee whole. And seeing your sins are forgiven you, though you be but of a day s standing, therefore you may take the comfort
of it as well as others. And the apostle John gives this reason of his
writing to them : Children, because, says he, you have known the
Father. Aristotle observes it, and experience finds it true, that one of
the first acts of reason in children is, to call upon their fathers and
mothers, for they are apt to know them soonest of anything, and therefore
the first words they speak are Mam and Dad, &c. So to babes in Chris
tianity, one of the first fruits of the Spirit in them often is, to call upon God as a Father, to own God as a Father, to express child-like affection to him as to a father, and to seek his fatherly love ; and though all babes
cannot say he is their Father, yet they come to him as children to a father. Now this knowledge and instinct after God as a Father being in all babes, the apostle endeavours to raise it, and to teach them to know their Father more ; but the Church of Rome teacheth her children to know their
mother, but to doubt of their father, which is a sign they are bastards, and
she a strumpet.
Obj. 3. The third evasion is, to object concerning the manner of assur
ance, though indeed they will grant that by an extraordinary revelation and
certificate from heaven men may be assured, as Paul was, who was rapt up into the third heaven, and as those were by Christ when he was upon the
earth ; yet they deny that in the ordinary way of God s dealing with men
such assurance is attained.
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Am. But St John here gives ordinary directions how men may come to be assured, for he writes an whole Epistle on purpose, which if men
believe not, neither would they believe if one from the dead, or an angel from heaven, should assure them ; and he tells us, that there are not only witnesses in heaven, but also witnesses on earth, in a believer s own breast ;
a believer hath the witness in himself, and carries a work of faith and
sanctification in him, to which if he give ear he may come to be assured, 1 John v. 8, 10 ; and to this end the apostle gives many signs of the work
of grace in a man.
Obj. 4. Yea, but they object, fourthly, that let these signs be never so
infallible in themselves, so as he that hath them in him shall surely be
saved, yet the word names no man in particular ; it says not that thou, John or Thomas, hast these things in thee.
Am. In answer to this, John tells us two things
: First, That every one who believeth hath the witness in himself, a work of the Spirit in him, whence this testimony may be fetched, chap. v. 10. And, secondly, that
he hath given us his Spirit also, chap. iii. 24, o witness and testify with
the word, and with the work in a man s heart, and make application, chap. v.
ver. 6. As therefore, when they ask how we know that the Scripture is
the word of God ? for, say they, it is nowhere written that it is the word, we answer, that it is an authentical proof of itself, it carries its own testi mony with it ; so is grace, and the word written in the heart of a believer :
that word engrafted, and the law written in the heart, is an authentic
evidence of itself ; and as God s Spirit accompanies his word with a divine
light and authority, so he doth his own work in the heart ; there is but
this difference, that the one is the word written with ink, the other delineated with the Spirit of the living God. And if the apostle says of the Corin
thians, that they were so fair an epistle of Christ, that it might be known and read of all men, much more then is this true of themselves.
Obj. 5. Fifthly, they say, Yea, but our hearts are deceitful ; and who
can know them ? and many are deceived.
Ans. I answer, that it is true that the natural frame of it is such ; and
yet the apostle, in this Epistle, refers men to the judgment of their own
hearts, as a witness in this point. 1. As for matter of condemnation, therein the testimony of a man s own heart may be right, and give in a
right verdict, though it may be thus deceitful ; for in a man s own cause a
deceitful person will take part with himself : therefore, if such an one con demns himself, his witness is so much the more authentic ; and therefore,
says he, ver. 20 of the third chapter, If our hearts condemn us, God is
greater than our hearts, and condemns us much more. And, 2, as the
testimony of our deceitful hearts, though deceitful, may be taken for con
demnation, so the testimony of our renewed hearts may be admitted for the
justification of a man s estate ; therefore he adds, ver. 21, If our hearts condemn us not, then we have confidence towards God. 3. Though it be
true that our hearts as natural are deceitful, yet, chap. v. ver. 20, he says, that the Son of God hath given us a mind that we may know him that is
true, and we are in him that is true. So that though our spirits are
deceitful, yet that new understanding is given on purpose to know the truth, and to discern of it. And, 4, though our own hearts are deceitful, if left
naked, yet he hath not left us without another witness to guide this new
: chap. ii. ver. 20, 27, You have received an
mind, and that is his Spirit
unction, which teacheth you all things. And that Spirit is one of the
witnesses, chap. v. ver. 6, 8.
Obj. 6. Yea, but they object, sixthly, that there are many enthusiasms,
CHAP. IV.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.
and Satan joins with hypocrites hearts, and deludes them, and so a man
shall not be able to know the Spirit s witness from that of this great deceiver.
$ beareth
Am. The apostle tells us, chap. v. ver. 6, It is the Spirit that
witness, because the Spirit is truth. That is, did he not give an infallible
testimony, he were not fit to be reckoned a witness ; and if he is a witness,
then he is so as to persuade men to whom he gives witness, for why else is
he said to witness ? And this record too is the record of God, which is
greater than man s, and therefore infallible : chap. ii. ver. 27, This anoint
ing, says he, teacheth you all things, and is truth, and is no lie :
^ that
is,doth not, cannot deceive you. A man may see a thing with false lights, and be deceived ; but if I see a thing with the light of the sun, I see it with
a true light, and am not deceived.
Obj. 7. They object yet seventhly, That it is true man may have such a
knowledge, as is joined with some probable hope, and a good and a happy
conjecture, which often doth not deceive in the end, but yet not such but
there wants an infallibility, so as there may falsutn subesse, be a mistake
at the bottom.
Ans. I answer, How often doth John inculcate, By this we know, and
1 We know, &c. ? and more expressly, chap. ii. ver. 3, Hereby we know
we know him. We know him was too little : he therefore adds, But we
know we know him ; and chap. iii. ver. 19, We know we are of the truth
(how can this be without infallibility ?), and shall assure our hearts afore
him. If they themselves were to put words of assurance into any testi
mony or into any bond, they could not say more, or put in more expressions
to put all out of doubt.
Obj. 8. True, say some in the eighth place, they may know at the pre
sent that they are the sons of God ( Now we are the sons of God, 1 John
iii. 2) ; but what will become of us hereafter ? Whether we shall continue
so, we know not.
Ans. The apostle answers them in that third chapter, ver. 2, 3, that
indeed what the great glory of that estate hereafter will be, they knew not,
nor the world knows not ; and in outward appearance they are now (though
for the present the sons of God) of all men most miserable ; and therefore,
in regard of their outward garb and splendour, it doth not appear what they
shall be, as it doth not appear what wicked men shall be ; but yet, for the
* we
certainty of our future condition, as now we are the sons of God, so
know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.
Obj. 9. Yea, but, ninthly, it will be said, there are many that seemed as
good as yourselves, whom you thought good Christians, and they thought
themselves such, and yet they have turned apostates ; and will not their
falling away dash a believer s assurance ?
Ans. He answers, ver. 19 of the second chapter, that they were never
true : They went out from us, because they were not of us ; if they had
been of us they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out
that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Obj. 10. Yea, but yet, tenthly, in that there are such among professors, who are a great while not manifested to themselves or others, may
^ not this
however disparage and bring all to an uncertainty in the best, seeing they know not but they may prove such ?
< but ye have an unction from the
Ans. No, says the apostle, ver. 20,
Holy One, and ye know all things. He speaks by way of difference, and
to answer the cavil ; and ver. 27, That same anointing teacheth you all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and therefore by his teaching you are
not deceived. And, among other things, he hath taught you the truth of
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your estates, even as it hath taught you that you shall abide in him ; and
chap. iii. 19, Hereby we know we are of the truth.
Obj. 11. But, eleventhly, it^will be objected, will not this assurance make men licentious, and secure, and more careless ?
Ans. No, says the apostle ; however presumption in carnal hearts may work, yet in those who are truly godly it hath the contrary effect. For he that hath this particular hope for himself, hereafter to be like Christ, and to be at present the child of God, this hope conforms him to Christ here, to whom he must be conformed hereafter : He purifies himself as he is
pure. It works out corruption ; and, therefore, ver. 1 of the second
chapter, he says, he wrote these things that they might not sin.
Obj. 12. But poor believers they object, twelfthly, that they fall into sin, and then all their assurance is clean dashed and eclipsed.
Ans. As, in the third chapter, there is a seed mentioned which remains in them unshaken out, so they may if they sin go with a confidence to God
* If any man sin, says he, 1 John
through Christ, and recover themselves :
ii. 1, we have an advocate with the Father, &c. an advocate that never
pleaded bad cause, or was cast in his suit, and who pleads with a father and not with a judge, and who is Jesus Christ the righteous ; whose
righteousness is eternal, and which no sin can outvie, and which is made ours ; so as if we confess our sins, chap. i. 9, he is a just God in nothing else but to forgive them, and to cleanse us also from all unrighteousness, and hath bound himself to both by promise ; and hence, and hence only, ariseth full joy and perfect charity, ver. 4 of the first chapter, and ver. 17 of the fourth chapter. Love can never be perfect when a man is possessed with jealousies of enmity that may be for time to come ; therefore, true love casts out such fear, ver. 18 of that fourth chapter. Amare tcmquam aliquando osurmn, venemim est amiciticc, to love as one who afterwards will hate is the poison of friendship ; so that no joy can be full, though in the
greatest good, the enjoyment of which for time to come is uncertain.