Chapter V
That all this mere morality in corrupt nature falls short of grace, proved from
the instances of those brave spirits among the heathen, in whom those virtues
shined, and yet they had nothing of the grace of God in them. Proved also from the Jews, who made their boast of the law and its righteousness, and who yet, as inveterate enemies, opposed the grace of the gospel.
Thus you have a description and general scheme of their strongest holds,
consisting of natural and acquired righteousness, with reasons why men are
apt to rest in it as true grace. We will now fall to battery, and ere we
assault each particular apart, we will first answerably make a general assault on the whole, as thus viewed and set together.
The state of the controversy is, whether corrupt nature, remaining still
corrupt, be not capable of all this kind of goodness, and whether it falls not
short of grace, which, if proved and detected once, convinces them of their
estates ? This I will demonstrate both in the on and dion of it, shewing the
grounds of it, and what principles there are in corrupt nature which do make
it capable of all this; it still remains corrupt as towards God. And, first, for the ori, that it is so. I will clear it by instances of those
in whom all these have been found, whom yet we will acknowledge that they
all wanted grace, which is a way of conviction Christ useth in the like case
to convince the Jews of their false righteousness, wherein they rested, telling them that the Gentiles did the like, and that so do even publicans and
sinners : Mat. v. 46, 47, For if ye love them which love you, what reward
CHAP. V.J IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 895
have ye ? do not even the publicans the same ? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others ? do not even the publicans so ?
Luke vi. 32, 33, For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye ?
for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye ? for sinners also do even the same. And first, for moral virtues.
1. Consider, that even in beasts the impression of many of those moral
virtues, thus taken for grace, are to be found ; I say, the impression of them. For as in some beasts we use to say there are umbra rationis, sha dows of reason, as in apes, &c., beasts which have quick fair eyes; so in
others there are qucedam umbrce turn vitiorum cum virtutum : shadows as of
vices, so of virtues, are to be seen in them ; as in horses, of pride and
revenge ; and in spaniels of virtues, of love and kindness to their masters ; and the ox, says God,, knows his owner ; so of diligence too in the ant, to whom God sends the sluggard ; so of faithfulness to their mates, in doves ; of chastity and modesty, in elephants, who will not couple in the sight of
others ; of requital of kindness, as in elephants too : so likewise in that lion who fawned on the slave who was cast to him to be devoured, remembering how that slave had pulled a thorn out of his foot formerly in the wilderness, as Gellius reports.* Now as God sends the sluggard to the ant, and the unthankful Israelites to the ox, to learn diligence and thankfulness, so I may send those that rest in such moral virtues to these beasts, to teach them not
to boast of them, or rest in them. But it will be said that these want rea
son, and therefore these are no virtues as in them.
2. Therefore consider, that in heathen men devoid of grace, all those
virtues were found in as eminent a manner as in thyself. What, should I
speak of Socrates, Cato, &c., and the rest of those philosophers, I could
bring as large a catalogue of such, for examples of moral virtues of all sorts, as Paul doth of the worthies in the Old Testament, as patterns of faith, Heb. xi., but that (as he saith there) the time would fail me. Only do but in general consider what the apostle saith of them : Rom. ii. 14, For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things con
tained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.
3. Consider that in men sinning against the Holy Ghost, all these moral virtues were eminently found, as in Julian the apostate, who lived
(after he had so sinned) as exactly according to the best rules of morality, as ever any man did, and was naturally just, sober, temperate, patient, &c. And though he sinned so highly in breaking forth into revenge against Christ,
yet that his sinning did not extinguish these virtues in him ; but he con
tinued zealous against drunkenness and stage-players, &c. ; thinking indeed
by that his exact life and zeal against such abuses to have countenanced
heathenism, and set it up as a perfection in opposition unto Christianity and
godliness, by shewing that even without Christ men might live unblameably, and therefore to prove, if he could, that there was no need of Christ to pro mote a good life. But you will say, I find I live thus out of conscience, and do follow the guidance of it in these practices.
4. Consider, therefore, that so did also these heathen ; for the principle from whence (as was mentioned) they did those things of the law, Paul
saith, was the law written in their hearts : Rom. ii. 15, Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. And this is evident also in Abimelech, who pleaded to God,
* integrity of
heart, and G.od acknowledged it. Now integrity is a conformity with some * Gellius, Noctes Att. lib. v. cap. xiv.
390 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK X.
rule, so as that integrity of his was his following the rule of his conscience
in the light thereof. And so Paul says of himself, when unregenerate, that what he did, he verily thought he ought to do it, Acts xxvi. 9. And so he did all out of such a conscientious respect. Yea, but you will say, though they might do things out of conscience dictating, yet not out of a disposition abominating the evil they shunned, as I do, for I abominate such courses.
5. Therefore consider that even the Gentiles also did avoid many sins with such a spirit of detestation against them, 1 Cor. v. 1. That incest, or
fornication, of that Corinthian with his father s wife, was such a crime (Paul
says) as was not once named among the Gentiles. They loathed and abominated that and such vices, so that they would not so much as name them ; the speech and hearsay of such courses was odious to them. But you will say that these are heathens, but I join holy duties of God s
worship to these, and I know God, and profess him^and his worship, &c.
6. So did the Jews, who had a form of the law, and made their boast of God : Rom. ii. 17-20, Behold, thoti art called a Jew, and restest in the
law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the
things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law ; and art con
fident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in
darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. They had the whole
system of it in their heads, and not only so, but performed holy duties. So
the pharisees made profession of God, and came to the temple to the ordi
nances, and this whilst they were in force, and owned by God as his public
standing worship ; none abounded more than they in such duties, both
public and private. A pharisee, it is said, went up to pray, &c., Luke
xviii. 10, and yet they, many of them, sinned against the Holy Ghost, Luke
xx. 19. That young man which Christ sent away so sorrowful and mourn
ful, says, he had kept all the commandments from his youth, Mat. xix. 20.
Yea, one of the scribes, Mark xii. 32, 33 (of whom Christ yet said, that he had not attained to the kingdom of God, ver. 34), went yet further, for he
discerned that a further thing was required than the outward performance of
all such duties of God s worship, namely, an inward love to God with all the
soul, and all a man s strength, which, says he, is more than all whole burnt-
offerings and sacrifices. So his speech is, Mark xii. 33, and Christ hath
said too, Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, ye cannot be saved, Mat. v. 20. Ay, but you will say, We
profess Christ also ; but the Pharisees did not profess Christ nor believe in him. For answer to which consider,
1st. That those professors whom the apostle James speaks of, were negli gent hearers, and such as said, they had faith, and that faith such as was
joined with the practice of many things in the law ; yet still they neglected the main thing of the law, or some duties of it which they knew, as appears by that speech, If a man keep the whole law, and be guilty in one point, his
faith profits him not. As also by that other in the same epistle, He that
restrains not his tongue, his religion is in vain ; so as they were obedient to
the law in all other things, and were religious also, and devout, as those words imply.
And, 2dly, though it be hard to give an instance of civil Christians in
those primitive times, because persecution then kept out such as had no
further work upon their hearts, or ground of profession, more than educa
tion ; yet now in an established church, wherein religion is commanded by the laws of the land, there are and may be many which have no more but
civility added to their profession of Christ. The name of infidel now is as
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odious as that of Christian was in the primitive times, and God working the same effects in the church as out of it, he civiliseth men therein, as well as
among the heathens, and yet often works no further. These civilised per sons only add the profession of Christ unto their civility, because they live
in the church, as the pharisees did, and so professed God and Moses, yet in
opposition to Christ, as indeed these two set up an outward owning of Chris
tianity and civility, in opposition to Christ and the power of regeneration by
Christ, and an outward form of religion in opposition to the spiritual worship of God, as they in Timothy did, who set up a form of godliness that they might deny the power of it : 2 Tim. iii. 5,
* Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
And, 3dly, though in the primitive times there were no such instances of
a mere moral man s professing Christ for the reason aforesaid, yet we find
those who, though they went further than this, and not only abstained from
the pollution of the world (though a work from natural principles), but escaped them through the knowledge of Christ, yet had not true grace, for they fell
* For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end
: 2 Peter ii. 20-22,
awoy and apostatized
is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not
to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit
again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.