Chapter IX
Some objections answered.
I shall now consider an objection or two which must be answered.
Obj. If all these virtues in us, and all we have done by the strength of them be sins, then we had as good have been profane for the time past, and
416 AN DNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK X.
have omitted the good we have done, for all comes to one ; and so we had
as good do for the time to come.
Ans. 1. For the time to come. It is true that a man unregenerate, sins whether he does it or omits it : abstinendo, quia non propter Deum ; et
Jaciendo, quia contra legem. For if he abstains from sinning, it is not for God s sake; and if he commits the sin, he apparently offends against the
law.
2. But yet the sin is less, in doing the good thou dost, though in a wrong manner, than to omit it.
For, 1st, to omit it, is peccatum per se, in its own natural evil ; but to do the good in a wrong manner, is but peccatum per accidens, accidently so. The one is absolutely and fully against the law, and both the spirit and the
letter of it also ; but thy performance of it in a wrong manner, is but by consequence sinful, and is evil but as against the spiritual part of the law, which concerns the heart and the manner of performance ; and God s law
* And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.
requires both matter and manner to be good
: Deut. vi. 25,
2cHy, The sin in the wrong performance lies not in the action primarily, but in the agent originally ; so that actio non est omittenda, sed tu corrigendum
es, the action is not to be omitted, but thy sinful heart is to be amended. The fault is not in the matter which thou writest, but in thy pen and hand ; mend that, and get true skill of guiding thy heart according to thy copy, and
all will be well.
And, 3dly, the sinfulness of an action in itself materially good, proceed
ing thus from this corruption of man s nature, cannot loosen thee from sub
jection to that duty, which God s peremptory and indispensable command
requires. Because thou hast lost grace and power to do things rightly, must God s command be of none effect ? If thou failest in the manner, thou art
to be humbled for thy swerving from his law, and acknowledge thine in
ability to do otherwise ; yet still thou art bound to do thy duty. We say, where nothing is to be had, the king must lose his right, but it is not so as
to God ; if there were no more in it but to acknowledge what is thy duty, thou art to subject thyself as far as thou art able, as unto the outward per formance thou art in some measure able.
4thly, Again, to perform it wrong is out of weakness ; Eom. viii. 3, he says, The law was weak through the flesh. Through, the weakness of corrupt nature the law, though performed, could not justify, because that spoiled all man s actions by defects ; but to omit the law altogether is wickedness superadded to the weakness of nature ; the one comes chiefly from privative sin-
fulness, but the other from positive ; the one comes from a defect in the will, but the other from a wilful neglect.
And, 3, it is not all one to be profane, as to live in the external observ
ances of religion ; for in omitting these altogether, and running into vices, instead of the good thou dost : 1st, Thou makest thy sin of a treble guilt ;
for to omit the duty wholly, is worse than to perform good in a wrong manner, and to be doing evil instead of both, is yet much worse ; for the
soul being never idle but working, if thou ceasest to do good, it is certain
thy soul is busy about mischief ; as the sea cannot rest, but it will cast up mire and dirt. In doing good therefore, though in a wrong manner, thou
wert less ill occupied, because that doing good kept out doing worse ; and,
2dly, though thou sinnest in abstaining from sin, as well as in doing it, yet in the one only, quia non propter Deum, because thou dost not refrain sin
out of love to God, but in the other, because therein thou art a rebel against
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 417
him. Now to be against God is worse than simply not to be for him ; as
though it be treason in a subject not to take up arms for his prince, yet to
fight against him is much worse. And thus, though Christ bade his disciples to let them alone who cast out devils in his name, and he would have them
go on still rather : For he that is not against me, is with me, says he, Mark ix. 40, that he meant this only comparatively ; for otherwise Christ
says, He that is not with him, is against him, Mat. xii. 30, that is, he is
in deed and in truth so.
And then again for the time past, whereas thou imaginest thou hadst as
good have done no good.
I answer, no, it is not all one. For,
1. Thou shalt be punished less in hell if thou shouldest die ere thou didst
get out of thjs estate, which is Augustine s answer, though hereafter thou
shalt have no reward for that imperfect good which thou hast done in thy re
generate* state (as Christ told the pharisees: You have your reward, namely, all here, Mat. vi. 2), yet this will moderate and abate thy punishment.
2. They are rewarded here. The pharisees you see by that speech of Christ were rewarded by men, who seeing the profit and benefit of much
good which they do, reward them with love and praise again for so doing. They are also rewarded by magistrates, God s vicegerents, who bear not the sword in vain, but are a terror to those that do evil, and a praise to them
that do well : Rom. xiii. 3, 4, For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? Do that which
is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same : for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil. And, 1 Peter ii. 14, 15, Or unto
governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil
doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. They are also rewarded by their own consciences, which so far excuse them : 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. Yea, they are rewarded by God; so Ahab was for humbling himself: 1 Kings xxi. 29, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me ? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days ; but in his son s days will I bring the evil upon his house. So those flatterers were rewarded also, Ps Ixxviii.
36, 38, Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not ; yea, many a time turned he his
anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For their flattering seeking of God, God omitted their punishment temporal, and in that sense he for
gave their sin. And thus God dealt with Jehu : 2 Kings x. 30, And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which
is right in mine eyes, and has done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. Now thus God doth, because he will reward his own
gifts, for it is his gift to be chaste, as he told Abimelech he kept him, Gen.
xx. 6 ; and so it is from God s gift that men are otherwise virtuous, and God loves to crown his own gifts in every kind, of what sort soever. And these virtues, Augustine often calls, Dei munera ; and so Paul says of con- * Qu. unregenerate ? ED. VOL. X. D d
418 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK X.
tinency, that it was a gift, 1 Cor. vii. 7. And indeed God, who useth to overcome with mercies as well as judgments, and to be before hand with all
sorts of men, will surely at least be as forward, and go as far in doing good to wicked men, as they shaJl be to do any good that may be serviceable to him or others ; yet therein also observing a proportion. For,
1st, As God thereby hath an outward honour in an outward acknowledg ment and subjection, as the action also an outward goodness, so God casts upon them outward rewards, as riches, honours, &c., so God had honour by Nebuchadnezzar s acknowledgment, Daniel iv. 36, 37. And God cast honour upon him again, in raising him up to his kingdom. They have outward kindness from God, for the outward kindness which they shewed him, and God deals with them as men deal with flatterers.
But yet, 2dly, as he hath not their hearts, so they have not his, and there
fore he receives them not to himself. He deals not with them as friends, but flatterers ; but yet as he deals with his own people here in this life, so he deals with these in a fit proportion; that look if his own people sin, yet because their hearts are still for God, though an act of sin pass from them, and so an act of punishment passeth from God ; yet still his heart is with
them, because their hearts are with him. So, on the contrary, God deals with the wicked, and he rewards them outwardly for their external acts of
goodness ; but yet he doth not love them, because they love not him.
3dly, As all their outward performances are sanctified, i. e. good for the
matter, but unsanctified for the manner, so the outward things which God bestows are like thereunto, good in themselves, as the actions of these men
are ; but as their proud courses shew their actions to be evil in the issue and
in the event, so in the effect, these outward mercies appear to be given in
wrath, as Saul was to the people of Israel. And so David saith of wicked men, that their table is made a snare, Ps. Ixix. 22; it is a snare to their
intemperance, and their blessings curses, as it is in the prophet Malachi,
chap. ii. 2. I will only put in here a caution or two.
(1.) That godly men, who are in covenant with God, must not expect this, that for their dead performances they should be rewarded here as the other
are. So God would not release David, though he mourned and prayed, Ps.
xxxii. 5, till he was inwardly humbled, and did confess his sin unto God.
For,
1st, Since more is to be had from the godly, God will not take brass when he may have gold ; he will have meet fruits, meet for them to perform, Heb.
vi. 7, and in their kind ; but he looks for no better of the other than mere outward duties, and therefore rewards them accordingly, because they can do no better.
And, 2dly, the outward mercies which God dispenses to his own children
are given in pure, everlasting love ; therefore that which draws out that love
in rewarding them must be outward good done in love from them. Till,
therefore, they are kindly humbled, he will not deliver them, or leave a
blessing behind, Joel ii. ; and so 2 Cor. vii. 14, for if he should, it might prove a curse. Yea,
3dly, Seeing he may have better, he will rather punish them for doing no
better.
(2.) The second caution is, that God only rewards wicked men thus when
their performances are serious, and done in a natural kind of integrity, as Abimeleeh s was, and as Ahab s humbling himself was ; but if they be out
of a wicked positively bad end done, as when Jezebel fasted to colour the
taking away Naboth s vineyard, then they are not rewarded ; but, as Ahab
in his posterity, they are threatened and accursed. And such perverse ends
CHAP. X.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 419
do heinously aggravate the sinfulness of such actions, which in outward ap pearance are good
: Prov. xxi. 27, The sacrifice of the wicked is abomin
able ; how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind ?