Chapter VIII
The grounds of the mistake upon which men proceed, in judging the actings of
natural conscience to be the workings of a principle of true grace, considered and detected.
I now come to examine those grounds of mistake which unregenerate men go upon in the judging this principle of conscience, and the workings thereof to grace and true goodness.
1. The first ground of mistake is, because men find it to be an inward
principle, as grace is inherent and sealed in their inward parts, Jer. xxxi. 32. And the motions thereof unto good are not outward or external, but from
within, nor are they outward respects by which it moves.
Ans. 1. Though it be a principle within a man, as in relation to its re
sidence, yet as to the working of it upon the rest of the faculties it acts as
if it were an extrinsecal and violent principle. It may be remembered to
this purpose, how I have before proved that the motives it useth at best, to
carry the rest of the heart on to obedience, are legal, and the government of it vigorous, whereas that of grace is sweet and natural, having the hearts
of its subjects, so far as a man is renewed. There are three sorts of moving
principles to be found distinct in men s spirits. 1st, Mere outward re
spects for things worldly and outward ; such as are the motives which arise
from our lusts as carried forth to outward objects. 2dly, There are the
outward impulses by which natural conscience works. And 3dly, There
are the kindly, sweet, and natural, gracious motions of grace and holiness
in a regenerate heart. To exemplify these three by similitudes^ take a
clock or a watch, and observe the principles of each of their motions. A
clock is moved by weights that hang without it ; and such are outward
worldly respects that pertain not to conscience, as vainglory, love of praise,
filthy lucre, &c. But a watch hath a motion from what is within itself, a
spring that sets all the wheels on work ; and yet the motion of the watch is
truly and indeed but an extrinsecal motion, in comparison with what is
natural. And such is that of natural conscience in respect of those duties
unto God which it enjoins ; both the one as well as the other are external,
in respect of a violence or a forcedness of their motion ; for the wheels
which move have not a naturaFpoise to move of themselves. But take a
bird that flies, there is truly and properly an internal principle of life and
motion in the wings and all the limbs thereof, which moves the whole, and
284: THE WOKE OF THE HOLY GHOST [BOOK YI,
every member ; and such a principle is grace in comparison of natural conscience.
Ans. 2. Though it be thus a principle within thee, yet it makes not up another self within thee, as grace doth. Though thy conscience is against a sin, before or after it is committed, yet thou canst not say, I am against the sin, which is thy beloved sin. No ; thyself art for it, but conscience in thee is only against it. Hence thou canst not say with Paul, Horn, vii., It is not I, but sin, for thy conscience only stood out against it, when thy heart was wholly for it. But this a regenerate man can and doth say ; and this was it which moved Austin to fall off from that interpretation of Bom. vii. : that the passages thereof should be meant of an unregenerate man (of whom once he understood them), because he found that though the light of his conscience was against the sin, yet made not up another whole inward man, which a man might term himself. Yea, you may ob
serve, that when conscience speaks against a sin, it speaks to the rest of the whole man as to a distinct person from itself, though it be seated in the man ; for it speaks thus, Thus thou oughtest not to do, or this thou hast done. The language of conscience is as the language of another person, whose part it takes, even of God to a man, as Menander said, Jv rue, andciv
$ ffwiidyaiz sog : Conscience is as God to all, and every mortal man. And therefore it acts the part of an advocate against a man s self. But the grace of sanctification hath won all the faculties in their courses to go the same way with itself. And therefore a regenerate man can say to con
science, that besides, and over and above thy checks (0 conscience) I
- have a whole new man, an inner man within me, that had no hand in this
sin, but is for God and his law, as well as thou, and serves him in the inner man, even whilst the law of the members doth prevail to the outward action.
Am. 3. In respect of many actings of conscience in thee, thou art a
patient, not active, or an agent. But, on the contrary, when it checks, restrains, and condemns for sin, or invites unto duties, thy whole heart is
against it. It is true these are truly acts of a faculty within thee, for the
apostle, Kom. ii. 15, calls them their thoughts (when he speaks of their consciences accusing them), yet they are (if unregenerate) sufferers, endurers, and patients under them, because it is God (as I have shewed) is the author and actuater of them, puts a word into conscience s mouth, as once into Balaam s, so as it cannot but speak, nor can it say the contrary, when yet (as Balaam) the whole man is against that word, and follows after the ways of unrighteousness, and would not have the vision, so to speak. It is full sore against his will, and bent and grain of his spirit. In the text, Kom. ii., it is said, evpfjuzgrvgeiv, its witness being joined with another s, namely, God s. Thus checks and terrors of conscience are acts upon a man, rather than of a man, and so men are endurers under them. And therefore men hate them, and would be rid of them, if they could, or knew how. They secretly say of it, as Ahab to Micaiah,
< Go, mine enemy, thou never prpphesiest good to me. The other faculties do look upon it as the Sodomites did upon Lot, and cried out, Shall this stranger judge us ? They would thrust it forth of their jurisdiction if they could, as none of their company. Men use mirth and jollitry to allay the checks of
it, and give themselves a medicine to kill this worm. Speculative light men
like, for it is pleasant ; but light that is busy with them, and active in them, they like not to retain in their knowledge, Bom. i. 28 ; whereas a godly man writes up such knowledge in his heart, as one doth memorandums
CHAP. VIII.] IN OUE SALVATION. 285
in his table-book : Prov. iii. 3, Write them, says he, in the tables of
thy heart ; having said before, My son, forget not thou my law. He is
as glad of new light that discovers to him a sin or corruption he saw not
before, or a duty he knew not, as a man is of finding great spoil. It is David s comparison, Ps. cxix. 162 ; whereas another man looks upon every such discovery of sin or duty as men do now upon a new tax or
levy, and hate the light of conscience as a task-master, as the Jews did a
publican.
2. A second ground of mistake is, that conscience is a good and upright
principle, contrary unto sin, and for what is good, and cannot be charmed
to hold its peace.
Ans. 1. The goodness that is in the light of conscience riseth not up to the goodness of holiness, as hath been shewed. It is but the letter, not the spirit, of the law. Now, consider that the shadow, as of truth, so of
goodness, sanctifies not.
Ans. 2. As for its contrariety and opposition unto sin, condemning, re
straining, and coming in against it, I answer, there is a twofold contrariety, the one real and physical, as fire is contrary to water, which are destructive each of other, and are armed with power to expel the one the other. And thus in a regenerate man flesh and spirit are contrary: Gal. v. 17, The
flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh ; and these
are contrary the one to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. They therefore cannot exist in a predominancy each in the same heart ; but if the spirit that is in man
* lusteth after envy, God gives grace to subdue it ; so as to be under the dominion of sin and grace cannot stand together, Kom. vi. 12, 14. Such a contrariety to sin as this is not in the light of an unregenerate man. But there is another sort of con
trariety, viz., testimonial (for unto a witness the text compares it), which in appearance conscience bears to a sinner. But indeed it is contrary, only as a witness is to a bad man and a bad cause ; contrary only in this, be cause he comes in and gives testimony against him, and that not out of a
contrariety or antipathy to the man, but as witness of the truth. Paul hath
* Am I there
told us such a testimony is remote from enmity ; Gal. iv. 16,
fore your enemy, because I tell you the truth ? Or the contrariety is as that of a lawyer that pleads a cause against a man ; he is said to be con
trary, only because he speaks against the man. And indeed in these testi monies conscience is rather contrary to the man that sins, than to the sin
itself ; for it expels it not. It hath not a destructive virtue in it ; but a beloved sin, notwithstanding light of conscience testifying against it, doth in a predominancy continue still in the heart. Or if you will, it is but a repre sentative or demonstrative contrariety, not a natural. Light hath a natural
contrariety to darkness, and expels it ; whereas the light of a glow-worm
only discovers itself in the dark, but enlighteneth not the air round about it. And therefore, though thou hadst never so much light, that, directed to good, checked thee for evil upon all occasions, and continued to do so all thy days ; if this wrought not a desire to live well in all things, but thou goest against it, and imprisonest the light of it, this will aggravate thy sin. And however thou takest this for a good conscience (as if conscience had a
peculiar abstract goodness in it), yet when the naughty man that lived
against conscience goes to hell, what will become of this good conscience ? It will even go to hell with thee, and be thy executioner ; yea, and even conscience itself will be most punished there, for that is the part on which the wrath of God lights. It is the tunnel through which God fills the
286 THE WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST [BOOK
vessel with wrath ; and that, both because it gave light only, but no power ; as also because the man whose conscience it is was wicked, and his hes
naught. And therefore though conscience was against the sin thou com-
mittedst, yet conscience itself will be reckoned as guilty, and to be an evil
conscience, because it wanted power to hinder thee, which power it once had.
3. A third ground that helps forward the mistake is, that they find it a constant principle, which will not be charmed, nor hold its tongue. And as
grace is said to be a seed that remains, so is this. Ans. 1. Consider that for that very cause it is not grace, but nature. Grace is in us not from the first, but only after that it is received ; but
this light of conscience, and these workings of it, have been always in thee
for the time past.
Am. 2. Though the faculty itself always remains, yet thou shalt find, if God turn thee not to him, sin winning ground of it, and weakening the
exercise of it, till it hath put thy conscience past feeling. Whilst men are
young, their consciences are tender; but as they grow old, they are hardened ; and this is part of their growing in wickedness. So, Eph. iv.
19, it is said, after they are past feeling, which implies that they had a sense once. It is the like phrase to that you use of a man dying, you say, He is past sense, past speaking. The allusion there is to palsy-benumbed members, which are come to such a pass that they feel no pain. Con
science having spoken often, when it sees it cannot prevail, ceaseth to
speak ; yea, 1 Tim. iv. 2, Paul speaks as if some men s consciences were
in the end cut (so the phrase by Beza is interpreted), seared off with a hot iron, as a putrefied member, that is grown dead and senseless, useth
to be ; not that the faculty is cut off, but it is meant in regard of the acts of it, which are cut off, and men walk as if they had no consciences. The reason is, because (as I said) the exercise of it depending upon God s work
ing on it, and in it more or less, therefore when he hath striven long with men, in and through the checks of their consciences, in the end ceaseth
striving, and then conscience ceaseth to check any longer. And therefore God is said to give them up to a reprobate mind, that is, void of judgment, even in judging those things sins which are to the light of nature most
abhorrent, and as the phrase in such case is, inconvenient (which the
apostle there useth, Rom. i. 28). Whereas David s smote him for number
ing the people, when he was old (for that was towards the end of his reign), as well as, when he was young, it did so for his cutting off Saul s lap. And Paul when old, and the time of departure at hand (as he says in the Second Epistle to Timothy), yet then he continued to serve God
* with a
pure conscience, as in the 1st chapter of that epistle, ver. 3, himself speaks. Or if this light in natural conscience be not, in the exercise of it, almost
extinct, yet it will be quiet and suffer itself to be close prisoner, not striving to get out, as, Rom. i. 18, the phrase is ; but any truth in a good conscience
will make the prison too hot for it. The evil conscience will keep com missions and writs lying by it, and not so much as open them, much less
put them into suit ; like those lights in those Roman urns, that give light within, but never break forth, because they were made of such matter as had light only, and not heat ; and such is the light of a natural conscience,
till God joins his wrath with it. But on the contrary, in a godly man light
against any sin, or for the doing any duty, like fire imprisoned and
smothered, burns inwardly, and ceaseth not till the flame break forth, Jer.
xx. 9. When Jeremiah, through fear and discouragement, was resolved to
CHAP. VIII.] IN OUR SALVATION. 287
preach no more, but to live a quiet life with the world, when he knew it was his duty to do otherwise : In the end (says he)
* it was fire in my bones, and I could not stay or forbear. Men use a natural conscience as a dark lantern ; they shut up as much of it as they please, and if it burn,
let it shine inward, it shall not outward. Grace will not be soused or
dealt with, but like the apostle (who spake it as led by this principle) in
the end, it says, I cannot but speak the things I know, Acts iv. 20.
4. A fourth main ground of mistake is, that religion is expressed unto
us, by making conscience of what we do ; and uprightness is understood to
consist in this, that we follow our consciences. A conscionable man, and a religious man, are equivalently put each for the other. Yea, did not Abimelech plead it, Gen. xx. 5, and did not God acknowledge this to be
integrity, ver. 6, he having in that matter of Sarah gone according to the
principles he was enlightened with. Had he known her to have been another man s wife, he would not have taken her, for he made conscience
of committing adultery ; and this God takes for integrity, inasmuch as he went not against his conscience.
Am. 1. I answer ; That all do and must acknowledge, that when a man doth so act according to an erroneous conscience (as to the matter of
fact, taking that to be a duty or lawful which is a heinous sin, and which
is incompatible with the state of grace for the present), though in this he
principally acts out of and according to his conscience, yet therein he hath not that integrity which is required to salvation. For example, Paul
thought verily he ought to persecute the church ; and what he did therein, he did out of conscience ; yet he was far enough off from sincerity or
integrity, for the matter of fact could not stand with godliness. Now as conscience may thus, in the matter it directs, be damnably erroneous, unto the prejudice and certain hazard (as to the present) of man s salvation, so
it may be, and is much rather and more usually defiled, and deficient, and
false unto God, in respect of the manner of performance, and in respect of the end it moves for ; and even when yet it guides aright unto what is the
right matter of the duty, yea, and is obeyed therein by the heart. Holiness and integrity do always essentially lie in urging to the right manner, and
propounding right ends in duties, but it doth not always consist essentially in the matter, or outward duty to be performed. An action for matter mistaken may yet in respect of the ends of it be accepted, as in David s
offering to build a temple ; but not e contra. So that in these cases what thou dost is out of conscience, but far off from integrity. The bow may be a strong bow, and the arrow may be good, but if the eye that shoot it be
a-squint, and aims not at the right mark, the shot miscarries ; so it is here. Am. 2. What is truly and properly integrity, but a conformity of a man s heart and actions unto the rule ? Even as truth is said to be an agreeableness unto that which is its rule ; as truth in a man s speeches is an agreeableness to what is in the things that a man speaks of ; and truth in the
things themselves is a conformity to those ideas or images of them which
are in the mind of God, the fountain of truth. Now every man s con
science being every man s immediate rule and square, hence, when a man s
actions are conformed unto the light that is therein, there may be said to be (as to that respect, and within that sphere) an integrity in the action which a man doth according to his light. But there is a higher rule above conscience ( there is a higher than they, as Solomon speaks, and one
* greater than our consciences, as John says) even the word of God, which consists of spirit as well as the letter, and so is a two-edged sword,
288 THE WORK OF THE HOLY GHOST [BOOK VI.
dividing between the marrow and the bones, which is a judge and a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart, Heb. iv. 12. And to this spiritual
light conscience itself must be conformed, set, and turned, and by this
light the goodness of conscience is alone to be measured ; and yet natural
conscience utterly swerves from this light, even when it directs to the letter
and outward action. Hence therefore those actions, so performed, accord
ing to this light and dictate of conscience, want that integrity which is the
are" not conformed to, nor agreeing with the supreme rule. It is a conscientious work, but not a work wrought
truth and soul of them ; because they
in God ; because though it is a conscience, yet not a conscience of God
(as Peter speaks) in the man which doth it. For example, take a church-
dial that is joined to a clock ; although the dial follows the clock never so
truly, and so on its part there is a conformity to its next rule, yet if the
clock be not set to the sun, that is the supreme moderator and keeper of
time, it cannot be said to be a true dial, nor a true clock. For both the
clock and it also are appointed to tell the true hour of the day, wherein if
they fail, they swerve from their ordination they were (as such) made for.
So when the dial of thy outward actions agrees with the clock of thy con
science, and thy hand turns as the clock moves it, yet if conscience itself
be not set right, and made conformable to God s interest and ends, who is
the supreme rule of goodness and integrity, both are false to him, and err
in what he is most concerned. In a word, as truth is conformitas rei cum
archetypo summo, so integrity of heart is conformity of conscience, and of
all in the heart, to the highest rule. And yet when a man speaks as he
thinks, and what he says is an untruth, though indeed it is not a lie, for
there is some integrity in his speech, yet there is not an absolute integrity
in relation to the thing that is spoken, for it is falsehood, and that which
he ought not to speak. So it is here in this case.
Ans. 3. As for that allegation concerning Abimelech, that his following
his light of conscience was acknowledged integrity by God himself, the
answer is,
(1.) That that speech of God being in answer unto Abimelech s plea made,
it is to be understood as spoken in the same sense that Abimelech himself
meant it. God talked now with a heathen, and speaks not in the language of his sanctuary, nor in the dialect of that court he means to keep at the
day of judgment, but, by way of concession, acknowledgeth such an integrity
to have been therein, as Abimelech stood upon, viz., a moral integrity; which is, when the action that is outward agrees to the inward light that is
in a man, and so is an integrity in its kind, but not an evangelical integrity,
such as should be accepted to the salvation of a man s person. If you
bring me a brass shilling, and plead that it is good brass, good metal, I
should readily acknowledge it such ; but if you press me to take it for a
shilling, or demand if it be good coin, I deny it. Thus, in Ezekiel also, God speaks in their language when he says, If a righteous man fall from
his righteousness, &c. And such also was that speech of Paul, when
speaking of his unregenerate estate he says of himself, that as touching
the righteousness which is in the law, he was blameless, Phil. iii. 6, 7, which must be understood of that kind of righteousness whereof he was
there treating, which was that righteousness which was current among his
fellow-pharisees. So (says he, ver. 5), I was according to the law a
Pharisee. Yea (ver. 6), he reckons together with it, persecuting the
church ; and all this the Pharisees judged an excellency. And he speaks
in all this but their language. And he doth the very same, being called
CHAP. IX.J IN OUR SALVATION. 289
before a court of Pharisees (Acts xxiii. 1), where, being accused and brought before them as guilty of high crimes, he makes his apology, and justifies his whole cause in these words, I have lived in all good conscience before God to this day. He speaks this in their dialect, according to what they who accused him, according to their principles, accounted a good con
science. And, besides that, it had been to no purpose to have alleged his
integrity as a regenerate Christian, unto them that were no way apprehen sive of it : the 6th verse shews also that his purpose was to get off from
these his enemies by pleading their principles, and so in their sense he
might well say (as he doth), I have lived in all good conscience to this day. For what they counted living in a good conscience (and was the truth in
him) that he had done all his life. He had followed his conscience in all
things according to their strictest principles. But if you had brought him
before God s court, and bidden him speak for himself, you should have found him in another tone, as (in the same Phil. iii. 9) you hear him
uttering of himself, how for ten thousand worlds he would not be found in
* That I may be found in Christ (says he), not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law. Now then, as Paul, speak
that righteousness.
ing before the Pharisees, to justify himself as in man s court, speaks in
their dialect; so God, speaking to a heathen (Abimelech), answers him
in his, when he acknowledgeth in that action integrity to have been
in him.
Or else (2.) It may be termed comparative integrity as to that particu
lar, in comparison to other actions and carriages of his against conscience, and acts of other men who sin against their consciences : as a judge, that
is free from bribes, and partiality, and injustice, is said to be a man of
integrity ; that is, he is comparatively such as a judge, though not in other
respects as a man personally. He may do justice out of vainglory or im
portunity, as that unjust judge did in the Gospel ; and this is comparative
integrity, because he is free from those common corruptions in judging that
others are subject to. And so compare the carriage of Abimelech s heart
in this, with the ways of other heathens, and it was integrity ; or with
other of his actions, and it was integrity
: but it was not absolutely so.