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of God. To listen to their sermons and exhortations, either in public or private, as though addressed by Christ himself, for they speak in Christ's stead. To seek to know them that labour among you, and to esteem them very highly in love for Christ's sake; to obey them as being over you in the Lord, for they watch for your souls. To sum up the whole, let us consider the communion of saints as enjoyed in the true Church: for that is the Church or body of Christ, which is baptized by one Spirit, into an unity and incorporation with Christ, being made perfect in one; even one," as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee."-This body is that wherein all the members live and are quickened, in one and the same spirit with Christ. In this unity, if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, and all the members of this body have the same care one of another. 1 Cor. xii. 12-26. This body is spiritual, and all the members of it should be spiritual, because Christ is the head of it. 1 Cor. xi. 3. And he is a quickening Spirit, and the Lord that Spirit. 2 Cor. iii. 17. That is the true Church which is the temple of God, where God dwells, and not the tabernacles of Korah; "Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost "-and Jesus Christ is the chief corner-stone of this temple, elect and precious. This is the temple which the angel measured with a golden reed; and the altar thereof is the Eternal Spirit, upon which all the first creation is offered in the saints. 1 Pet. ii. 5. As it was offered in Christ, "who through the eternal Spirit offered himself:" and the outward court or the flesh and first creation, and all outward things are left out and not measured, but given to the Gentiles to tread down. The tabernacle and temple were figures of this, wherein God and the glory of God appeared: and all gatherings, communions, or fellowships, called Churches in the Gospel, were parts of this Catholic and Apostolic Church. This is the Church which is the pillar and ground of the truth; the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven. This is the Church to which Jesus Christ is all; he is the Apostle to this Church, the prophet, the pastor, and the teacher, preaching to it, prophesying in it, feeding it, watching over it, so that all are taught of God. This is the Church against which the gates of hell shall never prevail, having Jesus Christ for its rock and foundation. This is the Church to which all the promises of spirit, life, and glory, are to the members of it and into this Church all are admitted by spiritual baptism; and all are discerned. members in the same Spirit. 1 Cor. xii. 11. And tried by the Spirit. 1 John, iv. i. And this Church of Christ, being thus baptized by one Spirit into one body, is not to be divided. Therefore, they who separate themselves from Christ's Apostolical Church are sensual, not having the Spirit; and they would do well to consider the fate of those separatists who suffered under the vengeful hand of God for breaking the unity of the Church, as mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of Numbers.

CRISP'S VIEW OF THE JUSTIFICATION OF A SINNER

BY CHRIST.

6

"THE Covenant of grace in the actual substance of it is made good to a person before he can do anything. The main thing in the covenant is God's being the God of a people, and the model and draught of that is God's love. The covenant is nothing but God's love to man; God's love to give himself to man; God's love to take man to himself. Now, this love of God is cast upon man before he can do anything. Before the children had done good or evil • Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated.' Shall I need to tell you, that the covenant is then fulfilled in the substance of it, when men are actually justified? When men are justified, God hath made good his covenant unto them; he is their God, and they are his people; now where are the conditions of this covenant ? Take but notice of what the Apostle saith, and tell me what conditions you find in it? Rom. iv. 4. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.' But,' saith he, in verse 5, 'to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, &c. There are two phrases here to shew that there can be no conditions to make up the covenant on man's part; first, to him that worketh not;' if there must be no working to partake of justification then there is no condition unto it. And, again, if we must believe on him that justifies the ungodly,' then justification is passed over to a person whilst he is ungodly; now, when is the condition of the covenant, while there remains nothing but ungodliness in men? But if these things must be fulfilled as conditions, namely, to change our hearts and such like, then we are not justified as ungodly, but as righteous, and so it directly contradicts that of the Apostle. He must, therefore, conclude, that this covenant, which is then made good when a person is justified, is conferred and bestowed on him before there can be any such thing as a condition in him.

"Yea, but you will say to me, peradventure, though works are not the condition of the covenant, yet, we hope you will yield, faith is the condition of the covenant.

“I answer, beloved, I beseech you observe me warily in this, for I am now upon a nice point, and I shall desire to go as evenly as the Scripture will guide me in it. I must needs tell you directly, and according to the truth, that faith is not the condition of the

covenant.

"He that believes shall be saved, he that believes not shall be damned.' Is not faith here the condition of the covenant ?

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I answer, there is no person under heaven shall be saved till he have believed. This I grant, yet this will not make faith to be the condition of the covenant: for, first, consider faith as an act, our act, and as we do it, so I say it is a work; our act of believing is a work. If, therefore, we perform the condition that is a work for the enjoyment of the covenant, then the covenant doth depend upon a work; but it doth not depend upon a work, for the text

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saith, to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,' &c.

"You will say, In that text, believing is required to the justification of the ungodly.

"I answer, an ungodly person, after he is justified, believes; but you must understand it, it is not the faith of the man that simply and properly justifies, but it is that Christ in whom he believes, believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly; it is he that justifieth that is Christ. It is not believing that justifies, mark well that phrase, him that justifieth! Justification is an act of Christ; it is not an act of faith.

"But you will say, It is an act of Christ by faith.

"I answer, then, Christ justifies not alone. Is faith Christ himself? If not, then Christ must have a partner to justify, or else faith doth not justify, but Christ alone doth it. Nay, I say more, Christ justifies a person before he believes; he that believes is justified before he believes; for I ask you, whether in justification a man must believe a truth or a falsehood? You will say, he must believe a truth; then say I, it is a truth that he is justified before he believes it; he cannot believe that which is not, and if he be not justified, that he may believe it, he then believes that which is false. But he is first justified before he believes, then he believes that he is justified. But what, then, serves faith for?

"I answer, it serves for the manifestation of that justification which Christ puts upon a person by himself alone, that you by believing on him, may have the declaration and manifestation of your justification. Mark what the Apostle saith, whereby you shall find the true use of faith, that it is not the condition, without which we receive no benefit from Christ; but rather it is the manifestation of that which is already done, and received. Heb. xi. 1, the Apostle saith, faith is the ground of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' I pray you observe the Apostle's expression, there is abundance of light in it. Faith is the evidence of things, it is not the being of things; and it is the evidence of things not seen. A man is justified, and that by Christ alone; but it is not known to him, it is an unseen thing. Well, how shall he see this, and know that it is so? The text saith, faith is an evidence ;' faith gives evidence to this thing, faith makes it known; by faith we come to apprehend it; by faith we come to rejoice in it, an we apprehend it to be our own. It is true, indeed, Christ has honoured faith admirably; but let us take heed we do not over-honour it, to give the peculiar reserved prerogative of Christ himself unto it; if faith were a concurrent thing with Christ, and Christ did not justify a person alone, what would follow? Consider when a man is justified, he is justified from all unrighteousness; and if his faith justifies him from all unrighteousness, this thing will unavoidably follow, that that thing which is full of unrighteousness will justify a man from unrighteousness; as much as to say a man is justified from sin by sin. "But you will say, Faith is not sin.

"I answer, no, faith itself is not sin; but that faith acted by believers is full of sin; and the fulness of sin in it makes faith, in some sense, a sinful faith; and if it be sinful, how can that which is

sinful justify a man from sinfulness? What need Christ be without all sin to justify a person, if anything else could do it that hath sinfulness in it? You must either say, there is no sin in your faith, or else you must say, you are justified by that which hath sin in it; yet, I say still, as faith is an evidence, a manifestation, so it may be said to be our justification; that we are, in regard of our own hearts, and our own spirits, justified by faith; but God-ward, as we stand actually before him, a discharged people from sin, and so consequently partakers of the covenant; as we stand thus, I say it is not faith that justifies neither wholly nor in part; but Christ alone freely for his own sake, considering a person as ungodly, so he justifies him.

"Beloved, let me tell you, though faith itself cannot thus be called our righteousness; yet in respect to the glory which God ascribes to it, that it seals to men's souls the fulness of righteousness, how can you consider a person a believer, and withal ungodly? When men are believers they cease to be ungodly; but if they are not justified till they believe, Christ doth not justify the ungodly, but the godly; and then that truth which I have delivered, Rom. iv. 5, cannot hold current, that we must believe on him that justifies the ungodly,' but rather we must believe on him that justifies the righteous. But, as I said, we do not believe that we may be justified; but we do believe, and truly believe, when we are, and because we are justified. So that still it stands firm, we are not justified, we are not in covenant, we partake not of the covenant, by any condition we perforin, till which performance the covenant cannot be made good to us; but we are in covenant, and Christ makes us to be in covenant, for his own sake, without any condition in the creature, shewing mercy to whom he will shew mercy,' without anything, I say, the creature is to do, to this end, to partake of the covenant."

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Moreover, you that will bring works, and in consideration of them, expect a part in Christ; what are the works you bring? A whip you shall have as soon as Christ, in regard of your work: oh, the filthiness of all the works of men, as they work them! There is nothing but filthiness in them; yea,' saith Paul, I count all things dung, that I may be found in him not having my own righteousness; therefore, as it is most presumptous pride in men, so it is the grossest ignorance that can be, to dream of anything that they have, do, or can do, in the partaking of Christ; they directly overthrow the nature of a gift: hast thou but one thought once, that God will accept thee in Christ, upon consideration that thou hast performed thus and thus; this very thought directly destroys Christ, considered as a gift; for if he be a gift, then he comes without any consideration whatsoever."

In these days of abounding religious profession and doctrinal error, the Church of God need to have recourse to the old waymarks of Protestant times, and I know no place where they appear clearer than in the writings of Crisp.

A LAYMAN.

THE ENGLISH REFORMER.

No. 2.

From the Writings of Thomas Cranmer, D.D., Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, born anno 1489, and burnt at Oxford, anno 1556.

EFFECTUAL REDEMPTION.

"FIRST, when Adam and Eve were thus deceived by the serpent, and persuaded that God did not favour them, but had envy at them, that they should have knowledge of good and evil, and that for envy he forbad them to eat of that fruit that should give them such great knowledge, they did no more trust God, but began to trust themselves, and studied to care and provide for themselves. Secondly, when they no more trusted God, they could no more find in their hearts to love him, but began to dote upon themselves, and to think that they had no bettter friend, either in heaven or earth, than their own selves. And after that they had thus put their trust and confidence in themselves, and dotingly loved all that was their own, by and bye followed fear and concupiscence; for, by and bye, they began to hate and avoid all things that were painful or unpleasant to the flesh, and dotingly to lust and long for such things as were delectable and pleasant to the flesh.

"Hereby you perceive, good children, how our first parents, Adam and Eve, being poisoned with the venom of the serpent, were cast into four horrible vices or diseases. The first is, that they did not trust God. The second that they did not love God. The third that they did not fear him, but as a cruel tyrant. The fourth that they were replenished with concupiscence, and evil desires, lusts, and appetites. And these are the roots of original sin, out of which all other sins do spring and grow. So Adam and Eve had a very great fall, they fell from God's benediction, favour, and love, into God's curse, anger, and displeasure; they fell from original justice* into original sin, by the which fall all the strength and powers, both of their bodies and souls, were sorely decayed and corrupted. And, as our first parents, Adam and Eve, were infected and corrupted, even so are we that are their children: for, as we see, by daily experience, that commonly gouty persons have gouty children; and if the father and mother are infected with leprosy, we see commonly that the children have the same disease; so likewise, as our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not put their trust in God, no more do they that are born of them. And as they loved not God, so their children love him not; and as they followed their own concupis cence, lust, and appetites, and not the will of God, even so do all their issue. So that all their posterity on earth are sinners, even in their birth; for they have not their trust in God, they love not God, they have not a fatherly fear unto him, they are full of evil lusts, and appetites, and desires, as you have heard, good children, in the tenth commandment. And for their cause the Scripture doth say, • Righteousness.

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