In this little book thou art presented with a discourse of the GRACE of G.o.d, and of salvation by that grace. In which discourse, thou shalt find how each Person in the G.o.dhead doth his part in the salvation of the sinner. I. The Father putteth forth his grace, thus. II. The Son putteth forth his grace, thus. III. And the Spirit putteth forth his grace, thus. Which things thou shalt find here particularly handled.
Thou shalt also find, in this small treatise, the way of G.o.d with the sinner, as to his CONVERSATION, 1 and the way of the sinner with G.o.d in the same; where[in] the grace of G.o.d, and the wickedness of the sinner, do greatly show themselves.
If thou findest me short in things, impute that [to] my love to brevity. If thou findest me besides the truth in aught, impute that to mine infirmity. But if thou findest anything here that serveth to thy furtherance and joy of faith, impute that to the mercy of G.o.d bestowed on thee and me.
Thine to serve thee with that little I have,
J.B.
SAVED BY GRACE.
"BY GRACE YE ARE SAVED."--EPHESIANS 2:5.
In the first chapter, from the fourth to the twelfth verse, the apostle is treating of the doctrine of election, both with respect to the act itself, the end, and means conducing thereto. The act, he tells us, was G.o.d"s free choice of some (verse 4,5,11). The end was G.o.d"s glory in their salvation (verse 6,14). The means conducing to that end was Jesus Christ himself--"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (verse 7). This done, he treateth of the subjection of the Ephesians to the faith, as it was held forth to them in the Word of the truth of the gospel, as also of their being sealed by the Holy Spirit of G.o.d unto the day of redemption (verse 12-14).
Moreover, he telleth them how he gave thanks to G.o.d for them, making mention of them in his prayers, even that he would make them see "what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead," &c. (verse 15-20).
And lest the Ephesians, at the hearing of these their so many privileges, should forget how little they deserved them, he tells them that in time past they were dead in trespa.s.ses and sins, and that then they walked in them "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph 2:2,3).
Having thus called them back to the remembrance of themselves--to wit, what they were in their state of unregeneracy, he proceedeth to show them that their first quickening was by the resurrection of Christ their Head, in whom they before were chosen, and that by him they were already set down in heavenly places, (verse 5,6); inserting, by the way, the true cause of all this blessedness, with what else should be by us enjoyed in another world; and that is, the love and grace of G.o.d: "But G.o.d, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ [by grace ye are saved]."
These last words seen to be the apostle"s conclusion rightly drawn from the premises; as who should say, If you Ephesians were indeed dead in trespa.s.ses and sins; if indeed you were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, then you deserve no more than others. 2
Again, if G.o.d hath chosen you, if G.o.d hath justified and saved you by his Christ, and left others as good as you by nature to perish in their sins, then the true cause of this your blessed condition is, the free grace of G.o.d. But just thus it is, therefore by grace ye are saved; therefore all the good which you enjoy more than others, it is of mere goodwill.
"BY GRACE YE ARE SAVED."
The method that I shall choose to discourse upon these words shall be this--I will propound certain questions upon the words, and direct particular answers to them; in which answers I hope I shall answer also, somewhat at least, the expectation of the G.o.dly and conscientious reader, and so shall draw towards a conclusion.
THE QUESTIONS ARE--
I. What is it to be saved? II. What is it to be saved by grace? III.
Who are they that are saved by grace? IV. How it appears that they that are saved, are saved by grace? V. What might be the reasons which prevailed with G.o.d to save us by grace, rather than by any other means?
Now the reason why I propound these five questions upon the words, it is, because the words themselves admit them; the first three are grounded upon the several phrases in the text, and the two last are to make way for demonstration of the whole.
QUEST. I.--WHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED?
This question supposeth that there is such a thing as d.a.m.nation due to man for sin; for to save supposeth the person to be saved to be at present in a sad condition; saving, to him that is not lost, signifies nothing, neither is it anything in itself. "To save, to redeem, to deliver," are in the general terms equivalent, and they do all of them suppose us to be in a state of thraldom and misery; therefore this word "saved," in the sense that the apostle here doth use it, is a word of great worth, forasmuch as the miseries from which we are saved is the misery of all most dreadful.
The miseries from which they that shall be saved shall by their salvation be delivered, are dreadful; they are no less than sin, the curse of G.o.d, and flames of h.e.l.l for ever. What more abominable than sin? What more insupportable than the dreadful wrath of an angry G.o.d? And what more fearful than the bottomless pit of h.e.l.l?
I say, what more fearful than to be tormented there for ever with the devil and his angels? Now, to "save," according to my text, is to deliver the sinner from these, with all things else that attend them. And although sinners may think that it is no hard matter to answer this question, yet I must tell you there is no man, that can feelingly know what it is to be saved, that knoweth not experimentally something of the dread of these three things, as is evident, because all others do even by their practice count it a thing of no great concern, when yet it is of all other of the highest concern among men; "For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matt 16:26).
But, I say, if this word "saved" concludeth our deliverance from sin, how can he tell what it is to be saved that hath not in his conscience groaned under the burden of sin? yea, it is impossible else that he should ever cry out with all his heart, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"--that is, do to be saved (Acts 2:37).
The man that hath no sores or aches cannot know the virtue of the salve; I mean, not know it from his own experience, and therefore cannot prize, nor have that esteem of it, as he that hath received cure thereby. Clap a plaster to a well place, and that maketh not its virtue to appear; neither can he to whose flesh it is so applied, by that application understand its worth. Sinners, you, I mean, that are not wounded with guilt, and oppressed with the burden of sin, you cannot--I will say it again--you cannot know, in this senseless condition of yours, what it is to be saved.
Again; this word "saved," as I said, concludeth deliverance from the wrath of G.o.d. How, then, can he tell what it is to be saved that hath not felt the burden of the wrath of G.o.d? He--he that is astonished with, and that trembleth at, the wrath of G.o.d--he knows best what it is to be saved (Acts 16:29).
Further, this word "saved," it concludeth deliverance from death and h.e.l.l. How, then, can he tell what it is to be saved that never was sensible of the sorrows of the one, nor distressed with the pains of the other? The Psalmist says, "The sorrows of death compa.s.sed me, and the pains of h.e.l.l gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord"--(mark, then), "then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul,"--then, in my distress. When he knew what it was to be saved, then he called, because, I say, then he knew what it was to be saved (Psa 18:4,5; 116:3,4). I say, this is the man, and this only, that knows what it is to be saved. And this is evident, as is manifest by the little regard that the rest have to saving, or the little dread they have of d.a.m.nation. Where is he that seeks and groans for salvation? I say, where is he that hath taken his flight for salvation, because of the dread of the wrath to come? "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matt 3:7). Alas! do not the most set light by salvation?--as for sin, how do they love it, embrace it, please themselves with it, hide it still within their mouth, and keep it close under their tongue. Besides, for the wrath of G.o.d, they feel it not, they fly not from it; and for h.e.l.l, it is become a doubt to many if there be any, and a mock to those whose doubt is resolved by atheism.
But to come to the question--What is it to be saved? To be saved may either respect salvation in the whole of it, or salvation in the parts of it, or both. I think this text respecteth both--to wit, salvation completing, and salvation completed; for "to save"
is a work of many steps; or, to be as plain as possible, "to save"
is a work that hath its beginning before the world began, and shall not be completed before it is ended.
First, then, we may be said to be saved in the purpose of G.o.d before the world began. The apostle saith that "he saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim 1:9). This is the beginning of salvation, and according to this beginning all things concur and fall out in conclusion--"He hath saved us according to his eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus." G.o.d in thus saving may be said to save us by determining to make those means effectual for the blessed completing of our salvation; and hence we are said "to be chosen in Christ to salvation." And again, that he hath in that choice given us that grace that shall complete our salvation.
Yea, the text is very full, "He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world" (Eph 1:3,4).
Second. As we may be said to be saved in the purpose of G.o.d before the foundation of the world, so we may be said to be saved before we are converted, or called to Christ. And hence "saved" is put before "called"; "he hath saved us, and called us"; he saith not, he hath called us, and saved us; but he puts saving before calling (2 Tim 1:9). So again, we are said to be "preserved in Christ and called"; he saith not, called and preserved (Jude 1). And therefore G.o.d saith again, "I will pardon them whom I reserve"--that is, as Paul expounds it, those whom I have "elected and kept," and this part of salvation is accomplished through the forbearance of G.o.d (Jer 50:20; Rom 11:4,5). G.o.d beareth with is own elect, for Christ"s sake, all the time of their unregeneracy, until the time comes which he hath appointed for their conversion. The sins that we stood guilty of before conversion, had the judgment due to them been executed upon us, we had not now been in the world to partake of a heavenly calling. But the judgment due to them hath been by the patience of G.o.d prevented, and we saved all the time of our unG.o.dly and unconverted state, from that death, and those many h.e.l.ls, that for our sins we deserved at the hands of G.o.d.
And here lies the reason that long life is granted to the elect before conversion, and that all the sins they commit and all the judgments they deserve, cannot drive them out of the world before conversion. Mana.s.seh, you know, was a great sinner, and for the trespa.s.s which he committed he was driven from his own land, and carried to Babylon; but kill him they could not, though his sins had deserved death ten thousand times. But what was the reason?
Why, he was not yet called; G.o.d had chosen him in Christ, and laid up in him a stock of grace, which must be given to Mana.s.seh before he dies; therefore Mana.s.seh must be convinced, converted, and saved.
That legion of devils that was in the possessed, with all the sins which he had committed in the time of his unregeneracy, could not take away his life before his conversion (Mark 5). How many times was that poor creature, as we may easily conjecture, a.s.saulted for his life by the devils that were in him, yet could they not kill him, yea, though his dwelling was near the sea-side, and the devils had power to drive him too, yet could they not drive him further than the mountains that were by the sea-side; yea, they could help him often to break his chains and fetters, and could also make him as mad as a bedlam, 3 they could also prevail with him to separate from men, and cut himself with stones, but kill him they could not, drown him they could not; he was saved to be called; he was, notwithstanding all this, preserved in Christ, and called. As it is said of the young lad in the gospel, he was by the devil cast oft into the fire, and oft into the water, to destroy him, but it could not be; even so hath he served others, but they must be "saved to be called" (Mark 9:22). How many deaths have some been delivered from and saved out of before conversion! Some have fallen into rivers, some into wells, some into the sea, some into the hands of men; yea, they have been justly arraigned and condemned, as the thief upon the cross, but must not die before they have been converted. They were preserved in Christ, and called.
Called Christian, how many times have thy sins laid thee upon a sick-bed, and, to thine and others" thinking, at the very mouth of the grave? yet G.o.d said concerning thee, Let him live, for he is not yet converted. Behold, therefore, that the elect are saved before they are called. 4 "G.o.d, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins," hath preserved us in Christ, and called us (Eph 2:4,5).
Now this "saving" of us arises from six causes. 1. G.o.d hath chosen us unto salvation, and therefore will not frustrate his own purposes (1 Thess 5:9). 2. G.o.d hath given us to Christ; and his gift, as well as his calling, is without repentance (Rom 11:29; John 6:37).
3. Christ hath purchased us with his blood (Rom 5:8,9). 4. They are, by G.o.d, counted in Christ before they are converted (Eph 1:3,4). 5. They are ordained before conversion to eternal life; yea, to be called, to be justified, to be glorified, and therefore all this must come upon them (Rom 8:29,30). 6. For all this, he hath also appointed them their portion and measure of grace, and that before the world began; therefore, that they may partake of all these privileges, they are saved and called, preserved in Christ, and called.
Third. To be saved is to be brought to, and helped to lay hold on, Jesus Christ by faith. And this is called saving by grace through faith. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of G.o.d" (Eph 2:8).
1. They must be brought unto Christ, yea, drawn unto him; for "no man," saith Christ, "can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). Men, even the elect, have too many infirmities to come to Christ without help from heaven; inviting will not do. "As they called them, so they went from them," therefore he "drew them with cords" (Hosea 11:2,4).
2. As they must be brought to, so they must be helped to lay hold on Christ by faith; for as coming to Christ, so faith, is not in our own power; therefore we are said to be raised up with him "through the faith of the operation of G.o.d." And again, we are said to believe, "according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead" (Col 2:12; Eph 1:19,20). Now we are said to be saved by faith, because by faith we lay hold of, venture upon, and put on Jesus Christ for life.
For life, I say, because G.o.d having made him the Saviour, hath given him life to communicate to sinners, and the life that he communicates to them is the merit of his flesh and blood, which whoso eateth and drinketh by faith, hath eternal life, because that flesh and blood hath merit in it sufficient to obtain the favour of G.o.d. Yea, it hath done so [since] that day it was offered through the eternal Spirit a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour to him; wherefore G.o.d imputeth the righteousness of Christ to him that believeth in him, by which righteousness he is personally justified, and saved from that just judgment of the law that was due unto him (John 5:26, 6:53-58; Eph 4:32; 5:2; Rom 4:23-25).
"Saved by faith." For although salvation beginneth in G.o.d"s purpose, and comes to us through Christ"s righteousness, yet is not faith exempted from having a hand in saving of us. Not that it meriteth aught, but is given by G.o.d to those which he saveth, that thereby they may embrace and put on that Christ by whose righteousness they must be saved. Wherefore this faith is that which here distinguisheth them that shall be saved from them that shall be d.a.m.ned. Hence it is said, "He that believeth not, shall be d.a.m.ned"; and hence again it is that the believers are called "the children, the heirs, and the blessed with faithful Abraham;" that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe (Gal 3:6-9,26; Rom 4:13,14).
And here let Christians warily distinguish betwixt the meritorious and the instrumental cause of their justification. Christ, with what he hath done and suffered, is the meritorious cause of our justification; therefore he is said to be made to us of G.o.d, "wisdom and righteousness;" and we are said to be "justified by his blood, and saved from wrath through him," for it was his life and blood that were the price of our redemption (1 Cor 1:30; Rom 5:9,10).
"Redeemed," says Peter, "not with corruptible things, as silver and gold," alluding to the redemption of money under the law, "but with the precious blood of Christ." Thou art, therefore, as I have said, to make Christ Jesus the object of thy faith for justification; for by his righteousness thy sins must be covered from the sight of the justice of the law. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." "For he shall save his people from their sins" (Acts 16:31; Matt 1:21).
Fourth. To be saved is to be preserved in the faith to the end.
"He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matt 24:13). Not that perseverance is an accident in Christianity, or a thing performed by human industry; they that are saved "are kept by the power of G.o.d, through faith unto salvation" (1 Peter 1:3-6).
But perseverance is absolutely necessary to the complete saving of the soul, because he that falleth short of the state that they that are saved are possessed of, as saved, cannot arrive to that saved state. He that goeth to sea with a purpose to arrive at Spain, cannot arrive there if he be drowned by the way; wherefore perseverance is absolutely necessary to the saving of the soul, and therefore it is included in the complete saving of us--"Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end" (Isa 45:17).
Perseverance is here made absolutely necessary to the complete saving of the soul.
But, as I said, this part of salvation dependeth not upon human power, but upon him that hath begun a good work in us (Phil 1:6).
This part, therefore, of our salvation is great, and calleth for no less than the power of G.o.d for our help to perform it, as will be easily granted by all those that consider--
1. That all the power and policy, malice and rage, of the devils and h.e.l.l itself are against us. Any man that understandeth this will conclude that to be saved is no small thing. The devil is called a G.o.d, a prince, a lion, a roaring lion; it is said that he hath death and the power of it, &c. But what can a poor creature, whose habitation is in flesh, do against a G.o.d, a prince, a roaring lion, and the power of death itself? Our perseverance, therefore, lieth in the power of G.o.d; "the gates of h.e.l.l shall not prevail against it."
2. All the world is against him that shall be saved. But what is one poor creature to all the world, especially if you consider that with the world is terror, fear, power, majesty, laws, jails, gibbets, hangings, burnings, drownings, starvings, banishments, and a thousand kinds of deaths? (1 John 5:4,5; John 16:33).
3. Add to this, that all the corruptions that dwell in our flesh are against us, and that not only in their nature and being, but they l.u.s.t against us, and war against us, to "bring us into captivity to the law of sin and death" (Gal 5:17; 1 Peter 2:11; Rom 7:23).
4. All the delusions in the world are against them that shall be saved, many of which are so cunningly woven, so plausibly handled, so rarely5 polished with Scripture and reason, that it is ten thousand wonders that the elect are not swallowed up with them; and swallowed up they would be, were they not elect, and was not G.o.d himself engaged, either by power to keep them from falling, or by grace to pardon if they fall, and to lift them up again (Matt 24:24; Eph 4:14; Rom 3:12).
5. Every fall of the saved is against the salvation of his soul; but a Christian once fallen riseth not but as helped by Omnipotent power--"O Israel, thou hast fallen by thine iniquity," "but in me is thy help," says G.o.d (Hosea 13:9; 14:1; Psa 37:23).
Christians, were you awake, here would be matter of wonder to you, to see a man a.s.saulted with all the power of h.e.l.l, and yet to come off a conqueror! Is it not a wonder to see a poor creature, who in himself is weaker than the moth, to stand against and overcome all devils, all the world, all his l.u.s.ts and corruptions? (Job 4:19). Or if he fall, is it not a wonder to see him, when devils and guilt are upon him, to rise again, stand upon his feet again, walk with G.o.d again, and persevere after all this in the faith and holiness of the gospel? He that knows himself, wonders; he that knows temptation, wonders; he that knows what falls and guilt mean, wonders; indeed, perseverance is a wonderful thing, and is managed by the power of G.o.d; for he only "is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). Those of the children of Israel that went from Egypt, and entered the land of Canaan, how came they thither?
Why, the text says, that "as an eagle spreadeth abroad her wings, so the Lord alone did lead them." And again, "he bore them, and carried them all the days of old" (Deu 32:11,12; Isa 63:9). David also tells us that mercy and goodness should follow him all the days of his life, and so he should dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psa 23:6).