Ignor. I believe that Christ died for sinners, and that I shall be justified before God from the curse, through his gracious acceptance of my obedience to his law. Or thus, Christ makes my duties, that are religious, acceptable to his Father by virtue of his merits, and so shall I be justified. Chr. Let me give an answer to this confession of thy faith. 1. Thou believest with a fantastical faith; for this faith is nowhere described in the Word. 2. Thou believest with a false faith; because it taketh justification from the personal righteousness of Christ, and applies it to thy own. 3. This faith maketh not Christ a justifier of thy person, but of thy actions; and of thy person, for thy actions' sake, which is false. 4. Therefore this faith is deceitful, even such as will leave thee under wrath in the day of God Almighty; for true justifying faith puts the soul, as sensible of its lost condition by the law, upon flying for refuge unto Christ's righteousness (which righteousness of his is not an act of grace, by which he maketh, for justification, thy obedience accepted with God; but his personal obedience to the law, in doing and suffering for us what that requireth at our hands. This righteousness, I say, true faith accepteth); under the skirt of which, the soul being shrouded, and by it presented as spotless before God, it is accepted, and acquitted from condemnation. Ignor. What! would you have us trust to what Christ, in his own person, has done without us? This conceit would loosen the reins of our lust, and tolerate us to live as we list; for, what matter how we live, if we may be justified by Christ's personal righteousness from all, when we believe it ? Chr. Ignorance is thy name; and as thy name is, so art thou even this thy answer demonstrateth what I say. Ignorant thou art of what justifying righteousness is, and as ignorant how to secure thy soul through the faith of it from the heavy wrath of God. Yea, thou also art ignorant of the true effects of saving faith in this righteousness of Christ, which is to bow and win over the heart to God in Christ, to love his name, his Word, ways, and people, and not as thou ignorantly imaginest. Hope. Ask him if ever he had Christ revealed to him from heaven? Ignor. What! you are a man for revelations! I believe that what both you and all the rest of you say about that matter, is but the fruit of distracted brains. Hope. Why, man! Christ is so hid in God from the natural apprehensions of all flesh, that he cannot by any man be savingly known, unless God the Father reveals him to them. Ignor. That is your faith, but not mine; yet mine, I doubt not, is as good as yours, though I have not in my head so many whimsies as you. Chr. Give me leave to put in a word: You ought not so slightly to speak of this matter; for this I will boldly affirm (even as my good companion hath done), that no man can know Jesus Christ but by the revelation of the Father (Matt. xi. 27). Yea, and faith too, by which the soul layeth hold upon Christ (if it be right), must be wrought by the exceeding greatness of his mighty power (1 Cor. xii. 3; Eph. i. 18, 19); the working of which faith, I perceive, poor Ignorance, thou art ignorant of. Be awakened, then, see thine own wretchedness, and fly to the Lord Jesus; and by his righteousness, which is the righteousness of God (for he himself is God), thou shalt be delivered from condemnation. Ignor. You go so fast, I cannot keep pace with you. Do you go on before; I must stay a while behind. Then they said, Well, Ignorance, wilt thou yet foolish be," U Remember, man, in time; stoop, do not fear; Then Christian addressed himself thus to his fellow :Chr. Well, come my good Hopeful, I perceive that thou and I must walk by ourselves again. So I saw in my dream that they went on apace before, and Ignorance he came hobbling after. Then said Christian to his companion, It pities me much for this poor man; it will certainly go ill with him at last. Hope. Alas! there are abundance in our town in his condition, whole families, yea, whole streets (and that of pilgrims, too); and if there be so many in our parts, how many, think you, must there be in the place where he was born? Chr. Indeed, the Word saith, "He hath blinded their eyes, lest they should see," &c. But now we are by ourselves, what do you think of such men? Have they at no time, think you, convictions of sin, so consequently fears that their state is dangerous ? Hope. Nay, do you answer that question yourself, for you are the elder man. Chr. Then I say, sometimes (as I think) they may; but they being naturally ignorant, understand not that such convictions tend to their good, and therefore they do desperately seek to stifle them, and presumptuously continue to flatter themselves in the way of their own hearts. Hope. I do believe, as you say, that fear tends much to men's good, and to make them right at their beginning to go on pilgrimage. Chr. Without all doubt it doth, if it be right; for so says the Word, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Job xxviii. 28; Ps. cxi. 10; Prov. i. 7, ix. 10). Hope. How will you describe right fear? Chr. True or right fear is discovered by three things :— 1. By its rise. It is caused by saving convictions for sin. 2. It driveth the soul to lay fast hold of Christ for salvation. 3. It begetteth and continueth in the soul a great reverence of God, his Word, and ways, keeping it tender, and making it afraid to turn from them, to the right hand or to the left, to anything that may dishonour God, break its peace, grieve the Spirit, or cause the enemy to speak reproachfully. Hope. Well said; I believe you have said the truth. Are we now almost got past the enchanted ground? Chr. Why, art thou weary of this discourse? Hope. No, verily; but that I would know where we are. Chr. We have not now above two miles further to go thereon. But let us return to our matter. Now the ignorant know not that such convictions that tend to put them in fear are for their good, and therefore they seek to stifle them. Hope. How do they seek to stifle them? Chr. 1. They think that those fears are wrought by the devil (though indeed they are wrought of God), and, thinking so, they resist them, as things that directly tend to their overthrow. 2. They also think that these fears tend to the spoiling of their faith (when, alas! for them, poor men that they are, they have none at all!), and therefore they harden their hearts against them. 3. They presume they ought not to fear, and therefore, in despite of them, wax presumptuously confident. 4. They see that those fears tend to take away from them their pitiful old self-holiness, and therefore they resist them with all their might. Hope. I know something of this myself; before I knew myself, it was so with me. Chr. Well, we will leave, at this time, our neighbour Ignorance by himself, and fall upon another profitable question. Hope. With all my heart; but you shall still begin. Chr. Well then, did you not know, about ten years ago, one Temporary in your parts, who was a forward man in religion then? Hope. Know him! yes; he dwelt in Graceless, a town about two miles off of Honesty, and he dwelt next door to one Turnback. Chr. Right, he dwelt under the same roof with him. Well, that man was much awakened once; I believe that then he had some sight of his sins, and of the wages that were due thereto. Hope. I am of your mind; for, my house not being above three miles from him, he would ofttimes come to me, and that with many tears. Truly I pitied the man, and was not altogether without hope of him: but one may see it is not every one that cries, Lord, Lord. Chr. He told me once that he was resolved to go on pilgrimage, as we do now; but all of a sudden he grew acquainted with one Saveself, and then he became a stranger to me. Hope. Now, since we are talking about him, let us a little inquire into the reason of the sudden backsliding of him and such others. Chr. It may be very profitable; but do you begin. Hope. Well, then, there are, in my judgment, four reasons for it : 1. Though the consciences of such men are awakened, yet their minds are not changed: therefore, when the power of guilt weareth away, that which provoked them to be religious ceaseth: wherefore they naturally turn to their own course again; even as we see the dog that is sick of what he hath eaten, so long as his sickness prevails, he vomits and casts up all: not that he doth this of a free mind (if we may say a dog has a mind), but because it troubleth his stomach; but now, when his sickness is over, and so his stomach eased, his desires being not at all alienated |