CHAPTER XV.

OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE AND SALVATION.

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1. Such of the elect as are converted at riper years, having 1 sometime lived in the state of nature, and therein served divers lusts and pleasures, God, in their effectual calling, giveth them repentance unto life.

2. Whereas there is none that doth good, and sinneth 2 not, and the best of men may, through the power and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into greater sins and provocations, God hath in the covenant of grace mercifully provided that believers so sinning and falling, 3 be renewed through repentance unto salvation.

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3. This saving repentance is an evangelical grace, whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth, by faith in Christ, humble himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrency; 5 praying for pardon and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavor by supplies of the Spirit, to 6 walk before God unto all well pleasing in all things.

4. As repentance is to be continued through the whole course of our lives, upon the account of the body of death, and the motions thereof; so it is every man's duty to repent of his particular known sins, particularly.

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5. Such is the provision which God hath made through Christ in the covenant of grace, for the preservation of believers unto salvation, that although there is no sin so small but it deserves & damnation, yet there is no sin so great that it shall bring damnation on them that repent; which makes the constant preaching of repent

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ance necessary.

1 Titus iii. 2-5.

2 Eccl. vii. 20.

3 Luke xxii. 31, 32.

4 Zech. xii. 10; Acts xi. 18.

5 Ezek. xxxvi. 31; 2 Cor. vii. 11.

6 Psalm cxix. 6, 128.

7 Luke xix. 8; 1 Tim. i. 13, 15.

8 Rom. vi. 23.

9 Isa. i. 16-18, lv. 7.

CHAPTER XVI.

OF GOOD WORKS.

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1. Good works are only such as God hath 1 commanded in his holy word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal,2 or upon any pretence of good intentions.

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2. These good works done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith; and by them believers manifest their 4 assurance, edify their 5 brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end 8 eternal life.

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3. Their ability to do good works, is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit 9 of Christ; and that they may be enabled thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is necessary an 10 actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to do of his good pleasure; yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty, unless upon a special motion of the Spirit, but they ought to be diligent in 11 stirring up the grace of God that is in them.

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4. They who in their obedience attain to the greatest height which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, as that 12 they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do.

5. We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that

1 Micah vi. 8; Heb. xiii. 21.

2 Matt. xv. 9; Isa. xix. 13.

3 James ii. 18, 22.

4 Psalm cxvi. 12, 13; 1 John ii. 3, 5; 2

Peter i. 5-11.

5 Matt. v. 16.

61 Tim. vi. 1; 1 Peter ii. 15; Phil. i. 11.

7 Eph. ii. 10.

8 Rom. vi. 22.

9 John xv. 4, 6.

10 2 Cor. iii. 5; Phil. ii 13.

11 Phil. ii. 12; Heb. vi. 11, 12; Isaiah lxiv. 7.

12 Job ix. 2, 3; Gal. v. 17; Luke xvii. 10.

is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit nor satisfy, for the debt of our1 former sins, but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants: and because as they are good, they proceed from his 2 Spirit, and as they are wrought by us, they are defiled,3 and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment.

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6. Yet, notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him; not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable in God's sight, but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is 5 sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections.

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7. Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to themselves and 6 others; yet because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith, nor are done in a right manner according to the 8 word, nor to a right end, the glory of God, they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, nor make a man meet to receive grace from 10 God; and yet their neglect of them is more sinful, and displeasing to God.

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CHAPTER XVII.

OF PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.

1. Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, and given the precious faith of his elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of

1 Rom. iii. 20; Eph. ii. 8, 9; Rom. iv. 6.

2 Gal. v. 22, 23.

3 Isa. lxiv. 6; Psalm cxliii. 2.

4 Eph. i. 6; 1 Peter ii. 5.

5 Matt. xxv. 21, 23; Heb. vi. 10.

62 Kings x. 30; 1 Kings xxi. 27, 29.

7 Gen. iv. 5; Heb. xi. iv. 6.

8 1 Cor. xiii. 1.

9 Matt. vi. 2, 5.

10 Amos v. 21, 22; Rom. ix. 16; Titus iii. 5.

11 Job xxi. 14, 15; Matt. xxv. 41–43.

grace,1 but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved, seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance (whence he still begets and nourisheth in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality); and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon: notwithstanding, through unbelief and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from 2 them, yet it is still the same," and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palm of his hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from all eternity.

2. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of 4 election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him, the oath of God, the abiding of his Spirit, and the 7 seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.

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3. And though they may, through the temptation of Satan, and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous 9 sins, and for a time continue therein; whereby they incur 10 God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and 11 comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded,12 hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments 13 upon themselves, yet they shall renew their 14 repentance, and be preserved, through faith in Jesus Christ, to the end.

1 John x. 28, 29; Phil. i. 6; 2 Tim. ii. 19; 1 John ii. 19.

2 Psalm lxxxix. 31, 32; 1 Corinthians xi. 32.

3 Mal. iii. 6.

4 Rom. viii. 30, ix. 11, 16.

5 Rom. v. 9, 10; John xiv. 19.

6 Heb. vi. 17, 18.

7 1 John iii. 9.

8 Jer. xxxii. 40.

9 Matt. xxvi. 70, 72, 74.

10 Isa. lxiv. 5, 9; Ephesians iv. 30.

11 Psalm li. 10, 12.

12 Psalm xxxii. 3, 4.

13 2 Sam. xii. 14.

14 Luke xxii. 32, v. 61, 62.

CHAPTER XVIII.

OF THE ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION.

1. Although temporary believers and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God, and [in a] state of salvation,' which hope of theirs shall perish; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured,2 that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God which hope shall never make them ashamed.

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2. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ,5 revealed in the gospel; and also upon the inward 6 evidence of those graces of the Spirit unto which promises are made, and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God; and, as a fruit thereof, keeping the heart both " humble and holy.

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3. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be 9 partaker of it; yet being enabled by the Spirit, to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of means attain thereunto; and therefore it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper 11 fruits of this assurance; so far is it 12 from inclining men to looseness.