and the rest of the sins against the law, Rom. iii. 20. But the law is not of faith, (Gal. iii. 13;) and then I am sure that it, with all its motions and convictions, is never able to justify the soul of any poor sinner. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them," Gal. iii. 10. "But that no man is justified by the law is evident; for, the just shall live by faith," ver. 11. Now because I am not altogether ignorant of the delusion of the devil touching this grace of faith also, I shall therefore in short give thee, reader, a brief yet true description from the scripture. 1. What true justifying faith is, and what it lays hold upon. 2. I shall shew who it doth come from. 3. That every one hath it not. 4. What are the fruits of it. First, therefore, true faith is a fruit, work, or gift of the Spirit of God, (Gal. v. 22; 2 Thess. i. 11; 1 Cor. xii. 9,) whereby a poor soul is enabled, through the mighty operation of God, (Col. ii. 12,) in a sense of its sins and wretched estate, to lay hold on the righteousness, blood, death, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and coming again of the Son of God which was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem for eternal life, (John, iii. 16, 18, compared with Matt. iii. 17; Gal. ii. 20; Rom. iii. 25; v. 8-10; Acts, xvi. 31; Heb. xiii. 12,) according to that saying in Heb. xi. 1," Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen;" that is, the things that are hoped for faith sees, lays hold upon, and embraces them (Heb. xi. 13) as if they were present; yea, it seals up the certainty of them to the soul. Therefore, saith the apostle, it is the evidence, or testimony, or witness, of those things that are not seen as yet with a bodily eye, which are obtained by the blood of the man Christ Jesus, (Heb. ix. 14, compared with Heb. x. 12, 19, 20,) by which the soul sees as in a glass the things that God hath laid up for them that fear him, 1 Cor. xiii. 12; 2 Cor. iii. 18. Secondly, If you would know who this faith comes from, read Ephes. ii. 8: "For by grace ye are saved," saith the scripture, "through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Again, in Phil. i. 29, it is thus written: "For unto you (that are believers) it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." And thus much do the apostles hold forth to us in their prayer or request to the Lord Jesus when they say, "Lord, increase our faith," Luke, xvii. 5; and he is therefore called "the author and finisher of our faith," Heb. xii. 3; also we find in James, i. 17, that “every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights," &c.; and therefore faith comes from God; for true justifying faith is a good gift, and perfect in respect of the author, God; in respect of its object, Christ; and in respect of the nature, though not in respect of the degree and measure of it in us; even as a grain of gold is as perfect gold as a pound of gold, though not so much. All men have not faith; this the apostle witnesseth in so many words, as we find, 2 Thess. iii. 2; and Deut. xxxii. 20; also in Titus, i. 15, "To them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure," &c. It appeareth also in this that all do not attain salvation, which they must needs do if they had true justifying faith; compare Luke, xiii. 24, and 1 John, v. 19, with Mark, xvi. 16; and Heb. iv. 3, with ver. 6 and 11. "They that believe shall be saved." 1. The fruits of it are, first, to purify the heart, (Acts, xv. 9, and 1 John, iii. 3;) and that, as I said before, by laying hold on what Jesus Christ had done and suffered for sinners, Acts, xiii. 38, 39. 2. It fills the soul with peace and joy, in that it lays hold on the things that are obtained for it, Rom. v. 1; 2 Tim. i. 9, 10; 1 Peter, i. 8. 3. It makes the soul to wait patiently for the glory that is to be revealed at the second appearing of the man Christ Jesus, whom God hath raised from the dead, which hath also delivered it from the wrath to come, as in Titus, ii. 13, 14; 1 Peter, iv. 13; v. 1, 4; 1 Thess. i. 10. But how, may some say, doth the devil make his delusions take place in the hearts of poor creatures? Answer.-Why, 1. He labours to render the doctrine of the Lord Jesus, and salvation by him alone, very odious and low; and also his ordinances, as hearing, reading, meditation, use of the Scriptures, &c., telling poor sinners that these things are but poor, low, carnal, beggarly, empty notions, preached up by the clergymen, who are the scribes and pharisees of this generation, who have the letter, but not the Spirit of God in them; which lead men into the form, but not into the power of the Lord Jesus; and with this persuasion he also represents the ungodly and base carriage or behaviour of some who have taken in hand to preach the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thereby he doth render the gospel of our Lord Jesus the more contemptible and base. But woe, woe, woe, be to them by whom such offences come, Matt. xviii. 7 ; Luke, xvii. 1, 2. 2. He pretends to lead them up into some higher light, mysteries, and revelations of the Spirit, into which but a very few have attained, or can attain; also bewitching their affections, and taking them with an earnest pursuit after these his pretended truths, persuading them that they shall be as God himself, able to discern between good and evil, Gen. iii. 5. And in this he is exceeding subtle and expert, as having practised it ever since the days of Adam. These things being thus considered, and in some measure hungered after, and the rather because they are good, as they think, to make one wise, (Gen. iii. 6,) the poor soul is all on the sudden possessed with a desperate spirit of delusion, which carries it away headlong with some high, light, frothy notions and spiritual wickedness (which drown it in perdition and destruction) that doth feed and tickle the heart awhile, to the end it may make way for a further manifestation of itself in the poor deluded soul, which when it hath attained to, it doth then begin to bring the soul into a clearer sight of those things which it was loath it should know at the first; but having fitted the soul by degrees for a further possession of itself, at last it begins to hold forth its new gospel, shewing the soul a new Christ and new Scriptures. The new and false Christ is a Christ crucified within, dead within, risen again within, and ascended within, in opposition to the Son of Mary, who was crucified without, dead without, risen again without, and ascended in a cloud away from his disciples into heaven (Acts, i. 9-11) without them. Now, this new and false Christ hath a new and false faith belonging to his gospel, which faith is this, to apprehend this Christ crucified within, dead within, risen again within, and ascended within. But ask them for a scripture that doth positively prove their doctrine, they also have a scripture, but it is within, it doth bear witness within; and if they had not that, (though that be of the devil's making,) I am sure they would have none out of God's holy Scriptures, for they will allow of no crucified Christ but he that was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, Heb. xiii. 12; John, xvi. 20; dead and buried in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, John, xix. 38-42; was raised again out of that sepulchre into which Joseph had laid him, John, xx. 1, 12; who went before his disciples into Galilee, Mark, xvi. 7; and to Emmaus, Luke, xxiv. 16; shewed them his hands and his feet, (Luke, xxiv. 39, 40,) where the nails had gone through; did eat and drink with them after his resurrection; was seen of them on earth forty days after his resurrection, Acts, i. 3; and after that ascended away in a cloud out of the sight of his disciples into heaven, Acts, i. 9-11; which Christ ever lives to make intercession for us, Heb. vii. 24, 25; who will come again also at the end of the world to judgment, Acts, x. 42; xvii. 31; 2 Pet. iii.10, 11; who also is the same that hath obtained eternal redemption for us, Acts, xiii. 37-39; Rom. iii. 25; Ephes. i. 7; Rev. i. 5. This, I say, or rather the Scriptures say, is God's Christ, (Matt. xvi. 16,)" In whom he is well pleased," Matt. iii. 17. Neither doth God own any other, or allow of any other; "For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, than the name of Jesus of Nazareth," Acts, iv. 10, compared with ver. 11, 12. | But as I told you before, the way to be thus deluded is, first, to render God's Christ odious and low, with a pretence of some further light and revelations ;" and thus professing themselves to be wise, they became fools," Rom. i. 22. But you will say, doth not the scripture make mention of a Christ within? Colos. i. 27; 2 Cor. xiii. 5; Rom. viii. 10. I answer, 1. God's Christ was and is true God and true man; he was born of the Virgin Mary true God and true man, Matt. i. 23. And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us;" or God in our nature, according to 1 Tim. iii. 16, "God was manifested in the flesh; and John, i. 14, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, as of the only-begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." And in Heb. ii. 14: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (that is, God, Heb. i. 8) also himself likewise took part of the same, that * Though I shall go seemingly about in answer to this question, yet it will be very profitable to them who shall weigh and consider the several sentences hereof. through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Now, as he was thus true God and true man, so he became our Redeemer and Saviour. Compare the first and second chapters to the Hebrews together, and you may clearly see that this is a glorious truth, that " He who is the first and the last," (Rev. i. 17, 18; ii. 8,) "humbled himself, and made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." And was this all? No. "He humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross," Philippians, ii. 7, 8, compared with Rev. i. 17, 18; and ii. 9, with Gal. i. 4. Now after this Christ of God, true God and true man, had wrought out eternal redemption for us poor miserable sinners, (Heb. ix. 14, compared with 1 Tim. i. 15;) I say, after he had done this, he ascended up into heaven, and there ever lives to make intercession for us. Now this Christ, having thus completely wrought out our salvation, sends his disciples abroad to preach the same to poor sinners, (Acts, ii. ; 2 Cor. v. 19, 20;) and so many as were ordained to eternal life, when they heard the word or the gospel preached by the apostles, which gospel was this Christ, (1 Cor. i. 17, compared with ver. 23;) I say, so many as were ordained to eternal life, when they heard the word, the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of Christ, fell upon them, (Acts, x. 44, compared with Acts, xiii. 48,) which did lead them into the redemption and glorious things that the Lord Jesus had laid up and prepared for them, (John, xvi. 13—16; 1 Cor. ii. 9 ;) "which Spirit was the earnest of their inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory," Ephes. i. 13, 14. This earnest of their inheritance was a glorious encouragement to them that had it to hope for the glory that was to be revealed at the appearing of Jesus Christ, which is the meaning of that place in Col. i. 27. And that will be seen clearly if we compare it with Eph. i. 13, 14, before cited. Now this Spirit, which sometimes is called the Spirit of Christ, (2 Cor. xiii. 5;) this Spirit, I say, being given to all those that were ordained to eternal life, it must needs follow that those that had not this Spirit, but did live and die without it, were not ordained to eternal life, and so were none of Christ's, but were reprobates, (Rom. viii. 9;) for the Spirit of Christ is the distinguishing character betwixt a believer and an unbeliever, he that hath it, and is led by it, is a child of God, (Rom. vii. 14;) but he that hath it not is none of Christ's. So, then, the answer that I give to the question is this-The Spirit of Christ that is given to believers is the earnest or hope of that inheritance that Christ hath already purchased, and is now preparing for so many as he hath given, or shall give, this Holy Spirit unto. And for the proof hereof, read Eph. i. 13, 14-" In whom (saith the scripture) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance (which inheritance is the eternal redemption that was purchased by Christ for poor sinners, Heb. ix. 14,) until the redemption of the purchased But now, this Spirit, which is the cause of a But, reader, that thou mayst be able to escape the snare of this cunning hunter, I shall lay thee down some few directions, which if the Lord give thee grace to follow, thou shalt escape these wicked delusions. And first of all, I do admonish thee to be very serious touching thine estate and condition, and examine thine own heart by the rule of the word of God, whether or no thou hast as yet any beginnings of desiring after religion; and if thou findest that thou hast lived until now in igno- 2. If thou by grace art but brought into such But if thou say (as it is often the speech of poor souls lying under a sense of sin, and the apprehensions of wrath due to it) I cannot apply the promises to mine own soul, and the reason is, because my sins are so great and so many, consider, and know it for a truth, that the more and greater thou seest thy sins to be, the more cause hast thou to believe; yea, thou must therefore believe because thy sins are great. David made it an encouragement to himself, or rather the Spirit of the Lord made it his encouragement, to crave, yea, to hope for pardon because he had greatly transgressed-Psalm xxv. 11, " For thy name sake, O Lord, (saith he,) pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." As if he had said, O Lord, thy name will be more glorified, the riches of thy grace will he more advanced, thy mercy and goodness will more shine and be magnified in pardoning me who am guilty of great iniquity, than if thou pardonest many others who have not committed such heinous offences. And I dare say the reason why thou believest not is not because thy sins are great, but because thou dost reason too much with that wicked enemy of man's salvation, and givest way too much to the fleshly reasoning of thine own heart. For Christ hath said, "He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out," John, vi. 37. And again, Though thy sins be as red as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow," Isa. i. 18. And Christ calleth those that labour and are heavy laden to come to him, with promise to give them rest, Matt. xi. 28. Wherefore thou must not say, My sins are too big; but thou must say, Because I am a great sinner, yea, because I have sinned above many of my companions, and am nearer to hell and eternal damnation than they, because of my sins, therefore will I cry unto the Lord, and say, O Lord, pardon my sins, for they are great. 66 Now, that thou mayst not be deceived in a matter of so great concernment, have a special care of these three things-First, Have a care of putting off thy, trouble of spirit the wrong way, which thou mayst do three ways-1. When thy conscience flieth in thy face, and tells thee of thy sins, thou dost put off convictions the wrong way if thou dost stop thy conscience by promising to reform thyself, and lead a new life, and gettest off thy guilt by so doing; for though thou mayst by this means still and quiet thy conscience for a time, yet thou canst not hereby satisfy and appease the wrath of God; yea, saith God to such, Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me," Jer. ii. 22. 66 2. If when thou art under the guilt of thy sins, thou puttest off convictions by thy performances or duties, and so satisfiest thy conscience, then also thou dost put off thy convictions the wrong way; for God will not be satisfied with anything less than the blood, righteousness, resurrection, and intercession of his own Son, Acts, iv. 12. And thou shouldst not satisfy thyself with any less than God would have thee to satisfy thyself withal, and that is the water of life, (Is. lv. 1, 2,) which water of life thy duties and all thy righteousness is not, for it is but menstruous rags, Isa. lxiv. 6. 3. Have a care that when thou art under conviction thou dost not satisfy thyself with a notion of the free grace of the gospel; my meaning is, do not content thyself with any measure of knowledge that thou canst attain unto, or bottom thy peace upon it, thinking thou art now well enough, because thou canst speak much of the grace of God, and his love in Christ to poor sinners; for this thou mayst have and do, and yet be but a companion for Demas, yea, for Judas and the rest of the damned multitude; as the apostle saith," For all this thou mayst be but as sounding brass and as a tinkling cymbal;" that is, nothing but a sound, 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3. But, secondly, if thou wouldst not be deceived, then have a care to avoid false doctrines, which are according to the spirit of the devil, and not after Christ. As, first, if any doctrine doth come unto thee that tells thee, except thou art circumcised after the manner of Moses thou canst not he savedthat is, if any man come unto thee and tell thee, thou must do such and such works of the law, to the end thou mayst present thyself the better before God, do not receive him; " for to him that worketh not, but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness," Rom. iv. 5. 2. If any come unto thee and bring such a doctrine as this, That thou mayst be saved by grace, though thou walk in the imaginations of thy own wicked heart, his doctrine also is devilish; do not receive him, Deut. xxix. 19-24. 3. But if any come unto thee, and doth in truth advance the blood, righteousness, resurrection, intercession, and second coming of that very man in the clouds of heaven that was born of the Virgin Mary, and doth press thee to believe on what he hath done, (shewing thee thy lost condition without him,) and to own it as done for thee in particular, and withal doth admonish thee not to trust in a bare notion of it, but to receive it into thy heart, so really that thy very heart and soul may burn in love to the Lord Jesus Christ again; and doth also teach thee that the love of Christ should and must constrain thee not to live to thyself, but to him that loved thee, and gave himself for thee," (2 Cor. v. 14, 15; Eph. iv. 21-24; 1 Cor. vii. 23,) “Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the servants of men,"-if his conversation be also agreeable to his doctrine, a believing, honest, loving, selfdenying, courteous conversation, (he also is a true Christian,) receive that doctrine, and receive it really, for it is the doctrine of God and of Christ, Gal. i. 4; iv. 4; Eph. i. 7; Rev. i. 5; John, i. 19; Acts, iv. 12; x. 40-42; xiii. 38; and 1 Thess. i. 10; Mark, xiii. ult.; 2 Peter, i. 5-11. "Considering the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ, yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever," Heb. xiii. 7, 8. Again; if thou wouldst not be deceived, then beware of slighting any known truth that thou findest revealed or made known to thee in the gospel, but honour and obey it in its place, be it, as thou thinkest, never so low, John, xiv. 15. 2. Have a care that thou do not undervalue or entertain low thoughts of God, Christ the Son of Mary, and the holy Scriptures, but search them, (John, v. 39,) and give attendance to the reading of them, (1 Tim. iv. 13;) for, I will tell thee, he that slights the Scriptures doth also slight him of whom they testify. And I will tell thee also, that" for this cause God hath given up many to strong delusions, that they might believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness," 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12. Therefore I say unto thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Son of Mary, the Son of God, the very Creator of heaven and earth, and all things that are therein, have a care of thyself, for the devil doth watch for thee day and night, 1 Pet. v. 8. Thine own heart also doth labour to deceive thee, if by any means it may, Jeremiah, xvii. 10. Therefore do not thou trust it, for if thou do, thou wilt not do wisely, Prov. xxviii. 26. I say, therefore, have a care that thou labour in the strength of the Lord Jesus to escape all these things; for if thou fall into any one of them, it will make way for a further income of sin and the devil, through whose deceitfulness thy heart will be hardened, and thou wilt be more incapable of receiving instruction or reaping advantage by and from the ordinances of Jesus Christ; the rather, therefore, give all diligence to believe in the Christ of God, which is the Son of Mary, and be sure to apply all that he hath done and is doing unto thyself as for thee in particular, which thing if thou dost thou shalt never fall. And now, reader, I shall also give thee some few considerations, and so I shall commit thee to the Lord. 1. Consider that God doth hold out his grace and mercy freely, and that to every one, Rev. xxii. 17; Isa. lv. 1-8. 2. Consider that there is no way to attain to this free mercy and grace but by Him that was born of the Virgin Mary; for he himself saith, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father, but by me," John, xiv. 6, compared with Matt. i. 20, 21. 3. Consider if thou strivest to go over any other way, thou wilt be but a thief and a robber, (John, x. 1, compared with ver. 9;) and know that none of those, so continuing, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. 4. Consider that if the devil should be too hard for thee, and deceive thee by persuading thee to embrace or entertain a new gospel, which neither Christ nor his disciples did allow of, it would make thee gnash teeth when it is too late. 5. Consider that though thou hast been deluded by Satan to this day, yet if now thine eyes be opened to see and acknowledge it, though as yet thou hast been either exceedingly wicked, (1 Tim. i. 13,) or an idle, (Matt. xx. 6, 7,) lukewarm, hypocritical professor, (Rev. iii. 17—19,) and hast stood it out to the last, (Ezekiel, xviii. 21, 22,) for all this there is hope; and if now thou receive the truth in the love of the truth, being as willing to be rid of the filth of sin as the guilt of it, thou shalt be saved. 6. Consider that the Lord will call thee to judgment for all thy sins past, present, and what else thou shalt practise hereafter, especially for thy rejecting and trampling on the blood of his Son, the man Christ Jesus. And if thou dost not agree with thine adversary now, while thou art in the way, "he will deliver thee to the judge, and the judge will deliver thee to the officer, and if he cast thee into prison, I tell thee, thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the very last mite," Luke, xii. 58, 59. And therefore I beseech thee to consider; here is at this time life and death, heaven and hell, everlasting joy and everlasting torment, set before thee; here is also the way to have the one, and the way to escape the other. Now, if the Lord shall do thee any good by what I have spoken, I hope it will be a means to stir me up to thank the Lord that ever he did use such a sinner as I am in the work of his gospel. And here I shall close up what I have said, desiring thee, if thou be a Christian, to pray for him who desires to continue Thy servant in the Lord Jesus Christ, though less than the least of all saints, J. BUNYAN. TO THE READER, THE EPISTLE WRIT BY MR. BURTON, MINISTER AT Bedford., READER, Thou hast in this small treatise set before thee the several pieces of that great and glorious mystery, Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh; and if thou art enlightened by the Spirit of Christ, here thou mayst see by that Spirit how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Mary, is both true God and true man, both natures making but one Christ, one Jesus, as Phil. ii. 5-10, where, speaking first of his being God, and then of his taking upon him the nature of man, afterwards, in the 8th and 9th verses, he saith, "he (meaning this Jesus) humbled him self, &c., “ and God (meaning the Father) hath highly exalted him," &c., speaking of both natures, God and man, as together making but one Christ, who is the Saviour, and is to be believed and trusted in for salvation, not only as God, but as man also; and those who do not thus make him the object of their faith will surely fall short of pardon of sin and of salvation, Acts, xiii. 38, 39, "Through this man (speaking of Christ as crucified at Jerusalem) is preached unto you forgiveness of sins;" and saith he, "There is one Mediator between God and men, (1 Tim. ii. 5,) the man Christ Jesus ;" and this discovers the damnable errors of those commonly called Socinians, who, on the one hand, deny him that was born of the Virgin Mary to be true God as well as true man. And this is also quite contrary to those commonly called familists, ranters, quakers, or others, who, on the other hand, either deny Christ to be a real man without them, blasphemously fancying him to be only God manifest in their flesh, or else make his human nature with the fulness of the Godhead in it to be but a type of God, to be manifest in the saints, and so, according to their wicked imagination, his human nature was to be laid aside after he had offered it up |