The Works of John Bunyan, vol 1 by John Bunyan (books to read to improve english .TXT) 📕

and abilities that God gives sometimes to those that are not His own by election, though by creation; my meaning is, some men, finding that God hath given them very great gifts and abilities,—as to the gifts of preaching, praying, working miracles, or the like—I say, therefore do conclude that God is their Father, and they are His children; the ground of which confidence is still begotten, not by the glorious operation of the Spirit, but by a considering of the great gifts that God hath bestowed upon them as to the things before-mentioned. As thus, (1.) the poor soul considers how ignorant it was, and now how knowing it is. (2.) Considering how vain it formerly was, and also now how civil it is, presently makes this conclusion—Surely God loves me, surely He hath made me one of His, and will save me. This is now a wrong faith, as is evident, in that it is placed upon a wrong object; for mark, this faith is not placed assuredly on God’s grace alone, through the blood and merits of Christ being discovered effectually to the soul, but upon God through those things that God hath given it, as of gifts, either to preach, or pray, or do great works, or the like, which will assuredly come to nought as sure as God is in Heaven, if no better faith and ground of faith be found out for thy soul savingly to rest upon.

As to the second clause of the objection, which runs to this effect, God loves men upon the account of their believing, I answer, that God loves men before they believe; He loves them, He calls them, and gives them faith to believe—“But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,” when? when we believed, or before? “even when we were dead in sins,” and so, far off from believers, “hath quickened us together with” Christ, “by grace ye are saved” (Eph 2:4,5).

Now, also, I suppose that thou wilt say in thy heart, I would you would show us then what is saving faith; which thing it may be I may touch upon a while hence, in the next thing that I am to speak unto. O they that have that are safe indeed!

SECOND. WHO AND HOW MEN ARE ACTUALLY BROUGHT INTO THE NEW COVENANT.

The SECOND thing that I am to speak unto is this—WHO they are that are actually brought into this free and unchangeable grace; and also HOW they are brought in.

Answ. Indeed, now we come to the pinch of the whole discourse; and if God do but help me to run rightly through this, as I do verily believe He will, I may do thee, reader, good, and bring glory to my God.

The question containeth these two branches—FIRST. Who are brought in; SECOND. How they are brought in.

[FIRST. Who are brought in?] The first is quickly answered—“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” Jewish sinners, Gentile sinners, old sinners, young sinners, great sinners, the chiefest of sinners. Publicans and harlots—that is, whores, cheaters, and exactors—shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (1 Tim 1:15; Rom 5:7-11; 1 Cor 6:9,11; Matt 21:31). “For I come not,” saith Christ, “to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17).

A sinner in the Scripture is described in general to be a transgressor of the law—“Whosoever commiteth sin, transgresseth the law; for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). But particularly; they are described in a more particular way, as, 1. Such as in whom dwelleth the devil (Eph 2:2,3). 2. Such as will do the service of him (John 8:44). 3. Such as are enemies to God (Col 1:21) 4. Such as are drunkards, whoremasters, liars, perjured persons, covetous, revilers, extortionists, fornicators, swearers, possessed with devils, thieves, idolaters, witches, sorcerers, conjurors, murderers, and the like (1 Cor 6:9,10; 2 Chron 33:1-13; Acts 2:36,37; 9:1-6; 19:9; 1 Tim 1:14-16). These are sinners, and such sinners that God hath prepared Heaven, happiness, pardon of sin, and an inheritance of God, with Christ, with saints, with angels, if they do come in and accept of grace, as I might prove at large; for God’s grace is so great, that if they do come to Him by Christ, presently all is forgiven them; therefore never object that thy sins are too great to be pardoned; but come, taste and see how good the Lord is to any whosoever come unto Him.

[SECOND.] The second thing is, How are these brought into this Everlasting Covenant of Grace?

Answ. When God doth in deed and in truth bring in a sinner into this most blessed covenant, [Come to the Touchstone, sinner]. for so it is, He usually goeth this way—

First. He slays or kills the party to all things besides Himself, and His Son Jesus Christ, and the comforts of the Spirit. For the clearing of this I shall show you, 1. With what God kills; 2. How God kills; 3. To what God kills those whom He makes alive in Jesus Christ.

1. [What God kills]. When God brings sinners into the Covenant of Grace, He doth first kill them with the Covenant of Works, which is the moral law, or Ten Commandments. This is Paul’s doctrine, and also Paul’s experience. It is his doctrine where he saith, “The ministration of death, written and engraven in stones—the ministration of condemnation,” which is the law, in that place called the letter, “killeth” (2 Cor 3:6-9). The letter, saith he, killeth; or the law, or the ministration of death, which in another place is called “the voice of words” (Heb 12:19), because they have no life in them, but rather death and damnation, through our inability to fulfill them, doth kill (Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 6). It is his experience where he saith, “I was alive” that is, to my own things, “without the law once,” that is, before God did strike him dead by it, “but when the commandment came,” that is, to do and exercise its right office on me, which was to kill me, then “sin revived, and I died,” and I was killed. “And the commandment,” or the law, “which was ordained to” be unto “life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me” (Rom 7:9-11).

2. But how doth God kill with this law, or covenant?

1. By opening to the soul the spirituality of it—“The law is spiritual,” saith he, “but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom 7:14).

Now the spirituality of the law is discovered this way—

(1.) By showing to the soul that every sinful thought is a sin against it. Ay, sinner, when the law doth come home indeed upon thy soul in the spirituality of it, it will discover such things to thee to be sins that now thou lookest over and regardest not; that is a remarkable saying of Paul when he saith, “Sin revived, and I died.” Sin revived, saith he; as if he had said, Those things that before I did not value nor regard, but looked upon them to be trifles, to be dead, and forgotten; but when the law was fastened on my soul, it did so raise them from the dead, call them into mind, so muster them before my face, and put such strength into them, that I was overmastered by them, by the guilt of them. Sin revived by the commandment, or my sins had mighty strength, life, and abundance of force upon me because of that, insomuch that they killed me (Matt 5:28).

(2.) It showeth that every such sin deserveth eternal damnation.

Friends, I doubt there be but few of you that have seen the spirituality of the law of works. But this is one thing in which it discovereth its spirituality, and this is the proper work of the Law.

(3.) God, with a discovery of this, doth also discover His own Divine and infinite justice, of which the law is a description, which backs what is discovered by the law, and that by discovering of its purity and holiness to be so Divine, so pure, so upright, and so far of from winking at the least sin, that He doth by that law, without any favour, condemn the sinner for that sin (Gal 3:10). Now, when He hath brought the soul into this praemunire,13

into this puzzle, then,

2. He showeth to the soul the nature and condition of the law as to its dealings with, or forbearing of, the sinner that hath sinned against it; which is to pass an eternal curse upon both soul and body of the party so offending, saying to him, Cursed be the man that continueth not in everything that is written in the Book of the Law to do it; for, saith the law, this is my proper work; first, to show thee thy sins; and when I have done that, then, in the next place, to condemn thee for them, and that without all remedy, as from ME, or anything within my bounds, for I am not to save any, to pardon any—nay, not to favour any in the least thing that have sinned against me; for God did not send me to make alive, but to discover sin, and to condemn for the same. Now, so soon as this is presented to thy conscience, in the next place, the Lord also by this law doth show that now there is no righteous act according to the tenor of that covenant that can replieve him, or take him off from all this horror and curse that lies upon him; because that is not an administration of pardon, as I said before, to forgive the sin, but an administration of damnation, because of transgression.

O, the very discovery of this striketh the soul into a deadly swoon, even above half dead! But when God doth do the work indeed, He doth, in the next place, show the soul that he is the man that is eternally under this covenant by nature, and that it is he that hath sinned against this law, and doth by right deserve the curse and displeasure of the same, and that all that ever he can do will not give satisfaction to that glorious justice that did give this law; holy actions, tears of blood, selling all, and giving it to the poor, or whatever else can be done by thee, it comes all short and is all to no purpose (Phil 3). I will warrant him, he that seeth this, it will kill him to that which he was alive unto before, though he had a thousand lives. Ah, sinners, sinners, were you but sensible indeed of the severity and truth of this, it would make you look about you to purpose! O, how would it make you strive to stop at that that now you drink down with delight! How many oaths would it make you bite asunder! Nay, it would make you bite your tongues to think that they should be used as instruments of the devil to bring your souls into such an unspeakable misery; then also we should not have you hang the salvation of your souls upon such slender pins as now you do; no, no; but you would be in another mind then. O, then we should have you cry out, I must have Christ; what shall I do for Christ? how shall I come at Christ? Would I was sure, truly sure of Christ. My soul is gone, damned, cast away, and must for ever burn with the devils, if I do not get precious Jesus Christ!

3. In the next place, when God hath done this, then He further shows the soul that that covenant which it is