Of the Order and Method that God takes in our Conversion; First, Working in us inward Principles, and then causing us to walk in his Statutes, opposite to the Doctrine of Pelagians, Papists, Arminians, and Moral Philosophy; Also signes to discover whether our outward Duties proceed from Grace within, or from Humane respects.
EZEK. 36. 27.
THe precious and great mercy of conversion promised in this Text under several Titles and Notions, hath been fully considered of and improved. There remain several other particulars, which are not without their great weight and moment. As in the first place, The Order and Method of the promise is to be taken notice of; for he worketh in the same method as he promiseth: the Method is this: First, He promiseth to give the inward root, then the fruit; first the fountain, then the streams: He first promiseth the inward principles, and habit of grace, a new heart, a new spirit, and then he will cause them to walk in his commandments. God is both the Author of Nature, and the Author of grace; now as the Author of Nature, he first worketh the principles of life, he giveth the principles of Motions, and all vital Actions, and afterwards the exercise. So it is here, God doth in the way of grace bestow a supernatural principle upon men, and then being1 First made good Trees, then they bring forth good fruit. The Observation.
That God doth first work the foundations and principles of holinesse, and from them men walk and live holily. Thus the Apostle saith, We are his workmanship, created to every good work, Eph 2. 10. We do not first do good works, and so become Gods workmanship; but we are first his workmanship, and then we exercise our selves in good and holy works.
This Doctrine hath its great use, both in matter of information, and exhortation; and there is more consequence in it, then an ordinary apprehension will at first conceive. Therefore to clear this, we will first illustrate this Truth, by the opposite of it, or contrary opinions.
And first, Grace doth not come at first into the heart, as sin came into the world; for Adam was not made a bad tree, and so brought forth bad fruit; his person was not made wicked, and his nature, and then that infected his Actions; but God made him after his own image, in righteousnesse and true holinesse: So that his soul being furnished with all graces, as the heavens are adorned with several stars, he might have continued in all holy actions sutable to his original perfection. Adams sinful disobedience, did not as outs, flow from a polluted unclean nature, but from the meer liberty of his will: and when he had thus actually transgressed, then that actuall sin infected, and poisoned his whole nature. Thus you see the actions of sinne were before the habits, and principles of sin: there was a branch before a root; there was a sweet fountain, and yet a bitter streams but God in converting and changing of us, doth take the contrary course; he first sanctifieth our Natures, all the faculties of the soul; layeth a spiritual life as a foundation, and then being thus inwardly enlivened and established, we are carried out to all holy actions: So that all the glorious outward actions of religion, that are visible to the eyes of the world; if they be built without this inward foundation they will prove but a Babel: They are but like Sodoms apples, glorious for shew, but indeed dust and Ashes. It is good to observe, How that God in the Creation of the world, both in vegetative, and sensitive creatures, still created the principles first, and that in perfection, Seminative, able to beget and propagate others; and thus it is also in conversion, he worketh these holy and excellent principles, which afterwards are operative and vigorous.
Secondly, God working thus a new Nature, and thereby enabling to new actions,2 takes a far other course to make holy, then Moral Philosophy teacheth: For if we read all the Moral Philosophers, perswading us to be temperate, just, or prudent, if you ask them, How shall we come to have the habits of these things? They will tell you, by frequent actions, justa agendo sumus justi, by doing many righteous actions frequently, so we come to have habits. Thus they know no other way, and there is no better Divinity in most people; for they think by doing godly actions, they are made godly: and so they think by walking in Gods commandments, to get a new spirit, which is the clear inverted order to the Text; for God first giveth this New spirit, and then causeth to walk in his Law; we indeed are commanded to be diligent in the use of the means; we must attend to the Ordinances of grace; but till this spiritual life be infused, there is not one good action done by us in a good manner: All that thou dost till this new principle be put in thee, hath but the body of a good action, not the soul of it. Nothing thou dost is pleasing to God, Heb. 11. 6. God is angry with thee all the day long, All things are become polluted, and unclean to thee, Ti[…]. 1. 15. Oh were not men hardened in their sins, and led captive by the Divel according to his pleasure: they could never eat, or drink, or take any rest till they got out of that damnable estate, wherein all the day long they were treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. Belshazzar saw but one hand-writing in the wall against him, and he knew not what it was; yet it strook him with terror and trembling: But now thou hast many hand-writings, and Ordinances against thee, even the whole word of God; and thou canst not but know what they are, yet thou art not affected with fear. What was written of Belshazzar, Thou art weighed, and found too light; The same Gods word saith of all thy Duties, performances, and seeming religion, It is weighed, and it is found too light: And the reason is, because all thy religious duties are like leaves fallen from the tree dried, and without s[…]p or moysture.