by Robert Barclay

“ For the two opposite principles, whereof the one rules in the children of darkness, the other in the children of light, are sin and righteousness; and as they are respectively leavened and actuated by them, so they are accounted either as reprobated or justified, seeing it is abomination in the sight of God, either to justify the wicked or condemn the just. Now to say that men cannot be so leavened by the one as to be delivered from the other, is in plain words to affirm, that sin and righteousness are consistent ”

“ And if hoping or believing to be made free from sin, hinders praying for forgiveness of sin, it would follow by the same inference that men ought not to forsake murder, adultery, or any of these gross evils, seeing the more men are sinful, the more plentiful occasion there would be of asking forgiveness of sin, and the more work for mortification. But the apostle had sufficiently refuted such sin-pleasing cavils in these words, Rom. ”

“ Now if there be a necessity of sinning daily, and in all things, then there can be no perfection; for such as do so cannot be esteemed perfect. And if for effectuating this perfection in the saints the ministry be appointed and disposed of God, do not such as deny the possibility hereof render the ministry useless, and of no profit? Seeing there can be no other true use assigned, but to lead people out of sin into righteousness. ”

“ Our adversaries are exalters of the scriptures in words, much crying up their usefulness and perfection: now the apostle tells us, 2 Tim. iii. 17. That the scriptures are for making the man of God perfect; and if this be denied to be attainable in this life, then the scriptures are of no profit; for in the other life we shall not have use for them. It renders the prayers of the saints altogether useless, seeing themselves do confess they ought to pray daily that God would deliver them from evil, and free them from sin, by the help of his Spirit and grace, while in this world. ”

“ Those that plead for justification wholly without them, merely by imputative righteousness, denying the necessity of being clothed with real and inward righteousness, do consequently affirm, "That it is impossible for a man, even the best of men, to be free of sin in this life, which, they say, no man ever was; but on the contrary, that none can, neither of himself, nor by any grace received in this life (O wicked saying against the power of God's grace,) keep the commandments of God perfectly ”

“ This is certainly spoken of the saints while upon earth; but, contrary thereunto, these men affirm, that we are never redeemed from all iniquity, and so make Christ's giving of himself for us void and ineffectual, and give the apostle Paul the lie plainly, by denying that Christ purifieth to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. How are they zealous of good works, who are ever committing evil ones? How are they a purified people, that are still in impurity, as they are that daily sin, unless sin be accounted no impurity? ”

“ So then if the saints sin daily in thought, word, and deed, yea, if the very service they offer to God be sin, surely they serve the devil more than they do God: for besides that they give the devil many entire services, without mixture of the least grain to God, they give God not the least service in which the devil hath not a large share: and if their prayers and all their spiritual performances be sinful, the devil is as much served by them in these as God, and in most of them much more, since they confess that many of them are performed without the leadings and influence of God's Spirit. ”

“ Since we have placed justification in the revelation of Jesus Christ formed and brought forth in the heart, there working his works of righteousness, and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, the question is, How far he may prevail in us while we are in this life ”

“ Thirdly, That by this we understand not such a perfection as may not daily admit of a growth, and consequently mean not as if we were to be as pure, holy, and perfect as God in his divine attributes of wisdom, knowledge, and purity; but only a perfection proportionable and answerable to man's measure, whereby we are kept from transgressing the law of God, and enabled to answer what he requires of us ”

“ Lastly, Though I affirm, that after a man hath arrived at such a state, in which he may be able not to sin, yet he may sin: nevertheless, I will not affirm that a state is not attainable in this life, in which to do righteousness may be so natural to the regenerate soul, that in the stability of that condition he cannot sin. ”

“ But I shall proceed now, in the third place, to answer the objections, which indeed are the arguments of our opposers.
§. IX. [15] I shall begin with their chief and great argument, which is the words of the apostle, 1 John i. 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. This they think invincible.
[Ans. 1. If we say we have no sin, &c. objected.] But is it not strange to see men so blinded with partiality? How many scriptures tenfold more plain do they reject, and yet stick so tenaciously to this, that can receive so many answers? ”

“ XI. Blessed then are they that believe in him, who is both able and willing to deliver as many as come to him through true repentance from all sin, and do not resolve, as these men do, to be the devil's servants all their life-time, but daily go on forsaking unrighteousness, and forgetting those things that are behind, press forward toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; such shall not find their faith and confidence to be in vain, but in due time shall be made conquerors through him in whom they have believed ”

“ If two men were both grievously diseased, and applied themselves to a physician for remedy, which of those do most commend the physician and his cure, he that believeth he may be cured by him, and as he feels himself cured, confesseth that he is so, and so can say this is a skilful physician, this is a good medicine, behold I am made whole by it, or he that never is cured, nor ever believes that he can so long as he lives? ”

“ We on the contrary, though we freely acknowledge this of the natural fallen man, in his first state, whatever his profession or pretence may be, so long as he is unconverted and unregenerate, yet we do believe, that to those in whom Christ comes to be formed, and the new man brought forth, and born of the incorruptible seed, (as that birth, and man in union therewith, naturally doth the will of God,) it is possible so far to keep to it, as not to be found daily transgressors of the law of God. ”

“ We have elsewhere spoken of the injustice these men ascribe to God, in making him to damn the wicked, to whom they allege he never afforded any means of being good; but this is yet an aggravation more irrational and inconsistent, to say, that God will not afford to those, whom he hath chosen to be his own, (whom they confess he loveth,) the means to please him. ”

“ That the saints nor can nor ever will be free of sinning in this life, is inconsistent with the wisdom of God, and with his glorious power and majesty, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity;* who having purposed in himself to gather to him that should worship him, and be witnesses for him on earth, a chosen people, doth also no doubt sanctify and purify them. For God hath no delight in iniquity, but abhors transgression; and though he regard man in transgression so far as to pity him, and afford him means to come out of it ”

“ Surely this makes God more unrighteous than wicked men, who if (as Christ saith) their children require bread of them, will not give them a stone; or instead of a fish, a serpent. But these men confess we ought to seek of God power to redeem us from sin, and yet believe they are never to receive such a power ”

“ Then surely if every man sin daily in thought, word, and deed, and that in his sins there is no righteousness at all, and that all his righteous actions are polluted and mixed with sin, then there is in every man more unrighteousness than righteousness ”

“ But these men make this purpose of none effect; for they will not have the Son of God to destroy the works of the devil in his children in this world, neither will they at all believe that he was manifest to take away our sins, seeing they plead a necessity of always living in them. ”

“ So man, finding himself wounded, and not applying himself inwardly to that which can heal, labours in his own will after a conformity to the law as it is without him, which he can never obtain, but finds the more he wrestles, the more he falleth short. ”

“ V. Thirdly, This evil doctrine is highly injurious to Jesus Christ, and greatly derogates from the power and virtue of his sacrifice, and renders his coming and ministry, as to the great end of it, ineffectual. For Christ, as for other ends, so principally he appeared for the removing of sin, for the gathering a righteous generation, that might serve the Lord in purity of mind, and walk before him in fear, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and that evangelical perfection which the law could not do. ”

“ And we doubt not but many good and holy men, who have arrived to everlasting life, have had divers ebbings and flowings of this kind; for though every sin weakens a man in his spiritual condition, yet it doth not so as to destroy him altogether, or render him uncapable of rising again.
[V. Righteousness become natural.] ”

“ Since the subject is still denominated from that accident that doth most influence it; as a wall is called white when there is much whiteness, and black when there is much blackness, and such like; but when there is more unrighteousness in a man than righteousness, that man ought rather to be denominated unrighteous than righteous. ”

“ Let rational men judge which hath most sense in it, to say, as our adversaries do, It is necessary that we fight and wrestle, but we must never think of overcoming, we must resolve still to be overcome ”

“ Fourthly, This being considered, as also how positive and plain once and again the same apostle is in that very epistle, as in divers places above cited, is it equal or rational to strain this one place, presently after so qualified and subsumed in the time past, to contradict not only other positive expressions of his, but the whole tendency of his epistle, and of the rest of the holy commands and precepts of the scripture?
[Obj. 2.] Secondly, Their second objection is from two places of scripture, much of one signification: the one is, 1 Kings viii. 46. For there is no man that sinneth not. ”