CHAP. IV.

Of the New Creature.

THE Second great mark of a gracious state, and true saving interest in Jesus Christ, is the new creature: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” This new creation, or renovation of man, is a very sensible change; although not in those who are effectually called from the womb, or in their younger years; because those have had this new creature from that time in them, so that this change in after periods of time is not so discernible as in those who have been regenerated and brought in to Christ after they were come to greater age, and so have more palpably been under the “power of darkness,” before they were “translated into the kingdom of Christ.” But in all who do warrantably pretend to Christ, this new creature must be; although some do not know experimentally the opposite character and condition so much as others do; because they have not been equally, in regard of practice, under the power of darkness. This new creature is called “the new man,” which doth hold out the extent of it. It is not simply a new tongue, or new hand, but “a new man.” There is a principle of new life and motion put into the man, which is the new heart; which new principle of life sendeth forth acts of life, or of “conformity to the image of him who created it;” so that the 122party is renewed in some measure every way. This renovation of the man who is in Christ may be reduced to these two great heads:—

I. There is a renovation of the man’s person, soul and body, in some measure.

1. His understanding is renewed, so that he judgeth “Christ preached” in the gospel, to be “the wisdom and power of God,” a wise and strong device, beseeming God. He knoweth the things of God really and solidly, not to be yea and nay, and uncertain fancies; but all to be yea and amen, solid, certain, and substantial things, having a desirable accomplishment in Christ, and resolving much into him: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned: but he that is spiritual, judgeth all things.” “As God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. Nor the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, unto the glory of God by us.” Natural men, educated under gospel-ordinances, although they have some intellectual knowledge of God, Christ, the promises, the motions of the Holy Spirit, &c. so that they may confer, preach, and dispute, about these things; yet they look on them as commonly-received maxims of Christianity, from which to recede, were a singularity and a disgrace; but not as real, solid, substantial truths, so 123as to adventure their souls and everlasting being on them. The understanding is renewed also, to understand somewhat of God in the creatures, as bearing marks of his glorious attributes; they see “the heavens declaring his glory and power;” and somewhat of God in providence, and the dispensations that fall out: “His wondrous works declare that his name is near.” The understanding also perceiveth the conditions and cases of the soul otherwise than it was wont to do; as we find the saints usually speaking in Scripture: “O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord;” “My soul said, Thy face will I seek;” “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” “Return unto thy rest, O my soul.”

2. The heart and affections are renewed. The heart is made “a new heart, a heart of flesh,” capable of impressions, having a copy of his law stamped on it, and the fear of God put into it, whereby the man’s duty becomes in a manner native and kindly to the man: “A new heart also will I give you, And a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” It was before a “heart of stone,” void of the fear of God. The affections are now renewed; the love is renewed in some good measure; it goeth out after God: “I will love the Lord” after his law: “O how love I thy law!” after those who have God’s image in them. “By 124this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” This love to God’s people is upon a pure account, as they are the children of God, and do keep his statutes; it is “with a pure heart fervently;” and therefore it goeth towards all those whom the man knows or apprehends to be such: “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts,” in all cases and conditions, even where there is nothing to beautify or commend but the image of God. And this love is so fervent many times, that it putteth itself out in all relations, so that a man seeketh a godly wife, a godly master, a godly servant, a godly counsellor, if ye have to choose upon: “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.” And “it is not quenched by many waters.” Many imperfections and infirmities, differences in opinion, wrongs received, will not altogether quench love. Also it is communicative of good according to its measure, and as the case of the poor godly requires: “Thou art my Lord, my goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints;” “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.” The man’s 125hatred is also renewed, and is now directed against sin: “I hate vain thoughts;”—against God’s enemies, as such: “Do not I hate them that hate thee?” The joy or delight is renewed, for it runneth towards God: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee:” towards his law and will: “His delight is in the law of the Lord;” and towards the godly and their fellowship: “To the saints, in whom is all my delight.” The sorrow is turned against sin which hath wronged Christ: “Looking to him whom they have pierced, they mourn.” “The sorrow is godly” against what encroacheth upon God’s honour: “They are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, and the reproach of that is their burden.” There is some renovation in all the affections, as in every other part of the soul pointing now towards God.

3. The very outward members of the man are renewed, as the Scripture speaks,—the tongue, the eye, the ear, the hand, the foot; so that “those members which once were improved as weapons of unrighteousness unto sin, are now improved as weapons of righteousness unto holiness.”

II. A man who is in Christ is renewed in some measure in all his ways: “Behold all things are become new.” The man becometh new,

1. In the way of his interest. He was set upon any good before, though but apparent, and at best but external: “Many say, Who will show us any good?” But now his interest and business is, how to “be found in Christ,” in that day; or 126how to be obedient to him, and “walk before him in the light of the living,” which he would choose among all the mercies that fill this earth: “The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy, teach me thy statutes.” The interest of Christ also becomes the man’s interest, as appears in the song of Hannah, and in the song of Mary. It is strange to see people newly converted, and having reached but the beginnings of knowledge, concern and interest themselves in the public matters of Christ’s kingdom, so desirous to have him riding prosperously, and subduing the people under him.

2. The man that is in Christ, is renewed in the way of his worship. He was wont to “serve God in the oldness of the letter,” in appearance, answering the letter of the command in external duty, which one in whom the old man hath absolute dominion can do; but now he worships God “in newness of spirit,” in a new way, wherein he is “helped by the Spirit of God,” beyond the reach of flesh and blood. He “serveth now the true and living God,” “in spirit and in truth.” Having spiritual apprehensions of God, and engaged in his very soul in that work, doing and saying truly and not feignedly when he worshippeth; still “desiring to approach unto him as a living God,” who heareth and seeth him, and can accept his service. I grant he fails of this many times; yet I may say, such worship he intends, and sometimes overtakes, and doth not much reckon that worship which is not so so performed unto God: and the iniquity of his holy things is not the least part of his burden and exercise. 127To such a worship natural men are strangers, whilst they babble out their vain-glorious boastings, like the Pharisee, “Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men;” or “to an unknown God.”

3. The man that is in Christ is renewed in the way of his outward calling and employment in the world; he now resolves to be diligent in it, because God hath commanded so: “Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;”—and to eye God in it as the last end, “doing it to his glory;” and studies to keep some intercourse with God in the exercise of his outward employments, as Jacob doth in his latter will, “have waited for thy salvation, O Lord;” and as Nehemiah did, “Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven:” so that the man resolves to walk with God, and “set him always before him,” in which I deny not he often faileth.

4. He becomes new in the way of his relations; he becomes a more dutiful husband, father, brother, master, servant, neighbour, &c. “Herein doth he exercise himself, to keep a conscience void of offence towards men as well as towards God,” “becoming all things to all men.”

5. He becomes new in the way of lawful liberties; he studies to make use of meat, drink, sleep, recreations, apparel, with an eye to God, labouring not to come under the power of any lawful thing: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but 1 will not be brought under the power of any:” nor 128to give offence to others in the use of these things. “For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” “Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification; not using liberty as an occasion to the flesh.” Yea, he labours to use all these things as a stranger on earth, so that his moderation may appear: “Let your moderation be known unto all men.” And he always looks to God as the last end in these things; “doing all to the glory of God:” so that we may say of that man, “Old things are much passed away, all things are,” in some measure, “become new.” He that is so new a creature, is undoubtedly in Christ.

This renovation of a man in all manner of conversation, and this being under law to God in all things, is that “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Men may fancy things to themselves; but unless they study to approve themselves unto God in all well-pleasing, and attain to some inward testimony of sincerity in that way, they shall not assure their hearts before him. “The testimony of mens’ conscience is their rejoicing.” “By this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” “And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards 129God.” There is no confidence if the heart condemn. This is the new creature, having a principle of new spiritual life infused by God into the heart, by which it becomes new, and puts forth acts of new life throughout the whole man, as we have said, so that he pointeth towards the whole law. 1. Towards those commands which forbid sin; so he resolveth to set against secret sins, “not to lay a stumbling-block before the blind.” Little sins, which are judged so by many, the least things of the law: “Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.” Spiritual sins, filthiness of the spirit: “Having therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Sins of omission as well as of commission, since, men are to be judged by these: “Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat, I was thirsty, and ye gave me, no drink,” &c. Yea, sins that are wrought into his natural humour and constitution, and thus are as “a right eye or hand” to him: “If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee,” &c. This new principle of life, by the good hand of God, maketh the man set himself against every known sin, so far as not to allow peaceable abode to any known darkness: “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 2. As 130also he pointeth towards those commands which relate to duty, and the quickening of grace in man: it maketh a man “respect all God’s known commands;” to “live godly, righteously, and soberly:” yea, and to study a right and sincere way and manner of doing things, resolving not to give over this study of conformity to God’s will, whilst he lives on earth, but still to “press forward toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” This is true holiness, very becoming all those who pretend to be heirs of that holy habitation, in the immediate company and fellowship of a holy God: “We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.”

Some may think those things high attainments, and very hard to be got at. I grant it is true. But,

I. Remember that there is a very large allowance in the covenant, promised to his people, which makes things more easy. The Lord has engaged “to take away the stony heart, to give a heart of flesh, a new heart, a heart to fear him for ever;” he has engaged to “put his law in men’s heart; to put his fear in their heart, to make them keep that law; to put his Spirit in them, to cause them keep it.” He hash promised “to satisfy the priests with fatness,” that the souls of “the people may be satisfied with his goodness; and to keep and water them continually every moment.” And if he must be “inquired to do all these things unto men,” he engageth to “pour out the spirit of grace and supplication on them;” and so to learn them how to seek 131these things, and how to set him to it, to do all for them.

II. For the satisfaction of weaker Christians, I grant this new creature, as we have circumscribed and enlarged it, will not be found, in all the degrees of it, in every gracious person. But it is well if,

1. There be a new man. We cannot grant less: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;” and that is the new man, which all must put on who are savingly taught of Christ: “If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind: and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” There must be some renewing after the image of God in a man’s soul and body; there must be somewhat of every part of the man pointing towards God. Although I grant every one cannot teach this to others, neither discern it in himself, because many know not the distinct parts of the soul, nor those reformations competent to every part of the soul and body; yet it will be found there is some such thing in them, yea, they have a witness of it within them, if you make the thing plain and clear to them what it is.

2. There must be such a respect unto God’s known commands, that a man do not allow peaceably any known iniquity to dwell in him; for “what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 132He must not regard iniquity: “Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” I grant men may be ignorant of many commands and many sins, and may imagine, in some cases, that some sins are not hateful to God: but supposing that they are instructed in these things, there can be no agreement between righteousness and unrighteousness.

3. Men must point towards all the law of God in their honest resolutions; for this is nothing else than to give up the heart unto God, to put his law in it without exception, which is a part of the covenant we are to make with God: “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel—I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” I grant many know not how to point towards God’s law in all their ways; but if it be made manifest to them how that should be done, they will point at it. And it is true, they will many times fail of their resolutions in their practice; yet when they have failed, they can say, they did resolve otherwise, and will yet honestly, and without guile, resolve to do otherwise, and it will prove their affliction to have failed of their resolution, when the Lord discovers it to them, which he will do in due time.

4. When we are to judge of our state by the new creature, we must do it at a convenient time, when we are in good case, at least, not when we are in the worst case; for “the flesh and spirit do lust and fight against each other;” and sometimes the one and 133sometimes the other doth prevail. Now, I say, we must choose a convenient time, when the spiritual part is not by some temptation worsted and overpowered by the flesh; for in that case the new creature is driven back in its streams, and much returned to the fountain and the habits, except in some small things not easily discernible, by which it makes opposition to the flesh, according to the above scripture. For, now is it the time of winter in the soul, and we may not expect fruit, yea, not leaves, as in some other season: only here, lest profane Atheists should take advantage of this, we will say, that the spirit often prevails over the flesh in a godly man, and yet the scope, aim, tenor, and main drift of his way is “in the law of the Lord,” that is his walk; whereas, the path-way and ordinary course of the wicked is sin, as is often hinted in the book of the Proverbs of Solomon. And if it happen that a godly man be overmastered by any transgression, it is usually his sad exercise; and we suppose he keeps it still in dependency before God to have it rectified, as David speaketh, “Wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling!”