In 1668, some twenty-two years after Burroughs’s death, a number of his friends published a series of his sermons titled Gospel Remission. The sermons were originally preached by Burroughs immediately after a series on the evil of sin. Taking up this subject at this time was Burroughs’s way of bringing comfort to “such souls who, by the former arguments, have been made apprehensive of the dreadful evil of it.” Indeed, asks Burroughs, “what more seasonable and suitable argument can we now treat of than the blessedness of Pardon of Sin?” [1]
The Scripture text that formed the basis for this series of sermons is Psalm 32:1: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” These words, says Burroughs, “are indeed the genuine voice of a true penitent; the very character of a humble penitent soul;…one that has admiring thoughts of the blessedness of the pardon of sin.” Burroughs then goes on to say, “And blessed may your ears be who after hearing of the dreadfulness of sin, may come to hear the blessed doctrine of pardon.” It was Burroughs’s sincere hope that this subject, with God’s guidance, would enable him to present to his hearers “the excellency of those truths contained in this Scripture”; that this subject would “prove…to be to them, ‘as apples of gold in settings of silver’”—a reference to Proverbs 25:11. [2]
In setting the psalm in its context, Burroughs shows that David, although he had “a monopoly of the comforts of this world,” “the delights of this world,” “the crown upon his head,” and “victories over his enemies,” did not derive his true happiness from these things. On the contrary, “in the midst of all outward good things David enjoyed in this world, he found his blessedness to consist in this: the pardon and forgiveness of his sins.” From these words Burroughs draws forth the doctrine he will expound and apply, namely, “The blessedness of any man or woman does not consist in the enjoyment of anything in the world, but in the free grace of God forgiving of his sin.” Likewise, “it neither consists in anything we can do or have, but in the free grace of God forgiving of sin.” [3]
According to Burroughs, quoting Luther, the importance of this doctrine is such that if it is permitted to “lie dead,” then “all the whole knowledge of other truths is to little purpose.” On this premise, Burroughs endeavors to present to his hearers “wherein the blessedness of the pardon of sin consists” and also to show “in what particulars the blessedness of pardon of sin may appear” unto them. [4]
In these sermons, blessedness is first shown “negatively in the evil it frees us from,” and then positively by showing “the riches of mercy in [the] forgiveness of sin” bestowed upon us. Speaking first to the “poor sinner who understands what the meaning of sin is, and who understands something of the dreadful evil of it,” Burroughs asks, “Oh poor sinner, what do you see?” [5] In response to his own question, Burroughs puts himself in the place of the sinner and makes these comments:
Oh, I see the angry countenance of an infinite God against me, whose eyes are as a flaming fire looking with indignation upon me! I see a black dismal cloud of the displeasure of the Almighty hanging over me! I see a most hideous and dreadful sentence of wrath ready to fall upon me! I see woe, misery, and destruction pursuing me! I see blackness of darkness and desolation even surrounding me! I both see and feel the woeful accusations of a guilty conscience within me, condemning me, continually grating upon my soul and terrifying me with dreadful visions of eternal miseries to betide me! I see the chain of black guilt and horror on my soul that I carry with me wherever I go! I see the bottomless gulf of eternal horror and despair with the mouth of it wide open to swallow me up! [6]This piercing, graphic description of an enlightened sinner’s understanding of the fearful—indeed, dreadful—consequences of sin is used by Burroughs by way of contrast to the blessedness that is to be had when sin is pardoned:
Now then, this sight being presented before an enlightened and awakened conscience…the pardon and forgiveness of sin [come in] whereby this dreadful cloud is dispelled. The tempest is gone. The darkness and misery vanish away and all evil whatsoever. The soul is set free from sin and from all the dreadful consequences of it. Is not this a blessed man? Compare his former condition with his present state, looking on him as having the sense of the dreadful evil of sin upon his conscience, and the heavy burden of it on his back, ready to sink under it into the gulf of misery, and now pardon of sin comes. Oh, what a blessed change is this! Oh, blessed is the man whose sin is pardoned! Now what God had laid unto his charge, whether his own conscience, the Law, the devil, or the world, it is all done away. All is discharged and gone. Blessed is the man who is thus delivered. [7]The positive aspect of sin being forgiven is handled by Burroughs from the perspective of “the excellency of that mercy God makes that soul partaker of whose sins are forgiven.” Quoting Daniel 9:9 (“To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness”), Burroughs exclaims, “Forgiveness is the fruit of glorious mercies.” [8] He goes on to note a variety of expressions that Scripture uses in speaking of God’s mercy, such as “riches of God’s mercy” (Eph. 1:7), “plenteous mercy” (Ps. 86:3), “fullness of compassion” (Ps. 78:38), and “multitude of mercies” (Ps. 51:1).
Burroughs is insistent that the infinite capacity of God is “the efficient cause of mercy in the forgiveness of sins.” Here he argues that although a person’s sins may be many and great, still God abounds in mercy. In God there is an “infinite vast ocean of mercy, in which the sins of the elect come to be swallowed up.” To make his point, he uses an illustration his hearers would well understand: “Look as in the mighty ocean, whether you cast in a load or a shovel full of earth, the vast ocean makes little difference of either one. So it is when a soul comes to God in Christ.” In other words: “When it comes to pardon and justification, whether those sins are little or great, it is all one. The mercy of God makes no difference at all.” “It is an infinite ocean of mercy that swallows up all the evil in sin.” [9]
Such is the glorious effect of God’s mercy in the pardoning of sin that it draws a timely warning from Burroughs to his hearers: “Take heed to what I say while I am speaking of forgiveness of sin, [for] I shall make known so much grace that, if you abuse it, it will be one of the most dreadful things you ever did…especially you that desire to hear of the pardoning mercy of God.” [10]
Turning to “the final cause of mercy in forgiveness of sins,” Burroughs states that it is to the end “that God might manifest the riches of his grace.” It is to the end that “God may declare before men and angels, to all eternity, what the infinite riches of the infinite grace of God is able to do for poor sinners,” when He comes to pardon their sin. Such a work “is no light and mean thing,” but rather, a “most glorious work of God,” and therefore, “that man to whom such mercy is shown must needs be very blessed.” That God is gloriously at work is also “a mighty argument to uphold a poor soul under trouble of sin.” This thought draws from Burroughs this plea: “O, troubled soul…let not your heart sink, come in and cast yourself on the free grace of God.” [11]
Failure to appreciate the greatness of this mercy lies in man’s failure to see sin from God’s perspective. In so doing, men judge God by their own standards and thus “think slightly of him” and have “slight thoughts of sin.” In “measuring the infinite hatred that God has for sin by their own” views of sin, they “hope they may do well enough.” But such an attitude, argues Burroughs, is to evaluate the infinite mercy of God as if it “were no different than the mercy of man.” [12]
Contrary to these low thoughts of God’s pardoning mercy and grace, Burroughs argues that there are “wonderful mysteries of godliness in forgiveness of sin.” These mysteries, eleven in all, are handled thoroughly to the end that he might set before his hearers “the great work of God in pardoning sin,” and “to raise up the thoughts of men to the right understanding of this great point of justification of a sinner.” The end purpose, as is always the case with Burroughs, is that God may be glorified by his hearers: that they “may sanctify God’s name, by having such thoughts of it as the thing itself calls for.” [13]
The first three of these mysteries speak of God working through His chosen Mediator—His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Here Burroughs states in a few paragraphs that Christ, from all eternity, undertook to take man’s debt to God upon Himself and to discharge that debt through His suffering and death. On this basis, argues Burroughs, “you must not look for pardon of sin in a natural way to cry for forgiveness.” Indeed, “if there be any truth in the divinity of the Word, it is in this, that all forgiveness and pardon any creature has, it is by the mediation of the Son of God.” [14]
Burroughs also informs his hearers that “rather than you should eternally perish, God is content to pass your sins over unto his own Son,” to the extent that “his own Son shall suffer as much punishment as if you should eternally suffer the wrath of God for your sin.” By this last comment we are led to understand that God’s pardon “is not such a pardon as that there is no punishment to be suffered”—indeed, as Burroughs reminds his hearers, the contrary is true: “Christ is content to suffer so much as your sins come to, or else you must have been eternally damned.” “Now they must needs be blessed that God [and Christ] does so much for.” [15]
In unfolding the next two mysteries (mysteries four and five), Burroughs makes two fundamental points: 1) “Where sin is pardoned, the soul stands righteous before God” and 2) “this righteousness is in another.” For Burroughs this standing is brought about by such “an act of justification” that “the law comes to be satisfied.” To ensure that his hearers are not under any misapprehension as to the doctrine he is unfolding, Burroughs goes on to say, “I speak not of sanctification.” [16]
In developing his second point, Burroughs explains that in forgiveness of sins, “our sins come to be transferred and put upon Christ” and Christ’s righteousness is transferred in such a way that “that soul comes to be righteous before God.” Burroughs illustrates his second point in this way: “All the garments in the world, bedecked with diamonds, are but filthy garments in comparison to the garments of Christ’s righteousness that are put upon man when his sins are forgiven.” This being so, then surely, Burroughs proclaims, “blessed is that man that comes to have the shining garments of Christ’s righteousness upon him.” [17]
But it is not only by being clothed in the righteousness of Christ that the pardoned soul stands righteous before God; it is that God brings that person “into such a near union with his own Son as makes…[that person] to be one with him.” And such a union that “no two things in the world are so near together as…[the pardoned sinner] and Christ.” Here Burroughs explains what he means by way of two illustrations from nature: 1) “the branch, though it be in the root, the root cannot be in the branch”; 2) “though the members be in the body the body cannot be in the members.” The final expression of this union is “Christ in us and we in him.” Rightly then does Burroughs proclaim: “Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, because by this means, God brings the soul and Christ to such a union, that all natural unions are but dark shadows of it.” [18]
Furthermore, when God forgives a sinner, He is not only “infinitely merciful,” He is also “infinitely just.” That God is merciful “is clear to every one,” says Burroughs, but how God is also just at the same time is one of “the three great mysteries of religion” (the other two are the Trinity—three Persons yet one God; and the two natures in the one Person, namely, Christ). In pardoning a sinner, then, there is “an admirable reconciliation between God’s justice and mercy.” With the amazing work of God in the justification of a sinner set before his hearers, Burroughs exhorts them not to have slight thoughts regarding the pardon and forgiveness of sin. On the contrary, because this is one of the “greatest doctrines of divinity,” they should “sanctify the name of God in it, and give him that glory that is due to this great work.” [19]
The ninth mystery of godliness handled by Burroughs refers to the all-inclusive nature of God’s forgiveness: “when God forgives a sinner any one sin for the present, he likewise forgives him all the sins that ever he shall commit afterwards.” It is granted by Burroughs that such forgiveness is “a mighty mystery,” but he argues that unless forgiveness comes in this manner it would mean that “at any time when a justified person sins, until he renew an act of faith for pardon,” he must be in “the state of condemnation.” Furthermore, if there is some sin, as Burroughs argues there is, “in the last action a believer does in this world [die]” and in that instant is in a state of condemnation, how then could he perform an act of faith? [20]
Burroughs is not indulging in a hypothetical argument here, for he acknowledges that a justified person does sin: “there is no instant of time wherein a believer does not some way or other sin against God.” But he is also adamant that “there could be no instant of time when it can be said of any justified person that he is in the state of condemnation.” Then, countering the view that such teaching could be construed as advocating antinomianism, Burroughs contends that “the knowledge of the great work of the propitiation by Christ brings the soul into a hatred of all sin and thus no nourisher of it.” Indeed, those who “receive the mercy of God in and through Christ Jesus…will be the greatest opposer of…sin.” [21]
In chapter 9, Burroughs expands on the absolute pardon of sin by arguing for the eternal security of the believer. This is based on the premise that “pardoning mercy is an irrevocable mercy.” Here again Burroughs acknowledges that a believer “may afterwards commit many offences that may provoke the displeasure of God against him,” but he insists that the believer “shall never so provoke God so as to cause him to revoke this mercy of pardon to all eternity.” For this reason, “a believer should not question his justification upon every failing in his sanctification, this is a dishonour to the free and rich grace of God.” [22]
In support of his argument regarding God’s irrevocable mercy and to strengthen assurance and bring praiseworthy comfort to every believer, Burroughs quotes Isaiah 43:25 (“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins”); Psalm 103:12 (“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us”) and Jeremiah 31:34 (“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more”).
For Burroughs, all “pardoning mercy comes from the fountain of God’s everlasting love,” “is a work that all three persons in the Trinity are engaged in,” and is “the special end of all God’s ordinances.” As a result of these things, “pardoning mercy” is “a perfect mercy.” In referring to the work of the Holy Spirit in pardoning, Burroughs says, “The great business for which he was sent, is to convince poor souls of the righteousness there is to be had in Christ for justification”—or, “to clear it unto them that the righteousness wherewith they must stand righteous before God is the righteousness of Christ,” and in so doing “to convince and satisfy the soul of God’s love.” [23]
But not content just to present this truth, Burroughs goes on to exhort his hearers: “Beg God to reveal this unto you that you may have the witness of the Spirit of God to testify unto you that your sins are pardoned.” Furthermore, “if you would run over and make some recollection of what has been delivered of the glorious blessedness of this mercy of forgiveness of sins you might see the effects following thereupon.” [24] One way to recollect is by getting into the quiet place:
Get into your closets and look into this mystery of godliness and recollect what you can of that which you have heard; and let this consideration lie warm upon your hearts and thoughts: “O Lord! What shall we say to these things, that God should have such thoughts of such mercy and grace in the pardon of sin as we have heard?”… And though for the present your hearts be not able to express more, yet by meditation on; sure the fire will kindle and bring forth some admirable expressions in glorifying the name of God, or in singing some psalm to his praise, or in doubling and trebling that blessed acclamation with the heavenly host [in] Luke 2:14: Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men. [25]Accepting that the triune God has worked to the everlasting comfort of man’s soul, as Burroughs has informed his hearers, “then it must needs be a horrible and vile thing to sin against this grace that the heart of God is so much in; to dishonour this great work of God must be a very vile and horrible thing.” For this reason it “has been my intention, my very plot,” says Burroughs, “to set forth the greatness of the grace of God in the mercy of forgiveness so as to keep you from sinning against this grace.” Once again we sense the pastoral concern of Burroughs for his hearers as he reminds them of the dishonor they do “to the pardoning grace of God by slighting it.” [26]
Such is the importance of this claim that Burroughs discusses at length the type of persons who would dishonor the grace of God. For Burroughs, dishonor may be as a result of being careless, that is, those who “have sin and guilt enough upon their spirits, yet they scarce ever call to mind, or question what are the terms between God and their own souls.” Then there are those who “make it their great work to increase the guilt of sin, by heaping up more and more guilt and so make the flame greater.” Others “think to have it [forgiveness of sin] at any time, when they will,” or those who in seeking the pardon of sin “dally with God and trifle with him.” [27]
This last group is further categorized as those who “seem to be very earnest with God in crying to him for pardon and yet still continue in the love to their sins.” Today they could be described as those who shed “crocodile tears.” Two other ways by which Burroughs describes those who “dally with God” are: “those who seek earnestly the pardon of some sins and yet still keep the love for some other sins”; and “those who look not after the answer of their prayers.” In other words, they have prayed to God, but have not “attend[ed] upon the means of grace that God uses to speak peace to [their] souls.” [28]
Such inadequate responses to the glorious work of God in pardoning sin draw this comment from Burroughs:
The work of the soul in seeking after God’s pardoning mercy, and applying it to himself,…[is] the most exquisite work of the spirit of man that ever was required, or that ever any creature was set about; it is the most intensive work of the spirit of man, applying the grace of God in Christ, and the closing with it for justification, it is the highest, most exquisite, most glorious and most admirable work of the spirit of man that ever was in the world, and it requires the greatest intenseness and strength of a man’s spirit that ever any work did. [29]Burroughs is not suggesting here that the most excellent work of man can bring about salvation, for these comments are followed by a timely reminder that it is a grave dishonor to the grace of God to “think there is a possibility of attaining it [pardon of sin] any other way than through the mediation of him who is the God-man.” The truth is “the greatest and most glorious work that you can perform is not nearly worth so much as one drop of the blood of Christ,” says Burroughs. It is also a dishonor to God to venture on sin in the hope that God will pardon it. People who act in this way may well be “convinced of sin,” but yet “venture on sin,” because, they reason, “God is a merciful God. He will forgive, though it is an evil.” But “there is more evil and mischief in this than you can imagine,” says Burroughs, for this kind of reasoning is nothing less than “turning the grace of God into wantonness, Jude 4.” [30]
How people come to this conclusion prompts two questions from Burroughs: “Does the revelation of the grace of God teach you to live ungodly and in worldly lusts? Can you look for that blessed hope with comfort and expect the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ?” The answer is a resounding no! “It is impossible; you cannot,” for it is “not a blessed hope that you have but a cursed hope that all shall be well at last though you live ungodly and wickedly.” And yes, our great God and Savior will appear, but “it will be a terrible appearing to you who made Christ, who came to dissolve the works of the devil, to be a man’s work, to uphold the works of the devil.” [31]
Continuing with this line of thought, Burroughs shows the real folly of believing “that God will never punish” by asking his hearers to “think of the damned in hell”:
They are flying in the face of God because they know that God will never pardon; and you sin because you hope God will pardon, which is the worse of the two. The devils and the damned are in such a condition that they know that God will never pardon them. And therefore they always curse God because they know he will not pardon. But God offers pardon and tenders grace to you, holds forth Jesus Christ to you, and his blood and sufferings for the pardoning of you, and you blaspheme because you hope he will pardon. Of the two, I think you should judge the second sort worse. You blaspheme because you hope God will pardon, and the others blaspheme God because they know he will not pardon. [32]These are very solemn words indeed. The words also indicate Burroughs’s belief in the conscious eternal punishment of those whose sins are unpardoned, something which many today reject.
Another serious way of “dishonouring the grace of God’s pardoning mercy” is to “sin after pardon.” It could be assumed by this comment that Burroughs is suggesting the possibility of living one’s life without sinning. This, however, would be to misunderstand Burroughs, for he accepts that believers will continue to sin. What Burroughs is referring to here are believers who fall into that specific sin they have sought pardon for and, importantly, for which they “have some comfortable assurance of pardon” in respect of it. Here Burroughs argues that while he does “not absolutely deny” that it is possible, he is insistent that Scripture gives no example of it: “I do not say we find no example of the children of God that have not committed the same sin again…but we find no example of any gross sin that they have fallen into: mark it, after their repentance and reconciliation…after they have renewed their faith and repentance [have they] fallen into the same sin again.” [33]
What Burroughs is stressing here is important—so important that he pleads with those who are children of God to “return not again to the same sin that God has graciously pardoned”; “return not again to folly.” It is clear to Burroughs that some abuse the pardoning grace of God after He has “given you assurance of his love and pardoning grace”—after He has come with “sweet comforts and rejoiced your souls” and said, “Your sins are pardoned.” For this reason it is easy to see why Burroughs gives this warning: “take heed of sinning again lest a worse thing befalls you.” [34]
Finally, there are those who become “drowsy in their spirits” and “are negligent in the ways of God.” Indeed, says Burroughs, they are “dead-hearted in their conversation, and do not answer the grace of God revealed to them.” When “seeking the grace of God [they] were strict in their conversation and conscientious in their ways…and dared not for their lives omit a known duty.” Likewise, they “attended the word with great patience…[and] their hearts closed with it.” But after “having some comfortable assurance of God’s mercy pardoning them,” they have “grown slight, vain, loose and dead-hearted.” Now, says Burroughs, this “is a very grievous evil wherever it may be charged,” and furthermore, “’tis a thousand to one you will lose your evidence.” [35]
In this context, evidence means the loss of assurance and comfort that the peace of God brings; there is no reliance on evidences from God’s Word regarding these things. Referring to Philippians 4:7—“the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”—Burroughs shows that the word “keep” can mean “guard,” as in, shall guard your hearts. But, he follows, “if thy sin breaks in upon you as fully and as freely as if there is no guard at all your condition is very sad.” Indeed, by “loose walking,” the assurance and comfort the peace of God, which is the best means of guarding the soul, could be so “blotted and blurred”; so “darkened and lost” that you “may never recover them again,” and therefore, “it may be as sad with you as if you were not at all pardoned.” [36]
What has brought about this sad condition is negligence in the ways of God, a failure to nurture those evidences gleaned from Scripture that sin is pardoned. It is a loss of the peace of God, the loss of the joy of salvation, but not their salvation: “’tis true, it is irrevocable in God’s heart”; “he does not take away his everlasting love.” This is good news, but, as Burroughs reminds his hearers, though God “may save your souls at last,” yet because of the “sloth and sluggishness of your hearts, you may pay dearly for it before you die.” He bases this last comment on the belief that it is a “greater aggravation than the sins of the wicked” for believers, who have “had a taste of the sweetness of God’s love in Christ in pardoning mercy,” [37] to be so negligent with the pardoning mercy of God.
This leads Burroughs to consider those who dishonor “the grace of God by not resting on it” and make mistakes regarding the greatness of pardoning mercy. The first group see themselves as beyond forgiveness: “my condition is such as I must expect no other but to lie for ever under the burden of my sins and bear for ever the punishment of them.” But this “limiting and determining of God’s grace” is fraught with evil. Yes, “there is reason to judge yourselves unworthy, and that God may deny you, but that God will deny you is another thing” (italics added). Indeed, to reason that “pardoning mercy will not be yours because your sins are so great” is contrary to Scripture, for “the main scope of all Scripture is to magnify the pardoning grace of God and set it out in its greatness to your soul.” [38]
But, ever mindful of the need for balance, Burroughs draws this section to a close by exhorting his hearers to turn their “fears of presuming into fears of dishonouring the grace of God”: “labour to set the greatness of the pardoning mercy of God in the fullness of it, to the utmost you can, before your eyes.” Furthermore, says Burroughs, “be careful to keep your hearts stirring and active” and “be afraid of deadness and dullness,” which means “stilling my heart under God and stirring my heart unto God.” By doing this you will “keep your heart in a waiting frame” and show a readiness “to catch hold of any beginnings of God’s discoverings of himself,” even if it is but “a little glimpse, make much of it and bless God for it.” Here we find Burroughs using Old Testament imagery to illustrate his point: “look and see if there be not a little cloud, the bigness of a man’s hand” and take notice of it, for “it may breed a shower, a shower of grace may come after it.” [39]
Having come to a conclusion regarding the “several ways of dishonouring the pardoning grace of God,” Burroughs now draws attention to a number of ways which show the “evil of dishonouring the pardoning grace of God.” First, it is an evil, says Burroughs, because it is “sinning against mercy, which God accounts his glory.” Second, it is an evil because it goes beyond the sins of the heathen, who will be condemned for sins against the light of nature, because they “never heard of such grace and pardoning mercy in Christ,” as those who “live under the gospel.” Thirdly, it is “above the sin of the devils,” for God never told them He was willing to pardon their sins; but Burroughs reminds his hearers, “to you is the gospel preached and pardon offered daily to you.” [40]
Although these are very solemn words, Burroughs does not end with them. He goes on to remind his hearers that “nothing will be such an aggravation of your torments as these sermons of God’s pardoning mercy if you go on in sin.” Indeed, such is the fearful condition of many of his hearers that he exclaims: “When we speak of the pardoning grace of God, we cannot do it without trembling hearts,“ for “those truths we preach will have a quick operation either to bring you out of your sins to salvation or to quickly dispatch you for condemnation.” [41] Here we have a glimpse of the importance of preaching and the necessity of attending well upon it, a subject that Burroughs expanded upon in a series of sermons which was published in 1648 as Gospel Worship.
Following these intense comments, Burroughs highlights some mistakes that are made regarding pardoning mercy. The first is to play down sin: “the sins I have been guilty of are no such great sins,” they are not “such horrible wickedness and notorious sins.” The second is similar as it suggests that only a few sins have been committed: “I have not multiplied and increased my sins as other have done.” The first of these mistakes fails to “understand the evil and malignity of sin.” Likewise, the second, for “one sin is enough to damn you as fully as a million transgressions.” There are also those who “apprehend their sins are pardoned because the guilt of them does not lie upon their conscience.” Such are mistaken because “there is no succession with God, no time past, nor time to come with God; all time to God is a perpetual now, and therefore all your sins that you have committed in time past, is in the eye of God as if they were committed this very hour.” [42]
It is also a mistake, and one that is most serious, according to Burroughs, to “sorrow for sin[s], repent of them and turn from them, and rely on God’s mercy through Christ that our sins are pardoned.” It would appear from this comment that Burroughs was unorthodox at this point. However, he clarifies that he is not referring to true repentance, which is always answered with pardon, but “a repentance because of the trouble our sins bring upon us,” which is “merely natural and flows from nature itself.” This is supported by the example of Ahab in 1 Kings 21:27-29, who showed great sorrow and “humbled himself before the Lord” but only as long as it was convenient, and it had no lasting effect. Another example is Judas: “when he saw Christ was condemned he repented, yet Judas was not pardoned.” [43]
The type of sorrow and repentance Burroughs has been referring to is likened to a man “who would erect a great building and lays the foundation of it in a quagmire or on the sand.” Such a foundation cannot hold firm, but hope built on the finished work of Christ, what Burroughs calls “the sorrows of Jesus Christ,” is the “surest ground.” The point is well made that all our “sorrows for sin cannot satisfy God’s justice.” Indeed, he argues, “if you think that because you mourn and are a little sorrowful you shall be pardoned,” you are mistaken because “true sorrow rather follows the work of justification than precedes it.” [44]
The way that Burroughs explains himself here is worth quoting in detail:
When God pardons sin, he lets out the graces of his Spirit, and then comes sorrow as a fruit or evidence of God’s pardoning love and reconciliation…. God never gives his Spirit to work saving grace in the heart till he is reconciled. ’Tis the fruit of his pardoning grace and favour, and because he has justified you, he sends his Spirit to work sorrow and repentance. Many think justification flows from sorrow, but you must come to sorrow and repentance another way. Know that all true sorrow flows from justification. All that sorrow before justification is but legal sorrow and reveals something that may hinder the soul from Christ, as sin, the terrors of the Law, and the wrath of God. But it does not interest the soul in Christ. [45]These comments are followed by an affirmation:
This I affirm as most certain divinity—there is no sorrow whereby any soul is interested and planted in Christ. The sorrow that is wrought in them before justification, in order of nature, may be a means to bring them to God and make them inquire after Christ, and stir up their hearts to take away those things that do hinder from Christ, but it does not interest the soul in Christ. You do not understand the way of the gospel if you think that sorrow interests the soul in Christ. No, that must be by faith laying hold on him for justification, and then comes sorrow of repentance afterwards. You may see yourself as an undone wretch for sin, lost forever, and nothing in the world can quiet you. All this may be by the work of the Law, but then God comes and shows you His grace in Christ, and enables you to close with it for justification, and then comes in evangelical sorrow, mourning and melting sorrow more than ever before. [46]But not only are those who ground their hopes in their sorrow and repentance for pardon mistaken, but, Burroughs says, “as those who depend on their sorrow for pardon build on the quagmire, so those who depend on their reformation build upon the sand.” These words need to be weighed carefully; to mistake in this matter will be disastrous, for as Burroughs rightly declares: “all the reformation in the world will not satisfy for the evil that you have done.” The rejection of works as a means of obtaining forgiveness of sins, as suggested in this comment, is not made in order to bring them to a halt: “our preaching down of works is not to keep you from doing them, but from resting on them.” In other words, “though good works and new obedience are good nurses unto faith,“ they “cannot be the mother of it; it is of a higher birth.” [47]
For Burroughs, the right “mother of faith” is “the manifestation of the freeness of God’s grace in the covenant of the gospel, shown unto the soul through the mediation of the Son of God.” This is “laid open to the eye of the soul by the mighty work of the Spirit of God, which raises and creates faith in the soul,” and this is nothing less than “the generation of true saving faith, the faith of God’s elect.” “It is a mighty work of the Spirit of God, working this grace in raising the soul above itself and carries it through and above all difficulties.” These are tremendous words and show clearly Burroughs’s conviction that salvation is a work of God from beginning to end. In setting out the implication of these words, he shows that what satisfies God is faith relying on Christ—“not relying on him by acting on some transient thoughts that pass over, [but] a receiving of Christ, a possessing of Christ, a coming into Christ, a living in Christ, and a bringing Christ to live in me.” [48]
The seriousness of what Burroughs has been preaching is placed before his hearers: “You are charged this day in the name of God to…examine your hearts what grounds you go upon for the pardon of your sin.” They are also to “go away and beseech God to settle things aright” in their souls and “do not venture to put off what we say with such slight thoughts.” To ensure that his hearers do not make a mistake in this matter, Burroughs gives some positive directions to assist them. These directions come in chapter 17 by way of ten “true evidences of forgiveness of sin,” which are followed in the next chapter by ten “rules how to apply the evidences of pardon of sin.” [49]
In unwrapping the true evidences, Burroughs says, “Blessed is that man or woman who this day shall hear that joyful sound in their hearts and that shall have the Spirit of God witness unto their spirits;…that what signs of forgiveness of sins have been delivered, [they can say,] I have felt them in my own soul.” Indeed, not only felt them, but have gleaned evidence from God’s Word that they are “called of God”—not only by the outward call that comes through the Word preached but also by an inward call that has “an over-powering strength in it to prevail upon the heart.” Such a call is this that it has “a power and efficacy from God going along with it that carries on this work in the soul and causes the heart to listen and yield unto God.” [50]
Those who listen and yield to God He “receives into covenant with himself,” and has “translated [them] into the kingdom of his Son.” And being translated into this kingdom, “the soul feels the power of Christ ruling in him” and “looks up to Christ for protection and provision.” Furthermore, the soul “desires above all things in the world to set up Jesus Christ as his King.” Then there is evidence that God makes known to these called ones what forgiveness of sins means, which “causes admiring thoughts in the soul of the excellency of this blessedness of the pardon of sin.” Burroughs highlights three things that the pardoned soul admires: 1) “the freeness and the riches of God’s grace”; 2) “the price that was paid for pardon”; and 3) “the wonderful good it is brought into.” [51]
Following on from these comments, Burroughs notes that “the more assurance God gives of pardon, the more the heart melts before God for the sins that are pardoned.” Burroughs does not deny that many mourn earnestly in the course of seeking pardon, but he also believes that “according to the manifestation of God’s mercy in pardoning, so does the soul by the work of God’s grace melt the heart into mourning, even for those sins that are pardoned.” One clear example of what Burroughs means is given when he highlights David’s mourning, as recorded in Psalm 51, which was written after David had been informed by the prophet Nathan that his sin had been forgiven. “The very grace of God that Nathan brought to him of the pardon of his sin,” says Burroughs, “melted and broke his heart so much the more.” If this is your condition, then “be of good comfort, your sins are pardoned.” [52]
But it is not only that this condition gives real blessing; it is also true that “the knowledge and assurance of God’s love in Christ in the pardon of sin” causes “all other graces to grow.” One such grace is that of forgiving: “those whom God pardons and forgives, he puts in them a merciful frame of heart to forgive others.” Burroughs accepts that there is “a kind of natural forgiveness” in man, but he exhorts his hearers to go beyond this and “forgive in a spiritual way…forgive because…[you] have had more forgiven.” Burroughs is convinced that once “a soul should be made acquainted with the rich mercy of God in the forgiveness of sin” it cannot but have “a meek spirit to forgive his brother.” The sad truth, however, as Burroughs notes, is that “many who profess themselves Christians do not go as far” as the natural way, let alone the spiritual way. Burroughs’s response to such behavior is direct: “if God has pardoned you, you must go and do likewise.” [53]
It is possible that these evidences which Burroughs has been describing may not all be experienced in a Christian’s life; yet, “if you find but any one of them you may receive comfort from that, though you feel not the rest; you may be assured that the rest are there.” This is the first rule Burroughs gives as a means of drawing comfort and assurance from the evidences. Another rule is that “when you find the word on your side in anything, never let go your hold of the word” and “never do anything against it.” It is also important to remember, says Burroughs in another rule, that “in your examinations, ever carry this with you: you have to deal with God in the covenant of grace and not in a covenant of works.” Likewise, “when you cannot see the work of faith reaching assurance” or “when you cannot put forth a reflect act of the soul,” which may be called the faith of assurance, this is the time to maintain “a faith of adherence.” That is, “venture on the grace of God in Christ,” “take notice how dearly the comforts of your souls cost God,” and “comfort will come in that way.” [54]
This last comment leads Burroughs to say in his tenth and last rule, “when at any time all signs and evidences fail you, and you are ready to determine all is gone, even then keep up good thoughts of God.” This last rule is a most helpful one and Burroughs urges his hearers to take heed of it. Indeed, “’tis a good sign for any soul that when trouble of conscience is upon them, or any other trouble, they retain good thoughts of God and Christ and the ways of God.” “Although you lack the evidences of his love and mercy, yet retain in your hearts good thoughts of God and of his ways, and this will be a special help to bring into your souls the comfort and assurance of your justification.” [55]
To illustrate what he means, Burroughs once again resorts to Scripture. The passage is Song of Solomon 5:10-16, which sets forth Christ, the Beloved, in a wonderful way by a number of comments on His Person. These comments are enclosed by two statements that sum up all the other comments, as they declare the Beloved to be the “chiefest among ten thousand” (v. 10) and “altogether lovely” (v. 16). Burroughs’s intention is clear: when believers are in such a low condition that they have no “evidences of his love and mercy” that will bring comfort to them, they should have these high thoughts of Christ, the Beloved. Such thoughts as these “will be a special help to bring into your souls the comfort and assurance of your justification.” [56]
Before Burroughs began to develop his rules and directions on how to seek and apply the evidences that would bring comfort and assurance of salvation, he reminded his hearers of the actual role of the preacher: “When we speak unto you we speak in the name of God.” Further, “when God sends the ministers of the Word to reveal the Gospel and the way of salvation,” it is nothing less than God calling “men’s souls from the way of sin and death to come into the way of life.” “Oh, that people would understand the ministry of the word that it is the call of God for sinners to return and repent of their sins.” [57]
These comments are noted because they again reveal Burroughs’s conviction that the preacher of God’s Word should understand himself to be the mouthpiece of God and that the hearers should do likewise. What did Burroughs, as God’s mouthpiece, preach in these sermons? The answer is quite clear: he declared that “the greatest design that God has” is “the setting out of his glory in his pardoning mercy in Christ.” [58] Pardoning mercy takes a sinner from the degradation and condemnation of sin to the honored position of being adopted into the family of God. This is the blessing that flows from the forgiveness of sin!
These rich and transcendent themes run throughout Gospel Remission with a warmth and tenderness that shows Burroughs’s great pastoral concern for his hearers to be partakers of the blessedness that comes with the pardon of sin. For, as noted at the beginning of this article, “the blessedness of any man or woman does not consist in the enjoyment of anything in the world, but in the free grace of God forgiving of his [or her] sin.” Therefore, “come in and close with Christ; for he that comes to him, be what he will, he will never cast out.” [59]
Notes
- Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Remission (London, 1668), 1.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 1-2.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 3-4.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 3.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 6.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 6-7.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 7.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 8.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 8, 9.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 9.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 9, 10.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 10.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 10, 11.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 12.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 13, 14.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 14.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 15.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 15, 16.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 18, 19.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 19-20, 21.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 21, 20, 22.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 62, 63.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 52, 54, 56, 57, 58, 60, 76.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 59-60.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 80.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 81.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 82, 84, 87, 92.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 92, 94, 95.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 101-2.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 104, 105, 107, 108.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 112.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 113, 113-4.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 115, 116, 117.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 115.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 117, 118, 120.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 120, 121.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 120, 122, 123.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 125, 126, 128.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 131, 132, 133.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 133, 134, 135.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 135, 136, 137, 138.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 140, 142, 143, 144.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 146, 147, 148.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 149.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 149, 150.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 150.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 153.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 154, 155, 161.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 162, 185.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 162, 162-63, 165, 169.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 171, 172, 177.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 177, 178.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 179, 182, 183.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 185, 191, 196, 199, 200, 198.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 201, 202.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 202.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 162, 164.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 218.
- Burroughs, Gospel Remission, 4, 219.
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