Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	believe_v	faith_n	perform_v	1,107	5	7.0827	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85329	Londons gate to the Lords Table. Where the eldership doth sit doing their office aright, in discovering and shutting out the ignorant, prophane, and meere civill honest man : in suspending the suspected formall, legall, and antinomisticall professor, and in drawing in the weakest humble beleeving soule. In a dialogue betweene a minister of the Gospell. Alexander an ignorant prophane man. Simon a proud professor. And Matthias an humble penitent. Imprimatur Edmund Calamy.	Fisher, Edward, fl. 1627-1655.	1646 (1646)	Wing F995; Thomason E1213_1; ESTC R210120	58,722	302

pray you Sir let me know who these Professors be and what they doe that so I may know whether I be one of them or no. Min. Why one sort of them of whom I thinke meet to speake first are such as may be truly called Antinomisticall Professors who confound the righteousnesse of Sanctification with the righteousnesse of Justification in making them to be both one for they will have that righteousnesse which is inherent in Christ to be the righteousnesse both of their Justification and of their Sanctification they will have all righteousnesse to be inherent in Christ and no righteousnesse to be inherent in themselves they will have God to impute all righteousnesse unto them but not infuse any righteousnesse into them they will apply a perfect righteousnesse unto themselves by faith when as they have neither faith nor righteousnesse they will have Christ without his Spirit and so indeed have neither Christ nor his Spirit you shall heare these men and women in their conference with others about these points will be ever uttering these or the like speeches As for me truly I have nothing in me that is good but am wholly sinfull neither doe I looke for any thing else to be in me but sinne and yet I doe verily beleeve that I am perfectly righteous in the sight of God through Christ or in Christ being cloathed with a garment of Salvation and covered with a robe of Righteousnesse so that I am all faire and cleane and there is no spot in me These men and women because they are not to looke for any good in themselves as a ground or cause of their faith they will not looke for any good in themselves as an evidence of faith because they are not to looke for inherent righteousnesse before they have by faith apprehended the imputed righteousnesse therefore they will not looke for any inherent righteousnesse at all because they must not looke for inherent righteousnesse to move them to beleeve therefore they will not looke for it to assure them that they have beleeved Sim. Surely Sir these men and women are much mistaken but what doe you thinke is the reason of it Min. Why truly I have thought upon three Reasons of it as first because that they have either by meanes of hearing reading or conference been instructed in the law of faith onely without instruction in the law of workes going before or the Doctrine of the Law of Christs following after or else in the Doctrine of the law of workes and the law of faith without the Doctrine of the Law of Christ My meaning is they have been instructed that they of themselves are altogether unable either to doe or suffer that which the law as it is the covenant of workes requireth and that they are therefore in a damnable condition and that yet notwithstanding if they truly beleeve and so apprehend the Righteousnesse of Jesus Christ they shall have life and salvation but they have not been instructed that if they doe truly beleeve then they doe hereupon become subject and obedient to the minde and will of Christ revealed in his Word they have been instructed that he is Jesus a Saviour but they have not been instructed that to whomsoever he is Jesus a Saviour he is also to them Christ a Lord. The second Reason is because they take faith to be nothing else but a meere notion of Christ and his Righteousnesse swimming in their braine or at the best but a meere apprehension thereof in their minds which is but a faith of their own forging so they think they have a strong faith when as indeed they have not the least measure or degree of a true weake faith they thinke they have Christ in their hearts when as indeed he is but in their heads they thinke they have him in their wills and affections when as indeed they have him but onely in their understandings And a third Reason is because they mistake the meaning of the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 30. where he saith that Christ is made unto us of God both righteousnesse and sanctification for whereas they doe thence conclude that Christs inherent righteousnesse is not onely that righteousnesse whereby a Beleever is justified but also that righteousnesse whereby he is sanctified and that in a Beleever there is no inherent righteousnesse nor sanctification as I have heard some have affirmed the meaning of the Apostle is not so but his meaning is that God hath not onely ordained that Beleevers should be justified by having the righteousnesse which is inherent in Christ imputed unto them but that Christ also should by his Spirit infuse righteousnesse into them and so sanctifie them he having not only by the merit of his Death procured the one but also by the vertue of his Death procured the other and so indeed is made unto them both righteousnesse and sanctification and thus have I shewed you the first sort of those Professors who confound his two-fold righteousnesse and how they doe it Sim. Well Sir I thanke God I am none of this sort and therefore I pray you shew me also who are the second sort and how they doe it Min. Why the second sort are such as are truly called formall or legall Professors who confound the righteousnesse of justification with the righteousnesse of sanctification making them to be both one for they will have that righteousnesse which is inherent in man himselfe or rather those righteous actions which are performed and done by himselfe to be not only that righteousnesse wherby he is sanctified but also that righteousnesse whereby he is justified and hence it is that such men doe labour and endeavour to reforme their lives and their waies and to performe good duties both towards God and man and also to the end they may have a ground to build their faith upon and so farre forth as they can see a righteous disposition in themselves and righteous and religious actions performed by themselves why so farre forth they will beleeve that they are justified in the sight of God and no further Sim. And I pray you Sir shew me also the ground and reason of this their mistake Min. Why truly I have also thought upon three Reasons of this whereof the first is because they either by meanes of hearring reading or conference have been instructed in such a manner in the Law of the ten Commandments as if a man in the time of this life were able to keepe and doe them perfectly and so might be justified in the sight of God by his owne obedience to them and they have not been condemned and killed by the Law in having it made knowne unto them in the purity and perfection of it The second Reason is because they have had little or no instructions in the Doctrine of the Law of faith or Covenant of promise especially betwixt that covenant and the covenant of workes or betwixt the righteousnesse of Justification and the righteousnesse of

lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world not for faith and justification but from faith and justification then may he be assured that inherent righteousnesse wrought by the Spirit of Christ hath followed as a consequent and so consequently that he hath both the righteousnesse of justification and the righteousnesse of sanctification bearing witnesse either to other in their due place according to Gods owne order and as his owne distinct actions And now neighbour Simon I beseech you try your selfe by these things and know that if it hath been in any measure thus with you then you may be assured that you have truly beleeved on the name of Jesus Christ and are justified freely by his grace and sanctified by his Spirit and so are no formall or legall Professor but if it hath been in no measure thus with you but that you have laboured and endeavoured to live a godly and righteous course of life that so you might have a ground to build your faith upon that is upon your owne righteousnesse and performances if you have been ignorant of Gods righteousnesse as the Apostle Rom. 10. 3. saith the Jewes were and have gone about to stablish your owne righteousnesse as they did then you may be assured that you have not truly beleeved on the name of Jesus Christ neither are you justified nor sanctified but are in plaine tearmes a meere legall Professor Sim. Sir I must confesse that I have not heretofore been acquainted with these things and therefore I cannot truly say that I have done thus or that it hath been so with me but yet I cannot be perswaded that I have gone about to stablish mine owne righteousnesse for I know right well that when we have done all that we can we are but unprofitable servants and that a man is to be justified by the mercies of God and the merits of Christ and not by his owne workes and merits as the Papists hold Min. I but neighbour Simon I must tell you that it is one thing to say thus in words and to hold thus in judgement and another thing to doe it in effect and practice I meane in heart and conscience it is not enough for a man to thinke and be of opinion that he cannot be justified by his owne righteousnesse and performances for that is onely a worke of the judgement rightly informed and not a worke of the heart rightly reformed wherefore I doe admonish you to take heed that whilst you are a Protestant in opinion and profession you be not a Papist in effect and practice I meane in the inward disposition of your heart as I feare me too many both men and women in this City are for if I be not mistaken their very speeches and behaviour doe testifie that because they know and doe more then they do conceive others know and doe or because they are members of such a mans Congregation and so in a Church way as they call it therefore they trust in themselves that they are righteous as our Saviour said the Pharisees did Luke 18. 9. and yet if a man should say unto them as our Saviour did to the Pharisees Luke 16. 15. Ye are they which justifie your selves they would utterly deny it as you doe but to tell you plainly neighbour Simon your speeches and behaviour when you were with me the other day made me to feare that you were but a kind of a Pharisaicall Professor furely in your crowing over and undervaluing your honest neighbour Zacheus in comparison of your selfe you did too nearely resemble the proud Pharisee crowing over and undervaluing the humble Publican Luke 18. and in judging of him to be unfit and unworthy to come to the Lords Table you did too nearely resemble Simon the Pharisee mentioned Luke the 7. who when he saw that sinfull yet penitent and beleeving woman washing our Saviours feet with her teares and wiping them with the haires of her head he spake within himselfe saying This man if he were a Prophet would have knowne who and what manner of woman this is that hath touched him for she is a sinner and therefore I pray you consider of it Sim. But Sir this is somewhat strange that a man should put confidence in his owne righteousnesse and thinke he is thereby justified and yet not know it I would you could give me some signes of a mans doing so that so I may know whether I doe so or no. Min. Why truly I can give you no more evidenter a signe of it then that which I have already given you and that is in plaine termes a proud spirit for those men and women that doe truly beleeve that they are justified Rom. 3. 24 freely by Gods grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ they are the humblest people and the most free from spirituall pride of any people in the world and therefore the Apostle having fully proved free justification in respect of a mans selfe Rom. 3. 21 22 23 24 25 26. he breakes out in the next verse into this patheticall expression saying Where is boasting then it is excluded by what law of workes nay but by the law of faith I tell you neighbour Simon if a true Beleevers heart doe begin to swell because of his excelling others in gifts and parts he doth ere long give it a vent by saying to it in the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 4. 7. Who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it But yet to the intent you may be the more fully convinced that you have put confidence in your owne righteousnesse I pray you answer me this question Did you ever finde it a hard matter to deny your owne righteousnesse to become truly poore in spirit to be broken off from confidence in your owne performances and to passe through them all to Jesus Christ I beseech you answer me truly from your heart Sim. Why truly Sir I must confesse I never thought my selfe guilty of any such thing Min. Why then beleeve it you are guilty of it for it is naturall for every man and woman when they leave off plodding towards Hell in the dirty path of sinne yet to goe on thitherward in the cleaner path of duty rested in when Satan cannot keepe a man from Christ by sinne then he labours to keep him from him by selfe if he cannot keep a man with his sinnes from flesh-pots in Aegypt then he labours to keep him from Canaan by losing himselfe and his soule in the wildernesse of his owne performances rested in assure your selfe that there is in all men naturally this frame of spirit never to come to Christ whilst they have any hopes that their owne performances will heale them therefore here they rest untill they see it bewaile it and pray against it and therefore if you never