Selected quad for the lemma: evil_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
evil_n	obstinacy_n	punish_v	punishable_a	72	3	16.3573	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B22921	Justification onely upon a satisfaction, or, The necessity and verity of the satisfaction of Christ as the alone ground of remission of sin asserted & opened against the Socinians together with an appendix in vindication of a sermon preached on Heb. 2, 10, from the exceptions of H.W., in a pamphlet called The freeness of Gods grace in the forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ / by Robert Ferguson.	Ferguson, Robert, d. 1714.	1668 (1668)	Wing F743; ESTC R37344	97,537	320

that remission and Salvation are of Grace we readily acknowledge and affirm but tha● therefore Christ hath not satisfied is a meer non-sequitur There is not the least contrariety betwixt satisfaction and grace but they are the one subordinate to the other The fullest and freest grace in the giving Christ to satisfie in the accepting that satisfaction in our stead and applying the merit of it to our souls and yet still the holiness and justice of Gods nature was such as that he could not pardon sin without a satisfaction the consistency of these two is largely treated and opened before and we referr the Reader thither to avoid repetition here But saith the adversary there is nothing more contrary to grace than to give nothing but what is paid for Answ It is true if the payment had been taken of us to whom the favour is shewn or if the satisfaction had been of our contriving and procuring but nothing being paid by us nor the least influence of ours into the affair It was meer grace that was the impulsive cause of Gods giving Christ Joh. 3. 16. 1 Joh. 4. 9 10. Rom. 5. 8. It was meer grace that gave him for such a number Joh 17. 19. to sanctifie there is to separate and set himself apart to dye as Joh. 10. 36. Heb. 10. 29. But there is one text that the Gentleman seems to reckon on more than the rest it is Jam. 2. 13. and mercy rejoyceth against judgement where he saith mercy is opposed to satisfaction Answ 1. It is not certain whether by mercy we are to understand Gods mercy or mans many Interpreters understand the last 2. Granting him his principle that it is to be understood of Gods mercy yet I deny his inference that therefore there is no satisfaction in order to the better understanding of these I say that as justice is an attribute of God he hath no less of that than of mercy ●he is as just as he is gracious that is he is infinitely both but ●f we take mercy for the effects of his mercy then in this life God is more ready to shew effects of mercy than of ●ustice hence the Lord is now ●aid to be slow to anger and the present time is called the time of long-sufferance whereas the day of Judgement is called the day of wrath God is infinite as well as merciful but the meaning of the Text is that in this life he is more in the discoveries of his mercy than his justice but this is so far from excluding a satisfaction that it supposeth it There is one Scripture I made use of in my Sermon viz. Exod. 34. 7. and that will by no means clear the guilty Which the adversary would wrest out of my hand but without giving the least reason to prove that it i● otherwayes applicable than ● applyed it As mercy is a property of Gods nature so i● justice sin is contrary to God and his nature inclines him to punish it It is remarkable tha● Socinus himself acknowledgeth that where the sinne● is obstinate God canno● but punish him now obstinacy in reference to its own nature is not punishable ● for obstinacy in good being nothing but constancy is laudable and therefore obstinacy is not punished for it self but only in reference to evil and consequently it is evil which is punishable and which God cannot but punish and obstinacy is only punishable in respect of sin to which it is joyned And thus we have seen that to pardon sin upon a satisfaction is neither contrary to it self nor to other Scriptures SECT IV. Arguments for the necessity of a satisfaction vindicated that from the truth of Gods threatning justified Likewise those from the holiness and justice of God the nature of sin and Gods being Governour vindicated from the adversaries exceptions HAving seen the impertinency of the Gentleman 's own Arguments and how insufficient they are to establish what ●he intended by them let us see next how happy he will prove in the answering as he stiles them my Argumentations Though I must tell the Reader that he hath abused both the World and me in calling a few notes imperfectly taken and that by a professed Enemy my Sermon and imposing upon his Readers only the shreds of Arguments for the summ of what I produced sure the man had either an itch to be in Print or was in an humour of quarrelling But if he took these for my Reasons he had both lost his own Reason and his Conscience and he that takes his Replyes for Answers either never suspected the controversie or else hath a mind to be deceived But this being a confident age and those I have to do with being a sort of men who suppose their dreams should pass for demonstrations every thing they say however inconsiderable must be attended to 1. Whereas I argued from the P. 10. truth of Gods threatning against the pardonableness of sin without a satisfaction he desires to know where the threatning alloweth a surety Answ The Texts I produced namely Gen. 2. 17. not 1. 17. as the adversary misciteth it and Deut. 27. 26. hold clearly forth Gods judicial denunciation of punishment against sin ●ut the purpose of God for the execution of it upon the sinner ●s not there exprest and that ●his was not the intendment of ●t in reference to all the event ●emonstrates in that it is not ●xecuted upon the Elect and ●et it behoved to be executed ●gainst sin otherwise the truth ●nd justice of God should have ●ailed and therefore the Ad●ersary must either deny salva●ion to the Elect or truth in ●od It being then obtained that the threatning abides firm God himself is the best interpreter of his own meaning in it and this he hath done in the Gospel both in reference to the stability of the Law it self Rom. 3. 31. and also in reference to the execution of it upon Christ 1 Cor. 5. 21. Gal. 3. 13. 1 Pet. 3. 18. To render this clearer I desire the Reader to observe that threatnings do primarily signifie only the dueness of punishment not that God will alwayes execute it upon the offender God might altogether release his threatnings were he not restrained by his holiness wisdom righteousness and honour and it being against none of all these to release the personal offender seeing by punishing sin though i● another than the personal offenders he both secures hi● honour and at once gives evidence of the purity of his nature in the hatred of sin and of the wisdom and righteousness of his Government in the execution of his Law But he adds that the Scripture P. 10. saith The soul that sinneth shall dye Ezek. 18. 4. and therefore that it is against truth it self to affirm that another dies in his room Answ The intendment of that place cannot be that never any was or should or might be made suffer for anothers sin for the Scripture furnisheth us with an express threatning Exod.