Selected quad for the lemma: life_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
life_n	believe_v	faith_n	scripture_n	6,265	5	6.0885	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33944	The marrow of Christianity, or, A spirituall discovery of some principles of truth meet to be knowne of all the saints : represented in ten sections / by T. Collier ; whereunto is added an epistle, written by M. Saltmarsh.	Collier, Thomas, fl. 1691.; Saltmarsh, M.	1650 (1650)	Wing C5292; ESTC R29305	55,174	122

the Scripture the just shall live by faith and we are justified by faith c. Answ 1. Faith may be acted not onely on Christ dying upon the crosse but in Christ living in the soule that is my believing that Christ is spiritually formed in me as well as that he hath dyed for me that I am justified in the spirit as well as in the flesh faith hath the same object in the spirit as in the flesh to believe that Christ lives spiritually in the soule and that it shall be swallowed up in the conclusion wholly in the spirit 2. There may be often occasions to make use of faith likewise while we are in this body of flesh although the soule obtaines a good degree of the enjoyment of the spirit from and in God yet there will be through the presence of corruption some stirre and trouble and this God in his wisdome permits for ends best known to himselfe The Apostle Paul who lived exceeding highly in the spirit sometimes in the third heaven that is in the highest dicovery of God yet he meets with a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet him that was some strong lust in the flesh that might cause him to look down again And the reason he renders lest he should be exalted above measure 2 Cor. 12. For the truth is if God should cause any one to live alwayes in heaven that is above all lusts and corruptions in the highest discovery and enjoyment of God hee would be ready to be lifted up above measure Experience teacheth us as much ready to look upon all knowledg and enjoyment believe it to be nothing but carnall therefore he brings down Paul that he might exercise faith and live upon grace as wel as others My grace is sufficient for thee my strength shall be perfected in thy weaknes So that notwithstanding this life of a Christian in the spirit yet there will be the use of faith alwayes either in the spirit or in the Letter sometimes God brings a soule to live upon grace as it was revealed by Christ in the flesh and brought home and enjoyed by the spirit when we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord in the Spirit but when we are absent from the bodie wee are at home in the spirit 3. There is a continuall use of faith that of the most spirituall Christian with relation to the perfection of our eternall enjoyments for the Saints doe not onely enjoy a oneness with God here and from hence much spirituall and internall glory but by faith believes and hope expects that perfection of glory hereafter wherein it shall be perfectly made like unto Christ when this vile body shall be changed made like unto his glorious bodie which at present so acts it selfe even in the Saints which prevents them even of that perfection of glory which they by faith expect when the change comes when corruption shall put on incorruption and mort all shall put on immortality when this naturall bodie shall become spirituall then shall be fully enjoyed what hath been by faith believed by hope expected and of this hath the spirituall christain a tast by the spirituall enjoyment of God here although not as then so fully swallowed up in that glory Obj. But it seems that Christ in the flesh is the way to Justification and glory the way into the holyest which is heaven it self where none shall enter till they are changed but Christ who is entered already Heb. 9.24 Ans True Christ is entered into heaven It selfe only in perfection but believers they enter likewise in part viz. when they are got within the veil that is to say the flesh then they see into the spiritual mystery mansions of glory unconceivable and indeed un-utterable as the Apostle saith and desire to live continually within the veile if it might be while they are here yet they are raised up more and more in the spirit and in the conclusion shall be for ever with Christ within all veiles which was best of all as the law in the Letter was a veil to the Gospel both in Letter and Spirit 2 Cor. 3.14 So is the Gospel in the flesh a veil through which and within which all the Saints by degrees shall fully enter Qu. What is the difference betweene the law and the Gospel A. The difference is both in the Letter in the Spirit the Gospel in the spirit is the substance of that righteousnes spiritually included in the law as the Type Image or character of that spirituall substance the Saints are partaekrs of Hence it is often called the Law in the Spirit the Letter killeth the Spirit giveth life I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God Gal. 2.19 that is I through the Law of the Spirit that is the righteousnesse of God in Christ am dead to the Law in the Letter that I might live unto God in the spirit and not to the Law and selfe in the Letter 2. Difference is in the Letter of the Law and so of the Gospell and this is glorious for the Letter of the law requireth a righteousness that was broken death seiseth on all by that meanes the Gospell in the Letter holds forth a righteousnesse in Christ fulfilling the letter of the law so that what righteousnesse is in the law required is obtained by Christ and every beleever is made partaker of it and so the difference is 1. The Law prescribes a Rule the Gospell fulfills the Rule Mat. 5.28 The law requires a righteousnesse the Gospell fulfills that righteousnesse Rom. 10.3 The law was the administration of death the Gospell the administration of life Quest Is not the law in the letter a Rule to believers Answ 1. Not as it was handed forth by Moses from Mount Sinai so it was a killing letter but 2. as it was taken into the hand of Christ and so satisfied and handed forth by Christ being turned into Gospel-Rules it remaines a rule so farr as we are in the flesh I meane in the knowledge of Christ after the flesh but as God writes his Lawes in the hearts of his people and taketh them up in the spirit so shall they live above the law in the letter even of the Gospel yet not without for they have it within them it is in their hearts and so they are a law unto themselves Then the rule in the letter is as a stay in the hand or as a guide in the way helping the soule up to the Spirit and then he walkes not after the flesh but after the spirit having the law of the spirit of life within him guiding him in the way of holinesse and so that Scripture is made good 1. Iohn 3. The anointings which you have received shall teach you all things and ye need not that any man teach you and the spirituall man judgeth all things yet he himselfe is judged of no man

more then he is ever able to pay the Creditor having vowed satisfaction the debtor is cast downe and troubled exceedingly the creditor to satisfie both his own word and the mind of the debtor sends forth his son and fully inables him to pay the debt he brings along the debtor with him payes the debt cancels the bonds and sets him free and thus it was with the Father man had sinned God had said in the day thou sinnest thou shalt dye this debt of death must be discharged the Father that he might be just and yet a justifier and that the conscience of faln man whom he loved might be satisfied he gives or sends forth his Sonne he payes the debt and so satisfies the word of the Father and the conscience of the sinner and so indeed is not essentially the procuring cause of love but rather an effect of love to satifie both the word of the Father and the conscience of the sinner and this was Gods way from eternity through which he intended to manifest hmselfe to his people SECTION V. How persons come to have benefit by this meanes that God hath appointed as the way of life SInners come to have benefit by Jesus Christ by believing Iohn 3.16.36 He that believeth on the Son hath life and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth in him Faith as an instrument is the meanes appointed of God by which sinners receive and owne Jesus Christ and life by him For clearing this truth three things will be necessary to be considered First what Faith is Secondly how it comes Thirdly the properties and effects of it 1. What it is Faith is the apprehending and applying Christ and so the Father and his everlasting grace in him 1. It is the apprehending of Christ that is the observing and beholding of him as he is in himselfe the seeing of him in his beauty and excellency Esa 33.17 thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty it is to see all that worth to be in him that the soule needes and then 2. To apply him according to the soules present occasion a dying Christ to a dead soule and this Christ commends unto us to be the faith by which Soules come to enjoy salvation Iohn 6.40 this is the will of him that sent me that he that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life note Hee that seeth the Son that is apprehends that worth and excellency that ability the Father hath put in him to save sinners able to save all those to the utmost that come unto God by him and beleeveth on him that is applieth him receiveth him as its alone Saviour and justifier to them he gives power to become the Sons of God Iohn 1.12 even to as many as believe on his name 3. This faith doth not onely apply Christ as given forth of the Father singly and a part from the Father but it applyes that is ownes the Father in the Son and that everlasting love of the Father to the Soule brought downe through the Son for the Son is but the Fathers way downe to sinners Iohn 14.6 Iohn 12.44 He that believeth on me believeth not on me but on him that sent me that is believeth not alone in Christ but believes and injoyes that everlasting good will and love of the Father to the soule anb so seeth the Father in Christ commending love and so giving forth himselfe to the soule and so is able to see and say that it is indeed God that justifies and that God was in Christ as the way reconciling sinners to himselfe not imputing their sins and now the sinner sees that Christ never acted any thing or brings downe any thing to the soule but what was and is the good will and pleasure of the Father and so faith ownes not only Christ but the Father giving forth the sonne as the price of their redemption Ephes 1.7 Gal. 3.13 and way of their adoption Gal. 4.5 2. How is this Faith obtained Answ It is the free guift of God as Christ who is its object and all other good things for every good and perfect gift comes downe from the Father God in Christ is the Prince and Author of our faith Heb. 12.2 Looking to Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith Eph 2.8 ye are saved freely by grace through faith that not of our selves it is the gift of God faith is the proper and peculiar guift of God no man commeth unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him it is the Father that workes all the Father first loves and then gives his Sonne and then drawes soules up unto himselfe in the Son else they never come No man comes to me unlesse the Father draw him Iohn 6. hence it is that the experienced soule desires to be drawn Cant. 1.2 Phil. 1.29 for unto you it is given in the behalfe of Christ not onely to believe but to suffer that is you who have received this gift of faith must expect to suffer likewise Obj. But is not faith held forth in the Gospel as the condition of the Covenant of grace he that believeth shall be saved Answ 1. Although it seemes in the letter of the Gospel to be held forth as a condition of the Covenant he that believeth shall be saved yet it is in the spirit mystery of the Gospel a condition on Gods part it is true none can be said and say truly himselfe that he is in the Covenant of grace before faith yet this faith is the gift of God as you have heard and if any condition it is on Gods part in the mystery and it is his promise Heb. 8.10 This is the Covenant I will make with them I will write my Lawes in their hearts saith the Lord that is I will take them off themselves and make them partakers of my spirit which shall cause them to own love in God and to live out of themselves in God and shall cause them to act spiritually even as Jesus Christ himselfe acted and so faith may be said indeed to be rather a branch or part of the Covenant of grace then the condition for God in the Covenant promiseth to write his Law and to give faith and all good unto the soule he gives Christ a Covenant and with him he gives all having given us his Son how shall be not with him give us all things 2 Faith is indeed an evidence to the soule that is in the Covenant of grace and made one with God hence it is called Heb. 11.1 The evidence of things not seen that is not seen with a carnall eye the spirit evidenceth it and saith receiveth that evidence and so the soule is satisfied through faiths believing of the word and spirit of God Obj. What is the meanes by which God worketh faith Answ The meanes by which God workes faith is his word and spirit by the preaching of the Gospel

for the witness of Jesus were raised or lived and reigned with Christ as the sense of the former then they that shall be alive at the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep so that the spirit of God might as well deliver a truth which is in the Present tense in the Preterpluperfect tense as a truth in the Present tense which was in the Future and yet is all to exercise the mind of him that readeth and to let us know there is mystery in the Gospel Secondly very few Saints have been beheaded in the litterall sence those that have dyed for Christ have dyed other deaths and not beheaded therefore we cannot understand it in the Letter but in the spirit The fourth particular propounded was what was meant in that the rest of the dead were not raised untill the 1000. yeares were finished that is none that had been bodily dead Saints or wicked good or bad were raised till after the 1000. yeares were finished and then you shall see the resurrection of all which is called the second resurrection the first is called a resurrection and the first resurrection because it shall be a resurrection from shame and disgrace in the world And secondly it shall be a glorious resurrection in the spirit this first all the Saints have in some measure been partakers of it Thus it appeares that Christ shall have a Kingdome a glorious a spirituall One Quest But when shall this Kingdome be Ans It is already begun in the spirits of Saints The Kingdome of Heaven is within you 2. I beleeve that the time of the 1000 years which is a more glorious estate in the spirit is not yet begun but the beginning of that time shall be when the 7. seales are fully opened c. the 7. Trumpets fully sounded and the 7 vials powred forth they being but effects of each other the opening of the seales occasions the sound of the Trumpets the sound of the trumpets occasions the vials the opening of the seales the unfolding of the mysteries of the Gospell which have been hid Rev. 5.1 2. As light breaks forth the Trumpets sound the servants of Jesus preach forth the mystery of the Gospell in the power and puritie of it occasions the vials of wrath to fall upon the Antichristian estate both in the spirit and in the letter which work is now adoing Wait the Lords time and it will come on apace But first we are yet like to be given into the hands of the little horn who changes times lawes the two witnesses are yet like to be slain and to lye dead 3 dayes and a halfe and the Woman cloathed with the Sun to be driven into the wildernes for a little space a time times and halfe a time the beast with two hornes like a Lambe hath yet a little time to make use of his power perswading them that dwell in the earth to make an Image to the first beast and that none but those who own it shall buy or sell with them the Saints beheaded under the Alter to wait a little time before they be raised up to live with Christ 1000. yeares but it is not long the vision is for an appointed time in the end it will speak and not lye it will come and not tarry the first 1000. is almost past the second and third are coming on apace and all the Nations and Kingdoms in the world will come apace to be the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ and he shall reigne for ever their lives shall be prolonged for a season and a time and other Scriptures are alleaged for a personall reign of Christ as the stone cut out of the Mountain without hands Dan. 2. that is the glorious power of Christ by weak meanes subduing al Antichristian enemies without his Saints all Antichristian things by his spirit within them So that in Dan. 7.10 the glorious company of Saints attending on Christ in the spirit which shall be fulfilled at the raising of the two witnesses up into Heaven in the sight of their enemies Rev. 5.10 11. This is the first glorious work of the Lord Jesus in and amongst the Saints the Lord reigneth let the Saints rejoyce the Lord reigneth let the world tremble see Zach. 14.5 The Lord our God will come and all the Saints with him that is Christ will come in the Spirit and all the Saints shall appear gloriously in him A word of application First if this be truth that the Kingdome of Christ is a spirituall Kingdome and not of this world this may inform us how farr besides the Gospel in the spirit and truth of it those men are who make the Kingdome of Christ to be meerely politicall and a state-Kingdome who turne the world by a humane power into the Church and Kingdome of Christ as they say and Christ must have a worldly carnall Kingdome no better th n the Kings of the earth enjoy or else he shall have none at all it savours exceedingly of the earth and ere long thither it must returne 2. This could incourage the Saints to pres forward after the knowledge of God in the spirit that as the Kingdom of Christ is spirituall and not of this world so may the Saints Kingdome likewise be in the spirit and so all their enioyments may be spirituall enjoyments this is that will make the soule fat and wel-liking in the Lord I l fithe soule with joy and peace which the world is not acquainted with their eyes never saw it nor their hearts conceived it neither are they like to see it unlesse the Lord make them spirituall SECT X. Of Death Resurrection Iudgement and the state of the Saints after Iudgemene eternally with God FIrst of death It is appointed for all men once to dye Dust we are to dust we must returne and therefore it behoves us to to expect it All the dayes of mine appointed time will I waite til my change come Death is certaine although the time be uncertaine it is that none are in a common aid ordinary way exempted from unlesse those Saints who are alive at the last comming of Christ they shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye 1. Cor. 15.51.52 and so shall be caught up in the spirit to meet the Lord in the ayre 1 Thes 4.17 Secondly of the Resurrection That there shall be a resurrection of the Body at the last day is evident John 5.28 29. John 11.24 with 1 Cor. 15. throughout Rev. 20.12.13 although this truth is by some denyed and by others too carnally looked upon some thinking that our bodies of flesh shall be raised in the same forme in which it dyed others that it shall be spiritual yet question whether it shall be of the same substance therefore it will be necessary to consider two particulars for the clearing of it First by what power we shall be raised Secondly with what bodies 1 By what Power