Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	death_n	heart_n	sin_n	2,741	5	4.2229	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A94870	Lutherus redivivus, or, The Protestant doctrine of justification by Christ's righteousness imputed to believers, explained and vindicated. Part II by John Troughton, Minister of the Gospel, sometimes Fellow of S. John's Coll. in Oxon ... [quotation, Augustine. Epist. 105].	Troughton, John, 1637?-1681.	1678 (1678)	Wing T2314A; ESTC R42350	139,053	283

curses and natural evils may be inflicted without sin Even Arminius Episcopius and others of their chief Friends grant That God may without injustice lay temporal evils upon men without respect to sin of his own meer pleasure If Afflictions be part of the Curse to the godly it must be by some Law 2ly It cannot be by the Law of Grace for that is a remediating Law threatning no curse to them that obey it If by the Law of Works then Believers are in part still under the Law whereas the Apostle makes these inconsistent to be under the Law and under Grace Rom. 6.14 Moreover Afflictions if they be punishments must be satisfactory to Divine Justice For the Law requires nothing but in order to satisfie Divine Justice by obedience or punishment for failure and then Christ hath not redeemed us from the Curse of the Law part of it remaining for us to bare and so Christ's Redemption must be diminished he having onely purchased that the Law should not have its full force viz. to condemn us for ever but that we should have terms of grace or life eternal nevertheless that we should be left in the hands of the Law for this life that God may lay what curses upon us he pleaseth so that he save our Souls The same is to be said concerning sin and spiritual evils some sins are proper chastisements when men are suffered to run into some sins to correct them for former sins As David's Murder was a correction for his Adultery but these chastisements proceed really from the love of God though mixed with fatherly displeasure but for the general that God hath left sin in the hearts and lives of the Godly is not to satisfie his Law or the Curse but to magnifie his Grace and Wisdome in over-ruling sin and death to his own Glory and to further man's Salvation by those things which the Devil designed to undermine and overthrow both Object 6 If Faith only justifie and give right to life then is there no use of the Law to Believers nor any thing for them to do in way of obedience but only to expect that God should bring them to Heaven by his Grace to which Faith gives right as well as to life it self Answ As Faith it self is commanded though it be the work of God so is the use of all means whereby Grace is to be improved and exercised and in the use of them in dependance on God's Grace lies a Christian's Obedience The Promises of Grace and Perseverance do encourage to obedience but alter not the nature of obedience Phil. 2.12 13. As you have always obeyed c. work out your Salvation with fear and trembling For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure Our Saviour came not to dissolve the Moral Law nor gave he commission to any man to do it but requireth better obedience to it than that of the Pharisees though they expected to be justified by it Mat. 5.18 19 20. and upon all occasions he directs men to the Law as the rule of Life Mat. 19.17 Chap. 22. v. 37. c. Though Faith encourage and Love incline to good works yet these works are properly obedience because done upon the Command of God It is true the Law is not a Covenant of Works or a Law of Life to Believers promising Life to Obedience perfect or imperfect and threatning death to the want of it Nor is this essential to a Law that life and death must depend thereon though they do so upon some Laws nor is it essential to obedience that it must proceed from hope of life and fear of death For there is no such thing with Saints in Heaven where yet is perfect obedience yet is it a Rule of Obedience a Declaration of God's Will how his Children ought to walk and to please him which is the very nature of a Law But it is not necessary to the Sanction of every Law Quest that there should be Promises to obedience and Threatnings to disobedience Answ Not from the nature of a Law but because of man's infirmities it is needful Gal. 3.19 So the Gospel hath promises of Blessings in this Life peace of Conscience increase of Grace and the Fatherly Love and Presence of God to obedience and diligence and the threatning of the contrary to negligence and disobedience yea the knowledge of the Covenant of Works as it restrains the ungodly so it is of use to the godly in this life to curb the flesh and to make them more afraid of sin and to quicken them to diligence But life and death eternal are not the Sanctions of the Law as properly given to Believers But do not the sins of Believers deserve Hell and put them into a damned state Quest Answ No. They interrupt their peace with God and the Work of Grace but make them not Children of wrath their sins in their own nature tend to death as they are an aversion from God but he will recover them out of them by repentance at death if not before and they deserve death according to the Law of Works by which they must judge of the ●inousness of them and be humbled accordingly But as the Law is tempered by the Gospel they shall not bring death And de●●rt of sin being obligatio ad poenam ex lege the Laws binding a man over to punishment 〈◊〉 may be truly said they do not deserve death according to the Gospel because that doth not threaten death eternal to them yet they 〈◊〉 deserve other corrections threatned there●y which are more effectual to restrain the godly than the threatning of Hell is to the ●icked But doth not this open a way to Sin and Sloth Quest. ●hen men that think they are Believers shall ●hen conclude their sins shall not damn them Answ No. For it is not the promise of great Retards nor threatning of great Punishment that 〈◊〉 keep men from sin else the Angels and Adam would never have sinned but it is the certain assistance of effectual grace which can 〈◊〉 will make men obedient without such ●●nctions by other Reasons and Motives If Christians were left to their free will as much is Adam was then would there be a necessity 〈◊〉 the like Promises and Threats to keep them 〈◊〉 their Duty but because God hath undertaken to work all our Works in us it is enough ●●at God declare his Will to them and will make them obedient Promises and Threa● of another nature are added because of the infirmity of the Flesh but they could not kee● them in obedience if there were not a certainty of prevailing grace and when these infirmities shall be taken away then the Declaration of God's Will without any Promise 〈◊〉 Threat will be a sufficient Obligation to Obedience for ever by the perfect and full concurrence of the Grace of God For it is the Spirit of Grace that holdeth

encourage men in the use of these means against all difficulties If we fly to God for Salvation and depend upon his Promise for it doth not this in its own nature oblige us to follow him in the way he hath appointed for the performance of that promise and doth it not undo and revoke what faith hath done in accepting and trusting in Christ for life to be negligent of the means whereby it should be brought about yea it shews Man regards not life and so doth not really trust in Christ for it trust and confidence in any friend to bring any business to pass for us makes no man more regardless of his friend or negligent of doing his part 2ly Faith trusts in God for his Grace and Spirit as well as for Pardon though faith as justifying directly and formally respects only the ptomise of pardon and life yet secondarily it considers and trusts in the promises of a new heart assistance and perseverance to the end and here we are said to be kept by the power of God through faith to Salvation 1 Pet. 1.8 and to be saved by hope Rom. 8. because the power and grace of God to bring us to Heaven is given to us believing and trusting in it If then Faith taketh in the promises of grace also how should it open a way to sin and sloth 3ly Faith doth virtually include an acceptance of grace or of Christ to sanctifie as well as to pardon it implies some repentance and aversion from sin and therefore must naturally engage to mortification and holiness ●ot hinder it I say not that accepting of Christ is a proper act of Faith as is usually ●●firmed in popular discourses Acceptance ●●mally is rather an act of love liking of and ●●senting to such a person and his motions 〈◊〉 as before faith is wrought the heart is ordinarily prepared to believe by knowledge repentance love acceptance and de●●e of pardon and grace by the common ●ork of the Spirit so Faith really trusting in 〈◊〉 promise of eternal life resting upon it ●●h the whole heart doth include and imply ●●ind of acceptance of it and afterwards it 〈◊〉 up more express acts of desire and acceptance from love which follows faith like●●e the heart being prepared by Convictions 〈◊〉 Sorrow to welcome Pardon then it doth 〈◊〉 all sincerity trust in the Promise of Par●●● this doth include an aversion from sin willingness to be holy why else should we 〈◊〉 strongly in the Promise of Forgiveness 〈◊〉 Life coming from a holy God through 〈◊〉 holy Mediatour and this necessarily ex●●● express acts of Repentance and Morti●●tion he that truly understands what it is 〈◊〉 pardoned and justified and trust in the promise of it with all his heart doth in so doing shew an implicite resolution against sin and must manisest an explicite one afterwards 4ly Trusting in the grace of God when true brings the favour of the love of God and Christ Rom. 5.1 5. and this naturally inclineth to love thankfulness and obedience The groundless boast of Gods love are made an occasion of sloth by unsanctified hearts bu● a true apprehension of it is a great motive t● love and obedience a greater and more effectual than an expectation of being justified b● Obedience For such Men will take a libert● to sin sometimes but the sence of the love 〈◊〉 God while strong in the heart will suffer n● such thing it is not only a rational but 〈◊〉 natural principle too and therefore it wor●● more forcibly 2 Cor. 5.14 The Love 〈◊〉 Christ constraineth us because we thus judg●● If one died for all then were all dead a●● that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto h●● which died for them and rose again If t●● true sense of Gods love without danger 〈◊〉 Hell were not enough to engage men to 〈◊〉 bedience what engageth Saints and Ang●● in Heaven now this sense of the love of G●● cometh by Faith in his Mercy therefore Fa●● engageth to Obedience If we are justified by trusting in Gods M●●cy Object 4. and through the Righteousness of Chr●● without fulfilling any Terms or Conditions Vide True-man Gr. Prop. p. 89. then is there no proper Pardon of Sin For Christ's Righteousness being the perfect fulfilling of the Law and we being justified only by applying that Righteousness to us it seems we shall be accounted to have fulfilled the Law by our Surety and so not to be chargeable with Sin nor to need forgiveness Answ 1. They do wisely to begin to complain first for their own Opinion is not only liable to the same exception but seemeth inexcusable from it There are but two kinds of sins as they distribute them some against the Law of Works others against the Law of Grace and the Gospel and neither of these are properly pardoned Not the sins against the Law for saith our Author and his friends must say the same Christ did not properly fulfil the Law nor was the Curse of it properly executed upon him but he endeavoured that the legal threat might not be executed and gave to God a valuable consideration for which he might with Justice not execute that Law and be free to prescribe new con●itions of life to Sinners Hence I argue The Law was waved not fulfilled by the sinner or any for him neither was the sinner thereupon reconciled therefore the sins against the Law when men come under the Gospel are waved superseded but not pardoned Proper pardon is not only a forbearing to punish but a remission of the punishment with a reconciliation to th●● offendor but in this case God is not reconciled but only gives them new terms of Savation nor doth he remit the punishment though he forbear it for the present for if after trial they fulfil not the Terms of the Gospel their sins against the Law also shall b● charged upon them and if at last they d●● fulfil the conditions of the Gospel they a●● saved thereby fulfilling the new terms tha●● are given them then their old sins against the Law are forgotten and past over but the● is no proper pardon of them or reconcilin● the breakers of the Law as such Nor 〈◊〉 there pardon of their sins against the Gospel for if men fulfil not the conditions of it the● are condemned and so not pardoned If the● do fulfil them this is their righteousness b● this they are justified and saved because the● have performed those terms whereupon li●● is promised where then is there place f●● pardon when the Law is fulfilled If they say their Obedience is imperfect and sinful I answer it is so compared with the Law 〈◊〉 Works but not compared with the Law 〈◊〉 Grace Sincere Obedience to the Gospel 〈◊〉 as much as is required to bring a man to Heaven therefore by the Gospel it is reckone●● a fulfilling of what was required and so 〈◊〉 need no pardon Nor can it be conceive●● how the

justified or pardoned and so restored to favour for the sake of Christs Satisfaction Doth it not then follow that the Death of Christ is the Cause of Pardon then it is not meer pardon but pardon procured or merited and if Christs Death be the meritorious cause of pardon to every Believer then it is imputed or applyed to every pardoned sinner For no cause can produce its effects without Application to the Subject in whom the effect is wrought and the Application of a meritorious cause to the Subject for whom it meriteth is Imputation or accounting that what was done by that Cause was done for that Person And thus we see this Doctrine maketh more against themselves than against us But that Justification includeth more than Pardon of Sin even a positive Righteousness whereby Man is accepted to Life Eternal I shall thus evince 1. From the Notation of the Words To Pardon is only to release from the Penalty of the Law but to Justifie is to Acquit in Judgment to discharge from guilt and accusation Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect it is God that Justifieth It is confessed that to justifie an innocent person is to acquit but to justifie a Sinner they say is only to forgive him But in what Language doth the word so signifie When the King pardoneth an Offender doth any man say doth the Law ever say the King justifies him A Brother is commanded to forgive his Brother from the Heart and so Job did no doubt forgive his Friends and yet he saith God forbid I should Justifie you Job 27. v. 4. Is any Man said to justfie him whom he pardoneth Why should the Scripture besides the familiar words of Pardoning and Forgiving use another term viz. to Justifie which in its Etymology and common use signifieth to declare Righteous and yet mean no more by Justification than bare Forgiveness 'T is said A full Pardon makes a Man righteous forasmuch as he that is discharged from all Sin is accounted not to have broke the Law and not to have broke it is all one as to have fulfill'd it But this is a mistake He that forgives an Offender does not therefore account or make him Righteous though he will not exact the Penalty of him Pardon doth suppose a Man to have been a Sinner and so it leaves him as one that hath deserv'd punishment though by favour he is exempted from it the Law still chargeth him with sin and sentenceth him to punishment though the Judge supersedeth his Sentence and will not execute the Law But it is said Great Prop. p. 121. Pardon is dissolutio obligationis ad poenam dissolveth the Obligation to punishment and when there is no obligation to punishment a man is innocent and hath right to impunity I Answer The Antecedent is untrue The Obligation to punishment ariseth from the intrinsecal Nature of the Law which being broken exacteth punishment as a due Debt The Wages of Sin is death Rom. 6.23 So that if pardon take away the obligation to punishment it maketh sin to be no sin But sin is sin though forgiven and the Sinner deserves to die although he shall not die Pardon taketh away the Ordination or Destination of a Man to Punishment that he is not appointed to die but not the Obligation that he doth not deserve to die I conclude Pardon doth not render a Man as innocent as no Transgressor and therefore 't is not all one with justifying or declaring righteous 2. From those Phrases whereby Justification is expressed Eph. 1.4 It is paraphrased thus As he hath chosen us in him that we should be holy and without blame before him in love He who is only forgiven his Sins is not accounted as holy and blameless Pardon supposeth guilt and that which some call reatum culpae the guilt of the fault remaineth after pardon viz. That such a Man hath broken the Law and by such habits or actions he hath been disobedient to the Commands Pardon only takes away reatum penoe the appointment of a Man to punishment therefore there must be something more to render men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy and blameless before God and Objects of his Love Rom 4.3 4 5. Justification is called Imputing of Righteousness And Rom. 10.5 6. Justification by Works and by Faith are opposed by the Names of the Righteousness of the Law and the Righteousness of Faith To justifie therefore is to reckon or to declare in judgment that a Man is righteous and as if Man had been justified by the Law of Works he had then been pronounced righteous So now he is to be justified by Faith he is to be declared righteous by the Righteousness of Faith though not of Works Therefore Justification is more than Forgiveness Object 'T is said Pardon maketh a Man Righteous as if he had not brok'n the Law Answ Ans w. This hath been answer'd before I am sure we should take it very ill if one that hath greatly offended us and received his life and all from our Mercy should plead that he is as good as an innocent or righteous person because he is exempted from the Punishment he deserved Object A person of quality argues thus If pardon be not a Sinners Righteousness and maketh him not righteous then a man may be pardoned and be unrighteous still in the eye of the Law which he thinketh absurd Justific Evangelical p. 18. or else there must be a medium betwixt being righteous and unrighteous which he thinketh impossible Answ Both parts of the disjunction are untrue the first that he that is pardoned is not unrighteous still for if by favour punishment be remitted and no satisfaction be made to the Law then the Law remains broken still and he is a Sinner still though forgiven For it is not the Law that pardoneth if that might take effect it would condemn but the Law-Giver by his own Prerogative which pardon is not therefore looked upon as the fulfilling or the Righteousness of the Law But if as in our case the Law was satisfied and by reason of that satisfaction man is pardoned as this worthy Author acknowledgeth a little before then that satisfaction of the Law repaireth the Breach of it and so there is the real righteousness of the Law first imputed to a Man and then by reason thereof he is pardoned i.e. acquitted from punishment to which he was obnoxious before And thus here is a fair Contradiction that a Man is justified by a righteousness satisfactory to the Law yet barely pardoned The second part of the Disjunction That there is no medium betwixt being righteous and unrighteous is also untrue we speak of a declarative Righteousness Now it is apparent that there is a Middle betwixt being justified and being condemned viz. Medium negationis or rather privationis Adam before he fell was not condemned having not yet sinned nor was he justified having not finished

shall be saved and this was the nature of Adam's Faith to believe if he obeyed perfectly he should be saved now it is accidental to this that men be sinners and need pardon and so must believe that they shall be pardoned and yet with these men Pardon is nothing but nolle punire that God will not condemn fo● sin and thus when we believe God will save us if we obey sincerely we do consequently and implicitely believe he will not condemn us i. e. will pardon us all our sins but thi● is implicite and indirect therefore the belief of Pardon cannot be a reason why Gospel Obedience should be called Faith and opposed to the Works of the Law Argument 6. If Faith and Obedience be the Condition of Justification then the great falls of the godly such especially as wast Conscience and make a breach upon their sincerity must interrupt their Justification and bring them into a state of damnation so that their only remedy must be to begin their Repentance and Obedience a new and if they have not time to do that but should die in their sin or senselesness after it they must perish for ever but we do not find in Scripture any word of this We read of the fall of some as Noah Lot Sampson and read nothing of their recovery and yet no question made of their Salvation We read also of David's and Peter's Repentance and their great Sorrow yet not that they reckoned themselves under condemnation We find David and others in the Psalms and Prophets much complaining of their Sins and Afflictions the fruit of them of the want of God's Favour and Presence yet they call him their God and beg the restoring of his Favour that he would not take his Spirit utterly from them Psal 51.11 12. All their Complaints and Prayers argue want of present fense of God's Favour and the quicknings of his Spirit not that they were utterly out of favour or a reconciled state It is true it is not safe for young or unexperienced Christians when guilty of foul sins or great decays of Zeal to retain mueh confidence of their good state but rather to remember from whence they are fallen and to repent and do their first works because they may be easily mistaken about the truth of grace when there hath been but little proof of it but well-rooted and experienced Christians upon their miscarriages are not bound to question their Justification but to humble themselves greatly for abusing the grace and kindness of God and submit to his fatherly correction and should they doubt as some do yet is not that the best and most proper motive to humble and recover them but rather a discouragement and hinderance Fear of Hell and such like Motives work best upon the unexperienced and ignorant but the want of God's Presence and other effects of his Fatherly displeasure are more suitable and more effectual to grown Christians Nor doth the Scripture speak any thing of the condemnation of those that die in actual sin and either have not actual repentance or not time to make proof of the sincerity of it The young Prophet 1 King 14 and the excellent Josiah 2 Chron. 35.21 22. were both slain presently upon an act of disobedience to the express Commands of God and yet nothing is said to render their Salvation doubtful and in this case I would ask whether the habit of Faith and Obedience be utterly extinguished If not it is strange that Men should go to Hell with a real disposition to love and serve God only wanting time to recover themselves from some fall If it be extinct it is also strange that one or a few acts of sin it may be for a few moments should utterly root out grace which hath been long in planting and confirming Argument 7. Lastly If Faith and Obedience be the Condition of Justification then there is no way to comfort Consciences troubled for sin but from the evidence of their sincerity past or by telling them they must be obedient for the time to come but for the present there is no peace nor hope no though they were going out of the World This Argument is much used by our first Reformers Luther Melancthon Chemnitius c. and they thought it unanswerable viz. That however men insensible of sin might dispute for the influence of their works on Justification yet when men have sore terrors of Conscience wounded for sin neither their works past nor their promises and purposes of what they will be for the future will comfort them but only the Doctrine of Free-grace and Pardon by hoping in the Mercy of God Our Martyr Mr. Bilney hearing a Rhetorical Preacher laying great stress upon Repentance and Obedience as the only ground of hope was offended and said How uncomfortable would this Poctrine have been to me when I was in my great terrors for my fall The Consequence is undeniable If we must be justified by Obedience and that persevering to the end there is no comfort to a distressed sinner unless you can shew him that he hath sincerely obeyed sometime past and therefore is fulfilling the Condition of Justification or by telling him he must now resolve to be obedient for the future and if he do so resolve there is some probability he may be saved but there can be no good hope till after some process of time he hath evidenced the sincerity of his Obedience which should he quickly die there would be no time for therefore no to lerable ground of hope or comfort for him but a bare perhaps that his purpose of obedience may be true and sincere and so accepted for his Justification But the Scriptures teach otherways our Saviours who knew best how to speak to the Soul saith to the Paralytick Mat. 9.22 Be of good chear thy sins are for given thee and to the Woman Luke 7.48 Thy sins are forgiven thee and Peter Act 2.37 38 c. when the Jews were pricked at their hearts biddeth them repent and b● baptized in the name of Christ for the remission of sins and that they should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost because the Promises did be long to them and their Children We see forgiveness is immediately promised to trembling souls and they are directed to hope for that and look to the Promises of it for present peace and comfort and certainly when God enlightneth the Conscience and setteth sin in order before it vid. Job 9. v. 19 to 23. and v. 13 to the end no man's sincerity will be a sufficient stay to him his obedience will appea● very small not fit to be presented to God the best will cry out If thou Lord should● mark iniquity who shall stand Psal 130. v. 2● and enter not into Judgement with thy Servant for in thy sight shall no flesh be justified Ps 143 3. And though they that be but lightly touched with sin are ready to promise great matter for the future and to quiet