Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	heart_n	life_n	sin_n	4,868	5	4.2787	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33454	Methodus Evangelica, or, The gospel method of Gods saving sinners by Jesus Christ practically explained in XII propositions / by Abraham Clifford ; to which is prefixed a preface by Dr. Manton, and Rich. Baxter.	Clifford, Abraham.; Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1676 (1676)	Wing C4701; ESTC R23890	95,942	214

and the doctrine of free Grace THis method of Gods saving sinners by way of Covenant as is before explained is very well consistent with and no way derogatory to either the sufficiency of Christs satisfaction and righteousness or to the doctrine of free Grace in Christ I add this because 't is the common fortress to which Men of more loose and debauched lives and principles in Religion are wont to retire when by the evidence of Scripture and reason they are driven from all their other holds Tell them that they must repent and turn to God and amend their evil wayes and doings and bring forth fruits meet for repentance Tell them that they must come to Christ and believe in him and take his yoak and bear his burden and deny themselves and be obedient to his Laws and love him in sincerity Tell them that they must mortifie the deeds of the flesh and deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and live godly and righteously and soberly in this present world and be pure in heart and holy in all manner of conversation as he that hath called them is holy Tell them that there is an indispensable necessity of all this or else their sins cannot be pardoned or their persons accepted or their Souls saved in the day of the Lord Jesus And give them undeniable reason and plain and express Scripture for the proof of all these commands and promises and threatnings all speaking the same language And what is their answer to all this Why The righteousness of Christ is sufficient and the Grace of God in Christ is free and therefore they hope in his mercy and doubt not of their Salvation though they still indulge themselves in sin and continue in a manifest neglect of God and the great duties of Christianity And all that is said to the contrary that might take them off from sin and vanity and perswade them to any greater diligence and exactness in Religion that is immediately condemned and decried for legal doctrine that disthrones Christ and takes the Crown from his head and destroyes the free Grace of God and tends to bring us again in bondage to the Law And that which makes it the more difficult to take Men off from these mistaken notions they have entertained concerning the righteousness of Christ and free Grace is this that they are the only foundation and hold that these Men have for their hopes of pardon and Salvation So that if you beat them off from these you take away all their hopes and confidence yea their Heaven and happiness from them They have nothing then left whereby to stop the mouths of their own awakened consciences or warrant their expectations of Heaven or to keep their Souls from sinking immediately into despair Their hearts they condemn them for their daily neglect of duty and indulgencies to the flesh and disobedience to the Gospel and alas they have nothing within or from the word to witness for them No broken and contrite spirit no mournings in secret for their sins no acts of self-denyal no change of heart or life no spirit of faith or fear or love or adoption to intitle them to the promise and blessings of the Covenant No neither Sun nor Star appears that might encourage them in their way but as it was with Paul in his voyage to Rome all hopes that they should be saved is taken away and therefore 't is that they do with so much constancy and resolution adhere to and contend for these mistaken notions as their only refuge security And thus though they are not able to conquer or encounter those thundering Legions that are brought against them yet whilest they have this strong hold and fortress to retire to they are little moved by the terrors of the Lord but still apprehend themselves safe and well secured against all that thunder and lightning that is from Heaven poured out against them All is but like the shooting of pointed Arrows against the walls of a Castle which are presently beat back again without making any great impression upon the walls And therefore there is little hopes of ever prevaling with these Men to surrender themselves to the powers either of Scripture or reason though on every hand besieged by them unless this Fortress of theirs be demolished and its Towers broken down and consequently their refuge and defence taken away That is in more plain English unless it be discovered that their notions about the sufficiency of Christ's righteousness and the doctrine of Free Grace are false and vain and that neither the conditionality of the New Covenant nor the necessity of our personal performance of the conditions of it in order to eternal life are any way inconsistent with or prejudicial unto either Grace notwithstanding is still free And the satisfaction and righteousness of Jesus Christ is nevertheless s●fficient These are the two things that I am now particularly to speak to and to demonstrate The sufficiency of Christs satisfaction and ●ighteousness is no way either contradicted or prejudiced by asserting the Covenant of Grace to be made not with Jesus Christ but with ●elievers themselves upon certain terms and conditions to the actual performance of which they are personally obliged in order to their receiving and enjoying the benefits ●f it That Jesus Christ hath fully satisfied the demands of the first Covenant and ful●●lled all righteousness and finished his work ●s Mediator and perfected our Redemption ●y his death and suffering And that his sa●●sfaction and merit is of infinite value and ●●erefore abundantly sufficient for the ends ●r which it was intended hath been ac●nowledged and proved in the foregoing ●●opositions Propos. 2. and 4. And there●ore I shall need to say nothing here for the ●●claring my assent to or for the vindicati●● of these particulars That which I have ●ow to do is only to shew in what sense ●●operly it may be said to be sufficient and 〈◊〉 remove those mistaken apprehensions that ●●e concerning it For which purpose it is 〈◊〉 the first place to be observed that by suf●iciency here we are not to understand the ●●●rinsick worth and value of Christs sa●●●faction and righteousness upon which account it may not untruly be said if rightly construed that 't is sufficient for the Salvatio● of many worlds And in this very particular mainly lies the mistake The satisfaction o● Christ say they is infinite and his righteousness infinite therefore sufficient for the redemption of this and many worlds if they had been made which as to its absolute valu● and dignity is acknowledged But what● then Why Therefore they hope and believe that they shall be saved by it And 〈◊〉 they build their faith and hopes immediately upon the absolute worth and merit 〈◊〉 Christs satisfaction But will this foundatio● stand or this argument hold good whe● it comes to tryal In this sense 't is sufficien● to save the Infidels Jews and Turks T● save the spirits now in

repent and believe and be holy And that in order to our being happy And hath he not finally excluded from life and happiness all such that are impenitent unbelieving and impure Can there be any doubt concerning this to him that reads the Gospel and believes it to be of Divine authority And is he not do you think serious in all this What shall the unchangeable God that cannot lie be deemed like degenerate Man to speak one thing and mean another Or is he serious only in his promises and not so also in his commands and threatnings Why Are not both equally founded upon the same immutable nature and veracity of God And if you can perswade your selves to hope that God will revoke his threatnings and commands Why should you not also doubt whether he will make good his promises We have no other foundation whereon to build our faith and hopes but the declared will of God and if that be changeable our faith 's no better than opinion and our hopes presumption We can then neither be sure that the wicked shall be turned into Hell nor yet that the righteous shall be saved If this then be the fixed and unchangeable order and method of Salvation by the Covenant of Grace that either we must repent or perish return or die believe or be damned be holy or not see God be obedient or suffer the vengeance of eternal fire as hath been shewn how can we hope to be saved otherways than in repenting and turning and believing and obeying of the Gospel Otherways than in the actual performance of these duties 2. Have we not more than once by our own voluntary act solemnly engaged our selves to the actual performance of all these conditions When we were baptized when we after this approached to the Lords Table when we have at any time professedly humbled our Souls before the Lord in any solemn ordinance yea when we first entertained the tenders of Grace and Salvation did we not then promise and engage to amend our evil wayes and doings and turn to God and believe in Jesus Christ and receive him in all his offices and keep his Commands and walk in all holiness and obedience well pleasing in his sight Now either we were serious and in good earnest or not when we thus engaged If serious 't is morally impossible that we should indulge our selves in the wilfull neglect of these duties since an intentional and approved violation of our promise is inconsistent with sincerity And therefore the conscience of our own obligation will necessarily put us upon all possible endeavours to act conformable to our own engagements And since the thing to which we obliged our selves was not meerly the profession and acknowledgment but actual performance of these duties we shall accordingly study to perform them But if we say we were not serious in these solemn engagements we then plainly confess that our design therein was only to play the Hypocrites with God and to impose upon his omnisciency But is it possible that any reasonable creature should ever become so prodigious a Monster Or that ever it should enter into the heart of Man to imagine that the all wise and holy God He that requires truth in the inward parts Psal 51.6 He that hath curst the deceiver Mal. 1.14 He that hath denounced so many woes against the Hypocrite Matth. 23. and hath sentenced them to the lowest place in Hell Matth. 24.51 That he I say should bind himself by Covenant to such Miscreants to pardon them and bless them and admit them to the best and choisest priviledges of his Kingdom What such as design to mock God and play the Hypocrite with him and to be treacherous and unfaithful to him Be not deceived saith the Apostle God is not mocked Gal. 6.7 Besides if our stipulating with God in the Covenant or as the Prophet expresseth it our subscribing with the hand to the Lord be necessary as hath been demonstrated in order to our rec●iving the blessings of it then our actual performance of what we stipulated and subscribed to must needs be much more necessary since our solemn engagement to the Covenant is r●quired not meerly for it self but only as a means to this end that is to bind us to a more punctual performance of the conditions of it 3. How else shall we distinguish betwixt the righteous and the wicked the Heirs of Glory and the Sons of perdition They may all be baptized They may all subscribe with the hand to the Lord. They may all eat and drink at his table They may all be professors in Religion and make a fair shew in the flesh as the Apostle speaks Gal. 6.12 These things are common to both and therefore can be no mark of distinction betwixt them No but herein lies the difference The one break off their sins by repentance and turn to God the other not The one come to the foot of Christ take his yoak and bear his burden and sincerely believe in him the others not The one keep his Commandments and obey from the heart his Laws and Doctrine the others not The one love the Lord with all their Souls and thoughts and strength the others have not the same love of the Father in them but love the world and the things of the world as John speaks 1 John 2.15 In a word the one perform the Oath of the Lord and act conformably to their Covenant engagements but the other they draw back and are unfaithful Like the Pharisees they say and do not But the others they say and do And thus they are mutually described and distinguished by the Apostle 1 Joh. 3 7 10. Little children let no man deceive you he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous ver 7. But whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God ver 10. And herein he tells us the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil Herein they are differenced and hereby they manifestly may be distinguished And the same Character and mark of distinction we have from Jesus Christ himself Job 8.31 15.8 But if the actual performance of these conditions be not unchangeably necessary all distinction betwixt good and bad Holy and Prophane is taken away and we cannot say of any ●owever visibly different in their lives and conversations this Man is wicked or that Man is righteous since one is not this in observing nor the other that in neglecting the observance of them if not nece●sary to be observed and so we have no Standard left whereby to judge of either The obedient and disobedient are alike if obedience and disobedience be the same For whatever elective love God may have for any particular person more than for others amongst the degenerate Sons of Men yet since that is only an immanent act in God and that which had an existence from all eternity before we had any thing and wholly lies hid in the secret counsel of Gods

wickedness and kept their weapons in their hands to fight against him This you will grant would undoubtedly be an act of free Grace and favour in the Magistrate yea but would it do you think be to his honour Some few profligate persons possibly who hoped for impunity by it might cry him up as wonderfully gracious and indulgent but would any wise and sober Man commend him for it Surely if he had had any love to justice and righteousness or any regard to his own credit or any due care and respect for his Laws and Governm●nt he would never have been guilty of so imprudent and unadvised an action He would never thus have countenanced such impieties and encouraged Men to rebell against him would not this be the plain sense and interpretation of such an act of Grace Just thus do these Men honour God and Christ that make his Grace to be so free as to save impenitent and unbelieving sinners But if it be certain that there is no such free Grace in God nor no such righteousness in Christ as may be sufficient to save such sinners as these then 't is also as certain that the conditionality of the Covenan● requiring our personal repentance and faith and holiness in order to our Salvation is no way inconsistent with or derogatory to that stated notion we have of both in the Gospel though it be to those wild notions of them that wicked Men vainly fancy to themselves which I shall yet more plainly demonstrate by shewing first what Grace properly is secondly what is absolutely necessary to make it free 1. Grace properly signifies no more than love and kindness favour and friendly acceptance or bounty and ben●ficence Luke 1.30 Fear not saith the Angel there to Ma●y for thou hast found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 f●vour with God and ver 28. thou art greatly or highly favoured 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render in the margin graciously accepted or much graced So Luke 2.52 't is said of J●sus Christ that he encreased in wisdom and stature and favour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with God and Man Acts 2.46 They eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart saith Luke there of those primitive converts praising God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and having favour with all the people And Joh. 1.17 The Law came by Moses but Grace and truth by Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is elsewhere rendred love and kindness And to name no more 1 Cor. 16.3 Whomsoever you shall approve by your letters them will I s●nd to bring your liberality 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is your charity as we speak or kindn●ss in your liberal contributions for the relief of the poor Saints at Jerusalem In which sense you have the same word taken 2. Cor. 8.4 And therefore wh●n the fruits of the Spirit as Faith and Love and Hope c. are called Graces as we say the Grace of Faith and the Grace of Repentance c. this is not to be understood in a proper sense for so they are not Grace but metonymically and by way of derivation only either because they come from the special love and favour of God and so are the effects of it or because they render us acceptable to God and so become the obj●cts of his love upon which account 't is called by the Schoolmen Gratia gratum faciens In the first sense th●y are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the second quia By the Grace of God then we are here properly to understand his love and favour and kindness and good will and beneficence to the Sons of Men. 2. But secondly that all this may be truly said to be free free love and free kindness and free beneficence there is nothing more required but that it be not deserved For if I cannot possibly by any thing that lies within the compass of my power to do merit or deserve the least favour or kindness from the hands of another then whatever I receive from him must be acknowledged due to his free love and bounty This therefore I shall take for an undoubted axiome that as what I deserve is my due so that also is undoubtedly free that is undeserved And therefore notwithstanding all that hath been said concerning the conditionality of the Covenant and the necessity of our personal performance of the Conditions of it that of the Apostle will still stand firm Eph. 2.8 By Grace ye are saved through faith and not of your selves it is the gift of God Because it is not possible for any Creature to merit or deserve any thing at the hands of God much l●ss such transcendent favours as to be made the Sons of God and H●irs of Glory For who ever merits any thing of another by any thing he gives or doeth that gift or action of his that it may become meritorious or deserving it must of necessity have these four qualifications or properties annexed to it 1. It must be de pr●prio Somewhat that is his own Otherwise he properly gives nothing but he rather from whom he received it As he th●t takes an hundred pound from one Man and gives it to another deserves nothing for such a gift since properly he gives nothing that is his own 2. It must be ex indebito somewhat that is not antecedently due to the party to whom 't is given And therefore no man is judged worthy of a reward that pays no more than the debt he owes 3. It must cedere in lucrum alteri be some way or other beneficial and for the advantage of another and not only to my self or else wherein do I oblige him 4. There must be a due proportion betwixt the datum and acceptum that which is done or given and that which is received by way of reward for it For which reason we say he that gives a peny cannot deserve a pound much less he that gives a farthing deserve millions Now upon all these accounts 't is absolutely impossible that any creature should merit or deserve pardon or grace or glory or any thing from God and therefore all still must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 freely of his grace as the Apostles phrase is Rom 3.24 For first 1. 'T is not properly our own but the Lords whatever we render to him What hast thou that thou hast not received saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 4.7 'T is not only his corn ●nd his wine and his wool and his flax by ●hich we are fed and cloathed as the Prophet ●peaks Hos 2.9 but his strength his assistance ●y which we are inabled to perform all our works 2 Cor. 3.5 'T is he that breaths up●n these dry bones and causeth the spirit of ●ife to enter into them Eph. 2.1 'T is he ●hat strengtheneth us with might in the in●er man Eph. 3.16 And 't is he that work●th in us both to will and to do of his good ●leasure Phil. 2.13