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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93799	A holy life here, the only way to eternal life hereafter. Or, A discourse grounded on these words, The weapons of our warfare, &c. 2. Cor. 10. 4. Wherein among other things set down in a following index this truth is especially asserted; namely, that a holy life, or the habitual observing of the laws of Christ, is indispensably necessary to salvation. Whereunto is added an Appendix, laying open the common neglect of the said laws among Christians, and vindicating such necessity of observing them from those general exceptions that are wont to be made against it. By R.S. B.D.	Stanwix, Richard, 1608-1656.	1652 (1652)	Wing S5252; Thomason E1276_1; ESTC R210586	123,869	304

make profession of the name of Christ to see such errors in Religion as are most probable to make the same profession altogether ineffectuall for their future comfort that Christians may be Orthodox in that whatever mistakes they otherwise live in whereon the salvation of their most precious souls most neerly depends and if this work of mine prove serviceable as I hope in some degree it may to this end I have that which I aim at and I desire that God to whom it of right belongs may have all the glory hereof To him bee praise both now and for ever Amen FINIS The Contents of the Appendix VVHat is meant here by the Laws of Christ Page 3 All these Laws comprized under three heads of Godliness Page 4 All these Laws comprized under three heads of Righteousness Page 4 All these Laws comprized under three heads of Sobriety Page 4 Touching which are briefly shown 1. The express duties of each 2. The common violations of the said duties among Christians Wherein the duties of godliness consist and how much the said duties are disused Page 5 Wherein the duties of righteousness consist Page 6 And how much they are violated especially the duty of loving enemies Wherein the duties of sobriety consist Page 8 And how much the said duties are neglected Page 9 That these Laws of Christ are not by Christians looked upon as binding Laws Page 11 That the aim of the discourse and of this Appendix is to have them accounted binding and to show that an habituall observing o● them is indispensably necessary to salvation Page 1● Whence the opinion of those who hold th● observation of these Laws unnecessary o● not fit to be pressed proceeds Page 1● The places of Scripture requiring the actua● observing of the said Laws so plain as no● possible to be reconciled to the contrary sense Page 1● Other places seemingly making to the contrary fewer and darker than the former and therefore to be expounded conformably to them Page 1● That the observing of Christs Laws and th● pressing hereof makes truly for his honour Page 19 That no danger hereby of setting up self-righteousness this tearm being rightly understood Page 22 How our observing of Christs Laws may be called self-righteousness Page 24 Touching that passage in the late Common Prayer Book At what time soever c. the ill consequence of it and how disagreeing with the Text. Page 26 Touching the example of the penitent Thief the ill use that is made thereof and that not possible now to be paralleld shown by three reasons Page 29 What the Scripture understands by that repentance to which forgiveness of sins is promised Page 34 That this repentance is not alwaies truly possible during this life Page 35 That that repentance which is here alwaies possible will not be alwaies profitable Page 36 How despair may be the effect of this doctrine and that such despair is not a sin Page 40 That mourning for sins is to be encouraged in dying persons who have hitherto lived wickedly though it cannot be effectuall in this case to salvation Page 41 That it is in the power of God so to accept such mourning but presumption in us to say or expect that he will Page 42 〈◊〉 Conditions required that the intention of doing good may be accepted for the act neither of which to be supposed in a dying person that hath hitherto neglected to reform his life Page 43 This question answered What proportion of our time is absolutely necessary to be spent in the obedience of Christ Page 47 The true difference betwixt the Law and the Gospell in requiring works or obedience and betwixt the works required in the one and in the other Page 52 That the requiring of works to salvation in that manner as is herein expressed is no way contrary to the doctrine of faith Page 54 The word Faith in the Gospell of various acception Page 55 And that when it hath justification or salvation ascribed to it it includes in it obedience or piety of life this shown by three reasons Page 56 Why the Scripture rather useth the word Faith when it means thereby piety of life than other words more plainly signifying the said piety Page 59 That the habituall observing of Christs Laws here urged imports a greater height of perfection than most Christians attain or aim after Page 61 By occasion whereof is shown that that which St. Paul speaks as of himself Rom. 7. Is not to be meant of himself as he was then nor o● other regenerate persons Page 62 That the perfection here urged and which the Gospel requires as simply necessary to salvation excludes only the custom and dominion of sin not the being of it shown by three reasons Page 65 That though this perfection or obedience be harsh and difficult in it self yet it is sweetned and made easy by the reward held forth to it Page 69 The Conclusion by way of Apology for the seeming harshness of this doctrine together with the Authors reason for thus publikely asserting it Page 71 FINIS

setting up as is pretended self-righteousness this tearm being rightly understood If we had indeed unallured by those vast and divine promises which Christ hath made and confirmed to us from God and unsollicited by those admirable perswasive arguments exhibited in his life death rising and exaltation rendred as wee were bound an exact and uniform obedience to the righteous laws of God we should so have had that which might be properly called self-righteousness as being on this supposall wrought out and from our selves though this righteousness so wrought being no more but out duty and homage for what we had already received could only of it self and separated from Gods free promise of rewarding it have given us this matter of glorying namely to challenge as of right thereby belonging to us an exemption from punishment but now that that obedience which we perform to the commands of God is of right to be reckond to owe its originall to the fore-alleged causes that is to those things said and done and transacted in and by Christ we having also lived and perhaps very long in many great and continued violations of the said commands before the divine force of the said things could have its effect upon us as that righteousness which we thus exhibit by our performance of those commands is in regard of our former unrighteousness going before far from such a righteousness as may afford us occasion of the former glorying that is to exempt us from all punishment by the vertue of it so it is to be acknowledged for whatsoever perfection it hath to be derived to and wrought in us by Christ he being by the foresaid means the authour and procurer thereof in us and therefore it is not to be called our own or self-righteousness Phil. 3. but as the Scripture stiles it the righteousness of Christ or rather which is through the faith of Christ springing in us from him as the fountain and cause of it And hereupon the Apostle sayes that Christ is made unto us righteousness namely 1 Cor. 1.30 in the same manner as he is made to us wisdom and sanctification and redemption for all these are together affirmed of him that is so as to be the authour of that like as he is of these in us we having thorowly digested Christs doctrine in our selves become hereby truly righteous as we are thereby also truly or really and not only in esteem or imagination wise and sanctified and redeemed persons but in regard it is from Christ that we are so who in the former admirable manner and to himself chargeable way hath made us such persons all the glory of our being so is of right to be ascribed not to our selves but to him If any yet shall be so over-criticall as to call this righteousness notwithstanding it s thus proceeding from Christ because truly and personally in us and acted by us our own or self-righteousness though I may tell such a person that the Scripture with which sure it cannot but be fittest and safest to speak in divine matters owns not the word in this notion nor truly affords any ground for so understanding it yet being not willing to contest with any about words I shall consent that for the alleged causes it may logically enough be called so but then I must adde withall that as such a self-righteousness for the fore-mentiond reasons yields no true ground of glorying to us or of challenging any thing of God by the merit of it so it is an indispensable condition on our part without which heaven cannot be attained and this not to insist on former proofs our Saviour hath in effect expresly told us by saying Mat. 5.20 except your righteousness by which sure is meant a personall and inherent and so far a self-righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharises ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven and to this I shall only adde one proof more taken from the epithite or concrete appellation righteous The servants of God in Scripture are often called by this name 1 Pet. 4.18 and all that are designed for salvation are comprized under this title or denomination of righteous which tearm that it implies not any imaginary righteousness without us nor that which is only intentionally and so ineffectually within us but a ●call and solid righteousness truly existent in and acted by us St. John sufficiently informs us when he gives this description of it prefixing a caution that none draw us to think otherwise he that doth righteousness is righteous 1 John 3.7 by all which it may appear that as it is requisite for our attaining the kingdom of heaven that we be righteous so it is a like requisite that we actually doe righteousness that wee may be truly stiled with this title and so that a self-righteousness in this sense is necessarily required of us There are yet some other impressions I conceive to be supposed in the minds of many which so long as they remain cannot but proportionably hinder the digesting of that perswasion which it is my design to commend and they are such as we may imagin have been wrought especially by the force of two instances 1. The first is that passage in the beginning of the late Common Prayer Book At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sin from the bottom of his heart I will put all his wickedness out of my remembrance saith the Lord. 2. The example of the penitent thief To either of which being of common influence I shall endeavour to say somewhat which may be at once serviceable for stopping the ill use that is made of both and for further clearing and confirming the matter in hand 1. Touching the former though that book in respect of publike use be now disauthorized yet it is probable not only that some retain still a reverend esteem of it and of most things contained in it but also that that sentence is fresh still in the memories of most and so apt with some at least to keep them in this perswasion which seems to be the direct and naturall meaning of it that repentance or unfeigned grieving for sins past and a like intention of avoiding them for the future for this is that which most have been wont to understand by repentance at what time soever even though so late as there is not possibility of putting such intention into act will be acceptable with God for obtaining full remission of sins and so for salvation But I shall desire those who upon this ground are willing to be possessed with this perswassion for a sufficient consutation of it only to look into and seriously consider that place in Ezek from whence that sentence is pretended to be taken where the words are these Ezek. 18.21.22 If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and doe that which is lawfull and right he shall surely live he shall not dye all

his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned to him in his righteousnesse that he hath done he shall live who may not easily see what a vast distance there is betwixt these words and those of the Common prayer-prayer-book which yet are pretended to be either a formall recitall of these or at least such a rendring of them as is in sense fully equivalent Is it not plain hence that besides and after the turning from all our sins which seemes all that is intended to be signified by that phrase of repenting of them from the bottome of our heart there is expressely required a keeping of all Gods statutes and doing that which is lawfull and right of which there is no mention at all in that saying in the Common prayer-prayer-book as a necessary condition for attaining that remission of sins and life there promised I am willing to suppose that those who were authors of that liturgy and so of this saying in it knew how by the various acception of the word repent to reconcile in sense this saying and the next together and so were able thereby to vindicate themselves from that which might seem otherwise to be justly charged upon them herein namely wilfull falsifying or perverting the words of Scripture yet as I can see no true reason why pretending as they did to deliver the unquestionable sense of the Spirit of God they should so far neglect the words certainly dictated from this Spirit as in stead thereof to use in this matter expressions wholly of their own framing so I cannot but think that their thus doing and rendring or reciting that text as they have done was and is still especially considering the former corrupt notion of repentance that many have been and yet are ordinarity possessed with a most dangerous rock at once to harden and continue men in their sins and to make them but most deceitfully promise themselves heaven upon some late ineffectuall mourning for them at the last notwithstanding their continuance in them till that time 2. Touching that other instance taken from the example of the penitent thief I think it may be in some manner said of him that since he was crucified and dead he hath killed far more soules than being alive he hurt or destroyed bodies but it is and hath been through the fault of men themselves with whom this one example how ever not possible to be paralleld as wee shall presently show is of more force than the whole gospell or doctrine of Christ Those who are ready to flatter themselves upon this ground by thinking that a blessed and happy death may be the sequel of a dissolute life as it was in him if they will but heedfully consider the circumstances so far as the Scripture layes them open of this persons repentance which was indeed as late as could be will easily find that it is not possible for them though they would never so gladly to be truly like unto him herein and so that the promise made to him can derive no comfort at all to them for 1. This thief did not for any thing that appeares in Scripture know or acknowledge Christ before this time that he was now hanging on the crosse and so ready to dye with him then it was that he began to make profession of him and was first ingrasted into him by faith but those Chrislians who are wont to allege this example for the acceptance of their late sorrow are to be supposed to have acknowledged Christ long before the time of their dying even in a manner all their life time having been so long constant professours of him 2. This thief after his faith or declared profession of Christ had no space left him for correcting or changing his course of life whatsoever good he could do then on the crosse he did it as in rebuking of his fellow thief acknowledging the justice of his own and his sufferings asserting Christs innocency and by his praying to him giving him divine worship and expressing his faith in him but the fore-mentiond persons are such as after their profession of Christ have large spaces or proportions of time afforded them their profession ordinarily beginning with their first use of reason and so running on in an eeven line with their lives and yet they could never find any season for setting effectually about the work of reforming their lives that is for thorowly observing Christs lawes in rendring that obedience thereunto which was both possible for them and they made profession of their practise hitherto namely till the approaching time of their death hath been a contradiction of such their profession and so their religion for so long is to bee reckoned nothing but a formall hypocrisy or dissembling 3. This thief had and manifested then so great a faith as was not in the Apostles themselves he then firmly believed in Christ when their faith in him t is plain by their forsaking of and flying from him and those words of distrust they used as wee trusted that it had been he Lu. 24.21 c. began to fail he acknowledged Christ hanging on the crosse to be about entring into a kingdome and neither being deterred with Christs nor his own death he trusted that Christ would be mindfull of him and could again reduce him to life who can possibly now have such a faith have not all that professe Christ an opinion of his being like as he truly is in supreme power and glory and is it not much easier to believe in such a person namely in him that is risen from the dead and is invested with all power in heaven and in earth than in him who being now a dying is forsaken and scornd and derided in a manner by all men as Christ truly was yet such was the faith of this thief that is indeed a most singular and admirable faith suitable to those other prodigies that accompanied Christs death as conducing to the solemnity of it and therefore most worthy through the divine bounty to justify this person with our most gracious God but till Christ come to suffer again which will never be no more examples of this faith or of such believers are to be expected and consequently this persons example and the happy issue he had of his late repentance can be no ground of comfort for the fore-mentiond persons it being not possible that his case should be theirs or that their repentance should be answerable to his in any thing save in that which was truly of least moment in it the lateness of it Now touching that corrupt notion of repentance before spoken of which seems to be nourished and upheld in many chiefly by the influence derived from the two former instances though what hath been said in answer to these may in great part serve to show the corruption and unsoundness of it yet for the fuller manifesting of this and together therewith that which is truly imported by the word repentance I shall