Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	act_n	law_n	sin_n	1,487	5	5.2539	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A07782	A Christian dialogue, betweene Theophilus a deformed Catholike in Rome, and Remigius a reformed Catholike in the Church of England Conteining. a plaine and succinct resolution, of sundry very intricate and important points of religion, which doe mightily assaile the weake consciences of the vulgar sort of people; penned ... for the vtter confusion of all seditious Iesuites and Iesuited popelings in England ...	Bell, Thomas, fl. 1593-1610.	1609 (1609)	STC 1816; ESTC S101425	103,932	148

The imperfection ariseth not of that which is well done but of that which is either ill done or left vndone Theoph. How can the seruing of the law of sinne be be perfectly an euill act seeing the seruing of the law of God is not perfectly a good act Remig. The holy and auncient father Dionysius Ariopagita vnfoldeth this difficulty whiles he affirmeth more to be required to good then to euill for perfect good requireth a perfect and intire cause but perfect euill issueth out of euery defect Bonum exintegra causa malum exquolibet defectu Theoph. The Apostle telleth vs that al mē are sinners that there is none that doth good no not one how then can the regenerate be without sinne in the best act he doth Remig. True it is that the bestliuers on earth are great sinners and for their sinnes may iustly be damned to hell-fire true it is likewise that none no not one doth any good perfectly yet this notwithstanding true it is thirdly that the regenerate doth much good imperfectly and sinneth not in doing the same for doubtlesse Saint Paul sinned not in seruing the law of God vnperfectly albeit he sinned grieuously at the same time in seruing the law of sinne for as the holy and auncient father Saint Austen writeth learnedly Multum boni facit qui facit quod scriptum est post concupiscentias tuas non eas sed non perficit quod non implet quod scriptum est non concupisces He doth great good who doth that which is written follow not thy ●u●tes but he doth not perfect his well doing because he doth not fulfill that which is written thou shalt not lust The same father in another place hath these expresse words Ecce quemadmodum qui ambulant in vijs Domini non operantur peccatum tamen non sunt ●ine peccata quia iam non ipsi operantur iniquitatem sed quod habitat in e●s peccatum Behold how they that walke in the wayes of the Lord do not sinne and yet are they not without sinne because now not they worke iniquity but the sinne that dwelleth in them in which words Saint Austen sheweth plainely that though the regenerate do not fulfill the law exactly yet do they good and sinne not so long as they striue against sinne and suffer it not to raigne in them for which cause saith Saint Iohn that he which is borne of God sinneth not neither can sinne because he is borne of God and in the next verse he affirmeth the children of God to be discerned from the children of the diuell for their good workes and righteousness● alittle after he telleth vs plainely that Cain slew his brother Abel because his owne workes were euill and his brothers good again in the same chapter he auoucheth constantly that he that committeth sinne is of the deuill I therefore conclude that the regenerate as regenerate marke well the reduplication do good and sinne not howbeit as they commit sinne so are they of the diuell and vnregenerate they kéepe Gods commandments in part and som● degrée but not in all Theoph. If the regenerate as such be without sinne then may they merite their owne saluation as the Papists hold and beleeue Remig. You are greatly deceiued in this déepe point of diuinity for though the regenerate as they are regenerate this reduplication is very emphaticall neither do nor can sin as y● holy Apostle teacheth vs yet do they sin continually in their vnregenerat parts which is enogh for their ●u●● condēnation for as in the regenerate parts they serue the law of God so in the vnregenerate they serue the law of sinne and consequently séeing as Saint Iames saith whosoeuer kéepeth y● whole law and faileth in one point is guilty of all and séeing also as Saint Paul saith that euery one is accursed which performeth not the law it followeth that the regenerate 〈◊〉 farre from meriting their saluation by their best workes that they might iustly be damned for the same if God should deale with them in iustice and iudgement his mercy set a part Theoph. I cannot yet see how ●e that sinneth whiles he doth a good worke doth not sinne in doing the same may it please you to illustrate it by some familiar example Remig. You must either marke the distinction well or else you can neuer vnderstand the same a right I will giue you a very plain example by which you may easily sée the truth thereof Take one penne full of blacke incke in your right hand an other full of red incke in your left hand this done draw with the said pennes two long lines at one and the same time in this case it is very cléere and euident that in making a blacke line you doe not make a red neither yet in making a red line doe you make a blacke howbeit while you make the blacke line you make also the red and semblably while yée make the red you make also the blacke but doublesse in making blacke you do not make red neither yet in making red do you make blacke euen so may you sinne it cannot with reason be denied while you doe a good worke and yet not sinne in doing the same Theoph. Your example doth giue me a perfect insight into the question now in hand but our sauiour telleth vs that no man can serue two maisters how then can a man both doe well and sinne at once for to doe well is to serue the best maister and to sinne is to serue the worst of all that is euen God and the diuell Remig. I answere first that one may truly and honestly serue two maisters when the one is subordinate and subiect to the other for so doth Saint Paul teach vs in these expresse words seruants obey your maisters according to the flesh with feare and trembling in singlenesse of your hearts as vnto Christ loe a seruant may obey his carnall master and in so doing Christ himselfe so did holy Ioseph serue God and the King of Egypt so did Daniel serue God and the King of Babel Secondly that though the regenerate sinne daily and be continually assaulted with the cumbat of the flesh against the spirit yet doe they not suffer sinne to reigne in them neither doe they consent to the vnlawfull desires thereof but vtterly hate and detest the same and consequently they serue not two maisters but one onely euen our Lord Iesus Christ for to hate sinne to fight courageously against sinne and to be at continuall destance with it as the Iewes were with the Cananites is not to serue sinne but to be a mortall enemy to sinne and rather the master then the seruant thereof which sense our Sauiour himselfe doth plainely insinuate in these words immediatly following for either he shall hata the one and loue the other or else he shall leane to the one and despise the other as if he had said no