Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	apprehend_v	faith_n	justify_v	2,268	5	9.0045	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61301	The love of God to all mankind in the glorious work of their redemption by Jesus Christ, asserted and vindicated. With a plain and sober discussion of those controversies which are the constant concomitants of it, viz. election and reprobation, God's foreknowledg, his nature, attributes, and decrees; the sufficiency of means vouchsafed to all men to believe; the use of the law to believers under the gospel. Also concerning original sin, freewill, and falling from grace. All fitted to the meanest capacity, in a way of dialogue, by Zachary Stanton.	Stanton, Zachary.	1700 (1700)	Wing S5251A; ESTC R219675	159,700	342

which God's Spirit had upon many others as Job Melchizedeck c. And how did the Lord secretly teach and instruct Abimclech Nebuchadnezzar Cyrus Darius in the Old Testament And the Heathens have at this day and before Christ's coming in the flesh had some glimpse of his coming into the World as may be seen in the Sibyls Verses and many others nay they came to injoy in some measure the Doctrine of Christ's coming and hath not the Gospel-sound gone thro the World and Paul saith that the Gentiles who did by Nature the things contained in the Law Rom. 2. were counted the Circumcision yea the Law should judg those that are circumcised in the Flesh if they broke it and so tho many boast of the Word and Sacrament of the Gospel amongst them and despise others tho the Means of Grace be abused the Gospel-Call neglected the Grace of God turned into wantonness and seek Gain by pretending Godliness yet those that have less means and yet have obeyed them shall be received and others rejected for many are called but few chosen And I beseech you all that set light by them take heed lest you become guilty of as great a Sin as the Heathen Nations are in worshiping false Gods by imputing that to the true God which is proper only to the Devil for it was the saying of a very Learned Man Mr. Withers in his Paraphrase upon the Lord's Prayer page 94. speaking something of the Doctrine of Reprobation without respect to Sin That whatsoever opinion others may have of it I conceive that all the Idolatries of the Heathens heretofore in communicating to Men Beasts or Devils the Honour and Attributes which are due to God only yea and the crucifying of Christ added thereunto amount not to so hainous an Offence as their Crimes who are knowingly guilty of this Sin because it seems to me more pardonable to ascribe to a base Creature part of that Honour which is due to God than to impute that unto him which is proper to none but the Devil And in his Parallello-Grammaton p. 61. he saith That it is an extraordinary high affront put upon God and more heinous than Murder Adultery and all other mere carnal Sins whatsoever yea more heinous than those the Jews committed by their Idolatries killing the Prophets and crucifying Christ in the Elesh for the last was but a Sin against his Humanity and their Idolatries but the ascribing some part of that Honour to the Creature which is due to God only whereas the limiting God's Universal Grace in Christ with the concomitant Doctrine and the Consequences thence arising and the imputing to God an eternal Reprobation of the greatest part of Mankind before they had done good or evil for those Sins which they blasphemously say he necessitates them to commit to shew his Justice and manifest his hatred to Sin is a despoiling him of his Divine Nature and ascribing unto him that which belongs only to the Devil Mar. That which the Gentiles receive is but common Grace and the improvement of any common Gift will not save any and should the Gospel be preached to them it would be of no saving use to them unless there be special Grace in the Soul Philet That 's true the Gospel may be preached a thousand times over and yet without the mighty Power of God none can receive it 't is not the Power of God to Salvation 't is but the external Offers of Grace or the external Dispensation of Grace by the Word Philad Here 's off and one sometimes Christ died for all that the Gospel might be preached to all and those that the Gospel is not sent to you look upon them Castaways and yet at last whether it be sent or not 't is all one there 's nothing in it but a dead Letter but pray tell me is not the Gospel called the Ministry of the Spirit Philet Yea in opposition to the Law Philad Well then I must tell you that there is such a power of the Spirit accompanying of it where it is faithfully preached as is sufficient for the conversion of Sinners or to leave them without excuse if they believe it not yea to judg them at the last day tho 't is true 't is but the instrumental Means to beget Souls to God for the original cause of our conversion is the Love of God the Father John 3. 16. Rom. 5. 6 8 10. 1 Pet. 3. 18. The Blood of Christ is the meritorious Cause the efficient or working Cause is the Power of God's Grace or Spirit the Ministerial Cause is the preaching of the Gospel Rom. 10. so tho God alone decrees it Christ alone meriteth it the Spirit sealeth it yet the Gospel revealeth it Faith apprehendeth it and so persons come to be justified and saved So tho God Christ and the Spirit are the efficient Cause of Righteousness and Salvation yet the instrumental Means of Salvation is not to be cast away Philet But there must be special Grace in the Soul before God calls any by the Gospel or else they could not give consent to his Call No there must be a Principle of Grace infused into the Souls of Men or they could not consent To say the stony Heart dead Man old Nature gives consent is very incongruous the Tree must first be good before it can produce good Fruit there must be first a Sun then a Beam first a Fountain then a Stream Philad It seems by what you say a Man must be a spiritual Man before the Lord calls him and before he hears or receives the Word which is a mistake for there is no Man but is carnal before he receiveth the teaching of the Almighty and by receiving the teachingof the Lord becomes spiritual for Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Mr. Brown in his Scripture Redemption saith James 1. 18. Of his own Will begat he us by the Word of Truth 't is a Life-Creating Word John 6. 63. and therefore called the Word of Life Phil. 2. 16. because through and by the word Life is wrought in us John 5. 25. and Faith wrought in us Rom. 10. and is a glorious Instrument of God's saving Power Rom. 1. 16. and called the Grace of God Acts 13. 47. that comes to us by his Grace Heb. 12. 1. 1 Pet. 5. 12. and this way are we to expect Grace from him and where the Word of Life is preached there and then God seeks and sues to us to receive his Grace yea and through the Spirit bestows so much Grace upon all Men when the Word of Faith is preached as is sufficient to beget Faith in them and to carry on their saving Conversion gradually unto the end Mat. 11. 21. Titus 3. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 23. 2. 9. James 1. 18. 2 Cor. 3. 6. Heb. 4. 12. observe Acts 26. 18. Dr. Holmes upon the Golden Chain of Salvation page 158. upon the Question How shall I come by the gift

and not as Believers or as their being in Christ by Faith then for God to love a Person to Day and hate him to Morrow would evidently shew a change in his Affection according to the change made in the Creature And I must needs tell you I like this plain dealing the best you are herein truer to your Principles than many of your Brethren that hold this Point of personal Election But for my part I believe that God loveth and accepts more of Actions that are good than of mere Persons and contrary to what you say that such and such Actions do therefore please him because the Person pleaseth him but rather because their Actions please him therefore their Persons please him tho God hates all the Workers of Iniquity Psal 5. 5. yet said he to Cain Gen. 4. 7. If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted and Heb. 11. 5 6. Before his Transgression he had this Testimony that he pleased God but without Faith he could not Read John 14. 23. and 15. 14. and 16. 27. These are those that he will love yet may those that were once beloved of God by reason of Sin come to be the object of his hatred Isa 63. 9 10. But they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit therefore he was turned to be their Enemy and fought against them Now you that say that where once God loves he must never cease to love Pray you what think you of the Angels that fell Do you think God did not love them while they stood in that pure and holy State in which they were created and if he did do you think that he loves them now in their Apostacy So God is said to love Jacob and Israel yet at another time he is said to hate Israel Jer. 12. 7 8. Amos 6. 8. yet is this taken off again Isa 60. 15. whereas they were hated God loved them again So that God may love at one time and hate at another without the least change in him in respect of Love or Hatred because no Person of Man is supposed to be the Object of elective Love but only as Righteous nor any Person the Object of Reprobation but only as Wicked so that the Love of God being set upon such kind of Persons as are true Believers those who have Christ formed in them whose Souls are regenerated and formed into the Image of Jesus and Partakers of the heavenly and divine Nature having received that heavenly and divine Anointing by virtue of which they become Christians 1 Cor. 6. 17. John 15. being wrought into a Conformity to Jesus this is that State in which the true Election stands Christ being the elected Root and Believers the elected Branches These are those whom God doth justify and will glorify these are those whom the Lord hath set apart for himself Psal 4. 3. These are those whom the Lord hath chosen from the rest of the World to be his own peculiar Favourites upon whom he intends to bestow an heavenly Inheritance and as Persons decline from Christ living in a State of Unbelief and Impenitency being Strangers to the Life of God disobedient and to every good Work reprobate they remaining such are in that state in which Reprobation stands not being brought over to Christ in whom the Father is well pleased So that I conceive that Unchangeableness which the Scripture asserts of God is to be considered with respect to his Essence Attributes and Decrees and not in his constant loving the same Persons how wicked soever they prove For suppose God should dearly love a Person while he is faithful to him and in case this Person should apostatize and die in a state of Impenitency and he should destroy him with eternal Death this doth not shew the least Alteration in any of the Lord's Attributes either of Love Goodness Mercy Justice c. And suppose a Man passeth from a State of Sin wherein he lived to the Displeasure of the Lord to a State of Faith and Holiness and in this Condition comes to injoy the Love and Favour of God yet his Love and Hatred cannot be said to be changed tho the Persons of Men change never so often from Good to Evil or from Evil to Good This shews indeed a change in Man but no change at all in the Lord he still loves and hates but what he loved and hated before Pray consider Ezek. 18. at what Instant I spake c. if it doth Evil I will repent Here you see God is said to repent so he is said to repent that he made Man upon the Earth Gen. 6. 6. he is said to repent that he made Saul King 1 Sam. 15. 11. And yet the Scriptures cannot be broken which testify that with God is no Repentance or shadow of change 1 Sam. 15. 29. Num. 23. 19. James 1. 17. Mal. 3. 6. Psal 102. 25. yet here is no real Contradiction And as I said before in respect of his Essence Attributes and Decrees God cannot repent yet after the manner of Men he is said to repent in respect of his Works for as Men when they repent alter their Works so when God alters his Work he is said to repent as in Gen. 6. 6. I will saith God destroy Man from the Earth for it repents me c. God made Man to dwell upon the Face of the Earth but now coming to destroy Man from off the Earth seems to repent and so concerning Saul I repent that I have made Saul King that is I have determined to depose him and to prefer another And so concerning Ely c. Delawn Sacr. p. 50. So that no such Conclusion can reasonably be drawn from God's once loving he must for ever love how wicked soever the Person proves afterwards or else be mutable for I do not find in Scripture that God hateth any of the Works of his Hands as they are his Creatures nor any thing but Sin and Sinners for the cause of Sin and there is the same Consideration or the like Reason of his Election being placed upon Faith and obedient Persons or Persons really brought over to Christ Philet The Elect are justified in the Eternal purpose of God and tho the Elect do sin yet the Lord sees it not so as to condemn them for it neither can it do them any hurt or make them less lovely in the sight of God Philad Hold one word before you go any farther you seem to say God was never an Enemy to the Elect Do you not by this make the Fall of Adam in whom the Elect were included a mere Fiction and the whole Story of the Gospel concerning Christ's Suffering a Fable and the Passion of Christ if you grant he suffered for the Elect a mere Vanity more than needs to die to reconcile and bring those into Friendship with God which were never out of his Love nor with whom he was never offended Philet I say all the Sins of the Elect both past present and