Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	believe_v	faith_n	justification_n	2,857	5	9.3476	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47454	The counterfeit Christian, or, The danger of hypocrisy opened in two sermons : containing an exposition of that parabolical speech of our Blessed Saviour, Matth. XII, 43, 44, 45 ... / by Benjamin Keach ...	Keach, Benjamin, 1640-1704.	1691 (1691)	Wing K55; ESTC R18720	49,835	62

and only by this way we must be saved if ever we come to Heaven Another Foundation can no Man lay He that believeth not shall be damned Let him be what he will Righteous or Wicked 't is a great Error to think that Christ's Merits make our Services or Performances meritorious though 〈◊〉 are accepted thereby when they flow from Faith yet not as the Spring or procuring Cause of our Justification To close with this let me add one thing further which shews the Danger these Persons are in This Errour is a capital One 't is to err in a main Fundamental of Religion and therefore Heresy a damnable Principle And hence the Apostle calls it a subverting the Souls of such who receive it And it was also from hence God gave the Jews up to Judicial Blindness i. e. because they went about to establish their own Righteousness and did not submit to the Righteousness of God According as it is written God hath given them the Spirit of Slumber Eyes that they should not see and Ears that they should not hear That must needs be a dangerous Evil that provokes the Holy God thus to leave and give up a Person to blindness of Mind and final Impenitency for such must needs perish of necessity Therefore in the last place it follows that the state of these People is worse than it was when they were no Professors of Religion at all but were openly wicked and prophane Sinners these unclean Spirits are worse than the first And from hence let all take heed how they mix Law and Gospel together in the case of Justification If by Grace then is it no more of Works otherwise Grace is no Grace But if it be of Works then it is no more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work There is no mixing of the Merits of good Works and the free Grace of God together but one of these doth exclude and destroy the Nature of the other for if Election and Justification were partly of Grace and partly of or from foreseen Works then Grace is no Grace and Works no Works For whatsoever proceedeth of Grace as one observes that cometh freely and not of Debt but whatsoever cometh by Merits or Works that cometh by Debt But now Debt and free Grace or that which is free and absolutely by Grace and that by desert are quite contrary things therefore to say Men are Called and Justified partly by Grace and partly by Works or by whatsoever is done by the Creature this were to put such things together that cannot agree for 't is to make Merit no Merit Debt no Debt Works no Works Grace no Grace and so affirm and deny one and the same thing Therefore how absurd a thing is it for Men to mix the Law and Gospel together in this sense or make that which is the Creature 's Act or Work a procuring Cause of acceptance and Justification in God's sight seeing it utterly destroys the nature of Grace and so consequently the glorious Design of God's eternal Purpose in Jesus Christ and that blessed Covenant of his confirmed by the Mediator thereof Where the Creature is wholly abased and the free Grace of God alone exalted Man is not a co-worker or co-partner with God therefore those Principles that have a natural tendency so to do ought to be abominated by all good Christians But it is objected That we are said to be justified by Faith and also that Repentance is required as a Condition of Salvation c. 1. I answer Some put Faith in the room and place of perfect Obedience to the Law and that Faith which they speak of they affirm is the sole Act of the Creature But this certainly is a grand Errour for it would make our Justification to be still by Works and so destroy the Nature of God's free Grace for that which is the Creature 's Act is all one with the Creature 's Work 't is but to change one Work of the Creature to another from an external Work of the Life to an internal Work of the Heart For as Mr. Cary well observes 'T is Christ's perfect Righteousness and Obedience only which is put into the room and place of ours to justify and save us and his Sufferings take away the Curse which our Disobedience brought upon us Faith therefore is only the instrumental Cause of our Justification 't is only as an Instrument or Way of our receiving and applying the Righteousness of Christ if it justifies as a Condition of the New Covenant as Works were required under the Old and as that act or work injoined on our part to be done by us as Antecedent to the benefit of the Promise that would make our Act or Work the formal Cause of our Justification and so render the Terms of the New-Covenant much of the same Nature with the Old Faith is not our Righteousness in it self as a Work but in relation to Christ the Object of it or as an Act of receiving and applying his Righteousness and Merits as Eating nourisheth though it be the Meat that doth it in this sense Him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness And now whereas the Apostle James speaks of Works justifying and not Faith only Jam. 2. 24. it is easy to be comprehended and the great Apostle of the Gentiles and he reconciled Paul speaks of the Cause of our Justification before God and James of the Signs of our Justification before Men or shews how our good Works justify our Faith The one speaks of the Imputation of Righteousness the other of the Declaration of our Righteousness or one speaks of the Office of Faith the other of the Quality of Faith the one speaks of the Justification of the Person the other of the Faith of that Person the one speaks of Abraham to be justified the other of Abraham already justified Moreover 2. That Faith by which we are said to be justified is as much the Free-Gift of God's Grace to us as Christ is the Free-Gift of his Grace for us and hence Faith is called the Gift of God Eph. 2. 8 9. and also a Fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. And as it is a Grace wrought in us so also such a Grace that was promised to us as part of Christ's Purchase To you it is given saith the Apostle in the behalf of Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for his sake that is it is given freely of God's meer Grace yet upon the account of Christ's Merits and Mediation Their believing in Christ was not in their own Power No Man can come to me that is believe in me except it were given unto him of my Father And all that the Father hath given to me shall come unto me that is believe on me And again No Man can come unto me except the Father which sent me draw him

with Pride as some of late amongst us are and have been as to think they were without Sin yet did not doubt but wherein they came short or were guilty God as a pure Act of his Mercy would forgive them not seeing a Necessity of Christ and of his Righteousness Which Notion tends at once utterly to make void the Doctrine of Faith and Covenant of Grace and so consequently the whole Design of God in sending Jesus Christ into the World for if Salvation may be obtained this way Christ is dead in vain And whilst I am hinting these things to you I cannot but bewail another sort of Men who though not so grossly blind and mistaken as some others are yet doubtless greatly miss it and run upon almost as bad a Rock whilst they apprehend and think all Men are put into such a Capacity that they may be saved if they will i. e. by improving the means of Light and Knowledg they have by their own inherent Power and Abilities without the special Operation of the spirit not considering the woful pravity of Man's Nature by original and actual Transgression they being dead in Sin and stand in as much need to be quickned by Jesus Christ or to have a Principle of Divine Life infused into them if ever they spiritually live as Lazarus had to be quickned and raised again after he had lain four days in the Grave Nay and 't is evident God doth work in us who are spiritually quickned and brought to believe after the same manner which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead One ground or cause of these Mens Mistake may arise from the Consideration of that Power Men in general have by the help of natural Conscience and the external means of Grace to leave the gross Acts of Sin and so reform their Lives and cleave to God in all Acts of Obedience in the external Ordinances of the Gospel which is I fear all the Conversion some Professors ever attained unto and is also indeed the Substance of that which Man by the Power of his own Will is able to arrive unto to affirm that Man by his own natural and internal Abilities as influenced by common Grace hath Power to renew himself change his own Heart or form Jesus Christ in his Soul is in effect to attribute to him Omnipotency and make a God of him even no less than a creating Power For the Image of God which is wrought in all true regenerated Persons is called the new Creature and a glorious Creature it is as ever the Almighty formed being the top-Glory of all his creating Power And besides this necessarily makes way for Men to boast and glory in themselves for it makes Man a Competitor a Co-partner and a Co-worker with God in Redemption for the Work of Redemption doth not only consist in a price paid or an Atonement made by Jesus Christ whereby he appeased Divine Wrath and satisfied God's offended Justice but also by Power and blessed Conquest the one was done without us in the Person of Christ the other is done in us by the Spirit of Christ whereby those evil and vicious Habits that are in us naturally are removed and the Power of Satan broke into Pieces or that strong Man armed overcome and the Soul set at Liberty To this purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the Works of the Devil No Man can be said to be redeemed by Christ until he is redeemed from his Sins or delivered from that Enmity that naturally is in his Heart against God or that sacred Image of God be again restored in him not until he is quickned or raised from the dead Hence St. Peter speaking of Redemption saith We were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold from a vain Conversation c. but with the precious Blood of Jesus Christ as of a Lamb without Blemish and without Spot The Redemption is from a vain Conversation 't is not from Wrath only but from Sin the cause of that Wrath also And all Men know this is not universal seeing but a very few are indeed thus redeemed and they may as well perceive that this is as absolutely the Work of Christ as he is our Redeemer viz. thus to work in us to redeem us as it was his Work to die for us How good is it therefore for us to consider the Danger that arises from mistaken and unsound Principles if we would not be found guilty of this Sin of Vain-Glory The truth is some good Men are so misled that they make the new Covenant a mere conditional Covenant and if after all Christ hath done their Interest in it and eternal Life wholly depends upon the weak and wavering Principles of the depraved Creature and his stubborn and rebellious Will has its negative Voice and if the Creature works not complies not to those Conditions required the whole of Redemption-Work may be lost and not one Soul redeemed And were it thus there is more reason to believe Christ would have lost all his Labour and infinite Kindness than otherwise Since Man is naturally so depraved and averse to that which is truly good having such Enmity in his Heart against God and is wholly under the Power and Government of the Devil and this also would render the new Covenant not better nay not so good as the first for then Man was a perfect Creature having not then such a captivating Power of Sin nor Satan in him but had a Power of Will to stand if he had exercised it and resisted the Tempter from without There is one thing more I shall note before I leave this Point 'T is easy to perceive from hence what Grace it is that Man may fall from I mean finally and totally fall i. e. whatsoever Men may act or do from those common Operations of the Spirit or by the Power of natural Conscience under the external Preaching of the Word or means of the Rod or Afflictions by the Assistance or Help of which I doubt not he may become another Man a great Professor pray hear the Word have a sort of Faith viz. that of Credence be baptized and so become a Church-Member yea a Preacher and may be in the Sight of Men of a blameless Life and Conversation and yet never changed in Heart or regenerated by the effectual and special Operations of Christ's Spirit nor have Union with Christ From this Grace or such a reformed Life and Profession of Religion a Person may fall away and indeed rise no more And such I conclude the stony and thorny-ground-Professors were Moreover 't is as evident that the good-ground viz. the honest-hearted Person brought forth Fruit to Life eternal and fell not finally and totally away from the Grace of God If any ask how it came to pass any of the ground is said to be good I answer Naturally all the Hearts of Men and

necessity of Faith and Regeneration These are not only averse to all humane Innovations and Traditions of Men and so contend for God's Holy Institutions in respect of his visible Worship as I told you before but seem to be inlightned very much into that internal Work of God's Grace upon the Soul c. but never come themselves under those saving Operations of the Spirit but rest in the Speculative Knowledg of those Mysteries and are meer empty and formal Persons and Strangers to that Divine Life and sacred Change of which they speak and yet possibly may not be throughly convinced of that deceit and delusion they are under but may hope all is well with them but since they are not savingly renewed but only reformed having not Jesus Christ dwelling in their Hearts nor the Power of the Holy Ghost to enable and influence their Souls in the performance of their Duties and in mortification of their Sins and Corruptions they are frequently overcome by Satan and horrid Evils prevail and predominate in them by which means they bring great reproach upon Religion and all those who do profess it hence the Apostle calls this sort the Enemies of the Cross of Christ Phil. 3. 18. and this further aggravates their Sin and Misery for whilst openly prophane and not pretending to Religion and Godliness they could not injure the Name of God nor expose the Gospel and Professors thereof to that scorn and reproach as now they do Sinners openly wicked though notorious and vile Enemies to God yet the hurt and wrong they do is especially to their own Souls but these by their carnal earthly Pr●●● loose and formal walking hinder the promulgation of the Gospel and Conversion of the Souls of Men besides their weakning the Hands and grieving the Hearts of the truly Godly Moreover they also pollute and defile too often the Church of Jesus Christ and bring great trouble upon the same Hence there is in most Congregations who keep up a strict and regular Discipline 〈◊〉 so much Church-work which makes the Communion of the Saints the more uncomfortable to them for though it cannot be denied but sincere Persons may fall under Sin and Temptation and so all the trouble of Churches and Reproach that falls upon Religion doth not arise from these counterfeit Christians or formal Professors yet doubtless the chiefest part of them do It is said Offences will come but wo to them by whom the Offence comes From all which considerations their state seems worse in many degrees than before Sixthly The wicked Spirit or abominable Sin that some of these Mens Souls are also possessed with is Legality And though this clearly appears by what I have already said yet I shall speak a little more fully and distinctly unto it All that these Persons do and perform is in a legal Spirit and that I may shew you what I mean by Legality in short it is this i. e. They act and do for Life look upon themselves to be under a conditional Covenant and whilst they live up to that Law or Rule which they judg they are bound to observe and keep in order to Justification they have Peace rendring the Gospel and Covenant of Grace by their false Apprehensions of it no better than a legal Ministration or conditional Covenant as was hinted before in respect of another sort of Men For like as the Jews of old acted in a legal Spirit and sought to be justified by the Works of the Law so these perform all their Services and Duties in the same Spirit viz. not from Life or a Divine Principle of Saving-Faith but for Life To keep the Commandments of God and live religiously is absolutely necessary But then this must be done from a renewed Nature and flows from Faith it being the proper Effect or Fruit thereof but to strive to live a sober and holy Life and obey God's Precepts and rest upon their so doing and look to be accepted with God and justified thereby is that which too many of this sort of People do and this is to act in a legal Spirit Possibly a Man may say I know I cannot perfectly keep the Law but I will do by the help of God what I can and wherein I through weakness do transgress the Lord is merciful and I trust will forgive me But let me remember what God saith viz. That he will in no wise clear the Guilty Moreover what the Law saith it saith to them that are under the Law that all Mouths may be stopped and the whole World become guilty before God 'T is evident as God will not forgive an impenitent Person so he will not forgive the Penitent except they believe in Jesus Christ 'T is not for the sake or worth of Repentance that God forgives any Man the Penitent as well as the Impenitent are guilty all have broke the Law all are under Sin and Wrath Repentance will not do a holy Life will not do Prayer and hearing Sermons will not do By the Deeds of the Law and by any thing we can do no Flesh shall be justified If Men believe not on Christ let them be what they will Professors or Prophane they shall die in their Sins God pardons no Sinner as a simple Act of his Mercy without a respect had to the Satisfaction Christ hath made to his offended Justice by his Death And hence it is that the Apostle saith All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the remission of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God Therefore God doth not accept of our Obedience in keeping the Precepts either of the Old or New Testament and forgive all our Deviations as a meer Act of his Mercy for if this way Righteousness and Justification were attainable 't is evident Christ died in vain as I said before for could not God have done this if Christ had never come to shed his precious Blood I remember some Years ago I heard of a Man who lying on his Death-bed when a Godly Person desired him to look out for a Christ answered He had lived a godly Life all along and why said he do you tell me of a Christ or to that effect He thought 't is evident none needed a Christ but prophane Persons and I fear many are of his Mind tho they express it not as he did with their Tongues But possibly some may say We do not think that our Righteousness justifies us any otherwise than through Christ ' s Merits To which I answer 'T is not throug our personal Righteousness though joined or coupled with Christ's Merits that we are justified but through the personal Righteousness of Christ alone and the Merits of his Blood received by Faith 't is in this way