Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	death_n	life_n	sin_n	9,880	5	5.5192	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51262	Clavis aurea; or, a golden key: by which hidden and mystical scriptures are opened and explained Wherein is clearly discovered and asserted, the doctrine of the salvation of all men. Also the mystery of iniquity laid open, and the doctrine of freewill fully refuted; by proving, that sin is an infirmity. By Thomas Moor.	Moor, Thomas, fl. 1695-1697.	1695 (1695)	Wing M2608BA; ESTC R216357	21,064	33

create himself as govern himself or have a Power given him so to do But God worketh in us both to will and to do Phil. 2. 3. It is not you that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you Mat. 10. 20. In all Human Things it is so which are Examples of Things Divine we can reach no farther and therein we are safe teaching us to trust perfectly in God and throughout the Scriptures those that trusted in him God never failed them but relieved their Necessities and moved in them to walk in his Ways for an Effect moves directly as the Cause moves it as the Spring doth the Wheels of a VVatch as the Artist doth set the Spring and why it must not be so between God and Man the Reason is yet to be given by the Opposers That which is free is not bound if I had Freewill what occasion have I to require a farther assisting Grace I observe likwise that Hell-fire was not threatned to Adam nor to his Posterity after him in case he fell Which argues firmly that his Fall was ordained before or else no such Punishment intended for that was the only time to have it threatned if ever intended But I know no such reason for Man to be so sollicitous about Adam's fall since I am satisfied it is the same thing for me to be ordained or compelled to commit Sin as to be subjected to it through Adam's Ofsence for through all my Endeavour I cannot avoid my Nature falling in Adam or my Subjection to Sin by his Fall heither was I the cause of his Fall The Scripture is a Mystery and little Satisfaction as to Freewill can be drawn from it For though St. Paul said as before that he was carnal sold under Sin and the things he would he could not perform yet it is said James 1. 13. That God tempteth no Man to evil but every Man is drawn away by his own Lust Here we may be very well satisfied that Lust is termed our own though it cannot be avoided And this is plain since the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary one to the other that we cannot do the things we would Gal. 5. 17. And Christ commands us in the Lord's Prayer to pray to our Father in Heaven that he would not lead us into Temptation If God doth not lead us into Temptation or suffer it by his own Consent why doth he teach us to pray him not to lead us into Temptation Objection If Sin be an Infirmity why is it punished I answer To make Man more sensible of his Sins or Infirmities and in that we take the more notice of the Perfections of the Almighty as his Holiness and his Power in punishing Sin for we endeavouring to escape the Punishments of Sin we endeavour the more to avoid Sin whereby we take the greater notice of Sin or our Infirmities But I deny eternal Punishment for Sin after this Life its Punishment being here on Earth that we might become as God in Knowledg of Good and Evil and so learn to prize our future Happiness the more Sin and its temporal Punishment is then very necessary and both determined by God And there is no Justification in the Blood of Christ without a Commission of Sin for Christ came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance and so consequently no Glorification Objection We have Freewill to do Evil of our selves but not to do Good I answer The Evil or Sin is an Infirmity We must then do Evil because we have not Freewill to do Good seeing we must be doing either Good or Evil. Objection If Sin be an Infirmity and so unavoidable it is in it self pardonable what then did Christ die for and if no Hell-fire what did he save us from I answer It hath been proved that the Jews Unbelief is an unavoidable Sin therefore an Infirmity But that which Christ saved us from was an eternal reducing us into the same Nothing that we were before the Creation which Death if Adam had fallen wilfully must have been his Punishment and Satisfaction for Sin For Hell-fire was not threatned under the Name of Death for Death is without Sense or Feeling but an eternal Torment in Fire is a tormented Life in which is both Sense and Fee●●ng And this is easy to believe if we consider that there is a vast difference between Hell-fire and Death to be threatned to Adam Sin is the Breach of God's Commands though through Infirmity in the Creature yet determined by God and unpardonable in i● self but through the Blood of Christ and good Reason for it for God created all things to manifest his Wisdom in Christ Eph. 3. 9 10. He gave us the Law by Moses whereby we may discern the difference between Good and Evil Jus●●●● and Injustice and this Law being broken unavoidably by Man as God determined it was necessary to set forth his own Holiness to satisfy this Law so determined to be unavoidably broken by Man Hence he himself comes down from Heaven and fulfills this Law by his Death rendring Satisfaction for Sin From whence flows a Reconciliation between God and Man in Christ's Blood God not intending to be reconciled but by Justice satisfied deseribed in the Law of Moses And this stands to reason that the chief Cause of the Breach of Justice must render the Satisfaction to Justice he being made perfect by suffering which is an undoubted Proof that Adam's Fall was fore-ordained and he fell unavoidably Otherwise also for Sin the Death of Adam must as well render the Satisfaction as be a Punishment Objection Sins may be wilful and in that Sense they may be avoided yet the Death of Christ may satisfy for them he paid our Debt● I answer The Law of Moses in setting forth the Property of Justice or Equity commands Life for Life Eye for Eye of the Cause offending Goods nor Money in this Case will serve And he that determined this to set forth Equity or Justice must force one to be destroyed by another as the innocent Children in Matth. 2. 16. or otherwise he could not have rendred the Satisfaction since none but the Cause can do it So then I say if Freewill were in Man nothing but the eternal Death of Man could render Satisfaction to Justice or this Law of Moses which requires the Cause only to render Satisfaction And what hurt is this to us when the present Troubles are but the encreasing us in the Knowledg of God and his Terrors whereby we learn to prize our Happiness hereafter Now if Christ's Blood will satisfy for for all sorts of Sins all sorts of Sins must be Infirmities and not wilful by wilful I mean that it lies in the Power of the Creature either to commit Sin or avoid it at his pleasure But I have sufficiently proved Sin an Infirmity but however I will take notice of St. Peter Our Saviour told

in a Crucified Christ who was Lamb slain from the Foundation of the VVorld whereby Adam was to fall that sin might enter into the VVorld that Christ might suffer for sin that so Gods manifold VVisdom might be made known in Christ the words of the Texts are these Eph. 3. 9 10 c. And to make all Men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the World hath been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ to the intent that now unto the Powers and Principalities in heavenly places might be made known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God according to his eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have confidence and access by the faith of him Now take these Texts which way you please it is apparent that God created all things to manifest his VVisdom in a Crucified Christ whereby there lay a necessity that Adam must fall that sin might enter into the VVorld that God's manifold VVisdom might be made known in a Crucified Christ And it must be in a Crucified Christ if we consider the words That now unto the Powers c. VVhich was after Christ was Crucified and also verse 12. which saith In whom we have access by Faith in him and what signifies Faith in Christ without his Crucifixion Objection But say the Opposers that God Created all things to manifest his VVisdom in Christ as foreseeing that Adam would wilfully fall Answer Omnipotency is the cause of Omniseiency for we cannot foresee whether a Ship shall certainly arive to her Port by reason we have not the command of the VVind and Seas but God foresaw all things as having power to bring all things to pass If an equal power was given to Adam to stand or fall which way could his fall of a certain be foreseen especially before he was Created Let any Man consider this for 't is not enough to say that all things are possible with God as to make a Camel pass through the Eye of a Needle which is true all things are possible with God in things of that Nature for he could diminish the Body of the Camel but to foresee Adam's fall of a certainty when an equal power is to be nay is given to stand or fall I can plant no such Idea nor imagine or believe The cause of foresight in this case of Adam's fall must lie in Omnipotency or an ability of bringing the fall to pass so that if God of a certainty foresaw his fall he must have brought it to pass to which the Ship is an equal example Another Objection of the Opposers is this That God Created all things to manifest his VVisdom in Christ upon condition Adam wilfully fell Answer This Objection seems to deny God's foreseeing Adam's fall but upon condition he fell wilfully God would manifest his VVisdom in Christ if not he would not or could not do it If Adam had wilfully fallen and might have stood then his sin had been perfectly wilful and so Christ could not have rendred Satisfaction for sin but Adam's own death must have been both the punishment and satisfaction For Justice described in Moses's Law which Law Christ came to fulfil makes the Cause render the Satisfaction hence Adam's death was only a punishment but not a satisfaction for sin and Justice cannot be satisfied with the death of one Man for the Offence of another Objection If Adam's fa●● was inevitable it seems injustice to punish him at all for it especially by death I answer it would be so indeed were it not that Christ rendred the satisfaction to Adam by his Crucifixion and so in requital gives him Eternal Glory with himself thus God shews his astonishing power over Death for as Light destroys Darkness so Life entring into a dead Man destroys Death the same may be said of all sins which we have not power to avoid Objection You say there is no Freewill yet it is said if a Man should wilfully sin after knowledg given him and give an example of this from Scripture of the Man that pick'd up Sticks on the Sabbath day and was stoned to death without Mercy I answer To attribute Freewil to an Effect is more than the first Cause attributes to himself in that he cannot lie or be unjust and shall an Effect of that Cause do it Pharaoh would not let the Children of Israel go that is no Argument he could let them go this is not spoken that this Man who pick'd up Sticks had Freewil to avoid this contempt of the Law but that his Will being hardned by the Devil without any scruple of Conscience did freely break the Law yet this Man died without Mercy and no Sacrifice was allowed under the Law for his Pardon to save him in the Flesh from being destroyed much more if a Man had Freewill either to do the thing or avoid it at his own pleasure then there could be no Sacrifice at all not under the Gospel Babel's Tower seems to be a true Similitude of the Doctrine of Freewill for altho God had promised he would never drown the World again yet they fall to work to defend themselves against God if he should drown the World again But saith the Text God came down and confounded their Purposes So altho God hath declared that he will not the death of a Sinner and that his Son came to die for the Sins of the whole World and that he is the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World and that there is no other Name given under Heaven whereby Men should be saved yet they place the hopes of their Salvation upon what they believe and do when they are able to do nothing Therefore God hath given them up to strong Delusions that they should believe a Lie 2 Thess 2. 11. The Almighty saith Let us reason together Isa 1. 18. So that where the Scripture is silent if we act or believe according to reason we are excusable in Christ and have a Plea for what we do or believe and better cannot be expected from us And therefore according to Reason again I thus argue It passes my Understanding neither can I six such an Idea in my Imagination how an equal Power or Ability could be given to Adam to stand or fall since from a deep Consideration of the Property of a Cause and an Effect here below we find that an Effect hath such a close nay cemented depen●●●ce on its Cause that without it it ceases its Motion So that if Adam an Effect could have Power given him to move in himself to will and to do whereby there must be a Separation between the Cause and the Effect as a Weight separated from a Clock then we may as easily conclude that this whole Fabrick of the World may remain in all Circumstances that it is now in if the first Cause were ceased to be So that'tis as easy to conceive an Effect or Man can