Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	election_n	faith_n	foresee_v	1,644	5	11.3276	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A71272	The result of false principles, or, Error convicted by its own evidence managed in several dialogues / by the author of the Examination of Tylenus before the tryers ; whereunto is added a learned disputation of Dr. Goades, sent by King James to the Synod at Dort.	Womock, Laurence, 1612-1685.; Goad, Thomas, 1576-1638.	1661 (1661)	Wing W3350; ESTC R31825	239,068	280

save us in a way of justice mingled with mercy and therefore he hath chosen * Eph. 1. 4. us in Christ now * 2 Cor. 5. 17. he that is in Christ is a new Crea●ure Securus It seems then that the ex●cution of the Decree is not exactly conformable to the Decree it self but contains something else besides it and then how is that true of the Apostle * Rom. 9. 11. That the purp●se of God according to the Election doth stand not of works but of him that calleth I am afraid you have gotten a tang of the Remonstrants Doctrine by your expressions * Vt enim Electio ad gloriam absoluta in Christo facta dicatur quatenus Christus Deus est unios cum Patre Spiritu Sancto absurdum est quia●●sic Electio etiam in Spirit● S. quaten●s unus cum Patre Filio De●s est facta fuerit quod contra Scripturae stylum est For can any man be in Christ but a believer I am sure none but a b●liev●r can be a new Creature in affirming therefore crudely as you do that God hath chosen us in Christ and adding upon it that He that is in Christ is a new Creature you do plainly imply that the object of Gods Election are the faithful and sanc●ified which the Synod at Dort will tell you is a pernicious Erro●r The Bishop of Winchester delivering his judgment about the second Lambeth Article as it was amended by the Bishops and other Divines there whereas the Article saith Causa move●s aut efficiens praedestinationis ad vitam non est praevisio fidei a●t persev●rantiae aut bonorum operum aut alîus re● quae insit per●onis ●●tic Lamb. p. 13. praedestinatis sed sola voluntas beneplaciti Dei The moving or efficient cause of predestination unto life is not the fore-sight of faith or perseverance or good works or any other thing which is in the persons predest●nated but the sole will of Gods good pleasure Bishop Andrews makes a Quaere concerning that Particle S●●a Voluntas benep●●citi the sole will of Gods 〈◊〉 pag. 23 24. good pleasure whether it doth include Christ or se●lu●e him that is whether the Act of predestination be a●solute or relative For my part saith he I think it is relative neither do I think there is any good-will of God towards men that is a will whereby he is well-pleased towards men but in his Son in whom he is well-pleased nor that any one is predestinated either befo●e or without re●●ect to or intuition of Christ But as the sacred Scriptures have it Christ is ●ore-known in the first place 1 P. t. 1. 20. then we in him Rom. 8. 29. Christ predestinated Rom. 1. 4. then we by him Eph. 1. 5. And not we in the first place as some think He in the last and for us for we cannot be predestinated unto the Adoption of sons but in the natural son nor can we be predestinated that we should be conformable to the image of the Son unles● the Son be first appointed to whose image we should be made conformable hereupon that Bishop would have it added to that Article● the good pleasure of G●d in Christ And though in King Edward's Articles of 〈◊〉 Articulo cuperem addi Beneplacitum Dei in Christo ibid. 1553. the 17th Article runs thus Constantèr decrevit eos quos elegit ex hominum genere * Which words are mistaken by Mr. Be●●anus à mal●dicto exitio liberare Yet in those of Queen Elizabeths and King Jame's 1616. we finde this addition In Christo quos in Christo elegit And consonantly hereunto those Articles of King Charls of blessed Memory whereunto He prefixed His Declaration 1631. do run thus He hath constantly decreed to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind But this you see overthrows absolute election to avoid which the Synod though it saith elegit in Christo hath establish't the good pleasure of God towards sinners on this side or before Christs Mediatorship and Reconciliation * Act. Sys 〈◊〉 cap. 1. de pr●d Art 7. 9. Christum pro i●● quos Deus summè dilexit ad vitam aeternam elegit Mortuum esse dicun● Cap. 2. Reject 7. Christus est causa meritoria salutis sed non causa electionis Causa quaerenda est 〈◊〉 Dei beneplacito amore gratuito qui ordine antecedit intercessionem filii P. Molin Consess inter Act. Syn. Dord par 1. p. 290. for Election is resolved by them to be the first benefit and the fountain of all the rest upon which depends the designation of the Mediatour himself Diotrephes Sir I am perfectly of the Synods judgment in this point however you mistake me I do not say Christ is the cause or foundation of the Decree but of the things decreed not of Election as to be established but as to be executed not of election to be decreed through him but of salvation to be obtain'd by him he comes under the Decree not antecedently but consequently not as the cause of that love wherewith God hath embrac'd us unto salvation but as a means underlayed to that love and therefore Christ was not given to men that they might be elected by him but then when they were elected he was given ut si●e justitiae suae dispendio nos ad gloriam adduceret as Sphanhemius * Disput Ina●gur Thes 5. hath it That God might bring us unto glory without any detriment unto his justice Securus You do acknowledge then that God hath elected us unto glory without any regard to faith or any good work whatsoever in us and that upon the intervention of Christ he may bring us into the possession of that glory without any detriment or impeachment of his justice therefore as I said from the beginning of our Discourse there is no need at all of our endeavours after good works or after a course of holiness and righteousness Diotrephes Sir you must not mistake us here though God do not choose us for this antecedent reason because we were hely yet he chose us to this cons●quent end that we should be holy so the Synod have determined in these words This said Election was made not upon fore-sight of faith and the obedience of faith holiness or of any other good quality or disposition as a cause Cap. 1. Art 9 or condition before required in man to be chosen but unto faith and the obedience of faith holiness c. And therefore Election is the fountain of all saving good from whence faith holiness and the residue of saving gifts lastly everlasting life it self do flow as the fruits and effects thereof according to tha● of the Apostle Ephes 1. 4. He hath chosen us not b●b●cause we were but that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Securus Sir I hope you understand that

holin●ss imports a state of sep●●●ion which doth not alwayes imply an infusion of good qualities or any inherency of them But 1. A sequestration from common use as the Temple and the Vessels that did belong to it were said to be holy 2. A s●paration from that danger wherein others are inevitably involved as the word seems to be used Rev. 20. 6. Now I am apt to understand the Text Ephes 1. 4. in this sense That God hath chosen us in Christ that we should be holy that is Th●t we should be separated from the danger of eternal destruct o● through his free love and have 〈◊〉 blame laid upon us for cur sins and this agrees very well with the benefit we have in Chr●st Jesus as the Apostle sets it down Col. 1. 14. In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins As 't is impossible we should be profitable to him a Job 22. 2. because he stands in no need of our service b Ecclus. 15. 12. Luk. 17. ●10 so 't is impossible he should p●●p●se to put trouble upon whom he intirely loves c Lam. 3. 33. because he delighteth in mercy d Micah 7. 18. Therefore unless you can give me some good Reason why God should injoyn us so strictly as you pretend to be holy in all manner of Conversation and rich in good works see●ng he hath elected us without any intuition or consideration of them and through the satisfaction of Christ he may actually save us and put us into possession of glory without any impeachment to his justice I must conclude there is no such necessity of an industrious qualitative holiness as you imagine nay that it would more derogate from the freeness of his grace then any way contribute to the advancement o● it Diotrephes Sir we need seek no further for a Reason hereof than the holy Nature of God which the Prophet hath respect unto when he saith * Habac. 1. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst ●ot look on iniquity and the Psalmist to like purpose * Psal 5. 4 5. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee the foolish shall not stand in thy sight thou hatest all workers of iniquity Securus Sir I perceive you have been too conversant with the Remonstrants Writings and you are very apt to slide into their opinions ere you are aware of 〈◊〉 Indeed they say though God loved us before he gave his Son for us as it is exprest John 3. 16. yet he did not will us eternal life by that love but he wil●'d us that in consideration of believing in his Son On the contrary the Orthodox say That the Election of men to Eternal life is the willing of Eternal life to them and that this Election is made of persons to whom Christ is not given but as and after they are elected and what manner of persons are they when they are elected Qualium est Electio saith Bucan * Loc. Com. de praedest qnaest 20. Immundorum impiorum in conspectu Dei The Election is made of persons unclean and wicked in the sight of God and so Spanhemius alledged even now by your self Christ saith he is not the cause of that love where with God embraceth us unto ●●ernal salvation The holy Nature of God therefore which could not only brook us so well but also embrace us wi●h so flagrant and immutable a love at our Elect on that certainly cannot obstruct the way to our salvation requiring that our multitude of good works should make a t●rong and crowd in to open the door for us Diotrephes I am sure Sir whatever you think of the holy Nature of God the holy Will of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ require it as a condition and means of our salvation Securus 'T is somewhat strange since we make the Decree of Election to be absolute and inconditionate and irrevocable * Election is Decretum est d●finitum inconditionatum completum irrevocabile immutabile Theol. Magn. Brit. Sentent de prim● Artic. Thes Ortho. 4 Inter Acta Syn. Dor. pag 5. par 2. that we should stand so much upon a subordination of means in order to the execution of it To my apprehension 't is very absurd to say such a thing is done absolutely and then to affirm that such and such means are prescrib'd for the accomplishment of it It is as if one should say That Titius had absolutely given Radulphus an inheritance but he bath tyed Radulphus to perform certain conditions upon which it is suspended he must do him faithful service by the space of forty or fifty years for it But I would fain learn how the subordination of such a conditional Decree to that absolute and inconditionate Decree can consist with Gods immutability Do they not make God inconstant one while destinating men unto salvation absolutely presently willing not to save them unless the condition of faith and holiness be perfor med I see nor as I said how Gods purpose according to the Election can stand with this variation that you make betwixt the Eternal Decree and the final execution of it Diotrephes To salve the immutability and constancy of God I suppose it may be considerable That though Election unto salvation and the means of salvation may be distinctly considered * Synops Pur. Theol. Disp 24. Thes 18. yet our Divines say they are not diverse acts in the Decree of God because God by one only and simple act did de termine all these things even as by one only and simple act he knew all things from all Eternity * I do not affirm That in any moment of nature the Decree of salvation doth go before the consideration of faith and obedience The Decrees of giving faith and crowning it with salvation I make to be not subordinate one to another but simultaneous and co-ordinate o●e with another Dr. Twiss ubi supra pag. 13. We propound them distinctly after our manner of consideration in regard of the mul●itude of objects which are comprehended in this one act of electing and some order is to be acknowledged amongst those objects too from all Eternity But God determined all at once and therefore there could be no mutability or inconstancy in him herein Securus Sir you seem to say something towards satisfaction in this difficulty but it doth not remove it for to elect Peter unto salvation is to will to save him Now that God should in one and the same simple act will to save Peter an unbeliever unclean ungodly and yet will not to save him but as a believer holy and obedient I say that God should will both these in one and the same simple act looks so like an implication of contradiction * Vide Grevinch Dissertatio Theologica De Duab. quaest ag 188 c. that the wit of man can hardly reconcile

yet find fault For who hath resisted his will This was enough to stop the mouth of such a bold person but not all the Apostle had to say by way of Answer for he gives a clear decision of the point vers 30 31 32. Not according to that principle of an irrespective election and Reprobation but upon the account of Faith and Vnbelief respectively For such as were now rejected from the l●t of God's people were broken off because of their unbelief and such as were elected to it did stand by faith Rom. 11. 20. And this is to be resolved wholly into the Arbitrement of God's Will who was freely pleased thus to determine and ord●in touching the sons of men That whosoever believeth sh●uld have eternal life He that believeth not should be c●ndemned Joh. 3. 16 18 36. So that if you ask a cause of this Constitution it is the sole Will of God Therefore he chose Peter and Paul c. whom he fore-knew would believe because out of the meer pleasure of his gracious Will he would save Believers He reprobated the Jews whom he fore-saw would not believe because according to the pleasure of his own Will he determined to condemn Vnbelievers The prescription of Faith unto salvation is therefore of the free-will of God alone who did so appoint it Desolatus I have been taught That we are chosen to salvation and glory not as holy or believers but to the end we may be made such Our election doth not presuppose Faith or Holiness in us but procures them for us according to that of the Apostle Eph. 1. 4. He hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love And the same Apostle tells us that all men have not faith and he makes Faith a Propriety calling it 2 Thes 3. 2. Tit. 1. 1. the faith of God's elect Samaritanus We may consider a twofold election one to grace and another to glory but the more profoundly learned have observed that throughout the whole book of Scripture there is not one single Text wherein the word election or chosen signifies without controversie Election or Chosen unto glory And because in that of Eph. 1. 4. The Apostle saith God hath chosen us in Christ and that we should be holy They think it most agreeable to interpret it of God's choosing us through Christ unto the state of grace to the end we may lead a holy life to his praise and glory according to the 6 verse And because 't is said in the Praeterperfect tense He hath chosen us before the foundation of the world therefore they understand it of God's decree of election by a Metonymie very frequent in Holy Scripture which assignes the name of the effect to the counsel or decree it self as you may further observe in those Texts 2 Tim. 1. 9. Titus 1. 2. Ephesians 2. 5 6. Whereas you alledge out of the Apostle Tit. 1. 1. That faith is appropriated to the Elect That if rightly understood is no way opposite to our pretensions For by Faith in that place we are not obliged by any cogent Argument to understand Faith properly so called Fidemquâ Creditur The virtue of Faith whereby we do believe but Metonymically that Faith quae creditur The Doctrine of Faith which is believed and thus it is to be understood according to the usual style of holy Scripture as you may see in the 4 verse of this very chapter and Jude ver 3. Act. 6. 7. Rom. 1. 5. 2. By the word Elect we are not bound to understand in that place such persons as were from all eternity chosen absolutely and by name to glory For that word elect is not alwayes a Participle but sometimes a Noun and such a Noun as doth as well in the Old as New Testament connote some excellent and remarkable quality by reason whereof a thing is said to be elect As v. g. elect or choise Trees for their tallness Jer. 22. 7. Ezek. 31. 16. Elect or choise men for their valour 1 Sam. 26. 2. Jer. 48. 15. Elect or choise Cities for their strength and beauty 2 King 3. 19. And it is very agreeable to this sense of the word to say that men are called elect or choise-men in regard of their Probitie of mind and their promptness of assenting to the Revelation and following the conduct of the Gospel and the denomination of the elect of God may be given unto them in regard of their constancy of faith and their eminency of obedience amongst the rest of the Faithful To which purpose you may consult those Texts of holy Scripture Matth. 24. 31. Mark 13. 27. Luk 18. 7. 2 Tim. 2. 10. Rom. 8. 33. Col. 3. 12. Apoc. 17. 14. If by the elect in that place you understand elect to glory yet it doth not follow therefore that they were so elected unto glory before they did believe For then by the same re●son it would follow that sanctity goes before faith because we read Apoc. 13. 10. Here is the patience and faith of the Saints and in S. Jude's Epistle vers 3. Contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the Saints And we might conclude with equal Authority that vocation doth precede election because Apoc. 17. 14. they are s●id to be called and chosen and faithful But by elect in that place we may understand such as are elect to grace or called unto the faith by a gracious divine election and obey that call In short then the faith of God's elect may very well be expounded of the Doctrine of faith which was willingly imbraced and entertain'd by such as did yet retain the docile and honest heart and so were choice men and fearing God But profane and perverse absurd and unreasonable men are said not to have that faith because they reject the counsel of God against Luke 7 30. 2 Cor. 6. 1. Heb. 12. 15. Jude ver 4. themselves receive the grace of God in vain and turn it into lasciviousness Desolatus It is Dr. Twiss his observation That a man may hear the Word of God with a purpose to oppose it either Ubi supra p. 84. in general or some particular truth thereof Yet this humour of opposition cannot hinder God's Word and the operation of his Spirit where he will in spight of their conceits who thought the Apostles were filled with new wine when three thousand were converted that day and Austin acknowledgeth that God converteth not only aversas à vera fide but adversas verae fidei voluntates We read in the 7 of John that some who were sent to take Christ were taken by him Samaritanus You must consider that there may be more secret opposition in the heart to the word of grace upon the account of interest prejudice or false principles passionately espoused where the life is less scandalous and the opposition is the more obstinate and consequently the more hard