Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	father_n	holy_a	son_n	6,458	5	6.0598	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19743	A godlie and fruitfull treatise of faith and workes. Wherein is confuted a certaine opinion of merit by workes, which an aduersary to the gospell of Christ Iesu, held in the conference, had in the Tower of London	H. D., fl. 1583.; Dod, Henry, attributed name. aut	1583 (1583)	STC 6168; ESTC S114042	37,853	104

without alteration of minde not mutable his knowledge certeine not ignorant of any thing All thinges past and to come are still present before him Neither is it with God as with men to be of one mind to day and of an other mind tomorow but God is still faithfull One and the selfe same from the beginning to the ende I say without alteration from his first decree in his secret counsell Thē all this being thus vndoubtedly true it cannot be saide that man can by himselfe otherwise or by any other meanes merit and worke out his owne saluation then hath beene alreadie wrought through the mercy and loue of God in and by Christ our Sauiour the onely ful worker of the same by suffering his most greeuous passion and death For how can it bee saide in any respect that man by his good workes can merit his owne saluation seeing before he was it was made sure to the elect in God his secrete counsell and decreed to stande firme without alteration being aduisedly purposed by God in Christ Before the foundation of the world So that without all contradiction and doubting all the good workes that hath bene wrought by mankind can not be said to merit their saluation The Iesuites in their last disputation in the Tower held those to be the works of Christ that man woorketh for that Christ worketh them in man and being the workes of Christ that are wrought in man they merit saide hee saluation But this cānot be true For electiō being decreed before euer man was and in that election mans saluation made sure and certeine by that decree through Christ his passion death and for his sake onely for that he would giue his life for the same in the appointed time How then can it bee saide without great absurditie and derogation of the maiestie of Christ Iesu his passion and death That mans good workes can merit or deserue that which many thousand yeares before hee wrought any good workes was made sure and certeine vnto him for and by Christ as is aforesaide Surely it is more then extreame doltishnes once to thinke it As for example A prodigall seruant that had consumed his maisters goods and thereby hee greatly indebted to his maister yet his maister in mercy loue not only forgaue him his debt but made him heire to all his landes Now if after that his maister had thus forgiuen his debt and made him heire to all his lands to the end the seruant should be a faithfull friend to him and loue him with all his hart the seruant would yet say I will so please my maister I will worke and doe so much good in his sight that I wil deserue that hee shall not onely forgiue me the debt which I owe him and the euill life which I led towardes him but also make me heire to all his lands Were not this to bee iudged a verie foolishe speach and the speaker a right paterne of an insolent foole To say he would merit or deserue that which before was made sure to him of meere mercie and loue Wisdome would rather haue exspected this kinde of speach from him my maister hath done much for me he hath not onely forgiuen mee the debt which I ought him and am neuer able to pay it but also he hath made mee heire to all his landes I will therefore by the helpe of God according to my bounden dutie extend my whole indeuour to the vttermost of my power to doe him the best seruice I can all the daies of my life and shall thinke all that I am able to doe to be nothing in respect of that more then fatherly kindnesse which hee hath done for mee This had beene rightly spoken and this must bee our speech which are the elect of God For we were elected before the foundation of the world that we by the working of the holie Ghost should be holie and blamelesse and not elected for that God sawe wee would bee holie and blamelesse to merit our owne saluation for that is contrarie to the meaning of the holy Ghost vttered by Saint Paule in the first to the Ephesians And so Gods election and decree vncerteine which is most certeine if our saluation should rest vpon our owne well or ill doing which cannot be For Gods election being once decreed which as Paule saith was before the foundation of the world it standeth sure for euer and resteth not vpon our well doing yet if wee leade not a godlie Christian life we showe our selues to be damned creatures and not of the number elected in whom the holie spirit of God worketh And here we see that God the father by his mercy and loue is the first efficient cause of our saluatiō The sonne of God the seconde efficient cause The passion and death of Christ Iesu the materiall cause and Faith the instrumentall cause For Faith apprehendeth and so cannot works and thereby we take hold on Christ his passion and death and man beleeuing Christ to be the sonne of God God and man and that hee died for his sinnes he thereby is certeinly assured that he is the elect of God the father bought and redeemed by Christ the meritor redeemer and Sauiour and written in the booke of life before the foundation of the worlde Faith now being the instrument wherewith we take hold on Christ assureth vs that wee are elected And good works proceeding from iustifieng faith declareth to the world that wee be the elect of God and we please God by doing of good workes but we merit not saluation thereby neither hath good workes any part in the merit of our saluation but onely Christ Iesu For when wee haue done all the good that euer wee are able to doe yet are we but vnprofitable seruants And how then can wee merit our owne saluatiō The best works that euer were without Faith pleaseth not GOD For without Faith it is impossible to please God Yea if it had not beene appointed that Christ shuld haue died in the world all the good workes that euer Christ did himself in the world without his death could neuer haue merited heauen for vs which if they could Christ would neuer haue died neither should hee haue needed But if Christes good works besides his death were not able to merite our saluatiō much lesse our good works which are as a stained cloth polluted Therefore only Christ by his passion death and not the woorkes of the lawe and of grace neither doth Faith merit saluatiō because it is the proper office of Christ onelie to merit the same much lesse then our good workes yet if we be voide of good workes and haue not Faith chiefly to beleeue that Christ is the sonne of God God and man and that he died for our sinnes then may wee be sure that as long as we remaine in that state wee be none of those whome God hath elected but are of the reprobate

to falling The second Adam was Of heauen heauenly and could not fall The fift cause and end of all his good workes his godlie life and conuersation in this world was to set foorth the glorie of his heauenly father And he so glorified him thereby that his heauenly father from heauen said This is my welbeloued sonne in vvhom I am well pleased c. And that we also which are the elect of God Might haue our light so shine before men that they may see our good workes and glorifie our heauenly Father which is in heauen according to the example of our maister Christ. Now here you may perceiue to what end the godly life and good workes which Christ did in this worlde did tende too which was not to merit saluation for mankind neither was that the pointed price for the same neither could that obteine it But as it is saide the verie price of our saluation was onelie the passion and death of Christ Iesu and not the works of grace And in Gods election before the creation of the worlde the saluation of mankinde was made as sure for them and Christ as sure of his elect whiche hee bought before they were though the price for the same was not then paid but to be paid in the appointed time as a man is sure of a peece of lande that is voide of encombrance which hee buyeth to paie for the same at a daie appointed The bargaine of which lands being set downe vnder hande and seale and all thinges done that ought to be touching the sale sauing payment which is reserued to the appointed daie The land is now the buiers and no man can take it out of his hands and the seller hath no more to do with the landes though yet hee bee not paide for the same neither can the seller haue action against the lande but against the buier And so the lande doth remaine firmely to the buyer still euen from the first concluding of the bargaine Euen so standeth it with the iustice and lawe of God and the mercie and loue of God in Christ for mankinde elect They haue nowe no more action against the elect which were bought by Christ and in time paide for the same then the seller hath against the lande which hee solde and in time was paide for it The elect were Christes from before the beginning after hee had bought them and they could not be taken out of his hands after the bargaine was once set downe and written vnder hande and Seale that is to saie written in the booke of life and sealed with the promised passion and death of Christ Iesu and so remained surely his owne for euer And therefore it is plaine that good woorkes hath no part in the saluation of the chosen children in Christ seeing the same was made sure to them before they were created or had done either good or euill neither could Gods election rest vncerteine vpon woorkes to come as a cause of saluation which are but the fruits of Gods children and of Faith And although good woorkes proceeding from iustifying Faith haue no part in the merit of our saluation yet be they of great vertue and force and haue their crowne For a godlie and a vertuous life in the children of GOD and the good workes which they doe which are the children of God elect in Christ Iesu doe please God and doe staie the wrath of God that the plagues due for sin as war pestilence famine and such like fall not vpon vs as a iust rewarde for our wickednesse And therefore to staie the wrath of God that his heauie hande fall not vpon vs and that the fauour and loue of God may still be bent towardes vs. The children of God by the operation of the holy Ghost who worketh both the will and the worke in all the elect of God because of our selues we are not able to thinke a good thought do make their humble prayers vnto God doe all the good workes that they are able to doe to the glory of God and are made by the holy Spirite of God to hunger thirst after righteousnesse to detest and abhor sinne and thereby doe worke out their saluation That is to say they outwardlye shewe vnto the world by their good life and conuersation that they are the elect of God And they are assured in their owne consciences hauing a feeling of the holy Ghost working in them and by leading a godly Christian life that they are of that number which were chosen and appointed to saluation before the creation of the world And God blesseth that land that peple that obey and worke good in his sight by true faith in Christ geueth his peace plenty of al good thinges vnto them And thus the Lord doth crowne our good works rewardeth the same by these blessings the worldly blessings which god giueth vs are infinitely of greater value and more then al the best works that all the whole world is able to doe or deserue Therfore O miserable man what art thou that darest presume to lay thy defiled workes which euen the very best of them are most impure before the most high iust mighty pure god the iudge of righteousnes to merite thy saluation who setting aside his mercy cānot abide inperfection Augustine cryeth out woe be to the most vpright life of man if God examin the same setting his mercy aside Then when all the best workes that we are able to doe cannot deserue one of the least blessings which God hath daylie doth bestowe vpon vs what shouldest thou meane O miserable man to holde them meritorious to purchase saluation For thy best works thy best life is sin wilt thou haue sin to merit thy saluation what saith Gregory vpō the words of Iob in the 9. chapter whose words be these Man cannot be iustified being com pared to God The holy mā saith Gregorie doth perceiue that all the deseruing of our best works are faulty if they be weied in the righteous ballāce of the iust iudge And can that which is faulty deserue other then damnation if mercy in Christ Iesu go not betwixt therefore is Christ only the merite for vs and not our good works Wil you heare what Barnard saith who making a long discourse as out of a learned fathers booke I gathered of the vnrighteousnes of mans righteousnesse demaunding in the end of what value all our righteousnes may be in the sight of GOD. Shall it not be imputed filt hie like vnto a foule menstruous cloth according to the saying of the Prophet and if strickt narrowe examination be made thereof shall not all our righteousnesse befound vnrighteousness and nothing worth But there is yet another shifte in the Papistes storeboxe which I trowe will strike the matter dead And what is that trowe you Forsooth that by grace we be renouated which grace is geuen vs from