Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	good_a	work_n	work_v	5,063	5	7.8717	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50426	St. Paul's travailing pangs, with his legal-Galatians, or, A treatise of justification wherein these two dissertions are chiefly evinced viz. 1. That justification is not by the law, but by faith, 2. That yet men are generally prone to seek justification by the law : together with several characters assigned of a legal and evangical spirit : to which is added (by way of appendix) the manner of transferring justification from the law to faith / by Zach. Mayne ...	Mayne, Zachary, 1631-1694.	1662 (1662)	Wing M1485; ESTC R4815	251,017	422

and a man is justified without these nay he cannot be justified if he but pretend to these Therefore the Apostle James must speak of another sort of works which whilest a man doth he yet renounces merit in them and these works a man may be in part justified by without any prejudice to the doctrine of Justification by faith This is fully asserted by Mr Baxter Thesis 76. pag. 292. Neither is there saith he the least appearance of a contradiction betwixt this and Paul's doctrine Rom. 3.28 if men did not through prejudice negligence or wilfulness over-look this that in that and all other the like places the Apostle doth professedly exclude THE WORKS OF THE LAW ONLY from Justification but never at all THE WORKS OF GOSPEL as they are the condition of the New Covenant Works therefore justifie as a less principal part of the condition of the New Covenant I am not shy to speak in Mr Baxter's words since I intend much the same thing they do not justifie from their own merit so only legal works justifie but from divine promise and acceptance For proof of this that it is so that works do justifie in the second place besides the express words of the Apostle James I finde the same thing asserted by the Apostle Paul in three several Scriptures * Dr Hammond Par. All that is required to our justification is faith not all that is called by that name but such as is made perfect by addition of those duties which we owe to God and our brethren Gal. 5● In Jesus Christ that is in the doctrine of Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing that is unto Justification 〈◊〉 uncircumcision but faith whi●● worketh by Love Here faith indeed is ●aid to justifie but it is a faith which worketh by love a working faith But yet more plainly the same expression is used in two places to our present purpose Gal. 6.15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new creature that is saith Dr Hammond the renewed regenerate heart and it may be added a new life 2 Cor. 5.17 If any man be in Christ he is a now creature old things are past away behold all things are become new that is he lives a perfect new life and this new life only availeth unto Justification beyond circumcision or uncircumcision which are meer external Priviledges The third Scripture where the same expression is used is beyond all exception to our present purpose 1 Cor. 7.19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing these are of no consideration in the matter of pleasing God and obtaining his favour What then is why the keeping the commandments of God this is beyond all these considerations of bond and free circumcised and uncircumcised But these are the things with which he compares the new creature and good works he doth not set these above all when he compares them with faith in that place where he mentions faith that is set above works and other graces as the cause above the effect the principal agent above the instrument Neither circumcision availeth any thing nor unc●r●umb●sion but faith which WORKETH BY LOVE But in these Scriptures we see plainly that work have an influence upon our Justification they are of great availe in order unto it If it be objected that the first Justification passeth upon believing before works I answer with many others that there is in the first faith a rooted disposition unto an universal obedience there is the new creature or new man of the heart there and in continued justification there is the new man of the life and conversation Now the reasons why the Lord would have works in the condition of Justification though he doth not justifie for works only or chiefly may be gathered out of the Scripture to be these The first reason is this 1 Reas Why works are in the condition of Gospel justification For that without works faith it self cannot be accounted a perfect saith Now certainly if faith justifie it must be a perfect compleat faith not a maimed imperfect faith That without works faith is imperfect and by works it is perfected are the assertions of the Apostle James Faith without works is dead James 2.20 26 ver 22. Seest th●● how faith wrought with his works and by works was his faith made perfect What an uselets imperfect dead thing is a power or faculty for action without operation What an useless thing would it be for a man to have eyes able to see only the man hath a continual blinde put before his eyes that he never doth see in all his life Why just such a thing were faith withour action of no worth or use What an imperfect faith had Abraham's been if his works and actions had not attended it Suppose we that when God commanded Abraham to offer up Isaac he had refused and said Lord how then shall there arise of him a great Nation his faith had been exceedingly discredited But when he resolves with himself I will offer him up for I know that God that raised him out of Sarah's dead womb can as well raise him from the dead after I have killed him and offered him up here was a noble faith indeed his faith was perfected by this work here that grace shewed what it could carry men unto When any thing attains its end it receives its perfection Here faith attained its end in carrying Abraham to do so great a work and therein was perfected and so obtained the compleat reward of Justification then the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God if works had not accompanied his faith it had proved but an imperfect dead faith the Scripture had not been fulfilled which faith Abraham believed God No artificer will own any thing to be a true and perfect piece of work which will not attain it's end serve the use it is made for so will not God own that to be faith which will not put us upon acts of confidence in himself and obedience to his commands be they never so difficult For though God knows the heart and so can see into the very principle of our actions yet the Lord is pleased to keep that distance of State and Majesty that he will not seem to know what he doth know till the outward man express what is in the inward man God knew before what was in Abraham's heart but yet he will not seem to know that he was so great a believer till he had put him upon this trial of offering up his son Gen 22.12 Now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not with-he●●●hy son thine only son from me Now I confess what is here said of works in this reason That faith receives it's perfection from them can only properly and immediately be applyed to the works of faith to other works only remotely as faith may have some kinde of influence even upon all good works but however

my body lest after I have preached the Gospel to others I myself should be a cast-away But the Apostle Paul had other principles in conjunction with it The love of Christ constraineth us saith he 2 Cor. 5.14 I shewed before that fear of Hell acting for the reward or from a principle of natural conscience these are not Legal principles in themselves and in their own nature so that he that acts by them should be far judged to be Legal but onely they are such as may want the company of other principles not to make themselves pass for Evangelical but to make the person that acts by them enough Evangelical they are a lower sort of good principles which let them have as great influence as they will can do no hurt onely there must be somewhat more ask shewed above and indeed here is the proper place to shew the necessity of some further principle and I accordingly promised in that particular to shew it in this Now I suppose this is is the great reason why there is need of a further principle besides those three for that a man may act by all those three principles and yet be under a Spirit of Bondage Now there must be some principle to free the soul from this bondage or else the soul can never serve God acceptably This Principle must be Love Perfect love casteth out fear first all slavish fear of God then the fear of men he that feareth is not made perfect in love Look to what degree the love of God is in the soul to such degree is the slavish fear of God and the cowardly fear of men abated But yet take two cautions in examining thy self by this Character as to predominant Legality 1. Be not too rash in concluding thou hast no love to God 2. If thou thinkest thou hast reason to conclude that hitherto thou hast no other principle of action towards God but those three which do not necessarily exclude a spirit of Bondage yet be not discouraged as to the future thou mayest have a further principle thou art in the fairest way towards it that any other is A spirit of Bondage is far better than a prophane spirit Many Divines hold and I think rightly that the Lord in the work of Conversion doth usually lead men through a spirit of bondage into a spirit of adoption though thou shouldst be at present as to thy state under the Law yet the Law is a School-Master unto Christ And Mr. Smith in that so often quoted Discourse of Superstition tells us after having quoted that very place in Isa 33. The sinners in Zion are afraid who shall dwell with the devouring fire as an argument of men under the power of Superstition though I should not dislike saith he these dreadful and astonishing thoughts of future torment which I doubt GOOD MEN may have cause to press home upon their own spirits whilst they find INGENUITY less active Thou seest there may be good use of such principles even in good men therefore they are not bad in thee But I come to the discovery of partial Legaity or the mixtures of Legality which may be found in the service and spirits of good men from this Character And this is indeed the Character by which the Legality of good men is usually discovered There are many Saints as I have intimated already several times who though they walk very exactly are not conscious to themselves of living in any known sin nay it is known by all that know them intimately that they are very strict in their lives yet these are still in doubts and fears touching their condition they are sorely affraid that the Lord is angry and displeased with them though they have no reason from the Scriptures or from the judgment of other Christians and Ministers nor from any revelation within them but onely through Satans temptations Now these men cannot gather their fears from any other occasion or reason then from their unreasonable conceptions their over-timorous and dreadful apprehensions of God They have some secret fears and doubts of his goodness that he will never be pleased though they make their way never so perfect before him though they humble themselves though they acknowledge their vileness in never so great debasements and abhorrencies of themselves The truth is they are secretly afraid and it must be so or else their jealousies must be without so much as the least shew of reason that they shall never please God unless they keep the Law to a tittle and what is Legality if this be not that is they think so at some times and this occasions their fears and doubts not that they think so always for if they should think so alwayes they were perfect Legallists Or else if they do not think so high as this that they must keep the whole law yet they think at least that they must do some very great thing which is beyond their strength And so accordingly for instance they think they must do so many duties in a day let what business come that can come and they must do it so well be they in never so ill a temper or frame of heart not as if our ill temper excuseth the ill performance of an action where that distemper is brought upon us by ourselves and that they perhaps must do as much when they are sick as when they are well that though they be weak in grace or weak in parts that yet they must do as much as those that are strong in both All this now together with the fears and troubles that attend these thoughts I call Legality and it proceeds from a false and over-timorous apprehension of the Deity And they are not enough sensible that the condition of man is altered from perfect to imperfect nor that the terms betwixt the great God and his creature Man are altered from Legal to Evangelical And I say once for all he that thinks God requires any thing of the Creature above its strength nay beyond what the creature can through the grace of God well and comfortably perform is a Legallist and under the spirit of bondage so far That is certainly a general Gospel-maxime though made use of upon a particular occasion of contribution to the necessity of the Saints which we have 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not And nothing is plainer in the Scripture then this That the Lord will proceed in his taking account of us according to the proportion of Talents that he put into our hands As many as have sinned without Law shal also perish without Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shal be judged by the Law Rom. 2.12 The Lord wil not expect more then four talents from him to whom he gave but two nor more then two from him to whom he gave but one Matth. 25. ver 14 15 20 21 22.