Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	justification_n	meritorious_a	righteousness_n	3,361	5	7.8167	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12703	The high vvay to Heaven by the cleare light of the Gospell cleansed of a number of most dangerous stumbling stones thereinto throwen by Bellarmine and others In a treatise made vpon the 37. 38. and 39. verses of the 7. of Iohn: wherein is so handled the most sweete and comfortable doctrine of the true vnion and communication of Christ and his Church, and the contrarie is so confuted, as that not onely thereby also summarilie and briefly, and yet plainly all men may learne rightly to receiue the sacrament of Christs blessed bodie and blood, but also how to beleeue and to liue to saluation. And therefore entitled The highway to Heauen. By Thomas Sparke Doctor of Diuinitie.	Sparke, Thomas, 1548-1616.	1597 (1597)	STC 23021; ESTC S102434	161,682	384

his inner man he consenteth vnto the lawe that it is holie and good yet he doth sometimes the euill that he hateth and findeth no meanes as he shoulde to performe that which is good Vers 14. c. And by workes done after grace flowing as they say from our owne freewill in great part if iustification should come at all how then could we be excluded from all reioyeing in that respect in our selues how coulde our iustification come freely and of sauour and not at all of debt as Paule teacheth it must how could it be but in some sorte we shoulde be heires by the lawe and not onely by faith and the vertue of the promise neyther of which can be sure and certaine if they rested vpon the condition of the workes that we at any time can doe which we can neuer be sure that we haue attained vnto eyther in that measure or manner as they themselues are driuen to confesse as is required of vs. Yea if thereby at all our iustification coulde come why then was not the promise made vnto vs in the plurall number in seedes and not in seede to warrant vs as especially to looke for the benefitte thereof by the merites of the seede of the woman of Abraham Isaac and Iacob so partly and secondarily at least by our selues and our owne merits or workes ioyned with his But to ende this point what can be more cleare to put vs out of all doubt that Paule shuts not from this office of iustifying onely workes of the lawe done before grace but also the best workes done in grace then that he himselfe in the third of the Philippians as we heard before in this respect doth not onely in the time past disable his own good workes done according to the lawe before his conuersion vnreproueable but also in the verie present time when he wrote that Epistle which was not long before his death his workes or righteousness which he then had as dung that so he might be iustified by another righteousnesse to be founde and attained vnto by faith in Christ In that also 1. Cor. 4.4 First he confesseth that he knew nothing by himselfe speaking then of himselfe as he was in the state of grace and then by and by he addeth that he was not thereby iustified he plainely shewed that though he had liued so in the execution of his Apostleship that his conscience accused him not of transgression therein any way within the compasse whereof laye moste of the workes that he had done in grace yet he thought not thereby to be iustified at all Wherefore from whom soeuer these our aduersaries haue sucked or learned this glose or interpretation of Paules wordes euidentlie heereby it appeareth that it is a cursed glose for that it so directly corrupteth the text and therefore vpon whom soeuer they would father it to put the enuie and shame thereof from themselues both of them must giue vs leaue rather to forsake them heerein then the plaine euidence of the scriptures themselues which I am fullie perswaded though they hardlie or neuer will be brought vnto they ha●●e so vowed themselues obstinately to resist the trueth that yet the ancient writers in whose writinges sometimes they finde something that soundeth too much this way if eyther they were in these times or when they liued had heard but halfe so much as they haue to the contrarie they would most readily and willingly haue retracted and recanted the same For so we finde they were willing to doe when eyther by their owne further reading or learning or by the information of others they had cause giuen them to see wherein for lacke of further aduise they haue erred and neuer did any of these by farre thus interpret Paules wordes to aduance mans merits and to darken and obscure the glorie of Christ as they doe yea if they coulde haue but foreseene that euer after any woulde haue come after them thus to abuse their wordes to driue men from seeking at all to be iustified by the imputation of Christes righteousnesse to the beleeuer in him that then they might trust to their owne righteousnesse inherent in themselues inhabit as to the formall cause of their iustification and in worke wrought as to the meritorious cause of another iustification euen of saluation it selfe I dare be bolde to say they woulde neuer by any meanes haue beene drawen to haue left one sillable behinde them in their writinges sounding that way And this sufficientlie may appeare to any that hath but red their workes therein they are elsewhere so plaine full and pregnant to aduouch iustification freely by faith in Christ through the imputation of his merits and righteousnesse vnto men as in sundrie places of an answere of mine in printe to Iohn de Albïne I haue at large shewed whereunto I therefore nowe referre the Christian Reader And whereas by grace whereby Pauls faith we are iustified they woulde beare men in hand that there by grace is not to be vnderstood the free sauour of God towardes man in Christ Iesus but that speciall gift of that grace the habit of charitie infused or powred into them that beleeue all the reasons and places vsed to confute the former shift of theirs serue also as pregnantly to ouerthrow this And hereof also as of the other their onely ground is sophistrie taking aduantage by the diuerse acceptions and significations of the worde grace here to teach men to vnderstand thereby an effect of grace whereas in deede the verie fountaine it selfe of all these effectes which is the free fauour of God towardes man in Christ is meant in deede To discerne their iugling and treacherie herein let a man but in steede of grace vsed by the Apostle in this argument in these fewe places following place but the habitte of charitie and then againe weye what a violence thereby is offered both to his woordes and sense We are iustified freely by his grace that is by his infused habit of charitie through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus Rom. 3.24 By grace are you saued through faith that is by the habite of charitie infused through saith and not of your selues it is the gift of God not of workes least any man should bost him selfe Eph. 2.8.9 to the praise of the glorie of his grace wherewith he made vs accepted in his beloued that is to the praise of the glorie of his infused habitte of charitie c. who seeth not both the absurdnes and ridiculousnesse of this interplation of grace and withall perceiueth not indeed nothing else in these places can be vnderstood by grace but the free fauour of God had towards his elect in Christ Iesus before the foundations of the worlde were laid Which grace as it was grounded before all times onely vpon the person and office of the sonne of God our fauiour so to shewe vs that in the reuealing of the same vnto vs and communicating the same vnto his he respects not any

for the worthinesse of the thinges done or suffered by men as for that they are done of men formally iustified before with God by the infused grace of charity and that they are therefore growne to that efficacie by the bloode and merits of Christ for which beleeued but on as they teach God hath iustified them by infusing the gift of charitie into their soules and mindes let them not once thinke or dreame I say that any or all of these their sophisticall and cunning sleights or shiftes eyther can or shall once darken or blemish the plaine euidence and cleare light of this doctrine of iustification redemption and full saluation freely and effectually by faith in Christ Iesus For as for the first of these they cannot be ignorant that whensoeuer the question is in hande how and wherby man is to be iustified before God the scriptures throughout as plainely teach vs that there is but one iustification or waie thereunto as they teach vs that there is but one God Indeede they shewe sometimes that there is a proceeding and growing forward ●●eerein from vertue to vertue from faith to faith and so from strength to strength in applying vnto vs according to the increasings of our knowledge more and more of our owne wantes and of Christes person and office and according to our proceeding in the strength vertue power of our faith grounded therupon Christ Iesus his merits and sometimes they speak of iustification in a larger or in another signification therfore then they may and doe vrge him that is iustified to be yet more iustified but heereupon to builde that therefore there are two distinct kindes of iustification of man before the tribunall seate of GOD is both to builde without grounde and foundation and wilfullie in a most serious cause to play and seeke by dallying with ambiguitie of wordes to deceiue the simple Now as for their second shift the vanity falshoode therof will soone appeare to any that with any indifferencie wil but consider Paules wordes when in handling of this point he shutteth out workes of the lawe from hauing any thing to doe in the office of iustifying For writing as he did alwaies when he handled this question not to Iewes that indeede thorowe ignorance both of Christ and of the true meaning and vse of the lawe vsed to seeke by the workes of the lawe in their sence that is by workes taught by the lawe and done before grace to be iustified but to conuerted and beleeuing Gentiles to what purpose had it beene to labour so often and so earnestlie to driue them from seeking iustification by such workes of the lawe whereof they coulde neuer make anie such reckoning in that before their conuersion they were not so much as once acquainted with the lawe If therfore we must thinke as we are bounde that Paule wrote and spoke to the purpose and aptlie to those that he had to deale withall out of all question we must needs be of that iudgement that he taught euen the conuerted and beleeuing gentiles in what measure soeuer the spirit of grace enabled them to haue and to performe neuer so manie good workes of the lawe yet when they were neuer so full of them to trust perfectly freely to be iustified by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Iesus and not at all by the workes of the lawe Alas who is so simple as to thinke that the false Apostles sought to perswade the Galathians whome Paule had left setled in seeking their iustification freely by faith in Christ to seeke manie so to be iustified in part or in whole by workes of the lawe done without or before grace and yet if this popish glose must stand Paule in his Epistle written of purpose to perswade the Galathians not to listen to these teaching them to seeke any way to be iustified before God by the workes of the lawe therein eyther disputes to no purpose and fightes but with his owne shadowe or else it must be granted that these were the workes of the lawe that they were taught by them to put some trust and confidence in which to imagine were most grosse and absurde for there is no likelihoode therein at all His reasons that he vsed to shut out the workes of the lawe from the office of iustifying are these for by the lawe commeth the knowledge of sinne Rom. 3.20 For that our reioycing is in this case excluded not by the lawe of works but by the lawe of faith vers 27. For that if Abraham were iustified by workes he hath wherein to reioyce but not with God for that the wages is counted to him that worketh not of fauour as he taketh it for graunted it was to Abraham and must be to all the children of Abraham in this case but of debt which likewise he assumeth as graunted to be in this point absurde Rom. 4.2.4 For if they which are of the lawe be heires faith is made voyde and the promise is of none effect For the lawe causeth wrath 14.15 therefore it is by faith that it might come by grace and the promise might be sure to all the seeds 16. As mante as are of the workes of the lawe are vnder the curse For it is written cursed is euery one that continueth not in all thinges which are written in the booke of the lawe to doe them No man is iustified by the lawe in the sight of God it is euident for the iust shall liue by faith and to Abraham and his seede were the promises made he saith not and to thy seedes as speaking of manie but and to thy seede as of one which is Christ Gal. 3.10.11.16 Euerie and all of which argumentes make and serue strongly not onely to debarre woorks done before grace according to the outward letter of the lawe from all office and power to iustifie but also all workes done after grace effectually if mans owne free will in such sort concurre to the working of them as they teach For euen therein and when they are done the lawe findeth such imperfection in the doer as we may see by Paules owne confession Rom. 7.24 that he hath cause to crie O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this bodie of sinne and death and to acknowledge euen in such a one as then he himselfe was who doubtlesse was then in the state of grace that the lawe is such a reuealer of sin yet to be in him and therfore also of wrath that he is so farre off from hauing any cause by his own works done after grace to thinke that he deserueth to be iustified or saued in any respect that thereby he may iustly with him take occasion to confesse that though the law be spiritual yet he is carnal so sold vnder sinne that in his flesh there dwelleth no good thing for though to will is present with him that he allowe not the euill he doth because in

possest there also the possessour may be assured that with him he possesseth all those things also And yet these men no not their Bellarmine can abide any of these but it shall be inough with them him also to beleeue there is remission of sins accompanying baptisme to be had by him in him in the Church that there is such a mercy of God that is able to saue and that the righteousnesse of Christ may be as he is our head ours in such a sort that it may be the efficient cause of an inherent righteousnes in our selves able to earne heauen by but particularlie especially for vs to beleeue that we shall without all doubt haue all our sinnes forgiuen vs that we are sure of this mercie and haue this righteousnesse of his imputed vnto vs as our owne whereby we shall and may be righteous before God at no hand they can abide As though he that sticketh not to giue vs his sonne God and man to be our verie owne so that we are his and he ours would not or could not together with him giue vs these things also Yea how can he withold them giuing vs his sonne seeing these and he goe alway togither But to proceede This vniō is not carnall but spirituall this vnion of ours and cōmunion with Christ though it must be certain reall true in refpect of the things to be vnited yet in regard of the manner of vniting them we must not imagine it to be any grosse or earthly commixtion or cōiunction with him such as is with vs the mingling or ioyning togither of any creatures that in themselues are diuerse but that it is altogither in respect of the manner spirituall and supernaturall and yet neuerthelesse true and certaine though it be both vnsearchable and vnutterable For let a man fearch all the scriptures thorow and an other communion and fellowship with Christ whereupon saluation commeth then that which is spirituall he shall nether finde eyther promised expected or performed In deede it was both promised and thereupon expected and performed that Godhead and manhood shoulde be vnited togither in one person that so man who by sinne had lost his vnion communion and fellowship with God might recouer the same againe in and by that person and by that which he should accomplish in those two natures for him But as the personall vnion of these two natures in one Christ as by our Catholicke faith we are perswaded is reall certaine and sure so we finde it yet by humaine sense and reason incomprehensible and yet by the power of the eternall spirite by the same faith we are taught vndoubtedly to beleeue it was so verily effected for our euerlasting good A communicating of the merits of this Christ God and man vnto those that belezue in him by imputation there is we knowe For the righteousnes of God is on all and vpon all that beleene in him Rom. 3.22 which is a righteousnes that such attaine vnto by faith in him not made manifest by the lawe as the inherent righteousnesse of our owne merits if there were any such as men knowe is as both in that verse and that which goeth before is shewed But without the inhabitation of the spirit of God proceeding both from the Father and the Sonne the worke whereof faith is Iohn 6.29 Gal. 5.22 we cannot attaine heereunto Howbeit heere we talke not eyther of the vnion of the two natures in the person of one Christ nor yet of his communicating of his merits vnto vs by imputation nor of his dwelling in vs by his spirit but of his owne vniting and communicating of himselfe both God and man vnto vs. For consisting of those two natures heere in my text he biddeth vs to come vnto him and as I haue shewed to drinke of him which if once we duelie performe then we withal euen thereby are sure of all the benefits necessary to our saluation that by any of these we may looke for Now Paule when he spoke most plainely of this saying We are members of his body of his flesh of his bones Ephes 5.30 to assure vs that it is reall and essentiall yea and most certaine in respect of the thinges to be vnited Christ his members yet within two verses after he confesseth and saith that it is a great mystery that he speaketh of thereby also shewing that in respect of the manner of vniting of them it is supernaturall and vnsearchable by humaine sen̄se and reason howbeit this is our comfort that though we cannot conceiue it whiles we are heere and our knowledge is vnperfect that yet Christ our sauiour to our vnspeakeable consolation hath tolde vs that the day shall come when his shall knowe By the spirit it is obtained That he is to the father they in him and he in them Io. 14.20 In the meane time thus much it hath pleased him to reueale vnto vs by the worde that it is the holie Ghost the vertie spirit of God without which this cannot be and by the means whereof this vnion and communion is made betwixt Christ and vs. For it is written as vttered by Christ himselfe Io. 3.5 Except a man be borne againe of water and the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of God And Paule most plainelie saieth Rom. 8.9 If any man haue not the spirit of Christ the same is none of his And likewise Saint Iohn 1. Epist cap. 4. vers 13. writeth that by this we knowe that Christ is in vs by his spirit that he hath giuen vs. Paule also to this purpose verie notablie saith by one spirite we are all baptized into one bodie and haue beene all made to drinke into one spirite 1. Cor. 12.13 And therefore vpon verie good ground hath the ancient father Irenaeus who liued in the next age to the Apostles in his third booke and 19. chapter against the heresies of the Valentinians and others written most sweetely and profoundlie Sicut de arido tritico massa vna fierinon potest neque vnus panis ita nec nos multi vnum fieri in Christo Iesu poteramus sine aqua qnae de coelo est sicut arida terra si non percipiat humorem non fruclificat sic nos lignum aridum existentes primùm nunquam fructificaremus vitam sine superna voluntaria pluuia that is As of drie wheate neyther one lumpe of dowe nor one loafe can be made so neyther we beeing many could euer haue beene made one in Christ Iesu without water from heauen and as the drie earth fructifieth not without moysture so we being first but dry wood could neuer haue had our fruit to be eternall life without voluntarie raine from aboue Which in the same place he interpreteth to be the spirit of God which God bestoweth vpon his Which Chrisosiom in his Homilie at Pentecost of the holy spirit calleth the coupling or band of the vnion betwixt Christ and his Further to