Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	blood_n	purge_v	sanctify_v	1,142	5	9.4967	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39120	Vindiciæ justificationis gratuitæ = Justification without conditions, or, The free justification of a sinner : explained, confirmed, and vindicated, from the exceptions, objections, and seeming absurdities, which are cast upon it, by the assertors of conditional justification : more especially from the attempts of Mr. B. Woodbridge in his sermon, entituled (Justification by faith), of Mr. Cranford in his Epistle to the reader, and of Mr. Baxter in some passages, which relate to the same matter : wherein also, the absoluteness of the New Covenant is proved, and the arguments against it, are disproved / by W. Eyre ...	Eyre, William, 1612 or 13-1670.; Owen, John, 1616-1683.	1654 (1654)	Wing E3947A; ESTC R40198	198,474	230

if they had clave the Cart before the Ark was taken down which could not be In 2 Tim. 1.9 it is said God hath saved us and called us yet I suppose Mr. W. will not say That men are saved before they are called So though Vocation be set before Justification yet it doth not follow that it precedes it in order of Nature 2 The Apostles scope here is not to shew in what order these Benefits are bestowed upon us but how inseparably they are linked unto our Predestination and that it is Impossible either sin or affliction should make them miserable whom God hath chosen 3 I see no inconvenience at all in saying That the Apostle here speaks of Justification as it is declared and terminated in our Consciences which some learned men do make the formale of Justification and in this respect I shall grant him That Justification is a consequent of Vocation § 6. Mr. Woodbridges next Allegation is from Rom. 4.24 Righteousness shall be imputed to us if we believe Ergo It was not imputed before we did believe I answer That the consequence is not necessary for this Particle if is used sometimes declaratively It doth not always propound the condition by which a benefit is obtained but sometimes it serves to describe the person to whom the benefit doth belong Descriptions are taken from Effects and Consequences as well as from the Causes or Antecedent Conditions As for instance If a man saith the Apostle purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor 2 Tim. 2.21 The Papists infer from hence That a man is made a vessel of honor by purging himself c. Our Protestant Divines do answer That the place proves not that a man is hereby made or becomes a vessel of honor but that hereby he is manifested and known to be a vessel of honor So Heb. 3.6 Whose house are we if we hold fast our confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end Which we are not to understand as if these things did make us to be the house of God but that hereby we appear and approve our selves to be the house of God This Conjunction if is many times annexed unto the Marks and Cognizances of such as shall be saved or are happy which do shew Non propter quid beand● sunt vel servandi sed quales beati sunt quales servandi Not upon what conditions but what manner of persons are finally saved I see no reason but it may be so understood in this place his Righteousness is imputed to us if we believe q. d. Hereby we may know and be assured that Christs Righteousness is imputed to us that we whether Jews or Gentiles are the persons to whom this grace belongs if God hath drawn our hearts to believe and obey the Gospel in regard that none do or can believe but such as are ordained to life and to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ. The Lord works Faith in none but in them to whom he hath imputed the Righteousness of his Son § 7. The other Scriptures he hath brought conclude as weakly against us as any of the former as Acts 10.43 Thorow his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins And Acts 26.18 That they may receive forgiveness of sins who are sanctified by Faith with Acts 13.39 By him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses To which says Mr. W. might be added multitudes of other places I confess his Concordance would have furnished him with many such places but no more to the purpose then these he hath cited which though they affirm That Believers are justified yet they deny not the Justification of the Elect before believing In the former it is Whosoever believeth shall receive remission of sins it is not By believing we obtain remission of sins or God doth not discount mens sins unto them till they do believe The giving of remission and the receiving of remission are two things the former is Gods act who is the onely Justifier the latter is ours the former is properly Justification and not the latter though it be called so in a passive and improper sence We know a Prince pardons a malefactor when he gives his consent That the Sentence of the Law should be reversed and confirms it with his Hand and Seal This Pardon is valid in Law and secures the offender from punishment though it come not to his hands for a good while after So a Father gives and bequeaths an Estate to his Childe that is an Infant which by the donation of the Father belongs to the Childe though the Childe do not receive and enjoy it till he comes to age So God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their sins unto them Though no man doth receive and enjoy this Grace till he doth believe we obtain remission of sins by Christ alone but we receive it by Faith § 8. In the 13 of the Acts 39 the Apostle shews the excellency of the Gospel above the Law or the priviledge of the Saints in the New Testament above them that lived under the Old Administration Who saith he are justified from all things c. There was a cleansing and purgation of sin provided in the Law but not like unto that which is revealed in the Gospel For 1 the Law did not cleanse them from all sins for some sins it allowed of no Sacrifice at all as for Blasphemy sins of presumption c. But now the Blood of that Sacrifice which is exhibited in the Gospel cleanseth us from all sin 1 Joh. 1.7 Mark 3.28 2 Those Sacrifices made them clean but in an External Typical manner as To the purifying of the flesh Heb. 9.13 they could not make them perfect as pertaining to the Conscience Heb. 10.12 Whereas the cleansing which is made by the Blood of Christ is Spiritual and Internal It purgeth mens consciences from dead works Heb. 9.14 They that are purged herewith have no more conscience of sin de jure if not de facto Chap. 10.2 They have the answer of a good conscience toward God q. d. They can plead not guilty 1 Pet. 3.21 3 The legal cleansing was by Sacrifice after Sacrifice Heb. 10.3 Whereas Christ by one Sacrifice once offered hath taken away all the sins of his people or as it is in Daniel hath made an end of sin So that here is nothing at all of the time of our Justification though he affirms That they that believe are thus perfectly justified yet it follows not from this or any other Text That the Elect are not justified before they believe and much less That a man is justified by the gratious act or habit of Faith § 9. Mr. W. Pag. 2. gives his Reader our Sence of these Scriptures The onely Answer saith he which is given to these and the like Texts is this That

H●ll c. to fetch Christ himself to tell you by immediate Revelation whether you shall be justified and saved we have neerer and more certain evidences He that believes with the heart c. In this Scripture he gives us two marks or characters of a true Christian one Internal known onely to the Christian himself Believing with the heart the other External or visible to men Confession with the mouth But of this we shall have occasion to speak more anon § 5. 2 He urgeth That Faith and Works have the like order to Justification in their respective Covenants or else Justification by Faith and Justification by Works were not opposed as they constantly are in the Apostles Writings c. We grant that there is a true and formal opposition between Faith and Works The Affirmative which the Jews pleaded for That a man is justified by Works and the Negative which the Apostle contended for That a man is not justified by Works but by Faith are as opposite as East and West and as impossible to be reconciled as light and darkness But then Faith must be taken Objectively and not Properly for that which is formally opposed to Works is not the act but the object of Faith to wit the Righteousness of Christ which we apprehend and enjoy by Faith for if by Faith he had meant the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 credere or act of believing there were no opposition at all between Faith and Works and the establishing of Justification by Faith will in no wise destroy Justification by Works and consequently to use Mr. Woodbridges Expressions there would be nothing but falshoods and equivocations in all the Apostles Disputations against Justification by Works How easily might the Jews and the Apostle I will adde the Papists and Protestants be reconciled They say we must be justified by Works and these say we must be justified by Faith which is a work of ours and such as includes all other works of new Obedience an easie distinction will salve the matter We are not justified by Works as they are conditions of the first Covenant but we are justified by Works as they are conditions of the second Covenant We are not justified by Works as they are our Legal Righteousness but we are justified by Works as they are our Evangelical Righteousness Was it beseeming the gravity of so great an Apostle to raise so sharp a contest about a trifle as the denomination of Works from the first and second Covenant when as the Works are the very same in respect both of the matter and subject Would not all men have censured his Writings to be but strifes of words § 6. His fift Objection is raised from 1 Cor. 6.11 Such were some of you but you are washed but you are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Where sayes he there is an evident opposition between the time past and present in respect of their Justification And thence he argues Now you are justified Ergo not before or befor● you were unjustified To which I answer 1 That the words do not countenance this inference He sayes indeed that in times past they were unsanctified they had been Fornicators Idolaters c. i. e. As vile and wicked as the worst of men for which sins they deserved to be shut out of the Kingdom of God no less then they that are damned He doth not say that they were unjustified before Conversion they were reclaimed or cleansed from those sins by the Preaching of the Gospel but they were justified from those sins in or by the name i. e. The Merit and Righteousness of Jesus Christ which was imputed to them by God whilest they lived in unbelief But 2 if any man will strain this consequence from the words You are justified Ergo You were not whilest you lived in these sins I shall then own the answer which he rejects with so much scorn and contempt That they were not justified before Conversion either in foro Conscientiae or in foro Ecclesiastico not doubting but that I shall sufficiently clear it from his Exceptions § 7. The first of which is Why might they not be said to be exception 1 sanctified before Conversion as well as justified I answer that there is not the same reason for a mans Sanctification before Faith and Conversion as there is for his Justification For 1 to say That an unconverted person is sanctified is contradictio in adjecto but it is no contradiction to 〈◊〉 That an ungodly or unconverted person is justified which is the expression of the Holy Ghost Rom. 4.5 Sanctification consists in our Conversion or turning unto God but our Justification in Gods accounting unto us the Righteousness and satisfaction of his Son the one is a work or act of God done without us 2 Cor. 5.19 but the other is the operation of God within us God cannot sanctifie us without holiness because he cannot do contradictions but God may justifie us if he please without Faith and Inherent holiness because that ex natura rei is no contradiction Our Sanctification flows from Faith as the principle and motive of it 1 John 3.3 4.19 Gal. 5.6 But now our Justification hath not that dependence upon Faith seeing that is Gods act and not ours though we are said to be sanctified by Faith yet not in that sense that we are said to be justified by Faith Faith is Active in the one but Passive in the other it is onely the Hand or Instrument that receives our Justification it is the principle or efficient which operates and produceth our Sanctification 2 Though Justification be sometimes taken for the declared sentence of Absolution in the Court of Conscience yet it follows not that Sanctification should be so understood because the sentence of Justification is terminated in Conscience But Sanctification is diffused throughout the whole man 1 Thes. 5.23 Sanctification is not our knowing that we are sanctified but the conformity of our faculties and their operations to the rule of holiness So that his Assertion that Nothing can be alledged for Justification before believing which will not hold as strongly for Sanctification before believing hath nothing but confidence to support it exception 2 § 8. His next Exception is That the Justification they now had was that which gave them right and title to the Kingdom of God which right and title they had not before they believed c. For if they had this right before they believed then whether they believed or no all was one as to the certainty of their Salvation and they might have gone to Heaven though they had lived and died without Faith To which I answer 1. That these Elect Corinthians had no more right to Salvation after their believing then they had before For their right to Salvation was grounded onely upon the purpose of God and the purchase of Jesus Christ. Salvation is a 〈◊〉 freely bestowed upon us and not a debt or

to all the consequences of his debts In this sence our Formal Justification is by the gracious sentence of the Gospel terminated upon our Consciences but otherwise intrinsecally and formally the payment of our debt is our real discharge I shall grant him That the death of Christ doth justifie us onely virtually but yet I affirm That the satisfaction in his death being performed and accepted for us doth justifie us formally for the actual payment of a debt is that which formally makes him that was the debtor no debtor And therefore Christ dying for us or for our sins his reconciling us to God and our being justified are Synonima's in Scripture phrase Rom. 5.8 9 10. Object But against this some have alledged that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.21 where he saith That Christ was made sin for us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we might be made he doth not say that thereby we are made the Righteousness of God in him Whence they would infer That the laying of our sins on Christ is onely an Antecedent which tends to the procuring of our Justification and not the same formally Whereunto we Answer 1 That this phrase that we might be or be made doth not alwayes signifie the final but sometimes the formal cause As when it is said That light is let in that darkness might be expelled where the immission of light is formally the expulsion of darkness 2 Though the imputation of our sins to Christ and of his Righteousness to us do differ yet the imputation of sin to him and non-imputation of it unto us is but one and the same act of God which was when God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them before the word of Reconciliation was given and therefore before they believed Vers. 19. 3 Though the imputation of our sin to Christ and so the non-imputation thereof to us have an antecedency in respect of imputation of Righteousness to us yet it is of nature onely and not of time For though it be objected That we were not then and therefore Righteousness could not be imputed unto us yet it follows not They might as well object Our sins were not then Ergo They could not be imputed unto Christ whereas in this business of Justification God calleth things that are not as though they were But if Mr. W. had shewn what it is that formally justifies us besides the satisfaction made in Christs death somewhat more might have been spoken to it § 7. The close of this Paragraph is such a dirty puddle that I intended to have stept over it in silence seeing it is so hard to touch pitch or pollution and not be defiled with it but yet for their sakes that do not know 〈◊〉 I shall stay the Reader a little whilest I wash off that dirt which he hath thrown upon me and others They are credulous souls I will assure you that will be drawn by such decoyes as these into Schism and Faction to the hardning and discomforting of more hearts in one hour then the Opinion it self should it obtain will do good to while the world stands I dare not allow my self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or to pay him in his own coyn having perswaded my heart to follow better examples even his who when he was reviled reviled not again 1 Pet. 2.23 And theirs who being reproached returned blessing 1 Cor. 4.12 In these few words there are a heap of slanders packt together both against my self and others and which is more grievous to be born against the truths and ways of God which we adhere to 1. They that do embrace this Doctrine which I have taught are aspersed with credulity and levity I do verily believe there is not one of my charge but is able to say as the Samaritans John 4.42 We believe not because of thy saying for we have heard him our selves c. I dare say they are better setled then to be shaken with the sophistry of this Assailant I am sure both they and many more will bear me witness how frequently I do admonish them of taking up matters of Faith upon trust and credit it being Idolatry in a high degree to give the most Spiritual Worship of God viz. Our Faith to a weak and sinful man He that believes a truth upon a Humane account is no better Christian then he that doth believe a lie Let the prudent judge whether they are not more justly obnoxious to this censure of abusing the credulity of simple souls who will not endure that their hearers should bring their Doctrines to the touchstone The tyranny and usurpation of the Popish Priests is far more excusable then the affected domination of some of ours for they believe that their Church is infallible and cannot erre ours confess that they are fallible and may erre and yet expect subscription to their Dictates no less then to the Canon it self It is held a piaculum to question or debate what ever they say 2. It is but an unhandsome character he hath given my Arguments which he calls decoyes The Apostle I take it hath Englished his French Eph. 4.14 The sleight of men who lie in wait to deceive I dare say he knows me better then in cold blood to accuse me of driving on such a devillish trade as wittingly to deceive mens precious souls And therefore I shall call in no other Compurgator then his own Conscience § 8. As for his charge of Schisme and Faction I am not carefull to answer it being the usuall foam of passionate men who when they want Arguments to convince fall to downright railing Schisme sayes a learned man in the common manage of the word is a meer Theologicall Scar-crow wherewith they who uphold a party in Religion seek to fright away others from enquiring into and closing with that which they doe oppose Both this and the other are most frequently in their mouthes who are deepest in the guilt that is imported by them Ahab by his sins brought down Plagues and Judgements upon Israel yet he cals Elijah the troubler of Israel 1 King 18.17 Athalia was the cheifest Traytor and yet she was the first that cryed out Treason 2 King 11.14 Tertullus was the Orator of the tumult yet he inveighs against Paul as a Ring leader of Sedition Act. 24.5 6. the Church of Rome which hath fallen from the purity of the Catholique Faith brands them for Schismaticks who refuse to continue in the same Apostasie Amongst our selves the late Innovators aspersed all those with Faction and Schisme who would not prostitute their Consciences to the Wils of men and to this day ignorant and prophane persons think all them to be Factious and Schismaticks who live more strictly and religiously then themselves I must needs say they are lesse to be blamed seeing Professors and Ministers do give them such an evill example § 9. I confesse though in common use Schisme and