Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	bind_v	law_n	moral_a	1,736	5	9.5201	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77739	A confutation of the Anabaptists, and all others who affect not civill government; proving the lawfullnesse of it: and a full answer to all their cavills, that are, or can be made against it. With a nut-cracker for an unnaturall nut, whose shell is as hard as the scales of Leviathan, and the kernell of his heart as hard as a piece of the nether mill-stone, Iob 41.15.24. yet the hammer of Gods word that breaketh in pieces the rocks, Ier. 23.29. will break this nut, that all may see the devillish kernell that is in it. Also arguments against the Anabaptists, proving that infants borne of Christian parents ought to be baptized: with a full answer to all their cavills that are (or can be) made against it. Imprimatur Ja. Cranford.	Bakewell, Thomas, b. 1618 or 19.	1644 (1644)	Wing B530; Thomason E51_20; ESTC R209932	98,225	89

this they plead that they are freed by Christ from all obedience to Magistrates I answer the liberty which Christ hath procured us is liberty of conscience and freedome from the power of sin Satan death hell and condemnation and therfore spirituall but not from temporall or civill subjection Sixtly from Ram. 13.8 the Apostle saith owe nothing to any man but love therefore say they no obedience or subjection I answer there be two kinds of debts 1. a civil debt occasioned by contract and bargaining between man and man the second is a debt to which we are all bound by Gods commandement Law or Covenant but this place is to be understood of the first of these so far as lies in our power but we are bound still in subjection and obedience to the latter and besides in this word love is comprehended all manner of duty whatsoever therefore love is the fulfilling of the whole Law For as love to God includes obedience so doth love to man the same Seventhly from Mat. 17.26 Where Christ had demanded before of whom the Kings of the earth take tribute whether of his owne Children or of strangers and Peter answered of strangers to which Christ replied then are the children free From hence they would gather that there is no subjection due to Magistrates because Kings Sonnes are freed from paying Tribute To this I answer that Christ here speaketh of himselfe who was by his birth the heire of the Crown and Kingdome of the Jewes and therefore by right was to pay none neither did he but to avoid offence but how doth this free othermen from their obeciēce to Magistrates Eighthly from these words of Paul Yee are bought with a price be yee not the servants of man 1 Cor. 7.23 I answer the Apostle here doth not free servants from their subjection and obedience to them that are their Masters for saith he Servants obey in all things your Masters according to the flesh Col. 3.22 But they must not make them absolute Lords over their soules and Conciences and the graces of Gods spirit in them these are the things of God Now if our conscience move us to obedience it must be from Gods commandement and not from mans for ye serve the Lord Christ therefore do it heartily but mark how as to the Lord and not to men Col. 3.23 24. Ninthly they object from these words of Christ saving The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and they that exercise authority are called benefactors but ye shall not be so Luke 22.25 But what of this here was a strife among the Disciples which of them should be accounted the greatest and Christ to suppresse their ambition told them that their ministery was not like to Kingdomes in which one man hath preheminence above the rest but how doth this place hinder Magistrates of that subjection which is due unto them It is cleare from hence that although the ministry should be equall that one should not exalt himselfe above another yet it ought to be so in Kingdomes therefore civill Government is warrantable and lawfull Tenthly they object that beleevers are governed by the spirit of God and so are able to governe themselves every way and need not any government of man I answer it is one thing what we doe and another thing what we ought to doe we ought indeed so to live as not to need any governours but we doe not live so yea if beleevers could live so yet were the reason nought for the visible Church containes as well bad as good hypocrites as well as sincere Christians and therefore the best Churches stand in need of Magistracy for the punishment of evill doers for the praise of them that do well yea the Church lying open to the malice of Sathan and wicked men standeth ever in need of Magistracy to protect it by force or warre or otherwise Eleventhly they object that all Christians by the law of God are forbidden to kill and saith the Lord speaking of these times under the Gospell that they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountaines Isa 11.9 I answer Magistrates in executing justice do not do it of themselves but as they are Deputies to the Lord they do but execute his will Iehosaphat said to the Judges take heed what you do for ye judge not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19.6 Then they doing all things by Gods authority they ought not to beare the sword in vaine Rom. 13.4 Therefore David rehearseth this among the vertues of a King To cut off the wicked of the Land and all the workes of iniquity from the Citie of the Lord Psal 101. This made Moses to forget his meeknesse and David his gentlenesse to doe the justice of the Lord The King that sitteth on the throne of judgement spreadeth his eyes over every evill man Again a wise King scattereth the wicked and bringeth the wheel over them Pro. 20.8.26 Take away the wicked from before the Throne and the Throne shal be established in righteousnesse An evill man seeketh only rebellion therefore a cruel messenger shal be sent against him Pro. 16.12.17.11 Thus you see that magistrates may cut off malefactors by death and yet be free from spilling blood or the breach of that Commandement which saith Thou shalt not kill Nay it is their righteousnesse to cut off the guilty malefactor and by so doing they do keep their own hands pure from the blood that those murderers have shed and on the contrary if they do not they are guilty of most horrible wickednesse yet a Magistrate must take heed that hee doth neither with rigorousnesse of mind wound them that he should heale nor with a superstitious affectation of clemency fall into most cruell gentlenesse 12. But they object that under the Gospell Christians shall turne their swords into Plough shares and their spears into pruning hookes Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation neither shall they learn warre any more Isa 2.4 To this I have given a large answer in that book intituled the Saints Inheritance after the day of judgement when the Saints shall inherit all things but till the day that Christ shall come to judgment wars shall never cease they shall fall by the edge of the sword but when shall this be surely very neare the end when there be signes in the Sun Moon and Stars then they shall see the Son of Man in a cloud with power and great glory but what of this I answer when ye see these things come to passe know ye that the kingdome of God is nigh at hand Lu 21.24.25.27.31 Now will you know when wars shall cease I answer when the Son of Man shall come with power and great glory then is that Kingdome of God at hand in which there shal be no wars but then all that offend shal be gathered out of his Kingdome and cast into the furnace of fire and the righteous shall shine as the sun

lesse then most cruelly and unnaturally spilling the bloud of the people for their Impositions and Subsidies and other kind of tributes are but the supports of publique necessity Then to weary the poore Communalty without cause is tyrannicall extortion these things considered doe not encourage Princes to wastefull expence and ryot but rather it behoveth them with pure conscience before God to doe all that they are bound to dee lest by their wicked boldnesse they be despised of God and they must be raught by them to whom it belongs how much is lawfull for them neither is this Doctrine needlesse for private men they must not rashly and stubbornly give themselves leave to grudge at the expences of Princes although they exceed common and civill measure see Calvin Insti 4.20.13 Here it may be demanded by what rule Civill Government is to be regulated I answer by the Civill and positive Lawes of that Kingdome from which they receive their authority and dignity of civill Magistrates these Lawes are as strong sinewes of Common-weales or as Cicero calleth them the soules without which the Magistrate cannot stand neither have they without the Magistrate any force for the Law may be called a dumb Judge and the Magistrate a living Law Now the Jewes had three sorts of Lawes the Ceremoniall which was to them a darke Gospell shewing forth Christ to them in darke Types and shadows but blessed be God the vaile is taken away to us and Christ is more clearly set forth to us since the publication of the Gospell and Christ is come the substance of all those dark Types and shadowes Secondly they had the Judiciall Law which was the civill or positive Law of their Common-wealth so answerable to this wee have our positive Lawes of this Kingdome Thirdly they had the eternall Morall Law of God which commandeth simply without guile to worship God with pure faith and godly life Secondly it commandeth to imbrace man with unfained love it is the true and eternall rule of all righteous walking both to God and men and it is prescribed to men of all ages and times who are willing to frame their lives to the will of God for this is his eternall and unchangeable will that he himselfe should be worshipped of us all and that we should mutually love one another So then although the judiciall or positive Lawes of the Jewes be taken away yet the perpetuall duties of the Morall Law abide for ever Hence I gather that every Nation hath that liberty left them to make such Lawes as they shall foresee to be most profitable for them but they must be framed after the perpetuall rule of charity they must be grounded upon the same foundation although they may differ in the form-from other Nations Now the Law of God which we call morall is nothing else but a testimony of the naturall Law that was written in the heart of man by creation some reliques of it are still remaining in man this morall law must be the marke and end and rule of all Lawes then whatsoever lawes shall be framed according to that rule and directed to that mark and limited to that end there is no cause why we should disallow them although they differ from the Jewish Law or one Kingdome from another in the administration of it as for example the law of God forbiddeth stealing now the petialty of theft is set downe in the civill lawes of the Jewes to restore five oxen for an oxe and foure sheep for a sheep Exod. 22.1 Now other Nations punished theft with recompence of double the lawes that followed afterwards made difference between manifest theft and that which was not manifest and some proceeded to banishment some to whipping and some at last to the punishment of death Again for false witnessing among the Jewes was punished with recompence of equall paine Deut 19.18 In some places onely with great shame in some places with hanging in othersome with the crosse and for man-slaughter all lawes universally do revenge with bloud yet with divers kinds of death for adultery in some places were ordained great punishment and in some lesser yet we see for all this diversity all tend to the same end for they all agree togehter to punish those offences which the eternall law of God conde ones as man-slaughter thefts adulteries false w●●●essing c. But in the manner of punishment they agree not neither is it needfull that they should for in some Countries they must shew vigour with horrible examples against man slayers or else they will be immediately ruined with murders and robberies and sometimes punishments ought to be more severe then at other times as in the time of was all humanity would be cast away unlesse they then use unwonted fear of punishments and some Countreys are more addicted to some certaine vice which must be the more sharply punished to stop the spreading of it Hence we must not conceive that the eternall law of God is abrogated and new Lawes made and put in the place thereof and prefe red above it for they are not preferd above it simply but in respect of the times places and Nations neither was the Morall Law given by Moses but to Adam before he sinned and manifested in writing to Moses not for the Jewes only but for all Nations and to be the ground of all their positive Lawes Objections against our positive Law FIrst being the 14th in number they object against our lawes and Magistrates saying that they are of no use for Christians for we cannot lawfully crave their aid in any suite at law because they are forbidden to revenge or to have any controversie I answer Paul saith that he is the Minister of God for good and he is so ordained of God and for that very purpose attending continually upon this very thing Rom. 13.16 To defend us from the malice injuries of mischievous men therefore we ought to pray for those in authority that we may live a quiet a peaceable life but unlesse it be lawfull to use such helpe and benefit they were given to us in vaine from the Lord and saith Demetrius if any man have a matter against another the law is open and there are Deputies let them implead one another and if you enquire any thing concerning other matters it shal be determined in a lawfull assembly Acts 19 28 39. And saith Christ Agree with thine adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him lest thine adversary deliver thee to the Iudge and the Iudge deliver thee to the Sergeant and thou be cast into prison verily I say unto thee thou shalt not come out till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Math. 5.25 26. Upon these words saith Mr. Perkins Christ here alloweth of the Magistrate and sear of judgement 1. Of his proceeding against the guilty in delivering him to the officer 2. Of the office of the Sergeant 3. Of casting guilty persons into prison 4. Of