Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	command_v	servant_n	unprofitable_a	1,244	5	10.6349	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85957	The fort-royal of Christianity defended. Or, a demonstration of the divinity of scripture, by way of excellency called the Bible. With a discussion of some of the great controversies in religion, about universal redemption, free-will, original sin, &c. For the establishing of Christians in truth in these atheistical trying times. / By Thomas Gery, B.D. and Rector of Barwell in Leicestershire.	Gery, Thomas, d. 1670?	1657 (1657)	Wing G618; Thomason E1702_1; ESTC R209377	93,977	264

the Old Testament or the gospels of Mark and Luke to be canonical Scriptures yea that there be any divine Scriptures is not altogether necessary unto salvation How dissonant this is from the voice of Christ and his Apostle in the Gospel is to be discerned in many Texts whereof I will recite but three First our Saviour commands to search the Scriptures because in them or by them men think to have eternal (a) John 5.39 life This he spake in approbation of mens esteem of the Scriptures as the means to bring them to everlrsting life And S. John saith These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his (b) John 20.31 name And S. Paul saith I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that (c) Rom. 1.16 believeth From those Texts I reason thus against the former affirmations of Bellarmine The means ordained and designed by God to any end are altogether necessary in respect of us to the attaining of that end But the Scriptures are the means ordained and designed by God of faith and salvation as the former Texts declare and therefore are altogether necessary in respect of us unto faith and salvation and so consequently necessary so to be believed of us which refels the foresaid affirmations of Bellarmine and declares them to be very contumelious to the blessed Bible of God Now in and for all these forenamed respects divers great and esteemed Champions and propugners of the Romane faith have not refrained to blemish the Bible with sundy inglorious and ignominious titles Eckius calls it a black Gospel and an incky (a) Eck. Enchir. cap. 4. Divinity Pighius calls it a nose of (b) Pigh Hier. lib. 3. cap. 3. wax others a Lesbian or leaden rule an abbreviated word the weak and false castle of holy (c) Brislow Motive 48. Scripture with other such like indecent epithetes The●e the modern writers amongst them seek to varnish over as knowing it must needs blemish the purity of their profession and verity of their Religion thus to vilifie God's most holy Word but the colour and complexion which they daub them withal is so thin and transparent that it cannot hide the indecency and unseemlinesse of them from a weak sight Now if the truth of Christian Religion may be judged by the honourable respect yielded by the professors thereof to the rule of Christian Religion which is the Scripture as the Romanists confesse after a sort as hath been already declared then doth it appear by what hath been said and proved that the Reformed Protestant Religion is the truest Religion as which ascribes most honour thereunto For as when two women claimed the motherhood of one child wise Solomon quickly sifted out the truth which was the true mother of it by the tender love and affection which the one shewed unto it more then the (a) 1 Kin. 3.27 other So in like manner may any wise man find forth by the same rule which is the true daughter of holy Scripture whether the Romane or Reformed Religion seeing both of them claim it as their mother namely by the tender respect and due observance wherewith it is followed by the one more then the other In the next place as the Reformed Religion is owned by the Scripture as the genuine daughter thereof by the due reverence and honour which it exhibiteth unto it so also and more especially because it holdeth forth such doctrine as is most consonant and agreeable thereunto For to omit the disquisition of particular controversies between the said several professors which would require vast volumes to lay open the Reformed Churches refuse not to be tryed by the splendent light of the written word in any point of Religion whatsoever And this our blessed Saviour makes a signal demonstration of the professors of the truth for saith he He that doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds might be made manifest that they are wrought in (b) John 3.21 God And that by light here our Saviour means the Scripture many other Texts make it unquestionable where this epithete is given unto it David saith of it Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my (a) Psal 119.105 path Solomon saith The commandment is a lamp and the law is (b) Prov. 6.23 light S. Peter saith We have a more sure word of prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark (c) 2 Pet. 1.19 place Now on the other side the Romanists decline the decision and determination of many points of Religion that are controverted between us and them by Scripture and flie to Tradition And some of their writers in plain terms confesse that some of their Tenets are such as cannot be defended by Scripture So saith (d) Canis Catechis cap. 5. de praecept Eccles Canisius and of this sort he reckons up these the worship of Images set Fasts Lent the Masse and Prayers and Offerings for the dead with others more which yet he doth not nominate But some other of them and by name Petrus a Soto a famous Author of their party in his book against Brentius reheaseth sundry other as the invocation of Saints the primacy of the Bishop of of Rome the seven Sacraments communion under one kind indulgencies and Purgatory the beginning author and original of which he confesseth cannot be found in the sacred Scripture as witnesseth the learned Doctor (a) Whittak de Script perfect cap. 5. Whittaker Now though they alledge Scripture for some of these lest they should seem too much to slight it yet their chief ground for them is Tradition Whereas therefore they decline the tryal of some points of Religion which they hold by the written word which yet they confesse to be a most safe rule of faith as before hath been declared it proclaims to the world that they are not such fast friends to it as they pre●end nor hold such correspondence with it as all true and right Churches ever have done and so consequently that they are neither the only true Church of God as they vainly and most untruly boast nor yet such a Church wherewith it 's safe to have communion And as it 's not safe to joyn hands with these so neither with the newly upstart Sectaries the Anabaptists for I will undertake to demonstrate if my genuis fail me not that both these sorts of Christian professors are express contradictors of Scripture affirmations in divers particulars And I le begin first with the Papists as the elder house First Our Saviour saith When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to (b) Luke 17.10 do They say that a man may supererogate and do more then

Augustine in these words Jubet Deus quae non possumus ut noverimus quae ab illo petere debemus God commands us what we cannot do to intimate unto us what we ought to crave of him namely what we cannot do of our selves And hence are those many prayers of several sorts of persons in the Scripture as Psalm 51.10 Create in me a clean heart O Lord and renew a right spirit within me And Jer. 31.18 Convert thou me and I shall be converted And Lament 5.21 Turn thou us unto thee O Lord and we shall be turned Fourthly I answer that God commands us this though we cannot do it of our selves that we may be excited to use such means as are by God's ordinance and appointment conducible and available thereunto and which we have of our selves power to use which are Prayer the Word and the Sacraments for his calling to us to repent and return unto him is a provocation or calling to us to use such means as he hath appointed to produce the same in us Fifthly and lastly I answer That such commands aim not only at our first conversion but at our secondary and subsequent returns to God when after our first conversion we prevaricate and digress from him in which secondary return mans will cooperates with the grace of God as formerly hath beeen said And therefore God's invitation of men to these returns wherein their wills have some ability to cooperate with his grace is not vain or needlesse but very efficacious to allure and induce them thereunto Not to tire the Reader with any further dispute about this controversie I will close it up with the addition of these two reasons to the former Arguments to induce all persons to adhere to this opinion as the safest which I have here asserted First because this opinion makes a clearer reconciliation of those Texts of Scripture which hold forth a seeming contradiction about this point then the other doth for according to the other opinon they are not reconciled without some scruple Secondly because this opinion ascribes most glory to God to whom all glory belongs wherein there is no danger though men detract from themselves For to detract from nature and give to grace is no danger but to detract from grace and give to nature cannot but be dangerous This was the saying of Peter Lumbard and is of all acknowledged and owned for truth The fourth Controversie About the merit of good works THe Papists opinion about this and Mr. Haggar's in affirming good works to be causes of salvation which both they do and he also in the 9. page of his forenamed discourse hath so little appearance of truth that it deserves to be exploded rather then refuted And I have good ground for what I affirm First Because it 's so apparently repugnant to Scripture as to Ephes 2.8.9 where it 's said By grace ye are saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God not of works lest any should boast And Tit. 3.5 Not by the works of righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us And whereas to salve up the discord between Paul's affirmation and theirs they make a distinction of good works of which some say they go before justification and some follow after it and St. Paul they say speaks of those that go before but they speak of such as follow after and therefore they do not contradict him I have formerly declared namely in my 4th Argument about the first Controversie in page the 20. that the Apostle speaks of the same good works which they speak of namely of good works after justification and regeneration And therefore they are herein contradictors of holy Scripture Another ground for what I affirmed before is this Because I never had conference with any Papist yet and I have conferred with many in my time but they all disclaimed the merit of their own works when upon occasion of discourse I have charged them with this grosse Tenet I have yet a third ground for what I said and that is because I find Bellarmine their Arch champion after his affirmation of the merit of good works and that they are true causes of salvation and that some confidence may be placed in them in his book of Controversies namely Libr. 5. cap. 7. de Justificat to give men counsel within ten lines after to put no confidence in their merits but in the alone mercy and benignity of God as the safest way So that there is no great necessity to confute this opinion of the merit of works seeing themselves do distrust it and after a sort desert it But yet some short confutation of this palpable error I will deliver which I hope shall sufficiently convince it And the first Argument I frame thus Argument 1. IF eternal life or salvation be Gods gfit then it is not merited by man's good works so the Apostle argues Rom. 11.6 If it be of grace it is no more of works But eternal life is God's gift so saith our Saviour Luke 12.32 Fear not little flock for it is your Father's pleasure to give you a Kingdom where note that it 's said to be a gift and from no other motive but from his own good pleasure And John 10.27 My sheep hear my voice and I know them they follow me and I give unto them eternal life And saith S. Paul Rom. 6.23 The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore eternal life is not merited by man's good works Argument 2. IF all the good works which possibly we can do be due debt to Almighty God then can they not merit Heaven at his hand for merit and debt cannot stand together a man cannot be said to merit by paying that which he oweth But they are due debts so our Saviour teacheth Luke 17. ●0 When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do Therefore they cannot merit Argument 3. IF our good works be not properly our own but proceed from the grace of God which worketh them in us and by us then can they not be said to merit from God though they may merit from others because we return no more to God then what we have received from him we give him but a cluster of grapes out of his own Vineyard and water out of his own Fountain If any man discern not the necessity of this consequent it 's for want of perspicacity in his own understanding and not for want of truth in the consequence And Bellarmine doth acknowledge it in Libr. 5. cap. 15. De Grat. Lib. Arb. Good works are not properly our own but proceed from the grace of God which worketh the same in us and by us so it 's said Isa 26.12 Lord thou wilt ordain peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our works in us

Scripture that he died for many as well as for all as Isa 53.12 He bare the sins of many Matth. 20.28 He gave his life a ransome for many Heb. 9.28 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many Which expressions import that he died not for all alike but for many in one sense and for all in another or else the expression of his dying for many were needlesse in that it is so oft expressed that he died for all Secondly Because it 's oft said that he died for his Church as John 10.15 I lay down my life for the sheep Eph. 5.25 Husbands love your Wives even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it Which imports also that he died for all men in one sense and for his Church in another Thirdly because the Scripture hath in terminis in expresse words put a difference between his being a Saviour to all men and his being a Saviour to them that believe as in 1 Tim. 4.10 We trust in the living God who is the Saviour of all men specially of those that believe From whence I argue thus Christ died for all men as he is a Saviour of all men but he is a Saviour of all men in a different sense and sort namely generally of the universality of men and specially of his Church witnesse the distinction made by the Apostle in the fore-cited Text Therefore he died for all men in a different sense and sort namely in one sense and sort for the universality of men and in another sense and sort for the particularity of his Church To the third Quaery I answer That he died for all wicked men and unbelievers in these two senses according to Scripture 1. As suffering a satisfactory punishment for the sins of all the men in the world so as they are not left destitute of the means of remission of sins and of salvation according to the words of the Apostle 1 Tim. 2.6 There is one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransome for all a testimony in due time And again Heb. 2.9 the Apostle saith that He tasted death for every man 2. He died for them upon condition of their faith and obedience according to these Scriptures John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And Heb. 5.9 He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him And so in like manner it 's the affirmation of sundry other Texts of Scripture But then he died not for them with an intention and purpose to give them grace to repent and believe and so to bring them to salvation which appears by Scripture to be a clear truth these two ways 1. Because Scripture hath revealed abundantly God's purpose to the contrary namely to save some men but not all The proofs whereof are so numerous that I need not quote any 2. Because if Christ died for all men with an intention and purpose to save all then either all shall be saved which is contradicted by a hundred places of Scripture or else Christ's purpose may be altered But his purpose cannot be altered or disappointed and therefore he died not for all with a purpose to save all That his purpose cannot be altered I prove both because he can neither alter it himself nor can any other alter it That he cannot alter it himself is oft taught in Scripture Mal. 3.6 I am the Lord I change not Jam. 1.17 With him is no variablenesse neither shadow of turning Neither can any other alter it for his purpose is immutable and his will irresistible Isa 46.10 My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure And 43.13 I will work and who shall let it And Rom. 9.19 Who hath resisted his will Thus then from the premises already sufficiently proved I conclude and determine the controversie thus That Christ died for all the men in the world in these two senses First As paying by his death a sufficient ransome for the sins of them all which the Scripture calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a price of redemption several times Secondly That he died for them all upon condition of their faith and obedience but died not for all men with purpose to bring all actually to salvation And so the old distinction of Christ's dying for all men either sufficientur or efficaciter sufficiently or effectually as it may be understood and applied stands still upon its basis and feet and challengeth all the desertors and rejecters of it to frame a more fit and proper distinction between Christ's dying for all men and his dying for his Church Seeing a distinction between them is to be made as hath been already declared by testimony of Scripture The third Controversie which is of all other the most difficult and knotty WHether an unregenerate man hath power to repent and believe and so be saved if he will Mr. Haggar answers hereto in the affirmative in Page the 25. of his fore-mentioned discourse I answer to it in the negative denying that a natural man hath power to repent and believe by the energy or strength of his own free-will but needs the help of the special preventing grace of God ere he can be converted or he cannot convert himself For the fuller opening and enodation of this controversie and because therein I have more learned adverseries to deal with then Anabaptists I will first speak out what the will of an unregenerate man is able to do towards his conversion without the help of God's special efficacious grace or preventing grace as the learned call it And then secondly How far it cooperates with God's grace in his conversion About the first notice is to be taken of a threefold liberty of Will namely The liberty of Nature the liberty of Grace and the liberty of Glory Of which though these two last we lost by Adam's fall yet the first was not lost but remains still so as by vertue thereof the Will hath liberty to will or nill without compulsion or constraint and that not only in natural and civil actions but also in moral and ecclesiastical In moral actions to practise virtue as Justice Temperance Liberality c. And so to do some things commanded in God's Law as both experience shews and Paul testifies Rom. 2.14 where be saith That the Gentiles did by nature the things contained in the Law In Ecclesiastical actions an unregenerate man hath liberty also namely to perform the duties of God's worship and service for the outward act as to come to Church hear and read the word of God pray partake of the Sacraments do works of charity and confer about Religion and the doctrine of faith as common experience shews all which are good preparatives to and ofttimes efficacious means of regeneration and conversion Yet must this liberty of Will about all these actions either