Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	faith_n	justify_v	purify_v	2,008	5	11.5152	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B10255	The highest end and chiefest work of a Christian set forth in two plain discourses, concerning the glory of God, and our own salvation / By J.W.	Waite, Joseph.	1668 (1668)	Wing W223; ESTC R186143	132,020	230

brought to understand or believe there can be any true felicity or pleasure in any thing which is not carnal and sensual But this is not only an infallible Symptom of Infidelity but a degree of Sottishness beneath that of the better sort of Epicureans There is yet one branch of Reprehension remaining and that belongs to the presumptuous The persons I have hitherto been speaking of are such as do either obstinately oppose or wretchedly neglect this duty as not having it in design to work out their own Salvation and so are most directly peccant against the matter of this precept But there are others no less to be reproved for their deficiency in the manner of performing it Being such as do indeed project and expect to be saved but are extreamly far from any such thing as that fear and trembling which the Text requires But instead of that they are transported with presumptuous confidences and vain hopes built upon the sands of their own Imaginations promising themselves to be saved upon far easier terms than those which from the Gospel have been declared As upon a meer idle fruitless faith that is either an historical dogmatical beleif of the truth of the Gospel of Christ that indeed there was and yet is such a Person as Jesus Christ and that he was a true Prophet sent from God and the Messiah the Son of God and that which is written of him in the Gospel is no fable but real truth Some of which things are as well believed by Turks and all by the Devil more effectually than by them for the Devils believe and tremble Or else nothing but a certain fiducial confidence in Christ as a Saviour only without regarding him as a Lord or having any respect to his precepts as of any necessity to Salvation Hereupon they never doubt of their Salvation or if they do against their wills they account it their greatest sin as if it were indeed no less than the doubting the truth of Gods promises This hath been taught by many to be the only true justifying saving Faith And no wonder that men have been apt to entertain such an easie Doctrine and that having entertained it they are carried away with presumption to think nothing else of necessity required to qualifie them for Salvation Certainly flesh and blood cannot wish an easier way to Heaven than this is But this error in them that can and do read or hear the Scriptures of the New Testament as well as the Old can be no other than willfully affected There being so many hundred Texts of the same Scriptures altogether as clear and positive as any that can seem to favour this Doctrin that require other conditions and qualifications for Salvation than that of Faith besides many that do sufficiently declare that this is not the Faith to which Salvation is any where promised I say hundreds of Texts are found in Scripture which do as plainly and as positively as is possible declare that Repentance Holiness of Life Mortification of fleshly Lusts with all Duties of Piety and Love to God and our Neighbour are Conditions of Salvation no less necessary and indispensable than Faith is And many Texts before alledged that do clearly shew the true justifying Faith to be no other than such as works all these things in the unfeigned Believer and therefore comprehends them all in those Texts where it is made the sole Condition of Salvation Faith that purifies the heart that overcomes the World that is obedient to Christ If these Texts be as good Gospel and as Authentick as any of those which make mention of Faith alone without any additions or interpretations what can it be but wilful presumption to expect Salvation upon such a Faith as is not joyned with these Conditions Others there are who do quit themselves of all this fear and trembling all the sollicitude which the Text requires upon a summary Consideration and Confidence of God's mercy Let their Lives be what they will God is merciful they are sure especially to such as trust in him and that they are resolved to do whatever Duty else they neglect And though they do not deny his Justice yet they will hope in his Mercy even against Hope And why may not the Devil do so too if he could Doth not he know that God is merciful O but he knows He will not be so to him And how doth he know that Hath he any greater assurance of it than this Revelation of his Will And is not his Word so Yet they will never believe that God will be so severe in his Last Judgment as he seems to be in his Threatnings but that his tender Mercies Psal 145.9 are above all his Word as well as his Works That he is more merciful than not to save his own Creature though he saith the contrary He that made them will not have mercy on them and he that formed them Isai 27.11 will shew them no favour more merciful than just or true or holy more merciful in his Deeds than true in his Words That he doth not mean as he saith though he swear to it when he threatens damnation to men Heb. 3.11.18 19. and that they shall never enter into his Rest Divers other grounds there are of Presumption whereby wretchless Souls in favour of the Flesh to ease themselves of the Yoke as well of the Gospel as of the Law are wilfully deceived Such are all single Instances of partial Vertue as Temperance Continence just Dealing some Works of pretended Charity some particular practices of External Piety an outward Profession of Religion siding with Parties Forms of Godliness without the power thereof Freedom from some kinds of gross Vices that others live in The Pharisee's plea They are not as other men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers c. they are no Murtherers Thieves common Drunkards no Hereticks nor Schismaticks nor Rebels c And what then Why without doubt if they say true they shall not be damned for any of these Vices And therefore they shall be saved They Fast and give Tithes and Alms too yet have no Charity 1 Cor. 13.3 as did the Pharisee And shall not they be saved No surely if our Saviour must be the Judge and will keep to his Word For I say unto you saith he that except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5.20 But I shall conclude my Application with a serious endeavour to give force and efficacy to the Exhortation of my Text first by some powerful Arguments Secondly by some general Directions for the practice of this so important a Duty I shall begin with the Arguments or Motives whereof the first is to be drawn from the Consideration of the infinite Concernment of this Business The infinite weight worth and moment of this End hath been already declared in the beginning of this Discourse in answer to the

necessarily be the ground and reason of it self which is so great an absurdity as hath forced most of our English Divines to reject that definition not only as improper but also as dangerous and uncomfortable Dangerous because it is apt to tempt a man to the pernicious self-deceit of presuming or assuming a strong conndence of his own salvation without any just ground upon this supposition that such a a confidence is not only necessary to salvation but gives him an assured right thereunto as being the condition of the promise And a most Uncomfortable notion it is too not to him that pretends to have such an assurance but to the generality of good Christians For if it were true that the only saving faith consisted in an assurance of salvation and that a full one as it is defined whosoever finds himself to want that assurance which very few of the best Christians will pretend to must needs conclude himself to have no true Faith whereas in truth this Assurance is purely accidental to the ●eality of a true Faith which is alwaies before it and most commonly without it But the two forementioned acts of Assent to the truth of the Gospel together with a direct Affiance upon Christ for salvation doe indeed truly and properly belong to the nature of Faith but do no● make it compleat perfect or sufficient to salvation For without controversie a true saving Faith doth import such a practical habit of assent to the Gospel of Christ as hath an effectual influence upon the Will and Affections and all the acts of the inward and outward man And thus much is distinct● taught not only by that large discourse of St. Ja● chap. 2. where he purposely disputes this point and positively declares that Faith is made perfect by works v. 22. And that without them it is dead that is null and void v. 17.26 But also by th● Expresse words of St. Paul Gal. 5.6 For in Jos● Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor us circumcision * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but Faith which w●●●eth by love In which Text as conceive it matters not much whether the original word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common to both senses be render'd actively or passively i.e. acting or working by love 〈◊〉 we translate or actuated and made effectuall as th● Syriack understand it and as the same word 〈◊〉 most commonly used in Scripture which way ●eever the word be rendered the sense is the sam● And it is evident that the meaning of the Apost by the addition of those words is to give 〈◊〉 distinct character or discription of that Faith which justifieth a Christian by way of cau● on against any other notion of the word the abstracts from this Energy or efficacy For th● words are Exegetical and Limitative As if he ha● said Not every kind of Faith but the living Ene●getical effectual faith which acteth or is actuated 〈◊〉 love is the only thing that availeth for the hope of righteousness that is the Justification and Salvation of a Christian That this is the true meaning of the Apostle appears evidently from two parallel Texts wherein the same sense is thus varied by himself The first is in the next chapter of the same Epistle Gal. 6.15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new creature The second is in 1 Cor. 7.19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the Commandments of God Where it cannot be denied but that Faith working by love is all one with the new creature which is created in Christ Jesus i.e. in the Faith of Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them And with the keeping of the commandements of God love being the fulfilling of the commandements 1 Joh. 5.3 Rom. 13.10 Faith that worketh by love is such a Faith as purifies the heart Act. 15.9 ● Joh. 5.4 and overcomes the world which is therefore by St. Paul called the obedience of Faith Rom. 1.5 16 26. The same thing is signified by that Apostle in his answer to the Goalers questi●n before alledged requiring him to believe on ●●e Lord Jesus Christ Acts 16.31 Which can mean nothing less than that he should acknowledg him for his Lord and Christ as well as his Sa●our And therefore should hold himself obliged ●y his Faith to obey him as a Lord and to be ●ubject to him as the Christ the Messiah the an●ointed King and Prophet of his Church For Faith as it relates to the Person of Christ doth not respect him only as a Saviour but receive him as he is sent by God and offered in the Gospel with all his authority as Lord and King and Prophet Joh. 1.12 This notion of Faith is confirmable from that common rule in Divinity that * Verba scientiae connotant affectus Words of knowledg i● Scripture-phrase doe connotate both affections and actions agreeable to the knowledge whereof in this place one special Instance shall suffice Joh. 17 3. This is life eternal th● they may know thee the only true God and Jesu● Christ whom thou hast sent Where to know God and Christ signifies to believe in him For knowledg of Divine things is Faith and Faith is oft-time called knowledg in Scripture 1. Tim. 2.4 2 P● 1 2 3. 1 Joh. 2.3 Isa 53.11 By his know● shall my righteous servant meaning Christ jusi●● many As to know the true God imports 〈◊〉 the duty which is due to him as such so to know Jesus Christ whom the Father hath sent is to imbrace him in the quality wherein he was sent tha● is with full acknowledgment of his commission fro● the Father and with submission thereunto by receiving and observing all that he hath comma●●ed in his name So runs the Commission that o● Saviour gave to his Apostles when he sent the● to make Disciples and to baptize all Nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 〈◊〉 commanded Matth. 28.20 This must needs 〈◊〉 the true meaning of those words This is life eternal that they may know thee Because no knowledge that means any thing less than this can 〈◊〉 the sole condition of Eternall life And so certain it is that the knowledg of God in Scripture-phrase doth import obedience to his Commandments that S. John saith Hereby we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him 1 Joh. 2 3 4. And if that be so what truth can be in him that saith he believes in God and keeps not his Commandments For either our knowledg of God is the same thing with our beliefe and then what is true of the one must be equally true of the other Or if Faith be distinguished from knowledg as in a philosophical notion it is then our beliefe supposeth our knowledge that is that we