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A30916 A letter to a lady furnishing her with Scripture testimonies against the principal points and doctrines of popery Barecroft, Charles. 1688 (1688) Wing B757; ESTC R20623 57,234 84

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Whether there is any such Place as Purgatory VI. Whether the Mass is a Sacrifice for Quick and Dead VII Whether the Doctrin of Transubstantiation can be maintain'd by Scripture The first Enquiry must be whether any Man can do more than he ought to do Where we are to consider That though a Man as a Christian is in the state of Grace yet he is not in the state of Innocence nor can be till he arrives at the state of Glory where all Infirmities will be done away For as he is Flesh and Blood liable to be tempted to evil and apt to commit it he must expect to meet with Afflictions and Crosses from the World without and the Suggestions and Temptations of the Devil from within And being naturally more prone to Evil than Good I think it a hard thing to say That 't is in his power to do more Good than is requir'd he should do and a harder to prove it Under the Law Men were not able to keep the Law perfectly nor to walk in the Commandments of God as they ought For Moses himself who took them from God's mouth and gave them to the Israelites err'd in so much that he must not enter the promised Land. That Text Josh 11. 15. has been objected by some Gentlemen of the Church of Rome but plainly to no purpose For any one may see that Joshua's keeping the Commandments was only his doing those things he was commanded to do in order to establish the Israelites in the Inheritance of the Land of Canaan And we find the same Joshua in another place asserting the impossibility of serving God Josh 24. 19. at least he did not believe Men could do more It may be objected That the light of the Gospel is much clearer than that of the Law and the burthen easier to be born c. But for all that 't is certain the Gospel requires as full and perfect Obedience as ever the Law did Nay it proceeds farther for under the Law Men thought it no great Crime to murther their Neighbour in his good Name so they let his Body alone They also thought it no Sin to Lust after a Woman provided they did not come to Action But under the Gospel our Saviour tells us the contrary Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you That whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say unto his Brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire Again Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit Adultery But I say unto you That whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart Matth. 5. 21 22 27 28. So that we may see though the Law was such a yoke as neither we nor our Fore-fathers were able to bear Act. 15. 10. yet the Yoke of the Gospel is not so light as to be run away with As easie as it is 't is very irksom to Flesh and Blood yet 't is what we must bear so long as we live and then it is God's mere Mercy if the heavier yoke of Everlasting Misery is not laid on us instead of it If Man has Free-will to do good as well as evil yet I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not For the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do Now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me And on the contrary if I do that good I would it is no more I that do it but the grace of God that is in me 1 Cor. 15. 18. I find then a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members says the Apostle Rom. 7. 18. And he at last concludes So then with the mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the flesh the law of sin To which we may add what the same Apostle says 1 Cor. 2. 14. But the natural man that is flesh and blood receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned And then certainly our Free-will can do us little good towards making us do more than we should when by reason of the stubborness of our Flesh we can't do what we would But the Apostle tells us That we are not able to do any thing of our selves but 't is God that worketh in us both to will and do after his good pleasure Phil. 2. 13. And our Saviour himself says That no man can come unto him unless the Father draw him Joh. 6. 44. Therefore I think it strange that a Man should be able to do more than he can 'T is a Contradiction Certainly he that made us can tell best what we can do And he says That the heart of man is only evil continually Gen. 6. 5. 8. 21. If then we are naturally more prone to do evil than good how is it possible for us to be better than we should be And if under the Gospel we must observe every Punctilio so strictly as not to be angry with our Neighbour not to look on a Woman to lust after her c. how are we able to do all that 's required of us The Apostle St. James goes a step farther If ye fulfil the Royal Law according to the Scripture Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self ye do well But if ye have respect to persons ye commit sin and are convinced of the Law as Transgressors Jam. 2. 9. To have respect to Persons in civil Conversation one would think a small matter to make one guilty of the breach of the Law but so it is And our Saviour goes farther yet Matth. 5. 43. Ye have heard that it hath been said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy But I say unto you Love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despightfully use you and persecute you This is a hard lesson and not agreeable to Flesh and Blood yet 't is made the condition of becoming the Children of our Father which is in Heaven From what has been said we may gather That if any Man can do what he is required to do he cannot do more And if as we are told Jam.