Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	diligence_n	godliness_n	temperance_n	1,810	5	11.3377	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48584	A treatise of election and reprobation in vindication of the universal grace and love of God to mankind by B.L.	Lindley, Benjamin, d. 1723.	1700 (1700)	Wing L2312; ESTC R28788	51,533	66

absolute without any respect to the Man's being good or evil Salvation were unavoidable to such Men live as they will But God's Saved Ones were pluck'd as Brands out of the Fire Zach. 3.2 Job 33. and delivered from going down to the Pit and brought back from the Pit to be enlightned with the Light of the Living and were brought up out of an horrible Pit And being straightned and seeing this danger prayed Deliver me out of the Mire and let me not sink let me be delivered from them that hate me and out of the deep Waters Psalm 69. Let not the Water-floods overflow me neither let the deep swallow me up and let not the Pit shut her Mouth upon me Object 1. Ay but say our Opponents They that are Predestinated unto Salvation as the end are also Predestinated unto Righteousness and Holiness as the means leading to that End Answ If it be thus and this Predestination soveraign and absolute then how is this Holiness or Salvation of Men effected It must be either 1. By a Super pondium of the Will and Affection c. 2. Or by Force To the first of these it would be contrary to God's Work of Creation in making us free voluntary Agents so as to will distinguish and choose for our selves and it un-Mans us depriving us of those Powers and Faculties so essential to a Rational Creature And as to the second then Men would be saved Nolens volens whethey will or nay which is contrary to Seeking Searching Inquiry Supplication Prayer Faith Obedience Love c. And overthrows all Divine Testimonies so that were it Truth it would be the most obstinate repugnant Truth that ever was heard of for it renders all the rest of the holy Scriptures not to be true and gives the lye to all those inspired Writings and therefore it is Self-erroneous in the Sense they urge it Object 2. Whom he did Foreknow them he also did Predestinate whom he did Predestinate them he also Called whom he Called them he also Justified and whom he Justified them he also Glorified But it doth not say He Predestinated any but whom he foreknew c. Answ This place indeed speaks only of such as love God and are foreknown of him as such and it is as the foregoing words shew a Declaration how all things work together for good unto such a People but it doth not say That none else are ever Predestinated or Called but such as are thus Fore-known But the contrary appears 1. From Christ's weeping over Jerusalem because in that her day she had not known the things that appertain'd to her Peace and then they were hid from her Eyes 2. From that Of the many that are Called few are Chosen § 3. And speaking on 't in a general Sense Predestination may be forfeited for if Justification can be fallen from and forfeited then may Predestination and Calling being lower Steps and in order to it But that Justification may be forfeited appears from that all True Justification is by Grace and Faith Rom. 3.24 28. and 5.1 Gal. 2.16 and 3.24 Tit. 3.7 And we read of some that turn'd the Grace of God into Lasciviousness and some Jude 4. 1 Tim. 1.19.6.10 that made Shipwrack of Faith and have erred from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows So if Justification be by Grace and Faith and if Grace and Faith by which we are Justified may be fallen from and lost then may Justification also be fallen from and forfeited and if Justification then also Predestination and Calling This is further manifest from Ezek. 18.24 which saith When a righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness and committeth Iniquity in his Trespass that he hath trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned in them shall he dye Which shews a possibility of falling from Righteousness and even of a total and final Apostacy from it And if from Righteousness then from Justification for they are equivalent A righteous or justified Man is the same § 4. Then Predestination is imply'd in Calling Election and Adoption so if these can be lost and forfeited Predestination may being imply'd in them And as it is shewn before concerning Calling that it may be fallen from and lost the same I shall shew concerning Election and Adoption The first appears from 2 Pet. 1. where we are exhorted To use all diligence adding to our Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge to Knowledge Temperance to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness to Godliness Brotherly Kindness to Brotherly Kindness Charity for he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off and hath forgot that he was purged from his old Sins Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure Which shews though they were Called Elected and Brethren c. yet there was a possibility of their losing that State again and of forfeiting what God had done for them in purging them from their old Sins and of their falling into Blindness c. On the other hand If we do these things we shall never fail Here 's a Conditional Assurance If we do them we shall never fail if we do them not we shall fail For what signifies Faith without Vertue Religion without Holiness And 't is plain this our not failing or preservation depends upon something we are to do but yet not so as of our selves but by the Grace of God by and through this Grace we may do these things upon which depends our Preservation And for want of this doing we fail so our Destruction is of our selves and in God is our Help But he helps us by our selves not without our selves if we do these things it is left upon that whether we fail or never fail The second is shewn in the Instance of Israel to whom appertain'd the Adoption and the Glory c. and yet they would not receive Christ but crucify'd him and fell away and lost the Holy Land and became Fugitives in all the Earth Esau answer'd in the Type unto this State he fainted and lost his Birth-right and Fainting spiritually is understood of Vnbelief and it was through Unbelief those Israelites whom the Apostle renders as the Natural Branches in Christ the true Vine were broken off from him and fell from the Adoption So in the Mystery that which Fainteth is Esau and this loseth the Adoption and Spiritual Birth-right CHAP. III. Shewing 1. That Election and Reprobation are of the Two Seeds and that Predestination Election Adoption Justification c. are all in Christ 2. That Election according to Scripture is not strictly to be understood of particular Persons without respect to their being Good or Evil and the same evinc'd by sundry Propositions with their Affirmative Proofs laid down concerning the falling away of some and not falling away of others of the Elect according to Scripture § 1. ELection and Reprobation are of the two Seeds or Principles before spoken of whosoever is

Chosen To which I answer Calling is an effect of God's Love and Election is from the same From God's Love to us springs his Choice of us So Calling and Election are equivalent or the same in kind But there is a degree of Election which is only said of the Faithful they were Called and Chosen and Faithful and True but though all are Called yet only a Remnant prove Faithful and True Thence it comes to pass of the many that are Called few are Chosen Wisdom saith the wise Man exalteth her Children c. If a Man commit himself unto her he shall inherit her c. At the first she will walk with him by crooked ways and bring fear and dread upon him and torment him with her Discipline until she may trust his Soul and try him by her Laws then will she return the strait way unto him and comfort him and shew him her secrets but if he go wrong she will forsake him and give him over to his own Ruine I could wish this were not G. K's own case but I am afraid on 't However it appears hence that God's Dealing with us is Conditional and what were these many called to if not to Faith and Holiness and Eternal Life And whence comes it that so few of them are chosen but from their Disobedience and Unfaithfulness Who not committing themselves to the holy Spirit of Discipline nor abiding the Trial of her Laws have gone wrong and so been forsaken and given up to their own Ruine But G. K. will neither have Election to be Conditional nor General though he must either grant this or allow a possibility of Salvation to such as are not chosen of God or Elected to Faith and Holiness as the Means nor to Eternal Life and Happiness as the End to be in due time obtained by the said Means or else agree to an absolute Reprobation of some But he saith He is well perswaded there is no absolute Reprobation c. Contr. 4. And if he allows a possibility of Salvation to such as are not Chosen c. then he will make two ways of Salvation the one by Election the other some other way he is yet to tell us of According to the first the Elect only are saved according to the latter some other People If he allow it not he must concede an absolute Reprobation of them and so take home his Contradiction Besides if he deny an Universal Salvation as free for Mankind he must also deny Universal Grace the Universality of Christ's Death who tasted Death for every Man and of the Gospel all which imply Universal Salvation tendered G. K. argues in p. 11. If Election were only Conditional why did Paul he should have said Peter exhort Believers To give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure For how can that which is only Conditional be made sure to some more than to others Now he presseth them to make it sure to wit That they may have the assured knowledge of it Not that it was not sure unto God for as Paul declared The Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal c. This Text stood directly in his way and therefore he endeavours the more to darken it by the Smoak of his Pit But this Fallacious and Sophistical Exposition will not do For Peter's exhorting Believers To give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure sheweth something on their part to be done for the ascertaining it unto themselves they had it the Election belong'd unto them but they could not hold it nor be assured of their continuance in it unto the end nor bind it nor seal it to themselves but by a diligent perseverance in the Fear and Grace of God adding to their Faith Vertue c. which shows the performance of some Duty incumbent upon the Elect something to be done some Condition to be observed on their part the neglect whereof hinders them from having their Election made sure to them For we see the Text calls it their Calling and Election to whom it is directed and though it was theirs your Calling and Election yet something was still to be done to make it sure which shews it was theirs yet not so sure but that it might be forfeited and lost For if it had been so sure when he so exhorted them there had been no need to give diligence to make it sure for that which is already so needs not still to be made so nor can it thereby be made sure if it were sure before Therefore if their Election to whom Peter writ had at that time been sure his Exhortation had been ill grounded and in vain But he presseth them to make it sure saith G. K. to wit That they might have the assured knowledge on 't But he might as well have said any thing else for there 's no more evidence of this being the Apostle's meaning than that he meant any other thing nor can he perswade us Peter was so incapable or insincere in his Expression as to say one thing and mean another or that he meant not as himself saith but as G. K. saith for him And to this Query How that which is only Conditional may be made sure by some more than others I answer By Performance of the Condition as if a faithful true Master promiseth a certain Reward to each Man who will do so much Work in such a time He that useth diligence and finisheth his Work in the time allowed makes the Reward sure and such as neglect and finish not their Work in the time lose their Reward Thus that which is conditional may be made sure or may be forfeited Further G. K. saith in p. 12. The Foundation of God standeth sure c. And that this Foundation is God's Everlasting Love in his Son Christ Jesus who hath loved and chosen them in Him as his Members before the World began And though they lapsed and fell from Him their Head yet he is sent of the Father to recover and save them all and every one of them c. to wit the Elect. Here 't is plain G. K. makes only a certain Number he calls the Elect to be loved and chosen in Christ as his Members before the World began and restricts the Mission and Death of Christ to them saying That he is sent of the Father to recover and save them all and every one of them c. So according to this Doctrine Christ was not sent of the Father to be the Saviour of the World but to save them the Elect then of consequence he died not for all People for he died for none but them he was sent to save and so as he was sent to save but a particular Number he died but for that particular Number But if Christ died for all Mankind then either all Mankind were capable of Salvation and of being chosen of God in Christ Jesus or Christ died for some who were not thus choen of