Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	act_n	faith_n	work_n	2,998	5	6.1099	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47098	A plain and familiar discourse on justification being the substance of four sermons, preach'd at the morning-lecture, at Pinners-Hall, in Broad street, the third, tenth, seventeenth, and twenty fourth days of September, 1693 / by Elias Keach.	Keach, Elias.	1694 (1694)	Wing K110; ESTC R13909	34,472	38

so Why Faith is an Act of the Creature to believe is an Creature tho' we do it by Grace Inherent yet it is the Creature himself that Believes Faith is called a Work it is Faith that worketh by Love and Love is called a Labour or work of the Creature and so other Graces as they are Acts and improved by the Creature it is the work of the Creature so then if it were so that we were Justified by a Righteousness Inherent then we were Justified by Faith as an Act and so the Active and Passive Obedience or perfect Righteousness of Christ would be Excluded in point of Justification as the matter of it and our own good Works would be put in the room thereof The Quakers say That they are Justified by living up to the Light within why say we then you expect to be Justified by Works Hold you there say they for we cannot do any Works but it is God by his mighty power that worketh in us both to will and to do It is the work of Christ in us it is the work of the Holy Spirit in us this is our Righteousness this Justifies us Now pray take notice it salls out then thus the Spirit as they call it is as a Leader and Guide as an Enlightener and it enlighters the Understanding informs the person of his Duty and by its powerful Operations it inclines the Will Now grant this that therefore the person is willing and desirous to do the things that are good and commendable and this produces good Thoughts and good Words and moral good Actions Now what is this but to say that the Spirit teaches me to think well and so enabling me to speak well and to act well now this is as much as to say the Spirit teaches me to save my self for it is my Heart that thinks my Tongue that speaks and my Actions that spring forth in my Life and Conversation so that which Justifieth the Quakers must be their good Works which we deny Now I say in this case if it were so then we are justified by our own Works for as much as the Exercise of all Grace is our own Work it is we Believe it is we Love it is our Meekness it is our Humility nay it is a work if it be but the exercise of our Thoughts And now to be Justified by this is to be Justified by works but I have formerly told you that to Justifie doth not signifie 1. To make us inherently Righteous by infusing Grace or doing of Works of Righteousness 2. I have told you that we are Justified by the Grace of God through Christ without Respect had to any deserving Cause in us by Grace infused but this before-mentioned hath some Respect to some deserving Cause even our inward Righteousness but in Justification that which we speak of and by which all that are Justified must be Justified for there is no other that will discharge from the wrath of God and this comes thro' Christ without any regard had to any deserving cause in us by any Grace infused into us or by any good Works done by us 3. I told you it is by the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to us namely the Righteousness done or performed by him when on the Earth in our nature that Righteousness is the matter and the form of it is the Imputation of it to us And 4. We hence have proved Works of what nature soever do not justifie us as causes of our being rendered Righteous before God to Justification No then what are good Works good for say some Why Works springing from effectual Faith are Fruits and signs of our Justification and so declare us to be Justified to the sight of Men and to our own Consciences and since I have proved that all works are excluded as done and performed by the Creature insomuch that there is nothing of the Creatures Sincerity nor inward Righteousness no not the least dram of it mixt with that Righteousness that is the matter of our Justification I shall now proceed to the second thing viz. 2. The Formal Cause of our Justification which as I have already told you is the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to us this is the Formal Cause and I shall show what we mean by Imputation or the imputing Righteousness And my Beloved consider to have Righteousness or to be accounted Righteous as it may be taken is one thing and to have a Righteousness imputed or accounted to us is another thing for a Man amongst Men may be reckon'd and judged to be Righteous when there is no cause for such an Imputation for they may mistake and make no right judgment as you know some are counted Wise when they are Fools and some Rich when they are are Poor but this is thro' Mistake and Ignorance of Men so that Men may be reckoned to be that which they are not in Truth Now it is not reckoning a Man to be Righteous that is not Righteous for God doth not account them Righteous who have not a perfect Righteousness for if we have something that may be called a Righteousness yet if it be not a perfect Righteousness it is not agreeable to the nature of God nor the Sanction of his Law which doth require a perfect Righteousness God doth not reckon or repute a Man Righteous by an imperfect Righteousness such a one as is this Inherent Righteousness he doth not repute a Man Righteous for that nor doth he account any Righteous but such as are perfectly Righteous therefore he that is accounted Righteous must have a real and perfect Righteousness of anothers imputed to him as the foundation of that Reckoning or Imputation For God doth not reckon Righteousness to a Man without a just Ground not on an imperfect foundation wherefore the other Sense to reckon one perfectly Righteous who hath none but is ungodly is not the thing that we speak of But to have a perfect Righteousness that is none of our own before it is imputed to us is the thing that we contend for Consider my Beloved that to impute to us that which is not our own before or that which we had no Title to in our selves That Imputation doth denote two things 1. To impute that unto us to which we had no Title in our selves that Imputation doth denote a free Act of Grace and divine Donation so that this is made ours altogether freely paid and given us and this is that Righteousness by which we are Justified It is true a Man cannot think well nor speak well nor act well without a principle of Morality and this must come from God Man is not able in a natural way to move without some natural Life and this comes from God But the Righteousness which is made ours to which we had no Title in our selves nor are not in the least concerned in the working of that Righteousness is altogether of free Donation and the whole Glory of it is ascribed