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_v	2,638	5	7.9635	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45156	The righteousness of God revealed in Gospel, or, An impartial enquiry into the genuine doctrine of St. Paul in the great, but much controverted article of justification / by Mr. John Humfrey.	Humfrey, John, 1621-1719.	1697 (1697)	Wing H3708; ESTC R16470	70,839	75

by his Grace I say to do how little soever if sincerely done if it be but the Grain of Mustard-seed in a hungring and thirsting after Righteousness shall be accepted unto Life that is be that Condition upon the Account of what Christ hath done for us this I say is solid Consolation Thou sayest when I look on my Works my Heart sinks I am not sure I am sincere but in the Righteousness of Christ I am safe I say this is certain if thou art not sincere thou art not safe And when I doubt whether I am or not I can have no Support but in this that I hope I am I trust I am and that it is upon the Satisfaction and Merit of Christ that Faith that Hope does depend For that there is any Condition at all that the Condition is such that what I do shall be accepted as the Condition performed it must be all put upon Christ's Performance and Merit in our behalf and his Merit is sufficient however imperfect be our Duty for its acceptance with God When then upon a Sence of my Deficiency instead of sinking I grow bolder in my reliance on Christ's Merits and God's Mercy I do not presume on myself but I magnifie his Grace and the higher I raise my Faith thereupon provided I live not willingly in any Conscience-wasting Sin the more Glory am I humbly perswaded do I give my gracious Saviour and good God Thou Man hast the Comfort to apply to thy self Christ's Merits if thou hast performed the Condition But I have the Comfort to apply Christ's Merits to the Condition which makes his Yoke easie and his Burden light as to the Performance and my Desires and weakest Endeavours to find Acceptance When I read such Prayers of David That God would not enter into Judgment with him that he would not be extream to mark what he had done amiss for then he could not abide it and that yet he will have God to search him and try his Reins and Heart and the like I cannot but be convinced that in the Acceptance of such an imperfect Righteousness as he accounted his was through God's meer gracious Condescension Mercy and Forgiveness to him he placed his Justification in which Sence also he calls him the God of his Righteousness When as for any Acceptance of him through the Righteousness of the Messiah to come a Righteousness without him made his by Faith which could abide God's district Justice I find not the Footstep of one such Thought To rely therefore I will say on Christ's Righteousness as ours without regard to any thing within or without regard to the Condition is Self-deceiving But to rely on God's Mercy and on Christ's Merits for Acceptance of what we do and Pardon for the Failings is substantial Religion and of Justification by Faith in Christ's Blood a good Exposition I will fetch here one Leaf out of my late Book Pacification and put it into the Margin for the Use and Comfort of this Explication I return to Mr. Wotton who indeed does sweat with stir to prove that Remission of Sin is Righteousness for wiping off that blame the Papists lay on his Opinion that a Man is justified without a Righteousness if it be by Pardon only But this I stick upon that though pardon in some Sence is or may be called Righteousness yet is it not this Righteousness it is not the Righteousness of God I am concerned about that the Apostle means and which is by Mr. Wotton's own acknowledgment that which justifies the Believer It did I must needs say at first and still does move me that I find not one Scripture from Genesis to the Revelation that denominates any one to be a just or righteous Person from Pardon but from his righteous living He that doeth Righteousness is righteous Yet that which does convince me is that by Mr. Wotton's leave it is not Remission of Sin in opposition to Works but this Righteousness of God in opposition to Works and that is our Evangelical Righteousness which the Apostle means while he contends that it is by Faith and not Works that we are justified or that is Faith and not Works is our Formal Righteousness in Justification See a peculiar Argument I offer in my Mid. Way of Just p. 48. I am I say convinced that the Notion the Apostle had of Justification could not be Pardon because in his Dispute whether it be by Faith or Works we are justified he does suppose that if a Man had Works they would justifie him and make the Reward of Debt but that Abraham and none had or have them And consequently while he supposes that if a Man could keep the Law as if Adam in Innoceny had kept it he should be justified it is plain he cannot understand Pardon by Justification seeing where such Works are that is perfect Works which he certainly means there were no Sin to Pardon This Argument may be more pungently framed than it is here or there but the Medium of Probation arose to me in my Mind as perfect Conviction I will now define Justification Justification is an Act of Free Grace whereby God imputes to every Sound Believer his Faith for Righteousness upon the Account of Christ's Satisfaction and Merits giving him Pardon and Life as the Benefits of it I need say nothing of the Genus Definiti an Act of Free Grace it is the Assemblies By a Sound Believer I mean one whose Faith works by Love including Repentance and New Obedience which together makes our Evangelical Righteousness And this Sound Faith is imputed for Righteousness I account in this Sence that God does accept it in the room of a perfect Righteousness not accounting it as perfect but accepting it I say in the room of that Perfection required unto Life by the Law and consequently rewarding it for Christ's Merit sake as much if not more than if it were that I add then giving Pardon and Life as the Effects or Benefits distinguished from the Form of Justification A Right to Impunity and Life Christ hath purchased and gives by his Covenant they that are justified by this Covenant are adjudged to these Benefits so that Pardon and Salvation flow to us I say as the Benefits and are not the Form of Justification One of them is never accounted to be the Form and by the same Reason neither may be the other The Gospel-Law or Covenant does both make and declare all Believers righteous as having a Right to the Benefits of it by Performance of the Condition But as for this or that particular Person that is a Believer or Performer it is God must be Judge This Judgment is to be supposed preceding and the Benefits to be actually conferred by it When I say this Righteousness or Faith is the Form I understand it in that Sence as these Divines do who say Christ's Righteousness is the Form or Remission is the Form the Word therefore is not to be scrupled not

in God's sight whatsoever they were in their own but that all have sinned and need that Messias they expected to make Reconciliation for their Sins that our Lord Jesus Christ being that true Messias by his Death answering their Legal Sacrifices hath born the Curse of the Law and so redeemed us from it That God's undeserved Goodness here in accepting of Sinners through this meritorious Sacrifice of his to Pardon and Life upon Condition which he gives the Grace also to perform presupposed and by me acknowledg'd it is another Righteousness and not that of the Jews Not that Paul calls his own as a Jew or not a Righteousness of Works Perfect Works but a Righteousness of Faith which makes the Reward only of Grace Of Faith that it may be of Grace a Righteousness of Faith but a true Faith working by Love which is an Internal Righteousness though imperfect and not as the External Works of the Jews was is that Righteousness of God in opposition to the Terms of the Law whereby we are justified and saved The Apostle I observe in one place speaking of Faith calls it the Obedience of Faith the same Word if you compare that Text Rom. 11.30 31. with the Margin signifying both to Believe and Obey And the People believed God and his Servant Moses I will conclude hereupon that Christ's Redemption in the immediate fruit thereof which is the Grant of a General Pardon through his Satisfaction to all the World on Condition being laid as a foundation To be justified by Faith is to be justified by performing that Condition To be justified by Faith Believe me at parting is in St. Paul's Mind to be justified by the Obedience of Faith in opposition to the task of the Law that is in St. Paul's Mind I say opposing the Jew by embracing the Christian Religion and living according to it Reader In p. 14. l. 34. correct the Word its and make it it with a Full Point after Other Errataes you may find at the end of the Book or mend your self OF THE Righteousness of GOD In the Matter of JUSTIFICATION The First PART BEcause upon the right Understanding of what the Apostle means by the Righteousness of God without the Law revealed now in the Gospel which indeed is dark and hardly understood I think by Papist or Protestant in their Disputes and much less by our Brethren in their present Differences does depend the Elucidation of the Great Article of Justification whereof I wrote some Sheets formerly called The Middle Way and more lately six Sheets called Pacification I have thought good yet to write a few more upon some further increase of my own Knowledge about this Subject And under this Title I beseech God for his Light and Truth and for Integrity of Heart and Pardon of my Weakness and Failings for my self and for the removal of Prejudice from and the establishing the Judgment of others who shall read what is written The Search after Truth is indeed hard Work it is digging in a Mine It was so to me in writing on this Point at first and it is still What I dig up is but rude it is the Ore as it comes naturally and that is best to edifie those that would improve it I am one whose Genius is averse from any Notion imposed and receives none without distrust that does not arise first out of my own Mind or that I see something new to cultivate it I do not only bear with others but do like them often better that they differ from me because I know I differ from the most Where the Mine though is Gold as the Scripture is there is no Dust of it but must be saved The least Dust of Gold is Gold and if any other who hath better Words and Parts will be at the pains to sift and order what I have digged I doubt not but they may make Gold of that which I have brought to be but the Dust of Gold When a Book is so Methodized as it does exhaust its Subject there is no coming after it But when there is only some Ore turn'd up something of Notion for others to refine a riper Wit will be encouraged to an Endeavour of bringing that Something to more perfection It is so with my Middle-Way Books I am content to be but the Digger I expect some others should be the Refiners of what I have digged The Trent Doctrine which is the perfect papists I must confess is lead them b● St. Austine They say Justification is the making a Man just Ex impio Christianum by Infusion of Grace inherent or Charity Being justified freely by his Grace Augustine being immersed in his Dispute with Pelagius could think of Grace in no Sence but this and by Freely Gratis justified he understood only that Works preparatory did not merit this infusion which the Trent-Doctors also say after him The Efficient Cause quae efficit is the Spirit the Instrumental Cause qua efficitur Baptism the Meritorious Cause propter quam Christ's Death the Formal Cause per quam of Justification is this Grace infused Gratia Habitualis Habitual Righteousness making the Man before ungodly now righteous in God's sight This habitual Righteousness then being infused by Baptism they say does abolish Sin so that there remains in the Baptized after the Opus Operatum nothing that is Peccatum but Fomes Peccati only and upon that Account is perfect so by the Law justifies and the Works proceeding from it meritorious of Salvation This is their Opinion and they fall foul on us for holding Justification by Pardon only or by Christ without inherent Grace as if Good Works were laid aside by us altogether Our Protestants therefore renouncing this Charge do grant an habitual Righteousness or Grace infused as necessary in the justified Person but deny this Righteousness to be that which justifies him they deny Justification to be Regeneration and distinguish these as two things It is not this inherent Righteousness say they that can be opposed between the Wrath of God and our Conscience of Sin to be the Cause Propter quam we are not condemned No there is a Righteousness they add without us that is the Righteousness of Christ performed for us and by our Faith made ours that we rely upon to do this for us Our inherent Grace is inchoate imperfect and cannot standing in Judgment before God This being now partly well on both sides there is a Middle Way appears which we must take between them It is true against the Papists that there is no such Righteousness inherent though infused by the Holy Spirit as does abolish Sin and make us so just that we can oppose it to Gods Wrath so as to render him appeased with the Sinner or that the Conscience can rest on it as that Proper quod he is forgiven or saved It is true likewise against the common Protestant that there is not any Righteousness without us that can be made ours so as we