Selected quad for the lemma: nature_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	covenant_n	law_n	moral_a	3,209	5	10.1955	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

of Good and Evil contained in the nature of some actions antecedent to any positive or express Law of God or man so doth it indispensably oblige to the practical observation thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is that effect of the Law written in the Heart Rom. 2.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which cannot be blotted out by any abrogation without blotting out the reason that is the nature of man That which is in it self Evil cannot without contradiction become indifferent or lawful But that which is not restrained or forbidden by any binding Law must needs be lawful Therefore the opinion of Libertines and Antinomians affirming Christians under the Gospel to be discharged from the duty of Obedience to any Law or Command of God as such is not only false and heretical but also impossible to be true in as much as it imports a repugnancy to the nature both of God and man and all distinction of Good and Evil and withall it evacuates all pardon of sin by concluding an impossibility of committing it For where no Law is there can be no Transgression I conclude therefore that the duty of Obedience to the Moral Law is common to both Covenants And that when Saint Paul saith We are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. 6.15 his meaning cannot be that we are not under any Obligation of the Law but that we are not under the rigorous Exaction of the Law requiring perfect obedience without affording either pardon for any Offences against it or any sufficient aid of Grace to perform it Christians by the Covenant of Grace which now they are under are delivered from that desperate state which the Law leaves them in that are under it being relieved by a double Grace first of pardon of Sin upon Repentance and secondly of ability through the assistance of God's Spirit to yield such obedience to the Law as will be accepted And so to the Objection of the burthen of that Obedience which by the premisses hath been asserted necessary to Salvation I answer That God's accepting by the new Covenant Repentance joyned with Faith in Christ instead of perfect Obedience required in the old is a sufficienu abatement of the intolerableness of the old yoke and as ample a dispensation as could be afforded to Sinners to qualifie them for salvation which will further appear upon these Considerations 1. That Repentance supposing men to be sinners admitted by the Covenant of Grace for the Condition of Salvation affords a remedy for Sin and a capacity of Life to them that by the old Covenant are absolutely excluded from all hopes thereof 2. That Reformation of life and future obedience which Repentance signifies is not the same which the Law exacts that is not absolute and perfect without any manner of defect Not the not-sinning at all but the not wilfully and presumptuously sinning and abiding therein impenitently after the receiving * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knowledge or acknowledgment of the truth Heb. 10.26 A sincere desire and faithful indeavour of obedience is accepted for Repentance which may consist with some such things as the Law condemns as sins of ignorance not affected sins of Infirmity and surreption Imperfection in the performance of duty sincerely indeavoured with many frailties which a Christian labours under and against but cannot perfectly overcome Such things as these although as transgressions of the pure and perfect Law of God they have the nature of sin yet by the tenor of the new Covenant and through the mercy of God in Christ the Mediator thereof they shall not be imputed to the penitent sinner that by a true Faith layes hold upon that Mediator So that there be some sins which do not make void the effect and benefit of Repentance but are consistent with the truth of it and a regenerate state But because it is difficult to determine precisely and exclusively what they are it concerns every true penitent to take as much heed as he can of all sin and not to presume of any indulgence for the least that can be avoided by him And whiles it is said that some kinds of sin are consistent with such a Repentance as is available to salvation it is implyed that others are not so and such are all gross wilful and presumptuous sins But 3. Neither do such sins as these after a man hath once truly repented exclude a sinner from the benefit of the Gospel But are still capable of the same remedie which is allowed for all sorts of sin which a man is found guilty of before his first Conversion Although such sins do evacuate the benefit of his former repentance so far as to render him uncapable of expecting or claiming the Remission of them thereby suspending his pardon for the present till he hath renewed his repentance or repaired the breach of it Herein consists the abundance of Gospel-grace and the benefit of repentance that it is never out-dated not being restrained to one general pardon as the Novatians heretically taught nor limited to any number of Repetitions There is no sin at any time unpardonable under the Condition of Repentance For that against the Holy Ghost is supposed to be so upon this account only that it excludes that Grace by which a man should be inabled to repent These three things relating to the doctrine of Repentance duly considered I conceive to be sufficient to answer the Objection before suggested Especially if that be added which I take to be agreeable to the doctrine of the Gospel viz That whosoever imbraceth this second Covenant shall be sufficiently inabled by the grace thereof that is by the Spirit of Christ that helps him though not to keep the whole Law exactly and perfectly without sin yet to do all things which by that Covenant are required of him to work out his own salvation This sufficiency of Grace I take to be supposed in the Exhortation of my Text and confirmed by the Reason that follows after it For it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure Of which afterward Thus far we have proceeded towards the resolution of that great Question What is to be done by him that desires to work out his own salvation from the distinct Answer of our blessed Saviour and two of his Apostles to the same Question Believe in the Lord Jesus saith Saint Paul Repent saith St. Peter Keep the Commandments saith our Saviour These three Answers comprehending whatever is required of a Christian in order to his salvation might suffice for a complete Answer to that Question But considering the infinite weight and moment of the Question some further Enlargement of the Answer from 3. or 4. selected Texts is not to be counted superfluous And the first of these additional Texts shall be that of the Apostle St. Peter urging the same Exhortation with that in our Text in other words 2 Pet. 1.5 And besides this giving all diligence add

grossest acts of moral impiety such as prophane swearing cursing and all kind of uncleanness riot and drunkenness may be professedly done to the Glory of Gods free grace is no more than hath been owned and asserted by our Ranters and Libertines Not to mention the horrid opinions and expressions of Gods being the cause of Sin by necessitating effectually and irresistibly moving and determining the wills of men to the worst of sins by an efficacious decree first ordaining the sin and then the eternal punishment thereof in hell torments and all to the glory of God in his absolute Dominion and Justice I hope the men who have held forth such expressions have not meant so ill as their words seem to signifie to common sense And therefore it is not my intention to parallel them to the forementioned ranks of profane mockers of God and his Glory Only I heartily wish such Teachers would sadly consider whether those Doctrines be like to produce any such glorious conceptions of God in the minds of other men as they pretend they do in theirs 4. But my Reprehension cannot without partiality determine in such a list of persons as I have hitherto described because it may most justly be extended to a better sort of Christians and indeed to the best which are to be found amongst us For doubtless We are all to blame in that we have so little regarded the Glory of God in the general course of our thoughts words and actions In that we have sought our selves and our own ends so much and Gods glory so little How few of us can say but that other ends have been more regarded by us than this How seldome and how slightly do we mind this end how little care have we to secure it or zeal to procure it Were this indeed our chief end we would be more careful of our waies we would not be so loose so carnal vain and worldly in our common Actions so negligent cold lazy and sleight in our Religious Actions Were the glory of God more pretious to us other ends would not be so much over-sought by us We have all cause to be humbled before the Lord for this general sin of neglecting his glory hath the Lord deserved so to be sleighted by us nay Which of us can say but he hath infinitely deserved we should have had all the zeal that is possible for his Glory Should he regard us and our welfare no more than we do him and his glory what would become of us With what face do we expect to appear before this glorious God whom we have so much sleighted How can we pretend we love him with all our hearts and all our might whiles we have no more Affection for that which we know to be his only Interest and that which is so infinitely dear to him is so little valued by us How can we expect to be eternally glorified by him and with him that regard his Glory no more than we have done Oh let us take the shame of this unkind and ingratefull neglect upon our selves And let me close the Application of this point with a pressed Exhortation of all that profess to love and fear the Lord from henceforth to be more mindful of this Rule in all their doings To which purpose considering the generality of indisposition thereunto which hath been already declared by way of Reprehension I cannot think it needless to re-inforce the Exhortation by some addition of Motives and Arguments to the reasons before alledged 1. As to know the end of his actions distinguisheth a man from a beast so to chuse and propose a good end distinguisheth a good man from a bad As men and reasonable creatures we are to have some end in all our doings and as godly men the glory of God ought to be our chief end to which all others are to be subordinate and therefore ought we not to have any end inconsistent with this Nothing so much dignifies an Action as the end of it and no end so worthy as this by which all actions are sanctified even the commonest actions while they are though remotely truly and sincerely designed to this end are hallowed and without it the most Religious action is profaned Herein consists the form essence and spirit of Religion properly so called Godliness both name and thing● is nothing else but a Religious affection to God expressed by such acts as are agreeable to his will and honour and done for this end because they are so he that counts or calls any thing Godliness which hath not this end that is which hath not God for its end doth not understand what he saith This also is true Holiness in the most distinct and proper notion which imports a separation from the world with a devoting of a thing to the sacred Majesty of God Look how much a man is sequestred from sin and from the world and devoted to God and his glory so much Holiness is there in him Holiness is commonly distinguished into inherent and relative but to speak strictly all holiness in a creature is relative importing a singular consignation unto God Not but that there is such an inherent quality as that which is called Holiness in all true Saints but because the reason of the name and the formality of the thing consists in the reference of this quality to God as the rule and end of it That kind of holiness in men which is commonly called inherent or practical consisting in dispositions habits or acts is such only in reference to God and his glory which is the object or end of them And therefore no such vertuous Habits or Acts as have not this reference principle and end have any thing of the nature of true holiness in them For this reason moral vertues and good actions of meer heathens amount not to the nature of holiness A relative holiness may be and is in Scripture attributed to other things both natural and artificiall but no creature is so truly capable thereof as Man because he is not only capable of being separated and consecrated to the service of God by a power or will Extrinsecal to himself as other things are but by a proper design dedication and devotion of his own Man by by nature is a Sacred Creature Ovid. Sanctius his annimal having a kind of natural Consecration to God from that image of the Creator which is stamped upon him in the Indowment of Reason Ratio res Dei Tertul. which the Father truly calls a Divine thing So Man may be called the Priest of the visible world out of all the Tribes of living Creatures elected qualified and appointed to celebrate the glory of God nor only for himself but as it were in the name of all the Creatures of this lower world This was his office and dignity according to the prime intention of his Creation But all mankind being now by original and personal sin profaned become unworthy of