Selected quad for the lemma: peace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
peace_n	ambassador_n	king_n	lord_n	2,121	5	3.8073	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33454	Methodus Evangelica, or, The gospel method of Gods saving sinners by Jesus Christ practically explained in XII propositions / by Abraham Clifford ; to which is prefixed a preface by Dr. Manton, and Rich. Baxter.	Clifford, Abraham.; Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1676 (1676)	Wing C4701; ESTC R23890	95,942	214

not upon me but him He 's the only Offender in Law not I for where there is no obligation to obedience by Law there can be no sin or offence against it And thus by affirming the New Covenant to be made with Jesus Christ and not with Believers they do not only acquit themselves from all sin and possibility of sinning which is flatly contrary to the express testimony of Scripture but they also in effect charge Jesus Christ with their sins and make him legally guilty of all the violations of the Covenant which are Consequences of so foul and black a nature as that no sober mind can entertain a thought of them or of the Principles whence they spring without abhorrence I have been the more large upon this argument since this opinion of the Covenants being made with Christ and not with Believers as it is of dangerous consequence and evidently destructive to the power of Godliness so it hath gained much upon the minds of men partly from the corruption of Mans nature that readily entertains what ever makes for liberty and promiseth indulgence to the flesh and gives a dispensation from the more strict observances in Religion And partly from the Nature of the Doctrine that tends to take Men off from the trouble of duty and obedience and to gratifie them in their desires of ease and pleasure And partly from the worth and credit of some Seers in Israel that have unwarily preacht and pub●isht this to the World either by inadvertency taking it up as a traditional Doctrine without due examination or by mistake not rightly distinguishing betwixt the Covenant of Redemption which 't is evident was made with Christ and the Covenant of Grace which is made with Believers But if Jesus Christ be the Author Mediator and Confirmer of this New Covenant by his death and intercession in the behalf of sinners And if Believers themselves and not Christ are still mentioned in Scripture as the party with whom God Covenants as from the instances of Abraham and Israel and Gospel Saints 't is evident And if it be made their act to stipulate with God therein they enter into Covenant with the Lord and they join themselves to him by Covenant and they cut a Covenant with him and they avouch the Lord to be their God and they subscribe with the hand to the Lord and they pass under the Rod and come into the Bond of the Covenant and give themselves to the Lord And if they be the persons only that seal with God in this Covenant and that this be the proper use and design of those two great Gospel Institutions Baptism and the Lords Supper And lastly if they become guilty of sin in their non performance of the terms of it and are punish●ble for their defaults Then 't is no more to be doubted but that Believers and not Christ are the sole parties with whom God transacts in the New Covenant which was the thing to be demonstrated PROPOS X. Of the terms of the New Covenant THIS New Covenant made with Believers in Jesus Christ for life and glory it is not only consistent with but doth necessarily as such imply certain terms and conditions annexed to it which we are indispensably obliged to accept and perform The Covenant is made up of Promises and Commands Priviledges and Conditions the former contain our happiness the latter our duty and these two they must not be separated What a Condition is every one I suppose understands that hath but seen any ordinary Lease or Indenture By that we know there ●s somewhat demised and granted as the ●ree and peaceable enjoyment of the Premi●es with all Emoluments and Appurtenan●es belonging to it And there is also somewhat therein required and enjoined as the payment of the Rent reserved and keeping the Premises in repair c. which if done and performed accordingly the Tenant is continued in possession But if it so happen that the said Rent be unpaid or the Premises suffered to go to decay then the Lease is forfeited and the party may by Law be ejected So that a Condition you see is that which on our part is required upon the performance of which some good or emolument is to be received and enjoyed by us but in case of non-performance the whole is lost either by forfeiting our right or by having at first no rightful claim to it And thus we say that Faith and Repentance c. are Conditions of the New Covenant God therein indeed gives and grants pardon of sin and eternal life to sinners but with this proviso that they repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ c. which if they do accordingly the Blessings promised become theirs and they are continued in the poss●ssion of them but if they fail in the sincere performance of these duties their sins shall not be pardoned no● their souls eternally saved as is afterwards to be shewn This is that which I call the condition o● the Covenant Nor can I see any just reason why any should be offended with the word For do we not in all contracts call that a condition to the performance of which we ar● by Covenant obliged upon penalty of forfeiture in case of non●performance As if you shall pay such a Fee or Homage to the Court you shall enjoy such an estate otherwise you shall lose the possession of it And in all Agreements those are the conditions which are the terms upon which the disagreeing parties mutually accord As Luke 14.32 it 's said of the King that was not able to war with him that came against him that he sent his Embassadours an desired conditions of Peace And those in Logick conditional propositions upon which the consequent hath an evident dependance upon its antecedent As if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses Math. 6.14 15. If we would judge our selves we should not be judged of the Lord 1 Corinth 11.31 If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love Joh. 15.10 If thou seekest for wisdom as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God Prov. 2.4 5. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the flesh ye shall live Rom. 8.13 If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted Gen. 2.7 If we confess our sins he is faithful to forgive 1 Joh. 1.9 Are not all these conditional propositions Doth not reason and common language teach us to speak thus And who ever yet called them by any other name I have therefore the rather instanced in these Scriptures that you might see how confessing our sins and forgiving others are made conditions of Gods forgiving us And judging our selves is made the condition of our not

Doctrine of Rome in this particular And as to same others who also plead for the necessity of holiness and righteousness though they in great measure reject the Popish works and wholly disclaim any merit by them and possibly acknowledge Christs satisfaction though since they speak some of them so darkly and undervaluingly of it that may be questioned Yet the efficacious influences of the Sacred Spirit for their assistance in the performance of those acts of righteousness they plead for are not so much acknowledged by them the creature being thought sufficiently instructed with power from nature and reason to repent and believe and obey c. according to the pleasure of his own will And though they seem much to advance the Soveraignty of God over the creature whilst they ascribe to God nine hundred ninety and nine degrees of power and but one of an hundred only to Man yet in conclusion the matter comes to this that this one single degree of power in the creature may and doth at pleasure baffle and defeat and put to flight and triumph over those 999. which are in God i. e. The creatures weakness is stronger than Gods power In short if the question be asked them who made thee to differ The answer will be Ego meipsum But is there any thing said in this whole discourse that lays any foundation for these opinions or that doth so much as add one stone to the building Are our own works any where affirmed to be either the matter of our justification or the meritorious cause of eternal life Or that our duties are performed by our own natural strength without the effectual assistance of the Spirit of God Where is nature and reason advanced above Grace or our own righteousness set up to justle Christ from his Throne and rob him of his Crown Is it not more than once affirmed and proved that holiness and obedience are not the causes but conditions only of our Salvation And that 't is impossible for any creature much less one that is degenerate to merit any thing at the hands of God And that we are justified not by works not by our holiness and obedience which follow justification as the payment of the rent doth sealing to the Indentures but by faith in Jesus Christ receiving him in all his offices And that the several duties of the Covenant are performed not by the sole power of nature but by strength received from the Spirit of God and by the daily supplies of his Grace So that we are doubly indebted to God first to his command to obey that and then to his Grace for enabling us to obey And will ●ny one that is not profoundly ignorant call ●his by the name of Popery and Pelagianism or have so much confidence as to ●ensure and condemn it as a Doctrine in●onsistent with the Grace of the Gospel and ●hat righteousness that is by Christ Is not ●his in Judes language to speak evil of ●hose things which they know not And ●o proclaim themselves unskilled in the words ●f righteousness and that Doctrine which is ●ccording to Godliness But suppose the agreement betwixt faith ●nd works Christs righteousness and our ●wn free Grace and the necessity of obedi●nce in the business of Salvation could not ●fficiently be evidenced to our present rea●on must they therefore be exploded as ab●●rdities and untruths and things absolute●● irreconcileable We must then throw a●ay not only some of the greatest mysteries 〈◊〉 our Religion but many of the most evi●●nt phenomena and appearances in Philosophy The influences of the Load-stone the ebbing and flowing of the Sea c. mus● be rejected as fables and our senses no mor● be credited in what they see since the manner how these things are done is not yet sufficiently understood and explained Thing● themselves we know are evident but the modes and manners of things are almost every where latent and unaccountable Tha● therefore which we have to do in all matter● of Divine faith and practice is only this duly to inform and satisfy our selves wha● God hath certainly revealed and made know● to us as his mind and will concerning 〈◊〉 which being done and our minds being satisfied that God hath said it and that 〈◊〉 is the plain meaning of his words we ar● then without any further debate to believe and do according to his word though possibly at present we cannot so well discove● that mutual accord and agreement whic● there is betwixt those several truths reveale● by him The positive and plain conclusion of Scripture are humbly to be believed thoug● they cannot be reconciled by us For this suppose will easily be granted by all as unquestionable That the will of God if w● certainly know it to be his will is the u●doubted rule and standard both of faith an● practice We must believe what 't is certai● he hath revealed And we must do wha● 't is certain he hath commanded For the will of God is not to be disputed but obeyed And doth not the Apostle expresly tell us that this is the will of God even our sanctification 2 Thes 4.3 He that hath said he will blot out our transgressions for his own sake and remember ●ur sins no more Isa 43.25 he hath also ●●id th●t we must repent and be converted ●hat our sins may be blotted out when the days of ●efreshing shall come from the presence of the ●ord Acts 3.19 He that hath said that ●e are justified freely by his grace through the ●edemption that is in Christ Rom. 3.24 he ●ath also said we are justified by faith ver ●8 and that we must believe that we may ●e justified Gal. 2.16 He that saith we ●●e made the righteousness of God in Christ ●ho was made sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 he also ●●ith that except our righteousness speaking ●ere expresly of moral and personal righte●usness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes ●nd Pharisees we shall in no case enter into the ●ingdom of God Matth. 5.20 And he that ●ith we are saved by grace and not of our ●●●ves Eph. 2.8 and according to his mercy ●●d not by works of righteousness which we ●●ve done Tit. 3.5 he also saith that we ●ust work out our own salvation with fear and ●●mbling Phil. 2.12 and that without ho●●ess we shall not be saved Heb. 12.14 Is not all this plain and easy to him that will but understand God hath said it 'T is his will exprest in terms that we must repent and believe and be righteous and work about our own Salvation and follow after holiness that we may not perish but have everlasting life Who then shall shall dare to argue and dispute against it At least here is no ground you see for any humble and sober mind that is but sincerely willing to be governed by the Divine will so to do but rather seriously to apply himself to the performance of these duties that God hath so expresly injoined and made necessary to our Salvation The great reason therefore why men profess themselves so much offended with this Doctrine 't is not because it is or because they in truth believe it to be an enemy to the Cross and Grace of Christ but rather because it is an enemy to their lusts and passions and presumptuous neglects of God An enemy to their present ease and pleasure and worldly satisfactions the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eye and the pride of life An enemy to their false and carnal hopes and empty professions of Christianity Therefore it is that they thus condemn this Doctrine because otherwise they cannot justifie their own faith and practice that are so manifestly condemned by it They must have a cheap Religion Faith without works pardon without the trouble of repentance an Heaven without holiness and a free Grace to save them without obedience or else they are miserable and undone to eternity But be not deceived saith the Apostle God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall be also reap For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting Gal. 6.7 8. For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Rom. 8.13 For God will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile But glory honour and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile for there is no respect of persons with God Rom. 2.6 7 8 9 10 11. Be ye therefore steadfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 FINIS