Selected quad for the lemma: saint_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
saint_n	law_n	sin_n	transgression_n	1,647	5	11.3808	5	true

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

Thou that makest thy boast of the Law through breaking the Law dishonourest thou God More particularly first by all such Actions as are evil in themselves or secondly by such as being good or indifferent in themselves are evilly performed in respect of the manner circumstances or ends of them or thirdly by such as have an appearance of evill 1. By such actions as are clearly evil in themselves in respect of the matter of them by all such actions God is dishonoured aswell such as are committed against our neighbour as such as are committed immediately against God himself whether the eidence of that evil proceeds from any written Word of God or only from the common Law of reason and humane understanding For that same Effect of the Law wittten in the heart Rom. 2.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Saint Paul attributes to the Heathen being equally common to Christians doth equally bind them and cannot be superseded or made void by the knowledg of the Written Law which serves to perfect it So that whiles the defect of that Law in the heart is only supplied by the Word the Effect of it still remaines And if a Heathen shall be judged for things done by him only against the Law of reason his own conscience accusing him as the Apostle saith though he knows of no written Law of God against it then doubtless so shall a Christian be for all such Actions as he shall do against the same Law of his Reason and Conscience notwithstanding he either knows not or cannot remember any written word against it For this Ignorance as to such particular Actions is the same in both For although the Law of God which is written in the Scriptures be said to be perfect and thereupon is supposed to declare in the Latitude of it's Sense and the just Consequences thereof the whole Will of God that is his preceptive Will in whatsoever he requires or forbids men to do yet because this perfection of Sense with the Consequences is not perfectly understood by any man much less by all therefore may there be many things therein required and forbidden which will not from thence be particularly understood much less remembred at all times If therefore the Conscience of a man from clear light of Reason shall condemn any Action which he is any way tempted to do although he doth not remember any particular Text of Scripture whereby it is forbidden he is nevertheless bound to abstain from it by that Law written in the Heart and cited by the Conscience But to return to the matter in hand which is the Consideration of God's Dishonour in that which is done It is manifest that God is dishonoured only by such Actions as are contrary to his Will because no Act which is either agreeable to his Will by way of Command or Approbation or allowed by his Will by way of Permission can be dishonourable to him unless he can be supposed to command approve or allow of his own Dishonour From hence it follows that God is not dishonoured by any such Acts as are purely indifferent in their individual existence because that Dishonour imports a Contradiction to such an indifferency and so destroyes it For it cannot be indifferent to dishonour God But whether there be any such individual Acts as are absolutely indifferent is a disputable point which I may not here stand to examine But in general every Act of Transgression of the known Will of God is a manifest derogation to his Glory especially that of his Soveraign Authority And especially every presumptuous i. e. wilful Transgression for that imports a plain Contempt of God and his Authority Therefore by this Rule Christians are especially to be careful to abstain from all presumptuous Transgressions of God's Will which way soever made known unto them whether by the written Word or by the light of Reason as before was said Now those Actions are most apparently contrary to the Will of God which are evil in respect of the matter of them 2. But it is no less manifest that some Actions both which are indifferent and which are good in respect of the Matter of them may be evil in respect of the Manner Circumstances and Ends of their Doing as was said before and is too evident to need any proof only this may be added that as there are some kinds of Actions which cannot be made good or indifferent by any Circumstance whatsoever as to hate God to blaspheme or curse him to take his Name in vain by false Swearing c. which Actions certainly are evil not by any Arbitrary Law or Will of God but by their very Nature and this Evil such as no possible determination of God's Will can or could have acquitted them from So are there some Acts of the Soul especially which are so intrinsecally Good as that they cannot become Evil by any Circumstance or End that is consistent with their Being as to love God above all to reverence him to defire his Glory above all things c Yet I deny not but that even in such Actions as they are now performed by men in the flesh there is some Imperfection and that is an Evil but not such as denominates the Act to be so except we will say that it is impossible for the holiest man that can be to do any such good Act as is not a Sin And then it were indeed a vain Question to dispute Whether any single Act can be indifferent For if all such Acts as have any or the most goodness in them be Sins it were a great absurdity to imagine that those which being supposed indifferent have no Goodness in them should have no Evil for then it would be apparent that one Evidence at least of their not being Evil should be because they are not Good because by this Conclusion if they were Good they would be Evil. 3. God is dishonoured by such Actions as have an appearance of Evil and therefore by this Rule also Christians are to abstain from all appearance of Evil. This being the ground of that Precept of S. Paul 1 Thess 5.22 as it is rendred in our own and most other Translations For there is another possible Translation of the words which seems to be favor'd by the Syriack Translator and is accepted by some Interpreters viz. from all kind or sort of Evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab omni specie mali But besides that this is a notable abatement of the sense of the Precept I doubt much whether the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without Example else where in the New Testament or the Septuagint may be taken in such a Philosophical sense Certainly Christians ought to abstain not only from such things as are really Evil but also from all things that may give a Suspition or carry an appearance of Evil As for Instance we ought not only to abstain from Pride and Vain-glory from Covetousness Deceit Intemperance and all manner of Unchastness