Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	believe_v	faith_n	justification_n	3,844	5	9.3520	5	true

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45134	A letter to George Keith concerning the salvability of the heathen together with a testimony to the same doctrine, as long held and not newly taken up, out of several former books of him that writ it / by J.H.	Humfrey, John, 1621-1719.; Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1700 (1700)	Wing H3684; ESTC R25550	27,967	37

Kingdom enlarged and the Gentiles brought into it and to commit it to his Son so that the Church in the Wilderness is now Catholick a Church over the World and the Law by which it is governed is the same as was on foot since Adam fell but under a diverse Dispensation Administration or Edition Upon this account do we read of Cornelius a devout Servant of God though a Roman Gentile or Heathen is commanded to send for Peter to Preach to him the Gospel which is the Scepter of Christ's Kingdom and by Baptism to receive his Allegiance and declare him a Subject From which Instance there is one Objection that by many is urged against the Salvability of any Heathen If Cornelius say they could have been saved without an explicit Knowledge of and Faith in Christ Dying for his Sins and Rising again for his Resurrection this need not have been done They urge besides the Angel's speech That Peter should tell him such words whereby He and his Household should be saved But this is indeed standing on Words more than Things It was fit it was meet that so eminent a worthy Servant of God as this should be chosen out to be first brought in for a leading Example to other Gentiles at the opening the Gospel Dispensation It is to be more throughly considered that since it pleased God that this Covenant of Grace which is the Covenant of Life and Salvation for Mankind according to which every Man and Woman shall Live or Dye as they perform or not perform the condition thereof should have a diverse Administration we cannot but think it to be advantageous for any Man to be brought under that Administration thereof that is most perfect and such being this of the Gospel Cornelius hath his gracious call into it Not that Cornelius was out of a state of Grace and Salvation before for it is plain that he was a Man that feared God a Devout Man his Prayer heard and accepted of God which no Man can be but in the beloved or through Christ's Satisfaction and Merits and such an acceptance is an acceptance unto Life and Salvation To say he was accepted but not justified is to speak without Book and with prejudice I am satisfied to the contrary and if you are not I pray what think you of the Disciples I hope you believe that Peter James and John Nathaniel and the rest were in a state of Salvation while under the Jews Administration and understood not the Scriptures as is said before nor Christ hmself when he spake of his Death and Resurrection and could have no Faith in him Dying for their Sins and Rising again for their Justification then as they had afterwards when accomplished Well consider it then Cornelius is one that fears God and worketh Righteousness and performing the condition of the Covenant of Life he is in a state of Salvation according to that Administration of it as the whole World is under The Disciples likewise fear God and work Righteousness and are in a state of Salvation according to the Jewish Administration they both being in such a state Cornelius hears Peter Preaching and believes in Jesus Christ lives up to the Gospel and is now in a state of Salvation according to the Covenant under the Christian Administration The Disciples likewise Preach themselves and they believe and live according as they Preach and are in the same condition What inconsistency is there here but that the same Persons may be in a state of Grace under one Administration of the Covenant and under the other when they are called from one into the other Abraham is called out of his Country and he obeyeth God promises to make him a Nation which shall inherit Canaan He believes God and his Faith is imputed for Righteousness After this God appeared and makes a Covenant with him and requires Circumcision Will any say here What need is there of this seeing Abraham was in a justified State already No indeed there was no need of this for that end but it is God's Will that though Abraham is a Man that walked before God and was Perfect that is Evangelically and so in a saved State yet because here is a new Administration of the Covenant to be set up it is the Command of God alone is both the Rule and Reason for the doing As for the Good and Benefit he shall have by it Abraham is to be assured of that seeing God who is good and doth good thought it good to be done Abraham believes and goes out of his Country and is thereby justified Abraham believes and receives Circumcision and is thereby justified Abraham believes and Offers up his Son Isaac and is thereby justified He received Circumcision as a Seal of the Righteousness of that Faith which he had when he was Uncircumcised He is justified by the Obedience of Faith in doing all and his Justification by one is no impediment to his being justified also by the other The Angel's telling Cornelius That he shall bear words whereby he shall be saved is no more than Paul's saying That the Gospel is the Power of God to the Salvation of all that believe which is true whether the Believer was in a State of Grace already or no whether he be a Jew or Gentile whether Cornelius or the Disciples themselves of the Lord Jesus If this be so that a Heathen may be saved you may say Then is his Condition easier and his State better than that of the Jew or Christian I Answer This is not only False because the Condition of Salvation to walk before God and be Perfect being the same to all So much the lesser means that one hath thereunto must needs make it to be so much the harder But it is also Profane to say so because the Apostle to the Romans is express that the Advantage of the Jew is much every way above the Gentile Rom. 3.1 2. And to the Hebrews he is express That we Christians have a better Covenant than the Jew Heb. 8.6 The first and second Covenant he speaks of there are nothing but the two Administrations of the Covenant of Grace the same in Substance say our Divines in regard to the Jews which preceded and then to us Christians If you will ask wherein the second Administration is better than the first consult the common place of our Divines That I fix upon as the result of them all is that these new Administrations did still afford more Means and Inducement to the bringing up their Hearts unto the terms of the Covenant of Life it self by which it was only that any were or could be Saved No doubt but there was more wrought on of the Jewish Nation having the advantage of the Oracles of God and among us that have a fuller Revelation in regard to our Saviour to come up to a sincere walking before God which are the terms and the same I say to all than among the Heathen who are without

Jews understood not these things prophesied of Him nor yet the Prophets that prophesied them seeing they ministred those things says the Apostle not to themselves but to us which are reported by them that preach the Gospel 1 Pet. 1.12 and therefore he hath it before That they prophesied of the Grace which should come or was to come and not then come v. 10. St. Paul accordingly lets the Romans understand Rom. 16.25 26. how the Gospel therefore was mainly a Revelation of the Mystery which was kept secret since the World began that now is made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the Commandment of the Everlasting God made known to all Nations for the Obedience of Faith That is as much as to say God by his Spirit hath opened those Prophecies to these first Preachers commanding them to Reveal the same to the World for Confirmation of what Christ said and did suffer'd and rose again they being such as abode with him as Eye and Ear-Witnesses of the same For which cause says he again Ephes 3.1 2 3 4 5 6. I Paul the Prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles if you have heard of the Dispensation of the Grace of God which is given me to you-ward how that by Revelation he made known unto me the Mystery which in other Ages was not made known to the Sons of Men as it is now revealed to his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit The Knowledge of Christ dying and risen again as now revealed by the Gospel that is as dying for our Sins and rising again for our Justification with the Application thereof by Faith we see plainly was a Mystery and not made known to the Sons of Men till the times of the Apostles It appears therefore that the Redemption of Christ and Benefits of his Death and Resurrection must be of larger extent than the Knowledge of him for else no Man in the World till Faith came till Christ and the Gospel came could as is said before have been saved As for the Distinction here which you used of an Implicit and Explicit Faith or Knowledge of Christ I count it but a yielding the Cause For when we say The Benefit of Christ's Redemption and the Knowledge of Him or Faith in Him are not Commensurate we mean it of such a Kowledge of him or Faith as is now preached by the Gospel that is that Explicit Knowledge as was revealed by the Spirit to the Apostles and by them made known and so required of us as necessary to our Salvation And if this be granted that such an Explicit Knowledge of Christ and Faith in him is not of the same Extent Necessitate medii with our Benefit by him the Point is obtained If you will not grant it the matter is enforced or proved by this Text. A bare Implicit Knowledge of the Messiah to come without an Explicit Knowledge of his Death and Resurrection as now revealed is a thing that could be of no more avail to the Salvation of the Jews than the Faith of a Gentile only in God's Mercy upon his Repentance which we see the Ninevites had without the Knowledge of Christ at all and if either the one or the other had Repentance unto Life wrought upon their Hearts by the Spirit of God which is fâ—ee to operate where he will for the Wind bloweth where it listeth Christ himself says they were accepted only through the Satisfaction and Merits of our Redeemer whereof indeed they were both a-like Ignorant this being the Mystery of the Gospel yet hid from the Sons of Men. I must confess when I ask'd you Whether you did or could really believe that every Jew and Heathen that ever was saved allowing the Salvability of such had a Faith in Christ's dying and rising And you said You did verily believe so I wonder'd at it and told you I lik'd you the better as being a Man of a stronger Faith than I who can believe no such thing if I would never so fain On the contrary I do believe that there never was any Man in the World that had the Knowledge of Christ Dying for his Sins and Rising again for his Justification so as to make Application of it to his own Soul by Faith as is required now of us under the Gospel until the Prophecies which the Jews had were accomplished by Him that is till after his Death and Resurrection We are sure the Apostles knew nothing of his Death and Resurrection and consequently of his Satisfaction and Merit thereby though Christ did more than once tell them of it for indeed they were not yet under that Dispensation as they should believe it And when the Disciples undestood nothing thereof for all the Scriptures how can you believe that others did or could understand their Meaning before these Scriptures were fulfilled You ask in your Book Who taught Abraham Job our first Parents but God and Christ by the Holy Spirit in their Hearts I say the like as to any good man that ever was among the Heathen That it was God by his Spirit that wrought that Good in him as in us But I say also that God did teach them every one of them the one as well as the other so much in their day as was necessary to their Salvation by such way and means as he thought best But such a Faith and Knowledge of Christ as is necessary to the Salvation of a Christian that is one to whom the Gospel is preached and received I do by no means believe to be necessary to the Salvation of every Man on the Earth that is or ever was saved no nor to any one of those that lived before Christ came We read in John when Christ was going from his Disciples and from the World to his Father he has these remarkable words Ye believe in God believe also in me John 14.1 Under that Dispensation the Jews and the Disciples were before the Christian Dispensation was opened they were to have Faith in God and to put their whole trust in him and it was that Faith by which the Just Man was to Live Hab. 2.4 But the Dispensation was coming on and is now come when we must believe also in Christ It was Life Eternal for the Jews to know God the God of Abraham to be the only true God and to live in the Acknowledgment and Service of him But now we are to know Jesus Christ also and believe in Him whom he hath sent John 17.3 6.29 In both places note the word Sent which was not of necessity to Salvation therefore before he was sent When Christ had finished the Work of our Redemption by his Death on the Cross and Risen again he enter'd into that Kingdom which John and He Preached was at hand All Power is given me saith he in Heaven and Earth Go and Disciple all Nations The Jews were under a Theocracy and so God's People It pleased him now to have that

them There is one thing remains which I remember you offered that requires some more large Considerations and it is this That though you were willing to allow that some Heathen may be saved you deny it to be by Covenant but only uncovenanted Mercy and you cited the Bishop of Salisbury for it That excellent Person Bishop Burnet in his Exposition of the Eighteenth Article of the Church which pronounces an Anathema to them that hold any Man may be saved by the Law or Sect he Professeth unless he be a Christian which seems to be the sense of the Article distinguishes between the word By and In. To be saved by a Law or Sect saith he signifies that by the Virtue of that Law or Sect such Men as follow it may be saved Whereas to be saved in a Law or Sect imports only that God may extend his Compassion to Men that are engaged in a false Religion And this he appears to own as not condemned by the Article The ingenuous Bishop proceeds And seeing Faith in Christ is in the Gospel required as necessary to Salvation there is no question he says to be made but that those that have the Gospel preached to them and believe not in him must be Damned The difficuly is only concerning those who never heard of the Christian Religion Here then the Bishop distinguishes again of Men in the Law and without the Law in the words of the Apostle that is between the Jew and Gentile Christian and Heathen and for the last though they have not the Law written they have it in their Hearts and shall be judged according to their Consciences This is fair but seeing Pardon of Sin is limited as he speaks to believing in Christ and Salvation is only through Christ's Name according to Scripture he distinguishes again thus It is on the account of the Death or Sacrifice of Christ that Men are Pardoned or Saved but it ã€ˆâ—Šã€‰ not so plainly â—aid that no Man can be saved unless he hath an â—â—pâ—icit Knowâ—â—â—gâ— oâ— ã€ˆâ—Šã€‰ together with a belief of it That is in effect the same I said before that the Redemption we have by Christ and the Knowledge of him is not to be reckoned Commensurate yet it is but unwarily said of him or too warily as one that is in the Water and feels not a bottom for his feet that Pardon of Sin is positively limited to believing in Christ and thereupon to be forced to mince the matter thus It is not so plainly said in the words fore-going Whereas Pardon of Sin is limited to a believer in Christ only as to such as have had a Preacher as is before understood by himself But the explicit Knowledge of Christ as the Gospel reveals him is not at all required of an Heathen Man nor of any Man as of necessity to Salvation before Christ came Upon this supposition then that this is not so clearly said in Scripture as the other he comes to another Distinction which he says is to be made as that which will clear the matter and all difficulties in it A great difference says he I will cite all his words is to be made between a Foederal certainty of Salvation secured by the Promises of God and of this new Covenant in Christ Jesus and the extent to which the Goodness and Mercy of God may go None are in a Foederal State of Salvation but Christians To them is given the Covenant of Grace and to them the Promises of God are made and offered so that they have a certainty of it upon their performing those Conditions that are put in the Promises All others are out of this Promise to whom the Tydings of it were never brought In this which is said by this worthy Bishop there is thus much of Truth to be acknowledged and noted That no Heathen or Jew under their Dispensations had or could have such certainty upon their turning to God so as to draw near to him in full assurance of Faith that they should be accepted and saved as Christians have or may have upon the Revelation of Jesus Christ and for that reason if there were no other the Dispensation the Christian is under is better than that of the Jew or Heathen to reflect again on your Objection before But to speak more fully to this matter otherwise I think fit to remember the Doctrine commonly received I suppose even by you and the Bishop if it be not out of your Minds There is a double Covenant the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace The Covenant of Works was made with Adam in Innoceney which he broke and none can keep to be saved by it There is therefore the Covenant of Grace which was made with Adam faln in the Promise of the Seed of the Woman that is of a Redeemer and of Salvation upon the terms of it There is a Government consequently arises to God from the right of Redemption and that must be by this Law or Covenant seeing the other is of impossible performance There is no Government but by a Law and that must be such as the Subject is in a capacity of reward by the keeping as of punishment by the breaking it or else it is not righteous and meet There is a diverse Administration therefore of this Covenant or Law of Grace according to the Revelation God hath made of his Will to the Sons of Men. What God reveals as his Will must be believed and obeyed Under the Administration of this Covenant to us Christians God's whole design of Redeeming and Saving us by his Son is fully revealed and accordingly a Faith in him dying for our Sins and rising again for our Justification is required of us as necessary to our Salvation Under the Jewish Dispensation they believed a Messiah to come and some Deliverance by Worldly Pomp and Conquest Acts 1.6 but as for the Salvation of their Souls by his dying for them or making Satisfaction to God for their Sins by the Sacrifice of himself on the Cross they understood nothing as appears by the Disciples aforesaid Then he took the Twelve and said unto them Behold we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished They shall put him to Death and the third Day he shall rise again And they understood not these things and this saying was hid from them neither knew they the things which were spoken Likewise it appears as much by their Rulers and Chiefest among them For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their Rulers because they knew him not nor yet the Voice of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath day they have fulfilled them in condemning him As for the Ancients before Abraham and Moses what Revelation they had of God's Will Who can tell A Law they had written in their Hearts which proves a Lawgiver and they had Tradition They believed a God and that he was gracious to forgive the Sinner

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