Selected quad for the lemma: sense_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sense_n	father_n	scripture_n	word_n	4,658	5	4.5238	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76783	St. Paul and St. James reconcil'd. A sermon preach'd before the Vniversity of Cambridge, at St. Mary's Church, on Commencement-Sunday in the afternoon, June 30. 1700. ... / By Offspring Blackall, D.D. Chaplain in ordinary to Her Majesty..	Blackall, Offspring, 1654-1716.	1700 (1700)	Wing B3050A; ESTC N36965	18,049	16

will be easy to understand all those Places wherein he attributes this to Faith only in a Sense very agreeable to the Doctrine which St. James here teaches it will be easy then to understand what St. Paul means Rom. iv 5. where he says That God justifies the Ungodly then I say that Passage which hath been thought the strongest will appear to be no Objection at all against St. James's Doctrine the meaning thereof being only this That the Grace of God in Christ Jesus is so large as that he do's not refuse even the vilest and greatest Sinners but readily accepts them to Favour upon their Belief of the Gospel and closing with the Terms of it And there will be then no difficulty at all in understanding how Abraham was justify'd by Faith only according to St Paul and how he was justify'd by Works that is not by Faith only as St. James expresly affirms he was at the 21st Verse of this Chapter For the Case was thus Upon his giving a full and hearty Assent to the Truth of the Divine Promises he was immediately receiv'd into God's Favour and Acceptance even before the Sincerity of his Faith has been actually try'd by his Obedience Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness Rom. iv 3. so that he was then in a justify'd state And yet if after this he had declin'd to leave his Country and his Father's House or even to sacrifice his Son at God's Command he wou'd by this Disobedience have fall'n from that state of Divine Favour and not have been finally justify'd by God but then all his former as well as his later sins which had been once remitted to him with a temporary and conditional Remission upon his first entring into the Covenant of Grace by Faith by virtue of which Remission he was while he continu'd in the Covenant a justify'd Person wou'd nevertheless have been imputed to him and he condemn'd for them if he had afterwards swerv'd from his Obedience In short therefore the Justification which St. Paul generally speaks of is that whereby we are made Heirs of Salvation as he himself explains it in the afore-cited Text Tit. iii. 7. That being justify'd by Grace we shou'd be made Heirs according to the Hope of eternal Life but the Justification which St. James speaks of is that by which we are actually admitted into the Possession of this Inheritance And therefore tho' in order to the first Justification nothing more be necessary but only that we close with and accept of those Terms of Reconciliation which God offers to us Yet in order to the Second Justification it is moreover necessary that we shou'd make good that Covenant which we before entred into or else tho' we are already justify'd in St. Paul's Sense that is are now already by our embracing and believing and professing the Gospel in such a Capacity and Likelihood of obtaining eternal Life as an Heir is of enjoying his Father's Estate we shal never be justify'd in St. James's Sense that is we shall never actually possess and enjoy the Estate but notwithstanding our present Heirship shall at last be cast off and disinherited for our Disobedience And this Observation concerning the different Senses wherein these two Apostles do sometimes use the Word justify may I suppose be alone sufficient to reconcile them in most if not in all those assages wherein they seem to differ But II. The Word Faith or Belief which they do both use in treating of this Subject is likewise a Word capable of and frequently in Scripture us'd in different Senses and I believe it may easily be made appear that in those Places wherein St. Paul attributes so much to Faith wherein he is thought to declare that that is the only Condition of our final Justification and admittance into the Promis'd Inheritance he means quite another thing by Faith than St. James does when he says that that alone is not sufficient even all that St. James means by Faith and Works too I will not trouble you now with all 〈◊〉 ●●gnifications in which the Word Faith or Belief is us'd in Holy Scripture but shall take no ice only of two which I suppose most applicable to the case in hand 1. The First Sense of it which I shall take notice of is that which indeed is the most obvious and proper meaning of the Word that is when by Faith is meant An assent of the Mind to the Truth of some Reveal'd Proposition And in this Sense St. James uses the Word By that Faith which being without Works he says is not sufficient to justifie or save us he plainly means nothing more than only a Belief of those Truths which are reveal'd in the Gospel And the Case that he puts is this That a Man believes there is a God and that those things which he has reveal'd are true and that all his Promises and Threatnings shall be made good but nevertheless takes no care to live well and in this case he says that such a Faith as this is an empty dead Faith and that it will be of no real advantage to us any more than it is to the Devil's who believe all these Truths as firmly as we can do but without any Benefit to themselves because the Promises being not made to them they are not thereby incited to the doing of good But the Promises are made to us and therefore it can hardly be conceived it is scarcely to be supposed that any Man that firmly believes all the Truths of the Gospel and considers his own Interest therein should nevertheless allow himself in a wicked Life Faith is naturally such an active lively and working Principle that it can hardly fail to shew it self by its Effects 2. And for this Reason Secondly the word Faith which most properly signifies nothing but the Cause or Principle is oftentimes in Scripture put to signifie both the Cause and the Effect too that is both a Belief of the Gospel-Truths and also a Life led answerably to such a Belief And in this large and comprehensive sense 'tis clearly evident St. Paul does use the word in divers places and especially in those Epistles where he treats of Justification by Faith as may appear from his oftentimes using othe Words and Phrases instead of the single word Faith For whhat he sometimes calls Faith he at other times in those same Epistles calls the Law of Faith and the Obedience of Faith Rom. iii. 27. i. 5. xvi 26. And in Rom. x. 16. he most clearly explains his own meaning to be to include and comprehend Obedience in the word Faith whenever he attributes so much to Faith But they have not all obeyed the Gospel for Esaias saith Lord who hath believ'd our Report In which words the same thing is plainly meant by obeying the Gospel and believing the Report of the Preachers of it from whence it clearly appears That the Faith or Belief which he so much magnifies

the Words Faith and Works in that Sense which is most natural and obvious in that Sense wherein Common Readers were most like to understand them Whereas St. Paul's Epistles I mean those wherein he handles this same Subject being written with another Design as I shall shew hereafter it may well be supposed that he having in his writing them an Eye to his main Design which was to shew the Necessity of embracing the Christian Faith and the no Obligation that lay upon Christians from the Ceremonial Law of Moses was more careless in his other Expressions as not fearing that any Person instructed in the Christian Religion wou'd ever so grosly misunderstand and pervert his Words as to think that he intended to give Encouragement to a lewd and and dissolute Life But this nevertheless some did think at least they pleaded St. Paul's Authority for it That if Men did but believe aright it was no great matter how they liv'd Against these therefore our Apostle St. James sets himself in this Chapter and shews at large that Christianity did not consist only in a true and orthodox Faith that a bare Belief in Christ or of the Truths of the Gospel without bringing forth Fruits in our Life and Conversation answerable to such a Belief would be in no wise sufficient to justifie or save us And that in writing this he had an Eye to what St. Paul had written before upon the same Subject is farther probable because he makes use of that very Instance of Abraham to prove the Necessity of good Works together with Faith which St. Paul had before brought against the Jews to shew the sufficiency of Faith alone without Works that is without those Ceremonial Observances which they would have press'd upon all other Christians and which they laid more stress upon and did put more Confidence in than in the weightier Matters of the Law Justice Mercy and Fidelity This Epistle of St. James therefore being written after St. Paul's Epistles and so very probably with a Design to explain them where they had been misunderstood it is reasonable to take for granted that what St. James here plainly asserts touching the necessity of good Works together with Faith is the Sense of St. Paul altho' we cou'd not easily bring St. Paul's Words to it Especially if it be considered farther in the Third Place 3. That tho' this Epistle of St. James had been never written nay tho' there had not been one plain Text in the whole Bible expresly asserting the Insufficiency of a meer Belief or of an empty fruitless Faith yet we could not understand those Passages of St. Paul wherein he so much magnifies Faith and decries Works in any other Sense than what St. James here plainly teaches without making those Passages in St. Paul to evacuate all the rest of the Bible and to contradict the whole Design of the Gospel For there is never a Page hardly a Verse in the whole Bible wherein the Nature of that Covenant which God hath made with Mankind is spoken of which doth not either in express Words or by plain Consequence contradict and disapprove that wild Notion of being saved only by a bare Belief tho we take no care to lead our Lives suitable to our Belief Now this is the Method that we observe in the Reading of other Books we consider the Scope and Design of the whole and judge of the Sense of particular Passages with Reference to that And if there be any single Passage which we apprehend not the meaning of or which at the first Reading seems to have another Meaning than is agreeable to the Author's main Design we build nothing upon such a Passage but wait a while to see if the Author will not elsewhere explain himself And if he does not and if at last we can't discern how that Passage can without somewhat straining the Words be reconcil'd with others we conclude however and take for granted that the Author if he appears to be a Person of Judgment is consistent with himself and consequently that in that Passage however the Words of it may sound he did not mean to thwart and cuntradict all the rest of his Book And this is the Case here for the Design of our Saviour's coming into the World was to make Men Holy all that he did and taught and suffer'd had a tendency to effect this Design and his whole Gospel is in a manner made up of Precepts and Exhortations and Encouragements to Godliness and Virtue and of severe Tnreatnings against all manner of Sin Rom. i. 18. The Wrath of God is therein reveal'd from Heaven against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men who hold the Truth in Vnrighteousness these things are plain and undeniable this is manifestly the Scope and Design of the whole Bible And therefore altho' some few Passages in St. Paul's Writings shou'd in their most obvious meaning seem to imply the contrary to this it wou'd be reasonable however to believe and assert the indispensible Necessity of an Holy Life together with an Othordox Belief rather than upon them alone to ground the Doctrine which if true wou'd plainly evacuate all the rest of the Bible and perfectly thwart and contradict the whole Design of the Gospel And this I think a sure Ground for them to go upon who have not leisure to study the point or who after all their study are not able clearly to discern how these two Apostles may be fairly reconciled in their seemingly contradictory Assertions one saying That we are justify'd by Faith and the other That we are justify'd by Works and not by Faith only Which Difference nevertheless I believe it is not so hard a Matter to reconcile as at the first sight it may appear to be the seeming Contrariety between them lying as I suppose only in their using in different Senses the Words Justify Faith and Works Every one of which Words is capable of and is very often in Scripture us'd in different Senses For I. As to the Word Justify not to trouble you with the Etymology of it which is but an uncertain way of knowing the common Acceptation of a Word nor yet with the Sense which Heathen Writers have us'd the Word in from whence we cannot with certainty collect in what Sense the Sacred Writers do use it it may be sufficient to observe That the most obvious and usual Signification thereof in Holy Scripture is to receive to Mercy to absolve and acquit from former Transgressions When God justifies a Man it is by forgiving him his Trespasses and accepting esteeming and rewarding him as a Righteous Person altho' he is not really and strictly such And thus St. Paul himself seems to expound the Word in Rom. 3.25 Being justify'd freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation thro' Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through

in that Epistle is not an idle ineffectual Belief but such a Faith as makes Men to be obedient Forasmuch therefore as the Faith which St. Paul speaks of when he says we are justify'd by Faith includes in it all that St. James means by Faith and Works too it is plain That tho' we suppose that they do both use the word justifie always in the same sense there is not however any Contrariety in their Doctrines altho' one says that we are justify d by Faith and the other that we are justify'd by Works and not by saith only But 3. There is also an ambiguity in the word Works and it is not improbable nay I suppose I shall make it very plain that these two Apostles S. Paul and S. Jam. in their several Discourses upon the Subject of Justification do likewise use this Word in very different Senses and that St. Paul when he excludes Works do's not mean the same by Works that St. James do's when he affirms that we are justify'd by Works and not by Faith only And if St. James by Works when he affirms them to be necessary together with Faith means those Works of Piety Justice and Charity and other Moral Duties which are required in the Gospel as to any one that reads the former part of the Chapter it will be evident that he do's and on the other side if St. Paul when he excludes Works means by Works only either those materially good Works which Men might do without the Grace of the Gospel or the Merit of good VVorks or else those Ritual Observances which were requir'd by the Ceremonial Law of Moses then tho' their VVords and Expressions be different yet their Sense may be the very same Now concerning this place in St. James I think there can be no Dispute he plainly takes both Faith and VVorks in the most proper and usual acceptation of the words By Faith when he affirms that Faith alone is not sufficient he plainly means a meer Belief of the Truths of the Gospel and by VVorks when he affirms that they are necessary together with Faith he plainly means such a sort of Life and Conversation as the Belief of the Gospel Truths is naturally apt to produce a Conversation becoming the Gospel of Christ And both these he affirms to be necessary in order to our final Justification at the last day And on the other side St Paul if at any time he speaks of the same Justification that St. James do's means by Faith when he says we are justify'd by that only all that St. James means by Faith and VVorks too as hath been shewn already and by Works when he says we are justify'd by Works he means only either the Merit of good VVorks or such VVorks as might be done by unregenerate Men without the Grace of the Gospel or else the Ritual Observances of the Mosaical Law And that he uses the VVords in these Senses and do's not mean to exclude from being a condition of our final Justification that hearry Obedience to the Precepts of the Gospel which a firm Belief of the Truths of it is naturally apt to produce will further appear if these two things be considered 1 The occasion and design of those Discourses of St. Paul wherein Faith is so much magnified and VVorks are set so light by And And 2 The several Cautions that are here and there intermix'd in those Discourses as it were on purpose to prevent our mistaking his meaning and thinking that we may be sav'd by Faith alone without a good Life 1. We may consider the Occasion and Design of those Discourses of S. Paul wherein Faith is so much magnify'd and Works are set so light by and which consequently do seem most to contradict the Doctrine here taught by St. James And I premise this first of all That none of St. Paul's Epistles seem to have been written as if they were intended to comprehend the whole Christian Religion they rather suppose Christianity already planted in those Places to which his Epistles are directed It was not consequently his Intention in every Epistle that he wrote to teach all the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ and to lay again the foundation of Repentance from dead Works and of Faith towards God Heb. vi 1. for all this had been done before those same Apostles by whose Ministry they had been converted and baptiz'd having also then according to the Commission given them by Christ taught them to observe all things whatsoever our Lord had commanded As such therefore the Apostle consider'd the Persons to whom he wrote viz. as true Disciples of Christ as Persons that had before been taught to obey as believe the Gospel and so had no fear upon him that by his using the Word Faith or Works in an uncommon Sense and yet in such a Sense as the Controversy he was handling led him to use them in they to whom he wrote wou'd ever be in danger of embracing an Opinion so contrary to the first Principles of the Christian Religion as it plainly was to think that they might be saved only by believing without obeying the Gospel The main design then I say of most of St Paul's Epistles I mean of the Controversial Parts of them seems to be to furnish the Christians to whom he wrote with Answers to those Objections which the Enemies to Christianity among whom they liv'd did make against it And most of the Churches to which these Epistles were directed were made up chiefly of Gentile Converts with whom nevertheless there were some Jewish Converts also intermix'd but the far greatest part of the Inhabitants of those places were profess'd Jews or Gentiles who tho' both zealous each for their own way and against each other yet readily joyn'd their Forces together as against a common Enemy to hinder the growth and spreading of Christianity So that St. Paul had three sorts of Adversaries to deal with viz. the Gentiles the Jews and the Judaizing Christians The Gentiles who had been long bred up under the Institution of their Philosophers and by their good and wholsom Precepts of Morality were in a good readiness and disposition to embrace the Gospel which in general commanded little more than they were taught before their own Philosophers only requiring a stricter and more perfect observance of those Rules and adding new Motives and Encouragements to it from the plain Revelation of a future state of Rewards and Punishments of which before the coming of Christ Men had but an obscure Notion and very slender Assurance The main Objection therefore which these had to make against St. Paul was that he took as they thought a great deal of pains to little purpose in going about to establish a new Belief and a new Profession of Religion among them seeing that al to Practice they had been taught all the same things in substance by their own Philosophers so that consequently they thought he might have spared his labour