Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	apostle_n	law_n	transgression_n	5,619	5	10.4785	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13812	An ansvvere to certein assertions of M. Fecknam, sometime abbot of Westminster which he made of late against a godly sermon of M. Iohn Goughes, preached in the Tower the xv. of Ianuarie. 1570. Seen and allowed.	Tomson, Laurence, 1539-1608.; Feckenham, John de, 1518?-1585, attributed name.; Gough, John, fl. 1561-1570, attributed name.	1570 (1570)	STC 24113; ESTC S113017	63,134	174

flesh Fecknam 2 That the holy Angels and Saincts of heauen may heare our prayers Salomon Ecclesiastes .ix. vers v. and .vj. For the lyuing know that they shal die but the dead know nothing at al neither haue they any more a rewarde for their remembrance is forgotten Also their loue and their hatred and their enuie is nowe perished and they haue no more portion for euer in all that is done vnder the sunne Fecknam 3 That onely fayth doth not iustifie S. Paule Rom. iij. vers xxviij and .xxx. Therefore we conclude that a man is iustified by faythe without the workes of the law For it is one God who shall iustifie circumcision of faith and vncircumcision through faith Fecknam 4 That euery sin is not mortall S. Iohn j. Ep. iij. vers iiij Whosoeuer committeth sinne transgresseth also the law for sin is the trāsgression of the law S. Paule Rom. vj. vers xxiij For the wages of sinne is death ▪ but the gift of God is eternall lyfe through Iesus Christ our Lord. To the right worshipfull Sir Frauncis Iobson Knight Liuetenaunt of the Tour Sir Henry Neuel knight and M. Pellam Lieuetenaunt of the Ordinaunce THere was deliuered vnto me vpon the .4 of March .1570 by a frend of mine a little pamflet written by M. Fecknam somtime Abbot of Westminster which he exhibited vnto your worshippes vppon demaund by you made of his liking of a godly Sermon preached by M. Goughe in the Toure the .15 of Ianuarie .1570 Which when I had red ouer I maruayled not a little bothe at the weakenesse of hys cauilling Obiections he vseth against suche godly poincts of Doctrine as he laboreth by forsing of Scriptures and Doctors to his purpose to ouerthrow and also at his boldnesse in offering the same vnto you For I thought vntill I had perused it that in so little a treatise so great ignorance of Scriptures of Doctors of the common Arte of Logicke which boyes after one or two yeares being in the vniuersities are not ignoraunt in could not haue ben foūd in him who carieth so great a name and countenaunce of learning Or at the least if his ignorance had bene such as by this I vnderstand it in dede to be that he coulde by politique silence haue concealed it and not by wryting to your worshippes men I doubte not but of perfecte knowledge and sound iudgement in al poynts of true religion reuealed both it and the weakenesse of their common cause which so fain he would support How be it for this latter in his Preamble he pretendeth some cause as the auoyding with your worships the opinion of obstinacie self wilfulnesse want of iust matter to mislike in the foresayd Sermon c and this in deede is but a bare pretence For the bitternesse of his stile and smothe scoffes which he vseth too oftē in so short a discourse vpon .iiij. point● sheweth he rather by these cauils sought to rid his stomake of a litle choler than any thing else or to abuse and seduce your worships as men altogether ignorant in these questions But yet I will thinke the best as the rule of charitie teacheth me and conceiue hope of his conuersion for which also I pray with my whole harte And in case he blame me as not iudging rightly of this his writing being therunto requested by you let him waigh wel his owne last words in his preface vnto you say plainly whether a simple plain meaning may be gathered of them they be these More seking to satisfie your request and demaūd than to minister any occasiō of further argument What meaneth he hereby Is he rather moued with satisfying your request thā the cause it self he standeth in which he wold make appeare to the world to be the truth Or if the truth of his .iiij. assertions did more moue him than your requestes why feareth he least by his wryting occasion of further argument touching these questions be ministred If he know that he hath héere by good argument mainteyned a good cause then is there no cause why he should feare further debating but he ought like a good minister and teacher stand and offer him self ready prepared to the defence thereof yea though it were with daunger and losse of his lyfe But yf he bée guiltie in his owne conscience of the naughtinesse of the cause and his owne weake proues why doth he so much abuse your worships with a shew of confutation of the truth What iust causes and true occasions haue lead him to reprehend so godly points of doctrine taught by M. Gough I referre to the iudgement of any indifferent and learned Reader I haue vsed as much breuitie as I could in aunswering his arguments that the reading therof might not bée tediouse to you And last of all I thought good in mine own behalfe lest some might thinke amisse of me for mainteyning the quarrell made agaynst an other man as one desirous of contention vayne glorie c. to proteste vnto your worshippes that the earnest request of my very friend who knew me to haue a little spare time and M. Gough too be otherwise more profitably occupied forced me to say somwhat in way of an aunswere to M. Fecknam that I speake nothing of the truth of the common cause of religiō which of it self ought to moue any man zelous in Gods religion to take pen in hand agaynst any that shall séeke to impugn the same Thus much I thought good to let you vnderstand of the occasion of my dealing herein and partly also for a péece of an aunswere to such talke as M. Fecknam in his preface directeth specially too your worships The Lord Iesus confirme you in all truth daily encreasing his knowledge and all other good giftes in you Amen 1 That it is not impossible to keepe Gods commaundements BEfore I come to your proues allegations I must say a word or two of your coloured art and goodly shew you make in your first proposition It is the fashion of Rhetoricians as you know especially when their cause is not all of the best therfore misdoute the euent of their action so to behaue them selues in their Exordium that they may at the least purchase thus much that they may be heard some by one meanes some by an other the worst is not by procuring an euill suspicion too his aduerse partie So is your dealing in this present case to be better heard peraduenture or to make your cause séeme to bée better you geue forth that in M. Goughes doctrine of the impossibilitie of kéeping Gods commaundementes he followeth the race of the Maniches and the Valentinians A gréeuous accusation yf it were true and worthy to cause his doctrine to bee reiected yf all that you speake were a Gospell But peraduenture you thought you hadde the sexton of Paules in hand when you presented this your writing to the worships of these in déede worshipfull godly gentlemen The matter is thus not

many yeres since a good companion minding to recreate him selfe with the sexton charged him selfe with a baskette heauy laden as he made the matter appeare directing his way through Paules Churche because it was the shorter where he was mette of his mate and demaunded why in that solemne time he passed thorough that place so charged a thing not to bée endured the circumstaunces beyng considered This companion desired him to lette him passe for that hée was heauye laden with certayne plate and therefore the gladder too take the shorter way The sexton woulde not bée persuaded but alleadging the Quéenes profite caused him to sette downe his baskette and sente immediatlye for suche as too whome it appertayned to haue the view of such matters who thinking to haue found some ▪ greate matter as they had bin enformed by the sexton willed the basket to be opened and what found they for a cupbourde of plate a basket of hornes Thus had he his iest at the sexton but you M. Fecknam thankes be vnto God haue not to do with a sexton they doo well see your horny plate but bycause you your selfe deceyued your selfe thinking it to be plate they haue vsed this charitable way that it may be shewed vnto you that they are in deede but hornes And therefore this horne will nothing moue them as I trust vntill you bée able to shewe that the denying of frée will to the establishing of the grace of God wherby wée are iustified from sinne and saued from infirmitie is the doctrine of Maniche or Valentinian This I remember Valentinian and his say that to vs qui ab Ecclesia sumus opera necessaria esse aliter enim impossibile est seruari which are of the Churche woorkes bée necessarie for otherwise it is impossible to bée saued and that teach you s●ipsos verò non per opera sed propterea quòd ex natura spirituales sunt penitus omnino saluari docēt but they teach that they them selues are wholy altogither saued not by workes but bycause of nature they bee spirituall and this teacheth not M. Gough Therfore that glose might well haue bin lefte out yf you hadde more thought vpon the truth of the matter how well you might haue alleaged it than onely for a cloke of your self barely to alleage it For to proue M. Gough a Manichean or any of his fellowes in his heresies it will bée hard for you and as impossible as to fulfill the law but to prooue you a Pelagian it is easie enough and as easie as in Christ Iesus for M. Gough and vs to kepe the lawe But to prooue you suche a one is not my chéef purpose my mind is rather to conuince your heresie and bring you to the flocke of Christ yf it so please God too giue you the eyes of vnderstanding and a hart to repent Therfore to doo the dutie of good Christiās let vs yeld our selues vnto God to be gouerned by his spirit submit our selues in hūblenes to his word without al vayne opinion of wel or euil defending a question arrest our selues vpon his Prophetes Apostles which haue and doo shew vs the way to walke in and minister vnto vs the true light whereby wée may chase a way al these darknesses This waye if wee take no doubt he will shew vs the truthe if we reiecte it why should he not farther punish vs with blindnesse So then to come to your first position That it is not impossible to keepe Gods commaundements I wil aunswere youre places of the scripture alleadged and your Doctors and there withall shewe oute of them both the contrarie that it is impossible and so shall I shew I trust that in that article M. Goughe hath taught no vngodly point of doctrine and so will I do consequently with the residue And that it may be more plainly and euidently done that there may be no occasion of doubte in any braunche of my doctrine I wil first shewe howe they are impossible and by what meanes and after howe they are possible and howe they may be fulfilled This done I shall sufficiently aunswere youre places alleadged and if GOD so will take awaye this vayle from before youre eyes which is a let vnto you that you can not sée Touching the firste S. Paule dilating and amplifying his probation of the free iustification which we haue thorough the tender mercie of GOD in Christe Iesus sayeth in this wyse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For that that was impossible to the Lawe in as much as it was weake bicause of the fleshe God sending his sonne in the similitude of sinfull fleshe and for sinne condemned sinne in the fleshe The wordes are but fewe and therefore easie to be remembred nay therefore better to be considered God sent his owne sonne Why To condemne sinne in the fleshe Why so Bicause it was impossible to the lawe wherefore in as much as it was weake bicause of the flesh Why then we may conclude that the Lawe is a burden and so gréeuous a burden that neither wée nor oure Fathers were able to beare and that bycause of oure weakenesse Hereof it is that he sayth in an other place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For if there had bin a law giuē which could haue giuen lyfe surely rightuousnesse should haue bin by the Lawe It is the woorke of grace to saue and quicken the receyuers whereof althoughe they were extréeme enemies to the wholesome doctrine of the holy scriptures they become fréends It is not the worke of the doctrine which whosoeuer heare and reade without the grace of GOD they are made worse enemies Therefore the grace of God is not in the nature of free will and in the lawe and doctrine as the peruerse Pelagian dothe deceyptfully beleeue and teache but at euery moment it is giuen by his good wil and pleasure of whom it is sayd Thou o God sendest a gracious rayne vpon thyne inheritaunce For we lost both frée wil to loue god by the greatnesse of our first sinne and the lawe also and the doctrine thereof although it be holy and good and iust yet it killeth if the Spirite do not quicken by which spirite it commeth to passe that not by hearing but by obeying neither by reading but by louing it is obserued For the Lawe without grace is but a letter it remaineth to conuince sin but not to gyue saluation So sayth the Apostle For yf there had bin a lawe gyuen whiche could haue giuen lyfe surely rightuousnes shuld haue bin by the lawe But the Scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should be giuen to them that beléeue Of this letter he sayeth in an other place The letter killeth but the spirite quickeneth Thou hast the letter but thou dost not fulfill the letter And why dost thou not fulfil the letter Bycause thou presumest of thy selfe thou extollest thy

not giue I can not tell to whom that which you cā not proue to haue bin in the Patriarches Prophetes Apostles Do not you perceyue that your assertions are contrarie within themselues Either they are easie a great nūber of men haue fulfilled them or they are harde and you haue rashly sayd that to be easie which is harde You are wont to say this also eyther the cōmaundements are possible and wel giuen of God aut impossibilia in his non esse culpam or vnpossible and no fault in thē which haue receiued the cōmaundemēts but in him that gaue those which were impossible Nunquid Deus c. Hath god commaunded me to be that which God is that there should be no difference betwixt men and the Lorde the Creatoure that I should be higher than the Angels That I should haue that which the Angelles haue not Of him it is written as a propertie whiche did not sinne and there was no guyle found in his mouth If this bée cōmō to mée with Christe what had he proper Otherwise your sētēce is destroyd of itself If you think not this whole tretise which I haue alleaged rightly cited against you shew me wherin you differ You say that the commaundementes are possible to be kept you can shew none that hathe kept them either of the Patriarkes or of the Prophets or Apostles You say moreouer that if God hath commaunded things vnpossible the fault is in him and not in vs Seing then that you accord in al these points with them you must either shew some farther reason why S. Hierome may not be deriued against you or else giue glory to God and cōfesse your error For to alledge for your selfe that you there in differ from them because they only graunted gratiam praeuenuntem and you both that adi●●ātem it auaileth you not For the patriarks had that the Prophets had that the Apostles had that and in such sort that god was vnto them semper larguor semperque donator alwayes a liberall giuer and alwayes a frée giuer and yet they could not as you there read I could here bring in more allegatiōs both out of this father and other but for feare of being to lōg I leaue them I trust these few may serue with the help of gods spirit to open your eyes beleue And thus haue I shewed how they are impossible Now to come to my second mēber and to shewe you how they are possible may be fulfilled I will not stray far away neither séeke very wide for that I néede not I will come home to my first Allegation which suffiseth for dissoluing of this dout and therefore I chose it moued thereunto because I sée S. Ierome vse the same order and in eschuing of prolixitie our rule is good frustra fit per plura quod potest fieri per pauciora that is vainely done by a longer way which may be done by easie and short meanes Let vs then sée how the Apostle dissolueth this dout For that that was impossible to the law in as muche as it was weake because of the fleshe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 GOD sending his owne sonne in the similitude of sinful flesh and for sin condēned sin in the flesh And in an ther place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. ye which were dead in sinnes in the vncircūcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him forgeuing you al your trespasses and putting out the hand wryting of ordinances that was against vs which was cōtrary to vs he euen toke it out of the way fastned it vpon the crosse c. Now to cōdemn sin in the flesh to fasten the hād writing vpon the crosse to spoile principalities powers to triūph ouer thē in the cros what other thing doth it import than perfect rightuousnesse gotten than a performing of the law if it be alredy performed then was it a good cōsequēt to say it might be performed herein we agrée By whō the Apostle teacheth you by Christ Iesus by him onely for so is Paules cōsequēt in these words For that that was impossible to the law in as much as it was weake because of the flesh God sending his son c. For the cause why God sent his own son was the weaknes of our flesh by reason wherof the law could not be fulfilled his anger appeased So then this causeth vs with confidence to say O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victorie there is no cōdēnation to thē which are in Christ Iesus And in that the Christe is our iustification our sanctification our peace wée may say that we fulfil the law that no one iote passeth vs nor one pricke in that he forgiueth what wée can not do And so you haue an other way how the commaūdemēts are possible Therfore to come vnto you I say as you say that the commandements are possible how these words are to bee vnderstād that elect vessel doth most playnly teach vs as I alleaged For that that was impossible c. again ●x operibꝰ legis by the works of the law no flesh shal be iustified And that wée may not thincke it onely spoken of the law of Moyses not of al the cōmandements which are cōprehended in the name of the law the same apostle witnesseth saying Consentio legi Dei. I delight in the law of God cōcerning the inner mā but I see an other lawe in my members rebelling c. O wretched mā that I am who shall deliuer me frō the body of death Gratia dei ꝑ Iesū Christū dn̄m nostrū it is the grace of god through Christ Iesus M. Feck For as we are cast doun by one so must the gift of rightuousnes be by one that is by Iesus christ and why it cā be but by Christ that this fulfilling of the law this righteousnes must be the Apostle sheweth in an other place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for we know that the law is spirituall but I am carnal sold vnder sin For I alow not that which I do for what I wold that do I not but what I hate that doo I and so forth as it foloweth in the whole text The nature of the most godly of all is such that he can not do as he would By the spirite he may doo muche but as long as he is compassed with this body of death he can not doo all So sayeth the Apostle in this place Non enim facio bonum quod volo I do not the good thing which I would Do not burden vs as you haue done in the beginning Master Gough with the errour of the Manicheans and such like whiche trouble the Churche with their wicked phantasies saying that that nature is naught whiche can not bée changed by any meanes and impute this not to me but to the Apostle who knoweth that God is one man another the

burden your self with an heauie yoke I could alleage vppon this same place of Mathew Theophilact and Glossa ordinaria whiche neyther of them take the place as you do but I passe them ouer because I would be short You your self may read them Your second argument is of like force Where you say thus S. Iohn to this effect sayth Quod mandata eius grauia non sunt That his cōmandements be not heauy yf they be not heauy they be far vnlike M. Goughs lump of lead impossible to be taken vp and remoued It is I say of like sorte as Nicholas de Lyra interpreting the place of Mathew doth alleadge out of Augustine where he sayth thus Mandata gra●ia non sunt quod exponens Aug. dicit s. amanti The commaundementes are not heauy which S. Augustine expounding sayth that is to the louing S. Iohn sayth so him self in effecte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For all that is borne of God ouercometh the world For in déede the commaundements beyng tempered with the mercie and goodnesse of our heauēly father accepting then all donne when that is pardoned which is not done and as Dauid sayth c. Chy immecha haselichach For with thée is pardon that thou mayst bée feared Then to the child of God to him that hath the victorie of the world that hath Emunah a sure and a stable faith that beléeueth in Christ Iesus the son of God to him the commādemēts are not gréeuous nay they are hamnechmadim mizahab more desirous than gold vinethukim middebasch ▪ and swéeter thā honie this is the true sense of the place Your third is this S. Paule in rebuking these idle hearers of the law which say that they can heare it but not doo it and fulfill it writeth Non enim auditores legis iusti sunt apud Deum sed factores legis iustificabunt●r For not the hearers of the lawe be iust with God but the doers shall be iustified If they doe the law then it may be done then it is possible Ab esse ad posse is a good argument They do works of the law therfore they may be done First touching the scope of the Apostle you are deceiued Pardon me I speake it not of malice or to taunt I protest but for the truth of the matter The Apostles purpose is not there to rebuke idle hearers of the law say that they can heare it but not fulfil it But he goeth about to conclude al vnder sinne and shew that euery one hath néede of the glory of God and therfore maketh this occupation The Iewes can not exempt them selues from this sentēce bicause they had the law amongst them Nō enim qui audiunt legem c. For not they which heare the law are iust with god c. And they did not the lawe as it appeareth in the same place Therefore I maruaile how you conclude out of these words your so strong argument Ab esse ad posse If you wil néedes folow your owne sense muse vpon these wordes Factores legis iustificabuntur the doers of the law shall be iustified Heare what you haue in Glossa ordinaria Iustificabuntur .i. iusti deputabuntur vel iustifient a Deo vt sint factores Non qui ante erant factores post iustificabuntur vt si diceretur homines creabuntur quia ipsa creatione sit vt sint homines Sic ipsi non qui ante erant factores iustificabuntur quia etiam gentes They shal be iustified that is they shal be accompted iust or they shal be made iust of God that they may be doers not which were doers shal be iustified As if it should be sayd men shal be created bicause by the creation they are made men So likewise not they which were doers before shall be iustified bicause the gentiles also This would I repeat vnto you as a thing which you know well inoughe bicause I thinke you haue often read it for that he sayeth wel and truely and according to the scriptures although not verye fit to this place to the end that you may see how litle it serueth for you if you be not mynded to folow my first answer which I thinke and hope you will if you will looke vppon the place And here I beseech you in the mercies of Christ Iesus to consider with your selfe your owne state I thinke the best of you I think you haue not the Bible and other books about you If you had you would neuer alleadge places in such sorte so farre from the purpose of the holy ghost so little to purpose I speake it with griefe of hart the Lord knoweth I am sorie to sée you in such blindnesse right glad would I be to sée the glorie of god appéere in you to your health and saluation ● not to your destru●ction Wel the Glosa interlinealis goeth farther Non enim auditores legis .i. pro auditu legis sed factores .i. gratia iustificat eos vt adimpleant legem quia non faciunt vt iustificētur sed iustificantur vt faciant For not the hearers of the law that is for the hearing of the law But the dooers that is Grace iustifieth thē that they may fulfill the lawe bicause they do not the law that they may be iustified but are iustified that they may do it I shall not néede to stand vpon these wordes vt adimpleant legē that they may fulfill the Lawe for by that whiche I haue sayde before I trust you vnderstand howe they are to be taken Well let vs go to your fourth Argument The Euangelist Saint Luke of these doers of the Lawe bringeth a full example writing thus of Zacharie and Elizabeth Erant ambo iusti ante Deum c. They were both iuste before God walking in all the commaundementes and iustifications of the Lorde without blame If S. Luke had the Spirit of truthe when he sayd that those twoo walked in al the commaundements then M. Goughe by his deniall and impossibilitie put thereof must needs haue the Spirite of erroure and lying Saint Iohn sayeth Qui dicit se nosse Deum mandata eius non custodit mendax est Hee that sayeth he knoweth God and keepeth not his commaundements is a lyer No doubt M. Fecknam but Sainct Luke had the Spirite of truthe and yet hath not M. Goughe the Spirit of errour and lying He teacheth no contrarie doctrine why you should so conclude Well let vs examine the woordes and so shall wée sée They were both iust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before God. Not the god had nothing to lay to their charges putting Christs deliuerāce a syde not that he had nothing in their liues to find fault withal his mercie being put a parte Nō est qui faciat bonum non est vsque ad vnum there is not one that doth good in such sorte not one I truste you will not so say Well how then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉