Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	ghost_n	holy_a	remit_v	8,165	5	11.0672	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64234	A preservative against Deism shewing the great advantage of revelation above reason, in the two great points, pardon of sin, and a future state of happiness : with an appendix in answer to a letter of A. W. against revealed religion in the oracles of reason / by Nathanael Taylor.	Taylor, Nathanael, d. 1702.; A. W.	1698 (1698)	Wing T548; ESTC R8096	94,525	312

worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God c. 'T is further evident from the Nature of the Sin here mentioned that the Apostle is speaking of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost The formal nature of that dreadful Sin I take to be this A malicious reproaching our Blessed Saviour as an Impostor and Deceiver imputing the Miracles which he wrought by the Spirit of God for the Confirmation of his Holy Doctrine and Mission to the Power of the Devil A man would wonder if there were not a thousand Instances of the like kind how so many Learned Men could make a shift so much to mistake this clear and plain notion of this Sin and give us so many Extravagant Opinions concerning it as widely distant from each other as all of them are from the Truth who doth but consider how St. Mark closes the Speech of our Saviour concerning it For he winds up all with these remarkable words Mark 3.30 Because they said he hath an Unclean Spirit which give us a clear Light whereby to discern the nature of this Sin But some rather chuse as an Evidence of their great Strength to endeavour to break through the Walls than turn the Key that is very plainly in the Door and would easily open it and let them into the House Now that 't is this Sin viz. the Reproaching Christ as a Deceiver the Apostle is here speaking of will appear from the Expressions which he useth concerning it He calls it a Crucifying the Son of God afresh Ch. 6.6 Ch. 10.29 and putting him to an open Shame A treading him under foot and counting his Blood an unholy thing and doing Despite to the Spirit of Grace All which do amount to this That they esteemed Christ to be a Vile Malefactor a wretched Impostor that his Miracles which for the Matter of Fact they could not deny were wrought by the help of the Infernal Powers and therefore he was deservedly put to death and had it been to do again they would as readily have done it as ever the Malicious Jews did Moreover the Sin here spoken of in one of the Places Ch. 6.6 is called a falling away and that from the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ which in the Verses immediately foregoing he had newly mentioned Ver. 1 2. i. e. a total Renouncing of the Christian Faith and Returning either to Judaism or Paganism which these Hebrews were in great danger of and which 't is the apparent Design of this Epistle to fortify them against And tho' in the other place it be called only in the General a Sinning Wilfully or Willingly Ch. 10.26 yet thereby the same thing is meant For just before the Apostle had been exhorting them to hold fast the Profession of their Faith without wavering Ver. 23 and cautioning them against forsaking the Assembling of themselves together as the manner of some was Ver. 25 which was the natural Means and the Ouvert-Act and Sign of their Apostacy And then these Words are brought in For if we sin wilfully c. i. e. If we cast away the Profession of our Faith forsake the Christian Assemblies and renounce the Doctrine of Christ Now it is worthy of our careful Observation that the Heathens but especially the Jews were so implacably bent against our Blessed Lord that tho' a Christian did desert the Assemblies of the Faithful and offer to join with them in their Judaical or Pagan Religion and Worship yet this alone would not suffice But besides this they required an express Abjuring and Reviling and Blaspheming Christ as an Impostor And without this their Rage was never satisfied and to speak in the modern Language they never thought they had fully performed all the necessary Duties of New Converts Acts 26.11 St. Paul tells us that when he persecuted the Christians 1 Tim. 1.13 being exceeding mad with Rage he compelled them to Blaspheme as he Himself also did And giving the Corinthians a Character whereby to distinguish between Divine and Diabolical Spirits 1 Cor. 13.3 I give you to understand Saith he that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus Accursed which doth plainly imply that it was very usual for men to do so in that Age for otherwise this Note of his would have been of no manner of Service to them Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan informs him what was the Ordeal Fire by which he tried those who were suspected and accused whether they would disown Christianity not only by proposing to them to worship the Heathen Gods and the Image of the Emperor but also by demanding of them whether praeterea Christo maledicerent they would also revile Christ And he further adds concerning those that fell in that hour of Temptation that they not only worshipp'd the Pagan Idols and Trajan's Image but also that Ii Christo maledixerunt they reviled Christ And Justin Martyr * Apol. 2d p. 72. Edit Paris tells us That Barchochebas the Ringleader of the Jewish Rebellion did order the Christians to be severely punisht unless they would not only deny Christ but blaspheme him too And Polycarp being required in order to save his Life to reproach † Euseb Hist l. 4. c. 15. Christ replied How can I Blaspheme my King and Saviour And our Learned † Harm of N. Test p. 289 290. Vol. 1. Lightfoot saith That as early as about the 10th or 11th Year after our Saviour's Ascension Rabban Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin appointed a new Prayer in which was a Petition to God to destroy the Hereticks i. e. the Christians and this he set among the Common Prayers and appointed it to be in every man's Mouth And that the Jews had their Emissaries every where abroad that to their utmost cried down the Gospel and blasphemed it and Christ that gave it Of this saith he there is Testimony abundant in the New Testament and in their own Writings So much shall suffice to prove that 't is the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost but a more Aggravated one than that of the Pharisees that is meant in both these Places And if any of our Modern Deists have been maliciously guilty of this Sin unto death I leave them to God But provided a man hath not gone so great a Length as this is how many soever his Sins and Back-slidings from God have been yet on a renewed deep and Sincere Repentance and a lively Faith in the Blood of Christ they shall be remitted Tho' I must add in the words of Moses Exod. 8.29 Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully with God any more For if this Grace be turned into Wantonness tho' God forgive Men Ps 99.8 yet he may and will take vengeance upon their Inventions And this naturally leads me to the Last thing which remains to be spoken unto VI. § VI Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us to what Degree God will pardon those whom he does forgive It

down upon the Return of his disobedient Child Jer. 31.18 19 20. Gataker in locum Is Ephraim my dear Son Is he a pleasant Child Or rather as a Learned Man reads the words Is not Ephraim my dear Son Is he not a pleasant Child For since I spake against him I remember him still Therefore my Bowels are troubled for him I will surely have Mercy upon him saith the Lord. The Publican who in a sense of his Vileness Luk. 18.13 14. stood afar off and as an Argument of his Shame would not so much as lift up his Eyes towards Heaven but in token of his great Contrition smote upon his Breast saying God be merciful to me a Sinner went down to his house justified i. e. absolved and acquitted of God and so the wretched Thanksgiving of the Proud Pharisee Lord I thank thee I am not as other men or even as this Publican was utterly ruin'd V. § V Meer Natural Light and Reason gives us no Assurance whether and how often God will renew his Pardon Fresh Breaches after a Reconciliation are very provoking Every one would be apt to despise that Government which still should Spare a Traitor who hath been pardon'd once and again and after that breaks out into other Rebellions There is such a Complication of aggravating Circumstances in returning to the Commission of Folly that we could rationally expect no other than that Divine Justice thereupon should seize us and say to us Pay me what you Owe If God in his holy Word had not encouraged us and made it our Duty to believe and hope that upon our deep Humiliation and renewed Faith in the Blood of Christ he will yet be pacified towards us Ye have played the Harlot with many Lovers which is an Offence of that nature that a man would never pass by one Single act of it but it hath been frequently repeated by you with Variety of Persons and therefore you can well look for no other than a Bill of Divorce Jer. 3.1 22. yet return unto me saith the Lord. Return ye back-sliding Children and I will heal your back-slidings And if an awaken'd Conscience tells us our Treacherous Dealings have been many and we are no more worthy to be regarded by him yet the Invitation is Hos 14.2 4. Take unto you Words and turn to the Lord and say unto him Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously and then follow those reviving Words I will heal all their back-slidings and I will love them freely There are indeed two Passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews which seem to oppose this and 't is sufficiently known how the Novatians abused them of Old and many serious but weak Christians have in all Ages been tormented through a misunderstanding of them Which therefore I shall largely consider and so much the rather because being rightly interpreted I am afraid they will appear to have a very black Aspect on some of our present Deists The one is Heb. 6.4 5 6. That it is impossible for those who were once enlighten'd c. If they shall fall away to renew them again unto Repentance seeing they Crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open Shame The other is of the like Import Ch. 10.26 27. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the Knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversaries This passage at the first View seems to render the case of every Man wholly desperate And it would much more do so if one word were exactly translated For whereas we render it If we sin Wilfully according to the Original it should be translated If we sin Willingly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the Softer word of the two And who is there that dares to deny but that he hath been guilty of many Voluntary Sins even since he hath received the Knowledge of the Truth Now I shall endeavour to prove that both these Places are to be understood barely of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost only it would be attended in these Hebrews if they should be guilty of it with more aggravating Circumstances than that same Sin in the Pharisees was accompanied withal Because the Persons offending are supposed by the Apostle once to have been the Professed Disciples of Christ which the Pharisees never were and because if they should commit it they would sin against greater Miracles for the proof of Christianity since the more plentiful Effusion of the Holy Ghost after the Ascension of Christ For here is the Characteristical Note whereby our Blessed Saviour hath distinguish'd the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost from all other Sins and Blasphemies whatsoever viz. the Unpardonableness of it In the former of these Places it is said that 't is Impossible to renew these men to Repentance Which is in other words to say 't is Impossible they should be forgiven For why is it that the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven but because 't is impossible they should ever Repent who have been guilty of it And then the Apostle in the very next words doth oppose them that should be guilty of this Sin to that Ground which receiveth Blessing from God Heb. 6.7 8. and compares them to that which beareth thorns and briars and is rejected and nigh unto Cursing and whose End is to be burnt And in the latter place the Apostle tells us that as for these Men Ch. 10.26 there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins Which words are a plain Allusion to the Law of Moses in which no Expiations were allowed or appointed for Heinous and Presumptuous Sins but he who was guilty of them was to be put to Death without any Favour 'T is as if the Apostle had said There is no other Sacrifice for Sins but what the Son of God hath offered up this they impiously reject and Christ never design'd to make any atonement by his Blood for the Sin I am now speaking of and there is no other And where there is no Expiation there can be no Pardon He further adds Ver. 27 There remains nothing for these men but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries What more Significant and Emphatical Words could the Apostle use to express the Unpardonableness of their Crime And yet as tho' this had not been enough he further compares their Case to that of those Men who despised the law of Moses Ver. 28 either by renouncing or abjuring it or Sinning impudently and presumptuously against it and who therefore died without Mercy And to convince us that the Offenders he is speaking of should be unavoidably pressed to Death he lays more Weight on them than on the Despisers of Moses's Law For saith he Of how much sorer Punishment suppose ye shall he be thought