Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A69536
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The judgment of non-conformists about the difference between grace and morality
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Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.
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1676
(1676)
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Wing B1292_VARIANT; ESTC R16284
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66,799
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124
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by Christ on us and as used by us towards Christ as the Mediator Faith in Christ is to kindle in us the holy love of God and obedience to him Love therefore as the final and everlasting Grace is preferred by the Apostle 1 Cor. 12. last v. and 13. throughout 5. Even our Faith in Christ and our Obedience to the Gospel in Preaching Sacraments and such like are neither only of natural nor only of supernatural Obligation but mixt Christ and his Ordinances are supernaturally revealed but being once revealed with the Evidence of Divine Authority natural Revelation then telleth us that it is our Duty to believe and obey 6. That which is of Natural Revelation and Obligation must be performed by supernatural Grace Though Nature prove that all Men should love God as God it is Grace that must dispose and enable them to do it 7. We call Grace supernatural not only because it is not essential to Nature no not to Adam in innocency but because in our lapsed state it is not conveyed to us by Natural Generation but Nature in the state of pravity is deprived of it and because God worketh it by the free gift of his Spirit in a manner beyond the search of man and by it as an effect of his love doth make us lovely in our union and relation to Christ who sanctifieth and justifieth us it being his Image on the Soul which no meer Natural Causes without this operation of God's Love and Spirit can effect But yet 1. We all agree that Holiness is Nature's health or rectitude and therefore sutable to it as its perfection as health is to the Body 2. And that the Spirit of God doth ordinarily make use of his appointed means and especially his Word for our sanctification And these being second Causes which have their proper Natures may so far be called natural Causes And that thus far Grace may be said to be Natural 8. This Holy Love being the final Act on God the final Object and so being man's felicity it self it followeth that all men have so much happiness constitutively as they have holy love to God and Goodness and that no man can be damned that hath the said predominant holy Love while such And that such have no cause to fear damnation any farther than they should fear lest by forfeiting Gods Grace they should lose that love 9. The Mediation of Christ and our Faith in him who is the Glass the Messenger and the great Gift of the Fathers Love are the Means appointed by God to sanctifie us by the effecting of this Love with all its Concomitants and Fruits 10. Therefore as God is called All in All so Christ is called All in all Col. 3. 11. to Believers as being the Way the Truth and the Life 11. Therefore they that would bring men to the holy and felicitating Love of God must preach Jesus Christ and his Grace to them as the means and bring them to believe in him and to take it for their Wisdom to know Christ crucified and glorified and to learn of him and obey him and trust in him and daily to use him as their Mediator for access to God acceptance with him and communication from him 12. To preach up the blessedness of Saints and excellency of holiness without teaching men how to attain it by Christ is but to commend health to the sick without directing them to the Physician and the Remedies And to hear of a Sanctity and Felicity not attainable is to be tormented by despair And to think to obtain it by our works or endeavours without a Mediator and his Grace or by any other Mediator than Christ is the way to lose it by false presumption and neglect of the necessary means It being Christ that is made of God to us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption 13. As Christ on Earth did purchase us this Salvation by his meritorious Righteousness and Sacrifice and is now in Heaven our Head and Intercessor and the Treasury of Grace and Life to Believers so he sanctifieth us by his WORD and SPIRIT and herein differeth from all other Teachers that ever were in the World 1. That his Gospel Doctrine Precepts and Covenant-promises are singularly suited to this sanctifying work 2. That he sendeth forth his Spirit with it to work the Souls of men to that which he teacheth and commandeth that so they may be effectually taught of God Without the Spirit of Jesus no word or means will sanctifie and renew a Soul 14. Therefore all Preachers must jointly preach GOD and holy LOVE trust obedience and delight in him as the END and CHRIST and faith in him and learning of him and obeying him in the use of his healing Remedies as the MEANS This being life eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent Joh. 17. 3. 15. And though the End must be preached as more excellent than the Means yet the Means must be preached as more mysterious and above meer natural Revelation Experience telleth us that all men quickly learn to confess that they should repent of sin and love God as God but they are hardly taught to understand the Mystery of Redemption the Person Incarnation Works Office and Grace of the Redeemer and therefore have here need of longer teaching The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the Love of God the Father and the Communion of the Holy Spirit must be the Preachers subject as it is the Christians benediction and felicity 16. There are things in Aristotle's Ethicks and in the Ethicks of the Stoicks and and some other Philosophers of great worth and use to Christians to shew us what by natural evidence may be discerned But they are all poor defective spirit-less Doctrines and Precepts in Comparison of the Gospel of Christ though to carnal wit they seem to excel it in Method Language and several Curiosities And the Writings of Christians who do but expound and apply Christ's Doctrine do far excel all the Heathens Ethicks 17. We have no reason to think that any of the Heathens understood all that Nature it self by way of proving-Evidence revealeth Yea or that any Christians perfectly understand it because natural evidences are exceeding numerous and none can say that he seeth them all and they are of various degrees some plain and some obscure and even natural verities as they arise from the great Branches into innumerable Partitions as smaller Sprigs are not perfectly discernable by a mortals Eye 18. Therefore no knowledge of Man much less any Heathens Writings are the certain measure of natural verities in Morality by which the number and certainty of the obscurer Particles may be known 19. Though Heathens know and teach that we must Love God and Goodness above all And all that sincerely love God and Goodness shall certainly be saved Yet this Confession will but more condemn them that have not and practice not what they teach but when they profess to know God
having once over-run us they expect that we should follow them and be ruled by them and if we do not are ready to censure us as guilty of sinful Compliance and Conformity It greatly concerneth us therefore to keep some from such mistakes to rectifie others to vindicate our selves and clear our Consciences that we tell Men what our Non-conformity is not if we may not tell them what it is I. Our Non-conformity is not in holding that the Scriptures are a particular Rule or Determination of all the Circumstances of Church-Government and Worship as Time Place Utensils Words Methods Metres Tunes Division of the Text into Chapters and Verses Translations helps by Notes Written or Printed Gestures Habits c. But Nature and Scripture give us sufficient General Rules or Laws for all such as that they be done in Unity Charity to edification decently and orderly c. which must be observed II. We hold that when 〈◊〉 un 〈◊〉 etermined Circumstances are lawfully determined 〈◊〉 Authority yea were it but by the Consent and 〈◊〉 of the Churches of Christ or the present Conduct of their Pastors the Assembly should yield Conformable Obedience and avoid unnecessary Singularities III. We hold that if those to whom such Determinations belong should mistake and not do it in the best and profitablest manner yet ordinarily it is the Peoples duty to obey and hold Communion with that Church so be it that nothing sinful 〈◊〉 e commanded them to do and the errour of the Determination be not such as overthroweth the Worship or End it self Of which we have elsewhere fullier opened our sense In our judgment of things Indifferent IV. We are against no Bishops or Church-Government of Gods appointment We all are for an Episcopus Gregis and where there are many Chappels and Curates in a Parish we are far from perswading them to deny such submission to the chief Pastor as the Law requireth and as God himself alloweth Were Ignatius his Episcopacy among us who tells us this as the Note of the Churches Unity that to every Church there is one Altar and one Bishop with his fellow Presbyters and Deacons we should be far from perswading any to separate from it Yea were it Cyprian's Measure of Episcopacy Yea there are some among us who have long professed themselves uncertain whether such a large Episcopacy as is but the same with the ordinary part of the Church-power of the Apostles and Evangelists be not jure divino such as should be still continued because 1. When Christ hath once setled a Form or Order of Government a change must not be charged on him rashly and without proof especially as made so suddenly If the Affirmer prove the settlement the Denyer must prove the Change and Revocation 2. Because Christ promised to be with them to the end of the World Mat. 28. 20. when he appointed them this universal or indefinite Work 3. Because many others as well as Apostles had larger Circuits than particular Churches for their Work as Silas Silvanus Apollo Titus and many more And at their Reformation the Scots Visitors seemed such That Men of extraordinary worth and gravity may Plant many Churches and take the care of many directing exhorting and admonishing the Pastors or particular Bishops not depriving those Pastors and Churches of the Power and Priviledges granted them in Scripture some of us do not deny Government by the Word is an ordinary continuing Ordinance of God But the Apostles extraordinary Work and Office to be Eye-witnesses and Embassadâ—â—rs immediately sent and endued with the extraordinary Measures of the Spirit these we believe they have no Successors in because they were but for a time And those of us that cannot grant so much as is aforesaid and all of us as to an Episcopacy which we think contrary to God's Word can yet submit to much which we dare not approve of and as we take our selves bound to obey all by what Names or Titles soever distinguished or dignified who circa sacra as Officers of the King do exercise any part of that Power of the Sword by his Commission which we acknowledge in the Oath of Supremacy so if any usurp more Power of the Keys than Christ alloweth them we are not thereby disobliged from living peaceably in our places nor allowed to raise Sedition or use any unlawful means to re 〈◊〉 orm it though we cannot make a Vow and Covenant never to do any lawful thing to alter and amend it Much less is it true which M 〈◊〉 n of hard Faces have sometimes said that we are against Bishops because we cannot be Bishops our selves And they that tell Men that every Presbyter would be a Parish Pope do sure think they speak to Men so silly as to be mockt by an undiscerned Contradiction A Pope is the Universal Monarch of the Christian World or all Is a Parish all the World A Diocesan is the Sole Bishop with us of a Multitude of Churches Is a Parish a Multitude of such Churches If a Man be against one Schoolmaster only over a thousand Schools shall he be reproached because he is willing to teach one Is a King in each Kingdom as unreasonable a thing as a Papal Monarch or a King of Kings and of all the Earth If it be to the gain of Souls that we are deprived of this Parochial Episcopacy we can easily bear it professing that we hold it far easier to be Governed than to Govern V. We judge not all Officers circa sacra unlawful which are made by Man As some Circumstances are not particularly determined in Scripture but left to Men so are many of the Officers that must execute them If the King appoint Church-Magistrates to keep Peace and Order to call Synods and take such cognisance of Causes as belongs to him or do any part of his work as is afore said we will obey them And so of Church-Wardens Door-keepers Sextons and such others as some Churches of old made use of so be it they usurp not any part of the Office which Christ hath appropriated to the Pastors of the Churches VI. We are not for Lay-mens claim or exercise of the Power of the Keys whether they be Lay-Chancellors or Magistrates or Lay-Officers or People But we hold that the Keys of Christs Church that is the Power of receiving in by Baptism and of Guiding the People by holy Doctrine and in holy Worship and of Excommunicating and Absolving are by Christ committed to the Pastors of the Churches Though there is also an admonishing Power in Magistrates and divers sorts of Penalties for sins against God which they may inflict And the voluntary execution of the Pastors judgment by holding or not holding Communion with others is the Peoples part in which as reasonable they have a discerning judgment VII As to the case of Elders we all hold that none should be proper Church Governours by the said Keys which are meerly Lay-men and not Church Officers And many