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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	good_a	life_n	merit_v	5,864	5	10.8367	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09473	Tvvo treatises· I. Of the nature and practise of repentance. II. Of the combat of the flesh and spirit.	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.	1593 (1593)	STC 19758; ESTC S102079	38,243	106

abolished wheras contrariwise the conscience with a shril voice proclaimes sin to be sin This fight was in Pilat who by the force of his conscience feared to condemne Christ yet was willing and yeelded to condemne him that he might please the people Furthermore this cōbat is in the regenerate but during the time of this life for they which are perfitly sanctified feele no strifte If any shal say that this cōbat was in Christ whē he said Father if it be thy will let this cup passe from me yet not my will but thine be done Indeed here is a cōbat but of another sort namely the fight of two divers desires the one was a desire to do his fathers will in suffering the death of the crosse the other a natural desire which was no sinne but a meere infirmity of humane nature whereby he in his manhood desires as the maner of nature is to seek the preseruation of it selfe to haue the cursed death of the crosse remooued from him The fift point is the effect of this combat which is to make the man regenerate that he can not doe the things which he would and this must be understood in things both good ill And first he can not do the evill which he would for two causes First because he cannot commit sin at what time soeuer he would S. Iohn saith He that is borne of God sinneth not neither can he sin because he is borne of God that is he can not sin at his pleasure or when he will Ioseph when he was assaulted by Putiphars wife to adultery because the grace of God abounded in him wherby he answered her saying Shall I doe this sin against God he could not then sin Lot because his righteous heart was grieved in seeing and hearing the abominations of Sodom could not then sin as they of Sodom did Hence it appeares that such persons as liue in the daily practise of sin against their own consciences though they be professours of the true religion of Christ haue no soundnes of grace in them Secondly the man regenerate can not sin in what manner he would And there be two reasons therof First he can not sinne with full consent of will or with all his heart because the will so far forth as it is regenerate resisteth and draweth back yea even then when a man is caried headlong by the passions of the flesh he feeles some contrary motions of a regenerate cōscience It is a true rule that sin doth not reigne in the regenerate For so much grace as is wrought in the mind will affectiōs so much is abated proportionally of the strength of the flesh wherfore whē he cōmits any sin he doth it partly willingly partly against his wil. As the mariners in the tēpest cast Ionas into the sea willingly for otherwise they had not done it yet against their willes too which appeares because they prayed and cast their goods out of the ship laboured in rowing against the tempest that very long before they cast him out And herein lies the difference betweene tvvo men cōmitting one the same sinne the one of them being regenerate the other unregenerate For the latter sins with all his heart with full consent so doth not the first Secōdly though he fall into any sin yet he doth not lie lōg in it but speedily recouers himself by reason of grace in his hart Hence it is manifest that sinnes of infirmitie are cōmitted only of such as are regenerate As for the man unregenerate he cannot sin of infirmity whatsoeuer some falsly think For he is not weak but stark dead in sinne And sinnes of infirmity are such only as rise of constraint feare hastines such like sudden passions in the regenerate Aed though they sin of weaknes often by reason of this spirituall combat yet they do not alwaies for they may sinne against knowledge cōscience of presumptiō To come to the secōd point the regenerate mā cannot do the good which he would because he cannot do it perfitly soundly according to Gods will as he would Paul saith To will is present with me but I find no means 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perfitly to do that which I would In this point the godly man is like a prisoner that is gotten forth of the gayle that he might escape the hand of the keeper desires striues with all his heart to run an 100 miles in a day but because he hath strait and weighty boults on his legs cannot for his life creep past a mile or twain that with chafing his flesh tormenting himselfe So the servants of God do hartily desire indeavour to obey God in all his commādements as it is said of king Iosias That he turned to God with all his heart with all his soule with all his might according to all the lawes of Moses c. yet because they are clogged with the boltes of the flesh they perfourme obedience both slowly and weakely with divers slips falles Thus much of the combat now let vs see what use may be made of it First of all by it we learn what is the estate of a christian man in this life A christiā is not one that is free frō al evil cogitations frō rebellious inclinations motiōs of will affections frō all maner of slips in his life cōversation for such an one is a mere deuise of mans brain not to be found upō earth But indeed he is the sound christiā that feeling himselfe laden with the corruptions of his vile rebellious nature bewailes them frō his hart with might and main fights against them by the grace of gods spirit Againe here is ouerthrown the popish opinion of merit iustificatiō by workes of grace on this manner Such as the cause of works is such are works thēselves The cause of works in man is the mind will affectiōs sanctified in which the flesh the spirit are mixt togither as hath bin shewed before Therfore works of grace euen the best of them are mixt works partly holy partly sinfull wherby it is euidēt to a man that hath but cōmon sense that they are not answerable to the righteousnes of the law that therfore they can neither merit life or any way iustify a mā before God If any reply that good works are the works of Gods spirit for that cause perfitly righteous I answer it is true indeed they come frō the holy ghost that can not sin but not only or immediatly For they come also from the corrupt mind and will of man and in that respect become sinfull as sweete water issuing out of a pure fountaine is by a filthy channell made corrupt Thirdly we do hēce learn that concupiscēce or originall sin is properly indeed sin after baptism though it please the councel of Trent to decree otherwise For after baptism it is flat

they can not discerne between good and euill nor tremble at Gods iudgements but rather fret and rage against them till God in his wrath either destroy them or cast them to finall despaire As it befell Iulian the Apostata who died blaspheming and casting his own blood into the aire Between the two extremes Repentance Impenitencie is placed counterfeit repentance For the wicked nature of man can dissemble counterfeit Gods grace As the Lord complains of the Iewes Her rebellious sister Iudah hath not returned vnto me with her whole heart but fainedly saith the Lord. Ierem. 3. 10. Counterfeit repentance is either Ceremoniall or Desperate Ceremonial when men repent in outward shew but not in the truth of heart As Saul Then said Saul to Samuel I haue sinned for I haue transgressed the commandements of the Lord thy words because I feared the people obeyed their voice Now therfore I pray thee take away my sin turn again with me that I may worship the Lord c. Again I haue sinned but honour me I pray thee before the el●ers of my people Of Ahab When Ahab heard these words ●e rent his clothes and put on sackcloath fasted went softly And the word of the Lord came to Elijah saying seest thou how Ahab is humbled before me Dissembled repentance may be discerned because men after a time returne to their old byas againe Pharao king of Egypt said unto Moses Aaron Pray unto the Lord that he may take away the frogges from me from my people And when Egipt was smittē with haile he saide I have now sinned and the Lorde is righteous but I and my people are wicked pray ye unto the Lord that there be no more mighty thunders and baile Againe troubled with grashoppers he said I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you and now forgive me my sinne onely this once c. Now marke the issue of all when Pharao saw that he had rest given him he hardened his heart and harkened not unto them as the Lorde had said This is the ordinary common repentance that most men practise in the world Desperate repentance is when a man hauing only gods iudgements before his eyes is smitten with horrour of conscience wanting assurance of Gods mercy despaires finally This was Iudas Repentance who when he had brought again the 30. peeces of silver confessed his fault went and hanged himselfe CAP. XII Of corruptions in the doctrine of Repentance THe Church of Rome at this day hath corrupted the ancient doctrine of repentance being one of the speciall points of religion The corruptions are specially sixe The first that they make repentance or penance to be a sacrament which can not be because it wants an outward signe And though some say that the words which the priest rehearseth in absolution are the signe yet that can not be because the signe must be not only audible but also visible The second that a sinner hath in him a naturall disposition which being stirred-up by Gods preventing grace he may and can work togither with Gods spirit in his owne repentance But indeed all our repentance is to be ascribed to Gods grace wholly The soule of man is not weak but starke dead in sinne therefore it can no more prepare it selfe to repentance then the body being dead in the grave can dispose it self to the last resurrectiō The third corruption that contrition in repentance must be sufficient A thing impossible For sinne doth so greatly offend Gods maiesty that no man can ever mourne enough for it The fourth that contrition doth merit remission of sinne An opinion that doth derogate much from the all-sufficient merites of Christ. The fift that he that repents must confesse all the sinnes that he can remember with all their circumstances to his owne priest or one in his stead if he will receive pardon This kind of confession is a mere forgery of mans brain I. There is neither precept nor example of it in the Scriptures II. David and others haue repented and haue receiued remission of their sinnes without confessing of their sinnes in particular to any man The last that the sinner by his workes and sufferings must make satisfaction to God for the temporall punishment of his sinnes A flat blasphemie The scriptures mention no other satisfaction but Christs and if his be sufficient ours is needlesse if ours needful his imperfect Papists write that both may stand togither Christs satisfaction they say is as a plaister in a boxe unapplyed mans satisfaction as a meanes to apply it because it prepares us to receiue it Ah good divinity for euen in common sense the satisfaction of Christ must first be applyed to the person of man that it may please God before the workes which they terme satisfactions can any way be acceptable to God To conclude the Romish doctrine of repentance is the right way to hell For when a sinner shall be taught that he must haue sufficient sorow for his sinne and withall that he must not beleeue the remission of his owne sinnes particularly when sorow comes upon him and he wants sound comfort in Gods mercy he must needs fall into desperation without recovery Therfore the papists in the houre of death as we haue experience are glad to leaue the trumpery of humane satisfactions and to rest only for their iustification on the obedience of Christ. LAVS DEO THE COMBAT OF THE FLESH AND SPIRIT Gal. 5. 17. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh these are contrary one to another so that ye can not doe the things which ye would THe Apostle Paul from the beginning of this chapter to the 13. verse exhorts the Galatians to maintaine their christian liberty frō thēce to the end of the chapter he perswades thē to other speciall duties of godlines In the 13. verse he stirs them up to be serviceable one to another by loue in the 15. verse he disswades them frō contentions doing of iniuries In the 16. verse he shewes the remedy of the former sinnes which is to walk according to the spirit In this seventeenth verse he renders a reason of the remedie the force whereof is this The flesh and the spirit are contrary wherfore if ye walke according to the spirit it will hinder the flesh that it shall not carry you forward to do iniuries liue in contentions as otherwise it would In this verse we haue to obserue 5. points The first that there is a combat betwene the flesh the spirit in these words The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh The second is the maner of this combat which stands in the contrary lusting of the flesh and the spirit The third is the cause of the combat in these words and these are contrary The fourth is the subiect or person in