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A19331
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A short dialogue, wherein is proved, that no man can be saved without good vvorkes
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Corderoy, Jeremy, b. 1562 or 3.
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1604
(1604)
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STC 5756; ESTC S115604
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42,072
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138
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like maÌ„ner doth our Saviour vse these wordes for or because in the place you alleage for the merit of good works namely he signifieth the necessary consequution of good workes to abound in those that are predestinated to eternal life Mat. 19.28 â—oh 14.23 For as a badge or cognizaÌ„s point out the maÌ„ that weares it whose man hee is or as a Friers weede be it blacke or gray causeth men to take theÌ„ that weare them to be a black or a gray Frier because it is a vveede peculier to their order So are the charitable workes of the elect so eminent in them that thereby as by badges they are distinguished from other men for hee will glorifie none but whom he first sanctifieth Coloss 3.10 Ezech. 44.7.10 Rom. 12.1 1. Thess 5.23 Ioh. 13.35 1. Ioh. 3.9.10 Eph. 4.24 Ioh. 8.39 by their fruites you shall knowe them By this charitablenes one towards another are the true Disciples of our Saviour knowne from other men By this our Saviour Christ disproveth the vvicked Ievves not to be the sonnes of faithfull Abraham If saith he ye were the sonnes of Abraham you would do the workes of Abraham herevpon is it that our Saviour saith come inherit the kingdome prepared for you by your good workes charitable deeds as by badges you haue shevved your selues to be those men for whom it was prepared Your deedes haue shewed that you are the right sons of Abraham the right cause why they enioy it our Saviour setteth downe in the same chapter namely the free mercy goodnesse of God only Mat. 25.34 saying come yee blessed of my father inherit the kingdome prepared for you before the foundation of the world this kingdome then was predestinated vnto them before they were borne before they had done good or badde neither can any maÌ„ imagine that God chose out such as he foresaw wold do good as some haue vainely imagined for in that one man liveth better then another it proceedeth of the speciall grace of God Iob would haue bin as bad as Iudas or Iulian the Apostata if the grace of God had not bettered him For not onely to do wel Phil. 2.13 but also wil wel is of the Lords speciall grace Yet further for your better satisfactioÌ„ in this point that it may plainly appeare that we caÌ„ no way ment any thing with god much lesse eternall life you must consider that in a merite there are these three things necessarily required First that that wherewith we merite Iames 1.17 be a thing of our owne not his with whom we woulde merit but good works are not our own but the graces gifts of God bestowed on vs. Secondly it is required in a true merite that that vvherevvith we woulde merite be profitable to him with whom vve would merite but there is nothing in the power of man that God staÌ„deth in neede of Luk. 17.9.10 Thirdly it is required that the thing vvherewith we would merit be of equal value with that which we would merite but there is no coÌ„parison between the best works of any of the Saints in this life Psal 16.2 and the ioyes of the kingdome of heauen Now if all these three are necessaryly required in a merite and not so much as one of these three can be found in our good vvorkes I may safelye conclude that it is impossible vvee shoulde merite anye thing at Gods hands especially seeing we are bound by the right of creation sith we are his creatures to obserue and doe his will and no man ever perfectly kept his coÌ„mandements as hee ought to do but came short of his duety much lesse did more then was his duety vvhereby hee might merite Pap. No Did never any man perfectly keepe the lavv of God This is plaine against the scripture vvhich you make the only rule of truth Iob. 1.8 God himselfe gaue testimony of Iob that hee vvas a righteous man and it is saide that David was a maÌ„ according to Gods ovvne hart Psalm 7. Yea David himselfe is not afraid to say vnto God try mee and examine mee and if there bee any fault founde in mee then let mine enemie prevaile against mee and laie mine honour in the dust surely if hee vvere not very confident that hee had perfectly kept his lavve hee would never haue spoken so boldly And is it not said of Zacharias and Elizabeth Luk. 1 6. that they were iust and without faulte The scripture is full of such speeches it is a shame for you to denye that vvhich the scripture so plainely affirmeth and yet pretende that you holde nothing but that vvhich the Scripture teacheth Scholl Stay be not too confident that the scripture is on your side and against vs that you may â—ee you haue small cause heare your places alleadged answered then vaunt if you haue iust occasion First concerning your first reason you say that God himselfe gaue testimony of Iob that he vvas a iust man therefore he absolutelie observed thâ— lavve In citing the testimonie of God of Iobs righteousnes or iustice you leaue out halfe the testimonye vvhich God giveth of him vvhich if you had recited al it would much haue made for the vnderstaÌ„ding of that place The whol testimony or title vvhich God giveth of him is this None is like Iob in all the earth Iob. 1.8 an vpright man iust one that feareth God escheweth evill Now these words import not so much as you woulde make them for they are spoken coÌ„paratiuely as if he had briefly said none on the earth is so iust or so vp right a man as Iob is This doth not import that either Iob or any else was perfectly iust yet was Iob tearmed iust and vpright not because there was nothing amisse in hâ—m Iob 9 23. 39.37 but because without hypocrisie in sincerity he feared God eschewed evil not because he had the perfect feare and loue of God but because he had the true fear of Gods by reason of his true affection in godlines not by reason of the perfection of his inhereÌ„t righteousnes A youÌ„g infant is a perfect man because he hath al the essential parts of a man body and soule yet is he farre from the perfection of a maÌ„ but daily he increaseth in perfection So had Iob true righteousnes but not the perfection of righteousnesse Concerning your second obiection that David appealed to the iustice of God if he found any fault in him theÌ„ he desired no pardon but punishmente If you had read it your selfe you would haue perceiued these vvords vvere not spoken of his whole life but onely of one falsely supposed action for being falsely accused that he went about some conspiracy against the person of king Saule he pronounceth these words Lord try me and examine mee if there be any fault found in mee speaking of the false supposed conspiracie against king Saul of the vvhich hee was altogither
guiltlesse then let mine enemy take me and persecute mee lay mine honor in the dust That he vvas a sinner the Scripture recordeth 2. Sam. 11 1. Chro 1.2 yet hee was a man according to Gods own hart because hee delighted in the law of God made it his studie and when he tripped and went wrong hee acknowledged his owne infirmitie and craved pardon for it God accepting in Christ his endevours not exacting perfection in his deeds Concerning your last obiection of Zachary and Elizabeth his vvife that they vvere both iust before God and vvalked in all the commandemeÌ„ts of the Lord without reproofe indeed they were iust before God but it was by imputation of the iustice of Christ for whose comming they dayly expected they walked in all the commandements of God without reproofe before meÌ„ but not perfectly before God For if they had not acknowledged theÌ„selues sinners they needed not haue expected Christ their redeemer Luk. 1.68.69 and albeit they be tearmed iust yet it doeth not follovve that they were without sin The worde iust doeth not alwaies signifie one vvithout sin but one that delighteth or endevoureth to be iust and holy according to that saying the iust falleth seveÌ„ times a day though a man sin seven times Pro. 24.16 1. Pet. 4.18 that is many times a day yet the scripture tearmeth him iust by reasoÌ„ of his affection and his endevour to be iust Zacharias and Elizabeth were iust before God man that is reputed taken accepted iust before GOD in respect of the merites of their redeemer on whom they beleeved and exspected their endevours vvere accepted of as iust though not iust perfectly for so no flesh is or hath beene iust Christ only excepted as it is plainely set down in the scripture eveÌ„ by Iobs own mouth whoÌ„ you alleadged to be without sin he saith plainly Iob. 9.20 Ps 51.9.7 if I should iustifie my selfe mine own mouth would condeÌ„ne me againe Eliphas saith generally not only of all the holy and iust men that ever were but of the Saintes in heaven what is man that hee should bee cleane he that is borne of a womaÌ„ that he should be iust Iob. 15.14 15. cap. 14 4. Behold God found not stedfastnesse in his Saints yea the heaueÌ„s are not cleane in his sight how much lesse a man This doe the Fathers also affirme Augustine saith there is nether Saint nor righteous man that is without sinne notwithstanding they cease not to be Saints and righteous because they haue their affection still set vpon holynes Aug de fide orthod cap. 40. al Jnnocens Pap. epâ—st 95 eachirid cap 32. Hier adve Pelag. idem ad Rustia Ambros de vocatione gent. lib. 5. â— Others of the Fathers are of the same opinion whose words to repeat would be tedious Again Zacharian and Elizabeth his wife were vnreproueable before men because they so behaved theÌ„sâ—lus as that no man coulde iustly complaine of any ill conversation in theÌ„ this doth not proue they were without infirmities or sinnes For externall actions may haue good shewes and yet they may be haynous sinnes yet commended as good so farre as they are externall actions yea further rewarded as good externall actions with temporall blessings As for example vvhenas Iehu had destroyed the house of Ahab the Lord saith vnto him 2 K ng 10 30. because thou hast diligently exequâ—ted all that which was right in mine eies and hast done vnto the house of Ahab according to all things that were in my heart therfore shall thy sons sit vpon the throne of Israell vnto the fourth generation if you look on the external action of Iehu in destroying Ahab and his posterity he did that which was according to Gods minde who would haue him destroyed because he persecuted his Prophets for his cruelty against Naboth But if you respect the minde of Iehu in the execution hereof he highly sinned for he did not destroy Ahab as to execute Gods iudgementes against Ahab but to settle himself in Ahabs kingdome and therefore that he might make the kingdom sure vnto himselfe went farther theÌ„ his commission he not only destroyed Ahab and Iezabell their children but also with great cruelty put to death those of his kindred least they should rebel against him Wherfore though in this place his externall action in destroying Ahab and his children be heere commended rewarded with a teÌ„porall blessing yet his sinne namely his ambitious minde to vsurp the kingdome and his cruelty against the bloud of Ahab is not only reproved but also he hath a heavy iudgment denouÌ„ced against him in the Prophet Hosea Hose 1.4 2. King 10 30. he did that which God had determined to be done but he did it not with that minde as he shoulde God would haue Ahab destroied the which Iehu effected but not because God wold haue it so done but being aÌ„bitious to serue his own turn that he might enioy his kingdome The like example you haue of the king of Assyria Nabucadnezer Esay 10.5.6.7.12 Ezech. 29.19 both which did that in theit externall actioÌ„ which God would haue done yet grieuously sinned their externall actions were allowed of but their wicked minds condemned so that the commendations giuen to external actions doe not necessarily import that the doers thereof do not sinne Howbeit when it is said of Zacharias and Elizabeth that they were vnreproue able no doubt it was meant that they were iust and righteous because they did seriously endevour so to be and were so in the estimation of men they had that kind of iustice or righteousnes vvhich divines call iustitiam viatoris the iustice of those that tende to heaveÌ„ wherein there is alwaies imperfection not that kinde of iustice which they call iustitiam comprehensoruÌ„ the iustice of those that alreadye haue obtained the everlasting kingdom in which kinde of iustice there is no imperfectioÌ„ Pap. I pray sir if there bee no man perfectlye good nor any works so good as that there is no imperfection in theÌ„ by reason wherof no man can iustly challendge eternall life as due vnto him by desert why doe the scriptures cal eternal life a rewarde of good works As where it is said Godlynesse hath the promises of this life and of the life to come 1. Tim. 4 8 Math. 5.12 Mat 10.42 Mat. 19.29 2. Tim. 4.7.8 Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you for my name sake and speake al manner of evill of you falsely Reioice and be glad for great is your reward in heaveÌ„ Hee that giveth a cup of cold water in my name veryly hee shall not loose his reward Hee that forsaketh house father mother brothers sisters c shal receiue life everlasting in the world to come And Paul saith I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith for henceforth is laid vp for