Baxter - BT763 B397 1658

(97) dience or fanctification, to lie ( in order to Juffification ) in the, degree ofexcellency.I never to my remembrance to thought, or Wrote,or fpoke. But the difference I laid here, firft, That as to actual obedience, Sea and Repentance) faith bath a pe- culiar aptitude to this office, as being a Receptive act, and fit- ed to the object,as that object is fitted to our necefsity. Second- ly, That ( as to aflent, delire of Chrift, love to Chrift offered, accepting him as reacher, and Lord ) they are effential acts of faith,and fo differ not at all,as they are by many fuppofed todo. Nay,I ratherexpected that fome thould have charged mewith preferring Holinefs before faith in excellency,while I made faith but thefeed,and holynefs as the fruit; faith tobe bnt the cove- nanting, and Obedience theperformance of what wecontented to ; and in a word,while Imade perfect holynefs the endof faith, becaufe the end is better then the means : And was glad when I found you laying the like, T/indic. Legit, Lett. 4. pig. 45. [ ,i 3, Fdolinefe and Godlinef.r inherent, ü the end of Faith and ymflification. 1 But little did I think to have been charged, and that by you, for making the difference tohe in faiths higher de- gree of excellency , and only in that. Thirdly , I never owned the phrafe of [ juftfj ng Repentance, jrsfßi f sng Love] nor ever laid that we may as well ufe thefe as [ jcsftifying faith] And when noneof thefe things were ever faid or written by me, ought you to have left on record to.,Generations that [ this is pofie vely anal vshen;en,tly affirmed. ] On the contiiderati- on of this dealing , I muff fay again, Owhat is man and what a fad cafe were we in,ifthe bea of men were our Judges I when they will not flick deliberately to publifh to the prefent and fu- ture Ages, that we pofitively andvehemently affirm thofe things, which we never thought nor wrote, but have by Letters and in printed books both pofitively and vehemently, & very frequent- ly prof-Affeel the contrary. Is here any room for further dif puling ? yea, when I have told you of this dealing, you own it fïill, and defend it in your Preface toyour Sermons on iobn 17. 1 thin therefore before I proceed, examine that Defence. Preface. pg. 3, [ Now when I had endeavoured to Rate the Queífion in a molt candid and fair way between thofe O that

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=