Baxter - BT763 B397 1658

(49) blood , the Believer Peeks for the fruit Of that fatisfatq% tiori. Thirdly, But now to the diftinc Ton, I Thal! tell you freely my thought of it, and the reafons of my refittingyour ute of it, and then anfwer your reafons for it. And firft, We mutt underhand what it is that is diítinguifh- ed : whether the Habit of faith, or the Atis? As far as I am able to underhand them,they that underhand themfelves, do in- tend to diftinguifb of the Habit by a virtual diftinetion and their meaning is [ TheHabit of FaithWhichproduceth bath thefe aftt doth juftife: but not ar itproduceth the aEl of believing in h as Lord,Teacher, &c. but as it produceth the At`i of belie- ving in hu blood] that is,[The habit is the remote caufe,ancl theas ù the nearer cattle ; and the habitjuf h r f aet h .. " 111, and not by the other. ] I verily think this is their meaning ; I am lure this is the molt probable and rational that I can imagine. But then firft, Thiscontradictteth their ordinary affertion, that itis not the Habit of faith, but the aec by which we are ¡unified. Secondly, Then they donot mean that the aa of believing in Chrift as Lord, &c. is fo much as the fides qua, which if they will fpeakout and make no more ado, the cootroverfie will be much better underftood. For then it is a queftion thats eafily apprehended, Whether only the all of faith inChrifts fatisfailion do juflifae, or the believing in Chrift as Icing, `Friel' and Prophet, or all that is efential to Chvil'ian faith ] This is a plain cafe; which fides. qua and qua do not illustrate. But then I muff add, that this begs the queftion as ufed by them, but decideth it not. And as [qua] refpecteth but the Matter of thecondition; q. d. The habit at it produceth this alt, andnot that, ii the conditionof 7uftifcation ] ( for elfe it ¡uítificrh neither m it produceth the one or the other ; ) fo it is the veryQueftion between us , Whether it be one aft, or the whole efï'ence of theChriftian faith that is the Condition And this fuppofetti the determination of other controverfies that are not yetdetermined. There are three opinions of the Habit of faith. Firft, that the feveral acts of faith, have feveral habits. Secondly, that the divers ads have but one habit of faithdifinet from the habits of other graces. Thirdly , That H faith

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