A guide to godliness or a Treatise of a Christian life showing the dutiesA guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties

The sixth thing required unto a godly life is, that we perform all holy and Christian duties out of our thankfulness towards God, as for all his benefits spiritual and corporal bestowed upon us, namely, our election, creation, preservation, and the rest, so especially for that main benefit, the great work of our redemption by Jesus Christ, whereby he hath made us, of the slaves of Satan, his own servants, of the children of wrath, his own children by adoption and grace, of the servants of sin, the servants of righteousness, and of the heirs of hell and condemnation, coheirs with Christ, and inheritors of heavenly happiness. The which benefits being rightly considered, must needs make us truly thankful unto him of whom we have so great salvation, and out of this thankfulness, truly zealous of his glory to whom we are so deeply indebted, and to express both the one and the other, by our earnest endeavour, and conscionable care to glorify his holy name, by shining before men in the light of a godly life. And that this ought to be the main motive to incite unto the practice of an holy conversation; it appeareth hereby, in that the Apostles do so frequently use it as a forcible argument to provoke us unto it. You are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in ¹your Spirit which are Gods. Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in ²the Lord, walk as children of light. And therefore we must take heed that we do not perform holy duties out of an opinion of merit to make God beholding unto us, or to satisfy his justice which is only done by Christs perfect righteousness and obedience, or to leave our works of supererogation as a treasure unto the Church, to be sold unto those, who most wanting them, will buy them at the highest price; or to purchase by them Gods heavenly Kingdom, which is a free inheritance, and the mere gift