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

§. Sect. 10 That we must love our neighbours, as Christ hath loved us.

§. Sect. 10 That we must loue our neighbors, as Christ hath loued vs.

But because our love of our selves, by reason of our natural corruption, is, whilst we continue in this life, weak and imperfect, and therefore no fit rule for our love towards our neighbours, to be squared by; therefore our Saviour hath propounded unto us, a much more perfect pattern for our imitation, even that most admirable and divine love wherewith he hath loved us: This is my Commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved ¹you. As therefore Christ hath loved us first, before we loved him, or any ways deserved his love, and hereby moved us to love him again; so ²ought we to prevent one another with our love, and thereby provoke them to return unto us the like duty. Secondly, as Christ loved all his ³elect, freely without any respect of merit, yea when we were strangers, sinners and enemies, not because of any goodness in us, but that by his ⟨p. 140⟩Love he might bring us to good; so ought our love to be free, and not mercenary, so far forth as it may redound to our own profit; but we must love strangers, that thereby we may make them our familiar acquaintance; Our enemies, that we may make them our friends, and even those that are now evil and sinners, that we may bring them to grace and goodness. Thirdly, as Christ loved all the elect, without respect of persons, both old and young, rich and poor, base and noble, wise and simple; so ought we to love all sorts and conditions of men, in whom we find already, or may hope to find hereafter, the signs and marks of Gods election. Fourthly, as Christ loved us perfectly, in respect of the manner, with a sincere and ardent love, and not in tongue and profession only, but in deed and truth; so as no waters of affliction, nor death it self could