A26796:741
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption…
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is showed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is shewed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.
London: printed by J. Darby for Nathaniel Ranew and Jonathan Robinson and Brabazon Aylmer, 1674
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
By that Covenant the Holy God is pleased to take them into the Relation of his Children;1 and as the nature of Sanctification, so the motives of it are contained in that Title. For so near an Alliance obliges them to a faithful observation of his Commands, and to imitate him with the greatest care, that the Vein of his Spirit, and the Marks of his Blood may appear in all their actions. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin:2 The allowed practice ⟨p. 408⟩of it is inconsistent with the quality of a Son of God, 'tis contrary to the Grace of his Divine Birth. Nay, the omission of Good, as well as the commission of Evil is inconsistent with that Relation. 'Tis for this reason, that Holiness is so much the character of a true Christian, that to be a Christian and a Saint are the same thing in the Writings of the Apostles. That venerable Title obliges him to a higher practice of Virtue, than ever the Pagans imagined. He is far behind them, if he do not surpass them, and if he is surpassed by them, he will be clothed with shame. Besides, our Redeemer who hath a right to us by so many titles, by his Divine and Humane Nature, by his Life and Death, by his Glory and Sufferings; as He strictly commands us to be holy, so he hath joined Example to his Authority, That we may walk as he walked, and be as he was in the world. St. Paul makes use of this consideration, to restrain the Disciples of Christ from all Sin, and to persuade them to universal Holiness. After he had mentioned the disorders of the Gentiles, 3to deter the Ephesians from the like; he tells them, But ye have not so learned Christ, that is, his rule and practice instructed them otherwise. And when he commands the Romans, To walk honestly as in the day, 4not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; he opposes to all these vices, the pattern that Christ set before us, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. The expression intimates the Duty, that as the Garment is commensurate to the Body, so we are to imitate all the parts of his Holy Conversation.