A holy life, the beauty of Christianity, or, An exhortation to Christians to be…

But here again,¹ the hypocrite will give us the slip by betaking of himself to exterior matters, as to his mint, anise, and cummin: still neglecting the more weighty matters of the Law, to wit, Judgment, Mercy, Faith. Or else to the significative ordinances,² still neglecting to do to all men as he would they should do to him. But let such know that God never ordained significative ordinances, such as Baptism, the Lords Supper, or the like, for the sake of Water, or of Bread and Wine: nor yet because he takes any delight that we are ⟨image 14⟩dipped in Water, or eat that bread: but they were ordained to minister to us by the aptness of the Elements, through our sincere partaking of them, further knowledge of the death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ; and of our death and resurrection by him to newness of life. Wherefore he that eateth and believeth not, and he that is Baptized, and is not dead to sin, and walketh not in newness of Life, neither keepeth these ordinances nor pleaseth God. Now to be dead to sin, is to be dead to those things forbidden in the moral Law: For sin is the transgression of that, and it availeth not to vaunt that I am a Saint and under this or that significative ordinance, if I live in the transgression of the Law.³ For I am convicted of the Law as a transgressor, and so concluded to be one that loveth not Christ, tho' I make a noise of my obedience to Christ, ⟨image 14⟩and of my partaking of his significative ordinances. The Jews of old made a great noise with their significative ordinances, whiles they lived in the breach of the moral Law, but their practice of significative ordinances could not save them from the judgement and displeasure of their God. They could frequent the Temple, keep their feasts, slay their Sacrifices, and be mighty apt about all their significative things. But they loved Idols, and lived in the breach of the second Table of the Law. Wherefore God cast them out of his presence: hark what the Prophet saith of them. Come to Bethel, and transgress, ⁴