A34674:231
The Covenant of Grace
The covenant of grace discovering the great work of a sinners reconciliation to God / by John Cotton ... ; whereunto are added Certain queries tending to accommodation [sic] between the Presbyterian and Congregational churches ; also a discussion of the civill magistrates power in matters of religion ; by the same author.The covenant of grace discovering the great work of a sinners reconciliation to God / by John Cotton ... ; whereunto are added Certain queries tending to accommodadation [sic] between the Presbyterian and Congregationall churches ; also a discussion of the civill magistrates power in matters of religion ; by the same author.
London: printed by M.S. for Francis Eglesfield and John Allen, 1655
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
Quest. 3. How may we then employ and improve this sanctification wch the Lord hath given us, and which he keepeth and acteth in us by his Spirit, and whereunto he beareth witness? How, or to what end shall we employ it, seeing the Lord undertaketh to do these things for us?
Quest. 3. How may we then imploy and improve this sanctification wch the Lord hath given us, and which he keepeth and acteth in us by his Spirit, and whereunto he beareth witnesse? How, or to what end shall we employ it, seeing the Lord undertaketh to doe these things for us?
Answ. If the Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit giveth us these gifts, it is our part then first to see that we do not rest in any Sanctification which doth not spring from Christ, conveyed unto us by his Spirit conveying us to him, the Spirit knitteth us unto Christ, & Christ unto us; he worketh Faith in us to receive whatsoever the Lord giveth unto us, and by the same Faith worketh all our holiness for us, 1 Cor. 1.30. Christ is made unto us, &c. Therefore we ⟨p. 151⟩are to see him the principal author of all these things in us, and for us; this is the principal comfort of all gifts (Christ given in them) and the glory of all our safety; and so far as any of these lieth in our Sanctification, we ought to see that it be Sanctification in Jesus Christ; and then it is so, when the Lord giveth us to look unto the Lord Jesus in it, and to it in him; and as we look for our holiness to be perfect in Jesus Christ, so we look for continual supply of it from him; and this it is to make Christ our Sanctification, when as whatsoever gift the Lord giveth us, we go not forth in the strength of it, but in the strength of Jesus Christ. There may be a change in the soul, which may spring from a spirit of bondage, and may captivate our consciences unto the Law, that may restrain us from sin, and constrain us unto duty: but such holiness springeth not always from our union with Christ, for there may be a conscience of duty without sense of our need of Christ; as it was with the Israelites at Mount Sinai,