A39669:1826
The Method of Grace
The method of grace, in bringing home the eternal redemption contrived by the Father, and accomplished by the Son through the effectual application of the spirit unto God's elect, being the second part of Gospel redemption : wherein the great mystery of our union and communion with Christ is opened and applied, unbelievers invited, false pretenders convicted, every mans claim to Christ examined, and the misery of Christless persons discovered and bewailed / by John Flavell ...The method of grace, in bringing home the eternal redemption contrived by the Father, and accomplished by the Son through the effectual application of the spirit unto God's elect, being the second part of Gospel redemption : wherein the great mysterie of our union and communion with Christ is opened and applied, unbelievers invited, false pretenders convicted, every mans claim to Christ examined, and the misery of Christless persons discovered and bewailed / by John Flavell ...
London: printed by M. White for Francis Tyton, 1681
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.
Fifthly, The word hath a heart-turning, a soul converting efficacy in it: 'tis a regenerating as well as a convincing word, 1 Pet. 1. 23. 1 Thes. 1. 9. The Law wounds, the Gospel cures; the Law discovers the evil that is in sin, and the misery that follows sin: and the Spirit of God working in fellowship with the word effectually turns the heart from sin. And thus we see in what glorious acts, the efficacy of the word discovers it self upon the hearts of men, and all these acts lie in order to each other: for until the soul be awakened it cannot be enlightened, Eph. 5. 14. till it be enlightened it cannot be convinced, Eph. 5. 13. Conviction being nothing else, but the application of the light that shines in the mind to the Conscience of a sinner; till it be convinced it cannot be wounded for sin, Act. 2. 37. and until it be wounded for sin, it will never be converted from sin, and brought effectually to Jesus Christ: and thus you see what the power of the word is.
Fifthly, The word hath a heart-turning, a soul converting efficacy in it: 'tis a regenerating as well as a convincing word, 1 Pet. 1. 23. 1 Thes. 1. 9. The Law wounds, the Gospel cures; the Law discovers the evil that is in sin, and the misery that follows sin: and the Spirit of God working in fellowship with the word effectually turns the heart from sin. And thus we see in what glorious acts, the efficacy of the word discovers it self upon the hearts of men, and all these acts lie in order to each other: for until the soul be awakened it cannot be enlightned, Eph. 5. 14. till it be enlightned it cannot be convinced, Eph. 5. 13. Conviction being nothing else, but the application of the light that shines in the mind to the Conscience of a sinner; till it be convinced it cannot be wounded for sin,