A39669:2105
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.
First, From the positive and express will of God revealed in Scripture touching this matter: search the Scriptures and you shall find God hath laid the whole stress and weight of your eternal happiness by Jesus Christ upon this work of the spirit in your souls. So our Saviour tells Nicodemus, John 3. 5. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God: agreeable whereunto are those words of the Apostle, Heb. 12. 14. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. And whereas some may think that their birth right privileges, enjoyment of Ordinances and profession of Religion may commend them to Gods acceptance without this new creation; he shows them how fond and ungrounded all such hopes are, Gal. 6. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature: Christ and Heaven are the gifts of God, and he is at liberty to bestow them upon what terms and conditions he pleaseth: and this is the way, the only way and stated method in which he will bring men by Christ unto glory: men may raze out the impressions of these things from their own hearts, but they can never alter the settled course and method of Salvation: either we must be new creatures, as the precepts of the word command us, or lost and damned creatures as the threatenings of the word plainly tell us.
First, From the positive and express will of God revealed in Scripture touching this matter: search the Scriptures and you shall find God hath laid the whole stress and weight of your eternal happiness by Jesus Christ upon this work of the spirit in your souls. So our Saviour tells Nicodemus, John 3. 5. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God: agreeable whereunto are those words of the Apostle, Heb. 12. 14. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. And whereas some may think that their birth right priviledges, injoyment of Ordinances and profession of Religion may commend them to Gods acceptance without this new creation; he shews them how fond and ungrounded all such hopes are,