A69028:1663
The rule of faith, or, An exposition of the Apostles Creed so handled as…
The rule of faith, or, An exposition of the Apostles Creed so handled as it affordeth both milk for babes, and strong meat for such as are at full age / by ... Nicholas Bifield ; ... now published ... by his son, Adoniram Bifield.The rule of faith, or, An exposition of the Apostles Creed so handled as it affordeth both milke for babes, and strong meat for such as are at full age / by ... Nicholas Bifield ; ... now published ... by his sonne, Adoniram Bifield.
London: printed by G.M. for Philemon Stephens and Christopher Meredith, 1626
THE CREED. › Article 4 › TenetTHE CREEDE. › Article 4 › Tenet
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, we should comfort our hearts with this Doctrine; seeing Christ did not suffer for himself, but for us, we should apply his sufferings to our selves, and plead them before God against our sins, and the temptations of the Devil: and seeing he hath paid so dear a price to reconcile us to God, we should make no question of it, but that he will ⟨p. 310⟩now save us being reconciled, and finish his own work, Rom. 5. 10.
Fifthly, we should comfort our hearts with this Doctrine; seeing Christ did not suffer for himselfe, but for vs, wee should apply his sufferings to our selues, and plead them before God against our sins, and the temptations of the Deuill: and seeing hee hath paid so deare a price to reconcile vs to God, wee should make no question of it, but that hee will ⟨p. 310⟩now saue vs being reconciled, and finish his owne worke, Rom. 5. 10.
Lastly, seeing the Son of God is the Passover, yea our Passover, and Sacrifice for us, we should therefore purge out the old Leaven, that we may be a new lump, and should therefore keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth; if Christ suffered for us, then our life should be a continual feast; yea in as much as he was offered up as an immaculate Lamb, and is tendered to us as the food of our souls in the Word and Sacraments, therefore we should spend our life as if it were a continual Passover: and so we must put away leaven, even the old leaven of such corruptions as we lived in, and in particular, the leaven of malice, and keep this feast in the unleavened bread of sound sincerity of life and truth in all holiness without hypocrisy. Thus of the third point.