A69028:2583
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
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.
1. Liberty: Liberty I say chiefly from the power of sin: making a godly man able to subdue such corruptions as no strength of nature, or natural arguments or means could ever master: This is far above restraining grace: Where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty, 2 Cor. 3. 17. ⟨p. 542⟩and, The law of the Spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus, hath freed me (saith S. Paul) from the law of sin and of death, Rom. 8. 2. and this the Spirit doth, first, by working a spiritual circumcision upon the heart, causing a man to employ himself in the duties of mortification, till he give deadly wounds to his beloved sins, and at length cast them away like a loathsome fore-skin, Rom. 2. 29. making a man to accuse and condemn himself, & pray against the deeds of the flesh, till he get some victory over his corruptions, Rom. 8. 13. and in this work the holy Ghost discovers himself as a Spirit of judgment, and a Spirit of burning, as the Prophet Isaiah calls him, Esa. 4. 4. Secondly, by lusting against the flesh, that is, stirring up consent, and earnest desires and groans to be rid of the burden of corruption, Gal. 5. 17. Thirdly, by causing a man to hear a word behind him, when he is about to go out of the way, either on the right hand and on the left, Isaiah 30. that is, by daily good motions, and inward checks of conscience, which tend to dissuade a man from yielding to any thing he knows to be a sin. Fourthly, by baptizing the penitent sinner with the baptism of fire, Matth. 3. 11. which is, when the holy Ghost falls upon his heart, and so inflames his affections, that he is full of indignation, and a desire of holy revenge against his corruptions, and an unspeakable zeal after righteousness and Gods glory.