A guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties wherein it consisteth, the helpes inabling & the reasons parswading vnto it ye impediments hindering ye practise of it, and the best meanes to remoue them whereunto are added diuers prayers and a treatise of carnall securitie by Iohn Douname Batcheler in Diuinitie and minister of Gods Word.

About this Item

Title
A guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties wherein it consisteth, the helpes inabling & the reasons parswading vnto it ye impediments hindering ye practise of it, and the best meanes to remoue them whereunto are added diuers prayers and a treatise of carnall securitie by Iohn Douname Batcheler in Diuinitie and minister of Gods Word.
Author
Downame, John, d. 1652.
Publication
Printed at London :: By Felix Kingstone [and William Stansby] for Ed: Weuer & W: Bladen at the north dore of Pauls,
[1622]
Rights/Permissions

To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.

Subject terms
Christian life -- Early works to 1800.
Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A20762.0001.001
Cite this Item
"A guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties wherein it consisteth, the helpes inabling & the reasons parswading vnto it ye impediments hindering ye practise of it, and the best meanes to remoue them whereunto are added diuers prayers and a treatise of carnall securitie by Iohn Douname Batcheler in Diuinitie and minister of Gods Word." In the digital collection Early English Books Online 2. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A20762.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 14, 2024.

Pages

§. Sect. 2 Of the second meanes to ob∣taine a good conscience.

Secondly, we must labour to know the will of God reuealed in the Scrip∣tures, and to apply what we know, vnto our selues, for our owne vse. For the conscience iudgeth and witnesseth with God, for vs, or against vs, and therefore we must know what he approueth and condemneth, if we would haue our iudgement and euidence to agree with his; otherwise our consciences being vniust and erronious, will iudge vniustly of our acti∣ons, and giue in false euidence, when wee put our selues vpon them for triall. More especially, we must labour after the knowledge, both of the

Page 88

Law and the Gospell; for the Law, as it is the rule of our actions, accor∣ding to which they ought to be wholy conformed, so also it is the rule of our consciences, whereby they discerne whether they be right or crooked, good or euill. It is the municipall law for the peculiar gouernement of Gods subiects, and the booke of Satutes, set out by our Soueraigne, ac∣cording to which, conscience is bound to iudge and giue euidence, which it cannot doe, vnlesse it know, and be able to examine our actions accor∣ding vnto this law. In which regard, the consciences of ignorant men do in most things misleade them into manifold errours, because they are not able to iudge of their actions according to Gods Law, which they know not, but giue sentence of them according to their owne wills, humane traditions, and their owne inuentions, superstitious conceits and good meanings. And the like may be said of those, who hauing some know∣ledge of Gods Law, doe through negligence or prophanenesse neuer ex∣amine their actions by it, yea, rather being carried through the violence of their carnall lusts and passions, into all disobedience and sinne, and resol∣uing in themselues to goe on in their course, doe cast the Law out of their sight and remembrance, lest conscience hauing it to iudge by should ac∣cuse and condemne their euill actions, and so abate their pleasure which they take in them. But especially if we would haue good consciences, we must apply vnto our selues the sentence of the Law, which condemneth * 1.1 all of sinne, and subiecteth them vnder the curse, who doe not continue in all that is written in the booke of the Law to doe it. For vntill the Law doe conuince vs of sinne, and that we cannot be iustified before God in our own righteousnesse, we shall rest in it, & neuer seeke to be partakers of the righteousnes of Christ, by which alone we can be iustified before God, and consequently by it only obtaine peace of conscience. In which regard it is not sufficient to know, and apply the Law vnto vs; for this will worke in the conscience terrours and feares, and no peace: but onely vse it as a schoolemaster to teach vs our owne vilenesse and sinfull corruption, and that we are in our selues most miserable, & in the feareful state of death and condemnation, that so it may bring vs vnto Christ, in whom alone we can be iustified and obtaine sound and secure peace. And therfore if we would haue good consciences, wee must also know the Gospell, in which God of his free grace doth offer vnto vs peace and reconciliation in Iesus Christ; wee must acquaint our selues with the couenant of grace, which is the maine foundation of all our peace, when as thereby wee are assured, not onely that Gods mercies are infinite, and Christs merits all-sufficient, but that they belong vnto vs, performing the condition of the couenant, that God for Christs sake will forgiue vs our sinnes, be reconciled vnto vs, and * 1.2 write his Law in our hearts, that we may not depart from him.

Notes

Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.