Single Mp3 download:
Duty Faith Examined by William Styles [Single Track Version - 272 minutes]
Multi Mp3 download:
01. Duty-Faith [MP3]
02. Duty-Faith - How Proved [MP3]
03. Duty-Faith Disproved [MP3]
04. Is Salvation Contingent on the Consent or Refusal of Sinners? Part 1. [MP3] Part 2. [MP3]
05. The Absence of Spiritual Faith not the Ground of a Sinners' Condemnation. [MP3]
06. Repentance not a Natural Duty [MP3]
07. The Mission of Jesus Christ to the Jewish Nation [MP3]
08. The National Life and Death of God's Ancient People [MP3]
09. Neonomianism [MP3]
10. The Will [MP3]
11. The Warrant and Ground of Faith [MP3]
12. Thy Faith hath Saved Thee [MP3]
This section called "Duty Faith" is taken from the book "A Manual of Faith and Practice" by William Styles
PDF: "A Manual of Faith and Practice"
PDF: "Duty Faith" Section
[Note: the page numbers referred to throughout this book are from the original book. The PDF version does not follow the same pattern of page numbering. If you desire to use the page number references to enhance your study, the Picture PDF version may be preferred. You can download it at this LINK on the right side of the page under "Styles Jeyes William Book 1897"]
Below you will find the chapter headings, a brief description of the argument in the chapter, and the scripture expositions that have been made into individual audio tracks in the sermon player. The expositions from William Styles are to be compared to the scriptures and studied in light of the context. Their are differing views among godly men on certain scriptures. You may study more from additional expositions against duty faith in the menu.
Contents:
PART 1 - Duty-Faith: Let the reader understand it. It is not whether men as men are able spiritually to believe in Christ. Many to whom we are opposed deny this as emphatically as we do. We too admit with them that creature inability in no wise diminishes creature obligation—and we deplore that so many of our brethren have weakened our cause by seeking to defend it by arguments that were assailable... The question therefore concerns not what man can do, but what he ought to do—not ability or inability—but duty. Yet again, the inquiry is limited to natural men. We admit that regenerated sinners are empowered and commanded to believe in Jesus, and that they ought so to do (Page. 205).
PART 2 - Duty-Faith, How Proved: “Is it (asks the late Dr. John Campbell in his Theology for Bible Classes and Christian Families) the duty of all who hear the gospel to believe it? Yes: every sinner who hears it is commanded, exhorted and invited to believe in Christ for Salvation (Mark 1:15, 5:36; Luke 8:50; Acts 16:31; 1 John 3:23).
PART 3 - Duty-Faith, Disproved: If Faith be a duty, it is a work; but according to the reasoning of the Apostle, the works of the Law are contradistinguished from Faith. Yet if Faith be a natural duty—though we are saved by grace—it is through the works of the law. The Covenant of Works is blended with the Covenant of Grace, and “grace is no more grace.”
PART 4 - Is Salvation Contingent on the consent or refusal of Sinners? It is generally believed that the consent or refusal of men to the saving proposals of God, determines their destiny. Were this true, however, we must banish the attribute of Omnipotence form our conceptions of God. What is stated on pages 86 and 93 is false, if God cannot accomplish His purposes without the previous concurrence of sinners.
Expositions: Jos 24:15, Prov 8:17, Prov 23:26, Eccl 12:1, Isa 1:18-19, Isa 45:22, Isa 55:3, Jn 5:25, Eze 18:31, Eze 36:25, Amos 4:12, Mt 13:58, Mk 6:5, Mk 5:36, Lk 13:24, Jn 1:12, Gal 3:26, Jn 3:14-16, Jn 6:27, Jn 6:29, Jn 6:53, Jn 12:36, Jn 20:31, Acts 13:46, Acts 16:31, Rom 4:23-24, Rom 5:1, 2Co 5:20, 2Co 6:1-2, Eph 5:14, Heb 2:3, 1Jn 3:23
PART 5 - The Absence of Spiritual Faith not the Ground of a Sinners’ Condemnation: It is commonly asserted that the non-possession of Faith will be the ground of the future condemnation of sinners. “If sinners are damned, it will be unbelief that damns them; if lost, it will be because they believed not on Christ.”—C.H. Spurgeon. Such is current theology. How can such be reconciled with particular Redemption; and if irreconcilable, can it be true? Did the God of truth originate a contradictory gospel? We have indeed already disproved it by showing (1) That spiritual Faith not being required by the Moral Law, its absence cannot bring men under increased legal condemnation (page 20), and (2) That its absence is never referred to as the ground of human condemnation in any of the scriptural predictions of the occurrences of the Judgment Day (page 23). The serious consequences which the doctrine involves are also shown on page 56. The texts cited in its proof, however, remain to be considered.
Expositions: Psa 2:12, Prov 1:24-26, Mk 16:16, Jn 3:18, Jn 3:19, Jn 16:8-9, 2Co 15:15
PART 6 - Repentance not a Natural Duty: Spiritual Repentance is an effect of a supernatural birth of the Spirit. The saving operations of the Spirit are confined to the elect, p. 104; “The grace of Repentance is, therefore, the grace of Election, though the act of Repentance is not the act of Election. It follows, that unless it is the duty of man to have the grace of Election, or a sovereign interest in Christ, it cannot be his duty to have the grace of Regeneration, which again is the root of active Repentance. Repentance is the act of a sinner who has received spiritual life; and to prove Repentance to be a natural duty, you must prove that all men are naturally bound to have that life which was never given to any man but in Christ, the chosen Head of the elect world, and which is sovereignly withheld in the counsels of God from all the non-elect.”—John Stevens. Moreover, the Bible never represents spiritual Repentance as the duty of natural men. The Law neither commands nor permits it. The Gospel never enforces it upon the unregenerate.
Expositions: Mt 3:23, Mk 1:15, Lk 13:3, Mt 11:20, Mk 6:12, Acts 2:38-40, Acts 3:19, Acts 8:22, Acts 17:30, Acts 26:20
PART 7 - The Mission of Jesus Christ to the Jewish Nation: “Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,” Rom. 15:8. Christ came to the Jews in virtue of a long-sealed compact, to the fulfillment of which God’s truth was pledged. He came to them as “the circumcision”—the nation which stood in peculiar relationship to God (Psa. 148:14). He came as their Messiah, and endeavoured to gather them in Faith and Loyalty to Himself. He came to be their national Deliverer, and would have restored them to supremacy among the nations. This is often overlooked, and it is supposed that every allusion made to believing in Jesus, refers to spiritual and personal Faith in Him as the Saviour of sinners. Some passages may be considered.
Expositions: Jn 11:48, Jn 2:23, Jn 15:42, Jn 8:46, Jn 14:1, Mt 22:5, Lk 13:6-9, Lk 14:18
PART 8 - The National Life and Death of God’s Ancient People: It is common to assume that the words “live,” and “life”—“die,” and “death,” are in the word of God invariably to be understood as referring to spiritual life and death; and passages in which they are prominent are freely used in support of the views to which this treatise is opposed. It is forgotten that the national existence and prosperity of the people whom God favoured is often called their life.
Expositions: Eze 16:6, Deut 30:15 and 20, Deut 32:46-47, Eze 20:21, Eze 18:31, Hos 13:9 and 1, Jn 5:34, Jn 5:39, Rom 11:15
PART 9 - Neonomianism: A schemed of Divinity propounded by Daniel Williams, D.D., which held that God has receded from the demands of the Moral Law, and given up its original obligations—and that the Gospel is a New Law, but of milder requirements, in which Faith, Repentance, and sincere though imperfect Obedience, are substituted in the room of the perfect and perpetual Obedience required by the original Law.
PART 10 - The Will: We have been accused of denying the freedom of the Will, and so of reducing man to the level of a machine or unaccountable agent. The charge is untrue.
PART 11 - Warrant and Ground of Faith: The warrant of Faith we have stated to be an inwrought persuasion that the portions of the Gospel message which direct, invite, or command believing acts, refer to such persons as we know ourselves to be. By the ground of Faith is meant the fact or facts on which a sinner bases his reliance when approaching God, for the mercy, pardon and acceptance proclaimed in the gospel. Confusion has arisen from failing to distinguish between the warrant and the ground of Faith... The warrant of Faith concerns my right to draw nigh to God as one for whom saving provisions have been made. The ground of Faith concerns the character and direction of my reliance as once who has so drawn nigh... The Warrant of Faith is God’s testimony concerning conscious sinners—that He will permit them to approach in Christ’s name. The Ground of Faith is God’s testimony concerning His dear Son, that He delights in His Person, is satisfied with His work, and freely justifies sinners for His sake... Preachers have to proclaim both the warrant and the ground of Faith. They have to assure the conscious sinner of his welcome as one whose character is portrayed in the invitations of the Gospel. They have also to dwell on the greatness, grandeur and glory of Emmanuel as the meritorious reason for the salvation of the vilest transgressor.
PART 12 - Faith Saved Thee: The salvation referred to was experimental. She was actually saved when grace first moved her to forsake her sinful ways; saved when her heart first glowed with shame, and tears of penitence fell from her eyes; saved during the anxious interval which preceded the above incident; saved—but without such assurance of the fact as could afford rest to her heart. Her Faith led her to Jesus, and obtained from His lips the words of peace for which she longed: words which saved her from the sting of shame; saved her from degradation; saved her from despair, by the hope and promise of a new and purer life... In the first group of texts, physically living but diseased and disabled persons appealed to Jesus, in natural Faith, and physical relief was accorded them. In the second text, a spiritually living, but burdened and sad-hearted sinner, appealed to Jesus in spiritual Faith, and spiritual relief was accorded her.
Scriptures Discussed: Mt 9:22, Mk 5:34, Lk 8:48, Mk 10:52, Lk 18:42, Lk 17:19, and Lk 7:50
Duty Faith Examined by William Styles [Single Track Version - 272 minutes]
Multi Mp3 download:
*Multi Track Version [4 hours and 32 minutes]
02. Duty-Faith - How Proved [MP3]
03. Duty-Faith Disproved [MP3]
04. Is Salvation Contingent on the Consent or Refusal of Sinners? Part 1. [MP3] Part 2. [MP3]
05. The Absence of Spiritual Faith not the Ground of a Sinners' Condemnation. [MP3]
06. Repentance not a Natural Duty [MP3]
07. The Mission of Jesus Christ to the Jewish Nation [MP3]
08. The National Life and Death of God's Ancient People [MP3]
09. Neonomianism [MP3]
10. The Will [MP3]
11. The Warrant and Ground of Faith [MP3]
12. Thy Faith hath Saved Thee [MP3]
This section called "Duty Faith" is taken from the book "A Manual of Faith and Practice" by William Styles
PDF: "A Manual of Faith and Practice"
PDF: "Duty Faith" Section
[Note: the page numbers referred to throughout this book are from the original book. The PDF version does not follow the same pattern of page numbering. If you desire to use the page number references to enhance your study, the Picture PDF version may be preferred. You can download it at this LINK on the right side of the page under "Styles Jeyes William Book 1897"]
Below you will find the chapter headings, a brief description of the argument in the chapter, and the scripture expositions that have been made into individual audio tracks in the sermon player. The expositions from William Styles are to be compared to the scriptures and studied in light of the context. Their are differing views among godly men on certain scriptures. You may study more from additional expositions against duty faith in the menu.
Contents:
PART 1 - Duty-Faith: Let the reader understand it. It is not whether men as men are able spiritually to believe in Christ. Many to whom we are opposed deny this as emphatically as we do. We too admit with them that creature inability in no wise diminishes creature obligation—and we deplore that so many of our brethren have weakened our cause by seeking to defend it by arguments that were assailable... The question therefore concerns not what man can do, but what he ought to do—not ability or inability—but duty. Yet again, the inquiry is limited to natural men. We admit that regenerated sinners are empowered and commanded to believe in Jesus, and that they ought so to do (Page. 205).
PART 2 - Duty-Faith, How Proved: “Is it (asks the late Dr. John Campbell in his Theology for Bible Classes and Christian Families) the duty of all who hear the gospel to believe it? Yes: every sinner who hears it is commanded, exhorted and invited to believe in Christ for Salvation (Mark 1:15, 5:36; Luke 8:50; Acts 16:31; 1 John 3:23).
PART 3 - Duty-Faith, Disproved: If Faith be a duty, it is a work; but according to the reasoning of the Apostle, the works of the Law are contradistinguished from Faith. Yet if Faith be a natural duty—though we are saved by grace—it is through the works of the law. The Covenant of Works is blended with the Covenant of Grace, and “grace is no more grace.”
PART 4 - Is Salvation Contingent on the consent or refusal of Sinners? It is generally believed that the consent or refusal of men to the saving proposals of God, determines their destiny. Were this true, however, we must banish the attribute of Omnipotence form our conceptions of God. What is stated on pages 86 and 93 is false, if God cannot accomplish His purposes without the previous concurrence of sinners.
Expositions: Jos 24:15, Prov 8:17, Prov 23:26, Eccl 12:1, Isa 1:18-19, Isa 45:22, Isa 55:3, Jn 5:25, Eze 18:31, Eze 36:25, Amos 4:12, Mt 13:58, Mk 6:5, Mk 5:36, Lk 13:24, Jn 1:12, Gal 3:26, Jn 3:14-16, Jn 6:27, Jn 6:29, Jn 6:53, Jn 12:36, Jn 20:31, Acts 13:46, Acts 16:31, Rom 4:23-24, Rom 5:1, 2Co 5:20, 2Co 6:1-2, Eph 5:14, Heb 2:3, 1Jn 3:23
PART 5 - The Absence of Spiritual Faith not the Ground of a Sinners’ Condemnation: It is commonly asserted that the non-possession of Faith will be the ground of the future condemnation of sinners. “If sinners are damned, it will be unbelief that damns them; if lost, it will be because they believed not on Christ.”—C.H. Spurgeon. Such is current theology. How can such be reconciled with particular Redemption; and if irreconcilable, can it be true? Did the God of truth originate a contradictory gospel? We have indeed already disproved it by showing (1) That spiritual Faith not being required by the Moral Law, its absence cannot bring men under increased legal condemnation (page 20), and (2) That its absence is never referred to as the ground of human condemnation in any of the scriptural predictions of the occurrences of the Judgment Day (page 23). The serious consequences which the doctrine involves are also shown on page 56. The texts cited in its proof, however, remain to be considered.
Expositions: Psa 2:12, Prov 1:24-26, Mk 16:16, Jn 3:18, Jn 3:19, Jn 16:8-9, 2Co 15:15
PART 6 - Repentance not a Natural Duty: Spiritual Repentance is an effect of a supernatural birth of the Spirit. The saving operations of the Spirit are confined to the elect, p. 104; “The grace of Repentance is, therefore, the grace of Election, though the act of Repentance is not the act of Election. It follows, that unless it is the duty of man to have the grace of Election, or a sovereign interest in Christ, it cannot be his duty to have the grace of Regeneration, which again is the root of active Repentance. Repentance is the act of a sinner who has received spiritual life; and to prove Repentance to be a natural duty, you must prove that all men are naturally bound to have that life which was never given to any man but in Christ, the chosen Head of the elect world, and which is sovereignly withheld in the counsels of God from all the non-elect.”—John Stevens. Moreover, the Bible never represents spiritual Repentance as the duty of natural men. The Law neither commands nor permits it. The Gospel never enforces it upon the unregenerate.
Expositions: Mt 3:23, Mk 1:15, Lk 13:3, Mt 11:20, Mk 6:12, Acts 2:38-40, Acts 3:19, Acts 8:22, Acts 17:30, Acts 26:20
PART 7 - The Mission of Jesus Christ to the Jewish Nation: “Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,” Rom. 15:8. Christ came to the Jews in virtue of a long-sealed compact, to the fulfillment of which God’s truth was pledged. He came to them as “the circumcision”—the nation which stood in peculiar relationship to God (Psa. 148:14). He came as their Messiah, and endeavoured to gather them in Faith and Loyalty to Himself. He came to be their national Deliverer, and would have restored them to supremacy among the nations. This is often overlooked, and it is supposed that every allusion made to believing in Jesus, refers to spiritual and personal Faith in Him as the Saviour of sinners. Some passages may be considered.
Expositions: Jn 11:48, Jn 2:23, Jn 15:42, Jn 8:46, Jn 14:1, Mt 22:5, Lk 13:6-9, Lk 14:18
PART 8 - The National Life and Death of God’s Ancient People: It is common to assume that the words “live,” and “life”—“die,” and “death,” are in the word of God invariably to be understood as referring to spiritual life and death; and passages in which they are prominent are freely used in support of the views to which this treatise is opposed. It is forgotten that the national existence and prosperity of the people whom God favoured is often called their life.
Expositions: Eze 16:6, Deut 30:15 and 20, Deut 32:46-47, Eze 20:21, Eze 18:31, Hos 13:9 and 1, Jn 5:34, Jn 5:39, Rom 11:15
PART 9 - Neonomianism: A schemed of Divinity propounded by Daniel Williams, D.D., which held that God has receded from the demands of the Moral Law, and given up its original obligations—and that the Gospel is a New Law, but of milder requirements, in which Faith, Repentance, and sincere though imperfect Obedience, are substituted in the room of the perfect and perpetual Obedience required by the original Law.
PART 10 - The Will: We have been accused of denying the freedom of the Will, and so of reducing man to the level of a machine or unaccountable agent. The charge is untrue.
PART 11 - Warrant and Ground of Faith: The warrant of Faith we have stated to be an inwrought persuasion that the portions of the Gospel message which direct, invite, or command believing acts, refer to such persons as we know ourselves to be. By the ground of Faith is meant the fact or facts on which a sinner bases his reliance when approaching God, for the mercy, pardon and acceptance proclaimed in the gospel. Confusion has arisen from failing to distinguish between the warrant and the ground of Faith... The warrant of Faith concerns my right to draw nigh to God as one for whom saving provisions have been made. The ground of Faith concerns the character and direction of my reliance as once who has so drawn nigh... The Warrant of Faith is God’s testimony concerning conscious sinners—that He will permit them to approach in Christ’s name. The Ground of Faith is God’s testimony concerning His dear Son, that He delights in His Person, is satisfied with His work, and freely justifies sinners for His sake... Preachers have to proclaim both the warrant and the ground of Faith. They have to assure the conscious sinner of his welcome as one whose character is portrayed in the invitations of the Gospel. They have also to dwell on the greatness, grandeur and glory of Emmanuel as the meritorious reason for the salvation of the vilest transgressor.
PART 12 - Faith Saved Thee: The salvation referred to was experimental. She was actually saved when grace first moved her to forsake her sinful ways; saved when her heart first glowed with shame, and tears of penitence fell from her eyes; saved during the anxious interval which preceded the above incident; saved—but without such assurance of the fact as could afford rest to her heart. Her Faith led her to Jesus, and obtained from His lips the words of peace for which she longed: words which saved her from the sting of shame; saved her from degradation; saved her from despair, by the hope and promise of a new and purer life... In the first group of texts, physically living but diseased and disabled persons appealed to Jesus, in natural Faith, and physical relief was accorded them. In the second text, a spiritually living, but burdened and sad-hearted sinner, appealed to Jesus in spiritual Faith, and spiritual relief was accorded her.
Scriptures Discussed: Mt 9:22, Mk 5:34, Lk 8:48, Mk 10:52, Lk 18:42, Lk 17:19, and Lk 7:50
