Imperfect Obedience

[Persequeor]

In a recent study on sanctification and Union with Christ, who is our sanctification, acceptance and access with the Father, I was reminded of a quote from Greenham I have kept in my Bible for decades. And in the pursuit of more of this premise, I began searching through my books and found a couple more of the same. The first two are Greenham and Perkins on the Conscience; the third is Bridge on our failure in duty. I do not question what they are saying, but only ask if any have found the same in reading through the Puritans, or other writers. The curse of having so many books is that of trying to find what one needs. If anyone could point me to some others who have treated this matter, I thank you for your consideration. The point is in the quotes.



From this evil conscience we must be sprinkled in our hearts, first with faith in the blood of the Lamb, determining that we will never defile the house of God again: and though we cannot do all good, yet let us desire all good, for the Lord judgeth according to the purpose; not according to the performance; according to the affect, not by the effect. And yet we must not stay in this It stands us upon to use the means, that we may be masters of virtues: Hell is full of purposes, but not of performances Look therefore to thy conscience, Richard Greenham, Works p.691

It follows that God will accept of our imperfect obedience, if it is sincere, yea, He accepts the will, desire and endeavor to obey for obedience itself. Perkins vol.8 pp.51-58

Every godly, gracious man, is in covenant with God by Jesus Christ, and that covenant is a covenant of grace, which is the great charter, the magna-charta of all His spiritual privileges and immunities. Now in this great charter, the Lord proclaims this, that sincerity shall go for perfection; that a little good done for God, in the time of temptation, shall be counted much. In this great charter, the Lord proclaims unto all His people, that He rather regards the bent of the heart than the enlargement of the heart; that He rather regards the will to do, than the doing. William Bridge v.2 A Lifting up for the Downcast

 

[MW]

I do not question what they are saying, but only ask if any have found the same in reading through the Puritans, or other writers.

Yes it is a common idea. The more popular form of it is that God accepts the will for the deed. The usual common-place for the idea is 2 Cor. 8:12, "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." Examples include Abraham sacrificing Isaac, although he was interrupted, and David desiring to build the house of the Lord, although he was forbidden. It must be set within its covenant framework. Under the covenant of works legal perfection is required; but under the covenant of grace, where Christ's righteousness is imputed to us, there is an evangelical perfection whereby the saints sincerely seek to please God. And God is well-pleased for Christ's sake with their sincere efforts.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Which is to say: the Father accepts his Son in us. He rewards our innately unworthy works, as if his Son was the perfect worker of them and these were most worthy. For, indeed, what his Spirit accomplishes in and by our spirit and effort is a perfect work. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

God loves his children in the Lord, accepting their work better than an earthly parent accepts his own child's modest effort. Which receipt comes more than anything else simply because he is the object of love, not for the skill or wonder of that work. It is praised and rewarded because of who worked it, not what was accomplished. We are accepted in the Beloved.

 

[Persequeor]

Thanks to you both for the comments and help. The 2 Cor. passage is where I began but hadn't given adequate thought of Abraham's and David's incomplete acts. The study I am conducting, which I mentioned above, really a series of sermons, is based on Phil. 2:12-13, from the view of our sanctification. In my post I was too imprecise; what I am looking for is help finding other uses of that truth. Perhaps some younger minds may remember a source that this aged mind has forgotten or missed. However, it was a happy error on my part, for I needed to hear what you both had to say. I thank you.

 

[Persequeor]

If anyone else is interested in this topic, I found another very good instance while reading in the Morning and Evening Sermons at Cripplegate, Thomas Lye:
On the Believer’s Union with Christ:

O the defects of saint’s duties! How often do they pray as if afraid to be heard; hear, as if afraid to learn; learn, as if afraid to do; do, as if afraid to please. And yet, being united unto Christ, how acceptable are their person’s and performances! Their weak prayers sound like melodies; their broken sighs smell like incense; their very stammering seem rhetorical (Canticles 2:14). Not a good word falls from their lips, but it is recorded (Malachi 3:16). Not a tear drops from their eye, but it is taken up and bottled, (Psalm 56:8). Mites are received as if they were talents; cups of cold water, ram’s skins, goat’s hair (Exodus 24:4-5), anything; desires instead of performances; the will for the deed; grief for want of will for the will itself (2 Corinthians 8:12), and all because from such as are united unto Christ in whom the Lord is so well pleased, (Matthew 3:17), and He looks on the very smoke of His saint’s performance, mixed with Christ’s merits, as a sweet perfume.
Thomas Lye Cripplegate Sermons v.5 P. 299