Sanctification in Christ Is Glorification Begun

…to the contemporary aversion to concepts like duty, responsibility, and hard work in sanctification.

not that i want to get into all this again, but if you read all the points, almost each one is about faith/belief and the gospel. ..

point 13 is maybe the only one that directly addresses works. and the last point states yet again:

Direction Fourteen
That you may seek holiness and righteousness, only by believing in Christ and walking in Him by faith, according to the former directions, take encouragement from the great advantages of this way, and the excellent properties of it.

well, here are points 2-13, if it helps to have them here:

Direction Two
Several endowments and qualifications are necessary to enable us for the immediate practice of the law. Particularly we must have an inclination and propensity of our hearts thereunto; and therefore we must be well persuaded of our reconciliation with God, and of our future enjoyment of the everlasting heavenly happenings, and of sufficient strength both to will and perform all duties acceptably, until we come to the enjoyment of that happiness.

Direction Three
The way to get holy endowments and qualifications necessary to frame and enable us for the immediate practice of the law, is to receive them out of the fullness of Christ, by fellowship with Him; and that we may have this fellowship, we must be in Christ, and have Christ Himself in us, by a mystical union with Him.

Direction Four
The means or instruments by which the Spirit of God accomplishes our union with Christ, and our fellowship with Him in all holiness, are the gospel, by which Christ enters into our hearts to work faith in us, and faith, by which we actually receive Christ Himself, with all His fullness, into our hearts. And this faith is a grace of the Spirit, by which we heartily believe the gospel and also believe on Christ as He is revealed and freely promised to us in this, for all His salvation.

Direction Five
We cannot attain to the practice of true holiness by any of our endeavours while we continue in our natural state and are not partakers of a new state by union and fellowship with Christ through faith.

Direction Six
Those that endeavour to perform sincere obedience to all the commands of Christ, as the condition by which they are to procure for themselves a right and title to salvation, and a good ground to trust on Him for the same, do seek their salvation by the works of the law, and not by the faith of Christ, as He is revealed in the gospel and they shall never be able to perform sincere and true holy obedience by all such endeavours.

Direction Seven
We are not to imagine that our hearts and lives must be changed from sin to holiness in any measure, before we may safely venture to trust on Christ for the sure enjoyment of Himself and His salvation.

Direction Eight
Be sure to seek for holiness of heart and life only in its due order, where God has placed it, after union with Christ, justification and the gift of the Holy Ghost and, in that order, seek it earnestly by faith as a very necessary part of your salvation.

Direction Nine
We must first receive the comforts of the gospel, that we may be able to sincerely perform the duties of the law.

Direction Ten
That we may be prepared by the comforts of the Gospel to perform sincerely the duties of the law, we must get some assurance of our salvation, in that very faith whereby Christ Himself is received into our hearts: therefore we must endeavor to believe on Christ confidently, persuading and assuring ourselves, in the act of believing, that God freely gives to us an interest in Christ and His salvation, according to His gracious promise.
Direction Eleven
Endeavor diligently to perform the great work of believing on Christ in a right manner, without any delay, and then also to continue and increase in your most holy faith; that so your enjoyment of Christ, union and fellowship with Him, and all holiness by Him, may be begun, continued and increased in you.

Direction Twelve
Make diligent use of your most holy faith, for the immediate performance of the duties of the law, by walking no longer according to your own natural state, or any principles or means of practice that belong unto it, but only according to that new state which you receive by faith, and the principles and means of practice that properly belong thereunto; and strive to continue and increase in such manner of practice. This is the only way to attain to an acceptable performance of those holy and righteous duties, as far as it is possible in this present life.

Direction Thirteen
Endeavor diligently to make the right use of any means appointed in the word of God, for the obtaining and practicing holiness, only in this way of believing in Christ, and walking in Him, according to your new state by faith.

Beginning frames it nicely, relating duty and effort to the deeper means…

Direction One
That we may acceptably perform the duties of holiness and righteousness required in the law, our first work is, to learn the powerful and effectual means whereby we may attain to so great an end.
The scope of all is, to teach you how you may attain to that practice and manner of life which we call holiness, righteousness, or godliness, obedience, true religion….The holiness which I would bring to you is spiritual, Rom vii.14. It consists not only in external works of piety and charity, but in the holy thoughts, imaginations, and affections of the soul, and chiefly in love; from whence all other good works must flow, or else they are not acceptable to God….
The second thing contained in this introductory direction, is the necessity of learning the powerful and effectual means, whereby this great and excellent end may be accomplished….This is a very needful premonition: because many are apt to skip over the lesson concerning the means…as superfluous and useless. When once they know the nature and excellency of the duties of the law, they account nothing wanting but diligent performance; and they rush blindly upon immediate practice, making more haste than good speed.

Faith in the gospel is indeed indispensable. I don’t think anyone is disputing that. It simply doesn’t stand alone in sanctification and neither faith nor obedience may be sacrificed to the other.

i do feel like we go in circles with this.

but let me just say, that once you realize how faith in the gospel is so powerful in sanctifying, then one understands why this is what needs to be emphasized. the whole rest of his piece shows this.

sure, no one is denying obedience, duty, responsibility. they are emphasizing the correct means to approach obedience, duty, responsibility. if these things are not understood properly, we just go on in self righteousness and thinking we are earning our daily standing before God.