The Pattern of Perfection Exhibited in Gods Image on Adam, Part 1 · Section 6
§. 6.
NOw we come to another paſſage:Of freewill in Adam. from wiſedome in the underſtanding, and holineſſe and righteouſneſſe in the will, there flowes a third thing, and it is that which we call freewill: he had power to doe good, which floweth from the two former parts. Freewill to doe good is the garland of all graces, and is made up of them. We may eaſily perceive it by the want of it; for we hang back, and cannot be brought to the performance of ſervice due to God. Adam had a freedome of will, which was the excellency and beauty of wiſdome, holineſſe, and righteouſneſſe.
Queſt. What is freewill?
What it is.A. It is a ſpeciall priviledge proceeding from the image of God in Adam, whereby he was able to chuſe any good without any impediment, yet after a mutable manner.
In this deſcription are foure things.
1. It is a ſpeciall priviledge proceeding from the image of God, viZ. holineſſe, righteouſneſſe, and wiſedome. The ſtatelineſſe of a building comes from all the parts conjoyned; beat down the parts, and it will bee an heape of ſtones: ſo freewill is the ſtructure that God put on Adam, whoſe beauty flowes from the joyning together of wiſedome, holineſſe, and righteouſneſſe. This was a ſpeciall priviledge to Adam: no creature, beſides him and Angels, had free liberty to doe good. God put this ſtocke into his hand. When I ſay Adam had this ſpeciall priviledge, I do not ſay therefore he was free from ſubjection to God; for God gave Adam a law, and concurred with him in his worke; but the diſpenſation of the worke God left to Adams liberty: if he did well he ſhould be rewarded; if he did ill, he ſhould be puniſhed. God would not conſtrain Adam to his ſervice, nor compel him to evill. The other creatures could not meddle with him, for they were under him; therefore he was free. Hence the Philoſopher obſerves, that praiſe and diſpraiſe belongs onelyonly to man. Wee praiſe not the fire for burning, becauſe it is tyed to it by a bond of neceſſity; but Adam might doe, or not doe; if he did well, he was to bee praiſed, becauſe hee might have done evill: if hee did evill, he was to be diſpraiſed, becauſe he might have done well. Still God concurres with Adam, as he doth with the nature of the creatures: he workes with the fire when it burnes, with the ſparrow when it flyes: for ſo it is in 2 Cor. 3.17. where the ſpirit is, there is liberty: there is a ſoveraignty in the will of a regenerate man, by which all creatures are under his diſpoſe, which God will not, the creature cannot hinder: Therefore Chriſt ſaith unto the beleeving Jewes, Joh. 8.32. If you heare my words you are free.
2. Hee was enabled to chuſe any thing that was good. Freedome is not ſeated in the underſtanding; therefore the deſcription ſaith. He chuſeth good; which is an act of the will. The will can imbrace nothing, but what the underſtanding preſents unto it, 'tis true; but it is as true, that the liberty of freedome lyes mainely in the will: For example, when a man hath diſputed what a duty is, and hath concluded it, he preſents this unto the will, which either allowes or rejects it; ſo that ſtill the choice lyeth in the will. It is eaſie to convince a mans underſtanding, all the difficulty is in the will: The will ſaith obſtinately, I will not heare upon that eare. If the Judge be unjuſt, hee will have the Jury bring in a verdict according to his minde. When the underſtanding hath obſerved what is true, and tells the heart, You muſt not doe thus or thus; the will ſaith, I muſt have another verdict: ſo that the root of liberty is mainely in the will. Deut. 30.19. I have ſet life and death before you, chuſe life, &c. That is, the bleſſings are many if you obey; the curſes are many, if you diſobey: therefore chuſe the good way. Act. 5.4. Was it not in thy power, &c? as if he ſhould ſay, It was in thy choice to have given, or not to have given. I adde, that the will of Adam could chuſe any good, whether naturall, morall, or heavenly; the two former remaines in us, but Adam was further enabled to chuſe holy things. There was no command, but hee was able to obey, nor no truth but hee was able to chuſe. Good is the food of the will, Adam was able to diſgeſt any good with full content: and herein mainely conſiſts liberty, for a man to chuſe that which is good: It is no liberty for a man to be carried on headily to evill. Men eſteeme none ſo free, as they that chuſe what they liſt. I will chuſe bad as well as good, ſaith one; I will profane an holy-day as well as ſanctifie it; but this is not free-will, to be hurried on to evill. In 2. Pet. 2.19. the falſe Apoſtles would give a man free liberty to doe any thing, and yet goe to heaven, as the Text ſaith,2 Pet. 2.19 promiſing liberty when t…y themſelves are the ſervants of ſinne. There is no ſuch ſlavery under heaven, as to be ſlave to ſinne: but for a man to have a ſoveraigne uncontrolled power, to be carried to that which is good truely and ſpiritually, this is liberty. The Angels of heaven are moſt free in the performance of their duty: they are ſo confirmed, that they cannot love evill; nay, God himſelfe wills good moſt freely. There are no bounds to his will, and yet he cannot but will good: therefore when wee are able to will good moſt freely, wee are moſt free. He is a free man, that is able to follow good, beyond perſecutions and temptations. The other deſcription of liberty is a very falſe one.
3. Without any impediment. Of impediments in chuſing good.This is a great bleſſing, to be able to embrace good without any hinderance. Nothing could croſſe Adam in his courſe. A man may binde anothers hands, but he cannot command the will. There was this ſpeciall priviledge in Adams will, that nothing could thwart him. Now this appeares in foure things:
1. There was no weakneſſe in him to diſable him: there was no good to be done, beyond the depth of his underſtanding, and reach of his will. Pſal. 73.16. David had that feebleneſſe of underſtanding, that it was too difficult for him, to obſerve the difference of Gods providence: but this was not in Adam.
2. There was no ſtirre of corruption, that could oppoſe him: corruption is like a backe-byas, that hinders our courſe. The Saints of God finde alwayes ſome ſtirrings of corruption ſtill oppoſing them in duty; but it was not ſo in Adam. Gal. 5.17. The fleſh luſteth againſt the Spirit. This every Saint of God findes: for when he would be humble, then pride ſtirres, &c. it was otherwiſe with Adam.
3. There was no ſtrength of corruption that might foile him; but our corruptions prevaile over us. Rom. 7.23. I ſee another law leading mee captive unto the law of ſinne. Mans proud heart makes him vent wrathfull words, and foyles him; but Adam had no power of corruption to foyle him. As it is with a ſhip well trimmed, if winde and tide ſerve, it goes on amain: ſo Adams heart was full of holineſſe, which carried him forward to good amaine: he had ſea-roome to inlarge himſelfe in the choice of good.
4. There was nothing without to ſtop Adam in what he would. The Divell might offer a temptation to Adam, but he could offer no compulſion: he might ſee, if he could perſwade him, but he could not force him. When the ſerpent ſpoke with Eve, if ſhe had reſiſted him, he would have gone from her. For Adam had the ſoveraigne dominion over the creatures, the Divell only uſurpt it. Adam had nothing within, nothing without to hinder him.
The fourth thing in the deſcription is, that it was after a mutable manner. The meaning is, Adam was able, as to chuſe any good which God had revealed, and performe it, ſo to entertaine any evill, and commit it. It was with Adams liberty as with a paire of ſcales that are equall; if you put more into the one then the other, you will eaſily make the one ſinke and the other riſe: ſo Adam was in an even poize, he might be carried to good, if hee would exerciſe that power he had; and he might turne himſelfe towards evill, if hee would abuſe that liberty he had.
For the opening of this, two queſtions may be ſcanned.
Queſt. 1. What was the ground of the manner of this choice of good and evill in Adam?
Anſ. It lay in the nature of Adam, and flowed from that mutability which was in the nature of Adam, who was a reaſonable creature. Though nothing could force Adam to turne from a good courſe, yet there was a mutability joyned with his liberty, that he might turne himſelfe from God. Solomon having diſcourſed of the deceit of a woman, ſuppoſing it demanded whence it came? He anſwereth,Eccl. 7. ult I know, that God made man upright, but he ſought out inventions: inventions were of his owne deviſing, not of Gods ordering. Nothing in the world could compell man to doe it; but hee ſought out crooked wayes. This was intended in the two Sacraments, that Adam had, Gen. 2.9. the Lord ſet two trees in the garden: firſt, the tree of life, to intimate, that as verily as he ſaw that tree, ſo verily, if he loved God, hee ſhould live for ever; and ſecondly, the tree of knowledge of good and evill, to wit, if hee did eat of that fruit, hee ſhould know what it was to have the image of God, and what to bee deprived of it. Theſe two Sacraments intimated, that God had ſet life and death before Adam; hee might chuſe the one, and refuſe the other. Our Sacraments ſignifie not ſo. Baptiſm ſignifies our implanting into Chriſt, the Lords Supper ſignifies our growth in Chriſt: but in the Sacraments of Adam, the one ſhewed a poſſibility he had to live, the other the poſſibility he had to dye. This mutability was no part of the liberty of Adam; for it deſtroyed his liberty: but it was a quality, that did accompany the condition of Adam. Gen. 1.1.Darkneſſe was upon the face of the deepe. The text doth not ſay, God created darkneſſe, but it did accompany the creature naturally: ſo did this mutability accompany Adam. Immutability belongs to God onelyonly, and therefore Job ſaith, he found no ſtedfaſtneſſe in his Angels: mutability therefore belongs to the creature, as a creature.
Queſt. But how did this ſtand with the perfection of Adams nature?
An. Marvellous well, without any diſparagement to the image of God; nay, he could be no other. It was no ſinne in Adam to be mutable, but that he abuſed all, when hee might have uſed it to Gods glory. It was ſo farre from being a blemiſh to Adams nature, that it agreed very conveniently with it. Herein appeares the difference betweene Adams eſtate, the eſtate of the Saints glorified, and the wicked now damned. Adam was to trade for an immutable condition, therefore could not have it put into his hand at firſt. The Saints that have fought the fight of faith, are eſtabliſhed, and never ſhall doe evill, becauſe they have performed obedience unto God through Chriſt: The damned, becauſe they have ſinned againſt God, and have withdrawne themſelves from his authority, are immutably evill; for God hath ſeparated himſelfe, all his holineſſe, and the meanes of grace from them, and delivered them up to the power of ſinne; as who ſhould ſay, Take them, all ye crue of curſed abominations, and carry them headlong to will evill eternally, and periſh everlaſtingly. Adam was to trade for this immutable condition before he could have it; firſt he was to fight before he could conquer: And as he was not immutably good, ſo hee could not be immutably evill. As it is with a man that hath an eſtate left him; if he will trade with it, he may live; if hee ſpend it, he may lye in priſon: ſo it was with Adam. Again, had God eſtabliſhed and confirmed▪ Adam, he ſhould have prevented all opportunities of the manifeſtation of his juſtice in condemning, and of his mercy in pardoning. Had hee been immutably good, none could have been puniſhed, becauſe none had offended, none could have beene pardoned, becauſe none had ſinned.
Quest. But why was this freedome to doe good imprinted on Adam?
Anſw. Becauſe without it, Adams obedience could not have beene acceptable: The Lord loves, as a cheerfull giver, 2 Cor. 9.7.ſo a cheerfull performer of ſervice. It is the Apoſtles rule, The Lord accepts a willing minde. If a man grudge to give to a poore man, God flings his gift into his face: a willing minde makes the ſervice acceptable. All Gods ſervants muſt be Volunteers, not preſt. As Deborah, Jud. 5.4. My ſoule is with thoſe that offer themſelves willingly. We abhorre it in our ſervants when they come to their worke as a Beare to the ſtake, and will God accept it at our hands? All the offerings of God muſt be freewill offerings. Thus our Saviour did, that knew how to pleaſe God, Pſal. 40.8. I am delighted to doe thy will, O my God, and thy law is within my heart. He comes not off with murmuring,Joh. 4.34. but ſaith It is my meat and drinke to doe thy will. When you are at a feaſt, you can ſit at it houre after houre; ſo if our duties be as our meat and our drinke, they will not be tedious to us. Eph. 6.7. Wee muſt ſerve God with a goodwill: It is an unſeemely thing, to cauſe God to diſtraine for his ſervice. God will have his praiſe out of a proud heart: but then God honours himſelfe, we honour him not. The Devill himſelf will do duties after this faſhion. In Job 1.6. it is ſaid, the Devill came alſo. He would have been ranging and raging about the world, but God made him come alſo. Mar. 5. We know that thou art the Son of God: God wreſted a confeſſion out of him. It is not acceptable, when we are haled to duty; the Devill doth ſo: the ſervice that God accepts is done willingly. Thou ſhalt ſerve the Lord with a glad heart, and be carried on full ſayle in the wayes of godlineſſe.
2. Had not Adam had a freedome to good, he could not have beene puniſhed for ſinne: for he that conſtraines another to do an evill action, is to be condemned. If a man ſhould compell another to ſtrike a man, hee that forced him ought to be blamed: a man cannot be blamed for what he cannot avoid. Now that Adams ſinne might bee puniſhed, and his ſervice accepted, it was neceſſary hee ſhould have ability to chuſe good, and refuſe evill; wherefore the fault was Adams in falling, and not Gods.
Juſtifie God concerning Adams fall.Uſe 1. Hence. we learne to juſtifie the Lord, and let the fault of Adam lye upon himſelfe and his poſterity … owne fault. The Lord … Adam ability to doe wh… he ſhould; if therefore he did not what hee might, he is to be condemned, the Lord to be juſtified. It is in vaine for thee to plead, that thou canſt not doe thy duty: The Lord knowes I carry a body of death about me: I confeſſe it is ſo, but whoſe fault is it? Eſa. 3.11. Say unto the wicked, it ſhall goe evill with him, for hee ſhall receive the reward of his owne hands. Your owne hands framed your owne ruine. Prov. 1.28. They ſhall call, but I will not heare: they might reply, This is a hard chapter: But what ſaith the Text, they would none of my counſell, therefore they ſhall eat the fruit of their own waies. This muſt cut off all pleas; remember Adam had liberty, and thou in him. Thou ſhalt bee ſatisfied with the fruit of thine owne planting, and God will fill thee with the fruit of thine owne devices. The malicious man ſhall have malice enough in hell, and ſhall for ever hate God, and for ever be tormented.
Againe, it ſhould ſtill our repinings againſt God; vaine it is to ſnarle againſt the Lord. The Lord did not aſſiſt Adam: yet there was no fault in God: for Adam had freedome of will without any oppoſition, and thou in him; therefore thy bloud be upon thine owne head, God is to be juſtified. You ſought out inventions; if therefore you have what you ſeek, the fault is your owne. Pſal. 51.4. I was ſhapen in iniquity, and in ſinne hath my mother conceived me. Thou O Lord art cleare, it is my iniquity that deſerved it. Matth. 13.21. Whence came thoſe Tares? The enemy hath done this. So ſay thou, I confeſſe my mind is blind, mine heart is corrupt, whence came theſe Tares? the Lord ſowed good ſeed; if therefore I am uncleane, the envious man hath done it, therefore acquit the Lord for ever.
Hence wee may ſee,Uſe 2. To know whether Gods image be reſtored. whether we ever had this image reprinted and reſtored. Where ever the Image of God is, there is freedome. If ever ſound grace bee in thee, thou ſhalt find thine heart unſhackled, and ſet at liberty to cloſe with the Lord. 2. Corin. 3.17. Where the Spirit is, there is freedome, and an heart carried willingly to do the ſervice God requires. It was that that our Saviour proclaimed. Iſaiah 61.2. an acceptable yeare, it was that was typified in the old Law by the yeare of Jubilee, when the ſervant was free from his Maſter, the Debter from his Creditour: ſo Chriſt came to preach the yeare of Jubilee, that all poor drudges that have been ſlaves to Sathan, and indebted to Gods juſtice, ſhould be freed from the guilt of ſinne in juſtification, from the ſlavery of ſin in ſanctification. In Act. 8. when Peter was in the towne ſtreets, he perceived hee was not in a dreame, but it was a thing reall: ſo it is with thy ſoule: Canſt thou finde that God hath knockt off thy fetters? then thou mayſt know, this is a realitie, not a dreame of grace. If Peter had dreamed he had been out of priſon, and had been fettered in the morning, hee would have knowne hee had been in a dreame: ſo thou haſt dreamed that God hath renewed thee; Are thy fetters of ſin on thee? then it was but a dream, indeed, and when thou awakeſt by death, thou ſhalt ſee thy ſelfe bound up in chaines of darkneſſe. Pſalm. 45.17. All the ſonnes of God are Princes; all Gods ſervants are free-men, 1 Cor. 7.22. If thou art Chriſts, thou art a free man, to be carried uncontrollably to good: though ſinne and Sathan conſpire againſt thee, they ſhall never overcome thee, but thou ſhalt ſtill be victorious.
Qu. But what ſhall we ſay of many that ſeeme holy, whoſe ſinnes clogge thim heavily? Where was Saint Pauls freedome, when hee was led captive, as hee ſpeakes of himſelfe?
Of the captivity of ſin in the godly.An. A man may be led captive, and yet be free too. This freedome in captivity appeares in three things.
1. Though many times by the violence of Occaſions, the Saints are ſurprized, yet they have hearts to approve of the good, they cannot do. This is that Saint Iames ſpeaks of, Chap. 1. ult. If a man, ſaith he, hath Religion, and ſweareth, and rayleth againſt Gods truth, hee deceives himſelfe; but this is pure religion to keep a mans ſelfe unſpotted. Looke as it is with a City beſieged, when it is taken, the enemies make thoſe that are in the city ſweare to their King; if now a man reſolves to take his death, rather then the oath, he keepes himſelfe unſpotted from treaſon. So Sathan by long ſiege tranſports the heart unto the commiſſion of evill; yet the ſoule keepes it ſelfe untainted, when it chuſes the good it cannot do. Deut. 22.25. if an adulterer offer a rape to a Virgin, the ſinne is his that forced her, it lies not on the party forced: ſo Sathan in a ſort forceth the ſoule to the commiſſion of evill: if therefore thine heart beare it as a burthen, the fault is Sathans and not thine.
2. Yet the ſoule takes part with the word againſt both the temptations, that would inveigle it, & the corruptions, that would foyle it. As it approveth all good, ſo it joynes ſides with the word againſt all evill. Rom. 7.15. I doe the thing that I hate. The ſpirit luſteth againſt the fleſh; the heart is reſolved to die in the quarrell: though it cannot prevaile as it would, yet it will fight as it can. 2 Cor. 13.8. I can doe nothing againſt the truth.
3 The ſoule gets the upper hand of evill. David was never adulterous more, Peter never denied his maſter more; the ſoule not onelyonly reformes infirmities outwardly, but ſubdues the diſtempers inwardly. 1 Ioh. 5▪18. Hee keepes himſelfe, that the evill one touch him not. Rom. 8.2. The law of the Spirit ſets a man free from the law of ſin and of death. Sathan ſaith, Thou mayſt be full of malice and ſpleen: the law of meekneſſe ſaith, I will not bee full of ſpleen: ſo alſo the law of humility takes off the law of pride.Pro. 28.13. Hee that confeſſeth and forſaketh his ſinne, ſhall finde mercy: the ſame phraſe is uſed, Gen. 2. The wife ſhall forſake father and mother. The woman forſakes, Firſt, the place and company. Secondly, the authority of father and mother. Thirdly, ſhee is not to perform what ſervice they will require, but what her husband requires: ſo the ſoule muſt forſake the houſe of ſin. If thou wert married to Chriſt, thou wouldſt loathe the place, and abhorre the ſociety of thoſe that goe down into hell themſelves, and lead others with them. I ſay, if a man were married to Chriſt, hee would not bee under the authority of corruption, but being delivered from the bondage of ſinne, will utterly forſake it.
To get liberty, labour for holineſſe.Uſe 3. The third Uſe is of exhortation. The former truth ſhould force every ſoule to imploy the beſt of his endeavours to gaine this holineſſe. Will any man be a free man? let him be an holy man. Bee ſure of the one, and thou canſt not miſſe of the other; and where the one is not, the other cannot bee. Liberty ſhould bee like a load-ſtone, to draw us to it. Nature hateth ſlavery; then if we would bee freed from it, let us get holineſſe. Experience teaches, that the poor bird will beat her ſelfe to death, rather then be kept in a Cage. What poor ſhifts men in captivitie take to bee freed from thoſe that are hard taskemaſters over them, our often Briefes ſhew. Wee are all captives, taken by the policy of Satan; Let us make a gathering out of the ſtock of the prayers of Gods ſervants; and let thine owne prayer bee, Oh guide and direct mee how to get power againſt my corruptions. How carefull are men to purchaſe the liberty of a Corporation, and how highly doe they account of it when they have it! In Acts 22.23. Saint Paul ſaith, he purchaſed to be a free man of Rome with a great ſumme. What ſlaviſh hearts have wee then, when we may be incorporated into the body of Chriſt, and will ſtick for a little? Goe and ſell that you have, what ever it coſt you, that you may bee free men in Chriſtianitie. Chriſt ſaith, Joh. 8.32. If you continue in my words, you ſhall be free; To continue in Gods word, is to ſubmit to the authority of the truth; for if we doe thus, we are free. Rev. 6.2. And I ſaw, and behold a white horſe, &c. The white horſe there, is the truth. It is called a white horſe, becauſe of the purity of it, and it prevailes whereſoever it comes. Would you be free? then let the Word prevaile in you. Is it not every mans deſire, that when the ſtrength of corruption, and the violence of perſecution preſſe in upon him, then to be conquerour of all? Labour then to get this image of God, and you ſhall be above all things, but God, and be carried on incontrollably in a good courſe.