One-Hundred Forty-Five Sermons Upon John 17, Sermon 106
SERMON CVI. Of both the Moving Cauſe and Effects of Election and of Chriſts Prayer and Death; Againſt Arminians and others.
JOH. 17.20.
But for them alſo who ſhall beleeve in me through their Word.
WE come to a Second Obſervation from the circumſtance of the future tenſe, Who ſhall beleeve in me; For (as was intimated) there may be a twofold ſence of theſe words.
1. That this future Faith is mentioned as an effect and fruit of being given to Chriſt, as alſo of Chriſts Prayer and Death for them, So that he doth not only pray for them which ſhall beleeve, but alſo that they may beleeve, and in this ſenſe the Orthodox interpret it.
Or 2. It may be interpreted as if Faith were here ſuppoſed as a condition on our part, antecedaneous both to Gods Election, and alſo Chriſts Interceſſion and death, So that the ſence ſhould be, Theſe were given to Chriſt, and Chriſt he praied and died for them, becauſe it was foreſeen by God, that ſuch would beleeve upon the means of grace offered, and others not; In this ſence Meiſner a Lutheran urgeth it, and thus all Arminians and others muſt take it, who hold that we were Elected from a foreſight of our Faith and perſeverance therein.
But that this cannot be the meaning of our Saviour is evident, becauſe the ground of Chriſts Prayer even in reſpect of thoſe who ſhall beleeve is, becauſe They were given to him by the Father, as appeareth verſ. 9. I pray not for the world but for them which thou haſt given me; Seeing therefore the Foundation of Chriſts Interceſſion is becauſe they were given by Election to Chriſt as a people to be ſaved through him, it's plain, that Chriſt praied not becauſe he foreſaw that they would beleeve, but becauſe they were Elected: It's true, the Arminians do in a moſt violent and ſtrange manner wreſt that phraſe of being given to Chriſt; They underſtand it not of an action of the Father, but of the diſpoſition of the Subject; Hence it is they ſpeak ſo much of a probum ingenium, or a docilis indoles, as if it were ſome towardly diſpoſition in man, that fitted him for grace, but thus it would be rather who have given themſelves to Chriſt rather then that the Father had given them, and indeed this is ſuch a thorn in their ſides, that they cannot pull out, if by ſuch who ſhall beleeve were to be underſtood, thoſe that upon Gods foreſight were known to improve the means of Faith better then others, then all the difference from others, and the utmoſt reſolution of ſalvation, yea and Election would be unto a mans ſelf, when yet the Apoſtle doth expreſly ſtop ſuch mouths, What haſt thou that thou haſt not received? and who made thee to differ from another, 1 Cor. 4.7.
The Text thus vindicated and explained, I gather this Obſervation.
That Chriſt died not, and ſo we were not Elected becauſe we will beleeve, Doct.but our beleef is the effect and fruit of Chriſts death and our Election: Our Faith is not a condition upon which our Election or Chriſts Death ſtands ſuſpended and indeterminate, but theſe do make us infallibly and effectually to beleeve in time: There are two common Opinions, The one holding, That God from all Eternity knew who would beleeve in time, and perſevere therein, and thereupon they were Elected, and Chriſt died for us; This way go Arminians and others; But 2. The Orthodox, they affirm that God did from all Eternity chooſe ſome out of the corrupt maſſe to Eternall glory, and for this end to give them Faith and holineſſe as the means thereunto; So that God did not elect us becauſe we did or would beleeve, but that we might beleeve, we beleeve becauſe we are Elected, not Elected becauſe we beleeve: This Doctrine is very uſeful becauſe it tends to humble and debaſe man, and wholly to exalt the grace of God, and therefore the more diligently to be confirmed becauſe of late ſo greatly oppoſed:
And before we bring Scripture-Arguments Let us Conſider ſome few things that will clear the ſtate of the Queſtion,
As 1. There is a difference of thoſe who hold our Election, and ſo Chriſts Death to be upon the foreſight of ſomething in us, Some are more groſſe then others, For there are ſome that hold a man is Elected to glory upon the foreſight of his cooperation with the grace of God, as a true merit deſerving this Election, ſo that with them God did behold who by his free will would improve the offer of grace, and for this as a meritorious cauſe they ſay God did Elect them unto Eternal Glory: But this is ſo highly injurious to the Grace of God, that though ſome Papiſts have maintained it, yet Bellarmine Valentia and other Jeſuites wholly diſclaim it at leaſt in words, making no other cauſe of predeſtination in reſpect of all the effects of it, but the ſole and meer good pleaſure of God.
2. There are others, and they ſay the foreſight of the good or better uſe of our free-will then others is not a meritorious but a moving cauſe with God of our Election to Happineſſe: So that our Faith and Holineſſe though they were not a meriting Cauſe, yet were a moving Cauſe of our predeſtination, but this is alſo too groſly repugnant and contradictory to Scripture.
3. There are thoſe who refine it more ſubtlely, and that is, That God did foreſee who would beleeve and perſevere therein to Death, and ſuch are peremptorily choſen to Eternall Life, not that their Faith or Perſeverance is any merit or moving Cauſe, but a Conditio ſine quâ non, without which God would not chooſe ſuch to happineſſe, ſo that (ſay they) it's not for any intrinſecall. Dignity or excellent worth in Faith, but becauſe of the many poſſible waies and means to Salvation; God appoints this way of beleeving rather then another, and thus the Arminians, Only they acknowledge Holineſſe of Life, and Obedience to God to be thus a Condition foreſeen as well as Faith, though they would ſeem utterly to deny it.
4. There are the Lutherans, and they indeed hold Faith fore-ſeen as a Condition in our Election; Only they ſay, It's not conſidered as a merit, or a Cauſe, no, nor as a work, but as an Inſtrument apprehending Chriſts merits, and therefore make Election to be by Faith, in the ſame ſence as we are juſtified by Faith; Hence they deny Holineſſe or Obedience to be a condition ingredient to Election, becauſe Chriſt is not laid hold upon by that as by Faith, although herein they contradict themſelves, becauſe they acknowledge not Faith ſingly as ſo, but Perſeverance in Faith to be the Condition, and that muſt be neceſſarily looked upon as a work, not as an Inſtrument receiving Chriſt; But the Orthodox they affirm conſonantly to Scripture, and ſutably to the Glory of Gods Grace, That God did from all Eternity chooſe ſome men out of that corrupt maſſe in which all were, to Eternall Glory, and by the ſame Act did prepare and appoint all thoſe means which would effectually produce the ſame, So that this Election is the Originall and Fountain of all Spirituall mercies: becauſe Elected, Chriſt is appointed a Mediatour: Becauſe Elected, they are called and enabled to beleeve in time, So that we deny there are two Elections, One to Glory, another to Grace; But God by the ſame ſingle Act doth will both, and therefore that there is not the ſame Reaſon of Election, and of Juſtification or Salvation, for theſe being Acts done in time do require Faith and Holineſſe, as antecedent, but Election being an Act of God from all Eternity cannot preſuppoſe any thing in us.
Reaſons.Now the Arguments to confirm us in this Truth they are theſe following.
Firſt, Becauſe the Scripture when it speaketh of this great and wonderfull work of Election, it doth ſtill reſolve all into the Counſell of his will, not into any thing fore ſeen in a man, Epheſ. 8. Roman. 8. Roman. 9. and in many other places it is ſtill ſaid, He hath choſen us according to his Will, according to his purpoſe; Now if ſo be it were for any thing foreſeen in us, it would be rather according to the Counſell of our will, and according to our purpoſe: There cannot any rationall Anſwer be given unto this Argument, for according to the Adverſaries, God doth not Elect or chooſe any, untill he foreſee what every man will do, and if he do well and perſevere in this, then he is predeſtinated, but this doth at once daſh out all the Prepoſitions Prae, and turn them into Poſt, it is not prae-deſtination but poſt-deſtination, not foreign but foreign; And this adminiſters a ſecond Argument.
Secondly, If ſo be that God did Elect and chooſe to Eternall Life becauſe he did fore-ſee our Faith, then the whole difference of one Beleever from another would be attributed ſolely to mans Power; For to ſay, That this is Gods Decree, and his Appointment, that whoſoever ſhall beleeve ſhall be ſaved, doth not in the leaſt work upon any perſon, no more then that Decree of God, Whoſoever ſhall do this ſhall live, doth ſuppoſe any that will exactly keep the Law, ſo that no man in the world may beleeve for all this Decree; And thus when Chriſt prayed for thoſe who ſhall beleeve, he might have praied for a Non ens, a thing which might never have been; Therefore all the Queſtion is, How come ſome to beleeve and not others? How is it that of many who live under the ſame means of Grace, ſome are called effectually, and others grow more wicked and ſinnefull? Certainly the Scripture doth not give this unto mans Will, but to Gods free-grace and Love, as Matthew 13. To you it is given to know the Myſteries of the Kingdom of God, and unto others not: Thus Chriſt alſo Matthew 11. ſolemnly bleſſed and thanked God, That he had hid theſe things of Heaven from the wiſe and prudent ones of the world, and that he had revealed them unto Babes: And the Apoſtle expreſly, Who hath made thee to differ from another? 1 Corinth. 4.7. Therefore it's horribly injurious unto the Grace and goodneſſe of God to ſay, That under the ſame Means of Grace I made my Self to beleeve, to repent rather than another: Certainly ſuch an Opinion as this is ſo groſſe and abſurd, that well may Arminianiſm be ſaid not only to be repugnant to many places of Scripture, but even to the common ſence and experience of all beleevers; They have a witneſſe within their own breaſts, That they were as unwilling, as froward, as oppoſite to the work of Grace as any; That it was God that made them of unwilling, willing: Even as there were many others that heard Paul, yet God is ſaid to open the heart of Lydia rather then others.
Thirdly, Faith and all holineſſe is the Effect and Fruit of our Election, and alſo of the Death of Chriſt, and therefore it cannot be an antecedent Condition; That is plain, that the ſame thing cannot be an Effect and Conſequent of Election, and yet an antecedent Condition, at leaſt in the ſame Reſpects, for then it ſhould be conſidered as before and after at the ſame time, which is a plain Contradiction: Now that Faith is a Conſequent and an Effect of Election, and that we are Elected to Faith and Holineſſe, not becauſe we have Faith and Holineſſe, is clear by ſeverall Texts of Scripture, as Act. 13.48. They beleeved as many as were ordained to Eternall Life: Here is plainly ſet down the Effect and the Cauſe; They beleeved, and why? Becauſe ordained to Eternall Life; As for that Cavill to underſtand foreign intranſitively, as if it were no more than diſpoſiti, and ſo did imply ſome inherent probity that is not worth the anſwering; For how were the Gentiles diſpoſed to beleeve, who were ſaid to be dead in ſinnes, and plunged into all manner of impiety untill Grace had converted them: Beſides this diſpoſedneſſe to beleeve, whence doth it ariſe? Either from our ſelves, and ſo all Glory is due to us, or from the Grace of God; And if ſo, How cometh it to paſſe that ſome have it and not others but becauſe of Election? And it is further to be added, That it is not ſaid in the Text, They beleeved that were ordained; Or (as they ſay) diſpoſed to beleeve, but to Eternall Life, which doth neceſſarily ſuppoſe an Action of God, in whoſe power alone it is to diſpoſe of Eternall Life: Thus alſo Epheſ. 1. There are very emphaticall Expreſſions to ſhew that we are Elected to be holy and unblameable in the ſight and preſence of God; And whereas they would referre this to our glorious Eſtate in Heaven that cannot be, becauſe unblameable doth properly relate to our being here upon the Earth: It is true, we will readily grant, That both Faith and Holineſſe they doe enter into the Decree of Election taken terminatively, as it ends in Everlaſting Happineſſe: Therefore it is a meer Calumny to ſay, We hold ſuch an abſolute Election to Glory and Happineſſe as hath no reſpect to Chriſt or to Faith: For although we deny that Chriſt was the meritorious Cauſe of our Election, yet it's plain by Scripture we are choſen in him as the Head, and ſo the Cauſe of all the Benefits that come by Election; And God had reſpect unto Faith, He choſe Beleevers to Salvation, onelyonly this Faith was not looked upon as an antecedent Condition in us, but as a qualification which God by Election doth work in the hearts of thoſe that ſhall be ſaved: We ſay, God hath Elected ſuch to Salvation whom in time he will by that Decree make Beleevers; For he that wils an end doth thereby will the means that tendeth thereunto, only we deny they were ſuppoſed Beleevers firſt, and then God Elected them.
Fourthly, God doth not Elect upon the fore-ſight of Perſeverance in Faith, Becauſe the Scripture every where makes Election to be the Origina…l and Cauſall Fountain or Womb of all other Benefits; That Ninth Chapter to the Romanes is pregnant to this purpoſe, where Election is made to be that which bringeth about all bleſſed Eff…cts in time, Election hath obtained, and it is not of him that willeth, or runneth, but of God that ſheweth mercy; Whereas Austin of old urged by the Adverſaries Opinion replied; We might as well ſay according to them, it is not of him that calleth, but of him that willeth; And Rom. 8. The Apoſtle maketh predeſtination the cauſe of Vocation, Juſtification, and Glorification, not Vocation the Cauſe of Predeſtination.
Fifthly, If the humane Nature of Chriſt was not choſen to the perſonall Union for any fore-ſeen merit, much leſſe may any meer man be Elected to Glory, becauſe of any ſuppoſed worth; This was an Argument urged of old by Auſtin, and is very ſtrong; By what Grace that particular man was made Chriſt, by that we are made Chriſtians; Now the Apoſtle ſaith expreſly that Chriſt 1 Peter 1.20. he was fore-ordained and appointed before the Foundation of the world, and all will readily grant, that this was not for any fore-ſeen worth and Excellency in the Humane Nature of Chriſt.
Laſtly, Not to mention all that may be brought, If we are Elected upon Faith fore-ſeen, and Perſeverance therein, then none are Elected until they come to die, and then all thoſe places of Scripture which ſpeaks of our Election ſo as to praiſe God, to have Confidence in him, to triumph over all Afflictions, would all be in vain, for a man that is dead cannot perform theſe Duties.
Ʋſe 1. of Conſolation to all Beleevers, What holy boldneſſe and Confidence may they have for the time to come; Did Chriſt think of thee before ever thou waſt born or come into this world, and will he not now thou haſt a being in this world? Did he minde thee before ever thou hadſt any Grace, and not when thou haſt it? He that did the greater, will he not doe the leſſe?
Ʋſe 2. Of Admonition, To ſearch for the Effects and Fruits of Election in your Lives and Converſations; For if you are of God, and do belong to him, you will hear his Word, The Word one time or another will be effectuall to you.