Divine Truths in Jesus Christ, Chapter 10

Divine Truths in Jesus Christ · Chapter 10

p. 239CHAP. X.

Chap. 10 Touching Grace. The fountain of it Gods love. The ſtreams ſupernatural gifts. The center Heaven. Its freeneſs, in that all periſh not in the fall; Original ſin meriting death, and Chriſt being a free gift. Its freeneſs in chuſing a Church to God. Election not of all; no Legiſlative act, but a ſingling out of ſome to life in an infallible way, and meerly of Grace. Its freeneſs in the external and internal Call. The diſtinction between the two Calls. The efficacy of Grace as to the Principles of Faith and other graces; with the manner of their production, as to actual believing and willing; with the proofs of it, as to perſeverance in faith and holineſs. The Habits of Grace defectible in themſelves, but not in their dependence.

HAVING ſpoken of Original Sin, I ſhall next conſider of Grace, which heals that deadly wound. Grace, in the primary notion of it, is the Love and Good-will of God towards ſinners; and in a ſecondary ſenſe, it is thoſe ſaving-gifts which are derived from that Love. Theſe are called Graces, becauſe they lye in mans heart, as beams of that eternal Grace which is in Gods; and tend to that Glory in Heaven which is Grace conſummate. Gods will goes foremoſt, and works thoſe Graces in mans, which make him meet for eternal happineſs. The fountain of Grace is the free-love of God; the ſtreams of it are ſupernatural gifts in men; the center of it is the glory of Heaven. Theſe things ſhew us the true notion of Grace.

p. 2401. The Fountain of Grace is Gods free Love, which moves it ſelf, and gratuitouſly flows out in ſpiritual bleſſings; theſe iſſue out of love, and that is a motive to it ſelf. Emphatical is that of the Apoſtle, If by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwiſe grace is no more grace: but if it be of works, then it is no more grace; otherwiſe work is no more work, Rom. 11.6. It is eſſential to Grace to be gratuitous; unleſs it be ſo, it loſes its nature. Upon this account Pelagius, that Enemy of Grace, but for his counterfeit Recantation, had had in the Paleſtine Council a juſt Anathema for that ſaying, Gratiam dari ſecundum merita, That Grace was given according to merits or works.Auſt. Hyp. l. 3. When the Pelagians ſaid, Quia ego prior volui, Deus voluit, Becauſe I firſt willed, therefore God willed; Saint Auſtin tells them, That they brought in Merit, that Grace was then no longer Grace: In omni opere ſancto, ſaith he, prior eſt voluntas Dei, poſterior liberi arbitrii; In every holy work Gods will is firſt in order,Si vel tantillum boni a Deo non eſt, jam non omnis boni eſſector eſt. eo que nec Deus. Bucer. and then mans. Without this order, Grace cannot be Grace, nor God God. If he be not the Fountain of all good, if the leaſt good ſtart up and anticipate his will, he is not, as becomes him, the origine of all good. The Fountain of Grace muſt therefore be in his Love.

2. The ſtreams of it are Supernatural Gifts. It's true, natural benefits are in ſome ſenſe grace; but this is not the noted acception of the word in Scripture. This acception was but Pallium Pelagianorum, the Pelagians cloak under which they hid their Hereſie. Hence,Auſt. Epiſt. 105. when that queſtion was asked, What that Grace was which Pelagians thought was given without any precedent merits? Anſwer was made, p. 241That it was the humane nature, in which we were made; for before we were, we could not merit a being. Thus they confounded Grace and Nature together; but the gifts of Grace are above the ſphear of Nature, and altogether undue to it. Indeed in Innocency righteouſneſs was natural to man, not that it was a principle of Nature, or an emanation from thence; but that it was neceſſary and due to that Integrity, which God would ſet up the human nature in. God would make man very good, and how that could be without righteouſneſs, I know not. Moral goodneſs, is that which is proper to a reaſonable creature; neither can it be wanting, but there will be a maim in the creature. There was in man an Union of rational powers, in which he had communion with Angels; and ſenſitive, in which he had communion with Beaſts. This Union could not be made in a perfect orderly manner, unleſs the ſenſitive powers, being the more ignoble, were ſubjected to the rational, being the more excellent faculties; that ſubjection could not be without a righteouſneſs. This is the rectitude and harmony of humane nature: without it all the parts and powers of the Soul muſt needs jangle into confuſion. God would have man to ſerve and obey him in a perfect manner; And how could this be without a principle of holy love? Which way ſhould there be actual righteouſneſs without original? Without an internal rectitude, man could not love God, as he ought, amore amicitiae, with a love of friendſhip, for his own ſake; and without ſuch a love, referring all to God and his glory, all mans acts, a primo ad ultimum, muſt needs be ſin. God would ſet before a man a moſt glorious end, the happineſs of the beatifical viſion: And how ſhould man p. 242ever arrive at it without righteouſneſs? Or want that righteouſneſs which qualifies for it? Such a want would ſet him below the moſt contemptible creatures; none of which are deſtitute of that furniture, which is requiſite for the reaching of their ends. In all theſe reſpects, righteouſneſs was natural, and in a ſort due unto man in Innocency. But after mans fall and forfeiture of Original righteouſneſs, ſaving gifts are altogether ſupernatural; not only as being above the power of nature, but as being totally undue to it. To the ſtate of Innocency, righteouſneſs was in a ſenſe due; but to the ſtate of Corruption, there was nothing due but wrath.

3. The center of it is the Glory of Heaven; Grace prepares a Kingdom for Believers. Hence God bids them, come and inherit the Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the World, Matt. 25.34; it prepares them for the Kingdom. Hence that of the Apoſtle, Giving thanks to the father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the ſaints in light, Col. 1.12. The firſt riſe of Grace, is in the boſom of eternal love; the appearance of it in men, is in ſupernatural gifts: the period and center of it, is in the Glory of Heaven.

Two things in this point of Grace offer themſelves to our conſideration; the freeneſs of Grace, and the Divine efficacy of it.

Firſt, The freeneſs of Grace is to be conſidered, and that in two or three particulars.

1. It is of Free-Grace, that all mankind doth not eternally periſh in the ruines of the fall: That there is a poſſibility of Salvation for any one Son of Adam. When the Angels ſinned but one ſin, God turned them down into chains of darkneſs for ever: Might he not in juſtice have dealt ſo with fallen men? He p. 243was not bound to repair the Angels, thoſe golden Veſſels, once inmates of Heaven; and who can, who dares conceive ſuch a thought, That he was bound to repair men who are but Images of clay, dwelling in the lower World? I know many differences are aſſigned, Man ſinned by ſeduction, Devils by ſelf-motion; in the fall of Man, all the human nature fell; in the fall of Angels, all the Angelical nature fell not. The ſin of Angels was more damnable than Mans, becauſe their nature was more ſublime than his. Men are capable of repentance, but Devils not; becauſe whatever they once chooſe, they do will immovably. But alas! all theſe are but extra-Scriptural conjectures. Man, though tempted, was voluntary in the tranſgreſſion; all men were involved in the fall, but that's no apology for the ſin: The ſin of Man, if not ſo high as that of Angels, was yet a damnable one. It is a vain dream, to ſuppoſe, that Almighty Grace could not have wrought a gracious change in Devils. That which differences us from them, is, as the Scripture tells us, no other, than the meer Grace and Philanthropy of God towards us; he might juſtly have left us under that wrath, which our apoſtacy deſerved. Two things will make this evident.

1. Original ſin, which reaches to all, is properly ſin; and, being ſuch, merits no leſs than eternal death. We all ſinned in Adams ſin, by that one man, ſin entred into the world: The diſobedience of that one, conſtituted all ſinners; which unleſs it had been imputatively theirs, it could never have done. The want of Original righteouſneſs is properly ſin. becauſe it is the want of that which ought to be in us; it ought to be in us, becauſe the pure ſpiritual p. 244Law calls for an holy frame of heart: it ought to be in us, or elſe we are not fallen creatures, but are as we ought to be: If it ought to be in us, then the want of it is properly ſin. The Apoſtle proving that all are ſinners, and ſhort of the Glory of God, tells us, That there is none righteous, no not one; none that underſtandeth, none that ſeeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is no fear of God before their eyes, Rom. 3. Which words denote a want of that habitual righteouſneſs which ought to be in all, even in little Infants: That want is ſin, elſe the Apoſtle could not from thence conclude, That all, Infants not excepted, have ſinned and come ſhort of the glory of God. To want habitual righteouſneſs, which ought to be in us, is to be ſinners, and ſhort of our original. That original concupiſcence, which is in all, is properly ſin; it is over and over called ſin in Scripture, it is the root and black fountain of all impiety, it is oppoſite to the Law and Spirit of God, it impels to all ſin, it fights againſt all graces, and particularly againſt that of love to God: where the creature is inordinately loved, there God is not loved with all the heart and Soul. Theſe things make it appear, That Original ſin is properly ſin; and if ſo, it merits no leſs than death eternal. The Scripture abundantly teſtifieth this, The wages of ſin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord, Rom. 6.23. In which we have a double Antitheſis, Wages is oppoſed to Gift; and eternal Death to eternal Life. By one man ſin entred into the world, and death by ſin, Rom. 5.12: Not meer infelicity, but ſin entred; not meer temporal death, but eternal p. 245followed upon it. Hence the Apoſtle tells us, That there was foreign, judgment unto condemnation, and that upon all men, verſ. 16, and 18. We are by nature children of wrath, even as others, Eph. 2.3. He doth not ſay, by practiſe or cuſtom; but by nature, we are Children of wrath, that is, worthy of it. Nature, as corrupted, is here oppoſed to Grace; which, as the Text after ſpeaks, ſaves us: wrath appertains to nature, ſalvation to grace. This one Text is as a ſtroke of Lightning,**Hoc uno verbo, quaſi fulmine, totus homo, quantus quantus eſt, proſternitur: Bez. in Loc. to lay all men flat and proſtrate before God: even little Infants, being unclean in themſelves, cannot, if unregenerate, ſtand at Gods right hand, and enter into the holy Heavens; they muſt therefore ſtand at his left, and go into darkneſs. Hence St. Auſtin ††Finge Pelagiane locum, ex officina perverſi dogina…is tui, ubi alieni a Chriſti gratia vitam requiei & gloriae poſſidere parvuli poſſint. Auſt. Hyp. l. 5.tells the Pelagians, who denied Original ſin, That they muſt forge out of their Shop of Hereſy, a middle place for ſuch Infants, as are Aliens from the Grace of Chriſt: If Infants are unregenerate, they cannot enter Heaven the place of bliſs. If, as the Pelagians ſay, they are free from ſin, they cannot go to Hell the place of miſery. Tertium ignoramus, A third place I know not, nor can find any ſuch in Scripture: They are therefore ſubject to eternal death for their Original ſin. The ſum of this Argument we have in Anſelm, Si originale peccatum ſit aliquod peccatum, De conc. Virg. cap. 27.neceſſe eſt omnem in eo natum, in illo non dimiſſo damnari. If Original ſin be ſin, it is neceſſary, that every one born in it, ſhould be condemned for it, unleſs it be pardoned; it being impoſſible, that any one ſhould be ſaved, ſo much as with one unremitted ſin. If Original ſin be indeed ſin, and do merit death eternal, then God may juſtly inflict that death for it, p. 246ſeeing he cannot be unjuſt in doing an act of juſtice, in inflicting that puniſhment, which is due to ſin.

2. As on Mans part there is a merit of eternal death; ſo on Gods, the miſſion of Chriſt to ſave us was an act of meer Grace. This is ſet forth in Scripture, God commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet ſinners Chriſt died for us, Rom. 5.8. In this was manifeſted the love of God towards us, becauſe he ſent his only begotten ſon into the world, that we might live through him, 1 Joh. 4.9. God ſo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten ſon, that whoſoever believeth in him, ſhould not periſh, but have everlaſting life, Joh. 3.16. We ſee here, the ſending of a Saviour was an act of meer Grace; and Grace, being ſurely free and ſelf-moving, might have ſuſpended its own act; and that ſuſpenſion, had it been, would have left all men in the ruines of the fall, and that without any colour of injuſtice at all in God. There is a vaſt difference between mercy in Man, and mercy in God; Man ſhews it ex officio, out of duty, and in every failure he is unmerciful: but God ſhews it, ex arbitrio, out of Sovereignty, in ſuch ſort as he pleaſes; and to do more he is not obliged. Hence Gods Purpoſe and Grace are joined together, 2 Tim. 1.9. His Mercy, though an infinite Ocean, lets not out a drop towards fallen creatures, but according to his good pleaſure: If God antecedently to his own decree and promiſe, was bound to ſend his Son to ſeek and to ſave that which was loſt; then the ſending of him, was not an act of grace, but of juſtice and neceſſity: it muſt, it ought to be ſo; the Grace and Love revealed in the Goſpel, is a meer nullity, a thing no way free or gratuitous: but if, as the truth p. 247is, God were not bound to ſend a Saviour, then he might have ſuſpended his own act, and left all mankind in the ruins of the fall.

No man who believes theſe two things, viz. That Original ſin is ſin, and merits wrath; That the Miſſion of a Saviour is Grace and ſelf-moving; can poſſiby have hard thoughts of Gods Decree in the point of Reprobation. We being by Original ſin in a ſtate of wrath, what might not God do with us? Might he not juſtly leave us in the corrupt Maſs? Or might he not juſtly puniſh us there? If not leave us; then, as he would be juſt, he was bound to give a Saviour, and by conſequence the giving of him (which is horrendum dogma) is no more Grace or Mercy, but Neceſſity: If not puniſh us, then as he would be juſt, he was bound not to do an act of Juſtice; I mean, not to inflict that death which is as due wages to every ſin. To me it is clear, That God cannot be cruel or unjuſt, either in denying a Redemption purely gratuitous, or in inflicting a death juſtly due to a ſinful creature.Epiſt. 105. St. Auſtin brings in the Pelagians murmuring thus: Injuſtum eſt in una eadem que mala cauſa, hunc liberari, illum puniri. And then anſwers, Nempe ergo juſtum eſt utrum que puniri, quis hoc negaverit! If Original ſin be ſin, and Grace Grace; if God may be juſt in puniſhing, or free in giving, then he might without any colour of injuſtice, have condemned all men; and if ſo, he might have reprobated all men, and then no ſcruple can be made touching the reprobating of ſome. Theodore Coruhert, Integrum Deo eſt, ſervare vellet an reprobare, nil eſſe quod conqueratur.who in his life wrote againſt Calvin and Beza touching Predeſtination, at his death confeſſed, That God might do his pleaſure in ſaving or condemning him; there was no p. 248reaſon of complaint either way. It is very obſervable, that thoſe who deny Reprobation, do either in whole or in part deny Original ſin, ſaying that it is no ſin, or, which is all one, improperly ſuch; or elſe they have no true notion of Grace in the freeneſs and ſelf-motion of it. And to do either, what is it? To deny Original ſin, is to contradict the Letter of Scripture, the judgment of the Church; nay, and the experience of all men who will but reflect upon themſelves. To deny Grace to be free and ſelf-moving, is to ſay Grace is not Grace, and to evacuate the Goſpel, and to take away the glory of it. Neither of them may be done by any who calls himſelf Chriſtian. The true notion of Sin is, That it is ſuch a violation of the Law, as merits death eternal. The true notion of Grace is, That it operates freely and of ſelf-motion. God, though under no neceſſity, though he might have left faln men as well as faln Angels, under ſin and wrath, was yet pleaſed out of his meer good pleaſure to give a Saviour unto men, and to open a dore to them of ſalvation. This is free-Grace indeed, and for ever to be adored. Thus much touching the firſt thing.

2. It is of free-Grace that God chuſes a Church and people to himſelf; that he deſigns ſome certain individual perſons to the infallible attainment of Grace and Glory. And here I ſhall conſider two things; firſt, That there is ſuch an Election. And then, That it iſſues out of meer Grace.

1. There is ſuch an Election of men unto Grace and Glory. Thus the Apoſtle, He hath choſen us in him before the foundation of the world, Eph. 1.4. He predeſtinated us to the adoption of children by Jeſus p. 249Chriſt, ver. 5. In the clearing of this I ſhall lay down ſeveral things.

1. Election is not of all, but ſome. It's true, Huberus aſſerted an univerſal election of all men: But this is directly oppoſite to Scripture. Few, not all, are choſen, Mat. 22.14. The elect are oppoſed to the blinded ones, Rom. 11.7; a clear diſtinction is made between veſſels of honour and diſhonour, between veſſels of mercy and wrath, between thoſe that are written in the book of Life, and thoſe that are left out of it. Election is called foreign it ſeparates and fingles out ſome to mercy in a way of choice. Were it of all, it could not be Election, there could be nothing of choice in it. The Elect are ſaid to be choſen out of the world, Joh. 15.19: but all are not choſen out of all, that's impoſſible. Election therefore is of ſome individual perſons only: The Lord knoweth thoſe that are his, 2 Tim. 2.19. Their names are all down in the book of life. Phil. 4.3, foreign, this individual perſon, this very Paul, who but now was breathing out blood againſt the Church, this is a veſſel of election, Acts 9.15, ſaith God to Ananias. The elect are called a remnant, Rom. 11.5, becauſe it is made up of ſome individual perſons ſpecially ſingled out of the corrupt maſs unto God. The will of Gods Complacence reſpects Graces without a diſtinction of perſons; Every one that fears God, is accepted, Acts 10.35. A good man draws out favour from the Lord, Prov. 12.2. But the will of Gods Benevolence, ſuch as Election is, is diſtinctive of perſons; for this decrees certain bleſſings to certain perſons, and not to all. Election therefore is not of all, but of ſome.

2. Election is not Legiſlation. The ſecret Counſels p. 250of Princes are not their Edicts; neither is Gods Election a Legiſlation. Election is an Eternal Decree, Legiſlation is in time. Election is but of ſome, Legiſlation extends to all. Election is that Decree, according to which God gives out ſpiritual bleſſings to ſome as a Benefactor: Legiſlation ſets down that Rule, according to which God deals with all as a Rector who governs by Law. In the Covenant of Works, that [do this and live] was not Election; neither was the oppoſite member therein [tranſgreſs and dye] Reprobation. In the Covenant of Grace, that [believe and be ſaved] is not Election; neither is the oppoſite branch therein [believe not and be damned] Reprobation; for then all men, becauſe they are under both parts of the Evangelical Law, ſhould be both elected and reprobated, which is impoſſible: nay, becauſe they were in Adam their head under both parts of the firſt Covenant, they ſhould be once before both elected and reprobated. It is one thing to preſcribe the terms of ſalvation, another to chuſe men to it: one thing to write down Laws for all, another to write down the names of ſome in the book of Life. That general Law, All that believe ſhall be ſaved, predeſtinates none in particular. It would ſtand true, if all men were left in unbelief and perdition; If there were no ſuch thing as a Church in all the world, but elective; if it ſecure not a Church to God, is altogether inſignificant. It is an election of none, that is, no election. Our Saviour ſets down two wills of God as diſtinct; This is the will of him that ſent me, That every one that ſeeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlaſting life, Joh. 6.40. And in the precedent verſe, This is the p. 251Fathers will, which hath ſent me, that of all which he hath given me, I ſhould loſe nothing. In the one we have Gods legiſlative Will defining the terms of Salvation for all; in the other, we have Gods elective Will deſigning ſome, that is, the elect, the given ones to it: The firſt without terms in it, would not be Legiſlation; the latter without perſons in it, would not be Election.

3. Election, being a chuſing, a ſingling out ſome to eternal life, muſt needs do ſome ſingular thing for them; it muſt confer upon them ſome diſtinguiſhing Grace, ſuch as may reſerve them out of the corrupt Maſs unto God: And what Grace is that but Faith? If all men did believe, there would be no foreign, or difference among them; the righteouſneſs of God would be upon them all, the rivers of living water would flow in them all, the Glory of Heaven would crown them all. But Faith is a differencing Grace, proper to Gods peculiar ones; it is not given to all, but to ſome; not out of common Providence, but out of Election: It is a choice, a prime Grace of Secretion, and therefore in all congruity muſt needs iſſue out of the great deſign of Secretion, that is, Election. If God give alike to all, then he elects none, he differences none; however men may make themſelves to differ, God doth no ſuch thing, nor ever intended to do ſo: Thus Election is a meer nullity. But if, as the truth is, there be any ſuch thing as Election, then it beſtows upon the choſen ones, thoſe ſpecial love-tokens of Faith and Perſeverance, which make them meet for Heaven and eternal Bleſſedneſs.

4. Election is a ſure infallible thing, ſuch as never p. 252fails: Hence it is called foreign, a Praedeſtination, or praedefinition, ſuch as never miſſes the mark. Thus the Apoſtle, Whom he did predeſtinate, them he alſo called; whom he called, them he alſo juſtified; whom he juſtified, them he alſo glorified, Rom. 8.30. The words (whom and them) faſten every link to its precedent, and appropriate all throughout the whole chain to the ſame perſons: every perſon, who is predeſtinated and called within this Text, muſt be juſtified and glorified, or the golden chain of Grace is broken. The foundation of God ſtandeth ſure, having this ſeal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, 2 Tim. 2.19. Election is a foundation, not an human one, but a foundation of God, laid in the Divine Will, ſtanding in eternity, ſure in immutability, ſealed up with infallible knowledg and unvariable love towards the elect: Nothing is more momentous than this, That God have a Church, Chriſt a Body, and the Spirit a Temple. This is the higheſt of deſigns, the aim of the Sacred Trinity, the very thing upon which God hath ſet his eyes and his heart more than upon all the world beſides; yet if Election be not ſure and infallible, that high and precious deſign may be fruſtrate and of no effect: And what a blot would this be to Providence? And how unbecoming would it be to the Holy one, who ſits at the Stern and rules all? If ſo accurate a thing as Providence could, which it cannot without diſparaging it ſelf, ſtumble or faulter in the things of nature; yet ſurely it cannot do ſo in its maſter-piece, in the high and precious concerns of Grace: Election therefore muſt be ſure and infallible.Volk l. 5. c. 17. de praedeſt. That diſtinction of the Socinians (that there is a double Election in God, an infirm p. 253one of thoſe, who aſſent to the Goſpel, and a firm one of thoſe, who live according to the Goſpel) is frivolous and blaſphemous; it is in effect to ſay, that there is infirmity in God, that Gods choice is weak or rather none at all, and mans choice ſupplies and ſtrengthens it. The great deſign of a Church could not be ſecured by ſuch a choice as mans, nor by any thing leſs than Gods; his Election is a ſure foundation, his ſpecial call according to purpoſe, and his gifts without repentance. Hence it appears, That according to the opinion of the Remonſtrants, there is indeed no ſuch thing as Election. They ſay, that the object of Election is a Believer; and, whether there ſhall be a Believer or not, after all the operations of Grace, ultimately depends upon the Will of Man: And if ſo, How can God elect any one perſon in the world? The act of his Election depends upon the object, and the object upon the will of Man; Mans will muſt go foremoſt, and make the object; or elſe for want of one, Gods Will muſt ſtand ſtill, and not chuſe at all. It's true, God hath ſet down this Law or Rule, That believers ſhould be ſaved; but no-where hath he ſaid, that believers ſhould be elected; for that would overthrow his own Election, ſuppoſing ſuch a Law or Rule, That believers ſhould be elected. If a Man did believe, and ſo was elected, it would not be Gods firſt Law or after-choice, but mans faith which determined the matter: he would be his own elector; God in the mean time would not be an Elector, but a Legiſlator only. But a little further, to conſider the opinion of the Remonſtrants: They ſet down the order of Gods Decrees in this manner; upon Adams fall, there was a merciful affection p. 254in God towards man; but, juſtice ſtanding in the way, a Mediator was ordained to offer up a propitiatory Sacrifice to God. Hereupon God makes a general Decree, That all perſevering believers ſhall be ſaved; and, becauſe man cannot believe of himſelf, God decrees, media ad fidem, means to beget Faith; and as ſoon as men believe, there is a particular Decree for their Salvation; or a kind of incompleat Election, ſuch as riſes and falls with their Faith; and when they arrive at the full point of perſeverance, the Election becomes compleat and peremptory. This is their Scheme; here many things are obſervable, Here's a Mediator Decreed, without reſpect to that Church, which in Scripture is the choice mark aimed at in the work; here's a general Decree to ſave all perſevering believers, and in that inſtant, no Decree of the media ad fidem, the means to beget Faith; here's a ſtrange imperfection attributed to God, his Will in its eternal acts muſt be in ſucceſſion, and make its gradual progreſſes from a general Decree to a perticular, and from an incompleat Election (I tremble at the word) to a compleat one; and in its paſſage to that compleature, it muſt all the way vary, and turn about to every point, as the fickle will of man doth; that ſtanding in Faith there is an Election, that falling there is none; and ſo, toties quoties, as often as it pleaſes man to ſhew himſelf variable, the Election will be ſomething or nothing as it happens. This doth not indeed aſcribe eyes and hands to God, as the groſs Anthropomorphites did; but it aſſimulates him to the ſilly turnings and variations of the creature, which cannot but be very unworthy of him. Here is ſuch a particular Election as is temporal, and p. 255totally ſuperfluous: it is temporal; for if it depend upon perſevering faith as its condition, then it muſt be ſuſpended, and not in act, till that faith be in being. It's condition being temporal, it cannot preexiſt or be eternal. It is alſo totally ſuperfluous, there being a general Decree of ſaving all perſevering believers once paſt, every individual man who is a perſevering believer, muſt needs infallibly arrive at Heaven without any more ado; and then to what purpoſe is ſuch a particular Election? Neither do I think, that the Remonſtrants would ever have offered ſuch an inſignificant thing to the world, but that they were under a neceſſity to ſay ſomewhat to thoſe many and famous expreſſions which are found in Scripture, touching the election and predeſtination of perſons, which could not be ſatisfied with that general Law, That whoſoever believeth ſhould be ſaved: Here's an election of perſevering believers; but in plain terms that is no election at all. Election muſt be to ſomething, but this is to juſt nothing: not to Faith and Holineſs, theſe are preſuppoſed in the object; and there can be no election to that which is preſuppoſed before. There is therefore no election to Grace at all. No, nor to Glory: That perſevering believers had a right unto by the general Decree of ſaving ſuch as they are; and there can be no election to that which they had an antecedent right unto. Thus all the great expreſſions in Scripture touching Election, vaniſh into nothing. In Election God ſevers and differences one man from another in a way of choice: but according to the Remonſtrants, he gives all in common. And how can God elect without a ſevering or differencing act? Or how can he do ſuch an act, p. 256who gives all in common? It's true, God ſevers final believers to life, and final unbelievers to death; but here is no choice of perſons; ſome go to life, but all, if final believers, ſhould do ſo: ſome go to death, but all, if final unbelievers, ſhould do ſo. Here is no choice at all, but a meer judicial act, according to the Evangelical Law. When a Judg according to Law acquits one as innocent, and condemns another as guilty, it is not an act of choice, but of righteous judgment. No more is it in God to adjudg believers to life, and unbelievers to death. But I ſhall ſay no more touching the firſt thing, That there is an Election.

2. Election is of meer Grace. It hath no other cauſe but the Divine pleaſure only. We are predeſtinated according to the good pleaſure of his will, Eph. 1.5. To the praiſe of the glory of his grace, v. 6. God loves his people becauſe he loves them, Deut. 7.8. He ſaith, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, Exod. 33.19. In which words we have will and grace doubled as the only reaſon of it ſelf. Election is the primum indebitum; if that be not purely free in God,Conſ. ad Pol. cap. 29. nothing can be ſo. Iniquus eſt, ſaith Seneca, qui muneris ſui arbitrium danti non reliquit; He is unjuſt who leaves not a gift to the pleaſure of the giver. All ſouls and graces are Gods, and he may diſpoſe of them as he pleaſeth. If he chuſe any to himſelf, he chuſes freely, elſe it is no choice at all: it is not, as the Apoſtle calls it, an election of Grace. Election is not built upon foreſeen works, for then it would not be an election of Grace, but of Works; the elect would not be veſſels of Mercy, but of Merit: neither is it founded upon foreſeen faith and p. 257perſeverance; theſe are given by God not to all, but to ſome; not out of common Providence, but out of the Decree of Election. Hence the Apoſtle, when he bleſſes God for the work of Faith in the Theſſalonians, elevates his praiſes up to Election, the firſt fountain of Grace, Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God, 1 Theſ. 1.4. And, when he praiſes God, for bleſſing the Epheſians with all ſpiritual bleſſings in Chriſt, he ſets down the eternal rule of diſpenſing them, According as he hath choſen us, Epheſ. 1.3, 4. He doth not chooſe us according to our faith and perſeverance, but bleſſes us with theſe bleſſings according to Election; he chuſes us, not becauſe we are holy, but that we ſhould be ſuch: Doth God foreſee any good in men, when he willeth to them their firſt good? Or, Doth he foreſee good in them, before he wills it to them? What need then of his purpoſe to give it? Or how can he poſſibly be the Donor of it? If he foreſee it, they will infallibly have it, whether he Decree it or not; they will have it without his gift, which is impoſſible. Faith therefore and perſeverance do not preſuppoſe Election, but Election is the eternal ſpring of thoſe graces. Unleſs this be granted, God doth but eligere eligentes, chuſe thoſe that firſt chuſe him: Mans faith muſt be earlier than Gods Grace, he chuſes before he is choſen; loves before he is loved of God. And to aſſert this, What is it, but to lift up man above God, Mans Will above the Sovereign Will of his Maker? A vanity it is, and a blaſphemy againſt the fountain of Grace, which the Saints bleſs and adore, as the origine of all that good which is in them. Gods electing Grace, is pure Grace; his Love is meerly from himſelf: p. 258Hence is that emphatical reduplication, The elect whom he hath choſen, Matt. 13.20. As if our Saviviour had ſaid, in Election there is nothing but pure Election, nothing on mans part, all is from the good pleaſure of God.

This Truth is notably ſet forth in our Saviour Chriſt, he was Gods choſen Servant, Matt. 12.18. The Lamb fore-ordained, 1 Pet. 1.20. And, as St. Auſtin ſtiles him, praeclariſſimum lumen praedeſtinationis & gratiae, the moſt famous light of Praedeſtination and Grace. He was as man, predeſtinated to the ſuperlative glory of the Hypoſtatical Union; and that not out of any foreſeen holineſs in his human nature, for all that did flow out of that union, but out of meer grace: the human nature did not do or merit ought to be advanced into that ineffable excellency; neither may any man ſay, Cur non & ego? Why were not I ſo advanced? Nature is common, but Grace is ſingular. Here we have the Prototype and grand Exemplar of Predeſtination: Chriſt was predeſtinated to be the Head, we are predeſtinated to be his members. He as man was predeſtinated, that by an admirable aſſumption he ſhould be the natural Son of God: We are predeſtinated, that we ſhould be adopted ones. He was predeſtinated to be ſuch without any precedent merits or works: We are predeſtinated to be ſuch without them. Hence the Apoſtle ſaith, That we are predeſtinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firſt-born among many brethren, Rom. 8.29. Both Predeſtinations were free; and in our Predeſtination there was a kind of imitation of his.De bono perſever. l. 2. c. 24. Hence St. Auſtin ſaith, Et illum & nos Praedeſtinavit, quia in illo, ut eſſet caput noſtrum, & p. 259in nobis, ut ejus corpus eſſemus, non praeceſſura merita noſtra, ſed opera ſua futura praeſcivit; He predeſtinated him and us: that he ſhould be our Head, and we his Body, was not from our merit, but the work of God. It is certain, that the Members cannot be above the Head; they were not elected to a Beatifical Viſion out of foreſeen faith and perſeverance, when the Head was elected to the Hypoſtatical Union out of meer grace.

3. It is of free grace that God calls men. There is a double call, an External and an Internal one; both are of grace.

1. The External call is of grace. The Goſpel is not a debt, but a meer gift freely given to men. It may be ſubſtracted from a Nation for their ſins, but it is never given to a Nation for their worthineſs, for all men are unworthy of it. When God gives it to ſome, it is not for their dignity; when he denies it to others, there is always in them a concomitant indignity of it. No natural man can be worthy of it. It is meerly of Gods good pleaſure that the Sun of Righteouſneſs ſhines in one part of the world, and not in another; that the Evangelical dew falls in ſome places, and not in others. Here the only ſolution is that of our Saviour, Even ſo Father, for ſo it ſeemed good in thy ſight, Mat. 11.26. I know it is here ſaid by ſome, That facienti quod in ſe eſt Deus non denegat gratiam; To him who doth what he can, God denies not grace. The promiſe is, Habenti dabitur, To him that hath, that is, rightly uſeth what he hath, more ſhall be given. Upon the right uſe of naturals, the Pagans might have ſupernaturals. The Goſpel in ſuch a caſe ſhould be revealed to them. p. 260But, as Biſhop Davenant obſerves, experience confutes this; Proferant ab orbe condito vel unius Pagani exemplum, ſaith he;Determ. f. 236. Let them bring forth, if they can, the example of one Pagan ſince the world began, who by the right uſe of naturals attained to Evangelical Grace. One would think that ſuch as Socrates and Plato might, if any, rightly uſe naturals; but they had not the Goſpel manifeſted to them, which yet hath been revealed to the poor Americans, who comparatively to the other were brutiſh and barbarous. That of the Schools, Facienti quod in ſe eſt Deus non denegat gratiam, Serm: printed An. Dom. 1632. fol. 286.is (as Biſhop Saunderſon in his Sermons calleth it) the rotten principle and foundation of the whole frame of Arminianiſm: ultimately it reſolves all into nature; Salvation is reſolved into Faith, Faith into the Goſpel preached, that into the uſe of naturals. Nature may now lift up its hand, and touch the Crowns of Glory above. Grace may fall down to ſo low a rate, as to be earned at the fingers ends of Nature. And what is this but pure impure Pelagianiſm? In the Paleſtine Synod Pelagius, but for his counterfeit recantation, had had a juſt anathema for that ſaying, Gratiam dari ſecundum merita. Secundum merita with the Fathers, is all one with ſecundum opera, and ſecundum opera all one with facienti quod in ſe eſt. The Apoſtle flatly oppoſes this opinion; He hath called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpoſe and grace, 2 Tim. 1.9. The call is not according to works, or according to the uſe of naturals; but meerly, purely, totally from Grace. Rightly to uſe naturals, is to live up to the light of nature; that tells us, that God is the Supreme good, and therefore in all reaſon to be p. 261loved with a ſupreme love. We ſhould not give him part of the price, but all the mind, heart, ſoul, ſpirit, and that in pure perfection; and who, where is the Saint on earth that doth ſo? Their pureſt acts of love come forth ex laeſo principio, out of an heart ſanctified but in part; and in their egreſs from thence cannot but have a taint or tincture from the indwelling corruption: and may we imagine that God ſhould offer the Pagans a Goſpel on ſuch terms as no Saint on earth ever arrived at? Or that he would have them go about by the way of perfection to enjoy a Goſpel of Grace? It cannot be. But ſuppoſe that they may have it upon a ſincere love of him; Can a Pagan out of natural Principles truly love God? May true Love be without Faith the Root, or without the Spirit, the inſpirer of all Graces? Or doth the Holy Spirit work in a ſupernatural way, without a Goſpel or Ordinances? Or if it did, doth it work, and not effect ſo much as the firſt element in Chriſtianity? I mean a ſenſe of the want of Grace? May the Spirit converſe in thoſe unclean places, where nothing appears but Error, Pride, Idolatry, Impiety, and Wickedneſs of all ſorts? It is not reaſonable to believe it. If Nature could lift up it ſelf to a ſincere love of God, the Spirit and the Goſpel ſeem to be ſuperfluous thereunto. And as for habenti dabitur, it ſpeaks not to the point in hand, becauſe it ſpeaks not of the uſe of natural talents: not in Mat. 13, for there it is accommodated to the Parable of the ſeed, and given as an item to ſuch as heard the Goſpel; nor yet in the 25th chap. for there the uſe of the talents is remunerated with eternal life, ver. 21 & 23; which is a Crown too rich to be ſet upon meer naturals. p. 262There the talents upon abuſe are taken away; and by conſequence, if it were meant of naturals, the abuſers muſt loſe their reaſon, and become fools; which experience denies. But whatever the talents are in that promiſe, it muſt be interpreted in eodem genere: If of talents of Nature, it runs thus; He that uſeth naturals, ſhall have more of them. If of talents of Grace, thus: He that uſeth Supernaturals, ſhall have more of them. But to ſtretch this promiſe a genere ad genus, from naturals to ſupernaturals, as if Nature might per ſaltum be crowned with Grace, is an interpretation very incongruous, and directly contrary to that of the Apoſtle, He hath called us, not according to our works, but according to his own grace. The end of this promiſe is to excite men to the good uſe of talents. But after ſuch an unreaſonable ſtretch of it, as makes Grace the reward of Nature, What can come of it? Where ſhall the fruit of it be? Not in the Church, there they have the Goſpel-grace already; nor yet out of it, there it is not revealed: neither is it poſſible that thoſe who want the Goſpel, ſhould be ſtirred up by any promiſe in it, to ſeek after it in the uſe of naturals. Thus we ſee, that the external call is not a debt to Nature, but a meer gift of Grace. Such as the great Gift is, ſuch is the Charter. The great gift of Chriſt was purely, totally gratuitous; therefore the Charter of the Goſpel, which in the manifeſtation of it is the external Call, is ſo alſo.

2. The Internal call is of Grace: And here, becauſe ſome oppoſe this call, I ſhall firſt ſhew, That there is ſuch a call, and then that it is meerly of Grace.

p. 2631. There is ſuch a thing as an internal call. Pelagius, at leaſt in the firſt draught of his Hereſy, placed Grace only, in libero arbitrio & doctrina, in Free-will and Doctrine; Free-will being Nature not Grace, Doctrine being Grace but not the all of it, he left no room at all for an Internal call, he allowed no Grace but that external one of Doctrine: and in this he ſpake very conſonantly to his other opinions, denying Original ſin as he did, What need could there be of internal Grace? There being no ſpot or ſinful defect in the Soul, Grace hath nothing to do within, all is well and whole there, and needs no Phyſitian; all is in order and harmony there, and nothing to be new-made or new-framed. Therefore St. Auſtin obſerves, that though Pelagius would ſometimes talk of a multiform and ineffable Grace; yet it was but to put a blind, and cover over his hereſy:Quid juvat Pelagium, quia diverſis verbis eandem rem dicit, ut non intelligatur in lege at que doctrina gratiam conſtituere? de Grat. Chriſti. cap. 9. De. ſerv. pars 4. c. 12. Dial. de juſt. fo. 13. Still he meant no more than meer Doctrine, and external Grace; denying Original ſin, there was nothing within for Grace to do or rectify. Socinus, who with the Pelagians denies Original ſin, makes little or no account of internal Grace, though in his Praelections he ſpeak of an interius anxilium, an inward aid; yet he ſaith, That Faith is generated, potiſſimum per externa, chiefly by externals; and again, That Faith is rather to be called Gods command than his gift. But that there is ſuch a thing as an Internal call, and that diſtinct from the external, I ſhall propoſe three or four things.

1. All in the Church have an external call; but ſome are not ſo much as illuminated, it is not given to them to know the heavenly myſteries. Thoſe by the way-ſide heard the word and underſtood it not; p. 264Chriſt was a ſtumbling block to the Jews, and fooliſhneſs to the Greeks; and both becauſe he was not, though outwardly propoſed, inwardly underſtood. Chriſt the power of God, if underſtood, could not have been a ſtumbling block to the Jews who looked after ſigns; Chriſt the Wiſdom of God, if underſtood, could not have been fooliſhneſs to the Greeks, who ſought after Wiſdom. Mr. Pemble relates this Story: An Old Man, of above 60 years of Age, a conſtant hearer of the Word, was after all ſo groſly ignorant, as upon Diſcourſe to ſay, that God was a good old Man, Chriſt a towardly youth, the Soul a great bone in the body; and the happineſs of man after death, was to be put into a pleaſant green Meadow. Such poor blind Souls have indeed an external call, but not ſo much as the firſt element of the internal one; Illumination, which is the initial thing therein, is wanting in them.

2. All in the Church have an external call; but ſome are for their iniquity judicially hardned under the means: the Word of Life is to them the ſavour of death; Chriſt the Corner-ſtone a ſtumbling-block: the light blinds them, the melting ordinances harden them. Theſe men have an external call, but nothing of an internal one; it being impoſſible that the ſame perſons, under the ſame means, ſhould be illuminated and ſoftened, which are the effects of an internal call, and at the ſame time ſhould be blinded and hardened under the means, which cannot but have in them an external one.

3. Some under the Goſpel have a wonderful work wrought in them, their eyes are opened upon the Evangelical Myſteries, their wills are melted into the p. 265Divine Will. Gods Law is engraven in their heart; his image is the beauty and glory of their ſouls: A great work is done in them, a new-creation appears within; and how ſhould this be, or which way ſhould it be effected, but by that internal call which calls things that are not, as though they were, which in a glorious way calls Faith and other Graces into being? Hence the Apoſtle ſaith, That the Goſpel came to the Theſſalonians not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghoſt, and in much aſſurance, 1 Theſ. 1.5. Here's the true internal call; the word did not only outwardly ſound to them, no, it was inwardly engrafted to the ſaving of the ſoul; it was ſtrongly and ſweetly ſet home upon the heart, ſo as to produce Faith and Love. It was not in meer notions, but it ſprung up into a new-creature. This is the internal call. If a meer external one might have done it, Pelagius in the rudeſt draught of his Hereſie had been in the right. He placed Grace in meer Doctrine and Free-will; but to the framing of the new-creature, an internal operation is requiſite. Hence St. Auſtin ſaith,De Praedeſt. l. 1. cap. 8. That believers have not only, as others, an outward Preacher, but an inward one: Intùs à patre audiunt, they hear and learn of the Father. He ſpeaks to them inwardly in ſuch words of life and power as produces the new-creature.

4. The Miniſtry of Chriſt was a very excellent one: He ſpake, did, lived, as never man did; there were Oracles in his mouth, Miracles in his hands, Sanctity in his life. Never was there ſuch an external call as here; yet would this do the work? Would this ſecure a Church or people to God? No; He tells them plainly, That except they were born of the p. 266Spirit, they could not enter Heaven. That no man can come to him except the Father draw him. There muſt be an internal traction, or elſe there would be never a believer in the world. Trahitur miris modis ut velit ab illo, Auſt. ad Bon. lib. 1. cap. 19.qui novit intus in ipſis hominum cordibus operari; In this Traction there is a ſecret and admirable touch upon the heart to make it believe and receive Chriſt: This is an internal call indeed. Yet, as pregnant as the words are, the Socinians have an art to turn Gods. Traction into Mans Diſpoſition; and the Divine energy, into human probity; Vis praecipua in audientium probitate conſiſtebat, the chief force conſiſts in the probity of the auditors.Prael. Theol. cap. 12. Thus Socinus touching that Traction. Thoſe who have probity of mind, who will do Gods Will; thoſe honeſt Souls will embrace the Goſpel. When God is ſaid to touch the heart, 1 Sam. 10.26, the meaning is, they had tangible hearts, ſuch as were inclinable to the Divine Will;De Vera Rel. l. 4. cap. 1. ſo Volkelius, And again, when God draws men, he propoſes his Will; and the probi, the honeſt hearts are perſwaded:De Ver. Rel. lib. 5. cap. 18. ſo the ſame Author. Thus by an odd perverſe interpretation of Scripture, the choiceſt operations of Grace are at laſt reſolved into nature and freewill. This more plainly appears by that explication which Volkelius in the place firſt quoted, gives us of probity. There are (ſaith he) in Man three things, Reaſon, Will, and Appetite; if the Will, the middle faculty, apply it ſelf to Reaſon, there is probity; if to the Appetite, there is improbity. We ſee here what probity is, the meer product of the Will; Faith is reſolved into probity, and probity into the Will of man: There is no need of Grace, at leaſt not of an p. 267internal one. The probity requiſite to Faith, is according to theſe men much the ſame, as Ariſtotle requires from the auditors of morality, that is, that they act foreign, according to Reaſon:Eth. l. 1. c. 3. Thus according to them there is nothing of Myſtery or Grace in this Traction, but only a following the common principles of nature; out of this temper Faith will ſpring up. But do theſe men believe Scripture? There the natural unregenerate man is thus deſcribed: He is dead in ſin, A corrupt tree which cannot bring forth good fruit, He perceives not ſpiritual things; His carnal mind is not ſubject to the Law, nor indeed can be; Without grace he cannot do good, no, nor ſo much as ſpend a thought about it; He is a ſtranger from the life of God, and blindneſs is upon his heart: and can there be any true probity in ſuch an one? The Corinthians, at leaſt ſome of them, were before their converſion, Fornicators, Idolaters, Adulterers, Effeminate, Abuſers of themſelves with Mankind, Thieves, Covetous, Drunkards, Revilers, Extortioners, 1 Cor. 6.9, and 10. And what probity was in them? True probity, ſuch as is towards God, is no other than ſincerity; and ſincerity is not one Grace, but the rectitude of all. And may ſuch a thing go before Faith? Where true probity is, there is a pure intention to do Gods Will, and may it antecede that Faith, which is the ſingle eye, and works by love? Probity is not an off-ſpring of nature but of Grace; could Free-will elevate it ſelf to it, there would need no traction, no influence of Grace at all.**Qui humilitati & obedientiae humanae ſubjungunt gratiae adjutorium, nec, ut obedientes & humiles ſimus, ipſius gratiae donum eſſe conſentiunt, reſiſtunt Apoſtolo diceenti, quid habes, quod non accepiſti? Gratiâ Dei ſum quod ſum. Conc. Arauſ. 2. can. 6. The Fathers in the Arauſican Council, condemn thoſe, who ſubordinate Grace to mans humility or obedience, as if humility and obedience were not p. 268gifts of Grace: To conclude, the Fathers Traction doth not ſtand in mans probity, but in a Divine energy, ſuch as produces faith in the heart.

2. The internal call is meerly of Grace. The Spirit breathes where it liſts. God calls as he pleaſes: ſome are called according to purpoſe; all are not ſo. Every heart under the Evangelical means, is not opened as Lydia's was. God works in us to will and to do of his good pleaſure. If God be God, an infinite Mind, he muſt needs be free; if free in any thing, he muſt be ſo in acts of Grace, in his calling men home unto himſelf. It is true, that according to ſome, the Spirit is annexed to the Goſpel, and works equally on all the Auditors. But this opinion labours under prodigious conſequences; I mean, ſome ſuch as theſe following are. The Holy Spirit, whoſe prerogative it is to breathe where he liſt, and divide to every one as he will, is here affixed to his own organ the Goſpel, and muſt part out his Grace equally to all: The Ordinance of Preaching, as if it were no longer a meer Ordinance, or pendant on the Spirit, muſt confer Grace, if not ex opere operato, yet in a certain promiſcuous way to all. The Miniſter, who uſes to look up for the ſpirit and excellency of power to ſucceed his labours, may reſt ſecure, all is ready and at hand. The peoples eyes, which ought to wait on the Lord, if peradventure he will give faith and repentance to them, will ſoon fall down and center on the Ordinance, where they are ſure without a peradventure to have their ſhare of Grace. Thoſe emphatical Scriptures, which ſpeak of ſingular Grace to ſome, muſt now run in a much lower ſtrain. The opening of Lydia's heart, how remarkable ſoever, muſt be no ſingular p. 269Grace, but common to the reſt. The tractions and inward teachings of the Father, which make ſome to come to Chriſt, muſt be general favours, and extendible to thoſe who come not to him. When the Apoſtle ſaith, That Chriſt is to the Jews a ſtumbling-block, and to the Greeks fooliſhneſs; but to them that are called, the power and wiſdom of God, 1 Cor. 1. 23, 24, How ſignal ſoever the difference in the Text be, the internal call muſt be all one; in thoſe to whom Chriſt was a ſtumbling-block and fooliſhneſs, as in thoſe to whom he was the power and wiſdom of God. The called according to purpoſe, are called but as other men: Gods purpoſe is to call all a-like, mans only makes the difference. Theſe are the conſequences of that opinion, and too heavy, I confeſs, for me to ſtand under. I reſt therefore in that of the Apoſtle, He hath called us, not according to our works, but according to his own purpoſe and grace, 2 Tim. 1.9. Here purpoſe and grace are joined together; if his purpoſe be free, if his grace be gratuitous, then he calls as he pleaſes. In calling men home to himſelf, he acts purely, totally from Grace. I conclude with that of Bonaventure, Hoc piarum mentium eſt, ut nihil ſibi tribuant, ſed totum Dei Gratiae; The genius of pious minds, is to attribute nothing to themſelves, but all to Grace. Thus far touching the firſt thing, The freeneſs of Grace.

The next thing propoſed, is the power and efficacy of Grace. The Apoſtle ſpeaks of an exceeding greatneſs of power towards thoſe that believe, Eph. 1.19. So emphatical are the words there,cam. oper ſol. 343. that Camero is bold to ſay, Nemo, cui non periit frons, negare poteſt ſignificare vim & potentiam; None, who hath not loſt p. 270his modeſty, can there deny a force and power ſignified. Now touching the efficacy of Grace, I ſhall conſider three things.

1. Its efficacy as to the Principle of Faith and other Graces.

2. Its efficacy as to actual believing and willing.

3. Its efficacy as to perſeverance in the faith.

The firſt thing is its efficacy as to the Principle of Faith, and other Graces. By the Principle of Faith, I mean not the natural power of believing. God doth not command us to take down the Sun, for which we have no faculties; but to believe, for which we have an underſtanding and a will; no natural faculty is wanting.De Praed. c. 5. Hence St. Auſtin ſaith, the poſſe of believing, is of nature. This power in faln man, becauſe in conjunction with natural impotency, never arrives at the effect. The natural faculties are by the fall ſo vitiated, that though in a ſenſe he can, yet he will not believe. Trahit ſua quem que voluptas, one luſt or other ſo attracts him, that he cannot a ſe impetrare ut velit, he cannot find in his heart to do it. He hath a kind of can in his natural faculties, but the corruption blaſts the effect. Neither do I mean that power, which, as ſome Divines ſay, is ſupernatural, yet not an habit or vital principle of faith. Nature being fallen, Grace (ſay they) gives a ſecond power to ſet the will in aequilibrio; but that power doth not, as an habit, incline or diſpoſe a man to actual believving. This power, as I take it, is nothing but Nature and Free-will. I ſee not how it ſhould be diſtinct from it. There are (as the Learned Doctor Twiſs hath obſerved) three things in the ſoul; that is, Powers, Habits, and Paſſions. Powers may be the p. 271ſubjects of Habits and Paſſions; but may a Power be the ſubject of a Power? A natural power of a ſupernatural one? This looks like a Monſter. By the ſame reaſon Habits may be the ſubjects of Habits, and Paſſions of Paſſions. And is this power of believing, free or not? If free, then it is not ſupernatural; it may be a principle of not believing, and that nothing ſupernatural can be. If not free, then it determines the event, but to what? To not believing? then it is not ſupernatural. To believing? then all men (having, as theſe men ſay, the power) muſt infallibly believe, which Scripture and experience deny. I mean therefore ſuch a Principle of Faith, as is an habit and vital Principle; ſuch as is ſeminally and virtually faith; ſuch as hath the nature and eſſence of faith; ſuch as inclines and diſpoſes to actual believing, and before the act, denominates a man a believer. When the act of faith comes forth into being, is it from a believer, or from an unbeliever? If from a believer, then there was an habit of faith before. If from an unbeliever, how unnatural is it, and how croſs to the ſuavity of Providence? There muſt then be an act of faith, before a principle; a fruit, before a tree or ſeed. What ſhall we ſay of ſuch an one? He is a believer in act, but in principle none; as ſoon as the act ceaſes, he is not at all a believer. There muſt therefore be an habit, a vital principle of faith: This in the uſe of means is infuſed or created, and that by the power of grace. To clear this, I ſhall lay down two or three things.

1. The Principle of Faith and other Graces, is not produced by meer ſuaſion, by a meer propoſal of the Evangelical object. In converſion there is a great p. 272work wrought within; the deadly wound of Original corruption muſt be healed, the new creature muſt be ſet up in us; and can ſuaſion do this? Such a glorious work muſt be done by an efficient cauſe, not by a meer allicient one, ſuch as ſuaſion is. A natural man is blind, nay dead in ſpiritual things; and what ſuaſion can make the blind to ſee, or the dead to riſe? Suaſion is ſo far from giving a faculty, that it preſuppoſes it. The uſe of it is not to confer a power, but to excite and ſtir it up into act. Satan uſes ſuaſion to ſubvert the ſouls of men; and doth God do no more to convert them unto himſelf? How then ſhould he ever gather a Church to himſelf? Satans ſuaſions run with the tide and ſtream of corrupt nature; but Gods are againſt it; and in all reaſon the balance will be caſt rather on that ſide which hath Natures vote and free concurrence, than on that which hath Natures repugnancy and contradiction. In this work there is more than meer ſuaſion. God is not a meer Orator, but an admirable Operator; his word is not ſignificative only, but factive, commanding thoſe Divine Principles into being, vox imperativa abit in operativam; he calls for a new heart, and it is ſo.

2. This holy Principle is not produced by aſſiſtent Grace, as if a natural man did by Divine aſſiſtance work it in himſelf. The Principle or power of believing, is either natural or ſupernatural; if natural, it is by creation; if ſupernatural, it is by infuſion or inſpiration; neither way is it produced in a way of aſſiſtance. An aſſiſtance is not accommodated to a thing to produce a new power, but to bring forth an act from thence. The light is aſſiſtent to the eye in the act of viſion, but it gives not the viſive p. 273power to it; aſſiſting grace concurs to the act of believing, but it confers not a believing principle. The greateſt Saint in the world ſtands in need of aſſiſting grace, that his gracious principles may come into actual exerciſe; he muſt have help from the holy one, a ſupply of the Spirit of Chriſt; the Heavenly roots do not caſt forth themſelves unleſs God be as dew to them; the ſweet ſpices do not flow out actually, unleſs God breath upon them by auxiliary grace; ſtill he wants aſſiſtance to the doing of good as he ought; the greateſt Saint, though a man full of divine principles, ſtands in need of aſſiſtance. And doth a natural man, one void of good, fraught with evil, need no more? Is regenerating quickning, renewing, new-creating grace, nothing but an aſſiſtance only? May any one believe that the holy Spirit in Scripture ſhould give ſuch high ſtately titles to an aſſiſtance only? May a man be a co-operator, or co-partner with God in the raiſing up faith and a new creature in himſelf? It's true, a natural man may by a common grace enter upon preparatories; he may attend upon the means, but what can he contribute to the work it ſelf? he is meerly natural, the new creature is totally ſupernatural, and what can he do towards it? could he contribute ought, what would the new creature be? muſt it not be part natural as from man, part ſupernatural as from God; part old as from nature, part new as from grace? Thus it muſt be if this great work be divided between God and man. Notable is that of Lactantius, De fal. Rel. Lib. 1. Cap. 11.Jovem Junonemque a juvando eſſe dictos Cicero interpretatur, & Jupiter quaſi Juvans Pater dictus, quod nomen in Deum minimè congruit, quia juvare hominis eſt, p. 274opis aliquid conferentis in eum qui ſit egens alicujus beneficii: nemo ſic Deum precatur, ut ſe adjuvet, ſed ut ſervet, ut vitam ſalutemque tribuat; nullns pater dicitur filios juvare cum eos generat aut educat, illud enim levius eſt quam ut eo verbo magnitudo paterni beneficii exprimatur, quanto id magis eſt inconveniens Deo, qui verus eſt Pater, per quem ſumits, cujus toti ſumus, a quo fingimier, animamur, & illuminamur? And at laſt he concludes, Non intelligit beneficia divina, qui ſe juvari modo a Deo putat, He underſtands not divine benefits, who thinks himſelf only helped by God. Jehovah muſt not be transformed into a Jupiter, or a meer helper; man muſt not ſhare with him in this great work, it is God who makes us new creatures, and not we our ſelves. We are his workmanſhip, not our own, Epheſ. 2.10. Born not of the will of man, but of God, Joh. 1.13. As ſoon as a man is regenerate, it may be truly ſaid of him, Hic homo jam na…ns eſt ex Deo, this man is now born of God; but to ſay, that he is in part born of mans will, is to blaſpheme the Author of our ſpiritual being, and to crown Nature inſtead of Grace.

3. The holy principles of Grace are produced by an act of Divine power: God lays the foundations of faith and the new creature, as it were in mighty waters, in the very ſame heart in which there is a fountain and torrent of corruption; and no power leſs than the Divine can put back the ſtream of nature, and ſet up the Heavenly ſtructure of Grace in ſuch an heart. The production of gracious principles is in Scripture ſet forth in glorious titles, ſuch as do import power; 'tis called a Tranſtation, Col. 1.13. it tranſplants and carries us away out of a ſtate of ſin into p. 275a ſtate of grace. 'Tis a Generation, Jam. 1.18. it begets us to a participation of the Divine Nature. 'Tis a Reſurrection, Epheſ. 2.5. It quickens us and inſpires into us a Supernatural life, of which the fall had left no ſpark or relick at all. 'Tis a Creation, Eph. 2.10. it raiſes up a new creature out of nothing, and gives us a ſpiritual being, which before we had not; and if theſe things do not ſpeak power, nothing can. Hence the Apoſtle ſpeaks of the Goſpel coming in power, 1 Theſ. 1.5. Nay, that in the ſucceſs of it there is an excellency of power, 2 Cor. 4.7. and an exceeding greatneſs of power towards Believers, Eph. 1.19. The work of faith is ſaid to be fulfilled with power, 2 Theſ. 1.11. How much more muſt it be an act of power to lay the Primordials and firſt principles of faith in a fallen unbelieving creature? When there was nothing appearing in our lapſed nature, but a vacuum, a chaos of ſin, a ſpiritual death and nullity, only the Divine power was able to repair the ruins of the fall, and rear up the Heavenly life and nature in us. This great truth was notably ſet forth in the conception of our Saviour Chriſt; it was not in the courſe of nature, his Mother knew not a man, but the Holy Ghoſt came upon her; the power of the higheſt overſhadowed her, that the holy thing might be born of her, Luk. 1.35. In like manner when Chriſt is formed in the heart, when the new-creature is ſet up in us, it is not in the way of nature; we know not the humane power in this work, here is no leſs than dextra excelſi, the right hand of the moſt High to effect it; here are veſtigia ſpiritus ſancti, the footſteps of the holy Spirit to bring it to paſs: the ſame power and ſpirit which formed Chriſt in the p. 276womb, formes him in the heart: as in his participation of the humane nature there was a Supernatural operation, ſo is there in our participation of the Divine. This is the firſt efficacy of Grace, it new creates the heart, and imprints the Divine image there; it inſpires holy Principles, and ſo lays a foundation for obedience.

2. There is an efficacy of Grace as to actual believing and willing. St. Bernard asks the queſtion, Quid agit liberum arbitrium? What doth Free-will do? and then anſwers,De Lib. Arbit. & Grat. Salvatur, it is ſaved. And Agatho in his Epiſtle lays down this as a rule, Quod a Chriſto non ſuſceptum eſt, 6. Gen. Conc. Act. 4.Acts 4nec ſalvatum eſt, ſi ab eo humana voluntas ſuſcepta eſt, & ſalvata eſt; That which was not aſſumed by Chriſt, is not ſaved by him. If an humane will was aſſumed, then it is ſaved; and it is ſaved, firſt in that principles of holy rectitude are inſtilled into it, and then in that thoſe principles are drawn forth in actual willing: both theſe are neceſſary, the firſt implants the vital principles of Grace in the heart, the ſecond makes them bloſſom and bring forth precious fruit; without thoſe vital principles the will, however aſſiſted ab extra, is internally in it ſelf but a faculty meerly natural and void of ſpiritual life; it hath no proportion to the vital ſupernatural acts of Faith and Love. Neither is it poſſible, that any ſuch ſhould iſſue out from thence, no, not by any extrinſecal aſſiſtance whatſoever: an act if vital and ſupernatural, muſt be from an internal principle that is ſuch. Again, unleſs thoſe vital principles bring forth actual believing and willing, they muſt needs lie dead, and come to nothing. And yet if we eſtimate things according to their worth and excellency, we cannot but think it much more eaſie and eligible for the wiſe p. 277and good God to ſuffer an abortion in all the ſeeds and principles of nature, than in thoſe precious and admirable ones of Grace, which do not, as the other do, carry the meer footſteps, but the very image and reſemblance of his holy nature.

Pelagius would at leaſt in ſome ſenſe own, that the poſſe, the meer power of believing, is from God; but he would not have the velle, the actual willing and believing, to be ſo. He ſaith, that God worketh all things; that is, he gives to them the operative power. He diſtinguiſhes three things, Poſſe, Velle, Eſſe; Poſſe in natura, Velle in arbitrio, Eſſe in effectu: Power,Auſt. de Grat. Chriſt. cap. 4. Willing, Being: Power is in nature, Willing in the free faculty, Being in the effect. The Power, ſaith he, is properly from God; but the other two are from our ſelves, as deſcending de arbitrii fonte, from the fountain of Free-will. Hence St. Auſtin tells him, That according to his opinion, which attributed to Grace not willing or believing, but a power only, he could not be a true Chriſtian. A power of believing (whether it be as Pelagius would have it,De Grat. Chriſti, c. 10. a meer naked power, and no more; or whether it be ſuch a power as is an habit or vital principle of Grace,) is not all that Grace operates; a meer naked power is not all. To entertain ſuch a thought, is highly to diſparage Grace. A power of believing is from God; and is not a power of ſinning, ſo too? If Free-will, which includes in it a power of ſinning, be a creature, it muſt be ſo. If a power of ſinning be from God, and no more but a meer power of believing be from him, then how is God the author of actual believing, more than of actual ſinning? Pelagius ſaying, That God is ſaid to operate all things, becauſe p. 278he gives the operative power; Bellarmine from thence infers this juſt conſequence, That then God operates all ſin,De Grat. & Lib. Ar. lib. 4. cap. 4. becauſe he gave a Free-will, by which all ſin is wrought: Therefore if God be not the author of actual ſin, as he is not, nor cannot be; then neither is he author of actual believing, by giving a power to believe. Both powers are from God; and how hard a thing, and how contumelious to Grace is it to ſay, That he produces as much towards ſinning, as towards believing? And yet we muſt ſay ſo, if there be no more than a meer power to both. Neither is ſuch a power, as is a habit or vital principle of Grace, all that Grace operates; thoſe precious Seeds and Principles, were never let down from Heaven to ſleep and lye hid in the root, but to ſpring up in actual Graces ſutable and congruous thereunto. There is a Divine vigor in thoſe Principles; and when auxiliary Grace ſtirs them up, and becomes an heavenly dew unto them, they will ſpring up as a well of living water, and ſhoot forth as the ſeed of God. There is a ſpecial Providence watching over theſe; to make them come up in a crop of holy fruits.

Some Divines expreſs themſelves thus: Grace gives a ſupernatural power, and ſo puts the will in aequilibrio, in an even balance, that it may believe or not believe, as it pleaſeth. But what a thing is this? An foreign, or indifferency towards ſuch a precious object as Chriſt is, looks very ill, and like a ſin; and how ſhould. it come from Grace? If Grace work only a kind of indifferency, it doth far leſs than meer Moral virtue doth: Moral virtue is, as the Philoſopher ſpeaks, foreign, an habit of acting according to right reaſon; it earries in it a p. 279promptitude and inclination to virtuous actions; it renders them eaſie, and in a ſort natural: and may we, can we, ſuppoſe that Grace, a Principle much more ſublime, and of far higher extraction, ſhould only put the ſoul into an aequilibrious ſtate, no more propending to good than evil? If Grace operate only a kind of indifferency, then the comfort of Chriſtians is departed; they are afraid of nothing more than of themſelves; the vanity and corruption in their own hearts is terrible to them: yet in this caſe the greateſt of fears, I mean, to be left to themſelves, falls upon them. They are not to look up to God to fix their hearts upon himſelf; no, nor ſo much as to incline them that way; their life muſt not be a life of faith or dependence upon God the fountain of Grace; there is no warrant for ſuch a thing; Grace only works a ſtate of indifferency, and then leaves the Will to do the reſt: if they will depend upon any thing, it muſt be upon their own Will, that is, upon Vanity; nothing elſe determines the great concern of their ſalvation.

Now here I ſhall firſt prove, That Grace works the actual willing and believing; and then, That it doth it in a way of power.

1. Grace works the actual willing and believing: And here I ſhall lay down ſeveral things.

1. The Scripture is very pregnant. God worketh to will and to do of his good pleaſure, Phil. 2.13, foreign, he worketh efficaciouſly, not a meer power of willing, but the very willing: Neither doth he work the willing conditionally, if we will; for then the willing ſhould be a condition to it ſelf, which is impoſſible, and ſhould be before he work… it, which is p. 280directly oppoſite to the Text; but he works it abſolutely of his own good pleaſure. His work doth not depend on mans conſent, but it cauſeth it; neither doth he work it ſo, as that man in whom he worketh the willing, might actually not will: for a man who wills, muſt needs will; and a man in whom he works the willing, muſt needs do ſo. If a man do not will, then God doth not work the willing; for a willing which is not, is not wrought: in this caſe nothing is wrought but the power of willing, which ſatisfies not the Text. If the man in whom he works, do will, the thing is infallible; for a man cannot will and nill both at once: but he worketh the willing ſo, as that mans willing doth certainly follow upon it. Neither doth he work the willing as a partial concauſe, for then he ſhould be a cauſe only ex parte, and do but ſomething towards it, the reſt muſt be not from him, but only from mans will as the author of it; which is to aſcribe to mans will, not a merit only, but a kind of Deity, as if it were the ſole author of ſome ſupernatural good. But he works the willing as a total ſupreme cauſe; he cauſeth man to will: Mans will doth not co-operate, but ſuboperate under the ſweet power of Grace, moving it to will. It is true, man willeth, but it is cauſally from Grace that he doth ſo. Mans will is the principium quod which produces the willing; but Gods Grace is the principium quo which cauſeth it. Hence St. Auſtin, Nos nolumus, De dono perſever. cap. 13.ſed Deus in nobis operatur & velle; nos operamur, ſed Deus in nobis operatur & ipſum operari pro bona voluntate: We will and work, but God works both in us. And afterwards the ſame Father adds, Hoc eſt pium, hoc verum, ut ſit humilis confeſſio p. 281ut detur totum Deo: This is pious and true, that there may be an humble confeſſion, and the whole may be aſcribed to God. Again, the Scripture tells us, that Faith is not of our ſelves, but the gift of God, Epheſ. 2.8; that the very actual believing is freely given to us, Phil. 1.29. We ſee here, Faith is a meer gift, it is not from our ſelves, but from God; And what can be more emphatical? It is not ſaid that Faith is offered, but given; external things, which exiſt before they are given and received, may be ſaid to be offered; but Faith which exiſts not before it be given and received, cannot properly be ſaid to be offered. A Faith, which is not given and received, is a non-entity; and a non-entity is not a gift. Faith is Gods gift, not where it is not, but where it is. That cannot be properly ſaid to be given, which is not received. Giving and receiving relate mutually each to other; therefore when Grace gives Faith, it gives the very reception, it cauſes a man to believe; and when it cauſes a man to believe, he doth infallibly do ſo; and if he do not do ſo, the gift is not a gift of Faith which the Apoſtle ſpeaks of; but of a power only to believe, which anſwers not to the Text. Hence it appears, That actual believing is meerly from Grace.

2. If God only give a power of believing, and that in common to all, the actual believer makes himſelf to differ from others. God gave him only the common Grace, but the improvement of it is from himſelf; God gave him only a power, but the act (which hath more of actuality, and ſo of likeneſs to God, and indeed is the very end and center p. 282of the power) is from himſelf. Man may now glory in himſelf, as contributing of his own, that which is perfective of that power, which is from God. After Grace hath done its utmoſt, Mans Will is made the umpire, whether the operations of Grace, ſhall be ſomething or nothing: God made the heart, and the wheels therein; but the motion is mans own, he only muſt determine this great concern. Grace begins to build the new creature, but man muſt finiſh the work, or elſe it can never be done. Grace fets the Will in aequilibrio, and that's all it; muſt move no further, but leave the event to the lottery of mans Will. Thus God is debaſed, and man exalted; Free-grace is dethroned, and Free-will is crowned: But if we, as we ought, muſt glory in the Lord; if we have nothing but what we have received, then we muſt confeſs, that the actual willing and believing is from Grace: acknowledging with St. Cyprian, In nullo gloriandum, quando noſtrum nihil eſt.

3. It is a good Rule of Celeſtine Biſhop of Rome, Lex ſupplicandi facit legem credendi, Epiſt. ad Epiſe. Gall. c. 10, 11.Our Prayers teach us what we are to believe about Grace. For what do we pray to God? Is it not to have our hearts inclined to his commands, and united to his fear? Is it not to have our Wills bowed to obedience and ſwallowed up in the Divine Will? What can be more congruous for man, more pious towards God than this? Yet, if the willing and believing be not from Grace, it is but**Irriſoria petitio eſt, cum id … Deo petitur, quod ſcitur ipſum non dare, ſed, ipſo non donante, eſſe in hominis poteſtate. Auſt. de don. perſev. cap. 2. irriſeria petitie, a kind of mock-devotion: There can hardly be a more unaccountable vanity than this, To beg of God, that p. 283which is not within the line of Grace to beſtow; which is wholly turned over to the power and will of man to effect. We may here ſay with Seneca, Quid votis opus eſt? What need any prayers for that which we may have from our ſelves? If the thing be not from God but from our ſelves, we do not indeed pray, but diſſemble a prayer; we make as if the thing were a gift of God, when there is no ſuch matter. The Philoſopher (ſaith Epictetus) expects all foreign, from himſelf, and ſo may the Chriſtian too in the point of willing and believing; if theſe be not Grace, he need not look up to God for them. Again, for what do the Saints praiſe God? Is it not for touching and opening their hearts to Chriſt, for making them willing in the day of his power? Is it not for putting his ſpirit within them, and cauſing them to walk in his ſtatutes? What can be more due to God, more proper for a Saint than this? Hence they glorified God in the repenting Gentiles, Acts 11.18. And again, they glorified God in converting Paul, Gal. 1.24. When David and his people offered willingly to God, he falls into an holy extaſie, Who am I, and what is my people, 1 Chr. 29.14? All things, ſaith he, are of thee, not only our gold and our ſilver, not only our hearts and wills, but our very actual willingneſs alſo; yet if the willing and believing be not of Grace, all theſe are but mockeries and falſe Hallelujahs: They who glorifie God in Converts, offer but a blind ſacrifice, and glorify but an Idol of their own fancy. If God do not do the thing, Why ſhould we praiſe him for it? How can we do ſo in truth, when the matter p. 284will not bear it? Indeed we do but diſſemble a praiſe, making as if he were the author of that which is not from him. Thus we ſee, that willing and believing muſt be from Grace, or elſe we utterly evacuate thoſe prayers and praiſes which are offered up to God touching the ſame. Thus much touching the firſt thing, That Grace works the willing and believing.

2. Grace works it in a way of power. St. Paul ſpeaking of the ſucceſs of the Goſpel, ſaith, That the excellency of the power is of God, 2 Cor. 4.7. And again, he prays for the Theſſalonians, That God would fulfil the work of faith with power, 2 Theſ. 1.11. If faith be fulfilled, as it is, by the acts of it, then thoſe acts are produced by the power of Grace: Gods people are willing in the day of his power, Pſal. 110.3. When the Diſciples wonder'd how a Camel ſhould go through a Needles eye, how a rich man ſhould be ſaved; our Saviour ſolves the knot by the power of God, With him all things are poſſible, Luk. 18.27. The power of Grace can fetch off the World, the Camelsbunch, from the heart, and make it paſs (as it were) through the Needles eye into Heaven. It's true, man wills, man believes, but it is from the ſtrong and ſweet gales of Grace that he doth ſo. The willing and believing are voluntary acts in regard of mans will, but acts of power in regard of Gods Spirit, which touches and moves the heart thereunto. It may be thought by ſome, that there needs no expence of power towards willing and believing; that a power of willing and believing is enough for us. But ſhould God give us only a power to will and believe, and p. 285leave the reſt to our will, we have great reaſon to think that we ſhould all do, as innocent Adam did, fall from God, and never reduce that power into act. The Divine Principles in Adam were pure and without mixture; but the power of believing and willing in us, hath in the ſame heart where it dwells, an Inmate of corruption, which continually counterworks it. In innocency the temptation ſtood without, a-courting the ſenſes; but after the fall it makes nearer approaches, as having a party within ready to open and betray every faculty. To me it looks like a proud thought for any to imagine, that under ſuch a diſparity he could act his part better than Adam did. If then the foundation of God muſt ſtand, if the election muſt obtain, if Chriſt muſt have a ſeed, if the Spirit muſt have a temple, it is no leſs than neceſſary, that the power of Grace ſhould ſecure that willing and believing, without which thoſe high and great deſigns of Heaven cannot take effect.

3. There is an efficacy of Grace as to perſeverance in Faith and Holineſs. Perſeverance, wherever it is, is from Grace. The inherent Graces in the Saints are but creatures; no creature, no, not the moſt ſpiritual, doth or can preſerve it ſelf. All depend upon their Original in their being and duration; hence, as St. Jerom obſerves, God is always a-working,Ad Cteſiph. cap. 3. always a-giving; Non mihi ſufficit, ſaith he, quod ſemel donavit, niſi ſemper donaverit: It is not enough for me, that he once give, unleſs he always do ſo. Hence that of St. Auſtin, Non ita ſe debet homo ad Dominum convertere, ut, cum ab eo fact us fuerit juſtus, De Gen. ad. Lit. lib. 8.12.abſcedat, ſed it a ut ab illo ſemper ſiat: Man ought not p. 286to convert to God, that being made juſt he might depart from him; but that he might be always made juſt by him. The Phyſician heals and departs, but God doth not do ſo; he is ſtill a-healing and newmaking us by the continual ſpirations of his Spirit and Grace, that we may perſevere unto the end. Were not perſeverance from Grace, there could be no ſuch thing as a life of Faith; it would be utterly needleſs to hang upon Promiſes, or to look up for influences of Grace, or with David to pray that God would keep the good frame in the heart, or hold up our goings in his paths. Perſeverance being from our ſelves, we may center and ſafely lye down there. We may ſay as Laodicea, We are rich, and have need of nothing, no, not of God the Fountain of Grace. We may do what St. Jerom charges on the Pelagians, that is,Ad Cteſ. cap. 3. bid God depart, he is no more neceſſary to us. It's true, he gave us a ſtock of power and freewill; but now we can ſtand upon our own bottom, all is in our own hand, there is no room for a life of faith, no, nor for any true gratitude for our ſtanding in Grace.De Civ. lib. 12. cap. 9. It is St. Auſtins obſervation, That the Angels who ſtood, were amplius adjuti, more helped than thoſe who fell; therefore they caſt down their Crowns before God, aſcribing their ſtanding, not to themſelves, but to Grace. Should they do, what they cannot do, aſcribe it to themſelves, they could not be thankful. In like manner holy men who perſevere, attribute nothing to themſelves, but all to Grace;Ad Cteſ. cap. 3 Quodcun que in ſuo rivulo fluit, as St. Jerom ſpeaks, ad fontem refert, Whatever flows in his rivulet, he refers to the great fountain; that he faulters p. 287and lapſes, is of his own; that he ſtands and perſeveres, is of Grace. Were it not ſo, the praiſe and glory ſhould be aſcribed not to God, but to our ſelves, which would be to turn Gratitude into Preſumption.

The Graces of the Saints may be conſidered in the act, or in the habit. The acts have their too frequent pauſes and interruptions; but the habit, the vital principle, is a ſeed of immortality, and never dyes. In the ſaddeſt falls of a Saint, it may be ſaid of him as it was of Eutychus, His life is in him. He that is born of God, doth not commit ſin; nay, he cannot ſin, 1 Joh. 3.9. Doubtleſs he can ſin ſins of infirmity; nay, and groſs ſins too, as appears in the falls of David and Peter; but he cannot ſin ſo as totally to unframe the new-creature, and lay himſelf in an unregenerate ſtate. This is clear by the reaſons in the Text, For his ſeed remaineth in him, and he is born of God. Could he by ſin extinguiſh the very principles of Grace, he might ſin to all intents and purpoſes, contrary to the expreſs letter of the text; nay, and his ſeed might not remain, and he might ceafe to be born of God, contrary to the reaſons in the text. If the Divine ſeed and birth do not preſerve him from regnant ſin, ſuch as would overthrow him, it preſerves him from no ſin at all; the text and reaſon are altogether inſignificant. But if, as the text and truth is, it preſerves him from regnant ſin, then the Divine Principles are not extinguiſhed when he falls into ſin.

The habits of Grace may be conſidered meerly in themſelves, or in their dependence. In themſelves p. 288they are but defectible creatures, and might totally fail; their being is not from themſelves, no more is their duration; in their dependance they cannot poſſibly fail, becauſe they are ſupported by ſomewhat greater than themſelves. Remarkable is the difference between the caſe of Adam and that of believers; in Adam, one act of ſin expelled perfect holineſs; ſo that upon the fall, there was not left in him ſo much as the leaſt relick of ſanctity, or ſpark of ſpiritual life: he, and after him, all his poſterity became ſpiritually dead in ſin, not in part only; for then the new-creature ſhould be new but in part; but totally, every thing in fallen man wants quickening. But in believers, not one, not many ſins are able to drive out the principles of Grace, though thoſe principles are imperfect in themſelves, and dwell together with much inherent corruption, yet are they not driven out: and the reaſon of this difference is, Adam had the ſtock of holineſs in his own hands; but the graces of the believers depend upon ſomewhat greater than themſelves. Now touching this Dependence, I ſhall lay down three or four things:

1. The Graces of Saints depend upon Election; though Election be in it ſelf from all eternity, yet it buds and bloſſoms in time. He hath bleſſed us with all ſpiritual bleſſings in heavenly places in Chriſt: According as he hath choſen us in him, Eph. 1.3, 4. Divine Graces, which are choice ſpiritual bleſſings, iſſue not out of common providence; but, as St. Bernard ſpeaks, ex abyſſo aeternitatis, out of the great fountain of Election: The eternal Love, which p. 289lay in Gods boſom, comes forth in the production of thoſe Graces: Nay, and in the duration of them, God fulfills all the good pleaſure of his goodneſs, and the work of Faith with power, 2 Theſ. 1.11. Whom he did predeſtinate, them he alſo called; whom he called, them he alſo juſtified; whom he juſtified, them he alſo glorified, Rom. 8.30. We ſee clearly, Predeſtination carries them through the other links unto glory. It is obſervable, that when God expreſſes his freſh mercies to his people, he doth it thus, I will yet chuſe Iſrael, Iſa. 14.1. God gives ſuch ſupplies of Grace to his Saints, to make them perſevere, That it is, as if he choſe them again; When the Saints are drooping and dying, as it were, away, electing love gives them another viſit, and makes them live; when their love cools and ſlacks, his love is ever the ſame, and inflames theirs afreſh; And how ſhould their Graces fail? The purpoſe of God according to election doth ſtand, Rom. 9.11. The foundation of God ſtandeth ſure, 2 Tim. 2.19. And how ſhould the rivulets or ſuperſtructures of Grace fail? They can no more do it than the great deſign of a Church can; their lamp never goes out, their ſeed never dies, the falſe Chriſts and falſe Prophets cannot ſeduce them, Mark. 13.22. The Canker of Hymeneus and Philetus, cannot eat into them, 2 Tim. 2.19. Election, which is the fontal love, ſtill gives a freſh ſupply of Grace.

2. Their Graces depend upon Chriſts merit and interceſſion. Chriſt prays for Peter, that his Faith may not fail, Luk. 22.32; neither doth it concern Peter only. In his ſolemn praier on earth, which was p. 290the Canon and pattern of his interceſſion in Heaven, he prays to his Father for all believers thus, keep them from evil, Joh. 17.15. If they are kept from evil, they do not fall away, which is the greateſt of evils; if they are not kept from evil, Chriſts interceſſion ceaſes, or becomes powerleſs, neither of which can be; ceaſe it cannot, becauſe he ever lives to make interceſſion; become powerleſs it cannot, becauſe he is a Prieſt after the power of an endleſs life: what he intercedes for muſt be done. And this is yet the ſtronger, if we conſider for whom he thus intercedes, It is for believers, parts and pieces of his Myſtical body, ſuch as he cannot tell how to part from. Notable is that of the Apoſtle, The God of peace, who brought again from the dead the Lord Jeſus, make you perfect, Heb. 13.20, 21. That God who would loſe nothing of Chriſts human nature, no, not in the Grave, will perfect believers as myſtical parts of him, not ſuffering their Graces to ſee corruption in an utter decay; nor leaving their ſouls in the hell of Apoſtacy: This is another foundation of perſeverance. Hence Biſhop Davenant ſaith;De juſt. hab. 226. Amor Dei in renatos non fundatur in illorum perfectione aut omnimodâ puritate, ſed in Chriſio Mediatore: The love of God towards the regenerate, is not founded in their perfection or abſolute purity, but in Chriſt the Mediator: As long as he intercedes, their Graces fail not.

3. Their Graces depend upon the holy Spirit, and that upon a double account: the one is this, The Spirit dwells in believers, it is an abiding Unction, ſuch as abides with them for ever, Joh. 14.16. It is as a Well of water ſpringing up to everlaſting life, p. 291Joh. 4.14. Continual irrigations of Grace iſſue from it to cheriſh the heavenly nature in them: The Holy Spirit will enliven them, as being parts of Chriſt. Hence our Saviour ſaith, Becauſe I live, ye ſhall live alſo, Joh. 14.19. As long as the Spirit of life is upon the head, it will flow down upon the members; and whilſt it is there, there can be no ſuch thing as Apoſtacy, but on the contrary a ſweet liberty to all the holy ways of God. The other is this, The Spirit witneſſes to believers, at leaſt to ſome of them, That they are the Children of God, and by conſequence heirs of him, Rom. 8.16, 17. And how high an evidence is this? May ſuch a Teſtimony fail or be reverſed? Or may believers ceaſe to be children, and fall ſhort of the inheritance? Far be it from that holy Spirit. The Apoſtle calls the Spirit, the earneſt of our inheritance, not for a time, but till the redemption of the Church be compleated, Eph. 1.14. till the whole ſum be paid in glory: the earneſt goes along with the believer to Heaven, his Graces therefore cannot fail by the way: This is another ground of perſeverance.

4. Their Graces depend upon the promiſes: In the Covenant of works there was no promiſe of perſeverance; but in the Covenant of Grace there are many ſuch: God ſhall confirm you unto the end, 1 Cor. 1.8. He will put his fear in your hearts, that ye ſhall not depart from him, Jer. 32.40. He which did begin the good work in them, will perform it till the day of Chriſt, Phil. 1.6. He will put his ſpirit into them, and canſe them to walk in his ſtatutes, Ezek. 36.27. In ſuch promiſes as theſe, the believers ſtate of Grace p. 291is ſecured: Shall we now ſay, that all theſe promiſes are conditional, If we will perſevere, or, which is all one, do our duty? Is not this to turn the Covenant of Grace into that of Works? Is it not to evacuate all theſe promiſes touching perſeverance, as if God ſpoke in ſuch contradictory terms as theſe, If you perſevere, I will make you perſevere; as if perſeverance could be the condition of it ſelf? After theſe promiſes, the believers are but where they were before. Without theſe promiſes it would have been true, That if they perſevere, they do ſo; and with them ſo interpreted, what have they more? What do they contribute to believers, when the main ſtreſs of perſeverance is laid on mans will, and not on Gods grace. Theſe promiſes were penned to be great comforts to believers, that God would eſtabliſh them by his grace: but what comfort can they take in them, if the matter be left to their own lubricous will? It is in effect as if God ſhould ſay, I will preſerve you from all evils and dangers, only for that greateſt evil of all which is in your own hearts and wills, I will not undertake. What is this but to take away the ſpirit and life of the promiſes, to leave the Saints in a dead and comfortleſs condition? Our Saviour tells us to our comfort, That his ſheep ſhall never periſh, neither ſhall any pluck them out of his hand, Joh. 10.28: not unleſs they themſelves will,Prael. Theol. cap. 12. ſaith Socinus: but what is this but to nullifie the promiſe? They cannot poſſibly be plucked out of Chriſts hand without their own voluntary conſent. So the promiſe runs thus: They ſhall not be plucked out of his hand but only in ſuch a way as the ſame is poſſible to be p. 292done: that is, the words are abſurd, and ſignifie juſt nothing. But if the promiſes made to Saints, were thus conditional, what are thoſe made to Chriſt? Hath not God ſaid, That Chriſt ſhould have a ſeed, nay, and be ſatisfied in it, Iſa. 53.10, 11? Hath he not ſaid, nay, ſworn to Chriſt, That his ſeed (ſuch as believers are) ſhould endure for ever; that his throne (a chief part of which is in their hearts) ſhould be as the Sun, Pſal. 89.35, 36? And are theſe promiſes conditional alſo? It's true, that there was a condition on Chriſts part, That he ſhould obey and ſuffer for us: but was there any on ours? Muſt theſe promiſes run thus, Chriſt ſhall have a ſeed and a throne if man will? No, the promiſes are abſolute; no mention at all is made of mans will. But if the Graces of the Saints may fail, ſo may theſe promiſes alſo. Chriſt might have no ſeed, at leaſt no enduring one, ſuch as may ſatisfie him. His throne, at leaſt that choice part of it which is in the hearts of the Saints, may utterly fail and come to nothing. If the matter be left to the Lottery of mans will, How is God true to his Son Chriſt? Poſſibly there might be no feed of new-creatures at all; or if there were, they might flie away from the birth in an utter apoſtacy. Nay, what if the event did hit right, and anſwer the promiſe, yet God is never the truer for that; neither can we ſay, that he fulfilled his promiſe in that event, which was never ſecured by his grace, but came to paſs as it happened by the lucky hit of mans will. To conclude, Upon the whole matter it appears God hath taken believers into his own hand; their Graces ſhall not fail, becauſe his Truth and Faithfulneſs cannot; p. 294their ſtanding is ſure, becauſe his promiſes cannot fall to the ground.

To add no more: We ſee here how we ought in all humility to give Grace its due; and this we cannot do, unleſs we give it all. Non eſt devotionis dediſſe prope totum Deo, ſed frandis retinuiſſe vel minimum, ſaith Proſper: To give Nine hundred ninety nine parts to Grace, and reſerve one only to mans will, is more than true devotion will bear: it's juſt to give the whole unto God. The Jewiſh Rabbins ſay, That he who receives any good thing in this world without a benediction, is a robber of God: but the greateſt ſacriledg of all is, when we own not the Grace of God in ſupernatural bleſſings which relate to the world to come; Verè humiles totum Deo reddunt, True humble ſouls render all to God. Let us then acknowledg with Jacob, We are leſs than the leaſt of all his mercies. We were naturally undone, unclean creatures, proper objects of wrath. Why did God ſend his Son in the fleſh to ſeek that which was loſt, waſh us in a laver of his own blood, and bring us into favour with him? We might have been born in the dark places of the earth where Chriſt is not named, where the Sun of Righteouſneſs ſhines not in Pardons and Graces. Why did God place us in a Region of Evangelical light, and ſet Jeſus Chriſt with all his beauties and treaſures evidently before us? Under the Goſpel there are many blind eyes and hard hearts, many poor ſouls dead and buried in a grave of ſin. Why did he open our eyes upon heavenly myſteries, and melt our hearts into the Divine will? Why did he raiſe us up out of our ſpiritual graves, p. 295and quicken us unto a Divine life? There is ſtill corruption within, and temptation without us. Our Graces are weak, and in themſelves defectible creatures. Why doth he ſupply us with freſh influences of grace, and maintain the new-creature in us? Why are we not ſwallowed up in temptations and corruptions, but kept and preſerved to the heavenly Kingdom? Here we muſt glory in our God, and cry out, Grace, Grace. All the good we have, is from that Fountain. Thus St. Paul aſcribes all to Grace; I live, yet not I, but Chriſt liveth in me. I labour, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. He acknowledges no I-neſs, but aſcribes all his ſpiritual being and working to Grace. I will ſhut up all with that of Bonaventure, Furti reus eſt, qui ſibi aliquid retinet, cum Deus dicat, gloriam meam alteri non dabo; He is guilty of Theft, who retains any thing to himſelf, when God hath ſaid, My glory I will not give to another. All glory therefore be to him alone.