The Anatomy of Arminianism, Chapter 39
CHAP. XXXIX.
Vniuerſall ſufficient Grace is confuted by ſundry places of Scripture.
I. THis doctrine which doth place in an infidell and vnregenerate man grace, which either mediately or immediatly may ſuffice to the obtayning of faith or ſaluation, without any knowledge of the Goſpell and faith in Chriſt, doth pull vp Chriſtian Religion by the rootes, and is contrary to Scripture and experience.
II. Firſt of all, it muſt needes be that all doctrine in matter of our ſaluation, which doth not reſt it ſelfe on the teſtimony of the ſcripture, muſt fall to the ground: But the Scripture doth no where ſay, that God is bound to giuegive increaſes of grace to them who hauehave rightly vſed naturall light and vnderſtanding. It doth no where ſay that a man without faith can rightly worſhip God. It doth no where ſay that God is bound to giuegive to all men, mediately or immediatly, power to beleeue and fulfill thoſe things which are commanded in the Goſpell: It doth no where ſay that ſupernaturall grace is giuen to all men, by which they may rightly vſe naturall light: It doth no where ſay, that the Gentiles who are ignorant of Chriſt, are led by the holy Ghoſt. Theſe are the forgeries of idle men, whom an euill itching of wit, and a bad cuſtome of diſputing hath ceaſed on.
III. This doctrine is confuted by all thoſe places of Scripture, by which we hauehave proued that an vnregenerate man doth want free-will in thoſe things which belong to ſaluation: For thereby it is proued, that an vnregenerate man hath not power of beleeuing, and cannot worſhip God with that worſhip which is pleaſing to him, nor diſpoſe himſelfe to regeneration.
IV. Adde to theſe the teſtimony of the Apoſtle, Epheſ. 2.12. where ſpeaking of the Gentiles, before the word of God had beene made knowne to them, he ſaith, that they were without Chriſt, hauing no hope, and without God in the world. You ſee that they who are without Chriſt, hauehave not God; and how can they be ſaid to be without God, whom theſe Sectaries ſay, hauehave ſufficient grace by the helpe whereof they may beleeue, and worſhip God, and vſe rightly the light of nature? Surely theſe things cannot ſtand together.
V. The ſame Apoſtle, Rom. 10.14. ſaith, How ſhall they beleeue in him, of whom they hauehave not heard? By theſe words, he doth plainely enough teach, that the Gentiles, to whom Chriſt was not knowne, could not beleeue: But Arminius will hauehave the power of beleeuing to be giuen mediately or immediately to eueryevery man.
VI. The Apoſtle proceedeth: How ſhall they beleeue in him, of whom they hauehave not heard; and how ſhall they heare without a preacher: and how ſhall they preach, except they be ſent: Let theſe words be weighed and conſidered of. Saint Paul is of opinion, that Chriſt cannot be beleeued in, vnleſſe the Goſpell be heard; and that the Goſpell cannot be heard, vnleſſe preachers be ſent: This being laid downe, I ſay, that God doth doe nothing in vaine; but he ſhould in vaine giuegive power of beleeuing the Goſpell to all, vnleſſe he ſhould ſend thoſe who ſhould preach the Goſpell: now to the greater part of men, he doth not ſend the preachers of the Goſpell; therefore he doth not giuegive to them all, the power of beleeuing, nor ſufficient grace to beleeue.
VII. The ſame Apoſtle, 2 Tim. 1. ſaith, that God hath called vsus with a holy calling, not according to our workes, but according to his owne purpoſe and grace. The Arminians therefore doe falſely thinke, that God doth giuegive ſupernaturall light, and the knowledge of his Goſpell, to them who by free-will hauehave rightly vſed ſufficient grace, and the light of nature: For if this were true, our calling ſhould be altogether for workes, and according to workes: For the good vſing of ſufficient grace, and of that light which is naturally engrafted in man, is a good worke; for the beholding of which, the Arminians will hauehave God to call man by the Goſpell, and to enlighten him with greater vnderſtanding. The Arminian conferrers at the Hage, pag. 86. doe ſay, That God doth ſend his word, whether it ſeemeth good to him, not according to any decree, but for other cauſes, lying hid in man. Theſe men will hauehave the cauſe why God ſhould ſend his word to ſome rather then to others, to be in man himſelfe, and not in the good pleaſure of God: Which ſpeach doth plainely make man to be called, in reſpect of workes, and according as man is affected, and fitted to obey him calling; when yet it is manifeſt by experience, that the moſt vnworthy, and worſt affected men, are often called by the word of the Goſpell, as the Romanes, the Corinthians, &c. And where ſinne abounded, there grace abounded, Rom. 5. That it might not be of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that ſheweth mercy, Rom. 9.
VIII. Chriſt ſaith, Iohn 15.5. Without me, you can doe nothing. That which is ſaid to the Apoſtles, is ſaid to all; for as many of vsus as are without Chriſt, can doe nothing. Theſe Sectaries doe offend againſt this ſaying of Chriſt, when they teach that they who hauehave not knowne Chriſt, and who doe want faith, may beleeue, and worſhip God with a worſhip pleaſing to him, and may doe the will of the father.
IX. Whom God hateth from the wombe, to them he doth not giuegive ſufficient and ſauing grace; for this were to louelove them: But God hated Eſau from the wombe, Rom. 9.13. therefore he did not giuegive him ſufficient and ſauing grace. For although Malachy ſpeaketh theſe things of a temporall reiection, yet it ſufficeth to the preſent matter, that this reiection (as Arminius confeſſeth) is laid downe by Saint Paul, as a type of the ſpirituall reiection. So that there are ſome whom God hath reiected with a ſpirituall reiection, before they hauehave done either good or euill; therefore hee doth not giuegive them ſufficient meanes to faith, or to ſaluation: for this cannot be made to agree with hatred.
X. Were thoſe Iſraelites furniſhed by God with ſufficient grace, to whom God himſelfe, Deut. 29.2. doth ſay, that among ſo many miracles he did not giuegive a heart to vnderſtand, nor eyes to ſee? God hath not giuen you a heart to perceiue, and eyes to ſee, and eares to heare vntounto this day. This place hath driuen Arnoldus to his ſhifts, therefore hee ſeeketh for helpe from his audacity: For thoſe words, I hauehave not giuen you a heart to perceiue, he ſaith, hauehave no other meaning, then that ye hauehave not a heart: And theſe words, I hauehave not giuen you, hee doth quite blot out; yet a while after, by the weakeneſſe of his forehead, as being aſhamed of it, leauing this expoſition, he doth adde; Although God hath not giuen them ſuch eyes and eares, it doth not follow, that God was vnwilling to giuegive theſe things to them; but God was willing to gine theſe things to them, and they were wanting to themſelues, by their pride, ignorance, and ſluggiſh dulneſſe: But hee doth not cleare himſelfe by this; yea, rather hee doth more entangle himſelfe: For I demand, whether they had an heart to vnderſtand, and eares to heare, before they had ſhewed themſelues refractory & rebellious? If they neuer had, then we hauehave ouercome; for then we hauehave a cleare example of ſome men to whom a heart and eyes were neuer giuen, and therefore not ſufficient grace: But if Arnoldus ſaith, that they had theſe things at the beginning, but they afterward loſt them; then he will accuſe God himſelfe of a lie, who doth directly ſay, that he neuer gaue them a heart, nor eyes to this day.
XI. Was ſufficient grace giuen to the men of Tire & Sydon, to whom Chriſt would not hauehave his Goſpell preached, although they were not ſo farre from repentance, as the men of Capernaum, to whom Chriſt himſelfe did preach the Goſpel?
XII. In the meane while the reader ſhall obſerue the ridiculous wit of this man, flying the encounter. Hee ſaith, that God was willing to giuegive to the Iſraelites a heart to vnderſtand, & eyes to ſee, & that he was prepared to giuegive them, but was hindred by the Iſraelites that he might not giuegive them: Therefore (if this man be beleeued) they were able to obey God, before he had giuen them a hart; but to obey, is it ſelfe to hauehave a hart, therfore they might hauehave had a hart, before they had a hart; which are things which cannot ſtand together: he doth therfore as much as if he ſhould ſay; God hath not giuen them a hart, becauſe they were without a hart: as if the Phyſitian would not heale the blind man, becauſe the blinde man would not ſee the Phyſitian comming.
XIII. And if, as the Arminians doe thinke, God doth command nothing, to the fulfilling whereof hee doth not giuegive ſufficient grace; I would hauehave them tell me, whether God commanding Pharaoh to ſend away the people, gaue him ſufficient grace, by which he might obey the commandement of God: when on the contrary, the Scripture doth witneſſe, that God hardned his heart, that he might not ſend away the people.
XIV. And ſeeing there are ſome whom God doth harden, and that (as the Arminians ſay) vnreſiſtably; doth God giuegive to thoſe men ſo hardned, ſufficiēt grace of fulfilling the Law, to the fulfilling whereof eueryevery man is bound? doth he giuegive to eueryevery man ſufficient grace to the perfect fulfilling of the law? No truely; for why did Chriſt make himſelfe obnoxious and ſubiect to the law, but that hee might fulfill that for vsus, which could not be fulfilled by vsus? Rom 8.3.
XV. Chriſt, Mat. 11. doth thus ſpeak to his Diſciples; It is giuen to you to know the ſecrets of the Kingdome of heauen, but it is not giuen to them: Doth he not ſay that the grace of knowing the ſecrets of the kingdome of heauen, is not at all giuen to ſome? & yet without this grace, all other grace is vnprofitable to ſaluation. Here therefore I demand, whether they, to whom it was not giuen to know theſe ſecrets, could know them? It appeareth by the words of Chriſt, that they could not; and yet the ſame men are commanded to learne and know theſe ſecrets, and to beleeue them: For here it is ſpoken of thoſe to whom the Goſpell was preached: And if they could not know them, becauſe it was not giuen to them, it appeareth that ſufficient grace to know and learne thoſe things was not granted to them.
XVI. The Apoſtle, Acts 14. ſaith, that God in times paſt, ſuffered all nations to walke in their owne waies. And, Pſal. 147. it is ſaid, Hee ſhewed his Statutes to Iſrael; He hath not dealt ſo with any nation; And therefore they hauehave not knowne his Statutes. And Mathew, Chap. 4. ſaith, that the Gentiles, to whom the Goſpell had not yet ſhone, ſat in darkneſſe, and in the ſhadow of death. Who dares ſay, that ſufficient grace to obtaine faith, was giuen to theſe men? For example ſake, did God in the time of the Machabees, giuegive ſufficient grace to the Mores and the Americanes to beleeue in Chriſt, and to obtaine ſaluation: By what teſtimony, or by what reaſon ſhall it at length be proued that theſe Nations were furniſhed with ſufficient grace, and were called with a ſauing calling? The booke of nature was before their eyes, they had ſome notions of that which was right and good imprinted on their hearts, but darkened with a great miſt: Yet neither by theſe things, nor by that ſufficient grace, deſtitute of faith, did euer any of them come to faith or ſaluation: Nor could the Arminians yet bring an example of any one, who by theſe helps hauehave come to faith? Yet Vorſtius is ſhameles, for, in the ſixe and twentieth Section. Col. cum Piſ. he ſaith, that theſe people were not ſimply deſtitute of neceſſary helpe, and that God vouchſafed them ſome crummes of the heauenly bread, which were mediately ſufficient. This man of a prepoſtrous wit, doth ſtrew vsus here the crummes of his ſmall eloquence, and doth cloath his new doctrine with vnvſuall tearmes, which becauſe he doth ſo proffer, that hee will hauehave them to be beleeued without proofe, it is as eaſily reiected by vsus, as it is affirmed by him.
VII. That ſpeach of Chriſt, Iohn 6.44. is of no ſmall moment, nor careleſly to be read. No man can come to me vnleſſe the father, who ſent mee, draw him. Whereunto that, verſe 65. is agreeable; No man can come to me, except it were giuen vntounto him of my father. Out of which places we thus reaſon: Whoſoeuer is not ſo drawne that he come, is not furniſhed with ſufficient grace to come: But many are not ſo drawne; Therefore many men are not furniſhed with ſufficient grace to come. The Maior is proued by the words of Chriſt; No man can come to me, except the father draw him: For i… thou muſt be drawne that thou maiſt come, it is plaine, that they that are not drawne doe want grace and power whereby they may come; and therefore that they are not furniſhed with ſufficient grace; and that there were many that were not drawne, is proued by the ſame words of Chriſt: for he ſetteth downe the cauſe, why the men of Capernaum could not come, nor beleeue, to wit, becauſe they were not drawne: Therefore Arminius againſt Perkins, pag. 219. doth wrongfully demand, as one doubting; What if all men are drawne? To deuiſe many kindes of drawing, is nothing to this matter; for it ſufficeth to the preſent queſtion, that it is ſpoken in this place of ſuch a drawing, without which, no man doth come to Chriſt. Let theſe Sectaries faigne whatſoeuer kinde of drawings they will, ſo long as it is manifeſt, that by them no man euer came to Chriſt, and that he that is not drawne by that drawing whereof Chriſt ſpeaketh here, is not furniſhed with ſufficient grace; which the Arminians themſelues doe acknowledge, while they confeſſe that by that ſufficient and helpefull grace, no man is conuerted, vnleſſe another ſpeciall grace hath come to it: Whence it followeth that that generall grace is not ſufficient.