Rebellion of the Powers of our Souls that disposes us to all manner of Sins ART X. Of Free-Will THE Condition of Man after the Fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural Strength and Good Works to Faith and calling upon God Wherefore we have no Power to do Good Works pleasant and acceptable to God without the Grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a Good Will and working with us when we have that Good Will Against this Doctrine it is Objected Obj. 1. That God commands Men to turn to him and to believe in him Zach. 1. 3. Mark 1. 15. and in many other places to perform all Works of Piety Therefore this they can do otherwise it would be commanded to no purpose Answ. From a Precept to an Ability to perform it we can draw no Argument We can indeed do Offices of Piety and that only when we are acted and excited to them God gives what he Commands and helps what he has given without Him we cannot be good and without our selves he will not make us so Obj. 2. It is tyrannical to punish any one for not doing what he could not so much as Will or Desire Answ. He would be indeed a Tyrant that should command such things to be done as are not in Mens Power But God made Man with Abilities to fulfil his Commands And then God requires of Man Obedience to his I aw not by setting himself upon the exact fulfilling of it by his own feeble Strength but upon considering the impossibility of the thing with respect to the Powers of Nature to betake himself to Christ through whom the Faithful are able to do all things Obj. 3. If Man had not a Free-Will he would Sin necessarily and then ought not to be punished and so all Use of Exhortations Reproofs and all endeavour after Good Works would be taken away Answ. A Man without the help of Grace sins necessarily whosoever is under this necessity it is his Fault for he has drawn this necessity of sinning upon himself and therefore is justly punished by God And then as for the Use of Exhortations that is not taken away with those that have the sufficient Assistance of God The Precepts which cannot be performed by the strength of Nature are useful in this respect that they put us in mind of our Weakness invite us to an earnest endeavour to pray and so lead us to Christ who is wont to assist the weak And these are the efficacious means that God together with his Grace makes use of in Man's Conversion that what is impossible to Nature may in this way become very easie Obj. 4. Men are called Labourers Mat. 20. 8. and Labourers together with God in the business of Salvation 1 Cor. 3. 9. Answ. Men do indeed co-operate with God by Grace not by their own Strength and therefore they are said to co-operate in respect of assisting and not of preventing Grace ART XI Of the Justification of Man by Faith WE are accounted Righteous before God only for the Merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith and not for our own Works or Deservings wherefore that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholsome Doctrine and very full of Comfort as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification Obj. 1. In this Article there seems to be a Contradiction when it is said we are accounted Righteous only for the Merit of Christ but afterward it is said this is done by Faith Answ. Here is no Contradiction at all We are only accounted Righteous by the Merit of Christ as by an impellent Cause yet this is done likewise by Faith as by an instrumental Cause whereby we obtain that Merit Obj. 2. By Justification we are restored to that State from which by the Sin of Adam we were fallen Rom. 5. 19. Since therefore we lost inherent Righteousness by Adam's Fall we recover it again by Justification Answ. We are restored by the Righteousness of Christ and partly by inherent Righteousness too The one as the most perfect is imputed for perfect Righteousness Rom. 4. But the other is too weak for us to be able to stand before God Esa. 64. 6. In the afore-cited place Rom. 5. the Word as does not determine the manner or the quality but the original Author of Righteousness Obj. 3. It is said Rom. 8. 24. By Hope we are saved Answ. By Hope is there meant Trust and so it falls in with Faith Even by Hope we are said to be saved because we are not actually possessed of Salvation but by Hope not that we are justified by any peculiar Vertue of Hope Obj. 4. Many Sins were forgiven Mary Magdalen because she loved much says the Text Luke 7. 47. therefore by Love she was Justified Answ. The Particle because does not denote any forcible cause of Justification but only a significative one for Love is a sign of Justification and is the fruit and companion of Faith but yet it has not an equal share with it in the Act of Justification Here is no Consequence her Sins were forgiven because she loved therefore Love is the cause of Forgiveness So neither does this follow A Man lives because he walks therefore walking is the cause of Life ART XII Of Good Works ALbeit that Good Works which are the fruits of Faith and follow after Justification cannot put away our Sins and endure the severity of God's Judgments yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a Tree discerned by the Fruit. Obj. 1. Many Men believe the Articles of Faith to be true that do yet lead wicked Lives therefore Good Works are not always the Fruit of Faith Answ. Such Men as always live wickedly have not justifying Faith but only the empty Profession of it Obj. 2. The Integrity of Job is described Chap. 1. 2. David asks to be judged according to his Righteousness nâ—y and boasts of it too Psal. 7. 8. And then we read of Zachartah and Elizabeth that they were both Righteous before God Luke 1. 6. It seems then that their Works would bear the Judgment of God Answ. A partial Perfection which is Sincerity is attributed to the Godly but not an absolute one such as is called a gradual Perfection as if they could be able to stand the severe Trial of Divine Judgment Job says he could not do so Chap. 9. 2 3. It is one thing to speak of the Righteousness of a Cause and another of a Personal Rightcousness in respect of which latter David himself confesses that he could not bear the Judgment of God Psal. 130. 3. 143. 2. Obj. 3. St. James concludes Chap. 2. 24. That a Man is justified by Works and not by Faith only Answ. St. James speaks of Justification or the proof of Justification
Jewish Commonwealth and these do not bind Christians but there are others which have the nature of common Justice and a natural Law and are the Explications and Determinations of the moral one and the observation of them is likewise injoyned in the New Testament But these do bind every one to observe them Obj. 9. The moral Law is not made for a Righteous Man 1 Tim. 1. 9. Answ. The Law as to its Punishments whereof it threatens a great many is not made for a Righteous Man to Condemnation altho' it be made as to its Rules for Observation A just Man even for the love of Justice conforms himself to that Law and then the threatnings of the Law signifie nothing to him Consequently then this can be nothing to wilful Libertines that the Just are not bound by any Christian Laws ART VIII Of the Three Creeds THE Three Creeds Nice Creed Athanasius's Creed and that which is commonly called the Apostle's Creed ought thoroughly to be received and believed for they may be proved by most certain Warrants of Holy Scripture Obj. 1. This Article seems to be imperfect because it makes no mention of the Ephesian Chalcedonian and Constantinopolitan Creeds which were wont to be approved of by the Church Answ. This Article mentions the chief Creeds not exclusively to others as if they might not be true likewise and it was not necessary to mention All. Obj. 2. The Inventions of Men are not to be obtruded upon the Church nor to be received as necessary to be believed but the foregoing Creeds as such and are proposed to our Faith as if they were the Wâ—d of God Answ. The aforesaid Creeds were indeed composed and methodized by Men but yet they are not the meer Fancies of Men contrary to the Holy Scriptures which the Argument supposes but the Doctrine contained in them is conformable to the Word of God Neither do we receive them with an equal degree of Faith with the Holy Scripture but we give them the next place to That and reverence them as the chief Monuments of Faith Obj. 3. To omit others that Sentence in Athanasius's Creed seems to be too severe where he speaks of the Confession of Faith That except every one do keep it whole and undefiled without doubt he shall perish everlastingly What shall we then say of those that labour under an invincible Ignorance How shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard says St. Paul Rom. 10. 14 If then Men want the Means of Knowledge and the Tidings of this Doctrine has in no sort come to them it is plain they are not to be blamed and that they are free from Damnation for God obliges no one to Impossibilities Answ. Athanasius means chiefly those to whom the Catholick Faith has been propounded and explained who have all the means requisite for the knowledge of the Truth As to others who of them will be saved God himself will in an extraordinary manner enlighten their Understandings that they may perceive what things are necessary to Salvation ART IX Of Original Sin ORiginal Sin stands not in the following of Adam as the Pelagians do vainly talk but it is the Fault and Corruption of the Nature of every Man that naturally is ingendered of the Off-spring of Adam whereby Man is very far gone from Original Righteousness and is of his own Nature inclined to Evil so that the Fleth lusteth always contrary to the Spirit And therefore in every Person born into this World it deserves God's Wrath and Damnation And this Infection of Nature does remain yea in them that are Regenerated whereby the Lust of the Flesh called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some do expound the Wisdom some Sensuality some the Affection some the Desire of the Flesh is not subject to the Law of God And altho' there is no Condemnation for them that believe and are Baptized yet the Apostle does confess that Concupiscence and Lust has of it self the nature of Sin Against which it is Objected Obj. 1. That God does not punish the same Sin twice but he has â—ready punished Adam's Sin in Adam and therefore will not punish it in us Ans. Adam's Sin was not Numerically but Specifically One and that inclusive of the whole Species As he sinned so have we likewise sinned in him and we are justly punished in our selves Obj. 2. It is plain there is no such thing as Original Sin because the Son shall not bear the Iniquity of the Father says the Prophet Ezek. 18. 20. Answ. The Son does not bear the Personal Sins of his Father but the Sin of the first Man was a stain of the whole Nature when therefore any one is punished for the Sin of Adam he is punished for his own Obj. 3. Sin is a voluntary thing but Original Sin is not so in Infants Ans. Original Sin is voluntary in All nay even in Infants too for our Wills were in the Will of Adam as in the Principle of Mankind in him we willed and desired Evil. Obj. 4. An Accident of one Individual is not transferred to the whole Species but the Sin of Adam was only an Accident of one Individual Ans. Adam inasmuch as he was the Principle of Human Nature was to be look'd upon here as an universal Cause Obj. 5. The Children of Holy Men are Holy 1 Cor. 7. 14. therefore they are not born in Sin Ans. The Children of Holy Men are not so Holy as to be free from Original Sin but they are called so in regard of a Communion with the Church by reason of that Covenant Gen. 17. 7. I will be a God to Thee and to thy Seed They are therefore Holy with a relative and not with any inherent Holiness so also they are Innocent in respect to those Sins which are committed against Knowledge Obj. 6. In Baptism we receive a perfect Remission of Sins therefore Original Sin is wholly taken away and so remains not in the Regenerate Ans. Remission of Sin takes away Sin as to its Imputation not as to its Being for Mortification is but imperfect in this Life so in Baptism Sin is taken away but not so much the Sin it self as the Sting of it that it may not hurt us Obj. 7. Things absolutely disagreeing do not meet in the same Subject but Sin and Righteousness are of that sort therefore since there is Righteousness in the Regenerate there can be no Sin there Answ. Sin and Righteousness cannot be in the same Subject in the highest but yet easily in lower degrees Obj. 8. Concupiscence or a proneness to Evil is distinguished from Sin as the Cause is from the Effect Jam. 1. 15. and therefore is not of it self to be accounted Sin Answ. Concupiscence is distinguished from Actual Sin and from an external Act already compleated but in the mean time it has of it self the nature of a Sin because of it self it is not subjected to the Law of God And it is this
understand that a regenerate Man can very hardly be brought to sin at least to habitual ones Or else that a regenerate Man as such or as far as he abideth in God sinneth not But so far as he has a Propension to sin so far he departs from Grace and Regeneration Obj. 3. Eternal Life is promised to none but him that overcometh Re. 3. 5. Now only they can be said to overcome that have absolutely subdued Sin Answ. As we are not rewarded with the Crown of Glory till our Race is run so neither can we poor Mortals expect wholly to overcome Sin Obj. 4. We ought to be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect says our Saviour Mat. 5. 48. But this could not be if we be sullied with the least Spot of Sin Answ. We must not argue for what we are from what we ought to be neither is there here supposed any Equality of Holiness with God the Father which is absolutely impossible but we are exhorted to some kind of Likeness with God which Sin notwitstanding may be consistent enough with some Duties of Piety Obj. 5. Christ said John 9. 3. That neither the blind Man nor his Parents did Sin Answ. Sin is taken either generally in which Sense all Men sin or else particularly for some horrid and enormous Impiety which is often the Cause of a remarkable Judgment of God upon the Person of the Sinner or upon his Children and Family And in this Sense Christ spoke concerning the blind Man ART XVI Of Sin after Baptism NOT every deadly Sin willingly committed after Baptism is Sin against the Holy Ghost and unpardonable Wherefore the Grant of Repentance is not to be denyed to such as fall into Sin after Baptism After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from Grace given and fall into Sin and by the Grace of God we may arise again and amend our Lives And therefore they are to be condemned which say They can no more sin as long as they live here or deny the place of Forgiveness to such as truly repent Obj. 1. Every Sin is a Sin in or against the Holy Ghost and therefore every voluntary Sin after Baptism is such Answ. A blasphemous obstinate and malicious denying of and opposition to a known Truth is called the Sin against the Holy Ghost Not that other Sins may not likewise be committed against the Holy Ghost or that this very Sin is not likewise a Sin against the Father and the Son but that it is committed against the proper and immediate Operation of the Holy Spirit And thus every one sins when the Truth of the Gospel though clearly and sufficiently avowed is denyed is obstinately and by voluntary Malice rejected and violently opposed And when in this denyal of an avowed Truth and hostile Resistence Men obstinately persist to the last Day of their Lives This is the Sin against the Holy Ghost Obj. 2. It is said Heb. 6. 4 5 6. That if Men who have tasted of the Grace of God fall away they cannot be renewed again to Repentance Answ. The Apostle does not here speak of any particular Fall or Lapse but of an universal Defection and Falling of whereby ungodly Men ruin themselves and tread under Foot all the Means of Salvation ART XVII Of Predestination and Election PRedestination to Life is the everlasting Purpose of God whereby before the Foundations of the World were laid he hath constantly decreed by his Council secret to us to deliver from Curse and Damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of Mankind and to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation as Vessels made to Honour Wherefore they which be indued with so excellent a Benefit of God be called according to God's Purpose by his Spirit working in due Season They through Grace obey the Calling They be justified freely They be made Sons of God by Adoption They be made like the Image of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ they walk religiously in good Works and at length by God's Mercy they attain to everlasting Felicity As the Godly Consideration of Predestination and our Election in Christ is full of sweet pleasant and unspeakable Comfort to godly Persons and such as feel in themselves the Working of the Spirit of Christ mortifying the Works of the Flesh and their earthly Members and drawing up their Mind to high and heavenly things as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their Faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ as because it does servently kindle their Love towards God So for curious and carnal Persons lacking the Spirit of Christ to have continually before their Eyes the Sentence of God's Predestination is a most dangerous downfal whereby the Devil does thrust them either into Desperation or into Wretchlesness of most unclean Living no less perillous than Desperation Furthermore we must receive God's Promises in such wise as they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture And in our Doings that Will of God is to be followed which we have expresly declared unto us in the Word of God Obj. Against the foregoing Article it is objected 1. That Men are not predestinated because no other Creatures are said to be predestinated whereas there is the same Reason for all God's Creatures which are ordained to some End by his Providence Answ. There is not the same Reason for all Creatures for irrational Creatures are not capable of this Supernatural End Predestination therefore is wrongfully called an Ordainment to any End whatsoever Obj. 2. He that predestinates Men ought to prae-determine whatsoever relates to their Merits or Demerits But God does not prae-determine any of our Powers for then we should be necessarily forced either to Salvation or Destruction But God thus compels no body Answ. God has not prae-determined Mens Merits or Demerits so as to impose any Necessity upon them but has given to Man before the Fall a most free Will Obj. 3. That it is not agreeable to the Nature of Angels to be predestinated to Life and therefore neither is it to Men The Antecedent is thus proved because Predestination to Life is a Purpose of Compassion but the Angels never were in Misery The Consequence is true because Angels are capable of Happiness as well as Man Answ. Why may we not say of good Angels that they were predestinated to Life Since Pity is not only a Releasement from Misery but every Reward above what is due is such And the Nature of the Mercy is not to be taken from any Prior State but from the present Condition and therefore it is not material whether any one be predestinated from a State of Misery or not Obj. 4. If God should reprobate any one the Man that is reprobated is not to be charged with his own Ruin For no Man must be charged with what he could not avoid But if God should reprobate Man could not help it for no Man can withstand God Answ.
This Argument would hold if God should damn a Man inevitably without any Cause but because Man's falling into Sin proceeds from his own Degeneracy therefore his Destruction is deservedly imputed to himself Obj. 5. God has accepted a sufficient Ransom for all Men that is the Satisfaction of Christ therefore he ought to receive all Men into his Favour and by consequence none are to be damned Answ. The Ransom that Christ made was sufficient but 't was upon the Condition of our applying it to our selves otherwise it would not be so But all Men do not rightly apply Christ's Merits Obj. 6. They whose Salvation depends upon the secret Determinations of God can have no true Comfort or Support therefore the Doctrine of Predestination is not so full of Comfort as we speak of Answ. The Counsel of God is a Secret to us and brings no Comfort unless it be revealed by the Holy Spirit and by the Signs of Election which are Faith Repentance Charity and other Vertues ART XVIII Of obtaining Eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ. THey also are to be had accursed that presume to say that every Man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth so that he be diligent to frame his Life according to that Law and the Light of Nature for Holy Scripture does set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ whereby Men must be saved Obj. 1. Not only the Gentiles may be saved by the Law of Nature but the Jews also by the Law of Moles Rom. 2. Answ. It is asserted Rom. 3. 28. That no Man can be saved by the Law of Nature or of Mâ—ses Although Gentiles and Jews did perform some Works yet they were imperfect without Christ. Obj. 2. It is said That the whole of the Law and the Prophets is comprehended in that known Law of Nature All things that ye would that Men should do unto you do ye also to them Mat. 7. 12. Whence we may easily gather that it appears to all Men what is absolutely necessary to Salvation Answ. The Love that we are to shew to our Neighbour is comprehended in that Principle but that alone is not sufficient for the Doctrine of the Gospel which is unknown to Nature is likewise requisite to Salvation Obj. 3. God does not require at our Hands things impossible but it is impossible that they who have never heard of Christ should relie upon or believe in him Answ. Either according to the Apostle Rom. 10. 18. All Men have heard of the Gospel of Christ Or All may hear of him in the utmost Parts of the World where the Gospel is daily preached Or if there have been and are some who have never heard of it we must think that this was and is for some very grievous Impieties which make them unworthy of such a Knowledge Obj. 4. Christ told the Pharisees John 9. 41. If ye were blind ye would not have Sin And then told his Disciples concerning the Jews John 15. 22. If I had not come and spoke unto them they had not had Sin So that in these places he gives us sufficiently to understand that simple Ignorance ought not to be imâ—uted to any one Of which see more in Article VIII Answ. This is Christ's meaning either that if he had not come to the Pharisees at all if they had not read the Scriptures and seen his Miracles which confirmed him to be the Mesfiah Or if they had been blind in their Opinion and had sought for further Light from him they had not had the Sin of Infidelity But notwithstanding this because of their other Impieties without a Saviour they could not escape Damnation ART XIX Of the Church THE visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of faithful Men in the which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same As the Church of Jerusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Living and manner of Ceremonies but also in Matters of Faith Obj. 1. That the Church is compared to a Fold wherein are Sheep and Goats i. e. good and bad Therefore the Church is not only the Congregation of the Faithful Answ. Wicked Men may be said to be in the Church but not of the Church Obj. 2. Very many Sects have boasted that with them was to be sound wholsome Doctrine and a right use of the Sacraments and therefore these Marks do not always distinguish the true visible Church Answ. It is one thing falsly to boast and another really to have the infallible Word of God well considered will show to what Assembly Men ought to joyn themselves We find that the Beraeans tho' not of the Priestly Order could know how to value St. Paul's New Doctrine with Profit to themselves Obj. 3. That these Marks are later and more obscure than the Church later because the Doctors or Teachers are before the Doctrine more obscure because it is the part of the Church to explain its own Doctrine Answ. The Word of God tho' not as the written Word yet as to its Substance was before the Church because by that the Church was formed But tho' it were after the Church yet it might be a mark of it as the Effect may be a mark of the Cause Even the written Doctrine was before its Teachers who have lived in these last Ages And then to an Unbeliever the Church is more plain and remarkable than the Scripture as to its external Form but to a Believer the Scripture is plainer than the Church as to its internal Form because the Holy Spirit enlightens the Minds of the Faithful Now the Church explains the Scripture but then it is by Scripture because it lays down Scripture in its own simple native Light And so far we ought to give credit to the Decisions of the Church as far as its Determinations are agreeable to the Scriptures Obj. 4. We can assign no time wherein the Church of Rome has failed Answ. As to the time wherein the Church of Rome has begun to fail the Apostle witnesseth That in his time the foundations of that Mystery of Iniquity were already laid 2 Thess. 2. 7. And Christ tells us Mat. 13. 25. That the Enemy the Devil came and sowed Tares among the Wheat while Men slept that is before they were aware And who I pray you will be able to show us when Religion began so to be corrupted by the Pharisees as it was It is sufficient to us that the Doctrine of the Romanists as we now find it is not conformable to the Word of God Obj. 5. We can name no visible Assembly or Church that has had a Being since the Defection of the Church of Rome Answ. It is no strange thing that the true Church should be so oppressed by the violence of Persecutions and Errors so far
and bewail them Lastly Bernard Epist. 107. ad Thom. Beverl saith After a Man is once come to a knowledge of himself in part let him boast in Hope but not yet in Security Security and Fear are with Bernard two Extreams the one is the Excess and the other the Defect See Serm. in Cantio 11. That the Faithful are thro' their whole Lives uncertain of their Predestination and Perseverance St. Austin is very full and clear De Corrept Gratiâ Cap. 13. almost at the Beginning Contrà Arâ—iculos sibi falsò impositos Artic. 12. In Epist. 107. De bono Perseverantiae Cap. 13. near the beginning And then in his Book De Civitate Dei Book 11. Chap. 12. THE OPINION OF THE Church of England CONCERNING Predestination And the consequent Doctrines of it Explained by Dr. Overal Divinity-Professor at Cambridge CHAP. I. Concerning Predestination THE Opinion that the Church of England holds in this Matter is plain in its XVII Article That the eternal purpose of Predestination concerning the Elect's being saved in Christ is so to be taught that in the mean time we must receive God's Promises in such wise as they are generally set forth to us in the Holy Scriptures And in our Doings that Will of God is to be followed which we have expresly declared unto us in the Word of God In all which we must suppose that the necessary and effectual means both of inward Grace and the outward Word towards 〈◊〉 receiving the Promises of God and doing hiâ— Will are to be understood to be by verâ— of 〈◊〉 Gospel-Covenant which is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Spirit and not of the naked Letter according to that of Leo. He that looks only on the Duty goes without his Guide Wherefore under a general Promise and Precept every one may safely repose himself by a stedfast Faith and by a certain Hope and Trust may come boldly to the Throne of Grace at the same time assuring himself that if he does not trust in God's Promises nor obey his Commands he must blame himself and not God And own too that 't is thro' his own Negligence and not for want of Divine Grace lest he fall into that of Solomon Prov. 19. 3. The foolishness of Man 〈◊〉 his Way and his Heart sretteth against the Lord which St. Austin has frequently repeated against that Opinion Our Article therefore has thought sit so to join that eternal purpose of God concerning those whom he has chosen in Christ to be saved with the Divine Precepts and Promises as they are generally laid down together with the Means and Assistances annex'd to them that â—so we may fetch the original Ground of our Salvation from the eternal stedfast Purpose of Divine Election and not from any temporal unconstant variety of Man's Will That Grace may not be thought to be the necessary Consequence of Free-will but that all our Vertue and Strength in pious Affections and good VVorks of Faith as well as Perseverance is owing not to the uncertain co-operation of Man's Free-Will but to the efficacy of Divine Grace That in the End all may be ascribed to God and that he that Glories may glory in the Lord. These things being thus adjusted on both sides this seems to be the Order of God's Predestinating of us set forth in the XVII Article viz. That God foreknowing the Fall of Mankind did for a Remedy of the same determine to send his Son out of his meer Mercy and Compassion and so in him placed the condition of our Salvation For the performance of which he did appoint necessary Helps and sufficient Means more or less to all in general But to those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of the rest of Mankind he hath out of his good Pleasure bestowed and granted a greater and more abundant provision of Grace whereby they are most certainly led on to Faith Perseverance and eternal Salvation As for the rest they have nothing to complain of for hereby is shown both what the Free-will of Man left to it self can do under the Aid of a common yet sufficient Grace and also the singular Benesit of a special and prevailing Grace in those to whom God shall please to bestow it So that St. Austin's Opinion is true not only of the first Man but likewise of all his Posterity The God and Lord of all things has so disposed the Life of Men and Angels as first to show therein what their Free-will could do and then how far the Advantage of his Grace and the Love of Justice would prevail Thus God is the Saviour of all Men but especially of them that believe 1 Tim. 4. 10. which words of the Apostle as Prosper thought ought to determine this whole Cause CHAP. II. Concerning the Death of Christ. THE Opinion of our Church concerning the Death of Christ is so plain and every where so consistent with it self That Christ died for All Men or for all the Sins of all Men that it is to be wondered that any of us should ever have ventured to call it in Question It is said in the II. Article that Christ truly Suffered was Crucified Dead and Buried to reconcile his Father to us and to be a Sacrifice not only for Original Guilt but also for all the actual Sins of Men. Article VII As well in the Old as New Testament everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by Christ who is the only Mediator between God and Man being both God and Man Article XV. Christ came to be a Lamb without Spot who by Sacrifice of himself once made should take away the Sins of the World And again Article XXXI The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect Redemption Propitiation and Satisfaction for All the Sins of the whole World both Original and Actual And the same is to be met with in the common Catechism as the most plain sense of the second part of the Creed wherein it is proposed to every one to believe in God the Son who hath redeemed him and all Mankind according to the Nicene Creed who for us Men and for our Salvation descended c. And in many other places of our publick Liturgy as in the Prayer of Consecration in the Sacrament O God! who didst give thine only Son jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for oâ— Redemption who made there by his oâ—e Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World And to every single Person to whom the Sacrament is administred t is said The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee And again His Blood which was shed for thee preserve thy Soul c. The Death of Christ therefore considered in it self must be a Price sufficient for All Men if it was given for All. But the Scripture saith plainly That God gave his Son for the World and lays a Condition thereon not the Death of Christ but