non ei caedatur non pâ—ccabitur An forte fallit incautum Ergo cavâ—at ne fallatur An tanta fallacia est ut caveri omnino non possit Si ita est nulla peccata sunt Quis enim peccat in â—o quod nullo modo caveri potest Peccatur autem Caveri igitur potest Aug. lib. 3. de lib. Arbit cap. 18. whether that impulsion be through flattering insinuations or open violence if they be equally irresistible So that this Doctrine leaves a very fair plea to excuse wâ—ckedness and inables the Malefactor when he is upbraided with the enormity of his crimes to return the exprobâ—tion upon the inavoidable predetermination and impulse of this Maker for it is not in his power to make his own wayes either good or evil He cannot perform one evil act unless God doth first apply and predetermine his will unto it and whereas there are so many several sorts of sinners in the World this difference comes to pass not more by Gods restraining of some to less than by his predeterming of others unto more wickedness Insomuch as to my apprehension you make God to have as great a hand in the production of sin as of vertue * Et vos quidem necessitatem physicae praedetermination is urgere soletis tum ex dependentia tùm ex naturali indifferentia voluntatis liberae quo posito sequitur eandem determinationem necessariam esse tam ad eliciendam actum moraliter atque intrinsecè malum quam bonum coque actum malum aequè ac bonum in Deum refundi ut primam ejus causam quam â—nâ—m voluntati naturalis sit indifferentia â—oque tam ei insit ad actus malos quam ad bonos in utriusque tum mali tum boni actus productione Deo subordinata sit ut causae primae Necesse est eam tam ad mali quam ad boni actus productionem a Deo praederminari c. Si vero ista quam vos uâ—get is praedeterminatio voluntati non debetur ex dependentia subordinatione ejus ad Deum ut causam primam Ergo nec Deus quoties eam efficit in voluntate ad actum peccatâ— toties circa eam non peragit munus causae primae sâ—d potius insidiatoris aâ— seductoris ut qui citra omnem necessitatem conditionem humanae voluntatis non modo generali influxu sed speciali quadam cura auxilto scilicet praedeterminante concurrat ad hoc ut eam ad malum actum inducat deteriorem reddat Dissert Theol. inter Amesium Grevinch 383 384. pag. seq Qâ—um Deus non praedeterminet voluntatem hominis ad actum malum ex necessitate sed ex libertate dic quamobrem ad istum poâ—ius actum ex se malum quam ad alium determinet nisi ex mera voluntate affectu complacentia in hoc actu potius quam in alio At qui malo actu delectatur ex delectatione ejus influxum suum bominisque voluntatem determinat ad actum talem is quoque illius actus causa moralis est mortaliter agit malum Vid. quae sequuntur and this is the opinion of Mr. Baxter who saith If no free Agent can act without the predetermination of God as the first immediate physical cause I cannot see why all our acts good or bad are not equally by infusion Mr. Baxter of saving faith page 29 30. Diotrephes We distinguish of things such as are naturally good God effects by a single influence * Dr. Twiss ubâ— supra p. 91 92. what is spiritually good by a double influence one general unto the substance of the act another special as touching the manner of performing it saith Dr. Twiss Or as the same Author hath it elsewhere * As Mr. Hickcites him p. 97. of his Justif of the Fathers Every good work nâ—eds a twofold help one of general influence as it is a work another of special grace as good but an evil work requires only the concourse of general influence as it is a work but that it be evil no more is required than the denial of special grace In every good work God doth not only influence the will to work but also to work well but in our evil works he doth influence the will only to work and not to work ill Paganus 1. I desire you to consider that the moral goodness of our works doth not follow the entity of them as they proceed from God but only as they proceed from the will of man working freely * Sic enim voâ— libertatem arbitrii cum decreto Dei efficaci conjungere soletis Voluit ergo decrevit actum blasphemiae libere produci -Ergo malitiam ejus voluit quippe cujus malitia sormaliter consistat in co quod tali modo nempe libere cum rationis judicio producatur Dissert Theol. inter Ames Grevincho pag. 390. according to the Rule prescribed him Hence it is that the same act for substance as it flows from a man distracted wants that moral goodness that it hath when it is produced by a sober man though God affords the like concourse and influence unto the entity of them both If therefore God be the cause of our good act because he makes us conversant with perfect knowledge about a lawful object in like manner he must be accounted the cause of our evil act because according to your Doctrine he doth predetermine us with the like advertency of Reason to be conversant about the unlawful object Object 2. I pray resolve me touching the acts of Adultery Blasph my hating of God are they therefore sinful because they want some perfection which they ought to have and will they cease to be sinful when they have all the perfection which they ought to have as Mr. Hickman * Ibid. pag. 84. disputes it Is it only Gods special influence into the manner of performing them that is wanting in them Is there any modification that can possibly hallow them Will the help of special grace separate the moral pravity from the real entity in these acts Then I wonder not so much that Mr. Baxter makes Adultery in David c. so exceedingly different from the like fact in a graceless man * Prof. to his Grot. Relig. Sect. 18. In good earnest if you know any qualifications sufficient to refine and make such acts innocent it would be much for your advantage I am perswaded to set up School and teach men how they may be Adulierers Blasphemers haters of God and yet not sinners Some of your Casuists * Amesius de conscient l. 5. c. 10. q. 1. do resolve that Social causes do communicate in the fault and guilt of those sins to whose production they contribute their common assistance Now shall he that assists or commands or perswades me to commit Adultery or Murder be faulty and he that predetermines my will to it and
save us in a way of justice mingled with mercy and therefore he hath chosen * Eph. 1. 4. us in Christ now * 2 Cor. 5. 17. he that is in Christ is a new Creaâ—ure Securus It seems then that the exâ—cution of the Decree is not exactly conformable to the Decree it self but contains something else besides it and then how is that true of the Apostle * Rom. 9. 11. That the purpâ—se of God according to the Election doth stand not of works but of him that calleth I am afraid you have gotten a tang of the Remonstrants Doctrine by your expressions * Vt enim Electio ad gloriam absoluta in Christo facta dicatur quatenus Christus Deus est unios cum Patre Spiritu Sancto absurdum est quiaâ—â—sic Electio etiam in Spiritâ— S. quatenâ—s unus cum Patre Filio Deâ—s est facta fuerit quod contra Scripturae stylum est For can any man be in Christ but a believer I am sure none but a bâ—lievâ—r can be a new Creature in affirming therefore crudely as you do that God hath chosen us in Christ and adding upon it that He that is in Christ is a new Creature you do plainly imply that the object of Gods Election are the faithful and sancâ—ified which the Synod at Dort will tell you is a pernicious Erroâ—r The Bishop of Winchester delivering his judgment about the second Lambeth Article as it was amended by the Bishops and other Divines there whereas the Article saith Causa moveâ—s aut efficiens praedestinationis ad vitam non est praevisio fidei aâ—t persevâ—rantiae aut bonorum operum aut alîus reâ— quae insit perâ—onis â—â—tic Lamb. p. 13. praedestinatis sed sola voluntas beneplaciti Dei The moving or efficient cause of predestination unto life is not the fore-sight of faith or perseverance or good works or any other thing which is in the persons predestâ—nated but the sole will of Gods good pleasure Bishop Andrews makes a Quaere concerning that Particle Sâ—â—a Voluntas benepâ—â—citi the sole will of Gods 〈◊〉 pag. 23 24. good pleasure whether it doth include Christ or seâ—luâ—e him that is whether the Act of predestination be aâ—solute or relative For my part saith he I think it is relative neither do I think there is any good-will of God towards men that is a will whereby he is well-pleased towards men but in his Son in whom he is well-pleased nor that any one is predestinated either befoâ—e or without reâ—â—ect to or intuition of Christ But as the sacred Scriptures have it Christ is â—ore-known in the first place 1 P. t. 1. 20. then we in him Rom. 8. 29. Christ predestinated Rom. 1. 4. then we by him Eph. 1. 5. And not we in the first place as some think He in the last and for us for we cannot be predestinated unto the Adoption of sons but in the natural son nor can we be predestinated that we should be conformable to the image of the Son unlesâ— the Son be first appointed to whose image we should be made conformable hereupon that Bishop would have it added to that Articleâ— the good pleasure of Gâ—d in Christ And though in King Edward's Articles of 〈◊〉 Articulo cuperem addi Beneplacitum Dei in Christo ibid. 1553. the 17th Article runs thus Constantèr decrevit eos quos elegit ex hominum genere * Which words are mistaken by Mr. Beâ—â—anus à malâ—dicto exitio liberare Yet in those of Queen Elizabeths and King Jame's 1616. we finde this addition In Christo quos in Christo elegit And consonantly hereunto those Articles of King Charls of blessed Memory whereunto He prefixed His Declaration 1631. do run thus He hath constantly decreed to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind But this you see overthrows absolute election to avoid which the Synod though it saith elegit in Christo hath establish't the good pleasure of God towards sinners on this side or before Christs Mediatorship and Reconciliation * Act. Sys 〈◊〉 cap. 1. de prâ—d Art 7. 9. Christum pro iâ—â— quos Deus summè dilexit ad vitam aeternam elegit Mortuum esse dicunâ— Cap. 2. Reject 7. Christus est causa meritoria salutis sed non causa electionis Causa quaerenda est 〈◊〉 Dei beneplacito amore gratuito qui ordine antecedit intercessionem filii P. Molin Consess inter Act. Syn. Dord par 1. p. 290. for Election is resolved by them to be the first benefit and the fountain of all the rest upon which depends the designation of the Mediatour himself Diotrephes Sir I am perfectly of the Synods judgment in this point however you mistake me I do not say Christ is the cause or foundation of the Decree but of the things decreed not of Election as to be established but as to be executed not of election to be decreed through him but of salvation to be obtain'd by him he comes under the Decree not antecedently but consequently not as the cause of that love wherewith God hath embrac'd us unto salvation but as a means underlayed to that love and therefore Christ was not given to men that they might be elected by him but then when they were elected he was given ut siâ—e justitiae suae dispendio nos ad gloriam adduceret as Sphanhemius * Disput Inaâ—gur Thes 5. hath it That God might bring us unto glory without any detriment unto his justice Securus You do acknowledge then that God hath elected us unto glory without any regard to faith or any good work whatsoever in us and that upon the intervention of Christ he may bring us into the possession of that glory without any detriment or impeachment of his justice therefore as I said from the beginning of our Discourse there is no need at all of our endeavours after good works or after a course of holiness and righteousness Diotrephes Sir you must not mistake us here though God do not choose us for this antecedent reason because we were hely yet he chose us to this consâ—quent end that we should be holy so the Synod have determined in these words This said Election was made not upon fore-sight of faith and the obedience of faith holiness or of any other good quality or disposition as a cause Cap. 1. Art 9 or condition before required in man to be chosen but unto faith and the obedience of faith holiness c. And therefore Election is the fountain of all saving good from whence faith holiness and the residue of saving gifts lastly everlasting life it self do flow as the fruits and effects thereof according to thaâ— of the Apostle Ephes 1. 4. He hath chosen us not bâ—bâ—cause we were but that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Securus Sir I hope you understand that
is the first cause of it and consequently whatsoever we do we do necessarily in respect of Him This is one of the Arguments which proveth more than our Adversaries would have them and by these Rules have I formerly Answ in the second Argument proved that they make God the Author of sin for if causa causae be causa causati as doubtless it is while they make God the cause of all those actions which either are sins or the causes of sins questionless they make God according to their own Argumentation the cause of sins But they have a limitation for this Rule and say that it holdeth in causis essentialiter subordinatis as they say that God is the cause of all those things which are essentially and districtly done by our wills but sins proceeding from the depravation of our wills are effects of a cause not directly subordinate to God The limitation is sound but not applicable to their instance ye◠the limitation it self quite spoileth them For 1. While Adam's will was yet sound they teach that God decreed that Adam should eat the forbidden fruit now at that time they cannot say but that Adam was a cause essentially subordinate to God 2. They teach that God is a cause not onely of our actions but also of our volitions as I may say then these being the causes of our sins are directly subordinate to him 3. Let us consider not onely the subordination between God and our wills but also between our actions and their moralities and we shall perceive that according to the abuse of these Rules they make God the cause of our sins For that Rule Causa causae est causa causati is infallibly true expounded thus The cause of any effect is the cause of all such events as necessarily follow that effect Now then if as they say God be a necessary cause of all our particular actions seeing our actions in reference to such and such objects must needs be sinful it is manifest what followeth For example Though to take money in general be no sin yet to take this or that money being none of our own is a sin Now then if God be a cause of this action in reference to this object as he is if he be the cause of this particular action it is impossible their Doctrine should excuse God from sin Eating in reference to the forbidden fruit was a sin but according to them God was a principal cause of eating the forbidden fruit Ergo. Minor prob They say he was the necessitating cause of this particular action Eating was a natural action the individuation of this eating by an unlawful object was a moral obliquity But God was the cause of this individual Ergo. The like may be said of all our sinful actions When I have drunk sufficiently both for the necessity and comfort of nature to drink a cup more is sin But our Opposites teach that I cannot take up this superfluous cup without Gods speciall determination Ergo. This Doctrine is enough to make ones hair stand an end making God whatsoever they say the cause not onely of our actions but also of our obliquities for what are the obliquities of our actions but the placing of them upon wrong objects If therefore they make God the principal cause of all our particular actions most of which are particularized by bad objects what do these men make of God But Recrimination is no answer Hitherto I have shewed though perhaps without method yet I hope not without profit how our Opposites are wounded with their own weapons Now I will take their weapons out of their hands and teach them the right use of them shewing how God is the cause of all things onely not the cause of sin a cause of all good things yet so as that many good things are contingent also We have shewed in the third Argument how God hath ordained that all sorts of Inferior or second causes should work according to their proper kinds that voluntary Agents should work voluntarily c. God then is the first cause that all things do work and that they do work in certain kinds If so then God is the cause that many things are done contingently one of the chiefest sorts of second causes by this appointment working voluntarily and therefore contingently which connexion we have formerly justified This being well understood will instruct us not onely that it may be so but also that it must be so That God being the necessary cause of all good things yet all such things are not necessary effects of Him For example It is impossible that man should do any thing without God therefore God is a cause necessary to the being of all things effected by him yet because many things done by the free choice of man might as well have been omitted God no ways constraining him to them these are not necessary effects of God The Reason of this is because God hath decreed that man should work voluntarily having liberty to do as well one thing as another yet so that God giveth him the strength to do whatsoever he chooseth to do and ability to choose what he will without limitation of his choice for this were else ☜ to take it away and to make man an involuntary Agent For example God hath given thee strength of body he hath given thee also ability to choose in what exercise thou wilt employ it thou choosest to Ring or Dance God then the Author of thy strength is the chief cause of these exercises yet so as they are contingent in respect of Him because thou mightest have omitted them hadst thou pleased By this we may plainly see how God is the principal cause of all things of which he is capable to be a cause and yet many things are contingent in respect of him This being cleared we may with more facility conceive how and in what sense God is the cause of all we do and yet we onely the cause of sin God sustains us when we are about our sins even then in Him we live and move and have our being as well as when we are better busied God giveth that strength by which we commit any sin yet because he doth not necessitate or incline unto it but we of our selves abuse it to wickedness God hath still the part of a Creator we onely are sinful An example will make this clear Suppose a King delivereth to his Subject Men Weapons Mony and Warlike provision that he may fight for his Honor against his enemies his Subject proves a Traitor and useth all his Soveraigns strength against himself His Soveraign here is a cause that he hath the command and doth the Office of a Captain but he is no cause of his Treachery the offence is onely the Captains and the wrong is onely the Soveraigns This is just the case between God and us God hath given us many excellent faculties both of body and soul which he intended we should
one kind * Dato quod voluntas sit causa actionis liberae addam si placet totalis in suo genere ergone Deus ejusdem actionis non est causa in suo genere Mr. Hickman in Br. Refut Tilcâ—i ad â—inem yet man is the cause of the same action in another kind God preserves his Creatures in their nature and properties he moves them also and applies them to act or work agreeably to their nature He affords them his concourse and so concurs with them and so immediatly influenceth the action of the Creature with his action that one and the same action is said to proceed from the first and second cause iâ—asmuch as unum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one production or work derives its existence from them both in which work if there be any thing inordinate it is from the action not as it is the Creaâ—ors but as it is the Creatures Thus the Belgick professors Ibid. Thes 13. Paganus If God as the first Cause and Author of Nature to conserve that order and manner of working instituted in second causes at their first Creation doth afford his general concourse * Deus enim â—t Author naturae tenetur se voluntati creaâ—â— paratum praebere ad concurrendum ad opposita ut ipsa uti possit sua naturali libertate Hence they say Actus pravus quatenâ—â— Ens est 〈◊〉 Deo non ut induâ—enâ—e ad illuâ— sed ut non subtrahente suum necessarium concursum volâ—ntati quae dum ad illum se determinat abutitur sua libertate influxu divino in actu primo ad opposita sibi â—blato Et id 〈◊〉 magis proprie dicitur Dâ—us congerâ— voluntati in talem actum causando quaâ— voluntas dicatur coagere Deo Vid. Greg. in 2. d. 34. 37. q 1. ar 3 ad 8. ad opposita that his Creature may have power and liberty to do good or evil and suffer the will of man to determine its self freely to the evil act and then fore-seeing it so determined upon supposition of his concourse doth yield his simultaneous influence to the production of that evil act then it is possible to conceive how a man may avoid sin notwithstanding that Divine influx for in this case man doth abuse his own liberty and the Divine concurse offer'd to him ad opposita and so doth freely determine himself unto the sin when he might do otherwise and God should co-operate with the created will as the Author of nature according to the exigence thereof rather than the will co-operate with God as its first determiner Diotrephes That opinion doth cast fetters * R. B. P. ubi supra p. 27. Hoc unum asserimus hunc concursum quicunque tandem is est male statim subordinatum aut posteriorem influxâ—â— voluntatis in actum suum quia cum Deus non â—sset causa pâ—ima omnium entium sed secunda deinde quia voluntas in primo motus sui initio non dependeret a Deo sed contra Deus a primo initio mortuuâ—â— voluntatis Râ—sp A. Wallaei ad Censur Coâ—vini pag. 103. upon the Divine Liberty and Providence for if mans will doth freely determine itself before the Divine Determination then it would follow that the power and providence of God can dispose nothing till the assent of the created will be expected and first had with which it may concur as a partial cause to produce the effect and so God should not be the first but the second cause of this act and the will should not so much depend upon him as he depend upon the first motion of the will Paganus If God preserves to his rational Creature its natural propriety and manner of working I suppose he doth ordinarily allow it the liberte of a self-determination And I understand not how this should be any derogation to Gods Power or Providence for the Creature still acts not only under the general concourse of his Providence but also under the special egressions of it and God can and doth as it seemeth good to him put in an immediate and extraordinary finger of power to over-rule and order the actions of it the Creature therefore is not exempted from the conduct of his Providence by this means as you pretend Diotrephes We look upon all created beings as so many emanations from the first cause upon which they depend in Ibid. page 2â— esse operari in their being and working as the Rayes depend upon the Sun neither is the intellectual Creature in the actions of free-will exempted from this order * Synops Pur. Tâ—col ubi supra Thes 10. for it is necessary that every Creature and every action of it and every mode and perfection of every action of it be reduced unto God as unto the first most perfect and therefore most effectual cause We conclude therefore That * Mr. Bagshaw Pract. Dâ—sc pag. 3. Our wills are tyed up so close to the will of God that like lesser wâ—eâ—ls they move only as that great mover doth guide them Paganus Methinks this Doctrine should be very apt to tempt men to believe that God doth very much promote and assist them in their most prodigiously sinful courses Diotrephes The Acts of Gods Omnipotency are carefully to be distinguished from his Legislative Acts by these last God alwayes forbids sin but by those former he secretly incites * Deus homines ad suas pravas actiones incitâ—t seduct traâ—it jubâ—t indurat deceptiones immittit quae pâ—ccâ—ta gravia sunt efficit Mart. in Judic 3. 9. men unto it either by moving their wills tongues and members unto sin or else by not moving them to the contrary virtue but withdrawing his grace and necessary assistance whence it comes to pass that they cannot but sin Paganus This makes God the Author of the sinful act and consequently the cause of all sin in the world Diotrephes Though it sounds ill to weak and tender ears yet Mr. Calvin * Instit lib. 1. Cap. 18. Sect. 3. mihi p. 128. hath openly avouched it Satis apertè ostendi saith he Deum vocari corâ—m omnium Authorem quae iâ—ti câ—nsores volunt otioso tantùm ejus permissu contingere I have cleaâ—ly shâ—wed that God is called the Author of all those sins which these censurers would have come to pass only by his idle permission But that we may clear God of all imputation We are taught to distinguish when we speak of sin betwixt the act and the malice Dr. Twiss ubi supra page 73. or betwixt the act which is sinful called by some the materialty and the sinfulness thereof which is called the formality God is the cause of the former but only the permitter of the latter Paganus This permission then by which you endeavour to free God from the imputation of being the Authour and Cause of sin must not be an action by which God makes us to operate but only
that insuperably he that produceth the act and that immediatly shall he be blameless What is this but to condemn an accessary and acquit the principal Diotrephes But there is a great difference betwixt Gods concourse unto our good and evil works to good works he concurs not only efficiently Ex parte Potentiae predetermining the very faculty to the work but also morally Ex parte Objecti in that he doth counsel command perswade and aâ—â—ure us unto the lawful object In sinful acts he does only the first and not the latter so that of our sinful actions he is the physical cause only not the moral but of our good he is as well the moral as the physical Paganus You should consider that moral motion doth not give God the honour of a true and proper cause but only of a Metaphorical for the influence it hath into the Agent is not ipsum agere the very act it self and consequently the effect doth not follow that motion If therefore God should move us no otherwise than after such a manner your Partizans do conclude that while we work God should not discriminate us but we should discriminate our selves from such as work not therefore though God concurs unto the good act by a physical predetermination and morally too but unto the evil act by a physical predetermination only yet there remains the same manner of working in respect of good and evil in that which is chiefly considerable and by it self alone attributes the true and proper nature of a cause to God and assigns him the first and perfect original of that determination that this act should rather be than not be But 2. What is this moral motion and from whence and what doth it work upon in its seduction of us to an evil work be it in the understanding or the will in the imagination or the sensitiue appetite if you allow it to be an act you must confess according to your principels that it is from God and of his product on seeing therefore that the total sum of Gods concurse unto the act of sin amounts fully to thus much in your own account That he predetermines man to produce the whole entity of it and the whole reality also of every other act prerequired unto it that besides he predetermines and applies the Divel * Imoâ—â—ne ipse quidem Diabolus quicquam potest nisi determinante Deo Proinde pro certo tenendum Dominum omnes actiones decâ—rnere atque agendo concurrere suo sancto modo cooperari quando peccatum est in fiâ—â—i c. Malcom Com. ad Act. 4. 24. Passio Christi in individuo fuit a Dâ—o praedefinita praedefinitione perfecta Ergo omnes circumstantiae quae concurrunt ad individuationem illius praedeterminatae sunt aeterno Deâ— decreto sed ad talem individuation in etiam concuâ—rit inâ—â—â—sio actus extensio ad tales personas Alvarez Disp 22. 19. Câ—tance approbante Amesio iâ— Bel. ener Tom 4. lib. 2. cap. 2. n. 12. p. 27. and every other cause de facto conâ—urring to propound the unlawful object and allure to it since he predetermines the will and directs the intention and provides the object and applies the Tempter and addresseth all other circumstances that concur to the individuation of the sinful act there seems to be no moral or physical causality wanting that God should therefore be said to produce mens evil works otherwise than he effects their good works Diotrephes But the efficiency of God though he be Author of the act of sin doth not reach the formal malice of it Paganus No more do Men nor Divels in their most importunate contrivances solicitations and actings towards the sins of others notwithstanding they communicate in the fault * Quatenus incredulit adhabâ—t rationem peccati Deus illam non efficit sed Diabolus juxta illud 2. Cor. 4. 4. Piscator Apol. Resp Amicae Collat. Oppos cap. 3. and guilt by impelling to them such acts as are inseparably attended with a moral pravity neither doth any man produce the formal malice of his own wicked act but inasmuch as he produceth the entity of that act * Aquin. 12ae q. 79. ar 2. 2. to which that malice is annexed If the resolution of your Casuist * Amesius ubi supra lately mentioned be authentick he doth indirectly cooperate and so communicate in the sin of others who is deficient in his diligence to prevent it and he is sufficiently diligent to prevent sin who doth predetermine the will to it Diotrephes Now I have freed God so fully from having any hand in sin by a Metaphorical distinction you endeavour to make him communicate therein by a moral interpretation but that one may be accounted the Author of sin he must be culpably deficient saith Dr. Twiss * Ubi supra p. 72. and thus man may beguilty saith he either by doing what he ought to omit or by omitting what he ought to do but this cannot be incident to God He could I confess saith he keep any Creature from sin â—f it pleased him but if he will not and doth not he commits not any culpable defect for he is not bound to preserve any man from sin Therefore all that can be infer'd from hence is this * R. B. Prid. ubi supra p. 13. That man doth necessarily fall into sin if God doth not uphold him not that God sins because he doth not give what he doth not owe him Paganus You grant then that God is the cause of mans fall though inculpable but your Doctors do acknowledge That to love God in such a measure as to contemn our selves in comparison of him and his service is above the power of nature A Dr. Twiss nbi supra p. 49. man mvst be endued with heavenly grace and the Spirit of God to enable him hereunto and that accordingly God created our first parents in a state of grace and endued them with the Spirit that in this capacity such a law of love might be justly impos'd upon them Now I would fain be satisfied with what equity God could withdraw * from his innocent creatures and such were our first parents before the fall * Si Deus hominem sibi obedientem a pietate deturbat bene currentem cadere facit ergo pro bonis mala retribuit injuste punit quod ut fiat impellit Quid tam perversum quid tam insanum dici aut cogitari potest Prosp Aquit ad 12. Gal. Object that supernatural and necessary assistance and yet being thus without any fault in them strip't off their abilities leave them under the obligation of that now become an impossible Commandment that they might inevitably fall and perish yet this he did as you concluded above out of your Divines Diotrephes We satisfie our selves in that God did this for a greater good and that we may have no cause to complain our Divines conclude *
Maccov Col. Disp Col. 2. Disp 9. ult That our state of Reparation is in several respects better than our state of integrity We are now under a better Covenant which is establish't upon better promises * Hebr. 8. 6. Paganus This answer doth not satisfie my demand concerning the justice of Gods proceedings in the case mentioned for I remember amongst the Rules of his own Law this is one Not to do evil that good may come of it neither will it excuse him should a man commit Theft with a pure intention to expend all his gettings this way to the glory of God in almes and pious uses Diotrephes God makes Laws not to bind himself but his Creature * Hereupon Huld Zuing. saith When God makes an Angel or a Man a Transgressor he himself doth not transgress because he doth not break a Law In Ser. de Prov. cap. 5. 6. Paganus Grant this yet if he doth not confer a strength upon his Creature proportionable to that burden of duty which he layes upon it his impositions will be grievous and intolerable and this is an oppression which Christ himself thought fit to condemn in the Pharisees where he saith They bind heavy burdens Matth. 23. 4. Luke 11. 46. and grievous to be born and lay them on mens shoulders but they themselves will not touch them with one of their fingers Diotrephes You must know that God is not obliged to his Creature he acts all things both in mercy or otherwise according Mr. Bagsh Prac. Disc p. 2 to the dictates of his absolute Soveraign and uncontroulable will Paganus Though God hath no Superiour to whose Laws he should be subject yet in a sort he is a Law unto himself * See Lactant. lib. 4. cap. 23. inasmuch as he is tyed by an intrinsecal rectitude neither to cause nor to will any thing but what is consonant to the Rules of his own wisdom that wisdom dictates him to be the chief good chiefly to be beloved and that nothing is to be procured contrary to such a goodness from this Rule and Dictate God should dissent if of himself he should predetermine any man to the hatred and contempt of his goodness True his greatness is so transcendent he can be accountable unto none yet if he be unrighteous how then shall he judge the world shall not the Judge of Rom. 3. 6. Gen. 18. 25. all the Earth do right This is spoken of destroying the righteous with the wicked and it will hold also in withdrawing grace from the innocent that they may fall into destruction which certainly is punitive and a sad act of judgment whereof an innocent creature is not the proper * Ephes 5. 6. object But since we are returned to speak of the New Covenant I pray inform me how that can be styled a Covenant of Grace in respect of the Reprobâ—tes and in what sense their condition is better under this than it was in the state of innocency Diâ—trephes Under this Covenant saith Dr. Twiss * Vbi supra 〈◊〉 23 Mr. Baxter's Pres to Gâ—ot Rel. Sect. 9. men are called upon to believe and promised that upon their faith they shall obtain the grace of remission of sins and salvation and these graces may be said to be offered unto all upon condition of faith though faith it self in no congruity can be said to be offered but as for Suasion and Exhortation unto faith this grace the Reprobates in the Church of God are partakers of as well as Gods Elect And I conceive for these considerations this Covenant may not unfitly be called a Covenant of Grace in respect of them Paganus Are those graces of remission and salvation offer'd to the Reprobates under this new Govenant in jest or in earnest Doth God intend to save or delude them in this offer Did you not say positively ere while that 't is impossible the Reprobates should savingly believe A Legacy under an impossible condition the Learned in the Laws do account unworthy a wise Testator and therefore they conclude it ought in justice to be payd absolutely as if there were no condition at all added to it But a stipulation and any other contract under an unperformable condition is accounted null and are such Covenants beseeming the Majesty or the Goodness or the Sincerity of God Does it not savour too much of hypocrisie to offer pardon and eternal life upon terms impossible Suppose you and I were near a very fair Palace into which there is no way possible to enter but over one narrow Bridge should you promise me ten thousand pounds upon condition I follow'd you into that Palace though you invite call me never so importunately and stake down never so many solemn vows and protestations to signifie your reality and earnestness yet if pretending to lead me the way you should draw the Bridge after you and so make my following you impossible there is none but a mad man would think your invitation or your promise serious But I pray deal ingenuously with me Do you really believe that the Ministry of the Covenant is intended for the benefit of these Reprobates or no Diotrephes Because you are so desirous of information I 'le tell you the opinion of a person of great worth and learning In Respon ad Disput 1. Taufreri ad Syllog 5. p. mihi 23. Jo. Piscator he saith Ministerium Verbi Sacramentorum quod attinet ad majorem vocatorum partâ—m ex intentione Dei ineffcax imò planè exitiosum esse That the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments is not only uneffectual but mischievous and deadly to the greater part of those that are called and that according to Gods intention too and that he may not be thought to speak without his Book he produceth sundry Texts of holy Scripture for it Paganus Are the Reprobates then invited unto grace and called to engage themselves in this Covenant when the Ministry thereof is by Gods own intention so dangerous and deadly to them Diotrephes Gods invitation unto grace is no other than by professing that by Faith and Repentance they shall be saved without Faith and Repentance they shall be damned And Dr. Twissâ— ubi supra p. 54. hereupon by his Ministers he commands them intreats them beseecheth them that they will believe and repent that they may be reconciled unto God and saved and this grace the Reprobates in the Church of God are partakers of as well as Gods Elect. Paganus What difference do you observe betwixt the Elect and Reprobates as to their respective Concernments and Ingagements in this Covenant Diotrephes The Reprobates are called and obliged as I may say to subscribe this Covenant and engage themselves to perform the conditions of it and are generally promised the benefit of pardon and salvation upon that performance as well as the Elect But here is the difference when the Elect do actually engage themselves in Covenant with God
Animalis This doth somewhat confound me because to my apprehension it inverts the method of holy Scripture for the Scripture saith as you alledged iâ— even now He that believeth shall be saved which affords a fair en ouragement to believe but your Doctrine inverts the Proposition and concludes He that shall be saved shall believe Diotrephes The Scripture argues by way of ascending from the Effect to the Cause but we inferr in a way of descending from the Cause to the Effect Animalis However Sir you have lodged the Cause at so remote a distance that I perceive the Effect is not in my Power Diotrephes If by Power you understand a faculty or a strength and 't is most commonly and fitly taken in this sense by which a man can do his duty if he will This Physical Power you have and the worst of sinners have while they are Men on Mr. Baxter Earth Serm. of Judgement Answ to Exc. 22. mihi pag. 240. Animalis Sir I suspect a Fallacy in this part of your discourse but I pass it over with this reply That a man had as good want a power to his will as a will to his power That Christ hath so far redeemed mankind as to restore a power to them to do their duty if they will and yet that to will is still impbossible for them is not this liberty a fine purchase If the New Method with Evidence affords not * See Mr. Baxter Disput of Right to Sa. â—ram in the Preface p. 15. not a more Rational account of those Points in Controversie then this amounts to I am afraid 't is not so soveraign as 't is boasted for healing the divisions of the Christian world Besides Is not to will a part of a Christians duty without doubt it is If then a man hath a power to do his duty he hath a a power to will and it being his duty too to will spiritual good after a gracious manner He hath a power to do that too if your Doctrine be true But good Sir let me have your opinion freely in this point Do you think a man hath Free-will to spiritual Good without the assistance of supernatural Grace Diotrephes I pray let us not befool our selves with opinions Let the case be your own If you have an Enemy so malicious that he fals upon you and beats you every time he meets you and takes Mr. Baxter away the lives of your children will you excuse him because he saith I have not free will it is my nature I cannot choose unless God give me Grace If you have a servant that robbeth you will you take such an answer from him Might not every Thief and Murderer that is hanged at the Assize give such an Answer I have not free-will I cannot change mine own heart what can I do without Gods Grace and shall they therefore be acquit A Call to the Unconverted pag. 232. Animalis Sir if your instances be pertinent your Answer to my Question is Affirmative for the Law presumes such false servants and malicious enemies to have free-will in those Actions and so a power to omit them else it would not bind them over to punishment but hold them excused as we may collect from the indemnity allowed to arrant fools and mad men committing the like Facts But to turn from the power of darkness to serve the living God to believe in Christ and perform other Evangelical duties requires an irresistible operation on Gods part not inferior for mightiness to that power whereby he created the world or raiseth up the dead as the Synod at Dort hath determined Diotrephes You could turn if you were but truly willing and if your Will it self be so corrupted that nothing but effectual Mr. Baxter grace will move it you have the more cause to seek for that Grace A Call to the Vnconverted pag. 231. Animalis Sir it seems to be a Contradiction that a man who is not actually willing should seek for grace to make him willing for where there is a seeking there is a desiring and where there is a desiring there is a willing so that you prescribe such an use of means to procure effectual Grace to make one willing as supposeth him willing without that Grace which most if not all our Divines account impossible But I pray tell me Sir Whether an insuperable impotency to be converred and become Gods servant doth not render a man excusable Diotrephes If you were willing to be the servant of Christ and yet were not Able either because he would not accept you or because of a want of Natural faculties or because of some other Natural difficulty which the willingest mind could not overcome this were some excuse Sermon of Judgement Mr. Baxter pag. 241. Animalis I bless God for the use of all my Natural faculties But whether Christ will accept of me is to be resolved according to his eternal purpose which is not certainly to be understood but by his ownspecial Revelation or his effectual work of Grace without which 't is impossible to be his acceptable servant and to obtain that work is a difficulty which the willingest mind in the world of it self cannot overcome Diotrephes But God hath appointed certain means for the ungodly which they are bound to use in order to their Conversion and if they will not use them they are without excuse Directions to prevent Miscar in Convers p. 265. Mr. Baxter Animalis Sir when a man is made captive and kept manacled and fettered in prison though you command the Prison-doors to be all open'd and invite him to come forth with all the Rhetorick and earnestness you can and give him ten thousand keyes to unlock his fetters yet if you keep the right key from him no man will look upon you as any other than a deluder Nay though you put the right Key into his hands too yet if his hands be so manacled and his sinews so benumm'd and stupified that he cannot use it if you do no more for the restitution of his Liberty your offer of it will be but a perfect piece of Mockery I pray therefore do not conceal the right Key from these poor Prisoners the bondmen of corruption but give us a prescription of such means as are sufficient and effectual for the work Diotrephes See that you be constant Readers and Hearers of the Word and that it may not slip out of your hearts meditate diligently upon it and confer frequently about it especially with your Teachers be strict in the observation of the Lords Mr. Baxter day and constant in duty with your Family and importunate with God in your prayers that he would pardon your former Rebellions against the Motions of his Spirit and give you a sense and feeling of your needs and a thirst after the supplies of his Grace and Righteousness These are the means that God hath appointed to bring you into a state of saving
deny it Lastly Whether I have refused any preparatory grace though that might fall into the same account with the former yet I add that is more than you are privy to and therefore I pray be not so uncharitable in your censures And now give me leave to ask you a question or two First Whether it be possible to improve that preparatory grace to the height if it be not possible that impossibility will so far excuse the non-improvement but if it be possible to improve it to the full height which perhaps may be granted because a man can do what he can do and sure whatever God may do in justice yet in goodness he will require nothing above our abilities Then my second question is upon supposition that I do not refuse but embrace and to the utmost of my power improve that preparatory grace that is offer'd me whether in that case you have any Commission to warrant me that God will confer his saving grace upon me Diotrephes I am satisfied That God hath not entred into Covenant or promise with any unregenerate man to give him saving Mr. Baxter grace upon any condition to be perform'd without it Of saving faith pag. 46. Animalis Then as was said before he hath no promise to make his prayer for saving grace to become a prayer of faith in this particular but though there be no promise yet haply these preparatory dispositions as hearing the Word c. have a certain and infallible connexion with salvation and that may be some encouragement Diotrephes No we do not say they have for that affirmation denieth the power of the Potter over a Non-believer thus qualified and so sins against the freedom of the Soveraignty of God and Christ in making God a debtor of mercy before his time Norton Orthodox Evangelist pag. 186. f. with 190. M. Animalis While you are so careful to reserve to the Almighty a power to damn even poor humbled and prepared sinners you seem to be more tender of his Soveraignty than of his Goodness Mercy or Justice But to let this pass I pray upon these grounds what encouragements can you find to incite the unregenerate to the improvement of preparatory grace Diotrephes God hath commanded him to use certain means to obtain saving grace and to avoid the resistance and hinderances Mr. Baxter and a very command to use such means as means is a strongly encouraging intima im that God will not deny men the end and blessing that use the means as well as they can for it is certain that he appointeth no means in vain Of saving faith pag. 46. Animalis But Sir now you have brought me thus far the great and stumbling objection is behind still for Mr. Norton tells us that these preparatory works are really to none but the Elect only * Orthod Evang p. 164. as for the Reprobates all the water of life runs quite besides their Mill all gifts whatsoever are unprofitable to them so saith Martinius one of the most moderate of the Synod of Dort De Morte Christi pro soliâ— Electis Thes 4. 5. Act. Syn. Dord par 2. p. 107. By this it is evident that your daily and precious helps and means to cure the wills of the unregenerate and cause them to accept of Christ are alâ—ogether unsufficient whatever you pretend to the contrary And this as great a Clerk * Mr. Baxter in his account of persever pag. 14. as your self was very sensible of when he peremptorily denies that the Repâ—â—bates may be sanctified and consonantly the Congregational Churches do declare ingenuously * In their Declarat ch 10. n. 4. p. 8 9. Dr. Twiss ubi supra pag. 122 c. That they who are not eâ—ected although they may be called by the Ministry of the Word and may have some common opâ—rations of the Spirit yet not being â—ffectuâ—lly drawn by the Father they neither do nor can come unto Christ and therefore cannot be saved Diotrephes However they are damned for contemning Gods Word and not hearkning to his gracious admonitions 't is true they could do no otherwise but what impotency is Mr. Baxter delivers himself almost in the very same words this Is it anywhere else than in their wills 'T is not a natural but a moral impotency were they willing to hearken and come to Christ but could not then indeed their impotency were excusable but they please themselves in their own and in their obstinate courses and if they would do other wise I make no question but that they should have no more cause to complâ—in of their impotency to do that good which they would do than the servants of God have yea and holy Paul himself hâ—d Do they deplore this their impotency Doth the consideration hereof humble them Nay rather they delight in it as the Prophet noteth Jâ—r 6. 10. Their ears are uncircumcised ears and they cannot hearken behold the Word of God is as a reproach unto them Thus far Dr. Twiss Animalis That men may accustome themselves to a course of carnality till they arrive at such a state of impiety and obduration I make no question but all are not of that temper There are some who are as far abased in the feeling of their sin and misery and humbled by attrition and cry out of their sin and Mr. Baxter of sav saith pag. 43. 44. folly and day and night do beg for grace and mercy as common grace will carry them to do They like the word and wayes of God and think his servants the best and happiest men and have many a wish that they were such themselves and that avoid as much of gross and wilful sinning and continue as much in hearing reading the Word enquiring consideration as common grace may bring them to do and have as much belief of the Gospel and as much desire after Christ and holiness and heaven and as much love to God and the Redeemer and the Saints as common grace can lead them to And withall that have a knowledge that yet they are short of true Christianity or at least are much afraid of it and therefore are under a prudent impatiency till saving grace comes in and the Spirit have sealed them up to the day of Redemption and are crying out What shall we do to be saved Now I demand whether you have any promise that assures their interest in saving grace to such as are thus disposed for it Diotrephes I told you already that I am satisfied that God hath not entred into Covenant or promise with any unregenerate Mr. Baxter 〈◊〉 pag. 46. man to give him saving grace upon any condition to be perform'd without it However I am confident that no man can stand out and say I did the best that ever I could to obtain saving grace and yet went without it because God would not give it me Animalis If that Author doth not contradict himself yet they that hold a
be part of their duty What shall they say to the Lord when he comes to check them for these oblations of their blind zeal saying Who hath required these things at your hands In short therefore seeing such as play the Voluntier's in Gods service find so little acceptation from him 't is a madness in any man to trouble himself about any spiritual performances till he finds sufficient grounds to convince him that God prescribes and requires them as conditions subordinated to his salvation If they be not of faith they are sin Rom. 14. 23. Diotrephes Why I wonder Sir you can find none of these when God hath chosen Faith with the fruits thereof a diligent prosecution of holy duties to be such conditions and accordingly you may find them indispensably required in every page of the Holy Ghost Securus Whatever be the judgment of your private spirit the Synod of Dort hath resolved otherwise and their Authority I hope you will yield to and that Authority hath rejected it Cap. 1. de Divina praedest Reject 3. as a pernicious Errour That the good pleasure and purpose of God from among all possible conditions or out of the order or rank of all things did choose as a condition unto salvation the act of faith in it self ignoble and the imperfect obedience of faith and was graciously pleased to repute it for perfect obedience and account it worthy of the reward of everlasting life Diotrephes I presume the Smod intended to explode it as an Errour that there was no election of persons but of qualities and methinks their words seem to incline towards this sense for they reject in that Article the Errours of those who teach That the good pleasure and purpose of God whereof the Scripture makes mention in the Doctrine of Election doth not consist herein that God did elect some certain men rather than others but in this viz. that among all possible conditions God did choose the act and obedience of faith as a condition unto salvation c. Securus If this were all they aim'd at in that Rejection to reject it as an Errour in those that taught there was no Election of persons but of things they rejected just nothing for it was an Errour so far from troubling the Belgick Churches that it was never taught by any man amongst them that which they rejected therefore was this That faith and the obedience of faith were chosen by Almighty God as a condition unto salvation and the following proof makes it evident For by this pernicious Errour they add the good pleasure of God and merit of Christ is weakned and that of the Apâ—stle is out-faced as untrue 2 Tim. 1. 9. God hath callâ—d us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to his purpose and grace which was given to us through Christ Jesus before the World began Diotrephes I will not spend time to vindicate the sense of the Synod in that Article of Rejection but this is the plain truth in few and easie words if I am not mistaken That Faith which is an effectual acceptance of and affiance in Christ as Christ was chosen and ordained by God the condition of justification and Mr. Baxter life By this faith so constituted the condition we are actually justified as 't is the performed condition of Gods promise Disput of Justific p. 312. To the same sense the Brittish Divines delivered their Suffrage at the Synod in these words Non negamus esse ejusmodi beneplacitum Dei in Evangelio patefactâ—m qâ—o statuit fidem eligere in conditionem confâ—rendae salutis id est quo actualem salutis adeptionem saltem respectu adultorum ex fidei praecedentis conditione suspensam esse voluit We do not deny say they such a good pleasure of God to be revealed in the Gospel whereby he determin'd to choose faith for the condition of conferring salvation that is whereby he would have the actual obtaining of salvation at least in respect of the Adult suspended upon the condition of fore-going faith and this is that joyful and salutary tydings that is to be promulgated in the Name of Christ among all Nations Thus those Divines Securus Methinks this is repugnant to that inference of the Apostle So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that shâ—weth mercy Si divinae misericordiae exerendae seu exertae causa sola sit liberrima Dei voluntas saith Rom. 9. 16. Mr. David Dicson If the sole cause of the exertion or egression of the divine mercy be the most free will of God then the Ad locum cause thereof is not in the will of man nor in his good works or actions but in God alone It is not of him that willeth saith he therefore it is not of the free-will of man It is not of him that runneth saith he therefore it is not from the actions or endeavours of man that any man is beloved elected or that he obtains mercy and the blessing and consequently it depends upon God alone who sheweth mercy And Deodati his Note upon the place is this Seeing that the Election is of pure mercy it cannot be attributed to any will or endeavour of man Diotrephes To my apprehension * Mr. Baxter's Treat of Convers pag. 295 296. the meaning is not that our salvation is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth the Apostle talketh of no such thing but it is about the giving of the Gospel or the first special grace to them that had it not For * Mr. Baxter ib. pag. 296. 〈◊〉 if you ask the reason of mens salvation it is not given in Scripture barely from the will of God but from the faith and obedience of men for it is an act of rewarding justice as well as of paternal love and mercy And therefore we must distinguish very warily betwixt the Decree of God and the execution of it Election unto salvation is absolute it respects no condition or qualification in the person to be elected but salvation depends upon the condition of faith and obedience Securus If unbelievers disobedient and rebellious persons be chosen to salvation and it be not in Gods power to revoke that Election as the Hassien Divines concluded at the * De persevâ—r Aph. 5. p. 215 par 2. Synod at Dort I can see no necessity of faith and obedience for if God chooseth us unto salvation that is if he wills to have us saved being disobedient what reason is there why he should not be able to make us partakers of salvation being disobedient Is not Election the Decree of saving and doth not God execute his Decree for the same reason for which he made it If so why can he not actually save us without faith and obedience as well as Decree or will to save us without them Diotrephes He decrees to save us meerly for his good pleasure but he will actually
repeat them 1. You intimate that Grace flows from the use of the Means as the Effect from the Cause which is no lesse contrary to experience than to the judgment of Doctor Twisse 2. You would insinuate that God denies his grace only to such as provoke him by their neglect of the means Whereas Doctor Twisse saith he determined the denial of it for his meere pleasure without any consideration of any thing done by man So that a man may be very diligent in the use of means and yet faile of the grace of God meerly because it is not Gods pleasure to give it him 3. You informe us that God will stand to his own Ordinances because of his own appointment and for their honour when he will give any man saving grace he will work it by them Is it worse to absent ones self from those Ordinances then to present ones self to them with an averse and wicked mind This saith Dr. Twiss cannot hinder Gods operation and why should that especially seeing as you imply God hath his extraordinary wayes to dispense his grace as well as ordinary Diotrephes Our safest way is to take our President and Direction from the Apostles Admonition to Timothy The servant Dr. Twiss ubi supra pag. 134. of the Lord must instruct them with meekness that are contrary-minded if so be at any time God will give them Repentance c. Therefore it becomes us continually to wait for this time and not to prescribe unto God And why may not this present be the time Why then should you defer Page 84. the hearing of Gods Word whereby alone is our Calling ordinarily wrought For this being Gods appointed means if a man hears it though with a purpose only to oppose it either in general or in some particular truth thereof yet he may receive the Grace of Conversion for all that this humour of opposition cannot hinder Gods Word and the operation of his Spirit where he will in spight of their conceits who thought the Apostles were filled with new wine when three thousand were converted that day But * Ibid. 181. how is it possible that God should bring a man to a Sermon while he lies lazy in his Bed Such a one is out of the way of Grace and as Mr. Baxter * Vt supra hath it when he avoids the cause he cannot in Reason look for the effect Securus I pray Sir answer me to a few questions in order to my further satisfaction in that we discourse about and the first I shall propound to you is this Whether God hath not exactly prefixed the punctual time for the Conversion of every one to whom he intends his effectual grace Diotrephes Yes this time is prefixed of the Lord unalterably as is resolved by I. R. in his Christian Subject * Pag. 12. Approved and Licensed by Mr. Edm. Calamy This time is called Hora Uberioris Gratia * Cap. 1. Art 16 by the Synod of Dort The Houre of more plentiful Grace by Mr. Baxter * But how doth this consist with his so moving considerations to convince men of the folly of delay ut supra Gods season by Dr. Twiss the time appointed Securus My second question is Whether God hath not also precisely appointed the individual means for the conversion of such persons to whom his effectual Grace is designed Diotrephes Yes When God executes his good pleasure in the Elect or works true Conversion in them he doth not only procure the outward means but also applies the inward efficacy of the regenerating Spirit as the Synod of Dort hath determined Cap. 3. 4. Artic. 11. see it at large Securus My third question is Whether God can fail in his time prefixed to accomplish that work of Conversion in such persons Diotrephes He cannot because he is wise and constant To this purpose Dr. Spurstowe * Vbi supra p. 63. his observation is considerable If the wisdom of God saith he hath to common mercies wherein his enemies have a share set such appointed times as may make them more useful and beneficial to his Creatures Certainly he will not fail to perform to his people the promises of his free-grace in that season and fulness of time which may best suit with their welfare and his glory He makes Conversion one of those promises ibid. pag. 66 67. Securus My fourth question is this Whether God can be disappointed of his means or no Diotrephes No the Reason is plain He is not only Wise but also Omnipotent Gods Omnipotency saith Dr. Twiss * Vbi supra p. 178. no creature is able to resist and therefore if God will have any man to believe to repent to do this or that good work it is impossible it should be otherwise And that God is he who works in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ is as true as the Epistle to the Hebrewes is a part of the New Testament Securus My fifth question is this Whether any of them for whom effectual grace is designed be able to resist that grace when the season or good houre is come or to receive it sooner if they should endeavour after it Diotrephes This Quaere consists of two Branches but I shall satisfie them both in the words of Dir. Twiss * Vbi supra p. 115 116. who hath taught us thus to distinguish We willingly confess saith he that as often as men are found to resist these Exhortations Divine to Faith and Repentance though delivered by Gods Minister they may justly be said to resist God working morally and beseeching them as the Apostle speaketh 2 Cor. 5. 20. As though God through us did beseech you So the Jewes with their Fathers resisted the Holy Ghost Acts 7. 51. Forasmuch as the words delivered unto them and which they resisted were sent by the Lord of Hosts in his Spirit by the Ministry of his Prophets Zach. 7. 12. And accordingly God is said to have protested among them by his Spirit by the hands of the Prophets but they would not hear Nehem. 9. 30. But they do not resist nor can resist the Holy Ghost working immediatly and physically upon their wills the Act of Conversion and physical or rathâ—r hyperphysical transmutaâ—ion We willingly confess as the Dr. goes on that the Elect resist neither tending to their first Conversion provided the time be come which God hath appointed for their Conversion till then they resist all Exhortations tending thereunto as well as others but as for any Divine Act for a physical transmutation of their wills they are not made partakere thereof till the time of their effectual calling Thus far Dr. Twiss Securus Give me leave to ask you a sixth question Whether in the designation either of time or means God had any consideration of any qualification as wrought or to be wrought in man or of any complyance in him that at such time such means might
them did not dissemble both by my observation of their whole course being intimately acquainted with them and by the plainness and openness of some of their hearts which they manifest even to this day in the way that they are in being unapt for dissimulation This Sir is the ground of his dejection Diotrephes And I pray what Antidotes have you given him against these infusions Samaritanus I have fortified him as prudently as I could by those Apostolical Counsels 1. To be wise unto sobriety and not to lean too much to his own understanding 2. I have added that of St. John Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because 1 John 4. 1. many false Prophets are gone out into the World And that of St. Peter Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these things before 2 Pet. 3. 17. beware lest ye also being led away with the â—râ—our of the wisked fall from your own stedfasiness But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ And that of St. Paul Now I besâ—ech you Brethren Mark them which cause divisions Rom. 16. 16. and offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have leaâ—ned and avoid thâ—m for they that are such serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly and by good words and fairspeeches deceive the hearts of the simple I have advised him further 3. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him rooted and built up in him and established Col. 2. 6 7. in the faith as ye have been taught To which end I have commended to him that of the Authour to the Hebrewes Remember them which are the Guides that have the Rule over you who Hebr. 13. 7 17. Vide D. Hammond Dissert 1. cap. 12. sect 13. p. 40. Hebr. 10. 23 25 have spoken to you the Word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their Conversation Obey them and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as they thâ—t must give account And let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering not forsaking the assembling of our selves together But building up our selves on our most holy faith which was once delivered unto the Saints praying in the Holy Ghost and Ep. Jud. ver 4. 20 21. by this means keep our selves in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life And to take off the scandal I have wish't him to remember that our Lord Jesus Christ hath foretold how much the temptations of the world and flesh would prevail upon the hearts of many professours and that false Prophets and factious Teachers should arise and draw many Lisâ—â—ples after them and by their fair shewes and specious pretences should deceive if it were possible the very Elect. If he observed these Predictions and followed these Rules I told him I was very well assured he should find such an assistance and establishment as might give him encouragement to say with the Apostle We are not of them who draw back unto pâ—râ—ition but of them that believe to the saving of the soul Hebr. 10 39. Diotrephes Your advice was good and seasonable had you sorborn your insiâ—uâ—tion that the old way is the safest to be insisted on for that may hinder or at least retard the intended Reformation But what satisfaction did he find in your Discourse Samaritanus He harp'd much upon that passage They should deceive of it were possible the very Elect. Ai the Elect saith he they are the only men that shall be preserved from seduction for they have a special aiffer â—oing grace conser'd upon them by an irâ—â—sistible operation â—nd that is preserved to them by the same omnipotent strength that did at first 〈◊〉 it I demanded of him why he might not assure himself of such a grace His Answer was That seeing many great and 〈◊〉 Professours whose vertues were fat more eminent than any he could or durst pretend to have fall'n so low that their condition was reputed hopeless this made him more carefully to bring his grace unto the test and balance to examine it and if true yet he must conclude it many grains and â—cruplâ—s too light and this saith he begets so great a jealousie of mine own sincerity If those saith he whom I have look'd upon as stars of the first Magnitude have made all that lustre by the emissions and beams of common grace which God in the Decree of Reprobation hath associated with the efficacious permission of sin to make up one perfect Medium to carry that Decree on to its final execution in them what presumption were it in me to think that that grace in me is of a higher pitch or nobler extraction And if it be not what is become of that certain perseverance which I have thus long claim'd a title to Thus the miserable Desolatus divides his time betwixt his complaints and doubts and thinks there is no balm so soveraign as to heal his bruises Diotrephes Have you applied no salve to this soar in him Samaritanus Yes 1. I have expostulated with him to this purpose Must the Lord set up love and mercy in the work of Redemption to be equally admired with his Omnipotency Mr. Baxter's Directions for peace of conscience in the Epistle to the poor in spirit manifested in the Creation And call forth the World to this sweet employment that in secret and in publick it might be the business of our lives And yet shall it be so overlook'd or question'd as if you lived without love and mercy in the World Providence doth its part by heaping up Mountains of daily mercies and these it sets before your eyes The Gospel hath eminently done its part by clear describing them and fully assuring them and this is proclaimed frequently in your ears and yet is there so little in your hearts and mouths Do you see and hear and feel and taste mercy and love Do you live wholly oâ— it and yet do you 〈◊〉 doubt of it and think so meanly of it and so hardly acknowledge it To this he a swers that for Gods gâ—â—â—â—al mercy which concerns not the life to come he readily acknowledgeth it is oâ—er all his works but for his saving mercy tâ—at is restrained to a certain number whom he hath chosen to glory without respect to any qualification in them And this Dt. â—wiâ—s * Ubi supra p. 51 Rom. 9. 15. concludes from those words of the Apostle He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy for the rest he hardens them and that for the meer pleasure of his will 2. I have represented to him the advice of Sâ— James If any of you mark any of you do lack wisdom leâ— him ask it of Mr. Baxter ib. pag. 39 40. God who giveth to all men liberally without desert and â—phraâ—deth not with our unworthiness or former faults and it shall be
given him Jam. 1. 4. If you that are evâ—l can give good gifts to your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit to them that ask iâ— Luke 11. 13. Suppose your life were in the hands of your own husband or your childrens life in your hands would it not exceedingly comfort you or them to consider whose hands they are in though yet you had no further assurance how you should be used God is a Father even to the wicked and to convince men of his fatherly mercy to them he often so stileth himself He saith by Moses Deut. 32. 6. to a wicked Generation whose spot was not the spot of his Children Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Is not he thy Father that bought thee Hath he not made thee and establish't thee And the Prodigal could call him Faâ—her for his encouragement before he returned to him Luk. 15. 16 17 18. For my own part I must needs profess that my soul hath more frequent support from the consideration of Gods gracious and merciful nature than from the promise it self To this he returns a ready Answer That God is the Father of the rain Job 38. 28. and of all Creatures as he is their Maker Ephes 3. 14 15. But if we speak with reference to salvation Dr. Twiss * Vbi sâ—pra p. 53 saiâ—h The dealing of God is with his Children he means the Elect only Father-like not with others 3. I have signified to him That this disquietness in him doth manifesâ—ly arguâ— a desire to believe as Dr. Twiss * Ibid. p. 138. observes and God hath promised to fulfill the desire of them that fear him Ibid. p. 158. And seeâ—ng aâ—â—iction especially when it is of a spiritual nature is the ordinary introduction into the state of grace in the coarse of Gods Pâ—ovidence like as the Valley of Acâ—or was a door of hope uâ— to the Children of Israel and our Saviour in going to Jerusalem the vision of peace did continually take Bethany the house of mourning in his way we have cause to conceive good hope that these pangs may be as the pangs of Child-birth unto an afflicted soul To this he replies That common grace will carry a man so far as to be abased in the feeling of his sin and misery and to be humbled by attrition as the â—Papâ—sts call it and to cry Mr. Baxter of saving saith p. 43 44. out of their sin and folly and day and night to beg for grace and mercy He may like the Word and wayes of God and think Gods servants the best and happiest men and have many a wish that he were such himself he may avoid gross and wilful sinning and continue in hearing reading the Word enquiring consideration he may have a desire after Christ and holiness and heaven he may have love to God and the Redeemer and the Saints and withall he may have either a knowledge that he is yet short of true Christianity or at least be much afraid of it and therefore be under a prudent impatiency till saving grace comes in and the Spirit hath sealed him up to the day of Redemptiâ—n and he cry out What shall I do to be saved This a man may be brought unto by common grace which hath no promise of saving grace made to it nor any necessary connexion with it and consequently saith he these pangs may be but the beginning of greater sorrows 4. I have assured him that if he doth believe in Christ a Fountain of Consolation is then opened to him * Dr. Twiss p. 148. In this case we can assure him not only of the favour of God for the present but also of final perseverance therein and of Election and of Salvation as Dr. Twiss * Ib. p. 150. affirmeth To this he replies in the words of the same Dr. * Ibid. pag. 47 48. That a man may believe by an acquired faith * How can such a Faith cloathed with all moral vertues be distinguish't from an infused Faith and perform the acts of all moral vertues and have an exteriour conformity to the means of grace and so proficere ad exteriorem vitae emendationem and yet not be acceptable to God for all this Nothing but a Divine Faiâ—h will save us 5. I have told him Albeit he hath not this Faith to day notwithstanding he may have it in good time * Dr. Twiss ib. 150 and that there is no cause of desperation or to conceive himself to be a Reprobate Ib. 138. forasmuch as his condition is no worse than Sauls was before his calling yea and the holiest servant Mr. Baxteâ—'s Directions for peaee of Conscience pag. 463. of God Therefore said I what if you have no grace Do you not hear God daily offering you Christ and grace Doth he not entreat and beseech you to be reconciled unto him 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. And would he not compell you to come in Matâ—h 22. Do you not feel some unquietness in your sinful condition and some motions and strivings at your heart to get out of it Certainly though you should be one that hath yet no grace to salvation yet these continued offers of grace and strivâ—ngs of the Spirit of Christ with your heart doth shew that God hath not quite forsaken you and that your day of grace and visitation is not past To this he finds an answer to and tells me the question is whether there be any such day of visitation alotted for him or no. He is sure those sâ—rivings betwixt the flesh and natural conscience portend no such forasmuch as there may be such a conflict in the very Reprobate He wonders I should say that God doth bâ—seech him to be reconciled and would compell him to come in for his Conversion must be if ever it be at all of Gods irresistible working and saving grace of his immediate infusing and he being omnipotent if he were pleased to have it so it must needs be accomplâ—sh't in him presently 6. I have intreated him after this manner When the Divel clamours in your ears Christ and Salvation is none of thâ—ne let that voyce of God be in your memory O take Christ Mr. Baxter â—bi supra pag. 37. and life in him that thoâ— mâ—â—st be saved When you would fain have Christ and life and you are afraid that God will not give them to you remember then that God stands by beseeching you to accept the same thing which you are beseeching to give God is the first Suitour and Sollicitour God prayes you to take Chrâ—â— and you pray him to give you Christ what have you now to do but to take him And here understand that this taking is no impossible business it is no more but your hearty câ—â—seâ—ting And pag. 56. when God in the Gospel bids you take Jesus Christ and beseecheth you to be reconciled Ibid. pag. 56. to him if your
use to his Glory in obedience to his commandements and resist His and our enemy the Devil we most traiterously siding with Satan have abused His gifts to His Dishonor God did the part of a Creator we of Rebels A man lives intemperately God gave him not strength to this purpose he necessitated not the man to this intemperancy Man therefore onely sinned God is dishonoured The King made his Subject able to rebel against him by delivering his military furniture unto him the verier miscreant he that did rebell against him So God made Adam indeed able to sin but he never intended that he should sin with that ability God then is the cause of all those things in which we sin and yet whatsoever he doth is exceeding good he is not the cause that we intend any sin but the cause that we are able to commit those sins we intend and yet he intended not our abilities for sin but for his Service Of all our good actions he is the first cause we are the second of all our sins we are the proper cause he is onely the Conditio sine qui non But here some man may say That choice or election of an unlawful object upon which we misplace our actions is that which maketh us sinners now this being an act of our will it must suppose also the concourse of God how then doth our opinion clear the point The same Answer abundantly sufficeth God made Adam able to be willing to sin but he made him not to will sin God set before him life and death that he did choose death it was by the strength of will given him of God but God did not bind him to choose death for that were a contradiction a necessitated choice Briefly whatsoever we choose we do it by the power by which we are voluntary Agents yet if we choose death God is Object ult not to be blamed for he made us voluntary and therefore it was as possible for us to have chosen life If the nature of a voluntary Agent be well observed this point will be most evident The last objection is this Gods fore-knowledge of all futures is most infallible and necessary Ergo All futures in respect of him fall out necessarily otherwise it is possible God may be deceived yea if many things fall out contingently Gods fore-knowledge of them can be but contingent depending after a sort on mans free-will This Argument is plausible at the first view but if it be touched it falls to shatters It is one thing to know that a thing will necessarily be done and another to know necessarily that a thing will be done God doth necessarily and certainly foreknow all that will be done but he doth not know that those things which shall be done voluntarily will be done necessarily he knoweth that they will be done but he knoweth withall that they might have fallen out otherwise for ought he had ordered to the contrary So God necessarily knew that Adam would fall and yet he knew that he would not fall necessarily for it was as possible for him not to have fallen It was the antient and is still the true opinion That Gods Praescience is not the cause of Events he fore-knoweth all things because they will be done things are not done because he fore-knoweth them The infallibility of his knowledge consisteth not in the immutability of his decree but in the prerogative of his Deity it is impossible therefore that any man by his voluntary manner of working should delude Gods fore-sight not because God doth necessitate his will to certain effects for this were indeed to take it away but because his fore-knowledge is infinite Let our hearts therefore be never so full of Mazes and Meanders turning and winding yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use the Poets language the al-seeing Eye of God cannot but espy them long before not because he himself contrived them for then it were no wonder if he were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but because to Him who is every way infinite all things cannot be but present and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the significant word of the Author to the Hebrews signifying open by a metaphor or similitude drawn from a word that signifies having the faces laid upwards because such as lye so have their face exposed to the sight of all men FINIS Books Printed or sold by William Leake as the sign of the Crown in Fleetstreet between the two Temple-gates Yorks Heraldry fol. A bible of a very fair large Roman Letter 4. Orlando Furioso fol. call is learned readings on the Statute 21 H. 8. Cap. 5. of Sewers Perkins on the Laws of England Wilkinsons Office of Sheriffs 8. The book of Fees Parsons Law 8. Mirror of Justice 8. Topicks in the Laws of England 8. Skene de significatione verborum 4. Delamans use of the Horizontal Quadrant Mathematical Recreations Wilbeys second Set of Musick 3 4 5 and 6 parts 4. Coâ—â—â—â—ius in English 8. Dr. Fulk's Meteors Nyes Gunnery and Fireworks Cato Major with Annotations by William Austin Esquire Mel Heliconium by Alex. Ross 8. Nosce te ipsum by Sir John Davis 8. Animadversions on Lillies Grammer 8. The History of Vienna and Paris The History of Lazarillo de Tormes Hero and Leander by George Chapman and Christopher Marlow Mayer's Catechism 8. Exercitatio Scholastica Bishop Andrews Sermons Adams on Peter Posing of the Accidence Amadis de Gaule Guillims Heraldry fol. Herberts Travels fol. Boccas Tables Man become guilty by John Francis Senalt and Englished by Henery Earl of Monmoth The Idiot in four books first and second of Wisdom third of the mind fourth of the experience of the ballance The Life and Raign of Hen. 8. by the Lord Herbert fol. Aula Lucis or the house of Light The Fort-Royal of holy Scriptures or a new Concordance of the chief heads of Scripture by J. H. A Tragoedy written by the most learned Hugo Grotius called CHRISTUS PATIENS and translated into English The Mount of Olives or 〈◊〉 volions by Henry Vaughan Sylurist with an excellent Discourse of the blessed estate of Man in Glory written by the most Reverend and holy Father Anselm Arch-bishop of Canterbury The description and use of the double Horizontal Dyall by W. O. whereunto is added the description of the General Horological Ring The Rights of the People concerning Impositions stated in a learned Argument by a late eminent Judge of this Nation France painted out to the life the second Edition The Garden of Eden both parts or an accurate description of Flowers and Fruits now growing in England by Sir Hugh Plat Knight Exercitatio Scholastica Book of Martyrs sol Willet on Genesis and Exodus PLAYES The Wedding Philaster The Hollander The Merchant of Venice The strange discovery Maids Tragedy King and no King Othello the Moor of Venice The grateful servant These Books are lately come forth and sold by Will. Leak at the Crown in Fleet-street The Solemne League and Covenant Arraigned and Condemned by the sentence of the Divines of London and Cheshire c. by Lawrence Womack now D. D. and Arch-deacon of Suffolk Amorea the Lost Lover or the Idea o Love and Misfortune being never before printed written by Patherick Jenkyn Gent. An exact Abridgment of the Records in the Tower of London from the Raign of K. Edward the second to K. Richard the third of all the Parliaments holden in each Kings raign and the several Acts in every Parliament by Sir Robert Cotton Kt. and Baronet An Apology for the Discipline of the antient Church intendep especally for that of our Mother the Church of England in answer to the Admonitory Letter lately published by William Nicolson Arch-Deacon of Brecon and now Lord Bishop of Glocestet Le Prince d'Amour or the Prince of Love Wa collection of several Ingenious Poems and Songs by the Wits of the Age. 8. A learned Exposition of the Apostles Creed delivered in several Sermons by William Nicholson Archdeacon of Brecon and now Lord Bishop of Glocester
holinâ—ss imports a state of sepâ—â—â—ion which doth not alwayes imply an infusion of good qualities or any inherency of them But 1. A sequestration from common use as the Temple and the Vessels that did belong to it were said to be holy 2. A sâ—paration from that danger wherein others are inevitably involved as the word seems to be used Rev. 20. 6. Now I am apt to understand the Text Ephes 1. 4. in this sense That God hath chosen us in Christ that we should be holy that is Thâ—t we should be separated from the danger of eternal destruct oâ— through his free love and have 〈◊〉 blame laid upon us for cur sins and this agrees very well with the benefit we have in Chrâ—st Jesus as the Apostle sets it down Col. 1. 14. In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins As 't is impossible we should be profitable to him a Job 22. 2. because he stands in no need of our service b Ecclus. 15. 12. Luk. 17. â—10 so 't is impossible he should pâ—â—pâ—se to put trouble upon whom he intirely loves c Lam. 3. 33. because he delighteth in mercy d Micah 7. 18. Therefore unless you can give me some good Reason why God should injoyn us so strictly as you pretend to be holy in all manner of Conversation and rich in good works seeâ—ng he hath elected us without any intuition or consideration of them and through the satisfaction of Christ he may actually save us and put us into possession of glory without any impeachment to his justice I must conclude there is no such necessity of an industrious qualitative holiness as you imagine nay that it would more derogate from the freeness of his grace then any way contribute to the advancement oâ— it Diotrephes Sir we need seek no further for a Reason hereof than the holy Nature of God which the Prophet hath respect unto when he saith * Habac. 1. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst â—ot look on iniquity and the Psalmist to like purpose * Psal 5. 4 5. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee the foolish shall not stand in thy sight thou hatest all workers of iniquity Securus Sir I perceive you have been too conversant with the Remonstrants Writings and you are very apt to slide into their opinions ere you are aware of 〈◊〉 Indeed they say though God loved us before he gave his Son for us as it is exprest John 3. 16. yet he did not will us eternal life by that love but he wilâ—'d us that in consideration of believing in his Son On the contrary the Orthodox say That the Election of men to Eternal life is the willing of Eternal life to them and that this Election is made of persons to whom Christ is not given but as and after they are elected and what manner of persons are they when they are elected Qualium est Electio saith Bucan * Loc. Com. de praedest qnaest 20. Immundorum impiorum in conspectu Dei The Election is made of persons unclean and wicked in the sight of God and so Spanhemius alledged even now by your self Christ saith he is not the cause of that love where with God embraceth us unto â—â—ernal salvation The holy Nature of God therefore which could not only brook us so well but also embrace us wiâ—h so flagrant and immutable a love at our Elect on that certainly cannot obstruct the way to our salvation requiring that our multitude of good works should make a tâ—rong and crowd in to open the door for us Diotrephes I am sure Sir whatever you think of the holy Nature of God the holy Will of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ require it as a condition and means of our salvation Securus 'T is somewhat strange since we make the Decree of Election to be absolute and inconditionate and irrevocable * Election is Decretum est dâ—finitum inconditionatum completum irrevocabile immutabile Theol. Magn. Brit. Sentent de primâ— Artic. Thes Ortho. 4 Inter Acta Syn. Dor. pag 5. par 2. that we should stand so much upon a subordination of means in order to the execution of it To my apprehension 't is very absurd to say such a thing is done absolutely and then to affirm that such and such means are prescrib'd for the accomplishment of it It is as if one should say That Titius had absolutely given Radulphus an inheritance but he bath tyed Radulphus to perform certain conditions upon which it is suspended he must do him faithful service by the space of forty or fifty years for it But I would fain learn how the subordination of such a conditional Decree to that absolute and inconditionate Decree can consist with Gods immutability Do they not make God inconstant one while destinating men unto salvation absolutely presently willing not to save them unless the condition of faith and holiness be perfor med I see nor as I said how Gods purpose according to the Election can stand with this variation that you make betwixt the Eternal Decree and the final execution of it Diotrephes To salve the immutability and constancy of God I suppose it may be considerable That though Election unto salvation and the means of salvation may be distinctly considered * Synops Pur. Theol. Disp 24. Thes 18. yet our Divines say they are not diverse acts in the Decree of God because God by one only and simple act did de termine all these things even as by one only and simple act he knew all things from all Eternity * I do not affirm That in any moment of nature the Decree of salvation doth go before the consideration of faith and obedience The Decrees of giving faith and crowning it with salvation I make to be not subordinate one to another but simultaneous and co-ordinate oâ—e with another Dr. Twiss ubi supra pag. 13. We propound them distinctly after our manner of consideration in regard of the mulâ—itude of objects which are comprehended in this one act of electing and some order is to be acknowledged amongst those objects too from all Eternity But God determined all at once and therefore there could be no mutability or inconstancy in him herein Securus Sir you seem to say something towards satisfaction in this difficulty but it doth not remove it for to elect Peter unto salvation is to will to save him Now that God should in one and the same simple act will to save Peter an unbeliever unclean ungodly and yet will not to save him but as a believer holy and obedient I say that God should will both these in one and the same simple act looks so like an implication of contradiction * Vide Grevinch Dissertatio Theologica De Duab. quaest ag 188 c. that the wit of man can hardly reconcile