God indeede doth giue grace and sufficient power to conuersion but that man is conuerted or not conuerted in act is in the power of free-will Arnoldus doth teach this at large 447. We determine saith hee that the vse of grace is subiect to mans will so that man may vse it or not vse it according to his naturall liberty And a little after speaking of a man furnished with the power of grace hee saith that the effect of the mercy of God is in the power of man And pag. 448. he teacheth that if efficacy be taken for efficiency man maketh grace ineffectuall For Arnoldus was ashamed to adde the other member and to say that man made grace effectuall or ineffectuall and yet there are other places brought by vs out of their writings which are equipollent and of like force with this speech as also that which he saith pag. 449. Man if he be not wanting to himselfe may conuert himselfe The Reader therefore shall marke how pestilent this doctrine is which the ARminians restrained as it were with shame doe scarce at any time vtter without ambiguities That the grace of God is effectuall that is efficient and working it is to be attributed to free-will and the efficiency of the grace of God is subiected to the will of man By which speech they meane this that God doth saue man if man himselfe will for this it is to depend on mans will VI. The Orthodoxe Churches doe much differ from this doctrine For how can we be conuerted by the grace of God if wee will seeing that this very thing that we are willing is the grace of God yea it is conuersion it selfe For he that doth seriously desire to be conuerted to God is already in some part conuerted But of these things we haue already spoken much and more shall be spoken when wee treate of the manner by which the grace of God doth certainely worke conuersion in vs which manner the Arminians call by an odious and rude word irresistibilitie VII But in the tearme of sufficient grace they doe not onely differ one from another but euery one of them differeth from himselfe For they will haue sufficient grace to beleeue power of beleeuing to be giuen to all particular men * Arnal p 405. Licet sit generalis gratiae quod homines dons istis pessint recte vti tamen quod actu recte ijs vtantur à speciali gratia est Potentia eniminactum non producitur nisi per auxilium alterius gratiae subsiquentis quae specialis est quia non omnibus contingis And yet the same men say that no man can beleeue in act and vse well this vniuersall grace without speciall grace O your faithfull stability Can that be called sufficient grace which doth neuer bring forth that effect for which it is giuen vnlesse some other speciall grace come to it Is that a sufficient cause which doth neuer worke alone Or is any thing lesse agreeable to reason then with Arminius to make one kinde of grace which is sufficient by which the sinner may be conuerted but is not conuerted and another which is effectuall by which the sinner is conuerted Is it not of the same power and faculty to be able to doe and to doe to be able to see and to see Surely a giddinesse hath ceased on these men while they study for subtiltie VIII I am deceiued if Vorstius did not discerne this and therefore in the twentie and twentie one sections Collat. cum Piscat he doth make two kindes of grace one sufficient and altogether necessary which God doth giue to all them that are called the other extraordinary superabounding and singular by which men are indeede conuerted and hee doth reiect them that say none at all are conuetted by that former grace For he saith that God hath not promised to conuert all that are conuerted with this more then sufficient helpe and superabounding efficacy of grace IX But we taking the tearme of effectuall grace for that grace which is apt and fit to worke that for which it is giuen and appointed doe acknowledge no sufficient grace which is not effectuall that is apt to worke that for which it is giuen and appointed whether it doth effect and worke alone or with others which I do purposely adde because oftentimes to one effect and perfect action many causes doe concurre as to Learning Nature Art and exercise doe concurre to the ferâ—iâ—ity and fruitfulnesse of the field the goodnesse of the soile the sunne raine and conuenient manuring doe concurre X. And seeing that in the concourse of causes to the producing of one effect there are certaine causes that doe not onely worke with others but which doe also worke by others and doe giue efficacie and power to the adioyning causes So in the conuersion of man the holy Ghost and the preaching of the word doe concurre but the spirit doth giue efficacy to the word For in vaine are the eares beaten on vnlesse God open the heart and with the word doth inspire his secret power XI And we acknowledge that there is no grace absolutely sufficient eyther to conuersion or to faith or to saluation without the spirit of regeneration and knowledge of Christ And we condemne the schoole of Arminius teaching that all men euen the heathens to whom the name of Christ hath not come are indued with sufficient and sauing grace to come to faith and by it to saluation XII Yet the outward meanes to saluation that are largely administred without the inward efficacy of the holy Spirit may in some measure be called sufficient grace not onely because they suffice to make them inexcusable but also because these meanes ought to suffice to come to saluation if man were such as he ought to be For if any thing is wanting to that grace the defect is bred on his part who is called not on his part who calleth who by the rule of iustice is not bound to supply inward dispositions because man is bound to giue them of his owne and to bring them of himselfe Nor is God bound to restore them to man after man hath lost them by his owne fault Therefore God doth iustly say Esay 5. What ought I to haue done more to my vineyard that I haue not done to it For speaking after the manner of men God is said that he ought to doe that which his iustice doth require and which if he should not doe there would seeme to be cause of expostulating But that God doth there speake of the outward meanes doth hence appeare because he compareth the benefits bestowed vpon Israel to a planting in a fruitfull place to a digging to fencing with a hedg to gathering out stones and to the building of a Tower But there is no mention of the secret vegetation and growth of it of the fauourable fitnesse of the ayre of the seasonable raine which are things rather of an inward and secret power Furthermore
them to iust and deserued punishments for their sinnes IV. The definition of Thomas doth not please me who saith that the decree of Reprobation is the will of permitting one to fall into sinne and of laying vpon him the punishment of damnation for his sinne For the permission whereby God doth permit doth not belong to predestination but to his prouidence although it serue to predestination V. It is the opinion of the Arminian sect that Reprobates may be saued For saith Arminius that decree is not of the power but of the act of sauing Very ill spoken For where the act of God is determined by his decree in vaine is the power by which this act may be resisted This opinion doth draw with it other opinions no better then it selfe for errors are tyed together among themselues like serpents egges For if a Reprobate may be saued he that is not written in the booke of life may effect that hee be now written in and so the number of the elect will not be certaine nor the decree of Reprobation be irreuocable and peremptory as they speake vnlesse after finall perseuerance in incredulity Also hence it will follow that a reprobate may if he will obtaine faith and conuert himselfe whence it would come to passe that faith should not be of the meere grace of God which wee shall see hereafter to be the opinion of Arminius VI. God is after the same manner the cause of Reprobation as the iudge is the cause of the punishment of them that are guilty and sinne is the meritorious cause Seeing therefore the consideration of sinne doth moue the iudge and the iudge doth condemne to punishment it appeareth that sinne is the remote cause of damnation and not onely a condition necessarily fore-required and that the iudge is the next and neerest cause VII Furthermore although sinne be the cause of appointing to punishment yet it is not the cause of the difference betweene the Elect and Reprobate For examples sake Two men are guilty of the sâ—me crime and it pleaseth the king to condemne one and to absolue and free the other his sinne indeede that is condemned is the cause of his punishment but it is not the cause why the king is otherwise affected to the other then to him seeing the fault on both sides is alike The cause of the difference is that something thing steppeth betweene which doth turne the punishment from one of them which in the worke of predestination is nothing else but the very good pleasure of God by which of his meere good pleasure he gaue certaine men to Christ leauing the rest in their inbred corruption and in the curse due vnto them For which difference it is great wickednesse for vs to striue with God seeing hee is not subiect nor bound to any creature and punisheth no man vniustly giuing to one the grace that is not due and imposing on the other the punishment that is due VIII Here it is demanded what is that sinne for which God doth reprobate to wit whether men are Reprobated onely for the sinne which is deriued from Adam and for that blot which is common to Reprobates with the elect or whether they are also reprobated for the actuall sinnes which they are to commit in the whole course of their life The answere is at hand For although naturall corruption be cause sufficient for Reprobation yet it is no doubt but that God hath decreed to condemne for the same cause for which hee doth condemne and hee doth condemne the Reprobates for the sinnes which they haue committed in act For in hell they doe not onely beare the punishment of originall sinne but also of actuall sinnes Therefore also God hath appointed them to damnation for the same sinnes Now to Reprobate and to appoint to punishment are all one God doth so execute any thing in time according as he from eternity decreed to execute it Now he doth punish in time for actuall sinnes therefore also hee decreed from eternity to punish for them Thence it is that the punishments of the men of Capernaum was to be greater then the punishment of the Sodomites and the punishment of him that knew the will of his master greater then the punishment of him that knew it not because there is a great difference betweene the actuall sinnes for which they are punished Nothing hindreth that God considering a man lying in his naturall corruption and deprauation should not also consider him as poluted with those sinnes which he was to commit by that naturall deprauation IX Arminius doth not thinke that any man is Reprobated for originall sinne for he contends that Christ hath obtained the remission of it for all mankinde But he will haue man to be reprobated onely for the fore-seeing of actuall sinnes that is for the breach of the law and the contempt of grace In which thing he doth seeme not to be constant to himselfe For seeing all actuall sinnes doe flow from originall sinne it cannot be that the cause and fountaine of actuall sinnes should be remitted by God and yet the sinnes that flow from thence should not be remitted As if God should forgiue a man intemperance but should punish him for adultery for actions doe flow from habits and naturall inclinations as the second acts doe flow from the first X. Without doubt incredulity and the reiection of the Gospell are among the sinnes for which any one is reprobated For by this reiection we sinne against the Law by which God will iudge vs For the law commandeth that God be loued with all our heart and that he be obeyed in all things and without exception and therefore also that he be beleeued when he speaketh and that hee be obeyed when hee commandeth vs to beleeue whatsoeuer it shall be which he shall eyther command or shall say XI That hee should be Reprobated for reiecting the Gospell and despising the grace of Christ to whom the Gospel was neuer preached is against all reason For whom the Gospell doth not saue it leaueth vnder the law to be iudged by it which law doth then binde a man to beleeue in Christ when Christ is preached to him Nor is it the Schoole master to Christ but to them who haue meanes to come to the knowledge of Christ After the same manner as the law did not binde them to belecue the prophecy of Ieremy who neuer heard of the name of Ieremie nor could it be knowne to them XII And although reprobation cannot be said to be the cause of sinne because sinne goeth before reprobation yet it cannot be denied but that reprobation is the cause of the denying of grace and of the preaching of the Gospell and of the spirit of adoption which is peculiar to the elect For seeing this denying is a punishment it must needes be that it is inflicted by the will of a iust iudge These are the words of Arminius Page 58. against Perkins Effectuall grace is denyea by
truth but a naturall auersion and disability II. Wherefore the Scripture doth call the change of man by the spirit of regeneration sometimes another birth Iohn 3. sometimes the creation of the new man Ephes 4.24 It calleth it another resurrection from the dead Reucl. 20.6 Luke 15.32 Iohn 5.25 Not that creation and resurrection is in all things like to regeneration and the change of the soule but only in this thing of which it is here spoken to wit as the Carkasse cannot dispose nor prepare it selfe to the resurrection and a thing that is not created cannot further any thing to the creation of it So man in the state of sinne and before his regeneration hath nothing whereby he may dispose himselfe or further his regeneration and spirituall new birth III. The Arminian conferrers at the Hage Page 279. doe roundly confesse that by our spirituall death the liberty of doing well or ill is separated from the soule I demand therefore whether an vnregenerate man furnished with that sufficient and vniuersall grace which is giuen euen to Reprobates hath free-will of doing well or ill in those things which belong to saluation If he haue not why doe the Arminians contend he hath If hee hath it is plaine by their owne confession that he is not dead in sinne But there is a speciall force in the word borne For if there were any seeds and reliques of spirituall life in an vnregenerate man as Arnoldus is of opinion there were no neede to be borne againe and that the new man should be formed but God were to be prayed to that he would againe raise vp those sparkes and reliques of spirituall life and would vouchsafe to kindle and increase it as it were by adding fuell to it IV. Adde to these those places which teach vs that without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. That all men haue not faith 2. Thess 3. because it is the gift of God Philip. 1.19 Ephes 2.8 Seeing therefore what soeuer is not of faith is sinne Rom. 14.25 it is plain that in things which belong to saluation and to the worship of God hee doth nothing but sinne that wants faith such as are all the heathen and vnregenerate men In which place to the Romanes it is to be noted that the Apostle speaketh of the vse of meates which he will haue vs to eate with faith that is with a certaine knowledge that the vse of meates is allowed by God and is agreeable to his word Seeing therefore that euen in things which are of their owne nature indifferent wee sinne when we vse them without such a faith how much more are we to thinke that the heathens sinne in euery action that pertaineth to saluation and the worship of God because they are altogether destitute of this faith Hitherto pertaine those places which teach vs that God is the author of euery vertue and euery good worke that is done by vs. We are not sufficient of our selues to thinke any thing as of our selues but our sufficiency is of God 2. Cor. 3.5 And Christ himselfe Iohn 15.5 Without me ye can doe nothing And in the same place we are compared to branches cut off and appointed to the fire vnlesse wee haue beene engrafted into Christ by whom wee liue and beare fruit The Apostle Ephes 2.8 doth teach that saluation and faith is not of our selues but of the gift of God For by grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God How farre is this from Arminius who will haue the totall cause of faith not to be grace alone but grace and free-will And least any of Arminius followers should seeke a refuge and should say that the power of beleeuing is giuen to all vnresistably but that the act of beleeuing is so helped by grace that it is also from free-wil the Apostle doth fitly preuent such a weake subtilty Phil. 1.29 where he saith It is giuen to you in the behalfe of Christ not onely to beleeue on him but also to suffer for his sake You see that not onely the power of beleeuing is giuen vs but also the act it selfe to beleeue Agreeable to this is that Iohn 6. No man can come to me vnlesse my father draw him Where to come is to beleeue in act and not to haue the power and faculty of beleeuing which is brought into act by free-will No lesse direct is that of the Apostle Philip. 2.13 It is God which worketh in you both to will and to doe of his good pleasure Now to will is to will in act and not to haue the power of willing God himselfe Ezechiel 36.27 saith I will put my spirit within you and will cause you to walke in my statutes Therefore hee doth not onely giue the power of walking in his statutes but also doth cause that we really walke and doth worke in vs the very act After what manner and how farre the elect may resist the efficacy of the spirit shall hereafter be seene It is sufficient to the present question if we winne this of them that God doth not onely giue the power whereby we may beleeue but also that hee doth giue and worke in vs the act of beleeuing to beleeue it selfe We meete sometimes with places where the Arminians say that not onely the power of beleeuing but that also the act of beleeuing to beleeue it selfe is giuen by God But they will haue this act so to be giuen by God in as much as he giueth knowledge to the minde and doth raise vp the fainting affections which doe put forward the will to beleeue and that this is done by a morall perswasion and after the same manner that wee are moued by obiects But this is not to giue faith and the act of beleeuing For surely hee that doth perswade that doth propound obiects and doth inuite the appetite to runne doth not giue the act of running to runne it selfe Wherefore the Arminians doe deny that faith it selfe is infused or imprinted on the heart by God but that the will is inuited to beleeue onely by a morall perswasion and by a courteous allurement With a like fraud that they might seeme to attribute some great thing to God they say that God doth giue the power of beleeuing and that vnresistably But when they come to explane the manner whereby these powers are supplied it is manifest that they deny that the power of beleeuing is giuen to man by God For they thinke that God doth giue these powers no otherwise then by enlightning the vnderstanding with knowledge and by stirring vp the appetites which certainely is not to giue the power of beleeuing For hee which in the darke doth with a torch giue light to the wandring traueller and doth stirre him vp to goe doth not thereby giue him the power of going VI. And least any man should in any part arrogate to himself the prayse eyther of that knowledge which he hath obtained
things the Arminians bring some arguments but so light that they are dispearsed onely with a breath Arminius against Perkins Page 57. doth say that Stephen Acts 7.51 doth vpbraide and reproach the Iewes that they did alwaies resist the Holy-Ghost Hence the accure man doth gather that these rebellious Iewes were inwardly affected with the Holy-Ghost But the following words doe declare what it is to resist the Holy-Ghost for Stephen addeth Which of the Prophets haue not your fathers persecuted to wit to persecute the Prophets speaking by the inspiration of the Holy-Ghost and to resist the spirit speaking by their mouths this was to resist the Holy-Ghost XI I confesse that there are some men who doe resist the spirit of grace of whom the Apostle speaketh Hebrewes 10.29 and who doe striue against the inward suggestion of the Holy-Ghost But there the Apostle speaketh of some few who hauing embraced the Gospell with ioy and hauing receiued some tast of the word of God doe a while after with an obstinate minde and on set purpose turne their back to God and doe cast out his grace with indignation and doe sinne wilfully after they haue receiued the knowledge of the truth as it is said verse 26. who that they are the same with them who sinne against the Holy-Ghost doth hence appeare in that the Apostle in the same place doth say that their sâ—luation was past hope and doth say that there remaineth no sacrifice for their sinnes and that there doth rest no hope of reconciliation for them But this doth agree but to some few and not to all to whom eyther the law alone or the Gospell with the law hath beene made knowne All which these Sectaries teach are moued inwardly by the Hoâ—y Ghost and haue a feeling of the true doctrine imprinted in them Neither doe I thinke that the gifts of the spirit which such men as these haue receiued are the gifts of regeneration or the spirit of adoption or the true proper and iustifying faith but onely some assayes of the spirit mouing the heart at whose suggestion the will being warmed with some slight heare rather then enflamed doth cleaue to the Gospell vntill the benummed appetites perceiuing warre to be intended against them haue raised themselues with greater force and hauing shaken out of the heart that superficiall piety haue turned it into hatred and by the very incitations of piety their hidden poyson hath more vehemently burst forth XII Arminius in the same place doth hold vp and as it were vnderproppe their tottering cause with that place of the Prophet Esay Chapter 55.11 where he hath these words So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not returne vnto me voide but shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I senâ—â— Surely this is to hit the nayle on the head The meaning of Esay is plaine for he saith that the promises and threats propounded in the word of God shall be executed and that nothing was saide in vaine and which should not be fulfilled Here is no mention of the quickning efficacy of the spirit affecting mens hearts nor if there were could it thence be proued that the spirit of God did worke in all but in them alone whom he decreed to saue XIII Arnoldus Page 443. doth poure out a showre of places of Scripture and yet hee doth not proue by them that which hee doth intend That place Matth. 23.37 doth not proue it How oft would I haue gathered thy children c. For we haue shewed in the fift Chapter that these children were gathered together Also if they were not gathered together it would not follow that they were called any otherwise then by an outward calling XIV That place Esay 65 2. doth not proue it I haue spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people Nor that Prou. 1.24 I haue called and ye refused For there it is spoken of the outward calling and not of the efficacy of the spirit working in mens hearts XV. Nor that place Psal 81.14 O that my people had hearkened that Israell had walked in my wates I would soone haue subdued their enemies For these words meane nothing else then what they plainely found forth to wit that God would haue laid flat the enemies of Israell if Israell had obeyed God Here is no mention at all of the inward efficacy of the spirit XVI Nor that of Ezechiel Chapter 18. v. 31. Make ye a new heart and a new spirit For it is not proued by this place that man doth make himselfe a new heart seeing God in the 36. Chapter of the same Prophecy saith I will giue you a new heart and a new spirit Much lesse is it hence proued that the Holy-Ghost doth worke in all men XVII Nor that of Saint Iohn Chapter 5.34 I seeke not the testimony of men but these things I say that ye might be saued And verse 40. Ye will not come to me that ye might haue life By which words how it can be proued that the quickning power of the Holy-Ghost doth worke in all men I confesse and it is my dulnesse I cannot conceiue XVIII It is not proued by those words of Saint Paul 1. Tim. 2.4 God would haue all men be saued Of which words wee haue at large proued Chapter 29. that this is the sence God doth inuite to saluation men of any sort and of euery condition XIX Nor by that place of Peter Epphes 2. Chap. 3. v. 9. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance For it cannot be drawne out of this place that the holy-Holy-Ghost doth inwardly worke in all men euen in those to whom the Gospell is not preached but onely that God is not the cause of the ouerthrow of any one that he doth not reioyce in the destruction of man as he is man For otherwise as the same man is a sinner God doth loue the execution of his iustice XX. Nor is it proued by that place of Ezechiel Chapter 12.2 Sonne of man thou dwellest in the middest of a rebellious house which haue eyes to see and see not they haue eares to heare and heare not For there by eyes and eares is not to be vnderstood sufficient grace to saluation eyther mediately or immediately nor the operation of the Holy-Ghost working in the reprobates but a knowledge in the heart by which euen against their wills they did acknowledge that those things were right which were taught them by the Prophets for they were admonished by so cleere instructions and stirred vp with so seuere threates that they could not pretend ignorance This knowledge was giuen them not by supernaturall grace working inwardly nor by sufficient grace common to all men by which they might haue beleeued and beene conuerted if they would but by the instructions and documents of the Prophets and by the law of God knowne and perceiued in their minde