will put my feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from me Iohn 4.14 The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto eternall life 1 Cor. 10.13 But will with the tentation make a way to escape 2 It is false that it is offered equally to all as appeares out of our Positions set downe before in the first Article Where wee have proved that perseverance in faith doth belong to the Elect alone 3 It is false that perseverance is a grace offered upon condition for it is a gift promised absolutely by God without any respect at all of condition The reason is this Some promises of God are touching the end others touching the meanes which conduce to the end The promises concerning the end that is to say Salvation are conditionall Beleeve and thou shalt be saved Bee faithfull unto the death that is persever and I will give thee the Crowne of life But for as much as no man is able to performe the conditions God also hath made most free and absolute promises to give the very conditions which he workes in us that so by them as by meanes we may attaine the end Deut. 36.6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule that thou maist live The end here promised is life which the Israelites could never attaine without the performance of the condition namely their love of God But here God promiseth absolutely that hee will give unto them this condition Since therefore the promises of Faith and perseverance in Faith are promises concerning the meanes they are expresly to bee reckoned among those absolute gifts by which God considering mans disability both to attaine the end without the meanes and also to performe the meanes or conditions of himselfe doth promise that he will make them able to performe the conditions God promiseth life to those that constantly feare him the promise of life is conditionall but of constant feare it is absolute I will put my feare in their hearts that they may not depart from me 4 Be it so that this gift were conditionall yet it is not offered upon this condition if men will not be wanting to themselves in the entertainment of this sufficient grace Against this condition those reasons are of force which we brought before against the strength of free wil in mans conversion to which we adde also these 1 First it will follow out of this condition that wee doe in vaine intreat God in the behalfe of any men that he would give unto them the gift of perseverance because of course he offers them universall and sufficient grace to which if they themselves will not be wanting they shall persevere 2 This is an idle condition For it makes perseverance to be the condition of perseverance For to persevere is nothing else but not to be wanting unto this sufficient grace If therefore God offers perseverance upon this condition he offers the same upon condition of it selfe 3 Lastly the second part of this opinion is soundly confuted by Saint Austine de corrept grat cap. 11. 12. of which disputation this is the summe It was given to Adam that hee might if he would persevere in good but it was not granted to him to will to persevere But such grace is given to us who are truly engrafted into Christ that not onely we may if we will but also that wee shall will to persevere in Christ. Againe in his booke de unitate Ecclesiae cap. 9. the same Austine doth contemne this very opinion maintained by the Donatists namely that Men beleeve if they will if they will they persevere in that which they beleeve if they will not they persevere not THE SECOND THat perseverance is a condition required in the new Covenant and foregoing Gods Election SEE the second and fift Erroneous Opinion rejected by us in the first Article THE THIRD THat hee who doth truely beleeve may sinne against the Holy Ghost These reasons confute this Opinion 1 FIrst to sinne against the Holy Ghost is to sinne unto death 1 Iohn 5.16 Those who are truely faithfull cannot sinne unto death Because to sinne unto death is to commit that sinne upon which death shall surely follow to wit that eternall and second death which never hath power over those who are truely faithfull as being those who dye unto sinne and doe rise againe from their sinnes unto newnesse of life Apoc. 20.6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power 2 They who sin against the Holy Ghost shall never come unto glory or unto the Kingdome of Heaven to which all true beleevers do without faile come For it is the same to bee a true beleever as to bee justified and to be the adopted Sonne of God but the justified shall come to glory Rom. 8. Whom he justified them also he glorified and the adopted sonnes of God shall attaine the Kingdome of Heaven Gal. 4.7 If sonnes then also beires of God through Christ. 3 1 Iohn 3.9 Whosoever is borne of God as is every true beleever doth not commit sinne which by the Apostles owne interpretation ver 8. He that commiteth sinne is of the Divell is to be understood of those sinnes which estate a man under the Kingdome and power of the Divell such as principally the sinne against the holy Ghost is Hither tends the speech of the Apostle 2. Tim. 4.18 The Lord shall deliver mee from every evill worke and will preserve mee unto his heavenly Kingdome What From every evill worke without exception Not so But from every such evill worke which might wholy deprive him of all right to the Kingdome of Heaven of which kind no question the sinne against the holy Ghost is not onely for the inward malice but also for the finall impenitency joyned to it THE FOVRTH THat no true beleever or regenerate person can be assured in this life of his perseverance and salvation without speciall revelation OF the first part of this position we handled before in this Article But now that a man may know that his perseverance for the future may be secured without any speciall revelation wee prove by this reason T is confessed that some Saints especially Saint Paul did obtaine this certainty Rom. 8. I am perswaded that neither life nor death c. But Saint Paul did not fetch this perswasion from extraordinary revelation but from those grounds which are common to him with other the faithfull vers 32. He that spared not his owne Sonne but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifieth vers 33. It is Christ that makes intercession for us What was Christ only given for Paul and not for other beleevers also Was Paul
antecedent infidelity and finall perseverance in the same MOst certaine it is that God from all eternity did know that those whom he should passe by would dye in their infidelity But it is false that this foreseene infidelity should be the cause of his not-electing them 1 For all men and every man in particular if not elected to persevering faith are foreseen as persevering in infidelity and no man is foreseen as with out faile persevering in his infidelity but he whom God in the disposing of effectuall grace by his antecedent decree hath passed by Ioh. 20. 26. Ye beleeve not because ye are not of my sheepe 1 Ioh. 2. 19. If they had beene of us they had continued with us The Apostle fetcheth this preterition or non-election from the meere will of God as it is manifest out of the forecited places at the first Orthodoxall position concerning Reprobation at the second error concerning Election 2 To conclude if we shall set downe for a ground that no man is reprobated but for his foreseene impenitence and finall incredulitie there should be no mysterie in the decree of Reprobation nothing vnsearchable nothing beyond our reach quite contrary to that of the Apostle Rom. 11.33 Oh the depth c. to that Rom. 9.20 What art thou O man who disputest against God We know that grace is not given to all men and that where it is bestowed it is not given according to the merit of their workes neither yet according to the merit of their will to whom it is given Many are not saved not because they would not be saved but because God will not That is because God is not pleased to bestow speciall effectuall grace upon them THE FOVRTH THat no man is considered of God as reprobated passed by or not elected except in the very moment of death THis is manifestly false because the consequents of this preterition are apparantly shewed toward them whom God doth paste by even in this life Such are those descriptions obvious in the holy Scriptures Of not calling according to the purpose of God Gods permitting men to walke in their owne waies that their hard hearts are not mollified With whom God deales after this manner those he considers as men whom he had formerly passed by or not-eglected Ro. 9. God hated Esau before hee had done either good or ill Mat. 13. To some it is not given to know the mystery of the Kingdome of Heaven The Suffrage concerning the second Article THE FIRST POSITION OVt of an especiall love and intention both of God the Father and of Christ himselfe Christ dyed for the Elect that hee might effectually obtaine for them and infallibly bestow on them both remission of sinnes and salvation THis first proposition declareth that the Elect shall without faile have remission of sinnes and eternall life by the death of Christ and that out of the especiall love and intention of God the Father and Christ. This is proved out of the holy Scriptures which doe shew forth the efficacie of the death of the Sonne of God in respect of the Elect Iohn 11.51 Iesus must dye for the Nation and not onely for that Nation but that hee might gather into one the sonne of God which were dispersed Ephes. 5.25 God loved the Church and gave himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it c. In which words is declared the intention of Christ offering himselfe as the same offering concerneth the infallible bestowing of salvation THE SECOND POSITION OVt of the selfe same love by and for the merit and intercession of Christ faith and perseverance are given to the same Elect yea and all other things by which the condition of the covenant is fulfilled and the promised benefit namely eternall life is obtained THis position sheweth that out of the death and intercession of Christ those gifts of grace doe flow to the Elect by which they are effectually brought to life eternall Rom. 8.32.33.39 Hee that spared not his owne Sonne how shall he not even with him give us all things Heb. 8.10 I will give my lawes into their mindes and in their hearts I will write them For that grace which is given unto the Elect for the death of Christ is the grace of effectuall redemption Now wee understand by the grace of redemption not such a grace by which men may bee redeemed if they will but by which they are in event mercifully redeemed because God so willeth THE THIRD POSITION GOd taking pitie on mankinde being falne sent his Son who gave himselfe a ransome for the sins of the whole world IN this oblation of Christ we consider two things the manner of calling of men to the actuall participation of this sacrifice and the benefit divers wayes redounding unto men by the same sacrifice As for the manner there is no mortall man who cannot truly and seriously bee called by the Ministers of the Gospell to the participation of remission of sinnes and eternall life by this death of Christ. Acts 13.33.39 Bee it knowne unto you that remission of sinnes is preached by Christ. Iohn 3.17 He that beleeves not is condemned because he hath not beleeved in the Sonne of God There is nothing false nothing colourably fained in the Gospell but whatsoever is offered or promised in it by the Ministers of the word is after the same manner offered promised unto them by the Author of the Gospell Touching the benefit by the death of Christ in which is contained an infinite treasure of merits and spirituall blessings the actuall fruit doth redound to men after that manner and that measure and by the same meanes as seemes good to God himselfe Now it pleaseth God even after the acceptation of this sacrifice no otherwise to bestow actually upon any man remission of sinnes and eternall life then by faith in the same Redeemer And here that same eternall and secret decree of Election shewes it selfe in as much as that price was paid for all and will certainly promote all beleevers unto eternall life yet is not beneficiall unto all because all have not the gift of fulfilling this condition of the gracious covenant Christ therefore so dyed for all that all and every one by the meanes of faith might obtaine remission of sins and eternall life by vertue of that ransome paid once for all mankinde But Christ so dyed for the elect that by the merit of his death in speciall manner destinated unto them according to the eternall good pleasure of God they might infallibly obtaine both faith and eternall life THE FOVRTH POSITION VPon this merit of Christ is founded that generall promise of the Gospell according to which al that beleeve in Christ may really attaine remission of sins and eternall life THat this promise is universall and founded onely upon the death of Christ it is evident out of the 10. of the Acts 43. To him give all the Prophets witnesse that they shall receive remission of
hath made his sons by adoption Gabriel Biel saith It is plaine that those whom God foresaw are not his adopted sonnes because they are not preordained by the will of God unto everlasting inheritance Apostacy is onely of those who never reached home to true justification and to the state of adoption But as for those who are the chosen sonnes of God and endued with true sanctitie their perseverance is certaine and undoubted as we shall shew afterwards Either therefore the Apostasie of the true sons of God ought to have beene proved by evident places of Scripture or else that offensive name and title of the Apostasie of the Saints should have beene forborne Of Perseverance As it concernes the Elect and of the certainty therof in it selfe THE FIRST POSITION BEsides that dogmaticall faith and some kinde of amendment in affections and manners there is in due time given to the Elect justifying faith regenerating grace and all other gifts by which they are translated from the state of wrath unto the state of adoption and salvation WHen God dealeth with his Elect hee stayeth not in certaine preparatives and initiall operations but alway finisheth his worke by induing them with a lively faith by justifying and adopting them and by changing them from the state of death to the state of life This the Apostle sheweth Rom. 8.30 Whom he hath predestinated those he also called and whom he called he hath also justified and whom he hath justified he hath also glorified And Colos. 1.12 I give thankes to the Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light and hath delivered us from the power of darknesse and hath translated us into the kingdome of his deare Sonne Out of which places it is plaine that God giveth to all the Elect a certaine continued connexion of spirituall benefits which never leaves them but plyeth them onward even unto the state of glory THE SECOND POSITION ALthough the Elect being set in this estate omit some thing in every good worke by reason of the remainder of concupiscence and commit daily smaller sinnes od surreption negligence and inconsideratenesse yet neither from thence is the state of justification shaken nor the benefit of their claime to the inheritance of the Kingdome of heaven thereby interrupted ACcording to the rigor of the Law every sinne yea the verie least is mortall and excludes the offender from the favour of God and kingdome of heaven But God never deales in that strict manner with his sonnes adopted and justified in Christ. There are indeed some sinnes for which God denounceth his anger and indignation upon these his sonnes yea and threatneth banishment from heaven and also eternall death of which we may reade 1 Cor. 6.10 Gal. 5.25 Coloss. 3.6 which wee will handle in the positions following There are againe some other sins for which our mercifull God is not wont no not for a time to deprive his children of the light of his countenance or to terrifie them with the feare of death or damnation of which kind are the rebelling motions of our concupiscence whereof the Apostle complaines Rom. 7. also the defects and staines which do cleave to the best workes of the regenerate Lastly those daily trippings and scapes of humane infirmity which are committed without any determinate purpose of committing them and which are forgiven by our daily craving of pardon of these St. Iames cap. 3. v. 2. In many things we offend all and St. Iohn 1.8 If we say that wee have no sinne we deceive our selves Notwithstanding these sinnes every faithfull man may rightly say There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus yea even in the midst of these infirmities God saith to every justified man as hee said to the Apostle My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakenesse And sure they cannot be said to fall by their infirmities from the state of justification through whose weaknes the power of God is made perfect and who all this while may boast that the power of Christ dwelleth in them as it is in the same place THE THIRD POSITION THese very same thus regenerated and justified doe sometimes through their owne default fall into hainous sinnes and thereby they doe incurre the fatherly anger of God they draw upon themselves a damnable guiltinesse and lose their present fitnesse to the kingdome of heaven IT is manifest by the examples of David and Peter that the regenerate can throw himselfe headlong into most grievous sinnes God sometimes permitting it that they may learne with all humility to acknowledge that not by their owne strength or deserts but by Gods mercy alone they were freed from eternall death and had life eternall bestowed upon them Whilest they cleave to such sinnes and sleepe securely therein Gods fatherly anger ariseth against them Psal. 89.31 If that they prophane my statutes and keep not my commandements then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes Rom. 2.9 Tribulation and anguish upon every soule of man that doth evill Besides they draw upon themselves damnable guilt so that as long as they continue without repentance in that state they neither ought nor can perswade themselves otherwise then that they are subject to eternall death If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye Rom. 8.13 For they are bound in the chaine of a capitall crime by the desert whereof according to Gods ordinance they are subject to death although they are not as yet given over to death nor about to be given if we cōsider the fatherly love of God but are first to bee taken out of this sinne that they may also bee rescued from the guilt of death Lastly in respect of their present condition they lose the fitnes which they had of entring into the Kingdome of Heaven because into that Kingdome there shall in no wise enter any thing that is defiled neither whatsoever worketh abomination For the Crowne of life is not set upon the head of any but those who have fought a good fight and have finished their course in faith and holinesse He is therefore unfit to obtaine this Crowne whosoever as yet cleaves to the workes of wickednesse THE FOVRTH POSITION THe unalterable ordinance of God doth require that the faithfull so straying out of the right way must first returne againe into the way by a renewed performance of faith and repentance before hee can bee brought to the end of the way that is to the Kingdome of Heaven BY the decree of Election the faithfull are so predestinated to the end that they are as along the Kings high way to be led to this appointed end through the meanes set down by God otherwaies not to attaine the same Nor are Gods decrees concerning the means manner and order of such events lesse fixed and sure then the decrees of the end and of the events themselves