comes to be saved since he knows certainly that all men will resist for whatsoever is born of the flesh is flesh Joh. 3.4 and it is the property of the flesh to lust against the Spirit Gal. 5.17 3 If God seriously wills and intends mans salvation mans resistance cannot hinder for he can easily remove it Who hath resisted his will saith the Apostle Rom. 9.19 Our God is in Heaven and doth whatsoever he will Psal 115.3 Whatever pleased the Lord in Heaven or Earth that did he Psal 135.6 What is the reason that when all men resist he removeth this resistance in some and of unwilling wills causeth them to have willing wills Is it not because he intends their Salvation And why doth he not the like to others is it not because he never intended to save them He can do this in one as well as another and that without offering any violence to the liberty of their wills if he intended the Salvation of all alike No man can be said seriously to desire that thing the hindrances of effecting whereof he will not remove when it is in his power to do it This conditional Decree cannot consist with the simplicity of Gods Nature Argument 4 for he being actus simplicissimus perfectissimus being one and the same most simple and perfect act decrees all things simul semel uno actu simplicissimo together and at once with one most simple act There is no priority or posteriority in Gods Decrees bu onely prioritas rationis as D. Twisse well expresseth it quando ratio unius petitur è ratione alterius a priority of reason when the reason of one thing is drawn from the reason of another as the reason of the means is drawn from the reason of the end God decrees end and means and all together but because in order of Nature the end goes before the means and we can apprehend it no other way therefore that order is usually attributed unto God in his Decrees that first he decrees the end and then the means though he decrees both with one and the self same act at the same instant Now this Hypothetical Doctrine which makes Gods Decrees to be conditional makes also a mixture and multiplicity of Decrees As first that he wills the Salvation of all men then that believers onely shall be saved then that this particular person shall be saved if he believe or damned if he will not then upon the foresight who will and who will not the certain salvation of these and damnation of the other Now the Scripture carries on these things in a far clearer and more direct way teaching that God by one and the self same act of an absolute Decree doth determine the Salvation of his Elect and to give them Faith Repentance and all other Graces that are needfull to bring them to it This conditional Decree cannot agree with the perfection of Gods Nature Argument 5 1. It supposeth a general Decree of saving all believers 2. Because this will never takes effect if it stayes here and be carried on no further it makes God in the next place to proceed to a conditional Decree of saving this or that person upon condition if he will believe and then to an absolute Decree of these particular persons upon foresight of their believing and persevering Now here is plainly progressus ab imperfectioribus ad perfectiora a progress from the less perfect to the more perfect after the manner of men which can in no sort agree to the perfect wisdom of God who knows and determines all things simul semel 3. This makes this will of God touching the Salvation of all rather to be a Velleietas then volitio a wishing rather then a willing which is proper onely to weak men who is not able to accomplish his own desires but cannot agree to the All-powerfull God who is in the Heaven and doth whatsoever he will Wishing always argues weakness and imperfection when a man truely desires any thing he would effect it if he were able therefore it must argue great impotency in God seriously to desire the Salvation of men and not to be able to effect it yea to effect it by just means If he seriously desires the Salvation of those who are never saved it follows necessarily that his will is not omnipotent and irresistable This doctrine of a conditional decree cannot agree with the certainty of Gods Decrees Argument 6 How can that be certain which hath no certain ground or foundation They make the Decrees of God to be grounded upon his foreknowledge and his foreknowledge to be grounded not upon any thing which himself determined to do but upon the mutable motion of mans will and the uncertain expectation of what he will do who hath power to frustrate the most powerfull influence that God shall put forth in the conversion of a sinner although he shall work as powerfully as he did in the conversion of Paul as Mr. J. G. teacheth 2. This conditional decree hath no certain object therefore it cannot be certain It hath not certain salvation nor certain damnation for it is equally and indifferently disposed to either of these It cannot have both these for the certain object for they being contrary cannot consist together This conditional Decree agrees not with the Apostles Doctrine Argument 7 Rom. 9.11 12 13. For 1. He tells us that Jacob was loved and Esau was hated and that before they were born or had done good or evil but this conditional Decree takes away all difference betwixt love and hatred before men are born before they have done good or evil for it makes love to depend upon their doing of good and hatred to depend upon their doing of evil and that not in regard of the effects onely of love or hatred but in regard of Gods Purpose and Decree It takes away all difference betwixt Election and Reprobation For according to this Doctrine Esau shall be loved and elected upon condition he will believe and Jacob shall be hated and rejected if he refuseth to do this 2. The Apostle saith of these that they were loved and hated before they were born but by this Doctrine no man is loved or hated till he be ready to die till he hath persevered in Faith or Unbelief till the very act of his Dissolution Object The Love which the Apostle here speaks of is understood of temporal Priviledges and Hatred of the contrary Answ Not of temporal Priviledges onely For 1 The earthly Canaan was a Type of the Heavenly Canaan as Jerusalem was a Type of the Celestial Jerusalem as not onely Calvin Beza Zanchy and others affirm but also Bellarmine himself acknowledgeth and Jacob was a Type of the elected Israel as Esau was a Type of the rejected part called therefore profane Esau who passed away all his right and hope of Heaven for something wherewith to fill his belly for the present 2. The Love and Hatred here mentioned by
the Apostle are the same with Election and Rejection for the Apostle makes this the ground why one was loved and the other hated before they had done either good or evil namely That the purpose of God according to Election according to which Jacob was elected might remain and that it might appear that this was not of works but by him that calleth Rom. 9.11 And this holds as well in the hatred of Esau as in the love of Jacob he was hated before he was born that the purpose of God according to rejection might remain Contra Donat lib. 1. cap. 16. To this purpose Austin makes Esau together with Cain and Judas to belong to the Malignant Church Object Though Jacob and Esau had not actually dont good or evil yet they had done it in Gods foresight according to which God might love the one and hate the other Answ This still crosseth the Apostles Scope which is to shew that the first ground of putting a difference betwixt these two in loving the one and hating the other was not in themselves but in God not of works saith he but of him that calleth that the purpose of God according to Election and so also his purpose according to Rejection might remain firm For if this difference should arise from foreseen works yet it should be of works which the Apostle here wholly rejecteth not of works saith he Many who renounce foreseen works as the ground of Election yet make Original sin the ground of Reprobation but the Apostle here excludes both alike namely all foreseen works from the hating of Esau as from the loving of Jacob before they had done either good or evil saith he speaking of both of them alike Learned D. Whitaker brings this as an Argument to prove that Original sin is not the cause of Reprobation Causa illius odii quo Deus Esavum prosequutus est nondum natum Cygna cantio pag. 7. non fuit peccatum originale quia tum aequaliter odisset Jacobum quare si quaeras cur Esau non invenerit nec acceperit misericordiam oportet causam aliquam assignari quae non conveniat Jacobo The cause saith he of that hatred wherewith God hated Esau before he was born was not Original sin for then he should have alike hated Jacob wherefore if you ask why Esau neither found nor received mercy some cause must be assigned which agrees not to Jacob. Now if some other cause must be assigned for the same cause brings forth the same effect what can this be but the good will and pleasure of God who hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardens 2. This conditional Decree crosseth the Apostles Doctrine because it makes the difference betwixt vessels of honor and dishonor to arise from the disposition of the matter whereas the Apostle makes it to arise from the will of the Potter Hath not saith he the Potter power to make of the same lump one vessel to honor and another to dishonor Rom. 9.21 Unbelievers and believers are not the same lump but these are a better qualified and more refined lump then the other but the Apostle makes both sorts of vessels to be made of the very same lump 3. There had been no ground at all of quarrelling at the Will of God or saying Who hath resisted his Will if his Will had not been the cause of difference betwixt one and another And the Apostle might easily have answered Yea for vindicating the Justice of God he was bound to have done it that God did earnestly will and desire their salvation but they resisted his will Yet he goes not this way to work but answers them by checking their malepert and audacious insolence that dare enter into contest with their Creator What art thou c. 4. This Doctrine is easie and obvious to every mans apprehension that hath any use of his rational faculty namely That it is just with God to decree that mans damnation who willingly rejects Christ and salvation when they are offered unto him and God seriously desires that he might be saved and therefore the Apostle needed not to have cryed out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God his judgements are unsearchable and his ways past finding out Rom. 11.33 this being the great abyss and hidden depth of the Apostles Doctrine namely How God should hate any man before he was born or had done either good or evil To this purpose Austin saith truly Eos evacuare verba Apostoli Ad Bonâ—ifa l. 2 c. 7. qui judicium divinae discretionis ad opera reducunt aut praevisa aut praeterita That they make the Apostle speak to no purpose who reduce the judgement or cause of Divine difference of one from another unto Works whether foreseen or already done Argument 8 This conditional Decree cannot stand with the absolute liberty and independency of the Will of God For whereas he saith I will do this because I will Rom. 9.15 this makes him to will because the creature wills and confines the liberty and freedom of his Will to the motions of mans will so that he cannot absolutely and positively determin and will mans salvation till man hath first willed it himself by being willing to believe and to persevere in doing so Pet. Mart. loc commun loc de praed sect 24. According to this opinion as Peter Martyr saith well Deus non operaretur juxta suam voluntatem sed juxta alienam God should not act or work according to his own will but according to the will of others Yea this imposeth a necessity upon the will of God which is the fountain of all freedom for it makes his will and decree to be grounded upon his foreknowledge and his foreknowledge to be grounded upon mans actions and motions So that if he foresees man to persevere in believing he must of necessity determine his salvation and that not because it is his good will and pleasure to save him and in order thereto to work faith in him but because he foresees him to persevere in believing and if he foresees him to do otherwise he must of necessity decree his destruction and can do no otherwise He cannot have mercy on whom he will have mercy and harden whom he will till mans will hath made way for him The Assertors therefore of this Doctrine while they are sollicitous about maintaining the Liberty of Mans Will and tender of the least touch that may tend to the contrary they minde not that they bereave God of the Liberty of his Will and do as it were cast fetters upon it so that he can move no otherwise in point of mans salvation then man shall give him leave This conditional decree cannot stand with the infinite and most perfect Wisdom of God Argument 9 For 1. It makes him to fetch the Idea the model and plot according to which he will frame his greatest works and those
world hates the redeemed world There may therefore be a redeemed world as well as a perishing world a believing world as well as an unbelieving Object But World is here distributed into believers and unbelievers and if it signifies the elect and the elect believers onely have everlasting life what shall become of the other Answ The words do not enforce any distribution for our Savior speaks indefinitely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every believer every elect one when he comes to be a believer 2. If a distribution be granted there is no such absurdity in it as J. G. would make it For are there not two sorts of elect in the world some uncalled others called Those that are uncalled do yet remain in the state of unbelief those who are called have faith wrought in them whereby they are fitted for everlasting life those who are uncalled our Savior calls by the name of the world because they are like the rest of the world as yet remaining in the state of unbelief yet then are they the objects of Gods love and sheep of Christ John 10.16 the other he calls believers in the first he shews what condition men are in when God is pleased first to manifest his love to them in the other he shews what condition they shall be in when they come to partake of everlasting life they shall be believers they shall be called and so have effectual faith wrought in them Thus we see how this Scripture may be vindicated from Arminian quirks and cavils There are many to whom Christ will profess at the last day that he never knew them Mat. 7.23 Argument 2 If he never knew them he never died for them for this knowledge cannot be understood of a knowledge of apprehension because so he knew all men in the world but of a knowledge of approbation and affection a knowledge of love and liking such a knowledge as the Psalmist speaks of when he saith The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous Psal 1.6 Now if he never loved them he never died for them For Christs love is the ground of giving himself for any he hath loved his Church and given himself for it Ephes 5.25 Yea the laying down of his life is the act of the greatest love John 15.13 Yea thoughs they had prophecyed and cast out devils and done many other good works yet he tells them that he never owned them for his If Christ died to purchase salvation for all Argument 3 upon condition that they would believe then he came to purchase salvation for many who were already damned when he died to purchase salvation for them But is there any possibility for those who are actually damned to believe and be saved and is it not ridiculous to say that Christ died to purchase heaven for them who were already in hell upon condition that they would believe Object Why might not Christ purchase salvation for those who were actually damned upon condition they would have believed as well as purchase salvation for some who were actually saved Answ The case is altogether unlike for the salvation of those who were actually saved was decreed of God and that from all eternity for he decreed that all his elect should be saved and that his Son by his death should purchase salvation for them and that his death and suffering should be effectual to that end even for those of them who should die before Christ himself actually dyed he being in Gods decree the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world whereas it was quite contrary with those who were damned for according to their own doctrine these were absolutely decreed to be damned before they were actually damned and this decree was grounded upon the foresight of their final infidelity and impenitency So that it was very congruous that Christ should die to purchase salvation for all those whom God had decreed should be saved whether they died before or after Christs coming but altogether absurd that he should do this for those who were actually damned and this by an absolute decree for the conditional decree as they teach is always expired before execution of the abfolute decree If Christ died to purchase faith Argument 4 and all other things needful for the salvation of those for whom he died then he did not die to purchase salvation for them upon condition that they would believe and do other things to 〈◊〉 themselves for it for as he absolutely determined to give himself to death so also he absolutely determined to purchase salvation it self and all things belonging to it for those for whom he died That Christ hath purchased both faith and all other things needful for salvation is clear from Scripture The Apostle saith that God the Father hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in and through Christ Ephes 1.3 That for Christ it is given to us to believe Phil. 1.29 and it is said that he was raised up to give not onely remission of sin but repentance to his people Acts 5.31 and that the Father who hath not spared to give his Son to death together with him will give all things also Rom. 8.32 That Christ by his Divine power hath given us all things which belong to life and godliness 2 Pet. 1.3 Object Though Christ hath purchased Faith and other graces for us yet he hath not done this absolutely but upon condition we will do that which we ought to do in receiving what he shall give Answ There can be no condition devised or thought upon on which Christ hath purchased or God will give faith to those that want it but it will be the same cum re conditionata with the thing conditioned for the same in effect with believing when they say that God will give a man faith upon condition that he will not resist his call to believe that he will not disdain to do what he commands that he will bend his minde and will to believe What are all these in effect but to believe For where there is a yielding to his call a right regard of his command a bending of the minde and will to do what he would have us there are some degrees of faith there is some measure of believing So that it is as much a◠if they should say God will give them faith upon condition that they have it already or if men do believe God will give them the grace whereby they may believe And is not this ridiculous 2. How can it stand with the wisdom of Christ to purchase faith or salvation for men upon condition that they will do that vvhich he knovvs is as impossible for them to do as it is for a Blackmore to change his skin or a Leopard his spots All these are vital actions and therefore not possible to be performed by one that lies dead in sins and trespasses all these are degrees of coming to Christ and himself saith that no man not onely doth but can
purpose within himself whereby he hath determined that such or such things shall be That such a Decree as this cannot agree with the excellent Nature of God if we consider him in regard either of his Eternity Immutability Omnipotency Simplicity or other Perfections belonging to his Nature may thus appear 1. Argument 1 That which is absolutely Eternal hath nothing going before it for it is absolutè primum But all Gods Decrees being acts within himself and therefore not really differing from himself are absolutely Eternal Therefore they can have no condition or consideration of any thing without himself going before them As his Decree of Election was before the foundation of the world was laid Eph. 1.4 so also it is with all other of his Decrees 2. All Conditions are consequents of Gods Decree therefore they cannot go before it they are means fitted for the end now media sunt propter finem therefore the end must be first intended by the same act of Gods Decree whereby he intends Salvation to men he intends to bring them to it by Faith Repentance and other fit means therefore Salvation is first intended 3. Faith and Sanctification which are the principal conditions of our Salvation are the effects of Election He hath chosen us to Salvation through the sanctification of Spirit and belief of the Truth 2 Thes 2.13 We are chosen to be holy and without blame Eph. 1.4 Now these conditions being effects of the Decree cannot go before it for the effect cannot go before the Cause because it receives its being from it and as the effect in nature always follows after the cause so also it doth in Gods consideration for his consideration is according to the nature of the thing else it were not a right consideration To this purpose Learned Dr. Whitaker saith well Cygnae 1 cantio p 5. Cum gratia sit propter praedestinationem praedestinatio non potest esse propter gratiam If we receive Grace because we are predestinate we cannot be predestinate for fore-seen grace If God should choose men upon the fore-sight of Faith or any other grace where should he fore-see this he could not fore-see it in man before man had any being in the world or the world it self had any being therefore he must fore-see it in himself and his own will therefore he must first will mans Salvation and in order to that will to give him faith and other graces that fit him for it Besides true Love always flows from true Faith and by this true Faith and Love we chuse God to be our God therefore if he should choose us upon the fore-sight of our Faith he should choose us and love us because we had chosen and loved him which contradicts the Apostle who tells us that we love him because he loved us first 1 John 4.19 4. That which is absolutely Eternal hath neither beginning nor end but the doctrine of the conditional decree fastens an end and a beginning to Gods Decrees For that which they make the peremptory or absolute decree begins not till the conditional decree be at an end and so soon as that takes place this is expired As for instance God decrees mans Salvation upon condition they will believe and repent now when they have persevered in doing so then this conditional decree ceaseth to be conditional and becomes absolute and the absolute Decree touching mans Salvation begins not till he hath fulfilled the condition so that by this means Election must needs be in time and not before all time All Gods Decrees are immutable and unchangeable Argument 2 they being acts within himself are of the same nature with himself in whom there is no shadow of change Jan. 1.17 Hence it is said that the Foundation of God which is his Decree remaineth sure 2 Tim. 2.19 His Decrees are far more firm then the Laws of the Medes and Persians which could not be altered His Counsels stand for ever and the thoughts of his heart throughout all ages Psal 33.11 His Decrees are those mountains of brass the Prophet speaks of Zech. 6.1 which can never be removed but the doctrine of the conditional will and decree makes these to be mutable and changeable For 1. By this Doctrine his conditional decree upon fulfilling the condition becomes absolute and these cannot be both the same for they have differing objects by the one the Salvation and Damnation of all are equally intended upon condition of believing or not believing whereas his absolute Decree is peremptorily pitcht upon one of these onely with exclusion of the other 2. Every man in the world is under some Decree or other so long as he continues an unbeliever he is under the Decree of Damnation when he comes to be a beleiver then he comes under the Decree of Salvation when he falls from his Faith as by this Doctrine he may do then he falls again under the Decree of Damnation when he recovers again he comes under the other Decree and so Gods Decrees will be made as variable and changeable as are the mutable motions of mans will then which nothing is more unconstant and uncertain 3. When God seriously wills and intends a mans Salvation upon condition that he will believe when he by persisting in unbelief to his dying day comes to be actually damned then either the will of God touching his Salvation is changed into a will of Damnation or else an unbeleever is damned against Gods will If the former then Gods will is changeable if the latter then after a man is actually damned God doth still continue seriously to will and desire his Salvation though he never attain his will and desire Now how can this agree with his most perfect felicity and with the infinite perfection of his nature to be always crost in that which he seriously wills and desires Besides Is not just Damnation an act of Gods Justice and can any act of his Justice be against his Will The will of God is an omnipotent will Argument 3 whatsoever he wills with the will of his purpose that he works For who hath resisted his will Object But he wills their Salvation upon condition they do not resist Answ 1. How can it stand with the wisdom of God seriously to will and desire a mans Salvation in case he doth not resist and he knows certainly at the same time that he will resist yea can do no other if his will be not changed and he is resolved never to change it Or how can it stand with his perfection to subject his will to the perverse will of the creature and to make his most serious intentions and purposes to be subordinate to the various motions and mutations of mans will so that when he wills and intends one thing these should make him will and desire the quite contrary 2. If mans resistance hinders Gods willing of their Salvation how comes it to pass that he wills the salvation of any man or that any man
till after he hath sinned his Decrees should not be eternal but temporary and so it is in effect according to this Doctrine which teacheth That there is no absolute nor peremptory Decree passed upon men but upon foresight of what they will do And as for the Conditional Decree it is as good as none because as hath been shewed it is equally disposed to mens damnation as well as their salvation Though sin doth not go before Gods Decree Argument 3 yet neither is his Decree without the consideration of sin because he decrees all things simul semel uno actu simplicissimo as hath been shewed there is no prius posterius in him or in his Decrees but because we are not able with one simple act to apprehend the several things which God hath decreed touching mans everlasting estate therefore Divines usually place an order in his Decrees wherein one thing goes before another though not in him yet in our consideration yet this is such an order as agrees with the order of nature wherein the cause always goes before the effect and the end before the means and upon this ground the foresight of sin cannot go before Gods Decree because when he decrees to permit sin without which there can be no foresight of it the end of this permission must needs be the manifestation of his glory in the merciful Salvation of some and just Condemnation of others therefore this must be first decreed according to the order of nature though for time all be done at one instant Besides when God decreed to create man the end which he propounded to himself in this work was his own glory and that not onely in general but in that particular way in that particular state and condition of man whence in the end he receives his glory but at last he receives greatest glory in the Salvation of some and Damnation of others therefore this was the end which he intended when he intended mans creation for to say that he intended no certain end in this great work or was frustrate of his intentions is altogether unbeseeming the excellent nature of God But Mr. P. thus undertakes to prove that reprobation follows the foresight of sin Object Cap. 4. page 5. We grant saith he that Damnation follows the foresight of sin but Damnation alway follows Reprobation ergo Reprobation follows the foresight of sin He much triumphs in this Objection telling us we put a bitter jeer upon the greatest part of mankinde to say they are rejected without respect of sin and yet not damned without respect of sin this following the other Answ Here we may tell Mr. P. that he puts his pitiful Sophistry upon his Readers this Argument being a meer Fallacy for here the conclusion is general whereas in the third figure as this Argument is it alway ought to be particular the deceitfulness of it will appear in the like instance Suppose a man intends to build a house fit for his habitation by this kinde of Logick we may thus argue The building of the house follows after the providing Wood Stone and other materials But the building of the house follows after his intention to build it Therefore his intention to build his house follows after the providing of Wood and Stone and other fit materials This is Mr. P. his acumen Object But Mr. P. objects Cap. 3. Page 66. That it is impossible as implying a contradiction that God should decree to reprobate any without intuition of sin and yet at the same time to decree not to damn without respect of sin Answ 1. It is very possible that Reprobation should be without foresight of sin and yet Damnation not to be so because these differ both in nature and time reprobation being an immanent act terminated in himself damnation being a transient act terminated in man reprobation being from all eternity damnation being in time the one is the Decree the other the Execution To decree to damn is to decree to do a thing in time We may as well say that a man is saved as soon as he is elected as damned so soon as he is reprobated 2. It is very improper to say that God doth decree to reprobate as if he should decree to decree whereas reprobation it self is the decree but it is usual with Mr. P. to confound the Decree with the Execution and so to jumble these together as thereby a mist is cast upon the eyes of the Reader that he shall not discern the truth Object 4. A fourth Objection against the Absolute Decree is That it cannot stand with Gods Philanthropy with his love to mankinde for Mr. P. tells us That he hates nothing which he hath made and the Scripture tells us That he is gracious merciful abundant in goodness and truth that his mercy is over all his works and therefore designs none to be destroyed Answ 1. Mr. P. tells us indeed that God hates nothing that he hath made but the Scripture tells us no such thing but rather the quite contrary for it saith That the Lord loved Jacob and hated Esau and that before they were born Object To this Mr. P. replies That this hatred is to be understood onely in regard of temporal blessings of the inheritance of the land of Canaan Answ This evasion hath been sufficiently confuted before in confirmation of the seventh Argument against the Conditional Decree where was shewed 1. that the hatred here spoken of stands directly in opposition to the love wherewith Jacob was loved but that was the love of Election Rom. 9.11 compared with verse 13. 2. The earthly Canaan was a type of the heavenly why else had Esau the black Character of Profaneness stampt on him for passing away his right to it by so slightly selling his birth-right Heb. 1.16 3. In regard of outward blessings Esau was no whit inferior to Jacob but rather above him for he had the fatness of the earth the pleasant mount Seir for his possession whereas Jacob was a stranger in the land of Canaan Psal 105.12 having no possession there but onely the burying-place which Abraham had bought Gen. 25.15 therefore it is said That God gave Abraham no inheritance in the land no not so much as whereon to set his foot Acts 7.5 4. Esau had abundance of all things and therefore refused his brothers presents telling him he had enough Also he was a man of great place for he came to meet his brother attended with four hundred men so that Jacob bowed down to the ground before him and called him his lord Gen. 32.18 and 33.3 so that he was no whit inferior to his brother in regard of outward blessings Answ 2. Secondly for those Scriptures which hold forth God to be so merciful gracious good to all c. It is granted that there is a common bounty and goodness which God extendeth to all mankinde making the Sun to shine and rain to fall upon the just and unjust Matth.
in those that are saved but in those that are lost 2 Cor. 2.21 Mr. P. boldly asserts That there is an intention in God to save all men without exception if by the wickedness of their wills they did not frustrate his intention But doth not this exceedingly derogate from Gods omnipotency and infinite wisdom Cap. 3. Pag. 81. From his Omnipotency in that he seriously desires that which he is not able to effect from his Wisdom in that he seriously intends that which he knows shall never be effected AN EXAMINATION AND CONFUTATION Of the Doctrine of Conditional and Vniversal Redemption NOt onely the old Arminians but some who seem to disclaim their Doctrine yet hold That Christ hath died for all mankinde and by his death hath made satisfaction for all and purchased pardon and salvation for every particular man and woman in the vvorld upon condition they vvill believe That this Doctrine is not agreeable to Scripture may thus be proved IT hath been already proved Argument 1 That there is no Conditional Election of all Novv if there be no Conditional Election of all there is no Conditional Redemption of all for both these are commensurate and of equal extent one vvith another having one and the same adequate object Christ hath redeemed none but those vvhom the Father hath Elected Redemption being the proper effect and fruit of Election and the effect cannot exceed the vertue of the cause If therefore the Father hath not elected all upon any condition neither hath the Son redeemed all upon any condition vvhatever That Redemption is the effect of Election may thus be proved 1. Our Savior saith That the Father had given him power over all flesh to give eternal life to those whom he had given him Joh. 17.2 this giving must be understood either of giving by election or effectual calling but it cannot be understood of calling because that follows election as a fruit of it Those whom he predestinated those he hth called Rom. 8.30 And our Savior saith afterwards that he had declared his Name to those whom the Father had given him verse 6. and hereby called them As this must be understood as of the elect so of them onely otherwise our Savior would have said Thou hast given me power over all flesh to give eternal life to all flesh but he saith not so but to give eternal life to those whom thou hast given me 2. It is said that we are elected in Christ Ephes 1.4 In Christ not the cause of our Election but of our Redemption this being in effect the same with that 2 Thes 3.9 We are appointed to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ So that not onely our salvation but Christ also the Author of it are made subordinate to our election and as our salvation so also the giving of Christ and all those benefits which he hath purchased are made the effects of our election and therefore can reach no further nor be extended to no more persons then to the objects of Gods electing love 3. It is said that by Christ we have Redemption through his blood according to his rich grace Ephes 1.7 which rich grace is the same which before he called the good pleasure of his will He hath predestinated us to be adopted through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will verse 5. Election therefore is the first fountain whence all the benefits belonging to our salvation do flow and both Adoption Redemption and all the rest are included in that 4. Our Savior saith That God so loved the world that he gave his Son John 3. Here Gods love is made the cause of his giving his Son and that this must be understood of his electing love appears 1. Because it is more then a common love it is a special peculiar love for it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he so loved and this particle denotes a peculiar special love as when it is said if God hath so loved us 1 John 4.11 if he hath so loved us more then others we ought to love one another And when he tells the Israelites that he had given them his Statutes and Ordinances and had not dealt so with any Nation Psal 147. last here is something held forth peculiar to them above other Nations 2. It is such a love as tends to eternal life therefore electing love 3. Such a love as caused Christ to lay down his life and this is the greatest love John 15.13 therefore elelecting love Object But the world is here made the object of this love therefore it cannot be understood of electing love Answ This place is indeed usually made to be one of the strong holds for the Arminian Doctrine but being rightly examined it shall I hope appear to be otherwise 1. If the world be taken in a general sense we shall make every particular man and woman living in the world to be objects of Gods special love which crosseth that which the Apostle saith of Esau that he was an object of hatred and denies that there are any vessels of wrath in Gods everlasting purpose 2. There is no necessity at all why this word should be taken in a general sense including all the men and women in the world For 1. The world most properly signifies the whole work of Creation the frame of heaven and earth as when it is said that God made the world 2. All mankinde living in the world so it is said God will judge the world yea thus it includes not onely men but spirits 3. It signifies not onely the whole but a part of mankinde and because the worst part is the greatest part it is frequently taken for the worst part thus Christ tells his Disciples that the world would hate them because he had chosen them out of the world John 15.19 And if the worst part be often called the world why may not the better part be sometime so called We usually call that a heap of Wheat wherein there is more chaff then Wheat Doth not our Savior speak of a world to which he gives life John 6.33 Doth not the Apostle speak of a reconciled world Rom. 11.15 of a world that shall not have their sins imputed to them 2 Cor. 5.19 If Satan be called the Prince of this world may there not be a world whereof Christ is Prince Why may there not be a world of godly as well as a world of ungodly 2 Pet. 2.5 as there is a whole world that lies in the state of wickedness 1 John 5.19 Why may not there be a whole world that is brought into the state of righteousness Why may not the better part though the lesser be called the world as well as they are called all flesh Joel 2.28 Luke 3.6 All nations Psal 72.11 All the earth Tract 87. in Johan Zech. 14.9 Mundus Ecclesia est totus mundus perditionis odit mundum redemptionis saith Aâ—stin The world is the Church and the whole perishing
the Apostle here is not to shew for how many Christ died but what is the duty of those for whom he died namely to live to him because they were in the state of death when he died for them 2. We willingly grant that Christ died for all if this word all be taken in the same sense the Apostle takes it as he takes it in the former verse namely those whom Christs love constrained to duty The love of Christ saith he constraineth us and therefore we thus judge that if Christ died for all of us then all of us were in the state of death as well as others and he died for us that we which live should no longer live to our selves but to him But it follows not hence that Christ died for all men for all men are not so affected with the sense of Christs love as thereby to be constrained and carried on with a holy violence as it were to the performance of duty 3. The Apostle here speaks of such for whom Christ not onely died but also rose again now it is no where said in Scripture that Christ rose again for all besides if he died and rose again for all then all shall certainly be justified It is God that justifieth who shall condemn it is Christ that died or rather that is risen again Romans 8.33 34. Object 4. It is further objected That all men in the world receive benefit by Christ therefore he died for all Answ 1. It doth not follow that Christ died for wicked men who perish in the end because they receive many benefits by his death for all creatures in the world are some way or other the better for Christs death We may well think that the whole Creation had long since been turned into a Chaos and confusion if Christ by his death had not made an atonement for some of mankinde The Apostle saith that the whole Creation grones under the burthen of mans sin and that there is an earnest expectation in the creature waiting when it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption to the glorious liberty of the sons of God Rom. 8.21 22. This glorious liberty of the sons of God is a benefit which Christ hath purchased and this all the creatures shall fare the better for which makes them to have such an earnest expectation after it yet none can hence infer that Christ died for all the creatures 2. The devils themselves have some benefit by Christs death for if he had never come into the world it is likely that they had been confined to the great deep and not been suffered to range up and down in the world as now they do And when he was in the world he was pleased at their entreaty to suffer them to enter into the herd of swine and not to send them into the great deep which was some benefit to them yet who will say that Christ died for devils 3. It was the act of greatest love for Christ to lay down his life Greater love then this hath no man to lay down his life John 15.13 and can we think that Christ will shew as great love to those that are damned as to those that are saved to the reprobate as to the elect to strangers and such as he never knew yea to his enemies and such as will not suffer him to reign over them as to his friends and faithful subjects yea to his fellow brethren and the members of his own body for there can be no greater love then the greatest and the greatest is the laying down his life which he hath done for all alike according to this Doctrine 4. What ever comes from Love works for good but all things in the end work together for hurt unto wicked men that have no part in Christ Their table shall be a snare and that which should have been for their prosperity shall be a trap Psal 69.22 Their riches are reserved for their hurt Eccles 5.9 The goodness of God hardens their hearts and so fits them for wrath Rom. 2.4 5. 5. For whom Christ hath purchased a right to the things they enjoy he hath also purchased a Grace that fits them for the right use of them for in and through him all things are given to us that pertain to Life and Godliness 2 Pet. 1.3 Object 5. But we may say to any man even the worst that lives if thou wilt believe thou shalt be saved which we could not say truly if Christ did not die for all Answ 1. The scope of such conditional promises and propositions is to shew the inseparable joyning together of the means and the end of Faith and Salvation of Repentance and Pardon of Sin and the truth of them lies not in the truth of the parts but in the necessary and strong connexion and joyning of them together As when I say if a man be a lion then he hath four feet if he be a bird then he can flie in the air here though the parts be false yet the propositions are true because of the necessity of the consequence so when I say to any man believe and thou shalt be saved here this proposition is true though the man never believes nor never be saved for let this Hypothetical be turned into a Categorical and it is no more but this Every Believer shall be saved which is true though Christ never died for all and though all men never be saved for it shews onely the absolute and necessary connexion betwixt Faith and Salvation as that all Believers and they onely shall be saved and not that all men shall be Believers or that all men shall be saved or that Christ died for all and it doth no more imply that there is a will in God of saving all then when on the other side it is said that he who believeth not shall be damned it doth imply that there is a will in him of damning all 2. The weakness of this way of arguing may appear from instances of other like propositions in Scripture when the yong man came to our Savior Christ and asked him what he should do that he might have eternal life he answers him If thou wilt have life keep the commandments Matthew 19.15 did not Christ here speak truly yet it was not true that either he could keep the commands or ever should have life by keeping them Did not the Apostle speak truly when he said If there be no resurrection then Christ is not risen and if there be hope onely in this life then we are of all men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.18 19. yet in both these propositions the parts are false for both Christ is risen and there shall certainly be a resurrection and the Saints have better hopes then in this life neither are they of all men the most miserable So this proposition If a man believe he shall be saved is true though God hath never determined his salvation nor Christ died to purchase it for