of his Free Grace Isa 43. 25. Jer. 31. 3. Hos 14. 4. Rom. 5. 8 9. Eph. 1. 5 6. 1 John 4. 10. did enter into a Covenant of Grace with Adam and all Mankind in him in the promised Seed Gen. 3. 15. in which he took all Men to Grace and Favour for surely we were as much in Adam when he was restored as when he fell and as much Partakers of his Mercy from God as we were of his Sins And I suppose you will not say but God pardoned this Sin in Adam upon the account of Christ and if he pardon him who freely acted it in his own Person do you think he will send others to Hell for it God forbid Philet How then must Justice be satisfied Philad Have not I told you often that it was by Christ He poor was made that he our Debts might pay He base became to take our Shame away He entred Bond our Freedom to procure He Dangers try'd our Safeties to assure He scorned was our Honour to advance He seem'd a Fool to help our Ignorance He Sin was made our Errours to conceal He wounded was that he our Minds might heal He thirsted that our Thirst might have an end He wept that Joy our Sorrow might attend He lost his Blood that we our Blood might save He died that we Eternal Life might have Here is the Lamb of God that hath taken away the damning Guilt of Adam's Sin Philet But doth not the Apostle positively say Eph. 2. 3. that we are all by Nature the Children of Wrath by Nature that is by our Nativity or Birth Philad What did not Christ take away the original Guilt from none What the the Elect which were taken into the Love and Favour of God before the Foundation of the World yet Children of Wrath by Birth What did not Christ take it away from them Pray take heed you charge not the human Nature with a Sin where God hath not under pretence of doing him the greater Honour thereby tho in the main it layeth to the Lord's charge the chief Cause of all Evils Surely by Nature here cannot be meant our Descent from Adam by partaking of the human Nature For where do you find that the Wrath of God is entailed upon Adam's Posterity as they are Men but as they are vitious and sinful Eph. 5. 6. by reason of their actual Sins comes the Wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience You never find the Judgments of God threatned to any for Adam's Sin nor against the human Nature as if the very Essence and Being of a Man was the Object of God's Reprobation Now as our National Laws lay no Penalty upon a Child that is gotten in Adultery because it partakes of the Nature of a Man in this case the Child is by all acquitted as innocent not worthy of any Punishment it being a thing quite out of its Power to help and so quite out of the reach of Penal Laws which are inflicted upon those that are Criminals and so it is in Divine I will give you three Reasons why I cannot take this Scripture in your sense 1st Because we do not find that the word Nature in Scripture signifies Conception or natural Birth neither is it mentioned as a thing that is sinful in it self in being born 2dly If by Nature be meant our Descent from Adam and by Wrath be meant to be so under the Displeasure of God as to deserve Hell notwithstanding what Christ hath done for them then I cannot see but all dying Infants must perish eternally for they cannot be born again by Faith in Christ and yet they must have Salvation by him or not at all and how they should have it by him but as he was the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sin of the World I do not know for surely Christ hath brought a greater Advantage to human Nature than the Loss it sustained by Adam's Sin 3dly If Nature was so vile a thing as you would have it Christ would never have taken our Nature upon him for he was in all Points like unto us Sin only excepted Now if all that are conceived and born be by their Birth Children of Wrath then why was not Christ under it also for his Flesh was the same with ours Philet But he was conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost in a wonderful manner without the help of Man had he taken Flesh by a carnal Generation he had been polluted with Sin as well as others Philad What tho he was formed in the Womb of the Virgin so as to be without carnal Generation yet it was not without her Conception Luk. 1. 31. I hope I need not tell you how dangerous it is to believe that Christ passed through the Virgin as Water through a Spout without partaking of her Substance But surely he took Flesh not only in but of the Virgin and was as really David's Son and his Offspring as he was David's Root and David's Lord. So that I think it 's no more Sin in us in being conceived and born of our Mothers Substance than it was for Christ to be formed of his Mother's Substance And I suppose that what was Adam's personal Sin was not the Affection of an universal Nature nor can you prove there was the consent of human Nature to it but meerly of Adam Now where there is no consent or acting there could be no Transgression Transgression is the Breach of a Law of which Nature may not be guilty when Persons are Philet But Adam's Sin became ours because we were then all in his Loins and he was the common Root or Stock from which we all should come so that hereby we came to be included and involved in the Sin of Adam Philad Why then are we not guilty of all other Sins which Adam committed after as well as the first yea of all the Sins of our Progenitors since we were in their Loins as well as in Adam's So that yet this Scripture doth not prove what you bring it for it doth not prove that any deserves Hell and Damnation by Birth nor can it favour or support that horrible Doctrine of God's positive and absolute Rejection of Men for Adam's Sin but this Scripture is better understood of those that sin against the Law of Nature which the God of Nature according to his divine Will hath placed in them Rom. 1. 26. Rom. 2. 14. 1 Cor. 11. 14. which Light discovers Sin reproves yea judges and condemns for Sin If our Hearts condemn us c. and tho the Light set up in them the Law written in their Hearts did flash Wrath in their Faces their Consciences accusing them Rom. 2. 15. yet they abused the Light or Law of Nature living in Sin and Disobedience and so were by Nature the Children of Wrath c. and so are all that come to act Sin but no Persons by Birth are thus the Children of Wrath nor none out of the Covenant
6. and when they assayed to go into Bithynia the Spirit suffered them not ver 7. Philad For what reason God would not that the Gospel should at that time be preached by Paul and Timothy in Asia is hid from us he might have many either that he would make use of their Ministry somewhere else or that he had appointed some others to the Work whatsoever it was certainly the Reason is not to be brought from God's absolute Decree of Reprobation as Calvin upon this place doth for it is certain that the Gospel was at least soon after preached and that in this place by Paul himself so that Demetrius the Siver-smith did greatly lament the admirable progress of the Gospel in Asia Acts 19. 26. And in the 10th Verse you may see that Paul continued for the space of two years at Ephesus which was the Metropolis of Asia insomuch that it was said That all they that dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus both Jews and Greeks Mar. But all Men have not the Gospel preached to them nor the same Light and Means to know the Lord and so come to believe in him and surely if Christ died for all Men for the whole World he would have sent amongst them the Word of Life and removed out of the way all those things which he knew would have hindered their Salvation and therefore I cannot think but all those Nations which the Gospel is not sent to are left by the Lord in the Fall and reserved for Eternal Punishment Philad As it was in Paul's time so it is now the Jews prided themselves against the Gentiles as being the only Elect People and the Gentiles but Reprobates and Cast-aways and so do such as you are at this day by the Nations which have not the Gospel-light as I have often heard to my great grief even damn them by whole-sale looking upon them little better than Devils What tho the Lord according to his manifold Wisdom is pleased to vouchsafe a greater sufficiency of means to know the Lord and to know what God hath done for them and by the Gospel reveals those things which otherwise in an ordinary way could not be known to one Nation or one Age and Generation of Men more than another yet knowing and by daily experience finding God to be infinite in Goodness and Mercy I cannot but believe he hath effectually provided for their Salvation as well as ours tho the ordinary means is wanting as at this day in many parts of the World for tho Faith is not now begotten in them by preaching and hearing as with us at this day yet God hath many ways to instruct and communicate his Will to Man Job 33. yea to reveal Christ in such manner and ways as may be available for Jesus Christ who took Man's Nature upon him and who hath taken away their original Guilt and who enlightens every Man that comes into the World may by the Operation of his Spirit how and when he pleaseth so help them to improve their single Talent of Reason and the Light set up in their Consciences which may so perfect what is wanting of the ordinary means that many thousands according to our Saviour's words Mat. 8. 11. shall come from the East and the West and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven when the Children of the Visible Kingdom or Church who judged themselves the sole Inheritors of it and all the rest of the World but Castaways shall be shut out and if you look Psal 87. you may see that those that had their natural Birth in Rahab Tyre Ethiopia Philistia Babylon shall be accounted as born in the Spiritual Zion or Church of God And tho the Lord in his Wisdom and Mercy is pleased to vouchsafe a greater measure of Grace Light and Knowledg and of Salvation unto us than unto them yet hath not God left himself without Witness all the common Providences of God being given to direct Men to seek the Lord. In Rom. 2. 14 15. we read that the Gentiles which have not the Law do by Nature the things c. That Law which was given in two Tables of Stone was that which was purely moral and imprinted in their Hearts namely that God is to be worshipped that Parents should be honoured and in a word to do to all as they would be done to These were Duties written in he very Book of Nature and tho they have not the Evangelical Law in the preaching of the Gospel as we have become a Law to themselves and by observing the Dictates of that Light living up to a true informed Conscience and to that Law which warreth against the rebellious Lusts in their Members have gradually so prevailed with them as to bring them to a good measure of conformity to the Will of God and have quite outdone many Christians in their practices Mar. What tho yet if Christ as Mediator be not some-way made known to Men they are lost for ever He that believeth on the Son hath Life and he that believeth not on the Son hath not Life But you seem to hold that it is not absolutely necessary to Salvation to know Christ and him crucified as Mediator but to live up to that which God hath manifested to them and to have some Notions of Unisersal Grace and Mercy in the Divine Essence But I must tell you all that ever were saved before Christ came were saved not by living up to that Light which God had given to all Men or by living up to a true conformity to the Law planted in their Hearts or by believing God was merciful and gracious but by believing on Christ who was to come to be a Sacrifice for their Sins and all that are saved since our Saviour's coming do in some measure know and believe in Jesus Christ that died without the Gates of Jerusalem Philad Have you forgot that you told me that I went too far to assert the Salvation of all those that died in Infancy I not being the Sovereign Lord and Judg of all and now are you not guilty of the same thus to determine the final State of all Men both before and since Christ's coming in the Flesh as if none were saved but only such as distinctly knew Jesus Christ the Seed of the Woman that was to break the Serpent's Head as he that was to offer himself a Sacrifice for Sin seeing I believe neither you nor any other is able to prove that no Heathen wanting the Letter of the Gospel and the Oral Ministry of it which is the ordinary Means to beget Faith never yet believed on God to Justification or were accepted with him And whereas you say none can be saved who diligently frame their Lives according to the Light God hath given them or live in a true conformity to the Law written in their Hearts This is but your presumption for if God hath given them no other Law or Light
they never did in their own persons especially when satisfied for it by their Surety And as Dr. Taylor saith in his Apology for the Baptists speaking of Infants dying before baptized and under the supposed guilt of Adam's sin tells us That original sin either will not be laid to their charge so as to be sufficient to condemn them or if it could yet the Mercy and absolute Goodness of God will secure them if he takes them away before they can glorifie him by a free obedience As Infants without any consent of their own contracted the guilt of Adam's sin and are liable to all the punisament that can with Justice descend upon his Posterity who are personally innocent so Infants shall be restored without any Act of their own or any others for them by the second Adam by the Redemption of Jesus Christ by his Righteousness and Mercy Mod. I have a good Opinion of all dying Infants especially Children of Believing Parents Philad And is there not as good ground of hopes for all as some Doth not Mr. Baxter a Friend of yours tell us in his More Proofs pag. 8. That all Mankind was brought by Christ under a Covenant of Grace which is not vain nor repealed by God but as the abuse of the Grace of the Covenant may cast them out for as a Covenant of intire Nature was made with all Mankind in innocent Adam so a Covenant of Grace was made with all Mankind in lapsed Adam Gen. 3. 15. in the Promised Seed and renewed again with all Mankind in Noah And this is no more than what the Scripture agrees with Ezek. 18. where the Lord expresly tells them That he that sinneth shall die that the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father and God's dealing thus in Mercy with fallen Mankind is so agreeable to the pure Nature of the Deity that it is to be wondred that any should be so wicked as to believe that he hath fore-determin'd the Reprobation of any for anothers faults and when they themselves were uncapable of doing good or evil in their own persons Philet What will you go about to deny Original sin Shall none go to Hell For that David saith Ps 51. That he was born in iniquity and in sin did his Mother conceive him Philad Deny Original sin no but I do believe that all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God and that by reason of Adam's sin Death reigneth over all of which none is free being all concluded in unbelief and corrupted in the original Adam when he was first created was said to be made in the Image of God which Image did not only stand in having Dominion over the Creatures as some of the Ancients have expounded it neither as if the Soul was of the substance of God but the Image of God in which Adam was created was in Knowledg Righteousness and Holiness Col. 3. 10. Eph. 4. 14. indued with all Perfection which was requisite for a Creature and sufficiently furnished with necessary Wisdom Mercy Justice Patience Bounty Love Humility and such like that so they might in some measure hold forth the Divine Perfection and Majesty of God and know how to use aright their Dominion and Sovereignty over all the inferior Creatures and also might understand the Will of God towards themselves that so they might render that Obedience which was due unto God as their supreme Lord and Law-giver whereby they might have been forever happy and blessed But now Man being tempted to sin soon yielded to the temptation lost the Perfection of his Nature his Holiness and pure Innocence which was the condition of his Blessedness in dissolving of which he lost his Happiness and was driven out from the presence of the Lord being now fallen from a most glorious condition in Creation unto the miserable state of Corruption in which State of Corruption it is said Gen. 5. 3. That Adam begot a Child in his own lineness it doth not say that he begat a Son in the Image of God in which he was created but in the Image of himself that is in the same condition of himself at that time of Generation Had Adam begotten Children before he fell he had begotten a Righteous Seed after the Image of his Perfection because the Image of God in him was unpolluted but begetting Children after the Depravation of his Nature the Stream could not rise purer than the Fountain none could bring a clean thing out of an unclean one And though all with respect of what was derived unto them from Adam are wholly lost and in the strictness of Justice worthy of eternal Death yet the guilt of it as to eternal Death is taken away by the abounding Grace of God vouchsafed to the World by Jesus Christ which extends it self to all that were lost in Adam Philet You seem to hold that Adam's sin became ours and we all involved in the Fall because we were all in his Loins as he was the Root and common Stock from which we all by the appointment of the Lord should come yet you will not hold that any deserves Hell and Damnation for that sin Philad You cannot prove that that Death which was threatened to Adam if he disobeyed the Lord was Damnation to Hell-fire neither if the Promise of Christ had not been made whether Adam had lived to beget Children or not or whether he had not immediately gone to the dust from whence he was taken 'T is no better than sinful curiosity to be too confident in such unrevealed matters 't is the safest way to be sober and to go no farther than the Scriptures guide us and where the Holy Ghost hath not a Pen to write let us not have a Tongue to speak God hath revealed enough to make us wise to Salvation Yet this I say that whatsoever State Adam was in there was all Mankind with him there was a time if Eternity may be called so when all Men considered as in God were nothing but God himself according to that Maxim Whatsoever is in God is God All Men had a being in God before they had a being in Adam Luk. 3. 38. where Adam is called the Son of God 2dly There was a time when Adam and so all Men in him was righteous and holy as during his State of pure Innocency In which State all Men must needs partake of the same Holiness and Integrity with him Eccl. 7. 3. Rom. 5. 12. 1 Cor. 15. 22. 3dly There was a time when Adam with Eve his Wife being beguiled by Satan free from all inward or outward Necessity sinned against God by which Transgression they became liable to Eternal Death and so his Judgment Will and Affection came to be corrupted in which State all Mankind stood and so Original Sin is come upon all and Death by Sin yea upon those that have not sinned after the Similitude of Adam's Transgression 4thly There was a time when God who is rich in Mercy
of Grace made with Adam till they come to abuse the Grace of the Covenant For God hates none till they first hate him leaves none till they first forsake him makes none Partakers of Everlasting Burning till they kindle his Wrath by their actual Sins for he doth not so delight in the Blood of Souls as by his pure and naked Will to decree Man to Eternal Death before they enjoy any Life or commit the least Sin Infants are accounted Innocent and our Saviour tells us 't is not the Will of his Father that any of those little ones perish Philet This is a strange assertion to say That all Infants come into World in a state of Innocency and that if they die in Infancy they die in a state of Innocency Alas there is a universal depravedness in the Soul of an Infant which if it live to express it will discover it self A young Cub of a Fox or Wolf doth not presently discover its ravenous nature but it is inherent in it bred with it and Men kill those young Cubs though they never did any mischief because it is their natures to be ravenous and mischievous So an Infant hath the Seed of all Sin a corrupt Nature though it doth not act as it doth when Age comes on and I say God may for the guilt of Adam's sin and because there is such Rebellion and Wickness in Man's nature against him glorifie his Justice upon them though they should die in their Infancy they are far from dying in Innocency Philad It seems by what you hold because Man may slaughter Beasts of Prey without any cruelty or injustice therefore God may as well nay more appoint as many of poor Infants to the Torments of Hell if he pleaseth and yet be just and good notwithstanding May we not as well reason thus God without any injustice appointed brute Creatures to be slain for Man's use therefore he may ordain Men to be cast into Hell Torments for ever Though God permitteth nay appointeth Man to slaughter Beasts that they might be Meat for his use and so giveth him power to kill them yet it would be look'd upon barbarous injustice and cruelty to prolong the Life of a Beast to vex and torture it to shew what Power and Sovereignty he hath over it So I do not doubt but God may when he pleases take away the Life of an Infant or Man yea resolve them to nothing without any cruelty or injustice Yet he cannot without both these decree to keep them alive in Hell there to torment them without end to shew his Sovereignty without just cause in the Creature Some poor Infants never so much as saw the Light of this World or receiv'd the least Good and yet must be punished with Devils to Eternity O wretched Doctrine Philet I do not think God would have destroy'd the Old World and called them the World of ungodly and destroy'd Sodom and Gomorrah and made them suffer the vengeance of eternal Fire amongst whom no doubt were many Infants if all Infants were innocent I will not meddle to determine the eternal State of those that die in Infancy to be sure you go too far to assert what you do you are not the Sovereign and Judg of all Philad All Infants through the Grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ are discharged from the condemning Power of Original sin and they having no actual sins 't is not the infirmity of their Nature shall damn any neither can it I hope enter into the heart of a Christian to believe that God should create any Infants on purpose to damn them and though it be true that Original sin is come upon Infants and Death by sin yet this is as true that Original Sin was not committed against the Covenant of Grace and seeing that you cannot prove any Infant hath sinned against the Covenant of Grace they cannot come into Condemnation of Hell Torments for our Gracious God will condemn none but those that first destroy themselves by sinful courses though 't is true they many times suffer the first Death for the sins of others as those you mention Mar. All Infants are under a Sentence of eternal Damnation only such Infants that are elected and have the Principles of Grace infused in them shall be sav'd Philad What then is become of that Gracious Speech of the Almighty God Ps 145. His tender mercy is over all his works sure damned Infants have no share in hs Mercy no not so much as a Toad by a thousand degrees And thus by your Doctrine you not only most dreadfully preach Millions of poor harmless Souls to Hell but also represent the Father of Mercy and God of Goodness more like a Tyrant that destroys his Subjects for will and pleasure though they never provok'd him by breaking the least Law in their own Persons only to shew his Power over them Would not such dealing be look'd upon amongst Men meer Cruelty when acted by bare Prerogative and Power not being attended with Equity Justice and Mercy Would this be Cruelty in Man and shall we think that the Infinite God who is Goodness and Truth it self will harbour it or that he will proceed with Man according to his Absolute Power and Sovereignty without being accompany'd with Justice and tender Mercy Or do we think the Lord will fall below man and suffer himself to be out-done in Justice Mercy and Goodness by any of his Creatures Surely no so though the Nature of man is too sadly depraved by the sin of our first Parents yet it must needs be a contradiction to the Divine Goodness Mercy and Justice of God to say that any suffer for their Fathers sins Mar. You talk of God's Justice as if God could not punish one for the fault of another and yet be Just you do not know what you talk of I 'll give you an instance to the contrary 't is that of Saul utterly destroying of the Amalekites 1 Sam. 15. 2 3. he was to slay both man and woman Infants and Sucklings and the reason was because Amalek laid wait for Israel when he came up from Egypt ver 1. Exod. 17. 8. But now what had this People done that was so many Generations remov'd from Israel coming out of Egypt Or what had the poor Infants and Sucklings done Or how can it stand with Justice that the Fathers committed the fault and the Children are punished for it Philad This was only to a Temporal Death I hope you will not say that it was the Decree of God after Saul had destroy'd those Infants and Sucklings Bodies that he would send their Souls to Hell for their Fathers faults sure it was not the sin of Infants that caused the Lord to plead in such wrath with them no more than the Cattle which was to be destroy'd as well as they Was God offended with the Beasts of the Field But come I believe it was no unjust thing in God to take away by
he ever will his Will is regulated and is acted forth agreeable to his Wisdom Righteousness and Justice and according to his Divine Nature and as God hath made Man a rational Creature so he very seldom forceth Man to repentance against his will yet is the Lord pleased so to will the Salvation of all yea with such an effectual Will that he doth that which is of a proper tendency and sufficient thereunto that unless they wickedly and wilfully oppose the Means they should be saved yea so far as is any ways meet for him to act or assist towards their Salvation Isa 5. 4. What could I have done more that is tho God could have done more than he did yet it was not consistent to that method and stated order of things but more of this hereafter Mar. No Text of Scripture must be understood as to make God Impotent instead of Omnipotent or in the least reflect upon the Soveraignty Immutability and Omnipotency of God as if he could be disappointed in bringing to pass what he hath purposed and intends to do Philad Nor no Scripture must be so interpreted as to disparage or undervalue the Love and Bounty of God to all Men the general tenour of them representing in the highest degree the Goodness of God and as God is perfect in Power perfect in Wisdom so also perfect in Goodness yea Perfection it self any Defect is inconsistent with a perfect Being and above all a Defect in Goodness which gives a Value to the other Attributes of God If therefore some things in Providence or some Passages appear in Scripture that we cannot exactly reconcile but that they seemingly oppose this Point we ought to impute that to our deficiency in understanding and to try if they may not reasonably bear another sense or reserve them to be understood hereafter than to adhere to them in contradiction to the general Tenour of Scripture and the Light of Nature and Reason seeing nothing can be alledged which with that same clearness oppugns the perfection of Goodness in God as others may which assert it And seeing the Nature of Goodness consists in the taking a pleasure in the Happiness of others and in promoting it We must conclude from hence that God hates no Man but loves and desires the Happiness of all Men and that for his Will-sake he reprobates none either from Eternity or in Time to think otherwise greatly opposes God in all his Attributes it opposes his Mercy God is in Scripture declared to be a merciful God Exod. 34. 6. 1 John 4. 16. God is Love yea called the Father of Mercy and God of all Consolation yea rich in Mercy Ephes 2. 4. abundant in Mercy Pray see Psal 33. 5. He loveth Righteousness and Judgment the World is full of the Goodness of the Lord And Mica 7. 18. He retains not his Anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy And Psal 145. 9. the tender Mercies of God are over all his Works But how God could delight in Mercy and how his tender Mercies are over all his Works I do not understand What doth God delight in Mercy when he hath made such a Decree which sheweth more Severity towards poor Man than Mercy Are his tender Mercies over all his Works when for one only Sin and that once committed and that not in their own Persons he hath shut the greatest part of Mankind up under invincible Sin and Damnation not affording them a Mediator which was the greatest and most choice Act and Manifestation of God's Mercy that he could bless the World withal Now all the Attributes of God must take place upon Man And I beseech you tell me where the tender Mercy of God takes place upon those for whom Christ did not die for you will own there is Mercy in God as well as Justice do you not Philet Yea I do and God by his Decree doth fully manifest both Mercy and Justice his Justice to the Reprobate and his Mercy to the Elect. Philat Well but do you think that one Attribute of God destroys another Doth Justice in God wholly devour and eat up his Mercy leaving no room to take place upon some Persons Philet God who is the Supreme Lord of all may do what he will with his own when Man had sinned he was at perfect liberty whether he would shew Mercy to any or not and if he had made no provision at all for any of fallen Man it could not be termed an Act of Unmercifulness Philad I did not ask you what an Almighty God can or might do but I ask you how or wherein the Goodness and Love of God is manifested to those for whom Christ did not die Or how God who is the Perfection of all Goodness Mercy and Bowels of Pity can be said to bear any Love Good-will or Affection unto those before any personal or actual Sins by them committed upon whose ruin he was so bent that he hath wholly left them without all possibility of escaping Eternal Misery and Torment How can Mercy stand with such a Decree Doth not the Apostle Paul Tit. 3. 4. speak of the appearance of the Love of God our Saviour toward all Men But can there be any appearance of Love and Kindness to those for whom Christ did not die and whom God was resolved from Eternity to exclude from all parts and fellowship in Eternal Life Was not there as much Mercy Kindness and Good-will shewed to the very Devils as to such Men Nay Mr. Keach tells us That if Christ did not die for all God deals more severely with many of Adam's Off-spring than he dealt with the Devils because they were excluded from all terms of Reconciliation for their own actual Disobedience but Mankind only for the Sins of Adam made theirs by Imputation and as they partake of the same Nature Neither is their Condemnation aggravated by Christ's coming as those Persons are for whom Christ did not die Youth 's Celestial Guide Much to the same purpose you may see God's Love to Mankind pag. 136 137 138. That altho the Devils are set forth in Scripture for the greatest Spectacles of God's ireful Severity yet is God more merciful to them than to such Men and though they are both sure to be damned yet in three things Man is in a far worse condition by such a Decree 1. In their appointment to Hell not for their own personal Sins for which only the Devils are damned but for the Sin of another that lived and sinned long before they were born 2. In their unavoidable destination to endless Misery under a colour of the contrary the Devils as they are decreed to Damnation so they know it and look for no other But Men that are appointed to Wrath are yet fed up with hopes of Salvation and made to believe that if they perish 't is not because God would not have Mercy upon them but because they will not be saved when indeed there is no such
and Nations but Heaven and Earth and all shall fall rather than God will not observe Rectitude and Justice in giving to every one his due yea so just is God that he would not spare his best beloved Son yea and God is glorified by Justice as well as by Mercy and should there be any jarring and disagreeing in the Divine Being all would run into confusion yea Heaven and Earth would be a Chaos but certainly there is nothing more lovely than when Justice and Mercy do imbrace and kiss each other God hath promised in Judgment to remember Mercy and that he doth not willingly afflict and grieve the Children of Men the Divine Goodness is such that he always pities where he must punish Lam. 3. 33. and is very unwilling to strike but from mere necessity he seldom or never makes any Patterns of his Wrath but such as are despisers of his Mercy and forgetters of his Favours yea and after a long time of forbearance Isa 65. 2. So tho God hath a respect to Justice as well as Mercy and one is as much beloved as the other yet in the expressions of his Love to the Sons of Men 't is said to be above all his Works But where hath Mercy any place upon those that are made the butts of God's Displeasure yea view but the Scriptures wherein the Mercy and Goodness of God are legible to all and you will find that his love to sinful Man is truly inconsistent with the Nature of those absolute Decrees you speak of see Hos 11. 8. How shall I give thee up O Ephraim c. Here the Lord speaks as if to punish a sinful and disobedient People went to his very heart yea he is so unwilling to inflict Punishment that his very Bowels are moved as is intimated by turning within him Consider the case of Sodom when upon Abraham's earnest expostulation with the Almighty the Divine Bounty rose so high that had there been in those Five great Cities but Ten righteous the effectual Prayers of a righteous Man carry such a kind of Omnipotency a long with them that they tie as 't were God's hands from Judgments and open them to Mercy Let me alone said God to Moses nay it may be conjectured that not only Ten but Five or less might have prevailed for the saving those Citys Consider the Case of Nineveh Jona 1. likewise Mat. 23. 37. O Jerusalem c. Certainly this Scripture doth highly speak forth God and Christ's great Love to Mankind Sorrow mixt with Love and Pity and you shall find few or none commenting upon this text but say Christ shewed abundance of Love to these poor Jerusalemites Mr. Keach in his Scripture Tropes having shewed the compassion of Christ to Sinners under the similitude of a Hen saith that Jesus Christ was moved with the greatest compassion imaginable to wards the poor Jews and Jerusalemites whom he was first sent to and came to-seek and save this is signified by that wonderful passion that seized upon his Spirit c. And having shewed with what a mournful Voice the Hen calls her Chickens to her when there is danger saith so Christ calls to poor helpless and impenitent Sinners very often with a mournful Voice and tears in his eyes Luke 19. 42. And from thence doth infer it to be no better than presumption for any to dare to charge their eternal ruin upon God And a little after Who will pity Sinners if they perish at last and be damned when all is from their own vile stubborness And in his Youth's Guide he says That God's commiserating the sad estate of perishing Sinners argues there was once Mercy extended to them which could not be if Christ died not for all And in God's Love to mankind page 132. St. Austin saith Our Lord did compare himself to a Hen rather than to any other creature because of her singular expression of Love to them when out of sight Mar. But here 's a distinction which you either do not understand or have not considered as touching our Lord Jesus for he hath a Will distinct from his Will as God Now as Jesus Christ was Man he wept and as he was Man he willed Jerusalem Salvation but as he was God he wills it not for it was his determinate Will that Jerusalem should be destroyed as an effect of their Sins therefore tho Christ did weep for Jerusalem nay had he prayed for them God's unchangeable Will must take place Tho Moses and Samuel stood before me c. Jer. 15. 1. Philad I grant tho as I said before that faithful Prayer greatly prevails with God yet in some cases the most importunate Prayer of the most upright will not become effectual where Inquity is grown up to that height of malignity and desperate sinfulness that should not God punish it he would deny himself and cease to be God as he saith in Ezek 14. 14. that tho these three Men Noah Daniel and Job stand before me and would intercede their intercession for others will become fruitless where Justice calls for a cutting off but your distinction about a twofold Will in Christ I look upon to be but barely notional and nothing but to gratify Peoples pregnant fancies to say no worse and I doubt such sancies may prove of dangerous consequence for by this Christ in the Flesh had one End in his weeping and endeavouring to gather Jerusalem and in his Spirit another Christ as he was Man would have saved Jerusalem but as he was God he wills their destruction Christ as he was Man was filled with bowels of pity to their Souls and Bodys and would have gathered them under the Wings of his Grace and would have blessed them by turning them every one from their Iniquities Acts 3. ult but as he was God he had no more love for them than for Wolves and Tygers Christ as he was Man wept for the Bodys of those that should be destroyed by the Romans but as he was God he had decreed the Romans should destroy their Bodys and the Devil should have their Souls to Hell Christ in the Flesh is good and gracious seeking the Salvation of all but as God he hath consigned millions of Men Women and Children to perpetual Torments for Adam's single transgression What is Christ divided is not Christ in the Flesh and in the Spirit the same yesterday to day and for ever Was not the Word made Flesh and was it not united to the Divine Nature and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure and did not he satisfy and bear our Sins as he was Man in our Nature did not he die as Man and rise in our Nature and hath he not carried our Nature into Heaven And from this full Christ in Flesh and Spirit God-man we receive Grace for Grace Leave off such things and draw not People into a Labyrinth of Errors by such trifling Distinctions lest you draw some to account the Blood of the Covenant wherewith they
and asserted for a Truth by Men of singular Learning piercing Judgments Gifts Piety Zeal for the Truth and greatest Pillars and Lights of the Christian Church next after the Apostles it being never scarce brought into question till near St. Austin's time which was about 400 years after Christ If you look into Mr. Goodwin he sheweth at large the Testimony of those called Fathers for General Redemption Those Fathers before St. Austin's time are Ireneus Justin Martyr Clemens of Alexandria Cyprian Tertullian Epiphanius Gregory Nazianzen Gregory Nyssen Basil the Great Arnobius Eusebius Cyril of Jerusalem Hilary Athanasius Jerom Ambrose Chrysostom these he cites and proves by words at length out of their Works that they held General Redemption Surely the Primitive Christians for between three and four hundred Years after the Apostles may fully ballance both for Number and Holiness all those in the Reformed Churches since Calvin's Days Philet I spake of our Days and Time which we live in Philad Well compare those Lands and Provinces where some hold to the one and the other and what are those Lands that own the Genevah Principles or the Doctrine taught by Mr. Calvin then those called Lutherans nay compare the People in the Vnited Provinces those that stuck to the Synod of Dort with those called Remonstrants or Arminians and how will you make it out that those Predestinarians that maintain unconditional Election and Reprobation are men of a more pious heavenly frame of Spirit making it more truly visible in the integrity of their Lives and Actions than the other called Arminians what Spirit the Calvinists are of has been seen these forty Years past not only in other places but in England also Philet I meddled not with any Foreign Lands Philad Well if you look home upon England I challenge you to shew me any particular Church or Person this day of your Opinion that is a Phenix whom none of the Universalists may compare with in Grace and Divine Life as far as the Eyes of Man are able to pierce the latter live as godly religiously and soberly in this present World and act as zealously for God and are as fruitful in good Works as any you can produce of your Judgment but I find 't is easy for any that fancy themselves the only Saints upon Earth to despise others In Gen. 38. 24. Judah when he heard that Thamar was brought in for an Adulteress presently sentenced her to the fire but when the Pledges of his own Folly were brought forth then he cried out she is more righteous than I. Consider the proud Pharisee tho he was ready to cry to the Publican Stand off I am more holy than thou yet the other was more justified You only bring Accusation without Proof I shall only say in the words of Seneca If it be sufficient to be accused who can be innocent for our Lord Jesus even Innocency it self was accused Remember he that is wise in his own conceit is but a fool and till you shew me in some Particular wherein you exceed all others in Divine Virtue I shall look upon your Speech to be nothing but the impulse of a giddy Zeal and desire you to be more considerate lest you thereby come to condemn the Innocent and justify the Wicked which are both abominable to the Lord Pro. 17. 15. so that neither the good nor the bad the godly nor the ungodly deportment of Persons professing such or such particular Principles is any proof of the goodness or badness of the Principles unless their Principle doth naturally tend to either nay should the foundness or rottenness of Opinions be esteemed by the goodness or badness of the Lives of many professing them the Opinion then of Atheism may be as sound as any other Christians seeing that many Heathens have acquited themselves upon far better terms of honour and approbation in their Lives than many Christians But come what if I should yield to what you say that many that hold this Opinion of yours are godly Men and walk in a pious and religious course of Life beyond all others yet we may say 't is no thanks to their Opinion that they are so your Opinion naturally tends to beget sloth disengageth from the strictest Rules of Piety Uprightness and Integrity of Life and countenances Men in carnal liberty seeing those that are elected can never fall out of his Love and Favour but he loves them as well while great Sinners as the most faithful humble mortified Christians May not this incourage any Man to take liberty to commit the most enormous crimes go on in sin and cry peace and safety and seeing the greatest part of Mankind are shut up in a state of unbelief without a Christ to believe in or power to believe but are left to die and perish may not such conclude their labour in Religion will be unprofitable and so will rather sit still than labour at all Moderat Come neighbour Martha and Philetus I would have you yield to this that Christ died for all for the Scripture fully testifieth that he died for all and every Man and we may safely conclude that the Lamb of God offered up himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World for tho Man by his Apostacy fell from God and by reason of Sin our whole Nature came to be at the utmost moral distance from the Lord which was and is the depth of all Misery yet did not God wholly leave Man in this state tho fallen into Misery but was he capable of recovery which was done by Christ's taking our Nature upon him and laying down his Life for all for he took upon him the Nature of Man not of Angels he pitied not the Angels that fell because their Nature was not to be received by Christ but he taking upon him the common Nature of Mankind made it saveable brought it nearer to Salvation than the lapsed Angels and what Christ hath done in the Flesh he must needs have done for all and the direct and immediate Fruit thereof belongs to all for he took upon him our Flesh not the Flesh of the Elect but of Mankind c. so that the Work of Redemption being by his Blood wrought for us thro his Flesh in which all Mankind have union it must needs be therefore universal Philet Surely Christ took upon him the Nature of Men because the Elect Seed was found in that Nature not in the Nature of Angels the Apostle saith Heb. 2. 14 15. that because the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood therefore he took part of the same and herein there is a Union the Children have a Union with the Flesh of Christ above all others in the World Ephes 5. 30 31. And the reason Christ took part of Flesh and Blood was for the Elect and none shall nor can have any saving benefit by it but only such for to what purpose was it for Christ to be at the expence of his
of Sins because most Offenders do not take out nor plead their Pardon as they ought to do And pag. 15. That the Lamb of God offering up himself clothed with humane Nature a Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World intended by giving satisfaction sufficiently to God's Justice c. to prepare a Sovereign Medicine for the Sins of the whole World which should be denied to none that were minded to take the Benefit thereof howsoever he intended not by applying this Alsufficient Sacrifice to every one in particular to make it effectual unto the Salvation of all or to procure thereby at the hands of his Father actual Pardon for the Sins of the whole World he applys this only effectually to them who make claim to the Satisfaction by promise suing for the Spirit and Faith upon other Promises in Prayer waiting for a gracious answer till they have it c. So in respect of his Merit he may be accounted a kind of universal Cause of restoring our Nature as Adam was of the depraving of it Much of the same nature and almost word for word is that of Bishop Vsher quoted by Mr. Grantham in his Dialogue pag. 22. And saith Hockin on God's Decree pag. 45 46. We need not refer the deplorable misery of the Sons of Adam to the Divine Will as Mr. Calvin is pleased to do Instit lib. 18. cap. 1. but the horrid perversness of our own Wills for the highest Act of Divine Intention is to save Men if they do not by the wickedness of their own perverse Will frustrate the same by refusing the gracious Offers of Salvation by Christ and not observing the real Conditions upon which the Proposals of Mercy are made for the Lord doth solemnly prove that he is not willing that any should perish 2 Pet. 3. 9. Therefore we cannot lay the blame upon God in any thing but wholly upon Man who doth voluntarily bring Death and Misery upon himself Nay Calvin himself upon John 3. 16. saith That Faith in Christ is of a saving Nature to all and that Christ brought Life because his Heavenly Father would not have Mankind to perish which he loved c. For tho there will be nothing in the World found worthy of the Favour of God yet he sheweth himself favourable unto the whole World in that he calls all Men without exception to believe in Christ Here you may see that in the Eyes of these God may intend the Salvation of all Men by Jesus Christ and yet all Men may not be saved without any prejudice in the least either to the Grace and Goodness of God or to his power of working in this behalf Mar. But Philadelphus pray consider with respect to Christ's dying for all that when our Saviour died as a Mediator it was near 2000 Years from the Creation and there were multitudes then in the Prison of Hell from whence there is no redemption and do you think that Christ died upon the Cross and bore such unutterable Dolours for them to redeem them that were there There was need indeed that Christ should die for those Saints that were in Heaven before he died because they were saved upon the account of his having undertaken as a Surety for them to make Satisfaction to the Justice of God for their Sins but surely it will sound very harshly in the Ears of all Christians that Christ should sweat drops of Blood and bear the Curse of the Law for them who were then in Hell when he died 1 Pet. 3. 18 19 20. Philad The 1 Pet. 3. 18 19 20. is of doubtful interpretation and by your own grant the doubtful ought to be expounded and tried by the Light and Testimony of such as are more clear and evident Now in this Text the Apostle sheweth the great patience of God toward that wicked Generation and that he strove with them by his Spirit and gave unto them a Preacher of Righteousness and a hundred years space to repent in and doubtless the patience of God towards them was for this end to allure and draw them to Repentance But it seems you would not have any believe that Christ died for any of those that before his coming in the Flesh had withstood the Day of Grace and sinned beyond the reach of Mercy But there was need for him to die for those that were in Heaven before he died because they were saved upon the account of his dying for them Now I might shew you from your own sense of Election being from Eternity without any consideration of Faith in Christ how you abrogate the Grace of God in Christ and make his Death to be in vain seeing that God loved them every whit as well and intended to do as much for them before Christ died for them or before their ingrafting into Christ by Faith yea before the Blood of the Covenant was sprinkled upon them as after and therefore there was no reason that Christ should shed his Blood to procure those things for the Elect which were truly and properly theirs before in and by God's purpose in electing of them yea and that without any consideration of Christ's dying for them or their believing in him Philet Nay hold we do not say that God intends actually to confer Remission of Sins or Eternal Life upon the Elect otherwise than through the Satisfaction made by Christ for them in his Death and tho God might intend and purpose Salvation to the Elect without the consideration of the Death of Christ yet in the execution of this his purpose the Death of Christ is all in all and you ought to distinguish between God's Decrees and the execution of them Philad If it was consistent with the Wisdom and Justice of God to decree forgiveness of Sins and Salvation unto Men without consideration of the Death of Christ or their believing in him he may as well confer these things upon them without any such consideration and then to what purpose should Christ die But Philetus were those that were in Heaven before Christ's coming saved without Faith in him that was to come Philet No all that were saved before Christ's coming were saved by believing and imbracing him that was to come and to be a Sacrifice for their Sins in the belief of which they offered Sacrifices and through which they looked at Jesus who was to come Philad Then it is sufficient to tell you that the want of that Faith in the Christ to come and obedience to his Will was the cause of their destruction Besides consider Christ was the Lamb slain virtually in the Decree or Purpose of God from the Foundation of the World and it was on the account of Christ's taking humane Nature upon him that Man was preserved in the World from returning to the Dust from whence he was taken for all Men live and move and have a being here by virtue of the Lord Jesus the Seed of the Woman and Believers did before Christ's coming in
hath not the least power of his Will but is merely passive in all why then should the Lord so passionately complain of Mens obstinacy and why did Christ wonder at the unbelief of many Mark 6. 6. Here was not the least cause for Christ to marvel at the unbelief of any when it never was in their power to believe unless Christ should wonder that Man should act and do more than he had power to do or more than all the Creatures in Heaven or Earth could enable him to do Nay if Men be wholly as passive as Stones and can neither repent nor believe by means of those Abilities vouchsafed to them by the Lord then can no reward nor punishment be justly awarded to any Man for believing or not believing for if Faith and Repentance be wrought in Man only by the Omnipotent and Irresistible Power of God without Man then cannot that Obedience be a free Obedience and in vain is it required of Man when it is to be wrought by such a Force as cannot be resisted neither can any Man be rewarded as one truly and really obedient And in this case we may safely affirm that the Lord rewards himself and not the Man who is truly passive doing nothing or if any thing 't is purely effected by the Force of another for what things are produced in us by God's irresistible Omnipotency without us cannot of right come under the name of Obedience and therefore cannot justly be rewarded or judged worthy of any commendation Remonstrants Confession pag. 148. Also Eternal Punishment is unjustly and cruelly inflicted on him that doth not repent and believe when he had no power to do either but the want of it was through the alone defect of irresistible Grace and should the Lord punish Men for not repenting and believing he should punish them for not attempting to make themselves equal in Power with himself and then pray to what purpose are all the inviting Promises of Life and Glory and all the Dangers that Souls expose themselves to expressed in the Scripture and pressed so much by your Preachers if we through Grace have not power to obtain the one or escape the other Very well saith S. Jerom as quoted by Dr. Goodman in his Parable of the Prodigal Son p. 100. God bound not Man under the rigid Bonds of Necessity whereby he should be forcibly over-ruled and determined to one thing but put him 〈◊〉 a capacity of making his own choice to the end that being thereby distinguished from Beasts and more like his Maker he might be capable of Virtue and Reward and that as nothing should make him miserable without his own act and consent so he might have the comfort and delight of co-operating freely towards his own Good and Felicity Philet If God works Conversion not in an insuperable or irresistible way then he works it in a dependent way putting Man's Will in an Aequilibrium or even Ballance That this is not God's way appears because he works Conversion in such a way as is most depressive of the Creature and exaltive of himself But now by what you say Grace only sets the Will in an Aequilibrium and that 's all and Free-will must do the business this is a robbing God of his Glory and ascribing to our selves more than belongs to us Philad It 's rather an honouring of him by laying all the blame of our Misdoings upon our selves and acknowledging his free Grace in giving us not only time but abilities and means to know the Lord and to cleave to him and to work with God when he is pleased to be moving upon our Hearts Wills and Consciences by his Divine Grace that so we might be curbed and restrained from being carried headlong into destruction by the sway of our unruly Lusts Yea that which I affirm is as depressive of the Creature and as exaltive of God's Glory as what you hold nay more as I shall make appear by and by Where have I said that we are able to do any thing that 's good to repent believe or obey the Lord and serve him acceptably by our own natural strength without the effectual assistance of Divine Grace I say this is not possible now for Man in his lapsed state tho it be generally held that Man had at the first a perfect liberty to stand or fall in an equal possibility of sinning or not sinning If this were so then his condition was in Aequilibrio and it was in the Creatures choice to turn the Scales but long he did not stand in this equal State for being tempted to aspire above his place at the very first onset at the first temptation he lost his Innocency and fell into a depraved State and so his Will became infirm relation to its acting for Virtue and Goodness But now God having pity on fallen Man in his infinite Goodness and Wisdom found out a way to restore him to a more noble and excellent State than Adam injoyed which was by the promised Seed and what perfection the Will had in the state of perfect Nature is restored by the Spirit of Grace So that a good and real Christian may be said to injoy as free a Will by Grace since the Fall as Adam had by Nature before the Fall John 8. 36. If the Son make you free you shall be free indeed Philet 'T is Christ's work to act Faith and God is said to give Faith and Repentance which are called his Gift Philad I acknowledg that we are all of us from first to last indebted to Divine Grace for all we do all good and pious Actions are begun carried on and perfected by the Lord 't is God that gives Power and Ability 't is he that enables People to repent and believe yea makes Persons willing actually to repent yea and supports them in the act of repenting and believing and so the whole of all Good in us is of free Love and not of Nature The Lord is both the Author and Finisher of our Faith If I be better â—…n any Man it is God that makes me â—…er and therefore he that will glory let him glory in the Lord saying with the Psalmist Psal 115. 1. Not unto us not unto us but unto thy Name be the praise and therefore we stand bound to make that humble acknowledgment as Paul did 1 Cor. 15. 10. that by the Grace of God I am what I am c. What good we do 't is not by our own natural Abilities or the power of natural Reason but by the powerful influence of Divine Grace James 1. 17. John 15. 5. 1 Pet. 5. 10. And we may all say as Holy David did 1 Chron. 29. 11 to 17. So that you may see that I am none of those that hold that we are converted by the power of our own Free-will Neither have we any saving Faith of our selves Mat. 11. 17. 13. 11. 16. 17. 7. 7. John 3. 5. But it is as I said