Apostle saith that the Elect that believe are dead to the Law the Law can no more command a Man than a dead Husband can command his Wife Philad 'T is true Believers are dead to the Law with respect to the Curse and Rigor of it but yet this Death to the Law brings Believers to a New Subjection you are dead to the Law that you might be married to another that you should bring forth Fruit to God so that you may see the blessing of the Marriage-Union between Christ and faithful Souls is fruitful before God in living in Subjection to his blessed Maker and Redeemer Mar. But doth not the Apostle bid Believers stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free and be not intangled in the Yoke of Bondage which is the Law Philad This word Liberty not rightly understood may be a Snare to destroy precious Souls we are bid to stand fast in the Liberty in which Christ hath made us free but not in the Liberty in which Satan the Lust of Men the Spirit of Error Carnal Interest c. make us free Christian Liberty is a freedom from Sin not in Sin Rom. 6. 18. it is a free serving of God to do his Will not the will of the Flesh we are called to Liberty but we are not to use it as occasion of the Flesh Gal. 5. 13. Gospel Grace brings glorious freedom 't is true from the Curse of the Law the guilt of Sin and wrath of God and from the burden of legal Ceremonies Sacrifices Circumcision with other heavy Yoaks yet is this Liberty to be confined to Scripture Rules Believers freedom should be like the Heavenly Liberty Angels are free but 't is to Duty not Rebellion and here will come in the surest Mark and the best Evidence of our Election 1 Joh. 3. 7 10. Little Children let no Man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous c. in this is manifest the children of God and the children of the Devil 1 Joh. 1. 6. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we do but lye 2 Pet. 2. 19. Mod. I believe that in many things Philadelphus is in the right Duties are means which God hath appointed for us to walk to Heaven in and those that belong to him he will give them Faith and Repentance and will by his Grace overpower their Hearts that they shall obey him in all his Holy Precepts I also believe that the New Covenant includes Conditions something to be done by us that believe for though the Love of God the Suffering of Christ was wholly free yet the Saving Fruits and Benefits by the Suffering of Christ doth not actually become ours upon the bare shedding of his Blood till it be receiv'd by Faith for his Death doth not necessarily save any but only as God the Father Son and Spirit shall think fit to communicate and dispense with the Issues of them as he that pardons an Offender may bring him to Terms before he pardons him and he that dispenseth Crowns and Scepters to unworthy Persons may require Homage and Observance from them without rendering it no Act of Grace As to the Law I say we are not justified by that but by Christ alone receiv'd by Faith and that it is necessary that Godly Preachers should teach the Moral Law or the Doctrine of Good Works as the Doctrine of Faith for Satan is a deadly Enemy to both Philad Well said Moderatus indeed to what end should the Great God of Heaven give forth his Divine Laws if they do not require our due observance for the Life of Christianity is not barely a Speculative but an active Life and does as seriously tell us what we are to do for Christ as well as what we are to receive from him Mar. There are many that lead sober Lives yet may nay shall go to Hell for all their Morality 't is not that will save them Philad I believe so too but why should you condemn honest Men fearing God as only Moral Men and as such who must certainly go to Hell yet others must escape it that are guilty of far worse Vices and who have been out-done by meer Heathens in their Practices Some must question their Condition for every Sin though never so small but such as you that reckon your selves true Believers must by no means question your Condition though your Sins be never so great No wonder to hear such expressions as these viz. that if a Believer be overtaken with gross Sins yet he blasphemes Christ that dare serve a Writ of Damnation upon him and that if they be but Believers and have once set their foot upon Christ they need not stagger for the greatness of their Sins nor their continuance in them it seems tho you be not good Moral Men yet you have a right to Heaven for all that Mod. Well but there are many very ignorant in the Mystery of Faith Faith hath the honour to be the Grace that apprehends the Mercy of God in Christ and lays hold upon his perfect Righteousness by which Persons come to be justified and to have peace with God Rom. 5. 1. yea by which Persons become the Children of God and by which they receive Christ as tendered to them in the Gospel and see him to be the end of the Law God hath now in respect to us cancel'd the Law which stood as a hand-writing against us and hath by the Gospel shewed us a way whereby to be made Righteous without the Law nay justified from those things by which we could not be justified by the Law for saith the Apostle by the Works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified but by Faith or by Christ made ours by Faith this was the great overthrow of the Jewish Nation Rom. 10. they being ignorant of Christ's Righteousness went to establish a Righteousness of their own c. this is a Righteousness without the Law and yet witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets and the whole Law is fulfilled in the Children of God because Christ's Righteousness is made theirs through believing and I must tell you that in many things Faith stands at defiance with Working and Doing Philad I believe Moderatus these things to be true and that it is the work of Faith to do what you say yet by the Scripture 't is plainly evident that 't is not a bare naked Faith a Faith that swims and floats in the Brain or a lazy Reliance upon Christ destroying of good Works that can or will save any let not any Persons flatter themselves into Misery for that Faith that is barren of the Fruits of good Works bears its own Curse that Faith that is not accompanied with good Works is stiled a dead Faith a Faith that can never bring us to Life and no better than the Faith of Devils James 2. 19 20. And tho it is true as you have said Faith hath the Honour to be the Grace that
Men may be saved if they will which is so gross an Error that they must be very blind that cannot see it for if it was so Men might have Heaven for willing and none would go to Hell but it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth Mercy Rom. 9. 16. Philad That 's true if Men might have Heaven for wishing or willing few would be so fool-hardy as to go to Hell Who would but with Balaam die the Death of the Righteous Who would but have all Tears wiped away from their Eyes and live in Bliss and Glory if God would save Persons for their good Wishes and Desires and give them Heaven tho they never minded it all their days so as to please God they deserve to go to Hell that would not have Heaven upon this account that think Heaven not worth a Wish And as to your Scriptures the Apostle sheweth that the Jews had a Will to be saved and the reason why they fell short of Justification was not for want of willing or running but for not willing and running in a right way they sought it not by Faith but by the Works of the Law They being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own Rom. 10. 3. so mist of Justification But surely this is not that Free-will you so much cry out of for where can you find such Free-willers that hold Heaven may be had for wishing for Philet But however you hold that you have naturally such a power and freedom of Will that when you would do good you can Philad 'T is a mistake we do not say we have it from Nature but from Grace for as we are in our depraved Nature we can neither do nor will ought that is acceptable and good but as in Grace we may for then to will is present with us yea and ever since the Promise was made that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head the Lord doth first or last enlighten every Man that cometh into the World vouchsasing such renewing of his Will and such a perpetual co-assistance to perform what shall be accepted if persons do not wilfully maliciously and finally resist his Grace so that none of our Sins can justly be charged upon any deficiency in him Our blessed Saviour tells them the Word was near them and in them and that he was the Light that enlightens every Man Yet if by Free-will you mean a single Power in the Creature to convert it self I know none this day in England that hold such an Opinion however I utterly renounce such an Opinion as vile it being to ascribe too much to humane Nature It must needs be a pernicious Principle for any to believe that a Man by the sole power of regulating of his own Will and Reason can obtain Eternal Salvation this would make the suffering of Christ altogether fruitless and I believe also that none hath any will or power of himself without God to do any thing that 's good or to attain to a supernatural End but by the Assistance of Divine Grace and therefore there is an absolute necessity of seeking and imploring the saving supernatural aid and help of the Spirit of that God from whom all our Abilities are derived to us And as to what you say we hold that when we would do good we can I say that through the Grace of God we may avoid many more Sins than we daily do avoid and do more good than we do tell me are any of us laid under a necessity of sinning cannot we forbear many Sins which we daily run into and do we really do what God by his Grace hath impowred us to do in our Duty to God and Man and in avoiding Sin If you say we can do no otherwise then is all your preaching vain yea ridiculous for if an irresistible Cause overpower us that we can do no otherwise no Man that is truly master of his own Reason will ever spend his time and strength to exhort any to repent of doing that which they could not but do or omitting of that which was never in their power to effect If you say that by the Grace of God we may do the one or the other you own Free-will as much as I. For this is the Free-will if we may call it so that I hold viz. That God Almighty hath of his Free Love and Grace imparted a measure of himself or endowed Mankind with those Abilities to perform whatsoever he requires of them and injoins them to God never gives a Command but he gives a Power or else their Disobedience shall not be their Condemnation if this be a vile Opinion then I confess I am vile for if God requires us to believe and yet administers not sufficient Grace and Strength to believe all our endeavours are vain and fruitless Men cannot make Brick till Srraw be given them for the Lord to prescribe Dutys to us and annex Penaltys upon the non-performance of them as to punish with Eternal Death all those that are disobedient to his Will and yet to deny his Grace and Assistance without which it is impossible to keep them this is to represent the Lord as I once said before too much like cruel Pharaoh that made the Lives of his People bitter to them by laying heavy Burdens in requiring the tale of Brick and yet denying Straw the fit Materials or as the evil Servant in the Parable stiled him a hard Master reaping where he hath not sowed Philet I tell you we are altogether passive in the Work of Conversion we are like Saws or Axes that cannot move any otherwise than the Hand guides or forces them Philad Your comparing Persons to Saws and Axes being altogether passive in comparison is a thing I do not understand for we are not Saws or Axes without Sense or Reason but by God's free Gift and his free Grace we have received Liberty and Ability to accept of his Love and to accept of his Mercy when tendred to us and to perform those things which God requires of us in order to our Salvation yea through the Lord 's assisting Grace which is never wanting to any but those that are wanting to themselves we have received such a Power as to inable us to perform the Will of God when the choice of Good and Evil is set before us Deut. 30. 19. Mar. No more than the Stones in the street Philad Why then Man can have no more Sin nor Righteousness in him than a Stone if Man in the Work of Conversion be like a Stock or Stone merely passive doing nothing then in Conversion Persons neither hear nor repent nor turn from Sin to the Lord nor believe in Christ and how any are truly regenerated without those I know not and if these are to be done in Conversion pray who is active in this Work if the Party regenerated be not And if by God's Free Grace Man
sin Philad I believe the same that Believers considered as to that state they are in cannot sin as wicked Men sin to wit in making a customary trade of Sin but that they may sin with delight yea with deliberation yea plot and cast Projects for the committing of Sin as well as the Wicked witness David 2 Sam. 11. But now the Question is Whether they cannot cease to be Believers and then sin as other Men sin Mar. The Seed of God doth so remain in true Believers that they cannot but continue such yea they must remain Believers while the Seed of God remains in them for that keeps them from sinning as wicked Men sin or from finally falling neither can they do any thing to occasion the Seed of God to be taken away from them Philad This word remain signifies a present abode a present being in him it doth not shew a continuance of being and so it is true that those that are born of God begotten by the immortal and incorruptible Seed the Word of God 1 Pet. 1. 23. James 1. 18. and made partakers of the Divine Nature cannot sin as wicked Men sin so long as the Seed remains but you are to prove that it cannot but remain as Mr. Ives says in his Dispute with Mr. Danson Mar. The Seed is Grace by your own grant and it is for the substance of it incorruptible unperishable 1 Pet. 1. 23. John 3. 9. 17. 3. 10. 28 29. 6. 54. 1 John 5. 13. Peter's Faith failed sadly as to the act but the Seed remained c. and he was kept by the Power of God that he did not finally fall away Philad 'T is true the Seed or the Word of God is in its own nature incorruptible tho all the Men in the whole World should reject it 't is not called incorruptible because it cannot be forsaken or taken from those in whom it hath a residence for the present but because whether it be taken away or forsaken by them or not whether it be received or rejected yet still it remains in it self incorruptible and unperishable But you seem to lay the stress upon the word remain to shew that true Believers cannot fall away now the same Apostle John supposeth that the same Seed or Word might not remain by the word if Chap. 2. 24. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you c. you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father c. and so Chap. 2. 14. I have written to you young Men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you yet that this was subject to be lost appears by ver 28. where he exhorts the same little Children to abide in him that they might not be ashamed at his coming surely the Apostle would not admonish to that which it was impossible should fall out otherwise So Christ promiseth that the Comforter should abide with his Disciples for ever John 14. 6. Yet that doth not suppose that it was impossible for them to fall for he tells them Chap. 15. 2. That every Branch in me mind in me that hears not Fruit he taketh away And vers 10. If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love Christ never said to any of his Disciples That the most abominable Practices you can commit shall never lessen my Love to you nor is it possible you should die in your Sins in the midst of your Impieties there is a Seed of Grace in you that shall keep you from final falling away 'T is true so long as a Man is a true Believer the Seed remains but when once a Man departs from that state then the Seed doth not abide in him so that the word remain or abide doth not imply that it shall never depart the Scripture tells us John 3. 36. That he that believes not the Wrath of God abides upon him doth it follow from hence that it is impossible for him that is an Unbeliever and as such under the abiding Wrath of God to be a Believer So Whoremongers Adulterers Idolaters 1 Cor. 6. 10. Heb. 13. 4. are threatned with the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven without any mention made that if they repent afterwards the Punishment shall be reversed yet would it not be strange Divinity to affirm That no such kind of Sinners shall enjoy Life and Salvation upon their Repentance So God promiseth Life and Salvation to just and faithful Men without mentioning the loss of Life and Salvation they are like to sustain in case they turn aside yet manifest it is in Scripture such are threatned with death and destruction as Ezek. 18. 24 25. 33. 12 13. it being ordinary in Scripture to predict unto Men both Future Punishment and Reward according to their present Ways whether Good or Evil. Philet I believe many Believers fall away but by their falling away they plainly declare they were never of the number of real Saints Philad The Apostle speaks of some in his days that made Shipwrack of Faith c. Philet Ay what Faith was it It was only a temporary Faith or a light believing the Gospel such as believe for a season and then fall away like the stony ground but this differs much from true Justifying Faith Philad He that received the Seed in stony ground might be a true Believer as well as the other for that Faith which springs from the same Seed of the Gospel must needs be of one and the same nature and kind neither doth the withering of a man's Faith in time of Temptation prove he never had true Faith or that it differs in nature from that which is real and endures to the end the Scripture owns no such distinction that I know of neither do I see but that that Faith which indureth but a short time may be as real and true in Nature as that which abides all a Man's days But if a temporary Faith a Faith that is not accompanied with Justification and Salvation be the Faith that these are said to fall from then is it such a Faith that they are exhorted to persevere in and surely he would not exhort them to keep such a Faith with which they might perish and which would certainly fail them neither can you possibly prove that those that made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience never were true Believers Besides if to fall from a false hypocritical dead Faith be the Apostacy that the Scripture speaks of surely it would not be a Sin of so high a provocation to God Heb. 10. ult as the Scriptures declare it to be and which you in your preaching and printing declare it to be But I must away I shall be thought long Philet One word more What say you to John 13. 1. Having loved his own which were in the World he loved them to the end Philad Who questions the continuance of God's or Christ's Love to those that continue in love and
who seek Salvation by the free Grace of God through Faith in Christ shall have it Rom. 9. 33 c. So that this Text proves not what you bring it for neither can you fairly understand it of such a Love or Hatred as to prove either Persons or Parties are saved or damned much less doth it prove that God hates any personally considered as they are Sinners in Adam c. Very well saith Dr. Homes p. 8. God cast off none till they cast off him 2 Chron. 36. 16. Prov. 29. 1. And in the New Testament only for the Sin of refusing Christ all along is Damnation pronounced God doth not actually cast them off beyond all Remedy till they actually cast off him and so cast them off not for original Sin but actual Sins and that not too for every actual Sin but for those that cast off the Remedy namely the Word of Christ and Christ the Word Philet That God choseth some and leaveth others in the Fall I prove from the very Word Elect or Election which is a separation or singling out some in a way of Mercy or Choice from a Number and whether these Scriptures do not prove this Election to be personal without any respect unto Faith 2 Tim. 2. 19. Phil. 4. 3. John 10. 3. Act. 19. 15. Rom. 11. 5 7. Rev. 7. 4. Rom. 9. 11. Mark 13. 20. Eph. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 20. Tit. 2. 14 c. Philad But you know that the Word Election doth not always suppose Rejection but preferring one thing above another and it is frequent in Scripture to call both things and Persons of great Value of special Worth and Excellency in their kind Elect or Chosen 1 Sam. 26. 2. Isa 22. 7. In this sense the Messiah was termed by the Jews the Elect or Chosen of God Luke 23. 35. and called a Corner-Stone elect and precious 1 Pet. 2. 4. and Paul an elect or chosen Vessel And Dr. Hammond tells us The Greek Words used in Rev. 17. 14. viz. Chosen and Faithful are joined together as words of the same import Mod. I hope Philadelphus you will not dare to limit the Lord suppose God hath Elected some to Life and Salvation from Eternity or from the Fall Is not God's Mercy his own May he not do with it as he pleaseth What if God will give to one that comes into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour nay give to one gratis for doing nothing as much as he will to me for working according to my Covenant what wrong doth he do to me Why should my Eye be evil because God is bountiful or I repine that another obtains Mercy Philad I am none of those that pretend to keep the Keys of God's Secrets I dare not say God never did nor ever will chuse any personally considered But can it justly be concluded from God's predestianting some personally consider'd to Eternal Life that therefore all the rest were decreed absolutely to Condemnation without any respect to their Disobedience any more than when a King without any Condition premised pardons some that are guilty of the same Offence with others that he thereby implys that all the rest to whom he offers Pardon upon such conditions as they were able to perform should be Executed without Mercy Neither do I see any grounds from these Scriptures that we must needs understand Persons under a personal consideration without respect to Faith in Christ or any other Qualification to be the object of Electing Love and as such shall infallibly enjoy Eternal Salvation I know no Scripture that saith so nor can any Man be said to be chosen before the Foundation of the World or from the Fall any otherwise than in the Decree of God which is brought forth in time when they come actually to believe in Christ for God calleth things that are not as if they were Rom. 4. 7. and it is a usual thing in Scripture to speak of things to be done in time as if already done as Rom. 8. 30. where the Apostle speaks as if they were already glorified yet not actually glorified nor any otherwise than in the Purpose or Decree of God and so 2 Tim. 1. 19. Tit. 3. 5. they are said to be saved who were not at that time actually saved so in Ephes 1. 4. they are said to be chosen in him before the Foundation of the World though not chosen till they came to believe in Christ for as Christ was called a Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World Rev. 13. 8. though not slain till he took Flesh upon him which was some thousands of Years after even so Persons are said to be Elected from the Foundation of the World though not chosen till they be in Christ and when Persons have once obtained a Being in Christ by Faith they may truly be said to be Chosen by virtue of that Decree of Election which was in God before the Foundation of the World whereby he decreed to chuse all those to Salvation who should repent of their Sins believe in his Son and be obedient to his Will and when they come into this State God may be said to chuse them before the Foundation of the World by virtue of the Decree that was in him So that whatsoever Elective Love God hath or might have for any of the degenerate Sons of Adam more than for others Yet this is a thing that wholly lies hid in the secret Counsel of God and wholly unknown to us but this the Scripture reveals for a truth That whomsoever God predestinates them he calls before they are either justified or glorified Rom. 8. 30. and so 2 Thess 2. 13. through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth c. Now if the Saints are chosen to Salvation through c. and were called to it by the Gospel then they were not chosen actually before they had believed the Truth or before they heard the Gospel And to make this more plain you know Paul was a chosen Vessel or a most choice Instrument a Vessel for the Lord's use Acts 9. 15. yet he tells us that he was before a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and Injurious 1 Tim. 1. 13. and writing to his Son Titus ch 3. 3. speaking of himself saith We our selves were sometimes foolish disobedient deceiving serving divers Lusts and Pleasures living in Malice and Envy bateful and hating one another Now shall we say that Paul during his unbelief and impenitence was in a justified State an adopted Child of God Surely no. Philet Well how and when came Paul to be an adopted Child of God Philad How why first God humbles him brings him to the foot of Christ calls him by his Grace Gal. 1. 15. to which Call he was obedient Acts 26. 19. and was regenerated and born again by the Washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost by which he was led to believe and obey the Gospel Acts 24. 14 15 16. and to live intirely to him
apprehends the Mercy of God in Christ c. yet this is not all that Faith doth for it sanctifies Act. 26. 18. and purifies the Heart Act. 15. 9. 't is a Flesh-mortifying and a World-conquering Faith 1 John 5. 4 5. and leads forth the Soul to cleave to the Lord in obedience to his Will Hence is it said that Enoch by Faith walked with God and Abraham by Faith obeyed and went and by Faith offer'd his Son Isaac All Faith that is not such a Faith is but a fancy or a fantastical Faith a Faith of the most wicked and profane that believe they shall be saved tho they never are sanctified and so over-look the Precept of our Lord and Injunction of our Saviour I may say in this case as Peter in another many while they promise to themselves Liberty become the Servants of Sin so many while they advance the Grace of Faith destroy the Power of Godliness not considering that they are two inseparable Companions Persons may as well separate Light from the Sun or Heat from the Fire as true Faith and Holiness but for the present let this pass Have you any thing to say farther to prove that God hath chosen some to Life and rejected others without any respect to Faith or Holiness Philet I might prove it from Cain and Abel Gen. 4. 4 5. where you may see that the Lord had respect to Abel and to his Offering and not to Cain and his Offering and so Heb. 11. 4. Abel offered a more acceptable Sacrifice than Cain Now it is not said that the Lord had respect to Abel's Offering but to Abel and his Offering so that if you ask me why the Lord had respect to Abel's Offering I must answer because he had respect to Abel's Person And why did he respect Abel's Person but because it was his pleasure to chuse him in Christ For had not Abel's Person pleased God his Offering could not and so the contrary of Cain to Cain and his Offering he had no regard Cain being reprobated in his Person his very Sacrifice was abominable in the sight of God and no less than Sin Philad Abel did offer a more acceptable Sacrifice and God had a respect unto it for this Reason because Abel offered with a chearful Heart and willing Mind in Faith to which purpose 't is said that he brought not only of his Sheep but of the fattest and best of them he did not think the best of his Flock too good to serve the Lord with what he did was from an upright Heart and for holy and divine Ends and offer'd in Faith spiritually But Cain's Oblation was of the Fruits of the Ground and as it seemeth without choice or difference and from an impure Heart and wicked Mind or at the best done in Formality so that the Lord accepting Abel was not the Effect of absolute Election but sheweth the sincerity of Abel's heart and the demonstration of his great Faith neither was Cain's Rejection the real effect of an irrespective Reprobation but rather of his outward formality and inward corruption for afterwards the Lord said to Cain If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and Cain amongst the rest Mar. I suppose Philetus if you could but own that rotten Notion of Universal Redemption you might soon agree otherwise there 's no hopes of doing any good with him or drawing to any conclusion in this point Philad Martha Universal Redemption is no rotten or unsound Doctrine for if it be then Christ did not die for all which is to give the Lie to the Holy Ghost seeing the Scriptures in great plainness and expresness of Words assert the Redemption of all by Christ without excepting so much as one For to my knowledg I never yet read in the Scripture that Christ laid down his Life for some few elect Persons only neither do I believe any Scripture can be produced that affirms that Christ died only for the Elect only for Believers or any Text that denieth that he died for all Men without exception if it doth shew me the place Philet Doth not Christ say John 10. 11. I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd giveth his Life for the Sheep Verse 15. I lay down my Life for the Sheep and so Eph. 5. 25. where Christ is said to love his Church and to give himself for it Doth it not therefore follow that he gave his Life for his Church his Elect only Philad No not at all tho Christ did lay down his Life for his Sheep for such as hear his Voice and follow him and loved his Church so as to give himself for it yet it doth not say that he loved no other nor laid down his Life for none but his Sheep seeing the Scripture saith he bought those that deny him neither did Christ die for any as they were his Sheep as Saints or as his Friends but as his Enemies and Sinners such as were polluted in their Blood and without his gracious Undertaking for them were like to perish Philet But saith the Scripture Christ came not to be ministred unto but to minister c. and to give his Life a Ransom for many Matt. 20. 28. Rom. 5. 15. Heb. 9. 28. Surely he that gave his Life a Ransom for many shed his Blood for many did not die for all Philad What you would have these Scriptures prove I grant you Christ died for many for his Church for his Elect for his Saints and Sheep yet it doth not prove that he died for none else this is contrary to Scripture Reason and Sense for no Scripture saith that he died for none but such and I may as well prove from Gal. 2. 20. that Christ died only for Paul because he saith that Christ loved him and gave his Life for him as you can prove from these Texts that Christ died only for Saints Philet Had Christ died for all he would have prayed for all John 17. 9. You have these Words I pray for them I pray not for the World that is the wicked Reprobates of the World Surely those that Christ never prayed for he never died for but the Non-Elect he never prayed for therefore he never died for them Who can imagine that if Christ had loved the World so as to shed his Blood for them that he would refuse to pray for them yet in ver 19. he saith that he prayed for them that were given him of the Father that had or should receive his word believingly and he said he prayed not for the World which World must be understood of those that were not given him by the Father the Non-Elect he had no desire they should be saved Now those whose Salvation he prayed not for on Earth he interceeds not for in Heaven and those that he interceeds not for he purchased not with his Blood Mar. Our Saviour being now near his
Death he declares who he was to die for not for all Adam's Posterity but those whom the Father had given him to be his mystical Body and for those I pray as ver 9. I pray for them I pray not for the World As if Christ had said I am so far from dying for all Adam's Posterity that I will not so much as pray as Mediator for any but those thou hast given me Philad Could it be proved that Christ did not pray for all yet it doth not follow that he did not die for all because no Scripture saith Christ did not die for those he did not pray for Scripture Redemption freed from Restraints p. 75. And Dr. Homes in many things a Friend of yours yet upon John 3. 37. p. 15. says When Men urge that Argument out of John 17. 9. Christ prayed not for the World therefore he paid not for the World The Consequence may be excepted upon many good Reasons for tho Christ did not pray for the World yet he might pay for the World 1st Paying is giving Satisfaction praying solicites God's Mercy 2dly Paying containeth a Preparation of the Plaster necessary for Man's Salvation Praying is the means of applying the Remedy to the Malady 3dly Paying Satisfaction belongs to the common Nature of Man which Christ assumeth Praying is a special Privilege vouchsafed to such Persons only as the Father hath given to his Son Thus you see one of your Favourites against you in this Case But what if Christ did not pray for the World in this 9th Verse doth it therefore follow that he did not pray for the World at all Christ being now just taking his leave of the World and about to be taken from his faithful and true Followers and to leave them as Sheep amongst Wolves doth therefore most earnestly recommend them to his Father and from Verse the 6th to the 19th makes mention of his Disciples only and then in verse 20 and 21. prays for all those that should believe on him through their Words and in ver 21 and 23. prays for the World that they might have a belief and knowledg of him Philet Ay but what Belief and Knowledge Philad Why doubtless saving Knowledg such a Faith and Knowledg as was accompanied with Salvation Philet But surely if Christ had prayed for the World that the World might have savingly believed in him and known him then the World would have believed on him and known him because whatsoever Christ prayed for to the Father shall certainly be granted Christ was always heard of the Father and the Father's Mind and Will was eternally known to the Son and he came into the World to do the Father 's Will. Now Christ knowing that there was a World which the Father never intended to redeem to give him to die for it would have been vain yea inconsistent with the Wisdom of Christ to have prayed for that which stood diametrically opposite to the Will and Intention of the Father Philad Christ made Intercession for Transgressors Isa 53. 12. and prayed for his Enemies for those that crucified him that they might be forgiven Luke 23. 34. and also commanded us to pray for our Enemies for those that persecute us Matt. 5. 44. and for the World Christ prayed for as I have proved but it seems by what you say that Christ did not pray for the World with his whole Heart or with a desire to obtain what he prayed for Now whereas you say that whatsoever Christ prayed for shall certainly be done and that he was always heard this I believe it was and shall be according to what he intended yet when Christ prayed that the Cup might pass by him tho he prayed very earnestly he was not heard because this Prayer was conditional and with Submission to his Father's Will and so Heb. 5. 7. saith of Christ who in the Days of his Flesh c. How was Christ heard in this was he exempted from Suffering no his Prayer was conditional if the Lord will but he was so heard as to get support under his Sufferings But if whatsoever Christ prayed for was absolutely granted without any Qualification to fit the Creature for Mercy then those Jews and Gentiles that crucified him must be forgiven without Faith or Repentance because Christ prayed that they might be forgiven This would be inconsistent with the Wisdom of Christ to pray for that which stood diametrically opposite to the revealed Will of his Father For where do you find the Lord hath promised that any shall be forgiven their Sins whether they repent or not you your selves grant notwithstanding this Prayer of Christ that the Wrath of God burned at the same instant of time and afterwards against some of the Accusers Condemners Crucifiers and Mockers of Christ Synod of Dort Part 2. p. 82 83. Goodwin p. 565. Again Christ prayed in this Chapter that all those that believe in him might be one as he and his Father were one yet where do you find that Christ was heard in this that there was no Disunion in Affection between the Saints as there was none between him and his Father And did not he pray the Father to keep his Disciples from Evil can you infer from thence that they never sinned nor suffered Whatsoever Christ prayed for I believe God the Father did grant him an Answer to according to the true intent of his Prayer Philet Well I could give you many Arguments that Christ did not die for the wicked and unbelieving World but for the Elect. Philad We will leave that to the Learned yet give me leave to produce some Scriptures to prove Universal Redemption a Truth and the first sort of Scriptures that speak the Universality of Redemption by Christ are John 3. 16. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and so John 6. 51. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but the sins of the whole World 1 John 2. 2. God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself Here you see from these Scriptures with many more that might be added that Universal Redemption is no rotten nor no unsound Opinion here Christ died for the whole Word Philet Ay for what World for the World of Believers the World of the Elect that shall in the successive Generations of the World believe 't is not to be understood in such a Comprehensive Signification to include all the Men and Women in the World for the World is taken two ways in Scripture largely for all Men and strictly in a restrained Sense for the Elect or Believers Taken in this Sense Christ died for the whole World by the World understanding the Elect dispersed up and down the World Philad But where doth the Scripture speak of a World of Elect Persons but rather the Elect are opposed to the World as 1 John 5. 19. we know c. John 14.
Apostle asserts an unwillingness in Christ that any Person of Mankind whatsoever should perish and therefore delayeth his promised coming and exercises much patience and long-sufference his will and desire being that no Person whatsoever should perish but that all might by his patience and long-sufferance be led to Repentance which if it be a Truth then doubtless we must here understand all Men and not restrain it to the Elect only for the Lord is not here said to be not willing that any of his Elect should perish but that all these should come to Repentance but not willing that any universally should perish but that all should come to Repentance viz. as they are Men while they are capable of Repentance that so they may be saved Philet This Text also must be restrained to the Elect therefore saith the Apostle The Lord is long-suffering to us-wards not willing that any of the Elect or true Believers should perish c. and if you mind this Epistle is writ to the Elect to those that had obtained like precious Faith with God's Elect. Philad But the contrary will appear if you consider the Persons here mentioned are those towards whom the Lord exercised much patience and long-suffering what are they the Elect with whom the Lord is not angry therefore no need of patience for there is no room for patience to take place but only in such cases where a Person is apt to be stirred up and provoked but now God was never offended with the Elect but loveth them with the greatest love that can be neither according to your Principles were they in any danger or possibility of perishing therefore could not the patience and long-suffering of God have any reference to any such End either of Salvation or Condemnation they having Salvation infallibly assured to them by the irrevocable Decree of God So that let Christ's coming be long or speedy or should they die the first moment they breath in this World or live after never so many Sins committed yet their Salvation being decreed of God and that Decree irresistible must needs produce their Salvation Besides if we should understand it of the Elect then we may without wrong to the Apostle bring him in speaking thus God is patient to the Elect not willing that any of his Elect should perish but that all the Elect should come to repentance therefore we must needs understand that the patience and long-sufferance of God is exercised toward those that contemn his Grace yea such as go on in Sin treasuring up Wrath to themselves against the day of Wrath yet the Lord exerciseth his goodness and forbearance and long-sufferance that so his Goodness might lead them to repentance Rom 2. 3 4. yea those that the Apostle calls Vessels of Wrath fitted for destruction are yet endured with much long-suffering There is nothing that makes the Lord withhold his hand of indignation against the Wicked but the tender Compassion that is in him through Christ and therefore is the long-suffering of God said to be Salvation this is the main End and Design of God's Patience and affording Sinners a Day of Grace that so Grace and Mercy might be obtained and his Goodness and Mercy leads them to repentance and so long as God exerciseth his long-suffering towards any they are under a possibility of Repentance 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. We read that the patience and long-sufferance of God waited upon Sinners in the days of Noah and all those 120 Years he afforded them means of Repentance by Noah who was a Preacher of Righteousness to them this shews that they were not under an absolute Decree of Reprobation but rather God would have none of them to perish if they do perish it is through their own fault and folly Now this is very consistent with the Will of God and the Mind of the Holy Ghost in other Scriptures as Ezek. 18. 30 32. and 33. 11. we find this People was ready to affront and cavil with the most High much after that rude manner as in Paul's time in the 9th of the Romans and as you and many others in these our days who say that Children are made liable to Eternal Death by their Parents Transgression before they had any Sin of their own notwithstanding God hath said nay sworn the contrary Is it not strange to think how you complement nay dissemble with God when you pray unto him you tell him how merciful and bountiful he is to all and when you have turn'd your backs represent him as a hard Master making us pay for that which we never tasted and punishing us for that fault which he knows others had committed with such like injurious Imputations and horrid Blasphemies so here these fly in the Face of God and charge the Death of the Wicked upon him and boldly lay the blame at his Door and say The Ways of the Lord were not equal tho when the Lord comes to judg every one according to their Work the inequallity will be found on their side not on God's for Psal 145. 17. 25. 10. hereupon the Lord proceeds to vindicate his most righteous proceedings with the Sons of Men and shews that the Son should not bear the iniquity of the Father nor the Father the Son 's but the Soul that sins should die and therefore calls upon them to repent Where now is the Man that dares charge the God of Heaven with his Destruction Surely as God delights not in the Sin of any so neither doth he in their Death but if you do not believe the Lord upon his bare Word you have his Oath Ezek. 33. 11. As I live saith the Lord c. I will not your Destruction if you perish and die in your Sins 't is because you * Baxter's Call to the Vnconverted p. 152 153 170. chuse Destruction your own Will is the cause of your Wo The Lord which cannot lie Tit. 1. 2. saith so nay he that cannot be perjur'd As I live he swears saith Dr. Homes by the choicest of Attributes his Life which is the Root of all others and the excellency of his Being and therefore carrys a great weight with it that he is in good earnest and most cordially desires they would not perish or die eternally God will not eat his Word or be forsworn 1 Sam. 15. 29. Rom. 3. 4. Tit. 1. 2. Mar. You need cite no more Scriptures I know and believe the Scripture stands full of Exhortations and many Promises c. in his Revealed Will but he hath a Secret Will contrary to his Revealed Will relating to the same People and Object So God would have all Men to be saved and none to perish by his Revealed Will yet by his Secret Will he would have Millions to be damned and tho it be his Revealed Will that all Men should believe in his Son and all should as you say repent and turn to God yet his Secret Will is they shall neither do the one
nor the other Philad I believe God hath a Secret Will and a Revealed Will a Will that neither Men nor Angels know If it be God's absolute Will that the greatest part should be damn'd it is then the duty of the greatest part of Men to go industriously to Hell and be damn'd and to do good would be a Vice to labour to attain Heaven a Sin because it crosseth the secret Will of God and if it be God's Revealed Will that all should repent and his Secret Will that very few shall it follows from thence that it is his Will that his Will should not be done and that when a Reprobate saith Thy Will be done he rather curseth himself than prays for a Blessing And since you affirm that God hath a Secret and a Revealed Will I would have you careful that you do not interpret his Revealed Will by what you conjecture of his Secret One his Secret Will being a thing that cannot be known but rather guess at his Secret Will by his Revealed one and so judg of his Eternal Decree by what we find in his Word concerning his Promises and Threatnings which are the Copies of his Decrees It is very ill done of you to say God hath a double Will the Revealed Will being not only diverse but opposit to his Secret One God ordaining Sin with the one whilst he forbids it with the other and not always willing in secret what he reveals himself will do So that by what you say you had as good tell us God doth not mean as he speaks and so make him a hypocritical Dissembler This is a very high Affront put upon the Divine Goodness and your Testimony is not at all to be credited unless you have the Witness of God for you 1 Joh. 5. For whosoever delivers any thing for a Divine Truth if it be contrary to what is revealed to us in the Scriptures of Truth it ought to be rejected as Diabolical Suggestions all things of this nature must be warranted by the Word Let our Hearts be never so strongly inclined to believe it yea let Persons pretend never so much to the Spirit and to receive new Light yet if it be contrary to the Spirit of God speaking in the Scriptures 't is no better than a delusion of the Devil therefore to the Law and to the Testimony Isa 8. 20. John 16. 13 14 15. 1 John 4. 6. Now seeing by this your Speech you make the pure and holy God who hateth and detesteth yea forbids and punisheth Hypocrisy and Dissimulation in Man 1 Pet. 1. 15. Psal 51. 6. 1 John 3. 18. insincere and a great dissembler in his Word professing one thing and intending another which Imputation consists not with his Honour Justice and Mercy which is always one with his Will and his Will always the same and not two opposite Wills I therefore challenge a proof for what you say or I shall record your words as blasphemous Philet I cannot prove it in those positive terms but if you look 1 Sam. 2. 30. it may give us some grounds to think so I said indeed that thy House should walk before me for ever but far be it from me c. Here you see the Lord said one thing and decreed another and so Jonah 3. 4. where Jonah in positive words asserts it to be the revealed Will of God Yet 40 days and Niniveh shall be destroyed yet it was the secret Purpose Decree or Will of God that it should not Yea and so far as the Prophet could conceive and he had already manifested his Counsel he purposed to overthrow the City but yet the Lord had indeed determined to preserve it Philad I called for a proof that God hath a Secret Will and a Revealed Will contradictory to each other relating to one and the same Persons and Things and instead of that you bring two Texts that make nothing to the purpose that of Jonah concerning Niniveh sheweth that God's Will whereof one part revealed and preached by Jonah was that Niniveh should be destroyed within 40 days if the Inhabitants thereof repented not but remained in an obdurate and impenitent State and the other part of God's Will which was kept secret and concealed was this that it should not be destroyed if it did repent within that time so that that part of God's Will that was revealed and the other part kept secret and concealed was one and the same and tho delivered in positive words yet there was a Condition implied in them tho not expressed That Niniveh was not destroyed at that set time which the Lord threatned they should plainly shews that his Purposes and Threatnings were conditional Upon supposition of their Impenitence he threatned to destroy them but when they repented he promised to preserve them this you know by what Jonah did when he withdrew to see what God would do with the City and by what the King and People did they understood the whole Will of God concerning them tho but part thereof was vocally revealed therefore I heartily advise you to detest that vile School-distinction of a Secret and Revealed Will in God opposite one to the other so that by his Revealed Will he would have none to perish but professes his unfeigned desire after the Salvation of those that perish and seems to be burdened in himself and lament over those that stubbornly run in destructive courses as Deut. 5. 29. Psal 81. 13 14. Isa 48. 7. 65. 2. Jer. 44. 4 5. Mat. 23. 37. and yet by his Secret Will he hath no desire after their Salvation Nay he 's so far from willing or desiring their Salvation that he hath grounded and settled Intentions to destroy them for ever By his Revealed Will he would have all Men to repent and believe in his Son and by his Secret Will the contrary Now if there be any Secret Will in God whereby he willeth the destruction of any at the same time that he willeth the Salvation of all these two Wills must needs contradict one another and of two contrarys if one be good the other is bad and so in God's Secret and Revealed Will if one be good the other is bad But surely if God injoyns Repentance Faith and Obedience unto all Men with Promises upon their complying with his Will they shall be saved as Mark 16. 16. Acts 3. 19. John 20. 21. then he doth not will with a Secret Will the condemnation of any for 't is clear that his Revealed Will runs that he would have all men every where to repent c. and certainly his Revealed Will must needs be one with his Secret Will or else we shall represent the great God of Truth as false as Man for if God's Word which is his Revealed Will be no Interpretation of his mind and meaning then it is not true for that speech that is no signification of the Mind is a lie God's love to Mankind page 96. this is properly lying saith
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
Christ died for all so that all should injoy all these equally alike but that God did really truly and cordially intend the Salvation of one Man as well as another considered as Men in and by Christ's Death What tho there be great disparity of Means and of Grace also according to the Divine Will yet sufficient Grace is afforded to all both to those that do not actually believe nor are really converted as well as those that are Ezek. 18. Pro. 1. 24. Mat. 23. 37. Luke 8. 12. for whomsoever God calleth to Faith and Salvation he doth it sincerely and with unfeigned Intentions of saving them John 5. 34. and 10. 20. Tit. 2. 11 12. 2 Tim. 1. 9. 2 Cor. 5. 20. and 6. 1. From all I conclude that Christ in dying for Man intended nothing but that which was real and saving in the proper nature and tendency of it But as to your third Moderatus you say Christ died for all Men so far that the Gospel might be preached unto all Now if you mean that in the Gospel terms of Reconciliation are offered to all poor Sinners and that the Word preached is by the Lord appointed an instrumental means to make Men new Creatures and that the Lord by sending the Gospel and his Ministers upon the Gospel errand doth not thereby intend the Obduration and Destruction of any but the Conversion and Salvation of all if this be your meaning I and you are no more two but one and I will say in the words of Abraham to Lot Let there be no strife between thee and me for we are brethren But if with Calvin in his Institut Lib. 3. Chap. 24. you say that God sendeth his Word to Reprobates that they may be made more deaf he setteth a Light to some Men that they may be so much the more blind and offers them Instruction that they may be the more ignorant and he useth a Remedy but to the end they may not be healed Or what Maccour in his disputation 14. Page 11 12. That Christ knocketh at the heart of Reprobates who he knoweth neither can nor will open unto him not that he may enter in but that he might upbraid them for their Impotency and increase their Damnation c. therefore did God speak to them by his Son that by the contempt and hatred of his Son they might procure the greater damnation If this be your Opinion produce some word to evince such a Decree and I 'll cease contending with you Philet Do not the Scriptures say Mat. 13. 13 14. and John 12. 39 40. in both places you have it expresly said that they could not believe because that Esaias said he hath blinded their Eyes c. and Deut. 29. 4. And doth not Simeon say of Christ Luke 2. 34. that he was set for the rising and falling of many in Israel 2 Cor. 2. 16. Christ is there said to be the savour of Death to some as well as of Life to others And our Saviour in John 9. 39. expresly saith That for Judgment am I come into the World that they that see not might see and those that see might be made blind Do not these Scriptures shew that tho the Gospel is preached to all yet for the blinding the Eyes and hardning the Hearts of those that believe not Philad Do not we look upon the Gospel the greatest Blessing next to Christ that we can injoy or receive But if the choicest Blessings are intended as Snares to intrap our Souls we have little cause to be thankful to God for them These Scriptures speak not of the primary and direct Intention of God in sending Christ into the World but of the Event and that which many times is effected by it through Mens voluntary Rebellion Christ was not sent into the World with any intent on God's part nor came with any intention of his own to make those that see to become blind but with an intent to heal the blindness of all to their Peace and Glory so that if any be blind ignorant and foolish 't is merely accidental and tho the glorious Light of the Gospel should equally shine on all Men as the natural Sun doth diffuse his Beams to all Places yet it hath not an equal effect on all alike for the same Beams that cause the Flowers to smell make the Dunghils stink yet this is but accidentally as it finds matter to work on no fault being in the Sun so in Mat. 13. we read of several effects the Word hath not from any defect in the Seed sown the Seed being one and the same but from the badness or goodness of the Soil it shews that some hearers of the Gospel would hear so that their hearing would turn to a blessed account others would hear without reaping any Soul benefit thereby So that these Scriptures speak not any thing of God's intention of sending Christ and so the Gospel into the World but they shew how unworthily some Men will behave themselves towards Christ and the tenders of Salvation by the Gospel and what will be the end and effects the Gospel will have upon those that despise and reject it for it is with the Gospel preached and the Gifts of Nature and Grace also as it is with the good things of this Life which are by the Lord given to the Children of Men that so his bountifulness and goodness might lead them to repentance but if their Table be a Snare and their Prosperity their Ruin 't is through their own perversness and horrid impieties so if the Gospel hardens or blinds any 't is through the ill temper of Mens Hearts and their desperate obstinacy to refuse such means of Salvation and the severity of God who giveth up obstinate Men to their own hearts lust and in his just Judgment permits them to dash against Christ and other means of Salvation What saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. If our Gospel be hid 't is hid to them that are lost whom the God of the World hath blinded their Eyes that are alienated from the Life of God through the ignorance that is in them and so give up themselves to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness and despise the Light of the Gospel cavil and quarrel at it no wonder then that God withdraws his Spirit from striving with them and gives them up to their own hearts lust and if ever the Lord restrains the heavenly Influences of his Spirit and withdraws his Blessing that usually accompanies the faithful and sincere preaching of the Gospel a stupid blindness must needs follow so tho there be Preaching and Prayer and other Ordinances yet when the presence of God is not with them there is no Milk in the Breast and to such 't is all one as if there was none nay as some the Gospel enlightens these it smites with blindness as it softens some so it hardens these as Isa 6. 10. Acts 28. 26. make the Hearts of this People
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