laboured more than they all yet not I but the grace of God with me The Scripture calls us Workers in Gods Vineyard not Tools and Instruments Call the Labourers and give them their hire And again We shall all receive a reward according to our works Mark 16.20 They went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them 2 Cor. 6.1 We then as workers together with him beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain But in vain they would receive it if they would not cooperate with it If St. Paul whom St. Chrysostome calls the best child of grace thought it no disparagement to the grace of God to say he was a worker together with God towards their Conversion how can it be a disparagement to the grace of God to say we together with God work out our own Salvation It were in vain to persuade us to do what God alone solely and wholly doth in us Now how many persuasions in Scripture do we meet withal To make you a new heart to put off the old man and to put on the new These plainly prove a liberty of Will and that we must work out our own Salvation or else safety it self will not save us How pathetically doth God wish the Conversion of sinners Jer. 13.27 O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean when shall it once be Oh that my people would have hearkned unto me for if Israel had walked in my ways c. Who reading such Texts can imagine that God did not expect mens co-operation or that the cause of their ruine was only because Grace was so slenderly offered by God that it proved ineffectual unto them when God says Jer. 51.9 We would have healed Babylon but she is not healed forsake her The judgment inflicted plainly shews God was not wanting to her but she was wanting to her self All Comminations and threatnings were in vain if the Will did not or could not cooperate with the grace of God How could men fall from grace if God leave us not to the mutability of the Will It would be in vain to exhort such to do their first works and threaten them if they did not if they were meerly passive in every act of saving grace nay certainly if God withdraw his grace it is meerly because we walk unworthy of it for to him that hath shall be given and he shall have more abundance but from him that hath not that is hath not well improved it shall be taken away even that which he hath Some men think they can never exalt the grace of God enough unless they debase the powers and light of Nature far more than Adam debased them by his Fall But the Law of Nature written in the heart is no less the Law of God than those Laws of God which are written in the Scripture else Murther and Adultery in the Heathen should not be sins for where there is no Law there is no Transgression Rom. 2.14 The Gentiles which have not the Law and do by nature the things contained in the Law shall judge the Circumcised which transgress the Law which place doth plainly shew unto us that the light of Nature is good as being the Candle of the Lord and that it is not wholly extinguished in us but only darkened by Adams Transgression I come now to answer those Arguments which are brought against this truth And first it is objected that Christ is said to fill all in all Ephes 1. ult My answer is These words are not to be so taken as if we were to do nothing at all towards our own Salvation for they are spoken figuratively where by a Synecdoche the chief part is put for the whole As suppose a man should say Towards a mans maintenance Money is all in all not but that Food and Rayment do maintain him more immediately but because these cannot usually be procured without Money that answering all things the saying is usual and none except against it Their second Argument is taken from verse 19. of that Chapter where the Apostle says We believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead Whence they infer the grace of Faith is wrought by an infinite power in the heart but we can contribute nothing to an infinite power therefore nothing towards our own Faith My answer is St. Pauls Faith and so of the Primitive Christians was not wrought only by means as ours now adays is but also by Miracles The Apostles preached and the Lord confirmed the Word with signs following Mark 16.20 which signs and wonders when the people saw they believed according to the working of this mighty power But our Faith now is not so wrought but only by hearing without seeing such an Almighty power to confirm the Doctrine yet are we never the less blessed but rather the more Thomas because thou hast seen thou hast believed blessed are they which have not seen and yet have believed Thirdly it is objected If the Will of man have power to assent or not assent to grace offered man shall do more towards his own Conversion than God for the act is more perfect than a meer power to act I answer although in a Metaphysical sense the act is more perfect than a meer power to act as the end of a thing is preferred before the means tending to it yet in a Moral sense it is not always so neither doth man by accepting do more than God by offering his grace God gives us power to get Wealth say we get it are we more beholden now to our selves therefore than to God for our riches I trow not The case is the same in the point of grace when we have accepted of his goodness we ought to say Not unto us Lord not unto us but to thy name give the praise If a Benefactor give an indigent person a considerable sum of money and he accept it is he more beholden to himself for his acceptance than to the Donor for his kindness If so then their Argument is of force but not else Fourthly it is objected If the Will of man hath power to assent to grace offered and he do assent another hath the same grace offered and he doth not assent all the difference must needs come from mans Will and so he that believes and assents makes himself to differ from him that assents not contrary to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 4.7 I confess this Argument hath stumbled many learned men as if the Apostle had spoken these words concerning the act of Conversion or of receiving sanctifying grace but it is spoken only concerning receiving Ministerial Offices in the Church See the first verse else Let a man so account of us as of the Ministers of Christ and Stewards of the Mysteries of God 〈◊〉 he taxes as St. Ambrose well observes the pride and arrogancy of some Teachers who did insinuate into the people that
to love God and to give him thanks to hate God is so intrinsically evil that it is impossible but that it should be forbid If it were possible for this not to be forbid it were possible for this to be lawful for where there is no Law there is no Transgression but it is utterly impossible it should be lawful therefore it must be granted there is an evil in order of nature before the prohibition of it and so some things must needs be good in their own nature as bearing a resemblance of the Image and goodness of God before any external Law pass upon them These things premised my answer is Although the Will of God be a rule of justice to us yet it is not a rule of justice to himself but his justice is rather a rule of his Works and of his Will and he works all things according to the Counsel of his Will and that Counsel adviseth nothing rashly or unmercifully unreasonably or unjustly but according to the greatest Equity and Chancery in the world and therefore cannot without the greatest violence to Reason and Religion be thought to make irrespective Decrees to torture for ever the greatest part of mankind chiesly for the pleasure of his Will Again they say Omnipotent Power authorizes all actions Now if God will make Vessels of wrath what hath any one to do with it May he not do what he pleases with his own Creatures My answer is we must not magnifie Gods Power so much as to eclipse his goodness or his truth which doth assure us that he is loving unto every man and that he delights not in the death of any sinner These men make God a Tyrant rather than a King and attribute such Prerogatives to God as are broadly inconsistent with his nature Acts of Power are not good in themselves but as they are accompanied with Justice and Mercy otherwise they are bad and lay a mans honour in the dust we must not so magnifie one Attribute in God as to justle out all the rest The Lord proclaimes his name to Moses Exod. 34.6 after this manner The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Now Gods name is every ways agreeing to his nature which is rather than his Creature should perish to forgive iniquity transgression and sin and not to decree everlasting fire to it without the intuition of sin Let us not therefore entertain any hard thoughts of Almighty God Rev. 20.12 13. when the earth and the Sea gave up their dead they were all judged according to what was found in the Books and those Books were written only according to their works Conscience is one of those Books which shall be opened at the last day and it will acquit God of all hard dealing towards men that perish When Moses prayed thus Exod. 32.32 Either forgive this People or blot we out of the Book which thou hast written The Lord said Whosoever sins against me him will I blot out of my book Where you see sin only blots out of Gods Book and not any Fatal Decree If it should happen to men according to their Lots to be under such or such a Decree and not according to their Works there would nothing be remaining for us to do but only patiently to obey Fate for if an irrespective Decree do shut up the most of men under Condemnation can any one of those men by all his industry alter his Destiny Surely no unless he were stronger than he that made that Decree To what purpose then were all his endeavours or to what purpose should we beat the air and persuade him to impossiblities Yes to good purpose say the Abettors of such a Decree because no particular man knows under which Decree he is I confess this answer is the best they have to give but it nothing enervates the Argument for it is not the knowing of a Decree or the being ignorant of a Decree makes any thing to the altering of a Decree for neither if I know it will it be repealed neither if I be ignorant of it will it cease to be accomplished Now then although no particular man knows under which Decree he is yet he must needs know he is under one of them if there be such Decrees and under which soever he be he is bound with an Adamantine Chain unto it and his end is fixt by reason of it as unalterably as the Laws of the Medes and Persians Who then believing this can believe that his fasting weeping or mourning renting heart or garment can avail any thing to the altering of that Decree under which it was his Lot to be born So that he that hath imbibed this Doctrine hath cut the Sinews of all industry if he acts consequentially to what he himself doth believe Nay but the means are ordained as well as the end may some say True they are so But to the far greatest part of men if their opinion were true God should command them to seek his face in vain for those means could never attain the end for which men should use them namely the Salvation of their souls For never any man from the foundation of the world under that Decreo was sav'd neither indeed can be though Moses and Samuel should pray for him or an Angel from heaven preach unto him he could not believe To what purpose now was the means ordained to these or the use of them Nay to what purpose should God wish the conversion of such sinners send his Embassadors to intreat and beseech them expostulate the case with them Why will ye die swear unto them As I live I had rather you should live if in the mean while he hath decreed their death before they did good or evil and in order to that Decree was resolved never to afford them power to perform any one act of saving grace Now whether there be insincerity in these Expressions or in their Opinions judg ye Nay let God be true and every man a liar Let us heartily believe that every mans destruction is wholly from himself and not from any fatal Decree of God Lastly it is objected the seventeenth Article of the Church of England says God hath decreed before the foundations of the world were laid by his Counsel secret to us to deliver from Curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind From whence they thus argue Before the foundations of the world were laid no man could do good or evil but even then some were chosen and consequently some not therefore those that were not chosen were rejected before they had done good or evil To this I answer as some were chosen in Christ and consequently others not chosen before the foundations of the world were laid so known unto God were all things before the foundations of the world were laid He knew the first man would fall
it but also lay it to their charge that it was not efficacious as it might have been if they had actively concurred and cooperated with it he should not only be a mocker of men but also under colour of kindness make a way to his wrath and indignation which is far from the candor and nature of God who is always merciful and serious in his offers of Grace If it be said he doth not mock us but justly challenge from us that lost power which he once gave us as a Creditor may justly challenge from a Prodigal that money he hath spent and hath not now to pay Some are of opinion that it is not the Prodigals fault now that he doth not pay if he be willing to pay and hath it not but his fault was only this that he brought himself into that condition And so it is not a fault that he which cannot receive grace doth not receive it but a sad consequence only of his former sin which brought this impotency upon him for which he ought to be pitied not upbraided if he desire to receive it Others answer it befits the goodness of God in the New Covenant of Grace made with mankind to allow sufficient strength of grace to perform the conditions of that Covenant in such a measure as he for Christs sake would accept Or else 1. The Covenant of Works would be more gracious than the Covenant of Grace for under that mankind had strength allowed him Adam did not fall for want of power to stand Or else 2. The New Covenant should leave a man in a worse condition than it found him for the abounding of grace would make his sin abound being sure to be always refused But Christ is the Mediator of a better Covenant every way considered a more gracious than that of Works and Gods primary intent in giving it was not to make sin but to make grace abound I only ask a question if Zeleucus put out both the eyes of an Adulterer for Adultery and then offer him his Book to read and hang him because he cannot read was the offer of the Psalm of mercy a mercy to him or a mockery So if God first justly blind our understanding and harden our hearts as a punishment of our sin in Adam and then make us a tender of grace in Christ but never open our understandings to see it nor soften our hearts so far that if we will we may embrace it but all his offers are upon impossible terms to be accepted whether the case be not alike and Parallel 6. Lastly it is objected that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure Phil. 2.13 Where you see say they St. Paul attributes both the will and the deed to the grace of God I answer the meaning of the Apostle is that God gives us a power to will and still assists us with his grace till we bring that power into Act and so a man works out his own Salvation and he ought to do it with fear and trembling that is he ought with reverence and godly fear stand in aw lest when God inables him to work he be wanting to himself and to the grace of God lest he grieve and quench the Spirit and cause him to depart But if a man concur only subjectively and passively to pious works as they would have it then it must be said or may truly be said at least that God in us believes repents of sin and doth all other gracious Acts which how absurd and blasphomous it would be I leave the world to judge It is said our Saviour marvelled at their unbelief but if it be as they say I marvel why he should marvel for he knew before-hand they could do nothing and he was resolved not to do all things alone to bring them to the Faith But certainly he had good cause to marvel that when he afforded them such a measure of Grace as would have converted Tyre and Sidon and would have made Niniveh repent in Sackcloath and ashes they should be so wilful and obdurate that it made no kindly impression upon them If any thing had been wanting on his part to have brought them to the Faith he would not have upbraided them with their unbelief or have shamed them by the very Heathen nor have denounced a more intolerable measure of damnation against them if there had not been offered them superabundant advantages of Grace I conclude therefore with the Father Sola voluntas ardet in gehennâ which I will English thus Wilful men will want no woe Vulgar Errors CONCERNING REDEMPTION Removed SAint Paul comparing the First and Second Adam together shews us the hurt we received by the disobedience of the First and the benefits we receive by the obedience of the Second For Adam and Christ are to be considered as two roots as we proceed from the one we are of the wild Olive but as we are engraffed into the other we contrary to our natures partake of the good Olive Now look what loss Mankind did receive by the one it was the good pleasure of our good God that the same benefit Mankind should recover by the other When the Apostle says many dead by Adam he says many made alive by Christ When men condemned by Adam he says all justified by Christ now what he thus makes equal for men to dis-equalize to such a degree as not one of many to be redeemed though all in Adam were lost is not to make a much more on Christs side but a much less Contrary to the Apostle who all along puts the redundancy on Christs part that where sin abounded grace superabounded that as sin reigned unto death so grace did reign unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now sin did reign over all men without exception unto death therefore grace must have a proportionable reign unto life Christ must fulfil on his part what appertained to the procuring the Salvation of all or else the Salve is not so broad as the Sore which yet the Apostle hath been proving at large in the fifth Chapter to the Romans Our Church rightly grounding her Faith upon the Scriptures teaches most truly that Christ died for all men in her Catechism she teaches the Child to answer I believe in God the Son who redeemed me and all mankind and in her Collect for Good Friday prays for all Jews Turks and Insidels that God would bring them home to his Flock that there may be one Fold under one Shepherd Suppose God to hear the Prayers of his Church and to bring these to the knowledge of Christ I demand Hath Christ any salvation in him for these men or no If he hath sure I am he purchased it with his bloud and so died for them If not our Church is mistaken in praying such may be brought to Christ for salvation who hath no salvation in him for such or ever laid down his life a