God. Nay sinners would persist in the height of this Enmity and therefore reject all motions of Reconciliation tho' the Lord condescend to beseech them with all moving arguments to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5. 20. They despise Salvation and the means that tend to it They manifested it by crucifying the Lord of Life when he came on purpose into the world to bring Salvation Come say they this is the Heir Mat. 21. 38. We cannot reach the Father he is too far above us but we have a fair occasion to shew how well we wish him This is the Heir here is his Son his only Son the Son of his Love and Delight come let us kill him and so they did and so would other Sinners do if they were in the same circumstances with those that did it And there are those who Crucifie again the Lord of Life And what do we less in venturing upon ways of sin since this is it which first crucified him This is the desperate disposition of all Sinners in the state of nature We had so continued to Eternity if the power of Grace had not broke in upon us and drawn us to terms of Reconciliation And this being our State and temper naturally can you think there was any thing in us that could have moved the Lord to save us What can Hatred such desperate Enmity such prodigious Malice against the Lord move him to love us O if free Grace had not moved it self we had persisted in our opposition against the Lord and had been eternally miserable as those deserve to be who are found fighters against God and open Enemies to him There are other Demonstrations that Salvation is of Grace only which may be drawn from God himself the consideration of his Allsufficiency Soveraignty 1. The Allsufficiency and independency of God. He stood in no need at all of man either for Happiness or Glory the least degree of either He had been eternally as happy as glorious if man had never been or been ever miserable 1. In respect of Happiness He was perfectly infinitely happy without us He did not expect he could not have the least Degree of it from us All degrees all Fulness of it was in himself before we had a being The Divine Understanding was infinitely pleased and satisfied in the Contemplation of himself the first Truth The divine Will took infinite contentment and complacency in the injoyment of himself the chief Good. The Object here was infinite and glorious Excellencies and the Acts were infinitely perfect and the Issue thereof must needs be infinite Happiness both formal and objective Christ the Eternal Wisdom of the Father thus expresseth it Prov. 8 22. 30. Here are the mutual delights of the Father and the Son those injoyments which hold forth the highest degree of Happiness before any creature had being The Son was the Fathers Delights 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 daily every moment without the least intermission and rejoyced the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was laughing before his face Those happy souls who are already admitted into the glorious Presence may guess tho not comprehend what happiness there is in those delights we are in the dark and can neither express nor conceive how much it is but tho we cannot conceive how great that Happiness is we may easily apprehend that it cannot be made greater by any creature Besides Happiness must arise from Union with some good or the injoyment of it Now all Goodness in Perfection is included in the divine Being and whatever good is in the creature it is but an imperfect participation of that Primitive Goodness or rather but a dim resemblance of it And shall we think that there can be any addition to his Happiness from that which is so imperfectly without him when all Excellencies are perfectly eminently infinitely in himself Shall the Ocean of Blessedness seek an increase from that which is less than a Drop Or the Sun of Glory borrow lustre from a Glow-worm a dim Spark Or the Universe of all Happiness greaten it self by a Point a Mote No the Lord was Blessed for ever before man was in being and he had been Blessed for ever if man had never been And if nothing had moved the Lord to save him but a design to add to his own Happiness none of the Children of men had ever known Salvation 2. In respect of Glory The Lord does not depend upon man more for Glory than Happiness He had been as Glorious if we had continued in the State of Non-entity or if we had Perished in our Sin and sunk into Misery It 's true we say the Lord glorifies his Mercy in our Salvation but this is such a Glory as he might have wanted and yet have been no less Glorious To clear this a little The Glory of God is Essential or Relative Gods Essential Glory is those infinitely glorious Perfections and Excellencies which meet in the Divine Essence This is that Glory which no mortal eye ever saw or can see When Moses desired to see his Glory the Lord says to him Thou canst not see my face and live Exod. 33. 18 20. The â—ace is the Seat of Beauty where all the lines of Perfection do concenter where all the rays of Glory are united These we can no more behold in his face than a lump of Snow can sustain the united vigor of the Sun-beams at noon day When the Queen of Sheba had seen the Glory of Solomon it 's said there was no spirit in her 1 King. 10. 5. The Soul or Spirit in her as in others has a strong inclination to unite with that which it apprehends to be most good and beholding something transcendently better without than in the Body seemed willing for that time to leave the Body that it might enjoy and close with what was more excellent If the Lord should unvail himself and let us have a clear sight of his glorious Excellencies as they shine in himself the Soul would leave the Body the Union between them would be dissolved the spirit would be wrapt away with such a sight and leave the Body dead This may be the reason of what the Lord said to Moses No man can see my face i. e. my Essential Glory and live Further the Essential Glory of God is God himself and therefore both Infinite and Eternal It is Infinite as he is and to that which is Infinite nothing can be added it can no way be greater than it is already It is Eternal too and so before any thing was created and consequently no way dependant on the Creatures By which it is manifest that essential Glory is not at all increased by working mans Salvation For Relative Glory that indeed depends on the Creatures But the Lord had been as glorious in himself if this Glory had never been as will appear from the Nature of it The essential Attributes of God are his divine Perfections absolutely existing without respect or relation to
Strength from Grace to enable it The other Branch makes all the Gracâ— they own to be fruitless of no effect â— meer Cypher which stands for nothing does can do nothing but at the descretion of Free-will For the Will when the Object is propounded with what advantage soever the Proposal be made can always resist and reject it utterly So that the Grace of God comes to nothing at the meer humour of mans Free-will By the former Branch of the Will 's sufficiency the Power in matters of Salvation is from Free-will and not from Grace for their Grace gives it no Power at all but supposes it there already By the latter Branch the Act in the concerns of Salvation is from the Will not from Grace For Grace leaves the Will indifferent to act or not to act and therefore its acting is no more from Grace than its not acting its accepting of Christ no more from Grace than its rejecting him Now if both the Power and the Act in the concerns of Salvation be from Free-will and not from Grace then it is by Free-will not by Grace that we are saved III. Let us view the Import and dangerous Tendency of this Doctrine and then you will see sufficient Reason to reject it Every particular will be an Argument against it and the particulars are very many 1. They make no Grace needfull but what was acknowledged by those Persons who were condemned by the Ancient Church as Enemies of the Grace of Christ Pelagius the Patriarch of the Asserters of Free-will to the prejudice of Divine Grace acknowledged not only a Natural but a Doctrinal Grace viz. the Word of God discovering and propounding that which is good and perswading Sinners to embrace it suadet omne quod bonum est it perswades to all that is good Here 's the swasive Grace of his Modern followers Nay he went further and not only required an external Proposal of the Object in the Ministry of the Word but acknowledged an inward Operation of the Spirit for inlightning the Mind and exciting the Affections Nos ineffabili dono gratiae coelestis illuminat He inlightens us with the unspeakable Gift of his heavenly Grace futurae gloriae magnitudine praemiorum policitatione accendit He inflames us with Promise of Rewards and the greatness of the future Glory and excites the stupid Will by the Revelation of Wisdom to Desires after God. Some of his late followers think it not fit to come short of him in this but seem to require some act of the Spirit to inlighten the Mind and to stirr up the Affections But others of them most applauded and followed deny all Necessity of any immediate Illumination by the Spirit and tell us That every one who has the use of Reason may without any special inward Light very easily apprehend whatever in Scripture is necessary to be known or believed Episcop And that no immediate Operation of the Spirit De Perspicuit Script thes 1. 3. upon the Mind or Will is needful for any one that he may Believe Id. in Syn. Dor. p. 200. So that no Grace is needfull with these men but only an external Proposal by the Word for what the Word propounds may without the Light of the Spirit be sufficiently understood and offered to the Will and the Will they say has unquestionably power to embrace whatever is so offered by the Understanding If any thing could hinder the Will from embracing the Good proposed it must be some Corruption in mans Soul some strong Prejudices or vicious Habits determining the Will unavoidably to that which is evil but no such thing can be admitted as they state the Wills liberty For as no power of Grace no Operation of the Spirit can determine the Will irresistibly to that which is good but when it has done its utmost the Will remains free to the contrary evil so no power of Corruption can determin the Will to any evil but it will remain free to choose the contrary good propounded to it The Will of fallen Man notwithstanding any supposed Corruption in the Soul native or acquired still retains its primitive Power intire only it is under some Impediment as to the Exercise of it there is one thing wanting which hinders it from acting it cannot act without an Object And this signifies no defect or weakness in the Will for the most perfect Faculty of Man or Angel in Heaven must have aâ— Object that it may act Now the Object is offered in the Gospel and the Proposal oâ— the Object by the Gospel with the Motives and Arguments there contained iâ— all the Grace all the supernatural Aiâ— and divine Assistances which they thinâ— requisite to help the Will to believe and turn to God. This is to ascribe less tâ— Grace than the old Pelagians did who yeâ— were branded by the Church as the capital Enemies of supernatural Grace anâ— upon that account scarce thought worthâ— to be called Christians 2. By their Doctrine Grace is giveâ— according to Merit This was the most leprous part of Pelagianism which the ancient Church had in â— greatest detestation and for which Pelagius himself had been Anathematized branded with the highest Censure by a Synod in Palaestin but that he pretended to renounce it Yet Merit in the sense of that Age was a far less thing and much more tolerable than the Papists merit of Condignity It was not only a good work of such value and worth in it self as that a Reward should be due to it in Justice but Merit as they understood it was any good act which a man did of himself upon the account of which Grace was vouchsafed This Bellarmin himself acknowledges however he was concerned to deny it The Fathers says he understood Grace to be given according to Merit when any thing is done by our own strength in respect whereof De Grat. libr. arbit l. 6. c. 5. Grace is given altho' it be no Merit of Condignity And in this sence of Merit the modern Asserters of Free-will would have all Grace given according to Merit How universal soever they make Grace to be yet no man shall have it unless he merit it That Grace may be Universal they will have it communicated both to those that are without the Gospel and to those that enjoy it For those who have not the Gospel he is ready to give all of them the Grace of the Gospel if they will use the Light of Nature well and he does give it actually to those who by the good use of their Free-will make such an improvement of natural Light. Here the good use of natural Light is a good act and upon the account of that the Grace of the Gospel is given i. e this Grace is given according to Merit in the sense of the Fathers who counted it so execrable to have it given according to Merit Those say the Remonstrants whom God calleth and to whom he does vouchsafe the Grace of
ever Moral Grace may perhaps preâ—ail for some Morality but this alone can â—ever be effectual to turn a Heart of stone â—to a Heart of flesh to turn the Enmity of the Will into Love to Christ to turn Sinners from the Power of Satan unto God to raise the Soul to Life that is spiritually dead to make them new Creatures c. These are not the Effects of â— gentle Swasion but of an Almighty Power They mean something else than Scripture intends by these Expressions whâ— make these saving works so low commoâ— and easie things and so much in the Power and at the beck of a Sinners corrupteâ— Will. Nothing more ruines Souls thaâ— resting in that as saving which is not so and when Divines promote the Delusioâ— how pernicious is it like to prove 7. It destroyes holy Obedience inwaâ— and outward Leaves no place for thâ— exercise of Grace in the Heart or worâ— truely good in the Conversation It plucâ— up these by the roots taking away hâ— bitual Regeneration which is the root â— them the exercise of Grace in the actiâ— of an inward gracious Principle but the say there is no such Principle planted â— the Heart or Will by the Spirit of Hâ—liness and where the Principle is not â— cannot be acted There can be no vitâ— Acts where there is no vital Principle that which is not alive cannot put forâ— Acts of life Or to use the terms wherein Christ expresses it the Fruit is not good unless the Tree be good No good Acts can be produced by the Heart or Will till it self be good It is not it cannot be good when there are no good Qualities in it It had no good no holy Qualities planted in it by the Spirit of Grace that with them only acts Morally and does no more sanctifie those that are holy than those that are profane So that if the Will have any goodness any thing that is holy in it it has it from it self not from the Spirit of Holiness Thus the Fruits of the Spirit will be no other than the Fruits of Free-will of Free-will unsanctified unless it sanctifie it self and the acts of Obedience will be no other than the acts of natural Morality such as Mans degenerate Will can produce by its natural Power without any assistance but that of Moral or swasive Grace which begets no good Qualities gives no inward strength affords no help of any kind more to those who do most than to those who do nothing at all We need not wonder if those of this Perswasion should satisfie themselves and would have others satisfied with such a Morality their Principles do afford and can require nothing better But whether the Acts of it be those gracious Acts those Fruits of the Spirit those good works which the Scripture so much calls for and makes the Way to Salvation let those consider who are concerned indeed in the Way to Salvation Tâ—â—y charge their Opposers for not pressing Moral Duties If they mean thereby Practical Christianity there are none in the World press it more But we are not for a Pagan but a Christian Morality and think it not adviseable to press external Acts alone without minding the Principle and Root from whence all that is truely Christian must spring We count it absurd and preposterous to look for Fruits where there is no Root for gracious Acts where Grace is not planted in the Heart They may deck a May-pole with as many Garlands as they please and set off a Mast with Flags and Streamers but they will never thereby make them Fruit-trees The Lord will condemn those who bring not forth good Fruit and those also who lead them in a way where they are never like to be truely fruitfull without better conduct 8. This stifles Love to God takes away that which is the Foundation and Ground of a special transcendent Love to him That which is the rise of our Love to God is his Love to us 1 Joh. 4. 19. it is this that kindles our Affection to him and raises Love into a Flame But he that believes and considers that God had no more thoughts of Love for him from Eternity than he had for those who are under his everlasting Hatred and that Christ had no more Love for him in the work of Redemption did Obey Suffer Satisfie Purchase no more â—or him than he did for those who were in Hell when he Suffered and that the Spirit of Grace does no more for him in order to his Salvation than he does for the Vessels of Wrath sitted for Destruction will scarce find any thing in the Love of God on this Consideration to engage his Soul to a special Love for God He will be in danger to Love God with no more than a common Love such as a carnal Man may have who believes that the Lord loves him no more than he loves those who are to be tormented for ever with the Devil and his Angels He will â—ind a Motive from hence to hug and love himself rather than God For when that which they call Love in God seems but an indifferent respect not intending more good to one than another but as themselves determine it he had got no special benefit no particular advantage by that Love if he had not been better to himself The Lord as they represent him whatever is pretended concerning the greatness and universality of his Love to Mankind seems indifferent as to Love or Hatred as to the Happiness or Misery of Man. The Lord left it indifferent in his eternal Purpose whether any should be Saved or no and Christ in the Work of Redemption left it indifferent whether any should be actually Redeemed or no and the Spirit in Calling Sinners leaves it indifferent whether any be effectually Called or no There was no Affection in all this but what might have ended in Love or Hatred i. e. in the Damning of all as soon as the Saving of any That which determines this indifference and makes it prove Love is the Sinner himself the good use of his Free-will Had it not been for this for any Love that God had for him for any expression of it from Father Son or Spirit he had been one of the Children of Wrath in the same Condemnation with others So that the plain tendency of their Doctrine is to lead Sinners to reflect affectionately on themselves but with Indifferency upon God. Such is the general Love which they will have in God to Mankind it is but an indifferent respect to all which proves Love or Hatred as the Sinners Will determines it But when they ascribe any particular Love to God it is no other than what arises from the Sinners Love to him He foresaw that we would believe and so love him and therefore he intended Life for us He foresaw that we would embrace and choose Christ and therefore did he choose us So that God did not Love us first but we him whatever
it with the Doctrine and Design of the Gospel and you will find them just as agreeable as Light and Darkness 13. It tempts men strongly to neglect God and their Souls to live in any Wickedness their Inclination leads them to and not to break off a Course of Sin by speedy Repentance For their pretended sufficient Grace is universal and denied to none that brings Repentance to every Mans power and choice he has Grace enough to repent if he will. And since it is in his own Power he may take his own time for it and need not fear to satisfie himself with the Pleasures or Advantages of Sin. What is to be feared to restrain them here from the Practice of Ungodliness and Unrighteousness unless they will say that common Grace being abused may be withdrawn and the Sinner by the Judgment of God given up to Obduration Here would be some danger indeed if that Obduration did irresistably determine the Sinners Will to such Wickedness But there is no fear of that for by their Principles the Will cannot be so determined either to good or evil it is inconsistent with that Liberty which is essential to it and which it cannot want while it is a Will. Therefore no light can be withdrawn no hardness can be contracted but the Will must still be at liberty to turn to God or not to turn to repent or not to repent at pleasure They have security from their Principles to go on in their evil ways 'till they be in danger to live no longer and then it is not a peradventure if God will give them Repentance they have enough for that in their own Power and may repent and turn to God when they list Accordingly one of the prime Asserters of this Doctrine being admonished of his Debauches made this return I am a Child of the Devil to day but I have Free-will and to morrow I will make my self a Child of God. 14. It destroys Justification of the Gospel all Justification of Sinners which the Gospel gives notice of It will have us Justified not by the Righteousness of Christ or of God but our own Righteousness by our own Righteousness in the fullest and grossest sense by a Righteousness which is in our selves and of our selves and by our selves By our own acts or works not Performed by the help of any special Grace but by the Power of Free-will Their Justification is thus stated The act of Faith or sincere Obedience or inherent Holiness though it be imperfect yet is accepted of God instead of a perfect Righteousness and so by it we are Justified as if it were a perfect Righteousness Now those acts of Faith or Obedience or whatever they call it which they will have to be the Righteousness by which we are Justified is not of Grace neither It is not the Gift of God he never purposed or promised to give it unto any It is not the Purchase of Christ he never merited it for any It is not the Work of the Spirit of Grace he does no more towards it in those that have it than in those that never have it So that the Righteousness whereby they are Justified is so far from being that which Christ performed that he did not so much as Merit it so far from being the Righteousness of God that he does not give it so far from being the Issue of Gods Free Grace that it is the Product of our Free-will How Sinners are Justified the Apostle declares in the Text and Tit. 3. 7. and Rom. 3. 34. But by this Doctrine we are so far from being Justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus that we are Justified without the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus not freely not by his Grace but by acts of our own Free-will passing for a perfect Righteousness when they are no such thing nor can upon any ground be so accounted 15. It tends to destroy the Covenant of Grace to make it a Covenant without Grace I had almost said an ungracious Compact such wherein the Lord shews himself less gracious to Men than if they had been left under the Covenant of Works and under which they are more liable to Sin and Damnation than if it had never been made Which thus appears The Covenant of Works required perfect Obedience and Man being created after the Image of God with Holiness and Righteousness was able to perform that perfect Obedience which was the Condition of that Covenant but transgressing it by that first act of Disobedience in eating the forbidden Fruit he lost the Image of God wherein his strength for observing the Covenant consisted The Lord they say deprived him of that Holiness and Righteousness and thereby of ability to perform the Condition Now they say a Man cannot sin in not doing that which he is not able to perform though he be disabled by his own fault and so in this state of disability he was not capable of sinning and consequently was not liable to Condemnation If things had continued in this state none could have been Damned for actual Sin but Adam only and they say for Original Sin none are Damned But the Covenant of Grace made a sad alteration in Mans state and circumstances for therein sufficient Grace being offered to all whereby they may avoid Sin if they will they hereupon become capable of sinning as they were not before and in danger of Damnation when before they were safe So that their Covenant of Grace makes Mans Condition worse than it was instead of relieving him so far is it from being truly gracious even the supposed Grace of it brings him more within the compass of Sin and Damnation than he was without it 16. It Cashiers the Spirit of Grace and all its special Offices and Operations To pass by those who ascribe nothing at all to the Spirit those who attribute most to it so far as I can discern will have us beholding to him for nothing at all but common Light such as the Childreâ— of Darkness have and so weak and powerless that the Will needs not follow it is not determined nor effectually moveâ— or inclined by it The Spirit of Gracâ— with them has no immediate Influencâ— upon the Will or Affections and thiâ— is all too which the Mind has from thâ— Spirit it moves neither Will nor Affectâ—ons but remotely but by vertue of thiâ— Light So that the Spirit of Grace doâ— nothing in the whole Soul Mind Wiâ— or Affections but what this light amounâ— to No more is needful either for thâ— first rise of Holiness or for the increasâ— and growth or the strengthening and coâ—tinuance of it At first the Will by no other helâ— than that of Moral Grace which prâ—tend to no inward Operation of the Spirit but only this common Illumination for the Proposal is by the Word without and the inforcing of Motives and Arguments is by the Ministry of Man determines it self to turn to God
and so without more adoe is Converted and Regenerated There is the rise of Holiness afterwards by determining it self again and again it acquires a habit and that is a free and permanent Quality That the Will exercises Hoorâ—b tom 1. p. 316. increases strengthens and confirms Holiness as it began it by determining it self It has Power to do this in and of it self and nothing else does or can do it The Spirit neither by this Light nor by any other gracious Influence does or can determine it Nor does the Will need any thing for the exercise of its Power but only Light to make a sufficient discovery of the Duty or Object propounded Thus all the Motions Operations Assistances of the Spirit of Grace are confined to this Light All its healing strengthening quickening and establishing Vertue amounts to no more than this The Soul neither has nor needs any spiritual Life Health Strength or Motion either first or last but what this does effect and yet it effects no such thing in far the most that have it For those have it no less than others who are in the style of Scripture not only in the dark but Darkness And if it have any more effect upon others than it has upon the Children of darkness yet this efficacy it must have from Free-will not of it self nor of the Spirit whom they call its Author otherwise it would be equally effectual in all since all have it equally and the Spirit is supposed to give it equally to all And if the Spirit of Christ give it not its Efficacy and Vertue but it owes this only to Free-will it is of no worth as iâ— proceeds from the Spirit of no more value than a fruitless and ineffectual thing of no Vertue and so of no value but what it derives from Mans Will. Now what Honour is it to the Spiriâ— of Christ to ascribe to him a fruitless a worthless thing They seem to honour the Spirit as much who will borrow no light at all from him but count the light of Reason with the help of the written Word sufficient And what great difference is there betwixt them who ascribe nothing at all to the Spirit and those that ascribe to him that which is nothing worth That which is fruitless and ineffectual of no Vertue of no Value but but what it owes to Mans Will may as well be ascribed to humane Reason aâ— the divine Spirit 17. It tends to destroy the Mediation of Christ That liberty which they make essential to Mans Will makes Christ uncapable of being the Mediator between God and Man and so tends to ruine all the concerns of God and Man in Christs Mediation For either the Will of Christ was undeclinably fixed upon that which is Good and Holy so that it could not to Disobedience and Wickedness And if so it had not that indifferency to good and evil in which they place the liberty of Mans Will and count it essential thereto so that it cannot be a humane Will without it and then Christ wanting that which is essential to humane Nature was not indeed a Man nor did assume our Nature consequently could not be the Mediator between God and Man being not the Man Christ Jesus Or if his Will was not undeclinably fixed on that which was good but left in a state of indifferency to that or the contrary so that he might have observed his Fathers Will or not observed it might have loved him or not loved him might havâ— fulfilled all righteousness or not fulfilled it And if he might have sinned or not sinned then he was not God for he that is God cannot sin So that as they state the freedom of Mans Will either he was not Man or he was not God and either way he could not be Mediator who must be both Thus all the advantages Sinners have by his Mediation perish and all the Glory the Lord designed to himself thereby is blasted by the extravagant Doctrine of Free-will 18. It defaces Redemption by Christ and leaves little or no place or no necessity either of Satisfaction or Merit in his Obedience and Sufferings 1. He did not merit Faith or Regeneration or Holiness or Perseverance for all or for any particular Persons They declare expresly that it is foolishly said that Christ procured Faith or Regeneration for any Their Principles ingage them to maintain this for if he merited these for any it would have been necessary that these should have been wrought in some of the Redeemed it would have been necessary that some or other of them should be Believers regenerate and sanctified and stedfast unto the end but all such necessity they deny as inconsistent with that freedom of Mans Will which they contend for It must not be under any necessity either from the Decree of God or the Purchase of Christ Faith Repentance Sanctification Perseverance must be meer Contingencies in respect of those former Causes or else they could not be free Acts in respect of the Will their next Cause Christ by his Death and Merit must not be the Author or Cause of these though there be no Pardon or Life without them so much must not be ascribed to his Merits lest too little be left to Free-will 2. Upon the same Account Christ did not Merit Pardon or Salvation for any one certainly and so his Death makes neither the Means nor the End certain After he had done and suffered so much been obedient unto Death made his Soul an Offering for Sin and obtained Eternal Redemption by his Blood yet there was no Necessity that any one Sinner should have Pardon and Life no Certainty that any one would be Pardoned and Saved Christ left this altogether uncertain and not to be determined but by Mans Free-will After Christ had finished the Work of Redemption as all might have been Saved so all might have been Damned There was no Value Efficacy Merit or Satisfaction in Christs Death or Obedience to make more sure Work It was left at uncertainty as it were at hap hazard whether Salvation or Damnation should carry it and Free-will alone must have the honour to determine it Christ they say procured Grevincov in Ames Coron p. 142. by his Death a Power to destroy Unbelievers So that he no more Purchased Salvation than Damnation he is by Vertue of his Death and Obedience no more a Redeemer than a Destroyer of Mankind Whether he should prove a Saviour of any or a Destroyer of all is left to the arbitrement of Free-will There was they say Idem no other Necessity nor Advantage nor Value in the Death of Christ but what might have been perfectly salved though all the Redeemed had Perished Eternally They declare for an Universal Redemption and that equally extended to all and every one and so would seem to magnifie it more than others Yet indeed it is no other Redemption of all but such as is very well consistent with the Damnation of