Life if but Willing Rev. 22. 17. Give all Heart can desire if but Ask it Joh. 16. 23. Open the Treasures of Grace and Glory if but Knock Mat. 7. 7. Be your Friend for ever if but Love him Joh. 14. 21. Bear the Weight and Burden of all your Cares if but lay them on him Psal 55. 22. Never fail you in Life or Death if but Trust him Psal 34. 22. Psal 125. 1. O! how Free are these Offers how Easie these Terms It would be intolerable Impudence to desire these upon any Terms more Free. Would you have Christ your Friend and not Love him Marry you without your Consent or take Care for you and not Trust him who can be so unreasonable The Conditions here are of such a Nature that it is even all one as if they were absolute No Promise of this Nature can be more Free more absolute for the Nature of what is Promised will admit of no other Terms they are as free as can be Can Christ Come to you if you will not let him in or Entertain you if not Come to him or Give himself if not receive him Nor need you say these are not easie we cannot do them of our selves Christ prevents this they are easie if he Concur and Assist and he engages to assist all those who have Interest in the Promises all that Come to him 6. If the Condition be Promised He that annexes a Condition to a Promise and withall Promises to give that Condition does all one as if he Promised absolutely Suppose Hiram had Promised Solomon Cedars to build the Temple upon Condition they were Cut down if Hiram had also Promised to Cut them down his former Promise had hereby become absolute Or suppose Pharaoh had Promised Jacob that he should come and be Entertained in Egypt upon Condition that Wagons were provided to carry him if Pharaoh should also send him Wagons as he did by Joseph Gen. 45. 19. it is all one as if the former Promise had been absolute So it is here And this is enough if there were no more to make this Truth evident and to prove it unanswerably That which the Lord seems to make a Condition in one place he Promises absolutely in another For the Promises of Regeneration are absolute The Lord freely engages himself to implant all Spiritual Graces and Holy Affections in the Soul. Now to these either in habit or exercise are all the Promises made which we count Conditional So that the Condition of them being absolutely Promised they are in effect absolute e. g. The Lord Promises Salvation to Perseverance Mat. 24. 15. He promises Perseverance to Faith Psal 125. 1. 1 Pet. 1. 5. and Faith is Promised absolutely Ezek. 36. 26. A new Heart is a believing Heart so that the two former their Conditions being Promised are absolute He promises Life to those that have Christ 1 Joh. 5. 1â— He promises Christ to those that Fear him Mal. 4. 2. and he promises Fear absolutely Jer. 32. 40. So wherever you find any thing annexed to a Promise as a Condition in another place you may find it either expresly or implicitly Promised And therefore all the Promises are in this respect as good as Absolute and if Absolute no reason to question their Freedom If the Terms or Conditions be such as it is not possible in the Nature of the thing that the Mercy offered should be effected without them then the offers of Saving Mercies are as Free and Gracious as can be as there is any possibility they should be and no more can be desired Let me clear this in one of those Terms which is comprehensive of all the rest It is required of those who will partake of saving Mercies that they leave sin forsake their evil ways Prov. 28. 13. Isa 55. 7. 2 Tim. 2. 19. This is the Summe of all Conditions and whatever is required in other Terms is included in this or may be resolved into it Now it is not possible that saving Mercies should otherwise be had that they should be received or enjoyed but upon these Terms not only because the Lord would have it so but because the Nature of the thing does so require it that it is not otherwise feisible For Sin is our Impotency Now can we possibly have Strength in the inner Man if we will not part with our Weakness Sin is our Deformity that which renders our Souls loathsome and ugly in the Eye of God. Now can our Souls be made Lovely if we will not part with that which is our Defilement and Ugliness Can we be made Clean if we will not part with our Leprosie Sin is our Enmity against God therein it consists Now can we possibly be Reconciled if we will not lay aside our Enmity Sin is the Poverty of the Soul that which robs and spoils and utterly impoverishes the Soul Now can you be made Rich if you will not part with your Poverty Sin is the Souls restraint the Dungeon where it is imprisoned the Bonds and Fetters wherewith it is loaden Now is it possible you should have Liberty if you will not leave your Dungeon and part with your Fetters Sin is the Wound the Mortal Disease of the Soul and can you be healed if you will not part with your Disease Sin is your Misery can you be Happy if not part with Misery Happiness consists in the Enjoyment of God but adhering â—o Sin and the Enjoyment of a Holy God are utterly inconsistent And can you be Happy without Happiness or by retaining that which is inconsistent with it So that you see there is an utter impossibility that Salvation should be had but upon these Terms There is an Inconsistency a plain Contradiction in any other Supposition It is an Impossibility not only to us but to the Almighty and therefore the Terms are as free and gracious as possibly could be Omnipotent Grace it self could not make them more gracious To clear this several things are to be observed 1. The first Blessings of the Covenant are Promised absolutely Effectual Calling Faith Repentance Conversion Regeneration are Offered are Promised without any Conditions The Promises of these Mercies are absolute Ezek. 36. 26. Jer. 32. 39 40. Under the Notions of a New Heart a New Spirit putting his Spirit his Fear within them c. the Blessings forementioned called the first Grace are Promised absolutely and so are the same things in other terms Jer. 31. 31 32 33. repeated by the Apostle Heb. 8. 8. There can be no Instance given in Scripture where these things are Promised upon Condition Indeed if they were promised upon Condition Grace would be Promised to something Natural For this being the first Grace there can be nothing before it to be the Condition of it but what is Natural and to make that which is Natural the Condition of Grace is gross Pelagianism If there were any Conditions of those first gracious Favours they must be those things which are
Preaching we confess for the most part to be such men that their Vertues do deserve no less Epist contr Walach p. 44. For those who have the Gospel God is ready to give further Grace to them if they would be worthy Hearers as they may be if they would use their Free-will well in hearing But there are some worthy hearers of the Gospel and some unworthy says Corvinus and sufficient Grace is not given to all promiscuously who hear sed iis qui digni sunâ— evangelii auditores but to those In Twiss 387. who are worthy hearers Which is in effect as tho' he spoke out and said It is given according to Merit which is all point blank against the Apostle 2 Tim. 1. 9. Tit. 3. 4. This they extend to the Fountain of all the eternal Purpose of God. All the Grace which is comprized in the Election of Grace will be ordered according to Merit Election of particular Persons depends upon their Faith or Works foreseen The Lord foresees who will believe and because they will believe upon the account of this good act he does elect them so they are elected according to Merit But does he not purpose from Eternity to give Faith in time No by no means for if he had decreed this they would be under some Necessity to believe and such Necessity is not consistent with the Liberty of mans Will. Therefore it must be left to their Free-will whether they shall believe or no and when God foresees that they shall make so good use of their Free-will as to believe then upon that account he elects them In plain English he chooses those whom he foresees will merit the Election of Grace by the good use of Free-will Nay all the Grace in the great and precious Promises and in the whole Covenant of Grace will be according to Merit For they will have the accomplishment of all suspended upon some Condition such a condition as is to be performed meerly by the power of Free-will assisted by no Grace at all but that gentle excitement which they call Swasion which enables not the Will to perform the Condition but plainly speaks it able before hand Such a condition performed is indeed a Cause a moving and engaging Cause and no less Merit than that which the ancient Church condemned in Pelagius For it is a good Act performed by our own strength upon the account of which the Grace of the Covenant is vouchsafed which a Jesuit will not deny to be the Merit that is under the Curse and Execration of Synods and Fathers twelve hundred years agoe Their other Principles overthrow the Grace of God and lay it prostrate but this quite destroyes it and makes it no Grace if the Apostles arguing be good Reason Rom. 11. 6. 3. This Doctrine which owns no more Grace and ascribes so much to Free-will makes God not to be the workeâ— or real Cause of the spiritual and saving blessings of Conversion and Regeneration nor the Author and Giver of Faith Repentance Holiness These are rather to be ascribed to Man than unto God. This will appear 1. In general Conversion Regeneration Sanctification Perseverance and what else of this nature is required to our Salvation is to be attributed to a mans self more than the Spirit of Grace they are the Effects and Aâ—chievements of Free-will rather than of Grace A man Converts and quickens himself Regenerates and begets himself Creates himself so far as he is a New Creature and upholds himself when he is created This seems strange and uncouth not to say absurd and horrid but there is plain Reason for it such as may convince any who will yield to evident Reason Grace however considered either in Election or Redemption or the Holy Spirits Operations does no more for the quickening and Regenerating of those who are converted than it does for those who are never converted therefore it is not Grace but something else that does the work If the Lord had done no more for the making of this World than for making of other Worlds that were never made the Creation of the World could never have been ascribed to him If Christ had done no more to raise Lazarus from the dead than he did to raise others who continued dead in their Graves he could not have been said to raise him to Life He that does no more towards the effecting of a thing than when it is not done at all he cannot be said to do it Now Grace does no more for the quickening of those that are alive to God than for those who are still dead and will be so for ever Therefore it is not Grace that does the work it must be ascribed to something else not to the Spirit of Grace but to a mans self and his own Free-will This is evident in the Nature visible in the very Complexion of their Moral Grace This which is all the Grace they own consists in Swasive Proposals Now he that only perswades or propounds the doing of a thing does not thereby do it at all but would have you to do it your selves and supposes you can if you will. So that this is the plain Import of their Doctrine that men can convert and quicken themselves and do it if it be done However any be said to be born of God yet they may beget themselves However they be said to be the Lords Workmanship created of Christ Jesus unto good works ver 10. yet they are their own Workmanship and make themselves new Creatures However the Apostle saith ver 1. You hath he quickned yet indeed they raise themselves to life And since they do it themselves to themselves they may in all reason ascribe it and accordingly glory in it The Crown is not to be cast at the seet of him who sits on the Throne Grace is to have neither Throne nor Crown that is to have the Crown which does the work Free-will does it and this must wear it 2. More particularly it is manifest that they make not God to be the real cause of those saving works or the giver of those Spiritual Blessings because by their Doctrine neither the Power nor the Act can be ascribed to him For they say he does nothing to this purpose but by vertue of Moral Grace And it is evident that this or He by this gives neither the Power nor he Act c. 1. Swasive Grace or the Lord by swaâ—ive Proposals gives no man power to beâ—ieve or turn to God it rather supposes that he has it already before or without this Grace The vertue of it of all the Grace they own is only that of Advice or Suasion and no man reasonably perswades or advises another to be able but only to be willing to use what already he has He that holds forth a Light to a Man lying on the ground and moves him with Arguments to rise and walk does not thereby give him Legs and Strength but supposes he has these
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