same spiritual drink for they drank of that rock which followed them and that rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10.4 5. Further after the fourty years pilgrimage were ended the Lord doth promise that their Convoy should not leave them but that he should go before them and drive out the Canaanites because it was not in their own power to bring the land into subjection This is the Lords promise and therefore in sense and substance the Angel must do the whole work Secondly let us consider what is the duty of the people and that is contained in these words Beware of him obey his voice provoke him not c. Because they did wholly depend upon him for all therefore they should be careful to observe him and to follow him in his leadings The force of the reason is the same in the words of the text work out your salvation with fear and trembling because God works in you the will and the deed because his Spirit is all in all the cause of mans salvation to carry on the work because his Spirit doth convince reprove teach comfort seal and guide the Saints therefore they should walk tenderly and carefully toward him The Apostle saith grieve not the Spirit of grace by which ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption Ephes 4.30 In case they do with him as disobedient children do with their parents when they give them good counsel the Spirit will neither comfort nor seal them any more but will leave them to a state of darknesse and discomfort And this is the true meaning of the text We may hereby understand how God doth carry on the whole work of salvation and this doth no way impair or diminish the endeavour of man In the close of all you tell us Let us say with the Apostle in our hearts that we desire to strive with dayly labourings according to the mighty workings whereby he worketh in us Col. 1.29 And do not say any more it is God that worketh our actions but be thankful to him that giveth us sufficient means Page 63. You have heard before that the Lord doth work in us the will and the deed and therefore the spirituality of the action is wholly from God though we are free workers by the help of his grace But let us take your words in the fairest construction If you will stand firmly to this principle that God gives sufficient means by a power working in us you need not fly to the purity of nature to natural free-will and to such like beggerly rudiments to salve the endevour of man In this place you seem to speak for grace when elsewhere through your whole treatise you drive the bargain altogether for the natural abilities of the will But seeing you have offered this text to our consideration we will endeavour to draw from it the concord betwixt the grace of God and the endeavour of man The words are these Whereunto I also labour striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily The Apostle speaketh of the work of the Ministery whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdome that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus whereunto I labour according to the mighty workings that he worketh in us Here it is plain that the Apostle did work in teaching and instructing every one and it was not so much his work as the work of the Spirit in him and by him When he was at Athens his Spirit was stirred up in him when he saw the City wholly given to Idolatry Why are not the like excitations of spirit in men in there dayes who travell to Constantinople to Ligorn to Rome seeing hose people are wholly given either to Mahumetan superstition or Popish Idolatry The reason is manifest the same spirit doth not work so mightily in the hearts of men as it did sometime in the heart of Paul because he was filled with the Spirit he did shew abundant sympathy and bowells of affection towards all the lost sonnes of men But to come to instances in these last times when the Gospel was plucked down and the Mass was set up in Queen Maries dayes the Martyr being in a journey declared his intention that he would preach in his charg the next Lords day and when he that journeyed with him told him then he would certainly be cast into prison his answer was I am in prison till I am in prison He was bound in his spirit to preach the Gospel to the soules which he had taken charg of he could have no peace otherwise then in the discharge of his duty He did labour freely yet so as his labour was by the inward moving of the Spirit But of all other places that passage of our Saviour is most used by the Enthusiasts Ye shall be brought before Kings and Princes for my sake but when they shall deliver you up take no thought how or what you shall speak for it shall be given to you in that houre what you shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you Mat. 10.18 19 20. Though this promise is made to the Martyrs and Confessors in times of persecution yet it is not made to them in that manner as to extinguish and drown all endeavour of their own as though God would do all and they should be discharged of their duty The promise is only made to such as should engage themselves for Christ and should humbly in the use of the means depend upon him for the supply of his Spirit And thus we see that the Spirit does all and yet in the most spiritual actions man himself is a free-free-worker It shall be given you in that houre what you shall speak This expression what you shall speak sheweth plainly that the Saints are free Agents Let us now consider that place Ephes 2.8 9. For by grace ye are saved through faith not of your selves it is the gift of God ☜ Here you yield that salvation as purchased by Christ is the gift of God but you will not have faith it self to be the gift of God you grant one part of the text to deny another If you consider the words you shall finde that not onely salvation but also faith it self is Gods free gift If this be not so how could the Ephesians come to beleeve The Apostle saith that they were dead in trespasses and sinnes they walked according to the course of the world they fulfilled the lusts of the flesh and of the mind Therefore they could not come to beleeve by any natural ability but meerly by the quickning work of the Spirit Further this expression is added ver 10. We are his work manship created of God unto good works By nature they were dead in trespasses and sinnes and if that now they could perform any spiritual act they were made able to do this by the new creation or workmanship of God Further if faith be not the
this let us consider that text I am perswaded that he who hath begun a good work in you will performe it to the day of Christ Phil. 1.6 Here the Apostle speaks of a work that is spiritually and theologically good Secondly concerning the person that doth begin the work Thirdly the persons who they are in whom this good work is begun Fourthly the accomplishment and performance thereof I am perswaded that he who hath begun a good work in you will performe it unto the day of Christ Here some may say if the Apostle had that persuasion that the work of grace would go on in the Philippians hearts whether they did eat or drink sleep or play why did he not bid them be secure and refer all to God He had no such meaning for when he saith I am perswaded that he who hath begun a good work in you will performe the same he doth speak in relation to his own prayer in the words immediately going before Alwayes in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now In relation to this prayer and their particular striving and looking after further degrees of grace he was confident that the Lord who had begun the work would bring the same to perfection Let us consider the words in the following chapter ver 13. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure Here the Apostle doth attribute the whole work of mans salvation the will and the deed to the powerful working of the Spirit of God And that which is more he doth ascribe it to his good pleasure to work when he will how he will and upon what termes he will If any shall say seeing God doth all what is here left for man to do doth not this utterly drown and extinguish endeavour No for upon this ground he exhorteth them to work out their salvation with feare and trembling seeing they have no natural ability and free-will of their own but must meerly depend upon the grace of God for the supply of his Spirit to carry on the work therefore they must walk humbly with him and take the season of grace as it is offered Because the husbandman cannot make the Sunne to shine and the raine to fall at his own pleasure therefore he doth wait upon God for the seasons Even so because in the work of mans salvation the will and the deed doth meerly depend upon Gods good pleasure to work it when he will and how he will we are to apply our selves to him only When he administers the grace we should be careful to make use of the season seeing the matter is wholly in his hands we should walk humbly with him And thus Mr. Everard you see that though the action is mans yet the ability to will and to do is only from God and nothing from man And so the natural ability which you endeavour to set up is nothing at all Now let us see what you gather from the parable of the talents I observe say you that Christ sets no man on work whom he hath not enabled to perform it for he giveth out his work answerable to abilities Matth. 25.25 Comparing himself to a Merchant he straight way went from home as if he had said I have so ordered my family that I have seen my servants furnished such a course have I taken to give every one employment not exceeding their abilities And what could I have done more for them do but name it Is it not sufficient that I have made men and women fit for my work I gave them light to direct them and they wanted for no materials for time they had enough They had my commands and persuasions and also threats in case they did neglect page 48. These collections of yours from the parable of the Talents I might let passe seeing I have some way hinted at these things before But because the Pelagians Arminians and you of the Separation do so triumph in the words of this Scripture I will take the more pains to clear the meaning of the text And I will do it the rather because of one particular passage which if it were clearly understood would break the great design of all those who endeavour to set up the will of man They would quickly perceive that they have no such colourable ground from the words of this Scripture First I do willingly agree that the command doth stand in proportion to abilities but how not in proportion to natural abilities not in proportion to abilities of grace in present possession but in proportion onely to the supply of the Spirit as it shall please the Lord to administer to them that shall work out their owne salvation and by the prayer of faith wait upon the Lord for the performance of the promise Now whereas the slothful servant did complaine against the Master for requiring more then he gave him ability to do the Lord tells him plainly though he had no ability of his own to husband the talent yet he might have put the money to the exchanger The force of which words is thus much that though in these supernatural works which men have to do in and toward the working out of their salvation they have no ability of their own they may go to the exchangers to the word of promise to the prayer of faith and to the continual supply of the Spirit of Christ As the ability did lie in Adam before the fall so now all ability is to be had from Christ onely To him therefore all that are weary and heavie laden must go for help And the Apostle when he had exhorted the beleeving Ephesians to the performance of many duties for matter of ability he shutteth up all with this conclusion Now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can aske or thinke according to the power that worketh in us Ephes 3 20. Here it is plaine that Christ giveth forth work answerable to abilities but these abilities are not inherent in men or in the natural power of mans own will but they are wholly to be had from the supply of the Spirit of Christ They who pray seek and aske they onely shall receive We come now to your second reason Reason 2. Secondly say you If God giveth us these good actions which we performe by confequence this will make void all the commands of God page 49. Answer In this I am of your judgment for if any shall say that the Lord doth all by the inward working of the Spirit and doth not leave so much to man as to be a free agent by the power of grace received to what purpose are counsels commands and direct one given to him who is to perform the work This may properly be applied to the Enthusiasts but it doth not any way extend
shall be sufficient for thee my strength shall be seene in thy weaknesse 2 Cor. 12.7.8 9 But the way to come by this ability is not in your method to set up nature but to die to a mans self and to be emptied of all natural abilities Most gladly therefore will I glory in mine infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me 2 Cor. 12.9 The Authors of the Confession do seeme to speak more fairly for the grace of God then you do They do not shun to affirme that we have all from Christ and that of our selves we have not ability to think a good thought and much to the same purpose But by this affirmation of theirs how can they possibly agree with their own principles of the purity of nature For where there is no depravation of the natural birth what need or what use is there of the grace of regeneration They conceale themselves and you openly professe your judgment they seeme to speak more fairly but you are more true to the principles and positions of the Separate Churches CHAP. III. Whether righteousnesse and holinesse be Gods Image HEre you endeavour to prove the Negative to wit that righteousnesse and holinesse in man was not the image of God in the first creation Because this is not your own single opinion but also the doctrine of the thirty Congregations who place the image of God onely in dominion over the creature we will debate the point more fully And so much the rather because you did urge me at Earle-Shilton in Leicestershire Anno 1650. Decem. 26. before a multitude of people to answer this question what place of Scripture have you to prove that Adam had the Spirit of God or that he was a spiritual man before his fall I did then cite three several texts the natural sence and import of all which is to shew that God made man after his own Image and that this Image did principally consist in spiritual and inward holinesse For that place Gen. 1.26 Come let us make man after our Image in our own likenesse There is none doth doubt but this is the speech of the three persons in Trinity Onely the question is wherein did this Image principally consist The separate congregations and you also affirme that it did appear onely in Dominion and Lordship over the creature these words do immediately follow in the text let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the fowle of the aire and over the cattel and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth But herein both they and you are deceived for primarily and properly the Image of God was resplendent in the conformity of the soule to the spiritual Law of God Secondarily the Image of God was resplendent in that external priviledge of rule and dominion over the creature Now that it may appear that the principal part of the Image of God is in inward holinesse and that the soule so inwardly and spiritually endowed doth more lively expresse his similitude for this reade that Scripture Put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created him Col. 3.10 Here note what it is that the Apostle would have the Colossians to put on Put on the new man By this he doth mean the Christ-like and spiritual disposition set in immediate opposition to the old carnal disposition of the flesh which they had already in good measure begun to put off Secondly the word renewed doth note a repaire or renovation of that which formerly was decayed So the Psalmist prayeth Create in me a clean heart and renew within me a right spirit Psal 51.10 He doth pray for the returne of the same spirit which formerly he had but now seemingly had lost So thy youth is renewed like the Eagles Psal 103.5 As much in sense as that he makes thee vigorous like an Eagle who by casting her beak and feathers renews her former agility And so in the present case wherein it is said Put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge this noteth the repaire and renovation of that spiritual disposition which Adam had but lost it by his fall Thirdly for the matter of the renovation venewed in knowledge doth signifie spiritual knowledge in the nature thereof and that which comes from the Spirit of God as the cause Fourthly for the pattern of the renovation it is expressely said after the image of him that created him Therefore the first man must be made in a state of spiritual knowledge and holinesse If this be not so how could the beleeving Colossians be renewed after this example as the Prototype Let us go to the next Scripture that ye put on the new man which after God is created in rigteousnesse and true holinesse Eph. 4.24 This Scripture also doth plainly shew that Adam had the Spirit of God before his fall For first why is it said be renewed in the spirit of your minde This implieth that we were sometimes such Secondly the expression of righteousnes and true holinesse is opposed to feigned and hypocritical sanctity Thirdly the whole tenour of the speech is to this end that the Ephesians should put off the old Adam-like disposition with all the deceitful lusts thereof and that they should put on the Christ-like nature which is renewed after the similitude and pattern of the image of God in man before the fall The argument is thus grounded upon the text What the Saints are by renovation such Adam was by creation But by renovation the Saints are just and holy From all which we do conclude that Adam was a spiritual man and had the Spirit of God before his fall Now to the Scriptures let us adde a few reasons First it is a Maxime generally received that the Law was made for man before his fall Now how the first man could be conformable to so spiritual and divine a Law and he himself be destitute of the Spirit it is not within the compasse of my understanding to discerne If we will argue a posteriori from the event we must necessarily conclude that he must not only be spiritual but also have a great measure of spirit to keep such a divine and spiritual Law Secondly the Apostle saith you hath he quickned that were dead in trespasses and sinnes Ephes 2.1 2. If all be dead in trespasses and sinnes this spiritual death must begin at the fall and so by consequence the first man must have the spirit and spiritual life before his fall For what is spiritual death but a privation of the life of the Spirit of God These and many more reasons might be brought to prove Adam to be a spiritual man as long as he stood in that state in which God had placed him Now let us hear your arguments to the contrary You say that Adams righteousnesse and holinesse was not in beleeving a Saviour because be was not in a lost condition pag.
the Spirit So in the present case the creatures were free from sin as well as Adam but their freedom was meerly from incapacity because they were not able to receive a spiritual Law And Adams freedome was from the holinesse of that state in which the Lord had made him Therefore in the point of nontransgression Adam was put into such a state as none of the creatures could come to Next you enquire Whether the Image of God did consist in light These are your words If the light that Adam had was the Image then it must be a light spiritual or natural or both Now that it was not the light of the Gospel that Adam had is clear there being neither malady nor remedy which were in being in the time of this light page 15. Though there was neither malady nor remedy at that time yet he might have spiritual light in the substance thereof and the Image of God might principally consist in this The Apostle speaking of the regenerate hath this expression renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created him Col. 3.10 This sheweth plainly that man in the beginning was created after the Image of God and that Image did chiefly consist in the spiritual light that was in the understanding But because there is a great controversie between the Arminians and us about the nature of this light viz. Whether Adam had a power before his fall to beleeve in Christ and because this is a point pertinent to our purpose I will briefly recite three Arguments used by Corvinus in his Answer to Du Moulin First saith he Adam was not bound to beleeve in Christ therefore he did not receive ability to beleeve in him such an ability would be unnecessary and unprofitable where there was no use of it at all Chap. 11. sect 4.5 page 156. Answ The Argument doth not hold God did not require Adam to beleeve the Stories written in the five Books of Moses the Books of Josbua Judges Samuel c. But will any man be so void of reason to argue that he had no power to beleeve these Stories in case they had been revealed to him so God did not require Abraham to beleeve in Christ as he was revealed and exhibited in the last dispensation of the promise shall we therefore argue that he had not ability to beleeve or that he had not the same spirit in substance which the Saints now have He that doth so judge let him answer the meaning of this Scripture We having the same spirit of faith according as it is written I beleeved and therefore have I spoken we also beleeve and therefore speak 2 Cor. 4.13 It is clear from hence that the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles had all of them the same spirit of faith in substance yet all of them have not the same revelation of the promise in the circumstances thereof Secondly Corvinus saith that before the fall the Gospel was not credible because in the Gospel a sinner is commanded to believe himself to be a sinner and that by himself and his own works he cannot be saved and that all salvation is placed in Christ the Mediatour And further he addeth It was so far from man to be able to believe all these things that he was then bound rather to believe the contrary to wit himself to be upright and that he should be blessed if he did persist in his uprightnesse p. 154 162 164 165. Answ To this we willingly agree That the way to salvation as now it is doth differ very much from that state wherein Adam stood But the question is not concerning the diversitie or contrariety of the states but concerning the power and ability that Adam had whether it be one and the same in substance with that which the Saints now have White and black are two contrary colours yet the same eye doth see both Heat and cold are two qualities in the extream yet they are tangible objects to one and the same sense of seeling So in the like case though the Word of the Law and the Word of the Gospel are two contrary wayes to salvation yet there is nothing doth exclude but they may be apprehended by one and the same spirit of faith The Word may be one and the same in the general notion and nature of the Word and it may be apprehended by one and the same spirit of faith yet it may differ in circumstance But because the force of the Argument doth lie in the contradictory nature of the two states we will come to instance in a case or two Adam before his fall could not shew mercie if we look to the outward act or the performance of the duty for where there is no misery what mercy can be shewed shall we therefore argue that he had no such affection in him as mercy So in the like case it is not compatible with the state of the blessed Angels to beleeve in a Christ to recover them out of their fall for they that never fall have no need of a recovery what then shall we say that they have no ability to understand the Mysterie of the Gospel This cannot be for so the Apostle reasoneth By them which have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven which things the Angels desire to look into 1 Pet. 1.12 Though the blessed Angels have no need of salvation by grace held out in the Gospel yet they have ability to understand it they have a desire to pry and gaze into it So in the like case though Adam had no need of salvation before his fall by the Mediatour yet he might have ability to understand that way of salvation in case it had been revealed Thirdly Corvinus saith that greater abilities are required to faith in Christ then that ability which Adam bad before his fall Answ I cannot see possibly how he can consist with his own principles For seeing he doth stand upon it in his Treatises against Moulin page 159.165 that God doth proportion abilities to commands and seeing also he saith that God did promise life to Adam under the condition of most perfect and absolute obedience By the position of these two he must necessarily affirme Adams abilities to be exceeding great before his fall For seeing the work required was to yield such a perfect obedience as none else can perform since the fall but Christ alone it must necessarily follow that Adam must have a large portion of spirit fitted for such an employment As in some Monuments of Antiquity we do argue how strong such a Prince was that died many hundred yeares ago from the greatnesse and weight of his sword so from the spirituality of the Law given to Adam before his fall we do infer his abilities to have been exceeding great And thus much out of Corvinus his own principles Now Mr. Everard let us return back again to you And here to deal plainly with you and the Churches that do
to us For though we wholly ascribe all to grace ☜ yet we acknowledge man to be a free agent who worketh and acteth by the help of grace administred Though God himself be almighty often doth work so almightily that none can or shall resist him yet his way of working in the soul in the excitings and movings of his grace are not always in that almighty way Sometimes men do resist nay the very elect themselves do oppose the workings of his Spirit though they do not nor cannot finally resist We constantly affirme that the grace is Gods and the act is mans For proof of this let us consider the meaning of that expression By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace in me was not in vaine but I laboured more then they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me 1 Cor. 15.10 Here he doth ascribe all to grace when he saith by the grace of God I am what I am Though he doth attribute all to grace as to the Architectonical and principal cause for all was done by the vigour and efficacie of that grace which was in him yet for all this he doth not deny himself to be a free agent He did instrumentally work by the power of that grace which was in him Therefore in the work of his Ministery there is a truth that grace did all and Paul did labour more then any of the Apostles Grace did it principally and Paul did it organically and ministerially And thus you see though the action be mans the vigour spirituality and efficacie is wholly from God and nothing from man This is the substance of our doctrine Now let us see how you concord Gods grace with mans endeavour Without further controversie say you let it be confessed that the teachings of God come in to the sons and daughters of men as the tillings and manurings of God to provoke them to produce obedient actions page 50. This passage of yours we might let go for present were it not for a Pelagian sense which it carries with it For from what Scripture or experience have you this similitude that mans nature is to be compared to a fruitful soile in such things as concern salvation A fruitful soile though it do want due culture hath a natural aptnesse to bring forth fruit will you say that there is the same aptnesse in the nature of man to produce actions of obedience doth not this go against the scope of Scripture and do not the Saints for the production of obedient actions finde need of a daily and continual supply of the Spirit of Christ All shall turne to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ Phil. 1.19 Though the Saints do bring forth fruit and though it be the act of their own free obedience yet it is not from nature as a fruitful soile but from Christ the Vine John 15.1 2 c. Our Saviour doth plainly shew that every branch abiding in him brings forth fruit But if you will needs argue from hence the goodnesse and fertility of the branch in it self he saith in expresse termes without me ye can do nothing Further you add If this opinion should take place that God giveth our actions it would as well dismisse the office of the Spirit of God and so destroy the internal meanes The Spirit standeth at the doore of the heart and calleth provoking us with a multiplicity of allurements that we would put forth our abilities to a present performance of action p. 51. Here Sir as I have formerly said we have nothing to do with that idle opinion that obedient actions are only the gift of God we have nothing to do with them who demolish the endeavour of man let them bear their own burden whosoever they be But on the other side we must needs blame you for running into a contrary extreame for whereas you say that the Spirit standeth at the doore of the heart provoking us with a multiplicity of allurements to put forth our abilities to present performance here I would entreat you to define what those abilities are which the Spirit doth provoke us to exert and put forth If you mean our natural abilities as you can mean no other seeing they stand contradistinct to the allurements of the Spirit then you will ascribe the chief work of salvation to mans nature and the part of the Spirit shall be onely to allure and perswade By this account not onely the action but also the ability and the power to act will be from man But because the Pelagians of old the Arminians of late and you now have such frequent recourse to this Scripture Rev. 3. 17 18 19 20. let us read the words Because thou sayest I am rich and increased in goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art poor miserable blind and naked I counsel thee that thou buy of me gold tryed in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white rayment that thou mayest be clothed that the shame of thy nakednesse do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see As many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and amend Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man heare my voice and open the door I will come in and sup with him From the words these Corollaries may be deduced First not onely the Church of Laodicea but also all men else are spiritually dead and miserable if we look upon them as considered in the state of nature Secondly men by their natural ability do not discern the miserie of that condition Thirdly such as Christ doth intend to bring to salvation he will begin with them in the opening of the eye of their understanding to see that in themselves they are poor miserable blind and naked Fourthly by the conviction of his Spirit he will shew them that he hath a supply for all their wants for their blindnesse he hath eye-salve for their nakednesse he hath white raiment for their poverty he hath gold tried in the fire and for all their wants he hath a proportionable supply Fifthly the Lord Christ at sundry intervals of time doth stand at the door shew these things to the hearts of the sons men if therefore they see them receive them and in the sense of their own emptinesse go to him for all they shall have more large and full communications of himself he will come in and sup with them This is the natural sense of the text and what is here to set up the ability of man The whole scope of the place is rather to pluck down his abilities that the Lord Christ may be all in all But in case you stand upon these words if any man hear my voice and open the doore we grant that in the matter of salvation man is a free agent when God sends the Spirit into his heart to reprove
him of sinne he is then able to judge himself when the Lord also discovers the love of Christ to the heart by the teachings of the Word without and the Spirit within he is then able to beleeve Further when God giveth a Christ-like disposition he is then able to shew son-like affections towards God and make expression that the Law is written in his heart In a word he hath power so farre to open the doore as he hath ability from Christ he cannot go one step further And therefore when the Spirit stands at the doore and knocks to speak properly there is no natural ability in us all ability is from grace we must look to Christ onely and the more we look to him in the sense of our own weaknesse the more we shall have All that may truely be gathered from this Scripture is that a man is a free agent in the work of his salvation but the ability is onely from Christ and not from us Now we will consider the force of your third Reason Reas 3. If God say you giveth men actions of obedience then were he to be obeyed by men no otherwise then the winds and seas obey him In this case there can be no talent no neglect of duty on mans part no more then there is in the axe or saw in dividing of a piece of timber Answer This argument I confesse is of force against them who give all to the Spirit that they make man himself meerly passive as a stupid block I am against them as well as you But you do not onely strike at these but against them also who are for the Lords free election and the special communication of his own grace infallibly to bring his people to salvation And thereupon say you such an obedience may thus be compared as if God should come and put a purse of gold into the hand of men and force it upon them and call that their obedience and to many other men give them not a penny-worth and demand some of them and because it was not there dispose of their persons to everlasting ruine page 53. Here you endeavour to misrepresent the doctrine of the Lords free election and make it odious to your own ends But we will make it clear that mans obedience may well consist with the doctrine of election and his disobedience also may consist with the doctrine of non-election ☞ For the first let us consider the meaning of that place I will make an everlasting covenant with them I will never turne away from them to do them good I will put my feare into their hearts and they shall never depart from me Jer. 32.40 That which is here spoken must needs be a promise to the elect because it is expressely said I will make an everlasting Covenant with them I will never turne away from them These words do note the communication of an infallible grace but yet not so as any kind of way to diminish and empaire the endeavour of man for this is not wrought immediately by the Spirit alone but mediately by the Spirit upon the heart of man And therefore these words are immediately added I will put my fear into their heart and they shall never depart from me Because the Lord had an intent to keep them from back-sliding de did resolve to infuse a son-like fear into their hearts to avoid all spiritual dangers and to keep themselves from falling And so we may see how the infallible administration of the grace may stand with the free act and endeavour of man But let us go to another Scripture I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh I will put my Spirit within you and will cause you to walke in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them Then shall ye remember your own evil wayes and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations Ezek. 36.25 26 27. Here in these words also there is a promise to the Lords peculiar people that he will bestow his special grace upon them in these words a new heart will I give them and they shall keep my commandments I will wash them with cleane water Secondly here is their particular act by the power of grace received they shall freely walk in the Lords statutes when he shall give them a new heart they shall loath their abominations when he shall wash them with cleane water The more subtile sort of Arminians in several Treatises do seeme to ascribe much to grace onely they make the point of the question to stand in the modus rei or the manner of the grace that God doth not so infallibly work upon the heart ut eventus non possit non sequi that the event cannot chuse but follow This is the stumbling stone and the rock of offence that they stumble at Now let us consider what is alledge in their Apology to the forementioned Scripture First say they this promise is peculiar to the last times therefore it cannot be applied to the conversion of the elect which is one and the same in all times Answ Though the promise is specially to be applied to the call to the Jewes yet it doth strongly inforce the point For the question being onely de modo rei concerning the manner of the thing this Scripture plainly sheweth the certainty and infallibility of such a grace by and thorough which the Jewes shall be brought home in the last dayes If we look to the dispersion of that Nation over all Countreyes of the world we may conceive it a thing impossible to natural reason for them to be gathered together yet God hath promised to gather them into one body and that David shall be their King in the latter dayes Even so if we look to the enmity and perversenesse of a people against the Gospel of Christ there is no Nation under the whole heaven for these many hundred years that hath been such desperate adversaries as they have been There are neither English nor Spanish nor French nor Italian no not Turks nor Tartars that are greater haters of the Gospel then this people have been and yet are Yet notwithstanding all this antipathy they shall be called and thorough the call they shall be infallibly brought home in the latter times Though according to natural reason this may seeme very improbable God will certainly performe his promise and no obstacle or hindrance shall be able to obstruct the work From hence then it is clear if we go to the modus rei or the manner of the thing we may easily collect that the way of God in working the conversion of his people may be after a certain and infallible manner Secondly they argue If God will do all by his power why are men commanded to make themselves a new heart and a new spirit This were irrational to do on
mans part seeing God hath already decreed and promised to do the work himself ☞ Answ Though God doth resolve certainly to bring a thing to passe in his decrees and purposes though he doth promise also that it shall be certainly done yet this doth not hinder the endeavour of man seeing it is his manner to bring things about by mans endeavor as the chief mean or instrument As for example when Saint Paul and his company were in danger of shipwrack the Lord did tell him by night in a vision that there should not be the losse of any mans life but of the ship onely Acts 27.22 Here was a certaine promise and thereupon the Apostle did certainly conclude that they should all come safe to land You will say then did not the certainty of the promise especially seeing God would performe it by power hinder their endeavour No For when they came into a place where two seas did meet and the ship did stick fast in the sand every man did shift for his own life some by swimming and some upon broken pieces of the ship God had promised that there should not be the losse of any mans life ☜ and this he did effect by making every one of them careful to preserve his own life So in the case of those men which God doth intend to bring to eternal salvation he will first or last sooner or later and that by his own power make them careful of their own salvation As in the words of the text he first promised to give a new heart that is the spirit of love into the heart and when this is done then they shall keep his commandments So then it is cleare that the infallibility of the decree of election and the certainty of the promise of God do not make void the free obedience of that people which he doth intend to bring to salvation But thirdly they object Though he doth give a new heart it is not absolutely necessary that he should give it cum effectu with the effect He may give it with great efficacie yet neverthelesse the grace may be resisted by the malignity of the will of man Answ It is confessed that God may give grace and men may resist and by resisting may lose the grace that is offered But the question is whether the new heart or the new spirit may finally be resisted ye or no If any man beleeve that it may let him answer the words of that promise Jer. 31.31 32. Behold the dayes come saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel not according to the Covenant which I made with their fathers when I tooke them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt which Covenant they brake But this is the Covenant that I will make after those dayes saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people In the present case then the writing of the Law in the heart must be meant only of an effectual inscription if this be not so where will be the difference betwixt the old the new Covenant betwixt the Covenant that God made with the people when he brought them out of the Land of Egypt and the Covenant that he will make in the latter days For the covenant that he made with them at their coming out of Egypt they brake but the new Covenant shall not be broken when the Lord shal write his Law in their hearts then all shall know him from the greatest to the least Therefore if we go to the manner of the thing the work of conversion may be wrought with efficacie and infallibility on Gods part and yet there be no detriment or dammage to mans obedience Master Everard I have stayed the longer upon this point to to shew you the inequality of your similitude as though God did deale with his elect in forcing a purse of gold upon them and then call that their obedience We say the contrary God may infallibly work upon the hearts of his people and by his necessary and infallible workings bring them on to a free and a chearful obedience Their free endeavour must needs stand with a subordination under his decrees and workings Now let us go to the harder case of the Non-elect and here the decree of God and the certainty thereof doth not any way free men from being the children of disobedience Let us take a view of that Scripture What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted to destruction Rom. 9.22 From hence it is cleare that there are none destroyed but such as are prepared and fitted for destruction and for the preparation the Lord in the ordinary way doth endure men first with much long-suffering For the clearing of this let us consider that passage of the Apostle 1 Pet. 3.19 20. By which spirit also he went and preached to those spirits that are in prison which sometimes were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah Therefore let the decree of non-election be what it will be in the purpose of God yet we are sure in the ordinary way it is not put in execution ☞ but the Lord doth endure men first with much long-suffering We may proceed with this gradation None are destroyed but those that are made fit for destruction None are made fit for destruction but such as he hath endured with much patience and there is none that he hath endured with much patience but he hath striven with them from time to time with convictions of his Spirit and they have shewed many acts of disobedience against such inward motions and workings Therefore the decree of non-election as it is to be put in execution may well stand and consist with the disobedience of man so that he himself shall be the cause of his own condemnation If this be so I know no just cause you have to complaine for say you I wonder how they can call it our duty while they affirme that God never intended that we should do that work and so never furnished us to that purpose page 55. If you apply these things to us and our doctrine as it is probable you do then I must tell you that you heap up calumnies we do not maintaine any such position that the Lord doth not surnish the non-elect with abilities there is none of them all but he hath more ability then he useth And for the temporary beleever we hold that he hath very great qualifications and is able to go very sarre Here onely lies the point of the difference that the Lord doth not give him such abilities as will infallibly carry him on unto salvation This is his peculiar dealing with the elect as may be proved from divers Scriptures ☜ But here perhaps will
at meat nor pray in their families nor hear the Word nor perform any other spiritual duty untill they have a motion of the Spirit Indeed the Waiters in this sense do come to your pitch they think themselves to be discharged from duty till the coming of the Spirit But is there no middle between these desperate extreames Is there no discharge of duty in obedience to the Commands of God There is no man that lives in the Kingdome of grace but in some one thing or other he must be contented to stay the Lords time what then shall we say because he is necessitated to wait he is therefore discharged of all duty Not so he is still to act in a lower spheare and to wait for further communications as it shall please the Lord to impart them These are the words of the Apostle let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in any thing you be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Neverthelesse whereunto we have already attained let us walk by the same rule Phil. 3.15 16. The meaning of the place is this every man should walk according to his present attainments and abilities ☜ and in walking doing and discharging his duty wait upon God for further discoveries A natural man is furthest off from God what then is he absolutely discharged from duty Is he not to come to Church to hear the Gospel and to wait upon the means peradventure God may give him repentance to convince him of the evil of his ways Though it is not in his own power to repent yet thereby he is not acquitted and discharged from all performance of duty And so in sundry cases men are to discharge their duty according to present abilities they are to walk in those paths that he hath appointed and to wait upon him for the supply of spirit It is the voice of the Church in her great tribulation I will look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation Mic 7.7 Now tell me I pray you seeing the Church was compelled to stay Gods time to wait as it were on a Watch Tower for so the word in the Original doth signifie will you lay that in this whole interval she is discharged from all duty This is not so she did discharge her duty in praying seeking and looking to God onely and in the performance of all these she waited upon him for comfort she had none else in all the world no father no brother no friend no wisedome of the flesh no other refuge but God onely When she had darknesse and no light she had a firme perswasion that at last he would plead her cause execute judgment for her that he would bring her forth to light and she should see his righteousnesse But you go on do not other men say of God that he so pitied the world seeing their hard cold frozen hearts therefore of his own goodnesse did he provide fewel enough to warm and melt them but when that is done with-holds the right hand of his power from putting the fewel into a flaming fire to succour them in their distresse and then comes to them and saith be warmed and comforted likening God to that hard hearted man spoken of Jam. 2.15 16. And more such like passages you have page 72. Who these other men are whom you here intend I cannot certainly tell if you mean the friends and followers of this Church from whom you have departed I must tell you you do charge us with that which we do not maintain It is not the result of our doctrine to resemble God to that hard hearted man Who bids them be warmed and gives them not wherewithall We say there are promises to give faith as well as to faith given to give love as well as to love given to put fear into the heart as well as to fear which is put into the heart There are sundry promises given to that end that men may go chearfully about the performance of action that doing their duties they may feel the power and presence of the Spirit to go along with them Therefore we do not say that God keeps the fewel in his own hand and that men are frozen for want of heat These are your calumnies but not our doctrine But to aggravate the matter you further adde The Physician openeth the mouth of one in a hundred and poureth it in by force as for all the rest they are not alotted any share or part therein and yet shall suffer deeply for not taking it it being proffered but not given them page 73. How hard a thing is it for you to leave your old custome of corrupting our sayings before you do confute them We hold that there is a peculiar number which God hath chosen from the beginning to salvation these in time he effectually calleth justifieth and sanctifieth but we never teach that he poureth his grace into them by force Again for others we hold there is a grace given to them nay temporary believers have very great degrees of grace which they fall from by their own desault It is an Impudent calumny then to affirme of us that we should say there is no share or part alotted to them that grace is proffered and not given For my part I do believe in the ordinary way God gives more abilities to men by the convictions of his Spirit then they do profitably use All the difficulty of the point will come to this issue touching the peculiarity of this grace which carries some infallibly and certainly to salvation when others are left for their resisting of the Spirit If then you list to go further and ask after the reason why God doth deal so unequally with men here the Scriptures doe confine you to the Lords good pleasure This I am sure they would not do if a substantial reason otherwise might be given from any thing in man himself Why else should our Saviour say Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes even so O Father because it pleaseth thee And yet further ☜ they who do with judgment maintain the doctrine of election do not think that this mystery is to be propounded to all men and at all times as some unadvised and inconsiderate men have done To let passe all that may be said if you will go to the Doctrine of the Church of England in the seventeeth Article you shall finde that the main sense and import of the Article is this that such persons onely should have the consideration of their election in Christ propounded to them who feel in themselves the Spirit mortifying the works of the flesh As for curious and carnal persons it is more proper for them to look to the threats of God that they may be humbled and for others also when they come to be humbled it is not for them presently and immediately to meddle with election but
natural say you were to have acted such actions as might have testified to the world that they had been lovers of God because those actions were wanting they are said to be unnatural So it may appear that nature was not improved to those ends to which God assigned it page 146. It is true that in these Scriptures the word nature is taken in the better sense yet not in such a sense as will furnish your intention First I do acknowledge that God hath left reliques or remainders of his Law in the hearts of the Gentiles This is commonly called the Law of nature and by this men know that God ought to be worshipped that parents ought to be honoured and that every man is to have his own c. Secondly I yield also that they who go against this Law may rightly be called unnatural because they go against the dictates or principles of of nature Thirdly they who do thus deviate from natural principles do not improve nature to those ends which God hath made it All these things I do allow so far I wil go along with you But how do you prove from hence the purity of nature and that a meer natural man as such is able to understand the things of the Spirit of God You do in the next page distinguish natural men into two kinds these are your words Who requireth no other way to be glorified but by those principles that he had furnished them withal And because they opposed their own nature resusing the counsel of God they are called unnatural because they imployed their nature wholly to satisfie their lusts Such natural men percieve not the things of God The same matter in substance is spoken by the Examiners in the Chapter of free will for the Synod having rightly determined according to the Scriptures that a natural man being altogether averse from that good and dead in sinne he is not able by his own strength to convert himself or prepare himself thereunto Against this passage the men take great offence and as their manner is accuse the Synod for their defects and falshoods For their defects they blame them because they do not distinguish the several kinds of natural men and for their falshoods they accuse them for saying that the fallen man hath lost all ability to spiritual good They distinguish also several kinds of will and tell us in the third place as the will of our first parents so of all men else doth stand in a kind of aequilibrium pag. 128.129 130. Now to take off these several Objections I would entreat both you and them to consider these two points First if you look to the better sort of natural men to those who are no Backbiters no Covenant-breakers c. Whether may not many of these in the most essential vital and spiritual parts of the Law be great enemies against God and be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God If the most refined natural men may be secret enemies why do you and they speak of pure nature and of the improvement of natural abilities when it is certain that men can do no good without the help of the Spirit Natural men may be distinguished into a thousand kinds according to the different circumstances of time and place yet all of them do agree in this that they are natural and without the help of the Spirit they are not able to judge of the things of God Secondly when the Apostle speaketh of the Gentiles who having no Law do by nature the things contained in the Law their thoughts in the mean while accusing or else excusing one another Romans 2.14 When the Gentiles do make use of the Law written in their heart as they do at certain seasons to judge themselves doth not this proceed from the general convictions and workings of the Spirit If the act of self-judging be from the conviction of the Spirit this is no praise to natural abilities but the glory belongs to the grace of God And the words of the Confession are very sound that a natural man cannot convert himself or prepare himself thereunto In which words they do distinguish between conversion it self and the antecedaneous works before conversion In neither of these they say that a natural man is able to do any thing of himself but all his ability is from the help of the Spirit I wonder then what reason the Examiners had given them to cavil at such an innocent expression But if you shall stand upon the letter of the text that the Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the Law Here you may observe that the Apostle doth onely oppose the natural Law to the Law written in tables of stone and communicated to the Church by revelation He never meant that any of the Gentiles meerly by their own strength were able to keep that Law which was made known to them Only at seasons the Spirit did excite and stirre up strong convictions in their consciences to apply those principles and dictates which they had by the light of nature The most common and universal maxime of all men in the world is this that there is a God Why then doth the consideration of the Godhead so forcibly and powerfully awake at some intervals of time more than at others We can give no other reason but this that the truth in the hearts of the Gentiles is like a cinder in the Smiths forge which by the operations and stirrings of the Spirit is enlivened and being once enlivened men have more power to judge themselves and to look after God in those seasons than at others And from hence also we might take occasion to answer that great difficulty in the Epistle to the Romans The Apostle in the first Chapter speaking of the knowledge of the Gentiles and how naturally they hold the truth in unrighteousnesse and that for this cause the Lord doth give them up to a reprobate sense yet in the next Chapter he doth shew that the Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the Law and do shew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work of the Law written in their hearts when their thoughts do at sundry times accuse or excuse one another To the resolution of the difficulty we say that the Gentiles so farre forth as they are principled by the corruption of nature are prone to no other but to imprison the light but as they are under and do submit unto the convictions of the Spirit they are helped sometimes to go so farre as to judge themselves and to cry out in their misery O being of beings have mercy upon us The main drift of the Apostle is to shew that Jewes and Gentiles are both under sinne and how by the sight of the misery of nature such of them as are saved come to be saved onely by looking after the grace and the free-mercy of God If this be the meaning of the Spirit what shall we think of pure nature or
and the depravation of his nature as afterwards shall be shewed Next he seemeth to speak more fairely Man being left in the state of pure naturals could not by his own strength arrive to a supernatural end for eternal life being an end above our natural proportion cannot be acquired by any natural means Answ In this and such like passages of his he doth seem to me to crosse his whole undertaking One chief end of entitling his book as may appear by the preface The Doctrine and Practice of repentance rescued from popular errours is the scandal offence that he seemes to take at our Doctrine of original sinne For thinks he if the nature be depraved a necessity of sinning will be introduced and the natural liberty of the Will will be taken away and therefore in much compassion and tendernesse he seemeth to himself at least to vindicate the truth to make Religion more reasonable and intelligible and to rescue the Schooles and Pulpits from the rigour and austerity of the doctrines of such a nature But when all is done he speaks the same in effect that we do For if man being in his natural condition by his own strength cannot arrive to a supernatural end but needs the help of the Spirit This being suppos'd I will put it upon him seriously to consider whether the same Spirit that helps a man out of this imaginary deficiency privation and imperfection is not as able also to rescue him from that inherent defilement pravity and corruption of the natural birth The Spirit can do as much in the one as in the other And exhortations will be as useful in the one case as in the other What need then hath our Authour to raise up all this dust But he further addeth What gifts and graces or supernatural endowments God gave to Adam in his state of innocency we know not God hath no where told us Answ Though he hath no where told us in so many letters yet by collation of circumstances we may gather that Adam had the Spirit and was a spiritual man before his fall In the creation it is expressely said come let us make man after our own image Gen. 1. The Apostle doth declare wherein this image doth consist That concerning the former conversation ye put off the Old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts and that ye be renewed in the Spirit of the mind and that ye put on the New man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Ephes 4.22 23 24. In these words there are four particulars that seem to speak faire for Adam that he had the Spirit and was a spiritual man before his fall First it is said that they should put off the Old man corrupt according to deceitful lusts Corruption is of a different nature according to the condition of the subject-matter there is a corruption of seeds of graines of metals of the members of a mans body but here the Apostle must needs speak of the corruption of that which is spiritual From whence we collect that the Old man or the disposition of the flesh is but the corruption of that holy and spiritual state n which Adam was made Secondly it is said be ye renewed in the spirit of your minds The word renewed doth import the restoring of a thing to that perfection which sometime it had in its first institution An house is renewed not when it is built new from the ground but when it is amended When an infant is born into the world it is not proper to say that he is renewed but a man doth renew his strength when he doth recover it by degrees after a long sicknesse So in the present case when the Apostle saith be renewed in the spirit of your mind he speaketh of the renovation of that knowledge holinesse and righteousnesse that Adam sometimes had but lost it by his fall Thirdly it is said after the image of him that created him Though this is specially meant of the new creature yet it is with respect also to that passage in the old creation let us make man after our own image For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 secundum Deum according to God is as much in effect as after the likeness similitude and image of God who upon this account must needs be the pattern in both creatio'ns Fourthly to put all out of question it is expressely said which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse What difference soever there may be between Adam in innocency and the Saints in the state of regeneration certain it is that holinesse and righteousnesse must needs be the morality of the Law and none can rationally deny but that Adam was endued and invested with these two before his fall By his righteousnesse he was enabled to deale justly with man and by his holinesse he was carried out to know God to love him to delight in him to fear him and to take him as his chiefest good All these particulars expressing the spirituality and purity of the Law do signifie to us that Adam had the Spirit and was a spiritual man before his fall Now let us go on Receiving more by the second Adam than we lost by the first the sons of God are now spiritual which he never was that we can finde Answ That which he writes here doth manifestly contradict what he speaks elswhere for page 383. He plainly sheweth that original righteousnesse in Adam and habitual righteousnesse in the Saints are all one These are his own words if one sinne saith he could naturally and by a physical causalty destroy original righteousnesse then every ones sinne in the regenerate can as well destroy habitual righteousnesse because that and this differ not but in their principle not in their nature and constitution And why should not a righteous man as easily and as quickly fall from grace and loose his habits as Adam did naturally it is all one so farre he To which we answer Adam fell from original righteousnesse because he stood onely by the covenant of workes the Saints do not fall from habitual righteousnesse because they have their standing by the covenant of grace But as to the point in hand original righteousness in Adam and habitual righteousnesse in the Saints he tells us that both are one and the same in essence and constitution and then again he tells us the sons of God are spiritual which Adam never was that he could finde So great a faculty he hath to blow hot and cold in the same breath Now he comes to explicate that Scripture by one man sin entred into the world Rom. 5. c. That sinne saith he entred into the world by Adam is therefore certaine because he was the first man It must needs enter in him because it first comes in by the first Answ It is true that sinne entred into the world by Adam as the first man but it is not the whole truth for in such
doubt but in this list or catalogue he hath respect as well to things that belong to the irascible as to the concupiscible faculty yet all is contained under the notion and name of concupiscence For in the verses immediately going before he exhorteth walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh According to the original it is ye shall not accomplish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the concupiscence of the flesh In the present case then when the Galathians did live in malice envy hateful and hating one another they did fulfill the concupiscence of the flesh And so by this account the lusts both of the concupiscible and the irascible faculty are comprehended more generally under one name and title of concupiscence And all his contrary reasoning is just nothing at all Now let us come to his last Scripture The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishnesse to him 1 Cor. 2.14 Here he bestows much paines to weaken the force of the text An animal man saith he that is a Philosopher or a rational man such as were the Greeke and Roman Philosophers upon the stock and account of the learning of all the Schooles could not discern the excellency of the Gospel-mysteries as of God incarnate Christ dying the resurrection of the body and the like Rep. It s true that the Philosophers aforementioned were such natural or animal men but it is not the whole truth For they that come to Church and publickly professe may be animal men also and in their animality may be far from receiving the things of the Spirit A schoole-boy that is able some way to make a Gramatical construction of the Greek of Euclide and Ptolomy is not presently capable of the mysteries of Geometry and Astronomy That requireth the skill of an Artist as well as of a Gramarian And if the laws of the land were translated into English I think we should not be all Lawyers out of hand So in the present case though all may outwardly own and some may preach the Doctrine and mysteries of salvation this doth not presently entitle them to that kinde of learning that comes only by the teaching of the Spirit Many may speak much of the love of Christ that never had the feeling of it in their hearts Moses tells the people in his time ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive and eyes to see and eares to heare unto this day Deut. 29.24 They did see and they did not see they did outwardly see the works but they did not inwardly believe the truth wisedome goodnesse and power of God For had they seen these things as they ought they could not but have loved the Lord their God and have lived in obedience to his laws So then not only the Greek Philosophers but many Christians also may be called natural or animal men He further sheweth what animality is Animality which is a reliance upon natural principles without revelation is a state privatively opposed to the Spirit and a man in that state cannot be saved because he wants a vital part he wants the Spirit Rep. What he saith here and in the words immediately following is the same in substance that we speak and is extreamly contrary to the designe that he derives at For if in the state of animality a man cannot be saved because he wants the Spirit the chief vital of salvation Why doth he to make religion intelligible deny original sin plead for the freedome of the will and establish the purity of the natural birth We say because a man is borne in original sin and dead in trespasses and sinnes therefore he cannot be saved without the infusion of a new life He saith that a man in his animality cannot go to heaven without the Spirit the chiefe vital of salvation Let a wise man now judge where we and he do differ But to blind the businesse he hath a subtle distinction between carnality and animality Carnality saith he or the state of being in the flesh is not only privatively opposed but contrarily also to the spiritual staee of grace Rep. This expression of his might passe well enough were it not for that which followeth First speaking of the state of animality and then of carnality afterwards he hath these words The first is only an imperfection and a want of supernatural aides the other is indeed a direct state of sin and hated by God but superinduced by choice and not discending naturally Rep. In this expression of his there are two things that need a better enquiry First how doth he prove that the state of animality is only a state of meer imperfection and no more St. James tells us the wisdome from beneath is earthly sensual devilish or according to the original earthly animal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 devilish I think none will say that the animality of this wisdome is a bare imperfection and no more It s positively opposed to the wisdome that is above and can there be a greater enemy to the wisedome above then that which is beneath The Apostle St. Jude also saith that Mockers should come walking after their ungodly lusts These are they that separate themselves sensual not having the Spirit ver 18 19. the word is they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 animal not having the Spirit Now in this case will any man be so void of understanding to affirme that these in their animality were meerly defective and that they were not in a direct state of enmity against God I think none will easily assert it Sure I am many ensamples may be brought to prove the distinction between animality and carnality to be a meer non-ens or nullity Secondly we agree that the state of carnality is a state of sin and hated of God but whereas he saith that it is only superinduced by choice as also that it doth not naturally descend Herein we crave liberty to depart from him The Scriptures all along specially the writings of St. Paul speak of the flesh in opposition to the Spirit Now will he or any man else assert that this is a state meerly superinduced and that men come to be flesh purely by the choice of their own will If this be so how do all come to agree in one and the same choice All do not agree to be Souldiers to be Scholars to be Merchants to be Mariners yet all are flesh before they come to be sanctified by the Spirit Seeing he will not have this state naturally to descend let him assigne some general cause how all do agree to be carnal Necessarily some general cause must lye at the bottome but he further saith Adam did leave us all in an animal state but this is not a state of anmity of direct opposition to God but a state insufficient and imperfect Rep. This state of meer imperfection which he speaks so