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here from the Practice of Ungodliness and Unrighteousness unless they will say that common Grace being abused may be withdrawn and the Sinner by the Judgment of God given up to Obduration Here would be some danger indeed if that Obduration did irresistably determine the Sinners Will to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 Therefore no light can be withdrawn no hardness can be contracted but the Will must still be at liberty to turn to God or not to turn to repent or not to repent at pleasure They have security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
thereby the Affections are sufficiently excited and quickened Nor is there any Depravation in the Mind but what may be cured by common Light such as the most corrupt and wicked men have That which admits so easie a Cure must needs be sleight and little and that little too which they acknowledge is with them neither Sin nor Punishment properly and so not evil at all unless there be some evil which is neither The Depravation of our Natures by the Fall however it be aggravated in Scripture is not in their account properly either our Sin or our Punishment but only our Infelicity and no great Infelicity neither since with them it can be neither spiritual Death nor mortal Disease no nor very considerable Weakness For if it were such a Weakness no Grace would repair it but that which communicates an answerable Strength But that Grace which they think sufficient to repair all gives not any strength at all but supposes there is Power enough in Nature to Recover it self if it be but excited This in a manner makes Christ of none effect The great end of his coming was to Restore our Natures fallen from God and made uncapable of honouring and injoying him Therefore he took our Nature and performed and suffered so much therein But what need all this waste if we can lick our selves whole by vertue of a little common Light and so little not needfull with some of them De Peccat Orig. c. 1â— The great Augustin reduces the whole Christian Doctrine to two Heads the Knowledge of the first Adam and the Knowledge of the Second What we suffered by Adam and what we gained by Christ But tho these be Fundamental in the Christian Doctrine how little they stand for in the Doctrine of Free-will we may hereby perceive And it will be further manifest by another Fundamental which depending on this now insisted on falls with it 5. By this Doctrine there is no need of Regeneration To be Regenerate is in the Language of the Holy Ghost to be born of God Joh. 1. 13. to be born again or born from above Joh. 3. 3. and that is to receive a Principle of Spiritual Life and Motion from God. Vid. Ham. in Joh. 1. 13. But no such Principle is necessary in the Will which indeed most needs it But no Habit of Holiness is planted there no good Quality created in it by the Spirit that they say is a necessitating Act and would be prejudicial to its Liberty The Image of God needs no repairing in the Heart or Will tho' that be the chief Receptacle and Subject of it even the Schoolmen making this the principal Seat of all Vertues It needs no such infused Principle or Quality to incline it to that which is good they will have it able of it self by its own native Power to embrace any good how supernatural soever which the Mind offers to it It can produce the best Acts without any inward Principle suitable or proportionable to them The Tree need not be good that the Fruit may be good or rather it is good enough already it is so naturally The Will or Heart of Man how naught soever the Scripture speaks it representing it to be desperately wicked Jer. 17. 9. and the Fountain of all Wickedness Mat. 15. 19. seems by their Doctrine to be as good by Nature as God can or will make it no worse than it was when first formed It lost no spiritual Qualities or Accomplishments by the Fall for it had none before Collat. Hâ—g p. 248. In spirituali morte non separantur propriè dona spiritualia ab hominis voluntate c. So that all regenerating Grace as to the Will is clearly cashiered Nor will they allow any new Qualities to be infused by the Spirit of Grace into the Mind or Affections Syn. Dor. 196. no more than into the Will for that they say is repugnant to the administration of the Means of Salvation All that they think requisite is common Light such as they deny not to the vilest men nor can well deny to Devils for they discern the truth and goodness of what is proposed in the Gospel by the â—are help of such Light their own Wills can regenerate them so far as they think any Regeneration needfull I find it no easie thing to discern what their Regeneration is The best I can make of it is this The Mind needs no new Birth or Life but what it has from common Light nor do the Affections need any exciting or quickening but what that same effects But tho they count this sufficient quickening they do not call it Regeneration for many thus quickened do live and dye unregenerate It is an act of the Will must do the work and for that the Will must be left to it self The Spirit of God must not touch it must not give it any Principle of Life must not act it by any special or immediate Influence but if of its own accord it turn it self to that which is good the Sinner is thereby born again So that Regeneration is compleated by a little common Light such as the Children of Darkness have and an act of Free-will without any further assistance any other work of the Spirit in or upon it Thus by this one act of Free-will at first they are regenerated actually and afterwards by repeated acts of Free-will they may be regenerated habitually for the Will by repeated Acts can beget gracious Habits and so help them to habitual Regeneration tho they deny the Spirit of Grace can work in them any such thing as Habits or Principles of Holiness Now this is to be born again of the Will of Man not of the Will of God Joh. 1. 13. The Scripture declares that they who are Regenerate are born of God 1 Joh. 3. 9. born of the Spirit Joh. 3. 8. but this is to be born of Free-will not of God nor of the Spirit unless Free-will be God or the Spirit The Apostle says of his own Will begat he us Jam. 1. 18. but they must say Of their own Wills they beget themselves Yet this is all the Regeneration which they count necessary and so make that New-birth a needless thing which the Scripture calls for and describes â—y other Characters and declares all access to the Kingdom of Heaven impossible without it 6. This takes Sinners off from that which is really saving and leads them to â—ake up with that which falls short of Salvation It teaches them to rest satisfied with such a Faith a Repentance a Conâ—ersion a Regeneration as common Light â—nd rational Proposals such as every one â—eets with in the Ministry of the Word â—re sufficient to effect But these alone can â—ever produce any saving Faith or Repenâ—ance any saving Regeneration or Conâ—ersion Those who perswade them that this is â—nough for those saving Effects go about â—o delude Sinners and if they look after â—o more their Souls are like to be ruined â—r
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
in the Will already All that it can justly pretend to is to Excite what it sinds not what it gives It does not it cannot subdue the Wills Corruptions natural and contracted which is its Moral Impotency And that which leaves it Impotent as it found it gives it not Power it plants no Principle of Spiritual Life and Strength in the Will but disclaims these expresly And as it does not give the Power so neither does it give the Act it determins not the Will nor causes it to Act but leaves it to incline as it list when there is no Principle in it to incline it towards that which is Saving and Corruption enough to incline it the other way The Case standing thus if the Will comply with the Terms of Salvation it must be by its own Power since it has no more from above And then in Opposition to the Text Salvation will be of our selves by our own Strength not by Grace nor will Grace which is Saving be the Gift of God For if he give neither the Power nor the Act who can imagine how it can be counted his Gift They may as well say we are Saved by the Power of Nature as that the Conditions of Salvation are to be Performed by such a Power without any other Assistance of Grace 3. No Legal Conditions no Conditions performed by us nor our Righteousness The Righteousness by which we are justified the Righteousness by which we have Pardon or by which we have Right and Title to Salvation Neither Faith nor sincere Obedience are required of us for this end nor can they when Performed by us be any such Righteousness It is Christ and he alone that is our Righteousness it is by his Righteousness and that alone that we are Justified It was he who by his Obedience to Death satisfied Divine Justice and procured Title to Eternal Life It is not pretended that any Performances of ours do or can satisfie Divine Justice nor can it with more reason be pretended that our Performances give us Title to Life Those that say he did not both may as well say he did neither Our Performances may evidence our Title but they give it not nor are the Ground of it It is Christ his Righteousness that is the only Foundation of our Title Rom. 10. 4. The End of the Law i. e. of the Covenant of Works was that Man by the Righteousness of Perfect Obedience might have Title to Eternal Life this being rendered Impossible in Mans fallen and sinful State how shall the End of the Law which the Lord aimed at be attained Why Christ attains the End of the Law by his Righteousness giving Title to Life to those who believe Faith and Obedience are not our Righteousness now as Perfect Obedience was to be in the State of Innocency they are not in the stead of it they have not the Vertue and Office of it they are not Conditions of the Covenant of Grace as that was of the Covenant of Works i. e. They are not the Righteousness by which we are Justified and have Title to Life It is Christ that is the End of the Law for Righteousness to those Purposes and to ascribe that to our Performances which is proper to him is injurious to the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ And how is it of Grace upon these Terms how is the Covenant of the Gospel more Gracious than that of Works It cannot be said that it is more Gracious because it requires and accepts less sincere Obedience being not so much as that which is Perfect For sincere Obedience may be counted as much to Man in his present State of Sin and Impotency as Perfect Obedience in the State of Innocency and Perfection But the transcendent Graciousness of the Gospel Covenant consists not in requiring less Righteousness to give Title to Life than was due at first but in not requiring a Perfect Righteousness of us Personally for that end but providing and accepting that of a surety according to that of the Apostle Rom. 8. 3 4. The Law could not give us Life because being weakened by sin we could not Perform the Perfect Righteousness which is required but what the Law could not do Christ has done giving us Title to Life fulfilling the Righteousness of it in our behalf But does not the Scripture declare that our Obedience is the Obedience which gives Title to Life Rev. 22. 14. I Answer There is a double Right Jus ad rem and Jus in re a Right of Title and a Right of Possession Holy Obedience gives us not the Title but leads us into Possession It gives not the Title for that we have in Justification Rom. 5. 18. Now Obedience is after Justification and so cannot give that which is before it self and does not give that which is given already But it leads us into Possession it is the Way by which we enter so the Word immediately sollowing will have it understood When the Apostle had declared that we are Saved by Grace Eph. 2. 8. and so excluded Works Vers 9. that we may count this to be our Title to Salvation yet he adds Ver. 10. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them These are the Ways wherein we must walk if we will arrive at Salvation but they are not our Title to it as Perfect Obedience would have been in the first Covenant the Law of Works they are not such Conditions they are not our Righteousness upon which our Title is Founded as that was designed to be They are not Legal Conditions 4. Obliging Conditions There is no performance of ours that can of it self oblige the Lord to perform any Promise the reason because it is defective and falls short of what is required And amongst men he that promises upon Conditions is not obliged if the Terms be not duely observed The Law of our Creation required of us perfect Performance and no less than perfect Obedience to God will be due from us while we are Creatures It is true Man now wants Power to answer his Ingagements but that was through his own fault and the Lord does not lose his due because Man sins against him Now being defective and falling short of his Duty it is sinfull and that which is sinfull is to be punished not rewarded as such it has not a Moral fitness for promised Reward that which is sinfull brings the performer under the Curse Gal. 3. it deserves eternal Death Rom. 6. and so cannot oblige the Lord to reward it Upon this account the best performance of any supposed Condition is so far of it self from making any promised Blessing to be due in point of Justice that it cannot make it due in point of Faithfulness That which needs Pardon cannot of it self make any thing due to us but Punishment Our Faith our Repentance our Obedience being sinfully defective cannot as such make any thing