righteous man in the Name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous mans reward e Mat. 10. 41. doubtless he that receiveth an Apostle not only in the Name of an Apostle but as an Angel of God yea as Christ Jesus Himself shall receive a righteous mans reward i. e. Salvation meaning if he shall continue in the same mind and frame of heart unto the end as we have formerly interpreted such Promises of God by express warrant from the Scriptures themselves When he tells them that he is afraid of them lest he should have bestowed on them labour in vain Chap. 4. 11. His meaning doubtless is not that he was afraid they would lose or make shipwrack of an unsound light or Hypocritical Faith such losses whether of our own or of our Friends are no matter of fear unto us but of such a Faith which persevered in would have saved them And to forbear other passages which might readily be produced upon the same account when he speaks thus unto them Ye are abolished from Christ whosoever are justified by the Law i. e. depend upon the works of the Law for your Justification ye are fallen from Grace And again Ye did run well who hindered you that you should not obey the Truth a Gal. 5. 4 7. He clearly supposeth that they had been true Beleevers If they were now fallen from Grace which the Apostle clearly affirmeth they were by depending upon the works of the Law for their Justification it must needs follow that sometimes they were possessed of it and were the children of Grace which also their running well undeniably importeth Whereas therefore saith Musculus upon the place He saith that the Galathians ran well He commendeth their zeal and studiousness in the TRVE FAITH and Religion of Christ signifying withall that they might have attained or reached the mark of true blessedness had they persevered in that which they had well begun b Cum itaque Galatas benè cucurrisse dicit laudat illorum zelum ac studium in verâ fide ac Religione Christi significatque potuisse eos ad verae felicitatis ac salutis metam pertingere si in eo quod bene coeperant perseverâssent Qui à principiis Fidei ac spiritus boni ad per fidiam degenerant omnem suam vitam quae veniae particeps erat mortalem constituunt quales illi sunt qui cum Galatis spiritâ— quidem incipiunt tandem verò carne desinunt Idem Loc. de Peccato Sect. 5. with more of like import Let other Orthodox Expositors be consulted upon these latter together with the former passages mentioned by way of proof that these Galathians were sometimes true and sound Beleevers and they will be found to carry the sence of them to the same point On the other hand several of the said passages with some others do as plainly and pregnantly suppose that at the writing of the said Epistle unto them they were wholly alienated from Christ and had neither part nor fellowship in the great business of Justification by him They were removed from him that had called them into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel They were abolished from Christ they were fallen from Grace they did not obey the Truth Calvin upon the first of these expressions I marvel that ye are so soon removed c. writeth thus He convinceth them of a defection not only from his Doctrine but from Christ Himself For men cannot hold Christ upon any other terms then by acknowledging that by His benefit they are freed from the bondage of the Law c Arguit autem eos defectionis non à suâ Doctrinâ tantum sed à Christo Nam Christum tenere aliter non poterant quà m si agnoscerent ejus beneficio nos manumissos esse à servitate legis Upon the second Ye are abolished from Christ c. thus The meaning is if you seek for any part or piece of righteousness in the works of the Law Christ becomes nothing to you and you are aliens from Grace For their opinion was not so gross as that they thought they should be justified by the alone observation of the Law but they mingled CHRIST and the Law together otherwise PAVL should have had no ground to terrifie them with such threatenings as these What do you mean you take a course to make Christ unprofitable to you you bring His Grace to nothing Thus then we see that we cannot place no not the least part of our righteousness in the Law but we renounce CHRIST and His Grace d Sensus est si quam justiciae partem quaeritis in operibus legis Christus nihil ad vos à gratiâ estis alienati Neque enim tam crassa erat opinio ut solâ legis observatione justificari se crederent sed Christum miscebant cum Lege alioque frustra his minis territaret ipsos Paulus Quid facitis redditis vobis Christum inâ—tilem in nihilum redigitis ejus gratiam Videmus ergo non posse minimam justiciae partem constitui in Lege quin Christo ejus gratiae renuntietur Amongst several other passages looking the same way Musculus upon the former of the last-recited places commenteth in these words He had planted the Galatians and watered them diligently by preaching the Gospel of God unto them and hoped that it would so have come to pass that they would have increased in the Knowledg and GRACE OF CHRIST But whilest He thus hopeth and wisheth they are transplanted or removed from Him in whom they had been planted a Plantaverat Galatas rigaverat diligenter per Evangelij Dei praedicationem sperabatque fore ut crescereÌ„t in cognitione gratiâ Christi Dum hoc sperat optat illi ab eo in quo plantati fucrant transponuntur c. The truth is that several expressions and carriages in the Epistle are so pregnant on the one Hand to evince and prove that when time was they were true and found Beleevers and several others as pregnant as they on the other Hand to prove them at the writing hereof to have been meer nullifidians or persons voyd of all true justifying Faith that Expositors could not lightly but speak them sometimes true Beleevers whilest they had the former places before them and afterwards Persons wholly lapsed from such Faith when they had the latter The case concerning these Galatians being so evident we shall argue it no further but conclude with a brief report of M. Luthers Judgment upon it At first saith He the Galatians heard and obeyâ—d the Truth Therefore when Paul faith Who hath bewitched you He signifieth that now being bewitched by the false Apostles they had FALLEN AVVAY from and forsaken that Truth which formerly they had obeyed b Primò Galatâ— audierant obedierant veritati Ideò cum dicit quis vos fascinavit significat eos per Pseudapostolos fascinatos nunc à veritate cui
of God in such a sence as that wherein we have now interpreted it is not material By that inhibition which was served upon him by the Angel to surcease all further Proceedings in and about the offering up of his Son by death before he was thus offered he clearly enough understood that to have been the sence and minde of God in the said Command which we have asserted So that 6. And lastly It is a clear case that the Explication and account given formerly in this Treatise concerning the Intentions of God or rather concerning the Ground and Reason why Intentions are attributed unto Him is no ways incumbred or disabled by the Instance of Gods Command given unto Abraham concerning the offering up of Isaac notwithstanding Isaac's non-oblation by death There is nothing in this Example to prove that God doth at any time vouchsafe means competent and proper for the bringing of any thing to pass especially when he commands that these means be used accordingly but that he truly and really intends as he is capable of intending any thing the coming to pass thereof Nor can it here with any face of Reason be replyed that by such a construction as we have put upon the words of God in His Command unto Abraham concerning the offering up of his Son when He vouchsafeth means of Salvation unto Men and commandeth them to use them accordingly it cannot be concluded from thence that therefore He really intendeth the Salvation of Men but onely that they should use the said Means to obtain Salvation Because though God in Abrahams case did in His Intentions separate the Means of offering up Isaac from the actual Oblation of Him this not being the end of His Command given unto Him as was said yet He did not separate between the said Means and that which was His true end in the Command which was the Tryal of Abrahams Faith and for the effecting whereof the said Command and all that which was meant thereby was as natural and proper a means as it was for the actual oblation of Isaac by death In like manner when He vouchsafeth Means of Salvation unto Men and commandeth the use of them accordingly He cannot be supposed to divide or separate in His Intentions between the use of these Means and their proper end Salvation there being no other end proper to be effected by the use of the Means of Salvation but Salvation it self or at least none but in conjunction with Salvation And certain it is that there is no man of wisdom who intends the use of such Means which are determinately appropriate to the production of one end and no more or however of no more but onely by and through the production of that one but that He intends the production of this end peculiarly How God may intend the Salvation of Men and yet Men never come to be saved hath been already explained t Cap. 3. Sect. 7 17. and that as I remember more then once and may be yet further opened upon occasion CHAP. XVIII Exhibiteth several Grounds and Reasons whereby the Vniversality of Redemption by Christ or Christs dying for All Men without Exception is Demonstratively evicted ALthough Scripture-Authority be greater then all Demonstration otherwise §. 1. for the Eviction and Confirmation of any Doctrine or Tenet in matter of Religion as simply and in it self so also with those whose Faith mainly or solely beareth upon the foundations of the Scriptures yet have Arguments and Grounds of Reason if they be pregnant and clear a very acceptable influence upon the Judgments and Consciences of Men when they are levyed and drawn up in the nature of Seconds or Assistants to the Scriptures and plead the same cause with them For when a Doctrine or Opinion is held forth as the Minde of God in the Scriptures and Scripture-Authority produced and insisted upon either singly or in consort for the proof thereof in case this Doctrine shall be found to have a fair and clear consistence with the unquestionable Principles of sound Reason there remains no place in the Consciences of Men for fear or jealousie concerning the Truth thereof God Himself being the Author of those noble endowments in Men Reason and Understanding must needs be conceived the Author also of whatsoever truly consorteth with them But in case the Authority of the Scriptures shall be urged and pressed upon the Consciences of Men in defence of such a Doctrine which grates or bears hard upon the common and clear Dictates of that Light which God hath planted in the Souls of Men it is unpossible but that a considering Man should much question such a sence or interpretation which is put upon the Scriptures in such a case The Reason hereof hath been given elsewhere a Epist to the Reader The Premisses considered I judg it a matter of signal consequence in order to the securing the Judgments and Consciences of Men about the truth of the main Doctrine maintained in this Discourse to demonstrate the perfect and clear consistency of it with Grounds of Reason though substantially proved already from the Scriptures yea and satisfactorily also I trust unto those who so understand the Scriptures as not to make either the Wisdom or Justice of God Sufferers by them My Reasons then for the Universality of Redemption by Jesus Christ in reference unto Men are these following If Christ dyed not for all Men without exception in the sence formerly declared §. 2. Argum. 1. then is that Great Covenant of Grace which God hath made with the World and ratified in His Blood made with unknown Persons and such who are no ways exprest in this Covenant neither by Name nor by any other Character or qualification by which they may at least for a long time be known or distinguished But this Great Covenant we speak of is not struck or made with unknown Persons I mean with such who for a long time if ever neither can tell themselves whether they be the Covenanted ones or no nor are capable of any reasonable information hereof by others Therefore Christ dyed for all men without exception The Reason of the former Proposition and the Consequence therein is this because the Elect so called in the common Notion of Election with whom onely this Covenant of Grace is pretended to be made and for whom onely Christ is supposed to have dyed are Persons no ways distinguishable from others neither before at all and very hardly if at all after their Regeneration and Conversion unto God That they are not at all discernable from others before Conversion is evident from several places For we our selves saith the Apostle to Titus meaning who are now so much altered and changed by a work of Grace and Regeneration in us were sometimes viz. before our Conversion foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another b Tit. 3. 3. Certainly these are no
p Heb. 2. 2 3 c. When he saith if we neglect so great a Salvation he expresseth or points at Unbelief in the ordinary and most proper cause of it viz. negligence or contempt of the Gospel and of the Grace therein offered by God unto the World which neglect or contempt are sins highly-offensive and displeasing unto Him This appears yet more plainly in the Parable of the marriage feast or great Supper where upon the report of the servant sent forth to invite the guests of their slight pretences for their not coming the Master of the Feast is said to have been angry and in the heat of His Anger to have said that none of those men that were bidden should taste of His Supper q Luk. 14. 21 24 Besides the sin of Unbelief is interpreted by the Holy Ghost Himself as a giving of the lye to God or which is the same the making of Him a lyar and in this respect it must be a sin highly exasperating and provoking Him and consequently must needs be a sin exposing the sinner unto Condemnation He that beleeveth not God hath made Him a lyar because He beleeveth not the record that God gave of His Son r 1 Iohn 5. 10 This Proposition then being unquestionable viz. that Unbelief and that by way of demerit as well if not rather as any other sin and not by the meer pleasure or appointment of God onely rendereth men justly obnoxious unto Condemnation the Argument of the last Proposal stands impregnable against all assaults and therefore Christ dyed for all Men without exception and not for the Elect onely The Truth of this Conclusion I evince by this Demonstration also If §. 24. Argum. 8. Christ dâ—ed not for all Men but for the Elect onely then did God put the World I mean the generality of Mankinde into a far better and more desirable estate and condition in the first Adam and under the Law of Works then He hath donâ— in the second Adam or under the Law of Grace But this is not so the World was not at first put by God into a better condition in the first Adam or under the Law of Works then it is in the second Adam and under the Law of Grace Ergo. In this Argument I do not apprehend what according to the Principles of our Adversaries themselves can reasonably be denyed The Consequence in the Proposition opposeth none of these Principles For doubtless none of them gainsayeth any of these Positions Either 1. That it is a better and more desirable condition to be in a capacity or under a possibility of being saved then to be in an utter incapacity or under an absolute impossibility of obtaining this Blessedness Or 2. That in the first Adam all Men were alike salvable being all furnished with gracious abilities for the doing of the Will of God and for the observing of that Law upon the observation whereof their Life and Peace depended even as Adam himself was furnished in this kinde with whom all Men stood in one and the same condition Or 3. and lastly That the generality or far greatest part of Mankinde are not brought into a capacity of Salvation by the second Adam no satisfaction or attonement being made for their Sins by Him They who grant these three Conclusions if they be willing to be led by their own light cannot stumble at the Consequence in the Major Proposition Nor can I conceive wherein the Minor should offend them For it is the uncontroverted sence of all Divines as far as yet I understand that the second Adam is far a greater Benefactor to Mankinde then the first Adam was even whilest his innocency remained with him and that the condition of men in general is much better under the second Covenant the Covenant of Grace then it was under the first the Law or Covenant of Works Nor is it at any hand worthy belief that God should put the World into a better estate or posture of well-being in the first Man who was from the Earth earthy then in the second Man who is the Lord from Heaven especially considering that it is the constant method of the Almighty in His Works and Dispensations to begin with that which is less perfect to proceed unto that which is more and to conclude with that which is most perfect of all First the blade saith our Saviour and then the ear and after that in the last place the full corn in the ear s Mark 4. 28 And the Apostle tells us in another case that when that which is perfect is come that which is in part or unperfect shall be done away t 1 Cor. 13. 10 So that it seems that which is perfect is still hindmost in the retinue of Gods Proceedings as Rachel and her children were in Jacobs march when He went to meet his Brother Esau u Gen 33 2 Thus God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by Prophets in these last days hath spoken unto us by His Son x Heb. 1. 1 2 But the path we now speak of hath been so much occupyed and beaten with the feet of the Providence of the most wise God that it is visible enough to all the World As to the Particular in hand viz. that the Grace of God abounds to the World much more in the latter the new Covenant which He hath struck with it in Jesus Christ then it did in the former Covenant made with it in Adam appears as in general by those glorious things that are every where spoken of the latter Covenant above any thing so much as intimated concerning the former so more particularly from that Consideration which the Apostle suggests unto us in this Passage And not as it was by one that sined so is the gift for the Judgment was by one unto Condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto Justification y Rom. 5. 16 Whereas he saith that the Judgment was by one i. e. by reason of or upon the commission of one sin onely as appears from the antithesis in the latter clause but the free gift is of many offences unto Condemnation He plainly informeth us that the first Covenant made with the World in the first Adam was so narrow peremptory and strict that in case any Person of Mankinde should at any time and though but once have tript or step'd aside from any thing commanded therein He became presently a dead man hereby wholly bereft of all hope or possibility of being ever recovered or restored to the Favor of God by means of this Covenant according to that cited by the same Apostle Cursed is every one THAT CONTINVETH not IN ALL things which are written in the book of the Law to do them z Gal. 3. 10 Whereas the Covenant of Grace made with the World in Jesus Christ is as we are taught in the words but the free Gift is
of many offences unto Justification so above measure gracious that though a man sinneth oft yea and this very grievously yet he is not hereby cut off from an Hope of re-enjoying the Love of God nay by the express Tenor of this Covenant he hath assurance from God that upon his Repentance his Sins how many soever of what nature soever shall be forgiven him yea and this sealed unto him by Baptism according to that of the Evangelists John preached the Baptism of Repentance for the Remission of sins a Mark 1. 4 Luke 3. 3 i. e. preached this Doctrine that by that Baptism which he was commanded to administer God did confirm or seal unto Men the Remission of their sins upon their Repentance in such a sence and manner as Abraham is said to have received the sign of Circumcision a seal of the Righteousness of his Faith b Rom. 4. 11 c. i. e. of that Justification or Forgiveness of Sins which God upon and by means of His Beleeving had conferred upon Him This by the way At what door of evasion an escape can be made from the hand of this Argument §. 25. I cannot readily imagine If the Cause we oppose be any ways defensible against it it is by some such Plea as this The World or Mankinde may be said to be put into a better condition by Christ or by the Covenant of Grace then it was by Adam and by the Covenant of Works in as much as a considerable part hereof is by Christ put into such a capacity of Salvation which shall certainly be actuated and so a great number of men certainly saved whereas in Adam though all Men were in a capacity or under a possibility of Salvation yet this capacity was so narrow weak or remote that there was little Hope or probability that any man would be saved by the means or advantage thereof which accordingly as we know came to pass Now is it not better for a Family or other Community of men to have good assurance that some of their members shall have great matters of Honor and Estate bestowed upon them though all the rest were made uncapable of such Priviledges then to be at an uncertainty whether any one of them shall be preferred in this kinde or no To this I answer 1. It is at no hand to be granted that the whole species or generality of Mankind were in Adam invested only with a narrow faint remote capacity of Salvation or of Happiness For 1. They were created in an actual possession of happiness and with the light of Gods countenance shining brightly upon them They were all made upright or righteous c Eccles 7. 29 and in the Image of God d Gen. 1. 27 and so could not be miserable and consequently in no danger or likelihood of becoming miserable for such a condition as this had it self been Misery As for the possibility of becoming miserable with and under which they were created it imported neither danger nor likelyhood of their becoming miserable being nothing else but an essential distinguishing badg of their Creature ship without which they could no more be made then water without moysture or the Earth without a shadow projectible from it 2. Concerning the matter of event nothing can be inferred from hence touching any slipperiness of the place or ground on which they stood in Adam The greatest unlikelyhoods sometimes take place when probabilities vanish and turn to nothing as in the fulfilling of that pair of Predictions by our Saviour Many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first e Matt. 19. 30 The Kings of the Earth saith Jeremy in his Lamentations and all the inhabitants of the world would not have beleeved that the adversary and the enemy should have entred into the gates of Jerusalem f Lam. 4 12 and yet we know they did enter Who would have said that David a man attested by God Himself for a man after His own Heart and one that would fulfil all His Pleasure a man taught by God from his youth g Psal 71. 17 to whom the Statutes and Judgments of God were sweeter â—hen the Hony and the Hony comb h Psal 19. 10 more to be desired then gold then much fine gold i Ibid. a man that had as great delight in the way of Gods Testimonies as in all manner of riches k Psal 119. 14 who was afflicted and ready to dye from his youth up l Psal 88. 15 i. e. sorely deeply and constantly exercised with afflictions from first to last Who I say would have said that such a man as this would together with Adultery have committed Murther and this upon the vilest and most execrable terms that such a sin I suppose was ever known to be committed by any man And yet we know that such a thing was done even by this man So again who would have said but onely He to whom the Darkness and the Light are both alike m Psal 139 12 that Peter a Disciple so zealously devoted unto his Lord and Master whose Heart a little before was set to stand by Him though all mâ—n besides should forsake Him yea rather to dye with Him then deny Him n Mat. 26. 35 should all this notwithstanding soon after noâ— onely deny Him and that upon no great account of danger but forswear Him also once and again and this with a curse o Mat. 26 70 72 74 By these and many like experiments that might be added it sufficiently I presume appears that the miscarrying of all Men in Adam is no sufficient Argument of any deficiency in the foundation of their standing and remaining happy in Him Yea 3. and lastly for this They stood upon as good terms in Adam for the continuance of that Happiness in the fruition whereof they were created and consequently for escaping Death and Misery as men ordinarily wish or desire for the security of their lives their estates and what otherwise is dear unto them For who desireth any better terms of assurance for his life or estate then to be able to defend and make good the one and the other against all assailants that can possibly invade or endanger them and withall to be in a sufficient capacity of knowing or discovering when any attempt or assault shal be made upon them Such a Security as this had all Mankinde in Adam for the perpetuation of that good and happy condition which was their Portion from the gracious and bountiful Hand of their Creator in the day wherein He created them They were endued with strength every ways sufficient to withstand all Tempters and Temptations unto Sin yea and were in a regular capacity to have discovered the approach of any temptation and of whatsoever might endanger them and so to have preserved the unspontâ—dness of their native integrity and consequently to have maintained themselves in an uninterrupted Possession of that rich and
any probable ground whereon to judg that he is Elected If it be objected Yes an unregenerate Person hath the Command of God to beleeve or depend on Christ for Salvation and this is a sufficient ground in Reason for him to do accordingly To this I answer by granting the whole Argument but retrench that if unregenerate Persons have the Command of God to depend on him for Salvation it is upon the ground lately evinced u Sect. 22. of this Chap. above all contradiction viz. that there is Salvation in Him for them and consequently purchased by him for them by his Death For He hath Salvation for no man upon any other account Joh. 12. 24. So that this Objection rather strengtheneth then weakeneth the Doctrine we maintain The Minor Proposition in the Argument last advanced by us which onely affirmeth as to the exigency of our cause that many unregenerate Persons stand bound in duty to beleeve on Christ for Salvation is too rich in evidence to stand in need of Proof For 1. The Scripture saith expresly that God now commandeth all men every where and therefore unregenerate men as well as others to repent x Acts 17. 30 if to repent then to beleeve also in as much as there can be no sound Repentance such as God commandeth without Faith And if so be men yet unregenerate stand not bound in duty or conscience to beleeve on Christ then is it no matter of sin in them to make God a lyar For He that beleeveth not God maketh Him a lyar because he beleeveth not the record God gave of His Son y 1 John 5. 10 meaning that whosoever justifieth or beleeveth God in the record he hath given of his Son must needs beleeve on him viz. because the Tenor of this Record is that whosoever beleeveth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life Now he that beleeveth this can no more refuse or forbear to beleeve on Christ then he can be content eternally to perish or refuse everlasting life as not worthy his beleeving for the obtaining of it But doubtless it is sinful in any man to make God a lyar i. e. either to do or to neglect to do any act by the doing or neglect whereof God is any ways represented as untrue of his Word as he is by any mans non-beleeving on Christ and consequently every man except the before excepted stands bound in duty and conscience to beleeve on Christ. Again secondly If no unregenerate men had any band of Duty or Precept from God lying upon them to beleeve on Christ whosoever of this sort of men should at any time beleeve on Him should super-erogate and do more then what he is by God commanded to do and consequently all Beleevers without exception should be Super-erogators in their first act of Beleeving because until now they were unregenerate Persons But the Proof of this Proposition is I suppose super-erogatory and more then any darkness or doubtfulness in it yea and haply more then our Adversaries themselves require Therefore we pass on to another Argument If God intended not the Death of Christ for all Men and that in order to their §. 27. Argum. 10. Salvation then have not all Men a sufficiency of means vouchsafed â—nto them whereby to be saved But all Men have a sufficiency of means in this kinde vouchsafed unto them Ergo. The Consequence in the former Proposition is pregnant without Proof For it is greater then contradiction that they who have no Propitiatory Sacrifice offered up for them nor Attonement made for their Sins have no sufficiency of means for Salvation So that if God intended no such Oblation no such Attonement for any man or number of men most certain it is that such men are in no capacity of Salvation and consequently can have no sufficiency of means whereby to be saved The truth of the Minor Proposition which avoucheth a sufficiency of means vouchsafed by God unto all Men whereby to be saved might be evidenced by sundry Demonstrations But because the compleat and full Demonstration of this Proposition is one of the most considerable atchievements to be undertaken and managed in the second Part of the Work in hand I shall for the present onely propose some few Considerations for the proof of it respiting the through-arguing of them until that opportunity First then If all Men have not a sufficiency of Means vouchsafed unto them whereby to be saved then God dealeth with men far more districtly and with greater severity in the new Covenant the Covenant of Grace then He did in the first Covenant which was a Covenant of Works The Reason hereof is because in or under the Covenant of Works Men were invested by God with sufficient Means for the performance of that Covenant and so for the obtaining of the great Reward promised or covenanted therein which was no less then eternal Life though possibly not a life so rich in Blessedness as that Covenanted with men in the Covenant of Grace That all Men without exception had a sufficiency of Means in Adam to have persisted in Innocency and to perform all the Articles and Terms required of them in that Covenant which was made with them in Him is the sence of all men learned in the Scriptures as well Modern as Ancient that yet I have heard of nor will it I suppose be denyed by our Adversaries themselves If it should there is proof upon proof at hand to make it good but what needs a levy of men to gain that by force which is voluntarily offered Now then it being far greater rigor and severity to impose such terms or conditions upon a man in order to the saving of his life or for the obtaining of any desirable good which are of an impossible performance unto him then to impose onely such which he hath competent abilities to perform evident it is that God must needs be more â—igorous and hard unto men in the Covenant of Grace made with them in and by Christ then He was in the Covenant of Works made with them in Adam in case it be supposed that He required unpossible Conditions of them in the former and onely such which were possible in the latter But that God dealeth more graciously and bountifully with Men in the second Covenant made with them in Christ then He did in the first which was made with them in Adam is the pregnant result of all things in a manner that God hath spoken unto the World by His Son in the Gospel Nor can our Adversaries themselves deny it without the loud reclamation of Evidence and Truth To pretend that God dealeth more graciously and bountifully with His Elect in the Covenant of Grace then He did in the Covenant of Works but not with the generality of Men is but a slim evasion and supposeth either that the Covenant of Grace is not made with the generality of Men which is a notorious untruth and hath been detected
unto God knowingly wittingly and as it were to His face or as if they knew well enough this Record to have been given by Him and yet would not trust or beleeve Him therein but by their Unbelief at this great Point they are said to make Him a lyar in this sence viz. because they reject that as a fable or untruth which yet hath been spoken and asserted by God Himself for Truth yea and that upon such terms that by a diligent and strict enquiry they might come to a certain knowledg that it was spoken and asserted by Him For otherwise the light of Nature and force of Conscience are scarcely in any man much less in the generality of Unbeleevers so far wasted or spent with sinning as that they can immediately and directly or any otherwise then constructively or in a consequential indirect and remote way call God a lyar Therefore doubtless if Men received no other Power in Adam to beleeve then onely in case of such a Revelation of the Gospel made unto him or them in him by God which he or they must needs know came from God they received no other power of Beleeving in him whilest he stood then what they generally receive by or from Christ since Adams Fall So that to fetch the inexcusableness of Men in the sin of their Unbelief from Adam is to travel to the Indies with extream hazard and expence to bring the same commodity from thence which a man hath and this every ways as well conditioned and in sufficient quantity for his purpose at his own Home 4. If all Men received power in Adam to beleeve savingly or to Justification then must Adam himself needs be supposed to have received this power If so then must it be supposed withall to have been some ways useful beneficial and serviceable for some end and purpose of concernment unto him For to conceive that it was a meer impertinency or superfluity is an unsavory Notion If the power we speak of were any ways useful unto Adam then was it useful either for the enabling him to beleeve unto Justification whilest he remained yet innocent or in case he should fall to carry along with him into his lapsed condition that in this he might be enabled by it to beleeve accordingly But that it was not useful to Him in the former consideration is evident because during His estate of Innocency He remained under a Covenant of Works in which case He neither had any necessity of Beleeving in order to His Justification having not yet sined or if any Necessity in this kinde had been upon Him His Beleeving could not have justified Him in as much as the Law of Justification by Faith was not yet given or published by God Nor was it or could it be useful unto Him in the latter consideration for doubtless He carried nothing saving or justifying with Him out of His estate of Innocency into His lapsed condition which was a condition of Sin Misery and Condemnation especially until the Promise of a Saviour was given and that Trumpet of the great Jubilee had sounded that the Seed of the Woman should bruise or break the Serpents Head a Gen. 3. 15 5. And lastly for this It is no ways probable that Men received power in Adam to beleeve or at least that any such power though received in him is of any account with God to render Men inexcusable under the sin of Unbelief in the days of the Gospel which is of equal conducement unto our purpose because the Holy Ghost assigns other grounds and reasons as we lately heard to assert this inexcusableness but no where gives the least intimation either of any such power to beleeve as we now oppose received by Men in Adam much less of any relation which this Power should have to that inexcusableness of unbeleevers under the Gospel which God hath projected or provided for upon other terms Therefore 2. Suppose it should be granted that Men generally did receive in Adam such a power of Beleeving which is so much contended for yet God having made a second a new Covenant a Covenant of much more Grace Love and Mercy with them whereof substantial and large proof hath been made in the Premisses it is no ways consonant either to the Wisdom of God or to the unsearchable riches of His Grace in this new Covenant that He should proceed in Judgment against them upon any advantage taken from their condition under the first Covenant If men will here be peremptory and say that such proceedings in Judgment against men are consonant enough both to His Wisdom and to His Grace in the new Covenant let them either 1. produce some Scripture to evince such a consonancy or else 2. let them confess and profess that they are in a sufficient capacity by means of that light of Reason Judgment and understanding that shineth in them to judg and conclude what is agreeable to the Wisdom or Grace of God without warrant and direction from the Scriptures To decline both these is being interpreted to profess Will and Obstinacy under the Name of Judgment The former I am certain they cannot do if they do the latter they sin against the first-born of those Principles which they chiefly imploy in the defence and maintenance of their Cause But 3. And lastly for this also The Scriptures themselves as they are altogether silent of any purpose or intent in God to judg or condemn men upon any thing for which they may seem accountable from the first Covenant made with them in Adam so do they frequently mention and assert the Counsel and Purpose of God to proceed in the Judgment and Condemnation of Men by the Gospel and upon such Articles relating to the Covenant of Grace of the neglect or breach whereof Men shall be found guilty He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the WORD THAT I HAVE SPOKEN THE SAME SHALL JVDG Him in the last day a John 12 48 He doth not say the Word that I have spoken shall judg Him c. but THE SAME shall judg Him c. which doubtless hath this emphatical import that the Word which He hath spoken since His coming in the flesh or in the Gospel and no other word whatsoever but this shall judg Him i. e. be insisted upon to evict Him guilty or worthy of Condemnation As for all that the Apostles spake in their preaching the Gospel and what other Ministers thereof speak in theirs so far as they preach the Truth of the Gospel or that which being neglected will render men liable unto Judgment is constructively and in effect but the same Word with that which Christ taught and spake in the flesh In like manner the Apostle Paul speaking of himself and his fellow-Apostles and all Ministers of the Gospel expresseth himself thus For we are unto God a sweet or the sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that
Election 461. Dyed sufficiently for all and intentionally also 464 465 Christs Death in what sence necessary 14 For what end necessary 436. It prepared him for an Head Ibid. Chrysostom for Falling away 372 372 c. For general Redemption 529 530 Clemens of Alexan for general Redemption 537 Concurrence how God concurs in defective actions p. 6. His concurrence the same in different yea contrary actions 5 Conscience Testimony of Conscience when authentique 159. Good Conscience always from Faith 353 354 Consent sinning without full consent not a distinguishing character of Regeneration 326 327 Covenant of Grace not made with Christ 458 Not more district or severe then that of Works 498. Covenant unproper to be made with unknown persons 454 455 Conditional Assurance the main or proper end of a Covenant Ibid. Promiseth noting to uncovenanted persons 457 Councils and Synods for general Redemption 544 545 c. Create created c. all things created at once by God 49 50 c. Creator the relation of a Creator very promising 71. much endearing 72 Cyprian for Vniversal Redemption 536 For Falling away 375 Cyril of Alexandria for general Redempt 540 Cyril of Jerusaleâ— 532 D DAvid his condition under his impenitency 346 347. His Repentance necessary to Salvation Pag. 348 349 Dr Davenant makes justifying Faith to stand in assent 401. For Vniversal Redemption 560 Decrees of God what 34 35. all in a sence absolute 65. No Decrees of things unapproved 473 J. Deodat for Falling away 393 Desires how attributed to God 37 Determine simple Beings determined by God three ways p. 7. Gods conditional Determinations in what sence absolute 15 Devils why unredeemable 484 485 c. Punished onely for the first sin 499 Didymus for Vniversal Redemption 533 Dis-membering no dishonor to the Body of Christ 327 328 Dort Synod 84. Self-contradiction 546 547 c. Remonstrants in the Doctrine of Perseverance 395 396 c. and therefore self-condemned 400 401 c. Arguments of this Synod for limited Redemption 565 566 c. Remonstrantizeth in the point of General Redemption 546 547 A sad Notion of this Synod 548 549 E EIs sometime for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hath a causal signification 441 Elect or chosen what it sometimes signifieth 244. Who are Elect in the Scripture notion 418. How no need that Christ should dye for them 459 Election Decree of Election what 244 In what sence men are said to be Elected from Eternity Ibid. In what sence not 45 244. Election of species not particular persons 64. The common Doctrine of Election flat Socinianism 460. makes Christ to have dyed in vain 461 Epiphanius for Vniversal Redemption 535 Eternal Life inchoate perfect 232. Eternal things in what sence before things in time 50 51 Events hurtful not determined by God 25 are not always signs of probabilities 494 Eusebius for Vniversal Redemption 352 Excuse i 〈…〉 ility for performance the best 503 Exhortations made useless by the common Doctr of Perseverance 301 302 c. F FAith justifying what according to the Scripture 396. according to orthodox Writers 398 399. Faith temporary the same for kinde with that which justifieth 292 293. Three degrees of Faith according to the Fathers 369 Faithfulness of God towards his Saints what it is and wherei it consisteth 236 237 Falling away a Doctrine richly sympathizing with the Spirit and so with the joy and peace of the Saints 338. A Principle of singular and frequent use in matters of Religion 394 395. Owned and made use of by the greatest Saints upon occasion ib. Fear occasion of many inconveniences 154 Not unworthy the greatest Saints to act out of a Principle of Fear 312 313 c. As natural a fruit of Faith as Love it self Ibid. How not servile 315. hath no torment 316. Not occasioned bythe Doctrine of Falling away 336. What Fear necessary for Saints 175 176 Foreknowledg not properly in God 28 29 the Object of it 39. No disparagement to his goodness 424 425 c. His foreknowledg of the event doth not precede that act of his upon which the Event followeth Ibid. Foresight God foreseeth without determination 23 26 G GIve what it signifieth in Scriputre 118 God respecteth onely mens present condition whether of sin or righteousness 514 How at liberty to shew Mercy 482 483 487. Taketh men off from vain dependencies 491 492. Doth not insult over miserable men in his Exhortations 509 510 Good and goodness what signifie in Scripture 287 Gospel a Doctr according to Godliness 333 Grace what properly is an Act of Grace 484 The highest pitch of the efficacy thereof 427 Gregorius Magnus for general Redempt 542 Greg Nyssen for general Redemption 534 Gualter defines Justifying Faith by assent 400 H HAgue Conference 181 Heathen power to beleeve 507 Hell Punishment everlasting 434 Hilarius for general Redemption 531. seems to favor the Opinion of those who hold that the punishment against Adams sin consisted onely in a temporal death Ibid. Hope what hope or confidence it is that is the spur unto action 242 I JErom for General Redemption 529 Illumination proper to the Saints 283 Impossibility six several significations 289 Infants see Baptism and Children Intentions of God antecedent and consequent see Consequent How ascribed to God 32 37 447. How differ from Desires and Decrees Ibid. How never defeated 215 What towards wicked men in outward mâ—rcies 411 412. In what sence they may be defeated 22 35 215 434 Intercession of Christ for the Saints how 248 249 Interchange of Members between Christ and the Devil no dishonor to Christ 328 Ireneus for Falling away 370 371. For General Redemption 538 Jubilee a type of General Redemption 521 522 c. Judas supposed by many ancient Writers to have been sometimes a good man 361 373 374 Junius for Falling away 393 Justifying Faith see Faith Justine Martyr for Vniversal Redempt 538 K 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Preposition what it importeth 243 244 Knowledg not properly in God yet morae properly then Foreknowledg 29 30. Why or how attributed to him Ibid. How perfect 431 L LEo Magnus for General Redemption 541 Life lives of men prorogable or abreviable by themselves 8 Love of God how unchangeable 63 64 278 Luther defineth Justifying Faith by assent to the Word of God p. 399. For Falling away 384 386. For Vniversal Redemption 551 552 M MAcarius for Falling away 376 P. Martyr for universal Redemption 556 Means how God willeth the means as well as the end 184 185. God hath more ends then one in his vouchsafement of the means of Grace 426 427 Melancthon for Falling away 385. defineth Justifying Faith by assent 400. For Vniversal Redemption 549 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to abide what it importeth 397 Mollerus for Falling away 394 Musculus for Falling away 390. Defineth Justifying Faith by assent 400. For universal Redemption 555 c. Mutability no disparagement to the Creature 343 N NAture what it signifieth 518 Natural actions rather rewardable then
from death which by the Law of God ought to die with many the like which have proved snares of dishonour and of danger unto them otherwise in like manner some men desirous to commend themselves unto God as men zealous for his glory more then others study and invent Notions and Senses of some Scripture expressions to bestow upon him in the name of Prerogatives which they presume are much for his honour and glory in the World which yet upon due consideration are found most unworthy of him and of a broad inconsistency with his glory indeed For what relish or savour of honor or glory unto God can there be in bringing him upon the great Theater of the World speaking thus I will cast out of my favour and devote to everlasting burnings to torments Endlesse Easlesse Intolerable Insupportable thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousands of my most excellent Creatures Men Women and Children though they never offended me otherwise then Children may offend many thousands of yeers before they are born yea though I thus in the secret of my Counsell intend to leave them irrecoverably to the most exquisite torments that can be endured and these to be suffered by them to the dayes of eternity without all possibility of escaping though they shall do the uttermost they are able to please Me and to reconcile themselves unto Me yet will I in words speak to their hearts Proclaime and Professe my Self unto them to be a God mercifull and gracious long suffering and abundant in Goodnesse and Truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sinne a Exod. 34. 6 7. I will entreate them with bowells and great compassions and Professe my Self aggreived in Soul because of their impenitency I will allure them to Repentance with all my great and Precious Promises of Pardon of sin of life and glory and all the Great things of the World to come yea I will most seriously and solemnly Protest and Sweare unto them by the greatest Oath that is even by my own Life and Being that I desire not their Death b Ezek. 33. 11 Can Men indued with reason and understanding or that know in the least what belongeth to matters of honour and glory resent or savour any thing in such Proceedings as these that is like to make a Prerogative worthy the Name Glory and Super-Transcendent Holinesse and Excellency of God Most certaine it is that there is nothing in God nothing that proceeds from him but what is both Divisim and Conjunctim and that according to the Principles of Reason and that light of understanding which Himself shineth in the hearts and consciences and inward Parts of Men just matter of Praise Honour and Glory unto Him of which more ere long But 2. That Prerogative or Prerogative-Will as some call it which §. 36. God stands upon in the Scriptures and claimes to Himself as a Royalty annexed to the Crown of Heaven and Earth either in the ninth to the Romans or elsewhere in reference to the condemnation and eternall destruction of his Creature standeth not in any Liberty or Power claimed by him to leave what Persons he pleaseth to inevitable ruine only upon consideration of Adams sin much lesse before or without any such consideration but to make the Lawes Terms and Conditions as of life so of death as of Salvation so of Condemnation and these indifferently and equally respecting all Men not such as Men are apt to think meet and fitting for him to doe but what Himself Pleaseth i. e. Such as the Counsell of his own Will adviseth and leadeth Him unto For He is said not to act or Worke all things or any one thing simply according to his own Will but to work all things according to the Counsell of his own Will c Eph. 1. 11. So that in whatsoever God acteth or willeth we are to look not only for Will but Counsell i. e. Wisdom and Tendency unto ends worthy of him and these discernable enough as was lately said by Men to be such if they were diligent and impartiall in the consideration of them As for example the Jewes thought it most equall reasonable and best becomming God that he should constitute and ordain the observation of Moses his Law to be the Law of Justification Life and Salvation unto Men and the neglect or non-observation of this Law to be the Law of condemnation and of death God here interposeth with his Prerogative and declares to them that his Will and Pleasure is otherwise and that he Constitutes and Ordaines Faith in his Son Jesus Christ to be the Law of Justification and Life whether joyned with the observation of Moses Law or without it and on the other hand unbelief to be the Law of condemnation and of death though in conjunction with the strictest observation of Moses Law This Prerogative indeed God Himself pleads and asserts to Himself with a majestique and God-like authority speaking thus to Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion an whom I will have compassion a Rom. 9. 15. as if he should say Men shall not prescribe unto Me Lawes or Terms of shewing Mercy I will not be advised or obliged by them whom i. e. what manner of persons or how qualified I shall justifie and save I mean to follow and to keep close to the Counsell of mine own Will in these great and most important affaires which concern the Life and Death the Salvation and Destruction of my Creature The same prerogative The Apostle also vindicateth unto him afterwards in the same Chapter in the similitude of a Potter Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same lump to make one Vessell unto honour and another unto dishonor b Rom. 9. 21. meaning that God had a like equitable Power or Prerogative over the great masse of Man-kind in Adam to make what Lawes of Life and Death unto them he pleased and to appoint who or what manner of persons should be saved and what manner of persons should be condemned which the Potter hath over the lump of Clay which is before him to make what Vessells he pleaseth for honour and what again he pleaseth for dishonour But of this passage as also of that vers 18. we shall speak more at large towards the close of the Discourse where we intend an intire Explication of the 9th to the Romans from the beginning of vers 6. to the end of the 23. In the mean time let this be taken along by way of caution about what hath been delivered in this Section viz. that though the Jewes thought it most equitable and most beseeming God to justifie Men by the works of the Law rather then by Faith in Jesus Christ which notwithstanding was the Counsell and good pleasure of God about Justification yet this Counsell and good pleasure of God especially being from time to time so signified unto them by
implacable that doe not forgive their Brethren although they have been diversly and grievously injured by them In these words they clearly suspend the Gracious Act of God in Remission of Sins in respect of the ultimate and compleat exercise of it upon the Christian deportment and behaviour of Men in forgiving one another their Trespasses How perfectly it stands with the immutability of God the unchangeablenesse of his love the unalterablenesse of his counsells and generally with all his Attributes to Reverse Acts or Grants of favour to re-demand debts once forgiven c. shall be cleer'd in the processe of the Digression following occasioned by the contents of this Chapter CHAP. IX Containing a Digression about the commonly received Doctrine of Perseverance occasioned by severall passages in the preceding Chapter wherein the benefit and comfort of that Doctrine which teacheth a possibility of the Saints declining even to destruction is avouched and cleerly evicted above the other NOtwithstanding the frequently experienced Truth of the common saying §. 1. pessimus Consiliarius Timor Fear is a very bad counsellor yet is it very incident to the natures of Men never to thinke themselves wiser then in their feares nor to be more importunely wedded to any apprehensions then those which they conceive to be sovereigne for the prevention of evill With what height of confidence and unrelentingnesse of judgement did the Jewes please themselves in their opinion of justification by works through an apprehension that they must needs disclaime or reject Moses and the authority of his Law or Writings in case they admitted the Doctrine of Paul concerning Justification by Faith Whereas this Apostle expresly poves and demonstrates unto them that this Doctine of his was so far from reflecting prejudice in the least upon Moses his Law that indeed it did establish it i. e. avouch the Truth and authority of it a Rom. 3. 31. and cap. 4. thoroughout yea I verily believe that a very considerable part of those Doctrines and Tenents which are at this day held by Professors of Christian Religion are not maintained or held by them so much upon any evidence or confidence they have of their Truth upon those positive grounds whether from Scripture or Reason which they comonly plead for them as out of apprehensions and conceits that the contrary Doctrines are of evill consequence and will in one kinde or other doe them harme in case they should give intertainment to them Lactantius reports that one principall thing which intangled the Heathen with Idolatry or worse shiping of Idols was a certaine feare or conceit that possessed them that all their Religion or devotions would be in vaine in case they saw not with their eyes something that they might worship b Verentur geâ—tes ne Religio vana sit si nihil videant quod adorent Tertullian as Austin reports who held the Soul to be corporeall or a body held it upon the account of this feare least if he made not a body of it he should make nothing at all of it a â—enique Tertullianâ— qui cor pâ—â— esse unâ—am credâ— dit non obaliud nisi quod eam incorporeâ—m cogita re non potuit â—dâ—ô timuit ne nihil esset si corpus non esset Aug. de Gen. ad lit l. 12. c. 25. The ancient Jewes Mr. Brightman affirmeth it held it not meet for young Men to read the Book of the Canticles out of a feare they would receive harm by it b In Cantic p. 5. Mercer likewise relates that the Ancient wise Men of this Nation judged it best to restraine the common People from reading the Booke of Ecclesiastes out of a conceit that it both contradicted it selfe and other parts of Scripture likewise c Nec vulgo legendum tradere quòd repugnantia contineret aliis libris contraria Mercer in Pro. 8. 9. Luther it is sufficiently known rejected the Epistle of James out of a conceit that it contradicted the Doctrine of Paul concerning Justification by Faith only And severall others both learned and good Men some the second Epistle of Peter some other pieces only or chiefly upon the like account of fear Concerning the Doctrine which maintaineth a possibility of defection in §. 2. the Saints themselves or true Believers unto destruction though I am not ignorant but that many both Texts of Scripture and arguments otherwise have been levied and are wont to be brought into the field against it yet I verily believe that that which makes Professors generally so impatiently zealous in their opposition to it is not so much any satisfaction they finde either in these Scriptures or arguments for the Proof of that which is contrary unto it as their inconsiderate and tumultuary feares least this Doctrine should bereave them of those inward accommodations of Peace and Comfort which they conceive themselves to be befriended with by the other In this respect being little lesse then necessitated for the securing of some passages in the former Chapter very materiall for the carrying on the maine designe of this Discourse to ingage a little about the Doctrine of Perseverance I conceive it best in my entrance hereupon to remove this stumbling stone out of the way and to demonstrate not only that this Doctrine hath every whit as faire and full a consistency with the Peace and Comfort of the Saints as that contrary to it but that of the two it is of a far better and more healthful complexion to make a Nurse for them When we have cleared the innocency and inoffensivenesse of it in respect of the Peace and Comfort of Men and so shall have reconciled it unto their affections it will be no great mastery I conceive to gaine in their judgements unto it afterwards And 1. I must crave leave the truth and deere interest of the precious Soules §. 3. of Men so commanding me to say and to affirme that the Doctrine of preseverance so much magnified amongst us as it is comonly taught and received is in the nature and proper tendency of it very obstructive yea and destructive unto the true peace and sound comfort of Soules For if we shall diligently inquire after the common and ordinary causes of those doubts and feares so incident to Professors of Religion as also of those extreme burnings and ragings of Conscience wherewith both such persons and others are sometimes most grievously handled and tormented we shall finde them if not universally yet generally and with very few cases of exception to be these with their fellowes negligence and slothfullnesse in watching over their hearts and wayes omission of known duties formality in services unprofitablenesse in their course and callings non-proficiency in Grace and especially the frequent prevailings breakings out of base corruptions vile affections noysome lusts c. Therefore what Doctrine soever is in the Native Frame and Constitution of it apt to lead men into such snares of Death to fill
given unto them or conferred upon them upon the performance of such and such Conditions as the Covenant specifies And this clearly and without controversie is the end I mean the proper and immediate end for there are several ends besides this of the Covenant of Grace established in the Blood of Jesus Christ viz. to give Assurance unto the Sons and Daughters of Men that upon their Faith and Repentance and their Perseverance in both unto the end they shall have Salvation and Eternal Life conferred upon them If so be a man hath an absolute unlimited and right-out Purpose or Intent to confer such or such things upon men a Covenant is but an unsavory and superfluous thing because a man may confer or give what he pleaseth to another without it So if God had a simple and absolute Intention to confer the Great things of Heaven upon Men I mean without the performance of such and such Articles or Conditions as we speak of the making of a Covenant with them had been in vain Therefore the proper end of a Covenant is to assure or to secure those that are Covenanted with that upon the performance of the Articles of the Covenant the good things mentioned therein if it be a Covenant of Good things shall be exhibited and given unto them Now then this being the end of a Covenant if the Persons interessed and concerned in it or Covenanted with should not be known who they are they cannot partake of this end nor be any whit the better or more secure in their mindes touching the enjoyment of the good things mentioned in the Covenant upon any performance whatsoever because the good things mentioned in a Covenant cannot be claimed or expected by any but onely by the Persons Covenanted with though they should perform the terms or conditions specified in the Covenant ten times over If the Trumpet saith the Apostle give an uncertain sound who shall prepare 1 Cor. 14. 8. Himself to the Battel In like manner if the Covenant of Grace speaks unto Persons unknown both to themselves and others and holds forth Life and Salvation onely unto such both men and women as no man can say or tell who they be how shall any man or woman be excited provoked or engaged either by the tender of the Covenant unto them or by the great and excellent things therein promised conditionally to take hold of the Covenant as the Scripture speaketh i. e. to perform the Conditions therein required If it be said Yes the Covenant is to be preached and tendered unto all §. 3. without exception of any and assurance is therein given unto all that upon performance of what is there required the good things there promised shall be given unto them So that there is ground and encouragement enough howsoever for every man and woman without exception to beleeve To this I answer It is true the Covenant is to be preached and tendered unto all without exception and there is ground and encouragement enough for every man without exception to beleeve but both these clearly suppose that the Covenant is made with all Men without exception of any and consequently that the Death or Blood of Christ which is the ground work and foundation of this Covenant extendeth unto all No Covenant offereth any thing insureth any thing upon what terms soever but onely unto those that are Covenanted with and comprehended in the Covenant When a man covenanteth with such or such a work-man to give him so much or so much as suppose five or ten shillings by the day this Covenant doth not binde him to give the like wages to another What is the reason why the Covenant of Grace or the Gospel doth not offer or insure Grace and Salvation to the Devils as well as to all manner of men whatsoever upon their beleeving Doubtless because the Devils are not within the number of the Covenanted ones nor of those unto whom Grace and Mercy were intended upon the terms of the Gospel and this because the Death of Christ which is the ground of the Covenant doth not in the attoning vertue of it reach unto them the sphere of whose activity in this kinde is limited and bounded by the Will and Pleasure of God And certainly if Reprobates so called amongst men I mean such who in fine perish everlastingly had no more interest then the Devils have in the Death of Christ there were no more ground or reason why the Covenant or the Grace thereof should be more preached unto them then to the Devils nay there were less reason of the two why it should be preached unto them then why it should be preached to the Devils at least according to the Principles of that Opinion which we oppose because if preached to the Devils though it did them no good it would do them no harm it would not increase their condemnation whereas the preaching it to such men as we speak of can onely encrease their misery and torment This for our first Argument If Christ dyed not for all then is the Covenant in his Blood made but with some men and these altogether unknown even to themselves which as hath been shâ—wed is contrary to the nature end and scope of a Covenant I shall not trouble the Reader with that impertinent Objection and uncouth Notion of Christ being the onely Person with whom the Covenant is made What other Covenant soever may be found to have been made by God with Christ certainly that Covenant we speak of viz. wherein Remission of Sins and Deliverance from the Wrath to come are promised upon Repentance and beleeving in Christ was not made with Christ himself God never said unto Christ Repent and beleeve and thou shalt have thy sins forgiven and be saved Therefore the Covenant made with Christ if any such thing be or were is altogether irrelative to our present Argument Nor doth that of the Apostle Galat. 3. 16. prove that Christ in a personal consideration is the onely Person or indeed any person at all with whom the Evangelical Covenant is made The Tenor of the place is this Now to Abraham and his seed were the Promises made He saith not and to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ First It is evident from this place that Christ is not the onely Person to whom the Promises here spoken of are made because they are expresly said to be made to Abraham as well as to Christ Now TO ABRAHAM and His seed were the Promises made c. Therefore 2. The word Christ in the latter clause is to be taken Metonymically for those who spiritually descend from him and are born of him by Faith in such a sence as the words Jacob and Israel frequently signifie Jacobs seed or posterity i. e. the whole Nation of the Jews in the Old Testament In such a sence the same word also Christ is to be understood 1 Cor. 12. 12. For as the
He had of His Christ and that most gracious and wise contrivement of Him in order to such a Purpose which was before Him He framed and made within Himself from the days of Eternity or before the foundation of the world The Purposes or Intentions of God concerning such and such Acts or Dispensations are very usually in Scripture expressed by the Names of the Acts or Dispensations themselves as likewise the Purposes or Intentions of Men are after the same manner Thus Rom. 8. 30. Rom. 8. 30. God is said to have glorified those whom He intends or hath decreed to glorifie Thus also 2 Tim. 1. 9. and again Tit. 3. 5. He is said to have 2 Tim. 1. 9. Tit. 3. 5. saved those who were not actually saved but onely under His Purpose of saving them to omit many the like So in the Scripture in hand He is said to have chosen us before the foundation of the world because He purposed or decreed before the foundation of the World to chuse us Well but what was the Nature or Tenor of this Purpose or Decree of His concerning our Election or how and in what sence it is said to have been in Christ as the Apostle here asserts it to have been According to the most usual and proper signification of the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in in such a construction that is said to be done in Christ which is done by means of Him or for His sake or by the meritorious influence or contribution of His Death and Sufferings by way of motive towards the doing of it In this sence the Preposition is used a Verse or two after a place that will give light to the phrase in hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to Ephes 1. 6. the praise of the glory of His Grace whereby He hath made us accepted in His Beloved i. e. hath made us dear and neer and precious to Himself by means of the Death Satisfaction and Attonement made by His Beloved Son for us By the way if the Grace of God it self and that in the glory of it in which consideration the Apostle here speaks of it doth no other ways upon no other terms render us accepted with Him but onely in and through His Beloved viz. as having made our Peace by the Attonement of His Death for us then were we not so highly accepted with Him through any Purpose of Election especially if we shall conceive this Purpose of Election to have been conceived in God before and without all consideration of the Death of Christ as the common Notion of Election suggesteth So then God is said to have purposed our Election or chusing in Christ because His Purpose was to separate elect and chuse those who should beleeve in Christ for his sake in whom they beleeve to Salvation This Interpretation might be much cleared and confirmed by the opening of these words which we had not long since in hand Rom. 9. 11. That the Purpose of God according to Election Rom. 9. 11. might stand not of works but of him that calleth The Purpose of God according to Election i. e. that Purpose Counsel or Decree of God according unto which or in conformity whereunto He ordereth and manageth His Election of Persons in time is here described 1. Negatively not of works 2. Affirmatively in these words but of him that calleth When the Apostle denies the Purpose of God according to Election to be of works his meaning clearly is that God did not purpose to elect separate or chuse those men to eternal Life who should seek their Justification by the works of the Law Again when he affirmeth this Purpose of God according to Election to be of him that calleth meaning of God himself who calleth Men to Justification and Salvation his meaning as clearly is that the Tenor of Gods Purpose according unto which he means to elect and chuse Men and Women to eternal Life is this viz. to make choyce of those for this blessed end and purpose who shall beleeve in his Son Jesus Christ or seek their Justification by Faith This Purpose is said to be of Him that calleth in opposition to a Being of Works because a Purpose according to Election which should be of Works is the Purpose of them that are called viz. Men they conceive and think that God should purpose and intend to chuse those only unto life who should be diligent Observers of the Law and seek their Justification that way but now the Purpose of God according to Election is not formed or shaped according to the sence or Notion of those that are called who generally pitch upon Works but according to the sence and minde of God Himself who calleth who as we know hath declined Works for such a purpose and hath chosen Faith So that the Apostles meaning in this Antithesis not of Works but of Him that calleth is plainly this not of Works but of Faith Faith and Works being famous Antagonists or Competitors in the writings of this Apostle for Justification the one as set up by God the other by Men. The same Interpretation of the phrase who hath chosen us in Christ may be yet further strengthened by that in Peter Elect according to the Foreknowledg of 1 Pet. 1. 2. God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ First he saluteth them as persons Elect or chosen according to the Foreknowledg or Pre-approbation as we have formerly observed the word frequently to signifie of God the Father i. e. as persons so qualified or as having obtained such an estate and condition wherein God the Father from Eternity judged it meet to Elect or chuse the persons of men unto Salvation or to estimate and account men meet or worthy eternal Life In this sence he terms them Elect according to the Foreknowledg or Fore-approbation of God meaning that their present condition in beleeving did according to the Tenor of the eternal Counsel and Purpose of God in that behalf separate between them and the generality of the world who in respect of their unbelief were looked upon by him and adjudged as the refuse of Men in comparison of them and in their present posture unmeet to have Salvation conferred upon them 2. He particularly describeth what that qualification or condition is which God foreknew or fore-approved as meet for Him to regulate His Election of the Persons of Men by and wherein now they were invested and consequently Elected in those words through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling c. His meaning is that they through the assistance and gracious co-operation of the Spirit of God were now brought to yeeld Obedience unto the Gospel to beleeve in Jesus Christ as he who by his Death had purchased Remission of sins for them c. implying that such an estate and condition as this Sanctification by the Spirit c. is
where I apprehend strength and shew all submissive reverence to that which is above me Yea God knoweth that one Reason moving me to exhibit beforehand in the close of this first part a Particular of matters to be handled in the second was that in case any Friend of the contrary Doctrine conceives that he hath somewhat more pregnant or convincing on the behalf of his Opinion either from the Scriptures or otherwise then any thing that I have yet taken into consideration or intend to give satisfaction unto he might have the opportunity of representing the same either privately unto me if he please or otherwise publiquely unto the World By occasion of the Objection or Argument mentioned in the fourteenth place we shall by way of Digression lanch forth into the deep of the Great Question concerning Personal Election and Reprobation and soberly enquire whether the Scriptures do any where hold forth or teach any such Decree of Reprobation in God from Eternity whereby the persons of such and such men or of such a determinate number of men before any actual or voluntary sin perpetrated by them and without any respect had to such Perpetrations be decreed by him to be left under an unavoydable necessity of perishing everlastingly Here also we intend tenderly to enquire what the Scripture teacheth concerning the Estate of Infants and more particularly whether it can be substantially proved from them that any Infant or Infants whatsoever dying before the commission of Actual Sin are adjudged by God unto Hell fire In my Answer to the Argument propounded in the fifteenth place I shall take occasion digression-wise also to enquire into and discuss the Great Question about Universal Grace viz. whether God vouchsafeth not unto all Men without exception a sufficiency of power or means whereby to be saved Within the verge of this Debate we shall modestly enquire whether God doth not vouchsafe unto all Men the same or a like sufficiency at least in a Geometrical proportion of means whereby to be saved And because amongst other Scriptures the nineth Chapter of the Epistle §. 9. to the Romans is frequently and this in very many places and passages of it brought upon the Stage of these Controversies and Disputes and more particularly supposed to deliver impregnable grounds for such a personal Election and Reprobation which we apprehend the Scriptures generally yea and in this very Chapter as plainly to oppose as many men do confidently avouch we therefore intend a particular and entire Explication of this Chapter by it self Yea I am under some present inclination of thoughts to engage upon this in the first place and to publish it by it self before I put hand to the greater Work But in this I shall willingly be determined by the advice of Friends Concerning the Testimonies of the Fathers usually produced in way of discountenance to the avouched Doctrine of this Discourse I judg the Transcription of them no ways necessary until we come to give Answers unto them and therefore shall not encumber the Readers Patience with them here Unto whom in stead thereof I shall address my self in this double Request 1. That he will please so far to comport with his own Interest and mine as to strive by fervent and frequent Prayer to interess God himself in the Composure of the Work intended that through much of his presence with me in the framing and enditing of it if yet his good pleasure shall be not to judg a proportion of life and health for the finishing of it too high a dignation for me all my insufficiency for so great an Undertaking may be drowned so as not to appear in one kinde or other to the loss or disadvantage of any man that shall please to bestow his time in the Perusal of it or of any part of it and that I may be enabled from on high to bring forth the Truth in those high Mysteries which I shall be occasioned to search into therein out of that thick Darkness which at present is spred by men round about them into a clear and perfect Light that so they may become more savory more wholesom and better-prepared nourishment for the understandings and Consciences of the generality of men amongst us then they have proved hitherto My second Request to the Reader with which I shall discharge him at the present is that he will make such a Covenant with his Expectations and Desires as not to look for the publishing of the second Part of this Work till after such a time which may be reasonably judged competent for a man of a slow genius in writing on the one hand and of almost continual diversions through by-employments on the other hand to raise and finish such a Building as that in Reason may be presumed to be FINIS A Table of such Texts of Scripture unto which some Light more or-less is given in the foregoing Discourse besides many others occasionally cited therein Note Because from pag. 153 to pag. 168 inclusively the Folio's are mis-figured that the Reader may not suffer hereby in his use of the ensuing Tables he is desired to take knowledg that the Particulars falling within the compass of those Pages are directed unto by their respective Chapters and Sections and not by the Number of their Pages as the rest are GEnes 1. 3. And God said Let there be Light Page 49 1. 6. let there be a Firmament Ib. 1. 9. let the waters under the Heavens be gathered c. Ibid. 2. 4. In the day that the Lord created Heaven and Earth c. 58 6. 6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man c. 152 39. 9. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin c. 261 Lev. 25. 10. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year proclaim liberty throughout all the Land to all the inhabitants thereof c. 521 25. 13. In the year of this Jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession Ibid. Num. 21. 8. Make thee a fiery Serpent and set it upon a pole c. 520 Deut. 13. 11. And all Israel shall hear and fear and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you 20 17. 12 13. And the man that will do presumptuously even that man shall dye and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel And all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously 216 1 Sam. 2. 30. I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy Father should walk before me for ever But now the Lord saith Be it far from me c. 22 209 13. 13. For now would the Lord have established thy Kingdom for ever 209 23. 12 13. Then said David will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard And the Lord said he will come down and they will deliver thee up 9 2 King 20. 6. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years 9