heart out of their bowels and give them an heart of flesh when he resolves to afford this grace unto some but not unto others let every one judge hereby whether God can be said earnestly to desire the changing of their hearts when hee resolves to forbeare that course which alone can change them No no this discourse favoureth strongly of a conceit that it is in the power of an unregenerate man to change his owne heart and of an heart of stone to change it into an heart of flesh And in this case I confesse it were very probable that God should earnestly desire it provided that any ineffectuall and changeable desires were incident unto God That when God putteth forth the second act of positive retribution viz. the rejection of the world or decree of their condemnation God doth behold and consider the world especially men of riper yeares not in massa primitus corrupta nor as newly fallen in Adam but as voluntarily falling off by some act of carelesse and wilfull disobedience To prove this I need not produce other reasons then what I have formerly alledged in the fone-going Point for when God did expresse by his oath his will and good pleasure to be not for the death but life and conversion of sinners was it not after the fall of Adam and all his posterity in him then notwithstanding the presupposall of the fall God had not yet rejected the creature but as hee there declareth himselfe still retaineth and reserveth thoughts of peace towards them even a desire of their conversion unto life Againe with whom did the Lord enter into a Covenant of life and death upon condition of obedience and disobedience was it not with Adam onely and his posterity in his loynes in the state of innocency by the law written in their heart Was it not also after Adams fall renewed to all his posterity both Jewes and Gentiles Then yet God had not cast them away in the fall though the fall had justly deserved it but expecteth yet further to see how they will yet keep this renewed Covenant with him before hee cast them off as Reprobates Even Cain himselfe the eldest sonne of Reprobation is after the fall offered acceptance of Gods hand if hee doe well Moreover is it not after the fall that the Father by his workes of creation and providence judgements and mercies c. the Sonne by his enlightening the world by his death and ministery of his servants and the Holy Ghost by his calling and knocking at the hearts of the wicked doe all strive with men even to this very end to turne them to the Lord that iniquity may not be their destruction If therefore all the Persons in the Trinity doe provide severall helpfull meanes for the conversion and salvation of the world of the world I say now after the fall lying in wickednesse surely God did not then upon the fall reprobate the world unto eternall condemnation and perdition If you say God might well reprobate the world unto condemnation upon the fall and yet still after the fall usâ— meanes for their conversion and salvation because those meanes doe but further aggravate their condemnation I answer these doe indeed further aggravate their condemnation but it is but by accident onely by their neglect and abuse of them but the proper end which God himselfe of himselfe aimes at in the use of these meanes himselfe plainly expresseth it to be not the aggravation or procurement of their condemnation but the restoring of them to salvation and life as hath been before declared So then to draw all to an head the summe of this first reason is If God after the fall doe retaine a will and purpose to restore life to the world upon an equall condition then hee did not upon the fall or upon the onely consideration of the fall reject the world of the ungodly unto their utter perdition But you see God retaineth after the fall an holy will and purpose of restoring life unto the world upon an equall condition as appeareth by his Oath by his Covenant and by his Workes therefore the conclusion which is the point in hand is evident I marvell what you meane to call Gods decree of condemnation his act of retribution retribution being an act temporall and transient the decree of God is an act immanent and eternall And therefore it is not so handsomely said to be the putting forth of an act for so much as it is immanent and not transient 'T is manifest I confesse that sin is alwayes precedent to the retribution of punishment as it is without controversie that sinne neither is nor can be antecedent to Gods decree sinne being temporall but all Gods decrees eternall And I have found it by experience to be an usuall course with our Adversaries to confound condemnation with the decree of condemnation And Junius himselfe very incongruously in my judgement calls this decree Praedamnatio to make the fairer place as I guesse for sins praecedencie thereunto at least in consideration But no necessity urgeth us to any such course and wee may well maintaine that God in this decree of condemnation hath alwayes the consideration of that sinne for which hee purposeth to damne them for undoubtedly hee decrees to condemne no man but for sinne It is impossible it should be otherwise condemnation in the notion thereof formally including sinne But I like not your expressions in the distinction you make saying God considers men in this sinne not as newly fallen in Adam but as voluntarily falling off you mean long after by some act of carelesse and wilfull disobedience When God made this decree they were not newly that is a little before fallen in Adam for that fall in Adam was temporall but the decrees of God are eternall And to consider as newly fallen when as yet they were not much lesse were they fallen is not so much to consider as to erre or feigne But like as God decreed to suffer all to fall in Adam and many also to continue both therein and in bringing forth the bitter fruits thereof even untill death so he purposed to condemne them for those sinnes but take heed you doe not make an order of prius and posterius between these decrees lest either you make the decree of condemnation precedent to the decree of permission of those sinnes for which they shall be condemned which will be directly contradictory to your Tenet here or making Gods decree of permitting such sinnes for which they shall be condemned precedent to his decree of condemnation whereunto you doe encline unawares which will cast you upon miserable inconveniences and that by your owne rule already delivered for if the decree of permitting sinne be first in intention then by the rules received by you it should be last in execution that is men should be condemned for sinne before they be permitted to sinne But the conjunction of these decrees into one as in the same
all as it is free for God to give grace to whom he will and so to bring them to salvation the purpose whereof is called Gods election so is it enough for God to deny grace to whom he will and thereby to expose them to condemnation the purpose whereof in God is that which wee call Reprobation which as Aquinas saith Includit voluntatem permittendi peccatum damnationem inferendi pro peccato Now of this generall impotency of doing good which cleaves unto all since the fall of Adam you take no notice at all though herein consists the very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of these controversies but carry your selfe throughout in such manner as if notwithstanding that shipwracke of grace which all humane soules made in Adam it were still as much in mans power to obey God as it was before or as much in mans power to rise by repentance now after he is fallen as it was in his power to stand in his integrity and in obedience unto God before he was fallen Put the case all were true that you deliver in the next place namely that God the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost proceed in the way of admonition and exhortation to turne themselves to the Lord that iniquitie might not be their ruine yet this hinders not but that the decree of condemnation might be precedent to Gods decree of taking such a course and permitting them to resist it For upon a purpose to condemne them for such a sinne he might thereupon resolve to expose them to such a sinne And if God should first decree to permit such a sinne and then decree to condemne them for it the permission of this sinne being first in intention should by your owne rule be last in execution that is first men should be condemned for such a sin and afterwards they should be suffered to commit it Not that I maintaine any such order but onely to represent the weaknesse of your discourse approaching shrewdly to such a disorderly constitution of Gods decrees and nothing at all preventing the most harsh tenet that can be devised Againe this that here you deliver were it granted you yet doth it nothing hinder the corrupt masse in Adam to be the object of Gods decree of condemnation For albeit God the Father and God the Sonne faile not of performing all this you speak of yet if by reason of the generall impotency which is come on all they are nothing able to obey these motions of Gods spirit and withall God purposeth to deny them a further grace to make them to obey shall not this be sufficient to expose them to condemnation even for this sinne of resisting the motions of Gods spirit But now let us consider your discourse it selfe and what weight it carrieth which onely makes a shew of much but comes to nothing in the end First you please your selfe in devising distinct workes applyed to the distinct persons in the Trinitie without all ground in my judgement Wee commonly say Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisibilia Were not the Sonne and the Holy Ghost as active in the creation and are still in the workes of providence as the Father How Christ enlightned the world by his death is a mystery to me his doctrine I confesse did and much more the doctrine of his Apostles But in this ministerie of Christs servants were not the Father and the Holy Ghost as operative as the Sonne As for the knocking of the spirit at mens hearts you nothing distinguish it for ought I found hitherto from the ministerie of Christs servants in admonishing and exhorting which worke is yet the Fathers and the Sonnes aswell as the Spirits But whereas you say all this is done for this very end To turne them to the Lord that iniquitie might not be their destruction I pray you observe your owne words well all the operations you specifie are drawn from these two heads Instruction and Admonition to turn to the Lord and the end of all this you say is to turne to the Lord. Put these together that you may behold the sobrietie of this discourse God exhorts them to turne to the Lord to this end to turne them to the Lord As much as to say God exhorts them to turne to the Lord to this end that in case they obey his voice and turne to the Lord which is their part then God will performe his part also and turne them to the Lord. But what need I pray of Gods worke in turning them to the Lord after they have performed their part so well as to turne themselves to the Lord Againe if God hath a purpose to turne them to the Lord why doth he not Is it because they refuse to performe some act upon the performance whereof God would turne them to himself Now I would gladly know what act that is which God expects to be performed that so he might turne them to the Lord. I am verily perswaded your selfe are not willing to be put to designe this Is it the very act of turning to the Lord or lesse or more If the very act of turning to the Lord you fall upon a manifest absurditie before specified if lesse then turning to the Lord then 't is lesse than a good act and shall God reward that which is lesse then a good act with conversion unto him What is it to conferre grace according to the workes of nature if this be not Yet I would faine know what this act is Least of all will you say 't is more than turning to the Lord for that should suppose conversion unto the Lord already wrought and consequently no need that God should turne them to the Lord which supposeth that they were not before turned to the Lord at all The providing of severall helpfull meanes for the salvation of the world after the fall doth nothing hinder Gods reprobating of the world upon the fall unto eternall condemnation and perdition For if hee purpose to deny them grace to obey these meanes this shall bee sufficient to expose them to condemnation even for the despising of those meanes of grace which God purposeth to provide for them and accordingly the objection here proposed is sound And whereas you answere that these meanes doe aggravate their condemnation by accident onely to wit through their neglect and abuse of them I answere that this their neglect and abuse doth by necessary consequence follow upon Gods purpose to deny them effectuall grace for the using of those meanes aright like as upon Gods purpose to harden Pharaohs heart that hee should not let Israel goe it followed by necessary consequence that Pharaoh through the hardnesse of his heart would not let Israel goe But that Gods end is as you say the restoring of men to salvation and life as if God did will and purpose any such thing is utterly untrue and nothing proved by you hitherto but rather flatly contradictorie to that you have most an end delivered partly in
that is not till after one and another admonition neverthelesse this makes nothing for you unlesse you maintain that Gods Spirit convicts them also of this that it is in their power to beleeve which power of beleeving you seeme to attribute to a man unregenerate though you are loath to speake plainly in expressing so much And you seem to intimate such an Argument as this They sinne in not beleeving therefore it is in their power to beleeve But you may as well inferre that wee sinne in not keeping Gods Law therefore it is in our power to keep it Or if you dispute thus The world is convicted of sinne in not beleeving therefore they have power to beleeve You may as well dispute thus The regenerate are convicted that they sinne in that their flesh lusteth against the Spirit therefore it is in their power to keep the flesh from lusting against the Spirit Besides when men quench the motions of the Spirit and persecute the Ministers of the word how can they be said in so doing to resist the Holy Ghost if the Holy Ghost went not about such a worke as to bring them to Christ and to life by him Could they be said to resist the Holy Ghost if the workes of the Holy Ghost had never striven with them to worke this worke in them Thus then you see those three that beare witnesse in heaven the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost they all from heaven beare witnesse of this point in hand concerning the truth hereof The Father by the end of the creation of his workes and providence the Sonne by his end of enlightening the world and of his coming into it to dye for it the Holy Ghost by his inward wrestling in the hearts of men doe all of them really proclaime that it is the will and good pleasure of God as to save the Elect not according to their owne workes but his grace so likewise to save the world of mankind if their workes hinder not his good will towards them Thus you see also a sweet harmony between the Purpose and the Covenant or Promise and the Providence of God This Purpose willeth life unto the world upon the condition of their obedience and repentance the Promise in the Covenant of Workes offereth life unto them likewise upon the same condition the Providence of God the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost provideth and applieth severall meanes of life unto the world upon the same tearmes And there is in every godly man renewed after the Image of God a just concord betwixt his Purpose his Covenant or Promise and his Performance So is there here the like in God You may read what Gods purpose is toward the world by his Covenant made with the world and you may see both what his Covenant with them and purpose of them is by his performance and axecution of them both in his actuall providence in the fulnesse of time If you ask how God may be said to purpose any thing that is not effectually accomplished I answer the act of Gods will which hee is pleased to put forth is alwayes accomplished There is no good thing possible to be though it never come to passe as that all men should in all things obey the word of God but God passeth upon it some act of his will hee at least approveth it to be good and good it is though it never come to passe This act is not disappointed for as hee will prove it so likewise doth hee approve it Doth God command this or that good duty to be done which is not done Yet that act of his will which hee puts forth is done as hee willed to command it so hee did command it Doth God purpose to give life to the world upon condition of obedience and accordingly give means to help them to the performance of this obedience so farre as it is meet for them to doe Surely God performeth it on his part although men performe it not on their part their salvation is indeed disappointed but not Gods will who never willed to give salvation to them but upon that condition The motions of the Spirit which are quenched are godly motions in the way of admonition perswasion exhortation and they are quenched not onely in the men of the world but too often in the children of God the flesh too often prevailing in their lustings against the spirit whereby are quenched for a time the motions of the Spirit that is the regenerate part lusting against the flesh and consequently the motions also of the Spirit of God admonishing and inviting unto good either by the hearing of the word or by the observation of Gods works This worke of morall motion and invitation is wrought sometimes with a purpose to worke obedience conformable thereunto sometimes with no such purpose as often as God doth not make them effectuall to the working of obedience whether in the unregenerate or regenerate for even these sometimes yea too oft erre from Gods wayes and have their hearts hardened against his feare for if God had a purpose to make them effectuall who should hinder him Who hath resisted his will cui nullum humanum resist it arbitrium saith Austin for ex nolentibus volentes facit Undoubtedly morall invitations if they be not yeelded unto are justly said to be resisted to what end soever they be made whether to convert them or to leave them without excuse even such an excuse as Austin speaks of when hee saith Dicere solet humana suporbia Si scissem fecissem I see no reason why you should deny the Elect to be saved according to their workes our Saviour doth manifest Mat. 25. that they are so Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you c. For I was an hungred and you fed mee c. and can it be denyed but that God rewardeth every man according to his workes I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith saith Paul Henceforth there is laid up for mee a crown of righteousnesse God is not unrighteous to forget the labour of your love c. Looke to your selves saith John that wee may not lose the things that wee have done but wee may receive a full reward Piscator a precise Divine spareth not to professe that fides is causa salutis They are not I confesse causa meritoria as sinne is causa damnationis but they are causae dispositivae according to the Apostles phrase God hath made us meet partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Neither doe I see any reason why you should oppose grace and good workes in the point of salvation howsoever they are opposed in the point of justification The place you point unto for proofe treats not of the salvation of glory but of the salvation of grace consisting in effectuall calling as the Text it selfe manifesteth Had you spoken plainly as you might and as
then is the meaning of the Lord saying I have smitten your children in vaine they have received no correction I answer we are to conceive Gods corrections to tend to this according to that of Peter knowing that the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation or God speakes this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the manner of earthly parents seeking their childrens amendment by correction but not obtaining it And this being an end of correction in Gods children in the wicked this end is not obtained And what difference is there between meanes naturall and meanes morall but this meanes naturall have power to effect their ends meanes morall are to admonish morall agents of their duty to doe this or that and so the ends of Gods punishment is that by them wee should learne to amend our lives as is signified in the Collects of our Church In a word naturall means tend to ends that shall be thereupon morall means tend to ends that should be and each are usually said to be in vaine when the end according to each kind is not obtained God sent his Sonne into the world not that hee should condemne the world but that the world should be saved by him Most true for hee sent his Son into the world to dye for the world and to dye for them is to save them and not to condemne them But for whom did hee send his Sonne into the world to dye Surely for the world of Elect even for those whom God the Father had given him Thou hast given him power over all flesh that hee should give eternall life to all them that thou hast given him Joh. 17. 2. And if wee consider the world in distinction from those whom God hath given him hee plainly professeth that as hee did not pray for them Joh. 17. 9. so hee did not sanctifie himselfe for them Verse 19. that is offer himselfe up upon the Crosse as Maldonate acknowledgeth to be the joynt interpretation of all the Fathers whom hee had read And your selfe have but earst confessed that God did not Joh. 3. 17. give the world unto Christ by him of grace to be bought or brought unto salvation Undoubtedly hee sent not Christ into the world at all to procure any mans condemnation neither doth Christ procure any mans condemnation although infidelity and disobedience to the word of Christ procures the condemnation of many And I wonder what moved you so to speake as to imply it was Gods intent though not chiefe intent to send Christ into the world to procure the condemnation of any At length wee are come to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the point controverted between us in the words following If they should plead their condemnation to be unjust for unbeleefe because they were not able to beleeve Ver. 18. our Saviour answers by a reasonable prevention ver 19. This is their condemnation viz. the just cause of their condemnation that when light came into the world men loved darknesse rather than light men chose rather to cleave to their sinfull estates and wayes of darknesse than to follow the light of the means of grace which might have brought them on to beleeve in Christ First let us consider the Text it selfe then your interpretation and accommodation thereof Our Saviour doth plainly derive the cause of their unbeleefe or disapprobation of the Gospel signified in these words They loved darknesse rather than light I say the cause of this our Saviour referres to their workes of darknesse expressed in these words Because their deeds were evill The full meaning whereof I take to be this The workes wherein they delight are evill that is workes of darknesse and therefore no marvell if they hate the light and preferre darknesse before it Pulchra Lavernae Da mihi fallere da justum sanctumque videri Noctem peccatis fraudibus objice nubem But give mee leave to make an honest motion As it becomes us to take notice of this cause mentioned here so it becomes us nothing lesse to take notice of other causes mentioned in other places Now another cause of unbeleefe is mentioned Joh. 5. 44. and that of the same generall nature with this but expressed in more speciall manner by our Saviour thus How can yee beleeve which receive honour one of another and seeke not the honour that cometh from God onely Yet this is not all the cause of unbeleefe which the Scripture commends unto us for the Apostle also takes notice of Sathans illusions in this worke of unbeleefe 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost Whose eyes the God of this world hath blinded c. And because it is in the power of God to correct this delight wee take in evill workes and to deliver us from the illusions of Sathan if it please him to shew such mercy towards us and when he doth not he is said to harden us The hand of God in this our Saviour takes notice of as the cause of unbeleefe in man Joh. 12. 39 40. Therefore they could not beleeve because Esaias saith againe Hee hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted and I should heale them Like as Moses of old told the Jewes saying Deut. 29. 2 3. Yee have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants and unto all his land The great temptations which thine eyes have seen the signes and those great miracles Ver. 4. Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive and eyes to see and eares to heare unto this day And this hee doth even then when his purpose was to reprove them for their naturall incorrigiblenesse for men sinne never the lesse obstinately because God denyes them grace but rather so much the more obstinately because as Austin well saith Libertas sine gratia non est libertas sed contumacia and consequently they are never a whit the lesse faulty though it be not in their power to correct that corruption of their hearts whence this faultinesse proceeds And hereupon the Apostle gives way to the same objection in effect which you propose for having concluded that God hath mercy on whom hee will and whom hee will hee hardeneth hee gives place to such an objection Thou wilt say then Why doth hee yet complaine for who hath resisted his will and answers it not as our Saviour doth for our Saviour proposed no such objection to be answered as you feigne the Apostle doth plainly and in expresse termes Our Saviour discovers the immediate cause of unbeleefe to wit because their hearts were set on evill as it was sometimes with the Colossians Col. 1. 21. yet because it was not in their power to change their hearts but God alone who will change them through mercy in whom hee will and will not change them in others
sometimes you doe even in this Section more than once as when you say Gods Purpose willeth life to the world upon the condition of their obedience and repentance it would manifestly appeare that there was no reason to distinguish the Elect from the Reprobate in this Purpose of God seeing it equally passeth upon them both For undoubtedly Gods Purpose is not to give the Elect life but upon condition of their obedience and repentance And likewise his Purpose was to condemne all one as well as another upon the condition of their disobedience and unrepentance But had you dealt thus plainly then you would be driven to acknowledge another decree which alone puts the difference between the Elect and the Reprobate and that is the decree of God to shew mercy in giving the grace of obedience and repentance unto the one and of hardening in denying the grace of obedience and repentance unto the other But this plaine-dealing had utterly marred the state of your present discourse in this particular Yet to touch something by the way How I pray doth God the Father by the end of the Creation of his workes and Providence beare witnesse to this Point that it is the will and good pleasure of God to save the Elect not according to their owne workes but his grace Secondly if God the Sonne died for the whole world Reprobate and Elect how doth this testifie that onely a few called the Elect should be saved by Gods grace Is there any greater grace than the grace of Redemption by the bloud of Christ which is both of a satisfactory nature for all sinne and of a meritorious nature to purchase all grace and all glory And shall not God deale with Christ according to the exigence of his merits and satisfactions whether they were meritorious and satisfactory so farre of their owne nature or by the constitution of God all is one Last of all as touching the motions of the Spirit if they are no other then morall invitations they tend to no other end then to bring all men alike unto salvation in case they are obeyed and to expose all alike unto condemnation in case they are disobeyed If wee speake of other motions making the former effectuall unto obedience and repentance these being found onely in the Elect are documents of Gods will and purpose to save them to whom they are granted and as manifest a document that Gods will and purpose is not to save them to whom they are denyed As for the harmony you speake of between Gods Purpose and Covenant herein is your error two-fold First in that you apply this wholly to the world to Reprobates whereas it concernes as I have shewed the Elect as well as the Reprobate the reason whereof is because it respects onely the collating of salvation and inflicting of condemnation which have their course upon condition But there is another worke of Gods Providence concerning the giving or denying of grace for performing the condition of life And this worke is not performed upon any condition but meerly according to the good pleasure of God in shewing mercy to whom hee will and hardening whom he will And the Purpose of God for the execution of these is clearly absolute without all colour of condition And whereas you conceive this Purpose of God thus absolute concernes onely the Elect that is your second error For God doth not more absolutely grant the gift of obedience and repentance unto his Elect than hee doth deny it unto Reprobates as I doubt not but will be made clearly to appeare if you should come to a Collation hereabout But I doe not thinke you have any purpose to deale upon this but carry your selfe in a way of your owne not exactly considered wherein confusion of things that are to be distinguished doth afford you the best service As for the third which this harmony you speake of comprehends to wit the Providence of God I left that out because you shape to your selfe such a Providence of God as whereby God did provide for all men in all ages sufficient meanes of grace to bring them to obedience and repentance which seemes to be the opinion of the Author who wrote the two bookes De vocatione Gentium For the justification of which conceit though Arminians now-adayes relye much upon that Author in this particular I freely confesse I know no reason nor colour of reason As for the comparison you make between a godly regenerate man and God you might as well have shaped it betweene many an honest heathen man and God But you consider not a most momentous difference man purposeth to doe things upon conditions the performance or not performance whereof he is not able to fore-see much lesse able to dispose of efficacy to performe the condition to whom hee will and to deny it to whom hee will all which is incident unto God and casts us necessarily upon the acknowledgement of an absolute Purpose in God to performe this as hee thinkes good which is not to be found in man Againe you conceive this Purpose and Covenant of God to be made onely with the world who will never performe it Man enters upon no such Purposes and Covenants but rather such the conditions whereof are as soon performed as not performed And I wonder you should swallow this comparison as exact not considering the foule disproportion that is found therein between God and man But affection to our owne opinion I confesse is apt to abuse us and make us take notice onely of that which makes for us not of that which makes much more against us As for the Objection here inserted in the Answer whereunto you trouble your selfe not a little you might well have spared your paines and answered in briefe that though it were very strange that any thing should not be accomplished which God doth will absolutely yet surely it is nothing strange that that should not be accomplished which God doth will to come to passe onely upon a condition for the condition failing there is no reason why wee should expect the accomplishment thereof And such is the will of God which here you propose concerning the world namely in willing that they shall be saved on condition of their obedience and repentance damned in case of their disobedience and impenitency Yet it is not amisse to consider what you let fall in your Answer to an Objection very needlesse and which no wise man amongst them who are adverse to you in this opinion would frame That act of Gods will you say which it pleaseth God to put forth is alwayes accomplished I demand then as touching this will of God whereby hee wills life to the world upon their obedience and repentance whether it be accomplished or no If it be then it is accomplished in their condemnation for certainly it is not accomplished in their salvation And to this effect I presume tends your answer in the next Section That which followes when you
making Gods will of their salvation to be onely in a disjunct 〈◊〉 and partly of a conditionate 〈◊〉 which is no more to will their salvation than their damnation in case they were indifferent to performe either condition But in case they be found unable to performe the condition of life and most prone to performe the condition of death God meaning not to give them such a grace as alone can relieve them it is manifestly an evidence that God wills their condemnation and nothing at all their salvation Not to mention any other arguments against this conceit the one drawn from Gods omnipotency the other from his immutab litie In the recapitulation of this reason you help your selfe with a phrase and onely with a phrase God retaines a will and purpose to restore life to the world upon an equall condition Obedience is due to God though man be not able to performe it And therefore God in requiring that which is due unto him carrieth himselfe in an equall I had rather say in a just course though man becoming banckrupt be not able to performe it But in this case namely if God will not restore life but upon performance of such a condition which he is utterly unable to performe and withall purposeth to deny him that grace which should inable him to performe it is not this a manifest document that God hath no purpose to restore life unto him Yet I confesse the phrase used is advantageous unto you for at the hearing of an equall condition most are apt to conceive the condition to be such as lyeth in a mans power to performe But you have not hitherunto manifested any such opinion of mans abilitie If you have entertained any such as whereunto pastorall Divines dealing much upon exhortation are sometimes over-prone though I see small cause why the opinion of mans impotency unto good should any whit rebate the edge of their exhortation you should doe well to convince your adversaries by argument and not circumvent them From the condition of those men upon whom the scriptures pronounce reprobation or rejection I no where read of reprobation but of such men to whom the meanes of grace or at least of the knowledge of God in some measure or other have been offered in vaine In the Old Testament God pronounceth the house of Judah reprobate silver rejected by him But when Not till they were all become revolters and corrupters and till the meanes hee had used to purge and cleanse them had been attempted in vaine The bellows saith hee are burnt the lead is consumed in the fire the founder melteth in vaine and reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them When did God reject all further care of purging the people from their filthinesse any more Not till after hee had used meanes to purge them and they were not purged When doth the Sonne of God under the name of wisdome reject the wicked Not till after he had called upon them earnestly to return stretched out his hands unto them offered to poure out his spirit upon them and they after all this had set at nought his counsell and despised the meanes of their owne reformation Prov. 1. In the New Testament the Apostle speaks of reprobates in case so powerfull a ministery as his was so long a time dispensed unto them and had notwithstanding been vainly received by them and that as yet they knew not themselves to be in Christ Yea the Gentiles themselves when did God give them up to a reprobate minde Was it not after they had disregarded the acknowledging and glorifying of God according to the meanes they had received In a word when doth God shut up the Sonnes of Adam either Jewes or Gentiles under enmitie against Christ and set forth Christ in enmitie against them thereby excluding them from attonement with him or by him with God Is it not after they are become the seed of the Serpent Now by the seed of the Serpent cannot be meant all men fallen and corrupted in Adam by originall sin though that fall was wrought by the suggestion and practice of the Serpent for then all the seed of Adam had been shut up in enmitie against Christ and cut off from all fellowship with him their head But by the seed of the Serpent I understand all such men of the world as have the image of the old Serpent stamped upon them which is a will set to doe the lusts of the devill Saith our Saviour to the Jewes Yee are of your father the devill and the lusts of your father ye will doe or which is all one an hatred of the light when it cometh amongst them and which is a character of the devill a lover of darknesse rather then light Upon which point it is our Saviour shutteth up the men of this world under condemnation viz. When by the hatred of the light they have drunke in the venome and received the image of the old Serpent till which time men are counted the seed of Adam Or if they be borne in the Church the seed of Abraham rather then the seed of the Serpent For our Divines doe wisely and justly maintaine against the Anabaptists that the seed of Abraham as pertaining to the Covenant are not only his spirituall seed partakers of his faith but also his children after the flesh till by their carelesse and willfull disobedience they have excluded themselves from the Covenant of Abraham From whence it is that all the seed of Abraham even the carnall seed are scaled up by Circumcision or Baptisme under the Covenant of Abraham Neither are they excluded from hope of benefit by the Covenant and the seales and ordinances of it till that with prophane Esau they dispise this their birth-right and sell the pledges of their inheritance for some base and sensuall lust Now if all such are to be accounted the seed of Abraham till by despising the Covenant they have broken off themselves from partaking with him in the satnesse of the olive then surely even the carnall seed of Abraham are not the seed of the Serpent from their originall pollution but doe become afterwards by their actuall voluntary rebellion As there is an election eternall and election temporall so in both senses the word is taken in holy scripture Of election eternall we read Ephes 1. 4. where God is said to have chosen us in Christ that wee should be holy before the foundation of the world Of election temporall wee read 1 Cor. 1. 26. Brothren you see your calling how that not many wisemen after the flesh c. But God hath chosen the foolish things c. Where Election is taken as all one with vocation in proportion whereunto wee must distinguish of reprobation And like as Election temporall is all one with effectuall vocation as when men find mercy at the hands of God to obey their callings So reprobation temporall is all one with obduration
in carnall Christians Whereas if things were distinguished aright it would more easily appeare what is within the region of nature and what beyond it as meerely imputable to the speciall grace of God and operation of his spirit 3 As for dogs and swine wee are forbidden to give our holy things or to cast our pearles before them at all And therefore are wee not to trouble our selves in considering to what end this doctrine is to be preached unto them And yet as for the testifications proposed as proper unto them it is nothing so for not to them only but to carnall Christians also doe such belong yea to the very Children of God also to wit That God is just in all that cometh on them and his wayes equall As when after Davids foule sinnes in the matter of Uriah the sword pursued his house and Absolon defiled his fathers concubines and hee was driven to flie from Jerusalem and Shimei meeting him on the way cursed him c. And I pray you what unregenerate man throughout the world doth not love the cursed wayes of sin in some kind or other though not in all kinds And no marvell for vice is like a pike in a pond it devoures both vertue and lesser vices One vice is opposite to another and not onely unto vertue And therefore no mervaile if no man be found vicious in all kinds 4 As for the Lutheran and Arminian you professe that this Tenet of yours removes such stumbling blocks out of their way as have hitherto turned them out of the way of truth and peace But what these stumbling blocks are which you have removed I know not It seemes this hath been a chiefe inducement unto you to decline from that which you confesse to be the most received opinion of our Church and to shape unto your selfe a new forme of opinion different from that which is received if not to remove some stumbling blocks out of your owne way Now if it be so the fairest course had been to have expressed what these offences are Secondly how our most received Tenet doth either cast them in tho way of others or at least doth not remove them and thirdly to shew how by this opinion of yours they are removed But none of these have been performed by you Againe Mr. Moulin being very orthodox in the point of Election as you are varieth from us as you doe in the point of Reprobation maintaining Reprobation to be instituted upon the foresight of mans finall impenitency in his Anatome Arminianismi Corvinus an Arminan hath taken him to taske in a worke of his and is never a whit the more forward to concurre with us in the point of Election because Moulin concurres with them in the point of Reprobation Nay what doe Papists say about Durham by occasion of our complying with them but this They need not comply with us for wee come fast enough forwards to comply with them And more then this I have already shewed that this tempering or corrupting rather of the doctrine of Reprobation maketh a faire way for the utter overthrowing of that which you call the sound and comfortable doctrine of Election Forasmuch as looke by what reason you maintaine the foresight of small impenitencie and infidelitie to goe before Reprobation as it signifies the punishing with everlasting death by the same reason it will appeare that the foresight of finall perseverance in faith repentance and good workes must necessarily goe before Election as it signifies Gods decree of rewarding with everlasting life In which notion alone election or the decree of salvation is contrarily opposite to reprobation or the decree of condemnation For in maintaining that Reprobation as a purpose of God to condemne for sin doth presuppose the foresight of sinne you doe thereby imply that Election as a purpose of God to reward for righteousnesse of faith and repentance doth presuppose the foresight of faith and repentance But if your meaning be no other than this that God hath ordained no man unto damnation but for sinne what offence or scandall doe you remove hereby which wee doe not remove also who concurre with you herein And which is more wee are ready not onely to affirme but to make good also that in no moment of nature doth the purpose of Condemnation goe before the foresight of sinne even of that sinne for which men shall be damned Whereas you in maintaining that the foresight of sinne is precedent to the purpose of condemnation are not able to make it good but must necessarily fall foule upon a manifest contradiction to your owne rules For if the foresight of sinne be precedent to the decree of condemnation then God did first decree to permit sinne before hee did decree to damne for it And herehence it followeth that permission of sinne in Gods intention was before condemnation and if it were first in intention then by your owne rules it must be last in execution that is men shall be condemned for sinne before ever they be permitted to sinne Nay I appeale to your owne conscience whether wee doe not open a fairer way for composition in the point of election then you doe in the point of Reprobation Considering that like as in Reprobation Gods decree to condemne is in no moment of nature precedent to Gods foresight of sinne so in Election I am bold to affirme that Gods purpose to save is in no moment of nature before his foresight of faith repentance and good workes and finall perseverance in them all Will not you thinke that you have cause to feare hereupon that I am more dissolute in the point of Election than rigid in the point of Reprobation Yet if you will confesse that herein is a faire way opened for composition in the point of Election I dare undertake to perswade you that this shall be maintained without any prejudice either to the freenesse of Gods grace or to the absolutnesse of his power The truth is our Divines have a long time erred in making different decrees of those which are but one I mean formall decree to wit of the meanes though materially different which is nothing strange For why should it seeme strange that many meanes should be required to the same end Wee commonly say that Gods decree to give salvation is the decree of the end and his decree to give faith and repentance is the decree of the meanes yet they dare not say commonly that Gods decree to inflict damnation is the decree of the end and Gods decree to deny grace is the decree of the meanes And so they are driven to overthrow all Analogie between Election and Reprobation I say that Gods decree of giving faith and salvation unto sinners are but one formall decree of God concerning the meanes the end whereof is the manifestation of Gods glory in the way of mercie mixt with justice And indeed nothing can be the end of Gods actions but his owne glory for hee made all things
so qualifyed as to bee accounted a lesse degree of love and not a fruite of hatred for consider I beseech you is not this farre worse then to mischiefe a man by cutting off an arm or limb So that albeit Scripture did plainely professe that not to reprove a neighbour but suffer him to sin were an act of hatred yet it followeth not hence that hatred in this case signifies onely a lesse degree of love For certainly such an act to wit in sparing reproofe is worse by far then to give a man a box on the eare yet I presume you will not interpret that to bee hatred onely in such a sense as signifying a lesse degree of Love For certainly the fruites of love are the communications of good and not any contumelious inflicting of evill But by your leave I doe not finde that this is the Scriptures meaning in the place you aime at but rather in my judgement it seems to meet with a corrupt course of the world prone to conceive none to bee their greater enemies then such as reprove them To prevent this the Lord forbids the one to wit the hating of our brother and as expressely commands the other to wit to reprove our Neighbour manifesting thereby that reproofe may bee performed without any just suspition of hatred in him that reproveth In fine this interpretation of hatred which here you make is imbraced by Vossius in his Pelagion Story but hee doth not betray that hee is beholding to Cornelius de Lapide the Jesuite for it in his Commentaries on the ninth to the Romans And hee brings other manner of instances to prove it then you doe And so doth Junius also in Gen. 29. 31. though hee were farre enough off from applying it in the same sense to Esau as his son in law Vossius doth and the Jesuite doth before Vossius In few words your meaning is God did so far hate Esau even before hee had done good or evill that hee did not destinate unto him any saving grace as hee did unto Jacob. May you not as well say that hee did not destinate unto him glory as hee did to Jacob And even this in Aquinas his language is to hate where hee interpreteth Gods hatred of Esau before hee was born Yet you might bee pleased to goe a little further and to affirm that God did not onely not destinate unto him any saving grace but also that God was purposed to deny him such saving grace as hee granted unto Jacob and consequently hee purposed to deny him glory also if you bee pleased to gratifie your self in yeelding to this truth wee will willingly gratifie you in acknowledging that notwithstanding all this God purposed to deale with Esau according to his works As for that phrase of yours of putting him into the estate of a servant though it bee of little materiall consideration in this place yet I have sufficiently discussed it in examining your Answer to the first Doubt The Fifth Doubt Question 5. HOw may it appeare that all have a sufficiency of comming to Christ since no man can come without drawing Joh. 6. 44. 65. and hee who is drawn shall bee raised to life or since no man can come except it bee given him of the Father Which speech is a reason why wee ought not to murmure or bee offended if some beleeve not Rom. 11. 7. and since none but the Elect by the meanes of helpe and power Revelat. 2. 15. I no where say nor ever thought that all men had a sufficiency of power to beleeve or to come to Christ Far bee it from mee to avouch such ungracious Pelagianisme But this I say God giveth to the men of this world this world I say as opposed to the elect such meanes and helps of seeking after the Lord and finding mercy from him that they are sufficiently enabled by him to doe much more then they doe that way they are deprived of those drawing and effectuall means without which none can come and with which none ever failed to come to Faith and Repentance Else how shall wee understand these and sundry such like places of Scripture Act. 17. 25 26 27. Rom. 1. 19. to 25. Rom. 2. 4 5. 14 15. Luk. 16. 11 12. Act. 1. 51 52. Act. 13. 46. Matth. 22. 37 38. Luk. 19. 41 42. Ezek. 24. 13. Prov. 1. 20. to 30. 2 Chron. 36. 15 16. Hose 11. 4. Esa 5. 3 4 5. Job 33. 14. to 18. Joh. 16. 69 From all which places I gather foure Conclusions pertinent to the point in hand First That God offereth to the men of this world helps and means either of the knowledge of God in Nature or of grace in Christ and that to this end to lead them to Repentance and Salvation Thus is God said to manifest to the Gentiles that which may bee known of him by his works and by his Law writen in their hearts and that to this end to make them to seek after the Lord to leade them to Repentance to withdraw them from their courses to heale their pride and to save their soules from the pit Thus God offered to the carnall Israelites means of grace to purge them to turn them Prov. 1. 13. to gather them Mat. 23. 37. to convince them Joh. 16. 8 9. To draw them with cords of man and bands of love Hos 11. 4. To dresse them to bring forth good fruit Esa 5. 4. Secondly That the meanes God useth for these good ends are in some measure sufficient if they bee not hindered by men to bring them to the attainment of these ends for when God saith himself hee useth these meanes for these ends for us to say these meanes are not sufficient for these ends seemeth to mee to derogate from the wisdom and sufficiency of God whose works are all of them perfect Deut. 32. 4. and so sufficient for the ends for which hee wrought them Yet God forbid I should doubt of that which our Saviour telleth the Jews No man can come to Christ except the Father draw him Joh. 6. 44. by the same Almighty power and authority whereby hee sent Christ into the world The whole tenour of your Answer in clearing the Fifth Doubt looks this way as if you maintained a sufficiency of power in those whom wee account Reprobates to perform such things upon the performance whereof they should bee saved I confesse you doe not make any expresse mention of Faith but of obedience in generall and of repentance which I presume you will acknowledge will bee inseparable from Faith And that you doe acknowledge a sufficiency in them to perform Obedience and Repentance requifite to Salvation I prove thus You maintain a true desire in God of their Salvation and how can this stand with the denyall of such sufficiency as is in his power to grant Againe You expressely maintain that there is in God a serious and fervent affection not concerning their Salvation only but their Conversion also
resistance unto Gods intention Directly contrary to the Discourse of Austin Enchir. cap. 96. whose words are these Deo proculdubio quam facile est quod vult facere tam facile est quod non vult esse non sinere Hoc nisi credamus periclitatur ipsum nostrae fidei consessionis initium qua nos in Deum Patrem omnipocentem credere confitemur Neque enim ob aliud veraciter vocatur omnipotens nisi quia quicquid vult potest nec voluntate cujusquam creaturae voluntatis omnipotentis impeditur effectus And if it bee so as you professe That no man can come to Christ except the Father draw him by the same Almighty authority and power whereby hee sent Christ into the world and withall if you adde thereunto as else-where you doe that this power I leave out authority as of an alien signification is shewed onely in drawing his Elect what need all these paines that you have taken since it is cleare that so long as you hold to this you shall never satisfie any Pelagian or Arminian and all the absurdities they charge our Doctrine with are directed against this But well you may puzzle the wits and trouble the minde of many an Orthodox and well-affected Christian with so intricate a discourse labouring to devise a new way to justifie our Doctrine of Election by so tempering the Doctrine of reprobation as utterly to overthrow your own Orthodox opinion in the very point of election as I have already shewed as occasion hath been given Object How then will you say can these two stand together there is a sufficiency and power in the meanes to lead the men of this world to the knowledge of God and to grace in Christ and yet there is an impotency yea an impossibility in the men of the world to come to Christ without greater and stronger means then these bee Answ For answer whereto I will not content my self to say that these means are sufficient because they suffice to leave men without excuse onely in the second place and by accident after when men have neglected to make so good use of them as they might have done but you see that God aimes at other ends in the first and principall place viz. to lead them to repentance to save their soules from the pit as the places alledged give evident witnesse and for these ends it is that these means must bee acknowledged and conceived as sufficient For else the Word of God argued an imperfection or insufficiency of such meanes to their proper ends I think it safe to say these means are sufficient ex parte Dei on Gods behalf to manifest the will of God rather to desire repentance and life then the hardning and destruction of the Creature And ex parte hominum in regard of men sufficient to inable them to the performance of such duties in which their naturall consciences would excuse them and in which way they might the sooner finde mercy mercy vouchsafing more powerfull and more effectuall helps whilest they walk according to the knowledge and helps which they have received and sin not against conscience but only out of ignorance in the state of unbeleef It is Arminius his superficiary conceit that Hortatio non facta sed sprâ—ta makes a man inexcusable not considering that admonition and instruction it self takes away excuse although none have need of excuse but they that doe evill For the excuse is this si scissem fecissem or si audivissem credidissem now this excuse is manifestly removed by the preaching of the Gospel And the word inexcusable though it formally signifie without excuse yet withall it con-notates a condition delinquent and such as had need of excuse though bereaved thereof and such a condition ariseth from the contempt of the means of grace Neither is this condition by accident like as the neglecting to make good use of them is not by accident For God intending to deprive them of those drawing and effectuall helpes without which none can make good use of them did never intend they should make good use of them but rather the contrary in asmuch as hee purposed not to shew that mercy towards them which hee shews towards his Elect but rather to harden them As the Lord tells Ezek. Chap. 2. 4. They are impudent children and stiffe-hearted I doe send thee unto them and thou shalt say unto them Thus saith the Lord God But surely they will not heare neither indeed will they cease for they are a rebellious house yet shall they know that there hath been a Prophet among them So that albeit the Lord knew full well what sorry entertainment his Prophets should finde yet would hee not give way to any such excuse as this If the Lord had sent his Prophet to admonish us of our wandrings from him wee would soon have turned unto the good way of the Lord. No they shall know there hath been a Prophet among them And as for the ground of this his fore-knowledge Esay manifesteth this to bee Gods purpose to harden them Esa 6. 9. Goe and say unto this people yee shall heare indeed but shall not understand yee shall plainly see and not perceive make the heart of this people fat and make their eares heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and heare with their eares and understand with their hearts and convert and I shall heale them What place is here for such conceites of leaving men without excuse in a second place and that by accident Yet if you can prove that God did intend any better thing unto them in a first place wee shall bee willing to confesse that this comes in in a second place You say God leads them to repentance to save them from the pit I answer this leading to repentance Rom. 2. is onely his sparing them in their sins and admonishing them to repent and this wee say is done to the Reprobates not with any purpose to bring them to repentance for if God had any such purpose hee would not deprive them of those helpes without which none can come to repentance as your self professe hee doth and if hee had any such purpose to bring them to repentance and yet doth not it followeth that hee cannot And if hee hath any such purpose either this purpose must continue still in God even after their damnation or otherwise God must bee charged with mutability all which you consider not much lesse accommodate any tolerable answer thereto For the same reason I deny that God hath any intention or purpose to save them how can hee considering that from everlasting hee hath ordained them to condemnation And of this also you take no notice much lesse goe about to shape any convenient answer thereunto carrying the matter all along in such manner as if Gods decree of their condemnation were not conceived untill the means of Grace offered are found to bee finally despised Neither doe the places alledged
after disobedience Say not Surely God purposed nothing but death to the world of mankind whom hee elected not because hee offered them life upon such condition which hee knew was impossible for them to keep for first in Adam they were enabled to keep it neither impotency in Adam nor efficacy of Gods decree did put upon Adam any necessity of breaking it Againe in Christ they have so much knowledge and grace revealed to them and offered as is sufficient to bring them on to see their impotency in themselves and to stirre them up to seeke for help and strength and life in him where it is to be found which if they neglect or despise as the Pharisees did and all the rest of impenitent sinners doe God and his Covenant are blamelesse in offering them life and the meanes of it their destruction is of themselves That Proposition of yours As it is in men renued after the Image of God so likewise it is in God himselfe had need of much limitation and qualification lest it prove as often false as true or rather more That which followes Such as is his Covenant or Promise such is his Purpose is likewise as often false as true If the Promises of God are absolute such are his Purposes but if his Promises bee conditionall such are not his Purposes Both Piscator of late by evidence of Scripture and Bradwardine long before by demonstration of Reason have proved that no will in God is conditionate quoad actum volentis all the conditions are found quoad res volitas And indeed though the Purposes of God are absolute yet his Promises are therefore conditionate because they are conformed to the manner of Gods operation with man For as God workes in all things agreeable to their natures so in man hee useth to worke agreeable to his nature And therefore albeit his Purpose bee absolute to bring them to grace and glory to faith repentance and salvation yet hee allures them to faith and repentance by promises and threatnings When you say that God doth covenant and promise to give life to the Elect out of his grace in Christ You might as well have said that God promiseth to give life to them that beleeve and repent and more congruously a great deale seeing the conscience of our faith and repentance brings us to the assurance of our Election the conscience of our Election or of the assurance thereof brings us not unto faith and repentance But it seemes you desire to shape the Promises of God in the Covenant of Grace and in the Covenant of Workes in so different a manner that the one may seeme to bee absolute the other conditionall whereas they are of the same nature in both And as God doth withall intend to give the grace of obedience to the Elect so doth hee as absolutely intend to deny it to the other And I wonder you make not mention of the Reprobate in the latter as of the Elect in the former Undoubtedly the Covenant of Workes concernes all to whom it is preached as well the Elect as the Reprobate And the Covenant of Grace likewise concernes all to whom it is preached as well the Reprobate as the Elect. To all it is preached Whosoever beleeveth shall be saved as well to the Reprobate as to the Elect To all it is preached indifferently Whosoever beleeveth not shall bee damned as well to the Elect as to the Reprobate onely God shewes mercy on whom hee will in giving the grace of faith and hardens whom he will in denying it God doth covenant you say to give life to Adam and all his posterity if they continue in obedience to his Law This then undoubtedly concernes the Elect as well as the Reprobate For they are a part of Adams posterity But I wonder not a little at this language speaking in the Present Tense that God doth covenant to give Adam life whereas Adam many thousand yeares agoe hath ceased to have any thing to doe with any such Covenant Therefore this is for some speciall purpose in joyning Adam and his posterity together as persons covenanted with by God And I imagine the reason of it to be this Lest otherwise there could bee no place for continuance in obedience required of all Adams posterity for that presupposeth them to be in the estate of obedience which was never verified of them all but as they were in Adam and that in his state of Innocency But why should wee please our selves with such confusion Let us consider them apart and say that God did covenant with Adam that if hee continued in obedience to his Law or if breaking his Law hee did returne againe to him by repentance hee should have life But what evidence I pray have you for this namely that God made any such Covenant with Adam in the state of Innocency who ever was found to entertaine any such conceit before you why might not you as well devise the like Covenant to be made by God with the Angels Nay is not the contrary manifest In the day thou sinnest thou shalt dye the death How could this be verified if God made any such Covenant with Adam For if hee were under such a Covenant hee could not be said to violate it by sinning but onely by refusing to repent after hee had sinned And I verily beleeve you have no such meaning as if you conceived any such Covenant to bee made with Adam before his fall and therefore you clapt Adam and his posterity together to the end that if that which you delivered might not hold of the one it might of the other And though it hold of Adams posterity as touching this part of turning unto God by repentance after sinne committed yet of them it holds not as touching the other part of the condition to wit of continuance in obedience for the posterity of Adam through his fall are quite out of the estate of obedience till God restores them Nay God in this life never restores any to the estate of obedience which was found in Adam before his fall Out of this confusion you inferre that Surely the purpose of Gods just retribution is to give life to the world of mankind upon condition of their obedience or of their repentance As before wee were troubled with confusion so here wee are againe troubled with an unhappy distinction For what doe you meane to distinguish Obedience from Repentance as if Repentance were not Obedience Doth not God say as well unto us Repent and beleeve the Gospel as If you consent and obey you shall eat the good things of the land Is it fit to distinguish the Genus from the Species so as to set one in opposition to the other Though the contentions of Brethren are as the barrs of a Palace yet as Brethren they are all the Children of the same Father or Mother or both But take wee your meaning and that by Obedience is to be understood such a state or
condition of obedience as is without all sinne then let your Position runne plainly thus Surely the purpose of Gods just retribution is to give life to the world of mankind upon condition of their being without sinne or of their repentance after obedience To this I answer That there never was any such Covenant of God with man I meane in such sort conditionate and consequently there never was any purpose in God to make any such Covenant with man at least for the time past As for the times to come let them speake for themselves by their owne experience when they come But that never any such Covenant had place hitherto between God and man it is manifest For since the Fall of Adam all being borne in sinne there is no place for such a Covenant as touching the first part of the condition which is of being without sinne And before the Fall of Adam there was no place for this Covenant as touching the latter part of the condition as I presume you will not deny onely the confusion of these two states before the Fall and after the Fall hath brought forth this wild conceit of such a Covenant By that which followeth it seemes that all these conceptions tend to no worse end then to justifie Gods disposition towards the Reprobate And it is great pity that so good an end as the justifying of God should bee brought about by no more congruous courses then these But I would faine know what blemish should redound to the nature of God if hee should intend nothing but death to the world of mankind yet your selfe will acknowledge that hee might have intended nothing but annihilation And is not annihilation as bad as death But your meaning is by death to understand sorrow And is there not just cause to preferre sorrow before death Yea but your meaning is of sorrow in the highest degree and that everlasting Why but if it be no blemish to God to intend nothing but sorrow in seven degrees to the world of mankind why should it be any blemish to him to intend nothing but sorrow in a degree more And if it be no blemish to God to intend nothing but sorrow to the world of mankind for millions of yeares why should it be any blemish to his reputation to intend to the world of mankind nothing but everlasting sorrow Yet whom doe you oppose in this Who ever said that God did intend nothing but death to the world of mankind those on whom you obtrude this conceit doe not affirme this of the world of mankind but onely of the Reprobates if they doe affirme any such thing And why I pray should the Reprobates be taken for the world of mankind rather than the Elect Neither doth any man say that God did intend nothing but death to the Reprobates Hee did intend to them all life as well as death but withall that all the posterity of Adam should be borne or at least conceived in sinne and also that many thousands should perish in that sinne wherein they were conceived and borne And I presume you dare not deny this which yet is the harshest proceeding of God above all others except his dealing with his owne Sonne As for others he intended to expose them to actuall sinnes of infidelity and impenitency by denying to them that grace which alone would preserve them from such sinnes as your selfe spare not to professe and yet for all this you would obtrude upon us a strange conceit and that as very reasonable namely That God did not intend their death onely but their life also whereas God is nothing at all advantaged hereby in his reputation but onely in words which is no reall reliefe to his honour but the adding of another injury if that bee an injury unto him as you conceive namely to mock him also And if wee shall nothing pleasure him by a lye lying for God as man doth for man to gratifie him surely wee shall doe him no pleasure by thus mocking him I would you had tried your strength in oppugning their opinion to the uttermost who maintaine God to carry himselfe as absolutely in the way of Reprobation as in the way of Election I would gladly have considered it But let us consider your present discourse First you say They were in Adam enabled to keep the condition therefore say not God intended nothing but death to them I pray transferre the case to the Angels were not they also enabled to keep the condition of life as well as their fellowes yet did not God grant his Elect Angels such a grace as whereby hee knew they would stand denying such a grace unto the others and that as absolutely as hee granted it unto the other And could hee not as absolutely have granted this grace unto them 〈…〉 and denyed it to them that stood And what would have 〈◊〉 the issue but quite contrary versis luxisset curia fatis Now let any man that is not possessed with a prejudicate conceit consider whether God did not as absolutely will the damnation of the one as the salvation of the other making the one amplius adjutos as Austin speakes then the other For the absolutenesse of Gods Election of Angels is seene by the absolutenesse of his giving them such a grace as to keep them from sinne And if hee doth as absolutely deny others the same grace as hee must needs for before the first sinne of Angels there could bee no cause moving God to deny them grace it will follow that their Reprobation was as absolute as the others Election Yet what a poore relieving of Gods reputation is this to say that Judas had power in Adam to keep the condition of life proposed to him though since his Fall hee hath not yet wee beleeve that Adam is saved who bereaved Judas of his ability and Judas damned for not keeping that whereunto hee had no ability and that through the Fall of Adam Further observe I pray you the miserable consequents of this your Argument as it runnes thus in few words In Adam we were enabled to keep the Condition Therefore say not that God intended nothing but death to the Reprobate By the same reason I may dispute thus In Adam they were enabled to breake the condition of life therefore Say not that God intended nothing but life to his Elect. But as hee intended salvation and not damnation onely to the Reprobates In like sort hee intended damnation and not salvation onely to the Elect Especially considering that not in Adam onely but in themselves also they are able enough to breake it and the best of them have that in them that deserves damnation nothing that deserves salvation As for the Reprobates there neither was nor is any thing in them that sits them for salvation It is strange that these incongruities should not bee discerned or being discerned men should be so little moved with them But these are dayes of vengeance and when a good