that our Ministers preach the general Love of God as much as you do Philad I know it they are forced so to do or to preach themselves out of doors very few being so true to their Opinion as one I lately heard of that after he had been exhorting his Hearers a great while to Dutys at last told them That he did not know whether Christ died for one Soul amongst them And I believe very few ever heard any of your way that have managed any Theme but are necessitated to assert and own it otherwise such their Discourse would be as inconsistent in it self as it is far from Truth tho many in their Sermons speak much in their Exhortations to Holiness and when they take a Text of Scripture from thence labour to prove their Notions a Truth while they raise their Doctrin and give Reasons they seemingly go on fairly till they come to the Applicatory part where they knock all to pieces Mar. 'T is true many or most are to blame upon that account I have plainly told them of that my self that in private they have been one with me but in publick quite other Men as much for the general Point as you are Philad Tho they are professed Enemies to general Redemption yet it is of that use and necessity that they are forc'd to argue many things upon that account neither can they be without the service of it in the carrying on many of their Affairs yea and many times dissemble it 't is so odious in most Christians Eyes If we look within the Confines of our own Nation very few of the Church of England but own and believe Christ died for all yea I am informed that there are hardly six of your Opinion in both Universities The Quakers generally not one that I hear of but look upon it unworthy the belief of a Christian Not to mention any others you your selves are greatly divided about it and the most zealous of those that hold it dare not preach what they believe to the People lest instead of People which you say are as passive in Conversion as the Stones in the Walls they should have none but Stones to preach to Mar. Surely if Christ died for all with an intent to save all then all would be â—…ved and how comes it to pass that any miss it Universal Redemption must needs procure universal Salvation Christ's Blood must needs effect that for which it was shed Philad That Persons miss Salvation is not for want of a Jesus nor for want of the free tenders of Grace nor for want of an Advocate none can charge their eternal ruin upon the Lord Hosea 13. 9. but 't is their not believing on the only begotten Son of God their rejecting Light and loving Darkness taking pleasure in Unrighteousness and because they refuse to come at Christ's Call and will not open when he knocks nor take his Counsel nor mind those things that make for their Everlasting Peace but abuse the Lord's patience waiting upon and striving with them and so come at last to perish through their own vile stubborn and wilful Obstinacy Prov. 1. 24 to 32. 2 Pet. 2. 1 2. 2 Thess 2. 10 11 12. God doth not necessitate any to be wicked neither doth he withdraw Grace necessary unless first abused 1 Chron. 28. 9. The Lord is with you while you are with him c. 2 Chron. 24. 20. There is no let in God that all Men may believe and be saved Nay what could God have done more for Man that he hath not done Isa 5. 4. that is what God in his Wisdom thought meet to do and which was most agreeable to those Properties and Principles of Reason and Understanding placed in Man For 1. God hath placed in Man an inward Witness to wit Conscience which if it be hearkned unto will convince of Sin and lead to Duty And not only so but hath discovered by his Word to Men the damning Nature of Sin and hath plainly forewarned Persons that if they will go on in a way of Sin and Disobedience they are like to suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire hereby to deter them from Evil. And hath also made many most gracious Promises to those that are faithful and obedient to him of infinite Glory incomprehensible Rewards with the injoyment of the infinite good and gracious God himself in Heaven to Eternity And that Man might escape Eternal Wrath and obtain Life and Glory God that foresaw Man's Fall did from the beginning purpose to provide a way to make Man happy and therefore in infinite Wisdom and tender Mercy contrived the saving lost Man by sending into the World and delivering up unto Death his only Son that so all the Enmity that was between God and poor sinful Man might be renewed and Man through him might have peace with God Ephes 2. 14 15. Rom. 5. 1. And also the Lord stands engaged by Promise to justisy and save Sinners if they believe in his Son and hath promised the assistance of his Infinite Spirit to all those that by true Faith and Love seek it of him Luke 11. whereby Persons may be able to repent and believe and able to oppose Sin and advance forward in the Path of Righteousness and persevere therein to the end Now what could God do more than this So that if any perish their destruction is of themselves Jonah 4. Dr. Holms upon John 6. 37. pag. 17. speaking of God's freely pardoning Sinners and of the Bridegroom and Bride the Church and the Spirit all calling to Sinners to come Rev. 22. 17. saith Therefore why O ye Sons of Men stand you still in a damnable mistaken doubting condition so as not to come to Christ Why will you die you need not perish unless you will perish no Reason in Christ's Will but in your own Will You never improved the least Gift to go forward towards Christ but he prospered it more What would you have more than a Christ suffering a Christ offering a Christ intreating that you may come And in pag. 18. having repeated the same words saith You have a Christ that hath suffered for you a God that hath sent him to you a God that invites you to him and if you come to him you shall not be disappointed the Text saith He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out All which so fully and freely declares the Mind of God and Christ to poor Sinners that nothing can be said against it as Isa 5. 4. Hosea 6. 4. Now O Sinner look about thee God acquits himself therefore the fault must lie upon thee if thou dost not improve what thou hast tho God's Will doth not depend upon Man's Will yet God will be tied to his own Ingagement and do what he hath said Philet Come forbear any farther discourse on this Point we all hold that Man's destruction is of himself there is no damning to misery without relation to sin Philad Well we will wholly
only himself but all his Posterity if he should have had any under Sentence of Death and Condemnation yet did the Lord who delights in Mercy before he pronounc'd the Sentence due to him for Sin graciously promise a Saviour Gen. 3. 15. by which he was put into a state of Recovery from this dreadful Fall And God by this gracious Promise took whole Adam into Grace and Favour And you can no more exclude any from Justification of Life which hath abounded towards all by Christ than you can exclude them from the Condemnation which hath abounded towards them by Adam Rom. 5. 16 17 18 19. Here the condemned Ones by Adam and the justified of Christ are computed by one and the same Number For as we hear of the Condemnation of all Men by the Offence of Adam so of no fewer than all Men justified by Christ and no more than many made Sinners by Adam or of any fewer than many made Righteous by Christ Mar. Let it be well observed that the Scope of the Apostle in this place is to shew that as Death and Condemnation came inevitably upon all the first Adam's Posterity by his Fall so shall the free Gift of Righteousness come infallibly upon all in whose room and stead Christ died as their Second Adam their Surety and Mediator the first Adam's All was all Mankind the second Adam's All was the Elect upon which Justification and Sanctification shall most certainly and infallibly be bestowed upon them Philad But why the All in the first Clause should be taken for all Mankind without excepting so much as one and All in the latter should exclude all Men a few only excepted I know not For unless Persons will take to themselves a lawless Liberty to exercise Dominion over the Expression of the Holy Ghost they cannot make them greater or lesser in one Clause than in the other for if Condemnation should come upon all Men by the offence of Adam and Righteousness only upon some few by the Obedience of Christ then where Sin abounded Grace should not super-abound as Verse 20. unless Grace hath a proportionable Reign unto Life so as to put all Men into a Capacity of Life and Salvation as Sin reigned over all Men without exception unto Death Philet The Apostle's Scope is to shew that as Death came in by one publick Person so Life and Salvation came in by another publick Person and that the Lord Jesus will infallibly justify and save his All for whom he undertook and died as their Head and Representative Philad But it seems you will not own that the Grace of Christ did profit Mankind as much as the Sin of Adam damnified it No you make Christ less than Adam and that Adam did more to the damning of the Souls and Bodies of all his Posterity than Christ did for the saving of them if so what will become of Paul's glorying over the Grace of God in Christ as much more abounding as in Verse 15. For if thro the offence of one many be dead much more the Grace of God and the Gift by Grace which is by one Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many But now if many more Millions of Men are dead thro the offence of Adam than are made alive by the Grace of God in Christ where 's the much more Philet All Men being fallen in Adam God beholding Mankind in the corrupt Mass and he being the Sovereign Lord of all might at his Pleasure and in his electing Love pardon one or a few of fallen Mankind and by an eternal Decree of Reprobation leave the greatest part of Mankind in that sad and depraved Condition without any Power to believe or a Christ to believe in and this he might do because he hath an absolute and uncontroulable Power and Dominion over his Creatures Philad Now you run upon a Fundamental Mistake about personal and absolute Election and Reprobation You make Adam's Sin the Foundation of building your fearful Opinion upon that Man suffers Eternal Damnation for Adam's Sin This is a most sad Doctrine that God should lay men under a necessity of being born under the Guilt of that Sin which was out of their Power to help or withstand for men can no more help Adam's Sin than they could help being born and yet for that cast away the greatest part of Mankind forever Shall one Man sin and will the Lord be wrath with all Num. 16. 22. 'T is true when Man by disobedience became Bankrupt of the Divine Bounty and had run himself so far in Debt both to the Law and Justice beyond any possibility to pay the Debt the Lord in Justice might have left him in the Fall and made him Partaker of his fierce Wrath Yet was the Lord pleased to break forth in high and much Mercy and in the tenderness of his Love deeply compassionating Man's Misery entered into a Covenant of Peace freely giving his only Son to satisfy the whole Debt and set us free for which we are obliged to be unfeignedly thankful to our dear Lord and truly to love him that first loved us and hath promised that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life God hath now tied himself by promise and hath firmly indented with us in the Covenant of Grace and Mercy through Christ that if we believe and obey the Lord we shall undoubtedly reap the blessed Fruits of the Promise in Eternal Life Therefore I beseech you do not entertain such dreadful Apprehensions of an Infinite Gracious God that he should send Millions of Men to endless torments for Adam's single Transgression Surely if it was so the Holy Ghost who so effectually in the Scriptures of Truth vindicates the Righteousness and Equity of God's Proceedings in the Condemnation of wicked and ungodly Men would have insisted more or less upon it we should find something of it in the Word of God either from Christ or some of his Servants but I cannot find the least hint of it in the whole Scripture that ever the Lord decreed to assign Men their Portions with Devils for that Sin it being taken away as to the condemning Guilt of it by the Grace of God in Christ Where doth the Scripture say that for Adam's Sin in eating the forbidden Fruit God hateth the greatest part of his Posterity yea so hates them as to reprobate them to the second Death but plainly tells us the Child shall not suffer for the Father's Sins Ezek. 18. Philet But doth not the Lord say Exod. 20. 5. That he will visit the Sins of the Father upon the Children c. Philad Yea but 't is to those that hate him mind the words If Children come to be haters of God as their Fathers were treading in the same steps of sin and disobedience with their wicked Parents they thereby becoming partakers of their sins shall share with them in their punishment But this doth not shew that God will condemn any for that offence which
Men may be saved if they will which is so gross an Error that they must be very blind that cannot see it for if it was so Men might have Heaven for willing and none would go to Hell but it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth Mercy Rom. 9. 16. Philad That 's true if Men might have Heaven for wishing or willing few would be so fool-hardy as to go to Hell Who would but with Balaam die the Death of the Righteous Who would but have all Tears wiped away from their Eyes and live in Bliss and Glory if God would save Persons for their good Wishes and Desires and give them Heaven tho they never minded it all their days so as to please God they deserve to go to Hell that would not have Heaven upon this account that think Heaven not worth a Wish And as to your Scriptures the Apostle sheweth that the Jews had a Will to be saved and the reason why they fell short of Justification was not for want of willing or running but for not willing and running in a right way they sought it not by Faith but by the Works of the Law They being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own Rom. 10. 3. so mist of Justification But surely this is not that Free-will you so much cry out of for where can you find such Free-willers that hold Heaven may be had for wishing for Philet But however you hold that you have naturally such a power and freedom of Will that when you would do good you can Philad 'T is a mistake we do not say we have it from Nature but from Grace for as we are in our depraved Nature we can neither do nor will ought that is acceptable and good but as in Grace we may for then to will is present with us yea and ever since the Promise was made that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head the Lord doth first or last enlighten every Man that cometh into the World vouchsasing such renewing of his Will and such a perpetual co-assistance to perform what shall be accepted if persons do not wilfully maliciously and finally resist his Grace so that none of our Sins can justly be charged upon any deficiency in him Our blessed Saviour tells them the Word was near them and in them and that he was the Light that enlightens every Man Yet if by Free-will you mean a single Power in the Creature to convert it self I know none this day in England that hold such an Opinion however I utterly renounce such an Opinion as vile it being to ascribe too much to humane Nature It must needs be a pernicious Principle for any to believe that a Man by the sole power of regulating of his own Will and Reason can obtain Eternal Salvation this would make the suffering of Christ altogether fruitless and I believe also that none hath any will or power of himself without God to do any thing that 's good or to attain to a supernatural End but by the Assistance of Divine Grace and therefore there is an absolute necessity of seeking and imploring the saving supernatural aid and help of the Spirit of that God from whom all our Abilities are derived to us And as to what you say we hold that when we would do good we can I say that through the Grace of God we may avoid many more Sins than we daily do avoid and do more good than we do tell me are any of us laid under a necessity of sinning cannot we forbear many Sins which we daily run into and do we really do what God by his Grace hath impowred us to do in our Duty to God and Man and in avoiding Sin If you say we can do no otherwise then is all your preaching vain yea ridiculous for if an irresistible Cause overpower us that we can do no otherwise no Man that is truly master of his own Reason will ever spend his time and strength to exhort any to repent of doing that which they could not but do or omitting of that which was never in their power to effect If you say that by the Grace of God we may do the one or the other you own Free-will as much as I. For this is the Free-will if we may call it so that I hold viz. That God Almighty hath of his Free Love and Grace imparted a measure of himself or endowed Mankind with those Abilities to perform whatsoever he requires of them and injoins them to God never gives a Command but he gives a Power or else their Disobedience shall not be their Condemnation if this be a vile Opinion then I confess I am vile for if God requires us to believe and yet administers not sufficient Grace and Strength to believe all our endeavours are vain and fruitless Men cannot make Brick till Srraw be given them for the Lord to prescribe Dutys to us and annex Penaltys upon the non-performance of them as to punish with Eternal Death all those that are disobedient to his Will and yet to deny his Grace and Assistance without which it is impossible to keep them this is to represent the Lord as I once said before too much like cruel Pharaoh that made the Lives of his People bitter to them by laying heavy Burdens in requiring the tale of Brick and yet denying Straw the fit Materials or as the evil Servant in the Parable stiled him a hard Master reaping where he hath not sowed Philet I tell you we are altogether passive in the Work of Conversion we are like Saws or Axes that cannot move any otherwise than the Hand guides or forces them Philad Your comparing Persons to Saws and Axes being altogether passive in comparison is a thing I do not understand for we are not Saws or Axes without Sense or Reason but by God's free Gift and his free Grace we have received Liberty and Ability to accept of his Love and to accept of his Mercy when tendred to us and to perform those things which God requires of us in order to our Salvation yea through the Lord 's assisting Grace which is never wanting to any but those that are wanting to themselves we have received such a Power as to inable us to perform the Will of God when the choice of Good and Evil is set before us Deut. 30. 19. Mar. No more than the Stones in the street Philad Why then Man can have no more Sin nor Righteousness in him than a Stone if Man in the Work of Conversion be like a Stock or Stone merely passive doing nothing then in Conversion Persons neither hear nor repent nor turn from Sin to the Lord nor believe in Christ and how any are truly regenerated without those I know not and if these are to be done in Conversion pray who is active in this Work if the Party regenerated be not And if by God's Free Grace Man
do you think that God Almighty doth so delight in the Blood and Ruin of Men that rather than not destroy them Soul and Body he will have them live and die in Sin that he may destroy them This is like that which Suetonius reports of Tyberius in God's Love to Mankind Page 59. who being minded to put certain Virgins to death because it was against the Roman Laws to strangle Virgins caused them all to be defloured by the Hangman that so they might be strangled but far be any such thing from the God of Truth and Father of Mercy that he should appoint that the Devil should lead Men into Sin that afterward he might take occasion to damn them for it Mar. But you ought to distinguish between the Actions of Men and the Sin of the Action tho God is the Author of the Actions of Men yet not of the Evil of their Actions Phil. This is a nice Distinction you would seem to split a Hair God you say is the Author of the Fact but not of the Fault of their Disobedience not of their Sin but is this any part of God's revealed Will Mar. You read Acts 4. 27 28. Of a Truth Lord against thy Child Jesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the People of Israel were gathered together for to do what soever thy Hand and Counsel determined before to be done Here you see that it was the determinate Counsel of God that his Son should not only suffer but also that Herod Pontius Pilate Jews and Gentiles should betray and murder him Now had they done this in Obedience to the Will of God they had not sinned but they doing of it to make him a Sacrifice to their Revenge and Malice that was their Sin here God decreed the Fact but not the Fault Phil. This is no good Distinction How much better had it been for the World and what Peace might the Church of God have enjoyed had People contented themselves with what was spoken to them from the Lord and had not given their Imagination such unbounded Scope as to pester the World with such abundance of Scriptureless Distinctions and frivolous Niceties Now I readily grant that it was the determinate Will of God to redeem lost Man by the delivering up of his Son unto Death that is by leaving him in the Hands and to the Will of those who were his Enemies and whom the Lord did foreknow would put him to Death unless he did interpose by his Power to prevent their Rage and Malice Now for the effecting of this great and blessed Work the Redemption and Salvation of Mankind it was sufficient for God to decree that in case these or any other should attempt his Death he would not hinder them from effecting it but neither this Scripture nor any other saith that the Hand and Counsel of God had determined that the Jews and Gentiles should betray and murder Christ but only that these were gathered together to effect that which God in his Counsel had determined before to be done to wit the Redemption of the World Compare this Text with Act. 2. 23. where the Apostle plainly lays this Sin upon their own Heads in that they took and by wicked Hands crucified and slew the Lord of Life and Glory Du-Veil commenting upon this place saith That this Jesus by the Decree of the Father to whom he in all things voluntarily obeyed being surrendred into your Hands with incredible Importunity you forced the Romans to nail to a Cross Therefore Christ by the determinate Decree of God was given up into the power and disposal of his Enemies whose hostile and inhuman Rage God did not predestinate but only foreknew Now tho God did decree to leave his Son in the Hands of wicked Men that so he might die for Sin yet it is no less than Wickedness and horrid Blasphemy to say that God decreed that such and such Men by Name should betray and murder him Now to kill a holy and innocent Person is a sinful Act which is not from God but of the Devil who is the Author of it John 8. 40 43 44. and therefore it is said John 13. 2. that the devil put it in Judas's Heart to betray Christ and that Judas fell by Transgression Act. 1. 25. Now if God who hath by his Word prohibited the shedding of Blood or taking of any Man's Life away unjustly should any way incline or compel Men to it so as to lay them under a Necessity of being wicked he must needs be the Author of it Bishop Vsher in his History of Gotteschalk p 138. as quoted by the Author of God's Love to Mankind hath these Words Whosoever saith that God hath laid a Constraint or a Necessity of sinning upon any Man he doth manifestly and fearfully blaspheme God inasmuch as he makes him by that the Author of Sin and therefore I look upon your Distinction no better than meer Delusion to deceive the simple and inconsiderate ones First Because in wicked Actions the Acts themselves are simply Sin as Adam's eating the forbidden Fruit was simply Sin and is not Murder Drunkenness profane Swearing Stealing Whoring in themselves Sin Is it not because of such things that the Wrath of God comes upon the Children of Disobedience Eph. 5. 5 6. The Wrath of God doth not take hold upon Men for such Actions as bare Actions but as sinful Actions as they are the Transgression of the Righteous Law of God 1 John 3. 4. How shall God be just in rendering to every Man according to the things done in the Body if Men sin by the Determination of God Secondly Because if God by his divine Decree lays Man under a necessity of sinning he is truly the cause of Sin and Man by thiâ— comes to have some Cloak for his Wickedness because he cannot justly be blamed nor punished for doing of that which he had no power to withstand but was forced on by an irresistable Necessity It was a grave and true Saying saith Goodman upon the Parable of the Prodigal Son of Seneca Necessity is the great Sanctuary of human Infirmity which whosoever can lay claim to obtains Protection for it perfectly excuseth all the Faults it commits No Punishment either Temporal or Eternal can in Justice be inflicted for any bad Action where there is no power in the Party to avoid it Why doth our Law condemn Men to suffer Death for wicked Actions if they were unavoidable and that when they murder steal plot Treason or practise any other Villanies they do them by Necessity of God's unalterable Decree Pray see what we have Deut. 22. 25. where we may see the Law of God awards no Punishment to the Damsel because what she did was by Compulsion being over-born by force which she was not able to withstand Nay farther if God hath decreed all the Actions of Men and bound them under the Dominion of absolute Necessity to commit them why then should we be
afraid of any Sin that is attended with Pleasure or Profit if they must needs sin or what reason has a Person to repent to weep and mourn for doing that which he could not but do or omitting of that which was never in his power to effect If there be such a rigid Fate upon Persons all Sorrow Fear and mourning for Sin and all other Acts of Repentance whatsoever may as well be spared as spent to no purpose Mar. Well but whatsoever cometh to pass at any time or in any place with relation to any Persons they are foreseen and foreknown by the Lord and if so is there not then an absolute and unavoidable necessity of their coming to pass What God foresees must necessarily come to pass but it must come to pass in the same manner that he foresees it which is as it shall be in respect of time But his foresight doth not make it an absolutely necessary thing for as the knowledg of things prefent lays no necessity on that which is done so the fore-knowledg of things future lays no necessity on that which shall be because whosoever either knows or sees things he knows and sees them as they are and not as they are not God's foreknowledg of this or the other Man's Sins from Eternity doth infer that these his Sins would be committed for God cannot be deceived yet his fore-knowledg that Man would sin hath no influence upon his Sin which shews Man's Destruction to be of himself Phil. God foreknows all the Evil and Wickedness that was is or will be yet he doth not decree it It cannot be thought but God did foreknow that the Jews would mock his Messengers despise his Word misuse his Prophets till his Wrath arose against them till there was no Remedy yet did not he decree it but sent his Messengers c. in true love to them 2 Chron. 36. 15 16. God Almighty thro the Infinitness of his Wisdom and Knowledg is able infallibly to know and foresee all Mens Ways and Actions and what they will be from the beginning of the World to the end thereof as well nay far better than Man doth when his days are finished being without all possibility of Error or Mistake yet this fore-knowledg of this or the other coming to pass doth not cause a necessity that it shall so come to pass no more than my fore-knowledg that Men will die is a cause of their Death Without all question God foreknew that Herod would seek the young Child Jesus to destroy him and in all probability had Jesus been in the coast of Bethlehem at that time when Herod's bloody Inquisition was put in Execution Jesus had died that the Lord foresaw and therefore warned Joseph to take the young Child and flee into Egypt But very full to our purpose is that in 1 Sam. 23. 11 12. where David inquires of the Lord if Saul would come down to Keilah and the Lord said he would come down and that the Lords of Keilah would deliver David into Saul's Hands in case he should stay in their City But it did not follow from this fore-knowledg that therefore Saul must of necessity come down or David be delivered by the Lords of Keilah into Saul's Hands Predestination saith St. Austin as quoted by Du-Veil on Act. 2. 23. cannot be without Fore-knowledg but Fore-knowledg may be without Predestination for by Predestination God foreknew those things he was to act but he may foreknow those things which he himself doth not do as all manner of Sin Where we may see that tho the Sins and wicked Actions of Men may be the Object of God's Fore-knowledg yea and of his Providence too yet it is Wickedness to say that God is operative about the bringing of them to pass Mar. But if it was not for Sin God's Glory would not be exalted in the punishing of it by this is much of the Justice of God seen Phil. What is God so much wanting in himself that he could find out no means for the Exaltation of his own glorious Name nor find out means to advance his Justice but by the bringing in of Sin into the World which his Soul hates and to appoint Men to commit it that so he might exalt his Justice in punishing of it Surely if our Righteousness cannot profit God our Sins cannot Job 35. 6 7. But a Word with respect to the term Fore-knowledg which the Scripture in several places attributes unto God tho held by Learned and good Christians to be an unproper Term and attributed to God as the Parts and Passions of a Man are as Hands Eyes Ears Grief Joy Repentance Anger c. And the Holy Ghost is pleased to use such vulgar Terms applying himself to our Capacity that so we might receive some Light of God's Eternal Workings and might be inriched with such Conceptions and Knowledg of him as we are capable of Now with respect to us that are temporal we say that God Almighty doth foresee and foreknow us and predestinate us yet we must not think that God's Actions that are Eternal must be wrought like ours in time This was to raise such Fancies in us which are unworthy of him and not consistent with the truth of his Being for this is adjudg'd for a Truth by the Learned that God wills nothing in time Mr. Perkins in his Commentary upon Heb. 11. 40 speaking of God's Fore-knowledg saith That to soresee is ascribed to God not properly but in regard of our Capacity for if we speak of God properly God cannot be said to foresee any thing because all things be present to him whether past or to come Dr. Moulins upon Rom. 8. as quoted by De-Laun in his Sec. Philo page 70. God is said to foreknow such which he foresaw would believe in his Son not that there is any future time properly ascribable to God in whom no Acci-Condition or Circumstance of Time or Place can be admitted but these things are spoken of God after the manner of Men. Now if God wills nothing in time neither doth he foreknow or foresee any thing in time his Fore-knowledg being as Antient as himself even from Eternity so that with God there is no Word nor Thought nor Actions past or to come but are all at once with God even in one eternal present Being Psal 139. 2. yea our Birth our Lives our Death our Election and Predestination Acts 15. 18. are all at once with God with whom is no variableness or shadow of changing Heb. 13. 8. Rev. 1. 4. Jesus Christ the same Yesterday to Day and for ever always like himself invariable and immutable so that whatsoever God foreknows or intends 't is from Eternity May we not say with the Apostle Rom. 11. 33. that the Knowledg as well as the Wisdom of God is past finding out yea unsearchable to Men and Angels in respect of that absolute and perfect Knowledg which God hath of all things and of the Ways and Actions of
they never did in their own persons especially when satisfied for it by their Surety And as Dr. Taylor saith in his Apology for the Baptists speaking of Infants dying before baptized and under the supposed guilt of Adam's sin tells us That original sin either will not be laid to their charge so as to be sufficient to condemn them or if it could yet the Mercy and absolute Goodness of God will secure them if he takes them away before they can glorifie him by a free obedience As Infants without any consent of their own contracted the guilt of Adam's sin and are liable to all the punisament that can with Justice descend upon his Posterity who are personally innocent so Infants shall be restored without any Act of their own or any others for them by the second Adam by the Redemption of Jesus Christ by his Righteousness and Mercy Mod. I have a good Opinion of all dying Infants especially Children of Believing Parents Philad And is there not as good ground of hopes for all as some Doth not Mr. Baxter a Friend of yours tell us in his More Proofs pag. 8. That all Mankind was brought by Christ under a Covenant of Grace which is not vain nor repealed by God but as the abuse of the Grace of the Covenant may cast them out for as a Covenant of intire Nature was made with all Mankind in innocent Adam so a Covenant of Grace was made with all Mankind in lapsed Adam Gen. 3. 15. in the Promised Seed and renewed again with all Mankind in Noah And this is no more than what the Scripture agrees with Ezek. 18. where the Lord expresly tells them That he that sinneth shall die that the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father and God's dealing thus in Mercy with fallen Mankind is so agreeable to the pure Nature of the Deity that it is to be wondred that any should be so wicked as to believe that he hath fore-determin'd the Reprobation of any for anothers faults and when they themselves were uncapable of doing good or evil in their own persons Philet What will you go about to deny Original sin Shall none go to Hell For that David saith Ps 51. That he was born in iniquity and in sin did his Mother conceive him Philad Deny Original sin no but I do believe that all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God and that by reason of Adam's sin Death reigneth over all of which none is free being all concluded in unbelief and corrupted in the original Adam when he was first created was said to be made in the Image of God which Image did not only stand in having Dominion over the Creatures as some of the Ancients have expounded it neither as if the Soul was of the substance of God but the Image of God in which Adam was created was in Knowledg Righteousness and Holiness Col. 3. 10. Eph. 4. 14. indued with all Perfection which was requisite for a Creature and sufficiently furnished with necessary Wisdom Mercy Justice Patience Bounty Love Humility and such like that so they might in some measure hold forth the Divine Perfection and Majesty of God and know how to use aright their Dominion and Sovereignty over all the inferior Creatures and also might understand the Will of God towards themselves that so they might render that Obedience which was due unto God as their supreme Lord and Law-giver whereby they might have been forever happy and blessed But now Man being tempted to sin soon yielded to the temptation lost the Perfection of his Nature his Holiness and pure Innocence which was the condition of his Blessedness in dissolving of which he lost his Happiness and was driven out from the presence of the Lord being now fallen from a most glorious condition in Creation unto the miserable state of Corruption in which State of Corruption it is said Gen. 5. 3. That Adam begot a Child in his own lineness it doth not say that he begat a Son in the Image of God in which he was created but in the Image of himself that is in the same condition of himself at that time of Generation Had Adam begotten Children before he fell he had begotten a Righteous Seed after the Image of his Perfection because the Image of God in him was unpolluted but begetting Children after the Depravation of his Nature the Stream could not rise purer than the Fountain none could bring a clean thing out of an unclean one And though all with respect of what was derived unto them from Adam are wholly lost and in the strictness of Justice worthy of eternal Death yet the guilt of it as to eternal Death is taken away by the abounding Grace of God vouchsafed to the World by Jesus Christ which extends it self to all that were lost in Adam Philet You seem to hold that Adam's sin became ours and we all involved in the Fall because we were all in his Loins as he was the Root and common Stock from which we all by the appointment of the Lord should come yet you will not hold that any deserves Hell and Damnation for that sin Philad You cannot prove that that Death which was threatened to Adam if he disobeyed the Lord was Damnation to Hell-fire neither if the Promise of Christ had not been made whether Adam had lived to beget Children or not or whether he had not immediately gone to the dust from whence he was taken 'T is no better than sinful curiosity to be too confident in such unrevealed matters 't is the safest way to be sober and to go no farther than the Scriptures guide us and where the Holy Ghost hath not a Pen to write let us not have a Tongue to speak God hath revealed enough to make us wise to Salvation Yet this I say that whatsoever State Adam was in there was all Mankind with him there was a time if Eternity may be called so when all Men considered as in God were nothing but God himself according to that Maxim Whatsoever is in God is God All Men had a being in God before they had a being in Adam Luk. 3. 38. where Adam is called the Son of God 2dly There was a time when Adam and so all Men in him was righteous and holy as during his State of pure Innocency In which State all Men must needs partake of the same Holiness and Integrity with him Eccl. 7. 3. Rom. 5. 12. 1 Cor. 15. 22. 3dly There was a time when Adam with Eve his Wife being beguiled by Satan free from all inward or outward Necessity sinned against God by which Transgression they became liable to Eternal Death and so his Judgment Will and Affection came to be corrupted in which State all Mankind stood and so Original Sin is come upon all and Death by Sin yea upon those that have not sinned after the Similitude of Adam's Transgression 4thly There was a time when God who is rich in Mercy
of Grace made with Adam till they come to abuse the Grace of the Covenant For God hates none till they first hate him leaves none till they first forsake him makes none Partakers of Everlasting Burning till they kindle his Wrath by their actual Sins for he doth not so delight in the Blood of Souls as by his pure and naked Will to decree Man to Eternal Death before they enjoy any Life or commit the least Sin Infants are accounted Innocent and our Saviour tells us 't is not the Will of his Father that any of those little ones perish Philet This is a strange assertion to say That all Infants come into World in a state of Innocency and that if they die in Infancy they die in a state of Innocency Alas there is a universal depravedness in the Soul of an Infant which if it live to express it will discover it self A young Cub of a Fox or Wolf doth not presently discover its ravenous nature but it is inherent in it bred with it and Men kill those young Cubs though they never did any mischief because it is their natures to be ravenous and mischievous So an Infant hath the Seed of all Sin a corrupt Nature though it doth not act as it doth when Age comes on and I say God may for the guilt of Adam's sin and because there is such Rebellion and Wickness in Man's nature against him glorifie his Justice upon them though they should die in their Infancy they are far from dying in Innocency Philad It seems by what you hold because Man may slaughter Beasts of Prey without any cruelty or injustice therefore God may as well nay more appoint as many of poor Infants to the Torments of Hell if he pleaseth and yet be just and good notwithstanding May we not as well reason thus God without any injustice appointed brute Creatures to be slain for Man's use therefore he may ordain Men to be cast into Hell Torments for ever Though God permitteth nay appointeth Man to slaughter Beasts that they might be Meat for his use and so giveth him power to kill them yet it would be look'd upon barbarous injustice and cruelty to prolong the Life of a Beast to vex and torture it to shew what Power and Sovereignty he hath over it So I do not doubt but God may when he pleases take away the Life of an Infant or Man yea resolve them to nothing without any cruelty or injustice Yet he cannot without both these decree to keep them alive in Hell there to torment them without end to shew his Sovereignty without just cause in the Creature Some poor Infants never so much as saw the Light of this World or receiv'd the least Good and yet must be punished with Devils to Eternity O wretched Doctrine Philet I do not think God would have destroy'd the Old World and called them the World of ungodly and destroy'd Sodom and Gomorrah and made them suffer the vengeance of eternal Fire amongst whom no doubt were many Infants if all Infants were innocent I will not meddle to determine the eternal State of those that die in Infancy to be sure you go too far to assert what you do you are not the Sovereign and Judg of all Philad All Infants through the Grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ are discharged from the condemning Power of Original sin and they having no actual sins 't is not the infirmity of their Nature shall damn any neither can it I hope enter into the heart of a Christian to believe that God should create any Infants on purpose to damn them and though it be true that Original sin is come upon Infants and Death by sin yet this is as true that Original Sin was not committed against the Covenant of Grace and seeing that you cannot prove any Infant hath sinned against the Covenant of Grace they cannot come into Condemnation of Hell Torments for our Gracious God will condemn none but those that first destroy themselves by sinful courses though 't is true they many times suffer the first Death for the sins of others as those you mention Mar. All Infants are under a Sentence of eternal Damnation only such Infants that are elected and have the Principles of Grace infused in them shall be sav'd Philad What then is become of that Gracious Speech of the Almighty God Ps 145. His tender mercy is over all his works sure damned Infants have no share in hs Mercy no not so much as a Toad by a thousand degrees And thus by your Doctrine you not only most dreadfully preach Millions of poor harmless Souls to Hell but also represent the Father of Mercy and God of Goodness more like a Tyrant that destroys his Subjects for will and pleasure though they never provok'd him by breaking the least Law in their own Persons only to shew his Power over them Would not such dealing be look'd upon amongst Men meer Cruelty when acted by bare Prerogative and Power not being attended with Equity Justice and Mercy Would this be Cruelty in Man and shall we think that the Infinite God who is Goodness and Truth it self will harbour it or that he will proceed with Man according to his Absolute Power and Sovereignty without being accompany'd with Justice and tender Mercy Or do we think the Lord will fall below man and suffer himself to be out-done in Justice Mercy and Goodness by any of his Creatures Surely no so though the Nature of man is too sadly depraved by the sin of our first Parents yet it must needs be a contradiction to the Divine Goodness Mercy and Justice of God to say that any suffer for their Fathers sins Mar. You talk of God's Justice as if God could not punish one for the fault of another and yet be Just you do not know what you talk of I 'll give you an instance to the contrary 't is that of Saul utterly destroying of the Amalekites 1 Sam. 15. 2 3. he was to slay both man and woman Infants and Sucklings and the reason was because Amalek laid wait for Israel when he came up from Egypt ver 1. Exod. 17. 8. But now what had this People done that was so many Generations remov'd from Israel coming out of Egypt Or what had the poor Infants and Sucklings done Or how can it stand with Justice that the Fathers committed the fault and the Children are punished for it Philad This was only to a Temporal Death I hope you will not say that it was the Decree of God after Saul had destroy'd those Infants and Sucklings Bodies that he would send their Souls to Hell for their Fathers faults sure it was not the sin of Infants that caused the Lord to plead in such wrath with them no more than the Cattle which was to be destroy'd as well as they Was God offended with the Beasts of the Field But come I believe it was no unjust thing in God to take away by
and not as Believers or as their being in Christ by Faith then for God to love a Person to Day and hate him to Morrow would evidently shew a change in his Affection according to the change made in the Creature And I must needs tell you I like this plain dealing the best you are herein truer to your Principles than many of your Brethren that hold this Point of personal Election But for my part I believe that God loveth and accepts more of Actions that are good than of mere Persons and contrary to what you say that such and such Actions do therefore please him because the Person pleaseth him but rather because their Actions please him therefore their Persons please him tho God hates all the Workers of Iniquity Psal 5. 5. yet said he to Cain Gen. 4. 7. If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted and Heb. 11. 5 6. Before his Transgression he had this Testimony that he pleased God but without Faith he could not Read John 14. 23. and 15. 14. and 16. 27. These are those that he will love yet may those that were once beloved of God by reason of Sin come to be the object of his hatred Isa 63. 9 10. But they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit therefore he was turned to be their Enemy and fought against them Now you that say that where once God loves he must never cease to love Pray you what think you of the Angels that fell Do you think God did not love them while they stood in that pure and holy State in which they were created and if he did do you think that he loves them now in their Apostacy So God is said to love Jacob and Israel yet at another time he is said to hate Israel Jer. 12. 7 8. Amos 6. 8. yet is this taken off again Isa 60. 15. whereas they were hated God loved them again So that God may love at one time and hate at another without the least change in him in respect of Love or Hatred because no Person of Man is supposed to be the Object of elective Love but only as Righteous nor any Person the Object of Reprobation but only as Wicked so that the Love of God being set upon such kind of Persons as are true Believers those who have Christ formed in them whose Souls are regenerated and formed into the Image of Jesus and Partakers of the heavenly and divine Nature having received that heavenly and divine Anointing by virtue of which they become Christians 1 Cor. 6. 17. John 15. being wrought into a Conformity to Jesus this is that State in which the true Election stands Christ being the elected Root and Believers the elected Branches These are those whom God doth justify and will glorify these are those whom the Lord hath set apart for himself Psal 4. 3. These are those whom the Lord hath chosen from the rest of the World to be his own peculiar Favourites upon whom he intends to bestow an heavenly Inheritance and as Persons decline from Christ living in a State of Unbelief and Impenitency being Strangers to the Life of God disobedient and to every good Work reprobate they remaining such are in that state in which Reprobation stands not being brought over to Christ in whom the Father is well pleased So that I conceive that Unchangeableness which the Scripture asserts of God is to be considered with respect to his Essence Attributes and Decrees and not in his constant loving the same Persons how wicked soever they prove For suppose God should dearly love a Person while he is faithful to him and in case this Person should apostatize and die in a state of Impenitency and he should destroy him with eternal Death this doth not shew the least Alteration in any of the Lord's Attributes either of Love Goodness Mercy Justice c. And suppose a Man passeth from a State of Sin wherein he lived to the Displeasure of the Lord to a State of Faith and Holiness and in this Condition comes to injoy the Love and Favour of God yet his Love and Hatred cannot be said to be changed tho the Persons of Men change never so often from Good to Evil or from Evil to Good This shews indeed a change in Man but no change at all in the Lord he still loves and hates but what he loved and hated before Pray consider Ezek. 18. at what Instant I spake c. if it doth Evil I will repent Here you see God is said to repent so he is said to repent that he made Man upon the Earth Gen. 6. 6. he is said to repent that he made Saul King 1 Sam. 15. 11. And yet the Scriptures cannot be broken which testify that with God is no Repentance or shadow of change 1 Sam. 15. 29. Num. 23. 19. James 1. 17. Mal. 3. 6. Psal 102. 25. yet here is no real Contradiction And as I said before in respect of his Essence Attributes and Decrees God cannot repent yet after the manner of Men he is said to repent in respect of his Works for as Men when they repent alter their Works so when God alters his Work he is said to repent as in Gen. 6. 6. I will saith God destroy Man from the Earth for it repents me c. God made Man to dwell upon the Face of the Earth but now coming to destroy Man from off the Earth seems to repent and so concerning Saul I repent that I have made Saul King that is I have determined to depose him and to prefer another And so concerning Ely c. Delawn Sacr. p. 50. So that no such Conclusion can reasonably be drawn from God's once loving he must for ever love how wicked soever the Person proves afterwards or else be mutable for I do not find in Scripture that God hateth any of the Works of his Hands as they are his Creatures nor any thing but Sin and Sinners for the cause of Sin and there is the same Consideration or the like Reason of his Election being placed upon Faith and obedient Persons or Persons really brought over to Christ Philet The Elect are justified in the Eternal purpose of God and tho the Elect do sin yet the Lord sees it not so as to condemn them for it neither can it do them any hurt or make them less lovely in the sight of God Philad Hold one word before you go any farther you seem to say God was never an Enemy to the Elect Do you not by this make the Fall of Adam in whom the Elect were included a mere Fiction and the whole Story of the Gospel concerning Christ's Suffering a Fable and the Passion of Christ if you grant he suffered for the Elect a mere Vanity more than needs to die to reconcile and bring those into Friendship with God which were never out of his Love nor with whom he was never offended Philet I say all the Sins of the Elect both past present and
Apostle asserts an unwillingness in Christ that any Person of Mankind whatsoever should perish and therefore delayeth his promised coming and exercises much patience and long-sufference his will and desire being that no Person whatsoever should perish but that all might by his patience and long-sufferance be led to Repentance which if it be a Truth then doubtless we must here understand all Men and not restrain it to the Elect only for the Lord is not here said to be not willing that any of his Elect should perish but that all these should come to Repentance but not willing that any universally should perish but that all should come to Repentance viz. as they are Men while they are capable of Repentance that so they may be saved Philet This Text also must be restrained to the Elect therefore saith the Apostle The Lord is long-suffering to us-wards not willing that any of the Elect or true Believers should perish c. and if you mind this Epistle is writ to the Elect to those that had obtained like precious Faith with God's Elect. Philad But the contrary will appear if you consider the Persons here mentioned are those towards whom the Lord exercised much patience and long-suffering what are they the Elect with whom the Lord is not angry therefore no need of patience for there is no room for patience to take place but only in such cases where a Person is apt to be stirred up and provoked but now God was never offended with the Elect but loveth them with the greatest love that can be neither according to your Principles were they in any danger or possibility of perishing therefore could not the patience and long-suffering of God have any reference to any such End either of Salvation or Condemnation they having Salvation infallibly assured to them by the irrevocable Decree of God So that let Christ's coming be long or speedy or should they die the first moment they breath in this World or live after never so many Sins committed yet their Salvation being decreed of God and that Decree irresistible must needs produce their Salvation Besides if we should understand it of the Elect then we may without wrong to the Apostle bring him in speaking thus God is patient to the Elect not willing that any of his Elect should perish but that all the Elect should come to repentance therefore we must needs understand that the patience and long-sufferance of God is exercised toward those that contemn his Grace yea such as go on in Sin treasuring up Wrath to themselves against the day of Wrath yet the Lord exerciseth his goodness and forbearance and long-sufferance that so his Goodness might lead them to repentance Rom 2. 3 4. yea those that the Apostle calls Vessels of Wrath fitted for destruction are yet endured with much long-suffering There is nothing that makes the Lord withhold his hand of indignation against the Wicked but the tender Compassion that is in him through Christ and therefore is the long-suffering of God said to be Salvation this is the main End and Design of God's Patience and affording Sinners a Day of Grace that so Grace and Mercy might be obtained and his Goodness and Mercy leads them to repentance and so long as God exerciseth his long-suffering towards any they are under a possibility of Repentance 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. We read that the patience and long-sufferance of God waited upon Sinners in the days of Noah and all those 120 Years he afforded them means of Repentance by Noah who was a Preacher of Righteousness to them this shews that they were not under an absolute Decree of Reprobation but rather God would have none of them to perish if they do perish it is through their own fault and folly Now this is very consistent with the Will of God and the Mind of the Holy Ghost in other Scriptures as Ezek. 18. 30 32. and 33. 11. we find this People was ready to affront and cavil with the most High much after that rude manner as in Paul's time in the 9th of the Romans and as you and many others in these our days who say that Children are made liable to Eternal Death by their Parents Transgression before they had any Sin of their own notwithstanding God hath said nay sworn the contrary Is it not strange to think how you complement nay dissemble with God when you pray unto him you tell him how merciful and bountiful he is to all and when you have turn'd your backs represent him as a hard Master making us pay for that which we never tasted and punishing us for that fault which he knows others had committed with such like injurious Imputations and horrid Blasphemies so here these fly in the Face of God and charge the Death of the Wicked upon him and boldly lay the blame at his Door and say The Ways of the Lord were not equal tho when the Lord comes to judg every one according to their Work the inequallity will be found on their side not on God's for Psal 145. 17. 25. 10. hereupon the Lord proceeds to vindicate his most righteous proceedings with the Sons of Men and shews that the Son should not bear the iniquity of the Father nor the Father the Son 's but the Soul that sins should die and therefore calls upon them to repent Where now is the Man that dares charge the God of Heaven with his Destruction Surely as God delights not in the Sin of any so neither doth he in their Death but if you do not believe the Lord upon his bare Word you have his Oath Ezek. 33. 11. As I live saith the Lord c. I will not your Destruction if you perish and die in your Sins 't is because you * Baxter's Call to the Vnconverted p. 152 153 170. chuse Destruction your own Will is the cause of your Wo The Lord which cannot lie Tit. 1. 2. saith so nay he that cannot be perjur'd As I live he swears saith Dr. Homes by the choicest of Attributes his Life which is the Root of all others and the excellency of his Being and therefore carrys a great weight with it that he is in good earnest and most cordially desires they would not perish or die eternally God will not eat his Word or be forsworn 1 Sam. 15. 29. Rom. 3. 4. Tit. 1. 2. Mar. You need cite no more Scriptures I know and believe the Scripture stands full of Exhortations and many Promises c. in his Revealed Will but he hath a Secret Will contrary to his Revealed Will relating to the same People and Object So God would have all Men to be saved and none to perish by his Revealed Will yet by his Secret Will he would have Millions to be damned and tho it be his Revealed Will that all Men should believe in his Son and all should as you say repent and turn to God yet his Secret Will is they shall neither do the one
of Faith Answers That the same Gospel that offers Christ operates Faith the same Spirit that inspired the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures doth co-operate and it operates in the Ministry of the Gospel upon those that wait upon it Mr. Perkins on Rev. 2. 13. saith That the preaching of the Gospel hath in it a Divine Power to beget Souls to the Lord. Philet I believe those that the Gospel is preached to if they unfeignedly repent of their Sins believe on him shall without all question be saved by and through the Death of Christ for the reason why Men are condemned is because they believe not on the only begotten Son of God Philad Well said Philetus now you have ruin'd your self upon these two Points which you have laboured this day to avoid The first is this That Christ died for those that miss Salvation through unbelief for if the Lord by the Gospel promised Salvation to all Men without exception in case they do believe on Christ which you cannot deny it roundly follows that Christ must needs have purchased it for them by his Blood for there is no Salvation without Remission of Sins nor no Remission without shedding of Blood neither could their believing procure any other Salvation to them but only that which was fully purchased for them by the Blood of Christ there being no Salvation for any Man upon any Terms or Conditions whatsoever unless Christ hath purchased it for them by his Blood Therefore unless you do suppose that Christ shed his Blood for all you cannot say with any truth that if they believe they shall be saved Can you imagine that their believing or not believing should any ways alter the Lord's Intentions concerning them in the Death of Christ or cause them to be bought with his Blood which were not bought before or whether doth the Lord in the Gospel assure Persons of such a Salvation which was never so much as intended to be purchased for them This would be to represent the Lord extreamly unlike himself which none dare affirm that have any regard to the Honour and Glory of God The second is this That those that perish through unbelief were through Grace put in a possibility of believing and imbracing Christ as tendered to them God will not condemn Souls for not believing that which was impossible for them to believe If unbelief be the condemning Sin and that Men are condemned for not believing it follows against all contradiction that all Men at one time or another are put into such a capacity as that thro the Grace of God they may be saved Thus have you in a few words pull'd down with your own hands the main building which you have in your Discourse this day laboured to make stand But is this your usual way to do and undo Have you not told us that God gave not his Son to die for all and yet he offers his Grace to all and that there is no Universal Redemption and yet Christ is universally tendered to all that God decreed not only the Suffering but the Sins of the Reprobates and yet their destruction is of themselves that Men miss Salvation because of unbelief yet God never gave them a power to believe nor a Christ to believe in and that Men must strive to lay hold upon Christ and come up to the terms upon which Salvation is tendred and promised and yet have no power to do it but are as passive as Stones or dead Men How can you make these things stand together Philet I said at the first that I feared you were one of those that held the vile Opinion of Free-will Philad This term of Free-will is made use of by almost every captious Person and cast as Dung in the Face of many of the Lord's People and that by many that know not what they mean by it I have often heard Free-will mentioned by the Tongues and in the Books of those of your way yet I never to my knowledg found it defined but surely as you hold it or suppose others to hold it it is some vile Opinions indeed would any else call it cursed Free-will and those that they think hold it damned Free-willers or in their Prayers desire that God would confound all that hold it Mar. Why do you not pray that God would bring down Mystery Babylon and all others her Adherents and this is one of her Master-pieces c. 't is the Great Dagon Philad Well but now I find Free-will as much owned by those of your way as by any that I know amongst us for the Assembly of Divines in their Confession of Faith Chap. 9. expresly say God hath indued the Will of Man with that natural Liberty that it is neither forced nor by any absolute necessity of Nature determined to do good or evil And Mr. Baxter in his Preface to his Call to the Vnconverted speaks thus For Free-will Origen is condemned by Epiphanius for saying Man had lost the Image of God this Image is twofold 1st Natural that is Reason and Free-will 2ly Qualitative that is our Holiness this is lost and by Grace restored And he farther saith That Austin as well as Pelagius Calvin as well as the Arminians the Dominicans as well as the Jesuits all generally maintain that Man hath Free-will Yea he tells us no Man of Brains can deny that Man hath a Will naturally free and is a self-determining Principle tho not freed from evil dispositions Can you name any amongst us that hold more than these your Brethren hold For what can these mean by it less than this that the Will of Man now after the fall of Adam in natural Actions is as free as ever it was for tho by the Fall of Adam all the Faculties of the Soul viz. Reason Judgment Affections Understanding Will Power and Freedom to act are greatly bruised much weakned and dulled yet not one of them is wholly lost and indeed the Soul would be a nothing if it be denied the use of its Faculties for as the Body without the Spirit is dead and remains a lifeless Bulk even so is the Soul if it doth not exert it self in the various actings and operations of its Power and indeed if we have not a Free-will in a sufficient Measure to do or leave undone chuse or refuse then were our Faculties inferiour to those of Beasts who do chuse or leave such means of preservation as are set before them and as the Will of Man in natural Actions is free even so it is as really free in spiritual when it is made so by the Spirit and Grace of God or else how should we run the ways of God's Commandments if we have not the liberty of our Souls and will to do it Therefore when you curse and damn Free-will and Free-willers at that rate as you do you must surely mean something else than what your Friends mean or what I mentioned last pray tell me what it is Mar. Why you say
before wholly to be ascribed to the Grace of God in Christ as the principal and primary Cause Now as to Faith and Repentance being the Gift of God this is a truth God is said to give Faith and Repentance yea to intend the Salvation of all Men when he vouchsafeth a sufficiency of means Now Faith is taken many ways sometimes and very frequently 't is taken for the Gospel Acts 6. 7. Gal. 1. 23. So it is the Gift of God and he is said to give Faith and Repentance when he gives the Gospel which is the Word of Faith and so Faith is the Gift of God and when any Soul is by the goodness of God led to repentance God is said to give Repentance Also God gives the power or ability to repent and believe or else Man could do neither yet doth not God's Grace destroy our Duty tho God gives not only Grace necessary but also sufficient for yielding Faith and Obedience yet the Act or Duty of believing is not God's Work but Man's Heb. 11. Rom. 10. 17. James 3. 2. And the Person that is regenerate must be so far active in the Work that the Work it self may be as truly and properly ascribed unto Man and called his as it is ascribed to God and called his Gift now this you must believe unless you have so far forsaken your Reason as to say that Christ acts the Creature 's Actions and so Jesus Christ repents and Jesus Christ believes and Man doth nothing But surely we stand bound to believe repent and obey the Lord if we expect Salvation these are our own acts and 't is impossible they should be the acts of Christ for he that is said to act any action is said to do it Now if when we are exhorted to do these Duties Christ should do them for us while we sit still what sense must we make of Scripture must Jesus Christ break off his Sins by Repentance and amend his evil ways and doings or must Christ believe in Christ or walk in the steps of Christ And from hence it will infallibly follow that Persons shall be damned because God did not only make them Believers by an irresistible Power but also act their Work too Saith Paul Rom. 8. If ye through the Spirit not the Spirit without you nor ye without the Spirit intimating that Man must be an Agent in the Work it must be his own act and therefore he is not wholly passive neither have we ground to believe God will work these in such a way as shall be impossible to be frustrated Philet But if God works Conversion in a resistible way still Free-Grace loseth the triumph and Free will takes the Crown but when God works he works irresistibly Men cannot resist his Will if he works none can hinder it Philad I believe that God hath and still works and none can be able to hinder such are the Works of Creation and Redemption c. When Man was fallen none could hinder the Lord from setting his Love upon him nor hinder him from shewing Mercy to him in sending his only Son to die for them nor hinder the planting of his Will and Light in their Hearts convincing them of Sin Nor could the Jews of old or any in our days hinder or prevent God from rising early and sending his Prophets and Ministers to call Persons to Repentance nor hinder him from administring Grace and Mercy to them nor is it in the power of Man to frustrate God in raising up Persons from the dead in the Resurrection and setting the Godly with Christ in Glory and all the Rejecters of his Grace and Love in endless Misery Neither do I deny but God hath and may still if he please convert some by an irresistible Power we must not care to limit the Holy One of Israel in any of his ways yet it is not God's usual way of working to force Persons against their Wills to be Holy and to accept of Life but he is pressing by his Holy Spirit and by his Word and Ministers which is the ordinary way that the Lord takes to beget Faith c. and therefore Gospel-Ministers are said 2 Cor. 6. 1. to be workers together with God that is Ministers do co-operate with God in order to one and the same effect not that Ministers in their pressing and preaching should so work with God as to be able to do as much as God himself doth in perswading Men but rather they work after one and the same way Ministers in their preaching incline and move the Heart of Men to accept of Christ and this he doth perswadingly without forcing or necessitating their Wills to such or such Election this is God's usual way of working in the dispensation of his Divine Will Philet But I tell you 't is effected by the irresistible act of free Grace Persons are altogether passive in the work of Conversion yea have no more power to stir than Lazarus had when he had lain four days in the Grave Persons are dead in Sins and Trespasses and what less than the almighty Power of God can cause them to live a spiritual Life I do not know You ought not to believe there is any annext Power in the act of Conversion doth not the Apostle Ephes 1. 19 20. speak of the exceeding greatness of the Lord's Power wrought in them that believe according to his mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead Philad As for your urging Christ and Lazarus being both dead to prove Persons as unable to act in Conversion it is impertinent for tho the Lord in raising up Christ did the work wholly of himself by his mighty Power neither was Lazarus able to act any thing in the Grave towards restoring his Life yet in the Work of conversion the Lord comes to a Creature which he hath by free Grace furnished with Abilities to do what he requires of him And Lazarus after he heard the Voice of the Lord and received Life was active and came forth and so when Persons hear the Voice of the Lord and are thereby raised from a death in Sin or a deadly custom of Sinning to live soberly justly and godly this is said to be a raising from the Dead and a new Creation begotten again and by Faith and Repentance making new Creatures tho the Lord bestoweth Grace sufficient for the yielding to the Voice of the Lord when he calleth them by the Gospel yet through the alone proper fault of Man it becomes unfruitful for the Lord doth not usually come to Persons in such a mighty Whirlwind as 1 Kings 19. 11. to force their consent and carry them headlong to their duty and irresistibly compel them to embrace eternal Happiness and shew such a Miracle of his mighty Power as he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead or upon Lazarus when he had lain four days dead in the Grave Now it is true the Power by
break off at this time only give me leave to ask you and your Friend Martha this Question viz. What is the reason you go about to perswade your selves and others that God is so severe with the greatest part of Mankind as to leave them in the Fall without giving his Son to die for them but leaving them to perish is it to make your own Salvation doubtful for if Christ died for scarce one in a thousand what grounds have you to believe Christ died for you or that you were elected and chosen to Life Philet I do not question but I was beloved of God and chosen in Christ before the Foundation of the World Philad I suppose that you must needs have a high Opinion of your self that you are one of the Darlings of Heaven one beyond all possibility of miscarrying one that shall never behold the angry Countenance of the Almighty otherwise I believe you would be glad to hear the joyful Tidings of Peace and Reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ for tho you represent God at so dreadful a rate towards others yet you would not have him appear in such Wrath and Fury to your self nay your Doctrine would not be so readily imbraced by so many if they thought they themselves were of that number that God had by an absolute Decree of Reprobation shut under Wrath from all possibility of obtaining Life and Salvation And should the Lord awaken your Conscience under a sense of the dread and horror of your being absolutely rejected from Grace and Glory from having any saving benefit by the Death of Christ this might so amaze you that all Means and Arguments used to comfort you might be of no value your Opinion walks Antipodes to all words of comfort What would it avail you then at such a time to tell you of God's great Love to his Elect and that he had such a Love for some few of the degenerate Sons of Adam that rather than they should perish he would give his Son a Ransom for them and with him give them Faith and Repentance and by a strong hand of irresistible Grace carry them through this World to Glory but that far the greater number are left of the Lord to die and perish for the manifestation of his Justice and Displeasure against Sin Would this fasten any comfort upon you when you behold the Lord's angry Countenance only speaking Blood and Ruin to you Come Philetus this hath been so dreadful to many that they have run some to the Sword and others to the Halter Now seeing that you make the number of the Elect so small as not one in a hundred or one in a thousand how can you have any comfortable assurance that you are one of those that Christ died for unless you prove it by his dying for all and so consequently for you including a part in the whole Philet What rotten stuff have we here at what a pitiful rate do you talk would you have me believe Christ died for me because he died for the whole World if I had no other assurance and hopes for Heaven than this I should be in a miserable state I injoy saving Grace there is an inward Work of God upon my Heart and I am really brought over to Christ this is a better proof that I am not one of those that are left in the Fall to perish but one of those Christ died for Philad I own that there are Marks and Signs which may be sufficient proof of a Person 's Regeneration and may be a good Mark of Election and a sound Evidence for Heaven Rom. 8. 16. the Spirit witnessing with our Spirits But now in this weighty concern of our Souls and Salvation nothing ought to be believed by any but what they have grounds to believe from the Word of God and from that inward Witness which if true never contradicts but is always sutable and agreeable to the Word Now since by your Doctrine the Death of Christ did not extend to one of a thousand how is it possible for you to know that Christ died for you unless it be revealed in the Word of God since he that Christ did or did not die for must be built upon the Testimony of the Lord therefore I say shew me if you can a proof from the Scripture that Christ died for you or if you cannot do that shew me that Man now living in the World for whom Christ did not die Philet I cannot shew you my Name written in the Scriptures nor no place that saith that he died for I. S. but if I can prove my self a Believer I can prove that I am no Reprobate but an Elect Person and consequently one that Christ died for for believing is an infallible Fruit of Election Philad But what if you mistake and think you have true Faith when you have not there is a Faith which is only sancy nay mere presumption a Faith besides the Word of God 't is easy for Men to deceive themselves and others with false Appearances and deceivable Marks in this case since all saving Graces in the Saints have their Counterfeits in Hypocrites yea oftner furnished and set forth with more gaudy paint in Hypocrites than real Christians the Devil can shew himself to be an Angel of Light But come to your Marks of Election Are you the Child of believing Parents this is not sufficient to prove you in the Love and Favour of God for so was Cain Ishmael and Esau yet you say they were reprobated Have you been baptized and so initiated into the visible Church of Christ so have many thousands who by their Conversation shew themselves to be of the Synagogue of Satan Have you done Miracles so did Jannes and Jambres yet they were Cheats Do you outwardly partake of the Lord's Table so do many that have no part in him as Judas Do you preach the Word to others prophesy in Christ's Name so may many to whom Christ will say Depart you cursed and while they preach Salvation to others miss it themselves Philet These are outward Marks which may very well stand with Hypocrisy mine is a supernatural spiritual and inward Work the saving Effect of the sanctifying Spirit of God What say you to Faith is not that a Fruit of the Spirit Philad Yea true justifying Faith is but what would you prove that Christ died for you because you are a Believer Philet No Christ did not die for me and elect me because I believe but because God elected me and gave his Son to die for me therefore I believe I being to prove that God loved me and gave his Son to die for me and that Faith is a Fruit of God's electing Love Philad But what if your Faith be the Faith of the Hypocrite which will perish Simon Magus Acts 8. 13. believed the Doctrine preached by Philip and professed his Faith publickly by being baptized in Water according to our Lord's Command and yet in the