equally and not the punishment due only to some and so dyed Loco omnium aequaliter in regard of his suffering and their sin the cause Prop. XVI The purchasing meritorious Virtue of Christs Death and all the rest of the effects which follow thereupon do presuppose the satisfactory Virtue as the very ground of all and without which Christs Death would have been unacceptable to God as having only Rationem mali or at least would have been but a pattern of Patience as suffered from men Prop. XVII Christ did not purchase further benefits Loco nostro though he suffered Punishment Loco nostro Prop. XVIII God was not well pleased with Man no not the Elect nor did he acquit or justifie them when he proclaimeth himself well-pleased in and with his Son as being a perfect accomplisher of his will and when he did acquit and justifie him Prop. XIX All Mankind immediately upon Christs satisfaction are redeemed and Delivered from that Legal necessity of Perishing which they were under not by remitting Sin or Punishment directly to them but by giving up Gods Ius puniendi into the hands of the Redeemer nor by giving any Right directly to them but per meram resultantiam this happy change is made for them in their Relation upon the said remitting of Gods Right and Advantage of Justice against them and they are given up to the Redeemer as their owner and ruler to be dealt with upon terms of mercy which have a tendency to their recovery Prop. XX. In Law-sence or in respect to the Legislative will of God Christ Dyed for all men This will be explained in the following Propositions Prop. XXI Neither the Law whose curse Christ bore nor God as the Legislator to be satisfied did distinguish between men as Elect and Reprobate or as Believers and Unbelievers de presenti vel de futuro and so impose on Christ or require from him satisfaction for the Sins of one sort more than of another but for Mankind in general Prop. XXII Christ hath made satisfaction to God as Legislator and accordingly his Legal Rigorous Justice is satisfied for the Sins of all mankind as they are condemned and were to be judged directly primarily simply by that Law and hath not satisfied the Legislators Justice for some men only as Elect or for one more than another but equally for all Prop. XXIII Christ hath by his Redemption of all obtained a Novum jus Imperii over all and is Rector derivativè Supremus Prop. XXIV As those those that know not God nor his Creation are yet Gods Subjects as Creator and he their Lord So those that know not Christ nor his Redemption are yet his Redeemed and his Subjects as Redeemed and he their Lord-Reedeemer as to his Right and Law and their Obligation Prop. XXV God the Father and Christ the Mediator now dealeth with no man upon the meer rigorous terms of the first Law Obey perfectly and Live else thou shalt Die But giveth to all much Mercy which according to the tenor of that violated Law they could not receive and calleth them to repentance in order to their receiving further mercy offered them And accordingly he will not judge any at last according to the meer Law of works but as they have obeyed or not obeyed his conditions or terms of Grace Prop. XXVI Though God hath been pleased less clearly to acquaint us on what terms he dealeth with those that hear not of Christ yet it being most clear and certain that he dealeth with them on terms of Grace and not on the terms of the rigorous Law of works this general may evince them to be the Mediators Subjects and Redeemed Prop. XXVII The Law of Nature since the fall is part of the Mediators Law by which in part he governeth For it with all things is deliverto him Prop. XXVIII Man without Scripture may find that he is a Sinner and that Sin deserveth Gods wrath and his destruction and in the Creatures and Providences providing for him preserving maintaining delivering him he may find abundance of Mercy which being given to one that deserveth misery must needs evince that it comes from a most gracious disposer and tends to recovery and to further mercy Prop. XXIX Hence all Nations of the World have known themselves Sinners and all Nations have had a Hope of obtaining mercy in the pardon of their sins and thence it is that all who acknowledge a God have had some kind of Religion and expressed it in Sacrifices or Prayers for pardon and mercy which could never have been without the said Hope Prop. XXX Though it be very difficult and not very necessary to know what is the condition prescribed to them that hear not of Christ or on what terms Christ will judge them yet to me it seems to be the Covenant made with Adam Gen. 3. 15. which they are under requiring their taking God to be their only God and Redeemer and so expecting mercy from him and loving him above all as their end and chief good and repenting of Sin and Sincere Obedience according to the Laws promulgate to them to lead them further Prop. XXXI As the rigorous Law of works is so far taken down to all men that they are no longer under its imposed necessity of perfect obedience to salvation so the Mosaical Ceremonial Law is Abrogated totally and so the Obligation destroyed for all that were under it without difference of Elect or Non-Elect Prop. XXXII God the Father and Christ the Mediator hath freely without any prerequisite condition on mans part enacted a Law of Grace of Universal extent in regard of its tenor by which he giveth as by a Deed of Gift Christ himself with all his following benefits which he bestoweth as Benefactor and Legislator and this to all alike without excluding any upon condition they Believe and Accept the Offer Prop. XXXIII By this Law Testament or Covenant All men are Conditionally Pardoned Justified and Reconciled to God already and no man Absolutely nor doth it make a difference nor take notice of any till mens performance or non-peformance of the condition make a difference Prop. XXXIV This Law or Covenant Christ ordaineth Heraulds to Publish and commandeth them to Preach it to every Creature and commandeth every man in his place to publish it without excepting or excluding any from the Priviledge of receiving it Prop. XXXV As a Sovereign is not bound to cause every particular man infallibly to hear of his Laws so he maketh a convenient publick Declaration of them so Christ as Legislator is not bound to provide that every man hear of his Law whom it doth concern Men that by Nature may be convinced that there is a God and how necessary it is to know him and their Duty concerning him and how little they do know of him are bound to make all possible enquiry after the further Revelation of his will though it were by travelling into other Countries Prop. XXXVI When we say God
do give Christ as their Redeemer would be a mistake 4. And when their Eyes were opened in Hell they would repent that they loved Christ at all and were thankful to him at all seeing they would then discern it was upon a mistake and for a benefit that was never given them or for them Whereas contrarily they will be convinced then of their Sin and folly in loving Christ no more and being no more thankful Yet further that these Men are bound to love and gratitude to Christ as their Redeemer I will add some more Scripture proof 1. If the Non-elect are not bound to love Christ for Redeeming them or not dying for them then the Elect are not bound to it till they know themselves to be Elect But the consequent is false therefore so is the Antecedent He that dare say No Man in the World is bound to love Christ and be thankful to him for dying for him till he know he is Elect That is have assurance of Salvation which so so few attain to at all or at least so many Christians want Dare say that which I dare not Rom 5. 8. But God commended his love to us in that while we were yet sinners Chrift died for us Joh. 3. 16. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever c. 1. If Gods love to the World and Sinners before Conversion in his Redeeming them by Christ be propounded to the consideration of unconverted Sinners then it is to manifest that they owe him love again and thankfulness for it But the Antecedent is true therefore so is the consequent These Texts and many other do propound the consideration of Gods love in Redeeming them to Men before Conversion as might abundantly be proved and that must need intimate their duty of love and gratitude or else the Law of nature is abrogated which bindeth us to return love and thankfulness for love and benefits 2. Let me add one other Argument for the Minor viz. that the Elect are bound to love and gratitude to Christ as their Redeemer before they know themselves to be Elect and it is such a one as I think makes the case so clear that it will be hard for the most prejudidiced not to discern it if they will consider it If the Elect are not bound to love and gratitude for Christs Redeeming them before they know themselves to be Elect then they are never bound to it at all and so never ought to perform it But the consequent is intollerable Ergo c. The consequence is proved thus They cannot know themselves to be elect unless by extraordinary Revelation till they first know their love and gratitude to Christ for Redeeming them Therefore if they are not bound to love and gratitude before they know themselves Elect then they are never bounnd to it The reason of the consequence is that the same thing cannot be Before and Not before before their knowledg of Election and not before it If it must go before the knowledg of Election then they were obliged to it before for that we are not obliged to is no duty and that which is no duty is no Mark of Election but it must go before Ergo c. The Antecedent is proved thus There is no other sign without this love and gratitude which is sufficient to discover a Man to be Elect Therefore no Man can know himself to be elect by ordinary means without the knowledg of these Two things will be replied to this 1. That Faith is before love and gratitude and a sufficient sign 2. That it may be known without signs by the Testimony of the Spirit To these in order And 1. For Faith as it is in the will and is the acceptance of an offered Christ is the same thing with love as love is in the rational appetite as I have elsewhere fully proved Aquinas oft expresseth this love to be but velle bonum 2. If love be distinct as it is exercised on the same object for else there 's no question of it Yet it is certain that it is concomitant and doth not in one moment of time come after Faith Much less so long as that a Man must first by reflection discern his Faith before he be obliged to love 3. Faith is no true Faith that is not accompanied with love and a false faith can be no true sign of Election as is said before The Acts of Justifying Faith in the Will are principally these two 1. To accept of Christ as he is offered Now he is offered as a Redeemer i. e. 1. As one that for the time past hath paid the price of our Redemption 2. And for the time to come will give us the benefits of it on his own terms Now Christ cannot be received as a Redeemer without respect to both He that receiveth him to pardon and save him any other way then by the price of his Blood already shed doth not receive him as he is offered nor as the Redeemer And if it be necessary that he must be received in respect to what he hath done for us as well as what he will do then it is as necessary that he be loving and thankfully received For as bonum recipitur volendo which is our love and cannot possibly be received qud bonum but lovingly so bonum preteritum is the object of this Amor Gratitudinis The benefit may remain but the act of the benefactor is past as bonum futurum is the object of Amor Concupiscentiae Bonum Presens of Amor Complacentiae So that no Man living can know that he hath received Christ as a Redeemer if he do not know that he hath lovingly and thankfully received him And no Man can know the good that Christ will do for the future nor receive it without knowing the good that he hath done in his Sacrifice for the time past and thankfully acknowledging it 2. After acceptance of an offered Christ the next Act is affiance which most Divines make the Principal and some the only justifying Act And this presupposing the loving consent acceptance the Velle before mentioned I do not need to prove that affiance is no certain Mark of Election without love Nay moreover as it presupposeth love so it containeth love in its own nature as every Act of the will toward goodness must needs do I rest on Christ as one to do me good for the future by virtue of his ransome already paid and so here is still the double good past and present which affiance doth respect or else it is not in Christ as Redeemer that we have affiance 3. The like I might easily shew in respect of desire after Christ An early Grace and before which none finds a distinct certain sign of his Election Yet goodness is its object and love is in its nature from whence we use the term of Amor Concupiscentiae Object But you said before that the Faith and Love of
satisfaction though common not only may be but is the ground or motive of our first special love if it be orderly and rightly raised though Christs special love be the efficient Object Then none do love God a right at first but those that hold Universal Redemption Ans 1. Yet they may love him sincerely though they are brought to it through the fault of their Teachers in a disadvantageous and disorderly way 2. Young Converts are not used so soon to be troubled with the Controversy of Universal Redemption 3. I have known few in my observation but at their first closing with Christ they have had the same judgment of the Universality of Christs satisfaction so as to be sufficient for all Sinners and wanting only their own Faith to make it effectual to Remission which I plead for 4. It is the usual way of Preachers in their popular Sermons to speak far more soundly in these points then in their disputations And indeed their way of Preaching for the Conversion of Sinners doth plainly intimate Universal satisfaction For they use to lay all the blame on the Wills of Sinners and justly as that only which can deprive them of the benefits of Christs sufferings and to urge them to accept him and to let them know that their case is not left remediless and desperate Yea and to tell them plainly that Christs Death is sufficient for all to pardon all their Sins be they never so many or great and if they will believe they shall have the Fruits of it Which is in other words to say Christ hath satisfied for all So that upon these right grounds they use to bring Men to believe and love Christ at the first and then they must have some longer time before they can pervert them again by working out these apprehensions and acquainting them that Christ hath not satisfied for all but for the Elect only Object Mens first love to Christ is not to him for what he hath done but for what he can do for us and as he is to us a desirable good because it is but Amor Concupiscentiae Ans It is also a love of gratitude And all the good that we can expect from him for the future or desire him for is but the fruit of what he hath done for us already and therefore presupposeth it And he that looketh for Mercy from Christ as not procured by his satisfactory sufferings knows not the Gospel nor what he expecteth The Gospel at its first Preaching is glad tidings and brings news first of what Christ hath done for Men and next of what he will further do Object But it is not for Dying for me in particular that I am first obliged to love Christ but for paying a sufficient price Ans 1. If by For me in particular you mean more for me then others I grant it But it is for dying and satisfying for fallen Mankind in general of whom I am a Member 2. I have shewed that according to this New Doctrin Christs Death is not sufficient to pardon all if they did repent nor formally a sufficient price but only materially or Aptitudinally sufficient to have been a price Now that this can engage any to love or thankfulness is past my reach to apprehend For it is not a benefit to such as for whom it was no price If 100 Men lie in Prison for debt and one shall pay as much for the debt and discharge often of them as was sufficient to have satisfied for the debts of them all and yet would not pay it for them but rather give it superfluously then that they should have any benefit by it how doth this oblige these Prisoners to love and thankfulness to this Man At least not as any Redeemer or Friend of theirs Rather they will think him envious and an Enemy to them that would rather cast away his Mony Giving for one that which was sufficient for all then they should have any benefit by it Object But it is not for his Death that Men are bound at first to love Christ and be thankful but for the free and general offer of himself and his benesits to them in the Gospel Ans 1. The negative is wicked and Unchristian 2. The part affirmed is a contradiction to their denial of Universal satisfaction For Christ is offered to Men as their Redeemer only And the Word Redeemer signifies 1. One that hath paid a price for them already 2. One that will recover them by the effectual conveyance of his benefits if they accept his offer And the later always implies the former The effect cannot be without its cause He is no Redeemer to them for whom he suffered not And he cannot be a Redeemer to them by Pardon and Salvation for whom he hath not been already a Redeemer by satisfaction And he doth not offer to satisfie for them de futuro a new and therefore the offer certainly proves a general satisfaction as is shewed before 3. And if Christ offer himself to any Men as their Redeemer whom he never did Redeem no nor can Redeem by Remission and Salvation because he hath not first Redeemed them by price and satisfaction charging the refusal upon them to their deep damnation doth this oblige Men to love and gratitude If he procure by his Death no possibility of their Salvation but induce a necessity of their deep condemnation If he offer them the benefits of a death never suffered for them that is effects without their cause and which he cannot give them and destroy them for not receiving them Is this all the obligation Object But it is the Law of God that obligeth them to love and gratitude And therefore they are obliged though Christ be none of their Redeemer and though his Death were not a benefit to them Ans 1. These are duties that result ex natura rei viz. boni oblati beneficii â—ollati and so from the Law of nature and not from a meer positive Law Love and gratitude are not ceremonies and therefore where the nature of the thing obligeth not there is no obligation 2. There must be an objective cause of love and gratitude as well as an efficient and exemplary cause And therefore our question is only of the objective cause God doth not alter the nature of love and gratitude by commanding them He doth not command love that hath not good for its object for there is no such thing in rerum natura nor doth he command a gratitude that is not for a benefit Object But it is unknown to them whether Christ died for them or not For ought they know he did And therefore they are bound to love and gratitude Ans 1. An unknown benefit bindeth not to love and thankfulness 2. It is Real favours and not feigned that Christ obligeth Men by As it is real love and thanks and not feigned that he expecteth from them 3. Else that common love and thankfulness which the Non-elect
Father delivered into his Hand Joh. 5. 22. The Father judgeth no Man but hath given all judgment to the Son c. Phil. 2. 7. 8. 9. Rom. 14. 9. 2. That this Right is founded on Redemption is proved by all that is said in the forementioned Arguments and Texts and I think few Christians will deny it Rom. 14. 9. For this end he both died rose and revived that he might be Lord of the dead and of the living If it were the end of his death and resurrection to obtain this Dominion then surely this Dominion is grounded in that Death and Resurrection and belongs to him as a Redeemer Phil. 2. 6 7 8 9 10 11. he became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him c. 3. And that it is not Christs dying only for the Elect that is the ground of his Dominion and Empire over all I prove thus 1. The Dominion of Christ and his Jus Imperii over the Non-Elect is of the same kind with his Dominion and Jus Imperii over the Elect and therefore hath the same cause It is not such as his Dominion over Devils or Brutes as we shall further shew anon I say not that Christ exerciseth his Imperial power in the same way over all but the relation of Rex or Imperator which Christ hath rightfully over all is the same to all And the relation of Subjects to Christ which all stand in to him quod debitum veljus is the same relation all Men as well as the Elect to whom his Laws are promulgate are bound to acknowledg him their King and Lord in the same sence as the Elect are And are bound to give up themselves to him as his subjects in the same sense as the Elect are and with a subjection of the same kind For the New Law which constituteth the duty is general and distinguisheth not as to this between Elect and Non-Elect 2. It is manifest that Christs Blood cannot be purchasing of Dominion or Empire immediately but only meante virtute satisfactoria as it is a placament or propitiatory Sacrifice to the offended Majesty For were not Christs Blood first necessary to this expiatory use it would be so far from being purchasing or meritorious of any further benefit that it would not be acceptable to God at all For he is not bloodthirsty he takes not pleasure in the Blood of the innocent Nay he is averse from it So that Christs Death must needs be first satisfactory to Justice in order of nature before it purchase Dominion or Empire Now if he may have this right to a peculiar Dominion and Empire over most of the World without satisfying for them then either his right over most is immediate without flowing from satisfaction which is evidently false or else it is founded in his satisfaction for others viz. the Elect And if so then why might not he as well have right of Dominion and Empire over the Elect without satisfying for them as over all others without satisfying for them And if so then he might do all that which now he doth as Lord and Rector without satisfaction Antecedent And if so then he might make his New Law which now he hath made wherein he Repeals the bondage of Ceremonies and provideth a remedy against the curse and whereby he gives pardon and glory to all if they will receive him But this may not be granted 3. It is also proved hence that Christs rule over all Men is founded in his satisfaction of Redeeming of those same Men because when he is offered to them and they commanded to receive him it is in the Relation of Lord Redeemer All are commanded to take him for their Lord Jesus Christ no Man is commanded to take him as Lord and King only and not as Redeemer and Saviour Nay our Divines commonly make the act of justifying Faith to confist only in receiving Christ as Redeemer or satisfieror Saviour as saving us by his Blood from guilt excluding the reception of him as King and Lord from being the justifying Act of Faith wherein yet I am forced as zealouly to contradict them as in almost any one point only they confess it is of absolute necessity that Christ at the same time be received as Lord when he is received as Redeemer Now all Men are bound that hear the Gospel to believe to justification that 's generally granted And if so then all Men are bound to receive Christ as their Lord-Redeemer and not as Lord to them and Redeemer to others And if so then doubtless Christ is their Lord-Redeemer Now Redemption hath two parts the first is the paying of the Price that is satisfaction by dying for us The 2d is applying or conferring the benefits of that satisfaction by actual delivering or Redeeming from the guilt and power of Sin The first is that chief part of Redemption from whence the whole is chiefly denominated Now the first part is past and done whether Men believe or not and is not offered to be done on any condition nor to be done for our Sins Christ doth not say I will pay the price of thy Redemption if thou wilâ— take me for thy Redeemer it is paid already but it is the 2d part of Redemption that is offered on condition The first is general and absolure The second is generally given on condition and special as to the actual Collation by Christ and fruition by Man So that when Christ saith to a Man take me for thy Redeemer it is as much as to say take me for one that hath made satisfaction for thy Sins and if thou wilt receive me I will pardon and save thee thereby now if Christ did not Redeem Men by satisfying and yet require them to take him as their Redeemer then he requires them to take him to be that which he is not and to have done that which he hath not For Christ cannot be a Redeemer to any Man that he hath not paid the paid the price of Redemption for Which if it be not done Faith will not cause it to be done So that it being certain that the Lordship and Empire of Christ which he hath right to over all and which all are commanded to acknowledg and submit to is inseparably conjoyned with his Redemption he being offered to no Man as Lord to whom he is not also offerd as Redeemer it is evident that his Jus novum Dominii imperiii his new right of propriety and Rule over all Men doth presuppose his Redeeming all as to the price and satisfaction Obj. But if that be so then he Redeemed or died for Bruits Devils and good Angels For he hath a Right of Dominion and Rule over these Ans This Objection though otherwise scarce worthy to be taken notice of hath been so entertained yielded to and confidently managed by some that it is become necessary to make a discovery of its vanity 1. Christ hath not a
but in order 3. Repentance is a change of the Mind from Sin to God and duty To repent or to turn from unbelief is the same thing with Faith 4. If this repentance which he saith goes before Faith be sincere and saving then sure it is not in an unbeliever and unjustified Man if not how comes it to give them a peculiar Right and occasion their peculiar duty of resting on Christ 5. I shall shew anon that even repentance can be no duty tending to pardon if Christ hath not satisfied for them 3. Others with great confidence say that this is it that all are to believe that there is no other name under Heaven whereby Men must be saved but only by the name of Christ made known in the Gospel and Men perish for not believing the necessity of a Redeemer and that Jesus is the Redeemer Or more fully 1. Men are to repent and believe the Gospel to be the word of God to contain his Will and that Jesus Christ therein revealed is the Wisdom and power of God to Salvation 2. That there is an inseparable connexion between Faith and Salvation by Gods appointment Gospel faith carrying a Sinner quite out of himself and from off his own Righteousness 3. That there be a particular conviction by the Spirit of the necessity of a Redeemer to their Souls in particular whereby they become weary heavy laden and burdened 4. A serious full recumbency and rolling of the Soul upon Christ in the promise of the Gospel as an al-sufficient Saviour able to deliver and save to the utmost them that come to God by him ready able and willing through the pretiousness of his Blood and sufficiency of his Ransome to save every Soul that shall freely give up themselves to him for that end amongst whom he is resolved to be so Mr. Owen Page 304. 305. Sure it is many Acts that are expressed in all these words But 1. As I have said every Man that hears the Gospel is obliged to all these though to be performed in order and not all at once 2. A Judas may believe the necessity of a Redeemer 3. And that Jesus is the Redeemer 4. That there is no other is an exclusion which is necessary to the Faith which justifieth but will not justify it self 5. As to that of repentance I have answered before 6. The Devils believe that Christ is the Wisdom and Power of God to Salvation No Man can believe that Christ hath Power to save him that first believeth not that he hath satisfied for him 7. The Devils may believe truly that there is an inseparable connexion between Faith and Salvation But this is too general a Speech It must be known in what respect and to what use Faith is so connexed to Salvation And what Faith it is No Faith is by God annexed to Salvation but that which supposeth Christ to have satisfied for the believer 8. Judas was convinced of the necessity of a Redeemer and was weary and heavy laden If it be special godly sorrow and hatred of Sin that is meant then such are justified already and therefore were before obliged to believe to justification 9. The recumbency mentioned is an Act of the Will of which we shall speak anon 10. The promise is made to none that Christ died not for For it is a promise of the benefits of his Death 11. Christ is a sufficient Saviour able and willing to save only those that he died for Supposing that he satisfied not for any Man he is not sufficient or willing to save that Man though he should believe How can it be said that by the sufficiency of his Ransome he is able to save them for whom it is no Ransome Indeed the sufficiency of Christs satisfaction is one principal object of that part of Faith which consisteth in Assent But I shall shew anon that if any Man be bound to believe Christs satisfaction sufficient to justifie him for whom it was never paid he is bound to believe an untruth 2. But the main answer given by Dr. Twiss and others is that the object of justifying Faith is not true but good It is Christ whom they are bound to rest upon for Justification and Salvation The truth is here are several Acts of the will requisite The first is consent Christ is offered to all where the Gospel is published and it is their duty to consent to the Offer Now if they should consent it would be an Act meerly frivolous supposing Christ had not satisfied for them For it is certain that he consents not to be the Head and Saviour of any such And Mans consent without Christs would do no good They are commanded therefore according to this Doctrine to do that which if it were done would do no good 2. The next Act is that Affiance which some make the only justifying Act. Now according to this Doctrine this would be to many a vain Act To rest upon Christ to save Men by his Blood which was never shed for them is to rest on an insufficient Ground which would deceive them But according to this Doctrine Men are bound to rest on Christ to save them by his Blood which was never shed for them Therefore according to this Doctrine Men are bound to rest on an insufficient Ground which would deceive them Let none say God knows they will not rest on Christ For we are speaking now but of the Duty God will never make it any Mans duty to rest for Salvation on that Blood that was never shed for him or that satisfaction which was never made for him But because this reacheth but to those that have heard the Gospel the next argument shall reach further Arg. 6th Ab aequitate legis cum sufficientia mediorum in suo genere If Christ hath not satisfied for all then God hath appointed Men to use those means for their recovery and Salvation which would do nothing to recover and save them if they were used But God hath not appointed Men to use such vain and delusory means Ergo c. Here I suppose that God hath appointed to all the World some means which they are to use for their recovery I avoid the Remonstrants extream I say not that all have sufficient means or Grace to believe or to Salvation And I avoid that fouler extream which saith that Heathens are under the meer Law of works as it stands without remedy and have no Means appointed them or helps afforded them towards their recovery I shall after prove that they have much mercy from Christs Blood But now I am to prove that God hath not so left them remediless but that he hath appointed to all Men some means of their recovery And 1. It is apparent they have much of the Light and Law of Nature They have the Book of the Creatures wherein they may read much of God 2. They have teaching providences Mercies and Judgments By these they may know that there is a
God and that he is the governor of the World true Just Merciful c. That we owe him perfect obedience that Sin deserves his wrath By experience they may easily know that they are Sinners and so liable to misery By Gods Judgments Sickness Death c. they may know that God will punish That the Soul is immortal and punishments and rewards are specially in the Life to come most Pagans do acknowledg Gods abundant Mercies to them may acquaint them that he deals not with them in rigorous severity and on terms of meer justice but in mercy And his not executing his Judgments on them according to desert but shewing so much mercy to them is some kind of pardoning them Hence they may see that some way God hath for shewing mercy to the undeserving and for pardoning Sinners without any wrong to the Honour of his Justice and Holiness or to the ends of his Government And hence they may see that they are not certainly help less and remediless nor their condition desperate Though they discover not the meritorious cause they may discern Gods mercy the principal Efficient moving cause Natural self-love bindeth Men in misery to seek out after remedy and to discover what it is and how they may attain it All this the Heathens have manifested to us undeniably in that all ages and Countries of them have confessed Gods being and Soveraignty the Duty of our obeying him and that they were Sinners and deserved his Wrath in this Life and that to come especially for greater Sins and that their condition was not hopeless but Gods mercy had a way to help them and therefore they plyed him with their Prayers and Sacrifices Arg. 1. If those that never heard of Christ are bound to take their case for desperate then they are bound to believe an untruth for Christ may be discovered to them and they saved But c. Ergo c. 2. If they are bound to judge their case remediless then they are bound to contradict the experience of Gods merciful dealing with them which are an actual remedy to part of their misery and may give them hope of more from the same cause if they will seek it But c. Ergo c 3. If they are bound to judge their case remediless or not to judge that there is some remedy then they should not be bound to use any means Praying Repenting sending abroad to enquire after the Remedy in more knowing Countries c. for the attaining Remedy But the consequent is false Ergo c. If a Star appearing brought the wise men so far to seek Christ and if men will travail all over the World for Riches by way of Merchandize How diligently should men that find themselves miserable enquire far and near for a remedy And if it were not their duty to use means for recovery then it is not their Sin that they do not use them But he that dare tell them so let him for I dare not but the contrary I dare tell them 4. If all such men are not bound to judge their case remediable and cureable but hopeless then God should lose all that common honour and service that he hath from them and the World would be as Hell full of nothing but hatred of God and blaspheming him and sinning to the utmost without any self-restraint For he that hath no hope will use no means nor forbear any evil but hate God as his Enemy 5. The Ninevites discerned a remedy and some hope and Repentance and Humiliation was Gods means by which they were actually recovered I am sure from under some of Gods wrath which else would have broke out on them whether from eternal wrath I know not but it s most probable For they believed God Jonah 3. 5. and Repented Mat. 12. 41. Luke 11. 32. Yet there is no intimation that Jonah Preached Christ to them or that they ever heard of him Men therefore that hear not of Christ are bound to use means for remedy And indeed the satisfaction of Christ is of greater necessity to mans Salvation than our knowledge of Christ or Faith in him God can save them that never knew Christ if he will witness the case of Infants and else there were but few saved before Christs coming but morally we may say he cannot save them without Christs satisfaction for their Sin 6. Acts 17. 27. It is the duty of all Pagans To seek the Lord if happly they might feel after him and find him And doubtless this is to seek the recovery of his favour and not to seek it in despair as the Devils 7. Acts 14. 17. Gods giving rain and fruitful seasons and filling mens hearts with food and gladness and doing them good is his witness among them And sure it witnesseth his mercy to them and consequently their duty 8. Rom. 2. 4. The Holy Ghost expresly telleth us that men should know that the forbearance long-suffering and goodness of God leadeth to Repentance that is is a help thereto and manifesteth it to be their duty to Repent And doubtless this Repentance is not a hellish despairing Repentance for Judgments are fitter to move to that than Mercy but a Repentance which is to be used as a means to recovery 9. It is the description of wicked men that they seek not after God Rom. 3. 11. Psal 14. 2 God looks to see if there be any that seeks him 10. Many Texts in the Prophets shew it to be all mens duty to seek the Lord in order to their finding mercy and to deny it is to turn out the remnants of obedience or all seeds of Religion from the World And that God calls them all to Repentance and to that end that they may not Die but escape his wrath and be recovered And that he hath sworn That he hath no pleasure in the Death of him that Dieth but rather that he Repent and Live So that I think it is clear that God appointed even to those that hear not the Gospel certain means toward their Recovery Much more evident is it of all those where the Gospel is preached I say not that he commandeth all the former or any directly to believe in Christ but it must be understood that all men are many degrees distant from Christ before he draweth them effectually to himself Now the Pagans are more degrees from him than professed Christians mostly It is not Christs way to bring men to himself per saltum but by those Degrees of Recovery which are the particular cure of their degrees of distance One wicked man knows of Christ and doth half entertain him but sticks at some pleasing Sin Another knows not that he is miserable by sin nor ever considered how to be recovered nor ever prayed God to shew him a way to escape his wrath nor ever heard of Christ This latter must receive much of Christs mercy before he be brought so near to Christ as the former Christ loved one wicked man
Men from the Accusation of the guilt of these Sins at the Bar of Christ and dare any that now boldly maintain this cause in dispute undertake to justifie and vindicate them at Judgment and prove that it was never their duty to love Christ or be thankful to him for Redeeming them and therefore that it was not their Sin that they did it not This will be a harder task then it is now to find a flourish of words which seem to prove it 6. And worse then all this They will condemn Christ for condemning them for these Sins When he hath sentenced them Go you cursed For not loving him and shewing it to his Members Mat. 25. And pronounced that Man Anathema Maranatha that loves not the Lord Jesus if these Men can prove that it was none of their duty then they must accuse Christ and his Law of injustice and condemn his condemnatory sentence 2. And as they owe Christ this Love and Gratitude so the thing that they owe it for is his Redeeming them or dying in their stead or satisfying for their Sin For 1. It is doubtless that they owe it him not only as Creator but as Redeemer and if so it is either for Redeeming others or themselves Not only for Redeeming others For 1. The nature of gratitude is to respect some benefits that our selves receive either in our own Persons or in those whose welfare is part of ours And 2. Man is naturally so near to himself and the love of himself so deeply rooted by God in his nature that he naturally looks at himself before others and values things as they respect himself 3. Others good is no mercy to us further then we participate with them in the benefit Yea Divines generally conclude that it will be so far from comforting the damned to see that the Godly are in Heaven that it will encrease their torment 4. Else it would lay no greater an obligation on these Men to love Christ and be thankful to him than it doth on the Devils that Men are redeemed or than they owe God that the good Angels are preserved while themselves are condemned 5. Scripture not only alloweth Men to love and be thankful in reference to our selves even for that which is good to us but shews it to be our duty and the nature of those affections and that for our own mercies received we are obliged hereto 2 Thes 2. 10 Men are forsaken and damned for not receiving the love of the Truth that they might be saved How oft are the Israelites all of them Commanded to love the Lord with all their Hearts as their Redeemer from Egypt which was both an effect and Type of Christs work of Redemption Deut. 6. 5. and 10. 12. and 11. 1 13 22. and 19. 9. and 30. 16. 20. Yea all Gods mercies as well as this deliverance from Egypt is made in divers of these Texts the motive that should provoke them to love and thankfulness And doubtless these are all effects of the Death of Christ for them To love for love and for benefits is that which Sinners do Luk. 6. 32. Not as Sinners but from the common humanity that is left in them We love him because he first loved us 1 Job 4. 19. This because is not meant only Effectivè but also objectivè as to Gods love The first love of the Soul to Christ cannot be moved from the knowledg of Christs special love to the Soul For 1. Love accompanieth justifying Faith in the same moment And indeed in some Sense is part of it And doth not stay till the Soul discern his own believing and thence discern Gods special love 2. There is a love of desire which goes before the knowledg of Gods special love 3. Many a poor Christian loves Christ long before they know the special love of Christ And therefore this first sincere love must needs be raised from the apprehension of Christs excellency as to us and his general love to mankind Which can be no other then that which is manifested in their Redemption Object Wicked Men are bound first to believe and thtn to love when they know by their believing that Christ died for them Ans They are bound immediately in the same instant to love Christ as to believe and not to delay their love till they try their Faith or by discerning it get assurance of Gods favour They are bound to accept Christ as good for them when he is offered them And that acceptance is essentially love as it is said to be in the rational appetite He that loveth not truly believeth not truly And how can any Man prove Gods special love by the evidence of a false Faith Must Men first believe without love that by the Mark of such a Faith they may have ground for love That will be a deceitful ground as it is a deceitfull Mark Object At least Men are bound to be humbled first and believe that there is no other name under Heaven but Christs by which they can be saved and then to rest on him and love him Ans This is answered before If the humiliation and Assent that they mention be proper to the Regenerate and so be a true note of Gods special love 1. Then it will follow that other Graces go before that Faith which unites us to Christ Which few will grant 2. Then Men must find special Marks Antecedent to Faith that from thence they may gather a warrant to believe Which is false Doctrine I think in the judgment of all 2. But if these Antecedent Acts be common and such as reprobates also may perform then either every Man that performs them is bound to love Christ as his Redeemer And to rest on him for pardon Or only some If every Man then some reprobates are bound to love Christ as their Redeemer And to rest on him for pardon by his Blood-shed for them And to be thankful for his satisfaction And then certainly Christ did Redeem them by satisfying for them If but some then how shall any Man know that he is one of them So that I think I may conclude that they that deny universal satisfaction by Christs bloodshed do leave Men no ground for their first special love to Christ as Redeemer For that first love must be raised upon the knowledg of Christs general love and mercy or be groundless Seeing there is no knowledg of special love and Mercy Antecedent Object But how can the knowledg of Christs common love cause in us a special love to him Then we must love him first with a special love Ans Christ hath a special love to us before we have a special love to him But we cannot know it and therefore cannot love him for it His special love is the efficient cause of our love to him but not the objective or moving cause of our first love The love of Christ is not the less because its manifestation is general And therefore that glorious mercy of general
little know we of the History of those remote parts of the World that have not now the Gospel among them that it is very hard for any man to know that those Countries never had the Gospel in any measure revealed to them We may discern that now they want it and that they know not themselves that ever they had it But how far their contempt of it may in many places cause God to give them up to that Barbarism and Sottishness as may obliterate all former Revelations and bury them in oblivion this we cannot tell the rather because that the Apostles and many other Christians of that Age did travel so far in execution of their Office and the Gospel is then said to be Preached to all Nations and the sound of it to have gone to the ends of the Earth and through all the World and because there hath been so much entercourse between some Christians or other and most of these Nations since then yet is it most probable that there are many savage parts where the name of Christ was never revealed with a competent sufficiency yea or at all Prop. VIII The Heathens that never heard the Name of Jesus have yet sufficient means afforded them to know among many others these following Truths 1. That there is a God and only one God 2. That this God is Infinite in Being Immense and Eternal and Infinite in Wisdom Omniscient Goodness and Power and so Omnipotent 3. That he is the Maker Preserver and Governour of all and therefore that all men do by the strongest obligations owe him the most perfect obedience 4. That he being Ruler must needs give us a Law that is some sign of his Will constituting our duty and determining what shall be our reward and punishment 5. That God being perfectly Holy and Just he must needs make a wide difference between the Righteous and the Wicked and cause Malum Passionis vel Physicum ordinarily to follow Malum Morale vel Actionis vel Omissionis ut benè tandem sit bonis male malis And that the same Cause which was for the enacting of his Penal Laws requireth the execution of them ordinarily at least in as high a measure as Worldly Princes are engaged to execute all their Laws 6. That the Soul of Man shall in another World everlastingly partake of exceeding misery or happiness according to what they have done in this World 7. That therefore it should be every mans chief care to provide for his Everlasting Salvation and to escape everlasting Damnation or Misery and that all things in this World are vanity and will not satisfie the Soul or make men happy and therefore that our care and labour for this World and our Love of it should be nothing in comparison of our love to that to come and of our care and labour for it and that no man can be too diligent in seeking after his Everlasting Happiness 8. That God is to be loved honoured obeyed trusted feared and that above all Creatures whatsoever and that he is the most happy man that is most in his favour and that we should Worship him frequently reverently and heartily and that according to his own will and that we should honour our Superiors and love our Equals also and do no wrong to any man in Soul Body Friends Name State or Chastity but do as we would be done by 9. That all men are Sinners and every man for himself may know by experience not only that he hath broke these Laws but often and heinously broke them yea breaketh them every day 10. That a very grievous punishment is due to them for these sins 11. That God being the Righteous Judge and Governour of the World it beseemeth him to do Justice on those that so offend him and to adjudge them to their deserved misery except on some valuable Consideration he forgive them 12. That it is past their reach to discover of themselves what such a valuable Consideration may be or what God will accept of as sufficient to be a ground for Remission of this Sin and Punishment 13. That it is past their own power to make any satisfaction seeing all that they can do which is good is but the remainder of their duty which yet is depraved by the daily mixture of Sin and all that they can suffer here is but part of their desert All this the light of Nature may shew them as is evident by the clear deductions and inferences of Reason and all this is Antecedent to any thing Evangelical But besides all this God's Providential dealings may teach them some things of another Nature even concerning God's mercy and their own Recovery As particularly 1. That God doth not deal with Mankind in general or themselves in particular according to their desert This they may find by his patience and the multitude of mercies that they enjoy 2. Nay that he dealeth with them so much contrary to their desert as to give them abundance of precious mercies through all their lives when they had deserved the greatest misery 3. That therefore God hath found out some sufficient means grounds or terms on which he both may and doth actually dispense with the rigour of exact Justice 4. That therefore their case is not utterly desperate and remediless 5. That they cannot of themselves discover what those satisfactory grounds are on which God so suspendeth the rigour of Justice and dealeth with them so contrary to their deserving 6. That therefore they should use all possible means and industry for the fuller knowing of these great things and therefore send to enquire of all others in the World as far as is possible who are likely to know more of them than they 7. That they should for the time to come repent unfeignedly of all their sins not only as they are hurtful to themselves but as against the publick Ruler of the World to whom they were so many ways obliged and that for the time to come they should to the utmost of their power sin no more 8. That they ought frequently and fervently to pray to God both to reveal to them fully their Case and his Will concerning their Recovery and Duty and importunately day by day to beg mercy at his hands 9. That all this must not be done in desperation but as a means to their own deliverance and God is to be sought and worshiped by them as a merciful God as having proved him so to be and that the use of his means is not like to be in vain 10. That ◠careful seeking and diligent obedience they should continue to the death against all Temptations to the contrary All these Truths may those come to know by the use of Reason from the Creatures and Providences and specially their own experiences who never heard of Christ or Scripture And how much Socrates Aristotle Plato Plotinus Seneca Cicero Plutarch c. did know may partly be seen in the Monuments of their
that if they neglect them they are left without excuse Prop. XV. It belongeth to Christ in drawing men towards Salvation by his Rectorship to reveal-oft times some of the forementioned Gospel Truths by way of preparation and to draw men nearer him before he reveal the full substance of his Covenant or fully promulgate his Law As the Sun sendeth forth some light before it appeareth it self at its rising which light yet comes from the same Sun So doth the Gospel oft-times Prop. XVI Those that have the forementioned truths revealed to them with hearing the Gospel are bound in all reason for the safety of their Souls to use all possible diligence to make a fuller discovery which is not likely that any Indians or others have done Had they been as diligent in improving the truth received till they had been civilized and then in sending to all others for information where there was a probability of receiving information even as men are diligent in trading tedious Voyages for Merchandize and Worldly Gain it 's like there is no Nation under Heaven but might have had the Gospel ere now Prop. XVII If men will wilfully reject and abuse that measure of light and help which they do injoy which was sufficient to that end whereto it was given to have brought them nearer Christ than they were And if they will not use the means for getting of the Gospel which they have sufficient help to use then it is apparently just with Christ even as Rector according to the Law of Grace to condemn such men after he hath Died for them And if his Death prove in vain as to their Salvation the fault is only in themselves and themselves shall they blame for ever And this is the case of these men Prop. XVIII Nay in this case the very Law of Grace commanding Faith in Christ Crucified doth oblige these men remotely to the Duty and to punishment for neglect of the Duty For though a Law not promulgate cannot oblige yet the Question is Who it was long of Or Who was the faulty cause that it was not Published If the Law-giver then it cannot oblige But if it were the subject then it doth actually though remotely oblige For no man is to receive benefit saith the Civil Law by his own fault Who knows not that among us if a Man will lie in an Ale-House and never come to hear the word God will judge him guilty of being Ignorant of all the Truths which he might have there learnt And of neglecting all the Duties which he might have been informed of And if a man know some few preparatory Truths here as that he is a sinner and miserable and ought to seek out for remedy and should come to hear the word and forsake his known sin and keep good company c. and yet he despise or disobey these shall we say this Man was never bound to believe I say he is bound remotely that is first to do some other Duties which tend towards the obtaining of the Gospel and then to believe For the obligation to both Duties lyeth on him at once but not an obligation to perform both Duties at once Object But if they should improve their degree of Light and sufficient Grace they have no certainty ty because no promise that the Gospel shall be given them Answ That 's no excuse as long as they have so full encouragement as is before expressed Should a man in danger of Death do nothing for his own safety without a certainty of success Should not the least hope of probability much more so high a probability be enough to excite men to seek the saving of their own lives Suppose a King having past an Act of Oblivion upon a ransom to that end for a whole Nation of Traytors as Ireland should send his Herald to proclaim it to all But to some of them he sendeth before hand some inferior messenger telling them in the Kings Name that he is placable and their case remediable and he requires them to use certain means as Submission Petition Laying down Arms c. and try what the King will do If these men reject unthankfully this favour and abuse the messenger and persist in Rebellion is it not just with the King to forbid the Herald that he proclaim not to them the act of oblivion And is it not long of themselves if they never hear it nor have any benefit by it so is it in the present case By the abuse of sufficient Grace to have come nearer Christ do the Pagans forfeit all other fruits of his blood So that Christ may truly be said to have done his part even as Legislator and to have promulgated his new Law among them in that he did his part and so it's promulgate moraliter vel Reputativè though it was not actualiter perfectè through their own fault It is not long of Christ but of themselves that it was not done fully in that they ungratefully rejected his Precursors or Harbingers that came before the Gospel Seeing they would not make use of the Twilight or Day-break Christ justly denieth them the Sun-Rising Prop. XIX It seems most probable that it was not only Adams first sin that is imputable to his Posterity but that we are all still guilty of all our Parents sin to this Day and that therefore God may justly deprive a whole Nation of the light of the Gospel for their Progenitors sins and that not only according to the Law of Works but even according to the Law of Grace I will not stand now on the proof of this any further than to tell you 1. That the same solid Arguments which prove the imputableness of Adams sin seem to me to prove this and by denying this we overthrow the grounds of the Doctrine of the said Imputation 2. And that the Second Commandment with all those Examples of Gods destroying the Children with the Parents and for their sin do seem fully to prove it together with the practice of Godly men to humble themselves for their Fathers Sins Yet understand me thus that though according to the Law of Works we are guilty of all our Parents Sins yet the Law of Grace Promiseth that no man shall be destroyed for them who disowneth them by true Repentance and taking a contrary course in obedience when he comes to Age. This is the sense of Ezek. 33. and 18. And so the guilt is cut off and the Child by the Covenant of Grace taken in with its Parents and so is looked on as in his immediate Parents and the sin of former Parents forgiven him though yet that guilt will return if when he comes to Age he ungratefully reject the mercy by renouncing the Covenant of Grace I do but propound this to Divines to consider For certainly if we prove all guilty of all our Parents Sins it is sad that the Church hath no better understood it and that we have none almost that ever bewailed
acknowledged or pray'd for Remission of such a Guilt nor any Ministers that ever acquainted them with it yet Ursine and some few I find make it doubtful yet here is no ground for their objection who say that then for the Sin of Cain or Cham God may destroy all their present Posterity To which I Answer 1. According to the Law of Works he may 2. According to the Law of Grace if there have been no Godly intermediate Progenitors which is false or improbable 3. Or if the Children prove wicked and rebellious themselves God may bring on that Generation the Evlis deserved by the foregoing Yet is there a great difference in degree between guilt from Progenitors and guilt from our own Personal voluntary Actions and therefore God never imputeth the former where men are personally obedient and penitent but lays it as an addition to their personal guilt on the Impenitent and Disobedient Prop. XX. I cannot find in Scripture where it is clearly revealed to us on what terms God will Judge those that heard not of Christ In general we find that he will judge them according to their usage of the Talents of Mercy received and not according to the rigour of the Law of works as it stands alone but particularly how God will proceed with them or whether any Heathen be ever saved I cannot find that he hath revealed For indeed it doth not concern us to know it I dare not say that any of them Socrates Seneca Plato c. are saved Nor dare I say that I am certain they are not They that are certain let them be thankful for their knowledge and not be angry with me for confessing my Ignorance And I hope they will distinguish between Ignorance and Error and therefore not charge me with Error in this It seems to me that these men being not under any conditional Promise of Life for Faith is the condition therefore they cannot lay claim to Salvation by the Tenour of the Covenant Though some think that the Promise of Pardon and Life to them that Repent may give them an interest But yet God is not engaged to the contrary but dealeth Arbitrarily with them and therefore we cannot know his dealings particularly and fully herein Prop. XXI Those Scriptures that speak of the necessity of Christ to mans Salvation for satisfying Justice do plainly extend it to all men in the World but those that speak of the necessity of believing seem to limit it to them that hear the Gospel or might have heard it but for their own fault It is true of all men that there is no other name given under Heaven by which they can be saved but the Name of Jesus There is no Remission but by his Blood nor Acceptance with God but for the sake of his Satisfaction and Merits But it may be observed from the Context that when it is said He that believeth not shall be Damned it is plainly fore-implyed that they are such as are called to believe It hath the Nature of a threatning and therefore presupposeth the sin of Unbelief and that it be not meer Negative Unbelief but Privative and that supposeth the duty of believing and that supposeth the command constituting the Duty and that supposeth Natural Power in Man though not Moral and the Natural possibility of obeying Peruse each particular Text of this Nature and you will find this true Prop. XXII Personal Believing was never commanded to Infants or Ideots nor required as necessary to their Salvation Prop. XXIII The same Faith which is now among us of absolute necessity to our Justification and Salvation was not so to those before Christ therefore it is not per se of absolute necessity to Justification by Christ Therefore if God so please those that hear not the Gospel may be Justified without that Faith which to us is necessary If we believe not that Jesus is the Christ we shall Die in our sins But this was not necessary to the Jews before Christs coming Nay it appears by divers passages in the Gospel that Christs own Twelve Apostles after they had long heard his Teaching and seen his Miracles did not believe that Christ should be put to Death and be made a Sacrifice for Sin much less his Resurrection c. And how unlikely is it then that all the true believers of the World long before should believe this However some Prophets might discern much of it Do but well peruse every example of believing in Heb. 11. and see what Faith it was that then saved them Yet to think that the same would save us now were a desperate mistake Prop. XXIV God can if he please pardon and save men for the sake of Christs satisfaction without letting them once know that Christ satisfied for them else he cannot save an Infant or an Ideot Some Divines as Twisse c. are so bold as to say that God could have pardoned Sin without Christs satisfaction I dare not say so But methinks the same men should never make mans knowledge or belief of Christs satisfaction to be absolutely necessary to Salvation if the satisfaction it self be not Dare any say My own Faith was more necessary than Christs Death I could have been saved without Christ but not without Faith God could have forgiven men absolutely if he would or else have made some other condition when once his Justice was satisfied And therefore we cannot conclude that this is the condition to any further than Scripture saith so Prop. XXV Yet is Repentance Belief in God Love to him and sincere Obedience of Natural necessity For God cannot be enjoyed in Glory but by these Graces nor as a Just Rector can he save them that love him not and that Rebel against him Prop. XXVI Those who think it possible for a Socrates Seneca c. to be saved or one that never heard the Gospel do not hereby equal Heathenism with Christianity nor make our Religion needless For they 1. Make their Salvation less certain and ours most certain 2. And their Salvation most difficult as for a man to hit a narrow way in the dark and ours incomparably more easie as for a man to hit the right way by day-light 3. And that therefore they are very few of them that are Saved but Multitudes with us 4. That their Glory shall be lesser as his that improved the two Talents and ours greater as his that improved the ten Besides many more differences Prop. XXVII If all the Heathen be Damned though their loss will be materially equal with ours yet formally as a privation for they were never in our capacity of Glory and their poena sensus will not be near equal to ours either materially or formally For their Consciences will never torment them for the refusal of Christ revealed and Heaven offered to them or any other sins which they were not capable of committing Nay if it were true that some teach that they had no Gospel Mercy or Grace given