Obligations upon him to make Honourable Vessels 2. The Goldsmith makes curious Vessels oft-times for the Pride and Luxury of Men yea sometimes such as are redundant and superfluous and Mens adoring the Gods of Silver and of Gold in those Honoured Vessels doth truly change them into Vessels of Dishonour but God is compared by himself to a Potter for 1. The Materials of a Potter are Vile and Sordid to wit Clay So more answering fallen Mankind out of which God maketh his choice We are not only Clay Job 4.19 but sinful Clay thro' the Fall 2. The very Vessels of Dishonour which the Potter makes are for the Necessities and Conveniencies of the Houshold 2 Tim. 2.20 the great Housholder must have Vessels of all sorts some for Inferiour Uses as well as others for Honourable Service 3. The Potter doth not make this Difference among his Pots from any foreseen inherent Goodness in his Clay for the whole Lump before him is of an Equal Temper and Quality but from the pleasure of his own Will Thus the Potter's Power over his Materials is clearer from Exception than that of the Goldsmith so more illustrates the Absoluteness of God's will in this choice both of Vessels of Honour and Vessels of Dishonour Argum. a Minori Why. Yet is not the Argument a pari but a Minori For 1 st The Distance 'twixt the Clay and the Potter is but a finite Distance the Distance 'twixt one Creature and another animate and inanimate but the Distance 'twixt God and Mankind is Infinite not only the Natural Distance 'twixt God and us as we are Creatures but also the Moral Distance 'twixt God and Us as we are Sinners 2 dly The Potter must have his Clay made to his Hand though he temper it for his Work when he hath found it out but the great God creates his own Clay He created the Earth out of which Man was formed Gen. 1.1 2.7 It follows then that God hath not only as much more Power over Mankind as the Potter hath over his Pots which he maketh Base or Noble according to his will but much more for those two Reasons aforesaid if the Potter by an Absolute Will dispose of his Pots 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much more God Consectaries 1. If this Absolute Will of God be the Universal Cause of all things then no Event can fall beyond or besides God's Will and Fortune in the Sense of the Gentiles is but the Devil's Blasphemous Spitt upon Divine Providence 2. God's absolute Will cannot be resisted Rom. 9.19 as he hath willed so it shall come to pass Isa 14.24 Psal 115.3 Job 42.2 there is no hindering of the Execution of his Will 3. Then learn we Submission to the Will of God declared Proud yet Brittle Clay will be knocking their sides against the Absolute Will of God till they break in pieces so did Adonijah 1 Kings 1.5 with 1 Chron. 22.9 when Solomon must rule CHAP. VI. Of the Fourth Property of the Divine Decree it is Free THE Fourth Property of the Divine Decree is the Freeness of it as it is not Conditional but Absolute so 't is not Necessary but Free as flowing only from the Pleasure of God's Will God is a Free Agent and cannot fall under any Obligation so as to Necessitate him in any of his Emanations to the Creature but as he is graciously pleased out of his own Free Love to oblige himself Reason 1. The First Argument to prove the Freeness of the Divine Decree is Such a Decree as passeth without any Obligation to Necessitate the passing of it must needs have the Property of Freeness but thus it was with the Divine Decree Therefore c. If thore be any Obligation it must be either in respect of Objects or of Acts or of Motives but God was not obliged in any of those Respects Therefore c. Respect 1. Not in respect of Objects for God was under no Necessity of having either any Elect or any Reprobate and was Happy in himself from all Eternity and would have been so for ever without either of them Illud est perfectum cui nihil potest addi and to affirm that God stood in need of any such Objects is to deny the Perfection of God God was infinitely happy in himself and needed not to have looked out of himself for any additional Happiness and therefore it is call'd an Humbling of himself to look down on Things in Heaven much more on Things on Earth Psalm 113.5 It must needs therefore be Granted that he needed them not but would have been God blessed for Ever without them Respect 2. Nor in respect of Acts as they are Necessary by a Moral Obligation God was under no Moral Obligation to Man he had done Man no wrong if he had never willed Man to be much less to be Holy and Happy God was not bound to any of his Actions concerning Man either Election Vocation Justification c. for God cannot be a Debtor to Man any other way than as he makes himself a Debtor of his own good Pleasure As in his Promises his Love mov'd him to make them and his Truth binds him to perform them otherwise those Actions would be Actions of Debt and not Acts of Grace contrary to the Tenure of many Scriptures that makes the whole Work of Man's Salvation to flow wholly from the Free-grace of God Respect 3. Nor in respect of Motives Neither First In the Creatures Not Secondly In Christ 1. Not in the Creature First Not in the Creature it self for the Being of the Creature much more the Faith and Good Works of the Creature was the Effect of the Decree of God so could not be the Motive thereof God could not foresee any Faith or Works antecedently to his own Purpose and Decree but in his Purpose and Decree of giving them both In Massâ corruptâ which the * Arminius in the 1 st of his four Divine Decrees Arminians assent to nothing that is good can be foreseen but what is caused by that Grace which was eternally prepared for them in the Decree of Predestination and actually applied in the Effectual Vocation So that Faith as foreseen is but a May-be and the Decree or Will of God causeth it to become a Shall-be and therefore it cannot in any good Sense be the Moving Cause of the Decree for then must it be the Cause of its own Cause But of this Point much more when I come to confute the Conditional Decree 2. Not in Christ Secondly Nor is Christ himself the moving Cause of the Divine Decree for Christ is the Effect of God's Eternal Love not the Cause of it John 3.16 God so loved the World that he gave his Son There is a Sic without a Sicut and God's Love gives Christ Christ is not the Cause of this Eternal Love tho' he be the Cause of our Salvation which is the Application of the Divine Decree but not of the
Decree of Love it self Therefore we are said to be Elected in Christ but never for Christ for Christ is an Elect One himself as is shewed before God willeth to save us for Christ but not for Christ willeth he us to be saved according to that Thesis in the Schools Deus vult hoc esse propter hoc non propter hoc vult hoc Christ indeed was the first chosen for the Head comes first out of the Womb of Predestinating Love and then the Members yet though he be first chosen to that Glory which became him as an Head he is not the Cause why we are also chosen Even as the first Alam is not the Cause why God did love me so that I should be a Man and have this Natural Being though in and through him I come to have this Being So Christ is not the Cause why God did love me so that I should be a Christian and have a Super-natural Being a Life above Nature even the Life of Grace though I attain to it and receive it through him in him and for his fake The Love of God as immediately cometh from himself to me as to Christ he was fore-ordained to be our Head 1 Pet. 1.20 as we to be his Members Thus we are Christs and Christ is Gods 1 Cor. 3 22,23 as the Effect of his Love to his Elect from all Eternity Reason 2. The Second Argument to prove the Freeness of the Divine Decree is that which the Word of God affirms to be a Free Act an Act of Grace and not of Debt an Act of Love and Special Favour founded upon the meer good Pleasure of God must be accordingly believed to be so by us but the Word of God doth all this Ergo Mat. 11.26 Even so O Father it pleased thee Luke 12.32 It pleaseth your Father to give you the Kingdom 2 Tim. 1.9 It was a Gracious Purpose in God from all Eternity Eph. 1.5,9,11 Paul's repeated Epiphonema is the Pleasure of his own Will the Pleasure of his own Will the Counsel of his own Will but more fully in that Rom. 9.13,15 exemplifying this Truth in Jacob and Esau Both the Prophet and the Apostle makes this Instance the fullest Exemplification of Free Election Mal. 1.3 Rom. 9.11 They do not bring in for an Instance that of Cain and Abol in the beginning of the Old World or that of Shem and Ham in the beginning of the New World but this of Jacob and Esau For 1. These two were Fratres Utero yet not Animo at one and the same time they laid together in the same Womb and were born at the same time for Jacob took hold of Esau's Heel so the contrary Disposal of these two doth more illustrate the free Predestination of God than of any other two whatsoever 2. In Jacob there began to be a distinguished People from all the World even a Church unto God as of Esau sprang also a persecuting Seed yet before they had done either Good or Evil Jacob was loved and Esau hated God had no regard to Faith in the one or Infidelity in the other whereby they might be differenced the One from the Other they were at that time when God's Oracle pass'd upon them already conceiv'd in Sin in their Mother's Womb and if there were any Preheminence Esau had it as being the First-born What then did cast the Ballance Nothing else but the good Pleasure of God Thus the Apostle determines it according to that Wisdom given to him 2 Pet. 3.15 God will have Mercy on whom be will have Mercy and whom he will be hardeneth Indeed Carnal Reason says It was because God foresaw what they both would be But if that had been the Cause the Apostle Divinely Inspired would have answered this Objection v. 16. Is there then Unrighteousne's with God according to that Hypothesis which would not have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 2 Pet. 3.16 but easie to be understood and would not have resolved all as he doth into the Unsearchable Will of God And as Jacob's Person was thus loved freely so was his Posterity not because they were ex xnmeliori luto but God loved them because he loved them Deut. 7.7,8 It was choosing Love that he bare to them and that is the best of the Kind that is the Favour which God bears to his People As a Man loves his Goods and his Servants with a common Love but his Wife and Children with a Special Love and though Malachy instances only the Defolation of Esau's Country as the Evidences of God's Hatred to Esau yet the Apostle saw more in it than the spoiling of his Earthly Inheritance for in that very Desolation as an Outward Pledge he reads God's Eternal Hatred towards him in the Decree of Reprobation Reason 3. The Third Argument to prove the Freeness of the Divine Decree is If God in all Ages hath given us Examples of his free Receiving or Rejecting some out of Mankind then the Divine Decree must needs be free but the Antecedent is true Ergo the Consequent This Assumption is plain in Scripture History for of Adam's three Sons Cain Abel Seth the Eldest was rejected Of Noah's three Japhet Shem and Ham the Youngest was rejected It appears that Ham was the Youngest Gen. 9.24 and Japhet the Eldest Gen. 10.21 but of Terah's three Sons Abraham Nahor and Haran the Middlemost was rejected for Nahor was an Idolater and Laban sware by his Idol Gen. 31.53 Not by the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac but by the other Gods which Nahor served Josh 24.2 Now why is this Picking and Choosing this Receiving and Rejecting Eldest at one time Youngest at another time the Middlemost at a Third Time but to shew that neither Birth nor Age nor any Thing either foreseen or existing in the Creature can make any Claim but all lies in the Free Election of God We cannot give a Reason why Pharaoh and Mebuchadnezzar both being engag'd in the same Cause of Warring against Israel the Church of God had differing Dispensations of Heaven upon them forasmuch as the One was hardened and the other was humbled under the Mighty Hand of God Nor why Pharaoh's Baker was hang'd and yet his Butler restored to his Office again Why two Men shall be in one Bed the One taken and the Other left Why two Women shall be grinding at one Mill the One taken and the Other left Why Aaron's Rod of all the Twelve only blossomed These and many more Instances do sufficiently demonstrate the Reason of all those Differences is not any thing that can be found in the Creature but 't is only the Free Election of God Reason 4. The Fourth Argument is If the Fruits of the Divine Decree be freely given then the Decree it self must be a Free Decree but the Antecedent is true Ergo the Consequent is true also The Proposition is Evident for if I give a Book or a Piece of Money freely then I must needs
those whom Christ dyes for he gives to them Repentance and Remission of Sins Acts 5.31 Freedom from the slavery of Sin and Regeneration to Newness of Life Rom. 6.5,6 2 Cor. 5.15 Heb. 2.14,15 Jer. 31.33,34 Purifying Grace Acts 15.9 Heb. 9.13,14 and Eternal Life John 10.15,28 those Fruits evidence our Reconciling by Christ's Death Argument 9. Those whom Christ dyed for have the greatest Love of Christ but all have not the greatest Love of Christ Ergo c. The Proposition is clear from John 15.13 and 1 John 3.16 Friends cannot be more loved than by dying for them Herein is the Love of Redemption advanced above the Love of Creation in the latter God gave the Creature to Man but in the former Himself than which no greater Love can be shown The Assumption is clear also for Pilate Judas yea Cain and Pharaoh then in Hell could not have the greatest Love of Christ in his Death seeing the chief Evidence hereof is to give Men Grace here and Glory hereafter Praying for them and Together with himself freely gives us all things Rom. 8.32 all spiritual Blessings Eph. 1.3 Love especially greatest Love is a willing to one the greatest Good which cannot be a common Kindness but special and peculiar Favour Psal 106.4 and 119.132 If Christ willed the greatest Good to Esau how can it be said Esau have I hated yet under this greatest Love of Christ dying for him according to this Hypothesis Argument 10. If Christ dyed for all Mankind and obtained Reconciliation for them then all Infants are reconciled their Sin is forgiven them and so by Consequence are saved dying in their Infancy but this cannot be affirmed of all Infants Ergo c. The Assumption is proved It is the Judgment of the Catholick Church that the Infants of Pagans God 's Secrets being still reserved to himself are destitute of Supernatural and Saving Grace and they are not only born Children of Wrath Eph. 2.3 but are altogether Strangers to the Covenant of Grace and upon this account are esteemed unclean 1 Cor. 7.14 so dying are bound under the damnable guilt of Original Sin This is acknowledged by the Romanists themselves saying Bannez in 1. Quest 23. Parvulos Paganorum filios nihil auxilij supernaturalis recepisse in seipsis but if all were reconciled by Christ's Death then none of them could be born Children of Wrath and subject to the Curse and it would be a Priviledge to them to be kill'd in their Cradles rather than to be kept alive and brought up in Paganism whereby they must undoubtedly perish to all Eternity Besides if all be reconciled then none can be born without the Covenant contrary to Eph. 2.3,12 Argument 11. That cannot be a Truth which the Scripture of Truth no where affirms but it no where asserts that Christ dyed for all Men much less for all and every Man individually between which two there is a vast difference therefore it is not a Truth To explain the Assumption It is true Christ is said to give his Life a Ransom for all but not for all Men or for every Man individually The Scripture is the best Expounder of it self and that All is interpreted to be Many Mat. 20.28 and 26.28 Mark 10.45 and it is so frequently restrained to his Sheep Friends Church Believers Chosen and such as are given to Christ that it must be meant some of all sorts which in equivalent Terms is express'd clearly Rev. 5.9,10 Thou hast redeemed us out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation And I cannot see how the Arminians can have any part in that New Song there mentioned which say they are no more beholden to Christ for their Redemption than Cain and Judas was The Word All therefore must be taken for all the Elect all his Church all his Children that the Father hath given him c. not all Men universally and every Man individually Those places 1 Tim. 2.4,6 Tit. 2.11,14 plainly shew that it is some of all sorts Princes and Peasants Kings and Servants and of such only as he brings to the knowledge of the Truth whereby the Universality of the Expression is plainly restrained in the Connexion of that Clause for God gives not nor so much as offers the Knowledge of Truth to all Argument 12. That which opposes the Attributes of God ought not to be received but the Universal Point doth so Ergo c. The Assumption appears as 1. His Justice Numerari pretium captivum non redimi adversatur Justitiae If Christ paid the Price for Pharaoh and Judas c. then reconciled Souls are unjustly damned ut supra This Hypothesis sets the Death of Christ in a direct Opposition to God's Justice and how could Christ dye for Judas's Sin when Christ's Death was his very Sin as if Christ should say Father receive into thy Favour those whom I know thou wilt never do so being before of old ordained to destruction Jude 4. This is to make Religion a Laughing-stock 2. His Wisdom As if God should love and hate the same Person at the same Time Esau must be loved in giving Christ to dye for him yet hated as being ordain'd to Death from all Eternity and what is this but Childrens play in giving Judas a Ransom with one Hand and sending him to his place for his satisfied-for and remitted Sin with the other Hand 3. His Power If Christ died intentionally as to God for all then God's Intentions are frustrate seeing all are not saved and then he is not Omnipotent if cross'd in his Designs by the Work of his own Hands and to say that Freedom was obtain'd by Christ's Death for one but not that he should be freed is ridiculous Objection 1. It is Objected Impetration is Universal though the Application be not so Christ obtain'd for all though it be not applied to all Answer 1. This Distinction cannot hold true in God who grants nothing but what he bestows for he cannot repent of his Grantings 2. The End cannot be sever'd from the Action if God will'd that Redemption might be obtain'd of him it was that it might be applied to some and if to some and not to all then there is some Disparity in the Impetration it self and in the Intention of it and not in the Application only and so the Distinction falls 3. This Distinction hath no place in the purpose of Christ for therein they are both united Christ's aim being to bestow what he obtains he obtains nothing but what he applies for doth he apply any thing which he did not obtain Deus et Natura nil faciunt frustra 4. It is absurd to say that Redemption is obtained when both he that obtains and he of whom it is obtained do know it shall never be applied nor ever profit those for whom they say it is obtained 5. It bespatters the unvaluable Price of the Blood of God as if Christ should obtain Food for such as were never to be
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle in his Fol. lib. 2. cap. 2. shows is not taken strictly always for every Man individually and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2.9 is restrained to Sons brought to Glory v. 10. and to sanctified Ones v. 11. the Hebrews appropriated the Messiah to themselves as if not for the Gentiles too 5. When we say all Men travel such a way to London we mean not that every Man travels thither but such as do travel thither travel such a way The Prophet saith All men are Lyars take the Word strictly and he must be a Liar that said so Thus other Scriptures frequently restrain All. 6. 1 Cor. 15.22 is meant of the Resurrection and of those that are Christ's v. 23. or the Sense is No man is made alive but by him as Aristotle taught all Men Philosophy i. e. no Man learn'd Philosophy but by him not all individually Objection 4. God gave Christ to the World John 3.16 and for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.2 Answer 1. N. B. Contrary Scriptures are to be consider'd both at once and by the Scope of the whole are to be interpreted 't is not Concordia discors betwixt Rom. 3.28 Jam. 2.24 but Discordia concors Luther said Grammatica Theologiae cedat Words must give place to Matter Matter is not for words but e contra words for matter The Word World is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of various Significations John 3.16 cannot be meant of the World containing for that is not a Subject capable of Salvation nor of the World contained in a strict Sense for so Brids Beasts and Fishes and all Inanimate Things are comprehended which cannot have Everlasting Life nor can it be the World of Men but as he is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Preserver of Man and Beast Psal 36.6 there is God's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Love to Creatures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Love to Men and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Love to good Men God's Love was the Cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of sending Christ Not the first of these nor the Second properly but as an Evidence that some out of Mankind was saveable which was not granted to the fallen Angels and the Word Whosoever plainly restrains this Love of God to some not to others Whosoever in this World believeth c. and in v. 17. 't is meant the saved World which must be God's People for many of the World were damned at the time of God's sending Christ and some had been so 4000 Years as he was not sent to reverse God's Decree for then the Pains of Hell were not Endless so nor did his Death cross the Decree It must therefore be properly God's Love to good Men the third Love not such as he found so but such as he made so out of his Love to them 2. It must be meant of that World whereof Abraham is said to be the Heir Rom. 11.13 which is explained to be of all Believers v. 11. both Jews and Gentiles in every Nation thro' the World In this sense it is taken John 6.33 as Manna was only for Israel so Christ the Bread from Heaven gives Life to the World of Believers only 1 Tim. 3.16 Christ was believed on in the World of Believers only Heb. 2.5 that World which is made subject to Christ the reconciled World 2 Cor. 5.19 and that World to which Christ was a special Saviour John 4.42 3. World cannot be taken for all and every Man for then he would send his Word to them and work his Grace in them that this Love of God might not be fruitless and it must follow that either God loves the Damned in Hell or that he loved them while in the World but He is now changed 4. It is granted that God hath a Respect for all Mankind above Devils in offering a Saviour to them and Christ is the Saviour of all Men 1 Tim. 4.10 Omnes redimuntur per Christum i. e. all that are redeemed Sed soli Electi sunt in Christo not of Eternal Preservation but of Temporal Reservation for the Wages of Sin would be paid at Birth and the World through confusion by sin would have fallen about Adam's Ears had not Christ been the Glorious Undertaker 5. That in 1 John 2.2 signifies that the sins of no Man in the whole World are remitted but by Christ There is no other Name under Heaven wherely we can be saved Acts 4.12 John wrote to the Jews Gal. 2.9 and he tells them Christ is not a Propitiation for them only but for the Gentiles too as Acts 10.35 Gal. 3.28 Col. 3.11 for Christ is not Heb. Copher a Cover for the Sins of all and every Man and seeing John comforts them against Sin this cannot be done from the Impetration of Attonement but from the Application of it which none ever said was Universal therefore c. 6. Christ was sufficient as a Medicine to save the whole World as the Brazen Serpent was to heal all Israel yet only those that looked up were healed So 't is only those that apply this Medicine * 1 John 5.11,12 Habet in se quod omnibus prosit sed si non bibitur non medetur Prosper Objection 5. Christ hath as much Essicacy to save as Adam to damn Rom. 5.18 Answer 1. There is a Difference betwixt a Necessary Extensiveness and a Voluntary One The Efficacy of Adam's sin was Extensive necessarily but that of Christ's Death is of Free-grace and wholly at God's Pleasure and therefore 't is call'd the free Gist Rom. 5.15 not of the same manner 2. Christ is no where compared to Adam 〈◊〉 the Extent of his Object but only in the Efficacy of his Obedience and more Merit is required to the saving of one Soul than of Demerit for the losing of Ten Thousand 3. As all the Off spring of Adam did fall by his Sin so all the Off spring of Christ are saved by his Death All and every one are not in Christ radically as they were in Adam and all are not given to Christ * John 17.19 but As many saith Christ as thou hast given me The Seed of the Woman could not be made the Head and Root of the Seed of the Serpent Christ represented not Cain Pharaoh c. then God had been well pleased with Christ for them Mat. 3.17 and 17.5 Eph. 5.2 and they should not have been damn'd as Adam represented all Mankind As all that are in Adam dye so all that are in Christ are made alive 4. This Rom. 5.18 is spoken of such as receive much Grace and Justification v. 17. which the Arminians cannot say All and Every Man do Objection 6. Rom. 14.15 saith Destroy not him for whom Christ dyed And 2 Pet. 2.1 Denying the Lord that bought them Answer 1. Destroy is not there to condemn but to scandalize which as much as in us lies leads them to Destruction 2 Cor. 10.8 but to
foreseen to believe and persevere This answer would not have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or â—ard to be understood 2 Pet. 3.16 Neither would it carry in it the least Shew of Unrighteâ—usness but Paul was a Fool and these Men are wiser than the Holy Ghost that tells us our â—lection procedeth from the Will of the Elector 〈◊〉 from any thing in the Elected the Soveâ—eign Will of God is the Supream Rule of all â—ighteousness He will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy and whom he will he hardeneth Had foreseen Faith and Perseverance been the Antecedaneous Causes and Conditions of Election â—here had been no Mystery in it Argument 10. That Election which is shaâ—owed out to us in God's Love to Jacob both â—erson and Nation is the Election according â—o Truth but that Election was not upon foreâ—een Faith or Works Ergo. 1. Jacob the Person Rom. 9.12,13 was under Electing Love all foresight of Faith and Works being excluded to love Jacob is to will unto him the greatest Good even Eternal Salvation and all things that do accompany it this was before there was any difference between him and Esau for they were both alike in the Womb ut suprà conceived in sin had it been upon a foresight of their Works that they had God's Electing Love and Rejecting Hatred then were they themselves Carvers out of their own Eternal Conditions which depended on their Willing and Running and by this Hypothesis not upon the primitive Good Pleasure of God upon which our willing running and obtaining hangs as the Apostle asserteth 2. Jacob the Nation Our Election is Typifyed by Gods Election of Israel which plainly appears to be no Election upon foresight of any worthiness in Israel but all such being excluded the Reason is rendred I loved thee because I loved thee which is not the Reason of a weak Woman but of a strong God Deut. 7.7,8 Not for thy Righteousness Deut. 9.5 Argument 11. That which sets up the rotten Dagon of Man's Free-will before or above the Ark of God's special predestinating Grace ought to be rejected but this Conditional Decree doth so Ergo. That it does so appears inasmuch as their Doctrine of the Conditional Decree is grounded upon a Fore-sight of our Wills receiving or rejecting of Grace proposed and so Man's Will is made the Primum Mobile and advanced above God's Will and the Act of Predestination is put in Potestâ—… Predestinati not Predestinantis Hereby â—he power of Ordering Man's Salvation is as â—t were wrested out of God's Hands and put into the Hands of our Free-will then Salvation is the Work of the Saved not of the Saver and to will and to do is not of God's good Pleasure Phil. 2.13 Thus Men wickedly think that God is such a One as themselves Psal 50.21 floating and fluctuating in his Counsels and hanging in pendulous Suspences yea taking up pro re natâ new Consultations as depending on the Will of Men and the Contingent Acts flowing from thence Argument 12. That which inferreth a Succession of Acts in God may not be admitted but Election upon Foresight doth so Ergo. This is apparent in the Proposition for God is one Act and in him there can be no Succession for then he would not be I am Deus est Naturâ simplex nihil omnino admistionis aut Successionis habens sed ex omni parte 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Origen The Assumption is plain for a Foresight of Faith doth necessarily presuppose a foregoing Decree concerning the Being of that Faith foreseen For 1. God must decree Faith to be 2. He foresees that Faith 3. Then decrees to save upon that Fore-sight So that this Foresight comes necessarily betwixt two decrees the First before it and the Second after it Argument 13. That Doctrine of Election which stateth God as a Potter framing his Clay according to his meer pleasure ought to be admitted and the contrary to it rejected but the Conditional Decree doth not so sed e contrà Ergo. The Potter doth set apart several Lumps of Clay for several Uses out of his mere Will he doth not say if all his Clay-lumps be fit to receive Noble Forms he will fashion them accordingly and if not he will turn them otherwise for then the difference would proceed from the Quality of the Clay not from the Will of the Potter Argument 14. I might add many more as Foreseen Faith can have no place in dying Infants yet of such is the Kingdom of God and the Names of some are writ in the Book of Life Rev. 20.12 and if glorified they muâ—… be predestinated for Rom. 8.30 is reciprocaâ—… and of Equal Extent Believers cannot be the Object of Election for there be many Believers that are not elected as those with Faith temporary and many elected that are not Believers as Infants Argument 15. Christ foresaw the Men of Tyre and Sidon would have repented c. Mat. 11. 21. yet no decree depended on it Argument 16. A Conditional Decree makes a Conditional God seeing the Decree is God himself decreeing Argument 17. Then Salvation of any is uncertain for a Conditional Proposition affirms not any thing certainly CHAP. X. Objections against the Absolute Decree THE Objections which the Arminians raise against this Doctrine follow to be answered They deal with this Doctrine as the Heathen Emperors did with the Primitive Christians in the Ten first Persecutions who wrapp'd them up in the Skins of Beasts and then expos'd them to be torn in pieces by their fierce Band-Dogs So do the Arminians with this great Truth first dress it up in an ugly Shape with their own false Glosses upon it and then le ts fly at it one Cynical Sarcasm after another saying This is to accuse God not only of Injustice but also of Cruelty and of Dissembling Hypocrisie Objection 1. Of Injustice in giving to Equal Persons Vnequal Thing and if so there is Respect of Persons with God Answer 1. This is Objected against Paul's Doctrine Rom. 9.14 and seeing the Apostle brings it in as the Cavil of Carnal Reason against God's Decree in that we have sufficient Ground to reject it God must not lose the Honour of his Righteousness because the Reason of it appears not to our shallow Understandings We may not reprehend what we cannot comprehend his Justice must not be measur'd by the Standard of our Reason what is this but a speaking wickedly for God Job 13.7 and a plain robbing him of all Righteousness that is not Consonant to our Model We must not devise a Righteousness for God that is the Work of his own Will which is never sever'd from his Wisdom much less draw it down to the Determinations of God's greatest Enemy to wit Carnal Reason 2. God is Righteousness it self and Darkness may sooner come from the Sun which is the Fountain of Light then any Unrighteous Aâ—… from God who is the Abstract of Righteousness as he is the Summum Bonum so he is
finally fall away from Grace Argument 1. The first Argument is taken from God the Father If the Love of the Father to his Chosen Ones be a Love unchangeable then his chosen Ones cannot totally and finally fail away But the Antecedent is true John 16.27 13.1 Jer. 31.3 Jam. 1.17 John 10.29 Neither the Force nor Fraud of Hell can prevail against the Father's Electing Love which runs parallel with the longest Line of Eternity therefore the Consequence must be true also This is further illustrated God is Love 1 John 4.8 Then Everlasting Love must needs flow from an Everliving God Hence Paul having spoken of some Apostates fallen away comforts the weak Minds of Believers saying that their Standing is firm because 〈◊〉 Election 2 Tim. 2.21 this he compares to 〈◊〉 Foundation and to a Seal two Things of greateâ—… Validity and Security they stand as upon 〈◊〉 stable Rock and Mountain of Brass so cannot totally and finally fall for the Father is not inconstant in his Love to love to Day and hate to Morrow Argument 2. The Second Argument is taken from God the Son in his Redeeming Love as from God the Father in his Electing Love which is Unalterable also for thereby all the Members of Christ Agglutinantur are glewed into Christ their Head 1 Cor. 6.17 and None â—an pluck them out of Christ's hands John 10.28 they shall never perish No Principalities nor Powers c. shall be able to separate them from the Love â—f God in Christ Rom. 8.38 And the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it Mat. 16.18 If one Member may be broke off from Christ then all may be one having no more Priviledge than â—nother in respect of their State and Standing â—o Christ may be supposed upon this Hypothesis to be an Head without a Body or any Members and Christ also might have dyed in â—ain both which are grosly absurd Besides â—he Certainty of this Redemption appears furâ—her Inasmuch as Christ 1 st purchas'd Perseverance for his if he purchas'd for them all spiritual Blessings Eph. 1.3 then this great Blessing of Perseverance and Christ will not lose one of his purchas'd Inheritance the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 2.9 2 dly He pray'd for it Luke 22.32 that Peter's Faith should not fail and that all his Disciples should be kept from Evil John 17.15 yea and all Believers ver 20. and what Christ prays for he is always heard therein Joh. 11.41,42 3 dly Christ promises it John 6.37 That he will in no wise cast Believers out after they come in unto him Mat. 16.18 The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against them 2 Sam. 7.14,15 He will not utterly withdraw his Mercy from them under their severest Correction Psal 89.31 but his Faithfulness shall not fail towards them Isa 54.8,10 4 thly He performs it also to all those that the Father hath given him John 17.12 and loses not one of them John 6.39 13.1 1 Cor. 1.8 Eph. 5.23 He is a Saviour to all Parts of the Body Saints are in Christ's hands Rev. 1.16 and 't is as easie to pluck a Star out of Heaven as to pluck a Saint out of Christ's Hands John 10.28 Jude 1. 1 Tim. 1.12 1 Pet. 1.5 Argument 3. The Third Argument is taken from God the Holy Ghost in his Sanctification Love If the Operation of the Spirit on the Hearts of Believers be a sure and certain Operation then true Believers cannot totally and finally fall away But the Antecedent is true Ergo The Consequent The Truth of the Antecedent appears in that the Spirit 's Operation is compared in Scripture First To an Earnest Secondly To a Seal Thirdly To a Witness First To an Earnest 2 Cor. 5.5 'T is the Earnest Penny of our Salvation not the Pawn or Pledge which is to be return'd again Pignus redditur Arrha retinetur Jerom. The Earnest part of the Bargain and the first Fruits of Heaven which we have here In Pretio Promissis et in Primicijs Now the Earnest would quite be lost if the Bargain of Salvation stand not and he that hath the Earnest be not saved and if such a One be damn'd he carries the Earnest of the Spirit along with him into Hell which must needs be absurd Secondly To a Seal Assurance is God's Seal as Faith is our Seal John 3.33 Eph. 1.13 4.30 They first believed and then were sealed i. e. fully assured God honours our sealing to his Truth by his sealing with his Spirit as the Earnest makes the Bargain so the Seal ratifies and confirms it and the Broad Seal of Heaven must needs be more unalterable than that of the Medes and Persians Thirdly To a Witness 1 John 5.10 and such a Witness as cannot be excepted against The Spirit of Truth and this Witness abides for ever in the Elect John 14.16 1 John 2.27 3.9 so call'd an Eternal Spirit Heb. 9.14 a Witness that cannot dye nor lye so that the Temple of the Holy Ghost cannot become an Habitation of Devils this would make Satan rejoyce and insult over God as if stronger than he could he dispossess him as he is oft dispossessed by him Luke 11.21,22 Argument 4. The Fourth Argument is taken from Spiritual Enemies If no Spiritual Enemy can prevail against a true Believer totally and sinally then a true Believer cannot totally and finally fall away But the Antecedent is true Ergo c. 1. Satan cannot make Believers fall so for that Wicked One cannot touch them tactu qualitativo with any of his deadly Touches 1 John 5.18 but God treads him under their feet Rom. 16.20 The Seed of the Serpent may nibble at the Heels of the Seed of the Woman but cannot mortally wound the Heart Gen. 3.15 Christ takes his Armour from him Luke 11.21 and destroys his Works Heb. 2.14 Christ in them the Hope of Glory is stronger than he that is in the World 1 John 4.4 2. Not the World for Christ gives them Faith to conquer the World 1 John 5.4 and Overcomes the World for them in himself John 16.33 and makes them Kings unto God viz. gives them a Royal Spirit to live above the Frowns and Flatteries of the World He makes them to be higher-Region-Men above all Storms Prov. 15.24 having the Moon the Emblem of the World and All things under their feet Psal 8.6,7,8 Rev. 12.1 3. Nor their fleshly Lusts which have not Dominion over those that are under Grace Rom. 6.14 The Army of the Spirit wars against them Cant. 6.13 Gal. 5.17 so that they cannot be as sinful as sometime they would and though a Troop overcome God sometimes coming about him like Bees as David's Phrase is yet Gad overcomes at last Gen. 49. 18. and they become More than Conquerors to wit Triumphers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over all their Enemies Rom. 8.35 2 Cor. 2.14 for no Created Power can prevail against them Rom. 8.38 Argument 5. The Fifth Argument is taken from the Nature of Saintship