appeareth that faith is as well comprehended vnder this gift as saluation But if saluation alone were here called the gift of God yet it would thence necessarily follow that faith is the gift of God For he that giueth saluation must needes also giue the meanes without which there is no saluation The same Apostle Phil. 1.29 saith It is giuen to you in the behalfe of Christ not onely to beleeue on him but also to suffer for his sake Doe you see that it is giuen to vs not onely to be able to beleeue but also the act of beleeuing and to beleeue it selfe That repentance is the gift of God Saint Peter doth witnesse Acts 5.31 God hath exalted Christ with his right hand to be a prince and a Sauiour for to giue repentance to Israel and forgiuenesse of sinnes And 2 Tim. 2.25 If God will at any time giue them repentance Saint Paul Rom. 5. doth say That the loue of God is shed abroade in our hearts by the holy-Ghost who is giuen vs To wit because the holy-Ghost doth imprint that sure confidence in our hearts that wee are loued by God Here you see that not onely the powers of willing and doeing are giuen by God but also to will and to doe it selfe Seeing therefore that as many Christian vertues as there are there are so many gifts of God and the same vertues are habits it must needes be that those habits are from God and therefore not engrafted by nature which Pelagius himselfe hath not said nor obtained by vse and actions the grace of God helping as the Arminians will haue it for so man himselfe should giue eyther all faith or at the least some part of faith to himselfe and should owe it to his owne labour and industry For truely if God doth giue the power of beleeuing and doth not giue the act of beleeuing after the same manner as he giueth the power because as these Sectaries thinke God doth giue the power of beleeuing vnresistibly but he giueth the act of beleeuing onely by perswading and inuiting and that by a perswasion which we may obey or resist consent to or refuse There is nothing so cleere as that the very act of beleeuing and therefore faith it selfe is not from God alone nor from the meere grace of God but is due partly to God and partly to mans free-will Which that it is the opinion of the Arminians and that they thinke that grace is not the totall but part-cause of faith we haue proued before Whereunto adde that which they say that God doth giue faith no otherwise then by perswading and by a gentle invitation Which if it be true it will be said that God doth giue neither the power nor act of beleeuing For he that doth onely perswade and exhort to runne although he set on fire all the brands of his oratory Art yet he will neuer be said to giue the power of running nor to runne it selfe XII Seeing therefore that the habit of faith is the gift of God it must needes be that it is infused and imprinted on our hearts by God himselfe which if it be so it is vnpossible that this infusion can be hindred in the elect For what should hinder it Doth the mutability and instability of the decree of God hinder it No His decrees can neither be abolished nor changed Doth the euill affection of the heart of man hinder it No euery man is ill affected before he hath receiued faith from God Doth the obstinate hardnesse of some men hinder it No this hardnesse is softned by faith being receiued Which also God promiseth that he will doe Ezech. 36.26 XIII This promise of God and others of the like sort by which God promiseth that he will giue a heart of flesh and will write on it his law and that he will cause that we should walke in his waies doe promise an infallible certainty of the conuersion of the elect and the grace of God which is impossible finally to faile For what can hinder that God should not stand to his promise and should fulfill that which he hath certainely and absolutely promised Doth the hardnesse of mans heart hinder No this is that which he doth promises to wit that he will soften the stony heart Doth the wickednesse of man hinder No there is no man but he is wicked before God conuerteth him Is it the stubbornnesse which is in some men more then ordinary No Where sinne abounded there also grace abounded Finally there can no impediment be obiected which God cannot put away and remoue There is nothing so intricate out of which the wise goodnesse of God cannot cleere himselfe and therefore to whom hee promised hee would giue a new spirit that hee would take from them their stony heart that he would cause that they should walke in his waies it is impossible that these should not be conuerted or should finally fall away Neither doe the Arminians themselues deny it although they seeme contentiously to striue against it For in the 286. page of the conference at the Hage they doe confesse that these words of God in Ezechiel It is declared that God will so effectually worke that actuall obedience must follow But say they is that done vnresistibly As if the controuersie were in that It is sufficient that it is done most certainely infallibly and vnauoidably although man should for a time resist and should be aduerse and contrary to God calling that is to his owne saluation For the workes of piety which are adioyned to follow this change of the heart are not laid downe as conditions on which this change is to be but as fruites and effects which are to follow this change of the heart XIV These Sectaries doe deuise another hiding hole in saying that this promise of giuing a new heart was made to a whole nation not to seuerall men But these are vaine things For Regeneration and the change of the heart is a gift which is giuen to particular men Neither were this promise true if it were to be performed to a whole nation in which there haue alwaies beene very many that haue beene stubborne and rebellious Therefore this promise pertaineth to those alone who were to be truely faithfull XV. They dispute neuer a whit more wittily when they say Collat. pag. 269. that by these places is promised not the first beginning of preuenting grace but a greater plenty and progresse of grace I doe not deny but that euen the progresse and proceeding in grace is promised here but I earnestly affirme that here the beginnings also of conuersion are promised The very words a new heart doe proue this For then truely and properly is the heart new when it begins to be changed Nor is it credible that the increase of grace is promised without the beginning of it XVI I further demand whether that promise whereby God promiseth that he will cause that wee shall walke in his wayes is extended to the end of
as Arnoldus doth imagine nothing would thereby be derogated from the wisedome of God The father doth often decree to giue something to his children before he hath determined on what condition or by what labour In this place Arnoldus hath stuffed in many things of vnresistablenesse and of reprobation which wee haue put off to another place Therefore from the wisedome of God he passeth to the iustice of God which he doth contend to be violated by vs. XXV Therefore Pag. 224. hee beginneth with a calumny You determine saith he that God decreed to saue some men without the beholding of Faith I say he doth falsely accuse vs For although God doth not elect vs for faith yet hee doth elect vs to faith and faith is a part of the definition of election But if of two that are alike sinners he electeth one to saluation not considering obedience as a thing already performed but electing him to performe obedience God shall not therefore be vniust for concerning his owne he doth what he will according to that I will haue mercy on whom I will haue mercy c. It is enough that although he giueth to the one the grace that is not deserued yet he imposeth no punishment on the other but what is due In the meane while the Papists haue cause to reioyce who haue sound a patron of merit in Arnoldus For it is said to be merit when the reward is giuen to any one for righteousnesse Eternall life is a reward and that it might be giuen for righteousnesse Arnoldus will haue it giuen for the beholding of obedience performed therefore it is giuen to him that merits it XXVI It is idle which he addeth Pag. 225. By the decree whereby God hath decreed to giue saluation to none but to him that beleeueth he sheweth that he doth rather loue obedience then the creature But contrarywise by your decree God is made to loue men although they be sinners rather then righteousnesse which is contrary to iustice Surely these things are knit together with a very wicked art For first he imagines that we teach that God will saue other men then beleeuers Secondly he doth craithy compare that loue wherewith God loueth obedience with that loue wherewith God loueth the creature seeing the loue of obedience which is the very iustice of God is rather to be compared with the loue wherewith God loueth his goodnesse and mercy For although God loueth his owne iustice more then the creature yet hee doth not loue his iustice more then his goodnesse by which he doth doe good to the creature for God doth no lesse giue cleare and certaine proofes and effects of his goodnesse then of his iustice which goodnesse is also a kinde of iustice if iustice be taken not strictly for that vertue by which rewards are giuen to the iust and punishments to the vniust but for that generall vertue wherby God doth doe all things conueniently and as it is meete And although all things are equall in God yea all the attributes of God are one vertue and the very essence of God yet the Scripture doth extoll the goodnesse of God with farre greater praises then his iustice So in the Law God doth visite the iniquity of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation but doth extend his mercy to thousands of generations So Psal 36. The iudgements of God are compared to the mountains and his goodnesse to the deepe And Psalme 30. His goodnesse is extended to a life or an age but his anger is restrained to a moment Saint Iames doth consent to this Chap. 2. v. 13. saying that mercy doth boast it selfe and glory ouer iustice because God hath manifested to vs more euident arguments of his goodnesse then of his iustice God is therefore rightly called Optimus maximus The most good and the most great but most good is set first and then most great And if you would repeate the matter from the beginning you shall finde that in the first place the decree of creating is to be laid downe in which there is goodnesse but not iustice XXVII Arnoldus doth more largely presse the same things Chap. 9. where he saith that the iustice of God is violated by vs while wee will haue God to haue ordained men to saluation without the beholding of any obedience which as I haue already said is not our opinion I confesse indeede that God doth loue his owne iustice more then man but I deny that he doth more loue the manifestation or execution of his iustice then the manifestation of his mercy and goodnesse towards man God doth more loue that which is due to him by the creature then hee doth loue the creature it selfe But he doth not more loue that which is due to him from the creature then hee doth loue that which he oweth to himselfe to wit the manifestation of his glory by doeing good to the creature Surely there was danger that God could not maintaine his iustice vnlesse these innouators had issued forth who patronize his iustice preferring it before his goodnesse and wisedome And this is the place where Arnoldus will haue God to be a debtor Iustice saith he doth appoint that God should giue to the creature performing obedience that which is his Neuer was any thing said more harsh by the most vehement maintainers of mans merits Surely Arnoldus is prepared to say to God giue me that which is mine for this thy iustice requireth O proudely spoken But let vs proceede to other things XXVIII A little after he doth endeauour to proue that we offend against the same goodnesse of God in the doctrine of reprobation But wee haue appointed a peculiar chapter for the examining of these things as also there shall be a place of examining those things which he doth euery where without order stuffe in of Reprobation and of Free will and of Christ the foundation of election XXIX It is not to be omitted that it is familiar with the Arminians to inuey against the doctrine of Election which is beleeued in our Churches and that vnder the pretence of piety and exhortation to good workes For they say that precise election doth extinguish all the endeauour of good workes prayers hearing of the word and doth takeaway euery pious enterprise For if one beleeue that hee were predestinated to faith and to good workes hee will leaue the care to God of mouing man infallibly and would shake off all wholsome feare because hee is perswaded that his saluation cannot be lost nor his faith cast off These and other things borrowed from the Pelagians and still warme from the anuile of the papists they carry about as it were the Circousean pompe with a great clamour Also these craftie men speake this as men taught by experience For they say that while they were of opinion with vs they felt that vice growing on them by this doctrine and that a languor and diminishing of the loue of
before the decree of sending his sonne seeing Christ himselfe doth witnesse it Iohn 3.16 God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten sonne c. where the loue of the father is manifestly set before the sending of the sonne which is so to be vnderstood as that the sonne is not excluded from the act of election it selfe seeing that he also is one God with the father but this was done by him not as hee is mediator but as he is God VII Neither is any iniury done to Christ if the will of the father concerning the sauing of men be said to goe before the redemption of Christ seeing that this redemption is also after sinne for the disease is before the medicine VIII Nor is any thing detracted from the greatnesse of the price of our redemption if his will who offered the price be said to goe before it IX The very definition of the decree of election doth proue this thing for election is the decree of sauing certaine men by Christ in which definition Christ is laid downe not as the cause of election but as the meanes of the execution of it and as the meritorious cause of saluation X. It is maruailous how much the Arminians insult here For because wee make the loue of God to goe not in time but in order before the mediation of the sonne they so deale with vs as if we taught that God loued vs without Christ and as being considered without faith in Christ which doth differ as much from our opinion as that which doth differ most Be it farre from vs that wee should say that God would euer bestow saluation vpon vs but that together and in the same moment he considered vs in Christ as being to be saued by him Nor was there any cause why we for that thing should be accused of Sicianisme we haue nothing to doe with that Alastor and hellish monster which doth altogether ouerthrow the benefit of Christ But it is one thing to say that the loue of the father doth in order goe before the mediation of the sonne and another thing to say that God loueth vs without the sonne It is one thing to dispose the thoughts of God in order and another thing to separate them and pull them asunder Arminius who in the beginning of his booke against Perkins calleth himselfe a wirty fellow doâ—h craftily yea wickedly catch at and hunt after points of priority in order to pull asunder those things which cannot be seperated Hee doth therefore as much as if one should say that the thought of creating man was first in order in God before the thought of adorning him with holinesse and righteousnes and would thence inferrre that God would first create man not iust or first to haue considered him as not holy If any man saith that in the decree of God the thought of ouerthrowing of the world was before the thought of ouerthrowing it by fire hee doth not therefore say that God first thought of ouerthrowing it without fire All the purposes of God are eternall although there be a certaine order and dependency betweene them XI That place of Saint Iohn Chap. 3. vexeth Arminius God so loued the world that hee gaue his onely begotten sonne c. where the loue of God is laide downe as the cause by which it came to passe that he gaue the sonne He doth therefore endeauour to delude so direct a place by a witlesse cauell That loue saith he is not that by which he will giue eternall life which appeareth by the very words of Iohn who doth ioyne faith betweene this loue and eternall life The Reader therefore shall obserue that Arminius himselfe doth acknowledge that there is a kinde of loue of God towards men which doth goe before his decree of sending his sonne But hee saith that God by that loue is not willing to giue eternall life What then will hee doe by it For this thing hee ought to shew Will God by that loue leaue men in death Is it possible that God should loue the creature created by him to life but he must needes by the same loue will that it should liue I am ashamed of so weake a subtilty Yea truely in that he sent his sonne by that loue it is sufficiently manifest that by that loue he was willing man should be restored to life But saith he faith commeth betweene that loue and eternall life What then Cannot I will the recouery of him that is sicke although the Phisition come betweene my will and his recouery Surely he maketh those things opposite and contrary which are appolite and ioyned together But I doe not see how he rather fauoureth Socinus who saith that Christ is not the cause of Election then he that saith that Christ is not the cause of the loue whereby God would send Christ into the world and prouide for vs a redeemer Or why there should be a greater offence in making the redemption of Christ to be the medium and meane betweene the loue of God by which hee elected vs and betweene our saluation then if it be made the medium a meane betweene the loue of God by which he will giue Christ for vs and betweene our saluation For on both sides redemption is made the meanes and not the first cause Let vs not therefore enuy God the father this praise that his good pleasure thould be made the fountaine and first originall of our Election XII Obserue moreouer that that Election whereof Arminius will haue Christ to be the foundation is that generall election whereby all men are conditionally elected which seeing wee haue largely consuted Chap. 18. whatsoeuer the Arminians doe bring to proue that Christ is the foundation of election doth vanish away Surely there was no cause why they should so earnestly labour to proue that Christ was the foundation of that election by which Pharaoh and Iudas were elected Of which imaginary election he shall haue the true character and portraiture who hath brought in God speaking thus I decreed to send my sonne to saue all men who shall beleeue but who and how many they shall be I haue not determined onely I will giue to all men sufficient power to beleeue but he shall belecue who will himselfe XIII Arminius doth defend himselfe against so euident a truth by one little word of the Apostle Ephes 1.4 He hath elected vs in Christ But it is one thing to be elected in Christ and another thing to be elected for Christ so that Christ should be the cause why one is elected rather then another The meaning of the Apostle is cleere To elect is nothing else then to appoint to saluation Therfore to elect in Christ is to appoint to saluation to be obtained in or by Christ For whosoeuer God hath decreed to saue he hath giuen them to Christ and hath considered them as ioyned to Christ Hee seeketh a knot in a bulrush who by farre fetched interpretations would darken
be more loued then by dying for them For although it be greater loue to die for ones enemies then for his friends yet it is certaine that nothing can be performed for thy friends sake by which thou maist more testifie thy loue to them then if thou die for them Seeing therefore that this is the greatest loue to die for one whether friend or enemie it must needes be that Christ equally loued all men with his greatest loue They must therefore affirme if they will be constant to themselues that Christ in dying loued with his greatest loue Iudas Pilate yea Cain and Pharaoh who were already in hell XVIII The conferrers at the Hage doe endeauour to quit themselues If say they to loue in the highest degree is not onely to merit saluation but also to bestow it we denie that Christ did generally loue all those in the highest degree for whom he died They therefore condemne Christ and accuse him of a lie who will haue this to be the greatest degree of loue to die for one And it is impossible that Christ should loue any one in the highest degree of loue but that also hee should bestow saluation vpon him And if these things could be separated yet this would remaine firme and sure that Christ loued him with his greatest loue for whom hee died although hee hath not afterwards bestowed saluation vpon him because the greatnesse of the loue of Christ is to be esteemed not by the profit that commeth to him for whom hee died but by the greatnesse of the sorrowes which hee suffered for him Yea whosoeuer shall weigh these things in the exact scale of iudgement shall finde that it is greater loue to suffer death for one to procure for him some little good then to procure great good So it is more flagrant loue to expose himselfe to death that his friend might not be hurt no not a little then if he should doe it that his friend should not perish by being burnt aliue XIX Nor doe they escape by the distinction of this loue into Antecedent and Consequent seeing the Antecedent loue wherewith they will haue Iudas and Pharaoh to be loued by Christ cannot but be the greatest and that beyond which as Christ himselfe witnesseth none can be extended These are not two loues to be willing to haue mercy before faith and to be willing to saue after faith but they are two effects of one and the same loue XX. And if Christ by his death was the pledge and price of redemption for Iudas Pharaoh Saul c. The marke of iniustice would be set vpon God who hath taken two punishments for the same sinnes when the first satisfaction did suffice and hath twice giuen iudgement vpon the same thing For once they were dead in Christ seeing Christ sustained their person vpon the crosse and yet the same men doe die the eternall death in their owne persons Thence also it will follow that Christ did in vaine beare the punishments due to Iudas and Pharaoh and that hee in vaine made himselfe a pledge for them For surely if Christ on the crosse was the pledge of all and seuerall men and made himselfe for them as a surety it must needes be that hee supplied their place on the crosse and sustained their person And so that may be said of all men without exception which the Apostle saith 2. Corinth 5.14 If one died for all then were all dead But no man yet as I know hath dared to say that the reprobates died with Christ or in Christ And truely the following words of the Apostle doe argue that he doth not speake of all men in the whole world but of all those to whom the fruit of the resurrection of Christ doth pertaine and who are become new creatures XXI That reconciliation is purchased onely for the elect the Apostle teacheth Rom. 5.11 Wee ioy in God through Iesus Christ our Lord by whom wee haue now receiued reconciliation Did S. Paul so greatly reioyce in that benefit which was common to him with Herod and Pilate And C. 3. v. 25. God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation through faith in his blood There is therefore no propâ—tiation without faith and therefore no obtaining of reconciliation For hereby it is perceiued that God is pacified to a sinner and his propitiation is made because Christ hath obtained reconciliation for him XXII In the eight Chapter and foure and thirtieth verse of the same Epistle it is not onely said that Christ died for the elect but because that Christ died for them the Apostle doth thence inferre that no accusation can be laid against them Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifieth Who shall condemne It is Christ that died c. Out of which place we thus argue They for whom Christ died cannot be condemned nor can any thing be laid to their charge But the reprobates are condemned and something is laid to their charge therefore Christ died not for them So it be vnderstood in that sence which I said at the beginning to wit that Christ by his death did not obtaine reconciliation and saluation for them XXIII Those for whom Christ obtained reconciliation and remission of sinnes for those he also prayed and made intercession But he doth not make intercession nor pray for the world but onely for the faithfull as Christ himselfe saith Iohn 17.9 I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast giuen me It is no doubt but that by the world those that doe not beleeue are to be vnderstood and those that haue not receiued the grace of Christ amongst whom also are refractary persons For these Christ saith he doth not pray Now all men are such by nature being destitute not onely of faith but also of the power of beleeuing But among these God giueth some men to Christ to whom also hee giueth faith in Christ For these alone Christ doth professe that he maketh intercession to his father XXIV Here the sectaries after their manner doe vse a sleight distinction For they make a double intercession one generall whereby Christ doth make intercession for all the other particular whereby hee doth make intercession onely for the faithfull By the first reconciliation of sinnes is obtained by the other the applying of reconciliation and saluation But this generall intercession is plainely needelesse for in vaine is reconciliation asked without the application of saluation By that generall intercession Christ eyther asked saluation for Iudas and Pilate or else hee did not aske If he asked not his intercession was to no purpose If he asked he suffered the repulse and so in vaine he made intercession But hee himselfe saith Iohn 11.42 that he was alwaies heard by his father But perhaps they will haue Christ to haue asked the application of saluation for all men on a condition to wit if they will beleeue and with this respect
Apostle will faile Rom. 9. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy if the will of man doth goe before the will of God whereby hee will certainly and immutably haue mercy vpon vs. For the Arminians teach that the antecedent will of God may be resisted but his consequent will cannot It must needes be therefore that they say that the Apostle speaketh of the consequent will and of that loue whereby God loueth vs by his consequent will seeing that the Apostle doth there adde Who hath resisted his will And truely here the good men are held intangled with a knot from which they will neuer vnlose themselues For if they say that the Apostle in this place doth speake of the antecedent will of God which may be resisted then they fall foule vpon that which is there said Who hath resisted his will But if they will haue it to be spoken of the consequent will of God which is grounded on the will of man and the right vsing of grace and is after our will they are refuted by that other speech of the Apostle It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy But Saint Paul doth directly teach here that the will of man and the fore-seeing of the right vse of grace and of faith which the will of hauing mercy should follow is excluded by this will of God which cannot be resisted XX. Let the Arminians tell me why God loued Iacob and hated Esau before they had done eyther good or euill Surely he was not preferred before him by the Consequent will of God and which was after the faith or workes of Iacob seeing that Saint Paul doth directly remoue from the election according to the purpose of God the consideration of all good which they eyther had done or were to do for the Apostle should speak vnproperly if he should exclude only the consideration of the good done before his birth and not the consideration of the good which Iacob was afterward to doe seeing no man was ignorant that Iacob could not doe any good before his birth Yea if he could haue done yet the fore-seeing of the good to be done after his birth would no lesse derogate from the election of free grace then the fore-seeing of the good which should goe before his birth And if God electing had had respect to the good which Iacob was to doe Saint Paul would not haue appeased him that pleadeth with God and doth scrupulously enquire seeing that the reason had beene ready to wit that the one was preferred before the other because God fore-saw the faith and workes of the one Finally that speech It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth doth exclude all indeauour and helpe of man from the causes of election and of the good will of God by which he vnchangeably hath mercy vpon man XXI But those examples and testimonies which we haue brought out of the Scripture doe no lesse establish the inequality of the loue of God by his antecedent will then by his consequent will For when Christ saith Iohn 6. No man can come to me vnlesse my father draw him hee speaketh of the calling which goeth before faith and which is peculiar but to some men The same is to be iudged of the other examples For what Did God preaching to the Iewes and not to the men of Tire lesse loue the Tyrians then the Iewes by his consequent will that is because he saw that the Tyrians were worse affected and that they were lesse disposed to beleeue then the Iewes No sure for Christ doth contrarily testifie that the Tyrians were more prone to repentance then the Iewes XXII Had the Corinthians or Romanes that liued in the age of the Apostles more inclination to faith then their ancestors that liued an hundred yeers before Did God not vouchsafe the doctrine of saluation to the Corinthians and Ephesians who liued a little before the birth of Christ because their ancestors had refused it But if this were the cause why then did he inlighten with his sauing doctrine their children which proceeded from the same ancestors Surely because it so seemed good to God who for his owne goodnesse doth bestow more benefits vpon them whom hee loueth moâ—â— although they are neuer a whit better disposed to â—â—ith and Repentance XXIII But why did God call Paul with so effectuall a calling in the very height of his hatred against the Church and of a wolfe made him a sheep of a sheep a shepheard was it done because God perceiued in him some inclination to faith in Christ Or because he did well vse vniuersall grace No sure For at that time like a Tyger hee raged against the fould of Christ But God did not loue him any whit the more by his consequent will that is for the fore-seeing of faith seeing that the faith of Paul was an effect of the loue of God Nor was he loued because he was to be faithfull but that he might be faithfull as he himselfe witnesseth 1 Cor. 7. where he saith That he obtained mercy that he might be faithfull XXIV And seeing as it commeth to passe that God doth bestow vpon a man that is euill and borne of bad parents more of his grace and gifts and doth effectually conuert him that where sinne doth abound there grace might abound Rom. 5.20 I would know whether God would be more liberall to an euill man by his antecedent or by his consequent will If by his antecedent will we haue ouercome if by his consequent will let the Arminians tell me what will of the euill man went before his effectuall calling which could not be found in another which is lesse euill Will they say that he that was more euill before his conuersion did thirst was but a little euill and did the will of his father as they speake They shall more easily draw oyle out of a pumise stone then they shall finde in Saint Paul before his conuersion in the theefe before his crucifying or in them to whom for a heart of stone God giueth a heart of flesh any such dispositions before regeneration XXV Adde to these that the Scripture saith Act. 14.16 God in times past suffered all nations to walke in their owne waies Here I demand whether God did so much loue these nations and did alike wish their saluation as he loued their posteritie whom he afterward called with an effectuall calling by his Gospell I suppose that no man hath so brazen a face that he dareth affirme it Neither doe the Arminians deny but that the sauing calling by the Gospell is a very great argument of the loue of God to any nation But hauing bent their disputation another way they doe search into the causes why God doth more vehemently loue some then others which is that very thing which we would haue XXVI Finally if God doth equally will to all men
or of that loue wherewith he feeles himselfe to be affected Christ doth beate downe all pride in speaking thus to Peter Matth. 16.17 Blessed art thou Symon Bar-Iona for flesh and blood hath not reuealed this vnto thee but my father which is in heauen And Chap. 11.25 he doth giue thanks to his father that hee hath hidden these things from the wise and men of vnderstanding and hath reuealed them to babes VII And especially when it is spoken of the loue of God and of obedience to his commandements the Scripture will haue vs to acknowledge that whatsoeuer is done well by vs is receiued from God We loue God because he hath loued vs first Iohn 4.19 For this is one of the effects of the loue of God towards vs that it doth put into our hearts a loue of him God himselfe thus speaketh Ier. 31. I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts And Chapter 32. I will put my feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from me And Moses bringeth this reason as the cause why the Israelites did not repent at the law of God ratified with so many threatnings and confirmed with so many miracles Deut. 29.4 The Lord hath not giuen you a heart to perceiue nor eyes to see Let Arminius tell mee whether these men had sufficient power to beleeue or sufficient grace which with the helpe of free-will they might haue rightly vsed if they would Fie on this forgerie And yet was not God the cause of the impenitency and blindnesse of that people For hee that will not heale him that is blinde is not the cause of his blindenesse God did not put this wickednesse in man but he knoweth who they are on whom hee will haue mercy and he hath reason for his actions to enquire into which were not onely rash but also dangerous VIII Saint Paul Galath 3.26 saith That wee are the sonnes of God by faith in Christ If therefore it be in the power of mans free-will being helped with grace to beleeue or not to beleeue to vse that grace or not to vse it it must needes also be in the power of free-will helped with grace to effect that we may be the sonnes of God or may not Which is contrary not onely to piety but also to common sence for who euer effected that he was the sonne of his father or who is beholding to himselfe for any part of his generation IX The same Apostle saith Rom. 9. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of him that sheweth mercy By him that willeth and him that runneth hee vnderstandeth him that worketh for the consideration of workes is excluded from the election or as Arminius had rather from the iustification of man that this benefit might be acknowledged to be receiued from the mercy of God alone Arminius offendeth against this rule For by his doctrine the conuersion of a man by faith and therefore both his righteousnesse and saluation is of him that willeth and of him that runneth of him that worketh that is of him who by the helpe of his free-will doth vse vniuersall grace well and who doth therefore beleeue because to the helpe of grace hee hath brought the power of free-will by which hee hath obtained Faith For as I haue said the Arminians make the cause of faith to be these two ioyned together to wit grace and free-will to vse which free-will to the obtaining of saith and to the conuerting of himselfe is certainely to will and to runne The Apostle therfore ought to haue said It is of man that willeth and runneth and of God which sheweth mercy that free-will might be ioyned with the mercy of God And if as Saint Austin saith fitly Lib. 1. ad Simplic Quaest 2. It may be said That it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth because conuersion and saluation is not by the free-will of man alone why may it not also be said that it is not of God that sheweth mercy because conuersion is not made by the grace of God alone but also by free-will It skilleth nothing that Saint Austin vsed this argument against Pelagius who denied that we were preuented by grace for it hath the same force against the Semipelagians who ioyne free-will to grace Seeing that Saint Paul doth not say That it is not alone of him that willeth but doth altogether exclude free-will X. Finally this argument hath so tormented Arnoldus Page 445. that he would seeme to yeeld to our part for he saith It is not placed in our will that we should obey the calling of God but this thing it selfe is also from the mercy of God But the scoffing and crafty man is very wary least hee should say somewhat that should hurt his owne cause For when he saith that it is not placed in our will he vnderstandeth alone Therfore he would not say that this is wholy placed in the mercy of God alone but tenderly and with a flouting speech he saith that it is placed in the mercy of God He might yea he ought to say so much of free-will that he might agree to himselfe for he thinketh that it is not placed in the grace of God alone nor in free-will alone XI That man cannot be conuerted vnlesse God conuert him and that the whole praise of our conuersion is due to God Ieremy teacheth Chap. 31. v. 18. Conuert me and I shall be conuerted which is also repeated in the last Chapter of the Lamentations I am ashamed of the weake interpretation of the Arminian conferrers at the Hage who pag. 266. by conuerted would haue corrected to be vnderstood There is nothing so cleare and direct in the holy Scripture which may not be corrupted with a foolish and rash interpretation who hauing but little skill in the Hebrew is ignorant that the Verbe shub signifieth to be turned and not to punish and therefore in the contugation Hiphil it is to cause that one be conuerted and not that he be punished Or who doth not see how ridiculous a thing it were if men bruised with afflictions should pray that they might be still afflicted As if any one that were grieuously whipped should desire moreouer that he might be buffeted But Ieremy expoundeth himselfe and doth teach what it is to be conuerted for he addeth being conuerted I will repent and acknowledge my selfe this indeede is to be conuerted Seeing therefore that men who are already conuerted say Conuert me and I shall be conuerted Ier. 31. Draw me and I will runne Cant. 1. And doe ascribe the progresse and the proceeding of their conuersion to God alone how much more is the beginning of our conuersion to be attributed to God alone For if they that are already willing doe confesse that they owe to God whatsoeuer good they doe and that without his grace they cannot moue a foote further how much more is it to be determined that of being
driuen into sinnes by the diuine power Neither doth Thomas teach things vnlike these in his Commentary vpon the Epistle to the Romanes and the ninth Chapter CHAP. IIII. Of the will of God I. THE will in man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rationall appetite whereby man of his own accord with knowledge doth moue himselfe to obtaine good whether it be truely good or good onely in shew and in the opinion of man But sometimes the will is not taken for the faculty whereby wee will but for the act of willing or desiring sometimes it is taken for the thing it selfe which wee will after the same manner as Saint Paule speaketh 1. Thes 4. That the will of God is our sanctification II. Will in God is not a rationall appetite for God is not capable of any appetite yea nor reason But the will of God is that act of willing whereby hee doth eyther command or appoint and decree III. For the will of God is two-fold the one is his decree the other is his commandement The decree of God belongeth to the prouidence of God and the commandement of God belongeth to his iustice By his decree hee doth appoint and dispose the euents of things by his commandement hee doth gouerne our actions By the former will God doth appoint what he will haue done by the latter what he would haue vs doe To the former all creatures obey euen the Diuels themselues to the latter onely the faithfull and yet not that perfectly IV. These faithfull men are esteemed iust not because they obey the decree of God but because they are obedient to his commandement So the wicked sonne wishing the death of his sicke father doth sinne against the will of God although his wicked minde doth consent with the decree of God On the other side the sonne which doth pray to God for the health of his sicke father doth obey the will of God although by the decree of God his death is certaine and the desire of the good sonne is contrary to the purpose of God God forbids murther and yet hee decreed that the Iewes should kill Christ by which fact they sinned against God howsoeuer they fulfilled his decree Act. 2.23 Vorstius himselfe doth acknowledge That God would not haue had his people so soone sent away by Pharaoh viz. because God had decreed not to bend the heart of Pharaoh to obedience But as concerning the commandement it is no doubt but God commanded Pharaoh that hee should send away the people without delay for therefore God inflicted vpon him so many scourges because he did not obey the commandement of God Neither by this will Vorstius make God guilty of Hypocrisie or fraudulent dissimulation as he doth falsely lay to our charge V. These two willes the Scripture doth sometimes mixe and take them promiscuously one for another So when Christ Iohn 6. saith that he descended from Heauen that hee might not doe his owne will but the will of him that sent him it is certaine that Christ vnderstandeth both these two willes because Christ by those actions did both fulfill all righteousnesse and also did execute the decree of God And therefore eyther of these willes is called the purpose of God Esay 46.10 Luke 7.30 Act. 20.27 VI. This decree of God is properly and by it selfe called the will of God the law of God is not so properly called his will for the law is rather a document or lesson then his will and rather a declaration wherein God doth make knowne to man by what meanes he may be pleased then what hee hath absolutely appointed to come to passe For onely of the will of God so properly called is that true which is saide Psalme 115. God doth whatsoeuer hee will VII The promises and threatnings of God are yet more improperly called the will of God seeing by them God doth neither command nor decree any thing absolutely but they are declarations whereby God doth declare what shall come to passe if man obey the law or if he doe not obey it if man beleeue the Gospell or if he doe not beleeue it Perhaps the promises and threatnings of God Obiect are his conditionall decree and depending vpon the performance of the condition by the pleasure of man But this cannot truely be said For if it should be so Answ this decree would not be certaine by the will of God although the euent was certainely foreseene by him Also nothing can be imagined more absurd then to appoint God to decree any thing with a condition which condition in the very moment in which hee decrees it he knoweth will neuer be fulfilled When a master saith to a seruant if you will doe thus you shall haue this reward he doth declare that hee will then giue the reward when the condition is fulfilled But God willeth nothing which hee willed not from eternity Indeede God doth promise life vnder the condition of obedience but hee doth decree nothing vnder that doubtfull condition Hee doth not elect Peter if hee shall beleeue but hee electeth him to faith that he might be saued Neither was he onely willing to preserue the Niniuites if they would be turned but hee also gaue them repentance whereby they turned VIII They which say that Gods decree is his secret will but his commandement his reuealed will seeme to me to speake inconsiderately For many things are made knowne to vs of the decrees of God not onely those things which are made manifest by the euents but also may other things which God in his word hath taught vs shall come to passe As the comming of Christ the resurrection c. IX Thomas and the Schoole-men doe distinguish the will of God In voluntatem beneplaciti voluntatem signi Into the will of his good pleasure and the will of his signe that is his signified and reuealed will The members of which distinction fall one into another For many things of the will of his good pleasure are signified to vs Neither is the word beneplaciti good pleasure which in Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sufficiently applyed heere For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or good-pleasure doth for the most part include Loue and good-will as Luke 2.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On earth peace towards men good will See also Ephes 1.5 9. But the decree of God is also extended to his iudgements and to the punishment of the wicked X. They doe very ill which set these two willes one against another and would haue them be contrary Surely if God should driue a man to doe those things which hee hath forbidden to be done or should keepe backe him who is indeauouring to obey the Law with an opposite barre from his obedience God should will things that are contrary and should resist his owne will But his decree doth not resist his commandement when he doth require those things from man which doe exceede mans power and doth not minister to man that ability whereby
comparison of hauing their names written in heauen Surely that speech to be written in heauen is referred not to the opinion of men but to the purpose of God And this phrase is taken from the Prophets with whom that is said to be written before God which is fastened and determined by his decree So Esay 4. v. 3. they are said to be written for life who were to be preserued by the purpose of God And Chap. 65.6 Behold it is written before me I will not keepe silence but will recompence As if hee should say it is certaine and determined by mee to reuenge these wicked deedes XII I am ashamed of that shift whereby some of them say that therefore the names of the Apostles are said to be written in heauen because they were elected to their Apostleshippe For so the name of Iudas himselfe was written in heauen in which respect he had so little cause to reioyce that euen his very Apostleshippe turned to his destruction Then also we haue the words of the Apostle to the Hebrewes which are plainely agreeable to these by which he calleth the faithfull the first begotten which are written in heauen which cannot bee drawne to the election to an office seeing it belongeth to all the faithfull and the elect XIII The question of the booke of life is a greater and longer question not belonging to this place I am not ignorant that there is a certaine booke of life which is not the booke of election but the Catalogue of them who professe themselues to be members of the Church and are visibly grafted into the couenant of which book there is mention Eze. 13.9 Psal 69. ver 29. out of which booke there is no doubt but some are blotted But when they are throwne headlong into hell as many as are not written in the booke of life it is plaine that in this booke is set downe the certaine and determined number of men who while other are appointed to the fire they alone are reserued to life the number of whom can be encreased or diminished no more now then in the last iudgement XIV These things concerning that generall and conditionall election Now let vs come to the absolute election of seuerall persons which the Arminians would haue to rest and depend on the fore-knowledge of faith and to be made for faith fore-seene The former of these elections hath the second place in the series and ranke of the foure decrees laid downe by Armintus the latter election hath the fourth place that doth pertaine to the antecedent will of God this to the consequent that doth goe before this doth follow mans will Arminius saith that God is disappointed of that but cannot be disappointed of this CHAP. XIX The election of particular persons in respect of faith foreseene is confuted It is prooued that men are not elected for faith but to faith OVt of the great abundance of places which the holy Scripture doth supply to vs we wil tithe and choose out some that are most cleare and most weighty I. Saint Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 1. vers 3.4 hath these words God hath blessed vs with all spirituall blessings in heauenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen vs in him before the foundation of the world The Apostle doth plainely enough teach that spirituall blessings and therefore faith are giuen vs according to the eternall election as we were elected Whence it followeth that election is necessarily before these blessings both in order and time So hee that saith that the Souldiers receiued their donatiue and beneuolence as it seemed good to their Generall doth manifestly say that first it seemed good to the Generall before it was done and that the certaine and absolute will of the Generall went before this largesse and gift Neither are those words of lesse moment which follow He elected vs in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in loue You see that we are elected to holinesse and not from holinesse or for holinesse and if we be elected to holinesse then also are we elected to faith wherein our holinesse chiefly consists It cannot be denyed that faith is a part of our holines vnlesse by him who also denieth that incredulity in the prophane is a part of their prophanenesse and vice For by faith we are not onely sanctified efficiently but also formally no otherwise then the wall is formally whited by the white colour And if the Arminians could get it granted that the holinesse which is spoken of here doth consist onely in charity yet they would effect nothing nor would it euer the lesse be proued out of this place that we are chosen to faith for he that is elected to charity is necessarily elected to faith which begets charity Gal. 5.6 Nor is it credible that any one is elected to one part of holinesse and not to the other Being beate therefore from hence they seeke other refuges Arnoldus p. 66. by elect would haue they that are called to be vnderstood as if election and calling were the same thing but many are called few are chosen Matth. 20. Therefore among these elect if Arnoldus be beleeued there will be many reprobates neither will this election be opposed to reprobation The same man pag. 142. doth contend that these elect are the faithfull which is false in that sense he takes it to wit that they are considered as being already faithfull when they are elected For how can they that are considered as being faithfull be elected to holinesse seeing in that they are faithfull they are already holy Paul indeede speakes to the Ephesians whom hee calleth faithfull and blessed but not if now they were faithfull and blessed they were therefore faithfull before they were elected This good man therefore hath deuised another subtilty and would haue Paul to speake not of the election of particular persons but of the election whereby any one people is elected to the calling by the Gospell If this be true it must needes be that among the elect before the foundation of the world there were many reprobates But the following words doe not admit this interpretation for the Apostle saith we are elected that we should be without blame in loue He will haue vs to be elect that we might endeauour to holinesse and good workes Now good workes are of particular men and not of a Nation neither by the elect can here be vnderstood the nations admitted into the couenant seeing Saint Paul includes himselfe in this number Hath chosen vs in Christ c. Arnoldus himselfe doth sufficiently declare how little he trusts to this exposition while hee ioynes another which ouerthrowes this He saith that here it is spoken of the election to glory and therefore by holinesse would haue saluation vnderstood But the Apostle doth fitly preuent this starting hole for hee addes that we might be holy and blamelesse but to be blamelesse is a
againe their negligence can hurt none but those whom God will absolutely destroy and who cannot be saued The Pelagians obiected the same things to Saint Austin Lib. de bono perseu Chap. 14. August de bono perseu cap. 14. â—iunt praedestinationis definitionem vtilitati praeâ—â—catronis aduersam Whereunto wee haue already largely answered For the same reasons which stirre vp the carefulnesse of the hearers to repentance and good workes are also of power to stirre vp pastors diligently to vndergo their office and to prick forward their hearers to repentance For although the elect cannot perish yet wee know that God doth bring the elect to saluation by the word and sacraments and by the ministery of the Gospell whose decree our obedience must serue And although the minister of the word dealing perfunctoriously and carelesly cannot cause that he that is elected should perish yet hee hurts himselfe and shall beare the punishment of that negligence in the day of iudgement Therefore although he did not hurt others yet hee should very much wrong himselfe Saint Paul a most vehement maintainer of election doth professe that he endureth all things for the elect that they may obtaine saluation 2. Tim. 2.10 XXXVIII As concerning the Reprobates if this reason of Arminius preuaile by the like reason we shall neyther eate nor drinke nor shall parents be bound to be carefull of the health of their children because this negligence can hurt none but them whom God will haue to perish who by his decree hath set sure bounds to the life of euery particular person which cannot be pulled backe nor passed ouer And if it were manifest to the pastors which of their flocke were Reprobates then there were some colour for the doubting whether they ought to be carefull for the saluation of them that are Reprobates But seeing that this is vnknowne to them they ought to scatter the seede of the word euery where and leaue the euent to God XXXIX Arnoldus Page 307. saith that which in my iudgement is exceeding bad If any one saith he should teach that God himselfe hath precisely appointed to nourish one for some time in this life and that he would so prouide the bread where with he should be nourished that he could not but haue it aboundantly I grant that such a one neede not be warned that hee should be carefull how to prouide himselfe bread But I affirme that such an one needes and ought to be warned to prepare himselfe bread because the same God who doth promise bread and hath decreed to giue it doth also declare in his word that he will giue this bread to our labour and by the meanes of our carefulnesse Therefore he that will giue the bread doth also giue strength will and industry whereby this bread should be prepared So that Arnoldus yeelds that to himselfe which no man in his right sense would yeeld to him XL. Furthermore the certainty of Election may be taken two manner of waies eyther for the immutability of the decree of God or for that certaine perswasion whereby any one doth beleeue that he is elected Of the former kinde of certainty it is onely spoken here the latter doth require a peculiar treatise But by the way we say that we beleeue none of those things which Arnoldus doth falsely attribute to vs whereof this is one that all men are bound to beleeue that they are elected to eternall life Nay we teach that he that will not beleeue in Christ and repent is bound to beleeue that saluation gotten by the death of Christ doth not pertaine to him Of the same stampe is that calumny when he saith that we command wicked men to be secure as they that can lose saluation by no euill deedes Fie on that abhominable doctrine To say I am elected therefore I may be wicked is the speech of a reprobate man who will therefore be wicked because God is good By this meanes that loue wherewith God in Christ hath loued vs which is the most vehement incitation to loue God is turned into a pillow on which prophane security may sleepe Whosoeuer God hath elected he hath giuen him or will giue him the holy-Ghost by which he abstaineth from so prophane a thought So him whom hee hath appointed to life he hath appointed also to foode and to breathing He were ridiculous who should say if God hath decreed that I should liue till I am eighty yeeres old what neede I eate seeing it cannot be but I must liue so long Surely the destruction of such a man is neere for God hath determined to vse this his sencelesse peeuishnesse to punish him XLI In the meane while wee admonish that the certainty of the election of seuerall persons is carefully to be distinguished from that certainty whereby seuerall men beleeue themselues to be elected The former is the certainty of the decree the latter is the certainty of faith For if Arminius could proue that piety and the endeauour of good workes is extinguished by the perswasion of election yet it would not thence follow that the decree of God concerning the election of particular persons is not certaine and precise But it would onely follow that this decree is not to be beleeued by vs to be certaine Whence it appeares how ill Arminius and Arnoldus doe reason who thereby inferre that the decree of God concerning the election of particular persons is not absolute nor precise because the confidence of election doth make some men more negligent to the workes of piety XLII Adde to these those things which we haue laid downe in the second chapter where we haue shewed how many waies the doctrine concerning election is profitable to good manners and to the discipline of piety which notwithstanding wee would haue thus to be taken not that euery one is to expect a reuelation of his election but the Gospell is to be heard and this promise whereby God doth promise life to them that beleeue is throughly to be fastned in our minde and to be embraced with our whole heart By which perswasion whosoeuer shall feele himselfe to be liuely affected with the loue of God and to be driuen to repentance shall easily gather that he is elected and that the thing promised in the Gospell doth belong to him For although election is in nature before faith and repentance as the cause from whence these vertues flow yet faith and repentance is better knowne to vs and we are alwaies to proceede from the things that best are knowne whence it commeth to passe that many times we goe to the cause by the effects which order in the schooles is called Resolutiuus XLIII And if we would imitate Arminius it were an easie thing to lay these things vpon him and to teach how many waies his doctrine doth offend against the wisedome and goodnesse of God and therefore also against his iustice How many waies occasion may thence be taken either of distrust or of
frowardnesse by what meanes it doth blow vp a man while he burst and lift him vp on high that it might throw him downe headlong For one that is filled with Armianisme may say thus God indeede is willing to saue me but he may be disappointed of his will hee may be defrauded of his naturall defires which are farre the best Those whom God will saue by his Antecedent will hee will destroy by his Consequent will Also his election doth rest on the fore-seeing of mans will I were a miserable man if my saluation depended vpon so vnstable a thing The same man will also reason thus God giueth to all men sufficient grace but hee hath not manifested Christ to all men therefore there is some grace sufficient without the knowledge of Christ Also the same man will easily beleeue that God doth mocke men for he hath learned in the schoole of Arminius that God doth seriously desire intend the saluation of all and singular men and yet that neuerthelesse he doth call very many by a meanes that is not congruent that is by a meanes in a time and measure which is not apt nor fit by which meanes whosoeuer is called doth neuer follow God calling But what doe I know whether he calleth by a congruent and agreeable meanes or no Adde also these famous opinions that vnregenerate men doe good workes that they are meeke thirsting after and doing the will of the Father that faith is partly from grace and partly from free-will Nay what that any maintainer of the sect of Arminius shall dare to set lawes to God himselfe and to say that God is bound to giue to all men power of beleeuing And that the iustice of God doth require that he may giue to man that which is his owne and that man himselfe may determine and open his owne heart to receiue the word of God O your fidelity Are these your famous incitations to holinesse of life Doth Arminius traine vp men to piety by these instructions Surely if any one is stirred vp to good workes by these things hee is thereby the more corrupted For God had rather haue sinnes with repentance then righteousnesse with pride God will not stirre vp men to repentance with the losse eyther of our faith or his glory Nor are we onely to doe our endeauour that men be stirred vp to repentance but we must also see that it be done by meanes that are conuenient and not contumelious against God CHAP. XXV Whether Christ be the cause and foundation of Election I. WE say that no man is saued but by and for Christ and that Christ is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and price of our redemption the foundation and meritorious cause of our saluation But we doe not say that he is the cause of election or the cause why of two considered in the corrupted masse one is preferred before another There are not wanting examples of most wicked men to one whereof God so dispensing the Gospell hath beene preached whence it came to passe that he was conuerted and did beleeue but to the other the Gospell hath not beene preached The Scripture doth not say that the death of Christ is the cause of this but doth fetch the cause from the good pleasure of God who hath mercy on whom he will For the loue of the father doth alwaies goe before the mediation of the sonne seeing that the loue of the father to the world was the cause why he sent his sonne Yea truely seeing Christ himselfe as he is man is elected and the head of the elect hee cannot be the foundation and cause of election For as hee is the head of men as he is a man so is he the head of them that are predestinated as he is a man predestinated to so great honour which came to him by the meere grace of God II. Wherefore the Apostle calleth Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the price of our redemption and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the propitiation Coloss 1. Rom. 3. but he doth not say that he is the cause why some men should be elected rather then others III. Reason it selfe doth consent For as the recouery of the sicke-man doth in the intention alwaies goe before the vsing of the Phisitian so it must needes be that in the minde of God the thought of sauing men was not in time but in order before the thought of sending the Sauiour IV. Adde to these that the mediation and redemption of Christ is an action whereby the iustice of God is satisfied which is not signified by the word Election for it is one thing to be a mediator and another thing to be the cause of Election or of the preferring of one before another in the secret counsell of God Whence it is that Christ is the meritorious cause of our saluation but not of our election which is as much as if I should say that Christ is the foundation and cause of the execution of the decree of Election but not the cause of Election it selfe V. It is of no small moment that Christ Iohn 15.13 saith That he layeth downe his life for his friends chap. 10. v. 11. he calleth himselfe the good shepheard that layeth downe his life for his sheepe And if Christ be dead for his friends and for his sheepe it must needs be that when he died for them he did consider them as being already friends and sheepe although many of them were not then called as Christ himselfe doth testifie who in the sixteenth verse of the same chapter doth call those also his sheepe who were not yet conuerted And if Christ dying for vs considered vs as his friends and sheepe it is plaine that before the death of Christ there was already destinction made betweene his friends and enemies betweene the sheep and goates and therefore that the decree of Election was in order before the death of Christ and that the opinion of Arminius is to be hissed out as an opinion subuerting the Gospell whereby hee thinkes that the election had not place when Christ died Certainly he that died for his sheepe died for the elect and not for them who were to be elected after hee was dead By these things it is plaine that by those friends and sheepe for which Christ died are not vnderstood those onely who loue God and follow Christ but all those whom God loueth and whose saluation hee decreed for whom Christ died when they did not yet loue God and when they were enemies to him And therefore they are called enemies Rom. 5.10 because they did not loue God but yet euen then they were highly loued by God and were appointged to saluation in Christ For in a diuers respect they were both friends and enemies sheepe and goates Friends because God loued them enemies because they did not yet loue God VI. Neither is iniurie done to Christ if the loue of the Father and his good pleasure be said to goe in order
they should say that freedome was obtained for one but not that he should be freed or that foode was obtained for one but it was not procured that hee should be fed with this foode IX And seeing that by faith the application of the death of Christ is made if Christ by his death hath not obtained for vs the application of this reconciliation it will follow that he hath not obtained faith for vs For they must needes deny that faith is obtained for vs who will not haue faith to be from grace alone but to be partly from free-will in whose power they will haue it to be to refuse or admit grace to beleeue in act or not to beleeue X. And surely hee that shall more attentiuely consider what these words meane The obtaining of application and the application of the thing obtained will finde that it is a meere Meteor or building of Castles in the ayre and that they are vnseasonable trifles with which they enwrap mens wits seeing Christ doth obtaine nothing which he doth not apply nor doth he apply any thing which he hath not obtained Otherwise in vaine were the obtaining of that benefit which both he that obtaineth it and he of whom it is obtained knoweth that it will neuer be applied and that it will neuer profit him for whom it is obtained Nor is it credible that the remission of that sinne which shall neuer be remitted is procured XI Yea these innouators doe so speake as they that would haue by the death of Christ something to be procured not for vs but for God For they say that by the death of Christ God obtained power of sauing vs but they denie that the application or conferring of saluation was obtained by the death of Christ for Peter or Paul but that onely a gate and way was opened for them by which they might come to saluation Wherefore Christ by his death will be said to be not the giuer but the preparer of saluation And certainly the opinion of Arminius doth tend thither that Christ should be said not to haue obtained reconciliation for any one but to haue laid open a way for God by which he might bestow saluation XII They doe no lesse trifle when they confesse that the fruit of the resurrection of Christ Aduer Walach P. 51. Non ad eos omnes fructus resurrectionis extenditor prâ— quibus mâ—rtem oppetijt Christâ—â— pertained onely to the faithfull but the fruit of his death that is reconciliation and remission of sinnes they extend to all and seuerall men Ther fore if these men be beleeued there will be some mâ—n to whom the fruit of the death of Christ doth pertaine but the fruit of his resurrection doth not pertaine As if they should say that Christ died for some men for whom hee hath not ouercome death And that the fruit of the fight belonged to all but not the fruit of the victory And there will be some men for whom although he hath offered himselfe on earth yet hee doth not offer himselfe in heauen But the Scripture ioyneth these things as inseuerable and vnseperable that hee died for vs and that he rose againe for vs Rom 8.34 It is Christ that died yea rather that is risâ—n againe who is at the right hand of God making intercession for vs. And the 2. Co. 5.14 That they which liue should not henceforth liue vnto themselues but vnto him that died for them and rose againe Because no man is made partaker of the fruite of the death of Christ but by his resurrection XIII It is of no small moment that if reconciliation were obtained for all mankind it must needs be that all infants borne without the couenant are reconciled their sinne is forgiuen them Whence it would come to passe that they could not haue a greater benefit bestowed vpon them then if one in a gentle cruelty should kill them in their cradles For if they die in this state of reconciliation their saluation is certaine but if they liue they shall be brought vp in paganisme which is the most sure way to eternall destruction XIV And seeing no man can be saued but hee for whom reconciliation hath beene obtained and hath also beene applied I doe not see what the obtaining of reconciliation doth differ from the application of it in infants which are taken away by an vntimely death For by the doctrine of Arminius they are saued by reconciliation alone Here therefore that distinction of the obtaining of reconciliation and of applying of it doth vanish away Which distinction although it may haue place among men yet with God it cannot haue place who granteth nothing which he doth not giue from whom nothing is obtained which hee doth not giue and conferre in act For to him all things are fore-seene neyther can any thing happen by which hee should be compelled to deny what hee hath granted to change his counsell or to abolish his acts XV. And if these two things be compared betweene themselues to obtaine reconciliation for his enemies that they might be saued and to bestow saluation on them that are already reconciled it is no doubt but that it is farre greater loue to die to reconcile his enemies then to giue saluation to them that are reconciled The Apostle teacheth thâ—s expresly Rom. 5.10 If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his sonne much more being reconciled we shall be saued by his life If Saint Paul be beleeued it is an easier and more likely thing to saue him that is reconciled then to reconcile him that is an enemy by dying for him Seeing therefore that Christ if we giue credit to Arminius hath performed for all men that which is farre the greatest and is an argument of his highest loue it will be said that Christ in dying for vs loued Pilate Iudas Saul and Pharaoh no lesse then Peter and Iohn But there is no man can make himselfe beleeue vnlesse it be hee that is willing to be deceiued that Christ loued those with his greatest loue whom his father from eternity hated and whom the sonne himselfe knew were from eternity appointed to punishment XVI Yea truely seeing Christ as hee is one God with the father hath from eternity predestinated the reprobates to damnation it is not likely yea not possible that the same Christ hath obtained reconciliation for Iudas as hee is man and a mediator and hath from eternity reprobated the same man as hee is God For although these sectaries will haue the decree of reprobation to be in order after the obtaining of reconciliation yet neither of them is in time before the other and it must needes be that the desire of reconciling and the decree of reprobating were together in one and the same minde XVII Notable is the speech of Christ Iohn 15.13 Greater loue hath no man then this that one lay downe his life for his friends The meaning of Christ is that friends cannot
moued to gine a greater measure of grace But it is so farre that God in beginning regeneration should haue respect to fore-going dispositions that on the contrary they are called who are the greatest strangers from the kingdome of heauen and who are ouer whelmed in greatest darknesse Let the Thiefe on the crosse be an example also the Romanes the people of Alexandria of Antioch the Corinthians and the Ephesians then which people there were neuer any more wicked in lust nor more effeminate in luxurie of greater ignorance or of more prodigious idolatry whom yet so euill affected and dispoled God called by an effectuall calling and hauing sent his Apostles to them gained them to Christ that where sinne did more abound there grace also might more abound XVII And that regeneration is not alwayes wrought by degrees the example of the conuerted Thiefe doth shew who in the extreame inuasion of spirituall agony in one moment passed ouer an vnmeasurable space and oâ— the contrary that the resurrection of the body may be done by degrees Ezechiel teacheth Chap. 37. XVIII That is no truer which they say that regeneration is wrought free-will remayning For if free-will doth remaine in regeneration it must needes be that it goeth before regeneration but in things that are spirituall and which belong to saluation there was no free-will before regeneration XIX It is of the same sort yea farre worse which they adde that in an vnregenerate man there are some reliques of the spirituall life for so they aske that to be granted to them which is the question and which we haue already proued to be false XX. Neither yet is that true which they say that God doth not speake to a dead corps for Christ spake these words to Lazarus that was dead Lazarus come forth Luk. 11. And Eze. 37.4 God doth thus speake to the bones that were long before withered Oye dry bones heare the word of the Lord. God calleth those who are not as if they were but in that he calleth them he causeth that they may be The words of Christ Iohn 5.25 are direct to this purpose The dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and they that heare shall liue For as God with his light doth so enlighten the blinde that he also giueth them eyes so by his word he doth so speake to the dead that by that word he doth make them aliue XXI Maruailous is the wittinesse of the Arminian conferrers at the Hage who doe thence proue that there is some ability left in man that is spiritually dead because we acknowledge that man may resist grace Passing well spoken for they proue that a man is not dead in sinne because he can resist the spirit of God as if the remainds of our spirituall life were placed in the faculty of resisting God when on the contrary a man is therefore dead in sinne because he can doe nothing but resist They doe therefore as much as if they should say that a man is not therefore dead in sinne because he is dead in sinne XXII And that which they say that he which is dead cannot resist his resurrection but hee that is vnregenerated may resist his viuification maketh for vs and doth burden the cause of these innouators For thence it followeth that the death in sinne is farre the worse death and that he that is dead in sinne is bound with stronger bonds if he resist his owne resurrection not onely in the beginnings of his regeneration but also in the progresse of it Yea that very inclination to resist God is the chiefest part of that death and naturall corruption XXIII In the meane while the Reader shall obserue how artificiall a couert Arnoldus doth vse while he saith that he which is dead cannot resist his resurrection but he that is dead in sinne may resist his viuification The opinion of the Arminians is that an vnregenerate man hath free-will by which he may vse sufficient grace or not vse it beleeue or not beleeue Arnoldus therefore ought thus to haue framed his comparison saying he that is dead cannot hinder or further his owne resurrection but hee that is vnregenerate may hinder or further his regeneration But Arnoldus doth not here make mention of that helpe that he might put by the enuie and suspâ—tion of Semipelagianisme Thus they are wont to doe that are ashamed of their owne opinion XXIV That is not to be passed ouer with silence which the Arminians of the conference at the Hage pag. 81. doe say For there they make two kindes of vnregenerate men some who being left without any calling of God doe walke in the vanity of their minde and thoughts These they confesse are dead in sinne but there are some who are already called and stirred vp by the grace of God whose vnderstandings being enlightned and their affections being enflamed doe stirre vp the will to the apprehension of the truth They deny that those are dead in sinne because their vnderstandings and appetites are viuified although the will is not yet drawne here are many absurdities First because they thinke that some are vnregenerate who are already viuified and made aliue when yet viuification and regeneration are the same thing For if ones minde be quickned it must needes also be regenerated Secondly With the like error they place viuification there where there is not faith seeing as the Apostle witnesseth the iust doth liue by faith and it is impious to acknowledge any viuification to be in an infidell and vnregenerate man Thirdly And they dispute vntowardly when they iudge it to be possible the vnderstanding being enlightned with the knowledge of the truth and the appetite enflamed with the loue of it that the will should be auerse from this truth And that a man may be quickned in his minde and affections and yet his will remaines without life For what should turne away the will when they two doe instigate and stirre it vp seeing that the will is moued by these two alone Nor doth the will euer stand in doubt but when reason stirreth it vp one way and the appetites draw it another way and the will is forced hither and thither by the contrary suggestions of the minde and the appetites Fourthly Nor doe they agree to themselues when they say that there are some left without any calling of God seeing that they maintaine with great contention that all men are called to saluation not onely by an outward but also by an inward calling and that sufficient grace is administred to all Fiftly Finally I demand whence they haue these two kindes of vnregenerate persons If out of the Scripture let them shew the place If out of their owne coniecture wee doe not beleeue them XXV Arnoldus against Tilenus Page 134. doth say that it may come to passe that of two men furnished with an equall helpe of grace one may be conuerted one not But he ought also to shew whether it may come to passe