spirit of Adoption is a prerogatiue of the sonnes of God therefore also these are more loued VIII Doth not God visite some people from on high and doth vouchsafe them the preaching of his word others being neglected as Saint Paul teacheth Acts 14.16 saying God in times past suffred the Gentiles to walke in their owne wayes At this time also there are very many nations drowned in deepe darkenesse to whom not so much as the report or name of Christ hath come IX Were the Corinthians and Philippians who liued before the time of the Apostles so much loued by God as their posteritie was who by the preaching of Saint Paul were conuerted to the faith Can it be said that God did alike wish the saluation of them as of these X. What should I speake of the men of Tyre and Sydon whose saluation if Christ had wished as well as he did the saluation of the Iewes it were a maruaile why he would not make knowne the Gospell to them especially seeing he giueth them this testimony that they were more prone to repentance then the men of Capernaum XI Acts 16.6.7 Paul endeauouring to preach the Gospell in Asia and Bythinia the spirit of God forbiddeth him and commandeth him to passe ouer into Macedonia Certainely it appeareth that God did not equally will the saluation of the Bythinians and the Macedonians seeing he would haue the Gospell rather to be preached to these then to them and presented the necessary meanes of saluation to these when he denied it to them I confesse indeede that after some yeares the Gospell came into Bythinia but in the meane time many dyed in Bythinia who had not the meanes of comming to the knowledge of Christ whose saluation that God did equally desire as hee did the saluation of the Macedonians to whom he commanded Paul to hasten there is no man will beleeue but he that doth willingly harden his minde to resist the truth No otherwise then if I should say that the Physition doth equally desire the recouery of two that are sicke of the same disease and yet doth prouide physicke for the one and will not prouide for the other XII When Christ saith Iohn 10.16 that he hath other sheep which he hath not yet gathered did he loue those sheepe which were not yet gathered but were to be gathered in his time no more then other men whom he hath not onely not drawne by his word but not so much as vouchsafed to call Surely if God did equally will the saluation of all and singular men he would equally supply to all men the meanes of saluation and he would not giue to many people onely a shadowed light and such meanes by which being alone the Arminians themselues haue not yet dared to affirme that any man hath come to saluation XIII Notable is that of Christ Mat. 11.25 where he giueth thanks to his father that he hath hidden the doctrine of saluation from the wise and had reuealed it to babes But why did he as much loue them from whom he had hid the doctrine of saluation Arnold pag 413 414. doth depraue and corrupt the words of Christ For he will haue Christ to giue thankes because his father had reuealed to babes those things which were hidden from men of vnderstanding But Christ doth not onely say that these things were hidden from the wise but doth expresly say that God hid these things from them XIV That place of Saint Paul Rom. 9. doth trouble the Sectaries where it is said that God loued Iacob and hated Esau before they had done good or euill We haue therefore God himselfe professing that he doth not equally loue men that are equall by nature and whereof neither is better then the other and that not because any one hath done any good or shall doe any good but of his meere good pleasure whereby he hath mercy on whom hee will For although Malachie saith that the dominion of Iacob ouer his brother was an effect of this loue and hatred yet the Apostle conscious and priuie of the minde and meaning of God will haue this to be an example or a type of Election according to his purpose and doth extend the words of God to the worke of our saluation Wee neede not be diligent in so cleâ—re a matter XV. The Arminians doe couer themselues against this shower of Arguments with that their distinction of the antecedent and consequent will of God They say that God doth loue some men more then other by his consequent will that is by that will which is after the faith and repentance of man For God doth loue them most whom he fore seeth will beleeue and by their owne free-will are to vse grace well But by his primary and antecedent will God doth alike loue all men and doth equally desire the saluation of all and therefore he doth giue to all men sufficient grace for faith and so for saluation And the cause why the Gospell is not preached to all they say is not the will of God but either the negligence of Christians or the indignity and vnworthinesse of the people or else the sinnes of their ancestors who haue reiected grace being offered XVI Certainely this is a deadly speech and is directly contrary not onely to the Scripture but also to it selfe For while they bring reasons why God doth not offer his Gospell to all vnawares they yeeld to our party for they lay downe the causes why God doth not equally loue all But the question is not why God loueth some men more then others but whether God doth loue all men equally therefore they entangle themselues And how absurd that distinction is of the will of God into antecedent and consequent how contumelious against God in that sence in which it is taken by the sectaries wee haue taught at large Chap. 5. XVII Moreouer they teach that God is often disappointed of his antecedent will and that the loue of God to vs is then mutable if he loue vs with his consequent will that is by his will which is after our loue and faith and our owne will It is a wicked thing to desire that the immutability of the loue of God towards vs should be after our loue and should depend on our will for the loue of God cannot be certaine if it be grounded on the loue wherewith we first loue him That therefore the loue of God to vs might be certaine and immutable it must needes goe before our loue as Saint Iohn teacheth 1. Epist 4.19 Ye loue him because he loued you first XVIII And if God by his consequent will loued one man more then another because hee foresaw hee would beleeue and vse grace well then God shall not sâ—perate man but man seperate himselfe contrary to that of Saint Paul 1 Cor. 4.7 Who seperateth thee c. And this man shall be loued more by God then another because he loued God more XIX Then also that speech of the
2.13 And that sufficient grace which is giuen to all men yea to the reprobates doth take away the impotency and doth stablish the liberty of free-will as Arminius against Perkins pag. 245. and 246. teacheth Let vs heare the proud words of Greuinchouius p. 253. I separate my selfe for when I might resist God and his predetermination yet I haue not resisted and therefore why may it not be lawfull for me to boast in that as of my owne For that I was able it was of God shewing mercy but that I was willing when I might haue beene vnwilling it was my owne power It is a venter but this little worme will swell so big that he will breake O it is the part of a magnanimious great minded man to be vnwilling to owe too much to God and not to be ouercharged with his benefits Those things which the same author saith pag. 279. sauour of no lesse pride You will say that in this manner of working God doth after a certaine manner depend on the will of man I grant it as concerning the act of free determination Indeede this one thing was wanting to the very height of pride that God should be said to depend on man XXIX There meete vs in the writings of these innouators some places in which they say that man in his corrupted state was altogether dead and that of himselfe he can neither thinke nor will nor doe any thing that is good But these things are said but for a colour and that they might deceiue the vnwary reader For they say that a man is able to doe no good without grace but by this grace they vnderstand vniuersall grace which is common to all men and sufficient grace which is giuen euen to them to whom Christ was made knowne and which doth extend it selfe as farre as nature They say indeede that grace is the cause of beleeuing but they neuer adde that it is the cause alone The Arminian conferrers at the Hage in the third and fourth Articles doe so speake as if they were of the same opinion with vs For there they professe that man hath not saning faith from himselfe and that the grace of God is the beginning the proceeding and the finishing of all good and that all good actions are to be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ But the subtle men when they say that a man hath not faith from himselfe they vnderstand that he hath it not from himselfe alone And when they say that euery good worke is to be ascribed to grace they are very wary least they should say to grace alone Then also in the word grace they lay a snare and being the Apes of the Pelagians they faigne a certaine grace which is common to all which doth extend it selfe as farre as nature Also they distinguish grace from the vse of grace for indeede they will haue grace to be from God but the vse of grace to be in the power of mans free-will With the like craft they say that the power of beleeuing is from grace for they presently draw backe what they haue reached forth while they say that to beleeue it selfe is of mans free-will and that grace is giuen to man to beleeue if he will But whensoeuer they will haue a kinde of speciall grace to come to that generall grace they make the vse of this speciall grace to depend on free-will and they roundly and without any circumstances affirme that the efficiency and working power of grace doth depend vpon it We shall also see that by that vniuersall and sufficient grace common to all men is vnderstood naturall gifts notions that are naturally engrafted and that they cloath nature with the goodly name of grace which thing also Pelagius did Which thing when they doe with their greatest cunning yet their dissembling is neuer so wary but that their Pelagian eares and errour doe appeare and although they doe imitate the speech of truth yet their vizard doth often fall from them vnawares and their vlcers being pressed doe presently cast forth stinking corruption XXX Yet Vorstius here doth differ from his Master For when Arminius saith that no man is conuerted and doth beleeue in act by that vniuer sall grace alone which is common euen to the reprobates but that there is also some speciall grace required Vorstius on the contrary side doth affirme Collat. cum Piscat pag. 57. that some are conuerted by vniuersall grace which he calleth the lesser mercy that is without speciall grace which he calleth grace more then sufficient and super abounding helpe Therefore if this man be beleeued some men come to saluation by that grace alone which is common to all heathen men CHAP. XXXIII It is proued out of the holy Scripture that an vnregenerate man is altogether destitute of the power and liberty of his will in those things which pertaine to faith and saluation I. IF they stand here to the iudgement of the holy Scripture there will be no place of doubting Of a man that is vnregenerate and in his meere naturals the Scripture speaketh thus Gen. 6.5 Euery thought of the heart of man is onely euill continually The same is repeated Chap. 8. Ver. 21. Ieremy in his seauenteenth chapter consenteth to this The heart of man is wicked and vnsearchable And Rom. 3. There is none righteous no not one They are all gone out of the way and are become vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one And Rom 7.18 I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing And Chap. 8. ver 8 The wisdome of the flesh that is whatsoeuer a carnall man vnderstandeth or perceiueth is enmity against God for it is not subiect to the law of God neither indeede can be Compare these things with the doctrine of Arminius who is of opimon that a man that is an infidell and vnregenerate hath sufficient power to beleeue and to fulfill the law For the Apostle is of opinion that our flesh not onely is not subiect to the law of God but that it cannot be The same Apostle 1. Cor. 2.14 saith that the naturall man receiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neither can he know them Hitherto pertaineth that which the Scripture saith Ezech. 36. That the heart of man is stony and therefore of its owne nature vnapt and vncapable to receiue the impression of the law of God vnlesse God as hee did of old write it on that stone with his finger Also that which Saint Paul saith Ephes 2.1.5 that not onely the Ephesians before their calling but that all of vs were dead in sinnes Hee hath the same words Coloss 2.13 And that which Christ saith Iohn 14.17 The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receiue because it seeth him not neither knoweth him Christ in these words doth plainely acknowledge that there is no free will of man no power to receiue the spirit of
perfectly loued so long as his iustice and mercy is vnknowne So that by the very fall of man God hath framed to man a step to a more perfect condition and although in the respect of many particular persons which perish it might haue beene wished that man had not sinned yet in respect of the vniuersall good whereof regard is rather to be had God ought not to haue vsed his power to haue hindred sinne that it might not haue beene committed X. Furthermore although God doth permit the Diuels and men to sinne yet doth hee not so let loose the reynes to them but that they are held fast bound by the bonds of his prouidence and whilest they wander out of the path of righteousnesse they are yet included within the limits of his prouidence that they should not hurt them whom God loues For although mans will hath corrupted it selfe yet is not therefore the gouernment of God diminished to which the willes of men are subiect how much soeuer they are aduerse to his commandement and driuen with the spirit of rebellion doe gnash their teeth against his gouernment XI The principall faculties of the soule are two the Vnderstanding and the Will the one by which man knoweth and the other by which hee moues himselfe By the vnderstanding we are learned or vnlearned by the will we are eyther good or euill That which in the vnderstanding is to affirme or deny that in the will is to desire or to refuse God doth not put wicked desires into the minde but he doth often cast darknes into the mind and in his iust iudgement doth blinde the vnderstanding striking the rebells with a giddinesse and making them drunke with the spirit of sleepe yea truely no otherwise then the master doth iustly blow out his seruants candle which by night he doth abuse at dice So God doth take away the light of his knowledge when man doth abuse it to the contempt of God and to the liberty of sinning Howbeit God hauing taken away this light the erring will doth stumble and grieuously offend but hardnesse of heart doth of it selfe follow this blindnesse of minde For Saint Iohn ioyneth these together as hanging one vpon another Chap. 12.40 God hath blinded their eyes and hardned their hearts By this meanes latter sinnes are made the punishment of former sinnes as Saint Austin teacheth at large in his fift booke against Iulian. Chap. 3. For by the very same thing whereby man by his latter sinnes is made more wicked by the same he is also made more miserable Not that sinne is sent from God as a punishment but because God doth vse for a punishment that sinne which is not from him And hence doth that doctrine of a bare and carelesse permission vanish because a iudge doth not punish by a carelesse permission but by decreeing or iudging according to iustice XII The subministration and furnishing of the outward meanes of saluation such as are the word and sacraments doe also worke to this obduration and hardnesse of heart For vnlesse God moue the heart by the powerfull grace of his spirit mans wickednesse is more stirred vp by those outward helpes and hauing cast off this troublesome yoake he is carried through by-waies and doth violently throw down himselfe with greater ruine And then is fulfilled that which is said in the 81. Psalme I gaue them vp to their owne hearts lusts that they might walke in their owne counsells But yet that you might know that this hardnesse of heart doth proceede from man himselfe the Scripture doth not onely say that God hardned Pharaohs heart but Pharaoh himselfe is said to haue hardenâ—d his owne heart Exod 8.15 Neyther is that of Saint Paule Rom. 1. any otherwise to be vnderstood That God deliuereth ouer the wicked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a reprobate minde and vile affections For this reprobate minde these vile affections are not put into the wicked by God but they being in the vngodly God hauing put out his light doth suffer these vile affections to exercise their authority ouer them as Thomas teacheth Lib. 2. Quest 79. Art 1. XIII Furthermore they are two sorts of them whose hearts are hardned for besides that hardnesse of heart which is common to all the reprobates whereby a man is left to himselfe whence it commeth that hee doth alwaies grow worse there are some that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men of a high ranke of wickednesse whom God doth deliuer to Sathan with a peculiar and extraordinary vengeance such as were Pharaoh Saul and Iudas XIV Euery positiue being doth depend vpon God as vpon the first and principall entity neither can the creature moue it selfe without the assistance and sustentation of God For by him we liue and moue and haue our bring Acts 17. Neither doth he onely worke by influence into the creatures or assist them by a generall power and influence but also by his peculiar assistance by which he doth sustaine and direct seuerall actions The euents which follow of seuerall actions doe declare this which he doth witnesse doe not happen by chance but of his purpose God so willing Deut. 19.5 Exod. 21.13 If an Axe falling out of the hand of him that cutteth wood doth kill one that passeth by God doth affirme that it was done by him The Lot is cast into the lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord Pro. 16.33 XV. Furthermore although God by his concurrence doth giue his influence into humane actions sustayning the agent and directing the actions setting bounds to them ordering the euents and drawing good out of euill yet must it not therefore be thought that God doth instigate to euill actions or to haue forced Eue to the eating of the forbidden tree To the clearing of which assertion we say that God doth not onely worke by the creature but also worke with the creature both God and the creature are concurrent causes to one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the bringing forth of one effect and these two taken together are the totall cause of any action which creature if it doth worke voluntary may by his concurrence pollute the action wherein there is the concurrence of God and determinate it to euill By this meanes the whole fault doth remaine with the creature For God effectually infusing into the creature doth not take away from it the free contribution of its owne power If man sinneth any thing in an humane action the concurrence of God is naturall but the concurrence of the creature is morall whatsoeuer was naturall in the eating of the forbidden Apple was from God whatsoeuer was morall and straying from the path of iustice was from man As God doth giue to a lame liuing creature the power of going yet is not his lamenesse from God so though God doth giue to man the faculty of willing and doth sustaine the naturall motion of the will and the act of willing yet if any euill come which doth
God of the spirits of all flesh set a man ouer the Congregation And the Apostle to the Hebrewes Chap. 12. v. 9. And if saith he wee had fathers of our bodies which corrected vs and we gaue them reuerence Shall we not much rather be in subiection vnto the father of spirits and liue It is not without consideration that God by a peculiar elegie and stile is called the father of spirits that he might be opposed to the fathers of the flesh for if the soule be by traduction those that are fathers of the flesh would also be the fathers of the spirits Neither should God by this title be distinguished from the fathers of the flesh if he wrought alike in both and did not forme mens soules otherwise then their bodies X. Wherefore Ecclesiastes Chap. 12. saith The body is dissolued to dust and the spirit returneth to God that gaue it which surely would not be aptly spoken if God should giue the spirit no otherwise then he giues the body Certainly by that word of returning of the soule to God Salomon doth insinuate that the soule came from God and doth returne thitherwhence she had her originall which cannot be said of the body XI The conception of Christ in the wombe of his mother doth adde credit to this opinion For seeing that according to the flesh he had not a father it is plaine that his soule was immediately created by God And if it be necessary that thou maist be sonne of Adam to haue thy soule traducted by thy fathers seede Christ could not be called the sonne of Adam nor of Dauid XII It is vnsauory which is brought out of the beginning of Exodus to proue the traduction of the soule Seauenty soules came out of the loynes of Iacob for the propriety of the Hebrew is well knowne that by soules are vnderstood persons XIII Also reason it selfe doth agree with the word of God 1. For the soule which is something which is aboue nature cannot be in a common condition generated with other naturall things 2. Because it is immateriall it cannot be brought forth by the power of any matter 3. If the soule were not generated vnlesse by the body it could not be without the body nor could it subsist by it selfe alone 4. They that would haue the soule to be traduced by the seede doe driue themselues into straights from which they cannot possible free themselues For why should not the soule of the mother be also traduced into the sonne or if the soule of the sonne be traduced as well from the soule of the mother as of the father it must needs be that two soules doe grow together are mingled into one 5. What will be come of so much seede that is lost which either fals from them that sleep or is vnhonestly lost or being receiued into the wombe doth not come to conception Will so many soules of men be lost or shall they be choaked in the wombe or shall they remaine alone without matter seeing it is certaine that they belong not to the number of men 6. Also it must neede be that eyther the whole soule of the father is traduced and so the father shall be made soule-lesse or else a portion and part of the soule and so the soule shall be diuisible Neither can the whole soule be transmitted as when light is kindled of light for such a propagation is made by the transmutation of the matter applyed vnto it and so the applyed matter of the begetting soule should be turned into the soule 7. If the definition of the soule laide downe by Aristotle Lib. 2. de anima Cap 1. and euery where conceiued be true by which he defineth the soule to be the first act of the naturall originall body hauing life in power I doe not see how the rationall soule can enforme and shape the seede in which there are no Organs XIV Neither is man therefore to be said not to beget man although he doth not beget the soule nor the soule be brought forth of the power of the seed yet is it sufficient for the generation of man that in generating although he doth not giue the whole substance yet he doth giue the subsistance of the person and doth not onely supply the matter of the infant but doth also minister dispositions and aptitudes to receiue that forme by which man hath his being For seeing that by the testimony of the Scripture the Virgin Mary is the mother of Christ although the extraordinary power of the holy-Ghost perfected his conception who neede doubt to affirme that commonly man doth beget man seeing all naturall things are done by ordinary meanes and rules These thornes being plucked vp the way to know the manner of the traduction of sinne from parents to their children is made playner XV. In the beginning I thinke I haue shewed by sure reasons that sinne doth not passe from the body into the soule And on the other side that God put into the soule this inclination to sinne it is a great wickednesse to beleeue And yet that originall sinne was in the soule God being vnwilling or being indifferent and permitting it with an idle permission cannot be spoken or beleeued without great offence For seeing Originall sinne is the punishment of the sinne of Adam he that saith that this punishment was inflicted onely by the permission of God and not by his will doth take away from God the office of a Iudge for Iudges doe not punish by permitting but by decreeing XVI For the explication of this Doctrine we lay downe these sixe propositions and foundations of the truth First Although we had not beene borne of Adam yet because hee had receiued supernaturall good things both in his owne and our name seeing he lost them by his owne fault wee are iustly depriued of them Euen as among many brethren one doth waste and consume that mony to his owne and brothers losse which hee receiued in his owne and brothers name Secondly God put into the soule these faculties Vnderstanding Will Sense Appetite which are naturally carried to things that are obuious known and not to things that are vnknowne and farre remoued Thirdly Man cannot know and loue supernaturall and diuine things without diuine and supernaturall enlightning Fourthly Neither could man vse those things that are obuious and naturall iustly and conueniently and to the glory of God vnlesse some supernaturall light did shine forth to him Fifthly God hath put into euery man for his owne preseruation a loue of himselfe which loue is naturally good but doth then beginne to be morally good when it doth accord to and helpe forward the loue of God Sixthly the manners of the minde doe for the most part follow the temper of the body XVII These things being laid down I say that God doth create the soules of men good but destitute of heauenly gilts and supernaturall light and that iustly because Adam lost those gifts for himselfe and
vertue and not saluation it selfe Then also Paul expounds how wee are holy to wit in charity nor in the fruition and enioying of glory He vnderstands the dueties of charity which are exercised in this life vnto which to be exhorted after this life is needelesse Finally by their so various and diuers expositions which ouerthrow one another they doe sufficiently confesse that they haue nothing wherein they may be constant And because they cannot master vs by the weight of their expositions they endeauour to ouerwhelme vs by the multitude of them It is of small importance that from this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is blamelesse they gather that it is spoken of the perfection after this life For the Apostle will haue vs to be blamelesse euen in this life as Philippians 2.15 Where he commands vs to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blamelesse and harmelesse in the midst of a crooked and peruerse generation Certainly when the Apostle saith that we might be blamelesse in charity it is manifest that he doth not speake of the Saints enioying glory where there is no place for reprehension nor for exhortation to the duties of charitie There is no little force in the following verse He predestinated vs to the adoption of children by Iesus Christ Out of this place I thus reason Those whom God predestinated to adoption he hath predestinated also to the spirit of adoption to be giuen them and this is nothing else but to predestinate them to faith for the spirit of adoption is it that beareth witnesse in our hearts that we are the sonnes of God Rom. 8. and this testimony is faith it selfe It is true indeede that God appointeth no man to adoption but whom God considereth as one that by his gift will be faithfull but the same may also be said of those that are appointed to faith which is appointed to none but whom God considereth as one that will be faithfull And surely they are grosely deceiued who thinke that the faithfull are appointed to the adoption of children seeing in that they are faithfull they are already children This Saint Iohn teacheth chapter 1. To them that beleeued he gaue this prerogatiue to be the sonnes of God II. Agreeable to this place are also many other 1 Cor. 7.25 I haue obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithfull not because he considered me as already faithfull Iohn 15.16 I haue chosen you that you should bring forth fruit therefore he did not choose vs considered as already faithfull and therefore as already bearing fruit Should wee imagine that Christ speakes here onely of the election of the Apostles to their Apostleship I thinke there is none of so impudent a face who can deny that the same thing may be spoken of any of the elect whereof there is none whom God hath not elected that hee might be godly and good euen as also there is no man who is not of a shamelesse countenance who will deny that all the following documents and lessons doe belong to all the faithfull These things I commend you that you loue one another If the world hate you you know that it hath hated me firsh c. III. Not vnlike this is that which the Apostle saith 2 Thes 2.13 God hath chosen you to saluation by sanctification of the spirit and beleefe of the truth He saith that we are elected to obtaine saluation by faith not for faith and so faith is after election and a certaine medium or middle thing betweene election and saluation IV. The words of Ananias to S. Paul Act 22.14 are consonant to this God hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know his will by which knowledge faith and assent to the Gospell is vnderstood for Saint Paul was not elected more to know the Gospell then to beleeue the Gospell Paul therefore was elected to beieeue and so his election was before his faith V. The same Apostle 1 Thessa 1.3 praising the faith and charitie of the Thessalonians doth fetch the cause of these vertues from election it selfe Remembring without ceasing your worke of faith and labour of lone as knowing that you are elected of God Here the Arminians doe willingly stumble in a plaine way for by Election they will haue Calling to be vnderstood which if it be true the reprobates themselues will be elected as being also called Then also Saint Paul is deluded as if hee were not in his right minde For what neede Paul tell the Thessalonians that he knew they were called by the Gospell seeing Saint Paul himselfe preached the Gospell to them He were a ridiculous Grammarian who should tell his Schollers that he had taught I know you haue learned Grammer Arnoldus pag. 66. doth suspect that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 knowing is to be referred to the Thessalonians themselues But the good man hath dealt too negligently here for he doth not see that by this meanes the Greeke speech would be made incongruous and not agreeing for then it must haue beene read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it might agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is in the former verse But distrusting this exposition he hath smelt out that by the word election excellency ought to be vnderstood which truely is an intollerable license seeing election differeth from excellency by the whole praedicament for election is an action excellency is a quality or a relation Surely if it be lawfull to bring such portents and monsters of interpretation what will there be in the holy Scripture which may not be deluded or depraued Let Arnoldus bring another place where Excellency is vnderstood by the word Election For although he that is elected may be taken for him that excelleth yet you shall neuer finde Election to be so taken for Excellency Neither ought it to seeme a maruaile that Paul saith he knew of the election of the Thessalonians for God might reueile that to him concerning the Tessalonians which he reuealed concerning the Corinthians Acts 18.10 I haue much people in this citie Or if that doth not please it may be said that Saint Paul when he saw the Gospell receiued by the Thessalonians with very great ioy and much fruite easily perswaded himselfe that many of that people belonged to the election of God VI. The same Apostle in the beginning of his Epistle to Titus calleth himselfe the Apostle according to the faith of Gods elect It is plaine that faith is said to be of the elect because it is peculiar to the elect or else it were not rightly adorned with this elogy commendation and that by the confession of Vorstius himselfe Collat. cum piscat Sect. 118. Faith saith hee is called the faith of the elect of God Titus 1. because faith is a proper marke of the elect c. But why is faith peculiar to the elect is it because as many as haue true faith are elected by God But the Arminians deny this for they write of the Apostasie of the Saints
them to iust and deserued punishments for their sinnes IV. The definition of Thomas doth not please me who saith that the decree of Reprobation is the will of permitting one to fall into sinne and of laying vpon him the punishment of damnation for his sinne For the permission whereby God doth permit doth not belong to predestination but to his prouidence although it serue to predestination V. It is the opinion of the Arminian sect that Reprobates may be saued For saith Arminius that decree is not of the power but of the act of sauing Very ill spoken For where the act of God is determined by his decree in vaine is the power by which this act may be resisted This opinion doth draw with it other opinions no better then it selfe for errors are tyed together among themselues like serpents egges For if a Reprobate may be saued he that is not written in the booke of life may effect that hee be now written in and so the number of the elect will not be certaine nor the decree of Reprobation be irreuocable and peremptory as they speake vnlesse after finall perseuerance in incredulity Also hence it will follow that a reprobate may if he will obtaine faith and conuert himselfe whence it would come to passe that faith should not be of the meere grace of God which wee shall see hereafter to be the opinion of Arminius VI. God is after the same manner the cause of Reprobation as the iudge is the cause of the punishment of them that are guilty and sinne is the meritorious cause Seeing therefore the consideration of sinne doth moue the iudge and the iudge doth condemne to punishment it appeareth that sinne is the remote cause of damnation and not onely a condition necessarily fore-required and that the iudge is the next and neerest cause VII Furthermore although sinne be the cause of appointing to punishment yet it is not the cause of the difference betweene the Elect and Reprobate For examples sake Two men are guilty of the sâ—me crime and it pleaseth the king to condemne one and to absolue and free the other his sinne indeede that is condemned is the cause of his punishment but it is not the cause why the king is otherwise affected to the other then to him seeing the fault on both sides is alike The cause of the difference is that something thing steppeth betweene which doth turne the punishment from one of them which in the worke of predestination is nothing else but the very good pleasure of God by which of his meere good pleasure he gaue certaine men to Christ leauing the rest in their inbred corruption and in the curse due vnto them For which difference it is great wickednesse for vs to striue with God seeing hee is not subiect nor bound to any creature and punisheth no man vniustly giuing to one the grace that is not due and imposing on the other the punishment that is due VIII Here it is demanded what is that sinne for which God doth reprobate to wit whether men are Reprobated onely for the sinne which is deriued from Adam and for that blot which is common to Reprobates with the elect or whether they are also reprobated for the actuall sinnes which they are to commit in the whole course of their life The answere is at hand For although naturall corruption be cause sufficient for Reprobation yet it is no doubt but that God hath decreed to condemne for the same cause for which hee doth condemne and hee doth condemne the Reprobates for the sinnes which they haue committed in act For in hell they doe not onely beare the punishment of originall sinne but also of actuall sinnes Therefore also God hath appointed them to damnation for the same sinnes Now to Reprobate and to appoint to punishment are all one God doth so execute any thing in time according as he from eternity decreed to execute it Now he doth punish in time for actuall sinnes therefore also hee decreed from eternity to punish for them Thence it is that the punishments of the men of Capernaum was to be greater then the punishment of the Sodomites and the punishment of him that knew the will of his master greater then the punishment of him that knew it not because there is a great difference betweene the actuall sinnes for which they are punished Nothing hindreth that God considering a man lying in his naturall corruption and deprauation should not also consider him as poluted with those sinnes which he was to commit by that naturall deprauation IX Arminius doth not thinke that any man is Reprobated for originall sinne for he contends that Christ hath obtained the remission of it for all mankinde But he will haue man to be reprobated onely for the fore-seeing of actuall sinnes that is for the breach of the law and the contempt of grace In which thing he doth seeme not to be constant to himselfe For seeing all actuall sinnes doe flow from originall sinne it cannot be that the cause and fountaine of actuall sinnes should be remitted by God and yet the sinnes that flow from thence should not be remitted As if God should forgiue a man intemperance but should punish him for adultery for actions doe flow from habits and naturall inclinations as the second acts doe flow from the first X. Without doubt incredulity and the reiection of the Gospell are among the sinnes for which any one is reprobated For by this reiection we sinne against the Law by which God will iudge vs For the law commandeth that God be loued with all our heart and that he be obeyed in all things and without exception and therefore also that he be beleeued when he speaketh and that hee be obeyed when hee commandeth vs to beleeue whatsoeuer it shall be which he shall eyther command or shall say XI That hee should be Reprobated for reiecting the Gospell and despising the grace of Christ to whom the Gospel was neuer preached is against all reason For whom the Gospell doth not saue it leaueth vnder the law to be iudged by it which law doth then binde a man to beleeue in Christ when Christ is preached to him Nor is it the Schoole master to Christ but to them who haue meanes to come to the knowledge of Christ After the same manner as the law did not binde them to belecue the prophecy of Ieremy who neuer heard of the name of Ieremie nor could it be knowne to them XII And although reprobation cannot be said to be the cause of sinne because sinne goeth before reprobation yet it cannot be denied but that reprobation is the cause of the denying of grace and of the preaching of the Gospell and of the spirit of adoption which is peculiar to the elect For seeing this denying is a punishment it must needes be that it is inflicted by the will of a iust iudge These are the words of Arminius Page 58. against Perkins Effectuall grace is denyea by
truth but a naturall auersion and disability II. Wherefore the Scripture doth call the change of man by the spirit of regeneration sometimes another birth Iohn 3. sometimes the creation of the new man Ephes 4.24 It calleth it another resurrection from the dead Reucl. 20.6 Luke 15.32 Iohn 5.25 Not that creation and resurrection is in all things like to regeneration and the change of the soule but only in this thing of which it is here spoken to wit as the Carkasse cannot dispose nor prepare it selfe to the resurrection and a thing that is not created cannot further any thing to the creation of it So man in the state of sinne and before his regeneration hath nothing whereby he may dispose himselfe or further his regeneration and spirituall new birth III. The Arminian conferrers at the Hage Page 279. doe roundly confesse that by our spirituall death the liberty of doing well or ill is separated from the soule I demand therefore whether an vnregenerate man furnished with that sufficient and vniuersall grace which is giuen euen to Reprobates hath free-will of doing well or ill in those things which belong to saluation If he haue not why doe the Arminians contend he hath If hee hath it is plaine by their owne confession that he is not dead in sinne But there is a speciall force in the word borne For if there were any seeds and reliques of spirituall life in an vnregenerate man as Arnoldus is of opinion there were no neede to be borne againe and that the new man should be formed but God were to be prayed to that he would againe raise vp those sparkes and reliques of spirituall life and would vouchsafe to kindle and increase it as it were by adding fuell to it IV. Adde to these those places which teach vs that without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. That all men haue not faith 2. Thess 3. because it is the gift of God Philip. 1.19 Ephes 2.8 Seeing therefore what soeuer is not of faith is sinne Rom. 14.25 it is plain that in things which belong to saluation and to the worship of God hee doth nothing but sinne that wants faith such as are all the heathen and vnregenerate men In which place to the Romanes it is to be noted that the Apostle speaketh of the vse of meates which he will haue vs to eate with faith that is with a certaine knowledge that the vse of meates is allowed by God and is agreeable to his word Seeing therefore that euen in things which are of their owne nature indifferent wee sinne when we vse them without such a faith how much more are we to thinke that the heathens sinne in euery action that pertaineth to saluation and the worship of God because they are altogether destitute of this faith Hitherto pertaine those places which teach vs that God is the author of euery vertue and euery good worke that is done by vs. We are not sufficient of our selues to thinke any thing as of our selues but our sufficiency is of God 2. Cor. 3.5 And Christ himselfe Iohn 15.5 Without me ye can doe nothing And in the same place we are compared to branches cut off and appointed to the fire vnlesse wee haue beene engrafted into Christ by whom wee liue and beare fruit The Apostle Ephes 2.8 doth teach that saluation and faith is not of our selues but of the gift of God For by grace ye are saued through faith and that not of your selues it is the gift of God How farre is this from Arminius who will haue the totall cause of faith not to be grace alone but grace and free-will And least any of Arminius followers should seeke a refuge and should say that the power of beleeuing is giuen to all vnresistably but that the act of beleeuing is so helped by grace that it is also from free-wil the Apostle doth fitly preuent such a weake subtilty Phil. 1.29 where he saith It is giuen to you in the behalfe of Christ not onely to beleeue on him but also to suffer for his sake You see that not onely the power of beleeuing is giuen vs but also the act it selfe to beleeue Agreeable to this is that Iohn 6. No man can come to me vnlesse my father draw him Where to come is to beleeue in act and not to haue the power and faculty of beleeuing which is brought into act by free-will No lesse direct is that of the Apostle Philip. 2.13 It is God which worketh in you both to will and to doe of his good pleasure Now to will is to will in act and not to haue the power of willing God himselfe Ezechiel 36.27 saith I will put my spirit within you and will cause you to walke in my statutes Therefore hee doth not onely giue the power of walking in his statutes but also doth cause that we really walke and doth worke in vs the very act After what manner and how farre the elect may resist the efficacy of the spirit shall hereafter be seene It is sufficient to the present question if we winne this of them that God doth not onely giue the power whereby we may beleeue but also that hee doth giue and worke in vs the act of beleeuing to beleeue it selfe We meete sometimes with places where the Arminians say that not onely the power of beleeuing but that also the act of beleeuing to beleeue it selfe is giuen by God But they will haue this act so to be giuen by God in as much as he giueth knowledge to the minde and doth raise vp the fainting affections which doe put forward the will to beleeue and that this is done by a morall perswasion and after the same manner that wee are moued by obiects But this is not to giue faith and the act of beleeuing For surely hee that doth perswade that doth propound obiects and doth inuite the appetite to runne doth not giue the act of running to runne it selfe Wherefore the Arminians doe deny that faith it selfe is infused or imprinted on the heart by God but that the will is inuited to beleeue onely by a morall perswasion and by a courteous allurement With a like fraud that they might seeme to attribute some great thing to God they say that God doth giue the power of beleeuing and that vnresistably But when they come to explane the manner whereby these powers are supplied it is manifest that they deny that the power of beleeuing is giuen to man by God For they thinke that God doth giue these powers no otherwise then by enlightning the vnderstanding with knowledge and by stirring vp the appetites which certainely is not to giue the power of beleeuing For hee which in the darke doth with a torch giue light to the wandring traueller and doth stirre him vp to goe doth not thereby giue him the power of going VI. And least any man should in any part arrogate to himself the prayse eyther of that knowledge which he hath obtained
speake of my selfe Hence they would proue that one may doe the will of God before he know Christ and his doctrine This is to delude the Scripture and to wrest it at their pleasure For they speake as if Christ had said Hee that doth fulfill the commandements of God shall afterward know of my doctrine whether it be of God c. Also by the words to doe the will of God they vnderstand to acknowledge their sinnes to feare God with a seruile and slauish feare seriously to wish the grace of God and remission of sinnes to doe those things which are of the law c. All false For to doe the will of God in this place is nothing else then to beleeue Christ speaking for this is that which Christ doth vrge that this is the will of the father that we should beleeue on the Sonne Whose words if any man beleeues hee thereby knoweth that his doctrine is heauenly and diuine wherefore we are not to thinke that we doe the will of God before we beleeue in his Sonne Thus although it be true that he who is moued doth liue yet it doth not thence follow that motion is before life So in that Christ saith Whosoeuer will doe the will of the father shall know that my doctrine is from God It doth not thence follow that the will of the father must be done before it can be knowne that his doctrine is from God But if there is any order of time here it must needes be that the doctrine of Christ be first knowne to be from God before he can be beleeued or obeyed when he speakes For no man doth beleeue that which hee doth not in some part know Christ followeth this order Iohn 17.8 They haue knowne that I came out from thee and they haue beleeued that thou didst send mee And Chap. 14.17 he saith that the spirit of truth is not receiued by the world because the world doth not know him To know therefore is before to receiue V. That is no better which Arnoldus doth adde Page 409. The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome Prou. 1. And The Lord reuealeth his secrets to them that feare him Psal 25. But I deny that the feare of the Lord of which it is spoken here can agree to vnbeleeuers and vnregenerate men Salomon saith that the feare of the Lord is the head of wisedome that is the chiefe part and that wherein wisedome doth chiefely consist for this the Hebrew word Reshith doth plainely signifie And those that feare God to whom he reuealeth his secrets are not vnregenerate persons but those which are truely godly to whom hee doth daily giue increase of wisedome and of the true knowledge of God VI. To the same end Arnoldus Page 397. doth bring the words of the 51. Psalme A contrite spirit is an acceptable sacrifice to God And Esay 66. God will dwell in a contrite spirit Arnoldus thinketh that these things are spoken of an vnregenerate man but yet such a one as doth confesse his sinnes doth grieue hath the beginning of feare c. But hee eyther deceiues or is deceiued For there Dauid lamenting his sinnes with a large confession doth comfort himselfe with this hope and doth promise to himselfe that his contrition will be an acceptable sacrifice to God Whosoeuer therefore doth say that Dauid there speaketh of the contrition of an vnregenerate man doth affirme that Dauid himselfe was vnregenerate And there is no man but seeth that Esay doth speake of them that are truely faithfull and of a filiall feare and contrition and not of that feare which may be in the vnregenerate and in the heathen who haue not heard the word of God For the Prophet saith To whom shall I looke To him that is afflicted and of a contrite heart and trembleth at my word Hee speaketh of the man who is instructed in the word of God and who with a holy feare is moued to the hearing of it VII Arnoldus a little before had reckoned vp the good workes which may be done by an vnregenerate man viz. To doe those things which are of the law to haue some sparkes of light and knowledge engrauen on his heart to grieue for his sinnes to implore the grace of remission of sinnes and of the new spirit But how many nations are there who doe not know what this new spirit is nor haue euer heard any thing of the grace of remission of sins Also I would know whether such things that are done by the vnregenerate without faith are truely good If they be truely good then we can doe that which is truely good without Christ without his spirit and without faith If they are not truely good how can that not be truely good and iust which God alone intendeth and which alone nothing more if Arminius be beleeued he doth require from the vnregenerate man as long as he is vnregenerate VIII A little after he saith that the same worke cannot be performed as perfect in its essence without the faith of Christ and he doth put this difference betweene workes which are done before regeneration and they which are done after regeneration to wit that they are imperfect these are perfect These are the two kindes of merits with which in the Schooles of the Papists make such a noyse merits of congruity and merits of condignity but new dressed and cloathed with other names The Reader therefore shall note that the Arminians place in a regenerate man perfect workes and a perfect loue of God For they thinke that the regenerate may by the spirit of Christ so conforme their life according to that law that they may come to that degree of obedience which God doth require of them These are the words of Arnoldus pag. 492. and pag. 399. according to Arminius he saith that there is a double spirit one that doth goe before regeneration and doth tend to it which is the spirit of bondage to feare the other which doth regenerate and doth perfect regeneration Arminius Resp ad 31. Art pa. 164. and 165. I doe not repugne that opinion of Austin whereby he determines that man may be without sinne in this life Truely it is boldly spoken The Arminians then are better then the Apostle Iames who speaketh thus Chap. 3. In many things we offend all In which speech he doth account himselfe among them who offend in many things Better then Saint Iohn whose confession is this If we say we haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs Yea better then all the Apostles who did daily say Forgiue vs our trespasses Neither is it to be maruailed at if the Arminians thinke that the regenerate can fulfill the Law seeing they also say that the Law of nature may be fulfilled by the heathen and vnregenerate Now the Law of nature is that to which Adam before his fall stood bound which bond passed to his posteritie This Law forbids a man to lye but the
but what heretofore we were able to doe and from what a height of iustice we fell by the fall of Adam XII The Scripture doth supply most forcible proofes for this thing Saint Paul Philip. 2.12 doth command vs to worke out our saluation with feare and trembling but presently after lest it should be thought that this can be performed by vs because it is commanded he doth adde It is God which worketh in you both to will and to doe of his good pleasure Thus Ezech. 18.31 Make you a new heart and a new spirit But lest any should thinke that this is a thing of our free-will in the thirty sixt Chapter of the same Prophecy God speaketh thus I will take away the stony heart out of you flesh and giue you a new heart Thus Ioel 11. Be ye conuerted to mee with your whole heart yet Ieremy Chap. 31.18 doth acknowledge that the conuersion of a sinner is the gift of God Turne mee O Lord and I shall be turned And the last of the Lamentations Turne vs O Lord and we shall be turned So Deut. 10.16 God doth thus speake to the people Circumcise the fore-skinne of your heart yet Chapter 30.6 it is declared who doth worke it The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart Thus Christ Iohn 14.1 commands vs to beleeue in him and yet hee saith no man can come to him except the father draw him Iohn 6 44. and that by comming hee meaneth beleeuing he himselfe teacheth v. 35. He that commeth to me shall not hunger and he that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst And Phil. 1. Ephes 2. wee are taught that faith and the act of beleeuing is from God Finally the Scripture will haue men to gaine their bread by the sweat and labour of their hands and yet neuerthelesse wee are commanded to aske our daily bread of God because the foode of the body is the gift of God but that which hee doth giue to him that worketh For the blessing of God doth not come on idlenesse but on labour That I may not say many things Doth not God require perfect obedience from the vnregenerate Yes and from the heathen to whom Christ was neuer knowne And yet if one should say that they might be perfectly iust and altogether without sinne he should attribute that to vnbeleeuers which neuer happened to any faithfull man Doth not Arminius himselfe acknowledge that some are vnresistably hardned from whom yet God doth require perfect obedience XIII Neither doth God therefore command in vaine or are his precepts to no purpose For God in commanding exhorting threatning c. doth affect man with the sence of his sinne hee doth teach man his debt what once hee could doe and whence he fell Also he doth propound a rule of iustice lest any one should pretend ignorance for his sinnes Finally he doth ioyne to his word the efficacy of the spirit and he doth as it were arme and head it and make it sharpe and effectuall It is not in vaine to command him that is fettered to runne if by that commandement his fetters are loosed It is not in vaine to command a blinde man to see if by those words wherewith this is commanded the eyes of him that is blinde are opened For the words of God doe work that in vs which they command vs to do They doe so command that they doe also worke as his words in the creation God commandeth that which he would haue done but hee giueth also that which he commandeth and it is profitable for man to be pressed downe with the intollerable burthen of the Law which doth exceede his strength that he might the more couetously embrace the remedies offred in Christ Excellently to this purpose Saint Austin lib. de corrept gratia cap. 3. O man in the commandement know what thou oughtest to doe in the word of correction and reproofe know that by thine owne fault thou hast not that thou oughtest to haue in prayer know whence thou mayest receiue what thou wouldst haue And in his booke de spiritu litera God doth not measure his precepts by the strength of man but where he commands that which is right hee doth freely giue to his elect ability of fulfilling it XIV The similitudes which these Sectaries vse to procure enuie to vs are plainly contrary and nothing to the purpose They say it is to no purpose to blame the blinde man because he doth not see although he hath pulled out his owne eyes or to vrge him to worke who hath cut off his owne hands Concerning him that is blinde I answere that this example is brought by them vnproperly for no blinde man whether he is blinde by his owne fault or by anothers is bound to see But hee that by his owne fault is made wicked and vnable to obey God is yet bound to obey him No man is bound to exercise naturall functions after they haue ceased but the bond whereby the creature is bound to the Creator can be wiped out by no occasion much lesse by the wickednesse of man But if any blinde man had rather be blinde then see and should refuse the remedies offred should he not iustly be blamed Such is the condition of man in the state of sinne for he is not onely necessarily euill but he will not be good and he is delighted with his wickednesse XV. The similitude of him who hath willingly cut off his owne hands hath the same defects Wherevnto this is to be added that the hands may be cut off but the will which is here signified by the hands cannot be cut off For euery most wicked man is endued with a will by which hee is alwayes bound to worship and loue God although he hath corrupted it Finally the similitudes of naturall and ciuill things are for the most part very vnfitly and absurdly drawn to morall things and to religion By the like reason that ridiculous similitude of a man speaking to dry bones is disâ—olued for these bones are not bound to moue themselues but an vnregenerate man is bound to beleeue and to obey XVI Arnoldus page 136. hath these words We see saith hee that the Scripture doth often say that he which doth beleeue and is conuerted doth seperate himselfe from euill doth purge quicken sanctifie saue and circumcise himselfe doth make him a new heart doth put on the new man c. Whence hee doth gather that it may be said that man doth seperate himselfe although the Apostle saith Who seperateth thee vnderstanding none but God The places noted in the margent whereby the proueth these things are these Ezech. 18.31 Make you a new heart and a new spirit Iam. 1.27 Pure religion is to keepe himselfe vnspotted from the world 1 Pet. 1.22 Wee are commanded to purifie our soules 2 Tim. 2.21 If any one purge himselfe he shall be a vessell vnto honour sanctified c. Luke 17.33 Whosoeuer shall loose his life shall preserue it Deut. 10.16 Circumcise
things the Arminians bring some arguments but so light that they are dispearsed onely with a breath Arminius against Perkins Page 57. doth say that Stephen Acts 7.51 doth vpbraide and reproach the Iewes that they did alwaies resist the Holy-Ghost Hence the accure man doth gather that these rebellious Iewes were inwardly affected with the Holy-Ghost But the following words doe declare what it is to resist the Holy-Ghost for Stephen addeth Which of the Prophets haue not your fathers persecuted to wit to persecute the Prophets speaking by the inspiration of the Holy-Ghost and to resist the spirit speaking by their mouths this was to resist the Holy-Ghost XI I confesse that there are some men who doe resist the spirit of grace of whom the Apostle speaketh Hebrewes 10.29 and who doe striue against the inward suggestion of the Holy-Ghost But there the Apostle speaketh of some few who hauing embraced the Gospell with ioy and hauing receiued some tast of the word of God doe a while after with an obstinate minde and on set purpose turne their back to God and doe cast out his grace with indignation and doe sinne wilfully after they haue receiued the knowledge of the truth as it is said verse 26. who that they are the same with them who sinne against the Holy-Ghost doth hence appeare in that the Apostle in the same place doth say that their sâ—luation was past hope and doth say that there remaineth no sacrifice for their sinnes and that there doth rest no hope of reconciliation for them But this doth agree but to some few and not to all to whom eyther the law alone or the Gospell with the law hath beene made knowne All which these Sectaries teach are moued inwardly by the Hoâ—y Ghost and haue a feeling of the true doctrine imprinted in them Neither doe I thinke that the gifts of the spirit which such men as these haue receiued are the gifts of regeneration or the spirit of adoption or the true proper and iustifying faith but onely some assayes of the spirit mouing the heart at whose suggestion the will being warmed with some slight heare rather then enflamed doth cleaue to the Gospell vntill the benummed appetites perceiuing warre to be intended against them haue raised themselues with greater force and hauing shaken out of the heart that superficiall piety haue turned it into hatred and by the very incitations of piety their hidden poyson hath more vehemently burst forth XII Arminius in the same place doth hold vp and as it were vnderproppe their tottering cause with that place of the Prophet Esay Chapter 55.11 where he hath these words So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not returne vnto me voide but shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I senâ—â— Surely this is to hit the nayle on the head The meaning of Esay is plaine for he saith that the promises and threats propounded in the word of God shall be executed and that nothing was saide in vaine and which should not be fulfilled Here is no mention of the quickning efficacy of the spirit affecting mens hearts nor if there were could it thence be proued that the spirit of God did worke in all but in them alone whom he decreed to saue XIII Arnoldus Page 443. doth poure out a showre of places of Scripture and yet hee doth not proue by them that which hee doth intend That place Matth. 23.37 doth not proue it How oft would I haue gathered thy children c. For we haue shewed in the fift Chapter that these children were gathered together Also if they were not gathered together it would not follow that they were called any otherwise then by an outward calling XIV That place Esay 65 2. doth not proue it I haue spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people Nor that Prou. 1.24 I haue called and ye refused For there it is spoken of the outward calling and not of the efficacy of the spirit working in mens hearts XV. Nor that place Psal 81.14 O that my people had hearkened that Israell had walked in my wates I would soone haue subdued their enemies For these words meane nothing else then what they plainely found forth to wit that God would haue laid flat the enemies of Israell if Israell had obeyed God Here is no mention at all of the inward efficacy of the spirit XVI Nor that of Ezechiel Chapter 18. v. 31. Make ye a new heart and a new spirit For it is not proued by this place that man doth make himselfe a new heart seeing God in the 36. Chapter of the same Prophecy saith I will giue you a new heart and a new spirit Much lesse is it hence proued that the Holy-Ghost doth worke in all men XVII Nor that of Saint Iohn Chapter 5.34 I seeke not the testimony of men but these things I say that ye might be saued And verse 40. Ye will not come to me that ye might haue life By which words how it can be proued that the quickning power of the Holy-Ghost doth worke in all men I confesse and it is my dulnesse I cannot conceiue XVIII It is not proued by those words of Saint Paul 1. Tim. 2.4 God would haue all men be saued Of which words wee haue at large proued Chapter 29. that this is the sence God doth inuite to saluation men of any sort and of euery condition XIX Nor by that place of Peter Epphes 2. Chap. 3. v. 9. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance For it cannot be drawne out of this place that the Holy-Ghost doth inwardly worke in all men euen in those to whom the Gospell is not preached but onely that God is not the cause of the ouerthrow of any one that he doth not reioyce in the destruction of man as he is man For otherwise as the same man is a sinner God doth loue the execution of his iustice XX. Nor is it proued by that place of Ezechiel Chapter 12.2 Sonne of man thou dwellest in the middest of a rebellious house which haue eyes to see and see not they haue eares to heare and heare not For there by eyes and eares is not to be vnderstood sufficient grace to saluation eyther mediately or immediately nor the operation of the Holy-Ghost working in the reprobates but a knowledge in the heart by which euen against their wills they did acknowledge that those things were right which were taught them by the Prophets for they were admonished by so cleere instructions and stirred vp with so seuere threates that they could not pretend ignorance This knowledge was giuen them not by supernaturall grace working inwardly nor by sufficient grace common to all men by which they might haue beleeued and beene conuerted if they would but by the instructions and documents of the Prophets and by the law of God knowne and perceiued in their minde
I. FIrst of all this opinion of sufficient grace doth manifestly delude God while it doth faigne that God seriously and from his heart doth desire to saue all men and to that end doth giue all men sufficient grace by which they may be conuerted and beleeue but hee doth so sparingly administer this grace to the greatest part of mankinde that no man can be named in the whole world who hath beene saued by this sufficient grace seeing that no man destitute of faith and of the knowledge of the redeemer hath euer rightly vsed those naturall gifts or hath worshipped God with a worship that is pleasing to him Neither could the Arminians yet bring any example nor if they could bring one or two examples they could not thereby wipe away that blot which they set vpon God For he thinketh but ill of God who teacheth that God doth seriously desire all men to be saued and to that end doth giue to all men sufficient grace whereby they may be conuerted and beleeue but hee doth so sparingly administer this grace that of infinite millions scarce one or two hath by this sufficient grace conuerted himselfe and come to faith II. Nay what That this doctrine with a rash boldnesse doth set lawes to God himselfe and doth prescribe to him the manner and measure whereby he ought to bestow his gifts and to giue the increases of grace For if any one by the helpe of sufficient grace hath righâ—ly vsed the gifts of nature the Arminians say that God is bound to giue to that man greater grace because he hath well vsed the light of nature he is bound to giue him supernaturall light the knowledg of the Gospel But I think that the creator is by no bond tied to the creature yea if he were bound yet it were not our part audaciously to tell him to his face what he ought to do nor to admonish him of his duty as if there were danger that he should not keepe his credit or should sin against those lawes by which he is bound Also by this meanes the benefits of God are lessened and made very small For if these sectaries be beleeued God gining to a man the power of beleeuing doth doe nothing but what hee ought to doe and doth giue nothing but what hee is bound to giue III. The same doctrine determining that sufficient grace is giuen to the Gentiles which haue not knowne Christ that according to the measure thereof they may worship God doth plainely say that there is a worship which may be acceptable to God without Christ and without faith Neither doth Arnoldus say this thing obscurely but Page 409 speaking of the heathens who followed an austere kinde of life that they might serue God Whence will yee proue saith he that such men doe eyther perish or remaine voide of Christ This man while he would haue vs hope well of the saluation of the he then who followed an austere kinde of life although they were altogether ignorant of Christ doth in the meane while vilifie and lightly esteeme of Christian faith as not necessary and doth secretly insinuate that one may be saued by Christ without the knowledge of Christ For although these Sectaries cry out that they are wronged as often as the corrupt matter is pressed out of their Vlcers yet hee shall easily perceiue whereto these thinges pertaine who will exactly reade that whole disputation of Arnoldus contained in some Pages IV. With a like error doe the Arminians thinke that the power of beleeuing and obtaining faith is giuen to man without the spirit of regeneration and adoption And seeing that by faith we are the sonnes of God if man without the spirit of regeneration hath power of beleeuing then without the same spirit he hath also power of effecting or causing that hee be the sonne of God V. Also it is absurd and deserues to be laughed at to say that the power of beleeuing in Christ is giuen to a man without the spirit of regeneration but that to beleeue it selfe is not giuen without the spirit of regeneration as if the powers of beleeuing were from one cause but the vsing and excution of those powers were from another cause and as if it were not of the same saculty to be able to doe and to doe to be able to runne and to runne For they say that another speciall grace is required to beleeue and therfore that sufficient grace is not sufficient to beleeue in act These things seeme to me to be like the dreams of sicke men VI. But how absurd and how contrary is it to the wisedome of God to say that God is prepared to giue greater grace and the light of his Gospell to those who haue well vsed the light of nature For so God is said to be ready to doe that which hee knoweth he shall not doe and to be prepared to bestow vpon man new and greater grace vnder a condition which no man hath fulfilled nor shall fulfill For no man that is destitute of faith of the knowledge of the redeemer and of the spirit of regeneration hath rightly vsed the light of nature nor hath worshipped God with a worship which hath beene pleasing to him because whatsoeuer is without faith is sinne and whosoeuer hath not the Sonne hath not the Father yea he is without God in the world as the Scripture teacheth VII Yea whosoeuer shall looke ouer the records of all histories shall finde that the most wisest amongst the heathen whose liues were more temperate whose appetites were lesse violent and who loued iustice and saide or writte many famous things concerning God were yet very farre from the kingdome of Heauen Experience hath proued this for when the Gospell beganne to be published through the nations Christian Religion endured no greater enemies then the Philosophers These turned the subtilty of their wit to defame the crosse of Christ and held out to others fierce firebrands to cruelty persecution For the more any one doth affect the praise of ciuill vertue and hath his wit practised with much learning so much the more base doth the simplicity of the Gospell seeme to him and he is the more offended with the scandall of the crosse of Christ VIII But it is a meruaile by what meanes any man can be prepared to saith and regeneration by naturall instructions and by the light of nature seeing that man by the instinct of his corrupt nature is stirred vp to idolatry For it is ingrafted in man to desire to haue some present and visible obiect on which he may setle his eyes while hee poureth forth his prayers and mans wisedome hath oftentimes troade Religion vnder foote XIX Arnold page 404. Deus primo hâ—â— agit vt home intelligat se in precatis mortuum Furthermore seeing that as Arnoldus confesseth the first effect of grace is for a man to know that he is dead in sinne and that naturally hee is subiect to the eternall
beene made partakers of that perseuerance that they could not but perseuere Thence it is that they will not admit of this that they should allow that the number of them that are predestinated and the number of them that are reiected is determined These are they whose authority was more to Arminius then the authority of Saint Austin yea then of Saint Paul himselfe For they haue liberally and manifestly borrowed all their opinions from the Semipelagians CHAP. XLIII The opinion of the Arminians of the manner of the operation of Grace and of that power which they call vnresistable Also of morall perswasion And of the power and act of beleeuing WHat the secret motions of the holy-Ghost are what the efficacy of it is by what degrees it doth further regeneration what impediments are cast in the way by man what is the conflict of the flesh with the spirit and the strife of the new man with the old who as another Esau doth at length shake off the yoake and doth hinder the worke of God as much as it can I thinke cannot be throughly knowne by any nor can that little which we know by experience be explained in fit words Surely Christ Iohn 3. doth rightly compare the spirit the author of regeneration to the winde which bloweth where it listeth and whose sound is heard but men know not whence it commeth nor whether it goeth It is a thing therefore whose experience is rather to be wished then the efficacy of it to be explained There are many who while they peere into the nature of the operation of the holy-holy-Spirit are themselues led by a reprobate spirit And while they discourse concerning the efficacy of the spirit of peace they themselues being prone to discord and puft vp with pride doe sufficiently bewray that they are led by that spirit which doth effectually worke in the sonnes of rebellion Ephes 2. These things although they be thus and that it be safer to follow God calling then to enquire by what power he doth call and draw vs yet the obstinate rashnesse of those men with whom wee haue to doe compelleth vs to descend to these things For these innouators haue drawne out of the puddles of the spanish Iesuites I know not what words of resistability and vnresistability with which they entangle mens wits The scope whereof is to furnish the will of man with powers wherewith he may resist the Holy-Ghost with how great efficacy soeuer hee should worke in mens hearts that by this meanes man might owe his conuersion to his owne strength and power and the confidence of our saluation resting on a weake supporter might stagger and fall into desparation The words of Arnoldus against Tilenus are direct pag. 125. Collat Hag pag. 304. Negat propositum Deo decretumque esse absolute hunc vel â—lum conuertere Armin. in Perk. 199. Falsum est Deum simpliciter absolute velle vt alij credant perseuerent c Quâ—st Artiâ— Remâ—nst iâ— Collat. Hag. Modus operatiâ—nis graâ—â—â—â— non est resistibilis We deny that the difference of Grace calling is not placed as much in the free will of men as in the will of God And they all affirme with one mouth that God doth not absolutely will that this or that man should beleeue but that hee indeede doth giue sufficient grace and power of beleeuing which man may vse or not vse according to his owne free-will And that grace and the power of the holy Ghost working in the heart is resistable euen in the most holy men and in the elect and that the finall effect thereof may be hindred by man Whence they gather that those who are elected may be reprobated Indeede say they the power of beleeuing is giuen vnresistably and the vnderstanding is so instructed in knowledge and the affections stirred vp that it cannot be resisted but they contend that the act of beleeuing it selfe is giuen resistably and that it is in the power of free-will to vse grace or not to vse it to beleeue or not to beleeue For they doe not thinke that the liberty of free-will can stand vnlesse he that is elected may sinally resist grace and so be reprobated Arnoldus against Bogermannus pag. 263. and 274. All the operations of grace being granted which God doth vse to the working of conuersion in vs yet conuersion it selfe doth so remaine free in our power that we may not be conuerted that is we may conuert or not conuert our selues For they teach that the effect of grace doth depend on mans free-will and that free-will is a part-cause of our conuersion in so much that Greuinchouius against Ames Greuinch pag. 198. 204. 208 297. is bold to write these things You will say that in this manner of operation God doth on a sort depend on the will of man I grant it as concerning the act of free determination Truely this is to disgrace God and to make him subiect to mans free-will Nor doe they doubt to say that God seriously desiring that this or that man should be saued is disappointed of his wish and desire and that therefore hee doth grieue and beare it heauily and doth not doe that which hee had sworne he would doe as before we haue proued Euen with these shores doe these good men vnderproppe Christian faith being about to fall And the manner whereby the grace of God and his Spirit doth worke in vs they determine to be this They say that the vnderstanding of man is vnresistably enlightned Câ—â—lat Hag. p. 272. Illuminatâ—â—mint ellectus 〈…〉 p. â—6 and that his affections are vnresistably stirred vp but the assent of the will doth remaine free The same men thinke that God doth vnresistably giue to man the power of beleeuing of conuerting himselfe but the act it selfe of beleeuing and conuerting himselfe may be done or hindred by mans will and that the feeling is vnresistibly giuen but not the assent For they say that there is in the will an essentiall indifferency and indetermination to receiue or refuse grace and as being put in an equall ballance doth turne to neither part for it lost no spirituall gifts by the fall of Adam because it had not these gifts before the fall The conferrers at the Hage pag. 307. Although it is to be determined that the infusion of abilityes is done by an vnresistible power that the matter become not infinite yet it cannot come to passe that the act it selfe that is to beleeue and be conuerted should be wrought vnresistibly And they doe plainely deny that actuall faith and the act of beleeuing is the gift of God For although they doe sometimes make shew of this and doe thunder out with full mouthes that faith is from God yet in the whole thred of their disputation they doe openly bewray that they are verry farre from that opinion For they deny that faith is iufused by God into the hearts of men but that God
witting and hauing naturally power of resisting We doe not therefore despute of the powers of resisting grace which wee finde by experience to our owne losse to be in the godly and faithfull But we dispute of the impossibility of the euent and we earnestly affirme that it cannot be that he who is elected should finally resist and by his incredulity striue against God to the end of his life And that those things which are done by men willingly without constraint without naturall necessitie and without the impulsion of any externall cause forcing mans free-will doe happen necessarily and the prouidence of God so decreeing the Scripture doth affirme and experience doth witnesse For the Arminians doe acknowledge that the death of Christ was decreed by God and that it could not be but the decree of God must be fulfilled when yet that death hapned by the wickednesse of the Iewes who were led to this naughty act of their owne accord Prou. 21. God doth turne the hearts of Kings and doth leade them whither hee will euen as the conueyer doth guide the riuer whether he pleaseth God without constraint did suddenly change the minde of Esau Gen. 33. and of Saul 1 Sam. 19.23 and of the Aegyptians Psal 105.25 Which although they came to passe vnauoydably yet they were done of their owne accord and not by an vnresistible force but the liberty of mans free-will remaining vntoucht And if this be true in wicked men how much more in good and faithfull men Are they drawne vnwillingly to whom God doth giue a heart of flesh for a stony heart Or those to whom God promiseth that he will cause that they shall walke in his wayes Ezech. 36.37 And we would easily admit of the words resistibilitie and vnresistibilitie although they are rode and vnhandsome if they were not wrested otherwise then to that which they signifie For they call that resistible which may be hindred auerted and ouercome when yet it is one thing to resist and another thing to ouercome Vnresistible force is that which cannot be oppugned nor resisted and not that which cannot be ouercome resistance noteth out the fight not the victorie For no man as I know of hath euer denied that the efficacy of the spirit may be resisted by man Nor is there any one in whose minde piety is so deepely seated who doth not feele an inward wrestling and is often destracted with contrary desires But that he that is elected may so resist grace that he may neuer admit it or being once admitted hee may altogether and finally shake it off there can nothing more be done to abolish the decrees of God for wee doe not place the inuincible power of that faith which God doth giue to his elect in the decree of faith and in the perfection and strength of that vertue but in the certaine and sure helpe of God which hee doth supply to his elect according to his purpose For there is no faith so well growne or so well strengthened which would not faile if God shall neuer so little withdraw his aide euen as the child of two years old at the first taking of his steps is held vp by the hand of his father although the childe be fearefull yet certainely he shall not fall because his father doth strongly hold him vp And if God doth sometimes suffer his elect to stumble and fall he doth forthwith raise them vp Whence it comes to passe that they are made more wary and doe more acknowledge the care of God ouer them and by their very fall doe gather strength euen as when the parts of a broken bone doe so grow together againe and are couered with a hard skin that that part which was broken is growne stronger then it was before Also if our faith be weake but yet serious and wrestling with doubtings our bountifull father doth helpe our infirmities and doth not breake the bruised reede For as they that were bleare eyed and blinde of one eye beholding the brasen Serpent were no lesse healed then they that had both their eyes and did see clearely because they were not healed by the power of their seeing faculty nor by the clearenesse of their eyes but by the diuine power which God did exercise by this image of the Serpent So wee are not saued by the merit of the perfection of our faith but by the bounty of God in Christ our Redeemer But what and how great that soule bending and perswading power of the holy Ghost working in the hearts of the elect is and by what meanes occasions and degrees hee doth further his worke they themselues cannot expresse who doe feele it Euen as the Woman with childe doth not know after what manner the liuing fruite is formed and doth encrease But that the power of the holy Ghost is very great the Scripture doth witnesse as hereafter shall be proued But how great soeuer this efficacy is yet God doth not draw vs as logs but as men He doth draw vs being vnwilling that wee might be willing hee doth follow vs being willing that we might not will in vaine And when of being vnwilling hee doth make vs willing he doth not onely not take away the liberty of the will but he also restoreth it because to serue God willingly and with ioy is liberty And he doth so further the increases of faith and regeneration that for the most part we doe not perceiue that wee doe grow but after some space of time we know that we haue growne Euen as wee doe not see plants as they grow but wee see they haue growne The word of the Gospell receiued into the eare and conceiued in the heart is the ordinary manner whereby God doth affect mens hearts and doth beginne and further regeneration hee inspiring into it hidden powers towards them whom he decreed to saue Therefore it is called by Saint Peter the incorruptible seed 1. Pet. 1. By Saint Paul the power of God to saluation Rom. 1. By the Apostle to the Hebrewes Chap. 4. and in the beginning of the Reuelation a two edged and sharpe Sword By Ieremy Chap. 23. v. 29. fire and a hammer breaking the rocke because it breaketh the hardenesse of our hearts and doth leade our captiued cogitations to the obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10.5 The sparkes of which new life fallen from heauen into our hearts the Spirit of God doth stirre vp and further as it were with bellows doth draw out groanes that cannot be vttered striking wounding the heart with secret pricks enlightning the minde gouerning the appetites bending the will which whether Arminius will or no must also be framed againe and as a crooked piece of wood be bowed to the contrary part because it is not equally inclined to good and euill as these Sectaries would haue it but doth wholy leane and incline to euill in men vnregenerate This change seeing it cannot be made but by contrary habits it must needes be that instead of those vices
that should make to the purpose VII By the way the Reader shall obserue that vnproper phrases and spoken after the manner of men ought not to be taken as properly spoken God is figuratiuely said to haue wished and expected fruit from his vine Desires and griefe as if hauing spent his labour in vaine he had failed of his propounded end cannot happen to God When God doth wish the conuersion of men as Psal 81.14 he doth insinuate nothing else then that the conuersion of man is acceptable to him So when he is said to expect fruit from the Vine or from the Fig-tree that is from the Church or from particular men and when the Vine disappointed his hope not presently to plucke it vp by the rootes vnderstand that God doth require and demand obedience and that when that which ought to be done is not done he is not presently ready to punish but doth deferre it Luke 13.9 God doth not expect those euents which hee fore-knoweth will not come to passe Much lesse doth he expect those euents in the godly which hee himselfe is to worke VIII They stumble at the same stone when they cite that of Ezechiel Chap. 12. Vers 2. Sonne of man thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house who haue eyes to see and see not c. Whence they inferre that man indeede hath eyes and eares and power of conuerting himselfe but he is able to resist Vnwisely spoken for who doth deny that man is able to resist yea of his owne nature hee can doe nothing else Why doe they heape vp to vs the examples of reprobates and wicked men in the question whereby it is demanded whether it may come to passe that hee who is elected can finally resist grace and fall from it By the way the Reader shall remember that of the same people to whom eares eyes are here attributed God doth thus speake Deut. 29.4 The Lord hath not giuen you a heart to vnderstand nor eyes to see nor eares to heare to this day For there are two kindes of eyes some which onely the faithfull haue to wit the eyes of faith some which reprobates may haue who seeing and willing doe perish who seeing doe not perceiue and doe heare heauily with their eares Mat. 13.26.27 these mens eyes are carnall and cloudy these men naturall reason being their guide haue a superficiall knowledge which doth not affect the heart or if any diuine light hath risen to them it doth rather dazle their eyes then enlighten them yea that knowledge which they haue they endeauour to choake willingly groping at noone day IX The places of Scripture which they adde they doe in the same manner mis-alleadge Zach. 7.11 Esay 6.9 Mat. 13.4 Acts 28.25 and 26. By which places no other thing can be proued then that reprobates and rebellious persons may refuse the grace of God and resist his admonitions which we willingly confesse But what is this to finall resistance in the Elect X. They doe gloriously boast of the words of Christ Mat. 11.21 Woe vnto thee Corazin woe vnto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty workes which were done in you had beene done in Tyre and Sydon they would haue repented long agoe in sacke-cloath and ashes The like place you haue Ezech. 3.6 Out of the place of Matthew they thus dispute That grace by which some men to whom it is giuen haue not beene conuerted and others had beene conuerted if the same had beene giuen to them is resistible But the grace of conuersion is such Therefore the grace of conuersion doth not worke vnresistibly There was no cause that they should so labour in the prouing of either proposition seeing wee willingly admit of the conclusion Wee know that the elect themselues doe resist the grace of God although not perpetually nor so that the grace of God should be finally hindred The question is whether it may come to passe that the elect may so resist the grace of God that they may neuer be conuerted or that they may extinguish it and finally hinder it The good men doe not touch this question but doe wander other where X. Yet doe they not vphold those two propositions with fit proofes The Maior and first proposition they thus proue If Grace worke conuersion in man by an vnresistible force it should alwayes and euery where worke with the like efficacy But I deny that that will follow For although grace should vnresistibly worke conuersion in all men that are conuerted yet it might come to passe that it should worke in some men with greater efficacie to wit in those who are so affected that they doe presently and without delay follow God calling and are inflamed with greater zeale and feruency then others who obey more slackly and slowly XII They proue the Minor and second proposition by the example of the men of Tyre But they suppose without any proofe that Christ in this place doth speake of true conuersion by which they are conuerted to whom God doth giue true faith and repentance Which surely is a great demand For seeing the men of Tyre and Sydon did not pertaine to the election of God because they neuer were conuerted if the miracles had beene done amongst them which were done amongst the men of Corazin they might haue beene touched with a reuerence and haue beene affected with the sence of their sinne and haue beene cast downe with that repentance which is bred by the feare of punishment such as was the repentance of Ahab 1 King 21. and of the greater part of the Niniuites as the ruine of Niniuie a while after doth declare as we learne Neh. 1.1 and out of the last Chapter of Tobias In which thing the men of Tyre had beene more praise-worthy then the men of Corazin who among so many miracles did not feele the least touch of griefe nor gaue any signes of repentance But I deny that it was in the power of the men of Tyre to obtaine true faith and to perseuere in it without which yet there is no true repentance And truely the Arminians seeme to me to accuse God of deceitfull enuie and ill will because hee knew that the men of Tyre were so affected that if those miracles had come to them they had seriously repented and come to saluation and yet he enuied this benefit to them which notwithstanding he bestowed on a people whom hee knew would neither be conuerted by miracles nor by preaching XIII In the seauenth place they thus dispute They who may resist the word of Grace and saluation may also resist the spirit of repentance But men may resist the word of grace and saluation Therefore the same men may also resist the spirit of repentance We admit of the conclusion in that sence which I haue often said They proue the Minor by the examples of reprobates whom we know doe finally resist But here it is spoken of the elect and the question is whether they may so resist