§
-f
- i?
From the Rev. W. B. SPRAGUE, D.D. Sept. 1839. ^
LIBRARY
JSheological ^cminavy,
PRINCETON. N.^L
TvT r' Division
No. Case, -
No. Shelf, ii@G Li ^
No. Book, - •
_ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _
Sprague Collection . Vol . T"
'
*
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library
https://archive.org/details/doctrineofabsoluOOzanc_O
I
it O \ ti. \“Y\ t> Am. t
T H J
O C T R I N E
O F
Abfolute Predestination
STATED and ASSERTED:
• ^ 2 • "o
W I T H
A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE
On the DIVINE ATTRIBUTES*
TRANSLATED, IN GREAT MEASURE,
From the Latin of JEROM ZANCHIUS..
By AUGUSTUS TOPLADY, A. B.
Vi car of Broad Hemeury, Devon ; and Chap¬ lain to the Right Hon. Lord Holland.
S^uam’vis ad infimac Cavtas Plaujum facile ambiant \Jn\- verfalis Gratiae AJJer tores ; et ex Ambon e , hoc Argu- mentum multis Phaleris fplendide adornari pnjjlt ; tamen , nil pcnitius excnt’tur , Argutiae omnes evanefcunt , el afcendcndum , tandem , ad Deum difcrimlnantem , acterno Dccrcto fub , Hominem ab Homine : qno , z'« aliquibus , Gratiae /«<?(’ ; in aids, Justitiae fuae ; in atrip, qne, Gloriae fuae polupoikiles, exfiet Documentum .
Spanhem. Syntagm. Difp. P. 236.
N E IF - r o R K: Printed by HODGE and S HO B E II, For. SAMUEL LOUDON, on Hunter’s Key,
M.D CC.L XXI II
/
. V
f
V
^ -2 yp H E N I confider the ab folu’te indepen-
A -^.'oooas. ■{§}*•» Jency of GOD, and the necefiary, to- |s? 1 w I ta^ dependence of all created things on X X ^ Him their firft caufe ; I cannot help t v Handing aftoniihed at the pride of impo-
'^dStvSsr3' ^ tent, degenerate man, who is fo prone to coniider him Self as a being poffefied' of fove'reign freedom, and inverted with a power of felf-falvation : able, he imagines,' to counter aB the defigns'even of Infinite' Wjfdom, and to defeat the agency ol Omnipotence itfelfl Tejball Fe as gods, laid the tempter to Eve, in Paradife ; and Ye are as gods; fays the fame tempter, now, to her apoftate fons.— One would be apt to think* that a fug- geftion, fo de.nonrtrably falfe and flattering , a fuggef- tion, the very reverfe of what we feel to be cur Hate ; a fuggeftion, alike contrary to feripfure and rcafon , t <r fall and experience ; could never meet with the fmaileft degree cf credit. And yet, becauie it fo exactly coin¬ cides with the natural haughtinefs of the human heart, men not only admit, but even reliih the deception,- and fondly incline to believe, that -the father of lies does, in this inftance at ieart, fpeak truth.
The feripture doctrine or predetermination, lays tire axe to the very root ot this potent delufion. It allures us, that All things are cf God. 1 hat All our times, and Ad. events, are in his hand; confequently, that man’s b blinds below is, chief/ _y, to fill up the departments, and to difcharge the fever.il offices aligned him, in God’s purpole, from everlafting ; and that, having lived A 3 h:s
[ ir ]
his appointed time , and finilhed his allotted courfe of action and luffering, he, that moment, quits the flage of ter- teArial life, and removes to the invilible Aate.
The iate defervedly celebrated Dr. Young, tho’ be affected great oppofition to fome of the doftrines called Calvin fie ; was yet compelled, by the force of truth, to acknowledge, that ‘ There is not a Fly, but has
* had Infinite V. ifdom concerned, not only in its firuc-
* ture, but in its defiinaticn Nor did the late learn¬ ed and excellent Bifhop Hopkins go a jot too far, in aliening as follows : ‘ A lparrovv, whole price is but
* mean, two of them valued at a farthing (which fome
* make to be the ioth part of a Roman penny, and was
* certainly one of their lenll coins) and whofe life, there-
* tore, is but contemptible, and whofe flight leems gid- ‘ dy and at random ; yet it falls not to the ground, nei- 4 ther lights any where, without your Father. His all- 4 wife providence hath before appointed what bough it
* fliall pitch on ; what grains it lhall pick up ; where it 4 lhall lodge, and Where it fhall build ; on what it fhall ‘ line, and when it fhall die.— Our Saviour adds, The
* very hairs of your head are all numbered. God keeps an 4 account, even of that ftringy excrefcence.— Do you fee 4 a thoufand little motes and atoms wandering up and 4 down in a fun-beam l It it God that fo peoples it, and 4 he guides their innumerable and irregular Arayings.
* Not a duf flies in a beaten road, but God raifeth it, 4 conduits its uncertain motion, and, by his particular 4 ca e, conveys it to the certain place he had before ap¬ pointed for it : nor lhall the moA fierce and tempeftu- ‘ ou3 wind hurry it any 1 rther.— jNothing comes to 4 pal's, but God hath his ends in it, and will certa.nly 4 make his own ends out of it. Tho’ the world feem to 4 run at random, and affairs to be huddled together in 4 blind confuflon and rude diforder ; yet God fees and 4 knows the concatenation of all caufes and ejjedts , and fo 4 governs them, that he makes a perfeTl harmony out of 4 all thofe feeming jarrings and uilccrds.-— It is moll 4 neceffary, that we fhoul J have our hearts well eflablifr.- 4 ed in the firm and unwavering belief ot this truth ;
4 That
* Cc iMur n ot Fab. Letter II.
C v ]
{ That vjhatfoever comes to pafs, be it good or evil , wet ‘ may look up to the hand and difpofal of all, to God—
* In refpeft of God, there is nothing eafual, nor con- ‘ tingent, in the world. If a matter lhould lend a fervent ‘ to a certain place, and command him to flay there tilt ‘ fuch a time ; and prefently after, Should fend another ‘ fervant to the fame [place] ; the meeting of thefs ‘ two is wholly eafual, in refpeff of themfelves, but or- ‘ dained and forefeen by the matter who fent them. So it
* is in all fortuitous events here below. They fall out
* unexpectedly as to us ; but not fo as to God. He fore- ‘ fees, and he appoints, all the viciilitudes of things*.’
To illuftrate this momentous doibrine, efpeci'ally l'o far as God’s foverfeign diftributton of grace and glory is concerned, was the chief motive that determined me to- the prefent publication. In perilling the works of that matt learned and evangelical Divine, one ofwhofe per¬ formances now appears in an Englifh d'refs ; i was par¬ ticularly taken with that part of his ConfelTion of Faith (prefented A. D. 1562, to the Senate of Strafburgh), which relates to predeftination. It is, from beginning to end, a regular chain of folid argument, deduced from the unerring word of Divine Revelation, and confirm¬ ed by the coincident teftiraonies of iome ot the greateft lights that ever (hone in the Chriftian church. Such Were Auftin, Luther, Bucer, MelamSjfhon. Names, that will be precious and venerable, as long as true re¬ ligion has a friend remaining upon earth.
Excellent as Zanchy’s original piece is, I yet have occalionally ventured, both to retrench and to enlarge it in the tranfiation. To this libs' ty I was induced, by a defire of rendering it as complete a treadle on the fubjeff, as the allotted compafs would allow. I have endeavoured rather to enter into thz fpirii of the admi¬ rable author, than, with a fcrnpulous exadfnsfs, to re¬ tail his very words. By which means, the performance’ will prove, I humbly truft, the more fatisfa&ory to the Englifh reader; add, for the learned one, he can at any time, if he pleafes, by comparing the following Verlion with the original Latin, both perceive wherein I have A 3 pre fumed
* Sermon upon Providence, f»om x, 29, 30,
[ vi ]
prefumed fo vary from it ; and judge for himfeF, whe¬ ther my omiflions, variations, and enlargements are ui'e- iul and juft.
The Arminians, ( T know not, whether thro’ igno- rance, or to ferre a turn) afFeCt, at prefenr, to give out. That Luther and Calvin were not agreed in the article of Predejt-i nation. A more palpable miftake was never advanced. So far is it from being true, that Luther (as I can ealily prove it called to it) went as heartily into that doctrine as Calvin himfelf. He even allerted it with much more warmth, and proceeded to much hiirjbcr lengths in defending it, than Calvin ever did, or any other writer 1 have met with of that age.— In the following performance, I have, for the mod part, care¬ fully retained Zanchy’s quotations from Luther, that the reader from the fainple, there given, might form a juft idea of Luther’s real fentiments concerning the points in queftion.
Never was a publication of this kind more feafonab Ic than at prefent. Arminianifin is the grand religious evil of this age and country. It has, more or lefs infected every Pro- teftant denomination ainon gft us, and bids fair for leaving us in a fnort time, not fo much as the very profejjion of godlinefs. The /><?iiwofChriftianity has, for the inoftpart taken its flight long ago ; and even the form of it ieems to beon the point of bidding us farewell. Time has been, when the Calviniftic dodtrines were conftdered and de¬ fended as the Palladium of our Eftabliihed Church, by her Bilhops and Clergv ; by the Univerftties and the whole body of the Laity. It was (during the reigns of Edward VI. Queen Elizabeth, James Land the greater part of Charles I.) as difficult to meet with a Clergy¬ man, who did not preach the doctrines of the Church of England as it is now to find one who does.-— We have generally forfaken the principles of the Reformation ; and Icbahod. , or, Thy glory is departed , has been written on mod: of our pulpiis and church-doors ever lince.
“ Thou, Q God, haft brought a vine out of “ Egy t ; thou caft out the heathen, and planted it.
" Thou preparedft room before it, and didlt caufe it “ to take deep root j and it filled the laud.
*' The
“ The hills were covered with the fhadow of it, and “ the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
“ She lent out her boughs to the lea, and her branches “ unto the river.
“ Why half thou then broken down her hedges, fo “ that all they, who pafs by the way, do pluck her?
“ The boar, out of the wood, doth wafte it ; and the “ wild bead: of the field doth devour it.
“ Return we befeech thee, O God of hods ! Look “ down from heaven, and behold and vilit this vine ;
“ And the vineyard, which thy right hand hath plant” “ ed; and the branch that thou madeftftrong Jor thyfelf!
“ So will we not go back from thee : quicken us, and “ vve lhall call upon thy name.
“ Turn us again, O Lord God of hods ! caufe thy “ face to Ihine, and we lhall yet be laved.” Pfalm lxxx.
Never was defcription more drikingly expreliivc of the date our national church is, at prefent, ill ! Never was /application more pertinently adapted to th@ lips of her genuine Jons !
In vain do we lament the progrefs of Popery ; in vain do we Ihut up a few private mafs-houfes ; while our prejfes teem, and our pulpits ring, with the Romijh dodtrines of Merit and Free-will : dodtrines whole native and inevitable tendency is, to frriooth the paf- fage for our fuller coalition with Antichrijl. If we are really delirous, to limn committing l'piritual Adultery with the mother of harlots and abominations ; we mull withdraw our feet from the way that leadetb to her houfi.
Blefled be God, the doctrines of grace are again be¬ ginning to lift up their heads amongd us : a ben, it it to be hoped, that the Holy Spirit hath not quite for- faken us ; and that our redemption , from the prevailing errors of the day, drawetb near. Now, if ever, is the time, for all who love our church and nation in lin- cerity, to lend an helping hand to the Ark , and con¬ tribute, though ever fo little to its return.
The grand objection, ufitally made to that impor¬ tant truth, which is the main fubjedt of the enduing Iheets ; proceeds on a l’uppoiition of partially in God, Should the Caiviniilic doctrine be admitted.— If this
coufequence
[ 1
confequence did really follow, I fee not how it would authorize man to arraign the conduct of Deity. Should an earthly friend make me a prefent of 1 0,000 1. would it not be unrcafonable , ungrateful , and prefumptuous in me, to refuje the gitt, and revile the giver, only bc- caufe it might not be his pleafure to confer the fame favour on my next-door neighbour ?— In other oaf s, the value of a privilege, or of a pofieffion, is enhanced , by its fcarcenefs. A virtuofo , fets but little efeein on a medal, a ifatue, or a vafe, fo common, that every man, who pleafes, may have one of the fame kind : he prizes that alone, as a rarity, which really is fuch ; and which is not only intrinfically valuable, but which lies in few hands.— Were all men, here upon earth, qualified and enabled to appear as Kings ; the crown, the feeptre, the robe of fate, and other enfigns of Ma- jefly, would prefently fink into things hardly notice¬ able. The difiinguifhing grandeurs of Royalty, by ceaiing to be uncommon, would quickly ceafe to be augujl and fr iking. Upon this principle it was, that Henry IV. of Franc?, i'aidon his birth-day, ‘I was born ‘ as on this day ; and, no doubt, taking the world ‘ through, thoufands were born on the fame day with ‘ me : yet, out of all thofe thoufands, I am, perhaps,
* the only one whom God hath made a King. How ‘ fignally am I indebted to the peculiar bounty ot his
* Providence !’-— Similar are the reflections and the acknowledgment ot fuch perfons, as are favoured with the lenfe of their Elehlion in Chrift to hoiinefs and heaven.
1 But v.'hat lecomes of the non-elett ?’ You have no¬ thing to do with fuch a qucllion, if you find yourfelf embarrafled and diftrefied with the conlideration of it. Blefs God for his electing love : and leave him to aft as he pleafes by them that are without. S-imply ac- quiefee in the plain Scripture-account, and with tQ fee no‘farther, than Revelation holds the lamp. ’ 'Pis enough for you to know, That the Judge of the whole earth will do right.— Yet, will you reap much improve¬ ment from th? view of predefiination, in its full ex¬ tent, if your eyes ..re able ftedfaftly to look at all
which.
[ « 3
which God hath made known concerning it. But, if your Spiritual light is weak, forego the enquiry, fo far as reprobation is concerned ; and be con ten- to know but in part , till death tranfmits you to that perfect: date, where you (hall know even as you are known. Say not, therefore, as the oppofers of thefe dodirines did in St. Paul’s days ; JVby doth God find fault with the wicked? For who hath refifteil his will ? ‘If he, who only can ‘ convert them, refrains from doing it ; what room is ‘ there for blaming them that perilh, feeing it is im- ‘ pollible to reiift the will of the Almighty ?’ Be Satis¬ fied with St. Paul’s anfwer : “ Nay, but who art thou “ O man, that replied againd God?” TheApodle hin¬ ges the matter entirely on God’s abfolute fovereignty% There he reds it ; and there w ought to leave it. * Were the whole of mankind equally loved of God, end promifaioufiy redeemed by Chrid ; the Jong , which believers are directed to ling, would hardly run in thefe admiring drains : “ To him that hath loved us, and “ walked us from our tins in his own blood, and hath “ made us Kings and Prieds unto God, Sic.” Rev. i. 6. An hymn of praife, like this, feems evident¬ ly to proceed on the hypothefis of peculiar Election, on the part of God ; and of a limited redemption , on the part of Chrid : which we find dill more explicitly de¬ clared, Rev. v. 9. where we have a tranfcript of that
* Some of the more conliderate Heathens treated God’s hidden will, with an adoring reverence, which many of our modern Arminians would do well to imi¬ tate. Thus Biou (Kleod. Murs. 10.)
‘ ’Tis not for man to fit iri judgment on the actions « of God.’
So Theognis (Guam, iqr, 142.)
‘ We men are foolifii in our imaginations and know ‘ nothing :
4 But the Gods accomplilli all things according to ‘ their own mind.’
And again, (iin. 687, 688.)
‘ ’Tis not lawful for mortals, to enter the lids with ‘ the Gods, nor to bring in an accufation againd them.’
[ X ]
forig, which the fbirits of juft men. made perfeft are ncfv iinging before the Throne, and before the Lamb: “ Thou* waft llain, and haft redeemed us unto God, by “ thy blood, out of every kindred, anft tongue, and “ people, and nation.” Whence the eleft are laid to have been redeemed from among men. Rev. xiv.
In fhort there is no fuch thing as cajualty or accident , even in things of temporal concern: much lei's, in mat¬ ters fpiritual and ever lading. If the univerfe had a Maker , it muft have a Governor : and, if it has a Go¬ vernor, his will and providence muft extend to all thing 's , without exception. For my own part, I can difeern no medium between ablolute Predeftin.ition, and blank Atheifm.
Mr. Roll in, if I offtake not, has, fomewhere, a fine obfervation, to this efteft : That ‘ It is ufual,
‘ with God, fo carefully to conceal himfelf, and to ‘ hide the Agency of his Providence behind fecond ‘ caufes ; as to render That, very often, undil'ce;nable, ‘and indiftraguifhable from The/ef Which wifdom of conduct, and gentlenel's of operation (not lei's efficacious, becaufe gentle and invifible) inftead of exciting the ad¬ miration t.\ey deferve ; have, on the contrary, given occafion to the letting up of that unreal idol of the brain, called chance < Whereas, to ufe the lovely lines of our great moral poet,
Ail Nature is hut Art unknovm to thee ;
All Chance, Direction which thou canjl not fee.
Words are' only lo far valuable, as they are the ve¬ hicles of meaning. And meaning, or ideas , derive their whole value from . their having fome foundation in reafon , reality and fiiH. Was I, therefore, to be concerned in drawing up an JLxpurgatory Index to lan¬ guage ; I would, without mercy, cashier and proferibe fuch words, as chance , fortune , luck, cajualty, contin¬ gency, i and mijhap. Nor unjuftly. For, they are voces, (A praeterea nihil. Mere terms , without ideas. Ablolute expletives, which import nothing. Unmeaning cyphers , either proudly, or facrihgioufy invented to hide man’s ignorance of real caufes, or to rob the Dei i y of the honours due to his Wifdom, Providence, and Power.
Reafon
t si ]
Reafcn and revelation are perfect unifons, in alluring us, That God is the Supreme, Independent Furfi Caufe ; of Whom, all fecondary and inferior caufes are no more than the effeSls. Elfe, proper originali¬ ty and abfolute wifdom, unlimited fupremacy, and al¬ mighty power, ceafe to be attributes of Deity.-— I re¬ member to have heard. an interefting anecdote of King William, and Biihop Burnet. The Arminian prelate affected to wonder, ‘ How -a perfon, of his M ajefiy’s 4 piety and good fenfe, could fo rootedly believe the 4 dodtrine of Abfolute Predef {nation The Royal Cal- vinift replied ; ‘ Did I not believe abfolute Predesti- 4 nation, I could not believe a Providence. For, 4 it would be molt abfurd to fuppofe, that a Being of 4 infinite wifdom would act without a Plan: for 4 which plan Predeftination is only another name.’
What, indeed, is Predeftination , but God’s deter, - w.nate flan of adiion ? and what is Providence, but the evolution . of that pla?i ? In his decree , God refolved, within hunfelf, what he would do, and what he would permit to be done : By his providence, this -effective and permimve will palfes into external afl, and has its pofitive accomplilhinent. So that the purpofe ol God, as it were, draws the out-lines ; and Providence lays on the colours. What that defigned, this completes : what * that ordained, this executes. Predeffinaticn is analo¬ gous to the mind and intention ; Providence, to the hand and agency of the artificer. Hence, we are told, That God w orketh [there’s hisPnoy idence] all things after the counfcl of bis own will ^[there’s -his Decree] Eph. i. ii. And again, “He doth according to hi* “will in the army of heaven and among the inhabi- “ tants of the earth : and none can fiay his band [/, e. hi,s will and the execution of it irrefillible] “ nor fay “ unto him, what doll thou ?” i. e. his purpoie and Providence are fovereign, and for which he will not be accountable to his creatures. Dan. iv.
According, therefore, to the Scripture reprelentation, Providence neither adls vaguely and at random , like a blind archer, who (hoots uncertainly in the dark, as well as he can ; nor yet pro re nata , or as the unlore -
feen
t ]
feen exigence of affairs may require : like fome blun¬ dering ftatefman, who plunges (it may be) his country and himfelf into difficulties, and then is forced to un¬ ravel his cobweb, and reverfe his plan of op. rations, as the beft remedy for thofe difaftcrs, which the court- fpider had not the wifdom to forefee. But fhall we fay this of God ? ’Twere blal'phemy. He that dwcllcth in heaven laughcth all th'efe miferable after-thoughts to /corn. GoD,w'ho can neither be over-reached nor over-pow'er- ed, has all thele poff-expedients in deriffon. He is in¬ capable of miffake. He knows no levity of will. He cannot befurprizedwith any unforeleen inconveniences. “ His throne is in heaven, and his kingdom ruleth “ over alb” Whatever, therefore, comes topafs, come* to pais as a part of the original flan : and is the off- fpring of that prolific feries of caufes and effects, which owes its birth to the ordaining and permillive will of him, in whom “ we all live, and move, and have our “ being.” Providence, in time, is the hand that deli¬ vers God’s purpofe, of thofe beings and events, with which that purpofe was pregnant from everl^ffing. The doctrine of equivocal generation is not more ablurd in philofophy, than the doctrine of unprcdcjlinated events is in theology.
Thus, the long train of things is, tho’
‘ Almighty maze, yet not without a plan.’
God’s Sovereign Will is the firft link ; his Unalterable Decree is the fecond ; and his all-adtive Providence the third in the great chain of caufes. What his will deter¬ mined, that his decree eftablifhed, and his providence ei¬ ther mediately or immediately ej/efls. His will was the adorable fpring of all : His decree mark’d out the chan¬ nel, and his providence directs the flream.— If fo, it may be objected, ’twill follow, ‘ That w hatever is, is ‘ right.’ Confequences can’t be helped. No doubt, God, who does nothing in vain ; who cannot do any thing to no purpofe , and flill lefs to a bad one ; who both ails and permits with defign, and who weighs the paths of men ; has, in the unfathomable abyfs of-his ccunfel, very important (tho’ to us lecret) reaiens, tor perrnit- ting the firft eotrar.ee of moral evil, and for flittering
both
[ xiii ]
both moral and natural evil ftill to reign over fo great a part ot the creation. Unfearcbable arc bis judgments [decrees] and his w ays [the methods and dd'peniations or his Providence] pafi finding out. l' Who hath known “ the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his coun- “ iellorr For or- him, and through him, and to him, “ are all things.” Rom. ii. 33, 34, 36.— As to my- felf, I can through grace mod heartily adopt the maxim ot Bengelius, Non plus fumer e , non minus ac- cipere* : I neither wi(h to kno-ui more than God has re¬ vealed', nor to remain ignorant oj-what be has ; weal¬ ed, . I delire to advance, and to halt, juft when and where the pillar ot God’s written word Hays, cr gees forward. I am content, that the impenetrable veil, di¬ vinely interpos’d between bis purpofes and my com- preheniion, be not drawn afide, ’till faith is loft in light, and my fpirit returns to him who gave it.— But ot this 1 am allured, that echo does not reverberate found fo punctually, as the actual difpojal of things an- fwers to God’s predetermination concerning them. This cannot be denied, without dethroning Providence, as far as in us lies, and letting up fortune in its room. There is no alternative. I dely all the fophiftry cf man to ftrike out a middle way. He that made ail things, either direjls all things he has made, or has conligned them over to chance. But what is chance ? a name for nothing.
I grant, that the twin doctrines of predeftination and providence, are not without their diiftculties. But the denial of them is attended with ten thoufand times mo, e and greater. The difficulties, on one fide, are but as dull upon the balance : thofe on the other as moun¬ tains in the l’cale. To imagine, that a Being cf boundiefs wildom, power, and goodnefs, would er a e the ttniverji, and not fi- at the helm afterwards, bu tu 11 us adrift, to ffiiit -or ourfelves, like an huge vefel with¬ out a pilot ; is a fuppohf on, that iui. verts every no¬ tion of Deity, gives the lie to every p <_e in the Bible, contradicts our daily experience, and infults the com¬ mon leafon of mankind.
B _ Safifi
* Or ao TcmpovuX) cap, viin p. 302.
{ xiv ]
Saff thou the courfe of nature governs all ?
cfhe cowfe of nature is the art of God#
The whole creation, from the feraph down to the Jndivilible atom, miniders to the fupreme will, and is Wilder the fpecial obfervation, government, and direc¬ tion ol the Omnipotent Mind : who fees all, himfelf unfeen : who upholds all, himfelf unfudained ; who guides ail, himfelf guided by none ; and who changes 'ail, himfelf unchang’d.
• But does not this do/trine tend to the edablilhment of fatality f* Suppofing it even did, were it not let¬ ter to be a chriftian fatqlif, than to avow a fet of loofe, Arminian principles, which, if pulhed to their full ex¬ tent, will inevitably terminate in the ranked: atheifm ? For, without predeftination, there can be no provi¬ dence ; and, without providence, no God.— After all, what do you mean by fate ? If you mean a regular fuc- rcjfon of determined events , horn the beginning to the .end of tipie ; an uninterrupted chain , without a fingle chafm ; all depending on the eternal will and continued 1 if tience of the Great First Cause : if this is fate, it mud be owned, that it and the Scripture predefir nation are, at mod, very thinly divided ; or rather, entirely co-elffee.— But if, by fate, is meant, either a confituticn of things antecedent to the will o f God ; by which he himfelr was hound , ah origine ; and which goes on, of if if, to multiply caufes and effcfis to the exclulion of the all-pervading power and unintermit¬ ting agency of an intelligent, perpetual, and particu¬ lar providence : neither reafon nor chrf ianity allows of any fuch fate as this. Fate, thus coniidered, is jud fuch an extreme, on cne hand, as chance is, on the .other. Bojh are alike, unexifable.
It having been not unufual, with the Arminian. •writers, to tax us with adopting the fate of the ancient Stoics ; I thought it might not be unacceptable to the I'.ng liih reader, to fubjoin a brief view of what thnfe y hilofophers generally held (for they were not all exatlly of a mind) as to this particular. It will appear, to /every competent reader, from what is there given, hom ff- (he doctrine of fats, as believed and taught by
[ xv ]
the Stoics nlay be admitted, upon chriftian principle f# Having large materials by me, for fuch a work, it would have been very eafy for me to have annexed a diflertation, ot rriyoWn, upon the fubjecl : but I chofe to confine myfdf to a fmall extraff from the citations and remarks of the learned Lipfius ; who feems, in his P hyjiologia Stoicorum , to have almoft exhaufted the fubftance ot the argument, with a penetration and pre- cifion, which leave little room either tor addition or amendment. In a caufe, therefore, where the in* terefl: of truth is fo eminently concerned, I would rather retain the able Id counfel, when it can be had, than venture to be, myfdf, her i'ole advocate.
For my own particular part, I frankly conte'fs, that as far as the analogy, between the fate of the Stoics, and th e predefthtation of the Bible* holds good ; I lee
* ' Now I am in fome meafure enlightened,’ (fays a learned and amiable divine, foil living) ‘ I can eafily perceive, that it is in the adjuflment and concurrence of feemingly fortuitous circutnfomces, that the ruling power ana wifdom of God are mod evidently difpiay- ed in human affairs. Flow many fuch cafual events may we remark in the hiftory of Jofepb, which had each a neceffary influence in his enfuing promotion ! --If the Midianites had palled by a day i'ooner, or a day later ; — If they had fold him to any perfon, but Potiphar; If his miflrefs had been a better woman a--~ If Pharaoh’s officers had not difpleafed their Lord : or, if any, or all thefe things had fallen out in any other manner , or time, than they did ; ail that fol¬ lowed, had been prevented : the promifes and purpofes of God concerning Ifrael, their bond¬ age, deliverances, polity, and i'ettlement, mufl have failed : and, as all thefe things, tended to and -centered in Christ, the promifed Saviour; the defat of all nations would not have appeared. Mankind had been foil in their fins, without hope ; and the coun- fels of God’s eternal love, in favour of finneis, de¬ feated. Thus we may lee a Connection between B 2 Jofeph’s
( xvi )
no reifon, why wc fhould be afhamed to acknowledge it. St. Aulbn, and many other greac and excellent men, have not fcrupled to admit both the word and the thing, properly underitood f. I am quite of Lipiius’s mind: Jit vero non avcrfabor Stoici nomen ; fid Stoici Chrilti- ani : 1 I h we no objection to being called a Stoic , fo
t you but prefix the word Chrfilinu to it.’j
•g— ■ ■— '■=2-
* Jolhph’s firft dream, and the death of our Lord
* Christ, with all its glorious confcquences. So
* ftrong, though fecret, in the concatenation be- ‘ ween the great e/1 and the fualkf events !— What a ‘comfortable thought is this to a believer, to know ‘ that amid It allthe various, interfering deiigns of men;
‘ th” Lord has one conflant deiign, which he cannot,
‘ will not mil's : namely, his own glory, in ihecom- ‘ plete falvation of his people ! and that he is wife,
* and ftrong, and f;.i:hful, to make even thofe things,
‘ which feem contrary to this defign, fubfervient to pro-
* mote it !’ See p. <;6. 8r leq. ot a molt entertaining and inltrudtive piece, entitled, An Authentic Narrative of feme ran (triable a»l Interefuig particulars in the life of
*-**•*#, in a [erics- -of letters, i/bij.
+ Fora fample, the learned reader may perufe the ju- rlicious chapter, De Fato , in Abp. Bradwardin’s irn mor¬ tal ,book, De Claufa Dei, lib. i. cap. 28. j Oper. T. i. fief Pof hitm. cap. in p. 1 1 8.
OBSERVATIONS
OBSERYATIO
ON THE
ivine Attributes
NECESSARY to EE PREMISED,
In order to our better tmderftanclmg the Dodtrine of Predestination.
^^fLTHO- the great and everblefied
; « a ..
a'
and
, „ xi
ffxMx I
God is a being abfolutely fimple , infinitely remote from all Ihab-'-.v or compofition \ he is, neverthelefs, in condefcenfion to our weak and con¬ tracted faculties, reprefented in Scrip¬ ture, as poffefled of diners properties or attributes, which, though feemingly different from his ejjince , are, in reality, effential to him, and edeui- tutive of his very nature.
Or thefe attributes, thofe on which we {hall now particularly defcant (as being more immediately con¬ cerned in the en fuing fubjeft) are the following ones : i. Rif eternal wifdom and forekntnvkJge. 2. The abso¬ lute freeiom and liberty of his will. 3. The perpetuity
cbiingcablencfi-
both ot himielf
M
and his decrees.
and un
4. Kis omnipotence. 4. ITs jnjlice. 6. His. mercy.
Without an explication ot thefe. the cta&rine ot pre- deftination cannot be fo well un-sk r flood ; we fla b, therefore, britliy confider them, by way of preliminary to the main fubjedc,
3 j I. With
[ i* j
T. With refpeft to the divine wifdom and forelnow - ledge, 1 fhaii lay down the followi n g pajltions.
Pof. i. God is, and always was l'o perfectly wife, that nothing ever did, or does, or can elude his know¬ ledge. He knew, from all eternity, not only what he himfelf intended to do, but all'o what lie would incline and permit others to do. Adis. xv. ill. “ Known unto
God are all his works, from eternity.”
Pof. 2. Confequently, God knows nothing now, nor will know any thing hereafter, which he did not know and forefee from everlaFing; his foreknowledge being co-eternal with himfelf, and extending to every thing that is or fhall be done. Heb. iv. 13. u All things,” which comprizes pall, prelent ana future, “ are naked “ and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to “ do.”
Pof. 3. This foreknowledge of God is not conjedlu- ral and uncertain, (for then it would not be foreknow¬ ledge) but moll fure and infallible ; fo that whatever he loreknows to be future, fhall neceifarily and un¬ doubtedly come to pals. For, his knowledge can no more be iruftrated, or his wildom be deceived, than he can ccale to be God. Nay, could either of thefe be the cafe, he actually would ceafe to be God ; all mif- <ake and difappointment being abfolutely incompatible with the divine nature.
Pof. 4. The influence which the divine foreknow¬ ledge has 011 the certain futurition of the things fore- kno.vn, does not render the intervention ol fecond caufes needlels, nor deftroy the nature of the things themfelves.
My meaning is, that the prefcience of God does not lay any coercive necellity on the wills of beings natu¬ rally free. For inilance, man, even in his fallen Fate, is endued with a natural freedom of will ; yet he adls, from the firtl to the laid moment of his life, in abfolute fubferviency (though, perhaps, he does not know it nor defign it) to the purpofes and decrees of God concern¬ ing him ; notwithFanding which, he is fenfible of no compulffon , but afts as freely and voluntarily, as if he was jui juris , fubjedt to no controul, and abfolutely
lord
[ i9 3
lord of liimfelf. This made Luther *, after he had Ihewn how all things necedarily and inevitably come to pais, in confequence of the fovereign will and infallible foreknowledge of God, fay, that ‘ We fhould carefully ‘ diftinguilh between a neceffity of infallibility, and ane- ‘ ceility of coadlion ; lince both good and evil men, tho’ * by their actions they fulfil the decree and appoint- ‘ ment of God, yet are not forcibly conftrained to do ‘ any thing, but adt willingly'
Pof. 5. God’s foreknowledge, taken abftradtedly, is not the 1'ole caufe of beings and events ; but his will and foreknowledge together. Hence we find, Adds ii. 2 j. that his determinate counfel and foreknowledge add in concert ; the latter rel'ulting from, and being lounded on the former.
We pafs on,
II. To coniider the will of God : with regard to which we afiert as follows.
Pof. i. The Deity is poflefled not only of infinite knowledge, but likewife of abfolute liberty of will ; fo that whatever he does, or permits to be done, he does and permits freely , and of his own good pleafure.
Confequently, ’tis bis tree pleafure to permit fn ; fince, without his pennilfion, neither men nor devils can do any thing. Now, to permit , is at leaf the fame as not to hinder , tho’ it be in our power to hinder if we pleafe ; and this permifiion, or non-hindrance, is cer¬ tainly an add ot the divine will. Hence Auftin -j- fays,
‘ Thofe things which feemingly thwart the divine will,
‘ are, neverthslefs agreeable to it ; for, it God did not 4 permit them, they could not be done ; and whatever 4 God permits, he permits freely and willingly. He 4 does nothing, neither luffers any thing to be done 4 again.fi: his own will.’ And Luther j obf.rves, that 4 God permitted Adam to fall into lin, becaufe he 4 willed that he fhculd fo fall.’
Pof. 2. Although the will ot God, conndered in it- felf, is limply one and the fame ; yet, in condefceniion
to
* De Serv. Arb. cap. 44, -j- Enchir, cap. 100,
t. De Serv. Arb. c. 153.
to the prefent capacities of men, the divine will is very properly diftingtlifhed inform?/ and revealed. Thus it was his revealed will, that Pharaoh lhould let the lfra- elites go; that Abraham fhould facrif.ce his fon ; and that Peter fhoulu not deny Chrift : but, as was proved by the event, that it was his fecrct will that Pharaoh lhould not let Ifrael go, Exod. iv. 21. that Abraham lhould not facrifice Ifaac, Gen. xxii. 12. and that Peter J!)ould deny his Lord, Matth. xxvi. 34.
Pof. 3. The will of God, relpecting the falvation and condemnation of men, is never contrary to itfelf ; he immutably wills the falvation of the elect, and vice verfa : nor can he ever vary or deviate from his own will in any infiance whatever, fo as that that lhould be done which he willeth not ; or that not be brought to pafs which he willeth. Ifai. xlvi. 10. “ My counfel fhall “ Hand, and I v.'ill do all my pleafure.” Pfalm xxxiii. 11. “ The counfel of the Lord ftandeth for ever, and “ the thoughts ot his heart to all generations.” Job xxiii. 13, 14. “ He is in one mind, whocan turn him? “ and what his foul defireth, even that he doth ; for “ he performeth the thing that is appointed for me ; “ and many fuch things are with him.” Eph. i. ir. “ Being p;edeflinated, according to the purpofe of “ him, who worketh all things after the counfel of “ his own will.”
Thus, for infiance, Hophni and Phlneas “ hearkened “ not to the voice of their father,” who reproved them for their wickedness, “ becaufe the Lord would flay “ them.” 1 Sam. it. 2:. and Sihon, King of Heil bon, would not receive the peaceable meffage lent him by Moles, becartfe “ the Lotd God bardned hisfpiiir, and “ made his heart obf.inate, that he might deliver him “ into the hand 01 Ifraei.” Dent. ii. 26, 30. Thus alio, to add no mere, we find that there have been, and ever will be fotne, whole eyes God blindeth, and whole hearts he hardneth, /. e. whom God permits to conti¬ nue blind and hardned, on purpofe to prevent their feeing with their eyes, and undertbanding with their hearts, and to hinder their converliori to God, and lpi- ritual hearing bv him, Ifai, vi. 9. John xii. 30, 40.
[ 21 ]
Pof. 4. Eecanfe God’s will of precept may, in feme inllances, appear to thwart his will of determination ; it does not follow, either, 1. That he mocks his crea¬ tures ; or, 2. That they are exculable tor neglecting to o bier ve his will of command.
(1.) He does not hereby mock his creatures ; for, if men do not believe his word, nor obferve his precepts, the fault is not in him, but in themfelves t their unbe¬ lief and dilobedience are not owing to any ill infufed into them by God, but to the vitiofty of their depraved nature, and the perverfenefs of their own wills. Now,- if God invited all men to come to him, and then fhut the door of mercy againfl any who were defirous of en¬ tering, his invitation would be a mockery,- and unwor¬ thy of himfelf ; but we inlift on it, that he does not in¬ vite all men to come to him in a faving way, and that every individual perfo'n , who- is, through His gracious in¬ fluence on his heart, made willing to come to him, fhall, looner or later, he furely faved by him, and that with an everlafting falvation. (2.) Man is not excu- fable for negleffing God’s., will of command. Pharaoh was faulty, and therefore juftiy punithable, for not obeying God’s revealed will, though God’s fecret will rendered that obedience impoffible. Abraham would have committed fin, had he refufed to facrifice Il'aac ; and, in looking to God’s fecret w ill, would have ached counter to his revealed ohe. So Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the reprobate jews, were juftiy condemned for put¬ ting Chrill to death, inafmuch as it was a mod notori¬ ous breach of God’s revealed will, “ Thou lhalt do no “ murder yet, in flaying the Meffiah, they did no more than God’s hand and his counfcl , i. e. his fecret, ordaining will, determined before f-ouldbe done. Acts iv. 27, 28. and Judas is juftiy puniihed for perfidioufly and wickedly betraying Chrift, though his perfidy and wick- tdnefs were (but not with his delign) fublervient to the accompliihiTient of the decree and word of God.
The brief of the matter is this ; fecret things be¬ long to God, and thofe that are revealed belong to us : therefore, when we meet with a plain precept, we fl.ould Amply endeavour to obey it, without tarrying to
enquire
[ 22 ]
enquire into God’s hidden purpofe. Venerable Bitter,, after taking notice how God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and making fome oblervations on the A po file’s iimile of a potter ana his clay ; adds, * that ‘ Though God ‘ has at lead the fame right over his creatures, and is
* at liberty to make them what he will, and dtreifl them ‘ to the end that pleafeth himfelt, according to his fo- ‘ vereign and fecret determination ; yet it by no means ‘ follows, that they do not aft freely and fpontaneoully, ‘ or that the evil they commit is to be charged on God.’
Pof. 4. God’s hidden will is peremptory and abfolute : and therefore cannot be hindred from taking elled.
God’s will is nothing elfe than God himfelf willing : confequently, it is omnipotent and unfruftrable. Hence w.e find it termed, by Auftin and the fchoolmen, volun¬ tas omnipotentijjima ; becaufe, whatever God Wills, can¬ not fail of being effected. This made Auftin fay, f ‘ Evil men do tnany things contrary to God’s revealed
* will ; but fo great is his wifdorn, and fo inviolable his ‘ truth, that he dircdls all things into thofe channels ‘ which he foreknew.’ And again, | ‘ No freewill of
* the creature can refill the will of God ; for man can-
* not fo will, or nill, as to obllruff the divine determi-
* nation, or overcome the divine power.’ Once more, ||
‘ It c.mnot be queftioned, blit God does all things, and
* ever did, according to his own purpofe ; the human ‘ will cannot refill him, fo as to.make him do more or ‘ lefs than it is his pleafure to do ; quandoquidem etiani ‘ de ipjis hominum voluntatibus quod vult facit , fince he ‘ does what he pleafes even with the wills of men.’
Pof. 6. Whatever comes to pals, comes to pafs by vir¬ tue ot this abfolute, omnipotent will of God, which is the primary and iupreme caufe of all things. Rev. iv,
1 1. “ Thou hall created all things, and for thy plea- “ fure they are and were created.” Pfalm cxv. 3. “ Our “ God is in the heavens ; he hath done whatloever he “ pleafed.” Dan. iv. 3 r. “ He doth according to his “ will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabi- “ tants of the earth ; and none can Hay his hand, or
“ fa y
* Bucer ad Rom. ix. -f- De Civ. Dei. 1. 22. c. 1.
£ De Coir. & Grat. c. 14. |j Ibid.
[ s3 ]
u fay unto him, What dofl thou ?” Pfalm c xsxv. 6. “ V/hatfoever the Lord pleafed, that did he in heaven, 4‘ and in earth, in the feas, and all deep places.” Mat. 2. 29. “ Are not two fparrovvs fold lor a farthing? and “ one of them (hall not fall to the ground, without your ■“ father.” To all .which, Ault’n iubfcribes, when he fays, * ‘ Nothing is done, Jbut what the Almighty c wills Ihould be done, either efficiently or permiffively.5 As does Luther, whofe words are thefe, -j- ‘ This there- ‘ fore muft hand ; to wit, the tinfearchable will of 4 God, without which nothing exifts or adds.’ And again, c. 160. ‘ God would not be luch, if he was not ‘ almighty, and if any thing could be done without
* him.’ And el fe where, c. 1 38,. he quotes thefe words of Erafmus : ‘ Suppoling there was an earthly Prince 4 who could do whatever he would, and none were able 4 to refill him ; we might fafely lay of fuch an one, that 4 he would certainly fulfil his own delire : in like man-
* ner, the will of God, which is the firft caufe of all 4 things, fhould feem to lay .3 kind of neceffity upon 4 our wills.’ This Luther approves of, and fubjoins,
‘ Thanks be to God, for this orthodox paflage in Eraf- 4 mus’s difcourfe ! But, if this be true, what becomes ® of his doffrine of' free-will, which be, at other times, 4 fo llrenuoufly contends for ?’
P of. 7. The will of God is fo the caufe of all things., as to be, itfelf, without caufe : for nothing can be the caufe of that, which is the caufe o.f every thing.
So that the divine will is the ne plus ultra of all our enquiries : when we afcend to that, we can go no far¬ ther. Hence we find every matter refolved, ultimately, into the mere fo-vereign pleafure of God , as the fpring and occafion of whatfoever is dope in heaven and earth. Mat. xi. 2$. “ Thou haft hid thefe things from the •“ wife and prudent, and halt revealed them unto babes: “ even fo, Father, for fo it leemed good in thy fight.” Luke xii. 32. “ It is your Father’s good pl$afure to
give you the kingdom.” Mat. viii. 3. “ I will : be “ thou clean.” Mark iii. 13. “ He went up into a “ mountain, and called unto him whom he would.’*
Jmh.
* Tom. 3. in Enchir. f De SefV, Arb. c. 143.
In)
Jnm. i. 1 8. “ Of his own will begat he us, with the “ word of truth.” John i. 13. “ Which were born, “ net of blood, nor of the will of the flelh, nor of the “ will of man, but ot God.” Rom. ix. i£, 18. “ I will “ have mercy on whom I will 1 ave mercy, and I will “ have compaffion on -/horn I will have companion. “ Therefore, he hath mercy on whom he will have “ mercy, and whom he will he hardneth.” And no wonder that the will of God ibould be the main fpring that lets all inferior wheels in motion, and Ihould like- wile be the rule by which he goes in all his dealings with his creatures ; lince nothing out of God, i. e. ex¬ terior to himfelf, can pollibly induce him to will or nill one thing, rather than another. Deny this, and you at one ib'oke, deftroy his immutability and independency: lince he can never be independent, who adds pro re natay as emergency requires, and whole will is l'ulpended on that of others ; nor unchangeable, whofe purpofes vary and take all fhapes, according as the perfbn and things vary, who are the objedls ot thofe purpofes. The only realbn, then, that can be affigned, Why the Deity does this, or omits that, is, lecaufe it is bis own free plcafure. Luther, * in anlvver to that queltion, ‘ Whence it was ‘ that Adam was permitted to fall, and corrupt his whole ‘ polferity ; when God could have prevented his fall- ‘ ing,’ &c. fays, ‘ God is a being, whofe will acknow- ‘ ledges no caufe ; neither is it for us to preferibe rules ‘ to his fovereign pleafure, or call him to account for ‘what he does. Pie has neither fuperior nor equal :
‘ and his will is the rule of all things. He did not ‘ therefore will fuch and fuch things, becaufe they ‘ were in themfelves right, and he was bonrir to will them;
‘ but they are therefore equitable and right, becaufe ‘ he wills them. The will of man, indeed may be in- * fiuenced and moved ; but God’s will never can. To ‘ afiert the contrary, is to unfeijy him.’ Eucer likewile obferves,-;- ‘ God has no other motive for w hat he does,
‘ than ipfa voluntas , his own mere will, which will is fo ‘ far trorn being unrighteous, that it is juflice itfelf.’ Tof. 8. Since, as was lately obferved, the determin¬ ing
* De Serv. Arb. c. 153. t Ad Rom. ix.
C 25 1
Srsg will of 'God, being omnipotent, cannot be obftrueL ed or made void ; it follows, that he never did, nor does he now will that every individual of mankind fnould be laved.
If this was his will, not one Angle foul could ever be loft ; (for who hath refitted his will ?) and he would lu rely afford all men thofe effectual' means of falvation, without which it cannot be had. Now, God could af¬ ford thefe means as eafily to all mankind, as to fome only : but experience proves that he does not-, and the reafon is equally plain, namely, that he null l not ; for, “ whatfoever the Ldrd pleafeth, that does he in hea- 44 ven and on earth.” ’Tis laid indeed by the Apoftle,
1 that 44 God would have all men laved, and come to the “ knowledge of the truth i e. as Auftin, * coniift- ently with other fcriptures, explains the palfage, ‘ God 4 will fave fome out of the whole race of mankind/ that is, perfons of all nations, kindreds and tongues. Nay, he will lave all men, /. e. as the lame father ob- ferves, ‘ every kind of men, or men of every kind,’ namely, the whole election oF grace, be they bond or free, noble or ignoble, rich or poor, male or female. Add to this, that it evidently militates againft the moje- fty, omnipotence and fupremacy of God, to fuppoie that he can either will- any thing in vain, or that any thing can take'effatt -agalnfl bis will ; therefore, Bucer obferves, very rightly, ad Rom. ix. ‘ God doth not will 4 the falvation of reprobates ; feeing he hath not chofen 4 them, neither created them to that, end.’ Confonant to which are thofe words of Luther, f ‘ This mightily ( offends our rational nature, that God fhould, of his 4 own mere unbiased will, leave fome men to them- ‘ felves, harden them, and then condemn them ; but ‘ he has given abundant demonftrafion, and does con- 4 tinually, that this is really the cafe ; namely, that the 4 foie -ca ufe, why fome are faved and others perifn, pfo- 4 ceeds from his willing the falvation of the former, and 4 the perdition of the latter, according to that of Paul/ C “ He
* Enchir. c. 103, oc de Corr. Si Gr, c. 14. f De Serv. Arb. c. 161.
C 2.6 ]
■f He hath mercy on w hom he vviii have mercy, and ■ ‘ whom he will he hardneth.”
FoJ'% 9. As God doth not will that each individual of mankind frould he faved ; fo neither did" he w ill that Chrift fhould properly and immediately die tor each Individual of mankind : w hence it follows, that though the blood of Chrili^from its own intrinlic dignity, was fofficiait for the redemption of all men ; yet, in confe- quence of his Father’s appointment, he feed it intention¬ ally, and therefore ef'cFiiiatly and immediately for the elect only.
This is felf-evident. God, as ;ve have before prov¬ ed, wills not the falvation of etcry man ; but he gavp his Fon to die for them whofe lalvation he willed; therefore, his Son did not die for every man. AH thofe, tor whom Chilli died, are faved ; and the divine juftice inchlpenfabl}' requires, that to them the benefits of his death Should be imparted : but only the eh<51 are laved; they only partake of thofe benefits; confie- quently, for them only he died and intercedes. The /rpoftle, Kern. viii. afksji “ Who •.hall lay any thing to *■ the charge of God’s eledl ? it is God that jufiifies,” z, e. l.is elcdt, exclufively of others : “ Who is he that *• condemr.eth ? It is Chrifi that died” for them, ex¬ clufively of others. The plain meaning of the paf- fage is, that thofe whom God jufiifies, and for whom Ghrift died (jiiflification and redemption being of ex- t.flly the fame extent) cannot be condemned. Thefe privileges are exprefsly re ft rained to the el eft ; there- iore Gcd jufiifies and Chrill died for them , alone.
In the fame chapter, Paul afks ;■ “ lie that fpared “ not his own Son, but delivered him up for 11s all,” [/. e. for all us‘ekdl perfor.s] “ how fl ail he not, with '• him, alio freely give us all things f” /. c. falvation, end till things necefiary to it. Now, ’tis certain, that t qcie are not given to every individual ; and yet, if Paul fays true,’ they are given to all thofe for whom (. brill was dilivercd to death ; ccnfequently, he was ret delivered to death for every individual. To the W.r e jurpefe St. Aufiin argues, in Jcban, trcFl. 4 p
col.
[ n i
col. 334. lienee that faying of Airibrofe, * 1 Si M'.t
* creJis non till pajftus eft, L e. if you are an unbeliever, ‘ Chrifi did not die tor you.5 Meaning, that whoever is left under the power of final Unbelief, is thereby evi¬ denced to be one of thole tor whom Chriit did not die ; but that all, tor whom he buffered, (hall be, in this life, fooner or later, endued with faith. The church of Smyrna, in their letter to the dlccefes of Pdntus, infi't every where on the d offline' of tpecial redemption f . Bucer, in all parts of his works, obferves, that 1 Chriit
* died refiruffively for the eleeff only j but tor them uni- ‘ vcrfally.5
Fof. io. From what has been laid down, it follows, that Auftin, Luther, Bucer, the fcholaftie divines, and other learned writers, are not to be blamed lor alien¬ ing, that ‘ God may, in foine feme be faid to- will the ‘ being and commiifioa of fin.’ For, was this contra! .<■ t > his determining will of perniiifion, either he won .1 not be omnipotent, or fin could have no place in the world : but he is omnipotent, and fin has piece in tied World : which it could not have if God willed other- wife ; lor, “ Who hath refitted his will r” Rom. ir. No one can deny that God permits fin : but he neither permits it ignorantly nor • unwillingly ; therefore, knowingly and willingly. Gib.7. Au lb. Ench’r. c. g6» Luther ftedfaffly maintains this in -his book, De Scrv. Arbitr. and Bucer, in Rom. i. However, it Ihquld bo carefully noticed, (i.) That God’s permilfion off i does not arife from his taking dclhht in it : on the cor.- trary, fin, as fin, is the abominable thing that his foul hateth : and his efficacious permilfion of it is for wife and good purpofes. Whence that obfervation of Aaftin, l ( God, who is no lefs omnipotent, than he is fu- ‘ preinely and perfectly holy, would never have pe. - ‘ initted evil to enter among his works, but in order 4 that he might do good even with that evil,5 i. e. over¬ rule it for good in the end. (2.) That God’s" free and voluntary permilfion of fin lays no man under any fo. - able or compulfive necelfity ol committing it : confc- C 2 quently,
* Ambrof. tom. 2. de fid. ad Grat. 1. 4. c. i. t Vid. Eufcb. hilt, 1. 4. c. 10. j Eavhir, c, 1 1.
[ =8 ]
/fluently, the Deity can by no means be termed the au¬ thor of moral evil ; to which he is not, in the proper fenfe of the word, accefiary, but only remotely or ne¬ gatively fo, inafmuch as lie could, if he plealed, abfo- lutely prevent it.
V\ e fhould, therefore, be careful not to give up the omnipotence of God, under a pretence of exalting his hoiineis : he is infinite in both, and therefore neither Gould be let alide or obfcurecf. To fay that God .• fo - lutely nills the being and commiif on of fin, while expe¬ rience convinces us that fin is adfed every day ; is to represent the Deity as a weak, impotent being, who would fain have tfrings go otherwise then they do, but cannot accomplilh his defire. On the other hand, to Jay that he wiileth fin, doth not in the lealb detracf from the hoiineis and reblitudc of his nature , becaufe, whatever God wills, as well as whatever he does, can¬ not be eventually evil : materially evil it may be; bntv as was juft faid, it mult ultimately be diredted to fome wife and juft end, otherwile he could not will it : for his will is righteous and gocd, and the foie rule of tight and wrong, as is often obferved byr Aufiin, Luther, and others.
Pof 1 1. In confequence of God’s immutable will and infallible foreknowledge, whatever things come to- pals, come to pafs neccfarily ; though, with refpect to fecond caufes, and us men, many things are contingent: i. e. unexpc&ecl , and fccwingly accidental.
That this was the dc&rine of Luther, none can de¬ le-, who are in any meafure acquainted with his works: particularly with his treatife, De Servo Arlitrio-, or,. Free-will a Jlave : the main drift cf which book is, to prove, that the. will of man is by nature enfiaved to evil ' only, and, becaufe it is fond of that flavery, is therefore laid to be free. Among other matters, he proves there, that 4 Whatever man does, he does nc erf drily, though ‘ not with snyT feniible eompulfion : and that w e 'can only ‘ do H'hat God from eternity w'illed and foreknew we ‘ f iiSJ; which w ill of God muft be efiectual, and his 4 (brefight muft be certain.’ Hence we find him faying,*
4 It
- Cap. 17. in Refp. ad Praef.
C 29 ]
8 It is moll neeelTary and falutary tor a Chrifoan to be 8 allured, that God foreknows nothing uncertainly ; but 8 that he determines, and forefees, and affs, in all things 8 according to his own etern al, immutable, and infallible 8 will adding, 8 Hereby, as with a thunderbolt, is 8 man’s free-will thrown down and deflroyed.’ A little after, he (hews in what fenle he took the word nceejjitj ;
8 By it,’ fays he, 8 I do not mean that the will hitlers 8 any forcible conjlraint , or co-acbion ; but the infallible 8 accomplishment of thole things, which the immutable 8 Go 1 decreed and foreknew concerning us.’ H ; goes on : 8 Neither the divine nor human will does any 8 thing by confoaint : but, whatever man does, be it 8 good or bad, he does with as much appetite and wil- 6 lingnefs, as if his will was really free. But, after all,
8 the will of God is certain and unalterable, and is the 8 governefs of ours.’ Exactly eon ion ant to all which are thole words of Luther’s friend and fellow labourer, Melandihon : * 8 All things turn out according to di- 8 vine predefonatioii ; not only the Works wc do out- 8 wardiy, but even the thoughts we think inwardly adding, in the fame place, 8 There is no fuch thing as 8 chance or fortune ; nor is there a readier way to gain 8 the fear of God, and to put our whole tru'd in him,
8 than to be thoroughly verfed in the dobtrine or Pre- 8 defoliation.’ I could cite to the fame purpofe, Aullin, Aquinas, and many other learned men; but, for bre¬ vity’s fake, forbear. That this is the doctrine of Scrip¬ ture, every adept in thofe facred books cart not ■but ac¬ knowledge. See, particularly, Pfalm cxxxv. 6. Mafth. x. 29. Prov. xvi. 1. Matth. xxvi. ^4. Luke xxii. 2;. Abts iv. 28. Eph. i. ir. Ifai. xlvi. 10.
Pof 12. As God knows nothing now, which he did not know from all eternity ; fo he wills nothing now, which he did not will from everlafong.
This polition needs no explanation nor enforcement; it being felf-evident, that, if any thing can accede to God de novo , i, e. if he can at any time be wifer than he always was, or will that at one time, which he did not will from all eternity ; thefe dreadful conlcquences C 3 mu ft
* In Eph. 1.
[ 30 1
jiniu rnfue, (i.) That the knowledge of God is not peri-eft, farce what is absolutely perfeCf non recipit tnagis & minus, cannot admit either of addition , or detraction. It I add to any thing, it is from a fuppofal that that thing was not complete before ; ill detra ti from it, it is fuppofed that that detraction renders it lefs perfect than it was. But the knowledge of God being infinitely perfect, cannot, conliltently with that perfection, be either increafed or leilened. (2.) That the will of God is fluctuating, mutable and unfteady ; confequently, that God himfelf is fo, his will coinciding with his eifence : contrary to the avowed affurances of Scripture, and the ft rongeft dictates of reafon, as we frail prefently (hew, ’.then we come to treat of the divine immutability.
Pof. 13. The abfolute will of God is the original Spring and efficient caufe of Ids peoples’ falvation.
I fay, the original and efficient ; for, fenfu complex 0, there are other intermediate caufes of their falvation, winch however, all refirit from, and are fubfervient to this primary one, the •vdll of God. Such arc his ever- lafting choice of them to eternal life ; the eternal cove¬ nant of grace, entered into by the Trinity, in behalf of the cleCf ; the incarnation, obedience, death and inter- ceition of Chrift for them ; all which are fo many links in the great chain of caufes : and not one of thefe can betaken away, without marring and fubverting the whole gofpel plan of falvation by Jeftts Chrifr. We fee then, that the free, unbiased, fovereign will of God is the root of this tree of life, which bears fo many glori¬ ous branches, and yields fueh falutary fruits : He there¬ fore loved the eleCf, and ordained them’ to life, beeaufe lie would ; according to that of the Apoftle, “ having “ predeltinafed us— according to the good pleafure of “ his will.” Eph. i. £. Then, next after God’s covenant ihrhis people, and promiles to them, comes in the infinite merit of Ch rift’s righteoufnefs and atonement : for we were chofen to falvation in him, as members of hi3 myrtle body ; and through him, as our furety and fub- ilitute, by whofe vicarious obedience to the moral law, an l fub million to its curfe and penalty, all we, whofe pa.nes are ir> the book of life, ffiould never incur the
divine
[ 31 1
divine hatred, or be punifhed for our fins, but continue to eternity, as vve were from eternity, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Chrift. But hill, the divine grace and favour (and God extends thefe to whom he will) muff be confidered as what gave birth to the glorious feheme of redemption ; according to what our Lord himfelf teaches us, John iii. 16. “ God fo loved the world,
s‘ that he gave his only begotten Son,” and that of the Apoftle, i John iv. 9. “ In this was manifeffed
“ the love of God towards us, becaufe that he fent his “ only begotten Son into the world, that we might live “ through h'm.”
Pnf] 14. Since this abfolute will of God is both im¬ mutable and om.nipotent ; we infer, that the falvation of every one of the eledf is moft infallibly certain , and can by no means be prevented. This neeeffarily fol¬ lows from what we have already aflerted and proved concerning the Divine Will ; which, as it cannot be dilappoiuted or made void, muff undoubtedly iecure the falvation of all whom God wills Ihould be faved.
From the whole of what has been delivered under this fecond head, I would obferve, That the genuine tendency of thele truths is, not to make men indolent and carelefs, or lull them to deep on the lap of pre¬ emption and carnal iecurity ; but, (1.) To fortify the people of.Chriff againff the attacks of unbelief, and the infults of their fpiritual enemies. And what is fo fit, to guard them againff thefe, as the comfortable perfua- fion of God’s unalterable will to fave them, and of their unalienable intereff in the fare mercies of David ? (2.) To withdraw them entirely from all dependance whe¬ ther on themfelves, or any creature whatever ; to make them renounce their own righteoufnefs, no lefs than their fins, in point of reliance, and to acquiefce fweetly and fafely in the certain perpetuity of his rich favour. (3.) To excite them, from a truff of his good-will to¬ ward them, to love that God, who hath given fuch great and numberlefs proofs of his love to them ; and, in all their thoughts, words and works, to aim, as much as poffible, at his honour and glory. We were to con- iider,
ILL The
[ 1
III. The XJncbangeaileneJs , which is eiTentiaf to him-' felf and his decrees.
Pof. i. God is effentially unchangeable in himfelf. Were he otherwife, he would be confefledly imperfeft ; f nee whoever changes, muff change either tor the bet¬ ter, or for the worfe : whatever alteration any being un-^ dergocs, that being mult, ipfo faffo, either become mor ? excellent than it was, or lofe fome of the excellency which it had. But neither of thefe can be the cafe w ith the Deity : He cannot change for the better, for that would n ceffarily imply that he was not perfectly good before : He cannot change for the worfe, tor then he could not be perfectly good after that change. Ergo, God is unchangeable. And this is the uniform voice of Scripture. Mai. iii. 6. “ I am the I.ord, I ch.mge “ not.”' James i. 17. “ With him is no variablenefs, “ neither lhadow of turning.” Pfalrn cii. 27. “ Thou “ art the fame, and thy years lhall have no end.”
Pof. 2. God is likewife abfolutely unchangeable, with regard to his purpofes and promfes . Numb, xxiii. 19. “ God is not a man, that he lhould He ; neither “ the fon of man, that he lhould repent: hath he laid,
“ and (hull he not do it ? or, hath he fpake, and fhall “ he not make it good?” 1 Sam. xv. 29. “ The flrength “ of Ifrael will not lie, nor repent; for he is not a man,
“ that he lhould repent.” job. xxiii. 13. “ He is in one “ mind, and who can turn him?” Ezek. xxiv. 14. “ I,
“ the Lord, have fpoken it, it {hall come to pafs, and “ I will do it ; I will not go back, neither will I fpare,
“ neither will I repent.” Rom. xi. 29, “ The gilts and “ calling of God are without repentance.” 2 Tim. ii. 13. “ He abideth faithful, and cannot deny himfelf.”
By the purpofe , or decree , of God, we mean his de¬ terminate counf 1, whereby he did from all eternity pre¬ ordain ’whatever he lhould do, or would permit to be done, in time. In particular, it lignifies his everjalf- ing appointment of fome men to life, and of others to death: which appointment flows entirely from his own free and fovereign will. Rom. ix. “ The children not “ yet being born, neither having done any good or s< evil, (that the purpofe of God, according to ele dfion,
“ might
£>
[ 33 1
“might Hand, not of works, but of, him that, cal- “ leth) it was faid, the eider iha.il ierve the younger, : 44 as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Eiau hav^ “ I hated.”
The apoftle, then, in the very next words, antici¬ pates an objection, which, he forefaw, men of cor¬ rupt minds would make to this : “ Whatfhall we lay, 44 then ? is there unrighteoufnefs with God r” which he anfwers with, God forbid ! and refolves the whole of God’s procedure with his creatines into his own" fove reign and independent will : For he laid to Moles, 44 1 will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and 44 I will have companion on whom I will have com- 44 paffion.”
We albert, that the decrees of God are not only im¬ mutable as to himfelf it being inconliflent with his nature to alter in his puroofes, or change his mind ; but that they are immutable likewife with refpeft to the objeH of thofe decrees : fo that, whatfoever God hath determined, concerning every individual perfon or thing, fhallfurely and infallibly be accomplilhed in and upon them. Hence we find, that he actually fiieweth mercy on whom he decreed to (hew mercy, and hardeneth whom he refolved to harden. Rom. ix iS. 44 For his eounfel fliall Hand, and he will do all his 44 pleafure,” Ifai. xlvi. io. Confequently, his eternal predefiinat'on of men and things mull be immutable as himfelf, and, lo far from being reverfible, can never admit ol the lead variation.
Pof. 3. 4 Although,’ to ufe the words of Gregory, 4 God never fwerves from his decree, yet he olten va- 4 ries in his declarations That is always fure and im¬ moveable ; thefe are Ibmetimes feemingly difeordant. So, when he gave ■fentence againft the Ninevites, by Jonah, faying, 44 Y e t forty days, and Nineveh fhafl be 44 ove thrown,” the meaning of the words is, not that God abfblutely intended, at the end of that Ipace, to deftrov the city; but, that, ihould God deal with thofe people according to their defects, they would be total¬ ly extirpated from the earth : a id flioald be fo extir¬ pated, unlefs they repented lpceJily.
Likewife,
[ 34 1
Likewife, when he told King Hezekiah, by the pro¬ phet Ifaiah, “ Set thine houfe in order, lor thou lhalt “ die, and not live the meaning was, that, with rc- fpect to fecond caufes, and confidering the King’s bad Hate of health and emaciated cor.ftitution, he could not, humanly lpeaking, live much longer. Eut ilill, the event lhewed that God had immutably determined, that he fnould live fifteen years more; and, in order to that, had put it into his heart to pray for the blelling decreed: juft as, in the cafe ol Nineveh, lately mentioned, God had refolved not to overthrow that city then ; and, in order to the accomplifl.ment of his own purpofe in a way worthy of himfelf, made the ml niftry of Jonah, the means ol leading that pieople to repentance. All which, as it firevvs that God’s abfolute predeftination does not let afide the ufe ol m.ans ; fo does it likewife prove, that, however various the declarations of God may appear (to wit, when they proceed on a regard had to natural caufes) his counfels and defigns Hand firm and immoveable, and can neither admit of alteration in thcmfelves, nor ol hindrance in their exe¬ cution. See this farther explained by Bucer, in Rom. ix. where you’ll find the certainty of the divine appoint¬ ments folidly aliened and unanfvverable vindicated. We now come,
IV. To confider the Omnipotence of God.
Pof. x. God is, in the moll unlimited and abfolute fenfe of the word, Almighty. Jer. xxxii. 17, “Behold ‘£ thou haft made the heaven and the earth by thy “ great powtr and ftretched out arm, and there is no- “ thing too hard for thee.” Mat. xix. 26. “ With t£ God all things are pofiibie.” Tfie fchooimen, very properly, . diftinguiih the Omnipotence ol God into abfolute and adlttal : by the former , God m :gbt do many things which he does not ; by the latter , he actually does w hatever he will. For inftance ; God might, by virtue ol ins abfolute power, have made more worlds than he has. He might have eternally fared every in¬ dividual ol mankind, without reprobating any : on the other hand, he might, and that with the ftricleft jutlice,
have
f 35 )
have condemned all men, and fav.ed none. He could, had it been his pleasure, have prevented the fall of an¬ gels and men, and thereby have hindred iin from hav¬ ing tooting in and among his creatures. By virtue of Ids aflual power, he made the univerfe ; executes the whole counfyl of his will, both in heaven and earth ; governs and influences both men and things, according to his own pleafure ; fixes the bounds which they (hail not pafs ; and, in a word, worketh all in all, Ifai. xlv. 7. Amos. iii. 6. John v. 17. Affs. xvii. 26. 1 Cor. xii. 6.
Pof 2. Hence it folio, ws, that, fince all things are fubiect to the divine controul, God not only works et- frcaeioufly on his eie£f, in order that they may will and do that which is pleating in his light ; but does, 1 ike- wife, frequently and powerfully fuffer the wicked to fill up the mealure of their iniquities, by committing fins. Nay, lie fometimes, but for wife and gracious ends, permits his own people to tranfgrefs ; for he has the hearts and wills of all men in his own hand, and in¬ clines them to good, or delivers them up to evil, as he fees fit : yet without being the author of fin ; as Lu¬ ther, Bucer, Auffin, and others, have piouily and fcripturally taught.
This polition confifis of two parts'; (1.) That God effieacigufiy operates on the hearts of his elebl, and is the-eby the foie author of all the good they do. See Eph. iii. 20. Phil,, ii. 13. 1 Thei. ii. 13. Heb. xiii. c 1. St. Auiiin* takes up no fewer than nineteen chap¬ ters, in proving that whatever good is in men, and whatever good they are enabled to do, is folely and en¬ tirely of God ; who, fays he, ‘ works in holy perfons ‘ all their good deiires, their pious thoughts, and their 1 righteous actions ; and yet thefe holy perfons, though ‘ thus wrought upon by God, will and do all thefe ' things freely: for it is he wh.o rectifies their wills, 4 which, being originally evil, are made good by him; f and which wills, after he hath fet them right and ‘ made, them good, he dir&fts to good affions and to eternal life ; wherein he does not force their wills,
4 hut
* De Grat. & lib. Arb. a c. x. ufque ad c. 20.
t 36 ]
* birf makes' them willing.’ (2.) That God often Iet3 the wicked go on to more ungocUiriefs : which he does, •I. Negatively, by withholding that grace, which alone can reft rain them from evil. 2. Remotely, by the pro¬ vidential concourfe and mediation of fecond caules ; which fecond caufes meeting and adt.rg in concert tvith the corruption of the reprobate’s unregenei ate na¬ ture, produce lipful effedfs. 3. Judically, or in a way ofjudgment. Prov. xxi. 1. “ The King's heart “ is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of waters ; “ Pie turneth it whitherfoever he will:” And it the “ King’s heart, why not the hearts of all men r”Lam. iii. 38. “ Out of the month of the Moll High, pro- “ ceedeth not evil and good ?” Hence we find, that the Lord bid Shimei curfe David, 2 Sam. xvi. 10. That he moved David himfelf to number the people, com¬ pare 1 Chron. xxi. 1. with 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. Stirred up jofeph’s brethren to fell him into Egypt. Gen. 1. 20. Pofitively and immediately hardened the heart of Pha¬ raoh, Ex. iv. 21. Delivered up David’s wives to be defiled by Abfalom, 2 Sam. xii. 1 1. and xvi. 2 2. Sent by a lying fpirit to deceive Ahab, 1 Kings xxii. 20— 23. And mingled a perverfe fpirit in the m i did of Egypt,
1. e. made that nation pei ven-e, obdurate and fiiff-neck- ed, Ifai. xix. r_p. To cite other infiances, would be al- moft endlefs, and, after thefe, quite unnecefiary ; all being fumed up in that exprefs pafiage, Ifai. xlv. 7. “ I “ make peace and create evil ; I the Lord do all thefe “ things,” See farther, 1 Sam. xvi. i_j. Pfalm cv. 2$. Jer. xiii. 12, 13. Adds ii. 23. and iv. 28. Rom. xi. 8. 2 Thelf. ii. 11. Every one of which implies more * than a hare pertnijjiom of fin. Bucer afierts this, not on¬ ly in the place referred to below, but continually throughout his works : particularly, on Matth. vi. §
2. where this is the fenle of his comments on that pe¬ tition, Read us not into temptation : ‘ ’Tis abundantly ‘ evident, from moft exprefs tefiimonies of Scripture,
‘ that God, occalionally, in the courfeofhis provi- ‘ deuce, pints both elect and reprobate perfons into cir-
‘ cumfiances
* Vid. Auguftin. de Grat. & lib. Arbitr. c. 20. & 21. & Bucer in Rem. 1. § 7.
[ 37 1
* cumftances of temptation ; by which temptation, are
* meant, not only thofe trials that are of an outward af- 4 flictive nature ; but thole alfo that are inward and ‘ fpiritual : even iuch as fliall caufe the perfons lb 4 tempted, actually to turn alide from the path of duty 4 to commit fin', and involve both themfelves and others 4 in evil. Hence we find the elect complaining, Ifai.
4 lxiii. 17.’ “ O Lord why halt thou made us to err “ from thy ways, and hardened our hearts from thy “ fear r” 4 But there is alfo a kind of temptation,
4 which is peculiar to* the non-elebt; whereby God, in 4 a way ot juft judgment, makes them totally blind and 4 obdurate ; inaimuch as they are veli’els of wrath fitted 4 to delft ucf ion.’ See alfo his expolition of Rom. ix.
Luther * reafons to the very fame effeft : fome of his words are thefe, 4 It may leem abfurd to human 4 wifdejn, that God Ihould harden, blind end deliver 4 up fome men to a reprobate fenfe ; that he Ihould 4 firlf deliver them over to evil, and then condemn 4 them for that evil : but the believing, fpiritual man 4 fees no abfurdity at all in this ; knowing, that God 4 would be never a whit lefs good, even though he 4 Ihould deftroy all men.’ And again ; 4 God worketh 4 all things in all men ; even wickednefs in the wicked ;
4 tor this is one branch ot his own omnipotence.’ He very properly explains, bow God may be faid to har¬ den men, &c. and yet not be the author of their fin :
4 ’Tis not to be underilood,’ fays he, ‘ as if God found 4 men good, wife and tractable, and then made them 4 foolilh and obdurate ; but God finding them deprav- 4 ed, judicially and powerfully excites them juft as they 4 are (unlefs it is his will to regenerate any of them) 4 and, by thus exciting them,, they become ?nore blind 4 and obftinate than they were before.’ See this whole fubjeSt debated at large, in the places laft referred to.
Pof. 3. God, as the primary and efficient canle of all things, is not only the author of thofe actions done by his elect, as ailions ; but alio as they axe good actions : whereas, on the other hanl, though he may be faid to be the author of all the a&ions done' by the wicked, D . yet
;s De Serv. Arb. c. 8. & 146. & 147. uftp ad c. 163.
[ J
.yet. he is not the author of them in a moral and compound fcvfe, as they are Jit fid ; but pbyfically, Jimply, and foju tlivijb , as they are mere .aflions, ab ft ratted ly from all coni'xclcration of the goodnefs or badnefs of them.
Although there .is no action whatever, which is not, in lome fenfe, .either good or bad.; yet we can ealily conceive of an adtion, purely as Jlkcb, without' adverting- to the quality of it : fo that the diftindtion between aStien itfef and its denomination of good or evil, is very obvious and natural.
In and by the elect, therefore. Cod wot only pro¬ duces woiks and addons, through l\is almighty power $ but likewife, through th tfalutary influences or his Spirit, firft makes their perfons good, and then their addons fo too : but in and by .the reprobate, he produces ac¬ tions, by his jiower alone ; Which adlions, as neither Tiling from faith, nor being wrought with a view to the divine glow, nor done in the manner preferibedby the divine word, are, .on thefe accounts, properly deno¬ minated evil. Hence we fee, that God does not, im¬ mediately and perfi , infufe iniquity into the wicked ; .but, as Luther .expreftes it, powerfully excites them to idtion, and wibh-Jjolds thofe .gracious influences of his .Spirit, without which every adtion is neceftarily evil. That God, either diredily or remotely, excites bad men as well as good ones, to addon, cannot be denied by any but Alheifts, or by thofe who carry their notions of free-will and human independency fo high, as to ex¬ clude the Deity from all adtual operation in and among his creatures ; which is. little fl.ort of Atheifm. Every work performed, whether good or evil, is done In jftrength, and by power derived immediately from God hi true If, “ in whom all men live, move, and have “ their being.” Adfs xvii. a8. As, at firft, without .biin was not any thing made, which .was made.; lb} now’, without him is not any thing. done, w hich is done. We have no power or faculty, whether corporal cr in¬ tellectual, but what we received from God, fubfilis by .him, and is exercifed in fubferviency to bis will and epypiotment. Tis he who created, frefaves^a-fluates . and
f: *5 T
ancfd'redls all tilings. But it by no means follow's, from' thefe premifes, that God is therefore the caufe of fin ; for fm is nothing but illegality , “ want of conformity “ to the divine law.” i John iii. 4.- a mere privation of rectitude : confequently, being itfelf, a thing purely negative, it can have no- positive or efficient caufe, but only a negative and deficient one ; as fevered learned' men have older ved.
Every adtion, as fuch, is undoubtedly good ; it be¬ ing an aftual exertion of thole operative powers given! us by God for that very end : God therefore may be the author of all actions, (as he undoubtedly is) and yet not be the author of evil. An adtion is conftituted evih three ways-; by proceeding from a wrong principle,' by being directed to a wrong end, and by being dofee in a’ wrong manner. Now? though God, as we lis-ve faid, is- the efficient caufe of out addons, as actions ; yet if thefe actions commence Jtnfal, that fiafulnefs arifes' from ourfelves. Suppofe a boy, who knows not how to' write, has his hand guided by' his mailer, and never¬ theless makes falle letters, quite unlike the copy let him; though bis- preceptor, who guides his hand, is- the caufe of his writing at all , yet his own ignorance and imlkilfulnefs are the caufe of his writing /« badly e Juft fo, God is the fupreme author of our addon, ab- Jlratlcdly taken ; but our own vitiofity is the caufe of our adding amide
I- ffiall conclude this article, with two or three obser¬ vations. And, (1.) I would infer, that if we would’ maintain the do ft fine ot God’s anmibcUHcc, \vh niuft in lift upon that of his univerfal agency : the darter can¬ not be denied without giving up the former. Difprove that he is almighty, and then we’ll grant that his influ-' ence and' operations are limited and' ciicumfcribed. Luther fays, * ‘ God would not be a refpeCf ible Being,
‘ if he were not almighty, and the doer cf alhthingr ‘ that are done ; or if any thing could come to-pafs, in- * which he had- no hand.’ God has, at leaft, a phyfual influence on whatfoever is done by his creatures, whe¬ ther trivial or important, good or evil. Judas as truly I> 2 lived./,
* De Serv. Arb. c. 160.
[ 4° 1
lived, moved and had hh being from God, as Peter; and Satan himiell, as much as Gabriel ; for, to fay that fin exempts the (inner from the divine government and jurifdidtiori, is abridging the power of God with a vvit- nefs ; nay, is razing it from its very foundations.
( 2 .) This do&rine of God’s omnipotence has a na¬ tive tendency to awaken in our hearts that reverence for, and tear of the divine Majelly, which none can either receive or retain, but thole who believe him to be in¬ finitely powerful, and to work ail things after the coun- fel of his own will. This godly fear is a fovereign an¬ tidote againll fin ; for, if I really believe that God, by his unintermitted operation upon my foul, produces ac¬ tions in me, which, being (imply good, receive their malignancy from the corruption of my nature (and even thofe works that (land oppoiedtto fins, are, more er lefs, infected with this moral leprofy) and if I confi- e'er, that, Ihould 1 yield myielf a ffave to a£lual iniqui¬ ty, God can, and julily might, as he has frequently done by others, give me up to a reprobate mind, and pii nub one fin, by leaving me to the commiffion of an¬ other ; furely fuch reflections as thefe mud fill me with awful apprehenfions of the divine purity, power and greatnefs, and make me watch continually, as well- againll the inward rifings, as the outward appearance of evil. _ .
(3.) This do&rine is alfo ufefol, as it tends to in- fpire ns with true humility of ioui, and to lay us, as im¬ potent dull and allies, at the feet of Sovereign Omni¬ potence. It teaches us, what too many are fatally igno¬ rant of, the bjefled leilon of Self-Despair ; i. e. that in a (late of unregeneracy, our wifdonj is lolly, our fhength wreakncfs, and our righteoulnefs nothing ivorth : that, therefore, we can do nothing, either to the glory of God, or the fpiritual benefit of ourfelves and others, but through the ability which he giveth ; that in him our ftrength lieth, and from him all our help mull come. Suppofing we believe, that, uhatfo- ever is done below or above, God doeth it himfelf ; that all things depend, both as to their being and ope¬ ration, upon his o nuipotent arm and mighty fupport ;
that
[ 4i 1
that we cannot even yf«, much lefs do any good thing, if he withdraw his aid ; and that all men are in hi3 hand, as clay in the hand of the potter ; I' fay, did we really believe all thefe points, and fee them in the light of the divine Spirit, how can it be reafonably fuppofed, that we could wax infolent againft this gretft God, be¬ have conteraptuouily and fupercilioufly in the vVorlc!, or boall of any thing we have or do? Luther info; ms us *, ‘ That he ufed frequently to be much offended ‘ at this doff fine, becaufe it drove him to Self-de- ‘ spair ; but that he afterwards found, that this fort ‘ of defpair was falutary and profitable, and near a-kia ‘ to divine grace.’
(4.) We are hereby taught not only humility before God, but likewil’e dependence on him, -and resignation to him. For, if we are thoroughly peffuaded that, of ourfelves, and in our own ffrength, we cannot either do good or evil ; but that, being originally created by God, we are incefiantly fupported, moved, influenced, and direffed by him, this way or that, as he pleafes ; the natural inference from hence will be, that, with Ample faith, we calf ourfelves entirely, as on the befom of his providence ; commit all our care and folicitude to his hand; praying, without hefitatipn or referve, that his will may be done in us, on us, and by us ; and that, in all his dealings with us, he may confult his own glory alone. This holy paflivenefs is the very apex of Chrilfianity. All the defires of our great Re* deemer himfelf were reducible *0 thefe two ; that the Will of God might be done, and that the Glory of God might be dilplayed. Thefe were the higheff and fupreme marks, at which he aimed, throughout the whole courfe of his fpotlefs life, and inconceiveably tremendous fufferings. tlappy, thrice happy that man who hath thus far attained the mind that was in Chrilf !
■ (4.) The comfortable belief of this doffrine, has a tendency to excite and keep alive within us that forti¬ tude which if fo ornamental to, and neceffary for us, D 3 while
* DeServ, Avb. c. 161,
— MiiA
C 42 3
while we abide in this wildernefs. For, if I believe, with the apoflle, that all things are of God, 2 Cor. v. 18. I fhall be lefs .liable to perturbation, when affiidl- ed, and learn more eafily to pofiefs my foul in patience. This was Job’s fupport : he was not overcome with rage and defpair, when he received news that the Sa- bcans had carried off his cattle, and (lain his fervants, and that the remainder of both were confumed with lire; that the Chaldeans had rob’d him of his camels.; and that his feven fobs were crufli’d to death, by. the falling of the boufe where they were lifting : he refolv- ed all thefe misfortunes into the agency of God, his power and fovereignty, and even thanked him for do¬ ing what he would with his own, Job i. 21. If an¬ other fhould Hander me in word, or injure me in deed, I fl ail not be prone to anger, when, with David, I conlider that the Lord hath bidden him, 2 Sam. svi. 10.
fo.) This fhould ftir us up to fervent and inceflant jpravcr. For, does God work powerfully and benign¬ ly in the hearts of his elecl ? and is he the foie caufe of every ablion they do, which is truly and fpiritually yood ? Then it fhould be our prayer, that he would work in us likewife both to will and to do, of his good pleafure : and if, on feif-examination, we find reafon to trull, that fome good thing is wrought in us ; it fhould put us upon thankfulncjs unfeigned, and caufe 11s to glory, not in ourfelves, but in him. On the other hand, does God manifeil his difplcafure againfl the wicked, by blinding, hardening, and giving them up to perpetrate iniquity with greedinefs ? which judicial »<5is of God, are both a punijbment for their fin ; and alfo eventual additions to it: 'we fhould be the more in¬ cited to deprecate thefe tremendous evils, and to be- feech the King of heaven, that he would not thus lead us into temptation. So much concerning the Om¬ nipotence of God. I fhall now,
V. Take notice of \\\sfujltcc.
Pod. t. God is infinitely, abfolutely, and unchange¬ ably juf.
The
E 4 3 }
The juftice of God may be confidered either imma* neatly, as it is in blmfelf, which is, properly fpeaking, the fame with his holinefs ; or tranjiently and relatively, as it refpects his right conduct towards his creature s, which is properly juftice. By the former he is all that is holy, juft and good ; by the latter, he is manifefted to be fo, in all his dealings with angels and men. For the fir ft, fee Deut. xxxii. 4. Pf. xcii. 1 for the fecond. Job via. 3. Pf. cxlv. 17. Hence it follows, that whatever God either wills or does, however it may, at fil'd fight, feern to clafh with our ideas of right and wrong, cannot really be unjuft. ’Tis certain, that, for a fealbn, he forely aiilicted his righteous fer- vant Job ; and, on the other hand, enriched the Sabeatis, an infidel and lawlefs nation, with a profufion of wealth, and a feries of fuccefs : before Jacob and Efau were born, or had done either good or evil, he loved and chofe the former, and reprobated the latter: He gave repentance to Peter, and left Judas to | perifh in his fin : and as in all ages, fo, to thisjday, “ he “ hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he “ hardneth.” In all which, he aefts rnoft juftly and , righteoufly, and there is no iniquity with him.
Pof. 2. The Deity may be confidered in a threefold view : as God of all, as Lord of all, and as Judge of all.
(1.) As God of all, he created, fuftains, and ex¬ hilarates the whole univerfe; “ caufes his fun to flfine, “ and his rain to fall upon the evil and the good,’'
1 Mat. v. and is “ the preferver of all men,” x Tim. iv. 10. For, as he is infinitely and fupremely good , fo alfo is he communicative of his goodnefs ; as appears not only from his creation of all things, but efpecially from his providential benignity. Every thing has its being from him, as Creator ; and its well-being from him, as a bountiful Preferver. (2.) As Lord, or 1 . Sovereign or all, he dots as he will (and has a moil un- \ queftionable right to do fo) with his own ; and, in par¬ ticular, fixes and determines the everlafting ftate of every individual perlbn, as he fees fit. ’Tis ejfential to abfolute fovereignty, that the fovereign have it in his
power
[4+3
power to difpofe of thofe, over whom his jurifdiiftloa extends, juft as he pleaies, without being accountable to any : and God whole authority is unbounded, none being exempt from it ; may with the flriifteft holinefs and juftiee, love or hate, eleft or reprobate, iaye or deftroy any of his creatures, whether human or angelic, according to his own freepieufure and fovereign purpofe, ( j.) As .Judge ofall, he ratifies what he does as Lord, by rendering to all according to their works ; by punifh- ing the wicked, and rewarding thole whom it was his will to efteem righteous and to make holy.
Pof. 3. AVhatever things God wills or does, are not willed and done by him becaufe they were, in tbeir own nature , and previoujly to his willing them, juft: and right; or becaufe, from their hitrinfc fiinefs, he ought to will and do them : but they are therefore juft, right and proper, becaufe he, who is holinefs itfelf, wills and does them.
Hence, Abraham looked upon it as a righteous acti¬ on, to flay his innocent foil. Why did he fo efteem it? becaufe the law of God authoris’d murder? No; for, on the contrary, both the law of God and the law of nature peremptorily forbad it : but the holy Patri¬ arch well knew, that the will of God is the only rule of juftiee, and that what he pleafes to command, is, on that very account, juft and righteous.* It follows,
Pof. 4. That, although our works are to be examined byT the revealed will of God, and be denominated ma¬ terially good or evil, as they' agree or dilagree with it; yet, _ the works of God bimfelf c annot be brought to any teft whatever : for, his will being the grand, univerfal law, he himfelf cannot be, properly fpeaking, fubjedt to, or obliged by any- law fuperior to that. Many things’are done by him, (fitch as choofing and repro¬ bating men, without any rePper! had to their works ; fullering people to fall into fin, when, if it fo pleaf- cd him, he might prevent it ; leaving many backliiding profefiors to go on and perifh in their apoftacy, when it is in his divine power to faniftify and let them right ; drawing feme by his grace, and permitting many others
to
* Compare alfo Exod, iii. 22, With Exod. xy. 1^,
[ 45 1
to continue in fin and unregeneracy ; condemning thofe to future mifery, whom, if he pleafed, he couid un¬ doubtedly fave ; with innumerable inftances of the like nature, which might be mentioned) and which, if done by would be apparently unjuft, inafmuch as they would not fquare with the revealed will cl God, which is the great and only fafe rule of our practice. But when he does thefe and fuch like things, they cannot but be holy, equitable, and worthy of himielt : for, fince his will is ellentially and unchangeably juft, whatever he does, in confequtnce of that will, mu ft be juft ani good likewife, From what has been delivered under this fifth head, I would infer, that they who deny the power God has of doing as he will with his creatures, and exclaim againft unconditional decrees, as cruel, tyranical, and unjuft ; either know not what they fay, nor whereof they affirm ; or are wilful blaf- phemers of his name, and perverfe rebels againft his fovereignty : to which, at laft, however unwillingly, they will be forced to fubmit.
I (hall conclude this introduction with briefly con- fidering, in the
Sixth and laft place, the Mercy of God,
Pofi. t. The Deity is, throughout the feriptures, repre* fented as infinitely gracious and merciful, Exod. xxxiv. 6. Nehem. ix. 17.- Pfalrn ciii. 8. 1 Pet. i. 3.
When we call the divine mercy infinite , we do not mean that it is, in a way of grace, extended to all men, without exception ; (and fuppoling it wasr even then it would be very improperly denominated infinite on that account, fince the. objeCts of it, though all men taken together, would not amount to a multitude ftriCt- ly and property infinite.) but, that his mercy towards1 Iris own el tel, as it knew no beginning, fo it is infinite in duration , and (hall know neither period nor inter- miflion.
Pofi. 2. Mercy is not in the Deity, as it is in us, a pajfipn or afiedliou ; every thing of that kind being in¬ compatible with the purity, perfection, independency and unchangeablenefs of his nature : but, when this attribute is predicated of him, it only notes his ‘ free
‘ and
t 46- y
4 arid' eternal will, or purpofe, of making fome of the ‘ fallen race happy, by delivering them from 'the guild 4 and dominion ot fin, and communicating himfelf 4 to them in a way confident with his own inviolable ‘jutliee, truth, and hulinefs.’ This feems to be the proper definition of mercy, as it relates to the fpiritual' and eternal good of thofe who are its objects. But it Ihould be observed,
Pof. 3, That the mercy of God, taken in its more large and indefinite feiife, may be- confidered, (1.) as general. (2.) as Jpecial,
His general mercy is no other than what we com¬ monly call his bounty y by which he is, more or Ids, providentially good to all mankind-, both elect and non- el eft : Mat. v. 4^. Luke vi. 33. Acts xiv. 1 7. and xvii. 25, 28. By his /peeled mercy, he, as Lord of all, hath, in a fpiritual fenfe compafilon on as many of the fallen race, as are the objects of his free arid eternal favour : the effects of which fpecial mercy are, the re¬ demption and jujlification ot their perfons, through the fatisfadlion of Ch ild ; the effeddual vocation, regenera¬ tion and fanCtificafion of them, by his Spirit ; the in¬ fallible and final prefervaiion of them in a date of grace on earth ; and their everlafting glorification in heaven.
Pof. 4. There is no contradiction; whether real or feeming, between thefe two aflerrions,- (i.) That the bleifings of grace and glory are peculiar to thofe whom God hath in his decree of pretfefiination, fet apart tor himlelf; and (2.) That the gofpel declaration runs, that “ w lofoever v/illeth, may take of the 'water of 4< life freely,” Xev. xxit. 17. Since in'the/??-/? place, none can will, or unfeignedly and fpiritually delire, a part in thefe privileges, but thole whom God' prevkmf- ly makes willing and defirous ; and, fecondlv, that he gives this will to, and excites this defire in none but his own eledt.
P'nf 7. Since ungodly men, who are totally and final¬ ly defiitute of divine grace, cannot know what this in 'rcy is, nor form any proper apprehenfions of it, much lefs by faith embrace and rely upon it for them-' felres ; and fince daily experience as well as the ferip*
tur#s-
1 47 3
lures of truth, teaches us, that God doth not open the eyes of the reprobate, as he doth the eyes of his eledt, nor favingly enlighten their underffandings ; it evident¬ ly follows, that his mercy was never, front the very firfi, deligned for- them, neither will it be applied to them : but, both in delignation and application, is proper and peculiar to thole only, who are predeitinat- ed to life ; as it is written, “ the election hath obtain- s‘ ed, and the reft were blinded,” Rem. xi. y.
Pof. 6. The whole work cf falvation, together with every thing that is in order to it, or hands in connetti- .on vvich.it, it, fometimes, in feripture comprised un¬ der the lingle term mercy.;, to lRcyv that mere love and abfolute grace were the grand caufe why the elect are fayed, and that all merit, worthinefs, and good quali¬ fications of theirs were entirely excluded from having any influence on the divine will, why they fhould be .chofen, redeemed, and glorified above others. When it is faid, Rom. ix. “ He hath mercy on whom he “ will have mercy,” ’tis as much as if the Apolile had faid, ‘ God elected, ranfqmed, juftified, regenerates, ‘ fanctifies and glorifies, whom he pleafes everv one of thele great privileges being briefly fum’d, and virtually included, in tli^t comprehenfive phrafe, “ He hath “ mercy.”
Pof. 7. It fallows, that, whatever favour is beftow- ed on us ; whatever good thing is in us, or wrought by us, whether in will, word, or deed; and whatever bleffingelfe we receive from Gad, from election quite Tome to. glorification ; all proceed, merely and entire¬ ly from ‘ the good pleafure,of his will,’ and his mercy towards us in Chr 1 s t Jesus. To him therefore, the praife is due, who putteth the difference between man and man, ,, by .having compiltion on home, and not on .others.
THE
g *$* ^ %• ! ■$* (fit
**\ • *4*
>:* #M>:OK&>Kft&:K ;K & K€C*:0K&>3-ft>J;
THE
DOCTRINE
jO F
Abfolute Predestination
STATED and ASSERTED.
C H A P.
I.
Wherein the Terms, commonly made sfie of in treating of this Subjefl, are defined arid explained .
•$“G- — — s-j§5» A V ING confidered the Attributes of « jooc=^j. A God, as laid down in Scripture ; and, ? H f fo far> cleared our way to the Doctrine j * 2 | °t Predeftination : I fhall, before I en-
ter further on the iubjedt, explain the 2 ' ^ principal terms, generally made ufe of,
when treating ot it, and fettle their true meaning. In difeourfing on the divine decrees, mention is frequent¬ ly made ot God’s Love, and Hatred ; of KleHion, and Reprobation ; and of the divine Purpofie, Foreknowledge, and Predefi ination : each of which we fhall diftinfctly and bi iefly conli^er.
I. When
[ 49 ]
I. When love is predicated of God, we do not mean ihat he is poffefTed of it as a paffion or affeftion. In us, it is fitch ; but if, eonfidered in that fenfe, it fltould be aferibed to the Deity, it would be utterly fubverfivc or the Simplicity, pe feftion and independency of his be¬ ing. Love, therefore, when attributed to him, figni- fies, (i.) His eternal benevolence, L e. his everlafiing •will, purpofe and determination to deliver, blefs, and fave his people. Or this, no good works wrought by them, are, in any fenfe, the caufe. Neither are even the merits of Chrilt himfelf to be conlidered as any way moving, or exciting this goodwill of God to his eleft ; lince the gift of Chrilt, to be their Mediator and Redeemer, is itfelf an tffift of this tree and eternal fa¬ vour, borne to them by God the Father, John iii. 16. His love toward them arifes merely from t !• ■ good plca- fiure of his own will, without the lead: regard to any thing ad extra, or, out of himfelf. The term implies, (2.) Complacency, delight, and approbation. With this love, God cannot love even his cleft, as conlidered in themfelves ; becaufe, in that view, they are guilty, pol¬ luted tinners : but they were, from all eternity, objefts of it, as they flood united to Chriit, and partakers of his righteoufnels. Love implies, (3.) Aftual benefi¬ cence ; which, properly lpeaking, is nothing die than# the eflfeft or accomplifmncnt of the other two : thnfe are the caufe of this. This aftual beneficence refpefts all blefiings, whether of a temporal, fpiritual, or eternal nature. Temporal good things are, indeed, indilcri- minately, bellowed in a greater or lefs degree, on all, whether eleft or reprobate ; but they are given in a covenant way, and as blefiings to the eleft only : ta whom alfo the other benefits, refpefting grace and glo¬ ry, are peculiar. And this love ot beneficence, no.lefs than that of benevolence and complacency, is abfolute- ly free . ad irrefpeftive of any worthlnefs in man.
II. When Hatred is aferibed to God, it implies, (1.) A negation of benevolence ; or, a resolution vet to have mercy on fuch and fueh men, nor to endue them with any of thofe graces which Rind connected with
L cterea
[ ]
eternal life. So, Rom. ix. F.j'au have I hated, i. e. I did, from all eternity, determine within myfelf, not to hare mercy on him. The foie caule of which awful negation, is, not merely the unworthinefs of the per- ions hated, but the iovereignty and freedom of the di- vine will. (2.) It denotes difpleafure and diltike : for, tinners, who are not interefted in Chtifl, cannot but be infinitely difpleafing to, ami loathfome in the fight of eternal purity. (3.) It lignifies a pofitive will to pu- nifh and dellroy the reprobate for their fins j of which will, the infliction of mi.ery upon them hereafter, is but the neceffary elfedt and adual execution.
III. The term Elcffion, that fo very frequently oc¬ curs in Scripture, is there taken in a fourfold lenfe ; (1.) And it .oil commonly lignifies, ‘ That eternal, fo- ‘ vereign, unconditional, particular, and immutable aft * or God, where he feleded home from among all man- ‘ kind, and of every nation under heaven, to be re- 4 deemed and everlallingly laved by Clirilt.’ (2.) It ibme times, and more rarely lignifies, ‘ That gracious ‘ and almighty ad o! the divine Spirit, whereby God ‘ adually and vifibly lepajrates his eled from the wo Id,
‘ by cO'edual calling.’ T his is nothing but the mani- ^fellation and partial fulfilment of the former eledion ; and, by if, the objeds of predeftinating grace are ien- libly led into the communion of faints, and vihbly added to the number of God’s declared, profelling peo¬ ple. Of this our Lord makes mention, John xv. 19.
Becaufe 1 have cholen you out of the world, tliere- “ fore the world haleth you.” Where, it (hould feem, the choice fpoken of, does not refer lb much to God’s eternal immanent ad of ejedion, as his open, manireit one ; whereby he powerfully and efficacicully called the difciples forth from the world of the unconverted, and quickened them from above, in converfion. (3.) By eledion is fomeiimes meant, ‘ God’s taking a whole ‘ nation, community, or body of men, into external ‘ covenant with hitjilelf, by giving them the advantage ‘ of revelation, or his written word, as the rule of their ‘ belied" and pradice, when other nations are without
[ p ]
c it/ In this fenfe, the whole body of the Jewifh na¬ tion was indifcriminately called elect, Dcut. vii. 6. be- caufe that “ unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Now, all that are thus ejected, are not theie- fore nt'ceffarily laved; hut many of them may be, and are reprobates; as thole, of whom our Lord fays, Mat. xiii. 20. that theyv“ hear the vvoid, Slid anon “ with joy receive u,”"'&c. And trie Apollle Jyhn, i Epift. chap. ii. “ They went out from us,” i. c. be¬ ing favoured with the fame gofpel revelation- we were, they profetTed themfelves true believers, no lefs titan we ; “ but they were not of us,” i. e. they were not, with us, chofen of God unto everlafting life, nor did they ever, in reality, pollefs that faith of his operation, which he gave to us ; 11 for, if they had,” in this fenfe, “ been of us, they would, no doubt, have con* “ tinued with us ;” they would have manifefted the fincerity of their profeflions, and the truth of their con- verfion, by enduring to the end, arid being laved. Aral even this external revelation, tho’ it is not necefiarily Connected with eternal happinefs, is, neverthelefs, pro¬ ductive of very many and great advantages to the peo¬ ple and places where it is vouchfafed ; and is made known to fome nations, and kept back * from others, “ according to the good pleafure of him, who worketh “ all things after the counfel of his own will.” (4.) And laflly, election fometimes fignifies, ‘ The tempo-
* raiyr delignation of fome perfon or perfons, to the fill*
‘ ing up fome particular lration in the vifible church,
* or office in civil life/ So Judas was deafen to the ApofUeffiip, John vi. 70. and Saul to he King of Ifrael,
1 Sam. x. 2\ . Thus much for the uie of the wori ehetion. On the contrary,-
TV. Reprobation denotes either, (t.) God’s eternal preterition of fome men, when he cbofe others to glory, and his predeflination of them to fill up the meafure of their iniquities', and then to receive the juft nuniffime-nt of their crimes, even “ deflrudfion from the prefence f‘ or the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” This E 2 j»
* See l’fa!m c:;h ii. 19, 20,
C s* 1
5s the primary, moft obvious, and mofi frequent fenfe, in which the word is ufed. .it may likewife iignify, .(-•) God’s forbearing to call by his grace, thofe whom he hath thus ordained to condemnation : but this is only a temporary peter it ion, and a confequence of that which was from eternity. (3.) And lallly, The word may be taken in another fenfe, as denoting God’s re¬ fund to grant, to home nations, the light of the gofpel revelation. This^may be conlidered as a kind of na¬ tional reprobation ; wh'ch yet does not iyiply that eve¬ ry individual perfon, who lives in fueh a country, mu it theretore unavoidably perifh for ever t any more than that every individual, who lives in a land called Chri- ftian, is therefore in a hate of fulvation. There are, kg doubt, elefi perfons among the former, as well as reprobate ones among the latter. By a very little at¬ tention to the context, any reader may ealily difeover in which of thefe feveral lenfes the words eleft and re- prohate are ufed, whenever they occur in Scripture.
V. Mention is frequently made in Scripture, of the Pttrpnfe * of God : which is no other than his gracious
intention
’* The Purpofe of God does not feem to dilTer at all, from Predef: illation : that being, as well as this, an eternal, free and unchangeable adl of his will. Beftdes, the word purpofe, when predicated of Gcd in the New Teftament, always denotes his delign of having ha eledf, and that only, Rom. viii. :8. and ix. n. Ep’n.
1 1. and iii. it. 1 Tim. i. 9. As does the term predef- t [nation ; which, throughout the whole New Tefta- mer.t, never Signifies the appointment of the n.n-ehB to wrath ; but, Singly and folelv, the fore-appointment of rite eleeft to grace and glory ; though, in common the¬ ological writings, precieflinat’ton is fpeken of as extend¬ ing0 to whatever God does, both in a way of permiffou ar.d efficiency; as, in the utinofl fenfe of the term, it does. ’Tit worthy of the reader’s notice, that the original word, which we under purpofe, fignifies not only an appointment, but a fc r e - app 0 m tm e 11 1 , and fueh a tore-
appo moment
[ S3 ]
intention, from eternity, of making his cleft everlaft- ingly happy in Chrift,
VI, When Fore-hiovoledge is afcribeJ to God, the Word imports, (i.) That general prefcience, whereby he knew, from all eternity, both what he himfelf would do, and what his creatures, in confequence of his effi¬ cacious and permiffive decree, ffiould do likewife. The divine fore-knowledge, confidered in this view, is abfo- lutely univerfal ;■ it extends to all beings that did, do, or ever ihall exilt ,• and to all actions, that ever have been, that are, or (hall be done, whether good or evil, natural, civil, or moral. (2.) The word often denotes that lpecial prefcience, which has for its objects his own elect, and them alone, whom he is, in a peculiar fenfe, faid to kno-zv and forcknozv, Pfal. i. 6. John x. 27. 2 Tim. ii. 19. Rom. viii. 29. 1 Pet. i. 2, and this knowledge is .con nected with, or rather the fame with love, favour, and approbation.
VII. We come, now, to confider the meaning of the ■ word P reclefluation , and how it is taken in Scripture. The verb predeflnale is of Latin original, and fignifies in that tongue, 4 to deliberate beforehand with one’s ‘ felt, how one fnali aft, and, in eonfequence of Rich ‘ deliberation, to conftitute, forc-ordain, and predeter- 6 mine, where, when, how, and by whom, any thing ‘ Ihall be done, and to what end it ihall be done.’ So the
E 3 . Greek
appointment as is efficacious, and cannot be obflrucied, but ihall molt affuredly iffiie in a full accoraplifirment } which gave occafion to the following judicious remark of a late learned writer ; e A Paulo faepe ufarpater in ‘ electionis negotio, ad defignandum, conliiium hoc 1 Dei non effe inanem quandam 8c inefficacem velleita- ‘ tern ; fed conltans, determinatum, & immUtabiie Del ‘ propofttum. Vox enim eltefficaciae funimae, ut no- * taut grammatici veteres j & lignate vocatur a Paulo*
‘ conhlium illius, qui effieaciter omnia operator ex be- ‘ neplacito fuo.’ TurrETIN. InftitUt. Tom. 1. Loc. 4. Quaeft. 7. § 12,
f *4 1
Greek verb proorizo , anfwers to the Englifh word pre- efefiinate , and is rendered by it, fignifies, ‘ to refolve be-
* fore hand, within one’s lei f, what to do ; and, before
* the thing refolved on is adually effeded, to appoint it ‘ to fome certain ul'e, and dired it to fome determinate
* end.’ The Hebrew verb Haihdel , has likewife much the fame fignification.
Now, none but wife men are capable (especially in matters of great importance) of rightly determining what to do, and how to accomplifn a proper end, by juft, fuitable and effectual means : and, if this is con- lefledly, a very material part of true vvifdom ; who l’o fit to dilpofe of men, and aflign each individual his lphere of adion in this world, and his place in the world to come, as the all-wife God ? And yet, alas ! how many are there, who cavil at thofe eternal decrees, Which, were we capable of fully and clearly under- llanding them, would appear to be as juft as they are fovereign, and as wife as they are incomprcheniible ! Divine preordination has, for its objects, all things that sre created : no creature, whether rational or irration¬ al, animate or inanimate, is exempted from its influ¬ ence. All beings whatever, from the higheft angel to the meaneft reptile, and from the- meaneft reptile io the minufeft atom, are the objeds of God’s eternal decrees and particular providence. How¬ ever, the ancient fathers only made ufe of the word Predeftination, as it refers to angels or men, whe¬ ther good or evil ; .and it is ufed, by the Apoflle Paul, in a more limited fenfe ftill ; lb as, by it, to mean only that branch of it, which refpeds God’s eledian and defignation of his people to eternal life, Rom. viii. 30. Eph. i. 1 1.
But that we may more juftly apprehend the import of this word, and the ideas intended to be conveyed by it ; it may be proper to cbferve, that the tei m pre¬ deftination, theologically taken, admits of a four fid definition : and may be conlidercd as, (1.) ‘That ‘ eternal, mod wife, and immutable decree of God,
* whereby he did, from before all time, determine and
* ordain to create ; difpofe of, and dired fo fome par-
‘ ticular
[ 5S 1
* ticular end, every perfon and thing to which he h?>s ‘ given, or is yet to give,, being ; and to make the ‘ whole creation fubfervient to, and declarative of, his 4 own glory.’ Of this decree, abtual Providence is the execution . (2.) Predestination may be considered, as
relating generally to mankind , and them only : and, in, this view, we define it to be,. 4 The everlasting fove- 4 reign, and invariable purpofe of God, whereby he 4 did determine within himfelf, to create Adam in his 4 own image and likenefs, and then- to permit his fall ;
4 and to Suiter him, thereby, to plunge himfelf, and 4 his whole posterity,’ (inafmuch as they all Sinned in him, hot only virtually , but alfo focderaliy and reprefen- tatively) 4 into the dreadful abyfs of Sin, mifery and 4 death.’ (3.) CorvSider predestination as relating to the eledl only , and it is 4 that eternal, unconditional, 4 particular, and Irreversible ait of the divine will, 4 whereby, in matchlefs love, and adorable fovereign- 4 ty, God determined within himfelf to deliver a cer- 1 tain number ©f Adam’s degenerate * offspring out of 4 that Sinful and milerable eftate, into which, by his 4 primitive tranfgreilion, they were to fall and in which Sad condition they were equally involved, with
thofe-
* When we fay, that the decree of predeSKnation t® life and death refpedts man as fallen, rve do not mean, that the fall was actually antecedent to that decree : for the decree is truly and. properly eternal , as all God’s im¬ manent affs undoubtedly are ; whereas the fall took place in time . What we intend, then, is only this,. viz., that God, (for reafons without doubt, worthy of him¬ felf, and of which we are, by no meals, in this life competent judges), having, from everlaSting,. preremp- torily ordained to Suffer --the fall of Adam ; did' likewife, from- everlasting, conlider tire human race as fallen. : and, out of the whole m-afs. of mankind thus viewed and foreknown as impure, and obnoxious to condemnation, vouch fafed to file ft fame particular per- fens, (who collectively, make up a very great , though. preefely determinate , number) in and on, whom' he would make known the inef&ble ridges of his ©sercy*
C 56 ]
thofe who were no* cho fen ; bur, being pitched upon? and tingled out, by God the Father, to be veflels of grace and falvation (not for any thing in than, that could recommend them to his favour, or entitle them to his notice, but merely becaufe he would ihew himfelf gracious to them) they were, in time, actually redeemed by Chrid ; are eSfedtudly cal¬ led by his Spirit, jodified, adopted, fanftificd and pre- ferved fate to his heavenly kingdom* Tire fupreme end of this decree, is the manifeftation cf his own infinite¬ ly glorious and amiably tremendous perfections : the in¬ ferior, or fubordinate end, is the happinefs and fal- vation of them who are thus freely elected. (4.) Pre- defti nation, as it regards th t r probate, is ‘ that eternal, 4 mod hoi)', fove reign, and immutable aft of God’s 4 will, whereby he hath determined to leave fome men ‘ to perilh in their lins, and to be juftly punilhed tor 4 them.’
•v* .V. ft.% M .v* .tr .v. / *.?4
CHAP.
II.
Wherein the D oftri/te of Predestination' is explain • ed, as ic relates in general to all men.
<•;£- FI U S much being premifed with re- « ■epjp.moD.efe, r lation to the feripture terms common¬ s' | „ | ly made ufe of in this controversy, \v«
^ X ^ F fv Ifa’d* now, proceed to take a nearer t’ . v;ew Qx. jij-j jilo-h and myilerious article.
And,
I. We, with the feripture?, afiert, that there is a predeftination of fome particular perfens to life, for the praifie of the glory of divine grace ; and a predefi' na¬ tion of other particular perfons to death : which death of pun inline in they ihall inevitably undergo, and that juflly, on account of their tins. (1.) ‘ There is apre- 4 destination cf fome particular perfons to life.’ So, j£at, z-'s. if 41 lUany me called, but few chofen
/. e.
[ S7 3
h e. the gofpel revelation come?, indiscriminately, to great multitudes ; but few comparatively fpeaking, ise Spiritually and eternally the better for it, and thefe few, to whom it is “ the favour of life unto life,” are therefore favingly benefited by it, becaufe they are the chofen , or elect of God. To the fame effeii are the following psifag'es, among many others ; Mat. xxiv. 22. “ For the elects fake, thofedays fhall be fhorten- “ ed.” Afts xiii. 48. “ As many as were ordained to “ eternal life, believed,” Rom. viii. 30. “ Whom “ he did predeftinate, them he alfo called.” And, verfe 33, “ Who fhall lay any thing to the charge of God’s “ eleft ?” Eph. i. 4, 3. “ According as he hath chofen “ us in him, before the foundation of the world, that “ we fhould be holy,” See. “ Having predellinated us “ to the adoption or children, by Jefus Chrift, unt© “ himfelf, according to the good pleafure of his will.1* 2 Tim. i, 9. “ Who hath faved us, and called us with “ an holy calling, not according to our works, but ac» “ cording to his own purpofe and grace, which vvaa 11 given us, in Chrib, before the world began.” (2.} This election of certain individuals unto eternal life, was ‘ for the praife of the glory of divine grace.’ This is cxprefsly aborted, in fo many words, by the Apoftle, Eph. i. 3, 6. Grace, or mere favour , was the impulfive caufe of all : It was the main fpring , which fet all the inferior wheels in motion. ’Twas an aiTt of grace, in in God, to chufe any ; when he might have palled by all : ’Twas an aeft of fovereign grace, to chufe this man, rather than that ; when both were equally un¬ done in themfelves, and alike obnoxious to his dii- pleafure. In a word, lince election is not of works, and does not proceed on the lead regard had to any worthi¬ ness in its objects ; it mud be of free, unbiaffed grace : but election is not of works, Rom. xi. 3, 6. therefore, it is folely of grace. (3.) There is, on the other hand, * a predeflination of feme particular perfons to death/ 2 Cor. iv. 3. “ It our gofpel be hid, it is hid to them “that are lob.” 1 Pet. ii. 8, “ Who bumble at the “ word, being difobedient ; whereunto alfo they were “ appointed, 2 Pet. ii, 12. “ Thefe, as natural brute
“ beads,
[ 5§ 3
“ beafts, mad^to be taken and deuroyed.” Jude, verfe 4, “ There are certain men, crept in unawares,- who “ were before, of old, ordained to this condemnation.” Rev. xvii/ 8. “ Whofe names were not written in the “ book of life from the foundation of the world.” But of this we (hall treat profeffedly, and more at large, in the fifth chapter. (4.) This future ‘ death they lhail 1 inevitably undergo i for, as God will certainly l*ve all, whom he wiil? fhoula he faved ; fo he will as itfre- ly condemn all, whom he wills fhall be condemned ; for he is the judge* of the whole earth, whofe decree fhall ftand, and from whofe fentence there is no appeal. “ Hath he faid, and fhall he not make it good ? hath he “ fpoken, and fhall it not tome to pafsr” And his decree is this ; that thefe, i. c. the noiweleft, who are left under the guilt of final impenitence, unbelief, and fin, “ fhall go away into everl&fting puniihments ; and “ the righteous,” i.e. thofe who, in confequence of their election in Chrift, and union to him, are juftly reputed , and really conjlituted luch, fhall enter into life eternal , Mat. xxv. 46. (4.) The reprobate fhall undergo thii
punifhm nt ‘ juftly, ahd on account of their fins. Sin is the meritorious and immediate caufe of any man’s dam¬ nation. God condemns and pur.ifhes the non-eleft, not merely as men, but as tinners : and, had it pleated the great Governor of the univerfe, to have entirely pre¬ vented fin from having any entrance into the world, it fhould l'ecm as if he could not, confidently with hi# known attributes, have condemned any man at all. But, as all fin is properly meritorious of eternal death; and all men are linners ; they, who are condemned, are condemned moil: jufily, and thofe who are faved, in a way of fovereign mercy, through the vicariou* obedhnee and death of Chrilf for them.
Now, this twofold predeftination, of fome to life, and of others to death, (if it may he called twofold, both being canftitucnt parts of the fame decree) can¬ not be denied, without likewiie denj ing, 1. mod ‘ ex- * prels and frequent declarations of feripture,’ and, 2. the very ‘ exigence of God tor, fince God is a be¬ ing perfectly fimple, free from all accident and com-
pofition,
[ S9 1
pofttiou ; and yet, a will to fave lome and punifli others is very often predicated of him in feripture ; and an immoveable decree to do this, in confequer.ee of his will, is likewife afcribed to him ; and a perfect fore- Inovdedge of the fare and certain accompliiiiment of what he has thus willed and decreed, is aifo attributed to him ; it follows, that whoever denies this will, de¬ cree, and fore-knowledge of God, does implicitly and virtually, deny God himfelf : fince his will, decree, and foreknowledge, are no other than God himfelf willing and decreeing and foreknowing,
II. We affert, that Gad did, from eternity, decree, to make mati in his own image ; and alfo decreed to fuflfer him to fall, from that image in which he fhould be created, and, thereby, to forfeit the happinefs with which he was inverted : which decree, and the confe- quences of it, were not limited to Adam only ; but in¬ cluded, and extended to, all his natural porterity.
Something of this was hinted already, in the preced¬ ing chapter : we fhall now proceed to the proof of it. And, (i.) That God did make man in his own image, is evident from feripture, Gen. i. 27. That the
decree from eternity fo to make man, is as evident ; fince, for God to do any thing without having decreed it, or fixed a previous plan in his own mind, would be a man! tell imputation on his vdfdom : and, if he de¬ creed that now, or at any time, which he did not al¬ ways decre~, he could not be unchangeable. (3.) That man actually did fall from the divine image, and his original happinefs, is the undoubted voice of feripture, Gen. iii. And, (4.) That he fell in confequence of the divine decree *, we prove thus : God was either ’■Milling that Adam mould fall ; or unwilling ; or indif- - ferent about it. If God was unwilling, that Adam fhould tranigrefs, how came it to pafs that he did r Is man rtronger, and is Satan wifer, than he that made
them ?
* See this article judicioufly rtated, and nervcufsly aflerted, by Witsius, in his Oecon, 1. x, cap. 8, § 10—25. '
[ 6c ]
them ? Surely, no. Again ; could not God, had it fo pleafed him, have hindered the tempter’s accefs to paradife ? or have created man, as he did the elect an¬ gels, with a will invariably determined to good only, and incapable of being bialied to evil? or, at lead, have made the grace and flrength, with which he indued Adam, a (dually efiedlual to the refilling of all felicita¬ tions to fin ? N one but Atheifls, would anlwer thefe queflions in the negative. Surely, if God had not wil¬ led the fall, he could, and no doubt, would have pre¬ vented it : but he did not prevent it : ergo, he willed it. And, if he willed it, he certainly decreed it : for the decree of God is nothing elle but the fpal and rati¬ fication of his will. He does nothing, but what he de¬ creed ; and he decreed nothing, which he did not will : and both will and decree are absolutely eternal, though the execution of both be in time. The only way, to evade the torce of this reafening, is, to fay, that ‘ God 4 was indiferent and unconcerned , whether man flood or 4 fell.’ But in what a fhameful, unworthy light does this reprefent the Deity ! Is it polfhle for us to ima¬ gine, that God could be an idle, carelefs fpedlator, of one of the moft impottant events that ever came to pafs ? Are not “ the very heirs of. our head all num- “ bered ?” or does “ a fparrow fall to the ground, “ without our heavenly Father?” If, then, things, the snofl trivial and worthlefs, are fubjeft to the appoint¬ ment of his decree, and the controul of his providence; how much more is Man, the mailer piece of this lower creation ? and, above all, that man Adam, who, when recent firm his Maker’s hands, w as the living image of God himfelf, and very little inferior to angels ! and on whofe perfeverance, was fufpended the welfare, not of himfelf only, but likewife, that of the whole world. But fo far was God lrom being indifferent in this mat¬ ter, that there is nothing whatever, about which he is fo ; for he “ worketh all things,” without exception, “ after the counfel of his own will,” Eph. i. i r. eor.fe- qucntly, if he poiitively v. ills whatever is dene, he cannot be indifferent with regard to any thing. On the whole ; if Gcd was not unwilling that Adaui fi.ould
Jail
C 61 ]
fall, lie mu ft have been willing that he fhould : ft nee, between God’s willing and nilling, there is no medi- * um, and is it not highly rational , as well as f riptural ; nay, is it not abfolutely neceffary, to fuppofe, that the fail was not contrary to the will and determination of God ? lince, if it was his will (which the Apoille rc- pjefents as being irref/lible, Rom. ix. 19.) was appa- rently fruftrated, and his determination rendered of worie than none effect. And how difhonourable to, how inconfiftent with, and now notorioufly l'ubverftve of the dignity of God, l'uch a blafphemous fuppofition would be, and how irrecoricileable with every one of his allowed attributes, is very eafy to obferve. (5.) That man, by his fall, forfeited the happinefs with which he was inverted, is evident, as well from lcripture, as from experience ; Gen. iii. 7, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24. Rom. v. 12. Gal. iii. 10. He firlt litined, (and the efience of iin lies in difobedience to the command of God) and then, immediately, became miferable ; lliifery being, through the divine appointment, the na¬ tural and infeparable concomitant of ftn. (6.) That the fall, and its fad confeqiiences, did not terminate folely in Adam, but affect his whole pofterity, is the doctrine of the facred oracles : Pfalm li. Rom. v. 12, 14, i£, 17, iS, 19. 1 Cor. xv. 22. Eph. ii. 3. Befides, not only lpiritual and eternal, but likewife temporal death is the wages of Jin , Rom. vi. 23. James i. 1 4. And yet, we fee that millions of infants, who never, in their own perfons, either did or could commit fin, die continually. It follows, that either God mull be un- jurt, in punifhiag the innocent ; or that thefe infants are, fome way or other, guilty creatures : if they are not fo in themfelves, (I mean addually fo, by their own commilhon of fin) they mull: be fo in fome other per- fon ; and who that perfon is, let feripture fay, Rom. v. 12, 1 S. 1 Cor. xv. 22. And, I afk, hew can thefe be, with equity, fharers in Adam’s punifhment, unlefs they are chargeable with his fin ? and how can they be fair¬ ly chargeable with his fin, unlefs he was their ftederal head and reprefentative, and added in their name, and fuflained their perfons, when he fell ?
III. We
[ 62 ]
III. We alTcrt, that, as all men, univerfally, ate not .elected to falvation ; fo neither are all men, univerfally, ordained to condemnation. This follows from what lias been proved already : however, 1 flail fulyoin fome farther demcnflration of thele two politions. (i.) ‘ All men univerfally are not elected' to falvation.’ And, f.\ /’, this may be evinced a pofteriori : ’tis undeniable, trom fcripture, that God will not, in the laid day, fave every individual of mankind ; Dan. xii. 2. Mat. : xv, 46. John v. 29. Therefore, fay we, God never de¬ fined to fare every individual : iince, if he had, ever iy individual would and mud be laved, for “ h" s “ counfel lhall Hand, and he will do all his pleafurc.” See what we have already advanced, on this head, in the lirft chapter, und.r the fecond article, poiition 8. Secondly, this may be evinced, alfo, from G od’s fore- 'knowledge. The Deity, from all eternity, and, confe- quently, at the very time be gives life and being to a reprobate, certainly foreknew and knows, in conle- tjuence of his own decree, that fuch an one would fall Ihort offalvation : now, it God foreknew this, he mud have predetermined it; becaufe his own will is the foundation of his decrees, and his decrees are the foun¬ dation of his prefcience ; he therefore foreknowing fu¬ turities, becaufe, by his prededination, he hath render¬ ed their futurition certain and inevitable. Neither is it pollible, in the very nature of the thing, that they Jhould be elected to falvation, or ever obtain it, whom God foreknew Ihould peridi : for then the divine aft of preterition would be changeable, wavering and preca¬ rious ; the divine foreknowledge: would be deceived ; and the divine will impeded. All which ate utterly im pollible. Laftly , That all men are not chofen to life, nor created to that end is evident, in that there lire feme who were bated of God, before they were born, Rom. ix. 11, 12, 13. are fitted for dcfru&ion, verfe 22. and made for the dev; ef evil, l’rov. xvi. 1.
Cut, (2.) ‘ All men univerfally are r.ot ordained to 4 condemnation/ There are lbme who ate chofen , Mat. xx. 16. An drill on , cr elect number, who obtain ^race and falvation, while tbi ~cfi are blinded, Rom. xi.
7. a
[ 63 J
ji a little flock, to whom “ it is the Father’s good plea* “ lure to give the kingdom,” Luke xii. 32. A people whom the Lord hath referveJ, Jer. 1. 20. and formed ■far himfefi Ifai. xliii. 21. A peculiarly 1'avoured race, to whom “ it is given to know the myfteries of the “ kingdom of heaven while toothers, it is not given, Mat. xiii. ii. “a remnant according to the election or “ grace,” Rom. xi. 3. whom “ God hath not appoint* “ ed to wrath, but to obtain falvation by J elus Chriil,” 1 Thcf. v. 9. In a jvord, who are “ a chofen gene* “ ration, a royal priefthood, an holy nation, a peculiar “ people, that they Ihould ihew forth the prailes or “ him, who hath called them out of darknels, into his
mitvdlous light,” 1 Pet. ii. 9. And whole names , for that very end, arc in the look of life, Phil. iv. 3. and written in heaven , Luke 20. Heb. xii. 23. Luther * obferves, that, in the 9th, 10th, and nth chapters or the epiftle to the Romans, the Apoftle 'particularly inlifts on the Doctrine of Predeftination ; ‘ Becaufe,’ fays he, ‘ All things, whatever, arife from, and de-4 ‘ pend upon the divine appointment ; whereby it was ‘ preordained, who Ihould receive the word of life, and 4 who Ihould dilbelieve it ; who fliould be delivered from ‘ their lins, and who Ihould be hardened in them ; 4 who ihould be juftified, and who condemned.”
IV. We aflert, that the number of the eh- hi, and alio of the reprobate , is fo fixed and determinate , that neither Can be augmented or diminifhed.
Mis written of God, that “ he telleth the number “ of the liars, arid calleth them all by their names, • Pialm cxlvii. 4. Now, ’tis as incompatible with the in¬ finite wifdom and knowledge of the all-comprehending God, to be ignorant of the names and number of the rational creatures he has made, as that he fliould be ig¬ norant of the liars, and the other inanimate prod tufts of his almighty power ; and it he knows all men in gene¬ ral, taken in the lump, he may well be laid, in a more near and fpecial fenfe, to know them that are his bv election, 2 Tim. ii. 19. And, it he knows who are his , F 2 he
* In Pnefat. ad epift. ad Rom,
•[ 1
he muft, confequently, know who are not his, i. e. <tvbom, and bow many, he hath left, in the corrupt mats, to be juilly punilled for their fins. Grant this, (and who can help granting a truth lb lelf-evident r) and it follows, that the number, as well of the cleft, as of the reprobate, is fixed and certain ; otherwile, God would be laid to know that which is not true, and his know* ledge mult be fall'e and delufive, and fo no knowledge at all : lince that which is, in itfelf, at 'bell, but pre¬ carious, can never be tire foundation of fine and infal¬ lible knowledge. But, that God does, indeed precifely know, to a man, who are, and are not, the objects of his electing favour ; is evident from fuch leriptures a* thefe, Exod. xxxiii. 17. “ Thou had found grace in “ my fight, and 1 know thee by name.” Jer. i. “ Be- “ fore I formed thee In the belly, I knew thee.” Luke at. 20. “ Your names are written in heaven.” Luke xii. 7. “ The very hairs of your head are all numbered.15 John xiii. iS. “I know whom I have chofen.” John x. 14. “I know my fleep, and am known of mine.” x Tim. ii. 19. “ The Lord knoweth them that are his.rt And, if the number of thefe is thus affuredly fettled and exaftly known, it follows, that we are right in af- 'ferling,
V. That the decrees of eleefion and reprobation are .immutable and irrevifible.
Were not this the cafe, (1.) God’s decree would ha precarious, frufirablc, and uncertain ; and, by confe- t] uence, no decree at all. (2.) His foreknowledge would be wavering, indeterminate, and liable to diiappoint- ment ; whereas, it always has its accomplishment, and ■neceffarily infers the certain futurity of the thing or things foreknown : Ifai. xlvi. 9, 10. “ I am God, and “ there is none like nr, declaring the end from the be- “ ginning, and, from ancient times, the things that arc “'not yet done ; faying, My counfe! fball Hand, and I “ will do all my 1 ltafure. (3.) Neither would his word be true, which declares, that with regard ro the oleift, “ the gifts and calling ol God are without repen- “ unce,” Rom. xi. 29. tlut “ whom he predellinated,
“ them
[ 6* 1
lL them lie alio glorified,” chap. viii. 30. that 11 whom “ he loveth, he loveth to the end/' John xiii. 1. with numberlefs paifages to the fame purpofe. Nor would his word be true, with regard to the non-elect, if it was poifible for them to be laved : for it is there declared, that they are “ fitted for deftruftion,” &c. Rom. ix. 22. “ Foreordained unto condemnation,” Jude 4. and “ ae- “ livered over to a reprobate mind,” in order “ to their “ daTnnation,” Rom. i. 2S. 2 Thef. ii. 12. (4.) If,
between the eleft and reprobate, there was not a great gulph fixed, fo that neither can be othenvife than they are ; then, the will of God, (which is the alone caufe why fome are chofen and others are not) would be rendered inefficacious and of no effect. ( 4.) Nor could
th 0 juft ice of God Hand, if he was to condemn the elect, for whofs fins he hath received ample faiisfadlion at the hand ofChriil ; or if he was tofave the reprobate, who are not interelled in C brill, as the eleft are. (6.) The power of God (whereby the ele£t , are preferred front falling into a ilate of condemnation, and the wicked held down and ffiiut up in a Hate of death) would be eluded, not to fay utterly abolithed. (7.) Nor would God be unchangeable , .if they, who were once the peo¬ ple of his love, could commence the objects of his hat¬ red ; or if the veffiels of his wrath, could be faved with the veffiels of grace. Hence that, of St. Auilin ; * ‘ Bre-
* thren/ fays he, ‘ let us not imagine, that God puts
* down any man in his book, and then erafes him : for,
* if Pilate could fay/ “ What I have written, I have “ written £ how can it be thought, that the Great ‘ God would write a perfon’s name in the book of ‘ life, and then blot it out again r’ And may we nor, with equal reafon, afk, on the other hand, How can it be thought, that any cf the reprobate fliouid be written in that book of life, which contains the names of the elect only ? or, that any Ihould be infcribed there, who were not veritten. among the living from eternity ? I lhall Conclude this chapter with that obfervation of Luther f ,
‘ This/ fays he, ‘ is the very thing that razes the doc-
F 3 4 tisine
* Tom. 8. in Pfalm 63. col. 738,
•j* Be Serv. Arbitr, cap. 168,
[ 66 ]
‘ trine of free-will from its foundations : to wit, that' ‘ God’s eternal love of fome men, and hatred of others, * is immutable and cannot be reverted.” Both one and the other, will have its full accomplifhmenr.
C H A P. III.
Concerning Election unto Life ; or, PredeftinatioB, as it refpecls the Saints in particular .
“ tain falvation by Jems Uhnit,’' »R. XXXX Si 1 Phef. v. 9. I now come to conii- der, more dilHndfly, that branch oi it, which relates to the Saints only, and is commonly filled Election. Its definition 1 have given already, in the dole or th& firil chapter : what I have farther to advance, fiorn the feriptures, on this important f'ubjed, I flail redt ce to 1’everal Pofitions ; and iubjoin a fhort explanation and
confirmation of each.
Pof. 1 . Thofe, who are ordained unto eternal life, were not fo ordained on account of any worthinefs forefeen in them, err of any good works to be wrought by them ; nor yet for their future faith : but purely and folely, of free fovereign grace, and according to the mere plealure of God. This is evident, among other ccn- fiderations, from this ; that faith, repentance and ho- linefs, are no lefs the free gifts of God, than eternal life itfelf. Eph. ii. 8. “ Faith— is not of yourfdves, it “ is the gift of God.” Phil. i. 29. “ Unto you it is “ given to believe.” Ads. v. 31. “ Fliin hath God << exalted with h:s right hand, tor to give repentance.” Adis. xi. 18. “ Then hath God rdfo to the Gentiles “ ^ranted repentance unto life.” In like manner, bo¬ lls fs is called the Janftificatitn of the Spirit } 2 Thef. ii.
*3-
[ 6; ]
13. becaufe the divine Spirit is the efficient of it in the foul, and of unholy nukes us holy. Now, if repen¬ tance and faith are the gifts, and fandfification is the work of God ; then thefe are not the fruits of man’s free will, nor what he acquires of himfelf : and fo can neither he motives to, nor conditions of, his eledlion, which is an adl of the divine mind, antecedent to, and ifrefpctti'vc of, all qualities, whatever in the perfons elected. Borides the Apoflde affects, exprefsly, that election is “ not of works, but of him that calieth ;”and that is paired, before the perfons concerned had “ acne “ either good or evil,” Rom. ix. 1 1. Again, if faith or works were the caufe of eledlion, God could not be faid to chufe us, but we to chufe him ; contrary to the whole tenour of feripture ; John xv. 16. “Ye have “ not chofen me, but I have ehofen you.” 1 John iv» 30, 19. “Herein is love, not that vve loved God, but “ that he loved us. We love him, becaufe he firil “ loved us.” Eledlion is every where, alferted to be God’s adl and not man’s; Mark xiii. 20. Rom. ix. 17. Eph. i. 4. r Thef. v. 9. 2 Thef. ii. 13. Once more, we are chofen that we might be holy, not becaufe ’twas forefeen we would be fo, Eph. i. 4. theiefore, to re- prefent holinefs as the reafon why we were eledted, is to make the effedt antecedent to the caufe. The Apo- fHe adds, verf. 3. “ having predeftinated us according “ to the goodpleafure of his will moll evidently im¬ plying, that God faw nothing extra fe, had no motive from without why he fhould either chufe any at all, or this man before another. In a word, the eledt were freely loved, Hof.'xiv. 4V freely chofen , Rom. xi. 3,6. and freely redeemed, Ifni Hi. 3. they are freely called, 2 Tim. i. 9. freely jufified, Rom. iii. 24. and' ihall be freely glorified, Rom. vi. 23. Thh great Augustin, in his book of Rctrailatioris, mgenuofly acknowledges his error, in having once thought, that faith forefeen was a condi¬ tion of eledlion : he owns, that that opinion is equal¬ ly impious and abfurd ; and proves, that faith is one of the fruits of eledlion, and confequently, could not be, in any fenfe, a caufe of it ; ‘I could never have * aliened,’ fays. he, 1 that Gpdj Ivy glraiirq* mep to ItCe*
\
[ 63 ]
‘'had any* refpefl: to their faith, had I duly confider- ‘ ed, that faith itieir is his own gift.’ Anu in another treatife of his *, he has thefe words ; ‘ Since Chrift
* fays, ye have not ebofen me, &c. I would tain alk, ‘ whether it be fcriptural, to fay, we mult have faith, ‘ before we are elected ; and not, rather, that we are
* elected in order to our having faith r’
Pof 2. As many as are ordained to eternal life, are ordained to enjoy that life in and through Chrift , and on account of his merits alone, i Thef. v. 9. Here let it be carefully obferved, that not the merits of Chrift, but the fovereign love of God only, is the caufe of Election itfelf : but then, the merits ofChrilfc are the alone procuring caufe of that fahration, to which men are elected. This decree of God admits of no caufe out of himfelf: but the thing decreed, which is the glorification ot his chofen ones, may and does ad¬ mit, nay, neceffarily requires, a meritorious caufe ; which is no other than the obedience and death of Chrilt.
Pof. 3. They, who are predeftinated to life, are likewife predeitinated to all thofe means, which are indifpenfably nece^ary in order to their meetnels tor, entrance upon, and enjoyment of, that life : inch as re¬ pentance, faith, fandtification : and perfeverance in thefe to the end.
Adts xiii. 48. “ As many as were ordained to eter- 0 nal life believed.” Eph. i. 4. “ He hath chofen us in “ him, before the foundation of the world, that we <! fhould be holy, and without blame before him in “ love.” Eph. ii. 10. For we [i. e. tfee fame we, whom he hath chofen before the foundation of the world] “ are his workmanship, created in Chrift Je- “ fus unto good works, which God hath fore-ordained “ that we fhould walk in them.” And the Apoftle afiures the fame Thellalonians, whom he reminds of their election, and God’s everlafting appointment of them to obtain falvation, that this alio was his will con¬ cerning them, even their fan&ification, 1 Thtf. i. 4. and v. 9. and iv. 3. and gives them a view of all thefe
privileges
* Pe Prcefoft, cap. 17.
[ 69 ]
privileges at once, 2 Thef. ii. 13. “ God hath, from “ the beginning, chofen you to falvation, through, fanc- “ tification of the Spirit, and belied of the truth.” As does St. Peter 1 Eph. i. 2. “ Elect -—through fane- “ tification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and fprink- “ ling of the blood of Jefus Chrill.” Now, though faith and holineis are not reprefented as the caufe wherefore the eled' are laved ; yet, thefe are conliantly reprefented, as the means through which they are faved, or as the appointed way wherein God leads his peopleto gloryr : theie bleilings being always befiowed previous to that. Agreeable to all which, is that of Austi n*: ‘ Whatfoever perfons are, through the riches ol divine
* grace, exempted from the original lentence of con- ‘ demnation, are undoubtedly brought to hear the
* Gofpel -j- ; and, when heard, they are caufed to be-
* lieve ; and are made likewife to endure to the end,
* in the faith which works by love ; and (hould they, ‘ at any time, go ailray, they are recovered and fee ‘ right again.’ A little after, he adds ; 6 All thefe
* things are wrought in them by that God, who made 1 them velfels of mercy, and who, by the eledion of ‘ his grace, chofe them, in his Son, before the world
* began.’
Pof. 4. Not one of the eled: can perifh, but they mull all necefiarily be faved. The reafon is this ; be- caufe God limply and unchangeably wills, that all and every one of thole, whom he hath appointed to lile, Ihould be eternally glorified : and, as was obferved to¬ ward the end of the preceding chapter, all the divine Attributes are concerned in the accomplilhment of this his will. His wifdom , which cannot err ; his know- ledge, which cannot be deceived ; his truth , which can¬ not fail; his love, which nothing can alienate; his juftice , which cannot condemn any, for whom Chrifi:
died j
* De Corrept. & Graf. cap. 7. f We mud under {land this, in a qualified fenfe ; as intending, that all thofe of the cleft, who live where the chriftian dilpenfaticn obtains, are fooner or later? brought to hear the gofpel, and to believs it.
[ 70 1
filed ; his pmver, which none can refill: ; and thls jM- cbangeablcnefs , which can never vary : from all which it appears, that we do not fpeak at all improperly, when we lay, that the falval'ion of his people is neceflary and certain. Now, that is laid to be necellary quod ncquit aliter ejjef ‘ which cannot be ot he: wife than it is and, if all the perfections of God are engaged to preferve and fave his children, their fafety and falvation muft be, in the ftrifleft fen lb of the word, nectffary. See, Pfulra ciii. ip. and cxxv. i, 2. Ifuiah xlv. ip. and liv. 9, 10. Jer. xxxi. 3S. and xxxii. 40. John vi. 39. and x. 28, 29. and xvi, 19. and xvii. 12. Rom. viii. 30, 38”, 39. andxi. 29. 1 Cor i. 8, 9. Phil. i. 6. 1 Pet. i. 4, Thus St. Austin* : ‘ Ofthofe, whom God hath ‘ ptedellinated, none can perifh ; inafmuch as they are ‘all his own elefit.’ And, ib. 1 They are the elecf, ‘ who are predeftinated, foreknown, and called aecord- ‘ ing to purpofe. Now, could any of thele be loll,
* God would be difappointed of his will and expectation ; 1 but he cannot be fo difappointed ; therefore, they
* can never perith. Again, could they be loft, the ‘ power of God would be made void by man’s fin ; but
* his power is invincible: therefore, they are fate.’ And again, cap. 9. 4 The children of God are written,
* with an unfhaken liability, in the book of their he - ‘ venly Father’s remembrance.’ And, in the fame chapter, he hath thefe words ; ‘Not the children of 4 promife, but the children of perdition, fhall perilh :
* for the form ware the predellinated, who a-e called ' according fo the divine determination ; not one ot
* whom fh .ill finally mifcarry/ So likewife Luther f ;
4 God’s decree of predeftination is firm and certain,
* and the rieceffity refulting from it, is, in like manner,
‘ immoveable and cannot but take place. For 4 we ourfelves are fo feeble, that, if the matter 4 was left in our hands, very few, or rather none, 4 would be faved : but Satan would overcome us all.’ To which he adds : ‘ Now, finee this iledfafi and in- 4 evitable purpofe of God cannot be reverfed nor dif-
4 annulled
* Tom. p. DeCorf. & Grat. cap. p. f In pnsfat. ad Epift. ad Rom.
[ 71 1
c ana ailed by any creature whatever ; we have a rnpft
* allured hope, that we fliall finally triumph over fin,
* how violently foever it may, at prefen t, rage in our ‘ mortal bodies.'1
Pof. The falvation of the eleft was not the only, nor yet the principal end ol their being chofe ; but God’s grand end, in appointing them to life ana hap- pinefs, was, to difplay the riches ot his own mercy, and that he might be glorified in and by the perfons he had thus cholen.
For this reafon, the elect are filled <veffch of mercy, becaufe they were originally created, and, afterwards, by the divine Spirit, created a new, with this defign, and to this yery end, that the ibvereignty of the Fa¬ ther’s grace, the freenefs ot his love, and the abun¬ dance of his gocdn,efs might be rSHnifeftid in their eter¬ nal Happineft. Notv, God, as we have already, more than once, had occafion to obfe* ve, does nothing in time, which he did not, from eternity, refolve within himfelt to do : and if he, in time, creates and regene¬ rates his people, with a view to difplay his unbounded mercy ; he jriufi, confequently, have decreed, from all eternity, to do this, with the lame view. So that the final cattles ot election appear to be thefe two: i. and principally, The * glory of God ; 2. and fubordi-
nately,
<L ==^====2*
* Let it be carefully obferved, that, when, with the feriptures, we affert the glory of God to be the ultimate end of his dealings with angels and men, we do not fpeak this with refpebt to his eflential glory, w hi.ch he has as God, and which, as it is. infinite, is not iufeepti- ble ot addition, nor capable of diminution: but or that glory which is purely manifeftative, and which Micrae- lius, in his Lexic. Philofoph. col. 471. defines to be,
‘ Clara rei, cum laude, ncti’.ia 5 cum, nepip*, Ipfa fua
enjinentia eft magna, augufta, et confpicuu.’ And the accurate Maftricht, ‘ Celebratio, ceu manit: ftatio, (quae ‘ magis proprie giqrificatio, c.u.tm gloria, appellatur)
‘ qua, agnita intus eminentia, ejufque congrua aeftima- ‘ 'do, propalatur & extolliturd Thcolog, lib. 2. cap.- 22. § 8.
C v- 1
irately, Tlie falvation of thofe he has elected ; from which the roimer ariies, and hy which it is illuf rated and let off. So Ptov. xvi. i. “ The Lord hath made “ all things for hiinfelf.” And hence that of Paul, Eph.i. 4. “ He hath chofen us — to the praife of the glory of “ his grace.”
Pof. 6. The end of election, which, with regard to the eledf themfelves., is eternal life ; I lay, this end, and the means conducive to if, iuch as the gift of the Spirit, faith, See. are fo infeparably connected together, that whoever is poffeffed of tbejc , {hall lurely obtain that ■ and none can obtain that , who are not firft poflefled of thefe. Ads xiii. 48. “As many as were oidained to “ eternal life,” and none elfe, “ believed.” Adts v. 31.. “ Kim hath God esalted— to give repentance unto “ Ilrael, and remillion of lins not to all men, or to thofe who were not, in the counlel and purpofe of God, fet apart for himfeif ; but to Ilrael, all his chofen people, who were given to him, were ranfomed by him, and (hall be faved in him with an everlafting falvation. Tit. i. 1. “ According to the faith of God’s eledf fo that, true faith is a confequence of election, is peculiar to the eledf, and fnall iff u c in life eternal. Eph. i. 4. “ He hath chofen us— that we might be holy;” there¬ fore, all who are chofen, are made holy, and none but they : and all who are landfilied, have a right to be¬ lieve they were elected, and that they {hall affuredly be faved. Rom. viii. 30. “ Whom he did predeftinate,
“ them he alfo called ; whom he called, them he alfo “jollified ; and whom he jollified, them he alfo glori- “ fied.” Which {hews, that efiedtual calling and jufti- fication are indiffolubly connedfed with election on one hand, and eternal bappinefe on the other : that they are a proof of the former, and an earneft or the latter. John x. 26. “ Ye believe not, because ye are not of
“ my flicep ;” on the contrary, they, who believe, therefore believe, bec.ru e they are of his flieep. Faith, then, is an evidence of election, or, of being in the number of Chriff’s flic’p ; ccnfeqverdy, ol falvation : fince all his flieep (hall be fav- 1, John x. 28.
Pof. 7. The eledf may, through the grace of God,
attain
[ 7 3 3
attain to the knowledge and aflinance of their predefti- nation to hie ; and they ought to feek after it. The Chriftian may, for inftance, argue thus ; “ A? many “ as were ordained to eternal file, believed through mercy, I believe : therefore, 1 am ordained to eternal ljte. “ He that believeth, (hall be faved I believe : there¬ fore, I am in a faved Hate. “ Whom he did predefti- “ nate, he called, juftiiied, and glorified I have rea- fon to trull, that he hath called and juftified me : there¬ fore I can affuredly look backward on my eternal pre- dellination, and forward to my certain glorification. To all which frequently accedes the immediate teftimony of the divine Spirit, witneifing with the believer’s con- fcience, that he is a child of God, Rom. viii. 16. Gal. iv. 6. r John v. io. Chrift forbids his little flock to fear, inafinuch as they might, on good andfolid grounds, reft fatisfied and afllired, that “ It is the Father’s” un¬ alterable “ good pleafure to give them the kingdom,” Luke xii. 32. And this was the faith of the Apoltle, Rom. viii. 38, 39.
Pof 8. The, true believer ought not only to be tho¬ roughly eftablifhed in the point of his -own election ; but should likewile believe the election of ali his other fellow believers and .brethren in Chrift. Now, as there are molt evident and indubitable marks of eleffion, laid down in lcripture ; a child of God, by examining himfelf, whether thofe marks are found on him, may arrive at a lbber and well-grounded certainty of his own particular intereft in that itnfpeakable pri¬ vilege : and, by the fame rule, whereby he judges of himfelf, he may likewise (but with caution) judge of others. If I fee the external fruits and criteria of elec¬ tion, on this or that man; I may, reafonably, and in a judgment of charity, conclude fuch an one to be aA eledt perfon. So, St. Paul, beholding the gracious fruits, which appeared in the believing Theflalonians, gathered, from thence, that they were eleHed of God,
1 Theft", i. 4, 4. and knew alio the eleffion of the Chri- ftian Epheflans, Eph. i. 4, 4. as Peter alfo did that of the me .ibers of the churches in Pontus, Galatia, &c. 1 Pet. i. 2. ' i is true, indeed, that all concluhons of G this
[ 74 1
tliis nature are not now infallible, but our judgments are liable to mi flake : and God only, whofe is the book of life, and who is the fearcher of hearts, can abio- lutely know them that are his, 2 Tim. ii. 19. yet w'e may, without a prefumptuous intrufioa into things not ieen, arrive at a moral certainty in this matter. And I cannot fee, how Chriftian love can be cultivated ; how we can call one another brethren in the Lord ; or, how believers can hold religious fellowship and communion with each other, unlels they have fome folid and viflble eafon to conclude, that they are loved with the fame everiafting love, were redeemed by the lame Saviour, are partakers of like grace, and lhall reign in the fam$ glory.
But, here let me fuggeft one very necefary caution, viz. That though we may, at leaft very probably, in¬ fer the eleflion of fome perfor.s, from the marks and appearances of grace, which may be difcoverable in jhem ; yet, vve can never judge any man whatever to be a reprobate. That there are reprobate perfons, is very e\ ident from feripture (as we lhall prefently flew) but who they. are, is known alone to him, who alone can tell who and what men are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. I grant, that there are fome particular perfons, mentioned in the divine word, of whofe repro¬ bation no doubt can be made ; fuel) asEfau and Judas: but, now the canon of feripture is completed, we dare rot, we mull: not pronounce any man living, to be non- eleft, be he, at prefent, ever fo wicked. The viler! dinner may, for ought we can tell, appertain to the elec¬ tion of grace, and bn, one day, wi ought upon by the Spirit of God. This we know, that thole who die in unbelief, and are finally un fan ft Ted, cannot be faved ; heeaule God, in his word, tells us fo, and has repre- fented tbefe as marks of reprobation : but, to fay that fuch and fuch individurls, whom, perhaps, we now fee dead, in fms, lhall r ever be converted to Chrifl, would be a mofl prefumptuous aflertion, as well as an inexcufable breach of tie charity which hopeth all things.
H A r.
t 7 5 I
C H A I>. IV.
Of Reprobation; or Predestination, as it re- fpchls the Ungodly.
i
\ * * I *
fti?-
II QM what has been faid, in the pre¬ lim ceding chapter, concerning the Election ^ of fome, it would unavoidably iollow,r even fuppofing the fcriptures had been
lilent about it, that there in nit be jeclion of others ; as every choice does, moft evidently and neeelTarily, imply a refufal : for, where there is no leaving out, there can be no choice.1 But, belide the teftimony of reafon, the divine word is full and expreis to our purpofe : it frequently, and in terms too clear to be mifunderftood, and too ftrong to be evaded, by any who are not proof againft the molt cogent evidence, attefts this tremendous truth, that fome are, “ of old, fore-ordained to condemnation.” I fhall, in the difcufiioil of this awful fubjehf, follow the method hitherto obferved, and throw what I have to lay into feveral diftinff Politioiis, ftipported by Icrip- ture.
Pof i. God did, from all eternity, decree to leave lbme of Adam’s fallen pofterity in their fins, and to exclude them from the participation of Ghrift and his benefits,
For the clearing of this, let it be obferved, that, in all ages, the much greater part of mankind have beers deftitute even of the external means of grace ; have not been favoured with the preaching of God’s word, or any revelation of his will. Thus, anciently, the jews, who were, in number, the teweft of ail people, were, neverthelefs, for a long feries ol ages, the only nation, to whom the Deity was pleated to make any fpeeial dii- covery of himfelf : and ’tis obfervable, that our Lord Ir.mfelf principally confined the advantages of his pub¬ lic miniftry to that people ; nay, he forbad his difciples to go among any others, Mat. x. r, 6. and did not commilfion thenyto preach the golf el, indiferiminate-
I 76 5
jy, to Jews and Gentiles, ’till after hrs refurreftioa* Mark xvi. 1 Luke xxiv. 4 7. Hence, many nations and communities never had the advantage or hearing the word preached; and, coni'equently, were ftrarigers to the faith that ccineth thereby. ’Tis not, indeed, improbable, but home individuals, in thefe unenlight¬ ened countries, might belong to the feeret election of i race ; and the habit of faith might be wrought in tnefe : however, be that as it will, our argument is not selected by it ; ’tis evident, that the nations or the world were, generally, ignorant, not only of God himfelf, J ut like wile ol the way to pleafe him, the true manner of acceptance with hi in, and the means of arriving at the everlalting enjoyment of birn. Now, if God had been pleated to have laved thole people, would he not have vouchsafed them the ordinary means of Salvation ? ■would he not have given them all things necefiary in order to that end ? bur, ’tis undeniable matter of fadf, that he did not ; and, to very many nations of the earth, does not, at this day. it, then, the Deity can, coniifienrly with his attributes, deny, to ft me, the means of grace, and H ut them up in grofs darknefs and unbelief ; why lhould it be thought incompatible with 2i is immenfcly gloiious perfections, to exclude i'ome perfons Iron) grace itfelf, and from that eternal life which is conn died with it? efpeeially, feeing he is equally the Lord and Sovereign difpoier of the end, to which the means lead ; as of the means, which lead to that end ? both one and the other a’e his ; and he moft juftly may, as he mod allured ly whl, do what he plenfes with his own.
Betides, it being alfo evident, that many, even of them who live in places where the gofpel is preached, v.s well as of thofe among whom it never was preached,
« ie ftrangers to God and holinds, and without experi¬ encing any thing of the gracious influences of his Spi¬ rit : we may realonably and lately conclude, that one caufe of their lb dying, is, becaule it was ?ict the divine will to communicate his grace unto them : ltnce, had it been his will, he would actually have made them par¬ takers thereof ; and, had they been partakers of it,
[ 77 1
they coul 1 not have died without if. Now, if it was the will of God, in time, to refufe them this grace ; it mull: have been his will from eternity : lince his. will is, as himfelf, the fame, yeiterday, to-day, and forever.”
The adlions of God being thus fruits of his eternal purpofe , we may, fafely, and without any danger of mil- take, -argue from them to that ; and infer, that God therefore does iu,ch and fuch things, becaufe he de¬ creed to do them : his own will being the foie caufe of all his works. So that, from his actually leaving Some men in final impenitency and unbelief, we afturediy gather, that it was his everlafhng i determination fo to- do : and, eonfequently, that he reprobated lome, from before the foundation of the world.
And, as this inference is ftrictly rational, fo it is per¬ fectly fcriptural. Thus, the judge will, in the lad day, declare, to thofe on the left hand, “ I never knew “ you,” Mat. vii. 23. L e. 1 I never, no, not from ‘ eternity, loved, approved, or acknowledged you for ‘ mine or, in other words, 6 1 always hated you.’ Our Lord, in John xvii. divides the whole human race into t-.vo great chides : one he cails “ the world the other, “ the men who were given him on*- of the “ world.” The latter, it is faid, the Father loved, even as he loved Ghrift himfelf (verfe 23.) but he lov¬ ed Chrift “ before the foundation of the world,” , verfe 24. i. e. from everlafting : therefore, he loved the cleft fo too : and, if he lov.-d thefe from eternity, it follows, by all the rules of Antitheiis, that he hated the others as early. So, Rom. \x. “ The children not being yet" “ born, neither having done good or evil, that the pur- “ pole of God,” &e. From the example of the two twins, Jacob and Eiau, the Apoftle infers the eternal election of fome men, and the eternal rejection of all the red.
Pof. 2, Some men were, from all eternity, not only negatively excepted from a participation of Chrift and his talvation ; hut, pojhivelv, ordained to continue in their natural blindnefs, hardnefs of heart, &c.- and that, by the jult judgment of God. See Exod. ix. 1 Sam. it. 2 r, 2 Sam. —vii. 14- If i. vi. c, 10, 11. 2 Thef. ii, C 3 II,
t 78 1
11, 12. Nor can tliefe places of fcripture, with many ethers of like import, be underllood of an involuntary permiilion on the part of God : at, if God barely fuf- jered it to be lb, quaji iwvitus , as it were by conftraint, and againft his will : for he permits nothing, which 'be did not refolve and determine to permit. His per- tmiffion is a pofitive, determinate aH of his will ; as Auftin, Luther, and Cticer, j uftly obferve. Therefore, if it be the will oJ God, in time, to permit fuch and fuch men to continue in their natural ftate ot ignorance and corruption ; the natural confequenee of which is, iheir falling into fuch and fuch fins (obferve, God does hot lorce them into fin; the adlualdifobedience beingon- ly tb.econfequence of their not having that grace which God is not. obliged to grant them) I fay, if it be the will of God thus to leave them in time (and we mult deny de- monltration icfelf, even known, ablblute matter of facl, if we deny that fome are fo left) then it mull have been the divine intention, from all eternity, fo to leave them : fince, as we have already had occafion to cb- fetve, no new will can poffibly arife in the mind of God. We fee, that evil men actually are buffered to go on adding fin to fin : and if it be not inconhflent with the facred attributes actually to permit this ; it cotdd not poffibly be inconfifient with them to decree that permiilion, before the foundations ot the world w ere laid.
Thus, G.od efficacioufly permitted (having fo de¬ creed) the Jews Co be, in effebt, the cruciriers of Chrili, and Judas to betray him ; Abts iv. 27, 28. Mat. xxvi. 3^, 24. Hence we find St, Auftin * fpeaking thus;
‘ judas wras c'nofen, but it was to do a melt execrable 4 deed : that thereby the death ot Chrift, and the ador- ‘ able work of redemption by him, might be accom- * plifhed. When therefore we hear our I.ord fay,’
Have not I chofen you twelve, and one of you is a “ Devil r” ‘ we mult underhand it thus, that the ele- ‘ von were eholen in mercy ; but Judas in judgment :
‘ they were chofen to partake of Ch rill’s kingdom ; he
‘ was
* De Coir. & Grat. cap. 7.
[ 79 1
‘ was chofen and pitched upon to betray him, and be ‘ the means of fhedding his blood.’
Fof. 5. The non-eledt were predeftinated, not only to continue in final iiiipenitency, fin, and unbelief ; but were, likewife, for fuch their fins, righteoufly ap¬ pointed to infernal death hereafter.
This pofition is aifo lelf-evident : for ’tis certain, that, in the day of uni verbal judgment, all the human race will not be admitted into glory, but fome of them tranfinitted to the place of torment. Now, God does, and will do, nothing, but in confequence of his own decree, Pfaim cxxxv. 6. Ifai. xlvi. 11. Eph. i. 9, 1 1. therefore, the condemnation of the unrighteous was decreed of God ; and, if decreed by him, decreed from everlafiing : for all his decrees are eternal. Befides, if God purpofed to leave thofe perfons under the guilt and the power of fin, their condemnation niufl of it- felf, neceffarily follow : Since, without jujlification and fanciifieation (neither of which bleffings are in the power of man) none can enter heaven, John xiii.8. Heb. xii. 14. Therefore, if God determined, within him- beliy thus to leave fome in their fins (and it is but too evident that this is really the cafe;) He mufl: alfo have determined within himfelf to punifh them for thofe fins (final guilt and final punijbmcnt being corela¬ tives which neceffarily infer each other ;) but God did determine both to leave and to punifh the ncn-e!e£f : therefore, there was a reprobation of fome from eter¬ nity. Thus, Matth. xxv. “ Go, ye curbed, into ever- “ lading fire, prepared for the devil and his angels;” for Satan and all his meffengers, emiffaries,’ and imi¬ tators, whether apoflate fpirics, or apoflate men.' Now, if penal fire was, in decree, from evevlafiing prepared for them; they by all the laws of argument in the world, mull have been, in the counfel of God, prepared, i. c. defigned, for that fire : which is the point I 'undertook to prove. IT nee we read, Rom. ix. “ of veffels of “ wrath fitted to deftruclion,” put together, made up, formed, or fajhloned, for perdition : who are, and can be, no other then the reprobate. To multiply Scriptures on this head, would he aimed endiefs ; for a fample,
confuit
[ So ]
Consult Fror. xvi. 4. 1 Pet. ii. 8. 2 Pet. ii. 12. Jude 4. Rev. xiii. 8.
Fof 4. As the future faith and good works, of the eled, were not the caufe o t their being chofen ; lo neither were the future fins of the reprobate the caufe of their being pa it by : but both the choice or the fonner, and the decretive om'JJlon of the latter, were owing, merely and entirely, to the fovereign will and determinating pleafure of God.
We dilfinguifh between prctcrition, or bare non elec¬ tion, which is a purely negative thing ; and condemna¬ tion , or appointment to punifi.ment : the will of God was the caufe of the former; the lins of the non-eled are the reafon or the latte . Though God determined to leave, and actually does leave, whom he pleales, in the fpiritual darknefs and d.ath of nature, out ot which he is under no obligation to deliver them ; yet he does not, politively, condemn any of thefe, merely b-.caufe he has not chofen them, but becaufe they have finned againfl him : lee Rom. i. 21—24. Rom. ii. 8. g. 2 Thef. ii. 12. Their pretention, or non-infeription in the book of life is not unjuft, on the part or God ; be¬ caufe, out of a world of rebels, equally involved in guilt, God, (who might, without any impeachment of his juttice, have palled by all, as he did the reprobate angels) was, moth unqueftionably, at liberty, if it fo pleafed him, to extend the feeptre of his clemency to fome ; and to pitch upon, whom he would, as the ob¬ jects of it. Nor was this exemption of fome, any in¬ jury to the. non-eledt whofe cafe would have been juft as bad as it is, even fuppoiing the others bad not been chofen at all. Again tec condemnation of the ungodly (for it is under that character alone, that they are the fubjedts of punifiunent, and were ordained to it) is not unjulh, feeing it is for fin, and only for fin. None are or will be punifhed, but for the’r iniquities ; and all iniquity is proper! v meritorious of punift ment: v. here, then is the fu pofi.-d utr.nercifulnefs, tj canny, or in* jufiice, ot the divine procedure ?
Fo/. 5. Goi is the creator of the wicked, but not
of
[ Si ]
of their wlckcdnrfs : lie is the author of their beings but not the infuler ot their fin.
’Tis, moft certainly, his will, (for u lorable and un- fearchable reafons) to permit fin ; but, with all pof- fible reverence be it fpoken, it Ihould feem, that he cannot, confidently with the purity of his nature, the glory of his attributes, and the truth of; declarations, be, himfelf, the author of it. Sin, fays the Apoftle,* “ en- “ tered into the world by one man, ’’meaning, by Adam:' consequently, it was not introduced by the Deity him¬ felf; Though, without the permiilion of his will, and the concurrence ot his providence, its introduction had been inupoffible ; yet is he not, hereby, the au¬ thor of fin fo introduced'4'. Luther obferves, De Serv. Arb. c. 42.) ‘ ’Tis a great degree of faith, to ‘ believe, that God is merciful and gracious, though
* he faves fo- lew, and condemns fo many ; and that
* he is ft rift ly juft,., though in confequenee of his own ‘ will, he made us not exempt from liablenefs to con- 4 damnation.’ And, cap. 148. ‘ Although God doth ‘ not make fin, neverthekfs he ceafes. not to create and
* multiply individuals in the human nature, which
‘ through
•e==— =====?• -
* It is a known and very juft maxim of the fchocls. Effect us fequitur cat: Jam pr ox imam : ‘An e fie ft fol- 4 lows from, and is to be aferibed to, the l ift, imme- ‘ diate caufe that produced it.’ Thus for inft'ance, if I hold a book, or a ftone in my hand, my. hold ng it is the immediate cattje of its not tailing but, if 1 let it go, my letting it go is not the immediate caufe. of its falling : it is carried downward by its own gravity, which is, therefore, cau/a prox-ima efAus, the proper and immediate caufe of its delcent. ’Tis true, it I had kept my hoid of.it, it would not have fallen ; yet frill, the immediate, direft caufe of its fall, is, its own weight, not my quitting my hold. The application of this, to the providence of God, as concerned in finful cvetv'sj is eafy. Without God, there could have been no creation ; without creation, no creatures ; without creatures, no fin. Yet is not fin chargeable on God : for ejfttfus fequitur caufam proximam.
[ 82 1
‘ through the withholding of his Spirit, is corrupted 4 by fin : juft as a lkilful artift may form curious flatties ‘ Out of bad materials. So, fuch as their nature it, ‘inch are men themfelves ; God forms them out of 4 fuch a nature.’
Pof. 6. The condemnation of the reprobate is necefTa- ry and inevitable.
Which we prove thus : ’Tis evident, from Scripture, that the reprobate ''(hall be condemned. But nothing comes to pafs (much lefs can the condemnation of a rational creatur. ) but in confequence of the will and decree of God. I herefore, the non-eledf could not be condemned, was it not the divine pleafure and detem ruination that they fhould. And, if God wills and de¬ termines their condemnation, that condemnation is neceflary and inevitable. ■ By their fins, they have made them Pelves guilty, of death : and, as it is not the will of God to pardon thofe fins, and grant them repentance unto life; the punifhment of fuch impeni¬ tent finners is as unavoidable as it is jull. ’Tis our Lord’s own declaration, Matth. vii. that “ a coriupt 44 t:ee cannot bring forth good fruit or, in other Words, that a depraved linn r cannot produce in h'm- felf thofe gracious habits, nor exert thofe gracious adds, without which no adult perfon can be fared. Conie- quenrly, the reprobate mull, as corrupt, fruitlefs trees (or fruitful in evil only,) be “ hewn down, and call 44 into tho fire,” Matth. iii. This, therefore, ferves as another argument, in proof of the inevitability of their future punishment: which argument, in brief, amounts to this ; They, who are not Paved from fin, muff unavoidably perifh : but the reprobate are not faved from fin ; (for they have neither will nor power to lave themfelves, and God though he certainly can, yet he certainly will not fave them :) Therefore, their perdition is unavoidable. Nor does it follow, from hence, that God forces the reprobate into fin, and thereby into mifery, again!! their wills ; but that, in confequence of their natural depravity (which is not the divine pleafure to deliver them out of, neither is he bound t do it, nor are they themfelvcs io much as
defirous
f ** 3
defirous that he would (they are voluntarily biafied and inclined to evil : nay, which is worfe itill, they hug and value their fpintuai chains, and even greedily per¬ due the paths of lin, which lead to the chambers of death. Thus, God does not (as we are fianderoufly reported to affirm) compel the wicked to lin, as the rider fpurs forward an unwilling Tiorle : God only fays, in effect, that tremendous word, “ Let them alone,” JMatth. xv. 14. He need but llacken the reins of .providential reitraint, and withhold the influence of faving grace ; and apoftate man will, too loon, and top furcly, of his own accord, fall by his iniquity : he will prefently be, fpiritually fpeaking, a felo defa, and without .any other efficiency, lay violent hands on his own foul. So that tho’ the condemnation of the reprobate is una¬ voidable ; yet the neceffity of it is fo far from making them mere machines, or involuntary agents, that it does not, in the leaf!, interfere with the rational freedom of their wills, nor ferve to render thepi lefs inexculable.
Pof. 7. The punilhment of the non -elect was not the ultimate end of their creation ; but the glory ol God.
’Tis frequently objected to us., that, according to eur view of Predeftination, ‘ God makes fome perfons on ‘ purpofe to damn them:’ But this we never advanced ; nay, we utterly rejeft it, as equally unworthy ot God to do, and of a rational being to fuppofe. The grand, principal end propofed by the Deity to himfelf, in his formation of all things, and of mankind in particular : was, The manifeffiation and difplay ot his own glorious ■attributes. His ultimate fcope, in the creation of the jElebt, is, To evidence and make known by their fal- vation, the unfearchable riches of his power and wif- dom, mercy and love ; and the creation of the Non- eieCt is tor the difplay of his juftice, power, fovereign- ty, holinefs and truth. So that nothing can be more certain, than the declaration of the text we have fre- .q 1 ntly had occalion to cite, Prov. xvi. “ The Lord “ hath made .all things for himfelf, even the wicked “ for the day of evil.” On one band, the “ veliels 4‘ of wrath are fitted for deilruftion,” in order that God may “ffiew his wrath; and make his power known,” •
[ 3+ 1
and man! felt the greatneis of his patience and long fuf- fering , Rom. ix. 32. On theothe* hand, he afore pre¬ pared the elect to falvation, that on them, he might demonftrate “the riches ot his glory and mercy,” verbs 23. As, therefore, God himfelr is the foie author and efficient of all his own actions ; io is he, likevvift, the ftp rente end, to wJaich they lead., and in which they terminate.
Befides, the creation and perdition of the ungodly an- fwer another purpofe (though a fubordinate one) u ith regard to the elect themlelves, who, from the 1 ej eft ion of thole learn, (1.) To admire the rich-s of the divine love toward themlelves, which planned, ar.o has ac- compiifhed, the work or their falvation : while others by nature on an equal level with them, are excluded from a participation of the fame benefits. And fuch a view or the Lord’s diftinguifhing mercy is, (2.) A moll powerful motive to thankfulnefs, that, when they too might jnltly have been condemned with the world of the non-elect, they were marked out as heirs of the grace of life. (3.) Hereby they are taught, ardently to love their heaven!) Father ; (4.) To trull in him af- furedly, for a continued iupply ot grace while they are on earth, and for the accomplishment of his eternal decree and pn mife, by their glorification in heaven ; and, (5.) To live, as becomes thofe, who have received fuch unfpeakable mercies from the hand of their God and Saviour. So Buces femevvhere obferves, That the punilhment ot the reprobate ‘ is ufetul to the eled't ; ‘ inafmuch as it influences them to a greater tear and ‘ abhorence ot tin, and to a firmer Reliance on the goed- ‘ nefs of God.’
Pa/. 8. Notwithftand.ng God did from all eternity, irreverlibly chufe out and fix upon fome to be par¬ takers ofi'alv lion by Chrift, and rejected the reft (who are thereloie termed by the Apoftle, the refufe , or thofe that remained and were left out) acting, in both, ac tend¬ ing to the good pleafure ot his oh n fovercign will : j et, he did not, herein, adt an unjuft, tyrannical, or cruel part ; nor yet thew himlelf a refpcPlrr oj perfons.
1. He is not ui\uft, in reprobating tome ; neither
can
[ s5 V
can he be fo; for “ the Lord is holy in all his ways, “ and righteous in all his works,” Pfalm cxlv. But fal- vation and damnation are works of his : confequently, neither of them is unrighteous or unholy. ’Tis un¬ doubted muter of faff, that the Father draws fome men to Chrift, and faves them in him with an everlafting falvation ; and that he neither draws nor faves l'ome others : and, if it be not unjuft in God, ac¬ tually to forbear faving thefe perfons after they are born ; it could not be unjuft in him to determine as much, before they were born. What is not unjuft for God to do in time; could not, by parity of argument, be unjuft in him to refolve upon and decree from eter¬ nity. And, furdy, if the Apoftie’s illuftration be al¬ lowed to have any propriety, or to carry any authority, it can no more be unjuft in God to fet apart fome, for communion with him/elfin this life and the next, and to fet afide others, according to his own free pleafure ; than for a potter, to make, out of the fame inafs of clay, fome veflels for honourable, and others for inferi¬ or ufes. The Deity, being abfolute Lord of all his creatures, is accountable to none for his doings; and can¬ not be chargeable with injuftice, for difpofing of his own as he will.
Nor, 2. Is the decree of reprobation a tyrannical one. ’Tis, indeed, ftridtly fovereign ; but lawful fo- vereignty and lawlefs tyranny are as really diftinft, and different, as any two oppolites can be. He is a tyrant, in the common acceptation of the word, who, (i.) Ei¬ ther ufurps the foverign authority, and arrogates to himfelf a dominion to which he has no right: or, (2.) Who, being, originally, a lawful Prince, abufes his power, and governs contrary to law. But who dares to lay either of thefe accufations to the Divine charge ? God, as Creator, has a moft unqueftionable and unli¬ mited right over the fouls and bodies of men ; unlefs it can be fuppofed, contrary to all fcripture and common fenfe, that, in making of man, he made a fet of beings fuperior to himfelf, and exempt from his j 11 ril'd iff ior. Taking it for granted, therefore, that God has an ab¬ solute right of fovereignty over his creatures ; if he fi ft.ouli
[ 86 ]
fhonld'bc pleafed (as the fcriptures repeatedly afliire us that he is) to manifeit and difplay that right, by gCacioufly having home, and juftly puniihing others lor their fins--- Who are we that we li.ould reply againlt God ?
Neither does the ever blefied Deity fall under the fscond notion ot a tyrant ; namely, as one who abufes his jiower, by acting contrary to law : tor, by what exteiior law is He bound, who is the fupremc lawgiver of the univerfe ? The laws, promulgated by him, are designed tor the rule of our conduct, not of His. Should it be objected, that ‘ his own attributes of goodnefs ‘ and juitiee, holinefs and truth, are a law to himfeli 1 anfwer, that, admitting this to be the cafe, there is nothing, in the decree ot reprobation, as reprefented in leripture, and by us from thence, which clafhes with any of thofe perfections. With regard to the Divine goodnefs, tho! the non -cleft are not objects of it, in the aenle the elect are ; yet, even they are not w'holly ex¬ cluded from a participation of it. They enjoy the good things ot providence, in common with God’s children, and, very often, in a much higher degree. Eefides, goodnefs, conlidcicd as it is in God, would have been juft the fame infinite and glorious attribute, fuppoling no rational beings had been created at all, or faved when created. To which may be added, that the goodnefs ot the Deity does not ceale to be infinite in itlelf, only btcaufe it is more extended to feme ob¬ jects than it is to others : The infinity ot this perfec¬ tion, as refiding in God and coinciding with his ellence, is fufticiently fee ured, without fuppoling it to reach, in- tlifcriminately, to all the creatures he has made. For, was this way ot reafcning to be admitted, it would lead us too tar, and prove too much : fince, it the infinity of his goodnefs is to he eftimated, by the number of objects, upon which it terminates ; there mult be an abfolute, proper infinity of reafonable beings, to ter¬ minate that goodnefs upon : confequently, it would fol¬ low, from fuch premifes, either, That the creation is as truly infinite, as the Creator ; or, if otherwife, That the Greater's goodnefs could not be infinite, becaufe
[ S7 ]
it has not an infinity of objedts to make happy *. Z.afllyi it it was not incompatible with God’s infinite goodnefs, to pafs by the whole body of fallen angels, and leave them under the guilt of their apofiacy ; much lei's can k clalh with that attribute, to pafs by lonie of fallen H 2 mankind,
* The late moft learned and judicious Mr. Charnock has, in my judgment at leaff, proved, molt clearly and fatisfactorily, that the exelufiorr ot fo me individual perfons, from a participation of laving, grace,- is perfect¬ ly confident with God’s unlimited goodnefs. He obferves, th .t the goodnefs of the Deity i;a ‘ Infinite, 4 and circuftafcribed by no limits. The exereife of his 4 goodnefs may be limited by himfelf; but his good- 4 nels, the principle, cannot : for, fince hrs efi'ence is
* infinite, and his goodnefs is not diitinguilhed from 4 his efi’ence : It is infinite alfo. God is necellhrily 4 good, in his nature ; but free in his communications 4 of it. He is neceffarily good, affeSlivc, In regard cF 4 his nature ; but freely good, ejfettive, in regard of 4 the effluxes of it to this cr that particular fubjcdl he 4 pitcheth upon. He is not necefiarily communicative 4 of his goodnefs, as the fun of its light, or a tree of 4 its cooling lhade, which choofes not its objeffs, but 4 enlightens all indifferently, without variation or di- 4 flindtion : this were to make God of no more under-
* flanding than the fun, which firines not where it 4 pleafes, but where it mull. He is an underifanding 4 agent, and hath a fovereign right to ehoofe his own 4 fubjedts. It would not be a fu-preme, if it were not a 4 voluntary goodnefs. ’Tis. agreeable to the nature of 4 the Highelt God, to be ablblutely free ; and to dif- 4 penl'e his goodnefs in what methods and meafures he 4 pleales, according to the free determinations of bis 4 own will, -guided by the tvifdom of his mind, and re- 4 gulated by the holincfs of his nature. He will be 4 good to whom he will be good. When he doth adr,
4 he cannot but adt well : So far ’tis necefiary ; yet he 4 may adt this good or that good, to this or that degree:
4 So it is free : As ’tis the perfection of his nature,
’tis
[ 88 ]
jnankind, and refolve to leave them In their fin?, and punifh them tor them. Nor is it inconfifient with the Divine juflice, to withhold faving grace from feme ; feeing the grace of God is not vv’nat he owes to any. ’Tis a free gift, to thole that have it ; and