of tbeir :Jtate by Creation. things be fa id of God, as he is God; then the oppofite, (a c apacity of bemg "-A./) temp«d with evil) muft be Intended thereby ot ttle Creature, confidered 10 Ch~p. 2. irs Creaturelh'P~ ~ If any one iay, .J.J1fl1ts fpeaks iri the words afore and afr.er,of and unto man f•ln, that is,tempted with hJS cwn ltt(/,voj. •4· And fo 1t IS nor an Argument to prove that the Creature , in irs Original eflate, was thu> !,able to 1 empta" tion wnh dtfftrence from God. Anfw. 1. HIS laying, Godcmmot bt ttmptrd, being a ferting fonh an At" tribute proper unto God; therefore, however In the o:cafion ot 11, 11 may be an Exhonar.on unto men fain, C£lc. yet rhe Max1m exrends further, and 1s not robe narrowed unto a Comparifon of God's Nature, in this re ipeel, wuh c·or– rupred Man; bur in rha,t it is made proper unro God, it'muli needs, 10 its op· p utition, exprefs the difference from all Creatures as Cre•tur< s. . . 2. lt had been fbort of the Glory whtch IS due unto God, 10 tht$ pumy of his; yea, difhonourable ro have intended it, as a comparifon only lie ween a Man lain that lmh lull in him already, that may rcmpt htm; end the inhnitely holy Nature ofGod, rhar harh no fuch Princi;>le in lum, as rbertb) 10 for out the Ptrfedion of God: For, it might be fa id, That a Creature unlaln hHh no– thing in him ro rempr him neither. Therefore God, his [cmmot 6e UmfUdJ mull extend further, in full oppoiirion to, and exclufion of, any Creature, in its bell eftare coniidered. l· lt may be fa id of the firongefi meer Creature in its bell cfiate, That it is liable eo be tempted of its own Lull, that may anfe up tn IHm, though he have no finfullufl as yet in bim. The firfi fin ofour firfl Parenrs,was a lull .nordinare, to bt ,uGods; Self-love grew into a turner, when once it heard bur alar off, of fuch a Preferment. And fo of Saran; 'fis ("id, that when he finned, he finned o{ his own, John 8. 44• Teart ofyour F,uher thr DtvJI, and the lufls o{your }(,thrr _ye wi/J do: be WtH a m11rdtrerfrom the btgtmJmg, a1Jd tlbode not wtht tr11th, 6ecau[t there is 110 truth in him. Whm ht [p,,d:nh a !Je, he Jptaknh of hts own: [or ht ii ,1/iar, and tht Father of zt. Thereby alfo ut<erly exempting God from any the leaf! influence into his lin. · The Socmians,who hold Man's Nature in his firfl Creation nor to have been holy, bur only ind,fferenr unto good and evil, when we urge, Tht~t Man was crraud oftrrGod's lmagt, f!5c. They would retort this Abfurdity upon us,. Tb,ll thm ht m11(/ btiV< 6tmmadt immutably holy; for God's ho1111f[s rs an im– t!ftlta6!t holintjs in h1m; a11d thertfort t( Ma11 hadthe Image of tl 6y Creati– on, thwht Jhontd h,,v, bad it immutably. llut, we eaiily anfwer, God could nor communicare 16 us liis Eifenrial Ho– linefs, whereby he is d.fferenced from the Creatures: That mull be communi• cared only fo far as it is communicable ro a Crca•ure. And allrhe Images thac are made of a Mao, do not import a communication of his Nature, bur of his likenefs; rhat is, a communication accidental, artificial, and not fubflantial: 1\nd fo God begat his Son indeed, who is his fubflantill Image; but the I– mage of God in Creatures is nor fo; we had , and have but the Lineam~nts of his Holmefs. A Second Ground ofMutabil ty in the Creatures aClings with difference from God, and his Unchan~;eabk.n< [; in ading, is, Thlt God is not Compounded of a Power ro ad differing from himfelt , i. e. his Ell'ence ; but himfdfis the Power wherewith he ads : He is A8us purus f!5 jimp!icijimus; and there· Jore there is nothing can fall our or come between himfdf and his Power i!l a– Cling, ro weaken or hinder him in ading, nor to caufe any faileur in his ading, and fpectaUy rn Ius uCl:ivity of Holinefs, which i' in Scripture termed him[tlf: And therefore, whereas in one Scripture you read, he fwrartth by himfdf; in another you find, he fweareth 6y his Holittrfs; rhefe are all one. Hi• H 11incfs al(o is that in him, whereby him[elf is his own end to himfclf: God's ol.\ n Good and Hlppincfs is his ultimate End, and therefore he can never but all holily, for be ads by himfdf, aRd for him fell· and fo cannot fail in oding; bm is holy in all h.is ways and works, and canno'r be o<herwiie; For all in 'l')i• ading, is himfelf, bath hiS Power and his End, and all; yea, and are oil · E 2 one \
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