Goodwin - BX9315 G6 v2

:w6 Of Efeflion. ----~--~~~--------- r---/'-.-~ Mofcs fir!\, God thereby expre1llng his having chofcn him, Exod. j l• I9. and n 0 OK IV. then apphcd by the Apoftle to all the c!Jofm of God' Rom. 9· I 5·) 'Tis fpo– ~ l<cn like Grace rt fdf, which is moved by and from nothing but himfdf, and Vi' hieh hath no otl:cr rcafon but it fdf within him : He loves becaufe he loves; fo at lirll, 'D'rut. 7· And he will love becaufe he will love--- Star pro rat I· one voltm/M; That's all his reafon. There is will upon will; I will and I will: Grace is the moft refolved, (I had almoft faid) wilful Principle in the heart of God. If in olioer purpofes of his, you find his Refolmion fixed, as If a. I+ >7· The Lord of' Hojls b.uh pu>·pojed rt, and who jh,IIl difmnmlrt? much more in this matter: And the reaton is evident; for Acts of Grace are nor barely Acts of his Will, but of his good Wi!J, and ot the good plea(urt of his wt!J, Eph. 1. 5'· In which he is delrghted, 'Dmt. IO, l). And rejr,yceth w11h /m whole beart, a11d his whole ford, Jrr. p. 41, Thep~operty ol Grace is to love becaufc it will, therefore to love whilft he bath a Will, or love to love withaL 4· This Grace, thus fixed in God's Will, is the moll foveraign and predomi• nant Principle in the heart of God, to over- rule all other things he willeth, fa as effectually to carry on his R.efolutions of Free-grace, Grace,as 'tis the moft refolute, la the mo!t ablolute Principle in the heart of God; unto it belongeth the Dominion : What means elle The Throut of Grace? He6r, 4· 16, And why elfe is it fa id, to •·eig11 Nnto etcr11al life? Rom. 5• ult. You find this round 'about the Text, in the words afore, vtr{. 6, 7• Hum6!e ; •our j'elves tm· der (or fubmit to) hu mighty h."nd, ( that is, his Soveraign Power,) that w ill ex,,ft ) 'Ott rn due time; fo verje 6, Alter which follows, Who u a God that ea• Hth for )Otl, ver(c 7· All which is carried down to this Head of hi<, being t1 God of a/J Grace. Then in the next words to thofe, Tht God cif a!J G~ace will flab!Ijh )'Oft, ~c. it follows, ver(e I I, To himh glory mid domi1Jio11 for evtr; that is, to him, asa God of ail Grace, who profefledly deals thus gra– cioufly with his people. The .cfftct of both is, That he being a God of all Gro~ce, to whom the 'Domi1tiotJ belongs; Therefore give your (elves up to him, as fuch a God, whofc Gra<e in caring for you and exalting of you , bath the Soveraignty, And ibis Sovcraignry of his Grace is given to it, not only in refpect of all things out of God, that ffiould be fuppofed to !land in tbe way to its R.efoluti· ons, btH is attributed unro it, as i'n a comparifoa to all other the Attributes in God bimfclf, all which come in and give up their intereft, as to the accom– J>Iifiling Free-graces defigns, which were the fuprearn and top Defigns rhat were 10 be fou nd in the heart of God. Tf10s in the fir!\ and fecond Chapter to the Ephrji,mJ, where he mentions other Attributes, as having a hand in our falvation, he magnifieuhe wifdom of Goddilcovered therein, vrrje 8. as 3lfo the fXcttd11ig grti>l11cjs of hu power therein, verj'e '9· yet_ he fets the CrowilonFrce-gracei ts head, All to the praife rmd glory of hu Grace; fa vnje 6. And in reafon, th at muft be aclmowledged to have the Dominion, that hath the principal Glory, as that, for the glory of which, all was at firft defigned. Now the whole of all Spiritual Blciiings, (particularly Electron , Predeftination, Redemption, e§c. Eph. I. 4, 5', 6.) are all faid to be to the prmje of' the glory of"" Grace, verf. 6. Yea, thofe other Attributes emplay– ed in this wark, •Ithough they are to have their proper glory out of our Sal– vation, yeti~ the work of ou r Salvation, they have but as it were an acting under Free grace to effelt what it defigns: They put in their joint Hock in– deed, but arc content that their glory fhould come in to thcr:1, fa far as they filbfervc this glorious Grace in its contrivemenrs, If any hereupon fl1all Query, Is this the Prerogative of Grace which you mean, _that it faves men, continue they what they will, and fo faves them mecrlyout of •n abfolute Soveraignty, becaufe it will fave them? A11(w. I. God f(Jrbid. We dcfie fuch a S9veraignty fa underftocd, as if it fH' ed any man without rule, much lefs again!\ rule. The very Text that fp<·ai<S os hir\h of Grace as any other S:ripturc, yet when it ftylcs him The c-·od of a!I G'r,zce, ., in relation to our Salvation, ndds, who bath called tt< , as

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=