Baxter - Houston-Packer Collection BT70 .B397 1675

Of Predes`tinaáioñ: 37 B. 1 know you fay that neither God nor man loveth fin as fin : But whether Dr.Twi_(fe &Rutherford fay notinequipollent terms, that God is the greateft Lover.ofSin in all the world,judge by their confuted words in the former Book. I. Theydeny not (nor can do) that Loveand Voliti- on in God are all one. Gods Love is not aPaon, but his Will. 2. They fay,(that God roilleth that fin exist. 3. And that asfummè b unie? condo- eíble tohis Glory. 4. And-that this great conducibility is agreat good. 5. That God is pleafed finally in what he millethantecedently. 6. And that asGod is infinitely above man in his Being, fo is he in the great- nee, and power, and efficacy of hisVolitions. 7. And thatman loveth not, nor willeth not evil as evil, or fin as fin; but for inferior good in- finitely below Gods Glory, for which he willeth its exiftence. And is not this to fay that he is the greatefl Lover ofit that is ? " C. Yet itflicks withme, that God f ouldbe the Omnipotent Governor of the World, andall $in which is the common work of theWorld, should " bewithout or againfthis Will : Providence ie wronged by this. B. You miftake thematter: s. That he decreed to leaveany men or- dinarily to their Free-will, undermoralGovernment, was not from im- potency, as if he could have made man no better, or more neceffary an Agent: But ofhis Wisdom and Freedom, bywhich he made the Bruits withoutReafon, andStones without Senfe. 2. All fin is done againft the LaworcommandingWill of God,which determineth onlyofDuty, and not directlyof Event. But it is not done againft his abfolute Will deevents:: For God is not overcome nor fru- Itrateofhis Decrees. 3. I pray you oncefor all remember what! have told you in the firft Book, that GodsProvidence doth about mans fin, and then you will not fay that he is Idle, or negledeth his Government, unless he cause Sin. I. It is God that made man an lntellertualfree Agent inhis own Image, and the Lord of his own Ads, as a Creature morally governable by Laws : And fo all his free power is of God, who f1í11 upholdeth it. II. As God is theFont Nature he is thePrincipium motus, and hecon. currethas the firft caufeto all Aliion as Ailion in genere, andfo to all that bath a phyfical entity and reality in fin : AndIdo not believethat Aureo- lus, Durand, or Lud. à Dola thoughtotherwise, though theydiffer in ex- prefftng the modeofconcurfe. III. God givethmen all the mercieswhich they turn to fin, and is the caufeof all thole Objects which they inordinately love and abufe. IV. God himfelfconcurreth withSinners, in causing the fame Tells which they caufe alfo by prohibitedVolitions andAnions (as in genera- tion, &c.) evenwhen cuftomgiveth onename to thefn and the effect And that by all the ways fore- named, and many more. V. God as the Worlds Governor and Benefactor, maketh mens fins the occafons ofmuch good, and ordereth and over-ruleth all Wilts and Events, fo as not tomils of any of hisends : But will attain all hisends, while the Sinner feeketh hisown. VI. All this that Goddothhedecreeth todo. And all that Sinners dohe fore-knew. And neitherhisWifdoin, Goodneft, or Power, is ever over-come by fin, or defective in any thingabout it. And isnot all this enough for you, but yet Godmuff be the chiefwilier of fin. " C. 1confefi that God cangovern thefinful Worldby this much. B. Take in but one thought more, which I afterward fuggeft. Ockani laboriously endeavourethto prove, that the outwardAd bath nopecu- liar

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