Of Free-will. 95 hewill, and he cannot do what he will not : And fo we fay , that itz fenfr compágto 1n.undifpofed or averfe Will cannot loge or will aright 5 when perhaps no more than a- Logical impotency is meant, viz. That thefe two Propofitions cannot poffibly be both true [ ]asdas is undifpo- fed to Love and Juftice] anìl [Judas at the fame time doth exercife Love and Juflice ] fpeakingofapredominant difpofition. And this is but adenominationof the fame fenfe, as neceftas confequentia vel ldgi- ca is, as diftinct from necejjztas confequentis vel Tali. And fo we fay, that he that is fire-decreed, yeaór fore-known tobe goodcannot be bad The meaning is not that he wanteth true power to bebad : But that iss ordinedicendi thefe two cannot poffibly betrue; [ Peter is decreed by God, or fore-known tobe a Saint; ] and [ Peter will not be a Saint ], And this logical inipoflìbility is meant oft in Scripture, as ph. 12.39.. Therefore they could not believe, becaufe that Ifaiah faith; &c. not that this hindered them :.but logically de confequentia, both' thefe could not be true [ that fsia'sProphecy Ihould be true, and yet that the Per- kin prophefiedof fhould beObedient]. And fo the words [ the Scrip- titremúfl be fulfilled] and [ that the Scriptures might be f :slfi'lled ] are -oft ufed, as to the inference: XXVIII. Thus by extringckdenomination and connotation, impotency is oft imputed to the Agent from the incapacity of the Recipient : As it is Paid, Mark6. g That Chrf could do no mighty work there, becaufe of their unbelief: When as thiswas not from adifability inChrß to have done it, ifhe would : But here it is firfl fuppofed that God bath ordi- natelyfore - decreed todono fuch Works, but where the perlons were foqualifiedas to be capableof.them; And then thatthe perlons there wereunqualified : And fothe EjfeII was logically impoffible, in fenfucom- pofito.. Thus we fay, That [God cannotfave Unbelievers, he cannot hear the prs cf the Wicked, he cannot forfake the Faithful] that is, [ His Ordination and Decree fuppofed, logically fuch a thingcannot confift with it in verity. ] XXIX. Whenfomething elfe, and not impotency , doth afcertain an event, by omiffon, or fomething befides Power afcertaineth the con- trary efficiently, yet the efett is oft denominated potble or impoffible, and afcribed toPower or Impotency, by a conjunctionof this moral and logical denomination. So we fay, That ['Gods pure eyes cannot behold Iniquity, that God cannot love the Workers of Iniquity as fuch.] Not for want of Power, but by reafon of his perfeft Will and Nature. ` Srs God cannot lye, Tit. I. 2. And it is impoffible for God to lye. God ean- not deny himfelf; 2 Tim. 2. 13. God cannot be temptedwith evil, Jam. i. 13. So ]oh. so. 35. The scripture cannot be broken. Ifa. 1. 13. four. Affemblies I cannot away with. No wonder alto if this be laid of men As, r 7oh. 3. 9. He cannot fin, becaufehe is born of God. Not for want ofpower, but partly he will not, and partly logically theft cannot confifti So of the wicked, /oh. 7. 7. The World cannot hateposo--- XXX. Oft times the word [Cannot ] is taken politically, I cannot, that is , I muff not , or I cannot lawfully: mod turpe, impoffllile. Gen. 19. 22. I cannot do any thing , till thou be come out. Aft. ro. 47. Can any manforbid water , &c. that is, lawfully. 2Cor. 53. 8. [ We can do nothing again the Truth,] that is, by Authority from God. XXXI. Oft times in Scripture the word [Cannot] is meant only of that which a man cannot dowithout faífcring, or lofs, or difficutly. So ii
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=