Baxter - Houston-Packer Collection BT70 .B397 1675

aadDecrees ofgod, &c. foul, which is not effential and inCeparable, but is much under the power of theWill, and may be got and /oft. 202. This adventitiousDi(pü îtion, is found in the foul in various De- grees : t. When it is in fuck aDegree only,as that immediatelyand pro- perly without anyother power added, the will may be Paid to be Able to .Acl thus or thus, then it is called a Moral Power : But when it is in fuch a degree, as that we are Difpofèd to Atpromptly and eafily, it is called a Habit., . 203. He therefore that is fo far difpofed toany Good aft, and whofe In- difpoftion , or d: fpoftion to the contrary, is but fuch, as that in his prefent Rate, without any more helpthan *he bath, he can movehisown will to the Paid ad, and thedifficulty is not fo great , but that fuch Power fometime cloth overcome it, is faid to have a MoralPower. But he that wanteth. not Natural force or power, but only a right Difpóftion of his will, and fo far' wanfethit, as that none in his cafe do ever change their oevn ads ro good, without more help and power than he hash, is faid to be morally unable or impotent r and not onlyto want the Habit. 204. Whether theNatural Powers be properly called A Power to Be- lieve, Repent, Love God, bc. without the moral Power or right difpofiti- on t though it be a gnefiion.of folne ufe among the Contenders about thefe matters, yet it is chiefly de nomine , and therefore of the lefs moment. This is tobe granted ofall de re, } thatUnbelievers want not thatNatural Power or faculty, whichcan Believe and Repent if duly fufcitatedand di- fpofed: But through an IllDifpofition and contrary courfe of action, and want of due excitation, that Power will not ,rlc , without Gods fpecial Grace. Which [ will not] fignifieth, a. The Undifpofednefs, 2. The Non-agen- cy : And in firiéteft fpeech, the former is belt expreffed by [ The will is undifpofed and averfe to Believe, &c.] and the latter by [Thewill doth not cónfent: ] But the firft may be e'prefled by [It cannot] becaufe it will not cometopats : Though it is no fuch [cannot] as is diftinet from [will not] but the very fame. And as [Power ] is diftinit tom [ will ] and a man is faid to be,dble to do that which [ he can do if bewill], fo no doubt but he that will Believe andRepent , can do it, lbfar as he is willing. And this is it d at Augufline fo much pleadeth for, when he would have us diftinguifh [Cannot ] and [willnot], and when he faith, that Pof fe Credere eft Omnium ; Credere aneemfidelium. 205. To the fuller opening of this, note the following Conclufions. Ndman doth that which he cannot do, at that inftant. 206. Humane ( andall created) Power is dependent, and is not properly 'aPower to do any thing, but on fuppofition of Gods Emanant. fupport and concurfe, as he is the firft Cade of Nature. 207. Humane Power is finite, and is not a Power adamnia, but ad bee: which therefore are called Pafble to us. 2c8. Power being a Relative word, it may be faid to be nullified ad hoc by analteration of the Objetonly : As if youdouble the weight, that man maybeUnable to bear it, who Couldbear it when it was lets : when the ob- je6t is changed, and not thepower indeed. 209. Power fuppofeth the due objedt and its due propofal or Rate. We have no Pourer to fee invifbles,. to underftand things not intelligible, to will things notapprehended to be good, andnot fo revealed, CMc. z r o. The threeConjun/ Powers of the foul fuppofe each other, though they are not formally the fame : Wehave no Power to will objeétsnot an- derflood, nor to underhand, will or execute without Vital-allivity ; nor to underhand molt things without the wills determination ad exercitium. a s r. The 37 * Yet the Jefults them- ' felves (as Raiff obi fop. ) are not fo much for the necelfity of predifpofiti- on, but that they confefs that Grace oft taketh oc- cafionof things natural, or indifferent, yea, of heinous fins themfelves. And that the beginning ofJuflificatioa (Sandi- station) is not from the ltrength or endea- vours ofnature, butfrom Gracehe largely proveth in thewhole difp. 17,18. as Vafquo,and Suareand other fefaita alga do. f Of this fee Mr.71aman's Treatife ofNatural and Moral Impotency, and Mr. william Fenners' no- table though popular Tradate ofWilful Impe- nitency.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=