62 / 808
So
Deur,74
He decreer,
on
thiscon-
dition, though
he
fetch
that
neither
they
can doe
it
of
themlelves,nei-
ther
is
he
min-
ded
to
worke
it in them
:
if
the fitft,then
God
were
not
omnipotent; if
the
latter,he
fhoulddecree
£oolithly upon
that
he law
im-
poffiblc;if
the
fecond,it
is
all
one
with an
abfolute
will.
Z.
AnCwered.
Ephefianr,Chap.
r.
°'VE
R.
4
8.
Had faith, fanitification,
workes,
been
thecondition on which
we were
eleded,it
is
like
Saint
Paul
would
have
thought
on
them,Rom.
9.1
I.
But
he findeth no fuch confideration,
in
which
reafon
might
fray
it felfe, but exclaimeth, o
the depth
l
&c.
9.
That
which
Ifraels election
doth
typifie,
is
not
an
elation
on
fore
-
fight,
or
any worthineffe. But ours
is
typified
by
it,ergp,
I
o.
That which
Au
flip retracted,
as
comming
neere
Pelagian
pm,
is
not
like
to be
orthodoxe
;
This
he did
fo.
Firft
;
The
latter arguments perfwade me fully
that God doth
not
elat
upon any
thing
fore-feene
in
us,
which
fhould
move him
to
this
aétion
of
elating
of
us;
God
cannot have
fuch
a
conditional! decree
:
t
will
eleii all,
if
they
will
beleeve
:
For
he
mutt eitherthinks, they
can
doe this
without him,
and
then
he
were not
an
omnipotent, or that
he
would give them
effeétually
to
beleeve,and then it
is
all one
with
an ab-
folute will
; as
for example
:
I
will eleét
to
life fuch as fhall
beleeve,
I
will give thefe beleefe
with perfeverance,
and will choofe
them to
life,having thus beleeved; this
is
all one
with
this decree we
maintain
:
I
choofe thefe to life,and
decree
to
givethem faith and perfeverance,by
which they
fhall
be brought to
life
;
they are
alike upon
the mat
-
terabfolute;
Onely the former
maketh
God to
decree
the
giving
of
faith,
that
he may decree
elation
:
This latter
maketh
God
decree
the
giving faith
onely,
forobtaining falvation,
to
which we
are
elated.
Secondly ; I fay, he
can make
us
fit
to
any end he
choofeth
us,
may
choofe
us
to that
end
before he
order
his meanes
to
bring
us
thereunto.
drminiue
will firft have him make
us
fit, and then decree
to
choofe
us
to
life;
which
is
to
fee
the
Cart
before
the
Horfe;
to predeftinate
meanes
before
the
end
be agreed
on;
to
fet
predeftination before fore-
knowledge
and
elation.
Thirdly
;
This propofition
;
God
hath
chofeu its
to
life,
believing
and
per
levering :
This
is
true
in
this fenfe, we are chofen
to
life,
to which
he will
bring
us,
through
beleeving
;
But
if
it be referred to
the
action
of
choofing5in this
fenfe,God
doth
choofe
us,
when nowhe doth
fee
us
beleeving,
that
we fhould
have
life ;
it
is
not
true,
nor
agreeing
to thofe
Scriptures:
God
bath
chofen
us
to
falvation,through fanilificatien
and
beleefe;
God hash
ordained
us
to obtains
life,
through
Iefus
Chrifi.
Thefe three Conclufions
premifed
:
We
will anfwer thofe
Argu-
ments propounded for the contrary,
and
fo
proceed. For the
firft;
fee
that which
is
before anfwered on thefe
words,
in Chrifl
viz.
That
God chofe us
being
in Chrifl
vertually,
not
aiivafy.
To
the fecond
;
If
each part be rightly
taken,all may be
granted,
and
our
caufe
nothing hurr.
Thole perfons whom God
faveth
and
adopteth,
thus and thus
qualified
in
time,
thole
he
did
decree, when they were made
fesch by
force
of
hie
predeflination,
to adopt
and
fave.
This
conclufion
is
true.
God
did decree
to
fave
certaine perfons,
by
working
in
them effectually faith and perfeverance.But
Arminius
by
de-
cree, underftandeth
the
decree
of
ele&ion
to
life,
as
it
is
diftinguillied
againft