withmensinns: liberty, fromKeceftty, from Sinne, from Ailifery, faith, This diftinaior I could willingly receive, but that it confounded) We- cejfty with Coaftion. 2. That whichnecef itateth thewill to finne, is as trúly the caufe of finne as that which forceth it; becaufe it maketh the finne to be inevitably committed , which otherwife might be avoided : And therefore ifthe Divine decree neceffitate mans will to finne, it is as truly the caufe of the finne as ifit did inforce it. 3. That which neceffitateth the will to finne, is more truly the caufe of the finne then the will is; becaufe it overruled! the will, and beareth all the ftroke, taketh from it its true liberty, by which it fhould be lord of it felf and difpofer óf its own ads, and in refpe& of which it hath been ufually called by Philofophers and Fathers too,uti7e éarov, oui7DJ'ccuo- 7ov, ád'oo- mv, a power which is (T) under the infuferable check and controlL of ne lord but it f lf. It overruleth ( I fay) and maketh it become but a fervile inftrument, irrefiíti- bly fubje& to fuperiour command and determination : and therefore is a truer caufe of all fuch alts and finnes as pro- ceed from the will fo determined, then the will is. For when two caufes concurre to the producing of an effe&, theone a principall overruling caufe, the other but inftrumentall and wholly at thedevotion of the principall; then is the efte& in all reàfon tobe imputed to theprincipall, which by the force of its influx and impreffion produceth it, rather then to the fubordinate and infcrumentall, which is but a mere fervant in theprodu&ion of it. We Ihall find it ordinary in Scripture, to afcribe the effe& to the principall agent i It is notye that (peak, faith Chrift, but the Spirit of my Father that fpeak- eth inyou , Matth. io. z o. 1 laboured more abundantly there they all : yet not 1, but the grace ofGod which zrer,s. in me, T. Cot. r 5.Io. And, I live,yet not I, but Chrijl liveth in me, faith S. Paul, Gal. z.zo. In thefe and many other places, the effe& or work fpokeñ of is taken from the inftrument, and given to the principall agent.' Whichbeing fo, though mans will workwith Gods decree in the commiffronof finne, and willeth the finne which it doeth; yet feeing what the will doeth, it doeth by the commanding power of Gods aimigh- ty decree, and fo it doeth that otherwife it cannot do ; the finne con mitted cannot fo rightly be afcribed to mans will the inferiot.r as toGods nccefsitatingdecree the fuperiour caufe. 4. That 123
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