A.n Exp~fition of the EpijUe ---:...::.__ ____ s-'Xv' Grace that is in him, which is the other counter-pain: and notwith!hnding what ~ is in us, our acceptation is by ~is Grace and his Favour. Oh! how fur arewe re– moved off fi·om havmg any thmg m us that IS the caufe ofSalvation? You fee firll here is the original Grace ofall; and Jefus Chri!l: himCelf is but a Gift of that Grace. And then take all the Grace that is in Chri!l:, our Salvation when it is at– tributed as to a Caufe, it is attributed unto that, it is Grace in another,and not in our fdvcs. And take our Graces themfelves, they are all parts of our Salvation. 3· Let me add this to it too, if ~ may be di!l:inCUy under!l:ood. All parts of Salvation, when they are wrought m us, though one may be fubordinate to ano– ther, that IS thus fa~; that God will not work and be!l:ow this, unl~fs withal he be!l:ows thJS, as I fa1d before; Witho11t Holinefi no Man Jba/1 fee God: Yet when God bc!l:ows any one ofthem, he cloth it out ofthat original Grace he purpofed towards .tlS at firtr, they are the fluxes and renewings ofthat Grace. Though God bath obhged htmfelfby a Pronufe, and though he will never bellow one Gift of Grace till he be!l:ow another, yet when he be!l:ows both, the one and the other they have all an immediate dependance upon,and are the immediate fluxes oftha~ everlafting Love ofhis, that concurreth with all this. Whatfoever a Chri!\ian is in the whole, or in parts, or whatfoever he !hallbe, flows immediately from tha~ Grace. When God converts a Man, it is as ifhe new chofe him; and Jefus Chrift he is an Inftrumcnt ofthis Grace and Mercy. You hav~ a fit place for it, in Rom. 15. 8, 9· Jejiu Chrifl ;vt>S aMini/ler ofthe Circl/1/Jc!fion for the Truth of God, tocon– fiiwz the ProfJtife! made 1mto the Fathers : to make them all good, that the Gentiles 111ay glorijj God for hi< Mercy. Go over all the parts of Salvation, you !hall fee this to be true. The firfl flep ofSalvation is Ql:iickning,Conver!ion; It is wholly by his Grace. He hath railed 111 with an holy Calling according to hi< Grace, 1 Tim. 2. 9· And Gal. r. 15. h pfeafed God whojeparated mefrom my Mothers Womb, and called 111e by his Grace: that is, he did put forth -a fre!h Atl: of that Love and Grace, as freely as when he firfl chofe him; though between that ACl: and God's choice, Jefus Chri!l: came in between to purchafe it. . So in Eph. 3· 7· where he !peaks of his Mini!l:ry (!may fay the like ofour Calling, as he cloth of the Gifts ofhis Minifuy, for in– deed in the Galatiaru, he meaneth both) Whereof 1Wt>S made aMinifler, according to the Gift ofthe Grace of God given 11nto me, by the effel111al workjng ofhi! Power. When God means to convert a Man, what lets his Power a work ? It is the origi– nal Grace of God, continued and renewed to that Man flill. So take Juflification. Tit. 3· 7· we are j~tjlifed freely by hi< Grace. Take the whole flare we !l:and in afterward, take in all ; what is the whole flate of a Chri- ; flian after his Calling in this Life? It iscalled a ftate ofGrace. What, of his ha– ving Grace in himfelf? No, it is of being under the Grace ofGod; Ymt are 11nder Grace, faith the Apoflle, and Rom. 5· 2. We have accefi by Faith into thi< Gr4ce wherein we ftand ; fland, how ? having Peace with God by Faith at firfl, we fiand in the Prefence and in the Favour of God: it is the Scripture phrafe, when it fpeaksofGod'sacceptation, foPfal. r. Therighteousfballflandin ]udgment, thatis, they fhallftand in the Grace and Favour ofGod; fothewholeftate ofaChriftian is a fianding in Graceand in the Favour ofGod: fo in Gal. 1. 6. He bath cal!edbo11, unto what? Into the Grace •fChrifl; and in Rom. 6. 12. we are faid to be under the Dominion of Grace. Hence therefore allthat followeth to a Chri!l:ia'n after his Convcrfion, it is as freely from Grace, as the fir!l: Work. One thing may make way for another, that I acknowledg, and God will not beflow one thing without another, yet !l:ill they are all co-ordinate and from Grace, and are the immediate Effetls ofGrace; even in fuch things wherein our Will eo-works with it; )'et ftill the Text faith, It if r1ot we b11t Grace in 11!. Take allthe good a Mandoth afrertre is turned unto God, they are all quicknings, and quicknirrgs by,Grace. 2 t:or.8. '1. When they ofMacedonia had gtven Alms, they had ~one tt out ofLove unto God, and to give away rheir~flates, this would feem a mtghty good Work, gnd·to:bave fomthing in it !elf; what faith the Apoftle oflt? My Brlthren, 11>edo ;ou1o'lt4t. tif the Grace of God beftowed on the Churchetof Macedonia ·: and·rhe Grace<herethe " fpeaks
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