Of Elef1i01z. ~ tion to us through God's Ordination ; The one of being Chrill and an Hr,;d to BooK lV, us, which fuits his Decrees of Election, as to 1hr Elld; and which conf1dered ~man as unfaln: The other, of Jefus, a Savio11r, which wholly refpccts man fain into fin, and to be reflored out of it. I !hall take my firll rife from this diflinction given you, from what is in the Text, That God u a God of all Gractto us men, in and by Chrifl, taking the word Grace in the utmofl Latitude of it; and fo that all l<ind of Grace is in and by Chrill, as bath been handled. This is a fure Maxim, That there is no fort nor kind ofGrace that is in the heart of God to any of his Creatures, that he did not bear to the elect Sons of Men. The R.eafon is, becaufe he is a God of all Grace ro us : Now confider this, that Grace cloth not (take it in the Lati– tude of it) only refpect Creatures as fain, but had re!pect to Creatures, as un– faln ; for G.-acr WM extmded to the Elect AJtgt!s, And an Evidence of it is, That if Grace in God towards us after the Fall, were only faid to be Grace in refpe& of what man is, or can do after the Fall, then Grace in God were only fuch a Grace, as mufl have the advantage ofmans tin, and became Grace only in a refpe& to man's unworthinefs, by reafon of fin tirfllaid, a; the foundation for it, and that this Confideration mull come in to mal<e it grace, that what he gave, was therefore grace, becaufe man had de– ferved the contrary: But that were to lower grace,as it is in God,and to make it to need, and to be beholding to mans fin to make it efleemed grace. That which is, and we call grace in a King, ·a Mortal, fcorns to be fo lowerd. He is not faid to be gracious only to Traitors, and thofe that have incur'd the Pe– nalties of the Law: No; but he hath Favours to beflow on his bell Subje&s over and above their Deferts; and he is faid to be gracious in that refpe& alfo. So then, grace in God is not only to be efieemed as grace in refpe& towards his Elell, coniidered as fain, but it is Super.creation grace that is above what is due to the Creature by the Law of Creation. Super·creation grace alfo, as of a God fo great as he, hath power in his hands to befiow gifts of Grace on man con!idered os not fain; and this appears evidently in the example of the An– gel;: They were kept by Eletlion, and therefore are fiiled The Elect Angels in Tlmothy; And that they never finned, what kept them ? A Grace above their Creation·grace ; for Election is an order of Decrees above Creaticn. E– le&ion prevented their finning, and that was an Infinite grace beflowed above the due of their Works, or of their Creation: And it was a Grace that flow– ed from, and accompanied Eledion; and all Eledion bath a Grace above the Law of Creation for the foundation of it; Rom. u. ~. 7· 'tis fliled the Ele– flion of Grace; and again there it is oppofed to Works, according to which Creation only proceeds, for 'tis a Covenant of Works. Whatfoever IS of GTdce, goes by Ele&ion ; and whatfoever goes by Eledion, is by Grace, and therefore is not to be narrowed unto grace lhewn after the Creature hat!~ fin– ned, but may as well be beflowed and terminated on the Creature afore. And although this Grace broke no way forth upon man afore the Fall, but was a rtferve left to be difcovered afterwards: For Grace had a fecond defign, an ampliation of it felf unto man as finful, and fo God forbo1e to dilcover that tirfl defign , until the other was accomplifht: Now if God be a God of Grace to man Ele&, then we mufl not think that Man, God's darling, did partake only of that Grace which was difcovcred upon his having finned, but had a fi1are and allotment in Super-creation Grace alfo; and that Man, confidered as mifaln, as well as the Angels, and being God's Darling, God's Bmjamin , in point of Grace, had a double Mefs of Grace defigned him, had the lower Springs and upper Springs too, S,;perlapfarimz and St~blapfarimz Grace; for all God's Springs are on and towards him; all that the Angels had deligned them, was intended to Man afore !inning, except only that of being kept from falling; and all that Gr>ce, that after finning was requifite to reflore him, to theend that God might be a God ofall Grace every way unto man,as bath been explained, and that he might come behind hand in no fort of Grace (as the Apofile fays of us) that was in his heart; Now~
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