Or, The New 'Birth. that it is in our own power to convert and renew our felves, tho' it be abundant confutatipn of this fprqding Errpr, that it is againft. the common fenfe and exp~ rience of true Chriftians, who as they fadly complam of the averfenefs of thc~r Wills to what is good, even after Regeneration, fa they have found, that before their Regeneration the greatcft Obftacle to it was the ftubbornnefs and refrafrorii.lefs ~f their own \Vills, that 'would never be brought tp any terms of compliance With DIvine Grace, had not the Spirit of God by a fwect and irrcfiftible Efficacy, at once both perfwaded and fubdu~d th.em. Tho' this now were fufficlent, yet let me ad.d one Argument which I thmk 15 unanfwcrable. If an Vnregmerate Man can by Ius own power regenerate himfe!f,then one of thefc t~o abfur~iti<:s mn!l neceOa~ily fol~ low either thlt there are fhl\ left fome holy habitS and prWcipleS. ill the Will "that wer~ never loft by the Fall; or clfe that Man may make himfelf tn1ly holy by<\ · Will that is totally corrupt and finful; but it is very grofs to admit either of thefe. Firft , There arc no holy habits or principles left in a carnal man whereby he jiJouid be able to com;ert t111d rcgenertlte himfelf. For what holy h:1bits can there be in the VVill of a corr npt Man , unlcfs they are true Graces? And to affirm that Man in a ftate of nature bath true Grace inherent in him, whereby he is able to convert and regenerate himfclt~ is dull nonfenfe, and a fiat contradiCHon, for it is to affirm that he bath Grace befoi"e he hath Grace. Secondly, A corrupt JVi/1 cannot make an holy Man; if ther e be no fuch habits and principles left in the Will fince the Fall, then the VVill rnuft be totally corrupt, and a corrupt Will cannot make a holy Man, Grace is above and beyond its Sphere; yea, an unrcgcncrate\Nill in all its Inclinations is utterly contrary unto Grace; there is not any one act of t he W ill but it is evil and finful; and it is Itrangc Divinity to affirm that gracious habi ts may be wrought in us by finfnl aCts; as foon may a Man become jnft by Conzenage, and merciful by Opprcffion, fober by Drunkennefs, and liberal by Griping, as any Man becomes holy by aCts of his Own Will, fince every act of his Will is before Convcrfion finful and unholy: Befides, the Will of Man by the Fall is Pecome a ftelbly Will, but in Regeneration it is made a fpirirual Will; now it is a moft Itrange kind of produCtion that a flefuly Will fhould beget a fj)iritnal Will; nor would that which our Saviour affirms, any longer hold true, in 'John 3· 6. That iPhich u born of the Jlejl> u Jlejl>, if a flefhly Will could beget a fpiritual Will? So then you fee by this, that no Man by the power and freedom of his own Will can r egener:lte himreif. As fo r previous Difpofitions, and preparatory Works, I deny not bnt that an un regenera te Man may by the common affiftance of the Spirit, and by the indulhous and careful improvement of his own Power, proceed very far in t hem, fo as not to be far off from the Kingdom ofGod; but !till the grea t change of Regeneration it fclf is not wrought by our own Power, or by our own Will; fo faith St. John, fpeak ing of Believers, and he affirms it in as exprefs terms as may be, in 'Jokm 1. 13. Whjch 1vere born not of blood, nor of the will of the jl.ejl,, nor of the will of man, but of God. A plain and undeniable proof that our ownVI/ill is not the efficient cau fc of ou r New Birth. Secondly, In that it U called a being born again, it U implied, that there muft be a Fa· Tb :1•• t h~r of this Di,vine and H~av_enly, as ~ell as of tJ;e Natural Birth. Now God himfclf is Fa~'h:;s o{ t h1s Father, and hence JS tt the Samts arc fatd to be born of God, and to be the Chit.· this Jp1,.1 • dtcn of God; this is their Parentage, their high Original and Extraaion, in which,~~~~~~ Binh rho' they., are poor, c;lefi)ifed and diftrelfed, they may more truly glory than the"' 1'9dlm. great Ones ot the Earth in the paint and empty glittering of a Noble or Honoura- oft1n111 ;-- ble Title. But concerning the Duty and Dignity of a Child under this confidcrati- ;:,·~ {,~ on of being Born again, I may have occafion to fpeak of when I come to the Appli~ G1d. ~ cation; and fa I fuall rcferve it till then; I am yet on the DoCl:rinal plrt. God is· now under a different Notion a Father to Qis Children by h.egeneration, and Adop~ t ion ; by Ador.tion we receive the prlviledges of Children, and are numbred among the Family of Heaven, .made Heirs of Glory, and Coheirs with Jefus Chrift: our Elder Brother: By Regeneration we receive th9 Divine Nature, arc made partakers of it: And as mtural Children often bear filCh lively reprcfentations and rcfcmhbnces of their Parents, that we may know by their very Countenances whofe they arc : So in the New Birth there is fuch a rcfcmblance of God ftamped upon the Soul, that by the conformity of our Wills and Atfe(l:ions to his, it maY well be dift;:crned that he is our Father; in Regmeratirm we receive his Nature in Adoption, we receive
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