The Almojl-Chrijlian Difcovcrcd. what Jnud of tendency this is. There may be a t":'ot?ld tendency fuppofed in the ACtions of an unregenerate Man, towards the acqUifitlon of Grace, I. ~ffecti~e, } Tendency. ' 2: SubjeCtive, I. Aaions may be raid to have an tffiEiive tendency, when they do by their own efficiency and cafuality produce that which they tend to; and in this fence ir rnuft be denied that the A8ions of an unregenerate Mao, have any tendency towards Grace, be their progrefs what it wiB; thereby he cannot effidently produce or canfe ~race in himfelf ~ and therefore _Gr~ce is called the nev.: Creature, as being the eftett only of creaung Power, which IS the foie Prerogative of God, and it is as uncrly impoilible for a Man .to create.Gra~e in the Soul, as to create the Soul it felf. Take but thl~ one demonftratton to evince It: If an unregenerate Man by his own Power and Efficiency can produce Grace in himfelf, then one of thefe two grofs Abfurdities muft needs follow, either, 1. That there are ftilllcft holy Habits and Principles in the V\1ill, which we1e never loft by the Fall of Man: Or, 2. That a MJn may m:!kc himfclf truly holy by a Will that is totally corrupt and finful; but eitl·er of th<.fe are very grofs. . . . , . Firfr,Thcre arc no holy nor dl\•me HabitS left tn thdVt!/ of a cttmal Man, whereby he fhould be able to regenerate , and convert himfelf; for what holy Habit CJn there be in the\VIIl of one that i~ wholly corrupted? If any fuch be fnppofcd, it may alfo be fuppof~d rhat it is true Grace; and to ~ffirm that a Man in a ft.ac of Nature hath true (}race inherent in him, whereb~ h.e ts able .t~ convert and regenerate himfelf, is double non fence and a flat contradi(hon; for It IS to affirm that he ha eh Grace before he hath it. 5econdly, A \Vill totJ\Iy corrup~cd, cannot make an. holy Man, cannot produce Graet•, nor make a Man holy, Grace IS beyond and above Its Sphere, all the motions of the Will in its fdllen. Eftate, what through defetl of a right Principle from whence they flow, and a right end to whi.ch they t~nd, they arc all ev_il and finful. And it is very fi:ran?;e to affi1 m tlut a grac10us Habtt may be wrought tn us hy fi nfu l Adions. And bcfidC~ the \V ill of a Man by the Fall, it is a Flelhly Will.; but in Regeneration it i'> made fpiritual. No~ it were a ftrange kind of Produffion, if flefhly could beget fpiritual; nor would Jt any longer hold true what our S aviour fa ith in 'John 3 . 6. That which is bom of the jltjiJ, is fle/h: So. that I think 'tis very evident, that all that a Man can do by the power of Nature cannot tend efficiently to prodt,ce Grace in him. SenrtdlJ, There is 'a fubjeili'tJe tmdency towards Grace; and this lies in thofe moral preparation~, ~nd thofedifpofitions of the Heart which fit it for the receivine of· Gracr , though 't be wroueht there only by the Holy Ghoft . And thus WC affirm that while Men are in an unregenerate ftate, they may have and do fomewhat chat hath a tcmlency in it to Grace; that is, one unregenerate Man may have more of thefe previous difpofitipns, and .of thefc .Pt:eparations for th~ receiving of Grace, than another bath : For though It be not In 1t felf fingly necefbry that fuch prt"..iou$ dHpofitions Jhould be wrought in the Soul before the implantation of divine Grace; fince fuch a fubjed as the Soul kin refpect of Grr;ce, doth not, as the Schoolmen determine, require its previous difpofitions for the produC\:ion of its Form; yet this is the uf'ual common way of the Spirit,s work, t. To prepare the heart by fomc common Works of Convielion, legal Terrors and remorfe of Confcience, firft to prepare the heart by there before it ~works any faving and real work of Grace in it: And therefore when any unregenerate Man hath much of thefe prev ious preparations, we fay that he goes very far towards Grace, and he may be faid to be almoft a Chriftian. And this is all that tendency that an unregenerate Man hath; or can poffibly do towards it; viz. . a preparatory, and not an etfett:ive operative tendency unto faving Grace and Regenerat ion. . 2. Another thing prcmifed is this, That what through wilful Ooth and m·ttched negligenct, no unregenerate Man doth make fo great a progrefs towards Grace as he is able and can poOibly do. None go fo far as they can do in thofe previous preparations and difpofitions towards it. When they find difficulty in oppofing Temptati?n, in crucifying their L~fts, in rerforming of Dutie.s, .in denying their finful Del1ghts and Pleafurcs, havmg nothmg fupernatural withlll them to naturalize and facilitate thefc things, and carry them on refolutely through all, they· never keep up to the utmoft of that Power which th'ey have; but as they yield to chafe Temptations that they might rcfifr, and commit thofe Sins that they might rcjeB:, Y y y y y 2 and
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