377 / 504
Of
the
eonGflencg
of
effeéìuall
Grace,
&Go'
pell
Exhortations. C.
X/Y.
be more reafon
why a6Js
meerely
natural!
(as
lbr
example,
Eating,
Drinking,
321
Breathing, sleeping,)fhould
be
rewarded,
in
as
much
as
thefe
flow
ina
way
of
ne-
cety,
yetfrom
an
inward
principle
and connaturall
to
the Agent,
thanfuck
ons whereunto
the agent
is
con(train'd, necejftated,
&
determined,
by
a
principle
ofpower
from without, and
w
ich
is not
intrinfecal1
to
it.
And this
is
the ftrengtl
óf
the
Argument
which will
quickly appeare
to
be
very weakeneffe.
For
Firft
the
efficacy
of
thefe Expref$ons
(whereunto
it
is
necepated,
and
from
which they
cannot
poffrhly
decline)
as
to their
influence
into
this
Argument;
arifeth clearely from
their
Ambiguity;
we deny any
to
be
neceffìtated
to
Per
-
fevere,
or
that
our Do
&crine
affirmes
any
fuch
thing,
taking that
expreffion
to hold
out
a
power upon their wills,
in
their operations,
inconfiftent
with
the utmoft
liberty whereof
in
Spirituali things having received
a
Spiritual!
principle) men are capable;
They
are
not
fo neceffitated
to
Perfevere
as
that
all
the
A&s
of
their Obedience, whereby they do Perfeveré
fhould
not
befree,
but
neceffary,
indeed they are not
at
all,
nor
in
any
fence
neceflìtated
to
perfevere:
There
is
no Neceffity attends their Perfeverance,
but
only in
refpe&
of
the event, with
reference
to
the
Vnchangeable
purpofe and
infalli-
ble
Promife
ofGod;
the
like may
be
faid
of
that other
expreflìon
(poffzbility
of
declining,)God
leaves
inthem
a pojfibility
of
declining, as
to
their
way
and
manner
of
walking with him,
though he
leaves
not to
them
a
poJbility ofde-
clining
or
falling
totally
from him,
as
to
the
ifl°ue
and event
of
the
whole
mat-
ter,
which
doth not in the leaft neceffitate them
to,or
in any
of
their opera-
tions.
Secondly,
the
propofition
muff
be
caft
into
an
other
mould, before
it
will
'
4,
g
be
of
any
determinate lgnification
in oppofition
to
the Do
&:
it oppofeth, &
tuned to
an
other
mood before it
will give
a
certaine
found
to
any battell
a-
gainft it &
this is\,that
no
Alt
of
the
Creature that
is
wrought
in
order
to
the
obtainingofany
end promifed
to
be
certainely
attained thereby,is rewardable
of
God; (though
for Perfeverance it
is
not
any
a&
of
the Creature, but only
a
modus
of
its
Obedience) and thus it
lookes
towards the
concernementof
this Dot-trine; yet
before
this propofition
paffe,
to
omit fundry other things
that
would gladly
rife
to
the deftru
&ion
of it,I
delire one
query
may
be affai-
led concerning
the
obedience
of
Jefus
Chrift,
Whether
it were not
neceffary
that the
end
of
his
Obedience fhould follow? and
Whether
it
were
not
im-
poffible
he fhould decline from
his
Obedience
?
And
if
it
were,
whether
it
were impoffible
that
God
fhould give
a
Reward
thereunto?
But
thirdly, the intendment
of
this
Propofìtion,
as
farre
as
it
concernes us,
(and
that
indeed
is
with
a
refpe&
to
our Do&rine
ofthe
Efficacy
of
Grace,and
not
this
of
Perfeverance)
is
this,
That which
is
wrought
in
us,
by
the
Effelluall
Grace
of
God
is
not
capable
of
Reward from
God;
A
Propofition which
though
capable
offome
plea
and
colour, taking
Reward in a
pure
Legali fences
fuppofìng
the
Perfons feeking
after
it, to
do
it
by
a
fervice, and dutyes
pro-
portioned unto
it,
yet
is
fo
openly and
direly
contradi
&ory
to the tenour &
defigne
of
God
in
the Covenant
of
Grace by
Jefus Chrift, with
the
whole
dif-
penfation
of
the
Spirit given
to
abide with
Believers,for all
the
ends
and
pur-
pofes
as
to
their
Obedience,
as
I
(hall
content
my (elfe
to
deny
it
expelling
M. Goodwin'sproofes
of
it When
rivers
runne backward,
heavy
things
of..
cend
&c.
Fourthly, for the
Jlourifh
added
to
thefe Affertions, by comparing
the
a
&s
of
the
Saints
Obedience upon
a
fuppofition
of
the
Grace
of
God
working them
in them,
with their
Naturall
a
&ions
of
eating,
drinking,
fleeping as
to their
tendency
to exalt the Glory
of
God
in
rewarding, it
proceedes
either
from
T
t
groffe
4.
9.