66 A DIsPE,AY of . thefe wilddiversother fuchendowments, and excellent qualifications, doth the fcripture attribute to this idol, which itcalls theold man, as 1 (hall more fully difcover in the next chapter : andis notthis a goodly reed, whereon to rely in the paths of godlinefs ? A powerful deity, whereunto we may repair, for a power to become the foss ofGod,, and attaining eternal happinefs ? The abilities of free will in particular, I fhallconfider hereafter, nowonly, I will by one or two reafons thew, that it cannot be the foie and. proper caufeof any truly good, and fpiritual aft well pleating unto God. (r.) All fpiritual aftswell pleating unto God, as faith, repentance, obedience, are fupernatural Iteth and blood revealeth not thefe things ; Not ofblood, nor of thewill of theflefh, ne, of the will ofman ; but ofthe will ofGod, John ií r 3. That which is bornof the fief:), is flefh ; and that which is bori of the fpirit, is fpirit, Johniii. 6. now to the per- formance ofany fupernatural aft, it isrequired, that the produlbive power thereofbe alto fupernatural, for nothing hash an aftivity in muting above its own fphere, nec. 'mbelles generant feroces sgsilas calmed.: but our free will isa meerly natural faculty, . betwixt which, and thofe fpiritual fupernatural ails, there is no proportion, unlefsit be advanced above its own orb by inherent habitual grace. Divine theological virtues, differingeven in the fubftaoce of the aft from thofe moral performancesabout the fame things, to which the ftreugthof nature may reach (for the difference of ails, arifeth from their formal objeas, which toboth thefe are divers) waft have another principle and taufe, above all the power of nature : in civil things, and a£tions morally good, in as much asthey are fubjeft toa natural perception, and do not exceed the ftrength of our ownwills; this faculty of free will may takeplace, but yet, not without thefe fol. lowing limitations : Firff, that it always requireth thegeneral concourfeofGod, where- bythe wholefuppofstum in which free will hath its fubftftance, may be fufloined : Matth. x. 29, .30. Secondly, that we do all thefe things imperfe&ly and with much infirmity, -every degree elfoofexcellency ; in thefe things muffbe counted a fpecial gift .of God : Ifa. xvi. t 2. Thirdly, that our wills are determined by the will of God, to all their alts and motions in particular : but to do that which is fpiritually good, we have no knowledge, no power. (z.) That concerning which I gave one fpecial reftame, in whole produ&ion the .4rminiansattribute muchto free will, is faith ; this they affirm, as I Chewed before, to be inbred in nature, every one having in him from his birth a natural power to believe in Chrift and his Gofpel : for (a) Elifcopius denies, that any afiion of the holy Spirit upon the underftanding,or will, is neceffary, or promifed in the fcripture, to make a man able to believethe word preached unto him : fo thatit feems, every man bath at all timesa power to believe, to producethe all of faith, upon the revelation of itsobjell. Which grofs Pelegianifm is contrary [t.] Tothe doarine of the church of England, affirming that a man cannot fo much ispreparehimfelf by his ownftrengeh to faithand calling upon God, until the graceof Godby Chrift preventhim that hemay have a good will, Artic. [2.] To the fcripture teaching that it is thework ofGod that we do believe, yohn vi. 29. It is oat of our felves, it is the giftof God, Ephef: ii. 8. To fame it isgiven to know the myfteries ofthe kingdom ofheaven, Matth. xiii. 11. and what is peculiarly given to fame, cannot be inthe power of every one : to you it is given on the behalfof Chrift to believe cm him, Phil. i. 29. faith is our accefs orcoming unto Chrift, which none can do, unlefs thefather draw him, John vi. 44. and he fo draweth, or hath merry, on whom he will have mercy, Rom. ix. t 9. and althoughEpifcopius rejeftsany immediate altion of the holy fpint, for the ingeneratingof faith, yet St. Paul affirmeth, that there is no lets elfeflual power required to it, than that which raifed Chrift fromthedead, which forewas an aftion of the almighty Godhead. That we may knew, faith he, what is the exceeding greatnefs ofhis power to us ward, who believe according to the workingof his mighty power, which he wrought in Chrif}, when he raifedhim from thedead, Ephef i. 19, 20. fo thatlet the drminians fay what they pleafe, recalling that I write to chriftians, I will fpare my labour of further proving, that faith isthe free gift ofGod ; and their oppofition to the truthof the fcripture in this particular, is fo evident to the meaneft capacity, that thereneeds no recapitulation, toprefent the film of it to their underflandings. (a) Anulla aaio S. S. immediate inmentem ant voluntatem, neceffaria fit, out in Scripture promit- tatur ed hoc, utquis credere poQt verb° ertrinfecus propoGro, negativum taebimur, Epr ¡rap. difpat. phut; C H A P.
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