68 A DISPLAY Of fions ofaffertions fo contradiaory to theirs ; and fo they would not trouble the church, letthem take all the glory unto themfelves, as doth (a) Grevinehocio, : I make myfelf, faith he, d f r from another, whenI do net refifi God and his divine pre-determination, which / couldhaverefifed ; and why may I not boag of this as of mine own that I could, toofGod's mercy ; (endowing his nature with fuchan ability, asyou heard before) but that I would, when I might have doneothermfe, is ofmine power. Now after all this, they areforced to confefs forceEvangelicalgrace, though confifting only in a moral perfuafion, by the outward preaching of theword. They teach, 3. That God fendeth the Gofpel, and revealeth Chrif Jefus unto men, according as they are well difpofed themfelvesfor Such a bleffing i (b) Sometimes, fay they intheir Synodical writings, God calleth tìaiu or that nation; people, city, orperfon, to thecommunion of evangelical grace," whom he himfelfpronounceth worthy ofit, in comparifón ofothers: fo that whereasAlto xviii. 1o. God encourageth Nu! to preach atCorinth, by affirming that Ile hadmuch people in that city (which doubtlefswere his people then, only by virtue of their ele£tion) in theft mens judgments;. (c) they were Called fo, becaufe that even then they feared God, and ferved himwith all their hearts, according to that know- ledge theyhad of him, and fo were ready to obey the preachingof St. Paul.: fraüge do&rine! that men Mould fear God, know him, ferve him in fircerity,- before they ever: heard òf:the Gbfpe!, and by thofe mears deferve that it Should be preachedunto them ! this is that pleafing of. God before faith that they pleadfor; Aft., Synod. fol. Go. that (d) preparation and difpofrion to believe, whichmen attain by the law, and virtuous education r that (e) fomething which is in Emus, whereby though they, are not jufiified, yet they are madeworthy of jufcification i for (f) converflowand the performanceofgood works; is in their apprehenfion a condition prerequired to jufifica- tion, for fo fpeak the childrenof Arminius : which if it be not anexprefiod notto be parallelled inthewritings ofany chrifìian, Iam fomethiugmiftalteo the füm oftheir do£ttine thenin this particular concerning thepowerof free will in the Rate offin, and unregeneration, is that every man having a native inbred power,ofbelieving in Chilli, upon the revelation of theGofpel, hathalfo an ability of doingfa much good, as (hall procureofiGod, that the Gofpel be preachedunto him, to which without any internal affìfance ofgrace, he can give affent andyield obedience : the peeparatoryaffs ofhis ownwill always proceeding fo far; as to make him excel others, who do not perform them, and are therefore excluded from further grace. Which is more grofsPelagianifm than Pelagius himfelf would ever jufilÿ :. wherefore we rejefall the former pofitions, as fo many monfers in chriftian religion, inwhofe room weoffert there that follow. (r.. That we being by.nature dead in trefpaffes andfins, have no powerto prepare our felves for the receiving of God's grace : not in theleaf toeafure tobelieve, and turnour felvesunto him. Not that we deny, that there areany, conditionsprerequired in us for our converfion, difpofitions preparing us in fume meafure for our new birthor regeneration, but we affirm that all thefe alfo are the effefsof thegrace of God, re- lating to that aloneias their proper caufe, for of our felves, without him, roe ran do no-. thing, Johnxv. 15. roe are not able of ourfelves to think '. any thing as of owe felves, z Cor. iii. 5. much lefsto do that which is good, .. in refpe& ofthat, every one of our mouths muff be flopped, For we have all finnedand roman (tort oftheglory of God, v. 19, 23. tee are by nature the children, of wrath, dead in erefpaffes and fns, Ephel, ii. 1. Rem. viii. 9. our new birth is a tefurreltion fromdeath, wrought.by the greatnefs of God's power; and what ability,I pray, hank a dead nano, toprepare himfelf for his refurrefion.? Can he collet his scattered duff, or renew his perified fenfes? if the leopard can change hisSpots, and the Ethiophian' his skin, then can wedo good who by nature are taught todo evil, )hrem. xiii. 23. we are all ungodly, and withoutfrength confidered when Chrift (a) Ego meipfum difcerno, cum enim Deo ac diving pradeterminatiuni enfifere polfem, nonraid tames, atqúi in.no quid ni lieeat milestanquam :de meo gloriali.? quod enimputut Del miferentls eft. quod astern volui cum polfemnolle, id mea-poreftatiseft, Grew. ad Amer. p. 235. .(b) Inter. 'dom Deus bane vel i11am gentem, civitatem, perfonam, ad Evangelical grabs communionem soot, quáin ipfe diguamprununtiat comparative, &c. Rem..Dedarat. font. Synod.: (r) ]Ili in quorum gratiam, DominusPaulum in Corinrhuni milt, dicuntur Doi populos, gum Deum turn timebanr, tique, feeundum cognitionem gnaw de eo habebanq ferviebautes ammo, & be ad predicationemPau', &n. Corv. 3. feat 27. (d) Per legem, vei per piam educationcm, vet per iniliturionem---Per lee enim bominem ptnparari, & difponi ad etedendum, planiffimumeft,. Rem. alt. Synod. CO P0e- cedit liquid in peccatotibus, quo quamsis nondum juftificati funs, digni effisiantur juftificatione,Gre- 'alt. ad Am. pagg. 434. (f) Tenendum eft, venom converfunem poemarionemq;._ bonorum opetum elf¢ conditionem prarequifiram ante juftificationem,. ill. Arm. peal. od sop. 7. ad Ram. died
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