342 REIN AND RECOVERY, &C. seem favourable to both sides of the question about the election of persons, yet the texts which support this doctrine are more in number, andmore plain, and express, and unanswerable, than those others which may seem to oppose this particular election of persons unto faith, holiness and salvation°°. 5. And even these very persons for whom salvation was thus certainly and effectually provided, were not to be rescued in this world fromall the miseries of the fall, but only from someof them : They were secured first from those evils which were most dreadful, and delivered from others by degrees. The effects of the fall or sin of man, under which these favourites or elect of God continue, are such as these, viz. God suffers them to come into the world witha sinful nature, uncured,unsanctifled, and to continue under some evil opert.üons and influences of this sinful nature all their lives, that they might conflict with it, and overcome it by his assistances : He appoints them also to continue during all this mortal life, subject to many pains, afflictions, sorrows, miseries, for wise ends and pur- poses, in this economy of grace ; and at last, that their bodies should die, and turn to dust, according to the original threaten- ing of death. Thedeliverance or salvation which God provided for them, was, that they should be restored to the favour and image of God again, and brought at last to eternal life and happiness in this manner, viz. that they should have a most lively sense or perception of their own guilt and misery, and of the hope of mercy, so faras to encourage their repentance for past sins, and their return to God by a new obedience : And so far as the gos- pel of Christ came within their notice, they should learn the sav- ing methods of grace by. Christ Jesus : And to this end, all these things should be set before their mindsby divine impressions on their understanding, as well as by the word; this is called enlightening their minds, in the knowledge of their sin and misery'; and of the way of salvation by Christ. And yet further, that they should have their sinful natures in some measure sane- C I desire the friendly reader to observe, that I ana not here discussing the controversy about the proof of particular election, &c. That has been done to much better purpose, and the doctrine itself effectually proved by many consi- derable writers, such as Mr. Calvin, Archbishop Usher, Doctor Owea, Doctor Goodwin, and others, among whom I name Mi. Baxter himself. But I am only endeavouring to try whether I cannot represent a plain and defensible scheme, wherein this doctrine will sit easy on the minds of men, without straining or torturing any text ofscripture, and without pronouncing damnation on all the rest of mankind, by a certain and unavoidable sentence of death, for want of a Saviour. If it be enquired, why the all-wise and blessed God should suffer man- kind to revolt from him at first by an universal apostasy, and why he should se- cure therecovery of so few out of all mankind from their state ofsin and misery thereare some reasonable solutions given to this difficulty, by the writer of the $lrength and Weakness of Human Reason, in the fourth conference.
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