eta RCIN AND RrCÒVCRY, &C. eessityof some aids of divine grace towards our recovery ; and that not only to provide, by proper outward means, such a sal- ration as may he answerable to the miseries we labour under, and to propose it outwardly and plainly in the gospel, hut the best of us stand in need, in our fallen state, also Of some further favour from heaven, some inward : assistanees and influences of the grace of God, and his Spirit, in order to restore us from the ruins of our fall by repentance, and to enable us to accept of the salvation which isprocured by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator. There have been some writers indeed, who profess christia- nity, who suppose nothing else is necessary, in order to the reco- very of fallen man, where the gospel is preached, but the mere outward proposal of this gospel, and the representation of the readiness of God to pardon the sins of those that repent and be- lieve, together with all the motives of hope and fear, &c. which are made use of in the bible, to awaken and excite sinners to return untoGod. They imagine that the providential disposal of the outward circumstances of men, by their enjoying the benefit of a pious education, or their sitting under a useful ministry, or the advantage of having good company frequently to converse with, and religious books brought in their way, with opportunity and leisure for reading, &c. are abundantly suffi- cient to turn themfrom darkness to light, and from thepower If salan unto God; Acts xxvi. 18. to renew them unto holiness, and to make new creatures of them, fit for the business and blessed- ness of heaven. Now these kind providences are what they call the grace of God, and the only grace they will allow to be ne- eessary to-our salvation. This was the mostcommon sentiment of the ancient pelagians*, who gave so much trouble to the churches S It is pity the professeddisciples- and followers of the religion of Christ should have been divided into so many different opinions, and thereby given *cessions to distinguish them by so. many different names, which are chiefly de. rived either from their several tenets, or some practice of their forefathers, or from some signal writers who espoused, defended or propagated those different sentiments. 1 could with with as my soul that they were all of one opinion, and all confined only to the single name of christians, which was given them first at Antioch, to distinguish them from heathens, Jews and infidels of every kind. But since there are such multitudes of differentsentiments among them; and is writing "controversiesone cannot conveniently use a long pariphrasis to describe each of them, sufficient to distinguish them from the rest, we are constrained to make use of those names by which they have either distinguished them- selves, or the world bath distinguished them, such as pelagiads¡strict calvinists, areninians or remonstrants, and moderate calvinists or reconcilers. But here let it be observed, that the most rigid calviniste, who pretend to carry the doctrines of divine grace-to the greatest height of resistless and sove- reign efficiency, and the pelagians, who generally reduce it to the lowest degree, that is, -to mere favourable outward providences, are counted the two extremes in this controversy about divine grace : And between these two there are almost as many degrees and classes of differentsentiments, as there are writers. Some Of them approach a little nearer to the sue side, and seine .ta the other. And it
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