QUESTION XIV. 389 punishments of men to depend on what they themselves have freely chosen, whether it be good or evil : Nor will he ever do any thing inconsistent with this his glorious and universal design, as a righteous Governor and Judge of his intelligent creatures. VI. Therefore when divine grace operates upon the minds or wills of men, in order to their conversion and salvation, it is . generally done in such a soft, gentle and connatural manner, that does not put any violence upon the faculties of the soul Butfor the most part, the grace of God, ándhis Holy Spirit, seem to operate insensibly, as though our own faculties wrought this of themselves, and without any strong, certain, and evident notice, that it is the operation of any spirit superior to our own: And yet by the blessed effectsofour conversion and sanctification, compared with the records of scripture, we certainly infer it must be by virtue of some divine influence received from above, that the glory maybe given unto God and his grace, as the su- preme cause of our salvation. Now if all the particularopinions of parties, about the methods and degrees of the exercise of this inward grace towards the salvation of men, may be pretty well reconciled to these propositions, I do not see any sufficient occa- sion for such very noisy and angry contests as have been found in the christian church upon this subject ; since they agree in these most necessary and important things which relate to the honour of divine justice, and divine grace, as they are repre- sented in scripture, though perhaps there may remain some par- ticular texts and expressions of scripture, towhich it may be hard to reconcile the contenders on either side. However, since I think these propositions contain the most important sense and de- sign of the revelations of scripture on this subject, and I am per- suaded they may be solidly maintained and defended by scripture, and reason, and experience, I hope we shall be able to shew, that all the different schemes are consistent, in some measure, with these propositions. Let us now recount the three chief sentiments of men under the several letters of the alphabet, A, C, and II, for the sake of better distinction. C imagines mankind to be so entirely and universally cor- rupted by the fall, and impotent to all that is good, the mind to be so blind, the will so perverse, and the affections set upon car- nal objects with such obstinacy, that there must be an immediate operation of God, by his grace, in a physical or supernatural manner, on all the several powers of our nature, to rectify them, and make them capable, willing and fit to be partakers of this salvation. He supposes there must be special, efficacious, and irresistible influences of the Holy Spirit on the mind or under- standing to enlighten it, to see and discern divine things in their Vox.. Iv. A A
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