372 RUIN AND azeoveRY, t9&C: God has no farther hand than this, viz. first, that he forms the nature and temper of every man, with all his intellectual and animal powers, a knowing mind and free-will ; that then he, by his providence, brings them to the hearing and knowledge of their own miserable state by nature, and the way of salvation, by hearing or reading of the gospel of Christ; that he secretly and gently, by particular occurrences of life, and by the insen- sible motions of his own Spirit, sets before men the things of God, and Christ, and eternity, with all motives proper to affect and persuade them ; that he strikes some supernatural light into their understandings, and he allows some suasive or moral influencesor touches of the graceof God, upon the will of men, so far as may relieve them against the too powerful opposition of corrupt nature, and render repentance and conversion easier, and more practicable : And he maintains also, that without these assistances, fallen man would not repent and be converted ; and it is found among his expressions, that grace is absolutely neces- sary to our having sufficient power to do good, and to perform everyact of piety*. But after all this grace, A leaves men in a stateof indeter- minatedoubt and indifference, whether they shall be finallyper- suaded to repentance or no : And this is the point of controversy between the disputants on this subject. This Amaintains, that, grace leaves the heart of man still in a sort of equilibrium, or wavering balance and uncertainty, to determine entirely for itself, whether it will receive the gospel or not, except, perhaps, in some very extraordinary, case, as Paul, and some of the apostles, &c. who seem to be converted at once. And in short this is the chief centre or hinge whereon the debate between A and C turns. And yet A supposes still his doctrine is very consistent with all the six propositions, and particularly with the fourth, which ascribes the conversion and salvation of men so entirely to divine grace, as the supreme cause: " For saith he, all the scriptures which ascribe our repentance and conversion to grace, are al- ways supposed to speak in a consistence with God's moral govern- ment over free creatures, which many other texts assert and maintain : And therefore those expressions of grace must be interpreted with some limitation." A thinks fit to addalso, that he gives a fair expositiodof the scriptures, which ascribe our salvation to the operations of grace, because grace has the chief hand therein ; and without these various and necessary opera- * See the remonstrances' made by those who opposed the synod of Dort, whereby theyplainly distinguish their.opinions :coal the pelagiaus, and use this language which have here represented. 1 wish all those Christians in our age and nation, who profess to follow the opinions of the remonstrants, did but come so near to the doctrines of scripture, as the phrases and expressions of these men import.
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