habits which are subjected, and inherent in it. If these habits abide for ever, certainly so must the souls in which they are planted. The souls of good men are the good ground, in which the seed of grace is sown by the Spirit, Mat. xiii. 23. i. e. the subjects in which gracious properties and affections do inhere and dwell, (which is the formal notion of a substance) and these implanted graces are everlasting things. So John iv. 14. "It shall be in him a well of " water, springing up into everlasting life," i. e. the graces of the Spirit shall be in believers, permanent habits, fixed principles, which shall never decay. And therefore that seed of grace, which is cast into their souls at their regeneration, is in 1 Pet. i. 23. called " incorruptible seed, which liveth and abideth for ever :*'' and it is incorruptible, not only considered abstractly, in its own simple nature, but concretely, as it is in the sanctified soul, its sub- ject : for it is said, 1 John iii. 9. " The seed of God remaineth in " him." It abideth for ever in the soul. If then these two things be clear unto us, viz.
1. That the habits of grace be everlasting;
2. That they are inseparable from sanctified souls ;
It must needs follow, That the soul, their subject, is so too, an everlasting and immortal soul. And how plainly do both these propositions lie before us in the scriptures ? As for the immortal and indeterminable nature of saving grace, it is plain to him that considers, not only what the forecited scriptures speak about it, calling it incorruptible seed, a well of water springing up into ever- lasting life ; but add to these, what is said of these divine qualities in 2 Pet. i. 4. where they are called the divine nature ; and Eph. iv. 18. the life of God, noting the perpetuity of these principles in be- lievers, as well as their resemblance of God in holiness, who are endowed with them.
I know it is a great question among divines, An gratia in rena- tis sit natura et essentia sua interininabilis ? Whether these prin- ciples of grace in the regenerate be everlasting and interminable in their own nature and essence ? For my own part, I think that God only is naturally, essentially, and absolutely interminable and im- mortal. But these gracious habits, planted by him in the soul, are so by virtue of God's appointment, promise, and covenant. And sure it is, that by reason hereof they are interminate, which is enough for my purpose, if they be not essentially interminable. Though grace be but a creature, and therefore hath a. posse mori, yet it is a creature begotten by the Word and Spirit of God, which live and abide for ever, and a creature within the promise and covenant of God, by reason whereof it can never actually die.
And then as for the inseparableness of these graces from the
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souls in whom they are planted, how clear is this from John ii. 27. where sanctifying grace is compared to an unction, and this unction is said to abide in them ? And 1 John iii. 9. it is called the seed of God, which remaineth in the soul. All our natural and moral excellencies and endowments go away when we die; Job iv. 21. " Doth not their excellency that is in them go away ?" Men may outlive their acquired gifts, but not their supernatural graces. These stick by the soul, as Ruth to Naomi, and where it goes they go too : so that when the soul is dislodged by death, all its graces ascend up with it into glory ; it carries away all its faith, love, delight in God, all its comfortable experiences, and fruits of communion with God, along with it to heaven. For death is so far from divesting the soul of its graces, that it perfects in a moment all that was defective in them ; 1 Cor. xiii. 10. " When " that which is perfect shall come, then that which is in part " shall be done away," as the twilight is done away when the sun is up, and at its zenith. So then, grace never dieth, and this never-dying grace is inseparable from its subject ; by which it is plain to him that considers, that as graces, so souls, abide for ever.
Object But this only proves the immortality of regenerate souls.
Sol. It doth so. But then consider, as there be gracious habits in the regenerate that never die, so there are vicious habits in the unregenerate that can never be separated from them in the world to come. Hence, John viii. 24. they are said to " die in their sins ;" and Job xx. 11. " Their iniquities lie down with them in the dust ;" and Ezek. xxiv. 13. " They shall never be purged." Remarkable is that place, Rev. xxii. 11. " Let him that is filthy be filthy still." And if guilt sticks so fast, and sin be so deeply engraven in impe- nitent souls, they also must remain for ever, to bear the punish- ment of them.
The immortality of the soul of man may be evinced from the dignity of man above all other creatures, (angels only excepted) and his dominion over them all.
In this, the scriptures are clear, that man is the master-piece of all God's other works ; Psal. viii. 5, 6. " For thou hast made " him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with " glory and honour. Thou hast made him to have dominion over " the works of thy hand, thou hast put all things under his feet." Other creatures were made for his service, and he is crowned king over them all. One man is of more worth than all the inferior creatures.
But wherein is his dignity and excellency above all other crea-
568 A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF AlA»
tures, if not in respect of the capacity and immortality of his soul ? Sure it can be found no where else ; for as to the body, many of the creatures excel man in the perfections of sense, greatness of strength, agility of members, &c.
Nos aper audit u pj-aecellit, aranea tactu, Vultur odoratu, lynx visu, simla gnstu*. And for beauty, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of the lilies of the field. The beasts and fowls enjoy more pleasure, and live divested of all those cares and cumbers which perplex and wear out the lives of men. It cannot be in respect of bodily per- fections and pleasures, that man excels other creatures.
If you say, He excels them all in respect of that noble endow- ment of reason, which is peculiar to man, and his singular excellency above them all.
It is true, this is his glory : but if you deprive the reasonable soul of immortality, you despoil it of all, both of its glory and com- fort, and put the reasonable into a worse condition than the un- reasonable and brutish creatures. For if the soul may die with the body, and man perish as the beast, happier is the life of the beast, which is perplexed with no cares nor fears about futurities : our reason serves to little other purpose but to be an engine of torture, a mere rack to our souls.