346 A VINDICATION OF
longer; for should he love a wicked man, the reason and nature of his love would change. And the fruitfulness of God's love, Avith respect to the methods of his grace and providence, doth not consist in pro- curing what he loves by an omnipotent and iiTesistible power; for then sin and death could never have entered into the world : but he governs and doth good to his creatures, in such ways as are most suitable to their natures. He governs reasonable creatures by prin- ciples of reason, as he doth the material world by the necessary laws of matter, and brute creatures by the instincts and propensities of nature."
This may pass for a system of his divinity, which how he will reconcile unto the doctrine of the church of England in her articles, she and he may do well to consider. But, whatever he means by the love of God always determined unto the same object, it were an easy thing to prove, beyond the reach of his contradiction, that per- sons are the o})jects of God's eternal love, as well as things and quali- fications are of his approbation ; or, that he loves some persons with an everlasting and unchangeable love, so as to preserve them from all ruining evils, and so as they may be always meet objects of his approving love, unto his glory: and whereas these things have been debated and disputed on all hands with much learning and diligence, our author is a very happy man if, with a few such loose expressions as these repeated, he thinks to determine all the controversies about election and effectual grace, with perseverance, on the Pelagian side. The hypothesis here maintained, that because God always and un- changeably approves of what is good in any, or of the obedience of his creatures, and disapproves or hates sin, condemning it in his law, [and] that therefore he may love tlie same person one day and hate him another, notwithstanding his pretences that he is constant unto the reason of his love, will inevitably fall into one of these conclusions: — either, that God indeed never loveth any man, be he who he will; or, that he is changeable in his love, upon outward, external reasons, as we are : and let him choose which he will own. In the mean- time, such a love of God towards believers as shall always efi'ectually preserve them meet objects of his love and approbation, is not to be baffled by such trifling impertinencies. His next reflection is on the manner of God's operations in the communication of grace and holi- ness; which, he says, is " not by omnipotent and irresistible power," — confimiing his assertion by that consideration, that then sin and death could never have entered into the world ; which is resolved into another sweet supposition, that God must needs act the same power of grace towards all men, at all times, under each covenant, whether he will or no. But this it is to be a happy disputant, — all \.hings succeed well with such persons which they undertake. And
THE PRECEDING DISCOURSE. 347
as to the manner of the operation of grace, how far grace itself may be said to be ommpotent, and in its operations kresistible, I have lully declared there; where he may oppose and refute it, if he have any mind thereunto. His present attempt against it in those words that God " governs reasonable creatures by principles of reason " is so weak m this case, and impertinent, that it deserves no considera- tion; for all the operations of divine grace are suited unto the rational constitution of our beings, neither was ever man so wild as to fancy any of them such as are inconsistent with, or do offer force unto the faculties of our souls in their operations. Yea, that which elevates aids and assists our rational faculties in their operations on and to- wards their proper objects, which is the work of efficacious grace IS the principal preservative of their power and liberty, and can be no way to their prejudice. And we do, moreover, acknowledge that those proposals which are made in the gospel unto our reason ai-e eminently suited to excite and prevail with it unto its proper use' and exercise m compliance with them. Hence, although the habit of faith or power of belle^ang, be ^^Tought in us by the Holy Ghost, yet the word of the gospel is the cause and means of all its acts, and the whole obedience which it produceth. But if by - governing reason- able creatures by principles of reason," he intends that God deals no otherwise by his grace with the souls of men, but only by propos- ing objective arguments and motives unto a compHance with his vviU without mternal aids and assistances of grace, it is a gross piece of I'elagiamsm, destructive of the gospel, sufficiently confuted elsewhere- and he may explain himself as he pleaseth.
His proceed is, to transcribe some other passages, taken out of my book here and there, in whose repetition he inserts some impertinent exceptions; but the design of the whole is to " state a controversy " as be calls it, between us and them, or those whom he calleth " thev" and "we,-' whoever they be. And this, upon the occasion of my mentiomng the fulness of grace, life, and righteousness that is in Christ, he doth m these words:-P. 215, " They say that these are the personal graces of Christ as mediator, which are mherent in him and must be derived from his person; we say, they signify the per- fection and excellency of his religion, as being the most perfect and complete declaration of the wdl of God, and the most powerful method of the divme wisdom for the reforming of the world, as it prescribes the on y righteousness which is acceptable to God, and dh-ects us in the only way to life and immortality."