verandum in bono usque in finem auxiliuni speciale, supernaturale scilicet donuni pcrseverantije." And of this ])ropoHition he says, " In hac omnes catholici eonveniunt." Of the same judgment was his master, Thomas, lib. iii. Con. Gen. cap, civ. ; where, also, he gives this reason of his opi- nion: " Illud quod natura sua est variabile, ad hoc quod figatur in uno, indiget auxilio aliciijus moventis immobilis; sed liberum arbitrium, etiam existens in gratia habituali, ad hue manet variabile, et flexibile a bono in malum: ergo ad hoc quod figatur in bono, et perseveret in illo usque ad finem, indiget speciali Dei auxilio:" — the same argument having been used before him by Bradwardin, though to another ])urpose, namely, not to ])rove persevei'ance to be a superadded gift to saving grace, which, as before was observed, he denied, but to manifest that it was immediately and wholly from God. His words are, lib. ii. cap. viii., Corel., " Sicut se- cundum primi docet, omne quod est naturale, et non est per se tale, sed est mutabile in non tale, si manere debeat immutatum, oportet quod inni- tatur continue alicui per se fixo; quare et continue quilibit Justus Deo." The same schoolmen also (a generation of men exceeding ready to speak of any thing, though they know not what they speak nor whereof they affirm) go yet farther, some of them, and will distinguish between the gift of perseverance and the gift \of~\ confirmation in grace ! He before ment ioned, after a long dispute (namely, 104), concludes: "Ex his sequitur difFeren- tiam inter donum perseverantite et confirmationis in gratia" (he means that Avhich is granted in via) " in hoc consistere, quod donum perseverantia^ nuUam perfectionem intrinsecam constituit in ipsa gratia habituali, quod tamen perfectionem intrinsecam illi tribuit confirmatio in gi-atia." What this intrinsical perfection of habitual grace, given it by confirmation, is, he cannot tell; for in those who are so confirmed in grace he asserts only an impeccability upon supposition, and that not alone from their intrinsical principle, as it is witn the blessed in heaven, but from help and assistance also daily communicated from without. Durandus, in 3 d. 3 q. 4, assigns the deliverance from sin, which those who are confirmed in grace do obtain, unto the Holy Ghost. So far well ; but he kicks down his milk by his addi- tion, that he doth it only by the removal of all occasion of sin. But of these persons, and their judgment on the point under debate, more afterward.
For the thing itself last proposed, on what foot of account it is placed, and on what foundation asserted, the treatise itself will discover. That the thing aimed at is not to be straitened or restrained to any one peculiar act of grace will easily appear. The main foundation of that which we plead for is the eternal purpose of God, which his own nature rcquireth to be absolutely immutable and irreversible. The eternal act of the will of God designing some to salvation by Christ, infallibly to be obtained, for " the praise of the glory of his grace," is the bottom of the whole, even that foundation which standeth for ever, having this seal, " The Lord know- eth them that are his." For the accomjilishment of this eternal purpose, and for the procurement of all the good things that lie within the compass of its intendment, are the oblation and intercession, the whole mediatory undertaking of Christ, taking away sin, bringing in life and immortality, interposed, giving farther causal influence into the truth contended for. In him and for his sake, as God graciously, powerfully, and freely gives liis Holy Spirit, faith, and all the things that accompany salvation, unto all them whom he accepts and pardons, by his being made " sin for them" and " righteousness unto them;' so he takes thom thei'cby into an ever- lasting covenant that shall not be broken, and hath therein given them innumerable promises that he will continue to be their God for ever, and
A PREFACE TO THE READER. _ 23
]M-eserve them to be, and in l^eina:, his people. To this end, because the principle of grace and living to him, as in them inherent, is a thing in its own nature changeable and liable to failing, he doth, according to his pro- mise, and for the accomplishment of his purpose, daily make out to them, by his Holy Spirit, from the great treasury and storehouse thereof, the Lord Jesus Christ, helps and supplies, increasing of faith, love, and holi- ness, recovering them from falls, healing their backslidings, strengthening them with all might, according to his glorious power, inito all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; so preserving them by his power through faith unto salvation. And in this way of delivering the doctrine contended about, it is clearly made out that the disputes mentioned are as needless as groundless ; so that we shall not need to take them into the state of the controversy in hand, though I shall have occasion once more to reflect upon them when I come to the consideration of the doctrine of the schoolmen in reference to the opinion proposed to debate. The main of our inquiry is after the purpose, covenant, and promises of God, the undertaking of Christ, the supplies of grace promised and bestowed in him ; on which accounts we do assert and maintain that all true believers, — Avho are, in being so, interested in all those causes of preservation, — shall infallibly be preserved unto the end in the favour of God, and in such a course of gospel obedience as he will accept in Jesus Christ.