Neither doth it appear to me how the decree of God concerning the sending of his Son into the world can be asserted as absolutely immutable upon that principle formerly laid down and insisted on by our author. He sends him into the world to die, neither is any concernment of his mediation so often affirmed to fall under the will and purpose of God as his death. But concerning this Mr Goodwin disputes, out of Socinus,^ for a possibility of a contrary event, and that the whole counsel of God might have been fulfilled by the good- will and intention of Christ, though actually he had not died. If, then, the purpose of God concerning Christ, as to that great and eminent part of his intendment therein, might have been frustrated and was liable to alteration, what reason can be rendered wherefore that might not upon some considerations (which Mr Goodwin is able, if need were, to invent) have been the issue of the whole decree? And what, then, becomes of the collateral consolation, which from the immutability of that decree is here asserted? Now, this being the only witness and testimony, in the first part of our scriptural de- monstration of the truth in hand, whereunto any exception is put in, and the exceptions against it being in such a frame and composure as manifest the whole to be a combination of beggars and jugglers, whose pleas are inconsistent with themselves, as it doth now appear, upon the examination of them apart, it is evident that as Mr Good- win hath little ground or encouragement for that conclusion he makes of this section, so the light breaking forth from a constel- lation of this and other texts mentioned is sufficient to lead us into an acknowledgment and embracement of the truth contended for. ' Socin. Pitel. Tlicol. cap. s. ccct. 8.
140 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVEEANCE. [CIIAP.
CHAPTER III.
THE IMMUTABILITY OF THE PURPOSES OF GOD.
The immutability of the purposes of God proposed for a second demonstration of the ti'uth in hand — Somewhat of the nature and properties of the purposes of God: the object of them— Purposes, how acts of God's understand- ing and will — The only foundation of the futurition of all things — The purposes of God absolute — Continuance of divine love towards believers purposed — Purposes of God farther considered and their nature explained — Their independence and absoluteness evinced — Proved from Isa. xlvi. 9-11;
Ps. xxxiii. 9-11; Heb. vi. 17, 18, etc These places explained — The
same truth by sundry reasons and arguments farther confirmed — Pur- pose in God of the continuance of his love and favour to believers mani- fested by an induction of instances out of Scripture; the first from Rom. viii. 28 proposed, and farther cleared and improved — Mr G.'s dealing with our argument from hence and our exposition of this place considered — His exposition of that place proposed and discussed — The design of the apostle commented on — The fountain of the accomplishment of the good things mentioned omitted by Mr G. — In what sense God intends to make all things work together for good to them that love him — Of God's foreknowledge — Of the sense and use of the word -TrooyivuirKu, also of scisco, and -ynuffxej in classical authors — Upiyvcjo-is in Scripture everywhere taken for foreknow- ledge or predetermination, nowhere for pre-approbation — Of pre-approving or pre-approbation here insisted on by Mr G. — Its inconsistency with the sense of the apostle's discourse manifested — The progress of Mr G.'s exposition of this place considered — Whether men love God antecedently to his predestination and their effectual calling — To pre-ordain and pre-ordinate different — No as- surance granted of the consolation professed to be intended — The great uncer- tainty of the dependence of the acts of God's grace mentioned on one another — The efficacy of every one of them resolved finally into the wills of men — Whether calling according to God's purpose supposeth a saving answer given to that call — The affirmative proved, and exceptions given thereto removed — What obstructions persons called may lay in their own way to justification — The iniquity of imposing conditions and supposals on the purposes of God not in the least intimated by himself— The whole acknowledged design of the apostle everted by the interposition of cases and conditions by Mr G. — Mr G.'s first attempt to prove the decrees of God to be conditional considered — 1 Sam. ii. 30 to that end produced — 1 Sam. ii. 30 farther considered, and its unsuitableness to illustrate Rom. viii. 28-31 proved — Interpretation of Scrip- ture by comparing of places agreeing neither in design, word, nor matter, rejected — The places insisted on proved not to be parallel by sundry particu- lar instances — Some observations from the Avords rejected — What act of God intended in these words to Eli, " I said indeed" — No purpose or decree of God in them declared — Any such purpose as to the house of Eli by sundry arguments disproved — No purpose of God in the words insisted on farther manifested — They are expressive of the promise or law concerning the priest- hood, Num. XXV. 11-13, more especially relating unto Exod. xxviii. 43, xxix. 9 — The import of that promise, law, or statute, cleared — The example of Jonah'.s preaching, and God's commands to Abraham and Pharaoh — The universal disproportion between the texts compared by I\Ir G., both as to matter and expression, farther manifested — Instances or case? of Saul and Paul to prove conditional purposes in God considered — Conditional purpose.s