In the second division of the section, he gives you his judgment of the manner of the work of God upon the soul unto the doing of that which is good, and the effect produced thereby: whereof the one, as was said before, consists in persuasions, which he sa3'S " are thus far irresistible, that they who are to be persuaded cannot hinder but that God may persuade them or exhort them, though he prevail not with them;" — wliich, doubtless, is a notable exaltation of his grace. Thus Mr Goodwin works irresistibly with one or other, perhaps, every day. And " the effect of this persuasion is" (that is, when it is effectual) " that impression which it leaves upon the soul to the things whereunto it is persuaded;" as the case is in the dealing of men one with another. For ray part, I see no reason why our author should so often so hecdfully deliver his judgment concerning this thing, especially without the least attempt of any scriptural proof or
XII.] OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE REFUTED. 455
endeavour to answer those innumerable clear and express places of Scripture which he knows are everywhere and on all occasions pro- duced and insisted on to prove a real efficient acting of God in and with the wills of men, for the producing, working, and accomplishing, that which is good, in a way distinct from that of persuasion, which contributes no real strength to the person persuaded, concurring only metaphorically in the producing of the effect. Let this at last, then, suffice. We are abundantly convinced of his denial of the work of God's grace in the salvation of souls.
In the third place we have a rhetorical flourish over that which he hath been laying out his strength against all this while, being a mere repetition of what hath been already tendered and given in to con- sideration over and over. " If God cause the saints effectually to per- severe" (liis terms of " irresistibly" and " necessitating" have been long since discharged from any farther attendance or service in this warfare) " by exhortations, then are all his promises of perseverance in vain.'" But why so? May not God enjoin the use of means, and promise by them the attainment of the end? May he not promise that to us which he will work himself effectually in us? If God effectually work in us to give us, by what means soever, a new heart, may he not promise to give us a new heart? "Yea, but amongst men this would be incongruous, yea, ridiculous, that a father should promise his son an inheritance, and then persuade him to take heed that he may obtain it."
But, first. If this be " incongruous, yea, ridiculous," amongst men, in their dealings with one another, doth it therefore follow that it must be so as to God's dealings with men? "Are his thoughts as our thoughts, and his ways as our ways?" Is not the wisdom of God foolishness with men, and theirs much more so with him? Are men bound in their dealings with others to consider them not only in their natural and civil relations, but as impotent and corrupted men, as God in his dealings with them doth?
Secondly, Neither is this course so ridiculous amongst men as Mr Goodwin imagineth. That a father, having promised his son an in- heritance, and instated it on him, or assured it to him, should ex- hort and persuade him to behave himself worthy of his kindness, and to take heed that he come to the enjoyment of the inheritance which he hath provided for him by the means that he hath appointed (for the prescription of means for the enjoyment of the inheritance must be supposed to go along with the promise and assurance), is far from being a course so ridiculous as is pretended.
Neither, thirdly, is this similitude analogous with that which it is produced to illustrate ; for, — 1. A man may know how, and when, and on what account, an inheritance is settled on him by his father; but of what God promiseth we have faith only, not knowledge, properly
456 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP.
SO called; nor always the assurance of faith as to the enjoyment of the thing promised, hut the adherence of faith, as to the truth and faithfulness of the promiser. Nor, — 2. Can a father work in his son that obedience which he requireth of him, as He can do who creates a ne>v heart in us, and writes his law and fear therein. 3. This ab- solute engagement to bestow an inheritance, whether the means of obtaining it be used and insisted on or no, is a thing most remote from what we ascribe to the Lord in his promises of perseverance, which are only that believers shall persevere by the use of means ; which means he exhorts them to use, and yet, dealing with them in a covenant of grace and mercy, entered into upon account of their utter insufficiency in themselves to do the things that are well pleas- ing to him, whereunto they are so exhorted, he himself effectually and graciously, according to the tenor of that covenant, works in them what he requires of them, bearing them forth in the power of his grace to the use of the means appointed.