God and Chrift never did, or could do that to any perfons which they knew they would never be the better for; which that it is extremely falfe, all his difpenfations from the beginning of the world do teftify. For, Did he not fend his fpirit to frive with the old world? Did he not allow them the fpace of an hundred and twenty years to repent in, though he knew they would not be the better for it? Did he not fend to the Jews his prophets, rifing up early, and fending them to admonish them to turn from their evil way, that they might not be carried away captive? Did he not chaftife them when they refufed to receive correction ? Did he not ufe the greatest diligence to make his vineyard bring forth good grapes, when it brought forth only four grapes? Did he not ufe means to purge them when they would not be purged? Were not all his promifes made to encourage them to the performance of their duty, that it might be well with them, and all his threats to deter them from their iniquity? And fhall we deny that God did these things to thefe ends, becaufe his wifdom knew they would not have thefe falutary effects upon them? Again, doth not God reveal his gofpel, offer his grace, and fend his ambaffadors to call them to faith and repentance, whom he knew would never be the better for these things? Did not Chrift come to his own, who received him not? Did he not fpeak to them that they might be faved, who would not come to him that they might have life? Did he not fay to them, who would not be gathered, how oft would I have gathered you? &c. And did he not know what would be the iffue of his coming, his fpeaking to, and his endeavors to do them good? Wherefore in all exhortations and perfuafions, and all moral means whofe effect depends upon the will of man, it is fufficient that they are proper means for producing the defigned end, and that God knows they may be, and if they act according to that reafon and difcretion he hath given them, they will be better for them; otherwife we may argue, as this objection doth, no good man would put another into a flate in which he knows he will be miferable, and therefore a good God would never make thofe men he knows will finally be fo. No good prince would have any fubjects he fhould be forced to cut off; and therefore a good God would not giye being to thofe men of the old world, which his vindict ive juftice forced him to destroy. Anfwer 2.-2dly. I anfwer, that this objection is built upon a falfe fuppofition, viz. that Chrift paid no fuch price for them that perifh, as for them that will be faved; the price for both was one and the fame, his fufferings on the cross, his blood thed for the remiffion of fins; and thus hé equally muft have fuffered for the redemption of any finner from death, as for the redemption, of all, as under the old law the fame facrifice was offered to make atonement for a fingle person, and for the whole nation of the Jews; that any receive remiffion of fins by virtue of his death, is, because they, through faith in his blood, are juftified. and fo have peace with God; and that all do not fo, is not for want of an atonement made for them by the fame blood, but for want of that faith and thofe conditions of the new covenant, which can alone give them an intereft in that atonement, OF SUFFICIENT AND EFFECTUAL, COMMON AND SPECIAL GRACE. CHAPTER I. The State of the Queftion. OR the right ftating of this queftion it will be requifite to fhew, 1. What is the fcripture import of the word Grace. II. What is the manner of the ope ration of this Grace upon the foul, to convert, or to difpofe it to what is fpiritually good. III. What renders it efficacious in fome, and not in others to produce faith, repentance and converfion of the foul to God, and what is the account the fcripture, and our bleffed Savior giveth of this matter. SECTION I. To begin with the firft particular, Grace in the fcripture, when it is ftyled the grace of God imports his favor, and his kind affection to us, as hath been largely proved in the note on 2 Cor. vi. 1. Accordingly, ift. The gofpel preached to Jew and Gentile, is ftyled (a) the grace of God which brings falvation; (b) the word of his grace which is able to build us up, xai devas, and to give us an inheritance among them that are fanctified. This also muft be the import of the word when it is faid (c) that the law came by Mofes, but grace and truth by Jefus Chrift; when the apostles exhort their converts to (d) continue in the grace of God; when they say that God confirmed the word of his grace by doing figns and wonders; when the gofpel is ftyled (e) the word of grace, and the gofpel of grace. And this is probably the import of the word in many other places cited by Dr. Hammond, note on Heb. xiii. 9. where, faith he, they that believed through grace, A&ts xviii. 27. are they that believed through the preaching of the gospel; and in this fenfe the grace of God is abfolute; there being nothing either in Few or Gentile which made them worthy of this revelation, nor any condition_required on their part that it might be preached to them. 2dly. This grace which thus appeared to all men, being Xápis nowτnpios, i. e. in its defign, and in its influence (where it was not obftructed by men's infidelity, and love of darknefs more than light) faving grace, the calling of men by the preaching of it to the faith, is fometimes faid to be the calling them by grace; and when they embrace that call, the Taving them by grace, as when it is faid, we are faved by the grace of the Lord Jefus Chrift; by grace ye are Javed, not of works. For feeing this is fpoken to men yet alive, and fo obliged, (g) to work out their falvation with fear and trembling; it cannot mean that they were actually faved, but only that they were called to a state of falvation, enjoyed the means and were put in the way of falvation by grace (of which import of the word faved, fee the note on Eph. ii. 8.) Hence the apostle faith, (h) he hath faved us, and (or that is) called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but the grace given us in Chrift Jefus; and to be thus faved by grace, is to be faved by the mercy and favor of God to us, according to thefe words of the fame apoftle, (i) when the kindness and love of God our Savior to man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done (before faith) but by his merseyhe faved us; and this grace is again abfolute, it being puredy of the mercy, and the free grace of God that any nation is, XII. 43 Eph. 8, 9, -(e) Acts xx. 32, 24(f) Acts xv. 11, (g) (h) a Tim, i. 9. (i) Tit. in. 4, 3. + { by the preaching of the gospel to them, called to the knowlę edge of falvation by Chrift. 3dly. When menthus called embrace the gospel, and believe in Chrift, and to obtain the pardon of their past fins, this alfo is faid to be done by grace, we being juftified (k) by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Jefus, and obtaining the forgiveness of fins according to the riches of his grace; and though this grace be not abfolute but conditional, we being juftified by faith yet fince that faith is not of our. felves, but is the gift of God, and it is of mere grace that this B. in NB act of faith, which deferves nothing, is imputed to us for right eau/ne/s; it is certain that we are justified by the grace of God. 4thly. The gift of the fpirit, is in the fcripture ftyled the grace of God, efpecially his extraordinary gifts, as when St. Paul faith, (1) having gifts differing according to the he grace that is given to us; whether prophefy, let us prophefy according to the proportion of faith, &c. To the Corinthians he fpeaks thus, (m) I thank my God for the grace which is given to you, fo that you come behind the other churches in no gift. And again, (p) not in fleshly wifdom, but by the grace of God we have had our converfation in the world, and more especially towards you. To the Ephefians thus, (q) to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And St. Peter fpeaketh thus, (r) as every one hath received the gift, fo minifter the fame one to another, as good fewards of the manifold grace of God. On which account they who fell off from the faith, after they had tafted of thefe gifts, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghoft, are faid to have defpifed the spirit of grace. Now this grace being peculiar to the firft ages of the church can have nothing to do with this controverfy, unlefs by way of proportion and analogy, in which the ordinary gifts and affiftances of the holy Spirit deriv ed from the fame God, may also be called the grace of God. Now this being all the fenfes in which the word grace, OF the grace of God is ufed in the holy feripture, we may hence difcern how in the choots, and in our common language, the word grace hath been abused and wrefled from its proper fenfe; for, whereas, both in the Old and the New Teftament it fignifies the favor, goodnels and mercy of God to us in giving us fuch and fuch bleffings, they have made it commonly to fignify fome fupernatural and infufed habits, or chriftian virtues, which in the fcripture are never ftyled grace, but the fruits of the fpirit; as Gal. v. 22. Eph. y. 9. (k) Acts xv. 17. (r) Rom. iii. 24. Eph. i. 7.(?) Rom. xii. 6.- |