75. Ephesians ii. By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God." Mr. Beach observes, this text does not mean that their faith is so God's gift, as not to be of themselves, as is most evident to any who reads the original." This is certainly a great mistake. What I suppose he means, is, that the relative that, being of the neuter gender, and the word is of the feminine, they do not agree together. But if he would translate the Greek relative that thing, viz. the thing last spoken of, all the difficulty vanishes. Vid. Beza in Loc. Such scriptures us these, 1 Cor. xv. 10. «Not I, but the grace of God that was with me;" Gal. ii. 20. «Not I, but Christ liveth in me;" prove efficacious grace. The virtuous actions of men that are rewardable, are not left to men's indifference, without divine ordering and efficacy, so as to be possible to fail. They are often in the scripture the matter of God's promisest® How often does God promise reformations? How often does God promise that great revival of religion in the latter days? Dr. Whitby seems to deny any physical influence at all of the Spirit of God on the will; and allows an influence by moral suasion and moral causes only, p. 344. This is to deny that the Spirit of God does any thing at all, except inspiring the prophets, and giving the means of grace, with God's ordination of this in his providence. If God do any thing physically, what he does must be efficacious and irresistible.

*

Such an assistance Dr. Whitby maintains, and, concerning it, says the following things....p. 221, 222.

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Ist, "Then I say it must be granted, that in raising an idea in my brain by the Holy Spirit, and the impression made upon it there, the action is truly physical. 2d, That in those actions I am wholly passive; that is, I myself.do noth ing formally to produce those ideas; but the good Spirit, without my operation, doth produce them in me. 3d, That these operations must be irresistible in their production, be cause they are immediately produced in us without our knowledge of them, and without our will, and so without those face ulties by which we are enabled to act."...

Though it should be allowed that God assists man with a physical assistance, and yet by an obliged and promised assistance only; then God does not do, or effect or give the thing assisted to, any more than if he operated and assisted men only according to the established laws of nature; and men may as properly be said to do it of themselves, and of their own power. The doing of the thing, is in the same manner in their power. The assistance by which God assists a drunkard that goes to the tavern, and there drinks excessively, or by which he assists an adulterer or pirate in their actions, is, that he up, holds the laws of nature, the laws of the nature of the human soul,whereby it is able to perform such and such acts in such order and dependence; and the laws of the union of soul and body and moves the body in such a stated manner in consequence of such acts of the soul, and upholds the laws of motion, and causes that there shall be such and such effects in corporeal things, and also of men's minds in consequence of such motions. All the difference is, that the assistance which he grants in the duties of religion, is according to a newer establishment than the other, according to a method established a little later; and also, that the method of assistance, in the one case, is written and revealed by way of promise or covenant, and not in the other.

... But if it be said, that though God has promised assistance, yet he has not promised the exact degree, as, notwithstanding his promise, he has left himself at liberty to assist some, much more than others, in consequence of the very same endeavor....I answer, that this will prove a giving up of their whole scheme, and will infallibly bring in the Calvinistical notion of sovereign and arbitrary grace; whereby some, with the very same sincerity of endeavor, with the same degree of endeavor, and the same use of means, nay, although all things are exactly equal in both cases, both as to their persons and behavior; yet one has that success by sovereign grace and God's arbitrary pleasure, that is denied another. If God has left himself no liberty of sovereign grace in giving success to man's endeavors but his consequent assistance be always tied to such endeavors precisely, then man's success is just as VOL. V.

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much in his own power, and is in the same way the fruit of his own doings, as the effect and fulfilment of his endeavors to commit adultery or murder; and indeed much more. For his success in those endeavors, is not tied to such endeavors, but may be providentially disappointed. Although particular motions follow surch and such acts of will, in such a state of body, exactly according to certain laws of nature; yet a man's success in such wickedness, is not at all tied to his endeavors by any divine establishment, as the Arminians suppose success is to man's endeavors after conversion. 28 lliw n

For the Spirit of God, by assisting in the alleged manner, becomes not the efficient cause of those things, as the scriptures do certainly represent him. If God be not the proper bestower, author, and efficient cause of virtue, then the greatest benefits flow not from him are not owing to his goodness; nor have we him to thank for them.

8

Christ upbraids the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, that they were worse than Sodom, &c., and the Jews of that generation, that they were worse than the then of Nineveh pand the Pharisees, that the Publicans and harlots went into the kingdom of God before them. But why did he do this, if the only reason was, that the one was brought to repent by effectual grace, and the other not ? (See Whitby, p. 169, 170, 171.) I answer, the unbelief and impenitence Sof those cities, of that generation, and of those Pharisees, when, on the contrary, the Publicans and Nineveh repented, and the men of Sodom would have repented, was an argument that they were worse, more perverse and hardhearted than they Because, though repentance is owing to special, efficacious assistance, yet, in his ordinary methods of proceeding with men, God is wont much more rarely to bestow it on those that are more perverse, hardhearted, and rooted in evil, than others. So much the more as their hearts are hardenbed, so much the less likely are they to be brought to repentance. And though there be oftentimes exceptions of partic ular persóns, yet it still holds good as a general rule; and especially with regard to societies, nations, cities and ranks of men: So that Christ might well, from the fact that he men

tions, draw an argument of the greater perverseness and stubbornness of those societies and ranks of men that he vandling Batmno ur spoke of bovi u bur

21076sbas dous of pri jod 20-25078chine par

sluit.Azcommand and a manifestation of will are not the same thinglou A command does not always imply a true desire that the thing commanded should be done. So much at least is n manifest by the instance of Abraham commanded to offer upa IsaaceThat command was not such an effect of the divine will, as the commands to believe and repent, &c, 29

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qui 17. Either the stronger the habitual inclination to good fs, the more virtuous; and the stronger the disposition to evil, the more vicious; or, if it be otherwise, then indifference or want of inclination, is essential to both virtue and vice.

Jd 101 ans.lt of mut 98 svað 190 ; 2230 vid18 Dr. Whitby's inconsistence appears in that one while, when he is disputing against the decree of election, he maintains that the epistles, where the apostle speaks to the elect, Pare not written to the converted only because then it suits his turn that the persons addressed should not be converted. But afterwards, when disputing against efficacious grace, he maintains that where the apostle says, "God worketh in you both to will and to do," &c. Philip. ii. 13, he speaks only to them that are converted, p. 288. Again, when it suits the Doctor's turn, when writing about perseverance, then all whom the apostles write to are true saints. As particularly those the apostle Peter writes to, that had precious faith, p. 399. And the Galatians addressed in Paul's epistlé, p. 401, 3402.99019 lo choďtoma

19918 When the Psalmist prays, “Make me to go in the way of thy statutes;" is it indeed his meaning, that God would give him the general grace which he gives to all, and which is sufficient for all if they will but improve it? And is this all Plus lutañaji

§209/Arminians argue that God has obliged himself to bestowacholy and saving disposition, on certain conditions, and that what is given in regeneration, is given either for matural men's asking, or for the diligent improvement of common grace; because, otherwise, it would not be our fault that we are without it, nor our virtue that we have it! But if this reasoning is just, the holy qualities obtained by the regenerate, are only the fruits of virtue, not virtues themselvesq quAll the virtue lies in asking, and in the diligent improvement of common graces qu' meqza rom dɔum bas d'iz 997Z6 191 eudis 22672 933 tedy bad av som .ero ned, mes arts c§ 21% ProvixxilstonThe heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it whithersoever he will." This shews that the Arminian notion of liberty of will, is inconsistents with the scripture notion of God's a providence and government of the world. See also Jer. xxxi. -18. 9 “/Turn/me, and I shall be turned.”1⁄2y Matth. vii. 386 “ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits sneither can a corrupt stree bring forth good fruit." Let us understand this how we ydwill, it destroys the Arminian notion of liberty, and virtue and bavicezo:For, if it means only a great difficulty; then so much

the less liberty, and therefore so much the less virtue or vice. And the preceding verse would be false, which says, every ygood tree bringeth forth good fruit," &c.Rom.viii. 6, 7, 8, 1593 5% For to be carnally minded is death ; but to be spiritusally minded is life and peace: Because the carnal mind is eh12smity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, loneither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh canso not please God. But we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirthat, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any vd man, have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his "The design of the apostle in this place, overthrows Arminian notions of liberty, virtue, and vice. It appears from scripture, that God gives such assistance to virtue and virtuous acts, as to be properly a determining assistance, so as to determine the effect; which is inconsistent with the Arminian potion of o liberty. The scripture shews that God's influence in the case

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is such, that he is the cause of the effect: He causes it to be: