not

Because they inclined not the ear, and hearkened not to his word, but faid, (z) We will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. 4thly. Obferve that therefore the wrath of God arofe against his people, fo that there was no remedy, Heb. no healing; fure because an omnipotent God was not able to heal them, or a good God, who out of compaffion to them, and folicitude for their welfare fent all his prophets to reclaim them, would not heal them; but becaufe they defpifed his words, and would not be healed, but would every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

SECTION V. Objection 5. The fifth objection is but the first in other words, viz. That if Chrift died for all men, and all men come not to be faved; then the great love of God in giving his Son to men is ufelefs and unprofitable, for to what purpose, or of what ufe is the love of God, and the gift of his Son to men, if he doth not withal give them faith in his

Son?.

Anfwer. As if all God's acts of grace and favor to men, which are not effectual, through mens perverfenefs and the ftubbornness of their wills, to obtain his gracious purposes, must be vain and fruitless on his part, if he also giveth not that grace which will make them effectual to his ends; and we might reafonably inquire, to what purpose was that riches of God's goodness, patience and longfuffering to the Jews. which did not lead them to repentance? Or of what ufe was it if he did not give them repentance unto life? To what purpose was it that the grace of God, which brings falvation, hath appeared to all men, if all men were not actually taught and engaged by it, denying all ungodliness and worldly lufts, to live righteously, foberly and godly in this prefent world? To what purpose, are all God's prohibitions and revelations from heaven against all unrighteousness, and ungodliness if he doth not by his grace effectually reftrain them from these things? Or of what ufe are his commands, if he doth not by his grace conftrain men to obey them; or all his gracious calls, if he doth not effectually engage men to answer them?

SECTION VI.-Objection 6. No man wittingly pays a price of redemption for a captive, which he certainly knows this miferable man will never be the better for; Chrift therefore paid no price of redemption for any man, who will never be the better for it.

Anfwer ft. To fhew the abfurdity of this objection, let it be confidered, that it depends entirely on this foundation, that

(z) Jer, xviii. 12,

God and Chrift never did, ar 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 testify. For

Did he not fend his fpirit to ftrive 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 evilway, that they might not be carried away captive? Did he not chaftife them when they refused 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 the 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 these ends, because his wisdom 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 thefe things? Did not Chrift come to his own, who received him not Did he not speak 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 flue 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 it 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 ftate in which he knows he will be miserable, and therefore a good God would never make thofe men he knows will finally be fo. No good prince would have any fubjects he should be forced to cut off, and therefore a good God would not give being to thofe men of the old world, which his vindi& ive juftice forced him to deftroy.

Anfwer 2—2dly. I anfwer, that this objection is built upon a falle fuppofition, viz. that Clift 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 he 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 fac rifice was offered to make atonement for a fingle perfon, 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 atonements:

CHAPTER I.

The State of the Queftion.

OR the right ftating of this queftion it will be requifite to fhew,

I. What is the fcripture import of the word Grace.

II. What is the manner of the operation 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, nai devas, and to give us an inheritance among them that are fanctified. This alfo 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 fay 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 gospel 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 ʼn owτnpios, 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 faving them by grace, as when it is faid, (f) we are faved by the grace of the Lord Jefus Chrift; by grace ye are faved, not of works. For feeing this is fpoken to men yet alive, and fo obliged, (g) to work out their falvation with fear and tremb ling; it cannot mean that they were actually faved, but only that they were called to a ftate of falvation, enjoyed the means and were put in the way of falvation by grace (of which im. port 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 these words of the fame apostle, (i) when the kindness and love of God our Savior to man appeared, not by works of righteoufnefs which we have done (before faith) but by his mercy he faved us; and this grace is again abfolute, it being purely of the mercy, and the free grace of God that any nation is,

-(b) Acts xx. 32. (c) John i. 17.(d) Acts -(e) Acs xx. 32, 24. -(f) Acts xv. 11, -(8)

(a) Tit. ii. 11.

xiii. 43. xiv. 3. Eph. ii. 8, 9.

(b) 2 Tim. i. 9.(i) Tit. iii. 4, 5.