judgments on him, and his followers, here and hereafter: if it is a righteous thing with God to render tribulation to them that trouble his people, and so to them that commit any other sin, it must be agreeable to his justice to appoint them to indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish; even every soul of man that does evil, if he pleases.-Nor is this act contrary to his goodness; all persons and things are his own, and he may do with him as he pleases, without an impeachment of this or any other perfection of his; Is thine eye evil, says he, because I am good? Matt. xx. 15. What distinguishing grace and goodness has been exercised towards fallen man, when no degree of sparing mercy was shewn to fallen angels? and what goodness has been laid up, and wrought out, for many of the sons of Adam, though others have been rejected? and even on them that are rejected, what riches of providential goodness have been, and are bestowed on them, in the most plentiful and liberal manner? with what lenity, patience, forbearance, and long-suffering, has God endured the vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction, fitted by themselves? Rom. ii. 4. and ix. 22. This act of God is neither contrary to the mercy, nor to the wisdom of God, nor to the truth and sincerity of God, in his promises, declarations, calls, &c. nor to the holiness and justice of God; as I have elsewhere made abundantly to

appear.

2. The moving, or impulsive cause of God's making such a decree, by which he has rejected some of the race of Adam from his favour, is not sin, but the good pleasure of his will: sin is the meritorious cause of eternal death, wrath, and damnation; wrath is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness, and ungodliness of men, and comes upon the children of disobedience, whom God leaves in it; the wages, or demerit of sin, is death, even death eternal: but then it is not the impulsive cause of the decree itself; not of preterition, because that, as election, was before good or evil were done, and irrespective of either; nor of pre-damnation, God, indeed, damns no man but for sin; nor did he decree to damn any but for sin; but yet, though sin is the cause of damnation and death, the thing decreed, it is not the cause of the decree itself; it is the cause of the thing willed, but not the moving cause of God's will; for nothing out of God can move his will; if it could, the will of God would be dependent on the will and actions of men; whereas, his purpose, whether with respect to election or rejection, stands not on the works and will of men, but on his own will and pleasure: besides, if sin was the cause of the decree itself, or of God's will to reject men, then all would be rejected, since all fell in Adam; all are under sin, all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; all are, by nature, children of wrath, and deserving of it: what then could move God to choose one and reject another, but his sovereign good will and pleasure? that then is the sole moving and impulsive cause of such a decree; when we have searched the scriptures most thoroughly, and employed our reasoning powers to the highest pitch, and racked our invention to the uttermost; no other cause of

* See the Cause of God and Truth, part 3. chap. 1, 2.

were not,

ot

v. The impulsive, or moving cause of this act in God, or what were the motives and and inducements with God to take such a step as this: and these - I. The good works of men; for this act passed in eternity, before any works were done; The children not being yet born, neither having done any good or evil; that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, Rom. ix. 11. and since this was done before them, they could never be the moving cause of it; they are the fruits and effects of it, and so cannot be the cause of it in any sense: it is owing to electing grace that any good works have been done by men since the fall of Adam; for what the prophet says the people of Isarel, is true of the whole world; Except the Lord of Sabbaoth had left us a seed, a remnant, according to the election of grace, a few, whom, according to this decree, he makes holy and good, and enables them to perform good works, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah, Rom. ix. 29. should have been like to the inhabitants of those cities, both in sin and punishment; as public and abandoned sinners, given up to the vilest lusts, without any check or restraint. Good works are what God has pre-ordained, that his chosen ones should walk in them, Eph. ii. 10. and therefore the election of the one, and the pre-ordination of the other, must be previous to them, and they not the cause of either; the same cannot be both cause and effect, with respect to the same things: besides, there are no good works truly such, before effectual vocation, which is the fruit of election; before that they have only the appearance of good works, but are not really such, not being done in faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is sin; nor from love to God, which is the end of the commandment; nór in the name and strength of Christ; nor with a view to the glory of God. Men must be first created in Christ, or be new creatures in him, must be believers in him, and have the Spirit of Christ, and his grace, put into them, ere they can perform good works: all which are done at effectual vocation, and not before. Moreover, God does not proceed according to men's works; nor are they the moving causes to him, in other acts of his grace; as not in the mission of his Son, 1 John iv. 10, nor in vocation, 2 Tim. i. 9. nor in justification, Rom. iii. 20, 28, nor in the whole of salvation, Tit. iii. 5. Eph. ii. 8, 9. and so not in this first step to salvation, elec. for then it would not be of grace, of pure free grace, unmixed and unmerited grace, as it is said to be. And in the strongest manner it is denied to be of works, and that established by an argument which is unanswerable, Rom. xi. 5, 6.-2. Neither is the holiness of men, whether in principle or in practice, or both, the moving cause of election to eternal life; it is an end to which men are chosen; he hath chosen us in him-that we should be holy, Eph. i. 4. not be cause we were holy, but that we might be so, and so denotes something future, and which follows upon it; and it is a means fixed in the decree of election to another end, salvation; to which men are chosen, through sanctification of the Spirit, 2 Thess. ii, 13. yea, the sanctification of God's elect is the object of God's decree; is the thing decreed, and so cannot be the cause of the decree;

tion;

This is the will of God, even your sanctification, 1 Thess. iv. 3. not barely the approving will of God, as being agreeable to his holy nature and holy law; nor merely the will of his precept, Be ye holy; but his decreeing will, or determinate counsel, that men should be holy: besides, holiness in principle and practice, does not take place until effectual vocation, and is the work of the Spirit of God in time, who calls men with an holy calling; not only to holiness, but works a principle of grace and holiness in them, whereby they are influenced and enabled, under the power of his grace, to live soberly, righteously, and godly.-3. Nor is faith the moving cause of election; the one is in time, the other in eternity: whilst men are in a state of unregeneracy, they are in a state of unbelief; they are, as without hope in God, so without faith in Christ; and when they have it, they have it not of themselves, of their own power and free-will; but they have it as the gift of God, and the operation of his Spirit, flowing purely from his grace; and therefore cannot be the cause of electing grace: besides, it is the effect of that, it is a consequence that follows upon it, and is insured by it; As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed, Acts xiii. 48. it is proper and peculiar to the elect of God; the reason why some men do not believe is, because they are not of Christ's sheep, John x. 26. his elect, given him by the Father; and the reason why others do believe is, because they are of Christ's sheep, or his chosen ones, and therefore faith is given to them, which is called, the faith of God's elect, Tit. i. 1. Faith is not the cause of vocation, and much less of election, which precedes that: the reason why men. are called, is not because they believe, but they are called that they might be. lieve; in which effectual call faith is given to them, as the evidence of their election. Once more, faith is fixed as a means, in the decree of election; and therefore cannot be the cause of it, 2 Thess. ii. 13. To which may be added, if faith is the moving cause of election, men might be said rather to choose God and Christ, at least first, than they to choose him; whereas our Lord says, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, John xv. 16. the apostles had chosen him, but not first; he first chose them; so that their choice of him had no influence on his choice of them: but if faith is the moving cause of election, then men rather choose Christ than he them; for what is faith but an high esteem of Christ, a choosing and preferring him, as a Saviour to all others? a choosing that good part which shall never be taken away; and of the way of truth, or of Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.4. Nor is perseverance in faith, holiness, and good works, the moving cause of election; but the effect of it, and what is ensured by it: the reason why men persevere is, because they are the elect of God, who cannot be deceived totally and finally, so as to have their faith subverted, and overthrown, as that of nominal professors may be; because the foundation on which they are, stands sure: sealed with this seal, The Lord knows them that are his, Matt. xxiv. 24. 2 Tim. ii. 18, 19. Should it be said, that it is the foresight of these things in men, which moves God to choose them; it may be replied, that God's foresight or fore-knowledge of things future, is founded on the determinations of his will!

concerning them; God foresees, or foreknows, that such and such a man will believe, become holy, do good works, and persevere therein to glory; because he has determined to give faith to them, work holiness in them, enable them to perform good works, and cause them to persevere therein to the end, and so be saved; and what is this, but the doctrine contended for? it is no other than a decree to give grace and glory to some persons for his own glory, and to deny them to others.

The truth of all this might be illustrated and confirmed by the case of infants dying in infancy; who, as soon as they are in the world, almost, are taken out of it. Now such a number as they are, can never be thought to be brought into being in vain, and without some end to be answered; and which, no doubt, is the glory of God, who is and will be glorified in them, some way or another, as well as in adult persons: now though their election is a secret to us, and unrevealed; it may be reasonably supposed, yea, in a judgment of charity it may rather be concluded, that they are all chosen, than that none are; and if it is allowed that any of them may be chosen, it is enough to my present purpose; since the election of them cannot be owing to their faith, holiness, obedience, good works, and perseverance, or to the foresight of these things, which do not appear in them.

In short, these maxims are certainly true, and indisputable, that nothing in time can be the cause of what was done in eternity; to believe, to be holy, to do good works, and persevere in them, are acts in time, and so cannot be causes of election, which was done in eternity; and that nothing out of God can be the cause of any decree, or will in him; he is no passive Being, to be wrought upon by motives and inducements without him; for if his will is moved by any thing without him, that must be superior to him, and his will must become dependent on that; which to say of God, is to speak very unworthily of him. God wills things because it so pleases him: predestination is according to the good pleasure of his will; election is according to his fore-knowledge; which is no other than his free favour and good will to men, Eph. i. 5. 1 Pet. i. 2. no other reason can be given of God's will or decree to bestow grace and glory on men, for his own glory, and of his actual donation of them, but what our Lord gives; Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight, Matt. xi. 25, 26.

VI. The means fixed in the decree of election, for the execution of it, or in order to bring about the end intended, are next to be enquired into; which are, the principal of them, the mediation of Christ, and redemption by, him the sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. The mediation of Christ; Christ, as God, is the efficient cause of election; in his office-capacity, as an Head, the elect are chosen in him, as members of him; and though his mediation, bloodshed, sufferings and death, are not the meritorious cause of election, yet Christ in them is the medium of the execution of it; that is, of bringing the chosen ones, through grace, to glory; whereby God is glorified, and so the

end of it is answered: men are said to be chosen unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. i. 2. which words, though they seem to express the ends of election, yet are such as have the nature of means, in order to further ends, the salvation of men, and the glory of God therein. Obedience may intend the obedience of Christ, both active and passive, or his subjection to the law, and fulfilment of it, both with respect to its precepts and penalty, by which men are justified in the sight of God, and so are entitled to eternal life and happiness; and to the blood of Jesus Christ are owing, the redemption of men, the remission of their sins, and the atonement of them, which issue in their salvation, and make way for the glorifying of the justice of God, as well as the grace of God in it: and the sprinkling of this blood, denotes an application of it to the conscience, whereby it is purged from dead works, and the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience; and which speaks peace, and yields comfort, and causes the soul to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Moreover, men are chosen to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, as means to that end, 2 Thess. ii. 13. The sanctification of the Spirit is the work of grace on the heart, begun in regeneration, and carried on by the Spirit, until it is perfected by him; and this is necessary to salvation; for without holiness, even perfect holiness, no man shall see the Lord; and therefore it is fixed as a means of it, and is made as sure and certain by the decree of election, as the end, salvation itself; and being fixed as a mean, in this decree, confirms what has been observed, that it cannot be the cause of it: and this proves that the doctrine of election can be no licentious doctrine, but a doctrine according to godliness; since it makes such sure provision for holiness, as well as for happiness. Belief of the truth may signify, not a bare belief of the gospel, and the truths of it; for though they are to be believed by all the saved ones, yet this may be where neither election, nor vocation, nor sanctification, ever take place; even in reprobates, and devils themselves: but faith in Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and believing in him with the heart, unto righteousness, and with which salvation is connected, and to which it is necessary, and is a mean of it; and which being fixed in the decree of election, as such is secured by it, and certainly follows upon it.

VII. The ends settled in the decree of election are both subordinate and ultimate; the subordinate ones have indeed the nature of means with respect to the ultimate one: there are many things to which the elect of God, predestinated or chosen, both with respect to grace and glory, which are subordinate to the grand end, the glory of God. So God is said to predestinate them to be conformed to the image of his Son, to be made like unto him, not so much în his sonship, nor in his sufferings, as in his holiness: man was made after the image of God, this by sinning he came short of; in regeneration the image of Christ is enstamped, the lines of his grace are drawn upon, and he himself is formed in the hearts of his people; and into which image they are more and more changed through transforming views of his glory; and which will be complete in the future state, when saints will see him as he is; and to this they