Thefe two muft carefully be fevered; for when I use these Terms, the Freedom to Sin, prefently fome Body takes me down, urging that the Freedoom to Sin is a fervitude, the bondage and mifery of the Will, not obferving that the Freedom to Sin is natural and before the Fall; the Bondage to Sin fince the Fall, and the Corruption of our nature: and these two differ as much as a live mortal Man, and a dead Man. The Freedom to Evil is not Evil, but the ufe and practife of that Freedom is Evil; the pronenefs to Evil which is now in us, is Evil. That natural Freedom to Evil, Grace attempteth not in this Life to take away, but to keep it from coming into practife. That proneness to Evil, Grace attempteth to take away, or to weaken and restrain it; yet without impeaching the natural Freedom to Evil. Of this Liberty to Evit let the Learned read with candour a Determination of Dr. Baro published at the end of his Lectures on Jonah, Dei decretum prava voluntatis libertatem non tollit.

T

CHA P. XI.

Of Grace and Freewill Jointly.

O declare how thefe two are conjoined in every spiritual Work; let me firft poffefs you with three Principles or Axioms:

1. That if we fuppofe thefe two coworkers in all their Operations either in our converfion, or in every Good work, Grace is evermore foremosft, the beginner, leader, principal in all, not only in the first, but also in the fecond, third, and

* Veteres dixerunt, pracedente Gratia, comitante Voluntate, bona •pera fieri. Melanchton Los, Com. de Lib. Arbitrio.

fourth

fourth Operations to the laft. The will of Man never working alone, never working foremost; but as the Wheel of the Water mill, is fet and kept a going by the continual following of the Water, which being flayed the Wheel foon ftayeth, fo Man's Will is fet and kept a going by the perpetual ftream of God's Grace; and this arifeth out of God's good pleafure, and defire of our Salva

tion.

2. That when Grace worketh upon Man's Understanding, Will, or Affections, it worketh fo as it preferveth and ufeth the natural Properties, Powers and Motions of a reasonable Creature compounded as Man is: It doth not deftroy our natural Powers, but perfects them; nor do thofe Powers render it ineffectual, but cooperate with it. Hence it is, that though the habits of Faith, Hope and Charity, and the like, are not acquired by Man's induftry alone, but infufed by God; yet they are infufed after the manner of things acquired, God having ordained not to infufe them, but upon the means of hearing, praying, caring, studying and endeavouring.

3. That in all the Operations of Grace, the Nature and Will of Man being prevented by Grace, is to depend upon God, as the Creature upon the Creator, the receiver upon the giver, the weak upon the ftrong, the imperfect upon the perficient, and the fuppliant on his Lord, as the Earth dependeth upon the Heavens for fhowers, for heat and influence; which when Man neglecteth, forgetteth or refuseth to do, he is dry, barren and unfruitful in all fpiritual fruit.

For illuftration, let us add what the Author of

Non ego, fed gratia Dei mecum; id eft, non folus, fed gra tia Dei mecum, ac per hoc nec gratia Dei fola, nec ipfe folus, fed gratia Dei cum illo, August, de Grat. & lib. Arbitr. Cap. 5.

an'

*

an imperfect work on St. Matthew faith on these words, Hallowed be thy name &c. Behold how cantelonfly he hath expreft himself; he hath not faid Father, fanctify thy Name in us, bring thy Kingdom upon us, make thy will to be done of us; left God should feem to fanctify Himself upon Men, or to bring his Kingdom upon whom he lift, or to make his Will be done by whom he pleaseth, and in regard thereof God fhould be perceived to be a respecter of Perfons. Again, neither hath he faid, let us fanctify thy Name, let us take thy Kingdom, let us do thy Will in Earth as it is in Heaven; left it should feem that it proceeded from Men alone, that they fanctifyed God's name, or that they received his Kingdom, or that they did his Will: but he speaketh in a middle way and imperfonally, Hailowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done; that he might manifest how needful the Work of both parties is, because both Man hath need of God, and God ufeth the concurrence of Man, for the performing of Righteousness. For as Man can do no Good, except he have God's help, fo neither doth God work any Good in Man, except Man be willing; as neither the Earth without feed fructifieth, nor feed without the Earth, so neither Man without God, nor God without Man doth work Rightconfness in Man. Even as if he had faid, if ye do thefe things, if ye pray for thofe things, ye are Children worthy of fuch a Father.

Now to find out the Truth, let us fet forth into view four Propofitions.

1. Without the Grace of God, the Will of Man can, and doth both Will and perform that which is

Good.

2. Without the Grace of God the Will of Man cannot will Good, but through Grace being once made able

* Hom. 14. on Matth. 6. 9.&c. amongst the Lat. Works of St. Chryfoftom.

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to Will, afterwards, without any further Grace, it can alone both Will and Perform that which is Good.

3. By or through the Grace of God working on the Will, the Will of Man can both Will and Perform that which is Good; and without Grace it cannot Will, nor without further Grace perform that which is Good.

4. By or through the Grace of God working on the Will, the Will of Man cannot but Will, cannot but perform that which is Good.

The firft of thefe Propofitions, is the Herefie of Pelagius detefted by the whole Church of Chrift: The fecond, is the error of the Maffilienfes or Semipelagians; and both of thefe are against my firft Principle or Maxim. The third Propofition holdeth out the light of Truth, fubjoining the Will of Man to the Grace of God both in Willing and Performing that which is Good; and is the Doctrine of St. Augustine in his fettled judgment, and the Catholick Doctrine of the Church. The fourth Propofition is the extreme Opinion of St. Augustine in his heat of Difputation againit Pelagius and the Maffilienfes, and of many modern Divines, of force defended to fupport their Doctrine of the order of Predeftination, without the prefcience of all parti cular events, excepting that of Adam's fall. this fourth Propofition is deftroyed by my two latter Principles or Axioms, or they deftroyed by it. And to apply what Nazianzen very well faith in the cafe of extreme Opinions about the Trinity; What neceffity is there that we should manage this matter as we do a bough declining altogether one way, that is, ftrive by force to bend it the other way, and fo by crookedness to rectify crookedness; and not rather to keep to the middle way, and continue within the bounds of Divine Piety? But when I name the middle way, I mean the Truth, to which only we fo rightly direct our felves.

But

St.

St. Augustine maintained that through Grace fuch help was afforded to the Predeftinate, that not only they were not able to persevere without that Gift, but also, through means of that Gift, they could not chufe but perfevere: whereupon St. Hilary writeth to him, that by fuch Speeches of his fome Men were moved to say, they held forth a kind of desperation unto Men. And it would be a labour worth the taking to compare the two Epiftles of Profper and Hilary, with the two Books of St. Augustine, wherein he laboureth De Pradeft to answer those two Epiftles; to fee to what he d maketh folid anfwer, in what he faileth, or what Perfev. he flippeth untouched which is of moment: but I digress.

Sanct.

de bono

Let us endeavour to ftate our Question rightly, for this is almost (what is said of an Oath) the end of all Strife; it Lyeth between the third and Heb. 6. 16 fourth propofitions, and about the manner and meafure of working Grace upon the Will or with it; viz. whether it be fuch, as fuppofing Grace, to work, the Will may be coworker or not, as the third Propofition affirmeth; or whether fuppofing Grace to work, the Work of Grace is fuch as the Will of Man cannot but be a coworker, as the fourth Propofition maintaineth: That is to fay, whether the Grace of God be only an efficient, operant, adjuvant, prior caufe, and the Will of Man alfo an efficient prepared by Grace, cooperant, and colaborant fecond caufe in the work of our conversion, and every other good Work: or whether the Grace of God be an effectual, prepotent, invincible, prevalent, fole efficient, that carrieth the Will to confent and obey willingly; if that be willingly when it neither will nor can choose to do otherwise.

For diftinction fake, I will call the Grace meant in the third Propofition, efficient; and the Grace meant in the fourth Propofition, effectual. And then the Iffue will be that if effectual Grace do work the Con

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