And under this head our author,
IV. The doctrine of man’s free-will, and the irresistible grace of God in conversion, is next considered
And under this head our author,
1. Most bitterly exclaims [5493] against the preachers of free grace, and affirms, that they are the greatest enemies to it in the world, upon their scheme of predestination, particular redemption, and the ministry of the gospel; and asks if this and that, and the other thing, are grace in God, some of which are suppositions of his own, and were never articles of our faith. And pray let me ask this writer, upon the foot of the universal scheme, “what grace is that in God, to decree to save all men conditionally, to send his Son to redeem all mankind; and yet to millions, even to whole nations, and that for many hundred years together, never so much as to afford the means of grace, the means of knowing the way of salvation and redemption by Christ; and to multitudes, who enjoy the outward ministry of the word, he does not vouchsafe his spirit to convince of sin, righteousness, and judgment, or to make application of salvation, but leaves them to go on in sin, and at last eternally damns them?” Whereas, according to the particular scheme, God chooses some peremptorily to eternal salvation, sends his Son to obtain eternal redemption for them, calls them effectually by his grace, and at last brings them safe to eternal glory; in doing which, are shown forth the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards them.
2. He next proceeds to state the notion of free-will, which he himself gives into: “If, says he, [5494] by free-will, you mean a faculty or power in man to turn his thoughts to this subject or another, to do good or ill actions, to choose the way of life or death, when both are set before him, to receive or reject the offers of Christ, when fairly made; I cannot but think every man hath this sort of free-will.” And further observes, [5495] that such who “declaim against free agency, act upon this principle as much as other men—exhort and persuade to religion and good works, and act and live upon the principle of free agency, while in words they deny it.” I hope, then, such persons are not Antinomians; and yet this poor inconsistent man, though he stiles himself a consistent Christian, immediately observes: “Thus do Antinomian notions in divinity turn mens heads, and quite intoxicate their brains.” We own, that there is a power of free-will in man to perform the natural and civil actions of life, yea, the external parts of religion, but not anything that is spiritually good; such as to convert and regenerate himself, to believe in Christ, and repent of sin in an evangelic manner. God made man at first upright, with a power to do that which is truly good, and under no co-active necessity of sinning; his present case is not owing to his original make, but to his sin and fall. Men in an unregenerate state, are only free to do evil, without a power to do good; which is no self-contradiction; as appears from the case of the devils, who have no power to do good, are wholly bent upon evil, and yet do it freely. This freedom, indeed, is no other than servitude; men are overcome by sin, are brought into bondage through it, and are slaves unto it. This may be thought, indeed, contrary to the notion of man’s present state, being a state of trial, and to some men’s way of preaching; but does not contradict man’s obligation to duty, nor overthrow the doctrine of a future judgment. Regenerate persons are free to do that which is good; but this freedom they have not naturally, but from the grace of God, by which they are made a willing people in the day of its power upon them. No man is or can be truly converted unto God, but by his powerful, efficacious and irresistible grace. But,
3. To say a man cannot turn to God without his almighty and irresistible grace, is represented [5496] as making the gospel not only an useless, but a deceitful institution. This must be denied; it is not hereby made a deceitful one, since that fully and clearly holds forth and expresses this truth, that no man can come to Christ except the Father draw him; nor is it made an useless one, seeing it is the power of God unto salvation to many souls, agreeable to this doctrine. But if no man can come to God or Christ unless irresistible grace draw him, it is urged, [5497] that “then he cannot help turning, then there can be no fault in not turning, and no virtue in turning to God.” This argument, as well as some others, is borrowed from Dr. Whitby. [5498] And to it I answer, that not to turn to God, or to be in an unconverted state, is to be in a sinful one, and to live in sin is blameworthy: and though man, by sinning, has involved himself in a state out of which he cannot extricate himself; yet is he not the less culpable on that score for living in it, though none will be punished for not being elected or converted, but as sinners. And when a man is turned or converted to God, this is, indeed, no natural virtue in him; nor is it to be ascribed to any such virtue; but all the praise and glory of it are to be given to the powerful and efficacious grace of God, who will follow his own work of grace with glory, and not to the free-will of man; for, as it is expressed in the tenth Article of the Church of England, which I would recommend to the perusal and consideration of our Churchman; “The condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God: wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us; that we may have a good-will, and working with us when we have that good-will.”
4. This man observes, [5499] that “men resist the holy Ghost, and when God would heal them, will not be healed, nor come to Christ for Life.” I reply, men may indeed resist the holy Ghost, as the Jews did, Acts 7:51; which is what I suppose is referred to: but this is to be understood of resisting the holy Ghost in the external ministry of the word, of the Jews contempt, rejection and persecution of the prophets and apostles; as appears from the following words, and not of a resisting the internal operations of his grace; though we do not deny that these may be resisted, yet not so, as to be overcome, frustrated and brought to nothing: this is our sense of irresistible grace. As for God’s willingness to heal persons when they would not be healed, I know no such expression in scripture, especially as referring to spiritual healing; it is said in Jeremiah 51:9. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. But this designs not the willingness of God, but of the Jews, or some other people to heal her. This mistake Dr. Whitby [5500] is guilty of: It is not always safe to follow him. It is true, indeed, the Jews would not come to Christ for life, which is an argument not for, but against free-will; and shows the weakness, wickedness and obstinacy of the will of man.