IV. THE GRACE OF GOD.

In reference to Divine Grace, I believe, (1) It is a gratuitous affection by which God is kindly affected towards a

our justification, but it is God that layeth the first foundation of our salvation. First, he sendeth unto us godly and faithful ministers, by whom we be baptized, and, before we do any good work, he offereth us his grace.-Forasmuch as we know by God's holy commandments what his will is, [that all men be saved,'] it is our part to conform our wills to his will, and to desire him to give us his grace and aid.-He governeth by the Holy Word of his Gospel, and the power of the Holy Ghost, (whom he poureth plentifully upon all them that believe the gospel,) and by that comfortable word of the gospel he gently enticeth and draweth us unto him, that we should gladly of our own free-will obey him."

Melancthon also, in his Common Places, published in 1545, speaks thus on the Freedom of the Will: "But we must know, that the Holy Spirit is efficacious by the word of the gospel, when it is heard, or when it becomes an object of meditation: As it is written, (Gal. iii, 14.) that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.' It is a saying that has been often repeated, Those who meditate on God, ought to commence at the word of "God, and not to search for God without his word.' When we thus commence at the word of God, three causes of a good action then concur together,—the word of God, the Holy Spirit, and the human will, which does not resist God's word, but yields its assent. For it [the will] might shake it off, as Saul was accustomed to do of his own accord. But when a listening and enduring mind offers no resistance, and does not cherish distrust, but when, by the assistance which the Holy Spirit also affords, it endeavours to yield assent,-in this contest, the will is not idle.

"The ancients have said, 'Good works are performed by grace preceding, and the will accompanying them.' Thus likewise St. Basil says, 'Only do 'thou exercise thy will, and God will be beforehand with it.' God prevents [or goes before], calls, moves and helps us ; but let it be our care, to offer no resistance. For sin evidently derives its origin from us, and not from the will of God. St. Chrysostom says, 'He who draws, draws a man that is willing :' As it is likewise expressed in that passage of St. John's Gospel, (vi, 45.) 'Every man therefore that hears of the Father and learns, shall come unto me.' He commands them to learn, that is, to hear the word,-not to resist the word of God, but to assent to it, and not to indulge in distrust.

"These things are evident, if we find by experience in real sorrows and in true invocation what kind of contest is maintained by the will: if it were to shew itself as a mere statue, there would not be in the saints any conflict, wrestling, or anguish. But since the contest is great and difficult, the will is not idle, but yields a languid assent; and unless at the intervals of invocation it were reminded and admonished by promises and examples, and were assisted by the Holy Spirit, it would fall into despair.

"I have seen many persons, who yet were not the disciples of Epicurus, but who, when they felt some sorrow on account of their lapses, have begun to dispute thus: How can I hope to be received when I do not perceive any new light or new virtues [strength] infused into me? Besides, if Free-will does "[or effects,] nothing at all, I will, in the mean time, indulge in distrust and other vicious affections, until I shall have felt that regeneration effected of which you speak.'-This Manichæan conceit is a most horrible falsehood: And from such an error their minds must be drawn away, and they must be taught that Free-will is of some avail, [does effect something]. Pharaoh and Saul were not compelled to resist God; but they did it willingly and freely, although God had at several times manifested such illustrious proofs of his presence.

miserable sinner, and according to which he, in the first place, gives his Son, "that whosoever believeth in him might have

"If we have only to wait for that infusion of qualities, without any effort of our own, as the fictions of the Enthusiasts and the Manichees pretend, no necessity would exist for the ministry of the gospel, and there would be no contest in the minds of men. But God has instituted the ministry, that the word may be received, that the mind may meditate on the promise and embrace it, and that, while we manfully fight against distrust, the Holy Spirit may at the same time be efficacious in us.

"I return this answer, therefore, to such as excuse their loitering and slothfulness by supposing that Free-will is of no avail : Nay, O man, it is the eternal and immoveable command of God that you should obey the word ' of the gospel, that you should hear the Son of God, and should acknowledge 'the Mediator. How black and horrid are these sins ;-this unwillingness to 'behold the Son of God, the Mediator bestowed on the human race! Thou wilt say, I am not able.-Nay, but thou art in some measure able: And ' when thou sustainest thyself by the word of the gospel, beseech God to grant thee his assistance; and know, that God is willing in this very manner to 'convert us,--when, being excited by the promise, we contend against ourselves, 'call upon him, and resist our distrust and other vicious affections. Some of 'the ancients, therefore, have spoken thus: Free-will is a faculty in man of applying himself to grace; that is, it hears the promise, strives to give its 'assent, and casts away the sins that are opposed to conscience. In devils no such [efforts] are made. Let the difference, therefore, between devils and mankind be taken into consideration. But these observations are rendered ⚫ still clearer, when the promise is considered: Since the promise is universal, and since there are not contrary wills in God, it is necessary, that there be in ourselves some cause of the difference why Sanl is rejected and David ' received; [1 Sam. xv, 26.] that is, it is necessary that there be in these two men 'some action that is dissimilar.'"

In many other passages he explains in what respect this dissimilarity consists. "Mercy and the merits of Christ are, in the will of God, the cause of Election, but [with these] it is necessary for our [act of] apprehension to concur. For, since the promise of grace is universal, as has already been shewn, and since it is necessary that we obey the promise, some difference between those who are elected and those rejected must be taken from our own wills, that is, those who resist [or oppose] the promise are rejected,―on the contrary, they who embrace the promise are accepted.—God has elected those whom he decreed to call to the knowledge of his Son; and it is his pleasure to make known his will and his benefits to the human race. He therefore approves and elects those who obey his calling.-Be not detained by this imagination, that thou canst not effect conversion. Nay, thou art able to effect it, by God's assistance; and he really wills to afford his aid, and does actually assist those who ask."

He then adds, as a conclusion to the former paragraph: "There is truth in these things when rightly understood; and the employment of them in the exercises of faith and in true consolation, when the mind rests on the Son of God as he is shewn in the promise, will illustrate this union of causes -the word of God, the Holy Spirit, and the human will."

In an Exposition of the Nicene Creed, which Melancthon sent to Cranmer in 1550, he thus expresses himself: "These fundamental principles must be maintained against the Manichees,-that it is possible for all men to be converted to God, that the will does not shew itself to be purely passive, but in some measure active, and that it can comply with the drawings of God."

Luther himself, in his tract On the Servility of the [Human] Will, says · "But let the same works be ascribed both to God and to men, what effect do these similitudes [quoted by his adversary] produce? None at all, except this, that the creature co-operates with God when he operates. But are we now disputing about this co-operation? Is not the contest, rather,

eternal life,”—and, afterwards, he justifies him in Christ Jesus and for his sake, and adopts him into the right of sons, unto salvation.-(2) It is an infusion (both into the human under

respecting the proper strength and operation of Free-will?-But God does not work in us without us; for he has created and preserved us for this endthat he might work in us, and that we might be co workers with him, whether this be done beyond his kingdom by his general Omnipotence, or within his kingdom by the particular virtue [or energy] of his Spirit."-In reference to this passage, Erasmus, his opponent, says in reply: "I have attributed nothing to Free-will, except that it is obedient to grace when it knocks, that it is in co-operation when grace operates, and that it can withdraw itself from grace in both these instances: But I always except the particular will of God, who can by unknown causes forcibly transport it wheresoever he pleases. St. Augustine confesses the same things; and yet he allows the Freedom of the will, and ascribes to it a power of acting. The same confession is made by Luther."-In his preceding tract, entitled Diatribe, Erasmus had observed: "The mercy of God prevents [or goes before] our will, accompanies the will in its efforts, and gives [to those efforts] a happy issue: And yet, in the mean time, we will, we run, and we obtain.”—In the Old English translation of his Paraphrase upon the Gospel, which was ordered by the king's injunction to be publicly kept in the Churches, he observes, on John vi, 45, "Things of this world are learned by men's endeavour and study. This celestial philosophy is not understood, unless the secret inspiration of the Father make men's hearts apt to be taught.-The gift is God's, but the endeavour is yours. A man heareth my words with bodily ears in vain, except he hear-before the secret voice of the Father, which must inspire the mind with an insensible grace of faith. Therefore whosoever fashioneth himself to be apt to receive this inspiration, the Father doth then draw them: And he only that is thus drawn, cometh finally to me."

In the article on Free-will, the Saxon Confession says: Man cannot possibly by his uatural powers liberate himself from sin and eternal death: But this liberation, and man's conversion to God, and newness of Spirit, are effected by the Son of God who vivifies us by his Holy Spirit, as it is declared, (Rom. viii, 9,) If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.' After the Holy Spirit has been received, the will is not idle or unemployed. And we render thanks to God for this immense benefit, which he bestows upon us for the sake of his Son, through whom he also gives us his Holy Spirit, and governs us by his Spirit."

As this is a point for which Arminianism has been subjected to most undeserved obloquy, I considered it a duty to shew at some length what were the avowed opinions of Cranmer, the chief framer of the Thirty-nine Articles of our Church, Melancthon, Luther, and Erasmus, several years prior to the birth of our author. Let the impartial reader declare whether the individual declaratious of those holy, wise, and learned men, or that of our author, be the most scriptural and moderate. The sentiments of Arminius on Free-will are expressed with as great caution and evangelical truth, as our own Tenth Article, and is far more explicit than the Eighteenth of the Augustan Confession.

The extracts from Cranmer and Melancthon are also of particular moment in relation to the next article, the Grace of God, which, in a Declaration of this kind, cannot be discussed without embracing a notice concerning its cognate, the Freedom of the Will: For these articles being two consistent branches of the same doctrine, are mutually illustrative. It will be perceived, that Melancthon's observations chiefly apply to the operations of Divine Grace, and the concurrence of the human will, in the matter of conversion; while those of Cranmer relate principally to the great work of the Holy Spirit in our sunctification.

standing and into the will and affections,) of all those gifts of the Holy Spirit which. appertain to the regeneration and renewing of man,-such as faith, hope, charity, &c.; for, without these gracious gifts, man is not sufficient to think, will, or do any thing that is good.—(3.) It is that perpetual assistance and continued aid of the Holy Spirit, according to which He acts upon and excites to good the man who has been already renewed, by infusing into him salutary cogitations, and by inspiring him with good desires, that he may thus actually will whatever is good; and according to which God may then will and work together with man, that man may perform whatever he wills.

In this manner, I ascribe to grace THE COMMENCEMENT,

THE CONTINUANCE AND THE CONSUMMATION OF ALL GOOD,

-and to such an extent do I carry its influence, that a man, though already regenerate, can neither conceive, will nor do any good at all, nor resist any evil temptation, without this preventing and exciting, this following and co-operating grace.— From this statement it will clearly appear, that I am by no means injurious or unjust to grace, by attributing, as it is reported of me, too much to man's free-will: For the whole controversy reduces itself to the solution of this question, "Is the grace of God a certain irresistible force ?" That is, the controversy does not relate to those actions or operations which may be ascribed to grace, (for I acknowledge and inculeate as many of these actions or operations as any man ever did,) but it relates solely to the mode of operation,—whether it be irresistible or not: With respect to which, I believe, according to the scriptures, that many persons resist the Holy Spirit and reject the grace that is offered.

V. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.

My sentiments respecting the Perseverance of the Saints are, That those persons who have been grafted into Christ by true faith, and have thus been made partakers of his life-giving Spirit, possess sufficient powers [or strength] to fight against Satan, sin, the world and their own flesh, and to gain the victory over these enemies,-yet not without the assistance of the grace of the same Holy Spirit.-Jesus Christ also by his Spirit assists them in all their temptations, and affords them the ready aid of his hand; and, provided they stand prepared for the battle, implore his help, and be not wanting to themselves, Christ preserves them from falling: So that it is not possible for them, by any of the cunning craftiness or power of Satan,

to be either seduced or dragged out of the hands of Christ. * But I think it is useful and will be quite necessary in our first

* Arminius spoke nearly the same modest words when interrogated on this subject in the last Conference which he had with Gomarus, before the States of Holland, on the 12th of Aug. 1609, only two months prior to his decease. The Rev. Thomas Scott says, in his notes to the Historical Preface, 'It is ‘remarkable, that Arminius himself in this his last public Conference, and 'just before his death, should express himself so UNDECIDED on this grand point of decided and unqualified opposition to modern Arminians; and should 'make the concession, that he was not yet able to answer the scriptures which seemed to favour the doctrine of the final perseverance in all true believers. It is worthy the serious consideration of his disciples.'-Mr. Scott thinks this conduct remarkable. Such it might appear to be in a man of common mould, who, because he had somewhat against particular parts of a certain unscriptural system, would venture rashly to oppose other parts that deserved no marked reprehension. But to discover in Arminius a different and admirable trait, ought to excite no wonder; for, it will be seen, he was on every occasion careful to let his moderation be known unto all men. (Phil. iv, 5.)

This diffident mode of expressing himself on a topic about which he had not fully satisfied the scruples of his own mind, is indeed "worthy of consideration by his disciples ;" and since it has elicited from Mr. Scott a high and deserved eulogium, we may hope that it will also be accounted worthy of very "serious consideration" by all the other disciples of Calvin. The common sense of mankind will in that case be no longer insulted with the silly verbiage and arrogant boasting, which distinguish the productions of those men who have sworn fealty to mere earthly teachers; and who seem to have forgotten, that, as a general characteristic, it may be confidently predicated of all humble and sincere Christians, ONE is your Master, even CHRIST; and all ye are brethren.' The followers of the Redeemer, who can embrace as their brethren beloved" those "of the household of faith" that are not rigid Predestinarians, will then possess the assurance of which St. John speaks when he declares,We KNOW that we have passed from death unto life, BECAUSE WE LOVE THE BRETHREN.'

6

Though the question propounded, and the answer returned, were not exactly those which the Historical Preface and Mr. Scott have stated, (as is shewn in Appendix W,) yet the leaning of our author's mind towards the negative of that question, is very evident from this part of his DECLARATION, and from his answer to the Second of the Thirty-one Articles with which he was unjustly charged. In the latter production he points out an important distinction that ought always to be observed when this doctrine is discussed, and the terms on which he was prepared to maintain, "that it is impossible for believers, as long as they continue believers, to decline [or fall away] from salvation ;" and, on the contrary, "that it is impossible for believers, if they fall away from the faith and become unbelievers, to do otherwise than fall away from salvation,—that is, if they remain unbelievers.”—The restrictions in these two passages are perfectly in unison with the rest of our author's system, which recognizes, as believers, those christian characters alone who continue to believe and do not fall from their own steadfastness. (2 Pet. iii, 17.) But it also accounts it possible for those very characters to imitate the change in conduct of that faithful and wise steward, described by our Lord (Luke xii, 42.) as saying in his heart," My Lord delayeth his coming!; and who [in consequence] began to beat the men-servants, &c. The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the UNBELIEVERS !"—" Ye are the salt of the earth," says the same Supreme Authority, "but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for