THE SOVEREIGN DECREES OF GOD
SET IN A SCRIPTURAL LIGHT
AND
Vindicated
against the Blasphemy contained in a late Paper, entitled,
On
Traditionary
Zeal.
In a LETTER to a FRIEND.
SHALL
HE
THAT CONTENDETH WITH THE ALMIGHTY, INSTRUCT HIM?
HE THAT
REPROVETH GOD, LET HIM ANSWER IT!
JOB XL.2.
BOSTON:
Printed
by J. KNEELAND, in Milk-Street, for PHILIP
FREEMAN,
in Union-Street,
MDCCLXXIII
Beloved Friend,
Although we should endeavor to avoid all needless contention, yet the faith once delivered to the saints is sometimes treated in such a manner as to make it our incumbent duty earnestly and publicly to contend for it. Such a case I think is presented before us by means of a printed paper lately spread in Providence and towns adjacent which you have requested me to make some remarks upon. It begins in this manner.
On Traditionary Zeal. Some good Christian pastors will not scruple to tell you that they could find no joy in their own state, no strength or comfort in their labors of love towards their flocks, but because they know and are assured from St. Paul that God never had, nor ever will have, mercy upon all men; but that an unknown multitude of them are, through all ages of the world, inevitably decreed to the eternal fire and damnation of Hell; and that an unknown number of others are elected to a certain, irresistible salvation. Wonder not, my friends, if the inquisition has its pious defenders, for inquisition cruelty, and every barbarity that must have an end, is mere mercy if compared with this reprobation doctrine. And to be in love with it, to draw comfort from it, and to wish it Godspeed is a love that absolutely forbids the loving our neighbor as ourselves and makes the Scripture-wish, that all men might be saved, no less than a rebellion against God.This writer's evident design is against the doctrine of particular election and efficacious grace in our salvation, and against those who preach it. And he takes the same method that the heathen persecutors did with the primitive Christians, viz., to cover them with skins of wild beasts in order that they might be devoured by dogs, or if not, yet that they might be hated and avoided by all men. He asserts that some Christian pastors tell their people such a story as he has here related. If he can find any man upon earth that teaches so, he is welcome to correct him as much as he deserves, but till he exhibits his proof he ought to be accounted a blasphemer of God's sovereignty and a false accuser of Christ's ministers, Yea, out of his own mouth he is condemned, for as short as his paper is he has not been able to keep to one consistent story, but the same preachers that he accuses of rejoicing that God never will have mercy upon all men, when he comes to give us their own language it is, "O, the sweetness of God's election!" And neither the Devil nor any of his children will ever be able to make a rejoicing in God's everlasting love to a chosen number to be the same thing as it would be to rejoice in the destruction of the rest.
1. As the sacred writers often appealed to men's reason and conscience and exhorted the saints to regard the teachings of the Holy Spirit in their souls above all human authority on earth, deceivers of various denominations have caught at and perverted that sacred custom as a plea for setting up a standard in themselves to decide every case so as not to admit anything for truth that does not agree with their inward test. But it is well known in our nation that in order for us to enjoy our just rights and liberties rulers as well as subjects must be governed by known laws and established rules, and that for judges to assume a discretionary power to dispense with old laws or to make new ones as occasion served would introduce arbitrary government, or rather a cruel tyranny. And were not people deluded with the religious names and great swelling words of deceivers, all their attempts to set up a voice within which speaks in any respects contrary to God's written word would appear as arbitrary and tyrannical as any such proceedings of earthly judges can be. Those holy men whom God employed to write his Word had their authority so to do confirmed by divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, and woe to that man who presumes either to add to or take from those holy oracles.
2. The advocates for their own free will in opposition to sovereign grace have determined that the doctrine of fixed decrees in the divine mind concerning the future state of men is inconsistent with the liberty of their own wills and with the proper influence of precepts and promises, rewards and punishments. And, having quoted a number of precepts with considerations to enforce them (of which the Bible is full) they boast that they have gained their argument when in truth they have never touched the point in debate. We know and as firmly hold as any free willer on earth that all men are under moral government where precepts and promises, exhortations, warnings, etc. have their proper place and ought to influence us in all our conduct. And I believe from the bottom of my heart that God never did nor ever will punish any but the guilty, and that he will finally reward every man according to his works. But in the present controversy the true state of the question is this, viz., Whether the whole plan of God's government and the final issue of every action through the universe has not been known and fixed in his counsels from the beginning so that nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it? Eccl. iii, 14. Or whether many events are not held in suspense and uncertainty in his infinite mind till they are decided by the free will power of men? We hold the first, they the last side of this question. But instead of attending to the true state of the controversy and instead of referring the decision of it to the divine oracles, tradition and corruption has carried them into the way which this writer pursues of representing our doctrine to be that God decrees some men to misery in the same manner that he does others to happiness. Yea, this slanderer, in imitation of those who have gone before him, sets reprobation foremost and would have people believe that we hold God's first design to be the damnation of multitudes and then secondly the irresistible salvation of a number! Hoping no doubt by these horrid colorings to guard people sufficiently against all the Gospel weapons which are appointed to pull down the strongholds that are raised against the knomledge of God and to cast down the imaginations which keep men's thoughts too high to yield their all to a meek and lowly Jesus, 2 Cor. x, 4, 5.Many in latter ages have carried their imaginations so high on this subject as,
3. To
assume
a dignity to themselves that they will not allow to the eternal God,
for
they claim a self-determining power in their own wills while
they
deny it to the Most High and insist upon it that his choice of some men
to salvation rather than others is from either a foresight or
aftersight
of good dispositions and good doings in them more than others, so
making
that to be the cause of his choice which he declares is the effect of
it
and representing that God is influenced in his work by motives without
himself
at the same time that they hold to a power to determine all their own
actions
within
themselves.
Can any imagination ever be entertained more absurd or more contrary to
Holy Writ than these are! See
Matt. xi, 25-28;
Rom. viii,
29, 30; Eph. i, 4, 5; 1 Pet. i, 2; 1 John
iv, 19.
The people we are now speaking of commonly deny the doctrine of man's
universal
depravity, but if to claim a sovereignty to their own will while they
deny
it to God does not prove them to be rebels against Heaven, I know not
what
can do it.
Nebuchadnezzar made trial how it would do to ascribe all his
achievements
to himself, but after he had grazed among the beasts of the field till
seven times had passed over him he declares that, "All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing (before the Most High) and
he
doth according to HIS WILL in the army of Heaven and among the
inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what dost
thou?"
Dan.
iv,
35. Thus it appears that the hearts of kings are in the hand of the
Lord
so that as rivers of water he turneth them whithersoever he will; i.e.,
to act voluntarily as he designs to have them. From whence it appears
evident
that there is no inconsistency in holding God's decrees to be immutable
and yet that men act as voluntarily as if it were not so. And the great
reasoners on the other side cannot avoid this consequence if they would
once own that the will of man is always determined in its choice by
motive
or by what they at present prefer and think to be best, for that person
must be stupid indeed who cannot see that HE in whom we live, move, and
have our being can at any time set things in such a view before our
minds
as to make us think it best to choose one way of acting rather than
another.
Though Balaam was so madly set after the wages of unrighteousness that
he would
not be turned even by the reproof of a dumb ass, yet when
the Lord opened his eyes to see the angel with a drawn sword before him
he at once chose to fall to the earth or to turn back rather than run
upon
it, Num. xxii, 31, etc. In order therefore to keep up their
conceit
that fixed decrees interfere with men's liberty some of their great
doctors
have,
4.
Tried
to shelter themselves in such a miserable refuge as to pretend that
they
have a power in their wills to act with motive or against
motive
just
as the will pleases. But I suppose it is as great a piece of nonsense
in
itself to hold that a rational soul can act voluntarily in any case
without
or against motive, as it would be to say there can be a rational action
without any influence of reason in it! Thus professing themselves to be
wise they become fools, for as Mr. Locke truly observes, even delirious
persons are influenced by reason only they reason from wrong premises.
As when such a man imagines that he is all made of glass he is moved to
act with the caution that would be necessary if the case were so. And
the
like may be said of other imaginations. And persons must be idiots and
not reason at all or else reason and motive will always influence their
choice and conduct. Evil imaginations and thoughts always
move men to act wickedly,
Gen. vi, 5 and viii, 21. But when
any are brought to know the truth it makes them free, free from
sin,
so as to become servants of righteousness, John viii, 31; Rom.
vi,
18.
Hence it appears evident that they and not we would exclude the
usefulness
of means, for if the liberty of man lay in acting against motive or
with
motive just as they pleased, where could there be any proper use for
means?
For the very design of Gospel means, is to turn souls from evil, to
follow
that which is good; and if their liberty consisted in not being moved
and
governed by means and motives, there would be no sense in using of
them;
but like smoke and vapor men must be justify to act just that way the
wind
happens to blow. In short, the main objections I ever heard against
sovereign
election and certain salvation by free grace alone appear to me to
spring
from this root, viz., Man who was flattered with the notion of being as
gods still conceits that he has a power in himself to do
as
he pleases let that pleasure be to comply with or to disappoint God's
designs;
and therefore if they are not disposed at present to engage in his
service
that he must wait their leisure, and be ready, whenever they set about
the work in good earnest to grant them the assistance of his grace and,
if they improve it well unto the end, then to receive them to his
glory.
But for my part I have no more notion of worshipping a deity that can
possibly
be mistaken or disappointed in any one event than I have of worshipping
Baal, who could not defend either his altar or grove when his votaries
were asleep, Judges
vi, 31.
Those who are determined to believe nothing but what they can
comprehend
are determined to be idolators, for 'tis certain that anything which
can
be comprehended by a finite mind cannot be the infinite Jehovah whose
wisdom,
knowledge, and judgments are unsearchable and his ways past
finding
out; of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; to whom be
glory
forever, amen, Rom. xi, 33-36. Thus to believe, adore, and obey is
not, as many would have it a sacrificing of reason to tradition and
blind
devotion but the contrary. As, for instance, should any man conceit
that
he could not know whether or not there was light in the sun or warmth
in
the fire without looking through the one and running into the other and
should try the experiment till he became blind and burnt, he could not
from thence convince me that I had lost both my sight and feeling
because
I still professed to enjoy great comfort in the cautious improvement of
those blessings. Now the perfections of the deity are compared both to
the sun and the fire to teach us the importance of receiving his grace
freely, of acting towards him uprightly, and serving of
him
with reverence and Godly fear, Psal. Ixxxiv, 11; Heb. xii,
28, 29.
Some serious persons are afraid to give in to the doctrine of immutable
decrees lest they should make God the author of sin, but Mr. Norton,
one
of the fathers of this country, justly replied to this objection that
sin
is a defect and God is the author of all efficiency but not of any
defect
at all. An illegitimate child is the creature of God, but its
illegitimacy
is wholly from its parents, It was their lusts which caused the defect
or
want of its being lawfully begotten. Yet the child is God's creature,
and
if he please he makes it a subject of his grace. The heat of the sun
that
attacks the secret virtues of the earth, is not the cause of the stink
of the dunghill. And though carnal reasoners try to persuade people
that
to hold every event to be certain in the divine councils takes away the
guilt of evil actions, and the virtue of good ones, yet the word of
truth
abundantly shows the contrary. It shows that Joseph's brethren were as
verily
guilty in their actings against him as if they could have
frustrated
God's design, and yet that he over-ruled their wrath and
cruelty
towards
their brother, for his own praise, Psal. lxxvi, 10, and to make
Joseph much more of a public and extensive blessing than they could
have
made him in Canaan if they had tried their uttermost for it. At the
same
time the sacred story clearly shows that they acted quite voluntarily,
both in their wretched abuses to their brother, and in humbly
prostrating
themselves before him afterward. They acted by motive; when they first
saw Joseph coming to them, they felt so that they thought they would
slay
him: But upon another view murder appeared so shocking that they
thought
it best to gratify themselves another way, which moved them to choose
that
way. On the other hand, when Joseph was tempted by his wicked mistress,
though men were absent, yet God to whom he was under infinite
obligation,
was present to his thoughts, and that proved a sufficient motive to
make
him choose any suffering rather than to sin against such a glorious
being.
The inquiry and pursuit of all men is after good, and the
believer
finds it only in God, who is good and is always doing good,
and
this causes his soul to be in earnest to learn his statutes, Psal. iv,
6, 7 and cxix, 68. Others do not like to retain the true God in their
knowledge;
neither his nature nor his government appear good to their carnal
minds.
Therefore they worship and serve the creature instead of the Creator,
setting
up gain, honor, or pleasure as their chief good. Yet to appear nakedly
irreligious is too shocking to multitudes who at the same time are very
far from desiring to set the Lord always before them, so as to be
influenced
by him in all their conduct. Therefore they choose their idol shepherds
that will prophesy smooth things to them rather than faithful
watchmen
who represent the true character of the Holy One of Israel before
them,
Isai. xxx, 8-11; Zech. xi, 17.
A darling topic with the carnal reasoners of our world is this, they
say
that either men are able to obey and serve God or else, if
they
cannot
do
it, they are not to blame for neglecting of it until God is pleased to
convert them. But the truth is, the natural man cannot serve God
because
he does love and serve an idol. And the soul before
it is
slain by the law, cannot be married to Christ because it is wedded
to
its own doings, Matt. vi, 24; Rom.
vii. Yet this inability
is so far from being any just excuse that the more unable they are to
love
God or to believe in Christ the greater is their condemnation, John
iii,
16-19. And it is a most wicked device in the writer of the paper now in
hand to use the word inevitable concerning the reprobate and irresistible
concerning the elect in such a manner as to exclude the idea of
their
own choice; whereas the vessels of wrath say, We WILL
walk after our
own devices, and EVERYONE that doth evil HATETH THE
LIGHT, Jer.
xviii, 12; John iii, 20. And vessels of mercy pursue the
same
ways till God works in them to will and to do of his good pleasure,
Phil. ii, 13; Tit. iii, 3-5. Therefore though the final
event
is as certain to the one as the other, yet the manner of its
accomplishment
is vastly different. The vessels of wrath, after their hard and
impenitent
heart, treasure up wrath TO THEMSELVES, while God endureth
with
much long suffering with them. But he makes known
the riches
of his glory in effectually calling the vessels of mercy which he
had
afore prepared unto glory, Rom. ii, 5 and ix, 22-24. And renewed
souls
are so far from assuming to themselves a power to be God's
counselors
or
venturing to act upon secret things which belong to him that
where
he has told them of his designs concerning any future event they have
not
made the design of the great Ruler but the laws he has given to his
subjects
the rule of their conduct; and the difference between subjects and
rebels
is discovered by this. As, for instance, God let David know that he
designed
to remove Saul and to make him king in his stead. Yet David refused to
smite Saul when he had opportunity but justify it with God to remove
him
in his own way, 1 Sam.
xxiv, 12, l3. Whereas when the Jews heard
Caiphas' prophecy concerning the death of Jesus from that day
forth,
they took counsel together for to put him to death, John
xi, 49, 53.
And God's accomplishing his infallible decrees in that great event,
while
the Jews were inexcusably guilty in their actings about it, are
strongly
asserted by the inspired apostle.
Him, being delivered by the DETERMINATE
COUNSEL and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by WICKED
HANDS
have crucified and slain, Acts ii, 23.
They acted most wickedly in conspiring against our Savior who was
perfectly
holy and harmless, and constantly went about doing good. Yet God's
purposes
and promises were thereby exactly accomplished in bestowing infinite
and
eternal mercies upon guilty and miserable men. Pharaoh used great
subtlety
and cruelty in order to keep Israel in bondage and set up his will
at
the highest rate against releasing of them. Yet God in his providence
caused
things to appear so to him and his subjects that they voluntarily
furnished
Israel with silver and gold, and Egypt was glad when they departed,
Psal cv, 37, 38, and that on the selfsame
day which God had
told Abraham of above four hundred years before, Exod. xii,
41.
These and many other instances of men's voluntary actions the Lord
declared
with a perfect exactness before they came to pass, because he knew that
with a brazen obstinacy and wilful treachery they
would rather
give this glory to their idol than to him, Isai.
xlviii,
3-8. But the firm faith of the saints in every age in the certain
accomplishment
of God's promises has made them the more watchful and active in the
rational
choice and use of the best means that he furnished them with for
attaining
the desired end. Jacob wrestled and prevailed with God yet that did not
make him neglect means but he wisely improved the best that he had in
his
power to calm his angry brother, and it had the desired effect. Paul believed
God that the lives of all those who were with him in ship should
be
saved, yet when the men who were skilled in managing the ship were
about
to leave it he said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except
these
abide in the ship ye CANNOT be saved, Acts xxvii, 25, 31.
Here
was a certainty of the event, and yet it is expressed conditionally,
while
both were true. It was true that all should be saved, and it was as
true
that the mariners must be instrumental of it.
Thus my dear friend, I have endeavored in as plain and brief a manner
as
I could, in the little time I had for it, opened and vindicated the
great
Scripture doctrine of God's sovereign decrees against a malicious
attempt
which has been made to villify the same. It may well seem surprising to
those who are acquainted with the seventeenth article of the Church of
England to hear that a minister who has solemnly engaged to maintain
the
truth therein expressed, should have a great hand in spreading this
blasphemous
paper which is diametrically contrary thereto, as has evidently been
the
case. But I leave him and all others in the hand of a righteous and
gracious
God, and rest,
Yours, etc.
ISAAC
BACKUS
TRR HOME PAGE | TABLE OF CONTENTS | BAPTIST & CHURCH HISTORY | REFORMED BAPTIST BOOKS & SERMONS | BAPTIST CATECHISMS, CONFESSIONS AND CREEDS | EMAIL TRR | EMAIL TRR TO A FRIEND | GUESTBOOK | REFORMED BAPTIST LINKS | SOUTHERN BAPTISTS DISCUSSING REFORMATION
The ReformedReader© 1999-2001