EDITED BY WILLIAM H. GOOLD VOLUME This Edition of THE WORKS OF JOHN OWEN first published by Johnstone & Hunter, 1850-53 CONTENTS OF VOLUME 11.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS’ PERSEVERANCE EXPLAINED AND CONFIRMED.

PREFATORY NOTE BY THE EDITOR The Dedication The Epistle Dedicatory A Preface to the Reader CHAPTER 1. The State Of The Controversy.

The various thoughts of men concerning the doctrine proposed to consideration — The great concernmcnt of it, however stated, on all hands confessed — Some special causes pressing to the present handling of it — The fearful backsliding of many in these days — The great offense given and taken thereby, with the provision made for its removal — The nature of that offense and temptation thence arising considered — Answer to some arguings of Mr. G., chap. ix., from thence against the truth proposed — The use of trials and shaking — Grounds of believers’ assurance that they are so — The same farther argued and debated — Of the testimony of a man’s own conscience concerning his uprightness, and what is required thereunto — 1 John 3:7 considered — Of the rule of self-judging, with principles of settlement for true believers, notwithstanding the apostasies of eminent professors — Corrupt teachings rendering the handling of this doctrine necessary — Its enemies of old and of late — The particular undertaking of Mr. G. proposed to consideration — An entrance into the stating of the question — The terms of the question explained — Of holiness in its several acceptations — Created holiness, original or adventitious, complete or inchoate — Typical by dedication, real by purification — Holiness evangelical, either so indeed or by estimation — Real holiness partial or universal — The partakers of the first, or temporary believers, not true believers, maintained against Mr. G. — Ground of judging professors to be true believers — Matthew 7:20 considered — What is the rule of judging men therein given — What knowledge of the faith of others is to be obtained — What is meant by perseverance: how in Scripture it is expressed — The grounds of it pointed at — What is intended by falling away — Whether it be possible the Spirit of grace may be lost or the habit of it, and how — The state of the controversy as laid down by Mr. G — The vanity thereof discovered — His judgment about believers’ falling away examined — What principles and means of perseverance he grants to them — The enemies of our perseverance — Indwelling sin in particular considered — No possibility of preservation upon Mr. G.’s grounds demonstrated — The means and ways of the saints’ preservation in faith, as asserted by Mr. G., at large examined, weighed, and found light — The doctrine of the saints’ perseverance, and way of teaching it, cleared from <230401>Isaiah 4:— That chapter opened — The 5th verse particularly insisted on and discussed — The whole state and method of the controversy thence educed.

CHAPTER 2. The Perseverance Of The Saints Argued From The Immutability Of The Divine Nature.

The thesis proposed for confirmation — The fivefold foundation of the truth thereof — Of the unchangeableness of the nature of God, and the influence thereof into the confirmation of the truth in hand — Malachi 3:6 considered and explained — James 1:16-18 opened — Romans 11:29 explained and vindicated — The conditions on which grace is asserted, to be bestowed and continued, discussed — The vanity of them evinced in sundry instances — Of vocation, justification, and sanctification — Isaiah 40:27-31 opened and improved to the end aimed at; also <234401>Isaiah 44:1-8 — The sum of the first argument — Malachi 3:6. with the whole argument from the immutability of God at large vindicated — Falsely proposed by Mr. G.; set right and re-enforced — Exceptions removed — Sophistical comparisons exploded — Distinct dispensations, according to distinction of a people — Alteration and change properly and directly assigned to God by Mr. G. — The theme in question begged by him — Legal approbation of duties and conditional acceptation of persons confounded; as also God’s command and purpose — The unchangeableness of God’s decrees granted to be intended in Malachi 3:6 — The decree directly in that place intended — The decree of sending Christ not immutable, upon Mr. G.’s principles — The close of the vindication of this first argument.

CHAPTER 3. The Immutability Of The Purposes Of God.

The immutability of the purposes of God proposed for a second demonstration of the truth in hand — Somewhat of the nature and properties of the purposes of God: the object of them — Purposes, how acts of God’s understanding and will — The only foundation of the futurition of all things — The purposes of God absolute — Continuance of divine love towards believers purposed — Purposes of God farther considered and their nature explained — Their independence and absoluteness evinced — Proved from Isaiah 46:9-11; Psalm 33:9-11; Hebrews 6:17 18 etc. — These places explained — The same truth by sundry reasons and arguments farther confirmed — Purpose in God of the continuance of his love and favor to believers manifested by an induction of instances out of Scripture: the first from Romans 8:28 proposed, and farther cleared and improved — Mr. G.’s dealing with our argument from hence and our exposition of this place considered — His exposition of that place proposed and discussed — The design of the apostle commented on — The fountain of the accomplishment of the good things mentioned omitted by Mr. G. — In what sense God intends to make all things work together for good to them that love him — Of God’s foreknowledge — Of the sense and use of the word proginw>skw, also of scisco, and ginw>skw in classical authors — Pro>gnwsiv in Scripture everywhere taken for foreknowledge or predetermination, nowhere for pre-approbation — Of preapproving or pre-approbation here insisted on by Mr. G. — Its inconsistency with the sense of the apostle’s discourse manifested — The progress of Mr. G.’s exposition of this place considered — Whether men love God antecedently to his predestination and their effectual calling — To pre-ordain and pre-ordinate different — No assurance granted of the consolation professed to be intended — The great uncertainty of the dependence of the acts of God’s grace mentioned on one another — The efficacy of every one of them resolved finally into the wills of men — Whether calling according to God’s purpose supposeth a saving answer given to that call — The affirmative proved, and exceptions given thereto removed — What obstructions persons called may lay in their own way to justification — The iniquity of imposing conditions and supposals on the purposes of God not in the least intimated by himself — The whole acknowledged design of the apostle everted by the interposition of cases and conditions by Mr. G. — Mr. G.’s first attempt to prove the decrees of God to be conditional considered — Samuel 2:30 to that end produced — 1 Samuel 2:30 farther considered, and its unsuitableness to illustrate Romans 8:28-31 proved — Interpretation of Scripture by comparing of places agreeing neither in design, word, nor matter, rejected — The places insisted on proved not to be parallel by sundry particular instances — Some observations from the words rejected — What act of God intended in these words to Eli, “I said indeed” — No purpose or decree of God in them declared — Any such purpose as to the house of Eli by sundry arguments disproved — No purpose of God in the words insisted on farther manifested — They are expressive of the promise or law concerning the priesthood, Numbers 25:11-13, more especially relating unto Exodus 28:43, 29:9 — The import of that promise, law, or statute, cleared — The example of Jonah’s preaching, and God’s commands to Abraham and Pharaoh — The universal disproportion between the texts compared by Mr. G., both as to matter and expression, farther manifested — Instances or cases of Saul and Paul to prove conditional purposes in God considered — Conditional purposes argued from conditional threatenings — The weakness of that argument — The nature of divine threatenings — What will of God, or what of the will of God, is declared by them — No proportion between eternal purposes and temporal threatenings — The issue of the vindication of our argument from the foregoing exceptions — Mr. G.’s endeavor to maintain his exposition of the place under consideration — The text perverted — Several evasions of Mr. G. from the force of this argument considered — His arguments to prove no certain or infallible connection between calling, justification, and glorification, weighed and answered — His first, from the scope of the chapter and the use of exhortations — The question begged — His second, from examples of persons called and not justified — The question argued begged — No proof insisted on but the interposition of his hypothesis — How we are called irresistibly, and in what sense — Whether bars wickedness and unbelief may be laid in the way of God’s effectual call — Mr. G’s demur to another consideration of the text removed — The argument in hand freed from other objections and concluded — Jeremiah 31:3 explained and improved, for the confirmation of the truth under demonstration — 2 Timothy 2:19 opened, and the truth from thence confirmed — The foregoing exposition and argument vindicated and confirmed — The same matter at large pursued — John 6:37-40 explained, and the argument in hand from thence confirmed — Mr. G.’s exceptions to our arguing from this place removed — The same matter farther pursued — The exposition and argument insisted on fully vindicated and established — Matthew 24:24 opened and improved — The severals of that text more particularly handled — Farther observations, for the clearing the mind of the Holy Ghost in this place — The same farther insisted on and vindicated — Mr. G’s exceptions at large discussed and removed — Ephesians 1:3-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14, opened — The close of the second argument, from the immutability of the purposes of God.

CHAPTER 4. Argument From The Covenant Of Grace.

An entrance into the consideration of the covenant of grace, and our argument from thence for the unchangeableness of the love of God unto believers — The intendment of the ensuing discourse — Genesis 17:7 opened and explained, with the confirmation of the argument in hand from thence — That argument vindicated and cleared of objections — Confirmed by some observations — Jeremiah 32:38-40 compared with Jeremiah 31:31-34 — The truth under consideration from thence clearly confirmed — The certainty, immutability, and infallible accomplishment, of all the promises of the new covenant demonstrated: 1. From the removal of all causes of alteration: 2. From the Mediator and his undertaking therein; 3. From the faithfulness of God — One instance from the former considerations — The endeavor of Mr. G. to answer our argument from this place — His observation on and from the text considered — 1. This promise not made to the Jews only, 2. Nor to all the nation of the Jews, proved from Romans 11:7; not intending principally their deliverance from Babylon — His inferences from his former observations weighed — 1. The promise made to the body of the people of the Jews typical only; 2. An exposition borrowed of Socinus rejected — 3. The promise not appropriated to the time of the captivity, and the disadvantage ensuing to Mr. G.’s cause upon such an exposition — The place insisted on compared with Ezekiel 11:17-20 — That place cleared — A fourth objection answered — This promise always fulfilled — The spiritual part of it accomplished during the captivity — God’s intention not frustrated — How far the civil prosperity of the Jews was concerned in this promise — Promises of spiritual and temporal things compared — The covenant of grace how far conditional — Mr. G.’s sense of this place expressed — Borrowed from Faustus Socinus — The inconsistency of it with the mind of the Holy Ghost demonstrated, also with what himself hath elsewhere delivered — No way suited to be the answer of our argument from the place — The same interpretation farther disproved — An immediate divine efficacy held out in the words — Conversion and pardon of sins promised — Differenced from the grace and promises of the old covenant — Contribution of means put by Mr. G. in the place of effectual operation of the thing itself, farther disproved — How, when, and to whom this promise was fulfilled, farther declared — An objection arising upon that consideration answered — Conjectures ascribed to God by Mr. G. — The real foundation of all divine predictions — The promise utterly enervated, and rendered of none effect by Mr. G.’s exposition — Its consistency with the prophecies of the rejection of the Jews — The close of the argument from the covenant of grace.

CHAPTER 5. Argument From The Promises Of God.

Entrance into the argument from the promises of God, with their stability and his faithfulness in them — The usual exceptions to this argument — A general description of gospel promises — Why and on what account called gospel promises — The description given general, not suited to any single promise — They are free, and that they are so proved; all flowing from the first great promise of giving a Redeemer — How they are discoveries of God’s good-will; how made to sinners — Consequential promises made also to believers — Given in and through Christ in a covenant of grace — Their certainty upon the account of the engagement of the truth and faithfulness of God in them — Of the main matter of these promises, Christ and the Spirit — Of particular promises, all flowing from the same love and grace — Observations on the promises of God, subservient to the end intended — 1. They are all true and faithful, the ground of the assertion — 2. Their accomplishment always certain, not always evident — 3. All conditional promises made good, and how — 4. The promises of perseverance of two sorts — 5. All promises of our abiding with God in faith and obedience absolute — The vanity of imposing conditions on them discovered — 6.

Promises of God’s abiding with us not to be separated from promises of our abiding with him — 7. That they do not properly depend on any condition in believers demonstrated — Instances of this assertion given — 8. Making them conditional renders them void as to the ends for which they are given — Given to persons, not to qualifications — The argument from the promises of God stated — Mr. G.’s exceptions against the first proposition cleared, and his objections answered — The promises of God always fulfilled — Of the promise made to Paul, Acts 27:24 etc. — Good men make good their promises to the utmost of their abilities — The promise made to Paul absolute and of infallible accomplishment — Of the promise of our Savior to his disciples, Matthew 19:28 — Who intended in that promise; not Judas — The accomplishment of the premise — The testimony of Peter martyr considered — The conclusion of the forementioned objection — The engagement of the faithfulness of God for the accomplishment of his promise, 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23,24; 2 Thessalonians 3:3 — The nature of the faithfulness of God, expressed in the foregoing places, inquired into — Perverted by Mr. G. — His notion of the faithfullness of God weighed and rejected — What intended in the Scripture by the faithfullness of God — The close of the confirmation of the proposition or the argument proposed from the promises of God — The assumption thereof vindicated — The sense put upon it by Mr. G. — The question begged.

CHAPTER 6. Particular Promises Illustrated.

The former argument confirmed by an induction of particular instances — Joshua 1:5 opened — The concernment of all believers in that promise proved by, the apostle, Hebrews 13:5 — The general interest of all believers in all the promises of God cleared — Objections answered — How Old Testament promises may be improved — The promise insisted on relates principally to spirituals — The strength of of it to the end intended — 1 Samuel 12:22, to whom the promise there is given — The twofold use of this promise — Threats to wicked men of use to the saints: promises to the saints of use to wicked men — Isaiah 4:2-4, Psalm 89:30-37 opened — A condition of backsliding supposed in believers, yet they not rejected — God’s abiding with his saints upon the account of his, 1. Faithfulness; 2. Loving-kindness; 3. Covenant; 4. Promise; 5. Oath — The intendment of the words insisted on from 1 Samuel 12:22 — Isaiah 27:2,3; Zephaniah 3:17 illustrated — The intendment of these words, “I will not forsake thee” — The reason of the promise, and means promised therein — No cause in them to whom the promise is made — Ezekiel 36:32, Isaiah 43:22-25, opened; also Isaiah 57:17 — The cause in God himself only — The “name” of God, what it imports; his all-sufficiency engaged therein, and his goodness — The rise and fountain of all goodness to his people in his own good pleasure — The sum of our argument from tins place of Scripture — Psalm 23:4,6, opened; the psalmist’s use of assurance of perseverance — Inferences, from the last use — 2 Timothy 4:18 opened — All believers, in the same condition as to perseverance with David and Paul — The second inference from the place insisted on — Assurance a motive to obedience, and is the end that God intends to promote thereby — Psalm 125: 1, 2, explained; Psalm 37:28; Deuteronomy 33:3 — Inferences from that place of the psalmist — Perpetual preservation in the condition of saints promised to believers — Mr. G.’s objections and exceptions to our exposition and argument from this place removed — Promises made originally to persons, not qualifications — Not the same reason of promises to the church and of threatenings to sinners — Other objections removed — Isaiah 54:7-10, the mind of the Lord in the promise mentioned in that place opened — The exposition given on that place and arguments from thence vindicated — Direction for the right improvement of promises — Hosea 2:19,20, opened — Of the general design of that chapter — The first part, of the total rejection of the church and political state of the Jews — The second, of promises to the remnant according to the election of grace — Of this four particulars: 1. Of conversion, verses 14, 15; 2. Of obedience and forsaking all false worship, verses 16, 17; 3. Of peace and quietness, verse 18; 4. Discovering the fountain of all the mercies, verses 19, 20 — Some objections removed — To whom this promise is made — The promise farther opened; the persons to whom it is made — Verse 14 of that chapter opened — The wilderness condition whereunto men are allured by the gospel, what it imports: 1. Separation; 2.

Entanglement — God’s dealing with a soul in its wilderness condition — Promises given to persons in that condition — The sum of the foregoing promises — The persons to whom they are made farther described — The nature of the main promise itself considered — Of the main covenant between God and his saints — The properties of God engaged for the accomplishment of this promise — Mr. G’s exposition of this place considered and confuted — John 10:27-29 opened, vindicated.

CHAPTER 7. The Mediation Of Christ.

The consideration of the oath of God deferred — The method first proposed somewhat waived — The influence of the mediation of Christ into God’s free and unchangeable acceptance of believers proposed — Reasons of that proposal — Of the oblation of Christ — Its influence into the saints’ perseverance — All causes of separation between God and believers taken away thereby — Moral and efficient causes thereby removed — The guilt of sin, how taken away by the death of Christ — Of the nature of redemption — Conscience of sin, how abolished by the sacrifice of Christ — Hebrews 10:3,4,14; Daniel 9:24 opened — Romans 8:34, deliverance from all sin, how by the death of Christ — The law innovated in respect of the elect — the vindictive justice of God satisfied by the death of Christ — How that is done — Wherein satisfaction doth consist; absolute, not conditional — The law, how fulfilled in the death of Christ — The truth of God thereby accomplished; his distributive justice engaged — Observations for the clearing of the former assertions — Whether any one for whom Christ died may die in sin — The necessity of faith and obedience — The end of faith and holiness — The first argument for the proof of the former assertions concerning the fruit and efficacy of the death of Christ, Hebrews 9:14 — The second — The third — The compact between the Father and Son about the work of mediation — The fourth — Good things bestowed on them for whom Christ died antecedently to any thing spiritually good in them — The Spirit so bestowed, and faith itself — The close of those arguments — Inferences from the foregoing discourse — The efficacy of the death of Christ, and the necessity of faith and obedience, reconciled — Sundry considerations unto that end proposed: 1. All spiritual mercies fruits of the death of Christ; 2. All the fruits of Christ’s death laid up in the hand of God’s righteousness; 3. The state of them for whom Christ died not actually changed by his death; 4. On what account believing is necessary — Christ secures the stability of the saints’ abiding with God — What is contrary thereunto; how by him removed — The world overcome, by Christ, as managed by Satan in an enmity to the saints — The complete victory of Christ over the devil — The ways whereby he completes his conquest — The rule of Satan in respect of sinners twofold: 1. Over them; 2. In them — The title of Satan to a rule over men judged and destroyed by Christ — The exercise of all power taken from him — The works of Satan destroyed by Christ in and for his elect — The Holy Spirit procured by the death of Christ — The giving of the Spirit the great promise of the new covenant — This farther proved and confirmed — The perpetual residence of the Holy Spirit with believers proved by the threefold testimony of Father, Son, and Spirit — Isaiah 59:21, the testimony of the Father proposed and vindicated — Our argument from hence farther cleared — This promise absolute, not conditional — No condition rationally to be affixed to it — The import of these words, “As for me” — To whom this promise is made — That farther cleared — Not to all Israel according to the flesh — Mr. G.’s objections answered — The testimony of the Son given to the perpetual abiding of the Spirit with believers — John 14:16 opened — The promise in those words equally belonging to all believers — Mr. G.’s objections answered — No promise of the Spirit abiding with believers on his principle allowed — The promise given to the apostles personally yet given also to the whole church — Promises made to the church made to the in individuals whereof it is constituted — The giving of this promise to all believers farther argued from the scope of the place, and vindicated from Mr. G.’s exceptions — The third testimony, of the Holy Spirit himself, proposed to consideration — His testimony in sealing particularly considered, 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30 — Of the nature and use of sealing amongst men — The end, aim, and use, of the sealing of the Holy Ghost — Mr. G.’s objections and exceptions to our argument from that sealing of the Spirit considered and removed — The same farther carried on, etc.

CHAPTER 8. The Indwelling Of The Spirit.

Entrance into the digression concerning the indwelling of the Spirit — The manner of the abode of the Spirit with them on whom he is bestowed — Grounds of the demonstrations of the truth — The indwelling of the Spirit proved from the promises of it — Express affirmations of the same truth — Psalm 51:11, Romans 8:9, opened — Verses 11 15; 1 Corinthians 2:12; Galatians 4:6, opened — Timothy 1:14 — The Spirit in his indwelling, distinguished from all his graces — Evasions removed — Romans 5:5 explained — The Holy Ghost himself not the grace of the Holy Ghost, there intended — Romans 8:11 opened — Galatians 5:22 — A personality ascribed to the Spirit in his indwelling: 1. In personal appellations, 1 John 4:4; John 14:16,17 — 2. Personal operations — Romans 8:11,16, explained — 3. Personal circumstances — The Spirit dwells in the saints as in a temple, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19 — The indwelling of the Spirit farther demonstrated from the signal effects ascribed in the Scripture to his so doing; as, 1. Union with Christ — Union with Christ, wherein it consisteth — Union with Christ by the indwelling of the same Spirit in him and us — This proved from, (1.)

Scriptural declarations of it — 2 Peter 1:4, how we are made partakers of the divine nature — Union expressed by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ — John 6:56 opened — The prayer of our Savior for the union of his disciples, John 17:2l — The union of the persons in the Trinity with themselves — (2.)

Scriptural illustrations for the manifestation of union — The union of head and members, what it is, and wherein it doth consist — Of the union between husband and wife, and our union with Christ represented thereby — Of a tree and its branches — Life and quickening given by the indwelling Spirit, in quickening, life, and suitable operations — 2. Direction and guidance given by the indwelling Spirit — Guidance or direction twofold — The several ways whereby the Spirit gives guidance and direction unto them in whom he dwells — The first way, by giving a new understanding, or a new spiritual light upon the understanding — What light men may attain without the particular guidance of the Spirit — Saving embracements of particular truths from the Spirit, 1 John 2:20,27 — The way whereby the Spirit leads believers into truth — Consequences of the want of this guidance of the Spirit — 3. The third thing received from the indwelling Spirit, supportment — The way whereby the Spirit gives supportment: (1.) By bringing to mind the things spoken by Christ for their consolation John 14:16,17. 26 — (2.) By renewing his graces in them as to strength — The benefits issuing and flowing from thence — Restraint given by the indwelling Spirit and how — The continuance of the Spirit with believers for the renewal of grace preyed — John 4:14, that promise of our Savior at large opened — The water there promised is the Spirit — The state of them on whom he is bestowed — Spiritual thirst twofold — Isaiah 65:13; 1 Peter 2 — The reasons why men cannot thirst again who have once drunk of the Spirit explained — Mr. G.’s exceptions considered and removed — The same work farther carried on; as also the indwelling of the Spirit in believers farther demonstrated by the inferences made from thence — The first: Our persons temples of the Holy Ghost, to be disposed of in all ways of holiness — The second: Wisdom to try spirits — The ways, means, and helps, whereby the saints discern between the voice of Christ and the voice of Satan.

CHAPTER 9. The Intercession Of Christ.

The nature of it — Its aim, not only that believers continuing so may be saved, but that they may be preserved in believing — This farther proved from the typical intercession of the Judaical high priest — The tenor of Christ’s intercession, as manifested John 17:11, opened, and verses 12-15 — The result of the argument from thence — The saints’ perseverance fully confirmed — Romans 8:33,34, at large explained — Mr. G.’s interpretation of the place in all the parts of it confuted — Vain supposals groundlessly interserted into the apostle’s discourse — What Christ intercedes for for believers farther manifested — The sum of what is assigned to the intercession of Christ by Mr. G. — How far it is all from yielding the least consolation to the saints manifested — The reasons of the foregoing interpretation proposed and answered — The end assigned of the intercession of Christ answered — God works perseverance actually — A supply of means that may not be effectual not to be ascribed thereunto — Farther objections answered: Christ not the minister of sin by this doctrine — Supposals and instances upon the former interpretation disproved and rejected — A brief account of our doctrine concerning the intercession of Christ for believers, and of the true end of the act of his mediation — The close of the argument, and of the first part of this treatise.

CHAPTER 10. The Improvement Of The Doctrine.

The improvement of the doctrine of perseverance in reference to the obedience and consolation of the saints — Why its tendency to the promoting of their obedience is first handled, before their consolation — Five previous observations concerning gospel truths in general — 1. That all are to be received with equal reverence — 2. That the end of them all is to work the soul into a conformity to God; proved by several scriptures, 2 Timothy 3:16,17; <560101>Titus 1:1, etc. — 3. Some truths have a more immediate tendency hereunto than others have, 2 Corinthians 5:14 — 4. Most weight is to be laid by believers upon such — 5. Men are not themselves to determine what truths have most in them of this tendency, etc. — Gospel obedience, what it is, and why so called — Its nature — 1. In the matter of it, which is all and only the will of God — 2. In the form of it, which is considered — (l.) In the principle setting it on work, faith — (2.) In the manner of doing it, eyeing both precepts and promises — (3.)

The end aimed at in it, the glory of God as a rewarder, Hebrews 11:6; Romans 4:4 — The principle in us whence it proceeds, which is the new man, the Spirit, proved, Ephesians 3:16-19, etc. — What kind of motives conduce most to the carrying on of this obedience, namely, such as most cherish this new man, which they do most that discover most of the love of God and his good-will in Christ — Such as these are alone useful to mortification and the subduing of the contrary principle of flesh, which hinders our obedience, proved, Titus 2:11,12; Romans 6 — What persons the improvement of this doctrine concerns: only true believers, who will not abuse it — How this doctrine of perseverance conduces so eminently to the carrying on of gospel obedience in the hearts of these true believers — 1. By removing discouragements — (1) Perplexing fears, which impair their faith; (2.) Hard thoughts of God, which weaken their love: without which two, faith and love, no gospel obedience performed — 2.

Unspeakable obligations to live to God hence put upon the souls of the saints — Objections concerning the abuse of this truth to presumption and carelessness discussed, examined at large, and removed — The mortification of the flesh, wherein it consists, how it is performed — The influence of the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance thereinto — Dread and terror of hell not the means of mortification: at large proved by showing quite another means of mortifying the flesh, namely, the Spirit of Christ, Romans 8:13; applying the cross and death of Christ, Romans 6:5, — 3. This doctrine is useful to promote gospel obedience, in that it tends directly to increase and strengthen faith and love both towards God and towards our Lord Jesus Christ — How it strengthens their love to God, namely, by discovering his love to them in three eminent properties of it, freedom, constancy, fruitfulness — How it strengthens their love to Jesus Christ, namely, by discovering his love to them in two eminent acts of it, his oblation and his intercessions. This doctrine conduces, etc., by giving gospel obedience its proper place and due order — 5. By closing in with the ends of gospel ordinances particularly the ministry, one eminent end whereof is to perfect the saints, Ephesians 4:12,13, which is done by discovering to them the whole will of God, both precepts on the one hand, and promises, exhortations, threatenings, on the other — That of the promises more particularly and more largely insisted on.

CHAPTER 11. Arguments Against The Doctrine Considered.

The entrance into an answer to Mr. G.’s arguments against the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance — His sixth argument, about the usefulness of the doctrine under consideration to the work of the ministry, proposed — His proof of the minor proposition considered and answered — Many pretenders to promote godliness by false doctrines — Mr. G.’s common interest in this argument — His proofs of the usefulness of his doctrine unto the promotion of godliness considered and answered — The consequence of his arguing discovered — The doctrine by him opposed mistaken, ignorantly or wilfilly — Objections proposed by Mr. G. to himself to be answered — The objection as proposed disowned — Certainty of the love of God, in what sense a motive to obedience — The doctrine of apostasy denies the unchangeableness of God’s love to believers; placeth qualifications in the room of persons — How the doctrine of perseverance promiseth the continuance of the love of God to believers — Certainty of reward encouraging to regular action — Promises made to persons qualified, not suspended upon those qualifications — Means appointed of God for the accomplishment of a determined end certain — Means not always conditions — Mr. G’s strange inference concerning the Scripture considered — The word of God by him undervalued — and subjected to the judgment of vain men as to its truth and authority — The pretended reason of the former proceeding discussed — The Scripture the sole Judge of what is to be ascribed to God, and believed concerning him — The doctrine of the saints’ perseverance falsely imposed on, and vindicated — Mr. G.’s next objection made to himself against his doctrine — Its unseasonableness as to the argument in hand demonstrated — No assurance of the love of God, nor peace left the saints, by the doctrine of apostasy — The ground of peace and assurance by it taken away — Ground of Paul’s consolation, 1 Corinthians 9:27 — The meaning of the word ajdo>kimov — Another plea against the doctrine attempted to be proved by Mr. G. — That attempt considered — Not the weakness of the flesh naturally, but the strength of lust spiritually pretended — The cause of sin in the saints farther discussed — The power ascribed by Mr. G. to men for the strengthening and making willing the Spirit in them considered — The aptness of the saints to perform, what and whence — The opposition they have in them thereunto — Gospel obedience, how easy — The conclusion — Answer to chap. of this book proposed.

CHAPTER 12. Objections To The Doctrine Refuted.

Mr. G.’s entrance and preface to his arguments from the apostasy of the saints considered — The weakness of his first argument — The import of it — Answer to that first argument — Doctrine may pretend to give God the glory of being no accepter of persons, and yet be false — Justification by works of that rank and order — Acceptation of persons, what, and wherein it consisteth — No place for it with God — Contrary to distributive justice — The doctrine of the saints’ perseverance charged with rendering God an accepter of persons unjustly — What it says looking this way — The sum of the charge against it considered and remove — Mr. G.’s second argument, and the weight by him hung thereon — The original of this argument — By whom somewhat insisted on — The argument itself in his words proposed — Of the use and end of the ministry — Whether weakened by the doctrine of perseverance — Entrance into an answer to that argument — The foundation laid of it false, and why — It falsely imposeth on the doctrine of perseverance. sundry things by it disclaimed — The first considered — The iniquity of those impositions farther discovered — The true state of the difference as to this argument declared — The argument rectified — The reenforcement of the minor attempted and considered — The manner of God’s operations with and in natural and voluntary agents compared — Efficacy of grace and liberty in man consistent — An objection to himself framed by Mr. G. — That objection rectified — Perseverance, how “absolutely and simply necessary;” how not — The removal of the pretended objection farther insisted on by Mr. G. — That discourse discussed, and manifested to be weak and sophistical — The consistency of exhortations and promises farther cleared — The manner of the operation of grace in and upon the wills of men considered — The inconsistency of exhortations with the efficacy of grace disputed by Mr. G. — That discourse removed, and the use of exhortations farther cleared — Obedience to them twofold, habitual, actual — Of the physical operation of grace and means of the word — Their compliance and use — How the one and the other affect the will — Inclination to persevere, when wrought in believers — Of the manner of God’s operation on the wills of men — Mr. G.’s discourse and judgment considered — Effects follow, as to their kind, their next causes — The same act of the will physical and moral upon several accounts — Those accounts considered — God, by the real efficacy of the Spirit, produceth in us acts of the will morally good — That confirmed from Scripture — Conclusion from thence — Of the terms “physical,” “moral,” and “necessary,” and their use in things of the nature under consideration — Moral causes of physical effects — The concurrence of physical and moral causes for producing the same effect — The efficacy of grace and exhortations — “Physical” and “necessary,” how distinguished — “Moral” and “not necessary” confounded by Mr. G. — Mr. G.’s farther progress considered — What operation of God on the will of man he allows — All physical operation by him excluded — Mr. G.’s sense of the difference between the working of God and a minister on the will that it is but gradual; considered and removed — All working of God on the will by him confined to persuasion — Persuasion gives no strength or ability to the person persuaded — All immediate actings of God to good in men by Mr. G. utterly excluded — Wherein God’s persuading men doth consist, according to Mr. G — 1 Corinthians 3:9 considered — Of the concurrence of divers agents to the production of the same effect — The sum of the seventh section of chap. 13 — The will, how necessitated, how free — In what sense Mr. G. allows God’s persuasions to be irresistible — The dealings of God and men ill compared — Paul’s exhortation to the use of means, when the end was certain, Acts 27:21-36, considered — God deals with men as men, exhorting them; and as corrupted men, assisting them — Of promises of temporal things, whether all conditional — What condition in the promise made to Paul, Acts 27:24 — Farther of that promise; its infallibility and means of accomplishment — The same considerations farther prosecuted — Of promises of perseverance and exhortations to perform in conjunction — Mr. G.’s opposition hereunto — Promises and exhortations in conjunction — Corinthians 10:12, 13 discussed — An absolute promise of perseverance therein evinced — Philippians 2:12,13, to the same purpose, considered — Mr. G.’s interpretation of that place proposed removed — Hebrews 6:4-6,9, to the same purpose insisted on — Of the consistency of threatenings with the promises of perseverance — Mr. G.’s opposition hereunto considered and removed — What promises of perseverance are asserted; how absolute and unfrustrable — Fear of hell and punishment twofold — The fear intended to be ingenerated by threatenings not inconsistent with the assurance given by promises — Five considerations about the use of threatenings — The first, etc. — Hypocrites, how threatened for apostasy — Of the end and aim of God in threatenings — Of the proper end and efficacy of threatenings with reference unto true believers — Fear of hell and punishment — how far a principle of obedience in the saints — Of Noah’s fear, Hebrews 11:7 — Mr. G.’s farther arguings for the efficacy of the fear of hell unto obedience in the saints proposed, considered, removed — 1 John 4:18 considered — Of the obedience of saints to their heavenly Father, compared to the obedience of children to their natural parents — Mr. G.’s monstrous conception about this thing — How fear and love are principles of obedience, and in what sense — That which is done from fear not done willingly nor cheerfully — How fear, and what fear, hath torment — Of the nature and use of promises — Close of the answer to this argument.

CHAPTER 13. The Assertors And Adversaries Of The Doctrine Compared.

The maintainers and propagators of the several doctrines under contest taken into consideration — The necessity of so doing from Mr. G. undertaking to make the comparison — Thus inquiry confined to those of our own nation — The chief assertors of the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance in this nation since it received any opposition; what was their ministry, and what their lives — Mr. G.’s plea in this case — The first objection against his doctrine by him proposed — second and third — His answers — The first reformers constant to themselves in their doctrine of the saints’ perseverance — Of the influence of Mr. Perkins’ judgment on the propagation of the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance — Who the persons were on whom is judgment is supposed to have had such an influence — The consent of foreign churches making void this surmise — What influence the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance has into the holiness of its professors — Of the unworthiness of the persons who in this nation have asserted the doctrine of apostasy — The suitableness of this doctrine to their practices — Mr. G.’s attempt to take off this charge — How far men’s doctrines may be judged by their lives — Mr. G.’s reasons why Episcopalists arminianized the first considered and disproved — His discord, etc. — General apostasy of men entertaining Arminian tenets — The close, CHAPTER 14. Argument Against The Doctrine From The Exhortations Of The Gospel.

Mr. G.’s third argument proposed and considered — The drama borrowed by Mr. G. to make good this argument — The frame of speech ascribed to God by the Remonstrants according to our doctrine, weighed and considered — The dealing of God with man, according to the doctrine of the saints perseverance, manifested — In what sense and to what end exhortations and threatenings are made to believers — The fallacious ground of this argument of Mr. G. — Mr. G.’s fourth argument proposed to consideration — Eternal life, how and in what sense a reward of perseverance — The enforcement of the major proposition considered — The proposition new moulded, to make it of concernment to our doctrine, and denied, from the example of the obedience of Jesus Christ — Efficacy of grace not inconsistent with reward — The argument enforced with a new consideration — That consideration examined and removed — Farther of the consistency of effectual grace and gospel exhortations.

CHAPTER 15. Argument Against The Doctrine From The Sins Of Believers.

Mr. G.’s fifth argument for the apostasy of true believers — The weight of this argument taken from the sins of believers — The difference between the sins of believers and unregenerate persons proposed to consideration, James 1:14,15 — The rise and progress of lust and sin — The fountain of all sin in all persons is lust, Romans 7:7 — Observations clearing the difference between regenerate and unregenerate persons in their sinning, as to the common fountain of all sin — The first — The second, of the universality of lust in the soul by nature — The third, in two inferences: the first, unregenerate men sin with their whole consent; the second inference, concerning the reign of sin and reigning sin — The fourth, concerning the universal possession of the soul by renewing grace — The fifth, that true grace bears rule wherever it be — Inferences — The first, that in every regenerate person there are diverse principles of all moral operations — Romans 7:19-22 opened — The second, that sin cannot reign in a regenerate person — The third, that regenerate persons sin not with their whole consent — Answer to the argument at the entrance proposed — Believers never sin with their whole consent and wills — Mr. G.’s attempt to remove the answer — His exceptions considered and removed — Plurality of wills in the same person, in the Scripture sense — Of the opposition between flesh and Spirit — That no regenerate person sins with his full consent proved — Of the Spirit and his lustings in us — The actings of the Spirit in us free, not suspended on any conditions in us — Mr. G.’s discourse of the first and second motions of the Spirit considered — The same considerations farther carried on — Peter Martyr’s testimony considered — Romans 7:19-22 considered — Difference between the opposition made to sin in persons regenerate and that in persons unregenerate farther argued — Of the sense of Romans 7, and in what sense believers do the works of the flesh — The close of these considerations — The answer to the argument at the entrance of the chapter opened — The argument new formed — The major proposition limited and granted, and the minor denied — The proof of the major considered — Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:5,6; 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 — Believers how concerned in comminations — Threatening proper to unbelievers for their sins — Farther objections proposed and removed — Of the progress of lust in tempting to sin — The effect of lust in temptations — Difference between regenerate and unregenerate persons as to the tempting of lust: 1. In respect of universality; 2. Of power — Objections answered — Whether believers sin only out of infirmity — Whether believers may sin out of malice and with deliberation — Of the state of believers who upon their sin may be excommunicated — Whether the body of Christ may be dismembered — What body of Christ it is that is intended — Mr. G.’s thoughts to this purpose examined — Mr. G.’s discourse of the way whereby Christ keeps or may keep his members examined — Members of Christ cannot become members of Satan — 1 Corinthians 6:15 considered — Of the sense and use of the word a]rav — Christ takes his members out of the power of Satan, gives up none to him — Repetition of regeneration asserted by the doctrine of apostasy — The repetition disproved — Mr. G.’s notion of regeneration examined at large and rebuked — Relation between God and his children indissoluble — The farther progress of lust for the production of sin — Drawing away, what it is — The difference between regenerate and unregenerate persons in their being drawn away by lust — Farther description of him who is drawn away by lust — Of lust’s enticing — How far this may befall regenerate men — To do sin, Romans 7, what it intendeth — Lust conceiving, wherein it consists — Of the bringing forth of sin, and how far the saints of God may proceed therein — 1 John 3:9 opened — The scope of the place discovered — The proposition in the words universal — Inferences — The subject of that proposition considered — Every one that is born of God, what is affirmed of them — What meant by “committing of sin” — Mr. G.’s opposition to the sense of that expression given — Reasons for the confirmation of it — Mr. G.’s reasons against it proposed and considered — How he that is born of God cannot sin — Several kinds of possibility — Mr. G.’s attempt to answer the argument from this place particularly examined — The reasons of the proposition in the text considered — Of the seed of God abiding — The nature of that seed, what it is, wherein it consists — Of the latter part of the apostle’s reason, “he is born of God” — Our argument from the words — Mr. G.’s endeavor to evade that argument — His exposition of the words removed — Farther of the meaning of the word “abideth” — The close.

CHAPTER 16. The Bearing Of The Doctrine Of The Saints’ Apostasy On Their Consolation.

Mr. G.’s seventh argument, about the tendency of the doctrine of the saints’ apostasy as to their consolation, considered — What that doctrine offereth for the consolation of the saints stated — The impossibility of its affording the least true consolation manifested — The influence of the doctrine of the saints’ perseverance into their consolation — The medium whereby Mr. G. confirms his argument examined — What kind of nurse for the peace and consolation of the saints the doctrine of apostasy is — Whether their obedience be furthered by it — What are the causes and springs of true consolation — Mr. G.’s eighth argument proposed to consideration — Answer thereunto — The minor proposition considered — the Holy Ghost not afraid of the saints’ miscarriages — The confirmation of his minor proposition proposed and considered — The discourse assigned to the Holy Ghost by Mr. G, according to our principles, considered — Exceptions against it — The foundation of Mr. G.’s pageant everted — The procedure of the Holy Ghost in exhortations, according to our principles — Sophisms in the former discourse farther discovered — His farther plea in this case proposed, considered — The instance of Christ and his obedience considered and vindicated, as to the application of it to the business in hand — Mr. G.’s last argument examined — 1 John 2:19 explained — Argument from thence for the perseverance of the saints — Mr. G.’s exceptions thereunto considered and removed — The same words farther pursued — Mr. G.’s consent with the Remonstrants manifested by his transcriptions from their Synodalia — Our arguments from 1 John 2:19 fully cleared — The conclusion of the examination of Mr. G.’s arguments for the apostasy of the saints.

CHAPTER 17. A Review Of Passages In Scripture Adduced To Prove The Apostasy Of Saints.