2. 'Tis against the nature of a renewed Will. Grace is the law of God in the heart, and is put in to enable us to walk in the ways of God; and shall it endure such wilful pollutions in the Creature, when it is the end of its being there to preserve from them? The Spirit is given in the Heart, 2 Cor. 1.22. sent into the Heart, Gal. 4.6. the Law put into the Heart, Heb. 10.16. Since therefore there is an habit of grace in the Will, a Man cannot frequently and easily launch into sin, because he cannot do it habitually, the remainders of sin being mated with a powerful habit, which watches their motions to resist them. Doth God put such a habit there, such a seed, an abiding seed to no purpose, but to let the Soul be wounded by every temptation, to be deserted in every time of need? Grace is an habit superadded to that natural and moral strength which is in the Will. Man by natures strength merely, or with the assistance of common grace, hath power to avoid the acts of gross sins, for he is master of his own actions, though he is not of the motions tending to them; the Devil cannot force a Mans Will. And when grace a greater strength comes in, shall there be no effects of this strength, but the reins be as stiff in the hands of old lust, and the Will as much captive to the sinful habit in it as before? Grace being a new nature, it is as absurd to think that a gracious man should wallow in a course of sin, as it is to think that any creature should constantly and willingly do that which is against its nature. A gracious man delights in the Law of God, Psal. 1.2. His delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in his Law doth he meditate day and night; if he delights in it, can he delight to break it? Do Men fling that which they delight in, every day in the Dirt, and trample upon it, or rather do they not keep it choicely in their Cabinets? If it be also the Character of a good man to meditate in the Law of God, he must have frequent exercises of faith, reflections upon himself, motions to God which cannot consist with a course of sin Grace doth essentially include a contrariety to sin, and a love to God in the Will. 'Tis a principle of doing good and eschewing evil, and these being essential properties of grace, are essential to every regenerate man, and in every one.
2. 'Tis against the nature of a renewed Will. Grace is the law of God in the heart, and is put in to inable us to walk in the ways of God; and shall it endure such wilful pollutions in the Creature, when it is the end of its being there to preserve from them? The Spirit is given in the Heart, 2 Cor. 1.22. sent into the Heart, Gal. 4.6. the Law put into the Heart, Heb. 10.16. Since therefore there is an habit of grace in the Will, a Man cannot frequently and easily lanch into sin, because he cannot do it habitually, the remainders of sin being mated with a powerful habit, which watches their motions to resist them. Doth God put such a habit there, such a seed, an abiding seed to no purpose, but to let the Soul be wounded by every temptation, to be deserted in every time of need? Grace is an habit superadded to that natural and moral strengrh which is in the Will. Man by natures strength meerly, or with the assistance of common grace, hath power to avoid the acts of gross sins, for he is master of his own actions, though he is not of the motions tending to them; the Devil cannot force a Mans Will. And when grace a greater strength comes in, shall there be no effects of this strength, but the reins be as stiff in the hands of old lust, and the Will as much captive to the sinful habit in it as before? Grace being a new nature, it is as absurd to think that a gracious man should wallow in a course of sin, as it is to think that any creature should constantly and willingly do that which is against its nature. A gracious man delights in the Law of God, Psal. 1.2. His delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in his Law doth he meditate day and night; if he delights in it, can he delight to break it? Do Men fling that which they delight in, every day in the Durt, and trample upon it, or rather do they not keep it choicely in their Cabinets? If it be also the Character of a good man to meditate in the Law of God, he must have frequent exercises of faith, reflections upon himself, motions to God which cannot consist with a course of sin Grace doth essentially include a contrariety to sin, and a love to God in the Will. 'Tis a principle of doing good and eschewing evil, and these being essential properties of grace, are essential to every regenerate man, and in every one.
