Wesley Corpus

Thou receivedst it of God for that very end, that thou mightest receive the greater damnation. It was given, not to convert thee, but only to convince; not to make thee without sin, but without excuse; not to destroy but to arm the worm that never dieth, and to blow up the fire that never shall be quenched. 44. Now, I beseech you to consider calmly, how is God good or loving to this man? Is not this such love as makes your blood run cold P as causes the ears of him that heareth to tingle 7 And can you believe there is that man on earth or in hell, who can truly tell God, “Thus hast thou done?” Can you think, that the loving, the merciful God, ever dealt thus with any soul which he hath made? But you must and do believe this, if you believe unconditional election. For it holds reprobation in its bosom; they never were, never can be, divided. Take then your choice. If, for the sake of election, you will swallow reprobation, well. But if you cannot digest this, you must necessarily give up unconditional election. 45. “But you cannot do this; for then you should be called a Pelagian, an Arminian, and what not.” And are you afraid of hard names? Then you have not begun to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. “No, that is not the case. But you are afraid, if you do not hold election, you must hold free-will, and so rob God of his glory in man’s salvation.” I answer, (1.) Many of the greatest maintainers of election utterly deny the consequence, and do not allow, that even natural free-will in man is repugnant to God’s glory. These accordingly assert, that every man living has a measure of natural free-will. So the Assembly of Divines, (and therein the body of Calvinists both in England and Scotland,) “God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty that is neither forced, nor, by an absolute necessity of nature, determined to do good or evil:” (Chap. ix.) And this they assert of man in his fallen state even before he receives the grace of God.