| John Gill |
| "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2:5 |
"The eternal Sonship of Christ, or that he is the Son of
God by eternal generation, or that he was the Son of God before he was the son
of Mary, even from all eternity, which is denied by the Socinians, and others
akin, to them, was known by the saints under the Old Testament... This truth is
written as with a sun-beam in the New Testament." A Dissertation Concerning The
Eternal Sonship Of Christ
"Custom is a tyrant, and ought to be rebelled against, and
its yoke thrown off... Take care you are not imposed upon, under the notion and
pretense of an apostolical tradition; unwritten traditions are not the rule,
only the Word of God is the rule of our faith and practice." The Scriptures
"We are to call no man father or master on earth; we have
but one father in heaven, and one master, which is Christ, whose doctrines,
rules, and ordinances we should receive and observe. We are not to be influenced
by men of learning and wealth." The Scriptures
"It pleased the Lord, in the first times of the gospel, to
hide the things of it from the wise and prudent, and reveal them unto babes; and
to call by his grace, nor should it concern us that the greatest number is on
the opposite side... Christ’s flock is but a little flock." The Scriptures
"If the doubt is about the doctrine of Election, read over
the sacred volumes, and there you will find, that this is an eternal and
sovereign act of God the Father, which was made in Christ before the foundation
of the world; that it is to holiness here, and happiness hereafter; that the
means are sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; that it is
irrespective of faith and good works, being before persons had done either good
or evil; that faith and holiness flow from it, and that grace and glory are
secured by it." The Scriptures
"If the dispute is about Free-will or Free-grace, the power
of the one, and the efficacy of the other, in a sinner’s regeneration and
conversion; turn to your Bible, and from thence it will appear, that this work
is not by the might, or power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts;
that men are born again, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God, his Spirit and grace; that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy; that the work of faith is a work of
power, of the operation of God, and is carried on by it, and is even according
to the exceeding greatness of his power, who works in man both to will and to do
of his own good pleasure." The Scriptures
"To observe no more: if the doctrines of the Resurrection
of the dead, and a future Judgment, should be called in question, read the
divine oracles, and there you are told, that there will be a resurrection both
of the just and unjust; that the one shall come forth from their graves to the
resurrection of life, and the other to the resurrection of damnation; that there
is a judgment to come; that there is a righteous Judge appointed, and a day let
when just judgment will be executed." The Scriptures
"Christ is the way of salvation, which the gospel, and the
ministers of it, point out to men; and he is the only way of salvation, there is
salvation in him, and in no other; this is what the whole Bible centers in; this
is the sum and substance of it." The Scriptures
"To conclude; let us bless God for the scriptures, that we
have such a waymark to ditch us, and point out unto us the way in which we
should go; let us make use of them; let us search the scriptures daily and
diligently, and the rather, since they testify of Christ, of his person,
offices, of his doctrines and ordinances." The Scriptures
"Error is old, but truth is more ancient than that." The
Scriptures
"Evil may be done by fretting at the prosperity of wicked
men, or by imitating them, doing as they do, in hope of being prosperous as they
are; from which the psalmist dissuades by reasons following." Psalm 37
"But few among the Jews; as also in the Gentile world,
comparatively speaking: and even but a few of those that are outwardly called,
are inwardly and effectually called by the powerful grace of God, out of
darkness into marvellous light, into the grace and liberty of the Gospel, into
communion with Christ, and to the obtaining his kingdom and glory, according to
the eternal purpose of God." Commentary, Matthew 20:16
"According as he hath chosen us in him... it intends an
eternal election of particular persons to everlasting life and salvation; and
which is the first blessing of grace, and the foundation one, upon which all the
rest proceed." Commentary, Ephesians 1:4
"According to predestination are calling, justification,
and glorification." Commentary, Ephesians 1:4
"They that are chosen are distinguished from others, and
are represented as few; nor do all men partake either of the means or end
appointed in the decree of election; and yet some of all nations, Jews and
Gentiles, are included in it; though none for any previous qualifications in
them, as not for their good works, faith, holiness, or perseverance therein; for
these are fruits and effects of election, and therefore cannot be causes or
conditions of it: and this choice is made in Christ; and the persons chosen are
chosen in him, and by being chosen they come to be in him; for this refers not
to their openly being in him at conversion, as believers, but to their secretly
being in him before time." Commentary, Ephesians 1:4
"Christ, as Mediator, is the object of election himself;
and all the elect were chosen in him as their head, in whose hands their
persons, grace, and glory are, and so are safe and secure in him." Commentary,
Ephesians 1:4
"No new will, or act of will, can arise in God, or any
decree be made by him, which was not from eternity: God's foreknowledge is
eternal, and so is his decree, and is no other than himself decreeing."
Commentary, Ephesians 1:4
"The love of God is the source and spring of election
itself, and of holiness and happiness, the end of it; and which is shed abroad
in the hearts of God's people now, and will be more fully comprehended and
enjoyed in the other world; and which causes love again in them to him."
Commentary, Ephesians 1:4
"Predestination, taken in a large sense, includes both
election and reprobation, and even reaches to all affairs and occurrences in the
world; to the persons, lives, and circumstances of men; to all mercies, temporal
or spiritual; and to all afflictions, whether in love or in wrath: and indeed
providence, or the dispensations of providence, are no other than the execution
of divine predestination." Commentary, Ephesians 1:5
"The will of God is the rule of all his actions, and of all
his acts of grace and goodness; and the good pleasure of it appears in the
predestination of men to grace and glory: and from hence it is manifest, that
foreseen faith, holiness, and good works, are excluded from being the moving
cases of predestinating grace; and that it is wholly to be resolved into the
good will and pleasure of God." Commentary, Ephesians 1:5
"Instead of lopping off the branches of Popery, the axe
should be laid to the root of the tree, Arminianism and Pelagianism, the very
life and soul of Popery." The Cause Of God And Truth
"Adam had a power to do every good work the law required;
which men, since the fall, have not." The Cause Of God And Truth
"Unregenerate men are capable of performing works, which
are in a natural and civil, though not in a spiritual sense, good. They may do
those things, which externally, in appearance, and as to the matter and
substance of them, may be good; such as hearing, reading, praying, giving alms
to the poor, etc., when the circumstances requisite to good works are wanting;
for whatsoever is done as a good work, must be done in obedience to the will of
God; from a principle of love to him; must be performed in faith; in the name of
Christ, and to the glory of God by him." The Cause Of God And Truth
"It must be denied, that wicked, unregenerate men, have a
power to perform good works in a spiritual manner." The Cause Of God And Truth
"Men may expect as soon to gather grapes of thorns, or figs
of thistles, as good fruit to grow upon, or good works to be performed by,
unregenerate men; no, they must be created in Christ Jesus, have the Spirit of
Christ put into them, and his grace implanted in them; they must be believers in
him, before they are capable of doing that which is spiritually good." The Cause
Of God And Truth
"Since God could not only have proposed the doing of good,
but have required it according to his law, without being under obligation to
give sufficient strength to obey; for though man by his sin has lost his power
to obey the will of God in a right manner, yet God has not lost his authority to
command; which he may use without obliging himself to find man sufficient
strength to act in obedience to it." The Cause Of God And Truth
"There are many actions done by men, which are acceptable
and well-pleasing to God, when they themselves are not accepted by him, on
account of them." The Cause Of God And Truth
"The best works of the saints are imperfect and attended
with sin, and are only acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, in whom, and in
whom only, who is the beloved, their persons are accepted and well-pleasing to
God." The Cause Of God And Truth
"There is no acceptance of any man’s person, but as he is
considered in Christ the Mediator." The Cause Of God And Truth
"Man has neither will nor power to act of himself in things
spiritually good, or in such as relate to his spiritual and eternal welfare; as
conversion, regeneration, faith, repentance, and the like. Conversion is not the
work of a creature, but of God, even a work of his almighty power; by which men
are turned from sin and Satan to him, are delivered from the power of darkness,
and translated into the kingdom of his dear Son. Regeneration, or a being born
again, is expressly denied to be of the will of the flesh, or of the will of
man, and is ascribed to God himself. All men have not faith in Christ; and such
who have it, have it not of themselves; it is the gift of God, the operation of
his Spirit, the fruit and effect of electing and efficacious grace." The Cause
Of God And Truth
"Evangelical repentance, which is unto life, is not in the
power of man; man, in a state of nature, has no true sense of his sins; nor will
any means of themselves bring him to repentance for them, without the
efficacious grace of God. True evangelical repentance is God’s free-grace gift."
The Cause Of God And Truth
"That by the Spirit of God, we are to understand the Holy
Ghost... That he is in every man in a way of special grace, and to saving
purposes, provided they behave well, must be denied; for every unconverted man
is destitute of the Spirit; were the Spirit, in this sense, in every man, the
indwelling of the Spirit would be no evidence of regeneration; the difference
between a regenerate and an unregenerate man lying in this, the one has, the
other has not the Spirit of God." The Cause Of God And Truth
"The external call maybe rejected; yea, some inward motions
and convictions may be overruled, stifled, and come to nothing: nay, it will be
granted, that there may be and is an opposition and resistance to the work of
the Spirit of God in conversion; but then the Spirit cannot be so resisted, in
the operations of his grace, as to be obliged to cease from his work, or to be
overcome or hindered in it; for he acts with a design which cannot be
frustrated, and with a power which is uncontrollable; were it otherwise, the
regeneration and conversion of every one must be precarious, and where the grace
of the Spirit is effectual, according to the doctrine of free-will, it would be
more owing to the will of man than to the Spirit of God." The Cause Of God And
Truth
"Sometimes the means of grace, have been confined to one
particular nation, and all the rest of the world have been without them for a
considerable number of years. This was the case of all the nations of the world
whom God suffered to walk in their own ways; overlooked them, took no notice of
them, gave them no day of grace; while his worship was only kept up in the land
of Judea. And since the coming of Christ; the administration of the word and
ordinances has sometimes been in one place, and sometimes in another, when the
rest of mankind have been without them: so that every man in this sense has not
had a day of grace." The Cause Of God And Truth
"The doctrine of particular redemption is the doctrine of
the Scriptures. Christ died not for all men, but for some only; who are called
his people, his sheep, his church, unless all men can be thought to be the
people, sheep, and church of Christ." The Cause Of God And Truth
"Angels and man both, have been in a state of probation
already, in which their free-will, and power to obey the commands of God, have
been sufficiently tried; which trial has issued in the fall and ruin of a large
number of angels, and of the whole race of mankind: and therefore it is not
reasonable to suppose that God would put man into such a state again; but rather
provide in another way for the good of those he designed to bring to everlasting
happiness. If men were in a state of probation, they ought to be on equal
ground, enjoying equal privileges and advantages; whereas this is not the case;
some have only the dim light and weak law of nature, whilst others enjoy the
gospel revelation; and of these some have larger, and others lesser, means of
grace, light, and knowledge; some have the grace of God itself bestowed upon
them, others have it not. Now were all men in such a state of probation as is
pleaded for, is it reasonable to suppose that there would be such an inequality
among them?" The Cause Of God And Truth
"Christ, as man, was under some kind of necessity of
fulfilling all righteousness, and yet performed it voluntarily." The Cause Of
God And Truth
"The will of man is free from a physical or natural
necessity; it does not act and move by a necessity of nature, as many creatures
do... Moreover, it is free from a necessity of coaction or force; the will
cannot be forced; nor is it even by the powerful, efficacious, and
unfrustratable operation of God’s grace in conversion; for though before, it; is
unwilling to submit to Christ, and his way of salvation, yet it is made willing
in the day of his power, without offering the least violence to it; God working
upon it, as Austin says, cum suavi omnipotentia et omnipotenti suavitate, with a
sweet omnipotence, and an omnipotent sweetness." The Cause Of God And Truth
"Man, in his fallen state, is wholly under the power and
dominion of sin, is a captive under it, and a slave unto it, and has neither a
power nor will to that which is spiritually good." The Cause Of God And Truth
"The doctrine of election is no secret; it is clearly and
fully revealed, and written as with a sunbeam in the sacred scriptures." A Body
Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election
"No man, be he ever so vile, is out of the reach of
powerful and efficacious grace." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election
"Election does not find men in Christ, but puts them
there." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election
"Men are chosen in him [Christ] as their Head, and they as
members of him; not one before another; he and they are chosen together in the
same decree." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election
"But the number of the chosen ones is not confined to any
particular nation: for as God is the God both of the Jews and of the Gentiles;
so those whom he has in election prepared for glory, in consequence of which he
calls them by his grace; these are not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles
also; and who are eventually, for the most part, the poor of this world, men
mean and despicable in the eyes of it; and these are but few in comparison, not
only of the men of the world, but even of those that are externally called;
“Many are called, but few are chosen”, they are but a little flock that it is
the pleasure of their heavenly Father to give the kingdom to, prepared for them
from the foundation of the world: though considered absolutely by themselves,
they are a great multitude, which no man can number." A Body Of Doctrinal
Divinity, Of Election
"As the foreknowledge of God is eternal, the choice he
makes upon it must be so too; and especially as this foreknowledge is not a bare
prescience of persons and things, but what has love and affection to the objects
of it joined unto it." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election
"It is owing to electing grace that any good works have
been done by men since the fall of Adam." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of
Election
"Men must be first created in Christ, or be new creatures
in him, must be believers in him, and have the Spirit of Christ, and his grace
put into them, ere they can perform good works: all which are done at effectual
vocation, and not before." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election
"Whilst men are in a state of unregeneracy, they are in a
state of unbelief; they are, as without hope in God, so without faith in Christ;
and when they have it, they have it not of themselves, of their own power and
free-will; but they have it as the gift of God, and the operation of his Spirit,
flowing purely from his grace." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election
"The reason why some men do not believe is, because they
are not of Christ's sheep, his elect, given him by the Father; and the reason
why others do believe is, because they are of Christ's sheep, or his chosen
ones, and therefore faith is given to them; which is called the faith of God's
elect, Tit.i. 1." A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Of Election