'Grace must be acknowledged to accompany the outward means of repentance': Tillotson against 'irresistible grace'
What Repentance is here spoken of; whether a meer external and Hypocritical Repentance in shew and appearance only, or an inward and real and sincere Repentance ...
The Reason of this doubt depends upon the different Theories of Divines, about the sufficiency of Grace accompanying the outward Means of Repentance, and whether an irresistible degree of God's Grace be necessary to Repentance: for they who deny sufficient Grace to accompany the outward Means of Repentance, and assert an irresistible degree of God's Grace necessary to Repentance, are forced to say, that our Saviour here speaks of a meer External Repentance: because if he spake of an inward and sincere Repentance, then it must be granted, that sufficient inward grace did accompany the Miracles that were wrought in Chorazin and Bethsaida, to bring men to Repentance; because what was afforded to them, would have brought Tyre and Sidon to Repentance. And that which would have effected a thing, cannot be denyed to be sufficient; so that unless our Saviour here speaks of a meer External Repentance, either the outward Means of Repentance, as Preaching and Miracles, must be granted to be sufficient to bring men to Repentance, without the inward Operation of God's Grace upon the Minds of Men; or else a sufficient degree of God's Grace must be acknowledged to accompany the outward Means of Repentance. Again, if an irresistible degree of Grace be necessary to true Repentance, it is plain, Chorazin and Bethsaida had it not, because they did not repent; and yet without this Tyre and Sidon could not have sincerely repented; therefore our Saviour here must speak of a meer External Repentance. Thus some argue, as they do likewise concerning the Repentance of Nineveh, making that also to be meerly External, because they are loath to allow true Repentance to Heathens.
But it seems very plain, that our Saviour does speak of an inward and true and sincere Repentance; and therefore the Doctrines that will not admit this, are not true. For our Saviour speaks of the same kind of Repentance, that he upbraided them with the want of in the verse before the Text. Then began he to upbraid the Cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not, that is because they were not brought to a sincere Repentance by his Preaching, which was confirmed by such great Miracles. 'Tis true indeed, he mentions the outward signs and expressions of Repentance, when he says They would have repented in sackcloth and ashes; but not as excluding inward and real Repentance, but supposing it, as is evident from what is said in the next Verse, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of Judgment, than for you: for tho' an external and hypocritical Repentance, may prevail with God to put off temporal Judgments, yet surely it will be but a very small, if any mitigation of our Condemnation at the day of Judgment: so that the Repentance here spoken of cannot, without great violence to the scope and design of our Saviour's Argument, be understood only of an external shew and appearance of Repentance ...
The sum of what I have said is this, That if no Man does, nor can repent, without such a degree of God's Grace as cannot be resisted, no Man's Repentance is commendable, nor is one Man's Impenitence more blameable than anothers; Chorazin and Bethsaida can be in no more fault for continuing Impenitent, than Tyre and Sidon were. For either this irresistible Grace is afforded to men or not: if it be, their Repentance is necessary, and they cannot help it; if it be not, their Repentance is impossible, and consequently their Impenitence is necessary, and they cannot help it neither.
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