Anthony Palmer (c.1618-1679) on Christ Begging

"Shall God's Free-grace, his Christ, go a begging this day, and will not a sinner come up to his terms? Old sinners, that are going into the grave and Hell too, will not you accept of Free-grace, for Christ, the Spirit, this day? that are upon the brink of the grave and everlasting burnings, and have many a thousand sins yet unpardoned?"

Anthony Palmer, The Gospel New-Creature (London: Printed for Edward Brewster, at the Crane in Pauls Church yard, 1658), 122.

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Other advocates within the Augustinian tradition who use the metaphor of God begging are the following men:

Augustine, Hugh Latimer (Early English Reformer), Samuel Rutherford (Westminster divine), Thomas Manton (Puritan), Jeremiah Burroughs (Westminster divine), John Trapp (Puritan), Sydrach Simpson (Westminster divine), Joseph Caryl (Westminster divine), Robert Harris (Westminster divine), Theophilus Gale (Puritan), William Gearing (Puritan), Richard Baxter (Puritan), Isaac Ambrose (Puritan), Stephen Charnock (Puritan), John Richardson (Puritan), John Flavel (Puritan), Thomas Watson (Puritan), Thomas Case (Puritan), Richard Sibbes (Puritan), John Shower (Puritan), John Collinges (Puritan), William Gurnall (Puritan), Andrew Gray (Puritan), George Swinnock (Puritan), Ralph Venning (Puritan), Daniel Burgess (Puritan), Samuel Willard, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Solomon Stoddard, Samuel Davies, Ralph Erskine, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Chalmers, Walter Chantry, Erroll Hulse, John MacArthur and Fred Zaspel.

Anthony Palmer (c.1618-1679) on God's Design and Willingness to Save Sinners Freely

"3. If God hath so laid the Design to save a Sinner freely, then how great, how just is the Condemnation of guilty sinners that will not hasten in unto it: how could the Lord have laid it more freely then he hath? Oh that any sinner, for ever condemned to Hell without it, should withstand it! Why sinner? Shall the Blessed God, that might have much glory in condemning thee to all Eternity, be willing to save thee freely; and wilt thou not come and bow unto him, & accept of it? All the contempt of God, in all his Holy Commands, is not like this, to turn the back upon Free-Mercy, Free-Salvation: This will be the Worm that never dies to any of your Souls that shall not come into, and rightly accept of Gospel-salvation, that you might have been saved freely, have had grace, remission of sins, Jesus Christ, the Spirit, Eternal Life freely, and yet turned your backs upon it?"

Anthony Palmer, The Gospel New-Creature (London: Printed for Edward Brewster, at the Crane in Pauls Church yard, 1658), 115-116.

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Anthony Palmer (c.1618–1679) on Mistaking Common Grace for True Grace

Take you heed also, that you take not that which is called Common-Grace, which is Common to Reprobates, for true grace. There's a false faith, a false Repentance, a false Hope, and so of the rest, in which you may assuredly go to Hell; you may have a harmless conversation, and do some good works of Charity and yet perish for ever, you may have nothing of the New-Creature in you; and yet give all your goods to the poor.

In a word, you may leave outward gross sins, have convictions of wrath to come, have purposes, (such as they are) to be better, take up to New-Duties, have common grace, think you have faith, repentance, hope that you are humble, patient, have a good conversation, and do good works; and yet not be New-Creatures in Jesus Christ, as we shall further evince.

Anthony Palmer, The Gospel New-Creature (London: Printed for Edward Brewster, at the Crane in Pauls Church yard, 1658), 198–199. He also affirms common grace on pages 183, 191, 203, and 204–205.

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Note: By "true grace," the Puritans mean a grace that is lasting, or that special grace of God that changes the heart unto eternal life. Here is how the Puritan Elnathan Parr explains the difference:

There are three sorts of men [that] go to Hell: 1. Such as continue in sin; a man need no great skill to read their doom. 2. The second are such, who have only a show of Religion, these are Hypocrites. 3. Such who have true grace, but it is temporary and continues not. A man may have true grace without salvation, but no true saving grace. True grace is then saving when it continues.

This distinction of grace is gathered out of the Hebrews, where Paul saith, That a man may be enlightened, partake of the Holy Ghost, and taste of the good word of God, and of the powers of the life to come, and yet be a cast-away. Now such graces were true, but temporary: So the stony and thorny ground had true grace, but not continuing, which is the note of good ground.

Elnathan Parr, A Plaine Exposition Upon the Whole Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelth Chapters of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans (London: Printed by George Purstowe for Samuel Man, dwelling in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Swanne, 1620), 421–422.

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