General Conditional Decree:
1) 101. It is a thing so contrary to the nature of Christianity, and the Spirit of Christ in his Saints, to extenuate Christ’s Merit’s, Purchase, Interest or Honor, or rob him of his due, that doubtless so many sincere Christians would never be guilty of such injurious extenuations, and narrowing of Christ’s successes, but that they cannot reconcile special Grace with universal, and mistakingly judge them inconsistent: Nor durst opprobriously reproach his universal Grace, as they do, by calling it vain, lame, imperfect, a mockery, &c. if the conceit of their defending some truth by it did not quiet and deceive their Consciences. Whereas indeed universal Grace and special, do as perfectly and harmoniously consist, as Nature and Grace do, and as the foundation and the building, and as any generical and specific Natures: And so doth a general Decree, that [All who will believe shall be saved, and that this Promise shall be made to the world] with a special Decree that [Paul shall believe and be saved.]
But on two accounts I pass by all the rest about the extent of Redemption, 1. Because I must give you a special Disputation or Tractate on that subject. 2. Because the most Judicious of English Divines (so far as I can know them by their works) Bishop Davenant has said so much in his two Posthumous Dissertation de Redempt. & Prædestinat. (Published out of the hands of Bishop Usher) as might suffice to reconcile contenders on these two points, were not men slothful in studying them or partial or incapable in judging these matters. Richard Baxter, Catholick Theologie (London: Printed by Robert White, for Nevill Simmons at the Princess Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard, 1675), 2:53-54. [Some spelling modernized; some reformatting; marginal comments not include; and underlining mine.]
Conditional Decree:
2) 2. We affirm that God has many Decrees which are conditional in respect of the thing decreed. So Dr. Twisse frequently tells you. He makes one thing a means and a condition of the event of another. And he says that God has conditional Promises and Threatenings; [“If thou confess with thy mouth, and believe in thy heart,” &c. “thou shall be saved.”] And we believe that God’s will made these Promises and Threats, and that they are the true signs of his Will: And that he will fulfil them. And so far he has a conditional Will, and conditional expressions of his Will.
3. But as to the Act of Volition, we believe that his Wills are eternal, and have no proper condition of their existence; because being existent, they are Necessary necessiate existentiæ; e.g. God never had such a Will as this, [If thou repent, I will purpose or will to pardon thee if thou repent, or to make the pardoning conditional promise]; But [If thou repent I will pardon thee, and whether thou repent or not, I will conditionally pardon thee, or make that Covenant which says, I will pardon thee if thou repent], our Acts are the Conditions of God’s Gifts and Acts, but not of his Will, as suspended on those Acts. Richard Baxter, Catholick Theologie (London: Printed by Robert White, for Nevill Simmons at the Princess Arms in St. Pauls Church-yard, 1675), 2:16-17. [Some spelling modernized; some reformatting; marginal comments not include; and underlining mine.]