thus reasoneth That cannot be a justifying righteousness in our present fallen estate 1. Which is not perfect for the least sin is enough to condemn Rom. 3. 20. Gal. 3. 10. Nor 2. which is our own of our own working out Rom. 10. 3 5. Nor 3. Which leaves any place for boasting Ephes 2. 9. Rom. 4. 2. Nor 4. which is opposite unto grace Rom. 4. 4. And upon these accounts all Evangelical Works are excluded out of Justification for they are imperfect they are our own subjectively they would leave room for some boasting if acceptance to life were upon these seeing it should be by our giving unto God also the way were opposite to grace for if the condition were never so small yet being performed the reward might be claimed upon our act and so would be of debt not of Gospel-grace Rom. 4. 4. The works of Abraham and David after conversion are excluded out of justification vers 2 3 6. which argueth that although Evangelical obedience kept in its due place doth not derogate from the grace of God yet it doth and is opposite to it if introduced into justification So that Gospel-grace doth not consist in a bare abatement of the rigor of the Law nor in making a bargain with us for the sake of Christ to accept of our faith repentance and sincere obedience instead of that which is perfect but it standeth in excusing us from a personal performance of that righteousness which is the condition of life and admitting Jesus Christ to answer the Law in our stead For the grand difference between the Law and the Gospel is the one justifieth by our own the other by anothers righteousness If man himself be the Doer for life that is the righteousness of the Law which saith Rom. 10. 5. the man that doth them shall live in them In opposition to it that of the Gospel is called the righteousness of faith vers 6. and of God vers 3. because it is to be sought out of our selves in another in the free promise and that which we are the subjects of is to be disclaimed here Phil. 3. 9. Rom. 10. 3. The asserting it to be by any of our personal performances giveth them the very place of works in the Covenant of Works which is anti-evangelical and introduceth some merits as well as perfect works would have done The being enabled by grace to them doth not hinder meriting any more than as one saith my furnishing a man with my tools to work with hinders his deserving a reward All ability that Adam had in innocency was from the favour of God and what he was to do was duty Faith it self is not the least of that righteousness it is an act of obedience but as such it is not said to justifie nor as it worketh by love although it doth so work Gal. 5. 6. Nor as a condition of life as I have elsewhere manifested but only as a means for the applying Christ and his righteousness much less can any works of ours be a part thereof The new creature availeth to being crucified to the world Gal. 6. 14 15. i. e. as a means but it is not said that it availeth to justification To justifie is to declare a person to be righteous the true God cannot pass a false sentence therefore we cannot have justification without having a righteousness this cannot consist in any act of ours as faith repentance or obedience as is already manifested therefore it must be of anothers working out the very righteousness of Jesus Christ Rom. 5. 18 19. 1 Cor. 1. 30. And if his obedience being to the Law may be called a legal righteousness yet as the same is applied by faith it is to us an evangelical righteousness All the question then is whether evangelical works are not of the same use in justification that faith is of have they not the same place and office there that faith hath I answer negatively they have not for often we read of the righteousness of faith never of the righteousness of love in that business We are said to be justified by faith not in the same sense to be justified by love or works It 's true there is a necessity of Evangelical works to testifie our faith obedience and thankfulness to God but they are required not as conditions but as effects and declarations of our justification Things are said to be done when they are manifested as Rom. 3. 7. 4. 15. A tree is known by the fruits And thus not only open acts but those that are secret when regular have an aptitude to evidence faith and that a person is justified even when they are not actually seen Paul speaketh of being justified before God by receiving or applying the righteousness of Jesus Christ in the free promise this is only by faith James speaketh of being justified by manifesting to a mans self or others that it is applied this is by Evangelical works and not by faith only Thus by offering up Isaac the person of Abraham was declaratively justified as it did shew his faith to be true vers 18. Gen. 22. 12. and not his working but his believing is said to be imputed to righteousness Jam. 2. 23. if this be justification in the sense of Paul yet it is by faith and he was called the friend of God there is justification declared by works as God acted kindly towards him so he acted in a friendly way towards God He is a vain man that contenteth himself with a faith that standeth in a bare assent to some propositions of truth without the power of them upon his heart vers 14 19 20. That is a dead faith which doth not profit is not attended with salvation which remaineth without works vers 17 20 26. therefore it is not the same true faith which any are justified by but another thing That unfruitful faith which is blamed here certainly was as far from justifying them as it was from saving them and so is not the faith which Paul insisteth upon for by that men were justified and that in order before works for they cannot be performed in an instant though they certainly follow but the justification and faith which they are put upon and called to declare by works these are of a Gospel stamp The Lord Jesus having fully performed the Law as the condition of the New-Testament hence it becometh absolute to us If improperly a duty a way or means to the enjoyment of some blessings of it be called a Condition I contend not But a Condition properly is more than a causa sine qua non it is a cause that hath a moral efficiency in it for the fulfilling of it is that which giveth right and upon which a man hath a title to what is promised and without it none and so it is a moral efficient cause of the enjoyment of the good promised in a Covenant Faith and repentance are great duties but nothing performed by us can be such
short of all its blessings No I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me If there were any danger of forfeiting and losing these it must be either on Gods part by his leaving of them or on their part by their departing from him and here the Lord hath undertaken to secure against both these and so the matter is out of Question it was not thus in the Old Covenant Indeed what the Lord hath absolutely promised yet he hath appointed means in order to the attaining of it internal as Faith and external as Ordinances and commands utmost attendance upon him ordinarily in the use thereof this is necessary as a duty and sin ariseth upon the neglect of it Thus the Lord is unalterably determined to vouchsafe a frame of obedience Ezek. 36. 25 to 30. Yet obedience is to be performed by us we are to be the Agents and we may sin about the means in the way to the injoyment of such mercy as is laid up in absolute promises Faith is to be exercised in these else what use are they of and we may be faulty in not attending to it 3. If there be any such condition of the New Covenant it were most like to be precious Faith but that is not A condition properly taken is influential into right if performed it giveth right to the benefit promised if not performed there is no right and therefore is a cause it giveth jus ad rem which a man may have and yet be forced after to Sue for possession If it be only in a Mode or accident it is thus as if a great Estate be granted upon paying a white Lilly if a person bringeth a yellow Lilly and not a white he hath no right all is null and void upon such a tickle point are they who stand upon such conditions for Eternal mercies Now Faith giveth no right Joh. 1. 12. To as many as received him gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his Name Jesus Christ is offered in the free Promise of the Gospel Faith that consenteth or receiveth him and a right and title in him to the blessings of the Covenant it doth not give one The Father offereth righteousness in a way of gift Rom. 5. 17. Faith accepteth the offer receiveth Jesus Christ for righteousness and so conduceth to Justification Rom. 4. 3. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness i. e. it was reckoned a means unto righteousness so ver 5. Not that Faith it self was reckoned the least of that righteousness whereby we are justified but a means for the applying of Jesus Christ who is our righteousness The Covenant as to that priviledge of it Justification is not so absolute as to be without all means yet may be absolute without any condition properly so called As condemnation without any new act of receiving is the resultancy from the Law upon disobedience to all under the Covenant of Works so Justification is the resultancy of a Divine Promise upon the obedience of Jesus Christ to all those that are under the New Covenant That unbelievers are not justified by it is because they are not actually under it Not because they have not fulfilled the condition of it but because they are not interested in the obediential righteousness of Jesus Christ which is the condition of it Rom. 10. 10. The act of God in justifying is to be answered by the act of Faith consenting to the offer of the Gospel As the death and satisfaction of Jesus Christ is enough to answer if the accusation be that we are sinners and deserve Eternal wrath so if the accusation be that we have no interest or portion in this satisfaction any thing that can evidence our interest in Christ is a sufficient plea to answer that be it Faith or other Graces they may be pleaded as evidences but not as titles as fruits and effects of a right given but not as causes and conditions fulfilled by us giving us that right It is a great mistake to think that there is no plea in this case but from the performance of a condition For an evidence may be from the effects as well as from causes even in civils a meer witness may carry it in such a charge when he can testifie I saw the person put into peaceable possession of such an Estate Besides if this charge he drawn up against those out of Christ many things may make it good if against those that are in Christ then who draweth this up Not God for he it is that justifieth and therefore he will not condemn Rom. 8. 33 34. if Satan or their own hearts then as gracious effects are enough to answer so by direct acts of Faith there ought to be a stedfast resisting and withstanding of Satan and he will flee from them 1 Pet. 5. 9. Jam. 4. 7. No necessity of pleading the performance of a condition to help against this 4. Our obedience though evangelical is no such condition of the New Covenant as there was of the Old unto Israel For the Lord hath undertaken that his people shall obey Ezek. 36. 25 to 30. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my ways Heb. 8. 10. obedience is as absolutely promised as any other blessings in the New and therefore it cannot be the condition thereof The Apostle having asserted and largely proved Rom. 3. that justification is by faith not by the works of the Law he further cleareth it from the instances of Abraham and David Rom. 4. 3. Abraham believed c. and vers 4. Now to him that worketh the reward is not reckoned of grace but of debt This strongly implieth that the reward must be reckoned of grace but of debt This strongly implieth that the reward must be reckoned of grace and not of debt the emphasis is upon this so as if it were otherwise the whole force of his argument were taken away and the stress is not upon the word reckoned yet if it were the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being applied to both must signifie a true judgement and just estimation as Rom. 8. 18. 9. 8. 1 Cor. 4. 1. for really and in true account the reward is of grace and it is as firmly asserted that if it were of works it were in the same account of debt Say some only meritorious works would make it so but let it be considered that works can be meritorious only one of these two ways either 1. By being of such value and worth as that in justice such a recompence is deserved by them yea though there were no contract that way and dare any say that any works of men even in innocency could thus merit at the hands of God is not all obedience due to God so as when we have done all we are unprofitable servants Luk. 17. 10.
that I am he ye shall die in your Sins Thus the Apostle speaking not meerly of the false opinion of the Jewes concerning the meritoriousness of their good works or their external services being perfect obedience to the Law unto Life I say he not insisting upon these errours but having mentioned the very righteousness of the Law Rom. 10. 5. in opposition to that he saith ver 6 9 10. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be Saved It is then a believing in him as already come and having all righteousness subjected in him yea as dead and risen that is called for When they were doting upon works of the Law as performed by themselves to take them off from this he telleth them that all this legal doing for Life must be found in Christ alone and as it followeth for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness that is as a means unto righteousness It is not his own working that will be his righteousness nor his saith it self only that is a means for the applying that righteousness which is subjected in Christ alone So that the Apostles aim is not to call them off from a legal doing by natural power and ability and instead thereof to put them upon Evangelical believing and doing as the condition giving right to Life but his design is to put them upon looking wholly out of themselves and all their own doing whether by nature or grace unto Jesus Christ alone for righteousness unto Life If a man should set about any Gospel service upon a legal ground he would be culpable as the Judaizing Professouâ—s were It is such a doing as giveth a little unto Life by performing the condition of it that is rejected in the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians as dangerous Evangelical services are required on other accounts and to be performed to testifie conformity to the Will of God and these may evidence Life in the way to it but Faith it self though necessary yet doth receive a title from Jesus Christ doth not give one Joh. 1. 12. That Axiom he that believeth shall be Saved is not expressive of the tenour of the New Covenant we claim Salvation not in the right of any act of ours not upon the Rent of Faith as men hold Tenements by the payment of a Penny a Rose or such like no such thing here all is paid to the utmost Farthing by our Surety and we hold and claim upon the obedience of Jesus Christ alone Rom. 5. 18 19 21. 2. The New Covenant representeth the Lord as dealing with his people universally in a way of Promise and so is better than the Old which representeth him as treating them in a way of threatning The New consisteth all of Promises Heb. 8. ver 8 c. as if the heart of God were so full of Love and running over therewith that he could express nothing else but what he would be to and do for his people The Father having received full satisfaction to all demands in the Old Covenant by the mediation of his Son now he maketh it his business to give the fullest assurance by a constellation of Promises in the New that he will fulfill to a tittle whatsoever on his part resteth for performance Believers are wholly freed from the Curse there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1. Heb. 12. 18. They are under a ministration of righteousness 2 Cor. 3. ver 9. But the Old Covenant represented God as a consuming fire denouncing Curses and threatnings against the Children of Israel who were his own people for with them was the Sinai Covenant made and not with unbelievers of the Gentiles there were indeed some Promises sparingly scattered up and down in it but they run conditionally and Israel failed of coming up to the condition that if they had not been priviledged with the Covenant with Abraham to run unto for relief what might they think would become of them By Divine appointment there were some to stand upon mount Ebal to Curse as well as others upon mount Gerazim to bless Deut. 27. 13 c. There are about twelve curses which they were injoyned to declare their assent unto all the people shall say Amen yea the last was a general one ver 26. If they continued not in all things they were liable to it Gal. 3. 10. which sheweth that although a temporal Curse was not excluded yet an Eternal was also some way intended on which account it is called a ministration of condemnation 2 Cor. 3. 7. It was otherwise with them in reference to that Curse than it is with Christians under the New Israel by that voluntary act the Old Covenant passed Sentence upon themselves yea the Curse of the Law was not then actually undergone by Jesus Christ it was not then satisfied and so might be presented before them as their obligation or bond uncancelled to their great affrightment But Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law Gal. 3. 13. Now all is discharged for us and so the New is a better Covenant 3. The New Covenant consisteth of absolute Promises and therefore is better than the Old Sinai Covenant which did run upon conditional Promises yea had works as its condition In the times of the Old Testament the price of our Redemption was not paid by Jesus Christ and therefore Life was then held forth upon the condition of obedience the Lord said Do and Live Lev. 18. 5. Rom 10. 5. Gal. 3. 12. Yea as that which under the New seemeth to be conditionally mentioned in one place is absolutely promised in another so on the contrary what seemeth to some to be absolutely propounded in the Old in one part of it yet is conditionally promised in another Exod. 29. 45 46. I will dwell among the Children of Israel and be their God Indeed this is not properly absolute but as the foregoing Verses shew upon what Aaron a Type of Jesus Christ should do however the very same is clogged with a condition Levit. 26. 3 11 12 13 14 15. The promise of circumcising their heart and the heart of their Seed to love the Lord Deut. 30. 6. runneth upon condition If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God and keep his Commandments c. ver 9. But the New Covenant consisteth altogether of absolute Promises Heb. 8. ver 10 11 12 13. I will and ye shall When the condition of any Covenant is performed it becometh as absolute as if there had never been any annexed to it Now Jesus Christ is mentioned as our great High-Priest and Mediatour and that as having finished the work of Satisfaction ver 1 2 6. and the condition contained in the Old being exactly and compleatly fulfilled by him it naturally or necessarily must turn into an absolute form as in the New because upon his performance nothing more
with mens receiving it through Faith Gods act of pardon disobliging Believers the instant of their sinning is to be answered with a renewed act of Faith applying this to themselves setting their Seal to what God hath done yea renewed acts of Repentance also are to follow Under the Old Covenant it was not possible that the blood of Bulls and Goats should take away sins Heb. 10. 4. but the New Testament is better for therein through the blessed Mediatour believers obtain real remission Heb. 9. 15. 2. To ask impunity or immunity and freedom from the execution of the Curse and from other tokens of Divine displeasure if they know they shall have it yet they are to ask it as I before evidenced Though Believers know that God is a Father and that the Eternal Curse will never seize upon them yet they are to pray for a freedom from it and the rather be incouraged and provoked to it because the Lord hath promised it Although by the New Covenant Justification is continued yet by gross acts of sin the Lord may be provoked so as many sweet effects of their being justified may be suspended David who was in a state of Grace when he had notoriously sinned before renewed acts of Faith and Repentance before confessing his sin his bones waxed old through his roaring all the day long Psal 32. 3 4. Day and Night the band of God was heavy upon him By this it is evident that although at the instant of sinning Believers are declared really disobliged from the Eternal Curse of the Law yet they may not be sensibly freed from that nor from temporal evils till afterward They are exempted from vindictive Justice in order to the making satisfaction for sin but not from paternal corrective dispensations to the humbling for and deterring from sin Psal 51. 2 7. Wash me throughly from my sin c. Purge me with Hyssop c. He was deeply sensible of his pollution defilement and uncleanness by reason of iniquity maketh confession and seeketh the removal of it Ver. 4. That he might justifie God whom he had greatly dishonoured and give glory to him by acknowledging his righteousness in all his judgements he cryeth out Ver. 9. Hide thy face from my sins they were not only ever before him but seemed to be so before the Lord also as if he were alwaies looking on them though he had not lost his Salvation yet he wanted much of the joy of it ver 11 12. Nathan told him God had pardoned him his sin 2 Sam. 12. 13 14. only some tokens of Divine displeasure must be expected and I think he Penned this Penitentlal Psalm after for the title sheweth that this confession was directed to the chief Musician it was for the use of the Temple he had confessed privately before to Nathan now he doth it more publickly after he had told him of pardon and also of judgements ver 4. So that after Souls are really disobliged and have pardon it self yet they may want the sense of it till there be a fresh application of the blood of Jesus Christ by the Spirit to them so as they may cry out for it as he ver 9. Blot out all my iniquities There may be inward cloudings and darkness sin and guilt may lie heavy upon the Conscience there may be throbbing there and a dreadful sense of it which may be enough to deterr from sin He will visit transgressions with a Rod though his loving kindness he will not utterly take from them Psal 89. 32 33. And who is willing to see the frowning face of God a tender Father and to have such smart rebukes not only by outward corporal afflictions but by the withdrawing the light of his countenance which is better than Life The Old Covenant did not purge the Conscience but the New is a better Testament for having mentioned the remission of sins afforded thereby Heb. 10. 16 17. he addeth let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience so Heb. 9. 15. In the way of a fresh exercise of Faith they may have freedom not only from other fatherly corrections but from those accusations of an evil Conscience which are the usual fruits of hainous sins till renewed acts of Faith and Repentance 5. The New Covenant raiseth a choice Spirit of filial Love and so is better than the Old which leaveth under a Spirit of servile fear the New being made up all of Promises must needs have a tendency to raise into the sweetest Spirit Rom. 8. 15. For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father There is an excellency in the Evangelical Spirit then above the other I understand that Text of different states of the Church or People of God seeing in the former and following Chapters he evidently speaketh of Believers freedom from the Law by the Lord Jesus and the particle again doth intimate that once they were under that fearing Spirit viz. under the Old Mosaick dispensation but now in the times of the New Testament were freed from it Some by the Spirit of bondage understand operations of the Spirit in fear and terrour in order to conversion I cannot find that he is treating of that and it is more suitable to understand it of the state under the Old Testament and the rather because it is brought in as a proof of their Sonship as the particle for doth intimate it was therefore no desirable frame to be sought after but a misery to be under it and a mercy to be freed from it The Old Covenant carried with it more of the Spirit of a Servant as the word signifieth and although serving the Lord chiefly or only for reward savoureth of a legal Spirit and is one difference between the Spirit of a Servant and the Spirit of a Son yet here another difference is aimed at for it is said ye have not received it again to fear The Sinai Covenant put them on to duty by dreadful threatnings presented Curses before them and that not actually undergone for them by Jesus Christ as Arguments or inforcements thereunto which terrifieth and filleth with such fear as is found in Servants by the severe threatning of their Masters Israel was filled with fear and astonishment at the first promulgation of the Law And whewhether this was the proper effect of the Sinai Law to work into servile fear and bondage so as to make that duty then which now is not so and whether it were the approved effect of it in that day or not yet it intimateth that through the frailty of sinful man this would certainly be the issue of it and was even unavoidable hearing the Law from the mouth of an all-powerful God as a consuming fire and there was not enough in those conditional promises to free from this servile fear and so it left them under
obedience in the Life or bringing up a self-resignation to the Lord as Isa 44. 5. in tho Covenant it is expresly promised they shall be my people These things are insisted upon elsewhere yea frequently by others therefore I shall pass them over at present and mention only one evidence Answ By the operations and actings of precious Faith a Soul may have a clear knowledge of its actual interest in the New and better Covenant That noble Grace of Faith hath such a special relation to the Covenant which is made up of promises that the Gospel is called the Word of Faith Rom. 10. 8. It is so expressive of the great matters of it that Faith often and the Law or Old Covenant are the opposite terms of a distinction Gal. 3. ver 2 5 12 23. Yea ver 9. they that are of Faith are blessed with faithful Abraham they are sharers with him in the same Covenant and blessed therein the very blessings of Abraham come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ ver 14. That we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through Faith Much is to be drawn out of the free Promise for our relief and succour in any condition yea for the influenceing of any other Graces by Faith By that our entercouse with God here is kept up Not that the Promise is made to beliving as a Grace in us or as a gracious Act put forth by us but to the Believer as in Christ Faith is not magnified as a quality but as in the Office of receiving the Promise and of excellent use therein Vers 22. That the Promise through the Faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe Faith is not then properly the condition of the Covenant upon the performance of which they have a right and title to it but a choice effect of it and a singular means for the application of the promises and fetching in of Covenant blessings to the Soul by that the Promise or what is in the Promise is given to it and Faith having thus to do with the Promises it must needs have an aptitude above other Graces above Sanctification and Evangelical obedience to witness a Souls interest in the everlasting Covenant Heb. 11. 1. It is an evidence of things not seen and therefore it self is not as inevident as those other things There are various acts of Faith that by the concurrence of the Divine Spirit may evidence interest in the Covenant 1. By Faith in the Free Promise such glorious discoveries of the Grace and Lovâ— of God in Jesus Christ unto sinners arâ— afforded as their hearts consent to thâ— offer thereof it is by the shining of Gospel light through the Free Promise into the hearts of men that they are turned from darkness to light Act. 26. 18. The highest natural light will leave them short of a discovery of sin in its exceeding sinfulness and of the riches of Grace in Jesus Christ for the recovery of lost sinners they cannot see these aright till they be revealed by the Divine Spirit Matth. 16. 17. 1 Cor. 2. 10 14. Tit. 2. 11 12. Unbelievers may have a notion of these things but when they are seen by an eye of Faith they appear in another manner Rom. 1 16 17. The Gospel is the power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth The heart stood immediately before at an infinite distance from the Lord Jesus and was full of opposition against him but when there is a work of Faith upon it then Diâ—ine power is exerted by the Word or Promise of the Gospel for the drawing it off from all other objects to â—itch upon Jesus Christ alone for Salvation in a way of Free Grace then it â—ccepteth of the blessed offer when all â—rguments in the World before would not prevail with it The heart that stood off from him is then brought over to him by the Gospel and why For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith It is in a Gospel-Glass that a Soul gaineth a right discovery of the excellency of Jesus Christ and that righteousness of his without which no Salvation It is by Faith that there is a learning of the Father so as effectually to be drawn unto the Son This cordial consenting to the offer of the Gospel in submitting to the obediential righteousness of Jesus Christ alone for acceptation unto Life this is Faith unto Justification Rom. 10. ver 3 4 6 10. as the like consent to have him for our Lord to rule over us by his Spirit dwelling in us is Faith unto Sanctification Act. 15. 9. Rom. 8. ver 9 to 16. Thus the Soul maketh out to the blood of Jesus Christ for cleansing from all sin and the first act of closing with Jesus Christ is by Faith in a Free Promise that is the first Grace that lives in it the first breathings of Spiritual Life are thereby such powerful and admirable alterations are found at first acquaintance with Jesus Christ by discoveries above sense fetching in the heart unto him beyond all other means that they must needs be evidencing of interest in the Promise or Covenant from whence all these come Such first things have a mark upon them and often are most discernable the state thereupon being so vastly different from what it was how refined so ever the nature was before Thus some have had their interest cleared up in such a word as that 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief By the eye of Faith a Soul gaineth such a prospect of matchless Love and Free Grace as it is won over to Jesus Christ thereby through a powerful application of the Promise to it self 1 Joh. 5. 10 11. He that believeth on the Son hath the witness in himself he being inabled by Grace to entertain and cordially subscribe to the blessed record upon a Divine Testimony viz. that God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son thereby he setteth to his Seal that God is true in the Word of his Grace that hath a witnessing power and the person hath the witness within himself even when he sometimes doth not discern it 2. By Faith the Soul maketh out to Jesus Christ in the Free Promise as he alone that giveth it subsistence in spiritual Life Oneness with Jesus Christ cannot be without interest in the Covenant 2 Pet. 1. 4. In whom are given to us exceeding great and precious Promises c. Ephes 3. 6. Partakers of the Promise in Christ Ver. 17. That Christ may dwell in your heart by Faith It is a promise-hold that we have of Jesus Christ here his in-being and indwelling is by Faith so he even animateth the Souls of Saints Gal. 2. 20. I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me how I live by the Faith of the Son of God Others live by sense they
seed upon earthly comforts but Christians live by Faith by what is laid up in Divine Promises by these things they live they know not how to subsist in any state or condition without a Promise they would count themselves dead creatures without that whatever earthly enjoyments they had in possession Neither will a Promise alone satisfie without Jesus Christ in it Christ liveth in me he is the very Life of their lives without him nothing but spiritual swoonings faintings dyings and all from the want and failings of Faith That fetcheth in all influences from Jesus Christ for the supporting and hath the great hand and stroak in all the actings of spiritual Life all spiritual motions are managed thereby Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And therefore Sanctification is but a secondary or after evidence That is not discernable till first there be a discerning Faith which speaketh Justification If Faith be inevident all other Graces will be so also Faith may be shewed unto others by Works Jam. 2. 18. A man may be Declaratively justified by Works but if a man doubteth of his Faith he will as well doubt of his Works whether they be from a Gospel root or not For no Love of the right stamp and so no due obedience but what is the fruit and issue of Faith in the Lord Jesus For that worketh by Love Gal. 5. 6. As first acts of Faith do not consist in believing that our sins are pardoned but in a receiving Jesus Christ and his righteousness as the way to pardon Joh. 1. 12. So if Christians kept up in acts of Faith by outgoings of heart to him in the way of the Promise for all that is wanted there would be not only sweet flowings of Love and Evangelical obedience issuing thence but also they would be filled with all joy and peace in believing Rom. 15. 13. I have often thought if Christians did give more attendance to such direct acts of Faith and spent less time in questioning their conditions or giving way to doubtings about them they would find their interest in the Covenant cleared up yea and consolation also coming in as by the by 3. By Faith Souls are venturing upon the Free Grace and faithfulness of God in his Covenant in the greatest distresses with good success The New Covenant is made up all of Promises and the Gospel is called the Word of Faith because it is the Work of Faith to draw out what is vesseled up there Heb. 10. 38. Now the Just shall live by Faith Not only as to Justification but as to expectation of mercy promised Many would be acting Faith in the concluding interest in Christ and Eternal Life but they should be acting it by a cordial owning of Evangelical principles Yea Christians should lead their whole Life in looking to the Love and Faithfulness of God in his Promise for all their relief and succour in any condition they come into here yea even for Eternal Mercy Heb. 6. 18. They are pursued by spiritual enemies corruptions and Temptations and are in great danger but by hope which floweth from Faith and can act no higher than Faith doth they go yea run for refuge to the hope to the heavenly glory that is set before them so as they lie as at Anchour in such stormy daies and here are two immutable things the Promise and the Oath of God that by these they might have strong consolation By Faith they realize the very things contained in the Promise or Covenant and so their interest in it is experimentally witnessed to them They can say at such a time when we were in Soul distress so as all the means in the World could contribute nothing towards inward ease quietment and consolation then we being inabled by Grace to bear the weight of our Souls and our conditions upon the Faithfulness of God in his Covenant or Free Promise we found relief and refreshment It was not meerly our own fancy and imagination but we were delivered out of our distresses by Faith we were inabled to draw out of the Promise the Milk of consolation which it was beyond the power of all creatures to afford us and thus they find that the Covenant or Promise is their own 4. By Faith in the Free Promise there is a standing Conquerours in Jesus Christ over all spiritual enemies it is a great matter of the Covenant that the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents bead Gen. 3. 15. And therefore there is through Grace a vanquishing all the enemies of Salvation Sin and Satan through the blessed Seed the Lord Jesus The Promises are accomplished within the Soul but the way is Ephes 6. 16. Above all take the Shield of Faith That not only is best for descrying Satan in all his Stratagems but for the withstanding of him also Joh. 5. 4. This is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith When the Soul hath Combates or Spiritual Conflicts and reason is foiled cannot bear up then Faith appeareth as Victorious not in its own strength but in the strength of Christ and his conquest which it maketh use of in these encounters And thus conquering acts of Faith as before venturing relieving and discovering acts are useful for witnessing interest in the Covenant I might shew that Faith hath other acts as acts of assurance drawing up conclusions he hath loved me and given himself for me Gal. 2. 20. But I have said enough to shew that it giveth a knowledge of being within the New Covenant CHAP. XIII Of the Use of Absolute Promises THe Question will now be What Use is there of absolute better Promises When or in what cases are they to be made use of Answ 1. They are of Use for the manifestation of the riches of Divine Grace and Love to sinners if there may be some Grace in promising great blessings upon a very small condition certainly there must be more Grace and Love in promising the same absolutely without any condition This maketh to the magnifying of the Lord in his owning Israel above all people that he loved because he would love Deut. 7. 6 7 8. not because they were greater or more lovely than others or had any beauty or comliness in them but for his own sake as is often intimated Absolute Promises are high expressions of Divine Love as Heb. 8. 10 11 12. They proclaim rich mercy and great Love Eph. 2. 4 5. That the Lord should break through all unworthiness and undeservings this may work into the greatest self-emptiness and self-abasement The Lord peremptorily promised the establishing of Davids throne for ever 2 Sam. 7. 13 16. and this Grace melts his heart into a deep sense of his own nothingness ver 18 19. Who am I O Lord God what is my house c. Thou hast spoken also of thy Servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of man O Lord God So that absolute Promises of Divine
means which he sanctifieth and blesseth to that end for the working or begetting of Faith If any will neglect abuse and misimprove or make light of it Mat. 22. v. 5. and intreat spightfully the messengers that are sent with that blessed tidings or if they will be attended to their worldly matters their Farms and Oxen They sinning against the means of grace it is a putting a slight upon the grace and salvation tendred in the means and this leaveth inexcusable and will expose the sinners to just condemnation They had power to forbear such acts of sin against the means though they had not power to render it effectual and who either Speaker or Hearer knoweth that he is not of that number which Jesus Christ Covenanted for and will make it effectual to however the Lord is not bound to abatâ— of his demand of duty because of mans impotency and sinfully contracted disability to obey All therefore ought to give utmost attendance to the general call of the Gospel as a matter of highest concernment to their souls for Eternity and the neglecting hereof is a despising of Jesus Christ and his benefits Luk. 10. 16. And then no wonder if the wrath of God abideth on them Corol. 4. Hence there were glorious transactions in order to the salvation of the Elect long before their believing though the actual application of federal blessings to them is not one moment of time before the gift of Faith yet before that there are glorious advantages arising from the Covenant as between the Father and the Son on their behalf Vertually and ex faedere all conducing unto happiness was secured for them from Eternity then there was not only a passing such an act as they cannot eventually be damued which is so far from proving an actual justification as that a meer decree of Election would have been sufficient unto this seeing that must certainly have its execution but by a federal act so early was the undertaking of Jesus Christ on their behalf then was the Covenant made between the Father and the Son which had all blessedness in the womb of it Tit. 1. 2. Indeed he had not actually our sin upon him nor was so justified before his incarnation Isa 50. 7 8. For his coming in the flesh had been vain and unnecessary if he had been actually discharged before And this may shew that our justification doth not every way run parallel to his For believers under the Old Testament were actually justified before Jesus Christ was so but so early the Elect did in some special way belong unto God being federally made over by him to Jesus Christ for gratious ends Job 17. 6. Thine they were and thou gavest them unto me And this was a great business for he was appointed to be their representative and to pay their ransom money so as when he did it they were virtually deemed as justified yea sanctified and glorified there not in their own persons but in him Eph. 2. 5 6. Hath quickened us together with Christ and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Corol. 5. Hence there was some love in the bosom of God towards the Elect from all Eternity Sending Christ himself who is given for a Covenant and is the sum of it is the fruit and effect of it Joh. 3. 16 God so loved the world that he gave hiâ— only begotten Son And if the Covenant was from everlasting then that Divine love which is the Fountain and first spring from whence it floweth must needs be so early also God doth actually love the Elect before they are regenerate or can actually believe with a love of benevolence or good will though not with a love of complacency and delight He beareth love to their persons though not to their qualities and actions nor to their state and condition Yea God owneth them not only with electing but with redeeming love Rom. 5. 8. God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us This extolleth his love and maketh it surmount all others that he gave his Son to die for them whilst they were in a state of sin and misery There was some federal love so far as to give them unto Jesus Christ to be redeemed by him Job 6. 37 39. So as to owne them as the persons which should share in Covenant grace afterward when others were left out The love of God is an unchangeable and eternal act of his Will ever one and the same admitteth of no increase or decrease in him he doth not begin to love any person that he hated before be changeth not Mal. 3. 6. But to help our weak understandings according to his acting towards us and to the change that is made in us and as we partake of his benefits so he is said to let it out to us 1 Job 3. 1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the Sons of God Thus the Lord loveth not his creatures equally or all alike but some more than others the regenerate more than the unregenerate and those most who share most in the effects of it both for this life and that which is to come From Eternity although God had not a love of approbation to the state of the Elect unconverted yet he had a love of commiseration unto their persons Psal 103. 17. But the mercy of the Lord which hath miserable creatures as the proper objects of it is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him c. Before the foundations of the earth were laid he considered them as possibly miserable and was a God of mercy Then he had such a love of benevolence to them as certainly issueth in a love of beneficence or soul inriching bounty Eph. 2. 4 5. But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ c. Here the first operations of Divine grace the recovery of a soul out of a dead state unto spiritual life the first quickenings of a soul from the death of sin are made the issues of Divine favour they spring from mercy and rich mercy from love and great love Corol. 6. Hence the Covenant of grace as made with Jesus Christ hâ—d the precedency was before the Covenant of works that was first this after For though there was a Divine Decree concerning the Creation and the Covenant of Works to be in time yet that was not actually made so early because Adam who was to be the head of it was not then existing had not a being for it to be made with Whereas Jesus Christ who was the head of the Covenant of grace was not only really existing but undertaking from Eternity The Covenant of grace without any incongruity may be asserted in its constitution and making to be first or before the Covenant of
is to be demanded of him but all must certainly be accomplished unto us The Apostle in the Text is purposely putting a difference between these and seeing the Old Covenant was unquestionably conditional and the New here in opposition to it or distinction from it is as undoubtedly absolute must it not needs be concluded that herein standeth much of the excellency of the New above the Old It was Prophesied of Jesus Christ Dan. 9. ver 27. He shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week A great end of his coming and death was the confirmation of the New Covenant on the behalf of the many which he stood for so as now it is turned into a Testament as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which generally it is expressed by doth evidence Gal. 3. 15 16 17. Though it be but a mans Testament yet if it be confirmed no man disanulleth or addeth thereto The Free Promise was confirmed by Oath before and by way of Testimony since but especially confirmed by the death of Jesus Christ by his performing the condition of it and therefore it can admit of no addition or alteration Heb. 9. 16 17. For where a Testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator for a Testament is of force after men are dead c. It beareth the name of a Testament as in relation to his death so in such a proper sense as it hath the Laws of a Testament attending it on which account he mentioneth a necessity of the testators death and its being in force thereupon Indeed a man may put some conditions into his last Will I do not argue thus it is a Testament and therefore absolute but therefore unalterable and so being delivered in an absolute form I will and ye shall hence it must abide in it even in its accomplishment and whereas some argue for conditions from the nature of a Covenant against that it is asserted to be a last Will or Testament which may bequeath Legacies without any condition There is a vast difference between the way of Jesus Christ his acting in the Work of his mediation before and since his Incarnation and the latter is much more glorious than the former Before he might plead Father thou hast promised me upon my obedience hereafter to be performed that those Souls which I have undertaken for should enjoy such blessings there was a mutual trust between them and so he might plead it in point of faithfulness but now he hath actually performed the condition of the Covenant and may plead it in point of Justice Christ being actually exhibited as a propitiation upon that God is said Rom. 3. 25 26. to declare at this time his righteousness c. in opposition to the time of the Old Testament he saith at this time that is at the time of the New Testament wherein the Blood of Jesus Christ is truly shed now God declareth his righteousness in the justifying him that believeth in Jesus it is an act of Grace to those who attain the remission of Sin but an act of righteousness to Jesus Christ he may plead Father I have made satisfaction to the full for the sin of these Souls now declare thy righteousness in pardoning of them it is that which I have purchased for them I have finished the Work which thou gavest me to do Joh. 17. 4. I have paid the full price of their Redemption now let them have what I have procured for them thus he appeareth in Heaven in our nature not as a meer Intercessor but as an Advocate 1 Joh. 2. 1. to plead that in Law in right we are to be discharged and this putteth a great excellency upon the New Covenant that it is in it self and to Jesus Christ thus absolute And note if some priviledges of the Covenant were dispenced out properly in a conditional way as suppose Justification were afforded upon Faith as a condition or temporal mercies upon obedience yet this would be far from proving any thing to be the condition of the Promise or of the Covenant it self Indeed even Faith is a particular blessing of it and therefore cannot be the condition of the whole Covenant for what shall be the condition of Faith And there is no such special Covenant now extant as the Old was for temporal mercies they are indefinitely promised and Soveraign Grace is the determining rule of dispencing out these to the Saints when they are wanted for time and measure as it is most for the glory of God and their good Matth. 6. 32 33. Nothing performed by us then is conditio foederis the condition of the Covenant it self Jesus Christ hath performed all required that way But whether any thing be conditio foederatorum cometh now to be considered Object Is the New Covenant absolute to us or conditional Are there not conditional promises therein to us as there were in the Old unto Israel Can we expect any mercy but upon our performing some condition that it is promised to Answ 1. If condition be taken improperly for that which is only a connex action or medium fruitionis a necessary duty way or means in order to the injoyment of promised mercies in this sense I acknowledge there are some promises belonging to the New Covenant which are conditional and thus are many Scriptures to be taken which are urged this way That this might not be a meer strife of words I could wish men would state the Question thus Whether some Evangelical duties be required of and graces wrought by Jesus Christ in all the persons that are actually interested in the New Covenant I should Answer yea For in the very Covenant it self it is promised that he will write his Laws in their hearts Heb. 8. 10. and that implyeth Faith Repentance and every gracious frame and those that have the Lord for their God are his people If the accusation be that there is a want of interest in Jesus Christ they need not plead that they have fulfilled the condition of the Covenant but that the Covenant it self in some promise of it which uses to be distinct from its condition hath its accomplishment upon them therein And those that are altogether without those precious Graces are strangers to the Covenant Ephes 2. 12. they cannot lay claim to the blessings of it It is our duty earnestly to be seeking after what is promised and one blessing may be sought as a means to another as the Spirit as a means to Faith and Faith as a means to obedience Gal. 5. 6. Believing is a great Duty in connexion with and a means of Salvation he that believeth shall be saved Mark 16. 16. Joh. 3. 36. Ephes 2. 8. 1 Pet. 1. 5 9. There is an order in giving sorth these blessings to us and that by Divine appointment so as the neglecting to seek them therein is highly displeasing unto God This is our priviledge that Divine promises are so conjoyned and twisted together for
the incouragement of Souls in seeking after them that if one be taken many more go along with it like many links in a Chain that are closed into each other The means and the end must not be severed Where there is such a connexion of Duties Graces and Blessings the matters may be sometimes expressed in a conditinal form with an If as Rom. 10. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth be Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart thou shalt be saved Such â—fs note the verity of such propositions in their connexion they affirm this or that to be a certain truth as that he which believeth shall undoubtedly be saved yet that Grace is not properly the condition of Salvation For even believing is absolutely promised so as nothing shall intervene to hinder it Isa 53. 10 11. Heb. 8. 10. In that improper sense some Scriptures seem to speak of conditions viz. they intimate a connexion between Covenant blessings some are conjoyned as means and end yet the promises are really absolute for their performance There is a vast difference between the way of the Lord in the dispensation of Covenant blessings and the tenour of the Covenant Or between the New Covenant it self and the means which the Lord useth for its execution and accomplishment The Covenant it self is an absolute grant not only to Jesus Christ but in him to the house of Israel and Judah Heb. 8. Yet what the Lord hath absolutely promised and is determined and resolved upon to vouchsafe to them may be conditionally propounded as a quickening means unto Souls seeking a participation of it As it was absolutely determined yea and declared by the Lord that those very persons which were in the Ship should be preserved Act. 27. 22. There shall not be a loss of any mans Life and ver 25. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me Yet as a means to their preservation he speaketh to them conditionally ver 31. Except these abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved So although the Salvation of all the Elect and also the causing them to believe is absolutely intended yet as a means that he may urge the duty upon Souls with greater vehemency and earnestness the Lord may speak in a conditional way if ye believe ye shall be saved when it is certain they shall believe Answ 2. There is no such condition of the New Covenant to us as there was in the Old to Israel for the Apostle is comparing them together and in opposition to the Old he giveth the New altogether in absolute promises and that to Israel Heb. 8. and shewing that the New is not according to the Old he discovereth wherein the difference lay ver 9. Because they continued not in my Covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord and Jer. 31. 32. which Covenant they brake c. This argueth that the condition of the Old was such as the performance of it did give them assurance of the temporal mercies promised and a right to them and such as failed in left them at uncertainties whether they should injoy them or not so as it was not only in it self and its own nature uncertain but even as to the event I regarded them not saith the Lord. If their performing the condition had been as absolutely promised as the blessings of the New Covenant are then Israel would have continued in it which they did not and could not have forfeited what was promised thereupon as diverse times they did and were excluded out of Canaan upon that account Jurists say a condition is a rate manner or Law annexed to mens acts staying or suspending the same and making them uncertain whether they shall take effect or no. Cowell out of West part 1. Symb. 2. sect 156. And thus condition is opposed to absolute That there is no such condition in the New Covenant to be performed by us giving right and title to the blessings of it and leaving at uncertainties and liability to missing of them as there was in the Old to be fulfilled by Israel may appear 1. If there be any it must either be an antecedent or a subsequent condition but neither L. Coke upon Littleton saith of one precedent Conditio adimpleri debet priusquam sequatur effectus There can be no such antecedent condition by the performance of which we get and gain entrance or admittance into Covenant for till we be in it no act put forth by us can find any acceptation with God Heb. 11. 6. Without Faith it is impossible to please God And our being in Covenant is in order of nature though not of time before Faith because it is a priviledge or benefit of the Covenant a part of the New heart a fruit of the Spirit and so the Spirit which is the worker of it and another blessing of the Covenant is given first in order before it Jesus Christ is the first saving gift Rom. 8. 32. and with him he freely giveth all things Men ought to be in the use of means but it is the act of God that giveth admission into the Covenant Ezek. 16. 8. I entred into Covenant with thee saith the Lord God and thou becamest mine Immediately before they were polluted in their blood Ver. 6. In an utter incapacity for acting in any pleasing way so as to get into Covenant Neither is there any subsequent condition to be fulfilled by us the use of that is for the continuation of a right and upon failing thereof all is forfeited as in the case of Adam Whereas there is no act of ours whereby our right unto Covenant blessings is continued to us upon failing whereof they may be forfeited Our right and the ground of our claim is upon a higher account than any act of our own it is even the purchase of Jesus Christ and they are the sure mercies of David Isa 55. 3. Sure to all the Seed Rom. 4. 16. And when they are become believers Eternal Life is absolutely promised Joh. 3. 16 36. 1 Joh. 5. 10 11 12. and it is a contradiction to say that it is absolutely and yet but conditionally promised to them 2. The Lord hath given assurance that there shall never be an utter violation of the New Covenant and therefore it hath no such condition as was annexed to the Old For the Lord declareth that they had broken his Covenant Jer. 11. ver 3 4 10. Jer. 31. ver 32. Littleton speaking of an Estate upon condition in deed by Feoffment saith it is called Estate upon condition for that the Estate of the Feoffee is defeasible if the condition be not performed Ten. lib. 3. Cap. 4. But the New Covenant is secured from such a violation it cannot be disanulled so as the persons interested in it should be deprived of the great blessings promised therein Jer. 32. 40. I will make an everlasting Covenant with them but may there not be such a condition of it as they may come
Job 22. 3. 35. 7. If thou be righteous what givest thou him Rom. 11. 35. Who hath first given to him and it shall be recompensed to him again Credendum est firmiter dari nihil ab hominibus per modum indebiti vel accipi à Deo per modum lucri Tract Sacr. Or else 2. They merit ex pacto by some contract or Covenant that though the works be inconsiderable in value to the reward yet the Lord hath promised such a reward to them thus only and no otherwise could the obedience of Adam in a state of innocency be meritorious for he did owe all as duty to God even by right of creation he might have required all without ingaging himself to give any reward and finite services could not merit in worth and value an infinite reward but the Lord promised it to his perfect unsinning works No otherwise did any among the Romans or Galatians expect justification or eternal life in a way of works but only falsly imagining that the Lord had made a promise of salvation unto these Thus a reward may be of merit and of debt and yet of grace in some sense though not of special Gospel grace for all good promised or given by the Lord to his creature is of grace seeing God oweth nothing to any Thus the making of a promise to Adam in a state of innocency for the rewarding of his works was of grace yet the promise being made if he had continued in that state the reward would have been of debt and therefore upon the same ground if the reward were now promised to us upon evangelical obedience then that were as truly meritorious though the condition were more favourable and life as really of debt as it would have been to Adam upon his sinless obedience for only the promise must have made it so there and the same is found here The Text in hand must refer either to the works of the Law which cannot properly merit because due even by the Law of Nature or else to those performed by Abraham after believing and then he concludes that if the reward were of these it were reckoned of debt neither of these could render it so but only by a Divine promise assuring such a reward upon the performing such works as the condition thereof and therefore seeing he concludeth it not of debt hence no obedience of our own can be such a condition of the New Covenant It is difficult to understand how the reward can be a debt legally and in justice due and yet not God a debtor when it is only his compact or Covenant that it becometh debt if that may be our due which another possesseth though he be not bound to us yet where it becometh due only by promise as in the case in hand and that upon an act of ours as the supposed condition it seemeth that the promiser is a debtor though considered antecedently to his promise he was free and in Rom. 4. 4. not only is God denied to be a debtor but the reward is denied to be a debt therefore there is no promise of it upon such a condition as our works which would make it of debt in opposition to that it is said to be of grace that is of Gospel Grace It 's true there are Divine Promises of the reward upon Christs works but they are not made immediately to us either upon our believing or obeying but mediately and at the second hand so as the ground of our claim is not our performing any Gospel condition upon which it is promised for then it were as really of debt as Adams but all the Promises are immediately made to Jesus Christ upon his righteousness and meritorious obedience on which account all become debt to him and thus God is not a debtor to us but to himself to his own goodness and faithfulness and to his Son and not our works but faith is the means unto our being counted righteous in his righteousness which only merited our eternal reward 2 Cor. 1. 20. All the promises in him are yea and in him Amen c. We cannot claim any one promise in our own name upon performing any Gospel condition our selves though by the help of grace for then though it were never so small it were of debt to us but our only claim is in him in the right of our elder brother Jesus Christ and thus it is of debt to him but only of grace to us Saith Augustin in Psal 83. Debitorem Dominus ipse fecit se non accipiendo sed promittendo we can plead for nothing promised but upon the account of Divine faithfulness whereas if any act of ours though never so small were the condition of any promise then being performed we might plead for what is promised in a way of Justice whose formal reason Aquinas teacheth is ut sit ad alterum justice consisteth in giving to another what is his due viz. by contract promise or otherwise If Divine Promises pass into a debt it is to none but himself saith Dr. Arrowsmith in his Tract Sacr. Ipsi etiam Deo competit duplex debitum condecentiae unum fidelitatis alterum And a little after out of August Deus sibi debitor est ut agat condecenter prout congruit bonitati suae uâ—i seipsum negare non potest ita non debet aliquid se indignum facere And a little after out of Davenant Cum Deus dat vitam aeternam Petro aut Paulo Divina voluntas non solvit debitum creaturae sed sibi ipsi See more ibid. pag. 335. It either saith or obedience were a condition then there were a suspending acts of God upon some acting of the Creature which saith Dr. O. of Persev P. 53. cannot be without subjecting eternity to time the first cause to the second the Creator to the Creature yea then by our performing of it the Lord were laid under an obligation to afford mercy promised even life and salvation to us and we might claim these upon our own act In short therefore we may have the recompence of reward in our eye as an incouragement unto duty 1 Cor. 15 last Heb. 11. 26. 12. 2. Yea we may exercise faith as a means to the fruition of life and salvation and yield evangelical obedience that we may shew forth the praises or may honour him that hath called us by such choice fruits and effects thereof and as evidences of interest therein Thus we may in the strength of Christ strive to enter in at the strait gate conflict with and overcome spiritual enemies and work out salvation 1 Cor. 9. 24 25. Rev. 2. 7 11 17 26. Phil. 2. 12. We may pray read hear believe repent as ways or means to the obtainnent thereof seeking the right thereunto only in Jesus Christ But we may not believe or obey as a condition for then upon the performance thereof we have right and title to the promised blessings even to eternal
free him from the obligation of it It promised nothing to a sinner it would imply a contradiction that it should promise Life to him still upon perfect unsinning obedience when he was already a sinner under the threatning of Death Yea if immediately after Adams sinning satisfaction had been made and he pardoned yet he had been but in statu quo prius in his former state If the Covenant of Works had been in force again is at the first he must afterward have yielded perfect obedience else no promise of Life and therefore there is no incongruity in saying that man sinning the Law required satisfaction for sin and yet also required righteousness unto Life much more in our case for there is another Covenant viz. of Grace made with Jesus Christ the second Adam wherein he hath undertaken by suffering to make satisfaction for our sin without which we could never have been freed from the threatned death there was no other way to it the Lord might have refused a substitute and therefore might without any shew of injustice put in what terms he pleased for our restoration unto Life If freedom from threatned death were obtained still the Lord might have annihilated us we had no promise of Eternal Life that in the Covenant of Works being null and void upon the transgression of the first Adam Behold therefore the Lord agreeth to stand to the first terms the second Adam undertaking to do what the first should have done to fulfill the same righteousness the Lord doth thereupon promise Life again Thus the Law is drawn into the Covenant of Grace and requireth the same perfect righteousness as before to be fulfilled not by our selves for Life but by Jesus Christ the second Adam as the aforementioned Scriptures do witness which assert not only suffering but also the righteousness of that one Jesus Christ to be necessary unto Justification and Life as Rom. 5. 18 19 c. and hence the Sinai Covenant which he fulfilled did run in the first form of Do and Live The ground of this mistake is a false supposition viz. that no more is needful unto Life but satisfaction for our sin and disobedience as if Life would naturally follow upon that which is to say either that we have Life without any righteousness whereas there is no Promise of it to Adam or to any since that run that way or else that we have it by a righteousness of our own working out Christ satisfying for our sins and defects therein and this is to affirm that we have life still by the Covenant of Works and in the way thereof which to affirm is very anti-evangelical and unscriptural For there are many Testimonies that unto the pardon of sin there is needful a New Covenant Heb. 8. 12. and that Life is by that and the righteousness required to it wrought out not by our selves but by another for us even Jesus Christ And thus the death of Jesus Christ was needful to our freedom from death although we obeyed in him or he obeyed in our stead to merit for us Eternal Life which is promised thereupon not now by the Old Covenant of Works but by the New Covenant of Grace And thus although Christ fulfilled the Law for us so as it is imputed to us and we made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. 21. Yet it doth not follow that we should be freed altogether from the obligation of the Law unto obedience For the righteousness of Jesus Christ his obeying and fulfilling of the Law for us was as the condition of Life or that upon which the Lord hath promised Justification unto Life but we may be and are obliged to obedience not for that but for other ends not in the least for our Justification and title to Life but as a part of our Sanctification and we sin in not obeying that we may glorifie God by those fruits of our being Spiritually alive Christs obedience was for one end ours is for another as his sufferings were for one end our afflictions for another and neither of them unnecessary 2. No actual interest in the promises of the New and better Covenant before union with Jesus Christ and Faith Even the Elect of God so long as unconverted and without Christ are without promises as I have manifested Ephes 2. 12. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Gal. 3. 22. they were not from Eternity the Seed of Abraham ver 29. he had no Seed so early If the sinner himself had satisfied then it had been no pardon for he is not-pardoned that payeth his whole debt himself but Jesus Christ interposed he underwent the Curse and the New Covenant or Free Promise is Gods grant or act of Pardon Heb. 8. 11. and 10. ver 16 17. This is my Covenant Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more Remission of sin then is a glorious fruit and benefit of the New Covenant not only manifested but conferred thereby God justifieth Rom. 8. 33. and this is his pardoning act Not Faith it self or any Grace within us is that which giveth the pardon Faith only receiveth the Remission of sins Act. 10. 43. and the Divine gift of it is by an immutable thing even by the Promise of the New Covenant And hence if any Object That Jesus Christ as a Surety had the obligation of the Elect transferred upon him and made full satisfaction to the Law for them and so disabled it for holding them obliged because they cannot eventually be damned It is Answered As our obligation and condemnation was by the Covenant of Works so our declared freedom from its obligation and our Justification must be by the New Covenant that is the way laid out for the giving of it forth And though our sin was transferred upon him and an Act passed which rendred it certain that we should be justified yea and sanctified too in due season yet not so as that we were immediately disobliged but in the way laid out by Divine appointment for that end The Covenant of Works being violated though satisfaction must be given to that yet that contained no Promise of Life to a sinner upon anothers undergoing the very penalty threatned therein and therefore was so far from giving ipso facto deliverance that it would have availed nothing towards it without a New Covenant because payment by a Surety was a refusable satisfaction the Lord without any appearance of injustice might have said the Soul that hath sinned it shall die Therefore the Sentence of the Law lyeth against us till by the Covenant of Grace we be discharged from it in the way and time therein appointed which is at union with the Lord Jesus 3. None are actually and personally the Seed of Jesus Christ as the second Adam before union with him and Faith therefore none are actually and personally justified till then They are only his Seed such as he redeemed that he doth justifie Isa 53. 10 11. Rom. 3. 24 25. The two Adams
that souls can come into the conversion of a soul of God ordinarily is not without a special discovery of sin and a lost undone condition by nature in a Gospel glass yea a work of evangelical repentance is experienced there Also there may be sometimes a common work a legal conviction of sin before and without a saving change but that in the ordinary way of Gods dispensation there is a necessity hereof on our part so as if we do not find it we must stay for it till we have it may not be looking to Jesus Christ or meddle with the promise yea as if it were presumption to attempt believing that we may be as many are shy of Jesus Christ and the free promise and stand off from them this I see no rule yet for I think the worst of sinners even unsensible ones are immediately under the invitations and calls of the Gospel for they may be condemned for unbelief as standing out against them Mark 16. 15 16. Matth. 22. 3 4 9 10. Rev. 3. 17 20. Many Scriptures alledged for the necessity of such preparations before conversion are mentioned as conditional promises Whereas those are not restrictive do not restrain the promises to those that are so qualified but rather declare that large and suitable supplies are to be had in Jesus Christ even in such conditions when it seemeth most unlikely And of such use are these words Isai 55. 1 2 3. Ho every one that thirst come c. There thirsting was no desirable qualification it was for that which did not satisfie they laboured for that which was not bread vers 2. and yet are invited immediately to come to him as to one that hath a variety of supplies water and wine to refresh milk to nourish and all offered freely without mony and without price Thus Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I give you rest Many are ready to think that they should seek to be thus weary and heavy laden and till then they may not attempt to come unto Jesus Christ Whereas it doth not appear that these were any desirable or commendable qualifications to be sought after but rather are expressions of their sad conditions and yet here is revealed sutable relief in Jesus Christ if they be weary and heavy laden not only by sin but with the yoke of the Law though unduly imposed upon them by the Pharisees yet coming to Jesus Christ they might have rest and so whatever other burthen they had sinfully pulled upon themselves And besides the promise is not in this or the other text annexed to thirsting or weariness but to coming unto Jesus Christ Thus Jesus Christ is said to be anointed to preach glad tidings for the meek or the poor Isai 61. 1. Luke 4. 18. and to heal the broken hearted not only by a sense of sin but broken by affliction and distress temprations any way His scope is not to restrain the promise as if it did belong only to those that are thus qualified but to shew that the grace of Jesus Christ reacheth and is suitable to those in such deplorable conditions These are not frames to be sought after any more than those that follow of being Captives blind bruised but consider men under whatever notion of misery you can and here is declared that there are those very supplies to be had in Jesus Christ that are suitable and relative thereunto as rest for the weary so sight for the blind deliverance for the captives and these take in the worst even unsensible sinners he by discoveries of his grace bringeth them into a due sense of sin Thus Matth. 5. 3 4 6. Blessed are the poor in spirit and those that mourn c. Not that these note Conditions properly upon coming up to which they have right to promised blessedness else not for among others persecution hath the blessedness twice annexed to it vers 10 11. and outward poverty is partly intended Luke 6. 20 21. as is evident by the antithesis or opposition vers 24 25. Wo to you rich c. and you that are full Yet who will say that poverty or persecution are desireable and to be sought that we might injoy the blessedness by coming under the condition of it Nor can one say I am poor therefore blessed more than persecuted therefore blessed These are not qualifications giving right and title to the promise and without which they have it not but these things are spoken to the disciples vers 20. the promises are annexed to discipleship or to the person in Christ rather than to his qualification of mourning c. and whereas they who before had a right in Christ to all the promises might be tempted to think themselves unhappy by these things here is a discovery that the seeming sadness of these conditions as poverty persecution c. did not exclude from the promised blessedness there is suitable relief for them in the promise still Hence in opposition to these there are woes denounced against others in the opposite conditions which to outward appearance seemed better as against the rich those that are full c. And thus these seeming conditions in stead of being limitations of the promise they are discoveries of the extensiveness thereof holding forth supplied and succours for souls in Christ under their saddest trials and temptations and in all the various and worst conditions they can come into though not upon the condition of their coming into them The following particulars are to be understood when something of special grace is mentioned as if it were a condition 2. Some called Conditional Promises are of declarative use what a high approbation the Lord hath of the persons or things concerned in them thus speaking promiscuously to professors some of which are sincere others not sometimes it is with an if as Heb. 3. 6. If we hold fast our confidence unto the end To note that perseverance in holding fast is a character of sound believers in opposition to others who do apostatize and fall away Thus some Scriptures contain a description of the persons who shall obtain those blessings of the Covenant they are such as are found believing repenting obeying in opposition to those which are infidels disobedient c. as Heb. 5. 9. He became the author of eternal salvation to them that obey him Those that are in a state of salvation are characterized by such effects as obedience such words conclude Negatively they that have not these in some degree are not saved ones but the promises are made rather to their persons in Christ than to their qualifications as believing obeying though these are necessary for the persons as it behoved the great High-Priest even Jesus Christ who had the promises made to him to be holy harm less undefiled yet they are not made to him upon the condition of his holiness or undefiledness Yet I would add that such promises do testifie how acceptable these acts
are to the Lord as being duties commanded by him though they be not properly conditions upon which Covenant mercy is promised to us Will any say that nothing is acceptable unless it be performed under the notion of a condition upon which the Lord hath obliged himself to give our mercy Thus many Scriptures that seem to run in a Conditional form are to be understood as Coloss 1. 21 22 23. Rom. 2. 7. they declare his approbation of faith hope obedience c. 3. They are of exciting and incouraging use to the duty of seeking in an absolute promise those gracious qualifications which the other promises are annexed to the seemingly conditional expressions are not intended as discouragements but as powerful provoqations and incouragements to that duty or seeking that grace conjoyned with the promise Whatsoever mercy is mentioned any where either with or as a condition is absolutely promised in the New Covenant Heb. 8. particularly the remission of sin is promised there yet it is said Matth. 6. 14 15. If ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you c. Not as if divine pardons were suspended till we have forgiven others that so long any were unpardoned and so condemned who before were justified This were to make divine acts have dependence on our actings and so to subject as one saith the Creator to the creature Our forgiving others is not properly a condition as if a performance of ours did ingage the Lord or lay him under an obligation to forgive us or as if we had right and might lay claim to Divine remission upon such an act of ours but it is expressed in a Conditional form as a pressing argument and a quickning spurr to so necessary a duty as the forgiving others although the Lord hath absolute intentions to pardon us and to cause us to forgive others Thus many other Scriptures are to be understood as Matth. 18. 31. Mark 11. 26. Luk. 6. 37. thus repenting and blotting out of sins are conjoyned Act. 3. 19. As a Father who is absolutely determined and resolved to afford some great favor to his son yet may speak of it to him with an if that he may lay an aw upon him towards some duty which yet is not in the least the condition of his affording it 4. They are of directive use unto the right way and means of seeking the mercies promised the eternal decrees of God are not conditional but absolute and unalterable yet are not exclusive of all means in order to their execution in time So Divine promises which are absolute without any condition properly so called yet are not fulfilled without any means It is a gross mistake to think that if there be no condition to be performed by us then we need not take any care or trouble our selves about the matters For we must know there are Divine commands putting upon the use of means in order to the execution of absolute promises and those that are called conditional promises are of this use to declare in what way and by what means those great favours shall be derived to us and men neglecting to seek mercy in the way of Divine appointment may miss of it not because they have failed of performing a condition but have neglected a duty and by sinning provoked God to â—â—t short Jam. 1. 6 7. Psal 78. 21 22. The promises of first grace are generally granted to be absolute for if they did run upon any condition that must be performed before union with Jesus Christ yea that must be seen in the soul before it had a ground to meddle with the promise and so it should be ascertained of salvation whilst it is in a state of nature If faith were supposed the condition that then must be prae existent in the soul and discerned also before it had a ground to believe in the promise that it were the condition of whereas faith is a grace and is the fruit of a promise as well as any other graces Indeed the promises of first grace though absolute yet seem to be as conditionally propounded as any Prov. 2. 3 4 5. Mark 16. 16. Joh. 3. 16. herein is holden forth the way and means to the obtainment of salvation for it is propounded and offered indefinitely to all elect and not elect not particularly promised to any but as it turneth into an absolute form to those persons described as the subjects of it Thus the Lord giveth forth a cluster of absolute promises Ezek. 36. 25 26 27 c. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean a new heart also will I give you c. and yet vers 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them This inquiring is not mentioned properly as a condition for all was before unalterably determined but as the way and means to the fruition of what was absolutely promised and thus as a means to promised mercies we may not only believe but exercise our selves in other duties ordinances and appointments of the Lord Jesus as pray that we may be pardoned justisied saved that the Lord would give us a new heart and put his spirit within us c. though not as conditions giving right to salvation for no act of ours layeth the Lord under an obligation by promise to afford these to us All is from meer grace and good pleasure But yet as a man may have purchased physick that would cure a disease which he laboureth under he may have payed for it and so performed the condition and hath right to it yet if he doth not make use of it he may be uncared so believers have a right to all even to those that are called conditional promises they being in Covenant all are theirs 2 Pet. 1. 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. yet if they do not make use of these they may come short of mercies promised not because they fail of a condition but because they use not the means to the fruition thereof like men that have a civil and absolute right to great estates and yet are without the comfort thereof because they make not use of them 5. They are of some evidencing use who the persons are that are interested in the promises though other promises are primary yet these are secondary evidences when those gracious qualifications can be discerned they are useful for the confirmation of our interest in eternal mercies They give a description of the persons and are so far distinguishing as when they are seen we may measure our estates and conditions by them Thus many scriptures speak of those qualifications not as conditions giving right but as declarative evidences of a title to Covenant blessings even to salvation So Rev. 22. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life Not that their keeping of them did give a right and title unto
salvation some act of ours then should give the â—iâ—le to life and we might claim it upon our own act but such doing for life is disclaimed and condemned in the Gospel whatever the act be Rom. 4. 4. Eph. 2. 8 9. Tim. 1. 9. Faith it self doth but receive a right doth not give one It is not upon any act of ours that the Lord is ingaged to make good his promise and that we lay claim to it If a Malefactor had not petitioned to the Prince he had died though no promise of life was made to him upon it and so his petitioning was only a way or means to his being spared had it been a condition thereof then the Prince had been unfaithful yea unjust if he had not granted it In the most absolute grants or where there is no condition making an estate liable to forfeiture by the non-performance yet there may be parties and stipulation It is the excellency and glory of the New Covenant that it runneth upon absolute promises it doth not leave at uncertainties no liability to a forfeiture of its special priviledges and this with the admirable treeness of it afford matter of great incouragement and everlasting consolation to all under it See more for this in the last question concernig the use of those called conditional Promises The New Covenant bringeth in a real plenary and perfect remission of sins and so is better than the Old which left short oâ— it Some sins had no sacrifice provided for them in the Old and were not forgiven so as they might injoy temporal blessings promised Some must be cut off as they that did ought presumptuously were to be cut off from among the people Numb 15. 28 30. yet believers in that day might be forgiven those very sins and injoy eternal salvation through the free promise in Jesus Christ and Act. 13. 38 39. By him i. e. by Jesus Christ those that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses The typical remission did not reach to all sins as Christs doth except to that against the holy Spirit Matth. 12. 31. 1 Joh. 1. 7. The great design of the Epistle to the Hebrews is to shew the excellency of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice above the Levitical and how much better the New Covenant is than the Old in the point of the remission of sin There was imperfection in the legal sacrifices the forgiveness there was only so far as temporal judgements were averted and temporal mercies afforded they could not really take away sin did not purge the Conscience or make the comers thereunto perfect Heb. 9. 9. Heb. 10. 1 2 3 4. but in opposition hereunto it is the glory of Jesus Christ vers 12 14. by one offering he hath perfected for ever those that are sanctified i. e. the people of God those in Covenant This he cleareth from the New Covenant vers 15 to 19. which saith their sins and iniquities will I remember no more Saith Calvin from this we gather that sins are now pardoned in another manner than they were in old time but this diversity consiseth neither in the word nor in faith but in the ransom of the remission thus he In the old there was a repetition and iteration of their sacrifices the typical pardon of new sins was stayed and suspended till they had offered new sacrifices and there was a yearly remembrance of their old sins vers 3. but in opposition to that it is the perfection of the New Covenant that as there will be no more offering for sin so there will be a remembrance of the sins of believers no more that is they will not any more come one moment under the curse or obligation of the Law to eternal punishment for them the declared discharge from this which is that wherein â—he pardon of sin doth properly consist as it is Gods act is not suspended till the putting forth new acts of saith or repentance although these ought to follow but is afforded to the believer the very moment of his sinning whether he then taketh notice of it or not I confess there is difficulty here on either hand for if believers be under the Laws curse and obligation by new sins then they are unjustified as often as they sin which may not be admitted and if they be not under it then it seemeth they are not daily pardoned seeing pardon consisteth in a declared discharge from that obligation this will be answered in a following objection It is actual pardon that is here inquired after for it will be granted that at our first justification all sins past present and to come are virtually pardoned That the actual remission pardon or forgiveness of their sins who are in Covenant and already justified is the very instant wherein the sins are committed so as believers remain not one moment under the obligation of the Law to eternal punishment or the immediateness of pardon may appear thus 1. Believers have always an actual interest in Jesus Christ his righteousness and the satisfaction made by him and therefore are not one moment so unpardoned after the commission of new sins Eph. 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins It is a glorious mysterie of the Gospel that sin is removed upon a full satisfaction and yet in a way of forgiveness It was in a way of redemption to Jesus Christ and yet in a way of pardon and free grace to us it cost Christ dear even his precious blood it cost us nothing The Elect whilst unconverted are not interested in that redemption in their own persons and so are unpardoned but we believers not only shall have it hereafter but have it already and therein the remission of sins they cannot one minute be without that for there is an inseparable connexion between these they that have the one have the other also Christ is theirs in whom they have redemption there will never be an interruption of believers union with him and Christ being theirs his satisfaction is theirs which answereth and dischargeth the obligation of the Law and so they are always in a state of freedom from that Jesus Christ being theirs they are always interested in his righteousness and the Law cannot actually oblige or curse any that are interested it its righteousness but only those that want it righteousness and pardon are in such connexion that the Apostle argueth from one to the other Rom. 4. 6 7 8. He proveth the blessedness of men in imputed righteousness from Davids saying vers 7. Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven therefore unless believers could be disrobed of that righteousness and for some space lose that blessedness they cannot be the smallest season unpardoned If souls were actually under the Law guilt of any sin one moment they were then not perfectly righteous for these are inconsistent to be compleatly righteous and yet to be under the Law guilt