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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
blood_n	confirm_v	new_a	testament_n	8,389	5	9.6949	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33454	Methodus Evangelica, or, The gospel method of Gods saving sinners by Jesus Christ practically explained in XII propositions / by Abraham Clifford ; to which is prefixed a preface by Dr. Manton, and Rich. Baxter.	Clifford, Abraham.; Manton, Thomas, 1620-1677.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1676 (1676)	Wing C4701; ESTC R23890	95,942	214

personal but Christ mystical that is the whole Body of Believers both Jew and Gentile united in one by Faith in Jesus Christ 3. But thirdly to name no more the Apostle himself doth thus interpret his own meaning in the close of this Chapter ver 26 27 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus and ver 29. it follows If ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams Seed and Heirs according to the Promise And what can be spoken more expresly to instruct us that by the one Seed he meant both Jew and Gentile as believing in Jesus Christ They are all he tells you baptized into Christ they have all put on Christ they are all one in Christ They are Christ's They are all the Seed of Abraham and they are all joint-heirs of the Promise Which we have yet in more direct terms exprest by the same Apostle in his Epistle to the Romans where he treats of the self same argument chap. 9. ver 7 8. Neither because they are the Seed of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called that is as he expounds himself in the following verse They which are the children of the Flesh these are not the children of God but the children of the promise and who are they but Believers are counted for the Seed And thus having cleared the Apostles sense and meaning in this place and shewed how little it speaks in favour of that opinion that the Covenant was made with Christ I shall now proceed to make it good by further Argument that Believers and not Jesus Christ are the parties with whom God stipulates in the New Covenant And first From those Names and Titles that are given to Jesus Christ with reference to this Covenant He 's called the Angel or Messenger that brought the glad tydings of it to the World Mal. 3.1 The Prince that is the Lord and Founder of it Dan. 11.22 The Mediator by whom it was procured for and conveyed to us Heb. 12.24 The Surety that stands bound for the performance of it Heb. 2.22 And by his death he is said to ratifie and confirm it Dan. 9.27 Upon which account it is by the Evangelist called the New Testament in his blood Luke 22.20 Now that all these are spoken of Jesus Christ with relation to the Covenant of Grace is so abundantly evident that there shall need no other proof of it than meerly to view the several places whence they are cited But are these consistent with his being a party in this Covenant What Did he as Prince frame and found this Covenant for himself Or was he Messenger and Mediator and Surety to himself Or did he dye to confirm it to himself And if not to himself to whom then but to Believers Was it not for them that he founded this New Covenant And to them that he brought the glad tydings of it And for them that he mediates And for them that he dyed that they might be confirmed and assured in the truth of it 'T is they then and not Jesus Christ with whom this Covenant is made Yea but is not he expresly by the Prophet called our Covenant Isaiah 42.6 It 's true and so is Circumcision Acts 7.8 Gen. 17.13 And so are the Saints themselves Dan. 11.28.30.32 But who sees not that these must of necessity be taken in a figurative and not a proper sense An usual way of speaking to give the name of the adjunct to its proper subject and of the thing signified to its sign and of the Effect to its Cause and Author And thus 't is here the Saints they are called the Covenant as they are the proper Subjects of it Isa 55.3 And Circumcision as it is the Sign and Seal of it Rom. 4.11 And Jesus Christ as he is the Mediator and Founder of it Heb. 8.9 But 2. Where ever we read of the Sanction and promulgation of this Covenant there we shall find that Believers themselves and not Christ are still mentioned as the Parties with whom God stipulates and agrees When God covenanted with Abraham who are the Parties there engaged God and Christ or God and Abraham See Gen. 17. ver 2. I will make my Covenant between me and thee and ver 4. Behold my Covenant is with thee and ver 7. I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee and again ver 10. This is my Covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee And as God here promiseth to bless Abraham so Abraham also he declares his acceptance of the terms upon which 't is propounded and seals to the Agreement on his part ver 23. of the same Chapter And Abraham took Ishmael his Son and all that were born in his House c. and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the self same day as God had said unto him And this afterwards God himself gives as a reason why he would bless his Seed as he had promised Gen. 26.5 Sojourn in this Land saith God to Isaac there and I will be with thee and bless thee for unto thee and thy Seed I will give all these Countries and I will perform the Oath which I sware unto Abraham thy Father c. Why Because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge my Commandments my Statutes and my Laws But what was that charge c. Why not only that he should circumcise Ishmael with the rest of the Males in his Family but that he should walk before the Lord and be upright Gen. 17.1 From all which we learn 1. That this transaction betwixt God and Abraham it was not meerly a Testament but a Covenant 2. That this Covenant is mutual betwixt God on the one part and Abraham and his Seed on the other 3. That as God promiseth to bless Abraham so he also accepts of the terms and engageth to keep his Statutes and his Laws and sets to his Seal for performance For so the Apostle calls Circumcision Rom. 4.11 Again When this Covenant with some further additions to it is renewed with the Israelites the Seed of Abraham who are there mentioned as the Parties covenanting with God Is it not the Israelites each man for himself in his own person It 's true the Apostle tells us that it was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator Gal. 3.19 that is by the intervention of Moses who was herein a Type of Jesus Christ the Mediator of the New Covenant as the Apostle stiles him Heb. 8.6 Yea but the Covenant for all that it was made though by the hands of Moses yet with the Israelites themselves and not with him as Mediator in their behalf But let 's consult the place it self since there we shall find the fullest account I meet with of the most solemn manner of entring into Covenant with God First Moses he

sins and save their Souls Only he here declares that upon his Son's account he will do this for us provided we will take them upon his terms and entirely yield our selves up in subjection to him that hath purchased them for us But is it not frequently in Scripture called a Testament and the New Testament and doth not the Author to the Hebrews argue it to be so from the death of Christ whom he there expresly terms a Testator Heb. 9.16 17. 'T is true 't is here called a Testament and Christ a Testator But who knows not that the same thing may have different denominations according as it relates to different objects Thus Jesus Christ himself he is called a Prophet a Priest a King a Surety an Advocate c. But will it therefore follow that he 's no Advocate because a Surety or no King because a Priest and Prophet And so again the same Gospel Dispensation 't is exprest by several names 't is called a Gift a Promise a Royal Law a Testament a Covenant but we cannot thence infer that 't is no proper Covenant because term'd a Testament any more than that 't is no Law because a Gift and Promise All therefore that can rationally be deduced from hence is only this That there is some analogy or resemblance betwixt this Evangelical Conveyance and those Things the names of which it bears Thus as the Good Things therein dispenced are freely given to us so 't is a Gift As God therein becomes engaged to give them so 't is a Promise As we thereby are commanded and directed to obedience so 't is a Royal Law As 't is founded in the blood of Christ and became of force to our advantage upon his Death so 't is a Testament But still so as that our actual consent to the terms therein propounded are required in order to enjoying the Blessings promised and therefore still a Covenant And if we cast but our eye back upon the place before mentioned Heb. 9. we shall there find that the Mosaical Dispensation under which the People of Israel were is there also as well as that of the Gospel called a Testament which yet was and must by any that reads Exod. 24. be acknowledged to be a Covenant in a proper sense i. e as before exprest a mutual stipulation betwixt God and the Creature I but 't is not only called a Testament but the original word saith a Reverend Divine in the Hebrew and Greek Language which we translate Covenant signifies no more in the judgment of some learned Criticks than a Will or Testament Who these Criticks are is not mentioned nor shall I here stand to enquire The original word which we commonly translate Covenant in the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 't is well known comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies either to chuse or to kill and eat which is the more usual signification of the word In the former it denotes a thing which two make choice of and mutually agree about In the latter it evidently relates to the usual manner of making Covenant in those days which was by Sacrifice the Parties passing through the midst of it being divided and thereby declaring their consent and confirming the Agreement Thus we read Jer. 34.19 And long before this the like observance we find in God's first covenanting with Abraham Gen. 15.10 which was also as appears from the Testimony of their own Prophets and possibly by derivation from the Jews in use amongst the ancient Heathen So that take the word in what sense we please either as it signifies to chuse or to kill and divide it is so far from being appropriate to a Testament as that 't is most properly applicable to a Covenant And therefore commonly rendred by those best skilled in the Hebrew Language by Foedus and Pactum And as for the Greek word which we translate Covenant though according to its etymology it may signifie to dispose or order any thing in general whether it be by Free Gift or Promise or Testament or Covenant or any other way yet it also signifies to bargain or agree or Covenant with another as is well known to such as are skilled in that Language But suppose after all that the original words should import no more than a Will or Testament yet 't will not therefore follow that they are not to be taken in any other sense Since words we know receive their principal stamp and authority from common use which not rarely gives them a various yea sometimes a far different sense from that which they received at their first birth and primitive institution The great thing therefore to be considered is not what these words may or according to their original notations ought to signifie but rather what is the true and most proper Scriptural use of them for from thence especially we must take the signification of all such words as are expressive of revealed Truths But besides what hath been already said upon this Argument take these following Considerations which will more abundantly evidence that the Gospel Dispensation is properly Foederal and not meerly Testamental and that both the Hebrew and Greek words import as much 1. This is the most frequent use of these words in Scripture As for the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 't is almost every where in the Old Testament made use of to signifie a Covenant but rarely if at all to signifie a meer Will and Testament For the proof of this it were easie to produce a cloud of Witnesses but these few following may be sufficient to shew us the true use and meaning of it Deut. 4.13 and 18. ver Levit. 26.9.14 15 and 16. verses Josh 24.25 And for the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though it sometimes be rendred a Testament yet to any one that shall but peruse these following Texts instead of many more which might be alledged 't will be sufficiently evident that 't is also used to express a formal Covenant Acts 7.8 Rom. 9.4 2 Corinth 3.15 Gal. 3.15 and 17. ver Eph. 2.12 Besides 't is here to be noted that this Greek word which the Writers of the New Testament so frequently make use of is borrowed from the Septuagint who constantly render the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that if that according both to its notation and use signifies a Covenant so must this also being always put for it in the most authentick translation of the Old Testament whence 't is taken 2. The account which Scripture gives us of the way and method in which God hath been pleased to treat with Man concerning eternal life and happiness doth necessarily infer that 't is by Covenant in a proper sense that these Blessings are made over to us Consult but those two famous places before mentioned Gen. 17. where God treats with Abraham and Exod. 24. where God

both the freeness of the one and sufficiency of the other For is it thought any diminution of the Suns radiency and universal influence that it doth not enlighten the house unless the windows be opened Or of the fires efficacy to warm because it cannot burn without air Or of the Benefactors kindness and bounty in setling a rich estate millions by the year upon a poor Man because required to pay a rose or pepper-corn by way of acknowledgment without which he cannot enjoy it Much less can it be any diminution to divine goodness to make our repenting and believing c. the conditions of the New Covenant since the disproportion betwixt the good promised and the duties to be performed is infinitely greater as hath already been demonstrated I grant 't is possible for conditions to be of that nature as to render what is tendered or granted upon them to be no act of kindness and bounty Such as those that Nahash the Ammonite propounded to the men of Jabesh Gilead 1 Sam. 11.2 And such as are usual in the ordinary contracts betwixt man and man But this is not meerly because conditions but because they are either reproachful and unreasonable like those of Nahash to the Israelites or at least equivalent in their value to the benefit promised as those of common contracts Neither of which can without manifest falsity be affirmed of the Conditions of the New Covenant For first the things therein required of us are highly rational and most becoming both the nature of God and the Creature For a guilty and undone sinner to humble himself to his Maker whom he hath offended and throw down his weapons and quit his ways of rebellion and be reconciled to him For him also to accept of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God to be his teacher to instruct him in the things that belong unto his peace and his Priest to satisfie and interceed for him and his King to rule and govern him and in this way to relie upon him for his Salvation which he hath not only purchased but sealed and confirmed to us by his blood And for him again to purifie himself as God is pure and be holy in all manner of conversation as he that hath called him is holy and to live in a due observance of all his good and righteous Laws and to approve himself to God in all things What more reasonable or more becoming of a guilty and dependent creature Especially if it be in the second place considered that the conditions here required as they are not unreasonable so neither in worth and value equivalent to the good promised to us upon the due performance of them there being as hath been once and again demonstrated an infinite disproportion betwixt them And wh●re conditions are of this nature though in a less degree of reasonableness and disproportion there they may be admitted without nulling or detracting from the free Grace and bounty of the proposer as might besides the instances already given be made good by many more of the like nature As should a King suppose promise to a poor indigent Begger that he would cloth him with Scarlet if he will but cast off his old and dirty rags or adorn his fingers with Rubies and Diamonds if he will but throw away the dirt he hath in his hands and wash them or load him home with bags of Gold and Silver if he will but come to his Palace and fetch it or pardon him the treason he hath committed if he will but down upon his knees and humbly confess his fault and promise for the future to be more Loyal Here are manifest conditions you see affixed to each of these tenders supposed to be made to this poor Man and yet will any one say they are therefore no acts of Grace and favour Or thereupon make this reply No Sir I will none of your offers upon these terms I was told that I had a friend at Court that had obtained all this for me and that upon his account they should be freely bestowed upon me but now it seems I must down upon my knees and beg pardon or I cannot be forgiven and throw away my rags and dirt or I shall not be adorned with Scarlet and Jewels and attend at the Princes Gate or I must not have the Gold and Silver that was promised This is not the free Grace and kindness that I expected and should I take it upon these conditions I should be guilty of dishonouring my Soveraign by detracting from the freeness of his favours and mistrust the efficacy of my friends mediation with him Should the poor Begger to whom these tenders were made argue thus would not the whole world gaze upon him as they do upon blazing Stars and Comets with admiration and record him as the greatest prodigy of folly and impudence that hath been yet seen on Earth For what would the Man have Here is Gold and Silver and Robes of Majesty and orient Pearls and Jewels together with the pardon of his rebellion and his Princes favour And are not these desirable and inviting objects And can it rationally be expected that ever they should be dispensed upon more easy and honourable terms What be pardoned and yet not ask forgiveness What! Be loaded with bags of Gold and yet not so much as reach out the hand to receive them What! Be adorned with Diamonds and Rubies and all the glory of both the Indies and yet not part with that dirt with which his hands are filled that he may be adorned and be cloathed with Scarlet and Robes of Majesty and yet not put off and lay aside his old and filthy rags Surely he that expects to find any such free Grace as this in God to be saved without parting with his dirt and rags I mean his sins I much question the possibility of that Mans Salvation But thirdly 3. We must upon the service of this design observe the order in which the several priviledges of the Covenant are dispensed and in which the conditions of it accordingly are to be applied to each of them that they may become ours For as the former are not all actually given in the same moment but successively so neither are the other required to be all at once in act and exercise but gradually according to the successive administrations of the priviledges to which they are appropriate It 's true there is a necessary connexion betwixt the several benefits of the Covenant so that he who hath any one link of this golden chain put into his hands he is thereby assured that all the rest will follow in their order as the Apostle argues Rom. 8.30 For whom he did foreknow he also did pridestinate and whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified But though they are all thus mutually united both in their particular subjects and Gods eternal preordination yet