having broken became liable unto death or to the curse of the Law This Covenant which God entered into with the first Adam was in Paradise a Covenant or Law of Works Do this and live But that Covenant which God hath establisht in Christ the second Adam with all Believers since the Fall whether in the Old or New Testament 't is a Covenant of Grace and the grand Condition of this Covenant on mans part or the qualification whereby he is fitted and capacitated to receive the benefit of this Covenant 't is the righteousness of Faith for it runs thus Believe and live not that the Covenant of Grace whether in the Old or New Testament does not require new obedience but that it does not require this in order to justification for this new obedience or this obedience of Faith it is rather the fruit or effect than the instrumental cause means or condition of justification But more distinctly amongst those many differences which are wont to be assigned by Divines betwixt the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace we may take notice of these 1. The Covenant of Works was made with man before the Fall before he had sinned against God the Covenant of Grace afterward 2. The Covenant of Works did not promise pardon upon repentance the Covenant of Grace does because Christ the Mediator of this Covenant has purchased pardon for all penitent sinners who have but a hand of Faith to receive it 3. The Covenant of Works was without a Mediator for till man had sinned he needed none to mediate peace betwixt God and him but the Covenant of Grace is established in the hands of a Mediator sc. Christ Jesus perfect God and perfect man that he might make a reconciliation betwixt God and Man 4. In the Covenant of Nature or Works Adam was only the Son of God by Creation but in the Covenant of Grace those who were children of wrath do through Faith become the Children of God by Grace and Adoption 5. The Covenant of Works had for its Seals of confirmation or for the Sacraments of it the Tree of life so called because it did sacramentally confirm the promise of life upon condition of perfect obedience and the Tree of knowledg of good and evil which was so called from the event because man having sinned in eating the forbidden fruit he presently came to know by a sad experiment what an infinite good he had lost in losing Gods favour and what misery and mischief he had brought upon himself But now the Seals or Sacraments of the Covenant of Grace were under the Old Testament Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb and now under the New Testament Baptism and the Lords Supper 6. In the Covenant of Works there was no place at all for Gods further exercising of his patience grace and mercy but in the Covenant of Grace his mercy most is signally display'd yea and that which is a mystery as well as a miracle of Divine Wisdom here we may see mercy and justice kiss each other in the satisfaction that Christ has made And as the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works do differ in the foregoing particulars so doth the Covenant of Grace under the Old Testament differ from the Covenant of Grace under the New Testament though these are not two but one Covenant in substance in clearness for till the Law or from Adam to Moses the Promise of Grace was more obscure under Moses more clear from Moses to the Prophets yet more clear from them to Iohn the Baptist yet more clear and from him to Christ yet more clear and under the preaching of Christ whilst he was fulfilling the Promises yet abundantly more clear than under Iohn but most clear of all when Christ had finished the work of Redemption by price and was ascended into Heaven and had sent down his Spirit upon his Apostles in that plentiful effusion of the Spirit at the time of Pentecost Act. 2. A. 13. Our first Parents being left to the freedom of their own will fell from the state wherein they were created by sinning against God To. 2. Hom. xiij Par. 2. When our great Grandfather Adam had broken Gods Commandment in eating the Apple forbidden him in Paradise at the motion and suggestion of his wife he purchased thereby not only to himself but also to his posterity for ever the just wrath and indignation of God who according to his former Sentence pronounced at the giving of the Commandment condemned both him and all his to everlasting death both of body and soul. Expl. 13. Here for explanation sake we may observe 1. That our first Parents were created with freedom of will i. e. if they would have continued in their obedience they might for they had a power to obey God perfectly and if they would sin they might God left them and that very justly to themselves he being not bound to hinder them though he could from sinning against him 2. That by their sinning against God they lost this freedom and with it all that happiness which did belong to a state of innocence and integrity for by their fall they were so bruised in all their powers and faculties that they became unable to serve God and so bemired with the guilt and pollution of sin that they were altogether unfit to enjoy God A. 14. Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the Law of God Expl. 14. This description of sin doth agree to sins of all sorts original or actual and these whether in thought word or deed whether of omission or commission of ignorance or of knowledg of infirmity or presumption and to sins of all degrees and sizes whether great or small for in all sin whatsoever whether it be of men or Devils there is a want of conformity to the Law of God and a violation of his just will as well as a repugnancy to the holiness of his nature Neither is it improper to place the nature of sin in a privation or want of conformity for it is that which doth deprive and rob the rational creature of the rectitude or moral perfection of his own nature which doth consist in his being like to God and in being conformable to his will A. 15. The sin whereby our first Parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit Homil. xij This first man Adam who having but one Commandment at Gods hand namely that he should not eat of the fruit of knowledg of good and evil did notwithstanding most unmindfully or rather most wilfully break it in forgetting the strait charge of his Maker and giving ear to the crafty suggestion of that wicked Serpent the Devil Expl. 15. In this A. there are two things remarkable 1. That our Parents by sinning lost that state of perfection which they had in Paradise and Christ only excepted whatever some Quakers dream there was never any
doth directly send us to Christ for remission of our sins and that by faith given us of God we embrace the promise of Gods mercy and of the remission of our sins which thing none other of our virtues or works properly doth therefore the Scripture useth to say that faith without works doth justifie or only faith doth justifie Not through the merit of any virtue that we have within us or of any work that cometh from us therefore in that respect we forsake as it were altogether again faith works and all other virtues For our own imperfection is so great through the corruption of Original sin that all is imperfect that is within us faith charity hope dread thoughts words and works and therefore not apt to merit and deserve any part of our justification for us Tom. 2. Hom. IV. It is of the free grace and mercy of God by the mediation of the blood of his Son Jesus Christ without merit or deserving on our part that our sins are forgiven us that we are reconciled and brought again into his favour and are made heirs of his heavenly Kingdom Expl. 33. This word justification doth signifie not only to make just or righteous but also to make a man appear so yet not by infusing or working grace or righteousness in the Soul for this is the meaning of that word sanctification or it signifies the believing sinners being reputed or accounted righteous in the sight of God in and through the righteousness of Christ imputed to the sinner or accounted as his own for as condemnation doth suppose a man guilty because the just God doth not condemn men for nothing so justification doth suppose a man discharged from guilt and so not obnoxious to the penalty or curse of the Law now because the sinner cannot expect to receive this discharge by vertue of his own personal righteousness because all his righteousness is imperfect or as a menstrous rag therefore he must be found not having on his own righteousness for his justification but the righteousness of Christ. But more particularly in this A. we have 1. The principal Author or prime efficient cause of justification and this is God Who is he that condemneth it is God that justifieth God the Father as accepting of what Christ has done for sinners and God the Son as procuring our discharge and God the Holy Ghost as applying the merits of Christ to us and working faith in us whereby we receive so great a benefit 2. The inward moving cause free-grace and not any foresight of faith or obedience in the sinner to move him to it 3. The matter of justification or in reference to what the sinner is justified namely the guilt of sin and curse of the Law 4. The manner which consists in a legal discharge of the sinner from his former obligation to punishment here called the pardon of his sins and accepting of him as righteous 5. The meritorious cause only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to the believing sinner 6. The instrumental cause or condition sc. faith for the sinner through the means of his faith or upon the condition of his believing is thus justified A. 34. Adoption is an Act of Gods free-grace whereby we are received into the number and have right to all the priviledges of the Sons of God Tom. 1. Hom. III. p. 3. So making us also his dear children brethren unto his only Son our Saviour Christ and inheritors for ever with him of his eternal Kingdom of Heaven Hom. X. p. 2. He is a rising up to none other than those which are Gods children by adoption Hom. xi p. 2. By their obedience they declare openly unto to the sight of men that they are Sons of God and elect of him unto Salvation Expl. 34. More plainly Adoption it is Gods taking of those into his care and Family as his children by grace who were by nature the children of wrath and by practice the children of disobedience and all that they may enjoy the honour advantages and priviledges of his children as 1. They bear their Fathers Name and likeness or his badg and cognizance whereby they are known to belong to him and that is their holiness So that those who are afraid to be accounted godly they are afraid to be God-like and so disown their Father as if ashamed of him 2. They are all heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ their elder Brother to an heavenly Inheritance 3. They have the Spirit of his Son given to them whereby they are inabled to call God Father and to come to a throne of grace with the boldness of children 4. They are under Gods fatherly protection so that nothing can harm them 5. They are provided for by him and therefore can want no good thing 6. They have a sanctified use of the creatures and of all temporal good things yea afflictions themselves are for their good A. 35. Sanctification is the work of Gods free-grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the Image of God and are enabled more and more to dye unto sin and live unto righteousness Hom. II. p. 2. The holy Apostle calleth us Saints because we are sanctified and made holy by the blood of Christ through the Holy Ghost Hom. xvi p. 1. It is he which inwardly worketh the regeneration and new birth The more it is hid from the understanding the more it ought to move all men to wonder at the secret and mighty working of Gods holy Spirit which is within us For it is the Holy Ghost and no other thing that doth quicken the minds of men stirring up good and godly motions in their hearts which are agreeable to the will and commandment of God such as otherwise of their own crooked and perverse nature they should never have That which is born of the spirit is spirit As who should say man of his own nature is fleshly and carnal corrupt and naught sinful and disobedient to God without any spark of goodness in him without any virtuous or godly motion only given to evil thoughts and wicked deeds As for the works of the Spirit the fruits of Faith charitable and godly motions if he have any at all in him they proceed only of the Holy Ghost who is the only worker of our sanctification and maketh us new men in Christ Jesus Such is the power of the Holy Ghost to regenerate men and as it were to bring forth a-new that they shall be nothing like the men they were before Expl. 35. As for sanctification it is no less a work of free-grace than justification and adoption and in Scripture-phrase it is the new man new creature and a mans being created a-new in Christ Jesus unto good works in which and the like expressions is plainly set before us the large compass extent and comprehension of this work for herein all things must become new the nature renewed or changed from
e. they became mortal and subject unto death having in themselves nothing but everlasting damnation both of body and soul. O what a miserable and woful state was this that the sin of one man should destroy and condemn all men that nothing in all the world might be lookt for but only pangs of death and pains of Hell Expl. 19. Concerning this A. 't is observable in the general That mans losses by the sall do reach as far as the guilt of that first disobedience whereby he fell namely to all mankind yet more particularly 1 st Adam lost and we in him and with him communion with God and the loss of this is a treble loss 1. Of Gods sweet and gracious presence and company and that in a most immediate manner as one friend is personally present with another 2. Of converse with God for whilst God and man were together in Paradise and man continued innocent their society was not like that of the Quakers in their Silent-Meetings but there would have continued such familiarity betwixt them as is betwixt two loving friends they would have walked together and talked together for if God did use that familiarity with Moses Exod. 33.11 since the fall much more would he have continued it with Adam and his posterity if they had never fal'n 3. From this sweet company and converse would have sprung up in the heart a continual satisfaction and delight to the soul of man for man yet continuing like God he could not but love him and delight himself in this sweet intercourse 2 dly The sinful posterity of Adam till interested in Christ are actually under the wrath of God for God is angry with the wicked every day and actually under the curse because under the Law not under Grace 3 dly Man in this state is continually liable to have the curse executed upon him every moment and has no protection at all either against the miseries of this life or the pains of hell A. 20. God having out of his meer good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life did enter into a Covenant of Grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer Artic. xvij Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God whereby before the foundations of the world were laid he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind and to bring them to everlasting salvation as vessels made unto honour Homil. xij Behold the goodness and tender mercy of God he ordained a new Covenant and made a sure promise thereof namely that he would send a Messias or a Mediator into the world which should make intercession and put himself as a stay between both Parties to pacifie the wrath and indignation conceiv'd against sin and to deliver man out of the miserable curse and cursed misery whereinto he was fal'n head-long by disobeying the will and commandment of the only Lord and Maker Expl. 20. In which A. we have 1 st Gods eternal purpose and absolute decree whereby he hath singled out or chosen some of mankind upon whom he is resolved to bestow eternal life and that out of his meer free grace without any foresight of faith obedience perseverance or any other condition as a cause or motive inducing him to make this choice nay the decree it self is not founded in the merits of Christ but purely in the love of God though as for all the blessed effects of this decree as reconciliation pardon justification adoption sanctification salvation c. are actually received and enjoyed by the elect only upon the consideration of the merits righteousness and satisfaction of Christ. Yet more distinctly and for order sake we may conceive of these two things in Gods decree of Election 1. Gods most wise design to advance the glory of his free-grace in bringing many sons to glory 2. That God of his free grace had singled and culled out a certain distinct number of persons for the enjoyment of this glory Now this very act of Gods picking and culling out those particular persons whom he designed to save is that we call very properly Election Neither did this grace of God only appear in making this choice and then in leaving his chosen ones to get eternal life and heaven as they could but 2 dly He did also pitch upon an effectual means or contrive a way whereby his chosen people should effectually and infallibly obtain eternal life and this was by entring into a Covenant of Grace with Christ the second Adam and the Mediator of the new Covenant and in Christ with all believers that whosoever should believe on the Son of God he would give unto them eternal life and that they should never enter into condemnation Hence I infer 1. That it is the free grace of God and not the free will of man that maketh one man to differ from another Paul from Iudas 2. That the praise and glory of this difference is to be ascribed not unto man but unto God Not unto us O Lord c. A. 21. The only Redeemer of Gods Elect is the Lord Jesus Christ who being the eternal Son of God became man and so was and continueth to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person for ever Artic. xviij They also are to be had accursed who presume to say that every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law and the light of Nature For the holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the name of Jesus Christ whereby men must be saved Hom. x. p. 2. Reprobates perish through their own default Christ Jesus as he is a rising up to none other than those who are Gods Children by Adoption so is his word yea the holy Scripture the power of God to salvation to them only that do believe it Expl. 21. There are three things to be noted in this A. 1. That the Redeemer of Gods Elect is God as well as Man 2. Man as well as God 3. Both God and Man in one person 1. He is God for he is the Son of God not by Creation as Adam was nor by natural generation as we are all the Children of Adam but by eternal generation so as that God the Father who begat him was not before him in time And he was God that his Godhead might keep his humane nature from sinking under infinite wrath when he suffered for our sins that he might have power to raise himself from the grave and rescue himself out of the jaws of death that the dignity of his person might render his sufferings obedience intercession and satisfaction of infinite value and efficacy for the procuring of eternal life for his people and that