Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	adam_n	covenant_n	fall_n	2,656	5	9.6090	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

goes up into the Mount and there receives the Covenant from the mouth of God himself Exod. 19.3 4 5 6. The sum of which as you there read was this viz. That if they would obey the voice of God indeed and keep his Commandments that they should then be a peculiar treasure above all people c. This Moses upon his return propounds to the People from God for their consent ver 7. And Moses came and called for the Elders of the People and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him And the people hereupon declare their consent to these proposals ver 8. And all the people answered together and said All that the Lord hath spoken we will do which Moses again reports back to God in the close of that verse And Moses returned the words of the People unto the Lord. And then having made a more particular rehearsal of the Laws and Statutes which God had commanded them to observe in the four following Chapters he again propounds them to the people and they again declare their acceptance of them Chap. 24. ver 3. And Moses came and told the People all the words of the Lord and all the Judgments And all the People answered with one voice and said All the words which the Lord hath said will we do And thus the Covenant being mutually both on God's part and on the Israelites assented to he immediately causeth an Altar and twelve Pillars to be erected An Altar to the Lord and twelve Pillars as representative of the twelve Tribes of Israel ver 4. who having offered Sacrifice thereon ver 5. he takes one half of the blood thereof and sprinkleth it upon the Altar to signifie the Peoples sealing their part to God ver 6. and the other half he sprinkleth upon the People to signifie Gods sealing on his part to them ver 8. which is therefore called in the close of that verse the Bloud of the Covenant which God had made with them that is the Blood by which the Covenant was mutually ratified and sealed betwixt God and Israel Upon which account Moses tells them that they had avouched the Lord to be their God and to walk in his ways and keep his Statutes c. And that the Lord had avouched them to be his peculiar People as he had promised c. Deut. 26.16 17 18 19. And thus you see in these two famous instances of God's covenanting first with Abraham and then with Israel that not Jesus Christ but Abraham and Israel were the Confederates that became engaged to God for the performance of the terms therein required And were not they for the main under the same Covenant with Believers in the Gospel As to Abraham the case is evident read Gal. 3. and Rom. 4. and then tell me whether he were not under a Covenant of Grace And as to Israel though there were several Appendices Types and Shadows superadded by Moses which are now done away yet is there any other difference betwixt that and the Evangelical Dispensation Are they not essentially and for substance the same Had not they the same Christ exhibited in Types and Sacrifices which we have explicitely revealed in the Gospel And were not the same spiritual Blessings in him as pardon of sin justification and eternal life c. promised to them And were not the same substantial Duties as Repentance and Faith and Obedience required of them And was it not therefore the great business of Christ and his Apostles in their frequent contests with the Jews to demonstrate the conformity of their Doctrine with the Law of Moses and that they taught nothing but what Moses and the Prophets had before revealed to them For proof of this let these following places be consulted Joh. 5.45 46 47. Joh. 6.45 Joh. 10.34 Luke 4.17 18 19 20 21. Luke 16.29 Luke 24.27 and 44. Luke 18.31 and Luke 1.70 Acts 3.18 19.21 22 23. Act. 10 43. Acts 26.22 Acts 24.14 15. Acts 28.23 1 Cor. 10.2 Rom. 1.2 and 3.21 Eph. 2 20. And if Abraham and Israel were for the main under the same Covenant of Grace with us 't is evident that therein Believers themselves were the parties that stood engaged to God and consequently that the Covenant of Grace is made with them and not with their Mediator in their behalf This Argument is so clear and convictive as that 't is impossible to avoid the power of it otherwise than by saying that they were not saved as we by a Covenant of Grace which as it openly affronts the testimony of Christ and his Apostles as may be seen in the places before mentioned and more particularly from what the Apostle Paul hath delivered upon this Argument in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians so it necessarily infers this monstrous conclusion that Old Testament Believers were saved as never any man yet was and as 't is impossible that any since the fall of Adam should be that is by a Covenant of Works For there is no medium betwixt these two If it be not of Works it must be by Grace as the Apostle argues Rom. 11.6 However they covenanted with God each man for himself and what reason can be given that Jesus Christ should undertake or stand engaged more for us than them or that we if saved as they Acts 15.11 should not lye under the same actual engagements to Faith and Obedience especially since our duty is more plain and our knowledge more clear and our reward more express and our assistance by the Spirit more influential and our advantages and obligation to God every way greater and more perswasive But to be short doth not Scripture affirm the self same thing of Gospel Believers Are not they still exprest as Parties where-ever we find either in the Old or New Testament any mention made of the New Covenant Jer. 31.31 Ezek. 34.11.25 c. Ezek. 37.24 25 26 27. Isa 55.3 Isa 61.8 9. Heb. 8.10 11 c. Heb. 10.16 That these Texts speak of the Gospel Covenant is unquestionable or else we have no such thing revealed in Scripture But with whom is it there said to be made with David the Prince and Shepherd as Christ is there stiled by Ezekiel No But with the Sheep and Flock with the House of David and the House of Israel that is with Believers who are exprest under those Old Testament Names of Israel and Jacob and Seed of Abraham c. And whereas some object that 't is constantly called in Scripture God's Covenant and not ours the reason is obvious from what hath been already said viz. That God as absolute Lord and Soveraign he contrives and frames and propounds this Covenant to us and all that we have to do is only to subscribe and seal to it And therefore not properly our Covenant but God's because he made it and not we Though this also is to be here observed that Believers are said not only to enter into Covenant but also to make

again treats with Israel both for the main upon the same account and you will there find that there 's somewhat more than a meer granting or bequeathing of Blessings and Mercies only by way of Legacy or absolute Donation Doth God first promise to Abraham to give him a Numerous Issue a Blessed Seed a Land flowing with Milk and Honey and under these Shaddows blessings of an higher nature Grace and Glory Yea. But what must Abraham now do nothing in order to his fruition of them Yes He must walk before the Lord and be upright Gen. 17.1 He must keep the Covenant v. 9 10. and he must circumcise every Male Child in his Family v. 11 12 c. and he must command his Children and his Houshold after him to keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment Gen. 18.19 and the reason is there also given that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him which is again more expresly declared Gen. 26.3 4 5. Whence 't is evidently manifest first that there were Commandments Statutes and Laws annexed to this Covenant made with Abraham and then in the next place that he must keep and observe them that the blessings promised might come upon him Again Doth God engage to Israel to put them in possession of the Promised Land and to bless them there Yea but then they must come before the Lord and publickly declare their consent to the Covenant and engage to be obedient to it Exod. 24.3.7 8. Deut. 28.1 2.15 3. The several acts that are expresly either required of or ascribed to Man with reference to this Covenant speak it to be somewhat more than a Testament As for instance we are said to enter into Covenant with God Deut. 29.12 And to make or as the original there signifies to cut a Covenant with him Psal 50.5 And to join our selves to the Lord by Covenant Jer. 50.4 5. And to be brought into the Bond of the Covenant Ezek. 20.37 and to keep or observe his Covenant Psal 25.10 and to obey the words of the Covenant Jer. 11.2 3 4 5. and to perform and stand to the Covenant 2 Kings 23.2 3. As also to transgress it Josh 7.11 and to break Esa 24.5 and not to continue in Heb. 8 9. or be stedfast in the Covenant Psal 78.37 But are these expressions any way applicable to a Will and Testament or what tolerable sense can we possibly make of them if so applyed To make or enter into Covenant with another is proper language which every one understands But to join our selves to another by Testament or to enter into and make and cut a Will with him or to be stedfast in it is a mode of speaking no where to be found No all this necessarily implies somewhat of engagement and duty on our part to God and not only his bequeathment of Mercy to us by way of absolute Grant and Donation 4. But suppose we should after all admit that 't is a Testament Will it therefore follow that its Donations are so absolute as to be without all Conditions not so much as requiring our actual consent to them that they may be ours May not a Father by Will give and bequeath his Lands or Moneys to his Children or Friends with these or the like Priviso's That they discharge the Debts he owes and pay the several Legacies he hath given and allow such Pensions and Annuities for charitable uses as he hath therein appointed and set apart for that purpose And are not the parties hereupon obliged in case they expect any benefit by his Will to assent to and perform the Conditions thereto annexed And if not performed according to appointment do they not thereby forfeit their claim to the whole or rather they never had any legal plea or title to it since they accepted not of the terms upon which it was given to them Why all for the main that I am arguing for is no more but this viz. That the great Blessings of the Gospel are by the Father through Christ made over to sinners not by any meer absolute Grant or Bequeathment but upon certain Terms and Considerations which on their part are to be consented to and accordingly to be performed that they may be actually interessed in them And that whoever refuseth to accept of these Terms and shall not sincerely endeavour the performance of them they can neither be instated in or have any lawful claim to any part of that eternal Salvation which is the fruit of Christ's Satisfaction and Purchase In this sense if any one will call the Gospel Grant a Testament there 's little to be said against it since though the name be different yet in reality 't is but the same Which formally comprehendeth in it all the essentials of a Covenant 'T is therefore if you will a Testament in a Covenant form or a Testamental Covenant It partakes of the nature of both but principally of the former But all this will yet be more amply made to appear by that which follows in the next Proposition PROPOS IX Of the Parties with whom the New Covenant is made THIS Evangelical Covenant by which repenting and believing sinners are readmitted to the favour of God and the fruition of eternal life 't is made not immediately with Christ for and in the behalf of Believers but with Believers themselves in their own persons through the mediation of Jesus Christ with the Father That there is indeed an eternal Covenant established betwixt God the Father and God the Son in order to Man's Redemption hath already been asserted but besides this Covenant of Redemption as 't is now fitly called by our Divines there is also another Covenant that I mean which the Author to the Hebrews calls the New and Second Covenant which being of a far different nature from the former ought accordingly to be distinguished from it and this is that which I say is made betwixt God and Believers In short The Covenant of Redemption was made with Christ The Covenant of Grace with Believers in Christ To make this more evident 't is to be considered that in every Covenant there must of necessity be two or more persons mutually stipulating and engaging to each other One promising to give or grant somewhat that may accrue to the benefit of the other and another also that may not only accept of what is so granted but further engage to return somewhat by way of homage or acknowledgment Thus in the Legal Covenant the Persons engaging were God and Adam In the Covenant of Redemption God and Christ In the Covenant of Grace God and Believers Not that our consent was required or is any way necessary to the framing and drawing up this Covenant as before was hinted No that was made without us Only to the Conditions therein propounded 't is necessary Betwixt Man and Man indeed supposing them to be equals and each to be sui juris there no Covenant

the guilty Offender that this being removed God might now be at liberty to pardon and reaccept him unto favour in what way and upon what terms he pleased such as he in wisdom should judge most for the honour of his own Being and Perfections Yea but not that therefore God must of necessity pardon the sinner what ever come on 't as one well expresseth it That is whether he repented or believed or not or still continued in his Rebellion and Impenitency Christs Sufferings they were not in a strict sense the Idem i. e. the very thing which the first Covenant required at the hands of Man but the tantundem or an equivalent compensation Not properly solutio debiti the payment of the debt but an equitable satisfaction for a criminal offence And accordingly God in this whole transaction is to be considered not so much as a Creditor as an offended Magistrate or Governour of the World that admits as Seleucus did the putting out of one of his own eyes for the redemption of his Sons the suffering of one for another though of somewhat a different kind and manner for the maintaining of the honour of his Laws and Government And therefore God could not be obliged thereby immediately to acquit and discharge the Offender since the satisfaction given in his behalf was refusable but may in Justice and for the vindicating of his own Holiness and retaining the Creature in his due subjection bring him to terms and conditions before he remit the offence and become actually reconciled to him Much less was God obliged to this by his own essential goodness for though the issues and outgoings of his love be most natural and agreeable to his Being upon which account he is stiled in Scripture a Sun and Fountain yet are they not like the ebullitions of water from their Fountain or emanations of light from the Sun absolutely necessary and involuntary No they are still free though most natural Else how comes it to pass that Apostate Angels were not redeemed from their Chains and Darkness and the Spirits now in Prison set at liberty and freed from torments And the Inhabitants of the Earth that still sit in darkness and under the shadows of death have not the Sun of Righteousness arising upon them with healing in his Wings as well as we in these Northern Islands What ever acts by constraint and necessary impulse of Nature 't is uncapable of setting any bounds or limits to its own actions but imparts it self and influences universally at all times and alike to all The same Sun shines not to some parts only of the Earth but equally to both the Hemispheres And the same Sea and Fountains scatter their streams not only to some few Passengers but indifferently to all that pass by without exception And if such were the egress and communications of Divine Love and Goodness then tell me whence it is that there is any difference betwixt fallen Angels and degenerate man Betwixt Jew and Gentile the Christian and Pagan World Why is not the whole Earth India and America as well as Europe turned into a Goshen a Land of light and made as Eden the Garden of the Lord Why is so great a part of it yet left to be as a darksom Egypt or barren Wilderness Doth not all this sufficiently argue that the bequeathments and application of Christs satisfaction and purchase with all the rich Fruits that spring from both are made not by necessity but ad placitum according to the meer good will and pleasure of God to sinners as the Apostle speaks Ephes 1.5 and 9. PROPOS VI. Of Gods freedom to prescribe the terms upon which sinners shall be saved SInce all the communications of Grace and Mercy to the Creature even to those that Christ hath redeemed with his blood are absolutely free and issue forth only according to the Prerogative of the Divine Will and Pleasure God may therefore give out and apply the merits of his Sons obedience and sufferings to whom and in what way and method and upon what terms he in wisdom shall think meet He that cast the skirts of his love over the lost Sons of Adam when he saw them polluted in their own blood might also if he had pleased have made it a time of love to the Apostate Angels and have put them with Man since Christs Merits were intrinsickly sufficient for both into the same Act of Grace and Indemnity And he that hath chosen only some few to be Heirs of Glory out of the common Mass of Mankind might likewise have extended the same mercy and favour to all the rest Judas as well as Paul might have been an Elect Vessel to the Lord. Yea but one is taken and the other is left to shew that God hath mercy upon whom he will have mercy and that whom he will he hardneth Rom. 9.18 And as God freely makes choice of the persons whom he will effectually pardon and save by his Son Jesus Christ so also of the mediums and ways in and by which this salvation shall be dispensed to them First only in a dark and mysterious Promise so to Adam Gen. 3.15 Then more explicitely by actual Covenant so to Abraham Gen. 17. After this by Types and Shadows so to the Jews And last of all by open and manifest Revelation through the ministration of Christ and his Apostles so to all under the Gospel Dispensation Heb. 1.1 2. Thus Jesus Christ and in him salvation is first promised then typified and then exhibited and that first to the Jews only but afterwards to the Gentiles also And he surely that makes choice of whom he will to be the Objects of Mercy and freely determines in what way and order they shall have salvation dispensed to them he cannot but be alike free to appoint the terms and conditions upon which they actually may be saved He that hath power to appoint the End must also have power to appoint the Means by which it may be obtained God in this whole transaction is to be considered not only as Lord and Governour but as the offended party and our great Benefactor and upon all these accounts the Right of prescribing the terms upon which the guilty and condemned Creature shall be admitted to pardon and happiness properly and solely belongs to God As he is absolute Lord of all so he may do whatsoever he pleaseth with the Works of his own hands And as he is rightful Governour over the World so he may prescribe what Laws he thinks meet for the due government of his Creature And as pars laesa the party wronged and offended by Man he may say upon what terms he will be reconciled to him And as our great Benefactor that designed and contrived the way of Mans pardon and salvation by the death and sufferings of his only begotten Son he must dispense these benefits according to the pleasure of his own Will Math. 20.15 To save a sinner upon any terms